Disclaimer: Do not own Ouran
"Ah, hello Mr. And Mrs. Ootori!" my father said, greeting Kyouya's parents.
"Hello Mr.Kudo! We've been looking forward to meeting you! This is my 3rd son, Kyouya," Mr. Ootori answered, waving towards Kyouya. "I take it my elder sons have already arrived? They left earlier and said they'd meet us here."
"Yes, yes, they've arrived. They're in the living room, sitting with my other two daughters if you'd like to see them," My father informed them, using the overly charm filled voice I'd grown all to accustomed to. He continued, indicating Kyouya. "Aneko, why don't you show Ootori-san the refreshment table? If it's alright with his parents of course."
"Of course it's fine with us!" Mr. Ootori reply in enthusiastic tone I also recognized.
I inwardly rolled my eyes, being very careful not to let on my annoyance at all these pretences.
"What a good idea Oto-sama! Kyouya-senpai, care to follow me this way," I replied, plastering on my politest fake smile.
Kyouya flashed me a matching fake smile while saying, "It would be my pleasure Aneko-san."
"The pleasure is all mine," I answer pleasantly, leading the way.
We walked over to the large table, talking about nothing. We each served ourselves a glass of the alcohol free punch and looked around the ballroom. Most people chatting pleasantly and a few couples were dancing to the sound of Mozart.
I sighed quietly and looked back at Kyouya.
"So, this is a…nice… party," he commented.
I noticed the glimmer in his eye that informed me it was a sarcastic remark, even if his tone didn't give it away. I smirked at him. Maybe this party wasn't going to be as dull as I'd though.
"Yes I'm sure your having the time of your life," I replied, still smirking.
"Yes, well," was his answer but this time he returned the smirk. I saw something briefly flash in his eyes that I recognized immediately.
"You too, huh?" I asked, sighing again, more audibly this time. "This whole Be specifically nice to insert name here because it's a good family to marry into bit is getting really old."
He smiled at me, agreeing silently. "It would seem we have quite a bit in common," he said.
"Yes, well," I said grinning mischievously. He chuckled as he realized I was quoting him. "Hey, lets get out of here and go play air hockey. They won't miss us."
I grabbed his hand and dragged him up the stairs before he could protest.
I pulled him into my game room, conveniently connected to my bedroom. It was my game room only because nobody else ever used it. I took my shoes of and flung them through the open connecting door. Playing air hockey was so much easier when you weren't wearing stiletto heels. I motioned toward the waiting table. Kyouya nodded, taking his jacket off and placing it on a nearby chair while I turned the game on.
"Are you sure your parents won't be angry?" he asked in an indifferent voice.
"No offense to you or anything, but I really have no intention of marrying you so there's not really any point to me being down there," I told him bluntly. " Besides, like I said before, they won't miss us. Chances are neither my parents nor yours will even notice we're gone."
"Although you make an excellent point, that's not quite what I was referring to," he said, only his eyes betraying his slight amusement. "Wouldn't they be upset to find you in a room alone with a boy. In a room that's is right next to your bedroom, none the less," he finished, nodding towards the open door.
I smirked slightly. "Actually, they kind of hope for one of us to wonder off with our attributed guest," I answered. "I've always thought it was kind of weird to have your parents wanting you to discreetly walk into the garden with your date."
Again, only his eyes betrayed his amusement. I rolled my eyes.
"Look, from what I can tell, you're a lot like me. So would you just give up your cool and indifferent facade," I started. " It's tiring to keep up that image. And, again assuming that you're like me, your family probably doesn't give you much opportunity to let the walls down at home. You can at least let yourself be you with your friends."
He smiled at me tentatively. I place the put puck on the table, shot him deliberate glance, hit the puck and scored. He smirked at me. "Lucky shot," he said smugly.
I smirked back. "You wish it was only lucky," I defied him and the game was on.
We played rather intensively, each winning equally. By our 7th game, I was getting a little tired of this game.
"Ok, lets do something else," I announced.
"You're saying that now because you just lost," he told me playfully.
"I let you win!" I informed him falsely. The look on his face told me he knew I was lying. "Ok, so maybe I didn't." I added, repentant.
We walked towards the TV and flopped into the facing armchairs simultaneously.
"I'm having more fun than I thought I would at this party," he told me. He looked like he was having fun and I guessed that people rarely saw him so honestly happy.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Everyone here is sooooo boring," I said, looking him straight in the eyes I said the last part.
He feigned hurt and said, "Did you just call me boring!"
"I think I just did!" I answered playfully. "But seriously, you have to admit that you must seem boring to a lot of people. No offense."
He looked at me wearing a speculative expression.
"I guess you're right. Not many people have seen me doing anything but work. Tamaki, and now you, are probably the only real exceptions," he told me honestly. "Although how you would know that I'm not sure. We don't exactly know each other all that well."
"I'm your clone remember," I told him, laughing.
"The cloning machine must not have been working properly because, last time I checked, I wasn't a girl," he said smirking. "And my hair wasn't purple."
I rolled my eyes. "Three guesses about my natural hair color," I said.
He laughed. "You're right thought, we are pretty similar."
"Yes we are," I said. "But not as similar as some people are claiming."
"Who's some people?"
"Two certain red-haired twins that won't stop saying I'm your exact replica," I grumbled. "I don't have anything against you but I can't help but feel offended by the use of exact."
He laughed again. "What exactly makes them think we're so alike?" he asked.
"I don't know. They keep going on about my glasses, the notebook I write in, and all other kinds of absurdities," I answered, irritated but not at him. "You'd think they stop for a second to consider the differences."
He laughed at my irritated expression. I glared at him for laughing at me but it only made him laugh harder. He eventually calmed down and we both sat in thoughtful silence for a little while.
He looked around the room, his eyes lingering on the small details that marked my personality.
"There are differences," he said quietly, agreeing to my earlier statement. He smiled at me. "For one thing, you're crazy and I'm not."
I laughed. "You're crazy too, you know. You're just not showing it as much…yet."
"Maybe," he said. "But I don't think I've ever really seen you serious or distant."
"You didn't know me before I came to Ouran," I answered a little sadly. "I think the main difference between us is that my relationships were superficial because I didn't see the point of making real friends. Never staying in one place for as much as a year didn't make it worth it. But now, when there's stability in my life, I'm letting people get to know me, not the person I've been pretending to be. You, who has never moved, still let your father control your actions because that's all you've known."
He looked at me thoughtfully, then sighed and looked away.
"You're right again," he said quietly. "But I think I'm ready to start trying to let go of all that." He smirked and added, "As long as I don't have to dye my hair purple."
"I happen to like my hair this way!" I answered throwing a pillow at him.
He laughed and launched the pillow back at me. Then he got up and started towards me with a pillow of his own. I jumped out of the chair ran across the room being pursued. When the wall stopped any further escape, I turned towards him and my pillow made contact with his head. He attacked me in return and the battle was on. After landing several well aimed hits, we somehow both ended up lying on the floor.
"Did we just have a pillow fight?" I asked in disbelief.
"I think so," he answered. "How odd."
I laughed and started to get up, forgetting that my pillow was at my feet. My attempt resulted in me tripping in the process and landing on Kyouya..
My eyes widened as I realized where my lips were and we both froze. Once the shock of what had just happened cleared from my mind I slowly backed away and sat sitting on the floor.
"Umm….sorry?" I said, not sure of what I should say.
He laughed. "Well that was interesting," he said getting up. He looked at my face that was still contorted by uncertainty. "Don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean to," he said to reassure me, offering his hand to help me up.
A silent moment ensued and in that silence we heard my father down stairs making a final speech, officially ending the evening. I looked at the clock and was surprised to see that it was already 1:30 am. I then looked at Kyouya and then at myself in the nearby mirror, taking in our appearance.
Our clothes were slightly creased and our hair was a mess. I blushed slightly thinking of what this would look like to others. I cleared my throat and starting fixing my dress and my hair. Kyouya realized what I was doing and quickly imitated me, getting his jacket from the chair he had left it on.
We quickly made our way downstairs, merging with the crowd. I was sure everyone thought we had stayed at the sophisticated soirée instead of having slipped away to take part in a much less sophisticated evening. I said good bye to Kyouya as he was leaving with his parents.
"Oh, Aneko," he said at the last second. "We'll need you to participate at the next host club. When you missed today's meeting, Kaoru volunteered you as a fairy, so, unless you have any objection, see you tomorrow before we open."
I grinned, it was just like Kaoru to volunteer me without asking.
"Sure, I'll be there," I answered. I was more excited than I should be about the fact that Kaoru had volunteered me.