Chapter 11

Mari woke up bright and early. She was never able to shake off the jet lag. It didn't matter, anyway – she was leaving soon.

"Why are you always up so early?" he grumbled. Mari had no mercy in opening up the blinds to the early sunshine. She needed natural sunlight to do her makeup anyway. Besides, it was already 7. Mari figured that the Ootori should have to get home to change and to get ready for work some time soon.

"I am taking Taika to the museum today," Mari answered as she put on moisturizer on her face.

"It's only 7 AM," the Shadow King growled. He could only squint at the silhouette that faced the window.

"I need breakfast," Mari shrugged. She craved fresh fruit in the morning. "And you have to go to work," she reminded.

Right. The Ootori rubbed his eyes awake. He had work. Of course he did. At some point during the night, he completely forgot that it was a weekday. A Tuesday, in fact. She was leaving on Friday. She always seemed to have a better grip on reality than he did and it bothered him.

She was nonchalant about it all. Like last night had never happened. Of course, he couldn't pinpoint why it bothered him so much. She was acting like she should have.

"I can grab breakfast with you," he offered.
"You don't eat breakfast," Mari chuckled. "All you need is a cup of black coffee."

She knew him too well. Far too well, actually. She picked up on all the things that he never thought she would and still, she was such a mystery to him. He felt like a ghost to her – someone she easily saw through, invisible, and only present on the occasion that he needed to be.

Kyouya sighed.

"Go shower," Mari ushered. "You should get ready for the day. I'm sure you have meetings scheduled… do whatever business people do."

He did as told. Her hotel bathroom was of course, pristine. She still used the same toiletries as she always had. He recognized the same body wash that Mari always smelled like. He reached over for it.

This is so silly. He thought to himself. He stood in the middle of her shower, sniffing this woman's body wash for what reason? This was obsessive. This was unhealthy. He put it back and carried on with his routine.

The Ootori stepped out of the steaming bathroom with a towel around his waist. Mari raised an eyebrow at him before continuing to draw on her eyeliner. She made no comment as she put away her makeup.

His physique had always been lean. She had seen it all before, enough that she was no longer fazed by it. But he, on the other hand, found it irksome that she was able to coolly ignore him the way that she did.

"What is this?" he blurted.

Mari turned around from her suitcase. She was going to grab her laptop and catch up on some emails during breakfast. "You're going to have to give me more context than that."

"This…" Kyouya sighed. "I don't know what this is."

"Are you asking me to define what we have?" the woman almost wanted to chuckle. Of all people, she didn't expect the Ootori to want to define what they had. They were non-committal workaholics. They were the sole definition of what was meant to be emotionally unavailable.

"Yes!" the Ootori grumbled. "I…"

He was confused. She made him feel things that he never needed to feel. The comfort of being around her. The absolute allure that she had to draw him in and then to have to pretend nothing happened. It was a rollercoaster. Just when he thought he could live without her, when he thought he never missed her in the first place – she came to remind him that she existed.

And she was an absolute gorgeous woman who was far too good for anyone to hold down.

But he… he was an Ootori, for fuck's sake. He was better than anyone he could think of. Anyone that was deserving of her – it would be him, would it not? It made sense. He was dwindled down to some stuttering idiot who stood in the middle of her hotel room, aghast.

Mari only crossed her arms and shrugged.

"Does it really have to be defined? We're good friends," Mari explained. "We are far too busy to be in a relationship with anyone, including each other. I didn't think this needed an explanation."

The Ootori sighed and shook his head. Of course. She explained it to him like he was a 5 year old, the age of her nephew.

"If you want this to stop, we can," she offered.

"That's all I am to you? A quick fuck?" the Ootori growled.

"You're still a good friend," Mari tried again. "I thought you felt the same. I'm sorry if you thought otherwise."

She was right. He couldn't deny that she was right, always right. It bothered him. Why was he so stupid? He never professed his love for her. He didn't love her. No, he thought to himself. He never loved anyone. It was a foolish thing to do.

"But realistically, Kyouya," her voice softer now. She could tell he took a hit just by the way he pursed his lips. The way he narrowed his eyes. He was angry, but not at her. He was angry at himself for slipping up. For being human.

"I live in the UK. You're in Japan. You're destined for some… heiress, someone that our society deems worthy of. And I… will always be forgotten," Mari accepted her fate. She didn't mind being the forgotten sibling. All the freedom that came with it was something she refused to trade.

"My future is undefined. But yours is," Mari had nothing but respect for the Ootori. "You are destined for such great things. You have everything set out for you. A job. A whole company to yourself. Someday, a wife that will be handpicked just up to your standards. But I… don't know where I will end up and I don't plan on settling anywhere for long. I'm not made for a relationship – with anyone," she added.

He knew all of this. He knew she was someone not emotionally available. Why did he ever think he was anyone different to her?

"Maybe we shouldn't see each other," Mari murmured. He could hear the sadness in her voice. She hated to lose a friendship that had lasted so long over the years. Her slim fingers grabbed her laptop and her room key. Her hair was neatly tied in a bun. Her high neck blouse was tucked in neatly into her grey pencil skirt.

"The door locks on its own. Goodbye, Kyouya."


Mari was right.

The Ootori couldn't help but to think of her when he was announced as the sole heir of the Ootori Corporation. She always saw his potential. But now that he was the CEO of a whole company, the next thing off the checklist was to get married. One could not be the CEO without having an heir to take over of course.

Kyouya sat across from the girl that he was forced to go on an omiai with.

Mari slipped into his thoughts on the occasion. Not so often any more after two years. He wished her the best. Like how she would have done the same for him. She was always right in that they were good friends.

All he needed was space.

But today, he couldn't help but to compare this woman to her. It was his first omiai that his mother had been nagging him to go on. Even Fuyumi was recruited to try to convince the youngest son to consider this woman.

The woman's hair was dyed brown, her nails manicured with jewels. She was pretty, but not quite his type.

She was well-educated, of course. Both Ouran graduates, although she was a few years younger. Had a degree in business administration from overseas. Her brother was the heir to a pharmaceutical company, but she was the head director of a subdivision – soon to be the daughter company of her brother's. Prospects for business were extremely high.

They spoke about their respective experiences abroad. His at Harvard, hers at Berkley. Surface-level conversation about their families – nothing that they didn't know already. They moved onto talking about their business. Sure, they could keep up conversation. She was quite lovely, very excitable.

"We're pushing for a new product," the candidate continued. She obviously did most of the talking. Kyouya had tuned her out by then. His mind was more focused on the pile of paperwork he had to get through after this stupid omiai.

"It's based on a recent patent…"

Goodness, it has already been 40 minutes. Kyouya wondered what the best method of rejection would be. Omiais were outdated methods of dating. There must be some sort of protocol. He would look it up. He also made a note to tell his secretary to block any more calls from his family members, unless it was his father or his brothers.

"From Harvard, your alma mater actually…"

The Ootori tried his best not to look down at his watch. It was rude. How much longer did this meeting have to go on?

"It was such a coincidence that one of the patent owners happened to be an Ouran alumnus and that she was in Japan now. Dr. Takuya took up a post-doc position at Toudai…"

Kyouya blinked. He was now hearing her name. Goodness, he really should have gone for that extra cup of coffee in the afternoon.

"I went to meet her personally about it with some of our R&D team. She really is a brilliant researcher. She explained it in such a manner that even I could understand it! A miracle since I was so terrible at the sciences as a child…"

The Ootori took a moment to process what the woman had said.

"Mari Takuya?" he blinked.

"Hm?" His date had already gone through that topic minutes ago. The Ootori looked more intrigued than he ever did over the past 45 minutes.

"Sorry, I thought you mentioned someone that I knew."

"You know Dr. Takuya?" her eyes widened. "She's an Ouran alumnus, so perhaps that name would ring a bell."

"She's back?" the Ootori couldn't believe it. There were only so many Takuyas that graduated Ouran. If she was a woman, it was definitely her. Of all places, Mari came back to the place that she seemed to avoid the most.

"Yes…?" the woman was obviously confused by the sudden interest in this stranger.

"What is she doing here?" he scoffed, still in disbelief.

"Like I mentioned," His date was obviously unimpressed by how he hadn't been paying attention to her. "She just started her post-doc at Toudai. I don't know her all that well..."

Well, of course not, Kyouya thought to himself.

Their date ended with the woman clearly unimpressed by the Ootori's lack of interest in her. And of course, Kyouya left coolly without a second thought. He left the upscale café with a pile of documents in tow in his briefcase and tried to think nothing of it.

For years, he avoided searching her up.

Of course, he knew that Mari Takuya had no issues getting published in papers. She would do well for herself without him having to confirm that. He needed his space and she gave it to him. She did the right thing.

But he lingered at the thought of her again.

Most days, he was too busy with work to do anything else besides sleep or work out to relieve some of the stress. He thought of her as a good friend, of course – it was his own stupidity that got in the way. He wasn't being rational about what they had. She was the voice of reason when he couldn't be.

He typed her name in.

Mari Takuya

Kyouya wondered if clicking search would open a Pandora's Box. As always, his curiosity got the better of him.

It was true. She was the newest member of the pharmaceutical sciences department at Toudai. She was a post-doc in the pharmaceutical division with drug delivery. The page had only been updated two months ago. There wasn't even a photo of her – just her publications, one patent from her days in Harvard, and a list of the funding that she received to continue on with her projects at Toudai.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Building
5
th Floor, Room 501

An email and phone number was left with her extension. Kyouya searched up the papers she had authored, spending the rest of the night reading her work. Well, now he knew more than enough to find her if he wanted to. It was 4 AM.

And his pile of paperwork had not depleted.


He avoided omiais for the rest of the year. Kyouya ignored all calls to his office, to his personal phone, up until Fuyumi showed up to his office in person one afternoon.

"You have to go to this one or our Mother will kill me," Fuyumi begged. Who knew getting her younger brother married off would be such a difficult task? All of the other Ootoris were married. He was one of the most sought-after bachelors of his generation.

"No," the youngest Ootori was firm in his decision.

"Is there someone you're seeing?" his elder sister asked in exasperation. "Just tell me."

"No," Kyouya was not seeing anyone. Not with his schedule.

"Then why don't you want to see these girls? I vetted them myself, I think they are all capable young wome—"
"I don't have time," the younger brother refused.

"Are you gay?" Fuyumi threw her hands up in the air. She just wanted an explanation, she didn't care what it was.
The Ootori blinked at the question. "No."

"Then what?"
The younger brother shrugged. "I see no need for an heir right now."
"But everyone else does!

Kyouya rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks. I have no time for a relationship."

Fuyumi crossed her arms. "Fine. If you won't go to the omiais, then you have to come to PR events." She threw him an invitation. "These are specifically designed to be after work, so you can't miss them. Mother thinks this may be a more… modern way of meeting potential candidates."

He growled but took the compromise. It was some charity event that Fuyumi was a chair of. The Ootori Corporation of course, was a large sponsor. He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever."


The idea was to show his face to Fuyumi, prove a point, and leave thereafter. Kyouya fixed his tie in the backseat of his ride. It was going to be an hour, tops. It was 7 PM. He could get out of there by 8 PM after the dinner.

Kyouya flashed his invitation despite everyone already recognizing the youngest Ootori. He walked into the event venue, slithering his way towards the shadows. He grabbed a flute of champagne and sipped quietly. Kyouya waited until his table was more populated before taking a seat at his designated area.

It was some event about mental health. Kyouya picked up only the rough context of it and couldn't have cared less. Fancy galas were nothing unfamiliar. He was always on his best behaviour as a curt, mysterious, and the cool CEO. He settled beside Fuyumi who tried to direct his attention to the girl sitting beside him.

He wanted to roll his eyes. Kyouya politely nodded and responded to the young woman's questions with ease. It truly was like talking to a brick of ice, to the point where Fuyumi felt the need to jump in.

"Do you like, need lessons on how to flirt with women?" his sister whispered.
Kyouya gave a look of offense. "Excuse me?"
"You're awful at talking to them," Fuyumi wanted to throw her hands up in the air. But they were in the public eye.
"Maybe I don't want to talk to them," the CEO shot back.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw her.

"What is this benefit for?"
"For research," Fuyumi shot back. "Didn't you read the email I sent you? All of those research groups are at the tables near the back. The donors are up front."
"All I know is that we are the biggest donor," Kyouya grumbled.

The rest of the dinner was excruciatingly slow. Between the clapping, the food that hardly filled anyone's stomach, and the constant string of awards or funding being announced to varying groups, Kyouya could barely stand it all.

It felt like a waste of time.

"I offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of Dr. Inoue who heads this team of researchers. He is off at a conference overseas and I was asked to fill in for him tonight. I work as one of his post-doctorates..."

Kyouya stabbed at his roasted carrots and chewed quietly. He gulped down more of his wine. There was not enough wine to make him feel like this would ever be a better time than it really was.

"This 2 million in funding will go towards a plethora of exciting projects we have lined up at Toudai. The university has an immense appreciation towards all of our donors. We hope that this will expedite results to instigate changes ahead…"

He could have sworn the woman speaking sounded familiar. Their voice was so refined.

The Ootori looked up from his plate.

She wore a navy gown with a long chiffon skirt that touched the floor. A beautiful headpiece adorned the crown of her head that made her look like a Grecian goddess as the rest of her hair was pinned back. Her lips were a deep maroon as she smiled towards the crowd. She spoke eloquently, as expected of someone that grew up in the upper class. Her eyes were accentuated by a thin line to not overtake from the bold lip. Her lashes were curled to perfection, naturally enlarging the shape of her eyes that burned with passion.

It was her. There was no doubt about it. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"You are absolutely welcome, Dr. Takuya. We look forward to your work in the future," the host seamlessly moved onto the next award as Mari quietly stepped off the stage with the plaque in her hand. She shook the hands of other researchers waiting by the stage, making small talk with them.

Kyouya had completely ignored the girl beside him as he was in disbelief that she would be here. It didn't look like Mari had any clue that he was even in the room.

He was a ghost, as usual.

But it would be naïve of her not to think he wouldn't be nearby. Right? Kyouya made a move to get up but Fuyumi latched onto his arm.

"Where are you going?"
"To the washroom," the younger brother shot back.
Fuyumi shook her head. "If you are not back by 10 minutes, I will get security to come after you."

It was an empty threat. Nothing scared the Ootori, especially coming from Fuyumi. He only rolled his eyes. He made his way towards her, only to be stopped by a crowd of women. It felt like he was getting swarmed by girls back in Ouran when he was a host. He was stuck talking to them to save face but he swore that Mari spotted him from the other side of the room. They made a brief moment of eye contact before Mari disappeared into the crowd of researchers near the back of the venue.

Mari saw him talking to a crowd of women. Of course he would be, he was a host. The entire benefit was under the Ootori Corporation's name, it was no surprise that he would be around. Mari smiled a little to herself. She was glad to see that he was doing well for himself.

She was asked to accept the award on behalf of her supervisor at the last minute and of course – the rest of the department had come along too to represent Toudai. She had no time for chit chat with the Ootori, and it seemed like he didn't have any time for her either.

By the end of the night, she disappeared into the shadows, never to be found.


Kyouya couldn't explain why his chest ached. It was a missed opportunity. But at the very least, he knew he was not hallucinating. She was back.

Why did he ache to see her?

Dr. Mari Takuya
Pharmaceutical Sciences Building
5
th Floor, Room 501
Ext. 1140

He wrote it on a sticky note. Then he threw it into a bin, only to retrieve it hours later with all of its crumpled edges. It had been months. Spring had come around with the cherry blossom season in full bloom.

And yet, he could have sworn he was getting grey hairs because of her. Who was he kidding? The grey hairs were because of the stresses of his job. The Ootori took on far more than he needed to – but that was what got him the position of CEO. He worked harder than everyone else.

He typed a draft email to her. It was sitting in his draft folder for a week now.

Subject: (No Subject)

Hello Mari,

Could we meet?

KO

He didn't even have a subject. He didn't have anything else to write. It was a pathetic email, now that he stared at it past midnight. Perhaps it would have been better to draft it under the guise of a business meeting.

Subject: Progress on Drug – MT091/880

Hello Mari,

As a large donor to the department of Toudai, the Ootori Corporation deems the right to have quarterly updates on the progression of the project.

Let's schedule a meeting to discuss.

Regards,

KO

Much better, he thought to himself. He sent the e-mail near 1 AM. A new e-mail reached his inbox by 11 AM. It was a literal forward from Mari's address to the office administrator. She wrote nothing as the administrator took over the thread.

Dr. Takuya cannot discuss the progress due to proprietary concerns. We respect your generosity and the head of the lab, Dr. Inoue would be more than willing to meet with you to discuss the general progress in person.

Kyouya scoffed. "Bullshit," he muttered to himself. It was evident that the process of the drug was so clearly named after her. MT. Those were her initials. She certainly knew the project best.

He sat on this email for a bit and tried to distract himself with the onslaught of work that he had on his desk. By the time the weekend rolled around, Kyouya found himself standing outside of the building, looking up at the 5th floor.

This is ridiculous. He told himself. What are the chances she would be in the lab? It's the weekend. It would be an empty lab and he was just going so that the gnawing feeling at the back of his head would stop. Did it really matter if she was around?

Sure enough, there was always someone in the lab on the weekends. The building required access after-hours and Kyouya quickly slipped through the doors when someone exited. He took the elevator to the 5th floor and looked at the directory.

501 was at the end of the hallway, beside the corner office of Dr. Inoue. Her lights were off. Of course they would be off. The entire hallway was empty. No one was around. It was stupid. Stupidly obsessive.

He leaned against her office door and massaged his temples. He heard footsteps from the corner of the hall. Great, how was he going to explain himself if it wasn't anyone but Mari?

She was startled as she turned the corner to spot a figure waiting in front of her office. Mari had come back to the lab to finish up the incubation of her cell cultures and to grab a few more data sets. It was no help that the Ootori was now on her back for results. Dr. Inoue called her into the office over the past week to ask about the progress, hoping to expedite some results for an update. Mari only huffed and rolled her eyes at the Ootori's email.

But for him to show up in front of her? It was awfully unexpected.

"Why do you keep coming back?" she asked, eyes softening at the man before her. He looked distressed. What was wrong? Was he okay?

"I wish I knew," he wondered. Kyouya stood outside her office door. "Do you still hate me?"

Mari blinked. "No, I just…" she shook her head. "W-why are you here?" Mari was so confused.

"Why did you ignore me at the benefit?" He wanted answers.

"You were occupied with other people to talk to," Mari explained. A whole crowd of groupies, to be more specific. But she wasn't going delve into that. "I had my own group of academics to talk to as well…"

"Then why did you ignore my email?" Kyouya frowned.

The doctorate sighed. "We're working on something that can't just easily be shared… you guys signed onto this project knowing that it was going to be proprietary," Mari closed her eyes. She could feel a headache forming. The Ootori made life harder for her than needed. "I was just following protocol."

"You couldn't have answered that email yourself?"

"Did you have to even email? I'm working on the weekends because of you!" Mari muttered. "I'm running two experiments in parallel with so much data that needs to be analyzed… and you come in with an email wanting to expedite the process!"

Kyouya blinked. "I didn't write that."

"Well you wanted quarterly updates like this is some kind of business with quarterly reports. You can't just rush the science, Kyouya," Mari seethed. She groaned at businesspeople who didn't understand what research was truly like. All they wanted were results. Good results. The kind that drove profits up. The reality was for every good result you got, you probably got hundreds of data sets that were far from ideal.

He didn't expect to get lectured. But it almost felt like what they had before. Her, being exasperated at him, explaining to him concepts that he hadn't considered. And him, always having a way to annoy her, even during their days in Ouran.

"I'm sorry," he perched up his glasses. He was quicker to apologize than he did years ago. He learned that lesson.

Mari blinked. "W-what?" Did she hear correctly? The Ootori never apologized this quickly, for anyone.

"I'm sorry," he repeated more definitely. "I didn't expect this outcome."

The woman sighed. She shoved past him and flashed her key card to open the door to her office. Mari let him in as she settled back at her desk. He took a seat across from her. The entire room was… atrocious. Papers strewn everywhere. Books stacked on top of each other. It was a miracle that she had any room to work or was able to find anything in this mess. Quite frankly, it was very Mari. She had always been a mess.

"Why didn't you tell me you were back?" he asked. She had been in Japan for nearly a year now.

She paused.

"I didn't think you wanted to see me," Mari answered. "We didn't really leave on good terms. And besides, you were doing well for yourself when I saw you at the benefit. You're CEO now."

"But I wanted to see you," the Ootori admitted. He always did. He couldn't explain why but he did.

Mari looked hurt. Pained, almost. Her expression looked like she was afraid. "I don't want think to be any more than it needs to be," she admitted. "I feel like I left you in a state that…"

"I'm fine," Kyouya assured her. "You were right." They were not meant to be in a relationship, not at that time. And perhaps, ever. That was what he told himself.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm glad you think so. I think I just felt… guilty for the way I left. I felt like… maybe you wanted to talk it out or…"

"Don't," he sighed. It was an embarrassing thing to go over. "I wasn't thinking right."

"Okay," Mari murmured. "Well. No hard feelings, yeah?"

Kyouya nodded. "Yes. No feelings at all," he added.

The woman smiled. "Good. Glad to have you back as my arch-nemesis for… over a decade."

The Ootori couldn't help but to smirk. He was glad to have her back. To the way that they worked best, as good friends.


Good friends had coffee, right?

Kyouya stopped by Dr. Inoue's office with two coffees in hand. He knocked on her door first, he was half an hour early after all.

"Come in," Mari didn't even past her monitor. "Did you grab the data from the lab? How are the cells looking? The goddamn Ootori is coming in today and I still don't have the full results… Inoue's probably pacing his office right now and muttering about my incompetency…"

"I grabbed you a coffee instead," an unexpected husky voice responded to her. Mari looked up from her monitor. Her ponytail bobbed with the movement as she looked up in surprise. "The goddamn Ootori grabbed you coffee," Kyouya corrected.

Mari groaned. "I thought you were the grad student."

"Surprise," he shrugged. "What is the point of Dr. Inoue giving me the update when you are obviously the one with the results?"

Mari shrugged. "He's the head of the lab. Can't disrespect him. Also, get out of my office before he sees you in here," she warned. "It doesn't look good on me." Kyouya did as told when the grad student ran into Mari's office to give her the hard drive. Mari emailed the results immediately before shuffling herself back into the lab.

She locked the door of her office and turned to the Ootori.

"Can't talk for long," she whispered to him. "I have a long day ahead. Gotta train the kids on the protocol," Mari sighed. She patted him on the back. "Hope Inoue makes sense of the results. If not, he'll probably call me in to talk about it."

Sure enough, the Ootori sat in the office of the lab head as the man droned on about the progression of every other project except for Mari's. She was a bit of a lone wolf, he explained. She did things independently but produced results, especially under high pressure. The experimental data were promising, it seemed.

"I'd like to meet her," Kyouya smiled, despite having seen her only an hour ago. "I wouldn't want to impede on your time. Perhaps she could give me these updates in more depth over the course of the year."

"W-well, if that's what you want," Dr. Inoue had no choice but to comply.

"We'll still be supporting the projects of your lab," the Ootori assured. "You see, Dr. Takuya and I are actually old classmates from high school."

The sudden mention of their past had Dr. Inoue thrilled that his post-doc had such a connection to a large donor. It only meant better things for the lab. Mari was called into Dr. Inoue's office by phone and within minutes she knocked on the door to enter.

Flustered and obviously unamused, she extended a hand to the Ootori, pretending to having only seen him for the first time in years.

"I have to get back into the lab," Mari was blunt. "Especially if you want those quarterly reports to be of actual substance," she shot a glance at the Ootori. He gave his usual host smile.

"I'll see you over the course of the project," Kyouya smirked.

Mari tried her best not to roll her eyes. She bid her farewell to her supervisor and the Ootori.

Somehow, he always found his way back into her life.

And for now, Mari couldn't decide if she was thankful for it or found him a nuisance.

She sipped on the extra large coffee throughout the day. It reminded her of him and she couldn't pinpoint how she felt about that.

She spent the last few years focused on her doctorate, immersed in the lab. Mari took some time off to travel on the weekends – all alone. The cycle repeated. Some friends were made along the way. Flings occurred. But no one stayed. Mari was a constant reminder to others that she was never around to settle.

There was something very comforting about being alone. Mari had no need to please anyone. No one to be obligated to. No partner, no family. She had friends but never ones that she would delve into her past with.

She had no schedule to follow. No timeline to adhere to. No one else to consider. She put herself first. Mari did whatever she wanted to do. It was absolute freedom. And she loved every bit of it. Some wondered if she was lonely – she quite frankly was far from it.

Everything with you is just surface-level.

Have you ever… considered anything more?

Did you even care?

She was an accomplished researcher. A scientist. Mari would describe herself as coldheartedly rational. A mentor. And now, an aunt. Mari kept a photo of her nephew on her desk, even if it was always messy. She would always make sure that she would see her nephew's smiling face. Taika was so pure. Mari fell in love instantly. All she wanted to do was to protect him, nurture him, love him.

Mari could easily admit that she had flaws – being emotionally unavailable was one of them. She chuckled to herself as she sipped on her coffee. A part of her knew there was probably more to unpack than she already had, likely in a session of therapy. But Mari had no time for that.

She took another sip of the cold coffee. He would understand, right? He always understood better than most people because of their similar upbringing.

Kyouya was also one of the most coldheartedly rational people she knew. He was, or what she had always thought – to be emotionally unavailable. That was why they worked. But evidently, she was proven wrong years ago in that hotel room.

And yet, he came back.

He came back willingly.

And Mari couldn't pinpoint why exactly. Was it his ego? A point to be proven that he could handle himself without any feelings involved? It confused her. Especially when he apologized to her outright when she told him that she was stuck working overtime because of him. Perhaps he had gotten better control of his ego over the years.

People change and they grow. Mari had to give the Ootori credit – he was more human than she considered him to be.

And maybe, after all these years…

She was the monster.


I wouldn't get married.

She said that to him years ago. She didn't believe in marriage.

Kyouya understood that. She was far out of anyone's league. Anyone who pursued her would mean that Mari would be settling for someone subpar. Besides, marriage jaded the both of them as they grew up in high society. Marriage meant nothing but a business transaction.

One that she never had to make when she wasn't the heir, nor with any net worth. Kyouya sat back in his office and leaned back on the chair. He looked across the high-rise buildings of Tokyo. Something about her made him feel at peace again. Like everything had gone back to normal. Mari had some sort of inexplicable part of him that she seemed to take along with her, no matter what.

It was like having his best friend back. The other best friend – the one that balanced the crazy quirks of Tamaki, the rational one that he could speak to with ease.

He had missed her company. He had her around since Ouran, even if they had a rocky start. Sure, she was beautiful. Elegant. Sophisticated. She had all the qualities of anyone you would find in the upper class.

But the difference was: he respected her. The Ootori knew first hand at how hard Mari worked. The potential that she always had to achieve all of her goals. The tenacity of pushing through all the adversities she faced. Kyouya always respected her point of view, her open-minded perspectives. He learned from her and became a better person for it – even if he would never admit it.

He wasn't in love with her, he told himself.

He didn't know what love was, not in the way that Tamaki had always described it.

This wasn't love, Kyouya repeated to himself.