Disclaimer: Nothing HYD related is mine...just borrowing

A/N: IMPORTANT: Sorry it has been so long. I lost everything in a crash and have relied on my LJ to retrieve it all. On a good note there is a new LJ Community! It is Yuki-centric (any version of her) or fanfic, fanart of any kind, videos, ect. Come post your Yuki/Ga Eul/Xiao you stories/art/videos and help our community grow! community. livejournal. com/ yukisteahouse don't forget to remove the spaces!

Chapter 12

He fell through her window onto his head with a resounding thud. The startling noise woke her, sending Yuki sitting straight up in bed. Her wide eyes looked down beneath the window, where the crumpled form of Akira was working on straightening himself back out, hand holding his head and moaning, perhaps a little too loudly. Yuki dove out of bed and down to the floor, urging his silence.

"Akira-san, are you okay?" She whispered, unsure if Soujiroh had returned that evening yet and not wanting to wake him if he had.

Akira's blurred vision slowly began to clear; as good as it would get in his condition at any rate. The first thing his eyes noticed upon looking down was Yuki's leg and the contrast of a stark white shirt against her bare thigh. His eyes slowly moved up, lingering on the open buttons as she moved forward, almost teasing him with a peek down her shirt, but never actually showing him anything. He shook his head. Did drinking always make him so perverted? This was Yuki.

"Akira-san?" He could hear the concern in her voice and the growing panic when he didn't answer her the first time.

"I-I'm fine," he stumbled.

Her forehead was scrunched in worry and disbelief as she kept a hold of his shoulders, standing when he did, unsure if she should let go. He looked down at her, noting the small shorts poking from beneath the shirt and pulled on the shirt slightly. She dropped her hands from his shoulders.

"So, this is where I left that shirt," he said.

"Oh," Yuki said, stepping back and blushing. "I-I can change and give it back, Akira-san. I…"

He placed his finger over her lips and smiled crookedly.

"Don't worry about it, Angel. You look good in my shirt."

He dropped his finger from her lips and she looked at Akira sideways a bit.

"Akira-san, are you drunk?"

His glassy eyes looked down at her in a way that made her uncomfortable. He never looked at her like he was going to eat her, but now he did. She fidgeted, taking another step back. He shrugged one shoulder.

"Not as drunk as Soujiroh," he said.

He took another step closer to Yuki.

"He's passed out at my house," he continued stepping forward, ignoring Yuki's discomfort or perhaps not realizing it.

"Maybe you should lie down, Akira-san."

"Do you love him?" Akira's sudden question stunned Yuki into stillness. Akira stepped forward again, but Yuki had not moved again.

"What?" She asked.

Akira stumbled slightly.

"Akira-san, perhaps you should sit down."

He took several steps back until he felt her bed against the back of his knees and plopped down, looking up through his hair at her. It had grown since she saw him last, hanging in his eyes when he leaned forward. She stepped forward, cautious of this inebriated, unpredictable Akira.

"Takahashi-san," Akira said. "Do you love him?"

Yuki stood in front of him, totally still. She didn't know how to answer that question. She wanted to say yes, yet there was something holding her back. Did she love him? She remembered the note that came with the bracelet Akira had left in her bag. Was that why he was asking? Was he hurt? Did he actually feel that way about her? She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came to her. She closed her mouth and looked away.

Akira reached out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her forward. She stumbled through her steps, coming to a sudden halt when Akira wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her. She stood there, looking down at him almost unsure what to do in his almost vice grip. Kenji would be so upset.

He opened his eyes. Her arm hung down at her side, her other hand seemed to be trying to sooth him, dancing through his hair with her soft hushing sounds to accompany it. The bracelet he gave her, hung on her wrist, a delicate piece of jewelry, bought just for her. He unwrapped one of his arms from her waist and picked up the wrist, holding it to his face, inhaling deeply.

She still had not answered his question.

And she wore the bracelet he gave her.

He kept her wrist in his hand, keeping it held up to his face causing her hand to gently press against his cheek. And then she felt the gentle caress of his lips against the underside of her wrist before his body went limp.

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It worried Soujiroh.

He couldn't be sure Yuki loved Kenji, but she was so attached to him. Like he was her drug. Soujiroh rarely saw her. No one saw her much. Kenji seemed to monopolize all her time, keeping her busy with him so that she was too busy even for Makino. He had to admit though that his life had not changed much with her return. She was so preoccupied with Kenji that she did not notice nor care when he was out with his girlfriends. He even ran into the two once, he had a girl on each arm and she didn't even flinch. She barely graced him with a glance.

And that was fine with him.

His life was back to the way it was before she barged in with those tears. His life was back to the way it was supposed to be.

Rei giggled always enjoying the game and always enjoying being the one he would take to his home. The bracelet Soujiroh gave her for her birthday sparkled on her wrist and her soft whispers in his ear was enough to drive him insane. His parents were gone for a week, a combination of business and pleasure. Though, he was pretty sure his mother's pleasure would be spent at the shopping district. He ignored those thoughts, moving his lips along the slope of her neck and stumbling toward the door.

Once they stumbled through the door, Soujiroh pulled his lips away from her. He really didn't want to fall through out the house until he made it to his room. It was best if he could see where he was going and walk properly. But the moment he pulled away he heard it. At first he thought maybe it was in his mind, but Rei's eyebrow rose up only slightly, just enough to let him know she heard it as well.

It was a soft sighing whimper.

And it sent tinkling chills of anticipation up his spine.

There was only one other person staying in the house with his parents gone and that was Yuki. The very realization that it was Yuki making those tantalizing sounds turned Soujiroh around and sent him rushing to the kitchen.

He rushed through the kitchen doorway to find Yuki on the counter. Her book bag was dropped haphazardly in the middle of the kitchen floor between the doorway and the island counter she sat on. With the fall season came a slight chill in the air. The jacket she had worn that day was unbuttoned and wide open, hanging off one shoulder and her shirt beneath rumpled.

Kenji stood in front of her, all but crawling up on the counter. He was leaning so far forward against her that Yuki was almost lying on the counter, those soft whimpers coming from her lips as he seemed to hungrily devour any part of her he could reach.

Soujiroh's anger flared.

How could this so called man attempt to defile his Yuki in his kitchen in such a way? His Yuki would never have allowed someone to handle her so. And it angered him that this man she essentially returned with had turned and twisted his Yuki into some…other girl.

Something snapped in Soujiroh.

It only took seconds for Soujiroh to reach them. With one hand he grabbed the back of Kenji's jacket, pulling him off Yuki and with the other hand he grabbed her by her upper arm and thoroughly pulled her off the counter and away from Kenji, placing her behind him and not letting go.

"Keep your hands off her!" Soujiroh's voice boomed through the kitchen. Rei started slightly, stepping back. Soujiroh's nostrils flared and his eyes shot daggers of fire in Kenji's direction, his breathing less sexually excited and more incited to fight now.

Yuki could feel the tension pouring from Soujiroh where he still held her and her anger was growing. She jerked her arm out of his grip and stepped around him to stand between him and Kenji.

"What are you doing, Yuki-chan?" Soujiroh asked, reaching out to take her hand this time and freezing when she stepped back.

Soujiroh stood there looking down at Yuki almost confused. No, he was confused. She was so angry when he was around and a simple statement on his part seemed to earn him a tongue lashing from the petite girl. Though her tongue lashings were nothing like Makino's loud ones. Yuki's were softer, but her voice held a forced calm edge and her eyes would dance with indignant anger reminding him of when he first spoke to her about Makino and Tsukasa. He knew there was this side to her, but usually his smile made it fade away. Now, his smile seemed to anger her.

"Yuki-chan," he said in that voice he always used when trying to persuade her against her anger.

It used to work.

His smile was as flirtatious as it had always been even though some part of him had warned him that wasn't a good idea. She wouldn't look directly at him though. This was something he had noticed. She would look just over his right shoulder as if she was looking directly at him, but she wasn't. Her anger was being shot over his shoulder instead.

"Who I am kissing and where I am doing it is not your concern," she reminded him in that tight voice.

Yuki's eyes lingered over his right shoulder for a moment before her eyes shifted to the side landing on something. She had noticed Rei standing there, back against the wall as if she thought she was not supposed to be there. Yuki's eyes rested on the bracelet adorning her wrist. Yuki turned to look at Kenji, her features softening and the anger deflating from her voice like a balloon.

"Let's go somewhere," she suggested and Kenji nodded because anything Yuki wanted, Yuki got.

Yuki walked ahead, leaving Kenji lingering in the kitchen, his eyes not leaving Soujiroh as if he could read everything about him by keeping his eye on him for those few moments, but more than that, his eyes held a warning.

Yuki's pace slowed and paused before Rei, bowing politely in greeting and possible apology for the scenes she was forced to witness. Rei bowed politely back and Yuki moved to continue her exit of the house only to stop at Rei's words.

"He loves you, you know."

Yuki slowly turned and looked at the young woman she was always picking gifts out for.

"Soujiroh," Rei clarified. "He does love you."

Yuki laughed softly.

"Nishikado-san loves himself," she told the woman, pushing that bubbling well of excitement back down into the dark pits of her memory.

Rei laughed at that, looking down at the bracelet and holding up her arm.

"Do you think it is with me in mind that he buys such gifts?" She asked, leveling Yuki with an almost sisterly look. "It's always bought with you on his mind, Yuki-chan. Even if he doesn't realize it."

Yuki shook her head and looked back at Soujiroh and Kenji…both seemed in their own world, looks of distaste and both looking ready to fight.

"Kenji-san?"

He turned to look at Yuki, a possessive smile crossed his lips, his tongue subconsciously running between his lips as he pulled the envelope out of his inside jacket pocket and plopped it on the counter in front of Soujiroh and followed Yuki out.

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The men stood before Kenji in his Japan office. As always he held the aura of control about him, but it did not seem to touch these men with their menacing looks and unhappy dispositions. Kenji showed no sign of being nervous or even slightly concerned; his face was a cold mask.

"Tell your boss just to give it some time."

The men laughed.

"Our boss seems to think you've had enough time, Takahashi-san," the taller man said.

Kenji shook his head.

"Your boss is a businessman; he should understand how these things work…"

"Your contract says six months, Takahashi-san," the taller man, obviously the spokesperson of the two, said. "Your six months is up. The money will be returned by midnight in one week or you will have to face the consequences of your actions."

The men turned to leave, the taller one pausing at the door again to look back at Kenji and add one last afterthought.

"You should feel privileged he is giving you a week's warning that he will be collecting his money…one way or another."

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"You're not drunk this time are you?" Yuki asked with a small teasing smile on her face.

Akira chuckled softly and glanced down into his lap almost embarrassed.

"I apologize again, Yuki-chan."

She giggled.

"No need," she said standing up from her bed, abandoning the school book she had open there. "I suppose Kenji-san's sudden arrival was…shocking." She sat down in the window next to Akira.

They remained silent for a moment, Yuki looking down into her lap with a small smile on her face despite the guilt at springing Kenji on everyone so unexpectedly and Akira watching her profile. He was worried as well, just like Soujiroh. He had noticed how much of her time Kenji monopolized and how difficult it was for her friends to ever find her or spend time with her and yet felt so silly for being jealous. Shouldn't they all be happy that Yuki came back happy and over Soujiroh?

But Akira knew better.

He noticed the way she was. He noticed how she avoided Soujiroh at all costs and how she did nothing but argue with him when she couldn't avoid him. So if she couldn't stay away from Soujiroh she did everything to push him away. He couldn't blame her really, but that meant one thing and one thing only.

She never completely got over Soujiroh.

And with the hold Kenji had on her, what did that mean when she finally had to face that reality again? Yuki felt his eyes on her and looked up and smiled.

"What is it, Akira-san?"

He was silent for a moment.

"Be careful, Yuki-chan." Her forehead scrunched up in confusion. "I may not remember a whole lot about Takahashi-san from my childhood, but one thing I do remember is how far he would go to get his way."

Her tinkling laughter filled him with fear. She wasn't taking him seriously.

"Akira-san," Yuki said still laughing. "Kenji-san would never hurt me."

She stood up, still laughing slightly as she walked back to her bed and plopped down in front of her homework. Akira leaned his head back against the framing of the window wishing he could make her understand.

"Where are you staying for the party?" Akira asked staring down at her book.

Kenji's parents were throwing a party at one of their houses. Everyone had been invited, including the infamous F4 and this party, being out of town required an overnight stay in that town.

"At the Takahashi house," she said as if he should have known.

"Just promise me you will be careful," Akira said.

Yuki looked at the concern on his face and it seemed to run so deep, etching every line that seemed to form on his face as he looked at her. She nodded.

"I promise, Akira-san."

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Soujiroh held his drink in his hand and laughed at something Akira had said. Rui shook his head, his arm around Makino, keeping her close and calm. Soujiroh's eyes often scanned the crowd of party goers. There was no sign of Yuki and no sign of Kenji. His concern seemed to stir in his gut and he quickly squashed it, smiling alluringly to a woman just across the room, Rei on his arm and ready to add another for the evening. He had no doubt it would be like any other party he had been to. Before the night was through he would find some area of the room to be and the women would gravitate, latch on ready for the game, willing to play the part.

Perhaps number twenty-five was amongst the party goers somewhere.

Everyone was talking; everyone was animated and smiling and then Soujiroh suddenly noticed they…weren't. His friends were frozen.

A majority of the room stilled.

"She's so beautiful," Makino, for the first time, whispered from beside Rui.

Soujiroh, curious now, turned to get a look at what was so breathtaking. The curving staircase had the attention of a good number of the people through out the room. Soujiroh felt his heart pound oddly and his eyes were glued to the vision coming down those stairs with Kenji.

The dress seemed made for Yuki, clinging to her body, creating curves Soujiroh was unaware of. The flowing layers of fabric that trailed behind her gave the vision she was gliding down those stairs. The spaghetti straps of her black dress were so tiny Soujiroh wondered how they did anything beyond drawing attention to the smooth skin of her shoulders.

His hand tightened around his wine glass.

Yuki stepped off the last step with Kenji never letting her go. She nodded a small bow of greeting to someone. Her back turned to Soujiroh to do so and Kenji's hand gently moved across the bare skin of her lower back, exposed by the lack of dress in the back. Soujiroh felt his body shake in suppressed anger as Kenji's hands danced up her back and his fingers seemed to walk across her exposed neck, only small dark tendrils of hair dancing across her neck.

"Soujiroh!"

He blinked at the startled sound of Akira's voice and looked down at the empty wine glass in his hand. It was no longer whole. Shards of glass stuck in the palm of his hand, the stem of the glass skewed, broken clear off the beveled bottom and he seemed confused, unsure how or even when the glass had broken in his hand. Makino clicked her tongue sounding irritated, but her face screamed her amusement as she drug Soujiroh off, asking Rei to follow so they could get him cleaned up.

Akira turned his attention back to Yuki and Kenji as they approached to greet them.

"Beautiful as always, Angel," Akira said with a large sincere smile.

Yuki blushed and looked down. Kenji pulled her closer to him, his narrowed eyes on Akira.

"Yes, my sweet Yuki-chan is beautiful."

Yuki felt the discomfort between the two. It seemed to be there every time they were in the same room together and Yuki didn't like it. She didn't have much time to think on it though. Kenji kept her by his side, never letting her go off on her own, never letting her go with her friends for even a moment.

Akira approached when Kenji appeared to be in a deep conversation with an old investor. He swiftly walked up to Yuki and asked her to dance. Her face brightened and she smiled, ready to accept, but with a sweeping glance at Kenji and his disapproving look he could quickly see the "no" forming on her lips. He took that option away. He gently took her hand.

"It's just one dance, Yuki-chan. Nothing we haven't done before. Let Takahashi-san work a bit and I'll return you to his side the moment the song ends."

She went with him, Kenji's angry eyes following, but still deep in conversation with the investor. Yuki giggled as Akira twirled her around playfully on the dance floor, his arms keeping a tight hold of her, keeping her close before his movements slowed and his head bent down leaning against hers.

"I've missed you, Yuki-chan," he whispered.

She giggled.

"Akira-san, you come to my window almost every night it seems."

He smiled, but kept quiet. It wasn't the same as being able to bring her to the café to meet the others. And when Kenji was not keeping her away from them, her avoidance of Soujiroh did.

Soujiroh stood off to the side, his eyes following his friend and Yuki on the dance floor. Akira held her the way he did at the Nishikado anniversary party, like a porcelain doll he was frightened of breaking, something that he cherished. Her head was lying against his shoulder; her eyes swept the edge of the crowd landing fully on Soujiroh for the first time since her return. He felt it when her eyes landed on his. He could see the physical reaction from where he stood. The way her breath seemed to stop, her brows furrowing in anger and then she shifted, lifting her head and turning it away from him, almost snuggling into Akira's hold of her.

Soujiroh's eyes shifted across the room where Kenji stood, watching, looking ready to kill. Soujiroh watched him for a moment. He didn't step forward. He waited for the song to end and watched Akira walk Yuki back to Kenji. Kenji looked barely in control of himself. Perhaps he wasn't getting what he wanted. He wanted Yuki all to himself, but these others were in her life, preventing that, stopping her world from revolving completely around him, though it was pretty close to doing that as it was.

Kenji said nothing to Akira, pulling Yuki away from the party, through a door and into the darkness. He felt he was losing control. Things were falling apart around him.

Yuki thought he just wanted to be alone with her for a moment. After all, it wasn't unusual for him to pull her into a darkened area and kiss her until she was lightheaded and breathing heavily. And he did indeed kiss her the moment they entered the darkness, his lips devouring hers so roughly the pleasure of his kiss was being drowned out by the pain of his enthusiasm and anger.

He backed her up roughly against the wall; her body hitting it with a thud she was sure would cause a bruise. Panic started to surge through her. She squeezed her hands in between them, pushing against his chest, but to no avail. He simply shoved her hands back against the wall and his rough angry kisses moved down to her neck, his hand roughly pulling the strap of her dress off her shoulder.

"Kenji-san, no," she pleaded.

He didn't appear to be listening or didn't care to acknowledge her pleas for him to stop. His mouth painfully devoured every inch of skin he could reach, one hand roughly pulling the bottom of her dress up.

"Kenji-san! NO!"

She yelled, panic coursing like a drug in her veins and Kenji stopped for only a second, long enough for his hard angry eyes to glare down at Yuki and his hand to fly back across her cheek, knocking her head to the side. The tears were instant as the pain shot across her cheekbone and Kenji wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him, roughly, painfully and walked the two steps to the door…the door that led to one of the rooms.

"No more games," he said with a rough voice of barely controlled rage.

He was tired of it. With her friends around his control over her waned. She would ignore his displeased looks and dance with other men; she would allow him to caress her in ways that drove him insane and then push him away. He was tired of it. And it ended tonight.

He opened the door and moved into the room, shutting the door with his foot, his mouth painfully assaulting her again. The tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Please…no…"