Disclaimer: I do not own Card captor Sakura.
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The Groom
Chapter Two
The Madman's Madhouse
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"Welcome to your new home." said a grinning Eriol standing in front of the wide doors opening his immense Victorian style mansion.
"What are you waiting for? Just open the door god, damn it! These luggage are heavy you know." cussed Syaoran behind the mountain of luggage he was carrying.
"Maa maa my cute little descendant, don't be so hasty." chuckled an untroubled Eriol.
"Easy for you to say, you're not the one carrying all the weight. Hey! Why aren't you the one carrying all the weight? I am a guest after all." barked Syaoran angrily.
Unfortunately for him, Eriol took absolutely no notice in his previous comment.
"I just wanted to warn you about—"attempted Eriol before being interrupted by the doors suddenly opening.
"ERIIIIOOOOOOLLLL-SAMAAAAA!" cried a figure as it leaped out of the mansion onto the overcharged Syaoran. Syaoran fell on the pavement in a heavy thump and a very suspicious snap, his cargo piling all over him.
"—Nakuru." finished Eriol a little too late.
"Eh?" exclaimed a confused Nakuru looking up at Eriol and down at the person she had just knocked over. She deliberately chose to ignore the person on the ground and ran towards her master lifting dust.
"Eriol-sama! I knew it was you! How was the wedding? How was Japan? Mouuu Eriol-sama! Leaving like that without telling me! That's so meaaann Eriol-sama!" shrieked Nakuru beating fists in the air. Eriol smiled, impassive to Nakuru's hysterical behaviour, before walking to Syaoran's corpse buried under a mountain of luggage.
"Daijoubu ka Syaoran-kun?" asked Eriol bending forward.
"Oww…" answered Syaoran immerging from the pile.
"Reeeehhh! What are you doing down there Syaoran-tan?" asked Nakuru playing innocent.
"It's Syaoran." Syaoran glared. "I think I broke something…" he said wincing. He lifted his right hand to get a clear view of his very swollen and extremely broken wrist.
"Aaahh! You should really be careful hurting yourself on your own like that! It's very dangerous for your health Syaoran-pin." said Nakuru awing at the wound.
"It's Syaoran!" replied Syaoran eyebrow twitching.
"Nakuru, have Spinel carry the luggage inside and get Syaoran some ice for that wrist." ordered Eriol. Nakuru nodded energically and disappeared into the mansion.
Eriol held out a hand offering some help to get Syaoran up. The little wolf hesitated for an instant before taking Eriol's hand in his. With surprising ease, Eriol pulled his cute little descendant out of the piled luggage holding on to his waist so he wouldn't fall back. Their faces were so close, their nose were touching. They stood in that position until Syaoran actually realized the proximity and blushing, roughly pushed Eriol back with his broken wrist.
"OW!" yelped Syaoran at the sharp pain in his hand.
"Are you ok?" asked Eriol slightly showing concern, he reached for Syaoran's shoulder.
"I'm... I'm fine." answered Syaoran brushing Eriol's hand off his shoulder while carefully avoiding making eye contact as he could still feel the heat burning in his cheeks.
'Well…That's a fine start for things.' thought Syaoran when they entered through the door of Eriol's mysterious residence.
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Once entering Eriol's mansion, Syaoran expected a sober décor to match Eriol's classy taste and calm attitude but Eriol's home was nothing like that.
Syaoran stood gaping in the entrance, staring at the most unusual living room he had ever seen. The color was bright yellow and absolutely didn't match the blue furniture. Some lamp seemed glued to the ceiling and there was a live cow grazing the carpet.
Syaoran turned around to recover from the shock, supporting himself with the doorknob. Somehow, this place just didn't seem right…
Eriol had a small laugh at Syaoran's shock.
"Kaho decorated it." he said simply. "Come, we have to take care of that wound of yours." he added leading Syaoran to the kitchen.
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The kitchen itself was no better. It was some sort of weird crossover between an actual kitchen and a bathroom.
"Please, pull yourself a chair." said Eriol as though everything was perfectly normal. He was pointing at a round table surrounded by four toilet bowls.
Syaoran was absolutely disconcerted, really not knowing how to respond to the situation. How could Eriol behave like everything was normal? 'Well… Maybe all English households are like this.' Syaoran finally thought naively.
After all, what did he know really?
Eriol then approached carrying a first aid kit he took from under the sink and pulled himself a toilet bowl.
"Now, show me that wrist." asked Eriol emptying the kit on the table and taking Syaoran's wrist in his hand. He touched the redness on Syaoran's wrist, trying to feel where the swollen was deepest. Syaoran winced under his touch.
"You know my cute little descendant; I know the best remedy for these kinds of wounds. It works wonders really." said Eriol without removing his eyes from Syaoran's wrist.
Syaoran glared at the nickname but eyed Eriol curiously.
"'Oh? And what may that be' he asks. " said Eriol in Syaoran's place.
The mage smirked and slowly lowered his head to Syaoran's bruise, kissing the wound. Syaoran's eyes widened, he couldn't help but notice the quivers that ran up his arm as he felt Eriol's smooth lips on his skin. Furthermore, the pain and bruise on his hand disappeared with the feel of Eriol's lips.
"How… How did you do that?" asked the bewildered little wolf.
"Which? The quivers or the bruise?" replied Eriol, eyes glinting with mischief.
Syaoran's face turned a bright shade of purple but before he could reply, Nakuru appeared in the doorframe holding a sac of ice. You could wonder where she got that ice from if not in the kitchen…
"HEEEHH? What do you mean you don't need the ice anymore? Why did I go all the way to get ice if you didn't even intend to use it Eriiioolll-ssaammmaaaa!" shrieked Nakuru.
"It was your punishment for hurting our guest. I've told you already not to knock people over Ruby." replied Eriol calmly while putting away the first aid kit.
"I'm so sowwy Syao-chin. I pwomis to be mowe caweful about knocking you ovew next time." said Nakuru with fake tears in her eyes.
"For the love of god, my name is Syaoran!" cried Syaoran furiously.
Eriol laughed at Syaoran's vivid display of emotions before turning back to Nakuru and asking: "Did Spinel bring in the luggage?"
Nakuru nodded yes with her behind in response.
"Well then, how about some tea before I escort you to your quarters?" asked Eriol facing Syaoran who blushed and turned his head away.
"Sure…" He replied fixing the wall.
"Nakuru, may you prepare some tea for Syaoran and I? We'll take it in the living room." asked the mage to his guardian.
"Sure!" shouted Nakuru before disappearing into the living room.
"Just where is she going to make that tea? We're already in the kitchen!" asked Syaoran, irritated with Nakuru's frivolous behaviour. She somehow reminded him of his sisters.
Eriol smiled as a reply but it only added to Syaoran's frustration. The two of them marched to the living room; Syaoran had to shoo the cow in order to sit on the couch. Nakuru soon came back, carrying on a tray: a teapot, two tea cups, some milk and sugar.
"There you go! Made with love and care!" cried Nakuru as she carelessly dropped the tray on the table nearly scalding Syaoran's knee. Eriol poured Syaoran and himself a cup, adding two cubes of sugar in each cup and a cloud of milk in his only.
Syaoran picked his cup from the tray.
"So Hiragizawa, why exactly did you invite me here?" he asked blowing on the hot tea.
"Hmm? Must I have a reason to help a friend in need?" said Eriol before taking a sip of his tea. "Nakuru, this tea is truly delectable." he added after the sip. Nakuru beamed.
"Oh please Hiragizawa, I am everything but a needy and since when are we even friends?" asked Syaoran.
"We were always friends, for my part at least." answered Eriol closing his eyes as though to best savour his tea
"Yeah well… You have something up your sleeve, I'm sure." said Syaoran looked into his cup of tea… That had a pulse… Syaoran's face turned blue when he noticed how pasty and evil smelling the tea was. It even emanated little bubbles of gas. 'Delectable tea? More like deadly poison.' thought Syaoran setting the cup back on the tray.
"I know you Hiragizawa. You are the king of mind games, manipulation and mischievous deeds." added Syaoran very dryly.
Eriol raised a finger in reproach, "Oh but in reality Syaoran, everything is not always as it is cut out to be."
Syaoran stared at Eriol, holding a look of confusion in his eyes as Eriol stared back his dark eyes holding equally as much mystery. For a moment there, Syaoran thought he saw something other than mystery glinting in the mage's eyes… He was about to ask what Eriol meant by his previous statement when the reincarnation abruptly sat up staring at something behind his cute little descendant.
Syaoran turned around to see Kaho, standing in the door frame. He stared at her intently; there was something queer about her…
Eriol go up to greet her and holding her hand, he escorted her back to the couch sitting next to her. Something in Syaoran shifted when Eriol held Kaho's hand the way he did.
"Good afternoon Li-kun." said Kaho, smiling as usual.
"Good after—Afternoon? That's not possible. It was 8:30 in the morning when we got here." Syaoran said before looking at the grandfather clock in a corner of the living room then at his wristwatch, they both showed 2:36 pm. "But it… can't be… We haven't been here for an hour…"
Eriol laughed, "It must be the time difference playing tricks on you. I guess you're tired; it has been a long trip. Come, I'll take you to your room."
Syaoran nodded, bowed to Kaho and followed Eriol into the staircase that lead to the top floor.
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The staircase ended on a hallway. Here, the decor was much more sober but the hallway seemed to stretch endlessly with a multitude of doors on each side.
"Maa maa, which door was it again?" wondered a grinning Eriol.
"You have to be kidding meeeee." sighed Syaoran, exasperated. He walked to the closest door and opened it hoping that room would turn out to be his but on the other side of the door, stood absolutely nothing. Syaoran held a look of surprise as he stared into the room's endless darkness.
"It's like a void in there…" murmured Syaoran, perplexed. "This isn't normal."
"Who is to say what is normal and what is not?" asked Eriol from behind him. Syaoran then felt something push him inside the void; he fell into the darkness and was engulfed by it.
When Syaoran opened his eyes, he was laying on a bed. It must have been night time because the room was entirely dark except for a few candles that were lit here and there across the room.
Syaoran felt the bed move and sat up to see Eriol crawling towards him. The black mage was wearing nothing but black pants and his eyes flickered deviously to the light of the candles.
"W-What are you do—" Syaoran tried to say before his mouth was covered by Eriol's. Syaoran tried to resist but he finally let himself go to the passion as Eriol skilfully removed his pieces of clothing. Eriol finally broke the kiss and worked his way down, he was softly nibbling Syaoran's neck when Syaoran came to a realization.
"This is a dream."
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Gasping for air, Syaoran leaned forward in his seat his hands clutching the armrests. He glanced around him furiously, shocked at the unfamiliar setting. People, seats, portholes… An airplane… He was in an airplane on his to England.
He sank back into his seat and turned his head left. Eriol was asleep, head set sideways in his direction. Syaoran stared at Eriol's serene face. His eyelids, his nose, his mouth… It wasn't the first dream like that he had but he hadn't had one in ages. Syaoran turned his head front and touched his lips. The dream had felt so real, he could have sworn he felt Eriol's lips on his.
Syaoran felt heat mount to his cheeks. He shouldn't have been thinking about things like this, less even being considering them. After all, it was not only wrong but immoral. Eriol was his ancestor's reincarnation. They were practically family…
Syaoran turned his head left to face Eriol once more and stared at his calm, sleeping feature. Yup, it was just a dream but if Eriol and he couldn't possibly be together, he could at least dream on. So, he slowly fell back to sleep, staring at Eriol's porcelain face.