Disclaimer : I don't own CCS. CCS is owned by CLAMP.
Chapter Dedication : To no other then Aoi Itsuki. My beta who's been so sweet and nice. Thanks for your kindness and your patience!
Notes : Can't stop thanking: animefan88tv, Malu Daidoji, cheng, Death101-Fox Version, Krissy, Marian AKT, mysticalphoenix-avalon, SnowCharms, yankeeCPA, chainedheart999, bshinigami, Midnight Ghost, Eriol…, Aoi Itsuki, Shanaa12, i? (I'm sure that ff dot net will not let me type your name right. I'm so sorry.. but thanks for reviewing!), James Birdsong, Fluff Inc, Oncinlity, tomoyo-amethyst, Vinnie Warlock, skybluescramble, and Shenhui for the reviews in Chapter 5! You guys are really, really kind…
To Oncinlity : Oh my goodness, I didn't realize it until you pointed out! I'm sorry for my recklessness. Thanks for the correction, I will correct it asap.
Summary : Once upon a time, with a Cursed Man and the soon-to-be Cursed Woman. Set 9 years post CCS series.
Recap : Eriol was cursed and to lift the curse, he would need a girl's help. After being reluctant, Tomoyo finally succumbed to the Sorcerer's will and word tricks. With his wit, he then managed to secure a place in the Daidouji household. They were starting to bond, but then Mizuki Kaho stepped into the play.
The Misfortunate Tale: Beauty and the Beast (Not)
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:: Chapter 6 : :
Counting Days
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"How was the flight?"
Mizuki Kaho gave a dry laugh. "You know me."
"That bad?" Eriol questioned as he offered to push the airport trolley for her. As he did so, he took moments to examine the lady better. Weeks without seeing her would have never erased this kind of sensation whenever she was around. The same beauty and maturity never failed to amaze him so. She still used the same trademark floral perfume –and the moment he noticed this, he realized how much he had missed her. For this woman he would fight. For this woman, he would do anything.
They walked towards the airport's parking lot and reached his car. After helping her put all her luggage to the car's baggage and they got into the car, he started the engine and he drove her to the Hiiragizawa manor.
"I miss you," he spoke out his thought. Between them, around her, he was more honest, bolder –yet more cautious. After all, he never dared to hurt her.
"We were separated for less than a month, Eriol," Kaho chuckled. "And besides, I believe that you have found yourself a beautiful company, here? I want to hear details about dear Tomoyo-san. How is she?"
At the mention of her name, he flinched. He hadn't really told the heiress anything about Kaho's arrival to Tomoeda.It wasn't that he was planning to keep it a secret, but it was just that he had this feeling that he had better not tell her. At least, not then.
"Eriol?"
"She's fine. A funny lady actually, she tries so much to fulfill her own hard expectations. And you just have to know all these plans she has been having for the rest of her life. Not only that she has plans on what she would do in 10 or 5 years, but she also has plans on what she would do next month, next week, today, and sometimes, I think she plans every minutes of her life,"
Kaho laughed at the Daidouji's antics. "Seems fun."
"Fun?" Eriol gazed at Kaho in disbelief.
"I mean, this is the first time you ever had a relationship that's occupying your mind that much that you've never given me a call."
Besides guilt, hope rose inside him. "You wanted me to call?"
"It would have been nice if you had called, but I am actually more thrilled to know that you're starting to get attached to a girl,"
"I'm not attached to her," he quickly corrected Kaho and muttered darkly, "That girl is… very lovely, but it's still purely business. And you know, for what reason I would ever sacrifice to have this relationship,"
"Eriol, you –"
"It's for you," he cut her words. He didn't originally want to burden her with such talks. After all she was tired from the long flight, and he was, well, always tired – his mind was restless. He presumed that this was not the right topic to welcome her in Tomoeda, but he felt like he needed to tell her. "Everything, Kaho. I would sacrifice myself to be the villain character, I would hurt and break every woman's heart in this world, I don't care, if that could erase the curse I had on me, if by doing it could bring me together with you, I would do it."
"…That's selfish, you know."
See, too much for a starter topic, wasn't it? He knew how the red-haired always reacted upon this topic and his certain point of view.
"I don't care," he muttered darkly. "If that could erase this Curse and then–"
"Then what, Eriol?" Kaho paused before giving her all knowing smile. "You think we could be together?"
His grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Yes…"
Kaho sighed. "You know I…don't feel that way towards you."
"That's just because we've never had a real relationship, thanks to this Curse," he defended. "If God's given me the chance, if you've given me the chance, after this curse is lifted, you'll see Kaho, you'll see…"
He could sense Kaho's doubt. And he could feel his own doubt too.
Could he be happy with Kaho, even after the curse is lifted? Could he be happy, even when he could love her normally but without her loving him back?
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Day 1
It's such a peaceful day, Tomoyo concluded.
She hadn't seen Hiiragizawa Eriol since morning. Earlier, he had informed her that he would pick Mizuki Kaho who had just come back from England. Knowing his absence would mean a day without planned bad lucks, she had been so relieved. Look at her now. It was 7 PM, he hasn't come again, and Tomoyo was successfully fulfilling all her daily plans –without any bad luck coming.
Continuing her second check on her essay, Tomoyo thought that this was what her normal day was supposed to be like.
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Day 9
"Your boyfriend's not around?"
Tomoyo turned her attention and saw Araide Kaze had decided to sit on the empty chair on her left. She knew who he was referring, and wanted so much to state the fact that Eriol had never been her boyfriend, but she knew better not to make a confusing statement, so she just agreed to the people's viewpoints and 'admitted' Eriol was her boyfriend. "No, he's away for a while,"
"I haven't seen him around you for more than a week,"
"Yes, he's… out of town," she didn't know why she would lie for him like that, but the priority now was to set all the suspicion away. "Something about seeing his cousin or something,"
"Hiiragizawa has a cousin? I asked Syaoran and he said that he doesn't have any relatives,"
Even when her lie was about to be revealed, a Daidouji always knew how to manipulate the others without losing grace. "Yes, that's why. He has just discovered that he still has relatives, so he quickly pursued them. He must have been enjoying himself now, you know, meeting a family that he never thought he had?"
Inside, Tomoyo prayed that Kaze was gullible enough. To have 30 % the imagination of Takashi Yamazaki was pretty…risky.
Fortunately, the jade-eyed guy didn't press on the subject and just nodded understandingly.
But speaking of which…
"You asked… Syaoran about Eriol?" she inquired.
"A-ah! W-well, I just wanted to know what kind of guy he was! I mean, how you, who never seemingly had interest in men, suddenly just… chose him and…" he groaned. For the umpteenth time in his life, Kaze had embarrassed himself in front of the girl of his dream.
It was unplanned, but her little inquiry had set the boy off.
"I-I should be going. My class will start soon." And with that Kaze left her.
She suddenly remembered about what Eriol had said to her about Kaze, saying that the Araide guy might have liked her.
Tomoyo decided to shrug the thought off.
Not thinking about Araide Kaze was rather easy. But since Kaze had mentioned something about the Sorcerer, she couldn't help but to think of him.
Now why would she think of him?
Because, Tomoyo's rationality rose, not every guy just suddenly pops into a girl's life and asks her to be the willing victim.
Araide Kaze was normal.
But Hiiragizawa Eriol wasn't.
She concluded logically that it was the reason why she thought about the blue-eyed slightly more: because Eriol was a freak –that was all.
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Day 14
And another week passed…
"Yes, I'm just fine. You really don't have to worry. How's your work?"
Sonomi Daidouji sighed on the other line. "Apparently, opening new branch here is tougher than I originally presumed. But that's not why I called you. You're really alright?"
"I told you I'm alright, Mother."
"Does Eriol take a good care of you?"
"I don't recall him being my nanny or bodyguard, but well, he still watches over me. I'm fine."
"Oh I know I can count on that guy."
Though invisible to Sonomi, Tomoyo grimaced.
"When will you be coming home?" the daughter inquired.
"I'm afraid not until next month, Dear. And I'm afraid I might even stay longer here. You want me to buy you something? The crystals here are very beautiful, perhaps you want me to send it to you?"
"No, Mother. Really, that's unnecessary. You just… come home as soon as possible, okay?"
"I'll try," Sonomi smiled. "Bye, Darling."
"Bye, Mother."
Tomoyo clicked the button and ended the call. She… didn't know why she lied to her mother, and foremost why she covered for that bastard's irresponsibility. Sure, she was alright and still in one piece. But unlike what she said to her mother, Hiiragizawa Eriol did not take a good care of her.
Well… in the first place, he really didn't have the responsibility for that, but still…
He had 'disappeared' for 2 weeks. He never showed up in the Dadiouji mansion and never showed up in campus either. He had, during his 2 weeks absence, called her once or twice to check on her condition, but that was it. And in his absence, life had gone according to her exact plans, and she had never had any bad luck again. In her sardonic thought, she presumed that perhaps it was his way of protecting her –by walking out of her life, carrying his bad luck with him.
So , there she was. 2 weeks without Hiiragizawa Eriol. Nothing interesting had happened ever since.
…
Not that she was lonely or anything.
…
And not that she couldn't have fun without him or anything…
….
Certainly, not that she missed him or anything…
…
Perhaps?
…
Well, she just hoped that he would… show up once in a while.
…
But then again, she remembered that he was possibly with the love of his life currently. She couldn't blame him wanting to spend time with someone he liked. She acknowledged him to bear such heavy burden, and everyone needed their breaks, didn't they? He needed his refreshment, and so did she. Besides, there should be something better to do than to lay lonely on her bed with nothing to do and feeling extremely bored. Realizing the urgency of breaking the routine, she decided to entertain herself. So, after changing clothes and applying light powder to her face, she planned to go to the cinema and prove at least one thing: that she could have fun without Hiiragizawa Eriol.
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Day 17
"Oh, just call her, Eriol," Kaho muttered finally. For the last 2 hours, she had witnessed the guy watch his own cell phone in a dilemmatic gesture.
"Why would I call her?" Eriol said, smiling and putting his phone back to his pants' pocket.He walked towards the bed and tenderly touched Kaho's arm again. "Is it better?"
"Well, since you practically check on me every 30 minutes, I suppose I'm more than okay," she smiled. "I'm alright. Really, you don't have to worry about me,"
"I'm sorry," he muttered. He couldn't stop blaming himself for his own stupidity. A couple days prior, he had unconsciously held Kaho's hand when they were walking in the park. His Curse –his damned CURSE –of course, prevented him to ever gain any happiness and made that stupid tree branch fall and hit Kaho's arms. He had been panicked and beyond guilt as he took care of her the entire week.
"Oh, you sound like a broken record, already. I told you, it's not your fault,"
"It's my Curse. It's still my fault," Eriol murmured darkly. "Wait, Kaho. Until I'm able to get rid of this Curse, we could…"
Kaho smiled. "I love you, although it's not the way you want it to be. And I'm willing to be your lover, if that could make you happy. But I just wish you're not having delusions on what your true happiness is, Eriol. Just that," she sighed. "But you have life other than me. Your world doesn't revolve around me only. Don't hesitate. Call her. Call Tomoyo-san,"
"I've told you, I don't have reasons to call her. I've checked from the maids of the Daidouji manor, and they said that Daidouji-san is just fine. Besides checking her condition, what should I tell her anyway? "
"Tell her about your whereabouts, your condition. Don't let a woman worry, you know."
He chuckled. "That girl is most likely enjoying her life without me anyway. She always complains on how I always ruin her perfectly scheduled life,"
"Well, you don't know that –"
"Why do I have the feeling that you want to hook her up with me?" Eriol asked, interrupting Kaho's words.
Kaho shrugged. "I don't know. We call it woman's intuition, I guess,"
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Day 20
Tomoyo sighed as she ended the phone call. Sakura couldn't go because she had to finish her research assignment, Kaze already had a prior appointment, and all her friends just happened to have business of their own. This was the 3rd time already that week that she watched the movies in the cinema alone.She didn't mind watching movies alone (There were always advantages such as: more concentration, more freedom to choose, etc), but it started to get rather lonely lately.
She had…cursedly… considered to call Hiiragizawa Eriol. But her rational side always cancelled the idea whenever she remembered that it had been almost 3 weeks since she last saw him. She got the feeling that there must be reasons as to why he hadn't showed up again, and decided that perhaps it was not wise to ask him out.
So, be it. Watching in the cinema alone, again. Let all people think she was pathetic, just let them –
"Tomoyo-san?"
Turning around to the source of voice, Tomoyo was soon greeted by the sight of one of the most beautiful woman she had ever encountered. Her appearance didn't change much: she was still the tall lady with long red hair and mesmerizing eyes. The years had made this charming woman look much more mature, yet still as gorgeous.If Tomoyo took more than 5 seconds to reply to the lady's greeting, it wasn't because she forgot her name, but it was simply because she was too awed by such powerful presence.
"Mizuki-san?"
"Glad you still remember!" the Priestess chirped happily.
It was easy now, to find out why the Sorcerer was helplessly in love with this red-haired woman. If Tomoyo were a man, perhaps she (he) would share the same obsessed thought as the Hiiragizawa guy.. Something about this woman was just very comforting. In a way, Kaho had the essence of Sakura in her – but with Kaho's level of maturity, she was more like a big sister Tomoyo never had.
"You're here alone?" Kaho inquired.
"Ah, yes. Sakura and the others couldn't make it –"
"Then why don't you just join me and Eriol?" Kaho said as turning around. "Now, where is that guy? I thought he was right behind me…"
"I-it's alright, Mizuki-san! I don't want to ruin your date with Hiiragizawa-san and –"
"Daidouji-san?"
She averted her gazes and they automatically fell to a presence much more intimidating that Mizuki Kaho was.
Hiiragizawa Eriol.
Oh, and he didn't look very happy to see her, but masked it pretty well with a formal smile.
She was one with the reciprocal principle. If he feigned such smile, then she would too.
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"Ah, it was a good movie, wasn't it Tomoyo-san? Eriol? I'm glad that you recommended this, Tomoyo-san. It was really good," exclaimed the satisfied ex-teacher.
"Glad if it suits your taste, Mizuki-san."
"Hey, why don't the three of us just have dinner together? It will be great and –"
"I'm afraid I can't, Mizuki-san," announced Tomoyo. "I have –"
" – to proofread your essay assignment for the 6th time?" Eriol cut her excuse in sarcasm, but almost unconsciously.
If Tomoyo was pissed, then she clearly didn't let her emotion show. "You have a problem with me, Hiiragizawa-san?" she asked with a soft yet warning smile.
The Londoner was apparently as careful as she was in masking emotions. With equal smile, he replied, "Of course not, my fair Daidouji-san,"
Tomoyo smiled.
Eriol smiled.
Kaho watched the two dark haired worriedly. In her late attempt, finally she clasped her hand together and announced, "Dinner please? Don't you feel hungry? Eriol, I'd like to try that restaurant there, you don't mind, do you?"
The Hiiragizawa cast one testing look towards the Daidouji and then spoke back to the Priestess. "Of course, Kaho. Let's go."
Tomoyo quickly bowed to Kaho. "It's been fun watching movies with you, Mizuki-san. Now, I'll have to go and –"
"What are you talking about, Tomoyo?" Kaho smiled warmly. "You're coming to the dinner too!"
"I'm not."
"She's not."
Spoken simultenously.
Then…
Same polite smiles…
The red-haired woman sighed tiredly. "Come on. Don't make me have to act like a teacher again. Tomoyo is coming to dinner with us, and I accept no protests."
The tone was final.
Sometimes, it seemed, there was even a power far greater than two manipulative dark-haired.
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"It's very delicious," Kaho stated before turning to face both Eriol and Tomoyo. "Don't you think so?"
"Yes," the two replied.
Silence.
Mizuki Kaho couldn't quite comprehend of why these two supposedly mature people could act like this. From what she had heard from Eriol, there was supposed no crucial problem between them, and yet, why they managed to keep their own sarcastic masks was beyond Kaho's comprehension. She had thought of solving the 'trouble' between them by being a mediator of some sort, but her later conscience told her that the two dark-haired were grown-up enough to set things right themselves.
So, with that certain belief, Kaho made her decision. "Excuse me, I need to get out of here for a while. I gotta call my boss in England."
"You can do it here."
Again, spoken simultaneously by both Eriol and Tomoyo. To this, Kaho wondered whether the two were actually twins separated from birth or not.
Suppressing her urge to chuckle, Kaho just shook her head. "It's too noisy here. I've got to find some quieter place. Now, excuse me," and without waiting for the surely-coming protests, the ex teacher left Eriol and Tomoyo at the restaurant.
Another silence.
Tomoyo lazily played with the fork on her plate while Eriol checked on his cell phone to find out whether there were any incoming calls or messages.
Silence.
Tomoyo unconsciously just played with the end of her wavy hair, while Eriol's attention was still focused to the cellphone –although he knew already that there were neither incoming calls nor messages.
Silence.
Tomoyo continued playing with the fork, while Eriol was still 'busy' with his cell phone.
Silence.
Until…
"I'm sorry,"
Tomoyo turned to look at the guy who had just muttered the words of apology.She gazed in disbelief at the Hiiragizawa guy, try to determine whether she had heard the words right coming from his mouth. "Pardon?"
"I said, I'm sorry."
Her Daidouji part would have politely masked her feelings and questioned back with questions like 'Why are you apologizing?' and such
However, her mind was torn between wanting to bombard him with questions ('Where have you been all along? Why have you never called me? Why you avoided me? Why did you suddenly disappear? Did I do anything wrong? Did I insult you in any kind? Do you hate me now?') and wanting to suppress such selfish questions.After all, who was she to him? She was just a girl stupidly kind enough to bear his curses for her, not his true girlfriend or anything…
The anxiety, nonetheless, led her to mutter only one word.
"Why?"
Why?
"I'm sorry… for leaving you… and avoiding you," he admitted curtly.
Something about the way he spoke made her conclude something. "Even if you dislike me, you should have said so, instead of leaving me and avoiding me and –"
"I don't dislike you. I've never disliked you,"
Tomoyo was almost unfazed by this. "…You ignored me. And you were…sarcastic towards me ever since we were at the cinema."
"Doesn't mean I dislike you," he sighed. "I was only embarrassed."
It took her 10 seconds before she could provide him the reply.
"You were embarrassed?"
"Yes, I was."
This puzzled her even more. "Why should you be embarrassed?"
Eriol paused to think of how he would say he meant."After I picked Kaho from the airport, I had planned to spend some more time with her. I thought I told you that in one of my message."
"Yes, you did."
"But of course, I also never planned to fully ignore you like that. It's just that I had caused Kaho injury by incidentally touching her, and I just have to be responsible for that. The certain accident just made me focus my attention on her, and I… well… honestly had forgotten about notifying and checking up. And once I remembered, days have passed too fast. I don't know why, I just somehow feel too embarrassed to call you. I was also afraid that you would get mad or something. But mostly, it was embarrassment, It was the same embarrassment that made me conceal it by… insulting you in some ways earlier."
Tomoyo arched a questioning eyebrow. "It's rather out of character, for you to even feel any kind of embarrassment…"
"I know. And that's what I couldn't comprehend, too. When it comes to you… I just…feel a lot of things that I don't normally feel in any other woman."
Hearing this, Tomoyo couldn't stop cursing her own heart to skip a beat.
Oh, and not too mention, her suddenly blushing cheeks.
Hoping that Eriol wouldn't notice, Tomoyo just concealed her…flattered heart by muttering words with her usual poised elegance. "Concerning that, I do want to apologize too, Hiiragizawa-san. I'm not your real girlfriend; I don't have any right to be selfishly demanding your whereabouts or your changed behavior. Our relationship, after all, is just a mutual benefit to both of us."
At this, he narrowed his indigo eyes in thought.
"You never demanded my whereabouts or my changed behavior, Daiduoji-san. And mostly, you never do anything selfishly. So please, stop apologizing for something that you've never committed," he told her rather icily. But moments later, he added with the usual Hiiragizawa smirk. "Although I'll never complain it if you express your true feelings towards me. Is that what you feel? These 2 weeks, did you ever miss me?"
She chuckled lightly, and somehow her mood had lightened up too. "You wish, Hiiragizawa Eriol-san."
He grinned.
Although that deep in his heart, he couldn't deny the voice whispering that he really wished Daidouji Tomoyo had at least missed him.
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"It went well, I presume," Kaho commented after Eriol started the engine and drove away. They had just dropped Tomoyo in her own mansion after the dinner, and the Londoner along the Priestess were currently heading to the Hiiragizawa manor. "I'm glad you fix things up with Tomoyo-san. You really shouldn't make the girl worry, you know."
Eriol didn't say anything but just silently smiled, agreeing to Kaho's statement.
"I've never honestly thought that you would really find that kind of woman, you know. I mean, she's crazy enough to follow all your plans, and yet at the same time, she's really that altruistic."
"Hn."
…
"You didn't hide anything from her, did you?" Kaho asked after a long silence.
"… No."
"You really had told her all the true details of how to remove the curse, right?"
"… Of course."
Kaho narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "You're sure?"
He replied quickly and as naturally as he could. "Of course, Kaho. I told her everything."
The Tsukimine Priestess contently smiled. "Such a kind girl…to even accept you like that."
Eriol cracked a forced smile, and hoped that the darkness of the night would help him conceal the true anxiety shown on his face.
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: : To Be Continued : :
A/n : I do realize that there's nothing interesting in this chapter, but I need this chapter to carry out the whole story. But I hope that you'll be more entertained with Chapter 7, so… hope to see you all again there! And again, sorry, since my newest ET fanfic is only half way done, I will continue to update 'The Misfortunate Tale' in two weeks. I'm sorry, but I need to make sure that the whole chapters of the new one are written up before I finish updating 'The Misfortunate Tale', so I'm a little hurried there and I need to delay updating this fanfic. But thank you, as always!