royally arranged

Hide and Seek [chapter 26]

You heard the steady clicks of the grandfather clock down the hall, that noise almost completely dominating the rain that harshly came down outside. You sat with your legs crossed, one over the other and spread out in front of you. You stared at the wooden door in front of you with hope for the news you wanted to so badly hear.

The solid ground felt cold against your bottom, a layer of clothing being the only thing that protected you from the ground below you. Your mind altered from books to the things that were on your busy schedule today. You were pulled out of your thoughts however when you heard a door open, your eyes automatically going to the wood in front of you.

"He's sick," Fuyumi confirmed with a nod as she slipped out of the room, looking in between you, Shoto, Natsuo, and Touya who were sitting with your backs against the wall and waiting for her to come back out.

"Hallelujah!" Natsuo threw his hands in the air with a grin.

"So all of our schedules are cleared for today because the old man is sick?" Touya asked rhetorically, "Fuck yeah!"

You smiled at their cheers, also joining in with the celebration. You weren't quite feeling the millions of tasks or the things you had to do that day yet.

"So what are the plans for today now that our schedules have been cleared?" Shoto asked. His hand was placed in yours and behind his back so it wasn't in direct line of sight for Natsuo or Touya.

"Library!" you chirped, balling the hand that wasn't holding Shoto's up and into the air.

Touya looked over towards you with a cocked eyebrow, "You're in that place every single day one way or another. Do you ever get tired of going there?"

"No, not really," you admitted without a second thought. You quite enjoyed the library, and not only because your mother enjoyed the world of books. Though that was part of the reason, you had actually gained a liking to it all on your own.

"Well we're not going there," Natsuo shook his head.

Yes, we. It was an unspoken rule that you had to spend time with one another whenever you didn't have to do anything.

"Dang it," you mumbled, deflating with all your previous excitement leaving your body. Shoto chuckled when seeing you pout, squeezing your hand lightly.

"Let's play hide and seek. I haven't played that since I was like 10," Fuyumi suggested. Her eyes were filled to the brim with eagerness as her hands were placed together with a delicate smile on her features. "And we can only hide on this floor because the palace is too big for us to go on other floors."

"You make me feel old," Touya groaned, dragging his hand down his face.

"It's because you are. You're almost twenty. You need to settle down with Diana, do something and make your relationship public. Because pretty soon, Enji's going to start making you look for potential brides," Shoto hummed.

"Gosh I hate growing up," Touya admitted, pushing himself up with the help of the wall behind him and wiping off his clothes once he was standing up straight.

Natsuo stood up as well, Shoto helping you stand up and wiping off your dress when he did. He had let go of your hand for the most part, except for the pinky he had intertwined with yours.

"So who's going to be it first?" Natsuo asked, stretching his arms above his head and letting out a yawn in he process.

"Oldest first! They got birth rights or some shit!" Shoto piped up immediately, looking Touya dead in the eyes as he made the claim.

"They don't get birth rights on things like that! If anything, the youngest has birth rights right now," Touya turned his head towards you.

"No! You can't pick and choose what you get birth rights on!" Natsuo shook his head, siding with his younger brother on this one. And that was rare when Touya was the one fighting with Shoto.

"Don't go switching up on me now," Touya said in a threatening tone, sending a glare Natsuo's way.

Natsuo simply shrugged in response, "You have pulled that birth rights shit on me one too many times. Revenge bitch!"

"Can we play the game already or no?" Fuyumi asked.

"One," Touya let out a sigh as he covered his hands with his eyes.

You let out a thank you before running off so you were further away from Touya. You ran down the hallways, taking a sharp turn around the corner with glee.

You came to a halt when you found the room you wanted to hide in, hastily opening the door and silently shutting it behind you. You greeted the head chef and explained you were playing hide and seek with the other Todorokis and asked if you could hide in the kitchen.

She didn't seem opposed to the idea in the slightest, even said she would help you out with finding a hiding spot. There was a cabinet big enough for you to hide in under the island. You found yourself squeezing into the tight space, watching as the chef barricaded you in with different items so the chances of you being found easily would be lowered.

"Thank you," you whispered to the chef, earning a chuckle and thumbs up back in response.

"Any time kid," she winked before shutting the cabinet door.

You sat in silence for a while, the only thing you were able to hear was your own breathing and occasionally the chef rummaging around and talking to butlers and maids. At one point in time you heard Touya's voice asking if anyone came in here, of course no one answered him honestly. These people weren't snitches.

"Sucker," you whispered to yourself.

At least another 30 minutes passed before Touya's voice came back along with two others. So Fuyumi and Natsuo had gotten caught...

"Are you sure neither of them came in here?" Natsuo asked with a small sigh. "Alright, well sorry for bothering you."

"We should check that place Shoto used to hide in all the time when he was younger," Touya suggested nonchalantly, you assuming they were walking away because their voices kept getting fainter.

And another thirty minutes later they came bursting through the door, this time with Shoto with them since he had been found out too.

"You lied. We know she's somewhere in here," Touya spoke firmly, "Now where is the little runt?"

"Y/n!" the head chef called, banging on the top of the counter to get your attention, "You won the game."

"Hell yeah!" you shouted while raising your fists in the air, muttering a small ouch when they hit the island counter above you.

"I'll admit, your hiding spot was pretty good. And you got all the chefs to keep quiet too," Touya whistled as he opened the doors to the cabinet.

"I don't like to lose," you retorted with a playful grin.