Chapter 5

"Well?"She heard a familiar male voice ask her anxiously as she felt strong arms wrap around her.She wanted to say how much it helped her freezing body,but she couldn't open her mouth.She snuggled closer to his warm body.It felt so good.

She felt something caress her face,and his warm fingertips left a tingling trail of delightful touch all over her skin.She then felt warm breath descending on her face.

Warm.Yes,she needed more warmth before she'll die in the cold.

She felt the breath on her lips and she suddenly felt warm and fuzzy all over.She smiled.It felt so good.It felt like magic.

"Tomoyo?Tomoyo?"A persistent female voice asked.

She was forced to open her eyes."W-Where am I?"

Sakura let out a sigh of relief."Thank heavens you finally woke up.You've been sleeping for one whole day already!"

"My head feels so heavy!"she moaned,automatically reaching for her forehead.

"Perfectly understandable.Your fever was frighteningly high last night.Fortunately,Mr.Hiragizawa sent for the best doctor in the whole country to cure you."said her best friend proudly.

"Mr.Hiragizawa?"Tomoyo drew a blank on the guy's face.

"You know,the handsome foreign diplomat you call a baka,hentai,inu,buta and most especially obake."the emerald-eyed lady teased.

"Oh."She was shocked,to put it mildly.The english guy sent for the best doctor in the whole Japan to treat her?"No way!"

"Yes way!And take note,it was Eriol Hiragizawa who brought you home,carrying you in his arms like a rag doll-"Sakura said,swooning.

Tomoyo sat up,fuming."Where's that English toad?"

"In his humble abode resting,I guess.He hardly slept last night because he was watching over you.We only managed to convince him to go home when the doc announced that you were safe."

The black-haired woman threw a shawl over her kimono and marched out.

"Wait,Tomoyo!We were told that you must get enough bed rest so your body can fully recover from fatigue.You can thank him later because he's going to visit you anyway!"called Sakura.

Ignoring her second cousin,she went to the mansion.



"Master Eriol is resting."Nakuru told the girl politely.

"Then I'll go check on him."Tomoyo tried to bypass the woman.

Nakuru was amused."Alright,but only if you promise to not eat him alive."She threw the door wide open for her.

Ah,yes.The Japanese tigress her msaster was so fond of was certainly different from the other women Eriol Hiragizawa used to went out with.Those high-society ladies whose lives revolved around fashion,gossip and fame.To be romantically linked to a very eligible bachelor who was also the peace ambassador of the country was certainly every woman's dream come true.So needless to say,Eriol Hiragizawa,the charming ladies'man,became used to the fact that women would fall to pieces for him.

"But this woman would tear him to pieces."the maidservant said to herself with a laugh.



"Get up and we'll talk!"Tomoyo burst into his room.

Eriol's head popped out from underneath the blanket.He rubbed his eyes sleepily."Is that you,Mom?"

"Very funny."She snatched the blanket and threw it on the floor.

He grinned when he recognized her."Wow,thank goodness you're ok!"

She crossed her arms over her chest."And that's what we're going to talk about."

"Oh no need to thank me,Bijin.It's every man's unspoken duty to rescue the damsel in distress."

"How more chauvinistic can you ever get,Obake?Anyway,the last thing in the world that I want to happen is to be indebted to you.Tell me now how much you paid the doctor and how much would I pay for your concern-"

"Oh,but you already paid me,Bijin.Yes,your payment,indeed,more than made up for all of the worries I had last night."He smiled mysteriously.

She looked puzzled,but decided not to ask anymore."So I guess that makes us even?"

"You can say that."His eyes twinkled with mischief as he remembered the sweetest kiss he ever had in his entire life.That rainy evening when his tigress became a seductive little kitten.

"Then I have no more to say."Tomoyo was about to turn around when Eriol called her again."Wait,I have a proposal to make!"

Intrigued,she turned back at him."A proposal?"

Eriol nodded."I feel guilty about the fact that it was my fault why you were forced to push yourself to the point of exhaustion just to pay for the land,so I decided-"

"-that you'll give us the land back for free?"Tomoyo guessed.

"Nice try,Bijin,but my father was a businessman and it runs in my blood too."chuckled the man.

Tomoyo looked at him sourly."Ok,so what's your business proposal,Mr. Businessman Jr.?"

He gazed at her for a few seconds before he spoke."Work for me,Bijin.Be my geisha until the last day of my stay here."

continue