Identical Memories (An OHSHC Fanfic) [Completed]

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Eri

I shouldn't have accepted the offer.

By the time we'd arrived at a dress shop, Kyoya insisting that going all the way back to my house would have been a waste of time, I felt nauseous. The faint whiff of something that would have otherwise smelled delicious spiked the air outside the store. It was no wonder given that directly next door was a famous five-star restaurant. Still, I was damning my luck as a knot formed in the pit of my stomach. Today was building up to be one of those days. The days that if I didn't want to bother anyone, or cause any concern, I should have stayed holed up in my room.

Of course, being the idiot I am I simply smiled in response to Kyoya's questioning frown and followed him inside. Swallowing down the bile in the back of my throat-- I found myself thankful that the smell inside the shop was some floral thing. Sure, it was just as hard on my delicate senses, but at least I didn't feel like I was going to be sick. The worst it did to me was make me focus on deep breathing instead of the quick, shallow breaths I'd been taking. It hurt, a faint pain echoing through my chest, but at least I wasn't being drowned by flowers.

A quick glance around the shop put a frown on my lips. The realization came late, as his previous insistence on us picking up a dress rather than returning my house had me thinking assuming our location, but the place wasn't a shop at all. Outside I'd been too distracted by my nausea to look at the storefront, so I hadn't noticed the lack of clothing racks. Where we'd walked in was a large, open room with multiple magazine covers on the walls and a secretary's desk to the far end of the lobby. To the left sat a triangle of stylish black chairs around a clear, glass table.

"Where--"

"You must be Ootori-sama!" the secretary greeted, cutting into my question. "And, Hano-sama, yes?"

"We are," Kyoya agreed, voice smooth. There was no hint of the smirk I recognized hidden in his smile. No doubt he was enjoying my confusion. "You got their call?"

"Yes, yes," she said, picking a phone from her desk. "They're already waiting for you in the back. I'll call them."

Even more confused, I simply stayed silent as Kyoya signed for our security, a burly man who'd joined us from a car I hadn't noticed trailing behind our own, to wait in the lobby. I then followed behind as he started towards the door to the left of the secretary's desk. Just seconds after the woman had finished her phone call, another woman burst from the back with a bright smile on her face.

"Ootori-sama, how nice to see you again!" she announced.

"Matsui-san. Sorry to disturb your evening, but as I'm sure you were told, we had a sudden change of plans..." he trailed off.

"Nonsense," the woman said, dismissing his apology with a wave of her hand. "Dinner parties like tonight are a dime-a-dozen. You saved me from the most boring conversation with your request. I'll take it your charming companion is Hano-sama?"

I blushed. "Hano Eri..."

She took the hand I offered, bright eyes scrutinizing me like an artist might study a painting.

"Hm... a bit pale, and a tad on the skinny side... but beautiful nevertheless! I've got the perfect gown. Oh, and I brought a make-up kit as well..."

I wasn't sure whether to be charmed or insulted, but at the encouraging nod Kyoya sent my way, I trailed behind the woman as she turned and started returned through the door behind her. It led into a hall, but we'd only gone perhaps a dozen feet before she grabbed ahold of a handle and ushered us into what appeared to be a meeting room.