Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Hana Yori Dango characters. If I did, Doumyouji would be mine! (Sorry Tsukushi! Hehe)

Tenshi's Notes: Maa maa, this was something I wrote a little while ago, and finally I had the courage to put it up. It's my very first HYD ficcie, and I'm afraid that I might've made Doumyouji a little more eloquent than he actually is. This ficcie takes place after the anime series, and to be honest, I had no idea where this came from. The first part's more serious, and shows Doumyouji and Tsukushi's thoughts. The second part I'll only post if I receive enough reviews (yesyes I've resorted to bribery) and involves pure insanity. This fic totally changes moods halfway LOL. Anyway, I hope you enjoy ^_^

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Together

I don't know what it is about her that creates this crazed feeling in me. She can aggravate and annoy me and yet, I have the overwhelming urge to protect her from everything and to love her beyond reason, even after she's rejected me so many times. Perhaps I knew something that she had yet to realise at the time. I knew her heart even when she didn't. She loved me.

You could say that everything in life was handed to me on a silver platter. I have never had to work for a thing in my life. People wanted to be close to me and wanted to be with me because of my family name. Very few knew who I was, and even those who did saw only what I allowed them. Only she had the guts to tell me off and see me for who I was. She didn't care about my money or my status or that I was the leader of the F4 who could get her kicked out of school with a drop of a hat. She was just some woman who somehow managed to attend our prestigious school. Just some woman who somehow stole my heart.

I remember the kick to my face so vividly. It was like a wake up call, that for once, a woman wasn't blinded by what my family name represented. It wasn't who I really was. I was the guy who lived in that big house alone, with servants who became more like my relatives than my real ones. It sounds lonely I know, but for me, it's normal. I never realised that until she got under my skin, and made me so aware of all my faults. And here I thought I was perfect all along. Looks, money, status… but she didn't see any of that. She saw the childish boy within, the same boy who could find no friends to play with because of his rotten temper.

My god damned temper. At times it frustrates me but sometimes I truly have no idea what to do. It just simmers in me, waiting to surface. But it's always her who brings me back, beats me back to sensibility, literally. She knows no fear of me, and after all we've been through, she knows my heart is only true to her.

Remember I said once that I never had to work for anything in my life? Well, there would only be one exception to that. Winning her was the hardest damn thing I ever had to do. I did everything I could think of, and yet she constantly blew me off, with eyes for only that bastard, Hanazawa Rui. That reminds me, I'm going to have to have a little talk with my best friend for putting his arm around my woman like that. Sono yaro.

She's the single light in my life. Even when I come home exhausted, totally brainless, she's the only thing that keeps me going. And I know it's the same for her. She refuses my money, and though I'd kill myself before admitting it to any of the other guys, I know that all she wants is me. Somehow that distinction is my lifeline. It gives me strength to endure and to continue labouring.

Ah, the other thing I've had to work for in my life. I might have misrepresented myself. Err, well okay, I damn well lied. But there's a reason to it! I can't very well give her something like that with my family's money. I want her to know how much she means to me, though at the rate I'm going, it'll be months before she gets it. I never knew her suffering, or understood until two months ago. Now that I know, I think I understand why she's so hell bent on being independent, on supporting herself even though I could easily do so without batting an eyelash. Sometimes I don't think she understands, but when I see that necklace that I gave her so carefully protected, I think she does. For me, it isn't about money. It never was. I just want to give her something beautiful, something which I think she'll love, and something which represents what I feel about her.

Of course, I'm clumsy as hell. I'm not good with words, and I always manage to screw things up. She just whacks me on the head, calls me an idiot, gets me riled up some more, and then kisses me. After that, I don't remember much. Heh. With the exception of Rui, Akira and Soujirou are still proclaimed playboys, refusing to settle down. But I know, those two are sometimes envious of what Rui and I have found. Something worth living for. Something worth more than all our families' fortunes, and everyone knew I'd gladly sacrifice it all for her.

My footsteps are becoming heavier now. It's exhausting this physical labour stuff. My hands are now filled with callouses. Won't my esthetician be surprised to see all that dead skin piled up there? I'm hell bent on earning this money myself. In that way, it brings me closer to her, makes me understand her feelings more. There's this sense of pride that comes with it. I may have been given an edge in life, but I won't be a lazy shit anymore. She has shown me that.

Slowly, I pull out the keys, the same ones she gave me. She said that if she hadn't given it to me, I'd probably have bought the building and gotten a copy. Damn right. How well she knows me by now. A small smile appears on my lips despite how tired and shitty I feel at the thought of her. She's probably sleeping by now. Between her part-time job, school, and me, the poor thing's probably half dead. How I wish I could do more for her. All I can do is be there for her. It makes me feel so helpless at times, but she just smiles at me, and I'm reassured.

Carefully, I open the door. If I wake her up, there'll be hell to pay. She'll hurl objects at my head… no wait, she'll probably give me one of her patented kicks to the head. Damn, it hurts when she does that, but in a strange way, I think that's her way of showing affection. If I'm thinking that, I must need sleep much more than I had realised.

She's still at the one bedroom apartment, the one that's now smaller than the size of my bathroom. I once commented on how poor it looked, and she merely glared at me. One thing about her, she's damn fearless. She's even managed to stand up to my mother. She showed that despite all the snubs she had received about her background and about her apparently unsuitability with me, she was a better person than the bitch was. Secretly, I'm proud of her. I think I might let her know that. Later. Heh.

My eyes immediately fall on her sleeping form and immediately, this warmth begins melting everything away. How like an angel she looks when she's sleeping and not yelling at me or kicking my ass. I can nearly taste the sweetness of her lips and I ache with it. I promised her I'd wait, and those urges sometimes nearly kill me but for her I'm willing. Tonight though, I just want to be close to her, to feel her scent surrounding me, and somehow give me strength to go on.

She's tangled beneath the blankets and I notice that the room is colder than usual. Shit, her heat probably broke down once again. God damn landlord, I'm going to beat the shit out of the bastard if he doesn't fix it soon. But aha… cold equals snuggling right? I grin stupidly in the darkness, probably smirking, and if she could see me and my thoughts… ahhh… I'd be a dead man.

She stirs, and I freeze like some animal that's been caught trespassing, which if she were awake, would be what she would tell me I was. Damn woman. She never knows her place sometimes, doesn't understand me, and yet, I wouldn't have her any other way. For all that we fight and yell at each other, there's this understanding, and this bond that we have. She knows… well she damn well better know that by now… that I would follow her to the ends of the earth to be with her. I would always protect her with my life.

She settles down, mumbling something like, "Tsukasa no baka" and I nearly chuckle in the darkness. For all her words, the minute she says my name, I'm instantly reduced to a pile of goo. I can't help it. The way she says it, it's like candy melting in my mouth, like I mean something to her. Her fists pound the ground unexpectedly, and this time I had to shove my hand in front of my mouth to stop laughing. Even in sleep, I can apparently aggravate her.

I move closer to her, and sit on my haunches, content just to stare at her. Her hair has blocked her face, and I want to see her so badly. My hand moves forward despite my brain's best intentions and the 'V' formed by her eyebrows ease. My expression softens and shit, I'm in danger of turning into mush. But in the darkness, with only her, it doesn't matter. She murmurs my name again, and this time, I'm lost. I can't fight it any more.

Her hand reaches out to rest on mine, and I can't stop the feelings of tenderness flooding with me. What has she reduced me to? The great, all-might Doumyouji Tsukasa, brought down by this woman. This bonbii. My bonbii. I lie down next to her, and she instinctively scoots closer, making me smile. I barely restrain myself, and hold her gently so I won't disturb her sleep. I'm a dead man if she wakes up and discovers me here.

"Good thing I'm tired, otherwise I'd kill you, Tsukasa."

I grin in the darkness, and bring her closer. Her warmth just surrounds me, and I bury my face in her hair. I can feel her smile, kiss my cheek before her even breathing reminds me that she's fallen back asleep again. I'm really the luckiest bastard in the world. Really.

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He's gone before I can beat him madly. Smart man. Knows what's good for him, and yet, even as I think that, I can't help the smile that appears on my face. Poor thing, he must've been exhausted doing whatever he was doing. I'm not too sure really. He was vague about his plans, saying something about some sort of course that he was taking with Hanazawa Rui, Nishikado-san, and Mimisaka-san. Then again, he's just about the worst liar off the face of the earth. But I trust him fully, and I know whatever he's up to, it's something that he's convinced himself to be romantic.

I nearly laugh. We are so different on so many levels. He's the heir to one of the richest families in the world, and I am… nothing. Well, not quite nothing, but we're from different worlds. I can barely support myself right now with school and the apartment, but I'd rather die before I ask him for a single cent. I asked him once, and he had seemed shocked that I would even consider the idea. That was for my family, but for myself, I would never. He's abrasive, rude as hell, and always acts before thinking, but sometimes, that logic swimming in his head is so simple that it makes sense. Hmm… I think I've been hanging around him too often.

I sometimes wonder why the hell he was that persistent, but with the happiness threatening to explode out of my chest, I'm glad he did. No matter how stubborn I was, he was equally so, if not worse. Whenever we get into fights, we make the rest of the F4 and the world tremble at our feet. Our battle of wills are infamous now. But infallibly, whenever one of us is near the other, we just forget everything. I forget everything, and it takes a lot out of me to remind myself why exactly I'm mad at the idiot. He's done so much for me, sacrificed himself and saved me whenever I was in trouble.

I'm brought back to the time in Canada, when I had thought Yuki was in the snowstorm. I was supposed to be with Hanazawa Rui at the time, and even as I lay there half frozen, it was he who came to my rescue. The foolish, stubborn bastard. When I think about how he could've died trying to save me, it makes my heart stop momentarily. But that's just so him. He'd do anything for me, even give up his cozy lifestyle. And though I don't find myself worthy of the sacrifice, he seems to think so. In his simplistic logic, he loves me, and therefore, nothing can stand in the way. He's stood up to his mother, and nearly killed himself in trying to get to me. I'm humbled and I'm awed that this silly oaf should love me this much. But then again, for him, I would fight that woman, and show her what this weed was made of.

In a world filled with beautiful rich flowers, only I stood out, this rough weed so strangely out of place. Whenever the F4 walks with me, or whenever he's by my side, I don't miss the snide comments about what I've done and who the hell I was to get there. He of course gets totally mad and tries to beat up anyone who bad mouths me. At first, I used to get annoyed but that's just his way of defending and protecting me even when I tell him I'm more than capable. The school has brought such memories, and if it hadn't been for that fateful day, I would've never imagined that our lives would've been this intertwined. That I would open my eyes and realise that for all the money in the world, these guys were human afterall.

If it weren't for Hanazawa Rui's presence and violin, Mimisaka-san and Nishikado-san's silly and caring ways, I don't know how I would've gotten through all the tumultuous times he and I shared. But, I'm frequently reminded of how much he loves me, and how much he's done for me. And… how much I love him. It still scares me sometimes, that if he should leave me, my world would just fall apart. That without the flower, the weed would just die. But I know in my heart that he would never do that. I can see by the promises he makes in his eyes, each time he yells at me, and each time he holds me that he would never let go. Because of that, the weed can flourish and thrive. And live.

It's been a hellish couple of months. After our return, all Nishikado-san and Mimisaka-san had done was harrassed him about whether or not we had done it. Of course, he and I blushed furiously and in lovely synchronization, bashed the two idiots' heads in. It was no one else's business but ours, but I can still remember the thumping of my heart, and his vehement promise that he'd wait. I could see the blaze in his eyes, and I knew that though he wanted to, he would give me all the time in the world. Condescendingly the jerk had said that he would give me time cos' I'd be shocked by his magnificence. I nearly throttled him after that though I knew what he was doing. It almost brought tears to my eyes. I remember my hands at his neck, him yelling at me about what stupidity I was up to, before it abruptly turned into an embrace. Next thing I knew, he was holding me so tightly, so securely, and all my senses were just filled with him. When I finally told him I loved him, his answer was, "About damn time" before crushing me even more fiercely against him. It's little wonder why I love him the way I do. Nobody else has the power to make me feel the way I do, this near crazed contradiction of anger, love, and how safe I feel whenever he was near me.

It sometimes scares me the bond we have with each other. If I told anyone else, they'd think we were crazy but it's true. If I think of him, the phone would ring a few minutes later, or somehow I would run into him later on in the day. That reminds me, he's been lifting weights or something lately. Every time he finds me on campus, he's more than often sweaty and whenever I ask him, he says he was at the course or at the gym with the guys. As more than one girl pauses to give him a second glance, I can see his ego inflating, and that damn smirk that seems to suggest how lucky I was to be with him. Then as I'm ready to give him a piece of my mind, he kisses me and I forget everything. As those arms close around me, I can appreciate the fact that he has been working out.

I had somehow managed to dress myself, on my way to my part-time job before classes start in the afternoon. Between scholarships, some money that my family occasionally sends me, and my job, it was all I could do to make ends meet though this past year, we managed to get away with the gang for a bit. I smile fondly in memory, and quickly scarf down my simple breakfast.

With the wind behind, it's another day with me, Makino Tsukushi, against the world.

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Blurb: This is your friendly reminder. Have you submitted your review yet? ^_~ *muses pummel Tenshi for shamelessly lobbying for reviews*

Last one: Oh yeah, I realise that the mention of the necklace is somewhat out of place (since it comes from the manga) but I figured even as a regular couple after the anime, he'd have given her something ^_^ *muses jump on Tenshi and gag her*