Comes up Roses

Epilogue 6/7: Kyoya [Romantic]

[Quickstep]

☂️☂️☂️

The rest of the evening passed in a blur of laughing and dancing. Because they were breaking all the rules, when the night was over, Masae invited Kyoya to stay the night.

They burst into the Aoki mansion in an explosion of lavender tulle. Masae's puffy lavender gown caught on the door and swished around her as she walked; Kyoya had a pocket square of the matching color. He offered his arm as they walked, though it didn't do much good as they were both punch drunk with exhaustion.

It was impolite to stop in the walkway, but there was no one to see them do it. And the walkway was so big.

Masae laughed to herself as she slid down the wall. Sitting in a pool of her own skirt, she looked up at Kyoya. "That was the most exhausting night of my life," she remarked.

"Agreed," Kyoya grumbled, coming to join her. Normally, the Ootori heir would never be so uncouth as to sit on the floor, but he sat on her skirt, close enough that their thighs touched beneath the layers of fabric.

The closeness wasn't new– as children they'd been as touchy as their parents would allow. But it had been a while since Masae was so near to her best friend, and she wasn't unaware of how pleasant his cologne smelled. Her eyes slotted shut and her head rested on his shoulder, perfectly content.

"You know," she mumbled, not able to speak much louder. "It's very unladlylike to brag, but I think we created the best high school club in existence."

Kyoya chuckled. "I concur wholeheartedly."

"I mean, we survived the apocalypse tonight! Your father disavowed half the club! Hikaru broke his arm! Tamaki was briefly engaged! And still, our guests danced." Masae laughed, absolutely giddy at the mastodon of a club they had made together. "All seven of the Hosts left and nobody even noticed. Renge held down the fort!"

"We really should give her a pay raise," Kyoya conceded.

"We really should start paying her!" Masae laughed again, feeling more and more joyful by the moment. She had missed Kyoya more than she fathomed, the realization only hitting her now. She was so happy to have him back. "I think she lives in the classroom underneath the club room; and I think Nekozawa lives in our broom closet. Isn't it strange that no one has ever commented on them? That's how good we are!"

"We really are fantastic."

"Fantastic!" Masae agreed. She turned her head to get a proper look at Kyoya, taking in all of him, from the light acne on his cheeks that he usually covered, to the skew of his glasses. Nobody else got to see him like this. Something thrumming in her veins, Masae asked, "Hey, do you want to dance?"

Kyoya looked at her like she had three heads, though not without affection. "Have you not danced enough tonight?"

"Not at all!" Masae cried. "I never got the chance to dance with you."

The unexpected vulnerability in her words hit them both like a train. Masae scrambled to her feet, kicking off her heels as she did.

"I'm going upstairs to get my radio," she said decisively. "You'd better be ready to dance by the time I get back."

With that order, she rushed up the stairs to her bedroom. Her radio was in its place on her desk. Masae picked it up and sprinted back down the way she came, tiredness forgotten in the wake of her excitement. She was going to dance with her best friend.

True to her wishes, Kyoya was standing waiting for her. He offered his hand at the end of the stairs, which made her heart turn over, but she wasn't ready for it yet.

"Hold on!" Masae insisted. She rushed the radio over to a centerpiece table in the middle of the foyer, moving the half-wilted vase of flowers to the floor in order to put the radio in the center. She turned the radio to a random station and went back to her partner.

"Really?" Kyoya asked, acknowledging the pop song she'd mindlessly turned to. Still, he held out his arm for her to take.

Masae scoffed as she threaded her arm through his. "Oh, you could turn static into Debussy with your dancing, I've seen you do it."

Kyoya grinned, unrestrained. Without warning, he spun her in a big circle, watching as her skirt flew up around her and Masae let out a surprised laugh. She returned, giggling, to his side. "That is true," he said. "Follow my lead."

Slow. Quick, quick. Slow. He turned her back and forth as they danced a circle around the foyer, whispering the counts in her ear.

Masae smiled. He'd decided to dance Quickstep to radio pop. Slow. Quick, quick. Slow. "You really are endlessly impressive, you know."

"Oh, I know." Kyoya paused his counting in her ear to smirk at her. "Tell me again, though."

"Your ego is the most impressive!" Masae huffed, though she was hardly annoyed. She wouldn't take Kyoya without his near-endless confidence in himself; she knew he extended the same courtesy to her.

He laughed in spite of himself, and Masae laughed because Kyoya did. They lapsed into silence. Masae rested her head on his shoulder, letting him take her where he wanted and amusing herself by trying to hear the pulse in his throat. She had nearly found it when the urge to speak again became overpowering.

"Stupid Tamaki demanded every other dance with me," Masae said, huffing childishly. Thoughts of the prince still filled her with ire.

"Yes, he is an idiot, isn't he?" Kyoya contributed.

"Entirely. He's still convinced that he has to teach me the wonders of love, as if no time has passed since we first met." Masae drew herself away from his shoulder, looking deep into his vacuumous eyes. "Believe me," she said, voice no louder than a mutter. "I understand the wonders of love. You were the one I wanted to dance with all night."

He said nothing, though it wasn't as if nothing was said as they continued to spin around the room. Words had always been much too common for them anyways.