Business (Kyoya Ootori)

Chapter 6

I sighed. "Corn, no fighting with K-Kyoya this time, okay? He always m-makes both of us look stupid." I stop, making a point to give him a look that meant business. "Promise me."

"Fine," he replied, and I knew he took my demand to heart. "But if he hurts you once this weekend, he'd better hope he can find a tree tall enough to hide in." I dropped my log on the ground to rush forward and envelope him in a hug. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just get these logs up before it gets dark because I am not feeding the animals when I can't see them."

Our trek up the hill continued, and by the time we were done the sun was beginning to set on the horizon. Corn was drowning in his sweat, desperately fanning himself with his hands, while I collapsed against my log, breathing like an exhausted dog – that fixed his attention on me.

"Alright, you've done enough for today," he said as he bent down in front of me, silently ordering that I get on his back. I did, too tired to think about walking up even the porch steps. "You need a shower and a lot of sleep, okay? Especially if we're going to clean tomorrow and chop up the firewood."

He carried me inside, just in time for the sudden rainfall outside. "Ah, shit!" said Corn, speeding up his pace to sprint upstairs and practically dump me on the bathroom floor. "I'll be back soon!" I could only smile, knowing he'd be outside for another few hours despite his promise. He always works too hard, I thought to myself.

"Looks like I'm having a bath tonight," I sang, leaning over the edge of the tub to twist the tap handles. The water began pouring out, hot and cold, and I slowly stripped myself of my clothes. My dungarees ended up in a heap beneath my dirty undershirt, socks, bra, and underwear – I'd throw them in the laundry basket later – while I was finally lowering myself into the tub. The water was warm and bubbly, a nice feeling I hadn't had in a while.

After a while, the door opened to reveal Corn with his eyes covered. In his hand was my phone, dinging over and over again. "Your phone's blowing up and it's driving me crazy. Do something about it, Chips."

When he left, I discovered that the spam texts were from none other than the Hosts, who'd evidently added me to a group chat. From what I could see, Tamaki was part of an emoticon war with the twins, and Honey wouldn't stop sending photos of his cakes.

Me: The hell is wrong with you guys?! That was the first and only text I sent, instantly sending everyone else into silence. It was almost a little bit concerning until a message came from 'DaddySuoh' (I wasn't surprised by the username).

DaddySuoh: ISABELLA!

HikaHita: Hi, Isabella!

KaoHita: Hi, Isabella! I frowned when the messages sent at the same time. It made me wonder if the twins were in the same room or if they had a psychic connection – their bright orange hair made the latter option a little more believable.

When they began texting back and forth again, I stepped out of the bath and drained the water, watching all the bubbles disappear with a pout, my mood ruined because of those boys. Why do they have to be so clingy all the time? I thought to myself as I dressed. They give me a bloody headache!

My eyes met my reflection's in the mirror on the wall, and I couldn't help but crinkle my nose distastefully before I moved on to leave the bathroom, leaving the mess on the floor for Corn to clean up in the morning. It was dark in the hall – the lights were left off – so I used the light from my phone to see two feet in front of me. Suddenly, a flash of lightning outside lit up the entire hallway through the window, but it didn't bother me until the thunder sounded only a second later.