The day had passed by in a flash. Classes continued on, despite the feeling of time stopping within the meeting room where Sol reunited with her older brother. Lunch had ended while Sol was away, Haruhi and the three girls going to their classes and even going to the host club after classes were finished. Sol and her brother had been together in that room for the rest of the day, the teachers excusing her from her classes seeing as someone of importance was there to see her.
When school itself was officially over, Yasutake had lead Sol out of the building through the front doors, saying his own goodbyes to the teachers that he knew personally, possibly from family business. On the way out, Sol actually saw some of the members of the host club standing outside. Mori, Honey, and Kyoya stood on the steps of the school, maybe waiting for the rest of the club. Honey had noticed her and went to yell her name, but Kyoya covered his mouth, all three of them watching as the red-haired boy, in their vision, walked through the courtyard with a man they had never seen before.
The two were really an odd sight to see for anyone. A somewhat younger man wearing a suit with brown-black hair and green eyes walking next to a student with red hair and orange-yellow eyes wasn't something common. Just their eye colors alone could be seen as strange to others. But that was the way they were born and the way that their family was. The rest of the student body didn't know that, of course, but still.
After the two siblings had left the school grounds, Yasutake offered to take Sol out to lunch. It was probably being used as an excuse to spend more time with her, but she was completely ok with that. The two of them walked down the street together, not bothering to take the car that Yasu had used to come to Ouran.
No one could truly understand the relationship between Yasu and Sol. There was something there that not all siblings shared. They loved each other, they cared for one another, those were things that most siblings shared. But Yasu was more than a sibling to Sol. He was like a role model, a parent figure, and a hero to her. The fact that he had saved her life many times also added to her admiration of him. Not many people knew what that feeling of watching someone you were close to try and risk their life to save yours against another person who was close to you. Not many people knew the feeling of the woman that gave birth to them wanting them dead, either. Most would think that as an exaggeration, but no one knew how true that statement was.
As the two of them walked down the street towards a café, one that was more expensive than Sol was used to, Sol almost felt as though she had eyes staring at the back of her head. As they approached the slightly larger café, Sol couldn't help but look around her surroundings. As far as she could tell, everything looked normal, though she still felt as though she was being watched. Trying to shake the feeling, she trailed behind Yasu into the café.
Not everything was normal for other people in the area, though. A group of six boys, devilishly handsome boys mind you, were all kneeling down and leaning against a brick wall across the street from the café. All of them seemed slightly out of breath, but each of them peeked up over the edge of the wall when they heard the café door close. When the red-haired young man went into the café, they all let out sighs of relief.
"That was too close boss, " sighed one of the Hitachin twins, the deeper voice signifying that it was Hikaru speaking.
"Why are we following him again?" asked Kaoru, peeking up over the wall again.
"We saw Sol-Chan walking out of the building with a guy we've never seen before!" confused but cutely entered Honey, Usa-Chan in his arms.
"We hosts have to lookout for each other! If something is going on, we must protect our own, " Tamaki stated, balling his hand into a fist as if the situation would soon escalate into a fight.
Kyoya merely shook his head and pushed up his glasses. "That man is no one to be concerned about."
Each of the club members looked to Kyoya, dumbfounded for a moment, but soon remembered how Kyoya seemed to have information on just about every person alive in that head of his. Each of them, minus Mori as usual, looked to him in curiosity.
"That man is Sol's oldest brother, Yasutake Shard. He is one of the ones inheriting the businesses that Sol's family run."
Each of them nodded, waiting for more information from him, but got nothing in return for their waiting.
"If he's just Sol-Chan's brother then maybe we can go meet him! Do you think Sol-Chan would mind?" said Honey excitedly, looking over to Mori and Kyoya. Nobody seemed to give a definite answer, but they assumed it would be alright. Sol was a laid-back person. Surely he wouldn't mind if the host club met his family, right?
The two took a seat at one of the open tables near the window of the café. Sunlight shined in on opposite halves of Sol and Yasu's faces as they ordered from the waitress. When she walked away, the two looked at each other, but this time it wasn't with cheerful smiles like before. It was time to talk business.
"What havoc has mom been causing at home? There is no doubt in my mind that she would, " Sol stated, frustration, suspicion, and irritation all lingering in her voice at once.
"Honestly I couldn't tell you. I've been finding excuses to leave the house like business trips. But dad informed me that she's been shifting around who inherits what. If dad spoke truthfully, she's attempting to take you off of the list of who gets what businesses, " Yasu stated, thanking the waitress when she returned with his coffee and Sol's tea.
"She can do whatever she wants. I couldn't care less if I don't inherit anything. She can keep her stupid businesses, " Sol growled, taking a drink of her tea as one eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
Yasutake shook his head, unsure of what reply would be the right one. "I don't mean to anger you...but...you really should-"
"Don't try convincing me to come home, Yasu. It isn't going to happen. You know that mom would never accept me back, nor would I ever attempt to come back."
"Money, Sol. Something you don't have a lot of. I understand that coming home is the last thing on earth that you want to do, especially with mom there. But if you at least tried to inherit one business or convince mom-"
"No. I don't need or want to be rich, nor do I want any of the businesses. You, Keiji, and Haruo can keep them. I can get my own money."
"You know that I only do this because I am concerned about you, right?"
Sol sighed, looking out of the window towards where the sun was soon going to begin to set. All of this brought her more stress than she wanted nearly every day. This wasn't the first time that Yasu had tried to convince her to come home. She said no every time, so why he kept trying was beyond her. She had no intentions of ever returning to the abused and hated life she had before she ran away so many years ago. If only Yasu would understand that.
Yasu's eyes softened and did legitimately seem concerned for his younger sister. She was always so stubborn, ever since she was younger. She had no idea how much sorrow he felt that day. He stood by the window, locked in his room by his mother, and watched as his red-haired, yellow-eyed little sister ran out the front door into the rain, her bare feet splashing in the muddy puddles as she ran down the street away from home. She didn't know how much he wanted to jump out of the two-story window of the house and run after her, be with her, take care of her. But there was nothing he could do. If he had ran away from home like she did, he might of had a better life, considering how Sol ended up, but he would have been rejected and shunned by everyone, just as she had. In a way, the thought of running was tempting to Yasu. He had considered it many times before. Even recently the thought of running away lingered in his mind, but it wouldn't be as easy for him as it was for her. She was the fourth born child, was a girl, and never showed interest in any of the business sides of things growing up, so it was almost expected for her to run. But he was the first born and had the most expectations held on his shoulders. If he ran, or didn't come back, their mother would hunt him down. The last thing he wanted was for his mother to find Sol.
Yasutake couldn't hold back a small chuckle. "You're right. I don't know why I try. I guess a slimmer of hope that you'll come back is always there in the back of my mind." He took another sip of his coffee.
Sol suddenly felt guilt for her snapping as she looked over at him. He seemed like he was done with the more serious talk, but she could still see the sadness hidden in his eyes at her answer. She did feel bad, but she didn't regret her answer.
As Sol went to speak, she heard a familiar voice behind her. "Sol-Chan!" Before she could even turn, arms were wrapped around her and a small body clung to her back. As her head turned to glance behind her, she saw a little head of blonde hair and the pink ears of a rabbit stuck to her shoulder. When she managed to turn her body completely, she saw that nearly the whole host club was sitting at a larger table behind her. Tamaki, Kyoya, Mori, Hikaru, and Kaoru all looked over at her, some of them with goofy smiles on their faces. You have got to be kidding me.
Yasu's face changed into one of confusion. Who were these people? How did they know Sol? Were they the friends that she talked about.
(Shifting to using 'he, him, his, etc. for Sol)
As Honey let go of him, he looked over to his brother, who clearly had no clue as to what was happening. With a sigh, Sol turned his body so that he could look to the left and see Yasu and lo ok to the right to see the host club. "Yasu, this is the club I said I was a part of. One of them isn't here, but these are my friends."
Recognition replaced confusion as Yasutake stood and approached the host club. Being the gentleman he was, he gave a bow as a greeting to them. "Hello. My name is Yasutake. I am Sol's older brother."
Kyoya was the first to step forward, pushing Tamaki out of the way when he tried to step forward. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Kyoya Otori. This is Tamaki Suoh, Takashi Morinozuka, Mitsukuni Haninozuka, and Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin."
"I see. I've heard of many of those names before. I don't believe my family has worked with the Suoh or nozuka families, but I believe I've met the Otori and Hitachiin before. The three of you do look familiar. So you are all in a club with Sol?"
"Yes. We are all members of a host club that Tamaki started. Honestly, Sol didn't join us by choice, but he has made a good addition thus far to our club, " Kyoya stated. A thought soon came to his mind as he spoke about Sol. I wonder if Yasutake knows of Sol hiding her gender.
Even if he didn't know before, Yasu knew now. Sol had never told him of how he hid his gender from everyone. He was very lucky that Kyoya had talked about Sol with male descriptive words. "I'm sure he has. He has always been a hard worker, " Yasutake stated, looking at Sol and one eyebrow arching upwards. That look alone told Sol what he was thinking. You could have told me that everyone knew you as a boy!
Sol chuckled nervously, taking a step forward to stand next to his brother and Kyoya. "Ok ok, everyone is introduced now. But what are you guys doing here?" Sol had gone back to his usual male voice, harder eyes, and more boy-like features.
Before anyone else could even say anything, Hikaru and Kaoru spoke. "We saw you walking out of school with a guy, and we didn't see you for the rest of school."
"We followed you here to make sure nothing would happen to you."
As sweet as that was, it was also creepy. They just admitted that they had followed him all the way from school to this café that wasn't exactly for rich people. Did they ever do this to Haruhi when she was a newer member?
Yasu just chuckled. "You have some very interesting friends, Sol."
Sol merely sighed. Haruhi had told him of how troublesome the host club boys could be. He should have believed her when she said it.
Here is the next chapter, after a while of not updating! I plan on making the chapters longer and also giving myself more time to write them and get more detail and events in there.
Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!