A/N: Hola! So, apparently, my frickin' scanner is NOT working. I'm still in the process of trying to fix it, but for now, the Setsuko pics will have to wait. Not that they're any good XD Just thought you might be interested.
Special thanks to all reviewers! I WANT TO LOVE YOU DOWN!
PS.
LOTS OF TAMAKI IN THIS CHAPTER.
MIGHT BE RIDICULOUSLY LONG.
Chapter 9: Care
Even before the car left the driveway, Kyoya quickly understood that this trip may be more than he bargained for.
On top of secretly organizing the Host Club for his Father's banquet, he had to deal with travelling arrangements to visit a family friend's private beach. The customers would not be accompanying the Club on this vacation, so he made arrangements for a semi-private beach owned by a family friend who absolutely adored him. This gained him access to that family's beach villa for the three day long weekend and service from their chefs and maids.
It was a fairly good deal; had he haggled, he could have gotten exclusive access to the beach and permission to take their yacht out for a ride.
It was only the Host Club participating in the excursion, therefore, not much effort needed to be expended. The deal was satisfying.
It had been a couple days since Tamaki suggested the idea. Since then, Setsuko had been acting suspiciously cold toward him. They still shared meals together as usual but she had been tight-lipped. It was partly a relief, and partly frustrating. It was certainly refreshing not to have to decipher her roundabout manner of speaking, but she had also been dealing out bitter stares at every possible second.
It was annoying.
That morning, he was packing his own suitcase as he wasn't comfortable when the help rearranged his things. He was calmly placing his clothes in a neat, particular order. He could hear Setsuko in her own room that was not seven steps from his own, up the small staircase, shuffling around.
She was probably packing some superfluously large suitcase with useless things in it, he thought. Like any other female would.
His hand touched something lumpy. Withdrawing it quickly, he looked at the object; Kyochii the teddy bear. Kyochii bore his inky eyes directly into Kyoya's. He picked up the animal to examine it and stroked his brillo-like fur with his thumb. Even the colour shade was consistent with Kyoya's hair; they were twins.
He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about being likened to a stuffed animal, but it wasn't as if his opinion would be heard by Setsuko. She was, of course, hopelessly eccentric. Moreover, at the moment, she was blindly furious, without question.
She must have gotten it from Yuuji. I can't imagine him acting any different from her, he thought. How my father has stayed friend with that man for so many years is an utter mystery.
"Kyoya-kun."
"Hmm?"
He angled his head to look at her. She stood pigeon-toed, although hardly noticeable, in white sandals that wedged between her toes and had cuffs around the ankles. She was wearing a pale pink sundress, that flowed out from under the bust and cut just short of her knee, rimmed with lace at the neckline and bottom hem. She was wearing an over-sized wicker sun hat with a black tulle ribbon tied around it. Unlike a regular day during which her hair would be expertly curled with the bangs clipped to the top of her head, her blonde hair was pulled into a low side-ponytail that rippled down with the curves of her body.
"Are you ready to go?" Setsuko asked with a chilling undertone.
He stared at her for a long time, analyzing her outfit, contemplating if it was appropriate or not.
"Hmm. I'm finished packing. Head out to the car," was what he replied with, but she had left before he even finished. He rolled his eyes at her continuing dramatics and ordered a butler to tend to his suitcase and hers.
When Kyoya reached the foyer of the house, the rest of the Host Club already waited in excitement. Aside from Haruhi, of course. Every trip the to beach that the Host Club took always seemed to end in some fiasco and Kyoya knew Haruhi wanted nothing more than to disassociate herself from it. Setsuko was trying desperately to enthuse her.
She linked arms. "This is going to be fun, hmm, Haruhi-senpai?"
The brunette chuckled uneasily. "Ahh, maybe. Let's just hope so."
"If things get too crazy," Setsuko said. "The two of us can just leave these idiots and pretend we don't know them, right?"
Haruhi laughed and nodded. "Right, right!"
Hunny and Mori observed inconspicuously. "Ne, Takashi! Maybe Haru-chan and Setsu-chan will fall in love on the vacation!"
"Be careful about what you say, Mitsukuni," Mori shifted his eyes side-to-side to make sure that Tamaki and the twins were out of earshot. He didn't check for Kyoya, who had heard.
Hmm. Haruhi is much too smart, he snuffed and watched the two girls huddled up together, whispering and giggling. He ground his molars. It's about time we leave anyway.
"Everybody to the cars," he spoke over their clatter (Tamaki and the twins were bickering about lord-knows-what).
"Ne, Haruhi-senpai!" Setsuko beamed. "Let's sit together. I'll save you from Tamaki-senpai."
"Ah, please," she chuckled. They sauntered out to the car, linked by the elbows.
Kyoya was startled by the notion of the two girls sitting together; he then realized that he had unconsciously expected that he and Setsuko would be seated together. He brushed it off as merely force of habit. It doesn't matter, either way. It isn't necessary for us to be seated together. I'm sure even Setsuko knows how to put on a seatbelt.
"Ne, Kyoya!" Tamaki called. "Eh, even though I wanted to sit with my Haruhi, this is okay, right? Now we can sit together for the whole ride!" He threw his arms up in the air, expecting a loving embrace from his 'wife'.
How nauseating...
Kyoya walked up to the driver, Aoi, who had played chauffeur for the Ootori main-family for several years (despite his visible youth). When he caught sight of Kyoya, he tipped his hat and winked. "Afternoon, bocchan!"
"Nakamura family deluxe beach suite," Kyoya said wearily and provided the address and phone numbers
"Will do!" Aoi, who had a charming smile with a sharpened fang and untidy tawny hair, saluted playfully. "I think the foreigner, er, the halfie is calling you."
Irritated, he whipped around to see Tamaki with an obscenely large, star-shaped pair of sunglasses balancing on his nose, waving animatedly, like some clown.
This is going to be a long car ride.
Setsuko found, about a month ago, that it was easy to be swept up in the ridiculousness of the Host Club's antics. In the stretch car that they were riding to the beach in, she was drowning in it. To her right was Haruhi, arguing with Tamaki who was directly in front of her. To her left, was Hunny rambling about the cakes he was going to eat when they got to the beach to Mori. Behind her sat the twins who were mocking everything that Tamaki was saying, then guffawing at their own hilariousness.
Then there was Kyoya. In front of her.
He sat window-side, looking disinterested in his atmosphere. Just gandering out the window at the scenery zooming past. Breathing lightly, blinking slowly, unmoving.
For some reason, unbeknownst to herself, Setsuko had been constantly surveilling Kyoya. She should have been happy enough to sit beside Haruhi. However, the circumstances were nothing like she'd imagined. Her and Haruhi weren't sparkling or close or stealing kisses from each other while the boys weren't looking.
It had been nearly impossible to be anywhere within a 5 metre radius of Haruhi without thinking about that first kiss. Setsuko could hardly stomach it all; Haruhi's lips, her teeth, the point of her nose, her hands, the benevolent way she said, Welcome to the Host Club. The way she was gratuitously altruistic at every moment, even when being in an ocean of self-serving lunatics.
When she gave herself room to think, Setsuko was swamped with all these little things that she liked about Haruhi and couldn't seem to put them in order from most to least, as hard as she tried—partially, because she was finding it difficult to rate anything 'least'. Not Haruhi's lips. Not her teeth, the point of her noise, her hands nor anything and everything else that she thought was lovely about Fujioka Haruhi.
But sitting next to her, so close that not even a simple muscle movement would go undetected, it did not mirror her fantasies. Haruhi was too absorbed with Tamaki to pay any special attention to Setsuko.
It was upsetting. It made her wish that she had sat with Kyoya.
It seemed he always seem to make time to give her special attention, even if he was busy. Setsuko quietly reflected on one night when she snuck into his room and he was diligently typing away at the computer, but stopped, almost instinctively, to stay with her.
It was a small, meaningless everyday occurrence. Still, she felt as though overlooking it may be a little too modest. Maybe it did mean something - all of his special attention.
On the other hand, thinking like that, may be too arrogant. It could have meant nothing at all.
I'm severely over-thinking everything, she sighed.
At the same time, she remembered the way he told her what to do. Ordered her. Like she was a dog that should rightfully beg for a biscuit from his owner or a child — a disobedient child. She furrowed her brow. What angered her the most about his dictation of her life was that somewhere deep inside her, she was aware that he didn't care for her.
After all, it was Ootori Kyoya. 'Care' was not in his natural vocabulary. It was replaced with 'Merit', 'Gain' and 'Benefit'. That was what separated him from a father, she thought. A father guides you out of love and care. Kyoya most likely ordered people around for the sadistic self-satisfaction of wielding power. And he still has the guts not to apologize after all this time. What an ass.
Setsuko set her glare upon him. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Apologize, you idiot. Kyoya continued to stare out the window.
She gritted her teeth and resigned, crossing her arms over her chest and decided to turn her attention back to Haruhi. Haruhi didn't so much as look at her.
He was right.
The trip was exhaustingly long.
He was caught between a wall and Tamaki, who had chosen precisely then to have a love crisis. From the very beginning, he began jabbering, "Neee, Kyoya. Even though I asked Haruhi to sit with me in the car, she refused! Now, she's sitting with Setsuko-chan! This is unacceptable! What if we're growing apart? What if..."
Eventually, he just tuned him out.
Instead, Kyoya was paying close attention to Setsuko. He expected her to be a little more rowdy on this vacation, but on the drive to the beach, she'd been abnormally reticent. The entire time, he had taken to watching her reflection in the car window. Her activity had been low and dull.
Although, he noticed one thing. She stared at me a lot, he thought.
By the middle of their trip, she was napping.
When he noticed that she'd fallen asleep, he had a nagging feeling that, due to her weak immune system, she would catch another nasty cold. He spread his jacket over her body, then retreated to the window.
By the end of the trip, (as his torture was ending,) Hunny, like Setsuko, had tuckered himself into a snooze leaning against Mori's burly arm. Tamaki and the twins were playing a messy, confusing game of poker that was only complicated by Kaoru (who got bored) making up ridiculous fake rules and trying to convince Tamaki that they were real. Haruhi was reading a novel, assuming her role as the 'normal' Host.
It was torment — Kyoya was thanking the heavens that he could be released from the car.
They were disembarking the vehicle, lugging their suitcases as well. From the runway of the driveway, they could see the beach and a few strangers basking in the warmth or splashing in the water.
Tamaki got a glimpse of the sea and his eyes brightened at the glittering tides. "Waah ~ The sea!"
Kyoya blinked back at the sizzling sun, watching the waves. "Almost makes the car ride worth it, right, Kyoya-senpai?" Kaoru nudged him before slinging his bag over his shoulder and grinning.
He didn't reply. He looked back to the car and noticed faint shadows beyond the tinted windows. As he approached, he noticed that Haruhi was trying to wake up Setsuko, unsuccessfully.
He fought back a peculiar urge to be the one to wake her up. Instead, he retrieved his suitcase from the trunk of the car and directing the rest of the Host Club toward the beach villa.
The villa was enormous and impressive in all respects. Built with ivory wood planks with roof tiles the colour of paprika, it looked like a Californian dream beach-house. The windows were spotless; a few had balconies that overlooked the beach. It had a porch that wrapped around the perimeter of the house, with a staircase that lead directly down to the shore, ensconce in various places by tropical growth, colourful trees and floral bushes.
"Amazing!" The astounded voice of Haruhi awed from behind them. She was supporting a half-sleeping Setsuko with her body. "Do we really get to stay in such a luxurious place? Is it really okay?"
"You're so naive, Haruhi!" Hikaru chuckled and put his hands behind his head. "Our beach villa is twice that size! You should visit sometime!"
"I'll pass," she droned with an eye-roll and hauled her suitcase, along with Setsuko, towards the house.
Everybody entered the house and immediately began to situate themselves into the rooms since the place was already neatly kept by maids and butlers.
Hunny and Mori were sharing and room, as were Hikaru and Kaoru. Tamaki blinked. "Ne, Kyoooya! Let's share a room! Huh? Huh?"
"No."
"But-!"
"No, Tamaki."
"Kyooo-"
"No. Besides, I've already assigned the rooms."
He ignored Tamaki's depressed whimpers and directed people into their rooms.
Of course, like a game of chess, he had strategically placed his pawns and guarded the king. At the south end of the hallway was the Twins' room. Approaching the north end, Tamaki's room, then Hunny and Mori's, then Haruhi's, then his own, and at the most northern point of the hall was Setsuko's room.
In this way, he had complete control of all the shenanigans that may occur. By placing Haruhi's room next to his, he could make sure that there was no funny business with Tamaki or any one of the twins (or both), for Haruhi's sake. His room was at a corner of the hallway, so he could easily peer down in any direction.
Number one priority, however, is always Setsuko-san, he smirked. He placed the twins at the most southern point and her at the most northern. They were the three hugest troublemakers. If they wanted to sneak around, they would never make it past each of the Hosts — they were obstacles on their own.
Setsuko's room was directly next to his. He could monitor all her movements by the creaky floor board that was in front of his room (a security measure that he arranged with one of the butlers, ahead of time.) Under no circumstances will I be letting her take any midnight adventures to Tamaki's room, Hunny's room, Hikaru and Kaoru's room and absolutely not Haruhi's room. She'll need permission just to get a drink of water.
He had her on the ultimate chain. He was pleased with this, even as she scowled when discovering that her bedroom was adjacent his.
They didn't spend much time in the house as the weather was much too perfect to waste. As soon as they could after getting changed, they departed down the long stairway to the sand.
There were a few people wandering up and down the beach, but not many, and all were comrades of the man who had lent the villa to Kyoya.
"Waaah! It's warm, it's warm!" Hunny cheered. "Let's go to the water!"
"Don't forget your floaters, Mitsukuni!" Mori chased after the bunny-like boy with yellow water wings.
"It is nice. Such a cool breeze, hmm, Haruhi-senpai," Setsuko who was now fully awake, was sauntering over to a nearby set of beach-chairs and umbrellas.
Haruhi smiled. She was wearing a tanktop and medium-length shorts. "Yes," she replied. "For once, it's nice to be able to wear girls clothes, since it's so hot."
"Kyoya," Tamaki murmured from behind him. "Do you think my Haruhi is a little too overexposed?"
"It doesn't matter. There's no need to hide her secret," he shrugged and plopped a beach bag next to a plastic reclining chair. "Nobody here knows the Host Club, after all."
"Argh, but that's not the point!"
Kyoya stared blankly. "Mmm. That isn't the point," he hummed absentmindedly. The point was that Setsuko wasn't overexposed. She still wore her sundress and floppy sunhat. Perfectly modest. He was once again content.
Letting himself fully enjoy the heat, the sand squashed beneath his feet and the sound of the frothing waves crashing against shore, he slid a pair of sunglasses on, spread himself out on a sun-soaked beach chair and decided to tan his bare legs and chest. He let his limp arm drag along the sand, feeling the friction of the grains brushing his skin.
It was a sublime opportunity to doze off and let the memories of the irritating and stressful drive be eroded by the waves and eventually disintegrate.
"Setsuko-chii! Haruhi! Come swim!" The sing-song voice of Hikaru beckoned from a great distance.
Kyoya's initial reaction was to ignore it, but against his better judgement, he opened his eyes and peered over his sunglasses.
The twins were wading in the sea, flailing their arms up in the air for the girls. The girls were sitting in chairs next to Kyoya, along with Tamaki (who had perked up as well).
"Let's go!" Setsuko nodded fervidly. "You're wearing a bathing suit, right?"
"H-haa..." Haruhi scratched at her arm.
"Good. Let's go swimming then," she said. Setsuko stood and shed the dress; she let it slide off the contours of her body to reveal a black bikini. Black. Bikini. It hugged her perfectly and accentuated in every way that she got her body from her birth-mother — blessed with the gift of an American heritage. Sizable breasts and hips.
She grinned. "What do you think? Does it suit me?"
Tamaki blushed. The twins' eyes nearly popped out of their heads, but they blushed as well. Mori, as always, was expressionless, but Hunny began applauding and shouting about how beautiful she looked. "Ah. You look cute," Haruhi beamed, but did shift a gaze in Kyoya's direction.
"Really~?"
Kyoya was severely irritated. Irritated like never before. She blatantly ignored him. Blatantly disobeyed. As of late, he'd resolved with himself to pick his battles with Setsuko. He surely would not win this one, so there was no point in arguing.
Still, the way that she was purposely drawing the attention of the male-goers at the beach made his blood boil. He was struggling with himself not to say anything.
He managed, somehow, to remain close-mouthed, even as she lackadaisically pranced across the sand to the water, and splashed around with the Hosts without caution or care. She was oblivious to the depraved eye lingerings of a couple of beach boys who nudged each other impishly, and waited until evening to pounce their pray.
The afternoon had remained splendidly warm and sunny with docile waves. Around lunchtime, tensions were low as everybody clothed themselves and caught a bite at a sandy beach shack only two minutes down. Kyoya spotted Setsuko's eyes fixated on something behind him. When he discreetly snuck a glance, he noticed she was making eye contact with the duo of boys.
She bit her lip. Kyoya squared his jaw.
How many times have I seen them today?
It was now 5:00 and the daylight was gradually fading into a deep blue; the clouds, marshmallowy smears across the burnt orange west as the sun began to fall over a watery horizon.
It was approximately dinner time and Kyoya was attempting to haul in his prune-fingered Hosts that were still playing around. "Kyoya! I have an even better idea!"
"What is it, Tamaki?"
"I would have expected you to be more observant," he stroked his chin. "Didn't you hear at that restaurant earlier? Some people are having a bonfire! Down there in that direction!" Tamaki pointed down the beach next to the diner they were in earlier, next to a flourishing forest that branched out far across the land. If Kyoya squinted, he could blearily make out a hunk of brown lumpy things, which he assumed was firewood.
The blonde man grinned. "Sounds fun, doesn't it? Should we go?"
"If you wish," he tinkered with his glasses. He then teased, in spite of himself, "The children should be up for it. Isn't that right, daddy?"
Tamaki paused, then chuckled. "You have quite a cruel humour, Kyoya."
"How so?"
He sighed blithely. "You insist on mocking me about things of the past. It's embarrassing on my part, ne?"
Kyoya didn't say anything else in response, just whistled piercingly to grab the attention of the Hosts. They paused in making their sandcastle to look over. He clapped his hands and said patronizingly, "Would you six like to go to a bonfire tonight? If so, please hurry, because it will be dark soon."
They seemed enthusiastic enough. They abandoned their castle immediately and retreated back to the beach chairs in frenzy to collect their clothes, twittering, twittering, twittering on about how wonderful the day was. They were soon joined by their king.
Once night fell, only about an hour later, the Host Club emerged from their villa in their same sandy day-clothes and could hear the noises becoming steadily louder. People were gathering already.
Through the darkness, a fire was coming alive in that pit of firewood Kyoya saw earlier. The smoke and ignited ashes were being blown upward, into the spangling sky. The sight only fueled his rowdy companions, "Let's go, let's go~!" Tamaki shouted, leading the army.
"Ne, what are you even supposed to do at these things?" Hikaru shrugged.
Kaoru hummed. "Saa~ Who knows? From the movies, I assume everybody's laughing."
"That's right, Kaoru!" Tamaki balled up his fists. "And the regular commoner activity to take part in, naturally, is marshmallow roasting! Isn't that exciting? That's why I took the liberty of bringing my own bag of marshmallows!"
"Tamaki-senpai, you didn't have to go that far," Haruhi droned. "But I guess for the first time, you're not entirely wrong."
Setsuko tittered. "You senpai haven't experienced anything fun." She stretched her arms out in front of her body and yawned. Kyoya was pleased to see that a modest woolen cardigan was pulled over her swimsuit and dress. "When you're at a bonfire, you're supposed to dance and drink hard liquor and hook up."
He tensed. "And none of the sort will be going on at this bonfire," Kyoya uttered bitterly under his breath.
It had not gone undetected. Setsuko's eyelid twitched.
At the fire, several people were already settled and feasting upon barbecued meats. Sunbathed and mosquito bitten people with boisterous voices and laughs. One man had an acoustic guitar on his knee and was playing light tunes that a couple of giggling girls were dancing around to with sloshing bottles of beer.
The suspicious looking boys were there, Kyoya noticed.
"Eh! This is really interesting!" Hunny marveled at the party-goers and addressed them cutely, "Sorry for the intrusion!"
The girls squealed and flocked to Hunny. "Welcome, high school boys!" One of the older girls laughed and invited them to sit on a few chairs set up around the fire.
They were served non-alcoholic drinks (much to Setsuko's dismay) and all joined in when the boy with the guitar began playing a familiar tune. Tamaki broke out his bag of marshmallows and, of course, burnt them all to a crisp ("Why isn't this working? Haruhi!") Setsuko and Hunny did a spontaneous dance routine to a Bon Jovi song while Mori watched carefully as they were close to open flame.
Kyoya just sat among the noise, secretly supervising. Somebody has to make sure Tamaki doesn't kill himself.
The circle around the fire had begun telling stories of the legends of the forest that lay behind them. One of the men cackled evilly and stared directly at Tamaki. "They say the tortured spirit of a scorned woman, betrayed by her murderous husband lurks in those woods... right behind you."
"B-b-behind?" He slowly craned his neck backwards, only to see Kaoru with a flashlight held under his chin, pulling his bottom eyelids down his face to expose the squishy pink flesh beneath. Tamaki shrieked and shot 3 feet in the air.
Everybody burst into side-splitting guffaws and knee-slapping. "It's only a myth," Haruhi smirked. "There are no such things as ghosts."
"B-but Nekozawa-senpai used to say-"
"She's right," one of the women said. "No ghosts in that forest, as far as we know. But there is a little lagoon. Nobody's really allowed to swim in the sea at nighttime so sometimes we venture out there and do a little 'swimming'."
Several of the girls shared a private laugh. A couple men exchanged reminiscing glances. "Swimming?" Hunny tilted his head.
"Of course, we mean skinny-dipping."
"EH?" Tamaki's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "Skinny dipping!" He softly murmured to himself about how he would never let Haruhi do something so outrageous.
Haruhi simpered. "I don't know. Skinny dipping sounds interesting."
"HA-HA-HA-HARUHI!"
Kyoya was enjoying the amusing presence of the people around him but, as always in social situations in which he was not obligated to be there, he felt sequestered from the festivities. His personality wasn't nearly as flamboyant as that of the party-goers, thus he was always detached—not that he was terribly distraught over the matter.
Instead, he gazed into the fire. He found himself slowly spacing out, being absentmindedly enraptured by the glowing embers and the untamed flames and sparks shooting up in every direction. He was staring, in a trance, for a long time before his eyes began to burn. He rubbed them fiercely and blinked around at the inky world around him.
All he noticed was that Mori and Hunny were now conversing, and Setsuko was not with them.
After a few seconds of repose, he noticed her wedged between those two boys. She was pulling out every trick in the book; twirling and tucking her hair, fingering at her dress, laughing loudly and dramatically. She was flirting.
He could faintly hear, "So, are we gonna ditch this or what? We could go have some fun," said one of the boys.
The other snaked his arm around Setsuko's shoulders. "We're staying with a friend about 5 minutes from here."
Without a moment of hesitation, Kyoya rose from his chair and strode confidently over to the three of them. Setsuko had a nasty look of realization when he arrived. "Excuse me, boys," he said and gently tugged her toward him.
"Ha?" One of the incredulous boys raised an eyebrow. "We were just talking. We haven't met, you are?"
Kyoya grinned devilishly. "Her boyfriend."
Setsuko opened her mouth to protest but Kyoya whisked her close to his body and began sweeping her in the opposite direction, with a grip like a vice around her wrists.
"Wait a sec, there, she doesn't seem all that keen on going with you," said the bolder of the two.
Kyoya calmy craned his neck backward and simpered. "Whether or not that is true, you would do good to keep your nose out of other people's business."
"Oy! You watch your mouth!"
They threatened with their beefy fists, advancing him. Setsuko yelled, "Stop it! Let go!"
The boy began to steam and shout after Kyoya, but, without a second glance, he lugged Setsuko away, creating a messy path with the sand they upturned with their drooping flip-flops.
Everybody who was peaceful at the campfire then turned their heads in shock, listening to the rampant cursing. Upon noticing Kyoya and Setsuko, the Hosts followed ("Oy, oy, where are you two going?" they cried) while Kyoya absentmindedly led them directly into the forest. Just a quiet place... just get to a quiet place.
He wanted a tranquil, isolated area, perhaps to cool his head as he found it unbearably hot next to the open flames. Perhaps that's the reason I'm worked up at the moment. All the while, Setsuko was stumbling behind him and quietly griping.
They didn't stop marching for a short while; the forest floor was tarped with the dank discards off the trees, leaves and mosses and grasses. They delved quite deep into the tenebrous forest, to a point where soggy, enlarged tropical leaves swept their shoulders as they walked and the path had become almost indiscernible.
"Wait! K-Kyoya!" Tamaki called out. The Hosts had quickly fallen behind, as Kyoya realized he'd been walking at an accelerating pace, as he discovered was a habit of his. "What on Earth is going on?" He looked sharply between Kyoya and Setsuko.
"I'd like to know myself," she said as she jerked her wrist away. "I was having an innocent conversation with some new friends when you so rudely interrupted."
He felt the eyes of seven piercing into him. He sighed softly. "If they had any intention of being 'friends', I would not have had to take action."
Setsuko gaped, burning with indignation. She vapidly swiped hair out of her face and advanced Kyoya menacingly. "And, naturally, you don't believe that I can take care of myself?"
"Naturally, as your chaperone, it's my responsibility to ward off dangers such as those," he said.
"It seems we've gone a tad bit past 'warding off dangers'," Setsuko replied poisonously. "You're now dictating what I wear and who I talk to. This is borderline oppression."
He snorted. "Oppression? I should think that is overboard. It's time to drop the melodramatics."
The Hosts were once again uncomfortably trapped in an argument. Their eyes followed the speaker, back and forth, like a never-ending, agonizing tennis match. The pathetic sound of Haruhi trying to mediate (Please, guys, we're on a vacation!) was flooded by their retorts.
"Am I the one being dramatic? You act as a jealous boyfriend. Overreacting at tiny gestures," Setsuko, who rarely raised her voice, was on the verge of shouting. There was a dangerous quiver in her voice. "Are you some sort of prison guard? Am I not allowed to have a little fun?"
"Fun. Fun, by your definition, is something I'd like to avoid," Kyoya deadpanned. "Your definition of 'fun' could have grave consequences."
She raised her eyebrows. A blush blazed in her cheeks as she shifted glances in the Hosts' direction. "What exactly are you implying?"
"Do you have any objection? You are fully aware that your 'fun' is strictly prohibited by your father, and several other higher powers."
Her blush deepened and she clenched her teeth. "Fun... meaning..." it seemed she came to a conclusion. "Do you think I'm not a virgin? Is that what you think? You thought I was going to have sex with those boys!" She exclaimed, absolutely livid.
Kyoya had always concluded that she was non-virginal. It seemed more than likely, what with her lusty swagger and ravenous eyes always wandering too far south. "You haven't given me any evidence against it."
Setsuko's breathing hitched and her body stiffened. "You don't believe I'm a virgin?"
"Not one bit."
Even as the words escaped his mouth, he could feel himself balancing precariously on the line bordering a forbidden topic. Setsuko seemed unresponsive at first, then she raised an eyebrow, as if challenging. 'You sure you want to say that?'
Kyoya pursed his lips and uttered not a word more.
"Alright," she said. "I can understand your reasoning. Your deductions were plausible, as expected of Ootori Kyoya."
There was a dread hanging in the air but Kyoya had enough of the nonsense. He simply placed his hands on his hips and angled his head upward, "Glad we've cleared this up."
"You're right, it's excellent, I'm ecstatic. Now, it's all out in the open. I'm clearly a poster-child sex deviant who can't control her hormones and you are a self-important snob and a compulsive control freak."
Tamaki interjected at once, demanding that they both calm down.
"No, no," Kyoya's eyes stayed locked with hers. "She's made a statement and I am utterly intrigued by it. Would you do me the pleasure of explaining how you reached such a confident thesis?"
Even Haruhi's voice had grown louder, wracked with the nervousness of the situation. "You two stop taunting eachother!"
"Oh no, I would love to explain," Setsuko's sapphire eyes flickered with fury and something of a twisted, psychotic grin spread across her lips. "My own complex is self-explanatory. I would fuck anything that walks. And you, Kyoya-kun, are a brown-nosing puritan who is trying to dominate my life!"
"In what way, may I ask, am I trying to dominate your life?" He raised his voice and found the muscles in his body tensing.
She groaned and tossed her arms up in the air. "In what way, indeed. You dictate what I eat, who I speak to, where I go, how I dress and if you could, you would control every goddamn movement I make!"
"Oh, now isn't that modest of you," he scoffed. "Every moment of my life is centered around you."
Setsuko released a shrill laugh. "Oh please! I wish it wasn't! I'm chained to you constantly, you life-sucking ass-kisser!"
"It's my job, you egotistic little brat."
"No, it is not your job! You don't care about me! You are not my father!"
He snapped, "Trust me, the last thing I want to be is your father."
A pregnant silence filled the air, the only noise being a high-pitched frequency in Kyoya's ear. Both of them were breathing laboriously and the Hosts stood, in shock.
There had been two things particularly surprising about what Kyoya had just said. The first being that he was yelling. It was uncommon for him to have a shift in emotion, let alone have an eruption. The second anomaly was the tone in his voice. Halfway through the statement, his anger collapsed momentarily into another indecipherable emotion.
It left eight people genuinely confused, himself included. However, his own confusion was overshadowed by his embarrassment. He swallowed and was about to engage in damage control when Setsuko spoke first.
"So, what then?" She sounded exhausted. "What do you want to be? You need to figure it the fuck out, because it's becoming tiresome for me to deal with these switches."
At that, Setsuko began to traipse off in a random direction, plowing through the overgrowth surrounding.
"Where are you going?"
"For a walk. I need air."
"By yourself?"
Before there was a second explosion, Tamaki stumbled forth. "I'll accompany her! W-who knows? Perhaps we'll find that lagoon," he said sheepishly. The others, for once, were relieved by his runaway mouth. It was easing tension and restoring little normality.
"A-ah! We should all go look for that lagoon!" Hunny nodded. "We'll split up, if Setsu-chan wants."
Setsuko sighed in defeat. "Sure. Tamaki-senpai, if you'll come with me. We will be alone, though. I'll try not to sexually harass you."
Kyoya bristled at that last jab as he watched the two blondes tread through vegetation, blazing an unknown trail. He felt tight everywhere. 'What do you want to be? Figure it the fuck out'. He exhaled. What a stupid question.
She was purposely walking faster than he was, and darting in haphazard directions, indisputably getting them lost. Still, Tamaki, like the hopeless puppy he was, trailed along without a complaint. She could hear him lumbering behind her, staggering and tripping over all the greenery. They had ventured into a pit where the path had completely disappeared.
Tamaki's endurance was admirable, but Setsuko could not bring herself to stop. She was furious and humiliated and a jumble of lousy, vomit-inducing emotions all at once. Tamaki, god bless his heart, would only aggravate the wound with his sprightly personality, she thought.
I just can't wrap my mind around his, Setsuko winced. How could I make such an awful display in front of all those people?
Even worse, she had been accused of sexual depravity in front of Haruhi. She felt disgusting; as if she were some corrupted demon as Kyoya painted her. The part that irritated her the most, however, was that it wasn't entirely false.
Setsuko had never had sex, but was not exactly the Virgin Mary. She had done other unspeakable acts—some with strangers, some with acquaintances. There had been times when she'd been on the edge; nearly committing the sacred act. However, she was heavily intoxicated, as was the man in her company. Every remaining virtuous fibre in her body fought against it. There was something heinously wrong with sleeping with some Paul, or David or Eric.
Still, those small values never stopped her from carrying out other offensive acts. All in the spirit of having experiences, as she planned. For that reason, despite her young age of fifteen going on sixteen, she could not regret.
At the same time, to feel exposed in that way was something she hadn't wished to experience as it made her feel like a pervert.
During the argument, she was so filled with an unusual surge of undiluted rage that her memory was blurry around the edges. She was desperately trying to conjure up the image of the Hosts. What were their facial expressions?
Setsuko nervously exhaled and increased her speed, brushing away sagging vines that dangled like gnarled snakes in front of her head. The forest was completely shrouded in darkness. It was eerily silent other than the rustling of Tamaki behind her. Still, no amount of terror of the forest could mask the robust essence of it; the smell was strong in her nostrils, like the scent of fresh-cut grass.
God, I hope we really do find that lagoon. This place is creepier than I thought.
Her foot caught on a thin branch that had broken off from a tree, and with a shriek, she tumbled to the forest floor and dirtied her palms. This was the first time all evening that she realized the burning on her upper-body. Crap. How long was I out in the sun?
"Setsuko-chan, are you okay?" Tamaki rushed over and helped her stand again.
"Thank you, Tamaki-senpai. I'm perfectly okay," she said, but she was contradicting herself. She was unable to meet his eye.
He sighed. "I doubt that."
Setsuko gulped. She eased herself against a coarse tree trunk. Tamaki smiled. "The two of you are really quite interesting. I never would have guessed that you both could argue like that."
She grunted. "Interesting? That's an awful word to describe it," she said. "Kyoya is the most boring person I have ever met. Being shackled to him... it's like suffocation. And I'm scared... so scared... that my time is being drained too quickly by wasting it with him..."
The silence renewed itself for a few moments, before Tamaki began to snicker. She snapped her head toward him in alarm. "What in the world are you laughing about, Tamaki-senpai?"
"It's funny," he chuckled. "how the two of you have spent so much time together, yet you've got him all wrong."
"In what way?"
"Kyoya isn't boring," Tamaki said. "You've simply have yet to unleash his true spirit. You've come close — in fact, tonight, I'm almost certain that's the closest you've gotten. Whether it be negative or positive, of course, it's all for the best." He had a distant look on his face while he stroked his glossy blonde hair.
She hadn't known Tamaki to be cryptic in the slightest, so it was quite a shock as he spoke in riddles. She shifted her weight awkwardly from foot to foot. With a cracked voice, she quietly urged him on, "I don't know what you mean."
The frenchman's face fixed into a gentle smile. "He's abnormal. He likes to pretend that he's cold; that he only hunts for the benefits in a situation, and doesn't care for anybody. Sometimes that's true... but Kyoya has a lot more room in his heart for things other than money and his father."
"Heart? I was under the impression that he had none."
"It's there," he said. He didn't seem an ounce bothered by Setsuko's sour attitude. "If you pay attention, there are tiny bits of proof every now and then. Like when he's happy. You've probably seen him happy at least once... that's the strangest thing about him; you know, he's happiest when he's angry?"
Setsuko flat mouth twitched as it battled back a smile. "What do you mean?"
Tamaki burst into a laughing fit and something told her he had recovered memories of Kyoya. "When's he fired up. When he's faced with a challenge that even he can't overcome is when his life is most fulfilling. It's bizarre but for that reason, I was so excited when I heard about you."
"Excited?"
"Kyoya was in somewhat drought before you. There were no challenges in his life," he said. "Suddenly, over spring break, I noticed he was acting differently. His mind was always wandering and sometimes I even caught his fists clenching. You must have been driving him up the wall! Then, after the first time you walked into the Host Club like a one-woman parade, I was relieved. You were going to be the twist in his life."
"The twist," she scoffed incredulously. "Impossible. He... Kyoya-kun doesn't care for me."
"That's wrong," Tamaki wagged a finger in her face. "To a degree, he cares... if I had to say... perhaps like... a papa penguin!" He seemed delighted with his metaphor. "Yes! Like how a papa penguin will hold it's unhatched egg beneath his belly for four months during the cold when there's no sun. Nurturing the egg so that when it hatches, the baby bird will be beautiful and healthy."
Setsuko found this the most preposterous thing she's heard in a while. "You're saying he cares for me like a father? Or that he thinks I'm an egg?"
"Kyoya wants to protect you until you're a woman. Until you're fully mature and he can feel comfortable that you'll take care of yourself," he said. "That's what I think. Hopefully, during this arrangement, he'll see that you're already a woman."
She blinked at him. Tamaki's eyes were piercing directly through her; he was attempting to send her a telepathic message, clearly. Setsuko let a faint smile grace her lips. "I presume you were hopeful of a relationship to bloom out of the arrangement?"
The blonde smirked. "Ahaa ~ maybe!"
"Keep dreaming," she teased. "I'm infatuated with somebody else."
Tamaki's jaw dropped and he appeared like a wounded woodland creature, pouting and whimpering. "But-!"
"No~way." Setsuko could no longer stifle her laughter. The King naturally held a lighthearted aura. All the fury and the embarrassment was demolished by his sparkling grin.
Still, there was a question that she had been yearning to ask. Setsuko began to walk again, a few paces away from him. She halted at a bush from which lovely fuchsia blossoms sprouted.
"Ne, Tamaki-senpai?"
"Yes?"
"Are you in love with Haruhi-senpai?"
She half-expected him to splutter like flustered camel and be ridiculous in all respects, as he always did. But instead, there was a thoughtful pause and he chuckled humourlessly. "Yes. I am."
The impact of the impending answer stuck her in the chest. She struggled to keep her breathing steady. "I see," she inhaled. After a long while, she said with a shudder, "Isn't it scary...? I mean... aren't you scared?"
"Completely." Without hesitation. "Completely... terrified." Without shame. "It's terrifying to think about how in one second, I could lose it all. In fact, I used to... be a terrible coward when it came down to it. Hiding behind a make-believe family because I was so scared of losing. But now," Please don't. "I won't hide anymore," Don't make me like you. "because I love her so much," because I'll just... "I'm willing to risk it."
... end up hating myself.
How he found himself standing outside her bedroom door, he'll never know.
They had found the lagoon. Oh yes, they had. He and the Hosts aside from Tamaki and Setsuko were aimlessly marching through the forest when they heard distant screams through the thickets. When they eventually found the source, they discovered it had been Tamaki and Setsuko who had unknowingly stumbled upon it and had fallen into the steaming water.
All strain seemed to have eased and everybody else jumped in after them, swimming and splashing in the lagoon, assembled once again as a family.
Afterwards, they went flopping back absolutely drenched. Kyoya noticed that he and Setsuko still made no eye-contact. It was infuriating, but he wasn't too keen on speaking with her either.
But now, swallowing all his pride, he was standing before her bedroom door with a bottle in his hand. Out of courtesy that they usually didn't bother with, he knocked.
From inside, Setsuko moaned. "Come in."
When he allowed himself in, he saw a bustling lump under the covers. He assumed it was her. Before he could say a word, she groaned, "Why are you in here?"
"I heard you wailing in the shower."
She went rigid.
"Show me," he said.
"...Don't laugh."
"I won't."
Setsuko sat and removed her flannel pajama top (luckily, she wore a white camisole beneath) to reveal that her arms, chest and back was a painful lobster red. Bulbs of tears sat in her bottom eyelids as she refused to meet his eye. "It hurts."
Kyoya resisted all urges to laugh or scold (he wasn't precisely sure what he wanted to do) but resolved to shaking his head. He propped the bottle up on his hand to reveal the label; extra-strength moisturizing aloe vera. Specifically for sunburns. He sat on the bed and lubed up his hands. "If I may have permission."
She shuffled closer and allowed him to rub the cold gel on her arms. She shivered and continued bracing herself as he applied to all the burns. "You're so careless. Somehow, all afternoon, I was thinking to myself that I should remind you to apply sunscreen."
Another shudder ran through her body as he pressed a handful of the icy ointment to her back. "Is that so," she retorted frigidly. "You must forgive me if I find reason to doubt that. After all, you've dropped the pretense that you care about me, have you not?"
They stirred in silence for a long while before Kyoya finally mustered up the reply, with his eyes locked determinedly on a particularly painful-looking patch of raw sunburn on her shoulder. "I don't believe this has arisen in conversation before," he said "but it's quite likely that I've shared more meals with you in the past two months than I have shared with my father in an entire year."
A tension settled into the air as Kyoya became awfully aware that he was uncomfortable (which was an extremely rare and strange occurrence, considering his activities in the Host Club) and also largely aware that she was listening intently.
"What I mean to say is that we've spent a considerably amount of time together. And due to the human phenomena of unexplained emotions and the enigma of the brain's inner-workings, it is only natural that I've developed somewhat of an attachment to you. Consistent with that phenomena, I've also developed attachments for Tamaki and—"
"Kyoya-kun."
He came to an abrupt stop. Setsuko had rotated her entire body to stare at him with softened expression. "Is this a love confession?"
"Nothing of the sort."
She grinned her toothy, vulpine grin. "Hmm. So what you're trying to tell me is that you care."
Kyoya gave no worded response, just bowed his head as confirmation. However small the gesture, he noticed that Setsuko was delirious with excitement, in her own characteristically vague manner. She cooed with her linked fingers pressed over her heart; her cheeks were rosy from smiling continuously.
"Eh~! What wonderful progress. You've finally admitted to possessing human emotions," she said. "Tell me, Kyoya-kun. How do you care?"
With abundant regret at bringing up the conversation, he sighed. "I'm not sure I follow."
"How? Tamaki-senpai loves Haruhi like a lover, Hunny loves her like a sister, while Mori loves Hunny like a brother," Setsuko explained very matter-of-factly. "How would you define your affection toward me?"
Kyoya hummed distractedly before replying, "Perhaps... like a pet fish. Or a potted-plant. A ficus."
She deflated considerably upon hearing this. "Ne, ne! That isn't fair. Answer me seriously."
"Not a ficus?" He raised an eyebrow. "A favorite pair of socks, then."
Setsuko pouted then replaced her pajama top, then sagged leisurely onto the bed, wriggling back beneath the tangle of blankets, appearing once again as nothing but an enormous heap of material.
"You're terrible, Kyoya-kun."
The dark-haired boy granted himself only the tiniest smile before meandering back out of the room. "Goodnight."
She watched him stride out, looking remarkably unlike himself. Heavy-footed and slow-moving he was as he rambled across the floor, unlike his usual march, that was so brimming with his own narcissism (as well as the overbearing atmosphere of astute brilliance that radiated from him), that it seemed much like a strut. However, he didn't seem as purposeful as he left her room that night.
Regardless, Setsuko nuzzled into the cushiony mattress and relaxed her exhausted muscles.
Then, the phone on her bedside table began to ring. With only half her wits about her, she picked up the reciever.
"Hello?" She stifled a yawn.
"Hey, honey."
A tremor of pure terror vibrated through Setsuko's body. Her breath quivered. "... H-... how did you get this number...?"