The Ultimate Mystery Incorporated

A Night To Etch In Your Memories

Day of the party

Getting ready took Byakuya longer than he wanted- mostly because he had to fix Kuwata's entire outfit. It seemed that in his quite obvious nervousness for the night, he had forgotten how to put on a simple suit.

It was annoying, but nothing Byakuya couldn't deal with. Luckily for him, Kuwata's nervousness eased a bit once Hagakure arrived. The older boy had a very... fitting outfit. Much like the one wearing it, it had no sense of style.

But that wasn't Byakuya's problem. So, he said nothing of it.

When Kyoko and her father arrived, she saw her giving Hagakure a look, but the boy seemed oblivious to it. Not that Byakuya cared.

He did his job and got himself- and Kuwata- ready for the winter ball Maizono's parents were organising.

He wasn't the biggest fan of parties, but knew that Maizono wanted him there. After all, if he was there then Kuwata would've been invited.

The sacrifices he made for these idiots...

He did this for a reason though. A favour can always be handy.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Father was finally ready and they entered the car. Since Mr. Kirigiri was also with them, Byakuya couldn't sit in the front. Instead, he took Maizono's usual place in the second row while Kuwata and Hagakure sat in the far back.

It wasn't a long ride- Crystal Cove was a small town- but walking to the Maizono's house wouldn't do.

They had to make an impression, of course. Not that Byakuya cared about impressing the Maizono's. He'd slip away from that conversation as fast as he could.

Listening to them practically beg him to take Maizono on a date got boring after a while. At first, it was slightly fun, but now it was just nauseating.

He couldn't tell his father that though. That would lead to the question of why, something Byakuya wanted to save for a later time.

All Byakuya could hope was that Maizono would greet them the moment they stepped out of the car. It was a likely scenario since he had no doubt she wanted to see Kuwata.

And- luckily- that was the truth.

Once they stepped out of the car, they were greeted by Maizono's parents. They immediately struck up a conversation with both his and Kyoko's fathers, making Byakuya and Kyoko have no choice but to stay there.

Not that that lasted long. It only took a matter of seconds for Maizono to greet them. The outfit she was wearing was quite adequate, though based on Kuwata's reaction- a slight blush covered his pale cheeks and his eyes went wide- he found it much more than that.

Byakuya immediately walked over to her- after saying goodbye to his father, of course.

"Guys! I'm so glad you could make it!" Maizono said with a bright smile.

No, she's not. She's just glad Kuwata's here.

Kuwata grinned, "Course! We wouldn't miss this for the world!" He said.

"You mean you wouldn't miss this for the world. I'm here because Maizono wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed," Byakuya protested with a scoff, though there was a slight tease in his voice.

"He's just mad because he had to take a break from work, don't mind him," Kyoko responded, smirking.

Byakuya let out another scoff and turned his head. "I was working on deciphering the journal. The code in there... it doesn't match up with any of the books in my library," He continued, shaking his head slightly.