Chapter 8: Prelude to the revelation III

The dinner party went on smoothly without a glitch, except for the unexpected food fight which took place after Sakuragi accidentally poured his drink on Rukawa, who then poured his own drink on the redhead. Enraged, Sakuragi emptied the contents of his plate onto Rukawa, who then grabbed a chicken bone and threw it smack into Sakuragi's face.

Totally unstoppable, Sakuragi grabbed a fistful of salad and aimed for Rukawa, but Rukawa managed to dodge it, and the salad hit Miyagi's face instead. When Sakuragi started laughing, Miyagi retaliated with a fistful of fried noodles.

Before long, everyone, especially those who were already half-drunk from the massive amount of alcohol that they had consumed, joined in the fight, and all kinds of food could be seen flying through the air and landing on somebody's head.

The fight lasted for about half an hour, before everyone became pooped and either lay exhausted on the dirty floor or sat on vegetable-covered chairs, trying to catch their breaths. The good thing was all of them had brought extra clothes (they probably knew that they would be getting themselves dirty somehow), and after cleaning up themselves and changing into clean clothes, most of the first and second-years, half of them drunk, were sent home by Fujima's family chauffeur.

In the end, only Mitsui, Kogure, Sendoh, Miyagi, Ayako, Haruko, Ichiro, Sakuragi, Rukawa and Hanayuki were left. They proceeded to the karaoke lounge.

"Hey guys, listen to this article that I'm reading at the moment. They have compiled a few lists of top 5 songs, each list for a special purpose," Ayako exclaimed, pointing to an article in the magazine that she was reading, curled up in one of the big and plush lounge sofas.

"Really?" Ichiro, who was sitting beside her, took a peek at the page. "Hmm... let's see. 'Top 5 Songs About Liking Someone Who Already Has A Boyfriend/Girlfriend', 'Top 5 Songs To Let Someone Know You like Them When You're Too Shy', 'Top 5 Songs About Breaking Up With Someone That You Really Don't Like'... sounds interesting. They even have this 'Top 5 Can't-Fail Songs To Play To Clinch The Deal And Make Mr/Miss Hesitant Drop The Resistance And Give You The Love You Need'."

"Nani??!"

Miyagi, Sakuragi and Sendoh scampered over to where Ayako was seated and made a grab for the magazine. Or, at least they tried to.

Thwack!

Thwack!

Thwack!

"Keep your hands off the magazine," said Ayako, with one hand waving her trusty-fan and the other clutching at the magazine tightly.

"But, Ayako-san, we really need to see the article. It may very well determine the outcome of our love life," said Sendoh, rubbing the back of his head where Ayako had whacked him.

"Yeah. Sendoh is right," said Sakuragi, before lowering his voice, "I need to find a song that can make Haruko-san like me and forget about the stupid kitsune."

Sendoh nodded his head vigorously. "I need to find one for Hana."

"And I need to find one for you, Aya-chan," Miyagi added eagerly, and was immediately whacked on the head again.

"I don't care. I got hold of this magazine first, so you'll have to wait until I'm finished with it," Ayako declared, only to see her resolve fall crumbling to the ground when all three of them looked at her teary-eyed, their hands clasped together.

Grudgingly, she said, "Oh, alright! I'll read it out loud to you then." She cleared her throat, and started reading. "The song at the top of the list is Stevie Wonder's 'Overjoyed', followed by Depeche Mode's 'Enjoy The Silence', D'Angelo's 'Untitled (How Does It Feel)', Al Green's 'Here I Am (Come And Take Me), and Nina Simone's 'Do I Move You?'."

She looked up from the magazine. "Did you guys get all of it?"

They looked back at her, their faces blank.

"Anou..." Sendoh began.

"I don't think..." Miyagi trailed off.

"What kind of songs are those? Do they really exist?" Sakuragi asked, a frown etched on his face. "I knew it. This article's a bull."

Ayako rolled her eyes. "Just because you've never heard of them doesn't mean that they don't exist, Sakuragi."

"And I thought I can finally make Hana accept me," said Sendoh wistfully.

"Not in this lifetime, Sendoh."

Sendoh looked at the person who had spoken and smirked. "Oh, you really think so, Rukawa?"

Rukawa glared at him.

"Where is Hana-chan anyway?" asked Sakuragi, as he looked around the karaoke lounge.

"She's probably still in the shower," Mitsui answered from behind a tall stack of CD's.

At that moment, Fujima walked in. "Aren't you guys singing yet?" he asked, when he saw that nobody was taking to the microphone on the small makeshift stage, where the karaoke set was.

"Nah. Still looking through this humongous pile of CD's you have. I have to say, Fujima, you are loaded. I mean, look at this room. You have a grand piano standing in one corner, a makeshift stage with a karaoke set in another, and, if my calculations are correct, hundreds of CD's, old and new," said Mitsui.

"And the mirrors. If I'm not mistaken, these mirrors are put here for a purpose, right, Fujima-san?" asked Kogure. He was referring to the mirrors which were lining up one side of the room.

"Dancing purposes. My sister, who is currently in America, is rather musically-inclined. She took ballet lessons, piano lessons and singing lessons, see. This room was built specially for her," said Fujima.

Meanwhile, Ayako was still reading the particular article. "Guys, there's more. Listen to these. 'Top 5 Songs About Tragic, Star-Crossed Love That Will Never Work But Will Probably Make You Feel Better About Your Current Situation', 'Top 5 Songs About Killing Your Ex-Boyfriend/Girlfriend', 'Top 5 Songs About Getting Dumped and Still Being Bitter About It', and 'Top 5 Songs That Sound Like Love Songs But Are About Something Else Entirely'."

"Whoa, wait just a minute! Repeat the last one, Ayako," said Mitsui, looking interested.

"'Top 5 Songs That Sound Like Love Songs But Are About Something Else Entirely'. It says here that the song 'The One I Love' by REM is actually about stalking, 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police is also about stalking, 'There She Goes' by The La's-"

"The who?" asked Sakuragi incredulously.

"The La's, Sakuragi. Anyway, it's about heroin. Can you believe it? Oh, and 'Brick' by Ben Folds Five is about abortion, and 'Murder Or A Heart Attack' by Old 97's is about the lead singer's cat."

Silence fell upon them, before everybody doubled over with laughter.

"Ayako-san, can I have the magazine please?" asked Sendoh excitedly.

"How about the 'Top 5 Songs About Killing Your Ex-Boyfriend/Girlfriend'?" asked Ichiro.

"They have Jimi Hendrix's 'Hey Joe', Guns N' Roses' 'Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her', The Dixie Chicks' 'Goodbye, Earl', Eminem's 'Kim', and Poe's 'Angry Johnny'. They even have a special bonus track, Elvis Costello's 'Allison'."

"Go on, go on! There must be more of these stuffs," Mitsui urged, eager to hear more.

"Ayako-san, the magazine please," Sendoh repeated his request.

"Um..." Ayako scanned through the article quickly. "Here's a sad one. 'Top 5 Songs About The Fact That No One Will Ever Love You'."

Everybody oohed and aahed, before Ayako continued. "Top of the list is Morrissey's 'Will Never Marry', Liz Phair's 'Divorce Song', Gilbert O' Sullivan's 'Alone Again, Naturally', The Smashing Pumpkins' 'Soma', and The Beatles' 'Eleanor Rigby'."

"Ne, Ayako-san, can I have the magazine, please?" asked Sendoh again. "Onegai!"

"Alright, alright! Take it, and leave me alone!" Ayako snapped, thrusting the magazine to his face.

"Arigatou!" Sendoh grabbed the magazine to his chest and ran off by himself to the far end of the room.

Just then, Hanayuki came in, dressed in an oversize white cotton button-up long-sleeve shirt and white shorts. Her hair was let down, since it's still wet.

"Yo, Hana-chan." Mitsui raised a hand in greeting. "Whose shirt is that you're wearing?"

"Fujima-san's. Unlike the rest of you, I didn't have any extra clothes with me, so I had to wear his. Feels comfortable though." She looked around the room, and her eyes landed on the empty stage. "How come no one is singing yet?" she asked, surprised.

"We were waiting for you," said Ayako. "Come and sit down, Yuki-chan."

Hanayuki smiled and plopped down on the sofa next to Ayako, bringing up her legs and folding it underneath her. "Ok, so who's singing first?"

"I am!" Sakuragi and Miyagi said together. 5 seconds later, they were scuffling with each other on the floor.

Ayako slapped her forehead, while Hanayuki laughed at the scene before her.

Suddenly, loud tapping sounds could be heard coming from the speakers. Everybody, including Miyagi and Sakuragi on the floor, looked towards the stage.

It was Sendoh. "Ahem. Konbanwa, minna-san. This song I'm going to sing is especially dedicated to three very special people. Originally, it's only dedicated to one person, but since my two dear friends down there-" Sendoh gestured to Sakuragi and Miyagi who were still on the floor, "-share the same thoughts and feelings as I, I've decided to dedicate this song to their special ones as well, that is, on their behalf. Anyway, the three lucky recipients of this song are Ayako-san, Haruko-san, and my very own Hana. By the way Hana, you look very lovely tonight."

Hanayuki stared at him as if he had grown two horns on his head, feeling a little embarrassed and amused at the same time, while Rukawa shot him with a blast of his trademark icy glare. Sakuragi and Miyagi, on the other hand, got to their feet and applauded, hooting and whistling their support.

Sendoh beamed at them and bowed. "Thank you, my fellow comrades. I appreciate your support. Anyway, here I go." He took a deep breath, and as the music began to play in the background, he started singing at the top of his lungs.

"Ooooooh... my love, my darling... I've hungered for your touch... A long... lonely time..."

Hanayuki's jaw fell open, along with the rest of the people in the room. Only Rukawa managed to keep his jaw intact, the glare on his face intensified.

"And time... goes by... so slowly... and time... can do so much. Are you... still miiiiiiine"

Hanayuki couldn't suppress a smile, while the others snickered at the slightly off-key tune of the last word. The glare on Rukawa's face intensified even further.

"I need your love... I need your love... God speed your love... tooooo... meeee"

By this time, Sendoh had everyone in the room giving him their undivided attention. Hanayuki still had a small smile on her face, Mitsui, Kogure, Ichiro, Fujima, Sakuragi and Miyagi clearly looked impressed, and Ayako and Haruko were staring at Sendoh with star-filled eyes. Even the glare on Rukawa's face had softened a little, if not a lot.

Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea... yeah...
Lonely rivers sigh, "Wait for me, wait for me."
"I'll be coming home. Wait for me."

Oh... my love, my darling
I've hungered, hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time

And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?

I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me

The song finally came to an end, and for a while, not a sound could be heard in the room. Then, Hanayuki started clapping softly, and the rest quickly joined in, clapping and cheering as well.

"Sendoh, you're the man!"

"Sendoh-san, can I have your autograph please?"

"Sendoh, from now on, if anybody should give you trouble, you just call this Tensai up, and I'll be there in a flash to save your butt."

"Do'aho."

Sendoh beamed happily around, before sitting down next to Hanayuki. "So Hana, did you like it?"

"Yes, I did. You sang beautifully, Aki," said Hanayuki sincerely.

"Thanks, but er, is that all?" he asked hopefully.

"Um, I guess," Hanayuki answered hesitantly, puzzled by the question.

The smile on Sendoh's face faltered a little, but he quickly brightened up. "Ok. I'm glad you liked it anyway."

"Hey, Sendoh, where did you get the idea to sing the song from?" asked Miyagi.

"It's in the magazine, in the article Ayako-san was reading to us just now."

"Really?" Miyagi grabbed the magazine and flipped to the page which contained the said article. "Which category is it under?"

"It's here, baka," said Ayako, pointing to the bottom of the page. "'Top 5 Songs About Hopeless Devotion and/or Unrequited Love'."

Once again, everybody oohed and aahed, and Hanayuki understood why he had asked the question.

"What? It's just a song, guys," said Sendoh cheerily. "Hey, Mitsui-san, weren't you the one who wanted to celebrate by singing karaoke? Well, now here's your chance."

"Ah, hai! Of course I'm going to sing," said Mitsui, jumping onto the stage.

"Mitchy, I want to sing first!"

"No, Hanamichi, I'm going to sing first!"

"Get your hands off the microphone, Ryochin!"

"Hey! You two should respect your sempai and give the mike to me!"

Soon, singings and laughter could be heard coming from the room. By order of Ayako's incredible fan, Mitsui, Sakuragi and Miyagi took turns to sing without so much of a squabble. Once in a while, Kogure and Ichiro would join them as backup singers.

When they got tired of singing, they got into the game of 'papers, scissors and stone', in which the loser will have to drink half a can of beer. By the time the last few cans of beer were brought out, only Sakuragi and Sendoh were left standing, albeit very drunk, while Mitsui, Miyagi, Kogure and Ichiro were already out cold. Fujima, Rukawa, Ayako, Haruko and Hanayuki were the only ones not drunk, since they kept their hands off anything alcoholic.

"Nyahahahaha! Sendoh, you lose! Now drink up!"

"Ha! Of course I will, Sakuragi. You don't have to tell me twice!"

He reached for the can, but Hanayuki stopped him by removing the can and putting it out of reach. "Aki, I think you've had enough. And you too, oniichan."

"Hana, give me the can," said Sendoh, a goofy smile on his face.

"No, Aki. You've drank more than you should," said Hanayuki. "Come now, let's get you to bed."

"Hana, please bring me the can. I lost the game, so now I have to drink up." He was still smiling at her goofily.

"Yeah, Hana-chan. Let him have it," said Sakuragi, waving his own can around.

Ayako grabbed the can and put it aside. "Get up, Sakuragi! And stop drinking already." She tried to pull him to his feet, but failed miserably, given that Sakuragi's weight was almost twice of her own. "Hey, Rukawa, come give me a hand, will you?"

Rukawa crossed his arms over his chest. "Why should I?"

"Because, I'm going to whack you so hard you won't be able to sleep if you don't do as I say," said Ayako, irritated. "Now, are you coming or not?"

"Kaede, please help Ayako-san. You know how heavy oniichan is, she won't be able to carry him all by herself," Hanayuki added.

Rukawa sighed and gave in. In one swift movement, he walked up to Sakuragi and knocked him unconscious, before pulling him up and carried him out of the room.

"Yuki-chan, I'll be going with Rukawa. Will you be alright with Sendoh-san alone?" asked Ayako.

"Go ahead, I'll be fine. I expect Fujima-san to be here anytime soon. He should have finished putting everyone to bed by now."

"Ok. Then I won't be coming back after this. Haruko should already be in bed too, and I desperately need to get some sleep. Anyway, good night." With one last nod of the head, Ayako went out of the room, leaving the door open.

Hanayuki returned to the task at hand. "Aki, please stop drinking." She tried to extract the can of beer in his hands, peeling his fingers off the can one by one, but his grip was too strong. She then tried to stop him from putting the can to his lips, but got pushed away instead.

Giving up, she sat down on the sofa, leaned back and closed her eyes. I'll have to wait for Kenji to come back before I can do anything, she thought wearily.

Just as she was about to doze off waiting, she felt something rather heavy falling onto her lap, and opened her eyes to see Sendoh's head resting on her thighs, his body curled up sideways beside her on the sofa.

"My love... my darling... I need your love... are you still mine..."

Hanayuki smiled ruefully when she heard Sendoh mumbling in his sleep. Caressing his face lightly with her fingers, she said softly, "Aki, just because I don't love you the way you want me to, doesn't mean that I don't love you with all my heart and soul."

Not too long later, Fujima and Rukawa came walking into the room, ready to tackle Sendoh and put him to bed like how they did with the others. They were, of course, surprised to see what they saw.

Hanayuki motioned to them to keep their voices down, before saying, "It's ok. Just let him be. You guys had better go to bed. It's like, really late already."

"But what about you?" said Fujima. "You can't possibly rest like that."

"I'll be fine. Worst case scenario, I'll wait until he wakes up and then go to sleep." She shrugged. "No harm done."

Rukawa frowned. Clearly, he didn't think it was a good idea, and neither did Fujima, who said, "I don't think that's a good idea, Yuki. I'll wake him up now so that both of you can rest properly."

Hanayuki shook her head. "Never mind, Fujima-san. Just let him be."

"Then I'll stay with you," said Rukawa, moving forward and sitting down beside Hanayuki on her right.

Too tired to argue, Hanayuki just nodded her head. "Fine." To Fujima, she said, "Fujima-san, please go back to bed. You must be very tired from preparing everything today."

"Right," Fujima sighed. "Well, good night then." He turned off the lights, leaving a couple on, before exiting the room, closing the door behind him.

A long moment of silence stretched between them, before Rukawa finally spoke. "Yuki?"

"Hai?"

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

Hanayuki looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Is there something you're hiding from me?"

Instead of answering the question, she said, "You're so sensitive, Kaede. What makes you think that I'm hiding something from you?"

"You're not answering my question," said Rukawa.

"There's nothing to answer, Kaede, and nothing to tell. Really," Hanayuki insisted. There was a slight tremor in her voice, and it didn't escape from Rukawa's notice.

"I would rather you tell me the terrible truth, Yuki, than lie to me continuously."

"Kaede, there really is nothing to tell. How many times do you want me to tell you?" It was obvious that Hanayuki was getting more and more agitated by the second.

"Yuki-"

"Enough, Kaede."

"Why can't you-"

"I said enough, Kaede. Stop forcing me."

"I just want to-"

"Stop it!" said Hanayuki angrily, her eyes flashing.

"Damn it! Why can't you just tell me what's going on? Why is it that I'm always the last person to know anything? I only wanted to know more about you, to be closer to you, but why won't you let me?" Except for the equally angry gleam in his eyes, he still wore the expressionless look on his face.

Hanayuki refused to answer the question or look at him.

"I'll ask you one more time. Is there anything you're not telling me?"

It took a while before Hanayuki turned to face Rukawa, and when she did, the flash was gone from her eyes, and her face was devoid of all expression.

"No. There is nothing that I'm not telling you," she said softly, putting an emphasis on each word. She held his stare for a moment, before looking away.

"You've fallen in love with him haven't you?" came Rukawa's voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Hanayuki, not looking at him.

Rukawa caught hold of her hand in a tight grip, forcing her to look at him. "You've fallen in love with Fujima, haven't you?" he asked coldly.

Hanayuki returned his cold stare with her own. "Fujima-san is a very good friend. And, please let go of my hand. You're hurting me."

Rukawa roughly released her hand and stood up. Without a backward glance, he walked towards the door, opened it and left the room, closing the door with a slam.

Almost immediately, the tears began to fall from Hanayuki's eyes. Unable to hold them back, she buried her face in her hands and started sobbing quietly.

---

Author's notes: No, I didn't compile the Top 5 lists by myself. Frankly speaking, I didn't know three-quarter of the songs listed. I found them on a website. After writing this, I wanted to change the song to 'Kiss The Girl' from The Little Mermaid. As usual, I got the idea after hearing the song, which is rather... suitable for Sendoh to sing, I think. In the end, I didn't, so I guess I'll save it for later chapters. If I can fit it in somewhere. Anyway, thanks to Kiku, Hikaru and Feely for reviewing. Lucky! I got reviews for this chapter, which is good. At least I know what the readers think about my story so far. I know that Rukawa seems neglected in these few chapters, but trust me when I say it won't be long before everything will be alright. This is the last part of the prelude. Next chapter, we're off to THE revelation. Till then, ja!