Kyouya clicked away on his piPac laptop, which, coincidentally, was manufactured by Hanami's PineComp company. He was Googling Hanami, and found some very interesting facts on the Wiki page dedicated to her. Apparently, her stepfather, Stephen Rosenthal, had some French aristocrat lineage. There was also a huge scandal around Stephen's death, with many wondering if the car accident was actually a planned murder. It seemed as if, for the few months before his death, there was jealousy amongst his staff. Those closest to him wanted his chief-executive position, especially the second-in-command, Richard Henry Price. There was some speculation about Price arranging for Rosenthal's murder, but he seemed to have a solid alibi-that he was at Rosenthal's home casually conversing with Stephen's wife and stepchild. Amelia Kazami-Rosenthal had backed this alibi with conviction.
Kyouya also perused Amelia's background, discovering that the Kazami family was of noble Japanese lineage. All of these things piqued Kyouya's curiousity, yet there was one glaring rumor on Hanami's profile that really scratched at Kyouya's mind.
The rumor?
That Hanami was dating Richard Price himself-more precisely, engaged, and had returned to her mother's homeland to investigate her roots and to notify her relatives of said engagement.
"Hanami-kun doesn't seem like the type to be engaged at the moment…" mused Kyouya. "And she had no ring." He researched a bit more, then shut the laptop, letting it go on standby, and left the comforts of his private bedroom to join the others in the dining room.
-------------
Some of the world's top-class chefs had come to Kyouya's home for the purpose of serving Suou, Ootori, Haninozuka, Morinozuka, and Hitachin, presumably for publicity. They had been especially thrilled to hear that Hanami Fujioka-Rosenthal was present as well, and they had clamored over the prospect of international recognition. They all resolved to treat her as a princess and to assure that their food was perfect for her.
Kyouya walked in to see the chefs clustered around Hanami's seat. Taking a quick sweep of the room, he noticed that Tamaki and the twins were trying to appease Haruhi, who seemed a bit irked at the way the chefs idolized Hanami lavishly, whereas Honey and Mori were enjoying cake and crab, respectively. One of the chefs moved aside a bit, leaving Hanami a small window to peer at Kyouya through.
She made eye contact. Kyouya raised an eyebrow, and with a petrified expression she mouthed the words "help..me!"
"Hmmph." Kyouya made that degrading sound that only an elite can do. He clapped his hands twice, very delicately, and icily requested that the culinary artists please return to the kitchen and refrain from stressing out his guest.
Startled and worried, the chefs jumped back into the kitchen, all worrying that they had frightened the precious Hanami Fujioka.
"Sorry about that," muttered Kyouya, taking a seat next to the heiress.
Hanami managed a small thank you, but her hands still clutched the armrests of the chair. She slowly felt heat rushing back to her hands, which had turned a deathly white because of her viselike grip. Slowly but surely, motion flowed back into the stricken hands, and Hanami exhaled deeply, with much relief. She looked over to her cousin.
"Haruhi! What's wrong?" she cried, completely sincere.
"Nothing." Haruhi muttered grumpily. Damn those rich bastards, especially those cooks. They had made sure to formally greet each of the hosts, yet when it came to her it was just a light handshake and a patronizing smile. What, was she chopped liver? Haruhi never asked for attention, riches, or fame, but it was still quite degrading to be ignored because of a lack of a strong family name. She felt a little angry at her cousin, but when Hanami glomped her, cheeks streaming with tears, Haruhi felt the ice covering her heart melt.
-------
And so, the meal went underway. Tamaki tried to feed Haruhi the high-class food dotingly, yet she pushed him away, insisting that she could eat by herself like a big girl. All of the hosts smiled at Haruhi, pleased as they watched her take her first bite of what Tamaki called "international sushi." In actuality, it was basic sushi, but made with the finest of ingredients from all over the world. In Haruhi's case, she was eating sushi topped with the Iranian Almas caviar. Even though she was a commoner, she noticed the richness and quality of the ingredients of the food before her, and found herself in heaven.
Hanami, however, stared at her meal and picked at it. She was not a fan of seafood. Additionally, the fact that she could afford these foods did nothing to increase her appetite, for she had lived as a commoner her whole life and was even less accustomed than Haruhi to these foods, being a foreigner. Granted, dignitaries had begged for her company for dinners in America, and she had gone to several but cleverly avoided many.
She scanned her plate for something familiar, and in the end ate only a choice cut of Wagyu beef and potatoes gratine, made from French "La Bonnotte" potatoes.
And to top it all off? She was already quite hungry.
'Oh, well,' she thought. 'Maybe if I drink some creamy coffee then I'll feel full.' Hanami then waved for a chef to come over, and had to wait a few minutes (in the kitchen, the chefs were battling to see who would get to serve the famous girl.) Eventually, one came over and took her request for some coffee.
When the small cup of Kopi Luwak came, Hanami doused the steamy black beverage with as much creamer as possible. Never mind the fact that it was around fifty US dollars a cup and that she was cheapening its taste! She was freaking hungry!
Kyouya happened to be watching Hanami's lack of appetite, and chuckled. It seemed that 100% commoner Haruhi was better suited to the ways of the rich than a 15-year-old CEO.
"Ah, Hanami-kun. I have a question for you." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Nobody noticed the new conversation taking place, as the others were busy piling Haruhi's plate sky-high.
"Yeah?" Hanami focused on clutching the coffee, her lifeline, as hard as possible, letting the heat transfer through the Suzushima Brand coffee cup. "Shoot."
"I've been researching you a bit. Now, please don't be alarmed, I intend no ill-intent. Anyway. By any chance, are you here in Japan to notify your relatives of your marriage to Richard-"
"PRICE?!" Hanami spit out the tiny sip of coffee she had taken, interrupting Kyouya's sentence (much to his dislike.) "What the hell? What are the tabloids saying now?"
"Apparently you two are engaged."
"Uh…. No. I'm not engaged, Never consented to anything." That was certainly weird… Hanami shook her head, trying to block out the horrifying mental images the notion brought. That pervert, engaged to her? It was very disturbing, and Hanami grimly wondered who could have created such a rumor. Probably Richard himself.
Hanami's piFone vibrated in her pocket, and she quickly retrieved it. She stared at the screen a bit strangely, finding an unknown American number. Tentatively, she tapped the touch screen to accept the call and slowly brought the phone to her ear.
"Hello, my dear." A slick, malicious voice came through the device. Hanami froze and dropped the phone.
"Hm?" Kyouya bent to pick it up, then answering it himself as Hanami sat, petrified. The rests of the hosts looked up curiously.
"Hello. This is Kyouya Ootori. May I ask what business you have with Hanami?" Kyouya's English was immaculate.
"Get lost, bastard. My business with her is between us."
Kyouya merely raised both eyebrows and places the phone back in Hanami's hand. She stiffly brought it back to her ear.
"Listen up, bitch. I'm assuming you know about our engagement, as I put that tidbit in People and TIME magazine. You are to go along with this arrangement. Or, at least, pretend to."
"Why?" whispered Hanami, her voice barely audible, even in the deafening silence of the room.
"Because I've got your mother under my thumb. Either you play along or you never see her again." Richard, on the other end, laughed mirthlessly. "I love you, bitch." With the final taunt, the line went dead and Hanami numbly tapped the touch screen.
The rest of the host club, by now, were quite intrigued, yet worried as well. They had been watching the scene, a bit wary of Hanami. Her face had gone slack with shock, but they all could see the apparent fear in her eyes.
"Um." Hikaru reached over and waved his hand across her face.
"Are you okay?" asked Kaoru.
"Hana-chan?" Honey asked very, very timidly. Hanami was scaring him. She looked so scared.
"Hanami." Mori stood up. He had to protect Honey's and his friends, as it was part of his life ideals. Whoever it was, Mori swore to serve justice.
"Hana-kun, are you all right? Who was that?" Tamaki asked tentatively, Haruhi leaning on his arm in order to look at Hanami, concerned.
Hanami did not meet any of their eyes. She merely looked ahead blankly, eyes filled with fear. Thoughts were raging in her head. 'What do I do…' she thought, exhaling very shakily.
Kyouya, who had been sitting next to her, had been able to hear everything that Richard had said to Hanami. This Richard fellow was quite rude. For a second-in-command, his word choice was certainly colorful. This was a very interesting turn of events, Kyouya felt. Negatively interesting, but interesting nonetheless. Even so, Kyouya was irked by this Price person. He whipped out his own cell phone and contacted Tachibana, ordering him to alert the Ootori private police.
"Hanami-kun, my private police will protect you from now on." Kyouya stated.
Hanami nodded unfeelingly. Kyouya blinked. Under normal circumstances, Hanami would have defied him. Whoa…
Hanami stood up slowly, using the table to steady herself.
"I-I think I'll go to sleep now…" her voice trailed off and she fell to a heap on the cold marble floor.
"HANAMI!" everyone yelled, Mori speeding over to pick her up.
Everyone followed Mori as he walked down the hallways to bring her to Kyouya's room. He laid her on the couch gently, and all around the hosts Kyouya's family staff brought in luxurious beds for all the other members. Tonight it was unsafe for them to all sleep alone.
A/N
ZOMG! Sorry, sorry, ANOTHER cliffhanger, and a extremely long and dramatic chapter! I hoped you liked it, even though it was a far different mood than those of he past few chapters. Finally, the plot thickens. All that fluff.. it was too much for me. Nekozawa told me to add more darkness.. I'll be updating soon! Please continue to review! But no flames please. PLEASE TELL MY WHAT YOU THINK!! It's really great… And again, sorry for superlong chapter.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not the most creative person in the world of anime and manga, therefore I do not own Ouran High School Host Club and any characters affliated with it. I wish. This goes for all chapters of this story. I also do not own Google or People Magazine, Time Magazine, or Wikipedia. Any references to real life objects are allusion.