The girl sat down at the table with Yamato and his family. It was a traditional table and she was to sit on a pillow on her knees while eating. The dogs sat by Yamato not really at the table but more on the ground than anything else. Masaru preferred to sit next to the girl, gnawing on a treat-filled bone. There were multiple courses served, many luxuries and traditional foods being served. Yamato's diet consisted of mainly rice and meat while the girl ate more balanced.
"Are you enjoying dinner, (Y/n)?" the boy's father inquired, taking a bite of tempura shrimp.
"It's delicious," she answered, "Thank you for going through all this trouble.
"Not at all," he responded, "How have you been getting along with Yamato?"
When his name was spoken, the male began to cough, choking on a piece of his yakitori and beating on his chest to get it dislodged. He then began to eat his rice as if nothing had happened, listening to the conversation progress.
"I believe so?" the girl questioned, "I'm not sure if he likes me, but I think he's pretty interesting. We have a lot in common, too."
The boy silently cheered inside, keeping a straight face. Or at least he thought. He actually had a scowl plastered across his features, trying to make up for if he had accidentally had a smile. Masaru tilted his head, sitting on her lap and resuming his dinner, hoping to get some pets along the way.
"Yamato?" his mother asked, "What do you think?"
"She's a pain," he sighed, peeking at (Y/n)'s reaction.
She only chuckled, making him feel joyful inside. Then he began to eat his yakitori again, one of his dogs begging for a taste. He ultimately caved, giving one to the pleading animal, making him bark happily.
"I'm sorry to hear that," his mother said, dejectedly, "It's a shame, too. I guess we'll have to throw her out."
The woman began to clap her hands, but before she did it for the third time, the boy began to freak out and shook his head back and forth. His mother stopped, retaining a serious expression as she watched him, expecting something to happen.
"No, I - grrr," he growled, "She's...fine, but that's it! And even then, she's only barely fine!"
His mother burst out in laughter, making her son blush as he turned his head away with a scoff as he realized she had gotten him. She looked to the girl and began to apologize, trying to calm down from her laughing fit.
"Sorry to scare you dear," she smiled, "It was only to get Yamato to admit he liked you. He's not very verbal when it comes to his emotions. He does it more with his actions than anything. You can tell by the way he reacted, he really does like you. So please continue to be friends with him and come over every now and then to hang out with him. As for your payment, we'll send it to your address every Sunday afternoon."
"I hate to refuse the offer but I barely have enough time as it is between the student council and my classes. Not to mention my job - "
"Ah, why don't you quit your job and let us supply you with a job. We'll pay you more than enough to support your family and we'll even get you into the college you want to, no questions asked."
The girl, stopped, speechless. This offer was beyond generous and all she had to do was pretend to get along with someone or at the very least, make sure he didn't mind her. Yamato just grumbled, eating his yakitori as he mumbled something to himself. He seemed to make a habit of being grumpy.
"It still seems wrong," (Y/n) stated, rubbing her arm in nervousness, "I mean, that's more than enough, believe me, but to be paid to be friends with someone?"
"It's not a problem," he grumbled, "Not like we're poor like you..."
"I'm not poor!" she retorted, adding one last word at the end after careful consideration, "Idiot!"
The male smiled to himself, taking it as a compliment and turned to Masaru who was currently begging for the girl's food. He clicked his tongue, summoning the creature, and had it sit on the other side of the table with him, giving him more food. The dog didn't seem to mind, gulping it down happily.
"Well, I hope you think it over at least," his mother smiled warmly, "As for the compensation for today, it'll be delivered in your mailbox tomorrow morning."
"No, you really don't have to - "
"I insist, dear. And if you want to schedule your next visit, just tell Yamato. Do you have a phone?"
The girl nodded and his mother motioned for the device. She stood up and handed it to the woman who entered her number as well as Yamato's. There was a buzzing coming from his phone and when he grabbed his phone out of his pocket, he glared at his mother and pouted. In response, she gave a chuckle and handed the girl her phone back.
"Please feel free to talk to him or I any time," she said, "I'm sure he'd be more than happy to hear from you."
"Please," Yamato scoffed, taking a mouthful of rice, "Don't delude yourself with your little fantasies, mother. Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong."
Dinner concluded shortly after their conversation and dessert was served. (Y/n) observed the male, watching as he joyfully ate the sweets in front of him. It was contradictory, but slightly endearing. Afterward, she was taken to her room which was luxurious in many different ways and was specially prepared for her. At least, so she'd been told.
"Well, if you need anything, I'm a few rooms to the right," Yamato stated, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away, "You can also call the maids."
The female laid on the bed, feeling the luxurious smoothness of the blankets as well as the softness of the bed and sighed, relaxation washing over her. It was a little strange, considering that her day hadn't gone as planned in the slightest. That being said, she had the most restful sleep she'd had in years.
As the sun rose, she heard a grumble next to her and felt her body being encased in a warmth. It made her stir and opened her eyes to see Yamato snuggling her. She narrowed her eyes, then rubbed them, to ensure that she wasn't seeing things. She poked his cheek, making him grunt and hug her tighter, burying his face in her neck.
"Yama-"
"Shut it," he yawned, "I'm not getting up."
There was a squeak next to the girl that definitely wasn't from the male. She saw Masaru and the other dogs snuggled up on the other side of her. That being said, she didn't feel closed in at all but was rather at peace considering the warmth she was receiving. She snuggled in further to the male, making him sigh contentedly.
Unbeknownst to them, a maid came in to wake the girl and get her ready for school when she witnessed the female's actions and the male's response. She ran through the halls, giggling happily to the other maids around before the news spread to Yamato's mother. In response, she ran to see the scene, bringing her husband along with her. She made sure to take plenty of pictures for future reference.
"This might not end up the way we originally intended," his father chuckled, "I suppose that's alright. I changed a lot to try to impress you, after all. Perhaps he'll be the same."
"You didn't have to try at all, honey."
Time passed and when the girl woke up again, she found herself on top of the male, his fingers twirling around her hair. He held a scowl and didn't seem to mind the girl watching him, but she tilted her head and he began to realize that she might get the wrong idea. His mind searched frantically for the best solution.
"Your hair gets so tangled so easily," he rolled his eyes.
"How long have you been up?" the girl asked.
The boy blushed and looked away, trying to cover his face. In reality, he'd been up for a while, memorizing her features. Her smooth skin had entranced him and he couldn't stop staring at her breasts, wanting desperately to touch them. However, he knew that if he did, he couldn't make an excuse for it. That being said, they still tormented him. Imagine his surprise when he woke up, her chest pressed up against his. He was still trying to work off the effect from that with minimal success.
"Uh, not long," he chuckled, the laugh fading near the end.
The girl lifted an eyebrow and sat up, rubbing her eyes and letting out a yawn. Masaru began to pant happily when she pet him, sitting on her knees and looking down at the male who was trying to cover his legs with the blanket, a deep blush across his features.
"And, do tell me young master," she teased, "When and why did you get the urge -"
The boy flinched upon hearing her say that, thinking she had found out about his reason for covering himself with the blanket. He began to think rapidly, picturing how everything play out. Best case scenario, he would get exactly what he and his body wanted; however, that was unlikely considering his past attempts. Therefore, the only other option that lingered in his mind was that the girl would be unaware of what it was and try to understand it. He tensed at the thought, feeling another part of his body do the same, and shivered in ecstasy.
"-to come in and sleep with me?" the girl finished, sending the male into overdrive.
He almost couldn't take it and bit his lip, drawing blood, just to keep everything inside and not let it all out. The boy hadn't been listening to the entire question the girl had asked and, instead, tried to fill in the blanks in his current state which couldn't have been more wrong.
"Yamato?" she asked, tilting her head, "Hello?"
He squeaked, covering his mouth and ran out of the room, into his. He locked the door and slammed his back against the wall, sliding down to the floor and laying on it, looking up at the ceiling as he began to partake in one of his favorite activities. His mind was anything from pure and began to think of (Y/n) the more pleasure he felt. He let out whimpers and noises of want while the girl was clueless, playing tug-of-war with Genkei.
"Miss?" a maid asked, knocking on the door and opening it, a curious gaze watching her, "It's currently 9:45 and my lady was wondering if you would like to have a ride to school?"
"9:45?!" the girl shrieked, rushing to look for her uniform, "It's third period by now!"
"Yes," the maid chuckled, handing her the newly washed uniform, "The young master has a habit of sleeping in. When I saw him with you, I just couldn't bring myself to tear you two apart!"
The girl sighed, taking the uniform, gratefully. The maid bowed, saying that she would "prepare the car" and left the girl to change. As soon as she was done, she ran out of the room and pounded on Yamato's door.
"We're late!" she shouted.
When he didn't respond, she slid the door open and stepped through. Inside, she saw the boy laying on the ground, breathing heavily. Instinctively, she ran to his side and dropped to her knees to ensure he was alright. She listened to his heart beat which was entirely too fast and began to panic. He only weakly smiled, standing up soon after.
"School, right?" he asked, picking up his bag and throwing hers at her.
She barely managed to catch it as it was entirely too heavy. She peeked inside to see a brick inside of it, making her glare at the boy.
"Were you trying to kill me?" she snarled, placing it on his head.
However, her efforts to make him uncomfortable were for nothing as he continued to walk, the brick perfectly balanced. She watched in amazement as he acted as if nothing happened, even continuing the conversation.
"Who can say?" he smirked, his eyes trailing down to her in a teasing manner as he winked.
The two rode in the car, leaving a whimpering pack of dogs, trying to follow their master. It was silent, except for the radio playing through the speakers and the tapping of the nervous boy's fingers. He felt the need to impress her somehow but he hadn't had much experience with much of anyone, let alone someone he felt affections for.
"I'm going to get an earful from Narahashi," the girl giggled, "Have you met him? He has the most incredible shade of blue hair and he's a bit of a goofball but he's a really good person."
"He's that president guy, right? The one you and Takuya work with?"
"Mhm."
"Why do you do that council stuff?" the boy scoffed, "It seems like a lot of work for nothing."
"It's not for nothing," the girl retorted, "It's a great way to be recognized by both top tier colleges and my future employers."
"We told you we'd get you into whatever college you wanted," the boy said, an irked expression appearing even though he hadn't the faintest idea why, "And besides, you don't even need to work. You could easily get someone to make sure you live a luxurious life. Those guys that wanted to join the student council? You think they did that for college recognition? No, it was because Takuya got to be your assistant and they thought if they joined, they could get the position. You're a lot more popular than you think...especially with the guys."
"I'm really not," the girl said, sadly, "I'm kind of ostracized by most people. Why would anyone want to - "
"Seriously?!" the boy shouted in frustration, "All the girls at that school are stuck-up princesses who don't have to work for a damn thing. They don't have to study, they don't have to be nice, and they don't have to work for anything. Their personalities are disgusting. You're the only girl there that isn't rich or has her future set high in the world. You work for everything, you're caring, and you...you aren't bad looking."
The girl was speechless and felt a shy smile cross her face as she began to play with the hem of her dress, something she liked to do when she felt nervous. The male had poured his heart out in front of her just to make her feel better. And the crazy thing was that it had worked. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and looked to the boy.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"P-Please," he scoffed, looking out of the window, "I didn't say that to be nice. I only said that so that you'd stopped whining. It was annoying."
(Y/n) didn't believe him. Even when he remained silent for the remainder of the ride, she smiled at him, hoping to talk to him some more. He wanted the same, but was far too embarrassed to do so. His heart was beating like crazy and if he had faced her, he surely would have been found out.
"We're here, young master," the driver said, opening the door for him.
Yamato put on a straight face and walked out, offering his hand to the girl. She took it, gratefully, and as he was about to pull her up, he let go, making her fall to the ground. The driver, surprised, backed up, expecting the male to target him next. The girl, sitting on the pavement, looked up at the boy and waited a few seconds before laughing.
The male sighed in relief that she wasn't upset, although some part of him wanted to see what would happen if she was. Then he began to walk off, the girl running after him and attempting to tackle him from the back. It didn't work since the male was much bulkier than the girl and he only continued to walk forward, dragging her with him, her arms around his stomach. Strangely enough, the male found the action endearing and adorable.
After some distance, (Y/n) stood back on her two feet and walked alongside the boy. The two were interrupted as they walked through the courtyard by the rest of Yamato's friend group, minus Rei. They looked pretty upset while Akari just distractedly looked around, focusing his camera on the sky.
"Where were you?" Takuya growled, "I was looking everywhere."
When the girl didn't answer right away, the boy stepped forward, beginning to glare at Yamato. The shy boy was much shorter and was entirely too skinny compared to the muscular male but he made it clear he didn't want to back down.
"She was with me," Yamato stated, putting his hands on his hips.
There was nothing else that infuriated the male quite so much as being looked down upon and others showing disrespect to him. This made him pretty annoyed with the other male and stared him down, not daring to do anything with the girl watching him. It wasn't that he hated Takuya or anything. In fact, most of the time they got along fairly well even if he was scared of Yamato from time to time. However, since he was aggressive with him, he decided to be aggressive in response.
"Why?" Shota asked, his eyes narrowing, "What did you do?"
"My parents want to pay her," he said bluntly, "So we hung out yesterday and she ended up staying over."
"You didn't hurt her, did you?" Haru asked.
"No," Yamato scoffed.
"Then why are her arms and thighs bandaged?"
The group of males all looked down at the girl's body, their mouths agape in shock, except for Yamato who looked away with shame. Most of the others looked to the male for answers. Akari just hummed and began to search for something, wandering off by himself. The girl, feeling strange about the glares the boys were throwing, followed the distracted boy.
He began to stroll about, seemingly at random. When something caught his eye, he meandered towards it, examining it before scoffing and repeating the actions. Even in the garden, which looked absolutely gorgeous to the girl, he ignored it, walking right through it.
"So..." (Y/n) paused, "What do you photograph? I don't think I've seen you snap a single picture yet."
The boy turned to the girl, stopping in his tracks. Keeping his signature smile plastered from cheek to cheek, he tilted his head, closing his eyes as he began to think. The girl chuckled once, nervous.
"Are you interested in what I do?" he finally asked.
"A little," she stated, "I mean, we talked once or twice but that was it. The rest of the time, you're just kind of wandering around, looking through your camera."
The boy's smile escalated and he grabbed the female's hand and led her to a small rectangle filled with water and exotic fish inside one of the rooms of the school that was tropically warm. They swam around it in circles, occasionally opening their mouths in a humorous manner. The girl tucked her skirt into her knees as she sat down, watching them with amusement. When one came to the surface, opening its mouth, she laughed and dug around in her bag for a piece of bread from her sandwich, throwing it into the water for it.
The fish swam off happily, eating it little by little before the other fish in the pond began to fight over it. They tore it out of each other's grasps before one devoured it, leaving the others with nothing. The boy sat on the edge of the concrete and looked into the water, focus his camera on it. He quickly snapped a picture and showed the female.
"Wow!" she said in amazement, "That's...incredible. It's so professional. Do you have a talent for photographing fish?"
"Yes, indeed," he replied, making them both laugh, "No, this isn't my usual scene. I prefer to take pictures of nature. Well, natural beauty, anyway."
He scrolled through the memory on his camera and landing on a beautiful picture of a natural waterfall surrounded by beautiful trees. The colors were so perfect as they blended together. There were only a few flowers that bloomed to the right-hand side of the picture but that didn't define the memory. In fact, it only made it more alluring to the girl. It was the water that entranced her the most.
She took the camera in her hands, mesmerized by the picture. The male only kicked his legs back and forth like a child as she took an interest in his hobby. Every now and then he would look at the girl's reaction, but he mainly hummed to himself as he stared down at the fish, watching them swim around in circles.
"Do you take pictures of people?" the girl asked, "Like models?"
The boy laughed and shook his head. When he recovered from his amusement, he began to touch a fish softly, ensuring he didn't harm it.
"No," he said, "They're fake."
"Fake?"
"Yes," he chuckled, "They're fake. You know, beauty isn't something to be photographed just to market something. It's something that should be captured because it entrances the photographer so deeply that he feels compelled to. It's supposed to be moving."
He paused, looking down at his hands which were playing with one another, nervously. For the first time, the girl noticed his smile waver. She touched his cheek assuringly but he only moved aside so that she couldn't touch him again.
"They're fake," he said again, "Their beauty is unnatural and it's not pure."
The girl sat, speechless. Akari seemed to have his heart set on his idea of beauty and she knew she couldn't change that. However, she noticed his tone was lonely and wanted to cheer him up. With the camera in her hands, she pointed it at the boy, making him tilt his head to see what she was doing. He heard the snap of the camera and widened his eyes in surprised. The girl gave him his camera back and smiled, warmly.
"Why did you do that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You moved me," she answered.
The boy gripped his camera and gave a laugh, smiling widely. There wasn't a semblance of his emotions left from his rant. He held the camera to his chest, gripping it tightly as if it was his treasure. It did seem exactly like that to the girl because it was exactly like that. The boy clearly had a great love for photography.
"Let's get back to the others," Akari announced, grabbing her wrist to lead her there.
. . .
The others were arguing furiously with Yamato as he had broken an unspoken rule between the males. When Shota noticed the girl had gone off with Akari, following curiously, he began to make his intentions clear.
"Let's stop keeping it a secret," he sighed, "We all like (Y/n). A lot...And we clearly don't wish to share. Since no one is willing to stay away from her, we need to make a few ground rules here."
"That's fair," Haru nodded, "but what about Akari and Rei? I know they're not interested in her or anything, but I don't want her around them. They're only going to hurt her."
"We'll fill them in on it later. Rule number 1, no sleeping with her," his eyes trailing to Yamato who only crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "Rule 2, no inviting her over to you house without another one of us with you. Rule 3, if she chooses someone, we have to accept it."
"What if he's not one of us?" Takuya asked.
The male paused, looking at his friend as if he said something he couldn't have imagined. The others grumbled. Shota chuckled, taking out a vial of a see-through liquid.
"Then we get rid of him."