This is the first part of the two-shot. I hope to get the second part up in a few days, as soon as it's done. The purpose of this fic is to make up, both to myself and to those who read it, for the bad ending to my last Yuki/Soujiroh fic. I'm gonna try to pump as much fluff as I can into this one XD Thanks to everyone who read that fic, and those reading this!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hana Yori Dango as far as I know.

Akira let himself relax back into the leather interior of his car, as the driver behind the soundproof glass in front set off towards the specified dango shop. It was the first moment of quiet time he had had since early that morning, when Tsukasa had arrived at his house with, it seemed, the sole intention of whinging about the fact that Makino was no longer talking to him, due to some insensitive comment he had made during a shopping trip she had taken him along on to the local commoners market. Akira hadn't got the exact details of what he had said out of Tsukasa, who apparently still couldn't see what he had done wrong. But the moment that the curly haired man had turned up on his doorstep, Akira had somehow sensed that it would end up with him having to do something to ease the situation. That something, it turned out, was going to the dango shop where Makino worked with the aim of 'talking some sense into the stupid woman'.

The drive was taking longer than Akira had expected, and he was just about to press the button that would allow him contact with the driver, to ask why they had barely moved in the past three minutes, when the driver himself initiated the conversation

"Mimasaka-san, I'm sorry to disturb you, but there's a hold up on the road."

"What kind of hold up?" Through the blackened windows, Akira could barely make out more than vague shapes of the outside world. If it had been his choice, he would have had a car with normal windows, but his father, the Yakuza boss, had deemed that 'unsafe'.

"It appears to be a fight in the street. And… I'm sorry to say this, sir, and I may be very wrong, but I believe that one of the men involved in an acquaintance of yours."

"Hmm?" This wasn't a huge surprise. The kind of men that Akira regularly had contact with were far from adverse to violence, but still… in broad daylight, with a large number of witnesses, hardly seemed to be the regular style.

"I believe it's Nishikado-san, unless I'm very much mistaken, sir."

At this, Akira rolled down his window, so as to get a better look at what was going on.

Indeed, it was exactly as his driver had reported. There, in broad daylight, in the middle of the street, Nishikado Soujiroh was exchanging fists with a couple of rough looking young men, while a huddle of giggling girls looked on.

"Pull over somewhere close." Akira sighed, "I've got to get out. I won't be long."

"As you wish sir. But… be careful."

Akira nodded, and exited the car.

"Soujiroh! Hey, Soujiroh!" Soujiroh looked around at the sound of his name, and therefore one of the men he was facing got a chance of punch him squarely on the jaw, sending him staggering.

"Hey, enough!" Akira said, striding over, making sure to project as much confidence as possible.

"Get l-lost. This has nothing to do with anyone but, but h-him!" The clearly drunk man jabbed a finger at Soujiroh's chest.

"Soujiroh, let's go." He took his forearm, and pulled, physically removing him from the fight, despite cries of protest both from the other men and Soujiroh himself.

"What? What was that for? I, I almost had them, and they were-" He was silenced as Akira opened the door to his chauffeured car, that was stopped only a few metres away from the scene, and shoved him inside. He fell onto the seats on his side, and took a few moments to struggle up into a sitting position. It was clear that, if anything, he was more drunk than the men he had just left.

Akira got in the other door, glancing briefly back at the men Soujiroh had been fighting with. They had ganged together, and were sullenly moving from their boxing ring in the middle of the road, likely back towards another bar.

"What was that about?" Akira demanded, after quickly indicating to the driver to continue on the route they had been taking before the interruption.

"Their girlfriends liked me more than them."

"Did you sleep with them?"

"No."

Akira sighed. He had been in the position many times before, being confronted by the husband of one of his girlfriends, but it had almost never turned into a full physical fight. He had always managed to diffuse the situation somehow. Soujiroh, however, didn't seem to possess this talent. If anything, he just attracted violence.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No." Soujiroh crossed his arms across his chest, the very image of a sulking child. "I was doing fine before you turned up."

"I don't know the A & E would have agreed."

There was an icy silence between them. Akira didn't attempt to fill it. All that had taken place in the last ten minutes wouldn't matter by tomorrow. Akira was well enough acquainted with drunken Soujiroh to know that what happened while intoxicated, stayed there.

"Where are you taking me, anyway?" He asked eventually.

"The dango shop where Makino works. Well, I'm going there, anyway. You can stay in the car and wait for me. I've got another fight to resolve there."

Soujiroh didn't reply to this. He had gone quiet, even though the anger was no longer radiating from him.

"Here we are, sir." The driver said. They had pulled up just outside the entrance for the shop.

"Thanks." He turned to Soujiroh, who was staring at his feel, looking slightly sweaty, even with the air conditioning. "You stay here. I won't be long."
"No," He protested immediately, "I need to get out. I feel sick."

Any other reason, and Akira would have continued to insist that he stay in the car. He was sure that it wouldn't help his case with Makino at all, if he had a drunken, flirtatious and slurring Soujiroh at his side. However, the threat of vomit on his expensive car interior, an interior that he himself had helped design, was enough to allow Soujiroh out of the car and into the mid-morning breeze.

"If you're coming into the shop, though, I don't want you to say anything unless you absolutely have to. Just sit down and be quiet. The last thing I need is for Makino to pick up on your current condition."

Soujiroh grinned at this.

"Yes, we all know what Makino thinks of my lifestyle choices."
"Please just behave. Otherwise it'll be me that Tsukasa will take it out on if I don't manage to sort things out between him and Makino."

Soujiroh nodded solemnly, still looking slightly green in the face.

Akira led the way into the shop. They were greeted with a slightly breathtaking gust of air-conditioning, and a couple of surprised sounding voices.

"Mimasaka-san!" Makino said, looking up from the piece of white dango that she was nibbling on.

"Nishikado-san!" Yuki said with a slight waver in her voice, as she took his present appearance in. He looked far from his most attractive when he was drunk. She had sensed straight away that there was something wrong with him.

"Oh, are you… ill?" Yuki said, stepping towards him with concern on her features. It was one of those moments where Akira felt inclined to almost look away. It was painful to see such blatant and pure love directed at someone who, as fond as Akira was of his friend, was so undeserving of anything of the sort.

He looked up into her face, completely serious.

"I'm lovesick, Yuki-chan." He then burst out laughing, so much that he doubled over.

"Um," Yuki looked alarmed, and her gaze flashed over at Akira, who sighed audibly. "Is he… alright?"

"I'm sorry to have to bring him along like this. I found him fighting en route here, and couldn't really leave him."

"Is he drunk?" Makino asked, arms crossed over her chest in an intimidating posture.

"He's drunk." Akira nodded. He could hardly lie about it, when Soujiroh was now using Yuki's shoulder as a support post to lean against. He was visibly swaying as he stood.

"Uh, Nishikado-san…" Yuki blushed bright red as he let his head fall into the crook of her neck. "You really… you're not thinking straight… you should sit down."

He nodded, his hair tickling her collarbone, but he didn't move.

"Just shove him over there, Yuki-chan." Akira pointed to the hard wooden seating in the corner. "I need to have a word with Makino."

Yuki attempted to walk in the direction of the chairs, although it was slightly hindered by the extra weight of Soujiroh resting a great percentage of his own mass on her small frame.

"Makino, can we talk in private? I'm sure Yuki-chan is more than capable of dealing with Soujiroh when he's like this. Chances are he'll be asleep in a few minutes.

"Fine." Makino said curtly, allowing him around the other side of the counter. "Yuki, we'll just be in the back room. If you need anything, just come get me."

"Okay." Yuki gave a final push on Soujiroh, as Akira and Makino disappeared into the back room. Soujiroh stumbled as he fell onto the seats. He grabbed Yuki's wrist as he lost his balance, pulling her down with him, and on top of him, so that she was almost straddling his lap. From her position, she could make out the pores on his face, and was taken aback by how unrealistically handsome he was up close.

"Yuki-chaaan." He slurred, looking into her eyes in a gaze that made her forget to get up and away from how close she was to him at that moment. Not that she really, deep in her heart, wanted to be away from him. She'd never experienced any posture quite so intimate before. She could feel his body heat on her skin throughout her whole body. She could smell his alcohol laced breath, tickling her face at regular intervals. She almost imagined that she could feel his heartbeat through his shirt, although on further reflection realised that it was simply hers, beating unnaturally fast and hard.

"Yuki-chan." He said again, "You're so much more… beautiful than my other girls."

Yuki was sure her eyes widened at this comment. Although her heart couldn't be stopped from soaring at it, the rational part of her mind reminded her that he was drunk, and drunk men tended to misperceive things in sober women.

"I mean it. I've always thought so. You're… you're so much purer than them… I bet you've never even thought about sex." He laughed at this comment, and Yuki wasn't sure whether to take it as offensive, or as a compliment. Her rational mind was telling her that this was the time to get up, though. His face was dangerously close to hers, and who knows what he might do to her in-

His lips touched hers. Briefly. Fleetingly. She had to replay that single second in her mind to be sure that it had happened at all.

"W-what?" She managed to stutter out.

"I just realised I'd never kissed you before… and I've wanted to for so long now. It'd be stupid not… to have what you want."

Yuki struggled up, her heart doing a mile a minute. She was sure that she was all shades of unattractive red, as she stared down from her standing position at the slumped over figure of Soujiroh, who, as Akira had predicted, seemed to be falling asleep as he sat.

"So you'll talk to him?" Akira's voice suddenly punctuated the silence from behind her.

"I guess. Though it still remains a fact that he's a totally insensitive idiot."

"Naturally."

Makino sighed. "Thanks, Mimasaka-san."

"You're welcome. And Yuki-chan," He suddenly addressed her, and she spun around to face him, hoping that the blush had worn off her face. "Thanks to you for looking after this idiot. I'll make sure to make him feel guilty after her sobers up."

Yuki nodded. "I-it was no problem… at all, no, it was fine."

Makino shot her a quizzical look, but Akira didn't seem to notice, as he approached the seat where Soujiroh was sat, and put an arm around his shoulder, hoisting him up.

"See you both soon." He said, as he left the dango shop, dragging Soujiroh alongside him. Yuki watched them go, unable to drag her eyes away from their retreating figures.

"What's wrong?" Makino asked, suddenly by her side, watching them go. "You could barely speak to Mimasaka-san back there?"

"I…" She knew what her friend's disgusted reaction would be if she told her what Soujiroh had done, so instead she said nothing.

"Oh no." Makino said, looking aghast. "You don't… like Mimasaka-san now, do you? He's almost as bad as Nishikado-san, so I'm begging you to not get involved-"

Yuki laughed at this, she couldn't stop herself. Somehow, a simple crush on Mimasaka seemed far more attractive and easy than the current skipping sensation in her heart at the thoughts of what had just occurred between Soujiroh and her, coupled with the slight stabbing sensation that it was likely just the alcohol that had prompted it all.