Ouran High School Host Club
Falling into a Lie
Description:
When Sakurai Mieko was in the eighth grade, she confessed to the infamous Hitachiin Kaoru, only to fall for a cruel trick played by the twins, and now, when they're all in the high school the trio meets again due to Tamaki dragging her into the club, upon discovering that she's never been there. He unknowingly starts series of butterfly effect that cannot be stopped. Not until someone suffers for it. [Mori X OC X Kaoru]
Chapter 4: Four
It was like walking into a living nightmare, seeing that familiar piano I'd claimed as my own standing there in the room.
All the performance lights focused on it, chair had been placed there as if it was waiting for me to take my seat and play. The faceless audience started to murmur, when they noticed that I wasn't moving from my position. My name was called for the second time and I felt my legs carrying me towards the musical instrument, no matter how many times I told my body to stop moving. I couldn't hear or see anything properly. Even as I took my seat, placed my fingers on the keyboards and then I stared.
And stared.
Unable to remember the score.
Unable to move my fingers.
It felt as if I was drowning, falling deeper and deeper into the mist of midnight blue ocean that wouldn't let me surface. Nothing made sense to me, and I couldn't will myself to. Mother's words rang in my ears, nii-san's...
Tears running down my face as I remembered what happened before the Final Competition started, I couldn't hear the audience starting to talk in loud voices. Asking what's wrong with me. Why wasn't I playing. Unable to take it anymore, I collapsed onto the ground…
My eyes flung open, I nearly let out startled gasp before silencing myself. I hadn't even noticed falling asleep in the middle of boring Art Literature, wiping off some sweat that had gathered onto my face with a handkerchief using the book as a cover. A soft snort caught my eye from behind me, making me to frown. The only person who sat in the row behind me was Hitachiin Kaoru, something I wasn't happy with.
Although, so far I'd successfully managed to ignore him.
Since that disastrous confession from the Eighth Grade, I've not once spoken or gone anywhere near the twins if I could help it. So far, I've been lucky. Part of me has started to wonder if they even know who I am. I cannot bring myself to even say something to them, finding no words to do so.
But now?
For me to dream of that...day and for Hitachiin Kaoru to snort? Was that snort directed at me or was it to his brother and Fujioka both of whom sat close to us? I wasn't in a hurry to find out, which is probably why I didn't even turn around. Instead, I searched the class for Ken and Seung-Hee, both of whom were lucky to be on the other side of the classroom. Far and safely away from the Hitachiin twins. Both were seemingly focused on the lesson in the hand, but I could see a phone in Seung-Hee's hand as she discreetly texted someone. Ken's hands were moving as if he was playing a piano for his next competition (I was still surprised he'd bothered to do both piano and violin competitions, despite of it barely leaving him any free time). A score sheet lay underneath his textbook, he his eyes kept glancing up to see if teacher had taken a notice of him yet (Ken often ended up in detention for not paying attention or pretending the table was a musical instrument as he practiced a piece).
And so was nii-san.
Nii-san sat couple of seats ahead of me, in the same row. Looking as bored as I was, mostly because he had no interest in the subject but was forced to take it. On our mother's insistence. Nii-san kept pushing his golden bangs back to its supposed to be position, making me to snort at it. He seemed to have a constant problem with keeping his bangs in a neat position, that being one of his behaviors I often teased him about.
Although, for whatever reasons some girls seemed to love him for it even more than nii-san's athletic abilities. Over the years he'd become the star of basketball while I attempted to fade into the background and act as if I didn't exist. All just to forget that disastrous grand exit I took from the classical music. He had taken his blazer off and hung it on the chair, apparently the weather had gotten too hot for him to bear it.
"You know, you're not fooling anyone," I nearly choked on my salvia at Hitachiin Kaoru's sudden voice, right after he'd poked me in the back. Eyes widened, I glanced at the occupied teacher and slowly spun around.
And I came face to face with the somewhat messy auburn haired devil himself, looking all too pleased for having gotten my attention. Fujioka looked at us, almost surprised that I was paying one of the Hitachiin twins any attention (he'd noticed and once even asked me if I had a problem with the twins, naturally I'd lied and said I just wasn't interested in them), briefly. Out of the entire class, I somewhat had respect for Fujioka, firstly for not putting his nose into where it wasn't wanted and for being able to get into Ouran in the first place (I could see the amount of hours he'd put into studying) until it somewhat diminished after he joined that infamous Host club.
The very same one Seung-Hee kept pestering me to visit.
"By doing what exactly?" I hissed, getting over my brief shock and narrowed my eyes at him in a distaste. Inwardly, I was ready to snap at him to mind his own business. From a class not too far from us, we could hear violin being played, I grimaced slightly as the player's tone went off a bit before focusing back to the Hitachiin devil.
"Pretending," I blinked at his words. From what Ken had told me after lunch, the normal classroom for the classical music was being in use for those who had entered the competition thus resulting rest of the class to move closer to our homeroom. Hearing them playing might have been the reason why I suddenly remembered
"And that would be your problem, why exactly?" I couldn't understand him.
Neither of them, I added after seeing his brother looking at us with a curious and knowing expression (it was that look I'd grown to despise on them the most). Despite of knowing both of them since we were kids, in our case we had known each other (kind of) since we were in diapers (it was mostly us being forced to play together while our parents had meetings, but it often ended up with both twin pairs minding their own business or at rare moments pulling pranks on unsuspecting adults that was nearly never traced back to us) until the two started to act out and forgot all about nii-san and myself. Needless to say, both of us held a sense of bitterness towards the said twins.
It was one of the many reasons why I was refusing to even acknowledge their mere existence, even more after that disastrous confession back in the 8th grade. I'm no longer certain why I felt compelled to try my luck back then even though I knew fairly well of their tricks...or had until.
Yeah.
"Just something Honey-senpai pointed out the other day," the younger Hitachiin twin shrugged, leaning his face against his palm. My eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "And I saw you now pretending not to have fallen -."
"How about you both mind your own damn business," I hissed angrily, venom clear in my voice before I turned my eyes back to the front of the class. By the looks of it, just in time for the teacher to look up. "And we'll both lead happy uninterrupted lives."
Unfortunately for me, I did take a notice of Kaoru's surprised expression (and was there hurt? Nah.) before I turned around. So far I with my dealings in regards of my classmates, I've always been polite. Never said a bad word unless it was behind their backs, flashing out with my anger to nii-san who in turn snickered at the sight of me fuming. He was the one, who saw all and each sides of me, who protected me back when I was an active pianist.
Nii-san's the one who started fights with my competitors, whenever they started to insult me and mocked me for sticking just to the score. It had been pretty amusing to watch, if only to piss Mother and Father off. Back then, Mother had been my manager and when I stopped...she wasn't happy.
Father simply didn't care.
Seeing as he's never really at home.
And those rare times he does show up, he smells of another woman's perfume, occasionally has stains of lipstick on his blouse he thinks he's covered up well and no one has noticed it. Nii-san pulled me into a bet saying how long it would take Mother to call him out on his affairs, and who it could be.
Whenever Father's at home, Mother would spend her time at the Hitachiin Mansion, in the company of the Hitachiin Matriarch. So far, I've managed to avoid being dragged there by disappearing or simply disobeying her orders. Although I do know nii-san hasn't been as lucky as I have. Speaking of which, nii-san just glanced at me. His opal eyes, exact same shade as mine, held that knowing look as if he had felt I was in a bad mood. A smile tug on his lips, and he rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to the teacher.
"Your friend is worried for you," I bit my lips to hold back a groan and adamantly refused to look at the younger Hitachiin twin. "She's thinks you're too...closed?"
"Kaoru!" Fujioka subtly hissed at his friend, looking at the Hitachiin twin with a reprimanding expression. "Miss Kang also asked us not to tell her anything."
My eyes found the said Korean girl with annoyance, who was banging her head against the her desk for whatever reasons. Narrowing my eyes at her, I clenched my fist. Doing my best to ignore the trio behind me. A part of me was angry that she had said something about me to the Host Club, when another was surprised. I hadn't realised she would talk about me.
To them.
So maybe, there was a reason why she wanted me to meet them…
Whatever it was, it wasn't their business to put their noses where it wasn't wanted.
"I'd listen to Fujioka-kun if I was you, Hitachiin Kaoru."
