Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Unrequited ❯ Chapter 4

Chapter 4

To celebrate Tomoyo's decision to move in, Nakuru announced that she would prepare a feast. She didn't mention, of course, that she expected everyone but Tomoyo to help. When Spinel tried to complain, she knocked him over the head with a wooden spoon. "Tomoyo-chan is the guest of honor, Suppi-chan!" she scolded. "SHE can't be expected to prepare the feast! It wouldn't be right!"

Spinel didn't complain anymore, though whether that was out of fear of being hit again or the fact that he appeared to be in a daze for the rest of the night, no one could be sure. The large, pink lump on his head pointed to the latter.

They were all quite surprised, though, when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Nakuru sang. She bounded off and returned a moment later, dragging the guest by his arm. It was Yukito, amazingly enough. As usual, he was confused about how he'd gotten there, but for once, he seemed to know why he was there. And when he got a look at all the food, he had another reason why he should stay.

"What does bring you to our humble abode?" Eriol asked, wanting to know why Yukito had come before he started pigging out.

"Oh, that! I brought some things from Sak-" The instant the Card Mistress's name began to leave his mouth, Yukito's face went blank, and his eyes closed.

Seconds later, Yue stood before them, looking imperial and slightly bored. He picked up the bag he'd brought and handed it Tomoyo, who shrieked when it burst, revealing Keroberos in the middle of his transformation.

Once all the commotion had died down, Yue revealed that he'd only been sent with a message for Eriol.

Naturally, everyone else decided to start the feast before Yukito returned.

Eriol led Yue to his study and closed the door. "Was the message really this urgent, Yue?"

"No," Yue replied, in tone that expressed exactly what he thought of delivering insignificant messages. "Sakura wanted me to tell you to be careful with Daidouji."

"That's it?" Eriol asked.

Yue frowned. "The Li also asked me threaten you, but I won't."

"Threaten me?"

"He mentioned something about hunting you down and feeding you to real wolves if you hurt Daidouji."

"I see. That's all they wanted?"

"No. They want to visit for Daidouji's birthday in a few months, but asked you not to tell her."

"Then you may tell your Mistress that I will be happy to oblige," Eriol replied. "Anything else?"

Yue continued to stare at Eriol for a long moment, then let himself out of the study.

* * * * *

Once Yukito and Keroberos had eaten their fill (and then some of Tomoyo's the instant she claimed she couldn't eat another bite), Nakuru forced them to leave and began cleaning up the kitchen.

Spinel finally became coherent and was about to announce that he was above menial labor when Nakuru dragged him into the kitchen. A moment later, he returned with a fresh lump to match the old one and a suspicious willingness to follow Nakuru around like a helpful but drugged puppy.

Eriol retired to his study to do some reading, and much to his surprise, Tomoyo joined him. While it was true they had drastically different reading preferences (ancient writings of Clow for him, fantasy novels for her), Eriol found that Tomoyo was a very desirable companion (and not just because she was pretty, either). Save for the occasional turning of a page, there were no other sounds in the study. Of course, this was partially because after ten minutes or so, Eriol's eyes had strayed from his writings and locked on Tomoyo.

She was curled up in the armchair across from him, her face buried in the book. Just after dinner, she'd styled her hair into a long, thick braid that rested on her left shoulder. Much to his embarrassment, Eriol had almost cried out in disappointment when she'd done so. He loved to see her silky tresses cascading freely down her back, and felt as if she'd cut off his air supply. Not that he'd mentioned any of that to her. Tomoyo would have teased him mercilessly if she knew. "You're obsessed with my hair, Eriol-kun?" she'd ask, grinning at him. Then she'd lean in close and whisper, "Silly boy, there's so much more of me to be obsessed with than just that…"

Eriol jerked awake and tried to look occupied. It was pointless, though: Tomoyo had long since fallen asleep. Grinning like a fool, Eriol carefully gathered her in his arms and carried her upstairs.

He was not at all surprised to find Nakuru waiting outside his bedroom door.

"Not a word," Eriol said quickly, noticing her mouth was about to open.

Nakuru gave him a wounded look. "I was just going to say goodnight, but if you're going to be mean, then forget it!" She stuck out her tongue and pushed open the door for him.

Eriol sighed and gave her an impatient look. "Goodnight, Nakuru-chan."

Nakuru didn't seem to hear him; she was staring pointedly at Tomoyo. "A word of advice, though, Eriol-sama."

"What?"

She grinned impishly. "If you're going to do what I think you're going to do, at least wake her up first. It's quite rude otherwise, you know."

Eriol turned red. "Good NIGHT, Nakuru!" he hissed through clenched teeth.

Nakuru gave him an angelic smile before leaning over to kiss his forehead, and then Tomoyo's. "Don't be too rough with her!" she whispered, winking at him.

Eriol nearly turned scarlet as Nakuru skipped down the hall to her room. With a heavy sigh, he entered his bedroom, muttering, "NOW how am I supposed to get to sleep?!"

* * * * *

Tomoyo woke up to find she was trapped. Never mind that it was a very comfortable hug and she adored the person giving it; she had to get to the shower before he did. She began the slow process of prying Eriol's arms from around her shapely waist.

"Is this your way of saying I shouldn't ask for a second date, Tomoyo?" asked a husky voice in her ear.

"Let go, Eriol! I need to shower!"

"I'll be the judge of that." Eriol buried his face in her hair, sniffing at the nape of her neck. "Sorry, you smell as pleasant as usual, maybe even better. Permission to shower…denied."

Tomoyo snorted. "Well, you're obviously biased. You just don't want to let go."

"How clever of you to figure that out, Tomoyo-chan. I don't suppose you'd consider letting me award you with a kiss?"

Tomoyo grinned. "Where?"

"Do I get choose?"

"No."

"Then it's hardly any fun."

"Maybe YOU can go around not showering every day, but I just moved in, and I don't want to ruin Spinel and Nakuru's impressions of me."

Eriol smirked and pressed his lips to the back of her neck. "You can't ruin perfection, Tomoyo-chan."

"And what would you call what you're trying to do right now?"

"I am NOT ruining," Eriol insisted. "I am merely trying to corrupt you. There's a substantial difference."

"I don't see it."

"It's very simple. You'd still be perfect. You'd just be enthralled by me. An added bonus, you know."

"And what if I didn't want to be enthralled by you?"

Eriol chuckled and kissed her cheek. "Ah, but my Tomo-chan," he whispered in her ear, "what if you did?"

Tomoyo was about to answer when she suddenly stiffened and shrieked. "What's that?!"

Eriol looked to the door, where he found a small, black object hanging from the doorknob.

"Is it a rat?" Tomoyo asked, hiding behind him.

Eriol laughed. "No. It's Spinel." He instantly became serious and walked to the door. "Spinel," he muttered, prodding the small Guardian with a finger.

Spinel snorted and woke up. "What?!"

"How long have you been there?"

Spinel appeared to be thinking. "A while," he said at last.

"Since last night?"

Spinel took even longer to answer. "Perhaps."

"And Nakuru wasn't involved?"

Spinel sighed. "She threatened to hit me with her spoon if I didn't spy on you two. She tied me here to make sure I did."

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and Nakuru walked in. "Good morning, all!" she sang.

"Nakuru," Eriol said in his `you're-in-BIG-trouble, young-lady' voice.

"Yes, Eriol-sama?" she asked sweetly, battling back with her `you're-my-beloved-master-whom-I-adore' gaze.

Spinel glared at them both with his usual `I-hate-you-all-so-VERY-much' look before Tomoyo finally came over and untied his tail from the doorknob. He instantly flew to her shoulder and gratefully rubbed his cheek against hers.

"Did you or did you not ask Spinel to spy on us for you?" Eriol was now using his `don't-you-DARE-lie-to-me, little-missy' tone.

"Why, no!" Nakuru replied at once. She flashed Tomoyo her `isn't-he-simply-precious-when-he's-angry' look.

Eriol sighed. "Then did you force him to spy on us?"

"Oh, THAT!" Nakuru said, her eyes lighting up. "Well, yes, I did." At Tomoyo's astonished stare, she quickly added, "I wanted to be sure you were behaving yourself, Eriol-sama."

Eriol didn't look amused. "I always behave myself," he said simply.

Nakuru smirked. "Oh, of course. A true gentlemen waits until a lady wakes to seduce her into his nasty little web of temptation."

Tomoyo flushed, and Spinel coughed loudly from her shoulder.

"Anyway," Nakuru said after a moment, "I'll go down and start breakfast." She grinned at Tomoyo then skipped happily from the doorway.

Eriol shook his head. "I suppose she wins that one. I've been falling out of practice."

"Does that mean you WERE trying to seduce me?" Tomoyo asked, glaring at him.

Eriol smirked. "Trying? My dear Tomoyo-chan, if you hadn't spotted Spinel when you did, I daresay you would still be trapped in my clutches. So no, I was not TRYING to seduce you, my darling. I assure you that you were already quite seduced by that point."

Tomoyo wasn't really sure how to respond to that, so she didn't.

Spinel smirked. "You should see what we do AFTER breakfast, Daidouji-san."

Tomoyo recovered just in time to hear the bathroom door closing. Eriol had beaten her to the shower.

* * * * *

Tomoyo was strangely silent all through breakfast. Of course, since Nakuru was doing her best to brain Spinel with her trusty spoon, Eriol was the only one who noticed. He wondered if it was his comments that had upset her…or perhaps a certain someone she hadn't seen in a while.

The instant breakfast was over, Tomoyo vanished off to some unknown place in the house. Deciding that she needed the space, Eriol did some work in his garden. Already he had several varieties of roses, and was thinking of giving some to Tomoyo. He had assumed that his comments wouldn't have even fazed her, but perhaps Sakura's marriage had left her more vulnerable than he knew.

It was shortly before noon when Nakuru appeared, wearing an apron and brandishing her spoon. "Lunch is ready!" she shouted, and then paused. "Where's Tomoyo-chan? I thought she was with you…"

"I haven't seen her since breakfast," Eriol replied. "I was under the impression that she wanted to be alone."

Nakuru frowned. "But Spinel hasn't seen her, either..." Her face paled. "You don't think she'd be in the basement, do you?"

"It would hardly matter if she was. Those items only react to people with magic, and Tomoyo has none. Anyway, I'd know if someone had moved them."

"But are you sure Tomoyo has NO magic at all? Not even a little drop? Her mother was Sakura's mother's cousin, and look how Sakura turned out."

Eriol shook his head. "Nakuru, I really doubt Tomoyo would find a dusty old basement worthy of her attention."

"Sakura-chan did," Nakuru muttered.

"No, she did not. The Clow Book called her. As it was meant to, I might add."

"Well, what if something in the basement called Tomoyo? Hasn't she had enough contact with you, Sakura, and Syaoran to get some?"

"Magic is NOT a disease, Nakuru, and you do not `get it' from being near someone. The only cases I've ever heard of that involved gaining magic that way had to do with some very complex spells and a rather large amount of erotic stimuli."

"EW!" Nakuru cried.

Eriol's glasses flashed, possibly in an attempt to mask his expression. "So you can imagine how difficult the…ah, ritual…would be. I'm quite certain Tomoyo has no magic. I have checked more than once."

"What were you checking for?"

"Lineage, probabilities, physical and mental adaptability, that sort of thing. While it is true that she stood a fairly good chance of having magic, she simply does not. It happens."

"So if she were somehow to GET magical all of a sudden," Nakuru went on, ignoring Eriol's glare, "she'd have no problem with it?"

"As with all magicians, it would take some time to get used to her powers. But she certainly has the aptitude. Not that it would happen at all."

"Not that YOU know of, anyway," Nakuru murmured.

"Did you say something, Nakuru-chan?" Eriol asked in a misleadingly pleasant tone.

"Who, me? Nope, just thinking out loud…"

* * * * *

In all honestly, Spinel had considered stopping Tomoyo before she reached the basement. It had been rather easy to track her down, the way her vanilla-scent practically coated the air with its sweetness. Nakuru probably could've done it, if she wasn't so busy cooking. Spinel wondered briefly if she would do what he was doing, then decided he'd definitely made the right choice.

Tomoyo had been hesitant, of course. This was Eriol's house, and she hated to resort to sneaking around without his knowledge. But then, he probably had the whole house charmed so that he knew where everyone was, so maybe the fact that he hadn't come to stop her really was an invitation.

This line of thinking was confirmed when the door to the basement opened, seemingly by itself.

Tomoyo was so curious that she never even noticed the small, winged shape perched on the doorframe.

The basement was filled with many things: mostly magical objects that had either lost their power over time, or things that had simply become outdated when Clow (part of him, anyway) was reborn as Eriol. In other words, things that Eriol either grew bored with or couldn't be bothered with reviving.

Tomoyo's eyes were drawn to a small, wooden box, which was positively covered in cobwebs. As she reached it, a large spider ran across the top, pausing as it sensed her. Tomoyo shuddered, then brushed the spider away and slowly opened the box.

The inside of the box was lined with a strange sort of soft, violet velvet. It shimmered as Tomoyo's fingers brushed the delicate material.

All at once, she became aware of something…there. Even though she couldn't see anything but velvet. Even more hesitantly than before, Tomoyo slid her fingers through the velvet bottom and pulled up. The bottom flew out of the box, and a black platform rose up, decorated with what appeared to be ancient runes. They were probably older than Clow himself, she knew at once.

To her shock, part of the platform flew into air, spinning madly. Then it stopped and forced itself into her hand.

Tomoyo's eyes widened. In her hand was a card, similar to Sakura's, but obviously different. This card's borders were dark violet instead of pink, with a pale face. The figure in the center was a young woman dressed in white, but the picture itself looked very old. The writing at the bottom named it the WORLD.

Intrigued, she went back to the box and discovered more cards: FOREST, SEA, AIR, WINTER, SUN, MOON, CENTER, LAND, and SPIRIT.

Suddenly, the cards flew up and floated around her in circle. Tomoyo could almost hear them singing to her as they spun, filling her head with a strange language that was long since dead.

* * * * *

Half a world away, Keroberos sat up, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

For a mere second, he'd felt…something. Something old, powerful, and completely unfamiliar to him. The magical world was continuously changing, of course…but not like this.

He considered waking Sakura, but before he could turn thought into action, a gentle, pleasantly familiar hand came to rest on his head and stroked that spot he could never quite reach on his own.

"Go to sleep, Kero-chan," Sakura murmured from the bed. "You'll wake Syaoran."

"Sakura, I don't think-"

"That's right; you don't. Because it's after midnight and we're both asleep. This is just a dream."

Keroberos frowned. "Sakura…"

"Sleep," Sakura muttered, even as a blue-tinted sprite sprang from her fingertips and smacked the startled Guardian in the muzzle with a handful of blue dust.

There was a time when Keroberos would've just looked at Sakura after a stunt like that, and reminded her that she'd need more Cards (and, in short, MUCH more magical power) to put HIM, Keroberos The Elector, Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards, to sleep.

Instead, Keroberos's head dropped onto his paws, and he began to snore.

Sakura giggled sleepily and patted his head once more. "Sweet dreams, Kero-chan." She was almost totally unaware of the multicolored butterfly that flew from her fingers and descended onto Keroberos's head, filling it with visions of various sweets and video games.

Little did she know, however, that just beside her, Syaoran was definitely not dreaming, and certainly not asleep. And it was nothing like the sheer but amazing fact that he was actually married to Sakura now keeping him awake, although it had admittedly happened before. No, it was the stink of power keeping Syaoran awake.

Power rarely ever had a smell, but when it did, it generally didn't smell all that good.

The fact that this particular smell was so strong told Syaoran that his beloved Card Mistress wouldn't be taking it easy for much longer. And, by extension, neither would he.

* * * * *

Nakuru was really worried when Tomoyo didn't show up for dinner.

Eriol was merely concerned; after all, this was Tomoyo, and she was far from stupid. She was, in fact, one of the most intelligent people he'd had the pleasure to meeting. Surely if she planned on missing dinner, there was a good reason for it.

"Can't we just go and LOOK?" Nakuru asked for the tenth time.

"No. If Tomoyo wants to eat, she will eat. If she wants to talk, she will talk."

"How can you be so calm?!"

Eriol gazed at her. "I," he said simply, "have had years of practice. And while I am not an expert on women, I'm fairly certain I know Tomoyo better than you do."

"Do not," Nakuru snapped. "You're a BOY."

"A boy whom Tomoyo is quite attached to, and vice versa."

Nakuru was about to reply when she felt it. A small, insignificant tug that just shouldn't have occurred.

Eriol paused as well.

"Eriol-sama, did you-" she began, but he raised his hand, indicating that he hadn't and that she should be quiet.

After a long moment, Eriol blinked. "Hmm," he said.

Nakuru paled. Mostly because she could tell, for the first time in a long time, that her dear master was stumped. The last time was when he'd come home torn up inside, thoroughly convinced that he was in love with a certain dark-haired girl, and even more convinced that she would always be in love with a certain descendant of Clow's. It had been rather funny, in all honesty. This was not.

"Eriol-sama?" she asked at last.

Eriol took off his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt. "It would seem," he said, the very definition of calm, "that Tomoyo-chan and Spinel are gone."

"Gone…to where?" Nakuru asked slowly.

"Gone," Eriol repeated evenly. "Just…gone."

Nakuru blinked. "And…?"

"And there is not a blessed thing we can do about it." Eriol smiled in a hopeful manner and pushed the platter towards her. "Cookie?"

* * * * *

"Daidouji-san."

"Hmm?"

He noticed, with some discomfort, that it was very similar to Eriol's. "I must say that this is highly unusual, even for…well, us."

"Is it?" she asked, sounding amused.

"Yes," he said firmly. "And I must insist that we go home right now."

"Don't be silly, Spinel," she murmured. "Don't you want to explore with me?"

"Perhaps later," he suggested, already knowing it was futile but clinging to the hope that she might still be rational. This was, after all, their Tomoyo…at least, it had been a few moments ago.

"I think we'll explore now," she replied, stroking his head in a disturbingly pleasant manner. As if she had done it a million times before. Which she hadn't. Well, not a million times, anyway.

"Daidouji-san. PLEASE. Let's go home."

"Later," she said, staring off into the distance. "Much…later…"

Spinal sighed. "Then at least tell me where we're going. Can you do me that small favor?"

"Of course, my dear Guardian." She didn't have to look to know that he'd frozen in shock…and, perhaps, the tiniest bit of happiness. "We're going…wherever the wind takes us."

Upon her shoulder, a tiny, blue tinted fairy giggled, pursed her lips, and blew gently. Instantly, a small tornado surrounded them, hiding the trio from sight and whisking them to parts unknown.