Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)
Author: Yih
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please keep reviewing! And to let you guys know, I won't be updated until AFTER my Finals MOST likely: December 20th. It depends how fast I finish Chapter 8, which is what I'm writing right now. Thanks for your understanding, this is the longest gap between updates so far, sorry about that!
7: Great Misunderstandings (December 4, 2002 to December 7, 2002)
"I really like you, Tsukushi," Tsukasa said earnestly. "You're the only one that I've ever felt this way before."
Looking into his quite serious eyes, she believed him. It wasn't his words that made her believe him or even the seriousness in his eyes, but rather she had grown up with him and she knew that Tsukasa hadn't been mature enough to feel that way before. With that thought, a smile graced her lips as she said, "I know that, but I'm sure that you'll find someone else that likes you as much as you'll like her. You just have to be patient, Tsukasa."
He gave a ragged sigh and remarked, "I still don't understand why you like Rui better than me. But I'm not going to just give you to him," he grumbled. "He's going to have to put some effort into winning you from me! And if he hurts you, he'll hear from me!"
Tsukushi chuckled lightly. "You are such a silly boy."
He glared at her. "You're the silly one and the stupid one, falling for Hanazawa Rui instead of the great Doumyouji Tsukasa!"
She rolled her eyes up heavenwards. "You have an ego bigger than anything else about you. When are you going to grow out of it?"
He grinned at her and leaned his face over hers. "I don't need to get over it because my ego isn't as big as my jealousy. I'm extremely jealous that you like Rui. You know how I am. I am very jealous."
"And possessive as well," she added reflectively, grinning back at him, not the least bit intimidated by his deliberate attempt to make her cow. "And yes, I do know that you're very jealous. Who doesn't know that fact about you?"
He leaned his forehead against hers. "Why don't you like me? Why do you have to like Rui? I could make you so much happier than he could."
~
"Are you going to do something about Tsukasa trying to steal Tsukushi away from you or not?" Shizuka asked. "Because if you don't, you could lose her to him. It isn't unthinkable that Tsukasa couldn't get the engagement rearranged. His family as at least as prominent if not more so than your own. And you know how persistent Tsukasa is. He won't just stop even if Tsukushi says she doesn't like him."
"Do you want me to go talk to Tsukushi?" he inquired in an emotionless voice. "Would that make you feel better?"
"It'd make me feel better for your sake," she responded. "Aren't you even worried about losing her?"
"I trust her," Rui said simply. "But I'll go talk to her if that will make you feel better."
"That would. That would indeed make me feel better," she responded. "Are you going to talk to her now?" she queried when she saw that he was getting up from his lounging spot on the couch.
He nodded. "Might as well."
Since there were only two private rooms in this particular club, it wasn't hard to guess which room they were in talking to each other. So he went to the room and he was about to knock on the door when he noticed it wasn't even properly closed, so he pushed it open. It took him a while to see where Tsukushi and Tsukasa were in the room because they were in a corner.
He almost didn't see where Tsukushi was until he saw arms around Tsukasa's waist. He had thought it was strange that they were in a private room if they hadn't even shut the door. He soon realized why when he saw Tsukushi against the wall and Tsukasa covering her body with his own. He watched with fascination and pain as he saw Tsukasa lower his head even more, looking like he was going to kiss her. Disgusted at himself for watching, he left them to what they were doing.
Rui marched out of the room and through the crowds of people, ignoring what Akira and Soujirou were saying to him as he passed by their table. He finally stopped his headlong flight out of the club when Shizuka stood in front of him and asked, "What's wrong, Rui? Did you talk to Tsukushi? Sit down and tell me why you're upset."
He sat down, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he grabbed Akira's vodka and downed the entire glass. F2 and Shizuka watched him with concerned expressions, but they weren't about to ask him what was wrong. If Rui didn't want to tell them, then he wasn't going to tell them and if they kept pestering him, he'd just get up and leave. Then they'd never find out what was wrong with him.
~
"I don't know why I don't like you in that way," she answered, hugging him for the second time. "But I've always known I've liked Rui. I've always felt this special connection to him. Despite the face, he doesn't seem like he cares--- he does care. He's not entirely apathetic, even though he wants people to think that he doesn't care. And he has been a very good friend to you, Tsukasa."
"He has," he agreed stiffly. "He has been a good friend to me. But that still doesn't stop me from being jealous. That only means I won't pulverize him with my fists like that idiot Kazuya if he keeps hanging onto your arm like that."
"Kazuya is harmless," she remarked.
"I can't help my feelings for you," he said softly.
She smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "You can't help my feelings for Rui either. You should try to get use to it, okay?"
"I'll try," he replied.
"Let's go back now, since you've got your answer now." She took his hand and pulled him out of the private room and back to where F3 and Shizuka had been sitting during their conversation. "Sorry we took so long," she said apologetically, sitting down in her seat next to Rui.
As soon as she sat down, Rui got up from where he was sitting. "I've got to go," he declared." I'll see you guys tomorrow." He deliberately avoided Tsukushi's questioning eyes.
Tsukushi stood up and said, "I'm going as well."
"Don't bother," Rui said curtly. "You two won't need a private room when I'm gone." From the confused look on her face, he decided that further clarification was need and he gave it in a cold tone, "Don't act so innocently, Tsukushi. I saw you two kissing each other."
F2 and Shizuka looked at each other with absolute shock then looked at Tsukasa, who was not looking the least bit embarrassed or taken back by the statement. Instead, Tsukasa was looking as confused as Tsukushi, as if he didn't know what Rui was talking about. They knew that Rui just didn't make things up, so something was up.
"You were spying on us?" she exclaimed in outrage. He didn't even blink. All he did was turn around and start walking off. "Hanazawa Rui!" she called out after him. "Rui, you don't understand!"
She followed after him, and since Tsukushi was leaving--- Tsukasa also followed suit. Shizuka glanced at the empty bottle of vodka that Rui had guzzled and held her hand out to Akira. "I think this party has come to it's conclusion. Will you drive me home?"
He nodded. "Let's go." He glanced at Soujirou and asked, "Want me to meet you later at your favorite pub?"
Soujirou shook his head. "Shizuka's right. The festivities are over. I'm going to go home." He waved at them and watched them make their getaway together before finally leaving himself. As he was watching them go, he was thinking that Akira wasn't as happy as he thought Akira would be now that Shizuka had returned. Actually, it'd been a while since he'd seen Akira really happy.
He shook his head. He was glad he wasn't infatuated with any girls, though at the same time, he envied the rest of them for at least having someone they were crazy about. He didn't have anyone. That fact sobered him pretty good by the time he got home. He was tempted to go to a bar anyways and get sickeningly drunk when he saw a slim figure outside of the gates of his mansion.
He narrowed his eyes... it couldn't be... but it was. Sara was back.
~
"Jirou!" Sara called out to him. "I didn't know you were coming over today." He smiled at her. "Want to play house with me, since you're here?"
He shrugged. "Whatever you want to do is fine with me."
She took him by the hand and led him into her playroom. She sat him down on one of the little pink chairs, and she ran to get the necessary things to play house. He didn't really know why he was here because it wasn't like he wanted to play house, but he did like to be in her presence and that invariably meant playing house. It wasn't like he had anything better to do anyways. Akira and Shizuka were off talking together and Tsukasa was undoubtedly bothering Rui and Tsukushi, who sat in silence unless Tsukushi was telling Rui an amusing anecdote.
"Good morning sir," greeted Sara, who was now wearing a little maid uniform. "What would you like for breakfast?"
"Orange juice and toast," he requested politely.
She smiled at him and placed a pink plate with white flowers that lined the corners in front of him. On the plate, it had a plastic piece of toasted bread with a yellow cube that represented butter. He watched her as she then rain into the next room and then came back with a mismatched blue teacup that had some real orange juice in it. She was moving so quickly that she tripped over something on the floor and fell forward, the orange juice immediately spilling onto the floor.
He jumped up and managed to catch her before she fell on the floor, but he wasn't able to catch the teacup full with orange juice. Sara glanced at the spilled orange juice and her eyes filled with tears. "Mommy is going to be so upset with me again. She told me that I shouldn't play house with real juice if I can't be careful."
Pinching her cheek, he grabbed a towel and started cleaning up the spilled orange juice. "I'll call one of my maids to come over and clean this mess up before your mother ever finds out. She won't even be able to tell, so don't worry, okay? Just don't cry."
She nodded bravely. "Okay, Jirou. I don't know what I'd do without you." He blushed when she kissed him on the cheeks. "Do you want ice cream? My mommy bought it yesterday. I told her to get mocha because I know it's your favorite flavor. But we'll have to eat it in the kitchen because it's easier to clean up if I make a mess."
"Okay. I'd really like that. Why don't you get the ice cream ready, while I call my house for a maid?" he suggested. She grinned and skipped happily out of the room. He dialed his house with his cell. "Hi, it's Soujirou. I need a maid to come to Sara's house."
"One or more?"
"Only one this time," he responded. "Tell her that she needs to bring something that can remove orange juice. And tell my parents I'll call them tomorrow morning."
"Okay, master. Is that all?"
"For now, yes."
~
He got out of the car and stood there for a long while, just looking at her. "Sarah," he finally whispered her name.
She broke out into one of her wonderful smiles, and she ran toward him, leaping into his opened arms. "For a minute, I thought you didn't recognize me."
He pulled away from her slightly and gave her a thorough look over. It wasn't only the smile that reminded him of the cute little girl that Sara had been, but also the sweetness of her innocent eyes. He'd come to the conclusion that she hadn't changed much, but he certainly admitted that she had changed indeed. She had grown up from a young girl into a beautiful young woman. "I definitely recognize you," he murmured, burying his face into her hair. "I've missed you, Sara."
"I've missed you, too," she whispered back.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her toward his house. "So how long are you back for?"
She shrugged. "For a while, I'm not sure how long I'll be here yet. I'll know in a few days."
"I hope it's a while," he declared. "I haven't seen you in four years."
She smiled. "I hope it'll be for a while, too."
~
"Hanazawa Rui!" she cried out. "Please!" she begged, running after him, but he still didn't stop. Instead, he seemed only to increase his pace and pull further and further away from her reach.
Tsukasa, who had been following both of them for a while, knew that if he really wanted to--- he could catch up to Rui for her. The problem was that he didn't really want to catch Rui for her. He was selfishly thinking that if Rui kept running away from Tsukushi, maybe she would turn to him for comfort. But the other problem was that seeing how hard she was trying and the desperation in her voice made him ache for her.
Finally, he had no other choice but to catch Tsukushi by the arm and stop her headlong flight to Rui. She quickly jerked her arm away from him and exclaimed in a hurt voice. "Why'd you do that, Tsukasa?" Haven't we hurt him enough?! I need to explain to him, okay?"
"I'm trying to tell you that I'm going to explain for you!" he shouted at her. "It's my fault, I should explain and I can catch up to him. Just trust me!"
She nodded, not really knowing why. It was the only sign he needed before he ran full speed after Rui's fading back. It took him a few minutes before he caught up to Rui, and by then they were both out of breath. He still managed however to grab Rui and jerk him around and glare at him. However, Rui's intense eyes caused Tsukasa relax his grip enough that Rui pushed easily pass Tsukasa. Tsukasa was about to grab him again when Rui whirled around and said in a cold voice, "How could you do that to me?"
Tsukasa grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him from moving away. "It's not what you think!"
"I saw you bending over her, your body covering hers," Rui stated in a harsh voice. "What am I suppose to think? It was my kind mind that said you and her were just kissing! You two could have very well been doing something else far more disgusting."
Tsukushi hadn't been able to just let Tsukasa go to Rui, she had followed and arrived in time to hear what Rui had said. "How could you say that about me?" she asked in a low, hurt voice. Walking slowly over to him, she slapped him across the face. "Believe what you want, I don't care anymore." She then turned and walked off.
Standing there paralyzed, Rui received the last blow when Tsukasa said softly, "Tsukushi didn't deserve a word of what you said. That was out of character for you, Rui. And I can't believe you said that about her after she told me so many nice things about you." Then he began to walk off, but before he was too far to be heard, he paused and swung his head around. "Just to let you know, she was hugging me because I was upset that she'd rejected me for you."
~
Another spiel of rumors were going around Eitoku again. There were whispers that Tsukushi had rejected Tsukasa. That Tsukasa had stormed off and that he was enraged and hurt. Thus, many girls had brought gifts and stuff, hoping to comfort his pain and catch him for themselves, since Tsukushi was no longer available. There was also the significant rumors that Akira had proposed to Shizuka last night, and that the great love of Soujirou's life had returned.
The whole student body was focused on when F4, Tsukushi, and Shizuka would arrive. When they finally arrived, their arrival caused new stirring of rumors because Shizuka hadn't come with the, Tsukushi was walking next to Tsukasa at the front of the group, and Rui was no where to be seen. Soujirou and Akira were also not laughing or joking as they normally would be. Everyone at Eitoku knew that something had happened, but they didn't know what exactly had happened. A ton of girls were upset though and they hoped that when Rui showed up, everything would be clarified.
"What do you think happened?" Yuki asked.
Makiko shrugged. "I have no idea. I'll agree with the consensus that something's happened though. I'm not sure what though. Doumyouji Tsukasa isn't in a bad mood, so maybe the one Makino Tsukushi rejected was Hanazawa Rui instead of Doumyouji Tsukasa."
"THIS IS TERRIBLE NEWS!" Kazuya screamed as he ran up to Makiko, one of the few people that was able to tolerate his adoration of Makino Tsukushi. "Why didn't she reject both of them if she was going to reject one of them? I would have been an excellent choice instead of them? Why can't she like me? Why can't she reject them for me?"
Makiko rolled her eyes up heavenward and ignored what he said and introduced, "I don't believe you've met Yuki. Yuki, this is Kazuya. Kazuya, this is Yuki."
Yuki nodded politely at Kazuya, who was oblivious to everything and ran off to find out more information about his precious Tsukushi. "That was strange."
"Kazuya's like that," Makiko explained. "He's been like that since elementary school. He just doesn't get that Makino Tsukushi has only ever seen him as a classmate, maybe as a friend at most."
"Well anyways," Yuki remarked, "I thought Hanazawa Rui and Makino Tsukushi had a special relationship. I thought they would have been pleased with their engagement."
Makiko shrugged again. "We'll have to see about it later. I'm sure someone will confirm or deny the current rumors."
Author: Yih
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please keep reviewing! And to let you guys know, I won't be updated until AFTER my Finals MOST likely: December 20th. It depends how fast I finish Chapter 8, which is what I'm writing right now. Thanks for your understanding, this is the longest gap between updates so far, sorry about that!
7: Great Misunderstandings (December 4, 2002 to December 7, 2002)
"I really like you, Tsukushi," Tsukasa said earnestly. "You're the only one that I've ever felt this way before."
Looking into his quite serious eyes, she believed him. It wasn't his words that made her believe him or even the seriousness in his eyes, but rather she had grown up with him and she knew that Tsukasa hadn't been mature enough to feel that way before. With that thought, a smile graced her lips as she said, "I know that, but I'm sure that you'll find someone else that likes you as much as you'll like her. You just have to be patient, Tsukasa."
He gave a ragged sigh and remarked, "I still don't understand why you like Rui better than me. But I'm not going to just give you to him," he grumbled. "He's going to have to put some effort into winning you from me! And if he hurts you, he'll hear from me!"
Tsukushi chuckled lightly. "You are such a silly boy."
He glared at her. "You're the silly one and the stupid one, falling for Hanazawa Rui instead of the great Doumyouji Tsukasa!"
She rolled her eyes up heavenwards. "You have an ego bigger than anything else about you. When are you going to grow out of it?"
He grinned at her and leaned his face over hers. "I don't need to get over it because my ego isn't as big as my jealousy. I'm extremely jealous that you like Rui. You know how I am. I am very jealous."
"And possessive as well," she added reflectively, grinning back at him, not the least bit intimidated by his deliberate attempt to make her cow. "And yes, I do know that you're very jealous. Who doesn't know that fact about you?"
He leaned his forehead against hers. "Why don't you like me? Why do you have to like Rui? I could make you so much happier than he could."
~
"Are you going to do something about Tsukasa trying to steal Tsukushi away from you or not?" Shizuka asked. "Because if you don't, you could lose her to him. It isn't unthinkable that Tsukasa couldn't get the engagement rearranged. His family as at least as prominent if not more so than your own. And you know how persistent Tsukasa is. He won't just stop even if Tsukushi says she doesn't like him."
"Do you want me to go talk to Tsukushi?" he inquired in an emotionless voice. "Would that make you feel better?"
"It'd make me feel better for your sake," she responded. "Aren't you even worried about losing her?"
"I trust her," Rui said simply. "But I'll go talk to her if that will make you feel better."
"That would. That would indeed make me feel better," she responded. "Are you going to talk to her now?" she queried when she saw that he was getting up from his lounging spot on the couch.
He nodded. "Might as well."
Since there were only two private rooms in this particular club, it wasn't hard to guess which room they were in talking to each other. So he went to the room and he was about to knock on the door when he noticed it wasn't even properly closed, so he pushed it open. It took him a while to see where Tsukushi and Tsukasa were in the room because they were in a corner.
He almost didn't see where Tsukushi was until he saw arms around Tsukasa's waist. He had thought it was strange that they were in a private room if they hadn't even shut the door. He soon realized why when he saw Tsukushi against the wall and Tsukasa covering her body with his own. He watched with fascination and pain as he saw Tsukasa lower his head even more, looking like he was going to kiss her. Disgusted at himself for watching, he left them to what they were doing.
Rui marched out of the room and through the crowds of people, ignoring what Akira and Soujirou were saying to him as he passed by their table. He finally stopped his headlong flight out of the club when Shizuka stood in front of him and asked, "What's wrong, Rui? Did you talk to Tsukushi? Sit down and tell me why you're upset."
He sat down, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he grabbed Akira's vodka and downed the entire glass. F2 and Shizuka watched him with concerned expressions, but they weren't about to ask him what was wrong. If Rui didn't want to tell them, then he wasn't going to tell them and if they kept pestering him, he'd just get up and leave. Then they'd never find out what was wrong with him.
~
"I don't know why I don't like you in that way," she answered, hugging him for the second time. "But I've always known I've liked Rui. I've always felt this special connection to him. Despite the face, he doesn't seem like he cares--- he does care. He's not entirely apathetic, even though he wants people to think that he doesn't care. And he has been a very good friend to you, Tsukasa."
"He has," he agreed stiffly. "He has been a good friend to me. But that still doesn't stop me from being jealous. That only means I won't pulverize him with my fists like that idiot Kazuya if he keeps hanging onto your arm like that."
"Kazuya is harmless," she remarked.
"I can't help my feelings for you," he said softly.
She smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "You can't help my feelings for Rui either. You should try to get use to it, okay?"
"I'll try," he replied.
"Let's go back now, since you've got your answer now." She took his hand and pulled him out of the private room and back to where F3 and Shizuka had been sitting during their conversation. "Sorry we took so long," she said apologetically, sitting down in her seat next to Rui.
As soon as she sat down, Rui got up from where he was sitting. "I've got to go," he declared." I'll see you guys tomorrow." He deliberately avoided Tsukushi's questioning eyes.
Tsukushi stood up and said, "I'm going as well."
"Don't bother," Rui said curtly. "You two won't need a private room when I'm gone." From the confused look on her face, he decided that further clarification was need and he gave it in a cold tone, "Don't act so innocently, Tsukushi. I saw you two kissing each other."
F2 and Shizuka looked at each other with absolute shock then looked at Tsukasa, who was not looking the least bit embarrassed or taken back by the statement. Instead, Tsukasa was looking as confused as Tsukushi, as if he didn't know what Rui was talking about. They knew that Rui just didn't make things up, so something was up.
"You were spying on us?" she exclaimed in outrage. He didn't even blink. All he did was turn around and start walking off. "Hanazawa Rui!" she called out after him. "Rui, you don't understand!"
She followed after him, and since Tsukushi was leaving--- Tsukasa also followed suit. Shizuka glanced at the empty bottle of vodka that Rui had guzzled and held her hand out to Akira. "I think this party has come to it's conclusion. Will you drive me home?"
He nodded. "Let's go." He glanced at Soujirou and asked, "Want me to meet you later at your favorite pub?"
Soujirou shook his head. "Shizuka's right. The festivities are over. I'm going to go home." He waved at them and watched them make their getaway together before finally leaving himself. As he was watching them go, he was thinking that Akira wasn't as happy as he thought Akira would be now that Shizuka had returned. Actually, it'd been a while since he'd seen Akira really happy.
He shook his head. He was glad he wasn't infatuated with any girls, though at the same time, he envied the rest of them for at least having someone they were crazy about. He didn't have anyone. That fact sobered him pretty good by the time he got home. He was tempted to go to a bar anyways and get sickeningly drunk when he saw a slim figure outside of the gates of his mansion.
He narrowed his eyes... it couldn't be... but it was. Sara was back.
~
"Jirou!" Sara called out to him. "I didn't know you were coming over today." He smiled at her. "Want to play house with me, since you're here?"
He shrugged. "Whatever you want to do is fine with me."
She took him by the hand and led him into her playroom. She sat him down on one of the little pink chairs, and she ran to get the necessary things to play house. He didn't really know why he was here because it wasn't like he wanted to play house, but he did like to be in her presence and that invariably meant playing house. It wasn't like he had anything better to do anyways. Akira and Shizuka were off talking together and Tsukasa was undoubtedly bothering Rui and Tsukushi, who sat in silence unless Tsukushi was telling Rui an amusing anecdote.
"Good morning sir," greeted Sara, who was now wearing a little maid uniform. "What would you like for breakfast?"
"Orange juice and toast," he requested politely.
She smiled at him and placed a pink plate with white flowers that lined the corners in front of him. On the plate, it had a plastic piece of toasted bread with a yellow cube that represented butter. He watched her as she then rain into the next room and then came back with a mismatched blue teacup that had some real orange juice in it. She was moving so quickly that she tripped over something on the floor and fell forward, the orange juice immediately spilling onto the floor.
He jumped up and managed to catch her before she fell on the floor, but he wasn't able to catch the teacup full with orange juice. Sara glanced at the spilled orange juice and her eyes filled with tears. "Mommy is going to be so upset with me again. She told me that I shouldn't play house with real juice if I can't be careful."
Pinching her cheek, he grabbed a towel and started cleaning up the spilled orange juice. "I'll call one of my maids to come over and clean this mess up before your mother ever finds out. She won't even be able to tell, so don't worry, okay? Just don't cry."
She nodded bravely. "Okay, Jirou. I don't know what I'd do without you." He blushed when she kissed him on the cheeks. "Do you want ice cream? My mommy bought it yesterday. I told her to get mocha because I know it's your favorite flavor. But we'll have to eat it in the kitchen because it's easier to clean up if I make a mess."
"Okay. I'd really like that. Why don't you get the ice cream ready, while I call my house for a maid?" he suggested. She grinned and skipped happily out of the room. He dialed his house with his cell. "Hi, it's Soujirou. I need a maid to come to Sara's house."
"One or more?"
"Only one this time," he responded. "Tell her that she needs to bring something that can remove orange juice. And tell my parents I'll call them tomorrow morning."
"Okay, master. Is that all?"
"For now, yes."
~
He got out of the car and stood there for a long while, just looking at her. "Sarah," he finally whispered her name.
She broke out into one of her wonderful smiles, and she ran toward him, leaping into his opened arms. "For a minute, I thought you didn't recognize me."
He pulled away from her slightly and gave her a thorough look over. It wasn't only the smile that reminded him of the cute little girl that Sara had been, but also the sweetness of her innocent eyes. He'd come to the conclusion that she hadn't changed much, but he certainly admitted that she had changed indeed. She had grown up from a young girl into a beautiful young woman. "I definitely recognize you," he murmured, burying his face into her hair. "I've missed you, Sara."
"I've missed you, too," she whispered back.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her toward his house. "So how long are you back for?"
She shrugged. "For a while, I'm not sure how long I'll be here yet. I'll know in a few days."
"I hope it's a while," he declared. "I haven't seen you in four years."
She smiled. "I hope it'll be for a while, too."
~
"Hanazawa Rui!" she cried out. "Please!" she begged, running after him, but he still didn't stop. Instead, he seemed only to increase his pace and pull further and further away from her reach.
Tsukasa, who had been following both of them for a while, knew that if he really wanted to--- he could catch up to Rui for her. The problem was that he didn't really want to catch Rui for her. He was selfishly thinking that if Rui kept running away from Tsukushi, maybe she would turn to him for comfort. But the other problem was that seeing how hard she was trying and the desperation in her voice made him ache for her.
Finally, he had no other choice but to catch Tsukushi by the arm and stop her headlong flight to Rui. She quickly jerked her arm away from him and exclaimed in a hurt voice. "Why'd you do that, Tsukasa?" Haven't we hurt him enough?! I need to explain to him, okay?"
"I'm trying to tell you that I'm going to explain for you!" he shouted at her. "It's my fault, I should explain and I can catch up to him. Just trust me!"
She nodded, not really knowing why. It was the only sign he needed before he ran full speed after Rui's fading back. It took him a few minutes before he caught up to Rui, and by then they were both out of breath. He still managed however to grab Rui and jerk him around and glare at him. However, Rui's intense eyes caused Tsukasa relax his grip enough that Rui pushed easily pass Tsukasa. Tsukasa was about to grab him again when Rui whirled around and said in a cold voice, "How could you do that to me?"
Tsukasa grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him from moving away. "It's not what you think!"
"I saw you bending over her, your body covering hers," Rui stated in a harsh voice. "What am I suppose to think? It was my kind mind that said you and her were just kissing! You two could have very well been doing something else far more disgusting."
Tsukushi hadn't been able to just let Tsukasa go to Rui, she had followed and arrived in time to hear what Rui had said. "How could you say that about me?" she asked in a low, hurt voice. Walking slowly over to him, she slapped him across the face. "Believe what you want, I don't care anymore." She then turned and walked off.
Standing there paralyzed, Rui received the last blow when Tsukasa said softly, "Tsukushi didn't deserve a word of what you said. That was out of character for you, Rui. And I can't believe you said that about her after she told me so many nice things about you." Then he began to walk off, but before he was too far to be heard, he paused and swung his head around. "Just to let you know, she was hugging me because I was upset that she'd rejected me for you."
~
Another spiel of rumors were going around Eitoku again. There were whispers that Tsukushi had rejected Tsukasa. That Tsukasa had stormed off and that he was enraged and hurt. Thus, many girls had brought gifts and stuff, hoping to comfort his pain and catch him for themselves, since Tsukushi was no longer available. There was also the significant rumors that Akira had proposed to Shizuka last night, and that the great love of Soujirou's life had returned.
The whole student body was focused on when F4, Tsukushi, and Shizuka would arrive. When they finally arrived, their arrival caused new stirring of rumors because Shizuka hadn't come with the, Tsukushi was walking next to Tsukasa at the front of the group, and Rui was no where to be seen. Soujirou and Akira were also not laughing or joking as they normally would be. Everyone at Eitoku knew that something had happened, but they didn't know what exactly had happened. A ton of girls were upset though and they hoped that when Rui showed up, everything would be clarified.
"What do you think happened?" Yuki asked.
Makiko shrugged. "I have no idea. I'll agree with the consensus that something's happened though. I'm not sure what though. Doumyouji Tsukasa isn't in a bad mood, so maybe the one Makino Tsukushi rejected was Hanazawa Rui instead of Doumyouji Tsukasa."
"THIS IS TERRIBLE NEWS!" Kazuya screamed as he ran up to Makiko, one of the few people that was able to tolerate his adoration of Makino Tsukushi. "Why didn't she reject both of them if she was going to reject one of them? I would have been an excellent choice instead of them? Why can't she like me? Why can't she reject them for me?"
Makiko rolled her eyes up heavenward and ignored what he said and introduced, "I don't believe you've met Yuki. Yuki, this is Kazuya. Kazuya, this is Yuki."
Yuki nodded politely at Kazuya, who was oblivious to everything and ran off to find out more information about his precious Tsukushi. "That was strange."
"Kazuya's like that," Makiko explained. "He's been like that since elementary school. He just doesn't get that Makino Tsukushi has only ever seen him as a classmate, maybe as a friend at most."
"Well anyways," Yuki remarked, "I thought Hanazawa Rui and Makino Tsukushi had a special relationship. I thought they would have been pleased with their engagement."
Makiko shrugged again. "We'll have to see about it later. I'm sure someone will confirm or deny the current rumors."