[ chapter ten : now ]

Kyoya and Sakura sat across from each other at the dinner table some nights later but eye contact was actively avoided. If it weren't for the families' chatter around them, the silence would've grown thick between them. Though Sakura was as chatty as ever, she never did address Kyoya directly. Then again, he barely participated in any conversation anyway.

He knew it was proper social etiquette to speak with your dinner company and usually, he was very good at politely talking, even if it was about something that didn't interest him. But he wasn't in the mood for it that night. He was surprised Sakura was. Or maybe he shouldn't be, considering he knew how easily the redhead could switch between emotions. Kyoya himself seemed to be the polar opposite.

That was how it was in the beginning, at least. Things changed when dessert was served. "Mochi cakes! Oh yeah!" cheered the young Akagi before shoveling the dessert into his mouth.

"Shion, where are your manners?" his father chided with a sigh.

Sakura sniggered. "I think he throw those out to make way for more food." The others laughed but her little brother stuck his tongue out at her. Then she felt her leg being kicked under the table. "Hey!" Scowling, she kicked back immediately.

The boy across from her hissed in pain. Kyoya spoke for what could be the first time since everyone started on dinner. "Sakura, work on your aim, would you?" She had missed dreadfully so her foot had connected with his shin instead. Next to him, the younger boy howled with laughter.

"S-sorry..." She sounded sheepish but it was obvious she found this kind of funny. Her sniggering stopped abruptly though when she felt a sharp pain shoot up her leg, making her cry out. "Ow! Jerk, that hurt!"

"Oh, and yours didn't?" Adjusting his glasses, Kyoya smirked at her.

Before she could retort, one of Kyoya's older brothers spoke up. "Honestly, nothing's changed, has it? You two haven't grown up at all."

"Akito! I'm way more mature than Kyoya."

Shion finally stopped laughing long enough to say, "Sakura's just jealous because these mochi cakes as just as good as the ones she made at home." He grinned and continued eating.

"Am not!"

"Are to!"

"I didn't know Sakura can cook," the only Ootori daughter said, cutting into the petty argument.

It worked but at the statement, an amused scoff escaped Kyoya. It went mostly unnoticed but Sakura shot him a glare, knowing what he must be thinking. "Something to say, Kyoya?"

"I just remembered how much of a disaster you were in the kitchen," he answered coolly and calmly, meeting her gaze.

Their families laughed at that and Sakura pouted angrily, slumping in her seat.

"Funny," the eldest Ootori said with a small smirk, more to jibe at his little brother than to save the girl. "I seem to recall Kyoya being her accomplice in those moments."

All in all, it unexpectedly turned out to be a good dinner. The reminiscing continued throughout the whole meal and both Kyoya and Sakura found themselves relaxing and joining in on the fun. The past was a good time... It actually made Sakura feel nostalgic so after everyone went to go about their own business, she decided to go through some old photos. She had brought her laptop along in case she got bored but now, alone in her room, she started it up and plugged in a flashdrive.

Then she went through a folder of pictures.

There were a lot of them, especially from when she first got that camera because she was so excited to use it. Kyoya was in pretty much all of them, which made her realize just how much time they used to spend together.

There was that time they tried and failed to make cookies before anyone found out that Sakura finished what was left. Then there was a picture of Kyoya with his arms out because he didn't have his glasses. Another photo showed the boy studying and pushing the camera away. But in the next one, he smiled smally at the camera. There were even photos of when they were a secret couple...

"You kept those?"

Sakura jumped and hurriedly closed the window on the screen. She looked over her shoulder to see Kyoya leaning against her doorframe, as expressionless as ever. "Don't you knock?" she snapped with a glare though the blush on her cheeks at being caught remained.

The boy stood properly and walked towards where she sat at her desk. "I did. Were you that distracted by our photos?" A small smirk played on his lips.

"Reminiscing breeds nostalgia."

"Can't argue with that, I suppose. Can I see too?" Without waiting for an answer, he reached over to reopen the window.

Sakura rolled her eyes but consented, muttering sarcastically, "Oh yeah, sure, go ahead." She sighed and slapped his hand away. "Pull up a chair."

He did as instructed and they sat together, viewing the photos. For his benefit, Sakura went through them backwards so he got to see what he missed. They did this in silence for a long time because it was kind of awkward to see how close they were, compared to now. As they reached the point before middle school, before things got complicated, Kyoya finally said something. "I can't believe you keep all this."

"I don't like deleting photos in general. Don't read too much into it." The girl slumped in her seat.

The other fixed his glasses though they were already in the right position. "I wasn't. Stop assuming the worst of me." Silence again until a particular photo showed itself. He paused, blinking at it. "Hey, this one is—"

"Yeah."

"—from the lake house that summer."

"Yeah, I know."

"We got in trouble for being out so late." Kyoya's voice sounded almost gentle then. The picture of the two of them cuddled together on the grass, sleeping peacefully. "And we both caught a cold after that."

The redhead's lips curved into a smile. "It was fun though."

Kyoya laughed in disbelief. "We had to stay home for a week while everyone went out."

"We had the house to ourselves."

"We stayed in bed most of the time! I swore I would never let you convince me to sneak out at night again."

"That didn't work out since we did do it again so many times after anyway," Sakura cooed. Then both seemed to remember why they stopped sneaking out together. She spoke softly then. "You know, you never said why you came to my room in the first place, Kyoya."

He shrugged. "I want to apologize for kicking your leg." He said this calmly, as if it weren't too small a matter to do anything about. As if they were friends again. The girl reminded herself that this truce was only temporary.

But it was a truce nonetheless, right? "Oh. I'm sorry too then."

"It's fine. Just fix your aim before you injure someone else."

Before the mood could get awkward, Sakura tapped on the keyboard to see the next photo. This one made Kyoya frown. It was the photo she had taken when he knocked over that expensive vase at the lake house. The one she used to blackmail him. The one she said she deleted all copies of.

"You liar!" He quickly tried to delete it but a laughing Sakura held him back.