Red Strings ¦¦ Chishiya Shuntarou x OC

Twenty-Fourth String

[My King]: Have fun at your reunion tonight.

-

For the first time in a long while, Kurenai was alone for the night.

Ever since he started going out with Toshiaki officially, Aoi had not been coming to her apartment as often. She was happy to know that he was happy (and that he was no longer sleeping on her sofa), but Kurenai never thought she would miss seeing her brother so much.

And for the past few nights, Chishiya had been far too busy with his own work. While he was now officially working as a doctor, he was just an intern. He still had more to learn and exams to study for. Kurenai was understanding, but she could not help missing him although it had only been less than a week since they last saw each other.

Still, with Ayako around for those few nights without Chishiya, it was manageable for Kurenai. Except, even Ayako had plans to visit her own family for the night. She thought of tagging along but it seemed a little awkward for her to barge into their family dinner even though Ayako said it was fine.

Even Kuina was too busy to reply to her messages.

Left alone for the night, there was only one thing left for Kurenai.

A high school reunion that Kurenai had never attended once since her graduation.

If this was half a year ago, Kurenai would have preferred staying home alone to meeting up with those so-called classmates of hers. Now that she had grown accustomed to company, she dreaded the idea of being in the penthouse all by herself so much that a reunion sounded like a good idea.

Wearing a simple fitting red dress, Kurenai paired it with a trench coat and her favourite pair of Louboutin heels. As much as she hated her classmates, she still had to look good. Especially since they were all judgy bitches.

Arriving at the hotel where the reunion was held, Kurenai signed her name on the guest book outside the banquet hall before walking in.

The hall was extravagantly and unnecessarily decorated for a class reunion. Then again, a school for children of the richest and most powerful, what else would you expect?

As soon as she entered, Kurenai was offered a drink and she grabbed the red wine without hesitation. If she were to get through the night, she definitely needed a drink. And she was about to need an entire bottle of wine, maybe two, when she turned to see the first person who called out to her.

"My, my. Look what the cat dragged in."

Sasaki Hina was wearing a black dress with black heels, and had her hair up in a ponytail. Her makeup was bold too, like always, with her bright red lips literally popping.

Although Kurenai had a smile on her face, she was silently cursing. Hina was her, what others would call, arch enemy. The Sasaki Family was not as prominent as the Chuya, not as rich nor as powerful. But Hina saw Kurenai as a rival for some reason. Everything they did, it was made into a competition by her.

When Kurenai grew her hair long, Hina would get extensions so she had longer and thicker hair. When Kurenai wore red lipstick once, Hina made it so that red lipsticks were her thing. When Kurenai was dating the most popular boy in school, Hina went around telling everyone that she was dating a university student.

Kurenai never understood where the rivalry stemmed from, nor did she have the energy and time to compete with Hina in every way. Although, she did have her fun toying with her just by putting a little more effort into some activities and winning.

"Good Lord, Sasaki Hina. Look at you." Putting on a smile as fake as Hina's, Kurenai walked up to the woman. "Still loving that Ronald McDonald's look, huh?"

"Still a loner I see."

The two women went silent, smiling at the other but at the same time, glaring daggers. If looks could kill, they would have been dead about a million times each.

"Hey babe, your wine." A very familiar man approached Hina, handing her a glass of wine. Hina smirked, taking the glass from the man and hooked her arms around his, ensuring that he made eye contact with Kurenai. "Ku-Kurenai?"

"It's been a while, Kyou."

Miyamoto Kyou, one of Japan's most popular supermodels. He made his debut at sixteen, and by eighteen, he was invited to participate in the Milan Fashion Week. Since then, he had been the face of many well-known brands, and was one of the most sought after models internationally.

More significantly, however, he was Kurenai's boyfriend before Chishiya. Albeit, for less than a year.

Hina was obviously enjoying the situation, gloating that she was dating Kurenai's ex-boyfriend. Not that she was bothered by the fact, to be honest. Kurenai was the one who dumped Kyou, after all. Though, she could not help but wonder if Hina was dating him simply because she wanted to spite Kurenai.

"How um...how have you been?" Kyou asked.

"I've been very well. Seems like you're doing pretty well yourself," Kurenai said, glancing to Hina. "I thought this was our class' reunion though? Pretty sure you didn't go to our school. And you're younger than us, aren't you?"

"Did you not see on the invitation?" Hina interrupted, her grip on Kyou even tighter than before. "We're allowed plus ones. Or...could it be, you have no one to bring? Oh, but didn't your father set you up with the Morita boy? You could have brought him."

"I have a boyfriend, if you must know. And no, it's not Morita Ichiro."

"So where is this boyfriend?"

"At work."

It was obvious that Hina did not believe Kurenai by the smile she was giving her. Not that Kurenai would concern herself with proving to Hina, however.

Fortunately, Kurenai was taken away by other classmates who were astonished to see her appearance at the reunion. Many of them seemed to have mellowed out and matured over the years, unlike Sasaki Hina. And surprisingly, Kurenai enjoyed herself a lot more than she thought she would.

-

[My King]: How's your reunion?

[My Queen]: Better than I thought.

[My King]: Are you heading home soon?

[My Queen]: Yeah, it's about to end. We're just saying goodbye.

-

"Would you like a ride home, Kurenai?" Hina asked, coming up to her with a smug smile. "You know, Kyou would never let me go home alone even if he doesn't attend a party with me. Especially in the rain."

"No thanks," Kurenai replied. "I have my driver."

"Kurenai."

Kurenai's eyes widened a little at the voice. She looked over Hina's shoulder to see Chishiya waving at her. She was definitely not expecting to see him here. Running over to him, Kurenai threw her arms around his neck and greeted him with a kiss.

"You...kiss your driver?" Hina frowned.

"He's my boyfriend," Kurenai said. "What are you doing here?"

"To pick you up. I sent Hanzo home. I haven't seen you in a few days, I thought you'd be missing me a little too much."

"You're the one who missed me."

The moment they were together, it was as if they were the only two people in the world. Chishiya opened the umbrella he brought with him, and Kurenai clung onto his arm. With her head on his shoulder, they were leaving the hotel without saying goodbye to anyone else.

It irked Hina to see Kurenai so genuinely happy.