storypaint | Write Right (Syaoran and Tomoyo gen)

Title: Write Right
Fandom: Cardcaptor Sakura
Subject: Li Syaoran and Daidouji Tomoyo
Theme(s): 22. A favor
Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP.

Summary: A little off-the-wall, set mid-canon, Sakura Cards arc. Syaoran meets with Tomoyo to ask her to stop sending him love notes. The problem? She hasn't been writing them!

"I have a favor to ask of you, Daidouji. Please meet me in Penguin Park at four," the note said. It was unsigned, but Syaoran was the only person she knew who had that careful handwriting and omitted honorifics on last names.

She was terribly curious, especially since she observed him in class all day long and noticed no strange behavior. Just the usual mooning over Sakura. Though, if she wasn't imagining things, he was trying to avoid meeting her eyes.

At four, she was at the park. Syaoran ran up, a few minutes late, but when he saw her, he stopped dead.

"Hello, Daidouji," he said, clearly uncomfortable.

"Yes, Li-kun?" she asked curiously.

"Um... I have to ask you something," he said. "I'd really like it, um, if you'd, well, quit leaving-those-notes-in-my-locker," he finished quickly, running the last words together and turning red as he did so.

"What notes, Li-kun?"

In response, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a stackful of pink envelopes. Tomoyo was enveloped in a scent that was almost exactly like her own. She took the envelopes and opened one on the top of the stack.

Dear Li Syaoran, she read. I am sorry to bother you again, but I cannot stop writing to tell you how much I admire you. Your eyes, like molten amber, enchant me, and the adorable firmness of your chin.... The letter continued onward in a predictable manner, but Tomoyo was horrified to see that it was signed with her name. She dropped the envelopes and they fell all over the pavement.

"I didn't write these!" she said, and the look of shock on her face convinced Syaoran of her sincerity.

"Then who did?" he asked, sighing with relief. "You know I've never thought of you as anything more than a friend..."

"Nor I!" Tomoyo insisted quickly. She picked up the letter again and studied the handwriting, looking for a clue, but whoever this writer was had mimicked her almost exactly. He'd even found her perfume... It was pretty creepy.

"I don't understand," Syaoran said. "I get other notes from time to time, but most of the girls don't sign their name. Or someone else's, for that matter."

"I don't understand it..." Tomoyo said, looking thoughtful. "But I promise that I didn't write those letters. I'm going to do my best to find out."

"Daidouji," Syaoran said suddenly, "would you... not tell Sakura about this? It's a little weird."

Tomoyo smiled. "Sure thing. Though I think she would understand."

"If it were a magic thing, she'd understand, and if it was a real thing, she'd understand," Syaoran said. "But this..."

"You don't want her to step aside in favor of her best friend, Li-kun?" Tomoyo said, eyes glittering. "So she won't deny you if you confess your love?"

Syaoran blushed. "L-love? What love? You're crazy."

"In time," Tomoyo said, "you'll come to me and ask me for a real favor. I'll help you then." She winked, and then walked away. Syaoran soon followed.

"That certainly wasn't what I expected," Eriol said, pouting a little. "If they don't involve Sakura, how can she change a card?"

"Are you sure," Spinel asked, looking up from his book, "that you were motivated by the possibility that Sakura would change a card? Or did you just think this was funny?"

"So suspicious, Spinelsun," Eriol said, waving his guardian's protest away. "Of course I thought they would involve Sakura, and Sakura would use the Return card to go back to when the letters were left, so she could determine the sender, or the Erase card to delete the evidence of a stalker."

"Really," Spinel said.

"I suppose," Eriol said, sighing theatrically, "that we'll have to go with the back-up plans. I need a tree, and some stuffed sheep..."