The Day After

I woke up to the blinding sunlight bleeding through the thin curtains of my small studio apartment. When I tried to move my arm. A warm weight stopped my arm when I tried to move. 

I looked to my side; Reina was still sleeping besides me, her head leading on my shoulders, and her hair was a tangled mess across my chest.

As I tried to reach my phone at the edge of the bed, the memory of yesterday suddenly came crashing back to me – the anger, the dishevelled crying, and how Reina clutched me just outside of my apartment door, like I was the only thing keeping her grounded.

But what stuck with me the most was the taste of her mouth on mine, the way she parted my lips just to deepen the kiss. It all felt too surreal.

If you told my past self that I would end up making out with the “ice princess” in my bed,  I would’ve called you crazy, understandably so. We started out as fierce rivals, yet somehow ended up being lovers…

In the middle of reminiscing, I finally looked at the time on my phone…

9:34 AM.

My heart sank. How did I not realise sooner?!

“Wake up, Reina!" I said, trying to shake her awake, my heart thumping inside my chest like a trapped bird.

“…Noooo,” she whined softly, nuzzling deeper into my chest and burying her face in the crook of my neck. “Let’s just stay like this for a while, Kaito.”

As much as I found this clingy, half-awake version of Reina absolutely adorable, I just can’t let the both of us be this late. “It’s past nine o’clock! We’re late! So please wake up, Reina!

Something about her hearing the word late must’ve activated something in her, because she immediately got up in an absolute panic state…

“What!? ” she shrieked, stumbling off the bed and going straight for her purse that was still on the floor from last night. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? ”

She dug into her bag, pulled out her phone and immediately started dialling a number. "Mother, it’s me. I’m so sorry… I lost track of time; we just woke up and—"

She suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence; her face looked grim. She’s probably getting an ear full from her mother right now… And by the looks of it, I’m up next on the chopping block.

A few moments later, Reina placed her phone on the bed while I was still aggressively fixing my bedhead in the mirror. “Mother, you’re on speaker now…” Reina whispered, her face unreadable.

A smooth voice echoed out through the speaker of Reina’s phone, “Kaito, Reina, there’s no need to rush; I’ve already called the academy hours ago.”

I froze… She did what now?

'What do you mean, Mother? "Reina stepped closer to the phone, our eyes locked instinctively out of bewilderment. “Are you not sending my driver to pick us up?"

“I told the academy that you two were sick and wouldn't be able to attend today’s classes…”

Reina picked up the phone, pacing around my tiny apartment in circles. “Why? We could’ve rushed to class! Sure, we would’ve been late, but…”

I heard a sigh coming from the other end. "I know you are both exhausted. Stay where you are and just rest for today."

Reina’s shoulders dropped, the panic finally fading away. "Right... Thank you, Mother."

"Now, would you go over the phone to your boyfriend? I'd like a quick word with him."

Reina caught her breath, opening her mouth as if she were about to say something, but she fell silent and just handed me the phone.

“Kaito! ~ How are things with my daughter? I’m guessing you two have made up now? ”

I shot a desperate glance at Reina, silently pleading for help, but she looked down and shook her head in disapproval. Looks like I’m alone on this one.

“Y-yes, Miss Kujo. Reina and I have sorted things out..."

"Wonderful! Now if I may ask, what did you two... do last night, exactly?"

"N-nothing really; we... just talked," I said, scratching the back of my neck out of awkwardness.

"Oho?~ Must've been an interesting conversation, because if I recall properly, I called Reina's phone more than fifteen times last night.~"

Now that she mentioned it, I did recall a faint buzzing noise coming from her purse... But we were so distracted by each other that it went unnoticed. I turned towards Reina, whose face was already burning a bright, scarlet red.

"It's not like I'm not allowing you two to have fun; you’re young after all, but did you at least use protecti—"

Reina lunged forward, snatching the phone from my hands. "W-we didn't do anything like that, Mother!"

"Oh, Honey, I can tell that the both of you are lying. ~ But don't worry, your secret is safe with me. ~"

"Thank you, Mother, for excusing us. I'm hanging up now!" Without waiting for a response, Reina immediately ended the call. She pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a stressed breath as she looked in my direction. “You... You couldn’t have sounded more guilty, Kaito...”

“It’s not like I could’ve told her exactly what we did," I whispered, crossing my arms and looking away. “Besides, we are kind of guilty...”

Reina flushed even deeper. “Y-yes, but now she thinks that we went all the way.”

“But we didn't, though! ”

Reina sighed. “She’s not going to believe a word we say, but fine... I’ll try to talk to her later –"

Before she could finish, her phone blared to life again. It was Miss Kujo...

"What is it now?" Reina said angrily, her finger just millimetres away from the end-call button. “If you’re going to tease us again, I’ll just drop the call.”

“No wait! This is important." Her mother’s voice lost all of its playful tone, turning dead serious. "I forgot to tell you this but... Your father found out that I snuck you outside the estate last night."

Silence filled the whole room, and even on the other end, it felt suffocating. Reina’s face turned completely pale. "D-didn't you say that you'd explain everything?" she said, her voice cracking slightly.

"Yes, I did... but he didn’t take a liking to my reasoning.”

“W-what now? ” Reina asked, holding her breath.

“He wants Kaito to come to the estate for dinner... tonight.”

“Tonight?! But wasn’t he in Europe for a meeting with another company? ”

“He rescheduled everything, just so he could talk to the both of you.”

Reina gulped, “I understand. Thank you for informing us, Mother.” she mumbled, her hands shaking as she hung up the phone.

I stared at her in absolute shock, unable to even mutter a single word.

She slowly approached me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Kaito. It’ll probably be fine.”

I finally snapped out of the terrified daze. “Probably? Reina, it sounds like I’m being called out to the gallows. Are you sure? ”

“Yeah... I’ll be there to help you," she said, with what looked like a reassuring smirk, but to me it felt anything but ‘reassuring’. “My father is a bit particular about appearances, though. We need to go out and buy you a nice suit for tonight.”

“Good idea," I replied, grabbing a shirt from my wardrobe. “Let’s go now.”

I was headed for the door when Reina suddenly grabbed my sleeve. “Hey Kaito? Can I... Can I borrow some of your clothes? ” she whispered; her voice sounded small even in my cramped studio apartment.

“Why? Your uniform looks fine.”

“You dummy,” she said, lightly punching my arm. “If people noticed a student wearing Seiryu Academy’s uniform outside during class hours, it would be worse than any rumour."

“Right... Let me find something for you real quick," I said, retreating back into my wardrobe. But while I was digging for some somewhat presentable-looking clothing, my phone rang on the bed.

I set down a small pile of clothing on the bed, letting Reina pick what she wants to wear before grabbing my phone to check who was calling me...

It was my mother.

I took a deep breath before answering, placing my phone to my ear. “Yes, Mum? It’s unusual for you to call at this time.”

“Kaito! "My mother's voice burst through the speaker, overflowing with frantic anxiety. 'The Academy called your father earlier and told him that you were sick! Why didn't you call me? What's wrong?!'"

"Mum, calm down; I'm fine," I quickly lied, rubbing my forehead. "It's just... a minor fever. Nothing serious at all, I swear."

“You need to take better care of yourself! You can’t always study day and night! "She let out a stressed sigh. "I'm packing a bag right now. I'm going to your apartment to take care of you."

"Wait—no! Mum, don't do that!" I panicked, my eyes shooting over to Reina, who was watching me intently. "It's an hours-long trip, and you have work! I'm really okay, I promise. I can take care of myself!"

"You always say that, but you have no one there to look after you when you're sick!" my mum insisted, her tone resolute. "You're probably lying in bed with no food—"

Reina stepped out in front of me, gesturing for me to put the phone on speaker. When I hesitated, she reached out and gently plucked the phone from my hand and placed it on speaker herself.

"Excuse me, Mrs Akizuki?" Reina spoke smoothly into the mic.

There was a sudden, heavy silence on the other end of the line. "W-who... who is this?" my mother asked, her frantic tone instantly dropping into utter confusion.

"My name is Reina Kujo; I’m Kaito’s classmate," she introduced, keeping her voice level like an aristocrat. “Please don’t worry, Kaito is fine, and I’m currently taking care of him in his apartment. So there's really no need for you to travel all the way here."

I stared at Reina with my mouth hung wide open. Taking care of me?!

"Oh? Reina Kujo?" my mother repeated, her tone dripping with amusement. "Kaito, you sneaky boy... having a girl take care of you when you’re sick?"

My blood ran cold. "Mum, don't—"

"So that's why you didn’t sound sick!" she teased, her laugh ringing clearly through the receiver. "It turns out my Kaito is being pampered by a sweet girl! No wonder you recovered so quickly!"

"M-Mrs Akizuki, it’s not quite like—" Reina tried to stumble through an explanation as a bright, furious blush exploded across her cheeks.

"Oh, sorry, dear. How rude of me to not introduce myself," my mum cut in playfully, clearly enjoying every second of this. "I am Akari Akizuki, Kaito’s mum. I hope he isn’t much of a hassle to deal with.~”

“I-It’s no big deal,” Reina stammered, trying to regain her composure, "though Kaito does get a bit whiny when he’s under the weather.”

"Oh, that’s normal for him; there was this one time when—"

"Mum! Stop it!" I yelled, snatching the phone back from Reina, whose face was now practically glowing red. "She's just helping out! I'm hanging up now!"

"Alright, alright! Reina dear, thank you so much for taking care of my stubborn Kaito!" my mother cooed with a final chuckle before the line finally went dead.

I shoved my phone into my pocket, my face burning just as hot as Reina's. I looked at her, entirely speechless. "So... have you picked what you’re wearing?"

Y-yes," she mumbled, looking anywhere in the room except at me, desperately trying to pull her formal facade back together as she exchanged her blazer for a dark grey sweater from the pile of clothes on the bed with trembling hands.

The sweater was a bit small on me, so I rarely wore it, but it looked surprisingly good on Reina. It wasn't so baggy that she looked swallowed up, yet long enough to comfortably cover her uniform skirt. She carefully adjusted the collar and cuffs of her silk blouse so they peeked stylishly out from under the sweater.

“You’re staring...” she murmured, catching my eye.

I forcefully tore my gaze away, rubbing the back of my neck. “Sorry. It’s just... You look really nice, even if it’s my old sweater."

Reina took a deep, steadying breath, forcefully shaking off the lingering embarrassment. “L-let’s just go, Kaito. We need to get you looking presentable for tonight.”