Title: Flower Garden (A Hana Yori Dango AU)
Author: Yih
18: Volatile Circumstances (March 4, 2003 to March 29, 2003)
She had managed to catch an earlier flight. Unfortunately, no one had been able to see her off. They were all busy. It was better this way because if they all gave her that sorrowful expression telling her that they didn't want her to leave, she didn't know if she could manage to leave. She was relieved to have gotten an earlier flight that allowed her to run from her controlling family and her lifestyle in Japan back to the life that she adored in France.
As she passed her boarding slip to the flight attendant, she gave on final look back and was glad that no one had come to see her off. She had called Rui and Tsukushi first to tell them she wouldn't be there when they got back because she was returning to France. Then she'd called Soujirou and chatted with him briefly--- still frantically searching for Sara, after that she'd contacted Tsubaki and Tsukasa. Tsubaki had been a bit let down that she wouldn't be stopping in New York, but Shizuka had promised to drop by when she got settled in.
The last person she contacted was Akira--- for him she left a voice message. He wasn't answering her calls.
~
"My son and my heir doesn't need to be with someone that rejected him! He can find someone better than her!" the Head of Hanazawa exclaimed. "And we will find someone better than her! The only reason we even agreed to this arrangement was because of their affection. But since your daughter has made it clear that she does not want to be with MY son and MY heir, I will not give her another chance. Your family is beneath us anyways! You are the new rich, not truly of high class."
Rui's father wasn't the only one shaking with anger, indeed Tsukushi's mother was none to please with his declaration of their family's inferiority to the blue-blooded Hanazawa's. If it wasn't for her husband holding her back, Tsukushi didn't want to even think what her mother would have done. Not that she blamed her, how could Rui's father be this rigid and this unbending? It alarmed her because she didn't think Rui was like that at all. But what if... what if later he became like that? Like father, like son. That was a scary, terrifying thought.
But she wasn't going to back down. She wasn't going to let Lei go without a fight, not when she finally had him. They were happy! Why couldn't his father see that it'd all been a foolish mistake? It wasn't like he had never made a mistake before. She was sure he had for human beings had this notorious ability to be anything but perfect, and that included making stupid mistakes. Much like the one she had made.
"I do not think that it was Tsukushi's lack of affection for our son that made her reject him," his wife murmured soothingly, the voice of reason. "I think that in her case, she was confused. Was not I perplexed once about my feelings for you? Did it not enrage both of our parents? It is too easy for you to lose your anger with anything that affects our son. Use your logic, your rationale that scares the business world. Is it her fault for being unsure? She is certain now, and it is clear to me that she does deeply feel for our son, Rui."
Tsukushi had always liked Rui's kind gracious mother but never more than she did now. She had thought her own parents would support her; they hadn't. The only good thing was that they hadn't gone against her. Instead, it'd been Rui's gentle and kind mother that had spoken up for her. For that, she was extremely grateful. It was nice to have one friendly voice of support.
"I'm young," she declared steadily to his father. "Is it so unforgivable that I made a mistake?"
His father's stern eyes bore down on her strong and stubborn self with the weight of his influence behind him. It didn't make one different to her. It was true her family wasn't as well off as Rui's in prestige, but they were a respectable and rich family no one disputed that. There was no shame. Didn't he want his son to be happy?
"You are young," his father agreed harshly. "So how do you know that you aren't making another mistake?"
It was more than Tsukushi's mother could take. Wasn't it enough that her daughter had admitted her mistake? To have to shove it back like it was another wrong was unacceptable. They did have their family pride after all! With that thought, she went to grab Tsukushi and dragged her away when Rui wrapped his arm around her daughter's waist and prevented her from being taken away. "I love her," he declared boldly. "I don't care if you all can work it out or not. I am going to marry her."
Having said all that, he pulled her with him toward the street where he flagged a taxi down. Once they were in the taxi, there was only one place left to really go. As he gave the directions to Doumyouji's mansion, he squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Everything will be okay," he reassured. "Everything will be okay."
~
Tsukasa sat together with Shigeru on his fluffy couch. "I'm sorry," Shigeru apologized. "I thought it'd work and that once you two got together everything would be okay. Things would just click because I see you being with her."
"It's okay," he remarked graciously. "I gave up really since the hot springs trip. Me and Tsukushi might be together and things might work, but really she and Rui are suited for each other. They were childhood companions; Tsukushi was really the only one capable of reaching him. As they grew older, they only got closer. They're going to be very happy together. I'm happy for them."
"Really?" she inquired. She studied him critically, trying to really discern if he was saying this because he meant it or if he was trying to meant it. After all, she was the one who had witnessed his turmoil over Tsukushi.
He nodded firmly. "Yes, I am."
"That's good," she responded, looking at every direction but where he was sitting.
He grabbed her to get her to stop fidgeting around and look at him. "Shigeru..."
"Tsukasa..."
"You go first."
"No, you..."
"You can."
She took a huge breath. Here goes nothing... "I like you!"
He blinked and then grinned. "That's good."
"Really?" she queried.
He nodded resolutely. "Yes, really. I like you, too."
"But I like you in that way!" she exclaimed like she couldn't believe that she did. "I don't care that you like another girl. I don't care that you're arrogant, overconfident, and a fool at times. I don't care that you don't appreciate your wonderful older sister or that..."
"I get the point!" he retorted, cutting her off. That made her widen her eyes at him when he followed that up and closed his hand over her mouth. "You aren't so great yourself either!" he exclaimed. "You've got too much energy, and you're always giving me excessive advice when I don't want it. You're also dense, too!"
"Not as dense as you!" she shouted back when his hand dropped from her lips. "You didn't even know what I liked you, did you?"
How in the world to get her to shut up? Hmmm... he bent his head down when he remembered a piece of advice that Soujirou had given to him a long time ago. The move surprised both of them when his lips touched hers in an uncertain kiss. That quickly changed once Shigeru got over her initial surprise.
Swiftly, she deepened the kiss until it felt like both of them were floating in some ecstatic heaven. They came crashing down to earth when a cough interrupted their tongues from interacting more. But they didn't draw apart until they heard Rui remark, "How about it, Tsukushi?"
The embracing couple broke from their kiss with pink cheeks that matched Tsukushi's own. Rui noted that of them all, Tsukushi was definitely the more adorable. He'd been nicely surprised to find Tsukasa and Shigeru kissing ravenously. He'd suspected there'd been hidden passion. Of course, there was the concern that Tsukasa would still continue to pursue Tsukushi and break their friendship up--- there was no way Tsukasa could break them up.
"Don't you knock?" Tsukasa growled.
Rui grinned. "On what door? You're in the living room." Before Tsukasa might say anything else, Rui quickly continued, "We need help, Tsukasa or else we wouldn't have interrupted your romantic moment."
That caught Tsukasa's attention and he quickly gestured for them to sit down and to explain. Alternating between the two, Tsukushi and Rui explained that their parents no longer wanted them to be together. If this information had come before Shigeru's confession, Tsukasa didn't really know how he'd feel. As it was, he felt sympathy for them and outrage against their unbending, rigid parents.
"Only Rui's mother supports us," Tsukushi finished. "We can't go back to our homes, they'd prevent us from seeing one another, from being together."
Rui nodded vehemently with agreement. "Can we stay here?"
Tsukasa remarked, "Of course!" After saying that, he showed them to two rooms that were connected because both of them were pretty exhausted. Once that was done, Shigeru and he headed to the dining room to grab a bite to eat. "We should do something."
Shigeru nodded. "Definitely. We should do something to get their parents to give their consent again!"
"But what?" he inquired, trying to think of something.
"Why Plan Get-Together!" Shigeru exclaimed with lots of energy. From the perplexed look on Tsukasa's face, she explained what she had in mind. Anything, anyway to get their parents in the same room. With their connection and their money, their plan was certain to succeed!
~
"We are miserable," Akira commented. "We are miserable men." It wasn't like Akira at all to get bitterly melancholic. Then again, he had just been kindly rejected by his love of a lifetime. Perhaps it sounded like an exaggeration, but Akira had been crazy about Shizuka since he was a little boy.
His sharp words and harsh criticism certainly stemmed from the ten shots of vodka he'd downed in as little time as possible. Soujirou couldn't lecture Akira since he'd at least equaled Akira in the amount of alcohol his best friend had consumed. But Akira wasn't handling it well. He was handling it very poorly.
Drinking was suppose to numb the pain. In Akira's case, it was only making it worse. He was sinking to the depth of his depression at an alarming rate. "We aren't miserable men," Soujirou countered, taking Akira's shot glass away from him. "And I don't want you to come drinking with me to get sad. I wanted you to be happy or at least numb your sorrow."
Akira gazed at Soujirou with a disbelieving look and then burst out laughing in a harshly maniac manner. When he was finally able to control his sick laughter, he said in a soft menacing voice, "Don't try to lecture me, you fool. At least your girl wanted you--- mine didn't. Do you know what a damn shitty feeling that is?"
"What good is it to wallow in your misery when you can do something about it?" Soujirou retorted. "You say I'm the fool, but you're the lovesick puppy. Yes, I have feelings for Sara, but not in that fashion. When she first left--- I thought maybe. Now, I know that I just hate causing her pain. She is like my sister, like you're my brother."
"When did you turn philosophical?" Akira sneered.
Soujirou knocked aside the glass and grabbed his friend's hands in his firm grip. "I don't like seeing Sara in pain, and I certainly don't like seeing you in pain. I know you don't want to go after Shizuka because of your pride. But do you want your pride at the cost of the regret that will always linger?
"Because I'm sorry to say--- Shizuka's absolutely gorgeous. If you won't chase after her, there are a slew of other guys that will," Soujirou warned. "Some of those guys will be better than you..."
"But they won't love her like I do," Akira cut in fiercely. "They won't love her as much as I do."
"Then," Soujirou responded, "go after her. My friend, if you really love her as much as you say that you do, then you'd have never let her go."
The silence between them was filled with incredible tension. Their eyes met occasionally before Akira would look away like he couldn't handle Soujirou's challenging look. Finally after several minutes had passed, Akira started nodding his head violently. "I will not... let her go."
Soujirou grinned widely and started dialing on his cell phone for the earliest flight out of Taiwan to France. When he was done ordering and putting the ticket on his credit card, he grabbed Akira's hand and started dragging him out of the club. Before Akira could ask about the time, Soujirou answered him, "You lucky bastard, a flight leaves in two hours. We need to get home and get your passport."
"If I was a lucky bastard," Akira began sharply, "then I wouldn't have to be chasing after her."
"But," Soujirou interrupted cheerfully, "if she was chasing after you, you wouldn't be mad for her. It's the man's job to do the chasing. It makes it more interesting you have to admit."
"Only for you," Akira retorted. "Only for you."
~
While Tsukasa and Shigeru were plotting on Rui's and Tsukushi's behalf, the very same idea was occurring between Ms. Hanazawa and Mr. Makino. Being less hotheaded than their respective partners, they clearly saw how good Tsukushi and Rui were together. "We have to do something," Tsukushi's father remarked. "If we let this continue on, my wife and your husband will ruin a good thing!"
"Yes," the softly spoken mother of Rui responded, "but how are we going to meet up and really discuss it? My husband's going to notice soon that I'm not in bed with him. He's a light sleeper."
"Any time slots tomorrow that you are free?" he inquired.
She thought for a moment before answering, "Anytime late tomorrow morning will be fine. I can also have lunch with you if that will give us enough time."
"That should give us plenty of time," he replied. "How about 11:00 at..."
After they finished discussing their plans with each other, they went back to their beds where Mr. Makino met his wife snoring loudly, not missing him at all. The story was quite different for Ms. Hanazawa. When she got back into the room, her husband blatantly asked her, "Who were you talking to?"
"The person who I'm having lunch with tomorrow," she responded vaguely on purpose, hoping that he wouldn't question her further. Of course that didn't get her husband off her back. He gave her a look that said that she needed to answer him more thoroughly. "It was Doumyouji Kaede." She didn't know why she said that awful woman's name, but she knew her husband wasn't on speaking terms with that woman. The odd look he gave her made her wince inside and caused her to have to explain to him, "It's about the graduation party."
"I'm surprised," he said dryly. "She's not the mother you like to arrange things with. It's usually Ms. Mimasaka."
She shrugged. "All 4 of us have to." She got back into bed and kissed her husband. "I'm tired, let's go to sleep."
It was a while before he drifted off to sleep. There was something up with his wife. She didn't lie well, and she didn't usually lie either. Was she having an affair? The sudden burning rage overwhelmed him as he reached to hold her in his arms. Twenty years ago, he had won her from her slew of other suitors and he wasn't about to lose her now. Definitely not.
But he wasn't going to sit back and let her cheat on him either. He had to keep a tighter fist on her even if it meant making up assignments for her and wasting money. What was money compared to her? She was everything that he prized beyond anything else. It'd always been that way.
~
Soujirou was the one that had called everyone to let them know that Akira was heading to France to chase after Shizuka. Tsukasa and Shigeru went to see him off and explain to them why Rui and Tsukushi weren't there. When Akira heard what had happened, he shook his head with disappointment at their headstrong parents.
"I don't know when I'll be back," Akira remarked. "Tell Tsukushi she'll have to drive herself to school now or get Rui to. Tell them that I hope the best for them and that I'll inform Shizuka. I'll miss you guys." He gave them each a hug before picking up his sack and heading toward the boarding area.
"I hope he gets her back," Soujirou commented.
"So do I," Tsukasa agreed.
Shigeru grinned. "He will. Girls liked to be pursued by the one they like and Shizuka likes him."
~
Author's Note: Yeah, I know it's been a long time. I haven't been writing in this story for 2 months because I got bored with him as I do when I hit about 50,000 words (it's happening to the LoTR fanfic, which was what I had been writing) and as I tend to do, I switch fandoms. Now for some reason, I'm intensely interested in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I doubt I'd write a fanfic in that fandom, so breath with relief! I'm back for the long haul (which means I WILL FINISH THIS) reviews certainly make me happier to comply faster with it. Can I say... everything's happening now?
Author: Yih
18: Volatile Circumstances (March 4, 2003 to March 29, 2003)
She had managed to catch an earlier flight. Unfortunately, no one had been able to see her off. They were all busy. It was better this way because if they all gave her that sorrowful expression telling her that they didn't want her to leave, she didn't know if she could manage to leave. She was relieved to have gotten an earlier flight that allowed her to run from her controlling family and her lifestyle in Japan back to the life that she adored in France.
As she passed her boarding slip to the flight attendant, she gave on final look back and was glad that no one had come to see her off. She had called Rui and Tsukushi first to tell them she wouldn't be there when they got back because she was returning to France. Then she'd called Soujirou and chatted with him briefly--- still frantically searching for Sara, after that she'd contacted Tsubaki and Tsukasa. Tsubaki had been a bit let down that she wouldn't be stopping in New York, but Shizuka had promised to drop by when she got settled in.
The last person she contacted was Akira--- for him she left a voice message. He wasn't answering her calls.
~
"My son and my heir doesn't need to be with someone that rejected him! He can find someone better than her!" the Head of Hanazawa exclaimed. "And we will find someone better than her! The only reason we even agreed to this arrangement was because of their affection. But since your daughter has made it clear that she does not want to be with MY son and MY heir, I will not give her another chance. Your family is beneath us anyways! You are the new rich, not truly of high class."
Rui's father wasn't the only one shaking with anger, indeed Tsukushi's mother was none to please with his declaration of their family's inferiority to the blue-blooded Hanazawa's. If it wasn't for her husband holding her back, Tsukushi didn't want to even think what her mother would have done. Not that she blamed her, how could Rui's father be this rigid and this unbending? It alarmed her because she didn't think Rui was like that at all. But what if... what if later he became like that? Like father, like son. That was a scary, terrifying thought.
But she wasn't going to back down. She wasn't going to let Lei go without a fight, not when she finally had him. They were happy! Why couldn't his father see that it'd all been a foolish mistake? It wasn't like he had never made a mistake before. She was sure he had for human beings had this notorious ability to be anything but perfect, and that included making stupid mistakes. Much like the one she had made.
"I do not think that it was Tsukushi's lack of affection for our son that made her reject him," his wife murmured soothingly, the voice of reason. "I think that in her case, she was confused. Was not I perplexed once about my feelings for you? Did it not enrage both of our parents? It is too easy for you to lose your anger with anything that affects our son. Use your logic, your rationale that scares the business world. Is it her fault for being unsure? She is certain now, and it is clear to me that she does deeply feel for our son, Rui."
Tsukushi had always liked Rui's kind gracious mother but never more than she did now. She had thought her own parents would support her; they hadn't. The only good thing was that they hadn't gone against her. Instead, it'd been Rui's gentle and kind mother that had spoken up for her. For that, she was extremely grateful. It was nice to have one friendly voice of support.
"I'm young," she declared steadily to his father. "Is it so unforgivable that I made a mistake?"
His father's stern eyes bore down on her strong and stubborn self with the weight of his influence behind him. It didn't make one different to her. It was true her family wasn't as well off as Rui's in prestige, but they were a respectable and rich family no one disputed that. There was no shame. Didn't he want his son to be happy?
"You are young," his father agreed harshly. "So how do you know that you aren't making another mistake?"
It was more than Tsukushi's mother could take. Wasn't it enough that her daughter had admitted her mistake? To have to shove it back like it was another wrong was unacceptable. They did have their family pride after all! With that thought, she went to grab Tsukushi and dragged her away when Rui wrapped his arm around her daughter's waist and prevented her from being taken away. "I love her," he declared boldly. "I don't care if you all can work it out or not. I am going to marry her."
Having said all that, he pulled her with him toward the street where he flagged a taxi down. Once they were in the taxi, there was only one place left to really go. As he gave the directions to Doumyouji's mansion, he squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Everything will be okay," he reassured. "Everything will be okay."
~
Tsukasa sat together with Shigeru on his fluffy couch. "I'm sorry," Shigeru apologized. "I thought it'd work and that once you two got together everything would be okay. Things would just click because I see you being with her."
"It's okay," he remarked graciously. "I gave up really since the hot springs trip. Me and Tsukushi might be together and things might work, but really she and Rui are suited for each other. They were childhood companions; Tsukushi was really the only one capable of reaching him. As they grew older, they only got closer. They're going to be very happy together. I'm happy for them."
"Really?" she inquired. She studied him critically, trying to really discern if he was saying this because he meant it or if he was trying to meant it. After all, she was the one who had witnessed his turmoil over Tsukushi.
He nodded firmly. "Yes, I am."
"That's good," she responded, looking at every direction but where he was sitting.
He grabbed her to get her to stop fidgeting around and look at him. "Shigeru..."
"Tsukasa..."
"You go first."
"No, you..."
"You can."
She took a huge breath. Here goes nothing... "I like you!"
He blinked and then grinned. "That's good."
"Really?" she queried.
He nodded resolutely. "Yes, really. I like you, too."
"But I like you in that way!" she exclaimed like she couldn't believe that she did. "I don't care that you like another girl. I don't care that you're arrogant, overconfident, and a fool at times. I don't care that you don't appreciate your wonderful older sister or that..."
"I get the point!" he retorted, cutting her off. That made her widen her eyes at him when he followed that up and closed his hand over her mouth. "You aren't so great yourself either!" he exclaimed. "You've got too much energy, and you're always giving me excessive advice when I don't want it. You're also dense, too!"
"Not as dense as you!" she shouted back when his hand dropped from her lips. "You didn't even know what I liked you, did you?"
How in the world to get her to shut up? Hmmm... he bent his head down when he remembered a piece of advice that Soujirou had given to him a long time ago. The move surprised both of them when his lips touched hers in an uncertain kiss. That quickly changed once Shigeru got over her initial surprise.
Swiftly, she deepened the kiss until it felt like both of them were floating in some ecstatic heaven. They came crashing down to earth when a cough interrupted their tongues from interacting more. But they didn't draw apart until they heard Rui remark, "How about it, Tsukushi?"
The embracing couple broke from their kiss with pink cheeks that matched Tsukushi's own. Rui noted that of them all, Tsukushi was definitely the more adorable. He'd been nicely surprised to find Tsukasa and Shigeru kissing ravenously. He'd suspected there'd been hidden passion. Of course, there was the concern that Tsukasa would still continue to pursue Tsukushi and break their friendship up--- there was no way Tsukasa could break them up.
"Don't you knock?" Tsukasa growled.
Rui grinned. "On what door? You're in the living room." Before Tsukasa might say anything else, Rui quickly continued, "We need help, Tsukasa or else we wouldn't have interrupted your romantic moment."
That caught Tsukasa's attention and he quickly gestured for them to sit down and to explain. Alternating between the two, Tsukushi and Rui explained that their parents no longer wanted them to be together. If this information had come before Shigeru's confession, Tsukasa didn't really know how he'd feel. As it was, he felt sympathy for them and outrage against their unbending, rigid parents.
"Only Rui's mother supports us," Tsukushi finished. "We can't go back to our homes, they'd prevent us from seeing one another, from being together."
Rui nodded vehemently with agreement. "Can we stay here?"
Tsukasa remarked, "Of course!" After saying that, he showed them to two rooms that were connected because both of them were pretty exhausted. Once that was done, Shigeru and he headed to the dining room to grab a bite to eat. "We should do something."
Shigeru nodded. "Definitely. We should do something to get their parents to give their consent again!"
"But what?" he inquired, trying to think of something.
"Why Plan Get-Together!" Shigeru exclaimed with lots of energy. From the perplexed look on Tsukasa's face, she explained what she had in mind. Anything, anyway to get their parents in the same room. With their connection and their money, their plan was certain to succeed!
~
"We are miserable," Akira commented. "We are miserable men." It wasn't like Akira at all to get bitterly melancholic. Then again, he had just been kindly rejected by his love of a lifetime. Perhaps it sounded like an exaggeration, but Akira had been crazy about Shizuka since he was a little boy.
His sharp words and harsh criticism certainly stemmed from the ten shots of vodka he'd downed in as little time as possible. Soujirou couldn't lecture Akira since he'd at least equaled Akira in the amount of alcohol his best friend had consumed. But Akira wasn't handling it well. He was handling it very poorly.
Drinking was suppose to numb the pain. In Akira's case, it was only making it worse. He was sinking to the depth of his depression at an alarming rate. "We aren't miserable men," Soujirou countered, taking Akira's shot glass away from him. "And I don't want you to come drinking with me to get sad. I wanted you to be happy or at least numb your sorrow."
Akira gazed at Soujirou with a disbelieving look and then burst out laughing in a harshly maniac manner. When he was finally able to control his sick laughter, he said in a soft menacing voice, "Don't try to lecture me, you fool. At least your girl wanted you--- mine didn't. Do you know what a damn shitty feeling that is?"
"What good is it to wallow in your misery when you can do something about it?" Soujirou retorted. "You say I'm the fool, but you're the lovesick puppy. Yes, I have feelings for Sara, but not in that fashion. When she first left--- I thought maybe. Now, I know that I just hate causing her pain. She is like my sister, like you're my brother."
"When did you turn philosophical?" Akira sneered.
Soujirou knocked aside the glass and grabbed his friend's hands in his firm grip. "I don't like seeing Sara in pain, and I certainly don't like seeing you in pain. I know you don't want to go after Shizuka because of your pride. But do you want your pride at the cost of the regret that will always linger?
"Because I'm sorry to say--- Shizuka's absolutely gorgeous. If you won't chase after her, there are a slew of other guys that will," Soujirou warned. "Some of those guys will be better than you..."
"But they won't love her like I do," Akira cut in fiercely. "They won't love her as much as I do."
"Then," Soujirou responded, "go after her. My friend, if you really love her as much as you say that you do, then you'd have never let her go."
The silence between them was filled with incredible tension. Their eyes met occasionally before Akira would look away like he couldn't handle Soujirou's challenging look. Finally after several minutes had passed, Akira started nodding his head violently. "I will not... let her go."
Soujirou grinned widely and started dialing on his cell phone for the earliest flight out of Taiwan to France. When he was done ordering and putting the ticket on his credit card, he grabbed Akira's hand and started dragging him out of the club. Before Akira could ask about the time, Soujirou answered him, "You lucky bastard, a flight leaves in two hours. We need to get home and get your passport."
"If I was a lucky bastard," Akira began sharply, "then I wouldn't have to be chasing after her."
"But," Soujirou interrupted cheerfully, "if she was chasing after you, you wouldn't be mad for her. It's the man's job to do the chasing. It makes it more interesting you have to admit."
"Only for you," Akira retorted. "Only for you."
~
While Tsukasa and Shigeru were plotting on Rui's and Tsukushi's behalf, the very same idea was occurring between Ms. Hanazawa and Mr. Makino. Being less hotheaded than their respective partners, they clearly saw how good Tsukushi and Rui were together. "We have to do something," Tsukushi's father remarked. "If we let this continue on, my wife and your husband will ruin a good thing!"
"Yes," the softly spoken mother of Rui responded, "but how are we going to meet up and really discuss it? My husband's going to notice soon that I'm not in bed with him. He's a light sleeper."
"Any time slots tomorrow that you are free?" he inquired.
She thought for a moment before answering, "Anytime late tomorrow morning will be fine. I can also have lunch with you if that will give us enough time."
"That should give us plenty of time," he replied. "How about 11:00 at..."
After they finished discussing their plans with each other, they went back to their beds where Mr. Makino met his wife snoring loudly, not missing him at all. The story was quite different for Ms. Hanazawa. When she got back into the room, her husband blatantly asked her, "Who were you talking to?"
"The person who I'm having lunch with tomorrow," she responded vaguely on purpose, hoping that he wouldn't question her further. Of course that didn't get her husband off her back. He gave her a look that said that she needed to answer him more thoroughly. "It was Doumyouji Kaede." She didn't know why she said that awful woman's name, but she knew her husband wasn't on speaking terms with that woman. The odd look he gave her made her wince inside and caused her to have to explain to him, "It's about the graduation party."
"I'm surprised," he said dryly. "She's not the mother you like to arrange things with. It's usually Ms. Mimasaka."
She shrugged. "All 4 of us have to." She got back into bed and kissed her husband. "I'm tired, let's go to sleep."
It was a while before he drifted off to sleep. There was something up with his wife. She didn't lie well, and she didn't usually lie either. Was she having an affair? The sudden burning rage overwhelmed him as he reached to hold her in his arms. Twenty years ago, he had won her from her slew of other suitors and he wasn't about to lose her now. Definitely not.
But he wasn't going to sit back and let her cheat on him either. He had to keep a tighter fist on her even if it meant making up assignments for her and wasting money. What was money compared to her? She was everything that he prized beyond anything else. It'd always been that way.
~
Soujirou was the one that had called everyone to let them know that Akira was heading to France to chase after Shizuka. Tsukasa and Shigeru went to see him off and explain to them why Rui and Tsukushi weren't there. When Akira heard what had happened, he shook his head with disappointment at their headstrong parents.
"I don't know when I'll be back," Akira remarked. "Tell Tsukushi she'll have to drive herself to school now or get Rui to. Tell them that I hope the best for them and that I'll inform Shizuka. I'll miss you guys." He gave them each a hug before picking up his sack and heading toward the boarding area.
"I hope he gets her back," Soujirou commented.
"So do I," Tsukasa agreed.
Shigeru grinned. "He will. Girls liked to be pursued by the one they like and Shizuka likes him."
~
Author's Note: Yeah, I know it's been a long time. I haven't been writing in this story for 2 months because I got bored with him as I do when I hit about 50,000 words (it's happening to the LoTR fanfic, which was what I had been writing) and as I tend to do, I switch fandoms. Now for some reason, I'm intensely interested in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I doubt I'd write a fanfic in that fandom, so breath with relief! I'm back for the long haul (which means I WILL FINISH THIS) reviews certainly make me happier to comply faster with it. Can I say... everything's happening now?