Her Otherworldly Smile (Kyo⨯OC; Yuki⨯OC)

「Chapter 22」

—The Fool Flatters Himself (the Wise Flatters the Fool)—
—Third Person—

Akito is standing in the grassy field next to the path for the outdoor hallway, looking both regal and ominous dressed in the black long-sleeve and matching pants. Her hands are laced behind her back, expression oddly tense despite the warm smile.

Skylar and Aly freeze for a heartbeat, both taking their time preparing. Skylar counts to ten in her head, reminding herself that it'd be completely derange to start a fight with someone who's supposed to be a complete stranger to her. Aly is—of course—thinking, trying to find a way to keep Yuki as far away from this place as possible.

To no one's surprise, it's Skylar who breaks the silence.

"Oh, not really," she says brightly, smiling. "Just some talk about the new year and our classes—they're getting harder, y'know, and who knows how we're gonna pass? Did we scare you?"

"Not at all. I was just taking a stroll myself," Akito says lightly, seemingly unbothered by Skylar's carelessness as she steps towards them.

"Everything okay?" Skylar wonders, expression the picture of concern.

Akito smiles easily, though Aly notices the hard edge in it. "Oh, yes. I simply don't get out alone often, so I'm taking my time to enjoy it."

"Oh, good~" She lets out a relieved breath, returning the smile.

Aly is both impressed and terrified. On one hand, Skylar's managing to hold a conversation with Akito without screaming, and she even looks innocent, like she honestly has no idea who she's talking to.

But she does know, and that's terrifying.

"Oh, crap! I'm Skylar, by the way," she says, bowing.

"Nice to meet you, Skylar," Akito returns. "I'm the head of the Sohma Family, Akito."

She stops, eyes widening, and bows deeper, so Aly follows suit as Skylar gushes, "Mr. Akito! I'm so sorry! I had no idea—"

Akito laughs, waving her off. "It's quite all right; no reason to fret. I wanted to apologize for last time, actually."

"Last time?" Aly wonders as she straightens, finally entering the conversation.

"I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you when you went to the main house—I can be quite shy at times, you see."

Yeah, right.

"It's fine," Skylar chirps instead.

"We totally understand," Aly finishes.

"My my. Aren't you two kind," she says, leaning into Aly with a hard stare despite her nice words. "And cute too."

Instead of reddening, Aly's face pales, especially when she sees Skylar's mouth twitch.

Just hang in there, Sky.

Thankfully, she doesn't say anything.

"I would like us to be friends," Akito continues nicely, but something's off. Her face is smiling, but her eyes... her eyes are dark, menacing. "After all, we're family now."

Aly shivers as Skylar's smile tightened.

"Oh, yeah, and we can't thank you enough for that!" Skylar gushes, grinning as she grabs Akito's hands. "It's so selfless of you to help us out!"

Akito rips her hands out of Skylar's almost instinctively, the false niceties dropping off of her face as she grimaces and takes a step away from her.

Skylar's expression is so innocent, Aly almost believes it. "Whoops! I keep forgetting boundaries. I'll have to work on that~"