A/N: First of all, please don't kill me! I have a pretty good reason for not being able to update for a long time. It's called school and since I'm graduating from high school, I have been very busy. But since my graduation's on Sunday, I finally found time to write something and for some reason this popped up in my head. :D I hope you all enjoy this though this was not beta-ed by anyone but myself. Please read and review.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but my OC(s). :D Don't sue, please. Thanks. :)
Mine, Yours
CHAPTER 1 – Beyond Simple Curiosity
"Is he your best friend, Tamaki-san?"
It was a minute too late when I realized that I should have never asked. Everything began with that seemingly harmless question. I had known that taking a part-time job at the Suou household meant that I'd have to deal with a rather air-headed young master. He was often a handful but I couldn't bear to complain because I knew he always meant well.
But when he translated my innocent query into something beyond simple curiosity, wasn't that crossing the line? I did not mind if he deluded himself to thinking I had a crush on his best friend. It would be an outright lie if I would say he did not intrigue me. On the contrary, there was no doubt that Ootori Kyouya – with his sleek black hair and enticing gray eyes – was interesting. However, I was merely wondering why an obviously intelligent gentleman insisted on becoming friends with the more often than not idiotic young master of mine.
Suou Tamaki had taken it a little too far, though. He was already at his twenty-first attempt to get Kyouya and me alone in a room together. He had chosen the rarely used broom closet on the second floor this time and for once in his myriad of tries, he had finally succeeded. It was not without the assistance of those handsome set of boys that made up his Host Club, however.
So now in the ninth hour of my supposedly eight-hour shift at the Suou mansion, I was trapped in a stuffy closet with one of the best-looking guys I have been fortunate enough to have laid my eyes on in my lifetime. 'Talk about awkward moments. . . .' I had thought to myself. He probably got the impression that I was madly in love with him and it was all Tamaki's fault.
"Tamiko-san – may I call you that?" he began, but waited till I nodded my head before he proceeded with his statement, "I have to apologize–"
"Don't Ootori-san," I interjected before he could confirm my assumptions. It was time to clear up any misunderstandings between us. "Tamaki-san just got the wrong idea."
Kyouya merely stared intently at me as I spoke and without really meaning to, my cheeks turned deep red. If a guy you considered to be hot was – for some out of this world reason – looking directly at you, you'd be embarrassed too. It didn't help that we were stuck in a small (by a rich bastard's standards) room together. It just made it virtually impossible to think he was looking at anyone else but me.
"I'm not in love with you," I stated but even I would have doubted the sincerity of my words considering how red my face was.
So it shouldn't have been a surprise to me that he looked on me in disbelief. But it was so hard to appreciate his cool smirk when it was directed at you. I felt like my insides were boiling fiercely at what had struck me as his cockiness. To find amusement at my expense, I couldn't accept that.
I had a pretty long day what with the soiree Tamaki organized at his place. That was why I had worked overtime. I was supposed to be at home studying for a big test but here I was wasting my precious time serving snotty rich kids and now I even got locked in a closet with an airy one. Although, I hadn't realized I'd snapped till I heard harsh words escape my lips. And even when I knew, I didn't have the will to stop myself.
"All you rich bastards are the same! You think other people are below you just because you have a lot of money." I had declared, temper rising quickly.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I was going to regret letting my anger out on Tamaki's unsuspecting best friend later on. But that part of me was losing the battle of dominance. My conscience was easily silenced by my raging fury. There was just no stopping my big mouth now.
"Just because you only need to be born into your families to be able to live the good life and eventually get your inheritance, that doesn't give you the right to wave your money around and expect everyone to kiss the very ground you walk on!" I continued; my face a new shade of red but this time it was not because he was still looking only at me but because I was frustrated.
"Ah, on the contrary, Tamiko-san, the mechanics of inheritance isn't as simple as you make it seem. I have to work at my wit's end just because I was born as the third son," Kyouya had argued and even if his voice did not seem to falter, I noticed an underlying feeling of annoyance in his eyes.
There was no sign of deceit in his words or actions. That was a first, I had to admit. Watching him at Tamaki's party (it was simply curiosity and nothing more – don't get any wrong ideas), he seemed to socialize a little too well. He acted polite and calm but I could see that that wasn't the real him. But what do I know? Wealthy people's business was not mine to impose upon. Despite what he was saying about his own hardships, there was no way he had experienced anything remotely close to what I've gone through.
"You've got it made, how could you possibly complain?" I had asked rhetorically; I was beginning to feel a lump in my throat and I was forced to swallow.
"You don't get it, do you?" Kyouya had retorted with his brows furrowed – the masquerade was finally over.
"I don't get it?" I repeated, doubly irritated. He thought he was suffering? "Have you experienced working who-knows-how-many part-time jobs while trying to maintain an academic scholarship at your school? Have you – for once in your life – ever worried about what your six brothers and sisters would eat for dinner? I don't think you have even experienced not having a roof over your head. Now, how can you say I don't get it?"
"It's understandable for you to be so confused. We live in different worlds." It was a while before he said this but when he had; he already reverted back to his normal self – cool and collected.
"You wouldn't last a day in my place, rich bastard," I muttered obviously still ticked off.
Just before Kyouya could come up with a witty retort, light enveloped the room as the door was opened at last. Six incredibly handsome high school students stood beyond the threshold, eyes wide with shock. That was when I became conscious of the position we were in. In my rather heartfelt argument with the Shadow King (as Tamaki sometimes referred to Kyouya when he wasn't calling him 'mother'), I hadn't discerned that I had been inching closer to him. And the rest of the Host Club just had to barge in just as I was right in front of his face.
I couldn't stop my hand from sliding down my face as the twins doubled over in laughter. I had wanted to disappear from the face of the planet especially when Tamaki had begun sputtering non-sense about a blooming love and whatnot.
"Excuse me," I mumbled as I stood up snappily in an attempt to salvage all that was left of my dignity.
I walked out with my head held high, a faint blush on my cheeks and I was just thinking things couldn't ever get worse when. . . .
I tripped over a cat doll.
