Boys Over Flowers Fan Fiction ❯ You Want Me To Be What?? ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Title: You Want Me to Be What? 6/?
Author: Makoto Sagara
Series: Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers)
Pairings: Tsukasa/Tsukushi, Sakurako/??, Mimasaka/Shigeru, and others TBD
Rating: T+
Warning: het, language, based off of manga, OOC, SPOILERS

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Hana Yori Dango. I wish I owned Rui though. No money is made from this, and taking my wallet would only get you a bad driver's license picture and my library card.

Author's Notes: And now poor Tsukushi has to talk to her parents about the Domyoujis returning to Japan and break the bad news to her brother.

Chapter Six

After a rather quiet breakfast, Tsukasa escorted me home, but not before Tsubaki-nee-san made me promise to have dinner at the Domyouji mansion. No sooner had we walked through the door than my mother began waving the newspaper in my face.

“What is the meaning to this, Tsukushi? Why has his whole family returned? What does this mean? Oh, what are we going to do?”

“Mama, relax,” I said, taking the paper out of her hands and putting it on the end table by the door. “Tsukasa failed to tell me anything about their return, so I didn't know.” It was then that my mother's face went from angry shrew to self-deprecating hostess.

“Oh, Domyouji-san, I didn't know that you'd escorted Tsukushi home from university,” she said sweetly, making me roll my eyes at her antics. Seriously, so, she and Papa had stopped being so… extreme in their favor of Tsukasa and his family, but that didn't mean they didn't get these stupid looks on their faces whenever he walked through the front door with me.

“Makino-san,” he said. “I'm sorry, but my sister and I kidnapped Tsukushi this morning as a surprise. I hope that doesn't cause any inconveniences for you.”

“Oh, no, none at all,” she all but purred. “Please, come inside. What would you like to drink? I think we have some sake, or there's some cola if you'd like that.”

“No, no, that's fine,” Tsukasa answered, placing his large hand on the small of my back and guiding me through the room to the couches. I felt myself relax as the warmth radiated from him and into my body, amazed at how that simple gesture used to annoy me so much. “We've just come from breakfast, so I don't need anything.”

“Of course,” Mama said as she sat on the couch opposite the two of us. “Oh, I'm sure that Tsukushi didn't mention this. She's such a modest girl at times. But her piano teacher is going to have her give a recital sometime soon. It seems that she's progressed so well in the last few years that he wants to show off her talent.”

“Really, Mama,” I said, feeling a blush creep across my face.

“No, she didn't mention that,” Tsukasa said with a fond smile for me. “When is it, Tsukushi?”

“Um, next week, I believe,” I answered, trying to remember the date that Shio-sensei had told me. “The fourth of May, yes, that's it. I have four tickets, but I can ask Sensei about getting some more. I think Hanazawa Rui and Soujirou were coming.”

“Well, when did you get in, Domyouji-san? I can't remember the last time we all saw you,” Mama said, practically gushing in her excitement.

“We got in last night,” he answered. “But it was so late that we went directly home and didn't do anything until this morning. My sister brought along her husband, who's never been to Japan before, so we're looking forward to showing him around.”

“But what about school, Tsukasa?” I asked. “Weren't you supposed to graduate in June?”

“I finished up all of my classes early, and the teachers agreed to let me take the exams earlier this month so that I could return home,” he answered without a hint of his former boasting arrogance that made me dislike him so thoroughly. “Father's doctors advised that he take a vacation, so Mother decided that we'd return home for a bit. She also wants to meet your family formally.”

I felt the room spin and my stomach lurched as I caught the look of pure joy on my mother's face. I knew that no good could come from this meeting. And I knew that my brother's hopes of being able to see his girlfriend any longer had just been dashed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What are you talking about?” Sumusu growled after I'd told him everything that had happened that morning. “Michiko is a nice girl from a decent family.”

“And do you think Mama and Papa would let you continue to see her after they realize that her family's not rich?” I asked, feeling as if I was betraying my brother as I did so. “You know what they're like, Sumusu. You even said that you didn't want to introduce her to them because of that. Have you changed your mind?”

My brother got up and prowled the area in front of the window in my room, seemingly lost in thought. “I hadn't planned on introducing them so soon, but I had hoped that eventually, if we got serious, that I could.”

I could see how upset this whole thing made him and I really felt sorry for him. It made me want to do something for him. “What if you and Michiko-chan met Tsukasa and me for lunch tomorrow? If she met us, she'd at least be meeting the more reasonable members of the two families… I could have Shigeru join us as well. She was complaining about how bored she's been lately with only keeping house now that she's graduated. Those two are probably the only ones that I can guarantee will behave with a small warning.”

“Thanks, sis,” he said with a small, sad smile. “I appreciate your help. I know it's not your fault, but sometimes it's easier to blame you.”

“Don't I know it,” I grumped. Sumusu surprised me by sitting on the bed next to me and wrapping me in a tight hug, something he hadn't done since he'd reached middle school. “Sumusu, don't worry about our parents. I'm sure that between the two of us, we can come up with something. And if that doesn't work, Tsukasa can just `kidnap' you both and take you to the States.”

He smiled happily this time. “I'd say you're kidding, but this is Tsukasa-san we're talking about.”

“Now that that's over, how about we talk to our parents about their behaviour tomorrow night?” I was only half-joking.

“Just wait until Dad realizes that he's not going to be able to choose his own clothes.”

“Yeah, well, Mama's going to be happy when I tell her she has to buy a brand new dress.”

“I'd like to know where our frugal, militant mother went, and when she was replaced by this housewife who loves to shop.”

“Your guess is as good as mine, brother dearest, but we're not confronting our parents just staying in here.”

“I know,” he said, standing up and holding out a hand to help me as well. “Well, let's get this over with.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Shigeru was only too happy to agree to lunch with Tsukasa, Sumusu, Michiko, and me. Not that I could really blame her. From what I understood, Akira was busy with his position as a junior at his father's trading company. There was talk about him actually being made a member of the board. It seems his nervous A-type personality was being put to good use. So, the fact that she showed up at my house right before I was supposed to head to my first class of the day wasn't that big of a surprise.

“TSUKUSHI!” she yelled before jumping on me and enveloping me in a perfume-laden hug. I think she's been taking lessons from Tsubaki-nee-san on her form. Lately, I've been landing less on my bottom when she does that. “Oh, you're all dressed already,” she pouted. “Were you going out?”

“I have a morning class,” I said carefully, watching my friend for any more mood changes. “You can come and observe. It's an English class. I'm sure we could always use more practice.”

She gave me a heart-wrenching smile. “You're right. We could.” She waited patiently as I put on my jacket and shoes. “So, how is Tsukasa? Akira and I haven't had the chance to meet with him since his family came home.”

“Oh, well, he's fine.” I gave her a warm smile. “You do know that he's coming to lunch with us, right?”

“Of course he is. He can't let you out of his sight now that he's back, am I right?”

“It's something like that. He and Tsubaki-nee-san showed up yesterday morning just after I'd seen the paper's headlines. They abducted me and I managed to miss my first day of classes.” I looked around and noticed that we'd already made it outside and a black town car seemed to be waiting for us. “Yours?”

“Yeah, Akira doesn't really trust me to drive after that incident in Osaka…”

“You nearly gave us all a heart attack when you almost hit that poor old lady!”

“It was one time! And if Soujirou hadn't been trying to hit on a girl at the stop light, I wouldn't have been distracted!”

I couldn't help but to laugh at the memory. “He's never going to change, is he?”

“I don't think so.” She got a thoughtful look on his face. “He's actually gotten worse since Yuuki and Jun announced their engagement.”

“Speaking of engagements,” I said carefully. “Have you heard anything from Sakurako and her new beau? They've been dating for two years now.”

“No, but I have to admit that I'm still shocked that Kazuya dumped her only after a year.”

“Even Kazuya got tired of playing her lapdog. She was really mean to him, you know.”

“At least he waited until after my wedding to do it,” she joked half-heartedly. “Is he seeing anyone now?”

“No, but he told me that he's thinking of going to study in the US or England. He hasn't decided yet, but his parents are really pushing him to do it.”

“So, tell me why we're taking your brother out to lunch again?”

“He's got a girlfriend that he's been seeing for a few months now. She's really nice, but he hasn't introduced her to our parents - or even me truthfully - because he doesn't want them to reject her.”

“Why would they do that?” Shigeru asked, pushing her longish brown hair behind her ears. “They aren't trying to get him a perfect wife, are they?”

“Nothing as bad as that,” I said, adding the `yet' to myself. “They've just been really hard on him about who he dates. He's afraid that because Michiko doesn't come from a fabulously rich or famous family that they'll reject her outright.”

“So, we're going to meet her and test the waters?”

“Something like that,” I answered. “I trust my brother's sense. He's a good guy and he's tried his hardest to meet my mother's strict standards, but this is the first girl that he's been fairly serious about, and I'd like for him to have a choice as to whether he can still see her or not.”

Shigeru squealed happily, hugging me tightly again. “I love you, Tsukushi! Of course I'll help out Sumusu-kun! Oh, I can't wait to meet her now! Is she in the same law program as he is?”

“Yeah, she's a second year just like him. I think that's how they met.” I gave her a sad smile. “Thanks for this, and I'm glad that you came over early. I missed you.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It's interesting how much others will ignore things they know as truth just so they can live in their happy little worlds. Shigeru and I were able to make it through my two morning classes with no problems. Even though she is the wife of one of the most famous alumni, and an alumnus herself, the professors were only too welcome to buy the story that she was considering attending Eitoku. I suppose her disgustingly expensive clothes, makeup, shoes and haircut helped persuade any problems they might have had with a no-name person entering their sacred lecture halls and classrooms.

By the time eleven-thirty rolled around, I was practically dead on my feet. English and piano lessons in the same day always left me feeling this way. Of course, watching the way that Shigeru struggled in the English lesson and swayed to the music as I played brought me a little satisfaction. Even married for three years to someone like Akira had hardly changed my best friend, and I was happy that that was the case.

Perhaps the same could happen to me if I married Tsukasa? Somehow, I didn't think so.

Thinking about marriage with Tsukasa gave me a headache. I was already dreading dinner that night, and I couldn't take Shigeru with me to act as a buffer to Domyouji Kaede. I'm pretty sure she'd see it as a sign of weakness and try to take me out as soon as possible. With a heavy sigh, I allowed Shigeru to drag me off to lunch so that I could help my little brother. This day felt like it was going to go on for an eternity, and it wasn't even noon. All I wanted to do was go back to bed and not wake up.

However, seeing my brother, Tsukasa, and a rather cute looking girl waiting for us with smiles made me change my mind, at least about sleeping through lunch.

TBC