Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)
Author: Yih
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please keep reviewing! There's a more important note at the end of the chapter. Please read it!
8: Seeking Forgiveness (December 8, 2002 to December 12, 2002)
He had actually woken up early, sending his servants into a flurry of activities, since they didn't expect him to be up until 8 at the earliest. And since they had noted the bad mood he'd been in when he'd arrived home last night, they hadn't been really expecting him up until noon. But he'd gotten up early, even earlier then when he was trying to catch Tsukushi on her way to school. He woke up at 6 exactly.
He'd gotten up because there were things he needed to think about, especially that instant last night and the revelation Tsukasa had informed him of. The more he thought about it, the more strange he considered the bit of information Tsukasa had informed him of. It wasn't like Tsukasa to volunteer information like that, especially if it didn't help his case with Tsukushi. And Tsukasa was also incapable of lying, which was why as he thought more and more about everything, he felt terrible.
No wonder, she had slapped him. No wonder, she had had that hurt look on her face. No wonder, she hadn't returned any of his calls. He'd been a complete and utter imbecile, and he didn't know what he could do to seek her forgiveness. When they were children, it's been easy. But he didn't think this time, it'd be so easy. That was the reason he'd gotten up early- -- to think and ponder his next move. It hadn't help, which was why it was approaching noon and he still hadn't gone to class yet.
He'd actually gotten out of bed, changed, and eaten breakfast--- all prepared to meet her early at school. But just as he had been about to leave, he'd chickened out and headed back into his room. His servants knew better than to bother him once he'd retreated into his sanctuary. There he'd stayed for four hours, staring at the white walls in his room. His eyes were burning. What was he going to do?
~
"That was unlike you, Rui," Shizuka murmured as she sat down next to him on the balcony outside of his room. "Why did you shout at her when she was trying to explain to you what was going on? It's more like you to just ignore her when you're mad at her. Tell me what's wrong."
"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered, turning his face away from her direction.
But avoiding Shizuka when she had her mind set on something wasn't easy to do. She placed her hands on both of his shoulders. "Haven't I always told you that it's better to talk things out loud rather than to keep things inside?"
He shrugged, then sighed heavily. "I lost control of myself."
"Why is that?" she asked softly. Shizuka was slightly afraid that she was pushing him too hard to the point where he'd decide not to speak anymore. But if she didn't, then she'd never hear the reason either.
"She's always helping other people, and she's always forgetting to meet me when she promises," Rui responded lamely. He knew his anger was uncalled for, but he disliked not having Tsukushi's attentions.
Shizuka was tempted to chuckle at his jealousy. Rui really wasn't as different from Tsukasa as he thought himself to be. "You know, she has a very unselfish personality, and you like her for that reason. You really should apologize to her for raising your voice to her. That wasn't right of you to do that."
"I know," he murmured softly. If there was one big difference in Rui and Tsukasa, other than their obvious personality differences, it was that Rui accepted when he was so obviously wrong where Tsukasa blindly persisted in his opinion.
Following Shizuka's advice, Rui met Tsukushi at school early the next morning. When she arrived and saw him, she walked up to him immediately with a questioning expression. He wasn't the only one who was amazed he was up this early, she was too. He smiled at her and handed her a brown bag and explained, "There are cookies inside that I made you because I had no right to yell at you like that. I'm sorry, Tsukushi."
She opened the bag, still not having said anything. She reached in, grabbed a cookie, and then shoved one into Rui's mouth, since he'd opened his mouth to say something and then close it without saying anything. She then grinned at his stunned look. "I accept your apology. Eat a cookie!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "I should apologize as well," she admitted, while he bit a part of the cookie away and chewed thoughtfully. "I didn't mean to be late. It just happened."
He nodded and put the rest of the cookie he'd bitten into her still rambling mouth. He wiped the crumbs off of his hands and commented, "These are really good, you should try it." She gave him the same look he gave her as he continued, "Did you know I actually made these?" Her eyes widened and he kissed her forehead. "Don't eat too much. You know what Susumu says about your excess fat."
She glared at him. "Hanazawa Rui, go to class!"
~
"I told you, you should have engaged her to Doumyouji Tsukasa instead of Hanazawa Rui," retorted Tsukushi's father. "Then she wouldn't have come home in the middle of the night last night upset and declare that she wanted to break the engagement with him."
Her mother glared at her husband. "She was fine with the engagement for several days after I announced it to her! It must be something else!" Her eyes widened after what she'd just said, and she immediately seized upon her idea. "Yes, it must be something else! She'd never reject Hanazawa Rui! She adores the boy!"
"Well, she rejected Hanazawa Rui just the night before," he commented. "So anything is definitely possible. Besides, who else would she reject Hanazawa Rui for but Doumyouji Tsukasa? I think that Tsukasa must have confessed his feelings for her and Tsukushi must have fallen head over heels in love with him, thus she had to break the engagement you arranged!
"And," he continued dramatically, "it doesn't really matter who she ends up with anyways, both of them are rich, good-looking, and well Hanazawa Rui is intelligent and Doumyouji Tsukasa is average, but both come from good families!"
His wife clapped her hands, excited by what her husband was saying. "You're right, it doesn't matter who she ends up with! You know that Mimasaka Akira has twin sisters that are about Susumu's age. Wouldn't that be perfect to ally ourselves to two of the 4 F4 families? And think if Toudou Shizuka married Mimasaka Akira and Susumu married one of Akira's sisters, we'd be related to three of the Top 5 families!" She swooned and her husband managed to grab her before she fell to the ground.
"Quite right!" he agreed with equal enthusiasm. "Quite right!"
~
After making up his mind to go see Tsukushi, he trudged up the stairs tow here they always met at lunchtime. HE didn't really expect with 100% certainty to find her, but he was pleasantly surprised when he saw her familiar figure. His joy was only momentary, and it soon faded when he saw another equally familiar figure next to her. He hid himself to the side and strained his hears to hear what they were talking about.
"So this is where you come to with Rui," commented Tsukasa. "I'd always wondered where you and he ran off to for lunch almost everyday."
"Why did you follow me here?" she inquired, her voice neither upset or condemning.
He placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her around to face him. "I know you're hurting because of what Rui said to you yesterday, and is it bad that I'm worried about you?"
She shook her head and smiled at him. "You know, you're not as dumb as you appear to be. You're quite smart."
He glared at her. "I've told you have to so many times, dumb girl!"
Sighing to himself, Rui leaned back against the wall, significantly relieved. He was able to tune out the rest of the conversation safely and think that Tsukushi wasn't treating Tsukasa as anything more than as a friend. He decided as soon as Tsukasa was gone, he'd go to Tsukushi and ask for her forgiveness.
"Do you want me to get you something to eat?" Tsukasa asked.
She shook her head. "No, I'll go down with you and eat with you guys in the cafeteria. It's been a while since I've seen Sara."
Tsukasa nodded and offered her his hand, which she hesitated before finally taking it. From his hiding spot, Rui slid to the ground. He hadn't thought that Tsukushi would leave with Tsukasa when Tsukasa left. He guessed he'd have to catch Tsukushi at the end of school then. That was the last option he had. He knew that Akira usually drove her to school, so he'd offer to drive her back home. That would give them plenty of time to talk. Hopefully, things would work out.
~
"It's been so long since I've seen you!" Tsukushi exclaimed, hugging Sara warmly. "What are you doing back?" she asked. "How long are you staying?"
Sara hugged her back enthusiastically. "I've missed you too. I'm back for a while. It depends on how things go on how long I stay." Tsukushi caught Sara's brief glance toward Soujirou, but he didn't seem to notice it. "But I'm definitely going to be here for a while, that's for sure."
"We should all go out tonight!" Tsukasa announced. "Me and Tsukushi, Shizuka and Akira, and you and Soujirou!"
Everyone turned to the quite excited Tsukasa with a dubious look on their faces. Shizuka was finally the one that spoke out their concerns, "What about Rui?"
Tsukasa, as well as everyone else, looked expectantly at Tsukushi, who shrugged. "I doesn't matter to me if he comes or not. It's his decision."
"What happened between you and Rui?" Sara asked. When everyone gave her a look that screamed: WHAT WAS SHE DOING, Sara backed up a step with alarm.
Tsukushi, however, gave her a comforting smile and said a reprimand at the rest, "How could Sara have known what happened? If I were in her situation, I'd like to know what's going on instead of remaining ignorant." Tsukushi paused and then turned toward Sara and started to explain, "Our parents arranged en engagement between the two of us, however long back, I do not know. Anyways, we found out a few days ago and things have hardly been smooth."
"Oh," Sara responded, "I always thought you and Rui would have been such a cute couple. I hope you work your problems out."
Tsukushi shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I called off the engagement." She glanced around at the stunned look on everyone's faces and remarked, "I want some ice cream, does anyone want some?"
Akira stood up from where he was sitting next to Shizuka and offered her his hand. She took his hand, and he led her to the part of the cafeteria where they sold ice cream. When they left, Soujirou quickly looked at Tsukasa, "What happened last night?"
"Rui thought he saw us kissing," Tsukasa replied.
Soujirou burst out laughing. "You and Tsukushi? Kissing?!"
Tsukasa had an irritated look on his face. "What are you staying, Soujirou? And why the hell are you laughing like a crazy person?"
It took a while before Soujirou was able to calm down enough to answer him. Even Sara and Shizuka had given in to their laughter, which only made Tsukasa's face redder. "Well," Soujirou drawled, "you're hardly the type to be kissing on the sly. If I'm not mistaken, don't you still have virgin lips, virgin boy?"
Tsukasa blushed hotly, but he did manage to retort, "I have kissed someone before!"
"Your mother and your sister do not count," Soujirou stated firmly. "And I mean serious kissing: on the lips, French kissing, etc. The closest you've gotten is when Tsukushi and Shizuka kiss you on the forehead!"
By this time, Tsukasa had turned a bright crimson color, but the fact he didn't open his mouth to say anything was quite telling. He couldn't lie, so when he didn't say anything that was his answer. All three of them started laughing even harder, while Tsukasa looked at them with a highly vexed expression. When Akira and Tsukushi finally arrived back at the table with their ice cream, they had confused looks on their faces that asked what had they missed out on?
"I think we need a demonstration of what a real kiss is like!" Soujirou exclaimed. "Any volunteers?" He looked around and his gaze finally settled on Akira and Shizuka, who were sharing the ice cream Akira had gotten. "How about Shizuka and Akira giving Tsukasa a demonstration of a real kiss?"
They look at each other almost shyly. Then Akira suggested instead, "Why don't you kiss Sara?"
Sara glanced at Soujirou, and they both blushed. The rest of them look at the two of them, and they were happy to see them finally together again. Even though, Soujirou had never mentioned missing Sarah, they knew he had definitely missed her. He and Sara were like Tsukushi and Rui, their friendship was deep and true and lasting. Everyone definitely noticed a change as sublte as it was in Soujirou's happy face. He was normally cheerful, but there was an easier aura coming from his happiness now.
"How about we take the day off?" Tsukushi remarked, coming from the girl that was the antithesis of F4. "It's been a while since Sara was here, we should show her around."
~
From where Rui was perched, he saw F3, Tsukushi, Sara, and Shizuka heading toward the parking lot which meant one thing--- they were leaving. He quickly rushed from where he was and ran after them, thinking he had to catch her before she left. He had to give her his apology and patch up their relationship back together again. He didn't want her to continue to be upset with him. He needed her.
That epiphany nearly made him stop, but he quickly started up again when he saw her about to get into Tsukasa's car. It caused him to shout, "Tsukushi!"
It was the first time she had heard in years Rui actually raising his voice to anyone, and if she wasn't mistaken, the last time had been at her too. He had been upset that she always came late to meet him because she was helping other people out. She had her hand on the door of Tsukasa's sports car. She was tempted to forget what he had said yesterday and forgive him, but if she did, he'd just assume he could treat her badly like Tsukasa had in the beginning when she had relented.
So she opened the door and got into the sports car. She saw from the side mirror, Rui running after her, calling her name. If what he said yesterday hadn't happened, she'd have been overjoyed that he was coming out of his shell. But yesterday had happened and his words yesterday had hurt her worse than any physical torment that Tsukasa had put her through.
"Let's go," she told Tsukasa in a lighthearted fashion.
He glanced at her, then glanced back at the approaching Rui. "Are you sure you want to go?" he asked. She nodded and he accelerated the car. "Where to?"
"Do you remember where Soujirou's favorite club is? That's where Sara and Shizuka decided to go because it has larger private rooms," she answered.
Reaching into his pockets, Rui took out his keys and ran to his car. He almost didn't believe that Tsukushi wasn't willing to hear him out. But he knew what he'd said yesterday was cruel. But he had to make it up to her. He had to because--- because she meant so much to him.
~
"This is certainly interesting, "remarked Makiko. "Hanazawa Rui is normally passive to the point where he never shows any emotion." But from what she'd just seen had astonished her as much as it was making waves through the student body. Everyone was talking about it.
Before she knew it, Kazuya had pounced on her and started chattering his worries about his Tsukushi as normal, "Do you really think that Tsukasa and Tsukushi are together? Because if they aren't, and she's rejected Rui--- that means, I can date her for myself! KYAAA!"
Makiko shook her head and was thankful when she saw Yuki approaching them. "How was your exam?" she inquired, pointedly ignoring Kazuya and because she knew Yuki had had an important exam today that she had been worried all week about.
"It went fine!" Yuki responded cheerfully. "Kazuya really helped me when he tutored me last night." She turned to him and smiled prettily. "Thank you so much, Kazuya! You were so kind to tutor me."
He blushed and waved his hand like it was nothing. "I was glad that I was able to help you out. I was afraid that I wasn't very coherent in my explanations."
"You were very clear and helpful," she insisted. "Thank you so much."
Intrigued by the blush on Kazuya's face and the cheerful smile on Yuki's, Makiko wondered if there might possibly be something going on other than just the facade of tutoring. She thought that they'd make a cute and realistic couple if Kazuya was able to get over his obsession with Makino Tsukushi. That however was a big if, but as she watched them interact, Kazuya was amazingly attentive to Yuki, so it was a possibility. Definitely a possibility.
Author's Note: I'm probably passed the halfway point. I could probably wrap up the story soon, but there's a twist in Ch.9 (which has taken me such a long time to write, b/c I was trying to write a bit between finals) that has made it not quite the end. There's also the problem that I'm getting a little bored with this story. I'm getting bored writing HYD/MG fanfics and I'm getting ready to move to another fandom soon, most likely Fruit Basket. Your support has been great, but don't be surprise if I don't update for a while. Thank you!
Author: Yih
Author Note: Thank you so much for your support! Please keep reviewing! There's a more important note at the end of the chapter. Please read it!
8: Seeking Forgiveness (December 8, 2002 to December 12, 2002)
He had actually woken up early, sending his servants into a flurry of activities, since they didn't expect him to be up until 8 at the earliest. And since they had noted the bad mood he'd been in when he'd arrived home last night, they hadn't been really expecting him up until noon. But he'd gotten up early, even earlier then when he was trying to catch Tsukushi on her way to school. He woke up at 6 exactly.
He'd gotten up because there were things he needed to think about, especially that instant last night and the revelation Tsukasa had informed him of. The more he thought about it, the more strange he considered the bit of information Tsukasa had informed him of. It wasn't like Tsukasa to volunteer information like that, especially if it didn't help his case with Tsukushi. And Tsukasa was also incapable of lying, which was why as he thought more and more about everything, he felt terrible.
No wonder, she had slapped him. No wonder, she had had that hurt look on her face. No wonder, she hadn't returned any of his calls. He'd been a complete and utter imbecile, and he didn't know what he could do to seek her forgiveness. When they were children, it's been easy. But he didn't think this time, it'd be so easy. That was the reason he'd gotten up early- -- to think and ponder his next move. It hadn't help, which was why it was approaching noon and he still hadn't gone to class yet.
He'd actually gotten out of bed, changed, and eaten breakfast--- all prepared to meet her early at school. But just as he had been about to leave, he'd chickened out and headed back into his room. His servants knew better than to bother him once he'd retreated into his sanctuary. There he'd stayed for four hours, staring at the white walls in his room. His eyes were burning. What was he going to do?
~
"That was unlike you, Rui," Shizuka murmured as she sat down next to him on the balcony outside of his room. "Why did you shout at her when she was trying to explain to you what was going on? It's more like you to just ignore her when you're mad at her. Tell me what's wrong."
"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered, turning his face away from her direction.
But avoiding Shizuka when she had her mind set on something wasn't easy to do. She placed her hands on both of his shoulders. "Haven't I always told you that it's better to talk things out loud rather than to keep things inside?"
He shrugged, then sighed heavily. "I lost control of myself."
"Why is that?" she asked softly. Shizuka was slightly afraid that she was pushing him too hard to the point where he'd decide not to speak anymore. But if she didn't, then she'd never hear the reason either.
"She's always helping other people, and she's always forgetting to meet me when she promises," Rui responded lamely. He knew his anger was uncalled for, but he disliked not having Tsukushi's attentions.
Shizuka was tempted to chuckle at his jealousy. Rui really wasn't as different from Tsukasa as he thought himself to be. "You know, she has a very unselfish personality, and you like her for that reason. You really should apologize to her for raising your voice to her. That wasn't right of you to do that."
"I know," he murmured softly. If there was one big difference in Rui and Tsukasa, other than their obvious personality differences, it was that Rui accepted when he was so obviously wrong where Tsukasa blindly persisted in his opinion.
Following Shizuka's advice, Rui met Tsukushi at school early the next morning. When she arrived and saw him, she walked up to him immediately with a questioning expression. He wasn't the only one who was amazed he was up this early, she was too. He smiled at her and handed her a brown bag and explained, "There are cookies inside that I made you because I had no right to yell at you like that. I'm sorry, Tsukushi."
She opened the bag, still not having said anything. She reached in, grabbed a cookie, and then shoved one into Rui's mouth, since he'd opened his mouth to say something and then close it without saying anything. She then grinned at his stunned look. "I accept your apology. Eat a cookie!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "I should apologize as well," she admitted, while he bit a part of the cookie away and chewed thoughtfully. "I didn't mean to be late. It just happened."
He nodded and put the rest of the cookie he'd bitten into her still rambling mouth. He wiped the crumbs off of his hands and commented, "These are really good, you should try it." She gave him the same look he gave her as he continued, "Did you know I actually made these?" Her eyes widened and he kissed her forehead. "Don't eat too much. You know what Susumu says about your excess fat."
She glared at him. "Hanazawa Rui, go to class!"
~
"I told you, you should have engaged her to Doumyouji Tsukasa instead of Hanazawa Rui," retorted Tsukushi's father. "Then she wouldn't have come home in the middle of the night last night upset and declare that she wanted to break the engagement with him."
Her mother glared at her husband. "She was fine with the engagement for several days after I announced it to her! It must be something else!" Her eyes widened after what she'd just said, and she immediately seized upon her idea. "Yes, it must be something else! She'd never reject Hanazawa Rui! She adores the boy!"
"Well, she rejected Hanazawa Rui just the night before," he commented. "So anything is definitely possible. Besides, who else would she reject Hanazawa Rui for but Doumyouji Tsukasa? I think that Tsukasa must have confessed his feelings for her and Tsukushi must have fallen head over heels in love with him, thus she had to break the engagement you arranged!
"And," he continued dramatically, "it doesn't really matter who she ends up with anyways, both of them are rich, good-looking, and well Hanazawa Rui is intelligent and Doumyouji Tsukasa is average, but both come from good families!"
His wife clapped her hands, excited by what her husband was saying. "You're right, it doesn't matter who she ends up with! You know that Mimasaka Akira has twin sisters that are about Susumu's age. Wouldn't that be perfect to ally ourselves to two of the 4 F4 families? And think if Toudou Shizuka married Mimasaka Akira and Susumu married one of Akira's sisters, we'd be related to three of the Top 5 families!" She swooned and her husband managed to grab her before she fell to the ground.
"Quite right!" he agreed with equal enthusiasm. "Quite right!"
~
After making up his mind to go see Tsukushi, he trudged up the stairs tow here they always met at lunchtime. HE didn't really expect with 100% certainty to find her, but he was pleasantly surprised when he saw her familiar figure. His joy was only momentary, and it soon faded when he saw another equally familiar figure next to her. He hid himself to the side and strained his hears to hear what they were talking about.
"So this is where you come to with Rui," commented Tsukasa. "I'd always wondered where you and he ran off to for lunch almost everyday."
"Why did you follow me here?" she inquired, her voice neither upset or condemning.
He placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her around to face him. "I know you're hurting because of what Rui said to you yesterday, and is it bad that I'm worried about you?"
She shook her head and smiled at him. "You know, you're not as dumb as you appear to be. You're quite smart."
He glared at her. "I've told you have to so many times, dumb girl!"
Sighing to himself, Rui leaned back against the wall, significantly relieved. He was able to tune out the rest of the conversation safely and think that Tsukushi wasn't treating Tsukasa as anything more than as a friend. He decided as soon as Tsukasa was gone, he'd go to Tsukushi and ask for her forgiveness.
"Do you want me to get you something to eat?" Tsukasa asked.
She shook her head. "No, I'll go down with you and eat with you guys in the cafeteria. It's been a while since I've seen Sara."
Tsukasa nodded and offered her his hand, which she hesitated before finally taking it. From his hiding spot, Rui slid to the ground. He hadn't thought that Tsukushi would leave with Tsukasa when Tsukasa left. He guessed he'd have to catch Tsukushi at the end of school then. That was the last option he had. He knew that Akira usually drove her to school, so he'd offer to drive her back home. That would give them plenty of time to talk. Hopefully, things would work out.
~
"It's been so long since I've seen you!" Tsukushi exclaimed, hugging Sara warmly. "What are you doing back?" she asked. "How long are you staying?"
Sara hugged her back enthusiastically. "I've missed you too. I'm back for a while. It depends on how things go on how long I stay." Tsukushi caught Sara's brief glance toward Soujirou, but he didn't seem to notice it. "But I'm definitely going to be here for a while, that's for sure."
"We should all go out tonight!" Tsukasa announced. "Me and Tsukushi, Shizuka and Akira, and you and Soujirou!"
Everyone turned to the quite excited Tsukasa with a dubious look on their faces. Shizuka was finally the one that spoke out their concerns, "What about Rui?"
Tsukasa, as well as everyone else, looked expectantly at Tsukushi, who shrugged. "I doesn't matter to me if he comes or not. It's his decision."
"What happened between you and Rui?" Sara asked. When everyone gave her a look that screamed: WHAT WAS SHE DOING, Sara backed up a step with alarm.
Tsukushi, however, gave her a comforting smile and said a reprimand at the rest, "How could Sara have known what happened? If I were in her situation, I'd like to know what's going on instead of remaining ignorant." Tsukushi paused and then turned toward Sara and started to explain, "Our parents arranged en engagement between the two of us, however long back, I do not know. Anyways, we found out a few days ago and things have hardly been smooth."
"Oh," Sara responded, "I always thought you and Rui would have been such a cute couple. I hope you work your problems out."
Tsukushi shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I called off the engagement." She glanced around at the stunned look on everyone's faces and remarked, "I want some ice cream, does anyone want some?"
Akira stood up from where he was sitting next to Shizuka and offered her his hand. She took his hand, and he led her to the part of the cafeteria where they sold ice cream. When they left, Soujirou quickly looked at Tsukasa, "What happened last night?"
"Rui thought he saw us kissing," Tsukasa replied.
Soujirou burst out laughing. "You and Tsukushi? Kissing?!"
Tsukasa had an irritated look on his face. "What are you staying, Soujirou? And why the hell are you laughing like a crazy person?"
It took a while before Soujirou was able to calm down enough to answer him. Even Sara and Shizuka had given in to their laughter, which only made Tsukasa's face redder. "Well," Soujirou drawled, "you're hardly the type to be kissing on the sly. If I'm not mistaken, don't you still have virgin lips, virgin boy?"
Tsukasa blushed hotly, but he did manage to retort, "I have kissed someone before!"
"Your mother and your sister do not count," Soujirou stated firmly. "And I mean serious kissing: on the lips, French kissing, etc. The closest you've gotten is when Tsukushi and Shizuka kiss you on the forehead!"
By this time, Tsukasa had turned a bright crimson color, but the fact he didn't open his mouth to say anything was quite telling. He couldn't lie, so when he didn't say anything that was his answer. All three of them started laughing even harder, while Tsukasa looked at them with a highly vexed expression. When Akira and Tsukushi finally arrived back at the table with their ice cream, they had confused looks on their faces that asked what had they missed out on?
"I think we need a demonstration of what a real kiss is like!" Soujirou exclaimed. "Any volunteers?" He looked around and his gaze finally settled on Akira and Shizuka, who were sharing the ice cream Akira had gotten. "How about Shizuka and Akira giving Tsukasa a demonstration of a real kiss?"
They look at each other almost shyly. Then Akira suggested instead, "Why don't you kiss Sara?"
Sara glanced at Soujirou, and they both blushed. The rest of them look at the two of them, and they were happy to see them finally together again. Even though, Soujirou had never mentioned missing Sarah, they knew he had definitely missed her. He and Sara were like Tsukushi and Rui, their friendship was deep and true and lasting. Everyone definitely noticed a change as sublte as it was in Soujirou's happy face. He was normally cheerful, but there was an easier aura coming from his happiness now.
"How about we take the day off?" Tsukushi remarked, coming from the girl that was the antithesis of F4. "It's been a while since Sara was here, we should show her around."
~
From where Rui was perched, he saw F3, Tsukushi, Sara, and Shizuka heading toward the parking lot which meant one thing--- they were leaving. He quickly rushed from where he was and ran after them, thinking he had to catch her before she left. He had to give her his apology and patch up their relationship back together again. He didn't want her to continue to be upset with him. He needed her.
That epiphany nearly made him stop, but he quickly started up again when he saw her about to get into Tsukasa's car. It caused him to shout, "Tsukushi!"
It was the first time she had heard in years Rui actually raising his voice to anyone, and if she wasn't mistaken, the last time had been at her too. He had been upset that she always came late to meet him because she was helping other people out. She had her hand on the door of Tsukasa's sports car. She was tempted to forget what he had said yesterday and forgive him, but if she did, he'd just assume he could treat her badly like Tsukasa had in the beginning when she had relented.
So she opened the door and got into the sports car. She saw from the side mirror, Rui running after her, calling her name. If what he said yesterday hadn't happened, she'd have been overjoyed that he was coming out of his shell. But yesterday had happened and his words yesterday had hurt her worse than any physical torment that Tsukasa had put her through.
"Let's go," she told Tsukasa in a lighthearted fashion.
He glanced at her, then glanced back at the approaching Rui. "Are you sure you want to go?" he asked. She nodded and he accelerated the car. "Where to?"
"Do you remember where Soujirou's favorite club is? That's where Sara and Shizuka decided to go because it has larger private rooms," she answered.
Reaching into his pockets, Rui took out his keys and ran to his car. He almost didn't believe that Tsukushi wasn't willing to hear him out. But he knew what he'd said yesterday was cruel. But he had to make it up to her. He had to because--- because she meant so much to him.
~
"This is certainly interesting, "remarked Makiko. "Hanazawa Rui is normally passive to the point where he never shows any emotion." But from what she'd just seen had astonished her as much as it was making waves through the student body. Everyone was talking about it.
Before she knew it, Kazuya had pounced on her and started chattering his worries about his Tsukushi as normal, "Do you really think that Tsukasa and Tsukushi are together? Because if they aren't, and she's rejected Rui--- that means, I can date her for myself! KYAAA!"
Makiko shook her head and was thankful when she saw Yuki approaching them. "How was your exam?" she inquired, pointedly ignoring Kazuya and because she knew Yuki had had an important exam today that she had been worried all week about.
"It went fine!" Yuki responded cheerfully. "Kazuya really helped me when he tutored me last night." She turned to him and smiled prettily. "Thank you so much, Kazuya! You were so kind to tutor me."
He blushed and waved his hand like it was nothing. "I was glad that I was able to help you out. I was afraid that I wasn't very coherent in my explanations."
"You were very clear and helpful," she insisted. "Thank you so much."
Intrigued by the blush on Kazuya's face and the cheerful smile on Yuki's, Makiko wondered if there might possibly be something going on other than just the facade of tutoring. She thought that they'd make a cute and realistic couple if Kazuya was able to get over his obsession with Makino Tsukushi. That however was a big if, but as she watched them interact, Kazuya was amazingly attentive to Yuki, so it was a possibility. Definitely a possibility.
Author's Note: I'm probably passed the halfway point. I could probably wrap up the story soon, but there's a twist in Ch.9 (which has taken me such a long time to write, b/c I was trying to write a bit between finals) that has made it not quite the end. There's also the problem that I'm getting a little bored with this story. I'm getting bored writing HYD/MG fanfics and I'm getting ready to move to another fandom soon, most likely Fruit Basket. Your support has been great, but don't be surprise if I don't update for a while. Thank you!