We Are the Sons and Daughters - Kyoya x OC

Chapter 51

     "I believe I told you to inform me you were coming once your meeting had ended?"

     The silver-haired teen nodded. "You did."

     "So, you defied my instructions on purpose," he concluded.

     Reiko gave him a sideways glance. "You seem to be under the misimpression that I must comply with your "instructions" when it comes to personal affairs. I'd like to clarify that I am only under your direction when it pertains to matters of the Host Club. Informing you of my arrival to a personal meeting does not fall under that category."

     His jaw set as a look of displeasure crossed his features. Reiko had almost always chosen to follow his lead. Though it had happened once before, he wasn't accustomed to not having her supporting him and the thought that they weren't allies in this situation left an uncomfortable knot forming in his stomach.

     Kyoya hummed in acknowledgement but chose not to honor her with a proper response. Instead, he escorted her into the restaurant and the private room where their fathers were meeting.

     "Apologies for the interruption and the late arrival. Good evening to both of you," Reiko said with a bow.

     "Thank you for the gracious apology. We were beginning to discuss the future of our companies," Yoshio said.

     "It's perfectly alright. I take the meeting went well?" Jiro asked.

     "Yes, I expect to hear from them again soon," she commented.

     "Excellent! While Yoshio and I speak, why don't you and Kyoya go into the next room and talk amongst yourselves? You deserve a chance to relax after such a long day."

     Taking the obvious hint for them to leave, Reiko nodded and allowed Kyoya to guide her into the next room.

     After the waitress had come by with a menu and sparkling water, the two were left alone. Kyoya adjusted his tie slightly, buying himself time so that he could come up with something to discuss but when he heard the sound of fabric shifting on the other side of the table, he glanced over at Reiko. The silver haired teen had abandoned the pillows set out for them to sit on and was quietly scooting over to the door that led to the room their fathers were conducting their meeting in.

     "What are you doing?" he asked.

     Her grey eyes shifted and locked with his. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked.

     "You wish to listen to their conversation."

     Reiko shifted slightly so that her ear was pressed to the door. "The more information you have, the better your chances are of survival. Care to join me?" she asked him.

     Kyoya stood and silently crossed the room to sit beside her. Following her lead, he shifted his position so that he could press his ear to the door. The thick wooden doors made it difficult to hear anything but bits and pieces of the conversation but judging by their tones it didn't seem to be going badly.

     His eyes shifted to Reiko, and he nearly flinched when he noticed their proximity. Their faces were only inches away and he could easily examine every detail of her face. From the beauty mark right below her left eye that he'd never noticed before, to the way her jaw set whenever she was trying to concentrate on something. She was strikingly beautiful, and their closeness only made that fact more obvious. When their eyes met, he was suddenly captivated by all the shades of blue and silver that her irises held.

     Reiko was no different, Kyoya's dark eyes had a magnetizing depth that made him hard to look away from. Her eyes traced over his face slowly, as if trying to memorize every miniscule feature they came across. She saw everything; from the way his hair fell into his eyes to the slight upturn of his nose. Even his glasses couldn't hide how handsome he truly was. Their eyes stayed on each other, expressions unchanging and betraying nothing except the fact that neither one could look away.

     "-What?" Jiro's voice thundered from the other side of the door. It was loud enough to be heard clearly through the thick wooden doors and made both of the teens flinch. The quietness between them disappeared in an instant and they looked at each other with apprehension before turning their attention back to the conversation that was going on in the other room.

     "- It's too soon. I will agree to as much as an omiai but these conditions are excessive." Her father said.

     "I am not someone who entertains contracts that will not be finalized, Ishikawa," Yoshio's voice spoke, there was a hard edge in his voice that revealed he was not at all pleased with the turn the conversation has taken.

     Their voices fell silent through the door once again. For a moment, neither teen said anything as they processed the information they'd just received. The discussion had fallen through, Reiko and Kyoya would not be engaged.

     Reiko stood up from the ground. Brushing the wrinkles out of her pants, she straightened her posture and looked down at Kyoya with an unreadable expression. "Their conversation will be over any minute now. We should come back to the table before then."

     Kyoya nodded and took his place on the other side of the table. Once they sat down, his eyes instinctively fell on the silver-haired teen again. Her expression was completely neutral; she didn't look upset or even surprised at the way the conversation between their fathers had gone, but before he could ask her about it, the connecting door slid open.

     "Reiko, come. Exchange your goodbyes with Kyoya. The meeting is over," he said stiffly.

     Her eyes revealed nothing as she gave him a plastic smile. "It was lovely seeing you, Kyoya, I hope you have a pleasant weekend."

     She and Kyoya stood up together. "The pleasure was entirely mine, Reiko. I will see you at school next week."

     When Reiko turned back to their fathers, her eyes glanced between the two taking in everything she could about their countenances and body language. Bowing to the older gentlemen, she bid Yoshio farewell, and after her father had exchanged goodbyes with the Ootori's they left the restaurant.

     Once they were settled in their limousine, Reiko wasted no time asking her father what had happened during dinner.

     "I take it the conversation between you and Mr. Ootori didn't go well," she commented.

     Jiro sighed and ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. "His contract proposed a two-year engagement period followed by marriage. In exchange for the marriage, we would financially support one of their health resort projects in the Maldives, and they would give us 35% of their company shares. It's too big of a commitment when we don't know the family or company management well enough."

     "That's why you proposed the omiai. To buy time so you could get to know Yoshio and the company better before making things official."

     The man's dark eyes shifted to his daughter, and his lips quirked into a slight smirk. "You were listening to the conversation?"

     "I didn't want to be uninformed when we had this conversation," she revealed.

     Jiro chuckled slightly and nodded in understanding. "I expected as much. Yes that's why I proposed the omiai first. I knew Yoshio wouldn't be pleased with the arrangement, but I thought I could convince him to accept while we got to know each other."

     "35% of the shares is a significant amount. I'm surprised he would offer so much for us to fund just one of his projects."

     "It's a great deal," Jiro agreed. "That's precisely why I have no intention of letting these engagement talks fail."

     Reiko raised an eyebrow. "What do you intend to do?"

     "I intend to arrange a meeting between you and Metori Saiko."