It was the weekend, and...well, I wanted to indulge myself a bit. I was feeling in the mood to cook a bit more than what I usually do, and at the perfect time the store was having an expo of some many new foods and things I haven't even seen before. I did ask Savannah and Dayna if they wanted to come with me, but they refused to stay and watch some TV. I don't blame them, after the whole 'refreshing' thing and whatever, I think we have to stay in one place for a while for our sanity sake. I still felt like going, so I went off alone, and it totally wasn't because I wanted to insert one person in the story again to make it easier on myself. Why would you think like that?
Anyway, I finally found a parking space close enough to the building and headed inside. The place was decked out like crazy with all kinds of new stuff, but don't get me started with all the people. I can handle crowds just as much as the next guy, but it's just how close together they are that bother me. I like my personal space, so don't go breathing up my air! Starting to walk through, I already put some food items in my bag that look good. Aside from food, I also saw a lot of antiques on sale. I was so tempted to buy some, but I don't want to fill up the house too much. Before I walked off to another shelf, I caught a group of guys that were very familiar to me. It was the club, and....was Kyoya asleep? It looked like it, slumped over Tamaki's back and snoring away on his shoulder. After a bit of freaking out over the events and other things they have going on here, Kyoya fell onto the nearest bench to sleep there. Dragging someone along with them as that someone is either indifferent or reluctant to go somewhere? Tamaki and Sav were perfect for each other. I waited for a bit before walking up to him, and when he soon woke up...he scared a child away.
"Victim to Tamaki's nature again, senpai?" I questioned. He turned to me, slight bags under his eyes and looking annoyed. He sort of lessened when he saw me, "Oh, hello Rose." He studied me for a moment before clearing his throat, "Yes, and Tamaki is dead when I find him." "I can't wait to see that~" Looking over his shoulder, I saw Haruhi walk up to us, "Kyoya? Rose?" I waved to her, "Hey!" Kyoya looked over the both of us in silence, then asked, "How much money do you both have?" ...What? He explained how he didn't his wallet on him or his phone, and being mixed with the fact that he hadn't eaten anything, he needed our help. Haruhi had a lower than decent amount and I put myself on a budget knowing I would go bankrupt here, so combined it was a fair size. Hearing this, we walked until we found a simple fast food joint in the food court. I guess it was one of the few choices he had to pick from, but I never thought of the day to see him eat greasy fast food.
"Kyoya, are you sure you're okay with eating here?" Haruhi asked him. "There is a restaurant upstairs, as well." "You both don't have very much, so we have little choices. Oh, make sure to get a receipt. I'm going to make Tamaki pay the both of you back tenfold later." Wow, that was hot....don't look at me like that, I have issues!! Of course, it was glaring obvious that since he didn't get much sleep, he was much more blunt and mean compared to seeing him in the club. It is...hot, but it can also mean that maybe he would not say what he completely means...or say something he's been lying about. Bursting my thought bubble, Kyoya looked to me, "Rose, how do you place an order here?" "Oh! I can order for all of us. Just tell me what you would like." Kyoya didn't really what is was, just make it a lot, and Haruhi choose a simple burger and fries meal. The cashier was about to say something, but made a quick U-turn in her attitude once seeing Kyoya. She put on this bright smile and talking in a very light tone, "Can I recommend our new dessert, as well?" "I don't need anything sweet, thank you." Even as he spoke in a uncaring and low tone, the cashier still packed it on with offers and smiles. I could feel amount of annoyance on shoulders coming from Kyoya and it was packing on in seconds as she kept talking. Looking over to Haruhi, she felt that same thing as well, having a more miserable look on her face. Kyoya had enough of it and simply glared at her. Feeling like I wanted to kill myself then and there, I shifted to look at Haruhi and Kyoya, "How about you two find a table and I bring the food? And please, try to have some polite aura until I get back, senpai." They did as I say, walking off as I apologized to the cashier before waiting for the food.
I brought it over, hearing Haruhi say, "You might be in a bad mood, but you could have told her some other way, right? She was just doing her job." He grabbed his burger, unwrapping it, "Giving excessive service isn't necessarily the right way to wait on customers." I sat down, getting my food, "Still her job though. She doesn't get paid that much as it is, along with all those workers. She's just trying to get a full paycheck." He and I started to eat a bit, and I took a couple of glances up at him, starting to think. I know he hasn't properly slept, but hearing him like that...a bit of a culture shock for me. This isn't important, my feelings right now are irrelevant to the situation. Tuning back in, he caught Haruhi staring at him for a while. She was shocked to see that the food was even the slightest appealing to him, and how he ate wasn't as refined as he made himself look like to others. He took another bite and answered, "It isn't particularly to my liking. You two think I'm so callous a person as to complain, even when you two bought this?" Haruhi denied, but I shrugged and admitted to it. Kyoya didn't response to me, continuing on into a rant, "The selling point of this stuff is, you eat with your fingers and can eat it fast, right? It's obvious that following that course when eating it will make it taste best. It doesn't matter if I eat it in a refined manner, since there's no need to worry about how anyone will view me here." That was...a lot of a simple question. I guess he a business man after all.
"Hey," He got our attention back. "For the record, I mean that it doesn't gain me anything to act all high-class in a place like this. There's nothing in it for me to observe proprieties with you two, either." I laughed a bit nervously, whispering to Haruhi, "Tamaki woke him up early at the worse time, by the way. Thought you might of missed it." Me and Haruhi thought the same thing hearing that come from his mouth, "If I stayed home, none of this would be happening." A group of girls soon walked over, asking to borrow the empty seat by Kyoya. Just from looking at them, they thought he was hot as well. Before he could say anything, I pushed the chair to them with my foot. With some judgmental looks thrown to me, I sighed, "I'm doing this for your sake. Just take the chair." They scoffed and took it with a pout. I looked over to Kyoya, maybe for a quick thank you, but there was nothing. That...that threw me for a loop for a second, but it's all because he's been having a bad day. Don't convince yourself that it's because of something else entirely.
"If you're wondering why Tamaki and I get along so well..." Kyoya said. Looking at Haruhi, that was exactly what she was wondering. "...the answer is simple. Because it is in my interest. I won't act for any other reason. I'm an egoist, after all." His interest? Looking down at my half eaten food, I started to get inside my own head for a bit. What if I'm not really part of his interest? The apology at the spa, he could have just gone along with it so I would give my best when working. All the moments we've shared, what if he was only indulging in me for something else he wants...and not just for me? He could only want me as some kind of remodeling project to show off. He could only want my body. He...he could want to play some sick twisted game with my emotions. What if he never really loved me like I thought he did? I mean, I don't blame him...I'm sure he won't want a mess on his plate anyway. "Rose, you okay?" I heard Haruhi call for me. Looking up, I saw they were both carrying their trash, standing up. She bent down, "We were about to go, but you doing alright? Looks like you're about to cry." Quickly on my feet, I collected my trash, "I'm fine. Let's get moving, right?" I walked past them fast, trying to dry my eyes before things went worse. What I didn't know is that Kyoya looks concerned at my tone. When they were getting up, he saw some of the tears building up in my eyes, and felt terrible. Was it something he said? He didn't think long on it before leaving.
Me and Haruhi thought he would've taken a taxi home at this point, but he kept up with us walking through to see what products they had in the expo. "I'm already here, so I'm going to look around a little first," He said as we walked together. Well, nothing wrong with that really. We all looked through all the variety of items brought to us, and as the other two walked off I spotted something that really caught my eye. Reading the sign, they were black pearls from somewhere called Ishigaki Island. They were absolutely beautiful, shinning greatly in the light of the building. When I saw the price, seemed to sink a bit into my stomach. The tag said 5,000 yen, which is about 38 dollars in the U.S. I was probably staring at them for a long time, so Kyoya and Haruhi walked back to me to see what I was staring at. "Hmm, black pearls from Ishigaki Island, huh?" Kyoya observed them. "Those are high quality. Will there be any buyers in a place like this?" Haruhi took a closer look, coming to my level, gawking at the price as well, "Wow, that's amazing. You can tell?" He kept his eyes down, "Such is the education that I've received." Haruhi thought he was still looking at the pearls, but really he was looking at the back of my head. Seeing me so fascinated with those pearls made him feel happy and wanted to tell me everything he knew about them. His mind flashed back to when they were finished eating, seeing me about to burst into tears, and he figured what I was so upset about. After having a minute, he figured out something that could make it up to me.
We moved along after that, looking at a bunch of other stuff they had. With the constant buzzing of people's overlapping chatter in the background, Haruhi broke through the air. She said, "I really don't know anything about your family and such, Kyoya-senpai." "There's really nothing especially there for you to know about my family," He responded. I scoffed, laughing a bit, "Seems a bit hypocritical, don't you think?" He seemed confused at me saying that, stopping to let me explain. I sighed, "Senpai, you have all these resources to look into our lives and yet the door is always closed on your life. That is the definition of unfair." Haruhi nodded and joined in, "You've even got a firm grasp on who my dad's friends from work are. It's kind of unfair." He studied her for a bit, coming up with an answer. Haruhi suggested that he could start with his two older brothers. Looking at him when she asked that, the air shifted a bit. It wasn't too noticeable, but I felt it enough to see that Kyoya's eyes slightly glazed over when thinking of his brothers.
After a minute of thought, he gave a small smirk, "They are exceptional men. Enough so that they meet Father's expectations without any trouble. And so, even more is expected of the third son." So, the old 'can't meet such high standards of parents' past? I did see that in him, but hearing it was still a bit of a emotional shock for me. Haruhi sympathized with him, at least tried to, but he...he took that pressure as some sort of game. His exact words were, "I can't think of any game more fun than this." I couldn't help from laughing at that, even if it was just a little bit. I saw looking over at me, so I tilted my head, "You are so very mysterious, Senpai. And odd...you fit in with the club more than I thought." He blushed for a quick minute, but recovered to push up his glasses and smile at me. I really didn't notice, but Haruhi did. She just sighed, and kept a tight smile to herself.
"Oh, my, pieces by Komatsu Shoin?" We overheard. "Imagine seeing them here." It was an older lady wearing a light purple kimono and her brown hair being tied up in a low bun. The seller was around her age, having a ponytail and a small mustache. He smiled big, "Madam, you have sharp eye. Yes, Komatsu Shoin's pieces have such a nice color, don't they? To tell you the truth, these are pieces that I'm not suppose to have here." Kyoya seemed to be very focused on the interaction. Haruhi tried to get his attention, but it didn't work. I took another look at the situation and noticed it as well. He was overacting like hell, trying to really sell it home for this lady...he's trying to con her. Leaning over to Haruhi a bit, I whispered to her, "Those are fakes." She finally got it, nodding. The next moment we looked at Kyoya, he was walking over to the stand with a small cocky grin plastered on his face. He said to the old lady, "These are fakes, madam."
"What did you say? Stop messing around! You're just a kid," The vendor huffed at him. Kyoya ignored it, picking out one of the bowls to examine. "It's true, the way the blue comes out here is very similar to Shoin's work, but an authentic piece would have a darker gradation around the base, and this lacquer is too clear," He pointed out to her. Man, he really is good at this stuff. The vendor was up in arms, trying to defend his stuff and threatening to report him. Kyoya kept on with ignoring him, turning to bowl around to the bottom, "Ah, I knew it." On the bottom was a signature of what seemed to be the creators. He pointed out once more, "Once of the strokes in this seal on the bottom is off. If this is authentic, there should be a certificate. Or shall we do a handwriting analysis on it?" That made the vendor tense up, but it was worse when Kyoya revealed he could get in contact with the real people. Next minute, he was being dragged off by upper management. As we watched him kick and complain, the old lady came up to Kyoya and thanked him for what he done. I stood right by him and noticed her wearing a blood red ring. It was absolutely beautiful.
"I'd never seen the day you help someone out of the kindness of your practically dead heart," I whispered to him, smirking. "Ah, didn't you know?" He said to me and Haruhi. "That woman is the wife of the chairman of a major electronics maker." And there's the old him, I knew it! "This is my first time meeting her, as well, but I c an tell by looking at the ring on her left hand. It's a company that our family has a lot of dealings with," He went on the include some facts. This really shouldn't be a shock, it's Kyoya we're talking about, but Haruhi's face was just priceless at the whole thing. The old lady walked back up to us, looking at Kyoya, "Imagine, running into one of the Ootori family's boys here. Are you incognito, too? The next chance I get, I'll be sure to take advantage of your family's resort facilities." Man, I tell you, he can seem so nice and polite, but there's always some type of layers to him. Me and Haruhi were both in thought, but I heard her muttering a bit to herself. Wonder what that's about.
"Are melons really this popular among candy makers? I don't get this," Kyoya said aloud. He wandered a bit to another table filled with melon flavored candies and other things. Picking up a box, it pondered him a bit, "Intentionally, giving a corn snack melon-flavoring, even when it's not actually a melon, just seems unnatural, doesn't it?" Haruhi and I looked over at each other and started to laugh, catching Kyoya off guard. When asking what was funny, me and her said at the same time, "That sounded like something Tamaki would say." He put back on his smile, looking back the candy. He decided to buy them, asking for Haruhi's wallet, but I stopped her to pull out mine. "Wait, I can-" "Don't worry so much about it," I took out some money and paid for it. "I haven't gone over my budget at the moment, so it's fine. Plus, I'm getting some boxes for the house, Dayna might like these. Beside, Kyoya's paying me back tenfold anyway." He side eyed me when I said that last part, and I kept smile up and eyes looking at the vendor bagging up our items.
We did walk around some more after that, just because I didn't want to come back home TOO empty handed, but we sat down after it all to rest. "Kyoya," Haruhi looked over at him. "What is there for you to gain when you help someone? Wealth or fame? Some sort of actual, tangible gain? The way I see it, Tamaki feels benefited from doing thing that I don't see as having any point. You two really aren't all that different, Kyoya." He didn't say anything to that, just thinking back to how Tamaki usually is. Helping people without a second thought, it was admirable to a certain line. I thought back to some of the times I've talked with Kyoya, and seeing that little shimmer in his eyes. It wasn't playing a game or anything like that, it was something Tamaki had....a reflex to help people. Maybe he won't out right admit it, but we all knew it was there anyway. The overhead speakers came on to crush our thoughts quickly, "This is an announcement for a little, lost boy. Ootori Kyoya-kun, who is here from Tokyo. His guardian, Suou-sama, is waiting for him at the 2nd floor counter." Oh, this has to be a dream. It has to be...
No, it wasn't! I laughed loudly, "Oh fuck! This is too good! My face is already hurting." Kyoya was not happy with this at all, looking even more pissed off compared to earlier. "I am going to kill that idiot!!" "Save some for me! Come on then," I grabbed his arm and started to drag him along. I did that without thinking too much, having that dumb smile on my face. Once I realized, I let go and apologized for it, but he didn't take it even though I was a bit out of line. It really shut me up when he locked out arms together, looking up at him, he smiled, "It is about time you take control of this." That smile....it wasn't a smile he gave to the girls visiting the club or to anyone who was associated to his business, this was a way different smile. It was a smile he gave only to me, and it looked so pretty on him.
The club was very happy to see Kyoya when we made it to the counter, but was as equally surprised when they saw Haruhi and me with him. Haruhi looked beat up and tired, and that's a nice way of saying it. Honey and the twins tried to convince us to play with them, but we refused it. I've been gone a lot longer then usual, so Savannah and Dayna might think I'm making actual friends outside of school. That's something I can't have. For some reason, Tamaki also had a...dog with him? Said he got her from 'an amazing place called a pet shop.' Does he really not know what a pet shop is? How far does the ignorance go, I don't even want to try and know. "How are this idiot and I alike?" Kyoya asked Haruhi. She looked up at him, starting to explain, "Earlier, when you decided to help out that lady because you saw her ring, you were lying, huh? When you first saw that woman, you couldn't have seen her ring. There was a flag in front of us, after all. I just don't understand it, intentionally acting like an egoist, when you're not actually an egoist, just seems unnatural." It seems like she was right, because as she was walking off to leave, he smiled at this fondly.
I was about to leave right behind her, but he stopped me by grabbing my arm. "There's something I would like to give you, Rose," He said. I looked confused for a bit, turning back around and waiting for him to pull out something from his pocket. He pulled out a small velvet black box, the one most use for engagement rings. He opened it, and it was...the black pearls we saw earlier? "Senpai? I thought you didn't have any money on you?" "I had one of my associates pay over the phone for me," He answered as I slowly took it from his hand. They were so adoring to look at, being so shiny that I could really see myself in it. Kyoya stepped around behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "The thing I gain is you," He said quietly to me. I was about to question him on what he said, but he already answered it for me before the words could come out my throat, "I don't want just your body or blind followership. I'm not using you for one of my games I play, you are not my chess piece. The spa apologize was real, breaking up you and Nekozawa was real, my smile to you is real....everything I give you is real. All I want to gain is you, Rose." I tried my damn hardest not to cry in public or in front of him, but I let some tears go down my cheeks. Wiping them away, he closed the box slowly and put it in one of my bags, "They would look beautiful on you." I chuckled, turning my head to look him in the eye, "You're still paying me back." Letting go of my shoulder, I turned to start walking away, but...something stopped me. 'It's about time I take control of this'...right? Turning back to the club for the last time, I quickly kissed Kyoya's cheek and walked off fast with a blush spreading across my entire face. He was surprised as well, holding the cheek I kissed and keeping wide eyes. A second passed and he smiled warmly remembering it, looking back at me walking even faster in embarrassment and blowing a small kiss to me that I didn't even notice.