Disclaimer: All characters from Card Captor Sakura belong to CLAMP.

Author's Notes: Written for Tsukimine Shrine's "Opposite day" challenge.

o 0 o

Just Like Magic

She had started going to the university when he came back. Why he had returned to Tomoeda, she didn't know. He was nowhere to be seen, after all, and he hadn't contacted most of his former classmates. If Sakura hadn't told her, Naoko wouldn't have guessed he was living at his old house again.

It was at the university's library that she met him. At first he didn't see her; he was too concentrated on his reading, his glasses sliding down his nose.

"Hiiragizawa?"

Only then did he look up at her. Smiling, he stood up to greet her. Naoko was surprised to see how tall he had grown to be.

"I didn't know you were studying here!" she said.

"I'm not, actually," he admitted. "I just came to do some research. Professor Kinomoto thought I might be interested in certain books."

"Oh, is that why you're in Japan, then?" she asked. "Research?"

"Among other reasons, yes."

"And how long are you going to stay?"

For a nearly imperceptible instant, Hiiragizawa's smile faltered for the first time.

"I don't plan to return to England, in fact."

Those were enough questions, Naoko decided in spite of her curiosity. It wouldn't be polite to ask about such an important decision when they had just met. She said goodbye to him, took the books she had come for, and left him to his research.

o 0 o

The library had always been one of her favourite places, but soon Naoko found herself visiting it even more often than usual. Hiiragizawa was there every time, reading or making notes. He said he didn't mind if she sat in front of him, and so she did.

Sometimes they studied in silence for hours; sometimes they talked in low voices about the strange things they were learning. He always had something interesting to say. Still, Naoko knew that wasn't the only reason why she enjoyed his company. Hiiragizawa was clever, and funny; there was something about his gentle manners that she hadn't seen in anyone else before. He was like someone from older times... a British gentleman out of one of her books.

One day, she looked up from her notes to find him looking at her with a smile.

"You aren't a little girl anymore," he said in a quiet voice. Naoko couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you talking about?" she said. "We were classmates. Both of us were little."

"Can I call you Naoko?" he asked abruptly.

"S-sure," she answered, taken by surprise. "Why?"

He grinned.

"Because I want us to be on a first name basis before I invite you for a cup of coffee."

Naoko noticed she was blushing a little, and then discovered that she didn't mind.

"That would be very nice... Eriol," she said, as he took her hand to help her stand up. His smile was broader than ever.

o 0 o

Naoko went home with her head on a cloud that evening. She hadn't had a date in her life –she hadn't even cared about those things– and now she was returning from a cosy café where she had been invited to go by a tall, handsome young man. In fact, said young man was walking her home now. Carrying her books, even. He was so old-fashioned sometimes, it was endearing.

"I had a really nice time, Eriol," she said. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. It was nice for me, too," he replied, smiling as usual. Then, all of a sudden, his expression turned serious. "Naoko?"

"Yes?"

"I didn't want to say this earlier and ruin your afternoon. But I think you should know." He took a deep breath. "I was... with someone... back there in England."

"I thought so," she said with a soft smile. "What happened?"

"It wasn't her fault," Eriol said gentlemanly. "She fell in love with the idea of someone she thought I was."

Naoko had to admit that she didn't truly get what he was saying. But it didn't matter; she was sure she'd understand, in time.

She was bound to like him, she thought. He was a mystery.

o 0 o

"Do you still believe in fairytales?" Eriol asked her once, as they sat under one of the trees at the park. "Spirits and the like?"

Naoko blushed a little. She had been expecting this question for a while now... He had known her at school, after all. True, she still talked about those things as much as before, when she was with someone she trusted. But he surely remembered how it was before.

She wondered what he would think if he knew nothing had changed.

"Well..." she started, hesitating a bit, "I guess you'll laugh, but... I think I saw a ghost once. No, I know I saw a ghost. Or a monster, or something. I mean- I'm not sure what it was- but I am sure I saw it. More than once, in fact, there on the lake. The girls had seen it, too... I don't know what they think about that now. Maybe they think they've imagined it or something. We were very young... it was before you came to Tomoeda for the first time. But I remember. I remember it was real." She took a deep breath, and looked up at him proudly. "So, yes. I believe in all that."

To her great surprise, Eriol didn't seem to be about to laugh. He just looked at her with a warm smile.

"I'm glad," he said, "because I believe in magic."

She closed her eyes as he leaned down to kiss her, a kiss as gentle as everything about him. When he moved away, Naoko tried to say something, but Eriol placed a finger on her lips.

He took her hand in his- and left a velvety red rose on it. Naoko's eyes turned wide.

"You- how- did you just...?"

"I'll have to tell you my story, Naoko," he said with a childlike grin. She stared, enthralled, at the bit of magic on her hand.

"I think I'll like it," she whispered.

"I hope so. But it's strange," Eriol warned her, "very long and complicated."

Naoko smiled brightly at him.

"Those are always the best."