Yay! New chapter! Enjoy!
“Well, what are you standing out there for? Come in, come in!” I laughed lightly, trying to recover what damage I could. I could tell he was trying to ignore the messy hotel room as he walked across the room. If only I had time to pick up! This is a DISASTER!
“Thank you. You know why I am here,” he said flatly as he sat stiffly in a stuffed chair in the corner.
“Yes, this would be about my, uh, engagement, right?” He picked up the stress on the “e word.” How I hate saying it….
“You are correct. As you know, both of our families would benefit greatly from this marriage.”
“Yes, I do.”
“You and Kyoya get along so famously, so I wouldn’t think it an issue. Let alone an issue that would make me come all the way here.” His face grew tense and the tone of his voice harsh and cutting, I guess not everyone likes to visit America.
“You are mistaken, Tanaka-sama. I do not get along with Kyoya at all now. We’ve fought many times already and we can’t even stand the sight of each other.”
“YOU can’t stand the site of HIM,” he said loudly.
“What?”
“You can’t stand the idea of even being with Kyoya, is that it? Is my own son that repulsive? In that case, I’ll be going—,” he stood up swiftly.
“No! Please, at least talk with me,” I didn’t care about Kyoya, but I didn’t want this to be my first impression on anyone, especially someone in the same business. That’s funny, since I’m in a tank top and short shorts rather than a formal outfit. “I don’t know. Kyoya just doesn’t seem very…open.” Tanaka-sama slinked down in his chair, glad that he was able to make me at least talk about his son. “It seems like I’m just an item to him. I just might be an item to which gives him power and wealth.”
“Yes, he does desire you.”
“Yes, financially, but…” I trailed off. “I feel as if I am nothing more to him, a trinket that will add a few thousand dollars to his wallet.”
“I assure you that you are not,” I looked up at him, his face was rather soft. A face carved with raising children, the face of a father. I would have never suspected Mr. Otori, a man said to be cruel, even to his own sons, to ever look like this. “Kyoya, just isn’t good at showing his affection. He’s been saving it all of you, of course. You just need to be patient. He’s,” he chuckled as he looked up from his hands to smile at me, “just as awkward as any other teenage boy.”
“I understand that, but my father put me in... school to learn how to be a good wife. He never told me it was for Kyoya. And when father heard of my own plans, he seemed… upset,” I was able to spit the word out. I had only realized that he was truly torn over me instead of his own plans.
“Ah, he told me. You want become a mangaka, correct? He was afraid he would loose you when you left and you wouldn’t have a reason to come back. Yet, coming to Japan would get you closer to your goal than ever…”
“Maybe... I guess I should clear up this misunderstanding… When I left to explore the world before settling in Japan, I loved the freedom of the common people. They didn’t have any need to hide what they thought. They had no hidden reasons for what they did. They lived their lives the way they wanted to. I love that freedom, but when I came to Ouran, and had to act in Kyoya’s club, I felt I was being put in a cage. It made me hate him…” What else… “Also, I grew jealous on my travels of the people who enjoyed what I wanted, love. I saw people kiss and embrace on the Eiffel tower in Paris, in the fields of China, and the deserts of Africa. I thought it was something I couldn’t ever have because of who I was. So, when Kyoya, who grew up like me started to act lovingly, I felt he was breaking some unwritten rule. Kyoya offered me something I wanted freely when he could and I pushed it away because of my own view of the rich. I’m really sorry,” I stopped to wipe away more tears that were now streaming down my face. Please… Anything but tears…
“I understand. Then it’s just a matter of time,” Tanaka-sama sighed as he rose from his chair.
“Until what?” I sniffed.
“Until you realized your feelings and learn to love again. I won’t tell my son, but please, try to be a little kinder,” he started to walk towards my bedroom door. He chuckled before walking out. “He was a complete wreck on the flight here. You should have seen him!” With a chuckled, he closed the door and my room was silent. He was a wreck? That’s so cute~! Wait! What am I thinking? ‘Realize your feelings’ he said. What feelings? I don’t like Kyoya…. But, why am I crying? Why am I such a wreck over someone I don’t like? Why do I have a pain in my chest when I think of his face or hear his name? The questions swirled in my head as I lay on the sheets. They eventually melded into that painting again…. What did it all mean?
The next morning, I packed up my room and called the house for a ride. Great, now I was calling in favors, I should have rented a car. The ride was reminiscent of last night, but it lacked something I couldn’t place my finger on. The car sped through the grey streets which seemed to be so much more colorful now in the daylight. All of the colors of the billboards and clothes of the passersby seemed to imprint on my mind and leave a nostalgic picture of what New York was. The car pulled up to a residential skyscraper. I stepped out and helped pull my things out of the trunk. The doorman looked shocked as I carried the large suitcases into the lobby, he was probably used to carrying everything, down to the last pet poodle. I was wearing torn jeans with a plain baggy hooded sweatshirt and I could feel stares stab my back as I spoke my name at the front desk.
“Risa Tsukasa,” I said politely. “I’m here to visit my father.”
“Oh! Uh, yes, that is on the… top floor!” The man was stunned that I was going to the penthouse. I began to walk confidently to the elevator. My father had bought the penthouse since he found driving in from the estate for work everyday annoying. I would have been able to talk to him directly if I hadn’t been stopped.
“MISS! Oh MISS! You can’t go up there,” I felt a hand grab a hold of my arm. I turned around confused. What did he just say?
“You see, uh, he’s not home right now,” he said nervously. He glanced to the left. He was stalling. I looked behind him to see a door open quietly and smoothly, a few husky men dressed entirely in black security uniforms entered the hall. You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Or you won’t LET me, more like it,” I growled. The desk clerk swallowed heavily.
“Well, uh, you see….” Gold seal. License. Come on! I started digging in my hoodie pocket for my wallet, when someone bellowed,
“SHE’S GOT A GUN!” And that was it, I was on the ground and in pain. One of the men was on top of me, the other checking my bags.
“I just want to see my dad! I needed my license to show you! You guys disgust me!” I wheezed from underneath the security guard. My sweatshirt fell over my eyes, things just kept getting better. “Just because I come in a hoodie, doesn’t mean I’m some kind of killer!” I could hear the elevator door open in front of me.
“What’s this? Honestly,” huffed a woman as she walked out, her heels clicked as she scurried away from the scene, but a slow set of heavy footsteps followed her.
“What is this?” my father said.
“This girl said that she wanted to see you, she said you’re her father,” the clerk said proudly, like a dog that just caught a rabbit. The security guard jerked me onto my feet, my hands cuffed tightly behind my back. I still couldn’t see anything. The clerk continued, “You said she was in Japan, so we stopped her, sir.” The black material of my hood was slowly lifted, I grinned at my father.
“Good morning, darling father~,” I said sweetly in Japanese.
“You IMBACILES!” He bellowed. “This IS my daughter and she just came home from Japan last night. She was supposed to go out with her fiancé today! She’s engaged you know!” He was pissed. I wish I could have been a bystander with a bag of popcorn to watch the fiasco.
“I should have you arrested for assault!” he growled at the clerk. “She has a date with her fiancé and came here to get ready. Honestly, do you think that a dirty hotel is a place where she should stay? DO YOU?” I heard the cuffs zip off my hands and the pressure released from my arms and wrists. We wouldn’t bring this to the police, but small debts are great to call on. I wandered over to my father, my eyes teary.
“D-daddy,” I whimpered in English, “They hurt…” I held out my arms straight so my wrists could show from under the over-sized sleeves. There were red rings around them. I sniffled and mumbled nonsense to seal the deal.
“LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO HER! How can she see her fiancé like this? Tell me! She’s going to have to wear a trench coat because of you!” I turned to where my luggage had been standing and gasped in real terror. My essentials had been thrown in a ten foot circle around the open cases in the middle of the busy lobby from the security search. Everything. Including my underwear and bras.
“T-this is so embarrassing!” I whimpered and quickly started shoving my things back into the suitcase.
“And you’ve shamed her! I don’t know if I even want to stay in this over-priced, over-sized shack anymore!” he yelled in his thick Japanese accent. It WAS useful at times, I’d admit that. After recovering my things, I wheeled my cases to the elevator where my father stood, still yelling at the clerk. I sniffled and a hand over my face in shame.
“I’d better get this month’s rent free! Or so help me—,” he stopped when the doors closed. I sighed.
“RiRi, are you okay?” he was genuine for once. Don’t want to damage the merchandise, right?
“Y-yeah, but that really hurt. That guy must have been like three hundred pounds.”
“Well, we got something out of it, right?” He chuckled.
“Yeah,” I sighed and rubbed my wrists on the way up to the penthouse to get ready for my date. But, was I really ready for something like that?
We had been driving for a while now to get to central park. Rush hour traffic was always the worst. When we finally arrived, I saw a man sitting on a bench reading today’s newspaper. It’s HIM. My heart hurt when I thought of it. No, wait. My heart… throbbed? My father approached the man.
“What’s today’s headline?” he said casually.
“Another corrupt senator, seems that it’s the same here as in Japan,” he said, and lowered my newspaper. It wasn’t Kyoya, but his father. Why did I get so excited? Where IS Kyoya? What? What do I care?
We took a walk took a walk through central park, just the three of us, my father talking business and real estate. I looked at the happy people, playing and eating together. I wonder where Kyoya is? Is he in this park? I bet he’s watching! I can probably spot him! I glanced around quickly, but nothing was there. I spent the rest of the time doing that, constantly checking to see if he was look at me from far away. I wasn’t going to be caught off guard even when I ate. After lunch, we went home, if you can call a mansion that, in a nearby suburb. It felt so strange for me to be alone in the black limo with two middle-aged men laughing at old times. I felt…alone. I was tired when we reached the house. It was difficult to keep my mind preoccupied with my father AND keeping a lookout for an ambush from Kyoya. Just after I climbed the innumerable steps to the front doors, a flurry of blue feathers flew out the double oak doors at me and landed on my shoulder. I screamed and nearly fell backwards. Soft feathers were soon stroking my face accompanied with soft clucking and cooing noises. It was William, my blue ring-necked parakeet. I pet his head and smiled, I had almost forgotten about him.
“Oh, I’m sorry miss, I’ll get him—,” said a flustered maid.
“No, it’s fine. He’s just welcoming me home,” I assured her.
“He’s been in an absolute frenzy. He must have heard from someone that you were coming home. He’s been in a fluster for days now and the staff could calm him.”
“Ah, that’s Bill for you,” I giggled.
“That is, except for HIM,” the maid chuckled and vanished into the house before I could ask.
“Welcome home~,” said a cool voice. I brushed Bill’s beak out of my face so I could see. There he stood, leaning on the doorframe, with his shimmering black hair, slim jeans, fitted Tshirt, and of course those omnipresent glasses. Wait. What am I saying? It’s just Kyoya and he’s…smiling. Ack! Now he’s staring!
“It’s uh… good to be home,” I stammered.
I hope you enjoyed this! This is my first fan fic series and I'm happy everyone likes it! I cut out a little conversation about Rika's mother, but I wonder if I should have just had Kyoya and Rika go on a date... Alternate episode? I think so! Yay for progress!
But the next episode gets juicy so stay tuned!
