In A Lifetime ( KBTBB : Eisuke Ichinomiya )

Chapter 11

Third Person POV

Grace wasn't entirely sure how long it was after that but she finally managed to will her heavy eyelids open, only to find herself in an unfamiliar room. She screwed up her face as her eyes slowly adjusted to the lighting of the room which had been dimmed enough so that it wasn't too bright but not so much that she couldn't still see fairly easily. Lifting her head up a little, she scans her surroundings but fails to register being in the room ever before.

The first thought to strike her was that she'd been kidnapped again. But just as she's about to panic she notices a figure with their back to her, typing furiously away at a laptop-- she soon recognizes it to be Eisuke. Wait, am I in his room!?

"U-Um..." she stammer.

"You awake?"

"I-I..." she nods awkwardly as he turns to face her.

"You really can't hold your alcohol, huh?" he begins, looking tired. "You passed out downstairs so I brought you up here."

"...I'm sorry." she apologize. "I never really drink so..."

"The more flavourful it is, the high the alcohol content. Remember that." he replies in the the tone of voice that someone might hear parents take on when they scold their children.

"Alright." More of what happened earlier came back to her, and she remembered why she was drinking that much; down in the dumps, thinking about what Eisuke would do with her next and about the kiss from before, and not to mention that fact that work was getting fairly hectic. Normally, she would've ventured as far as possible from alcohol so for her to drink all that must have been quite a shock to the system. That's probably why I ended up passing out.

"Um... but why am I in your room?"

He doesn't answer. Instead, he gets up from his chair and saunters over to the bed, effectively making her turn into a statue once again. But she wasn't to be blamed; this was the first time she'd been in his room after all.

"You don't have to be so scared. I'm not so desperate for a woman as I'd try something like that." he chuckles to himself as he sits down on the bed, shaking his head.

The silence that ensues is awkward and deafening but working up the courage, Grace finally works up the courage to ask him something that's been bothering her a lot this whole time.

"Before, Soryu told me you had a reason for starting the auctions." she starts after a deep breath. "And he said once I had found out the reason, I would understand you bett--"

"He told you that?"

"Yeah..."

"I see Soryu's been running his mouth again."

"No, I'm glad he told me... Why did you start the auctions?"

"... For the usual reason anyone would do this sort of thing; money."

It was Grace's turn to chuckle and shake her head. "I don't believe that for a second."

The man who was now lying on his back with his hands under his head, turned to face her and there was a curious glint in his eyes. "And why don't you?"

"Because it's too obvious. The hotel itself should bring in enough money."

"True. But the auction doubles, almost triples over, the money that would've come in if I were to only run the hotel here. The lust for money is endless."

"Maybe, but something just seems off about it. I did think money was your only concern not too long ago, but now I know I was wrong to judge without knowing anything. You don't really seem like the sort of person who would carry out something with only one goal for it in mind. I think you motives go a little deeper than money."