"Why are you following me?" His voice... dear lord, his voice was deep, calm, and so unfairly hot. "And why were you staring at me the entire dinner?"
I froze. My brain short-circuited.
Okay. Breathe, Hikari. Act normal.
I straightened up and said, "It's because… I wanted to talk to you."
Shameless. Absolutely shameless since birth.
He raised his eyebrow, his voice smooth and low. "Hm? What do you want to talk about?"
He started walking again, hands in pockets, calm as ever, while I trailed behind him like a lost puppy who hadn't learned how to stop being annoying.
"Well, how have you been? It's been years! Don't you remember me or something?" I asked with my best friendly smile. My tone was happy, cheerful, though inside, I was internally screaming because even his "hm" sounded criminally sexy.
He suddenly stopped right in front of the lake, the water reflecting the moonlight. His voice turned cold. "Why do you want to know? Can't you see I'm fine? Are you blind?"
I blinked.
Excuse me??
Did this man just...
"Wha-?" I let out a small laugh. "C'mon, I just wanted to hear you say it."
He frowned, that sharp look on his face like he was allergic to kindness. "Don't try to be so friendly. Got it?"
Oh. Oh, we're doing this again.
I gritted my teeth, forcing a smile. "We used to be friends, you know."
He chuckled darkly. "Used to be. Key words, Hikari. We're not friends anymore."
My smile dropped instantly. "What's wrong with you, huh?"
And before I could blink- SPLASH!
That maniac actually pushed me into the lake.
"KAITO!!" I screamed, flailing like a dying fish. He knew perfectly well I couldn't swim! That ego-filled, heartless, gorgeous-
Fine. You wanna play dirty? Let's play dirty.
I used my magic, the one sealed in my sword, the one I rarely touched, and the water rippled around us like it heard my command. In one swift motion, he got pulled into the lake with me.
Both of us crashed into the cold water. I couldn't breathe, the current pulling me down. He tried to swim back up, but oh no, not without me. I grabbed his pants, yes, his pants, and yanked him right back down.
If I'm dying, he's dying too. Period.
He tried to kick free. I kicked back. He tried to pull away, and I headbutted him underwater. He lost control, bubbles rising around us, and finally, with no choice left, he wrapped his arm around my waist and helped us both up.
We emerged coughing, gasping for air, dripping wet and covered in lake mud.
"Damn you, Kaito! Are you stupid or what?!" I shouted, pushing my wet hair out of my face.
He glared, equally angry and drenched. "You pulled me in too! You're the one who's stupid!"
"What did you just call me?!" I grabbed his collar.
He grabbed my hair.
And then, chaos. We started fighting like wild dogs in the middle of the garden. Punches? No. Scratches, hair pulling, yelling, pure childhood violence 2.0.
The guards came running, panicking. "Miss Hikari! Sir Kaito! Please, stop!"
But nope. Too late. My father and our parents came rushing over.
"Hikari! What are you doing?!" my father shouted, his voice echoing across the garden.
"Oh my god, why are you both wet?" Aunt Mika gasped. "Did you fall into the lake?!"
Mom hurried over, covering me in a warm blanket while glaring at Kaito like she was ready to strangle him herself.
"It's all his fault!" I pointed straight at him. "He pushed me into the water!"
"It's both of your faults," Dad sighed. "You two never change."
And so, we both got the scolding of our lives.
After what felt like a lecture longer than a college graduation ceremony, we were sent off to take showers and "cool down."