Yay! Writing for second day in a row feels good. I like being back So here goes the next chapter!
Chapter 20
Dinner was an agonizing event. Ekta had dominated the conversation and for some reason had chosen to target both Ritu and Yuki for some reason. While Ritu was being humiliated with all sorts of innuendos involving Karanveer, poor Yuki was made to feel like an outsider in a rich man's world. Never since Kaede Domyouji had ever made Yuki feel that way. Ritu and Karanveer were mortified at Ekta's behavior.
"Ekta, I think that's enough for today. You should concentrate on the fine dinner that has been arranged for you," Karanveer finally spoke up, having had enough of his sister's childish chatter.
"Oh Bhaiyya! Please! Don't you think we ought to make Yuki feel like one of us at least? I mean I am sure she's never really tasted such fine food. I know what Japanese fisherfolk survive on…fish and rice…and what's that watery soup you'll have…ah miso soup!" Ekta wouldn't give up.
Having had enough herself, Yuki, was not in the mood to take things lying down. She surprised herself when she said, "Ekta-chan, for such a well traveled person as you, your knowledge of Japan is very limited. Too bad you've never had the pleasure to try out what Japanese fisher-folk eat. See, the thing is, they provide ingredients for some of the world's best known restaurants, the priciest ones. The fish and rice when served as sushi is something, I'm sure you pay a fortune for!"
Ekta's face showed that she felt the full sting of Yuki's words. She didn't like being upstaged by some poor Japanese fisher girl that she thought Yuki to be. But Yuki's outburst did manage to curtail Ekta's assault for the time being. Politely excusing herself from the table, Ekta decided to take dessert in her room as she suddenly realized she had some phone calls to make.
Tsukushi had to take a quick gulp of water to stop herself from laughing aloud. She had never seen Yuki so riled up. But then again Ekta had it coming. This girl was impossible. Karanveer almost looked like a saint in front of his devilish sister! Pulling herself out of these thoughts, Tsukushi also excused herself from the table and headed straight to her room where she put through a call to Tsukasa.
"Makino! Are you all right? Is everything OK?" Tsukasa asked sounding worried.
"Of course I am OK." Tsukushi smiled.
"OK. I was just worried that you called. You never call. I am the one who always has to call you and even then you don't answer…" Tsukasa began with his long list of complaints.
"Calm down! You call me some 50 times a day! I don't even have a few moments to miss you so that I can call you and tell you that!" Tsukushi retorted.
Tsukasa's expression that was somewhere between scowling and making a puppy face told the other members of the F4 that were sitting around him that the famous couple was fighting yet again!
"Anyway, I have something important to talk about." Tsukushi said.
"OK. What happened?" Tsukasa asked.
"Well the thing is, I have a plan…but there's a little glitch. And I need your help with it." Tsukushi said. She knew Tsukasa was going to be gloating forever that she finally needed his help with something. That man was insufferable. And she loved him to bits, she thought smiling.
"Oh! That's why you called the Almightly Tsukasa! Tell me…you need a car? You want some money? You want me to beat up someone?" Tuskuasa's brain could come up with nothing else.
"No you baka! I need you to come to the palace. As a guest. With Soujirou." Tsukushi said.
"Eh?" Now Tsukasa was confused. Wasn't the plan to keep the guys away from Ritu's grandfather?
"God! Why are you like that? Listen can you hand the phone over the Rui or Akira? They'll understand the situation better!" Tsukushi was now losing her patience.
"Eh Makino! I'm your husband. Don't talk to me this way!"Tsukusa roared.
"Yes, I am not talking to you. Just please hand the phone to one of those guys." Tsukushi was angry now.
Before the full force of her ire could hit him, Tsukasa handed the phone over to Akira.
"Yo Tsukushi! Akira here!"
"Hi Akira-kun. OK I want to know what you think of this plan. I think I have found a solution to our immediate problem. But it's going to take some work." Tsukushi began.
"OK, I'm listening," Akira said.
"Well, the thing is, Karanveer seems to like Yuki. He's in a sensitive state right now, and you know how Yuki is…" Tsukushi said.
"Tsukushi-chan, give me a moment, the network is bad…let me move to another location," saying so, Akira tactfully moved away from the F4. He didn't want to have this conversation in front of Soujirou.
"OK, now tell me, I had to get away from Soujirou." Akira informed.
"Oh good. Well, the thing is, I know Karanveer likes Yuki, and sooner or later, if they both stay under one roof, things could just get out of hand. Now I want to see Yuki happy, but not with a guy like Karanveer. At the same time, his current vulnerability could just help us a bit." Tsukushi said.
"How so?" Akira asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, if Karanveer gets closer to Yuki, Ritu-chan's grandfather is bound to notice it and he definitely won't want a man like him for a grandson-in-law…"
"Hmm, you have a point there. But won't that mean exposing Yuki to a nasty game like that?" Akira pointed out.
"Yeah I know! That's where part two of my plan comes in. I want Tsukasa and Soujirou-kun to come and stay at the palace." Tsukushi said with an evil grin.
"Ah! Killing two birds with one stone are we?" Akira smiled. He admired Tsukushi for coming up with such a shrewd plan.
"Well, I know I'll be putting Yuki through a tough time, but at least it will be worth it in the end!" Tuskushi said.
"Yeah Tsukusa's pining for you is getting on your nerves anyway! So I'm actually glad that you want him there…"Akira was laughing now.
Smiling, Tsukushi said, "Well I am missing my husband too! But in any case, it will be good to have both the guys here. Also, I think you'll have enough time to come up with the next plan of action with Rui-kun later when you don't have the idiot and the cynic irritating you!"
"Yeah! That's true. Tsukasa we've learnt to tune out. But Soujirou is unbearable! With no pretty girls to take his mind off Yuki, he's been behaving worse than ever." Akira said.
At the mention of pretty girls, Tsukushi realized there was one potential problem in her plan – Ekta. "Akira-kun, I almost forgot to tell you…there's one another problem."
"What's that?" Akira asked.
"Karanveer's little sister Ekta is here. And she's a nasty little spoilt brat. But to make matters worse…she's also extremely beautiful. I'm suddenly not so sure if inviting Soujirou-kun over is such a good idea," Tsukushi said, biting her lip.
"Hmm. Pretty girl, huh? Too bad she's so young! Had she been older, I would've come over!" Akira laughed.
"Akira-kun! This is no time for jokes!" Tsukushi said.
"OK OK, sorry. Tsukushi, don't worry about this girl. You know Soujirou's attention span when it comes to women is lower than that of a fruit fly. I think your plan is fine. Now let me go and talk to the others. You get some sleep. I'll call you in the morning to let you know how we plan to proceed." With that, he went back to the others and handed the phone to Tsukasa so that he could continue fighting with his wife!
xxxxx
After hanging up with Tsukasa, Tsukushi sought out Ritu. She had to let her know of the plan. Ritu answered Tuskushi's knock on her door with a wide smile.
"Oh Tsukushi-chan! I know I said we'll talk but you know how things just went wrong this evening," Ritu sighed.
"Yeah. Little Miss-Spoilt-Brat was quite a handful!" Tsukushi agreed.
"I know! Poor Karanveer is feeling wretched. He took Yuki out for a walk to apologize to her for his sister's behavior," Ritu informed Tsukushi with a look of apprehension.
"Hmm. I'm not surprised. Karanveer does seem to like Yuki. It's just that, you know it could cause problems." Tsukushi said.
"Yeah, I thought so too. I mean I know it's not my place to say anything but I did sense something going on between Yuki-chan and Nishikado-san. Something unfinished…" Ritu probed.
"Yes. A lot of unfinished business. Which is exactly why I did something ten minutes ago which I want to fill you in on," Tsukushi smiled at the confused look on Ritu's face, "But first, I think I need to fill you in on a little history – Yuki and Soujirou's non-love story."
When she was done telling her the story and the plan, Ritu said, "That was a smart move Tsukushi-chan! Although I feel guilty about using both Karanveer and Yuki this way, but I guess it will all turn out o be fine in the end. I mean Karanveer is as bad as Soujirou, and he's probably only seeking a friend in Yuki. If he says he's loved me for so long, he couldn't immediately fall for another girl this way. And as far as Yuki is concerned, I like that girl a lot! She's a real sweetheart and deserves every bit of happiness. So if the route to happiness goes through some amount of agony, so be it! But I am really looking forward to tomorrow!"
"By the way, Ritu-chan, aren't you going to meet your husband tonight?" Tsukushi teased.
"Of course I am! I guess my road to happiness also goes though the valley of agony! But you know what, just seeing his face makes me forget every pain, every sorrow. Rui is not just my husband, he's my soulmate," Ritu smiled.
Tsukushi felt a little guilty hearing Ritu say these words. Not until long ago she had thought Rui was her soul mate too, her marble eyed prince charming. She quietly said, "Ritu-chan, there's something else I want to talk to you about…"
"Yes?"
"There's something you need to know…it was long ago and I really really like you a lot and want you and Rui to be happy forever…but I really need to tell you something."
"Go on," Ritu was a little unsure.
"Well you see Ritu-chan, when we were in highschool…Rui and I, we liked each other…"
Ritu was quiet.
"Ritu-chan, it's not what you are thinking, the situation was different. Tsukasa was a bully who kept targeting me and Rui was the only one who came to my rescue. I liked him back then and later he liked me too..but that was all in the past…" Tsukushi was suddenly not too happy with her confession.
"Tsukushi-chan, why are you telling me this?" Ritu asked.
"Ritu-chan…I…I don't want you to find out about this from anyone else and feel cheated…" Tsukushi said.
Ritu smiled, walked over to Tsukushi and hugged her. "Tsukushi-chan, I know why you both liked each other. You are a strong girl and full of love and life. It's impossible not to like you. And as far as Rui goes, I'm surprised I haven't heard stories of other women falling for him!"
"What happened in the past, happened for a reason. Today I see a beautiful friendship between you two. And I thank you for telling me this, because I now feel like we both will be able to share a similar bond as well." Ritu said.
With that, the two girls hugged again and got down to figuring out what Ritu should wear for her night-time rendezvous with her husband!
Do you like the turn this story has taken? I'm having a lot of fun writing this. I can already see the next chapter taking shape in my head!