Disclaimer: I don't own much of anything.
Chapter 3
Unintentionally Rui's body reacted to the sound of those words by backing away. No matter how many times he had heard those words uttered from Akira's mouth they spoke more truth at that moment than any other time. It was foolish to believe that it was simply another one of Akira's wise cracks joking about how one day he would one day marry his favorite singer Ayumi Hamasaki. Now standing in front of him was his Tsukushi wrapped in the arms of one of his best friends giving life to the gravity of the situation.
She playfully smacked Akira on the arm and wriggled herself free from his hold. "It's embarrassing when you do that," she laughed.
"Any girl that would agree to marry this fool should be embarrassed," Soujiro snickered. He picked Tsukushi up in his arms twirling her in the air around him. "It's been too long."
"Put me down, Soujiro!" She felt her feet delicately hit the ground as she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck in a long hug. "It's so good to see you."
"It took you long enough to get off that damn plane," Tsukasa complained. "The next time you decide to run out on us I'll personally hunt you down and drag you back here."
"I missed you, too, Tsukasa," she smiled. She pulled him down into a hug and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek causing his face to burn red. "You know I came all the way back here just to kick your ass."
"And I thought you came back because of me," Akira pouted.
"Not everything is about you. my dear." She turned her head to the left and right noticing one person missing from her welcome party. She called out to him seeing his slight figure shielded by the pillar he had propped himself up against. "Rui!"
Pushing everyone else out of the way she jumped into him knocking him off balance away from the pillar and stumbling backwards. Luckily enough, he managed to regain his balance and awkwardly held her body up a few inches of the ground. Her arms snaked around him in a deathlike vice. He gasped for air feeling like he had just been punched in the gut. Generally he would have been annoyed at such a public display of affection, he could not hide the small smile that forming at his mouth.
"Welcome back," he said in a barely audible whisper.
She only hugged him tighter at the feel of his chest rumbling against her body as he spoke. He was really there in the flesh. "I've missed you most of all, my Rui." She stepped back to take a better inspection of him.
To say that Rui had not changed for the better would be a complete lie. He was still taller than her, much to her annoyance. Beneath his simple white t-shirt that hung loosely off his body she could see the faint traces of muscles what would be a slight six pack. His arms had become more toned showing a hidden strength in them. Although he had grown into the body of a man, his face still gave away a rogue boyish quality about him with his messy bangs falling over his eyes. Through it all, she could still make out the shy little boy she had befriended years ago.
She hooked her arm around his and pulled him into the small circle. "The airport is nice and all, but I think it would be nice if we continue this joyous reunion somewhere else."
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Tsukushi practically jumped out of the car before Akira had the chance to put the car in park. She ran up to the door of the familiar manor graciously greeting the woman she could only refer to as a second mother.
"I almost didn't recognize you, Tsukushi," the elderly woman laughed. She stepped back to fully take in the sight before her. "You're mother failed to mention how beautiful you've become."
Tsukushi bowed her head down slightly trying to hide the apparent blush spreading across her cheeks. "You're too kind. It will be wonderful having you at the manor again." She picked up her hand carefully inspecting the engagement ring gleaming on her finger. Clucking her tongue, she wistfully sighed, "Knowing that you children are old enough to get married and start their own families soon makes me feel only older. There I go, getting sentimental again. I'll have someone help you bring your bags to your flat. I'll leave you children be, but you and I young lady have much to discuss later. I want to know all the details about this." She poked at the diamond on her finger and smiled.
"Of course, and I just wanted to thank you again for letting me stay here again."
"Think nothing of it. You'll always have a home here." Rui's mother silently slipped back into the house with a knowing nod.
Turning around she hopped down the front steps and began to walk down the long lane towards the servant quarters of the manor. "I wonder if it'll look exactly the same," she muttered to herself.
Slowly, she meandered through the gardens inhaling the smell of freshly mowed grass. She passed familiar faces recognizing them as members of the house staff her mother worked alongside with and many of whom had watched her run rampant like a wild demon child through the estate. Their eyes followed her graceful steps sensing a vague familiarity in her face, but not quite grasping exactly her identity. A few looked completely aghast when she walked up to them making herself known. Disbelief was written completely across their faces followed by warm greetings on her return. After taking her time reacquainting herself with the ground she found herself on the doorstep of the home her parents and she once lived in. Everything seemed eerily the same as the time when she left it. The entire estate in itself seemed to have escaped untouched by time. Entering the door, she pulled off her heels rubbing her tired feet to find four men lounging around in her living room surrounded by boxed stacked from the floor to the ceiling. She trudged into the room listening to the creaky floorboards beneath her feet. Arms reached out and pulled her down into a warm lap. Feeling to tired to put up a struggle she allowed her body to sink deeper into his alp and rested her head against his chest.
"Get a room!" Tsukasa yelled in disgust tossing a pillow in their direction.
"You're just jealous that I have a beautiful woman in my lap and all you have to cuddle over there is a Hello Kitty doll!" Akira strengthened his hold on Tsukushi cuddling closer to her body. He laughed at the way that Tsukasa had absentmindedly picked up the doll left on the chair he resided in at present and chosen to hug rest it in his lap.
"Enough fighting you two. I've had a long flight and the last thing I need is a migraine added onto my jet lag. Just give me some peace and quiet for a few minutes so I can regroup."
"Geez, when was the last time someone lived here?" Soujiro ran a finger across the coffee table leaving a clean trail across the dust covered top.
"No one's lived here since Tsukushi's family left." Rui slumped lower in his chair watching the small particles of dust dance in the streak of sunlight coming from the window.
"This place is barely inhabitable. Why the hell are you living here anyway? You're engaged to Akira, I thought he would have at least enough sense to help you find a decent place."
"Well, I did offer her to stay with me at my apartment."
Tsukushi folded her arms knowing where this conversation was going to lead to. "You only have one bedroom."
"And your problem would be?"
"You've got such a one track mind!" She leapt out of his clutches and plopped down beside Rui on the armrest of his chair.
"Come on, we all know that not one person in this room can claim to be of virginal innocence." Soujiro looked directly into Tsukushi's eyes grinning widely.
"If my mother asks I am still one." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"It seems even the purest of us all has been corrupted."
She placed a hand over Rui's. "So when do I get to meet the love of your life, Shizuka? I've been wanting to see the woman that managed to steal my Rui away," she laughed.
"She's in Paris right now interning with one of the local law firms over there. She should be back by the first day of school." He glanced down at her hand and pulled his hand away as if he had been scorched.
She frowned at his sudden movement, but brushed it aside as nothing not thinking too much of it. "Since I have four very strong and able bodies here I think I'll get you all to work helping me unload some of this stuff out of the boxes."
"What do you think we are? Slave labor?"
"Yeah, aren't you only referring to Akira. He's already whipped."
"He can't do this all on his own."
"Hey! I resent that whipped comment."
"Enough slaves! You'll be paid for your services. How about dinner, my treat? I promise it'll be something very special." She jumped up from her comfortable spot on the chair. "Let me change into something more comfortable. The boxes are labeled for which rooms they should be put in. be careful with everything though. I don't want to find my plates smashed into a thousand pieces." She pointed towards the boxes and dragged a small suitcase into the bathroom closing the door behind her.
"Let's get to work I guess," Soujiro sighed as he picked up the closest box labeled kitchen.
Rui nodded his head and picked up a box behind his chair. He watched in amusement as Tsukasa fervently began clearing boxes putting them into the appropriately labeled rooms. If there was anyone that could order Tsukasa around and get away with it, it would be Tsukushi. He picked up a rather heavy box grunting under the burden of its weight and carried it towards the bedroom.
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"Now when you said dinner, I thought you would be referring to a five star restaurant with candles and elegant music in the background," Soujiro sighed as he picked up another slice of pizza from the box.
"Pizza in my living room is just the same. It's not every day that I get to enjoy the company of the four richest heirs in Japan sitting on the floor eating pizza out of the box on paper plates chugging cold domestic beer." Tsukushi sat cross legged on the ground leaning against the couch between Akira's legs. She tugged at her baggy t-shirt knotted around her stomach for a better fit. Her long legs spread out from her body having her thighs barely covered by a rather beat up pair of cut off shorts. Her hair was pulled bag into two French braided pigtails and topped off with a backwards baseball cap. "Hey, you should be so lucky to share such fine dining with a beautiful lady as myself." She pushed up her black-framed glasses pushing them up with her index finger onto the crook of her nose.
"What beautiful lady? All I see is what looks like twelve year old boy. What can be sexier than that?"
"As much as you like to believe, underneath it all a girl would trade in her heels and dresses for a pair of sneakers and a comfy pair of sweats. I'm sorry, but you're not worth the effort to look good for."
"Sexy you are not, maybe cute."
"Ew! Are you saying you like twelve year old boys?!"
"Shut up!"
"You walked into that one."
"You eat this stuff?" Tsukasa poked at his slice of pizza trying to decide whether or not to try to strange commoner food.
"All the time back when I was in New York. It doesn't exactly taste the same as Famous Ray's, but I guess this is passable. In my old college dorm, we would always have pizza and beer on Friday nights to unwind after a long week of studying and exams." She reached into the box for the last pineapple slice, but instead felt a hand. She looked up to see said hand belonging to Rui. "Go ahead, you can have it."
"No you take it."
She frowned yet again for the twentieth time that day. "Naw, you can have it. I'll get something else."
He pulled his hand away and took a long swig of his beer. He looked away staring blankly at the nightly news blaring on the television.
Soujiro popped open another beer sucking up the frothy foam spilling out over the top. "Man, school starts in a few weeks. I can't deal with the pressure anymore. It's really going to put a damper on my partying. Now that Tsukushi's here, I've lost my partner in crime. Tsukasa scares the ladies away. Rui's too loyal to Shizuka. I'm all alone now," he sighed.
"Don't worry man. Remember playboy solidarity!" Akira clapped his disheartened friend on the shoulder trying to lift his spirits.
Tsukushi shot him a deathly glare silencing him in mid-high five. "I hope you're joking. I better not find out about you messing around with other girls. You know the rules."
He pulled his hand back wiping the silly smirk off his face. "I'd never cheat on you."
"He's right. If he did I would personally kill him for you," Tsukasa grumbled glaring at Akira with a wary eye. He cracked his knuckles as a sign of his vow to keep his promise.
"Aw! You're so sweet in your own violent and overprotective way," Tsukushi giggled. She stifled back a yawn stretching her arms out over her head releasing cracks in her aching joints. "I didn't realize I had brought back so much junk with me. At least I made a small dent in the unpacking process." She glanced around the room taking note of the few open boxes leftover instead of the towers that once resided in random spots of the room. "God, in a few months I'll have the joy of packing all this stuff back up again," she sighed.
"You could have saved us all a lot of time if you just moved in with me like I offered."
"Yeah, you're right, but I still have one more year as a free woman and I plan to enjoy the last moments of pure unfettered single life. Anyway, I don't want to give people the wrong idea."
Soujiro leaned backing his chair chucking his napkin into the wastebasket a few feet away. "I still can't believe how you managed to hide your engagement these last few months. Usually the paparazzi would have had a field day knowing that Mimasaka Akira, infamous womanizer, was going to be married."
"And that is why I plan on keeping it private. Do you know how many angry women would be after me knowing I took one of the infamous F4 out of the meat market? It's not an everyday thing that people like you choose who you marry. Like you all said, it was either choosing a girl of equal standing or let your parents choose."
"I just lucked out that my parents adore Tsukushi, not to mention my two bratty sisters. I almost forgot. They've been bugging me about when I would take you home to see them. They haven't shut up for weeks about you coming back to Japan."
Tsukushi slapped him on the leg. "Don't talk about your sisters like that. I think I'll drop by your parents place tomorrow. I promised I would take Suzume and Aiko shopping when I got back."
"But I want you all to myself!"
She laid her head on his lap yawning. "I've got so much stuff to take care this week. I still have to go down to the university and finalize my registration, unpack and clean up this place, and catch up with my other friends." She gently patted his thigh. "You can stay over here tonight if you want."
"I think if I have to watch anymore of this I'm going to puke!" Tsukasa clapped his hand over his mouth mock puking over the side of the chair. "I always thought you had better taste than that, Akira."
Tsukushi clenched her fist making her knuckles turn white. Her head remained downcast concealing the very annoyed look on her face.
"I think that's our cue to be going!" Soujiro jumped up from his seat and grabbed Tsukasa from the collar of his neck. "We'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Mhmph!" Tsukasa muffled from underneath Soujiro's hand as he was being shoved out the door.
"I think I'll be heading out, too," Rui mumbled to himself. He abruptly sat and placed his can of beer onto the table. His body swayed a little teetering back and forth before he managed to balance himself out.
"Umm. Do you need some help getting back to the house?" Akira asked.
"Naw, I'm fine," he nodded. He stumbled out the front door swerving back and forth on the long pathway towards the main house.
The couple worriedly watched their friend stumble out the door wondering if he would make it in one piece. They walked towards the doorway carefully watching his figure disappear through the night fog.
"Maybe I should go walk him back just in case," Akira suggested. "How much did he drink?"
"A whole six pack, I think," Tsukushi replied staring out into the night trying to make out the faint trace of his disappearing body. "Does he usually drink like this?"
Akira shook his head. "I haven't seen him like that since the night before Shizuka left for Paris."
"Why would he get drunk the night before she left?"
"It's a long story. He wasn't exactly thrilled when Shizuka announced out of the blue she would be leaving for Paris the entire summer within the week. Rui threw a tantrum claiming that she didn't care enough to tell him about something like that in advance. He wanted her to stay. The night before she left we had a little going away party. Rui partied a little too hard and said a few words that even Tsukasa would regret. The next day Shizuka told us all she didn't care about what he said because she knew he was just angry. The real kick in the ass was when he didn't show up at the airport to say goodbye. We all called him to come, but he never showed up. "
She looked up at her fiancée wondering why she was never informed of this. She had always thought Rui told her everything. Within her five year absence, she believed Rui would have had the courage to confide his frustrations to her. They rarely kept any secrets. "I didn't know. I'm such an idiot for bringing up when I would get to meet her. Being the stubborn ass that he is, I bet he hasn't spoken to her since their argument."
"Rui has kept a lot to himself these past few years. He rarely tells us anything really. Shizuka has called each of us trying to get us to persuade Rui to return her calls. I don't understand him. He's been acting weird lately. I think I'll go run up and catch up with him to make sure he gets back to the house."
"No, you stay. I'll go check up on him." Tsukushi stood up on her tiptoes and quickly kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
Hearing the door close behind her she ran up the path to try to catch up with her inebriated friend. The sound of the bottoms of her plastic flip flops hitting the pavement echoed through the air. Within ten minutes she had run up to the house breathless. To her surprise, the maid informed her that Rui had yet to return. A bit panicked, she thanked the maid and ran back wondering if he had taken the long path.
"Where could he be?" she said aloud to herself. She slowly sauntered down the same pathway she had run like a mad woman down before kicking at the pebbles beneath her feet. Figuring that she would need some help in tracking down the enigmatic Hanazawa Rui, she decided to return to the house to get Akira's help. Trudging back towards her flat, she stopped at the sound of rustling leaves. Looking up she watched the branches of a nearby tree swaying in the wind. She laughed at herself for not thinking of it earlier. She spun around on her heel heading for their spot.
"Rui?"
He stayed in his place not taking notice of her below. His gaze remained transfixed on the sky.
"This weirdness may work with everyone else, but I'm not going to take this from you. You avoid looking at me. You act as if I'll burn you with my touch. You're overly polite to me. What's wrong with you?" She climbed up onto the bough staying a safe distance away form him. She tugged on his arm forcing him to look at her. All she could see in those chestnut eyes was a sense of complete loneliness and loss that she had not seen since the day she had first met him. "Talk to me."
"It's nothing."
"You don't act like a guy who has nothing to worry about. Tell me what's wrong. How come you never told me about what happened between you and Shizuka? I thought everything was going fine between you two."
"She lied to me," he mumbled under his breath. "Just like you."
"Me? What are you talking about?"
His body began to tremble causing the limbs of the tree to shiver. Clenching his hands tightly at his side he closed his eyes not wanting to see her face anymore. "Not once did you ever think you could tell me. You were the last person in this world I thought would never lie to me." Tears began to streak down his face. "Why didn't you ever tell me about Akira?"
She fell back against the tree trunk aghast by his words. "Akira?"
"We've never kept secrets form one another. Every other day for the past five years you've called me. It didn't matter where you went to Okinawa or America or wherever you've been, but no matter where or when you called me just to say hi or tell me about your day. I told you everything I never told anyone else. You were the first to know about Shizuka. And you? Not once did you ever feel the need to mention that you had fallen in love with one of my best friends. How do you think I would feel about you telling me last week you were coming home because Akira asked to marry you?! Then he has to be the one to tell me that you've been seeing each other for the last year and a half."
She opened her mouth, but quickly shut it trying to find the words to explain herself. "He was different," she murmured. She wistfully looked up at the mist clearing away from the full moon. "You're right to be mad at me." She reached a hand up to wipe away the stray tears falling down his face, but her hand was knocked away before she had the chance to touch him. A sinking feeling hit her stomach at his abrupt act to shy away from her touch. "I always thought that no matter what happened in my life, you would understand Rui. I mean you're the only one I've been in constant contact with all this time. I had my reasons to not tell you about this."
"Either way you lied to me."
She sighed seeing how he was not about to give up on the fact that she kept secrets from him. "Remember when you first started playing the violin? You always locked yourself away in the music room with your teacher refusing anyone not even me to hear you play. You loved playing the violin so much that you said you didn't want any of us to hear you play until you were ready. When you finally did play for us I couldn't believe how you tried to hide your amazing gift. I never understood what would have made you want to hide something so wonderful, but now I do. Your first love was music. When I watched you play you showed more passion and feeling than anything in this world. You once told me that music makes you feel alive taking away that empty feeling inside. Music gave breath to your life. You just wanted to be selfish and have it all for yourself."
"I don't see the point of this story."
Tsukushi turned to him giving her one of her heartfelt smiles. "Akira is my music. I've been with other boys and men before. All of my relationships have come and gone. They were fun, we had a few laughs, fought a bit, and then it was over. If you told me I would be about to marry Akira a few years ago I would have laughed in your face. I wasn't even looking to fall I love with him. Hell, I barely spoke to him after I left except a few e- mails here and there. It all happened by accident. I would never have expected to bump into him while walking down Fifth Avenue in the middle of Manhattan. When we decided to exclusively see each other he wanted to tell you guys, but I told him not to. This thing we had was something I just wanted to hold onto a little longer as my own. I haven't been able to admit it until recently that I've fallen helplessly in love with him. He gives me life." She hopped off the bough and landed onto the ground with a soft thud. "If you want to throw away our friendship because you can't understand why I kept this to myself then I can't do anything. I'm sorry for lying to you, but I love Akira and don't make me feel bad about it for one minute because in the end, I don't regret it." She steadied her steps as she walked away from him.
"Wait!" Rui called out reaching a hand out to grab her wrist. She spun around and looked up at him with tears forming at her eyes. "I'm sorry."
She wiped away the tears in her eyes and buried her face into his chest. Pushing him away she pounded him with her fists. "Don't ever do that to me again!" she scolded. She watched the regret written all over her face, and as much as she wanted to stay angry she couldn't. She grabbed her hand and gently tugged him in the direction of the main house. "Now that you've told me off, how about you tell me why you really are so grumpy. I know this ahs something to do with you making a total ass of yourself with Shizuka. If I were her I would have dumped you a long time ago, but you're lucky that you're cute enough and she's nice enough to still want an idiot like you."
"She probably hates me." He hurried his pace falling into step with her. "I hate myself most of the time."
She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I know for a fact that a girl that calls you after being treated the way you treated her does not want to break up with you. The longer you wait the harder it'll be. Just give her a call. Beg her to take you back. Not everyone knows you as well as I do. I know how you feel about people leaving you and maybe she didn't realize you would feel that way about it. Tell her the truth of why you were such a jerk. If everything else fails, let me talk to her and tell her I think you're a jerk too," she laughed.
"How come you always know a way to make me feel better?"
"It's a curse," she shrugged.
"It's nice to see a face with the voice."
"It's not much of a face to see, but yours I could get used to."
"I kind of miss the braces and the glasses," he laughed holding his fingers like two O's in front of his eyes.
"God, do you have to mock my horrific teen years. Not all of us can be lucky and get through it looking like an Adonis."
"I guess you're right. I was just blessed with good genes."
"Okay, I think you're out of your angsty sulky funk. Get inside and go pass out. Remember to drink plenty of water before going to bed and a take an aspirin. It'll take the edge off your hangover tomorrow." She stopped in front of the door and gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "
"Okay."
"Be a good boy, and get up early in the morning to give Shizuka a call."
"Uh huh," he drowsily replied.
She propped him up against the door trying to reach for the doorbell to get a maid to open the door. "Whoa! I think you might not make it to the water and aspirin."
He flopped down on top of her wrapping his arms around her neck and nuzzling his face into her hair. "You're too good for Akira. No man is good enough for you. He doesn't deserve you."
"Uh huh," she sighed smelling the reeking smell of beer on his breath. "Whatever you say."
"I was too late. I should have said something sooner. I." His soft snores followed soon after.
The door opened revealing a very sleepy and annoyed maid startling Tsukushi. "Oh great! He's had a little too much to drink. Just help me put him into his bedroom because he's getting a little heavy here."
The maid grabbed Rui's other arm leading them into the bedroom.
"Thank you," she gratefully thanked the maid. "You go back to bed and I'll just let myself out."
She nodded her head and walked out the door yawning not really caring what Tsukushi did. All she could hear was her warm bed calling out to her.
Tsukushi pulled the blankets up tucking him snugly in bed and swept away the bangs that had fallen over his eyes. He groaned in his sleep before settling into a heavier slumber. Her mind raced with thoughts of what Rui had said in his drunken stupor. He couldn't have been in the right frame of mind to say what he said. She wasn't even sure if he was going to say what she thought. As she bean to walk out the door something on his nightstand caught her eye. It was the picture she had given him as a going away gift. Beside it stood another frame with a picture of a woman, who she assumed to be Shizuka, hugging Rui. Looking at the picture all worries about his words faded. He was drunk and that was the end of that. She smiled to herself noticing how a small smile played on his lips with Shizuka's arms wrapped around his neck from behind. "She makes you smile," she whispered to herself seeing the proof of how happy this woman could make Rui feel.
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By the time she reached the front door of her house, all she wanted to do was pass out. A 14 hour flight followed by an afternoon of unpacking was enough to drain her body. Her eyelids drooped fighting to stay open. The lights were all off except the faint dim light coming form her bedroom. She carefully pushed open the door to find Akira passed out on her bed hugging her pillow.
"He's so cute like that," she giggled.
Grabbing a nightgown from an open box of clothes she walked into the bathroom to change. A few minutes later she emerged taking very soft steps to not awaken her sleeping companion. She gently pulled the ribbons form her hair undoing the braids letting her curly hair fall down her back. She slinked in underneath the sheets and attempted to pry hr pillow out of his hands managing to get it away from him. After turning off the lights she let her head fall onto the soft pillow and closed her eyes.
"You're back," a sleepy voice whispered in her ear. Arms snaked around her waist drawing her closer to a warm chest.
She turned around to face him. "Mhm." She leaned forward giving him a long lingering kiss. She pulled away as his hands began to roam earning a soft moan from him.
"You're such a tease," he chuckled. "I want to do this the rest of my life."
"What?" she innocently asked. "And by this I hope you don't have you're mind in the gutter because I'm too tired for that right now."
"I want the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in the morning to be your face."
"Just when I think I've got you figure out you go and say something completely unexpected and sweet like that. I love you." She nuzzled her head into his chest breathing in the light scent of his body she had become so accustomed to. She closed her eyes ready to let sleep overcome her.
"I love you, too."
Underneath the sheets she could feel his body shifting causing the sheets to rustle. "Now that you mention my mind being in the gutter."
"Go to sleep!" she yelled laughing as she pulled the sheets underneath her chin and tightly shut her eyes.
"You can't blame a guy for trying," he laughed. He tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her back towards him as he drifted off to sleep.
Tsukushi fought to stay awake to memorize that moment, the feel of his body against hers, the rise and fall of his chest with each breath. Surrendering to her body's demand for sleep she drifted off with a peaceful sigh of contentment. She was home.
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A/N: I think I've just pissed off a ton of readers with this chapter. Right now I don't really know who she'll end up with in the end and begging me to make it Rui will not sway me either. It could be anyone. As all my friends know I'm stubborn as hell and unbending when I get my mind set. I'll just let the story write itself. For those of you wondering how the hell Akira and Tsukushi got together explanations will come in the next chapter. I may have gone a little OOC with all the characters, but I got sick of seeing the same extreme flaws in each of these characters and tried to make them a bit more usable for this story. There is a reason behind the insanity. I just hope I haven't lost all my Rui readers who want to throw something at this poor writer. I promise a very angsty dramatic love story here or at least that's what I'm going for. Review if you like, if you don't save your words!
Chapter 3
Unintentionally Rui's body reacted to the sound of those words by backing away. No matter how many times he had heard those words uttered from Akira's mouth they spoke more truth at that moment than any other time. It was foolish to believe that it was simply another one of Akira's wise cracks joking about how one day he would one day marry his favorite singer Ayumi Hamasaki. Now standing in front of him was his Tsukushi wrapped in the arms of one of his best friends giving life to the gravity of the situation.
She playfully smacked Akira on the arm and wriggled herself free from his hold. "It's embarrassing when you do that," she laughed.
"Any girl that would agree to marry this fool should be embarrassed," Soujiro snickered. He picked Tsukushi up in his arms twirling her in the air around him. "It's been too long."
"Put me down, Soujiro!" She felt her feet delicately hit the ground as she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck in a long hug. "It's so good to see you."
"It took you long enough to get off that damn plane," Tsukasa complained. "The next time you decide to run out on us I'll personally hunt you down and drag you back here."
"I missed you, too, Tsukasa," she smiled. She pulled him down into a hug and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek causing his face to burn red. "You know I came all the way back here just to kick your ass."
"And I thought you came back because of me," Akira pouted.
"Not everything is about you. my dear." She turned her head to the left and right noticing one person missing from her welcome party. She called out to him seeing his slight figure shielded by the pillar he had propped himself up against. "Rui!"
Pushing everyone else out of the way she jumped into him knocking him off balance away from the pillar and stumbling backwards. Luckily enough, he managed to regain his balance and awkwardly held her body up a few inches of the ground. Her arms snaked around him in a deathlike vice. He gasped for air feeling like he had just been punched in the gut. Generally he would have been annoyed at such a public display of affection, he could not hide the small smile that forming at his mouth.
"Welcome back," he said in a barely audible whisper.
She only hugged him tighter at the feel of his chest rumbling against her body as he spoke. He was really there in the flesh. "I've missed you most of all, my Rui." She stepped back to take a better inspection of him.
To say that Rui had not changed for the better would be a complete lie. He was still taller than her, much to her annoyance. Beneath his simple white t-shirt that hung loosely off his body she could see the faint traces of muscles what would be a slight six pack. His arms had become more toned showing a hidden strength in them. Although he had grown into the body of a man, his face still gave away a rogue boyish quality about him with his messy bangs falling over his eyes. Through it all, she could still make out the shy little boy she had befriended years ago.
She hooked her arm around his and pulled him into the small circle. "The airport is nice and all, but I think it would be nice if we continue this joyous reunion somewhere else."
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Tsukushi practically jumped out of the car before Akira had the chance to put the car in park. She ran up to the door of the familiar manor graciously greeting the woman she could only refer to as a second mother.
"I almost didn't recognize you, Tsukushi," the elderly woman laughed. She stepped back to fully take in the sight before her. "You're mother failed to mention how beautiful you've become."
Tsukushi bowed her head down slightly trying to hide the apparent blush spreading across her cheeks. "You're too kind. It will be wonderful having you at the manor again." She picked up her hand carefully inspecting the engagement ring gleaming on her finger. Clucking her tongue, she wistfully sighed, "Knowing that you children are old enough to get married and start their own families soon makes me feel only older. There I go, getting sentimental again. I'll have someone help you bring your bags to your flat. I'll leave you children be, but you and I young lady have much to discuss later. I want to know all the details about this." She poked at the diamond on her finger and smiled.
"Of course, and I just wanted to thank you again for letting me stay here again."
"Think nothing of it. You'll always have a home here." Rui's mother silently slipped back into the house with a knowing nod.
Turning around she hopped down the front steps and began to walk down the long lane towards the servant quarters of the manor. "I wonder if it'll look exactly the same," she muttered to herself.
Slowly, she meandered through the gardens inhaling the smell of freshly mowed grass. She passed familiar faces recognizing them as members of the house staff her mother worked alongside with and many of whom had watched her run rampant like a wild demon child through the estate. Their eyes followed her graceful steps sensing a vague familiarity in her face, but not quite grasping exactly her identity. A few looked completely aghast when she walked up to them making herself known. Disbelief was written completely across their faces followed by warm greetings on her return. After taking her time reacquainting herself with the ground she found herself on the doorstep of the home her parents and she once lived in. Everything seemed eerily the same as the time when she left it. The entire estate in itself seemed to have escaped untouched by time. Entering the door, she pulled off her heels rubbing her tired feet to find four men lounging around in her living room surrounded by boxed stacked from the floor to the ceiling. She trudged into the room listening to the creaky floorboards beneath her feet. Arms reached out and pulled her down into a warm lap. Feeling to tired to put up a struggle she allowed her body to sink deeper into his alp and rested her head against his chest.
"Get a room!" Tsukasa yelled in disgust tossing a pillow in their direction.
"You're just jealous that I have a beautiful woman in my lap and all you have to cuddle over there is a Hello Kitty doll!" Akira strengthened his hold on Tsukushi cuddling closer to her body. He laughed at the way that Tsukasa had absentmindedly picked up the doll left on the chair he resided in at present and chosen to hug rest it in his lap.
"Enough fighting you two. I've had a long flight and the last thing I need is a migraine added onto my jet lag. Just give me some peace and quiet for a few minutes so I can regroup."
"Geez, when was the last time someone lived here?" Soujiro ran a finger across the coffee table leaving a clean trail across the dust covered top.
"No one's lived here since Tsukushi's family left." Rui slumped lower in his chair watching the small particles of dust dance in the streak of sunlight coming from the window.
"This place is barely inhabitable. Why the hell are you living here anyway? You're engaged to Akira, I thought he would have at least enough sense to help you find a decent place."
"Well, I did offer her to stay with me at my apartment."
Tsukushi folded her arms knowing where this conversation was going to lead to. "You only have one bedroom."
"And your problem would be?"
"You've got such a one track mind!" She leapt out of his clutches and plopped down beside Rui on the armrest of his chair.
"Come on, we all know that not one person in this room can claim to be of virginal innocence." Soujiro looked directly into Tsukushi's eyes grinning widely.
"If my mother asks I am still one." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"It seems even the purest of us all has been corrupted."
She placed a hand over Rui's. "So when do I get to meet the love of your life, Shizuka? I've been wanting to see the woman that managed to steal my Rui away," she laughed.
"She's in Paris right now interning with one of the local law firms over there. She should be back by the first day of school." He glanced down at her hand and pulled his hand away as if he had been scorched.
She frowned at his sudden movement, but brushed it aside as nothing not thinking too much of it. "Since I have four very strong and able bodies here I think I'll get you all to work helping me unload some of this stuff out of the boxes."
"What do you think we are? Slave labor?"
"Yeah, aren't you only referring to Akira. He's already whipped."
"He can't do this all on his own."
"Hey! I resent that whipped comment."
"Enough slaves! You'll be paid for your services. How about dinner, my treat? I promise it'll be something very special." She jumped up from her comfortable spot on the chair. "Let me change into something more comfortable. The boxes are labeled for which rooms they should be put in. be careful with everything though. I don't want to find my plates smashed into a thousand pieces." She pointed towards the boxes and dragged a small suitcase into the bathroom closing the door behind her.
"Let's get to work I guess," Soujiro sighed as he picked up the closest box labeled kitchen.
Rui nodded his head and picked up a box behind his chair. He watched in amusement as Tsukasa fervently began clearing boxes putting them into the appropriately labeled rooms. If there was anyone that could order Tsukasa around and get away with it, it would be Tsukushi. He picked up a rather heavy box grunting under the burden of its weight and carried it towards the bedroom.
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"Now when you said dinner, I thought you would be referring to a five star restaurant with candles and elegant music in the background," Soujiro sighed as he picked up another slice of pizza from the box.
"Pizza in my living room is just the same. It's not every day that I get to enjoy the company of the four richest heirs in Japan sitting on the floor eating pizza out of the box on paper plates chugging cold domestic beer." Tsukushi sat cross legged on the ground leaning against the couch between Akira's legs. She tugged at her baggy t-shirt knotted around her stomach for a better fit. Her long legs spread out from her body having her thighs barely covered by a rather beat up pair of cut off shorts. Her hair was pulled bag into two French braided pigtails and topped off with a backwards baseball cap. "Hey, you should be so lucky to share such fine dining with a beautiful lady as myself." She pushed up her black-framed glasses pushing them up with her index finger onto the crook of her nose.
"What beautiful lady? All I see is what looks like twelve year old boy. What can be sexier than that?"
"As much as you like to believe, underneath it all a girl would trade in her heels and dresses for a pair of sneakers and a comfy pair of sweats. I'm sorry, but you're not worth the effort to look good for."
"Sexy you are not, maybe cute."
"Ew! Are you saying you like twelve year old boys?!"
"Shut up!"
"You walked into that one."
"You eat this stuff?" Tsukasa poked at his slice of pizza trying to decide whether or not to try to strange commoner food.
"All the time back when I was in New York. It doesn't exactly taste the same as Famous Ray's, but I guess this is passable. In my old college dorm, we would always have pizza and beer on Friday nights to unwind after a long week of studying and exams." She reached into the box for the last pineapple slice, but instead felt a hand. She looked up to see said hand belonging to Rui. "Go ahead, you can have it."
"No you take it."
She frowned yet again for the twentieth time that day. "Naw, you can have it. I'll get something else."
He pulled his hand away and took a long swig of his beer. He looked away staring blankly at the nightly news blaring on the television.
Soujiro popped open another beer sucking up the frothy foam spilling out over the top. "Man, school starts in a few weeks. I can't deal with the pressure anymore. It's really going to put a damper on my partying. Now that Tsukushi's here, I've lost my partner in crime. Tsukasa scares the ladies away. Rui's too loyal to Shizuka. I'm all alone now," he sighed.
"Don't worry man. Remember playboy solidarity!" Akira clapped his disheartened friend on the shoulder trying to lift his spirits.
Tsukushi shot him a deathly glare silencing him in mid-high five. "I hope you're joking. I better not find out about you messing around with other girls. You know the rules."
He pulled his hand back wiping the silly smirk off his face. "I'd never cheat on you."
"He's right. If he did I would personally kill him for you," Tsukasa grumbled glaring at Akira with a wary eye. He cracked his knuckles as a sign of his vow to keep his promise.
"Aw! You're so sweet in your own violent and overprotective way," Tsukushi giggled. She stifled back a yawn stretching her arms out over her head releasing cracks in her aching joints. "I didn't realize I had brought back so much junk with me. At least I made a small dent in the unpacking process." She glanced around the room taking note of the few open boxes leftover instead of the towers that once resided in random spots of the room. "God, in a few months I'll have the joy of packing all this stuff back up again," she sighed.
"You could have saved us all a lot of time if you just moved in with me like I offered."
"Yeah, you're right, but I still have one more year as a free woman and I plan to enjoy the last moments of pure unfettered single life. Anyway, I don't want to give people the wrong idea."
Soujiro leaned backing his chair chucking his napkin into the wastebasket a few feet away. "I still can't believe how you managed to hide your engagement these last few months. Usually the paparazzi would have had a field day knowing that Mimasaka Akira, infamous womanizer, was going to be married."
"And that is why I plan on keeping it private. Do you know how many angry women would be after me knowing I took one of the infamous F4 out of the meat market? It's not an everyday thing that people like you choose who you marry. Like you all said, it was either choosing a girl of equal standing or let your parents choose."
"I just lucked out that my parents adore Tsukushi, not to mention my two bratty sisters. I almost forgot. They've been bugging me about when I would take you home to see them. They haven't shut up for weeks about you coming back to Japan."
Tsukushi slapped him on the leg. "Don't talk about your sisters like that. I think I'll drop by your parents place tomorrow. I promised I would take Suzume and Aiko shopping when I got back."
"But I want you all to myself!"
She laid her head on his lap yawning. "I've got so much stuff to take care this week. I still have to go down to the university and finalize my registration, unpack and clean up this place, and catch up with my other friends." She gently patted his thigh. "You can stay over here tonight if you want."
"I think if I have to watch anymore of this I'm going to puke!" Tsukasa clapped his hand over his mouth mock puking over the side of the chair. "I always thought you had better taste than that, Akira."
Tsukushi clenched her fist making her knuckles turn white. Her head remained downcast concealing the very annoyed look on her face.
"I think that's our cue to be going!" Soujiro jumped up from his seat and grabbed Tsukasa from the collar of his neck. "We'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Mhmph!" Tsukasa muffled from underneath Soujiro's hand as he was being shoved out the door.
"I think I'll be heading out, too," Rui mumbled to himself. He abruptly sat and placed his can of beer onto the table. His body swayed a little teetering back and forth before he managed to balance himself out.
"Umm. Do you need some help getting back to the house?" Akira asked.
"Naw, I'm fine," he nodded. He stumbled out the front door swerving back and forth on the long pathway towards the main house.
The couple worriedly watched their friend stumble out the door wondering if he would make it in one piece. They walked towards the doorway carefully watching his figure disappear through the night fog.
"Maybe I should go walk him back just in case," Akira suggested. "How much did he drink?"
"A whole six pack, I think," Tsukushi replied staring out into the night trying to make out the faint trace of his disappearing body. "Does he usually drink like this?"
Akira shook his head. "I haven't seen him like that since the night before Shizuka left for Paris."
"Why would he get drunk the night before she left?"
"It's a long story. He wasn't exactly thrilled when Shizuka announced out of the blue she would be leaving for Paris the entire summer within the week. Rui threw a tantrum claiming that she didn't care enough to tell him about something like that in advance. He wanted her to stay. The night before she left we had a little going away party. Rui partied a little too hard and said a few words that even Tsukasa would regret. The next day Shizuka told us all she didn't care about what he said because she knew he was just angry. The real kick in the ass was when he didn't show up at the airport to say goodbye. We all called him to come, but he never showed up. "
She looked up at her fiancée wondering why she was never informed of this. She had always thought Rui told her everything. Within her five year absence, she believed Rui would have had the courage to confide his frustrations to her. They rarely kept any secrets. "I didn't know. I'm such an idiot for bringing up when I would get to meet her. Being the stubborn ass that he is, I bet he hasn't spoken to her since their argument."
"Rui has kept a lot to himself these past few years. He rarely tells us anything really. Shizuka has called each of us trying to get us to persuade Rui to return her calls. I don't understand him. He's been acting weird lately. I think I'll go run up and catch up with him to make sure he gets back to the house."
"No, you stay. I'll go check up on him." Tsukushi stood up on her tiptoes and quickly kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
Hearing the door close behind her she ran up the path to try to catch up with her inebriated friend. The sound of the bottoms of her plastic flip flops hitting the pavement echoed through the air. Within ten minutes she had run up to the house breathless. To her surprise, the maid informed her that Rui had yet to return. A bit panicked, she thanked the maid and ran back wondering if he had taken the long path.
"Where could he be?" she said aloud to herself. She slowly sauntered down the same pathway she had run like a mad woman down before kicking at the pebbles beneath her feet. Figuring that she would need some help in tracking down the enigmatic Hanazawa Rui, she decided to return to the house to get Akira's help. Trudging back towards her flat, she stopped at the sound of rustling leaves. Looking up she watched the branches of a nearby tree swaying in the wind. She laughed at herself for not thinking of it earlier. She spun around on her heel heading for their spot.
"Rui?"
He stayed in his place not taking notice of her below. His gaze remained transfixed on the sky.
"This weirdness may work with everyone else, but I'm not going to take this from you. You avoid looking at me. You act as if I'll burn you with my touch. You're overly polite to me. What's wrong with you?" She climbed up onto the bough staying a safe distance away form him. She tugged on his arm forcing him to look at her. All she could see in those chestnut eyes was a sense of complete loneliness and loss that she had not seen since the day she had first met him. "Talk to me."
"It's nothing."
"You don't act like a guy who has nothing to worry about. Tell me what's wrong. How come you never told me about what happened between you and Shizuka? I thought everything was going fine between you two."
"She lied to me," he mumbled under his breath. "Just like you."
"Me? What are you talking about?"
His body began to tremble causing the limbs of the tree to shiver. Clenching his hands tightly at his side he closed his eyes not wanting to see her face anymore. "Not once did you ever think you could tell me. You were the last person in this world I thought would never lie to me." Tears began to streak down his face. "Why didn't you ever tell me about Akira?"
She fell back against the tree trunk aghast by his words. "Akira?"
"We've never kept secrets form one another. Every other day for the past five years you've called me. It didn't matter where you went to Okinawa or America or wherever you've been, but no matter where or when you called me just to say hi or tell me about your day. I told you everything I never told anyone else. You were the first to know about Shizuka. And you? Not once did you ever feel the need to mention that you had fallen in love with one of my best friends. How do you think I would feel about you telling me last week you were coming home because Akira asked to marry you?! Then he has to be the one to tell me that you've been seeing each other for the last year and a half."
She opened her mouth, but quickly shut it trying to find the words to explain herself. "He was different," she murmured. She wistfully looked up at the mist clearing away from the full moon. "You're right to be mad at me." She reached a hand up to wipe away the stray tears falling down his face, but her hand was knocked away before she had the chance to touch him. A sinking feeling hit her stomach at his abrupt act to shy away from her touch. "I always thought that no matter what happened in my life, you would understand Rui. I mean you're the only one I've been in constant contact with all this time. I had my reasons to not tell you about this."
"Either way you lied to me."
She sighed seeing how he was not about to give up on the fact that she kept secrets from him. "Remember when you first started playing the violin? You always locked yourself away in the music room with your teacher refusing anyone not even me to hear you play. You loved playing the violin so much that you said you didn't want any of us to hear you play until you were ready. When you finally did play for us I couldn't believe how you tried to hide your amazing gift. I never understood what would have made you want to hide something so wonderful, but now I do. Your first love was music. When I watched you play you showed more passion and feeling than anything in this world. You once told me that music makes you feel alive taking away that empty feeling inside. Music gave breath to your life. You just wanted to be selfish and have it all for yourself."
"I don't see the point of this story."
Tsukushi turned to him giving her one of her heartfelt smiles. "Akira is my music. I've been with other boys and men before. All of my relationships have come and gone. They were fun, we had a few laughs, fought a bit, and then it was over. If you told me I would be about to marry Akira a few years ago I would have laughed in your face. I wasn't even looking to fall I love with him. Hell, I barely spoke to him after I left except a few e- mails here and there. It all happened by accident. I would never have expected to bump into him while walking down Fifth Avenue in the middle of Manhattan. When we decided to exclusively see each other he wanted to tell you guys, but I told him not to. This thing we had was something I just wanted to hold onto a little longer as my own. I haven't been able to admit it until recently that I've fallen helplessly in love with him. He gives me life." She hopped off the bough and landed onto the ground with a soft thud. "If you want to throw away our friendship because you can't understand why I kept this to myself then I can't do anything. I'm sorry for lying to you, but I love Akira and don't make me feel bad about it for one minute because in the end, I don't regret it." She steadied her steps as she walked away from him.
"Wait!" Rui called out reaching a hand out to grab her wrist. She spun around and looked up at him with tears forming at her eyes. "I'm sorry."
She wiped away the tears in her eyes and buried her face into his chest. Pushing him away she pounded him with her fists. "Don't ever do that to me again!" she scolded. She watched the regret written all over her face, and as much as she wanted to stay angry she couldn't. She grabbed her hand and gently tugged him in the direction of the main house. "Now that you've told me off, how about you tell me why you really are so grumpy. I know this ahs something to do with you making a total ass of yourself with Shizuka. If I were her I would have dumped you a long time ago, but you're lucky that you're cute enough and she's nice enough to still want an idiot like you."
"She probably hates me." He hurried his pace falling into step with her. "I hate myself most of the time."
She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I know for a fact that a girl that calls you after being treated the way you treated her does not want to break up with you. The longer you wait the harder it'll be. Just give her a call. Beg her to take you back. Not everyone knows you as well as I do. I know how you feel about people leaving you and maybe she didn't realize you would feel that way about it. Tell her the truth of why you were such a jerk. If everything else fails, let me talk to her and tell her I think you're a jerk too," she laughed.
"How come you always know a way to make me feel better?"
"It's a curse," she shrugged.
"It's nice to see a face with the voice."
"It's not much of a face to see, but yours I could get used to."
"I kind of miss the braces and the glasses," he laughed holding his fingers like two O's in front of his eyes.
"God, do you have to mock my horrific teen years. Not all of us can be lucky and get through it looking like an Adonis."
"I guess you're right. I was just blessed with good genes."
"Okay, I think you're out of your angsty sulky funk. Get inside and go pass out. Remember to drink plenty of water before going to bed and a take an aspirin. It'll take the edge off your hangover tomorrow." She stopped in front of the door and gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "
"Okay."
"Be a good boy, and get up early in the morning to give Shizuka a call."
"Uh huh," he drowsily replied.
She propped him up against the door trying to reach for the doorbell to get a maid to open the door. "Whoa! I think you might not make it to the water and aspirin."
He flopped down on top of her wrapping his arms around her neck and nuzzling his face into her hair. "You're too good for Akira. No man is good enough for you. He doesn't deserve you."
"Uh huh," she sighed smelling the reeking smell of beer on his breath. "Whatever you say."
"I was too late. I should have said something sooner. I." His soft snores followed soon after.
The door opened revealing a very sleepy and annoyed maid startling Tsukushi. "Oh great! He's had a little too much to drink. Just help me put him into his bedroom because he's getting a little heavy here."
The maid grabbed Rui's other arm leading them into the bedroom.
"Thank you," she gratefully thanked the maid. "You go back to bed and I'll just let myself out."
She nodded her head and walked out the door yawning not really caring what Tsukushi did. All she could hear was her warm bed calling out to her.
Tsukushi pulled the blankets up tucking him snugly in bed and swept away the bangs that had fallen over his eyes. He groaned in his sleep before settling into a heavier slumber. Her mind raced with thoughts of what Rui had said in his drunken stupor. He couldn't have been in the right frame of mind to say what he said. She wasn't even sure if he was going to say what she thought. As she bean to walk out the door something on his nightstand caught her eye. It was the picture she had given him as a going away gift. Beside it stood another frame with a picture of a woman, who she assumed to be Shizuka, hugging Rui. Looking at the picture all worries about his words faded. He was drunk and that was the end of that. She smiled to herself noticing how a small smile played on his lips with Shizuka's arms wrapped around his neck from behind. "She makes you smile," she whispered to herself seeing the proof of how happy this woman could make Rui feel.
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By the time she reached the front door of her house, all she wanted to do was pass out. A 14 hour flight followed by an afternoon of unpacking was enough to drain her body. Her eyelids drooped fighting to stay open. The lights were all off except the faint dim light coming form her bedroom. She carefully pushed open the door to find Akira passed out on her bed hugging her pillow.
"He's so cute like that," she giggled.
Grabbing a nightgown from an open box of clothes she walked into the bathroom to change. A few minutes later she emerged taking very soft steps to not awaken her sleeping companion. She gently pulled the ribbons form her hair undoing the braids letting her curly hair fall down her back. She slinked in underneath the sheets and attempted to pry hr pillow out of his hands managing to get it away from him. After turning off the lights she let her head fall onto the soft pillow and closed her eyes.
"You're back," a sleepy voice whispered in her ear. Arms snaked around her waist drawing her closer to a warm chest.
She turned around to face him. "Mhm." She leaned forward giving him a long lingering kiss. She pulled away as his hands began to roam earning a soft moan from him.
"You're such a tease," he chuckled. "I want to do this the rest of my life."
"What?" she innocently asked. "And by this I hope you don't have you're mind in the gutter because I'm too tired for that right now."
"I want the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in the morning to be your face."
"Just when I think I've got you figure out you go and say something completely unexpected and sweet like that. I love you." She nuzzled her head into his chest breathing in the light scent of his body she had become so accustomed to. She closed her eyes ready to let sleep overcome her.
"I love you, too."
Underneath the sheets she could feel his body shifting causing the sheets to rustle. "Now that you mention my mind being in the gutter."
"Go to sleep!" she yelled laughing as she pulled the sheets underneath her chin and tightly shut her eyes.
"You can't blame a guy for trying," he laughed. He tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her back towards him as he drifted off to sleep.
Tsukushi fought to stay awake to memorize that moment, the feel of his body against hers, the rise and fall of his chest with each breath. Surrendering to her body's demand for sleep she drifted off with a peaceful sigh of contentment. She was home.
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A/N: I think I've just pissed off a ton of readers with this chapter. Right now I don't really know who she'll end up with in the end and begging me to make it Rui will not sway me either. It could be anyone. As all my friends know I'm stubborn as hell and unbending when I get my mind set. I'll just let the story write itself. For those of you wondering how the hell Akira and Tsukushi got together explanations will come in the next chapter. I may have gone a little OOC with all the characters, but I got sick of seeing the same extreme flaws in each of these characters and tried to make them a bit more usable for this story. There is a reason behind the insanity. I just hope I haven't lost all my Rui readers who want to throw something at this poor writer. I promise a very angsty dramatic love story here or at least that's what I'm going for. Review if you like, if you don't save your words!