Shae was slightly panicking. She was meeting Kyoya's father, sister, and fiancé today; who wouldn't be panicking? She knew exactly why she was panicking too.
She realized it while she was telling him to stay yesterday. She liked him. And not the friend type of like, the 'like like' type. She had a major crush on Kyoya Ootori, one of the most coolest guys at Ouran. How had that happened? She had no idea, she just knew it happened.
What should she wear? Kyoya told her it didn't matter, but she still couldn't just show up in anything. They lived in a mansion, and what if his sister didn't like her and gave her something weird or forgot to bring the clothes? In the end, she decided on a nice shirt and jeans.
Just like Kyoya said, he and his limo showed up at exactly nine o'clock. She was out the door before he could even get out the limo.
He chuckled at her. "Nervous?" He opened the door for her.
"A little." She got in, sitting across from him.
"Don't be just yet. You can relax for now."
"Easier said than done. What if your family doesn't like me and says you can't be friends with me anymore?"
Kyoya looked in his notebook, looking at a page. "I know my sister will love you; my brothers won't be there today, so you don't need to worry about them. As for my father and ex-fiancé... it depends. I'm almost certain that Éclair won't like you, but my father may be persuaded if we play the cards right."
"And how will we do that? You said you'd tell me how to act now." Shae had a light blush over the fact that his sister would already love her without even meeting her. Does that mean that Kyoya told her about Shae?
"With my father, whenever he either talks to you, or you reply to him, look in his eyes; he finds that very appealing in anyone. Never speak unless spoken to. Don't fidget. Those are the most important things you need to do."
Shae nodded. "Look in his eyes; don't speak unless spoken to; and no fidgeting. Got it. What about Éclair?"
"She is... somewhat different. Whatever you do, do not look in her eyes. She takes it as a challenge and will do... unpleasant things. Or try to; I won't let her hurt you though."
Her eyes widened. What kind of unpleasant things? Kyoya was going to be forced to marry a crazy like her? Was she really crazy or just seemingly so? "So... don't look in her eyes... Anything else?"
"Basically the same as my father, but for different reasons. That's mostly it." He closed his notebook, glancing at her from over his glasses.
"What about your sister? No rules for her?"
"Just one." He paused for a few seconds then smiled. "Be yourself."
The rest of the ride to the Ootori Estate was in smaller instructions of how to act and what to do if she was invited to stay for tea. When they arrived at the front door, there was a girl waiting for them.
As soon as Shae stepped out of the limo, the girl attacked her with a hug.
"Ah! U-um...!" Shae glanced at Kyoya, wondering what to do.
Kyoya only sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Fuyumi, at least introduce yourself before attacking her."
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She let go of Shae and took a step back, bowing slightly. "I'm Fuyumi Ootori-Shido, Kyoya's older sister. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Kyoya's told me a lot about you!"
Shae blushed, so Kyoya had talked about her to his sister...
"It's nice to meet you too, I'm Shae." Shae bowed as well, smiling.
"Fuyumi, take Shae to my room. I'll go tell father that we're here." Kyoya said, a very light blush on his cheeks.
"Alright! Father should be in his study with Éclair. She came right after you left and was making a fuss for a while."
Kyoya smirked and said, "Why do you think I left when I did?" before walking inside.
"Kyoya! That's so mean! She was giving me and the staff a headache!" Fuyumi called after him, pouting. She then turned to Shae and smiled, taking her hand and leading her inside.
The trip to Kyoya's room was filled with Fuyumi's chatter of how happy she was to finally meet Shae. When they got inside his room though... That was a different story.
"I'm really happy that Kyoya has you, Shae." Fuyumi said seriously. "Our family isn't that close, and he doesn't have too many people he can open up to willingly. He sometimes lets me in, but not always or for the important things... Since he met you, he seems happier. He's been opening up more often, and you're the first person in a long time that he'll talk about without getting mad! He always seems to be a little irritated when he talks about Tamaki or those Hitachiin twins!" She laughed a little before turning serious again. "Kyoya has a lot of talent, more so than our brothers. But he might never get to show that talent to anyone just because he wasn't born first... The life of high class people isn't as grand as some think. I was married off as a business deal. Oh, but don't get me wrong! I really do love my husband!"
Shae stared at Fuyumi as she panicked about her husband for a bit. She knew that Kyoya probably kept a lot to himself, but she didn't think his home life was like this... It was so sad. Being looked down on just because he was the youngest. It wasn't fair. Fuyumi's soft voice brought her back to reality.
"-really am glad you called him and told him to stay... When father told us that they were moving, Kyoya looked almost broken at the thought. If they had moved, I'd be afraid that he would never open to anyone ever again... Not to mention that Éclair girl..." Fuyumi had a sour look. "Something isn't right with her. She seems innocent at first, but the second you look in her eyes, she starts yelling at people. For some reason, she only lets Kyoya look in her eyes... It's weird. She has this... obsession with him. I'm also glad you got him to call off the engagement, if I have to be related to that girl and see her every time I want to see Kyoya, I don't know what I'd do!"
Shae chuckled. "She must be bad then, for you not to like her."
"Hm?" Fuyumi tilted her head.
"You seem like a really sweet person that likes everyone. For you not to like someone, they must be really bad."
Fuyumi looked shocked for a second then smiled. "I'm glad you think of me so highly. I don't want to seem like I'm complaining, but I've had to live with her for two days now, and she yells a lot when Kyoya isn't around."
Shae laughed, "That would be enough to irritate anyone!"
There was a knock at the door, interrupting Fuyumi. "Come in!" She called.
Kyoya came into the room, looking at the two girls then frowned when he saw that they still hadn't changed Shae's clothes. "Father is waiting."
The girls seemed to remember that they weren't there just for talking, Fuyumi chased Kyoya out of his room then grabbed a bag from the bed and helped Shae change.
In the bag was a light purple sundress with a white shall and while flats. Fuyumi even did Shae's hair, braiding the hair on the side of her face into one behind her head.
When Shae stepped out of the room and met Kyoya in the hall, his eyes widen slightly before hiding them behind his glasses. "You look very nice."
Shae blushed. "Thanks. So where to now?"
"Office on the third floor, where father and Éclair are waiting." Kyoya started walking, leading the way.
"Third floor...? Please tell me this is one of those mansions that have an elevator of something?"
Kyoya chuckled, smirking at her and slowly shaking his head.
"Great..."
The stairs weren't that bad, as Shae had thought, but she was tired when they did reach the third floor.
Kyoya paused outside the office door, letting Shae catch her breath and calm her nerves down.
"Always look your dad in the eye, and never look Éclair in the eyes, right?" Shae asked.
"You'll do fine. I'll be right beside you." Kyoya said, smiling as he opened the door.
If she was going to be fine, then why did she feel like she was going to fail completely?