Chapter 6:Deeper

"Another punk outfit?" said Eriol in distaste as he looked at Tomoyo's ethnic-inspired top with matching beaded necklace and skirt with a slit at the side.

She laughed good-naturedly. "Punk for you, stylish for me."

"I don't know that in order to look stylish, you have to look like a clown," he said sourly. "In my opinion, you look like a tribeswoman who's about to perform in a vaudeville."

Her face remained all smiles. "Two things, my dear Ice blue-eyed hater of all women. First, I dress not to conform to your taste. Second is, you shouldn't criticize me too harshly. I'm your favorite author, remember?"

He blushed. "Damn-"

She suddenly tiptoed and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "See you later!"

He stepped back, eyes wide, apparently not expecting what she did. "W-Where are you going?"

"Downtown." she waved and went out of the house.

"Daidouji!"

She turned around.

"Don't stay out too late. The streets are not safe at the dark," he reminded her.

She smiled genuinely. "Thank you for the reminder. I'll be back in three hours!"



Eriol went into the guest room, quiet as a mouse. He then rummaged through each and every cabinet, looking for something.

He then noticed the computer in the corner of the room. He turned it on and browsed through its latest documents.

"Eureka!" he cried silently when he found a new folder he was sure taht wasn't there when he lent the unit to his guest. He opened the folder named Moonlight novels and found three documents. Acting quickly, he took his diskette and copied the files into it.

"What are you doing?" a voice suddenly asked from behind.

Startled, Eriol turned around and saw Rose looking at him inquisitively.

"D-Dady is just taking something from the computer, Sweetie," he said nonchantly.

"What are you taking from Tomoyo's computer?" she wanted to know.

"Just things."

"What things?"

He sighed. He should have known better than to battle verbally with a child. He would still lose no matter what. "First, you have to remember it's a secret. You shouldn't tell anyone about this, especially Tomoyo herself."

"I promise," nodded the lass solmnly.

" I read all of your mother's books already so I.. I checked out Tomoyo's files to see if she has novels she's working on that I can read," he explained.

"Oh.." Rose then smiled. "You know what, Daddy? At first, I didn't like that person because I thought she will just be like the other girls who were flirts.."

"W-Where did you get that word?" he boomed.

"From Nakuru."

He sighed. "I knew it."

The girl nodded. "But Tomoyo is not like that at all. She's nice and funny and pretty too."

"Really?"

The girl giggled. "She made clothes for all of my dolls last night!"

"So that's it," he muttered. Rose was so easy to win over with a few bribes. Typical child.

"Now remember," he said seriously as he shut the computer down. "Don' tell anyone what you've seen."

"Not even Nakuru?"

"Especially ESPECIALLY not Nakuru."

Rose shrugged then beamed again, ready to change the topic again. "Daddy, I like Tomoyo so much! I hope you would like her too!"

"But I do like her. I like her novels a lot," he reasoned.

"Do you like her enough to make her stay forever, Daddy?" she asked curiosly.

He had no answer for that.



Tomoyo carried her shopping bags into the house quietly and locled the front door. She then tiptoed upstairs, careful not to wake her housemates up. She was guilty of going over her curfew of three hours. But it wasn't her fault. Really. How should she know that there was going to be a Midnight Madness sale that night on all items in the mall so she opted to wait for it?

She was almost up the staircase when light flooded the kitchen and a grim-looking Eriol came out, his eyes piercing her. "Where have you been?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

Tomoyo gulped. "Uh-oh."

continue