Chapter Seventeen

Haruhi, while shocked and happy, frowned after hugging Chikako. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to America?"

They were standing in Haruhi's and Tamaki's apartment. The couple was right across the hall and Chikako found it admirable that, despite dating, the two had separate bedrooms. In fact, it made her feel slutty. When she had started dating Jake, they had started sleeping together after one month. Haruhi was a better person than Chikako, though. At least, those were the words with which Chikako chastised herself.

Chikako laughed, awkwardly. "Oh, well, it was a little…spur of the moment."

Haruhi arched an eyebrow. "Spur of the moment?" she echoed, confused. "What do you mean?"

So, Chikako sat her down and began the story of how lonely she had been running the company in Japan alone. She told her about her mother's words and her revelation. It had all seemed like such a long and in depth tale in her head, but once spoken aloud, it was so simple.

"And so…here I am," she muttered, slowly after she finished. She felt herself retracting back into her mind, thinking back over her story. She then blushed, realizing what part she had missed. "Oh."

Haruhi blinked, her eyes meeting her friend's. "What?" Seeing Chikako blushing, Haruhi jumped back in her seat and scooted back a bit. "What?!"

Chikako looked away, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She was never this flustered whenever she talked about Jake with people back in the U.K. However, with Kyoya, it seemed so personal and intimate. "I left out…this one thing."

Haruhi bared her teeth, trying not to look too scared. "What?"

Chikako took a deep breath and then urged herself to smile. "Last night… Kyoya and I…"

Then Haruhi threw up her hands and waved them in her best friend's face, frantically. "Okay, okay, no, I get it-!"

Chikako frowned. "H-Hey! Haruhi, it was really romantic, and this is big that I'm trusting you with-!"

"Nuh-unh!" Haruhi exclaimed. "Stop! Stop talking!"

"-and it was a big moment for me, so I thought you should know-!" Chikako continued, yelling over her friend.

"No! Chikako? Seriously, sto-!"

"-But I really wanted to tell you! Haruhi, listen-LISTEN TO ME!"

Just as they were started to spit in each other's face, the door from the adjoining room swung open. Tamaki raced out of his bedroom, swinging his teddy bear around. "Hey, hey, hey, what's going on out here?" When he saw Chikako and Haruhi frozen on the couch, mouths still open, mid-yell, his arms fell to his sides. Then he threw them up again, dramatically, and stomped toward them. "Oh, for goodness sake's, ladies! I thought someone was going to be murdered out here!"

Haruhi raised her brows and snickered, "And you thought your stuffed bear would be a suitable weapon to defend yourself."

Chikako then laughed, clearing the tension. "You would be a dead girl, Haru-chan."

Haruhi smirked and crossed her arms, as if to tease Tamaki. "What if I was truly being attacked? Would you beat my attacker to death with Kuma-chan?"

Tamaki rolled his eyes and retreated back into his room, grumbly about how he was stronger than that and, if the time should call for it, Kuma-chan would be a force to be reckoned with. While he was returning his teddy bear to his room, Chikako smiled at Haruhi and the two giggled, incessantly.

"Okay, fine, I'm sorry I brought it up," Chikao conceded. "But now you know."

Haruhi, still grinning, rolled her eyes and stood up. "I don't know why I would ever need that information, but I guess, thank you for entrusting it with me."

"What information?" asked Tamaki as he meandered back into the room.

Haruhi and Chikako exchanged a careful look before Haruhi muttered, "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Tamaki's face fell. "Aw, come on!"

"It's a secret, Tama," Chikako chuckled.

"I'm really good at keeping secrets!" he assured them, loudly.

Haruhi scoffed. "No you're not."

"How mean!" he retorted, pinching her cheek, playfully. Haruhi smiled, but it quickly faded, like she was desperately trying to keep him from noticing how much fun she was having.

She slapped his hand. "Stop it, sempai!"

Chikako laughed. "I should probably get back to the apartment. I have to get ready for the day." Glancing at her watch, she remarked, "It's almost three, after all."

After forcefully kicking Tamaki over onto his butt, Haruhi sat back in her seat and asked, "Isn't the day over?"

"Hardly! Geez, Haruhi, you're like a grandmother or something," Chikako yammered, jumping to her feet and jogging in place, as if to show how active she felt. "I could go for a run, shop myself to death, and have at least six business meetings by dinner time. You need to learn what a scheduled life is."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "I think my university schedule is enough, thanks."

Tamaki smiled, nervously. "Well, say h-hello to your…to Kyoya."

Chikako cocked an eyebrow. "Are you oka-?" Then she remembered hearing Tamaki freaking out that morning about Kyoya and her being in bed together. Tamaki looked like a child, rocking back and forth on his feet, like he was in trouble for something. For some reason, her embarrassment was gone, and she burst out laughing.

Tamaki blushed and yelled at her, knowing why she was laughing, while Harhui blinked, confused. "Oh shut up, Miss Akiyoshi!" he exclaimed.

"Oh no," Chikako interrupted, grinning ear to ear. "That's Mrs. Ootori-Akiyoshi. I'm married, remember, Mr. Suoh?" She paused, stepping forward on her tip-toes. "And do you remember what married people do?"

Tamaki screamed like a girl and backed away. "Oh, shut up, Kako-chan! I don't want to hear it! I know, okay, I know, and I do not take pleasure—none!—in thinking about my best friend and you…" And shook his head, profusely. "Ah, no! No!"

Haruhi quickly caught on. "Were you eavesdropping, Tamaki?"

"Of course not! I wasn't there early enough for that!"

Chikako felt a ball of laughing spit out from between her lips. Haruhi blushed. "No, not th-that-! Wait a minute, what are you talking about?"

"I-I walked in this m-morning, and-!" He cut off and his eyes went wider. "Wait, how do you know?!"

Chikako sighed, loudly, cutting in between their outbursts. "I really would love to stand here and watch you sweet and naïve children freak out about sex, but I really have to get going." She turned to leave, but paused, her smile slipping. She glanced over her shoulder to give them a serious look. "If you two are that skittish about it, though… you should probably have a serious talk. But I assume that's none of my business!"

She turned again and scurried out the front door, leaving the two staring at each other, anxiously.

The moment she closed the door, she ran into a broad chest. She glanced up to see Kyoya frowning. "That was mean."

Chikako took a step back but smiled. "What was?"

He sighed. "You know how…blissfully ignorant they can be."

She rolled her eyes and stepped past him. Their apartment door was wide open. "Don't you have some meeting to go to or a class, perhaps?"

"It's Sunday," he called back, following her into their living room and slamming the door behind him.

"Well, I'm going to get ready for my day."

"What day?" he teased. "You just spent three hours with Haruhi. It's mid-afternoon."

She sighed, rooting through the fridge. "You and Haruhi," she murmured. "She talked about it like that, as well, like three o'clock is some kind of…" She paused mid-sentence. "Wait… if it's Sunday, does that mean you're free?"

Kyoya cracked his neck and shrugged. "I suppose so, but I still have a lot of school work to do."

Chikako pulled back, letting the cold air suck the door shut. "What kind of work?"

Kyoya sighed and adjusted his glasses before walking over to the couch. A black messenger bag sat in the corner. He rifled through, pulling out neatly organized binders until he came to a slightly ruffled stack of papers. Thumbing through the pages, he read off the subjects, "Mathematics, Business, Marketing, and Advanced English."

Chikako smiled. "Advanced English?" she echoed, sounding slightly impressed.

He nodded, apathetically.

Chikako continued grinning and leaned back against one of the kitchen counters. Her fingers gripped the edges behind her and she leaned forward then back, idly. "So, how's that going?"

"Fine."

Her smiled dimmed. "Are you okay?" she asked, carefully making her way over to him. His back was turned to her as he shifted through his belongings.

Clearing his throat, he turned to face her and nodded. "Of course."

Chikako narrowed her eyes and a mischievous smirk spread across her lips. "Are you…blushing?"

Kyoya furrowed his brow and turned his head. "Oh, give me a break, Kako-chan," he murmured, fiddling with his glasses again and turning back around.

Playfully, Chikako wrapped her arms around his middle from behind and laughed. "Aw, come on!"

He tried to get her off of him, half-heartedly. "I'm not blushing, I'm just stressed, okay?" He sighed. "Please let go, Chi."

She shook her head then rested it on his back. "No, I'm okay just like this."

The room was then very quiet. The two stood like that for a bit before Kyoya slowly leaned back into her. They had never been so comfortable like this before that night, but Chikako liked it. There was nothing left to hide…physically, at least. Emotionally, she felt Jake way down on her like an anchor, tugging her off the dock, toward the sea, and away from Kyoya. Thinking about this, she held on to him a bit tighter.

Finally, he managed to unlace her arms around him and walk toward the front door. "So, what kind of day are you getting ready for?"

Chikako shrugged, almost deliriously. She hadn't felt loved or even wanted in so long that she had forgotten how intoxicating it was. She straightened her stature and started toward the bathroom, saying, "Just some shopping. I also need to visit a friend…" She trailed off as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

"A friend?" she heard Kyoya repeat. "What friend?"

She splashed water on her face, pretending like she couldn't hear him. It was a girl she had gone to school with in the U.K. The girl had known about Chikako's and Jake's relationship, so Chikako didn't feel like telling Kyoya. However, when she finished washing up and putting on makeup, there he was, waiting outside the door, his arms crossed expectantly.

"What friend?"

She glared. "You waited out here just to repeat that question?"

"So, you did hear me."

She sighed and shook her head, heading toward the kitchen. "Don't worry about it, okay?"

Kyoya grabbed her hand before she got very far from him and pulled her toward him. It wasn't romantic, though. He held a stern glare and they stared each other down, as if to see who would punch the other first. Instead, his expression softened after a moment, and his voice was low. "You were kidnapped by Americans."

Chikako took a heavy breath before saying, "Yes, I know."

Kyoya pressed his lips together and leaned in closely. "Americans," he repeated. "And do you know where we are?"

"Kyoya-"

"America!" he snapped. "That's where we are!"

Chikako let go of his hand and instead rubbed his shoulders, comfortingly. "I know," she whispered.

He scoffed and wretched free of her grip. "You don't get it. You can't just go running around America like you don't give a-"

"What do you want me to do, then?" she asked, desperately. "I can't just stay around here all day, every day, you know!"

"This is why I wanted you to stay in Japan!" he yelled. "You'd be safer there, but you thought it'd be a better idea to come to the lion's den, huh?"

"I'm not in the lion's den," she murmured. "Don't be overdramatic."

"Chikako…" he warned, his voice rising evermore.

She sighed, knowing she didn't have any other choice. "Fine. You wanna come? It won't be very interesting. She's a girl I know from the U.K. She was studying abroad at that private school I went to, and I told her I would come visit her in the U.S. whenever I was in country. She's not far from here; probably an hour train ride at the most."

"You already bought a ticket?"

Chikako shook her head. "I was waiting to figure out the train times and the ticket prices…"

Kyoya took a long look at her before putting his hand on her head. She blinked and looked up at him. He smirked. "I am so happy to say this truthfully right now."

"What?"

He leaned in close to her face, like he was going to kiss her, and whispered, "You're an idiot."

She shoved him away and he laughed. "Did you really think that you would be able to maneuver America, a country you've never been to, that's roughly the size of China on your own?"

"I would have found a map or something. It's not like I don't have a GPS with me at all times," she snapped, grabbing her iPhone off the kitchen counter and waving it around in the air.

"Oh, that stupid thing would have gotten you so lost and you would have been kidnapped all over again or worse!"

"Stop gloating!" Chikako groaned.

Kyoya then started toward the front door, grabbing her hand along the way. She stumbled at his sudden grasp. "H-Hey!" she gasped.

He grabbed her coat by the doorway and turned to her. "We're wasting the day standing around bickering all day. Let's get a move on. We'll visit this friend of yours, maybe catch something to eat on the way back, but then you're going to sign up for classes, because you're not going to be sitting around vacantly and…" he trailed off as he tossed on his own jacket.

She smiled, seeing the warmth in his eyes, despite the stiff grimace. She pressed her lips together, emanating his expression, but elbowed him in the ribs, playfully before walking out in front of him into the hallway. He smiled to himself for a quick moment before locking their door behind him.

A/N: Don't worry, I'm well on my way to working on the next chapter, so I'm sorry this one didn't have a lot of substance. As always, thank you for the motivation and great reviews. Have a wonderful week, lovelies! By the way, my birthday is in a week! I'm going to turn 19. Oof I'm getting old ;P Except not really.

~Kit Koko