Disclaimer: I do Not own Hana Yori Dango, all of that credit belongs to the author, Kamio-sensei.
The First Summer Without Him
Tsukushi's pov
At approximately 9 in the morning, tsukushi opened the dango shop. Just as predicted, there were no customers rushing in.
It is afterall a beautiful day outside. Who'd want to be in a crummy dango shop this early in the morning anyway? She thought to herself.
Seconds turned into minutes, which turned into hours, and yet.. not one customer came in.
Tired of standing around, Tsukushi left the counter and helped herself to the seats by the window.
'It's been lonely hasn't it Tsukushi?' she quietly asked herself as she waited for customers to enter the dango shop. 'It's almost the end of summer and it's been a couple of months since Tsukasa left. Yuki isn't for the time being since she's visiting her grandparents in Osaka. It's been lonely for the past weeks, now that they're both gone. No more girl talks with Yuki and the sweet bickering with Tsukasa. I feel as though I have no one else aside from my family.'
As if on cue, Shigeru along with Sakurako and the rest of F4 came in through the doors.
Giving herself a mental slap, she thought, 'how could I ever forget them, they've been there for me since Tsukasa left, making sure I was doing alright. With friends like them, I know I can manage well.'
"Konichiwa Kushi!" Sakurako and Shigeru both called out in unison.
Lately, these two have been closer than ever and to think that Sakurako used to despise her. It's funny, but I'm glad they're getting a long well.
As for the other three, Rui, Soujiro, Akira just tilted their heads as some form of greeting.
Striding forward to the counter, Soujiro asked, "Makino, ever get tired working?"
"Eh! Me tired of working? Yeah okay, even if I do, I can't do anything about it, haven't you heard money makes the world go round and unless you were born with money, then you need to work for it," Tsukushi replied as she rolled her eyes.
These guys really don't know the meaning of having to earn your own money. Suddenly a thought popped in her head, why not make Soujiro blush a little. "Ey Soujiro, ever get tired of being a playboy?"
"Me? Never, I love ladies and they love me. Why would I get tired of this lifestyle?" the sound of confidence is evident in his voice.
"Well, come to think of it, when Yuki came along, didn't you somewhat think twice about your lifestyle? I could have sworn my best friend made a lasting impression on you, eh?" Tsukushi said tilting her eyebrows.
With a blushing Soujiro, "Makino, what are you talking about?"
Soujiro Soujiro, he is so easy to read. He was obviously thinking of that one night with Yuki. Truthfully, I was stunned about that when Yuki told me, but after some thought, if it was what she wanted, who am I to criticize her.
"Oh nothing... I guess you forgot... but with that expression, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about Soujiro," Tsukushi playfully replied while winking at Soujiro.
With both eyes half open, Rui spoke up, "will you two stop talking about something we already know. It was obvious Soujiro had a thing for Yuki."
"Ey Rui, shut up. No one asked you anything," Soujiro sarcastically replied.
With a wave of his hand, Rui continued, "Eh Makino, we're here to see if you want to go to the beach."
"Uhh, yeah I can't, I don't get out until 6, besides I don't have a swimsuit," my response came out faster than intended.
"Kushi, you're making up excuses again! You're going to get uglier if you don't know how to have fun!" Sakurako chimed in.
Shigeru added in, "yeh, Kushi. Enough torturing yourself with work, come with us."
It was finally Akira who spoke up next. While passing a small dolce and gabanna bag towards Makino, he said, "uh Makino.. Shigeru and Sakurako bought one for you, here you go."
"About getting off at 6, don't worry about it. I'm buying all of these sweets for my tea party tomorrow. Hurry and pack them up and close this place. My skin's already aching to feel the warmth of the sun," Soujiro whined.
"Makino, if you're thinking of wiggling your way out of having fun with us, forget about it. If you have a headache, we have aspirin. If you're not feeling well, there's a room with a bed on the ship. By the way, we've also called your parents to let them know that you're going to be with us. Finally, if you're worried about Tsukasa calling, he knows you're going with us and he can easily call the ship. Understand now that there's nothing holding you back from having fun today," with that said and done Rui went to the back of the dango shop to sit down.
Looking towards Rui's way, Tsukushi wondered exactly what has happened to him. 'He never used to be this talkative, least enough, he never was awake at this time! My.. time really does change people'
"Makino, if you don't stop staring at Rui, I'm going to tell Tsukasa," Sojiro said cutting through her thoughts.
"Ahhhh.. I wasn't staring at him, I was just thinking of something," Tsukushi quietly replied.
"Well, are you coming or not! You're out of excuses, so come on! It's boring here, I want to see beautiful girls in bikinis!" Soujiro complained w/ Akira agreeing.
Wow. These guys really think of everything when they want something done. Well, money also helps in that way, nothing seems to hold them back because they have wealth to back them up. Damn, I don't have any other excuses. I guess I should just surrender to their wished. It'll be fun right? And I owe them that much. "Hmph! Fine, fine, fine. Give me a couple of minutes to pack these up and close the shop."
