Hating You
Squit Ayumin

Chapter 5: Hotel Fun

Ryo sat on the bed, as far away from Rika as possible but close enough to where he could touch her shoulder if he stretched forward.

He wasn't scared of her.

He simply wanted to secure his life in the event that she wasn't a morning person—a very likely possibility.

Taking a shallow breath, he shook her shoulder lightly.

She didn't stir.

"Rika," he said, shaking her harder.

Again, she remained asleep.

He frowned. This was harder than he had originally thought it would be. He had sort of assumed she would be a light sleeper.

He stood up and walked up beside her. "Rika."

No reaction.

"RIKA!" he screamed into her ear, shaking her shoulder hard.

"What." Her voice was groggy yet as sharp and irritated as usual.

Finally.

"Wake up. I'm starving."

Rika opened her eyes several millimetres, just enough to be blinded by the offending sunlight.

Her discomfort would have made him feel bad, if it weren't for the fact he knew how foul of a human being she actually was.

"So what?" she grumbled, turning her body opposite of him. "Go downstairs and get your damn breakfast."

"Actually, it's one, so it's lunchtime," Ryo pointed out. "And my parents told me to bring you, or I wouldn't be allowed anything. They think I should be nicer to you."

Her lack of response prompted him to grab her covers, pulling it from her body to the floor.

It wasn't nearly as effective as it seemed on television. She hardly budged.

"Rika, wake up!" he yelled. "Lazy bum."

He proceeded to try and wake her until she threatened him so violently that he opted to eat something from the refrigerator until she woke.

Humming, Kari walked from the dining table to the living room, where the phone was currently ringing. She picked up the receiver and held it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Is TK there?" the caller shrieked into Kari's ear.

Kari immediately thrust the telephone as far away from her as possible.

Whoever it was, she had nearly ripped Kari's ear in two.

"Er, may I ask who's speaking, please?" she asked as she cautiously brought the telephone closer to her head.

She braced herself, holding the receiver away.

"It's Takako! I need to talk to TK!"

Kari smiled. "Oh, good morning. Sure, I'll get him right away." She placed a hand over the speaker and turned her head towards TK's room. "TK, your mum's on the phone!"

He was taking his morning shower, so the water had muffled her voice. She heard him turn the water off, and he asked her to repeat herself. They were the first words he had said to her in a long time. She did so.

"Tell her I'll call her back in a five minutes!"

Kari counted to five in her head. No way was TK getting off that easily.

"She says it's urgent!"

"I'm in the shower!" TK hollered back, his voice tinged with irritation.

"Matt got into a car accident!" Kari lied before realising she shouldn't have made up such a horrible lie.

In a second, TK was in the living room, a hand gripping a towel messily around his waist. His hair still had shampoo in it, and his upper body was soapy. "Matt got into a car accident? Is he all right?"

The sight of TK like this made her uncomfortable, and she turned her head away from him. Now feeling bad after seeing the worried look on his face, Kari simply held the receiver to TK rather than saying anything.

He seized it and placed it next to his ear. "Mum! What happened? Is Matt okay?"

"Hey babe! Good morning!"

The voice was definitely not his mother's voice.

"Who is this?" he demanded, not really caring that he sounded rude.

"Takako!"

TK shot Kari an angry glare. She pretended to be interested at the wall colour.

"What are you doing today, sweetheart? I thought we could get brunch!"

"Sorry, but I'm really busy. Bye."

He slammed the telephone back on the cradle.

"That wasn't funny," he said dangerously before he stormed back to his room.

Kari frowned, feeling a strange mixture of guilt and irritation. As expected, the telephone rang almost at the same time TK slammed the door to his bedroom. She picked it up.

"Hello? Kari? What happened?"

"Oh, he was showering and felt embarrassed to talk to you," Kari explained. "But brunch sounds lovely."

Takako gave a high-pitched giggle. "Okay! Tell him to meet me at Time Café at eleven, okay? Okay! Bye!"

Takako hung up without a response from Kari.

Fine with her.

Smiling, she hung up and walked back into the dining room to finish her breakfast.

Now all she had to do was figure out a way to get TK over there.

It was worth it.

Laughing hysterically, Ryo scrambled out of Rika's bed and ran out the door of their suite. Screeching, Rika threw Ryo's vomit-stained shirt off her face, bolted out of bed, grabbed the telephone on the stand, ripped it off the wall and ran after him. She was going to kill the bastard.

As Rika ran outside, Ryo, who had been waiting against the wall right by the door, ran back inside and closed, chained and leaned against the door. Banging and a small click of acceptance from Rika's card followed, along with a furious turning of the knob.

"Let me in!"

"No, I don't think I will," Ryo said mockingly.

Ryo was suddenly knocked to the ground as Rika ran her body to the door, opening it as much as it would go before the chain stopped her.

Although she managed to make Ryo stumble, it didn't give her a drop of satisfaction. After all, she was still outside, while he remained in the suite.

Getting over the embarrassment quickly, Ryo jumped on the bed and lied down. "Wow, what a comfortable bed. I can't believe I've been stuck on the couch while you undeservingly slept on this."

Somehow, Rika broke through the chain and stormed inside. Panicking after witnessing her intimidating strength, Ryo ran into the bathroom and locked the door.

"Bastard! Let me in!"

"No, go away!" Ryo yelled back before he walked to the mirror to examine himself.

She was insane. Not only that, but she was a strangely strong sort of… monster.

In a split second, Rika ran herself into the door of the bathroom, breaking it open.

Ryo yelled in fright and surprise.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded, wondering for a moment if she was human.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she snapped, pointing to the shirt on the floor with the phone in her hand. "Who does that? Say sorry!"

"Sorry for what?" he asked innocently, smiling.

She looked even angrier as she threw the telephone aside—possibly breaking it—grabbed Ryo by the collar, and pulled him down to her face. "Don't play with me, Akiyama."

Ryo took her wrists with a hand and pushed her off. Once he regained his posture, he said, "Don't touch me."

"I won't touch you if you don't touch me," Rika snapped as she marched out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"You touched me first, you crazy woman!" Ryo argued, grabbing the handle and turning it.

To his horror, the knob simply kept turning while the door remained shut.

Rika had broken the door, probably when she had broken in.

"Rika, you idiot!" he yelled. "You broke the door! Let me out!"

She didn't respond.

"Rika, this isn't funny! Open the door!"

Still, she didn't respond.

"What the hell! Open the door!"

Frantically turning the knob, Ryo continued to bang on the door in case anybody could hear him. Either Rika was really good at standing still and ignoring him, or she had already left. He never heard the door open. Maybe she opened it when he was still twisting. He couldn't remember anymore.

Either way, he was screwed.

When TK finally came out of his room, he sulked to the living room, sat on the couch, and flicked on the television. He was ignoring her, angry from the morning's incident.

Kari was watching him from the dining table, giving him time to settle in before saying, "Want to get some food together?"

He seemed taken aback by her sudden kindness, but quickly recovered. "No thanks."

Clearly, he was still irritated with her.

"But I feel bad for this morning, and I know you haven't eaten yet." Kari looked at him innocently. "Please?"

Kari decided she must really dislike TK in order to carry out something like this.

After countless minutes of begging, he had finally agreed to follow her to eat.

"I hope you brought your wallet," she wanted, in case he thought she meant she'd buy for him when she said she wanted to eat with him.

"No, I'm going to make you pay for me, because I'm that kind of guy," he grumbled sarcastically. "Where are we going anyway?"

"Time Café," Kari said sweetly. "It's just around the corner here. They have great food!"

"I bet," he muttered.

"Fix your hair. You look like a dogsbody!"

TK lazily put one hand on top of his head as he opened the door for Kari.

"You go ahead," Kari insisted, smiling.

He gave her a weird look—she was so strange—but went inside anyway. He had been so focused on looking at her that he had accidentally run into someone.

"Oh, sorry!" he said quickly, turning around to apologise. In front of him stood a short, squat girl, her pudgy arms reaching out to him.

"Oh, TK, I'm so glad you came!"

He stared at the unfamiliar being in front of him. "Erm, do I know you?"

She cackled loudly, as if he had said something incredibly funny. "I didn't think you'd show up for a minute since Kari told me you're so shy, but…"

At this point, TK turned around to look at Kari, seething.

She was gone.

He was forced to turn around as the girl grabbed his arm and pulled him to her so he was forced to look at her.

"Er, I'm sorry, er… er…" TK had forgotten her name. He decided to leave out her name. "You see, this is a huge misunderst—"

"Come on!" she screeched, dragging him to a booth.

She threw him inside and slid in beside him, blocking his way out.

"So tell me about yourself!" she continued to shriek. With that, she began to talk about herself.

TK sunk in his seat, too embarrassed to look anybody in the café in the eye.

It took TK a total of one second to realise Takako's mouth was a perpetual talking device. Her voice annoyed him and he could really care less what she was saying, but, by this point, he didn't even bother to escape. Rather, he nodded and glared at the table, mumbling an occasional, hallow "uh-huh" to make it sound like he was actually listening.

Hours later, Rika walked back into her suite to find that Ryo was not there.

Perfect.

She lied down on her bed and sighed happily, "Thank God. That boy's so bloody annoying."

"Rika?"

She sat up, hearing Ryo's voice. She looked to his couch but still didn't see him. "Ryo?"

"Rika?"

"Ryo?" she said a little louder, carefully getting out of the bed. If this was his pathetic attempt to jump out and scare her, he had another thing coming.

"Rika?"

"Stop repeating my name!" she snapped, looking around. She couldn't see him.

"I'm still locked in the bathroom."

She turned her attention to the bathroom door. As realisation struck, a sharp chortle escaped her lips.

"Rika, let me out. I've been in here all day."

She walked up to the bathroom door and gave it a small knock. "Are you being serious right now?"

"No, Rika, I'm lying about being locked in a bathroom all day just to hear your beautiful laugh," he said sarcastically. "You broke the door, so open it."

Rika rolled her eyes as she reached for the door handle. "Don't blame your stupidity on me."

"Wait, don't open the door yet! I'm—"

Rika swung the door open—and nearly screamed.

Ryo stood in front of her, towel around his waist, one hand drying his hair with a towel and the other holding a toothbrush.

He seemed unfazed by his exposure.

"I warned you," he said matter-of-factly as he threw his hair towel aside and walked out, lightly pushing her out of the way. "Thank you for locking me in there all day, by the way. Other than starving to death and being bored out of my mind, I'm fine. Thanks for caring to ask."

"Put some clothes on now!" she demanded finally.

Ryo grinned, delighted to see Rika feel so awkward. "I will in a second." He picked up the broken telephone from the coffee table and tossed it at her. "Use that as a doorstopper for now. I'll call maintenance tomorrow morning."

She had caught the phone, but didn't do anything with it.

He smiled wider as he walked over to her. "Rika, does the sight of me like this really stun you that much?"

She smashed the telephone to his torso, crushing whatever ribs were still intact. "No. Put some clothes on now!"

He watched her contently as she walked to his closet, threw the doors open, walked inside, and tore articles of clothing from the hangers to his direction.

He walked up beside her. "My underwear is in that drawer over there," he helped, pointing.

She turned to glare at him. "Do you think this is funny?"

"Yes." He laughed a little. "Come on. Aren't you going to get me some? Don't be such a prude."

"What is wrong with you?" Rika said, disgusted. "I can't believe you're standing there laughing when you should actually be humiliated and ashamed to show that wimpy little body to me. Even I'm bigger than you! I'm about to vomit; it's so embarra—mmph!"

Rika's eyes shot open as Ryo stuffed his toothbrush in her mouth.

"You need that more than I do," he said as he took the clothes from Rika's hands, reached over her to open his underwear drawer, and took out a pair of boxers. He gave her quick smile as he gently pushed her out of his closet before closing the doors to change. "My towel's off. Don't come in unless you're perverted."

"You're sick!" she shrieked once her initial shock disappeared. She ran to the bathroom and spat into the sink, his toothbrush long discarded somewhere near the floor of his closet doors. "I'll kill you, Akiyama. Right after I get your germs out of my mouth, I will murder you. Just wait."

From inside his closet, Ryo pulled a shirt over his head, trying hard not to laugh. "Go right on ahead, Rika."

"Kari Kamiya!" TK bellowed, as he threw open the door of their flat. "Where are you?"

He was greeted instead by her brother.

"Why are you yelling at her?" Tai asked, walking up to the door. A deep frown was cast upon his face. "Don't yell at her like that."

TK didn't know whether to be scared or furious, and decided to settle for something in between.

"Hi TK," Kari greeted as she walked up beside her brother. "I invited Tai over to see how nice our flat looks now that we've unpacked."

TK glared at Kari before giving a tight smile. "Well then, I'll just head over to Matt's."

Tai smiled. "No, stay. I was just leaving."

TK gave the Kamiyas another tight smile before disappearing into his room. To release his anger, he punched his pillow before throwing his head down on it.

Just two months of this… All he had to do was endure two more months of this.

He heard the front door closing, followed shortly by Kari giggles growing louder as she made her way closer to her room.

She knocked. "TK?"

He ignored her.

She knocked louder.

"TK?"

"What?" he replied rather rudely.

She opened the door, not bothering to ask for permission.

"Come in," TK said darkly, his face still buried in his pillow.

She giggled again. "How was your date?"

Furious, TK raised his head and gave Kari the most terrifying glare he could conjure. He then stood up to intimidate her. "I don't know what the hell your problem is Kari, but if this is some messed up plan to get back at me for not being your friend anymore, get a life."

He had expected Kari to become shocked and back away, but instead she glared straight back at him. "Excuse me? Get over yourself, TK! Like I really care that I lost a friend like you. I'm doing this because your brother told me to find you a girlfriend! Don't think that I'm wasting my time on you because I want to."

"Then you're supposed to help me, not torture me! You volunteered yourself for that job, so stop acting like a baby and do what you signed up to do."

She looked insulted. "Why don't you take some initiative then? It's not my job to take care of you, TK! You're saying I'm acting like a baby when you are one! You're nothing but a seventeen-year-old baby. Grow up."

TK walked closer to her. "Don't even start with this immaturity shit until you gain some maturity yourself." He held the door and motioned for her to leave. "You can start by calling Takako and telling her that this was all some twisted plan of yours."

Kari crossed her arms. "Make me."

"Fine."

TK walked out of his room and slammed the door, leaving Kari alone in his room. He then opened the door to her room.

In an instant, Kari was out of his room and in hers.

"Don't you dare touch anything!" she screamed.

He turned around, eyes flashing. "It isn't my fault I made other friends, Kari."

"What?"

She couldn't hide the shock in her face.

"That's what this is all about, isn't it?" TK could feel his voice rising. "I made new friends and you couldn't handle it."

Kari, apparently speechless, continued to open and close her mouth slightly, as if struggling to find words to respond.

"Don't make me look like the asshole, Kari. You're the one who made no effort to get to know them." He gave her another cold look. "Anyway, I'm tired of trying. Good night."

He turned his gaze away from her and walked out the door before she could react, closing her door quickly before marching into his own room.

She didn't follow him.

Author's Note: My friend actually broke her door the same way Rika broke her suite's bathroom door. She can't close the door to her room, or she's locked out until somebody from the outside opens it for her. It's hilarious.