Disclaimer: Not mine!
Yay, here we go! I love this story! Sorry if it's not moving fast enough for ya'll! Syaoran and Eriol are both starting to kick it up a notch in this one, though! I promise! And next Chapter is gonna have the first magic lesson (maybe).
Chapter 7- Soccer, Sexy Foreign Exchange Students, and Shirtless Flirts
Still in Li's POV:
And then after Hiirigizawa's appearance came the rest of homeroom. With Hiirigizawa. Sakura and Tomoyo got up to pitch their idea for the Autumn festival skit to the rest of the homeroom. They were supposed to perform in conjunction with another homeroom, and each class was supposed to come up with one idea.
……… Back in Normal POV
"And so we thought it would be funny, since it uses real events in Tomoeda. Also, it would have the typical magical girl, Sakura, vs. an evil reincarnated Sorcerer. What do you think?" Tomoyo asked, finishing the explanation. Syaoran was actually a little impressed. It was bold of her to use the truth, but everyone else would probably love it, because it was a great story. Syaoran really disliked plays though… hated them, ever since his traumatic experience playing a princess.
Eriol looked over at him as the rest of the class expressed their enthusiasm for the idea. "Something wrong?"
"Plays." Li responded, looking pained. "With my luck, I'll have to play 'Ruby Moon'."
"Ah." Eriol smiled. "That's something for the rest of us to look forward to." Tomoyo and Sakura returned to their seats. Eriol touched Tomoyo casually on the shoulder and she turned.
"Clever, ladies. And now that I go here as well, an even larger crowd may come to see it, if only for the coincidence. Perhaps we could use Li's arrival in the play as well. Maybe he could be Sakura's magical rival, helping her against his will because the Sorcerer is more of a threat…?" He trailed off and the rest of the homeroom broke out in agreement once again. Takashi, on Eriol's other side, spoke up.
"This is exciting! Although, I'm a little upset about Sakura-chan being the opponent… I like playing the bad guy, but in this case she's the one up against our main character. I was hoping to audition for the most evil role in whatever you two came up with, but there's no way I could pull off a genki character like Sakura-chan!" He looked disappointed, and Chiharu merely sweatdropped at the fact that it was the character's personality scaring him off, and not the fact that the role was that of a magical girl.
"Takashi-kun, don't you see? Eriol-kun is the conflicted main character. He's the bad guy for most of the play! The audience knows he's not that bad at heart but at the same time Sakura- and maybe Li if we agree to tie that in- are hunting down the 'dark sorcerer'. What better role could you ask for? I think you should go for that one! We need a strong male lead!" Tomoyo wheedled. Eriol smiled slyly as Takashi began to see the light and added in his own two cents worth.
"Actually, I find myself inspired by the thought of you portraying me on stage. You, baring my soul for all the world to see, my darkness, my light, my… passion." Eriol grasped Takashi's hand in both of his, his eyes sparkling in a dead-on imitation of Tomoyo excited about magical girl Sakura. "It would have been an honor." He hung his head solemnly, turning as though he thought his offer would be rejected.
"I don't know, Eriol… chan. I'm not certain your life is worthy of my abilities." He joked.
"Oh Takashi-chan!" Eriol said, his voice lighter and pitched higher. "Who else could I trust with my very soul, my essence, but you? Who else can convey my pent-up frustration and misguided passionate, albeit creepy, fascination with magical girl Sakura in this skit. Truly… there's none for me but you!" he finished dramatically. Takashi reached up with his free hand to touch the side of Eriol's face in a whimsical manner, and fixed Eriol with a furtive look.
"I know your twisted ways inside and out. I understand now… it can only be me. How could I step away and leave you all alone… You can count on me, Eriol-chan."
Tomoyo's face had become increasingly odd-looking, as giggles bubbling up and threatening to spill out had been forcefully contained within her mouth. A small one creeped out now and then from the corner of her mouth, but luckily it sounded merely like a high squeaking coming from the windows. Her hand was over her mouth as though it could contain the laughter that was inevitably coming.
Sakura's eyes were wide at this point in the conversation and Rika said softly, "Oh my" just after Takashi finished speaking about Eriol's wicked ways.
Naoko, seated in the back just behind Takashi and always one of the gullible ones (along with Sakura) was flushing along with Chiharu. They were glued to the sight of the boys gazing at each other in adoration.
"Oh Takashi, never leave me… stay with me always." Eriol said, putting the icing on the extravagant cake, as usual.
"Oh Eriol-chan, this is beyond my wildest dreams." Takashi responded sincerely, devoutly, truthful-
"Oh PLEASE." Syaoran groaned. For a few seconds he had almost been fooled, but then snapped into reality. "Stop the madness". He buried his head in his hands
Upon hearing that, Tomoyo cracked. It was the last straw, seeing Takashi and Eriol's faces twitch oddly at Li's sudden outburst. Laughter rose wild, free, and unbidden from the reserved girl. It bounced through the room and she fell straight off the side of her chair. Not slid like Naoko earlier, but tumbled right out in a fit of laughs.
Naoko squealed excitedly as the boys turned back to their respective desks, pretending to blush humbly. As one of the editors of the student newspaper, she began to scribble fanatically the beginnings of a new school article, introducing Eriol and then his and Takashi's long distance (and long-lost) love.
Chiharu snapped out of her funk upon hearing Tomoyo go 'Thump!' on the floor. She grabbed Takashi's shoulder and turned him to face her before whacking him straight on the head. "Don't scare me like that, lying goofball." She said affectionately, smiling despite herself. She giggled herself, seeing Sakura's expression in the midst of the commotion. Sakura had obviously been completely taken in and had now gone into shock. Her surprise at the boys' supposed relationship had only become increasingly worse when an image of the reserved Tomoyo Daidouji rolling on the school floor, hiccupping with laughter had appeared right before her eyes.
"Syaoran… Um I think I'm going crazy-" She started hesitantly. She was cut off when Li flung his arms around her shoulders from behind. He clung to her as though she was his only lifeline to sanity.
"I knew this would happen the minute I saw him in here." He grumbled, amused despite the complaints. Sakura squeaked as he hung his head on her shoulder, seeking consolation. Li was the very picture of defeat. On the other hand, Sakura's chair was tipped back onto only two legs, causing her to yell a brief, "Hoe!" before he scooted his desk forward, so that he could grasp her while keeping her chair flat on the floor. Now that she had stopped yelling, Li called out around Sakura's shoulder, "Rika, stop the madness! My eyes are burning and he's only been here ten minutes!"
Rika shared one last amused glance with Terada-sensei, who was, at the moment, still holding in his own laughter and unable to recover and instruct the class clearly. Therefore, seeing Rika get up to fix things, he opted to stay where he was, hiding behind his desk, until he had regained his composure.
The first thing Rika saw was Eriol surveying the room a little smugly, but also in true boyish fun (delight is too young a word for this incident). He turned to Rika after Li's comment, to see that her gaze was already on him. Rika inclined her head with a mysterious smile, acknowledging the fact that he had done the impossible, and gotten Tomoyo Daidouji to actually fall off her chair in raucous laughter. Eriol's face smiled innocently in response, as if to say, "Who, me? Why I didn't even know I was that good."
Meanwhile, Tomoyo's laughter had been winding down. She had almost gotten it under control, and begun to reach out to Sakura for help, however this had merely begun another round of hiccupping giggles. The sight of Sakura, helpless and restricted by the arms of Li, had been amusing. Sakura had ended up, like any good friend, trying to rise to the occasion and reach Tomoyo's outstretched hands. Syaoran had shifted his grip to wrap all the way around Sakura's arms. The result was that both her arms and his were wound around her, keeping the girl pinned.
Syaoran's response was what sent Tomoyo back over the edge. "Hoe!" he had responded to Sakura's attempt to aid Tomoyo, "Don't leave me!" His plaintive cries had inspired Tomoyo's latest round of snorts and hiccups. The comment left Tomoyo floundering around on the floor, sides aching, at the moment Rika and Eriol had exchanged glances.
Rika raised her eyebrows expectantly at this renewed burst of gasping for breath amid helpless and increasingly quieter laughter. She nodded pointedly towards Tomoyo, still facing Eriol. He sighed in an amused fashion and looked at the girl in front of him, who was clutching her stomach weakly at this point. Satisfied that he would clean up that portion of the chaos, Rika then surveyed Takashi and Chiharu. Noting that Chiharu had Takashi in hand, Rika moved out of her seat, which was on the other side of Tomoyo and in front of Takashi, and made her way to the back of the classroom, where Naoko sat alone in the back row, just behind Takashi and diagonal to Chiharu.
A/N: Seating order for whoever is confused. The image looks, from the air, something like this:
1st row: Sakura... Tomoyo ...Rika
2nd row: Li ... ... ...Eriol ... ... Takashi... Chiharu
and the 3rd row: ... ... ... ... ... Naoko
It's homeroom so they sit where they want. Terada's desk is in front of Tomoyo and Rika, and the windows are next to Sakura and Li. Chiharu's the closest to the door. I tried to type this up so that the way the names look in front of you is the position the desks are in during the class.
Back to the story!
"Honestly," Terada-sensei muttered to himself, watching Rika explain to Naoko that the whole thing had been a joke. "Years pass and Noako and Sakura are still completely taken in by those two."
Eriol, after sighing fondly at Tomoyo, had moved around his desk and knelt beside her.
"Shh, there there." He, in classic British style, brandished a handkerchief from God knows where, and dabbed at the tears still streaming down her face.
"Giggle hiccup GASP?" Tomoyo responded helplessly, hand flying over her mouth while she tried, vainly, to regain her composure. Her eyes were squeezed shut as muffled laughter was heard. "Haha, heeheehee!"
"No need to worry, dear heart." Eriol answered, saying the nickname in English. "He's only a lover on the side. You're the one I come home to." Rika sweatdropped in disbelief, immediately scolding herself for trusting him to actually stop the chaos. The rest of the class was immediately focused on the two of them. Tomoyo choked and coughed twice, laughter stopped short.
"Eriol!" She said, outraged and half serious but half in dramatization. "I! I… I'm so exhausted I can't even think of an acceptable answer to that." She finished, as he drew them both up. "Whew, what a start to the day. I hope this isn't a sign of the year to come, I'll never have the energy to make it through…" All the people in the room were still staring at them.
"You… go home to Tomoyo?" Naoko inquired tentatively. Rika looked surprised. She hadn't expected that. It seemed almost inappropriate, especially since the new Eriol was so… sexy.
Eriol shrugged and Tomoyo blushed as they took their seats. The entire class sweat-dropped as Naoko squealed and continued writing. Rika gave up and headed back to her seat, sending a helpless look towards Terada.
Li looked startled by the news, and he was frowning, his head propped up on Sakura's shoulder. Sakura dismissed the news, having already known that he, as the 'mysterious guest' was, as Tomoyo had put it, renting out a room in the Daidouji mansion. Her mind flew from the scene in front of her to something else that had been bothering her. She turned her chair, flinging Syaoran's arms off of her easily, now that he was distracted and his hold had loosened.
"Li. Syaoran." She began firmly, "I cannot BELIEVE you STOLE my phrase! Humph! Of all the nerve!" She ended in a huff, eyes gleaming in amusement, breaking through her stern façade. She spun back around smiling, looking pleased, entire body still tingling pleasantly from Li's embrace.
Chiharu knocked on Naoko's desk to get her attention, and gave the girl the evil eye as she snatched the paper that had been titled, "LONG DISTANCE AND LONG-LOST! Boys in love, a Tomoeda Times article". Crumpling it up, Chiharu tossed it into a trashcan near the door. Naoko, pouted and slouched in her seat. Rika, sensing that the class was as wound-down as they were going to get, opened her mouth.
"Ok, Terada-sensei." Came her warm words and fond smile, "Anything else for us to discuss before class lets out?"
……….
The bell rang ten minutes later, signaling the end of Homeroom. Everyone began chatting eagerly.
"So, Tomoyo, that's such an awesome idea you came up with. How do you do it?" Takashi said in earnest.
"Yeah, perfect characterization too! Magical Girl Sakura, I totally see that happening." Chiharu added.
"Imagine if it were true?" Naoko added, looking enthusiastic.
"Eh hehehe…" Tomoyo and Sakura answered, Sakura looking guilty and sheepish. The attention moved from the skit to Eriol as everyone greeted him for real, asked a few questions about his schedule, and then began to leave if they weren't heading in his direction. Eriol had announced to them that since he had a free period he was going to head towards Home Economics with Sakura, Li, and Rika, since he hadn't seen that wing of the school yet.
"I'll probably wander after their class begins." He said, waving to Tomoyo as she left with Naoko. "See you both in about an hour!"
The four began walking, Li and Sakura behind Eriol and Rika. Barely a minute away from their last class, Li had already caught, without so much as glancing down or pausing, two books and an earring. He had also fixed the zipper on Sakura's bag, which hadn't been closed all the way. For each mini-save Sakura had rewarded him with a glowing smile and a "Thank you Syaoran-kun! It would've been bad if I'd lost that!".
"So, Rika-chan," Eriol began after Syaoran had fixed the bag's zipper, "Do you remember me at all? Elementary school was so long ago, after all, and I only visited once."
"Hai, of course." The long-haired girl smiled, "You know, Eriol-kun, part of me wants to dismiss your return as a nice, simple, commonplace occurance. A cute coincidence, you and Li here again during the same year. Except that would make me a fool." She said this gently, and Eriol, rather than getting nervous, found himself relaxing. Even if this girl figured out more than he wanted her to, she was not the type to share her speculations with anyone he couldn't trust. "You know, Hiirigizawa-kun, there is a religion, I think I learned about it last year, I can't remember the name…" She trailed off, tapping her fingers against the book she carried absentmindedly. "Well it supports the notion that each person is reincarnated, reborn immediately each time they die. What I'm trying to get at is that the religion says that in each new life, and since each person's first life, everyone has this core group of close friends whose souls stay near to them each time they are reborn. They may be relatives one life, or friends the next, but some souls will always be near you. I like that idea. Have you heard of it?" She asked him, after relaying her story. Eriol, impressed, considered it. He had heard of that before.
"Yes. I also learned that, according to that, the people who are your closest friends or lovers in one life can become your worst enemy in the next. Apparently, the logic behind it is that the roles they play in your life are equally important." Eriol added.
"Not surprising." Li and Rika said, their responses in unison, but delivered completely differently. Li had said it in a dry tone, while Rika had responded thoughtfully.
Li, whose conversation with Sakura had died down, had tuned in when Rika started talking about rebirth and reincarnation. He looked at Rika now, surprised that they would share such a similar thought. Rika smiled to herself and Eriol inquired, getting over his own surprise that the both of them would have the same thought about him, "I'm sorry? What isn't surprising? I happen to believe that I'm a very complex individual. It's embarrassing to think that you both find me that predictable. How dull."
"I think they mean that your answer didn't surprise any of us. Not dull, just typical of you, Eriol-kun." Sakura chimed in, eyes kind and bright. Eriol raised his eyebrows, hardly thinking that was any better.
"Hai, exactly." Rika admitted, "Leave it to a person like you, Hiirigizawa, to point out the contradiction of a dear lover becoming an almost cherished enemy. Your mind jumped to the concept that most fascinated you." She explained her reasoning, and Eriol nodded in understanding, impressed that she came to that conclusion.
"I see. Someone like Sakura-chan would have probably gone on to point out how she thinks her group of friends are so much a part of her soul that she can believe that your story is true. Or maybe she would have listed the people she thought have been with her forever. You must study psychology, Rika-san. I'm certain that Li was simply taking the opportunity to gripe about my almost negative take, and how I passed up the opportunity to bond. However, your observations on my personality feel somewhat like an analysis." Sakura patted Li's shoulder in a sort of 'there, there' motion to sooth his ruffled emotions at being both dismissed and presented as an optimist in the space of one breath.
"Yes, actually, I want to be a psychiatrist. I read a lot on psychology." Rika answered, stopping in front of a door. "We're here."
Sakura pulled Li by his arm into a large Home Ec room. Rika looked at Eriol. "You know, Hiirigizawa-kun, the Eriol character that Tomoyo and Sakura proposed for our Autumn Festival skit would also be the kind of person to jump directly to an idea like that one. Not an enemy, he would say, merely someone whose soul has been close to Sakura's for centuries. Don't you think?"
Eriol's mouth curved and his eyes glinted at her as he examined her, this beautiful girl with intelligent doe-eyes, a gentle face, and an innocent but mysterious smile. "Well, Rika-san, he is based on me." There were no risky answers with a girl that was that trustworthy, he decided.
She nodded, accepting the response, and entered her classroom right on time. Eriol decided to go back the way he had come. He had a sports field and a coach to find.
………..
"Hey, Yamazaki-kun!" Li called as he made his way over to his friend. Takashi was all dressed for goal-keeping, gloves in hand.
"Hey, Li-san!" Takashi answered. "Want to shoot on me a bit before practice?" Syaoran nodded, dropping the soccer ball he was carrying to the grass. There were a few other guys out there messing around on the other side of the field already, but no coach.
The guys headed over to one of the goals and Li took a few shots. Suddenly, Takashi stopped, mid-throw, soccer ball in hand.
"Nani! Hiirigizawa-kun?" Takashi hollered, waving an arm over his head. Sure enough, Li turned and saw Eriol heading over to them. Eriol was wearing a typical PE outfit, nothing special, and he looked genuinely excited.
"Li-kun." He said, greeting his distant relative.
"Hiirigizawa." Li responded flatly. "I didn't know you still played."
"Hiirigizawa-kun!" Takashi shouted, running up to them, "I didn't think you'd want to play! You wrote me you were sick of playing for school teams in Britain!"
"Yes, well my school team was made up of a lot of poor futbol players." Eriol answered, grinning. "I've heard that this team is trying to be in the top four in all of Japan. So, I figured, since I'm already here… The coach told me that he'd see if I was any good before promising me anything."
Li frowned. The team had been practicing for over a week already. But, the school was required to make exceptions for transfer students and exchange students. And the team still had a week or two before their first game.
"All right Hiirigizawa. Let's see if you're any good." Li said. His face was set, and he looked almost excited, anticipating a challenge. "One on One, first person to score on Yamazaki-kun wins." They shook on it and Takashi ran off to the goal, ball in hand. Upon reaching his goalie box he stopped for a second, bounced the ball once, and punted it a short distance from the boys.
About five minutes later they had a small audience, comprised of players from the team, several cheerleader, including Chiharu, Naoko, and Sakura, and the coaches of the team. The score was 3 to 3 even with Takashi's numerous saves and, despite Li's rules about the first goal winning, they were still going.
A shrill whistle blew, halting all motion, just as Takashi made two incredible saves, one after the other, first saving a shot from Li and then a follow-up from Eriol.
"All right! Practice starts now! Hiirigizawa-kun we'll have a jersey for you tomorrow. Everybody, two laps around the field." The head coach hollered, and his team swung into action. Eriol grinned smugly as Sakura, Chiharu, and Naoko cheered, happy for him.
"Not bad, cousin." He said, running alongside Syaoran at the head of the group. Li didn't answer until they stopped their laps.
"Welcome to the team. It'll be a relief having someone else who doesn't know everyone by name, even if it is you." Li answered, grudgingly but honestly. "And I'm not your cousin."
…………..
By the end of practice Eriol was sore and tired. Syaoran, who normally held up well enough (even in the heat of summer) to go home and exercise for an extra hour with his weapons, was just as exhausted.
"Oh man, coach was a demon today!" Takashi groaned, yanking off his shirt and hanging it around his shoulders. His gloves had already been thrown on top of his bag. Li and Eriol followed suit, tossing their shirts on the ground at their feet.
Eriol bent over backwards, hands touching the ground, and came up onto his hands before pulling his arms in and tucking into a roll, bringing himself back up. "This was fun. You guys play hard. It's like being back on my club team in England. I haven't played with them in months." He grinned suddenly and looked to Li. "Look who just got out of their own practice."
Takashi grinned and waved at Chiharu. His girlfriend waved back and gave a loud wolf-whistle. Li blushed when he saw Sakura, along with Naoko and some other girls.
Eriol on the other hand, waved shamelessly, and jogged over to them. "Hey, Sakura-chan, Naoko-san, Chiharu-san. What's up. And who are these other lovely ladies?"
The girls giggled, a few blushing. Sakura looked as though she was trying not to admire a shirtless Eriol, and a single glance at Li, who was now approaching with a pissed-off look, fixed that.
"Damn, Eriol, nice abs." Chiharu answered, not at all embarrassed to be seen openly admiring him. "Oh, these are some other girls from our cheerleading team." Chiharu introduced them all by name. The last one, a 'Subaru Shina', looked him over boldly, rather than shying away like the others.
Then Li arrived, followed closely by Takashi. "Hey, don't I get a comment about my insanely hot bod?" Takashi asked his girlfriend disbelievingly.
"You're just too cute for words, baby, or I would." Chiharu answered.
"So congratulations getting on the team, Eriol-kun!" Sakura told him happily. Li was glaring at his distant relative reincarnated and standing just behind him, having stomped his way over. Sakura's face was getting increasingly flushed, and her gaze, although she was trying to look Eriol in the eye while she spoke with him, was obviously straying to Li's shirtless body. Li, as he began to notice this, stopped glaring at Eriol.
'Finally, dipshit'. Came Eriol's voice inside Li's head. 'I'm really not the one she's interested in looking at right now.'
Syaoran, shooting him one last glare as Eriol responded to Sakura's congratulations politely, looked back at the energetic girl he was crazy for. Her eyes flicked back to him and her pink face darkened a little more. His mouth curved upward wickedly.
"Hey, Sakura." Li spoke up, grinning at her. She looked at him, hooking her gaze onto his amber gaze, "Having trouble keeping your eyes on Hiirigizawa?"
'Wow.' Eriol's voice echoed one more time. 'How… Blunt. I thought you were shy and tongue-tied?'
Sakura squeaked in disbelief, caught off-guard. Noako laughed out loud with Chiharu in surprise and Takashi merely guffawed. The other girls looked a mixture of amused and disappointed that Li was obviously only interested in Sakura.
"NANI! Hoooeeee…" Sakura flushed completely crimson at that, covering her face with her hands. Li laughed a little, stepping forward.
"Whoa." Came Takashi's voice as he sidled over to whisper to Eriol. "Li is… smiling. A lot. He doesn't do that often, does he?"
Li pulled Sakura's hands away from her face. "I didn't mean you couldn't look." He swiveled a bit from side to side, pretending to pose confidently, "So. How is it? Maybe I should work out a little harder next week? My abs aren't as defined as they were before school started, I know…" He teased her. She snorted a bit, smiling again.
"Flirt!" The red left her face, "You caught me off-guard there, Syaoran-kun. I didn't know you'd gotten that bold. I still remember when we both used to blush like that." She answered indignantly. She looked him over, her cheeks still very pink. "I don't know, I think you're right. You look a little on the… porky side." Li facefaulted, looking crestfallen and Sakura cracked up.
"HAHAHA! Oh ahahaha! Gomen, gomen, I just couldn't keep that up! Wow, your face was great, Syaoran! No, seriously, Li-kun your body is excellent. I promise. Hoe, it's embarrassing just to look at." She said, controlling her laughter and then flushing again when she tried to look at him.
"You're just too cute and innocent for a bad boy like me. I understand." Li answered, hands up in the air in a, 'hey, what can you do?' manner. He teased her shortly in revenge for her daring to call him 'porky', but then couldn't resist another opportunity to make her blush. "And, Sakura." He tilted her head up a bit with his hand, still standing close to her. "It's called muscular. Not porky." He placed one of her hands on his arm. "All muscle." Sakura's hand squeezed involuntarily, testing the arm and then brushing over the skin as she yanked it back. Her face flushed again, ears and neck included, and she grabbed Naoko's arm, dragging the poor girl with her as she stepped around Syaoran. Naoko, in turn, grabbed Chiharu, and the rest of the girls, after sending longing glances back towards the two new incredibly sexy foreign students, followed.
"Bye, Takashi-kun!" Chiharu hollered, "I'll call you later!"
"Bye, Hiirigizawa-kun!" Came a second girl's voice, as one of the girls, Shina, called out to Eriol. She had been the slowest to begin walking away, "Let's talk tomorrow!"
The girls exited, en route to their locker room, and Takashi and Eriol turned to Li.
"Wow, Li." Yamazaki began in shock, smile gone, "I gotta be honest, I didn't expect that. Being that bold with Sakura… guys have tried to flirt with her before and she's been totally dense and blind to it. That's one way to get through."
"What happened to the embarrassingly cute helpless boy I used to know? You've turned into a wild flirt! Such an outrageously inappropriate boy is highly unfit to date our Sakura-chan!" Eriol said dramatically, throwing an arm over Li's shoulders. "I totally thought you were the type to never talk around a girl. How wrong I was…" He shook his head helplessly.
Syaoran threw Eriol's arm off. He still looked pleased. "Tomoyo-san was right, as usual. She told me that if I wasn't more direct, Sakura would never get it. I don't know… she's never had a boyfriend before. She might not even like me. I mean, she probably was just blushing like mad cause she's never been around a shirtless flirt before." Li sighed, his doubts sounding little melodramatic coming from a guy like Li, and he paced off towards his shirt. Eriol smiled slyly, glancing back towards the girl's locker room.
"Oh I don't think you need to worry about that." He commented quietly, although Li was out of earshot. Yamazaki heard him and snickered. It was obvious to both of them that Li and Sakura were a surefire couple.
"Hey Hiirigizawa are you really staying at Daidouji-san's house?" Takashi asked. Eriol nodded.
"Hey, Li bring me my shirt!" He called. Li glowered, but picked it up.
"Wow. Tomoyo was so familiar with you today. She's so cold towards any guys usually. It's like she doesn't know what to say unless she's getting them to do something for her. I mean she's fine around girls, I guess she just has no guy friends. Actually, most of the girls know her really well, they all respect her a lot. Anyway, it's just so weird that she'd let you stay in her house."
"Surely you don't mean she doesn't talk to any boys…" Eriol said skeptically.
"Well she talks to me… and she's friends with a few of the boys who are in the choir. You know, these two guys that go out together on the weekends. Ugh, you know what pisses me off, though? A bunch of guys are taking bets on whether or not she's a lesbian. Like I said she's totally cold towards any and all guys, with few exceptions. You know, she's smiling a lot more though… at least today she was. Tomoyo-san… she's so good at everything and successful, and she's got Sakura for a best friend so it's hard to tell… but she didn't seem very happy last year." Takashi told Eriol. "But living with a guy like you in the house… That's a way to liven up her life. Poor girl's either gonna go mad, or you're going to end up whipped, obeying her every whim." Takashi laughed. Li finally reached them, frowning, having heard most of what Takashi said.
"Hey." Li said, throwing Eriol's shirt at him, "Takashi, tell me more about this betting ring." Takashi gave Li a blank look and then answered, carefully and hesitantly. "It's just a really crude thing, a side joke that pops up once in a while. I always tell them to shut up, but… you know. There's one group betting she's a lesbian, a few guys that insist she's just a prudish virgin that's bitter cause she doesn't…" he coughed, embarrassed, "get any… Speculation about whether she only dates older men who are married, etc. etc. The usual ugly rumors. I don't really know why they targeted her…" He trailed off. Li was looking murderous.
"Do you know who they are?"
Takashi looked at him, sweating from both the heat and the pressure of looking a murderous Li Syaoran in the eyes. "Not all of them. I can give you a few names, but there's no way to know if it's the guys that started it, the ones that actually keep track of the small bets. Every month or so another guy tries to make a move, and that keeps people interested. It's sick, sort of, except Tomoyo knows how to handle herself. You'd have to walk in on a large circle of guys laughing about the next one if you want to do anything about it." Li looked furious, and he grabbed Takashi's shirt and hauled him in threateningly.
"Why!? Why didn't you do something, dammit!" He growled.
"Shut up." Eriol said darkly, pulling Li back seemingly effortlessly, but with an iron strength. "Obviously one guy versus more than three is stupid. There's not much he can do." Eriol's hand remained on Li's shoulder, with a vice-like grip. Li's anger began to drain out of him as he tried to think about how best to go about punishing the crude group of jocks.
"That's better." Eriol said almost soothingly. His voice sounded odd, slightly different. Li looked up, momentarily pissed again.
"You! HOW CAN YOU NOT-… care." Li's voice hushed again as he got a good look at Eriol's face for the first time since the conversation had begun. Takashi was already watching the dark-haired boy. Eriol's mouth was set in a slight sneer, his eyes narrowed. He looked scary. Not like he was going to snap and go kill the boys in a fit of anger, like Li. Oh no, he looked ready to torture them for a few years, maybe after planning carefully first. Li found himself almost wanting to back away, and nearly reached up to move Eriol's hand. Eriol released him before Li could move.
"Now that you're calm again, I might actually be willing to include you." Eriol said, nonchalant words belied by the cruel sneer and almost injured expression in his eyes. He began to walk back to the school and the other two followed.
"In what?" Takashi asked, curious, face still out-of character, looking completely serious.
"My plan, obviously. I think making them wish they were never born just isn't going far enough… I'll have to give it some thought." Eriol said offhandedly, clearing the sneer off his face in an attempt to at least look like he wasn't seriously considering burying them alive.
Li nodded, actually in agreement with the sorcerer. "I'm still in favor of pounding them into the ground, but I suppose this kind of thing is what you do best."
"Hey, you wouldn't actually do something to seriously threaten their lives, would you?" Takashi asked, looking worried.
"Yamazaki-san." Eriol turned to him, looking absolutely frigid. "This is Daidouji Tomoyo we are talking about. I'll do what I need to do to make sure that they not only regret ever disrespecting her like that, but hopefully the end result will be that they respect her not, and respect all women, for that matter. That'll be the really tricky bit… hm. I'll have to discover who they are first, of course." Eriol looked off into the distance, mind already at work. "Don't worry, Yamazaki-kun. I can figure out for myself. I don't need you to try and spy or something. Asking that would be rude. I suppose they're just high school bullies as well… how depressing that this is probably only mindless fun for them."
Li looked at Takashi, whose nervous look had vanished. "Are you worried or something? Eriol and I won't get caught or anything. He's a fucking genius at coming up with plans like this. And it's not like we're doing anything illegal." Eriol's voice entered Li's mind again to give a soft snort of laughter. 'Not unless I can't find another way to make them feel genuinely contrite.' it whispered softly, cruelly. Li almost shivered, despite the bright sun and heat.
"We better not get caught. My parents would kill me. I'll warn you if I see anyone making moves on her in the next few weeks. Daidouji-san's a pretty beautiful girl, so I don't doubt that it'll be soon." Takashi responded. Seeing Eriol and Li's looks of surprise, he continued, smiling once again. "Come on, I've been wanting to beat up anyone who has so much as mentioned that dumb joke for years. There's this one guy who always snickers and makes a few lewd comments. I actually punched him once. Got in so much trouble…" Takashi shrugged. "So you have to let me help. Plus I always think in these situations: What would Chiharu do? And she would definitely want to take part in the ass-kicking. In fact if I mentioned any of this to her, she'd just tell me to go for it and pretend I hadn't told her anything." He smiled to himself fondly. "Kami, I love her."
"Sap." Li snorted at him, opening the door to the locker room. Eriol smiled, looking almost like a normal sweaty teenage boy again. The boys stopped their conversation short, seeing that there were still members of the team in there.
'Li keep your ears open these next few weeks.' Eriol's voice sounded once more in Syaoran's mind. 'Not all of them may know you're friends with her, since you're still new. Not likely that you'll hear much, but still…' Li nodded as he headed off to the showers, and Eriol smirked to himself as he merely put his shirt back on, picked up his bag of books and clothes, and left. He didn't have a locker, so he had nothing to shower with. He also really didn't want to change back into his school uniform. There was a certain long-haired and gorgeous someone who he could sense leaving the music room, however. Hopefully she'd let him walk back with her, even if he was sweaty and disgusting.
When he was almost to the front of the school, he paused, hands on his shirt. Should he take it off again…? It was pretty hot, after all… But she might clam up, or blush and simply refuse to talk. He just didn't know enough to be sure. It would make a much bigger impression if he stripped it off the moment she began to complain about the smell anyway. Yes, that was the best idea.
He nodded, satisfied, and stepped around the corner, on the way to an 'accidental' rendezvous with Tomoyo Daidouji.