Ten year old Tomoyo Daidouji hastily got in the parked limousine a couple of blocks away from Penguin Park, her camcorder in hand. Her heart was racing in glee and excitement. After weeks of no-action for the card captor team she was finally able to videotape her beloved Sakura-chan in one of her creations.
That night's mission was a failure though, with Sakura being unable to use her wand to skip the mysterious rain all over Tomoeda. She isn't bothered at the very least though. Sakura has an invincible spell. Everything will be all right.
She smiled at tonight's footage. The mere idea of being able to dress up Sakura-chan was more than enough to make her smile. Her smile faded as quickly as it came though with her mobile phone's incessant ringing.
She looked at the screen.
She paled. It was her mother.
"What time is it?" she asked turning to her bodyguard, Kyoko.
"8:15"
Tomoyo slapped her forehead. "I can't believe I forgot!"
"Tomoyo-sama, your phone."
Tomoyo's attention shifted back to her mobile phone. With shaky fingers she answered, "'kaasan?... W-we're on our way… I know, we've talked about this… I'll be there, of course.. We're just caught in a jam…Bye."
Hanging up, she shifted her gaze on the rectangular box beside her and opened the lid revealing a beautiful cream kimono with pink floral prints. Admiringly she ran the silky fabric to her hands. Her mother bought the kimono herself. She had it designed especially for tonight's occasion.
"Nervous in meeting your fiancée, Tomoyo-sama?" Kyoko asked breaking her train of thoughts.
Tomoyo felt her self shiver by the mere mention of the word fiancée. Ever since child birth she was engaged to be married to the child of a close family friend of theirs. She wasn't suppose to meet him till she'd come of age, but due to sudden change of plans she's about to meet him over dinner in less than half an hour.
"N-no. I'm more nervous of mother's wrath if we don't get there on time," Tomoyo replied forcing a smile. It was a lie of course, for she was downright uneasy. She has not seen her fiancée yet – as far as she remembers. The last time she saw him according to her mother was when she was three. She's ten now. Seven years has passed and she could not even remember his face. She can't even remember his name!
For days she has been trying to muster the courage to ask her mother details about her fiancée but every time she's about to ask her mother she always found herself getting tongue-tied.
"Aren't we there yet?" Tomoyo asked anxiously.
"I'm sorry, Tomoyo-sama. We're caught in a traffic jam. But there's a shortcut in a street near the craft store a couple of blocks from here. The limo can't get in there but you and Kyoko can get off from here and walk your way towards the restaurant," the driver explained.
Tomoyo looked at Kyoko's watch. It was already 8:25. Dinner starts at 8:30.
"Let's go Kyoko-san," she said without a moment's hesitation, closing the box and preparing to get off the car.
PLAYING HOUSE
BY: AKIZUKI SAI
Special thanks to Alchemy-chan for beta-ing!
"Stay close to me, Tomoyo-sama." Kyoko said, draping a protective arm over her mistress's shoulders, her other hand clutching her pistol from its holster as the heavy rain made contact with their coats.
They were walking along a narrow alley surrounded by dilapidated houses, a street light by the corner being the only source of light to the shabby looking place. Five blocks past the alley leads to a street to the restaurant but she couldn't brush away the unnerving feeling settling by the pit of her stomach. As if to prove her intuition correct, five rowdy looking men came out of one of the shacks, the nauseating smell of liquor and cigarettes suffocating them.
Tomoyo held Kyoko's sleeve tightly. As if to assure her, Kyoko patted her shoulder lightly. In three quick steps they tried to walk oast the men who blocked their way.
"Excuse us," Kyoko said curtly.
"It's cold tonight, why not keep us warm?" one of the men with flaming red hair and piercing brown eyes said with a smirk.
"She comes with a cute girl too! Want to play?" a blonde beside the red haired said, placing a hand on Tomoyo's shoulder.
Kyoko's hazel eys flickered menacingly. "Get your filthy hands off, Tomoyo-sama!" she said in a deadly serious tone.
"Eh? Tomoyo-sama? … We have a rich kid here…" the blood said, taking note of Tomoyo's features.
"What will you do if I don't?" he added, running a sly finger on Tomoyo's cheek. Tomoyo cringed.
"Don't touch her!" Kyoko exclaimed, slapping the man's arm off Tomoyo.
The next things that happened were a blur to Tomoyo. One of the men started to launch punches in Kyoko's direction, who without great difficulty avoided and countered the attacks. It apparently didn't please anybody besides Tomoyo and Kyoko and a fight ensued.
"Tomoyo-sama, run!" Kyoko shouted as she lunges to avoid the red head's punches.
Tomoyo looked at Kyoko uncertain. She was scared. She was never scared during Sakura's card capturing adventures but she was scared now.
"Don't just stand there! Hurry! I'll be fine," Kyoko shouted, sending Tomoyo running. One of the men with spiked bleached hair ran after her, grabbing her by the hood of her raincoat.
"Tomoyo-sama!" Kyoko exclaimed, rushing to Tomoyo but was stopped short by the blonde who hit her with a bat. Kyoko fell on the ground unconscious.
"Kyoko-san!" Tomoyo screamed, dropping the box on the ground, the creamy kimono soiled by the muddy waters as she tries to break free from the man's clutches.
"Let go of me! ... Let… Kyoko-san! … Somebody, help us!"
"Shut up!" the man exclaimed, punching Tomoyo by the ribs. Tomoyo moaned in pain as her knees buckled.
She could feel her remaining strength leave her and she struggled to get up. She was scared but this was no time to let fear get the best of her.
Another punch hit her by the abdomen.
"Darega tasukite…"
Her lids feeling heavy, Tomoyo collapsed on the ground. It was no use. She can't fight back. She was loosing consciousness. "Darega…"
"Kanoujo wa hanareru!" a deep baritone came from one end of the street. Tomoyo turned her gaze towards the direction of the voice. All she saw was a hazy image of a man in blue, and then everything went black.
Disclaimer: I own no CCS. Kyoko and the plot idea are mine though. The rest belongs to Clamp and affiliated companies.
Tomoyo stared at the blue ceiling with sleepy eyes. She was tired and her thoughts were in shambles. In her vision she could see the lamp multiply into four like a design in a kaleidoscope. Maybe she can make a pattern like that in her next design from Sakura-chan's costume…
"You're awake," a chirpy voice said, pulling her back to her senses. Tomoyo blinked, realization dawning at her.
Hastily, she sat up, pulling the sheets closer to her. She felt a certain weight pull the duvet away from her and her gaze landed on her new classmate, introduced to them earlier in class, his head resting on the side of the bed.
"Hiirigizawa-kun?" Tomoyo said confused, questions running on her mind.
"You're in our house. I'm Nakuru, Eriol's cousin. You remember me, right?"
Tomoyo gave a light nod.
"He found you half-unconscious being bullied by a group of thugs." Nakuru explained as if reading Tomoyo's train of thoughts and answering her unspoken questions.
"S-sou – ka.." Tomoyo said, remembering what happened earlier as she watched Nakuru walk towards her.
"He's been watching you since you got here," Nakuru said, looking at the sleeping Eriol still wearing his coat. Tomoyo followed her gaze.
The hazy image of a man in blue flashed in her mind.
"So it was him," she thought, looking at Eriol's sleeping face partially pressed on the mattress, his glasses still perched at the bridge of his nose, telling Tomoyo he fell asleep watching over her.
Tomoyo smiled, moved at the thought. For someone who barely knew her, what he did was very noble.
Like as if feeling her gaze, Eriol flinched and slowly opened his yes. Seeing Tomoyo's smiling expression he quickly got up onto his feet and like a machine gun asked Tomoyo, his hands on her shoulders. "Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere? How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"
Tomoyo looked startled at the series of questions.
"Baka! She just woke up! Take it easy, will you? We already had a doctor see her, remember?" Nakuru said, whacking Eriol slightly by the head.
Tomoyo gave a light giggle, which somehow calmed Eriol.
"Are you feeling better?"
Tomoyo nodded. "Thank you for saving me… I don't know what could have happened to us if it wasn't for you… Kyoko-san wa?" she said, her voice trailing off upon remembering her bodyguard.
"She's okay. She's resting in Nakuru's room," Eriol assured her. "For now, take a rest."
Tomoyo gratefully smiled, scanning the room. It was totally blue with streaks of white and mahogany from other pieces of furniture in the room. Right across the bed was a huge mantlepiece and a tall red chair, grand in age. By one side of the room was an antique cabinet, an old grandfather clock that read one forty-five in the morning and a small bookshelf stacked with old books.
Tomoyo's gaze returned to the old grandfather clock realizing the time.
"Shimatta!" she exclaimed, her hands on her mouth.
"What's wrong?" Eriol asked.
"The dinner! I'm supposed to – " Tomoyo started, but before she could continue the bedroom door burst open revealing an exhausted Sonomi, catching her breath.
"Eriol! Tomoyo's missing! I can't… Tomoyo?" Sonomi exclaimed upon her entry, stopping short upon sight of her daughter, shocked just like her.
"'k-kaasan" Tomoyo stammered wide-eyed. If Tomoyo noticed the way her mother addressed her classmate, no one knows. But apparently, she was more stunned to find her mother barge in like a madman in the room to even notice.
"Oh, thank goodness, you're okay! I practically sent the whole Japanese police to look for you!" Sonomi exclaimed, rushing to hug her daughter. "What happened?"
"It's a long story, but Hiriigizawa-kun here, saved me." Tomoyo replied after Sonomi released her.
"Really?" Sonomi said disbelievingly looking at Tomoyo then at Eriol. Eriol nodded politely.
"Arigatou, Eriol," Sonomi said, giving Eriol's hand a light squeeze, as if she was very fond of him. "It's a shame our planned dinner ended up like this, and to think this is your reunion with Tomoyo after seven long years!"
Tomoyo looked at her mother surprised, comprehending what she just heard. It took awhile before the facts settled in and she felt her jawdrop.
"To think this is your reunion with Tomoyo after seven long years"
"You mean… H-Hiirigizawa-kun's … my fiancée?" she stammered completely shocked.
Ohohohohoho! I feel so evil!
Next chapter will be so much fun!
Reasons behind the whole plot will be partially revealed next chapter and the chapters succeeding it.
For now, read and review!
Ohohohoho!