Disclaimer: not mine or my scarce amount of fans would've claimed the right to slaughter me for my slow updating.
Ok, so this one took me a while because I was trying to give everyone an idea of what the other characters are like now- Rika, Chiharu, Naoko, Takashi, etc. Also I have the second half of this scene written already… and it was frustrating to finish this because I have this awesome gala scene written that's I'm still a few chapters away from! I'm bringing back Clamp Academy characters and Meilin soon!! Just something for you diehard Clamp fans to be happy about- Clover will appear soon after.
Key: 'Nani' means what
Demo means 'but' (I think)
Daijobu means 'are you okay?'
Minna is 'everyone'
And, heads up, I still need a beta, so don't kick my ass around about the grammar or problems with consistency (although feel free to point them out in your reviews, because I will fix them)
Now, on with the real reason you're here:
Chapter 6: A Surprise for Everyone
Tomoyo drifted into the kitchen, yawning, but dressed flawlessly in her school uniform, hair impeccable and face devoid of all but foundation and light lavender eyeshadow.
"I made Pancakes, Daidouji-san" said Ryoki, "Since it's the beginning of yet another week of balancing work and school! Our multitalented young mistress is so overworked these days." Tomoyo yawned and smiled.
"Arigatou, Ryo-chan" she said tiredly. Her peaceful feeling was still with her, but she began to feel disappointed about going to school. Who would entertain poor Eriol, Nakuru, and Suppi. She hadn't even had time to see Suppi-chan at all! All in all, despite the interesting appeal of her more challenging and interesting classes, she was not very enthused. To her surprise, as she lifted her fork to eat her strawberry pancakes, Eriol drifted in the door, Suppi perched limply, as a 'stuffed animal' on his shoulder.
"Why Tomoyo-hime!" he exclaimed falsely, "What an unexpected surprise! Here you are in your school uniform and here I am in my... oh dear. I suppose this is a school uniform as well...". Tomoyo's mouth dropped open for a single second before she turned the slack jaw into a surprised smile.
"Nani! Demo, you finished High School, you've already been accepted into dozens of prestigious Universities, you said your plans for this year were solid, unchangeable!" She spluttered, speaking a bit too loud. She heard amused noises coming from her maid.
Hiirigizawa bowed gracefully, presenting her with Suppi as a peace offering. Spinel Sun, now that he was facing away from the amused Ryoki, blinked at her cutely, (cute for him, anyway). "I'm terribly sorry, madam, but you did tell me that you were taking it upon yourself to guess what I've been keeping back from you. I would have thought you'd expected me to attend the school my pupils and love-struck dear naive and emotionally handicapped friends are spending two more years at." Still gazing, (a true lady never stares) in shock at the sight of him in her school's uniform, Tomoyo took the proffered Suppi, still masquerading as a stuffed animal, from him as he continued, straightening.
"Of course, I'll be in only several select advanced classes and I'm only here on a free scholarship because I don't turn eighteen until after this school year begins... but why feel guilty about the minor details? I get a year of free classes taught by excellent teachers, on material I've already studied in high school or at some point in my rather curious life. That will leave me ever so much time to entertain all of my dear, once-distant, friends." He smiled disarmingly, seating himself and snapping his napkin into his lap with a flourish. "Actually, the math will most likely be rather challenging, and the advanced Japanese should improve my written skill with the language, which I haven't used much aside from frequent letter-writing."
Tomoyo gave up trying to convey how backwards his plans were in favor of diving in to her pancakes, leaving the thinking for after her morning expresso.
"That's a rather… untraditional breakfast, Tomoyo-hime." Eriol said musingly, after accepting his own plate from the maid. "More American than British, even." Tomoyo smiled fondly at her plate as she cut her pancakes into small pieces.
"Well I spent a few weeks abroad in America. Remember I sent only one letter this summer? Well, I was in America, New York City, actually. I had an internship with a designer, and I was staying with a lawyer friend of my mother's. It gave me a dear appreciation of cappucino's. Somehow I never tried one while in England, I always stuck more to tea. Now I eat only British and American breakfasts." Tomoyo told her story in-between bites.
Eriol listened and then stayed quiet as they finished their meal, thinking as Tomoyo thoroughly enjoyed her food. She ate like a bird, despite the delicious meal, he noted. She ate about half of each pancake, washing them down with strawberries and powdered sugar, topping every other bite off with some cappuccino. She rose before he finished, giving him a little wave as she left to gather her things, carrying Suppi.
……..
Tomoyo took Suppi straight to her smaller library, the one full of books she was currently interested in reading.
"Alright, the maids only disturb this one while I'm in it working on homework or reading, so I can tell them what not to move. You should be alright in here. I'll leave the window unlocked so you can leave if you'd like." She said graciously, setting him down on a comfortable antique chair.
"This is very thoughtful." Suppi responded, pleased by the fact that she had anticipated his boredom during her and Eriol's absence.
"I promise we'll have a chat when I return home. I'd really like to ask you some questions about a few books I've ordered recently, but have yet to read. And, furthermore, I promise not to tell Nakuru where I'm leaving you. Enjoy, Suppi-kun! We'll see you this afternoon!" She waved goodbye and glided quickly from the room, making for the door, by which she had laid her school things.
Suppi flew around the room, levitating whatever caught his attention. Finally he paused near a shelf of books. Most were old, and there was no sign that they had been shelved recently, or that they hadn't been used. Still, Spinel Sun had a hunch that they were the ones she had meant to speak with him about.
"Finally, someone notices that I'm the discreet one in the family." He muttered to himself, intrigued and pleased.
……..
Eriol met Tomoyo at the door and they walked out together. If the British boy was surprised at how early she left for school, he showed no sign of it. They got into a car, which was driven by a strict-looking middle-aged woman in sunglasses and a power-suit. Glass separated the driver and the front-seat passenger, a woman identical to the driver in all but her haircut, from the passengers in the back. Eriol noticed that a motorcycle followed them out of the gates at a reasonable distance, driven by a woman whose long braid was whipping around behind her helmeted head. Tomoyo broke their silence first.
"So, how are you not wasting this year? After knowing how much you value these years, which have finally arrived, what with the fact that you're actually growing and all, I don't understand why you would bother practically repeating the year. I know you're fond of Tomoeda, Sakura, and that you love teasing poor Li, but still… Even counting the substantial amount of money the Li family is paying you to tutor Li and the fact that you practically get to transform my best friend into the best candidate for Li's future wife." She cut her musings off, interrupting herself. "Well now, that may actually be worth it. But honestly, I really do have that covered. I've been preparing for this for years, and I've done research and called Meilin millions of times with questions... Seriously, now. I wonder about you." Eriol simply sat, with an amused look on his face, as she worked it all out, examining him shrewdly. A worried expression darkened her face.
"Oh, dear. Please tell me it's not as serious as the last time you came? Last time you dropped everything it was in order to ensure Sakura's future, and the future of Clow's legacy. Not to mention it prepared her for the nothing card. Sakura's not in some kind of danger is she? Syaoran? Li told me you were adamant about Sakura being included in the training." She asked softly, in a slightly desperate voice, quiet but intense.
Eriol calmed her. "It's not necessarily because they are in danger. Although I suppose I feel as though it's my duty to be here, it's more because of my opinions then those of Clow. I also don't trust anyone else to know enough to make Syaoran and Sakura two of the best magic-users since Clow Reed's time. I have a lot of knowledge in me, Tomoyo. And a lot of it is about magic that I wasn't born with an ability to use this time around. Between the two of them, our friends are capable of putting to use all the wisdom that I am now incapable of wielding." He told her seriously. Tomoyo looked at him, considering his words and attitude carefully.
"The way you refer to your past life is so very odd." She said softly. Before he could become offended, she changed topics. "So. I assume my Sakura-chan will require a fresh wardrobe for all of the magical training she'll be going through?" Tomoyo inquired eagerly, eyes beginning to gleam. Eriol watched, entranced, as her eyes changed slowly from amethyst-grey to a deeper color, almost violet. Her cheeks gained a slight flush that offset her paler skin. It was as if she was lit from the inside, a softly painted porcelain nightlight decorated in purples, greys, and pinks. She was beautiful. But her excitement did not light her up with the passionate strength he had observed when they were younger. There was a fatigued edge to her, even now.
"Of course." He replied to her question about the clothes. "I trust that you're all over it." She held up a small victory sign in a silly imitation of the girls in anime shows and on TV. Her worried expression came over her again as the car rounded a corner and slowed before the gates of the high school.
"Demo… This must be more serious than you're letting on." Her voice sounded soft, but sharp as her mind continued working, "For sure. You must have more than one reason for being here, for one, and they must all be equally pressing, and time-sensitive. This couldn't have possibly been a convenient time for you to drop everything, your entire life in London. Eriol-kun…" She gave up, being unable to find a question that she thought he might answer. His eyes acknowledged her assessment, although he kept his expression closed.
"Cheer up." He said, climbing out of the car first and holding the door for her. "I had several compelling reasons for my presence here. And, I assure you," He closed the door behind her and turned back to her before continuing, "Not all of them were unhappy ones." He began walking before she did. "At least this year will be interesting, ne? Now smile and tell me, why do you arrive at school an hour before it begins?" Reassured, if not entirely satisfied, she matched his pace.
"Well, even at this rich school having three bodyguards escort you to and from school is rather conspicuous. That's all really. Plus, I enjoy being one of the few here at this early hour. The kind of people who arrive early aren't the kind to point out my bodyguards to the students who would care." She answered simply. "Aren't you glad, though, Eriol-kun? Now we can get you to the Principal before I show you around the school. We can also plan your grand entrance and speculate about how pissed off Syaoran will be at having to actually see you every day. Ooh, and you're going to absolutely make Takashi-kun's year! And, if I recall correctly, you play soccer. You should see the coach at lunch! I can't wait! Such wonderful chaos it'll be! Oh hohohoho" She finished her trademark laugh, eyes beaming again, and skipped a little as they ascended the stairs and entered their school. Eriol smiled evilly, following her as they both began planning the morning in their heads.
………..
"Ah, I'm so confused. I can't tell if it was Fate or Eriol that caused the school's computer to put minna-san together in the same homeroom. I knew it wasn't natural."
Tomoyo shook her head, tsk-ing both Eriol and Fate for screwing with school property.
"Let's see now." She continued examining Eriol's schedule, "Math with Syaoran and Yamazaki, not surprising. I don't doubt you'll at least be entertained. They're in there with two genius's in the year above us. The teacher practically made up the class for the four of them because they've already mastered all of the normal advanced mathematics material. Let's see, Japanese with Naoko and myself, that means you'll be studying ancient and modern poetry and literature with us, as well as writing analytical essays and poetry of our own. Hmm, Japanese Business and Law with Yamazaki, Li, Chiharu, and myself. That one has a wicked work load. I'll be cheering you on all week while you work frantically to catch up. Astronomy with Sakura, Naoko, Rika, and myself. And also Advanced Physics with Yamazaki and myself. Too bad. Li, Sakura, and Naoko are all in Advanced Biology and Rika and Chiharu are in Advanced Chemistry this year. We're all split up." She paused, silently tallying up his classes.
"Wait a second… Five classes out of our usual eight and you call this an easy year? They're all extremely difficult advanced classes, aside from Astronomy, and two of them you can't have studied much of! Hiirigizawa, I can't believe you called this 'taking the year off'. What are you trying to prep yourself for, Clamp Academy University?"
She sighed and leaned back against the railing surrounding the roof of her school. His grand entrance was about twenty minutes away, and so they were hiding out in a far corner of the roof, watching the people below pulling up, parking, or walking into school. It was imperative that he not leave the roof before Li and Sakura arrived.
"What can I say, I'm a genius?" Eriol responded modestly, smiling in a self-deprecating fashion. He turned from the sight beneath them. "There's an awful lot of fancy cars and limousines dropping rich kids off down there." He said meaningfully.
"Yes, well, there's only two or three who have bodyguards. The student body only notices one girl's and she plays up her money, so it's simply a part of her expensive and extremely important image and lifestyle. The other two have very discreet shadows." Tomoyo said.
"Yes, I noticed those." Eriol answered. "Was that bad-mouthing I heard coming from your saintly mouth, Tomoyo-hime?" He teased to pass the time. She turned to him without even a polite smile.
"She's not exactly a kind person. Even saints feel that retribution and repenting is a necessary step for the evil people in the world, Mr. Reincarnated Genius." She responded, serious, then with humor, but still maintaining a small dose of dreariness.
"So here's a question for you." She began suddenly, "You told us that your body would magically restore itself to the age you were, I quote, 'meant to have in this life' once you were finished with Sakura and you returned to England. That would've made you probably even older than Ms. Mizuki." Her sudden direct approach caught him off-guard and his eyes narrowed slightly in remembrance. "Didn't you halt your body's aging in order to be Sakura's age during her Sakura Card crisis?" His eyes, always a dark blue, began to glitter with an edge she hadn't seen yet since he arrived. It was intriguing to her, a reminder that he was not always light and amusing.
"Yes, the spell was to wear off safely over the course of the year after I returned to the home I cast it in." He answered concisely, in a normal tone. She could see the muscles in his neck tensing, however. She waited, the silence and her empathic lavender eyes pressuring him subtly to continue.
"No one could tell me for certain, not if even I, the caster, or Suppi, a veritable bank of magical theory and an expert who was present when I performed the spell, couldn't figure it out. The spell was flawless, I know this. Or else something would have gone wrong in the first half, when I first halted my body's aging. One of the body's more tender organs would have begun to fail, become diseased or shut itself down." He looked beyond her now, face blank, "There is no reason. Fate maybe wants me to be this age. There are unseen forces that manipulate magic according to their will. Not many that I can't sense, but they are there. Perhaps… I know that Fate, or whatever Power rules the worlds, needed to supply Sakura with someone who's magical knowledge and power were greater than her own. On the other hand, that someone had to be the reincarnation of Clow. Also, halting my aging process is relatively simple and was the easiest way to achieve what I needed. To be close to the Card Mistress, ensure that the she was the right one, and then to set her and her magic on the right path and cement her relationship to the Cards and the Gaurdians. Not to mention finally free Yue from his own doubts. It wasn't the spell. Fate has already interfered so much…"
"Yes, it sounds likely. Also difficult to accept. You can't think of a motive, and even unseen powers like Fate and Destiny have reasons." Tomoyo inserted thoughtfully. He looked at her, coming back to himself, but not in the least embarrassed about his ramblings. Tomoyo Daidouji was, if nothing else, a thinker, used to planning and expecting things to not go wrong, and if they did, to find the problem. She was also used to gathering knowledge about magic from her friends and immediately applying that knowledge to help them solve their problems. She was a fresh opinion, and he knew she wouldn't mention the story again unless she had discovered some element he had missed in the difficult equation that was his life. "Well, you're still alive and sane." She added firmly, "And finally getting to be past the point of 'young'. So the worst has, hopefully, passed. It's time that I got downstairs." She patted him comfortingly but brusquely on the hand twice before rising and leaving. Almost as if to convey that, while she felt pain for his unfortunate circumstance, there was no need for him to dwell on it when he had such a chaotic morning approaching.
"I'll be waiting for something interesting, Hiirigizawa-kun." She called as she exited through the door which led downstairs.
"Well, then." He released his confusion and tangled thoughts, exchanging them for excitement, seeing Syaoran and Sakura approach the door of the school slowly. "This will be, at the very least, interesting."
…….
Tomoyo entered the room to see Mr. Terada at his desk and Rika seated, perusing a magazine full of articles on psychology and music therapy. Naoko and Chiharu were chatting in the back while Takashi made notes in the margins of a book. Tomoyo took her seat, which was between Rika and Sakura, who, had she been there, would have been next to the window. They were sitting in the second row, and the first row was empty, as it usually was during homeroom.
"You're here so much later than usual, although I still didn't see you pull in. I'm curious to discover what kept you. The music room was empty when I passed it." Rika said idly, without looking up from her magazine. Her tone was soft, not pressuring Tomoyo for an answer, merely informing the girl of Rika's curiousity and awareness of Tomoyo's deviance from her normal schedule. Tomoyo felt warm, somehow, at the thought that someone had noticed. Rika always noticed. She was that kind of person, almost like a mother or older sister to her friends. Rika's hair caught the sunlight as she turned a page.
Her auburn hair traveled halfway down her back, thick and straight until it hit the last two inches, in which the ends curved every which way, adding a nice impression. Her bangs framed her face, accenting her warm brown eyes. She was actually turning out to be fairly tall, for a Japanese girl, although nowhere near Sakura's height. She was also startlingly strong, stronger even then Chiharu, although you would never know it.
Rika and Tomoyo were always the first two in the classroom for homeroom with Terada-Sensei. They had a mutual understanding about their unspoken reasons for arriving early. Both knew that they saw more of what went on in their friends' lives than they let on, especially in the lives of each other. Despite the fact that they rarely spoke, Tomoyo knew that Rika would support her through anything. She was the one person Tomoyo could trust aside from Li to take care of Sakura as well. Rika knew how to comfort someone without asking questions. Before Tomoyo had left for America she had asked Rika to keep an eye on Sakura for her. The weeks before Syaoran had arrived had been Sakura's most depressing weeks ever. Li hadn't talked to Sakura for months before his arrival, busy finishing up his education and training in order to convince the Elders to allow him to live in Japan. Sakura had been convinced that he had forgotten her, although she wouldn't allow Tomoyo to stay home from her trip to America.
Tomoyo was jolted out of her reverie by the arrival of Sakura and Li, just on time. Li looked around ruefully. Takashi, seeing them, said, "Man, are you kidding? Class is starting already? I only have one page left!" Sakura blushed, realizing that he used her chronic just-barely-on-time or lateness to tell time.
Li shrugged as he passed Chiharu, who was now in her seat and eyeing them with a smile, "What?" he muttered, providing an unnecessary explanation for the 'not a couple's ' usual daily entrance. "You know she'd never get here anywhere close to on time unless I stopped on my way to drag her along." Naoko, tapping a pencil on her desk, smiled wickedly.
"Who wouldn't get up for that?" She said, watching Li's cheeks flush and Sakura's face fill up redder than before. Tomoyo beamed back at Naoko for the comment before turning to see her two favorite shy little lovebirds take their seats as Terada-sensei shushed the snickers coming from Chiharu and Yamazaki.
"Ohmigosh Minna-san, guess what!" Sakura nearly yelled, suddenly remembering that they didn't know about Eriol. Tomoyo smiled, thinking that he must be approaching the door right about now, slyly guessing the reason for Sakura's sudden memory jolt of his arrival this weekend.
"Alright now, settle down." Terada began, amused but firm. "We've got to start now. Kinomoto-san can continue this during break. I've had word that we have an exciting event occurring today. This may ring some bells for a few of you, especially considering the uncanny timing and spooky similarities to elementary school." Terada-sensei eyed Li, whose face suddenly drained of color and become a sickly yellow shade. Sakura was digging through her bag for a pencil in the seat before Li's, oblivious to Terada-sensei's words. A knock sounded on the door, interrupting the sensei. Terada smiled as the bright students' blank looks began to slowly change in realization and disbelief as he crossed to the door and opened it.
"Ah, Good Morning Hiirigizawa-kun. Please, join us. We're honored that you decided to attend Tomoeda High despite already graduating from your prestigious British school. Considering the circumstances, I don't think writing your name on the board is necessary." Eriol stood at the front of the room, smirking, holding his bag. Tomoyo found herself only just now noticing the slightly rakish way in which he wore his uniform, as though he was only playing at being in school.
It was little things, the way his shirt was unbuttoned a little too far, his hair, disheveled from the wind on the roof. His hair was falling into his eyes, and mussed on top, shining deep blue-black in the light from the window. His eyes also set him apart, intense and dark blue, revealed by the contacts he wore. Mostly it was his ridiculous amount of maturity, intelligence, and obvious humor at the situation. For just a second he seemed to Tomoyo to be a strange mix of older than Terada, but living vicariously in a young, wild body. It was a nice thought for her poetic mind. Her hands itched as her mind simultaneously decided it wanted to begin a poem and draw some men's clothes.
A thump called her attention to Naoko, who had slipped right off the side of her chair, saying an abrupt, "Nani!" as she tipped over. Rika looked permanently startled, as though an idle daydream was being played out in real life and she didn't quite know what to make of it. Takashi, beyond her, got over his shock when Naoko fell and started pounding on his desk as he howled in laughter. Chiharu laughed brightly when his initial volume began to settle as he ran out of air.
"Whee, it's a party. Random foreign bishounen popping in, Takashi playing soccer again, the class doing a skit again for the autumn festival. This feels almost too exciting to be real life. I feel like an anime character!" Chiharu whapped Takashi on the head cheerfully to shut up his wheezing laughter (which had begun when he ran out of air) as Naoko's hands grasped her chair firmly. Naoko seated herself again. Sakura, who had heard from Tomoyo that there was no way Eriol would be going to school, had at one point been clapping cheerfully, but was now hovering (as much as she could while staying in her seat) worriedly over Li.
"Syaoran-kun!! Daijoubu? Are you sick?" The poor boy, not in the happiest of moods, had his chin on the desk. His eyes were dead to the world and he was thinking of one hundred different ways to torture Eriol Hiirigizawa for once again invading the school, although the kid was probably mentally the same age as Professor Kinomoto Fugitaka.
"My one sanctuary." He answered Sakura dully, "He dangled it in front of my eyes and then snatched it back. They're evil, the both of them. She totally knew." He mumbled the last two sentences, preoccupied with Eriol's imagined screams echoing in Li's mind.
Tomoyo turned back to Eriol, who beamed a smile at Sakura as Tomoyo watched and then winked playfully to Syaoran, who went red in both anger and embarrassment. Tomoyo gave a mental snort to match Chiharu's vocalized one and Mr. Terada began to speak to Eriol again. Tomoyo's mind strayed once more as Eriol turned to listen to the sensei, tilting his head and causing a few more locks of dark hair to fall forward against his pale skin. The image tugged her artistic mind away as she considered him.
It was so very different to see him in a setting in which she was used to comparing the boys and girls around her. Judging their futures, their popularity, their looks, their personality, their intelligence… His entire image seemed to be hitting her more strongly.
It was odd, how he managed to look devilishly handsome, but still appeared as comfortable and confident standing before them as though he was their class president. Tomoyo had a funny mental image of him stepping out of the pages of a magazine, his character a very GQ Bishounen class president, one of the lazy but brilliant ones from some manga.
The thought lit up her face with humor as Eriol passed on his way to the seat Terada-sensei had jokingly pointed out to him, the one behind Tomoyo, proportionally the same as the one he had in elementary school.
As he neared her she noticed that he had, since seeing the spot Mr. Terada had pointed out to him, been staring straight at her, and only her, with an unwavering gaze. Much like the first time he had transferred and stared unfailingly at Sakura, the first of many things which caused Syaoran to stay in Tomoeda for an extra year.
His eyes locked into place with hers as her own gaze became focused, no longer staring into space while she was off in her own little world. A tingle ran over her arms, and she thought she felt something intangible in the air shift.
The rest of the class watched, some remembering, some not. Yamazaki thought the scene was familiar, although Chiharu merely looked interested in what Eriol was doing now, not really remembering Eriol's first day in elementary school. Rika's attention was entirely focused on the two of them, although her eyes flicked once to Sakura. Naoko looked disappointed, assuming that Eriol was just now noticing Tomoyo's beauty and becoming captivated or something. Syaoran's interest was peaked, the glum frustration automatically dismissed as he put his mind to work. His brows furrowed slightly in thought as he added the scene to a list of things he had noticed about the two of them since Eriol's first day back.
Sakura's green eyes glowed from within like green stars as the deep, magical, and brilliant part of her mind watched Eriol advance on her friend. She felt something between them connecting, one strand at a time, and noticed how frail it was. She considered the scene with her heart, as some greater sense within her comforted her, sliding into her mind the thought of Eriol loving Tomoyo, accepting it as fact. Sakura's simple wisdom jumped to this conclusion immediately and then moved it to the back of her mind, as though it was something she had realized weeks ago. Old news. Her conscious personality snapped back as Eriol reached Tomoyo, and Sakura felt for a second as though something significant had occurred which she just missed.
Eriol's eyes slid away from Tomoyo's rather anticlimactically as he passed her, although he, unnoticed by the people on the other side of Tomoyo, tugged his fingers through the ends of her long hair affectionately as he passed. It was a brief thing, light, more like a flipping of the ends than a tug. Tomoyo, at first confused, soon dismissed the entire thing as a dramatic flair at the end of his appearing act, and also as one of the many things Eriol did that she couldn't fathom the reason behind.
…………
Li Syaoran was having a bad day. It had begun pretty well. He woke up, ate some rice, scrimmaged with some local soccer players living in his compound, then returned to his room to shower. He left to pick up Sakura, and then it turned around, slowly but surely. She had been awake, the first sign of an odd day, and ready to leave when he got there. Waiting in her front yard, actually.
"Since when did you get up on time?" He asked incredulously, mouth hanging open in shock. She looked excited, but apprehensive.
"It only happens if one of my 'dreams' occurs." Came her answer as they left the Kinomoto Residence side by side, walking slowly. "I never remember them! This one was the first in a long time. I had one at the beginning of the summer…" she blushed and sped up nervously. Li matched her pace.
"And?" He said invitingly, frowning.
"Oh. Well, I remembered that one, so it's disappointing that I don't remember this one, that's all. I think it was raining… and I was tired, like I just ran really far." She stopped walking for a second, face tilted in careful consideration while she tried hard to drudge up the illusive images. "And I was excited."
Li facefaulted. Not much to go on. "Excited? Like you just got to a party?" He inquired, trying to get something out of the vision anyway.
"Nope. It was like… like going after a Clow Card!" She said triumphantly. "I was psyched up. But it was right before something dangerous, I think." Her expression turned worried, and a little gloomy, not exactly a typical Sakura expression.
"Is that all you got from it?" Syaoran asked.
"Yeah." She sighed heavily, pacing forward in a sulk.
"Well, I'm confident you'll have it again. You always do." He caught up to her, bumping her arm. "We'll figure it out, right?" He said reassuringly. Her sulk seemed to lift, although her expression didn't change. He could tell she was frustrated with herself, but didn't know what else he could say.
The pair reached school right on time. Suddenly she smiled again and her glow came back. Something inside Syaoran lit up in answer, his own mood lifting a little as she spoke. "Hey, at least I was up for school! These things used to keep me asleep all the time!"
A faint smile graced Li's face as they entered the building. From then on his attitude didn't improve however, that one lift in his mood being the last deviance from the destructive pattern of the day.
It seemed as though the closer they got to their homeroom class, the more uncomfortable he was feeling. He found himself almost frowning after he had entered the room, responded to the friendly banter aimed at him and Sakura, and seated himself. The door… the door and the hallway… felt odd. Terada-sensei began to speak.
….
Haha, poor Li. Yes, ya'll will get more S and S next chapter. I'm just stuck on how to proceed. I want the magic lessons to start up before I go into their relationship more. Hopefully their relationship will be the focal point.
I want Tomoyo and Eriol's to either come together fast (not likely) or have no physical relationship for a long time although Eriol is possessive and tries to make it obvious later on that he likes her. Eventually (soon actually) she's gonna catch on and then it'll be fun, I promise.
Yay, I love this story!