"Well, you really outdid yourself this time, boss." Hikaru said.
Tamaki had been sitting for almost half an hour in a corner staring at his phone.
"Why did you have to hang up on her? Why didn't you just give the phone to a reasonable person like Haruhi?" Kaoru asked.
"*Kyo-chan never lets anyone use his phone.*" Honey chirpped in, since Tamaki clearly couldn't say anything, "*He must know this girl for a long time to have let her answer it.*"
"This isn't right!" Tamaki declared, suddenly jumping up from where he'd been practically growing mushrooms. "Kyoya hasn't talked to any of us in almost two weeks, and now this girl none of us knows is answering his phone! Something's wrong!"
"Or maybe he just doesn't want to talk to you." Hikaru offered.
"He's been so busy the past year trying to impress his father. All you've done is try to convince him to go to one of the commoner's restaurants you've selected with his sister." Kaoru finished. Tamaki retreated back to his corner.
"Don't be so mean, you two." Haruhi said. "And stop being so down Tamaki-senpai. If Kyoya-senpai wanted to talk about this he would have called you."
"Does he think we would be mean to her because she's a waitress?" Tamaki asked, sitting next to Haruhi.
"She sure didn't look like a waitress when we met her." Kaoru said.
"But she must be a commoner with her grandmother living in the same apartment building as Haruhi." Hikaru said.
"*I wonder how they both met.*"
"Kyoya said that their fathers arranged it." Hikaru remembered.
"It all just doesn't add up!" Tamaki shouted, clutching his blond hair.
Haruhi sighed. She wished she were allowed to focus if only for five minutes on the book on her lap. For the past two weeks, no such luck. She looked at her boyfriend who had almost a permanent wrinkle between his eyebrows by now.
"You know what?" she sat up, consciously trying to be positive. "I think we all need a break."
O0o0o0ooo0oo00oooo0oo0o
The day after Kyoya was sick went smoothly. I'd established a few steps to follow: I set the alarm (to my heartbreak) at nine, put on my beach gear, met the cook in the kitchen and had some pleasant conversation while I made –it's ridiculous to have someone else put bread in the toaster for you—and had breakfast, chatting over the counter. After that, I'd enjoy sunbathing and (now that my period days were behind me) take a swim for a few minutes, then finally go back inside, shower, moisturize my skin, and sit like a perfectly behaved princess next to Kyoya (who'd gotten "better" even though he insisted on following me like a shadow) have lunch, then stretch on the sofa (Kyoya sitting on the floor, Noel on my legs playing with his plush toy mouse) and work for ten hours straight.
Have dinner, shower, tell Kyoya that he could bite me if he thought I was going to work until the wee hours of the morning, watch a couple of CSI episodes to relax my mind and stop seeing programming codes every time I shut my eyelids, go to sleep and repeat all of the above.
Today would be no different. Other than it being a Sunday, so we had to (the horror) fend for ourselves in the kitchen, since the cook had the day off.
I was enjoying the feel of the water around me, loving the way it pushed and pulled me as my legs and arms sometimes worked against it.
Having a private beach rocks.
I stroked the water lazily while taking care to not stray too far from the shore.
Kyoya and I had really bonded. Somehow, the whole openhearted conversation we'd last time had actually stopped us from bickering all the time.
The only words we'd exchanged were: "Hey", "Is your fever better?", "I said—cough!—that I'm not sick.", "I'll take that as a 'yes'." "Your stupid cat was on my bed again.", "You can't blame Noel for being a bad judge of character", "How is it going?", "Great progress.", "Hm.", "You don't have to sit next to me while I work, you know?" "I know—cough!", "Here, have some tea with honey", "You're really going to watch CSI now? I thought you said you were dedicated.", and "Bite me."
Yes, I was being sarcastic when I said we'd bonded.
Although, a few times he'd throw in a question out of the blue that usually had me worried if his fever was back.
Like: "Kotoku, are you a waitress?"
Or: "Where does your grandmother live?"
To which I'd just stick a fever patch on his forehead and tell him to go back to bed.
I could tell I annoyed him as much as he annoyed me. Which is why my Beach Mornings were the so precious, they were the only hours that actually felt like I was having a summer vacation.
I gave one last dive in the sea then headed back to shore. Kyoya was working just as much as me, if not more, since every time I went to bed he was still messing with his computer.
Not on Facebook, I checked. He was such a baby about being sick, honestly, he barely rested, and I had to pretend to want tea every half hour so that he would drink it (tea does wonders to help a cold, you know).
But the good side was that by the time he usually woke up I was all fresh and clean out of the shower. No judgmental: "You went for a swim? I thought you said you were dedicated."
I stopped next to my beach chair and started gathering my things and turned off my iPod. Then stopped. I could hear something. People. After two days of a peaceful, empty beach, I'd gotten used to the silence, (well, sort of, I'm not much of a silence person, it's why I liked the iPod playing in the first place)-but I could distinctly hear people, only a little far away. In fact… did somebody shout "Starlight Kick"?
Just as I thought: Great, I'm becoming insane.
Pow!
I felt a punch so strong on the back of my head that it had me flying, face forward, on the sand.
I didn't even have time to scream.
When I came to, my head was still buried, I could feel that the sand had stuck to my body and face like glue because I was wet, my head was throbbing and the voices sounded closer.
"Looks like you killed one this time, boss." Sounded a voice.
"No! It can't be!"
"When we said you couldn't kick a volleyball it wasn't a challenge, boss."
I felt two strong hands take my shoulders and pull me up.
"*Miss? Can you hear me?*"
A rush of dizziness swept over me and it felt like the world was spinning around me.
I tried to open my eyes as I sat up, but then felt painful stabs of the grains of salty sand falling in my eyes.
"Aaah!" I whimpered, squeezing my eyes shut and covering my face.
"I'm so, so very sorry, miss. I promise to make it up to you any way." Said the voice that had been referred to as "boss".
Then two manly arms lifted me up from the ground. I held my breath.
"Look! Kyoya-senpai's house is right over there. Let's take her there." said the only girl's voice of the group, sounding a little breathless.
"So, who is she? Why is she in Kyoya's private beach?"
"I'm right here." I complained, while trying (unsuccessfully) to rub the sand away from my eyes. Because my hands were also sticky with sand, I think I only made it worse.
"Ignore his impolite remarks, fair maiden. I'm sure you must be a relative of Kyoya's, and I'm very sorry for harming you." Said the "boss". Fair maiden? But hey… didn't I know that voice?
I could tell by the way our voices resounded that we had entered the house.
"Uh, no…" I said, my head was throbbing, "I'm not a relative of Ootori's. I'm actually his fiancée." I couldn't hide the irritation of having to broach that subject before noon.
The silence that followed was thick. The guy carrying me actually stopped. I could feel all their eyes on me.
Bit embarrassing since I was covered in sand and only wearing a bikini.
Then two of them burst out laughing. Hysterically.
"HAHAHAHAHA! You just gave Kyoya's fiancée a concussion!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! He'll definitely kill you for this, boss!"
"*You're Risa-chan?*"
Now, how the-
"AAAAHH! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Risa? I can't believe it. It's me, Haruhi." She shouted over the apologies and hysterics.
My eyes shot open again, without my permission, the grains of sand stabbed my eyes painfully again. "Aargh! Haruhi?!"
"I'm going to sit you in this chair, Risa." Said a deep, male voice, resounding from the strong chest I was nestled against.
I remembered to blush while he put me down. Thankfully there was enough sand covering my face that I was pretty sure no one noticed. I suddenly felt dizzy again, my head hurt with all the noise that was echoing in (what I was pretty sure) the kitchen.
"What. Is. Going. On. Here?" the irritated, firm, velvet voice I'd learned to know so well sounded in the kitchen.
All other sounds died. You could've heard a pin drop in that mili-second that it took for all the eyes surrounding me to focus on the one that had spoken.
"KYOYA!" they shouted in chorus. Then, before anyone could move I felt a shirt being put over my shoulders, I held it around me thankfully.
"What happened?" he demanded (right next to me) before any of us could catch our breath. I could feel the guilty air in the room so strongly I was starting to feel a little responsible for the whole thing too.
"She got hit on the head by a volleyball Tamaki kicked." Haruhi stated.
"It's nothing, Ootori." I said, before the vomit of apologies rained again. I heard the water tap turn on then off and then the ruffle of someone squatting in front of me.
Yes, it was that quiet.
I felt someone's fingers holding my face and a wet cloth brush against my eyes. I instinctively drew back.
"Relax, toroi. I'm just going to clean the sand off your eyes so you can see your way to a shower." I forced myself to relax and trust him as he stroked my eyes with the rag.
I heard a gasp, then the "boss" said, "How can you call your fiancée that, Kyoya?"
Kyoya just coughed a little.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, tentatively.
"I said I'm not sick." He snapped.
Jackass.
With the silence broken, the one with the adorable (also familiar) voice chirped in, "*Are you mad, Kyo-chan?*"
There was a pause, "Am I mad?" Kyoya asked, still working away to gently remove the sand from my eyes. The sarcasm stabbed with his every word. "No, Honey-senpai. How could I possibly be mad when after I had distinctively said I wanted to be left alone, people come, uninvited to my private beach and hit my fiancée with a volleyball so hard, I imagine, from the state of things, that she fell face-first in the sand and was practically blinded? Now how would that even make me even the slightest bit irritated?"
Ouch!
"We were just worried, Kyoya-senpai." Haruhi said, her clear voice showing her small outrage at Kyoya's words, "You just disappeared without telling us anything. Tamaki-senpai was eating instant ramen everyday and Hikaru and Kaoru kept calling me to ask if her grandmother was back from her trip so I could ask her questions about Risa."
A light bulb slowly flickered on in my head. Is that why he wanted to know where my grandmother lived? But how did Haruhi know Ootori? Wait a minute…Tamaki, as is Tamaki, her Blond Beauty Boyfriend?! Okay, how did he know doke?
"*It's true, Kyo-chan. I even ate only half as much cake as I usually do.*"
Despite my confusion as to who the heck these people were I felt a soft pang in my heart at their obvious concern for a friend.
Having only just met the evil Kyoya, I hadn't considered that in his lifetime he might've found people who saw past his rudeness and pride.
"There." Kyoya said, "Try to open them now."
I gingerly opened my eyes. Vision slightly blurred at first, I blinked away tears and finally was able to see all the curious eyes around me, that were, surprisingly, familiar.
There was-ok, wait just a tiny second, just a hiccup. They were all wearing trunks, and looking damn fine in them. Thank you- There were the Hitachiin twins I'd met at the auction party, then there was Haruhi (wearing a cute summer dress) and her boyfriend Tamaki, the short guy that had interviewed me at the shopping mall, minus a mustache, and this really tall guy that looked familiar, only I couldn't pin down exactly where I knew him from. But by the time my eyes reached Kyoya I really couldn't care less.
He stood up right in front of me, wearing nothing but a pair of well-cut blue jeans.
"Oh, great. Now you've got a nose-bleed." he took a dishcloth that was hanging on the wall and pressed it against my nose.
Kyoya was slim, but his muscles were clear and well defined. My eyes traveled lazily over his shoulders, pecks, and right down to his abs.
Man… , I thought, holding the dishcloth under my nose, I might need a freaking beach towel.
"So when's the wedding?"
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
When I climbed out of the shower there seemed to be enough sand on the floor to build a mock Sahara Desert. I felt a bit guilty and embarrassed that this was the sight the cleaning lady would meet the next morning.
"So when's the wedding?"
Nothing could have clotted my nosebleed so quickly than the words that reminded me that I might get saddled for the rest of my life with the personality that went with that gorgeous body.
I sighed as I remembered how I'd embarrassedly jumped up from my chair and shouted: "Well, I'd better take a shower now!" looking anywhere that was at a three foot radius from Kyoya and fled back to my room trying not to leave a trail of sand on my way.
I put on my bathrobe and stared at my reflection thinking about what I'd do next. As usual, I was torn. What I wanted to do was go downstairs and meet everyone properly, tell them some quick and painless white lie about how Kyoya and I were only just meeting each other, no date set, and just have some fun, they sure looked like they knew how to. That feeling was so strong that it had me applying some light make-up and mentally selecting what I was going to wear.
The other side of the matter, the side that tried to put reigns in what I was doing, knew that it was pointless. All of it. I should just do what I'd want Kyoya to do if my friends had shown up unexpectedly: go out indefinitely. Just grab my purse and take a stroll at the mall, or whatever.
I nodded to myself. Yes, that was exactly what I was going to do. Just get out of his way, let him enjoy his friends' company and comeback only long after they'd gone out.
Come to think of it there were some movies I'd been meaning to watch…
I left the bathroom and went inside my walk-in closet (where my suitcase had been left on the floor with half its contents spilled around it) and quickly started putting on a change of clothes. An army stamped pair of short pants and a cute white T-shirt.
Then I decided I should probably call my dad. Although his lack of contact very likely meant that the company was doing well, I still wanted to check up.
Okay, scratch that, I felt downright guilty for doing all this behind his back. I was using the company to start a project, and the only moment I was going to let him in on it was when I presented it to the board of directors, surprise Daddy!
He picked up on the fourth ring. "Hey, Dad!" I said, trying to sound cheerful, but that just made my head throb where the ball had hit me, "How's Paris?"
"Oh, fine, fine." He said absently, "How are things with Ootori's son? Please tell me you've made up after that fiasco at the auction party."
I could feel my skin prickling uncomfortably. Father made a point of not forgetting about that incident, our conversation had lasted less than thirty seconds before I felt that it had been a mistake to call him.
"Yeah," my voice was coming out a little more curtly, "we've already had lunch together at the Grand Fleur. It, uh, was nice, we sure understand each other."
"The Grand Fleur?" Father asked, impressed, "That's great news, Risa. Did a lot of people see you there?"
I was glad this conversation was being held by the phone where I could make a face, "Oh, yeah. Lots. How are our Parisian investors doing, Dad?" I asked, almost begging to be let in on what was going on.
"Don't worry your pretty little head about these boring business arrangements, Risa dear," I realized my nails were digging into my palm, "all I want is for you to enjoy as much of Kyoya's company as possible."
"Dad," I had to tell him, it was wrong to keep it from him and maybe, who knows, right? Maybe he would actually support me and be all proud and happy and tell me "Oh, Risa, I can't believe I gave birth to such a wonderful talent!" okay, so he didn't give birth to me, but you get the point, "I have this project—well, now it's more of an idea, you know, for a, ahem, for-"
"No need to jump around the bush, Risa." He interrupted me kindly, "Whatever you want to do with Kyoya -a fancy restaurant, art show, heck, if you want to come to Paris with him- just use the credit card I keep in my sock drawer, go nuts."
Oh, for the love of God! "Dad, I was talking about the company!" I said exasperatedly.
"Oh," he was actually surprised, "I thought you two hit it off so well… Until, of course, he got covered in shrimp sauce and you let your extensions get pulled off." I opened my mouth to defend myself when he continued, "Ah, actually there is a business matter I wanted to discuss with you."
That stopped me short. Oh, my God. I was tempted to check out the window and make sure pigs had started to fly.
"There's an opening in our Innovation department. You know, ideas springing up and down for us to expand, and all."
Oh. My. God.
This is it. Dad was finally going to give me the Opportunity. The Chance. My heart was thumping hard against my chest, I was feeling a little emotional, this was years of working for better grades and giving hints and hacking through his e-mail, checking our stock value.
"Yes!" I said before I could stop myself.
"Good, you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, this boy, Leonard Green, applied, and I think he's a transfer student in your class. His resumé is impressive but I wanted to know what you thought about him. He's awfully young, although it is a junior position. I only singled out his CV because I saw that he went to the same college as you. D'you know him?"
I felt deflated. Slowly, I backed down until I was sitting on the floor. I should've known better.
"Uh, yeah." I cleared my throat, "He's a genius." Better hacker than me even, we don't really talk, but that's because I became this shut-in person. "He's third in our class," I'm second, but who's counting? "but I think it's just because he has a little difficulty with our language. I'm not sure what good he'll bring to the company, he's not very good at working in group."
"Mmm.." my dad grumbled, I'd already lost his attention, "Sounds perfect. It'd be great to start hiring some foreigners now that we will become associated with the Ootori." He gave a pleased chuckle, "Well, it was nice talking to you Risa. I'm happy you called."
"Yeah…"
"After Paris I'm going to Tokyo for a few more days, so I'm not sure when you'll see me. But I bought you a present here in Paris, I'll be shipping it, okay?"
"You didn't have to, Dad."
"Only the best for my princess." Iron chained in my ivory tower.
"'kay."
"Love you, Risa."
"Love you, too, Dad." I hung up, feeling exhausted.
There was no way out of it. If I was going to work my way into Kotoku Inc., I would have to do so behind my father's back
A/N: Response to reviews:
SourElf: I fully support those campaigns, yes, and unfortunately there are people who would kill stray cats that invade their property. But! Kyoya would never kill a kitty, no matter how badly Risa thinks of him.
GIR3c:Thank you very much! Yeah, Kyoya always seemed to me the kind of guy that doesn't do anything without carefully calculating it first. Risa obviously makes him lose control a lot of the time, how will he stand a whole month with her?
Extended Experience: Hmm... Neon Moon, huh? Well, as soon as regular and decent internet connection comes my way, I'll be sure to check it out. Risa's friends are awesome, you'll see how in their own way they are Risa's family.
Guest: Good good good! XD