I don't even know anymore. I apologize for being so late.
Note: This story is loosely based off a Korean webtoon known as HOOD. All credits do not go to me but that author.
"This is going to be shitty." Kise can't help but grumble. His mother immediately hits him on the head.
"Hey! The stylist took forever in getting my hair right. What'd you do that for?" He complains as he tries to rearrange back to the way it was.
"No words out of you. This a very prestigious family, and you're extremely lucky to have this opportunity, you got it? The daughter barely even goes out and is extremely stingy when it comes to picking a suitor. Luckily for us, she picked you. You are not going to ruin it, do you understand?" His mother reprimands. Kise merely groans.
"But really? Arranged marriage? At a time like this? It's not like it's the Middle Ages or anything! And I'm still too young!"
"You've just graduated university. You are not that young."
"Says the person who's hit fifty." Kise mumbles and that comment alone awards him another hit to the head.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that comment." She says and looks out the window, a sure sign that she didn't want to deal with Kise's antics anymore. His father, a good looking man with golden hair, much like Kise, chuckled as he patted his wife on the shoulder.
"Ryouta, it's only a dinner."
"But I know what you guys are planning. I don't even know how the girl even looks like! How am I supposed to marry her if I don't even know who she is?"
"We don't know for sure if you are going to marry her. She has to see for herself as well, you know." His mother cuts in.
"Oh, so she's another one of those who only looks at physical appearance?" Kise harrumphes while crossing his arms in a childish manner.
"Don't look at us as if we're the ones at fault. You did get the best genes, I will admit." His father says smugly and his mother laughs. Kise can't even deal with their loving manner. It absolutely disgusts him.
"Are we almost there yet?" Kise complains and his father can't help but laugh and ruffles his hair. "Hey! I just said the stylist took forever it getting my hair done!"
"Even at the age of 23, you're still just our little Ryouta, aren't you?" He says with a smile on his face. Kise groans once more.
"You're not seriously going to reminisce about my childhood when you're shipping me off to lost cause, are you? That's just low, dad."
"That's how life is, Ryouta. We have to keep maintaining a high status in this society and to do that, we need our bloodline to marry and reproduce into the next high status generation. You understand, don't you?" Kise glares at his mother.
"So I'm just a tool is what you're saying, aren't you? It's all about the money for you, isn't it? Is that why you married dad? Because he was in a high position?"
"Ryouta!" Both parents yell at the same time and he realizes that he stepped off the line.
"Sorry." Kise mumbles and the limo is soon filled with silence. Then, it stops abruptly and Kise, who had been looking out the window, sees a small paper floating off into the distance.
"What's the matter? Did something happen?" His father asks the driver and the driver immediately bows his head in shame.
"I apologize greatly but I lost the paper slip with the directions on it. We've arrived but unfortunately, I don't remember which apartment number it was. Please forgive me." The driver says with a shaky voice and his father sighs.
"Well, at least we arrived. I'll just call him and get the apartment number. Thank you for driving us. You may go back to the mansion. I'll call you when we need you to come again."
The driver bows once more and turns off the engine. He rushes out and opens the doors for everyone to get off with their fancy suits and dress. The people roaming outside the luxurious apartment can't help but stare at the beauty that is the Kise family. Young girls especially start to fawn when they see Kise Ryouta, famous model and actor, right in front of them.
His father tsks as he puts his phone away. "He's not picking up his phone. Ryouta, can you ask someone which number the Kuroko family is in?"
Kise nods. "Sure," he says and looks around to see if anyone would know.
The Kuroko family was, despite its name being very well known and very rich, a conservative family who refused any kinds of interviews or public displays. No one knew much about them except that they were a family of three - the father, mother, and daughter - and the daughter was looking for a suitor that would marry into the family, who would ultimately become extremely wealthy as well. To this day, only Kise got the call that they would be having dinner, and he hadn't even known he participated in trying out to be a suitor. He has to blame his mother for that.
No one really sticks out to him and he's going to give up and ask one of the girls who had been standing right in front of him, fluttering her eyelashes in the hope of being noticed, when he sees a glimpse of unruly teal hair coming out of a building right next to the apartment he's at. He focuses greatly at that spot and jumps in surprise when he sees a man walking towards him. He was so sure there was no one there when he first inspected the place but nonetheless, he runs up to the person. Up close he can see just how small and pale he is.
"Uh, excuse me, sorry to disturb you but can I ask you something?" Kise asks and the man looks at him with slightly wider eyes. Is he surprised?
The man nods soon afterwards once he regains his poker face.
Kise smiles. "Do you have any idea where the Kuroko family lives? We're a bit lost and we have a dinner scheduled now."
The man does nothing for a few seconds, making Kise uncomfortable with the silence, but then he nods and Kise sighs in relief.
"Can you tell me the apartment number?" Kise asks but instead, the man starts walking and mid-step, he turns back and gestures at Kise to follow him. Kise's eyebrow raises but shrugs it off and tells his parents that he found someone who knew.
"What's the number?" His father asks and Kise shakes his head.
"He's going to show us the way." Kise replies and points at the teal-haired man in front of him. His father's eyes narrow. "Who?"
Kise's mother smacks him on the head. "Don't joke with us, young man."
"Ow, I'm not joking! He's right here!" Kise shouts and his parents jump when they finally see the man right in front of them, staring at them with blank eyes.
"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry. We didn't see you there." His father immediately apologizes but the man says nothing. He merely bows before turning back and walking again. Kise is one step behind him and soon afterwards, his parents follow.
"Did you see him in front of us?" His mother whispers to the father and he shakes his head.
"I had no clue."
"He almost gave me a heart attack, I swear. It's like he's a ghost or something."
Kise gets red tick marks. "You know, we can kind of hear everything." He comments and his mother blushes in embarrassment when she meets the person's gaze.
They arrive in front of the elevator and the person presses PH, the highest button. Kise's just about to say thank you for the help when the man enters the elevator with them. It's bigger than expected so it wasn't crowded with four people but Kise still feels uncomfortable. His parents are off in the corner whispering to each other about business related information, so he's alone with the mysterious person. He decides to be friendly.
"Thanks for helping us." Kise starts and the man simply nods. Kise rubs the back of his neck as his eyes stay on the teal-haired man.
"Uh, my name's Kise Ryouta. And yours?" He tries once more. The man stiffens for a split second but it's long enough for Kise to see. He scrunches his eyebrows in confusion.
"Hey, are you ok?" He asks in worry but before the man can do anything, the elevator opens up and a gigantic golden door awaits them. Kise can't even suppress his surprise as his eyes grow wide. Was it even possible to have that big of door in an apartment? Even his parents are shocked.
"As expected of the Kuroko family. They truly do live in greatness, don't they?" His father comments and his mother just nods, obviously still surprised.
"Ah, thank you for -" Kise tries to thank the person once more but his words are cut off when the man opens up the password lock and punches in several numbers in secret. The door soon opens and the four are greeted by an array of maids and butlers.
"Welcome home, Tetsuya-sama." They all say in unison and the man bows before heading in. He turns back for a second before walking inside and Kise's mouth falls open. The person was part of the Kuroko family? Didn't they just have a daughter?
"Ah, you must be the Kise family. Please, come in." One of the maids says as she ushers them in and another leaves the room to inform the head of the Kuroko family. They all enter and as soon as they take off their shoes, a man with black hair and a confident aura surrounding him enters the room.
"Welcome to our home. Did you have trouble coming?" He asks and Kise's father shakes his head with a smile on him.
"Not at all. Thank you for inviting us." He says and the two men shakes hands.
"Kyoko, come on out. Our guests have arrived." He calls out and soon, a petite, beautiful woman with the same shocking teal hair as the man appears with a soft smile on her face.
"Hello." She says timidly and she also shakes hands with Kise's father.
"Hello. Ah, it seems we haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Kise Akito and this my wife, Hikari."
"Well, I'm Kuroko Eiji and my wife, Kyoko. You may call us my our given names." Eiji says and Akito nods.
"You may do the same. Oh, and this is our son, Kise Ryouta."
"Hello, nice to meet you." Kise puts on his fake cheerful appearance. He gives the Kuroko family his signature model smile.
"Our daughter is still getting ready, so why don't we go to the dinner table? She'll join us shortly." Eiji says and as they move to the dinner table, Kise finds himself almost drooling with the variety of food laid out on the table and Kyoko laughs a bit.
"My, you must be hungry. Hope you enjoy the food." She says and Kise blushes slightly before nodding.
"Thank you." They all take a seat as maids go back and forth, serving them water and putting more food on the table. Eiji looks at the clock before sighing.
"Why do women take so long in getting ready? Teru, honey, are you done yet?" He calls out.
"Almost!" A high pitched, softer voice rings out and Eiji shakes his head before smiling at Akito.
"Women." He says and laughs when Kyoko slaps him on the shoulder lightly.
"We don't take that much time, Eiji-kun." Kyoko reprimands jokingly.
"Tell me that when you take less than an hour to get ready for a simple dinner date, sweetie." Eiji counters and everyone at the dinner table laughs. Then, someone enters the room and Eiji gives her a big smile.
"What took you so long?" He asks the petite woman and she twirls.
"Getting all the right stuff in all the right places." She responds and when her eyes fall on Kise, she smiles even bigger.
"Hi, I'm Kuroko Teru. Nice to meet you." She says before giving everyone a curtsy. Kise stands up respectfully and bows.
"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Kise Ryouta." He says with his model smile and she blushes, just like every other woman does. She runs up to her father and squeals how she made the right choice before taking a seat right next to Kise.
Then, Kise notices that the person who had helped them before hasn't come out yet. They're all getting ready to eat but Kise stops them at the last second.
"Excuse me, but aren't we still missing someone?" He asks and the ambience suddenly gets cold as the Kuroko family all narrow their eyes.
"Who are we missing?" Eiji says in a cold tone, one they never heard before, and Kise gulps.
"There was a man about Kuroko-san's age who helped us a bit earlier in getting here." Kise explains while pointing to Teru, and Eiji's eyebrow raises.
"Is that so? Well, he won't be joining us any time soon. Please dig in." And with that, the conversation ends and the regular cheerful mood returns.
Teru leans in closer to Kise. "So, Kise-san, what do you do for a living? I heard you already graduated from the Tokyo university."
"I work as a full time model now. I've had the job since I was in middle school."
"For that long?" Teru exclaims with a smile on her face. "You do have the looks for it. Maybe I can see some of your pictures. I'm sure they would be very beautiful."
"Thank you. Are you still attending university, Kuroko-san?"
"I am, and you may call me Teru, if you wish." She says and Kise shakes his head.
"I dislike calling people by their given names until I've gotten closer to them. Thank you for the offer but I'll have to decline."
Teru nods. "Understandable. Well, maybe after we've become closer, you can call me by my given name and I yours."
"Maybe so." Kise gives her a fake a smile and the dinner goes on like this, with fake smiles and the uncomfortable feeling Kise can't shake off. He's sure it's because of the aloof man he had met before. He had a feeling that something wasn't right, both with him and the family, and as a naturally curious person, he needed to figure it out.
So, halfway through the dinner, he excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Eiji calls a maid to guide him through the house and once he's far enough from them, he drags the maid to a corner. She, surprised, follows him involuntarily and he shushes her when they stop.
"Who's the man who came with us?" He asks and the maid, who just got out of her stupor, looks at Kise strangely.
"Tetsuya-sama? He's the twin brother of Teru-sama, though she doesn't want to admit that she has a brother."
"What? I thought the Kuroko family only had a daughter. They had twins?" Kise says in shock and the maid bits her lip.
"I'm sorry, but I can't say more." She tries to escape but he grips her arm.
"Wait, where is he right now? I want to see him. Please?" He begs and the maid looks at him conflicted before sighing and leading him to a paint door that doesn't seem to be adorn with anything, unlike the other rooms.
"I will stay with you here since Eiji-sama asked me to guide you, but please hurry or else he will think something is suspicious."
"Why would he think that, though?"
"I'm sorry. I cannot say. Please, hurry." The maid evades the question and Kise decides to let it be for the time being. He knocks on the door softly but there's no answer. The maid takes over and knocks once more.
"Tetsuya-sama, Kise-sama is here to see you." There's a silence before the two hear ruffling sounds and the door slowly opens. Kise's golden eyes meet with sky blue ones and they seem curious to see what's going on.
He opens the door all the way and looks at the maid. She, in turn, rubs the back of her neck.
"I'm sorry to disturb you Tetsuya-sama, but Kise-sama wanted to talk to you about something." The man, or Kuroko Tetsuya, starts making weird gestures with his hands and Kise realizes that he's talking to the maid using ASL.
"Yes, I know he's supposed to be at dinner but he insisted on meeting you." She says.
"You know ASL?" Kise asks in surprise and the maid nods.
"Please, say what you need to but we really do need to go back soon." The maid says desperately and Kise nods.
"Hey, why aren't you joining us? Aren't you part of this family?" Kise decides to say bluntly and the maid gasps in shock. Kuroko, however, has no reaction whatsoever. He looks at the maid and makes more hand gestures and she nods.
"He says that he's not hungry as he already ate and it would only be awkward if he joined them."
"But why? It'd definitely be more lively with you around."
More hand gestures. "He says it wouldn't be. And he's asking you to go back and entertain his sister; that she probably feels lonely right now. I agree. Kise-sama, I apologize but we really need to go." The maid says and Kise sighs, relenting.
"Ok, sorry. I'll be right there. I'm sorry I bothered you." Kise says and the man nods before closing the door.
Kise doesn't want to leave, wanting to ask him more questions, so the maid has to pull him away from the door. They start walking back to the dinner table and the maid looks at Kise with an unreadable look.
"Is he deaf? He seemed to understand everything I said." He whispers and the maid shakes her head, surprising Kise..
"No, he isn't."
"What? He's not? But you were using ASL with him!" Kise comments and the maid bites her lip. It's evident that wasn't supposed to come out. "Wait, if he's not deaf then, what's wrong with him?"
The maid shakes her head. They're almost back at the dinner table. "That is something Tetsuya-sama must say for himself. Even we do not know. Now come. Everyone is waiting for you."
And before Kise knew it, he got himself caught up into something he would never get out of.
Like I said, I don't even know anymore. I've been away for too long and instead of uploading something you guys were probably waiting for, I ended up with something like this. I've had this idea for way too long and I really wanted to write about this, so I did. And I hope you liked it.
It's obvious from the lack of uploads that I won't be able to write as much as I used to, much less for Fanfic. It's terrible because I'm losing more passion for my stories everyday but hey, let bygones be bygones.
Hope you like this story and please prevail with me even when it seems like I'm dead.
Peace,
FlyAndDontLookBack