~Settle~

Kofuyu said goodbye to Haruhi and then rushed to her front door. When they first arrived, Kofuyu had spotted both of her parents sitting in a car in the apartment complex's parking lot. She knew it was only a matter of seconds before they spotted her and caught up to her.

"Kofuyu? Is everything alright?" Haruhi was very confused.

"Kofuyu! We've been waiting for you!" Her mother shouted from the car.

"Uhm, it's fine, Haruhi, just don't talk to them." Kofuyu nodded at the couple walking towards her.

"We wanted to catch up with you and talk to you about something important, but Tomiko said we should wait until you're home," her mother rolled her eyes when she said her sister's name.

"Did she say to wait in the parking lot like some creeps or wait until a later time?" Kofuyu spoke flatly. She shooed Haruhi off, so she wouldn't have to deal with Kofuyu's parents.

Kofuyu turned her back to her parents and started unlocking the front door. She knew her parents were watching her, and that made her move quicker. After everything that had happened that day, she just wanted to lay in bed and nap.

"Can we come in?"

"No. I don't feel comfortable letting two strangers in when my legal guardian is not home," Kofuyu spoke coldly.

"You can't talk to me like that," her mother grunted. Kofuyu ignored her. She stepped into the apartment and closed the door quickly. She made sure it was locked tightly and ignored the knocks all the way to her bedroom.

~~~

Kofuyu woke up to a soft knock. The only reason why this knock woke her up was because it was on her bedroom door. She had been lying in bed, reading a book. She didn't even realize she was falling asleep. Tomiko sat on the edge of Kofuyu's bed and rubbed her arm.

"Hey, Beanie," said Tomiko in a gentle voice. "Your parents are in the living room. Did you make them wait outside?"

"Didn't wanna talk to them when you weren't here," answered Kofuyu. The sleepiness was clear in her tone.

"That's okay. Did you want to talk to them now? I don't think they'll leave until you do." Kofuyu nodded then sat up. She stretched her arms over her head. Tomiko returned to the living room, and a few seconds later, Kofuyu followed. Her mom and dad sat on the couch. Her mother looked happy to see her, but her father just frowned.

"What do you want to talk about?" Kofuyu got straight to the point. Her eyes moved between the two adults, but her emotionless expression never changed.

"We want to get to know you! You've changed a lot since the last time we saw you," the Mother spoke, and oddly enough, she sounded proud.

"That's because I was five."

"So, you're in a private school? Through a scholarship? That's such an accomplishment," answered her mother.

"Yup. I couldn't have done it without my Aunt Tomiko." The bitterness was clear in Kofuyu's tone. Her father scoffed and shook his head, but none of the women responded to him. Seeing her parents again brought out a childish side within Kofuyu. She knew she was being petty, but she couldn't bring her to be nicer to the pair. "Now, what did you really come here for? I have things to do."

"We wanted to talk to you because, well," Kofuyu's mother paused and looked at her husband with a grin. The man's frown broke for a second. "We're having another kid. Kofuyu, you're going to be a big sister." Tomiko started to choke on the glass of water she was drinking.

"Well, I hope you're better parents to that kid than you were with me."

"We want to settle down. We want a family, and we want you to be part of it," her father finally said something.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm not interested," answered Kofuyu. Anger and jealousy bubbled within her.

They were willing to settle down for this child but not for her. They wanted to keep traveling and partying when they had her. Now that her mother is pregnant again, they want to settle down, get a house and have that family lifestyle. They didn't do that for her. Instead, her mother left Kofuyu with her sister and never came back. Was she not good enough? Why didn't they care about her?

The phone rang, and Kofuyu rushed towards it. She didn't want to spend any more time around her parents, and she took the opportunity to leave. Kofuyu picked up the phone and answered with a shakey voice. "H-Hello?"

"Kofuyu, is everything alright?"

"Oh, Kyoya. Yeah, it's fine, it's not a big deal." She faced the wall instead of the room to ignore her mother's curious expression.

"I tried calling you earlier, but no one answered. I was starting to get worried," stated Kyoya.

"Yeah, sorry. Give me a minute," Kofuyu answered quickly. She turned back towards the room and held the phone against her chest. She spoke to her parents and to Tomiko. "Since we're done 'catching up', I'll be going back to my room. You two should leave."

She went into her room again with the phone in her hand. She could hear Tomiko talking to the adults, but Kofuyu didn't care enough to listen to what was being said. Kofuyu sat on her bed with her back against the headboard then placed the phone back against her ear.

"I went to my room because my parents were knocking on the door, and I didn't want to speak to them. I ended up falling asleep," explained Kofuyu. She tucked her legs under the blankets and waited for Kyoya to reply.

"You know, I wouldn't mind getting you a cellphone. It would make things more convenient," offered Kyoya.

"What? No. That's not necessary," Kofuyu declined. "How... what did your dad say?" She was quieter now.

There was a quiet pause, and Kofuyu could hear Tomiko yell: "No I won't get her! She said she doesn't want to talk to you, and that's her decision!" Thankfully, it wasn't loud enough for Kyoya to hear over the phone.

"He's unhappy. I won't tell you what exactly was said, but he thinks our relationship is a bad idea. However, he doesn't know anything about you," Kyoya sighed.

"But, he doesn't want to meet me, right? Because I don't think I can handle that." Kofuyu rubbed her eyes with her free hand.

"No, no." Kyoya added, "He said that would be a waste of time. You don't have to worry about it, Kofuyu." They sat in silence for a few seconds.

Both wanted to say so much more, but they were both tired. Each of the pair was struggling with their own family drama and didn't want to burden the other with their own problems. They were both too independent and restrained to see that they needed each other.

"The whole school is going to know now," Kofuyu pointed out.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they already did," mumbled Kyoya.

"Is it going to cause a lot of problems?"

"Nothing the host club can't handle."

"Are you upset with me?" Kofuyu didn't know what made her say that. She wasn't thinking before she spoke, and now that she said it, she wished she could take it back.

"You've done nothing wrong. Don't doubt yourself."

~~~

After a few more minutes, the two hung up. Kyoya continued to hold onto his phone, processing everything that had happened. He set his phone down on the pear-shaped coffee table. He leaned back against the sofa.

"A lower-class citizen, Kyoya? How shameful."

"Don't be stupid. She's only using you for our money."

"She loves the money. Not you."

Kyoya knew everything his father said was wrong. He had no doubt that Kofuyu wasn't interested in the Ootori's fortune. There were so many other richer people she could have gone for. Plus, they didn't exactly start off friendly when they first met.

"How are you feeling?" A voice interrupted his train of thought. He looked over to the source to see his sister.

"When did you get here? Can't you knock?" Kyoya's words sounded harsh, but his tone was neutral.

"I heard Dad knows about your girlfriend. I know how tough he can be, so I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine. It doesn't matter what he says. It won't change anything."

"And what about her?"

"She was well aware of the things he'd say. However, I didn't tell her his exact words, she knows."

"No, I mean, is she feeling okay?" Fuyumi asked. She stepped further into the room and sat beside her younger brother.

"She's dealing with her own problems."

"What kind of problems?" His sister continued to pry.

"I'm not sure," answered Kyoya. He knew it had to deal with her parents, but he didn't know the whole situation. He resorted to not telling his sister that for Kofuyu's privacy sake.

"Ahh, Kyoya," complained Fuyumi. "If she's your girlfriend, and she's going through problems, you're supposed to be there for each other, comfort each other, or try to make it at least a little bit better. That's the kind of thing that girlfriends like."

"You've never even met her. How could you possibly know that?" Kyoya scoffed. Fuyumi raised her eyebrows, and Kyoya rolled his eyes. He didn't know if what she was saying was right or not, but he knew it was worth a shot.

"I can give you a ride~" Fuyumi sang. She already knew what her brother was thinking. "And, I won't tell Mom and Dad."

"Okay. Let's go."