Kyouya Tribute
He stared at the ground in front of him.
The casket cost 2,515.
The preparation
room, visitation room, reception and the chapel cost 850.
The
staff cost 1,650.
The transportation cost 450.
But the person inside was priceless.
Kyouya slowly raised his eyes to the faces of the familiar people gathered around his dead wife. Hikaru, Kaoru, Renge, Honey, Mori and dozens of other friends she had met at Ouran High School.
The faces approached him; they tried to talk to him. Nevertheless, he just stared at the ground. Numb.
When the guests left and the wind started to blow harder, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned to his right and suddenly remembered the existence of the 3-year-old next to him.
He blinked. Again. And again. He blinked until he finally came back down to reality. "Daddy, can we go home now?" The child asked.
Kyouya started the car. The same dull expression he wore so many times when Tamaki and the twins were acting retarded came on his face. If anyone were to pass him, no one would guess he had just lost the love of his life.
The little brunette in the passenger seat bounced up and down in excitement. "Where's Mommy, Daddy? Where's Mo-o-o-o-o-o-ommy-y-y-y-y-y?" Apparently, 3 years old was not old enough to understand death.
"She's not here," Kyouya muttered with his lifeless eyes peeled on the road. He took a sharp turn right and continued down a strangely familiar lane.
When they had arrived at their unknown destination, Kyouya hit the brakes as his son looked out the window and grinned. "Where are we?" Kyouya looked away. The smile on his son's face was the same as one he used to see everyday in high school and it was painful.
"This is where I first met Mommy," He explained and led his son up the stairs to a music room. (It was a Sunday and after Kyouya graduated, he would help with teaching sometimes if a substitute was needed and never 'remembered' to give back the key to the school).
He opened the doors that used to say 'HOST CLUB' on them and stared. Meanwhile, his son ran straight to an instrument in the middle of the room. "Wheeee! Look, Daddy! A piano!"
He sat down where a close friend once sat years ago and mesmerized a French girl. A small smile almost escaped his lips as he remembered how Haruhi fell off the bridge and Tamaki jumped after her to catch her.
How she swam to the shore, drenched in that beautiful dress, and walked towards him laughing at herself.
CRASH! A nearby sound broke his thoughts. His son ran over to him sobbing. "I-I didn't mean to!" He cried, pointing at a broken vase behind him.
Kyouya's eyes narrowed as he clenched his fist. "Do you have any idea what you just did? That vase costs thousands of dollars! Now Daddy has to work extra hard to pay it off!"
The little Ootori's eyes welled up with tears as he dashed out of the room.
Kyouya sighed and ran after him. Rooms filled with memories of Haruhi and his best friend rushed by him. Rooms where they elaborately designed to resemble the Mediteranean beaches or Alice in Wonderland. Rooms filled with laughter and tears. Rooms where the Hitachiin twins did unknown homosexual things behind the Host Club's back.
Kyouya stopped at one room. The ballroom where they had their first dance. He felt a strange warmth inside him. The numb feeling started to fade as he picked up memories left behind along the way. He shouted out his son's name and began running.
"Where're we going now, Daddy?" The little black-haired boy with huge brown eyes (still a bit teary) hidden behind glasses asked.
"We have one last place to stop" Kyouya whispered and smiled.
They drove back to the cemetery. Kyouya's blood turned icy as they walked past Haruhi's freshly dug grave. He squeezed his son's hand tighter.
He stopped at a nearby gravestone. He smiled as a tear ran down his cheek. His son leaned up against the gravestone and squinted.
"Su…ou… Ta…maki?" He gasped. "Tamaki? Like me, Daddy?"
Kyouya nodded, "Just like you, son"