Chapter 11: 'K' is for Kiss

Kyoya glanced at this desk, half-hoping and half-expecting another letter from Gabriella. He tended to get edgy and twitchy when it took a long time for Gabriella to write, especially since the letters came with hints to find her. It had only been two days, and as much as Kyoya hated to admit it, he needed another hint. Desperately.

Who was he kidding; he just wanted another letter. If he was honest, it made him feel happy that he was the only one she was writing to. And Gabriella always felt better when he got a letter, like finding something he had lost.

Of course, Kyoya liked to deny what he really felt, and now was no different. "I just want to find the stupid girl and win this game," he muttered to himself. Though nothing he was doing was helping to find her really.

"Kyoya-sama? Your mail?" A young girl with messy blonde hair and joyful green eyes brought in a stack of mail.

"Doesn't a maid normally bring these?" Kyoya snapped, grabbing the pile.

"Well…yeah. But most of them are on vacation, so I have to do it. You're not supposed to be here after all, so they arranged to get vacation now."

"Where am I…?" Kyoya smacked himself mentally. He was supposed to be with the Host Club on the plane to Mexico for the week. "You! Name!"

"Me? Mayumi Takahashi."

"Call Tamaki Suoh and tell him I'm not going to Mexico," Kyoya said, closing the door on Mayumi and started scanning the letters. Love letter, business, bill, magazine… Aha! Gabriella's letter!

Hello Kyoya. Are you ready for your trip to Mexico?

Kyoya scowled, frustrated. Who in the world was she getting her information from?

Anyways, I was thinking about our first year of high school… the most memorable year of my life.

So 'K' stood for Kimura. Kyoya had expected that. It wasn't surprising at all, so he read on.

() () () () () () () () ()

'K' is for… kiss. I bet you thought it was for Kimura, didn't you?

It's not.

Remember on roof top of Tamaki's home, when I tried to knock out those guys? I tried so hard but I couldn't know them out so they started to make fun of me and even call me names. That time we were trying to get Tamaki's precious watch that his mother bought for him. So you helped me beat them. I think we mopped the floor with them.

Though that confused me afterwards… it was really weird… where'd you even come from anyways, and why did you come?

Back on topic, after that, I really thought you were going to kiss me, because you got so close. I was all flustered, because of that, and how scared I had been before you had come. You had come and HELPED me, stepped closer, and I could have sworn you leaned closer, and then…

Your family's Black Ops called you. They caught the sole manipulator of the whole thing, it was all an act to scare Tamaki. It kinda ruined the moment and I felt so embarrassed.

We stayed there, on top of the house together. There wasn't anything else we could do since we couldn't go down without a ladder, which was lying on the ground after the fight with those hooligans. But you never tried to make another move, or try to kiss me, so I made the first move. I felt so dauntless, so confident that's why I just kissed you right there. I thought you would go all "Demon" on me but all you did was cover your face like you were hiding something.

So, the hint? It's nice to visit old hangouts where I can reminisce the wonderful memories.

() () () () () () () () ()

Fifteen letters left Kyoya. Did I imagine it?

-Gabriella

Kyoya blushed slightly. He had no idea why he'd stayed with her, but he certainly hadn't gone there to HELP Tamaki. Sure, with Tamaki gone, things would be much less entertaining, but his first thoughts had been on girl. He wanted to make sure that she was alright.

Not because he was particularly worried about her, mind you, but he had to make sure she didn't destroy her beautiful face. Or get accosted by those dirty thugs.

Getting there was easy. Of course the attempted kiss wasn't imagined, but… well, he wasn't really going to kiss her! It was just to mess with her… but then he couldn't explain why he had gotten so flustered when she kissed him like there was no tomorrow.

Good memories… the kiss in Tamaki's roof top, but he was pretty sure she wasn't hiding out there… but there was a place near Tamaki's house … "Mayumi!" Kyoya called.

The girl popped in a short while later. "Yes? Anything you need?"

"Make excuses if anyone calls or comes looking for me." Kyoya normally had someone he knew and trusted to do this job, but he was in a hurry and Mayumi was nearby and easiest to get to. "I'm going out."

"What wait, what am I supposed…" Kyoya was already long gone, and Mayumi was alone in the room. She grinned mischievously at the thought of getting a call. "I guess it's up to me to make up the excuse."

She flopped down onto Kyoya's chair and began to look through the drawers lazily. In the bottom drawer, he discovered pictures of a certain foreign looking girl, the letters, and all the notes he'd taken about finding her.

"Well onee-san," Mayumi said to herself, laughing inwardly at Kyoya's predicament. "You've certainly gotten him tied up in knots all right…"