Queen Of Cards || Akashi Seijuro x OC

Chapter 9

Airi's eyes fluttered open, taking a moment to adjust to dark room. A slight weight was resting atop her stomach, warming her like a heat pack. Turning her head slightly, she nearly shrieked when she saw what she thought was an angel. Rubbing her eyes in disbelief, she blinked and looked again.

"....Akashi?"

The memories of yesterday came flooding back into her mind. Her senpais and Akashi had went on a movie marathon after her monologue on her gambling methods and Eikichi had fallen asleep on her couch. They watched several Marvel movies until around 1am. Airi felt her face burn up at the realisation that Akashi was currently fast asleep next to her, with his arm wrapped around her waist. She didn't need to remember the weird feeling she felt when Akashi had pulled her closer and fell asleep with her in his arms.

She felt it now.

Scrambling to release herself from his grip, he stirred a little, causing her to freeze up a little and proceed more carefully. Glancing at her clock, it read 6am. Curse her stupid automatic wakeup skill.

Exiting her bedroom and closing the door with great care, she headed to the living room, where her three senpais were surprisingly awake. The smell of pancakes wafted to her, making her smile.

"Good morning, Ri-chan."

"Morning Reo-nee, Eikichi-senpai, Kotaro-senpai."

Reo handed her a plate of pancakes, drizzled in maple syrup and topped with bananas. Sitting at the dining table, she dug in to Reo's delicious food.

"So... what did you and Akashi get up to last night?" Kotaro asked, a shit eating grin on his face. Catching her offguard, she choked on her food. The weird feeling she got when she thought about their close proximity made her flush a deep shade of red.

"N-nothing. W-we just slept."

Eikichi let out a hearty laugh whereas Kotaro and Reo were miserably failing to hide their laughter.

"Ok Ri-chan. Whatever you say~"

"They're already growing up!" Reo-sobbed dramatically, placing his arm on Eikichi's shoulder. After a few moments of the trio laughing at Airi, they settled down a little.

"Why are you awake so early, senpais?"

"Well, Ri-chan. Our class got punished and have to clean up our building because someone," Eikichi glared at Kotaro, "talked back to the principal."

"It was his fault!"

"He told you to take your feet off the desk!"

"Well, we're off! Thanks for letting us stay over." Reo-nee quickly interjected, shoving the noisy, arguing duo out of the door. They had graciously saved 3 pancakes for Akashi, who was yet to wake. Deciding to practice some piano, Airi headed towards her study room, only to see the door already slightly ajar.

Cautiously, she opened it, only to be met with the sight of Akashi flipping through her books next to her bookshelf.

"Akashi-kun?"

"Good morning."

"Good morning."

"Your piano... it's a Steinway, right? Baby grand."

"Mhm."

"It's quite rare. Impressive."

"Thank you. It was my 9th birthday present."

Akashi returned the book he was holding to it's proper place, running his fingers along the white piano keys. He noted that it was in mint condition, along with most of Airi's belongings. Everything was minimalistic and tidy, from her bookshelf to her desk, and it was all a shade of grey and nearly organised.

"You take care of it well."

"Of course."

Airi felt her heart beat faster as Akashi looked around her study room. Did he like it? No. Why would he? More importantly, why did she care?

"I'll take my leave now. Your hospitality was appreciated."

Airi, for some odd reason, didn't want him to leave. She wanted so desperately to tell him to stay, to talk to her more, to spend time with her. But before she even moved a muscle, she heard the main door close with a soft click.

An indescribable feeling filled her, and it hurt. Airi couldn't explain it, she didn't know what it was. All she knew was that her chest felt tight and she wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. She knew that somehow, Akashi did this to her. What witchcraft did he use? Did he put something on her?

Running to the bathroom, she stared at the mirror only to find no oddities. Only seeing her pink eyes stare back at her, she dismissed the possibility of it being something Akashi casted on her. Sniffing the air, she didn't smell anything weird. After a while the weird feeling subsided so she reluctantly dismissed it. 

Airi's ringtone pierced through her thoughts. Without glancing at the caller ID, she answered it.

"Moshi moshi?"

"It's been a while, Airi."

Airi almost dropped her phone in surprise. 

"Hai, Kirari-san."

~

Tokyo's streets were as busy as ever. It took almost 3 hours for Airi to arrive, but she managed to be in their meeting place before noon. The rich, Japanese style restaurant was alive with people wearing suits and expensive dresses.

"I'm part of the Momobami group reservation at 12pm."

"Right this way, Yunabami-sama."

The waiter led her to the VIP room. Airi had changed into one of her more richer dresses, a pink, ankle length ballgown with a one shoulder top. Upon entering, she noted that all of the Momobami Clan children were already present, with Kirari at the head and Ririka seated on her right. Nobody would dare to arrive late if Kirari had requested it, even though it had yet to turn 11:50.

"Yo Airi."

Her obnoxious and loud cousin, Obami Ibara, waved to her, shoving the empty chair back to allow her to sit.

"Welcome, Airi."

"Thank you, Kirari-san."

Airi was on edge. This was no happy family gathering, nor was Kirari's welcome a warm and friendly one.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I summoned you here today. Next term, I will be holding an election at Hyakkao Private Academy for the seat of student council president."

Why would students from other schools attend Hyakkao to win the president seat? Something was terribly wrong.

"The winner of the elections will be the new head of the Momobami Clan."