Unstoppable Force, Immovable Object [K.O] [Chapter 2]
Tags: Enemies to lovers, slow burn,
Pairing: Kyoya Ootori x Reader
Description: For reasons you don’t care to express, you find yourself in need of sanctuary. It’s a shame you have to share that sanctuary with Kyoya Ootori, of all people.
A/N: yknow how i said 'no other fics until my race fic is done' well i fucking lied i guess (do not judge me it's been SO long and i just need to write and feel something). iiiii feel as if the 'reader' persona is nowhere NEAR as vague as it should be but i hope you're able to project anyways. also ooOOooOO we're getting lore now babyyyy
Taglist: @shawkneecaps @katiebug0603 @kisskissshutmydoor @sukuna5slut
Working at the Host Club wasn’t too bad, all things considered.
Despite only being Vice President, Kyoya ran a very tight ship. He’d ordered, in no uncertain terms, that your lunch hours and free periods would be spent running errands for the club, and even though he had made a point of sharing your work number with the entire club, he still insisted on you being present in the club room in case they needed to talk to you directly. No hiding away in any broom closets or spare rooms. Honestly, you thought he was just trying to make your life hell. Well – he and everyone else in the club, it seemed.
The twins, true to their word on that first fateful day, had taken you as their new plaything. While Haruhi was without a doubt their favourite toy, you were certainly the toy they liked to abuse the most. They had spent the previous week making you miserable. They had a talent for twisting a situation until you didn’t know which way was up and which was down; for example, only the first day after you’d been hired, they had you fetch about ten multipacks of gum. You’d had questions, of course - was this much gum really necessary? – but they waved you off.
“Don’t ask us,” the twins had shrugged, “Kyoya-sempai thinks having a bad-boy character in the club will bring in more guests. So we’re trying to fit the bill!”
You’d frowned at the time – it did sound like the kind of fan-service weirdness the Host Club was known to pull, but on Kyoya’s orders? It was possible, you’d supposed, but it felt odd, even for him.
Kyoya’d caught your eyes – when had you turned to look at him? Even now, you still asked the question – and, with a flat look, gestured vaguely around the room. Well?, those pompous eyes said. You’d grit your teeth. Fuck Kyoya, you had thought. If he wants ten stupid multipacks of gum, then he was going to get it. You’d get that little trust fund baby the best fucking gum he’d ever seen in his life.
You had then spent the rest of your night holed up in your room, attempting to cut out the bits of chewed-up gum that had ‘accidentally’ gotten stuck in your hair. It was a wonder how it got there, since you hadn’t even seen the Hitachiins chewing anything – surprise, the “bad boy” thing was a lie, why did you ever come to this stupid place? You thought you’d done a good job at cutting out the chunks without the rest of your hair looking uneven, until Kyoya got a look at you and gave you that look – the Ootori stare, some students called it. You called it the asshole-eyes. He bent at the waist, the picture of elegance, and held an irritating little cowlick you couldn’t manage to flatten between his thumb and forefinger. He raised his eyebrow, only a few inches away from you, and you had to force your hands to fist against your uniform to keep you from punching him or – something.
“Find a hat from the dressing room.” Kyoya had said. He’d smelled like purposefully unscented soap – sterile, chemical, no-nonsense. You held his gaze. Fought a shiver. “And find an actual stylist the next time you come here.”
You were going to kill him.
Thankfully, the rest of the Hitachiin’s games felt like standard schoolyard bullying – confusing you as to who was Kaoru and who was Hikaru, making up club rules and coming up with stupid errands for you to run – there was one especially bad incident where they’d told you it was perfectly fine to use Kyoya’s laptop to print off your club to-do list.
It had not been fine.
You sighed as you made your way back to the club room from the seventh grocery store Kyoya sent you to, your arms laden high with bursting paper bags. Kyoya. You had no idea what the Shadow King thought of you – whether he hated you or simply found you amusing, you had no clue. He seemed to be testing you, seeing how much you could take before you snapped. Well, you were afraid you’d have to disappoint him – the club may have been hell, but it was better than spending your free time at home. Besides, Haruhi was pleasant enough to talk to, and Hani was sweet enough. Mori was strange, but he wasn’t annoying, nor did he seem to outright hate you.
Still, you couldn’t help but feel a little jab in your stomach whenever Kyoya simply ignored all the tricks the twins played on you. You knew he wasn’t your friend, but hadn’t he been the one to get you your job here? Had he really seen something in you, or had he just wanted to spite you, the way a child might roast an ant with a magnifying glass and then walk away? You shook your head. You didn’t need to worry about some smug second-year. You just needed to worry about doing your tasks, that was all.
You tried to sneak through the club doors as quietly as you could, so as not to disturb the club members as they prepared for their clients. It did not work.
“Kyoya-sempai!” The twins hollered in delight. “Your project’s back!”
“I thought I told you not to distract our hosts?” Kyoya sighed, not bothering to glance up from his laptop.
“How is that my fault?” You snapped – you shouldn’t have, you really shouldn’t have, but you were sweaty and tired and god you hated this place. “I didn’t even do anything!”
“Oh, my apologies.” Kyoya hummed absently. “By the way, I’ll need you to pick up the new costumes for our next theme day.”
Hani-sempai frowned around his piece of cake.
“We’re having another theme day?”
Kyoya smiled at you politely.
“We are now.”
You fought the urge to throw a jar of instant coffee at him.
“Oh, [Y/N] dear!” Tamaki called from the couch was lounging on. “A cup of tea before club hours start, if you please?”
You forced on a smile and tipped forward in a small bow.
“Any particular flavour in mind, Suoh-sempai?
“Hmm...” Tamaki hummed, tapping his chin. “Rose tea, I think! Perfect for a delicate flower like moi.”
You were going to get wrinkles, holding smiles like this.
“Of course, Suoh-sempai.”
Hikaru rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers with a petty smirk.
“Fetch Kaoru and I some African black tea, too, doggy.”
“Of course, Hitachiin-kun.” You sighed, doing your best to ignore your new, unfortunate nickname. You made your way to the snack table and began busying yourself with the various kettles and jars of loose-leaf tea. You shot a quick glance over your shoulder – Kyoya was tapping away at his laptop, the twins playing some video game together, and everyone else seemed to be busying themselves with club activities. Slowly, carefully, you fished your phone out of your pocket and popped your earbuds into your ears. You moved to the same rhythm as the music, trying not to make your swaying and toe-tapping too obvious as you got the cups ready. You were just getting a tray for the cups when a finger hooked around each of your earbud wires, tugging them out of your ears.
“Oh, doggy,” Hikaru tutted condescendingly. “Slacking off on the job?”
“That’s not very nice.” Kaoru sighed. “What are we going to do with you?”
“We knew you hadn’t been at Ouran Academy very long, but we thought you knew some manners.” They finished in unison. You growled and made to snatch your earbuds out of their hands, but they easily side-stepped, tugging on the wire and pulling your phone out of your pocket.
“Hey!” You cried. The twins grinned wickedly, Kaoru tossing his earbud to Hikaru and allowing him to snatch your phone from the floor. “Give that back!”
“Sorry, we can’t hear you!” Hikaru smiled, tossing your phone across the club room and into Kaoru’s waiting hand.
“Your music’s playing too loud!”
“I said, give it back!”
“What was that?” Kaoru giggled as he raced to the other end of the room. He pitched the phone across the room, practically giving you a heart attack. You ran to catch it, your fingertips grazing over the earphone wire when Hikaru jumped up and snatched it from over your head.
“We don’t speak dog!”
“Guys, give it a rest!” Haruhi jumped to their feet with a piercing glare.
“C’mon, Haruhi, we’re just having fun!” Hikaru laughed as he leaped onto a couch and hurled your phone to his twin, the two of them cackling in delight when they saw you skid in the opposite direction.
“They did promise to be quiet and respectful!”
“We’re just making sure they do their job right!”
“Both of you, stop!” Tamaki snapped. “This is not how hosts behave!”
“Sorry, boss, but club hours don’t start for ten minutes!”
“Hika-chan, Kao-chan, stop being mean!” Hani whined.
“We’re not the mean ones!”
“That’s enough!” Mori snarled, hoisting Hikaru over his shoulder with ease.
Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a flash of grey metal.
“Mori-sempai, wait-!”
Your phone collided into the floor with a sharp smash.
The silence of the room was deafening. Haruhi had both of their hands slapped over their mouth in horror, and Hani looked close to tears. Everyone else simply stared in shock. You took a quivering breath, taking shaky steps towards your shattered phone despite the heavy weight in your stomach.
“[Y/N]...” Kaoru murmured. "We didn't... I mean, you can probably replace-"
“What the fuck is your problem?!” You snapped, the force of your yell echoing throughout the room. The club stared at you in shock – you had always been rough around the edges, but you’d never actually sworn in front of them, nor had you lost your temper so fervently. Hikaru, who had somehow made his way out of Mori’s grip, at least had the decency to avert his gaze.
“It’s not like we tried to-!“
“What did I ever do to you?!” You yelled. “Seriously, what?! Tell me! What did I do to have you hate me so much?! What, is it because I’m foreign?! Because I don’t want to be a host, because I don’t have as much money as you?! Tell me what I fucking did and I’ll apologize for it, I just don’t-!” Your voice cracked. You heard something splash on the floor, and it was then you realized you were crying. You screwed your eyes shut as humiliation over took you, scrubbing your face harshly with your uniform sleeves. “I just don’t know why you have to treat me like this. I know I’m just your – dog, or whatever but I don’t-“ You let out a broken hiccup as more tears began to stream. “If this is how you’re gonna treat me, I’m better off being at home!”
The club members blanched, exchanging confused glances and concerned looks.
“[Y/N]-chan...” Hani whispered. “[Y/N]-chan, please don’t cry...”
“No!” You snapped. “No, just – fuck you guys. Fuck you guys, I’m not-!” You took a heavy, shaking breath, and turned to face Kyoya. He was standing now, staring straight at you. You took sick satisfaction in the way his eyes were ever so slightly widened behind his glasses. You were officially important enough for the Shadow King. Yippee-ka-fucking-yay.
“I quit.” Your voice was numb, barely recognizable. “Call your lawyers on me, I don’t give a shit. I’m going.”
You left the music room before any more tears threatened to fall, the ringing in your ears muffling any desperate calls of your name. Then again, it was probably just your imagination.
---
The trek home was difficult, to say the least. You’d told your driver you’d be staying late with the host club, meaning he wouldn’t be back for hours, and you did not intend on waiting around in the cold for someone to take pity on you. It was pathetic. You weren’t a dog. You weren’t a dog.
So, you walked. If you weren’t so tired, you might’ve questioned how slinking around the streets and avoiding people’s concerned looks at your tear-stained face was any less pitiful than the alternative. At least you could focus on your steps instead of wallowing in your own misery, you supposed.
By the time you reached home, the sun was beginning to set. The soles of your feet felt as if they were splitting down the middle, and your forehead was slick with sweat, matting your hair to your skin. As you stumbled your way up the driveway, you could see your driver, Masao, pause with one hand over the car door handle, looking at you the way one might look at – well. A stray dog.
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” You said before he could open his mouth. Masao wasn’t a friend, by any means, and you doubted he had any intention of comforting you, but since he was the servant you spent the most time with, you supposed he must’ve felt that it was his duty to check on your mood. It was an annoying trait about him, sure, but you at least valued that he did genuinely care about your wellbeing, even if it was only a little.
Masao nodded and let you pass, and you only hoped he wouldn’t report anything unusual to your parents. While you appreciated Masao’s concern, you could still find it annoying. Especially when he involved your parents on things that weren’t their business.
As you entered the house – the word ‘mansion’ was probably more accurate, but the sheer brattiness of the word sat uncomfortably on your tongue – you could feel your spine grow rigid at the tension in the air. Your mother sat, poised to perfection, at the coffee table in front of the large French windows, embroidering a circle of shiny fabric with careful precision.
“You walked home.” She didn’t phrase it like a question, and did not once looking up from her work.
“Yes.” You said around your clenched jaw.
“I thought you were enjoying that club of yours.”
You forced your face to remain still.
“I am. It’s fun.”
“And yet you left early.”
“I’d finished all my work and the Hitachiin twins were bugging me.” You said, a half-truth. “So I decided against sticking around.”
“You could’ve told Hideo.”
“I didn’t want to tell Hideo.” You snapped, against your better judgement, and winced regretfully. Your mother sighed and set down her embroidery, but still did not look at you.
“[Y/N], Hideo is a kind man. He is patient and understanding and you are beyond lucky that we found such a good match for you.”
You rolled your eyes, forcing yourself not to point out that they didn’t exactly pick pure-bred Hideo for his patience, did they?
“You said I had a choice.”
“Of course you have a choice.” She sighed, irritated, as if you were a poorly trained animal pulling on its leash. “But you are going to have to marry someone, and Hideo is not going to wait around forever.”
“Oh well, sucks to be Hideo!”
“That is enough!” Her voice rose just shy of a yell. She stopped herself, her whole body freezing and retracting back into its elegant poise, and picked up her embroidery again, returning to the perfect model of the upper class housewife.
“As I said,” her voice had returned to its lilting monotony, “Hideo will not wait around forever. I understand that you are independent, but you must marry someone, and Hideo is-“
“Why? Why do I have to marry someone?”
“Because, dear-“
“Because of social standing and connections and whatever, but what if I don’t need those?”
A derivative scoff broke your mother’s elegant façade.
“And how do you expect to succeed your father’s company without the proper connections?”
You gritted your teeth. Your ribs felt like they were rattling with each furious breath.
“Maybe," you growled, "I won’t be working for dad’s company.”
Your mother’s needle slipped, tearing through the fabric like paper.
“Go to your room.” She said icily. “Now.”
“You can’t just force me to-!”
“Now!”
You shoved your growl down into your throat and stormed into your room. Slamming the door was childish and petty, yes, but listening to the undignified clang of wood and metal ring out against your oh so perfect house was beyond satisfying. Your muscles twitched and tightened with the urge to kick and scream and punch the wall until the world became fair, but-
But.
You forced a heavy breath through your teeth. Your fists clenched once, twice, and relaxed. Sleep. You needed to sleep. Everything was just – too much, right now. You couldn’t deal with it. You shouldn’t have to deal with it. It wasn’t fair.
You flopped onto your bed with a heavy sigh. The sheets were silky and slippery, cold against your skin. You’d tried buying your own sheets, but your mother had merely tutted and told you they ‘weren’t appropriate’. You didn’t see the reason why you couldn’t decide on what was appropriate for your own room. It was yours. Mother dearest controlled your house, and your school, and your future, but couldn’t you control your room? Apparently not.
You reached for your phone, ready to scroll to the nearest ‘white noise’ video you could find on YouTube, before remembering the entire... Debacle at the host club. You groaned and reached for your laptop. Best to keep that one a secret until your mother was a little less pissed at you.
The moment you opened your laptop, a notification pinged. Facebook, it seemed. You frowned; you rarely used Facebook unless it was to comment something on a relative’s birthday post, and you could count the number of Facebook friends you had on one hand. So who was messaging you?
Ouran Highschool Host Club (Official) has sent a message.
Ah. Of course.
You rolled your eyes and clicked onto the message tab, expecting some vague threat about the consequences of quitting. You could manage that. It wasn’t like Ootori’s family would let their youngest son waste money and reputation on a bullshit court case.
Ouran Highschool Host Club (Official): This is Ootori Kyoya. Meet me in room D-4 tomorrow during the lunch hour to discuss today’s incident.
There it was, the vague threat. Perhaps you should make bingo cards about all of Kyoya’s annoying traits. You began typing your own message, one not nearly as polite, saying that if Ootori thought you’d come into D-4 on your hands and knees, begging for forgiveness, he could go ahead and shove his ego up his-
Ouran Highschool Host Club (Official): I shouldn’t have let it get so out of hand. As vice president, it was unprofessional of me.
Your fingers hovered over the keys. That was... Unexpected. It wasn’t an apology – Kyoya Ootori never apologized – but... It was dangerously close, let’s say.
You flailed at your trackpad and closed the tab, forcing yourself not to look at it any longer, and opened YouTube. Sleep, that was the important thing. You were mentally and physically exhausted, you had absolutely no energy to think about weird, cryptic Kyoya and his pseudo-apologetic messages. You found some lo-fi rain sounds video and placed your laptop on your nightstand, forcing yourself to turn over and stare at the wall. After the seventh time you looked back at the laptop screen, definitely not hoping for another message from Kyoya, you forced a shut-down and shoved it under your bed.
It was safe to say you did not sleep well for the rest of the night.
100 notes
·
View notes
(WRITING ITCHES feat. me wanting to write something Simple god damn it, i wanna do the Idyllic Shit not figuring out yet again the intricacies of another AU as much as i do love this isekai sylvie au but rippy not the point)
.
.
.
“Sylvia.”
“Yes?”
Lillia just stares at the simmering pot on the stove. It’s an innocuous brown, the steam scented a bit like a vanilla latte - though with a very, very strong bitterness, the kind that comes from brewing a coffee-like drink for hours.
(They say patience is a virtue, and your virtues are very notably in excess.)
In response to her meaningful staring, you smile at her - and keep smiling at her. You give the pot the occasional stir as well, though without looking. It should be fine - this low-stakes game of angel statues can’t last forever. And besides, you made sure that the coffee grounds, cinnamon power, and the crushed remains of around two hundred caffeine pills were all properly dissolved once added. Cooking can be wild, but sometimes, it needs to be meticulous.
The blonde folds her arms as the silence stretches on. Once, though, she gets the message that you’re not going to budge and give into her best attempt so far at neutral displeasure, she unfolds her arms and sighs. It is a very long, very heavy, very tired and very irritated sigh. Out of boundless optimism, of course, you also see it as a mark of her pure and kind concern.
“I loathe to begin this nonsense with you again,” she starts, looking regretful of her choice to get up as opposed to staying asleep on such a nice morning - “But I think I have no choice but to keep drilling this in until it finally sticks and you stop making these stupid concoctions of yours.”
“Concoctions?” You blink, then giggle. Lillia loves her fancy language! It makes you think of your father, and how fancily he sometimes spoke. “It’s just my morning coffee, though.”
“I doubt humans brew their coffee with the exotic ingredients you prefer to add in.”
“Good thing that I’m not human, yes?”
“Not fully.” A pause. “You might be more inhuman than human, but even the inhuman have their limits and weaknesses.”
“I’m quite aware of that.” You hum the words, light and sweet in tone. Were you someone else, those might be fighting words - but how could you argue back? Those are logical words. Facts that you accept as much as the concept of gravity and the importance of good morality. So you can’t and don’t feel angry.
And your best friend knows it, of course. “Can you not at least test it before drinking it?”
“And subject just anyone to a possible death? No.” You frown.
Lillia responds with a bigger frown of her own. As well as a creased forehead and an eyelid that might just start twitching, depending on what you say next. “If you know that your creation can cause some form of important organ failure, then perhaps, it might just be common sense that no one should ingest it?”
“Beings across the universe differ by magnitudes.” Wow, that came out much fancier than you intended to! It feels like you’re quoting someone. Are you? Maybe. You do and did know enough personalities that could espouse such wise words. “---And I am quite unique, as an existence. It should be fine.”
Your friend looks awfully, awfully done with you. “Should be? More hopefully, rather! Just because you are an almost baffling mixture of fae and nephilim with your grandfather’s immortal genetics does not exempt you from permanent nor painful death. It is sure to happen some day, Sylvia.”
She huffs. “I would rather not like it to be over another one of your ridiculous attempts at making a caffeinated drink to stay awake at night.”
You just giggle. What a wonderful friend you have! “I understand. But with my work, I really do need something that will keep me awake.”
“Then ask me and I will figure it out for you.” Lillia eyes the kitchen counters near to the stove. Covering almost every available surface is a mess born of a few spilled paper bags and clear mason jars. Mundane things to expect in a kitchen - like spices and herbs - as well as not so mundane things - like the raw roots of a genuine mandrake, chopped belladonna, and a mortar bowl filled with half-crushed coal - are also present.
Predictably, Lillia makes a face. “I regret teaching you alchemy.”
“But it’s fun, like cooking! I love cooking.”
The blonde’s face becomes even sourer. “Even past the grave, your aunt continues to be a problem.”
“Don’t say that about her.” Although you know that the words aren’t malicious - not the deep kind, at least - it never bodes well to insult your family, ever. But your friend is your friend and she knows, because she was there, always, even as a wary spirit who fooled you into thinking she was an imaginary construct. So your words, while just the tiniest bit edged, are as harmless as you are outside of your work.
Either way, Lillia has your full permission to look as miffed as she does, folding her arms again. You take the opportunity to check your coffee, finally - the simmering has moved into the boiling stage, which isn’t too bad to leave it at for a while, but you don’t know when it started boiling to begin with. And though you could care less on whether coffee blend no. something turns out to be another one of your killer blends, literally, you did just assure your best friend that you wouldn’t be so reckless with your life.
---For now. You will always be reckless, and with the number of times this exact conversation has happened, Lillia knows it too. She just wants you to rein it in and balance out your lifestyle from your tendencies.
Truly, you have the bestest friend ever!
“Your aunt is the reason you love to cook as much as you do,” Lillia points out, in a disinterested way. Better than blithely disapproving, though. “And she is also the reason why you now have an almost impossible tolerance to caffeine. It makes me wonder whether she ever thought about the consequences.”
“Probably not.” Auntie May was a very smart person, but she was also much more human than you are. She can’t foresee and figure out everything. “Even you didn’t realize that my weekly cups of milk tea would lead to a high tolerance for caffeine.”
“Well, no.” Her tone is dry. “But I did think your aunt brewing a generous amount of tea grounds for over an hour was bizarre.”
“I always thought that was the secret to good tea.” You sigh with fond nostalgia. As a child, you loved to watch your aunt in the kitchen. “Milk tea does taste better when made with a strong tea, anyway.”
“And look where that has brought us,” she mutters, before shaking her head. A curl of her wavy hair comes loose, so she tucks it back behind her ear. “She should have served something milder - not the tea she makes to give herself insomnia.”
“Oh, but technically, she didn’t.” On weekend mornings, she would make you a hot cup of milk tea to go with breakfast. For herself, she would have the plainest, darkest, strongest cup of tea she could make. It just so happened that the brew for both came from the same batch - with a copious amount of milk and sugar added to your cup, after the tea was poured.
For your sharp observation skills, Lillia rolls her eyes and turns off the gas. “You know what I mean. Now drink only a little of this atrocious poison you must have made before having a full cup of it.”
“Alright.” You grab your choice of ceramic - a rather childish-looking, glittering mug shaped into a white and purple unicorn; Lillia had been so exasperated when you brought it home from a random thrift shop you stopped at along the way - as well as a small sieve, just in case you didn’t actually dissolve everything you mixed in. It’s probable, with the coal. “How much is a ‘little’ in this case?”
Your friend replies with a mere snap of her fingers, and summons your everyday eyedropper. The answer is very little, then. Not an unexpected answer though, so you take the dropper without complaints, watching as she turns on her heels and opens a nearby cabinet. As she rummages through it, you idly consider - not for the last time, and this has always been such a silly thought - what would happen if you used the eyedropper as an actual eyedropper. Would it be harmless? A weirdly effective way to have your coffee? Or would you just burn your eyes out?
You stop wondering when the blonde sets a medicine box - one among a dozen scattered around the apartment - on the nearest available surface. She glances between you, the dropper and the pot of coffee for a quiet second.
Then, “No, Sylvia.”
“I was just considering it---”
“No.” The syllable is so flat. “We are not having this conversation either.”
(Curiosity isn’t a virtue - but sometimes, you have that in excess too, unfortunately.)
1 note
·
View note