DM: Well I'm back after my hiatus! The earlier chapters are now much better than they were before, thanks to my betas! I love you guys! Plus, the new summary was written by MoshiMoshiQueen! You're amazing!
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS.
Curses!
Arc Two: Hong Kong
Chapter Twenty-two
Vacation
Eriol was sitting by the clock on the counter of the supermarket that Sakura and Syaoran passed every day on their way to school. He still had an hour before Tomoyo would collapse due to her appendicitis, so he just decided to ditch class. He knew what Kaho would talk about anyway.
Kaho…he clenched a fist at the thought. He thought that the pain was ebbing away, though he hadn't minded being used by her just the day before.
Or rather, today, he thought wryly. It was all a confusing mess. Tomoyo's face had appeared in his mind several times. That weak, vulnerable face she made while asleep with a fever. He had almost called her name.
"That would have made Kaho livid," he muttered, smirking. That's what she deserved for leaving him out of the blue to go study abroad.
He stroked the clock lightly, ignoring the strange look an old lady was giving him.
"You're still loyal to me, aren't you?" he whispered to it. He felt it emanate a warm pulse in reply. Eriol shook his head.
"It's time for you to get a new master, you know? I'm gonna have to do something about this once she's collected you all…" he spoke a little too loudly, and the clerk gave him a worried glance.
That's right, I'm just a shell of some "dumbass Clow magician guy thing" (See ch 16). And now I'm leaving a legacy of magic to some girl who sucks at math and didn't even notice her own best friend was suffering. He made a fist again and sighed. Clow wouldn't have been so bitter about it, he supposed. But Eriol was getting very sick of trying to be Clow. Fujitaka had probably inherited all the good traits, anyway…
"Hey kid," he called, "Shouldn't you be in school?" Eriol glared at him, but left the store nevertheless. The pimply twenty-year old clerk scratched his head as he watched him leave, wondering how a clock could have a master.
Meanwhile, Syaoran and Sakura were staring at Tomoyo, who sent them glances full of venom periodically. She felt extremely irritated with their concern, especially since it felt like they were bonding because of her.
"What? What do you want?" she whispered to Sakura through clenched teeth. A wave of pain caused her to wince. Sakura walked over and put her hands on Tomoyo's shoulders.
"Tomoyo," she whispered, "I think you have appendicitis." Tomoyo's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed in annoyance.
"Yea sure, and Hiiragizawa's missing because he has a cold," she replied.
Sakura and Syaoran both looked at Eriol's empty seat, and then at each other. Sakura felt as though ice had been poured down her back. Eriol was behaving differently from the day before, meaning he wouldn't save Tomoyo…Sakura raised her hand.
"Teacher!" she called, with the intention of taking Tomoyo to the nurse's office, but Kaho didn't hear her as Eriol took that moment to reenter the room.
"Well look who it is," Kaho said smugly, picking up a ruler (which was usually just for show) and smacking her palm with it in a threatening manner. Eriol looked into her eyes, unfazed. She had done more threatening things in bed. He glanced at the clock on the wall. Tomoyo would dry retch any second now.
"Hiiragizawa, where have you been this morning?" she continued, her eyes full of vengeful malice. Eriol ignored her and instead locked eyes with Tomoyo, who looked very pale and weak. She felt something funny in her chest, but it was quickly forgotten when she suddenly retched and passed out to the side. Eriol was next to her impossibly quickly, holding her head and preventing it from hitting the ground.
"Li, take Daidouji to the nurse's office. Now then, Hiiragizawa, I'm—" Kaho was saying, but Eriol had picked Tomoyo up and was walking out the door.
"Oi, Li will take her, get back in here! Don't use that as an excuse!" she shouted after him, her anger and frustration leaking out of her normally composed and demure voice. Eriol stopped and turned around.
"No, I will take her," he said sternly, looking for the first time like a man, instead of a boy. Kaho felt her heart skip a beat, and several girls in class sighed happily. Sakura and Syaoran gave each other a meaningful look and followed Eriol. Kaho let them through without questioning, feeling herself suddenly in desperate need of a cigarette.
As they walked through the hallway, they began talking in low voices.
"That's strange. Aside from us, only Eriol behaved differently today," Sakura said. Syaoran shook his head.
"No, Ms. Mizuki didn't pair us up like she did before," he countered.
"But maybe that's because Eriol wasn't in class with us today, so his conscious change affected her unconscious one," Sakura argued. Syaoran stopped in the middle of the hallway.
"Sakura, are you trying to say that Eriol has magic?"
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The Eriol in question was now removing Tomoyo's clothes in the same order as the day before. He stroked her hair, waiting for her to wake up.
Time Card, he thought, You did this so you could give me another shot, didn't you?
"Yet it hurts to see her like this again," he finished aloud.
"See whom?" a weak and shaky voice asked. Tomoyo was awake and sitting up. Eriol realized his hand was still on her hair and removed it immediately. She gasped, noticing her state of undress, and slapped him in the face.
"What the fuck did you do to me, bastard?" she asked, furious. Eriol rubbed his cheek and chuckled.
"Right on schedule, I see," he said softly. Tomoyo felt herself grow more irritated at his calm attitude, but felt too weak and dizzy to comment on it.
"Now then," Eriol said calmly, "You fainted in class and I carried you here. You have an impossibly high fever and are sweating profusely, so I removed some of your clothes and put a compress on your forehead." Tomoyo stared at him.
"Really," he continued, "I don't see why you don't trust me more—"
"Why should I," she asked defiantly, "When you blackmail me at every turn?"
Eriol felt himself blush. He hadn't blushed since…since the first time he met Kaho.
"Daidouji," he said softly, taking both her hands in his (she was too weak to fight back), "You make me feel vulnerable, like I want to protect myself—"
Tomoyo smirked, but then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell backwards. Eriol caught her gently. Out in the hall, he heard a small voice say "Windy" and smirked.
That small voice naturally belonged to Sakura, who called Windy to go and get Kero from the Li mansion. Syaoran watched her with tense eyes as she spoke lovingly to the card, recalling their argument.
"It's a possibility, Syaoran," she had said. They decided to ask Kero about it and bring him in to help them find the card.
Syaoran had called the paramedics, and as they arrived and created pandemonium throughout the school, the two walked out. Sakura closed her eyes and let the key dangle in front of her.
"Oh Key of Clow, please guide me towards the Card I seek," she said softly. The key swung back along the road she and Syaoran took to school. The two set off running.
"Oi, Sakura!" Kero called when they had reached the supermarket. Sakura and Syaoran looked around, wondering where he could be.
"Down here!" he yelled in an irritated voice, "Gee, you guys are tall!" The two looked down.
Kero was on all fours, pretending to be a cat. Syaoran snorted,
"Anyway," Kero continued, ignoring Syaoran's attitude, "The card is in there," he pointed with his tail to the supermarket. Sakura dashed in.
Then she reappeared next to them and dashed in again.
And again.
And again.
Finally, Syaoran caught her by the shoulders just as she reappeared.
"What, Syaoran? I gotta catch the card!" she yelled, attempting to shake him off. He held her strongly.
"Sakura, it has you stuck in a loop," he replied calmly. Sakura looked around and realized it as well.
"Crud, so what do we do?" she asked. Kero tugged on her sock.
"I have a plan," he whispered.
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Eriol was running towards the hospital, determined not to waste his second chance. He ran into Kaho, just as he did before, smoking a cigarette, but this time ignored her completely and just ran by—
"Oi, where do you think you're going," she said, grasping his sleeve and holding him back. He wriggled out of his jacket and continued to run, leaving her holding it in one hand and a quickly disintegrating cigarette in the other.
He dashed into the hospital, breezing past the receptionist and running up to the room he knew Tomoyo would be in, but finding that the hallways now diverged and intersected in a completely random way. He sensed magic and suddenly realized what it was.
"No, not now!" he said, frustrated, "Nurses can't come and help her if the hospital is possessed by Maze," he grumbled to himself.
I promised myself I wouldn't interfere unless it was necessary, he thought, trying to outwit the maze only to find himself next to the receptionist once more. He groaned and clenched a fist, trying again to walk.
He ended up at the nurse's station, where it was a mass of confusion. No one could get where they wanted to go. An emergency light lit up on the nurse's switchboard, Room 108. Tomoyo's room.
Eriol sighed.
"Looks like I have no choice," he said to himself.
With a flash of light, everything returned to normal, and he held the Maze card in his hand.
"Really, you're just like a child who misbehaves to get Daddy's attention," he said to the card, letting it fall to the floor. He strode towards Tomoyo's room.
Meanwhile, the supermarket was struck by lightening, destroying every electronic device inside, including the clock. The staff had been cleared out by the Move card a few seconds prior.
Sakura, Syaoran and Kero gasped as an old man holding an impossibly large hourglass jumped out the window and into the street. Sakura was ready and had set up Loop around the perimeter. Jumping up and catching him his second time around, Sakura yelled,
"Return to the form you were destined to be in, Clow Card!" The old man continued to run, but he dissolved into threads and was wrapped up into a card. The Time card. She signed her name with satisfaction.
"Now let's go see Tomoyo in the hospital, ok?" Sakura asked, turning around to her two companions, though the mention of Tomoyo's name brought a twinge to her heart. Why had Eriol beaten her there? Why did Tomoyo behave so differently when he was around? Why did she suddenly feel so out of touch with her best friend?
Syaoran and Kero were deep in discussion and didn't hear her, leaving her to mull over these questions for a bit.
"You see," Kero was saying, "People who have magic exude what's called an aura. Your friend doesn't have one, so he can't possibly have magic." Syaoran nodded.
"See, Sakura?" he said, relieved to know that his best friend was normal.
"But wait, what about Syaoran's aura? You didn't know he had magic until he healed me for the first time, right?" she asked, still holding on to her gut feeling. Kero rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Syaoran always had an aura, though. It was just really weak so I assumed he was useless," he replied.
This of course prompted a smack on Syaoran's part, causing Kero to splat against the window.
"Who's useless, stuffed animal?" he asked. He smirked and turned away as Sakura peeled Kero off the glass.
Syaoran looked convinced with this explanation and Sakura pretended to be, but something kept nagging her. Eriol had been staring at the calendar as if he'd noticed something strange about it.
They were arriving at the hospital now, and Sakura just sighed and decided to drop the whole thing for the time being.
"Oi Sakura, isn't that a Clow Card?" Syaoran asked. They were passing the lost and found by the receptionist. Syaoran reached in the bin and pulled out what did indeed look like a Clow Card. He handed it to Sakura, who examined it with Kero.
"The Maze, huh?" Kero said as Sakura signed her name on it, "That's strange, it usually likes to wreak havoc…I wonder what happen."
Sakura remained silent, but felt a distinctive deep red aura coming from the Card. The group then walked to Tomoyo's room, only to find that Eriol had gotten there first. They were chatting happily, and Sakura once again felt like a stranger and lacked the courage to enter.
"You know," Tomoyo was saying, "After summer break, I'm going back to Tomoeda with Sakura." Eriol nodded.
"Will you spend some of summer vacation with me?" he asked. She frowned.
"Why are you asking me that?" she asked, "And why should I?" She arched a delicate brow. He chuckled.
"You are sharp as usual. But don't you think you owe me one for carrying you princess-style out of our classroom this morning?" Tomoyo looked out at the darkening sky.
"Thanks, I guess. Fine," was all she said. Eriol took her hand and kissed the back of it, causing her to laugh at him.
"You know, with you paying attention to me, I don't feel so lonely anymore," she said.
Sakura felt something inside her chest throb painfully, watching them. Had Tomoyo been lonely since she came to Hong Kong? Why hadn't Sakura noticed?
Outside, Syaoran looked at Sakura to see tears rolling down her cheeks. He put an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder.
"It's ok," he said, "I'm sure she doesn't blame you. You're too good of a person."
Sakura leaned into him but said nothing.
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"Agh, stop splashing me, Syaoran!" Sakura said, more happy than annoyed. Syaoran continued to splash and chase after her, more than a little bit entranced by her green bikini. Tomoyo sat with Eriol in the sun on her aunt and uncle's yacht.
The yacht was small but fit their group comfortably, with a little cabin inside in which two people could live. It was white with dark wood trim and green awnings, The S.S. Yoriko, named after the first cat her Aunt and Uncle had ever had.
"They're kind of cute like that," Eriol said softly, eyeing our two heroes. Tomoyo looked up from her book and smiled.
"Yea, I guess so. I wonder when they'll notice their feelings. I've never seen such dense people—"
"Tomoyo," Eriol cut her off, "Let's set them up together." Tomoyo was so taken aback by his use of her first name that the second part of the statement didn't sink in till a few moments later.
"Yes, Eriol," she finally replied, "We should." He raised an eyebrow.
Syaoran and Sakura were swimming in circles around the yacht, playing a happy game of tag. Kero had to pretend to be a stuffed animal just to sit on the deck. Poor guy.
"Hey, Syaoran," Sakura called, suddenly stopping and turning around. Syaoran couldn't stop himself in time and crashed in front of her. She grabbed hold of him so as not to get pushed underwater, throwing her arms around his neck and leaving them in a very strange pseudo-hug.
"Uh, sorry, you were saying?" he said. She blushed and tried to pull away, her green eyes locked with his brown ones, but he held his arms around her waist, keeping her near him.
"Sorry, I was gonna say, don't Eriol and Tomoyo look good together?" her heart was beating very fast at the close proximity. All she could think about was how muscular and warm Syaoran was…
He leaned closer to her, and for a second her breath caught in her throat, thinking he was going to kiss her, but he actually just looked over her shoulder at the pale pair on the boat.
"Y-yea, you're right, they do," he replied, pulling his head back. Suddenly, he was caught in her gaze, their noses touching and both extremely aware of the other's body. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip around her waist, leaning his face in. She closed her eyes in anticipation.
Then a huge, salty wave crashed over both their heads, effectively ruining the mood. Sakura suddenly sensed magic as she and Syaoran sprang apart and a larger wave approached.
"Syaoran, it's a Clow Card!" she said, quickly pulling the key out of her bikini top. Syaoran felt himself get a little nosebleed at the sight.
Back on the boat, Tomoyo put her video camera down in dismay.
"Phooey, it was just getting to the good part," she huffed. Eriol looked at her, surprised.
"Not that I don't agree, but are you sure you don't mind?" he asked, trying not to sound as concerned as he felt.
She thought about it for a moment and placed a hand over her heart, drawing his attention to her rather skimpy yellow bikini. He suddenly found himself imagining doing things with this girl he had only done with Kaho, and shook his head to clear it of the nonsense.
"No, I don't mind, really, because I always knew it would end up this way," she said softly, "She was looking at me with sad eyes this morning, and I want her to always be happy, even if she needs a man instead of me. Syaoran's a good guy. Anyway, I don't want to die with those negative feelings. I'm become a ghost." Tomoyo giggled, and Eriol thought he had never seen such a pretty smile.
Eriol took her hand and led her inside, trying to give Sakura and Syaoran the freedom to use their magic. As soon as the door closed behind them, Kero flew out over the sea, where Sakura and Syaoran circled the waves, riding on the Fly.
"Kero, how do I beat this card?" Sakura asked, frantic. Kero shook his head.
"Sakura, you should be able to figure it out! Remember what I taught you about the hierarchy of the cards!" He was pushed down by a wave and came up in his true form of a winged lion. Syaoran leapt off Sakura's wand and landed on his back.
"You can do it Sakura!" he called.
Syaoran's voice flipped a switch in her brain, and Sakura remembered exactly what she needed to do.
"Watery, ruler of all water, stop the Wave Card!" she cried, striking the Watery with her staff. Watery dove in, borrowing Sakura's strength, and eventually managed to calm the card down. Sakura was able to capture it.
Inside the boat, while all this commotion was going on outside, Eriol and Tomoyo had found themselves in a strange predicament. The power of the Wave during its battle with Watery had rocked the boat and caused Tomoyo to fall on top of Eriol, who in turn fell on the small bed inside the cabin. As much as he tried, Eriol could not seem to focus on anything other than the soft feeling of her chest against his. Tomoyo turned bright red and jumped away.
"I'm sorry, I tripped—" she began in a panic, but he held up a hand.
"It's alright. It's a pleasure to be tackled by such a pretty girl," he replied. Tomoyo's blush worsened and she turned away from him, busying herself with getting drinks out of the fridge
Eriol put a hand over his mouth. I can't believe I just said that, he thought, completely embarrassed.
So, when Syaoran and Sakura walked into the cabin, the sight of both parties' embarrassment led them to believe that something had happened, thought what they could not guess. Looking at each other, the two decided to break the awkward atmosphere.
"It's so sad that in just a few weeks we'll have to return to Japan, huh, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked, noting with alarm that steam was coming out of her friend's ears.
"Oh, y-yea," she said, avoiding Eriol's gaze.
"Speaking of which," Eriol said, still trying to calm his quickly beating heart, "It's getting dark out, we should probably head in. We have a lot of packing to do."
The other three turned and stared at him.
"Oh, didn't I tell you? I've decided to come with you to Japan and stay in Tomoyo's home," he said happily.
Outside, Kero was shaking himself dry. "Only five cards left…" he muttered to himself.
DM: That's right! The whole gang is gonna be in Tomoeda the next time you see them, at the start of the five-part finale. Yup, only five chapters left for everything to come together, the curse, the cards, Eriol and Fujitaka, and of course, the romance! I hope you liked this chapter! Please review! Next chapter: Two Idiots