Chapter 37

Kyouya tried his very best to keep his eyes open on a regular morning, watching his wife traipse around her kitchen to make them both a coffee. The grinder filled the silence while he gazed at his wife sleepily.

"You hardly slept, how are you awake?" Kyouya stifled a yawn. She tossed and turned throughout the night that he ended up holding her down with his arm to steady her some time beyond midnight. By morning, she must have at least slept an hour before her alarm had gone off. As usual, Kiyoko was quick to wrench herself out of the death grip of the Ootori at the crack of dawn, waking him up alongside.

Kiyoko shrugged. "Not much else to do but to let the day play out again."

"What is on the agenda?"

"Some more funeral arrangements as I'll be sending out invites today. I set up a meeting with our PR team in the afternoon to announce the news. It seems rather quiet on the business end…" Kiyoko found this quite suspicious. "Perhaps my father is trying to get all of his things in order before the succession frenzy so it is best to move quickly," Kiyoko surmised. Even though she hardly got any sleep, she was still sharp as a knife. Maybe all of that tossing and turning was her scheming the entire night.

"We should begin settling the estate sooner rather than later," Kiyoko decided as she flattened the grinded beans into an even puck. Her hands were practiced through the motions, having done this on a regular basis. "Although I did say we should hold the meeting over my grandmother's dead body and it seems like no one really took the bait. They rescheduled on me." Her tone turned annoyed at how she fell to the whim of some old men who decided her fate. "Maybe they didn't like the thought of her spirit hovering over us… too spooky." She shrugged after accepting the thought of grown men being scared of a dead body. Men were all weaker than they appeared after all.

Kiyoko pulled shot by shot consecutively to fill the entire kitchen full of beans from Java. The scent itself was enough to awaken the Ootori to sit straighter. Her long cardigan draped over her form-fitting long-sleeve. Athleisure, as she called it when she pulled on her leggings for the day. Kyouya was too tired to care as he buttoned his pressed shirt.

"Ready to be CEO, Ootori-san?" She handed him the piping hot mug.

He took the cup with gratitude and inhaled the scent of chocolate and citrus. "How soon?" he asked after letting the first sip seep onto his tongue.

"Well," Kiyoko shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we already did the hard part."

"Getting married?" he raised an eyebrow at her. They were only married for a day at best and everything seemed to have fallen apart except for the two of them. There was nothing like a test of a marriage straight from the very beginning.

The wife flashed her ring at him as a reminder and winked before turning back to her own coffee making. She oscillated between lattes and taking her coffee black depending on the day. Today, she decided to indulge with her husband who already had a head start. Kiyoko expertly steamed her Hokkaido milk, pouring the foam across her mug with ease and even going as far as to making an intricate heart.

"Where did you learn that?" Kyouya tilted his head. "You could work at a cafe with those skills."

Kiyoko chuckled. It took what felt like hundreds of mornings of coffee to master. Food was her hobby, not her job. She hoped to keep it that way.

"I could work anywhere, Kyouya. I choose not to because my husband supports me." She batted her eyelashes at him. She knew how adorable she looked and even if the Ootori scoffed at her, his cheeks would tinge a very light shade of pink. "I live a blessed life, hm?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "You have pressing matters at hand. Are you alright?" Kyouya asked with deep concern. It was wildly unusual for anyone to be so put together despite all that had happened in 48 hours. Kiyoko was far from normal but even so, she held it together like no other.

"There is no time to lose, Kyouya," Kiyoko chided. "If I lose this momentum to get everything settled in the way that we want, we may never get it back again." She drank from her cup like it was a regular morning. She was eerily calm.

"Yes, but–" Kyouya found himself at a loss for words. "What can I do?"

His wife smiled at him. "Just keep being yourself. A steady, confident, and young figure of leadership. That is what is probably best for the company right now."

"Youth may not be something they like to see."

"Well," Kiyoko raised an eyebrow at him. "Maybe it's a good thing you have a couple wrinkles to show for your age," she teased.

The male Ootori scoffed with a scowl.

Kyouya did his very best to focus on the document on his screen. He had been on page ten of thirty for the past hour, looking at the minutes tick by on his clock and his phone empty of notifications of Kiyoko. His entire lock screen filled with meeting invites, emails, and a growing number of tasks that continued to pile up over the course of the week.

Besides some incessant texts from Tamaki that demanded he call to prove that he was indeed alive and not in a hostage situation from his now totaled vehicle - every other notification were market updates and news headlines.

He decided just to call his wife, just in case. She picked up on the third ring.

"What's wrong?" she asked without greeting.

What was wrong? Kyouya worried for her, even though she was the one who had taken on the burden of dealing with the current mess. It was her family's affairs, but he was now part of her family, was he not? Kiyoko ran off and continued to operate rogue without any warning until what was done had been done.

"Just… calling," he sheepishly answered.

"Kyouya, I don't have time for this," Kiyoko sighed. "I'm about to go into a Pilates class."

"A what?"

His wife rolled her eyes. "With Fuyumi."

"With Fuyumi?" he repeated incredulously. "I thought you were meeting with PR?"

"Oh," Kiyoko flatly replied. "In the afternoon, yes. Did you think I would dress like that in the morning to take a business meeting?" She did love wearing her athleisure but not very often to work out. Not that she did it often, or ever. But when your sister-in-law asks if you would be around to go to a class that happened to coincide with the wives and daughters of some prominent healthcare executives, you do not say no. After all, Kiyoko had to appear that all was well on her end until the afternoon. News of the matriarch being dead was not public yet.

"Well–" The husband had to admit he did not pay enough attention to her casual outfit. He was taken more by her nonchalant demeanour. "You said funeral invites were going out today and a meeting with PR. I was checking in to see if everything was going smoothly."

"Such a worry wart." Fuyumi's voice tsked. "I told Kiyoko to get some water. Care to loop me in on the fact that you got engaged?! Did this all happen while your car got into an accident?" His sister whisper-shrieked as quietly as she could in a corner. "I clocked the ring from 10 feet away before she pocketed it as if I hadn't already seen how it fucking sparkled from afar. How cute that she thought she was being quick to hide the giant stone while bustling into the studio?"

Kyouya held the phone away from his face, wincing at how loud his sister was through the device.

"Well, it was rather recent," was all he could really say to it. Fuyumi's eyes were sharp but not sharp enough to see the wedding band that Kiyoko also wore beneath the engagement ring. Either that or Kiyoko had fast enough reflexes to put them away safely.

"Kyouya, I swear to god," Fuyumi fumed. "What will mother and father do when they find out?"

"Does it matter?" he evaded calmly. Seemed like the cat wasn't entirely out of the bag yet.

"I can't take the heat off of this for you," the elder sister warned. "Not that I disapprove of your choice - I do very much love Kiyoko-chan but goodness, you're going to be in for an earful."

"It's fine," Kyouya shrugged. "It'll all make sense soon."

"How soon?" the sister sighed. "Wait a minute - did you say funeral?" Fuyumi did not register Kyouya's previous sentence until she had finished her own tirade.

"I'll let Kiyoko explain," the younger brother diverted the conversation back and hung up. This was just enough of an impetus to get him back to work, avoiding the flurry of text messages that his sister bombarded him with.

By mid-afternoon, the press release was up as promised. His phone lit up with a byline from news outlets. It hardly meant anything to those not in the industry. And within minutes, an email invitation to the funeral of the matriarch. Kyouya wondered if paper invites were also sent off at the same speed to the elders who did not use technology. Kiyoko was always thorough like that.

He called his wife again for the second time of the day, clearing out of the unnecessary notifications on his phone.

"You don't even call me this much," Fuyumi answered with a snarl.

"Why the hell are you still with Kiyoko?" Kyouya groaned. "Didn't she have a meeting?"

"Is it so strange that I spend time with her? I get lonely sometimes."

"Yes," the brother deadpanned. "Where is she?"

"She is getting fitted for her kimono for the funeral tomorrow," Fuyumi answered casually. "Oh, yes, the satin is so much better," she said to the room as she ignored her brother on the other line.

"What are you? Her assistant now?" Kyouya snapped.

"My schedule was free," she answered back. "Nothing wrong with a second opinion. Is that right, Kiyoko?"

A muffled response was heard over the line to which the Ootori dragged his hand over his face. He ignored his secretary's notifications about clearing out his schedule for the morning to attend the said funeral of the Hibayashi matriarch.

"Please, can I just talk to Kiyoko?"

"Um, Kiyoko can't come to the phone right now - can I take a message?"

"You're going to drive him mad." His wife's voice was quiet as though she was on the other side of the room. "Tell him I'm fine. Funeral arrangements were made yesterday. After all, the tradition is to have it as soon as possible. God knows she's probably rolling over in the morgue for not being laid to rest today instead of tomorrow since I demanded toxicology results."

"She is fine," Fuyumi summarized. "She told me everything over brunch."

"Is she though?"

Fuyumi paused to look over at the woman whose kimono drowned her small stature. Kiyoko stared into the mirror with tired eyes as the tailors pinned the length to where her ankles were at. It looked like she was gathering her strength as quietly as possible, her thoughts consuming her. Who could blame her? She was the only (consciously) living descendant of the Hibayashis now. "As good as one can be."

"Will you be joining us at dinner?"

"Is that an invitation?" His sister raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Well, god knows that you'll invite yourself anyhow."

"Excellent," Fuyumi dropped the call with a sardonic tone. When the workday was nearing to an end, his sister sent his phone a handful of photos of his wife to entice him to join them sooner rather than later. She dutifully knew to annoy him to the brim with a photo of his wife chopping potatoes by the time the workday had ended. Kiyoko was too focused to seem to notice.

Kyouya stepped foot to the townhome in a rush, having wondered how the day had gone by so slowly while he was away. Fuyumi's Balenciaga sneakers were a direct contrast to Kiyoko's minimalist Asics as they were tucked away at the genkan, the smell of food invited the missing Ootori into the household and suddenly he felt a wave of relief to be at home.

"Just in time," Fuyumi nodded at her brother in acknowledgement, pouring him a glass of wine.

"What?" Kiyoko was hunched over the oven to see the progress of her scalloped potatoes. "It's only 5?" She glanced at the time on her top of the line Miele gas stove.

"Isn't that the proper time to be home?" the sister cocked her head. "My husband is always home at this hour if he isn't travelling."

"No." Kiyoko stood and wiped her hands on the tea towel. "This is early. I timed the steaks to be seared by six." She frowned, now that everything was thrown off. Her husband was supposed to come home and sit directly at the dinner table because god knows if he ate a proper meal today. Kiyoko hated that she now had to pick up the pace to get everything done – there was no time for chit chat with Fuyumi.

Her husband made a beeline for his wife, ignoring his sister entirely and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Kiyoko hardly had the time to register his presence as he moved so quickly to close the distance.

"Did you have a good day?" he asked quietly, murmuring into her hair.

She nodded, taking in the sight of the man who towered over her in eager protection. His arm snaked around her shoulders, naturally allowing her arms to come around his waist. Kiyoko melted into his chest, taking in his cologne in a deep breath. The warmth that emanated from his body was enough to have her forget that they had a guest in their home. He had an instant calming effect on her heart, the urgency of cooking a full meal in record time melted away with ease.

"Missed you," he muttered.

"It's only been a day." She beamed up at him. "We've hardly been apart for that long."

"Oi, you gross twat," Fuyumi butted in as she crossed her arms. "You aren't even going to greet your only sister?"

Kiyoko pulled away in laughter and pushed him away by the chest. Kyouya glared at Fuyumi before grabbing Kiyoko's small hands in his own and grazed his thumbs over the empty finger that should have sat an extremely sharp cut marquise diamond. She pulled away shyly, knowing exactly what he was implying with a squeeze to her hands and said that she needed to work on the salad.

Fuyumi pushed over the stem of the red wine she poured to her little brother and pestered him to sit alongside her on the bar stool as they watched Kiyoko wash the leaves of radicchio with earnest detail.

"So…" Fuyumi raised an eyebrow. Her little brother stared back in silence, gulping down a large sip of the cabernet.

"Anything you'd like to share?" she pressed.

"What is there to share? Are you not up to speed?" Kyouya looked to his wife.

Kiyoko blinked back in confusion.

"The Hibayashi family affairs was hardly something worth batting an eye to," Fuyumi reassured. It was certainly fodder for the rumour mill but nothing that would have made the older sister concerned for her brother's marriage prospects. If anything, the afternoon only solidified her respect for the last remaining Hibayashi in the clan. A true fit to be an Ootori given her ability to parade herself through society, even in the most tumultuous of times.

"I am very sorry for your loss, Kiyoko. Though your father was certainly an insufferable bastard and we would all do better without him in business - I think the public can easily be convinced with what you have planned."

"What?" Kyouya turned back to his wife. "What have you planned?" In such a short amount of time too.

The wife tossed the leaves into a salad spinner and expertly chopped up slices of pear. "Just a wonderful spectacle." Kiyoko shrugged as she bit into the core of the pear, refusing to waste any part of the juicy bits.

"Of humiliation," Fuyumi added.

"At the funeral?" Kyouya filled in the blanks. "Is that really the place for it?"

Kiyoko cackled at the thought. "Isn't it the best place for it?" She turned her back against the crowd and began charring the radicchio to give the Ootoris some more space to talk to each other.

"Shouldn't I know more about this scheme?" Kyouya looked to both women in exasperation.

Fuyumi tilted her head. "It would be best if your reaction was… more visceral." The elder sister gestured to the air for that je ne sais quoi.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means she doesn't trust your acting skills," Fuyumi responded.

"And she trusts yours?" Kyouya snapped.

Kiyoko shook her head. "There is nothing you would be surprised about. There will be no acting involved. And besides, people will not be looking at Fuyumi. She is not a key player in this ascension to power. They would probably not look at you either because of how distracted they are."

"And speaking of power–" His sister tilted her head to Kiyoko. "Isn't it high time you start wearing that ring you slid off earlier today?"

"Oh." Kiyoko felt exposed. She looked to her husband for help, wondering when he had the time to tell Fuyumi about their marriage. "I wasn't aware that you… already knew of it."

Fuyumi scoffed. "Oh please, I picked out those rings."

"Hey," Kyouya snapped. "You did not. I made the final call," he argued. "And I paid for them."

While the two siblings bickered, Kiyoko dug into the pocket of her leggings and removed the two pieces of jewelry that had sat tightly against the skin of her thigh. She wondered if her leg had a marquise-shaped imprint from it being there all day. Kiyoko breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the diamonds did not knick into the threads of the fabric at least. She slid the rings back onto her finger and continued with her task of charring the leaves of her salad.

Fuyumi beckoned her over when she had a spare minute after Kiyoko was finished by the stove. "Let me see that rock on your finger," she demanded. "I must see if I predicted your size correctly."

Kiyoko had moved onto prepping the vinaigrette, whisking vigorously with her dominant hand while she held the bowl steady with her other arm. She moved closer to the two Ootori siblings and awkwardly angled her left hand towards the sister while she held the bowl. Fuyumi stared in fascination and then furrowed her brows.

"Kyouya, I knew you were eager but you do realize you wear the wedding band after you're marr–"

Fuyumi turned over to the only male Ootori whose hand was adorned by a titanium band on his finger. He casually swirled the glass of wine as Kiyoko turned away to dress the salad.

"How did nobody notice that?" The sibling pointed directly to the finger in question. Her eyes widened at the fact that the news did not travel back to the family within hours.

"He works with men," Kiyoko answered as she pulled out the potatoes from the oven. The smell of butter and rosemary wafted throughout the kitchen. It smelled absolutely divine if Kiyoko could say so herself. The potatoes were the least of the Ootori siblings' concern at the moment. "Men are terribly oblivious to such things."

The sister cocked her head at the ring and then narrowed her eyes. "These are symbolic, right? Just to keep up the ruse for tomorrow."

The couple locked eyes with each other. Fuyumi watched the two like a hawk, communicating silently through a series of glances. Eventually, Kiyoko pursed her lips and gouged her eyes at him to deal with it. She had to focus on putting food on the table with searing the steak as the next task.

"Like yours, they are indeed symbolic," Kyouya offered awkwardly as he cleared his throat.

"Because I am married."

"Yes," he agreed.

The sizzle of the steak drowned out the tension as Kiyoko turned around with a pair of tongs in her hands. Fuyumi was still waiting for an answer and the male Ootori only downed another gulp of wine.

"We're married," Kiyoko explained because her husband seemed to have issues being direct. "Legally," she added. "Since two days ago." The chef returned back to work, quickly basting the slab of red meat to perfection with fresh rosemary and sage infused butter.

Fuyumi sat back on her bar stool, trying to take it all in. She leaned back and caught herself mid-air, breaking herself out of the daze Kiyoko had put her in. Kyouya unhelpfully pushed her glass of wine towards his sister who only stared at him blankly. Fuyumi slowly sipped on the rather delightful smooth red, now tasteless on her tongue from the shock.

"But… what about a wedding?"

"What about it?" Kyouya shrugged.

"Don't you want a wedding?" Fuyumi directed the question to the chef.

Kiyoko opened up a drawer to pluck out a good knife to slice straight through the meat, honing it against the steel as she shook her head. She genuinely did not care for a wedding.

"What about photos? The memories?" Fuyumi sputtered. "Don't you dream of your wedding dress?" The older sister mourned all those moments she imagined to have with her new sister – something she never got to have with her other in-laws by marriage. Fuyumi enjoyed Kiyoko's presence more than anyone in their family as of late and she truly wanted to cultivate a good relationship with her. After all, Kyouya was her favourite brother.

Kyouya held up his phone to show the distraught woman the photo of his lockscreen. Kiyoko sat on the counter of the bar, long bare legs crossed at the ankle with her Jimmy Choo sneakers, her short satin dress with the bow that rested beautifully on the edge. Kyouya revered her from the ground, hand caressing her cheek that had a twinge of pink blush. They shared a quiet smile at one another, just barely grazing their lips. It was a stunning shot - beautifully candid.

"What the hell is this?!" Fuyumi shrieked out of excitement. "Is this you two? At a bar?"

Kyouya backed away at the shrill noise of his sister and frowned. "It's artistic," he corrected, obviously annoyed. He riffed off of what his wife had described as artsy. "It perfectly captures our essence."

"So you can defend our wedding photos but admitting to your sister you're married was a struggle?" Kiyoko called him out with a suspicious raise to her eyebrows. It was meant as a joke to which Kyouya only looked away in embarrassment, paying more attention to the way his elder sister was swiping on his phone with delight.

"Oh gosh, I love that dress," Fuyumi gushed, happily distracted by the details. She cleared away every single notification on her brother's phone and stared with fascination. "Did you get your hair done? It looks effortless."

"That's because it was," Kiyoko laughed. "I did it on the metro." She was not about to explain that focusing on the hold of the bobby pins was the only thing that kept her from keeling over and throwing up from anxiety on the day of her civil ceremony.

"The… the what?"

The chef smiled and casually brushed off Fuyumi's surprise with a swing of her knife. She focused on setting their dining table instead, letting Kyouya entertain his sister as she reveled in his discomfort in talking about their marriage.

Her mind wondered if Fuyumi felt like the space was too cramped, given that the Ootori's home must have spanned a dining room three times the size of her current kitchen. It was a modest house by all standards and certainly a comfortable size for one person, a little cozy for two, and definitely not a place for more than three. Kiyoko had barely enough kitchenware to entertain two people. The mismatched plates would have to do. She felt a sudden pang of embarrassment at it all. Maybe she was never going to be good enough for the Ootoris.

Her mind wandered to whether or not Kyouya began regretting the decision, seeing as he squirmed at his sister's pestering about marriage. He was downing the glass of wine quicker than she managed to finish cooking the rest of their dinner.

"You alright?" He asked her outright. Kiyoko picked at the tender ribeye, having gone quieter than usual as they all devoured their plates without small talk. Kyouya was already working on seconds when he noticed that she was the last one with food still on her plate and while the woman hardly ate in general, it was her husband's job to keep her alive with at least one full meal a day.

"Fine," she said, stuffing her mouth with another bite and swallowing the savoury meal or what would have been if she was focused on feeding herself. Kiyoko did her very best to appear collected, coolly sipping on her own glass of wine as Fuyumi was able to fill in the silence with questions to her little brother about his marriage.

"Go home," the husband growled after their dessert was served, provided graciously by the guest as her peace offering. A small cake that said congratulations on top of it was cut away, with Kiyoko going through the motions of eating the strawberry mousse but tasting nothing but sugar. Fuyumi had thought the congratulations was for their engagement rather than their marriage.

"Don't be rude," Kiyoko chided her husband, giving an apologetic glance to Fuyumi.

"Fuyumi, can't you see my wife is tired? She has been through enough these past few days," Kyouya frowned.

"Nonsense," the wife waved off. "Stay as long as you'd like," Kiyoko politely offered, reaching over to Fuyumi's arm to reassure her that all was well.

Fuyumi rolled her eyes at her brother, huffing at his abrasive attitude. It was clear he was terribly protective of his wife. He was awfully sweet to Kiyoko and only her. "Always so grumpy, aren't we? Very well then," Fuyumi pressed a button on her phone and called her chauffeur. She could not deny the fact that Kiyoko looked worn down from the day. "He'll be here in ten minutes," she informed. The sister turned to Kiyoko and squeezed her hand.

"We are here for you."

"We?" Kyouya repeated. How much did Fuyumi know about the inner workings of Kiyoko's family? And why did he feel so excluded after a day of being apart?

"Yes," Fuyumi glared. "We are. Rest well tonight, Kiyoko. You will have to demonstrate that you are a pillar of strength beneath all the instability that lies ahead."

Kiyoko nodded solemnly. "Thank you," she returned the words of comfort. "Your company was much appreciated today." Fuyumi pulled her sister-in-law into a hug. Kiyoko was not used to such comfort that her stiff body took a few seconds to return the gentle squeeze.

"You're going to do so well tomorrow," Fuyumi encouraged. After she pulled away, she pushed Kiyoko towards her little brother. "Here, you can have her back. You clearly did not learn to share as the baby of the family."

Kiyoko chuckled quietly and eased herself under the arm of her husband whose grip tightened around her waist. The pair gathered at the foyer of the house to send off their guest who Kyouya could not help but to shoo away faster than Kiyoko could say goodbye with a bow.

"She was being nice," Kiyoko frowned at her grouchy husband when they were finally alone. "Why are you sulking?"

Kyouya crossed his arms and leaned against the staircase, coolly avoiding her accusation. "I'm not."

She mirrored her husband. "You are." He was too easy to read. Kyouya would have hated the way he was vulnerable around her but after so much time together, it was only natural that she knew him in ways he sometimes did not.

"Why does she get to spend all day with you?" he huffed. "I want to be a part of whatever you're planning. I want to support you and you shut me out in favour of my sister? You are not married to her."

Kiyoko cocked her head in confusion. "Are you jealous?" She saw right through his adult tantrum. His anger was secondary to the hurt he felt in his eyes. He longed for his wife.

"No," he spat. Yes, maybe he had a tiny grain of jealousy that sprouted in his chest when he saw the way Fuyumi got along with Kiyoko. He was kept in the dark while Kiyoko was out pulling all the strings of the puppet show. He felt silly for it all but held onto his angry demeanour for a little longer.

Kiyoko sighed, too tired to argue. She closed her eyes and pinched her nose to calm herself down.

"I'm going to clean up the kitchen."

She walked past him to focus on what needed to be done, refusing to mull over the emotions that brewed deeper and deeper if they stared each other down. Kiyoko was thankful that there were no leftovers and that each dish was cleared of any crumbs, the utmost compliment to the chef and for the dishwasher.

His heavy footsteps followed after a minute where the man silently began helping her load the machine now that he was trained sufficiently to utilize every crevice of it.

"I'm sorry," he muttered begrudgingly.

"It's fine," she answered curtly, paying no mind to it anymore. Kiyoko did what she did best, repress and compartmentalize. It left an awfully guilty feeling in the pit of Kyouya's stomach.

"Kiyoko," he sighed before reaching for her. It was not fine. Kyouya was given the privilege to emote while she held it together for the both of them. He wanted to bury his nose in the crook of her neck. Kiss her in apology. Hold her to make sure she knew she could fall apart if she needed to. Kyouya shut the dishwasher door that barred between them, pulling her into his chest.

"Ow," she winced, her whole body stiffened. She tried her best to hide the muscle ache while she cooked but with every movement it grew harder to conceal as the evening droned on.

"What's wrong?" He let go immediately, afraid that he had hurt her.

"My whole body hurts," she meekly answered. "Pilates is hard."

The Ootori frowned. "Fuyumi should not have taken you. You hardly eat enough to exercise vigorously," he angrily scolded. She had the mental strength to tough out any sort of physical pain but it was clear she constantly pushed herself farther than her body could handle.

Kiyoko weakly wiped down the counter with a shake of her head. "Soreness is good. It means it's working." Kyouya took over the task without being asked to and looked around for anything else to have to tidy up. His wife leaned on the counter, barely able to keep herself upright as she breathed deeply to keep herself from focusing on the pain.

Kyouya picked her up without warning and traversed the stairs without so much as a huff. She had to admit there was something very impressive about the way the Ootori could carry her without any resistance as he ignored her surprised yelp. She leaned against his shoulder and basked in the citrus sandalwood scent of his body as he climbed steadily.

"Are you good to sit?" He used his elbow by her knees to turn on the bathroom light.

"I think so," Kiyoko responded as he plopped her gently down on the marble counter. He drew her a near boiling bath, just the way that she liked it. Kyouya knew to pour in a couple teaspoons of the bath salts for a muscle soak and for her to smell like a forest thereafter.

He turned towards her while the water ran, reaching for the oil cleanser that she always started with first. Kiyoko pulled her hair down for the day and tossed it up into a claw clip with her eyes closed while her husband gently rubbed off all of the eyeliner and mascara from her face.

"I've trained you so well," she smiled while he gently rinsed off the cleanser from her face. Kyouya massaged away the wrinkles on her forehead as he worked in the foam cleanser as the second step of her skincare routine.

"Kiyoko," he chided. "Don't overexert yourself. I swear one of these days, you'll faint and we'll end up at my godforsaken hospital again."

"I'm perfectly fine." Kiyoko finally opened her eyes to her scowling husband who patted away the excess water that dripped over her chin. He took off her engagement and wedding rings, placing them in the small ceramic dish that sat by their toothbrushes. She weakly lifted her arms so he could help undress her down to her sports bra. He tugged on her leggings as well, tossing them into the laundry with a practiced routine.

Kiyoko poked at her flat stomach when he returned from the closet. "Can't you see my abs come through?"

"That is not muscle. You're skinny because you do not eat enough," Kyouya scoffed. "You'll need far more protein to start building the muscles you need."

"Whoa." She put her hands up in defense. "Okay, gym bro," Kiyoko scoffed. "I guess that explains how you have them."

Kyouya rolled his eyes at his wife, refusing to mention that he had actually gotten softer because of the meals she fed him on the daily. She let him pull her bra from the top because her arms were out of commission for the day. He even patiently tugged down her thong after lifting her down from the counter. The Ootori was usually quite ravenous at the sight but his worry for her frail body overcame the usual thirst. He focused on leaving her alone to change out of his clothes, making a second trip to the laundry bin in their shared closet.

Kyouya found her sinking into steaming water, lowering herself down so only her head barely floated above it. The water was on the verge of overflowing before Kyouya shut off the faucet, letting the mist of the bath heat up the entire marble bathroom. It felt like a mild sauna with the condensation creeping up the mirrors.

"Oh hello," she greeted. Kiyoko pushed herself back up from the deep tub, the waterline reaching right below the cleavage of her breasts. "Would you like to join?" Kiyoko offered. Her tone was casual, without even a hint of seduction but her husband averted away, staring at the ceiling for a moment.

She turned her gaze when she was met with silence and then down below the tub before chuckling at the sight of him underneath his boxers. "Oh, don't be a prude now – I'd be offended if you weren't even remotely interested."

"You're in pain," he gritted out, also now in pain from trying to focus on something else.

"So are you, it sounds." She shrugged indifferently. "Come along now. I don't bite," she promised. "We don't have to do anything. Just come in and sit. I miss my husband." Kiyoko held her arms out, now that she gained a little more mobility from her muscles loosening. She reached over to his toned shoulder to get his attention.

Kyouya turned his head from the ceiling to her – he was stupidly weak for the way her eyes were batting up at him. If their children ever had their mother's eyes, it would be horrendously difficult to refuse them. He shook the thought out of his head, getting far too ahead of himself. Kiyoko still held her arms out at him, offering for him to settle into.

"Did you buy the tub with the intent to take baths with other people?" Kyouya flinched at the hot water. He would have to wait some time before he could even sink into the bath. His hand was already red as a lobster from dipping.

"It was to drown in it," Kiyoko answered, oblivious to how the phrase could be interpreted. She was met with a look of horror.

"Not to die," she clarified, backtracking on her choice of words. "Just… just to wash away the thoughts of the day. To forget. To relax, okay? Don't put me on suicide watch," she muttered. "Can't you let a woman parboil herself in peace?" She flicked the hot water at him.

Her skin had bloomed in a hue of rosy pink, reaching her cheeks as though she was permanently blushing at him. Kyouya quite liked that look on her but it was usually better when he knew she was blushing for him and only him.

"Wash away thoughts of the day…" he repeated in an attempt to understand her better. "Then what were you thinking about during dinner?"

"Hm?" Kiyoko was busy wading through the water with her arms, watching the way the small bubbles travelled across the surface. She liked seeing the steam come off the tub and even off of her skin if she lifted her hand into the cooled air.

"During dinner," Kyouya tried again. "I felt like I lost you for a moment. You suddenly stopped eating and were stuck somewhere in that deep expanse of your brain."

Kiyoko took a moment to mull over what she was thinking about. Her body was distracted by the heat of the water, prickling between comfort and pain. Her muscles were slowly loosening by the minute. Quite frankly, she tried her very best not to feel anything but the physical sensations. "Um, I don't know. It was probably silly."

"Tell me," he pleaded. "What's going on in there?" he tapped her skull gently by the temple.

She shook her head and sunk back down into the water, shrinking herself away from being vulnerable. Kyouya reached into the water and pulled her back up, resisting the prickling sting of the heat against his forearms.

"Come on," Kyouya persisted. "Don't shut me out."

She reluctantly sat upright and took a deep breath. "I thought about how small my house was."

"Oh?" Kyouya blinked. It was a simple thought. "Alright, we can always move?" Easy fix. He could look into some new developments as early as tonight. If she wanted a house, he could build one. Find one. Buy one. This was a solution he could work with.

"No." Kiyoko shook her head. "No, I never used to care about where I lived or how I lived. My house is mine." She pointed at all the intricate details that she picked out herself, like the large tub. "But I suddenly felt like… it wasn't good enough. I didn't have enough kitchenware to serve all three of us."

"We can just buy more," he suggested – it was the easiest thing to do. Fuyumi hardly cared for what plate she was served with, she obviously was more interested in the lack of a wedding they had instead.

"It wasn't about… buying more." Kiyoko sighed. One could not easily buy social standing. "It was about not being enough. You were so hesitant on telling your sister that you were married… I just thought you regretted choosing me. And it all somehow felt like it was meant to happen in the way that it did and I would accept what I already knew all along."

"Kiyoko," his tone exasperated. He shook his head at her. She had it all wrong. "I hate telling Fuyumi things because she likes to meddle and ask questions I don't know the answers to. She makes me feel inadequate for not following tradition. Like with the whole barrage of questions with proposing. Did you want something more? You hardly responded to any of it."

"It's what sisters do best." Kiyoko smiled softly, even though she clearly tuned that conversation out of her mind. It must have been discussed while she was prepping their food. Kiyoko's main concern was not burning their food. "We love annoying our brothers." She missed annoying Haru. She missed having his silent presence. He was her whole purpose and now she was lost without him, unsure of what to live for besides the man who sat on the bathroom floor with her.

"But I would never be ashamed of you," Kyouya said earnestly. "I want to give you everything in the world. I don't know if I am doing it right."

"Oh, Kyouya," she whispered, resting a hand over her swollen heart. Her eyes widened with softness. "You're doing wonderfully," she murmured while climbing over to the edge of the tub and caressed his face into a kiss. "I love you. It's only your second day being a husband and you've taken care of me so kindly."

"How gracious of you." He smiled in relief.

Her fingers traced the crow's feet delicately, counting each one and taking stock of the depth. His hand enveloped hers as he pressed a soft kiss to her lips. She smelled like cedar and bergamot, the scent enticing him to touch every part of her. He chased her lips further into the tub until he was sufficiently soaked at the torso, nearly falling over into the depths of the cloudy water.

She pulled away with a smile, breaking into a quiet giggle that echoed in the bathroom. Naturally, Kiyoko tugged at him to join her. She popped the drain open to make room for him, avoiding the overflow of water onto her tiled floor. The bath was designed for two but housed only one for most of the time. The Ootori braced himself for the searing heat but was met with a comfortable simmer instead.

Kyouya frowned when he finally seated himself on the opposite side. "You're too far," he said. This tub was too large for how close he wanted to be beside her. Kyouya did not want to know what kind of fortune she spent on renovating this bathroom but every single inch of it was stunning and worthwhile.

"Our legs are literally entangled," Kiyoko pointed out. He could grab her by the ankles to drown her into the sea of cedarwood. "We are not far at all."

The Ootori forcibly rearranged her to sit between his legs, resting her small back against his bare solid chest. He laid back comfortably against the bath pillow perched on the edge of the tub, inhaling the scent of her neck while his hands skated along her smooth thighs. His thumbs expertly found the knot along her quads that had been aching all day, eliciting a moan from her lips. God, he loved that sound so much. He made it his mission to have her stuttering and babbling nonsense with just his hands, so that her smart mouth of hers had nothing to say.

"What the fuck," Kiyoko nearly gasped. "How did you know that was there?"

He smirked and wondered what other parts of her body needed attention. His hands found their way along her ribs before moving backwards to dig his thumbs at her lower back.

"You need more massages." Kyouya shook his head at the resistance that his thumbs met along her bones. He tried to be careful to glide over the taut muscles rather than her spine. She was built beautifully, lithe and petite in his arms but he wished that she had some more meat on her bones. Kyouya made it his mission to take care of this woman.

"I'm fine," she murmured before he found another knot in her lower back. "Oh," Kiyoko let out a noise that was close to a whimper as she involuntarily folded over at the way he dug above her pelvis. The tension snapped in her body beneath the warm water and his deft thumbs.

"Easy there." He lifted her torso back against him like a limp ragdoll. "You're awfully tense. Didn't you get a massage with Fuyumi recently?"

"They asked me what I did for work and then told me to come back," she groaned through the pain that hurt so good. Kiyoko wondered if he could finally lull her to a few solid hours of sleep tonight. She learned to normalize the stiffness in her body as just the way it was without much to do about it. Kiyoko had no idea that the sensation could just disappear.

"Why didn't you?"

"I left the massage just as tense as I entered it." Kiyoko sighed at the relief. She was growing breathless at the way he managed to dig into parts of her spine that made her want to melt into a puddle, blending right into a simmering bath.

"Well," Kyouya grunted, trying his best not to hurt his wife with excessive force. "I think you need to see a professional, you feel like a rock everywhere I touch."

"I mean," she growled as he went deeper along the middle of her back. These sounds were awfully erotic for Kyouya to stay focused on the simple task of trying to fix his wife's aching body.

"I think you'll do just fine." Kiyoko sighed into his touch, as he worked himself upwards to her shoulders. "Isn't this what husbands are for?" She felt drunk under the way he dragged his knuckles along her shoulder blade, the bath oils lingered on her skin to moisturize and to glide along her body. Kiyoko's muscles finally relaxed with her full weight sinking down into the tub. She let herself go into the depths of the water, stretching her body to grip the other edge of the tub and sighed into the release.

He laughed into her hair. "No, darling," he pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck, working his thumb into one shoulder before dragging her by the waist to sit flush against his body. There was no doubt that she could feel the weight of his cock against the small of her back.

She let out a small laugh with her eyes still closed. "Oh, is that what husbands are for?"

"We can multitask," he offered, while he peppered kisses along her neck. His hand roamed free of her back to the front of her torso, grazing her nipples and kneading her breasts. Kiyoko's breaths grew more shallow, her body squirming beneath his adept hands. Her impatience grew strong enough for her to jerk him down towards her clit, already engorged with anticipation.

Kyouya felt her body tense up, a product of her impatience at the way he made her wait with her shallow breathing. "Not yet. Relax for me," he cooed, drawing languid circles just shy of where she needed him. His deep fingers dipped right into her slit, surprising him by how quickly he was able to glide into her beneath the water.

"Fuck," he growled, his voice strained. "Already?"

"Mmm," she slurred. "Need you so bad," Kiyoko whined. "Be a good husband for me, hm?" She stretched her back like a cat, pulling his neck down so that he could come face to face with her breasts while grinding her back against his cock. Kiyoko knew exactly what she was doing to him, her eyes were closed while her lips twitched into a smirk. That little vixen, he thought.

"No," he refused. His lips met her collarbones, inhaling the scent of her. Her pure clean skin, surrounded by a forest - sultry and sweet. "You be good for me. Give one to me, baby."

"Hmm?" Kiyoko could hardly form words by the way his fingers moved – two pumping in and out of her with lightning speed while the other grazed her clit with just enough sensitivity to push her over the edge. His tongue drew circles along her nipple while his chest hunched over her back, encasing her entire body.

"Come on," he encouraged. He played her like an instrument he had studied his entire life. Kyouya thought of her body too often to be considered respectful. "That's it," Kyouya whispered when his fingers felt her muscles tremble at his pumping speed. Kiyoko had to dig her nails into his veiny forearms to put a stop to him as she clenched through the reverberations of her body.

Her chest heaved up and down as she fought to catch her breath, tapping out of her husband's death grip even though her body was now limp as jello. He let go of her with a triumphant smirk, kissing her lips with fervor as if claiming his prize.

"Good girl," he whispered. Kiyoko had to grip the edges of the marble tub to ground herself. She would have been embarrassed if they had not done this so often, her body falling right apart under his arms.

"What's wrong?" His tone triumphant while he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, planting another kiss to her temple that had a thin sheen of sweat. She shook her head, still trying to catch her breath. Her head was empty and her body was effectively tired out. She was dizzy from the steamy waters and lightheaded with pure pleasure.

She had no words as she turned around to face him with determination. Kiyoko was happily sated but not without repaying the favour, forcing him to a state of speechlessness like she was in. She kissed him with force, distracting him while her deft hands reached over to his still hard cock. He hand gripped him with enough force that it had him groan, echoing across the walls. Her newly mobile legs locked him by the hips as lifted herself up from the water to line herself back down against him.

Before he could say no, Kyouya was distracted by the way she sat on top of his lap. His brain was still dazed by the kiss, his head was empty as his primal senses took over. His hands skated along her ribs, always enamoured by how small she was by the waist. He was taking in the valleys of her collarbones, the grooves of her neck to the swollen tops of her breasts that by the time his cock had breached her tight entrance he let out a grunt of surprise. She was still so slick, even beneath the water that was no longer a simmering temperature. Their bodies had grown warmer than the bath itself at this point.

"Fuck," he swore again, his brain devoid of full sentences. "Always so tight."

Kiyoko's mouth only made sounds that ranged from moans to whimpers. Kyouya loved to revel in this state, kissing her senseless as she fully bottomed out. Kiyoko's hands were wrapped in his hair, while his hands were groping her ass. There was not enough contact to lessen the burn that seared beneath their skin.

"Move, baby," she whispered, tightening her pelvic muscles against his cock. He groaned against her sternum, forcibly lifting the two of them out of the tub without breaking contact. The water was working against the sweet sweet glide he needed to fuck her properly with. She laughed at the way they made an absolute mess of their bathroom – a problem to deal with later.

But right now, all she wanted to do was blend into him, into one being as he carefully laid her on her back on the plush sheets of her duvet, still soaking wet. His thrusts were slow, savouring her in every moment with every second. He cherished her in every way that she did not know possible. He interlocked their hands together over he head, lips meeting over and over again without a rush in the world.

"Hey," she whispered, barely able to keep her eyes open. A big grin sat atop her lips as she welcomed his weight over her.

"Yeah?" he paused, tenderly making sure she was alright after he collapsed in absolute bliss.

"I love you," her voice soft and sleepy, before she sighed into her pillow.

He answered with a sloppy kiss against her mouth, letting her drift peacefully to sleep.