Thanksgiving is over...and I have typed!!! Yea!!! Come on, whose proud of me?
Chapter 5 My Friend—Eriol
By Monday morning I was still asking myself why I did it. Why did I touch her? Anyone could tell that people just did not touch her. Tomoyo had a very large personal space, one of almost three feet! She exuded an aura of self preservation. If she fell down I highly doubt anyone would help her up. So why did I touch her?
To put her on edge certainly, just as she had done to me. Waking up in a strange room with no clue as to the why had unnerved me. It didn't help that I had very little memory of the night before. For a while I just stared at the white walls and thought. This way I had the chance to sort through all the strange memories and piece together what happened. Too much beer, seeing Kaho, the Kiss, then finding Tomoyo, and of course the wonderful moment of passing out. Lovely. How many ways could I make a first class fool of myself that night? She knew everything now. The cards were shown and I lost round one, but perhaps round two could be mine.
But did that explain why I touched her? Not really. Sure, I didn't like the circumstances of my waking, but touching her for that reason didn't make sense even for me. She looked so good, standing there, calm and collected; so I touched her. And then the scent of her hair, that lavender fragrance beguiled me, so like her to wear something for calming.
For now, she angered me and thus I wanted to get revenge. That's the reason I had and I would most certainly stick with it. Maybe.
Tomoyo walked into the class room, quiet reserved, her usual attitude. She looked so collected and in control. The moment had come, time to weigh my cards against hers and place the bet. She sat down in the seat next to mine and I smiled.
"I have a proposition for you." I leaned close enough to smell the lavender scent in her hair.
"I'm not interested." she said as if she already knew what I wanted to say.
"Don't turn away so quickly Tomoyo. I know you want to help me, to make me better, but I have no such desires. But on the other hand, I do not wish to worry Sakura. Here's the deal, I will do as you instruct, visit the places you tell me, do the things you require until you give up."
She looked up and said, not with a glare but a definite unhappy look. "You mean until you chase me away." She corrected and I could practically read her thoughts like a child always knows where the cookie jar is. The idea of helping me didn't frighten her, but my proposition did.
"You said so yourself, Tomoyo-san, Sakura is most worried about me. How could you, of all people, say no?"
It took a moment, but Tomoyo did glance up at me. "Fine, you have a deal." And she pulled out a piece of paper and began on today's notes.
I decided to take notes as well, just not the ones on the board. Tomoyo would make an interesting subject to study. She liked cameras, sewing and Sakura-chan, those I knew for sure. At the same time, she detested hurting other people and touch. My, my, my, I did not have a lot of information on which to plan my strategy; but then, that could make it all the more fun.
At the end of class, Tomoyo handed me her notes. "Here, this is your first assignment. Just think of this as another school subject and I'm your teacher." She smiled.
I looked at the list. Be respectful, be kind to others, do not torment people, tell no one of this bet. Well that was easy enough to follow. Of course, Tomoyo was the exception to all of those rules.
Time to implement my plan. "Oh, Tomoyo!" I called down the hall after her. "Would you like to get a cup of coffee and we can talk about this?"
"That sounds good." Was she simple? This was a chance for me to learn her weaknesses!
"Excellent, then let us go. I know this cute little café just down the road from here." My, my, my, this might be easier then expected.
We walked together in companionable silence, both of us considering the next move in the game. Mine was simple, either begin the torment now, or try to gain a bit of her trust first. Each option had some rather lovely advantages; with one I got rid of her more quickly, but the other involved more diabolical planning. As if I didn't already know which to do!
Throughout the walk I remained a complete gentleman, not invading her space, not touching; I did nothing that she would find distasteful. After all, it was my intention to make her regret this more than anything else.
"This is the place." We stopped before the smallest hole-in-a-wall ever, but they had damn good coffee. Nakaru picked up my morning cup everyday from this place. "It tastes better then it looks, trust me."
"This is my favorite coffee shop!" Tomoyo announced happily, yet still with reserves. "I come here almost every day after school!"
"Great minds think alike." We walked up to the counter. "I'd like a cup of your hazelnut coffee, black, please."
"And I'll take a small cappuccino."
"Right away, please take a seat." The cashier said pleasantly, unlike many I could name in England.
Time to begin phase one. "So, Tomoyo-san, are you still video taping Sakura-chan?"
"Of course! Last year she got the main role in the school play and I made a documentary all about it called 'Behind the Curtain'."
"Here you go, one cappuccino and one hazelnut coffee." The cashier delivered our order.
"That sounds exciting." I admitted, wishing I could have seen the performance. Sakura would make an excellent actress if she chose.
"Perhaps you could come over sometime to see it." She lifted the coffee to her lips. "What sorts of things have you done?"
"For the last seven years…" My life, pure and simple, revolved around Kaho. Oh, sure, I went to school, studied my magic, but I lived only to see Kaho. When Sakura sent a letter, I would wait to read it with Kaho and then together we would pen a response. When she had to accompany a class on a fieldtrip or some other such thing, I would mope around the house for days in despair. So what could I say? "The last seven years are just a bunch of memories." I smiled. "Nothing of great consequence."
She frowned. "You know, Eriol, sometimes it helps to talk about things, the happy and the sad."
I didn't respond. How could I?
"You don't need to tell me anything right now. But if you ever need a pair of ears, I've got two the work very well."
Damn her.
We sat in silence, sipping the hot coffee and occasionally glancing at each other. Why did she have to understand so damn much about me? Why could Tomoyo read everything as if were a picture book?
How could I tell her the truth? Well, telling was no problem, but how could I keep her from using that information against me? Tell or not? Each had its advantage, not tell and perhaps withhold valuable information or tell and gain a possible small amount of relief. And then the cons to each, if I told, Tomoyo potentially had blackmail information, a way the force me to do things. On the other hand, what did I care if strange, immature, children found out?
"While in England, Kaho and I spent a lot of time together, dinners, plays, parties, that sort of thing. Well, we--we had a fight recently and the next day I got a phone call. After she had run out on me Kahoran into—" A student of hers, but Tomoyo didn't need to know that. "—someone she knew. Since then we haven't spoken or seen each other." Tomoyo didn't need too many facts, just a sketchy outline.
"You miss her." She put her hand over mine. "As is natural. When anything you love deeply disappears, by whatever means, you want it to come back." She said simply. "Thank you for telling me."
I looked up into her eyes and saw a sadness in them. "Don't look so sad Tomoyo-san. It's not your problem." I told her.
"When any of my friends are hurt I feel sad."
'My friends.' I was a friend?
Well, what did you think? Good? Bad? Author really needs to learn what a dictionary is? Drop a review...
...oh, and I still want to know what you guys think of me including Romeo and Juliet...only one person resonded and they said no... so speak up!