A/N: I would like to thank (again and again and again) Property of Eriol for being so supportive. POE is so sweet for always encouraging me. :) This chapter is for you, my dear. Enjoy, guys.
Act 14, Winter
There was usually not much snow in Fukuoka during winter, and when it came it would soon melt away despite the extreme cold because it rarely ever stayed. At least that was what the elderly superior in the library said that morning, despite snowflakes falling on her open palm when she ran errands for the old man. It seemed that the climate wasn't going to be the same this year. It would just be about time when snow would blissfully swathe the whole town in white.
Tomoyo picked up the warm porridge that she had ordered through the phone earlier, reassured that the waitress didn't care about her appearance, because nobody ever gave her a second look with her disguise now except maybe for some curious high school boys she ran into a few times when she did her chores in the afternoon. The grey contacts she was now wearing and the shorter hair gave her another identity, of one meek and plain girl who liked wearing her apron anywhere she went. The former heiress was almost confident walking around this depressing town in Hakata without the threat of ever being discovered.
"Arigatō gozaimashita," the waitress called out as Tomoyo made her exit, bowing in gratitude for patronizing their product. Sales were slower than the usual.
The raven-haired young woman was bowing back when she remembered how she had been a waitress herself in Aoiya once.
Chiharu-san and Naoko-san are probably wondering where I am now.
The girls were kind to her, supportive and encouraging of her freelance designing job, and of course they were also very dear friends.
Hiiragizawa-san would have told them what happened.
If he ever cared to do so. He didn't even see you like he promised, her sardonic thoughts mocked her.
She instinctively fiddled with the bespectacled pianist's phone in her pocket. The ebony device never left her side even if she had it turned off ever since calling Syaoran, and she couldn't understand her attachment to it.
Hiiragizawa-san did not promise anything, Tomoyo bit back, surprised of her own temperamental comeback as she dropped the cell phone inside the pocket as if it burned her hand. The girl shook her head, pushing back any more thoughts that were supposed to have been left in Tomoeda. She had to make an attempt at being contented with things now because it was her choice to run away.
A puff of breath came out of her chapped lips just as an airplane flew by just above the buildings. The grey clouds covered the skies and made the day gloomier than it already had been for days.
"I should have gone to Okinawa where winters are warmer," Tomoyo absentmindedly whispered to herself before she was distracted by the remarkably tall Christmas tree that was currently being set up by a group of middle-aged men in the heart of the nearly empty plaza.
Christmas would come soon but it would not have any meaning to her. It had not been anything special in the last fifteen years because she had been mostly alone.
But it would be inevitable, and it would soon be brighter in the evenings with the lights all around. People would undoubtedly be happier, and it would be painful to look at because she couldn't be.
"Aya-chan, what are you standing there about? Get inside now. You will freeze in the cold."
Tomoyo Daidōji turned to her manager, an easy fake smile plastered instantly. The wind from the East blew viciously, ruffling her curling tresses and the indigo scarf.
She was getting used to her new name.
"Hai! I'm coming in."
The chicken porridge in its container was now as cold as her heart.
A snowflake had been caught in his dark hair when he finally stepped out of the plane. One of the passengers had already made a comment about snowing in Fukuoka, and he wondered if it would ever be possible.
The pianist knew he was grudgingly delayed for almost a month because his cousin would not put up with him this time and had him almost strapped on his hospital bed because he wouldn't stay still. Syaoran was frustratingly playing the willing accomplice to Tōya in spite of his dislike to the older man, and even refused to leave him alone.
He wasn't going to be stupid this time. The azure-eyed young man would be more careful than he had ever been in his life now, even yielding to the family doctor's suggestion of wrapping himself in layers and layers of clothes to keep him warm and taking a break from his work in Yoshiyuki Terada's music school.
But what's the point of still coming here now?
Eriol had demanded to hand him Syaoran's phone the moment the latter admitted who had just called. It seemed to him that the Chinese never had any intention of letting him know, at least while he hadn't fully recovered. His best friend would not look at him in the eyes for several days to come.
He regretted not remembering about her the moment he awoke. He had been unconscious for too long, and the medicines the doctors had him take were muddling his senses most of the time and were giving him difficulty staying up for more than a few hours.
She said she is just fine on her own. What else is left to do?
His phone refused to ring when he called back. The pianist always tried for days but every time he did there was a prompt playing that the device was turned off. He simply gave up when it was Tōya who persuaded him to just let go already.
Apparently, there was no hope of ever knowing where Daidōji Tomoyo was. He didn't even know why he should keep doing this.
"Master Eriol, Kinomoto-sama just called. He said little Miss will be arriving anytime soon."
Eriol gave a feeble nod of acknowledgement before Wei turned away to collect their belongings.
The door opened and it didn't take long before the person who had just burst in to reach the receiving area with her sure and confident strides.
"Konnichiwa. How can I help you today?" Tomoyo greeted the girl who looked peculiarly apologetic for whatever trouble she may cause the former in the future.
"Hi. I was told that the only copy of a certain book can be found here," she promptly told the raven-haired young woman with a ready smile. "I'd like to lend it. Would you be able to help me?"
The guest was an incredibly pretty and petite girl with hair of dark honey that hung just above her shoulders and eyes that shone an attractive shade of green. Her unexpected presence was a welcoming warmth that diffused the dullness of the room.
"Sure. I'd be very happy to assist you," Tomoyo said, trying to match the girl's cheerful tone with her own. She was secretly glad this girl had come that afternoon because she was almost wondering if anyone would step in the library at all that day. It was unusually quiet except for the occasional beating of the branches of the dead tree on one of the windows and the music that was playing softly from her superior's CD player behind the table.
"What book are we looking for?"
"It's actually fairly old. The name is Howl's Moving Castle."
Tomoyo led them to the older archives, the sound of the guest's suede boots against the floor resonating easily. They immediately checked among their few collections of foreign books if the said novel was really there.
"I'm quite sure I've seen it here. I was arranging the books in this area yesterday when I was quite distracted by the interesting cover," the dark-haired girl made an attempt at small talk.
"I was looking for a hard copy everywhere, and I never expected it could only be found in Fukuoka," the other girl was polite enough to indulge the former as she searched in the other side of the shelf, bending carefully to see the labels in romaji.
"Is that so?"
"Hai. How fortunate that I just have to be here, too. I travel around the country a lot, you see. My job dictates where I should be and all that. But my manager thinks I need a break, and it's almost Christmas after all. So I took the liberty of driving myself to the local library despite the cold."
The girl's emerald eyes were bright as she spoke, and the former heiress couldn't help but be drawn to her positive air.
"Gomen ne. I didn't mean to prattle on and on like that. I guess I got carried away by the excitement."
"It's fine. We all get carried away once in a while," Tomoyo assured her, straightening up as she handed the brightly-colored book that had swirling patterns of clouds on the cover. The tome somehow reminded her of the girl in front of her, light and pleasant.
"Wow. Thank you so much. You have no idea how happy I am right now," the guest thanked her with a bow.
They walked back to the receiving counter in companionable silence.
"My name is Sakura Kinomoto, by the way. You can call me Sakura. What's yours?"
The last stamp that marked Sakura's library card was in place when the complicated piano sequence was playing between the girls, mocking Tomoyo Daidōji again and again.
"Aya," the library assistant introduced herself without so much as a flinch as she let another empty smile grace her alabaster face.
Deep inside she died one more time to her own lie.
Quick notes:
arigatō gozaimashita - "Thank you very much."; usually said by shopkeepers as an expression of gratitude.
romaji - Roman interpretation to Japanese words.
Howl's Moving Castle is a novel, published in the 80s, and was then made into an animated movie in 2004. I would personally like to grab the hard bound copy of it.
