Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)
Author: Yih
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Let me know what relationship you'd like to see that I'm hinting or even those that I'm not. Keep reviewing though please! I wrote this fast because of the support! Thanks and enjoy!
3: Nighttime Revelry (November 20, 2002 to November 21, 2002)
At a local and popular dance club, F4 and Tsukushi were sitting in a more private and exclusive corner where the music wasn't quite so blaring so that they could actually hear themselves speak. As usual, Tsukasa was ribbing Akira without mercy about his infatuation with older women, which was why he drove them to a club with an older crowd. When Akira had finally had enough of this, he snapped, "I chose this club because it's not quite as irritating as the places that you like to choose. The drinks are good and they actually serve drinkable nonalcoholic stuff that Tsukushi can drink."
Tsukasa snorted and was about to make another snide, immature remark when Tsukushi elbowed him in the stomach. "What did you do that for?" he shouted at her.
She glared at him and stood up from her seat; she went over to Akira and tapped him on the shoulder. "Come on," she urged, holding out her hand to him, "I know that you like this song."
He smiled gratefully at her and took her hand, leading her out onto the dance floor. While watching them dance, Tsukasa started getting redder and redder since the more the dance progressed, the closer Tsukushi and Akira got. Soujirou had more fun watching Tsukasa's rage than the fluid movements of the dancing couple. Finally when he couldn't stand it anymore, he burst out laughing. Rui didn't mind watching Tsukushi dance with Akira because he knew that the only one that Akira liked was Shizuka. So he watched and kept an eye on his cell phone incase Shizuka messaged him.
"You're getting much better," Akira commented as the music started winding down.
A slightly out of breath Tsukushi responded, "Thanks to you of course! I could have never learn to dance that well without you teaching me and making me dance whenever we go to a club. Soujirou and Rui are good for practicing, but you make me work to keep up with you."
Akira grinned. "It's the only way for you to get better."
She smiled back at him and they headed back toward the tables. Tsukasa was standing up as they were coming back, but before he could reach Tsukushi, Soujirou grabbed her hand first. Soujirou lead her out to the dance floor, while a still smiling Akira sat down next to Rui and asked, "Any messages from Shizuka?"
Shaking his head, Rui answered softly, "No. Her flight must be non-stop."
"Does she still message you often?" asked Akira wistfully.
Rui shook his head again. "No, she says she's been very busy. I think she contacts Tsukushi the most, but that's because Tsukushi and her are as close as any sisters can be."
Akira shrugged. He was about to say something to Rui again, but Rui had already risen from his seat to make his way to the returning Tsukushi. Turning his head to where Tsukasa was sitting, Akira bit back the urge to laugh because one of the serving girls was trying to hook up with Tsukasa and wasn't giving up easily despite Tsukasa's abrupt rudeness. When Tsukasa was finally able to get rid of the girl, it was already too late since Rui was walking to the middle of the dance floor with Tsukushi.
Tsukasa cursed and both Akira and Soujirou started laughing. They couldn't help themselves. It was clear to anyone that had eyes that Tsukasa badly liked Tsukushi, except for the clueless Tsukushi. Well, she wasn't exactly clueless, she just didn't want to see that Tsukasa was crazy about her and so was Rui for the matter, thought Akira to himself. She never considered guys liking her in that way.
"You've been quiet all night," remarked Tsukushi into Rui's ear. She was relieved that this was actually a slow dance because she was getting a bit breathless from all the fast dancing. And it did feel comfortable to be in Rui's arms. She'd feel a little awkward if it was even Akira or Soujirou and most of all Tsukasa, but with Rui--- it felt normal and safe.
"I'm always like that," he responded. He was. Even though he was more talkative with Tsukushi, he wasn't really all that much different from when he was little. Actually, the only one that he was really different around with Tsukushi because she had really affected him when he had met her. He didn't feel awkward to act like a more outgoing Rui to her.
The music was starting to end, but Rui didn't loosen his hold on her. When she started to pull away, he kept holding on to her. "One more dance?" he asked.
She nodded. Since he asked, she was more than happy to comply. She smiled and started to move to the faster beat of the music and Rui followed her guidance for a while before taking over. Both of them were good at judging the beat of the music and their rhythm together was perfect, not because they danced with each other, but because they both played music with each other often and knew how each other liked to count the rhythm.
"Why aren't they coming back?" Tsukasa fumed. "They've already danced once! Now they're dancing twice?!" Soujirou and Akira looked at each other knowingly, while Tsukasa continued to have an irritated and highly annoyed expression on his face. The more he watched, the more dissatisfied he got. He wanted to be the one that was dancing with Tsukushi. It didn't matter that they always got into an argument and she stepped on his toes like a total klutz. He wanted to be the one that she was next to!
~
"Why are you always going off with that brat?" Tsukasa yelled at Rui.
Even though little Tsukushi glanced briefly at the loud, obnoxious Tsukasa, Rui kept on walking like Tsukasa hadn't even spoken to him. And so Tsukushi scampered quickly to catch up to Rui, while F3 watched to see what the two of them were going to do. Nothing truly remarkable happened: Rui got onto the monkey bars and hung himself upside down while Tsukushi watched him.
F3 were about to go off and play one of their wild and boisterous games when they heard Tsukushi playing around and talking. As they moved in closer, they heard what she was saying much more clearly. "Nanny use to tell me this story all the time, but then she got sick and now she doesn't come anymore. There was once this little boy and this little girl and they were always playing with each other because there was no one else to play with. The little boy would want to play with sticks, but the little girl would want to play with dolls. But the boy would relent and play with the girl because she was smaller than he was.
"The girl would always be very happy and that would make the boy happy. One day, however, the little boy didn't show up at the playground and the little girl got really worried about him. So she went to his house and found out he was really sick and that he was getting sicker each day. So everyday she'd come over to his house and play sticks with him, making him really happy. There's more of the story, but I'll tell you some other time because that's how much nanny would tell me every time I asked her to begin it," Tsukushi told him.
"But I like this story because it's nice that the boy would try to make the girl happy and that the girl would then try to make the boy happy. Does anybody make you happy, Rui?" she asked. He blinked and closed his eyes, thinking of a moment before he shook his head. "Are you sure?" she inquired. "Something has to make you happy. Why do you hang upside down on the monkey bars if it doesn't make you happy?"
He shrugged. He didn't really know why other than that Shizuka had suggested it to him if he ever wanted to cry, and he almost always wanted to cry and to think, so he hung himself upside down whenever he could. "Shizuka told me to hang upside down whenever I want to cry."
"You want to cry? Why?" asked Tsukushi.
"I don't know," he answered softly.
During this enlightening conversation that F3 were listening in on, Soujirou and Akira both came to the delightful conclusion that Tsukushi was a cute little kid and that she wasn't a brat at all. However, Tsukasa poked both of them and retorted, "Let's go play. That brat's so boring."
Both Soujirou and Akira looked at each other and at Tsukasa before Soujirou replied, "This is getting interesting. Have you ever seen Rui talk to a person other than Shizuka before? I haven't."
"Neither have I," Akira added.
Tsukasa huffed, but he didn't move from where he was standing. She's boring, he thought, but he didn't want to stop watching her entertain and talk to Rui for some reason. It wasn't because of the fascination that Rui was actually speaking because he wasn't looking at Rui, he was staring at Tsukushi.
~
It was nearly midnight when they hit the airport. But they still had to wait almost an hour before Shizuka's flight arrived because there had been a slight delay because of the heavy turbulence across the Pacific Ocean. Tsukushi finally had to tell Akira to sit down because he was starting to make her anxious from his continuous pacing up and down the aisle. Both Soujirou and Tsukasa agreed with her. Rui, as normal, was off by himself--- staring out at the flickering lights of the planes coming in and those that were going out.
"I think her flight is coming in," Rui stated.
F3 and Tsukushi quickly jump up from their seats and rush to the window and looked where Rui pointed. "Can anyone read the flight number?" Akira asked. Everyone shook their heads and Akira squinted and confirmed, "It's her flight alright."
F4 and Tsukushi quickly made their way to the gate where they waited for what seemed like forever for Shizuka to walk out. Eventually, people started streaming out of the plane, but there was no sign of Shizuka yet. Akira was getting more anxious by the minute when Shizuka appeared out of the gate, dragging her carryon suitcases. Soujirou and Tsukushi shoved Akira toward Shizuka.
"What are you doing tugging all those bags?" Akira asked sharply.
Shizuka smiled. "Why don't you say, 'hi Shizuka, welcome back?' before you start asking me questions, okay?"
He broke out into a grin and Shizuka dropped her bags as he reached to hug her tightly. "Welcome home, Shizuka. I've missed you a lot."
"I've missed you as well," she murmured.
"So," Tsukasa interrupted by asking, "why did you bring all these bags with you?"
Shizuka grinned, while Akira had an irritated expression on his face. "Well, it'd be a lot quicker getting out of the airport if I brought my bags with me, right?"
Tsukushi pounced on both Akira and Shizuka, hugging both of them energetically. "I'm so glad you're back, Shizuka! I've missed you so much!"
"I've missed all of you," Shizuka responded. "It's good to be back home." Soujirou and then Tsukasa hugged her. But Rui stood apart, watching, but not approaching to receive his hug. "Rui, aren't you glad to see me?" she teased. He nodded. "Then why don't you give me a hug?"
Slowly, Rui approached her and she hugged him. While they were hugging, he whispered softly so only she could hear, "Are you staying permanently this time?"
She leaned back and stared at him momentarily, but she didn't answer him. She smiled at the rest of them and exclaimed, "Let's get going! I'm really quite tired after that long flight! I think I need a long night or else I'll be positively hideous tomorrow!"
Soujirou chuckled. "You could never look hideous."
Akira agreed, offering to take all of her bags, though Tsukushi got Tsukasa and Soujirou to help. "You always look beautiful, Shizuka. Shall we drop you straight off at your house?"
"No," Shizuka responded, "not right away. I want to drive around a bit with Tsukushi and talk with her, if you don't mind. You live the closest to her, don't you Akira?"
Akira nodded. He didn't mind at all if he got to spend more time with her and he knew that Tsukushi didn't mind.
~
The next morning at Eitoku, there was a lot of gossiping since Toudou Shizuka had showed up at the school this morning with F4 and Tsukushi. There was actually a large circle gathered around the group, though none of the students dare get too close for fear that one of the F4 would get angry with them. But they were eager to find out what Toudou Shizuka was doing back here at Eitoku.
"What's going on?" Yuki asked. "Some kind of assembly or something?"
Makiko shook her head. "No, Toudou Shizuka came back to school today! She's back from France where she's been studying and modeling for the past year."
"Really, she's back?" Yuki queried with a look of awe. She might have been new at the school, but she had heard enough about the perfect Toudou Shizuka to have an inspiring admiration for the young woman. Not only was she rich and good-looking, but was also blessed with a kind and caring heart as well as talent and intelligence! "Does that mean she isn't modeling in France anymore?"
"Well," Makiko responded, "no one really knows why she's back. But she is back. Akira should be happy."
"Akira? Why?" Yuki questioned.
"Because," Makiko answered softly, "he's been crazy about her ever since he started high school. It's probably been longer than that. I only know since high school since that's when I started to know the F4. As I said, Tsukushi and Shizuka are childhood friends with F4, really good friends, it only make sense that the F4 like them, right?"
"Right," Yuki agreed. As she thought about what Makiko said, she inquired, "Then which of the F4 likes Tsukushi?"
"Definitely Tsukasa," Makiko replied instantly, "and I don't know about the other two. She hangs out quite a bit with Rui, but I can't really tell if he likes her or if she likes him as anymore than as friends. But Tsukasa definitely does like Tsukushi."
Author: Yih
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Let me know what relationship you'd like to see that I'm hinting or even those that I'm not. Keep reviewing though please! I wrote this fast because of the support! Thanks and enjoy!
3: Nighttime Revelry (November 20, 2002 to November 21, 2002)
At a local and popular dance club, F4 and Tsukushi were sitting in a more private and exclusive corner where the music wasn't quite so blaring so that they could actually hear themselves speak. As usual, Tsukasa was ribbing Akira without mercy about his infatuation with older women, which was why he drove them to a club with an older crowd. When Akira had finally had enough of this, he snapped, "I chose this club because it's not quite as irritating as the places that you like to choose. The drinks are good and they actually serve drinkable nonalcoholic stuff that Tsukushi can drink."
Tsukasa snorted and was about to make another snide, immature remark when Tsukushi elbowed him in the stomach. "What did you do that for?" he shouted at her.
She glared at him and stood up from her seat; she went over to Akira and tapped him on the shoulder. "Come on," she urged, holding out her hand to him, "I know that you like this song."
He smiled gratefully at her and took her hand, leading her out onto the dance floor. While watching them dance, Tsukasa started getting redder and redder since the more the dance progressed, the closer Tsukushi and Akira got. Soujirou had more fun watching Tsukasa's rage than the fluid movements of the dancing couple. Finally when he couldn't stand it anymore, he burst out laughing. Rui didn't mind watching Tsukushi dance with Akira because he knew that the only one that Akira liked was Shizuka. So he watched and kept an eye on his cell phone incase Shizuka messaged him.
"You're getting much better," Akira commented as the music started winding down.
A slightly out of breath Tsukushi responded, "Thanks to you of course! I could have never learn to dance that well without you teaching me and making me dance whenever we go to a club. Soujirou and Rui are good for practicing, but you make me work to keep up with you."
Akira grinned. "It's the only way for you to get better."
She smiled back at him and they headed back toward the tables. Tsukasa was standing up as they were coming back, but before he could reach Tsukushi, Soujirou grabbed her hand first. Soujirou lead her out to the dance floor, while a still smiling Akira sat down next to Rui and asked, "Any messages from Shizuka?"
Shaking his head, Rui answered softly, "No. Her flight must be non-stop."
"Does she still message you often?" asked Akira wistfully.
Rui shook his head again. "No, she says she's been very busy. I think she contacts Tsukushi the most, but that's because Tsukushi and her are as close as any sisters can be."
Akira shrugged. He was about to say something to Rui again, but Rui had already risen from his seat to make his way to the returning Tsukushi. Turning his head to where Tsukasa was sitting, Akira bit back the urge to laugh because one of the serving girls was trying to hook up with Tsukasa and wasn't giving up easily despite Tsukasa's abrupt rudeness. When Tsukasa was finally able to get rid of the girl, it was already too late since Rui was walking to the middle of the dance floor with Tsukushi.
Tsukasa cursed and both Akira and Soujirou started laughing. They couldn't help themselves. It was clear to anyone that had eyes that Tsukasa badly liked Tsukushi, except for the clueless Tsukushi. Well, she wasn't exactly clueless, she just didn't want to see that Tsukasa was crazy about her and so was Rui for the matter, thought Akira to himself. She never considered guys liking her in that way.
"You've been quiet all night," remarked Tsukushi into Rui's ear. She was relieved that this was actually a slow dance because she was getting a bit breathless from all the fast dancing. And it did feel comfortable to be in Rui's arms. She'd feel a little awkward if it was even Akira or Soujirou and most of all Tsukasa, but with Rui--- it felt normal and safe.
"I'm always like that," he responded. He was. Even though he was more talkative with Tsukushi, he wasn't really all that much different from when he was little. Actually, the only one that he was really different around with Tsukushi because she had really affected him when he had met her. He didn't feel awkward to act like a more outgoing Rui to her.
The music was starting to end, but Rui didn't loosen his hold on her. When she started to pull away, he kept holding on to her. "One more dance?" he asked.
She nodded. Since he asked, she was more than happy to comply. She smiled and started to move to the faster beat of the music and Rui followed her guidance for a while before taking over. Both of them were good at judging the beat of the music and their rhythm together was perfect, not because they danced with each other, but because they both played music with each other often and knew how each other liked to count the rhythm.
"Why aren't they coming back?" Tsukasa fumed. "They've already danced once! Now they're dancing twice?!" Soujirou and Akira looked at each other knowingly, while Tsukasa continued to have an irritated and highly annoyed expression on his face. The more he watched, the more dissatisfied he got. He wanted to be the one that was dancing with Tsukushi. It didn't matter that they always got into an argument and she stepped on his toes like a total klutz. He wanted to be the one that she was next to!
~
"Why are you always going off with that brat?" Tsukasa yelled at Rui.
Even though little Tsukushi glanced briefly at the loud, obnoxious Tsukasa, Rui kept on walking like Tsukasa hadn't even spoken to him. And so Tsukushi scampered quickly to catch up to Rui, while F3 watched to see what the two of them were going to do. Nothing truly remarkable happened: Rui got onto the monkey bars and hung himself upside down while Tsukushi watched him.
F3 were about to go off and play one of their wild and boisterous games when they heard Tsukushi playing around and talking. As they moved in closer, they heard what she was saying much more clearly. "Nanny use to tell me this story all the time, but then she got sick and now she doesn't come anymore. There was once this little boy and this little girl and they were always playing with each other because there was no one else to play with. The little boy would want to play with sticks, but the little girl would want to play with dolls. But the boy would relent and play with the girl because she was smaller than he was.
"The girl would always be very happy and that would make the boy happy. One day, however, the little boy didn't show up at the playground and the little girl got really worried about him. So she went to his house and found out he was really sick and that he was getting sicker each day. So everyday she'd come over to his house and play sticks with him, making him really happy. There's more of the story, but I'll tell you some other time because that's how much nanny would tell me every time I asked her to begin it," Tsukushi told him.
"But I like this story because it's nice that the boy would try to make the girl happy and that the girl would then try to make the boy happy. Does anybody make you happy, Rui?" she asked. He blinked and closed his eyes, thinking of a moment before he shook his head. "Are you sure?" she inquired. "Something has to make you happy. Why do you hang upside down on the monkey bars if it doesn't make you happy?"
He shrugged. He didn't really know why other than that Shizuka had suggested it to him if he ever wanted to cry, and he almost always wanted to cry and to think, so he hung himself upside down whenever he could. "Shizuka told me to hang upside down whenever I want to cry."
"You want to cry? Why?" asked Tsukushi.
"I don't know," he answered softly.
During this enlightening conversation that F3 were listening in on, Soujirou and Akira both came to the delightful conclusion that Tsukushi was a cute little kid and that she wasn't a brat at all. However, Tsukasa poked both of them and retorted, "Let's go play. That brat's so boring."
Both Soujirou and Akira looked at each other and at Tsukasa before Soujirou replied, "This is getting interesting. Have you ever seen Rui talk to a person other than Shizuka before? I haven't."
"Neither have I," Akira added.
Tsukasa huffed, but he didn't move from where he was standing. She's boring, he thought, but he didn't want to stop watching her entertain and talk to Rui for some reason. It wasn't because of the fascination that Rui was actually speaking because he wasn't looking at Rui, he was staring at Tsukushi.
~
It was nearly midnight when they hit the airport. But they still had to wait almost an hour before Shizuka's flight arrived because there had been a slight delay because of the heavy turbulence across the Pacific Ocean. Tsukushi finally had to tell Akira to sit down because he was starting to make her anxious from his continuous pacing up and down the aisle. Both Soujirou and Tsukasa agreed with her. Rui, as normal, was off by himself--- staring out at the flickering lights of the planes coming in and those that were going out.
"I think her flight is coming in," Rui stated.
F3 and Tsukushi quickly jump up from their seats and rush to the window and looked where Rui pointed. "Can anyone read the flight number?" Akira asked. Everyone shook their heads and Akira squinted and confirmed, "It's her flight alright."
F4 and Tsukushi quickly made their way to the gate where they waited for what seemed like forever for Shizuka to walk out. Eventually, people started streaming out of the plane, but there was no sign of Shizuka yet. Akira was getting more anxious by the minute when Shizuka appeared out of the gate, dragging her carryon suitcases. Soujirou and Tsukushi shoved Akira toward Shizuka.
"What are you doing tugging all those bags?" Akira asked sharply.
Shizuka smiled. "Why don't you say, 'hi Shizuka, welcome back?' before you start asking me questions, okay?"
He broke out into a grin and Shizuka dropped her bags as he reached to hug her tightly. "Welcome home, Shizuka. I've missed you a lot."
"I've missed you as well," she murmured.
"So," Tsukasa interrupted by asking, "why did you bring all these bags with you?"
Shizuka grinned, while Akira had an irritated expression on his face. "Well, it'd be a lot quicker getting out of the airport if I brought my bags with me, right?"
Tsukushi pounced on both Akira and Shizuka, hugging both of them energetically. "I'm so glad you're back, Shizuka! I've missed you so much!"
"I've missed all of you," Shizuka responded. "It's good to be back home." Soujirou and then Tsukasa hugged her. But Rui stood apart, watching, but not approaching to receive his hug. "Rui, aren't you glad to see me?" she teased. He nodded. "Then why don't you give me a hug?"
Slowly, Rui approached her and she hugged him. While they were hugging, he whispered softly so only she could hear, "Are you staying permanently this time?"
She leaned back and stared at him momentarily, but she didn't answer him. She smiled at the rest of them and exclaimed, "Let's get going! I'm really quite tired after that long flight! I think I need a long night or else I'll be positively hideous tomorrow!"
Soujirou chuckled. "You could never look hideous."
Akira agreed, offering to take all of her bags, though Tsukushi got Tsukasa and Soujirou to help. "You always look beautiful, Shizuka. Shall we drop you straight off at your house?"
"No," Shizuka responded, "not right away. I want to drive around a bit with Tsukushi and talk with her, if you don't mind. You live the closest to her, don't you Akira?"
Akira nodded. He didn't mind at all if he got to spend more time with her and he knew that Tsukushi didn't mind.
~
The next morning at Eitoku, there was a lot of gossiping since Toudou Shizuka had showed up at the school this morning with F4 and Tsukushi. There was actually a large circle gathered around the group, though none of the students dare get too close for fear that one of the F4 would get angry with them. But they were eager to find out what Toudou Shizuka was doing back here at Eitoku.
"What's going on?" Yuki asked. "Some kind of assembly or something?"
Makiko shook her head. "No, Toudou Shizuka came back to school today! She's back from France where she's been studying and modeling for the past year."
"Really, she's back?" Yuki queried with a look of awe. She might have been new at the school, but she had heard enough about the perfect Toudou Shizuka to have an inspiring admiration for the young woman. Not only was she rich and good-looking, but was also blessed with a kind and caring heart as well as talent and intelligence! "Does that mean she isn't modeling in France anymore?"
"Well," Makiko responded, "no one really knows why she's back. But she is back. Akira should be happy."
"Akira? Why?" Yuki questioned.
"Because," Makiko answered softly, "he's been crazy about her ever since he started high school. It's probably been longer than that. I only know since high school since that's when I started to know the F4. As I said, Tsukushi and Shizuka are childhood friends with F4, really good friends, it only make sense that the F4 like them, right?"
"Right," Yuki agreed. As she thought about what Makiko said, she inquired, "Then which of the F4 likes Tsukushi?"
"Definitely Tsukasa," Makiko replied instantly, "and I don't know about the other two. She hangs out quite a bit with Rui, but I can't really tell if he likes her or if she likes him as anymore than as friends. But Tsukasa definitely does like Tsukushi."