I Think I'm In Love with My Bestfriend's Boyfriend

Author's Notes: I thought that making a chapter in the same week would suffice to some unfulfilled satisfaction?

Much gratitude to reviewers simply-cherryblossom (Can you specify my areas of improvement? I'd like to make the story better! ), anime flower, aznanimegirl30, huntress of the moon, Magic Key, Yukumi the Ice Goddess, AnimeFreak-TrunksPan-Lover4evr, jackie, Walking Green Cucumber (otherwise known as Yuri-Yoko…regards to your sun-sister! ) NightShadow101, misti-chan, Luna Moon Godess, SmiLe Of PuRe, chikichiki and Michelle.

Enjoy this installment and kindly leave a review! (You can include my points of improvement instead of just plain compliments )

Disclaimer: All characters and places are property of the manga-ka CLAMP and companies related to it. Only the plot and story is my intellectual product.

Lyrics are property of aforementioned companies. (Try to guess which ones they are, ne?)

Chapter Four: Partial Revelation

"Hiiragizawa-san-"

"You can call me Eriol, Sakura."

…………………………………………………………

I want to see you, but I can't... How sad, these feelings...

I can't say it, but I want to.

I just keep letting my chance slip by

…………………………………………………………

Something clicked inside Syaoran's mind-

A first date?

The last time THAT happened, things went horribly, horribly wrong…

…he didn't want that to occur ever again.

But such things don't come twice in one lifetime, do they?

'Anything can happen.' Syaoran warned himself, yet he wasn't quite sure.

He was never quite sure.

'And…that just means I might be able to start something new, right? After all, that's why I returned to Tomoeda, correct?' asked Syaoran to his own judgment. 'To start something new in a familiar place?'

Before he could answer his own question he felt a slight pressure on his right hand. Opening his half-closed amber eyes, he saw that another, fairer one was resting upon it.

"Li-kun…I wish you could understand how I feel now…" whispered Tomoyo, yet her voice could be heard clearly due to the emptiness of the place.

"I could, you know."

…………………………………………………………

"I never thought that things could come popping up from the past, just like that. Both miracles and disasters can happen…"

This time, it was Sakura who sounded like a wise philosopher, quoting from her own experience, heart and soul, instead of a dull scroll or renowned personage.

"…sometimes I can't tell one from the other…"

…………………………………………………………

Ah...Isn't it strange?

Just remembering

makes me affectionate

…………………………………………………………

'I think I can trust Li-kun…' thought Tomoyo.

"Tomoeda has been my home for all my life." Tomoyo began, and Syaoran prepared himself for anything that he might bear witness to hearing.

"I've studied here all my life as well - except for one time when I went to Tokyo for completion in high school. What I expected from being there was a good education and a great addition to my portfolio; but I got something I had never thought of before." the black-haired girl narrated, closing her eyes in order to retrieve her memories correctly.

Her voice went a considerable deal weaker. "I met someone special…not in the way like a best friend. Sure, I did have a best friend - in fact, the best friend someone like me could ever wish for - but love is different."

She continued, "Love was different then because it was a new thing to me. Sure, I love my parents, my relatives and my friends…"

At this point it seemed like she was lost at words to explain, so Syaoran nodded in understanding and motioned for her to go on with her sharing.

"But never like I had in Tokyo."

…………………………………………………………

Eriol's glassy eyes refocused on her, and it was his turn to listen intently.

"I didn't tell you the reason why I was lost in the rain…I mean, I was lost because I wandered off, but I mean lost…lost in yourself…" she began, glancing swiftly at her companion to make sure it was fine to open up like that, and what she found was acceptance in his face. The wisp of an encouraging, but not forcing smile was visible on Eriol.

"…and I'm grateful you didn't ask me or anything. But I feel like we have a bond somehow, even though we never met before."

'Am I really going to tell him this?' Sakura demanded from herself.

Eriol brightened slightly. "I felt the same way."

"Back in high school, there was an exchange student from Hong Kong…a little bit like you, I guess. Well…at first he was a nuisance who couldn't even speak basic Japanese because he was so quiet…I couldn't even complain because my friend had gone somewhere else for the time and my temporary best pal didn't agree with me about his being so irritating."

Sakura allowed herself a few moments of deep breathing to collect her words and thoughts, in addition to some emotional preparation.

"…but that just reversed. When I forgot my pencil case in the classroom once, he returned it to me.

'I knew you would be looking for this', he said," narrated Sakura, recounting the events of that fate-changing day as if it was no further than a week past, "'You should be a bit more careful about your things', he also said…and there was something about the way he laughed and smirked that told me that he wasn't simply taunting me…"

Eriol was the one to look fascinated at this turn.

"Things changed. I saw from the way my diary entries changed that my feelings were changing too. Then, finally, one evening - I decided to write that letter…" Sakura told, trying her best to say things correctly.

"Then…as I was about to march right up to him with that letter in my hand - I saw my temporary friend walking beside him. I went closer to confirm what I had thought…and…and…"

Sakura was suddenly speechless. When she tried to speak, she coughed in her failed effort, then was unable to stop a few tears from falling down her cheeks.

"…and…as if that wasn't enough, he shows up out of nowhere, only to accept a date from my best friend…"

When she thought that all was too hopeless, she felt something warm form up inside of her.

Opening her moistened eyes, she could see and feel the presence of a comforting hand on hers.

…………………………………………………………

"He was so kind…his manner was so clean-cut and nice." Tomoyo went on, restraining the droplets that threatened to escape from her eyes, "I met him during Music class and was instantly impressed."

Syaoran couldn't help but feel a bit jealous at the fact that this person could play an instrument and he wouldn't even dare touch one under unimportant circumstances.

"He played the piano divinely…he played so sweetly that you might have thought he was pouring honey out of those ivory keys. While I could play the same piece with some effort, he seemed to memorize it by heart and soul that even his fingers moved smoothly. His music was almost tangible…as if you could reach and feel it flow between your outstretched fingers…"

By this time both Syaoran and Tomoyo had their eyes closed in the effect of powerful descriptions and images.

"…and when he finished, the silence made it seem like the world was going to be rid of sound forevermore."

…………………………………………………………

Somehow Sakura managed to fix herself quite quickly. Brushing the wet streaks that remained on her skin with a few shaking fingers, she heard from her left, "We're alike in so many ways, Sakura…"

"Like I said, I went to Tokyo initially for my one-year scholarship…and there I met a girl like none other."

Sakura smiled, reassuring him that it was alright to go on.

"I was just entering the gates of the school when I first laid eyes on her. I dismissed her as no more than another fellow student, worthy of only enough attention just like all the others…but that all changed." Eriol started.

It was only part of yet another complicated tale. "I didn't think appearances were important. I know they weren't. So what led me to my own disaster…was her angelic singing."

Sakura tried to stop that surge of envy, but still felt inadequate of her own vocal talents. Her singing wasn't too bad…while she really was good no one would call it angelic.

'Perhaps they could call it great,' Sakura joked silently.

"Both sharp and soft…simply perfect timing and pitch…extremely pleasant to the ears and heart. It didn't matter what the teacher asked her to sing, may it be rock songs or more of pop - but still, she reigned the world in her ballads." Sakura half-mindedly asked herself if Tomoyo could compare to this girl.

Putting her own feelings aside, she concentrated twice as much on what Eriol was saying: all of which were descriptions twice as rich as what hers were. "It wasn't just that - she never made a high-and-mighty image of herself. This particular student didn't speak a word that even remotely resembled boasting…she was oh so kind."

"She used to push on the other students who couldn't sing as well as her…even me. I remember the song she taught us. Though I still can't compare to her…I really did appreciate the fact that I learned how to sing-"

And so he sang.

"Watashi your in

(In the gentle night)

Hitomi utau uta

(I sing this song alone)

Asu wa kimi to utaou

(Let me sing with you tomorrow)

Yume no tsubasa in notte

(Riding the wings of dreams)"

Eriol's fine voice faded off, as if his words were not adequate to describe images.

Sakura thought she could see tiny sparkles on his face when lightning flashed outside the window…perhaps, tears?

…………………………………………………………

Pale fingers were dabbing away at small rivulets when a voice started speaking out of the blue. Opening her reddened eyes, Tomoyo saw that Syaoran was talking.

"I've gone through something like that…only it was me who played the foreign student."

The other looked shocked, but moved closer to him in order to pay better attention.

"Like I said awhile ago, I come from Hong Kong. I've been to a number of places during my life mostly as an exchange, but out of all places I found that Japan was most like home. I decided to use my completion year here in Tomoeda."

Syaoran continued, "I'm not sure if you believe in love at first sight - I think yours was more of love at first note,"

At this Tomoyo laughed a little, finding love at first note amusing.

"-but I didn't back then. I surely never had that happen to me before, even in the countless schools I've been to. So when I met this girl in class…I just felt that spark there, you know?"

Nodding, the black-haired girl knew that she had experienced that spark somewhere, too.

"If I was clueless in what to do with that situation, I was on the edge of oblivion with two. There was another girl…another class, and there was yet another spark. I'm sure I must have loved one more--"

'What a dilemma…' Tomoyo thought.

"--but before I could ever muster up the courage to say something to her, the other girl asked me out on a date. Of course I was delighted - and in that happiness the speech that I had memorized to tell the one I preferred was lost."

Syaoran had his head bowed down, his brown hair covering his similarly colored eyes. Tomoyo thought that his problem was trouble enough, but was proven wrong - there was still more to that story.

…………………………………………………………

"I was about to introduce myself to her, but before I could she was gone. I barely even had a single day with her…when I asked my teacher he replied that she was just a temporary student."

"I never even had a chance." Eriol said. "We never had our chance." he added.

The Englishman put his gaze to the darkened ceiling. "Except…I had another one. Another chance."

"A year later, this time in Britain while I was on vacation, I met another woman. I didn't believe that I could learn to love again, and constantly scolded myself because I had a certain person on my mind…but I did. I learned again." He seemed happy for the time being; Sakura wondered why he was so distraught now.

"She was a fair deal older than me, but helped me with many of my small problems. She taught me many things…things that normal teachers could never even hope to know. Appreciate the sun…appreciate the rain…love both the sun and moon-"

"But…that's what I mean. Normal teachers don't know that feeling right before the world goes dark…no other teacher taught me that tragedy could strike at anytime at all."

Sakura widened her eyes to the next things he said:

"We were having a picnic in the park one mid-autumn day, when a storm suddenly rolled in from the east. We loved the rain and didn't mind it in the least, so instead of hastily returning to our homes we simply sat there on the grass. What I didn't expect - that life would be so unfair."

"When the water had died down after a few hours, we were soaking wet. By this time I saw that she was shivering…but I thought that she was simply chilled like I was. Yet later when we dried off at her house, she was still shaking. Her skin was cold and pale."

"Hiira-, er, Eriol…" Sakura tried to say, attempting to stop him from forcing out whatever he was going to say in fear that he was only telling the story because she wanted to hear it.

"She had contracted hypothermia, and passed away that same night."

…………………………………………………………

"…I had to go back to Hong Kong."

--

"and when I returned to Tomoeda this year, she had passed away of some strange ailment caused by polluted rain."

Tomoyo put a comforting hand in his. She was about to condole him, but he was faster than her.

"I hate the rain."

And so the fourth broken-heart shed tears that day.

…………………………………………………………

"So…what about another chance?" Sakura said out of thin air.

"Wh-wha-what?" Eriol muttered, rather out of character, as in any other circumstance he would say 'I beg your pardon?'

Sakura kept on surprising herself. "You know…we both have problems with ourselves, constantly having our hearts broken…we're alike in so many ways…"

He thought that he was beginning to understand somehow. "So, Sakura…meaning--?"

"I'm free for the rest the year, because I just finished college." she provided. In turn, Eriol smiled his warm grin. "Another chance."

Another chance.

…………………………………………………………

It was just silence…silence and the sound of rain pattering on the glass windows of the lounging area. Thankfully no one was there, and this personal moment was theirs and theirs only to share.

"So, Daidouji-san…"

Silence. And the sound of rain. And falling tears.

"Li-kun?"

"Would you like to go out again tomorrow, Tomoyo-san?" Syaoran asked.

Tomoyo seemed elated. "How about you, Li-kun? Do you want to go?"

He smiled back at her, but still…was he sure? "That would be perfect…as long as Tomoyo-san reminds Li about the possibility of rain."

"That would be perfectly wonderful, Li."

…………………………………………………………

"By the way, Sakura-san, would you mind telling me who this man was? I might meet him someday and not know that he was the one." the blue-haired foreigner questioned.

"Ah, I always did like his name. Li Syaoran; Xiao Lang Li: Little Wolf."

"I do like that name. How about Kaho Mizuki? What do you think of it?"

Sakura smiled sweetly. "I like that name. Whose is it?"

Eriol's own grin shadowed for a second, but nonetheless remained weakly on his lips. "Would you like to visit her grave sometime?"

…………………………………………………………

They sat there for a few more minutes, waiting until the rain died down. It was perfectly serene until Syaoran inquired, "I was just curious about something…what was the name of that student you were talking about awhile ago?"

"His name was Hiiragizawa Eriol."