Avoiding my brother was a difficult task. It was similar to a gravitational pull from a compass pointing north of how my brother always gravitated towards me. Avoiding him at home was easy because I shut myself in my room. Avoiding him or any of the Hosts at school was nearly impossible. Each one of them appeared in any room or hallway I was in before I stalked away whilst maintaining my elegant poise. I had forced myself into isolation from all contact with anyone and lived in a world of myself. I had reverted back into numbing my emotions and plaster an emotionless and calm expression. It was quite easy to fall back into my old routine from boarding school. You simply had to act proper without any distinct emotions to show. It was perfect act in the aristocracy society.
In our mansion, I would immediately lock myself away in my room from the moment I return home from school to the time I leave for school. No words were spoken from me other than direct questions from servants that was due to their duties. Our head of servants, Shima, brought me breakfast and dinner every day. She knew that it wouldn't be wise to question my sudden behaviour change, so she kept quiet. I made no conversation with any of our servants that wasn't business related. It hadn't helped when Tamaki sat outside of my door every day pleading that I would let him in. The desperation and sadness in his voice was heartbreaking to hear. No matter what he said I wouldn't response to anything. I would lock my door the moment I returned home. Having his room in the Eastern Wing was a relief because he couldn't hear my quiet crying at night. No one knew that I cried every night because I grew accustomed to crying silent sobs. My thoughts destroy me in the middle of the night.
At Ouran Academy was a different story entirely. I had classes with Haruhi and the twins, whom I sat in front of. Every morning I would walk into class and bluntly ignore them entirely. Their intense stares bore into me but I had to restrain myself from reacting in any sort of way. My skin would tingle from each of their stares yet I remained stubbornly strong in my poise. My plan was to ignore their existence entirely to avoid talking about the... argument. I felt guilty ignoring Haruhi above all because she hadn't done anything wrong. However she was apart of the Host Club and I knew that if I spoke with her then it would result to having the rest of the Host Club getting involved.
I had reverted back into my old routine back at Rosetta's Elite Boarding School for Girls. Every spare time I had was spent alone doing my own thing of school work, practicing my violin, or reading books from the library. The books I read ranged from fictional books to logical books. As long as the book kept me occupied from everyone I was satisfied. Lunches was spend at the rose garden and breaks were spent sitting in a secluded corner by one of the grand windows or in the libraries. I had to take extra precautions of travelling to the gardens or library to avoid being followed or seen. Stealth had become a skill I unwillingly achieved during this time.
People have begun to notice my lack of interaction with the Host Club. No one had said anything to me but they gossiped quietly thinking that I couldn't hear them. I heard. Akira attempted to talk to me once again after finding out I wasn't talking to anyone. I politely shut his questions down and continued on my way.
I heaved out a small sigh at the grumbling of my hunger. Every day I would skip lunch because that involved going to the cafeteria, where the Host Club was. Now I was regretting not bringing anything from the mansion to snack on. My fingers brushed over the velvety petals of a magnificent rose in my world of isolation.
"Here, I brought you some food."
A startled jump unwillingly left me at the sudden voice. My eyes snapped towards the speaker and grew horrified to see a Haruhi standing there holding a large bento in her hands. Innocence graced herself as she stared down at my spot with her observant caramel eyes. I instantly noted that she was alone and let out a small sigh of relief. My body was still tense at her appearance.
"Haruhi, may I ask what you are doing here?" I asked her politely as I watched her take a seat beside me on the marble bench. Her delicate hands placed the bento on the table in front of us. My eyes studied the odd lunch in silent wonder while comparing it to other foods I had ate.
"Like I said, I'm bringing you lunch." She answered casually as she took out utensils for the food. I watched as she readied our decently large lunch in curiosity.
I rose an eyebrow at her words while remaining my cool mask, "Had my brother sent you?"
"No, I came on my own accord." Haruhi glanced me me and I seen the sincerity of her motives. Her bright eyes studied mine silently with a soft smile on her face that melted a portion of my walls unknowingly.
I nodded curtly at her words before staring silently at my food for a moment, "I don't mean to offend you but why had you done this for me?"
Haruhi hummed thoughtfully and stretched out her limbs before answering, "Well I noticed that you hadn't been going to the cafeteria, so I figured you'd be out here without lunch everyday. Tamaki had been wailing about how you never come out of your room for dinner. I took it upon myself to bring you lunch today!"
I was shocked at her naturally beautiful smile. Her smile made her eyes light up brightly like stars. It is no wonder why the Host Club and their customers is so taken with her. I averted my eyes from hers and glanced down at the rose on my lap. Mixed emotions flowed through me at her statement. Confusion of her motives, uncomfortableness that Tamaki talks about me, and happiness that Haruhi is so thoughtful. The foreign feeling of warmth grew in my chest that melted a large portion of my walls that I built.
"Thank you, Haruhi. No one has ever been this thoughtful to me before. I apologize for my questioning earlier, I'm simply not used to this." I tilted my head towards her in both apology and me thanking her. A small smile pulled at my lips as I stared down at the home made lunch. It truly looked wonderful, different than what I usually eat, but still wonderful.
"Don't worry about it," Haruhi laughed easily before smiling over at me, "We're friends, right?"
I blinked over at the teenager in silent shock. No one, besides Tamaki, had ever referred me as their friend before. I've had false friends who only used me for my wealth and status, but I quickly befriended them. There was no tolerance within me for frauds seeking wealth or popularity. Haruhi has no motives or reasons to use me since she could easily use any of the Hosts to. Long ago would she have taken advantage of the great wealth and popularity of the students at Ouran. She's not the type of person who would be that cruel to use someone. Haruhi is simply a genuinely wonderful person.
"Friends... I suppose we are friends." I smiled genuinely at her with my face softening from my mask, "Thank you."
I watched as surprise washed over her features at my smile and she tilted her head in confusion. Her short brown hair swished off her forehead and dangled near her ear.
Haruhi blinked, "What are you thanking me for?"
"For being my first real friend that isn't family." I explained to her briefly with another nod of my head. The surprise that was still prominent on her face grew. Haruhi seemed taken back at my statement for a minute before a beautiful smile blossomed on her face.
"I'm glad to be your friend, Madeline!"
I smiled warmly at her before looking down at our food, "Now, correct me if I am wrong but is this a bento?"
Haruhi nodded, "Yes."
"This is incredible. I've never eaten a homemade bento before!" I commented softly as I gazed at the different foods in this container. I thanked her the food before grabbing my chopsticks and ate well manneredly. Each of the different foods tasted strange to my taste buds but I discovered that it was a pleasant strange. My eyes closed at the delicious food in delight.
I looked over at Haruhi questionably when I heard her chuckle.
"Sorry, it's just that you remind me a lot of Tamaki when you're like this." Haruhi chuckled in amusement as she stared warmly at me.
I didn't allow my distaste of the mentioning of my brother to show. I simply rose an eyebrow at her.
"You both get this complete wonder and eager on your faces. Though his is more prominent than yours, of course." Haruhi explained to me with a shrug before eating some rice. I followed her lead and ate graciously in thought. Kyoya and the twins had compared Tamaki and I as well. Every single one of the hosts had been comparing the two of us quite often lately. Tamaki was quite different to myself despite of blood relations and appearances. He possessed great extroverted qualities that radiated throughout his vicinity that allowed people to gravitate towards him. On the other side, I possessed introverted qualities that often intimidated people from my high manners and walls that I built around me. However, the differences were not entirely large...we are family.
Was it truly that astonishing that we were siblings?
My blood ran cold throughout my veins. Everything within me seemed to freeze. No emotions was expressed on my face through practice but underneath I was scared. I hadn't move a muscle for minutes now as I simply stared at the paper in my trembling hands. My eyes observed the message upon the paper for the thousandth time during the past five minutes. It was scratchy and handwritten in bold marker.
Take your brother's club out of the tournament or prepare to punishment!
Who would do such a thing? I was well aware of the tournament that was about to begin within the next week that involved all of the well known clubs. The Host Club, the Student Council and Football Club were a couple of the popular clubs that were participating. There was high tension between the clubs for the past week and a half while everyone had begun preparing for the upcoming Ouran Festival.
I had personally taken it to myself to avoid everything that involved the festival's tournament. There was no need for me to involve myself in it because I had no need to. I was solely focused on doing my role in our class's activity. It was my duty as a punctual lady to fulfil my part in my class activity. Our class president had given me the role of being a hostess which was ironic. Every person in Ouran was well aware of my brother's incredible hosting skills. His dramatic flare and extraordinary conversational skills were well known. In result of that, my classmates simply expected I would share his skills. I knew it would be improper to refuse or protest so I simply agreed. My role as hostess involved knowing what was the purpose of our activity, where to find the proper stations, who to go to for advice, etc. Avoiding the twins was the hard part during this festival activity. My nerves were constantly on edge whenever they were around. A wave of unpredictability radiated off of them. You could never tell what pawn they were going to move next. It sent shivers up my spine. They were in charge of costumes and designing in our class, which meant having them take everyone's measurements.
Thankfully they had not measured me yet.
I swallowed anxiously as I continued to stare at the threat in my hands. Someone managed to slip it into my desk after school. There was no hint showing who it was but it didn't matter. Someone was threatening me about Tamaki's club. It had also meant that they must have been threatening them as well. Considering they were threatening me to indirectly hurt the Host Club, it meant that they were unsuccessful threatening them directly. My eyes flickered over to Haruhi, who was gathering her supplies and was about to head for her club. She seemed oblivious to my internal panic.
"Haruhi, may I speak to you for a moment...?" I asked, trying to mask my uncertainty by attempting to sound punctual. My posture had straightened itself out automatically into a poised and sophisticated one. I exhaled slowly to rid myself of my anxiety or at least try to hide it.
Haruhi curiously glanced over towards me with her large brown eyes. The large workload she had been given by both of the class president and Host Club was evident in both her eyes and posture. Hesitation held me back for a moment about informing her about this message.
"What is it, Madeline?" She asked curiously with a tilt of her head as she maneuvered herself around her large pile of books. Majority of those books involved the methods and tactics of investigation for our class activity. Haruhi had been given the task of being one of the three assistants for the guests. She would be seated at the far wall at the information tables with our class presidents.
"I think it would be wise if you read this message."
I exhaled briefly before extending out the threatening message towards her.
"Guys! You need to hear this!" Haruhi exclaimed loudly with immense worry as she burst into the empty music room with a vice grip on my arm. I squirmed uncomfortably under her grip on me.
Anxiety hit me like tsunami waves as shock registered on each of the Hosts faces. They were all sitting around a beautiful designed glass coffee table with several papers laying across it. Kyoya watched me from afar with a quietly observant expression on his pale face. Honey tilted his head in adorable confusion while Mori simply stared at me stoically. Hikaru and Kaoru both had their eyebrows furrowed in confusion at our sudden entrance. I didn't dare look at my brother in fear of his reaction of the sight of me. My facial expressions showed no emotions outwardly. I wanted to vomit under all of this pressure and anxiety.
"What's going on?" Tamaki asked with pure confusion lacing his voice. When Haruhi released me, I reverted into my usual elegant look by crossing my arms across my lap. My eyes averted towards the ground and focused on my breaths under a cover of coolness. The threatening message was crumbled in my hands due to Haruhi's rash movements with me.
Haruhi breathed out quickly before stepping aside for them to have a better view of me. It seemed that Haruhi had poor stamina that was unusual for teenaged girls our age. She panted heavily from our powered walking all the way up here.
"It's Madeline, she-"
A gasp left my mouth when Tamaki suddenly bounded towards me. One of his large hands curled out my upper arm while the other one cupped my cheek. I could simply stare at his uniform tie in front of me in shock.
"Madeline! You're not hurt are you?!" Tamaki asked frantically with a raised voice in concern. Worry encased him as his chest rose and fell rapidly as his finger twitched ever so slightly. My own eyebrows furrowed together a fraction at his sudden concern for me. The great concern he held for me made me feel overwhelmed. I brushed off his hands gently and stepped away from him as sophisticated as I could muster. My chin was held in a dignified manner and I cleared my throat. There was no way I could let pitiful emotions best me. Not anymore.
"I thank you for your concern, Tamaki, but I am not hurt."
I couldn't look at the hurt that flashed across his eyes, instead I averted my attention onto everyone else in a business like manner.
"Haruhi insisted that I came here to inform you all about what I had received this afternoon. It was a message." I explained to them while holding out the crumbled sheet of paper. The sight of the improper state of the paper made me want to grimace.
In a couple of long strides, Kyoya was standing in front of me within seconds whilst retaining his cool poise and grabbing the paper from my hands. I clasped my hands in front of me once again and watched as the members of the Host Club surround him. Complete shock grew on their faces as they read the message on the note. It appears that nearly everyone will receive the same reaction when first reading it. One by one their eyes glanced up to stare at me in disbelief.
"Where did you come across this, Miss Suoh?" Kyoya asked seriously as he glanced over at me after reading the threatening message over once more. He had flipped over the paper to find any other hint of the threat. His dark eyes bore through mine in complete seriousness.
"It seems as though someone had tucked it into my desk when our class was preparing for the festival. Please do not ask me why, for I do not know myself." The more I spoke, the more my throat tightened. Being here with these people that I had avoided for weeks made me want to get sick. My stomach clenched painfully which made me exhale deeply as I observed their faces observantly. It made me uneasy of how openly they were staring at me. The depth of the observation in their eyes nearly made me shiver in anxiousness.
I exhaled quietly before tilting my head curtly, "It appears that whoever wrote this message it clearly your rival in this tournament. This whole predicament doesn't involve me in the slightest way. Now that I have informed you about this, I shall take my leave."
In an elegant manner, I spun on my heel and began walking towards the doorway without appearing to be in a rush. The heels of my shoes echoed off the marbled flooring and intensified the tight atmosphere more. My brows furrowed together a fraction at the uncomfortable clenching in my stomach. A short breath left me at the sight of the familiar entrance doors welcoming my escape from this music room. It was contrasting from the last time when it appeared to be mocking me.
"Actually, Miss Suoh, you are involved. You have been involved the moment our enemy threatened you." Kyoya stated factually that pierced the air. My walking ceased to an abrupt halt as his words. My chest pounded with my gradually increasing breaths.
"There is no need for me to get further involved than I already am. They merely wanted to scare you all through myself. I had no further value to them now that they had delivered their message." The sophisticated side of me had appeared instinctively once again. I did not dare to glance over my shoulder as I curtly replied, "Good day, gentlemen and Haruhi."
"You don't understand, Ma-chan! They'll try to hurt you through us! I will not allow that to happen!" Honey protested instantly with a serious tone that made me stop. Not once had I seen this side of the older teenager for he was usually bubbly and cheerful. To hear Honey sound serious is rare. It made me feel bewildered that his seriousness was the cause of my welfare. I allowed a small glance over my shoulder to look at my worried senpai. Something swirled within the depths of his eyes that reminded me of his actual age and hidden maturity.
"Yeah, Madeline, please just stay with us. We don't want you getting hurt." Haruhi pleaded with great concern that only made me stiffen. I don't understand how they could easily care for me not only because they barely know me but especially after me avoiding all of me. People are not like that. People try to deceive you until you're destroyed and they can't benefit from you anymore.
Instantaneously I gracefully twirled around and flashed them a charming and polite smile. The tone of my voice held finality that border lined iciness, "Please do not worry about me. I appreciate your concern but it isn't needed."
With that, I left.
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