Kyoya Ootori and Asami Mikuriya used to be the best of friends. They met when they were young at a party both their families had been invited to. Most everyone there were adults, with the only people close to Kyoya and Asami's age being their siblings. Yuichi and Akito Ootori were Kyoya's older brothers, but they kept to themselves mostly. Hayato Mikuriya was Asami's older brother and only four years older than Asami. He was nothing like the Ootori boys though, Hayato loved his sister whole heartedly and didn't spend each day lusting after the position of head of his father's company. While Asami took after her mother's English looks with her pale hair and dark blue eyes, Hayato looked more like their father with dark eyes and black hair. If it wasn't for their birth records proving they came from the same parents, most people wouldn't believe they were related in the slightest.
The party that night was a formal attire only night. Some of the richest, most powerful people in Japan people were attending. It was the night of the winter solstice. Most people were at home eating kabocha or taking hot yuzu baths, but the rich families of Japan got together for an elegant ball. Men wearing black and white suits paired by ladies dressed in beautiful, elegant dresses crowded the elaborately decorated ballroom. Hayato had picked out Asami's dress that night to match his tie. It was the same dark blue as her eyes with gems that shimmered like stars in the night sky. The two siblings stood near the stairs leading to the ballroom waiting for their parents.
"You look absolutely adorable Asami," Hayato chuckled and tried to ruffle her pale blonde hair.
Asami quickly dodged his hand and crossed her arms in annoyance, "Don't touch my hair! You know how long mom took curling it!"
"But I just can't help it, you look so cute!" Hayato wrapped Asami in his arms swinging her back and forth despite her kicking and telling him to let her go.
Fortunately the siblings weren't in the view of the guests. It would be quite embarrassing if people saw that the Mikuriya's children couldn't even keep themselves composed at an event such as this one.
"Alright, you asked for it!" Asami swiftly kicked her knee into an area where she knew her brother would be hurt the most; a place where the sun doesn't shine.
Hayato yelped in pain, "What was that for!?"
"Asami, you aren't getting into fights with your brother again, are you?" Asami heard her mother's calming voice from behind her.
Hayato and Asami turned around to see their mother standing next to their father smiling down at them. Elizabeth Mikuriya was a vision in white. Her dress was long and simple, but elegant.
"You look like an angel mommy," Little Asami looked up at her mother with a look of awe and admiration apparent on her face.
Elizabeth smiled down at her beaming daughter, "Thank you my darling, but I think the prettiest angel around here is you."
"Angels don't wear blue," Asami looked down at her shimmery dark blue dress.
Her mother crouched down to Asami's level and smoothed down her hair, "Well I guess tonight they're making an exception."
The four walked down the grand staircase leading to the party. Everyone in the room seemed to quiet down a little as they gazed at the Mikuriya family. It was true they were quite a striking family with their greatly differing, yet beautiful, looks. Elizabeth and Tatsuo Mikuriya were quickly bombarded by guests wanting to talk business with Tatsuo or fashion and gossip with Elizabeth. Asami's mother's dress was a hit and everyone wanted to know where she got it from. Despite most of the ladies wearing white gowns similar to Elizabeth, they all seemed to envy her. Because of the wintery atmosphere of the ball most of the women there were dressed in white. Hayato and Asami quickly realized no one was going to talk to them and made a mutual decision to check out the buffet table. A wide assortment of food was spread out on the long table. Whoever had thrown the elaborate party had made sure there was enough of a variety of food there to please everyone. Asami went for some warm, buttery looking rolls at the end of the table, while Hayato scooped up some pasta.
On the other side of the ballroom were the Ootori family. Yoshio Ootori stood with his sons beside him, Yuichi and Akito on his left and Kyoya on his right. He bent down a little to accustom to their heights.
Yoshio spoke to Yuichi and Akito first, "You see that boy over there at the buffet?" He pointed over at Hayato. "That is Hayato Mikuriya. He is the heir to the Mikuriya Company and only a little bit younger that you, Akito. His family is very powerful and it would be nice to have them on our good side. Things are a little tense between his father and I at the moment, so you two are to go over there and make friends with him. Is that understood?
Yuichi nodded the same time Akito said, "Yes, father."
"Good," Yoshio turned to Kyoya next as his older sons made their way to Hayato. He pointed over at Asami at the other end of the buffet, "That is Asami Mikuriya. She will be attending school with you when the winter break is over and I have it on good authority that you two will be having classes together. I want you to make friends with her as well."
"Of course," Kyoya began walking over to Asami.
He kept his eye on her pale moonbeam hair and midnight blue dress. Kyoya had never seen hair like hers in real life. Asami looked to be the same height as Kyoya, but he couldn't see her face yet to see if she looked young for her age or not. Kyoya took a deep breath in and tapped her shoulder. Here goes nothing, he thought to himself and internally sighed. Hopefully she wasn't the same obnoxious, spoiled brat his father usually introduced him to. Asami turned around surprised with a mouth full of bread. It took everything in Kyoya not to gasp. She was surprisingly beautiful for five. Her eyes were wide and the same dark blue as her dress. He quickly composed himself and gave a charming smile, which didn't seem to spark any emotion in her.
"Hello there, I'm Kyoya Ootori," Kyoya stuck out his hand. Despite being only five Kyoya was already quite matured. That often happened with children of higher ranking families.
Asami used one hand to cover her mouth and her other to shake Kyoya's outstretched hand, "I'm Asami Mikuriya. It's nice to meet you Kyoya."
"The pleasure is all mine," Kyoya spoke like a true gentleman. "It seems like we are some of the only people around here our age."
"What of it?" Asami turned back to the table and took another delectable roll.
Kyoya shrugged, "I just thought we should get to know each other since most likely no one else will want to talk to us. Would you like to go for a walk with me?"
"What, like go exploring?" Asami's face lit up.
Kyoya looked flustered, "Well that's not exactly what-"
"Yay! I love going on adventures!" Asami grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the ballroom and towards the stairs. "This is going to be so much more fun that this stuffy old party."
Asami quickly made her way up the stairs with Kyoya in tow, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Nope!" Asami smiled mischievously.
They explored the entire hotel the ball was being held in from top to bottom. Asami even managed to sneak them into the kitchens, but they were chased out moments later by the chef. Kyoya was quickly discovering Asami loved to get into trouble making situations. She ran down one of the hallways knocking on all the doors as she went by them. They hid around the corner watching as people looked out theirs doors confused that no one was there. Asami smirked and pulled Kyoya away and towards the window at the end of another hall. It was large and looked out at the front of the hotel.
Asami was the first to realize it was snowing. She gasped in amazement, "It's so beautiful."
Men and women in formal attire had begun trickling out the front doors and towards the many limos that were parked outside the hotel.
Kyoya's eyes widened in realization, "Asami, we need to go back now!"
"What for?" Asami questioned as she was dragged behind Kyoya for a change.
"I think the ball is ending."
They raced back to the ballroom at a full sprint to see that more than half the people there previously were gone. Kyoya and Asami alike were out of breath and paused to get their breathing back to a normal rate. Asami noticed her parents first. Elizabeth and Tatsuo were talking to a darker haired couple with two sons and a daughter. They looked strangely familiar, kind of like-
"Kyoya, is that your family talking to family?" Asked a frowning Kyoya.
He sighed and began making the trek down the long staircase, "Unfortunately, yes."
Asami gulped and followed him down. Hayato nudged his father and pointed towards the partners in crime walking down the stairs. Tatsuo crossed his arms and glared slightly at his daughter when he saw who she was with. Elizabeth only chuckled and shook her head in amusement. Asami was always getting into mischief like this, only this time Hayato hadn't been a part of it. He could be just as troublesome as Asami, maybe even more so.
"Young lady where have you been? You're mother and I have been worried sick look for you," Asami's father raised an eyebrow and glared down at her.
"I'm sorry Daddy," Asami looked down embarrassed. "This party was just so boring. No one would talk to me but Kyoya so we went exploring."
Tatsuo's stern face quickly turned from disapproving to forgiving. Asami didn't have many friends no matter how hard she tried. No one seemed to be interested in her, or they were scared of her. Everyone knew the Mikuriya family was not a family you wanted to get on the bad side of and that seemed to be projecting itself on Asami and Hayato. Tatsuo didn't like knowing that Asami had been hanging out with a boy the entire night, much less an Ootori boy, but Kyoya was showing interest in his daughter no one else ever seemed to. She finally found a friend. Tatsuo knew it was probably a part of an elaborate scheme his father concocted, but at least Asami was happy.
"It's fine Asami, just next time tell us before you go running off somewhere," Tatsuo smiled down at his daughter. He turned to Yoshio Ootori next, "I'm very sorry my daughter dragged your son into this Yoshio."
An idea popped into Elizabeth's head, "To make it up to you, why don't you all come over Saturday night? It's Asami's birthday and I'm sure she would love to have Kyoya there."
"Elizabeth," Tatsuo hissed under his breath clearly annoyed.
He didn't like the Ootori family much. To him they were all power hungry and would go to any means to get that power.
"That sounds like a splendid idea," Kyoya's mother smiled at Elizabeth. "I'm sure Yuichi and Akito would love spending more time with Hayato as well."
Elizabeth smirked at her groaning husband, "Wonderful."
Yoshio kept a straight face the entire time, but was secretly smirking on the inside. Everything was going just as planned. Originally he had just planned for his wife to suggest they have dinner together for the children to spend time together, but this was even better. What was better than having Tatsuo Mikuriya in debt?
The two families began walking up the stairs together, much to Tatsuo's dislike. The wives talked party plans and exchanged contact information, while Yoshio and Tatsuo discussed the stock market. A cold gust of air hit Asami as soon as she walked out the hotel's doors and created goosebumps all over her arms and legs. Kyoya saw her shivering and rubbing her arms for warmth.
He sighed and wrapped his suit coat around her small shoulders, "You should have brought your own coat with this kind of weather."
"Thank you Kyoya," Asami smiled brightly at her new friend.