Chapter 24

"Who's your emergency contact?"

Mari sighed. "It's really just a minor burn, do we really have to fill that out?" The woman sat in the ER with her coworker. It was all blown out of proportion, really. Someone had turned off the hot plate but did not warn her that the flask was still scorching hot. Mari had gone to grab it and dropped the flask with the buffer within it, spilling the contents and causing the shards of glass to splint across the floor.

Imahara-san sighed back. "HR said that it was good to record that you had gotten the proper medical care from the company," the man explained. "It's a good thing you were wearing proper protective equipment."

"Well," Mari scoffed. It would take a real idiot to enter the lab without wearing their protective gear. Any experienced professional knew that. "It would have been a bigger issue if I hadn't." Her fingers had been scorched through the nitrile gloves but no glass had cut through her skin. She rolled her eyes. "This is silly, regular first-aid would have taken care of this easily."

"Takuya-san, it's just company policy. They've cleaned up the spill in the lab and everything is fine. It's important to take care of your health first," Imahara-san patiently explained. "So… can you tell me who your emergency contact is? They probably won't even call them since your injury is minor."

Mari exhaled and looked around the waiting room. It was nearing 5 PM. Imahara-san had a family to go home to. He had already taken her to the hospital, telling her it was on his way home anyway – a kind gesture. Mari figured it was only polite to stop wasting his time.

"Just put the initials KO." she grumbled. She listed off his number off the top of her head, not willing to upon any details. She told her colleague to leave the relationship section blank.

"Are you sure? I'll put friend down, in case they ask any questions," he suggested. Mari shrugged, caring less about the whole bureaucratic procedure. It was all a waste of time spending the last hour at work running her hand under cold water and getting shuffled out of work from her colleagues. They came from a place of concern, after all. She couldn't be too mad at that.

"Imahara-san," Mari softly called out to him. "Go home," she ordered. "Your daughter is waiting to do her homework with you."

Her colleague nodded, bidding his farewell after making sure she was alright to wait alone. The scientist sighed out of relief. She looked down to her hand, roughly bandaged by her colleagues. It felt sore now. Her fingers were bandaged together like she was wearing a mitten of gauze. Mari looked around and decided to go home. Fuck it, she'd thought to herself. She didn't need medical care for something this silly. She had been taking care of herself for her entire life. This was a waste of resources.

"Takuya-san?" Right in the nick of time, the nurse called her name. The urgent care centre had taken her in at the last minute given that she was affiliated with the Ootori group. Something about occupational health hazards. Mari unwittingly looked up to the nurse who smiled at her.

"That's me," she quietly grumbled, grabbing her handbag with her left hand and following the woman into the patient care office.

The doctor inspected her wound, wincing himself at how red the skin had become. He made sure that it was not a chemical burn either, reading the file that Imahara-san had filled out. The doctor carefully rebandaged her fingers with the utmost care, prescribing an ointment to help with the dryness overtime. The bandages were much more breathable than the gauze her coworkers wrapped her in. Most of the session had been silent as Mari watched as her hand was sealed from any more exposure to the environment. It was still quite sensitive.

"Dr. Ozawa?" a nurse called out from the other side after knocking on the door. "Um, the patient's emergency contact is here."

Mari turned to the door, finding the Ootori CEO standing there with narrowed eyes. She could tell the man had come in a rush, purely by his expression of exasperation. He must have thought this was much more serious than it actually been. This was exactly why she had wanted to leave in the first place, attracting as little attention as possible.

"What happened?" he asked the doctor. Dr. Ozawa opened his mouth to explain that it was just a minor burn.

"Nothing," Mari interjected. "We were nearly finished. Thank you, Dr. Ozawa," she bowed her head slightly as a form of respect. "You," she turned the Ootori. "Wait outside."

"No," the man crossed his arms. "I want to know what happened to my fiancée," he ordered.
"I'm fine," Mari shot back sternly. "I've been treated. We can talk about this later."

"If you were fine, you wouldn't be here," Kyouya pointed out as they stood in the doctor's office. Mari stood from the seat and hauled her handbag over her shoulder in one swift movement. She coolly bid her goodbye to the staff and elbowed him to come out of the office with her. He stayed stubbornly, speaking with the doctor first as she left him to go to the hospital pharmacy.

The Ootori caught up with her, his arms crossed as he emanated an energy of annoyance at her. Mari placed the ointment in her bag and rolled her eyes at the man. She ignored the attitude from the Ootori, as she always had. The tension brewed as the minutes went by.

"It's not a big deal," Mari grumbled. He grabbed her bandaged hand by the wrist, bringing it up between them and proving his point.
"You landed in my hospital because of an injury," he stated the facts. His tone on the border of scolding. "Did you think I wouldn't notice when we got home?"

"Well, I was going to tell you at home," she explained nonchalantly. "It's just a first-degree burn, Kyouya. And they weren't supposed to call you over it. It's not like I needed a ride home," she added.

"You were going to ride the subway?" he nearly roared at her. Mari glared at him to keep his voice down. The Ootori never made her flinch, even if he tried. Thankfully they were in the hospital elevator to get to the underground parking lot. "Oi, Mari," he sighed. "Are you a fucking idiot?"
"I'm not a baby!" Mari yelled back. Their voices echoed through the parking lot that was thankfully empty. "I'm a grown adult who can take care of herself."

"You got injured," the Ootori repeated once again, this time more heatedly than before. "You should have called me right away." He pressed the button to unlock the doors of his car. Mari stormed ahead, not wanting to deal with the wrath of the Ootori right now.

"You were at work," the scientist shot back opening the door of the car. "This is not something to miss work over." She shut the door with her non-dominant hand, shifting her body uncomfortably after climbing into the passenger seat.
"I missed it anyway," Kyouya muttered as he pulled himself into the driver's seat along with her. She was equally angry with him now. The two stared at each other down like they did when they first met. Neither of the two backing down at their stance, stubborn in their mindset.

"You shouldn't have," the scientist snarled. "It was a waste of both our time, alright? I could have treated myself at home."

"You should stay home for the rest of the week," the Ootori ordered. It was Thursday. She would miss the next day of work. One day of work missed already sounded like an absolute nightmare to her.

"No," Mari refused. "Are you kidding me? We're ramping up our studies. I can't just leave my technologists to do it all," the scientist was not happy with this idea.

"That's what they're hired to do," Kyouya answered calmly. "And you cannot work with your hand like that."
"I can at least be in the office analyzing the data," Mari snapped.
"With what fingers to type?" the Ootori scoffed. Her fingers had been scorched and even worse, it was her dominant hand. "What could you possibly do?"

"Then what am I supposed to do?" the woman angrily responded.
"Just rest," Kyouya responded as though it were obvious. He let out a frustrated sigh, trying to make sense to the woman. "You'll heal faster if you take it easier, Mari."

Mari crossed her arms, realizing that the Ootori was probably right. She huffed and looked at her own hand. She couldn't be productive like this. Her team was competent. She trusted them. It just felt wrong to have them bear the burden of the work while she was not present. It was an unfortunate accident that left her unable to work for the next few days. There was nothing wrong except circumstance in this situation.

"Why are we fighting again?" she quietly murmured. It had been a long day of preparation in the lab. They were planning to launch the next round of studies in the next couple of days.
"You tell me," the Ootori pressed his fingers at his temple. He loved her on most days but today was a difficult one. "Why didn't you just call me?"

"My colleague said they wouldn't have called for a minor injury," Mari explained. She closed her eyes, letting them rest of the first time for the day. She had gotten up early to get into the office early, finalizing some project timelines. It was supposed to be a great productive day at work.

"No one called," he admitted. "I got the notification from my secretary that a Takuya was admitted into the system," Kyouya explained. "Your father is on our VIP list. I thought it was him at first, but it said M. Takuya – which could only be you."

Mari shot him a glare. "This feels like it should breach some kind of patient privacy."

"But I own the hospital," Kyouya pointed out. "The idea was to be able to increase security around VIP guests and to provide the utmost care to our clients, Mari. It won't show me what they are admitted for."

"So what did you think I was admitted for?" Mari wondered.
"The worst-case scenario," he murmured. "A traffic accident or something."

Mari looked at the man who only stared at her back. "What?" he suddenly felt self-conscious at her glare. Did he say something stupid? Was he wrong?
"Kyouya, they would have called you for that," Mari groaned. "You didn't have to jump to conclusions."

"Mari, you only filled out your emergency contact as KO and you placed me as a friend," he spat. "You couldn't have at least listed KO as your fiancé?"
The woman sighed. "Okay, I wanted to leave it blank but Imahara-san filled it in as friend."

"That's even worse," he was clearly annoyed by her lacklustre explanation of it all. "Do you know how embarrassing it was to have the nurse ask if I was your friend to pick you up from your appointment?" It was very clear that the entire staff knew Kyouya Ootori when they saw him but asked anyway out of protocol.

"I just didn't want to attract any attention, Kyouya," she explained. "It's enough that you already own the hospital… and then you come to barge into my appointment…" Mari didn't want to think about the implications about the rumour mill.
"It's fine," Kyouya rolled his eyes. "I don't care what people have to say about me. Is it so wrong to be human like everyone else? I was here in this hospital worried for my fiancée. That's it."

She let the words marinate in her brain for a bit before looking at him. Her eyes softened after understanding him a bit better. He was really something else, wasn't he?

"Now what?" he sighed. Why did she keep looking at him with such fascination like that? It certainly wasn't because he was good looking, she would never admit such a thing. Not in this moment at least.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she swallowed every ounce of pride she had. She felt guilty for having him leave work out of worry for her. At the end of the day, sometimes she also forgot that the Ootori was her fiancé, and not a businessman. The man who had grown to prioritize her above all else and also without a second thought. He loved her and today was probably one of those days that she made it difficult for him to.

The Ootori exhaled in relief. He wasn't looking for an apology. After all, he just wanted to make sure she was alright. This woman refused to let anyone take care of her, even if they tried. These two never spoke in apologies anyway, only in insults most days. It was a testament to their growth over the years, it seemed.

"I know," he gingerly took her free hand, giving it a squeeze. She did not have to apologize. But she did anyway, as a good partner should. "Let's go home."


Mari watched the Ootori chop the carrot with the speed of a tortoise. At this point she couldn't tell if he was just purposefully getting on her nerves by chopping slowly or if he was just horribly unskilled with the knife. She assumed the latter, watching as the Ootori carefully dice the vegetable. Without her dominant hand, she needed him to cook dinner.

She made him start with the rice, an easy thing to prepare now that he knew the steps of washing the rice and to push a button on the machine. The vegetables became more of a struggle as she told him to peel off the skin of the carrot and the potatoes before chopping them up into chunks of edible pieces. By the time the Ootori had reached the onion, he was tired from all the manual labour.

"Kyouya, we've barely started cooking," she sighed. She patted his shoulder encouragingly, as if asking him to just hang on for the last bits of the mise en place. The carrots and potatoes needed to boil. The chicken needed to be grilled. The roux hadn't even gotten started yet. It was a simple recipe but it was killing her inside to watch the Ootori do it all. She was faster around the kitchen.

"I don't understand why you enjoy this," he grumbled. His sleeves had been rolled up to show his toned forearms. He was sweating from the heat from the stove and from chopping the vegetables earnestly.

"It's like an extension of being in the lab," Mari shrugged. She pointed to the pot of water that she made him boil before he began chopping the root vegetables. The man gathered the fruits of his labour and dumped it into the boiling pot. Mari poured some oil into the pan with her free hand and waited for the oil to heat.

"All this time cooking just for the food to be eaten in five minutes," the Ootori sighed. He grabbed the chicken from the fridge and cooked the chicken as per her instructions. He placed them to the side while Mari measured out the ingredients for the roux. They worked in sync, so long as Mari kept him on his toes and busy enough not to get bored.

"Melt the butter and add the flour until it's cooked and then add the curry powder," she told him as she fished out the boiled vegetables with a ladle. The Ootori paid attention to the roux, adding the ingredients as per her instructions. She added stock to the roux slowly, telling the Ootori to stir so no clumps would form. Until the roux reached the consistency she deemed acceptable, Mari urged the Ootori to add in the rest of the ingredients to put together the curry as she stirred with one arm.

When they settled at their usual dinner spot, the Ootori was starving. The two sat on the bar stools with their bowls of steaming curry in front of them. Dishes were strewn across the kitchen but their food was finally plated and served after an hour. It would have taken Mari less time if she had been doing it herself, but alas, teaching the Ootori to cook was a feat in itself.

"Careful it's –" Mari tried warning him as he scooped a portion of his rice and curry before spitting it back out for being too hot. She sighed. Mari pushed over her glass of cold water to the man who took it gladly. He chugged the entire glass in an attempt to save his tongue. No snarky comment was made Mari.

On normal nights, Mari would have cooked in enough time for him to get home. She would leave work past 6. He would get home half past 7. The news would be on as they watched together, but today it was just them without the background noise of the news anchor. It had been an extra long day for the both of them and the silence was comforting. Only the clinking of their utensils echoed in the room.

Mari had trouble spooning the last bits of her food with her left hand. She should have used a bowl instead of a plate. Kyouya watched as she struggled with the leftovers and gently used his own spoon to help her along. He tried spooning it onto her own utensil, but it was more efficient to just take her plate and spoon up the scraps himself.

"Don't spoon feed me," she glared icily. The Ootori rolled his eyes and took her left hand so she could grip his spoon instead. The woman would die on the hill of being independent before accepting any form of help. While it impressed him on most days, today was not one of them. It made him sigh and wondered if and when she would ever surrender. Just for today, at least. She ate her last spoonful with pride before hopping off the chair and began rinsing off the dishes under the faucet.

Kyouya was quick to silently hop off his own stool to blockade her from lifting another finger. He gently guided her away from the sink by the waist, planting a kiss on her forehead to tell her to stop. He'll do it. She looked up at him skeptically, asking if he knew how to actually load the dishwasher and if he knew which dishes actually belonged in there.

He started by placing the utensils in the basket on the edge of the dishwasher like he had watched her many times before. He loaded the plates and the mugs from the morning into the dishwasher. He took some time to scrub off the gnarly bits of the pan before placing it on the bottom shelf and carefully placed the bowls they used during cooking onto the same shelf. The Dutch oven did not belong in the dishwasher, that much he knew.

Mari let him clean up while she packed up leftovers the best she could with one hand. The Ootori ended up taking over, neatly organizing the Tupperware she had set up for the rice and the curry for lunch over the next few days. He placed them in the fridge in their usual spot. He usually watched her do this, never doing so himself.

She looked up at him in amazement, unsure of who this man was. The Ootori? Actually cleaning? It seemed like she was in another dimension. By the time he was running the dishwasher and had wiped down the countertop, Mari wondered if the Ootori would do this every night.

"Why are you gaping at me like that?" he muttered when he felt her gaze on him.

"You're the most attractive when you're useful, you know that?" Mari rolled her eyes. "If you knew how to clean up, why didn't you do it for me?"

"You never asked," he smirked, wringing out the dishcloth and letting it dry on the handlebar of their oven. He moved over to their wine cooler and grabbed a bottle. After a long day, it was only right that he was able to unwind over a glass of cabernet. He popped the cork easily in one swift motion.

"I didn't ask today either," Mari snapped.

"You shouldn't have had to," Kyouya responded nonchalantly as he poured himself a glass. Mari was already nursing her own mug of cool filtered water. "You know, you're allowed to ask for help," he reminded her softly. She looked so tired today behind her glasses. Her hair was still in a bun, loosened now to sit on the lower end of her head. Her light grey v-neck chiffon tank with mesh detailing was still tucked effortlessly into her black dress pants. Breezy enough for the summer months, but still professional for the workplace. She hadn't changed out of her work clothes yet.

"That's not why you fell in love with me," Mari crossed her arms. He had little patience for people asked for hand-outs. He respected hard work. Grit. Intelligence. Problem solvers.

"Mari, I'm not going to fall out of love with you because you ask for help," he rolled his eyes. "Don't be silly."

"Then why don't you volunteer to help clean after I cook every night?" she scowled.

"I don't clean up the mess I didn't make," he flashed a host smile at her. He knew she wouldn't take it well after she grunted and took her bun apart to try to ignore him. He watched her as he took a long swig from his wine glass. Sweet alcohol hit the spot just right.

Her fingers were still sensitive on her dominant hand and suddenly simple tasks were made stupidly difficult. She tugged away at the pins with her left hand, wrestling to get the hair tie out of her damn nest of hair.

Kyouya placed his wine glass down and walked over to assist. His gentle fingers retrieved the bobby pins that held her hair in place for most of the day, even letting his fingers comb through the loose waves that had formed after a long day. He moved the hair aside to kiss her sweetly in the crook of her neck. An apology for his snide comment. His arms embraced her from behind, his chin resting on her right shoulder. He inhaled the scent of her and exhaled against her skin. Don't stay mad. I love you.

She sighed, understanding him immediately. She wasn't trying to pick a fight. She never was. Bickering was just their natural form of communication. Her fiery temper had subsided with everyone else in the world except him for some reason. How he had the key to unlock it all – probably because that was how he had always known her. Hot-headed. Impulsive. Rash. Immature.

But nonetheless, he caressed her and reminded her that he would wholeheartedly deal with it all. Today, especially.


Mari's alarm went off early at 6 AM. It gave her plenty of time to get up, run, shower, put on make-up, and catch the subway to arrive by 8. The sun was already up by the time she would reach outside in her workout clothes. She continued her morning routine as per usual, wiggling out of the grasp of the Ootori.

"What the fuck," he grumbled. It was too early for this. "You're not supposed to work today," he held on tighter. "Just stay home, god damn it."

Mari's body was conditioned to get up considering that this had been her routine for ages. She slept so well that she had forgotten the bandages on her hand. At least the throbbing had stopped by now.

"Stay with me," he sleepily whispered. "Just for today." He rubbed her back in a soothing motion, as if cooing her back to sleep. Goodness it was so tempting to just relax and enjoy the presence of the man who really wasn't asking for much. A couple more hours of sleep, he murmured.

She turned to face him, tucking herself beneath his chin and nodded.

"Just for today," she murmured back. Just for today, she repeated to herself. It was a reminder not to make it a habit before falling back asleep.

It was a miracle, really. He was in awe that he was able to keep her in his arms for this long. Past his alarm. It was now 8 AM. His usual time to get up. But she was sleeping beside him, her hair cascading across the pillow case like silk. It reminded him of those rare days he would wake in the middle of the night during their days at Harvard, how she would be sleeping peacefully on the other side of the bed and before he knew it, she was gone the next time he opened his eyes.

The Ootori knew how hard she worked – in school and now, in his own company. She put 110% of her effort towards achieving what she was made to do, whether it was studying or research. It was near the point of obsessive. It was a habit drilled into her since she was a child. All those eye creams could only do so much at the dark circles she covered every morning. In many ways, Mari was a reflection of himself. They worked so hard at their jobs out of passion. Exhaustion was only a symptom of hard work. Only today, he did not want to go do his job.

He just wanted to stay in bed with Mari. He pulled her in tighter. They both needed to rest. After all these years of trying to get her to stay without forcing her, she finally did. She willingly snoozed in his arms without worrying about what was on her plate for the day. He closed his eyes and travelled back to the land of sleep, keeping her in his arms.

"Kyouya?" He heard her whisper his name. Was it a dream?

"What time is it?" Her voice sleepy. He felt her shift, probably to rub her eyes awake. She rolled over to her bedside table and shook him awake.

"Kyouya, it's past 9, shouldn't you be at work?"
The Ootori opened up his eyes and shut them again. "I'll work from home," he brushed off.
"You don't have meetings?" Mari asked.
"Not until 11," Kyouya was quite confident that he had his schedule correct at the back of his mind.

Mari stared at the high ceiling of her bedroom. It was odd to sleep in. She always liked having a routine. It brought structure to her day. It kept her disciplined. It allowed her to put all the effort she needed to into whatever she needed to focus on. It had been in her life since she was a kid.

The back of her hand hit his chest to wake him again. "How do you sleep this much?"

He grunted in response, grabbing her arm to stop her from flinging it at him again. Mari turned over to watch the man rest soundly beside her, caring little about her schedule that she worked so hard to upkeep on a daily basis. He slowly opened his eyes to see her staring at him in awe. Her hair fell against her collarbones, her loose t-shirt falling off her shoulder.

"I don't get it. You're so high strung and regimented but you're okay with sleeping in and missing work?" Mari scoffed and rolled her eyes. She tugged her arm back but the Ootori tightened his grip on her. He just wanted to enjoy a few more moments of bliss with her, without thinking about the pile of documentation his secretary was probably emailing him now.

"Shut up and rest," Kyouya gritted. Goodness, she was much less annoying when she was sleeping against his chest. He forgot how physically strong she was until she successfully wrestled out of his grip and jumped out of bed. She already felt antsy not being able to go into work, she had to make most of the day somehow. He sighed and groggily followed her into the bathroom, finding her brushing her teeth already.

He silently followed with his own morning routine, brushing his teeth alongside her. Mari had already washed her face and gently let the moisturizer seep into her cheeks after she had put on the essence. There were too many bottles that only made the Ootori confused. Mari had forced him learn to cleanse his face, put on moisturizer, and then sunscreen. She smiled at him through the mirror and planted a kiss on his cheek when he finished. He watched as she undid the bandages on her fingers. The sensation in her fingers came back but her phalanges were still tender. He offered his hand to her and let her drag him into the kitchen together.

She turned on the coffee machine, brewing a fresh cup for him first. He turned on the kettle for her when she fished for tea leaves in the cabinet. He snaked his arms around her waist, resting his chin in the crook of her neck and shoulders. He buried his nose into her hair. She let him take his time, holding onto his arms and relaxed.

"Still sleepy?" she asked softly. She turned her head to look up at him.

"Mm," he inhaled. He suddenly dreaded having to let her go. He planted a kiss on her lips, both tasting like mint. She smiled, leaning into him. They shared the same toothpaste, after all. "How is your hand?" he asked when he pulled away.

"Better," she answered. "I'm going to deep clean the kitchen today. And the bathrooms. Oh, and then I'll let the floor vacuum run free, so please don't step on it." What was adulthood if it wasn't an endless cycle of cleaning? She would usually do this during the mornings on the weekend, while the Ootori was asleep. She would take a break by playing the piano sometimes, but her fingers would not allow her to do so today.

"I'll be in the office," he assured her. "I should be able to finish early."

"But you played hooky this morning," she reminded while handing him his mug of piping hot coffee. He took it graciously, thanking her with peck on her forehead. He kept her close by the waist with his free hand.

"I'm efficient," Kyouya smirked. "Don't you worry, my dear."

"Alright, my darling," she sarcastically responded. "Get out of my kitchen."

The Ootori did as told taking his mug of coffee with him, settling into the office after changing into clothing that was acceptable for a video call. He fired up his laptop to find 10 unread emails. Typical. At least today, he could work with company that he preferred over most people. It took a couple hours before Mari poked her head into their shared office. She brought him a light lunch, leftovers from yessterday. She sat at the desk beside him, logging into her own email and catching up on whatever she could while at home. She quickly dialled someone on her phone.

He listened to her as he ate his food quietly. She was engrossed in the monitor with a figure he couldn't quite make out. It looked like a graph of sorts.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine," she reassured. "I'm looking at the data. Mm. Looks good. We'll proceed with the same schedule as planned then. Hopefully no hiccups… sorry I can't be there to help. I'll be back by Monday. Call me if anything goes awry." She sighed in admiration of what they had been hoping for the whole time.

"Look," she turned the monitor excitedly to him. Kyouya's mouth was full of vegetables as he scarfed down his meal before another scheduled video call meeting. "It's our compound." She pointed to a peak on a graph. "It's so beautiful, isn't it?"

The Ootori blinked, not quite understanding what she was getting at. He had enough of a science background to only understand the surface-level ideas. Mari on the other hand, dealt with it all – from the smallest detail to the biggest picture. The woman was a genius, but she would never realize such a fact.

"They extracted it this morning," Mari explained. "We'll test it on our cells after we have enough viable ones." He could literally hear the excitement in her voice. All he could do was nod and smile encouragingly at her.

Mari turned back to her computer. Their desks faced each other on opposite sides of the room. Her side was filled with a ceiling to floor bookshelf. His side had a shelving unit that carried less books and more décor.

"I have a video conference in a few minutes," he warned her. Not that she would have shown up in the background. It was the skyline of the city – just like his office at the headquarters. Mari did not move from her office chair.

"I'll be quiet," she promised. "I'll send out some emails first. Stay in the loop of things. I'll get you another mug of coffee after."

It was meant to be a fifteen minute thing. Check data. Organize the preliminary results. Send off emails. Set up meetings for the next week. But instead, she got comfortable as she listened to him work. He was exactly how she expected him to be. He was stern. He asked the hard hitting questions. He clearly always did his research beforehand. He demanded results.

"I was expecting more aggressive metrics," he perched up his glasses. "How are we going to keep up in the next quarter with the competitors?"

Mari tilted her head at him. He was a different person. But she knew this man just as well. The Ootori CEO. The man who was ruthless at what he did when he needed to be. He carried a fearful aura, one that she rarely got to see. Kyouya Ootori was taken seriously by everyone. Everyone but her, it seemed. Even when they were kids, she threw away his snooty reputation out of spite. She sighed softly to herself.

She took him for granted. Mari never looked at him with fear. She never had to when he came home without his usual mask of ruthlessness at his subordinates. She was not his subordinate at home, or outside of work. She was, in many ways, whom he worshipped as his queen. His equal, above all else. He cracked jokes with her, however bad they were. He planted kisses on her, sweetly and quietly. He whispered reminders to her that were only for her to hear. He was romantic in the most practical sense. His love was subtle but she felt every bit of it, in every part of her day. He let no one else know of it all but her.

She quietly cleared away the dishes in front of him, refusing to get more distracted by her thoughts of the man. Kyouya was immersed in the teleconference anyway, paying little attention to her. Mari took her time to make a cold brew for the Ootori and a smoothie for himself. She poked her head into the office after the meeting had ended. She dropped off the much needed second cup of caffeine to him.

Mari settled back into her office chair, seeing that two emails had come through since she had left. More data to sift through. Kyouya sipped on the godsend iced coffee, thankful for the woman who knew exactly what he needed. It was times like these that he had nothing but gratitude for her. The small things. No one else could compare to her. Working from home was a good decision, he thought to himself.

"Hey," he reminded. "You shouldn't be working, Mari."

"I'm fine, I'm done cleaning," Mari answered. "I just want to see the data…" she mumbled.

Kyouya sighed and walked over to her monitor, sitting on the edge of her desk to see what she was looking at. She sifted through the cells of the spreadsheets, quickly plotting what was given. She pushed up her glasses, engrossed in how clean the peaks were. It seemed like a dream. The man spun her around in her chair to have her face him. There was no other way to get her attention otherwise.

"What?" she pouted at him.
"We're going on vacation," he declared. He was beginning to feel the effects being overworked. The busy quarter had him feeling like he could use a couple days of relaxation to recharge.

"What?" Mari blinked. "You don't have time to take off. You're the CEO. We work. That's what we do," it seemed like such a peculiar idea to her to take time off, especially seeing as she did not want to. Not even for a day.
"I want to," Kyouya decided. He made the choice when she laid in his arms early this morning. When they both pretended that they had no other responsibilities to tend to, just for a little while. He wanted that again. For at least a week.

"I don't," she crossed her arms. "How could I step away when we're already ramping up our trials now? We have at least another month of this to work through. Maybe more, in case things go wrong."

"Fine," the Ootori compromised. "We'll take a vacation after your project is done."

"But what about your schedule?" she asked. "You must have things planned for the next few months."

Kyouya shrugged. "I can adjust my schedule as the CEO. But you cannot."

Mari sighed. "Why so suddenly, Kyouya? I swear you never take vacations. You only take business trips," she muttered.

"I just want to sleep in," he sighed. Was that such a hard ask? "We don't even have to go anywhere. Just… us. Mari, I just want you to stay. Longer than just a few hours in bed."

Mari contemplated the thought of a vacation. She hadn't travelled since she had gotten back to Japan. It had been a few years. She was so focused on trying to be a regular working adult outside of academia that she was swallowed up by it all. Mari had family events to turn up to. Working a 9-5 job had gotten her into a routine that she hadn't had a chance to get tired of since it was so regimented. Besides, she had vacation days to use up.

"Okay," she agreed quietly. He smiled. "But I want to go somewhere," Mari requested.

"Anywhere," Kyouya promised.
"Bali," she proposed without hesitation.

"Done," the Ootori had the means to make that come true. It certainly helped that he was wealthy enough to make most women swoon. But Mari would have afforded this easily on her own anyway.
"I want to learn to surf," Mari warned, knowing that this activity would not go over easily with the Ootori. Adventure was not exactly something up his alley.

"Alright," he couldn't have cared less. She stood up to meet his eye-level. He still sat comfortably against her desk, now welcoming her presence against him.

"I want to see the annoying as shit monkeys," she continued. "And the temples."
"Fine," Kyouya shrugged. "Whatever you want, Mari."

"I want to eat all the local food and—"

He cut her off with a kiss. He didn't care as long as it meant he could spend mornings with her and not with the empty side of the bed. It would mean spending time with her in general, not limited to watching her cook in their kitchen or having her watch TV beside him. Not that he wasn't happy with what they had – but he craved more. Always more. She smiled against him, embracing him with her arms. He gladly returned the affection.

"I love you."