Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Angels with Broken Wings Flutter and Flail ❯ Flail ( Chapter 2 )

Well, here goes nothing.

Disclaimer: I own my stuff and so does CLAMP. CCS is one of them.

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Card Captor Sakura: Angels with Broken Wings Flutter and Flail

Chapter 2

Flail

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Outside a quaint delicatessen not far from the makeshift stage, a woman with reddish-brown hair and pink shades was busy talking to someone on the celphone. She had been doing it for quite some time now.

This woman was Nakuru Akizuki, the talent manager of the so-called male counterpart of Angel. Male counterpart meaning he had just as many worshippers as Angel; meaning this teenage boy was loved by all, particularly the girls; meaning he is in everyone's wildest dreams.

Eriol Hiragizawa.

That, is his name.

What factors made him so popular?

He was like a female 'Angel', only he was half-British and half-Japanese and he was popular in England too. Eriol had lush midnight-blue hair that was too tempting to touch; twinkling sapphire eyes that when focused in you, you would feel as if he was looking through your soul; a too-nice smile that could melt the heart of any girl. He had impeccably perfect manners to boot. Eriol had the elegance of the femme. The strange thing was, boys looked up to him. Well, not all of them - just most of them.

Nakuru's conversation finally ended as she shoved the celphone into her pocket. She spun around and entered the delicatessen.

"Eriol, Angel will be - " Nakuru frowned, stopping short. She had only left Eriol inside a few minutes ago and now he was not there.

"He's gone out," said a raven-haired, chinese-looking girl who had her hair done up in two buns. She was sitting down at one of the tables.

Nakuru slapped her forehead and shook her head regretfully. "Not again."

Eriol had vanished from her sight, just like he usually did.

Nakuru joined the raven-haired girl, feeling resigned. As usual, there was no other choice but to wait for him to come back.

**********

The noises sounded muffled when Tomoyo was inside the car. But when she got out, the commotion was louder than she expected. It was too much for her. She could not understand how Angel could stir people up that much.

Tomoyo squeezed herself through the thick crowd, aimlessly going here and there. She saw a lot of Angel clones and the feeling of worrying about being recognized dissipated. Tomoyo just acted as if she was one of those crazy fans.

These Angel clones were making exaggerated movements. All of them wore imitations of Angel's different costume. Some had bizarre-looking hairstyles. A few were hopping like kangaroos, crying out in such high-pitched voices.

Tomoyo wondered if she could pretend she was one of those kinds of people.

The teenage girl looked from left to right, but was not looking forward. Before she knew it, Tomoyo had already collided with someone and crashed down onto the floor.

"OOFH"

"I'm sorry," apologized a female voice.

Tomoyo momentarily surveyed the person she collided with - short auburn hair, school uniform, red rollerskates - before the girl lent her a hand to help her stand up.

"It's alright," Tomoyo said, meaning it. Now that she was level with the girl, she could see that she had a short stature and beautiful emerald eyes. She was also probably around her age. She smiled, then, looking down at her skirt she was alarmed to see that it was a bit soiled.

Oh no! Hal's gonna kill me when he sees this!!

"Here, take this."

The words came out from the same girl who bumped her. She was holding out a lace handkerchief. Tomoyo took it, hesitating a bit.

"Thank you," Tomoyo murmured, occupying herself with cleaning her skirt. And while she was doing it, she felt the other girl scrutinizing her. Tomoyo continued on, hoping that this person would not think that she was someone such as Angel.

Be as inconspicuous as possible. As inconspicuous as possible...Tomoyo repeated the words again and again.

"Whoa, look at that tumult. Angel's really very popular, isn't she?"

It just came out of Tomoyo's mouth involuntarily.

"So, Angel is going to appear here today?" asked the girl.

"Yup. It's a promotion for a new CD, 'Harlequin Carnival'."

"Harlequin Carnival? Isn't that the name of a festivity here in Tomoeda?"

"I heard that it's Angel's favorite holiday."

"Really? You know so much about Angel and you look so much like her....I think you can pass off as her double."

Tomoyo was taken aback. Has she already realized who I am? What am I going to do if she has?

"That's what people usually say to me. But, I'll just pass on that. It's already enough trouble to look like Angel..."

Tomoyo had no idea what she was saying.

The other girl laughed. It sounded pleasant, carefree. The best word would most likely be...genki. Maybe, just maybe, it would not matter to this girl if she found out that she was the real Angel. Somehow, Tomoyo liked her.

"Um, you can keep the hanky."

Tomoyo almost forgot about the handkerchief. She glanced down at her hand and saw how dirty the handkerchief was now that she could not possibly return it in that condition.

"Oh no. I don't want to keep it," Tomoyo said. "This is yours, so I'm going to give it back to you. But I have to clean it first."

"Are you sure?" The auburn-haired girl seemed reluctant.

"Of course."

"Okay." The girl finally agreed.

It was then that a problem hit Tomoyo straight in the face. How the heck was she going to give the hanky back? The girl was most likely living in Tomoeda because she wore the uniform of Tomoeda Middle School. Perhaps Tomoyo would be able to find her in her school. But that would seem absurd. Or, Tomoyo could ask for the girl's full name and look up information on her. Then, she could visit her house and hand back her handkerchief. Scratch that thought. It sounded even more absurd than the first idea.

"I'm Sakura Kinomoto. What's your name?"

Tomoyo snapped herself back to the present. She was surprised that the girl would introduce herself all of a sudden.

Should I give my real name? She wouldn't know that I'm Angel, would she? Well, here goes nothing...

"Tomoyo Daidouji," Tomoyo told her.

"Do you live around here?" Sakura queried.

"No. I'm just visiting for about a week."

"Really? Well, you're lucky to visit during Angel's promotional tour in Tomoeda."

"I guess so." I'll be lucky if I weren't Angel, alright.

Tomoyo could tell herself that she enjoyed talking to Sakura. But, their moment was interrupted as a boy wearing a black cap approached her.

"Miss, the event is about to start," he said.

"Remember, ten minutes! I want you up on that stage in ten minutes!"

Hal's reminder rang in Tomoyo's ears.

Uh-oh.

"Sakura, it was nice meeting you. I've got to go now."

Sakura was looking confused, but she got over it quickly. "Hope we meet again, then."

Tomoyo nodded and sprinted away. As she was running, it was the only time that she remembered that the title of her album, Harlequin Carnival' had not yet been announced. The fact that she knew it could be a dead giveaway.

**********

Everything was a whirlwind of events.

Tomoyo got a scolding from Hal before she was pushed up the stage. Then, like always, she had to put up that image that Angel, Japan's no. 1 teen idol, has established. Angel was known as a sweet and delicate person. Tomoyo had to be so sweet and delicate that she found herself a bit sickening. It was a weird feeling, not liking what you yourself was doing.

And so, Tomoyo did everything she rehearsed.

"Hello, everybody!" Tomoyo began, waving to the crowd.

"Hi!" they greeted back all at the same time.

"I thank you all for having the time to come here. Sorry I kept you guys waiting. Is everyone doing fine here?"

A big "Yes!" came from the gatherers.

"Good. Shall I start now?"

Loud shrieks were heard.

"This song's called 'One-person Feeling'. Here I go..."

The sound system cracked up. The music started playing. Tomoyo took a deep breath and began to sing...

"Let me...lead you back to the twilight, let me lead you back to there..."

The noises immediately died down, as if someone had pressed the mute button. Tomoyo did not know why. But her voice had that effect on people. It was not hard for her to sing like that because that was what she did best, after all.

Inwardly, all Tomoyo wanted was to sing freely. Why did she have to enter into this world of razzle-dazzle? Ever since starting at an early age, Tomoyo felt that she would not be able to live an ordinary life. She did not go to school and had home tutoring instead. Oh, how Tomoyo wanted to try going to school. Her longing to meet people who would see her as a friend and not as a teen idol was so strong that she would do anything to escape this life she had been leading.

".....don't let go of our fantasy..."

As the song came to a stop and the pandemonium resumed, Tomoyo resolved to do something about her life. She had formed another plan, this one vague.

Tomoyo decided she would stop being a teen icon. She would tell that firmly to Hal. Yes, she would live a normal life and go to school. Tomoeda would be a good place to stay in. She could meet Sakura again and make friends with her. Sakura might accept her as plain ol' Tomoyo Daidouji.

Yet, before that, she had to take care of some things.

"That song's part of the new album I'm going to release. And anyone who can guess the name of this album will win a copy of the album AND the CD jacket will include a picture of the winner and me. The promo period lasts until the 12th."

The crowd cheered wildly. The prospect of being in a picture with Angel and to top it off, a picture in the CD jacket of her album, was a great thing. Tomoyo was sure that people would go into any means just to do it.

"And to answer the name of the album, here's the clue: It is Angel's favorite holiday in Tomoeda. Write your answer, your name, address, and telephone number on a sheet of paper and put it in the drop boxes in the designated areas. For more details, see posters and print ads."

Tomoyo winked at her fans, waved goodbye, blew them a kiss, and exited. The fans were in euphoria now while Tomoyo was suffering a lot. Ugh. I can't take this anymore. She thought.

**********

Hal stood waiting for Tomoyo. Tap-tap-tap went the heels of his shoe. He looked grim.

Tomoyo gulped, preparing herself for the worse. Or so she thought.

Hal beamed happily and trotted towards her. He enclosed her in a bear hug. Tomoyo was bewildered.

"I'm glad you weren't late, Angel dear. You did great up there!" he said.

"Wha~?" What was going on with Hal? Sure, he acted strange sometimes. But this time, he was acting the strangest.

He's jumping with joy and I don't know why. I better not talk to him about my plans right now.

"He's here," Hal whispered to Tomoyo. He let go of Tomoyo and pointed to a boy who was casually standing a little bit far away from them. He looked familiar.

"Who's here?" Tomoyo asked, still in the dark.

Hal grinned widely. "Eriol Hiragizawa. He's one of your co-stars in the movie."

"Eriol Hiragizawa..." Tomoyo studied the boy. He had midnight-blue hair covered by a...He wore a black cap! And the name only registered itself in Tomoyo's brain right now. He was considered a savant, young actor.

"It's him!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

All of a sudden, she recalled what happened earlier, during those ten minutes that she was roaming around freely. While she was talking to Sakura, a boy came to her. He told her that the event was starting. If he was telling her that, he must have known who she was.

The boy moved closer to Tomoyo and Hal. He was smiling.

Eriol Hiragizawa: midnight-blue hair, sapphire eyes, that too-nice smile, elegant manners....that was what the magazines were saying about him. Tomoyo never had the chance to meet him. And now that she met him, it had to be in an embarrassing way.

Of course Tomoyo would not let him know that she was feeling like that. So, to cover up her earlier reaction, she smiled back.

"Hello, Hiragizawa-san," Tomoyo said. "Thank you for what you did a while ago."

"You're welcome, Angel," Eriol replied. "I heard your song. Your voice is heavenly."

"Oh, you don't have to flatter me. But, thank you anyway." Tomoyo sensed that this boy, Eriol Hiragizawa, was like her, a poker-faced person. Tomoyo did all the things a teen icon would do, yet underneath it all, she despised what she was doing. She did not know about Hiragizawa-san, though. All she could tell was that he was a good actor not only in his films and TV shows, but also in real life. And that made Tomoyo feel cautious about him. In other words, Tomoyo did not like Eriol.

"Eriol-kun says that the others are waiting in that food shop near here. He'll accompany us there," Hal told Tomoyo.

Oh heck, now I can't talk to Hal all the more.

"Shall we get going?" Eriol inquired, still smiling.

"Of course." And Tomoyo forced herself to smile once more, the ends of her mouth curving up unevenly.

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**to be continued**

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