DISCE, OHSHC.

⁺ ♡ like a damsel at midnight

"Keiji, I have a great idea."

He smiled at you lazily. "You always have great ideas."

"Don't patronize me. I'm serious this time. It'll actually help you."

He picked up your hands and started tracing circles into your palm. "Alright. I'm listening."

"You remember the annual art gala my parents host every year, right? They love having someone younger deliver a speech at the end of the dinner to get everyone's energy up before the judging. You should write something for it. I bet my parents would love to have you. It'd be a great chance to get some exposure."

He was quiet for a long moment. Long enough for you to start doubting yourself. Maybe you had come on too strong.

But you wanted to encourage him. You loved the way his eyes lit up, the smile that creased his cheeks when you applauded and told him how great he was. He knew how to command attention and move a room with his words. It seemed like a shame that you were his only audience.

"Do you really think I could do that?" he asked finally.

"It wouldn't be too much of a big deal," you said. "An event, but a pretty small one, considering. We could put it together once vacation is over. It doesn't have to be anything grand." It was the first time you were making plans beyond the vacation. Acknowledging that there could be an after to this vacation. That things could still go on once you left Malta.

"But half the fun is in making it grand," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Then you can make it as grand as you want," you said, kissing him.

He kissed you back, and you took that to mean that he had agreed.

You refused to look in Keiji's direction again. All the same, his presence burned a hole in your periphery. You were keenly aware of him. You could almost hear him speaking, even though he was sitting a few tables away. Everything seemed sharper now that Keiji was here and not in the blurry fog of your Malta memories.

He was here. In Japan. At your parents' gala. You had invited him yes, but that had been before. Why would he show up now? That meant he'd been planning all this time. He'd talked to your parents and they hadn't said a word to you. Wouldn't it also mean—

You stomped on Tamaki's foot, and he hissed in pain.

"What is this?"

"What are you talking about?" he said, bringing up his foot. "What is what?"

"This was your idea, wasn't it? Getting Keiji to come here to give the speech? You and Kyoya probably cooked it up to help me with my heartbreak treatment or something stupid like that."

Tamaki looked hurt, and not just because of his foot. "We didn't have anything to do with this. We were just as surprised to see Keiji here as you were."

"We didn't even have any way of approaching Keiji," Kyoya said. "It's likely your parents had this planned in advance."

"Yeah, behind my back," you muttered darkly, stabbing your fork into your food.

"That's cold," Hikaru said. "Imagine inviting your kid's ex as the speaker at your art gala."

"They probably didn't do it to hurt you," Honey said. "Keiji just must be a really great speaker!"

You scowled because Honey was right. Keiji was a great speaker. If you had still been together, he probably would have spent the past few weeks going over his speech with you. You would've had it memorized nearly as well as he did, murmuring it under your breath when he was up at the podium.