Standard Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Hana Yori Dango. Hana Yori Dango and its characters belong to its rightful owners. I do lay claim on the characters I've created and the story concept. ^_^
Author's note: Wow…it's been SO long since I updated. Please forgive the delay. Writer's block, graduating from college and just LIFE got in the way. I can't guarantee anything, but I'll do my best to update more often. ^_^ Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed telling me you still want to read more =) you guys are the best ^_^ now on with the story…..
Ch. 6-So this is dinner….
"Mariko! Are you getting ready yet??" Tsukushi yelled through Mariko's door.
"Yes Kaa-san!" Mariko answered as she frantically tried to get ready for dinner. She thought she could take a quick nap before dinner, but ended up sleeping a little longer than she had planned.
Finally, Mariko took one last glance of herself in the mirror. Her long and layered hair framed her slim face with its ends curled. Other than the slight tint of raspberry that stained her lips, Mariko managed to put on eye-liner, without poking her eyes out, and a hint of blush on her cheeks. She wore a silver necklace with three hanging diamonds that her parents gave her for Christmas one year. The necklace accentuated her black cotton sateen dress that fit her curvy figure down to mid-calf. The dress had an empire waist and a square neck-line, with thin spaghetti straps holding it up. Mariko wasn't too sure her dad would approve of the long slits on each side of her legs, but they weren't really THAT noticeable. Satisfied with her appearance, Mariko sprayed a light citrus perfume and headed down to meet her parents.
"Wow Riko-chan! You look great. You tryin to impress Kesshin??" Ken teased his only sibling as he headed out for his date.
"What makes you think I'd want to impress that jerk?! I'm merely trying to make a nice impression with Kaa-san's friends okay? Sheesh…" Mariko huffed, sticking her tongue out at Ken.
"Whoa! You guys look cool!" Mariko said at her parents' outfits.
"Thanks" Tsukushi smiled as they all made their way to the limo outside.
Mariko felt the ride to the Doumyoji's was taking too long and her nervousness just continued to build. Upon arriving at the Doumyoji mansion, Hiro nudged Mariko, causing her to jump slightly.
"I just want to remind you again-"
"I know Tou-san. I'll behave" Mariko sighed as she knew exactly what her father was going to say.
The doorbell rang at the Doumyoji mansion. "They're here." Ayumi said as she gathered the men in her life to greet their guests at the entrance.
The door opened, revealing a very polite butler and the Doumyoji family standing behind him.
"Welcome" the butler bowed and stepped aside for the Nagane's to enter.
Tsukasa and Ayumi greeted the three happily, making formal introductions between both families.
Mariko looked to her right, and even did a double take as she set her eyes upon Kesshin. She almost didn't recognize him, as he normally wore grungy street clothes, but tonight Kesshin was in a black suit with a silver button down underneath. Kesshin hated ties and refused to wear one, instead leaving the top two buttons undone. Mariko couldn't stop staring because to put it bluntly, Kesshin looked….well….hot, and a slight blush came over Mariko's cheeks at the thought.
'Why's she staring at me like that?' Kesshin thought, obviously clueless. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her this evening. Mariko didn't notice, but Kesshin had his eyes on her the moment the butler had stepped aside. She looked absolutely beautiful, and for one brief moment, he forgot she was the hot-headed, tomboy-ish brat he knew her to be.
"Good evening, Nagane-san" Kesshin said, breaking the awkward silence.
"Ah…good evening, Doumyoji-san" Mariko smiled, returning the greeting.
Both sets of parents paused in their conversation and stared at the two, hoping that nothing harsh would be said between them. Mariko looked down and noticed a little boy standing behind Kesshin. He had the prettiest big brown eyes. She smiled over at the toddler. Aoi smiled back at her and came out from hiding.
"Hi there cutie. What's your name?" Mariko asked the young boy.
"Doum-yoji Aoi and I'm this old." Aoi said brokenly as he held up five fingers.
"Aoi, you're only 4 not 5" Kesshin said as he put down one of Aoi's fingers.
"He's so cute!" Mariko giggled as she bent down to give Aoi a hug.
"Are you my nii-san's girlfriend?" Mariko and Kesshin looked at each other and blushed profusely at the question.
"No…Aoi-kun we're just friends." Aoi nodded then threw his arms around Mariko.
"You're pretty. You can be my girlfriend kay? What's your name?" Mariko laughed at this cute kid before her.
"My name is Mariko" Mariko stood back up and Aoi grabbed onto her hand.
"Kay Mar-ko-neesan, it's time for you to eat with Aoi now." Aoi pulled her into the direction of the dining room where their parents were already headed. Kesshin just followed behind feeling a bit jealous that his little brother was the one holding her hand and not him. 'Why am I feeling like this? Why do I care?'
Everyone sat around the dinner table. Tsukasa was of course at the head with Ayumi and Kesshin to his right. Hiro sat on the other side of Tsukasa with Tsukushi, Mariko and Aoi, as Aoi refused to sit next to anyone else except for Mariko. Different conversations popped up around the dinner table. Hiro and Tsukasa discussed business affairs while Ayumi and Tsukushi continued their conversation from their first meeting. It was quieter further down the table. Kesshin tried to steal glances of Mariko while she spoke with Aoi. 'What should I say to her? I'm sure she doesn't want to talk to me, but this silence is killing me.' Kesshin cleared his throat.
"Ummm…Nagane-san, so..uh…how are you doing in biology?" Mariko, as well as the rest of the table, stopped eating. 'He spoke to me? For no reason?' Her eyes widened in surprise. 'Maybe tonight won't be so bad after all'
"I have an A in there right now. I always liked science classes." She replied. 'Geez, she didn't have to brag about her grade.' Kesshin thought as she answered him.
"Nerd" he muttered under his breath, but it was loud enough for Mariko to hear that. She shot him an angry glance and continued eating. 'I spoke too soon.'
"I have a secret to tell you." Aoi pulled Mariko's face closer to his and whispered, "I think nii-san likes you." Mariko nearly choked on her food. 'What is this kid thinking?'
Kesshin could hear the conversation quite well and choked on his steak when he heard Aoi's confession.
"In her dreams. She only wishes I liked her." There was no way in hell that Kesshin was going to let Mariko believe he liked her.
'That's it' Mariko glared at him.
"Aoi, don't say things like that to her. She might get her hopes up, and I'd never like her. She's too much of a boy. " Ayumi kicked Kesshin under the table and Tsukasa shot him an evil gaze.
"Look, brat, don't be jealous because I'm smarter and better looking than you. Really, did you think that I came here tonight because I WANTED to have dinner your royal stupidness?!?!" Mariko stood up, losing her last bit of self-control.
"Nagane Mariko. Sit down now." Hiro said sternly, trying to contain his anger. Mariko could tell right away that he was upset and that she had messed up. 'HMPH!' She thought to herself as she sat down again. Kesshin smirked, and Ayumi kicked him even harder this time.
"We are trying to have dinner. If you two have nothing to say to each other then please be quiet." Ayumi stated in a very serious tone. Both Kesshin and Mariko folded their arms and turned their heads away from each other.
"It's kay Mar-ko-neesan. I still like you." Aoi said as he stuck his tongue out at Kesshin.
The rest of dinner passed in silence between Kesshin and Mariko. 'And to think I actually thought he was 'hot' tonight. What was I thinking? I thought he'd be nicer, but I guess he's just an all around jerk.' Mariko thought silently, as she finished her dinner.
Kesshin glanced over at Tsukasa 'Man, he's pissed. But it's not my fault. If little miss know it all hadn't been so smug and bragged like that, I wouldn't have had to be so rude.'
"Excuse me, Doumyoji-sama, but the rest of your guests are here now." One of their maids had said.
"Please show them to the living room. We are finished with dinner." Tsukasa said, looking around at everyone's empty plates.
Tsukasa, Ayumi, Hiro and Tsukushi stood up. "Are you three going to sit here the rest of the night or would you like to join the rest of us?" Ayumi asked the three silent children sitting there. Mariko stood up, carried Aoi in her arms and followed their parents into the living room. Kesshin growled and followed them soon after.
"OI! Tsukushi! Hiro!" Akira and Soujiro screamed out in unison when they saw their old friends there.
The last time they were all together like this, including Tsukasa, was back in high school at Eitouku. Other than Tsukasa and Ayumi, the others had all kept in touch with Tsukushi over the years. Soujiro, Rui and Akira's families would visit Tsukushi and Hiro whenever they were in town.
"Tsukasa, why didn't you tell us they were coming with us? Soujiro asked.
"It was a surprise." Tsukasa turned to Hiro and Tsukushi "I had planned for all of us to go out tonight. We can all go drink and dance and just talk like we used to."
Hiro looked over at Tsukushi. He wasn't concerned about going out. He liked all of Tsukushi's friends, and he didn't mind Tsukasa much after getting to know him better. Hiro's main concern was…
"What about us?" Kesshin asked upon hearing his parents' plans for the evening.
"You and Mariko-chan can watch Aoi." Tsukushi shot a glance at Ayumi. 'What's this woman thinking? Is she crazy? Leaving these two alone?' Mariko and Kesshin stared at each other once again in disgust.
"Kaa-san please tell me I can go home now. Don't make me stay here please. Tou-san please, you know how this evening's going to turn out if I stay here" Mariko pleaded with Tsukushi and Hiro.
"Mar-ko-neesan don't wanna stay with Aoi?" The little boy had unshed tears in his eyes as he gave Mariko the most irresistible pout. Mariko looked at him and was torn. She really didn't want to spend any more time than she had to with Kesshin and here was Aoi…practically begging her to stay.
"Aoi, I can watch over you myself. We'll go play games or something okay? Just let Nagane-san go home."
"Don't like you." Aoi stuck his tongue out at Kesshin and wrapped his arms around Mariko's neck. "Mar-ko-neesan please stay with Aoi. Please…"
Mariko gave in to the pouty face and puppy dog eyes "Allright…I'll stay."
"You'll be okay right Mariko-chan?" Hiro surprised at her answer. She nodded and gave him the fakest smile ever.
"Okay, now that that's settled. We'll be going now. Kesshin, the numbers are over by the phone. Call us if you need anything." Tsukasa said.
"Hai Otou-san" Kesshin nodded.
"Mariko-chan, your tou-san and I have our cell phones on if you need us okay?" Tsukushi said to Mariko as they walked out the door. Tsukushi turned around and mouthed the words "I'm sorry" to Mariko.
The doors closed. It was Mariko, Kesshin, and Aoi. Alone.
"Are you sure she'll be okay with him?" Hiro asked Tsukushi in the car.
"She chose to stay. If she knew she couldn't handle Kesshin-kun, she would have insisted on going home." Tsukushi tried to calm her husband's worries.
The three children stood in the hallway glancing at each other, unsure of what to do next. Moments of awkward silence passed until Mariko felt a tug at her dress. She looked down to see Aoi trying to get her attention. Aoi wanted to go play hide and seek now. 'Hide and seek? This is gonna be hard.' She thought to herself.
"Sorry Aoi-kun but can we play another game? I can't play hide and seek in this dress." Mariko had to tell the toddler.
Kesshin saw Aoi's disappointment and said, "If you want to change into something more comfortable, Nagane-san, I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind if you borrowed something of hers." Mariko looked up to Kesshin and thanked him, following up the stairs to his mother's closet. She stood in the middle of Ayumi's closet speechless. The closet was almost as big as the room, with half of it filled to the top with shoes.
"Just choose whatever you would feel most comfortable in and meet us in the entertainment room when you finish. Hikaru-chan will show you the way," Kesshin spoke as he took Aoi into his arms and exited the room. Mariko thought he was being exceptionally nice at the moment. She didn't understand him at all. One minute he's nice and the next he's back to being the hot-headed brat. Mariko shrugged her shoulders and began digging through Ayumi's massive closet. She was impressed that most of Ayumi's clothing were very up to date in style and she was in awe of all the beautiful gowns hanging before her. After searching through everything, she decided on a pair of jeans and black v-neck ¾ length sweater. It was something she could run around the mansion in. Mariko had taken off her dress and managed to get into the jeans before the bedroom door flew open. Aoi came running into the room and hid behind Mariko. She slowly looked down to Aoi. Confusion swept over her face.
"Come back here with my wallet you little brat!!!!!" Kesshin yelled as he ran into the room after Aoi. He stopped dead in his tracks when he realized that the one thing standing between him and Aoi was a half-naked Mariko. He tried hard to maintain eye contact with Mariko, knowing full well that looking down was NOT an option. Mariko's face was beet red now and she was still speechless watching the scene before her unfold.
"I…I…I…I'm….s..s…s..sorry" Kesshin stammered, still not losing eye contact with Mariko. Aoi glanced at the two staring at each other and then ran back out the room. Kesshin noticed Aoi's exit and ran out after him.
Mariko stood there not wanting to believe what just happened, actually happened.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs once reality had sunk in. Kesshin had seen her half naked. With the sound of her scream, Kesshin and Aoi froze as they sat in the entertainment room waiting for Mariko.
"Ummmm..You're in trouble Nii-san." Aoi chimed with a smirk on his face. 'Phase 1 complete' He thought to himself. Aoi thought it'd be a good idea to get Kesshin and Mariko together. He liked Mariko and wanted his brother to like her too.
"Me? This is your fault Aoi. If you hadn't run in there…." Kesshin's mind drifted back to the sight of Mariko. Of course he managed to get a little look at her. She looked amazing. Her body was well toned and she had a slight tan that made her skin glow. He remembered her face, blushing profusely at the situation. He didn't mean to go in there. He didn't even realize it till he saw her. He was so captivated by her beauty that he couldn't even speak right. Kesshin sighed as he contemplated what to say to her. 'She's right. I'm such an idiot.'
After letting out her anger and frustration, Mariko got dressed, still not wanting to believe Kesshin saw her like that. She really just wanted to break down and cry until she started to get mad at Kesshin for running in there in the first place. Mariko thought of all sorts of names to call him, but she remembered the look in his eyes. He truly didn't mean to walk in on her, and she saw that when she looked into his eyes. His gaze was so intense that she had shivers up her spine. She noticed and appreciated that he never broke their gaze until he turned around to leave. Smiling, she walked out to find Aoi and Kesshin..
Mariko entered the entertainment room with her face still slightly red from the earlier incident. Kesshin stood, not able to look her in the face, and began to talk, "Nagane-san….I'm really really…"
"Don't worry about it Doumyoji," Mariko cut him off as they stared deep into each other's eyes. 'It's that look again.'
She broke the gaze and walked over to Aoi. "Ready to play now Aoi-kun?" Aoi jumped up and down and nodded his head in excitement. It was decided that the first game, Aoi and Mariko would hide while Kesshin counted to 50. There were of course limitations to the hiding grounds. The mansion was so huge that this one game would last forever if there weren't any boundaries. Aoi set the boundaries to the entire West wing's first floor. While Kesshin counted, Mariko and Aoi split up to find their hiding spots. Mariko didn't search too long, finding an empty hall closet and Aoi decided to hide under his father's desk in the library.
"Come out come out wherever you are!" Kesshin yelled out after he finished counting. This was going to be tough, he thought. The first floor of the west wing was still massive ground to cover, but it wasn't too hard to find Aoi. All Kesshin had to do was follow the spurts of giggles he heard. Mariko sat in the closet wondering what was taking so long for this game to be over with. It's not like Kesshin was a complete idiot and couldn't count to 50 properly. 'Then again, it is Kesshin' Mariko thought. Plus, she didn't hide anywhere hard. It was just a hallway closet.
Once Kesshin got a hold of Aoi, the little boy couldn't hold his laughter in any longer. He laughed and giggled and it didn't help that Kesshin was tickling the poor child.
"Nii-san…tickles…stop…hahahahaha" Aoi couldn't stop laughing and finally stopped when he thought of Mariko. "Did ya find Mar-ko nee-san?"
'Damn. Forgot to find Mariko.' Kesshin stood up and began searching for her.
Mariko was tired of waiting for the two, so she decided to head back to the entertainment room. When she stepped out of the closet, she was lost. During the game, she just walked around without paying attention to exactly where she was going. 'Damn.' The Doumyoji mansion was a maze like her house and it was easy to get lost. She just began turning into every which hallway and opened every door. She opened one last door in hopes that it would lead her back to the entertainment room. For once, she would have been more than happy to see Kesshin at that very moment. Instead, she found another room. She tossed her arms in the air. "I GIVE UP" She said in defeat as she crashed on the bed before her. Trying to find her way out exhausted her and gave her a headache.
Kesshin roamed the halls and all the rooms in the west wing but couldn't find Mariko anywhere. Not only was he annoyed that he lost Mariko, but he had Aoi crying nonstop because of the missing girl.
"Find Mar-ko nee-san, please Nii-san." Aoi bawled, and after about an hour of searching, Aoi had fallen asleep, and so Kesshin put Aoi to bed.
"This is just great. What am I going to tell Nagane-sama? 'I'm sorry sir, but I lost your daughter playing hide and seek.'" Kessin talked to himself as he headed to his room.
He had all the help looking for her around the rest of the Doumyoji grounds, but none could locate her. It's as if she disappeared into thin air.
"I'm such an idiot. She's such an idiot." It was past midnight now and Kesshin hoped with his life that Mariko had gone home for the evening. He entered his room and lay on his bed, not realizing the lump of something next to him. A moment later, he felt a hand on his chest. At first he thought it was his, but when he held two hands in front of his face, there was still a third hand on his chest. He jumped in surprise as he turned to see Mariko sleeping soundly in his bed. He quickly kneeled on the bed and shook her.
"YOU IDIOT!! THIS IS WHERE YOU'VE BEEN ALL THIS TIME??!?!?!" Mariko woke from her nap to find Kesshin shaking the hell out of her.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" She yelled back at him.
"Dammit Nagane….I almost called the police because we couldn't find you and here you've been SLEEPING! You idiot! How hard is it for you to follow directions?? We said stay in the WEST wing" Kesshin screamed.
"Well if you didn't take so long to count to 50 I wouldn't have gotten bored and left my hiding place!" Mariko yelled back in defense.
"And quit shaking me!" Mariko punched Kesshin and he flew off his bed. Aoi walked in just then with groggy eyes, but when he saw Mariko, he jumped on the bed and threw his arms around her crying.
"Aoi thought Mar-ko nee-san was gone forever" Mariko managed to make out what Aoi was saying through his tears. She hugged the child back and within minutes, Aoi was smiling again.
She looked back at Kesshin and saw the concern in his eyes. 'Why's he looking at me like that?'
"Why were you in bed with me?" She asked Kesshin cautiously, half scared to hear the answer.
He sat down next to her on the bed. "Well, Nagane…you're in MY bed. How did YOU get HERE?" So Mariko told him her story of how she got lost trying to find her way back to them.
"Geez. I thought something happened to you. I had everyone looking for you. I was gonna die because I didn't know what I was going to tell your parents." Mariko laughed.
Kesshin was annoyed at her laughter. "You find that FUNNY?"
"So you DO care about me then huh Doumyoji?" Mariko said jokingly. She seemed to find it so cute that he was worried about her like that. It was a side of him she hadn't seen too often. He was always bickering or calling her some profound name. Kesshin was worried about her. He didn't know where she was and that in itself was a scary thought.
"I just didn't want your dad to kill me for losing you." Kesshin said softly as he stood to leave.
"Don't go Nii-san. Tell Aoi a story please." Aoi grabbed Kesshin and pleaded for him to stay.
Kesshin sighed, giving in to Aoi's request and began his story. It was a cute sight. Aoi was sitting down between Kesshin and Mariko on the bed.
Kesshin got about as far as "Once upon a time…" before Mariko fell back into her dream state. Minutes later Kesshin yawned and eventually fell asleep telling his story. The little boy between them glanced at the two sleeping bodies and smiled mischievously once again. Quietly, Aoi left and retreated back to his own room, leaving Kesshin and Mariko alone. 'Phase 2 complete.' Aoi clapped his hands and smiled before falling back asleep.
The Doumyoji's and Nagane's entered the mansion half expecting it to be a war zone, but were quite surprised at the silence.
"Hikaru-chan, where are the children?" Ayumi asked.
"I believe they've all gone to bed, Doumyoji-san" She replied, but couldn't hide the blush on her cheeks.
"And Nagane-chan? Did she go home?" Ayumi continued.
Hikaru looked away, unsure of how to answer this. She had walked into Kesshin's room earlier to see if he needed anything else for the evening, but she found Mariko and Kesshin sleeping sweetly in a rather intimate embrace. She quickly left the room, assuming Kesshin needed nothing else. Hikaru's face reddened even more remembering what she saw.
"Hikaru-chan?" Tsukasa called out to her.
"Uh…Nagane-san is with Kesshin-san" Hikaru answered with her voice wavering.
Both Hiro and Tsukasa didn't like the sound of that so the two rushed up to Kesshin's room. Neither man was prepared for the sight before them. Mariko slept facing Kesshin with her head on his arm and her hand on his chest while Kesshin had his arms wrapped around her tightly, as if scared she was going to go away.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?!?!" Tsukasa and Hiro roared in unison.