Kyouya's Thoughts

"As the third heir to the Ootori family, I am pleased to welcome my father up to the stand to give his final announcement before signing over the company into my very capable hands."

The audience clapped loudly. Each member was very interested in Kyouya Ootori. He was the third son born to his father, both of his older siblings held equally high jobs within the family business, yet he was the one would would be succeeding his father. The imaginations of the spectators ran wild as they speculated about just how talented, capable, and responsible Kyouya must be to have gained such a responsibility, especially as young as he is.

It was just as he needed. These sheep really believe in him. Since they are fully distracted by their admiration, he would be able to significantly increase his profit by exploiting them at this moment in time, or possibly even in the very near future. While they are pending and enjoying the benefits of consumerism, Kyouya figured he could continue this trend by employing skillfully timed marketing tactics and new products. These scum would never even realize that they had been used.

All of this success that he was experiencing, he could attribute to more than one source. It came, firstly, from himself, of course. He had worked hard, completely overshadowed his brothers, and came out on top as the most talented, most successful, and best person for the position. In a way he could also credit part of his success to Tamaki Suoh. That idiot was the reason that he had decided to try to outshine his brothers and prove himself worthy of leading the family business, instead of slipping into the meek role of the third son.

Without that man, he figured he would still be living underneath his brothers, watching from the inside as his own supernova imploded, destroying himself from the inside out and exploding out, taking his family with him.

Kyouya Ootori, Transcript Summary:

Middle School, 3rd year - straight A's, top of class

High School, 1st year - straight A's, top of class

High School, 2nd year - straight A's, top of class

High School, 3rd year - straight A's, top of class

Business School, Bachelors Degree - Earned with honours

Business School, Masters Degree - Earned with honours

Medical School, Graduate Level - Earned with honours

Extra-curricular activities - N/A

Volunteer work - N/A

I was always the best in my class, as was expected of me as an Ootori (after my brothers' legacy, too). Such is the duty of the third son. I know for a fact that I am smarter than either of them, and I know that I am more capable of doing their obs than they are. sadly, their positions are determined by birthright, not by ability.

Once in a while, I have even had to give them hints about how to do their jobs and not blow all of our hard work over such simple mistakes. It is my duty as the third son to support y brothers and to give them aid as necessary, but they should be the ones claiming credit. After all, they are older, and it is technically their job and their responsibility.

At least, in this fictional scenario, this is the case.

I might believe (know) that I can perform both of their jobs more efficiently and effectively than they can, it would not be my place to do so. I would just be an adviser, never coming up with the ideas myself (unless I can give away the credit) and only giving support and opinions that can be invalidated at any time for any reason my brothers may or may not give. Such is typically the duty of the third son. I mustn't ruin the reputation of my family by being anything but the loyal and perfect third son that they expect.

I am sure that I would be exhausted just about every day, trying to fix as many of my brothers' mistakes as possible, and I would probably calm myself down and relax with a good drink after. I do enjoy my scotch and whiskey now, sipping it slowly while relaxing in my house, maybe glancing over the paperwork one last time.

I would take one of my cars out to the nearest bar instead. If it were a particularly exhausting day, I would try to fit in with the others who share such miserable experiences at work, and drink while listening to loud music in some pub. Surround myself with people, give myself the impression of being social, while all the while actually keeping my distance from all others.

Pushing down my talents and ambitions every day would put me under a lot of mental strain. I know how much it hurts from that time I spent in elementary school and middle school, before I met Tamaki and did my best to be the perfect third son that my father wanted.

I would wish for someone to be there with me, to hold my hand, hug me, put a hand on my shoulder as a gesture of comfort. But that wouldn't happen. I would have given up on personal relationships in high school without Tamaki. That is not to say I couldn't be charming or act appropriately in social situation, but I would not have actively sought to make friends that didn't benefit my father's company.

Sadly, no one would just walk over and try to make friends with a useless third son like me. Marriage? That was never a possibility. I would have given up on that prospect a long time ago.

My chest would hurt a lot, anxiety and stress causing these reactions in my muscles. I know that drinking isn't a healthy way to cope, but honestly, I don't think that I would have given a rat's ass about my health at that moment. My health is often one of the first things that I forget about when I'm stressed and/or working.

I could probably walk into the bar without getting ID'd, being a regular around there. I don't even care that this is probably a bad thing, knowing that my drinking habits have gone this far out of my control.

Once I had the alcohol in me, I wouldn't really care anymore. Not about these thoughts, and not about the pain that was ripping my heart apart.

Three, four, maybe five or six drinks later, I would feel absolutely great! I wouldn't be able to see straight, glasses or not, they'd cut me off, and I'd just leave, opting to walk home and enjoy the weather, unless it was raining, of course. Let's assume that it wasn't. Not tonight.

Now, we can imagine the worst possible situation. I see one of my brothers walking down the street on the opposite sidewalk. Probably, I would be thinking some nasty thoughts about him, and maybe even consider shouting them at him.

More than likely, if they had to cut me off at the bar, I would hardly be in a state for shouting. I would end up sitting on the curb, nauseous, possibly, and most definitely tired. Sitting down, finding a comfortable position, I would likely pass out right there on the side of the road.

Of course, my brother would e thinking of our family's reputation and bring me back to his place to sober up, conscious or not. We wouldn't want to have one of the Ootori's in the paper, drunk off hi ass and humiliating himself and his family. It wouldn't reflect on any of them well just to be related to him. As if genetics have anything to do with participating in alcoholism.

When I wake up in my brother's house, that's when I would finally give him a piece of my mind.

"Hey there brother! I need to have a word with you!" I would slur.

"Kyouya, you aren't fit to walk or talk right now. Lie down. I don't want you running out and ruining our family, especially like this." he would reply.

"I'm ruining the family?" I would be appalled, "And just where do you get off saying that? You nearly ruin it every day! It's only because of me that it isn't already underground! And I can prove it! Just think about earlier! You were about to lose a very important customer. She has a lot of money and a very large social network! I subtly slipped you an out with the pamphlet that I gave you. If it wasn't for me, she would have left and it all would have been ruined!" Or some other example.

My brother would stand there speechless. Whether it would be due to lack of rebuttal, pity, or unclear drunken rambling on my part, would remain to be seen.

At this point, I would be so wrapped up in my emotions and my thoughts, that I would remember how much both of my brothers like hunting. They prefer to use rifles, but they both keep pistols locked away in their gun cabinets. As their assistant, I know their PINs for when I need to access private information. I would know how to get into the safe with the weapons.

I would probably get a strange look in my eye, one that says that I am about to do something horrible. My brother would recognize it and cautiously try to stop me.

Softly speaking, he would make an attempt to talk me down from my insane idea, "Kyouya, I can only guess what you are thinking right now, and I am warning you that this is a very bad idea."

Maybe he did know what I was thinking, but I wouldn't care. I was too drunk and far too emotional. I suppose those psychology courses weren't just blathering about nothing when they said that internalizing emotions was a bad idea.

It is what he would say next that would really push me over the edge.

"Think about what you'd be doing to the family if you killed yourself!"

It's really quite (un)fortunate that he always keeps his guns loaded.

And that I know how to unlock, load, re-lock, and operate each and every model that he owns.

"So that's it, huh? You only care about the reputation and how it would reflect on you if I killed myself. Not even caring a little bit about your younger brother? The Ootori family in a nutshell, that' what this is. Killing myself won't make a difference to you! I'm the third son! I don't matter! I'm only around to be used! Exploited! I should be okay with that, but..." I would break into a sob, "clearly, I'm not okay, right? I must fix this problem by removing it. It's my duty as the third son, after all. Fix the mistakes of my betters, my parents... The company will be a great success without me."

With that, I would break open the gun cabinet and put the barrel of the nearest pistol in my mouth.

My brother would dash over and try to stop me.

He would reach me, but I would have already pulled the trigger, no hope of missing or reflecting off of a piece of skull. The inside of the mouth is soft, and there is no bone between it and the brain. It's the most effective way to ensure that I'd die.

The bang would echo around the neighbourhood, no doubt leaving the neighbours curious about whose car was backfiring.

All the while, the cars would be in their prime condition, while my blood and brain matter would be leaking onto the floor of my brother's house.

I am glad that I met Tamaki, or else I might not be here to receive this title today. Actually, I'm sure that I wouldn't be up on this stage, receiving this honour. I might or might not still be alive if it weren't for that stupid, obnoxious, annoying, utterly idiotic man.

Of course, I am glad that I didn't kill myself. I don't want to, no do I think I will ever want to go through with such an act in the future. There's just too much to be done, least of all appeasing Tamaki. I can't believe he has the nerve to invite me over on the night I am officially declared head of the company. Of course, I also can't just refuse him. We've been friends for far too long, and he still hasn't grown up yet. I don't want to have to hear his tears every time we see each other just because I didn't go to his place for supper this once.

I owe him at least that much.

Just maybe, though, I'll walk there and take the scenic route.

He deserves to wait a little for taking me from such an important event, after all,