With a deep breath, Kyouya Ootori pulled his coat down and gazed out into the dark busy street of Japan. Although it was impossible to see on the outside, a knot of nerves was growing in the pit of his stomach. It was the price he had to pay for playing such a dangerous game for his father and he knew that he could afford to make no mistakes.
There he stood in front of the Gonpachi restaurant maintaining a patient, well-composed look upon his face. Being the wealthy, proper gentleman he was, Kyouya refused to look anything but. The Ootori was absolutely determined that tonight would go as planned without a single hitch.
Although he'd scheduled his reservations for seven o'clock on the dot, Kyouya had arrived a good fifteen minutes prior to ensure that he be seated as such. Earlier in the afternoon, Tamaki had pestered him for hours about joining the rest of the club on an outing to a commoner's bowling alley, to which he'd stood his ground and denied. When asked what his other plans were, he'd made sure he'd given no indication of where he may be or who he may be with. After dealing with Tamaki's antics, he'd checked up on the dozen yellow roses he'd ordered to see that no rose was out of place.
The low purr of a car pulling to a stop in front of him caught Kyouya's attention and he put on his best host smile. Getting out of the car was none other than the girl he was to make his wife, Anastasia. "You're looking well, Konoe-hime," he said, offering her the yellow bouquet, taking notice of the short white dress she wore with pale colored heels.
She accepted the roses with a smile but showed no indication of swooning like he'd done to the many girls that used to visit the Host Club. Kyouya had to resist his eyebrow from twitching as he held his arm out for her to take. Never had he been unable to make a woman head over heels with his charm.
"Thank you for the roses," she said politely, walking slowly with him through the front door. "They're absolutely lovely."
Kyouya nodded before walking her into the building and pressing the up button on the elevator. From the way things were going, Kyouya could foresee the night continuing completely as planned. But little did the Ootori know, that his dinner would include six unexpected guests.
From the corner of the first floor, four mouths hanged open wide while two sets of eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of the owners' heads.
"Was that-" One devilish redhead asked.
"Kyouya-senpai-" His lookalike continued.
"On a date?" They sounded together, catching the attention of a few guests around them.
"Shh, you troublemakers!" The blonde leader of the pack said through gritted teeth as a fist landed on each of their heads. "Who knows what kind of demon powers Kyouya possesses. If we're not careful, he'll find out we're here and then we'll be in deep trouble!"
Haruhi sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Of course Tamaki would find out Kyouya's secret plans and concoct some convoluted plan to stalk him. Of course he couldn't do it by himself and put his own life in danger so he'd drag along all of his friends. "I should have known this would happen," she mumbled to herself as her eye began to twitch in irritation.
"Hey, hey, Tama-chan! How did you even find out where Kyouya-chan was in the first place?" The older, but oddly shorter, blonde asked with the tip of his finger resting on his chin.
"I have my ways," Tamaki said with a wink.
As the pair reached the top of the elevator shaft, they were immediately greeted by a host and taken to their table. Being the extravagant man that Kyouya was, he'd made sure to rent out the entire floor of the building and have the head chef working to prepare their meals.
So far, so good.
"What a nice choice of restaurants, Kyou-kun," Anastasia said with a smile as Kyouya pulled her seat out for her and she sat down.
"I'm glad you like it," he said with a nod before taking his own seat.
Anastasia nodded back politely before opening the menu placed in front of her as Kyouya followed suit.
Everything in this restaurant was over the top. From the giant lobsters to the finely prepared steaks, there wasn't a single flaw, and the prices would make any commoner's mouth create a crater in the ground below. However, as members of higher class, neither of them found this unusual.
Closing her menu silently, Anastasia rested her chin on the palm of her hand and looked out at the city below. If there was one thing that could win her over, it was the scenery. The top floor of the building offered a truly magnificent view of the city below. The twinkling lights of the buildings, the people passing by, and cars driving every which way was fascinating, even to the richest man or woman.
As Kyouya's menu closed, a waiter was there quickly to assist the pair and back in no time with champagne flutes and a rather large glass bottle.
"So how have you been, Konoe-hime?" Kyouya had asked after a long pause of comfortable silence and various sips of champagne.
"I've been better. My father's had me running errands left and right all week and this is a nice break from it all. I enjoy calm places like this," she said, her tone warming up more than it had previously as she folded her hands in her lap.
"I can see how that would be stressful. I'm glad to have gotten you out in time," Kyouya commented with a chuckle as the corners of Anastasia's lips twitched slightly into a more genuine smile. He couldn't help the similar smile creeping up on his lips as he took notice of this.
As the elevator dinged softly, the crew of hosts piled out of the elevator and hid behind a plant much too small to contain all of them and far too close to the pair idly chatting.
A pair of blonde eyebrows furrowed in frustration as he watched the two interact. Although the date didn't feel as "lovey-dovey" as he'd expected it to, Tamaki was surprised to see how comfortable and genuine the two looked around one another. It was refreshing to see his best friend interacting in such a way with a woman but it angered him to know that Kyouya hadn't trusted him enough to tell him about such an important event.
"How could yo-" Tamaki began before abruptly being cut off by the small hands of Haruhi Fujioka.
"Tamaki, you idiot!" she whispered sharply, ruthlessly pinching his cheek. "Are you trying to get us all killed by the Shadow King?" she quipped before slowly turning around to check on whether or not the blonde had ratted them all out.
"Did you just see that?" Ana asked slowly, her eyebrow perking up in curiosity as she point behind Kyouya in the direction of the dark corner in which the hosts were hiding.
"Hm?" Kyouya turned his head to the side in a quick glance and shook his head. "No, I didn't. The entire floor has been rented out for tonight. What did you see?" He asked politely but obviously paying no mind to her accusation of seeing something.
"I'm not sure... I guess it was just my imagination," she mumbled before leaning forward closer to the man. "So, Kyouya-kun, what are some of your hobbies?" she asked, her tone genuinely curious taking the male across from her aback slightly.
Kyouya swallowed thickly as he set his glass down and followed his hands in a similar fashion as she, over the neat, black cloth covering the table. "Well, I guess I'm simple. I rather enjoy business and accounting. People tell me I'm quite talented at it, in fact," he said honestly, racking his mind for what he considered hobbies.
The reaction of the girl across from him was nothing Kyouya had expected.
Laughter.
Ana laughed joyfully, her cheeks turning pink as she leaned back in her seat and her hands folded over her abdomen. "Kyouya," she said in between her fit of giggles, "I didn't mean what you do for a job. I meant, what do you do for fun?" she corrected herself as Kyouya's cheeks turned an uncharacteristic shade of pink in embarrassment. How could he tell her that he had understood her original question and that his answer was serious?
Kyouya sighed inwardly, making sure to display no signs of distress on his face. "Well, I'm not sure I have one," he said, sounding almost childish in his own way. Then again, he was somewhat offended. How dare anyone laugh at him.
Ana stopped laughing before looking him directly in the eye. "Come on, Kyouya, everyone has a hobby. Like me, I enjoy reading and knitting," the girl said in an attempt of encouragement.
"Well, I do have one," Kyouya said, clearing his throat. He knew that if Tamaki were here, he would be highly upset with him for revealing one of the few secrets that had been kept just between the two of them. "I enjoy painting..." he said slowly, averting his eyes, embarrassed by having not been more interesting.
"Painting? That's lovely!" Ana exclaimed enthusiastically. "Could you show me something some time, Kyouya? I bet you're a wonderful artist!" She laughed joyously and placed her hand overtop his.
Kyouya nodded as he saw through the corner of his eye the waiter coming out with a tray. "It looks like our food is here," he said gently.
"D...did Kyouya just..." the words seemed stuck in the king's mouth as he watched Ana place her hand on top of Kyouya's. "That was... that was Kyouya's secret for me!" Tamaki shouted fully as he stood up and the rest of his friend held on to his legs for dear life.
"How dare he tell some strange woman a secret that was only our's! Mama, how could you! Mama doesn't love Papa anymore!" he wailed, shaking his friends off before charging directly toward the table.
"Oh god, we're really dead, now!"
"Kyouya's going to kill us all!
"..."
"Tama-chan, stop! Please, wait!"
"Tamaki! Watch out for the-"
Ana yelped as a plate of noodles flew through the air and hit her directly in the face before sliding down over her chest and down to her lap. In that moment, it seemed that time had seized to exist and everything was happening in super slow motion.
In one moment, Tamaki had been running towards the table, in the next, the waiter had walked out with a tray full of food, and in the last, the two had collided and sent the food flying everywhere.
Haruhi slapped her hand over her face, as if pretending that what had happened was all a horrible nightmare, Hikaru and Kaoru were somewhere between laughing hysterically at the situation and panicking because they'd been caught, Mitsukuni and Takashi chose to cower in the corner together hoping they weren't noticed, and Kyouya... Well, a vein had made itself prominent in his forehead as he stood, ready to kill.
After a long moment of silence, Kyouya whispered through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?" He asked, his fists clenched as he stared mercilessly at his blonde friend.
Before Kyouya had time to yell, Ana stood, causing the food to slosh down to the ground and placed her hand on Kyouya's arm. "Kyouya-kun... Ah..." she mumbled, almost in a daze. "How about we get this mess cleaned up first and then ask questions later?" she asked slowly as Kyouya's face softened slightly and he took in the mess of his date.
Ana was covered head to toe in food. The white dress she'd been wearing was now, obviously, ruined beyond repair by a brown sauce. Plates were broken along the ground from the fall and the expensive champagne he'd bought had spilled over the entire table, leaving nothing left in the bottle.
"Haruhi," he demanded, causing the girl to snap to her feet in an instant. "Escort Konoe-hime to the rest room and get her cleaned up."
Haruhi hadn't waited more than two seconds before gently taking the girl's hand and finding her way to a restroom.
"Hikaru, Kaoru, I suggest you call the custodians from the first floor up here," he ordered threateningly, meaning that there was no nonsense in his request.
"Yes, sir!" the two shouted in a military manner before scrambling to find the phone.
"Mori-senpai, Hani-senpai, please calm down the kitchen staff," he said, less angry as the two slowly took their post.
"Sure thing, Kyou-chan!"
"Un."
"And Tamaki..." Kyouya looked at the blonde that was also covered in food. "Your wallet," he said menacingly, a dark aura surrounding him as his best friend scrambled to pull the leather bill fold out of his pocket.
"K-Kyouya, what are you planning to do? Please don't have me deported. I... I swear, this was just an accident," he cried, slowly handing Kyouya his wallet.
"Don't be stupid," he said, flipping through it. "You'll be paying for this meal and the damages three times over," Kyouya seethed, taking out a gold card before tossing the wallet to Tamaki's feet and walking toward the man who'd initially greeted he and Ana.
"And if you think this is over," Kyouya said, stopping but not bothering to turn around, "think again."
A/N: This chapter is very late and was very difficult to get out. Normally, the writer's block I have doesn't have me stuck for so long but this one nearly killed me! I tried to make the situation as realistic as possible but everything kept coming out wrong. Here it is though and I hope it wasn't too bad!
In the time it took to take a break on this, I've already written a few chapters ahead so, hopefully, it'll be a lot faster. I sincerely apologize for not keeping my promise to update quicker but things happen, I guess.
If you would, so kindly, review! I could use a little feedback on how I'm doing.
Also, before I finish this quick A/N, I would like to wish everyone a happy new year! I'm definitely late saying this but the meaning is the same!
- Kisai-chan