Kyoya Ootori blinks, adjusts his glasses and blinks again. His eyes aren't deceiving him then, it is actually her. He shakes his head and strides towards the young strawberry-blonde walking sedately in front of him. It's been a few years since he had any communications with her and to his knowledge she hadn't planned on attending Ouran or any other school in Japan.
"Larika Thorpe, is that really you?"
She turns towards him upon hearing her name and smiles warmly at him. The dark haired young man hasn't changed much from his profile picture and she's glad to see that he's still attending the academy.
"Hello Kyoya Ootori, nice to finally meet you." She holds out her hand and he takes it in his as he runs a quick gaze over her.
"Likewise, but again what are you doing at Ouran? Last I heard, your family was still in the United States."
Larika sighs and says. "We've had a few changes, but I don't have time to discuss them right now. Can I meet you somewhere after school?"
Kyoya silently thinks about his schedule. "Hmm, yes I can meet you in Music Room 3. You know how to get there?"
"I can always ask someone if I get lost. Ah look at the time, I need to get my application papers finished and talk to the superintendent before classes start. It's good to find a friend in an unfamiliar school, see you later Kyoya." With that she heads towards the administration office and Kyoya is left wondering when the world tilted off its axis.
As luck would have it, Kyoya manages to have a free period just before classes let out for the day, so he automatically follows the route to the music room and his laptop. Once inside, he crosses immediately to his table, pulls out the laptop and starts researching.
"Come on, she's not that private a citizen is she?" Then he remembers something from their mutual past and inputs that into the search parameters. As his gray eyes scan through the various internet links he finds the one that he's looking for and clicks on it.
The dark haired host shakes his head at the information that is in front of him. For the first time in ages, he feels at a loss. He can't believe what he's reading and yet there it is in black and white. He pulls his glasses off and pinches his nose, wondering how to approach her, what to say that won't sound trite or callous.
"Kyo-chan!"
The sight of the small blonde Host bringst a brief smile to his face and he glances at his watch, surprised by how much time has passed.
"Honey-senpai, you're here early." It's more of a statement than a question as the two oldest hosts are indeed almost a full fifteen minutes earlier than normal.
"Takashi and I didn't have any classes and our practices were cancelled." Honey's face is slightly downcast, while Mori's is the same as any other day being almost unreadable.
Kyoya frowns at his senpai's words. "I'm sorry to hear that senpai."
"It's okay, just means that we get to greet the ladies on time today. It also means more cake!"
Honey's enthusiasm would normally make Kyoya cringe a bit at the thought of how the supplies would be dwindling for the day but today Kyoya just smiles at him and nods in absent agreement.
"Kyo-chan, are you okay?"
Those innocently deceptive brown eyes can be all too seeing some days and Kyoya stifles a sigh as he adjusts his glasses.
"I'll be fine Honey-senpai. I met a friend today. It, or rather she, was something I hadn't expected."
Mitsukuni Haninozuka studies Kyoya for a few more seconds before bouncing off talking excitedly to his cousin Takashi Morinozuka about what flavors of cake they'll be eating during the Host Club.
Mori listens with half an ear as he too keeps an eye on Kyoya. While it is rare to see the younger man in the music room so early, the unusual thing is the slight change in Kyoya's composure. To those with a lesser trained eye, they might miss it, but Takashi and Mitsukuni can both see that something or someone has upset their unshakeable Shadow King.
"Takashi, what do we do?"
Mori glances down at his cousin and smiles, "We wait and see. When he's ready, if he's ready he can come to us."
Honey looks ready to argue with him, but Mori just raises an eyebrow, "Mitsukuni, we don't have the right."
Honey's shoulders slump for a second, "You're right. I hope he knows that we can listen without judgement."
Mori looks up as a tall shadow crosses their table. "I know that you two mean well, but for now it's not something that I can discuss with anyone at the club." Kyoya glides back to his table, adjusting his glasses on the way.
The twins and Tamaki come in a few seconds later and the six men have a brief discussion regarding their clientele and what the future club activities will be involving. Kaoru nudges Hikaru and motions with his shoulder to watch Kyoya. Tamaki is as oblivious as ever to anything being wrong, and blathers on about cosplays and participation in upcoming school activities.
"Of course we'll need the twins help with the costuming and Kyoya, what is wrong with you today? You've been even quieter than you normally are?"
"My apologies everyone, I'm expecting a friend during club today and have been trying to figure out how best to accommodate her." It isn't a lie, they can all tell that much, yet there is more to it than that.
"We will welcome her with open arms and treat her like any of our other princesses." Tamaki states with a flourish of his arms.
"Speaking of which, do any of you know where Haruhi is?" Kyoya's question is legitimate as the natural host has yet to put in her appearance.
Smooth switch away from himself and onto someone of more interest. Mori and Honey glance at each other. Mori shakes his head at Honey's unasked question.
"She noticed we were low on coffee and went to get some before club starts." Kaoru states and Hikaru nods in agreement.
"Mori-senpai, is everything alright?" Tamaki's question brings the seniors gazes back to the group. Mori opens his mouth to say something but Honey beats him to it.
"He's okay, we're just out of sorts because our practices got cancelled today so we're not real sure what to do with our time, right Takashi?"
"Ah."
Kyoya flashes the two oldest boys a quick smile before hiding behind his laptop again. A few minutes pass and Haruhi opens the door. She's laden with groceries and Mori graciously steps forward to help her with the bags.
"Goodness Haruhi, what did you buy?" None of them have seen her with this many bags before.
"They had a coupon sale. Two for the price of one and then I found a real bargain…"
Kyoya stares at her for a few seconds after he accepts the receipt that she hands to him.
"Kyoya-senpai, is everything alright?"
"I'm fine, Haruhi. Thank you for asking."
He inputs the receipt into the flow chart he's made for her debt, and then starts observing the rest of the club. The hosts are all moving towards their respective tables, with the exception of Haruhi who is busy preparing the drinks for their guests.
OHSHC
The first ten minutes drag as Kyoya watches the door in silent anticipation. He's aware that he's acting somewhat out of character, but for the life of him he cannot figure out why Larika decided to come to Ouran. He sighs and taps his fingers on his chair, wondering if she will actually take him up on his invitation and come to the club.
A knock on the door has him on his feet. He glances around the room, but the other hosts are all busy entertaining their guests and he gets to his feet, gliding smoothly to the door before opening it. Larika's just outside, getting ready to turn around and leave.
"You don't have to leave." He says as he shuts the door behind steps closer to him, and he gives her a rare smile as she does so. "I see that you managed to make it here." He says as she stands next to him.
"What are you doing here Kyoya? Why are you here?"
"I think that should be my question. What happened Larika, why are you here in Japan and Ouran of all places?"
"I can't explain in a hallway. Can we go inside?"
"Of course, you'll have to forgive me, I have club duties for the next half hour and then we can go elsewhere if you so desire." Kyoya puts a hand at her back escorting her into the room. She stops when she sees the activities going on.
For once there isn't a cosplay going on, it's just a normal chat session with tea or coffee with cakes, cookies and other small treats.
Mitsukuni glances over at his kouhai and his eyes widen in surprise when he sees the young lady standing next to Kyoya.
"Mitsukuni, you're ignoring our guests." Mori frowns at him and he bows his head.
"I'm sorry ladies," he puts the wobbling lip out and then turns his head towards Takashi, "I'm sorry Takashi, I thought I saw someone new and wanted to acknowledge them."
"We can do it after we honor our guests with our service."
The girls in question sigh at the two men and Kari says, "Mori, Honey, please it's not a big deal. If it's someone new, isn't it your responsibility to welcome them? We can wait here until you come back."
Mori nods and stands up. As he does so he glances across to Kyoya's table and a silent "oh" crosses his lips and he sits back down again.
"It's alright, we can talk to her later." the look on his face doesn't allow for argument. The ladies are a bit surprised, but shrug their elegant shoulders and start asking Honey about the variety of cakes that he's sharing with them today.
For his own part, Mitsukuni is curious about his cousin's reaction. There were very few things in life that could make Takashi act that way. Kendo, animals, and girls, not necessarily in that order.
Haruhi brings over their tea and coffee refills, which leaves Honey with an excellent opportunity to ask the natural host about the new guest and just what has his cousin in such disarray.
"From what I was told she's a friend of Kyoya-senpai's. Apparently she just moved here and Kyoya-senpai's trying to find out how we can help her."
With that, Haruhi finished replenishing the tea and went to the twins table. The ladies at that table are whispering amongst themselves and Haruhi glances around to see where the twins are at. The twins and Tamaki are all trying to inch their way over the couches so that they can look at Kyoya's guest.
Larika sees the dangerous glimmer in Kyoya's eyes and knows that it's due to his friends being overly curious.
"Can you just call me later, Kyoya?" she asks, not wanting to cause any trouble.
"No, I think it's time for a little intervention. I promise this won't take long."
He stands up, straightens his tie and jacket and then glares at Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru. Tamaki immediately heads to his mushroom corner while the twins carefully back away from the Shadow King's demesne and back to their own guests.
To most of the hosts the next half hour almost seems to drag. For Kyoya it passes too quickly, because now he has to tell his friends about Larika and the reason she's in Japan.
"Kyoya, they don't need to know everything."
"Larika, I don't know anything aside from what little I gained from the internet and even that wasn't very informative."
She sighs and he knows that she's wondering just how much she needs to tell them.
"You need a friend or you wouldn't have come here. I'm still wondering why you came here."
She shakes her head as she closes her eyes for a few moments. When she opens them again, he can see resolve and a touch of sadness in them.
"Let's wait until your friends are done then. I don't know if I can tell the story more than once."