Reiko sighed as she looked at her phone screen. The twins had texted her a couple of minutes ago asking if she could meet them in the school's back gardens. They were scheduled to take a break from filming soon and wanted the silver-haired teen to join them for a while. She'd wanted to decline but the twins had reminded her that she'd promised not to avoid them. Even though she knew she hadn't actually promised anything, she had spent most of the day studying for their midterms and concluded that it wouldn't hurt her if she stopped by and hung out with them for a little while.
"Excuse me, this area is off-limits. Authorized personnel only, or can you not read?" A nasally voice sneered.
Reiko gave the amber-eyed first-year an unimpressed look. "I was invited here," she said curtly.
Renge pretended to look over some documents on a pink clipboard she'd gotten a hold of. "Mmm, you're not on the list so I'm afraid I can't let you onto the filming sight. Please leave before I ask someone to escort you out."
The silver-haired teen raised an eyebrow. "Whether you're using this space for filming is irrelevant. This area is still part of the school's campus, and as a student, I have as much right to be here as you do."
Tamaki, who had been looking for the blonde manager to show her some of his poses, froze when he saw Reiko standing in front of the first year by the courtyard entrance. He broke into a grin, jumping to the conclusion that she was here to make up with Kyoya, but his elation quickly turned to panic when he realized that Renge wasn't letting her through. Tossing his script behind him he ran up to the silver-haired teen to intercept their conversation.
"Reiko! My dear it's so lovely to see you!" he exclaimed, eyes sparkling with hope.
The second year turned to him. "Tamaki," she acknowledged. Her tone wasn't particularly friendly, but at least she wasn't ignoring him like she had been the day before.
"You must be here to speak to Kyoya right? Come I'll take you to him!" he exclaimed grabbing her hand to lead her to where the dark-haired male was chatting with the film crew.
"What? But this is a private shoot she can't be here!" Renge protested grabbing the silver-haired teen's wrist.
"Nonsense! Reiko is practically family!" Tamaki countered grabbing her other wrist and tugging her in Kyoya's direction.
Reiko wrenched her hands out of their grips and gave both teens an intense glare that had them shrinking away from her. "Don't touch me so casually. I'm here at Hikaru and Kaoru's invitation. Now, if you'll excuse me." She turned away from them sharply and brushed past the two and made her way towards the twins who were sprawled on the floor in basketball jerseys acting out a scene.
Kyoya, who had noticed the silver-haired teen as soon as she'd arrived, tapped his fingers against his leg as he observed her interaction with Renge. He watched her carefully, waiting for the blonde to let her through. When he saw the conversation turn into a one=sided argument on the first-year's part, he was tempted to go over there and collect Reiko himself. He'd breathed a sigh of relief when Tamaki approached them and for a moment it seemed he was going to bring her to where he was standing. The imperceptible smile that had upturned his lips fell when she pulled away from the blonde and made her way to the opposite end of the courtyard where the twins were finishing their scene.
He gripped his pen tightly as the two first years rushed to the silver-haired teen and greeted her with friendly hugs. He didn't bother to hide his displeasure this time as Tamaki walked to stand beside him.
"She's here today," the blonde said following his gaze to where Reiko was chatting with the two boys.
"Clearly," he snapped, turning his attention to his notebook.
"Will you speak with her?" Tamaki asked.
"I have nothing to say."
"That's not true and you know it Kyoya."
"It is," he said biting his tongue when he saw Kaoru wrap his arms around Reiko in a hug that was just a bit too friendly.
What he didn't realize was that the first year was watching his reaction from the corner of his eye and smirked when he saw the dark-haired male's expression change. "Never thought I'd see Kyoya-senpai get jealous," he thought amusedly.
"That was quite the performance you two. I could really feel Kaoru's pain from the twisted ankle," she said her voice dripping with good-natured sarcasm.
The twins smirked at her. "Are you making fun of us Rei-senpai?"
The silver-haired teen shrugged. "A little. But you guys really did do a good job."
"You only caught the end of it. You should've seen the whole thing when I made a basket," Hikaru said sliding his arm around her shoulders."
"Pity I missed it," she said flatly.
"You're so mean," he whined.
"How has your day been Rei-senpai? We haven't seen you around the halls at all," Kaoru said propping his chin on her shoulder.
Reiko stiffened at the closeness for a moment, but quickly let it go. "Relatively uneventful. All my classes have been dedicated to preparing for midterms. They start the day after tomorrow after all."
"Ugh, don't remind us," they groaned.
"Are you going to continue studying after school?" Hikaru asked.
Reiko shook her head. "Actually, I've got a meeting with father's PR team this evening. They want to discuss the possibility of doing some interviews."
"You're gonna be on TV? That's pretty cool Rei-senpai."
She shrugged. "It's a test. The board members want to see how I react in front of the cameras. I imagine they'll be asking some uncomfortable questions so the meeting will be to prepare me for those. It's especially important since they want me to enter a courtship soon."
"You mean you're gonna get a boyfriend?" Kaoru asked.
The silver-haired teen nodded. "The board members want me engaged by year's end. It's only natural that I begin looking for a suitor."
"Do you have anyone in mind?" Hikaru asked curiously.
Reiko stilled for a minute, her expression flashing with something unknown to them. "It's more my father's decision than mine. But there is a family he wishes to contact soon," she answered cryptically.
"Really? Who is it?" Kaoru asked.
"Yeah, anyone we know?" his brother questioned.
Her eyes momentarily drifted to the dark-haired male standing across the room and the twins gasped.
"No way!" Hikaru exclaimed.
"It's Kyoya-senpai?" Kaoru whispered. "That's really unfortunate timing."
"I completely agree," Reiko sighed, crossing her arms.
Kaoru frowned slightly at his friend's demeanor. Reiko looked uncharacteristically tired. Even though she hid it well, it was natural that this kind of situation would stress her out. She was already dealing with adjusting to socializing in high society and now she had to deal with having a potential fiancé she wasn't on good terms with. Although Kaoru couldn't sympathize with her situation, he could relate to feeling overwhelmed by trying to get used to a new and different world. "Don't worry too much about the interviews. I'm sure you'll do great Rei-senpai."
Reiko offered him a grateful smile. "Thanks Kaoru."
Kaoru returned the gesture and replaced his brother's arm around her shoulders, forcing her to lean into him.
"Hey Hikaru, come over here for a second!" they heard Tamaki call out. He was standing a few meters away with Haruhi.
"We're not done talking about this," Hikaru told them before jogging over to the two friends.
Reiko watched with slight amusement as Tamaki stared at the ginger in confusion and looked between him and Kaoru a few times before speaking. "I guess changing the hair parts threw him off," she chuckled.
"You noticed?" Kaoru asked with wide eyes. He and Hikaru usually parted their hair the opposite way and kept it like that so it would be easier for people to tell them apart. Every once in a while though, they would switch to test their friends and mess with everyone.
"I noticed something was different about the two of you but I hadn't placed it until just now."
"But you got both of our names right," he pointed out. Looking back on it, he couldn't recall a time when Reiko had mixed up their names. He'd thought it was because she'd been using their hair parts to tell them apart like everyone else, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
"I certainly hope so, otherwise that means I've had backward this entire time," she said offhandedly.
"You never had trouble telling us apart?"
The silver-haired teen blinked. "...No..."
"How?" he asked.
Reiko raised an eyebrow as though the answer should've been obvious. "How could I not? You're two different people. I don't know if there's something specific. I just know that right now I'm talking to Kaoru Hitachiin."
Kaoru gave her a crooked smile and squeezed her to his side. "You're pretty amazing Rei-senpai," he said.
She giggled quietly. "I'm glad you think so."