bored411: Thank you so much!

Akari. Wolf. Princess: aoufwoefuh "Trip into his arms!" Shigeo wasn't particularly pissed about anything, he's just a naturally grumpy person who's annoyed that Kosuke isn't just being quiet and doing what she's told. And as for what Kyoya is thinking...Well, here! See for yourself lol.

So hopefully, now that I have an actual schedule worked out, this fic will update every two weeks. Thanks for your patience!

In some way, Kyoya supposes that he should be happy about this.

He'd spent so long now whining and lamenting how the path that had been laid before him—enter an arranged marriage with a girl beneficial to the Ootori Group—had turned muddy and overgrown when he fell in love with Tamaki and Haruhi against his own will. Really, all he needed was to rest the back of his hand against his forehead to complete the image of melodrama incarnate.

Now, the path has dried and the branches trimmed: he is engaged now. He can mark that off the list of things that were to happen in his life, alongside items like "learn how to ride a bike" and "graduate high school."

Kyoya is not happy, he can't even force himself to be happy, and it's been such a long time that he's felt what it's like to be happy that he couldn't do it if he tried.

It doesn't matter how many times he tells himself that he saw this coming, how inevitable this was. He has officially been tethered to someone for the rest of his days. Already his plate is filled to spill and now? Now he's just been handed a different plate entirely.

Everything that he does, he has to be mindful of, because in the world Kyoya lives in, making a mistake in front of just the wrong audience could cost his entire family. That is why, for all those years that he preferred the company of his books and computer to his peers, he was still friendly and approachable. It is one thing to come off as studious and focused and another thing to come off as closed-off and cold. Don't seek them out, don't turn them away.

Even after Tamaki crash-landed into his life, that hasn't changed much. If anything, the Host Club only amplified that need for constant charm. Even if he was only the manager and wasn't an "option" for their customers, his appeal was just as important as the others'. Good publicity is good publicity. If one of his peers' report to their parents was simply that Kyoya is mysterious and handsome and dark, he'd take that over him being the bitter shutoff that never talked to anyone.

It's always been a two-way street, of course, but he's never worried about his family bringing any of that trouble to them. It was almost as if they'd taken classes in how to be pleasant to outsiders, and in the cases of Yuuichi and his father, they had the shield of being so important that if they seemed unapproachable, that was just a sign of a serious man always focused on something or another.

With a fiancée, Kyoya is never going to be able to take off the mask and talk to her in a candid way that isn't coated in a charming smile, and he wonders if he'll ever be able to believe what she says for the same reason. He will have to worry about how what he does affects her and her family, and vice-versa.

There is nothing wrong with marriage. This in particular just feels like a stone has been shackled to his foot.

This is all, of course, only addressing one half of the issue.

He'd never thought he'd fall in love, but he did, twice, and though he'd already swallowed the massive pill that he would never be with either of them, this is just a different pill entirely, whether he should've swallowed it already or not. Yes, in his world, marriage is prioritized for business, but that doesn't take away the inherent romance in it. A marriage does not need love, but it is expected, and that goes for the world at large.

Had he hoped that he might be able to move on from Tamaki and Haruhi and maybe find someone else? He doesn't even know.

What he feels isn't good, and he doesn't need an expert to tell him that. It is never going to be fulfilled in any way. Kyoya is in love with Tamaki and Haruhi, they are not in love with him. It is a one-way mirror. He knows the word is "pining", but he hates that schmaltzy, melodramatic, weepy word.

Loving someone in and of itself, however, is not bad. It's actually rather wonderful, in Kyoya's opinion. In Tamaki or Haruhi's presence, things are easier. Everything that's sharp softens and everything that's cold warms up. When they smile and laugh, it makes him feel at ease.

Being in love is wonderful, but the idea of having it happen again…It almost scares him. Because doesn't that mean Kyoya isn't as smart as he thinks he is, and that his heart at least is too easily swayed?

So much did it unnerve him that he was in extreme doubt that it would happen.

Meaning that he'd be in a marriage that was not only loveless, but would be the final nail in the coffin. Kyoya falls in love with Tamaki and Haruhi. They only love each other. They marry each other, Kyoya marries someone else he doesn't love at all. The end.

He could go on and on about how unfair this all is, how it hurts him. How even if it sounds entitled or selfish, Kyoya wants to have reciprocation, he wants to have a window, not a one-way mirror, he wants someone who feels for him the way he feels for them. How it isn't wrong for him to want that. How Kyoya is terrified of a life of unfulfilled desire and if that's going to change him.

The bottom line, however, is this: It. Does not. Matter.

Kyoya is one, single person whose suffering stems from the middle school fact that the people he likes don't like him back. Boo hoo.

Hundreds of people are counting on Ootori Medical to find its footing again. A partnership with Amida Health will be a lifesaver tossed to a drowning man. With a union like this, they will not lose thousands upon thousands in revenue. They will not have to let go of so many employees who depend on their jobs to provide not just for themselves, but for families that relied on them. This could save their image from permanent fracture. This could save Ootori Medical as a whole, because there was no way to predict how far the dominos would fall: in a few generations, a loss like this could reduce them to a shadow of their former glory.

Kyoya is the playing piece here. He is the only Ootori child not yet married, and a marriage is the most surefire way of keeping a partnership cemented.

So: his family, hundreds of employees, and the company at large…or Kyoya's feelings?

The question doesn't exist.

After he gets the brief period of frustration and distress out of his system, it's easier. What helps the most is the thing that at first did nothing at all, which was reminding himself that he saw this coming. Even if that plan has been sidelined, years of preparation have not gone down the drain. It's just a matter of touching up on his knowledge.

All his personal feelings aside, it is a very tricky process, due in no small part to the secrecy that needs to happen.

There are very few idiots in the world of the elite, and even the dumbest of the dumb would hear of DomenMed's separation from Ootori Medical, the announcement of the youngest Ootori to the heiress of another highly profitable medical technology company, and conclude: Oh, so they got panic-engaged.

There is no amount of time to spare that will save them the gossip without costing them precious, precious minutes to get the company back on track. They may only have a matter of days, so the best they can do is work with that.

As far as Kyoya can tell, the engagement is already official, it just isn't in ink just yet. Mr. Amida and Kyoya's father have both agreed to it, Mr. Amida's daughter has agreed to it, so that's all that's needed. There will be one meeting before they set it in stone, for the sake of propriety. Until that happens, no one outside the Ootori family is going to hear so much as a peep about this.

When Akito and Yuuichi find out, Kyoya does not see their reactions. They have become ghosts, they're so busy with keeping everything from falling apart.

Fuyumi is nothing but supportive, and it annoys him to no end.

"It's finally happening," she sighs in delight the day before the dinner. She has come into his room and plopped herself in an armchair for the clear purpose of gushing for at least an hour. "You've finally found someone! It's amazing!"

"'Found', huh?" He can't help but genuinely huff a laugh at the word. He hadn't found a thing. But he lets her swoon and sigh about it, because it's a lost battle from the get-go. "Please watch the coffee."

She reels her flailing in a little to stop herself from kicking it off the table. Again. "What do you think she'll look like? Her personality? Oh, who am I kidding. You must already know by now."

"Actually, no." Kyoya closes his laptop shut, only to pull his weekly planner out instead. He finds it's easier to get through these conversations if he has something to do with his hands. "I don't know anything about her."

Fuyumi blinks, shocked, but not deterred. "Why not?"

"I just thought it might be nicer to get to know her firsthand, that's all."

That's a good answer, he thinks, but it's a lie. His father had told him to refrain from background-checking his fiancée the way he did most others.

"Just don't," was all the explanation he got.

So what does he know about his bride-to-be?

Well, her name is Kosuke. She is nineteen. After her parents' divorce, she was raised in a common life until her mother died around a year ago. Mr. Amida only learned about her very existence then, and as his only child, graciously offered her heirdom to his company.

Kyoya knows more about his future father-in-law than his actual fiancée. He knows that Mr. Amida is an only child, his parents' marriage only lasting ten years and his mother having passed already. He knows when Mr. Amida's birthday is (Janurary 2nd) and that he graduated from a college in New York. He knows how much Amida Health brings in on an annual basis.

He knows that Mr. Amida married once, divorced, and never married again, but details on the matter are sparse. He supposes he could find more answers looking into Mr. Amida's ex-wife, Emiko Suzuki, but he feels that that will inevitably lead him to looking into his fiancée, just as his father instructed him not to do.

So that's the real answer, but he doesn't tell that to Fuyumi, and she swoons again with pink cheeks.

"That's so sweet!" Suddenly she has inhuman speed, because her arms are wrapping around him tight enough to choke.

"Fuyumi, please. I'm trying to work."

"Oh, come on, Kyoya, of all the times to keep working!" Finally she swivels the chair around, and Kyoya just gives up. "This is your fiancée you're talking about! At least tell me what you're looking forward to."

Kyoya takes off his glasses for a moment to rub at his brow. "Such as?"

"Well, what do you want to do for your first date?" She doesn't pause. "What ideas do you have for the wedding? When will it be? What kind of rings do you want? Where do you guys want to live? Oh, do you think you'll have kids?"

Each word is like one more object being forced into his already-full hands, but it's the word kids that stabs into his gut like a knife. Kids. Good God. "You do remember we haven't even met yet, don't you?"

"Sorry. I got overexcited." Slowly the smile fades from her lips, and she stands up straight. "Why so quiet, huh?"

Kyoya pauses, and wonders if he's lying when he answers, "I don't know what to say."

The answer only makes her smile reappear more genuine, curiously, softer instead of brighter. "That's okay. You know, I wasn't bouncing off the walls when Tetsu and I got engaged, either. I was a nervous wreck." She sits back down in her armchair and picks up her coffee cup. "What about the others? Have they said anything?"

"No. This is supposed to be under wraps until it's all official."

"Mm. Right. Well, that's unfortunate." Fuyumi sends him a sad smile. "You know they're going to explode when they find out."

Kyoya is aware, but that is not why he is dreading telling them.

The night of the dinner starts off on a poor note, because the morning of—and in truth, maybe even before then—Kyoya's stomach is heavy as lead and his body is stiff enough to go sore. He's dreading going into this, and he knows he shouldn't be, least of all because that's just stupid.

He's going to meet his future wife tonight, the person with whom he's going to be sharing the rest of his life with, and he is already fearing the worst-case scenarios. Amaya Domen couldn't have made it clearer that she only wanted him to admit defeat, to be the most un-Kyoya he could possibly be and confess his undying love, just so she could say she could win. Even so, Mr. Ootori and Mr. Domen had both at least entertained the idea of pairing the two together. That's why Kyoya keptmeeting her and being "civil."

Their fathers had realized maybe even before they cut ties with one another that the two simply wouldn't have worked in the long run. If Mr. Ootori had proposed the idea when Mr. Domen made it clear that their business together was over—and Kyoya had no proof that he had—then Mr. Domen had shot it down.

So now, with how utterly desperate and near-hopeless their situation has become, Kyoya doubts his father would much care about compatibility at this point. Mr. Ootori did have standards. He didn't think highly of those who horribly spoiled their children until they acted like toddlers well into their twenties. But in this situation, those standards may have to change.

In short, Kyoya may be engaged to another Amaya. Or someone worse.

Or not. He can try to be optimistic about this. He can ask for low-hanging fruit: polite, kind, mature. Perhaps Kosuke Amida is a perfectly fine woman.

And it isn't fair to compare her to Tamaki or Haruhi, not at all. If they meet, and she is talking to him civilly and politely, and all he thinks as she speaks is You're not who I want you to be, that is just cruel.

It isn't like that, not really. For everything he's feeling, none of it is directed at his fiancée. He's the only one who knows his own thoughts, it isn't like she agreed to the marriage because she wanted to rub it in Kyoya Ootori's face that he'll never be with Tamaki Suoh or Haruhi Fujioka! (Mwa-ha-ha!) No, that is an immature way of thinking.

He just can't ignore that she is the epicenter of the issue. She is the final nail in the coffin. He never even had the shadow of a chance with either Tamaki or Haruhi anyway, but now he is engaged with someone else. He always knew that he would likely end up in a business-beneficial engagement, but now it's finally happening.

And as for the question, is there any chance that maybe love is going to come from this? Will he be as lucky as his sister and others, who find love in their arranged marriages and live happily ever after?

It's not impossible, but he thinks it might as well be. Which is…good?

He imagined the night playing out several different ways. Fuyumi was not something he accounted for.

When he sees her standing outside of Ambrosia, he doesn't ask what she's doing there, he already knows. While his father exits the car and talks to their chauffeur, he just asks, "How long have you been planning this surprise?"

Fuyumi perks up like the rising sun when she hears his voice, but has the decency to look a little sheepish as he goes on. She rocks back on her heels a bit, which is almost impressive considering their height. "I had to ask Father a hundred times before he finally agreed earlier today. But it worked out, so be thankful!"

He is surprised to see Tetsu approach from behind and take his place beside his wife. In a black suit and lavender tie—to match her empire dress; Fuyumi liked for them to match when they went out—he looks very proper and professional. His eternally shaggy hair, not so much.

"We thought you might want some more familiar faces there," he chuckles in greeting.

Kyoya raises a brow.

"It was Fuyumi's idea."

Fuyumi puffs up her cheeks at being ratted out, but Kyoya just nods, satisfied. "You can just say you wanted front-row seats, Fuyumi. I won't be offended."

She is, though, and puffs up to pufferfish levels. "I'm not here to ogle or anything! I just remember how nervous I was when I first met Tetsu and I thought maybe you'd appreciate some support."

Kyoya raises a brow. Again.

"…And also, I wanted to meet my future sister-in-law." She sticks up a finger in the air. "But my first point still stands! I would've loved to have you there with me when I met Tetsu."

Kyoya just shakes his head. "I'm sure you're right. If I was there, you definitely wouldn't have spilled wine on your dress."

"And you could've just helped with the small ta—you noticed?!"

"Kind of hard not to." Tetsu holds his hands fingers-over-fingrs just below his belly button. "You walked around like this all night."

Fuyumi's face takes on a fine pinkish glow, and she huffs. "Well, I'd rather do that than be shaking like a Chihuahua."

Kyoya sighs, not without fondness. "On second thought, now that you're telling me this, I know what not to do when I meet my fiancée. Thank you."

Tetsu and Fuyumi both chirp, "You're welcome!" Then, after they realize what he'd said, both shout, "Hey!"

From behind him, Mr. Ootori says, "Mr. and Ms. Amida are awaiting us inside." Just a second later, he walks between the three of them, marching ahead to lead them through the doors. "Let's not keep them waiting."

So with that brief moment of levity out of the way, they all follow him in, and Kyoya does his best to focus on the present and not let all the dresses and suits and lights blur together into the background. There is no increase in his heartbeat or sweat on his palms, the dread in his gut just grows heavier.

Kyoya walks directly behind his father, Tetsu and Fuyumi a few feet behind them. Mr. Ootori speaks in a volume meant just for him, almost unheard above the light hum of conversation in the restaurant. "What all do you know about Kosuke?"

Kyoya dutifully answers, "Only what you've told me."

They come to one of the hosts, who nods to them once before leading them down one of the dimly-lit hallways. Mr. Ootori continues, "I'm going to tell you again: Ms. Amida has only recently been introduced into high society. Don't be surprised if she doesn't have every answer to every question."

"Yes, Father." He'd admittedly forgotten about that. Kosuke Amida was raised in a common life, wherever her parentage came from. A new definition of "New Money," almost. He supposes he'll have to be mindful not to offend.

Mr. Ootori's stride lags for just a second, enough to bring them just a little closer, and his voice drops even lower. "Remember too that Ms. Amida has been through hard times recently. Don't ask anything that will upset her."

Kyoya didn't forget that his fiancée had only just recently lost her mother, but…Well, he had skipped over the sympathy when he learned it, which he knows is cold of him. Kyoya has never known the grief of losing one of his family members, let alone one of his parents, but he can sympathize all the same. He can't imagine that kind of stress, so even before he's met his fiancée, he must admit he has pity for her.

Speaking of mothers…

…and that is as far down that train of thought as he gets before the door opens and they're led inside.

Mr. Amida's eyes alone could rival Kyoya's father's in severity, but otherwise, they couldn't be more opposite. Mr. Amida is a clean-shaven man with no glasses, dark blonde hair combed neatly away from his face, and strikingly blue eyes. Nothing about him is sharp or intimidating. He seems more like a man who is so used to the constant need for charm that his default setting is "vaguely approachable."

His father and future father-in-law go through the pleasantries of greeting one another and introducing their family, Mr. Amida never so much as skipping a beat when introduced to the unexpected additions of Fuyumi and Tetsu. There are polite smiles all around, and Kyoya makes sure to keep his up as well.

While this all happens, he finally takes in his fiancée, standing beside her father with the same polite, almost vacant smile.

Kosuke Amida is a petite woman who only looks so much like her father in the abstract sense. She has none of her father's height, perhaps five and a half feet. Her hair is pale blonde but Kyoya can't tell how long it is, pinned back in a bun probably designed to highlight its softness. She's standing with a straight posture and shoulders just slightly back, but there is something rigid in her structure, which he believes is nervousness. He won't blame her.

She's a beautiful woman, he can't deny that. He just also can't deny that there is no pull, no spark, not even a distant desire to know her better.

She unnerves him.

Mr. Amida introduces her, and she says "Hello" and bows to him just a bit too lowly before standing upright again.

On second thought, the resemblance between the Amidas is not wholly abstract. Their bright blue eyes are almost mirror copies.

Kyoya does as Kyoya is supposed to do and bows to her, as well, uplifting his smile just a touch and saying, "I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Kosuke pauses very, very briefly but it's one millisecond enough for him to wonder if she caught onto the lie dripping from his teeth. "Me, too."

They all take their seats, and though Kyoya has no taste for champagne, he doesn't stop it from being poured into his glass. Any lingering thoughts about Haruhi and Tamaki are shoved far away into a dark corner. He has to be aware and awake now. However final this is, rudeness and dismission will not earn any marks in his favor from anyone at the table.

Figuring that staying in the moment will keep him from thinking too much, he listens to his father and Mr. Amida speak. It isn't much, just the small talk for the propriety of small talk. Kyoya doubts his father has a care in the world that the lounge of the Amida manor is being renovated.

Kyoya looks to Kosuke without staring. Her eyes are downcast as she takes a sip of water, but then Kyoya realizes that she's actually looking at her plate and silverware. Then the tablecloth. Then the stenciled imagery on the walls. She has very expressive eyes, and that's fine, but Kyoya is curious to find, well…curiosity in them.

He wonders how many times she's been in a restaurant like this. Or if this is her first, even.

The first course of cold melon soup comes, and Kyoya drinks while he listens.

"Have you encountered any trouble since returning to Japan?" "No, everything has been well, thank you."

"I heard your last quarter was one of your most successful yet. Congratulations." "I appreciate it."

"I don't suppose you've seen Madame Karuma as of recent?" "I saw her just the other day, actually."

As far as ice-breaking conversations go, this is actually one of the better ones. Dinners like this work in a limbo between business and cordiality. Too much of the former would come off as cold, and too much of the latter would come off as chummy. And of course, it is Kyoya's job to stay in his place and not interrupt. The only other conversation is between Fuyumi and Tetsu, and they knowingly keep their volume as nothing higher than whispers.

Being on the same side of the table, however, Kyoya is close enough to hear.

"Do you think she doesn't like it?" asks Tetsu.

"Could be," replies Fuyumi. "Don't drink all of yours. We don't want to pressure her into drinking it all if she doesn't like it."

"Right," he nods, and the two of them drink their soup exactly two-thirds down before leaving the bowls be.

Simultaneous annoyance and fondness for them taking this so gravely. That is the typical experience with the Shidos. And Tamaki, but that was a whole new deal.

He's still a little surprised when Fuyumi gives her husband a "go time" nod and chirps, "So, Kosuke! You've taken a skip year from college, right?"

Kyoya had taken his eyes off his fiancée at some point, but in the short second he brings his gaze back over to her, he sees how she perks up from an almost wilted posture. She strikes him as someone who doesn't hide her emotions easily, but he can't say for sure. She certainly does not seem happy, but who is he to judge?

"Yes. It was just easier, for the time."

While Kosuke lifts up her glass to take a sip of water—rude, someone's talking to her—Fuyumi goes on: "Are you excited to attend Ouran?"

Kosuke sets the glass back down and puts that amiable smile back on her face. She at least has that down pat. "Yes, I am. I wanted to start college right after high school anyway, so I'm more than happy to start attending the best in the country."

There's another reminder that she's a little too real for Kyoya to be comfortable with. As childish as it was, he'd been imagining his hypothetical fiancée as a featureless figure for years now, and he'd thought this would be easier if he kept that going even after meeting said hypothesis.

He shouldn't be so unnerved by someone, especially not for some asinine reason like this. He's upset because his fiancée is a real person with real goals, a real family, and who has suffered real hardships. That doesn't make her easier to talk to, easier to relate to. It makes it harder, because the more real she becomes, the heavier the load weighs.

No, it wasn't fair to expect his fiancée to be a paper doll that he'd just have to carry around for the rest of his life as he kept doing as he did. He'd never had that train of thought. So it is doubly stupid to be so upset about it.

"What are you majoring in?"

Kyoya only gets one second to process a lot, and that lot is that they've been served a new course, the conversation has kept going, his fiancée has spoken to him, and he has done one of the rudest things one could ever do at any meeting of any kind and spaced out.

So when he says, "Business Administration and Management," he is not actively trying to be cold or standoffish. He is caught off-guard, and he's not used to being that.

Kosuke doesn't ask anything besides that, and he thinks he's grateful.

Get it together, you can't act like this, especially not with an audience, Kyoya scolds himself. He keeps eating, but he's so one-track-minded he can't even register the taste. You're being rude. Don't tune her out like that.

Then there's something pressing against his foot—Fuyumi's shoe. Looking up at his sister, Kyoya has to amend her for being able to communicate with just her eyes so well. She's smiling expectantly, but her eyes say Snap out of it!

Because Kosuke has spoken to him. Again. And he has to once again hit rewind to catch what she said—"I didn't attend Ouran High School. Is it much different going to the University?"—all in the span of a mere second.

"It's certainly a larger scale, but matched in quality." Kyoya wishes he could hear his own voice. Did he just sound amiable, or dismissive?

Whichever it is, Kosuke does not respond barring a blink of her eyes. He probably could've spared a moment or two to asses her reaction, but Kyoya just looks back down to his plate again. For a time, the only sound is the clinking of silverware on porcelain. And Kosuke thanking the server very kindly.

Internally, Kyoya has switched from chiding himself to wanting to kick himself in the teeth. Besides just being a bumbling idiot, being disinterested is the worst way to come off during the first meeting with your fiancée, and Kyoya is ticking off all the boxes. Mr. Amida probably won't resign the deal for this, but surely he isn't impressed by his future son-in-law's treatment of his daughter thus far.

To be fair, I don't think I could talk now if I wanted.

For now, at least, the dinner has officially became a business meeting. Mr. Amida and Yoshio only talk to one another without so much as a glance to another soul in the room. For now, at least, there is no one in there but the two of them.

"So now that you've returned to Japan," Yoshio says as their fish course is set before them, "you'll be able to be much more hands-on with this division of Amida Health, yes?"

"Indeed. We have several projects in development right now that require my personal supervision. Our products are very high-demand as of late, so production is at full capacity."

"I've heard you're developing a new product for those with cardiac arrythmia."

"That's one specific goal of it. Our goal is to be able to provide accurate readings by the vein pulse. It'll be a long way until it's completed, but if possible, we'll have it available for consumers. We don't have many products intended for the shelves, but this might be milestone."

"What retailers are you partnered with? Forgive me, my memory is failing me."

Kyoya is fairly certain his father knows very well which retailers Amida Health is partnered with. But this conversation is not about Yoshio, or Ootori Medical, or really anything else besides Amida Health. Yes, this is typical talk for those about to enter a partnership: new products, undergoing projects, retailers.

However, this is also the time for Mr. Amida to just talk about how prosperous and successful his company is, the things that Ootori Medical will be involved in by de facto. Not just as reassurance to Yoshio that this is a good call, but perhaps even a powerplay. Mr. Amida reminding Kyoya's father that Amida Health doesn't need Ootori Medical the same way Ootori Medical needs Amida Health.

It's tempting to speak up on their behalf, at least not make themselves seem so pathetic. Thankfully, Kyoya has always been very good at not giving into temptations.

While their fathers talk, Kyoya takes a look at his fiancée without staring. She has her gaze trained onto her plate, and her shoulders are stiff. He thinks maybe her jaw is working side-to-side. Whether she's intending to or not, she's wearing her discomfort on her sleeve.

He wishes he'd been able to look into her information the way he does with…well, everyone else. At least then he wouldn't have to wonder about her so much. What was the time difference between Mr. Amida coming to her and her agreeing to an arranged marriage? What does she know and not know about their side of the world? Does he even have a single-sentence summary of her life before all this?

While those are all the typical surface-level trivia that he wants to know about most people, Kyoya lets himself think a little further. So far into their first meeting, and he doesn't know much about her as the living human being she is.

She seems kind, Kyoya thinks. He remembers how she thanked the waiters the first few times they were served, but also of her drinking when Fuyumi was talking to her. Possibly unprepared. And she seems to wear her heart on her sleeve.

He realizes he's still trying to make deductions based on what he's seen. He should really be making more of an effort to know her—sure, they have the rest of their lives, but still. However, even if the patriarchs weren't dominating the conversation…would he bother?

See, this is why Kyoya needs his brain to get its cogs and wires back in order so it can function the way it used to. His thoughts are full of contradictions, of wanting to know Kosuke better while also not caring, of acknowledging that she's a living soul and being unable to see her as more than a concept.

So while Yoshio and Mr. Amida continue their one-sided conversation, Kyoya (without zoning out this time) decides that even if he'd never admit to it aloud, he has an unfair bias here.

You're just unnerved because she's a different case than anyone else. You're already dealing with how you feel about Haruhi and Tamaki. You're stressed out about the company's situation. You have several reasons not to be happy about this situation, but it's not Kosuke. She hasn't done anything wrong.

Looking back to Kosuke again, still looking at her plate but now with a peculiar focus, a hint of guilt settles in his chest…with a bonus layer, for not being guilty before.

She's just a person who hasn't done him any wrong. At the very least, he needs to stop thinking that getting to know her is a hurtle.

While reaching for his water, Kyoya somehow manages to knock a dessert fork off the table. Thankfully, no one seems to notice—least of all Kosuke, who has stopped eating but is still staring intently into the porcelain dish.

Kyoya reaches down to pick it up in as dignified a way as he can manage, and while his head is bent under the table, he sees one detail among the shoes and floorboards:

Kosuke's phone, in her lap, which was probably what she was staring at and not her plate.

Don't be upset, Kyoya tells himself as he sits right side up again. You haven't been a shining example of warmth either.

And if he is upset, it's less at Kosuke and more that this is probably the worst way this thing could have ever gone. There's being offended, and then there's—this. Texting away on your phone during an important first meeting is universally rude, but Kyoya has never had someone willingly ignore him like this. He's always been so mindful to at least seem respectable in his introductions to people who were absolutely meaningless to him.

The inside of his head has turned into a game of ping-pong, with each idea being countered right back. She shouldn't be on her phone, but Kyoya isn't setting a good example either, but this is an intentional act and not unwillingly spacing out, but spacing out shouldn't be a struggle for him, but, but, but…

He once again looks over her for the telltale signs of disdain: furrowed brows, a set jaw, pursed lips. It shouldn't be too hard, considering how expressive she's been so far.

He doesn't find anything besides what he wants to call…wonder as the poultry course comes out. Kyoya doesn't mean to be patronizing and call her "childlike," but there's just innocence in her attention as she takes up a knife and fork and starts to carve.

When Tetsu asks about whether she cooks often, there's a brief glimpse into something else, too, as her eyes light up and her words go from responding to babbling about food and vegetables and her siblings—until she cuts herself short, as if catching herself, and she returns to that more demure state.

She's nervous, Kyoya thinks, but he already knew that. Maybe being on her phone was just her trying to relax. People do that.

Just—

Okay.

Okay.

You don't hate her.

You're not even angry at her.

You're angry at this situation.

Just be kind to her.

She obviously doesn't love being here.

On that train of thought, he watches her swirl her spoon in her sorbet—her wonder still there but greatly overshadowed by her discomfort—and for the first time, he wants to know something about her, and not just in the purely factual sense.

In just one moment, she has become one of those magic-eye posters: he thinks he sees something, and he thinks he might know what it is, but he can't be sure. There are too many guesses. She may be a stranger, but all strangers are human beings with their own stories.

What's yours? What's going on inside your head?

Suddenly his phone vibrates in his pocket.

Kyoya's spine snaps straight so fast he almost thinks it's audible. Thankfully (oh-so much), no one seems to have noticed, least of all the patriarchs who have returned to their robotic back-and-forth.

He's intent to leave it unanswered until this is over, but now that it's rung, his phone is burning a hole in his pocket. His brothers are fully aware that he's busy, as are the very few Ootori Medical figureheads he has numbers of, so who else is in his contacts but the other Hosts?

Please just be one of them asking about wedding plans, he thinks, for the first time. Ever.

Two chairs suddenly move back from the table, and Yoshio looks down at all three of his family members in turn. "Mr. Amida and I need to discuss something private for a moment. Excuse us."

For a moment, Kyoya is curious, and then he's offended. He knows very well that they're talking about him and Kosuke, nothing else, and he's never before felt so outraged at being left out of the room. There has never before been a conversation that he was so entitled to listen to.

In the end, though, it doesn't matter, because what does Kyoya possibly need to know or say, anyway? He's marrying the Amida heiress to save the Ootori empire, end of sentence. He just nods to his father as he and Mr. Amida leave with grim faces.

Then his phone vibrates again, and the doors open as the servers come to take their empty sorbet classes, and Kosuke doesn't even say anything, yet her presence alone is another loud noise grinding on his nerves. He's being pulled every way at once, and with an audience watching him, he can't even stop to get a hold of his bearings.

Focus. You're getting off-track again, Kyoya thinks as he looks to Kosuke again. She's returned to staring a hole into the tablecloth, clearly just as aware that this is their first ever moment without their fathers watching over them. Talk to her.

He clears his throat, and he swears that Fuyumi's foot moves away from him under the table as if it was two seconds from kicking into his shin. "Will you be attending Ouran this upcoming semester, or later?"

At first Kosuke just blinks at him as if processing what he's just said. Then she smiles, but it's plastered, hardly less stiff than her shoulders. "Hopefully this semester!"

'Hopefully'?

What kind of answer is that? The semester begins in just over a month…

"You're not sure yet?"

Immediately after he says it, Kosuke's smile drops clean off her face, and Kyoya clenches his jaw to catch himself. He reminds himself—again—that she's been uprooted recently, so yes, it makes sense for her not to have many plans on her calendar.

His phone vibrates for a third time. He ignores it.

Don't be so presumptuous. Just give her a chance to explain—

"Well, I live in Karuizawa right now, so it's going to be difficult attending a school in Tokyo. There's a lot of things we're still working through right now."

…Karuizawa?

It's not the familiarity of the town that has Kyoya pausing again—believe him, that nightmare of a vacation with the competition at Misuzu's pension, Haruhi's old friend, the thunderstorm that had them all worried sick…that was going to be one of his worst memories.

Now, however, he has to ask himself: just how recently has Kosuke taken the heiress title? Because to not even be living in the same house as her father, let alone in a little mountain town like Karuizawa, seems odd at best. Wouldn't they have already taken care of that by now?

His phone vibrates again. The servers come with the next course.

If Fuyumi shares his thought process, it doesn't come off in her tone. "Will you be staying with your father, or somewhere else? The dorms, maybe?"

"Oh, I don't think I'll be moving!" Kosuke's hand does an odd little movement, a little flick upwards before sinking back down again. She's not smiling anymore. "I mean, I'm not sure of how I'll be attending, but…"

What does she mean, she doesn't think she'll be moving? The beginning of something akin to outrage is starting to bubble under his skin, but Kyoya forces it down and wills himself to just ask. "Have you only just now started planning this?"

Now Kosuke looks borderline desperate to get her words out. "All of this is only just now being—"

"'All of this'?"

Fuyumi's heel digs into his shoe again, but Kyoya can hardly even feel it. A very horrifying idea has just occurred to him, and he wants—needs Kosuke to disprove it.

His phone vibrates again. Kosuke swallows.

"All of this change, I mean," she says, but that's not a response that clears anything up. "Becoming the heiress and attending a new college, it's just a huge change in structure and schedule. Not to mention the children…"

She's not whining, but the way she's speaking, it has such clear stress and desperation to it that the outrage is only growing and that idea is solidifying.

"Mr. Amida making you his heir has been very recent."

"Yes."

Just give her one last chance.

"Are you prepared to be the heiress to company like Amida Health?"

"I—Not right now, no, but we're working very hard on preparing me for taking the role. It's just…We have to plan everything before we can even begin…"

After that, whether or not she says anything else, if Tetsu speaks, if Fuyumi does, it doesn't matter. Kyoya has suddenly gone deaf to all sound except the questions screaming between his ears.

He can understand having to marry an heiress to save the family, he can understand not having a choice, he can understand why this is all so much to take in…

…but he cannot, for the life of him, even begin to grasp how it would ever make sense to marry him to a person who has no idea what she's doing.

No, she didn't go into that much detail, but Kyoya can fill in the blanks on what she doesn't know. Not knowing when she'll be attending college, or what her living situation will be, that is baseline information. That is the stuff she should know at the very least, but she doesn't. And just looking at her behavior tonight, staring in wonder at everything in the room, she doesn't even seem acquainted with dining room etiquette.

So if she doesn't know any of that, then she certainly doesn't know anything about Amida Health or Ootori Medical, how a company functions, what she'll have to do as heiress, the people that can make or break her, the decisions she's going to have to make, the responsibilities she's going to have to upkeep, how much weight she'll be carrying for the rest of her life, and least of all: how all of this is going to be compounded with being married to Kyoya.

She's literally just someone off the street. A random girl from Karuizawa, and that's fine, but not when she's in this position. Not when Kyoya is going to be the one marrying her.

His phone vibrates again.

"I'm very sorry, please excuse me."

Kyoya leaves before he can say anything else.

Walking out of the room is like coming up from underwater for air. The hallway is quiet, and graciously empty. It's tempting to just stand there and do nothing for a minute, just to catch his breath, but he has a caller to answer and a clueless fiancée to continue…getting acquainted with.

The missed calls are all from Tamaki, because of course they are, why not throw this in with the rest of his evening?

Kyoya sucks in a deep breath, lets it out, and lifts the phone up to his ear. "Hel—"

"Kyoya. Ootori."

His mouth immediately snaps shut. It's definitely Tamaki calling, but since when does Tamaki have a voice as deep and foreboding as thunder?

"Tamaki? What's—"

"How dare you…How…DARE you…"

"Tamaki, you're going to have to tell me what I've 'dared' to do, because my memory is failing me."

"What kind of person doesn't tell their closest, dearest friend THAT HE'S GETTING MARRIED?!"

Kyoya wonders, if he walked out of the building and let himself be run down by a car on the street, how long it would take anyone to notice.

He just lets his back touch the wall, because really, there's nothing else to do but wait and let Tamaki's infuriated rampage run its course. At least he has an excuse to stay put.

"Do you have any idea why you were the first person after my own father and Ranka to know that I was planning on proposing to Haruhi? Because you're my BEST FRIEND, Kyoya! You're my dearest friend on the face of this planet, and that's something that I wanted you to know right away! But now? BUT NOW? Not only do I not even know who my best friend is getting married to, I have to wait until his sister—not HIM, but his SISTER—tells me that he's even engaged to begin with!"

"Very nice, Fuyumi."

"Don't you talk about your sister in that tone of voice! She's more honest than you are!"

He tries, quite pathetically: "I never said I wasn't engaged."

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT LYING!" Tamaki's voice somehow rises another octave. Kyoya wonders dreadfully if anyone in the other room can hear. "This is about LOYALTY! You should have told me immediately! You're about to experience one of the most important things in your entire life and you didn't even let me know! How could you? Did you not think this was important for me to know?"

"No one was supposed to know until later," sighs Kyoya. "I was under the impression Fuyumi understood that."

"You could have at least let me know it was a possibility! What would telling me have harmed, huh? Do you think I was going to run to the media and tell them everything?"

"No, but I can almost promise that you'd make a much bigger deal than anyone else combined."

"Well, EXCUSE ME for being happy that my best friend is getting married!"

"You don't sound very happy."

Tamaki hangs up. Then calls again three seconds later.

"I will never forgive you for this."

"Would it help if I said I'm sorry?"

"No!...Yes. No! Look, the day that you finally found someone to spend the rest of your life with was supposed to be a very happy day that I was always looking forward to and I'm sorry but I feel a little deprived of that now BUT I'M NOT MAD AT YOU!"

Leave it to Tamaki to forget the world that they live in and assume Kyoya has found a true love to sweep off their feet as opposed to a fiancée engaged to purely for business practices.

"I would have told you sooner," Kyoya lies through his teeth. He could've gone the rest of his life without looking Tamaki or Haruhi in the eye and telling them he's engaged. "But with everything that's going on…"

Tamaki does not answer for a moment. Kyoya hears his breath tickle the receiver.

"Yeah. Yeah…Ugh, I'm so sorry, Kyoya." Tamaki's voice has lost all energy. "All the things you're having to go through and I'm yelling at you like a child. I can't believe myself."

"It's fine." Kyoya sighs again. "You were going to scream your head off when you found out, anyway."

"Ha-ha. I'm slapping my knee. Seriously, Kyoya…I can't believe you're actually engaged!"

"Why not?" He asks even though he thinks if he hears "engaged" or "married" one more time, he might vomit. "You just said you were looking forward to the day."

"I know, but still! I didn't think it was going to blindside me like this…" Something shuffles on the other line. "Am I the only person who knows?"

"It's just you and my family. To everyone else's knowledge, this is just a business meeting."

He hopes he'll pick up the hint, but he doesn't. "Man, just imagine how everyone's going to react…! Oh, we're going to have to throw a party, Kyoya! Everyone at Ouran will be invited. It'll be just like the old days!"

"I wasn't aware that I came off as a 'huge party' person."

"Don't be such a sour puss! You're almost a married man, it's something for everyone to celebrate!" Just as he'd predicted, Tamaki's voice picks up speed as he babbles on. "It's going to be great, Kyoya, you'll see! We can help you just like you've been helping us. We can pick out the venue and the cake, the twins will help with your suit…And just imagine what it'll be like once we're both married! You two and Haruhi and I will get together all the time! It'll be so much fun."

It's tempting to slide down the wall and to the floor, but Kyoya stops himself. Every word Tamaki is saying is another nail digging under his skin. He knows why Tamaki can be so excited, he gets excited about everything, but all the times Kyoya has been exasperated with his endless energy are nothing compared to now.

Just hearing him talk about himself and Haruhi, Ouran, the twins, it's making Kosuke sound more and more like a puzzle piece that doesn't fit. His life as a Host and his life as an Ootori have always had a little divide between them, and he's always liked it that way. He doesn't want a bridge between them, he doesn't want to imagine this alien shoved into their system. He doesn't want to imagine her standing beside, let alone talking to, Haruhi or the twins or even the 'Zukas.

Just as the cherry on top, it's Tamaki that has to be saying all of this. Someone that, if they were the one Kyoya was engaged to, all the static in his head would disappear. In a different world, listening to Tamaki prattle on about weddings and parties would make him smile fondly and just listen, because sometimes the energy was intoxicating.

Instead…Here they are. Tamaki goes on and on, driving a stake into Kyoya's heart with each word yet smiling all the while. This is the world they live in.

"—but I'm getting so ahead of myself…Tell me about her!"

Kyoya manages to ask "Aren't you going to meet her soon enough?" without moaning it like a plea.

"I'm going to meet her the very second that I can, Kyoya, but I need to hear it from YOU! What is she like? Is she nice? Is she mature? Is she smart?"

Sure, sure, and not in the way she needs to be. "Yes. She's…" Kyoya pinches the bridge of his nose because Tamaki can't see him anyway. "She's certainly something."

"Oh, come on. Give me more than that."

Kyoya has to debate with himself how he's going to talk without sounding like he despises this stranger or that he's pulling anything out of nowhere. He also reminds himself that he does not hate Kosuke, he just really, really, really hates this situation. More so now.

"She's very nice," Kyoya begins. He figures the best way to get through this is to go through the details of the evening one-by-one. "She's a little on the shy side, but that's all. She opens up when she's talking about something she's passionate for. She's very…expressive."

There's another shuffle on the other side for a moment. "So…you like her?"

He's so close to going into an explanation on how they've just met and she's a stranger, so no, he isn't clicking his heels about marrying her yet, Tamaki, he's going to need a little time. Instead, he just says, "Yes, I do."

For some reason. Maybe to help him not look bitter. Maybe because lying will be easier. He just sincerely hopes he isn't lying to spite Tamaki in some illogical, absolutely childish way.

Maybe it's to try and keep the conversation shorter, too, but…well. This is Tamaki. The conversation was going to keep going one way or another.

With the answer he'd given, Tamaki voice is so gooey it's practically dripping out of the receiver. "Kyooooyaaaaa! This is so wonderfuuuuul!"

"It sure is."

"Oh, I can't wait to meet her in person. Any girl you like so soon has to be amazing, I'm sure of it! When do you think we can meet? Tomorrow? The day after?"

"Tamaki—"

"What about first thing in the morning? I don't think I can wait longer."

"Tamaki, I'm at our first dinner right now. I think I'm going to have to cut this off now."

This time, the pause is stunned. Then Tamaki's voice is near-appalled. "Why on earth did you answer the phone, then? Ignore me next time! You can't walk out of such an important meeting! How rude!"

"I am aware," Kyoya bites back. Except…

Yes, he really did just answer the phone for an excuse to get out of the room. He can forgive Kosuke for the under-the-table texting now; his attempt at being welcoming to his future wife has been abysmal.

"I'll see when you can meet her," Kyoya goes on, and he doesn't even know if he's lying or not, but he certainly doesn't want to arrange any meeting anytime soon. "Goodbye."

"Oh, Kyoya, wait! At least tell me what her name is."

"Kosuke Amida. Her father is the head of Amida Health."

Tamaki doesn't respond, and Kyoya says, "Tamaki?"

"Huh? Oh, uh—I'm sorry! I just know someone with that name, that's all." Whatever Tamaki had been thinking about, he seems to have dropped it, as he happily goes on with: "I wasn't aware Mr. Amida had a daughter!"

"It's…" Kyoya looks back to the door. He wonders how long it's been. "It's a long story. Mr. Amida and his wife separated, she took Kosuke with her, and she's passed recently, so Mr. Amida offered…I'll tell you everything later. I have to go."

"Um—!" He nearly huffs with annoyance, but Tamaki's voice has an oddly…panicked edge to it. "I-I'm sorry, last question…What does she…look like? I'm just curious."

I am, too. Why does that matter? "She's blonde. Maybe a bit taller than Haruhi; blue eyes. Why?"

Silence.

Then: "GoodbyeKyoyaI'lltalktoyoulater."

Tamaki hangs up.

Kyoya is left blinking at his phone. What was that about?

The evening ends very anticlimactically. Just a few minutes after Kyoya returns—he and the others simply sit in silence, nibbling at the last of their desserts—Yoshio and Mr. Amida do the same.

They all exchange their polite goodbyes to each other, and Kyoya is torn between trying to repair this broken mess of an evening and rejoicing that it's finally over. He can tear himself to pieces for his behavior of the evening now, or wait until he gets home. There's an option.

At the very least, he has to give a good farewell. He puts on the same smile he'd worn on his way in, nods to his future father-in-law, and then to his fiancée: "I'm glad I was finally able to meet you."

Open as ever, Kosuke's face tells him she's got something on her mind. Except now it isn't nervousness or discomfort, and Kyoya must admit that the pressed smile is borderline unnerving. It's wholly disconnected from her eyes, which seem to just look at him without much effort to actually see.

"You, too."

Well, that's settled, Kyoya's mind scoffs. She hates you.

Kyoya follows his family out of the room, but once the door closes, he almost double-takes.

All this whining and moaning over this, and at the end of the night, he feels like ate dinner with a mere stranger for no reason at all.

The Shidos and Ootoris are quiet as they exit the building. As they do so, however, they cross paths with a socialite Yoshio is actually familiar with (Kyoya, too, not that it matters) and they begin to talk. Kyoya and the Shidos are far enough ahead to not need to join, but Kyoya is curious as to why Fuyumi keeps walking so determinedly forward.

He gets his answer after they're about ten feet around the corner, when Fuyumi thwacks him with her clutch.

Repeatedly.

"What—is—wrong—with—you?!"

Strength has never been one of Fuyumi's shining qualities, so it doesn't hurt very much, but he's still being beaten with a purse. Kyoya holds up an arm to defend himself, but Fuyumi just goes for his middle instead, and he sighs, "Fuyumi, people can see us!"

"Fuyumi, please." Tetsu casts an embarrassed look to the still-steady flow of people walking past them. More than one pair of eyes is watching his wife clobbering her youngest brother. "You don't have to hit him…"

"Apparently I do!" Fuyumi thwacks him on his torso a bit more before finally stopping, flush with anger and throwing a length of hair way from her face. "It's the only way to get some sense into him!"

Kyoya pushes his glasses up his nose. "I'm going to ask you to never assault me with a purse outside of a restaurant again."

"Fine. I'll assault you with a purse somewhere else then."

"Where did this bloodthirst come from?"

"Where did that come from?" Fuyumi flings an arm back behind her. "That is your fiancée, Kyoya! That poor girl was shaking all over and you treated her like gum on your shoe!"

"That wasn't my intent."

"You don't—"

Fuyumi snaps her lips shut, then hazards a look around the corner. Their father is still far away, certainly far enough not to hear, but she still keeps her voice deadly quiet as she continues.

"You don't unintentionally storm out of the room," she hisses. Her outrage is so fiery it's bordering on disgust now. "My god, Kyoya, that was the rudest thing I've ever seen anyone do in my life!"

"I wasn't storming out of the room, my phone was—" When the clutch raises up again, Kyoya tries another direction. "I know I shouldn't have done that."

Fuyumi is still staring up at him, appalled, and Tetsu keeps a three-foot distance. Judging by the refusal to look Kyoya in the eyes, he does agree with his wife to some extent. Which is completely fair, because Kyoya agrees with her to full extent.

Fuyumi's hand is suddenly touching his forehead and cheek, and her frown only deepens when he tilts his head away.

"Seriously, Kyoya…Are you sick? You've never acted like this a day in your life. This isn't like you at all."

"I know." Kyoya pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a breath. He thought getting out of the room would make the static quiet down a bit. "I honestly can't believe myself."

His sister's gaze softens as she looks at him up and down, crossing her arms over her chest. "Is there something going on that we need to know about?"

"No. It's just everything that's been happening recently. But that's no excuse, I can't behave like this."

Her eyes narrow on him just so, but just as she opens her mouth to speak, Yoshio returns.

All three of them straighten their spines, but Yoshio doesn't look at them, readjusting his cufflinks as he comes to the curb. Only then does he turn to them, and he sets his eyes on Fuyumi first.

"I'll see you two soon," he says. Kyoya doesn't doubt he has a comment or two about her unexpected accompaniment the evening, but again: he's always had a soft spot for his only daughter.

Fuyumi hesitates, looking back to her brother for a long moment, but in the end she takes her husband's hand and walks with him down the sidewalk. Funnily enough, Kyoya immediately misses her.

Doubly so because now Yoshio's attention is now on him. It seems that the only thing keeping his anger from burning bright is tiredness: his gaze on his youngest son is nothing less than exasperated.

"My behavior tonight was unacceptable," Kyoya says first. "It won't happen again."

"I should hope not," his father scoffs bitterly. He pinches the edge of his glasses for a moment, jaw clenched. "I can't ask you to be delighted about this, but I will demand that you mind your manners. You're usually so mindful of them I'm shocked to even be reminding you."

Kyoya swallows and responds, "Yes, Father." It's the only correct response.

Yoshio swallows, too, and waits until the limousine pulls up before adding, "You don't have to love her, Kyoya, but you have to play nice. At least go and see her off. You can make up for your rudeness for the rest of your life, but start now."

He bends through the door before Kyoya can say anything in response. But what else would he have said besides, "Yes, Father?"

So in conclusion, this night has been an absolute, unmitigated train wreck.

The longer he stands on the curb by himself, the sicker Kyoya feels, because…What was that?

Was he possessed? Did he have brain damage? Was that entire dinner an out-of-body experience? Because if Kyoya could travel back in time, he'd beat the hour-younger version of himself to a bloody pulp.

He was rude, and dismissive, and above all: disrespectful. He walked out of the room! He might as well have slapped his fiancée across the face while he was at it.

He was a raging hypocrite. He had been so factual about how much his behavior mattered, not just for his image but for his entire family's, and had been appalled that he was marrying a woman who had no idea of such a thing…and then he did that.

Kyoya can't do it right now because he's in public, but the second he is in the privacy of his house, he's going to punch himself as hard as he can.

All the whining and fussing stops now. If he has to condition himself to not think of Haruhi or Tamaki at all, he'll find a way. There's a countless number of people reliant on this marriage working—he can't let them all down because he can't stop pouting.

He carves his father's words into his brain. He has to make it up to Kosuke. He'll grovel if he has to. He has to prove to her that he's not the disrespectful ass he's made himself out to be.

He'll wait for her to come out to apologize. That's normal for these kinds of meetings; the engaged usually meet in private before they leave for the evening. That's what Fuyumi and Tetsu did, and they had such an instant spark they took almost an hour—Yoshio practically had to drag her away. That's also what he and Amaya did, and Kyoya tried to set records for how fast they could be.

While he waits for Kosuke, he runs over what he's going to say and the explanation he's going to give.

…Thirty minutes later, however, Kyoya is still standing alone and has to come to a sobering conclusion:

Kosuke has already left.

Just like when he noticed her on her phone, he's conflicted.

On the one hand, this is also pretty rude. Maybe not as disrespectful of walking out of the room to answer a phone call, but "No, I'm actually not interested in talking to my fiancé in private" is not a polite sentiment. If Kyoya did this, Fuyumi would beat him with her clutch until he was black and blue.

On the other hand…Touché? He'd been dismissive at best and aggressive at worst to her all evening. He wouldn't want to have a private chat with himself, either.

Surely and her father had left together, however, and as professional a man as Mr. Amida was, Kyoya is pretty sure he would have insisted for her to meet with him. His only conclusion is that either Mr. Amida himself was so appalled by his behavior he didn't hold his daughter to the norm, or Kosuke had firmly declined doing so. Neither was good.

Now the only thing he can do is go home. He can't see the future, but he's fairly certain he won't be sleeping tonight.