The week before school resumed, Kinjo Matsuri dove into another rigorous practice schedule. Running outside in the early morning, taking in the beautiful Japanese sunrises and quiet mornings on the island. In the early afternoon, she would gather with her team at Ouran and run drills. Drills to improve reaction time, drills to improve the spin, drills to improve returns, drills to improve anything and everything. In the later afternoon, she and the team would do weights to strengthen their muscles. After they would leave to go home, she would stay for another half an hour and practice alone. Working on her serve and spin. Then she'd take a short run around Ouran's campus. Embracing the cool night breezes and the beauty of the campus.
By the time she got home, way after dinner had been served, she was so exhausted that most times she fell asleep before eating. Then she'd wake up in the middle of the night starving, and having to sneak into the kitchen, without turning on the lights, and pick through the contents of the fridge to find something to eat. Then lazily make her way back to her room to shower and go back to bed, only to wake up at six am to start all over again. The young Kinjo girl continued on this track for five days, back to back. Only stopping on Saturday morning, grateful that the team wouldn't be meeting in the afternoon, when she realized how incredibly sore she was.
"You're going to drive yourself to ruin," Kyoya said with a deep sigh.
Matsuri shifted in bed, wincing at the motion. "Not before you," she replied trying to find a comfortable position. At this point, she was lying on her side, facing the clock. 6:15 am. "Have you been to sleep yet?"
The sound of Kyoya's desk chair squeaking greeted her ears. "No."
"No one ever died of a sore muscle. But people have died from lack of sleep," she informed, suddenly uncomfortable lying on her side. Her entire body was sore. Her shoulders were tight; her calf muscles were tense.
"Soak in the bath, Matsuri-chan," he demanded. "I can practically hear your discomfort."
"I would if I could get out of bed," Matsuri replied.
"If you didn't run yourself ragged," Kyoya said, letting his voice trail off, knowing she knew where he was going with his comment. "I advised you to lighten up on Wednesday."
Funnily enough, she and Kyoya had been having brief conversations at this time all week. During the day, she was busy with practices and he was either advancing on his studies, something Matsuri wished she could do, or doing something related to the Ootori Group. Then by the time she got home, she was too tired to even put her phone on the charger, yet along dial his number. So this time six am, when she was getting up and he was going to bed, was the time that they talked.
"I have to practice." Matsuri sat up slowly, rubbing her neck. "Ow. I've been lazing around all break."
"Don't strain yourself today or tomorrow," he said. "School starts Monday; you'll need to be functional."
Matsuri could hear Kyoya's sheets rustling as he got into bed. She pushed her sheets off her legs, feeling the strain in her arms. "Ow. Ow. Ow." She muttered while swinging her legs off the bed and placing her feet on the floor. "Ow. Ow."
Kyoya sighed. She could practically see Kyoya pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his grey eyes shut in frustration. "I'll send some over around noon."
Matsuri rolled her eyes. Any other person would have phrased that as a question, but not him. He didn't give her the option to say no. He was going to send someone weather she liked it or not. He was going to send someone even If she said no. Carefully, she made her way across the room. Making it to the bathroom door, she leaned her shoulder on the frame lightly. "Kyoya?"
"Hmm?" he answered on an exhale.
She'd managed to get to the bathtub and turn on the water, stopping the tub so that the hot water would fill it. "Thank you."
"You're most welcome," he said quietly.
"Want me to let you go?" she asked. She pulled off her pajamas, before slipping into the bathtub. Kyoya's side of the line was silent, except for the sound of his slow breaths. "Ow," she hissed as she lowered herself into the water. "Kyoya?" she questioned softly.
"Hmm?"
"Good night," she said with a soft laugh.
"Good morning," he replied, a soft smirk in his voice.
Matsuri ended the call and turned off the water with her foot. The bathroom was now silent, save for the sounds of her adjusting in the bathtub. The warm water relaxed her muscles, easing them, and in turn relaxing her. Matsuri exhaled, blowing across the surface of the water causing light ripples. With each breath, she felt the tension leaving her body.
"He knows we have our own masseuses?" Kinjo Hayate questioned as he watched a young woman dressed in black get into a black car outside of the estate.
Matsuri shrugged, feeling completely and utterly relaxed. "I'm sure that he does," she replied. "He's just making sure I'm okay."
"A normal person would have brought you tea and came to check up on you himself," her father countered.
Matsuri laughed, pushing the front door shut. A normal person? He was right. Anyone else would have come to check on her themselves. However, then again, a normal person would have gone to bed before six am. "That's just how he is," she told him. Kyoya showed that he cared for someone, truly cared for someone, with material things. That's what he'd been doing since they had started dating. Buying her dinner, taking her to get sweets, spending money on her.
"He's doting on you?" her father said, it was posed as a question, but she knew that it was a statement.
"Possibly."
Her father looked down at her. "You don't like to be doted on."
Matsuri rolled her eyes, a smile on her lips, and started away from him, towards the kitchen. "It's something that I can grow to appreciate."
Once in the kitchen, she opened the fridge and grabbed a cold bottle of water. She held it up offering it to her father. When he nodded, she removed another bottle and handed it to him. Gently, she hopped on to the counter of the island in the center of the room. She immediately regretted her childish action. The muscles in her arms twitched as she put all her weight on them. The Ootori masseuse was good at her job, possibly too good. She'd forgotten the she'd been too sore to move.
"You shouldn't sit on the counter," her father scolded as he moved to lean against the counter next to her. His scolding did not have a harsh tone to it in the least. In fact, he seemed to find her action amusing.
"Ah, it'll be fine," she laughed, swinging her legs a little.
The Kinjo's were silent together. Matsuri let her thoughts travel to Kyoya. She made a mental note to call him when she finished here, not that she needed to make one. She would have contacted him anyway, just because she enjoyed talking to him.
"Have you decided on where you will be attending University?" her father questioned.
Matsuri looked down at the water bottle in her hands, the muscles in her neck straining lightly. "I have accepted my acceptance to Ouran University. I'm still waiting to hear back from the American schools. She squeezed the bottle watching the water rise. "I haven't made any decisions as of yet."
"I think Ouran is a fine choice."
That's because he and his father and his grandfather and his great-grandfather had all been educated at Ouran University. Of course he would think it a fine choice.
"I'm sure that it is," Matsuri replied.
Kinjo Hayate had made his stance on the University aspect of her life pretty clear. He would like it if she were to stay close to him or at the very least her mother. Since the night that her mother left, it had always been Matsuri and her father; they had grown close in the past nine years. Matsuri understood why he wanted her to stay. She was the one thing that kept him from being a complete workaholic. If she wasn't there, he would live in his office. The quiet in the Kinjo home, since her mother - his wife - left, was too much for him to handle. Even with Matsuri, the silence was deafening.
"Has Ouran reached out to you about the University tennis team?" he questioned, changing the subject.
"It was mentioned in the email that I received from them when I accepted," she said. "The University's sensei's email was attached to my email. If you have any questions on the athletic program, please contact so and so."
"Have you contacted the Sensei."
"Yes, he said that he will be at the match between the public school, um, Higashi High. That match is three weeks into the term. After that he said that he will offer scholarships to those in need and potential places on the team to those without."
Her father grinned, clearly proud of the girl on the counter. When she was growing up, he had been very concerned with how she would turn out. He always had work to do and it was difficult to raise a child alone. However, Matsuri had always been a well behaved mild mannered girl, and for that he considered himself to be very lucky. She could have been a handful, causing trouble at school and getting into mischief. But she didn't. She studied a little too hard and played tennis a little too much. Which in hindsight, he realized was her way of coping with the situation at hand. Burying herself in books and playing tennis until she was too tired to think of anything else. However, her coping strategy was a good one. It improved her academics as well as her playing ability.
"I think they are scouting at Lobellia as well," she said with a shrug.
With that Matsuri slid off the counter, careful not to put too much pressure on her arms. Talking about scouting and playing tennis, while she was physically unable to do so what starting to make her anxious. All she could think about was how much she was missing out on. Her backhand wasn't as strong as it could be. Her serve could have more power behind it. All these things that she couldn't fix because her body wouldn't allow her to.
"I'm sure they will not overlook you," her father said.
"Thank you," she replied, dropping her empty bottle of water in the recycling bin. "I'm going to go lie down; can you have Tora send my dinner up later?"
"Of course. Seven?" he asked as she leaned on the door frame of the kitchen entrance.
"Yes. Thank you."
Her father nodded as she exited the room and started up to her bedroom. Since she couldn't use these last two days to practice, she could at least study. Kyoya was miles ahead of her, having already completed the first several chapters in the calculus textbook as well as started in on the Physics II textbook. She was sure that Doi-san was going to come back this term with a vengeance, considering that she only had one term to get her spot back. Seeing as the running for class rank was so close between the second and third ranks, just as it had always been, she had no time to lollygag.
The raven haired girl settled down at her desk and opened her textbook. Within a few minutes of looking at the first chapter of her calculus book, she closed it. The amount of numbers and abbreviations on the page were overwhelming. No wonder Kyoya was so tired in the morning, looking at this all night would drive a person to tears. She opened it again, trying to understand. Writing the problems and trying to work them out, however it was without much success.
Matsuri huffed, grabbing her phone, and aggressively dialing his number.
"Do you feel better?" he questioned picking up on the second ring.
"How do you even understand this?" she asked, running her fingers through her dark hair tugging it at the ends.
"Understand what?" he asked.
"Calculus!"
Kyoya chuckled at her emotional outburst. She was so levelheaded and calm that it was rare to see her in such a frantic state.
"It's not funny, Kyoya!"
"Calm down," he suggested. "You're worrying about it too much. Look at it again tomorrow and it will make more sense."
"Tomorrow! Doi-san will have read the entire textbook by then and worked out all the problems," Matsuri said. The more she thought about it, the fact that she was behind on her studies, the more frantic she became. "I'll lose my spot, Kyoya! I just got this spot and – "
"Matsuri-chan!" he called over her. He didn't shout, merely spoke in a voice louder than his usual soft tone. However, it was enough to catch her attention and make her stop her rant. "You need to calm down. Put the book away and go lie down. Come back to it tomorrow."
Matsuri sighed, placing her head on the open textbook in front of her. She knew that he was right. He was Ootori Kyoya he was always right. She was much too stressed and frustrated from not being able to practice, and not having prioritized better over the summer, to focus in on her knowledge of anything math.
"I'll return to my original question; do you feel better?"
Matsuri lifted her head from the book quickly, suddenly embarrassed. She'd completely forgotten to thank him. "Yes, I do, thank you."
"Good," he replied. "Would you like for me to send her tomorrow as well?"
"No, no, I feel better already. I'll stretch tonight so I'm not tight in the morning."
"Did she bring the hot stones?"
"They were a dream," the girl sighed.
"I'm glad you approve," he laughed.
Matsuri pushed away from her desk and crawled into bed, burrowing under the blankets. "I have walked away from the textbooks." She looked over at the clock. 2:13. "And now I have nothing to do."
"You're being dramatic," he told her.
"Perhaps I'll call Tamaki-kun. He'll come over and entertain me," she teased.
"Yes, he would. Of course, he'd never leave you alone afterwards," Kyoya informed indifferently. "Weigh your options carefully."
Matsuri rolled her eyes. "You speak so fondly of your best friend."
"I do try."
They lapsed into a silence. Matsuri listening to the sound of Kyoya's fingertips hitting the keys on his keyboard. She found that him typing was a very soothing sound. The sound of him typing was soft and quiet. Unlike her typing. The pads of her fingers hit the keys forcefully when she typed quickly.
"Should we get new tea cups and saucers for the Club?" he questioned. Matsuri was sure that he was just thinking out loud, so she remained silent. "Matsuri," he said.
"Yes?"
"The tea cups and saucers?"
He was asking her? He was actually asking her for her opinion on a Club matter. She was startled. "Um, I haven't really paid a lot of attention to the tea cups or the saucers."
"What where you doing all those times that you were in the Club room?" he asked. He was very aware of his surroundings. When he entered a room, the first thing that he did was examine it. Finding things of interest, things that could help carry conversation, how many cups and plates were set – if it was dinner, he took in everything. While he knew that everyone didn't, case in point Souh Tamaki, he figured that she was one of the people that did.
Matsuri was quiet for a long while, trying to form the answer to his question. She finally decided on the simplest answer. "I was watching you."
Kyoya's constant typing stopped. "Watching me?" he echoed, seeing if he had heard her properly.
"Yes."
The line between them was silent as Kyoya mulled over this information. She was watching him. He knew that she would occasionally steal a glance at him when she would sip her rose flavored tea. However, when he would look at her, she was looking across the room at Haruhi or the twins. But she was watching him.
"So no new cups?" he questioned changing the subject.
"Have you had them for more than a year?"
"There or about."
"Are any of them broken?"
"A few saucers and there's a cup or two that have a chip."
"Then get a new set." Matsuri offered with a shrug.
"You're so helpful," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I do try," she quoted.
She was still a little, very, caught off guard that he had asked her for her opinion on Club matters. Kyoya kept his dealings with the club quiet. It was rare that he asked the members of the Club what they thought of acquiring new materials, and he never asked anyone outside of the Club – at least not in a serious manner. He would rather handle things by himself.
Matsuri yawned, suddenly much too comfortable in bed and very tired.
"Get some rest," he told her. "That does not mean go and play tennis or go and try to do calculus. Stay where you are and get some rest."
Matsuri wanted to disobey, to get out of bed and find something to do. However, she couldn't. Her bed was far too comfortable and she was very suddenly far too sleepy to move. Instead, she burrowed deeper in to the bed, the sheets wrapping around her and pulling from under the mattress. "Fine," she muttered into the blanket.
"Will you come to the club Monday?"
"I have to practice," she replied quietly, her eyes closed. "The team will not train itself."
The chair at Kyoya's desk creaked. "I understand," he told her. There was an odd feeling in his chest when she'd said that she wouldn't be at the Club on Monday. He was… disappointed. "Don't push yourself too hard then either."
Matsuri rolled her eyes and laughed. "Goodbye, Kyoya," she told him before hanging up, laughing.
A/N: Hey! Sorry, this chapter took so long to get out. The semester ends in like two weeks and then I'll be able to get my creative juices flowing a little more. So yeah, there's that. Let me know what you think. Leave a review.
~ Nikki