Chapter 3
Raya ran. That's all she could do. It's all she's ever been able to do. Confrontation was never her thing. She just accepted everything that came her way, good or bad, and took it as it was. And she ran. Panting, she slowed and came to a gradual stop. Crap. She was in the middle of the shrub maze, and she was bad with directions. When had she run in here, WHY had she run in here? Now she was lost. Lost and hurt. She knew Kimiko hated her, she'd heard it so many times. But no matter how many times she heard those words come from her sister's lips, she always had hope that next time it would be praise, or better, admiration. That never happened. Raya walked aimlessly around the maze, small tears falling from her eyes. No sound, just tears. Never any sound. Her hand fumbled with the branches as she tried to make her way around the shrub maze. Damn her lack of directional sense. She could feel water dripping down her cheeks and she looked up, checking for rain. The sky was blue, the clouds sparse, and the sun hung high in the firmament. No rain. Her vision began to blur, and it dawned on her that she was crying. Raya was crying. Raya never cried. Vigorously wiping her tears away, she stumbled blindly through the maze, failing to see the tall man in her path. Eyes closed, she tripped into him, and he caught her with open arms.
"Monimoto-san?" Kyoya asked, as the smaller redhead clung to his shirt. Raya's eyes shot open and she jumped backward, effectively releasing herself from Kyoya's grasp. She smiled instinctively.
"I'm so sorry for running into you, Ootori-san! I don't know what got into me. I hope I didn't hurt you, did I? Are you alright? I should take you to the nurse's office. I'm so sorry. Did I damage your shirt? I'll get you a new one. I think they have some spare ones somewhere. I don't know—" Raya rambled, stumbling through her words, lines of frustration forming on her forehead. This was odd. Kyoya was curious. She was always so put together, so controlled. He wondered why she was so disheveled. Kyoya could tell that she wasn't happy he had seen her like this.
"Raya," Kyoya interrupted, approaching her. As he got closer he could see her trembling slightly.
"Raya, Tamaki is worried about you. Come with me." He smiled and extended a hand. Raya smiled back.
"Are you sure you're alright? Tamaki has no need to worry, I'm fine. But, I'm sorry; I'll have to decline your invitation to come back with you. I have some urgent business to attend to." She spurted out, inching backward. Eventually, she had backed herself into a wall of the shrubbery. Kyoya was approaching, and he left no route of escape. Raya's heart began to beat faster. This was a bad situation.
"Urgent business…in a bush maze?" He smirked; he was almost upon her now. Toying with her in this state would be fun, so fun, he had decided to ignore Tamaki's request to not make this worse.
"Yes." Her smile was fraying at the ends, nervously twitching at the situation unfolding.
"I don't believe you." Kyoya was less than a foot away. He took another step. Raya took in a breath. She could feel his body pressed up against hers.
"I-I'm sorry. I really don't…know what to tell you. I'm really, truly, fine." Raya gave a weak smile as she felt her face grow hotter. His arms were at either side of her head, pinning her effectively to the bush wall. A tear ran down her cheek. She didn't know why she was crying.
"Why are you crying, Raya? Why were you crying?" Kyoya asked, casually brushing the tear from her face. She looked away from him, refusing to answer. The glasses-clad man sighed and looked up at the school building.
"I should go and get Tamaki so he can comfort you. Hunny-sempai and Mori-sempai too, they're probably even more worried." He turned to leave, but a small hand caught his, pulling him back to her.
"Ootori-san. Please, if you wouldn't mind…could you…not mention this to anyone? I'm really alright. I'm fine." She looked down, holding him there still. Kyoya's eyebrow rose.
"Exactly what will I get out of that? Tamaki would be worried, he would annoy me. So what, exactly, do I get out of this?" The male asked. Raya met his eyes, but her face bore no expression.
"What do you WANT? You obviously have something in mind." Raya let go of his hand.
"Well, you see…" He pulled her hips forward, crashing their bodies onto one another. His hand traced the small of her back and her face grew hotter. She was bright red at this point, almost matching her hair.
"I want you. You're interesting to me, Monimoto-san. You have to do what I want, when I want. However, neither of us, I'm sure, would want this to be a public relationship. So, no public exposure; we would act normally around everyone. A secret bond of servitude." Kyoya breathed into her ear. A chill ran down her spine. He wondered how far she was willing to go for this. Was she willing to pay the price for his silence? In the back of his mind he questioned why she would even consider this, why it mattered so much to her. Why did she want to hide this? Kyoya felt her place her hand on his chest. He looked down at her, more confused than anything. Any other girl in their right mind would have slapped him and run off already. Her small hand was warm on his clothed chest. She looked away, refusing to meet his gaze.
"You promise not to tell anyone?" She asked. The pale hand laid on his chest was now trembling slightly, matching the instability of her voice. The taller kissed her forehead lightly and took hold of her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.
"Absolutly."
