"Kyouya, may I ask you a question?" Kyouya looked up from his laptop, only to see Karylle looking at him with eyes filled with wonder and despair. He fixed his glasses and stood up. Their eyes met, but he bowed down his head. Karylle gave him a small smile and reached her left hand up to his shoulder to give him reassurance. "How come you didn't send Alice to your own hospital?" She said in a soft voice to avoid capturing the attention of the others. After an hour of silence, everyone went back to their own selves. Seeing Karylle rose their hearts up from their eerie slumber and assured themselves that Alice has forgiven them.
Kyouya chuckled lightly, and then he started sobbing. Karylle's eyes turned from sorrowful to calm. She patted his shoulder lightly before letting go. "… She didn't want to be found because she didn't want anyone to see her die. If she stayed in my hospital, all of you would eventually find out…" He silently said. Hani stopped eating cake when Kyouya's words caught his attention. He was the one closest, so it wasn't hard for him to hear his words. "But you saw her die." Tamaki said from behind, surprising both Kyouya and Karylle. Hani jumped down from his seat to interfere. "Don't sneak up like that so suddenly, Tama-chan. Kyo-chan might get a heart attack or something." He pouted, standing in between Kyouya and Tamaki. Karylle's hands balled up into a fist as she didn't know what to say anymore. Kyouya looked down at his feet. It was the first time he couldn't establish eye contact with Tamaki. "…I'm sorry, Kyouya."
Tamaki said that loud enough to catch everyone's attention. The twins were now staring at them. Mori hesitated stepping into their dreadful circle, trying hard to send signals to Hani to leave them be. Kyouya's chuckles turned into a bursting laughter. Karylle stepped back, pulling Hani along with her. "You… you really are an idiot, aren't you?" Kyouya flicked a finger at Tamaki's forehead, causing the latter to yelp. Tamaki looked at Kyouya, only to see him sending out his usual cool smile. "Kyouya-senpai?" Haruhi tried calling out as she sat quietly in between the twins. "Don't worry about it. I can see through you perfectly, Tamaki." The bespectacled raven-haired man assured his friend.
That's right. They were still friends. All of them.
Kyouya went home late. Finally, everything is okay. This is what Alice wanted, that's why she agreed to leave in the first place. She was trying to protect everyone… including Nonoko.
As soon as Kyouya opened the door, a hand came across his cheek, slapping him. This caused his glasses to fall. He looked at the person, wide-eyed. "W-why didn't you tell me? WHY? Alice… Alice died?" His cousin could barely breathe. Her eyes were red due to tears. Just how many hours was she crying? Kyouya shot her a glare and held both her hands forcefully. She winced at the sudden pain as her eyes gave out a terrified look. "This is the reason why hosts shouldn't get too close to customers. Why did you even stay with us in the first place?" Kyouya's eyes were filled with rage. "What's going on there? Kyouya, STOP THIS AT ONCE." The head of the Ootori clan, Kyouya's father, quickly ran down the stairs. Kyouya's sister, Fuyumi, was shocked to see the mess.
Kyouya hesitatingly dropped Nonoko's arms, causing her to fall. Fuyumi caught her in time as she worriedly looked at her brother's dreadful look. "How come… how come you were never punished…" Kyouya pushed the table next to him. The vase on top toppled over and smashed into pieces. "You are a disgrace!" Kyouya's father was about to pull him by the collar when Nonoko quickly stepped in. "Wait! I'm sorry… I'm sorry… If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have used Karylle Velacruz and Alice Pfeiffer… right?"
Yoshio Ootori, Kyouya and Fuyumi's father, looked at Kyouya. His eyes widened upon hearing the two names mentioned. "You… you used the heiress of one of the most prestigious musical companies? Karylle Velacruz… you do know who she is, do you?" Yoshio asked sternly. Nonoko nodded and waited for her cousin to answer. Kyouya gritted his teeth in annoyance. "I do." He reservedly replied, picking up his glasses. He was thinking about replacing them with new ones, since they have been falling a lot of times now. "Her main mansion is in Australia. Her family consists of amazing musicians and they own about 12 orchestras and a musical theatre made only for noble families. They even own their own company where they sell instruments, musical pieces, and offer teaching services for novice musicians. Her father is the conductor of all. Miss Velacruz plays the violin, right? She's also a part of the choir before she left Japan…" Nonoko elaborated, since she knew perfectly that Kyouya was in no state to speak up more words. Yoshio nodded and Fuyumi sighed in relief. "It was because the twins… were too mentally-scarred after fighting over…" Kyouya stole a glance at his cousin, his father watching his every movement carefully. Nonoko bit her lip, looking down to hide her guilt.
Yoshio gave his son a pat on the back before motioning for him to continue to his room. Kyouya obliged, walking quickly up the stairs, avoiding the gazes of the maids who witnessed the scene. "About the girl who Kyouya looked after for two months…" Yoshio cleared his throat. "She died." Fuyumi quickly answered before her father says anything else. Nonoko wiped her tears and kept her composure in front of her uncle. "Tsk. Since when did that boy even do things that don't benefit him? He even made a mess when he introduced Nonoko to that host club of his. That son of mine is so…" "He's not useless, uncle. He knows what's important now." Nonoko defended before bowing down her head and leaving the room.
Yoshio looked at his daughter, giggling like nothing just happened. He raised an eyebrow at her as she looked at her father gently and clasping her warms hands to his face. "Come on, dad. Aren't you proud? He fell in love before we knew it. We never thought it was possible, right? He's growing up." She gave him a hug and quickly let go. "Besides… Alice Pfeiffer, wasn't it? I heard she was directly related to the Seriya clan…"
Yoshio massaged his temples in return.
"Why did Kyouya-senpai do so much for her? Things like that don't benefit him." Hikaru asked. A week has passed and they were all okay now, partly because everyone has forgiven each other. Nonoko visited them three days ago to apologize and everyone accepted her with open arms. "I have always believed that he was a kind person, you know." Haruhi answered. They were all eating lunch in the cafeteria and everyone was staring at the flashy group of hosts surrounding a lovely young woman – every fan girl was screaming "HAREM!" at the back of their minds. "By the way… Karylle, you never told us you were this rich!" Tamaki yelled, standing up on his seat and pointing at Karylle. "You know you'll fall if you keep on standing like that." Kyouya commented. Kaoru stopped chewing his food at the mention of Karylle's real lifestyle. They never knew that – she never bragged about it. "Alice was the same."
Everyone, except Kyouya, looked at her with wide eyes. Their hearts skipped a beat and everyone couldn't move a muscle. Karylle only tilted her head, wondering what made everyone freeze. "… You didn't know?" She gaped at each and every one of them. Kyouya smiled. "Apparently, her father's surname is Seriya. It's a rare surname since only the ones left carrying the surname are high-class nobles. Her father was one of those nobles. Alice is an illegitimate child, you see… her father was forbidden by her grandfather to marry her mother because he had more duties to fulfill and had to marry a woman with a higher position. Their family majors in law and justice. It is the reason why a lot of gangs were after her and her sister, Elise Seriya. Alice's family… is very powerful. More powerful than our families, you see." Kyouya explained. "Her grandfather loves her, though, despite everything."
Everyone looked at each other. "She was… almost just like me… illegitimate…" Tamaki mumbled. Kyouya sighed and Karylle continued eating. "I never thought she was so powerful. Law and justice, huh?" Kaoru grinned. "Yep. Our Alice is strong. We should never had underestimated her." Hikaru followed. Hani gave them a cheeky grin. "W-woah… but why didn't they pay up their debts, anyway?" Haruhi asked, making the other freeze once again. "Y-yeah… why didn't they?" Tamaki tugged at Kyouya's shirt like a lost puppy.
Karylle laughed heartily. "Because arriving here was a mistake, remember? We didn't plan to arrive here and have such a huge debt… we never told our families about it. And we didn't bring enough money here, you know? Plus, Alice is an illegitimate child. She didn't want to take advantage of her father's family. Anyways, about the debt… I'll be paying for it now that I finally gained my allowance from my obligations in Australia…" Karylle smiled.
Kyouya returned her smile with his own smile. "You're a good friend. Alice must be so proud to have you." Karylle looked at him with mischievous eyes. "… You loved her. Thank you, Kyouya."
I watched the stars shine brightly tonight.
I remembered that her eyes shone brighter than them.
"Hey, this is Karylle. You didn't want to abuse your power… because you still loved your father, right?" I said as I gazed at the beautiful sky, reminiscing about the memories she left with me… and her last smile. I closed my eyes shut, muttering a short prayer before closing the window and whispering "Good night, Alice."
Kyouya looked up at his bedroom door as his sister went in to greet him. "It was the first time they ever saw you that hurt, you know." Fuyumi giggled sitting at the foot of his bed. Kyouya stood up to open the window. "The stars are beautiful tonight." Fuyumi tried talking to him once more, not expecting for him to reply right away. Kyouya nodded, his back turned to her as he watched the stars twinkle with all their might. "Each star has a unique color and intensity. Each star is so unique…" Fuyumi stood up and walked toward her brother, hugging him gently from behind. "She must have been very unique…" she mumbled into his ear. Kyouya smiled. It was the first time he ever appreciated the stars and flowers. Maybe how Renge described him a long time ago wasn't impossible, after all. Maybe he does know how to appreciate little sparks of happiness, after all.
"Are you sad that she loved you too late and left you behind?" Fuyumi asked once more resting her head on her brother's shoulders. She was still hugging him, and Kyouya appreciated the warmth of his kind sister. "No." He answered.
"We'll always be under the same sky."
