Disclaimer- I don't own Ouran High School Host Club
Since I don't believe years were ever given in the story, we're going to say that this is taking place in December of 2003 since the story was first published in that year.
Chapter 9
Revelations
"Just so that I'm sure, you will be telling the truth, won't you?" Kyouya questioned. He was making himself perfectly comfortable in the chair he was in. Folding his arms over his chest and cocking his head to watch her with curiosity.
Kimiko nodded, glancing briefly away from the boy across from her. It was different seeing him out of his school uniform, in jeans and a long sleeved navy polo shirt with his hair slightly messy. It was a big change from the normally put together Kyouya she was used to though she had to admit, a bit unwillingly, that he looked much better out of his uniform. He seemed much more relaxed than Kimiko had ever seen him and she wasn't sure what to make of it yet. While he was relaxed, like he was now, it was much easier to see the calculating, cold and arrogant side of him that was usually kept well hidden. While this side of him showed through more, there was now a more human air to him. He didn't seem as unreachable and distant as he usually did at school.
"You don't seem very willing to agree to your own terms," Kyouya pointed out smugly, though Kimiko thought there was a hint of amusement there too.
A young woman walked into the room from a side door, bowed politely, blushed upon seeing Kyouya who ignored her entirely, and set a pot of tea down on the table as well as two tea cups. She poured the tea and set one cup before Kyouya and the other before Kimiko before bowing again and taking her leave.
Kimiko took a breath and exhaled slowly, staring in to the tea that had just been set before her. When she looked back up, she met Kyouya's eyes with a look that made the boy think that she had a very good reason to not want to agree to her terms. There was something missing in her eyes, they weren't right and for a moment it unnerved him. When he realized what was missing, he had second thoughts about taking her up on her offer.
The light he was used to seeing in her eyes was gone. The spark of enjoyment when she was goofing off with the twins or eating cake with Honey or Mori or even simply making tea, was nowhere to be found. There was a blankness there that made him feel like he was looking at a doll.
"If you ask the questions I'm expecting you to, you'll find out soon enough why I don't want to tell the truth. Why I haven't told the truth," Kimiko replied blankly. She was withdrawing into herself, erecting a barrier between herself and her own emotions which she expected to take quite a beating tonight. "The things that I decide to tell you will remain between us. If they don't..Well, I'd just like to remind you that you are only a third son."
"Are you implying I wouldn't be missed?" Kyouya asked with an amused smile.
The side door creaked open again and the same young woman walked in, holding the door while two men carried in trays of food.
"Now why would I do such a thing?" she answered, giving him a cold smile. Plates of food were placed before her and Kyouya. She didn't bother looking at what was even there, she already knew. Miso soup, rice, poached salmon, a few pieces of sushi and pickled plums. The waiters were dismissed with a small nod from her and after a quick bow, she and Kyouya were left alone once again.
"You don't have to worry, I don't plan on sharing anything I learn."
"Out of curiosity, why did you agree to the deal? Why do you want to know about me so badly?"
"You're cheating. We agreed that for every ten questions I asked, you would ask one. I haven't asked anything yet." He replied, a pompous smile pulling at his lips.
"Then what do you want to know first?" She asked, picking up a piece of sushi with her chopsticks.
"Hm, where to start," he sighed. "How are you liking Japan? This isn't your first time here, is it?"
Kimiko let a brow tilt up as she stared blankly at Kyouya while he picked up a piece of his own sushi. After finishing her own piece, she replied, "No, it's not my first visit, which I'm sure you are aware of. I've been here many times, but usually for no longer than two months. As for how I like Japan, I like it just fine. Then again, I haven't had much time to enjoy it recently."
"Maybe we can rectify that in the future," Kyouya replied conversationally, picking up another piece of sushi from his plate.
"Uh huh," she responded, unenthusiastically. "If by we you mean you and I or you, I, and the Host Club you're out of your mind. I get to enjoy your company far too often." A piece of salmon followed by some rice was popped into her mouth. Their entire conversation was now revolving around bites of food.
"You make it sound as if you don't like spending time with the Host Club."
She snorted quietly and tossed her head to the side to roll her eyes, chewing on more rice and salmon. "I don't. And why should I? I'm there to work, not have fun."
"You can work and have fun," Kyouya suggested.
There was a few minutes of silence while the two decided to focus on simply eating. It wasn't broken until Kimiko had eaten a good deal of her food and set her chopsticks down.
"As much as I don't mind small talk, Kyouya, perhaps you should get to the point once you're finished eating. You already have a list of questions to ask I'm sure. Skip the rest of the simple, boring stuff you were going to ask first to make me feel more secure. You want to know if I was kidnapped as a child, right?"
Gray eyes lit with amusement at Kimiko's blunt scolding and at how she had predicted that he planned on asking a series of less serious questions before working his way to the more interesting and serious ones. It appeared as if he was going to be saved from frivolous and meaningless chit chat. "When you put it that way...Yes, I'm interested in learning if you were kidnapped as a child. So where you?"
"Yes," she answered blandly, eyes never leaving Kyouya's.
"So there was truth to the tabloid story?"
"Outside of the fact that I was kidnapped there is no truth to any of that story."
"You promised not to lie," Kyouya pointed out.
"I'm not lying," Kimiko replied a bit forcefully, voice laced with bitterness. "Don't look at me like you want further explanation. You want answers? Ask the right questions."
"There is no truth to the rest of the story," he mused as he leaned back into his chair. "What is the biggest fallacy in the story?"
Kimiko barely needed to think about her answer. "The dates. The year is correct, but that's it."
This struck Kyouya as interesting. Why was it important that the dates be incorrect? What was being hidden with the changing of them and how should he ask his questions to get the most out of the answers. "When were you kidnapped?"
"December 11."
There was little time to hide the small jolt that made him look up at Kimiko in surprise as she stared at him with eyes that seemed empty, but weren't if you looked hard enough. A sea of emotion lay beneath the surface, but she was keeping everything neatly hidden, trying not to show which questions effected her more.
"If the year was correct... then you were kidnapped on December 11, 2000. Just over three years ago."
"Is that a question or a statement?"
"Both, but just to clarify, let's say it's a question."
"Yes, I was kidnapped on December 11, 2000."
"The name K-"
"I already warned you not to say that name," Kimiko cut in in a low growl, the hand grasping her tea cup tightening until her knuckles turned white while her other hand's fingers dug painfully into her leg. "Just ask whatever you want, but do not say the name. Understood?"
"Yes, I apologize. This may seem redundant, but you are familiar with the name, right?"
"Yes," she answered trying to keep all emotion from her face and voice. She wanted to remain distant to the entire conversation, answering questions as quickly and as simply as possible.
"The name, does it represent one person or an organization?"
There was a short pause, but she replied simply with, "Both."
"So both a person and an organization go by the same name. Interesting. Was it the organization that was responsible for your kidnapping?"
She couldn't even bring herself to answer the question, she was clenching her jaw too forcefully. When she answered, after a short pause to make sure her answer couldn't be construed as a lie, she shook her head stiffly.
Kyouya's brow shot up, he hadn't expected a no. From the little research he had done, there was no way that anyone but Kurenai Tsuki could have been responsible for Kimiko's kidnapping. After some brief thought, he asked, "Did the organization carry out the kidnapping, but under someone else's orders?"
"That's question eleven, before I answer I get to ask you a question of my own," Kimiko stated, leaning back into her chair, Kyouya following suit and giving her a nod to signal he was ok with that. "There's something that you know about the ending of my engagement to Katsuro that I don't, isn't there?"
Remaining nonchalant, Kyouya replied easily and simply, "Yes." He raised his tea cup and took a delicate sip, eyes remaining fixed on Kimiko.
Green eyes narrowing slightly, Kimiko forced herself not to demand what that something was then and there. They had a deal and if it took a little bit of time for her to figure out just what the black haired boy across from her was up to then she would just have to be patient and wait.
"Yes, they were the ones to carry out the kidnapping at someone else's orders." Adjusting her position in her seat to cover her annoyance and growing unease, Kimiko glanced down to dust off her sweater and take a moment to reapply her distant and uncaring facade. When Kyouya asked his next question, she continued to look down into her lap.
"Was it the individual that goes by the same name?"
Kimiko sighed and continued to refuse to look up at Kyouya. "Yes. She was apparently known by that name for a long time before the kidnapping. The organization was named after her, apparently she was quite well known in Japan, but faded into anonymity when she married. She didn't reappear until my abduction."
"I may not know much about the Yakuza, but I know enough about the Aratoshi's to know that they had no ties to any Yakuza families. Was there a reason why you were targeted?"
There was a long pause in which Kimiko looked up, but still kept her eyes from ever meeting Kyouya's and glanced around the room before settling her gaze on a black candle holder in the center of the table. "Yes," she answered quietly. "Jealousy. Spite. Greed. There are plenty of reasons, take your pick."
"You seem to know a lot about your own abduction," Kyouya observed. Of course in itself this wasn't entirely odd, what was odd was how much she seemed to know about every party involved. "Was the responsible party ever found and tried?"
Standing suddenly enough to actually cause the normally cool and collected black haired boy to jolt in his seat, Kimiko finally met his gaze. Blank pools of green met deep gray orbs. "I forgot to mention that I had other motives in inviting you here tonight. Hopefully your food has settled enough, I need a dancing partner. It's been a long time since I've bothered to dance at a formal party." Without another word, she swept past him and out of the room.
It took him a moment to register what had just happened, but Kyouya rose after a slight pause and followed after Kimiko. She had already disappeared when he walked into the hall, but the soft music that had just began to play from a room a few doors down where the door had been left ajar was his best guess as to where she had disappeared to. The room turned out to be a ballroom of sorts, the sleek surface of the smooth marble floors shined to perfection and the chandeliers that hung from the high ceiling cast a soft glow throughout the room while notes of classical music filtered in through hidden speakers. Kimiko was at first nowhere to be seen, but she appeared in front of him not long after he had pushed the door all the way open.
She didn't say a word as she took his hand and led him towards the center of the room where she stopped and faced him, but refused to meet his eyes. Placing her hands in their appropriate places, she was glad to find that Kyouya was going to go along with it as he placed a hand on her waist and adjusted his grip on the other.
"Ready?" He asked, studying her every move and her face while he stared down at the green eyed girl who was once again avoiding his gaze.
She nodded and was immediately whisked into the slow steps of a waltz.
"The woman behind the abduction plans was never found by police and there's only a select few who are aware of what actually happened during that week. I have never told anyone, not even my family, everything that happened," Kimiko said, never hesitating in her steps as the tempo picked up slightly. "The only one to know everything is myself. Haka knows a great deal as well and I'm sure he suspects more, but he's never asked about it."
Choosing to take some time to think over Kimiko's answer, Kyouya watched the girl as she pointedly refused to look directly into his eyes and instead stared at his shoulder or a spot behind him. It was obvious she was trying to hold herself together and remain as detached as possible, but it was also obvious by the way she was gripping his hand just a little too tightly and the paleness of her cheeks despite the fact that they were dancing, that she was failing. Normally other people's emotions didn't mean much to him, he had other things to worry about, but he was beginning to see that Tamaki may have been right. The new addition to the Host Club may have been more fragile than any of them had realized all along.
"You said that week." Kyouya realized her small slip and blinked down at Kimiko, not failing to notice her grow paler and her posture grow tense. "Your kidnapping lasted one week?"
She swallowed, having a hard time keeping her breathing even and feeling her chest tighten painfully. It hadn't been her intention to give away that she had been held captive for a week, she had just said it without thinking and now she regretted it. There was a chance that if it hadn't been for that comment that Kyouya wouldn't have caught on too quickly to what had really happened. "Yes," she replied tersely, knowing that it was a matter of seconds now before Kyouya would be able to put all the pieces together.
"That would mean that-" he would have stopped dancing, but Kimiko was still moving and after a misstep, he continued, his eyes widening as several things suddenly jumped out at him. "Today. Three years ago today you were released."
She nodded, keeping her eyes locked on his shoulder as they continued through the dance. She would have looked dead if it weren't for the fact that she blinked every few seconds to hold back the mist that was threatening to cloud her vision.
"Your father, he died three years ago today, didn't he?"
Again, Kimiko only nodded.
"Was his death a result of the abduction?" Kyouya asked, but he already knew that there was little doubt that the two incidents were connected. He was beginning to regret having dug up her past, he had had no idea that there were things of this magnitude that had been kept hidden with money and silence from her. She had been through more than most people of their standing could ever even imagine and yet she was still trying to make the most of her life. He had to admire her for that, for her perseverance and the strength it had to have taken to go on living every day despite the hardships she faced.
"Yes," she whispered. No longer able to hold back the tears that were trying to break free, Kimiko blinked and let the warm salt water trickle from her eyes. "I saw all of it. The dogs that were set on him, the woman who set them on him after he refused to give her what she wanted and I saw the man that slit his throat."
"Who?" he asked before he could stop himself and cursing himself for not having better self control when the tears began to leak faster from the lifeless eyes of the girl he was dancing with.
Kimiko turned her green gaze up to him, she was breathing rapidly and her breaths were becoming sharper with each one she took. She was fighting to remain calm, to not let her emotions get the best of her and to keep her breathing steady, but she hadn't ever spoken of the kidnapping or what she had been through or seen. The only reason the people responsible had not been turned over to police was because of who they were and the only reason that anyone knew who they were was because Kimiko had been found by Haka who had secretly tracked her father.
"I apologize, you don't have to answer-"
"Sumi Takeda was the woman and her now husband, Takahashi Hirosuma, was the man."
The names registered immediately in Kyouya's head and he couldn't help the minute widening of his eyes or the surprise that showed on his face as he realized just who she was talking about. He stopped dancing this time, the shock a bit more than he had expected, but he kept her hand in his and kept a steady hand on her waist as well."Your mother and step father. They were responsible?"
Trying to swallow and take deep breaths to try to keep her breathing even, Kimiko nodded as another tear streaked down her cheek. She was quickly losing her battle to keep her breathing in check though and despite her best efforts to breath normally she was beginning to gasp and choke on air. "Yes... Do you... see why I don't talk about it?... Why everything that I was put through.. and the things done to me, can never be known? The whole thing was planned for years, my parents' marriage was nothing more than a hoax and my father didn't know it until the very end. If word got out... The scandal would be enormous and ruin the Aratoshi name." She was clutching at her chest now as her gasps became wheezes when all air she was managing to take in stayed pent up in her lungs and refused to be released.
Having grown up in a house where medicine was talked about daily it wasn't hard for Kyouya to notice her difficulty breathing was more than just emotions. "You're asthmatic," he observed.
She could only nod to confirm his statement as she began to have a full blown attack. She couldn't speak, much less take a breath as she choked and gasped for air, coughing violently when she was able to get it, but not expel it. Falling to her knees, she curled into a ball and closed her eyes while she clutched at her heaving chest, trying to think of nothing but calming down and not panicking.
"Your inhaler, I'm sure you have one, where is it?" Kyouya asked.
"..Room.." She barely managed to choke out.
"I'll be right back-"
"No," she protested, tightening her hold on the hand Kyouya had never withdrawn from her hold which only resulted in sending her into another coughing fit.
"You need your-"
He was cut off as she began to stand, using him as a means to balance herself and keep herself standing. He didn't mind entirely, but he had to catch her when she took a shaky step forward and nearly collapsed. He had to pick her up, one arm beneath her knees and the other around her shoulders to keep her from falling again and was a bit surprised by the way she held on to him and rested her head on his shoulder without hesitation. Figuring that putting her down was out of the question, he settled for carrying her out of the room. The lower level of the large house didn't appear to have any rooms small enough to be bedrooms, but he did remember seeing a faint light in one of the upstairs windows when he arrived.
"Is your room upstairs?" he asked, receiving a nod in response from Kimiko who continued to struggle for air. "To the left?" Another nod. "Last room on the left?" He received another nod and a confused look, but figured that now wasn't the time to explain how he knew which room was hers.
She was listening to the steady beat of his heart, focusing on it and closing her eyes. Trying to match her breathing to his. By the time they had reached her room, she had managed to get her breathing back under control so that she could at least take and release small, shallow breaths between the gasps and coughs.
When she was carried through the door to her room, she managed to tell Kyouya that her inhaler was in her purse on the table. He carried her to the closest couch and set her down, she immediately grabbed at the pink purse on the table. Her hands were badly shaking and her body was threatening to give out on her again since her muscles were being deprived of the oxygen they needed. Finally finding the gray inhaler, she shook it several times and pulled the cap off so that she could place the mouthpiece on her lips. Pushing down on the canister, a quiet puff was heard, followed by another.
Removing the gray inhaler from her lips, Kimiko was still breathing harshly, but she could already feel the tightening in her chest subsiding and the spasm in her lungs following suit as well. She collapsed into the couch and ignored Kyouya as she closed her eyes and let her breathing slowly return to normal.
"Are you alright?" Kyouya inquired when Kimiko's breathing had even out and color had returned to her cheeks.
Taking a deep breath, she reopened her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, though I don't suppose you actually care. Sorry for making you-"
"You might find it hard to believe, Kimiko, but I'm not completely uncaring. You seem to think I'm some cold, evil guy who only looks after himself and while I suppose I give that impression, that's not entirely true. I will do whatever it takes to try and make my way in this world, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about what happens to certain other people in it."
"You want me to believe you care about me?" She inquired incredulously. "I'm not that dumb, Kyouya. You don't care about me, there's something you're after that involves me and you're simply doing whatever it takes to get it."
"You don't trust anyone, do you?" He asked.
"After what you just learned, you're seriously asking me that question? My own mother had me kidnapped and then watched as my father was killed protecting me and then married the bastard who killed him with his own hands. I was forced to live everyday of my life for the last three years with those same people and there was nothing I could do about it. I was beaten, threatened, demoralized on a daily basis, I wasn't always allowed to eat and I was forced into an engagement that would essentially leave me powerless to run the company that my father left to me after working so hard to build it up. There's more if you'd like to hear it. It's not a pretty story and I have the scars to prove it."
"Would you like to talk about it?"
"Why? So you have blackmail information? I'll pass," she replied blandly.
"You'll never trust me, will you?" He inquired, taking a seat on the couch opposite her and making himself comfortable.
"Should I? You haven't given me much reason to want to so far."
"I suppose that's true, but I'd like to point out that while I may have researched your past, you too researched the entire Host Club as well as many of the other students at Ouran, didn't you?"
Stubbornly tossing her head to the side, Kimiko snorted arrogantly. "Yes, I did. So what?"
"You did the same thing as I did," he pointed out. "That's beside the point though. What else have I done to give you reason to distrust me?"
"You're hiding something from me about the ending of my engagement," she replied bitterly. "I want to know what."
Kyouya remained silent for awhile, the coldness seeming to melt away as he became serious and looked away from Kimiko. "Your mother didn't choose to end the engagement out of the kindness of her heart. She wouldn't have gained anything if she had."
Blinking, her eyes widening, Kimiko was shocked by what he was implying. "She was paid off?"
"Yes."
"By whom and why?" she asked.
He shrugged. "How would I know?"
Green eyes narrowing, Kimiko leaned forward. "But you do know, don't you?"
All he did was blink back at her blankly. "No."
"You're lying," she hissed accusingly.
"Why would I lie? I'm trying to gain your trust, not lose it."
"Why bother trying, Kyouya?" Kimiko sighed heavily. "You're after something that I have and that's the only reason I see you wanting to get closer to me, to win my trust and take whatever it is you're trying so hard to get."
"I'm not trying to take anything from you, I do want to get closer to you though. It would be quite beneficial for the both of us, don't you think?"
"If you were to be named the successor to your father's businesses I could see that being beneficial to me, but you're only a third son," she pointed out rudely. "That's not beneficial to me."
Kyouya smirked at Kimiko, pushing his glasses up his nose with one slender finger. "I may be only a third son, but I don't plan on being overlooked. Just as you'll do whatever it takes to make your father's business successful, I'll do whatever it takes to prove that I'm more capable than my two brothers. I will make a name for myself and when I do I would think that our friendship would be quite helpful. After all, you do want to expand more in Japan, don't you?"
"How would you benefit?"
Another smirk and a small chuckle. "In the long run it remains to be seen, but as for now..Well, I don't think my father would ignore a close friendship with the girl who stands to inherit millions of dollars and one of the most notable medical manufacturing companies in the world."
"Are all of your friends just tools to get you noticed?"
"Sometimes."
"At least you're honest about it," she mumbled with an eye roll.
"Why would I lie? We both stand to gain quite a bit if we use each other. So, what do you say, Kimiko, would like to join forces and become allies?"
For a moment she simply stared at him, wondering just what he was up to. After some thought, she knew the only way to find out would be to go along with him and 'join forces' as he put it. She couldn't say she minded, she could gain a lot from Kyouya and though he was often more annoying than anything, she found that she didn't mind being around him. He wasn't actively a bad person, he was just doing whatever it took to make his way in the world and that was something that she could understand entirely."Sure, why not."
He smiled at her and for a second Kimiko was reminded that he was incredibly good looking and that she was alone with him. She stiffened slightly in realization, but relaxed not long after. If he had wanted to do anything, he had had plenty of opportunities already.
"I should be going," Kyouya said, rising from his seat on the couch. "It's getting late."
Kimiko stood up as well, but with her muscles still somewhat weak, she stumbled forward after taking one step. A small cry slipped from her lips, but she never impacted the ground like she had expected. Instead she found herself firmly held up by strong even if slim arms. Blinking, she looked up to see Kyouya looking down at her, an eyebrow raised and his lips quirked into a slight smile.
"Uh...Sorry," she managed to stutter, blushing and looking away when she felt the heat on her cheeks. His breath was splashing across her cheek and it was distracting especially since he looked quite good up close when he was actually smiling and not faking it. 'This is Kyouya..Kyouya. The guy who's hiding stuff from me and wants to use me. The same guy I was just holding on to and leaning on for support.' Her inner thoughts only caused her to groan mentally and blush even more, cursing herself all the while.
Clearing her throat, Kimiko spoke again. "I'll show you back downstairs."
There was really no thought involved in what he did, just the urge to reach out and take her hand in his again. He did and when Kimiko turned to look at him, wide eyed and confused, he covered his momentary lapse of self control and smiled a princely smile before leaning over her hand and placing a quick kiss on the back of her fingers. "I haven't thanked you yet, for the invitation and the dinner. So thank you."
Nodding numbly, her brows drawing together in thought over Kyouya's strange actions, Kimiko simply turned and led him from the room and back to the lower level and entrance.
"Thank you for dinner," Kyouya said again once they had stopped before the doorway. "I'll have to repay you sometime. Don't worry, it'll be my treat," he told her when she raised an eyebrow at him.
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "You really are something else, Kyouya."
"Thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment," she grumbled, scratching at the side of her chin.
It was at that moment that she noticed him hesitate, as if he had wanted to say something more, but a door to her left was opened and Haka walked into the entry with Kyouya's three personal guards behind him. She wanted to curse their timing since she was quite curious what the bespectacled boy had to say, especially after his bizarre behavior in her room. It was as if he had gone from himself to Kyouya the Host within seconds and there hadn't appeared to be a reason for it.
Kyouya smiled and bowed slightly to her. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Kimiko. Oh, don't forget that the twins will be requiring you to join them after club activities. They have quite a few dress ideas for you. I helped narrow down the selection, after all, you are my assistant and need to look the part."
Kimiko couldn't help but to let out a small groan at the thought of being manhandled by the two boys as they dressed her up however they wanted as if she were their own personal doll. She glared at Kyouya when he chuckled at her and huffed stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away.
After he had gone, Kimiko was making her way back up the stairs when Haka said something that made her stop and grasp tightly to the banister.
"That boy, Kyouya Ootori, he was here several times in the few weeks before your mother left. One of the kitchen staff told me. I don't know what the meaning of his visits were, but I thought you should be aware."
'There's no way that he's the one responsible for paying off my mother...Is there?' She thought to herself, her eyes widening. 'Why? What could he possibly gain from ending my engagement and paying my mother to move and leave me here alone? I know he's after something, but what and why go so far? It just doesn't make sense.'
"Thank you, Haka, I'll keep that in mind," Kimiko replied, continuing her climb up the stairs.
~A/N~
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