Chapter 5: Missing You
Sorry this update has taken so long. I have had a bit of writer's block. I am not sure if I am completely satisfied with this chapter, but I do not want you guys to have to wait.
Due to popular demand, I have decided to keep Takeda Ichiro as a permanent character in this story. Sorry to the fans that want Soujiro and Yuki to end up together; however don't count Soujiro out of Yuki's life completely.
Thanks again for the comments and suggestions
I do not own Hana Yori Dango and this story is not for profit.
As Yuki walked out of the restaurant with Ichiro, she knew that she had to move on. She had to move on in her life. As she reached up and touched Ichiro's arm, Yuki realized she could not wait any longer for him, not when someone better deserved a chance.
"I have made my decision Ichiro-kun. I choose to be with you. However, let us take it slow; so much time has passed since we have been together. Please be patient with me." Yuki took a deep sigh of relief as she admitted that she still had feelings for Ichiro.
Finally she had gotten it of her chest. All she could think about lately was her past with Ichiro and the feelings that still existed for him. Yuki wasn't sure if she loved Ichiro like she did when she was sixteen, but she still felt butterflies in her stomach when she was in his arms.
" That was a quick decision. Your right in that a lot of time has changed and we are probably different people, but I still want to get to know you. " Ichiro laughed at Yuki's spontaneity.
"Still lets keep our relationship only between us and our friends. The media would hound you if they knew we were dating. Also, I am not sure what my crazy fan club would do."
"I have to agree. I don't want to be mobbed by the press and your crazy girl fans." Yuki smiled realizing that Ichiro was always looking out for her. Ever since they were children he had always protected her. She reached out and held Ichiro's hand as they walked down the street together. Yuki was still amazed at her luck. She was dating someone who actually liked her for herself. She was happy to finally not be chasing after a guy who did not care for her.
"Ichiro-kun, I have a question. Why me? Out of all the beautiful models, why choose to date an average girl like me?"
"Because you are real. Most of the girls I work with are fake and are not very nice people. You are the most optimistic person I know and always are able to make me happy, even after all these years. Besides you are hardly average. Even the photo shoot director was surprised you were not a real model." Ichiro chuckled to himself as he realized how clueless Yuki was to her beauty. He was shocked to see when he arrived how beautiful she became and how attracted he was to her. He was even more surprised that she was not taken. He was relieved she was not dating anyone especially one of the F4. He knew about Nishikado Soujiro and Mimasaka Akira and their reputation with girls.
Yuki blushed profusely as she listened to Ichiro's words. Although, she did not think she was model material, at least Ichiro did. As she walked with Ichiro to his motorcycle, she all of the sudden did not want to end the night. She wanted to spend more time with Ichiro and not go home.
"Is it okay Ichiro-kun, if we take a ride on your motorcycle before you send me home. I still want to catch up on all the time we missed.
"Sure, but just for a little bit. I don't want to get in trouble with your parents quite yet. I want to stay on there good side. " Ichiro gently kissed the top of Yuki's head glad that she wanted to be with him rather than anyone else.
Yuki started to turn even pinker after Ichiro's kiss on her head. Although she shivered at the thought of what his fan might do if they saw them together. She was going to have to figure out how to see Ichiro without getting caught.
Little did Yuki know that someone was already watching. A man was watching Yuki and Ichiro from afar in his car. The sound of his phone ringing pierced the silence in the car.
"Hey boss. I found the girl with Ichiro. Don't worry I have some pictures already and will send them to the press tonight. They have no idea they are being watched. She will be yours in no time boss."
Soujiro was bored. As he sat in a lounge with two girls draped on his arm, he could not help but feel annoyed by the girls chatting. They were all the same, boring as hell and always demanding something from him, either a gift or his body. The girls did not even have one intelligent thing to say. The only thing interesting about them was their bodies' and even that was not holding his interest tonight.
Soujiro continually was looking down at his cell phone. Why hadn't Yuki-chan been texting him lately. He was use to her pestering him with multiple text messages. Not that he was complaining about her not pursuing him. He was glad she finally got the message that he only thought of her as a friend. Yet, he did not want her completely out of his life.
In fact he had not seen her since she introduced him to Ichiro. He certainly did not approve of Ichiro. He had done some digging around about Ichiro and found that Ichiro had a reputation with the ladies in New York. He would never allow innocent Yuki to date someone like that.
As Soujiro fiddled with his phone and rereading Yuki's last text message he started to wish he could see her. He missed her presence and optimism. He could always tell her things on his mind and she managed to calm him down whenever he was upset. She was also one of the people who made him laugh.
He had little to laugh about lately. After he graduated from Eitoku University with a business degree he had started graduate business school; on top of that he also had almost fully taken over the Nishikado family's tea ceremony affairs. He felt so stifled at home with his family. Although he got along fine with his younger brother, Saburo, he did not like being around his parents. They were cold, ambitious people who only thought of themselves and the Nishikado family name. His family had been broken though for a long time, ever since his older brother left.
In order to distract himself he started to stroke the skin of the girl on his right side and kissing the neck of the girl to his left. All of the sudden his phone beeped as it received a text message. Soujiro immediately stopped his actions and practically shoved the girls next to him away.
Hoping it was Yuki, he immediately pulled out his phone, but his excitement dwindled when he saw it was just Akira. As he settled back into his seat and the girls sidled up to him and started to gain his attention by nibbling on his neck and ears. Yet Soujiro managed to disengage himself from the clinging girls and stood up after reading Akira's message.
Meeting Yuki-chan and her friend in Ginza to shop for Makino's b-day. Wanna join?
Soujiro immediately shoved his phone into the pocket of his tailor fitted pants and politely excused himself from the whining girls. He now had his excuse to see Yuki without looking like he was missing her. Besides he needed to get a gift for Tsukushi and who better to ask then her best friend.
Yuki stood with her friend Reiko on a corner in Ginza waiting for Akira. Yuki was trying to distract Reiko from her recent breakup with her boyfriend. Thus when Akira called saying he needed help finding a gift for Tsukushi's birthday, she felt like she had a good excuse to get Reiko out and about.
Also she was curious to see Reiko's reaction to Akira. Reiko was a pre-law student like Tsukushi at Eitoku and was slated to become a top prosecutor for the government. Being a premed student, Yuki liked to experiment. She wanted to see what Reiko's reaction would be to Akira. Would she fall for Akira's good looks, or would she be repelled by the fact that Akira was about to inherit one of the largest yakuza groups. She giggled to herself at how devious she was being.
Just on time Akira pulled up in his latest Porsche car. As ever Akira was wearing the latest designer suit and had a handsome smile on his face. Normally he would seep any girl off her feet, but he had yet to meet Reiko.
"Yuki-chan you are a sight for sore eyes. I haven't seen you in a while and you look lovely as ever." Yuki turned a bright red color at Akira's complements. She was still not use to being complemented on her average looks.
"You are one smooth talker Mimasaka Akira. I know your motives though. You need my help for Tsukushi-chan's birthday. Well you are lucky because I brought a friend of mine and Tsukushi's to help out. This is my friend Nakamura Reiko." Yuki-chan could hardly contain her laughter at how Reiko was going to react to this playboy.
"Ma Cherie, it is a pleasure to meet you." Akira gave Reiko a wink and sent her a stunning smile that made women melt. Akira could not deny how beautiful Reiko was; she was petite, with light brown hair that was shoulder length, flawless skin, and on top of that a pouting mouth. Of course she was off limits because she was Yuki and Tsukushi's friend and probably younger than him, but that did not stop him from flirting.
Yet he was shocked at how this beautiful girl reacted to him. Instead of giggling and blushing, she gave him an icy glare with her dark brown eyes.
"Do you use that line on all women? It is pretty obvious that it is not a good idea to use it on a girl with a French minor."
"Uhhh, did I do something wrong? I am sorry if I did" Akira was taken aback. He was not exactly used to being spoken to in this way, especially by women.
"Sorry, but I am not really in the mood to be hit on right this second. I am sure you are a nice playboy, but I do not really like playboys right at this minute. Yuki-chan, I got to run. I have to go to a study group. Bye now." Reiko gave Yuki a brief smile and turned to walk away.
"Oy, did you make another girl upset and run away, Akira?" Soujiro had just walked up to the group.
Yuki was not expecting Soujiro. She suddenly stiffened and Reiko could tell Yuki was uncomfortable. Before Akira arrived Yuki-chan had told her about her moving on and was now dating Takeda Ichiro. She could not blame Yuki-chan for not wanting to be around Soujiro right now.
"Let me guess you are Nishikado Soujiro?" Reiko furled her brow. She knew that this was the infamous playboy of the F4 and definitely someone she was not a fan of because he made her friend cry all the time.
"Good guess? Now will you be so kind to tell me your lovely name? " Soujiro was amused by this spitfire of a girl. Not many girls besides Makino had guts to talk to the F4 like that.
"I don't really want to tell you because you are a serial playboy."
"But Akira knows your name and I don't" Soujiro did his best effort to pout.
"It is okay if he knows my name. He is a nice playboy. You are not. I really got to go Yuki-chan. Ja ne" Reiko turned her back on the group and walked away into the busy crowds of the Ginza District.
"That is the second type of girl I don't do well with, a blunt woman." Soujiro could not believe that a spitfire of a girl had just rejected him.
Yuki burst out in laughter at the expressions of Akira and Soujiro. She took a wild guess that they had never been rejected before, but they had never met Reiko.
"Don't let your egos be too hurt. It really is not your fault. Reiko-chan just dumped her boyfriend after she found out he was cheating on her. Also, she is obviously not afraid to speak her mind." Yuki had a feeling Reiko would react to Akira and Soujiro that way.
Akira's phone ringing snapped Akira and Soujiro out of shock. Akira quickly picked up his cell and stepped away from Soujiro and Yuki.
Yuki suddenly did not want to be standing next to Soujiro. She had purposely been avoiding him all week. She was afraid she would still feel attracted to him even though she was dating Ichiro now. And she definitely still was. Although his hair was slicked back, a few stray hairs caressed the fine features of his face. Yuki had the urge to push those stray hairs out of his face. With a sigh she stored her feelings in her heart and gave Soujiro a smile.
"It has been a while Nishikado-san. How are you doing? You looked exhausted." Yuki needed to distract herself from Soujiro's good looks and decided small talk was in order.
"I have been busy with tea ceremonies and graduate school. By the way Yuki-chan, are you still taking tea ceremony classes?" Soujiro was curious if Yuk was still taking tea ceremony classes. Was she taking them for him or for herself? If she was taking them for herself that meant she had decided to take up tea ceremonies for herself since she gave up on him.
"Actually, I am. Not only am I continuing my classes, I am the president of the tea ceremony club at my school. I find it quite peaceful and it seems to settle my nerves, especially since I am taking the exams for medical schools soon. "
Soujiro was about to ask her more about where she was taking her tea ceremony class, when Akira returned.
"Sorry, guys. I got to run. I have to be a peacemaker between my group and another group. I have no idea why the Ikedas are causing so much trouble right now. Yuki-chan, I will get some advice about Tsukushi-chan's gift later. Sorry to ditch you." Akira got into his Porsche and drove away.
Yuki-chan all of the sudden realized she was in the place she most likely did not want to be. She was alone with Soujiro. She had not been alone with Soujiro in the longest time and it was creating a most awkward situation. Yuki took a deep breath and braced herself for having to shop with Soujiro. Hopefully Ichiro would not mind her being alone with Soujiro.
"Are you ready to go shopping for Tsukushi's gift." Soujiro smiled down at Yuki. He had not expected to be alone with Yuki, but at least it was better than not spending any time with her. Besides they were just friends.
"Hai!" Yuki-chan stared up at Soujiro's fiery eyes and hoped she would not break her determination to move on past Soujiro. She could do it. She was resolved to only be friends with Soujiro.