Disclaimer: As everyone knows, I do not own the characters from Hana Yori Dango/Boys Over Flowers. However, I do own Neko, my OC. And Sebastian (Sebi-chan) owns me... In fact, he owns the whole neighborhood! (I know that two other households and the local pizzeria are all feeding him... It's a wonder he's not big as a house!) It's still not worth suing me; I am but a humble fan.
Thank you, Kamio-sensei!
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AN: This is completely AU. Not canon! Things are different--deal with it! Don't like, don't read!
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Tea and Saké
A Hana Yori Dango FanFic
By Janice Rips
Chapter 4: Wine, Roses and Revelations
Dinner began as a merry affair. Most of the fruit wines were met with enthusiasm: Asian pear with salad, apricot with roast duck, black currant with filet mignon, even kiwi with cantaloupe sorbet; but some of the more unusual offerings got a different reception. When a lemon and rosemary wine was served with stuffed mushrooms, Tsukushi made a face and observed, "Sorry, Neko, but this tastes like the stuff I used to scrub the bathroom, when I was a maid at Doumyoji's."
"You were what?!" Neko asked, astonished.
"Never mind. It's a long, long story," Tsukushi replied, blushing.
"Okay, but you really must promise to tell me sometime," Neko insisted.
When a light strawberry and nasturtium wine was served with orange roughy, Rui asked, "Is there pepper in this wine?" and Neko had to explain a bit about how not all edible flowers are sweet. Kazuya complained that the violet wine left an aftertaste like the time his Granny had washed his mouth out with soap... violet bath soap, and everyone laughed, But then things took a turn for the worse.
The final dish before the dessert course was a lemon thyme sorbet to cleanse the palate, served with a pale blush wine. Akira sipped from his glass, then choked, spilling his wine all over himself.
"Akira, are you okay?!?" Soujiro asked, clapping him on the back.
"No, I'm not! What the heck is this stuff??" he gasped.
Soujiro took a cautious sip, then burst into laughter at his friend. "Don't be such a drama queen! Just because it tastes like your mother's garden. You should say that it makes you think of home!"
"It's not funny! I have to smell those damned cloying roses every day all summer! I never dreamed I'd be drinking them!" he sputtered.
Neko got up and bowed in apology, curls obscuring her face, but a bright red flush running down her neck. "I'm so very sorry, Mimasaka-san. Mia will take you to a room where you can clean up, and I'll send in a change of clothes. I'm sure I've got something that will fit."
Akira turned on his heel and stomped off after the maid. Soujiro tried to reassure the young woman. "It's okay, Neko-san, you had no way of knowing. you've never been to his house, after all."
"Nor to anyone else's. Excuse me, please, I have to find Mimasaka something to wear. Simon, please come with me." That said, Neko bowed to her guests, and left in the opposite direction from Akira.
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Back in her apartments, Neko handed Simon a shirt and slacks. "Please make sure this gets to Mimasaka-san. And Simon? Please offer my guests dessert and refreshments, and make my apologies for me. I'm afraid I'm sick of playing this game anymore tonight."
"Oui, Mademoiselle Nicollette. I will handle the situation," Simon replied, turning before she could see his concerned frown.
Simon handed the clothing to Mia, then returned to the dining room. He cleared his throat, and Neko's guests looked up expectantly. "It is my regretful duty to inform you that Mademoiselle Nicollette will not be rejoining you this evening. She has taken ill. She invites you to stay for dessert and coffee, if you like." He turned to leave, but when Rui held up a staying hand, he waited.
Rui whispered something to Yuki, who turned to the waiting servant. "Excuse me, Simon, but do you think Neko-chan would be willing to talk to me before we go?"
Simon smiled kindly. "I'm sure the young mistress believes she would rather be alone, but I think that is precisely the problem. I will take you to her. Please, Mademoiselle Matsuoka, follow me."
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Akira returned as Yuki was leaving. He looked good, dressed in ecru linen drawstring slacks and a teal silk poet's shirt. "Not exactly the shorts-and-a-T-shirt I expected her to loan me," he said sheepishly.
"Well, you are about the same height," Soujiro remarked. "Still, she's got good taste."
"Say, where did Neko-chan go?" Akira asked. "I owe her an apology. I was a real ass."
"Yuki's gone to talk to her. She's in her rooms and won't come out," Rui answered, leveling a glare at everyone, "and frankly, I don't blame her. It's not just you, Akira. I have a question for everyone. Oh, excuse me, Tsubaki, you're exempt. Tell me, has any one of us invited Neko to visit his or her home?" Stunned silence met his words. "No? I thought not. What about to do something socially? Shopping? Studying? Clubbing? Not even a cup of tea in a cafe?" Red faces abounded, and no one would meet Rui's eyes. "Fine lot of friends we are," he said disgustedly. "It's all well and good that the F4's acceptance keeps her from being bullied, but it also makes her somewhat unapproachable and leaves her socially isolated. I know how that feels," he reminded them, "and, trust me, it's not fun. I bet the only kids who speak to her at school are assholes trying to get to us through her."
Rui looked around at the guilty faces, ran his hands though his hair, and sighed. "I'm just as guilty as the rest of you. Okay, one more line of questioning, then I'll let up. What do we know about Miss Nicollette Cross? Did anyone other than me think to run her through a search engine?" Once again, he was met by blank stares. "She has a blog, you know, full of marvelous photos. You should check it out. Okay, here's what I found out: Nicollette Mikeneko Cross, age 16. Birthday 23 July. Height 180 cm., weight 62 kg. Blood type O+.
Parents Jean-Paul Cross and Yanagi Keiko, owners of Kuroneko Winery, New Paltz, NY, USA. Primary residence New Paltz, secondary residences in Tokyo, Kumamoto, and Montreal, and vacation homes in Seville and on Prince Edward Island, Punta Cana, and Maru, a small private island they own. Other holdings across the globe, mostly farms and orchards.
Our kitten has many varied interests. In addition to Capoeira, she rides horses and is an excellent ballroom dancer. She plays classical and jazz guitar an a custom-built blue Ovation she calls Liesel, and she owns a flame-point snowshoe Siamese cat with ice-blue eyes named Sebastian. There are many pictures of him and of her horses on her blog. He's probably in the next room with her right now, cadging bits of fatty tuna from Yuki."
"Well, someone certainly did his homework," Soujiro commented snidely.
"Someone else should have done his," Rui snapped back. "Okay, last question. What is a girl like this, with all this going for her, doing cooped up in an empty mansion in Tokyo? Why is she here, at Eitoku?"
"She told us that Nishii's grandfather recommended Eitoku to her grandfather," Kazuya volunteered.
"I thought I told you not to call me that," Soujiro muttered.
"Yes," Rui answered, "the question at hand is, 'Why?' Why would he do that?"
Tsubaki cleared her throat to get their attention. "I would think it would be painfully obvious, at least to anyone thinking with his upper head."
Akira caught on first. "You mean...?"
"Yes," she affirmed, "Soujiro, I do believe your family and hers are considering... an arrangement."
Soujiro went pale. "An arrangement...?" he whispered.
"Yes, 'Jiro-kun," Tsubaki said gently, "I think you may have just been dining with your future fiancee."
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Simon and Yuki stood at the door leading to Neko's rooms. Simon knocked softly. "Miss Nicollette?" The only response was a muffled blare of music. Simon rapped more smartly, and called a bit louder, "Mademoiselle? Please, answer the door. You have a visitor."
The music cut off abruptly, and Neko answered from behind the closed door, "Who is it, Simon? What do they want?"
"Miss Nicollette, Miss Matsuoka wishes to have a word with you before she leaves. Will you see her?"
A quiet, "Yeah. Wait a second," came from behind the door. With a soft click, the door opened. "Yuki-chan. C'mon in," she sighed.
Simon whispered, "Good luck, Miss," and left the girls alone.
Yuki was astonished. Gone was the witty, confident, sophisticated young woman that hosted dinner. In her place was a scruffy ragamuffin girl, dressed in worn and faded jeans with a rip in one knee and a Grateful Dead "Blues for Allah" tank top, face washed clean of make-up, eyes reddened, hair piled in a sloppy bun atop her head. In her arms, a sleek, buff-colored cat with cinnamon ears and pale blue eyes yawned widely and peered at Yuki curiously.
"Oh, look, Sebi-chan," Neko addressed the tawny cat, "this is Yuki-chan. You'll like her, she's nice. I bet she wants us to come out and talk to those assholes, but no, no, no," she crooned, "we're not gonna let them walk on us anymore tonight. Stick a fork in me, I'm done." Neko turned and wandered off down the hall.
"Um, Neko-chan..." Yuki asked hesitantly as she followed her, "...are you drunk??"
"Not yet, but I'm workin' on it," Neko answered as she entered a room. One wall was taken up by a huge flat-screen television. Opposite the TV was a futon that has been folded into a couch, with framed concert posters on the wall behind it, and a blue guitar propped up on a stand. One side wall was full of audio and video equipment and an extensive collection of CDs and DVDs, and the other had a small bar beside the door. On the bar was an open bottle of Irish cream and a glass with some ice. Neko refilled the glass, then rummaged in a mini-fridge behind the bar. "I'm getting out some tuna for Sebi-chan. Can I get you anything to drink? I have juice, soft drinks, or alcohol, if you prefer."
Yuki asked for a can of peach juice, and the girls took their drinks to the futon. The cat sat on the floor at
their feet, happily accepting proffered morsels of raw fish. Neko turned a serious face to Yuki. "So, how can I disappoint you this evening?"
"You shouldn't talk like that," Yuki scolded. "I don't see how you could have disappointed anyone, with all the effort you're making."
"That's my point. I'm sick of trying so hard. These rich brats have no appreciation for all they have. They disgust me. All I want to do is go home to New York. At least there no one treats me like I'm the star exhibit in a freak show. Damn that pig-headed old fart anyway. Thinks he can use me to buy back his honor," Neko started to sob. "Well, I won't marry that vapid, self-absorbed philanderer. I don't care if he is the next head of the family. I'd rather marry his estranged older brother first. How incredibly stupid!" she wailed, "What kind of family disowns their son because he wants to be a doctor instead of make tea?!?"
Yuki was stunned. "Your family wants you to marry.. Soujiro?" she asked, horrified.
"Not my whole family, my grandfather," she stressed, "but my mom may push for it if she thinks it will bring back some harmony between them. Someone, just put a 'For Sale' sign on me, already. God, I just wanna go home."
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AN: Hope you don't find this too OOC. I love these guys, but I just gotta mess with them sometimes. 'Til next time!