Hypnagogia

- the transitional state between sleep and wakefulness

Five years ago...

The very first thing I noticed about Ootori Kyouya was how exceptionally adept he was at lying. After two minutes upon meeting him and I could already tell he was expertly putting up a facade. It was disconcerting how superficial he appeared and perhaps that was what drove me to reach out to him as straightforwardly as I did. I just couldn't stand seeing a boy the same age as I was forcibly faking every little thing for approval. It seemed so tragic.

"Say, Ootori-san..." I rested my chin on both my palms, my elbows heavy on my knees. "You can stop now, you know?"

"I'm not sure I follow you, Yuuki-san." Kyouya paused for the briefest of seconds before resuming to setting up a pristine frosted glass chess set in front of them. Our voices seemed to echo in the large living room of the Ootori mansion and I was annoyed at just how empty the room felt despite the number of minimalist and tasteful decor that had probably been bought by expert interior decorators.

Even though I knew why Kyouya was determined to keep up the act – young as I was, even I knew the importance of keeping up appearances especially in front of prospective clients – I felt the first inkling of annoyance and harrumphed ungraciously. It seemed to catch his attention.

"Did you not want to play a game of chess, Yuuki-san?"

"Cut it out, Ootori-san. It's just us kids now. No need for any of..." I paused and waved a hand at him before almost scoffing, "this."

For the first time since I got there, a flicker of genuine emotion – albeit borderline irritation – passed his face. Only to be subtly blanketed by yet another painfully insincere bright smile.

"Forgive my ignorance, Yuuki-san, but I still don't quite-

"Just drop the act, Ootori, no, Kyouya." I took a little bit too much satisfaction at the way he visibly recoiled at my sudden casualness. Feeling too much of a bully, I leaned back and flashed him a reassuring smile. "Come on, it's alright. I won't tell. You have my word for it."

I could see that he fully understood what I meant and that he was considering my words much too seriously for a kid. After a few seconds of silence, I continued, "The adults won't be back for a while. Judging from mother's tone earlier, she's likely grilling your father quite extensively as of the moment and won't let him off easily no matter how hard he might try to weasel out of it. Mother is very thorough, I can assure you."

Bringing up the topic of our parents seemed to calm him and I could see him easily sliding right back into his persona. Not good.

"As what one should expect from the matriarch of the world's leading private security company-

"Dodging the topic and flattering me. You're simply outstanding, aren't you, Kyouya?" I put an emphasis on his given name. He hadn't asked me to stop calling him so casually and I intended to take advantage of that.

There it was again, the recoil. His face stoic but not enough to be considered disrespectful. I had to hand it to him, he's tough. I stared right into his grey eyes and he stared right back. I didn't know exactly why I was so adamant at breaking him. Clearly, this boy didn't want to open up. He's too caught up in his facade and I could honestly respect that. Courtesy and politeness are our only armour in a society like ours but... I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. I felt like he wasn't only lying to those around him but also to himself.

Finally, Kyouya looked away, his eyes darkening and his shoulders slumping ever so slightly. And if I was seeing things right, there seemed to be a slight pout to his lips, as if conceding to me was a blow to his pride. I giggled openly.

"What do you want from me then?" He asked.

"Are you annoyed with me, Kyouya?" I grinned at him.

He looked at me again and I could tell that it was the first time he had seriously studied me. It was interesting how alive he suddenly appeared even though he was wearing a look of exasperation.

"Not annoyed. Intrigued, perhaps." He responded evenly.

I giggled once more and this time Kyouya seemed to finally relax just a bit. "Intrigued, huh? You're pretty cute, Kyouya."

"And you're pretty reckless, Yuuki-san."

"Better than being so frigid all the time. You must get back pains quite a lot, huh?"

Kyouya quirked a brow at me then – the first of many, many, many in the years to come – and almost cracked a smile.

"Do you hate duplicity that much, Yuuki-san?"

I hummed in thought. "Not really. I mean, I understand the need for putting up a front but I just get tired of it. Especially when it becomes too unnecessary."

Kyouya scoffed and I took that little act of defiance as a personal victory. "Perhaps you might see it as unnecessary but I believe that practice makes perfect."

"You seemed to have already perfected it though."

"Highly doubt that since you managed to see through it, Yuuki-san."

"Emiko is fine and don't feel too bad. I've had quite a lot of experience with charades like that."

"Is that so? Yet you still seem quite..." He let himself trail off and gave me a pointed look. I could tell that what he was about to say wasn't going to be nice and was weighing the possible consequences of his words. I cocked my head to the side, giving him a small smile to signify that I could take what he'd give. "Careless, in a way."

"I prefer the term carefree." I steepled my fingers and looked at Kyouya intently. Despite everything I said, his back was still straight as a rod and his hands were placed daintily on his lap. Impeccable posture that my governess would have swooned over. From the looks of it, he hardly seemed to think about keeping himself up so straight, the posture so ingrained into him that I doubt he know of any other way of sitting. I suddenly pitied the boy.

"My brother once told me something interesting." I said, standing up slowly.

Walking around the fairly wide coffee table that stood between us, I continued, "Kids who act too much like adults will grow up to be very boring." Kyouya merely looked at me without saying a word. He also didn't make any move to leave which I took as a good sign.

I was standing in front of him now, his eyes boring into mine, his overall expression unreadable. "And one of the worst things you could possibly be is just that. Boring."

"What a fascinating philosophy." He deadpanned after a pause.

"Isn't it?" At that, an idea struck me. "Hey, there's a park not too far from here, right? I believe we passed by it on the way here."

"A commoner's park." He made a slightly pinched face. Very cute.

"Perfect! Shall we go?"

He narrowed his eyes and his mouth was a thin line. Obviously, he didn't like my idea as much as I did but obviously he had never gone out that much anyway so what did he know?

"Alright, Yuuki-san. Let me just call-

"No!" I quickly snatched up his phone before he could do so much as press a button. "Call your bodyguards? Where's the fun in that? We'll go out there by ourselves."

Kyouya stood up and I hated how he was at least two inches taller than I was. He looked at me like I was insane but thankfully didn't try to get his phone back. He crossed his arms over his chest and said, "That's an unreasonable request, Yuuki-san. You of all people know that we can't go out unsupervised. Besides, my guards might be persuaded but I doubt yours can be."

"It's Emiko, Kyouya. And don't be silly." I tapped him light on the nose, a move which earned me a satisfying jolt from the guy. "Neither mine or your guards need to be persuaded for anything. After all, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."

A look of open disbelief crossed his face. For a moment, I was afraid that he wouldn't agree after all and that he'd just ignore me for the entirety of the afternoon. However, he quickly recovered himself and said in a calm voice. "We'll never get past my mansion's security."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. He threw me a look that was part offended and part exasperated. "Kyouya, I honestly don't mean to offend you but I've sneaked out of tighter security before so you need not worry there."

He scoffed again and continued. "And your highly trained bodyguards? Who have been given strict orders to watch over you?"

"Oh please. Lars and Nikolai are good men but they have their blind spots. Trust me, I've spent weeks studying them. We'll be fine."

Kyouya took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose – yet another first of many, many, many in the years to come. With his eyes shut, he replied. "And if we get caught?"

"We won't. I never get caught." Which was true. Mostly. But he didn't need to hear about what happened in Macau.

After a few seconds of silence, I poked him on the shoulder. He looked at me with tired eyes and I grinned encouragingly at him. "Come on, Kyouya. It'll be alright, really. We won't even stay there too long, promise. And, on the slim chance that we do get caught, we'll just say that it was all my idea."

"Which it is."

"Which it is, yes. So... what do you say?" I held out my hand to him and he glanced down on it dubiously.

Another few seconds of silence before he finally said, "I suppose it's better than chess, Yu- Emiko."

He hesitatingly took hold of my hand and I was surprised at how warm he was. I squeezed his hand reassuringly and said, "Alright then. Let's go on an adventure, Kyouya."

Author's Note: Ok, full disclosure. I've been away from this fandom for years - literal years - and I honestly thought I was over it. Well, maybe not 'over' it but just not as into it as before. I still love Ouran as much as I loved it before when I first got into it but, admittedly, I've stopped coming to the OHSHC fanfic archives. However, I recently started flipping through my old 'fanfic ideas' notebook that I kept a lifetime ago and got nostalgic. I also got pretty bummed that none of my ideas ever even got rough draft. So this thing - this supposedly short one-shot but apparently I couldn't stop myself from planning out a heck ton of details so now it's multi-chaptered? I don't know - was made as a sort of rebuke to my past self for not even trying to write even one of the ideas. Funny thing is, this story has turned out to be so different from my original idea. In fact, I'm not even sure I'll incorporate the one scene that kickstarted the fanfic idea in the first place. Maybe I will... Maybe I won't. I honestly don't know.

Reviews would be much appreciated!