Sorry for the late update! Life got in the way. I'm planning on posting another chapter later on tonight.
Enjoy~!
Merry stifled a yawn as she slid into the limousine, Daisuke closing the door behind her and hurrying to the driver's seat. She'd had little to no sleep over the weekend.
Partly because of the Host Club and partly because of the nerves due to tomorrow's phone conference with her father and grandparents.
A shiver swept down her spine at the reminder and Daisuke glanced in the rear view mirror as he pulled out onto the road.
"Is everything okay, Miss?" he asked hesitantly.
She gave a soft, albeit sleepy smile. "Yes, Daisuke-san. Thank you for asking."
He chewed his lip for a moment, gaze flicking between her and the road he'd driven down a dozen times before. "Forgive me for meddling, Ma'am, but… you don't look well." No doubt he was referring to the bags under her eyes and the unusual washed out hue her skin had taken due to lack of sleep. "Perhaps you should rest at home today? I can easily turn us around."
The offer was tempting but she knew if she stayed at home to recuperate and regain her energy, she'd begin to dwell on the upcoming meeting. Plus she'd have to put up with Ran.
No, thank you.
She needed distractions, not rest.
"Thank you for your concern, Daisuke-san, but I'm fine. Really."
After a moment he nodded slowly, eyes settling on the road. "If you insist, Ma'am."
"I do."
He nodded once more and that was that.
It was silent for the rest of the trip.
She was different today, he noted.
Nothing much out of the ordinary. In fact, Merry hid her troubles with enviable proficiency.
The change was in the way she took a moment longer to write down her class notes, and how her eyes would stray to the windows and linger, a slight frown furrowing her brow.
She even obliged Tamaki's antics, though barely.
But the change, while subtle, was still noticeable to one with such sharp observation skills such as him.
These were things she did almost every day, but now they just seemed… different. Tired.
Distracted. Like she was a million miles away but still completely present at the same time.
Kyoya wondered briefly how she had grown such dexterity.
Although curiosity gnawed at him, leaving well enough alone was the best course of action.
To try and figure out what was running through Merry's mind was like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon.
Foolish and nigh impossible.
It was a good thing he packed a spare teaspoon.
Merry's brow disappeared into her hairline. "What?"
Kyoya adjusted his glasses. "Follow me, Merry-san."
She slung her bags onto her back and turned to make her way to the Janitors' room for lunch and poker. "No."
"I insist."
"I refuse."
"Please."
She froze mid-step. Surely she must have misheard…? She glanced over her shoulder and was slightly surprised to see Kyoya's usually impassive mask cracking around the eyes. He was serious. And he asked nicely. Technically.
She sighed, already regretting this. "Fine. Lead the way, Kyoya-san."
He smirked and she wanted to slap him. "Excellent. This way."
"I've never been to this side of the school before," Merry murmured quietly, not wanting to break the peaceful lull of silence that seemed to encase the hallway they were in.
Kyoya hummed noncommittally. "That doesn't surprise me. Not many students know this place exists."
"But you do."
He adjusted his glasses with a smile. "Of course."
She could almost hear the I know everything tacked onto the end of his sentence. She subtly rolled her eyes. "Speaking of mysterious unknown hallways, you haven't told me exactly where you're leading me."
"No, I suppose not."
He didn't elaborate. Her lips twitched. "This could be misconstrued in a number of ways, Kyoya-san." She began ticking the points off her fingers. "A lovers tryst, a business meeting, kidnapping…"
"That went downhill rather quickly," Kyoya replied dryly.
"I blame Hana-chan and her obsession with American daytime soap opera."
"Blaming a child seems beneath you, and yet I am not surprised."
Merry chuckled. "I would be more shocked if you were surprised."
He quirked a brow. "Meaning?"
"You're assimilating, Kyoya-san," Merry pointed out almost smugly. "You like spending time with me. Not just to find things out, but because you find me genuinely interesting."
"An intriguing notion, in its own way."
She noted he didn't deny it. "Doesn't make it any less true, Kyoya-san."
"We're here," he said suddenly, making Merry blink owlishly.
She hadn't even realised they had walked so far. And when had they climbed a staircase? She stared at the nondescript door with mild curiosity. "And where is 'here' exactly?"
He opened the door with a flourish, sunlight and petals dancing out of the opening. "See for yourself."
Her nose twitched as a petal brushed her nose. Again with the theatrics. Nevertheless, she stepped through the door and into Wonderland. She couldn't help the small, pleased 'oh' that escaped her lips.
It was a glass greenhouse, filled to the brim with blooming orchids and vines from all over the world. Sunlight filtered in through the gaps of the leaves, a fine mist coating the ground. The air was moist and smelled of earth.
Smelled of heat and spice.
Smelled like nostalgia and laughter and home.
She grinned brightly and darted inside to explore, Kyoya following at a lazy pace with a vague shadow of a smile playing about his lips, content to watch Merry gawk and gush over the flora.
He didn't feel the need to grab his notebook.
Merry had a smudge of dirt on her nose. He wasn't quite sure how that had happened since the rest of her uniform was immaculate, but it was distracting.
And mildly endearing.
She was usually so composed, but now she looked like a child on Christmas morning. And when he managed to catch her eye, she gave him a look that he couldn't quite decipher but if he were to guess, he'd say it was a mix of curiosity, gratitude and contentment.
A strange combination, but he made a mental note to add 'recedes into childish mental state when surrounded by flowers' to her file when he had the chance.
When her stomach grumbled loud enough for him to hear, she gave an embarrassed smile that caught him off guard a little.
Then he clicked his fingers and a member of his private guard was at his side, two deco-bento cradled gently in his arms.
Merry quirked a brow and he swore he heard her mutter 'why am I not surprised?' under her breath. But he hadn't seen her lips move.
Then he realised he had been staring at her for longer than necessary and gathered the bento from his guard, nodding at the man as he disappeared into the foliage like he was never there.
Worth every yen, he thought.
"I apologise for monopolising your time this lunch period, Merry-san."
"You should be," Merry said bluntly, childish glee and the smudge of dirt gone when he wasn't looking.
"Did I interrupt important plans?" he asked, sitting at a small garden table that wasn't there a moment before. He gestured for Merry to sit and she did so, accepting the bento with little trouble.
Merry waited until she had swallowed some rice to speak. "On the contrary, I couldn't find it in me to refuse your begging. You come across as too proud to do so and I assumed that moment was a rare occasion. I merely acquiesced out of curiosity."
His lips thinned. "I did not beg."
"Please," she mimicked in a lower tone, face twisted into some semblance of a pout, hazel eyes wide and pleading. He assumed she was trying to imitate him.
Kyoya stabbed a piece of shrimp with more vigour than necessary. "You enjoy being overly dramatic."
"This coming from someone whose best friend is the King of Melodrama?"
"… Touché."
"You are becoming rather transparent in your efforts, Kyoya-san," Merry stated absently, chewing thoughtfully. "I can't decide if that is intentional or perhaps I am getting rather used to your presence."
"You are assimilating," Kyoya retorted, using her words from earlier.
She smiled then. "Perhaps," she said with laughter lacing her voice. "My, my, when did that happen?"
"When did what happen?" he asked, not quite sure what she was referring to.
"Have we become, dare I say, friends?" she purred. He vaguely noted she avoided the sashimi. "We are having a pleasant lunch and haven't degraded ourselves to insulting one another."
"Perhaps acquaintances is best used to describe our relationship."
"Amicable acquaintances," Merry corrected. "I suppose I can't complain, though. The setting, the food, the company. All rather pleasant."
"I'm glad you think so," Kyoya smirked, all-in-all rather pleased with how this lunch had turned out. She'd revealed more personal habits than he had hoped for. The invisible weight on her shoulders seemed to have been lifted sometime during the short course of lunch, also.
"And that expression of yours just ruined the 'company' bit," she sighed. "Deflate your ego, please. You're going to squash the orchids."
He still counted the time spent as a success.
"Is everything okay, Ootori-sama?" one of his personal guards asked. "Was the bento to your liking? To the lady's liking?"
Kyoya hummed. "Next time, no sashimi."
D'aw, he can be such a sweetie sometimes! :3
Reviews welcome~!