Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Heaven's Gates ❯ Randomness Ensues ( Chapter 4 )

Standard disclaimers, standard whining and moaning about how life ALWAYS interferes with fanfiction, standard apology to fans who bothered to care about my social life and/or lack of update since…oh, say August. Sorry. Here, at long last…

 

The house stood dignified on the gently sloping hill, surrounded by high brick walls and friendly shrubs and trees. Inside the wall, gardens abounded, looking like something out of a fairy story. It was a veritable Utopia, an Eden, a Paradise. And in the midst of this perfection, a young woman sat with a serene smile on her face, with a scowling winged cat on her lap. Both were staring up into the boughs of an oak tree as if waiting for something to fall from its branches. All at once, a body tumbled from the tree, shrieking.

“Suppi-chan! Suppi-chan!” The figure scrambled up onto its knees, brandishing a round disc. “I've got the Frisbee! I've got it, Suppi-chan! See, Tomoyo-chan?” She waved the disc frantically toward the pair, looking extremely pleased with herself.

“Very good, Nakuru-san,” approved Tomoyo with a nod, Spinel merely leveled a look at Nakuru and shook his head, his wings fluttering once idly.

“Don't call me Suppi-chan,” he muttered in a long-suffering tone, laying his head down on his paws and shutting his eyes as though trying to erase Nakuru from his world.

Nakuru pouted. “Hey, Suppi, that's not fair. You said you'd play Frisbee with me if I found the Frisbee first. And I've got it, see?” She held out the Frisbee again, as if he hadn't seen it the first time for what it was.

“No. You said I'd play with you if you found the Frisbee. I said, though I recall you ignoring me as you normally do, that I am going to take a nap. And I am trying to do so.”

Tomoyo stifled a giggle at Nakuru's indignant denial (“I do not ignore you I play with you all the time!”) and gently deposited Spinel on the grass. He opened one eyes, disappointed at having lost his comfortable pillow, as Tomoyo started to walk forward.

“Here, Nakuru-san, I'll play with you.”

Immediately Nakuru brightened. “Really? You will? Thanks, Tomoyo-chan!” Then doubt flickered over her face. She couldn't picture Tomoyo tossing a Frisbee around with Sakura-chan or cute Touya-kun or anybody. “Um…Tomoyo-chan, are you sure you know how to play?”

“Sure I do,” replied Tomoyo easily. “It's not very hard, I'm good at this…”

And she tripped over a stone in the ground, stumbled forward a step, then landed in an ungraceful heap on the grass.

For an instant, the Utopia of Eriol's gardens was a frozen tableau of embarrassed surprise (Tomoyo), shocked astonishment (Nakuru), and mild pity (Spinel). Then Nakuru burst out laughing, even as she rushed forward. “Oh….oh, Tomoyo-chan, are you…are you hurt at all?” And instead of offering a hand to help up the woman blushing red as a rose, Nakuru plopped down on her knees and howled with mirth. “Oh, Tomoyo-chan, if you could have seen you face…Saying you good at Frisbee and then tripping over yourself like that. It was…” And she was off again, clutching the stomach in her gaiety as tears streamed from her eyes.

Tomoyo sat up gingerly, brushing grass off her sleeves. “I tripped over a rock, not over myself,” she mumbled, mortified.

“Did you really?”

She froze at the voice behind her, and closed her eyes briefly. Oh no. Please don't let it be him…

She turned her head and looked up into Eriol's smiling face. There was a pause, broken only by Nakuru's giggles.

“Hello, Eriol-san,” she said gravely after that moment's pause.

“Hello, Tomoyo-san,” he said just as seriously, though his grin spoiled the effect. “Did you really?” he repeated. “Trip over a rock, I mean?”

“Hmm,” replied evasively, picking a blade of grass off her skirt. “I seem to have accidentally stumbled over a stone, Eriol-san. A momentary lapse of grace, I believe.” She folded her hands primly and looked up at him as though they were discussing someone else's clumsiness.

God, if he hadn't already adored her, he'd have fallen for her at that moment. There she sat on the ground, looking every inch the princess, blithely and innocently implying that her fall had been nothing more than a choreographed sequence and making him nearly believe it.

It was, he decided, the sexiest way he'd ever seen anyone say “I meant to do that.”

“Indeed. A momentary lapse,” he agreed, keeping his thoughts to himself. Nakuru heard the inflection in his voice again, and her laughter was cut off as she narrowed her eyes at him.

This time, Spinel, lying in the sun nearby, heard it too, and raised his head to look straight at his master. Then he studied Tomoyo, and exchanged a glance with Nakuru.

Triple uh-oh.

Eriol held out a hand. “May I help you up, Tomoyo-san?”

Regally, she held out her own. “You may,” she said grandly. When you pulled her to her feet and didn't let go, she looked into his eyes for a single moment. Blinked once breathlessly as his seemed to soften, warm…

And he burst out laughing.

“Oh, hush,” Tomoyo told him irritably, yanking her hand away from his.

“I apologize, Tomoyo-san, but I simply can't conceive of you, possibly the most elegant and majestic woman I've ever met, tripping over a rock.” He grinned at her.

“Especially on your way to play Frisbee,” added Nakuru, her eyes still on Eriol, who looked startled.

“You're playing Frisbee?” he asked, directing the question to Tomoyo.

“I am,” she said to him, still trying to convince herself not to blush over his compliments. Eriol though she was elegant? Majestic? “Yes, I am,” she repeated more firmly, her tone daring him to laugh again. He didn't, but instead studied her with an unfathomable look in his eyes. “What?” she said, a faint flush on her cheeks. Why did he have to stare at her like that…like she was a bug under a microscope?!

She was the most amazing thing, he decided. She was the very personification of dignity, of glamour, yet here she stood, grass stains on her skirt, her hair mussed, her cheeks flushed - because she'd been trying to play Frisbee with one of his creations. She was wonderful. She was remarkable. She was…indescribably magnificent.

“I was hoping,” he said after a moment of gathering his emotions under control, “to take you along with me to my ice cream parlor. I have to check on something, and I have a surprise for you as well.”

“A…surprise?” She sounded like she was trying not to be interested, and he made sure to keep the smile off his face.

“Oh yes,” he assured her. “I have arranged a wonderful surprise for you, Tomoyo-san.”

“You arranged…”

“Yes, and it's waiting at the ice cream parlor.”

“At the ice cream parlor you own,” she clarified, now sounding plainly bewildered.

“Yes. However, if you're playing Frisbee at the moment…” He decided to ignore the scrutinizing, almost disapproving looks from both Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun, as though he were a con artist out for her money. “…I'm sure it could wait till later.”

She paused for a moment, thinking about it. It was all he could do not to simply scoop her up and cuddle her. She was just so damn cute, like a child deciding which birthday present she should open first.

“I do want to play Frisbee with Nakuru-san,” she said slowly, tapping a finger on her chin. “But I wouldn't want your surprise to, ah, be kept waiting.”

“It will keep well,” he told her, completely delighted with her in general. “Please proceed with your game. I'll be back in about half an hour to bring you along.”

She tilted her head to the side. “I thought you had to check on something; are you sure you should put it on hold simply for my sake?”

“It's no trouble. I'll just go kill some time,” he assured her.

She smiled suddenly. “Well, if you need to kill time, I don't see why you shouldn't play Frisbee with Nakuru-san and me,” she invited hesitantly. “Unless you have something else to attend to in the meanwhile…”

He blinked. “No. No, I'm not busy right now. That is—are you sure?” He couldn't for the life of him remember ever feeling so flustered by a woman's simple request to join her in a game. Then again, he'd never had a woman ask him to play Frisbee with her. Nakuru didn't quite count, seeing as he wasn't technically a woman or a man, though it was clear that he, Eriol, was more comfortable in referring to Nakuru as a male, while Tomoyo preferred thinking of Nakuru as female. He didn't see how it mattered one way or the other…

And why was he puzzling this out now? He had a beautiful woman waiting to play Frisbee with him. Though speaking of Ruby Moon…

“What do you say, Ruby Moon?” he said cajolingly, turning to his creation. “May I join you?”

Nakuru had been silent up to now, watching the exchange between her master and the woman he was so quickly becoming enchanted with. “Hmm? Oh. Yeah. Sure. Come on, then,” she said after a second's deliberation. She exchanged another glance with Spinel, who looked completely and carefully blank. Shaking her head slightly, she turned and jogged past the mystified Tomoyo. She gave the woman a quick reassuring smile, then continued on to the other side of the garden, her smile fading when her back was to Eriol and Tomoyo.

That relationship is definitely going somewhere, and fast, she thought to Spinel. Telepathy between the two creatures was something they didn't practice often, but the cat lounging on the lawn didn't even give a jolt of surprise. I don't see how it's a problem…but then, I didn't think the thing with the teacher would be a problem either.

And it wasn't, Spinel thought in return, lying deceptively still on the grass, his eyes following Eriol as the man attempted to explain to Tomoyo exactly how to play Frisbee properly, ignoring her exasperated but not quite convincing assurances that she knew perfectly well how to play Frisbee. He could sense his master's strong emotions toward the woman, and Tomoyo's confused and hesitant reception of the attention he was paying her. Mizuki-san and Master parted amicably, and even now retain a pleasant enough relationship.

As employer and employee, muttered Nakuru through the mental link.

Even so, they suffer no `problem,' Spinel replied patiently. What could pose a problem is if Daidouji-san decides to return home, or even to simply leave London.

She can't! was the immediate reply, grim and low. Spinel was mildly surprised; it was often Ruby Moon panicked, but that was the emotion he was getting now. Ruby Moon was concerned - even frightened - that the Daidouji woman would try to leave their master before Eriol was ready to let her go. That, he mused, would definitely be a problem. He hadn't often seen Eriol truly furious, but he had a feeling that should this situation spin out of the magician's cautious control, then Eriol would attain a level of anger he hadn't previously reached.

But we can't interfere, Spinel reminded Ruby Moon solemnly. Not if this is what Master Eriol truly wishes. We can only observe.

Then we will, observe, damn it, Nakuru thought fiercely. We will.

Spinel gave the feline equivalent of a shrug and settled down, his eyes shutting.

Nakuru scowled at him and his obvious unconcern for the matter at hand, very close to pouting. So much for observing. Then she smiled reluctantly when she say Tomoyo narrow her eyes at Eriol, who kept saying, “You just have to let your arm…flow.”

“And what, pray tell, Eriol-san, do you mean by `flow'?” Her very posture indicated he wasn't being very helpful.

“Flow, Tomoyo-san,” Eriol repeated. “Flow. Like water, you know?” He grinned as she exhaled loudly, exasperated, and stamped her foot petulantly. “Water is that which flows,” he intoned gravely, and Tomoyo laughed despite her aggravation, remembering her adventures with Sakura in China, back when they'd still been children searching for the released Clow Cards. She recalled Bird Street, Syaoran's nerve-wracking family, and the water mage who'd been in love with Clow Reed…

“Speaking of that Chinese water mage,” she said aloud, letting her voice become innocent. Eriol immediately went on guard. Tomoyo smiled charmingly at him. “What did occur between you both?” she said, fluttering her lashes, deceptively sweet. “Or should I say, between Clow-san and her?” Her eyes laughed at him.

Eriol decided to play along. “Hmm…yes. As I - or should I say, as Clow recalls…” He grinned at her. “She was quite an amazing woman, with a number of interesting…talents. Or so Clow's memories reveal,” he added, hastily swallowing the grin when Tomoyo rolled her eyes.

“Such a typical male thing to say,” she chided him, and he shrugged.

“I—or should I say, Clow—will never forget her,” he lamented, hanging his head for a moment as if in mourning. Tomoyo gave a polite little cough, as if to say: “Oh, you are so full of yourself.” Eriol laughed and threw the Frisbee toward her. She ducked instinctively in alarm, making him laugh even more as it sailed in a graceful arc over her head.

Nakuru let the smile become a grin. We will observe them, she thought fondly. We will observe Eriol and Tomoyo-chan falling deeply and madly in love, and we will observe them getting in silly arguments and making up. She caught the gleam in her master's eyes as Tomoyo stalked over to pick up the Frisbee from where it had landed three yards from her feet. Nakuru also noticed exactly where Eriol's eyes were drawn as Tomoyo crouched down. Um…okay. Maybe we'll let them make up in private. But we will observe them getting married and having lots of little Eriol and Tomoyo-chan babies us to play with, and we will observe them growing old together and being the happiest couple in the world…

Yay, commented Spinel listlessly. Amen, praise the heavens, sound the trumpets, call the tabloids, have a party. And yes, they can most definitely make up in private after their arguments. Can I have a nap now?

Nakuru laughed aloud, cut off the link, and waved her arms wildly. “Hey! Hello? Over here? Kind of want to play, too, in case you forgot!” She beamed as Tomoyo turned toward her with the Frisbee in hand and let it fly.

It flew, all right. Sideways, right between Eriol's eyes.

* * *

“Does it…does it hurt, Eriol-san?” Tomoyo asked again for the fifth time since they'd climbed into the car and began the drive across London to Eriol's ice cream parlor. Her intent was kind, her concern genuine - but he knew…oh, he just knew…that she and Ruby Moon, who was in the back seat, were trying desperately not to burst out laughing. Again. As they had, he recalled with a scowl, when he'd fallen backward onto the grass, glasses knocked askew, after the Frisbee had smacked into his head. Oh, yes, they'd laughed then as well. Tomoyo had been on her knees, clutching her stomach, breathless with giggles, and Nakuru had been doubled over too. Spinel, who had elected not to join them on this trip, had been the only one, Eriol remembered with a sudden surge of affection for his cat, to even ask if he'd been all right.

But, he thought, the scowl deepening, the cat had then commented that it was very uncharacteristic of the great Clow Reed's reincarnation to be clipped so neatly by a stray Frisbee, and perhaps Eriol had had something else occupying his mind to distract him so thoroughly. And then Spinel had gone right back to sleep.

Tomoyo and Nakuru, though, hadn't even bothered to check if he had a broken nose, or a concussion. Or at least a bruise. Which he didn't, but it was the principle of the matter.

“Eriol-san? I am sorry,” Tomoyo said seriously, again for the fifth time, apparently finely having contained the urge to giggle at the situation. She squirmed in her seat at his continued silence. “Eriol-san?”

“Aw, don't worry about it, Tomoyo-chan.” Nakuru threw her arms around Tomoyo's neck from the backseat. “He's not mad, he's just insulted at the blow to his masculine pride.” She settled back as her master gave her a sufficiently threatening glare in the rearview mirror.

“Thank you, Ruby-Moon.” Eriol didn't bother to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

Nakuru rolled her eyes. “Oh, for heaven's sake, Eriol. It was an accident. And Spinel was right, if you hadn't been…ah…distracted in the first place, your reflexes would have prevented - ”

“Yes, thank you, Ruby Moon.” The edge to his voice sharpened, and there was a surprisingly childlike crabbiness to it. Tomoyo bit her lip, but to her horror, a giggle escaped. Eriol glanced at her, scowling sullenly.

“I see my deflated ego amuses you. Again.”

“No…no, it's just…” She sighed, trying not to laugh. “You look just like Touya-san and Syaoran-kun do whenever Sakura-chan won't let them fight with each other. Or like Kero-chan when Sakura-chan says no more sweets. You're…pouting/”

“I most certainly am not,” Eriol protested immediately, maneuvering his way through traffic. “I have never in my life stooped to pouting. I merely…scowl sullenly.”

Tomoyo swallowed a chuckled as Nakuru, lying down across the backseat, sat up slightly and let out a low, derisive “Ha!” of disagreement. “This conversation sounds all too familiar,” she decided. “Didn't we go through this when you abducted me from the airport?”

“Fact: I did not abduct you, I escorted you gallantly to my home - ” He ignored Nakuru's second, slightly louder “HA!” “ - providing you with the services of carrying your luggage for you and driving you in my own car.” Eriol spotted a parking space in front of the parlor, and the car that was aiming hopefully for it. No you don't, he thought grimly, and pressed the gas pedal, zooming possessively toward the spot. The other car pulled away, intimidated. “Fact,” he continued, ignoring the fact that he'd just scared away a potential customer. “You were the one pouting.”

“I was not,” Tomoyo contradicted with an air of royalty. “You accused me of sulking. Which I was not, either. I was fuming silently. You are the one sulking, Eriol-san.”

“No,” he denied flatly, reminding her of a cranky little boy who didn't want to take his nap.

“Yes,” she replied authoritatively, reminding him of a patiently superior mother deleing with a cranky little boy who didn't want to take his nap.

Nakuru made a rude sound from her slouch in the backseat. “You're both acting like a couple of spoiled brats,” she informed them. “And reality check, Eriol, you are pouting.”

Outnumbered, Eriol zipped into the parking spot and shut off the engine. “No,” he said again, with what he considered admirable calm in the face of such betrayal by his own creation. He got out of the car. Tomoyo and Nakuru exchanged a knowing look - and a high five - before Eriol came around to their side to open their doors for them.

Tomoyo climbed out of the car, surprised at the level of courtesy Eriol was exhibiting even in the midst of what she knew was a severe pout. He was at the same time charmingly juvenile and dashingly mature - She felt her heart sigh once, and quickly redirected her attention to the ice cream parlor.

She stared in awe at the parlor. It looked so attractive, so inviting…so comfortable. She felt compelled to walk right in and spend every single pound she had…a fair amount, since Eriol had graciously exchanged British currency for her randomly acquired foreign currencies. She narrowed her eyes at the man.

“You don't have a spell on the place, do you?” she whispered disapprovingly.

“I've often heard it said by satisfied customers that this place seems to have a magical quality,” he replied evasively, and strolled through the doors like he owned the place. Which, Tomoyo reflected, rolling her eyes, he did.

She and Nakuru had barely passed through the doorway behind him when Tomoyo heard a vaguely familiar voice call out in Japanese, not English, which surprised her, “Eriol-kun? What's wrong?”

“Why would anything be wrong, Kaho?” Eriol said frowning.

Behind the counter, Kaho Mizuki smiled at them. Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock, then delight. “Mizuki-sensei!” she exclaimed.

“Daidouji-san,” Kaho replied cheerfully. “I see you're doing well. Eriol-kun said you'd come here to England.”

“Yes, Eriol-san's been very kind to me, Mizuki-sensei.” Tomoyo smiled at her former teacher.

Nakuru caught the way Kaho's eyes widened slightly at Tomoyo's use of Eriol's name. The other woman paused, then said, “That's wonderful, but you needn't refer to me as sensei any longer. That title has long since been discontinued. I work here now. Please don't be so formal with me.”

“That's what I said,” muttered Nakuru, “but does little miss perfect manners listen? Nooo, perish the thought of actually acting familiar towards someone!” Tomoyo smiled sweetly at Nakuru, then at Kaho.

“All right, Mizuki-sen…san. I'm glad you're doing well, then.”

“And I'm glad to see you looking so well too. But Eriol - what's wrong?” she asked again, her eyes moving to the man.

Eriol moved to a table and sat. “What do you mean?” he said curiously.

She smiled at him in puzzlement. “Well, you're…pouting about something.”

Movement in the parlor froze for a second of time. Eriol's eyes narrowed.

Tomoyo couldn't help it. She tried not to, she really did. But Nakuru deliberately caught her eye, and they both burst out laughing.

* * *

“It was nice visiting with Mizuki-sen—ah, Mizuki-san,” Tomoyo said later that evening.

“Hmm.”

“She seems to be happy where she is now,” she said after this none-too-encouraging reply. “It must be strange having her work for you.”

“Hmm.”

After another hesitation, Tomoyo pressed, “Thank you for the surprise, Eriol-san. I enjoyed the afternoon immensely.” She wisely avoided any reference to the Frisbee fiasco.

“Hmm.”

Nakuru finally couldn't take it anymore. She flicked a paper ball at Eriol from where she lay on the floor, apparently amusing herself by rolling several piles of paper balls, presumably to use as ammunition in the future on Spinel. “Oh, get over it already. So we laughed at you.” A lot. “Big deal. It was funny.”

“Hmm.”

Both Tomoyo and Nakuru sighed. Spinel floated into the room and surveyed the scene. Tomoyo and Nakuru were sitting on the floor, lazily constructing a paper chain. His eyes narrowed at the large pile of paper balls beside Nakuru, frowning suspiciously at her innocently fluttering eyelashes. Eriol sat on the sofa, flipping idly through a book and sulking.

“Master Eriol, do stop pouting,” Spinel said absently after a moment, his gaze lingering on Nakuru's all-too-bright smile. To his confusion, Nakuru and Tomoyo ducked their heads, trying to hide their grins, and busied themselves with the paper chain.

Eriol tossed down the book and stomped out of the room.

Spinel landed softly amid the laughter that ensued from the women…well, from the woman and Nakuru, he amended…as his master exited huffily to his study, slamming the door behind him. “What did I say?” he asked.

“The truth, Suppi-chan,” Nakuru told him. “Just the truth.” She added another link to the chain, another paper ball to her collection, and winked at Tomoyo as Spinel mumbled, “Don't call me Suppi,” automatically.

Tomoyo sighed, feeling more at home here in this house, with a temperamental magician and his two temperamental creations as her housemates, than she ever had in her entire life.