Tsukushi cried as she watched the planes take flight. Someone wipes them away. "Why are you crying?" Tsukushi slowly turns in misbelieve. "Rui!" She hugs him tightly. She looks up at his smiling face and pulls him down for a kiss. Rui, surprised, leans down to be closer. Tsukushi embarrassed by her actions pushes Rui away. Her face was bright red. "So… How was Paris?" Rui smiles and kisses her forehead.
"So Tsukasa and Tsubaki are not siblings and left to New York?" Rui says as he takes his suit case out of the trunk. "Yeah." Tsukushi takes the suitcase from him and follows him inside. Rui opens his door and looks at his room. He flopped down on his bed, hugging it. Tsukushi set the suitcase down and sat next to him. She looked down at him and he was sleeping. She smiles and shuts the door. She lies next to him to sleep also. "You must've missed it here." She pulled blankets over him but he stops her. He covers her with the blanket and holds her. "I really missed you." Tsukushi smiled. "I missed you too." Rui got on top of her and passionately kissed her. She unbuttoned his shirt and explored. Rui stopped himself. "I don't want to do this unless if you're ready." He again slept next to Tsukushi. She quickly got on top and kissed him slowly. "But I am."
The next morning, Rui's mother was walking down the hallway of Rui's bedroom. She opened his door and saw Tsukushi sleeping peacefully and Rui watching her. Rui signaled to his mom a shushing motion and she smiled back and slowly shut the door. Tsukushi slowly woke up. "Good morning." Tsukushi laughed. They both got changed and walked out hand in hand. Rui's mother was watching TV and they met her as they left. "Hey mom, I'm back." Rui said. Tsukushi bowed. "Where are you two off to this early?" Rui's mom asked. "Rui is sending me to work." Tsukushi answered. Rui's mother examines them closely and she smiles. "You two are meant for each other."
"Thanks Rui." Tsukushi says as she opens the door but Rui grabs her hand. "What?" Rui winks and says, "I love you." Tsukushi smiles and says it back. She enters the Red Butterfly and sees Yuki at the counter. "Where have you been? It's been three days." Yuki looks up. "Sorry, I'll explain everything. You can have a week vacation." Yuki examined her. She walked around Tsukushi. "Oh my god you got laid." Tsukushi pushes her away. "What? How'd you know?"
"Were you protected?"
"No, I ----"
"Oh my god, who'd you do it with?"
"Who else would I do -----"
"Oh my god, it was Tsukasa wasn't it?"
"NO! It was Rui!" After things settled down then Tsukushi explained everything to Yuki. "Make my vacation two weeks and we got a deal." Tsukushi smiled. The mail man entered and handed them mail. "Oh thank you." They both looked through it together. "Hey look Tsukushi, an invite to Shizuka's wedding." She hands the invitation to Tsukushi. "Whoa look it's in two weeks. Let's close the shop and go shopping."
Tsukushi locks the door. The mail man walks by again and drops a letter. Tsukushi picks it up. "Wait! You dropped this!" The mail man walks back. "Oh thank you. I have so many copies of this one. The sender keeps on sending them but the people keep returning it back." Tsukushi looked at the letter. "Hey Tsukushi, it's an invite to Shizuka's wedding." Tsukushi takes it back. "Do you mind if I take this one?" Tsukushi puts it in her purse and links arms with Yuki. "What store shall we shop at?"
Yuki carries three bags in each hand. "Are you sure you don't need help carrying them home?" Tsukushi asked. "No, it's ok." Yuki laughed. "You bought all of them anyway. See you tomorrow, Tsukushi." Tsukushi laughed as she saw Yuki struggle with all the bags. "That's was nice of you." Rui comes up behind her. Tsukushi turns around. "Yeah well, she's been covering for me a lot." Tsukushi remembered and took out the invitation out of her purse. "Hey Rui, do Shizuka's parents live in Japan?" Rui looked at the invitation. "They do but they're usually aren't here." Tsukushi looked at the invitation and remembered what the mail man said. "They must be upset that she's marrying a commoner. They aren't going are they?" Rui put the invitation in his back pocket. "Unfortunately no, it would mean the world to Shizuka if they would come." Tsukushi took the invitation out of Rui's pocket and walked away. "Where are you going?" Tsukushi waved. "I'll call you later."
Tsukushi arrived at the address on the invitation. She rang the door bell. A man dressed in a black suit opened the door. "Yes?" Tsukushi bowed. "Oh hello, are Mr. and Mrs. Todou there?" Tsukushi looked in. "I'm sorry but they're very busy. Please try again another time." The man is about to shut the door but Tsukushi stops him. "Would you make sure they get this?" Tsukushi hands him the invitation and leaves.
The next day Tsukushi went back, and the next and the next. Tsukushi slams her purse on the table. "How busy is Shizuka's parents really?" She asked Rui. "Well, really busy I suppose." Tsukushi crossed her arms. "Too busy for they're own daughter?" Rui sips his coffee and leans forward. "Technically Shizuka isn't their daughter anymore." Tsukshi leaned forward too. "What do you mean?" Rui leans back. "Well, once Shizuka marries Darien then all ties are cut off. What her parents said that night was true. They will disown her." Tsukushi slams her hands on the table and stomps to Shizuka's parent's house. Rui follows her.
Outside, Tsukushi sees many men in black suits taking the trash out. She walks closer and one man drops a bag full of letters. He quickly picks it up. Tsukushi walks past them and into the house. The guards run after her. She opens a door and all attention is focused on her. The guards grab her arms. "Are you seriously ignoring Shizuka just because she's going to marry a commoner?" Rui told the men to let go and he grabbed Tsukushi. "Let's go." Tsukushi jerked away from him. "She truly loves him isn't that enough? What more do you want?" Shizuka's dad sighed. "Please show her out." Rui grabs Tsukushi again. "That's like saying I can't marry Rui. I love Rui. I'd rather be dead than be without him." Rui let go of her arm. That's how Shizuka feels. She doesn't care if you disown her. All she wants you to do is come." Tsukushi gets on her knees. "Please, I'm begging you, attend the wedding." Rui sighs and pulls his pants up a little and knees also. Tsukushi looks at him and he winks at her. "Sir, you'll only be upset with her until you see how happy Shizuka is." Shizuka's dad hurries to Rui and brings him to his feet. Rui grabbed Tsukushi and pulled her up. Rui looked straight into Shizuka's dad's eyes. "This is Shizuka's first wedding. Please attend." Rui grabbed Tsukushi's hand and pulled her out with him. Once outside, Rui let go and put his hands on his hips. "I can't believe I just did that." He hears Tsukushi crying and hugs her. "It's ok, you tried your best." Tsukushi pushes him away. "Thank you…for… standing up for…me…you were…so cool…" Rui smiles and takes her hand and walks home.
