Boys Over Flowers Fan Fiction ❯ Four Of Hearts ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Written in response to the week 52 challenge on Makin’ Lemonaide: Warm and Fuzzy Feeling? Only when alcohol is involved! Get one character drunk, then have him/her go after the object of their affection. Can be canon, non-canon, fanon, xover, any character (or object) is fair game! + Strip poker is much like a strip tease. But one players holding all the cards and the loser not only loses clothing, but owes sexual favors to the winner. Pick a winner and a loser and tell us about the game.



"Why is it I'm here again?" Rui's voice was a bit petulant, but other than that, he gave no discernable clue as to the amount of alcohol that he'd consumed.

"To slellabate!" Shigeru shook her head and tried again. "No. To celerbate! Celerbate a plan coming to furtition..." She smacked her lips together three times and repeated slowly, "frooo-ition."

A hand reached out and grabbed the bottle of sake out of the tenuous grasp of the inebriated girl.

"Tha's rite!" she declared loudly - as if she wasn't loud enough when she was sober. "Drink wit me, Rui! Cuz the ones we love er togethur at last. We bin gud and they'll be happy, an' so we shud drinkup! No more Tsus for me or for youuuuuu! ...Hey!" she attempted to sit up straight and almost fell over. Laughing, she declared, "I rhymed!"

"I think you've had enough, Shigeru." He felt quite proud of himself as he said the words so clearly. He'd been matching her drink for drink all night but he wasn't nearly as shit-faced as she was. Of course, he had a much greater body mass than she did. And while his reasons for drinking were the ones she'd been attempting to state in her tipsiness, he had a sneaking suspicion that their plan for insobriety to help them only focus on the happy not the pain, was backfiring.

"No no nonononono. Nope. Not enough. I'm not happy enough for the happy couple yet, Rui." She turned and looked him in the face. Her face scrunched as she scrutinized his. "How 'bout you?" He just shrugged. "See! You need another. Drinky drink drinkity drink."

"I don't think it's working," he declared in his usual deadpan and looked back at her as she continued to examine his face for evidence. The pain in her eyes he recognized as a mirror of his own feelings and unbidden images of Shizuka and Tsukushi sprang to the forefront of his mind. Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, he tipped the bottle up and chugged.

She ignored the look of pain that washed over his face before he began sucking the bottle dry. After all, that was what she was trying to forget. "Drink drink drink drink," she chanted, and before she knew it, he had drained the bottle dry and was gasping for air. With a quick motion, the exuberant girl snatched the bottle from him and tried to take a swig. "AW! You drank it all! You weren' spost to drink it ALL!"

She set the bottle down on the ground and looked around. There was no one else there to fetch for her. She'd sent her servants out for the night so that they wouldn't disturb her plans to get utterly shitfaced. As usual, that's about as far as she had gotten in her planning. Tsukasa is with Tsukushi. Again. After only a year apart - he'd come back for a weekend and had ignored all his friends to be with her. Alone. In his mansion. And Tsukushi had cancelled all her plans with her friends to be with him.

Or to sum up: there was no chance in hell she'd ever find happiness now.

And deep down in her heart, she knew she didn't deserve it. Because even though she loved Tsukushi like the sister she always wanted, even though she knew that selfless, hard-working Tsukushi deserved happiness more than she did, deep down Shigeru knew that part of her - a very small part, but there regardless of how hard she tried to supress it - prayed that one day they'd split and maybe Tsukasa would come to her and love her. He could have loved her if he hadn't met Tsukushi first. She was sure of it. Or rather, she wished she was sure of it. More often lately, it was like she was trying to convince herself of that, but was failing miserably. Because for her to wish that those two hadn't met just proved what a horrible selfish bitch she was.

In her mind, she knew she was the worst.

So alcohol. It had seemed like a pretty good idea. Didn't the song say that red red wine helps me forget?

Dammit. She knew she should have opened up some chianti instead of sake. Because apparently sake and red wine didn't share the same characteristics of inebriation. Otherwise, she'd forget. Right?

If only the F2 were here. Mimisaka was a fabulous bartender. He could find something for her to help in her plan. But he wasn't here. He and Souijiro had dates. Right now, they were probably riding up an elevator to a hotel room.

"Dammit," she declared and then attempted to stand. It would be up to her to procure more sustenance of the grapey variety. She'd get it right and find a nice big bottle of Cabernet. With an effort, she got to her feet. Her vertical positioning lasted about 2 seconds. Because as soon as she shifted weight to begin walking, she noticed that the room seemed to be tipping oddly.

And then, she somehow found herself in the lap of a very perplexed looking Rui.

****
Elsewhere...
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'Why am I doing this again?' Tsukushi thought to herself as she looked across the table at a mostly dressed Tsukasa. His shirt was off, revealing the angled panels of his chest, and his broad, strong shoulders. Tsukushi swallowed hard.

It really ought to be illegal for anyone to be that good looking. It was...

'Why am I doing this?' She thought about what she could be doing - lying underneath him, his eyes hungry and feral. Her heart began to beat rapidly, and she swallowed convulsively. Her eyes began running over him again. It really ought to be illegal, she thought hungrily. Then she studied her cards, and any thought of how she was already down to just her bra and panties now evaporated as she concentrated.

She shook her head to clear it. "Two pair," she declared, laying down her cards. "Kings over 10s."

Tsukasa's smirk was the epitome of smugness as he set his hand down. "Full house. 2s and 3s."

Tsukushi's face looked outraged. Twos and threes? He'd asked for three cards on the second deal. That meant he could only have had a pair of one or the other - and they were the lowest cards in the deck. Why on earth would he hold a low pair like that? This was not Texas Holdem! It was Draw! She couldn't help but let loose a growl of resentment. When was he going to take off something other than his shirt! It wasn't FAIR!

He couldn't believe the lucky streak he'd been having. The gods must have finally heard his pleas - or else they approved of his conniving method of getting her to relax so that they could finally have the evening together that they'd planned before she fell in the pool and gotten sick.

In reality, he had Souijiro to thank for the plan, not that he'd ever admit it. But when he suggested to his long-distance girlfriend, who he'd come to visit for one weekend out of the whole year - with 3 more to go before he could take her off and marry her before she got away, that maybe she wouldn't feel so stressed out if they made a game out of it - a little strip poker - so that they could work her clothes off without her feeling too self-conscious and then see what happened from there, she had actually thought it was a brilliant idea. So now, the plan was all his.

Of course, she'd been expecting that she would win...

He watched intently as the woman he loved more than life itself blushed all over. Then she slid her chair further under the table and, hands at her hips, started wrigglling. After a bit of contortionism, she held up her white lace panties and then threw them into the pile. Her cheeks were practically purple from blushing, but she never welshed on a debt. In fact, in the year that he'd been gone, she'd already sent him checks to repay him half of her loan.

She sighed and scooted the chair further under the table so all he could see was her in her white bra - nothing below the sternum. One more losing hand and it was all over! She had to start winning. And SOON!

Tsukasa gathered up the cards and began to deal.

Waiting until all five cards were in front of her, she practically was holding her breath. If she lost this hand... What would come next? She wasn't even sure. But she was competitive by nature. And even if a part of her wanted to lose - which it didn't, it couldn't, because that would be totally hentai, right? - she wouldn't back down. She always did everything with all her energy. And she would fight to win here, too.

The cards were turned in her hand and she looked down at them cautiously. Then she blinked twice.

She didn't want to give anything away, but still... She blinked again. Then shuffled through the five cards in her hand. It was right. She wasn't imagining things. In her head, she began laughing. Now maybe she'd get to see Tsukasa without pants!

In her hand were four aces.

****
Back in Shigeru's mansion...
****

“Rui?” she asked, squinting up at him as he looked down at her. “How’d I get down here?” She looked around. “I need more wine. I think I want cabernet this time.”

Rui shook his head. “I think we’ve both had… enough,” he muttered and shook his head. His tongue wasn’t working the right way. It was very hard to enunciate. And… How did Shigeru end up on his lap? Not that he was complaining. She was kind of warm. And… Softer than he’d have expected. In fact, she felt kind of… nice. His brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what that could possibly mean.

Shigeru began struggling to crawl toward the bar, but as she moved she began digging uncomfortably into his thighs and stomach. Without thought, his arms encircled her and held her firmly - held her still.

She turned to glare at him. His arms were somehow preventing her from her goal - more liquor. “Rui,” she complained, “I can’t move.”

“Hm,” was his pensive reply. But his arms didn’t loosen their grip. Her warmth was decidedly pleasant. Why was that?

This was weird. Why was he holding on to her. “Rui…” She looked up at him, but he was in thought. “Rui…” she complained again. Then she giggled. “Rui… A Rui - ruiiii, OHHH oh, oh oh,” she began singing, “We gotta go now… yeah ya ya ya ya ya.” Then she burst out laughing even harder and her laughs made her vibrate in his arms.

His hands grasped onto her shoulders and turned her toward him. “…Are you… making fun of me?”

The look of consternation and confusion on his face were too much, and she began giggling again. She was twisted funny in his lap though, so she wriggled around until she was straddling him and facing him. “It’s a song. You never heard it? It’s American.”

“Oh.” She placed her hands on his shoulders and he felt even warmer than he had earlier. She really did feel nice. Snug.

Her nose was only millimeters from his as she scrutinized his face. “Rui,” she asked sadly, “is there something wrong with me?”

“Huh?”

“Well… I mean… Am I pretty?” She leaned back so he could see her better. “I mean, I always thought I was - and I’m not dumb. Am I just annoying? Am I not fun to be with?”

“What kind of questions is that?” he asked.

Her lower lip stuck out a bit. “No one ever falls for me. I’m gunna be alone ferever,” she pouted. “And I’m selfish. No one should fall for me.” Her bottom lip stuck out farther.

His eyes were locked onto her lip. It was looking so plump. And her words were striking home. Without moving his gaze he said, very slowly so as to make sure it was clear, “What about me? First Shizuka. Then Tskushi…” Man. She was really warm… And he started to feel her legs around his waist. Gymnast’s legs. Lean. Muscular. They’d…

“At leas’ someone lovt you onest. No one’ll ever luv me. No one even wants to kish me.” Her lip began to tremble. “It’s…” Her lips trembled more as she tried to get her brain to put words to what she was trying to communicate.

The vibrating movement was like watching a bumblebee - a hummingbird. Truly fascinating. It was sucking him in. He found himself moving closer. His hands had moved to the small of her back. So warm…

“Rui… do you think anyone will ever-”

His lips attacking hers cut off the question.

****
Over at the Doumyouji mansion…****

She was struggling not to smile. She had to look serious. Otherwise he'd know that her hand was unbeatable. Well, technically not completely unbeatable. He’d need a straight flush. But the chances of him getting that were pretty small. Four of a kind was one of the best hands in the deck. And four aces? She had him now. But to not tip her hand, she’d ask for one card – after all, she only had a five. If she got a king, it would be icing on the cake.

She forced a grimace onto her face.

“One,” she said, as she discarded the five.

Tsukasa dealt her the replacement card, and then picked up his own cards to look at them. He was very discouraged by what he saw. King and ten of hearts, queen of spades, a two of clubs, and a four of diamonds. If he kept the king, ten, and queen and he got a jack and either an ace or a nine, he’d have a straight. Or if he got another king or queen at least he’d have a decent pair. But he’d only have two cards to get him something good.

He scowled down at his cards, and Tsukushi had to force her brows into a pose of concentration. What she really wanted to do was cheer. Her card had been a jack of diamonds. Not as good as a king, but she’d take it. She was SO going to win this hand.

As he studied his cards, he got a feeling. Things had been going his way all night. And really, he hadn’t even been trying. But every time he’d gone with his gut rather than his head. That was, after all, his strength. Thinking things through, not so much.

But he had two hearts in his hand. And only hearts were worth holding on to. Isn’t that what he learned from Tsukushi?

He discarded the queen, two, and four, and took three new cards from the top of the deck. Before he even flipped the cards, he could feel it. He smiled slightly, his hand resting on the new cards.

“Care to make this more interesting?” his voice was very cocky for a man who hadn’t even taken a look at his cards yet.

Tsukushi’s expression was distrustful. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, you only have this one last chance to beat me, so why don’t we raise the stakes? You win, and I’ll strip down to only one article, too.”

It was very difficult not to dance on her seat in glee. Even more difficult to force her voice into normalcy as she queried, “And what about if you win?” ‘Not that that’s going to happen – HA!’ “What do YOU get?”

He tapped his finger against his chin. Then smiled his infamous, arrogant asshole smile. “If I win, not only do you have to remove your last article of clothing, but you’ll also have to do everything I say for the whole rest of the weekend. No arguing of any kind. No hesitation.”

She had him beat. She knew it. She had four aces. But, still… what he was asking was tough. Could she really agree to that?

To do anything he asked?

With no argument or hesitation?

Why was her heart racing at the thought?

She had him beat. He had to have nothing to have pulled THREE cards from the deck.

“DEAL!” Her emotions were high so it came out louder than she had intended. She flipped over her four aces. “HA!”

His smile lazily grew from ear to ear, and he flipped over the cards that he hadn’t even bothered to look at.

As she looked, she saw a queen, jack, and nine of hearts. Then he flipped over his existing cards – King and ten of hearts. Straight flush.

Her jaw fell, leaving her dumbfounded and disturbed.

“It’s always safest to bet on two hearts,” he said softly.

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