Disclaimer: As everyone knows, I do not own the characters from Hana Yori Dango/Boys Over Flowers. However, I do own Neko, my OC. (Yay! I own something! Mine! Don't touch!) It's still not worth suing me; I am but a humble fan.

Thank you, Kamio-sensei!

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AN: This is completely AU. Not canon! Things are different--deal with it! Don't like, don't read!

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Tea and Saké

A Hana Yori Dango FanFic

By Janice Rips

Chapter 16: First Aid, Hands and Heart

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Having showered, Neko was trying, somewhat unsuccessfully, to care for her sliced knuckles by herself. Her damp curls kept falling in her eyes as she awkwardly tried to bandage them left-handed. A knock came at her door, and she cursed softly as she slapped a gauze pad over the cuts and went to answer it.

"Aw, crap, not you too?" she muttered upon opening it to see Tsukasa on the other side. "I suppose you've got to make a comment as well, Doumyouji? Look, if everyone thinks so poorly of me, I'll call my pilot and let him take you back to Tokyo. This was supposed to be a getaway weekend, not a 'let's bring along all our crap and dump it on Neko' weekend," she groused, turning away angry.

"I haven't got a clue what you're talking about, Kurosu. I just came to check on your hand, see if you needed help tending to it. Let me see it," he said, reaching for it. Neko tried to tug away, but he insisted. "I'm not gonna eat it, Kurosu, I just wanna see it. Look," he said, showing her his own hand, "I know how hard it is to bandage it one-handed. Let me see."

Neko stared at the tracery of fine white lines crisscrossing his knuckles, then wordlessly held out her own hand. He noted the tiny scars surrounding the new cuts that wept angrily, and gave a low whistle. "So, this isn't the first time you've done this either," he remarked.

"No, it isn't," she replied. "This is my third glass door. They replaced the panes with safety glass after I shattered the last two-- the added resistance hurts like a son-of-a-bitch."

"How well did you clean it out?"

"I figured it would be clean enough after my shower."

Tsukasa frowned at her and shook his head disapprovingly. "Not good enough. You got rubbing alcohol and cotton balls?" he asked.

Neko went into the adjoining bath and rummaged in the cabinets. "Rubbing alcohol...hmm...nope. I've got Scotch downstairs, but that seems like a waste of a good single malt," she muttered, causing Tsukasa to chuckle in agreement. "Oh, wait! I've got hydrogen peroxide-- that'll do the trick," she stated, triumphantly pulling out a brown plastic bottle.

"Peroxide? That's gonna sting," he warned.

"Yeah, and alcohol won't?" she asked sarcastically.

"Good point. And cotton balls?" he inquired.

"I don't need them. I'll just pour it right over my knuckles," she replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Just do it." She held her fist over the sink.

Tsukasa poured the peroxide over her hand, where it bubbled and fizzed, but, aside from a soft hiss under her breath, Neko gave no sign of discomfort. He watched her stoic face with a mixture of disbelief and admiration. "Are you sure you're a girl?? You're tough."

"Yeah, I'm a girl. I've just got brass ovaries. Get used to it," she answered, making him laugh out loud, even as he blushed fiercely.

"Okay, well, let's get a bandage on this," he said, patting her hand dry with a clean towel. "There you go, Kurosu," he commented as he taped clean gauze into place, "that should keep the dirt out."

"Thanks, Doumyouji. For everything," she said gratefully.

"What do you mean? I just helped you with your hand." He looked puzzled.

"No, it's more than that. You didn't ask me a bunch of questions, and you called me by my family name, even if you came up with a Japanese version of it. Everyone else who is uncomfortable calling me Neko has been calling me Yanagi," she explained.

"Well, I couldn't keep saying 'hey, you' every time I spoke to you," he said, blushing again.

"Yeah, and you don't even call your own girlfriend by her given name," she smiled.

"She'd die of embarrassment. Then she'd kill me," he said, garnering a chuckle.

"Still, I do appreciate you making the effort, considering how much I despise the Old Fart," she reiterated.

"Your grandfather?"

"One and the same."

Tsukasa burst out laughing. "I call my mother 'the Old Hag', so I can relate."

"It sucks having close relatives you hate, doesn't it?" she shook her head.

"Yeah, well, it's not like they didn't do anything to deserve it," he growled.

"That's what sucks the most. Goddamn meddlers," she grumbled back.

"You really don't like anyone in your personal business, do you?" he observed. "Not that I blame you, mind you, but I gotta ask: is that why you punched the door?"

"Try to see it from my perspective: I thought people liked me, that I was getting by okay. But now they're all closing ranks, acting like I'm a husband-hunting gold-digger. And it's all the old man's fault. I don't want to get married anytime soon, and I sure as shit don't need anymore money. I'm worth about four billion, as it is."

"Yen?"

"No. Dollars."

"Holy crap!"

"Well, that's not me alone, it's my folks, too, and it's not so shocking when you remember that that includes the investments from the lottery winnings, and not just the income from the winery, but still... yeah. Holy crap about sums it up. So, while I'm not worth as much as you are, I'm not too strapped for cash, to say the least. I don't need to marry anyone for his wealth. In fact, I'm the one who has to be careful of gold-diggers.

Meanwhile, Ojiisan is still pushing me toward Nishikado. Don't get me wrong, except for the fact that he's a total player, he seems like a nice enough guy. Maybe a nice girl like Yuki-chan could someday reform him. But a playgirl like me? He'd just laugh. Neither of us would ever be true, because we don't love each other. The best we could hope for, should we be forced into this, would be an amicable agreement between us to play respectable in public and go our own ways in private."

A look of shock washed over Tsukasa's face. "Wait a-- What?? You-- He-- WHAT??" he stammered.

Neko closed her eyes and groaned. "Aw, crap." Then she opened them, and, frowning, drew back her fist to throw a punch.

Tsukasa caught her wrist before she could connect with the mirror. "Don't. Didn't you cut yourself up enough already?"

Yanking her arm away, she pushed past him. "Just let me the hell out of the bathroom," she growled. "I can't believe it; you're out of the loop. I thought Nishikado flapped his lips at everyone. I'm sure what little reputation I have left will be shot come Monday."

Tsukasa followed her as she stormed out of the bath. "Kurosu, what the hell is going on??"

"Why don't you ask your friends?" Neko snarled. "Mimasaka must have a great first-hand account ready by now. Maybe he and Nishikado have turned it into one of their little 'productions'. And gee, if you ask Rui, you might even hear some of my take on it!"

"Look, I just want to know one thing: Why? You have so much going for you, why would you mess around like that?"

"I have my reasons," she replied.

Tsukasa glowered at her. "Reasons," he spat contemptuously. "What is it with girls and their 'reasons'? Why can't you just answer a simple question?"

"Why are you in my face?" Neko snapped back. "Everyone else judges me, why should I expect you to be any different?"

"Why don't you trust me to listen?"

"Why should I? It isn't like you've given me any reason to. You make snap decisions and act without thinking; why should I try to justify myself to someone whose mind is already made up?"

"Try me." Tsukasa looked at her solemnly. "Give me a chance."

Neko threw herself into one of two chairs flanking a chess table in her room, and Tsukasa took the other. "Fine," she said, not looking at him. "As I said, I have my reasons for playing around. They're not pretty, they don't have any particular merit, but they're mine. The first one is rebellion, pure and simple: if the Old Fart is gonna treat me like goods for sale, he's gonna be stuck with damaged goods. He can't put a price on my virtue if it isn't there anymore, and he knows I won't lie about it, any more than I would agree to dye and straighten my hair."

"So, you would demean yourself in order to get back at him," Tsukasa stated, frowning.

Neko snorted with derision. "I'm not exactly 'demeaning' myself. I mean, it's not like I'm being forced to do something I hate. It can be fun; if it doesn't feel good, you must not be doing it right," she tossed at him, not surprised to see him blush. "Ask your buddies if you don't believe me, they'll be glad to tell you what you're missing."

"I still don't get it; wouldn't it be better with someone you love?" he asked.

This time she laughed out loud, a hoarse, harsh bark. "Right. Like it would make a difference to the Old Fart if I told him, 'Ojiisan, this is the man that I love.' You've been there, you know how effective that is. It wouldn't even matter if the guy were well off, financially; if his name was of no consequence in Japanese society, my grandfather would find him unsuitable."

Tsukasa looked at her, long and hard, trying to wrap his head around all she was saying. "But Kurosu-chan, don't you want to fall in love someday? If you do 'everything' now, there won't be anything 'special' left for that special person. Isn't that worth more to you than pissing off the Old Fart?"

Neko stared down at her bare toes. "That's why I don't kiss people," she whispered, so low that he had to strain to hear her. "That's what I was saving, and that's why I'm upset." She looked back up at him. "But sometimes I just get so lonely, and when I go with guys like that, I can pretend, for a little while at least, that I'm not always alone."

"I've been alone all my life," he replied, "but I still only want to be with the girl I love."

She gave him a tremulous smile. "That's so cool. It's really good. Tsukushi-chan's lucky to have a guy like you. I don't think I'm destined for that kind of luck." Then she looked at her feet again. "Onii-san," she began hesitantly, "do you think people can change? I mean, people who are a bit wild or angry inside, can they find any peace?"

Tsukasa was startled; only Susumu had called him 'big brother' before. But he smiled with certainty as he answered, "Yeah, Imouto-chan, they really can. It may take awhile, and you have to really want to change, and it'll be scary as hell at first, but, bit by bit, even raging hearts can find serenity. That's the power of love." He got to his feet and headed to the door. "I've got to go let Makino know that you're alright. She's worried about you. See you at breakfast. Oh, and Little Sis? Believe it can happen. That's the first step."

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AN: No long note this time. Thanks to my partner in crime, SarahNThatcher, for all her help! Hope you liked part II of "Neko hits the wall". See you next time!