Shuu greeted everybody as they came in with a smile and a brief touch on the arm that made the ladies turn red and made the guys feel like they were part of the club.
After most of the expected group had arrived, Shuu had the lights within the pool turn on and invited everyone to change into their swimsuits and take a dip. Soon, his backyard was full of bikini-clad girls and boys sporting muscles abdomens. Shuu waited a few minutes before changing as well, revealing a toned (but not overly muscular) stomach and simple but elegant swim trunks. He entered the water with a beautiful dive, and when he surfaced, he pushed his hair up out of his face with one hand before swimming over to the side to observe.
The party was in full swing by that point. People in swimsuits were milling around. Every now and then, one of them would come over to Shuu and tell him how awesome the party was or how cool his house was or how nice the pool was. As always, he would smile and give the look that said Of course everything is fabulous. Who do you think I am?
And they'd give the look that said You're Shuu Tsukiyama!
And then they'd walk away to enjoy the food or the pool or just the vibe in general.
But Shuu was already bored. He didn't know everyone, but they were all the same type of people. All sycophants, sucking up to him in order to be "in".
After a few moments, he lifted himself up out of the water with only his arms and pulled himself onto the surrounding stone. Then he stretched his arms over his head, all the while scanning the crowd.
That's when he saw her.
Her hair was black, the purest ebony, and her eyes were grey like the steel blade of a sous-chef. The guy she was with was smiling, but it was a different smile than the others. If everyone else was smiling like they were "in", this guy was smiling like he was "out". The girl wasn't smiling at all, at least, not until the boy leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Then she gave a small smile, accompanied by a small blush as she waved her hands defensively, but the boy just laughed.
Shuu sighed. They were different, but he didn't like other guys in general, and he didn't like girls that were taken. They were too much work.
But why were they here?
His previous boredom was fading away, and the smile that graced his face was ugly. He quickly covered it up with his brilliant smile, but his eyes fracked the two of them as they entered his domain.
He'd been right after all.
Ce soir est le soir.
Tonight is the night.