Chapter 4

Meeting

Kyouya's POV

Earlier…

My apartment had two floors and was painted a soft blue. The first floor was where the kitchen, dining room, and living room were. Near the staircase, there was a door, which was for the pantry closet. There were a couple of French windows on the left side of the wall. The second floor had four rooms the master bedroom, two guestrooms, and the bathroom.

I went to my bedroom, the master bedroom, and found that everything was clean and organized, just the way I liked it. My bed was pushed at the far right corner of the room. At the opposite corner stood my desk. It had my computer, notebooks, and pens. There were closets and bookshelves all around the room. There were two other doors in my room; it was for my bathroom and my walk-in closet.

I glanced at everything in my room once again and I was satisfied. At the end of my room I saw light blue curtains that reached down to the floor. I didn't notice it before. I opened them and saw tinted glass sliding doors. Sliding it open I realized that it lead to the balcony. I stood there for a while, admiring the view. The building overlooked the local park. I saw kids playing, joggers, and a few other people. The sound of cars driving on the road could be clearly heard from up here, I'd have to get used to that. I looked at my right side and saw a balcony just like mine only there were a couple of potted plants sitting on a small table at the left corner.

'That must be my neighbors'.' I thought.

I heard the door bell ring. Sighing, I walked towards the door. 'So they're finally here.' I thought.

Miyuki's POV

It's been two years since the Tota family (my previous neighbors) moved out. I almost forgot what it was like to have neighbors. Having neighbors means that you have to tolerate some noise from time to time. Like the Tota family for example, sometimes there would be arguing, sometimes you could hear kids running around breaking things along the way, sometimes someone just has to play the stereo way too loud. But I managed to tolerate all that and more. I got used to the noises.

But this time…

Crash!

"Tamaki-senpai! What are you doing?!"

"Kyouya-senpai this looks amazing-

Crash!

"Kyo-chan do you have cake here?"

"Okaa-san! What is this?!"

"Tono look at this."

"AAAAHHH!"

It's too much.

It's been an hour already and still they're noisy. I thought I was supposed to have one neighbor. How many are there anyway?

I sighed, trying to concentrate on the already confusing book in front of me, but I just couldn't.

Crash!

Wow. Whoever lives next door must have plenty of children.

Boom!

Noisy children.

I stood up and decided to go to the roof top where it would be quiet. I couldn't even think straight with all the ruckus let alone study.

I opened the door of my apartment and stepped outside. I walked towards the elevator and pressed the button for it. Even from this far you could still hear the noise. I sighed. (What? I'm a sigher) The metal doors opened and I went in. The elevator went to the sixth floor. I really needed the peace and quiet, and where else better to go than the roof top (Almost nobody goes there). Although I won't go up there to study, I just need some quiet time. That's what I always do before I do something complicated. I go to someplace quiet to clear my mind.

The metal doors opened and I quickly walked to right side of the floor, which was where the stairway to the roof top was located.

My shoes made soft tapping sounds as I was walking up the stairs. I loved hanging out on the roof top, it's so quiet and since it's an open space it's almost always windy. Sometimes I read up there, usually standing. And sometime I either write or draw up there. But most of the time I just stand there, admiring the view.

A soft breeze greeted me when I got to the top. The roof top was an empty open space with borders that were made out of cement. The borders reached up to my waist.

I went to the left side of the roof top. My hands rested on the border. It was quiet up there- the only thing I could hear was my own breathing. I stood there for a while; I'll say a while because I really had no idea how much time has passed. You see, for me time seemed to stop but in reality I had just wasted a few hours on doing nothing.

I glanced at my wrist watch. Yup, an hour and a half of doing absolutely nothing. Well at least I've cleared and relaxed my mind and now I could finally concentrate on studying. I walked towards the stairs, hoping that the noise in my neighbor's house has quieted down a bit. I started to walk down the stairs, my right hand rested on the metal railing. Then I saw a guy who was about to go up the stairs. He had black hair and really dark eyes. He wore glasses that gave me the impression that he was smart.

I blinked. 'I wonder who this guy is.' I thought, but I shrugged it off. I continued to walk down the stairs but the guy just stood there. I walked past him, he still just stood there. He was a bit taller than me (about six or eight inches) and seemed to be about my age. I was almost at the elevator when I heard someone call me.

"Takayagi Miyuki?"

I turned around. The guy who I just passed by a while ago walked towards me. Was he the one just called me?

"Are you by any chance Takayagi Miyuki?" The guy asked in a familiar voice. So he was the on that just called me.

I nodded.

"That's good." He said, smiling. "I'm Ootori Kyouya, your new neighbor."

Kyouya's POV

"I'm Ootori Kyouya, your new neighbor." I said, smiling at the girl in front of me. The girl, or rather Takayagi Miyuki, had shoulder length blonde hair. She had green eyes and had pale skin, probably from her lack of going outside. The expression on her face was, in a way, unreadable. Not exactly emotionless- but more like a cross between confused and thoughtful.

I waited for her to say something but it looked like she wouldn't say anything. A smile was plastered on my face. "It's nice to finally meet you Takayagi-san. I've heard so much about you." 'Some comments better than the others.' I thought as I remembered my previous encounter with some of the people living here.

Still she didn't answer. Then I remembered someone telling me that she's not the 'social' type. I groaned inwardly. 'This might take a bit longer than expected.'

"I'm sorry for disturbing you right now Takayagi–san, but there is something you should probably know." I said. Still no answer, but I continued anyway. "I'd like to begin by apologizing for the noise earlier. The people who caused the noise were my schoolmates. They can be very noisy sometimes, and for that I apologize.

I'd also like to apologize for something else. Something that my" I lingered on for the next word. "schoolmates caused."

Flashback…

The moment I opened the door I saw Tamaki and the rest (excluding Haruhi and Mori) looking confused- or trying to. So this was their plan. How idiotic.

"Kyouya? We didn't know that you lived here." Tamaki said unconvincingly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then why are you here?"

"I uh. Well we were just um you know. Um uh." Tamaki stammered. He didn't even come up with a good excuse, truly an idiot.

Tamaki looked at the others, hoping that one of them has a good excuse. Nothing. I rolled my eyes. I was about to close the door when the twins said something.

"The reason why we're here, senpai" Kaoru started.

"Is because we were heading to Haruhi's house and got lost." Hikaru finished, looking at Haruhi who was obviously irritated.

I narrowed my eyes. There were too many gaps on that excuse but I let that pass. I sighed then I stepped aside, giving them space to enter. 'Just get it over with.'

Tamaki beamed and quickly entered the room. The others followed moments later, silently greeting me as they passed by. What happened next was all a blur to me.

Plates, mirrors, and glasses were broken. Chairs and tables were disarranged. Books, notebooks, and pencils were everywhere. It all happened so fast. I couldn't even stop at least one of them. The noise was too loud, I'm pretty sure my neighbor thought it was too.

Then they came to my bedroom. Tamaki opened closets and threw around my clothes around the room, searching for God-knows-what. I finally snapped. I yelled at them (mostly Tamaki) and ordered them to get out of my house. The host club members were obviously terrified, even Hunny-senpai (Mori-senpai wasn't though) they ran out of my room as quickly as they could. But before they got out of my apartment Tamaki remembered something.

"Wait a second Kyouya." Tamaki said, snapping out of his state of fear. "Your room has a balcony, doesn't it? I must go and make sure it is safe for you Okaa-san!" Before I could react Tamaki ran to my room in lightning speed. I sighed and walked to my room.

When I arrived on the balcony of my room I saw Tamaki holding up a meter stick.

"Kyouya, don't you think that this balcony is too close to that balcony?" He said, pointing at my neighbor's balcony. He was correct though (for once). The distance of my balcony and my neighbor's was only about one meter.

I narrowed my eyes. "Does it really matter?" I asked calmly.

"Of course! Something bad could happen. Look," Tamaki reached out to my neighbor's balcony with the meter stick. I had a bad feeling about it.

"Tamaki, don't-

Then I heard something crash. I looked down over the balcony- there I saw the remains of a potted plant. The pot was broken and the plant might be dead. What bothered me the most was the fact that the pot and the plant looked rare and expensive. And I was going to pay for it.

I glared at Tamaki. He looked terrified, dropped the meter stick, and ran. I sighed. 'I guess this means I'm going to meet my neighbor.'

I went to my neighbor's apartment and rang the doorbell. No one answered. She must have left because of the noise. I remembered a woman named Masumi Kaya who was supposedly close with my neighbor. She lived on the second floor. So I went there.

But as it turned out she wasn't home either. I decided to head back, seeing that I'll have to talk to my neighbor tomorrow.

"Are you looking for Masumi-kun?" I heard a male voice said.

I turned around and saw two men and a fifteen or fourteen-year-old girl. "Yes, I am." Came my answer.

"Well she's not home." The other man said. "She usually works in the afternoon. I remember her saying that she was an editor."

"I see. Thank you very much." I said as I bowed politely.

"Why did you want to see her?" The man, who I assumed was the one that asked me if I was looking for Masumi-kun earlier, said.

I told them that I wanted to ask Masumi-kun about my neighbor, Takayagi Miyuki.

"Takayagi? Takayagi Miyuki?" The girl said. "You don't want to meet her, trust me."

"Why not?" I asked.

The girl blushed. "B-because she's weird that's all."

Weird? I'm accustomed to weird already, but I asked anyway. "In what way?"

She hesitated to answer and she was blushing. 'Oh great.'

Finally she looked at me and quickly said "She's really quiet and doesn't go out much except for school I guess. She spaces out a lot too. And she doesn't seem to listen to you at all. And she doesn't smile or frown or look surprised or sad or-

One of the men stopped her. "I guess what my daughter is trying to say is that Takayagi-san is anti-social. In fact, the only person she ever talks to is Masumi-kun. And they're complete opposites!"

After that, they suggested I go to the roof top, that's where Takayagi-san usually goes.

'Weird huh? The host club is weird and I could handle them, I'm pretty sure I can handle an anti-social girl.'

There was a metal stair case leading up to the roof top, but before I could walk up the stairs I saw a blonde girl (about my age maybe) she had green eyes and pale skin. That's how Masumi-kun described her. So this girl must be Takayagi-san. We (the girl and I) stared at each other for a while; neither of us knew each other and had nothing to say. Moments later, the girl continued walking down the stairs- I just stood there. She passed by me almost as though she didn't see me. She was near the elevator, her hand reaching for the button, when I decided to try my luck.

"Takayagi Miyuki?"

End of Flashback…

I told Takayagi-san about what happened to one of her plants and that I was really sorry and I would pay for it. She on the other hand just stood there, staring at me with the same unreadable face.

"And that is how it happened. I truly am sorry." I said as I gave a bow. She blinked.

It took a few seconds before she replied. And her reply wasn't the verbal kind, she just calmly nodded. I raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're okay with what happened?"

"Yes." She said in an unsurprisingly quiet voice.

I was bewildered. I really thought that she'd be angry. The pot looked really expensive and the plant was lovely- it looked like it was taken care of greatly and it looked like it was pretty old. How could she be so calm?

"I need to go now." She bowed. "Excuse me." Then she left.

Was she really okay with it? Or maybe she wasn't listening. Either way, she really was strange (Not stranger than the host club though, but still she's strange).

I sighed. 'There are already too many strange people in my life, adding one more isn't exactly a dreadful thing but it would be uncomfortable. Especially if it's a person whom I cannot clearly see through, it's a good thing she's just my neighbor.'


Miyuki's POV

"I'm Ootori Kyouya, your new neighbor." The man in front of me said, smiling.

So this is my new neighbor- the one responsible for all those noise. He doesn't look like the noisy type. In fact, he looks more like the quiet and smart type, especially with those glasses. I have to admit he looks pretty good with those glasses. Isn't there a word to describe people like that? What was it again? Nerd? No that's more of an insult. I think it starts with an M or something. Moe? Mage? Mega? That's right; it's starts with 'mega'. Megako? Megano? Megane? Oh yeah, Megane. They're in shoujo mangas aren't they? Kaya mentioned meganes to me once. She said that meganes are those who look good wearing glasses. Sometimes the glasses are the most attractive trait. I wonder why. Maybe it's a fetish. Or a-

Wait a second. His lips are moving, he's making some hand gestures. Oh my God. He's been talking all this time. Panic struck my body but I was able to keep a straight face. 'Calm down Miyuki. He probably isn't saying anything important.'

"And that is how it happened. I truly am sorry." He said as he bowed.

What happened? Why is he sorry? I couldn't say anything to him so I did what I always did when I have no idea what to say. I nodded.

He raised an eyebrow. 'Oh no. Was it a wrong answer?' "Really? You're okay with what happened?"

"Yes." I said, unsure of myself.

I inwardly panic. 'What happened? Was it bad? Is Kaya hurt or something?' I needed to know, but I couldn't tell Ootori-san (that's his name right?) that I wasn't listening. So I excused myself and left.

I was inside the elevator, wondering what Ootori-san just said.

What you just witnessed back there was one of the things I really hate myself for doing. Whenever I have a thought I always have to think it out deeply, so deep that I tend to block out any noise around me. I cannot tell you how many times I got in trouble because of that. Even with teachers that could happen. I tried to stop that habit but no matter how hard I try I always fail. My dad calls it my "escape from reality", and nowadays I think I agree.

I leaned on the wall of the elevator and took in a deep breath. 'I hope he didn't say anything too important, otherwise I'd be in big trouble. Again.'


Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Violent reactions? Tell me what you think.

Is Kyouya a bit OOC? If so, please tell me so that I can work on trying to get him into character.