Title: Invitation Only
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Rating: Teen
Length: 3000 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Post-canon, Clef-on-holiday-in-Tokyo-with-Umi, Umi/Clef
Summary: Umi's parents might not be in the country. That doesn't mean they can't still interfere...


oOo



Three days into the – planned, this time – holiday in Tokyo, and Umi found Clef at the kitchen table at breakfast for the first time. He was yawning, but awake; he’d crashed hard the first evening they were here, almost falling asleep in the living room before their friends had even left.

“Feeling better?” she asked, amused that he’d managed to remember how to make tea successfully from his first stay at her house, but apparently couldn’t manage toast. He had bread in the toaster oven, but he hadn’t plugged it in, so it wasn’t doing much. She added another piece of bread then waved the end of the cable at him and plugged it in.

“I wasn’t feeling bad,” he retorted, but there was no heat in it – especially as he yawned the next moment. “Just… a little tired.”

“Uhuh.” She pulled the butter out of the fridge and set it next to the… jam and chocolate spread, trying not to giggle too hard. “Of course. You just slept twelve hours straight, two days running.”

“The beds are very comfortable here,” he said easily, coming over to pick up a plate, hovering as the timer ticked down on the toast.

Umi shook her head, very carefully not looking at him, aware her cheeks were heating up. But the doorbell rang before she could work out how to respond, and she shot out into the hallway, calling “I’ll get it!”

“I can’t even unlock it,” Clef called back, sounding amused, and – yeah, she needed to actually tell him the door code when he was awake enough to remember it.

Right now, she opened the door to a well-dressed deliveryman, with several large boxes; a couple were labelled as from her father’s favourite tailor, the other was from one of the dress shops her mother liked. She accepted them, a little confused, and set them on the entryway table; her parents weren’t going to be back home for at least two and a half weeks, but it had been a surprise trip, perhaps they’d been planning on going to some event.

“Did you want the yellow stuff on your toast?” Clef called, and Umi abandoned the boxes to go rescue her breakfast.

“It’s called butter-“

oOo

They made it to lunch with Hikaru and Presea at a little café near her house, and Umi spent the next hour just grinning at Hikaru over the table while Presea and Clef exchanged stories about how strange Tokyo was. It was Presea’s first time here, so most of the stories were hers – also, she hadn’t spent the past two days mostly asleep.

By mid-afternoon, they waved the other two off at the train station – Hikaru was taking Presea to go wander Akihabara, while Clef had looked slightly horrified at the idea of more people. So she’d taken pity on him and took him back home, where he was apparently determined to continue undoing half the work she’d put into their little digital island game and moving all the rivers around for obscure reasons he’d not managed to explain while sleep-deprived, and wouldn’t now.

Her phone rang while she was arguing over the need for another pond on the top level (‘Where else are we going to catch all the fish that only spawn up here?” “If you’d let me move all the trees around the other pond we could actually fish in that one!”) and she poked him on the shoulder once more, then headed out the room, answering as she went.

“Hi? Mama?”

“Umi! How are you and Clef today?”

“He’s putting ponds in ridiculous places,” she grouched, as much to get him to say something through the doorway as to make her mother laugh. “How’s the trip going?”

“Well, though your father claims his jetlag is worse today than it was yesterday – yes, dear, I’m talking to Umi – he sends his love. But I just wanted to check, have the clothes arrived yet?”

Umi paused mid-step, turning her head to eye those clothing boxes, suddenly suspicious. “…Some clothes have arrived, but… Mama, what clothes are these?”

“Well, it’s just – it’s the company’s annual foundation ball tonight, you know, and given I can’t be there this year… I thought you might do me a favour and go instead, so the family is still represented! You can take your Clef with you, have a nice night out.”

Stalking across the room, Umi pulled the lid off the first box, and stared at the contents. A full dress suit was laid out in tissue paper – tail coat, trousers; everything down to the white bow tie. “Mama! How – is this even going to fit him?”

“Your father took him to the tailor when he was here the first time, just in case,” her mother said, cheerfully. “It won’t fit perfectly until they have a chance to make final alterations, of course, but it should do for one evening. There’s a box on my bedside table with a pair of cufflinks you could give him – I meant to give them to your father last year for his birthday, but then we went on that trip, so no one has worn them… There should be some warmer clothes in the other box, he seems the kind of man who might appreciate better fitting things than you can find in a department store, so when you said he was coming I had them make a few staples…”

‘A few staples’ was apparently several shirts in various colours, with waistcoats, jackets, and trousers. While Umi wanted to retort that they’d been fooled by Clef’s work uniform and he basically just wore pyjamas under his robes all the time, she was hit by the image of Clef wearing them, and had to bite down on her lip.

“So,” she managed, after a moment, “this other box-“

“That one’s for you,” her mother said.

“Why do I need a new dress?”

“Well, it’s white tie, Umi-dear. You don’t have anything appropriate that still fits you.” There was a short pause. “Also you destroyed the last pair of long gloves you had climbing a tree in them-“

“That was important,” she muttered, flushing, glancing back at the formal suit. The white bowtie should probably have tipped her off, but it had been several years since she’d last been dragged to one of the really formal events. Black tie, yes, but white tie?

…Which probably did mean she didn’t have anything that would fit, but still!

“You could wear one of the good kimono,” her mother continued, while Umi struggled with the box from the dress shop. “But I don’t think your friend would know how to tie an obi for you, so you’d have to call another friend for help.”

Umi didn’t know whether she wanted to laugh at the mental image of Clef staring at an obi and the various ties and pillows in confusion, or flush at the idea of him helping her with it.

The next moment, she managed to get the last box open, and picked up the bodice of the long blue dress with her free hand – only to nearly drop it and the phone the next, voice scaling up at least an octave. “Mama! This laces up!”

“Well, I didn’t expect us to be away when I was putting that order in,” her mother said, sounding not at all repentant. “…If you really aren’t comfortable with him helping you with it, I’m sure you could call one of your friends to help.”

Umi shook her head, wildly, closing her eyes. The last thing she needed was Fuu or Hikaru here to giggle at her taking Clef to a fancy-pants ball, and there wasn’t anyone else she would really want to be that close.

But- but.

“But if you do let him help you – just remember, there’s always a box of-“

“MAMA!” Umi yelped, drowning out the instructions on how to find a box of condoms.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have a good time, whatever you do. Or don’t do.” Her mother was totally laughing. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Bye!”

“Mama!” Umi snapped, again, only the call had already been cut off, and she pulled the phone from her ear to glare at it, betrayed.

“…Is everything alright?” Clef asked, from behind her, and she jolted and spun around – she was still clutching the top of the dress and it came with her, the box falling to the floor, silky layers of fabric swishing about her legs. The tissue-wrapped gloves fell beside her, and the long criss-cross lacing of the ribbon across the back was in plain sight. Clef blinked at it.

“Um! No?”” Umi managed, and turned to try to stuff it back into the box. It seemed to have expanded to five times the size, refusing to even pretend it had once fitted inside.

“Here,” Clef said, suddenly beside her, reaching for the masses of fabric. “You’ll hurt it, shoving it in like that-“

Umi flushed and let go of it, and Clef glanced at her, but took over laying the dress back in the box, managing to contain it somewhat, then picked up the folded gloves and looked at them – and then the other boxes.

“I take it these aren’t clothes for your parents?”

“There’s – there’s a ball, tonight. Mama and Papa were meant to go, but as they aren’t here, Mama asked if I would go – it’s a company anniversary, her company, see, and-“

Clef nodded, slowly. “Then these…” He touched one hand to the box with slightly-less-formal clothes in it.

“Those are for you – these would be for tonight, those are just for wearing – and why didn’t you say my father took you to get measured last time you were here?”

“It was hardly the most confusing part of the week,” Clef said, with a shrug. “Your mother had taken you to lunch, and he said something about having more choices for clothing, should I visit again. The idea of not having to deal with the shops sounded appealing, but I admit I’d entirely forgotten about it until now.” He lay one hand on the white waistcoat, examining it curiously. “I take it the event tonight is very formal? And important to your family?”

She should say no, it wasn’t important – it wasn’t. It was only one year, and there was a good reason her parents couldn’t attend.

But she watched him look through the box, and she found herself saying ‘yes’ instead.

“Then I don’t mind going out for one evening.” He smiled at her. “It could be interesting. Though I suspect I may need some instruction with some parts of this outfit.”

“I’d need help with the dress,” she blurted. “Normally Mama would – and she must have been planning for us to go with them if she ordered all this. She never told me!”

“She’s not here to make you go. If you don’t want to, then just say. I’m sure she would have mentioned it before they left, if it was crucial.” He glanced at the dress. “But if you did want to go… I don’t mind helping.”

“Okay.” She swallowed. “Right. Okay, then.”

There was an awkward pause. “…I take it we don’t have to get ready quite yet?” Clef said, breaking it.

“No, it’s going to be this evening, we’ve probably got a few hours. I should go find the invitations…”

“Then do you want to come finish arguing about ponds?”

“…Yes.”

oOo

Three hours later, Umi stood in the centre of her bedroom, holding the gown in place around herself and trying not to jitter. A knock on the door had her flinching, and she spun around, the whispering layers of silk twisting with her, cool air on the bare skin of her back where it gaped open.

“Come in, Clef,” she said, before she could back out.

The door opened, and the tailors had done an excellent job; the entire dress suit seemed fitted perfectly. Clef was fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt where it extended out from the tailcoat. “Is there meant to be something to hold these two sides together? They both have holes, but no buttons,” he said, and then he looked up, and froze.

Umi flushed, hard. She gripped the top of the dress a little tighter – it had straps, but they were more decorative than functional, and with the back still unlaced it was threatening to fall off any moment.

“Could you, um. The lacing?” she asked, thankful her voice didn’t squeak at least. Clef nodded, but didn’t move; she turned again, so she was facing away, and she wasn’t sure if she actually imagined the sharply indrawn breath.

She waited, goosebumps running down her arms, and a moment later she heard his footsteps on the carpet as he stepped up behind her.

“This… it ties at the waist?” he asked, voice a little rough, and he was close enough she could feel his breath on the bare skin of her neck.

“Yes.”

“Alright.”

There was a careful pressure as he started to pull the cord tight, working it from the top down while Umi kept the front of the dress in place and tried to keep breathing evenly. His hands were gentle, and the fabric was so soft on her bare skin – this dress was not designed to have a bra under it – and neither of them said a word for the long minutes it took to pull the dress snug around her, fasten it in place.

“There,” he said, and she heard him stepping back. “Does that feel right?”

At that moment, nothing felt right. She was tingling all over, nerves singing, almost like she was about to head into a fencing match. Umi made herself smooth the dress down anyway, the bodice ruched slightly over her chest then hugging her smoothly to the hips, where it spread down to nearly the floor, only just short enough she wouldn’t be tripping on it all night.

She turned to face him. “Yeah- yes. Thank you.”

He shrugged, and he was flushed as bright as she felt, his ears a bright pink and his cheeks not much better. “Well, I don’t know how I’m meant to tie this, so you might need to return the favour?”

‘This’ was the bowtie. Umi looked at it, and stepped forwards, taking a breath. “I have cufflinks for you, too – to hold the shirt sleeves shut. Here.” She grabbed the little box from her dressing table and opened it. The cufflinks were silver (or perhaps platinum, knowing her mother), simple circular heads each set with a ring of tiny glittering clear stones. “They slide through, then this section turns to catch the other side-“

Clef looked at them, taking a breath. “Well. I can see how they work, but I’m not sure if I can manage that one-handed.”

“Give me your wrist, then,” Umi said, and focused hard on getting the cufflinks settled, not the warmth of his skin under her fingers. Then she gave in to the inevitable, and took the bowtie. “This goes around your neck. Here…”

She’d seen her mother do this for her father a thousand times. Even pushing back that memory didn’t help, though; she had to stand so close to Clef to slide the bit of cloth about his neck, and then she had to remember how to tie it, while he was close enough all he would have to do was lean in a fraction, or she could, and-

Her phone beeped loudly with a message, and they both flinched.

Finishing, she pulled her hands away, and stepped back. “There,” she said, and pointed him at the mirror. “You’re ready.”

As he inspected himself in his black-and-white outfit, she made herself grab the wrap that had come with the dress, the small purse that matched it and the shoes she’d dug out of her wardrobe. Then she checked her phone. The message was from Hikaru.

//Hi Umi! We’re going to karaoke with Fuu and Ferio – will you and Clef join us?//

//Can’t,// she typed back. //Sorry. Mama’s sent me off to represent the family at an event thing.// Impulsively, she stepped up beside Clef in front of the mirror, and raised her phone to snap a picture of them both, adding it on to the message. //Maybe tomorrow?//

She regretted it as soon as she’d sent it, and she couldn’t even say why.

Well. Besides the fact her friends now had a picture of Clef in her bedroom, anyway, which-

//Ooh! Fancy! Have fun!// pinged onto her messages, and she pulled a face and dropped the phone in her bag.

“Come on,” she said, getting herself out of the room as fast as she could without actually looking like she was running away. “We should get going, the car’s probably here to fetch us by now.”

“Yes,” Clef said, his voice still with that rough edge that made her shiver, and the thought of him taking her hand all evening – the thought of maybe even dancing with him – none of that managed to get through the one, insistent thought that rang in her head all the way down the stairs and out to the taxi.

When they came back, she was going to ask him to help her back out of this dress.