The 4 years have ended, and Tsukasa is finally returning to Japan. But where is Tsukushi? Tsukasa and F3 work to find her, while Tsukushi struggles to survive.
Hana Yori Dango and its characters do not belong to me, and I don't pretend they do. But I love them and only borrow them for a while so I can write angsty fanfiction...
"Makino, do you know what next week is?" Tsukasa asked tentatively. If she didn't know what happened next week, he would kill her. He'd only been waiting for it for four years.
Even from across the globe, he knew Tsukushi was smiling. "Stupid," her voice chided gently. "Of course I do." She paused. "Summer break starts, right?"
"Moron!" he yelled. "What kind of girlfriend are you? Don't you even know –"
Her laughter was like rain, drenching the fire of his temper. "I'm kidding! Of course I know you're coming back next week! Just how stupid do you think I am?"
He smiled, despite himself. "Stupid enough."
"What time are you flying in? Maybe… maybe I could meet you at the airport," she said shyly.
"I'll be in at 6:30… I can't wait to see you, Makino." That, more than anything, was true. For four years, he had practically been counting the minutes until he saw her again.
"You sure you won't miss New York and all its skinny, exotic American women?" she asked with a forced laugh.
Four years ago, her response might have confused him or made him angry. But after all their hours-long weekly phone calls, after nothing but conversation to keep their relationship afloat, he had learned (a bit slowly, perhaps) a lot about how Tsukushi worked and how difficult it was for her to say what she actually felt.
"There's only ever been you, stupid," he told her firmly. Tsukasa knew she was just feeling insecure, but the fact that she could still be even remotely unsure of his devotion to her after all this time was annoying. "Though, why I can't think of anyone but you is still a mystery to me."
"It's a mystery to me too, sometimes," she said softly. "I… um… I've missed you."
His heart beat faster. "I've missed you too."
Tsukasa was so absorbed in her voice that he didn't notice that one of his mother's goons was standing behind him. The man cleared his throat.
"Hold on, Makino," he said before turning to the man in the suit. "What the hell do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Your mother requests that you end your phone call now. She needs to see you," the man said in a dull voice.
"Well, I don't want to see her. I'm a grown man – my phone calls are my business, and I will end it when I say I'm done."
"Sir, you've been on the phone for over 3 hours. And it's an international call. Your mother worries about the bill."
Tsukasa laughed in earnest. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. My mother? Worrying about a bill? Are you new, or just brain damaged?"
"Sir, you must see your mother immediately."
"And I told you no already. So leave! Can't you see I'm talking with my girlfriend?"
Tsukushi spoke up, hearing all of this. "You know, it's okay if you have to go. I have homework I should be doing anyway."
"You wanna hang up with me to do homework?" he asked incredulously.
"No, it's just… I don't want to cause you trouble. You're coming back next week, and I don't want your mother to make things difficult for your return. It's okay, really. I'll see you when you get back, okay?"
"Hey! Don't you dare hang up! I'll kill you if you do!"
"I love you, Doumyouji."
"Wait!"
He heard a click and looked at the screen of his cell phone. The call had ended.
"Damn it!"
The man in the suit cleared his throat again. "Will you be seeing your mother now?"
Tsukasa glared at him before walking past him to go to the living area downstairs. His mother, Doumyouji Kaede, was sitting on a couch waiting for him, sipping tea calmly.
"Ah, there you are," she said in her cold voice. "I was wondering how long you were going to keep me waiting."
"Forever, if it were up to me," he retorted angrily. "What the hell do you want?"
She took another sip of her tea before answering. "Tsukasa, I only wish to warn you not to get mixed up with that Makino girl upon your return to Japan next week."
He clenched his fists. "We had an agreement. I served my four years in New York. I studied business and I've already helped our company land some major mergers."
Kaede smiled proudly, but it sickened Tsukasa to see it. "Yes, Wall Street was hailing you as a business prodigy. Less than two years working with the Doumyouji Group, still attending college, and you've already made millions of dollars for the company."
"Aren't those millions enough to buy my freedom? Can't you leave me alone now?"
Kaede stood up and crossed her arms. "I will make one thing very clear to you, Tsukasa. I will never accept that worthless pauper into my family. Is that clear? Never. I have spent too much time and energy on this matter already. If the Doumyouji family is to be truly strong, there must not be any weak links. This Makino girl is one such weak link. And I will not allow her to be added to our family chain."
Tsukasa's jaw was set, determined. "Mother, I will make one thing clear to you too. I will never let you come between me and Makino. Is that clear? Never! You're so afraid of this family falling apart, but what you never seem to realize is that you're the only one who's breaking it to pieces!"
Kaede slapped him. "How dare you speak to me that way!"
His face stung sharply, but his expression never changed. "Are we done here? I have some packing to do."
Without waiting for an answer, he turned and walked back to his room, slamming the door. He took a deep breath and sighed. He had hoped that, now that his 4-year sentence in New York was over, he and Makino could live their lives without interruption. He had hoped that they could start having a normal relationship… or as normal a relationship as a billionaire's son and a lower middle class girl could have. Now, knowing the war between them and his mother wasn't over, Tsukasa felt a sense of dread overwhelm him.
He sat down at his desk, opening a large drawer and pulling out one of the hundreds of letters contained inside. He and Tsukushi had agreed to write each other letters, since they couldn't talk on the phone much more than once a week due to their busy schedules and the massive time difference. He held the latest one, the letter from Tsukushi that he had received only a week and a half ago. He opened the violet envelope gently, almost reverently. The paper was white with a line of purple flowers at the top of each page, the same paper as every letter in his drawer. He had given her the stationery as a gift when he left. The paper was scented with lavender; the smell reminded him of the shampoo she used to use. He pressed the letter to his face, taking in the warm evergreen scent, his mind racing with images of her. He touched his fingers to the scrawling kanji on the page. When he had received Tsukushi's first letter, he was surprised at how open she was. The thoughts that took endless coaxing and prodding and pleading for her to tell him were so freely written in each letter. Each word made his heart soar even while they made it ache.
I miss you so much, she wrote in this latest letter. The cherry blossoms aren't blooming anymore. You missed them again this year. Kazuya, Yuki, and I went to view them when they first came out, and I kept thinking of you and how much I wished you were there. But you'll be back soon, and we can view them together next year. We could have a picnic, just the two of us.
I love you, Doumyouji. I know I say it in every letter, but I mean it even more each time. With every passing day, I love you and miss you more and more. I didn't think it was possible to love someone so much. There's an expression that says, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Maybe that's true here. But I think, once you return, my heart will still grow ever fonder of you. It seems impossible to love you more than I do now, but I know I will. After all, we'll be together again, and how can I not love you more, being with you?
Tsukasa let out a sigh, kissing the letter lightly before putting it away. He wrapped a rubber band around it and several other letters. His hundreds of other letters were already bundled up. He walked to his already open suitcase and placed the bound letters inside. After a moment, he reached into one of the smaller pockets, pulled out a small, velvet box, and opened it. Inside was a 3-stone diamond engagement ring. The center stone was 1 carat; he had wanted to buy Tsukushi something much bigger, but he knew that she would shriek and demand something smaller. He made up for it with quality – all three diamonds were the purest, clearest, most perfect stones he could find. The ring glittered even in the dimmest room. He touched the stones with his fingertips gently, thinking now that the smaller stones would suit Tsukushi's delicate hand. His stomach fluttered nervously, both at the thought of proposing to her and at the next thought that came.
His mother would be furious. How would she make Tsukushi suffer before this was all over?
The last of the spring rains pattered outside Tsukushi's window. She sat on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest, staring at the raindrops splattering against the glass. Tsukasa would be home in three days. Her heart beat faster thinking about it. It really was amazing how completely she missed him. And loved him. Tsukushi loved Tsukasa. She had frequently tried to deny it in the past, but it was so obvious – now, even to herself. She did not tell him often. When they spoke on the phone, she could tell that he was overjoyed every time she said it. She wasn't sure why she always had a hard time telling him what she felt. She had made a resolution to try to tell him more often.
She looked at her desk, the box of lavender stationery lying open. Beside it, a letter to Tsukasa laid half finished. She knew it was stupid, writing him a letter when she was going to see him in 3 days, but it didn't seem real to her. Just the concept of seeing Tsukasa felt surreal, like a dream world she had seen in her sleep. Writing letters to him felt so natural now, after years of hundreds of letters. Tsukasa didn't know, but she even had to buy a new box of lavender stationery; she had run out of paper in the old box a year and a half ago. (Luckily she had found some on sale. It was expensive for paper…) She poured her confused thoughts and emotions into the pages, almost forgetting that Tsukasa was going to read them. To her they were like a diary or journal she kept. She had been surprised to find out how open and personal she was in her letters. The things she found so difficult to say aloud were written freely and eagerly on each page. She hoped to find a balance one day. She knew that, despite her letters, Tsukasa would want to hear her. He would need her to say that she loved him, needed him, thought constantly about him. It was important that he know.
After a moment of thought, she sat at the desk again, writing with new inspiration. She was close to the bottom of the page, when a noise caught her attention. She froze and listened intently. Her parents were back at the fishing village again, and they had brought Susumu with them for summer break. She had assured them that she was okay living by herself, and for the most part, she was. But it was times like these…
A pair of hands grabbed her from behind, pulling her backwards in her chair, drawing her pen across the lavender-scented paper in erratic squiggles. She counted three tall men in suits standing around her in her bedroom. The strong hands easily bound her own behind her back, despite her screams and frantic struggling. Fear bit her spine sharply. "What the hell are you doing?" she yelled. "Let go of me!"
Through her screams, Tsukushi did not hear the empty, muffled tapping of high heels on tatami mats. "What is that racket?" a cold, familiar voice said. Doumyouji Kaede strode into the room as if she owned the place. For all Tsukushi knew, maybe she did own it. "Really, Makino-san, a real lady would not scream indoors in this manner."
"A real lady wouldn't attack someone in their own home, either," Tsukushi retorted, everything making sense to her now that Kaede was here.
"Perhaps," Kaede conceded and closed the distance between her and the young woman. "I trust you know why I'm here."
"As if that wasn't blatantly obvious. Doumyouji's returning, and you want me out of the way." Tsukushi felt braver than she probably should be feeling, but having a foe to face, having the person she hated more than anything in her own room, her rage got the better of her.
"Quite astute." Tsukasa's mother pulled Tsukushi's head up, and they stared fiercely into each other's eyes. "You will not see my son again. Ever. You will not speak to him. Ever."
Tsukushi pulled her head away roughly. Kaede's touch felt poisoned. It made her skin prickle.
"In the past," Kaede continued, "I was willing to take you as a woman of your word. I gave you many opportunities, in which you swore to me you'd leave my son alone. Yet, here you are, calling him every week, pining after him. No doubt you have plans to see each other once he lands in Tokyo. You are probably even going to meet him at the airport."
Tsukushi shivered. Kaede's eyes were so cold. Fear overcame anger as she wondered what this madwoman was going to do to her.
"I will trust your word no longer, Makino-san. You have given me no choice but to take desperate measures. If you will not leave Tsukasa's life willingly, I will simply take you out of it by force."
"What are you going to do with me?" Tsukushi asked. What was Kaede willing to do to keep her away from Tsukasa? Just how far would she go?
The older woman's face sneered. "It's simple, really. I'll lock you away, where Tsukasa cannot find you. I admit, he cares for you. He will probably look for you. But I am confident that he will forget about you soon after you are gone. He suffers from an infatuation with you, Makino-san, but nothing more. He will recover in time."
Tsukushi stared at her in horror. "Just how long are you planning on locking me away?"
"As long as it takes for Tsukasa to forget you."