So... I was rummaging through my old fics and I found this old thing. I don't know why I never published it (or maybe I did and deleted it? Not sure why. But here you go, for people who want to soothe their ache for Tomoyo / Eriol, as I've been feeling lately.

Tomoyo Daidouji prided herself upon being a very sensible, rather calm type of person. After all, she was the one who always calmed down her precious Sakura-chan when she was panicking whether or not Li-kun "liked the totally stupid, ridiculous bunny hat" she had gotten him. She was the one who gently teased and prodded Li Syaoran into getting comfortable enough with the Cherry Blossom to confess to her.

But no matter how calm or sensible she was, nothing could prepare her for Eriol Hiiragizawa.

When they had first met, she smiled and politely introduced herself, thinking nothing of it when he did the same.

People called the two of them exact equals and opposites; they were both icy cold, yet warmly hospitable at the same time. Both the top of their classes academically, musical geniuses, she with her angelic voice, he with his unrivaled piano skills… it was hard to see how they were not alike.

Tomoyo rather had thought that way too, until she discovered that he had the power to destroy the entire universe if he so felt like it; that put a bit of a damper in the "equal and opposites" idea. After all, she had about as much magical prowess as a doorknob.

So, without meaning to, Eriol Hiiragizawa had given her a rather stinging inferiority complex, one that she strived to outdo. After all, she was famous, an heiress with beauty, wealth and poise. But still… magic was rather hard to beat.

So she, unknowingly, began to be rather….resentful of the handsome Londoner. She was unashamedly (well, not really) jealous of him.

One day, however, that all changed.

"Tomoyo-san, could you please move those boxes?"

The raven-tressed girl smiled and obliged, but her smile faltered slightly when she reached for the final box. She let out a slight gasp as it started to slip out of her grasp. Without warning, a pair of hands came around the other side and easily held the box to help her up.

"Tomoyo-san!" the nurse called. "Are you all right?"

"Y- Yes!" she responded in relief, sighing slightly as she craned her neck to see who was holding the box on the other side. "Thank you so m- Hiiragizawa-kun!"

His eyes twinkled as he smiled warmly at her. "Daidouji-san."

"Thank you for the rescue," Tomoyo said pleasantly. He bowed.

"It was my pleasure."

Never even dropped his smile., didn't let it flicker for a second.. I'm envious.

"May I ask what you are doing here?" Tomoyo indicated towards the children's hospital. "I was not under the impression that you volunteered here."

"Ah, I heard there was an opening of a new wing, so I figured an extra pair of hands would work well. I also heard that you regularly volunteer here, so I came to greet you," he said smoothly.

"Oh, I see…" she lowered her long eyelashes, unable to stop the resentful feeling from emerging once again. He was making her feel inferior as always; she volunteered so that people would think of her in a good reputation, while he came out of the mere kindness of his heart.

"Oh, Daidouji-san!" a nurse ran up when she caught sight of the amethyst-eyed heiress. She paused and let out a shy smile at seeing Eriol, before turning back to Tomoyo. "Thank you so much for the toys!"

Tomoyo paused in surprise. "The…toys?"

"Yes, the ones you sent!" the nurse said cheerfully.

"I… I sent those anonymously!" Tomoyo blinked in surprise. "How did you know they were from me?"

"Because the brand name was on the side," the nurse giggled. "We figured if it had a 'Daidouji Toy Corporation' logo on them, they probably came from you."

"Oh…" she managed, feeling incredibly stupid in front of the handsome Londoner who was also trying to stifle laughs.

"So… who's your friend?" the nurse giggled flirtatiously at Eriol. He bowed.

"Eriol Hiiragizawa," he said softly. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Oh!" the nurse blushed as he bent down to kiss her hand. "Likewise…"

Tomoyo had to stop herself from rolling her eyes as she saw the nurse swoon in a way that clearly signified a woman in love.

Of course, Hiiragizawa would…

"Tomoyo-nee-chan!"

"Tomoyo-nee-chan is here!"

"Kenji-kun! Seira-chan!" she smiled as she cheerfully greeted all the small, bald children in the hospital. The children all clambered out of their beds to hug and greet the violet-eyed "nee-chan" they all loved. She immediately sat down in front of them, and all the girls gathered around to play and experiment with her hair as she often let them do. As they played with her hair, the boys gathered around as she told a story.

This was the best part of all of their week; when Tomoyo-nee-chan came and told them stories and let them play with her long tresses. When the story was finally over, everyone began to play games and the girls finally finished with her hair. Tomoyo, after checking her reflection, nodded.

"You all have very bright futures as hairdressers," she patted her hair (which was half up in a pigtail on the left side, and braided with flowers on the right in the most unbalanced way possible). The girls squealed and ran to hug her.

"Nee-chan?" one of them asked as she looked up.

"Hmm?"

"Who's the good-looking onii-chan who was helping you?" the girl asked curiously.

Tomoyo felt her cheeks flare red.

"Er… he's… uh…"

"I'm merely a very special friend of your beautiful onee-chan," came a rather deep voice behind her. All the girls burst into excited giggles as he walked up to her, past the sea of kids, flashing Tomoyo a usual smooth grin.

"Oh, Hiiragizawa-kun," she managed to keep her face its usual pale shade, but couldn't help a tiny pink tint to her cheeks.

"What's your name?" Eriol inquired to the girl who had asked about the 'good-looking onii-chan'.

"Hanazono Seira!" she answered and he nodded seriously.

"Yes… thank you for finding me good-looking," he said rather solemnly, and to Tomoyo's surprise, he bent over and brushed his lips against her small hand in his usual gentlemanly manner. Tomoyo smiled, unable to stop the warm feeling in herself. A lot of people were afraid of touching the cancer patients, and it always bothered her a bit, but seeing Eriol be so charming to young children was heartwarming.

Seira blinked, then blushed. "Onii-chan!"

"Ne, since Onii-chan and Nee-chan are here together, does this mean they're getting married?"

Tomoyo, using six years of etiquette lessons and aesthetics classes, shoved down the urge to choke and smiled without missing a beat.

"Now, Mari-chan, of course not. Hii- er, Eriol-onii-san is just my friend."

"But my mommy says that when a man and woman love each other, they get married!" a boy piped up. "Do you two not love each other?"

"Er-"

"Then do you hate each other?!"

"Of course not-"

"Then why can't we have a wedding?!"

Tomoyo was really trying not to flail now as she cast a helpless glance towards Eriol, who continued his casual grin.

"Well then... I guess we'd better delegate roles."

"Roles?" Tomoyo blinked in confusion before he turned to Seira, who was still shyly glancing up at him.

"Seira-chan... would you be the flower girl when Daidouji-san and I get married?"

"Hiiragizawa-kun!" Tomoyo managed to keep her voice light, resisting the urge to blush, squeal and run out of the room in embarrassment. However, the damage was done. Other kids clambered around him, suddenly intrigued with this man who claimed to be Tomoyo-nee-chan's future husband.

"I wanna be the best woman!"

"Stupid, there's only a best man!"

"Well, there's a best woman now!"

Eriol began to announce roles to each child until everyone had an official position in the supposed wedding of Hiiragizawa and Daidouji, some jobs including an official 'make-sure-everyone-behaves' officer, a 'make-the-place-look-pretty' officer, and a 'back-up pastor' in case the pastor got sick that day.

Tomoyo couldn't help but to laugh. This was silly, but...

...she was happy to see the children smile.

Still… Hiiragizawa Eriol was more than just a kind enigma. Sometimes, he could be downright frightening…

"This is so fun!" Sakura squealed in excitement as she and Tomoyo splashed each other at the beach. Tomoyo let out a laugh as she saw her dear cousin smile brighter than the sun, as all of her smiles were.

"There are so many tourists here," Tomoyo mused. "They must come all over the world to see this beach."

"Well, Japan is famous for fun beaches!" Sakura cheered as she dried herself off. "How lucky were we that we got to go to one on a field trip?"

She and Tomoyo began to walk back towards the class, which, Tomoyo noted looked a lot farther than she originally had thought.

"Wow, I guess we've strayed farther than we thou-"

She was rather rudely interrupted by a loud jeering from several tourists who were sitting nearby on beach towels.

"Hey, pretty girls! Why don't you come sit with us?"

"Just ignore them, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo shook her head as Sakura blinked, not understanding the brash English the boys were yelling at her. "Come on, we should probably get back to the class."

"Hey!"

Tomoyo stopped in her tracks as several of the boys stood up and blocked their way.

"Don't you understand plain English?" the boy demanded. "Or are you too dumb?"

Sakura managed a small 'hoe' as they began to speak rapid English, while trying to drag the two girls towards their towels. Tomoyo put a protective arm in front of Sakura.

"Please leave us alone," she managed in slightly accented English. "We are not looking for trouble."

She felt herself flush slightly as the boys mimicked her imperfect English.

"Come on, you…" the foreigner called her something she had never heard before. Her English tutor, after all, taught her business terms and basic courtesies, never any profanities.

"Hey, why don't you…?"

After all that, it was foreign. Tomoyo bit her lip in frustration. Next to her, Sakura began to feel her lower lip wobble. She couldn't understand the taunting boys, but it was fairly clear what they were insinuating, their cruel smirks and taunting laughter ringing loudly.

"We are trying to go to our class," Tomoyo finally said, standing somewhat protectively in front of her best friend. "Please let us leave."

The boys, however, refused to move, and finally, one of them grabbed Tomoyo's arm to drag her.

"Let go!" she finally yelled, slipping back in Japanese. She normally wouldn't lose face in front of someone, but if Sakura was involved, she would show how angry she truly was. To her surprise, the harassing boy obeyed.

"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" came a low voice, speaking fluent English.

Tomoyo looked up in surprise, seeing a pale hand firmly grasping the wrist of the hand that had just been on her.

Hiiragizawa-kun…

"Hey, man," the boy shook him off, holding up his hands in defense. "This has nothing to do with you… these two just came by and were asking for a little fun, so we decided to go with it."

"Yeah, sure," Eriol said tightly. "A crying girl really makes me think she wanted it, huh?"

Tomoyo's grip around Sakura's shoulder tightened just slightly to comfort the trembling cherry blossom as Eriol put the gentlest of hands against Tomoyo's back, guiding her and thus Sakura, out of the ring of boys who was surrounding them. The silence was tense, but only after they were a few feet away from the group, did Eriol speak up again.

"Hey, by the way, man," the sapphire-eyed sorcerer said, without turning around. Suddenly, the boy let out a loud howl, jumping several feet into the air.

"Ow! Ow! Ow, what the-? OW!"

"Watch out for crabs," Eriol said calmly as the other boys began to also experience a stinging pain from the ground.

"Eriol-kun... thanks," Sakura wiped away her tears, hiccupping, as Tomoyo soothingly rubbed her back. The Daidouji heiress turned her head slightly to make eye contact with Eriol.

"I also thank you," she said politely, tensing her back muscles ever so slightly to indicated he could drop his own hand. "As expected of Hiiragizawa-kun."

He gave her an inscrutable look before dropping his hand and returning her pleasantries with a smile of his own. "It was no problem."

And then there were the times the Hiiragizawa could be plainly, simply annoying…

"Debate topic, 30 seconds to ponder, question?" the teacher raised an eyebrow, looking over the note card. "Does magic exist? Go."

"Of course not," were the first words that shot out of Eriol's mouth. "The idea is absurd."

Tomoyo, who was on the other team, felt her mouth drop. For a split second, that is. Before anyone in the team could discuss it, she stepped forward, a challenging flash in her eyes.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked politely. "Have you any proof that it doesn't exist?"

"Simple," he shrugged. "Nobody has ever seen it. Therefore, it can not be real."

"And?" she challenged. "Many people in this room have never seen a million yen. However, it is quite clear that that is real."

"But you have seen one million yen, have you not, Daidouji-san?" Eriol replied rather smugly. She flushed.

"That is irrelevant! Many things occur and yet people can not see them! When a tree falls in a forest, it makes a sound, does it not?" she pointed out. "Yet even without people there, it would make noise."

"Oh, yes?" Eriol's glasses glinted as he took a step towards her. "Who is to say? Maybe it does not."

"Science proves that it does," Tomoyo said sharply.

"Science has also proven that magic does not exist."

"It has not!" she couldn't help but to respond rather childishly. "Scientists have never outright claimed that magic is nonexistent!"

"But everyone else does. And until magic is proven, it simply does not exist."

"That is close-minded."

"No, it is realistic," he corrected. "Many things in life do not exist until they have been proven, the same way magic can not be there unless its existence is shown."

She was about to retort, until she suddenly noticed how close they were. But that wasn't the most confusing thing to her.

His lips were drawn up in a quirk, the lights dancing gleefully against his thin spectacles. His arms were crossed casually in front of himself, head tilted in a way that invited challenge.

But his eyes.

Tomoyo looked and saw, for the first time, who she was really up against. She saw... nothing. His eyes didn't match his smile, his cocky head tilt and cavalier demeanor.

His eyes held anguish. Contempt. Boredom. The sorcerer... did not want to be here.

For the first time ever, Tomoyo noticed.

She opened her mouth and slowly closed it again, trying to find something to say, until finally, the teacher waved the note card towards Eriol.

"Winner, Hiiragizawa!"

Tomoyo snapped out of her trance to feel sympathetic teammates patting her on the back, congratulating her for effort. But all she could see, as she fumed, was the cocky glint of success in a pair of midnight blue eyes, blanketing the look of sadness.

Not only was he annoying, but his fans were convinced he was some sort of perfect gentleman…

"Ne, ne, Daidouji-san!"

Tomoyo turned in surprise as a group of girls ran up to her, looking rather star-struck.

"Is it true that you and Hiiragizawa-kun are dating?"

"Excuse me?" she managed in shock as they surrounded her.

"You don't need to hide it!" one girl piped up. "People say they saw you two alone in the music room!"

"Well… yes," Tomoyo managed in mild confusion. "We're doing a duet together for the next Spring Choral Concert."

"That is so romantic," the girls sighed. "I wish I could do a love song duet with Hiiragizawa-kun!"

"It… It is not a love song!" she said quickly, face flushed. However, the girls mistook her embarrassment as shyness, and immediately swooned, shrieking loudly.

"You are so lucky!" one of them cried. "I wish I could have a romantic affair with Hiiragizawa-kun!"

"I don't have an affair with him!" she finally yelled loudly. "Oh, for heaven's sake, we aren't together!"

The girls sighed. "Honestly, Daidouji-san, no need to be shy anymore."

"Yeah, give us dirt!"

"Is he a good kisser?"

"How far have you guys gotten?"

"We… We haven't kissed!" she stammered. "We're not even dating! Last I heard, he's with another woman!"

It was technically true; although she never did find out what happened between him and Mizuki-sensei…

"What? Why is he with another woman?"

"Well… he has to be…" Tomoyo said weakly. After all, Eriol and Mizuki-sensei were a good magical balance. If the redheaded woman wasn't there, Tomoyo wasn't sure how Eriol would react ('power to destroy the entire universe if he so felt like it' was a bit of a frightening aspect).

"So he's betrothed but he wanted to be with you?" one girl sighed. "That's so manly!"

"He really loves you, you lucky girl!"

"Like a real-life Romeo and Juliet!"

Her cries went unheard as girls gushed about how his lips looked so kissable, and how his eyes were like two sparkling jewels and…

Tomoyo managed to slip away, but the damage was done. The next day, in school, apparently, everyone was saying how Eriol had been forced into a betrothal, but due to his "strength of love" and "undying passion", he began to date Tomoyo. The two apparently spent every day after school in the music room, where they would kiss, since the two were apparently very good kissers.

Evidently, Tomoyo's fan club had also gotten to a rather confused Eriol, and the two fan clubs decided to bond to create a 'Tomoyo and Eriol' fan club, spreading rumors of the school's resident bishounen and bishoujo.

Tomoyo sighed as she entered the classroom, where she met a very giddy Sakura.

"Good morning..." she managed wearily.

"Tomoyo-chan! Good morning!" Sakura cried gleefully. "Is it true?"

"Is what true, Sakura-chan?"

"That you and Eriol are dating now!"

Oh, yes.

It was official.

She hated Eriol Hiiragizawa.

She silently climbed the stairs until she finally reached the music room, where Eriol was flipping through the song book and making notes.

"Good afternoon," she murmured, sliding the door shut behind her. He looked up.

"Daidouji-san," he greeted cordially.

Damn everyone.

Tomoyo couldn't stop thinking about it, as she stared at his lips. They looked... kissable. Not that she never noticed before, after all, Eriol Hiiragizawa was a very handsome young man. She didn't notice until too late that Eriol was right in front of her, frowning in concern.

"Daidouji-san?"

Time seemed to slow down as the only sound in the room was the clock ticking in the background. Tomoyo couldn't tear her eyes away and before long, the two of them were standing even closer to each other.

Too close.

Just do it.

And she would slap herself silly for it, but for once in her life, Tomoyo Daidouji didn't use reason or logic to think through her problem. She dived head in, and standing on tiptoe, placed a gentle kiss against Eriol's lips.

It was...

Pleasant.

She merely brushed her mouth against his, but he smelled clean and like waterfalls, and his lips were soft and for the first time in her life, Tomoyo Daidouji could triumph that she had finally silenced and stunned the blue-haired sorcerer.

...until it sank in what she had just done.

She immediately backed away from him with a gasp, and looked around wildly, as if she was afraid someone had seen.

"I… I…" she managed, red in the face, before finally lowering her head.

"I have to go," she muttered, and grabbing her bag, dashed out of the room.

What was I thinking?

As Tomoyo sat silently in the backseat of the limousine she had called to pick her up, to her horror, she could feel the beginning of tears strike her eyes. She shook her head.

It's not as if I enjoyed it…

She paused. Well… I mean, I could have enjoyed it… maybe I should have held the kiss longer, and- oh dear, no, what am I saying?!

She suddenly felt her breath hitch, remembering that gentle smile as he kissed Seira-chan's hand, the brave front he gave to protect her and Sakura-chan, those eyes… those cerulean eyes that spoke softly of loss and mysteries.

Well, that's not what I expected, she thought in wonder. I may actually be attracted to Hiiragizawa.

If I'm just attracted to him… why did I…?

Attraction… I'm attracted to him physically is all, she thought firmly. It's not like I have real feelings for him.

…maybe some fondness…

Fondness… and attraction. Yes, that's it.

She buried her face in her hands and groaned.

Oh… she had it bad.

Knock, knock.

"For the last time, Kaori-san!" Tomoyo called in exasperation. "I don't want to eat anything!"

The knocking persisted, and Tomoyo buried her face under the covers. Eventually the knocking subsided, and she sighed in relief, hiding deeper under her bed sheets. Thank goodness for the weekend.

"I know you don't want to eat anything…"

She shot up with a gasp at hearing the familiar deep tone right next to her bed.

"…but could you at least try one of Nakuru's scones? They're divine."

She glared at the innocently smiling Englishman. "Get out."

"Daidouji-san, I'm offended," he said in fake hurt, a hand mockingly placed over his heart, a basket hung over his arm. "I bring you baked confectionaries, and you want to throw me out that soon? A guest should not be treated this way."

"I didn't invite you," she said scathingly. He shook his head.

"Fair enough… I knocked, but you didn't want to answer. So I simply came in," he smiled politely before reaching in and taking a bite. "Scone?"

"…stop it."

He stopped mid-bite and stared in confusion at the shaking girl.

"Please…" she murmured softly. "Please stop."

"Stop what?" he asked in legitimate confusion.

"Just tell me what you have to say, and leave," she said tiredly, and to his surprise, and with a slight pang of guilt, he saw that her eyes were swollen and red, so he lowered the scone and grew serious.

"Daidouji-san…" he paused and finally managed to say "I'm not mad, if that's what you think."

She nodded wearily. "All right. Thank you, Hiiragizawa-kun. I really must ask you to leave now, I-"

"Don't I at least get an explanation?" he gently prodded. "It's not everyday that an attractive young woman kisses me, you know."

"…you win."

He stared.

"You win. You're the better person. I accept that. Please go."

"Better person?"

"You help people out of the goodness of your own heart. You're fluent in English. You win any debate you're put in. You…" she swallowed. "You have powers I can only imagine having. So you win. You are the victor of this stupid competition I have made between us."

"Life is not a contest, Daidouji-san."

"Maybe not to you," she said, unable to hide the bitter tone in her voice. "You have no competition because you win every one of them."

"Daidouji-san…" he lowered his head. "I have a confession to make."

"Yes?" she muttered.

Please just say it and leave me be…

"I thought you won."

She paused. Now that… she had not been expecting.

"What… do you mean?"

"I help people out of my curiosity for human beings and human nature. You help people because although you think it gives you a good reputation, even if you were to receive nothing from it, you would go back for the children you have grown to love."

"But…"

"I am fluent in English. But even more admirable was you, who although was not as fluent in English, stood up to a mocking group of bullies in order to protect her best friend."

"That's…"

"I won the debate, because I was able to say the answer that majority of people thought were the right answer. But you… you who knew magic existed and couldn't prove it, stood up to me because you knew, despite the fact that people would think of you as an unrealistic girl stuck in fantasy, that magic is real."

"But… But…"

"Didn't it occur to you," Eriol said awkwardly. "That I was the one who somewhat accidentally started the rumors of us being together? I… I was hoping you would-"

"It was you?" she cried indignantly and stood up. Before he could even stop her, she grabbed the basket full of scones and promptly threw it at his head.

"Ohhhh…" he said sadly, clutching his head as he gazed at the poor, uneaten scones. Of course, Tomoyo's floor was cleaned several times daily, so the floor was probably clean enough to eat off, but still… scattered scones… it was just so sad…

"Honestly!" her voice cut through his mourning. "You cad! Do you realize how many girls cornered me and asked me how good of a kisser you are?"

"I see now," he said hastily. "What an irresponsible decision that was. I really am sorry, Daidouji-san. I just…"

"Just what?" she cried, half in hysterics. "Why make me go through this?"

"I just… wanted to catch your attention," he said rather shamefully. "I didn't mean to put you through so much trouble and I know it was a very childish thing to do. I just thought that… you were starting to hold me in disdain because you could tell I was trying to show off in front of you. What started as a rather boyish prank spiraled into our schoolmates harassing you and I do apologize for that, Daidouji-san."

"…"

For once in her life, Tomoyo Daidouji seriously had no idea what to say.

"Just… You should know…" he awkwardly stood, bowing before her. "I did all of this because… I wanted you to be impressed by me. I failed each time, and saw you look at me with something that looked like disgust, so I just… I assumed that maybe…"

He finally trailed off, and sighing, turned around and began to leave.

"W- Wait."

He paused and turned back around to face her as Tomoyo slowly approached him.

"I am… going to be frank with you," she finally managed out. "I will admit, what you did was very tiring. But… if you went through all that effort, and nothing came out of this… I suppose it would have all gone to waste."

He looked up hopefully. The two of them met gazes, and finally, she cleared her throat.

"You… You should probably clear up the scones."

"Oh, right! Sorry!" he waved his hand and the scones instantly flew back into the basket.

"Would you… Would you like to have some scones with me?" he offered. She wrinkled her nose.

"I know the floor is clean, but-"

"I didn't mean the ones I brought," he cut in. "I meant… I meant maybe tomorrow. You could… maybe come over for tea."

She gazed at him, then finally allowed a smile to grace her features. "All right… that sounds rather agreeable."

"Okay… I'll see you at school tomorrow then."

"All right."

He hesitated and before she could blink, he bent down and gently pressed his lips against hers. She froze in shock, until she finally gave into his coaxing mouth, and allowed herself to relax into his kiss. After several seconds of silence, he slowly backed away from her.

"Now you have something to tell the girls who ask you," he winked, and before she could retort, he whirled around and vanished on the spot. She couldn't help a laugh.

I guess you win this time…