A Young Man's Fancy
The Shoots Unfurl
Eriol spent the rest of the afternoon in a state of great agitation. Had he told too much? Too little? Could Tomoyo see through his smiling mask? His thoughts oscillated from darkness to depression to wistfulness to hope and back again. His martyred air was only marred by the occasional wet sneeze. However, had Eriol been his usually astute self, he would have noticed that his friends were in a similar state of agitation. Tomoyo twisted her locks more than usual, her gaze wandering every now and then to the bento boxes beneath her desk, but her demeanor was otherwise that of the model student, attending to the teacher while taking concise notes in exquisite handwriting. Sakura, in turn, was particularly animated, her green eyes sparkling. Strange scribbles littered the lined sheet in her notebook. Upon closer examination, one saw an alarming amount of hearts and creatures emerging from cards. Syaoran, however, seemed more surly than usual. He sniffed in Sakura's general direction, the most disapproval he'd ever expressed towards her since they had started dating. But the darkest scowls were saved for the pensive boy to his left, with the occasional concerned glance at Tomoyo. When, of course, no one was watching him.
But Eriol was not his usual self. So when the final bell rang, he absently gathered his books and walked out the door, presumably to the library. Tomoyo gathered her books and turned to Sakura.
"Sakura-chan, I'm sorry I cannot walk home with you, but as you know, Wednesday is my busiest day. I will call you tonight after dinner. Have a good day," Tomoyo said, smiling at both Sakura and Syaoran.
Sakura smiled and nodded.
"Of course, Tomoyo-chan. Have a good day," she said as she linked arms with Syaoran and walked out of the room. Sakura gave Syaoran a knowing look while Syaoran sniffed.
Tomoyo nodded to herself as she self-consciously grabbed the extra bento box along with her belongings and marched towards the library. She used this hour to finish some of her easier homework assignments. Sometimes, she would meet with Eriol and they would sit in easy silence, occasionally asking the other for help on a particular perplexing problem and they would walk to the council meeting together, gently teasing each other. The polite masks had eroded somewhat, but there was still something between them, a hesitation. Tomoyo sighed.
Tomoyo smiled reflexively at the boy that held the door open and entered the library. Could he really still be heartbroken over Mizuki Kaho? Eriol had returned to Tomoeda less than a year ago, after summer vacation. He had offered no proper reason for his return. He claimed to miss Sakura and Syaoran's blushes, his face wreathed with smiles. No one believed him, but they knew better than to pry. Tomoyo had agonized all those months, wondering if it were appropriate to write a letter, couched in the most subtle and diplomatic terms, asking Mizuki-sensei what had really happened. But she could not bring herself to inquire into the life of her teacher and the mysterious wizard. Besides, it was far more challenging to weasel the information out of Eriol himself. And Tomoyo always loved challenges.
But Eriol was far too inscrutable for his own good. Tomoyo smiled wryly as she walked through the bookshelves. So naturally that meant one thing. She had to fight dirty. Tomoyo passed a hand casually through her hair, straightening her skirt so the pleats fell neatly around her. She took her duties as a friend quite seriously, and if that meant using tactics that were somewhat dubious, then so be it. To be the best, she could not afford to be squeamish. Besides, she was making progress. This afternoon, he had exposed himself- brittle, bitter and old. Her breath had stopped for just a moment. She was so close, but it was not enough. And yet, she felt as if she were forgetting something. Tomoyo paused at the end of the shelf. The important things she trusted only to her memory. Her memory was fallible though. Hence the V8. The tape! She hadn't had time to view it since the visit. She would stay up all night to watch it if necessary. In the meanwhile, she had to continue probing.
Tomoyo turned the corner, flashing her brilliant smile. Its effect was somewhat lessened by the impact of Eriol's chest. The bento box slipped from its precarious perch atop her books. Tomoyo winced. She rubbed her nose ruefully. So much for the renowned Daidouji poise.
"Daidouji-san, I must insist that you watch where you are going. If word had gotten out that I had harmed your perfect nose, or even a wisp of hair on your pretty head, half of Seijou High would stalk me to the ends of the earth to teach me a lesson," Eriol said severely, shaking his head while he reached for his bento box.
Tomoyo reached the box before him, so he clasped her hand instead. Tomoyo's smile grew a fraction wider as she cast her gaze downward.
"Only if there is lasting damage, Hiiragizawa-kun," Tomoyo replied. "And even then, I think you exaggerate my popularity. No one would miss my nose."
Eriol peered intently at Tomoyo's nose and shook his head.
"It's a bit pink, but one can never be too cautious."
Eriol probed Tomoyo's nose carefully with his fingers.
"I suppose a broken nose would give your face a rather distinctive air," Eriol continued dryly. "Luckily, it's not broken, but I think a nasty bruise is in store for you, Daidouji-san."
He stared her for a moment and then averted his face. Was he embarassed?
"Since it was my fault."
He waved his hand. Tomoyo felt her nose tingle. She wrinkled it carefully. Not a twinge of pain. He pressed her nose gently and nodded to himself, satisfied with his result.
"And I think you are mistaken. Many people would miss your nose. Myself included."
Tomoyo fluttered her eyelashes, hiding her rolling eyes. Eriol shrugged.
"Hiiragizawa-kun, your honeyed words might convince other girls you're telling the truth, but I know better," Tomoyo said sweetly, placing her books next to Eriol's on the table.
Eriol held up his hands in defeat.
"Very well. I'm sure you could manage to make no nose the latest trend. I underestimate your gifts, Daidouji-san. Shall I cower in the corner in defeat?" Eriol held out the chair for Tomoyo.
She nodded and sat down, smiling graciously. Eriol sat down next to her.
"I must also thank you for returning my bento box. I grow careless when I wallow. You should not indulge me so."
Tomoyo opened her notebook, not looking at Eriol.
"If I don't indulge you, Hiiragizawa-kun, who will? Surely not Spinel-san. Akizuki-san perhaps?"
Eriol flipped the pages of his book, not looking at Tomoyo.
"They generally let me do what I will. Spinel just offers unwanted commentary."
Tomoyo paused and blinked at Eriol.
"What sort of unwanted commentary, Hiiragizawa-kun?"
Eriol sighed.
"The sorts of things I imagine parents nag their children about. Funny that. I don't recall creating parents. Guardians yes, but not parents. I read too much. I sleep too little. I don't go out enough, why don't I spend more time with my friends?"
Eriol's voice took on a prissy tone, as he turned the pages. He snorted and rolled his eyes.
"You would think I was a child."
Tomoyo lowered her face into the pages of her book, allowing her long grey hair to obscure her face.
"Would it be wrong of me to point out you are technically a child, Hiiragizawa-kun?"
The hint of laughter in her voice was unmistakable. Eriol pushed his glasses atop his head and turned to her.
"Daidouji-san, you know very well I am not a child."
Tomoyo still did not look up.
"But Read-san…"
Eriol rubbed his eyes with his hands and leaned back in his chair for a moment.
"Read-san," Eriol spat out the honorific. "Read-san needed someone to monitor Sakura-san as closely as possible. Read-san did not seem to mind that I was a forever child with the voice of a man, the mind of a man. Not a child, Daidouji-san, not a child."
He leaned towards her, letting her hair brush against his cheek, letting his words drift softly into her ear. Tomoyo clenched her jaw for a moment, waiting for the words to swell and build up in her throat.
"Hiiragizawa-kun, did Mizuki-sensei leave you because you were a child still?"
Eriol blinked. Her voice grew softer.
"Because if she did, you should have said something. I would have listened. I would listen to you. Nothing hurts more than to have loved and to be alone. Sometimes it hurts less if you can speak that hurt aloud. I am your friend. I would listen. That is what friends do."
Tomoyo lifted her face and found herself staring into Eriol's large grey eyes. She noted clinically his long eyelashes and the warmth of his arm resting on the top of her chair, pressed against her back. The silence hung between them as they continued to stare, neither willing to look away. Tomoyo wondered if she dared to say more.
Eriol sighed and pulled back a respectable distance.
"So is there something in particular you wanted to ask me, Daidouji-san?"
Tomoyo had the grace to blush. Eriol smiled his most charming smile. He did get a perverse pleasure out of unsettling Tomoyo, if only because it was such a rare occurrence. Never might be the proper term. And more importantly, she could not allow him to divert her like this. She smiled, willing the color to fade from her cheeks.
"I was wondering if I could stop by at some point to drop off the tape for Akizuki-san? She said that she wanted a copy."
Eriol shrugged, clearly not duped but willing to play along for now.
"Whenever you wish, Daidouji-san. I am at your disposal."
Tomoyo took out her calendar, flipping through the pages. She wrinkled her nose.
"Hmm, well today is not possible, because I haven't made the copy and tomorrow I have juku. Perhaps Friday after school?"
"For dinner then? As thanks for nursing me when I was sick. You should bring Sakura-san and Cerberus also."
Eriol added the last part reluctantly, knowing that politeness required that he extend the offer. He sighed mentally. Forever thwarted. Tomoyo nodded.
"I will ask them, of course."
"So Friday at 7 o'clock? I will whip up something special for you, my lovely nurses."
Tomoyo wondered if there was a way she would ever get Eriol alone. She couldn't possibly garner information from Eriol if Sakura and Kero-chan were present. Sakura would be distracting. It wasn't Sakura's fault. She couldn't help the fact that she became the center of attention wherever she went. And politeness did dictate that he invite all of them. And she couldn't not invite them. That would be rather duplicitous, even for Tomoyo. Tomoyo sighed. Being Eriol's friend was quite a lot of work.
"Is something wrong, Daidouji-san?"
"No, I was just thinking there was much to do, much to do."
"I wouldn't worry. The English homework isn't terribly hard."
"Hiiragizawa-kun, you are a native speaker."
"Oh, I suppose I am."
Tomoyo smiled as she shook her head and they fell back into easy banter. There were more chinks in his wall, but she knew that he still kept something from her.
"Sakura-chan, Hiiragizawa-kun wants to extend his thanks for visiting him while he was sick. He has invited us over for dinner at his home this Friday. Are you able to come?"
Sakura jumped out of her seat when Tomoyo said that, gleefully prancing around the room. The phone line prevented her from doing a cartwheel. Kero-chan raised his head from the manga he was reading and flew over to Sakura to listen in on the conversation.
"Oh, I don't think we can go to dinner at Eriol-kun's house, Tomoyo-chan. Syaoran-kun and I are going out on a date."
Kero-chan started to yell about the unfairness of being denied a home-cooked meal made by Eriol for a non-existent date, all for Sakura's silly scheme, but Sakura managed to stuff him into her pillow. The muffled sounds of Kero-chan startled Tomoyo for a moment.
"Is that Kero-chan I hear?"
"Oh, he's just grumpy because I told him no video games tonight. He ate all the puddings I made for dessert and he deserves it!"
Sakura glared at Kero-chan, waving him away, and he flew back to his manga, grumbling under his breath.
"Oh, Kero-chan should know better than that. So shall I tell Hiiragizawa-kun you can't make it?"
"Yes, please. Thank him for inviting us, Tomoyo-chan."
"Of course, Sakura-chan. I will see you in school tomorrow. Good night."
"Good night, Tomoyo-chan."
As Sakura hung up the phone, she bore a strong resemblance to Clow. Kero-chan recognized that maniacal gleam in her eyes from a mile off, he did. He rolled his eyes and flipped the page. Crazy magicians.
"Hiiragizawa-kun, I'm afraid that Sakura-chan and Kero-chan cannot come to dinner."
"Oh. Then I will have them over another night. So it will just be you, Daidouji-san?"
"Yes, it will."
"Very well. Thank you for calling, Daidouji-san. I will see you in school tomorrow. Have a good night."
"Your welcome, Hiiragizawa-kun. I will see you tomorrow. Sleep well."
The two phones clicked and Eriol and Tomoyo smiled ever so slightly.
Sakura sat on her bedroom floor. Kero-chan was lying to the left of her, engrossed in his gameboy SP and Syaoran sat to the right of her. Yukito and Touya completed the council circle, a pile of textbooks next to them. A tray set with cups and cookies lay in the middle. Sakura rapped her wand against the floor.
"This meeting is now in session. Now, we are all here to help our dear friends, Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun."
"Speak for yourself! I was brought here against my..ouch, Sakura, you just pinched me."
Sakura smiled innocently and shrugged her shoulders.
"Syaoran-kun, we are here to help Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun. Please let me outline the agenda."
Sakura stood up and tapped her wand against the wall. On the wall were her diagrams from class. There were two stick figures, standing far apart and alone. One wore huge glasses and the other had long curls and a camera in its hand.
"Now, as you can see, they are alone, watching, far from the rest of us."
She pointed at the glasses and the camera, adding a little angry shake of her fist.
"But now, I think they are watching each other."
Sakura moved to the next diagram, with the two figures facing each other, the glasses glinting and the camera blinking. Syaoran and Touya chose at this point to snort. Yukito and Kero-chan punched both of them. Sakura smiled at her guardians and continued.
"But it is not enough to watch each other. They have to say it out loud, for their feelings to be known," Sakura said, glancing at the teddy bear sitting on her desk.
Syaoran blushed. Sakura blushed too, but the color faded as she turned to her diagrams. The next one had the Cards transforming, with hearts scribbled liberally on the pages. She idly traced a heart with her finger.
"If Eriol-kun hadn't spoken to me, before he left, would I have said anything to you, Syaoran-kun? You would have left with nothing. And now, when I watch him watch Tomoyo-chan, I can't help thinking I must help him. Before he leaves Tomoyo-chan with nothing."
At this, all the people in the room paused. Touya and Syaoran looked almost gleeful; only their manly stoic natures kept them from dancing around the room. Sakura, forgetting her serious role of matchmaker, started punching Touya in the ribs. Kero-chan hit the pause button, considered Sakura's words and restarted the game. Normally, he would be more concerned about the actions of Clow's reincarnation. Clow's affairs of the heart generally required much watching over if one wanted Clow to remain in one piece, but Eriol had his own guardians and Sakura. Besides, he was this close to finding the bonus stage. Yukito watched the room's reaction and took a long sip of tea before he spoke.
"Do you really think he's planning on leaving, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura paused for a moment, opening herself to a noogie from Touya. After stomping on Touya's toes, she turned to Yukito, her forehead puckered in thought.
"I wouldn't say right now, but if not now, perhaps later, for university. But I didn't mean it that way. I meant that he would be cheating himself and Tomoyo-chan. With silence, what could be will never be." She frowned and shook her head, sighing. "This isn't making sense. All my feelings are so jumbled up, so nothing sounds right."
Yukito smiled and shook his head.
"No, Sakura-chan. I think what you said is perfectly right. We must get them to truly speak from their hearts. But I don't know if plotting is quite the way to go about this. I think what we should do is talk to them directly. I know that you wanted to skulk about Tomoeda, trailing after Hiiragizawa-kun and Tomoyo-san in the bushes with a spy camera, but see how well Hiiragizawa-kun helped you by just talking?"
Sakura wrinkled her nose, looking sadly at her scribbles on the wall.
"And if that freak is as thick as Clow, he'll plow throw any schemes you have, and manage to emerge unscathed. Which, I suppose, would be a bad thing in this instance," Kero-chan chimed in, still pounding away at his Gameboy. "Yes! I finally found the blasted thing!"
Yukito nodded, biting his lip. "My other self agrees."
Sakura sighed.
"I suppose you're right. But I did want to send Oniichan and Syaoran-kun out with a camera after Eriol-kun and Tomoyo-chan."
Sakura giggled at the thought. Yukito wisely stood between Sakura and the two males who seethed in the background.
"But you know, I think I could still have them talk to Tomoyo-chan…."
She turned to Touya and Syaoran, flashing her best pout. "And if you don't help, I will never, ever speak to either of you ever again."
Touya rolled his eyes.
"You're going to get someone who doesn't even think this relationship has a chance to play a role in getting them together? Kaijuu, I think you need to get your head checked."
Sakura ignored her brother and turned to Syaoran.
"Syaoran-kun?"
Syaoran sighed, folded his arms behind his head and began pacing around the room. Sakura gave a knowing nod.
"You know that you owe Tomoyo-chan this much. Just speak to her. You don't even have to say Eriol-kun's name!"
Syaoran stopped in mid pace. "I what!"
Sakura shrugged.
"I didn't know it at the time, but now, now that I know how you feel, it made sense that Tomoyo-chan was always helping you and talking to you. So you owe her." Sakura poked Syaoran in his chest.
Syaoran snorted, but this snort was a weak snort.
"I'll think about it, but I'm not making any promises."
Sakura nodded.
"Oh, and Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun are having dinner this Friday at his house. I was thinking that I might want a tape made of the dinner, so perhaps Oniichan and Yukito would like to drop by? I'm sure that Nakuru-san and Spinel-san would be happy to help you out."
"Of course we would do that, Sakura-chan," Yukito chirped.
Touya made a strangled noise that sounded like a death threat, but turned into an oof. Someone had kicked him in the shin. He wasn't sure who did it, but he'd find out.
Sakura rapped her wand three times.
"This meeting is now adjourned."
She ushered everyone out the door. Touya and Yukito went into Touya's room while she walked Syaoran down to the door.
"I really do hope this works, Syaoran-kun. I love them both and I want the best for them," Sakura mused as she walked down the stairs.
"I know, Sakura, I know," Syaoran replied, his face even more solemn than usual. He kissed her briefly, smoothing the hair out of her eyes. "Don't worry. Are you forgetting your motto? Everything will work out."
Sakura nodded. "But you know how they are! Twisting and turning so." She wrinkled her nose. "You'd almost think they didn't want things to work out."
Syaoran snickered. "They are your family, Sakura."
"Well, they're your family too, Syaoran-kun." Sakura stuck her tongue out at Syaoran.
Syaoran made a face. "Good night, Sakura."
"Good night, Syaoran-kun."
They kissed once more and she watched him walk out the gate, down the street. Everything would work out. If Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun could stop being themselves, just for a moment. Syaoran's back disappeared into the horizon. Sakura shut the door.