I just got out of my choir tryout and I think I suck at sight singing. But I ruled singing America the Beautiful. (Okay, I didn't get to pick the song I sang otherwise I would have been sorely tempted to break out into Virtual Star Hassei-gaku (Revolutionary Girl Utena.)) Or maybe even…The Power of Love! I had that stuck in my head all day because I'm making a tape for my friend and I just HAD to put it on there. How can I be blamed? So without further ado, here's the chapter.

Joanna: Well I think adorable is a pretty nice word so yeah. Go you!

Chris: I don't think there's going to be any Tsukushi/Kaede face-offs in this story. ~_^

Sylentvoice: The best Tsukushi and Tsukasa fic ever???!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! **Bows** Ah, I feel honored. Sorry that this chapter is kind of short. I swear I make up for it later…

Fresh8: Thanks for your support!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hana Yori Dango.

Warnings: Cussing and goodness knows what else!

Never Quite As It Seems

Chapter Eight

"Responsibility,

What's that?

Responsibility,

Not quite yet,

Responsibility,

What's that?

I don't want to think about it,

We'd be better off without it."

            -Go for it Teresa, I know you know! (Just a song quote folks.)

            Why is this class so boring? I yawned into my hand as I watched the clock tick away. This was my last class of the day and I wasn't really paying attention. I had already written down my homework assignment and waited patiently for the bell to ring. How come time goes by so slow at the end of the day? It should go faster.

            The bell finally rang and I hopped out of my seat as fast as I could. I was so glad the day was over for school. I ran outside to the parking lot where Doumyouji was as usual. The only change was that Soujirou, Akira, and Rui were all sitting in the back seat.

            "Hey, what's going on?" I asked them all.

            "It's Soujirou's birthday!" Akira declared. "Guess where were going?"

            "An electronics store to stare at the video games you don't own?" I joked. This seemed a little too possible though.

            "Close!" Soujirou grinned. "We're going to Bullwinkle's!" I had to laugh at that. Bullwinkle's was a place that had miniature golf, go-karts, and an arcade. It was just funny how excited they all were to go. I mean not that I wasn't but I think it was slightly different from me.

            "Cool." I slid into my seat. I turned to Doumyouji. "So how did they sucker you into this?"

            "Actually, it was my idea." Doumyouji admitted. I giggled.

            "That explains it." I nodded my head. Soujirou leaned his head into the space between the passenger seat and driver seat.

            "Hey since it's my birthday can-" Soujirou was promptly cut off.

            "We went over this on Akira's birthday. No one drives the car but me." Doumyouji told him in a stern voice.

            "Tsukushi got to!" Soujirou whined in protest.

            "Dude, Soujirou, you can't use sex like a weapon like Tsukushi can. Just give it up." Akira told him. I turned around in my seat and smacked him upside the head.

            "Akira!" My face was red. "You are going to die!" Doumyouji turned a corner way too sharply.

            "Akira, I'll drop you off at the house and don't think I'll stop the car at all." Doumyouji threatened. He pressed the gas to the floor.

            "Practicing for those go-karts?" Soujirou cracked.

            "Shut up." Doumyouji told him. We drove with a minimal amount of violence. (More threats on me and Doumyouji's part) Than we finally arrived at our destination. A surprise was waiting for us though. While pulling into the parking lot a very nice white convertible was right in front of us. I recognized the driver and passenger even from the back.

            "It's Shigeru and Tsubaki!" I exclaimed pointing to them.

            "Shi-Shigeru?" Akira looked a little terrified.

            "What are they doing here?" Soujirou asked Doumyouji. Doumyouji shrugged. We ended up parking right next to each other.

            "Hey you guys!" Shigeru grinned at us. "What are you doing here?"

            "It's Soujirou's birthday!" I explained. "What are you guys doing?"

            "We decided to go miniature golfing." Tsubaki told us. "I suppose you guys are going to too?" We all nodded and soon we found ourselves getting golf clubs and lining up at the first hole. It was clear pretty fast who was good at miniature golf and who sucked.

            Rui seemed to be the best and he looked like he didn't even take aim, making us feel incredibly stupid. Akira and Soujirou sucked. It was terrible how the numbers on their scorecards were growing. Doumyouji, Shigeru, Tsubaki, and I seemed to be about the same when it came down to it.

            "Ugh, I'm gonna suck at this hole." I sighed as we approached the windmill hole.

            "Not as bad as Akira and Soujirou." Shigeru reassured me. I started to take aim and swung my putter. Not only did I miss but it got knocked back right back to me. My shoulders dropped in defeat. Everyone else took their turn. Akira got his ball in the pond two holes away. Only Rui, Tsubaki, and Doumyouji made it through the windmill. I went up to bravely hit my ball. Suddenly I felt strong arms go around me, Doumyouji put his hands over mine on the putter.

            "Hey!" I tried to turn around but found I couldn't.

            "I'm helping you." Doumyouji informed me. I went bright red as I realized that Doumyouji was right up against me. He swung my arms for me. The ball went through the windmill and I smiled. I turned towards him.

            "Thanks Doumyouji!" I went a little red when I realized that he hadn't taken his arms away. It was a weird moment in time. We just stood there looking at each other.

            "See how lame they are?" Akira asked Tsubaki and Shigeru. "I mean they never do anything!"

            "Maybe Tsukushi is shy…" Tsubaki suggested quietly. I've never really been described as shy but it didn't really bother me. I pecked Doumyouji's cheek as to divert suspicions. He went bright red and we walked towards the next hole, waiting for Akira and Soujirou to catch up. After we went through all eighteen holes (Rui winning of course) we decided to go for the go-karts.

            We had to wait in a long line but it was worth it when we finally got up there. We all jumped in separate karts and took off. Doumyouji seemed to have an edge on the rest of us, which wasn't surprising considering how he drove a regular car. I finished in third, right behind Shigeru who almost made first.

            Of course than we went inside and got pizza. We had ordered about four different pizzas because none of us could agree on what kind to get.

            "I found a bunch of tokens in my go-kart!" Soujirou bragged. "I'm going to go win tickets!" He and Akira ran off together while the rest of us waited for our pizzas.

            "How old is Soujirou turning?" I asked. I knew that Soujirou, Akira, and Doumyouji were all in their second year of college.

            "Twenty." Doumyouji answered.

            "He sure acts his age." Shigeru joked. "What's been going on with you guys?"

            "Not much." I shrugged.

            "I know! This campus has been a little dead lately. Maybe F6 needs to throw a party." Tsubaki commented.

            "Party?" Rui raised his eyebrows. "At your guys' house?"

            "We've had parties before." Shigeru reminded him. The waiter set the pizzas down on our table. We began to dig in.

            "Hey! You guys should have told us that there were pizzas!" Soujirou and Akira came back a little later, having cashed in their tickets for those plastic funny straws. They had a few sword fights with them before drinking smugly with them, looking down at all of us who had the plain white with the red strips straws. Sometimes I wondered if Soujirou and Akira were really as old as they claimed.

*                                              *                                              *

            It was very late about two weeks later that I woke up dying of thirst. I clambered down the stairs wondering if there were only sodas in the fridge. I opened it up and saw that indeed I had lucked out. There was one left. I popped it open and took a few big gulps before stopping to take a deep breath.

            Doumyouji walked into the kitchen without a shirt on. On instinct I turned away from him, my face going a little red. He saw me though.

            "Hey what are you doing up?" Doumyouji asked me. I turned to the clock. Three-oh-nine.

            "I was thirsty." I still hadn't turned around.

            "Hey! You took the last soda!" Doumyouji protested as he opened the fridge. "Is something wrong?" I blushed a little more. I bravely turned around.

            "N-no." I stammered. Okay so I haven't seen a lot of guys shirtless before! I mean that's not a big deal is it?

            "Why are you all red?" Doumyouji questioned with a slight grin as if he already knew the answer.

            "I'm not." I argued. I drank some more soda. Doumyouji took the can from me and started to drink out of it. "Hey that's mine!" I protested.

            "Not anymore." Doumyouji was smiling at me. "Of course…I'd be willing to let you have it back…"

            "Come on! Give!" I tried to take it but he raised it over my head where I couldn't get it.

            "How much do you want it?" Doumyouji questioned me.

            "Just give…" I insisted trailing off when I saw the look on Doumyouji's face. It was very different then what I had seen on his face. It seemed like he wanted something from me. "Please?" I stuck out my lower lip pitifully as if I were five. Doumyouji handed me back the soda. I started to drink from it when I looked up at Doumyouji who seemed to be staring at the soda can or maybe even my mouth with a slightly hungry look.

            "Tsukushi…" Doumyouji began, pulling the soda can away from my mouth. I froze at his touch.

            "H-hey do you really want the soda that bad?" I joked nervously.  

            "It's not the soda I want." Doumyouji told me and I blinked in confusion. RED ALERT! RED ALERT! SOMETHING IS DEFINITELY GOING ON!

            "What's everyone doing up?" Rui had just walked in the door. We both turned towards him and my mind sighed for me.

            What just happened? Why do I feel like this? ARGH! Why is everything so confusing? 

            "Rui where were you?" I asked him. After all, people don't just come home at three in the morning.

            "Places." He answered before taking the soda that was still in my hand and walking off with it. I stared after him, completely bewildered. Doumyouji looked a little ticked off for some odd reason.

            "Well, I'm going back to bed." I yawned. "See you in the morning."

            "See you." Doumyouji replied glumly. I walked back up the stairs to my room in a slight daze all the same.

*                                              *                                              *

            "Tsukushi?" Junpei asked me as we walked out of the last class of the day. "I want to do something again." I hesitated slightly. I wanted to be able to hang out to but of course there was a problem. A problem named Doumyouji. I wasn't allowed to lie to him and I knew he wouldn't let me hang out with Junpei. What the heck was I supposed to do?

            "Um, I'll have to see what I can do." I told him. "I mean I have to check my schedule and everything but I'm sure I can do something."

            "Good." Junpei smiled at me. "I like spending time with you."

            "Yeah your fun to hang out with." I shook off the suspicions that were mostly Doumyouji's anyway.

            "No." Junpei stopped and I turned to look at him. "That's not what I mean."

            "What do you mean?" I asked him curiously.

            "I mean…I want to spend lots of time with you. All the time that I can." Junpei told me.

            "Does he like you as a friend?"

            I tried to remain calm but I kept thinking of those words. I'm sure Doumyouji was just way overly suspicious about everything, not that he had any right to be of course. He was just being a guy.

            "J-Junpei…" I tried to think of something intelligent to say. It wasn't going quite as planned though.

            "Hi Tsukushi!" I saw Kazuya wave at me as he walked by.

            "Hi Kazuya." I waved back, glad that the tension was broken. "I have to go Junpei." I told him.

            "Okay. Bye." Junpei looked really disappointed. I pretended I couldn't think of why he might be disappointed. I walked to the parking lot where Doumyouji was waiting for me.

            "Hey Doumyouji!" I called out as I ran towards him. His eyes widened suddenly and he tackled me. We rolled a few feet, stopping with me under him. I heard a sound like smashing glass and winced in memory "What the hell-"

            "Someone almost hit you with that bottle." Doumyouji gestured to what was now a pile of broken glass. "It came flying right for your head." Doumyouji explained. I realized that he was still on top of me and went a little red.

            "Your heavy." I told him. "Are you going stay there all day?" Doumyouji's face went red before he got off of me and helped me up.

            "Well aren't you gonna thank me?" Doumyouji asked me.

            "Thank you." I said before going for the car. "Let's get out of here before anymore glass objects send me to the Infirmary."

            "Good idea." Doumyouji agreed before we drove home together. When we got there Soujirou was playing Final Fantasy Eight while Akira sat there telling him what to do which was obviously annoying Soujirou. Rui would wake up from his spot on the couch every now and then, telling Soujirou to do some random thing, which was actually helpful. It was pretty fun to watch.

            Someone knocked on the door and I left my afternoon entertainment to see who it was. I opened the door and found Shigeru, grinning from ear to ear.

            "Tsukushi, guess what?" Shigeru asked in a singsong voice.

            "What?" I raised my eyebrows in curiosity.

            "House F6 is having a party." Shigeru informed me. "This Friday in fact. So tell all those losers to put down their video games and come."

            "I will!" I vowed. "Do you need us to bring anything?"

            "Nothing but yourselves." Shigeru answered. "Well I have about a hundred more stops to go to after this one. I've got to get going!" With that she turned and waved at me. I waved back before she disappeared. I went back into the living room.

            "There's going to be a party." I told everyone as I came in.

            "Now cast-" Akira started up but Soujirou shut him up.

            "Where?" Soujirou asked.

            "The F6 house." Rui answered for me.

            "How did you know that?" I asked the half asleep boy.

            "Shizuka told me." Rui replied before seeming to fall asleep again.

            "Alright a party!" Akira exclaimed. "We haven't had like any for awhile."

            "What's everyone going on about?" Doumyouji came down the stairs; he had gone upstairs while the rest of us were downstairs.

            "There's going to be a party at the F6 house." Soujirou explained.

            "That's not that big of a deal." Doumyouji told us in a superior sort of tone. I rolled my eyes at him. He had been a little moody lately and I couldn't figure out why. Oh well, it was probably something weird knowing him.

*                                              *                                              *

            So yeah…kay…I hope people review this 'cause I will love them for it! Heehee. Oh I suppose I should put up another chapter of B.B.T.H.S! WOOHOO! Lemme think…chapter seven of B.B.T.H.S… Oh! I know what happens!

Teresa: Um…duh, you're the author.

Jade: True…^_^!!!

            Happy weekend fun everyone and I hope I made it into the top choir like I wanted to! (It's called The Chorale which makes it sound like an evil organization plotting world domination. So obviously I must be in it!)

Favorite Line From This Chapter: "It's not the soda I want." (That is so Doumyouji!!! All we needed was Tsukushi to drop a pillow…O.o)