3.) North Campus

November, 16th, 2020

Kaya sat at her desk looking at her empty coffee cup and wishing it would refill itself. She sighed deeply as she stood and picked up her Delta Sigma Pi mug and went out to the break room to get more coffee. "Are you ok Kaya?" She turned to the female voice behind her. "Hey Hana, just tired. Mr. Oikawa kept me out late last night." She answered plainly. "Oh wow, you hung out with him? He's so cute." Hana gushed. Kaya turned to look at the taller woman. Her blonde locks resting on her shoulders. "He's a nightmare." She groaned before walking away.

Hana watched her walk out to go back to her office, unsure of what to think. It wasn't like Kaya to say mean things about people, but she figured she would likely not care for the guy who bought her company. She'd heard office rumors that the shareholders agreed to the buy without the Moniwa siblings' knowledge. Hana concluded it must be true, as she found Toru to be perfectly nice.

Hana loved the way he said flattering things to her constantly and there was just something about him that made you want to do anything for him. Even blow him on Friday under his desk simply because he told you how nice your lips would look wrapped around him. It made her jaw hurt to accommodate his size, but she hoped maybe they could do more soon.

Kaya sat alone at her desk letting out a sigh, thinking about how excited Hana seemed about the prospect of being able to spend time with Toru. She couldn't help but to think if she understood the reality of the night she'd had she wouldn't be so keen on the idea for herself.

*Last Night*

When Toru arrived at Kaya's she rolled her eyes at the impatient way he banged on her door. "Why was it locked? I told you I'd be here soon." Toru complained with an angry pout on his face. Kaya sucked her teeth at him, holding her breath. "I'm supposed to just leave my door unlocked so you can walk right in? What if I were changing?" She asked, annoyed. "That would be even better." He replied, crossing his arms and leaning against the door with a smirk on his face, leaving Kaya to roll her eyes at him. "So how much longer we just gonna stand here anyway?" He asked, as though she were missing something obvious.

"Right, let me grab my purse, I'll be right back." She tells him, going to close the door in front of him. Toru stopped the door suddenly with his hand. "Tsk, tsk." He chided. "Surely your mother taught you it's rude not to invite a guest into your home." He said in a lecturing tone. Kaya sighed and looked down at her feet before looking back up with her best fake smile and customer service voice. "Mr. Oikawa, won't you please come in?" She offers, holding the door open for him. Toru smiles approvingly and steps inside her apartment looking around.

He stops just inside looking at the pictures of Kaya and Kaname growing up, chuckling at one with spaghetti on her head and Kaname looking shameful. He followed her into the living room and spun in a circle taking the room in before plopping on the couch. "Geez, this thing is shit. Don't you make enough to get a better couch?" He asked condescendingly. Kaya took a deep breath in, clenching her fist at her sides. "Can I offer you a drink Mr. Oikawa?" She offered in a false sweet tone.

Toru stood from the couch and walked towards the kitchen, taking a seat at the table instead and making another face. "It's Toru, and a beer would be great, thanks." Kaya looks at him incredulously before opening the fridge to see if there were any of Kenji's beers in there. She grabbed one and handed it to him, Toru holding it out and away from himself looking at it in disgust. "Are you trying to kill me? Killian's? How can you drink that shit?" He asks, offended. Kaya sighed, taking the beer back from him. "It's Kenji's."

Toru looked at her confused for a moment. "Who is Kenji?" He asked curiously. "My fiancé." She enunciates as if speaking to a child. "Oh right, the fiancé. The one who isn't here late at night when you have a male caller. The one whose face is missing from the wall of pictures in the front." He replies judgingly.

"I have tea." She replied, ignoring his assumptive remarks. "Oh? I must warn you, not many people can make tea that I actually like."* He replied leaning over and placing his elbow on the table, propping his chin on his hand and looking at her. "Do you want some or not?" She asked, annoyed. Everyone loved Kaya's tea.

Toru made a motion with his hand, waving her towards the fridge. She places the beer back in and pulls out an old plastic tupperware pitcher, full of sweet tea she'd made that morning, going to the cupboard and pulling out two glasses. She poured them both a small glass then offered one to him.

He looked at the tea crinkling up his nose then sniffing it. Kaya sighed and rolled her eyes, taking a drink of her own. Toru shrugs and lifts the glass to his lips taking a tiny sip. He holds the glass in front of himself again, eyes wide and smiling. He chugs the glass then licks his lips with his eyes closed, a satisfied sigh coming from him.

Kaya watched him for a minute, for some reason he seemed different at that exact moment. "Could I please have another?" He asks softly, looking at Kaya with pleading eyes. "Yeah, sure. She answered, filling his glass to full this time and giving it back to him. She watched as he drank it a little slower this time, savoring the taste of it. "Fuck that's so good. I haven't had tea that good in years." He says, his eyes looking down at the glass, voice somewhat sad.

Before Kaya could get the chance to ask him who made the tea he loved so much years ago he popped up quickly and walked to the sink. He turned the water on and dropped a little Dawn dish soap into the glass, added water, then picked up the crochet dishcloth Kaya had sitting over the faucet and washed the glass. He then took her glass and poured the soapy water into it from his, washing it before rinsing both and placing it in the strainer. "Thanks for the drink. We should get going though." He tells her, walking towards the door to leave.

Kaya followed him, Toru holding open the front door and allowing her to go through before him, and a thought occurred to her. "How did you know where I live?" She asked curiously. "Employee files." He answers plainly. Kaya stopped in her tracks, crossing her arms. "You shouldn't be using those for your own personal use." She scolded.

"Oh come now. It's not like I memorized everyone's address. Just yours." He giggled happily, holding open the passenger door to a light blue Tesla Roadster. Kaya tried to hide her excitement to ride in the car, but Toru smiled to see her eyes dancing. "She's a smooth ride. Hop in." He tells her yanking his head in the direction of the car.

Kaya slides into the car, the leather bucket seat seeming to hug her. She can no longer hold the wonder from showing on her face, looking at the interior with her mouth open. She giggled at the steering wheel that she thought looked more like a video game piece than the control to a car. She closed her mouth, pressing her lips together firmly to hide her smile from Toru when he slid into the driver's seat, turning away from him to put on her seatbelt. "Where to m'lady?" Toru asked in a terrible attempt at an English accent. "No idea, not much to see on a Sunday night. Would be better to tour the town another time." She grumbled.

Toru chuckled and turned in his seat to look at her more. "We can postpone the tour and make our own entertainment." He suggested. Kaya crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh my, what a lovely tongue. I can think of a few things to do with that." He coos. "Drop dead." She retorts angrily. "Then don't offer it to me, it isn't nice to tease." He pouts. "Anyway, I don't have to have the whole town tour. Take me somewhere that you can tell me a good bit about. Don't matter what. The history, why you like it, embarrassing story. Maybe after we can grab some food or something."

Kaya sighed and looked at him contemplatively. "Fine, would you like to see the arch?" She offers. Toru gives her a small smile. "The one you can't walk though until you've graduated? Think I saw a picture of you under it inside." He whispers, looking at her grey eyes and wishing they didn't stare at him with so much hatred. "Yes, that's the one. Take it you've seen it." She replies. "Nope." He lied, putting the car into drive and pulling out of his parking space. He let Kaya give him the directions as if he'd never been to that exact part of town each time he came to Athens to pick up naïve college girls.

When they arrived Toru parked in a space and got out quickly, making his way over to the other side and offering Kaya his hand, as she'd already opened the door. "Do you have any change for the meter?" He asks sheepishly. Kaya rolls her eyes. "You don't have to feed the meter this late, come on." She sighs, walking towards the black metal archway. As they go up the stairs Kaya walks beneath the arch while Toru walks off to the side. "So here it is. This thing's picture is literally everywhere. Kind of crazy that something thrown together with no real plan has become so iconic and a large part of university life." She sighs happily, running her hand along the outer pillar.

Toru looks over the arch, though he'd seen it before he's never really paid it much attention, nor had he heard anything more than not to walk under it if you aren't an Alumni from the university lest you be met with bad luck. "What do you mean by thrown together?" He asks genuinely curious. "The city's ironworkers used leftover metal pieces to put something together quickly to act as the gate for the fence that used to come through the whole area to keep the cows from grazing on the lawn." She giggles, looking at the arch affectionately.

Toru looks down at her, a small smile creeping across his face. "Any other cool things on this side of campus?" He asked. Kaya sighs, feeling annoyed that he seemingly cares nothing about the campus history and walks further into North Campus. "The buildings here are among the oldest. They've been modernized, but they aren't as comfortable as other areas on campus. They have no elevators and use window unit AC. Not that we can go in seeing as it's LATE." She complained. Toru tsked at her and walked towards a large magnolia tree, sitting on a lower hanging branch.

He stifled a laugh watching her stare at him incredulously. "What?" He asked, amused. "You drug me out here to show you around and you're just sitting there." She replied. "Seemed like the tour was over. You said we can't go into any of the buildings." Kayas face fell, she wanted to be mad, but he made a point. "Wanna see my favorite place to study?" She asks. Toru hopped down from the branch and brushed off his pants. "Lead the way." He tells her cheerily.

Kaya leads Toru further into North Campus, Toru looking around never having actually ventured onto campus, opting instead to go towards the bars downtown in the opposite direction. He looked around at the buildings, the well maintained lawn, and the upkept sidewalks. When Kaya stopped and crossed her legs before sitting on the grass next to a large fountain surrounded by a large brick circle he sat next to her, laying his legs in front of him then propping himself on his elbows, looking up towards the sky.

"How could you study here with all that loud water?" He asked somewhat annoyed. "I like it. Fountains have always been peaceful to me." She says defensively. Toru turns his head towards her, his left eye closed while the right peers at her. "Calm down princess, it was only a question." He counters. "Just, try seeing someone else's point of view for once in your limited spoiled child view." She scolded.

Toru looked at her, anger flaming in his eyes. "What the hell did you just say?" He asks her. "I said you're spoiled, entitled, and sheltered. Your mommy and daddy protect you from life and you have no idea how to live it or be a decent human being." She spat at him. "Listen up baby cakes, you don't even fucking know me. You know nothing about me, nor my life. Trust me, I know the ugly turns of life, more than I pray you ever will. You're so damn quick to judge aren't you? You think just because you've got that pretty face you can get away with anything."

Toru was standing over her, his face flushed red with anger and his pitch very much contradicting his typical lazy playboy attitude. Had Kaya not been upset, perhaps she would have noticed the crack in his near perfect armor, the way he held back tears and his breathing had become uneven. Unfortunately, all she saw in the moment was a spoiled rich boy who treated her as though she were just his personal servant and cared nothing about ruining her future plans by purchasing Date Tech.

Kaya stood from her place on the lawn. "Maybe I wouldn't judge you if you didn't act like a selfish entitled asshole and make a lot of assumptions about me within two seconds of even seeing me. You didn't even so much as allow anyone, including myself to give you my name before you were sure I wasn't someone worth your time or respect. To make it worse you thought you could just sexually objectify me." She yelled back at him. "Oh boo who, my name is Kaya and I don't like it when men use their eyes to see that I'm worth pursuing then have the damn nerve to say something about it."

Kaya stared at him a moment, mouth agape as the words he'd said stung her. Had he not been so angry, he might have seen the way she looked hurt to be talked down to this way. Or maybe if his best friend Hajime were there to help he wouldn't have dragged her out late at night just because he couldn't stop obsessing over wanting to learn everything he could about her. Instead he stood with his anger fueling him, a triumphant smirk on his face, certain he'd won this argument.

Kaya turned on her heels and walked off back towards the arch. "Where are you going? We drove here together." He calls after her. "I don't care. I'll find a ride home or walk if I have to. So long as it gets me away from you and in bed because some of us actually care about getting up on time for work tomorrow." She spat at him. "Work tomorrow?" He asked, confused. "You're out with me. You don't have to be at work come 9 AM." He tells her sincerely, pulling her arm to stop her and look her in the face. "You're right, I'm there at 8:40 every morning." She wailed, tears coming down her face.

Toru took in a deep breath, seeing the tears on her face and how exhausted she looked. His anger with her earlier remarks dissipated and he just wanted to correct the wrongs against her. "Don't walk home. I'll drop you off." He offered. Kaya wanted to refuse, but knew it was her best option. She nodded and followed him back to the car, sliding into the passenger seat as he held the door open for her. The drive back to her place was spent in silence. Kaya puzzling as to why Toru seemed to go back and forth from a complete asshole and a passably decent guy.

Meanwhile Toru kept trying to think of what Hajime would do to fix the situation if he were there. When Toru pulled up he locked the door so she couldn't jump right out. "Seriously, I won't let anyone say anything to you if you want to sleep in and go into the office a little late." He offers. "No. I prefer to work for a living, not get by on the Oikawa name." She responded hostiley.

Toru sucked in a deep breath, pushing the rising anger back again and unlocked his door, leaving Kaya's locked until he reached the other side, opening the door for her, and offering his hand for her to help her stand. He said nothing as he watched her walk towards her door, reaching into her purse as she walked back up the path towards the home she so desired to be in.

He stayed until he saw her get the door open and inside of her apartment, the door closed behind her. Satisfied she was safe in her own home, Toru got back into the car and put his hands over his face, yelling loudly, happy the Tesla didn't allow much sound to escape the inside. He punched the dash of the car a few times, letting out his frustrations about the clusterfuck of an evening he'd just had, then put the car in drive and left.

Meanwhile Kaya had gone straight to the bathroom for another shower. She didn't really wash herself so much as cry. She Knew with absolute certainty that she hated Toru for buying Date Tech and that his perverted playboy manner annoyed her to no end. What she didn't know is why she often felt there was something more going on and hated herself for wanting to find the answer.

By the time she finished her shower cry session and got changed then into bed it was nearly midnight. Kaya found herself tossing and turning in bed for over an hour before she finally fell asleep, her mind still occupied with what it was that she saw in Torus' eyes when he'd told her he knew the ugly turns of life.

*While Toru tends to be an asshole, this is not uncommon. Sweet tea is a large part of the culture and people are known to inquire as to who made the tea before drinking. If they ask after drinking it this means they want to know who's to either avoid or have in the future.