Risks
By: Kriste-chan
Disclaimer: CCS © CLAMP. Never owned it and never will.
Sometimes, people have to risk on conditions to win something...
Eriol felt like an idiot as he walked from street to street with a box of chocolates on one hand and a bouquet of flowers—magnolias, cherry blossoms and roses—on the other. He had been going around in frenzy after remembering that it was Valentine's Day; and he hadn't been all too happy that he was reminded by Cupid's picture from an overflowing chocolate store with that irritating and perpetually smitten-like feature.
Now, if it weren't for his momentary loss of brain cells, he wouldn't be feeling this guilty for buying chocolates instead of putting efforts in creating one. He sighed at a drowning thought—unintentionally imitating a hopeless Shakespearean romantic poet in the earlier centuries; that was only one of his dilemmas. He knew that his friends would accept his gift without question even if he didn't make chocolates through blood and sweat. He knew that they're aware of how demanding his work could get to even fuss around and do something for this seemingly insignificant occasion but still, he was worried about someone's reaction.
Eriol briefly turned his attention towards a certain high-rise building.
And that reaction was after IF he even manages to move out of the giving-the-gift-to-her part. He knew he would be wearing his heart out on his sleeves by the time that he gives her the flowers and chocolates.
"Eriol-kun?"
He felt his spine freeze at the familiar voice but turned around with a placid exterior. "Well hello there, Sakura-san." A smile was immediately plastered on his face. God, he hadn't felt this nervous since the New Year's incident. And it was on that occasion when he actually realized how much Tomoyo-san meant to him.
A kiss certainly, could mean the world to somebody.
Sakura beamed her cheerful smile and as always, Eriol couldn't help but feel the old... lightness growing within. Sakura always had that paternal effect on him and whatever her actions were, it always sent a calming feel to everything—even in his worst case scenario. He saw her look up at the Daidouji Toys Company building, and a still unruffled innocent smile that implied nothing more came to view. "Are you going to give those to Tomoyo-chan?" as blunt as ever.
Eriol coughed and tried to suppress any extra amount of blood creeping into his face. "Well," he coughed again. "Yes." There was really something to say about an heiress' straightforwardness and spittle gagging you to death. But he guessed he couldn't blame either of it; or Sakura-san for being, well, Sakura-san.
Delight was evident in her eyes though, "I'm glad..." she said, "I'm glad that you appreciate Tomoyo-chan very much, Eriol-kun."
Eriol balanced thoughts and words for a while; and then spoke with unfathomable gentleness that he himself couldn't quite figure out where it came from. "Everyone does, Sakura-chan."
Sakura shook her head in a desperate kind of way, "It's different with you, Eriol-kun..." She blurted out. Eriol could only stare at her.
Usually, he and Sakura had an unusual understanding for unspoken thoughts; but this one was the most that he could figure out without getting a headache: something between the lines of Sakura was hinting something and Sakura knows something that was bound to happen in the future. He opted for silence as the card mistress tried to knit her scattered thoughts together.
"It's different with you Eriol-kun…" she repeated, "Because you must like Tomoyo-chan a lot." she began with a smile; Eriol's jaw dropped a few inches as he looked at her in disbelief. Among things said, this was by far, the most... dumbfounding surprise that Sakura-san ever brought to him. He didn't even think that Sakura-san would be able to do that to him.
"I realize the things that brought that on, Sakura-san." Said Eriol with a funny look lurking on his face, "But I don't see the reason why you clearly have to state it outright."
"Hoe?" she uttered; patently confused, "I just thought that you must really like her because you do everything that you can do to make her smile." She tipped her chin in thought, "and Tomoyo-chan, I think, also likes you a lot too because she looks very happy whenever she sees you around."
"Sakura-san," Eriol forced away the urge to blush but failed. "If Nakuru had been saying something about—"
"She hasn't." said Sakura, helplessly; and then abruptly turned with that familiar far-away look that lasted for only a split second, "It may not be now, Eriol-kun but one day..." her smile depicted mysterious meaning, "everything will be alright."
Eriol stared at her while a million thoughts hurled and crashed in, head on, with one another. Sakura-san does know something about the future. And it involved him, Tomoyo and something else. He still couldn't figure out the meaning of everything but as he was on the verge where his sanity was pushed to its limit, Sakura-san had finally decided to supply him with an answer.
"If Nakuru said something about Tomoyo-chan and you making a good couple," she smiled and, Eriol thought, things couldn't have been anymore predictable than this, "Even Yue-san would undoubtedly agree with her." She hesitated, "Well, sort off, I guess. In his Yue-kind of way..."
Eriol gaped. The image where Sakura was in the place of making the all powerful Clow reincarnate stare at her dumbly was something else to take hold of. However, the image of Yue-san actually agreeing with Nakuru about something was, in and of itself, extremely priceless. "That would take something..." he said, jokingly but found his heart beating like a drum. He wasn't... dumb or insensitive. And he knew exactly what Sakura-san had implied by that but...
It's not enough for a heart to beat strongly for two...
Sakura-san smiled in agreement. "It took me a while to swallow everything when the vision eventually came." She murmured, making Eriol officially gape at her twice in a row. Well, as they say, people whom you least expected to surprise you can sometimes be the cause of an undeterminable heart attack.
"Don't be afraid to risk on conditions..." she smiled before putting up her normal sunny attitude, "See you soon, Eriol-kun!" She waved at him cheerfully and scurried on towards the chocolate store, leaving Eriol with that wondering look that spoke of a thousand words. Seconds later though, when realization finally hit him, he managed a smile; his face clearing as he looked up at the Daidouji Toys Company building with a decision set on his mind.
... but the decision in which to live and fight for something lies strongly when two hearts beat for the same thing.
And now, he truly knew why he had always wanted to reach out his hands to her; and cherish her significance in his life forever.
Eriol didn't bother walking to the building. Instead, he had opted to zap himself straight towards Tomoyo's office from the darkest confines of a convenient alleyway near Sakura-san's chocolate store destination. Upon appearing though, he realized, dully, that Tomoyo had been drowning herself within a sea of paper works swarming throughout the office in a hybrid of maddening colors.
She looked lovely today. Even in the midst of tea and scrutinizing every letter on her laptop's keypad, she still kept her trademark grace and her flawless fluidity in motion. He had been right from the start. She had been trained to do this job and nothing else could ever stop the flow of its processes but— he smiled to himself; inching in forward to get closer silently— it has to stop even for a while...
Or perhaps, even for half a day if he was lucky?
Eriol threw the dice and slowly made the flowers float upward to land on her desk.
Tomoyo jerked; eyes blinking at the flowers with her shoulders visibly showing the signs of military-like tension before turning around to face a smiling Eriol.
"I just thought that your hard-work needs credit in a different way." His smile grew and eventually, the tension on Tomoyo's shoulder disapeared. "Good afternoon, Tomoyo-san."
Tomoyo beamed at him. "Eriol-kun..." she said, shifting her gaze towards the bouquet with a puzzled smile. "You shouldn't have bothered at all."
"Why wouldn't I?" he said, gradually moving forward to drop a kiss on her hand, like always. "After all, you've been berating yourself with these..." he looked around disdainfully. Tomoyo rolled her eyeballs with a faint chuckle. "... Coloring papers that seemed to spark more of your interest...?" He pouted cutely, "I'm utterly hurt, Tomoyo-san."
She giggled. "Well, you know how my work goes."
He agreed with a nod, "Quite." He waved a hand and out came a box of chocolate, "Happy Valentine's day."
Tomoyo stared at the box for a couple of seconds and then smiled politely. "Thank you." She said; a hollow look was already taking over her features. "I guess I hadn't prepared something for anyone this year." Polite guilt—if ever that was possible—was obviously visible now; and Eriol had felt the urge to swat it away with a broomstick or a sledgehammer to proceed on crushing it immediately. Even if he's crazy over chocolates, he didn't really need it now. He needs her to smile for him—to be happy...
But he could use this to his advantage though.
"That could be amended." He said suddenly, making Tomoyo look at him with creasing eyebrows.
"Huh?" she uttered, slightly puzzled before noticing how Eriol's closeness had affected her heart rate per second. She was only half aware of the fact that she had inched back a little to maximize the space between them but Eriol doesn't seem to have any problem with it.
He grinned at her boyishly, "The amusement park's opening early today so I would like you to spend the rest of the day there with me..."
She blinked at him. Then to the paper works; and then at him again... That action proceeded for a full minute while she weighed the thoughts between her work and spending the occasion with him.
Eriol versus her work...
Undoubtedly, her work was prioritized; but as Tomoyo opened her mouth to start a protest, something in his eyes forced her to clamp it shut and swallow every word before it even rolled out. There was something about his eyes. And whatever it was, it was enough to make butterflies appear while his eyes drew hers to meet. "Eriol-kun..." she stopped, midway, sorting her thoughts properly. She didn't exactly... like... the feeling he brought out in her because it was really contradicting with her nature. On the other hand, she also had to admit that everything felt, sort of, tolerable—and wonderful to some extent—since it was, after all, Eriol who managed to bring it out. Now, if only he would stop treating her like a 12-year-old kid, she would definitely find it hard to resist the urge to... take necessary courses of action on taking the next step...
But she really didn't need to remind herself of it.
Tomoyo slumped back on her executive chair and sighed with her eyes closed; forcing the thought away nonchalantly. "On one condition..." she said.
Don't be afraid to risk on conditions... Eriol stiffened as Sakura's words came back to him. Now he knew what she meant by that...
"You'll let me pay the entrance fee to make up for this day."
Well, at least that made his breathing even again. As this was certainly a lose-win situation in his case, he knew that she wouldn't accept his proposal if he would do a verbal head-butt with her terms. Even though it slightly went across the border lines of his masculinity; he had to lay it down for her once in a while. Tickets were only tickets. And her happiness would mean more than the world to him against his prided masculine ego. "It would definitely affect my gentlemanly ways, Tomoyo-san..." he said while Tomoyo looked at him incredulously, "But I'll let it slip in on one condition too."
Tomoyo rolled her eyes yet again, "The male ego in all its glory..." she chuckled, "Very well. What is it?"
He moved forward and held her face with his hands; punctuating a kiss on her forehead and cheeks and anticipating the look of horror after all was over...
But all she did was blink blankly at him.
He didn't know if it was a negative feedback, so he was forced to wait for a response.
And then she blinked at him again; raising a hand to his face.
He was anticipating a slap—a stinging pain that he was bound to feel. He knew that move was stupid but he couldn't, for the life of it, stop thinking about what Sakura-san told him about risking conditions. In a couple of seconds though, his eyes flung open as he realized the soft touch of her hand against his nape, guiding his head down for her lips to graze a light kiss on his forehead too. And to say that Eriol was shocked to death beyond comprehension would be the understatement of the year. "I just noticed," she said with a small smile. Eriol could only stare at her dumbly. "... You had been dropping me kisses like that as if I'm still the twelve-year-old girl you knew back then."
That seemed to slap him out of his goofy trance. A girl, he certainly thought, she wasn't; otherwise, his hormones wouldn't have been driving him mad at the mere thought of her in, well, anything that also involved him. He immediately batted the thought away because he didn't need to remind himself of it. Really. It's enough knowing that he was so close, her Victoria's secret perfume was slightly reminding him of the lingerie boutique in the mall and he really had to stop thinking now before he embarrass himself. "What do you mean by that?"
Her composure wasn't ruffled in the slightest bit. "I just want to remind you that I'm twenty-five years old, available and I. am. NOT. a little girl anymore." And then, she did something that almost sent Eriol ricocheting to the roof with a bleeding nose...
She gave him a peck on the lips, "Do remind yourself of it, please?"
Don't be afraid to risk on conditions... Eriol really had to think of a way to thank Sakura for giving him encouragements.
"The female ego in all its glory..." he said in imitation of her words earlier; bearing a goofy smile all the way that almost made her giggle, "So, do we have a deal then?" he asked, slightly fazed and intoxicated due to her workings. It took him an extra amount of effort to not bounce around the room like Spinel would after swallowing a considerable amount of sugar.
But nobody can blame him. A smile that came from the heart beats the widest empty grin, after all.
Tomoyo took his hand and threw aside the rubbish thought of her office littered with unfinished paper works. "You're on." She smiled at him.
And sometimes, people have to risk on conditions to win something better...
A/N: Ehh... sorry if it seemed rushed. I have the plot running in my mind and this was just it. Lame, I know. But sympathize with a person whose been working nonstop for an oral defense. T.T eheh. Forgive me for having that as a reason. I'll do better next time. C3