good judge
It was the next day and you still hadn't heard a thing from your parents about yesterdays mishap. You took that as a gift from whatever god there was above and went about your day as per usual. Wiping what happened the night before from your mind.
Yet you still couldn't help but worry about Kyoya's state.
You were also a bit bummed to have not seen Haruhi all day, the brunette having had to stay home because she came down with a bad case of food poisoning. You made a mental note to order her some of her favorite food once she was all better.
You were making your way down the beautiful halls of Ouran Academy, towards the lunch room. Then suddenly a short honey-blonde haired boy ran in front of you. His wide and sparkling chocolate brown eyes look up at you. You wonder who he is until your eyes fall to the stuffed pink rabbit in his arms.
He speaks in a high voice before you can,"Are you (Y/N) Matsui? Haru-chan's friend?" You offer a smile and nod. Haruhi wanted to introduce you to the club but you were very adamant about not wanting to meet them, you never told her why. But for now you proceed cautiously, you had never even seen any of the host members around the school.
"Yes I am.",you reply and Honey nods with a smile and he snaps his fingers. You wonder why he did that until you feel a pair of strong arms lift you up off the ground. You blink back and let out a sharp gasp, your arms instinctively wrapping around the neck of none other than Mori.
"U-Um what is going on?"
You're strangely casual about this ordeal as Mori silently takes you down the hall Honey following suite. He looks up at you with a smile,"We're taking you to the music room, Kyo-chan wants to talk with you!" Your eyes widen slightly and you clear your throat while looking to Mori.
"I could've walked on my own you know?",he simply stares straight ahead, his expression indifferent. Honey shrugs while holding Usa-chan in his arms.
"Mori likes to help.",you look down at Honey and smile softly before nodding to Mori.
"Well thank you, Mori-senpai."
You could've sworn you saw a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
The music room isn't that far ahead so soon enough Mori places you down. You look to Honey and Mori,"Well formal introductions. I'm (Y/N) Matsui. You two are Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai right?" They both nod and Honey holds up Usa-chan with his wide smile. His energy so bright and positive you could've sworn there were sparkling flowers surrounding him.
"Yep! And this is Usa-chan! Aren't they the cutest!",you look at the plus rabbit and nod with a wide smile.
"Definitely! I love rabbits.",you state honestly while giving Usa-chans stuffed hand a shake. Honeys eyes widen and his smile falls to a face of amazement. You turn to the music room door and Mori smiles down at you, without your knowledge, and opens the door for you.
Stepping into the room you're immediately greeted by the pale blonde haired prince,"Why hello! You must be the lovely hero who saved mommy!"
You blink back while awkwardly holding out your hand.
Who saved what now?
"U-Um—you must be Tamaki.",you drop your hand to your side and smile awkwardly at him. Reaching up you rub the nape of your neck,"Its nice to finally meet you, Haruhi talks about you quite a lot." Tamaki nearly passes out when you say this.
You notice Tamaki has frozen and has a cheesy lovesick expression on his features so you nod once and walk past him, unsure of what to do. You then are approached by a pair of red head twins, they wear green caps,"Well look who it is, the mysterious (Y/N)." Hikaru grins at you while bending down to meet your eye level with his twin.
Kaoru and him circle you with raised brows,"Wanna play a game?"
You smile at the twins and recognize the green hats from a game Haruhi told you about. You laugh quietly and shake your head, you point to Kaoru,"You must be Kaoru and you must be Hikaru." They are both surprised when you point each one of them out correctly, your smile warm and humored.
Then you hear that familiar voice,"If you are all done overwhelming (Y/N) I need to have a word with her." You walk towards Kyoya, a clipboard in his hand. He pushes up a new pair of glasses on his upturned nose. You're surprised to notice he looks as good as new.
The host club surrounds Kyoya and all eyes are on you. You feel uneasy and cross your arms loosely over your chest, yet you remain polite and kind,"Well its nice to see you're okay. I'm sorry about whatever happened to you."
Kyoya nods,"Thank you for your help. It was much appreciated.",his glasses glint as he glances down at the clipboard before looking back to you. That look was one Haruhi told you about and it automatically makes your brows pinch together.
"I hope you haven't told anyone about the incident. It'd be very bad for my family and possibly worse for you.",his voice is threatening and you scoff.
This asshole.
He opens his mouth to speak once more but you put your hand up, his eyes narrow ever so slightly when you do this. The other hosts look between the two of you.
Your entire demeanor seems to have shifted,"I have not told anyone. I am not a monster and you clearly wanted it to be a secret. To be honest I've wiped it away for both of our sakes."
Your once sweet tone and warm smile have left. Your eyes are narrowed and challenging, lips pulled into a thin line. You step up to Kyoya,"You have some audacity to threaten me. I may not use it as much as you do but my family name holds just as much power as yours."
The boys are surprised to their own degrees and hide it in different ways. Your neck is craned up to look at Kyoya,"I am glad you're okay but do not speak down to me. And do not threaten me." With a soft huff you step back and look to the other hosts. Your entire demeanor shifts once more and you smile warmly at them,"It was nice meeting you all but I'm starving. See you later!"
You wave to the hosts and with that you leave the music room, your head held high.
Kyoya watches you leave with a completely expressionless face. Hikaru whistles loudly,"Well she must be blood type AB too."
☔︎︎
You were no longer looking forward to this dinner. After what Kyoya pulled in the music room you were off put by him. Annoyed and irritated he would even try to threaten you. Not just because he had the audacity to threaten you but because he did it in front of others.
You hated confrontation but definitely not when it came to those with superiority complexes.
"Knock knock.",you turn from your vanity at the familiar voice and you gasp.
"Eiji!",you shout while standing up and running to your older brother. His arms wrap around you and you embrace him with a wide smile on your lips,"I missed you and your ugly face..."
He chuckles and releases you from the embrace,"Shut up goody-two shoes." You gently punch his shoulder and smile up at him.
You adored your older brother more than anything. And it was rare he came by considering his feelings towards your parents were just the same. Not to mention another factor both of you refused to speak about. Nevertheless you missed him and was so glad to see him.
"Aimi and Tatsuo told me to call for you.",he refers to your parents by their first names,"The Ootori's are arriving."
You nod with a heavy sigh,"Okay, thanks. I'll be down there soon." With that your brother smiles at you and walks out of your room. You walk over to your full length mirror and sigh, looking over your attire with a tight jaw. You hear the sound of heels clicking against the hardwood floor and chills run up your spine.
"Eiji came to call for you, why are you not downstairs?",you turn at the sound of your mothers voice. She stands prim and proper in one of her finer dresses, the long black dress hugs her curves and small waist. She tilts her head, her perfect hair doesn't have a strand out of place.
The coldness in her eyes is what you always manage to notice first.
"I was making sure I was presentable.",you state plainly and your mother walks towards you. Her manicured fingers gently lift your chin and she seems to inspect you. Her eyes are as judgmental as they are void of love.
Her eyes narrow slightly,"Take off that lipstick, you look like a prostitute." With that she turns and walks out of the room, her chin held high and heels clicking against the floor. You inhale deeply and turn to look at yourself in the mirror. You swallow hard and think about how you and her were wearing the exact same lipstick.
With a pained heart you walk over to your vanity and wipe away the crimson red lipstick, tossing away the thing entirely before you head out.
Walking down the long steps you stand with your family by the door. Your father turns to you and his eyes look over your physical appearance. He feels satisfied and the door open.
The Ootori family walks in and you all begin to exchanged formalities.
Kyoya watches as you shake the hands of his relatives, his sister unfortunately unable to make it. Then he feels his fathers hand on his shoulder and he is led to you,"Kyoya this is (Y/N)." Your eyes are slightly narrowed yet you obviously hold onto your civility.
Holding out your hand Kyoya takes it and shakes it firmly,"It's a pleasure to meet you, madam." You nod and smile falsely, returning the formality.
Both families are led to the dining room by the butler. Sitting down you are displeased when Kyoya is ordered to sit by you. But with your parents watchful eyes you remain polite and cordial.
Food dishes are placed in front of you and a smile spreads across your lips at the delightful scent of spices. Glancing to Kyoya you can't help but notice the way he inhales deeply and a small smile tugs at his lips.
You put aside your first judgement and exhale softly,"I take it you like the dish?" Kyoya turns to you a bit surprised and he nods while pushing up his glasses. He can't help but notice how beautiful you are.
"Yes, it smells delectable and I do enjoy spicy dishes.",he states with a slight tilt of his head. You hum out and smile with a gentle nudge.
"I suggested the dish, its one of my favorites, I happen to love spicy food as well. I hope you enjoy it."
With that you turn and begin to eat the delectable dish. Kyoya can't help but look at you for a few moments. Looking back to the dish he begins to eat accordingly. He is surprised by how truly delicious it is. A soft hum of satisfaction leaves his lips.
Kyoya had heard of you. His family knowing yours for a while yet never met you. But he had seen you with Haruhi around school, you never saw him. He had to admit he was interested in you due to your title. Sure you were beautiful beyond belief but he wasn't one to care about looks.
He cared about power. And your family had quite a lot of it.
But after the scene you pulled earlier he felt his interest and curiosity heighten and in a different way.
For once he wasn't sure what way that was.
After a while of eating and small talk between families Kyoya turns to you.
"Its pleasant to know you're a good judge of dishes.",Kyoya comments while picking up the glass of wine. You look to him and tilt your head slightly,"I'm a good judge of most things."
Kyoyas eyes narrow slightly and he smiles lightly,"Such as?" You could've sworn you saw something twinkle behind those oval-rimmed glasses of his. You grin slyly and look down to pick up your wine glass.
"Music, dance, food, people.",you smile softly and take a drink from the glass,"Just to name a few."
Kyoya places down his glass after taking a sip. He quirks a brow, his smooth voice curious,"A good judge of people? I would hardly call that something impressive." You raise your brow at him and cock your head.
"My judgement of character has always been spot on. I take pride in giving people the benefit of the doubt, but I am always right about their character.",you claim. Kyoya sees this as quite a bold thing for you to say, and quite naive.
Kyoya believed people always chose who they wanted to portray out to the world. No one could ever truly know who another person was, not unless they were completely and utterly vulnerable. But no human being would be so vulnerable. So he found your claim ridiculous yet he couldn't help his interest.
"Humor me...what kind of character am I then?"
His eyes glimmer with a bit of challenge at your ridiculous statement. But yours glimmer just the same and you smile softly. Opening your mouth to speak you're cut when the sound of silver clinking against glass sounds out.
You and Kyoya look to see both of your fathers standing up.
You wonder what the announcement will be. You look to your brother and notice he was looking at you and Kyoya. He's quick to look away with a jutting jaw.
"Thank you for coming to this dinner, Yoshio and I have been in business for quite a while now. And we've both decided to bring the families together in a new way.",your father announces with a wide smile while pulling something out of his jacket pocket.
Kyoyas brows pinch together before he realizes what he means. Something that was discussed a few months before.
Yoshio wears a soft grin as well,"My second youngest, Akito, and Tatsuo's youngest, (Y/N), are to be wed after her graduation."
Your heart stops in your chest as both men pull out small velvet boxes. Akito stands slowly and smiles as those at the table applaud with gasps and congratulations. The maids and chefs also applaud as they come out.
His father discussed it with all of them while looking at potential brides for Akito, but Kyoya found it strange there was no wedding interview.
But by the surprised look on your face he knew why.
Your father didn't even tell you.
Kyoya watched as your chest rose and fell rapidly. Before he knew it your eyes rolled back and you fell off your chair, unconscious.