DISCLAIMER: I don't own OHSHC. I never will. Also, when you hear Tachibana, it is in no way related to the bodyguard of Kyoya, Seizaburo Tachibana. It's a mere coincidence. So please don't mind it.
Also, I'm quite an amateur, it's my first story. You'd probably get bored somewhere in the middle, I can't blame you. So criticism is much encouraged. You have no idea how much it hurts me when no one comments. Even if the comments are flames. At least try and finish the prologue to the end.
Enjoy, fellow readers~
Diary Journal Entry #1
Papa has always stayed by my side. Papa has always stayed by my side ever since mommy told me that she was leaving for a really long business trip. But it has already been 3 years and mommy still hasn't come back. That's what's been on my mind for a while. Papa said that from now on, I should write what's on my mind in this journal. He said it would 'help me in the future' and be something to 'look back on'. I still don't see why this is important, but since papa asked me to, I'll do it.
So from now on, I'll be writing on you a lot, I hope you and I can get along just adequately! [Adequately was my word for the day, I finally used it!]
DATE: November 27
WORD FOR THE DAY: adequately
The 7-year old girl looked proudly at her own work of messy handwriting as she put down her writing utensil, a thick, reddish-orange crayon. She reflexively turned the next pages one by one, her eyes meeting up with blank, lined paper, waiting to be soiled with letters, words, pictures, and doodles. An eccentric sensation coursed through her body at the thought of what she would fill in the notebook. After the sensation had passed, she then closed the thing along with its leather organizer case, sealing it tightly by tying a double knot at the side.
Before picking it up from her study table, she stroked the outer leathering, tracing the swirled pattern the cover had. However, once she picked up the organizer, she fell down on the floor, almost instantaneously, due to the extreme weight and thickness of the thing. So, she stood up, dusting her dress, then tried to lift up the massive organizer once more, using both her hands. Sadly, it was still too heavy for her.
"PAPA, HELP ME!" she shouted out. Her papa came in the room as soon as humanly possible, as she could hear his frantic footsteps growing louder, moving from down to upstairs. He opened the door to see a red-faced girl, steaming with frustration, and giving a death glare at the organizer that seemed to look like it had been carelessly plopped on the floor. Her papa picked up the organizer while aligning the unkempt pages of the notebook inside. He placed it once more on her study table and untied the knot.
The little girl moved her hands to cover the notebook, "No peeking!" she barked out, still retaining her reddened cheeks, now holding embarrassment. The papa complied, letting the matter go, "Okay, okay. I won't peek." he answered back, showing his hands in a 'settle down' manner. He moved one of his hands to the back of his head. "Shizuka, be careful next time, okay? If the notebook is too heavy for you, then you can remove the unused pages, since it's a spiral notebook." He informed her. The lttle 7-year old girl, Shizuka, stared at the side wiring before uncoiling the spiralled wire at the side, letting a few of the last pages slip out of the notebook.
"Like this, papa?" she asked cheerfully, repeating the same process again.
"Yes, like that." He chuckled, "Now it shouldn't as heavy anymore."
After, fixing the coil back into place, and shutting the notebook once more, Shizuka tried lifting the organizer one more time, literally heaving it up with all her might. She managed to lift it, making a triumphant grin, before it fell once more on the desk. She gave a small pout, then broke in genuine laughter at her silly attempt. In between muffled giggles, she almost indistiguishably said, "It looks like I'll have to remove more pages, papa!" this didn't go on unheard, as in response, her papa laughed along with her.
Shizuka repeated the process, once more, now having removed half the entire pages of the notebook. The removed papers had been neatly stacked next to her on the other side of the desk. Her father watched her every movement, his face in warm approval. She then wiped her forehead with her arm, being a little worn out from the small task, and closed it shut for the sixth time today. She tested its overall weight, satisfied with the result. "It's still a little bit heavy, but I think it's good enough!" she whole-heartedly let out.
"Well, that won't be much of a problem, but if you remove anymore pages, there might not be enough papers t-"
"Ahem," the father-daughter pair turned around to face the scruffy voice that interrupted the two of them so abruptly, "I'd hate to ruin the moment, Mr. Tachibana, but can we get along with our meeting? I think you've stayed here quite long enough already." the voice belonged to an old man who looked like he was somewhere in his mid-50s. He was impatiently tapping his fingers on his own crossed arms over his chest.
To this, Shizuka's papa gave a distressed look, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Ootori," he turned to face Shizuka, and kneeled down to make eye contact while wrapping his hands on top of Shizuka's petite shoulders. "Papa will be doing some important stuff downstairs, so don't disturb us, okay, Shizuka?" the little daddy's girl nodded in all smiles at this, not completely understanding, but still complying for her old man's sake, "I will, papa, I won't disturb you!" she gave a copied 'soldier's salute' to him.
Before they left, the other old-looking man gave a dark look at Shizuka. The look disappeared as quickly as it came. Shizuka grew uneasy at this, but then calmed down, once her papa closed the door, giving one last warm smile at her before doing so.
"Creepy man." Shizuka muttered under her breath, wondering who this 'Mr. Ootori' was.
Shizuka then began to sit down on the carpeted part of the floor, with absolutely nothing to do, and nothing that's on her mind to write in her journal. She held her writing crayon in front of her lips while crossing her arms, depicting a 'thinking position'. After a few minutes of pondering, the door opened once more. The action went unnoticed by Shizuka, since she was not facing the door.
"May I come in?" a small, monotonous voice had asked, making Shizuka jump in sudden fear. She involutarily pointed her crayon as if it were a dagger at the direction of where the Voice came from.
"W-WHO WAS THAT?" she stuttered, still being a little jumpy from the surprise. The voice belonged to a boy around an inch taller than Shizuka, giving a bored, yet expressionless look that somehow showed a hint of annoyance behind it. Shizuka, being the clumsy person that she is, began to copy the distressed look that her papa had a while ago. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said with apology, "Please forgive me, I thought you were someone else!" she laughed uneasily, scratching the back of her head. Shizuka extended her other hand, letting him in. The boy accepted the notion, slowly walking in to the girl's room. He looked around a little suspiciously before sitting down on one of her chairs, feeling quite restless at the change in enviorment.
"So um, what's your name?"
"Ootori Kyoya."
"Oh! So you're that guy's son!"
"..."
"Right?"
"...Yes."
"So, how old are you?"
"7."
"Oh, hey, I'm seven too! Seven's my favourite number. What's yours?"
"I don't have a favourite number."
"..."
"..."
'This guy's impossible to talk to!' Shizuka thought in frustration, keeping a fake smile. However, she stopped continuing, as the so-called Kyoya let out a deep sigh of gloominess, standing up and walking back to the door. While he was doing so, he lowly added, "My father told me to stay here so that I wouldn't disturb his meeting. But it seems that-" he paused for a moment before letting out an exasperated breath, "-maybe it was a mistake coming here." He murmured while grasping the door handle.
But before he could leave, Shizuka intervened by placing her hands on top of his, preventing him from twisting the handle.
"No! No, wait, please stay for a while!" she begged, showing a look of alert panic, "I don't want to be left alone! Your dad outside is really scary! Don't go ou-" she covered her mouth instantaneously, immediately regretting what she just spoke out; fearful of what Kyoya might think.
Kyoya gave a clueless look, no longer expressionless. He let go the handle after a few moments of distraught thought, and finally answered with a small, yet slightly evil looking smirk, "Let's just get this straight, you think my dad is scary?"
Shizuka seemed to have shrunk at the evil glare he was giving. She nodded shakily, her teeth chattering with cold fear. Kyoya continued, showing a little teeth from his ever-growing grin, "Because he looks creepy?"
"yes." she silently whispered.
"And that he stares at things really intensly?"
"Yes."
"And that he has this loud, authoritive voice?"
"YES."
"And your scared-" she cut him off, "YES!" she was already colored with a rosy red, staining her entire face, "Yes, yes, YES! Okay, I'm scared of your dad!" she stomped on the floor with one of her feet to prove her point, covered her eyes, and waited for Kyoya to make a comeback. Then,
"Good. I'm scared of him too." he said with a ever-polite, yet so out of place smile.
"I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T- wait what?" she opened her eyes in sudden curiosity. For a second, she felt as if she didn't here him say what she thought he said. Shizuka couldn't help but ask, "What did you say just now?"
Kyoya rolled his eyes to the side, "I said, I'm scared of him too." he repeated, this time a little bit slower. Shizuka was at a loss for words. After the realization of the situation hit her, she lightly slapped him in the face, in a slow motion, moving his face to the side as if she was trying to wipe off that grin.
"You know, even if we just met, you shouldn't just scare me like that. Its mean." she said playfully. Shizuka then gave a genuine smile for the first time in front of Kyoya. She suddenly grabbed his arm and ran off to another room. The sudden change in mood startled Kyoya as he was dragged along the cold floor by Shizuka.
"You," she pointed at him, while still pacing the floor, "can almost be as scary as your father." Kyoya nodded, waiting for her to continue. "And you," Shizuka stopped walking as she pushed the door leading to the backyard, "need to have fun." she finished. Kyoya looked at the new scenery in front of him as Shizuka lent out a helping hand to help him stand up. He dusted his t-shirt, despite the fact that it wasn't dirty. Shizuka flexed her muscles, stretching them out before running off to bathe in the daylight. Kyoya silently complied, following behind her.
They stopped at a particularly big tree and sat down in the shade of its leaves.
"Okay, now, I can tell that if I had your father, I would be just like you." she tutored him, as if she were an educator. "But now's the time you can learn how to smile more!" she emphasized the word 'smile' by pinching his cheeks to form a failed attempt of a happy face. She continued to pinch his cheeks until they had a red, swollen tinge to them.
"Seriously, Kyoya, don't let your mean, old dad tell you what to do! You need to have the thing called 'freedom'!"
"But if I go against my father's wishes, he'll either slap me or force me to do so." he murmured incoherently. Shizuka picked him up once more from the ground. Kyoya silently noted that she was a pushy girl, even if she was 7. From her room, to the backyard, to something that looked like a fancy outhouse filled with all her toys.
"Which is why, to start with it, you should learn how to let loose! Have fun and all that!"
"Like what?"
"Like flying kites! Playing games like tag and hide-and-seek! Don't you have the time for that?"
"I use all my time for my studies and research."
Shizuuka stopped talking, because she was busy digging through her things. She brought out a few things, a box of chalk, 2 yellow and red standard diamond-shaped kites, colored papers, and scissors "My god, it's worse than I thought! From now on, it is my sworn duty to make you let loose and smile! Here, let's start with these," she opened a fresh pack of colored paper, giving a violet one to Kyoya, and an orange one for her.
"Let's start by folding paper rabbits!"
"Mr. Ootori, you do realize that our company supplies less than enough money that is needed, and yet you still want it to become partners with your wealthy business?" Mr. Tachibana gave a large huff, calming down. "But just a while ago, you said that my company isn't even worth noticing! Even I could attest to that, our company isn't going anywhere!"
"Mr. Tachibana, yes, I stated clearly a while ago that I would break our ties, and even you agreed to it-" the Ootori tilted his head to the glass framed doors at his side, showing the backyard, "-but that was before you told me you had a daughter." as if on cue, Kyoya and Shizuka were seen playing in the backyard, running around, flying red and yellow kites.
At the mention of his daughter, he stood frozen still.
"And what about my daughter, Mr. Ootori?" he spoke slowly in caution.
"You see, The Ootori Family has much power and wealth, but all that power means nothing if it can't continue." he started, "So I was thinking of making an arranged marriage between my third son and, Shizuka, was it?"
Hours had passed, and the two of them had decided to stay indoors, and in the kitchen, when it started to rain. "Would you like some tea with that, Princess Tachibana?" Kyoya asked with the most polite accent he could conjure. Apparently, within those hours, Shizuka had accomplished the impossible and managed to make Kyoya let loose, fulfilling her previously sworn oath when they had started.
The question was answered by small giggles, "Yes, Prince Ootori, with extra sugar please!" Shizuka had raised the cup from her authentic tea set as Kyoya tilted the teapot, allowing the warm, steamy, and therapeutic substance to pour into the cup. The couple snickered at their own acting, continuing to eat the batch of cookies they both made, with the help of Shizuka's maid.
Shizuka kept leaving crumbs after every bite she devoured, being a messy and clumsy person. Kyoya went over to her and gave her his personal handkerchief, cleaning her face.
"Hey! That's such a waste of such a good handkerchief!" she scolded him, playfully slapping away his hand.
"It's okay, Princess, I have lots of extras at home." He smiled warmly.
Shizuka could feel her face beginning to heat up. She refused to make eye contact with him, moving her attention to the tray of pastries, and immediately stuffing them in her mouth. After swallowing, she said,
"You're a natural at this, you know that?"
"A natural at what?"
"You know... being a host."
Silence ensued.
"Hey Kyoya, can I keep the handkerchief?" she looked down at the floor, still refusing to meet up with his onyx eyes.
"Sure."
More silence ensued.
Before long, faint words could be heard downstairs. Their fathers must have finished up their business. The two inwardly cringed, hoping that they didn't have to part so soon. But sadly, footsteps had distinctly grown louder, until,
"Kyoya, we're leaving now. Let's go."
Shizuka widened her eyes, abruptly stood up, and ran to Kyoya's father. She tugged the side of the man's sleeve, "Wait! Can I say one last thing to him?" she pleaded.
Mr. Ootori gave a strange look, before agreeing, "Go ahead." he gestured his hand, as if to introduce or welcome.
"Okay!" Shizuka immediately ran back to Kyoya, grabbing both of his hands. She slightly saddened after seeing the expressionless facade on his face again, but then let a small smile, knowing she had already succeeded in cracking that facade. "Now, Kyoya, listen carefully!"
Kyoya looked up at her, listening attentively, "Don't forget to write letters to me all the time! We can only talk to each other by mail, because I don't have a phone yet. So don't forget! We'll be pen pals from now on, okay?" Kyoya looked surprised; he had finally found himself a real friend. He nodded slowly in response before Shizuka letting her grip on his wrists loosen.
She firmly held his hand until they reached the front doorstep. Mr. Ootori gave the same dark glare that he had given to Shizuka, but this time, it was directed at Kyoya. After Shizuka's papa handed them their umbrella, opening it for them, Kyoya turned his head back, giving one last smile to Shizuka, despite his eyes showing a feeling of gloominess. Shizuka sullenly waved goodbye back to him before he entered the limousine.
The moment the front door was shut tightly by her papa, she went upstairs to her room and scrambled for her leather organizer once more. Unknotting the knot she had made, and then opening the inner notebook, she picked up her crayon once more, and continued to write.
Diary Journal Entry #1 [CONTINUED]
Today, I met the most gentlemanly boy in the world, Ootori Kyoya. We flied kites, played games like hide and seek, tag, and red light, green light. We also read lots of book in the main library, folded some paper rabbits and butterflies, and baked yummy cookies.
Underneath her handwriting, she scribbled a small drawing of Kyoya. [She had a decent talent for drawing.] Complete with his signature glasses, short black hair, and smiling face.
I don't think I'll see him again, because his father is really mean, so I told him that we'll talk by mail. After I find out his address, I'll write to him all the time. Then maybe when he grows up, he'll be the same sweet boy that he'll be now, and I can give back his handkerchief and we can eat cookies together again.
Dear Journal, I hope that I'll see him again, and that he'll be safe from his father's meanness.
DATE: November 27
WORD FOR THE DAY: adequately
She re-read her work, a dreamy emotion of wishful thinking shown in her expression. She absentmindedly started drawing hearts around the drawing of Kyoya, giggling to herself. While her head was in the clouds, her blissful thoughts were interrupted by her father, calling her.
"SWEETIE, PLEASE COME DOWN HERE AND TELL ME, WHY IS THE KITCHEN IN SUCH A MESS?" she literally jumped up when he interrupted her train of thought. Then she hurriedly ran down, with a spring in her step, making her frolic and skip to the kitchen, huming a light tune to herself, still having not snapped out of her daydream.
Shizuka and Kyoya never met again.
10 years had passed, and Shizuka still wishes to see Kyoya.
Soon she will see, just how much her sweet Kyoya has changed.
Just to inform you, this isn't a one-shot, I'm sure you know that. Also, some of you must be thinking: "NO! NO! IT'S A MARY SUE FIC!"
Well, I'd be pleased to tell you, from here on out, our heroine won't be dishing out Mary Sue goodness, having tea parties (quite literally) with canon characters anymore. It's only in the prologue.
Thank you for reading until the last line. (for now.)
