A/N: and the next chappie. i warn, is long. enjoy!


Chapter 7: Date

"Did you find something to wear?" Jiro asked as Hitomi walked into the front door and he and Keiji stood at the top of the stairs. She frowned up at them as the servant that had let her in shut the door behind her and she hesitantly headed toward the stairs.

"Yes," she hummed, narrowing her gaze at her brothers.

"Is it nice?" Keiji asked as she stepped up the stairs.

"Yes," she replied, just as slowly as she had given the first response.

"Can we see it?" they suddenly asked together and Hitomi stopped in front of them.

"No," she blurted and headed toward her room.

"Why not?!" Keiji nearly snapped, following her. "You got something sexy, didn't you?!"

"None of your business!" Hitomi sang, walking into her room. "I have to get ready now! Kyouya is gonna pick me up at seven, so if he gets here before I'm ready, stall for me!"

She shut the door and Keiji growled at the closed door then spun around to glare at Jiro and snapped, "She bought something sexy!"

"We'll see it when she's ready," Jiro shrugged then waved his younger brother toward him. "Come on, we have to get ready too."

Keiji sneered but followed his brother down the hall.


One hour later...

Kyouya rubbed his fingers over the palm of his hands. He could feel his pulse pounding through them and had to swallow before pressing the doorbell. What was he so nervous about? It was just Hitomi. He'd had dinner with her before. What was so different about tonight?

He nearly jumped out of his skin when the servant opened the door for him to enter. He stepped in, his hands behind his back to hold them in order to keep them from shaking, which had started when the door opened.

"Hello Kyouya," Jiro smiled, coming from the study to the left of the door and catching the young man's attention. "That's a nice suit you're wearing."

"Thank you," Kyouya replied as he shook Jiro's hand.

"Hitomi will be down in a moment," he assured him. "I was instructed to stall in case she was took too much time getting ready."

"I don't mind waiting," Kyouya replied then wondered, "Where's Keiji?"

"Oh, he's in the garage working on his car," Jiro shrugged. "He's been working on that little hot rod of his for months to restore it. Maybe when it's finished we'll take you for a ride?"

Why would I want to do that? Kyouya thought to himself, but smiled, charmingly and instead replied, "Oh, no thank, Jiro. As fun as it sounds, I'm sure Keiji isn't restoring the thing to ride around in it."

"I guess you're right," Jiro laughed. "He'd keep it in an air tight glass frame if he could!"

Kyouya only continued smiling as Jiro laughed, heartily then looked to the stairs, praying Hitomi didn't take too much longer. As soon as he looked up, his prayer was answered and he saw her coming down the stairs, but he hadn't expected the image in front of him.

Hitomi slowly descended the stairs wearing a red dress with a spaghetti strap running from the bodice of the dress up and around her neck and the length fell just below the knee, showing slim lower legs and red, open-toed heels. She pulled the red shawl she wore a little tighter around her shoulders and gave her flipped hair one last comb-through with a hand before reaching the end of the stairs.

"Keiji's not gonna like your dress," Jiro blurted to her as she headed toward he and Kyouya.

"Well, Keiji's not here, is he?" Hitomi smirked back at her brother as she stopped in front of Kyouya and gave him a full smile. "Good evening, Kyouya."

Kyouya had to swallow silently before responding, "Good evening, Hitomi."

"Have her back here by…eight o'clock," Jiro instructed and Kyouya looked up at him with a slight frown. He sounded dead serious but Hitomi rolled her eyes and shook her head at her brother.

"Very funny," Hitomi retorted and Jiro raised a brow at her. "Eleven."

"Hell no," Jiro shot back. "Ten."

"Thirty," Hitomi amended and Jiro rolled his eyes this time.

"Fine," he sighed then turned to Kyouya and repeated, "Ten thirty."

Kyouya only nodded with a charming smile and jumped when Hitomi slid her arm through his, gently urging him to the door.

"Alright, let's get going!" Hitomi grinned, suddenly nearly dragging Kyouya out the door. "We only have till ten thirty, so we better hit the road! Tell Keiji I said bye, ok, Jiro?! Bye! Be back later!"

The door shut behind the two and Jiro blinked at the door for a moment but quickly spun around and ran toward the garage where Keiji truthfully was, only he wasn't working on the car, he was in the car.

"Hurry up, Jiro!" Keiji snarled from behind the wheel as the oldest Sasaki brother ran through the door leading from the house to the garage, shut it, then pushed the button to the garage door to drive the car through that was on the wall before nearly skipping toward the car and stood on the driver's side. Keiji glanced up at his brother with a frown and asked, "What?"

"Don't be stupid, you're not driving my baby," Jiro snickered and Keiji sucked his tongue on his teeth as he got out of the car and walked around to the passenger seat as Jiro got into the driver's seat. As they both shut the door Keiji crossed his arms over his chest in a slight huff.

"I don't see why you won't let me drive the stupid car," he grumbled as Jiro started the engine.

"That's why," he replied. "You have no respect for her if you call her stupid."

"Oh, please," Keiji chuckled. "It's a car not a woman."

"A car is like a woman," Jiro smiled, lovingly stroking the dashboard of his hot rod red Mustang convertible. "You have to treat her right, take good care of her, respect her, and she'll give you all her love in a great ride."

Keiji stared blankly at his brother as he continued to stroke the dashboard with a goofy grin on his face then blurted, "Hitomi and Kyouya are gonna find a hotel room and get it on if you don't quit stroking that friggin' dashboard like it's a woman's ass."

Jiro gave his brother a sideways glare and pressed his foot on the gas, both hands on the steering wheel as he muttered, "Way to ruin the fantasy, man."


Kyouya opened the car door for Hitomi who smiled at him as she slid into the car and he followed. He told the driver where to go and Hitomi shifted slightly to face him.

"I'm sorry I rushed you out like that," she began, catching his attention. "I just knew Jiro would end up embarrassing me somehow. He's nice when he invites someone to dinner, but when he's in big brother mode when a guy asks me out on a date, he gets a little too big brother-like, ya know?"

"It's alright," Kyouya smiled. "I can understand that. My sister has that trouble with my older brothers as well."

"How is she, by the way?" Hitomi smiled.

"She's doing well," Kyouya nodded then suddenly changed the subject, saying, "Keiji doesn't seem like a hot rod kind of guy. What kind of car is he working on?"

Hitomi frowned at him and wondered if she'd heard right by asking, "Keiji? He's not working on a car. Jiro was working on his Mustang, but it's he just finished it. He drives it around to impress girls."

"Is that so?" Kyouya nodded slowly in understanding with a small smirk then glanced into the rear view mirror from his seat. "So, Jiro's Mustang, is it red?"

"Yeah," Hitomi replied, with a frown. "How'd you know?"

"Does it look anything like the one that's following us?" he smirked and Hitomi whirled around to see head lights but she recognized the car they belonged to and her face dropped.

"Yes," she groaned, turning back around. "I can't believe those two clowns are following us!"

"Not to worry," Kyouya smiled, patting one of her hands and he leaned forward to tell the driver, "Lose the car behind us, would you?"

The driver nodded and as Kyouya sat back the car turned a little too quickly and Hitomi was shoved against the young man next to her. She landed against his chest, causing him to give a slight grunt and she instantly looked up at him with wide eyes and a slight blush as he looked down at her with slightly widened eyes himself, his glasses a bit crooked.

"S-Sorry," she sputtered, trying to sit up, but the car jerked to the other side, and this time, Kyouya was flung onto her. She was pinned between him and the car door and he stared at her with wide eyes as he swallowed, silently but she swallowed audibly.

"Sorry," he muttered, pushing slightly away so that he wasn't shoved completely against her, but still close enough to hear his heart pounding in his ears.

"It's ok," Hitomi breathed, swallowing again and she lifted her hands to his face to fix his glasses for him then started fiddling with his tie with one hand. "I didn't get a chance to say thank you for wearing this…wonderful suit."

"You're welcome," Kyouya replied, his eyes scanning over her face. "I didn't get a chance to tell you that you look…" He trailed off to swallow, feeling as if he couldn't breath, his heart was pounding so hard.

"Nice?" Hitomi finished for him, guessing that was the word he was looking for.

"I was going for speechless, actually," he admitted and her eyes widened in surprise.

"For a host, it's pretty easy to render you speechless," Hitomi joked, trying to lighten the mood, and feeling her breath coming out in short, shallow bursts.

"Easy?" Kyouya scoffed. "Hardly. You of all people should know how hard it is to truly impress me."

"That's why I don't understand why you would say you're speechless," Hitomi confessed then chuckled, "Are you drunk or something?"

"Drunk on you," he blurted and Hitomi's eyes snapped open in pure shock but Kyouya only smirked. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Hitomi's shock calmed and she smirked, retorting, "You sounded like Tamaki, saying that to me. Trying something new, are we?"

"Perhaps," he replied as they still sat close to each other. "For some reason, you bring out the adventurous side of me."

"Well, I have to say, I like this side of you," Hitomi smiled. "I guess we bring out our hidden personality traits in each other, hm? Since when I'm around you I'm as blunt as chopstick, and now when you're around me you're almost as mischievous as those Hitachiin Twins."

"Well, am I Tamaki or the twins, now?" Kyouya smirked, jokingly.

"Don't be silly," Hitomi murmured back with a small smile and impulsively ran a hand down his cheek as she said, "You're you."

Their eyes locked and Hitomi swallowed again as Kyouya only stared at her for a moment, frozen by her touch. His gaze scanned over her face again as she slowly lowered her hand and she felt her heart skip a beat when he slowly leaned toward her face.

Oh, God! He's gonna kiss me! she giddily yelled in her head and had to fight her lips from curling into a smile as he still leaned slowly toward her. Her hands found his jacket collar and gently gripped it, wanting to pull him close, but afraid to at the same time. She let her eyes flutter shut when he was close enough to fan his minty breath across her lips. Neither one of them noticed the car stop, so close to each other's lips.

"We've arrived, Young Master," the driver said, making them both jump and pull away as if burned, and Hitomi gave a small groan but snapped her attention to Kyouya when he gave a very soft growl. She stared at him in disbelief as he opened the door and got out. He sounded as disappointed as she was, but she almost couldn't believe it. She hurried out of the car herself and pulled her shall a little tighter around herself as she straightened out her dress as well.

Kyouya gently took her hand and wrapped it around his arm as she looked up at him with wide eyes. He only smiled down at her, making her smile back and he walked her into the restaurant but as they walked in he glanced to his right and noticed a hot rod red Mustang pull up a few feet away and park and he smirked as he leaned toward Hitomi's ear.

"Your brother drives pretty well if he could stay on our tail the whole way," he murmured and Hitomi looked up at him as they entered the restaurant.

"Are you serious?!" she hissed and he only gave a chuckle as she sighed in hopelessness. "I'm gonna kill those two."

"Be thankful you're not my sister," Kyouya chuckled. "My brothers had our secret police following her on one of her dates."

"That's…a waste of resources," Hitomi smirked.

"Yes, well, needless to say, our father was not at all pleased," he replied as they walked up to the hostess and he gave them the name for their reservation. The hostess led them to their table and Kyouya pulled out Hitomi's chair for her before sitting himself.

"Would you like to start off with drinks, Mr. Ootori?" the waitress asked and he replied he would stick with water, which Hitomi agreed with as she looked at him with wide eyes and the waitress said she'd give them a moment to decide on what to order.

"Do you come here often?" Hitomi wondered once the waitress was gone.

"No," Kyouya shrugged. "But who doesn't know the Ootori name nowadays?"

"Love that modesty, Kyouya," she muttered, looking over her menu and he tried to glare at her but couldn't keep himself from smirking at her attitude. The attitude that intrigued him.

"Well, it's true, isn't it?" he replied, leaning on the table. "Many of the names in the Host Club are famous ones. I'm sure if I called out any one of the names right now some of the people in this restaurant would turn to see if I was talking to them."

"Again, I absolutely love your modesty," Hitomi smiled, leaning on the table as well and he adjusted his glasses with a slight smirk. He glanced to the door and couldn't help giving a small chuckle making Hitomi frown in confusion at him and asked, "What?"

"Your brothers just walked in the door," he smirked and Hitomi's eyes shot wide and she was about to turn around to see if it was true, but Kyouya caught her hand and made her shoot a wide-eyed gaze at him. "Pretend you don't know they're here."

"Why?" Hitomi wondered, genuinely and Kyouya gave a sly smirk.

"To be adventurous," he murmured, still holding her hand which Hitomi had not failed to notice. She swallowed and glanced down at their hands with a slight blush but she leaned toward him on the table.

"And how, exactly are we going to be adventurous?" she wondered in a hushed tone.

"Just pretend you don't know they're here," he replied, watching the Sasaki brothers heading toward a table. "What would you do if you knew your brothers were watching just to upset them?"

Hitomi cocked an eyebrow at him in amusement and slowly gave a sly smile. She glanced around and noticed her brothers at a table with a clear sight of herself and Kyouya and her smile grew as she looked back at Kyouya.

"There are a lot of things I wanna do to upset them," she replied. "But if you're talking about something to upset them right now, I think they'd be really upset if I flirted with you shamelessly."

"By all means, flirt away then," he retorted and she scoffed, sitting back in her seat, their hands sliding away from each other.

"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "Like I'd have any effect on you anyway if I flirted with you."

"Well, you won't know unless you tried," he shrugged, taking a sip of his water and she watched him in thought then sat forward again, placing a hand on the table.

"Ok, then," she smiled, mischievously. "Hold my hand like you were before. That'll really make them mad."

"The point is to get them mad at you, not me," Kyouya smirked but leaned forward on the table anyway and placed his hand on hers, making her smile.

"Are they looking?" she asked and he glanced at them then nodded. "Are they unhappy?"

He nodded again and her smile grew.

"This is fun," she grinned, bouncing slightly in her seat. "Maybe we can get really adventurous and stay out later than we're supposed to?"

"One step at a time, Hitomi," Kyouya smirked, suddenly stroking her fingers with his thumbs and she blushed at the touch. "Let's just start with little things for now, shall we?"

"W-What else did you have in mind?" she wondered, honestly but Kyouya only smirked as he lifted the hand he was holding and kissed it, gently. Hitomi's eyes widened as her blush deepened as he lowered her hand and she glanced to where her brothers were sitting. "Keiji doesn't look happy."

"Just Keiji?" Kyouya smirked, still holding her hand.

"Well, he's the one that doesn't like you," she muttered.

"Yes, I know," he replied and she looked at him with wide eyes filled with disbelief.

"You know?!" she squeaked and he couldn't help but smirk at her reaction.

"Of course," he shrugged. "No offense to him, but your brother isn't very subtle."

"No offense taken," Hitomi muttered. "He knows he isn't. I think he likes it that way. But sometimes he's just rude."

"I'm sure," Kyouya smirked then glanced down at the menu in front of him and said, "We'd better decide what we want before the waitress comes back."


"Is he still holding her hand?" Keiji sneered as he ate his food and Jiro nodded. "I say we go over there and pound him."

"He's just holding her hand, Keiji," Jiro replied, eating as well. "Be glad they didn't get that hotel room you were talking about earlier."

"He's not just holding her hand, brother," Keiji grumbled. "You saw him kiss it earlier, didn't you?"

"Her hand, little brother," Jiro scoffed, shaking his head at him. "They're on a date, what do you expect?"

"I expect to see her smack him when he says something stupid later," Keiji retorted.

"A host never says anything stupid in front of a lady," Jiro reminded his brother. "Especially him. From what Hitomi told me, he's supposed to be the cool and calculated one."

"You know what he's calculating, don't you?" Keiji muttered. "He's calculating how much money he can make from marrying our sister."

"That's their business, Keiji," Jiro reminded him again. "Hitomi knows what she's getting into, otherwise she wouldn't have gone out with him."

"She went out with him because she loves him," the younger Sasaki brother snapped. "She's blinded by it. She's not gonna see that he's using her to get our clinic."

Jiro glared at his brother then looked at the magazine in his hand, rolled it up and reached over to smack his younger brother upside the head with it.

"Hey!" he called, glaring at his older brother. "What the hell---?!"

"You think she's that stupid?!" Jiro hissed and Keiji sneered. "She knows, and it's probably tearing her apart inside!"

"Then why are you still behind all this and having him come over and letting take her out on a date?!" Keiji spat back.

"If he spends more time with her, he might end up falling for her, you dope!" Jiro shot back and Keiji started at his brother with wide eyes. "The feelings won't be as one sided as you think they are! I gave him the opportunity to see her when I invited him to dinner, and big surprise, he asked her out the next day! He wouldn't have made a move like that if he wasn't interested!"

Keiji still stared at his brother and blinked a few times before he vacantly replied, "Oh."

"You thought I was just throwing her at him, didn't you?" Jiro smirked in amusement at his brother's sudden humble attitude.

"I didn't think you had a plan," Keiji muttered, taking another bite of food. "It's actually kind of a relief that I now know you weren't just looking the other way."

"I knew you'd be your usual over-protective self," Jiro smirked, glancing through his magazine. "So even if I had looked the other way, I knew you'd take care of anything that happened."

"And here I thought you saw me as an idiot," Keiji retorted and Jiro scoffed but straightened in his seat, catching his younger brother's attention.

"What?" he asked and looked in the direction his brother's gaze was glued. Kyouya and Hitomi were done with dinner and leaving.

"Check please!" Jiro called to their waiter. "And make it quick."

"I'll wait in the car," Keiji told him but when he stood to walk out the door, Jiro grabbed the tail of his jacket and shoved him back down in his seat.

"You think I'm gonna pay for your food?" the older Sasaki brother retorted just as the waiter brought them their check. Keiji gave an exaggerated sigh and the brothers looked at the piece of paper to divide the amount between them.

"What the---?!" they both snapped but Keiji finished, "We didn't order all this!"

The younger brother went to call the waiter but Jiro stopped him.

"Wait a minute," he said, still looking at the check. "What did Hitomi and Kyouya order?"

"I dunno," Keiji shrugged. "Looked like some sort of chicken dish. They ordered the same thing."

Jiro smirked, then snickered, then burst into laughter and Keiji frowned at him in utter confusion.

"What the hell are you laughing about?" he snapped and Jiro looked at his younger brother, still laughing.

"They knew we were here!" he laughed, hysterically. "They told their waiter to give us the bill for their food!"

"And you find that funny?!" Keiji snapped.

"I find it hilarious!" Jiro laughed and Keiji groaned, rubbing his eyes and feeling a headache coming on.


Hitomi hurried into the car, giggling as Kyouya climbed in after her, just as hurriedly and he nearly slammed the door shut behind him.

"Drive!" Kyouya ordered, and the car's tires gave a slight squeal as they drove into traffic and the two second years looked through the window behind them to see if Hitomi's brothers were out of the restaurant yet, but all they saw was their car. Hitomi burst into laughter as they faced forward again and Kyouya couldn't keep himself from smiling at her.

"I can't believe I did that!" Hitomi laughed. "That was great! I wish I could have seen their faces!"

"I'm sure Keiji was especially upset," Kyouya added and Hitomi only nodded as she continued laughing, and he only watched her, unable to fathom how pretty she looked when she laughed.

"Where to now, Young Master?" the driver asked as Hitomi slowly calmed herself from laughing. Kyouya looked at his watch and lifted his brow in slight surprise.

"Well, it's only eight o'clock," he reported and Hitomi looked at him in surprise.

"Really?" she wondered, leaning toward him to look at his watch. She took his wrist into her hand and was nearly leaning on his shoulder as he looked at her. "Oh, yeah. We have a while before you have to get me home."

She turned her head to look at him and realized how close she was to him when the tips of their noses brushed against each other's. She shrunk back slightly but didn't pull completely away as their eyes locked and she swallowed as she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Where would you like to go now?" he murmured but their eyes never left the others.

"I-I don't know," she breathed.

"Very indecisive tonight, aren't we?" he smirked and to his surprise Hitomi only nodded, deftly.

"Shall I take you home, then?" he wondered, hesitantly. He really didn't want to do that, but he didn't want to keep her with him if she didn't want to be there.

"No!" she gasped and he lifted a brow in surprise at her expression of horror. "I-I mean, no. I…I don't want to go home yet. I just…don't know what we should do now."

Kyouya gave a relieved smirk and only stared at her as he thought. An idea popped into his head and his smirk grew into a smile as he asked, "Do you like the beach?"

Hitomi frowned slightly but nodded and Kyouya nodded in return then leaned toward the driver as Hitomi sat back in her seat. She didn't hear what he told the driver, but she didn't ask when he sat back again in his own seat. She placed her hands in her lap and twiddling her thumbs when neither one of them said anything. Trying to think of something to talk about, she glanced at Kyouya and her gaze landed on his glasses.

"You know," she began, catching his attention. "It just occurred to me that I've never seen you without your glasses."

"Haven't you?" Kyouya frowned slightly but Hitomi only shook her head cutely with a small smile. He lifted his hands and pulled off his glasses then turned to her expectantly. Hitomi's smile grew and she lifted a hand to move some of his hair from his eyes to see those beautiful dark onyx orbs a little better.

"You look so handsome, Kyouya," she murmured, still smiling.

"Thank you," he replied, and couldn't help but notice her hand placed itself on his chest. He only prayed she couldn't feel his heart pounding like a drum in his chest. She suddenly glanced at his glasses in his hand and grinned as she took them and placed them over her eyes.

"How do I look?" she smiled, cutely and Kyouya couldn't help but return a cool smile.

"You look very intelligent," he complimented and Hitomi grinned, but when he reached up to take his glasses back but she pulled them off first and held them out of reach. He frowned at her in wonder and she only grinned at him. "May I have my glasses back, Hitomi?"

"No," she smiled, cutely and he tried again to take them back but she moved them again, giggling.

"Hitomi, I need my glasses," he reminded her, moving for them again but she pulled them away again, still giggling. "Hitomi---!"

He leaned forward a bit too much and they she fell back onto the seat, their eyes locking as his hand landed on the wrist of her hand that was holding his glasses. She swallowed as they stared at each other and she pulled her hand away from his to place his glasses back over his eyes. Her hands slid around his neck, impulsively and he frowned slightly at the action but said nothing about it.

"Thank you," he said of her returning his glasses and she nodded that he was welcome. His eyes scanned over her face and he couldn't keep himself from leaning toward her, slowly. Only when Hitomi's eyes fluttered shut did he close his eyes but froze when his lips brushed against hers and she gave a small surprised noise, but neither one pulled away.

"We've arrived, Young Master," the driver said and Kyouya jerked his head up in surprise as Hitomi's eyes shot open when he quickly sat up.

He gave a low growl, a little more intense than the first one Hitomi had heard him give and she sneered in disappointment as well. She quickly smiled at Kyouya in sympathy as he sighed but scooted out of the car and held the door open for her. She climbed out after him and pulled her shawl around herself a little tighter when a blast of cold air blew over her.

"Kyouya!" she breathed with a grin when she caught sight of the ocean and she spun around to look at him with wide, glittering eyes. "This is so romantic!"

"I'm glad you like it," Kyouya smiled and held out an arm. Hitomi grinned and slid her arm through his and he supported her as she quickly pulled off her shoes to hold them as they walked.

"I didn't think you like the beach," she confessed as they stepped into the sand and toward the water.

"The beach can be enjoyable," Kyouya shrugged. "With the right people, or person."

"You saying I'm the right person?" Hitomi retorted, jokingly and he gave her a sideways glance with a smirk, but before he could say anything she shivered, pulling her shawl over her shoulders a little more. Kyouya instinctively started unbuttoning his jacket and pulled it off to drape it over her shoulders. She frowned and looked up at him as they only continued walking, his arms around her shoulders to fix the jacket for her.

"You're cold, aren't you?" he wondered to her questioning frown.

"Y-Yes," she admitted when he pulled away but held his arm out for her to take. She slid her arms through the jacket sleeves and took his arm, smiling up at him. She was so happy, she could have died.


"I can't believe he brought her to the beach," Keiji muttered, his arms crossed over his chest as he and his brother sat in the parked Mustang in the beach parking lot.

"Well, he's a smoothie," Jiro replied as they both watched Kyouya and Hitomi walking along the beach. "Case in point: He gave her his jacket because it's cold."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Keiji muttered again, waving it off and watching the couple on the beach as well. "If he tries to kiss her I'm gonna pound him."

"If she didn't want him to kiss her and he tried she'd pound him herself," Jiro replied, rubbing one of his eyes, tiredly.

"I'm going to sleep," Keiji yawned. "Wake me up if he's in need of a pounding."

"Quit talking big, you wimp," Jiro snapped. "You couldn't beat him up if you tried."

"With the right motivation, anything is possible," Keiji retorted, shifting to be comfortable so he could sleep as Jiro rolled his eyes at his brother. He looked to the beach again and noticed the shore was void of all humans and straightened, shoving Keiji's arm.

"Keiji," he called, still looking to the sand. "Keiji, sit up."

"What?" the younger brother groaned shifting to face him.

"They're gone," Jiro replied, staring wide eyes out the windshield and Keiji shot up in his seat, staring out the windshield as well.

"What do you mean, 'they're gone'?" Keiji asked, searching the beach for them.

"They're gone!" Jiro repeated. "They were there one minute and the next…" He swept his hands through the air as he said, "…gone!"

"Well, they couldn't have gone far," Keiji theorized. "Maybe they're farther up the beach and it's too dark for us to see?"

"No, Keiji, they're gone," Jiro replied.

"Hi, guys!" Hitomi suddenly grinned through the open window on Keiji's side of the car and both brothers jumped and the younger one ducked with a shout of surprise. When Keiji looked up to see Hitomi glaring at them, Kyouya standing next to her, he sat up again.

"What the hell'd you scare me for?!" he snapped and Hitomi cocked an eyebrow in intrigued amusement at that question.

"You've been following us all night and you have audacity to ask me that question?" she wondered.

"What are you talking about?" Jiro smiled, charmingly. "We wanted to take my baby out for a joy-ride, that's all."

"Really?" Kyouya smirked, leaning into the window next to Hitomi. "Because I thought Keiji hadn't finished restoring it yet."

Jiro's smile dropped and Keiji glared at his older brother and snapped, "Way to go, genius! Can't even tell your lies straight."

Hitomi sighed and shook her at the two as she stood and announced, "Kyouya will take me home now, since I can't have fun with the two of you on our tail!"

"Wait, Hitomi!" Keiji called as she walked away but she only kept going back to the car as Kyouya followed and the younger Sasaki brother slumped in his seat.

"Well that could've gone better," Jiro blurted and Keiji gave him a blank stare.

"You think?!" he spat and Jiro sneered at him as he started the car. "Let's just get home before she does?"

"What's the point of that?" Jiro wondered. "She knows we were following her anyway."

"Yeah, but I'd like to be home and settled already before she chews my ass off," Keiji muttered, slouching in his seat. "Wake me up when we get home."

"What am I, your wet nurse?!" Jiro spat. "You fall asleep in my car, you're staying in the car all night. I'm not waking you up!"

"Whatever," Keiji yawned and shifted in his seat as Jiro pulled out of the parking lot.

He knew Hitomi would be mad, but he couldn't let them go out by themselves. The truth was, he was just as mad and worried as Keiji was, he just held it back a little better than his younger brother. But he swore, if Kyouya didn't treat her right, he'd pound him hard, even if Keiji only said he would, Jiro would do it, without a thought. No one hurt the Sasaki sister and got away with it, not even an Ootori.


A/N: i know! mushy-ness! and Kyouya was OOC in there somewhere, wasn't he?! *hides face* anyway, i was gonna start this chapter with Mika and Hitomi at the store picking out Hitomi's dress, but i wanted to wait to the reveal the dress when Kyouya saw it. i wanted to embelish a little Jiro and Keiji's relationship a little bit. and the near kisses i couldn't resist. i love the 'Oh! so close!' stuff. well? wucha think? reviews?