Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I do not own Hana Yori Dango.

(-)(-)(-)

Akira Mimasaka, for all his kind and agreeable nature, was known as merciless and unforgiving to his enemies. Though a caring son and doting elder brother, he was the heir to a powerful yakuza empire. In addition to his name inspiring fear and awe worldwide, he was a core member of the fearsome F4. Yes, Akira Mimasaka was not a man to be taken lightly.

So, he wasn't going to let this faze him. If a few pretty girls wanted to dress him up in a maid uniform with a padded front and color his face with God knows what, he'd take it in stride. If he was to prance around the school for the student body and prospective freshmen to ogle, he wasn't going to let it bother him. It was for a good cause after all.

"Please, Mimasaka-san? Will you please help me with this?" Yuki looked up at him with imploring brown eyes, hands clasped pleadingly.

"Yuki-chan—"

"I'll take you out afterwards, I promise. Please? Oh, please?"

"I'm a guy, Yuki-chan. Wouldn't it be strange?"

She shook her head earnestly. "You're very pretty, Mimasaka-san." He was sure she didn't mean to insult him. "And it's for a good cause. You'll be helping my class earn money for our class trip."

"I could always just give you the money," He muttered.

"It wouldn't be the same. Please? Pretty please?" Then she did something that shocked him. She looked up at him with her big brown eyes and ran her fingers shyly up and down his forearm. "Akira-kun? Please, won't you help me?"

It was a move he was familiar with, but coming from her it was somehow all the more potent. Soujiro will have his hands full with this one, he thought, after finally giving in.

He flashed a smile at one of the students at the stall, and swished his skirt as he walked, adding him to the crowd already following him. He stopped now and then to pose in a photo, where he had to force himself not to break anyone's hands for groping where they ought not, and led them to the various food and game stalls of students from Yuki's class.

"Everyone, be sure to support the senior class! We are all counting on you." He winked and blew a kiss to the crowded. Though he'd never admit it aloud, he was enjoying himself to some extent.

"Is that really you, Akira?"

He froze at the sound of his friend's voice. Soujiro. Of course, Soujiro would be here.He straightened, repressing the urge to leave character and give in to his embarrassment and hide. He fluttered his eyelashes, as he had seen many of his girlfriends do, and gave a slow smile. "Ah, Soujiro. I didn't know I would be seeing you today." He pitched his voice higher, to sound more feminine. He saw a group of girls narrow their eyes at Soujiro. Maybe I could play this to my advantage. "Did you miss me?"

Soujiro grinned, playing along. "Like the day misses the stars." He took Akira hand and kissed it, much to the delight of the screaming girls. "What are you doing here? Besides blessing Japan's youth with your awe inspiring beauty? "

"Yuki-chan invited me. She promised a date afterwards." He watched the frown take over Soujiro's face, and smiled to himself. "I can't say no to Yuki, especially with her big brown eyes asking so nicely."

Soujiro knew what he was up to, and refused to give in. "So, she asked. You're reliving your childhood nightmare, because she asked." He almost smirked. He was there when Akira's mother thought to dress up her adorable son as a girl, when they were children. "Wonder what else you'll do if she asks."

Akira looked chagrinned, knowing he had been caught. He threw himself in Soujiro's arms and said theatrically, "Don't be jealous, Soujiro! I still love you the most!"

Before Soujiro could reply, he felt himself being pulled away from Akira.

"It's bad enough that you come to our school uninvited, but you have to flirt with the first pretty girl you see? You're unbelievable."

Soujiro blinked. It was the girls from before, Yuki's fan club as he called them. "I was simply—"

"You're here to see Sempai again, aren't you? Well, she's far too busy to deal with your brand of harassment." One girl said.

He frowned at the girls pushing at him. "Then I'll wait until the end."

"You'll cause trouble. Your type always does. Go home." Said another.

"A wholesome place like our high school is no place for a man whore." They said in unison.

His eyes widened in shock. Man whore?

Akira felt he would rupture an organ from the effort of keeping in his laughter. "Now, ladies. Surely, we can come to a compromise." He smiled broadly as his friend looked to him with hope. "There's a lot to do around here. Why not put him to work?" He grinned outright when Soujiro paled.

"The auditorium still needs to be set up." One girl considered. "And we do need someone to clear backstage." The girls looked at each other and nodded resolutely.

Two hours later Soujiro was calling himself a fool in seven languages, and cursing his friends. Rui must have known he'd end up in this situation, and Akira had been no help at all. Those traitors…

The girls had ushered him to the bowels of the school, to the dank dungeon that was backstage of the auditorium. It was filthy. Dust covered every surface, and it seemed to have been used as a storage closet, for it housed desks, boxes, gym equipment and all manner of junk from every department and he was given the task to move it all to the storage sheds out behind the school.

He would have left rather than suffer the indignity of such menial work, but the parting line of one of the girls rang mockingly in his head.

"If you can't even complete such a simple task, you will never become worthy of standing next to our Sempai."

Yuki should be honored a person of his status was paying so much attention to her. He shook his head, immediately scratching the thought. Wasn't the reason he and Akira were both so fond of Yuki was because she, like Makino, saw them as people rather than heirs? Obviously, she was fine being his friend, but being his girlfriend seemed an intimidating post. Coercing her into the roll would do no good. He'd have to wait. While he waited, he'd prove to those girls, to everyone that stood in his way, that he was good enough for Yuki. So he stayed, and he determinedly rolled up his sleeves and lugged box after box to the sheds. After awhile help showed up in the form of other students and though he had finished hulling a little over half the clutter out, he was thankful for their assistance.

He was sweaty, dirty, and more than a little sore from the heavy lifting, but he couldn't help the feeling of triumph at accomplishing the task. There is nothing I cannot do once I set my mind to it.

He had just set down the last box, when he heard the shed door close, and the unmistakable click of the lock. Running to the door, he grabbed the handle and frantically jiggled it. The door remained unmoving. "Hey! Is anyone out there? Let me out!" No answer. He pounded on the surface of the door and called out several more times. He patted his pockets for his phone, and groaned, remembering it was in his jacket, which he took off when he started working.

He sat down heavily on the floor. Must not panic. Sooner or later, someone's going to come back here, someone fetching something from the shed and I'd get out.When he found out who locked him in, they'd pay. He'd see to it they were very sorry for trifling with Soujiro Nishikado.

He sighed to himself, wondering what he thought he'd be doing when he decided to go to the festival. He didn't know what it would be like, so he thought he'd be fine without a plan. He imagined something along the lines of walking around with Yuki, watching her work and interact with her schoolmates. He'd hoped to learn something about her that would help him understand her better. She'd been avoiding him, and he'd wanted to…reconcile with her somehow.

He must have dozed off, because soon he felt himself being shaken. Reflexively, his wrist shot out and grabbed the person doing the shaken.

"Wah! I'm s-sorry! It's just that, you should wake up now! S-So p-please let go!"

Soujiro slowly opened his eyes, and studied his captive. She was a small girl, most likely a freshman. Her long hair in braids, stuck out in an odd manner. The glasses she wore took up a good portion of her face. On top of that, she could stand to lose a little weight. "Who are you?"

"M-My name is K-Keiko. Keiko Itou, Nishikado-san."

Figures. An ordinary looking girl would have a common first name. He released her and asked, "How did you know I was out here?"

"I saw Rumika-san and the others follow you when you came out. I would have come out sooner, but I had to wait until all three of them were occupied. You must be thirsty at least." She offered him a bottle of water he didn't realize she was clutching.

Like man from the desert he gulped greedily at the cool liquid.

"The festival is almost over. It's just the confession auction that's left. If you walk around to the front of the school, you'd be able to avoid the others." She handed him his forgotten jacket.

"Itou-chan, what do you get out of helping me? Won't you get into trouble for letting me out?" She didn't seem like the type to invite the wrath others, but was she the type to expect something in return for a favor?

She smiled shyly, "You worked so hard backstage. It wasn't right to keep you away from Matsuoka-senpai. Also, it's not a good feeling…being locked in here overnight." She bowed to him when he stood up, and slipped on his jacket.

"Well, then I thank you." He bowed low to her. "If I can ever return the favor, I will."

She blushed to the roots of her hair. "N-No n-need to trouble yourself, Nishikado-san! Anyone would have done the same in my position!"

He chuckled. She reminded him so much of Yuki just then. He patted her on head. "You'd better get going before you are missed."

"Y-Yes. Good luck, Nishikado-san!"

(-)(-)(-)

"Ah, it's finally over!" Without thought to the girls in the room, Akira began shedding the layers of the maid uniform.

Yuki giggled at her blushing classmates who ran shrieking in a flurry of flustered fury from the classroom. "Well, that image isn't going to help them pass their exams."

"Eh?" He gotten the odd bow-like thing they had tied on his head off, and was now fighting with the knots on the corset at the back of the uniform.

"Akira-kun, you'll hurt yourself. Let me." She went behind him and gently unknotted the tangles he had made. It didn't occur to her that she was undressing one of Japan's lady killers, or that she was alone with an about-to-be half naked man. "I really appreciate today, Akira-kun. You really went that extra mile."

"Don't expect me to do it again." He said, struggling out of the tight skirt. "But I didn't completely hate it." He moved his hands when she reached for the hidden clasps. "Thanks. You'd think I'd be better at this."

She giggled. "I think its a little easier taking it off someone else than taking it off your self."

"Yeah, okay." He watched her smooth out the uniform and hang it in the closet, as he dressed in his own clothes. "Ne, Yuki-chan?"

"Hmm?" She looked around the room and began picking up the forgotten pins and leftover fabric from his adjustments earlier. She glanced up, and blinked when she found him just inches from his face. "Akira-kun?"

"What do you think of me?"

She edged back, wondering what he thought he was doing. "What do you mean?"

He leaned in, pinning her between himself and the edge of a desk. "When I'm this close to you, what do you feel?"

She tilted her head, confused and then smiled, understanding what he was trying to show her. She reached up and linked her hands behind his neck. Totally comfortable in such an otherwise compromising position. "Akira-kun is my good friend. I trust you and I am very thankful that I can depend on you to be there for me."

"But I'm different from Soujiro." It wasn't a question, but at least he now knew she understood the feelings between "just friends" and "more than friends".

"Akira-kun is Akira-kun." She shrugged, dropping her hands when he straightened away from her. "Nishikado-san is…not being a good friend right now, but…this thing that he's doing…he'll give up eventually. I'm still trying to track down all his girlfriends and explain the misunderstanding."

"He seems pretty determined, Yuki. Won't it be bad if you convince them to drop their game, while he's still bent on pursuing you?"

She frowned, considering.

Suddenly the door burst open, and a girl burst in, gasping. "S-Senpai, the…the auction." She panted.

Yuki's eyes widened. "The confession auction! How could I forget?" She ran to her bag in the corner, and pulled out a clip board. She shuffled through the papers there and nodded to herself when she found the one she needed.

"I'm sorry, Akira-kun. I've got to go. I'll treat you some other time like I promised, alright? Thanks again for your hard work today. I'm sure we've more than met our quota." She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek, a gesture he was familiar with and accepted graciously. She ran out the door with the girls, heading down the stairs and to the gym.

It was already packed with so many people, and girls waiting in line to be auctioned off were more than a little nervous.

"Mou! What if nobody bids on me?"

"What if Tenchi-kun bids on another girl?"

"There is surely something illegal about this!"

She mentally winced at the last comment. It had been her idea to auction off volunteers, and the proceeds going to either the girl's club or to their next class trip. She was pretty sure it wasn't illegal. The deal was to bid on the girl you like, and you get one day with her. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and the teachers had nothing against it…so long as she wasn't auctioning off sexual favors from each girl.

She went through the line, reassure each girl and taking the roll as the general calmer of nerves.

"It's bad, Matsuoka-san! It's very bad!"

Yuki turned to the president. Though she was the event coordinator, the class president also had a lot of responsibilities. "President?"

"The girls! The girls that were supposed to be last to be auctioned! They found themselves boyfriends during the festival and have run off!" The poor boy looked like he was about to cry.

"Eh?! They signed a contract, though." She said, distressed.

"I know! But they're nowhere to be found. A couple of people said that they saw them leaving school a few hours ago!" He clenched the paper in his hands angrily. "Oh! They'll pay for this! Detention! Suspension until graduation! No, expulsion! I'll have them expelled and then sent to jail for breech of contract! Just watch me!"

"Um, President…we could always just find replacements…with maybe the benefit of free lunches for the next six months?" She recoiled a little when the mad look didn't fade from his eyes, rather it became shaper…more calculating.

"Matsuoka-san, since you didn't have a back-up plan in case this happened, you must be one of the replacements." Her eyes widened, clearly appalled at the idea. The girls who volunteered were of the desperate kind looking for a boyfriend. She volunteered as the coordinator so she wouldn't have to participate. "As for the other girl, we'll just grab the first girl we see on the way." Then he started pushing her towards the door leading to the back of the stage.

"Eh?! President, I have to go help class 2-B!" A freshman blustered, when he grabbed her on the way.

"Itou-chan, there's no time to be shy. Your school needs you." Before either of them knew it, they were both on stage facing the mob of people.

Yuki smiled apologetically to the girl, who looked terrified out of her mind. "I'm sorry about this, Itou-chan. I'll make sure the cooking club gets rewarded for this."

"Well, looks like we have quite a treat today," The auctioneer said. "The very lovely Matsuoka-senpai and cute underclassmen Keiko Itou."

She rolled her eyes, and smiled nervously when a few began whistling at them. She froze when she spotted Soujiro entering the gym. Oh, no. What's he doing here?If Soujiro bid on her, she'd have no choice but to date him, and who knew what trouble that would cause?

"So that's 1000 yen on Senpai….1200….anyone for 1300? That's 1300 to the gentleman from class 2-A…1400 to 3-C…"

"10,000 yen to Itou-chan!"

All other bids stopped, and turned. Soujiro looked ignored and looked to the stage. Yuki raised her brow. If this is another one of his stupid games…

"T-Then I bid 10,000 on Senpai," Said another voice.

"Kaoru-kun." She heard Keiko say faintly, turning pink.

The auctioneer looked to the crowd, who were too stunned by Soujiro's bid to continue, and shrugged. He slammed the mallet down on the podium. "Sold! Itou-san to the gentleman in the back, and Matsuoka-senpai to 1-A Kaoru Ichihara."

"W-What just happened, Senpai?" Keiko asked weakly. "Why did Nishikado-san bid on me?"

Yuki smiled at her. "You're very cute, Itou-chan. Maybe he wants to make you his girlfriend."

The girl's face exploded in red. "B-But, I already—" She couldn't go on, and only looked more and more distressed as the Soujiro and Kaoru came closer to claim them. At least everyone was making their way out of the gym, now that the auction was over.

Then it dawned on her. "You like Ichihara-kun?"

"We grew up together." She whispered, looking sad. "But he bid on Senpai. It's just my one-sided feelings."

Soon the boys were next to him, Soujiro smiling down at Keiko and Kaoru looking determinedly at the floor.

With all the charm of a ladies man, he took her hand in his and kissed it. "Princess, may I whisk you away on a cloud and show you the stars?"

Keiko looked at him with a mixture of frozen terror and dazzled awe.

He made to pull her closer, when he found himself being pushed away. "No! Let go of Keiko!"

Soujiro blinked up at the angry boy, flabbergasted at his reaction.

"I-I know about guys like you! I definitely won't hand her over!" That said, he grabbed Keiko's hand and stormed off stage and out of the gym.

Yuki glanced at their retreating figures, and down at Soujiro's dumbfounded expression. The ridiculousness of it all hit her, and she started to giggle. Soon her giggle grew to full-blown laughter. She clutched at her stomach, unable to contain her mirth.

Soujiro watched her laugh, and a reluctant smile grew on his face. Today was not one of his best days. He spent the better half of it doing manual labor and the other half locked in a shed. His one good deed was thrown in his face when the girl he bid on was stolen by another guy. But it was worth it. Hearing Yuki's free, unrestrained laughter for the first time in weeks, made it all worth it.

He got to his feet just as she was coming down from her amusement high. He looked at her cautiously. "Yuki-chan?"

She smiled, really smiled at him. "I'm going grab my things from my locker, and then would you like to go for a walk with me, Nishikado-san?"

(-)(-)(-)

Soujiro didn't know what exactly he had done to get back in her good graces, but he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He studied her as they walked away from the school. They were taking the "long way" back to her house. "I could call for a car, Yuki." He offered. "You've been on your feet all day. You're probably tired." She just smiled warmly at him and kept walking.

"If I get tired, Nishikado-san, you'll just have to carry me."

He glanced at her, noted her teasing smile and threw her a grin. "It would be my pleasure. So long as you promise to carry me if I get tired."

She raised a brow. "Oh? What have you been doing all day?"

"I…" Suddenly he didn't want to tell her. He felt pleased with himself to completing the manual task of cleaning out the backstage, but it was nothing compared to what she was doing all day. All he had done was move some junk from one storage space to another, she had organized the entire festival. "Never mind, Yuki-chan. I have the strength of ten men. I can probably carry you on my worse day." He eyed her playfully. "Then again, I've got only one back. Have you been sampling the pastries at the dango shop again, Yuki-chan?"

She blushed, delighting him, and immediately smacked his shoulder. "Nishikado-san!"

"Maybe you spend your day thinking up ways to lure innocent men to do your bidding. You got Akira Mimasaka, heir to an underworld kingdom, to cross dress in public. What did you promise him you sneaky wench?" He laughed at the guilty look on her face. Ah, he had missed this. Teasing Yuki. Bantering with Yuki. It was the most fun he'd had just talking with a girl.

"At least Akira-kun doesn't buy little girls." She walked faster, moving ahead of him. "When did you develop a Lolita complex?"

He grinned. She was quick. He liked that about her. He lengthened his pace to keep up with her. "Wasn't she up there because of you? I heard the auction was your idea, and you were bought by a much younger guy."

Her blushed went from embarrassed to mortified. "Why did you bid on her, Nishikado-san? If you had bid on me, I would have had no choice but to date you."

"That girl helped me out earlier, and it didn't look like anyone else was going to bid on her, so I did. At the very least I could have made her so popular that she'd have ten boyfriends by the end of the week." He caught her intense gaze, and soft smile. "What?"

She shook her head. Without thought to himself or personal gain, he did something nice for someone else. "Well, that was very generous of you."

"I'm a generous man." He said magnanimously. "And I don't want to force you to go out with me, Yuki."

"Don't you?" She asked, wary of the turn in conversation.

"I'll wait until you can trust me enough. Trust that I am serious. I'll wait for you to want to go out with me." He smiled winningly. "You can only resist for so long."

She rolled her eyes. "If you want to beat your head against a brick wall, by all means…continue this foolish pursuit. All you'll get is a concussion. It's your head."

He laughed. Yuki really was his favorite girl. On impulse he leaned down, and taking advantage of her unguarded moment gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek.

"Nishikado-san!" Her face inflamed in part embarrassment and part irritation. "You have no shame, do you?"

He spotted a bridge ahead of them and an idea struck. "I know I said I wouldn't force you, Yuki. That I'll wait until you say you want to date…"

She looked at him warily. He was most difficult to predict when he was like this, more prone to strange impulsive behavior. Her eyes widened when he grabbed hold of one of the beams and pulled himself to stand on the railing.

"Nishikado-san! What do you think you're doing? Get down right now!"

Soujiro looked down at the water, and then back at her. "Technically, Yuki-chan, you still owe me a date. So, here's your choice. Go out with me, or watch me fall to my death."

(-)(-)(-)

A/N

Wow, Domyouji Lovewas right. This was a long chapter. This is the first time I intentionally ended with a cliffhanger. I have the next chapter mostly thought out because I did have more for this chapter, but it already felt too long, so I'll put the rest in the next one. I hope you enjoyed it, and many thanks for the reviews and alerts. Also, for those who haven't already, do check out my oneshots Drunk Yukiand Sentiment. See you in Chapter Six!