DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Ouran High School Host Club
Warnings: The usual
Enjoy chapter twenty-eight!
Chapter 28
Something's definitely wrong now. Haruhi thought to herself, noticing the fraught atmosphere around Izumi and Kaoru. She was worried about them. Kaoru seemed to have given up trying to get Izumi to notice him now. He had a disheartened expression on his face ever since she came back from being hassled by the others. Izumi looked troubled. He had somewhat of an expression filled with guilt every time he glanced over at Kaoru. I wonder what happened to them.
She was really concerned about them. But maybe it's better if she lets them work out whatever it was by themselves. With that in mind, Haruhi attempted to cheer up Izumi at least and stuck with him most of the time. She didn't have to worry too much about Kaoru. Hikaru seemed to have picked up that something was wrong and was currently dragging his brother everywhere to lighten up his mood.
"Izumi."
Izumi stopped walking and turned towards her, tilting his head in question.
"Is something wrong?" Haruhi asked. Though, she knew the answer she would get.
"No." Izumi replied, furrowing his brows. "Why?"
Haruhi sighed and shook her head. "Nothing."
Izumi nodded and turned to the side. "Let's go get something to eat." he offered with a smile as he pointed towards a food stand.
Haruhi smiled back. "Okay." she said, her mind now filled with food instead of the problem at hand.
Kaoru stared at the two walking away before turning, and going the opposite direction. Hikaru frowned and picked up his pace to catch up with his brother. He didn't want to leave Kaoru alone. Not when he suddenly looked so crestfallen and down.
"Kaoru." he called out.
"What?" Kaoru responded dryly without turning to him.
"Do you want to go see the dancers?"
Kaoru frowned at that. He didn't want to. He didn't even want to be here. He didn't care that it was New Year's Eve. He just wanted to be alone and away from everyone else.
But that was impossible. The whole place was crowded with people. People who are laughing, running, dancing, and cheering. Everyone was dumping into him and getting in his way. It only upset him even more.
"Come on." Hikaru said as he grabbed his brother's hand and pulled him to the side.
Kaoru didn't protest and let him drag him off. It was nice how Hikaru was trying to cheer him up. But he honestly just wanted to go home. He wanted to sleep, and forget everything that happened. His mind was just too bombarded with questions and doubts.
The twins made their way to an area surrounded by a lot of people, which was in front of the temple. There were both men and women dressed in traditional kimonos. The women waved around hand fans while the men did some martial art moves. They did everything in unison along with the steady beat of the taiko drum a man in the back played.
Hikaru was immediately taken in by the the men and women effortlessly moving around in sync, creating a mass of vivid colors. They were light on their feet but their sharp movements added that strong effect. It was an enjoyable performance to watch.
While everyone was in awe Kaoru just stared blankly, not caring at all for the performance. He sighed and looked off to the side. He scanned everyone around him, trying to see if he could find Izumi. But with the amount of people it was impossible. Kaoru frowned and turned back to the performance. Knowing that Izumi wasn't with him or even in sight reminded him about what happened.
"Kaoru this is so cool, right?" Hikaru said as he looked over at him.
"Uh, yeah." Kaoru responded dryly.
Hikaru frowned when he saw his bored expression. He sighed and looked around, trying to find something else that could entertain Kaoru.
"Do you want to go buy some things instead?" Hikaru asked.
"No."
"How about some food?"
"Not hungry."
"Then," Hikaru paused as he tried to find other things to do. There wasn't much, the main events had already been performed earlier. "Let's go… ring the bell?"
"Don't want to." Kaoru declined. "Besides, it's still not New Year's."
Hikaru sighed and stared at his brother in concern. "Yeah I know, but what do you want to do then Kaoru?" he asked. "You've been off all day. So what's—" He paused his sentence and noticed how they were still near the performance. He grabbed Kaoru's arm and pulled him away, going to a less crowded area so they can talk.
"What's wrong? You seem extremely down today." Hikaru started once they were a little secluded from everything. "Did something happen between you and Izumi? Did you guys get in a fight?" He studied the expression on Kaoru's face change from annoyance to dejection.
"I… I don't know." Kaoru mumbled as his eyes stared off to the side.
Hikaru furrowed his brows at that. "You don't know?"
Kaoru shook his head and looked back at him after a while. "For now… just leave me alone." he said as he turned around and walked off.
"Wait Kaoru!" Hikaru called back but before he knew it his twin was already nowhere to be seen with the amount of people around. He cursed and looked around. What the hell did Izumi do? He wondered. It kind of upset him, knowing that the raven haired had something to do with his brother's sudden bad mood. That bastard better have not hurt him! He walked off and searched for the raven haired, determined to get some answers from him instead.
It was getting darker as the sun was setting. The place was gleaming with lights, but it was still difficult for Hikaru to find Izumi. He searched everywhere and tried to see if he can spot Haruhi, since they were most likely together, yet he still could not find either with the amount of people in the area.
Just as Hikaru was about to give up he spotted them sitting down in a bench conversing. He immediately went over to them.
"Izumi!" he called out when he got close to them.
Izumi and Haruhi stopped talking and turned towards him. The raven haired tilted his head at him in question.
"Come with me." Hikaru said.
Izumi stumbled as Hikaru suddenly grabbed his arm, pulled him up to his feet and began to pull him away.
"Hey wait a minute!" Izumi shouted. He glanced back to Haruhi who was left sitting alone. She just shrugged her shoulders and waved him away. Izumi sighed, having no other choice but to go along with Hikaru.
The elder twin took him to the same restroom Kaoru had taken him too. Izumi noted how similar the twins thought. Although, unlike Kaoru, Hikaru barged into the restroom and pushed the raven haired to the wall, not even bothering to check if there were people around or to lock the door. He was less cautious.
"What did you do to him!?" Hikaru shouted, his hand pressing Izumi's chest to keep him against the wall.
"What?" Izumi asked, his head tilted and he furrowed his brows. He didn't get right away what the twin was asking.
"What did you do to Kaoru?" Hikaru rephrased, his voice lower but still harsh. He had zero patience and wanted an answer.
"Nothing." Izumi responded. He frowned feeling a little guilty about lying to him.
"Don't lie." Hikaru warned. "Kaoru's been down all day and I know you did something!"
For some reason that upset Izumi. He didn't like what little confidence and trust Hikaru had for him. It angered him how Hikaru immediately assumed he did something to Kaoru, even if it was true.
"I didn't do shit to him!" Izumi growled, glaring at the twin. He pushed Hikaru away and stomped out of the restroom in a fury. How dare he accuse me! Izumi thought.
Hikaru sighed as Izumi left the restroom. He did do something. That much was obvious.
What was supposed to be an eventful day caused an unstable relationship between not only Izumi and Kaoru, but the whole crew. With the break now over Izumi refused to attend the host club. He just headed straight home before any of the crew can catch up to him. As soon as he entered his house his phone started to ring. He glanced at it before declining the call and turning it off. He was not up for them pestering him.
"Izumi."
Izumi looked up and saw Liviya leaning against the kitchen entrance. He tilted his head at her.
"You should reconsider this." she added, staring intently at the raven haired. Izumi stared back blankly before walking towards the staircase. "We've already talked about this."
Liviya glared at the back of his head and stomped over to him. She stopped right in front of him, making him pause in his steps.
"They're your friends!" she growled angrily. This thing he was doing, ignoring and keep a distance from everyone to solve the 'problem' they had, it was ridiculous. How is this going to help!?
"That's why I'm doing this." Izumi replied dryly. He slipped past the elder girl and proceeded to go up the stairs. He already made up his mind on what to do. He wasn't about to change it.
"You know, Kaoru's your boyfriend." Izumi paused mid-step at that, but he didn't turn around. "You'll lose him if you keep this up."
The raven haired was silent after she finished speaking. Surely that must have had some effect on him, hopefully enough to make him change his mind. Liviya knew if Izumi kept up with this, then in the end he's going to get hurt. She saw what it did to him last time. She didn't want him to go through that ever again. She didn't want to see him suffer like that.
"I never had him to begin with." Izumi mumbled. He went up the stairs and headed to his room. That's all he needed to say to himself. I never had him. I never had him. I never had him. Like this he'll be able to stay away from Kaoru along with the others.
He sat down on his bed and gripped the marble necklace around his neck.
"I never had him." he muttered. He can do this. He just needed to repeat that.
"This is a real problem." Kyouya mumbled. He wasn't at all happy about Izumi skipping club hours. Especially when he had regular customers who were quite disappointed when he didn't show up.
Not to mention that his absence seemed to have affected all the other hosts' moods. Kaoru was unresponsive the whole time, Hikaru got worked up over every little thing that happened, Tamaki was depressed by the corner, Honey was sad, making Mori worry for him, and Haruhi was completely out of it and distracted. They were all making their customers uncomfortable and concerned about the change in their attitudes. This was a huge problem.
"Thank you! Come again!"
The four eyed host looked up from his notebook and saw their manager, Renge, waving the customers away. He sighed and looked back down to his notebook. At least she somewhat managed to cheer up the customers a little.
Once all the girls were out the door, she turned and looked at the rest with a grim face.
"What happened to Izumi?" she asked, looking at all the odd expressions displayed in every host.
No one answered her. Even they didn't know what suddenly happened to Izumi. After New Year's he never picked up his phone. He ignored all of them throughout the whole break. Then in school they barely even saw him. Kyouya and Tamaki lost him by the time it was lunch and again after school. Both Tamaki and Haruhi tried to call him, but he never answered.
Renge sighed when they didn't respond. "Well someone go to his house and talk to him!" she exclaimed. "This can't happen again!"
They all agreed. This can't happen again. Izumi was now a part of the host club. He can't just not attend it. Now as to decide who will go…
"I'll—"
"I'll go." Haruhi interrupted Tamaki as he was going to offer.
"Then I'll go with—" Tamaki started.
"No. I'll go alone." Haruhi responded. "I think he would listen to me more."
Everyone else agreed that Haruhi should be the one to go. The crew went inside Kyouya's limo and it headed towards Izumi's house. Once there, Haruhi got out the car and started walking towards the front door.
"Wait Haruhi!" The girl turned around and noticed Tamaki starting to get out as well.
"Tamaki, it's supposed to be just me!" Haruhi complained.
"I know." Tamaki grinned. "I'll be very discreet."
"Tamaki! Get back in the car!" Hikaru ordered as he glared at the blonde.
Tamaki pouted and slowly got back inside. Haruhi rolled her eyes and turned back around. She ringed the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. It wasn't long before Ryuu opened the door.
"Oh, Haruhi?"
"Hi, is Izumi home?" Haruhi asked with a smile.
The fake blonde frowned and looked over his shoulder to someone behind him that Haruhi didn't get to see. Ryuu turned back and nodded. "Come in." he said as he opened the door wider.
Haruhi noticed when she stepped inside that it was Liviya behind him. "He's upstairs." she said and she pointed at them.
"Thank you." Haruhi said as she went over and climbed up the steps. Hopefully Izumi would tell her what's wrong this time.
She knocked on his door and waited for an answer. When no one did, she sighed and opened it anyway. The room was bright with the curtains drawn open. Izumi was sitting on his bed, doing something on his laptop. He looked up and frowned when he saw Haruhi.
"I never said you could come in." he scowled.
"Izumi, please don't give me attitude. I'm here because I'm worried." she sighed.
The raven haired stayed silent the whole time and just stared at her. So Haruhi continued, "Why didn't you come after school?"
"I had to do something." he answered, a bored expression on his face.
"Why didn't you pick up your phone when we called you?"
"It's off."
Haruhi sighed in frustration again. Seems like he still won't say anything. "Izumi, we're your friends. If there's something wrong then you can tell us."
"I know."
"And don't skip club hours just like that. Tell us if you can't go."
"I will."
Haruhi started leaving the room. "We're worried about you Izumi." she said softly. Izumi didn't answer that so she left his room.
Once she got back in the car everyone started bombarding her with questions.
"What happened?"
"How is he?"
"Is Izzy alright?"
Haruhi frowned at them. "No luck." she sighed out.
Everyone got quiet. "But I think he'll attend the club tomorrow." she added with a smile.
They all nodded silently. At least, that's what I hope. She thought to herself.
Izumi not attending the host club seemed to have really affected everyone. It was quite amazing how he impacted them when he was still new. Hopefully this does not happen again.
Okay so I COMPLETELY forgot to mention I was going on vacation. Especially since I was already late to begin with. I'm really mad at myself T.T
So I should probably mention now that I travel a lot.
Plus I was really stuck in this chapter. I was left completely clueless on how to advance it. I'm honestly still confused on what to do.
Ugh this is such a hard arc to write D:
By the way, I feel like this chapter is so short and boring. I'm sorry about that.
PLEASE REVIEW, FOLLOW, AND FAVORITE \(^.^)/
