In the morning before her alarm sounded, Riley's phone dinged to alert her to a new message. "Ugh..." she groaned and began blindly reaching for her blinking cell phone, "who's even awake at this ungodly hour?" The bright screen burned into her eyes when it came to life at the touch of her fingers, shocking the young woman awake. "Oh my goodness that's bright..." she complained while trying to read the new message through squinted eyes.
It was a message from Honey, explaining that neither he nor Takashi would be attending school that day as Takashi had suddenly come down with an illness. The message concluded that, as she worked for Honey and not the host club, she was not required to work until they resumed their studies. "Sick?" she asked, feeling a sudden pang of sympathy for her romantic interest. "I should see if they need anything... later..." she trailed off before drifting back to sleep.
A few hours later, once she had finally pulled herself from her soft bed, Riley found herself at the front door of the Morinozuka family homestead with a small styrofoam bowl of soup in hand. The size of the estate before her sent an overwhelming feeling through her body, stopping her momentarily from ringing the doorbell. "Damn... I always forget how big this place is..." she said in bewilderment. "Well," she rang the doorbell, "in we go."
After having been allowed to enter the mansion, the baker noticed that she was left to her own devices without an escort. She began to wander down the first hallway she saw only to be redirected and ultimately lost. "Who needs a house this big?" She muttered as she continued trying to find someone who could hopefully show her to the two hosts she came to see. "Actually," she continued as she rounded another corner only to be met by a new corridor with a whole new set of doors, "this is outlandish. What could possibly be in these rooms? Why isn't there a map handed out at the front door?" It seemed that no matter the direction she went, she continued to end up by a rather unique looking statue chiseled from marble of a young man who appeared to be looking down with sympathy.
"I can't..." Riley ended up sighing with exasperation after another grueling twenty minutes of walking in circles, "the fun in surprising him is gone. It's impossible to navigate these stupid halls," she explained to the statue before pulling out her cell phone. With the feeling of regret in the pit of her stomach, she scrolled through her contacts until she came upon Mori's number and pressed her thumb against his picture.
No more than two rings rang before he answered, "Riley?"
The mere sound of his voice coated the baker's previous agitation with a giddy and delighted feeling that radiated through her. "Takashi," she responded, "I tried to surprise you with some soup I definitely made myself and didn't buy at that soup house down the road but I am completely lost in this giant mansion. I need you to come find me..."
A quiet noise that faintly resembled a chuckle, something Riley had yet to hear Mori do in front of her, sounded through the phone before he said in a slightly stuffy voice, "Where are you?"
She glanced up at the statue that continued looking at her with his sympathetic eyes, "Some marble man statue of sorts... he's kind of freaking me out..."
"I'll see you in a moment." His swift words sounded as if they had an excited undertone in them, which got her all the more flustered.
"Hear that?" She said to the statue with a sheepish grin, "He's coming to find me." In under a minute the sound of footsteps echoed in the empty halls, announcing her taciturn love interest's approach. Leaving the soup waiting on the floor, she went up to her germy host and wrapped her arms around his waist, her forehead resting against the nook in his neck. "Hey you," she cooed, "just so you know if you get me sick I'll never forgive you."
Her honey sweet tone masked what would otherwise be stinging words, causing Mori to smile and kiss the top of her head, "Yes you would."
After a few moments of their embrace the two separated. "Confident words from a man who hasn't gotten me sick yet," Riley teased as she picked up the bowl of soup. "Anywho, here's your soup, made with love by me... probably," she handed it off to him, "and lead the way." Despite the fact that they were officially a couple, Mori still seemed as quiet as he had ever been. It wasn't something that particularily bothered Riley in any way. It gave her a chance to fill the silence with her endless chatter. "How can you even navigate this house?" She asked when they turned another corner, "I was lost for so long, I'd never be able to live in a place this size."
Before he responded he gently entwined his fingers with the baker's. "You get accustomed to it."
"Well considering I've only ever lived in nothing larger than a two bedroom apartment, I highly doubt that," she said with a laugh before they walked through an archway. Within was a large bedroom with a desk pressed against the far wall, a large TV facing adjacent to what was easily the largest bed Riley had ever seen, a small couch and even a bookshelf filled with rows upon rows of books in varying subjects. "Oh wow," the baker found herself saying without realizing, "this room is easily the same size as my apartment."
Seemingly out of nowhere, Honey appeared with Usa-chan in tow and a surprised look plastered on his face, "Oh... Rye-chan! You're here. Takashi said he'd play Kick the Can with me! Do you wanna play with us?" Honey had the excited expression of a young boy, something Riley found hard to say no to.
Just as she was about to agree however, she noticed Mori sit at the couch with his soup and let out a rather weary sigh. "I'm sorry Honey pie but I think maybe Takashi better sit and rest for a bit. Maybe later when he's had a chance to gather some energy back, alright?" Her words seemed to drain the small host's bright expression and replace it with a look of sincere disappointment. The look was enough to break her heart. "I'm so sorry Honey. I swear, we'll play as soon as possible." As if her word wasn't enough, Honey looked to Takashi, who simply nodded. In attempt to remedy the situation, she tried to pull Honey into a hug, "Honey-"
As if to make her feel worse, Honey resisted her embrace and began to walk out of the room in a dejected manner, "That's okay. It's important for Takashi to feel better..." Something had begun brewing deep within Honey, a sick feeling he'd never felt before. Jealousy was not a common emotion for the otherwise bright and bubbly host to feel but watching his best friend slowly begin spending what felt like more and more time with someone else was enough to plant the seed within his soul. He began thinking back to when all he wanted was for his best friend to find love with his baker but now as his dream was beginning to finally come true, he couldn't help but feel something he for sure knew was there and had definitely never felt before.
Loneliness.