A/N: Hi, friends…
Well…We did it. Give yourselves a hand. It's the end of the year we will never speak of again. We made it on the other side, dammit. Against the odds, we made it to the end. And once that clock turns midnight, it's all over. At least I hope it is. And if you'd like, amongst all the other New Year's streams that are going to bombard you tonight, you're more than welcome to come hang out at mine on Instagram. I'll be starting around 9PM my time. Between 9 and 9:30. I'm still a little sick, so please cut me some slack. But let's look back on all the wonderful things that happened this year…Short list. Holy shit. But on the other hand, in 2021, it's happening. This coming Monday, I'll be posting chapter one of the Good Old Days, which is the story of baby Frankie before he got mixed in with mafia and when he managed to score Vanessa. And eventually make Rei. That'll be on Tumblr the same time as my new Castlevania sequel, too. For those of you who don't know, my Tumblr handle is LumiOlivierLithium. Hopefully, I'll see you Monday, K? For now, let's get into this week's chapter, yeah? Ok. Love you. x
Thank God for the hot springs. My aching body needed these hot springs so much. Although, I was impressed the guy at the counter let the four of us share a pool. I'm not complaining. After my long, tiring day, this was all I wanted. Two of my best friends and my boyfriend to lay on. I fought sleep tooth and nail. A nap sounded so fucking nice, but if I sleep now, I won't sleep tonight. And I sure as hell don't want to deal with Luka all night. Fuck that.
"You know, Honey," I sighed out, my head on Ritsu's chest, "It was truly an honor fighting you."
"You did great, too, Rei-chan," Honey swam over to me, snuggling into my side, "It's been a while since I got to go all out like that."
"Me, too," I agreed, "Sensei gets pissed when I go too hard in class."
"You're not wrong," Ritsu cuddled me.
"You pop a wicked boner whenever we fight," I pointed out.
"Thank you, Reila…" Ritsu turned bright ass red. What a cutie, "That was information you didn't need to share."
"So," Honey changed the subject, "Where should we go after this?"
"We need to be back by ten o'clock," I grumbled.
"Boo…"
"You're telling me," I pouted, "But when we're back in town, I have no doubt we'll find each other again."
"I hope so," Honey let out a little yawn, "I miss hanging out with you, Rei-chan. Do you promise we'll be able to spend more time together when we get back?"
"I'll try my best." With my busy schedule, I'm not sure how well I'll be able to keep that promise.
"When will you be back in town, Rei?" Mori wondered.
"Monday night."
"Monday night?" Honey looked up at me, a hint lost, "Aren't you supposed to be going home tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Ritsu nodded, "But as soon as we get back to Tokyo, Rei and I are taking off again to Karuizawa for what we couldn't have this weekend."
"Oh," Honey shut his eyes for a second with my arms firmly affixed around him, so he didn't drown, "So, Monday night…"
"I can't hang out Monday night," I shot him down, "I'm sorry."
"Why not?" Mori looked at me strange. He knew I didn't get out much. Mostly because I was still in foreign territory. Granted, Ritsu's helped a lot with that and he knows places that not everyone knows, but I'm still not completely in tune with the city yet.
"Because I'll be working all week." Shit…That wasn't supposed to come out.
"What do you mean?" Honey asked, "Like the host club?"
No, my dear, sweet, Honey. I mean, like a real club. Only difference is one of them is run by local yakuza, "No. I got a job. Like, a real job. I'll be working all week, so we'll have to shoot for next weekend, ok?"
"Ok!" Bless you, Honey. You and your one track mind.
As much as I wanted to go back to the hotel, I needed to get to sleep. I'm sure Ritsu wasn't in much better shape. Although, Ritsu didn't have to go toe to toe with Honey today. Still, I'm fucking exhausted. And I know I'm not going to be in much better shape when I get back to town after Karuizawa. Ryoichi's going to hand my ass to me, but I think with a quick batting of my eyelashes, he'll be fine again. At least I hope so. I don't want to deal with him being bitchy.
Ritsu and I got back to the hotel and he brought me to my door. Sure enough, one of the student advisors stood in the hallway, no doubt watching us carefully as curfew neared. Fucking voyeur. I wrapped myself in Ritsu's hoody, my face buried in his chest, "Don't make me go."
"I don't want to you go either," Ritsu kept watch, a gentle kiss finding its way to my forehead, "But nature of the beast, baby."
"I can't wait for us to get back," I made sure to speak loud enough to where the student advisor could hear me, "And you are staying at my house with no real adult supervision, right, Ritsu?"
"I'll just take you out of town," he played along. I could feel her self-righteous glare in the back of my head, "On our own time where no one can stop us. For your father is in a different country on a different continent and mine is nowhere near attentive."
I cuddled into him, never wanting to let him go, "I love you."
"I love you, too," Ritsu snuck in a quick kiss, "See you in the morning."
"I'll be here." Without a second thought, I punched my card key and crawled in bed. Wow. What a shock. The little hellion is already tucked in bed, retainer in her mouth and stuffed elephant in her arm. I'm sure the twins took it out of her. That's their usual. You made a good ring girl, Luka. I'm proud of you. You earned the rest. And you weren't the one kicking ass today.
Goddammit. Luka and I really needed to have the conversation about personal space. However, I didn't think we'd have to have that conversation shortly after waking up. She stood at the edge of my bed, "Good morning, Rei!"
"Morning, Luka…" I backed off a little, "Any particular reason you're perched at my bedside here?"
"I brought you a present!" she handed me a white cup that I guarantee contained the elixir of the gods.
"Thanks…" I took a little drink from it, surprisingly delighted, "It's…Perfect. Luka, how did you know how I liked my coffee?"
"Well…" she rocked back on her heels, "I can't totally take credit for it."
"Buenos dias, kariña…" There's what I was looking for. That's much better that Luka perched over my bed like a fucking gargoyle. And then, my back felt all nice and warm, "Good morning, Mars."
"Good morning," I put my cup down on the nightstand and curled into Ritsu. I'd be lying if I said hearing Ritsu speak one of my native tongues didn't warm my heart to no end. I won't confirm nor deny whether or not I'm a puddle right now, "Luka…"
"Yes…?" Luka beamed. Oh, she had something up her sleeve. I don't like that look.
"Did you let Ritsu in this morning?" I wondered.
"I broke in," Ritsu kissed my cheek.
"Did you really?" I think I love him a little more now.
"Nah," he teased, "I knocked on the door. Luka let me in. You sleep late, Rei."
"I figured this would be a good way for you to wake up," Luka came clean, "Besides, I don't think I should ever be the one to wake you."
"Good call." Knowing me, I would've beat the shit out of her for trying to wake my cranky ass up. Ritsu on the other hand? I know when it's him. This…This was wonderful, "And you're not going to tell anyone about this?"
"Nope," she promised, "Not a word. As far as I know, Kasanoda was never here."
"Thank you." All weekend, this was all I needed. But no. Because of red tape bullshit, I couldn't have it…Well…Not as long as I wanted, but I digress. This was nice.
"You're welcome." Maybe Luka wasn't as big of a pain in the ass as I thought she was.
"Hey, Kasanoda," Luka sat back down on her bed, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Luka," Ritsu allowed, "You get one question. What's up?"
"Why did you say good morning to Mars?" she wondered, "Who's Mars?"
I peeled off my shirt and showed off who Mars is, "Mars is the Roman god of war. He's also what we named my tattoo."
"You have a tattoo?" Luka freaked, "How do you have a tattoo?"
"I don't have a tattoo," I clarified, pulling my shirt back down and showing off my hand, "I got two of them. I know a guy back home that was more than happy to do a tattoo for me. He did Mars, but someone more local did the one on my hand. The same guy that did my Q tattoo did Ritsu's back tattoo, too."
"Wow," she gasped in amazement, "It's weird. I feel like we're best friends, but we know almost nothing about each other."
I wasn't sure where she got the idea we were best friends, but I didn't have the energy to correct her, "Alright then. Did you have anything planned for this morning, Luka?"
"Nope," Luka shook her head, "Nothing. Why?"
"I'm sure you could go find the host club," I suggested, "They'll find something for you to do."
"We need to be on the bus by noon, though," she pointed out, "What could they…"
"Luka…" I can't believe I had to fucking spoon feed this to her, "Maybe you could find something to do for the next couple hours? Please?"
"Oh!" There it is. It finally clicked, "Ok…Yeah. Sure. I'll see you on the bus."
"Sure will, Luka," I shooed her out. Thank God. Once that door clicked, I fell into Ritsu's arms, "Fucking…Finally."
"A whole weekend," Ritsu held me tight, "A whole damn weekend and we hardly saw each other."
"It sure as hell feels like it," I agreed, "I can't wait for us to get back."
"Me either," he ran his fingers down my spine, "Where do you want to go when we get back?"
"Seriously?" I giggled a little, "You want us to take off right away from being on a long ass trip?"
"Um…Yeah?" Ritsu looked at me strange, "Did you have other plans? Are you wanting to stick around home for a while?"
"Fuck no," I squeaked, "It's going to be you and me uninterrupted until I have to go to work. You really think I'll want to stay home tonight?"
"I do know you pretty well," he kissed the top of my head, "Hey, Rei?"
"Yes, Ritsu?"
"You want to squeak out a quickie on Luka's bed?"
"I fucking love you." He does know me. He does know me so well.
And after we made the beast with two backs on Luka's bed (which, if we're being honest, highlight of the fucking trip), Ritsu and I got on the bus. I had no doubt in my mind we both had massive post sex glow, but neither one of us gave a shit. I let Ritsu slide in the window seat and I slid in next to him with my head on his shoulder. Life was good. However, because we weren't exactly hiding anything, of course we couldn't be left alone about it. And to make matters worse, Hikaru and Kaoru were like drug dogs for that kind of thing.
"Hey, Rei…" Hikaru popped over the seat.
"You seem to be in a good mood," Kaoru followed suit, "What's the occasion?"
"Do you really want to know?" I smirked, my eyes barely open.
"Yes," the twins hummed, "Please, Reila. Do tell."
I looked up at Ritsu, "Should we tell them?"
"That's up to you, Rei," Ritsu allowed, "But if you want to tell them, who am I to stop you?"
"I don't know," I strung them along a little more, "Maybe we should keep that to ourselves."
"Come on, Rei!" they begged, "Tell us!"
"Maybe it's not your business," Haruhi settled them, "Maybe that's between them and you guys don't need to be involved."
"Oh, Haruhi," Hikaru awed, "Have you just met us?"
"Everyone else's business is our business," Kaoru reminded her.
"They're not wrong," I agreed.
"THEN, TELL US, REI!" they both whined. Aren't they adorable?
"Fine," I rolled my eyes, "Ritsu and I had sex before we got on the bus…Like…Minutes before we got on the bus. No, we're not going to share details. No, you can't watch us ever. And no, you sure as fuck aren't going to join us. I'm too territorial over Ritsu and neither one of you are touching me without Ritsu turning into a junkyard dog."
"And you think I know you well," Ritsu snuggled me, "I think you know me better than I know me some days."
"I do what I can," I shut my eyes, content with life.
"Are you napping on the way home, baby?" Ritsu kept his voice down.
"No," I sat up a little better, "I mean, you did kick my ass earlier, but we'll be alright. You know me. I don't fall asleep after."
"I know you don't."
I can't wait for us to hole up in Karuizawa for a while. And then, we'll be able to revisit that without us being held by restrictions set by Ouran Acadamy's uppity staff. In my readjustment, I caught of a glimpse of the inside of Kaoru's bag. And a familiar water bottle from the other night, "Hey, Kaoru?"
"Yeah?" Kaoru perked up, "What is it?"
"How was that Hibiki I gave you two the other night to keep your mouths shut?"
"Um…" Both Hikaru and Kaoru looked away.
"I knew it," I giggled under my breath, "You didn't even drink it, did you?"
"No…"
"You two are precious," I awed, "You know that? It's really good. I can't recommend it enough."
"It tastes better when it's stolen," Ritsu figured.
"Absolutely," I confirmed. Few things were hotter than Ritsu stealing booze from Roy's engagement party. Obviously, it was enough to get me going. We ended up fucking in the coat closet, "You can always get your hands on more of that, right, baby?"
"I don't see why not," he thought, "You know, my family runs a nightclub in Shinjuku. I could probably score you another bottle there, too."
"Thank you," I knew you could, Ritsu, but if I really wanted to, I'd steal it myself. The most your dad would do is give me a little slap on the wrist, "But when you two do decide to grow the balls to drink that Hibiki, be careful. That shit's pretty strong."
"And it's so good," Ritsu drooled. When I looked back up at him, he was sleeping. Isn't he the cutest? I think he's pretty cute.
"So, Rei," Hikaru hung over the back of their seat.
"What do you have planned for tomorrow?" Kaoru draped his arms over his brother.
"No," I curled into Ritsu's ribs.
"Alright…"
"It appears we've caught you at a bad time."
"It's not that," I pulled Ritsu's arm around me a little tighter, "We have plans for today and tomorrow. You come over to my penthouse and you will be escorted off premises."
"Yes, ma'am!"
I shut my eyes and joined my boyfriend in our sweet slumber. Something about long car rides…They got to me. When Ritsu and I take our bikes to Hakone, we're fine. Mostly because I need to keep my eyes on the road. But even when it's just the two of us on Ritsu's bike, I don't fall asleep. But these overnight trips hit me different. I get that way when Daddy and I go up to the Hamptons, too. Even this past summer, I slept on Ritsu's arm most of the way there. And that's just a two hour road trip. Six hours on the road like this was kicking my ass. And the sex beforehand? That might have something to do with this, too.
A little while later, I felt a buzz on my leg while a happy jingle chimed. Who the fuck would be calling me now? It's damn near seven o'clock…When I checked the caller ID, I felt a little better while Ritsu squirmed against my back, "Hi, Daddy."
"Hi, princess," Daddy chimed on the other end. I miss him, "You sound like you're just waking up, baby girl. Isn't it kind of late where you are right now?"
"Fell asleep on the bus," I curled back into Ritsu. This boy was unmovable, "What about you?"
"I just woke up, too," he told me, "But it's also 5AM and a little more acceptable. What do you mean, you fell asleep on the bus?"
"I'm on my way back to Tokyo from Osaka."
"By yourself?" Daddy worried.
"No," I explained, "School trip, Daddy. And I'm not by myself now either. I got a few friends here. And…Well…I think you know Ritsu."
"Ritsu?" he wondered, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "Who is this Ritsu kid? Should I be worried? Reila, are you pregnant?!"
"No, Daddy!" I giggled, "Jesus Christ…Should I call someone for you? Do I need to start looking into assisted living facilities?"
"I'm not that old, Rei!" Daddy whined, "You're a little shit. You know that?"
"Love you, too."
"Speaking of Ritsu," Daddy asked, his voice taking a much more serious tone, "How is he doing?"
"Better, I think…" He's still asleep, so I'll take that as a good sign, "We didn't get our weekend like we planned, but we kind of did."
"That's good."
"I did get into a fight, though."
"Reila!" Daddy groaned, "Ordinarily, I'd be proud of you, but you don't need to be getting into scraps on international soil. I'm half tempted to full name you."
"Hold on," I didn't like where this was going, "When you say full name, do you mean what's on my birth certificate?"
"No, no, no," he clarified, "I'm talking your full name. I'm talking when you were a baby and baptized in Spain."
"Daddy, we don't have that kind of time," I jabbed. My baptismal name is eight or nine names long and all of them are Spanish names, so it's a fucking mouthful, too. He's bluffing. He has to be.
"You make a valid point." And he crumbles. Score one for me, "So, what are you doing, getting into fights?"
"It's alright," I promised, "We were both consenting parties. It was a prize fight with a friend of mine. Speaking of…Hey, Hikaru, Kaoru!"
"Yes, Reila?" they both popped up over the seat.
"Whatever happened to the prize money from my fight with Honey?" I wondered.
"Kyoya-senpai's pocket," Haruhi woke up for half a second, only to go back to sleep again. Aww…She's all tuckered out. To be fair, we've been on the road for the last seven hours. I can't blame her.
"Seriously?" I scoffed. Why am I surprised? I shouldn't be, "I have to admit, if Kyoya knows nothing else, he definitely knows how to make a quick buck."
"It'd be better if it wasn't my daughter he was making that quick buck off of," Daddy grumbled, "But respect."
"Wow…" I said flatly, "Thanks, Daddy. I appreciate the support."
"Hey," Daddy averted my attention, "Let me talk to Ritsu for a sec."
"Ok," I cranked my neck back. Ritsu was still drooling on himself, but who am I to tell Daddy no? And Ritsu sure as hell wasn't in any position to turn him down either, "Ritsu…"
Nothing.
I nudged him a little, "Ritsu…"
"Hmm?" Look at that. He lives.
"Phone for you, baby," I handed him my phone, "It's Daddy."
"Yours or mine?" Ritsu joked darkly.
"You know better." He's so fucking lucky I love him. And that there are too many witnesses on this bus.
"I know, I know," Ritsu gave me a quick kiss and took my phone, "Hi, Frankie."
"Hey, Rei," the twins motioned for me to join them in their seat. Ritsu's within arm's reach still. Just in case he needs me.
"What do you two want?" I slid into their seat. Only for them to reconfigure, so I was in the middle. Fuck.
"Kasanoda's pretty close with your dad," Hikaru noticed, "Isn't he?"
"Yeah," I nodded, "So what?"
"That doesn't worry you?" Kaoru wondered.
"Oh, god no," I shook my head, "I love that Ritsu and Daddy are close. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Maybe he's thinking about asking for your hand already," Hikaru figured.
I probably shouldn't tell these two about Ritsu and Daddy's conversation when we were still in Spain, should I? Probably not. We're in a moving vehicle for the next hour or so, I don't want to deal with that. Besides, it was only in hypotheticals, "No. Ritsu wouldn't do that without talking to me about it first. I never have to worry about Daddy and Ritsu being close. Sometimes, I'm worried about them ganging up on me, but for the most part, it's totally worth it."
"That's so cute!" the twins awed, sandwiching me between them. Fuck…
"Um…Rei?" Thank God. I've never loved that boy more, "Phone for you. Your dad wants to talk to you."
"Coming!" I got out of Hikaru and Kaoru's way and slid back into our seat, falling into Ritsu, "Hi, Daddy."
"Hi, princess," Daddy awed, "I'm so fucking proud of you, kid."
"What do you mean?" It's not like Daddy didn't have a million things to be proud of me for, but this one had me stumped.
"Just proud of you," he reiterated, "I can hear it in his voice. Ritsu's in a much better shape than the last time I talked to him. And I got a feeling you had something to do with that."
"Maybe a little something." So did our Hibiki and the sex we had on my roommates bed this morning, but it's not like I'm going to tell him that.
"I miss you, Reila…" Something in Daddy's voice wrenched my gut like nothing else. Almost like he knew something I didn't. Or he just genuinely missed me.
"I miss you, too, Daddy." But I couldn't help asking, "Is everything ok? Nothing's getting stirred up back home? Abuelita's doing ok?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he promised, "As far as I know, Abuelita's alright. I just talked to her the other day while she was making dinner, so…"
"You interrupted Abuelita while she was cooking?" I gasped. Abuelita had but two sacred places in this world. Church and her kitchen. And God help anyone that gets in the way while she's cooking, "Daddy, that's a mortal sin!"
"I know. But she called me!"
"Really?"
"Asking me for advice." Alright. Now, I know Abuelita's losing it. Not that Daddy doesn't know his way around a kitchen, "Not really advice. More or less a sounding board. So, I know for a fact she's alright. I got a meeting uptown in a couple days. I'll call you then, ok?"
"Ok." It's not like I had to worry about that. Daddy's been at this since he was nineteen and if the stories I've heard all hold true, the Old Man taught him well.
"And before you know it," he added, "You'll be back home again. Look, I need to get going, baby girl. I need to call Uncle César yet."
"Ok," I let him go, "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you, too, princess." Click.
Fuck, I miss that man.
"Rei?" Ritsu gave me a nudge, "Reila…? You ok?"
"Little homesick," I shook it off, "But I'll be ok."
"Good," he took my hand, "Because we're back at Ouran. We need to get going."
"Alright," I pulled myself onto my feet and threw my bag over my shoulder. At this point, I kind of just wanted to go home.
By the time we got back to the penthouse, I still couldn't shake my feeling about Daddy. When we got off the phone, I didn't get the usual warm, fuzzy feeling hug our conversations normally gave me. I threw myself onto my couch and dragged my boyfriend down with me, my head in his lap and my eyes shut. Just a little, though. I wasn't looking to pass out. Mostly to just get rid of this bullshit feeling my head decided to throw at me today.
"You know, Rei," Ritsu ran his fingers through my hair, "You know what we could do?"
"What?"
"You sound like you could stand a good road trip," he suggested.
"I just got off a road trip, Ritsu."
"One that isn't school sponsored," Ritsu clarified, "And I bet I can think of someone that would love to see us again."
"We don't have that kind of time." In a perfect world, I'd be making a flight home. I miss my dad. I miss my city. Not that Tokyo doesn't have its perks, but it's not New York. I miss home.
"Road trip, Rei." And Ritsu knew this was hitting me hard. So, God fucking bless him, he's trying to get me out of this, "We're still well packed. What do you say, baby? You and me and a trip to Karuizawa?"
Actually, Karuizawa probably wouldn't be such a bad idea. I could stand to see Misuzu again, "If we leave now, we could make Karuizawa by midnight."
"That's my girl," Ritsu pulled me onto my feet, "Shall we?"
"Yes, please." Maybe a good four hours on the bike will help me clear my head. If anything, it'll help suppress whatever the fuck kind of mess is in there now. And a little time in Karuizawa would be nice. It sucks we'll have to leave by three tomorrow afternoon, so Ryoichi doesn't bitch at me for missing work, but it's worth it. Sometimes, a good change of scenery was all we needed. The wind on back of my arms and my head on Ritsu's back. Life would be ok.
By the time we actually got to Karuizawa, the pension looked pretty quiet. Almost as if it was about to lock up for the night. Ritsu and I parked his bike and ran to the door before it had a chance to lock. And I think we might have caught Misuzu by surprise, "Reila! Ritsu!"
"Hi, Misuzu…" I gasped desperately for breath, "Tell me you have an empty room. Somewhere in there."
"For you two?" a giant smile graced his face, "Of course. Always. Come in, come in. It's cold outside tonight."
