Aaliyah gasped as she pitched forward towards the floorboards. She closed her eyes, knowing that this was about to end like one of those movie scenes in a high school cafeteria. Then, a band of steel caught her around the waist and lifted her back onto her feet. Looking up, she realized that Fuminori had saved her with one arm, and she was no lightweight. Yet, he looked as though he had strained about as much as one would while catching the average two year old, bent on hurling themselves across a barrier.

Smiling, she reached up to give him a quick hug before stepping back. "Thank you, Fumi! I thought I was a goner."

"You're not, but that guy who tripped you will be, if I ever catch up with him," Fumi growled, looking back into the crowd, as if to seek out the inconsiderate jerk who put her safety in jeopardy.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about him," Aaliyah soothed.

"Nice catch, Romeo," Jake teased. "If I fainteth, wilt thou catch me, too?" he asked in a high pitched voice, his hand to his forehead.

"Go ahead," encouraged Fumi. "Let's find out."

"Leave him alone," Melanie chided, tapping Jake on the arm lightly. Can't you see that he's actually getting along with a girl for once?"

The rest of the group chuckled as Melanie and Jake led a spontaneous chant of "Fumi's got a girlfriend."

Aaliyah blushed, suddenly self conscious of the arm that remained around her waist, when her attention was caught by a combination of the sudden tension in Fumi's body and the sudden silence that fell over their little crowd. She looked over her shoulder to see what had everyone so transfixed.

"Uh oh" she said, watching as Lucas stalked towards them with the prowl of a deadly tiger. He was wearing shades to guard his golden eyes, but she could tell by the set of his shoulders, the clench of his jaw and the aggressive forward tilt of his head that he meant business. The last time she'd seen that look on his face, he'd been opening the door to the back seat of her date's car on prom night. Looking heavenward, she implored the Lord to help her get out of this one with a minimum of embarrassment in front of her friends this time. Quickly, she stepped between Fumi and Lucas.

Using a martial arts move that she recognized, Fumi quickly reversed their positions to meet the threat just as Lucas descended upon them.

"What the hell is this?!" he demanded.

"Lucas, calm down," she implored, jumping up over Fumi's shoulder. "This is not the prom!"

"How is it different? He had his hands all over you, Liyah," Lucas thundered.

"He wasn't trying to cop a feel. He was saving me from abject humiliation...and a broken nose."

Lucas looked down at the younger, shorter man with consideration, his lips twisting wryly. Removing his sunglasses he sighed for patience, closing his eyes and pressing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Then, he again opened his golden, lion's eyes and looked into the face of the man he'd wanted to beat to a bloody pulp mere moments ago. "She tripped?" he asked, quirking a brow.

"Yes," agreed Fumi simply, slowly relaxing his muscles and coming out of his defensive stance. Who was this guy to Aaliyah? When he'd seen him coming, he looked like an avenging angel, about to deal out some justice. "He could be a boyfriend," he reasoned, but why would she have been encouraging his attention, if that was the case? He wasn't stupid. Even he knew the signs of attraction, and they definitely had them. He'd moved to protect her. The guy appeared to have a violent streak.

Then Aaliyah began to frantically yell explanations over his shoulder. She kept muttering, "Not like the prom. Not like the prom" to herself, all the while mangling the back of his tee shirt between her fingers until the guy stopped and seemed to suddenly calm down.

After receiving an answer to his question, Lucas stuck out a hand. "Lucas D'Alessandro."

Fumi returned the gesture, shaking hands firmly. "Fuminori Kawaguchi."

After sizing each other up, the two men nodded almost imperceptibly.

"I'm sorry we started out on the wrong foot. Aaliyah's brother is my best friend, and so she's my responsibility while she's here. I just couldn't believe that she had gotten into trouble this quickly."

"Uh, hello?! I can take care of myself, Twinkle Fingers." Aaliyah protested from Fumi's side.

"It's nice to see you, too, Munchkin," he teased, reaching out to tug on one of her curls. Then, his smile disappeared as he turned back toward Fumi. "And how do you two know each other?"

"Aaliyah and I were friends as children. I moved away at age twelve, and I have not returned to South Carolina since that time. We just ran into each other at Atlanta International. We didn't know you would be here. My friends and I," he began, gesturing to a group of almost unnaturally gorgeous men and women flanking him, "intended to see that she got into the city safely."

If he thought his explanation would soften Lucas' demeanor further, Fumi was sadly mistaken. Lucas whirled on Aaliyah. "You haven't seen this man in eight years, and you were just going to hop into a car with him, just like that? I'm working on a score for a new movie called 'Taken.' I think you need a screening."

"I wouldn't do anything to hurt Aaliyah," Fumi protested sharply.

"She doesn't know that, does she?" Lucas asked grimly, glaring at Fumi. "I don't know that, either." He then looked over at Aaliyah. "Come on. We're leaving. With that, he grabbed her bag, took her by the arm and propelled her through the airport doors, heading toward the parking garage with a ground eating stride that forced Aaliyah to trot to keep up with him.

"Woah. Sorry bro, but you've got to admire the guy for looking out for his best friend's little sister," commiserated Jake. The others agreed.

"Yeah. I'm just hoping that's the only thing he's looking out for," Fumi replied softly.

"You did get her number, right?" asked Melanie.

Fumi groaned, realizing that in all of the hours they had spent together, not one second had been devoted to exchanging their information. Shaking his head, he resolved to find her, one way or another. "Let's go," he said sharply, leading the way to the parking garage.