Snooping

The rest of the party went along uneventfully after Kosaki separated from Anadama and joined back up with a Chiffon who now had a clean dress. Their night would then consist with mingling with a bunch of people she didn't know, most of whom apparently were quite popular in the area.

It was here where she understood where Anadama had been coming from in his feelings. She missed being able to laugh along with her friends during their precious high school years, but even though that was only mere months ago. It was a time she could never get back.

Perhaps a place such as here wasn't good for someone like her. She did love the quiet town she grew up in, even though it did get more exciting with the Yakuza and later Honeybee gang showing up. And while there may have been some interesting moments with her having a lack of clothes, most days were pretty simple.

Finally the party had to come to an end, or rather their participation had to end. As George would make his return in the limo to pick up the girls along with Anadama and his father. Said ride was near silence outside of the small hum of the engine. The man didn't speak a word to his dad and the girls were exhausted as well. Kosaki knew she looked forward to being able to lay in her bed and relax after a long day.

Which was the first thing she did after getting back to the mansion, then changing out of her formal wear and into some pajamas. Kosaki plopped herself down face first onto the bed and closed her eyes to try and catch some sleep. Unfortunately she would not get her desire when she heard her phone notification go off. Checking it revealed she had gotten a message from Ruri.

While it might've been late at night for her in Los Angeles, time zones meant it was only afternoon for her best friend. This led to some complications when trying to chat and even though Kosaki was exhausted, she started a video call because their time was precious.

"You look awful." Ruri's first words to her were as blunt as ever. "You really are working hard."

"Actually, it's because I was just at a party." She explained, barely able to lift her head from the soft pillow.

"Party? Wow America really has changed you."

"No, it's because we were invited by the…" Kosaki realized it hadn't yet been clear just what role Anadama's dad served in his own school. "Headmaster."

"That makes a lot more sense." On the other side of the screen, Ruri appeared not too dissimilar to how Kosaki had been dressing herself for the party.

"Are you going somewhere?" She asked, taking note of her friend's beautiful outfit.

"Heh, I really can't hide it from you." Ruri chuckled. "I'm going on a date with Shun." She admitted. It was a surprise because despite confessing her feelings over a year ago, neither of them had openly done anything romantic. "I guess now that we're in college, he's a bit more willing to move on from his high school crush."

"That's good to hear." Kosaki could relate to that guy well when it comes to the feelings they had for someone they couldn't have. Though her situation was entirely her own fault, at least for him there was practically no way he'd ever be with a teacher.

"So how are you holding up?" She was asked. "Hope no one's giving you a hard time."

"No, all the other students are real kind." She answered with a smile. "The teacher's a bit mean, that's what everyone else says at least."

"Who's the teacher?"

"You've met him, he's the one who recruited me." Ruri was silent for a bit after receiving the answer.

"Shame, he seemed nice." Finally, she spoke up after not saying anything for a bit. "Guess he's just one of those sleazy guys who sweet talk you before revealing their true selves."

"No no, that's not it at all." Kosaki had to come to his defense as she didn't want a misunderstanding. "I think he's just a little cold to people, but really he's a lot like you when I think about it."

"After how you just described him before, I'd rather not be compared to him." She responded. "But…" Then, she had a suggestion which was far from what Kosaki would expect. "Maybe you should snoop around a little, find out his dark secrets."

"What!?" She replied loudly. "That was just the call breaking up, right? I'm sure you didn't just-"

"I said it loud and clear, you should go snoop around him." She stood firm in her advice. "Someone like him probably has some guarded secrets that could be embarrassing. And since you live with him, it should be easy to sneak around. Heh, that'll teach him to be mean to you."

"What kind of person do you think I am?" Kosaki would never stoop so low for blackmail. Especially considering that she was more than fine with Anadama as it were. There was no reason, nor desire, for her to wish him anything bad.

"Aren't you just a little bit curious?" Ruri posed the question again. "After all, you do live with him. Besides, wouldn't it be nice to have something to use to help out your grades later? We both know that you're not exactly the best when dealing with ovens."

"I'll have you know I'm a lot better at it now." She clarified, hoping the reputation of her lack of skills for baking didn't stick after her time in the academy.

"Anyway, I need to get going for that date." Said Ruri. "Just think about what I said, that's all. Have a good night."

"Thank you, and I hope your date goes well." They both said their farewells and ended the call. Kosaki then proceeded to stuff her face into the pillow. Despite being so tired she could pass out just moments before, the embarrassment of being told to sneak into another man's room to dig out some secrets had given her a second wind.

There was no way she'd ever consider invading someone else's privacy, right? But now with the thought in her mind, Kosaki couldn't help but wonder what secrets he had. Anadama was a fairly reserved person and he appeared to put himself away from everyone else. Was there a reason for such seclusion? It would make sense if that were the case, but it wasn't fair of her to expect him to be fine with her learning about it.

She looked at her door, thinking about the path to his own room. There would be no chance to just look, would there? Then again, maybe she didn't even have to snoop around. She could… "No." She audibly spoke, trying to deny what was within her mind. Yet her body had other plans as Kosaki stood up and headed into the hallway. Despite her brain telling her this was a bad idea, her heart wanted to do it.

"I thought you'd be heading to bed right now." To her luck, she just had to run into the boy as she wandered the halls.

"What about you?" She dodged the question, taking note the towel he had in his arms.

"I was about to take a bath." He answered. "It's been a long day, so I guess if you want to just lounge about, I'm not going to stop you." Anadama wasn't interested in anything she had been planning as it wasn't any of his business. She breathed a sigh of relief as he simply walked past her and headed towards his own bathroom to take a much needed bath.

This meant she knew he'd be busy and away from his room for a good amount of time. The perfect opportunity to sneak around and find some secrets of his were open to her. Kosaki knew it was wrong, and as she walked past his room, she tried to resist the temptation.

Yet the temptation was too much for her curious mind. She knew she had no bad intentions as someone like Ruri might have. So she used that thought to rationalize that what she would be about to do was not wrong at all.

Before she knew it, Kosaki walked inside his room, closing the door behind her as she scoped her surroundings. It was rare of her to be inside the room of a boy as is. In fact, she could only recount the time when Raku was in her own room by themselves. Though this time was different, as the owner of this room was not present with her.

"So this is what a man's room is like?" He also was a grown adult, so his room was unexpectedly different than what she would assume a high school boy would have. At the same time, he was American, so it was difficult to tell what differences were due to age and what were due to cultural differences.

Kosaki walked deeper in slowly, as if moving too fast would cause an alarm. "He's not really the type to decorate." His walls were bare and the color of the paint plain. Anadama clearly was not interested in expressing himself in his own room, but perhaps it may be due to him not wanting anyone inside his sanctuary.

He did have a few things to indicate some level of personality. Such as his desk littered with cooking utensils and recipe books. Despite his attitude towards all the bakers in the school, he certainly took his profession seriously.

Other than that, he also had a bookcase filled with numerous books. Odd to her, as the mansion also had a massive library. So there should be no reason for him to have such a big personal collection of books. "I've always wondered what boys like to read."

Kosaki mainly stuck to reading some shojo stuff herself. So she hadn't talked to anyone other than Ruri about reading material. The latter of whom was really into reading, as she dreamed to become a translator.

The girl picked out one of the novels on his shelves. Even though she figured he wouldn't be representative of what all guys like to read, as he was American and she was more used to Japanese people. It still didn't keep her from being surprised on the book she had grabbed from his collection. "Huh? He enjoys reading-"

Kosaki would be unable to finish her sentence. For a strong blow to the back of her head would knock her out.