A/N: insert long pathetic excuse for lack of updating here I fail at life and offer my profuse apologies for the delay. Someday I will get better at this whole time-management thing.
On the bright side, this fic was going to end after this chapter, but I have some more ideas (by which I mean one really good paragraph) so I may post an epilogue-type-thing at some point.
Thanks for stickin' with me, folks. I hope you enjoy this.
Disclaimer: ce n'est pas le mien.

That Kind of Girl

Part V : Making Destiny

For once Soujiroh's beloved tea was failing him. He needed something a lot stiffer than the brews in the tea room to deal with his head right now.

Why did being with Yuki make him lose his head like this? It had happened from the very beginning when he threatened Natsatsuka and meant it. Afterward, in the cold light of day, he couldn't explain why he said those things that were so out of character for him. Today was no different. He had considered how he felt about Yuki, sure, but he hadn't decided on anything for certain. He had been planning to just go on a date and have fun. And then it had come out…Yuki as his favorite girl? Where did that come from?

Soujiroh had the nasty feeling that he was incapable of telling lies to Yuki. Everything he had ever told her had been true…he just never knew that he was speaking the truth until after he said it. So he had never considered Yuki as his favorite girl before, but now that he'd said that to her, he knew that he was right.

At first Yuki had simply been Makino's friend, a fellow-audience member in the great drama of Tsukasa and Makino's relationship. She was like Rui, Akira…along for the ride, watching the same crazy romance unfold. That was the only reason she had occupied his thoughts at all when he first met her.

Except…there was something about her character that had captured his attention right away. Not in a good way—more like a niggling kind of annoyance that she was impervious to his charm. He remembered their first conversation and her strong will. He had admitted that he didn't know what to do with this type of girl and it was a statement of respect. Most girls came right under his thumb, but Yuki's type…he had to respect their immunity.

Of course there was that instance of temporary insanity where he had beaten up Natsatsuka. He still wasn't sure why he had done that, especially since he didn't know Yuki very well at the time. He didn't have a lot of chivalry in his nature, so it was funny that it had emerged so strongly in front of a girl he didn't really know. At the time, it had mostly been frustration with Rui and Tsukasa, but now that he looked back, he could identify a kind of subconscious desire for her to like him. He wouldn't have admitted to feeling rejected, but maybe it had bothered him that Yuki didn't fall for his sophisticated act. He wanted to show her that he could be more than the careless playboy—that he could be noble and stand up for his girl. It had been an act then…but maybe he had cared, just a little bit, what Yuki thought of him.

Through that year he had scorned her kindness and her loyalty to Makino, but that was only because he saw himself reflecting those traits, fearing them as weaknesses. Once again, he had to grudgingly admit that she had shown him that they were strengths. And he and Akira had spent a lot of time in the dango shop during that year, talking things over with Yuki and that crazy okami and occasionally Makino herself.

He hadn't thought about her seriously, but she'd always been there: honest, smiling, and loyal to her friends. She must have thought of him as her friend, because she had been loyal to him. She had done what was best for him even when it meant the possibility of losing his friendship.

Maybe Yuki was his favorite girl. But what could he do about that now?

o-o-o

Today on the beach, she had put her arm around his back and squeezed gently. Then she had said, "Soujiroh, I'm scared."

He had known exactly what she meant, because he was scared too. So he had just said, "Let's go home."

And without a word, they had both walked back to the bike and he had driven her to her house.

o-o-o

That night, out of the blue (or so it seemed), Rui called. After a few minutes of small talk, Soujiroh felt his stomach sink when Rui said, "Akira tells me you've been dating Yuki?"

Did his friends know how to leave a man alone? He didn't need to go to his friends for help…they came uninvited. But he couldn't really blame Rui for calling; he had asked Akira for advice, after all.

"I wouldn't call it dating," Soujiroh said. "I've only seen her twice."

"Akira seemed to think it was pretty serious."

Soujiroh smacked his forehead. "It's, it's…I don't know. I like her."

"Soujiroh, if it's anything, you shouldn't hold back."

That was exactly what Soujiroh did not want to hear. Unfortunately, he also knew that Rui was right.

"I was always too afraid to step forward and say what I wanted. I didn't want to risk being rejected. But I didn't get either of the girls I loved that way."

"I know." Soujiroh sighed. "I don't have a choice Rui. That's why I'm scared. I can't just let it be. Thanks for calling though."

"Wait, Soujiroh. Talk to Tsukasa."

Soujiroh rolled his eyes. That had to be the worst suggestion he'd heard yet—discussing a relationship with Tsukasa sounded like throwing a match near a pile of dynamite. But Rui was his friend, so he just said, "I'll think about it. Bye."

o-o-o

After looking at himself in the mirror the next morning, Soujiroh decided that the disintegration of his face into a zombie-like nightmare was desperate enough to prompt a call to Tsukasa. As expected, he wasn't in his office and Soujiroh valiantly resisted the urge to just hang up. Instead he left a message with a polite secretary, saying that Tsukasa could call him if he had time.

What Soujiroh wasn't expecting was that Tsukasa would show up at his front door later that afternoon.

"Good afternoon," Soujiroh said, after a moment of surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Rui told me that you wanted to talk about Yuki."

"Rui is still too nosy for his own good," Soujiroh muttered to himself. Out loud he replied "Only if you really want to."

"Of course I do!"

"Of course." Soujiroh let the Domyouji Corporation chairmen into the house. They both sat down in the tea room and Tsukasa looked at him keenly.

"Well, what's up?"

"It seems you already know."

In the past, Tsukasa would have just let loose with everything he already knew about the situation. But he had matured a lot since marrying Makino and taking over the company, so instead he responded with "I want to hear about it from you though."

Soujiroh rolled his eyes. "Okay. I met Yuki on the street the other day…just by chance. We had lunch and I followed her home on my motorcycle. Then the other day, I took her riding on my motorcycle and we went to the beach and walked around." He would leave out the kiss on the forehead and the hand holding at the beach. "Now I'm seriously considering breaking off my engagement and going out with Yuki."

Tsukasa responded instantly, and in characteristic fashion. "What are you waiting for? Go for it!"

"It's not that simple…"

But Tsukasa would have nothing of Soujiroh's protests. "You like her…what else is there to do?"

In some ways, it was a relief to admit that Tsukasa was right. Somewhere in the past week, something had changed inside of him, and seeing Yuki had shot to the top of his priority list. He wanted to be with her…

…and know that she wanted to be with him.

This was a hell of a time to finally find out that love was one half bliss and one half terror.

"I have an idea." Tsukasa's voice broke into his thoughts. Soujiroh looked up to see a disgustingly gleeful grin on his face.

o-o-o

After Tsukasa left, Soujiroh realized there was no going back. He'd talked to all of his friends and the message was clear—he couldn't just let things stand. He wanted (or needed) to be with Yuki right now. So first he would have to break off his engagement. And then he would ask her out. Simple, right?

He wasn't afraid that he wouldn't be able to do break off the engagement; luckily he had been running the family business long enough to stand on his own authority with his parents. But he knew it would be an unpleasant scene.

Sure enough, his parents were displeased. His father was worried that it would send a bad impression about the word of the Nishikado family. And his mother kept saying, "Ryo is going to be heartbroken!"

Soujiroh seethed inside, wanting to point out that he hardly knew the girl and that at this point, he would either take advantage of her or ignore her because he sure didn't feel like marrying her. But he survived his mother's chiding looks and his father's lecture about breaking promises and then made it through a touchy meeting with Ryo's father when he arrived in a fury on the front step.

Soujiroh was pleasantly surprised at how liberated he felt afterwards. Even if Yuki rejected him, even if it didn't work out, he had freedom in his future now and it felt good. No matter what happened, he had made a step in the positive direction.

But breaking off the engagement was the easy part. Now he actually had to ask Yuki to go out with him. And this was proving to be much more complicated than he would have liked. He had no idea where to start or what to say. In the past this had come so naturally to him. He had asked out a girl at least every other day and gotten her every time.

Why then, was Yuki so difficult? It wasn't really fear of rejection or lack of words. It was almost like this was too big for him and he was afraid it was going to get messed up somehow if he didn't do everything right.

o-o-o

After a protracted inner conversation, Soujiroh managed to get his head together and call Yuki's cell phone. On the fourth ring, she picked up.

"Hello?"

The words tumbled out in a rush: "Hello, Yuki? Are you free after work today?"

"Soujiroh…" Yuki said, "Yes, I'm free."

"Good," Soujiroh said. "Would you like to go somewhere with me? I can swing by when you're finished working, like before."

There was a pause and Soujiroh found himself holding his breath, fearing that she would say no. But Yuki answered in the affirmative. "That sounds good. I'll see you around five?"

"Yeah. Later."

He hung up with a great sigh of relief.

o-o-o

Yuki was wating, just like she said she would be. This time it was simply accepted that she would put on Soujiroh's extra helmet and clamber on to the back of the bike for a ride through the streets of Tokyo. Soujiroh didn't really have a destination in mind, so he wandered quite a bit before finding himself at the park near the office building where he had seen the sunrise a year earlier.

She noticed. "Isn't this…where Sara waited?" she asked.

"I think of it more as the place where you waited," Soujiroh told her. "You remember that?"

Yuki's face was very serious. "I don't think I'll ever forget. It was very important to me and yet…it was so silly too!"

"It wasn't silly," Soujiroh said. "It really did change me." He took a deep breath. Now was the time to bring it up.

"Yuki, I've been thinking a lot about what I said last time."

Yuki nodded. "Me too," she answered quickly. "And Soujiroh, I know you didn't mean anything by it…you have your fiancé after all, and…"

"I'm not engaged anymore."

Yuki stopped short and gaped at him. "What?"

"Yuki, if there's one thing I've learned from you, it's that you should have no shame about going after what your heart desires. Like when you did all that stuff for me—like finding Sara's building and waiting here all night…you even learned about tea, didn't you? That kind of caring has come to mean something to me. I don't know if you still care about me like you did a year ago, but I…"

The way she was staring at him…it was a miracle he hadn't lost his head yet!

"Yuki-chan, I care about you—a lot. Will you date me…you know, be my girlfriend?"

It sounded so simple and mundane, but the answer to that question had never meant so much to him.

"Are you really asking me?"

Soujiroh shrugged and laughed nervously. "Yeah, really!"

"Soujiroh-chan!" And suddenly Yuki's arms were around his neck. "Soujiroh-chan!"

Soujiroh smiled in relief as he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. His mind finally shut off and all he felt was a wave of deep joy and completeness.

After a minute, Yuki pulled back with a worried look on her face. "You aren't going to dump me like all your other girls, are you?"

Soujiroh chuckled and brushed her cheek. He pulled a box out of his pocket and handed it to her. "You've learned your lesson well, Yuki-chan. Here." As she opened it, he said, "It worked for Makino and Tsukasa. Is it good enough for you?"

Yuki stared at the small pendant necklace with wide eyes. Then, with a beaming smile, she responded, "Certainly!"

"Good," he said, clasping the hand that held the necklace and leaning down to kiss her.

o-o-o

Some girls made you feel good for awhile. They flirted and flattered and let you admire their beauty. And then you got tired of them. But some girls made you uncomfortable, and act in ways you didn't understand. They made you be honest and act like a gentleman. They annoyed you and yet you couldn't forget them. Somehow, those girls were the ones that you learned to love and then couldn't live without.

Yuki had always been that kind of girl.

Fin.