[fic] MEGA-crossover - Jinchi High School 3/?
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Hyde slipped his house key out of his pocket as he climbed the stairs to his new apartment. With a sigh he turned it in the lock and stepped inside. His head was down as he closed it behind him and pulled off his shoes. The new apartment was fairly nice, but it was small. Much smaller than all the places he’d lived in before. His Dad, however, had assured him that their current accommodations were only temporary, and so much of their belongings remained unpacked and stacked in cardboard boxes around the space.
The boy looked up, flicking his hair out of his eyes, and then freezing mid-step. The boxes were gone…
He cautiously took another step forward into the main living area of the apartment, his eyes scanning the room with wary confusion.
The place was completely empty. Completely.
No boxes, no furniture… Nothing. Just air, and a bit of dust floating in the sunlight by the window.
“What’s going on?…” Hyde whispered to himself.
Had they been robbed? Or had he accidentally gone into the wrong apartment somehow?
He pondered this for a moment before his eyes landed on a piece of paper, tacked to the far wall. He made to step forward curiously until he heard the front door open behind him. “Dad!” He whipped around, but froze when he found an older man in a suit standing in the entranceway.
“Hideto Takarai?” The man queried.
Hyde looked the elderly man over with suspicion. “…Who are you?”
The man smiled and clasped his white-gloved hands behind his back as he stepped closer to the dark-haired boy. “I’m your father’s head butler.”
Hyde frowned. “We don’t have a butler…”
The old man chuckled good-naturedly. His smile was one that was almost sympathetic, in a way one would look if they felt sorry for a cute child that didn’t understand something. “I know you’re confused, Takarai-sama, but if you’ll just come with me then your father will explain everything.”
“You want me to go somewhere with you?” Hyde looked incredulous. “You’re crazy! I don’t even know who you really are, not to mention how you even got in here! I might not be the smartest guy in the world, but I’m not stupid enough to go running off with the first old guy to claim he works for my dad.”
“Young master, I’m sorry if I’m… Uh, ‘freaking you out’… but I really am telling the truth. Your… father… was going to take you himself but he was needed out of the country on a business call. It was rather last minute, but he said he’d leave you a message of some kind as reassurance… Now, I don’t know where--…” He trailed off, peering around the empty room.
“A message?” Hyde’s eyes widened and he turned around to eye the paper tacked by the entrance to the apartment’s kitchen. He hurried over and pulled it off the wall as he began to read it.
A moment passed before Hyde turned back to face the old man in the entranceway. The note was from his dad. Nobody could forge his dad’s chicken-scratch handwriting.
There was a pause as the butler eyed him expectantly.
“… You’re Suzuki-san?”
The old man smiled. “I am.”
Hyde paused again, glancing down at the note in his hands. “He didn’t say anything about you being his butler. Just a good friend…”
“Well, that’s because I’m not his butler, but I’m pleased that he still considers me an old friend, after all these years.”
Hyde frowned, shoving the note in his pocket. “What do you mean? You said before that you were my father’s--“
The man waved a hand as he stepped closer to the door. ‘Again, I apologize if you’re confused, but we’re going to meet with your father now, and he’ll be explaining everything to you once we get there.”
“Then… Should I pack my things up first?”
“Pack what things? There’s nothing here!” The man chuckled, placing Hyde’s shoes in front of him and then opening the front door. “Your belongings have already been sent ahead, and you won’t need anything for the car ride. We’re not going that far.”
“B-but you said he was out of the country? If we’re going to meet him, then--“
“Once more you have my apologies, Takarai-sama. I’d explain things properly now if I could, but your father was adamant that he be the one to do so. Now, the car is waiting, and we’re a bit behind schedule as it is…” He gestured towards the open doorway.
Hyde hesitated before stepping out and walking down the hall towards the stairwell. It took them a few minutes to reach the ground floor. Hyde sighed uncomfortably as Suzuki-san insisted on opening the small lobby’s doors for him.
He was stopped in his tracks, however, when he found a long, shiny, black limousine parked in front of him.
“What the--?”
Suzuki-san passed him and pulled open the back door to the expensive vehicle. “Please have a seat, Takarai-sama.”
Hyde was shifted back to reality with a frown at the formal title. “You don’t have to keep calling me that.” He said as he hesitantly clambered into the limo. “Just ’Hideto’ is fine with me.”
“As you wish it, Hideto-sama.” The butler smiled, closing the door with a quiet snap and walking up to the driver’s seat.
Hyde sighed but then began surveying his new surroundings as the engine started up and they began pulling out of the small parking lot. The limo’s interior was as black as the outside. The seats were leather and ridiculously comfortable. He bounced on them experimentally and a flat screen television lowered down from the vehicle’s ceiling and hung in front of the divider between the back and the driver’s seat. Hyde started at this, and moved down a seat to see that he’d been sitting on a remote. “Oh…”
A bit more exploring discovered a mini-fridge -stocked with snacks and non-alcoholic beverages- beneath one of the seats, and a compartment holding several crystal wine glasses under another. There was a surround-sound stereo system built into the wall by the television and a gaming system with four controllers sat on top of it.
“This is… insane…” Hyde murmured to himself. He looked around once more before settling down in one of the seats. He felt rather stunned by everything. He paused a moment longer before pulling his schoolbag into his lap. He did have school tomorrow, and who knew if he’d have any time later what with all this madness going on…
“Ugh…” Hyde grimaced as he flipped open to his homework. He hated factoring.
An hour passed before Suzuki-san’s voice floated through a speaker to Hyde’s ears. “We’re arriving at the Doi residence now, Hideto-sama.”
Hyde looked up, pulling his gnawed pencil from between his parted lips. He spun around in his seat to look out the tinted window behind him just in time to see them pull off the country road they’d been on and through an open set of tall wrought iron gates. His eyes widened as he saw the armed guards at the gate waving them though. Hastily, he shoved his pencil and only half finished math homework into his bag so he could kneel on the seat and get a better view of the manicured shrubbery and expensive floral gardens they were passing.
After several minutes the limousine pulled into a circular stone courtyard. There was a large fountain in the center, shooting columns of bubbling water high in the air. They stopped on the far side of the extravagant structure and Hyde remained staring out in awe as Suzuki-san came around to open his door for him.
“Come along, Hideto-sama. I’d hate to keep the others waiting.”
Hyde nodded, climbing awkwardly out of the open door and following Suzuki-san with his mouth hanging open in shock as they approached the building in front of them.
Cherry blossom trees lined the stone path they walked on. Ahead there was a wide set of stone steps, leading up to a tall copper-plated door, covered in intricate designs, that had to have been two or three times the size of a normal door. The building itself was massive. Hyde felt his neck starting to hurt just from craning up to view the top of it. It was practically a castle, but was more in the style of a modern mansion than a medieval palace. Made almost entirely of a creamy colored stone. Hyde felt slightly dizzy considering how much the place must have cost, even just to keep it so properly cared for…
That is to say, Hyde had never been poor. In fact, if it came to choosing between poor and rich, most people would probably consider his family to be rich without a doubt. They’d always lived in nice, upscale places, and in several countries around the world, but… He’d never been associated with the sort of people that must have lived in this place.
The excessively rich. Who else could afford to have such a ridiculously extravagant home?
Two guards pushed the large doors open for them as they approached and bowed as they passed through. Hyde barely had time to acknowledge and return the gesture before his attention was caught by the grand entrance hall he found himself standing in.
It was probably three or four stories high. The floor was white marble with swirls of dark gray, and shone as though it had only recently been polished with meticulous care. There was a small bubbling fountain in the center of the long room and sleek black couches were angled stylishly around it. A large portrait of a grinning man with gray hair and a golf club clutched in his left hand was hung high on the far wall, above an open archway and between two sweeping marble staircases.
Hyde stared up, completely overwhelmed by the entire place, as they passed the fountain ringed with vibrant fresh flowers. Above them hung an enormous crystal chandelier, reflecting light -from the floor-to-ceiling windows on either side of the door- around the room.
“This way please, young master Hideto.” The butler called him back to his senses as he continued leading him across the room and through the archway.
The room beyond was much less monochrome. It looked like a lounge. The couches here were still black and the floor was covered in wide, white, ceramic tiles, but the walls were a bright rusty orange color. The ceiling was quite a bit lower here too and orb-like lights hung from it on black wires. There was a glass fireplace by the wall to the right, and a long, curved bar made of black steel with a top of blue mosaic tiles. Between the couches there was a coffee table of a similar style. The little blue tiles really stood out in contrast with the orange of the walls.
“This is some house…” Hyde managed.
Suzuki-san smiled over his shoulder, looking pleased at the remark. “I’m glad that it is to your liking, Hideto-sama.”
Hyde raised an eyebrow at his overly polite and formal mannerisms. “Yeah… Why are we here though? Is this ‘Doi’ person someone my dad is doing business for?”
“…Yes.” Was the reply. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything else though.”
Hyde nodded. “Right. Well, will we be meeting with him soon?”
Suzuki-san smiled back at him again and nodded, turning them out of the lounge and down a long, similarly decorated, hallway. Here the right hand wall was lined with tall, white, windows, and the left side had a scattering of dark-stained, wooden, doors here and there along it. “The room you’ll be meeting in is just down here.”
Hyde followed him to the end of the hall where there was a dark, polished, wooden staircase. Climbing the short flight of steps led them to a landing and a wide set of double doors with the words ‘Dining Hall’ printed on their white surface in gold.
The butler pushed the doors open quietly and gestured with a kind, polite, smile for Hyde to enter first. Hyde did so and Suzuki-san led him past the long, elegant table, to where four black leather armchairs had been set up in a row, facing a bigger one covered in cloth of a red and gold pattern.
“Please have a seat here, young master.” The butler dusted off one of the black chairs and smiled that same, vaguely sympathetic, smile he’d used before. “The others will be with us shortly.”
Hyde sat down carefully, thanking the butler with a suddenly nervous smile. At this far end of the dining hall there were two sets of doors, one on either side of the spacious room. One had ‘Kitchen’ on it in that same gold script, and the other was blank.
It was this blank one that Suzuki-san exited through, leaving Hyde alone and shifting uncomfortably in the room.
He started slightly when the door he’d entered through opened again and a tall boy around Hyde’s age stepped in, followed by two adults and a woman dressed in a maid’s uniform.
“Right, right, I know. You can’t tell me anything.” The boy was laughing, nearly walking backwards to continue his conversation with the two adults behind him. “I don’t understand why you’re being so secretive… I mean, I’m your son.” He laughed. “I don’t see why you should have to wait and let some other guy say it instead.”
“Ken, we already told you. Doi-san wants you to hear this from him, and we have to respect his wishes.” The boy’s father explained in a voice that said he’d already explained this numerous times.
“Yeah, I know. But it doesn’t make waiting like this any less annoying.” He chuckled, turning away from his parents to examine the room’s expensive décor. “The suspense is gonna kill me…”
Hyde watched curiously as the boy’s parents exchanged a sad look behind Ken’s back. He was distracted, however, as the door opened again, and a tall, thin woman in a business suit strode quickly into the room. Her hair was short and styled fashionably around her stern looking face. She was followed by another maid and a timid looking boy with glasses and a scruffy mop of brown hair. He was struggling to carry his schoolbag in his arms, and nearly tripped as he hurried in after the tall woman.
She rolled her eyes, sighing impatiently, as she watched him catch his balance. “Do hurry up, Tetsuya. And stop making such a scene.”
“Uh, yes mother. Sorry.” He apologized, bowing his head quickly before looking around in awe at his surroundings as though he were only just being allowed a moment to appreciate the magnificence of the Doi home. His mother paid him no attention, immediately puling out her ringing cell phone and chattering away about company sales of some kind.
“Hey!” Ken leapt to attention, appearing to have only just noticed the timid boy. “Tetsu! Tetsu, remember me?” He called jovially, running over to the startled looking boy he was addressing.
“Uh… Tetsu?” He frowned at the name.
“No, silly, I’m Ken. Tetsu is your name.”
“…”
Ken burst out laughing at the shorter boy’s puzzled expression. “Well, a nickname then. I think it suits you better anyway.”
“Oh… A nickname?…” Tetsu smiled. “Okay…”
“Eh? You don’t mind?” Ken grinned, making Tetsu laugh.
“Can’t you please keep it down, Tetsuya?” Tetsu’s mother hissed, glaring at her son. “I’m trying to work here.”
“Sorry, mother.” Tetsu mumbled sheepishly as he and Ken wandered a few steps away from her and her phone call.
“Wow, what a pleasant woman…” Ken drawled sarcastically. Tetsu chuckled, looking a bit bothered, and Ken became animated and apologetic immediately. “Ah, wait, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you, I mean… She is your--“
“No, no, no, it’s fine. I agree with you actually.” Tetsu laughed quietly, brushing away the taller boy’s apology. “Work comes first in my house most of the time… Sometimes it kind of sucks…” He laughed again.
“Oh, I see…” Ken laughed uneasily, looking a bit sorry for the other boy.
Luckily, the situation was prevented from becoming awkward as the door opened again to reveal a boy with spiky blonde hair and chains hanging off his pants. He wandered in casually, as though the grandeur of the place didn’t faze him in the least.
“Dear, you’re sure you don’t want me to stay?” Asked the woman who’d entered the room behind him, followed by a third maid. “The other parents are--“
“No. I’m fine without parents.” He interrupted coolly.
At this, the woman -who Hyde presumed must be the blonde boy’s mother- looked as though she’d just been kicked in the heart, shattering the organ into tiny, sharp, glass pieces. The blonde boy turned his head, seeing the heart-broken expression on her face, and his features softened slightly before he hid the emotion he’d almost revealed.
“But… You can stay anyway, if you really want to.” He shifted uncomfortably, walking a little further into the room. “It doesn’t matter to me either way.”
The woman bit her lip and nodded. “Okay then…”
Suzuki-san suddenly appeared through the doors he’d disappeared behind earlier. He scanned the crowd before smiling and clapping his hands to catch the room’s attention.
“Ah, looks like everybody has arrived. Young masters Tetsuya, Ken, and Yukihiro, please have a seat.” He gestured at the three empty seats alongside Hyde’s.
The three standing boys began making their way towards the chairs, eyeing Hyde curiously upon only just having noticed him there, and frowning at the title the butler had given them.
“Thank you, Suzuki-san.” Said a voice, drawing everyone’s attention to the unlabeled door. A man in around his mid-sixties stood there. Hyde immediately recognized him from the portrait in the entrance hall. He was wearing a loose, soft looking, brown sweater over a pair of dark jeans. His hair was more silver than gray and he had deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth, indicating that he spent a lot of time smiling. He ambled in comfortably, letting the white door swing shut softly behind him as he approached the crowd. “I can take it from here.”
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to be continued…
NEXT CHAPTER!!
Comments please!
And if this font is still too small, let me know and I’ll make it bigger.
I wrote this thing as like a big, largely undivided, chunk and now its really hard to decide where to start and end chapters. Haha, this one cuts off part way through a scene because otherwise it would have gone on another 6-7 thousand words, I believe. Lol, I’ll save that for chapter 4 (which will most likely be in two -or more- parts).
-AC23