Mai's POV

"I'm surprised find you here now that the season is over." Kyoya's voice came from the top of the stairs.

I finished packing up my dance bag and sat at the edge of the stage. Kyoya came down and leaned on it next to me.

"The season is never really over. The competition is over, now it's time to start working toward next year." I smiled at him and debated on telling him the news I'd received earlier in the day.

He seemed to sense that I had something to say. "What is it?"

I bit my lip. "I'm going to be captain of the team next year."

Kyoya fixed his glasses and offered me a small smile. "That's wonderful. I'm happy for you."

Silence formed between us and I waited. He still hadn't told me what arrangements he had been making. I'd waited over a week for him to tell me. Every time I asked he'd put off telling me to the following day. I wanted to ask again, but I felt as if I was beginning to annoy him with the daily question. I was about to ask anyways when he broke the silence.

"Let's go to the elementary school. There's something I wish to discuss with you."

He put his hands on my waist and helped me down from the stage. I reached back over it and grabbed my bag. Kyoya put his hand out for me to take and I hesitated. We would be walking through the school, what if someone saw us? I looked from his hand to his eyes. He extended it more as a signal that it was okay and I took it hesitantly. We walked hand in hand through the empty halls. There was no one here, school had ended too long ago.

We walked in silence through the rose garden to the gate that separated the high school from the elementary school. I rummaged through my bag for the key. When I finally found it, I unlocked it and went inside. Kyoya followed behind me quietly.

I fell into one of the swings on the playground and rocked back and forth on my heels. Kyoya leaned against the pole closest to me. His hands were shoved in his pockets. We had been quiet for too long. It took all of my self-restraint not to ask what he had wanted to say. I watched him in silence and his eyes stayed on me. Finally he broke the deafening silence.

"Mai, we need to talk." He paused.

I frowned and my shoulders drooped. "Nothing good ever comes after that."

He chuckled slightly. "I wouldn't make such generalizations before you even know what I have to say."

I relaxed slightly. If Kyoya was laughing, whatever he had to say couldn't be that bad. I rested my head against the chain that held up the swing. "My apologies." I tried playfully. "I'm listening."

Kyoya remained silent for a few moments before coming to take a seat on the swing next to mine. He turned his swing to me and grabbed ahold of the chain closest to himself. I turned my swing to face him. He met my gaze for a moment before looking back toward the high school.

"I spoke with my father-"

"You're father? About what?"

He shot me a look. "If you let me finish, I would tell you."

I offered him an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

Kyoya fixed his glasses and leaned against the chain of his own swing before continuing as if I had never interrupted him. "I spoke with my father about a business opportunity and he has been taking it into consideration for the past few days."

My heart sank a bit. This was the arrangemet he had been making for the past week? I didn't understand. Still, I tried to sound at least slightly interested in this business opportunity that he had come up with for his father. After all, it could be his opportunity to surpass his brothers.

"Oh yeah?" I forced.

He nodded, "Yes. Your family's empire is quickly growing to reach the size of my own families and he's been on edge about the possibility of the Ootori Corporation losing its place as the number one hospital empire in Japan. That said, I made a suggestion that could combine the two companies and prevent your family's company from over throwing ours."

Kyoya paused in his explanation to give me a moment to process. I went over the information he had provided for a few moments. After a few moments, his words clicked and my mouth went dry. We hadn't discussed this. This wasn't something that had been brought up in any conversation we'd had. I stared at him in silence. He watched me patiently and waited for an answer.

"My father won't agree to that." The words spilled out of my mouth before I could fully process them.

Kyoya shrugged, "I wouldn't be so sure. My father is excellent at the art of persuasion. Besides, your father is a businessman and it would be in his company's best interest to take what was being offered to him."

I thought it over and then looked up at him. "What if I said no?"

"Are you going to say no?"

"No."

We watched one another for a long time. Neither of us really needed to say what we were thinking, we already knew. It had been unplanned, something Kyoya had thought up on a whim and decided to bring it to his father. I wondered for a moment how his father had reacted to the idea initially, but decided it didn't really matter. It obviously couldn't have been a horrific reaction if Kyoya had managed to transform the idea into a reality.

"Why?" I asked.

The question was simple enough. There were a million things he could have done, but this was the route he'd chosen to go. One look told me exactly why he'd done it, but I still needed to hear it. One corner of his lips twitched up in a small smirk.

"Thy enemies closer."

I stared at him for a moment as he got up from his swing. Kyoya offered his hand, I took it and allowed him to pull me up to my feet.

"Come on, Mai. I'll drive you home."

The End