AN:- Along with a description, each Sin is associated with a demon. Those will be noted also. And I will put in a song suggestion, which goes with the Sin.
Note:- I no longer need any help with the Latin. I have recovered my memory for the language. However, song suggestions would be veeeery nice…
Hmm… no, I won't bring up the insane amount of time it's taken me to update. Nope, not at all! Thanks for all the reviews, and even the people who emailed me privately. By the way – that did work!
Anyways, onto the story!
Disclaimer:- I own any random characters which are overly cliché anyways. I don't own CCS. I DO, however, own Eriol. He came as a key-chain, though. Plot's mine. Don't steal. I bark. I bite. Beware.
.:The Seven Deadly Sins of Tomoeda:.
.:Superbia:.
Superbia (Latin) -- n. -- 1. Arrogant or disdainful conduct or treatment; haughtiness 2. An excessively high opinion of oneself; conceit 3. A desire to be important or attractive to others or excessive love of self
Demonic association -- Lucifer
Song suggestion – 'Anything you can do I can do better' (Irving Berlin – Annie Get Your Gun)
Yukito wasn't overly pleased with the turn of events in the past two hours (what a waste of a perfectly good sandwich), but it couldn't get any worse. At least, that was what he kept telling Yue.
I knew that Ruby Moon would have done something like this.
'Come on, it was an accident'.
Inside his head, Yue snorted.
An accident? If activating a curse like that is an accident, then the time Cerberus managed to set my hair on fire was a favour.
Yukito had enough manners not to burst out laughing, but it was a near thing. The mere thought of Yue running around with his hair on fire, like something out of a cartoon, was enough to give him grey hairs if he had to hold his joviality in too long.
'Well,' said Yukito to Yue. 'It could get worse'.
Yue made a nasal sound, that didn't quite sound like a snort, but couldn't be classified as a cough.
'Oh yes? Define worse.'
Sometimes, thought Yukito, his other half had too much attitude. And there was one infallible way to make him be quiet (the other would be to kick him, but Yukito didn't see how this was possible).
'It could get worse,' said Yue's false form, a hint of smugness in his voice. 'We might get saddled with Lust.'
There was no response. Smiling slightly, Yukito continued making a bowl of yakisoba, and absently wondered if it was possible to faint inside your own head.
--
The air was thick with anticipation; so thick you could have sliced through it with the Sword Card. The soft crackle of well-seasoned fir, burning in the fireplace, was accompanied by the pleasant smell of English tea and scones (courtesy of Eriol; one could never trust Ruby Moon with any form of baking). Twilight was just visible, peeping out of the heavy cotton curtains, drawn across the large Victorian-style windows. Seven individuals were seated around a large oak dining table. Tomoyo was not impressed.
"Really Hiiragizawa-kun," said Tomoyo, staring slightly at the theatrical approach, to what seemed at first an informative and productive invite from Hiiragizawa-kun, in order to learn more about the curse. In reality, the reincarnation of the master magician was not taking this seriously at all. Who lit a log fire in the beginning of June? Tomoyo looked him dead in the eye. "Is this all truly necessary?"
Hiiragizawa-kun merely grinned, and replied calmly. "More tea, Daidouji-san?"
Remembering her manners, she plastered a smile on, and replied in what was a reasonable attempt at courtesy. "No thank-you. But what I would like would be for you to explain the point of this all."
Hiiragizawa-kun set his teacup down rather abruptly, shattering any further image of his ostentation.
"Very well, Daidouji-san."
With a wave of his hand, the table, both scones and tea disappeared; the fire was extinguished, and the only person left with a trace of the former flamboyance was Hiiragizawa, a teacup in his hand, sat on his 'Throne of Evil' (named quite appropriately by Akizuki-san). All the rest were left on their feet, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Li-kun, noted Tomoyo, with the slightest hint of strange satisfaction, was looking ready to set a savage pack of mutant ninja yetis onto Hiiragizawa-kun, ripping him up into tiny pieces, just the right size for skewering upon a shish kebab, to be slowly roasted on an open fire. Kero-chan on the other hand was scowling slightly.
"You could have left me a scone, you know."
He was ignored.
"Now everybody; there are a few more details to the curse that you need to know."
Hiiragizawa-kun's gaze lingered upon Tomoyo.
"It won't last for very long, at the most ten days, since such a powerful spell will be exhausted rapidly."
He momentarily paused to take a sip of his tea.
"Nonetheless, the power of the spell will override your emotions, and even your best judgement will be clouded."
Touya-san, as Tomoyo had predicted, was growing tiresome.
"We already know this, baka. Tell us something useful here."
Hiiragizawa-kun mock-bowed as best he could (as best as one could; seated on a large chair with a scalding beverage in one's hand).
"As you wish, Kinomoto-san."
Taking on a more business tone, he (along with Tomoyo) didn't fail to notice Kero-chan and Spinel Sun edging up underneath his antique rosewood table. Letting them proceed with their jaunt, the magician continued.
"The spell was designed to activate once the bewitched were unconscious. However, over time the enchantment has grown frayed, and gathering from this, it seems that it has slowly started to take effect, regardless of your state of conscious or not."
He paused once more to blow on his tea.
"Being a hypothesis, I would not judge it totally accurate. The spell will affect us at different speeds, so please be prepared for some mood swings."
It seemed, thought Tomoyo, a small part of her mind wanting to smash Hiiragizawa-kun's face in, that Hiiragizawa-kun called them around to let them suffer with him and Akizuki-san (well, not technically. Akizuki-san had screamed at the prospect of Touya-san changing in any way, shape or form, and had promptly proceeded to follow him around like a devoted dog to her master for the rest of the afternoon).
"Hiiragizawa-kun," said Tomoyo mildly. "Please get to the real point. Why exactly did you invite us around?"
Taking a long draught of his hot drink, the questioned stared at the questioner.
"Daidouji-san," he said meaningfully.
"That was the point."
She pursed her lips. Was it possible that a hidden Sin (most likely the 'Stupid' Sin, if such a thing existed), had affected Hiiragizawa-kun?
"I see," she said tightly, and swept out of the room. Sakura looked rather shocked at Tomoyo's behaviour.
"Tomoyo-chan! Wait up!"
Stumbling after her, she crashed into the coffee table, knocking something off it. Picking it up and placing it haphazardly back on the table; she yelled offhandedly
"Sayonara minna-san!"
The Card Mistress then ran out of the area in a hurry. Syaoran paused long enough to yell a rapid, angry stream of Mandarin sacrilege to Eriol, and then stormed out after his friends, knocking the same something off the table. Touya paused long enough to say something along similar lines to Eriol, this time in Japanese. Yukito was the last to go. With a quiet 'goodbye', he exited, followed by an enthusiastic Nakuru. The living room was now eerily quiet. Groaning slightly, Eriol rubbed his temples with a single finger and thumb, wondering just how he had come into possession of that infernal box. "Spinel," called Eriol, rising up from his throne. "What were you and Kero-chan doing underneath the table…"
He did not receive an answer from Spinel Sun, but rather by Kero, if a fearful pointing in a particular direction was any indication of a given response. What little colour that was left in Eriol's face drained away little by little, as he caught sight of a navy blue corkscrewed tail-
-Peeping out from under the box…the same box that had held the curse of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Damn.
--
The day dawned bright and early, as the first rays of sunlight peeped through the slit in Tsukishiro Yukito's curtains. Getting out of bed at the crack of dawn was not a favoured thing, but it had to be done. Being the false form of a very powerful magical creature did nothing to dispose of the fact that Tsukishiro Yukito had school on a Monday morning.
From there on should have followed the usual routine. Bathroom, kitchen (it was one of those rare nights that Yukito had his grandparent's house to himself, and wasn't sleeping over at the Kinomoto's), and then bedroom, to get dressed and to retrieve his backpack. This routine was followed, except for one slight variation. He just couldn't stop his fetish for shiny objects that morning. Everywhere he went, there seemed to be something shiny, and… reflective. It was at this moment that Yukito realised that something was seriously wrong with himself. How could he have been so stupid?
'Yue-san', thought Yukito mentally to his 'other self'.
'What?' said Yue irritably, not the merriest morning person.
Yukito took a deep breath. It was not every day that he asked his alter ego something like this.
'Have you got any cologne on you?'
There came a brief silence. Which was not to last.
'Sure,' replied Yue dryly.
'I always keep some with me in here'.
"Well you're a big help," responded Yukito out loud. He could just feel his counterpart smirking at him, wherever he was. Yukito sighed, then absent-mindedly took his glasses off and polished them. Replacing them on his face, he had an idea.
Perhaps I could pop round to To-ya's. He might have some…
Whistling a slight tune as he made his way to the Kinomoto's, Yukito found himself looking forward to school that day, for some strange reason. Oh yes, he remembered. The university had asked him to try out for their basketball team. Not having the heart to say no, Yukito figured he'd play, and do exceptionally bad, so they wouldn't pick him. Interestingly enough, he couldn't wait to try out, and show off what talent he had…but before he could lay a knuckle onto the door of the Kinomoto's, it opened by it's own accord. Or rather, a frustrated and primal-looking Touya opened the door.
"Ohayo To-ya," said Yukito pleasantly.
"I was just wondering if I could borrow some-"
Touya, on the other hand, didn't seem to be acquainted with the customary greeting system.
"Hai, hai, whatever Yuki. Listen; have you got any food on you? I'm so hungry. I bet I could even eat more than you!"
Normally, Yukito wouldn't be bothered with Touya's bluntness. But today he felt slightly miffed by the impatient waving aside, and the slander to his (almost legendary) eating customs.
"I don't generally carry food around with me, except my lunch," offered Yukito coolly.
"Yeah, that'll do," spoke Touya eagerly, a little too much so. One might have compared him to an overly enthusiastic puppy, waiting dinner.
"Sorry, that is for me. Why don't you go and eat in your own home?"
Yukito, rather ironically, stressed this point to the maximum. Sadly, this rare (almost non-existent) act of annoyance was lost on the starving man in front of him.
"Well, you see… I kinda ate all that's left in the house…"
Touya didn't seem all that ashamed of himself; he was too busy staring as hard as he could at Yukito's backpack, willing his gaze to burn holes through it.
"So, is that a yes?"
"Sorry, it's mine."
"Oh, never mind. I'll just get something to eat later."
The following walk to school was one of the quietest Yukito had ever experienced. Quiet, in the meaning lack of conversation. Touya's stomach was more than making up for it.
"To-ya," said Yukito through gritted teeth.
"Would you please make your stomach be silent?"
The askedthen objected.
"I can't tell my stomach what to do. I swear, it has a mind of its' own now."
Yukito snorted and they continued on their way to Tomoeda University.
"Hoooeee! I'm late!"
"Again," added Kero, a tad unnecessarily. His Mistress had once again, knocked her alarm clock off of her dresser, and effectively reduced it to nothing more than cogs, coils, and the occasional screw. Sakura had long since given up on Kero waking her up (he overslept even longer than she did), and as a result, was even later than usual. Floating out of his bed, he surveyed the scene above him. Sakura was busy tearing her room apart, looking for her book bag.
"I know I left it here on Friday!"
"Maybe it moved," said Kero unhelpfully, and was then rewarded with a smack in the face.
"Hey," he muttered darkly.
"I'm only trying to help…"
"Well you're not doing a very good job!"
She ran into the bathroom, uniform slightly rumpled. The small guardian rolled his eyes.
"Fine, fine, I'll help."
Drifting towards the pile of dirty laundry at the foot of her bed, he kicked a sock off the top of the pile. "It's not under here," he called out. Not receiving a response, Kero decided to go back to bed. Settling in under the covers, the little guardian caught sight of the Clow Card Change at the top of the stack.
'Hmm… wasn't there something big going on recently?'
Kero thought about this a bit more.
"Aha!"
Zooming out of the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen, he flew in just in time for breakfast.
"I knew I forgot to try out Fujitaka-san's new pancake recipe!"
And that, thought Sakura, once she entered the kitchen, and heard Kero's scream of horror when he discovered that Touya had eaten everything in sight, was living proof of the greediness of her guardian.
--
Kinomoto Touya was annoyed. Not just annoyed, however. Downright pissed was a better descriptive phrase. His normally calm and cheerful best friend had become an irritating and self-absorbed… freak. The simplest compliment of 'Wow, you're so good at basketball', was not duly received with a smile, and perhaps a 'thanks', but rather with a long and monotonous lecture on 'how he wasn't really all that good, and he was just lucky, and oh-to-hell-with-the-nice-act, I was damn good out there.' Touya thought that if Yukito were glomped one more time by a member of the female species (or male, at that), he would throw up (and probably on said bighead).
"To-ya," said Yukito with a nauseatingly bright smile that would have put a toothpaste advertisement to shame.
"Yes, Yukito?" replied Touya through gritted teeth.
"I was just wondering if you had any food left?"
Touya calmly got up, and walked out of his chemistry class. Five minutes later he came back with the local okonomiyaki restaurant's number.
"Knock yourself out."
And the ironic thing was that he meant it.
--
"You think he's dead!"
"No, he's fallen asleep on his lunch. If I'm not mistaken, his face is in it."
"Well, if the bacteria in this school's food hasn't killed him, the fact that you can't breathe in tomato soup might just do."
"Huh?"
Syaoran had just awoken from his nap, his face an orangey-red. Whether it was the combined mixture of soup and blushing, Sakura wasn't sure. But what she was sure about was the attention Syaoran was getting. And she didn't like it one bit.
"Hey, Tomoyo-chan,"
Sakura nudged her best friend.
"What?" she said waspishly.
"Why is Syaoran-kun getting so much attention?"
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Tomoyo replied "Sakura-chan, it's because of the soup on his face."
"Hoe?"
Tomoyo breathed sharply through her nose.
"Forget it."
Continuing in a much lower tone, she muttered "It's nothing you'd understand anyway…"
Sakura stood up suddenly, and flung aside her spoon.
"So you think you're so much better than me, Daidouji? That you know everything? That you have everything? Well let me tell you, you have nothing I want, nothing!"
Tomoyo's eye twitched involuntarily. Sakura's behaviour was seriously starting to play on her nerves. Oh how she wanted to stoop to her level, and tip her lukewarm bowl of soup right over her pretty little head. But no, the manners her okaa-san had so forcefully taught her instructed Tomoyo to not rip Sakura's head off savagely (meat cleavers would be involved; those incompetent chefs had to be good for something), but to discuss this calmly, rationally, and politely.
"Look here, Kinomoto."
So much for calmly, rationally and politely.
"I am full up to here-"
Tomoyo raised her hand to her eyebrows
"-of your whiney, greedy attitude. So what if Li-kun is getting more attention than you? So what if I have three limos, a mansion, holiday homes in all the branches of the company, enough servants for the Queen of England, personal bodyguards-"
Here Tomoyo had to take a breath
"-, and considerably better maths skills than you. The point is that you shouldn't be so damn greedy!"
Sakura was spluttering with rage. Red in the face, she pointed a (slightly shaking) finger at Tomoyo.
"You take that back! I don't want advice from you! I don't want anything from you! You have-"
"Nothing," finished Tomoyo in a deadpanned tone, lounging back in her chair whilst idly playing with her knife.
"I know. Get a new argument, will you?" She started at her nails, apparently not paying the slightest bit of attention to Sakura.
"Why you little-!"
Sakura stared around at the people in the canteen, as if rallying for support. And blinked. By now she had attracted a large crowd, ironically what she had wanted just a few moments previously. Tomoyo wanted nothing of the sort, and instead jabbed Sakura with the blunt end of her fork.
"You got your attention, now sit down and shut up."
"Nani…"
Seemingly flustered, Sakura looked confoundedly at the dozen or so people, milling around their table, and at the good portion who were among those (more discreetly, but still so) watching her, Tomoyo and Syaoran.
"Ah… minna-san. Er… what's going on?"
Eriol, with not a little satisfaction, saw Syaoran glaring daggers at a select fifty per cent (XY chromosomed) of the accumulated crowd. The effect was somewhat subdued, as accessorising tomato soup does not a menace make.
"Xiao Lang," said Eriol, biting back laughter. One would have awarded Syaoran with a medal for effort at that point. A glare from a boy threatening to fall asleep, sporting half-lidded, tired eyes was not the best on the charts. The result was laughable. Suppressing a smile, Eriol indicated the soup on Syaoran's face. Flushing darkly, Syaoran snatched away the proffered napkin and mopped his face up.
"Now," said Eriol not tearing his gaze away from the two squabbling girls.
"I suggest we watch the show."
--
"TOUYA-KUN!"
This, thought Touya, had to be the best thing that had happened to him today. Lunch was a fiasco, categorized by the evidence that Yukito had taken it upon himself to organise an eating contest (which was, in actual fact, a thinly disguised attempt to prove to Touya that he could eat the most food). Yukito had not been happy when he had been thoroughly trashed, and had insisted on not one, but four rematches. It was not so much the challenge (Touya had enjoyed the food; unlike the cooks at Seijou High School, the cooks here could actually cook), but the nature of their previous conversation, and how that had led to a very spirited eating contest. It had been mainly a bout of steadily intensifying insults ("Conceited." "Pig." "Midget." "Overgrown giant." "Four-eyes." "Greedy, fat, spiky-haired freak."), some subtle, some not so subtle. The last straw for Touya came when Yukito told him he ate enough food to feed a starving nation (How exactly was it Touya's fault that the lunch portions were so small that it took thirty-seven of them, and order-out pizza to stop him from perishing from malnutrition?).
Touya rubbed his growling stomach thoughtfully. Pizza had never tasted so good, and he wasn't one for foreign foods. Grimacing, he wondered if 'accidentally' pouring blue food colouring (or something that had the same effect as food colouring; Touya didn't bother to read the label on the bottle in Chemistry class) in Yukito's hair was sufficient punishment for the starving nations comment. Oh well, that didn't matter now. What mattered was finding out what Akizuki wanted, and then getting rid of her. Possibly finding out if she had any rare steak on her somewhere in the middle of that.
"Touya-kun!" she yelled again, flouncing down besides him, leaning against a tree. Receiving no response, she waved her hand experimentally in his face. He tried to swat her away, and glowered mulishly when she persisted.
"Touya-kun, what's wrong?"
"Well, my oh-so dear friend, Yukito, has transformed into an arrogant fool, thinks he's better than me, and my stomach's turned into a black hole. Now go away."
Nakuru shook her head sadly.
"Poor, poor Touya-kun. Whatever shall we do?"
"'We'?"
Touya looked at her suspiciously.
"What do you mean, 'we'?"
"Well," she began. "You're my friend, aren't you? And I never liked Tsukishiro-kun much anyways. And-"
At this point she sidled up to Touya.
"-he has something I want."
Touya jerked back.
"So you're in this for yourself, ne? I should have known. How the hell will that benefit me or my stomach?"
He didn't seem to realise how the last part of his sentence came out.
"That's where I come in," she said quickly, thinking fast.
"If we work together, you can get revenge, and I-"
"Can get what you want? Which is what, exactly?"
"Oh, you know." Nakuru waved her hand in (what would seem to be) a light-hearted manner, as if saying 'It's nothing to worry about, now run along and let Nakuru take care of things'. Touya wasn't convinced, but decided to let the issue rest for the time being.
"Alright," he said finally.
"What's your plan?"
Nakuru finally allowed a hint of an evil smile to cross her features.
"Listen closely. I'm only going to say this once."
Nakuru stopped leaning towards Touya and considered what she had just said.
"Well, maybe more than once. Genius shouldn't be silenced after all, ne?"
"Tsukishiro-kun! Wait up!"
Yukito was suddenly knocked off balance, as Nakuru had just glomped him.
"Can't… breathe…" choked out the strangled; glasses askew; blinded as well as asphyxiated.
"Whoops! Gomen, Tsukishiro-kun!" Nakuru jumped off, with a high giggle.
"It's quite all right," muttered Yukito, replacing his glasses, while Nakuru simply beamed.
"Great! Well anyways… now that I've run into you…"
She shot him a side-ways glance.
"Whatever you want, iie."
"Hey, get back here!"
Running to catch up to him (he had taken the opportunity to stride off), she fell in step.
"What makes you think I want something?"
Yukito almost snorted, then thought better of it and changed it to a roll of the eyes.
"The last time you followed someone, glomped then, and pretended to like them, you were after something."
"Oh come on, Touya-kun got over that years ago."
"He doesn't talk for at least an hour after hearing what you've been up to! On O-bon he was convinced that you'd set the dead soul of Clow Reed-san on him. And it's supposed to be a peaceful festival! Not to mention that that last letter you sent him freaked me out!"
"The one about how kawaii he is, and how he's mine?"
"No, the one about how he would become yours, gruesomely murder me with a hacksaw and blunt spoon, then comfort a broken Touya."
Nakuru scowled.
"They're practically the same letter! And Eriol said that they were romantic after I showed then to him."
"And yet, I recall him writing Sakura-san and explaining Halloween to her. Then she got the message wrong, and told Touya Kami-knows-what about what you did for Halloween two years ago!"
"A misunderstanding, I'm sure."
Yukito threw his hands up in despair. Trying to have an intelligent conversation with the other guardian was like trying to eat anmitsu with chopsticks – messy, pointless, and hardly worth the effort in the first place. There were far easier ways to achieve results.
"Whatever! The point is, whatever you want, I'm not giving it to you!"
Such as flat-out refusing her.
"You poor misguided man. I want to talk to Yue!"
Yukito recoiled as if he had been slapped.
"Yue-san!"
Nakuru nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Hai, Yue."
"Not-"
"Not you."
"Why not?"
An unexpected snag, but she could work around that.
"Well, Tsukishiro-kun, I don't know how to put this in the kindest way possible…"
"Has he got something I haven't? Is he…"
Yukito seemed loath to continue the sentence.
"Better than you?" Nakuru supplied helpfully.
"Yes! I mean, no he isn't!"
"Of course he isn't," said Nakuru sympathetically, her eyes betraying her words. Yukito didn't notice; too busy pacing around in circles, too busy wringing his hands, and talking to himself. Nakuru leaned closer to try and hear those words.
"Can't be… not happening… impossible… the best…"
"Tsukishiro-kun?"
Yukito jumped; there she was, right behind him.
"Nani?" he said waspishly. He was trying to think of a way to beat Yue, but so far zilch (but then again, he had only been thinking for about three seconds). Nakuru smiled. Yukito wasn't quite sure how to describe that smile. He settled for mysterious (it was better than carnivorous).
"I think I may know how to help you."
"Ikaga?" Yukito was all ears.
"It's really quite simple, I'm surprised you haven't thought of it yet."
"Go on," said Yukito through gritted teeth; was she saying he was stupid?
Nakuru linked their arms, and started strolling down the path to their next lesson.
"It goes like this…"
--
"Remind me again why I have an ice pack."
The nurse at Seijou High School was not by nature a particularly nosey person. Yet, to the average nurse, it is rather intriguing when the skull of a student (being man-handled by another student) is banged upon your office door.
"Because you actually thought you could stop a fight between Tomoyo-chan and me."
They had proceeded to pillage and plunder the nurses' cupboards, in search of ice packs (and for a nasty looking cut; some antiseptic cream).
"I did."
Following a glare from a boy, who had strange red stains on his hands and uniform (the nurse sincerely hoped it wasn't blood), she promptly exited the room.
"Without being injured."
Being kicked out of her office, and made to wait outside in the corridor left her with little else to do.
"Oh."
One option would be to find the headmaster and complain about this degrading treatment.
"Still, you got your attention."
The other would be to eavesdrop.
"And I got hit in the face with a chair."
Crouched down, with her ear against the keyhole, the nurse could hear every word being said.
"You've had it coming for years."
Really, she thought. Was this sort of thing going on in every school?
"Cute, real cute, Li-kun."
Did students regularly hit each other in the faces with chairs?
"But really, Hiiragizawa-kun, was it my fault that I kicked the chair out from under Sakura-chan, and you happened to be doing your shoelace?"
So this Hiiragizawa was involved. He was that new transfer student from England. Polite, quiet, intelligent, and his Japanese was impeccable.
"Hiiragizawa wasn't doing his shoelace, Daidouji-san."
Hmmm…
"What do you mean, Li-kun?"
This sounded awfully familiar to the nurse.
"Did you really not notice?"
In her day, there was the one boy. He was always 'tying his shoelace'.
"No, what was Hiiragizawa-kun doing?"
But in reality-
"He was looking up your skirt."
It was always the quiet ones.
"He was WHAT!"
Now the Hiiragizawa boy would need two ice packs.
"Need help, Daidouji?"
Make that three.
--
Over by Tomoeda University, Yukito's day was definitely getting better. Not only had he made it onto the basketball team (Yukito's skill and charm more than countered the one fact that he was vertically challenged), he had beaten Touya at their most recent maths test.
"Konichiwa, Katuame-chan," said Yukito, seeing one of his classmates in the paved courtyard. He even slipped in a wink for good measure. It seemed to have an effect, judging from the giggle.
"No need for such formalities, ne? Why don't you just call me Chitima?"
Yuktio grinned. Score!
"Mochiron. But you have to call me Yukito."
"Doukan."
Followed by another tinkling laugh. To Yukito, it was music to his ears (giggling – a sure sign of popularity), but to the two individuals currently residing behind the fake bush in the shadow of the trees, it was revolting.
"Did you hear that?" Touya was fuming.
"Calm down." Nakuru was uncomfortable. Bushes weren't, on the whole, the cosiest of places to reside (even disregarding the branches jabbing into her). And if they made too much noise, Yukito would notice them. There weren't that many giant, roaming, speaking shrubs in the university's courtyard, at any rate.
"Calm down? That girl's a total airhead. It's sickening. How can you watch it?"
With great pleasure (but Nakuru didn't say that).
"Come on, it's vital to the plan. Just go with it. If my calculations are correct, the effects should begin…"
"Yukito-san?"
"-Now. So sit back and enjoy the show."
Touya was mostly thinking about his stomach, and how shows normally went hand in hand together with food.
"Yes, Chitima-san?"
"I was wondering if you would mind helping out with the play that my class is doing? If it isn't too much trouble…"
Inside, Yukito swelled. A play! Plays equalled publicity.
"Of course I'll be in it! But why me?"
(Yukito didn't actually care why; he just liked to hear how brilliant and talented he was)
"Well, I got a tip from someone that you're good at archery."
Nakuru mouthed, "That was me!" to Touya, who was more interested in glaring at the girl.
"Oh, really? Who was it?" 'I can do my own advertising…'
Oh really now? Came an inner voice snidely.
"Not now Yue," whispered Yukito to himself.
"Pardon me?" asked Chitima, rather perplexed. Was Yukito-san just talking to himself?
"Nothing, nothing!"
I'm nothing now, am I? Your words hurt me so.
"Quiet!"
Yukito hissed out the word. Chitima looked startled.
"Is everything alright? I can come back later if you want…"
Yukito was alarmed. "No, stay! I was just – er – swatting a mosquito?" He waved his arm pathetically in the air.
"Right then… Ok, you'll get your script soon, and learn the lines. I'll tell you later when rehearsal's on."
Yukito hid a sigh of relief. He'd almost scared her off (and that, he acknowledged, would be extremely bad for his reputation) thanks to his stupid, annoying, nosey other half.
Ungrateful, aren't you?
"Get lost!"
Yukito couldn't help yelling. Chitima was affronted.
"Fine then! I'll just get Ayume-chan to deliver it then!"
"No, wait!"
Yukito ran forward a few steps, stretching his arm out theatrically towards Chitima's retreating figure. His shoulders slumped. All was quiet. Then –
"YOU'RE GOING DOWN, YUE!"
Touya was staring at Yukito. Rather astounded at what just happened, he turned to face Nakuru. "Did you know that would happen?"
"Actually, it turned out much better than expected."
Touya had a slightly nagging voice in the back of his head. "How much better?"
Nakuru grinned, baring (inadvertently, sincerely hoped Touya) all teeth.
"He's still alive."
This sort of topic made him want to change the topic. Rapidly.
"I'm hungry." Touya winced as soon as he said that.
As expected, Nakuru glared at him. "Was that part of the question, or related to it?"
"Gomen, it just slipped out. I meant to ask : what's the next part of the plan -"
"Good, nice to know that you're keeping on -"
"- and can I go get food?"
"- track." Nakuru narrowed her eyes at Touya. The effect was immediate.
"Go –"
Nakuru rolled her eyes.
"I know, 'gomen'. Now, we've wasted enough time following Tsukishiro-kun; we're gonna be late to History. We can get Phase Three completed at fifteen hundred hours."
Touya was sceptical.
"Since when did we switch to army times?"
She shot him a warning look that clearly said 'Stop questioning me. You will lose limbs in the process.'
"Hai, hai, I've stopped questioning. But-"
He said, indicating wildly around him.
"Can we get out of this bush?"
--
Over at Seijou High School, the concentration in the afternoon classes weren't the best that they could have been.
"Wake up Li!"
"Nan-?"
Syaoran awoke to find his face plastered to his exercise book. Feeling his cheeks grow warm, he peeled the book from his left jaw, ignoring the titters circulating the room.
"Gomen nasai, Horokai-sensei," he muttered. Horokai was not impressed.
"Second time this lesson that you've nodded off."
"Gomen, sensei," reiterated Syaoran. Staring at him for a long, hard moment, Horokai wondered about the new transfer student. He came from a wealthy family in Hong Kong, had good grades, and was a hard worker. But here he was, falling asleep in her maths lesson!
"That's not good enough, Li. I've never heard of jet lag lasting for three weeks! Don't you understand calculus?"
Syaoran flushed even hotter. What was he supposed to say? That yes, he understood calculus perfectly; he just happened to be part of a group under an ancient curse (his part conveniently turning him into a humanized sloth), and it would last for a whole freakin' week?
Perhaps not.
"Hai, sensei, I did it in Hong Kong."
Satisfied, she crossed her arms, an act which told Syaoran that she wasn't pleased with him, and was about to say something –
"Well then, if you know so much about calculus, and think that you don't have to pay attention to my lesson, then you can do pages three hundred and forty seven to three hundred and fifty one as homework. Have it in by next lesson."
She smiled, a rather poisonous one, thought Syaoran, and efficiently put a damper on his evenings. Scowling slightly he watched dust particles in the air, whilst trying to tune out a boring monologue on 'how x equals y and fifty ways you can prove this'. How could that teacher not except him to fall asleep during this?
--
Far away in the back row, Eriol nudged Tomoyo. She nudged him back, and whispered harshly "Stop nudging me!"
Eriol pasted a sorrowful expression on his face. "My dear Daidouji-san. This is the first time I've nudged you during this lesson."
Suppressing herself from maiming that annoyingly correct face (this was the first time he had touched her in this lesson; he had done plenty of poking in Physics the lesson before), she grabbed his (extending) finger and bit it. Hard.
"Do not," she hissed, dropping the wounded finger. "Do not touch me again."
Ignoring Eriol cradling his hand, Tomoyo bent her head down and continued with her work, stabbing the paper viciously.
--
Eriol was getting annoyed. His attempts to get Tomoyo to notice him (correction; make out with him) were failing miserably. Not only did he gain several painful admonishments, he had been caught day-dreaming more than once; thankfully it was not members of staff who brought him back to earth, but rather his classmates (who were somewhat more understanding).
Eriol squirmed uncomfortably. If they had known what he had been day-dreaming about…
Daidouji-san was, after all, a very attractive young lady (as veritable amounts of the male population could quite comfortably account for), who, in time, would become a very beautiful woman.
One did not have to possess powers of foresight to predict that.
It didn't hurt that she was the daughter of the president of a very wealthy company, and was intelligent as well as vocally talented. All in all, a very nice package. Not counting the obvious snag.
That she was totally, utterly, and hopelessly in love with Kinomoto Sakura, and had been for over seven years.
But, said the tiny, pestering voice inside his head (the one that could take credit for the now-irate Daidouji-san), Xiao Lang had come back for Sakura-san, leaving one Daidouji Tomoyo heartbroken. Though she refused to show it.
Now, if only he could gain her trust…
Eriol's scheming mind dreamed of the possibilities – right in the middle of his maths class.
It was this sort of this that could (and would) land him in detention on Wednesday after school. Horokai-sensei had had, after all, enough of students drifting off in her lesson, and snapped.
At least Eriol managed to take Tomoyo down as well. Apparently she didn't take too kindly to a drooling Eriol. And the teacher didn't appreciate pupils attempting to castrate one another with pairs of compasses.
Eriol would, in the future, count himself extremely lucky that he had the sense to jump out of the way (two inches to the left, and he would never procreate. Ever); unfortunately not far away enough. He would have a nice scar to show off in P.E. (when the would healed, of course).
Tomoyo felt that by the end of the Wednesday detention she would be mentally scarred
Joy.
The plans were working perfectly. The chips were down, the die was cast, the sake was drunk.
Whatever that meant. Nakuru read it in a book once, and thought it sounded good. Chips and sake, what more could she want?
Risking a peek at Yukito over the top of her textbook, she held in a delighted squeal. The expressions on his face were changing at a rapid speed, with no visible stimulant. To a casual observer, it would look as though Yukito was having a vicious internal battle. To Nakuru, it looked as thought Yukito was having a vicious internal battle, with another part of himself. And losing badly.
Nakuru felt her eyes watering. She concluded it was from pent up laughter. Wiping her eyes quickly on her sleeve, she returned her attention to Kimura-sensei.
"And class, Rome was not built in a day…"
You think?
Thought Nakuru cattily. This was boring…a sudden burst of inspiration filled her head. Quietly ripping a piece of paper from her exercise book, Nakuru scribbled a message. Glancing around to make sure Kimura-sensei wasn't watching (he was droning on about seven kings to a quite uninterested class), she passed it along, with a quiet whisper as to whom was the recipient. Leaning back in her chair, she waited for the fun to start.
--
"No, Kinomoto! The wood is not for eating!"
Touya ignored Hokute-sensei. What did he know about the use of birch wood anyways? Chewing thoughtfully, Touya didn't see the majority of the class backing away. The very small minority (most of whom were girls, had had some sort of romantic interest in Touya at some part in their lives, and weren't too bright) were eyeing their pieces of wood with more than professional interest.
"Er… Kinomoto?" Hokute-sensei looked genuinely concerned for his student now.
Still his words remained as ineffective as they were five minutes ago. The whole class was now transfixed upon Touya, watching him plough his way through the moderately sized, hard, wooden planks of wood. He resembled a large beaver, but not enjoying the wood. It was, on the whole, quite tasteless, but Touya was so famished that in order to prevent his stomach from dissolving and absorbing itself, he had to fill it somehow. Woe betide anyone that would stop him chewing. The people in the room, stared on, transfixed. Then –
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
Even Touya dropped his wood to stare at the door, the source of the outburst. Or, more accurately, what was now stood in the doorway. Whispers went around the classroom.
"What's up with him?"
"Is he alright?"
"Is this a joke?"
"Has he been drinking?"
"What's in his hands?"
Yukito stormed in, eyes wild and unfocused, hair in disarray, his whole body trembling. For a few seconds he roamed around frantically, as if searching for an answer, his gaze never resting on the same thing for more tan a split second. Whilst he did so, the room quietened down, ever so gradually, until it was filled with a silence so fragile, it might break if anything more than Yukito's breathing imposed upon it.
And them, as if it was planned by the most sadistic god of them all, Yukito crumpled, and fell to his knees.
The silence was broken.
--
"So tragic…"
"Who knew that could happen to someone so young?"
"Someone so young…"
"Someone so cute."
Murmurs akin to these filled the air, as Eriol, Syaoran, Sakura and Tomoyo, plus the rest of the school made their way home. Sakura was intrigued.
"What do you think happened?"
Tomoyo snorted, apparently uninterested. "Who cares? Death, destruction… it's all part of life anyways, isn't it?"
Sakura still seemed to have qualms. "Still," she argued. "We should go and check it out."
Eriol shrugged. "Why don't you go and ask somebody, Sakura-san."
"Alright." Sakura caught sight of Naoko, and ran up to her.
"Konnichiwa, Sakura-chan," greeted Naoko enthusiastically. "What's up?"
Sakura asked her "What's everybody talking about? Did something bad happen?"
Naoko's expression changed from a cheerful one to a solemn one. "Haven't you heard?"
And she prepared to fill Sakura in on the details.
--
"What's taking her so long?" complained Syaoran. "I have to go home and make dinner tonight."
"Have patience, Xiao Lang," Eriol said sagely. "Good things come to those who wait."
He shot half a glance at Tomoyo whilst saying this. Unnerved and wary, Tomoyo stepped smartly away from Eriol's outstretched hand (which, miraculously, seemed to have healed itself, and was threatening to fall upon her derrière), and next to Syaoran's left hand side, protecting her from Eriol. Somehow, she felt slightly safer with a large, strong, Chinese swordsman (who happened to despise Eriol) between herself and a pervert. For the time being, at any rate.
Sakura chose a very good time to interrupt the beginnings of a fight.
"Everybody," she said sombrely. "There's bad news."
Tomoyo, Eriol and Syaoran waited for her to drop the bomb. And drop it she did.
"Yukito-san has been taken to Tomoeda Asylum."
A/N:- Well, there's the second chapter. Review, as always. Special thanks to Houzoua, my brand new shiney beta, and Lau-kun, for being Lau-kun.
One more thing. If you have not got an account, but you have a question and would like it answered, please leave an email address. If you are going to send me anonymous death threats, be aware that that does not, in fact, make me update faster. I have currently posted comments to anonymous reivews on my profile, which will be removed in a week or so.
Yours until vampires turn vegetarian,
.:VampirePeaches:.