In this chapter
– fast cars – tiffany's – cake – stolen moments – character development – popcorn -
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Chapter 11
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Christmas morning arrived with the chills of a cold snap. Yuuki decided to stay in bed for much longer than necessary in order to remain hidden from the cold. The metallic sound of tyres crunching on icy gravel as a car pulled out of the drive caused her to brave the bitter weather and retreat into a hot shower. Kyoya had mentioned that his brothers and father had a business party in the north for Christmas, but she never figured they would leave so early in the day; even her father had stayed at the house until the presents had disappeared and adequate thanks given for them.
Yuuki dressed casually as the heating system began to kick in. A navy blue and white hoodie and a pair of jeans over the uncomfortable walking brace weren't at all a Christmas statement, but red and green didn't suit her. She stumbled to the front door, expecting the drive to be empty, but it wasn't. A sleek, black car was resting in front of the house, a red bow stuck to its roof.
"And I thought getting a horse was amazing" she whispered to herself.
Kyoya was getting vehicle whose cost would feed and educate thousands of children all around the world and then some. The man of the minute appeared behind her and looked out the window, emitting only a casual noise of appreciation before moving on.
"You got a 2009 Maserati GranTurismo for Christmas and all you can manage is 'hmph'?"
Kyoya paused halfway down the corridor "You know what sort of car that is?"
Yuuki was slightly offended "Just because I'm a girl..."
"It's just my father's way of getting his driver back" he cut her off "More profit in it for him than me" they were both upset and lonely on Christmas and both had odd, detached ways of showing it.
She couldn't believe he was so ungrateful, he had a new car, a big house and at least a sister who loved him "You are one of the most confusing people I have ever met. You say you're an egoist; you act indifferently around those who don't give you any merit. But then you prove to those close to you that you're not an egoist and actually do have a heart somewhere beneath that icy demeanour. But then, you brush off the car of the century because 'oh, it benefits' someone else more than it does for me'."
Kyoya turned to face her, his expression blank "Yes, and?"
Yuuki raised her eyebrows and exhaled angrily "You're a selfish bastard, you know that?"
She limped off towards the kitchen, leaving her friend standing in the hall with an unreadable expression on his face. Kyoya pushed up his glasses and walked after her, catching up in no time.
"This is because you don't have Zero today, isn't it?" he pulled her up in the kitchen
Yuuki looked up at him, even leaning towards her, Kyoya managed to tower over the girl "Kyoya, you have a family and a parent willing to buy you a car. A nice, fast, sports car. Your sister adores you, your friends adore you and yet...you don't appreciate it"
"I worked hard to get those things" he almost hissed
"So it's just a profit to you? Don't you get any profit from making someone happy, giving some of your money to...I don't know...starving children in Cambodia? I know you're a human being, but sometimes I wonder"
"You're overacting Yuuki, it's just a car"
"It's more than my father got me this Christmas" She lifted her hands as she spoke "All he could manage was 'oh, I'm selling your horse your worthless piece of...'"
"Yuuki" Kyoya cut her off again "He didn't say that"
"How would you know? It's always been about you"
He was somewhat angry; she was directing her emotion into fury against his flaws "Your brother told you Yuuki, you haven't spoken to your father"
Yuuki stopped trying to get away from him "How would you know that?"
Kyoya retrieved his phone and held it up "You think I'd just add some contacts and leave it at that?"
"You tapped my phone?"
"I transferred your saved calls." Kyoya's voice was even and calculating.
"I don't save my calls."
"All your calls are stored for twenty four hours."
Yuuki stared at him, not knowing what to say "Why?"
"Because that's how your mobile works."
"You know what I meant." Yuuki glared up at him
"You wouldn't tell me what was wrong."
"You never asked." Yuuki said softly, feeling slightly betrayed. Her emptiness over another loveless Christmas had needlessly exploded into the face of the man who could have possible turned that.
"I can't just pull a file up for you, Yuuki. The Japanese government protects all its representatives and it's not like you and I were close back then."
"Then why did you want to know?"
"Because I like to know things Yuuki, I'm educated and I'm always one step ahead in order to catch up with my brothers." He paused "Also, you're the only person I could never read."
"You're basically telepathic." Yuuki shot back, feeling invaded
Kyoya sighed "Can we just spend today as if we're both not upset?"
"But we both are," Although mad, the girl really appreciated that he was actually showing emotion around her. He still hadn't apologised for invading her privacy.
"Then let's make today enjoyable. We both had expectations that were the same and erroneous" he admitted that much "and it seems that they ended up hurting the only person who wasn't the ghost of Christmas past that we've had to put up with for so long."
"If you shaved your head and put on a couple pounds you'd look like Dr Phil" Yuuki leant against the kitchen counter
"How much American TV do you watch?"
"Just Dr Phil"
"You really knew what type of car that was?" Kyoya leant beside her
Yuuki smiled slightly "Yes. I'd have wanted a Jaguar though"
"Can you even drive?"
"No, but you're going to teach me"
Kyoya crossed his arms and looked sceptical, weighting up the health issues involved in undertaking that sort of responsibility. He concluded that it would be detrimental mentally, if not physically too. Yuuki looked up at him before shoving him with her shoulder. They were both trying to apologise and move on, but both were still a harbouring pain that came with important events having been so empty for so long. They were both to stubborn to admit it and thus wallowed in their own quiet, sadomasochism.
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Half an hour after the unexplainable tiff, Kyoya and Yuuki were sitting in front of the tree. The girl was shaking things and the boy was telling her off.
"I'll shake it if I want to" she put a gift back
"You bought those things, you know what they are." Kyoya leaned back.
Yuuki went for another one. "Irrelevant."
"Do you want to break half the stuff?"
"No..."
"Stop being a child."
"You're a child." She shot back.
Kyoya raised an eyebrow and Yuuki laughed. Silence issued.
"Christmas isn't a happy thing for you, is it?" Yuuki put her next victim down and lay on her stomach beside him, her head on her hands.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I want to know you" she pulled a stray thread off the cuff of her hoodie, obviously shy when it came to intimate conversation.
Kyoya sighed "Well, my parents are often away, as are my brothers now that their old enough. I have the option of going to their parties but...as much as they have merit...it's not how Christmas used to be."
"How did Christmas used to be?"
"We had the tree and a big train set that went around it. My brothers and I were all young then, so my parents leaving would look like negligence. We had parties here, with families who also had children. When everyone grew up, Christmas moved..." he was human after all.
"But the memory didn't."
Kyoya didn't say anything; he stared at the ceiling, emotionless.
"I remember emptying my father's spare change into the Christmas cake mix one year. Almost killed an aunt. It became a tradition though." Yuuki said in a melancholy manner, her voice softened "I also, quite vividly remember the first Christmas without mom."
There was a long silence as the pair stared at each other. Different lives, same emotional crossover. They connected through that, along with the many other things they bonded unconsciously though. This Christmas, they had finally found someone who understood the past and could counteract it as if they were counteracting their own painful memories.
Kyoya ran a piece of Yuuki's hair through his fingers; it was the colour of dark chocolate and smelled like roses and green tea. The girl watched him, understanding through the silence. She took his hand and locked it with her own as Kyoya leaned in.
There was a loud banging as the front door was abused.
Kyoya sighed, Yuuki felt his breath wash over her face and it made her dizzy. He was slightly annoyed.
"Three...two...one..." He sat up.
As if on cue, a bright blonde threw himself into the room and latched onto Kyoya.
"Kyo-Chan!!" Hunny beamed "Merry Christmas!"
He was dressed in Christmas colours, as was Mori who entered shortly after, bearing gifts. The twins barged in behind him and cried a joyous merry Christmas.
Yuuki stood up and greeted them "Where are Tamaki and Haruhi?"
"Oh" Hikaru and Kouru began "Tamaki got a new car too. He wanted to pick Haruhi up in it."
Kyoya pushed his glasses up "What type of car?"
"A 2009 Porsche Panamera in silver." Mori said from the seat he had just occupied.
Kyoya seemed pleased. His was faster and destroyed the economy better. Egoist emerging.
"Is there Christmas Cake?" Hunny asked, climbing up Yuuki.
The girl looked at him and smiled "It's quite the possibility."
Kyoya smiled a ghost "Quite."
Hunny cheered and declared his love for cake. Especially strawberry. And chocolate. Oh. And Christmas cake.
-
An hour later, Tamaki and Haruhi arrived.
"Sorry we're late!" the blonde said, emerging unannounced, into the lounge.
Haruhi looked slightly amused "Apparently he can't find his way anywhere without a driver."
"You don't have GPS?" Kyoya asked coyly.
"Not yet." Tamaki dumped his armload of gifts under the tree.
Kyoya smiled evilly. Yuuki shoved the back of his head in order to wipe the smug grin off the Ootori's face.
Hunny pounced on the newly arrived pair "Let's do presents now!"
Haruhi peeled the boy off her and agreed, smiling. The host club converged around the tree.
The twins didn't take their sunglasses off and Tamaki tried to play golf in the living room, but after many objections, sat down defeated. Kyoya had bought Yuuki a present; it came in a little blue box, wrapped with white ribbon. Tiffany and Co. The girl opened it to discover a gold necklace with a circular pendant, decorated with diamonds. She touched it and then drew her fingers back, it was beautiful. The rest of the host club were busy trying to get Haruhi to put her perfume on and only one person noticed Kyoya doing the clasp up behind Yuuki's neck. Tamaki smiled softly before spraying the girl he liked with Mark Jacob's.
Yuuki had bought Kyoya a gold Rolex that she had caught him looking at when they were at the mall.
He mentioned this, to which her reply was a slightly smile. "Great minds think alike."
Hunny broke into their now communal bubble with a burst of brightness. He had put a bow in his head and was grinning from ear to ear. "Let's go eat cake!"
"After lunch." Yuuki said, standing up and directing him to the dining room.
"Before lunch too?"
"You'll get cavities."
"Not if I brush my teeth after."
"Did you bring your toothbrush?"
Hunny thought for a moment "No..."
"Cake after, okay?"
The blonde perked up "Okay!"
-
After lunch, Tamaki declared that he wanted to do the commoner Christmas tradition and make popcorn strings. Haruhi told him it wasn't a tradition or a commoner trend, but the man was adamant.
Fortunately the Ootori pantry was stocked well enough to cause an obesity epidemic and, although it didn't have enough popcorn to decorate their mammoth tree, there was enough to watch a movie with. Tamaki settled for not being able to have his 'commoner moment' on the terms that he could choose the movie. It was Ice Age.
"Why do you even own this movie?" Yuuki sat beside Kyoya.
He pushed his glasses up "I didn't even know we did."
It was possible; their DVD collection took up almost an entire wall.
Yuuki offered him a bowl of popcorn.
"I don't like sweet things."
"It's not sweet, it's not really savoury." She shook the snack in front of him.
"What is it then?"
"...uh" pause "Exploded air"
Kyoya smiled "Interesting view."
She shook the bowl again.
"It's still no."
"Spoilsport"
"Do you even like popcorn?"
"Not really." Yuuki looked at the bowl, seemingly disappointed.
"Then why are you eating it?"
"Does it look like I'm eating it?"
Kyoya took the bowl off her and put it on the coffee table "It looks like your mourning it."
The twins were more than happy to have the extra bowl and Hunny had decided to douse his in cake frosting. Mori had neglected to tell his friend that Christmas cake contained brandy and Hunny had eaten most of it and was now rather...alert.
-
The host club only left at midnight that evening, after Tamaki and Kyoya had held their 'my car is better than your car' debate. Kyoya won.
Yuuki collapsed on the couch in the lounge, surrounded by a bedlam of paper, popcorn and ribbon. She had just completed her first successful Christmas in a decade, it was a good feeling.
"Are you going to bed?" Kyoya was standing in the doorway.
Yuuki yawned "Not yet. I'm going to sit here and think for a bit."
The man pushed his glasses up and paused with his finger still on the noseband "About what?"
"Things."
"What things?"
"Maybe you should tap my phone." Yuuki turned her head to smile at him.
Kyoya didn't smile enough for it to be transmitted across the room, but he did react. She was playing with her necklace. He hoped it became a habit.
Kyoya left silently, leaving Yuuki to her vices.
The girl stared at the tree like she had a few nights before. She thought of her mother and smiled, she would have loved the day. She would have loved the necklace and she would have wanted to talk boys. At least, that's how Yuuki imagined it. Her mother had never had the chance to develop a relationship with her teenage daughter. Yuuki wanted to ask her about living in the same house as the boy she liked. It probably wasn't smart, but the girl couldn't imagine it any other way. They fit, despite their many opposites.
Yuuki stopped twisting the necklace and looked at it, letting her other hand tracing a line down the side of her neck. She had got everything for Christmas that she never had before. Friends who were basically family, smiles, snow, laughter and love. Yet, there was still a gaping wound that refused to close.
Zero.
The girl wondered what he was doing, probably asleep or thinking of her. Wondering why she hadn't turned up to ride him. Wondering where his master had gone. Yuuki stared at the horses leaping up the tree and wondered if she would trade everything for her horse back. Everything for him. For her career, her future. The Olympic dream that was still harboured within her as it had been within her mother.
Yuuki fell asleep on the couch, wondering about her future. Wondering if it had Zero in it and doubting the idea very much. It tore her apart inside to feel that. Yet, there were a pair of glasses that slid into her dreams too and for some strange reason, they gave her comfort.
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Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
(Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare)
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If you don't know what a Maserati is, shame on you. You should google it.
^-^