Chapter Three
Jared was oddly staring at Kyoya, which made Kyoya annoyed and uncomfortable. Lina noticed the exchange but did nothing. She found it humorous to see how long Kyoya can last with a guy like Jared. All the while, she tried to hide a smile every time Jared smiled at Kyoya, which the latter felt irritated from.
"So, Ooya," Jared began.
"My name is actually Kyoya Ootori, Smith-san."
"Kyoya? Ootori?" Jared's brow raised in question. "So you are part of the famous Ootori family?"
"Yes, I am," Kyoya said with a smile.
"Oh my, not only are you handsome but a businessman? Ah, Lina is very fortunate. But I must ask, what do you think of Lina? Does she still act like a boy?"
This immediately wiped the smug look on Lina's face while it was finally Kyoya's turn to smirk at Lina.
"When she smiles, she always does that cheeky boyish grin. It makes me sad that she doesn't have a boyfriend because of her violent nature. But now, I am satisfied there is a guy like you around her," Jared told Kyoya. Kyoya pushed up his glasses and tried to hold back a laugh.
"Jared!" Lina yelled angrily before she rubbed her knuckles against the sides of his head, emitting a painful burning sensation.
"Okay! Okay, I give!" Jared yelled in English before Lina crossed her arms, pouting while she did so. "You see that, Mr. Kyoya. This is what I must endure every day. Very violent, she is."
Lina gave him a glare and that instantly shut Jared up. Not taking it in anymore, Kyoya laughed until his stomach started hurting. Lina and Jared were surprised at his sudden burst of laughter and stood there watching him for a little while before they joined in laughing. After a few seconds of laughing too hard, Kyoya settled back to his cool demeanor and so did the other two after the passerbys watched them as if they were crazy.
"I see Mr. Kyoya knows how to laugh," Jared said with a gentle smile on his face. Kyoya, of course, looked at him questioningly. "Always being a stern man is not good for Lina."
"Jared," yelled Lina, hitting the top of his head lightly. Jared rubbed his head with a frown.
"Is Mr. Kyoya not your boyfriend?" Jared asked innocently.
"Of course, he isn't," Lina yelled. She looked over at Kyoya and then back to Jared. "I'm sure Ooya has a girl he likes."
"Actually, I don't have time for romance," Kyoya said mischievously.
Jared's eyes suddenly sparkled and Lina groaned in reply. He immediately took Kyoya's hands and pulled Lina to Kyoya.
"Make some beautiful romance so I will have grandchildren to play with," Jared said suddenly. Lina, once again, thumped on Jared's head lightly.
"One, you aren't my father. And two, stop making weird requests," Lina said aggravatedly while rubbing her throbbing temples.
"But Lina," Jared whined, "Nothing beats a beautiful romance."
"If you are so into such things, find one yourself," Lina yelled.
"But..." Jared paused and suddenly made a justice pose, "this beauty of mine is a curse. I can't be in just one relationship!" Lina thumped his head again and this time it was harder than the first two. Jared moaned in pain.
"Don't be riled up with your stupidity," Lina said with her temple throbbing harder.
Suddenly, the air around Jared changed. He looked quite serious after he looked at the time.
"Well, it's been fun seeing you again, Lina. But I must leave now. I did promise your mother and father that it'll only be a moment and this amount of time together with you is good enough for me. I'm glad you are still healthy and full of energy like always," Jared said gently, "So Lina, there is no need for you to force yourself. I can take care of myself. No matter who is against me, I'll be okay."
Lina suddenly held Jared in a hug, holding back the tears that tried to form in her eyes. On the other thand, Jared was crying waterfalls on Lina's shoulders. For a moment, they seemed like father and daughter.
"I can't Jared. Your restaurant means everything to you," Lina said quietly.
Jared suddenly pulled away from her, making Lina surprised. When she saw him, he was still smiling gently at her plus the tears he had not wiped away yet.
"No, Lina. You've got it wrong. The smiles on people's faces mean everything to me. Yes, the reason for being a chef is to feed people and make money. But the reason I want to be a chef is to see people smile from eating my food. Just like you. So please, no more forcing yourself, okay?" Jared asked pleadingly.
"Wherever I go, I always cause trouble, to you and to Ooya. My selfishness has always caused people pain over and over again. I am useless. So useless," Lina said, her tears finally falling from her eyes. Kyoya suddenly hugged her in an embrace which surprised Lina greatly.
"Then do something useful," Kyoya whispered. Lina looked over at his face for a moment before holding him again.
"How much in debt am I in?" Lina asked jokingly.
"I'll tell you when I find out," Kyoya said with a smirk.
"Oh, my, my! Do I see lovey dovey?" Jared sang.
Lina suddenly blushed before she pulled away from him, turning away from the two men. Kyoya looked at her questioningly before a smirk came upon his lips. Jared was singing "lovey dovey" over and over again.
"Shut it, Jared," yelled Lina angrily.
"This is the "you" I want to see. Don't ever forget it, Lina. Goodbye, my dearest god daughter," Jared said before patting her head and leaving.
Lina watched him leave and took Kyoya's hand without knowing. Kyoya looked over at her holding his hand and then looked over at Lina for a moment. He noticed her brows were creased in concern but said nothing. Several seconds later, Kyoya looked over at Jared leaving with a couple of men in black.
"How did your family get a hold of Jared's restaurant?" Kyoya suddenly asked. Lina looked over at him and then turned away, watching Jared disappear into the crowd.
"Because of me. My parents threatened him for charges of kidnapping when they found me with him," Lina answered.
"Kidnapping? Did you run away?" Kyoya questioned. "When was this?"
"Yes, I ran away. About a year and a half ago, I couldn't take anymore of the pressure given to me and that is how I met Jared. Your detective should know about it and so does my parents. My parents wouldn't give a care about my life until recently when their stocks lowered and bad publicity about one of their companies came up," Lina explained.
Suddenly, Lina felt dizzy. Her legs became weak, making her fall to the side. Kyoya caught her in time. He finally noticed the lines under her eyes which meant that she didn't sleep well for a while. Lina thanked him before she tried to stand up again, but Kyoya carried her bride style to a bench. And of course, Lina was rather surprised.
"When did you last sleep, Lina?" Kyoya asked before placing her down on the bench.
"I guess about three days now," Lina said quietly.
"I'll take you home," Kyoya told her. Lina shook her head, giving her an ache from being dizzy.
"No. I'm fine. I can go by myself," Lina told him before standing up and looking stable for now.
"If you want," Kyoya told her, pushing up his glasses. "Although it will help your case if I was with you taking you home or you could stay over the night with me."
"Your deviousness is getting out of hand," Lina said plainly.
"I wouldn't be called the "Shadow King" for nothing," Kyoya told her before putting an around Lina's waist.
"So, which would you pick?" Kyoya smiled his usual sly smile.
"If I had to pick between the two, I would rather stay at your home, although both choices are the worst."
Kyoya smiled and said, "Okay then. I'll tell the house maid to make a room for you. Father and my brothers will be glad that you come over."
Kyoya called on his cellphone immediately while Lina watched him. When he had finished, he took her hand and started to drag her. She watched his back for a moment and started smiling.
"Why does he make me feel so safe," Lina thought.
"Well, Lina, don't try to fall for me," Kyoya told her before they went inside his limo. The comment immediately made Lina aggravated.
"You're so full of yourself, Ooya." Lina pouted and then said, "What about your friends?"
"Oh yes, I'd better tell them I'll be going home first," he said before calling the host club members.
After he finished, Lina was already napping . Kyoya smiled at her but frowned when she started snoring and drooling. After a few moments, he suddenly saw Lina's brow creased as if she was having a nightmare. Kyoya thought for a bit before he held Lina's hand. She tightly held his and the crease of her brow slowly eased.
"The same as before," Kyoya thought.
A young Lina started relaxing on Kyoya's bed with her hands behind her head. Kyoya was sitting on a couch while reading a book.
"You're sleeping on the couch," Kyoya told her. She nodded in reply.
"What happened to being nice?" Lina joked.
"You said you hate liars, didn't you?"
"You really should stop using my words against me," Lina told him before jumping off the bed.
"Well, it wouldn't be good if we shared the same bed," Kyoya told her.
"Whatever," Lina said, sitting next to Kyoya and looking over what he is reading. "Hey, you know, your brothers aren't that bad and your father seems okay. Better than my father, actually."
"Well, to each their own opinion," Kyoya told her as she laid her head on Kyoya's shoulder.
"You're boring sometimes, you know."
"I don't have time for fun," he told her before pushing her off his shoulder. "It's time to go to sleep."
"Aww, and I thought we'll chit chat all night like all sleep overs do and it's going to be the weekend anyway."
"I'm busy tomorrow morning," Kyoya explained, before turning off the lights.
"Hey, Kyoya, is this your first sleep over?" Lina asked before lying on the couch and Kyoya did the same as he lied on his bed.
"Yes," he answred, feeling sleep slowly taking over him.
"No wonder you're so boring. Well, good night, Ooya," Lina told him before closing her eyes.
"Good night, Lina," he said before he finally let sleep take over him.
In the middle night, Kyoya woke up suddenly. He heard weeping and started his way towards the sound to find Lina crying in her sleep. He tried waking up Lina, but she wouldn't wake up. Suddenly, Lina held him tightly around the waist, which slowly stopped her crying. She slept soundly after a few minutes. And somehow, Kyoya had to sleep on the couch with her.
The next day, Lina opened her eyes to see Kyoya next to her. Surprise was written on her face before she kicked Kyoya off the couch. It was then that Kyoya decided to never sleep in the same room as Lina ever again.
He looked over at Lina's sleeping form once more. Strands of hair was on her face before he took his other hand and placed them behind her ear. Looking closely, she did look like a girl from an angle.
"Thank... you... Ooya," she whispered in her sleep.
"How are you going to thank me, Lina?" Kyoya whispered near her ear.
Lina smiled and it was all that Kyoya needed before he napped soundly next to her.
"What should I do, master Ootori," asked a servant to Kyoya's father, Yoshio Ootori.
Yoshio and two servants watched Kyoya and Lina sleeping soundly with Lina's head laid on Kyoya's shoulder.
"Leave them for a bit," Yoshio told them, "If they don't wake up in five minutes, take them up to their rooms."
"Yes, sir," the two servants said in unsion.
Yoshio walked away before having a smirk on his face.
"Just like before," Yoshio thought, remembering the time when he saw his son and Lina holding each other as they slept on the couch when they were young.
After an hour passed, Lina woke up sleepily to find herself inside the Ootori mansion. She was quite startled at how she got inside the room but it didn't take her long to figure out the servants must have carried her inside. She got up and made her way out of the room. At the same time, Kyoya was out of his room as well. They both stared at each other for a moment before Lina turned away, blushing.
"So, Lina, I thought Jared was supposed to be something like a boyfriend?" Kyoya suddenly asked. Lina smiled and looked over at Kyoya for a while. She then walked towards Kyoya and leaned over, her face close to Kyoya's.
"Jealous?" Lina asked.
"No, just curious," Kyoya said with a shrug before pushing up his glasses.
"He's my friend and he's a guy. Doesn't that make him my boy friend? It's the same thing for you. You're also my boy friend," Lina said with a devious smirk and a wink.
Kyoya smirked and shook his head.
"I should have known," Kyoya thought.
"Hey, Ooya?" Lina smiled softly at him, making Kyoya feel rather awkward inside.
"What is it?"
"I want to see your baby pictures," Lina said.
Kyoya sighed before he pushed up his glasses for the nth time today.
"No," he said before walking away. Lina followed right next to him.
"Why not?" Lina whined. "They're so cute!"
"I don't want a repeat like last time," he answered plainly.
Lina continued to plead him to look at his baby pictures while Kyoya completely ignored her. In the end, Kyoya gave in when Lina started to go on a dating service online when she got bored. And of course, Lina immediately went for his baby album, completely forgetting her chat with a young man online. Kyoya started typing something to the guy, deleting the message he gave the guy and made sure he left no trace that he did anything before he logged her out. A devious smile worked its way on Kyoya's face before he sat next to Lina, who was blushing cutely and squealing from looking at his baby pictures.
"So what took you so long?" Lina asked before turning the page and squealing again.
"Oh, I had to correct something on my laptop," Kyoya told her. His glasses glinted before he pushed it up. He looked quite happy, though Lina did not notice it because she was focused on his baby pictures.
On Soulmates Online:
LovelyEverywhereCutie (Lina Hoshino) to HandsomeBoy126:
I'm sorry sir, but it would be best if you did not woo this girl. She is not right in the head and anything on her profile is a lie. I apologize for the the lies she has made for you to have fallen for her. But for your safety, do not continue to talk to her or else dire consequences may enter your life. Please heed my warning. But if you want to continue in wanting to woo her, I shall give you my support as much as I can. Oh, I must get off now. She needs to take her medication to be stable. I hope you are having a good day.
From,
LovelyEverywhereCutie's Brother
LovelyEverywhereCutie has logged out.
"I told you not to look for girls online. You don't know what kind of creepers are out there," a boy told the supposed HandsomeBoy126.
HandsomeBoy126, contrary to popular belief, was quite the handsome one just like his name. He frowned at the message and sighed.
"And I almost thought she would be the one," HandsomeBoy126 said before logging out and turning off his computer.
