A Girl from Someplace Sweeter
14 – Intrigue
"So Rui," Tsukasa said at length, "when is Shizuka supposed to come back? I knew it was sometime soon," he recalled. Rui yawned and shrugged his shoulders.
"You have to know," Soujiro scolded him. Rui didn't respond.
Tsukushi sat with Akira close beside her as he was carefully taste-testing one of the dishes she had brought in her bento box. She raised her eyebrows and asked, "Who's Shizuka?" When Rui didn't respond, Akira leaned his head into hers.
"Oh, just our childhood friend," he told her with a yawn. "He's been in love with her for the longest time." Immediately Tsukushi turned her head to stare at the usually lackadaisical boy and saw him with his eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Be quiet," he murmured, and sat back with his hands on the ground behind him. His friends only laughed.
"Yeah, we've known Shizuka for ever," Soujiro told Tsukushi. "She really brought out the best in Rui."
"Shut up," Rui said again, but none of the boys seemed to hear him.
Akira nodded, adding, "She's a great girl! She's modeling in France right now."
"Shut it!" Rui suddenly shouted, taking all of them by surprise. Tsukushi had been watching him grow more irritated, until he suddenly blew up; it was so uncharacteristic, she was fascinated. This Shizuka person must have been amazing, she thought suddenly, to invoke such a reaction. She decided to ask Akira about it later, for the rest of the F4 seemed to have been effectively silenced by Rui's outburst.
Tsukushi was chatting merrily with Yuuki, as the shop had been quiet for some time.
"So you kissed when he took you out after that?" Yuuki was asking when the bells jangled and the door opened. Tsukushi was leaned over restocking one of the trays and decided Yuuki could handle one sale on her own while she finished. However, upon hearing a familiar voice say, "I'll have the pink one, please," she stood up so quickly she hit her head into the metal door-slide. She fell back with a yelp.
"Tsukushi?" Yuuki asked worriedly, briefly apologizing to Rui before stooping to help her friend up. "What's wrong with you?" Tsukushi took her offered help to stand and Rui stared at her when she came up over the top of the glass counter.
"H-hello," she greeted him, her face turning a rather fine shade of red when he said nothing. Tsukushi smiled nervously while Yuuki glanced between them.
"Ah, Tsukushi," he said, as if suddenly realizing it was in fact she he was talking to. He seemed to disregard her for a moment, then furrowed his brow.
"You know each other?" Yuuki asked curiously, having removed the requested pink dango from the sliding glass doors. Tsukushi looked at her friend and nodded.
"Uh, yeah, this is... my classmate, Hanazawa Rui."
Rui looked at the other girl and quietly said, "Yo." He turned his eyes back on Tsukushi and she didn't like the intent look she saw there.
"That will be ¥375," Yuuki interrupted meekly. Rui drew his gaze from Tsukushi and took a bill from his pocket, putting it in Yuuki's hand and then taking the dango. Tsukushi raised one eyebrow.
"I thought you couldn't eat sweets," she commented as he turned to leave. Rui paused and turned to look at her. With a tilted eyebrow and a slight smile, he replied, "I don't—but I like to look at them anyway. Akira says I would probably fall in love with a weed on the side of the road, just because." With that, he left the store with a jingle of bells.
Tsukushi flexed a fist, her eyebrows drawn in confusion. What on earth had he meant by that? she wondered, feeling rather infuriated with his bizarre contentions. Yuuki interrupted her.
"You go to school with that guy?" she asked with a gleam in her eye. Tsukushi blinked at her, and nodded. "Wow, he's so handsome!"
At this, Tsukushi scoffed. "Hardly!" She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, telling her friend, "He's actually one of my brother's friends, and he has no redeeming qualities at all!"
"I think looks that good can definitely be considered redeeming," Yuuki commented dryly. "And he was looking at you a lot. Maybe he likes you?"
Tsukushi gaped at her friend in horror and quickly defended. "That's completely ridiculous!" she nearly cried. "Not only do I have a boyfriend, but he doesn't have a decent bone in his body!" Yuuki raised both eyebrows. "All he can do is play the violin."
"Really... I like the violin," commented Yuuki thoughtfully.
"I can't believe you," Tsukushi replied, and her friend laughed.
"That's funny," Yuuki said and jabbed Tsukushi in the ribs with her elbow, "you seemed a little at a loss for words when you saw him."
"I just didn't expect to see him!" And it was the truth—though Rui hadn't told anyone when she admitted to him she had been looking for a job, now that he had seen her working and even bought something, he was sure to blab. She steamed. "Besides, I didn't want my brother to know I'm working, and I just know that obnoxious Hanazawa Rui is going to tell him." She sighed.
Yuuki patted her friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she said, "besides, you have a cute boyfriend now. Less worrying about brothers and jobs and more about spending time with this anonymous Akira!" She stopped, and then asked, "What is his last name, by the way?"
Tsukushi replied without thinking: "Oh, Mimasaka Akira." She immediately covered her mouth.
"Mimasaka? That sounds familiar." Her friend hummed and tapped her chin, then suddenly gaped at her. "You mean, Mimasaka Akira, the son of that successful businessman?" Tsukushi slowly nodded. "I can't believe it! I saw him in the newspaper once—he is so handsome!"
"I guess," Tsukushi replied quietly, and sighed. She would have had to tell her friend eventually. However, Yuuki looked to dreamy-eyed to ask too many questions.
"You must really be in some group to date Mimasaka Akira," Yuuki told her and grinned, but Tsukushi only shrugged.
"Not really. We just like each other." Though it was somewhat of a lie, she wasn't sure she was ready to really tell Yuuki about the world she had been transferred so ungracefully into.
"That's so romantic..."
Tsukushi decided she agreed somewhat with her friend's seeming misjudgment when she found herself standing on the roof of the building, the door closed and locked behind her. She had been minding her own business when Akira came out of nowhere and grabbed her, taking her by surprise and quickly dragging her up into the stairwell and out into the fresh air.
"Akira!" she gasped, a little winded from her alarm. He was holding her hand tightly, still, and grinned at her. She took in his silly smile and looked confused—and suspicious. "What is it? I have to get to class!"
"Class!" he snorted. "Class is more important than seeing your boyfriend?"
"Yes!" Clearly her response was unexpected, but Akira quickly recovered from the insult.
"Now, now," he said, meandering over to the side of the door, and with a quick flourish of one hand brought a large bouquet of flowers into view. Tsukushi gasped as he walked back over to her and took her hands, placing the flowers in her fingers and then holding them.
"What is this for?" she asked, quietly, raising her eyes to his.
Akira looked smug when he said, "Come on, now, you don't remember? You've officially been in Tokyo for a month." She looked blankly at him and he sighed dramatically. "You were so worried about surviving here, but it's already been a month and look, you're doing just fine!" He laughed at her mystified expression.
"Thanks, I guess," she said, glancing up at him. She had to smile at his goofy look. "I have survived, haven't I?" Akira nodded at her, and just when she lowered her guard a little, he leaned down and put his lips lightly on hers. Tsukushi blinked—the action was unexpected, but she had no urge to resist with his hands still holding hers and his mouth hardly pushing her for anything more than a response.
So she returned the kiss. Though it was their second time—and hers, he had quite taken her first kiss from her, though she considered tripping him the other day retribution enough—Tsukushi found herself quite comfortable with him, and hardly intimidated by his somewhat assuming nature. But then, suddenly, she found herself remembering what Tsukasa had said about Rui; "He's been in love with her for the longest time." Tsukushi's eyes flew open and Akira, at the same moment, drew away from the kiss.
Blushing slightly, she nearly dropped her flowers and had to take her hands from Akira's to keep them. "Ah," she said, not sure what to think of the incident from the day before springing to mind at such a moment, "I should probably go." Akira opened his mouth to respond, but she walked to the door and with a quick wave and a, "Goodbye!" she disappeared back into the school. He stood some feet away, dumbfounded. Deciding to take her hasty departure as a compliment he decided to take a break from his friends and spend some time looking over the courtyard and enjoying the warm day.
Tsukushi, however, spent the class period impatiently tapping her pencil on her notebook. Akira had been so romantic, she thought, sighing, and she had left so quickly. She had to stuff the flowers in her locker—she didn't need to be stared at any more than she usually was. However, the foremost goal on her mind was to find that Hanazawa Rui and convince him to keep his mouth shut. She liked doing something for herself—working—and wasn't about to let him create another rift between she and Tsukasa over it. He was guaranteed to make a big deal out of nearly everything and they had either solved or forgotten about most of their differences: he stopped opposing her friendship with Sakurako and she tried to avoid rising to his bait when he made things difficult for her. The arrangement was working well and Tsukushi didn't want the obtuse boy to complicate things. She knew she was going to have to stop working eventually, but she valued her pocket money and was saving up for something—though she wasn't sure what, yet.
When the bell rang, Tsukushi was one of the first out of her classroom and she made her way down the hall to the back doors. No one really visited the place besides Rui and her, so she opened the doors and went out onto the stairs. She had expected to see him idly sitting as he usually did; however, that day, he was standing with his back to the wall, leaning against it. How he could play his violin standing up was beyond Tsukushi—but the tune was different, new, and the rather jolly quality of it seemed to lift her spirits before he noticed her and the music came to an abrupt halt.
"Ah, Hanazawa Rui," she said, as if she hadn't expected to see him there. He only looked at her, slowly lowering the bow to his side and holding his violin by the neck. "I didn't expect to see you here today," she lied.
"Why not?" He had no real outward expressions—he always looked so blank, so emotionless. She shrugged her shoulders, having no answer for him. Instead, Tsukushi refused to become flustered by him and sat down on the steps, having to turn her head to see him.
"Have you told Tsukasa, yet?" she asked after some moments of silence.
"Told him what?" Rui said blandly. He didn't even keep his eyes on hers for any period of time. Strange, she thought for a moment, he looks nervous. He seemed more introverted—which was saying a lot, considering the extremely quiet way he behaved around the F4—and unwilling to look at her. She raised one eyebrow.
"That I'm working," she replied with a touch of annoyance to her tone. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Should I? I didn't find it that interesting, and I assumed he would know."
"Well," Tsukushi told him, trying to stop from getting irritated, "I don't want him to know." To this, Rui had no witty response, and Tsukushi finally sighed. "What's wrong with you today?"
Then, he looked at her. "What's wrong with me?" His voice was quieter, but he enunciated the last word gravely. She was alarmed at the severe expression in his grey eyes. However, she was caught off-guard by them—those marble eyes... she had never really bothered to observe them before, but they had a strange, solid quality to them. Right then, he looked so fascinating to her; Rui seemed rigid in determination. About what, she had no idea, but she thought then that he was rather handsome. "I..."
Rui found himself unable to retain his unexpected, growing anger at Tsukushi's intense gaze, roving over him and judging him, starting with his eyes and slowly working to his toes. In truth, he had liked the strange girl from the moment she walked out onto the emergency exit stairs and openly mocked Eitoku and voiced what he thought every day about the ridiculous place. But he had never known anything else, and so she interested him. She intrigued him.
In hopes of learning more, Rui had felt a strange inspiration to address her and her unresponsiveness compelled him; he had never been curious of other people before, for they were always curious of him and he despised it when anyone pushed their nose where it didn't belong. Now, he thought, it was probably because of her annoyance with him and obvious dislike that he found her interesting. Though some hated him, few ever let him really know; and even fewer were as vividly common but prettily stubborn as Tsukushi. He had been rather disappointed that she so easily gave in to the rich culture and dated Akira—he had felt almost betrayed that she didn't rebel longer, fight to keep them away and live her own life. So he had been pleasantly surprised to see her standing behind the counter of the dango shop, wearing a worker's apron and talking happily to the other girl there. She was still clinging to her independence.
When Tsukushi had seen him playing and run, he had almost been offended. He never bothered to analyze other people, not to mention notice them—but her complete disregard of him seemed to strike a chord somewhere, plucking at him in a place he had never known existed. Only Shizuka had ever made him self-conscious, but now she was doing it, too. When she had stumbled out into the emergency exit that day he had been fully prepared to tell her off—something he never did, had never done to anyone—and try to turn the tables on her.
But at that moment, her demeanor was so different; so... interested. Shizuka was coming home, but now, for now, Rui could amuse himself.
He regained some of his posture and rested one elbow on the wall. "Nothing," he said, "I was just finishing that song."
Tsukushi blinked at his rapid change in demeanor. "You seemed to be in the middle of it..." she pointed out.
With a shrug he replied, "It doesn't matter." Annoyed at his sudden aloofness, Tsukushi crossed her arms and shrugged, as well.
"Fine then," she said, "so you won't tell Tsukasa?"
Rui smiled at her then—one of those smiles that made Tsukushi's breath catch for a moment—and raised himself from the wall to walk towards her and sit down beside her; a little too close, she thought, her eyes wide at his proximity. She swallowed, wondering why suddenly, he was making her stomach tremble nervously. "Well," he murmured, "I suppose not. I could be bribed..."
He paused when he heard footsteps. He glanced up and Tsukushi saw him freeze; furrowing her brow, she lifted her head to wonder at whatever made him turn pale and cause his eyes to glaze ever so slightly.
A woman stood at the bottom of the stairs. She had long, chestnut hair, of the purest hue, shining silky. She was tall and thin and wore a stylish blouse and long skirt; but the most noticeable aspect of her, beside her smooth, creamy skin, was her eyes. They were large and brown with the longest lashes Tsukushi had ever seen. The woman looked like she had taken a dainty step directly out of a fashion magazine. Tsukushi gaped.
"Rui!" the woman called, smiling up at them. Tsukushi was forced sideways as he stood up quite suddenly and looked rather shaky on his feet. Suddenly, she wondered: was this woman Shizuka? There was a flurry of movement, then, as Rui quickly ran down the stairs and Tsukushi watched as he enveloped the woman in his arms. She heard him murmur, "Shizuka," and she couldn't watch—she didn't know why, but it seemed an encounter that she wasn't meant to see. So she hurriedly walked back to the doors and without looking at the couple at the bottom of the stairs, went inside and shut the entryway behind her.
Once inside she had to stop and take a breath, for it had all happened too quickly for her. The beautiful woman, the embrace, her head swam a little, and she had to walk to keep off the rush of blood to her head. Though it shouldn't have surprised her—Akira mentioned to her, "She was his first love, you know, it's a strange kind of romantic,"—she felt taken aback by the one person she found the most reserved leaping into the flames like a man without his head. She was comforted some by the thought of Akira waiting for her outside the school to offer her a ride. He would ask her for dinner, and she would politely refuse and show him the rubric for her history essay. Then he would laugh, pitifully, and squeeze her hand good-bye.
But still, she couldn't forget the image of Rui embracing this strange woman; it was emblazoned on the surface of her mind.