Chapter 10 : Losing, gaining
The class started their usual mornings with the usual training and some test. Everything is ordinary except for one thing - Tomoyo and Syaoran weren't there, which made Eriol wonder. He though that she went home very late. "I'm sure she didn't had enough sleep last night...She might be late today... " he said to himself.
Then, he recalled what happened that night, when she gave him a kiss on his cheek. He thought deeply as he is now getting confused about the treatment that he gets from her. Is it really something that a friend would do, he asked himself. He was just staring at the floor, when Kouichi noticed him, and called his attention. "Eriol..."
Eriol got back from his senses, but he was not aware on why he got called. "Y... yes, sir?"
- "Are you okay?" He asked.
"Um!" Eriol nodded
- "You're not a person that loses focus on our class. Whateve you're thinking right now, Leave those things behind first and put your attention on our lesson, okay?"
"Sorry..."
- "That's okay, at least you're fine." Kouichi gets back to his discussion.
It was lunch time. Eriol joined his friends Yamazaki, Chiharu, Haruto and Yuri in the cafeteria. They're having a fun conversation with each other. Eriol, on the other hand, was just staring at his food and still thinking what happened last night. Chiharu noticed him. "Hey, Eriol!" she said.
"Um... why?" he replied.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "You've been like that since morning..."
Eriol responded. "Uh... nothing, really... I'm fine..."
Haruto tapped Eriol's forehead to check if he's okay. "You don't have fever... Is something bad happened to you?"
"No... everything's fine..."
Yuri asked him. "Did someone bullied you again? Who was it? I'll take care of it for you."
"Oh, no!..." Eriol said "No one bullied me... Thank you so much for worrying about me."
Yamazaki butts in "You're not okay, I'm sure. Just to let you know, people who thinks deeply usually has problems. On top of that, there was a survey which states that 98% of people who thinks deeply has problems with their love life! I bet you're being bothered by a woman, right?"
Eriol was surprised. "EH?!"
- "Yamazaki, stop it!" Chiharu shouted. Then, he looked a Eriol. "I'm so sorry to this sick man beside me. He always create unbelievable stories and every time I hear those, I want to puke at him!"
"I'm telling you the truth!" Yamazaki insists. "I have reliable sources for it."
- "Well your reliable sources are NOT reliable!"
"Of course, they are!"
- "Remember the last time you told my sister to put one hundred 10-yen coins outside our house, because it was proven to give luck? My sister did it, but no good luck came, and instead those coins were stolen! You know how easy it is to fool my sister?!"
"But it still gives you luck, right? BAD luck, that is!"
- "YOU!" Chiharu shouted. The group continued poking fun at each other while Eriol just looked at them and smiled. Then, Yuri changed their topic. "Hey! Just in case you don't know, Ms. Daidouji won't be here today."
"Huh?" Eriol responded. "Why?... Is she sick?"
"No." Yuri replied. "She's in the main office right now. I heard one of the company's biggest shareholders died last night. There will be a memorial service in the main office, and she has to be there since the company head."
"I see!" said Chiharu. "That's why I saw the flag outside at half mast."
"Yeah. I also heard that top government officials will be there, too..."
With that being said, Eriol sighed with relief. "At first I though she was sick... but at least she was okay..."
Everyone looked at Eriol. "So... that's what you've been thinking since morning?" Haruto asked.
Eriol replied with a bit of a shaky voice. "Um...No... I mean... yes... You see?... She's always on our class since day one, right? ... So, it's unusual for her not to be here today... that's just it..." Then, he bowed his head a bit, covering his face that is almost red. While his friends are still curious on why he's acting like that.
Yuji was at Tomoyo's office that afternoon. He and Tomoyo are in the middle of discussion about the plans for his father's burial. "The memorial service will continue for three days starting today. Then we will have a final viewing and blessing before the burial. I will also make sure declare a day of mouring within the whole company and its affiliates before the burial to give him honor. "
- "I think it will be better not to declare a day of mourning." Yuji said. "It will be much better if we're business as usual by then. It's not healthy for our company if we stop our operations just because someone died."
"This will be the last chance for our employees to pay respect to your father." She insists.
- "I know. But we have to show our how strong we are despite our loss. The memorial service will be enough. And oh! I forgot, our family wants to have a private burial. Don't forget that."
"Okay, you said so." Tomoyo replied. Then she noticed something about Yuji. "It seems that you didn't mourn the loss of your father, do you?"
Yuji smiled at her. "Well...you know what? I really felt sad because father's no longer here." he said. "I remember when I was a kid, he taught me a lot of things. We usually play baseball when I was 7. I am a timid kid that time, that is why I never liked any sports. Father would also be my private tutor when I was young. I don't like school and I just want to stay all day in our house, to the point that I always pretend that I'm sick just to have an excuse not to go to school. But father always remind me that I should not be timid because children who are lazy will eat a thousand needles when they die. " Both of them laugh. Yuji continues. "You know, we get those scary tactics a lot when we were children that is why even if it is out of our will, we follow them. But as we grow older, we realize that those thousand needles are not true. But we will come to that point when we found out that this is how we should live our life. That we have to work hard to survive. Thanks to dad, we did because he lived his life to the fullest. Now, we will take care of our father's shares. We're happy to have him as a father, and we will treasure his memories forever."
"That's good to hear." Tomoyo said. "At least you showed to your father how much you loved him."
"True." Yuji replied. "You know, my father told me that in his life, he did not mourn those people who left him. We should not be sad just because our loved ones had departed. All of us lived a troubled life in this world..."
"...but once people die, they will find a never-ending peace, and we should be happy for them." Tomoyo continued, as he looked straight at Yuji. "My father told me that before he passed away."
Yuji poked fun at it. "See? We do even share our beliefs! We're really compatible." They both laughed. then, Yuji changed their topic. "By the way, like I said, we will take over the shares that our father had left. The shares will be transferred to my name, but my mother and sister will help me manage it. Right now, I want to ask your permission if you could allow me to look into company operations. I want to learn more about it and get to know our employees. I believe the shares will be transferred before our new restaurant opens."
"That's okay. I will let you see our trainees, then. You may start after your father's burial." she said. "So... We'll be seeing each other that often, huh?"
"I hope it won't bother you." Yuji said. Then, he asked her. "Did you missed me?"
"Sort of. We haven't talked like this for quite some time now since our break up. And now that you'll be here, I guess I'll have to regret those days that I've missed you." she jokingly replied.
"You're so bad!" he laughed. "But anyways, I promise we'll be having more of these conversations."
"Looking forward to it." She responded. "I'll be seeing you after the burial. Go to our office before 7:00 AM by then. And when I said seven, It means seven sharp. You know me, I'm time conscious."
"Yes ma'am! I'll be there at 6:59!" he said, as both of the giggled. Then, he thank Tomoyo for all the things she and her family had done for their father. "You've been very kind to us. Your family has been with us every time we had problems, even now that we lost our father. We cannot thank you enough."
Tomoyo reached Yuji's hand from her desk and held it. "You don't have to thank us. We've treated you like a family, we'll help you out whenever you need us the most." She stared at Yuji for a long time. "Your mother and sister is waiting for us at the memorial service. Let's go."
"Sure." he said. They stood up and went to the chapel below the building where the wake is being held.
Two days had past, they held the burial. A Buddhist monk held a ceremony for the soul of the departed. Aside from representatives from various religious organizations were also there to pay tribute, there were only few people who attended the ceremony. Most of them are relatives. Emotions went high as the remains were unloaded and was placed inside the incinerator for cremation. Nevertheless, Yuji showed no signs of sadness. He wants to show his relatives that his family stands strong in the midst of their loss. As his father's remains is being burned, he told himself that he will do his very best to imitate his father. "Now that you're gone... I promise you, father. I will take care of Mom and sister. I'll make sure that we will be a happy family. Then, I will find your first son... I swear to you, father... I will find my brother no matter what. I'm still hoping that he is still alive, so please help me..."
It was a day after the burial. Yuji had to ride a taxi because his car was under repair. But still, he was stuck in traffic. He is about to be late with his schedule with Tomoyo. He tried to call her to let her know about it, but her cellphone had a voicemail, that why he instead left a message . 'Hello, Tomoyo?" He said. "There's been an accident here and I'm stuck in traffic since six. I'll be late." Then, he hung up.
Meanwhile, Eriol was early as usual. He noticed that the classroom was open, but no one's there. He sat on his usual seat and waited. But after around 10 minutes, he got bored. "I think I should buy a drink while waiting." he told himself. Then, he went outside.
It was 7:15 in the morning when Yuji went inside the building. "Geez! Tomoyo will definitely scold me!" he told himself. He was in such rush that he doesn't have time to look around. But as he turned left to go to Tomoyo's office, all of a sudden, he got bumped to someone.
Yuji and that person fell on the floor, together with those folders that Yuji carry. The person whom he bumped was surprised by what happened. Then he immediately apologized to Yuji. "A...are you hurt...sir? Sorry... I'm so clumsy..." He then picked up the folders for Yuji.
"No, that's fine. it's my fault since I'm not looking around." He then picked some of the paper that fell inside the folders, and when he looked the person whom he bumped, he frozed and just stared at that person for a bit. That person was Eriol.
Yuji felt something weird, like he met this person before. Both of them were on the floor, staring at each other, as if time stopped upon them.
UnitedOsprey1991 , Don't you worry! I actually added that scene on purpose. Anyways, thank you for your feedback.
Montclaire06, thank you for your patience, I appreciate it.
viryaparamita, Thank you for your feedback! Thank you as well for putting the fic on your Fave list!
That's all we have for today. Sorry for the late update. My exams will be held on the 15th of Feb and I'm getting ready for it. I swear I'll update the story more often after the exams, so wish me luck. Enjoy reading!