Here's the next chapter! I apologize for the wait, I've been having trouble finding time to write and post. I hate letting y'all down so I've decided to change my postings to once a week. Thank you for bearing with me, please enjoy this chapter!
The day was warm, one of the first warm ones Japan had seen that year. With the promise of summer came the even sweeter promise of summer break.
Kyouya stared out the window of his limousine, calculating the amount of work he could complete before the Host Club dragged him somewhere. His thoughts were ripped away when a loud engine roared past him. He stopped to glare but quickly formed small grin. Olivier was speeding down the highway in the fast lane and inside he could see Emi singing. As quickly as she appeared she had vanished down the road on the way to school.
~I guess I won't have to deal with all the work by myself this summer.~ He thought happily, Emi had been an amazing asset to his sanity and his health. She established a sense of calm and helped him remember little things like eat and sleep.
Ten minutes later Kyouya stepped out of his limousine and jaunted towards his building at a steady pace. When he entered the hallway with his classroom he spotted a familiar blonde turning the corner ahead of him. With another male student.
~Who is that?~ Kyouya thought with mild interest, opting to peek at them. He watched the pair walk down the next hallway and then the tall, black-haired boy grabbed Emi's waist and pulled her into another more secluded hallway.
~What the hell? Who does this guy think he is? Why is she letting him touch her?~ Kyouya's mind went into overdrive but he forced his jealousy down and crept over to the hall they just disappeared down. This could all be a misunderstanding and he knew Emi would be upset if he interrupted something.
"Well, Sugita-san... I-I've been wanting tell you for a long t-time now but. Well. I love you." A baritone voice said.
Kyouya froze up, his heart seemed to stop and his blood ran cold. But then he relaxed, ~It's just an everyday confession. I shouldn't be worried about anything. Right?~
The air was still and completely quiet for five seconds.
He heard Emi take a breathe, "Kato-san," She started,
~It's the track captain? One of the most sought after men of the school besides the hosts?~ Kyouya thought in disbelief,
"Thank you for being so honest but I fear I must decline." Emi continued,
"Why." Came the gruff response. Kyouya paused, that wasn't the normal gentlemanly charisma that Kato Yuki possessed.
"I don't have the same feelings for you Kato-san. I hardly know you in all honesty. I'm sorry, I don't wish you any ill-will." Emi said genuinely.
Kyouya heard light footsteps and assumed Emi was walking towards him so he stepped back and tried to act nonchalant when she turned the corner. But she never appeared. Instead he heard a snarl from the hallway.
"You think you can flaunt around like that and break my heart you little slut," Yuki said in a whisper that Kyouya barely caught. "If you don't want me willingly then I'll make you."
Kyouya decided to intervene. Calmly he stepped into the hallway, head held high. "Kato-san, I would suggest you put Sugita-san down before I have to alarm the campus police."
Yuki had Emi pushed against the wall at the shoulders, his body fully pressed against hers and her feet dangling off the floor by a foot.
Kyouya was surprised to see that not only did she seem unafraid, but she looked bored.
"Kyouya, dear, would you please move back a few feet?" Emi called lightly towards him before Yuki could answer.
Confused at the command and the nickname he did as he was told, watching warily with his finger on the speed dial to campus police.
Emi turned towards Yuki, their faces only a breath apart.
"You disgust me." She annunciated clearly before head butting his nose, effectively breaking it.
With a cry Yuki released her and she slipped out from beneath him. In one fluid motion she grabbed him from behind,twisted, and launched him into the opposite wall where he slid to the ground with a thud, out cold.
She wiped her hands on her shirt before pulling out her cell phone and began typing.
Kyouya stood in shock. This small, no more than 110 pound girl just through a monster well over 250 pounds across the hall and into the opposing wall. It was impossible but he saw it with his own eyes.
The person Emi was calling picked up and she started babbling away in a foreign language that was strange to Kyouya. After a few seconds she snapped it shut, picked up her school bag from the floor a few feet away and walked towards him.
With a shy smile she took his hand and lead him away from the scene, "How did you do that?" Kyouya asked.
"I told you, I practice every day with an modern offense group." She said, dragging him to their class. Outside the door she stopped and released his hands, he silently mourned the loss of touch.
"I'm sorry you had to see that." She said quietly, avoiding his gaze, "I was hoping you would never have to see that side of me."
He glanced around quickly, determining if the coast was clear before reaching out and cradling her face in both of his hands. "You don't have to be sorry for anything. That was amazing and he deserved much worse for what he planned to do."
She looked up at him, adoration shining in her eyes. "Thank you Kyouya-san." She whispered, then pressed a light kiss to his lips and pulled away.
Kyouya smiled down at her. ~She is so cute.~
"Before he talked to me I was getting the presentation ready, want to see it?" She gushed, opening the class door and hurrying in. He chuckled and followed.
o0o
Kyouya had been impressed with Emi's presentation. The colossal poster was well over four feet tall and encrusted in decorations while simultaneously displaying information seamlessly. He couldn't have changed anything to increase its value.
After giving the poster board a once over, the pair sat down and walked through their speeches and settled into their seats for class. Emi proved to be much more nervous than he anticipated.
"I don't like speaking in front of crowds..." She mumbled,
"I'll be right next to you the whole time." He promised, and he did.
When the time came they stood and demonstrated the epitome of a perfect presentation. The research was excellent, the poster was informational and both partners spoke clearly and effectively. Kyouya finished the presentation with a solid conclusion and looked at Emi who had relief showing brightly on her face.
After the applause Kyouya sat down feeling very accomplished. He turned around and grinned and Emi responded with an even brighter smile.
~Hold out until lunch, then you can talk to her.~ He had recently found it harder to maintain his 'cool' personality in public with Emi. She had pulled down all of his walls before they had even started dating so it was no surprise she was still doing it subconsciously.
~Wait. We
dating, right?~ He thought, ~We never labeled it but we have romantic relations so that would leave the average person to believe us to be a couple. Is she worrying about this too?~ His mind was going a mile a minute and only when the lunch bell rang did his rational side snap to attention.
~I'm overthinking this. I'll ask her to dinner tonight as my girlfriend and then we will officially be dating. End of story.~
Satisfied with his outcome Kyouya hopped up from his seat and sauntered over to Emi.
She was smiling out the window, lost in thought again. He allowed a smile small to grace his lips as he approached her desk. When he was a few feet away her eyes flicked towards him and she beamed.
He took in the beautiful sight of the smiling girl and his eyes trailed down to her desk. Her sketchbook was out and open to a page. He stepped closer to get a better look at the pictures on it by Emi slapped her hand over it and tried to shove it in her bag.
Confused but determined Kyouya walked over to her and placed a hand on the arm with the book.
"You allow the twins to see your art but not me?" He asked, allowing a bit of sadness into his voice that he wasn't sure was insincere or not. He was right in front of her, a matter of inches away from being flush against her.
She looked at him, her face beginning to glow a faint pink, "My finished art, not my personal sketches." She said but her voice wavered.
He didn't respond, choosing to plead silently.
"No." She said,
He still didn't say anything, instead he inched forward and crept his hand down her arm to the book. His dark eyes never left hers.
She opened her mouth to reprimand him again but she couldn't find the words. When his fingers settled on the spine of the book she finally spoke up.
"This is my equivalent of a diary and if you saw what was in here I might die of embarrassment."
"I want to see and of I don't get a peek I will set the twins on you." He replied with a smirk,
Her eyes narrowed and she looked down,
"Stupid boy doesn't understand privacy..." She grumbled,
"What was that?" Kyouya asked, stooping down to her level, a sickly sweet smile on his face.
She glared at him for a moment, "Fine. But not now. You may want to check your surroundings before you interrogate someone." She pulled away and finally tucked her remaining materials in her bag.
Kyouya glanced around and noticed that several girls were by the door, no doubt having watched the entire encounter. Some of them were thankfully ogling over Tamaki who was waiting for the two remaining hosts.
With a rigid back he walked behind Emi and they exited the room. The girls whispered amongst each other as they passed and he heard a few harsh jibes against Emi.
He heard Emi sigh and he looked at her. She caught his eye and gave him a smile, albeit forced.
"I'm used to it." She said lightly, turning her eyes back on the path to the cafeteria.
"That doesn't make it okay." He replied. A little harsher than he intended,
"As you saw today I get confessed to a lot. A lot of girls think I do it because I'm... Well as they say, a slut." She peeked up at him but he kept his face emotionless.
"I try my best to be nice to everyone but since I never answer personal questions I don't have many friends. Until the host club at least." She continued, "I don't enjoy the attention, if anything it makes me really anxious but I always have some guy confessing to me."
Kyouya forced his bitter feelings down and grabbed her hand.
"I don't know why they bother in the first place. I don't even know them! Any of them!" Emi said, her voice steadily growing more heated. Her hand started crushing his and he struggled to remain composed.
"I've never met most of those guys and I don't even know the names of any of those girls!" She said, her voice dripping with venom.
Kyouya opened his mouth to speak but as quickly as the anger appeared she grew somber.
She slipped her hand from his and hung her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say all of that."
"Hey," Kyouya said softly, grabbing her hand again despite the bruising she had given him. "Thank you for telling me. If you want we can end one of your problems."
Emi looked up at him, curiosity shining through her eyes.
"We can make our relationship official, the boys will stop bothering you and the girls will know not to mess with you. I'll protect you."
Emi laughed bitterly and shook her head. Quickly she pulled him out of the main hall into a more secluded one.
"There are a couple reasons why that isn't a good idea." She said, grabbing his other hand.
"First of all there is a very high probability that boys will continue to throw themselves at me, just in a sneakier way so as not to draw attention from you." Her eyes glowed with passion as she looked up at him.
"Second, those girls will go insane when they find out you are with someone. No host has ever dated anyone before and that could lead to an all out war against me and amongst themselves." She drew his hands up to her face and kissed each one lightly.
"And finally, I don't need protecting, you should know that already. If anything I would have to protect you from being kidnapped by some hormonal teenager with too much money and not enough brains."
Kyouya chuckled and rested his forehead on hers.
"Why did I choose the one person in this school that could outwit me." He said quietly,
She giggled, "Don't think of it as a test of wit but more like... An extension of knowledge. I'm here to make sure you don't mess up."
Kyouya opened his eyes, "If that's true then I should be allowed to see your sketches."
Emi huffed and drew away from him.
"Fine, but just know that I hate you for it and don't mock me when you see them." She teased, opening her school bag.
"Deal." Kyouya replied happily,
She held the book and slowly handed it to him, her face tight with what he could only describe as terror.
He cast her a questioning look and opened the front cover.
The first couple pages were mainly flowers and trees. Every now and then the window in the library she was so fond of appeared. At the top of each page was a date. These pictures were from the beginning of the semester, before the history project was assigned.
Finally he turned a page and paused. Inside the book he was staring at himself. He was reading something in a desk. It was as if Emi had taken a picture of him and gone over the lines with pencil. The resemblance was unbelievable. He turned the next page and saw his face this time, closer and with more detail. The date on the pages was less than a month ago.
~So she had felt something for me the same time had feelings for her.~ He thought smugly, his pride restored.
He flipped through the last couple pages and landed on the page dated today.
Unlike the others this one was sketched with color. He stared in awe at the talent expressed on the page. In colored pencil Emi had drawn him smiling. Each line was perfect in shape and width, creating a scene closer to a picture than a drawing.
Eyes wide he raised his head to look at Emi and found she had covered her face. He could see the bright red skin through her fingers and was amused to see even her ears were flushed. Chuckling he wrapped his arms around her smaller frame and pulled her up against his chest. She flinched and drew back slightly.
"Bruise?" He asked,
She nodded and snuggled back into his chest. Tentatively he put his arms around her again and loosely held her.
"You're amazing." He whispered in her ear,
She mumbled something in return but he couldn't hear her from her place nestled in his chest. He pulled back and asked what she said.
She looked up at him, and quickly side-to-side to check for observers, then kissed him on the lips.
"Never mind." She said after breaking away, "We should get to the cafeteria before they send a police force after us."
He only nodded in agreement, still dazed from her kiss.