Before you read: The timeline of this story goes as follows: Kyouya is sitting in his office as a 38-year old in the year of 2020, looking back at his life before and after his wife's suicide. He married Haruka Mikagawa in 2001 at the age of 19, when she was 18. Their only son was born in 2003, two years after their marriage. Her suicide is committed in 2008 when Kyouya is 26 and she is 25 (they had been married for 6 years by then). Kyouya narrates the memories of the years after her suicide, with flashbacks to his marriage to Haruka. Each of the diary entries she encloses in an envelope to him on the day of her death is the introduction of each chapter, and were obviously written before her death. Kyouya read all the letters right after her death, but with each passing year as his son grows up, the letters gain more meaning as Kyouya searches for what is important in life. The end of this series concludes back in "present day" (2020) with Kyouya nearing his 40s and his son at the age of 17.
If you have questions, feel free to email me at wagahai(dot)wa(dot)n3ko(at)gmail(dot)com! (This is because I don't use PMs, and it's too hard to reply to comments.)
Enjoy!
November 12, 2020-Kyouya's Office, Ootori Mansion, Tokyo
"Master!"
I'll never forget that day. Not because I was filled with regret, but because I was completely void of it.
November 12, 2008-Ootori Main Hospital, Tokyo
"Master!"
Tachibana raced into my office, panting with exertion.
"Master!"
"What is it? You have not entered my office to my convenience. Make it quick." I was not pleased with people disturbing my work.
"Master Kyouya! It's your wife, Lady Haruka! Lady Haruka!" Tachibana sounded rather stressed.
"What about my wife?" I asked coldly. What my wife did was of no concern to me. I had only married her because Father had arranged our marriage.
"Lady Haruka is in the Emergency Room! She was admitted a few minutes ago into your very own hospital, THIS hospital!"
Hmmmmmm.
Your? You may be wondering why Tachibana called the Ootori Hospital "mine." Isn't it obvious? Shortly after I graduated, I, the third son, inherited the Ootori Group.
But in order to do so, I was encouraged to marry a major client's daughter: Haruka Mikagawa. I was merely 19, which made me into one of the youngest international business tycoons. Haruka was a silly girl at 18, and was extremely pleased to be marrying a man like myself.
Our marriage was necessary, although it was something I did not look forward to. Nevertheless, I married her and simply disregarded the fact that I did not love her and probably never would.
The two of us had an extremely flamboyant wedding. Dignitaries and business icons from all over the Earth scurried to witness my marriage to Haruka, although I should like to think that they did not come for Haruka but rather myself. Our wedding had completely overshadowed the wedding of Tamaki and Haruhi two years after ours.
I pretended to love Haruka, at least in the public eye.
Even so, I took Tachibana's information to heed and headed to the Intensive Care Unit, where Haruka had been transferred.
I slid the door gently behind me and shut the curtains of the room. Because of Haruka's connection to me, she had received her own private room.
She looked terrible, although I had never found her exceedingly attractive.
Haruka was covered in bandages, most of which did not seem to be helping her case. I picked up the clipboard that hung on the edge of her bed. It seemed that she had broken her arm in a few places, as well as a few limbs. She had multiple injuries that would have usually proved to be fatal.
Her face was essentially a big, bloody bandage with respiratory tubes running from it.
She was so badly mauled that one could not tell she was of the female gender.
"Haruka…What have you done?" I murmured, even though Haruka was most likely unconscious. "You fool." She was disgracing my family name.
My pager went off, and I saw that Tachibana was attempting to alert me. I went to the front of the hospital where Tachibana was waiting with my car. I saw that he had brought my son with him.
My son.
That phrase should have filled me with insurmountable amounts of pride, as the plural phrase had done to my father.
Instead, the phrase filled me with a dark disappointment. My son, Ryusei Ootori, had been born with heart problems, causing him to be an exceedingly weak child. He was nothing to be proud of. My only child, my only son would never be strong enough to inherit the company.
The Ootori was to end with me. I blamed not myself, but Haruka and my son for tarnishing and ending the Ootori bloodline.
My son looked at me with a sharp, intelligent gaze. His extremely pale skin glowed in the daylight. Due to his condition, he was not allowed to leave the house often.
I looked up, away; anywhere to escape the sharp gaze of my son.
"Yes, Tachibana?" I wasn't pleased.
"Master. I was picking up your son when I found out that Lady Haruka had attempted suicide."
Suicide? This was certainly interesting. Even so, no emotion besides curiosity pulled at my heartstrings.
"And?" I pressed.
Tachibana hesitated.
"Lady Haruka threw herself off the roof of this very building approximately an hour ago. A nurse had seen her in the building before her…incident. Lady Haruka appeared to have been muttering something about an office, so we presumed that she meant your office."
"I see." I looked to the sky. "Haven't I already made it clear to her that she is not allowed into my office?" I mused aloud to myself. Haruka's adoration and desire to be around me at all times had always irked me.
She annoyed me even more so than Tamaki. That Suou had always irritated me, yet I felt compelled to show kindness towards him. I suppose you could speculate that we were close friends.
But Haruka aggravated me for reasons even I didn't understand. I guess I hated her.
However, when one inherits an internationally renowned corporation, one does not complain about their spouses.
So, I made my vows to her without a backward glance. And even though it was clearly obvious that Haruka was madly in love with me, I ignored her for much of our married life. She knew that I did not reciprocate her feelings, yet she willingly surrendered her body to me, the third Ootori son, all those countless nights.
Eventually, human biology produced an heir to the Ootori throne. For those short nine months of her pregnancy I suppose we acted like a true couple. I cannot assess whether my feelings were true or not, but it was a blissful time for our family.
Then came the birth of my son. When he was born, I felt that it was a time of great fortune for the Ootori family. But it all ended when we discovered the truth about our son.
Shaking my head free of any thoughts, I walked calmly to my office, greeting the occasional staff member.
My door clicked open and I stepped in tentatively. I walked around my desk and sat in my 100% leather office chair. My eyes spotted a thick manila envelope on my desk, so I extended an elegant arm and five slender fingers and lifted it up.
On the front, the words "To my beloved Husband, Kyouya Ootori" were written in Haruka's wispy handwriting.
I had pondered my choices for a while—to open it and learn the dark truths or to remain blissfully ignorant.
Eventually I made the decision to open the package and read only the first page of many. The thick envelope would provide me with much information, but I chose to withhold most of it from myself until the moment was right.
I took a deep breath, wondering why I felt a bit unsure of myself. With my left hand I held the package lightly, and with the other I reached into a desk drawer to grasp a platinum and engraved letter opener.
I placed the pointed end inside the nook of the envelope flap and swiftly sliced the envelope. Reaching inside, I felt the stack of papers, took out the top sheet, and laid it delicately on my desk.
As I was reading the letter, my desk phone rang and I unfeelingly brought it to my ear.
"Master…Lady Haruka has passed on. I'm sorry, Master."
Silently, I placed the phone back onto its base.
Haruka.
Author's Note: Yes. I'm sorry, to break the mood of this story with a dumb author's note. So, what did you think? Kyouya isn't exactly OOC, as that's not what I'm aiming for. He's just more evil than usual? I think it sounds like Kyouya. (Hopefully.) Anyway. Please review!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kyouya Ootori or any characters affiliated with Ouran High School Host Club. The OHSHC belongs to Bisco Hatori, Bones, FUNimation, and VIZ Media. However, the fictional characters Haruka Mikagawa and Ryusei Ootori.
