author's note: thank you for reading this jeanette 😳
December 24
Hanae shifted uncomfortably in her lavender kimono, she had only ever been to summer festivals, where it was common to wear yukatas, she assumed that a kimono wouldn't be too different... she assumed wrong.
She underestimated how much more formal a kimono was compared to a yukata, but no matter how uncomfortable it was, she had to admit that the one her mother had chosen was pretty enough. She didn't wear lavender very often, but the color was growing on her.
Mitsuri had also forced Hanae to wear her hair up in a loose bun and finished it off with a white hairpin to match the color of her belt.
It had been over two weeks since her mother had told Hanae that she had picked out the perfect suitor, but Hanae couldn't understand why her mother had picked a Christmas festival for her to meet with Ritsu Kasanoda after all these years.
Kasanoda was the same age as her, they met when she was only seven years old, but she had always seen him simply as Akise's friend.
Flash forward a decade and that chubby little boy she had known back in elementary could become her husband... if things went according to her mother's plan that is.
"Do you even remember what he looks like?" Takara asked, breaking Hanae away from her thoughts.
"Well, he went to high school with us... but I never saw him." She internally cursed their enormous school. "I knew him when we were kids though, he had red hair and brown eyes, and he's kind of short and chubby,"
"Sounds like a winner," Yuichi Ootori said mockingly, and Hanae caught Takara giving her husband a warning glare.
Hanae sighed, did her friend really have to bring Kyoya's older brother along? It only reminded her of the mistake she'd made.
She shouldn't have slept with him, not when she was supposed to get engaged with Kasanoda.
Akise was supposed to introduce both of them again, but Renge decided to tag along with them, so he'd had fallen behind when they all arrived at the festival.
"I heard a rumor he's a part of the yakuza," Takara whispered nearly stumbling, she was struggling to walk in her light green kimono as well.
"You're not wrong," Yuichi smirked. "He's the next in line to inherit the Kasanoda-gumi group,"
Hanae's breath caught in her throat. She'd heard the rumors, of course, but her brother told her they were all lies.
"Hanae, how are you going to marry a yakuza leader!" Takara whispered looking around the festival to see if she could spot Kasanoda among the crowd.
"I didn't know!"
"How could you not know?" Yuichi said looking down at Hanae as if she were the stupidest person he'd ever met. "How come he wants to marry you anyways? No offense Sasaki, but–"
"Yuichi!" Takara interrupted, and Hanae looked away as the married couple continued to argue, and the minutes felt like solid hours. So when she heard her brother call out her name, she was thankful at first–that was until she realized what he'd said.
"Kasanoda's over here!"
Hanae felt her blood run cold and she couldn't bring herself to move.
"Is that him? He's not even fat!" Yuichi said loudly enough for only them to hear.
More seconds slipped by and she took a shaky breath, she had to turn around, she had to, but her body felt limp.
"Hanae I know you're nervous but you have to meet him," Takara said desperation lining her voice, as she shook Hanae slightly, and it took every single fiber in her being to swivel slowly, and finally face him.
Ritsu Kasanoda stood a couple of feet in front of her, and he offered her a very nervous smile... Yuichi was right. Ritsu Kasanoda looked nothing like what Hanae had said.
After all, it'd been well over a decade since they'd last seen each other.
She did her best to swallow her fear and smiled back.
"I think it's time for us to leave." Yuichi said, wrapping Takara's arm around his own and practically dragging her away from the scene. Akise and Renge caught on quickly and they both sped away to leave Kasanoda and Hanae alone.
Although he seemed just as anxious as her, he was the first one to break the distance between them.
"Hey Hanae, it's been a while..." He looked up at her once he finished his sentence.
"Hey Kasanoda," She forced a smile on her lips. "Yes, it has been..."
She was trying her best to be polite, but she couldn't help feeling a bit intimated, and if she was being honest, her strained attitude was probably a mixture of fear as well as guilt. After all, she had just slept with another man after finding out that she might marry Kasanoda.
She slept with a man who was now avoiding her like the plague.
Hanae took a small breath and tried her best to shake those thoughts away, she had no reason to keep thinking about Kyoya Ootori. They'd both gotten what they wanted, and that was that, it was over.
So, why couldn't she stop thinking about him?
She had been so entranced in her thoughts, that she didn't realize the long and awkward silence that had settled over them.
"There's really no reason for sugarcoating things, we both know why we're here. I need a wife and you need a husband," Kasanoda began, bringing up the topic in the most unpleasant way she thought possible.
Hanae's eyes grew wide, but she found herself nodding nonetheless.
"I need kids," He began and Hanae must've made a visible face of disgust because he actually paused for a moment before he continued speaking. "But I don't know why you need to get married so quickly."
"We're not even officially engaged yet, we're here to see if we can even stand each other." She scowled.
Kasanoda blinked rapidly, and she thought she had scared him off. She was already mentally preparing herself for the way her mother would yell at her, but her mouth went dry when he extended his hand out to her.
"Let's find out then," He said smiling.
Kyoya sighed as he looked through the tiny souvenirs the street vendor was selling.
Tamaki had dragged him out of his house for some half-assed Christmas festival, only to leave him alone so he could spend some 'much needed' alone time with Haruhi.
He felt as though he couldn't complain too much though, he did need to clear his head a bit, it was in absolute shambles. His thoughts felt like they kept slamming into each other every time he thought about her smile for too long.
He closed his eyes and shook his head, he wanted nothing more but to rip that girl out of his memories, he'd steered clear of her for the past couple of weeks because he realized he was beginning to look forward to seeing her every day.
He was growing attached to her and then his suspicions were only solidified when they spent the night together. He liked being around her, he liked being around her too much and that sent him into high-alert mode.
Which is why his face flushed when he heard her voice, high and nervous behind him.
"No–no, thank you,"
A man's voice came quickly after, and Kyoya felt a burning sensation in his stomach.
"Come on I can get you whatever you want."
He jerked his head over to find her, and he saw her talking to a man with long red hair, and it only took him seconds to realize that he recognized the man.
Ritsu Kasanoda; next in like to inherit the most powerful yakuza group in the Kanto region.
What the hell was Hanae doing with him?
He knew he had no right to look, Hanae and him were nothing to each other, but he couldn't help the way his jaw clenched when he saw Kasanoda's hand wrap around her waist.
"How much is that fan right there?" Kasanoda asked pointing at the most bejeweled and tacky item the merchant had on display.
"6,200 yen." The merchant replied.
"I'll take it–"
"No, I like this one," Hanae picked up a simple lavender fan that matched her clothing's fabric instead.
Kyoya's lip tugged upwards involuntary, and when he realized what he was doing he looked down in an instant.
He was determined to leave, rather than stay and force himself to watch them any longer, but when he saw Kasanoda walk away from Hanae, his body seemed to have a mind of its own.
He stopped behind her before leaning in towards her ear, "Didn't think I'd see you on a date anytime soon,"
Hanae seemed to tense up before she spun on her heels, her cheeks were flushed red when he finally set eyes on her, and he felt his damn pulse begin to race–again.
"Kyoya," She said his name as if it were a sin, as if he'd been a mistake. "What–what are you doing here?" She asked quickly looking behind her shoulder.
"I was here with friends, but then I saw you on a date with Kasanoda."
She shook her head. "He's just someone I've known since we were kids... it's not a date. You need to leave before he comes back."
"I'm not blind, Hanae."
"Yeah, well are you deaf? I told you to leave."
"But you're not on a date." His usually playful smile was gone.
She could feel her blood begin to boil as she looked at his accusing eyes.
"You have no right," She hissed only loudly enough for him to hear. "You've been avoiding me, not the other way around. You let me wake up alone, you haven't texted me, so you can't complain that I'm on a date."
Once the dust settled, she was just as shocked by her outburst as he was... maybe his absence hurt her more than she'd given him credit for. It wasn't until she felt his warm hand wrap around her arm, that she snapped out of her thoughts.
"Let's go," He said.
"What?" Her breath hitched.
"I've been an asshole, I owe you a date." He smiled, and she could feel her heart nearly leap out of her chest.
"No, no!" She panicked pulling her arm away. "I can't just ditch him!"
"I'll take that as a raincheck?" He smiled.
"Kyoya," She pleaded, but she was cut off when she heard Kasanoda's voice behind her.
"I'm back! What's up?"
Hanae spoke before Kyoya had the chance."H–Hey! this is my friend, Kyoya Ootori,"
"We've actually already met before, how've you been Ootori?" He handed Hanae the food he had just bought for them and she didn't think the shame she felt in her stomach could grow any worse, but it did.
"Good," Kyoya replied before an uncomfortable silence settled upon their shoulders.
Hanae was half-expecting Kyoya to walk away but when he didn't she just closed her eyes and gritted her teeth before she looked down at the ground.
"Hanae was just telling me that you two have known each other since you were children?" Kyoya asked, but she could tell he did it simply to ease the tension.
"Oh yeah... I used to be friends with her older brother." He said gesturing towards her brother who was only a couple of booths behind them watching the entire mess unfold with a scowl on his face.
"Used to?" Kyoya asked, and Hanae cringed.
She was about to make an excuse, she was ready to run from the scene, but then she felt Kasanoda snake his arm around her waist and pull her against his frame.
"Yeah, you know how things are, I'm just glad we reconnected all these years later. I'm really lucky to be getting married to such an amazing woman,"
Hanae felt her stomach drop all the way to the floor, they're engagement wasn't even official yet, and here he was announcing it to the world?
"You're getting ahead of yourself," Hanae laughed nervously, as she shoved him away.
Kyoya's lips formed a flat line, she was doing it again, she was making his thoughts slam into each other once again.
There was absolutely no way that Ritsu Kasanoda was her ex-boyfriend, otherwise, Kyoya would've already known.
He'd spend a considerable amount of time trying to figure out who her ex-boyfriend was, with no results, she'd done an amazing job of keeping the man's identity hidden, but there was simply no way she could hide a relationship with someone as important as Ritsu Kasanoda.
Hanae could sense his confusion and she was about to speak, she wanted to explain herself so badly, but before she got the chance to do so, her brother came running up to them.
"Hey Ootori, mind if I steal you away for a second?" Akise said grabbing onto Kyoya's shoulder, and practically ripping him away from Hanae's gaze.
Kyoya scowled, doing his best to not roll his eyes. "What do you need, Sasaki?"
He pursed his lips as he saw Akise's eyes flicker back to Hanae and Kasanoda for a second before answering him.
"Listen I know you want to keep..." Akise paused for a moment, disgust lining every corner of his face before he continued "Seeing my sister or whatever, but you need to leave her alone."
"And why is that?" Kyoya tilted his face to the side his scowl never wavering even when he realized what was going on. "Is it because your parents are trying to sell your sister out to the highest bidder."
The man visibly flinched and there were a couple of seconds of tense silence before he replied.
"Hanae told you." Akise accused.
"No, she didn't. Tell me now, why Kasanoda?"
Akise took a deep breath. "He's the only guy who's willing to clear our debt... well the only one under fifty years old. So you need to back off, you're only confusing her."
The atmosphere had grown so thick that Akise began biting the inside of his cheek to relieve some of his anxiousness as he looked over at Kyoya's heated gaze.
When Kyoya finally spoke, it felt like glass shattering.
"I'll clear your debt."