Chapter Fifteen:

Kyoya was working on arranging his schedule for break. There were some things he wanted to check out in New York while he was still on break from classes. He smirked when he realized that he had an extra week before his classes started where Bobby would be going back to school on the nineteeth. He would have a week longer to get his affairs in order before starting classes again. He would be able to start on readings provided by the online syllabi were posted early like last year.

He had the new tablet that Bobby had given him open to his calendar. He had entered in all of his classes and made sure that his appointments and events in the Boston area were marked down so that he could make sure to show up if he had the time. He made sure he marked Spring Recess so that he could arrange to go back to Japan even if it was for a week. He closed his ledger with the brand new planner for 2014 and he glanced at his watch. It was noon and his stomach was telling him that it was time to be fed for the first time that day.

Pushing himself away from his desk, Kyoya let out a long sigh. He glanced at his phone and saw a text from Bobby. It was a photo of Faye and Spencer making faces at the camera. I don't suppose you'd be up for making funny faces?

Kyoya smiled and slipped the phone into his pocket as he made his way to the kitchen. "No I don't suppose I would." He was about to take the stairway that led straight to the kitchen when he heard his father call his name.

Yoshio Ootori was standing just outside of his own personal office looking every bit the affluent businessman that he was..

Kyoya looked up with a simple smile. "Yes, father?" he asked.

"I'd like to discuss some matters with you," Yoshio said

Kyoya only paused momentarily. His father was never overly blunt, but this had to be one of his more vague summons. He slowly walked into his father's office and stood stiffly in front of the long mahogany desk.

This of course wasn't the first time he had been summoned to the home office to talk to his father. He recalled the dozens of times he had been summoned so that his father could address some sort of serious concern the patriarch of the family was having. He could only guess as to what his father wanted to discuss this time.

"Why don't you sit down?" Yoshio suggested gesturing to the stiff leather chair across from him.

Kyoya nodded and sat down, spine straight. He looked at his father and gave him his best placating smile.

"I wish to discuss your roommate," Yoshio started.

Kyoya nodded but felt his insides clench. He had been home almost two weeks and now his father wanted to talk about Bobby? It seemed unusual that his father wouldn't bring it up before now. "What about Ms. Masters?"

"I want to make sure she hasn't been a distraction from your studies," Yoshio started. "I had been under the impression that when you stayed in Boston, you would have less distractions, but Ms. Masters has a certain reputation."

"I'm not sure what you mean," Kyoya said pushing up his glasses, his tone cool and collected. He still wasn't sure where he was going with this line of questioning.

"Miss. Masters, while articles fail to get photos of her most days, always report that she is rather. . . I believe the more polite term is that she's very flirtatious," Yoshio said.

"Miss. Masters is friendly, but flirtatious seems like an incorrect classification. She is high contact in her business dealings, but nothing she does is unsavory if that's what you're wondering."

Yoshio coughed a little bit. "She hasn't tried to start anything with you?"

Kyoya shook his head as he smirked, ready to tell his father that nothing was happening, deny the fact that he and Bobby were still in the middle of a grand tete a tete. Even for Christmas, Bobby had managed to slip in one last trick by making his new tablet computer nearly impossible to open unless he figured out the riddles, but only after he got through the twelve layers of saran wrap keeping the device secure.

Before he could speak he heard a knock on the office door. He turned to see his oldest brother Yuuichi smiling at him. Kyoya nodded in greeting.

"You aren't giving Kyoya a hard time over his roommate, are you, Father?" Yuuichi asked calmly.

"I was merely determining their relationship. A friendship with the Masters is beneficial," Yoshio said.

Yuuichi nodded and glanced at Kyoya before looking back to his father. "I was wondering if I could borrow Kyoya. My anniversary with Hana is approaching and I wanted his input on some gift ideas I have."

Yoshio smiled and leaned back in his seat. "Of course. I'm sure anything you get Hana would be perfect, but I was done anyway."

Kyoya stood up and gave his father a polite bow before he turned to his brother. "What gifts did you have in mind." He knew that Yuuichi had already decided on a gift and had bought it. This was something the two of them picked out earlier on upon Kyoya's arrival. Yuuichi had invited him to lunch. Yuuichi was providing Kyoya with an out, and he was going to take. Normally, he would have been more than happy to answer his father's questions, but right now he was concerned with the way his stomach turned in knots when his father insinuated that Bobby had some reputation for being love hungry or overly flirtatious. Perhaps this was because he himself knew Bobby's own friendly demeanor and need to assure people she was as friendly as she proclaimed made her seem more flirtatious than normal.

Yuuichi guided Kyoya out of the office and walked with his quickly retreating brother. "I was thinking about some customized jewelry, but I'm a little unsure what piece, or if I should do a set."

As the two took the stairs, Yuuichi looked back before he gave Kyoya a smile. "You looked like you could use a little help."

"I was just fine," Kyoya said quietly.

"Make no mistake, your friendship with Barbara Masters is a good thing for our family," Yuuichi said. "But I imagine questions about your living arrangement with her are a little more crude."

"We aren't in a relationship," Kyoya said cooly. "We are friends, you could say we're close, but we aren't in any sort of relationship."

"And yet, at dinners you couldn't help but mention her." Yuuichi smiled. " 'Bobby speaks seven languages and manages to switch seamlessly', 'Bobby usually cooks or we'll go out and grab something together.', 'Bobby has a lot of connections to the European Elite'"

"I've been living with her since August, what would you expect me to talk about?"

"How about your week and a half spent with your friends in the Host Club?" Yuuichi supplied. "You say there isn't anything going on, but you talk about Bobby almost as much as you talk about your studies at Harvard." He opened the front door. "I have to go and get my wife her anniversary gift. Now, maybe you should consider putting some deep thought into your friendship with Miss. Masters."

Kyoya pushed his glasses up again and walked out with his brother, determined to stay away from his father's questions about Bobby until he could form more serious answers about their relationship.

Kyoya made his way into the gardens on the Ootori grounds and started thinking about the past semester with Bobby. Their pranks had died down in the interest of devoting their attentions to the grand plan to help the Hitachiin/Tolemei Merger. The last few weeks of the semester Bobby practically disappeared until the last two weeks. Then she was focused on her schoolwork, just like he was. The two of them would sit at the dining room table, each taking a side. Bobby would crank up the volume on her music and bob her head along to the music as she hammered out papers and research.

She would cook for him. She would pay for dinner some days if they went out, but as far as anything remotely romantic like his father was insinuating, the two of them weren't actively attempting to make a romantic gesture for the other. Bobby was herself and Kyoya was the same Shadow King he always was.

He thought back to Thanksgiving in California when she took him around the small town. He remember the way she would get excited about a shop and grab his arm and point it out before giving him a history lesson about the owners of the shop. She would give him one her genuine smiles as she talked about some of her misadventure with Kana in town. He remembered that even after she had let go, he could still feel her hands on his arm and how her smile seemed to quell the desire to pull a small prank on her.

Kyoya sat on a stone bench and looked up at the sky breathing in the cold air slowly. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he pulled it out. This time Bobby has sent him a photo of herself sticking her tongue out at him as she clutched a Starbucks cup tightly. She wore a burgundy beanie and her red hair had been straightened. He smiled as he looked at the message.

SUPER SECRET NUMBER ONE: I kind of miss Boston right now. But I will soon be reunited with a massive amount of schoolwork and I'll want to be back in Scotland. Boo.

Kyoya shook his head and texted her back.

Boston certainly is quieter. Even if you aren't.

0o0o0o0

Bobby sat in a conference room staring at her favorite Uncle. Carey Masters was debonair, had a deep, booming laugh that shook windows, and he never expected Bobby to change and fit into the high society her parents raised her in. Perhaps that was because he had never really fit in himself and understood her own desire to wrap herself up in a blanket with a book in her lap.

Bobby had her arms crossed as her uncle shifted in his seat. "I'm glad my brother is letting us borrow the room."

"My dad's nice like that," Bobby said. She glanced down at her phone as it started to buzz. A "Private" caller ID showed up and she tilted her head to the side. "Can I answer that?"

Carey nodded, running a hand through his thick head of dark brown hair. "I have to gather my thoughts before I start anyway."

Bobby answered the call and put the cell phone to her ear. "This is Barbara Masters," she answered grimacing as she used her full name. Formality was necessary though. The line was silent and she looked at the screen to make sure she hadn't accidentally hung up or muted the caller. "Hello?"

Bobby listened carefully and could hear breathing on the other end of the line. "Hello. Can you hear me?"

The line went dead and Bobby was only answered by the sound of two beeps. The call had ended. She put the phone down and frowned. "Weird."

"Wrong number?" Carey asked.

"No clue," Bobby shook her head. "You wanted to talk about the book fair in San Francisco this summer."

Carey smiled. "Yes, the annual Masters Publish Book Fair," he started. "I want you to be in charge of it from now on."

Bobby felt her jaw drop a little. "But… Uncle Carey, I have never organized an event this big."

Carey smiled. "It time you start doing more for the company. I still want you to do the lecture on book fraud. We may make most of our money on new books, but we still have our interests in antique book trade. We're also one of the few agencies that can offer the continuing education credits. I would like you to talk to Faye and see if she'll help you with the lecture to incorporate the art elements that can be forged, and I would like you to discuss with Kana about doing a book making class. I know she can come up with one of those little accordion books."

Bobby leaned back in her seat and stared at her uncle for a moment. While he had been grooming her to take over, he had never actually given her any real responsibility of this caliber. The Fair may be put on by her uncle, but publishing companies, literary agents, authors, and booksellers came from all over. It was an open exchange of idea with panels on publishing and its changes, how authors could make an appealing query. "This… That's a lot of responsibility."

"You can handle it. I know you can," Carey smiled leaning forward. He propped his elbows on the edge of the table. "You know the business. Now let me see you produce something. Most of the groundwork has been laid. I just need you to organize panels and lectures."

Bobby stuttered as Carey started to chuckle.

"Thank you," Bobby smiled after a moment of struggling to find the words. "You're the only one in the family who is giving me a chance to prove myself."

Carey frowned. "Your father loves you, Bobby," he said quietly. "Security is dangerous business."

"I could have handled it," Bobby said.

"I know, but would you have really wanted to?" Carey asked. "Your love has always been first and foremost books. Security, breaking into things, that was a young teenager trying to prove her worth."

"It's fun to break the systems," Bobby muttered, but she knew her uncle was right. Even if it did hurt to never be considered for head of the security company, her love was books. She would be much happier running the publishing company.

"Tell me about Kyoya," Carey said. "I heard Spencer and Faye mention him while we were on the plane."

"He's my roommate. We've been working on something together to help the Tolemei's."

"I know that much," Carey laughed. "Do you like him."

Bobby groaned and sighed. "Why does everyone ask me that!"

Carey held up his hands in defense. "Relax. I'm just yanking your chain. I look forward to meeting him. Living with him has you almost back to your beautiful charm and wit."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bobby said dully. "I'm always charming and witty. It comes from my mom's side." She smirked as she looked at her ringing phone again. It was the Private caller once more.

"Must really want to talk," Carey stated as he started flipping through some pages of a notebook filled with plans, ideas, and strategies. Bobby knew that he took the book everywhere with him. Bobby herself had her own little notebook filled with ideas for the books she was writing.

Bobby ignored the call. "They can leave a voicemail," she said. "What exactly do I need to do with this Book Fair."

Carey smiled and looked up as he pushed a thick manila envelope towards her. "I have a flash drive in there with some of the more tedious work load, but there's a print out of vendors who have already signed up to be there. You need to contact them about conference fees and things like that. Of course as vendors, they get discounts for attending. I also have a list of publishing companies and agencies you need to contact to ensure they've received their own packets. You'll need to create a schedule for the lectures and panels. It's a lot of work. Are you sure you can do it?" he asked carefully keeping a steady pressure on the envelope so Bobby couldn't simply pull it over.

"Are you doubting me at the last minute?" Bobby asked as she grabbed the folder tightly and pulled it from his fingers. "I'll be just fine." She slipped the folder into her messenger bag to make the decision final. "Anything else?"

"Well, you know I'm in New York for your Spring semester." Carey smiled. "So if anything happens I'm just a phone call away."

Bobby smiled and leaned back. "And what would happen?"

Carey shrugged. "I just think it might be nice for you to have family close. Last year you had Riku come and stay with you a couple months because you weren't over your year long thing where you didn't leave the house. You found yourself in Boston alone and called the one person you could think of. That's why you have roommates right? You don't like to go out, but you also don't like to be alone."

Bobby nodded. There were times when she did very much want to be alone which is why having her own room was the best idea for her, but she also knew that she needed someone. Kyoya wasn't the ideal roommate in this instance. He kept to himself almost as much as Bobby kept to herself, but they both seemed to show up for human interaction enough times that they could share a meal and talk about simple daily things like classes, or recently their work to take down the Iwates.

"You could come to New York on the weekends to spend time with me," Carey suggested. "I could give you some more company responsibilities. How would you like to handle queries from agents?"

Bobby sighed. "What's with the sudden interest in shoving more responsibilities my way. You were more than willing to let me observe, just giving me the rundown of company structure and policy. Now you want me to actually do stuff. I thought I wasn't supposed to take over until you retired and that's still a few years…" she paused and looked her uncle assessing the situation. "You aren't sick are you?" she asked sitting up.

Carey chuckled and shook her head. "I know my brother made you do some marriage interviews while you were in London," he explained. He ran a hand through his hair again and shook his head. "Your father and I don't agree with his ideas on women, and we've been open about it, but he's a Lord. He won't listen to us. I thought that perhaps if you had more company responsibilities he wouldn't be able to arrange interviews for you to attend. Or you could bring in a work excuse."

Bobby frowned. "Why do we even kowtow to Lord Misogynist again?"

"Because he's family," Carey said. "But I know the interviews frustrate you. I also know that you showed up at the last one in your pajamas to intentionally ruin it."

"If I had a boyfriend this wouldn't happen," Bobby grumbled. "But he had to cheat on me and break into my house."

"Your father still doesn't know about that, does he?"

Bobby shook her head furiously. She looked around. "I want coffee. Can we take a walk?"

"Of course," Carey said. "Anything for my favorite niece." He slipped his notebook into a similar messenger bag to bobby's, but this one had buckles to keep the bag a little more secure. He yanked on the buckles lightly before slipping the strap over his shoulder.

Bobby had always admired her uncle sense of style. He was dressed in a cable knit sweater over a blue button up shirt with the collar neatly pressed and the top button was left undone. His brown slacks had a perfect crease in the front with the classic oxford shoes to complete the look. The look was dress casual, but he never failed to look like the professional who took a small publishing agency to an international market. People took him seriously, whereas Bobby with her jeans and t-shirt and wide glasses looked like she was trying to fit into some sort of hipster group. Today, she had opted for a similar sweater and shirt combo of her uncle, but her jeans were faded and worn in the knees and her converse were a pale pink and clean. Still, she felt she was only imitating her uncle and not creating her own image.

She pulled open the conference room door and met the eyes of her father, Grant. The twin genes came from his side because Carey was her father's twin. They had the same face, but different voices. Her father was blunt, gruff, the consummate professional. Carey was lighthearted, smiled more, and wasn't afraid to slip into less professional dialogue to get his point across. Bobby's grandmother had been a longtime fan of Carey Grant, and when she found out she was having twins she knew what to name her two sons. "Hi, Dad." she walked over and gave him a tight hug. "Ready for tomorrow?"

"I'm still surprised you're here," Grant said as he gave his daughter a tight hug. He gave his brother a nod. "Meeting over?"

"We're going for a walk as we talk the rest over," Carey explained. "Coffee gets the creative juices flowing. We appreciate the use of the conference room though."

Bobby backed up and pushed her glasses up and blinked a couple of times before she pulled them off and pulled a cleaning cloth from her bag. "I don't understand how my glasses get this dirty. This never happens to Kyoya." She looked at her phone and saw the private number had left a voicemail. She put the phone to her ear and listened to dead air until she could make out some more heavy breathing. She deleted the voicemail, shaking away the dread she was getting. "Must not know how to use their new phone," she said.

Carey rolled his eyes and held out an arm so Bobby could slip next to him. "Lets get some coffee and discuss what you can lecture about."

Five minutes later, Bobby was clutching a Starbucks cup tightly as she grinned at her uncle. He held up her phone to take a photo and she stuck out her tongue.

Carey laughed and shook his head, handing the phone back to her.

"I'm going to send it to Kyoya," Bobby said. "He probably will say something like 'stop bothering me on my vacation.'"

Carey blew out a sigh and sipped his own coffee.

A minute later, Bobby let out a snort. "I told him I missed Boston," she said. "He came back with 'Boston certainly is quieter, even if you aren't.' Jerk."

"It isn't a true friendship if you aren't insulting each other."

Bobby looked at her phone as the theme from the Hobbit started to play. "It's Max. I guess that means he arrived." She answered the phone. "Hey Max, did you find our guy."

"I'm doing well. Thank you for asking."

"Sorry. Hi Max. I'm glad to hear you're doing well. Have you found our conman?" she asked.

"We just arrived," Max said. "I'm handing him over to authorities as we speak."

"That's great," Bobby said. "But you could have just texted."

"I'm not calling about the conman," Max said.

"Okay," Bobby said slowing looking at her uncle's smiling face. She looped her arm through his as walked, her grip on her coffee cup tightened. "What's going on?"

"As I was leaving for the airport, I found a bouquet of orange roses on my car."

Bobby stopped, pulling her uncle with her. He looked at her strangely and she handed him her coffee cup. "Are you sure?"

"I'm not colorblind, Kid," Max grunted. "The roses were orange."

"Was there a message?"

"No. Just a bouquet of twelve orange roses. You should consider talking to your father."

Bobby was quiet for a couple minutes as she thought about the last time she saw orange roses. "I'll talk to my dad. You'll be around tomorrow, right?"

"I doubt he'll come here, but I'll be around," Max said. "I've got your back, Kid."

"Thank you, Max. I'll talk to you later."

"See ya."

Bobby hung up and looked at her uncle as her hand started to shake. "I'm not liking recent events."

"What's going on?" Carey asked handing Bobby her coffee once more.

"Allister send Faye an email."

"What?" he almost yelled.

"Spencer and I are taking care of it. Blocking the IP and sending key words to the trash," Bobby explained. "I'm not worried about Faye, I'm worried about myself."

"Barbara, what's going on?"

"Max found orange roses on his car when he was making his way to the airport," Bobby said.

Carey pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his contacts. "I'm calling your father."

Bobby grabbed his hand. For once, Bobby was pleased that her uncle hadn't figured out how to designate favorites. "Don't! It could just be a scare tactic."

"Barbara, the last time you got orange roses you locked yourself in your room for a year. I'm not going to let you argue with me on the merits of keeping this a secret." Carey stated as he put his cell phone to his ear.

"Carey!" Bobby said yanking his hand down. She pulled his phone free and hung up on her dad. "I have Max. And you're going to be in New York. I'm okay. I promise you." She held the phone out of her uncle's reach.

"If this is Cavendish-"

"If it is, we'll deal with it," Bobby said quietly. "If it's him, I'll handle it."

"This is all my brother's fault."

"Maybe, but it's my problem," Bobby said attempting to smile. "I'll take care of it. I'll take care of myself."