Chapter 9
Its stupid for me to be this insecure, just thinking about it makes me want to laugh at my own foolishness… But then again I can't help but feel jealous at those girls that get to spend all that time with him. I feel ashamed just thinking about it, but it's really how I feel. I can't tell Kyoya that, I'm sure its nothing to worry about. In fact I think its pointless to even think about it but the thought just comes whenever I see those beautiful rich girls talking to him, and though I know the attention he shows them is all faked I can't stop the twisting feeling in my gut. Absolutely ridiculous.
I shake my head laughing at my own stupidness and take out my work for the day. Not the most interesting or the most distracting but it takes my mind off waiting for Kyoya and it makes me use my brain for something else apart from thinking about Kyoya. I turn on my MP3 and stick the earphones into my ear turning up the volume so that if the work doesn't distract me the music will.
'Don't fake it Amelia, it hurts me more.' I remember that and stop working to think. Is that true? I don't see how he can feel any worse than me, but I can't compare I don't know how he feels. But I do know with an almost painful clarity how I feel. I prop my head on my hand and stare out the window, it's getting awfully cloudy now… Maybe it'll snow later in the week… I just drift off into a daze just staring out the window. Not thinking about anything in particular; daydreaming about nothing. It feels good but then my elbow slips and I'm rudely jolted back to earth. I look down and unsolved maths problems are staring me back in my face.
"It's not helping me do my work is it?" I ask myself. I give myself a mental shake up before returning to my work. Just past one page I look up and the clock reads six. Did I just waste that much time just staring out my window? This is bad, very bad I'm starting to procrastinate. Forget that! I am already procrastinating! I let out a grunt of frustration before tackling the remaining problems. I finish two problems before looking up at the clock again; it's fifteen past six, I wonder where Kyoya is… I pull my earphones out and switch off my MP3 before getting up from the swivel chair. I take a stretch and walk out of my room into the corridor where I find Mai leaving a room she's just finished cleaning.
"Mai!" She looks up and greets me,
"Konbanwa Amelia chan."
"Has Kyoya come back?" I ask her walk towards her.
"No, he has not. I don't think he will be back soon, his parents and brothers are away on a conference and he usually stays out late when they go away for a few days." Away? When?
"When did they leave?" I ask bewildered.
"Just this morning."
"What about dinner then?" I ask and at the same time my stomach lets out a timely growl. "Oh… hehe… he…" I laugh nervously.
"You poor thing, you must be hungry. Dinner is served at any time when his parents are away, would you like to eat now?" She asks me.
"If that wouldn't be too much trouble…" I say uncertainly.
"None what so ever. Just come down to the kitchen and tell the chef what you'd like to eat, he'll make it for you."
"Oh… ok then, thanks." I go down the stairs and make my way to the kitchen when the front door bell rings. I'm just a few steps away from the front door but I'm not sure if I should answer the door. It's most likely Kyoya but it might be someone else. The bell rings again, oh heck it what's it going to matter? It's dark and cold out there. I slip on a pair of slippers and open the door; I find a lady dressed up warmly in a thick coat, scarf, long pants and boots standing on the porch. She smiles at me and says,
"Konbanwa! I'm Shido Fuyumi; I'm Kyoya's older sister. You must be Amelia Li right?" Wow… She's so pretty; she looks so much like Kyoya too, only that she doesn't have that icy feeling about her at all… In fact she is so warm and lively, I feel myself liking her instantly.
"H-hi, yes I'm Amelia it's nice to meet you." I pull the door open further so that she can come in.
"Ah, its nice to come back here." She says loudly, Mai comes down from upstairs and exclaims loudly.
"Fuyumi chan! It's been awhile since you visited!" Shido San takes her scarf and coat off revealing a lovely beige coloured blouse before un-zipping her boots. She hugs Mai tightly before turning to me,
"I hope you're enjoying your stay here." She beams happily at me before asking me "Where are you sleeping?"
"I think I'm taking up your room…" I bite my lip nervously,
"You mean my old room? Oh gosh, don't worry about it! I don't even stay here any more so it doesn't matter much." She walks into the living room and crashes into a couch in the most unlady like manner I've ever seen, which surprises me really.
"Ahh… where's my dear brother Kyoya? Is he not home yet?"
"No, he's probably still at the host club." Mai says dismissively, "Have you eaten Fuyumi chan? Amelia chan was about to get some dinner, if you'd like I could get the cook to make you something too."
"No, no, don't worry about that, there is this place where Tamaki showed me the other day for commoner food and it's a new place on our map so I wanted to eat out with my brother since I heard that everyone is going away for a few days on some conference." She gets up and takes my hand, "If you don't mind, Amelia chan would you come with me?" She gives me a puppy look, even without her giving me that look I'd gladly go with her. I nod enthusiastically,
"OK, I'll go! Sounds like fun, I'll just get changed." She grins happily at me before letting my hands go so I could get changed. I quickly go up to my room and put on a long sleeved shirt and pull on my jeans before putting on my coat and pulling the scarf along.
"Where is this place Shido San?" I ask her as we put on our shoes,
"Oh call me Fuyumi, it's not too far away. It's a small restaurant just before the city centre. Tamaki Kun went there once and he said it's a must go on our map." She smiles happily at me before adding as an after thought, "Maybe I'll call Kyoya on his mobile phone and tell him where we're going, and maybe he'll be interested in coming along after he finishes." She pulls out her phone and rings Kyoya, after a moment of waiting for the phone to be picked up she says,
"Moshi, moshi, Kyoya I'm at dad's place now and I was thinking about going out for dinner with you but you weren't here so I'm taking Amelia along. – What? You want to come?" She pauses for a moment and continues, "Tamaki has the directions, ask him. We're very hungry Kyoya, you just come when you can. OK? Baibai!" and snaps her phone shut. I don't even think she finished listening to him… She takes my hand and pulls me along.
"Itekimasu Mai!" she opens the door and hurry out, I hurriedly shout back,
"Itekimasu!" Before I'm pulled out of the house with my scarf still in one hand.
"Itera'shai Fuyumi chan, Amelia chan." Mai shuts the door after me and Fuyumi San is still pulling me along the slick ice to a waiting car. The driver opens the door and she gets in and I follow in her lead. She gives the driver the name of the place and she leans back and starts talking to me.
"How are you liking it here?"
"It's nice here, I like it here." I say nodding my head.
"Where are you from Amelia San?"
"I'm from Australia." I see… It's going to be twenty questions. Not that I mind, I like it actually, but it feels weird doing it all over again after a week.
"I was actually very surprised when Kyoya said he'd come…" she pauses a bit thinking thoughtfully before continuing, "He usually turns down my offers and I usually have to eat with Tamaki, but since my parents are away so are my other brothers I thought it'd be nice to give him some company."
"I see…"
"Since I'm married my father doesn't really approve of me coming over to often but I like coming over to visit Kyoya… I feel that he's special to me, I don't know why but he just does…" She lets out a little laugh before saying; "He seemed to be really frantic when I mentioned that I was taking you along. It's like he's expecting me to kidnap you or something!" I laugh at that and so does Fuyumi San.
"I'm sorry, but am I talking too much?" She asks me.
"No, no! Not at all! I like listening to you talk." I say smiling happily at her; it feels good to talk to someone like her.
"When is your birthday?" She asks me.
"Oh, it's past already. It was on the 12th of September."
"Oh… How old did you turn?"
"16. I took my learners licence test on my birthday and I got it! But I didn't stay long enough to do my red Provisional licence…" I see her confusion, "It's for driving, I mean… I don't know about here but in Australia when you're 16 you can take the learners licence test and if you pass that you can move on to the Provisional licence test after six months and you need to do more tests and finish about 120 hours or so of driving before you can take the Provisional tests… umm don't worry about that, I just spewed it all out because you looked a bit lost…" I blush and look out the window.
"No, it's alright. It's very interesting! Hmm… I wonder what to get Kyoya for his birthday…"
"When is it?" I ask turning my attention onto Fuyumi San.
"It's on the 22nd, a week or so from now… I have no clue what to get him…" while she muses over that thought I think; if his own sister has no clue what to get him what the heck am I supposed to do?! The car coasts to a stop and Fuyumi San announces,
"We're here!" I look out the window and see a well-lit restaurant with a family ambiance to it all. The driver opens the passenger door and I climb out with Fuyumi San just behind me.
"It looks like a nice place."
"Mmmhmm." Agrees Fuyumi San, "Tamaki's finds are always the best places. Come on lets go in, it's cold out here." She takes hold of my hand and walks into the restaurant. A wave of warm air engulfs me as I step past the door, and when I breathe in I can smell something that's so delicious smelling that my mouth starts to water and my stomach lets out a loud growl.
"The smell is making me even more hungry…" A waitress greets us and shows us to a small table for two,
"Can we have a table for three? Another person is coming soon." Fuyumi requests and the waitress says,
"Yes, sure just this way please." She shows us to a table for three and I take the seat opposite to Fuyumi San.
"What will you be ordering?" She asks me picking up the menu.
"Something filling, and warm." I look through the menu and pick something that sounds all right.
"I think I'll have the steamed fish with rice, would you care to share a hot pot?" I ask.
"Hmm? Sure, I feel like hot pot too." I put the menu aside and turn to Fuyumi San.
"What would you be ordering Fuyumi San?"
"I don't know… There's too much to choose from! If you like we could order now and I'll just put in my order later."
"Oh no, don't worry I'll wait for you to order as well." I take a sip of water and lean back into the chair.
"Kyoya!" Fuyumi San exclaims loudly standing up, scraping the legs of the chair on the floor. I turn around and I see Kyoya walking toward our table with an… interesting expression… Half way between a grimace and exasperation, not sure what you call that…
"Hi Kyoya, I see you've come straight from school." I say unnecessarily.
"Hi Amelia, Fuyumi I'd much rather you not drag any more people along when you're going around the place with Tamaki's 'commoner's food map'."
"You said you'd come! I didn't force you to!" Fuyumi San defends herself.
"Yes, but you did say you were brining Amelia with you." I think he's trying to suppress his emotions, none of which should be too good for Fuyumi san or me for that matter…
"There, there, it's not so bad we were just ordering our food weren't we Fuyumi San?" I say turning to her for support, I stand up, take Kyoya by his shoulder and pull out a chair for him before nearly pushing him down onto it.
"When did you push me around?" Grumbles Kyoya, but he still stays seated.
"The food sounds good. We were thinking of having a hot pot, what would you like?"
"Doesn't matter."
"OK, I'll just order for you then." Fuyumi San says cheerfully calling the waitress over.
"We would like a seafood hot pot, steamed fish and three bowls of rice please." To Kyoya she asks, "Would you like anything else?"
"No, sounds fine." Kyoya dismisses emitting a very sour aura around him.
"Come on, stop being like that!" I say.
"Being like what?" He asks unpleasantly.
"Like that! Cheer up, I think it's great fun to eat out with your sister." I turn to Fuyumi San and say, "If you ever need anyone to eat out with again, I'm free." Kyoya lets out a loud sigh and I ignore him, I think Fuyumi San is ignoring him too.
"Really?" She asks me her eyes all bright and sparkly, I nod enthusiastically and Kyoya sighs heavily – again. Our food arrives quickly and while eating I ask Kyoya,
"What would you like for your birthday?" I see him nearly choke on his rice. Ops… Maybe I shouldn't have asked that…
"Someone has been talking." He glares at his sister who is all innocence; he ignores my question and goes back to eating his food.
"Ne, ne!" I poke his arm.
"What?" he asks looking up,
"You didn't answer me; what would you like for your birthday?"
"Nothing." I give his sister a helpless look and she returns it.
"It's best not to ask him what he wants and just get him something anyway. He never tells me what he wants for his birthday, Christmases, new years, any celebration that involves him. He always says nothing."
"And it's because of your way of thinking I've got a lot of clutter, as well as Tamaki. You two give me the most pointless things," he turns to me and says, "I don't need another person to start giving me pointless stuff either." I pout and say,
"Well forgive us for wanting to give you something for your birthdays… Sheesh honestly who doesn't like presents?"
"Me." He doesn't even bother to look up. I roll my eyes at him and Fuyumi San laughs. It's a good dinner; I haven't talked that much or eaten that much for dinner in awhile.
"Ahh… That was a good dinner!" Fuyumi San says standing up, "What's the time?"
"It's eight." Kyoya says curtly.
"Oooo, someone is grumpy." Fuyumi San teases.
"I do happen to have school tomorrow and I do happen to have work that needs to be done."
"Come on, I know you can finish all your work in less than an hour. There's a night market around here, come take a walk with me!"
"No." Kyoya gets up and head to the register to pay.
"Kyoya!" Fuyumi San calls after him but he ignores her, she sighs and says, "Honestly that kid is so stubborn." She turns to me, "Amelia chan, would you come along with me?" Puppy eyes… Oh I'd love to go but…
"I'm so sorry Fuyumi San! I'd love to come but I've got homework to do and unlike the child prodigy over there," I jerk my thumb in the direction of Kyoya, "I take forever to finish my work… and I've got a lot of work due tomorrow…" Urgh… Just thinking about it is giving me a headache… why did I spend so much time just vegetating in front of the window? I give myself a mental slap. I'm never going to procrastinate again! Easier said than done…
"Come on, you've got to get back to finish said work." Kyoya appears next to me and takes me by my arm, handing me my scarf that I took off when I came in.
"How are you going to get home?" Fuyumi San asks Kyoya,
"I did come here with my own driver you know."
"Smart arse." Fuyumi San mutters.
"I'll see you soon Fuyumi San! It's nice knowing you!" I say to her as Kyoya walks out with me in tow. She waves to me and I wave back, outside I say to Kyoya,
"I'm noticing that a lot of people are pulling me around, especially you and your sister."
"You do, do you? That's great Amelia." He opens the passenger door for me and I get it.
"You sound pissed." I say, I think I've just jumped into that proverbial fire…
"I am." He gets in and slams the door shut.
"What's pissing you off?" The car starts to move.
"My sister."
"What did she do? I thought she was really nice, I like her a whole lot."
"It's not her it's what she did."
"Which is…?"
"Taking you out."
"And that is a problem because?" I remember the last time I poked around like this; I got myself nicely iced over. Not pleasant.
"Because she just took over an hour of my time with you!" I let that sink in before laughing.
"You are angry at her because she spent time with me."
"She took up my time too."
"Well you came yourself, not like she forced you to." I move over one seat so I'm next to him and I hold his hand.
"But she was brining you along, that was what made me come." He picks up my hand and kisses it.
"Oh no, don't fit your life around me!" I say mockingly.
"You're not making things any easier. You spend two hours in my sister's company and you're stating to emulate her."
"Well think about it this way. I've always been like this; we're just similar that's all. We've never emulated each other you just noticed the similarities." I say cheerfully.
"You still haven't told me what bothered you this afternoon."
"Wow, you really waste no time do you?" I ask dryly.
"Come on, talk to me. We're alone now, god knows when is the next time I'll be able to talk to you again."
"I feel so silly for even thinking about it, but it's just that… Those girls…" My words get stuck and I start to blush. "Stupid isn't it?" I ask laughing at myself, I turn away and pretend that the window is oh-so interesting.
"Hey, hey, come on it's not stupid." He touches the side of my face and turns my head so that I face him.
"I feel so embarrassed…" I mutter.
"I think I'd feel the same way if guys kept hanging around you almost incessantly."
"Sorry, I shouldn't be so selfish." I apologise and squeeze his hand.
"Don't say sorry Amelia, you didn't do anything wrong."
"But I did, I'm being selfish. Sorry."
"You think you're being selfish?" I hear a note of self-mockery in his tone and I look at him to find a ghost of a smile there. "I'm being even worse, you go out with my sister and I feel like dragging you away from her. And she's just my own sister. If its selfishness I'd probably get the prize for it." I wrap my arm around him and hug him tightly while still sitting down.
"I guess we'll have to learn to deal with it huh? The both of us…" I say quietly.
"Mmm…" He agrees with me and strokes my head absent-mindedly "I feel so… Happy… Secure? Hmm I can't seem to find the right words when I'm holding you… It just feels good, more than good when I'm holding you…"
Back home I get changed back into more comfortable clothes and sit down on my desk to finish off my remaining work. It's eight fifteen now, I should finish up before ten. I work methodically through all my work and after my work is done I look up at the clock and it reads fifteen to ten. Hmm, not bad. I shut my books close, pack up my stationary and flick off the lamp. Someone knocks on the door,
"It's open." I yell out, standing up and taking a long stretch, I turn my head around to see who it is and I find Kyoya entering my room.
"Hey." I say softly.
"Hey back to you too." He shuts the door quietly behind him. I push in the chair and walk to him giving him a big hug.
"Finished?" he asks me.
"Yeah, just only. I'm going to bed soon. Like in the next ten minutes." I let out a yawn and let him go. "So tired… I had a good time today at dinner with your sister. She's so nice, I like her." He smiles at me in the manner one would when indulging a child.
"Most people do. I'm still yet to find someone who doesn't like my sister."
"Oh?" I ask, "Surely competitors and the likes wouldn't like her just based on principal."
"If you mean direct competitors of the Ohtori family and companies than you are sorely mistaken."
"Why?" I ask raising one of my eyebrows.
"She is no longer part of this family; not in practice anyway. On paper she still is but she is not a potential threat to any of our competitors. She no longer holds any power on the Ohtori side. It is the rivals of the Shido family that have to be wary of her. She holds much power there now; her husband is the direct heir to everything that is attached to the Shido name."
"But… Don't you gain from her as well? Or well her other family." I ask.
"By 'me' you mean the Ohtori group then yes. Her marriage into the Shido family does bring us some benefits for being their in-laws. But what goes one way has to come from the other. We also have to provide benefits to them, that is why my father is against my sister visiting home so often. It's like they owe us one and so do we. And unless things are really bad we never ask anything of them nor do they of us."
"That's terrible." I say, preparing for bed.
"What is?"
"That marriage is taken as a way of getting benefits." I say filling up my cup with water and squeezing toothpaste onto my toothbrush.
"It's just the way things are." I start to brush my teeth and stop half way.
"But it isn't the norm where I come from." I say trying not to spit foam everywhere.
"It's the norm everywhere Amelia, its just wether the fact is acknowledged. Think about it this way, how many opportunities would you have missed if you didn't have that aunt, or uncle, or cousin, or in-law, or any other kind of family relation to give you that chance?" I think hard, ok well I admit there were the odd times where I got jobs where my aunt worked just because she knew the boss, but we don't make a tally of it!
"Well OK, so it does happen but we don't count them!"
"But you do, just not consciously. After you got a favour from them you'd go out of your way the next time just to help them all the same isn't it?" I shake my head and say nothing because there's just too much foam in my mouth. I spit out the foam and say,
"But its small things, besides it's just helping out a family. Who won't help their own family?" I can see his brow darken and a serious look enters his eyes.
"OK, OK, I'll take back my words and shut up now. Obviously we live in completely different dimensions. It's just for now that I happen to be in your dimension." I go back to brushing my teeth vigorously so I don't have to talk to him. I hear him sigh and I turn my head in his direction.
"We do live in different dimensions, you and I." I spit out the foam and rinse my mouth before wiping it down with a towel.
"This is starting to become a habit." I say observing how Kyoya always seems to take up a space on my bathroom door while watching me brush my teeth.
"And that's bad because…?"
"I didn't say it was bad." I walk out of the bathroom, Kyoya follows me; I find my comb lying on my bedside table and start combing my hair. "Just making an observation that it is becoming a habit." I finish combing down my hair so I put the comb down on my dressing table before turning to the bed to push the covers down. I turn back to Kyoya, "OK, bed time rituals all done, good night. I'm going to bed."
"I can take a hint Amelia." He says dryly. I smile at him before saying,
"That's nice to know that my boyfriend can take a hint." A look of surprise takes over his face for a moment before he breaks out in a smile.
"It's nice to know what I am exactly to my girlfriend."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going to bed now." I push him towards the door and open it for him. He turns around and says,
"Goodnight Amelia, sweet dreams." Before planting a kiss on the top of my head.
"Night." I pull him down and give him a good night kiss before closing the door.
A/N: This is probably the last chapter I'll be able to update in awhile because school is starting soon for me… (Nooo I don't want to go back to school!! T.T) So the next chapter isn't going to be up for awhile yet I'd say… School starting in two days… well thanks for reading! And please leave a review! I like to read what you guys think about it! Especially to you duckichan87 that last comment you left made me rethink how Amelia should act/feel towards Kyoya. Thanks to all my reviewers too! You helped me to write a lot!
