"Why does it have to be this way?" whispered Kyouya as he stepped of the Third Music Room.
He turned and looked back through the doorway. He saw Mori standing stoically behind Hunny who was beaming and eating a strawberry to the delight of several girls. Hikaru and Kaoru were going through their "brotherly love" routine for a whole flock of girls more than one of whom looked to be on the verge of passing out. Haruhi was talking animatedly with a fellow freshman and ignoring Tamaki's occasional glances in her direction. The host club king himself was engaged in conversation with yet another of his long-time costumers. He seemed to he enjoying himself and had not seen Kyouya excuse himself and send the girls he had been talking to over to watch the twins. Even though Tamaki hadn't seen him, it was on this host that Kyouya's eyes stayed the longest.
Kyouya sighed and turned back to face the hall, closing the door to the Third Music Room behind him for the last time.
"Good-bye," he whispered. It was not a good-bye to the room or to the girls or the host club as an idea or even to his friends. It was for Tamaki and Tamaki alone.
Kyouya walked down the halls of Ouran High School starting straight ahead without seeing. He felt so empty inside. He supposed he should feel sad or lonely or even angry, but he felt none of these things. He felt nothing, expect perhaps a vague sense of shock at the realization that what he'd known was going to happen had truly come to pass.
He was leaving the host club.
He was leaving Ouran.
He was leaving Japan.
Kyouya spoke to no one on his way home, not even the students who accosted him in the hall. At this point it did not matter if he was nice to them in the name of the family or not. The scandal of his absence tomorrow would make them all forget.
As he walked, Kyouya wondered how long it would take Tamaki to realize he had gone. It might be a while, considering how absent minded the boy could be. Kyouya didn't like to admit it himself, but he wanted Tamaki to notice he had vanished. He wanted Tamaki to come after him. He wanted Tamaki to try to stop him from leaving. But he knew such a thing would never happen and that such thoughts were foolish so he ignored his secret desire.
"I'm home!" called Kyouya when he entered his house.
Of course no one answered. No one ever did, but he always announced his arrivals home anyway, just in case.
Kyouya sighed and headed off to his room. There was almost nothing there now. All that really remained were his bed and the two bags he'd been taking on the airplane with him. Everything else had already been shipped ahead to America.
America.
Kyouya flopped onto his bed and stared at the white ceiling above him.
There was a soft knocking at the door.
"Kyouya?" came his sister's voice.
"What is it, Fuyumi?" he called dully without moving.
"Do you need any more help packing?" she asked as she pushed the door open and peered into the room.
"You know we finished two days ago," he told her still without getting up.
"I just though you might want to talk," Fuyumi said quietly.
"Well, I guess you thought wrong, didn't you," said Kyouya coldly.
"Oh, Kyouya!" Fuyumi cried flinging herself down on the bed beside him. "I don't want you to go. You're so young! You're not even out of high school."
"I do want pleases father," Kyouya said emotionlessly.
"Kyouya," she breathed sadly as she got back off his bed. She turned and walked over to the door. She was about to leave when she spoke without turning to look at him. "We all know you don't want to go. Even father knows it. And we all get that you're willing to go." She spun round to face him. "You pass the test, Okay?" she said through a quickly constricting throat. "You've proved yourself father's willing little slave. Now snap out of it and stay! You can't just let him ship you off to America like this!"
"You're right," he said still without emotion or movement. "I am his willing slave."
"The don't you see-," Fuyumi started to say, but Kyouya cut across her.
"But I haven't proved myself. He still knows I'm not good enough and I never will be."
"Don't say that!"
"I'm going, Fuyumi," he said, sitting up and looking at her at last. "And nothing can stop me."
He stared at her until she turned and fled the room, not troubling to stifle her tears. Kyouya slumped back down onto his bed.
"Not even love," he whispered as he forced back tears of his own.