GIVE IT BACK
A Hana Yori Dango fan-fic
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Hana Yori Dango. I do however; own many of the other characters that appear throughout the story.
"So give it back." Sanosuke Domyouji tapped the center of the table, "I won't tell you again. By the count of five, I expect to see the ring on the table." He gave the short haired girl sitting in front of him another glare followed by a triumphant smirk as he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ichi, ni, san, sh—Did you hear what I said? Do you want a red notice?" He jumped out of his chair and slammed his hands against the table. "Oi!"
"Ne, ne Sanosuke-kun, maybe she really didn't take the ring." Taki Mimasaka suggested, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Iie! She took it! It was her, I know it!" A curly haired girl—Saseru Michiko-- pointed an accusing finger at the short haired girl before Domyouji. She sobbed a little. "The little pauper stole my ring to pawn it! I just know it!"
"I didn't take the ring. I'd have no use for it. Besides, it wasn't even cute." The short haired girl finally replied. "Is this….how new students are treated?"
"Only new students who steal!" The curly haired girl shouted, sobbing again. A friend came over to comfort her.
"Baka," The short haired girl muttered, shaking her head, "I didn't take it."
"Let's be realistic here. You need the money the most. Maybe you took it to pawn it and pay Eitoku's tuition."
"I work and my employers pay the tuition."
"What's your name anyway? Huh?" Sanosuke asked, feeling rather annoyed.
"Sasaki Kumiko." The short haired girl replied, looking up at Sanosuke with light colored eyes that contrasted greatly with her dark hair. The look in her eye was challenging.
"Well then, Sasaki Kumiko" Sanosuke leaned forward, mimicking her challenging glare, "You've just been red tagged." Sanosuke answered with a triumphant smirk, straightening and setting his fisted hands on his sides. "What do you say to that?"
Kumiko stood up and grabbed her tray, "I say…I don't have time for child's play." That being said, Kumiko brushed past him without giving him a second glance.
"That….brat!" Sanosuke exclaimed, "How dare she!" He turned to face the student body, "Sasaki Kumiko is now a target!"
Students clapped and cheered. They were eager to have another target to mess with.
"What's going on?" Jusan Nishikado—the play boy of the group—asked, coming in to the dining hall, combing a hand through his hair. "A guy can't step out to flirt with a pretty girl without missing much, can he?" he asked with a bit of a sigh.
"Sanosuke just declared war on someone again." Taki shrugged. "You should have seen it though. She didn't even really seem to care. It's obvious she's new."
"She didn't care at all?" Jusan repeated, looking surprised.
"Not at all."
"Well, she'll see what a mistake that was!" Sanosuke told Jusan and Taki, "She'll regret the day she disrespected a Domyouji!" He grinned brightly, combing his hands through his wavy black hair.
Meanwhile, as everyone cheered over Domyouji's sudden decision, pretty Saseru Hana, Michiko's sister ran up to her and leaned forward. "Nee-chan, here's your ring. Thank you for letting me borrow it." She placed the ring in her sister's hand, waved, and rushed off.
Michiko looked down at the ring in her hand, and then quietly slid it in to her pocket. No one needed to know and anyway, Sasaki Kumiko was a pauper—She deserved a red notice.
"Domyouji-sama, arigatou gozaimasu! I'm glad you cared about my ring enough to give a red notice on my behalf. Ooooh Arigatou gozaimasu!" She cooed, clasping her hands together and giving the wavy haired boy a dreamy look.
A little later that day…
"There she goes!" A boy pointed, "The thief, let's get her!" He said to his friend, who nodded and agreed. They followed her silently and watched her duck in to the bathroom and snickered. With everyone else being in class, they could do what they wanted and no one would know.
Slowly, they pushed open the door to see Kumiko drying her hands on some fresh cotton hand towels. Together, they rushed in, one shoving her against the wall, the other turning on the faucet to block out any sounds of protest.
Kumiko stiffened, gasping slightly in surprise as she was pressed up against the wall, unable to see who was behind her. The boy pressed himself up against her some more and forced a hand between the wall and her stomach, sliding his hand under her shirt.
She pressed her hands against the wall and pushed back, closing her eyes tightly. The boy spun her around and pressed her back against the wall, grinning.
Kumiko looked at him, eyes calm as day. She showed no fear or worry or panic as she pressed against the wall.
"Hmph." The boy grinned as his friend watched. He slid his hand along the side of her leg towards the hem of her skirt. Again, Kumiko failed to show any real emotion.
The boy's grin faded as he looked at her, "What kind of freak are you?!" He snapped and lifted a hand, bringing it across her face.
Kumiko only winced slightly.
"What's wrong with you!? Aren't you scared?!" he growled. Her gaze shifted but remained emotionless. He pressed his lips roughly against hers but her lips remained clamped shut.
"Psycho!" The boy snapped, pulling back and looking at her with a somewhat disturbed look. She had almost been raped and hadn't responded at all. "Let's go!" He said to his friend and the two rushed out of the bathroom.
Kumiko rested against the wall before finally gulping and going to the faucet to splash some water on to her face, blinking back tears.
She wasn't about to show any signs of weakness. "I won't let them down after they've done me such a great favor…" She scrubbed her face and dried it with the towel before looking at her self in the mirror and turning to leave, a quiet sigh escaping her lips. From there, Kumiko headed to class...
"It is a pleasure to meet you, repeat."
"Ee-t is a pu-re-sure to meet you." The class repeated in unison.
"Thank you for assisting me, repeat."
"S'ank you for ah-sis-ting me." They repeated again, a little slower than they had repeated the first.
Several pairs of eyes glanced at the clock. It was 3:00. Those who had checked the time signaled to the others and at the stroke of 3:05, the entire class threw balls of paper at Kumiko.
Kumiko flinched and lowered her head, ignoring the attack.
3:10—Another attack of paper balls.
At 3:15, a final attack.
She was sure the sensei could hear what was taking place but couldn't understand why he failed to react.
'Everyone here really is mindless, ne?' she thought to herself, 'Even if it does offer the best education in the area…it's such a horrible school.'
The bell rang finally rang and the sensei looked up, "That's all for today. Please study tonight for a quiz tomorrow." He gathered his things, bowed slightly, and left the room. The next sensei would arrive in a few minutes. This was the final class and then Kumiko would be able to go back home.
Everyone began to whisper and gossip, tossing looks in Kumiko's direction, silencing suddenly when the door slid open. It wasn't the sensei however, but Domyouji Sanosuke with a broad grin on his lips. Some girls squealed and swooned.
He seemed oblivious to them though and locked his eyes on the short haired girl, "Oi!"
Kumiko looked over, and then went back to staring at the board.
He stomped over to her, "This makes it official!" He declared, smacking a hand against Kumiko's forehead, leaving a red piece of paper stuck on to it. "Red doesn't suit you." He snickered proudly.
Slowly, Kumiko stood up, peeling the paper off of her forehead, "Hmmn." She said quietly, looking at the paper in her hand, "Well…it suits you." She replied, pushing up on to the tips of her toes and sticking the red notice to his forehead. Kumiko gathered her things and prepared to leave, "I told you: I don't have time for child's play."
The two friends blinked at each other, looked to Sanosuke, then back to each other.
"Well, that really is unexpected. No one's ever done that before. No one's ever just…given it back." Taki rubbed his chin.
"Makino-san declared war on Tsukasa and punched him." Jusan pointed out.
"Right, but she cared enough to act. This girl seems to just..." Taki shrugged a little. "She's kind of weird, huh?"
Sanosuke crumbled the paper in his hand, "All she had to do was admit she took the stupid ring!" He growled. "What is it with poor people and their pride?"
"O..oh! Jin-kun! There you are, where have you been?" Sanosuke turned over to his light haired, light eyed friend.
Jin sat down and yawned a little, "I was reading in the library."
"Hm, your father really passed on his love of books to you, ne?" Jusan asked, sitting on the couch across from Jin.
"And yours passed on his love of pretty women." Jin retorted plainly.
"Sanosuke-kun's a little heated since his new target really doesn't seem to care about anything he does." Taki informed, still laughing a little.
Jin nodded. He had heard some of the boys talking in the library, "Did...she really take the ring?"
"That doesn't matter anymore! She disrespected me! It's like she doesn't care about the F5 at all!" Sanosuke pointed out and stormed over to Jin, "What do you think we should do?"
Jin shrugged a little. He really didn't care. "Hm." He yawned once more and stretched a bit.
"Oi! Stop that! Don't you ever sleep at home?" Sanosuke asked.
Taki and Jusan laughed in unison, shaking their heads.
Kumiko turned to head back up the steps. She had planned on leaving school since the sensei hadn't shown up and had expected to avoid everyone by taking the emergency stair case. She hadn't expected to find someone there.
"You're Sasaki Kumiko, ne?"
Kumiko turned back around. The girl speaking to her was, Kumiko had to admit, one of the prettiest girls at the school. She was tall and slender with a short and cute boy-ish cut to her lightly colored hair. Bright eyes stared at Kumiko, waiting for a reply.
Kumiko nodded.
"Today is your first day, ne? And you've already gotten yourself a red notice." The pretty girl tilted her head and gave Kumiko and amused smile. "News here travels fast."
Kumiko nodded, holding her things in front of her. "I don't care about it. It's all child's play."
"Oh, you're an interesting one. I'm Kanae Hanazawa." She introduced, extending her hand. "And I'm the normal one of the F5." She sat down on the steps and patted the spot next to her for Kumiko to join her. "So you're a servant girl and your employers are paying for you to go here—That's rather generous."
"It is. I'm very grateful."
"Mmm…that Makino Tsukushi was always very kind." Kumiko looked a little surprised that Kanae knew who her employer was, which made her laugh. "My father, Hanazawa Rui is best friends with both of your employers."
"Sou desu ka?"
"Hai. So, when did you plan on telling Sanosuke you were his servant girl?"
"…..I didn't."
"Makes sense. He was bound to find out on his own anyway, ne?" Kanae smiled, leaning over and digging through Kumiko's bag for her cell phone, "Here, you can call me at any time. What's the number to this cell phone?"
"I…don't know it. Makino and Domyouji-sama gave it to me just this morning.."
"How long have you been working there?"
"Only a few days."
"And you've managed to avoid him. You must be clever."
The short haired girl shrugged and watched Kanae stand up. "Ja ne." She said, assuming the girl was leaving.
Kanae stretched and yawned a little, "Ja ne." She had a few things she needed to get done and if she sat about talking, they would never get done, "Feel free to call any time." She waved, going up the steps and leaving the stair well.
Kumiko watched her disappear and thought to herself. Hanazawa—So the girl was one of the rulers of the school. Then…why did she hang out in some dinky stair well? She shrugged and glanced at her watch before rushing off to get home before anyone found her.
"You're home early today. How was school, Sanosuke-kun?" Makino asked, coming down the steps with a tired look on her face. "Tell me all about it!"
"Are you and dad fighting again?" Sanosuke asked, raising a brow.
"He's being a real baka today." Makino explained.
"Hey! You listen to me this inscence!" Domyouji ordered, coming down the stairs.
"You mean instance! Talk to me when you can speak proper Japanese!" Makino snapped back.
"There's nothing wrong with my Japanese! Your mother is making such a big deal because she doesn't want to go to dinner."
"I don't want to go to dinner in Paris!" Makino snapped, then took her son's shoulders, "Tell me about school, how was it?"
"Oi! Makino! Don't change the subject!" Domyouji stomped his foot and crossed his arms.
"School was okay." Sanosuke replied, tossing his coat on to the table. "I had to give someone a red notice. They stole something expensive and wouldn't return it."
Makino frowned. She had always been against the red notice, but at least Sanosuke had chosen to use it somewhat responsibly, "Well, you can take it away when they decide to return it." She went to get her son a cup of tea.
"That dumb Sasaki Kumiko probably won't ever return it."
"O-oh!" Domyouji exclaimed, "Sasaki Kumiko… Oi, Makino isn't that our—"
Makino suddenly bumped in to him, pushing him to the side with a loud laugh. Sanosuke was still angry about the girl so she thought it wasn't wise for him to know she worked in their very house. She'd sit him down later and explain it. "—our favorite name. If we ever have a daughter, that's the name we'll use."
"Y-you want to have another child?" Domyouji asked, getting flustered. He shifted a little, "Makino, not in front of our son."
Makino sweat dropped, "Remind me why I chose you over Hanazawa Rui?"
"Because Hanazawa Rui is….a weird guy. I'm going to my room." Sanosuke decided, "Call me when dinner's done."
Makino and Domyouji nodded, watching their son go.
Sanosuke stormed up the steps, sighing loudly. He rubbed his eyes as he went along, muttering to himself. "Stupid girl…."
He entered his room and sighed again, seeing the maid putting some of his clothes in the drawer. "Oi."
The maid paused and lowered her head a bit before picking up her pace and hanging everything up quickly. "Gomen, I'll go." She replied, turning and keeping her head lowered.
"Oi!" He exclaimed again, "Those don't go there!" He grabbed her arm but quickly let it go. "Ah! You!"
Kumiko backed up, looked at him, bowed, and left the room.
"Mooooooom!" Sanosuke shouted at the top of his lungs. He went after Kumiko and grabbed her arm, dragging her down the stairs, "What's she doing here?"
"It's only temporary." Makino assured, "She's only here a semester. A fr--"
"Never mind! I don't care!" Sanosuke shook his head then looked at Kumiko, "Just because you live here doesn't mean you're off the hook, you dirty little thief!"
"Sanosuke!"
"She stole and she insulted me! Dad! You know what that's like! I can't let it happen!"
"Can you prove she did it?" Domyouji asked.
"Boy! You've gotten soft, dad! What happened to the Eitoku days when you ruled with an iron fist?"
"Your mom beat it out of me." Domyouji said, rubbing his cheek.
"Well! I won't go down that easily. Not until she admits what she did, returns the ring and apologizes to me!"
"Sumimasen…" Kumiko spoke, "But…I won't apologize for anything." She informed, bowed, and left.
"See? See! That's what she did to me in school!" Sanosuke pointed.
Makino sighed a little bit, "Sanosuke…she's here because things weren't well or safe for her at home. She became a servant out of her own free will in order to repay us. She's not good at….expressing her feelings." She paused, "Your father was kind of like that at first."
"I was not!" Domyouji barked.
Makino gave him a look to which he quickly replied, "Well, you couldn't really express yourself to me either!"
"Mom, Dad, I want her out of this house—out of Eitoku. If you don't make it happen, I will."