Author's Notes: Guess I didn't put disclaimers last time. So what? I don't think I would be sued. And copyright infringement and such have allowable violations for purposes of education and such. But I do love CLAMP. Except for the fact that Eriol and Tomoyo are non-canon. Hehehe.
Thanks so much to MoonLove Angel and chainedheart999 for reviewing.
To Kaho wut? who was an unsigned reviewer, yes, I do intend to mention the romantic angles between Eriol and Kaho, and between Tomoyo and Sakura. But, as most ExT fics, Kaho would be part of the past, or soon to be part of the past. Depends on where my idle hands would bring me. The guardians are treated like family. Like aunts and uncles to the kids. But it's still my dilemma if the kids would call her/him Nakuru-bachan, since it's weird to call Spinel Sun oji-san. Hahaha! Thanks so much for reviewing!
Special thanks too to all those who subscribed to this story: Naka-Miharu-Mura, rizeleth, and Thornspike.
CHAPTER I
For the umpteenth time, high school senior Hiiiragizawa Eriol readjusted his tie in front of the mirror before he shrugged into his pale blue Seijou High uniform's jacket. His guardians were watching him with an amused twinkle in their eyes.
"Eriol-sama your tie is lopsided to the right," Nakuru informed her master.
"Ah, it is? It couldn't be helped then," Eriol surveyed himself in the mirror, then he removed his jacket and redid his tie. Nakuru immediately turned her back against her master so that he would not notice the snicker that threatened to escape from her lips.
Spinel Sun hovered near the two then he raised an eyebrow as a question to Nakuru. The latter mouthed the word "Tomoyo" and the sun guardian nodded his little head in understanding.
The feline then hissed, "the tie wasn't crooked at all, was it?"
"Of course it wasn't! It's just that you can't fool Eriol-sama that easily under normal circumstances. And I think it's just too kawaii that master is capable of crushing on someone like a regular school boy," Nakuru whispered her reply rather loudly, though Eriol was too preoccupied to notice anyway. "I bet Tomoyo-chan would be here any minute now. I could feel master's aura getting stronger and I bet he's getting anxious now."
Both of the guardians are already used to the sudden surges in the aura of their master as his mood changes, especially if it concerns a certain amethyst-eyed goddess. However, the aura continued on getting stronger as if the owner is using magical powers of a great extent. Nakuru and Spinel Sun both stared at their master, half-expecting and half-hoping that he was casting a spell to explain the great gush of magical power in the air. But Eriol was just as stupefied as they were. Though they were not really that alarmed for the aura was that of Clow's.
The three occupants of the room watched as a ball of light materialized in the middle of the living room. It steadily increased in size, almost swallowing up the whole room, before it turned into a sudden flash that momentarily blinded the observers.
Collective grunts and moans could be heard after several loud thuds before everyone could recover from the shock. When the light cleared, three pair of midnight blue eyes exactly like his own, and two pairs of rather familiar purple eyes stared back at Eriol. A faint sound of the doorbell drifted into the room, but everyone was too stunned to take notice of it. After a few moments of everyone blinking idiotically at each other, the toddler in the young lady's arms called out to Eriol, "To-chan!"
Eriol's eyes almost popped out from their sockets. The little kid with the aura similar to his exclaimed something that suspiciously sounded like father. There was also a nagging feeling inside him that he thought he had heard a bell, and that bell sound should mean something significant to him. Eriol averted his eyes from one kid to another, noting the similarities in their features, realization starting to dawn upon him. Then his eyes finally settled on a little girl who had midnight blue eyes and long wavy hair. Except for her coloring, the girl looked exactly like--!
'It was the doorbell! It means she must be here already!' as Eriol was about to turn and rush to the door in hopes of salvaging the situation or at least not making things worse , he heard a familiar voice call out his name.
"Eriol-kun," Tomoyo wandered into the living room oblivious of the tension in the room, "nobody was answering the door. I hope you don't mind that I had let myself in."
Eriol stared in shock at Tomoyo. He then gave furtive glances to the kids in the room and they had similar wide-eyed expressions as they stared at Tomoyo. Eriol had a feeling that something would go terribly wrong. His mind worked frantically to try to prevent that something from happening, even though he didn't have a single idea what it was. He was about to speak up when a little voice beat him to it.
The toddler held out his arms to Tomoyo and he called out, "Ka-chan!"
Eriol's mind whirled as he tried to process the implications of the situation. And then he saw black.
***
Eriol-kun... Eriol-kun...
Eriol slowly opened his eyes to reveal a slightly blurry image of Tomoyo. He mumbled out her name and he was almost sure he had a sheepish smile on his face. Well it doesn't matter, since he is allowed to be as idiotic as he wants to be in his dreams. He was already used to waking up with an image of Tomoyo in his head. But as he started to collect his thoughts, he realized that it was already the second time it happened in the day. It means he had already woken up earlier in the morning, so how come he could see Tomoyo in front of him? He bolted to sit up as warm and gentle hands tried to steady him and push him back down.
"Not so fast Eriol-kun. Maybe you should lie down for a while,"
"What happened?"
"You suddenly fainted, then Nakuru-san brought you over to this couch," Tomoyo was seating near the edge of the couch beside Eriol's waist. Upon realizing this unprecedented proximity coupled with the embarrassment of fainting in front of a crowd, Eriol considerably reddened.
"Daijoubu desu ka Eriol-kun? Your face is kind of red, maybe you have a fever," Tomoyo proceeded to touch her palms to his forehead before placing them on Eriol's cheeks, "you ARE warm. I knew it when you sneezed twice yesterday and yet you still insisted that I should have your scarf when you were walking me home. There was a slight draft then. You might have caught a cold."
Nakuru snickered in the background as Eriol threw a glare at her direction.
"Nakuru-san, you shouldn't laugh at your master. I am sure he is already embarrassed enough as it is," Tomoyo chastised the moon guardian, but her tone actually betrayed that she is the one more amused with the situation. Eriol cringed at that.
"But Tomoyo-sama! Eriol-sama never caught a cold before!"
Eriol threw her another glare. He had repeated himself too many times already that his guardians should not use the honorific. Moreover, while it was true that the great Hiiragizawa Eriol could only catch a cold when he would permit himself to, Nakuru should not give Tomoyo ideas so that the latter might realize the real reason why Eriol's face was burning-up.
"Then the more reason that Eriol catching a cold is something we should worry about! I know now!" Tomoyo clapped her hands as an idea popped into her head, "you should not bother to come to school for today anymore Eriol-kun. I will tell the teacher that you are ill. And what you need is a serving of the good 'ole chicken soup. You do have broth in the fridge, don't you?"
"No, we don't have any. And T-tomoyo-san! You came here this early in the morning so that we could go over your piece for the school festival. You should not let yourself be bothered by preparing me food. I'd just ask Nakuru to... well... uh... buy me something from the store," as always, Tomoyo was personally asked by the school director himself to sing in the program, and Eriol was the only one good enough to accompany her.
"Nonsense Eriol-kun! You won't get your needed nutrition from store-bought food. Aren't you an advocate yourself of home-cooked meals?" Tomoyo ended the argument by standing up and whipping out her mobile phone to call up the head of her female bodyguards; it was a signal that her decision was final. "Souma-san? I need you to bring me the chicken broth I prepared last night. - - - Hai, it's the one with the blue lid in the fridge, - - - hai, I'm still in Eriol-kun's house," Tomoyo proceeded to enumerate the other ingredients she needed for the soup, "oh, and bring over some clothes too. Size 6 for toddlers - - yes you heard me right. It's for a little boy. Then dresses for a 6-year old - - hai, then a 10-year old boy too," Tomoyo's eyes kept roaming around the other occupants of the room, "then new clothes my size, and new clothes about the size of Eriol. And lastly, baby food, feeding bottles and formula milk. - - Hai, that would be all. Thank you very much!" She finally pressed a button in her mobile and had on an accomplished look on her face.
Eriol was almost bewildered when she heard Tomoyo asking for clothes to be brought over. But then he remembered the real reason he fainted in the first place. Sitting in another couch not too far from his were two kids probably around their age, a grade-schooler boy, a kindergarten-aged girl, and a toddler sitting on the lap of the girl their age. Sure they were relatively silent, but the tot was making rather cute cooing sounds, and it amazed him why he hadn't noticed earlier.
"How do pancakes sound guys?" Tomoyo beamed at the kids sitting with rather forlorn expressions on their faces.
The little girl instantly brightened-up and blushed as she stammered out a request, "anou, could you make the ones shaped like letters? Or maybe like little animals?"
"How did you know I love making them? You must be able to read my mind! Would you like to help me out?" Tomoyo offered her hand to the little girl as the latter shyly nodded her head. She didn't know what exactly happened, but she felt that Eriol's guests just went through an experience that scared them. She felt that the kids needed some cheering up.
"I'll help too!" the little boy jumped off from his seat and he shot up his arm in the air which emphasized the fact that he was volunteering.
"That would be perfect!"
"Anou, oka—Iie, T-tomoyo-san, we would love to help you out in the kitchen but, well you see uh... Oniisan and I need to talk to err... our cousin Eriol-san," Sonoko, the girl with the long straight hair, said.
Tomoyo gave her the most understanding smile, "don't think about it too much. I also felt that there was something important you need to talk about. I figured it could be a little too delicate for the younger kids and so I'm taking them with me. Should I take Kurorii from you too?" Tomoyo asked the question but she already offered her arms to the toddler. She supposed that a child who was beginning to learn how to talk could already pick-up a lot from the conversations around him. The two elder of the siblings gave their curt thank yous as they watched Tomoyo herd the younger kids away, mumbling how they should first clean-up – Tomoko and Yoru were still filled with dust from the shed – and how she whisked away Nakuru with them, claiming that she would need help taking care of the three kids. Daidouji Tomoyo's efficiency could be scary as hell. Spinel Sun, on the other hand, as he is the more perceptive of the guardians, floated his way out of the room to give his Master some privacy.
When they were safely out of earshot, Eriol sat up properly and faced the two teenagers in front of him. He need not ask questions as his patient silence was enough to convey that he was waiting for an explanation.
Eiri gripped the material of his pants near his knees then his sister slid her hand into his to give it a gentle squeeze. That seemed to be the charm as the lad started to relax, and after an audible sigh, he proceeded to tell their story.
"Hiiragizawa Eriol-san. As you may have already sensed, we possess an aura similar to yours. It is precisely because our powers came from you. And well... uh... we, ourselves, came from you. We hail from the future. After an inexplicable incident, we found ourselves travelling back into time, apparently, to a period long before any of us were born. As it was magic that brought us here, it should be magic that would bring us back to our time."
"Yes. I figured as much. Because of your auras, you children could only either be my ascendants or descendants. But I know everyone of the former, so you could only be of the latter. You ARE my own children, aren't you? It's because I've also figured out who your mother is," Eriol began rubbing his temples to relieve himself of his growing headache.
"The resemblance is uncanny. I could see her in both of you in your every move. But I could also see my own self in you. It's quite, well... disarming," Eriol permitted himself to smile affectionately at the two teenagers in front of him, "why don't you tell me more about yourselves?"
"I'm Hiiragizawa Eiri, eighteen years of age," the lad smiled back at his father.
"Hiiragizawa Sonoko desu, seventeen years old," the smile on the young woman's face tugged at Eriol's heartstrings. He felt a strong force in her personality that reminded him of Daidouji-sama. She was probably named after her.
"The gaki is ten years old, he's Yoru," Eiri proceeded to rattle off the names of his siblings, "the prettiest little thing is Tomoko, she's six," he was rather more affectionate when he mentioned the little girl.
"She looks just like okaasan, doesn't she?" Sonoko interposed.
"And finally, the littlest one is Eriol," Eiri watched as his father raised an eyebrow at that, "yes, you named him after yourself. But we call him Kurorii." Eriol then raised his other eyebrow for it.
"And yes, you hate that nickname so much too," Sonoko chuckled.
"Okaasan, the Tomoyo in this time of course, does not know of Kurorii's real name. Oh wait, Sonoko-chan blurted his real name was supposed to be Kurogane, but that's irrelevant already," Eiri paused to watch his sister turn a sheepish grin on him, "anyway, we figured that it would be more suspicious if you had the same name with our brother. Okaasan rather has very sharp senses. We told her we are your cousins from England,"
"We didn't have any belongings with us, so I told okaasan we teleported ourselves from England because our parents are on a vacation, and that a glitch in our powers made our stuff get left behind. I knew she had seen enough magic for her to believe us." Sonoko, this time, filled in his father with the details of what happened while he was out cold.
"I see... that certainly is plausible enough," Eriol was rubbing his chin, "given the short time you had, to come up with an excuse for your presence here, that is actually quite brilliant," he stared at his future children with pride in his eyes, "because your –ahem– mother, if you had given her a rational explanation, she would have had her suspicions, and she could try to find out more. But since you gave magic as the explanation, she would already stop at that," Eriol didn't realize how awkward it was for him to refer to Tomoyo as the mother of his children.
Eiri and Sonoko looked at each other and silently communicated that they never realized the Nakuru from their time was actually right in describing their father as a gushing school boy with the biggest crush on their mother. Well of course, in their time, their father had always gloated that it was their mother who had chased after him.
"I would certainly research on how I would send you kids safely back to your time while ascertaining that your presence here would not make an impact that could change the future," Eriol, for the second time, bestowed upon them the rare gift of his genuine smile, "but if you don't mind, maybe you could stay for a little while. I certainly would not mind your presence over here."
The two adolescents knew that their father meant his words, even though he is yet to experience how crazy it is to live with five of his own kids.
Tsuzuku
Next Chapter's Preview: The class of 3-C has two new transfer students. Li Shaoran wants to go on a murderous spree. And a grade school boy from the neighboring Tomoeda Elementary School joins them for lunch.
