Lonely Souls

The building itself was beautiful and very modern. It was one of the most expensive buildings in all of Japan. But what else was I expecting. These were rich people. Kyoya stood next to me and offered his arm. I took it without hesitation as I continued to marvel at the building.
Inside the building we were met by a woman in a black dress and she had a clipboard in her hand. Mr. Oturi with his wife on his arm gave the woman an invitation. “Welcome, Oturi-sama. Your wife, your sons are on the list. And who is your guest?”
I answered for him. “I am Hiskoka Akiyama. Owner of Akiyama Tatemono Construction.”
“A pleasure to meet you, ma’am. Please have a good time.”
And with that she passed us through. Fuyumi and her husband were right behind us, showing her their invitation. As we entered the ballroom, Kyoya leaned into me and whispered in my ear, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Yes, you do. My father does not like when people answer things when he should. Just keep your mouth shut around him, unless the question is spoken directly to you.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and he smirked. Immediately, I began to blush and looked down. It seemed to me that his favorite thing to do was make me feel humiliated. And for some reason that smirk always did it to me. “Come, Hisoka-chan. We better go sit with everyone else.”
I nodded and he led me to a table where Kyoya’s family was sitting. I wasn’t ready to sit down, yet. Not until dinner was to be served. I placed my purse on my seat and folded my wrap and placed in on the seat as well. “Kyoya-kun, would you like to go walking with me?”
“Of course.”
And with that we began walking around the room. Many people were already there. Every once in a while I could feel eyes on me. Those eyes didn’t belong to my companion next to me. It made me feel extremely uncomfortable. Though I did occasionally feel Kyoya’s gaze upon me. But his gaze didn’t make me feel uncomfortable. They rather made me feel safe.
“Ah, Kyoya-san! Who is this lovely creature on your arm?”
A young man about our age came up to us. From the sound of his voice, he was Italian. “Hisoka-chan, this is Mario di Pasqua. Pasqua-san, this is Hisoka Akiyama.”
He took my hand and kissed it. “Ciao, Hisoka-san.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He looked up at me and seemed slightly upset based upon my reaction. Which was virtually none. “Akiyama? Why does the name sound familiar?”
“Probably because of the Akiyama Tatemono Construction company.”
“Yes, that is where I’ve heard it before. I’d love to speak with your father about a contract for one my clubs.”
I stiffened a bit at the mention of my father. Kyoya must have sensed my slight distress because he placed his hand on my back reassuringly. I took a deep breath. “I’m afraid that my father is incapable of handling your proposition. I--”
“Ah. So your father just owns the company and lets someone else do all the deals. Then may I speak to them?”
“You are speaking to her. You are also speaking to the owner.”
He looked at me funny. Then he broke down laughing. “No, no, no! A little girl like you? Running a multi-billion company?! I must have misheard you!”
“You did not. I am. I have been for the last 4 months. And in case you haven’t noticed my company has flourished under me.”
“Please! A woman, least of all a young girl, can’t run a large company.”
“If you insist upon insulting me, then we have nothing more to discuss. Good evening.”
Kyoya and I began to walk away. A stopped a few moments later and looked over my shoulder at the Italian. “Now, sir, you will understand that from this point forward your family’s company will never have anything to do with mine.”
“Nor the Oturi family’s.”
I looked up at Kyoya in surprise. Could he actually do that? And with that he led me away. From behind us, I heard cussing in Italian and Pasqua yelled, “You arrogant little bitch!”
I turned around to face him. His face was full of rage and headed for us. “What are you, Oturi? This bitch’s lapdog?!”
“Hardly. We merely have a mutually beneficial business partnership. Not to mention that Hisoka-chan in my best friend.”
Pasqua turned his attention towards me. “How dare you deny a man!”
Ahh. Typical Italian male superiority complex. (A/N: I’M SORRY IF IM INSULTING ANYONE WHO IS ITALIAN. I JUST NEEDED A REASON FOR HIM TO SAY THAT. STEREOTYPES ARE HELPFUL THAT WAY.) “You’re not a man. You’re simply an arrogant spoilt boy. I will not deal in business with a mere child. And I know what a man is. My best friend is one.”
At this point everyone around us was watching, waiting for how Pasqua would react to that. “Why you insolent--“
He raised his hand to me. I turned my head slightly, bracing for the impact. I would not back down like a coward. I waited for the impact, but it never came. I looked up and saw that Kyoya had Pasqua’s hand in a tight grip as he pulled him by the front of his shirt. “Now, that is no way to treat a lady.”
Several guards came our way. Kyoya pushed Pasqua towards them. “Could you gentlemen please remove this unsightly piece of garbage?”
“Of course, sir.”
And with that they dragged Pasqua way. Kyoya turned towards me and I saw something in his eyes I don’t think I had ever seen before: worry. “Hisoka-chan, are you alright?”
“Yes, Kyoya-kun. I’m fine.”
I looked around. People were staring and I looked down slightly ashamed. Kyoya noticed and cleared his throat. People immediately went back to whatever they were doing.
Kyoya offered me his hand again and I took it. He led us back to the table where his sister and her husband had joined us. I greeted everyone and Kyoya pulled out my seat like a gentlemen and I smiled at him as I sat down. But he didn’t return my smile. The moment we were seated, dinner was served. It was actually one of my favorites: Kobi steak and red vinegar wine glazed vegetables.
As we began to eat, Kyoya looked at me and said, “Hisoka-chan, why did you have to do that? If I wasn’t there to stop him, he would have hit you.”
“But you were there Kyoya-kun. Besides I can take care of myself.”
“Why do you have to confront everyone? You could have stopped while you were ahead. But instead you caused that entire scene.”
“He was disrespectful. I was simply answering his questions. He was the one who was taking it too far.”
Kyoya pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and sighed annoyed. *pulsing anime vein* “You are impossible.”
I tapped my finger in mock deep thought. “Let’s see. How do I respond to that? Oh, that’s it!” I looked at him in the eye as I placed my hands in my lap. “Bite me.”
Mrs. Oturi choked a little on her drink but besides that, no one else reacted to my comment. Mr. Oturi just studied his son and I from behind the glare of his glasses. As I was finishing up my meal, several business men came up to me and propositioned me about potential contracts regarding my company. And they all complemented me on how I kept my ground when Pasqua confronted me. Whenever these men complimented me, I could have sworn Kyoya was rolling his eyes.
Finally, I couldn’t take Kyoya’s eye rolling anymore and went off on my own. Then I was tapped on the shoulder and my eyes grew large. “Hello, little Hissy. You’ve grown into quite a lovely lady.”
“What are you doing here, Kurosawa-me?”
“Funny, I could ask you the same thing.”
Sadao Kurosawa. (PICTURE IS ON MY QUOTEV ACCOUNT. SORRY GUYS. BUT LOOK TO AUTHOR'S NOTE TO LINK.) I hated this man. He used to co-own the company I now run. But my father threw him out when he caught Sadao stealing from the company. But the final link was severed when he began to touch me when I was 13. He didn’t get any further than ‘accidental’ touches to my chest and butt. And he’d say things to me, that no grown man should ever say to a girl. Being in the same room as him made me feel like a little girl all over again.
“I’m here on business.”
“Well, as it happened to be, so am I. I now run a small tunneling business. Now tell me, where is your father? I’d like to see him and apologize.”
“Out of all the people here, I would have assumed you would have been screaming in joy.”
He gave me a weird look. I was actually going to have to say it. “My father, my mother, and my little brother were killed. I now own the company.”
He bowed slightly. “My condolences. If there is anything you ever need, please just tell me.”
He reached out to touch me, but I pulled away. “What is it, Hisoka?”
“You do not get to call me by my first name. Only Akiyama-san. And you know why I won’t let you touch me. You’re nothing but a filthy pedophile.”
I turned away and quickly weaved my way through the crowd. Just as I was about to feel better, someone from behind me spoke up. “May I have this dance, Hisoka-san.”
Jumping slightly, I saw that it was just Akito. I was going to deny him but I saw Sadao out of the corner of my eye. Instead I nodded my head and gave him my hand. Akito whisked me off and onto the dance floor. He placed both of my hands on his shoulders and he put his hands on my hips. I didn’t like the intimate position he had put me in, so I grabbed his hand like I would if we were to do ballroom dancing.
He was resistant at first but allowed me when he saw how uncomfortable it made me. We danced for a couple of songs until he traded me off to another dance partner without my permission. This one was an older man but he kept his distance. He didn’t crowd me and didn’t look at me the same way that many other men on the dance floor were looking at me. I danced for probably about an hour. Hour and a half.
Finally, my feet were hurting. I bowed to my dance partner and headed for the balcony. It was nice and cool out here. I looked around for a place to sit. The only place to sit was a spot marked by shadows. Just as I was about to sit down, someone grabbed me and pushed me up against a wall.
I tried to scream, I really did. But they cover my mouth with their hand. I began to struggle and they stopped me by pressing the length of their body against my smaller one. “You are weak, Hisoka-chan. This is what can happen to you.”
I looked up to see a pair of glasses glaring the dark. Kyoya? “What will happen to you if I’m not there to save you, huh? If I were anyone else, I could anything to you. No one would hear you scream. I’m stronger and faster than you. You can’t get away. I could do anything I wanted with you. I could hurt you. I could kill you. I could rape you.”
I was scared. That was a fact. But I wasn’t terrified. If I was terrified, I’d probably be peeing myself. No. I felt something else instead. I just wasn’t sure what that was.
As my struggles began to subside, Kyoya removed his hand from my mouth. But he still pinned me to the wall with his lower body and grabbed both my wrists and pinned them to the wall above us. “Hisoka-chan, are you scared?”
“Y-yes. But I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be. You can’t be certain that I won’t do anything to you.”
“I know you won’t. At least, not to me. I know you would never hurt me.”
“How can you be certain of that? I have thrown away people I’ve known much longer than I’ve known you.”
“True. But I’m the only one, who’s as lonely as you are. You may not think it, but I know who really are.”
He looked at me slightly amused. “Oh, and how do you know know that this isn’t really me?”
For emphasis, he tightened his grip on my wrists and pressed closer to me. His face was only inches from mine now. I swallowed. “Because if you really were like that, you would have done something to me already.”
He blinked and his grip on me loosened but he was still inches away from me. “I’m not scared of you. I never will. You’re not a pervert. You’re not a pedophile. I’m scared senseless by those men. You will never be like that.”
He thought for a moment and stepped away from me, letting completely go of my wrists. I rubbed my wrists and he wouldn’t look at me. “You’re my best friend, Hisoka-chan. I don’t ever want to see you hurt.”
I hugged him. “I know. And I never will as long as I have my best friend there for me.”
He hugged me back. We ended up standing there like that for a minute or two. I ended up listening to heartbeat. It was strong and seemed to spike slightly when I took a deep breath. I sighed in slight disappointment when he let me go. “We should probably get back, Kyoya-kun.”
“Yes. But first, will you join me for a dance.”
“Sure.”
Kyoya led me back into the building and onto the dance floor. A nice, slow song began and we danced around the floor. The entire time, Kyoya kept his hand on my waist and not any lower. Nor did he try to look down my dress like one man tried to while I danced with him.
As we went around the floor, I started getting tired. Just as the song ended, I tripped and nearly took Kyoya down with me. But he reacted quickly and it ended up with him above me holding my waist, us doing a dip. He pulled me up quickly and I blushed looking up at him. “Thanks.”
“Well, I believe it is time for us to take you home.”
I nodded my head and we headed back to the table to retrieve my things. The rest of Kyoya’s family was already there, waiting for us to go. A few minutes later we were back in the limo. Kyoya was once again sitting next to me. But this time, I leaned into him and rested my head on his shoulder. He didn’t try pushing me away. Nor did he try pulling away.
It turned out that Kyoya was a nice, warm pillow. The car ride back home was silent, the movements of the car lulling me to sleep. Just as I was about to fall asleep entirely, Kyoya jostled me. “Hisoka-chan, we’ve arrived.”
“Oh!” I got out of the car with the help of Kyoya. “Thank you, Kyoya-kun. Tonight was wonderful. Thanks for asking me to come.”
His smile was the only response I needed. He shut the door and they drove off. I sighed and began the great trek up the stairs to the apartment. I was exhausted. I opened the door and then locked it behind me. I quickly undressed and changed into my pjs. I had to get rest or else I will never survive the interrogation tomorrow from Ojisan and Haruhi.