Disclaimer: I do not own Hana Yori Dango.
Chapter 16: Of Secret Smiles and Awkward Feelings
I am so dead!
Tsukushi glanced at her watch as she disembarked from the bus at the corner of Akira's street. After her lunchbreak, Haru had asked for her help in sorting out the new stock of cd's that had just arrived, and the task had eaten up more of her time than she expected. She was now fifteen minutes late. She sprinted from the street corner towards Akira's house, while silently rehearsing in her mind how to explain her tardiness.
Normally, Tsukushi wouldn't have been so concerned. After all, she had a perfectly valid excuse. But she knew that Tsukasa was a stickler for punctuality (well, that was the impression he gave her when F4 first hired her), and right now, she didn't want to break the fragile truce they had forged the night before, by being late. She even made sure she did her homework and memorized all the songs they were scheduled to practice that day. For good measure, she double-checked that she had her lyric sheet before she left home for work that morning.
Tsukushi stopped in front of Akira's door, breathless from the short dash. She bent over, resting her hands on her knees, as she tried to catch her breath. That's when she felt someone tug her knapsack from behind.
"Rui!" she panted. "Oh good, you're late too."
"What happened to you?" he asked concernedly as he took in her slightly disheveled appearance. Her face was still flushed from the exertion of running the several hundred yards from the street corner to Akira's house.
"I had to run from the corner 'cause I didn't want to be later than I already am," she replied as she waited for her heartbeat to go back to its normal rate. "You have no idea how happy I am to see that I'm not the only one who's late."
Before Rui could answer, a car pulled up on the curb in front of them. Tsukasa came out of the door on the passenger side. Momentarily, they saw Shigeru get off on the driver's side.
"Well, well, looks like I was worried over nothing at all," Tsukushi remarked, a trace of annoyance in her voice. "I'll go in ahead," she said to Rui, when she saw that he intended to wait for Tsukasa.
"Thanks for keeping me company, Tsukasa! I had a great time," Shigeru called as she waved from where she was. Tsukasa merely grunted and gave a perfunctory nod before walking up to Akira's doorstep.
"Hey," Rui greeted.
"Hey," Tsukasa replied. "What?" he asked when he saw the funny look Rui was giving him.
"Did I miss something? Are you and Shigeru dating now?"
"In her dreams," he snorted. "What the hell gave you that idea?" he asked, irritation obvious on his face.
"Oh, stop being so touchy. What did you expect me to think? First you show up together at lunch. And now I see it was quite an extended lunch," Rui replied as he made a show of checking his watch.
"I made the mistake of accepting her offer for a ride back here when she found out my car's in the shop for servicing. Unfortunately, she kept on yakking and yakking while we were having coffee. You should've seen her chug down cup after cup. With all that caffeine in her system, it's no wonder she can keep going and going," Tsukasa grimaced at the memory of having had to endure Shigeru's mindless babble for the past two hours since Rui and Tsukushi left them at Giuseppe's.
"Well, I just thought you changed your mind about her after all these months", Rui chuckled.
"No way," Tsukasa declared with conviction. "And what about you?"
"Eh?"
"Does Shizuka know you're dating Tsukushi?" he questioned Rui seriously.
"Now what the hell gave you that idea? I'm not dating Tsukushi. Why the heck would I do that when Shizuka and I are still going strong?"
"So why were you together at lunch? The two of you were looking pretty intimate before Shigeru and I came to join you."
Rui smiled and shook his head wryly at his friend. "I invited her out to lunch because I was feeling pretty guilty about last night when we locked you guys up. We were talking about Shizuka when you guys came. She was just being sympathetic because I told her how much I missed Shizuka."
"Oh. . ." was all Tsukasa could say in reply. He was still trying to process in his head what Rui had just told him.
"Were you jealous?" Rui asked the other man teasingly.
"Jealous? Me? Why would I be jealous?" Tsukasa replied, a little too quickly.
Oh boy, I've got him now, Rui thought. His friend was so easy to read. He decided to push Tsukasa's buttons a little more. "Yup, I think you're jealous. I think you have a thing for Tsukushi," Rui's eyes glinted mischievously, challenging his friend to refute what he just said.
Tsukasa turned away from Rui, and opened the door. "And I think you're crazy. C'mon down. We've wasted too much time out here on this dumb conversation. We're already running late."
Rui followed him inside the house. Tsukasa was already on his way down the short flight of stairs to the basement, so he didn't see the knowing smile that played on Rui's lips. Neither did Rui see the silly grin Tsukasa had on his face because of the revelation that Tsukushi and Rui weren't dating after all.
Looks like my two band mates already have a thing for each other but are both too thick-skulled to realize what I already know. This is gonna be so much fun to watch, Rui thought to himself.
===================
Even if rehearsals started late that day, the band had accomplished a lot more than they had over the last couple of days. There was a marked improvement in Tsukushi's performance. She had obviously made the effort to memorize most of the songs they practiced that day, and even during breaks she would quietly study her lyric sheet. Tsukasa was no longer the grouch he was for the last two days. Today, he was quietly pensive.
Akira and Soujiro wanted to pat themselves on the back. Their scheme to lock their two bandmates up to force them to work out their differences wasn't such a bad thing after all. And now that there was no longer the threat of bodily harm from Tsukasa, the two smugly wanted to take credit for the idea.
Although rehearsals went smoothly, Soujiro and Akira couldn't help but notice how Tsukushi and Tsukasa seemed unable to look each other in the eye. Sure, they were no longer at each other's throats, but it was weird how Tsukushi seemed to apologize profusely for even the smallest and most inconsequential mistakes, and how Tsukasa seemed not to mind even when she accidentally spilled her soda on one of the songs he had been working on during one of their breaks. Unlike Rui, the two weren't privy to what had transpired earlier that day, so they were genuinely puzzled at the change in dynamics between their two lead vocalists.
It was already close to midnight when Tsukasa decided to call it a night, obviously satisfied at how their rehearsal for that day had gone without any major hitches. They were able to cover a lot of songs in their repertoire, and he was extremely pleased at the way his voice blended beautifully with Tsukushi's in every song they sang. She had made up for her shortcomings of the last couple of days and had fully memorized the lyrics. She had also put aside her nervousness about the upcoming gig, and had made very few mistakes when it came to timing or pitch.
"Okay guys, that's a wrap," he declared after they had finished the last song.
"Not so fast," Rui glanced up from the guitar he had been lazily strumming.
His band mates all looked at him questioningly.
Rui stood up from his seat and walked over to the table to pick up his unfinished bottle of mineral water. He took a long swig before addressing Tsukushi and Tsukasa. "You guys sang great today. If the way you sang together is any indication of how the gig's gonna be, then I'm sure our band's gonna be a hit this Saturday."
"But...?" Tsukushi asked impatiently.
"But if I were the audience, I wouldn't be able to 'feel' the song."
"What?! But you said it yourself, we sang great. How could you not 'feel' the song?" she protested. Tsukasa, Soujiro, and Akira refrained from saying anything first and waited to hear Rui out. They knew him far better and longer than Tsukushi did, and they knew he was driving to a point... they just had to wait patiently for him to get there.
Rui spoke again. "Tsukushi, this Saturday, you'll be performing before a live audience. They won't just be listening to you, they'll be watching you as well. How would they be able to identify with, say, a love song you're singing, when you and Tsukasa couldn't even look each other in the eye while you're singing it?"
Akira nodded fervently, now glad that Rui had brought up what he'd been observing all day long. "Rui's right. I noticed something was amiss but I just couldn't put my finger on what it was. But yeah, now that he's mentioned it, I noticed it too. Your voices blend perfectly, but while you were singing, you guys were looking at anything and everything but each other."
"Yeah," Soujiro piped in. "I could feel more rapport coming from the two microphone stands in front of you than from the two of you."
Tsukushi stared at each of them while they spoke. Confusion was evident in her face as her eyebrows scrunched together. "So what are you saying?"
Akira explained patiently, as if speaking to a child. "What we're saying is that you two have to ham it up a little while while you're up on the stage singing. Dance up a storm if you're singing a fast song. Gaze into each other's eyes if you're singing a love song. You have got to let the audience 'feel' whatever it is you're singing. You're new to this so it's understandable that you don't know what to do yet. But Tsukasa should know this by now and take the lead in teaching you," he said while casting a reproachful glance at Tsukasa.
The other man shrugged. His truce with Tsukushi was still so new, so delicate. He didn't want to freak her out by suddenly grabbing her hand and gazing lovingly into her eyes while they were singing.
"So I'm not just gonna be singing, I need to be acting as well? Is that what you're saying?" she asked nervously.
"Newsflash, Tsukushi. Like it or not, you're in showbiz now."
"Fine. I'll try to do better. But do you think we can continue this tomorrow? I'm sure all of us are tired, and it's already midnight." In truth she wasn't really that tired, but she was nervous about the prospect of acting all lovey-dovey with Tsukasa. Maybe she'll need to practice doing that in front of her mirror first.
"Yup, I agree," Tsukasa seconded her suggestion. "It's late, and anyway, we've still got two more days before the gig. Lots of time to practice, right Tsukushi?" He winked at Tsukushi in an attempt to make her feel less uncomfortable than she obviously was.
Everyone was tired, and it was indeed getting late, so no one opposed this time when Tsukasa called it a night.
*********************
A/N: Sorry for this really crappy chapter. I just couldn't come up with something good to write. @#$%&* writer's block! 'Nuff said.
On a more pleasant note... hey, guess what? This fic has a poster! If you wanna check it out, go to www. winglin . net / fanfic / cuppajava2 (no spaces, I just put the spaces in there 'cause otherwise it wouldn't display when I upload the document). But don't forget to come back here to tell me what you think about it, 'kay?
Lian: Hey there! Here's a bit more of Rui's thoughts. I hope you like it.
XxSwtDreamerxX1: LOL! Thanks for refreshing my memory. I'm glad you liked Shigeru's guest appearance in the last chapter.
ToinKs: Hey girl. I visited your blog and dropped you a line in your guestbook. Read your rantings about school and your monster teacher. I hope things are better now and you're not as pissed anymore, hehehe.
Lulu: Thank you, thank you for your support, both here and at Winglin. I truly appreciate it.
cherub girl: Oh, so you were a silent reader before. I'm glad you decided to break your silence and post a review even if this fic isn't finished yet (I've still got a long way to go, I reckon).
otakuchique: Thank you for your kind words! I'm very flattered, I hope I live up to your expectations.
Sailor Angie: Hi Angie! Thanks as always for the lovely, long review. $50 for a 3-VCD set?! *gasps* Well, if you're really interested in MG, there are a lot of good websites out there dedicated to the series. Dora- chan's website is a good place to start (go to http : // hyd . bloody- brilliant . net). It's no longer being updated but there are still a lot of good HYD/MG stuff there, including screencaps from both MG1 and MG2. I still haven't gotten around to updating my profile, but I'll do that when I'm not too lazy. *sheepish grin*
fresh8, KyouFan17 and anonymous: Thanks for reading and reviewing.
cristine mae: Glad you liked the last chapter. Sorry this one's a bit lame. I'll try to make up for it next update. *crosses fingers*
Invisible Rain: Yeah, well, Tsukushi's stubbornness is one of the reasons we all love her, right?
Lost in Logic: Hi! I'll visit your site soon, okay?
yume and flip-grl: Yay, more new readers! Hi and welcome aboard! Glad you like what you've read so far.
The gig's coming up next so stay tuned! See you all next chapter. Take care!
Chapter 16: Of Secret Smiles and Awkward Feelings
I am so dead!
Tsukushi glanced at her watch as she disembarked from the bus at the corner of Akira's street. After her lunchbreak, Haru had asked for her help in sorting out the new stock of cd's that had just arrived, and the task had eaten up more of her time than she expected. She was now fifteen minutes late. She sprinted from the street corner towards Akira's house, while silently rehearsing in her mind how to explain her tardiness.
Normally, Tsukushi wouldn't have been so concerned. After all, she had a perfectly valid excuse. But she knew that Tsukasa was a stickler for punctuality (well, that was the impression he gave her when F4 first hired her), and right now, she didn't want to break the fragile truce they had forged the night before, by being late. She even made sure she did her homework and memorized all the songs they were scheduled to practice that day. For good measure, she double-checked that she had her lyric sheet before she left home for work that morning.
Tsukushi stopped in front of Akira's door, breathless from the short dash. She bent over, resting her hands on her knees, as she tried to catch her breath. That's when she felt someone tug her knapsack from behind.
"Rui!" she panted. "Oh good, you're late too."
"What happened to you?" he asked concernedly as he took in her slightly disheveled appearance. Her face was still flushed from the exertion of running the several hundred yards from the street corner to Akira's house.
"I had to run from the corner 'cause I didn't want to be later than I already am," she replied as she waited for her heartbeat to go back to its normal rate. "You have no idea how happy I am to see that I'm not the only one who's late."
Before Rui could answer, a car pulled up on the curb in front of them. Tsukasa came out of the door on the passenger side. Momentarily, they saw Shigeru get off on the driver's side.
"Well, well, looks like I was worried over nothing at all," Tsukushi remarked, a trace of annoyance in her voice. "I'll go in ahead," she said to Rui, when she saw that he intended to wait for Tsukasa.
"Thanks for keeping me company, Tsukasa! I had a great time," Shigeru called as she waved from where she was. Tsukasa merely grunted and gave a perfunctory nod before walking up to Akira's doorstep.
"Hey," Rui greeted.
"Hey," Tsukasa replied. "What?" he asked when he saw the funny look Rui was giving him.
"Did I miss something? Are you and Shigeru dating now?"
"In her dreams," he snorted. "What the hell gave you that idea?" he asked, irritation obvious on his face.
"Oh, stop being so touchy. What did you expect me to think? First you show up together at lunch. And now I see it was quite an extended lunch," Rui replied as he made a show of checking his watch.
"I made the mistake of accepting her offer for a ride back here when she found out my car's in the shop for servicing. Unfortunately, she kept on yakking and yakking while we were having coffee. You should've seen her chug down cup after cup. With all that caffeine in her system, it's no wonder she can keep going and going," Tsukasa grimaced at the memory of having had to endure Shigeru's mindless babble for the past two hours since Rui and Tsukushi left them at Giuseppe's.
"Well, I just thought you changed your mind about her after all these months", Rui chuckled.
"No way," Tsukasa declared with conviction. "And what about you?"
"Eh?"
"Does Shizuka know you're dating Tsukushi?" he questioned Rui seriously.
"Now what the hell gave you that idea? I'm not dating Tsukushi. Why the heck would I do that when Shizuka and I are still going strong?"
"So why were you together at lunch? The two of you were looking pretty intimate before Shigeru and I came to join you."
Rui smiled and shook his head wryly at his friend. "I invited her out to lunch because I was feeling pretty guilty about last night when we locked you guys up. We were talking about Shizuka when you guys came. She was just being sympathetic because I told her how much I missed Shizuka."
"Oh. . ." was all Tsukasa could say in reply. He was still trying to process in his head what Rui had just told him.
"Were you jealous?" Rui asked the other man teasingly.
"Jealous? Me? Why would I be jealous?" Tsukasa replied, a little too quickly.
Oh boy, I've got him now, Rui thought. His friend was so easy to read. He decided to push Tsukasa's buttons a little more. "Yup, I think you're jealous. I think you have a thing for Tsukushi," Rui's eyes glinted mischievously, challenging his friend to refute what he just said.
Tsukasa turned away from Rui, and opened the door. "And I think you're crazy. C'mon down. We've wasted too much time out here on this dumb conversation. We're already running late."
Rui followed him inside the house. Tsukasa was already on his way down the short flight of stairs to the basement, so he didn't see the knowing smile that played on Rui's lips. Neither did Rui see the silly grin Tsukasa had on his face because of the revelation that Tsukushi and Rui weren't dating after all.
Looks like my two band mates already have a thing for each other but are both too thick-skulled to realize what I already know. This is gonna be so much fun to watch, Rui thought to himself.
===================
Even if rehearsals started late that day, the band had accomplished a lot more than they had over the last couple of days. There was a marked improvement in Tsukushi's performance. She had obviously made the effort to memorize most of the songs they practiced that day, and even during breaks she would quietly study her lyric sheet. Tsukasa was no longer the grouch he was for the last two days. Today, he was quietly pensive.
Akira and Soujiro wanted to pat themselves on the back. Their scheme to lock their two bandmates up to force them to work out their differences wasn't such a bad thing after all. And now that there was no longer the threat of bodily harm from Tsukasa, the two smugly wanted to take credit for the idea.
Although rehearsals went smoothly, Soujiro and Akira couldn't help but notice how Tsukushi and Tsukasa seemed unable to look each other in the eye. Sure, they were no longer at each other's throats, but it was weird how Tsukushi seemed to apologize profusely for even the smallest and most inconsequential mistakes, and how Tsukasa seemed not to mind even when she accidentally spilled her soda on one of the songs he had been working on during one of their breaks. Unlike Rui, the two weren't privy to what had transpired earlier that day, so they were genuinely puzzled at the change in dynamics between their two lead vocalists.
It was already close to midnight when Tsukasa decided to call it a night, obviously satisfied at how their rehearsal for that day had gone without any major hitches. They were able to cover a lot of songs in their repertoire, and he was extremely pleased at the way his voice blended beautifully with Tsukushi's in every song they sang. She had made up for her shortcomings of the last couple of days and had fully memorized the lyrics. She had also put aside her nervousness about the upcoming gig, and had made very few mistakes when it came to timing or pitch.
"Okay guys, that's a wrap," he declared after they had finished the last song.
"Not so fast," Rui glanced up from the guitar he had been lazily strumming.
His band mates all looked at him questioningly.
Rui stood up from his seat and walked over to the table to pick up his unfinished bottle of mineral water. He took a long swig before addressing Tsukushi and Tsukasa. "You guys sang great today. If the way you sang together is any indication of how the gig's gonna be, then I'm sure our band's gonna be a hit this Saturday."
"But...?" Tsukushi asked impatiently.
"But if I were the audience, I wouldn't be able to 'feel' the song."
"What?! But you said it yourself, we sang great. How could you not 'feel' the song?" she protested. Tsukasa, Soujiro, and Akira refrained from saying anything first and waited to hear Rui out. They knew him far better and longer than Tsukushi did, and they knew he was driving to a point... they just had to wait patiently for him to get there.
Rui spoke again. "Tsukushi, this Saturday, you'll be performing before a live audience. They won't just be listening to you, they'll be watching you as well. How would they be able to identify with, say, a love song you're singing, when you and Tsukasa couldn't even look each other in the eye while you're singing it?"
Akira nodded fervently, now glad that Rui had brought up what he'd been observing all day long. "Rui's right. I noticed something was amiss but I just couldn't put my finger on what it was. But yeah, now that he's mentioned it, I noticed it too. Your voices blend perfectly, but while you were singing, you guys were looking at anything and everything but each other."
"Yeah," Soujiro piped in. "I could feel more rapport coming from the two microphone stands in front of you than from the two of you."
Tsukushi stared at each of them while they spoke. Confusion was evident in her face as her eyebrows scrunched together. "So what are you saying?"
Akira explained patiently, as if speaking to a child. "What we're saying is that you two have to ham it up a little while while you're up on the stage singing. Dance up a storm if you're singing a fast song. Gaze into each other's eyes if you're singing a love song. You have got to let the audience 'feel' whatever it is you're singing. You're new to this so it's understandable that you don't know what to do yet. But Tsukasa should know this by now and take the lead in teaching you," he said while casting a reproachful glance at Tsukasa.
The other man shrugged. His truce with Tsukushi was still so new, so delicate. He didn't want to freak her out by suddenly grabbing her hand and gazing lovingly into her eyes while they were singing.
"So I'm not just gonna be singing, I need to be acting as well? Is that what you're saying?" she asked nervously.
"Newsflash, Tsukushi. Like it or not, you're in showbiz now."
"Fine. I'll try to do better. But do you think we can continue this tomorrow? I'm sure all of us are tired, and it's already midnight." In truth she wasn't really that tired, but she was nervous about the prospect of acting all lovey-dovey with Tsukasa. Maybe she'll need to practice doing that in front of her mirror first.
"Yup, I agree," Tsukasa seconded her suggestion. "It's late, and anyway, we've still got two more days before the gig. Lots of time to practice, right Tsukushi?" He winked at Tsukushi in an attempt to make her feel less uncomfortable than she obviously was.
Everyone was tired, and it was indeed getting late, so no one opposed this time when Tsukasa called it a night.
*********************
A/N: Sorry for this really crappy chapter. I just couldn't come up with something good to write. @#$%&* writer's block! 'Nuff said.
On a more pleasant note... hey, guess what? This fic has a poster! If you wanna check it out, go to www. winglin . net / fanfic / cuppajava2 (no spaces, I just put the spaces in there 'cause otherwise it wouldn't display when I upload the document). But don't forget to come back here to tell me what you think about it, 'kay?
Lian: Hey there! Here's a bit more of Rui's thoughts. I hope you like it.
XxSwtDreamerxX1: LOL! Thanks for refreshing my memory. I'm glad you liked Shigeru's guest appearance in the last chapter.
ToinKs: Hey girl. I visited your blog and dropped you a line in your guestbook. Read your rantings about school and your monster teacher. I hope things are better now and you're not as pissed anymore, hehehe.
Lulu: Thank you, thank you for your support, both here and at Winglin. I truly appreciate it.
cherub girl: Oh, so you were a silent reader before. I'm glad you decided to break your silence and post a review even if this fic isn't finished yet (I've still got a long way to go, I reckon).
otakuchique: Thank you for your kind words! I'm very flattered, I hope I live up to your expectations.
Sailor Angie: Hi Angie! Thanks as always for the lovely, long review. $50 for a 3-VCD set?! *gasps* Well, if you're really interested in MG, there are a lot of good websites out there dedicated to the series. Dora- chan's website is a good place to start (go to http : // hyd . bloody- brilliant . net). It's no longer being updated but there are still a lot of good HYD/MG stuff there, including screencaps from both MG1 and MG2. I still haven't gotten around to updating my profile, but I'll do that when I'm not too lazy. *sheepish grin*
fresh8, KyouFan17 and anonymous: Thanks for reading and reviewing.
cristine mae: Glad you liked the last chapter. Sorry this one's a bit lame. I'll try to make up for it next update. *crosses fingers*
Invisible Rain: Yeah, well, Tsukushi's stubbornness is one of the reasons we all love her, right?
Lost in Logic: Hi! I'll visit your site soon, okay?
yume and flip-grl: Yay, more new readers! Hi and welcome aboard! Glad you like what you've read so far.
The gig's coming up next so stay tuned! See you all next chapter. Take care!