Kyoya hadn't been prepared for the Grantaine family get together. He was even less prepared for the wedding shower.
"Why are we the only guys here?" Kyoya hissed. He was seated beside Tamaki, at a little table with both of Tamaki's grandmothers. A few feet away, at a longer table Anne-Sophie, and her maid of honour Nneka, and the bridesmaid sat, eating and smiling.
"See this is why you had to come with me." Tamaki said. "If you weren't here, I would have been the only guy and I that wasn't going to happen. Not that I mind being surrounded my a lovely group of ladies and family but…" Tamaki trailed. "Wedding showers are usually a girl's thing, apparently, but it's my mom." Tamaki shrugged.
Kyoya sighed and took a drink of water. Tamaki's French grandmother, Rejeanne was staring daggers at Shizue. Tamaki kept trying to break the tension but Rejeanne and Shizue were both content to let a pretend language barrier stop their communications. Neither confessed to knowing English. At least Shizue looked almost apologetic at points. Rejeanne just started with pure, unbridled hatred.
Tamaki's laugh did not break the tension.
"Ootori. How are you studies going?" Shizue asked. Kyoya put the glass down and tried to speak as concisely and respectfully as possible. Tamaki's knee kept brushing his under the table. As surreptitiously as he could, Kyoya reached to stop Tamaki's knee from moving. He could feel Tamaki's leg pressed beside his and when Kyoya removed his hand, Tamaki's leg stayed still against his leg.
Kyoya took a drink of water. Why was his mouth so dry? His hands were sweating and his heart was starting to beat faster. Shizue kept staring at him. Kyoya swallowed.
"All and all I am making substantial progress." He said. Shizue only nodded.
"You know, I hadn't expected you to be so…open."
"Pardon me?"
"I meant no offense, I assure you, but you seem, much like your father, like such a private person I did not expect to see you here. Though I suppose most of the attendees of the wedding will be unaware."
Kyoya had no idea what she was talking about. He looked to Tamaki, but Tamaki was still chatting with his other grandmother.
The rest of the wedding shower was filled with all sort of idle games and light food. The French were all delighted and the Japanese participants alternated between vaguely confused and excited. Apparently, bridal showers weren't even classical French traditions anyway, but something new and exciting that Anne-Sophie had wanted to try.
No one said anything about Kyoya being one of the only guys there, but he could sense the looks. Kyoya ducked out to the patio once people started to get up from their seat. He leaned against the metal fence and looked out into the sunset. His family was so different from Tamaki's. Like grains of sand scattered on the wind, never to be whole again. At least, Tamaki's family, for all its divisions, was together. It was a solid unit. Kyoya wanted that.
Tamaki joined him some time later, bumping Kyoya's hip and smiling. "You okay?" He asked. Kyoya said nothing. He stared at the sunset, yellow and red, blurred together. It was beautiful, the kind of thing Tamaki would like, and in fact was appreciating.
"I'm fine." Should he mention the sunset? But Tamaki would know. Tamaki leaned into his side and Kyoya wanted to lean back, to bask in the warmth, the closeness. He stood still.
"Everyone's leaving soon, Antoinette, my cousin not my dog, is going to drive back with us. She doesn't have a mom so she came here with my mom before we got here. Her dad's waiting at the house."
Kyoya nodded.
"Have you been to many weddings?" Tamaki asked.
"Almost all my siblings are married. It was very different though. Everything was more formal, but less …expensive."
"I know," Tamaki chuckled. "It's a little ridiculous. Even when I lived in France, when my mom and I were rich, we were never Suoh rich. When…when I first came here I got an allowance. Three hundred thousand yen a month. I don't think my grandmother even thought anything of it. I saved all of it, you know. I didn't spend any except when I tried to pay Haruhi's debt. I was…I thought, if I was ever kicked out and had to go live with my mom, I would need that money for her treatment. 36,000 euros a year for four years was nothing to them. Nothing."
Kyoya nodded. It didn't seem like that much money, but to treat it as nothing more than a few dollars…the Ootoris would never be that wealthy. Not unless Kyoya did something about it.
Tamaki leaned his head on Kyoya's shoulder, the heat radiated off him. Kyoya was content right then, staring out at the sunset, Tamaki on his arm. This shouldn't be so great. This wasn't that big of a deal. Kyoya sighed.
n
Antoinette insisted they stop for ice cream. Or that's what it sounded like. She kept leaning in her seat, face pressed against the window and pointed excitedly at every ice cream shop they passed. Finally, Anne-Sophie asked Yuzuru to pull over and Antoinette practically feel out of the car. Tamaki explained what was happening and Kyoya only nodded.
The shop they went to had little booths, and Kyoya and Tamaki's family squeezed into one as everyone except Kyoya ate their ice creams.
"Are you sure you don't want any?" Tamaki asked, spoon in his mouth. He had brought two spoons with him, but Kyoya just shook his head. He tried to listen to the dual conversation, half in French, half in Japanese. Needless to say, he was lost. But for some reason he didn't mind it as much. When his brothers were talking about something he didn't understand, he was always alert, always desperately trying to figure out what was being said. But now? It didn't matter.
Kyoya picked up the extra spoon and tried a bit of Tamaki's sundae when he thought no one was looking.
"It's good isn't it?" Tamaki asked. Kyoya wondered if he should put the spoon back. Instead, he turned to face Tamaki. The booth was only meant for two people on each side, but with Antoinette crammed on the end, Kyoya had been pressed up against the wall for most their stay here. When he turned to face Tamaki, he could smell the caramel on Tamaki's breath, and feel Tamaki's exhale acutely across his cheeks.
"It's ice cream. It's not bad I suppose. Once your dad is finished, are we just going to head home?" Kyoya meant to say head back to the Suoh's mansion, but Tamaki didn't notice the slip.
"Antoinette heard someone talking about fireworks at a park nearby. She really wants to go and my mom is for it, but my dad's not sure." Tamaki lowered his voice and moved so he was speaking directly into Kyoya's ear. Kyoya tried not to shiver. "We'll probably end up going, my dad's a pushover." Tamaki drew back and winked and Kyoya tried to act like he wasn't internally screaming.
He shouldn't have been screaming. But something in Kyoya's mind was setting off alarm bells. Who knew what the bells were for, but they were off, doing things. He watched Tamaki eat out of the corner of his eye and smiled absently. It was strange, behaving like a commoner, eating ice cream, and walking to fireworks displays as a group. But it wasn't bad. It was better than sitting at home alone, doing nothing. Kyoya supposed symphonies would still be infinitely better than eating ice cream at a parlour, but even commoners attended symphonies on occasion.
Every so often Kyoya would steal a bite of Tamaki's sundae, but he wasn't hungry. He didn't quite know why he did it, but Tamaki would smile every time he did and Kyoya's stomach would be suddenly lighter. Fluttering.
Maybe the ice cream was making him light headed.
n
Even though it was dark and they didn't know where they were, Yuzuru agreed to see the fireworks, if only for a few minutes. Anne-Sophie and Tamaki politely inquired about the parks location while Antoinette hung off Kyoya's arm, smiling and dragging him everywhere Tamaki went.
She didn't know any Japanese, or much English, so it was hard to communicate with her, but somehow Kyoya seemed to understand exactly what she wanted. She pulled him with her, dragging him harder than Tamaki ever had, until they finally reached the park. The fireworks were already underway, lighting the sky green and blue and yellow.
The patterns were elaborate. Kyoya didn't know what they were celebrating, but someone had put a lot of thought into this. Kyoya turned to Tamaki, watching the fireworks cast his face in red and green and gold. His hair seemed translucent in the dark, picking up the colours overhead. His eyes were fixed upwards and Kyoya smiled. Something fluttered in his stomach and Kyoya wanted to reach out and run a hand through Tamaki's hair. Kyoya took a step forward, disengaging Antoinette before he realized what hew as doing.
Kyoya froze, eyes glued to Tamaki, taking in the shadows splayed across his face, his cheekbones, his jawline. Kyoya stared at his neck, wanting to run a nail along this throat.
Oh no.
Kyoya wondered if he approached Tamaki, if he stood next to Tamaki, would Tamaki lean into him like earlier? Would they watch the fireworks like they watched the sunset, warm and close and content?
Oh damn.
Kyoya was definitely in love in Tamaki.
Fuck.
n
Anne-Sophie pulled Kyoya aside when they got to the Suoh mansion. For one irrational moment, Kyoya wondered if she had guessed at his revelation. He was still sweating thinking about it, unsure about what to do.
Suddenly Shizue's word came racing back.
"I didn't expect you to be so open about it."
She had thought he was dating Tamaki. Probably, the whole wedding shower thought he was dating Tamaki. All of Tamaki's family thought he was dating—wait. If they thought they were dating…but they'd been okay with him. Did that mean…
"There's something I wanted to talk to you about, Kyoya." Anne-Sophie ushered him into an empty sitting room. Kyoya's heart was pounding in his chest. "I think there's been a misunderstanding. Most people seem to think you're Tamaki's date. I tried to clear up any confusions, but I know how sensitive you are about these things."
Kyoya's exhale was as long as it was loud. He leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes. Anne-Sophie had tried to clear up any confusion. She wasn't here to hound him about his crush on her son.
A wave of relaxation passed through Kyoya, except one part of him. One part of him was still turning, still trying to find an angle. He should ask Anne-Sophie about Tamaki. She knew him best, she would know how Kyoya should confess—if he should confess. Kyoya opened his eyes, it was a gamble though, telling anyone this.
Kyoya wasn't used to letting people know him. But this could be his chance. He trusted Anne-Sophie. In his own way, Kyoya was a lot closer to her than his parents, given, of course, that one was dead.
"There's something I want to ask you." Kyoya let the words hang there. Anne-Sophie sat down and folded her hands into her lap. She was grinning and her hands were clenched so hard around one another Kyoya knew she was probably restraining herself.
She knew.
Kyoya opened his mouth. Here went everything.