DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM
Akira seemed to have an usual smile on her face as she came to her and Tamaki's room. Tamaki was sitting in bed reading. He looked up and was surprised to see her smile.
"You look like you're feeling better, everything alright?" he asked.
"Hmm, no, just Ei asked me something that sort of took my mind off my whole mother situation," Akira explained as she climbed into bed with Tamaki.
"Such as?" Tamaki askrd.
"I think it's more of a girl thing Tamaki," said Akira.
"Hmm, girl thing," Tamaki muttered, "I hate that term. It just reminds me Ei's growing up."
"Yes, yes she is," Akira said sounding amused by the whole thing.
"Do you want to talk more about your mother calling?" Tamaki asked.
"Mmm, no, not tonight," Akira said looking a little glum again.
"Sorry dear," said Tamaki.
"It's okay, it's just so out of the blue. I didn't think I'd ever see her again at this point," said Akira.
"Well, whatever it is you decide to do in regards to her, I'll support you," Tamaki promised holding her close.
"Thanks dear," said Akira, allowing Tamaki to snuggle with her as close as he wanted.
The next day when Ei came out of her room, ready for the day, she decided to stop by Michael's room and see if her little brother was up already.
When she came into his room, she was a little surprised to see him pulling himself up on his crib bars.
"Look at how big you're getting," Ei said shaking her head.
Michael surprised her even more by jumping up and down and shouting, "Ei! Ei! Ei!"
"You sound more and more like your father every day, it's scary," Ei said to herself as she picked Michael up from his crib. She made sure to put a little swing in it, seeing as how Michael liked it when they did that.
He gave off a baby squeal as Ei flung him around, a smile as big as Tamaki's on his face.
"You are so cute and fun to be around," Ei said as she took Michael downstairs. She could hear the sound of Akira and Ms. Dou talking.
"...and go ahead and stop by the toy store, get something him something new," Akira was listing off, already in her business suit and a stack of files in her hand.
"Are you sure that's necessary Mrs. Souh?" Ms. Dou asked.
"Yeah, I sort of freaked out last night in everyone, and I'm just a little frazzled by this whole new thing. I don't want Ei and Michael getting drawn into my misery," said Akira.
"Hmm, something tells me Miss Ei has lots of other miseries from her other familes to deal with. One more won't make much difference," said Ms. Dou.
"Exactly, Ei the last person who needs more misery," said Akira, "right Ei?"
"Eh, I've come to accept it as something I can't avoid," said Ei like it was nothing.
"That's what I like about you Miss Ei, you're a role model for a calm cool and collective attitude," Ms. Dou praised, patting her cheeks.
"Very calm, and very cool," Akira said giving Ei an amused look, "want to walk me to the door?"
"Oh, okay," Ei said, following with Michael.
Akira gently took Michael and held him close before speaking to Ei, "do you want to talk about that little question you asked me last night?"
"Uh, not at the moment, no," Ei sputtered.
"Hmm, okay, but if you want to, I'm more than willing to," Akira offered before handing back Michael and heading out.
"Well, at least Mom seems better huh?" Ei asked Michael.
"Akira, Akira," she heard Tamaki calling out running down the stairs.
"Mrs. Souh already left Mr. Souh," Ms. Dou called back.
"Oh darn, I have a new idea and everything for her!"
"Then just go down to the office and talk to her," Ei pointed out.
"Right, right," Tamaki said. He gave Ei and Michael a quick kiss. "Have a good day at school Ei."
"Thanks Dad," Ei said waving goodbye.
"Bye-bye da," Michael said. Tamaki stopped and turned around.
"Michael, did you...," he said.
"He's getting a bigger vocabulary," said Ei.
"Oh my big boy! My big boy!" Tamaki cheered, "he's so smart, just like his father."
"I wouldn't call it smarts, personally,' Ei thought. Just then she felt a hand on her arm and realized Ms. Dou was standing next to her with a to go box.
"Breakfast on the go my dear?" she said nodding to her watch.
"Is it time already?" Ei asked.
"Close enough, especially with Mr. Souh around," said Ms. Dou.
"Good point, have a good day Ms. Dou," said Ei.
"You too dear," said Ms. Dou.
"My son is so cute and smart!" Tamaki kept shouting twirling Michael around.
Ei kept nibbling on her to go breakfast as she road down the elevator. She stopped first off at the Morinozuka floor.
"Hey," she called out.
"Ei!" Aiko and Rin cheered.
"Good morning," said Mikasa from the dining table. She was holding Fan and feeding her.
"Hi guys," Ei called out again.
"Better hurry up Aiko," Mikasa said.
"Yes Momma," the little girl said.
"Spent the night at the Suohs huh?" Mikasa said looking at Ei's togo box.
Ei blushed before taking another nibble of her food.
"You should have stayed down here," said Mikasa, "could have had a decent breakfast."
"I could do that on almost any other floor other than Tamaki's," said Ei.
"True," said Mikasa.
"I'm ready," Aiko said coming up with her school bag.
"Let's go get Taeko and get going then," said Ei, offering Aiko her hand and walking to the door.
"See you after school you two," said Mikasa, "say bye to your sisters Rin."
"Bye love you," said Rin.
"Bye Rin," Ei called back, just before the doors opened and in walk Mori, in his workout clothes.
"Bye-bye daddy," said Aiko.
"Bye," Mori said as the two girls tried to pass him. However at the last second, Ei felt Mori's hand on her shoulder.
"Something wrong?" Ei asked.
"You seem different somehow," Mori said.
"What? How?" Ei asked timid.
Mori studied Ei for a moment. "Something's troubling you, isn't it?"
"Uh, like what?" Ei sputtered, "we have to get going, school and all. Bye now!" She pushed Aiko out the door.
"What were you saying to Ei?" Mikasa asked, as she started to burp Fan.
"Something seems different about her, something seems to be troubling her," said Mori.
"Like what?" Mikasa asked.
"Don't know," Mori said.
"Hmm, well teenagers have that knack," said Mikasa.
"Yeah, Mori agreed.
"I'm sure whatever is bothering her, she can handle it no problem," Mikasa assured Mori.
"Yeah," Mori agreed.
"And it's best we get used to it now, we'll have two more to deal with later in life," Mikasa added looking at Fan. Mori also managed to smile and reached out to rub one of Fan's cheeks.
Suddenly Rin bounced into his father's lap.
"Play with me dada! Play with me!" he begged.
"Sure," Mori agreed. He led Rin over towards the children's play area and let Rin pick out their means of fun. To no one's major surprise he pulled out some toy swords and started play fighting with Mori.
Mori did his best to block and "hit" his son in a playful manner without taking it seriously. Although Mikasa could see how much Mori wanted to take the sword and show Rin the correct stance and hand coordination to really make a blow. However she knew he didn't want to act so seriously when his son merely wanted to play.
Then again she wasn't any better when it came to Aiko and her gymnastics training. Even if she wasn't her daughter's trainer, when Mikasa watched her practice, she couldn't help but want to get involved, point out what Aiko could be doing better, help her daughter's form and such.
"Takashi" she asked.
"Hmm?" Mori asked.
"Do you ever worry about putting too much pressure on the kids and their activities?" Mikasa asked.
"This again?" Mori asked.
Mikasa gave him a look, "don't be like that," she said, "I just can't help but worry, especially after we just named Ei the intended next head of the HOST Company."
"No," Mori finally said, "I think we're handling our children just fine."
Mikasa looked at Fan still resting on her shoulder. "Then, do you think it would be too much to ask Ei to maybe tryhand handle a project for the company? So that she can get a real chance to see what she's up for and if she'll really like it?"
"Like what?" Mori asked.
"I, don't know exactly," Mikasa admitted. "But I think I should go and ask Kyoya and Akira about it."
"Yeah," Mori agreed.
"I'll be right back," said Mikasa as she headed out, taking Fan with her.
Mori nodded before looking at Rin again who was still playfully hiting and striking him.
"I got you Daddy! I got you!" Rin cheered.
Mori grabbed the sword as it came down at him again.
"Too rigid," Mori said. He helped stretched Rin's arm out a little and help swing it down. "You need to try it more smoothly, like this."
"Like this?" Rin said as he tries copying what his father had sown him.
"Good," said Mori.
"Ah! Ah!" Rin shouted as he kept trying it, "I'm going to be the greatest sword's man ever, like you Daddy!"
"Sure," Mori said patting his head.
"I don't know if I like the numbers of the theater in Chui city. It appears it's not so popular there," Kyoya spoke out looking over a few reports.
"Is it the movie theater, or playhouse?" Akira asked also reviewing reports in the shared office.
"Playhouse," said Kyoya, "which is odd since the city petition us for a new playhouse."
"Maybe they underestimated themselves and what they really care about," said Akira. She had a dull drone tone as she spoke.
"Something wrong? You seem off," Kyoya asked looking at her desk.
"Just something new on my mind," said Akira, "don't worry, it won't affect my work."
"I should hope not," said Kyoya, "anyway, do you think it would be financially reasonable to keep the theater open?"
Akira looked over the forms and reports, "I don't think we should close it just yet. Because like you said, they did petition us to get it in the first place. Pherhaps we need to find a way to keep intrest in the playhouse before we see if it'd be better to shut it down."
"Hello, am I interrupting anything in here?" Mikasa asked walking in with Fan.
"Nothing too big," said Kyoya, "you're always welcome."
"Is something on your mind?" Akira asked.
"I've been thinking about this new development with Ei being the future head of the company and I was thinking maybe we should give her a little project or something to do just so she can really begin to grasp what she's in for," Mikasa explained.
"Any particular project?" Kyoya asked.
"Well, no I'm afraid I don't have an immediate idea," Mikasa admitted.
"Well, it is a good idea though," said Kyoya, "maybe you and some of Ei's other parents could brainstorm something for her to do."
"Like Tamaki?" Mikasa asked a little annoyed.
"He is the the most imaginative," said Kyoya.
"Kyoya," Akira suddenly spoke up, showing the report about the Chui playhouse, "what if we tried having Ei put together a new play for this theater alone to see if it can draw in more attention?"
"Hmm, that could be a good idea. Give Ei some management duties and responsibilities. Plus she'll have to really make sure she can put together something entertaining that'll bring in crowds," said Kyoya.
"Exactly what I was thinking, plus Chui isn't too far away that Ei can travel there easily," said Akira.
"Would that satisfy your idea and concerns?" Kyoya asked Mikasa.
"Sure, sounds perfect," said Mikasa. She readjusted Fan on her shoulder, smiling with love at her. Akira watched as Mikasa tended to her daughter.
"You're such a good mother Mikasa," she said out of nowhere.
"Oh, thank you," Mikasa said, "you're a good mom too."
"Thank you," said Akira, "you're also not the kind of mother who would abandon her babies, no matter what." That got her a look from Mikasa and Kyoya.
"No," Mikasa said slowly, "of course not." She made a small gesture to hold her babay a little closer.
"You just love your babaies," Akira kept saying. It looked like she was about to cry.
"Are you okay?" Mikasa asked with worry.
"Yesh, I'm fine, I'm sorry," Akira said quickly looking back to her reports, "we should get back to work, huh Kyoya?"
"Yes, we should," said Kyoya, "thank you for stopping by Mikasa, we'll see about Ei fixing up with this project."
"No problem, let me know if you need any help," Mikasa said as she left the office.
"I'm going to apologize to her about my earlier comment," Akira quickly said as shs hurried after Mikasa.
"Mikasa?" she called out right as Mikasa had reached the elevator.
"Oh yes?" Mikasa replied.
"I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier about abandoning your kids and everything," Akira said.
"Oh it's no big deal, it just sort of came out of nowhere," Mikasa quickly assured her.
"I've just got a lot of my mind, something happened last night," Akira sheepishly explained.
"Anything I can do?" Mikasa offered.
"Just keep being a good mom I guess," Akira said softly, "and can I actually ask you a question? You still have a good relationship with your mom right?"
"Sure, closer to her than my dad over the years," Mikasa admitted.
"Do you think it'd be easy to forgive her if she did something wrong to you as a child?" Akira asked.
"Depends on what it was, I suppose," Mikasa said shrugging her shoulders.
Akira nodded, "yeah, well have a good day. I got to get back to work."
"See you later then," Mikasa called out as she got into the elevator.
By the time Akira got back to the office, she saw Kyoya was already working on the next item on their agenda. She took a seat and started to do so as well.
"So, care to share now what's been on your mind?" Kyoua asked without looking up from his work.
Akira sighed mad before throwing the report she was reading down.
"Guess you'll probably find out on your own eventually, but my mom called my dad last night saying she wants to see me again," she confessed with a sigh.
Kyoya looked up over his glasses' rim. "I see," he replied, "and would this be the same mother who walked out on you and your father when you were roughly six years old?"
"The one and only," Akira muttered.
"And do you have any real desier to fullfill your mother's request?" Kyoya asked.
"On top of my head, no," Akira try to relate, "however, I do have a little voice in my head telling me maybe I should if only to finally confront her about her abandoning me."
"I see," Kyoya said, "well if you need to take some time off to get these thoughts and feelings into perspective, let me know."
"Oh, I'm not ready for that yet, especially with all that needs to get done," Akira said picking up the report she was looking at earlier, "like this, this rural park in the Tanjun district that is asking for help to spruce up."
"Akira, Kyoya," Tamaki suddenly burst into the office.
"Hello Tamaki, both said together.
"Planning on doing some work today Tamaki?" Kyoua asked.
"Oh I am working Kyoya! I have a great idea for some fun public parks for kids. I think we should try doing story book theme parks throughout the city, maybe even expanding out of the city! What do you think?"
Kyoya and Akira shared a look.
"Where's that report about the park that needs sprucing up?" Kyoya asked.
"Right here," Akira said handing it to him. Kyoya looked it over.
"Here Tamaki, this will be a good space to try out your idea," he said handing it off to his friend.
"Oh thank you!" Tamaki cheered with delight.
"Hey wait, Kyoya, maybe this could be something for Ei and Tamaki to work on together?" Akira quickly suggested.
"Oh, you want me to do a daddy-daughter project with Ei?!" Tamaki squealed.
"You don't think that'll be too much?" Kyoya asked.
"Well if she is to be the head of the company, she'll have to learn to handle multiple projects and work with people like Tamaki here and there," Akira laid out as her reasoning.
"Good point, but just this other one. I don't want to distract her from her school work," Kyoya declared.
"Fair enough," Akira explained.
"What's this other project you're talking about?" Tamaki asked.
"We're hoping to have Ei help say this theater in Chui," Akira explained.
"Oh, a very nobel project for sure!" Tamaki complimented.
"Hopefully something she can handle," said Kyoya, "anything else you need Tamaki?"
"Nope, I'll handle this just fine," Tamaki declared, holding the park report like a trophy over his head.
"Then I suggest you get started. You know where your office is," Kyoya said waving Tamaki away.
"Right, thank you!" Tamaki said as he hurried out of the big office. As he backed out, he almost accidentally bumped into Ryoko walking in.
"Oh, s-sorry Tamaki," Ryoko quickly said bowing.
"Oh no trouble at all," Tamaki said, giving her a little kiss on the cheek and walking out.
"Kyoya, I-I found those reports on the new interactive kids' aquarium you were looking for this morning," Ryoko said handing Kyoya a small stack of papers.
"Ah thank you," Kyoya graciously accepted them back, giving his wife's hand a little love rub with his thumb as he did.
"You-you, uh you-you, left them in the bedroom," Ryoko told him.
"Oh, that makes sense now," Kyoya said like it was nothing while hiding a dirty smile from behind the papers.
Ryoko blushed and started to the door.
Akira took a quick glance at Kyoya before hurring after Ryoko.
"Hey, Ryoko, can I ask you something real fast, in private?" she asked her old assistant.
"Uh, sure," Ryoko said, "Ms. Dou is watching Michiko and Michael at the moment."
Akira led her to an empty office.
"Okay this is going to sound kind of personal," Akira started to say, "but, your mother, she died when you were still young, right?"
"I-I-I guess I was still young, I was like 12 or 13," Ryoko said a little sad, "still young enough for my father to really start being hard on me when it came to raising me, especially when it came to disciplining."
"Sorry, it was hard when she left huh?" Akira asked.
"Yeah," Ryoko whispered.
"And that's what I wanted to ask," Akira explained as gently as she could, "if you had the chance, to really see your mom again, would you?"
Ryoko looked a little stun by the question. She tried to think about it. "I-I, supposed I'd like another chance to see her. If-if only to just tell her I love her and, and I was happy to have her as a mom when I did."
Akira nodded, "sorry, that was a harsh question huh?"
"It's fine, really, I'm just not sure what brought it on," said Ryoko looking at Akira with question.
"I guess something's happen to make me think about my mom recently," Akira admitted ,"and if I'd ever want to really see her again even if I could."
"Oh, well it's a little different for, seeing as how she left while mine died. I-I-I don't see how I would want to see a mother like that again, even if I had a chance and she was a real great woman," Ryoko said.
"You think?" Akira asked.
"Well, um, I um, don't think I could," Ryoko quickly explained, "sorry, was that the wrong thing to say?"
"No, it's fine, I like hearing your opinion, you're one of my best friends," Aiko said, patting Ryoko's shoulder.
Just then Kyoya opened the door. "Akira," he said, "if you're done talking to Ryoko about your mother troubles, may I borrow you back for a second?"
"What's the matter?" Akira asked.
"Mr. Tsuuken, you know, Jun's father is here. He says he wants to talk with in regards to both our and his company's future," said Kyoya.
"Wonder what that's about," Akira said as she walked out with Kyoya, "thanks for the talk Ryoko."
"Anytime," Ryoko said before Akira was out of earshot.
She kicked her foot a little.
'Oh mom, I do wish I could see you again, you'd be a lot better to be around than Father ever is,' she thought sadly. She sighed a little more.
'I wonder if dad were to ever re-marry if he'd be easier to tolerate. Guess I'll never know. I doubt dad will ever date again if he never had before.'
