Disclaimer: I do not own Hana Yori Dango, thus I bow to the genius of Kamio-sensi
A/N: Be forewarned now-incredibly long chapter ahead, please take a bathroom break here if necessary. If you have great bladder capacity, disregard and please enjoy this installment.
Last time: "Who is that," asked Hiro.
"Huh," Tsukushi asked intelligently.
"Who were you with," Hiro repeated then continued when he received no answer, "I came down to the floor to see if you wanted a ride I finished early, but someone on your floor said you already left with another man."
Hiro paused, "Are you seeing someone," he asked slowly.
"No! Tsukushi said really fast, " I mean no. It was only uh, the rest of the interns getting together. You know, the TU people in the other departments. We were comparing notes, seeing how things were going."
"Oh," Hiro said sheepishly, visibly relaxing, "Guess I got worried.
"Yeah you did! What, jealous of my social life," Tsukushi teased.
"Hah, that would be a first. Makino Tsukushi, social life," he retorted.
Tsukushi thought, "Oh if you only knew."
"Uh, want to come up for a bit," Tsukushi asked reluctantly, relieved when she saw him shake his head.
"No way, girls dorms now? The RA will probably see me and chew my head off." He paused then grinned, "And with my luck, it will probably be an ex." He waved her inside and turned to leave.
"Good night then," Tsukushi called to him, going inside.
"Whew," she thought, as she swiped her ID card at the entrance to her dorm, she had cut that very closely.
Two Weeks later…
Tsukushi answered the phone on her desk, "Accounts, Makino speaking."
"Tsukushi," said an unfamiliar voice.
She looked at the phone and then placed it back to her ear, "Who is this," she demanded.
"Baka onna, its me!"
"Oh! Oh, I didn't recognize your voice; it sounds so different when you're not yelling."
"Hmmph! Anyway, what are you doing," Tsukasa asked.
Tsukushi smirked, "Working."
"Oh, right. Uh, where do you want to go tonight."
Tsukushi looked around and then lowered her head closer to her desk, "Tsukasa," she whispered urgently, "I can't keep going to dinner with you!"
She paused and admitted in a disgruntled tone, "I think my pants are getting tighter."
She was expecting to hear him crow with laughter or at the very least deliver a sarcastic quip but instead she heard, "Well that's ok. You're damn skinny to begin with- I don't want people to think it's really stressful for you to be with me."
Tsukushi was unable to respond to this and Tsukasa continued, "Besides, its winter-you need to eat to keep from freezing to death."
Tsukushi let out a small giggle, but was touched with his concern for her, "Your thinking is so off." Tsukushi mused, "Ok, umm, I think Akira said he's been wanting Thai."
"Tsukushi," Tsukasa exploded, "We are NOT letting Akira come with us again! We've only been alone once!"
"Well then you need to take him out and find him a woman."
"Why me? Why don't you introduce him to one of your friends?"
"No way! I am not letting him near any of my friends," this last sentence, naturally came out louder than she had expected it to and she saw Megumi shoot her questioning glance.
"Look, I have to go and save money for your company."
"Fine, fine, see you tonight."
"Tonight."
"Honestly, I can't believe you did it," Tsukushi enthused; she and Tsukasa were sitting in a Thai restaurant actually, but sans Akira. "I mean it was pure genius," she exclaimed, incredibly impressed with Tsukasa.
He preened under her admiration; hell, he figured it might never happen again. "Well, it was simple really; once I realized that the wife of the new venture group we're buying was coming to Tokyo for some shopping, I told the head that we would gladly send her an escort."
"And you sent Akira," Tsukushi finished.
"I haven't seen either of them since lunch after I introduced them," he drawled. "So, what do I get for doing good work?" Tsukushi choked on her bubble tea.
"Get, what get?" She raised her eyebrow suspiciously, "Are you talking about something ecchi?"
"Why do you say ecchi like its dirty? I mean-" Tsukasa stopped as he recognized the gleam in Tsukushi's eye.
"What," he asked a bit hesitantly.
"I have a great idea," Tsukushi said excitedly.
Several moments later………
"What the hell kind of idea is this," Tsukasa demanded, striding forward, shoulders hunched.
Tsukushi hurried to meet his abnormally long stride, "I thought it would be nice! School's not that far away. I mean just to take a walk like normal couples."
Tsukasa snorted, "Do you see any normal couples," he asked, gesturing around him without even breaking his stride. "No. And that's because it's colder than Australia out here!"
"Bakayaro! That's Antarctica," she exclaimed, her breath coming in huffs from attempting to walk in pace with him.
"Whatever! This is still a stupid, middle-class thing to do! Doumyouji's don't walk. Ever," he yelled, stomping forward. He came to a halt quite a few feet later, when he realized that Tsukushi was no longer behind him.
Tsukasa turned abruptly, only to see Tsukushi standing still, head tipped back, seemingly gazing at the night sky.
Unwilling to admit that he had felt panicked at her absence, he thrust his fear into burning anger instead. "What the hell woman! I thought you were behind me," he shouted coming near to her.
Tsukushi kept her eyes on the sky above her. Speaking softly that he didn't almost hear it at first, Tsukasa heard her say, "I know walking is a middle-class thing. But I am middle-class; this is what we do. You take me to all these really nice restaurants and its great-but for once, I wanted to give you a nice time. You drive me home in your car and we're there in minutes. This way, we could spend more time together," Tsukushi stopped, willing the disgusting fullness in her throat to disappear.
She brought her head back, prepared to yell him to the ground. Only to have her nose meet with soft cashmere. Delicious, spicy smelling cashmere.
"What are you doing," she asked muffled as her head remained firmly against Tsukasa's chest.
Tsukasa cleared his throat, "Dumb woman. Its cold out here; your nose will fall off if you're not careful."
Tsukushi gave a muffled giggle; she straightened her head to look up at him to find him peering cautiously down at her.
"Do you want to walk me home," she asked shyly.
"I guess someone has to protect you from your own craziness," he said gruffly, stepping back from her and turning in the direction towards Tokyo University.
Tsukushi's eyes fell, then widened as she felt warm fingers wrap around her hand. She looked up to see Tsukasa grin down at her.
"Haa haa, you said you wanted to spend more time with me," he chortled gleefully as he gently pulled her along.
She looked up at him primly, "Well, you said you wanted something for having taken care of Akira."
"What! You mean everything you said was a lie!"
"Not exactly…"
They were still bickering as they reached the gate in front of Tsukushi's dorm on campus.
"Well," Tsukasa started as they paused to a halt.
Tsukushi looked up at him inquiringly. He bent his head down from his considerable height to be on level with her own.
"Well," Tsukushi breathed, her heart rate speeding up, as she gazed at his mouth, seemingly mesmerized by its shape.
"Since we never have time together…" he paused, inching his mouth closer to her own.
"Mmm," Tsukushi mouthed, feeling her head spin dizzily.
"Come away with me this weekend. I have an island; it will be beautiful now," he said huskily, slowly tasting the corner of her mouth. He dipped his tongue inside, "all warm" slowly sliding his way into the hotness of her, "and wet," he spoke into her mouth.
Tsukushi gave a gasp and he surged forward. She had never felt this rush, this sweet, heady rush before-it was temptation to sink into his luscious warmth.
"Stop, stop," Tsukushi gasped, trying to breathe in air, only to grow giddy from the scent of him.
"No, no," Tsukasa murmured, bending back down. Moments ticked by before Tsukushi, her hands on his hard cheekbones, pushed him from her face. She opened her eyes to find his gleaming down on her.
"You said something…"
"Mmm-hmm," Tsukasa agreed, pushing his head back down, his lips tracing a path along her cheek to the soft skin of her neck.
Tsukushi thought hard, trying, trying to drag her mind from what Tsukasa was doing. Her eyes snapped open, "You said island!" she said, trying to thrust him away. It was like pushing a rock.
"Yeah, an island in the Pacific.
"You own an island," she asked.
"Yes," he replied impatiently, "a couple of them."
"But, but," Tsukushi spluttered, once again shocked by the sheer amount of wealth this man possessed.
Tsukasa took advantage of her surprise and moved in to capture her lips. Again, minutes went by before Tsukushi again gently pushed his face from hers. "Wait, I have to think about this," she said as Tsukasa leaned his forehead against hers, drawing in deep breaths.
With great reluctance, Tsukasa drew himself up; Tsukushi felt a pang from the loss of contact.
"Ok, think about it." Giving her another quick kiss, he softly pushed her towards the gate.
"Good night," Tsukushi murmured, turning her head to look at him as she opened the gate.
As Tsukushi went inside, her head buzzing, she heard, "I'll wait for your yes for two days then I'm kidnapping you!"
Tsukushi passed the next day wrapped in a daze; her mind dwelled on Tsukasa and his plans for the weekend. Lost in her own thoughts, she almost didn't see Hiro waving to her in the cafeteria as she walked right by him.
"Tsukushi! Come sit with us," he gestured to the table full of people from his division.
Tsukushi broke herself from her stupor and turned towards his table, placing her tray in the space kindly created for her.
Hiro exclaimed, "I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks. What, they keeping you as slave labor," he joked.
Tsukushi chuckled, but inside cringed in guilt. She had been avoiding her friends lately.
All her free moments she spent with Tsukasa, attempting to catch up on her schoolwork on the weekends.
Lunch passed by quickly, as Tsukushi and Hiro caught up on the other's activities (all except for a big T activity in Tsukushi's life) and listened to work stories from Hiro, Naoki and their colleagues.
"Oh, I have to go," Tsukushi said, jumping up as she saw the people in her section gathering their things to leave. "OK, but drop by some time or call me up after work," Hiro implored, watching Tsukushi pick up her tray.
"Hai, Hiro-san," Tsukushi said formally, bowing in front of him. She slipped him a cheeky grin and left the table.
Speculative eyes followed her unsuspecting progress; "So," drawled one man not too far from Hiro, "What's this I hear about Tsukushi-chan and her rich friend."
"What are you talking about," asked Hiro, quietly, picking on the other man's tone.
"Don't you know," he replied with hint of maliciousness, "she's seeing Mimisaka Akira. He goes to the 17th floor almost every night and then they leave together."
"Stop spreading rumors. I'm sure Tsukushi-chan is dealing with him on a work matters," Naoki interjected. Tsukushi was only slightly older than his sister Ayumi and he had felt brotherly towards her since Fiji.
"Even if she is dating Mimisaka, what's it to you," another man from their table spoke up.
"Oh, I don't care," drawled the first man getting up, "I'm merely concerned for poor Hiro here. His girl is going after money the first chance she gets."
Hiro jumped up, but the other man quickly exited; Hiro motioned to follow but Naoki placed a restraining hand on his arm.
"Let him go," Naoki said with a scowl in the other man's direction. "You know he's been jealous of your promotion. He's just blowing smoke."
Hiro narrowed his eyes but slowly nodded his head. Naoki, satisfied it was over, slapped Hiro on the back as they walked towards the exit.
Later that night, after most of the employees of D. Corp. had left, the elevator doors opened to release one last couple.
"But Akira, she's like fifteen years older than you," the girl said laughingly as they walked past the lobby on their way outside.
"But Tsukushi," the man mimicked, "I like it that way." The couple continued, conversing animatedly, unaware of the pair of eyes that watched them.
Tsukushi chewed the cap of pen; she was still pondering Tsukasa's offer, having staved off his demands for an answer the night before.
Even now, even still, she wasn't absolutely sure about what they were doing. She didn't know what to label him. He wasn't anything like any of her old boyfriends; she snorted, he wasn't anything like anyone else she had ever met. But she felt drawn to him; his stupidity made her laugh, his simple-mindedness offset her own tendency of over analysis.
She enjoyed spending time with him.
For the last two weeks she had spent almost every night with him, willingly. They bickered endlessly but they both had fun. "Which doesn't say that much about our personalities," she thought wryly. But Kami-sami, he was completely different from her!
He was the scion of the Doumyouji Empire, one that went back generations and spanned the globe. He owned islands for mercy's sake! What was he doing with her? Not that she thought he was going to be a playboy and treat her as Akira treated women, but what exactly could happen between them?
He could never bring her to his parents, they would laugh at the common trash; she couldn't bring him home to her parents, he would laugh at them. He would never understand her background or middle-class ways.
Then what were they doing together?
"Kisses," whispered a voice in her head. Tsukushi groaned and pillowed her head on her arms. Damn, but the man was a good kisser; Tsukushi remembered last night and blushed, sinking her head further between her arms. Which was another thing to worry about: thus far, she done more with him than she had with any other guy previously. And they were still at kissing!
What would he expect if they went to his island?
Tsukushi, caught up in this line of thought, failed to notice the shadow next to her. She was at a particularly dangerous interlude involving her, Tsukasa and a coconut-shell bikini when a hand touched her shoulder.
With a barely muffled scream, Tsukushi shot up in her chair, heart pounding against her ribcage.
Hiro smiled down at her, "What were you doing? Napping," he asked.
Tsukushi blushed bright red, "Uh, something like that." She looked up at him curiously,
"Hiro, what are you doing here?"
Hiro rested his arms on the divider of her cubicle and leaned forward, "I wanted to see what you were up to here."
Tsukushi wrinkled her nose, "Oh, working." She grinned, "and napping, I guess."
Hiro gave her a casual smile, "You know I realized we haven't hung out in a really long time."
Tsukushi tried to hide her wince. "I know-"
Hiro interrupted her, "I understand; we all have things going on, right?"
Tsukushi gave him a weak smile and he continued, "But let's do something this weekend. I got a bunch of us on a guest list to the new club opening in Aoyama."
Her heart dropped, "Hiro, I don't think I can make it."
"Why not?" Both Hiro and Tsukushi turned around to see Megumi behind them.
"I have sonic hearing," she said, unapologetic for her blatant eavesdropping. She turned to Tsukushi, "Why can't you go?
"Megumi-san, come with us," Hiro invited.
"Of course, I wasn't going to leave until you asked me too," she said, smiling. They both turned to Tsukushi who sank into her chair.
"Tsukasa," she thought, "what about Tsukasa?"
"I have some schoolwork to catch up on," she lied.
"But its only Friday night, you can do it on Saturday," Hiro frowned. Looking directly at her, he questioned, "Its not that you're avoiding your friends is it?"
Tsukushi gulped, "No," she said hesitantly.
His face cleared, "Good, then its no problem. I'll put you both down on the list for Friday. We're going to start with drinks and then go to the club."
Megumi nodded her head enthusiastically, Tsukushi feebly. After one final, rather piercing look at Tsukushi, Hiro went back to his floor.
Megumi looked delighted, "I heard this club is beautiful," she exclaimed. Tsukushi gave her a wan smile, her mind a jumbled mess of thoughts.
"What do I tell Tsukasa," she thought, her heart sinking.
That evening, Tsukushi twisted her delicate wine goblet between her fingers; she was still debating how to broach the subject of the weekend. Deciding to be forward, she put down her glass and cleared her throat. Tsukasa was entirely engrossed in his current activity, hacking up his steak to place pieces on her plate and didn't look up.
"Tsukasa," she said, catching his attention, and then stopped. "What," he asked, putting another slice on her plate.
Tsukushi furrowed her brow and tried again, "Ano, Hiro invited me to go to a new club with him and I'm considering it."
"No."
"No? What do you mean no?"
"I mean no, you can't go with him. You're with me which means you're not going out with other guys."
"Tsukasa, its not only me and him, it's a bunch of people."
"It doesn't matter, you're not going because you have better plans with me."
"Tsukasa, I can't ignore my friends; I've spent the last couple of weeks with you and I need to spend some time with them too!"
"Why? They're not as exciting and handsome as me."
"Oh for Kami's sake! I'm merely saying I also have to spend time with other people and Hiro-" Tsukushi stopped as Tsukasa immediately grasped her jaw in his hand.
"Tsukushi," he began quietly, too quietly, "you are with me. You will not go out with other men."
Tsukushi felt her throat constrict; his eyes were as cold and deadly as when they had first met. Swallowing, she said, "You're being unreasonable."
Tsukasa waved this comment off with a flip of his hand, "Hiro will understand."
"He will not listen," Tsukushi thought in despair as Tsukasa started on his steak slices, "his possessiveness refuses to acknowledge I might have a life beyond him. Oh whatever, I'll fight with him about it later," she thought grimly.
"Actually, I won't be able to come this weekend. I have a lot of homework I've been neglecting and I need to catch up on it," she lied, cringing inwardly at the imminent display of bad temper.
Tsukasa chewed on his steak, almost meditatively. He wiped his mouth with his napkin before speaking, "OK. I guess I'll have to change the date."
Tsukushi goggled at him. "That's it? No whining about how I should go or that school should come second to His Highness Doumyouji?"
Tsukasa gave her a withering look, "Doumyouji's do not whine," he stated archly. "Besides, I know school is important to you and that you want to do well."
Tsukushi sat back, a bit stunned by his attitude. "What a mass of contradictions he is," she mused. "He won't hear of me seeing another man, even if it's simply a friend, but he's willing to give up his plans for my education."
"Thanks for the invitation though. I guess you're going to hang out with your family then this weekend," Tsukushi offered as they were served with her dessert and his coffee.
Tsukasa gazed down into her face, "No. None of my family are here in Japan."
"None?" Tsukushi asked astonished.
Tsukasa twisted his mouth into a mockery of a grin, "Nope, I'm the only Doumyouji in residence here. My sister is married and in LA and my parents are both in New York."
"Oh that's nice! Do you visit them often or does your family come here?"
He shook his head, "No, you don't understand. It's not like that-I go for years without seeing my parents."
Tsukushi's eyes widened. She remembered Akira mentioning how hard it was to have friends being as rich as they were; apparently it was equally as difficult to have a family.
"But don't you miss your family," she queried gently.
"We're not a family. We're people held together by the same last name." Here he paused, "Well, I guess not Tsubaki which sucks since she's the only one I care about."
"But Tsukasa," she expostulated, "they're your parents!"
"No. They were people that made sure I was with nannies, with tutors, with servants. They were people that left my sister and me here alone while they were wrapped up in an empire. They are people that expect me to serve lifelong for my name." He carefully put his coffee aside, untouched, and then looked back at her. "They were never parents."
Tsukushi, deaf to the muted hum surrounding them, seemingly lost in the shadows that had abruptly engulfed their table. She could not fathom a life like that, a life such as his-how alone he truly was.
Tsukasa suddenly grinned at Tsukushi's stricken face: "Don't look like that. Your monkey face will get even uglier."
Tsukushi gave a choked giggle.
He pushed his chair back and stood up, "Come on, you shouldn't be late for work tomorrow.
Realizing that he was uncomfortable by all he had shared, she allowed him to gather her up to leave the restaurant. As they left walking side-by-side, she found his hand and threaded her fingers through his, squeezing his hand tightly.
Friday night, Tsukushi found herself squished between Megumi and Hiro, laughing half-heartedly with the rest of the table. The night had begun about two hours earlier when Hiro had come by her dorms to pick her up. From there they had gone to the bar where they met the rest of their group, mostly workers from D. Corp, with whom they would be going to the club later. Rounds and more rounds had been steadily bought and consumed as everyone enjoyed a well-deserved night out.
Except Tsukushi, who couldn't help but think that it was a bit boring. Her thoughts kept circling back to Tsukasa and what he was probably doing.
"Damn, maybe I do like him," she thought, grinning wryly.
Tsukushi was jolted from her thoughts as Hiro accidentally knocked her while attempting to get their server's attention. "Hey, another beer here," he called out. She turned to him a bit alarmed; Hiro had been drinking heavily through the night, much more than she had ever known him to drink.
"Hiro," she said quietly, under the boisterous conversation all around them, "maybe you should slow down."
Hiro gave her a considering look, one she had never seen from him before, "Maybe I'm trying to find some courage," he said cryptically.
Tsukushi looked confused, "Courage? Courage for what?"
He looked as if he was on the verge of saying something; suddenly, he tweaked her nose and laughed, "Tsukushi, come on! It's the weekend and we're out after a long time! Let me buy you a drink."
Tsukushi weakly nodded her head, relieved that the unfamiliar moment of tension between herself and Hiro had disappeared that she didn't object to the drink.
Eventually, they all left for the club, Tsukushi still worried about Hiro and keeping one eye on him at the head of the group. As they walked towards their destination, she shivered with cold.
Naoki laughed at her, "Now who told you to wear something like that in the dead of winter," he asked, looking at her cute, but extremely impractical outfit. She was wearing a short, layered black miniskirt and a tight red tee with knee high black boots paired with a light denim jacket.
On the other side of him, Megumi similarly lightly clad, laughed as well, "It was me. She was going to wear pants but I told her to wear a skirt."
Naoki looked at her incredulously but Megumi shrugged. "Hey, you're only young once. Might as well catch pneumonia now than later."
They both laughed while Tsukushi stuck her tongue out at them. "Seriously, though, I think its going to snow tonight," Naoki said. Tsukushi shivered again, "That would be my luck!"
When they arrived at the club, there was a huge line there of people waiting, along with a string of high-end sports cars and limos lining the curb. Hiro went up to one of the bouncers, the one with a clipboard and spoke to him for a few moments. Presently, the man nodded his head and Hiro waved everyone inside through the VIP line.
Dropping their outerwear at the coat check counter, the group made their varied way through the foyer of the club amid exclamations of amazement. It was a huge space, decorated in a jungle theme with green vines attached to the ceiling, lantern posts with great globes of fire and every available space decorated with faux animal print and skins.
A heavy drum beat was crashing down from the walls as more people crowded onto the teeming dance floor.
Tsukushi, recovering from her surprise, turned to see the reactions of the rest of the group, only to find herself alone.
"Where did they all go," she thought bewildered. Then she gave a shrug and walked to the bar. "If I wait here long enough, someone will turn up," she thought, placing a hand on the wooden bar edge.
She turned around as she felt her elbow being grabbed; Hiro smiled down at her. "Tsukushi, where is everyone else?"
"I don't know. Maybe to the dance floor; you want to go check," she inquired, starting to move away from the bar.
Hiro placed a restraining hand on her arm, "Later," he said, drawing her back to the bar.
At the entrance to the club, a Hummer limo was idling at the curb as a fierce argument raged inside. "Tsukasa, come on, it will be fun!"
"Fun for you! I hate these things."
"Well, you used to go with me before. Dude, we grew up in a club," Akira exclaimed.
Tsukasa remained fixed against the plush upholstery, arms crossed stubbornly in front of him. "That was then."
"Then? You mean before Tsukushi," Akira teased, wagging his brows. Tsukasa turned his head away and Akira howled with laughter, "Haa, this is great! The great Doumyouji-sama is glued to a girl's heels. O.K., let's go to your place and write poetry about Makino's eyes," he sniggered, seeing Tsukasa's face turn red.
Tsukasa moved from his seat and angrily thrust the door open, "Fine," he grumbled, "let's go."
They were plastered to the bar as the mass around them swelled with more and more people. Hiro placed an arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer to him. Tsukushi kept a fake smile in place, standing stiffly from the embrace of his arm.
"Tsukushi-chan, its been so long since we're hung out," Hiro exclaimed, removing his arm from around her to wave for the bartender.
Tsukushi winced, "I know-"
"Lately though you've been acting strange."
Tsukasa and Akira made their way to the VIP lounge at the back of the club through the throng of people squeezed in the foyer.
"This place is smoking," Akira said admiring a bevy of beautiful ladies.
Tsukasa looked bored and stomped his way to the glass-shielded lounge not bothering to glance around. It was built on a higher level than the rest of the club with one-way mirrors, giving them a great vantage point to view the dance floor and the bar closest to it and had been reserved specifically for them.
"Tsukushi," Hiro slurred a bit, "I know."
"Know what," Tsukushi asked perplexed.
"That you've been seeing Mimisaka Akira. People have been talking about it."
Tsukasa, sprawled on the couch, watched Akira flirt with some woman with scarcely concealed disgust. He had just frightened off two girls who had tried to come on to him only seconds before, shouting that their ugliness made him want to hurl. "I wonder what Makino would have done," he thought a small smile playing on his lips as he thought of her. "Stupid schoolwork," he muttered grumpily; turning, he gazed through the glass in front of him to view the horde below and felt his heart stop.
Tsukushi stared at him stunned, "People have been saying that I'm dating Akira," she questioned slowly.
"I don't understand why. You've never been the type to be impressed by wealth, but now you're together with one of the Fortune Five Hundred."
She lied to him, her, the woman he believed in, had lied to him. His mind turned red with rage and frustrated jealousy. He saw her smiling at Hiro. "She lied to me to be with him," he realized. He could feel blind fury build inside of him until he wanted to rip Hiro apart, he wanted to rip her apart….
Tsukushi smiled weakly though her head was pounding with the information he had told her, "Hiro, you know I'm not like that," she protested.
"Do I? I would have sworn it before, but I saw you the other night leaving with him."
"You spied on me," she asked, aghast at what she was hearing.
"Tsukushi, you are seeing a man completely outside your sphere-he's just playing with you!"
"Hiro," she began hotly.
Suddenly a hand shot out, ripping Hiro from the bar. Tsukushi screamed as a fist came crashing down on Hiro's startled face. Hiro went down, knocked out and the bar broke into a pandemonium of screams and terrified people.
Tsukushi felt a crushing grip on her upper arm; she struggled briefly but went limp as she saw the figure above and was dragged bodily from the club.
Unresisting, she was swept along as a door was flung open and suddenly she was in the bitter cold with the night sky around her and flakes of snow coming down. The punishing hand let go of her, thrusting her forward a few feet in the fallen snow.
She stumbled for a bit but managed to stay upright staring up at the figure opposite her in shock.
"You hit Hiro," she whispered dumbly. She looked up at him with glazed eyes.
Tsukasa glared down at her breathing heavily.
"Why? Why did you hit Hiro," she asked feeling the anger start to come, her hands balling into fists.
He stood, still not answering her, his eyes narrowed into slits. "What the hell," she screamed, flying at him, pushing him in the chest, "what is wrong with you!"
He thrust her back and she staggered but again managed to stay upright.
"Oh so we're back to that hunh? You do whatever the hell you want, beat up anyone, everyone you want," she yelled storming forward.
"Shut up! Shut up," he snarled. "You filthy, dirty whore!"
She fell back as if struck, "Kami-sama," she whispered dropping her head in her hands, "I can't do this. I can't do this. . ."
This more than anything else seemed to infuriate Tsukasa and he wrenched her forward by her arms.
"Who are you to talk you whore? You lied and said you had schoolwork-for what? To be with Hiro, you slut," he roared in her face.
Tsukushi's face went through a violent spasm and again she felt rage shooting through her. "You are an animal," she screamed up at him. You are a bully that still only knows cruelty!"
"Its better than what you do, spread yourself for whatever guy that comes along," he sneered at her, his face twisted.
Slap!
He stared down at her, abruptly releasing her from his damaging hold.
"I don't want to see you anymore," she said. "Ever again."
Tsukasa stared down at her then turned on his heel and stormed off.
Tsukushi stood there unable to feel anything, not the biting cold nor the snowflakes dropping gently onto her hair, melting to meet the wetness on her face.
A/N: Whew! (wipes off sweaty brow) This was so hard to write! First I agonized about all the drama going on-the idea was there, but it's hard for me to write angsty things. Then the length became an issue and I was all shades of agitated trying to decide if I should split it or not.
My undying gratitude to Megami No Ushi, who has unselfishly given her precious free time to inject a note of realism into my little story. Thanks again honey and may you find a darling bishie under a piece of sushi!
By the way, there's a new version of Hana Yori Dango currently on air in Japan! Totally check it out if you can-it's so good! Matsumoto Jun (Tsukasa) and Matsuda Shota (Soujiro)-Kawaii!
Merry Christmas minna and remember, its nice to be good, but its soo delicious to be naughty!