My name is Fuyumi Ootori,
Oh my, I'm sorry it is not Ootori anymore but rather Shido; I was married into a wonderful family that accepts me for all of my faults and mistakes. I know what many of you are probably thinking that someone from a prestigious family prefers her in laws to her biological family. There are personal reasons of why I have chosen to do so. I had an excellent life up until I was married and I have such wonderful siblings who I love dearly but there is one thing that I do not find to be all sunshine and lollipops. As a child, my father raised me to be a perfect daughter, and bride to be. It's not my preference to uphold perfection nor do I want to live as if I am wind up doll being wound up to perform on command. There were no objections to it and I knew had I said word my father would have punished me for rebellion.
I remember that many a time before mother passed, I was always smiling and never afraid to speak my mind. She was the one whom instilled my love of commoner items, I know it is a guilty pleasure but I find it enjoyable to spend time with people of different classes rather than that of the highest social standings. There was never pressure on me to take over father's company as my elder brother Yuuichi was the successor, at least in the eyes of people in the world of business.
My job was to choose a suitable husband which would bring honor to my family and ensure that our families could work together to crush any business or anyone that even dares breathe in our family's directions. It hurt me deeply that I was born into a family that found perfection to be the top priority over anything else and that included individual happiness. Which my brothers suffer the most from because my father enjoys toying with them; He is like a sadistic puppet master when it comes to naming who would be the head of the family and the company. The reasons why my own brothers are usually in some kind of competition be it with their grades in school or a simple game of chess is because father wishes them to lose what shred of happiness they have within them. I cannot bear to look at the sad expressions on their faces whenever they come back from their weekly reports with father, they appear to be void of life or in the case of my youngest brother appear to be beaten emotionally and mentally.
There are days when I wish that mother had lived long enough to see what father has become, a shell of his former self, he no longer smiles or laughs freely. He is cold and calculating rather than warm and inviting.
I cannot believe this man is the same man I called father that I used to dance on his feet whenever we'd spend an evening in the main drawing room listening to old records of wonderful music as Yuuichi would sit on the floor reading a few of his comic books.
Before my younger brothers were born, our family had been small and we lived in a rather modest home rather than the mansion we live in today, when everything was simple and father worked for our grandfather for many years. It was not hard to live without the luxuries we have now, I remember my favorite thing to do was help mother with sewing clothes, I am glad she taught me a skill that comes in handy. Even as a child, I was hopeless with the household chores and folding laundry.
These memories are ones that I treasure the most, when father and mother were not always far away from us. They instead chose to care for us instead of leaving us with nannies or babysitters. However, once Yuuichi was old enough he watched after me for short durations of time. He and I despite differences in ages actually are as close as siblings can be. He is very overprotective of our brothers and me but he is also very kind. It is hard to believe that someone whom takes after father more in terms of what he used to be. He laughs more often and works with companies that are in need.
My second youngest brother Akito was born on a warm spring evening, he was always an angry child and mother often joked that he did not want to leave her womb. However, as he got older he slowly became a favorite of father's. I remember the first time Akito took his first steps my father got the video camera out and would record every moment. It did not matter what it was.
Those moments in our new home made it feel as though we lived there forever, but a cold front began moving in and our happy little family began drifting apart. Yuuichi and I lost our bond that made it appear as though I was a bother to him. I did not understand why he was so embarrassed by me but I knew that my place was to be seen and never heard.
It was a time I still treasured because I had Akito who loved me the most and would always be happy to be around me. He called me Onee-chan rather than Onee-san, which made my heart, melt. I loved being a big sister. It was something I knew that I was great and had the most pride.
A few years later, my youngest brother was born, he was originally supposed to be born in December but he had been early and had to stay in the hospital because he had been so sickly and many people did not expect him to live through the night.
When mother and father brought us into the room where my new brother was I remember looking through the glass of the incubator and just reaching in and touching his tiny hand. He looked so small and helpless. I did not want to think of losing someone I just met and then in an instant it seemed as though something bonded us together.
Mother and father had not even chosen his name nor did anyone else seem to care that he might survive. I heard my father say there was no use in naming a child that would not live through the night but mother had insisted that we would give him a name.
Despite the rule of the Ootori family, I spoke up and said that we should name him Kyouya. I did not tell mother or father why I chose the name but that is what my brother wanted to be named, He told me himself when I touched his hand; it was more of a whisper that carried throughout the air.
To everyone's surprise, my little brother…he lived through the night and was an average yet calm baby. Whenever mother could not take care of him, I did it. It was my job to ensure that he had been fed, changed, and loved.
To that point I think that is why my name was his first word, it was on a spring day when he was learning to make up small words by way of babbling.
"He's too dumb to talk," Akito said glancing at Kyouya.
I looked at Akito with a serious look on my face and I did not say a word but looked at Kyouya with a smile. "Can you say Onee-san?"
Kyouya looked at me with eyes that mirrored my own and gave me a drooling smile as he poked me in the nose. "Y-Y-Y-Yumi."
It was the first word that he had said, even if it was not my full name but it made sense. I laughed in glee and picked him up praising his first word.
As years went on and when mother died, I remembered that Akito was angrier, Yuuichi became more attentive to us, Kyouya was too young to understand, and I was just…well I was just Fuyumi.
My whole life wasn't that of what people at school expected, I had to be this perfect daughter, student and person that didn't show emotion, never laughed unless told to and to always be a polite lady.
I never once wanted to rebel against father, If I did so it meant that I was doing something wrong and did not have a place in the family. Therefore, I played the part of never showing emotion or embarrassing anyone.
My place was to find a husband and live for that family, never to return to my home to see my brothers or father.
However, something that my youngest brother said made me realize that he needed me more than anyone else did. Even if father never approved I had a job to ensure he lived for himself never to live as a puppet.
Kyouya had been seven at the time and I found him outside staring at the vacant mansion next door. His best friend had moved away and as per father's wishes, he was not allowed to see her again.
"Fuyumi-nee I hate father," Kyouya told me as he looked at me with anger in his eyes. I knew he was a child and most children say they hated their fathers when angry but they would forget about it after a day or so.
"Kyouya you do not say that!" I scolded him and knelt down in front of him placing my hands on his shoulders to redeem father's good name. "Father is a good man; he knew what he was doing."
"But Fuyumi-nee, you don't hate him for making your boyfriend leave you?" Kyouya's voice seemed to open a wound in my heart but I shook it off.
"No, It may have been for the best," I say and hold back the urge to cry. "Father will explain to you why he did this when you're older. For now you need to know it was done for a reason."
"I still hate father," Kyouya said as he pushed my hands off his shoulders and he ran to the tree where he would often hide when he was upset.
That moment I wondered if maybe Kyouya meant his words. It was not until years later when I had been practicing to learn to be a good housewife to my arranged partner that I spoke to Kyouya again.
"Sis, will you stop rummaging through my drawers?" Kyouya asked as he watched in amusement at my antics.
"Kyouya-mine, I'm only tiding up your closet," I say and watch as he cringed at the nickname. I hold back a giggle and continue pulling things out of his closet.
"For the sake of our family's honor please leave domesticated chores to the house staff." Kyouya did not yell at me for calling him by his old nickname. Maybe this was a sign he had stopped being a sourpuss.
"Its fine and don't think I don't know about those magazines under your bed," I say and watch as he mumbled something about reading them only for the articles. "Ahem, so how was your day at school today?"
"It was the same old day." Kyouya waved a dismissive hand and his face seemed to pale when my hand brushed against the box at the top of the closet. "Fuyumi-nee please get out of there."
"Why?" my hand bumped the box and knocked it onto the floor, I kneel down to pick up the items from the floor and I notice they're Kyouya's old train set and a picture of him and the little girl he'd played with next door as a child. "You kept these?"
"Fuyumi-nee don't tell father," Kyouya rushed over picking up the picture and train set, I can hear fear in his voice and I see he almost looked as though he was going to cry. "Father will make me get rid of these things."
"Kyouya, I won't tell him," I start cleaning up his closet again and I notice he had not made an effort to move from the spot he had knelt down. "Are you all right?"
"Sometimes I hate father…" Kyouya said, his voice seemed to darken and he looked up at me with tear-filled eyes. "Why am I not good enough?"
"Oh Kyouya," The linen I had been folded quickly forgotten as I rush and take him into my arms. I run a hand through his hair and shake my head. "Father's just…father is a…"
No father wasn't a good man, he was a cold and calculating person that only cared to crush those in his path, Even those whom were his own children. Yuuichi and Akito were constantly sucking up to father while Kyouya stood in the shadows unable to earn his approval.
"Why does he hate me so?" Kyouya asked and quickly put his treasured items back in the box. "Is it because he also blames me for mother's death? Just like Akito-nii does?"
"No, " I narrow my eyes at the thought and say what I'd been wanting to say since the moment I realized that our lives weren't perfect. "Father's just a man who doesn't care for anyone or anything that taints the so called Ootori name."
"Fuyumi-nee you cannot say that," Kyouya said his eyes widening. "What if father heard you say that? He'd punish you!"
"So what, I am an adult now, I can live my life without his rules to fall over me," I stand up and start cleaning again. "Father doesn't scare me anymore; I am not a caged bird that needs to be told to sing. I am free."
"Fuyumi-nee…can I—"
"No Kyouya you cannot go with her,"
We both look towards the door and I see father standing in the doorway, his face holds a look of anger and I could feel it directed at me.
"I'll pack my things." I say and head out of Kyouya's room and to my own. I knew that tomorrow morning I would be sent to Kyoto to live at the second mansion until my wedding, never to see my brothers again until then.
That night I did not wait for the morning, I left the mansion on my own terms and I eloped with my fiancé Shigure in a chapel in Kyoto. My father was angry but I was a free bird and I only hoped that my brothers would realize they did not need to fear father and hope they would escape the cage known as the Ootori estate.
Author Notes: This was posted a while back when I used to have a lot of fan fiction for Ouran posted. This is one of the many fan fics that went through a major revision. This one focuses a lot on Fuyumi's life as the daughter of the Ootori family. I am experimenting with various styles so this is a first person narrative test. Thank you for reading everyone.