Disclaimer: I do not own Hana Yori Dango
A/N: Apologies for this filler chapter. But as promised, Yuki finally makes an appearance. For this story I chose to retain her characteristic naïveté from the manga. The quip from Tsukushi towards the end about falling in love was borrowed from a forwarded e-mail entitled "Chicken Pox for the Soul." I don't know who originated it. Oh, and for those of you who are wondering whether Tsukasa and Tsukushi will meet in this lifetime, lol, please be patient. It's coming in probably 3 chapters from now. There's just some stuff I wanna get out of the way first. Replies to reviewers are at the the end of the chapter.
Chapter 7: Tête-à-tête with Yuki
Tsukushi was not having a good week.
It was that time of the month when the bulk of her bills were due and she was running low on funds. Several times she wanted to kick herself in the butt for giving in to the lure of taking the weekend off. What the hell was she thinking?! Her brief respite, albeit not undeserved, had cost her two nights' worth of tips. And we're not talking about loose change here. Weekends were when they had the most people coming in and even their regular patrons who came on weeknights seemed more generous during the weekends.
Now Tsukushi was feeling the effects of her decision and she was racking her brain, thinking up ways to minimize the deficit in her budget. To make matters worse, her employer at the clothing store informed her that the company was downsizing. As a part-time employee, she would have to be one of the first to go. She only had until the end of the month before she was out of that job.
It was the middle of the week as Tsukushi came for the late shift when Yuki approached her.
"Hey Tsukushi," the cute short-haired girl greeted. "Nishikado Soujiro and Mimasaka Akira were here earlier tonight. They were looking for you."
"Yeah? What'd they want?"
"They wanted to know whether you'd changed your mind about auditioning."
"Oh that," Tsukushi rolled her eyes.
"Uh-huh. It seems that they were quite impressed with your performance when you pinch-hit for me last week," Yuki's voice held a trace of envy although she was happy that other people could see the talent Tsukushi had but didn't make full use of.
"Well, I already told them that I wasn't interested. Hey!" Tsukushi brightened as an idea hit her. "Why don't you try out? You told me before that you've always wanted to sing in a band, right?
"Yup! That's why I'm gonna try out tomorrow. They gave me the address where they're holding auditions. I'm so excited!"
Yuki's enthusiasm was contagious.
"Good for you! I hope you make it!" Tsukushi beamed.
"Oooh, I hope so too! Imagine getting to work with Soujiro everyday. . ." Yuki's eyes twinkled dreamily.
"Well, good luck! I really hope you're the one they're looking for," Tsukushi gave the other girl's hand a squeeze before the both of them turned their attention to their respective duties for the night.
======================
Two days later, a glum Yuki met Tsukushi at the club.
"How'd it go?" Tsukushi asked, although from her friend's expression she already had an idea that she didn't make the cut.
"Not well. I didn't make it. Their lead singer. . . well, he's the one who gets the final say. Soujiro says he has impossibly high standards. I was only a couple of stanzas into the song when he stood up shaking his head. Then he thanked me for my time. Hmmph, good luck to them finding a singer anytime soon!" Yuki spat out bitterly.
"Oh Yuki," Tsukushi said as she put a sympathetic arm around her friend's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."
"Thanks. Well, yesterday wasn't such a total loss." Already Yuki's sad demeanor was erased by a small smile playing on her lips. "Soujiro asked me out on a date!"
"He did huh?" Tsukushi asked, not at all sure whether to feel happy for her friend or not. She was amazed at how easily Yuki could switch from sad to happy in a span of seconds, at the mere mention of Soujiro's name.
"Yes! Oh Tsukushi, I can't believe it! After so many months of wishing he'd notice me, it's finally happened! I can't wait for tomorrow. He's taking me out for dinner and a movie."
Seeing her friend's excitement and not wanting to dampen her spirits again, Tsukushi merely smiled and bit her lip from saying anything more. She had wanted to warn Yuki about Soujiro's playboy ways but decided against doing so. She reminded herself that Yuki was an adult like herself, capable of making her own judgments.
"Tsukushi?"
"Hmmm?"
"Have you ever fallen in love?"
Tsukushi paused, contemplating how to reply to Yuki's question. In the end she chose not to answer at all. Instead she thought to herself, "Falling in love. . . the operative word there is 'fall.' Not walk, or leap, or glide, but fall. It denotes plummeting from a height, landing with a thud, incurring welts and bruises. That's why it's called falling in love. You could end up maimed, or dead."
"Huh?" Yuki stared at her uncomprehendingly. Tsukushi snapped her head up when she realized that she had spoken her thoughts aloud.
"Uhrm. . . nothing. Forget what I said. It's time to start working. Go on," she gently shooed her friend as she went to take her place behind the bar. Yuki didn't need much prodding as she walked, or rather, floated away, that dreamy, faraway look once again in her eyes. It was just as well, Tsukushi thought. She didn't want Yuki's view of love tainted just because of her own disastrous encounter with it.
********************
fresh8: Hi! It's nice to see your name again on the review page. Hope this update was soon enough for you.
ToinKs: Oh, I could feel the resentment alright! LOL! Yours was the most enthusiastic reaction to Junpei's death, complete with thunder and lightning, hahaha.
Invisible Rain: Thanks. Well, if he died slowly and painfully, he deserved it, didn't he? LOL.
XxSwtDreamerxX1: Well, the dude had it coming. He was EVIL but so am I so I killed him off. Mwahahahahaha!
silver04: Hi and welcome, new reader! Thanks for checking this story out and taking time to leave a review.
Thanks to everyone still reading this. As always,
A/N: Apologies for this filler chapter. But as promised, Yuki finally makes an appearance. For this story I chose to retain her characteristic naïveté from the manga. The quip from Tsukushi towards the end about falling in love was borrowed from a forwarded e-mail entitled "Chicken Pox for the Soul." I don't know who originated it. Oh, and for those of you who are wondering whether Tsukasa and Tsukushi will meet in this lifetime, lol, please be patient. It's coming in probably 3 chapters from now. There's just some stuff I wanna get out of the way first. Replies to reviewers are at the the end of the chapter.
Chapter 7: Tête-à-tête with Yuki
Tsukushi was not having a good week.
It was that time of the month when the bulk of her bills were due and she was running low on funds. Several times she wanted to kick herself in the butt for giving in to the lure of taking the weekend off. What the hell was she thinking?! Her brief respite, albeit not undeserved, had cost her two nights' worth of tips. And we're not talking about loose change here. Weekends were when they had the most people coming in and even their regular patrons who came on weeknights seemed more generous during the weekends.
Now Tsukushi was feeling the effects of her decision and she was racking her brain, thinking up ways to minimize the deficit in her budget. To make matters worse, her employer at the clothing store informed her that the company was downsizing. As a part-time employee, she would have to be one of the first to go. She only had until the end of the month before she was out of that job.
It was the middle of the week as Tsukushi came for the late shift when Yuki approached her.
"Hey Tsukushi," the cute short-haired girl greeted. "Nishikado Soujiro and Mimasaka Akira were here earlier tonight. They were looking for you."
"Yeah? What'd they want?"
"They wanted to know whether you'd changed your mind about auditioning."
"Oh that," Tsukushi rolled her eyes.
"Uh-huh. It seems that they were quite impressed with your performance when you pinch-hit for me last week," Yuki's voice held a trace of envy although she was happy that other people could see the talent Tsukushi had but didn't make full use of.
"Well, I already told them that I wasn't interested. Hey!" Tsukushi brightened as an idea hit her. "Why don't you try out? You told me before that you've always wanted to sing in a band, right?
"Yup! That's why I'm gonna try out tomorrow. They gave me the address where they're holding auditions. I'm so excited!"
Yuki's enthusiasm was contagious.
"Good for you! I hope you make it!" Tsukushi beamed.
"Oooh, I hope so too! Imagine getting to work with Soujiro everyday. . ." Yuki's eyes twinkled dreamily.
"Well, good luck! I really hope you're the one they're looking for," Tsukushi gave the other girl's hand a squeeze before the both of them turned their attention to their respective duties for the night.
======================
Two days later, a glum Yuki met Tsukushi at the club.
"How'd it go?" Tsukushi asked, although from her friend's expression she already had an idea that she didn't make the cut.
"Not well. I didn't make it. Their lead singer. . . well, he's the one who gets the final say. Soujiro says he has impossibly high standards. I was only a couple of stanzas into the song when he stood up shaking his head. Then he thanked me for my time. Hmmph, good luck to them finding a singer anytime soon!" Yuki spat out bitterly.
"Oh Yuki," Tsukushi said as she put a sympathetic arm around her friend's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."
"Thanks. Well, yesterday wasn't such a total loss." Already Yuki's sad demeanor was erased by a small smile playing on her lips. "Soujiro asked me out on a date!"
"He did huh?" Tsukushi asked, not at all sure whether to feel happy for her friend or not. She was amazed at how easily Yuki could switch from sad to happy in a span of seconds, at the mere mention of Soujiro's name.
"Yes! Oh Tsukushi, I can't believe it! After so many months of wishing he'd notice me, it's finally happened! I can't wait for tomorrow. He's taking me out for dinner and a movie."
Seeing her friend's excitement and not wanting to dampen her spirits again, Tsukushi merely smiled and bit her lip from saying anything more. She had wanted to warn Yuki about Soujiro's playboy ways but decided against doing so. She reminded herself that Yuki was an adult like herself, capable of making her own judgments.
"Tsukushi?"
"Hmmm?"
"Have you ever fallen in love?"
Tsukushi paused, contemplating how to reply to Yuki's question. In the end she chose not to answer at all. Instead she thought to herself, "Falling in love. . . the operative word there is 'fall.' Not walk, or leap, or glide, but fall. It denotes plummeting from a height, landing with a thud, incurring welts and bruises. That's why it's called falling in love. You could end up maimed, or dead."
"Huh?" Yuki stared at her uncomprehendingly. Tsukushi snapped her head up when she realized that she had spoken her thoughts aloud.
"Uhrm. . . nothing. Forget what I said. It's time to start working. Go on," she gently shooed her friend as she went to take her place behind the bar. Yuki didn't need much prodding as she walked, or rather, floated away, that dreamy, faraway look once again in her eyes. It was just as well, Tsukushi thought. She didn't want Yuki's view of love tainted just because of her own disastrous encounter with it.
********************
fresh8: Hi! It's nice to see your name again on the review page. Hope this update was soon enough for you.
ToinKs: Oh, I could feel the resentment alright! LOL! Yours was the most enthusiastic reaction to Junpei's death, complete with thunder and lightning, hahaha.
Invisible Rain: Thanks. Well, if he died slowly and painfully, he deserved it, didn't he? LOL.
XxSwtDreamerxX1: Well, the dude had it coming. He was EVIL but so am I so I killed him off. Mwahahahahaha!
silver04: Hi and welcome, new reader! Thanks for checking this story out and taking time to leave a review.
Thanks to everyone still reading this. As always,