The Love That Was Never Mentioned but Will Never Be Forgotten

Intro

Ai was always a quiet girl. She was a first year at Ouran High School, the school for the rich kids in the rich families of Japan. She was in class 1-A, the same as host club members Haruhi Fujioka, Hikaru, and Kaoru Hitachiin. They had said "Hi" to her once or twice before, but, again, she was a quiet and shy girl. She had very few friends and the friends she did have were her friends because they didn't annoy her deeply like most of the kids at that school. It wasn't that she thought she was better than them or anything. It was a surprise she even got into the "A" class and her record wasn't that of an angel. She just didn't like most of the kids' snobby attitudes towards life. She just wanted to be rid of those kids for good but that would be hard for her. After all she was the daughter of the head, and the next head, of the Sumero family: Japan's, and the world's, most leading family in music. Everyone in her family had a natural affinity for music, and she was no exception. She could play almost any instrument, hit every note in vocals, and make any song into a hit. Every day she was at school or in some family meeting, or any event for that matter, she would much prefer being in her room playing her guitar and singing her favorite songs. Her parents highly believed she had star potential so they were trying their best to make her a famous singer/musician. She would love being wrapped in music, but she didn't want her family's help. Especially their latest plan: an arranged marriage. What was worse was that it was with no other than the one person she despised the most at that school: Kyouya Ootori. They had known each other since they were little, but they never talked for long periods of time just because he was a year older than her and she always felt like she was being looked down on around him. "Ding-Dang-Dong. Ding-Dang-Dong." The sound of the school bell pulled her out of her subconscious mind. Before heading to her private clubroom that she liked playing music in while waiting for her driver she had to make a detour straight to Music Room 3: where the Host Club had activities and where she would have to tell Kyouya what their parents had decided. She sighed as she thought "I really hate being rich sometimes." Marrying into a medical family to help with music? It made no sense to her. It would make more sense to marry into the Hitachiin family, since they were in fashion and could promote her songs. She walked down the hallway that felt like the walk of doom. Ai really wished she was alone in her room at that point.

The News

Ai opened the doors and a swarm of roses flew to her as she saw a group of 7 handsome men dressed like handsome police men. Where most girls would blush at the sight, Ai found herself awestruck by the stupidity of the act. She hung onto the wall as she thought to herself "There's no way I can marry a guy who's into this kind of stuff!" She felt arms around her and looked up to see a blonde with violet eyes holding her; Tamaki Suoh, class 2A, to be precise. Again, where most girls would probably blush and cry in joy, Ai felt the overwhelming need to get away from that place ASAP. Before she could compose herself, she said the first words that popped into her head: "Let go of me, you full-of-himself-halfy." This seemed to shock Tamaki to his core and before long he had gone to an emo-corner. "Over dramatic much?" she thought. The Hitachiin twins hurled into laughter as Kyouya walked over to Ai and asked "Did you come for an appointment?" She let her head drop as she remembered what she went there for. She sighed and picked her head back up so that she was looking Kyouya straight in the eye. She felt her breath catch and her heart rapidly beat as she felt the physical attraction she had for him for so long. She shook her head and said, "Our parents want us to marry. Please help me try to talk them out of it?" He stared blankly at her and asked, "Why? It would be highly profitable for both of our families to join and since you're too young for Akito, I'm the best candidate." She was speechless with shock as she thought "This is why I refuse to marry him: everything's profit or no profit to him. I wouldn't go insane in less than five seconds married to this guy." She sighed and turned away, but before leaving she said, "Let me know when you have the balls to do something you want to do, not what's profitable. Also, don't get too keen on the idea of us marrying. Even if I have to run away, I refuse to marry someone as cold as you." She ran off and, even though the reason had yet to be known to her, she felt tears drip down her face.

The Unknown Visit

Kyouya walked down the hall, reliving Ai's cold words. He mentally kicked himself for saying the marriage would be "profitable" when in truth, the fact that their families were arranging this marriage lit up his day. To him Ai was much more than something profitable: she was the one he loved. He loved her long auburn red hair and striking sapphire green eyes. He loved the fact that she was the perfect height for him and he especially loved how she looked in the girl's uniform: a yellow and white poufy dress with long sleeves that ended at her knees. It wasn't just her physical form that he loved; he loved her personality. She was smart and could do anything when she set her mind to it. She was cold when needed and she was kind when needed, but more than anything he loved how she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Everyone around him seemed somewhat fake except for her. Even though he was an Ootori, she wasn't afraid to give him a piece of her mind. He didn't blame her for her words; he knew she didn't say them unless she really felt them. He only blamed himself. It annoyed him deeply that she seemed to know everything there was to know about him except for one thing: his love for her. She seemed completely dense to it or anything about them having more than a business relationship, but maybe that was his own fault. He never let her know that she had any use more than profit. "It's too late now" he thought. He wanted to go crawl into an emo-corner like Tamaki usually did when he was depressed. "Only her music is gonna make me any happier at this point," he thought and as soon as the thought was finished he heard a guitar coming from a creaked door. He slowly walked over and peeked in. He saw Ai, guitar in lap, preparing to sing. He stood there, awestruck by her beautiful and angelic appearance. His breath caught as she started to sing. It was a song that, for both of them, struck close to home: Again by Yui. After hearing the song he was inspired to show her that she was much more to him than profit, that he wanted their relationship to be much more than a business relationship. He walked off and out of the school and was getting in his car to go home as something hit him: What if she didn't want their relationship to be anything more than a business? What if she didn't want to be anything more than a profit to him? What if she didn't even want to consider marrying him? He kept his cool façade but inside he was dying as he felt these questions come to him like flaming arrows through his heart. He had never considered her feelings before, only his. He went to his room as soon as he got home and locked the door. He couldn't hold it in anymore but he'd be damned if anyone saw him like that. He finally let the tears drop without end as he realized that he needed her, even if it's just a business relationship, he needed something with her to hold on to, but if she wasn't happy, then there was no way he could be happy. That night, for the first time, he didn't come out of his room and he didn't do his homework. He didn't care what punishment he would receive, he only cared about living in her memory. He thought of her smile, something that seemed ultimately rare unless there was some form of music. He thought of her personality and of the first time they met.

The First Meeting

Kyouya, eight years old at the time, walked outside into his garden. He liked being out there; it calmed him. As he walked into the garden, he heard a little girl's laughter. He dreaded the thought that someone else was out there while he was, but curiosity got the better of him. He walked towards the voice and eventually found a little girl running around happily. It wasn't long until she ran into him and fell to the ground. She looked up, her auburn hair pulled into pigtails and curled, her sapphire green eyes looking curiously up at Kyouya. She stared at him for a minute and then smiled brightly. She stood up and dusted off her pink floral dress. She finally held out her hand to Kyouya and said, "I'm Ai Sumero! What's your name?" He stared at her for a long time wondering, "This is the next head of the Sumero family?" Eventually, though, he took her hand, smiled, and said, "Kyouya Ootori. It's very nice to meet you, Miss Sumero." She frowned at his formality and said, "Just call me Ai!" They stopped shaking hands and stood there for a while until Ai started fidgeting. But it wasn't long until her face lit up and she asked, "Do you want to play a game with me?" He smiled but shook his head and pretended to realize something. "Sorry, but I just remembered I have to go see my father," he said. He started to turn away as she said, "Liar, you just don't want to play with a little girl. I'm seven, I'll have you know, but whatever. Do what you want. I don't want to play with a liar anyways." He turned around in shock and saw her run off, apparently chasing a blue butterfly. "Doesn't she know who I am? My father could have her father bankrupt in a second. She sure is bold," he thought as he turned away and walked back to the house.

The Confession

Ai jumped out of bed, breathing heavily. "Why did I dream of that? Why would I even care about when we met? He was a jerk then and he's a jerk now," she told herself as she got ready for school. She paused as she looked at herself in the mirror after changing. "I really hate this uniform" she thought. The cold words she said to Kyouya the day before replayed in her head for the ten-thousandth time as she felt another wave of regret. It was the first time she ever wished she could take something back. "Why do I feel sorry or regret? The words were true and still are true. Even if my attempts last night failed" she thought. The night before, during dinner she had tried to talk her parents out of the arranged marriage, but they wouldn't hear of it. She got into the car and the driver started on his way to the school. She sighed as she looked out the window. "I really don't want to go to school today because I know Kyouya's gonna confront me, I just know it," she thought, but she went anyways. She refused to let someone drive her out of an education, even if it wasn't the most important thing for her.

Ai arrived at the front gate and immediately saw Kyouya leaning against one of the pillars. Her first reaction was to tell the driver to drop her off at another gate but decided against it. To her, avoiding him would be like saying he won some unknown game. She hated losing, with a passion. She stepped out of the limousine and strode towards the massive doors with a confidence she forced herself to feel. She refused to look at Kyouya so when he grabbed her shoulder she jumped. She turned around and said, "Kyouya, you startled me!" with some nervous laughter at the end. His face was completely serious as he stared at her and asked, "Can we talk after school? In the garden?" She couldn't speak as an unknown feeling caused by his stare filled her. She wasn't blushing but she was sure she was staring at him in shock. She only nodded but he wouldn't let go. They stayed like that for a while when Ai began to fidget. She always fidgeted when she was in awkward moments and now, with Kyouya's hand on her shoulder, was one of them. It seemed Kyouya had noticed this too and let go of her, never once acting like it was awkward for him too. She turned around and felt the blood rush to her cheeks, which was extremely rare. She could feel his lingering gaze on her but she refused to look back, telling herself it was her imagination. "Kyouya would never think of me that way. I'm just profit to him," she thought and shook her head as soon as she thought it. "What am I thinking? Why would I want a jerk like that to think of me that way? Damnit, I don't understand!" she thought as she walked to her classroom. She felt like hitting herself in the head and just wanted to go crawl under a rock for just thinking like that. When she walked into the classroom it felt like someone had put a "CROWD ME" sign on her. She was crowded with girls, no doubt Kyouya fans, from her class. They bombarded her with questions like "Are you really gonna marry Kyouya?" or "Why would a music family marry into a medical family?" but one comment that really got to her was from her classmate Azumi Hiroko: "You must want Kyouya all for yourself. Why don't you give up? It's not like he even thinks of you as a friend or anything." Ai had about enough of Azumi. Ever since primary school, Ai had been Azumi's favorite person to pick on and Ai just brushed her off, but this time was different. "You think I want to marry that jerk? Well, I don't so why don't you go get a life, Azumi, and leave me the hell alone!" she roared at the snobby princess. Azumi was taken off guard and Ai felt a wave of triumph. She sat in her seat as everyone stepped away from her; afraid they would get a piece of her as well. She opened up a shojo manga and pleaded to whoever was listening to let this day go by quickly.

Before Ai knew it, it was after school and time to meet Kyouya. She started to build her defenses like she always had before meeting him. She went the way to the garden and eventually found him sitting on a stone bench. She walked over and asked, "Did you wait long?" He jumped up, seeming surprised by her voice, which surprised her. He was supposed to be a calm, calculating guy who wasn't surprised by anything. He turned towards her and said, "No, not really, I just got here." She sat on the bench and said, "Whatever." She set her bag on the ground by the bench. "So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked as she looked up at the tall figure. He sat down beside her and she noticed that he was a little uneasy; another shocker. "First time for everything, I guess," she thought. They sat there for a while, just looking at each other and for the first time Ai didn't feel awkward when someone looked at her for long periods of time, in fact she enjoyed Kyouya's gaze. Kyouya sighed and looked away as he said, "It's okay if you don't feel the same way I do, and if you're really intent on not marrying me than I won't force you, but…" Kyouya paused and for the first time Ai actually saw some feeling besides coldness in his eyes. Kyouya looked back at her and smiled. Her breath caught at his smile. It wasn't an evil, calculating smile like he would usually wear; it was a genuinely happy smile. His next words really caught her off guard, "I love you, Ai."

The Realization

Kyouya felt like he had lifted a huge load off his chest, but something wasn't quite right about the scene. At that point Ai should've been saying, "I love you too, Kyouya" or running happily into his arms or something but she was just sitting there, staring at him in disbelief. Tears filled her beautiful eyes as she looked away from Kyouya to the walkway underneath them. She clenched her teeth and said, "This is low, even for you." She ran off without another word, the only proof that she was there being the tear stains on the sidewalk and her bag beside the bench. He chased her without another thought, leaving his bag with hers. He wanted her to know that what he was saying was true; he wanted to take her in his arms and say "sorry" for all the coldness he showed towards her the past years. As he chased her he wondered when his feelings for her had started. "Right, that must've been it," he thought as a memory occurred to him.

It was middle school and he was a second year. He was walking the hall to the front gates when he heard loud laughter. It was familiar and sent him an image of the smiling seven year old. He hadn't talked to her since then and had only seen her at gatherings standing alone. He walked towards the laughter and found the little girl again, only this time she was about twelve and she was wearing the middle school uniform. Again, she was in the garden and, again, she was chasing butterflies. He walked out and before he knew it he was watching her intently. It wasn't long before she noticed him. When she turned towards him he noticed she was holding a bouquet of flowers. "Kyouya!" she called as she ran towards him. When she reached him she pulled out a blue rose. "Here!" she said as she handed him the rose. He took the rose and said, "You're in a happy mood." She giggled and said, "Who wouldn't be on a day like this? The sun's out, the birds are chirping, the air's clean, and everything looks so beautiful! It's hard not to be giddy on a day like today!" She turned from him and went to a nearby bench to rest. She was breathing heavily but she quickly caught her breath. She patted the seat next to her and said, "Have a seat, my good man!" She sounded almost drunk with happiness to him. He sat next to her and looked out on the garden. They didn't speak for a while and before they knew it, their drivers were calling them. Ai stood up and curtsied. "Have a very nice day, good sir!" she said before walking off. He walked off shortly after but couldn't help thinking that she looked more beautiful than any girl at that moment.

Ai turned towards a hallway and grabbed a wall to stay steady. The hallway was deserted so she had no trouble dropping to the ground and crying her heart out. When she was done she sat next to a wall and finally realized why she was feeling these weird things. "He's a jerk, and he's cold, and everything is a matter of profit to him but I love that jerk. I love him," she said aloud, not realizing that Kyouya was right around the corner and had heard everything. He turned toward the hallway and said, "Then why are you so reluctant to marry me?"

The Deal

Ai's head shot up to see the dark haired, dark eyed man she had known since she was seven. She stood up and was about to run when he grabbed her arm. She turned back to see that he was losing his cool façade. "Why…" he looked up at her and she was shocked to the core by the emotion on his face. If she thought he was acting before, she didn't think that now. "Why won't you marry me?" She looked at him with no fear and no regret. She wouldn't let anything stop her from saying what she was gonna say. "I don't want to be married and know it was arranged. That would be a living hell for me, even if I did love the man. I don't want anyone deciding my future for me." Kyouya's face wasn't so much shocked as happy. He smiled and hugged her saying, "Then I'll get it straightened out and I'll propose to you properly." Ai smiled at the thought and hugged him back. She hugged him so tight, as if she was afraid he would blow away. She whispered, "That's fine by me, but wait until our careers are worked out ok?" He smiled and said, "Of course." Ai started to break the hug and Kyouya wondered why she would break a moment like this until she met his lips with hers. Her kiss was delicate and shy, something that matched her perfectly and yet didn't match her at all. He kissed back but, to both of them, it felt like it ended too quickly. Ai let go of Kyouya, smiled up at him, and said, "I think our drivers are waiting." Kyouya laughed and said, "You're probably right. I'll see you next time then." She laughed and said, "Alright, till next time!" She walked past him and felt as if her heart would beat out of her chest. Kyouya walked the opposite direction. He smiled to himself and thought, "Love really is profitable, I suppose."