Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Poison ❯ Chapter 4: Secretive ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: Nekocin

Poison
Author: Nekocin
Genres: Drama/Romance/General
Warnings: major OoC
Pairings: mainly TouyaYukito, other (implied) pairings like SakuraSyaoran
Rated: PG13 -- R, PG here
Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura doesn't belong to me. The character Kaiba comes from Yuugioh; he also doesn't belong to me. Only this fic belongs to me.

Chapter 4: Secretive

"Are you free this Saturday?"

Tsukishiro blinks inquiringly at Touya.

"It's a great opportunity for you to meet my sister," Touya elaborates, looking hopefully from his side of the seat. He watches as Tsukishiro's hazel eyes swirl in panic for a few seconds and then pull away from staring into his own brown eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Tsukishiro drops his eyes and silently continues eating his noodles. He has remained silent as he finishes his bowl of noodles for the rest of the evening.

Confused and feeling slightly hurt, Touya retracts and finishes his own bowl.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so forward," he murmurs quietly.

"It's her wedding day?"

"Yes. You don't have to go if you don't-"

"I would love to go, but I need my master's permission,"

"Master?"

"He has to know where I'm going or else he'll turn the city upside down just to find me. Even if he doesn't really show it, Clow is just as worrisome as you are, and other than that, he's truly... kind," Tsukishiro explains quietly, glancing briefly at his hands on his lap and then meeting up with Touya's eyes.

It looks as if he's been looking at his eyes a lot of times these last few nights. Maybe it's just out of trust. It doesn't matter what it is, Touya's just glad to have someone to care about like a... friend.

For a moment he acknowledges Tsukishiro's face softening at the mention of his -master-, his eyes have flashed slightly in silver. The softness in the way he has spoken made Touya realize Tsukishiro's sharing something private with him.

Touya's touched. Tsukishiro -no, Yukito (Tsukishiro's first name) trusts him enough to share something... private.
He rewards the other with a smile; a smile which he usually reserves for his family -especially Sakura even if she doesn't understand the meaning behind it.

"I'm sure he won't mind,"

"... maybe," Yukito sighs softly and slouches lazily in his seat. Very uncharacteristically on his part though.

Touya remains quiet, not wanting to comment about how strange Yukito looks like at the moment. His friend's jus oblivious or maybe he doesn't care about people staring funnily at him. Perhaps he's never been commented on about how... sensual he looks like when slouching.

"I still feel empty," Yukito suddenly speaks up, smiling sheepishly at his companion.

Touya frowns at him in disbelief. Three bowls can really fill someone as healthy as Yukito and -he- still feels -empty-? This is probably one of those things of getting to know Yukito...

He suddenly stands up, bends over the table and pinches Yukito's cheeks playfully.

"I've still cake at home. The same you'd given me the other night," he grins and pulls away, leaving Yukito sputtering out nonsensically in shock.

Touya pays for everything, politely bidding the restaurant owners a good evening and turns to his friend, who's trying unsuccessfully to regain his composure. He chuckles lightly and pulls Yukito along their way.

"You-You pinched me," Yukito accuses incredulously, rubbing one side of his cheek.

"I just couldn't resist. You're just being too cute," The tone has come out teasingly. But when hearing no response from Yukito, Touya wonders if he's gone too far. "Look. I'm sorry, Yuki. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. You can punch me or something,"

"No. That's not it, To-ya. You... never mind," Yukito sighs in defeat, blushing lightly, and drops his shoulders.
"Yuki? You called me Yuki?" Hazel eyes immediately lit up in excitement as he tugs onto Touya's sleeve like a child.

The taller man grins in relief. "Don't you like it? I've been wondering how long it would take for you to notice my slip,"

"It's not that... I'd never gotten a nickname before, well -nice ones at least-... Yuki. I kind of like the sound of it," the last part is shyly spoken as Yukito turns his face away to hide his embarrassment.

"I'd never gotten a nickname before either, nicknames that are of my liking at least. So, are you up to some dessert at my apartment?" Touya twitches one side of his lips up in a small smile.

Touya cuts the half-eaten cake in two pieces, splits one of the pieces again and cleans off the reversed knife with a piece of paper sheet. He carefully places the big half of cake and the two smaller pieces on a big white, porcelain plate and efficiently makes his way to the living-room, where Yukito's waiting for him on the couch.

"Here. You can eat them all if you want," Touya lays the plate on the smaller table in the middle of the room and takes a seat in a small sofa-chair.

"Thank you," Yukito smiles and places the photo frame, which he's been studying, back on the table.

It's mother's photo...

"Your mother's beautiful,"

"... yeah. It's a fact,"

"You really miss her, don't you?"

Touya looks at his mother's photo, slowly wondering where this photo had been taken. At the beach? At the amusement park? At dad's workshop? At the zoo?
He stops his thoughts abruptly and glances at Yukito.

The other seems to be studying his face for any sort of disturbing reaction.

Touya suddenly feels his fingers and feet itching, wanting to move. He did move unexpectedly though.
He's jabbed a fork into one of the pieces of cake and shoves it into Yukito's mouth.

"No more questions. Just eat," He orders sternly.

It doesn't take long before Touya has fed the rest of the cake to Yukito, surprised at his casual behaviour towards the bartender. Maybe it's because of how easy going Yukito is? Perhaps.

Yukito's hazel eyes have been amused and surprised when Touya's started -force-feeding- him. It's really not your every day occurrence that your friend force-feeds you. But he hasn't complained yet, he hasn't even protested against the other. Touya has been rather gentle to him through all that force-feeding.

"It's delicious,"

"You made it yourself,"

"I know. But it still tastes good after one week,"

"..." Silence.

"Tell me, To-ya, aren't you fond of cake? you haven't eaten a piece tonight,"

"I like them. But tonight I'm already full and- it's okay, you've eaten it for me,"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be eating your own cake all alone,"

"...you somehow remind me of both of my parents..."

Yukito blinks.

"...'kaa-san loves to eat cake. She can eat a whole one all by herself, you know?"

"I-I see," Yukito's face flushes, catching the imply.

"... 'tou-san is a great cook. He would always make the best dishes compared to 'kaa-san's. Especially cakes to keep the family happy...,"

They spend their time together in silence until it's time for Yukito to leave.

"Wonderful! I'm glad your work is improving," Daidouji-sama suddenly speaks up, knocking lightly on Touya's office door to announce her arrival.

"Daidouji-sama," Touya looks up from his laptop to greet her politely. It's unusual to have Daidouji-sama entering his office in the mornings; she must be in a very good mood.

Daidouji-sama is standing with her shoulders straight and chin high in pride as she smiles knowingly at him.

"It seems like our partners are quite enchanted by your diplomacy, Touya-kun,"

"Others can do better than I,"

"Don't be so modest. Besides, your forehead is even smoother now that you're frowning lesser. Has something great happened? Have you finally fallen in love?"

An almost unconscious smile pulls at the corners of his lips. He looks at the calendar's date: Friday, December 17th.

"Sakura's wedding is tomorrow," He explains.

"I can't wait to see her in a wedding dress. Tomoyo has taken 3 days to make the dress without giving me a chance to see part of it. I'm sure she's cute as ever-," Daidouji-sama starts gushing excitedly, sighing happily and then drops gracefully into the chair across Touya's.

Sakura's wedding is probably the main reason why Daidouji-sama's in a good mood. She's always loved Sakura to pieces when she'd first laid eyes on his sister. Not that she doesn't love him. Her love to him was just a bit like distant love, compared to her love to Sakura, which is like hugging your favorite stuffed animal or something like that.

"Tell me, Touya-kun. Did you and Mr. Kaiba have some sort of oath?" She crosses her arms and leans back comfortably.

"No," He answers readily.

"Saa, Mr. Kaiba seems pretty pleased with our presentation. He wants to double the contract -even if the first year isn't even over,"

"I see. That's good," Touya responds politely, not quite knowing what Daidouji-sama's trying to say to him.

"Of course it's good! Mr. Kaiba is not an easy CEO to please, you know?" You've probably shown him that you're not afraid of him,"

"What are you trying to say, Daidouji-sama?"

She smiles.
"I've received a phone call from him. This morning. He wants to double the contract with you as our presenter. He says he doesn't want anyone to present it, just you and just business-," she pauses in mid-sentence, frowning thoughtfully. "I wonder when you'll-"

"When is the meeting?" Touya cuts in and reaches for his organizer immediately.

"Wednesday, 9 o'clock sharp. His sub-office, East Shinjuku. You have 2 days to come up with great toy designs and proper presentation,"

Touya nods obediently. Daidouji-sama is very harsh when it comes to sudden presentations and meetings.
She gives him another stern look, then leans forward to the desk and smiles.

"I'm sure your time will come" And then she's gone.

Touya stares at the place, however, a bit cryptically where his boss was seated a moment ago.

"I don't want that time to come,"

Daidouji-sama's comment has been so vague that Sakura won't be able to catch the meaning behind her words. But surely, it's not hard to find the implications. Daidouji-sama has meant about his time tying himself to -the One- just like Sakura to that gaki.

It's too -big-.

To tie himself to -the One-, he has to break certain rules. Rules that he's so used to in dealing with being too secretive.

He's a very private person. An aloof person. It's a bit hard to see himself as someone who's willing to share something very private about himself with someone else.

It's a sacrifice.

"To-ya... I...," Yukito nervously bites his lower lip, raising his right hand but stops.

Touya raises his eyes up, patiently waiting for the other to say something. "Hm?"

"...nothing," Yukito breaks eye-contact, sighs almost endlessly and moves away from sitting across Touya like he usually did when he has time to continue re-wiping the class at the counter.

Touya frowns. Yukito has been acting very strange since he's entered Madam Butterfly that night. When he's entered, Yukito's busy clearing the counter away. His hazel eyes has taken one look at Touya, has swiveled a bit in panic and widened. His mouth has fallen open to tell him something but immediately Yukito has slammed whatever he's trying to say behind doors.

At first, Touya has thought Yukito's having problems with expressing something he wanted to share with him, so he supposes he's to be patient for a while. And being patient is not of the traits you'll see from Kinomoto Touya.

After watching Yukito for awhile, Touya begins to feel restless. Yukito's tried telling him something several times, but he's still having second thoughts, ruling Touya out.

Whatever it is, Touya knows it's big and probably very important to his friend. And at the end, he's getting more worried about Yukito.

Is he sick? Does he need anything? Or worse, is he in danger? Has something bad happened to him?

Touya slaps his forehead mentally, mutters something under his breath about being frustrated and instantly stands up to grab hold of Yukito's wrist.

"Yuki, are you okay? You've been acting very strange tonight,"

Yukito looks surprised and frightened up at him. He has stopped wiping the glass he's holding and opened his mouth to say something.

Touya watches on as Yukito seems to be at the point of telling him everything what has been bothering when in fact, his hazel eyes has backtracked again, ruling his friend out, once again.

Yukito's been re-thinking way too much, he's decided.

"You know you can always tell me anything what's bothering you, Yuki,"

Yukito looks helplessly at him, or maybe even sadly.

"You don't have to tell me right away though. Tell me whenever you feel all right," Touya offers the other a small smile, feeling slightly disappointed. Of course, he shouldn't expect his younger friend to trust him wholeheartedly to really spill the beans, right? They're from two different worlds, sharing just one plain friendship.

"I'm sorry," Touya pulls away and silently retreats to his seat to brood.

Tomorrow's Sakura's wedding and he's already feeling anxious. A few days ago, he's been having a peaceful time for once... but now, the little base he's been building for his new life has suddenly tumbled down.

The dreaded day is coming already...

Touya's waiting for Yukito to close up. He wonders absently whether Yukito's going to Sakura's wedding or not. Probably not, he sighs. Disappointed. He really likes to have the easy-going bartender by his side while his imouto-chan's going to leave him forever. He can cling on the other guy while his sister's going to tie herself to that gaki-

It hurts to think about it. But the world really doesn't resolve around him, he supposes, that is why there's always pain on his path. Pain, because of those whom he cares about. Because the world doesn't resolve around him.

The bar is locked. Yukito glances at him -hazel eyes looking unreadable-.

Touya doesn't know what to do, so he just smiles crookedly at his friend and walks down the all too familiar path to home. His shorted friend follows him silently. An awkward silence has fallen upon them.

Touya feels uneasy. Thought, he doesn't know why but it probably has something to do with Yukito.

"To-ya..." it came out as a whisper. It's not loud enough to hear but somehow loud enough to make Touya stop walking with his back to his friend. There's a pause in Yukito's breath as Touya waits patiently.

"Yes?"

Yukito pulls Touya around to face him. His grip feels almost desperate if not a bit... strange. He meets with Yukito's earnest eyes.

"Your sister's wedding is tomorrow,"

Touya nods, looking a bit confused.

"... my master wants to meet you," Yukito looks worried.

Touya could only blink. "Your master?"

Yukito hesitates. "Yes... tomorrow at 8. He wants to meet you first before we go to your sister's wedding,"

"Does that mean you're really coming with me?" He couldn't help but crack a rare smile.

"If my master approves," Yukito hastily adds.

"Geez, is that what you're worrying about?" He smiles ruefully.

"No, it's not that-,"

"You've really made me worried,"

"I'm sorry. I just-I just thought you wouldn't take my master's request. I'm not sure what he's really trying to do- and I know you're really private about your life-" Yukito rattles on, not even noticing if he's saying anything sensible.

"...I still wonder why you call him your master," Touya comments instead. "Never mind. Let's go buy some sweets. There's one bakery store which is open 24/7,"
He drops the subject suddenly and points at a bakery shop round the corner, a few feet away.

"But I don't have my wallet with me. It's at home!" Yukito seems to have been successfully distracted with the subject of food.

"My treat," Touya offers almost too naturally.

"No, you can't. I don't want you to spend your money on me. Let's just go home,"
Yukito protests seems to be to be in vain, because his friend is already making long strides towards the said bakery.

"To-ya!" he follows his friend, protesting along the way about the sweets being too expensive, no need to spend money on him, no need for the sweets even if he's really hooked up on them.

Touya tries reassuring him that it's okay, he's just doing this because then they can still eat sweets at night and he's not having any money troubles so why not buy some cake?

Thjey've left the bakery after Touya's bought one whole big chocolate cake and an extra upside-down strawberry short cake. Yukito looks sheepish while walking by Touya's side.

"... Thank you," he smiles up at his taller friend.

The smile is true, on its earnest just like their first time being earnest to one another. Touya likes that smile better on Yukito's face. There's just always something sad about Yukito's other smiles. They look so hopeless... whatever reasons that made him smile so sad, is beyond Touya.

Maybe Yukito will tell him some time later, he reassures himself contently. He stays silent along the way as Yukito tells him about England, where he's once lived with his 'family'. Now that he thinks about it, Yukito has only talked vaguely about his so-called family...

They have decided to eat the cake at Yukito's apartment, since it's just a short distance -4th level of the building.

Yukito prepares the plates, while Touya cuts the chocolate cake carefully.

"What's you sister like?" As usual, Yukito starts the talking.

Touya puts the plate down on the table and leans back in his seat, looking vaguely thoughtful.

Yukito blinks. "Or shouldn't I have asked?"

Touya closes his eyes, trying to decipher words how to describe Sakura. But where to start? Her personality? Her appearance? Her feelings for that gaki?

"... Sakura, my sister, resembles my mother. That's where their features stop," he sighs. "You'll have to meet her first before you decide to agree whether she's nice or not,"

Touya's face darkens as he remembers how his sister has grown from a little toddler to a young lady. It's not her fault... he's just being too protective over her. He pushes those dark thoughts aside and forces himself to remain calm or... indifferent for that matter.

He opens his eyes slowly, looking about to apologize for the lack of words of describing his younger sister properly when he meets Yukito's hazel eyes.

"...To-ya..." his friend looks as if he's surprised to meet his eyes for the first time.

Touya dismisses the flicker of panic in the other's eyes and breaks their eye-contact abruptly. "...And she's still going to a monster," The uneasy air has suddenly cleared when he said that.

His friend blinks, looking bewildered.

Touya smirks, giving Yukito a sharp look and munches on his piece of cake. For once, he's probably left Yukito bewildered behind with that one comment. There's just something great about confusing his younger friend. Maybe because he's assured he knows his sister the best.

Hmmm... but the little voice, the damn little voice, has voted for the other reason why it's great to confuse Yukito. The other reason that has been slyly added, but has escaped his mind in a flash. After that, he's forgotten about the other reason.

It's probably not even important.

Yukito watches Touya disappear in the elevator, still looking a bit lost. His friend might not be an open person, he's still easier to figure out if Yukito is taking his time to do so.

"Clow," he murmurs absently and closes the front door of his apartment behind him.

-Saturday-

Touya wonders whether he should wear a tie or not. He doesn't want to look too formal in the suit since he's after all, Sakura's big brother. And then again, he doesn't want to look too casual, because he's going to have a meeting with his friend's master or whoever the guy might be.

Besides, who wears casual clothes on such an important day like today?
Touya has decided that after meeting up with Yukit's... whoever he'll go straight to Sakura's wedding.

He nibbles absently on his lips, while glaring at the small mirror on his desk. After debating for a moment about wearing tie or no tie, Touya finally looks at the time.

7:45 AM.

He huffs, pulls the tie away and heads out of his bedroom. On his way out, he grabs the suit's over-coat and shuts the windows and then the front door behind him.

Touya has never really felt this nervous in his life before. But today, he finds his senses working in total chaos -at least, he thought his feelings are. Meeting Yukito's 'parent' is probably going to be a bit stuffy or rigid, and after that... it's controlling his raging feelings as his sister agrees to stay by that gaki's side for the rest of her life.

The floor on which Yukito is staying, has usually a peaceful aura hanging in the air, the aura like fresh air, breathable. Now, however, Touya seems to be almost choking on the heavy air. It's as if someone has released poisonous gas on his path.

Whatever he's dealing with at the moment, he knows, at least, his nerves aren't going to explode from the sheer of heaviness. It's suffocating... and no one seems to be having any problems with breathing. He looks at the laughing pair of girls passing him.

He wonders if he's just overreacting. How strange. Or his mind is playing tricks with him.

Finally he's reached Yukito's door. He knocks twice with oddly shaking hands.

The door suddenly flies open.

"Welcome,"

END Chapter 4

TheNekoTalks:

- After thoughts regarding the small information of Clow-Yukito relationship; I'm trying to keep most of the canon stuff intact. The idea of magic in such a dreary world doesn't make sense, right? So I'm actually using the Clow-Yukito relationship paralleling to the Clow-Yue relationship. Even so, I guess this AU could be seen as a mystical story like for example the manga "Binetsu Kakumei" :smiles nervously:

- In reality, there's no one really -that- kind and sweet to offer someone, whom they'd barely known, such grand kindness. That's why I warned you that it's a bit far-fetched. :hangs head: I guess I hadn't really noticed how fuzzy and snuggly this fic in its notebook-form really was before I started to type down this story. Other than that, I've noticed a few plot holes... too. Am I going too fast with the story by the way? And is it annoying that the story consist of a large portion of dialogues?

I like to thank those who'd reviewed my previous chapter:
:hearts: 3

Mischa Kitsune: :3 Oh, anyone would love to have him as one. Thank you for reading!! Happy holidays!!

korosu- :blushes: Aa-aa, just saw what you mean... thanks :twiddles tumbs:
Did this chapter answer your answer?I know it's a bit farfetched to have Clow and the in it. They won't play such a big part here in this story though :sweatdrops: Thank you for reading!! Happy Holidays!!

heheangel kisses- Same here. :sniffles: But my friends are okay :shrugs: I'm trying out Touya being-not-so-negative, which is kind of hard. It makes him a bit OoC. Thank you for reading!! Happy holidays!!

Tenshi ni Hoshii- Aa, of course she's weird. But I think she's all right. This story won't go too deep on to that relationship though :sweatdrops:
Yes, you can visit each other and if she or he has the anime series you want, you can borrow it :)Thank you for reading!!! Happy holidays!!

K-1 - That muchI can understand from the Cantonese version :) Thanks for telling me what EXACTLY it actually means whentranslated. Thank you for reading!!! Happy Holidays!!

yaoishoujo- :smiles nervously: Aa... now that you mentioned it, I never thought it as such. Before I typed this story down, I hadn't really thought about going further into the Spinel and Keroberos relationship since this story is from Touya's side of the story. I thought about using said relation in the sequel... if it's any luck :sweatdrop: Thanks for pointing that out. :3 Thank you for reading!!! Happy Holidays!!

eye candy-:blushes: So, this story is at least a bit understandable? I'm glad you like the story and I hope this chapter hadn't changed your mind on reading this story further. I know the story is a bit weird, but I kind of like it when I break some... cliche themes. :3 Thank you for reading!! Happy holidays!!

Thank you for reading!! Happy Holidays EVERYONE!!!!

:smiley face:cin