"No."

That was Reiko's rather bland reply to his invitation to dinner that evening. Thankfully, only Kabaji was present at the scene of the crime, because Atobe swore he had been hallucinating.

"Did you just reject ore-sama's invitation to dinner?" Atobe's gray eyes bore into Reiko as she twirled a lock of hair with her pinky. She remained silent for a very long moment, then curled it taut about her pinky and pulled it straight, before allowing it to spring back into its curl again.

Stretch.

Spring.

Stretch.

Spring.

Stre-

"Reiko!" Atobe barked.

Reiko jerked very slightly, then cleared her throat. She had been daydreaming, a mistake she shouldn't have repeated in front of the Ice Emperor. "Sorry, Keigo-sama. I was, um, considering the benefits of having dinner with you or um, returning home to uh. Wash my dishes!"

"Your dishes can wait," Atobe said sourly, although he knew she was lying. It wouldn't do for him to embarrass Reiko by accusing her of being a liar. She, after all, being the head honcho of the few hundred strong fanclub of yours truly, had the power to crush his reputation with a few taps and the pressing of buttons.

"No. Dishes don't wait. They harbor bacteria, start to mould, and also, if you leave them for too long, the might even start growing maggots or—"

"Enough." Atobe intoned, cringing inwardly at the thought of all that DIRT. It was revolting, to say the least.

"I do apologize for rejecting you um, very, magnanimous offer, Keigo-sama." Reiko said, smiling and inclining her head appropriately in apology.

"It is alright. You may return home to your dishes." Atobe waved his hand, dismissing her with a nod of his head.

"Alright!" Reiko beamed at him and flounced off, too happy to be actually disappointed at rejecting him.

Atobe stood, Kabaji's form shadowed in the sunlight as they watched Reiko walk out of school, her long hair streaking like dark ribbons in the wind.

"What do you think, Kabaji? She needs to be punished, don't you think?"

"Usu."

-AK101-

"She's here."

Perfectly coiffed black hair, Hyoutei uniform, brown eyes. Reiko stood at the entrance to the alley, her form bathed in light from the convenience store nearby.

Two dark forms stood, shuffling forward to meet her, stopping at the edge of the shadow, where they seemed to cower from the light.

"Ojou-sama." They bowed their heads.

"Good evening, Ichi-kun, Niida-nii." Reiko nodded to them, ignoring the sparse amount of people on the sidewalk behind them. The one on the left held out a lacquered wooden box, which Reiko accepted and tucked into her bag before looking up again.

"Are you sure you don't want to return home with us, ojou-sama?"

"I have my education to take care off." Reiko said, grinning slightly.

"Education is for wimps. And women. Us men don't need education to protect you, ojou-sama!"

"I appreciate it. Now, where do we go from here?"

"The car will be here soon, ojou-sama. By the way, happy birthday."

Reiko's smile was heavy-hearted, but otherwise innocent.

-AK101-

"Atobe." Oshitari's voice was deeper than usual over the phone, but Atobe was quite used to it, and lounged easily in his favorite armchair, enjoying the soft jazz in the background and immersing himself in the calm of his silent room.

"Hmm?"

"You really don't know why Asakura-san rejected your invitation to dinner?"

"It wasn't a rejection." Atobe said mildly. "She merely had other matters to attend to."

"Yeah, and the other matters aren't her dishes, you utter FOOL." Atobe's eyes snapped open at the exasperation in the resident genius's inflections and tone.

"It's her birthday today."

Atobe's blood ran ice cold in his veins.

Reiko was in trouble now.