Chapter 2
A few weeks later
"Hey Kimiko-san! Is your sister coming to pick you up today?" Tamaki bounced around her chair, effectively interrupting Kimiko's session with Hikaru and Kaoru. Her eyebrow twitched and she glared at the over active boy.
"Yes, Raya should be coming to pick me up. I don't know why you would care. She's really unremarkable." Kimiko let out a huff at the end of the sentence. Tamaki was used to this by now. Kimiko didn't seem to be fond of her sister. The first couple of times this had happened, Tamaki over-reacted and threatened to ban her from the club. But, he slowly came to realize that it didn't affect Raya. She was used to it as well. It made him sad that they had a seemingly bad sibling relationship, but, as Kyoya had pointed out multiple times, it wasn't his place to meddle in their private affairs even if he so desperately wanted to. Even though he had gotten used to it, Tamaki still didn't like it. He wanted to tell the smaller girl that Raya was a great person, and, from what he'd seen, a very patient and wonderful sister.
"I mean, she's almost as muscular as a man. It's repulsive, if you ask me; a female going out of her way to participate in dirty athletic programs is just despicable. I think she's a mutant. It embarrasses me to be seen with her, let alone for people to know that she's my sister. Her red hair, and the way she dresses. Repugnant. Revolting. Hideous." Kimiko continued. She stroked her pitch black hair as she spoke, accentuating the last three words with spastic tugs at her locks. Her eyes were closed and her nose ruffled at every mention of her sister. Tamaki gritted his teeth and felt about ready to explode. He opened his mouth to say something, but he felt a small hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Raya standing behind him. She gave him a reassuring glace and stepped out from behind him.
"Kimiko-san, are you ready to go?" She asked. Kimiko opened her eyes and scowled at her sister.
"No. Come back in about an hour. Don't be late." The younger sister said, turning back to the table to resume her appointment with the twins. Raya nodded, more to herself than to anyone else. She began to walk toward the door but before she could make it out of the room, Tamaki managed to catch her by the arm.
"Raya, are you-" Tamaki began. Raya cut him off.
"I'm fine, Tamaki-kun. Kimiko always says stuff like that. She doesn't mean it. I'll be back in an hour, alright?" She smiled and took his hand, giving it a small squeeze. He gave her a weak smile back. The redhead waved and walked out the door, into the abyss of a school that was not the Host Club. The blonde couldn't imagine how this couldn't affect his friend. He knew everything wasn't okay. He wanted to go after her. He wanted to comfort her. He wanted…but he couldn't. He couldn't leave the club. His clients would notice his absence. They would either get angry or depressed. Kyoya would kill him. He wanted to chase after her. But…he couldn't.
Kyoya watched as Tamaki stared at the door. Raya had left, but he still stood there, gazing into the wooden gateway to the outside. The glasses-clad man stood and walked over to Tamaki.
"Your customers are waiting for you." He said. Tamaki's frown tightened. He couldn't. Kyoya noticed the tensing of Tamaki's muscles and sighed.
"You have to get back to your clients, but if it will make you happy, I'll go look for her and make sure she's really alright." Kyoya offered. The blonde looked at him, seemingly serious, and nodded.
"If you would, Kyoya. Don't hurt her. Don't make it worse." Tamaki answered, brushing past him roughly.
Kyoya's shoes tapped loudly as he gracefully strode down the empty corridor. For the moment, he cursed the incomparable vastness that was Ouran Academy's school building. It was making this so much harder for him. He had checked all of the places he had expected her to be: the pool, the libraries, and her classroom. His fingers flipped rapidly through the pages of his little black book, trying to see if he had any more information about the scarlet girl. The book snapped shut and he let a long huff of air out. This was annoying. He looked out the window, eyes scanning the scenery below. The shrubbery maze, the open field, the forest…and red. He saw a glimpse of red entering the maze. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.
