Happy lunar new year everyone!
EarthBender001: Lol thank you so much! Hope you like this chapter. :)
BizzyLizy: Hehe, thank you for reviewing! ^_^ Hope you like the development in this chapter.
JadeCrispy: Thank you! :D Nice to see you, and hope everything's well.
"How did it go?" Kaoru said, crumpling something in his fist when Emi followed Ryuu into Music Room 3 after school.
"He was weird, alright," Emi said, shuddering at the memory. "And strong. I swear it was all muscle under that shirt."
"Wait what?" Kaoru's eyebrows rose as his hand slipped into his pocket.
Ryuu sighed. "He hugged her."
"Who?" Kaoru sat down beside Emi on the couch.
"Iwao Horiyuki. Miwa Horiyuki's younger brother," she said.
"They're both weirdos." Ryuu dropped onto the couch opposite them. "Hey, Kyoya-senpai, do you know anything about them?"
"Hm?" Kyoya was standing this time, with his notebook in his hand. His forehead was creased as he scribbled away. "This doesn't make sense," he muttered and turned to his computer.
"What's with Kyoya-senpai?" Hikaru said, taking a seat on Kaoru's other side.
"Who knows." Kaoru shrugged.
Ryuu did. Kyoya was probably stumped on Akira Goto. If their dad hadn't been able to find anything, how did Ryuu expect Kyoya to? Even if he was the omniscient creep… Maybe if he could get a copy of that suspect drawing, Kyoya's search would be easier.
"If I remember correctly," Hikaru said, "the Hiroyuki's run a gang right?"
"A gang?" Emi said, and the Mazawa twins exchanged glances.
"They don't seem like they're part of a gang," Ryuu said.
"Oh." Kyoya blinked, sat down in front of his laptop, and began typing furiously.
Hikaru leaned forward to whisper. "Seriously, what's with Kyoya-senpai?" Ryuu glanced at his sister. If she found out, she'd probably get upset. She wouldn't want him to operate outside of their dad's knowledge.
Ryuu rose and went to stand in front of Kyoya. "Did you find anything?"
Kyoya glanced up. "There's nobody of interest named Akira Goto. I'll need more information to find this person."
"He was the employer of the guys who chased and hurt Emi."
Kyoya looked Ryuu in the eye. "I see. Gangsters?"
"Probably. I think she said they had tattoos."
"What are you guys talking about?" Hikaru joined the group.
Tamaki tossed the door open. Haruhi stood beside him, carrying a bag in her arms. "Hello everyone! I brought some nice tea from England for our guests today."
"That's great, Tono," Kaoru said as Haruhi and Tamaki moved to begin brewing the tea. It was mostly Haruhi with Tamaki hovering around her.
"I'll see if I can get a drawing of him," Ryuu said to Kyoya, earning a look from Hikaru.
Kyoya nodded. "That'd be helpful."
Now came the matter of getting that drawing. When the twins returned home that day, Ryuu snuck into the office and rifled through the desk. Their dad was out and wouldn't return until after dinner. Ryuu searched the computer for a digital version, but still couldn't locate it.
This is bad. Useless. I may as well go back to begging Dad to tell me whatever info he finds. Ryuu frowned, stepping out of the room and pacing from the stairs to the doorway.
"Ryuu!" Emi rushed to the living room from the kitchen. There was a magazine in her hand. "This is bad."
"What?" He stopped moving and took the magazine, opened to a certain page. There was a picture of their cousin, Nozomi, with her boyfriend, Kenta Hasegawa. The heading read: "Rising actress Nozomi Mazawa dating voice actor Kenta Hasegawa?!"
Ryuu's jaw dropped and he looked at his sister. "Is this the infamous dating scandal thing?"
Emi nodded, and they moved to the couches. "Uncle Eiji's doing whatever he can to cover things up, and Nozo-nee-chan's agency is too. I mean, it's true, so it's a lot harder to deny."
"It just a picture of the two of them though." Ryuu pointed, before spotting another picture of the two holding hands. "Oh."
"And I heard Dad talking on the phone last night. I think-I think another one of our properties got burned down."
"What?"
What was going on?
"These can't be coincidences, Ryuu," Emi said.
"No kidding." He stared at the words in front of him, not quite processing them.
"Someone's behind all of this. Someone's trying to take our family down. You better be careful, or they might come for you too."
Ryuu glanced at his sister. "Emi, that's what I should be saying. They already came for you."
"What?" Her forehead creased.
"You said it can't be a coincidence. The same applies to what happened with those thugs. And that Akira Goto guy. I bet he's behind everything."
Emi's eyes narrowed. "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying we need to figure it out ourselves since Dad will tell us anything," Ryuu said.
"Let Dad handle it."
"I already asked Kyoya-"
"You what?" She rose halfway but dropped back down. She glanced around, ensuring that no one was in earshot. "Ryuu!"
He took her arm. "You could identify that guy by his face right? Kyoya's having trouble finding information. I bet his real name isn't Akira Goto. Help me out here, Emi."
She pursed her lips, swallowing. He could tell she was weighing the pros and cons, the possibilities, the future. "I won't do anything without letting you know first," he said. "I promise."
She looked him in the eye and opened her mouth. "Fine."
The Horiyuki siblings were back during lunch.
"Ryoko-chan!" Miwa said, saluting her with a grin.
"Emi-san!" Iwao said, waving. The Mazawa twins exchanged looks, packed up their bentos, and prepared to flee.
"Where do you think you two are going?" Miwa said, grabbing Emi's sleeve and pushing her back towards the booth. Sumiko raised an eyebrow but continued to eat. "It's rude to run away from people, you know."
"Okay, what do you two want?" Ryuu folded his arms over his chest.
"To be friends," Iwao said, as he and his sister pulled up a chair.
Emi locked eyes with Ryuu. We need to change where we eat, she thought, trying to send him that message through twin telepathy.
No kidding, she was sure was his response.
"Tell me about your crush, Ryo-chan," Miwa said, resting her chin on her palms. "Is it Ryo or Ryoko? Which do you prefer?"
"I prefer Mazawa, thank you," Ryuu said.
"Oh you have a crush?" Iwao grinned and turned to Emi. "What about you, Emi-san?"
"It's none of your business," the Mazawa twins said in unison.
The Horiyukis continued prodding, until Aki said with a straight face, "Why not just tell them Ryo-chan? Then they'd at least shut up."
Miwa's gaze flickered over to the girl. "That's rude."
"Indeed," Iwao said.
"But true," Sumiko said, smiling and giving Aki a quick hug.
"Well, she's nice and she doesn't bother me like you do," Ryuu said.
Miwa's eyes widened and she shrank back, as if she'd been struck. She stood. Her face was calm and emotionless. "It seems I've overstepped my boundaries. My apologies, Mazawa-san." She picked up the chair, returned it to its spot, and walked away.
"You're a lot meaner than your sister," Iwao said.
Ryuu shrugged without looking at the other Horiyuki. "I don't care. She's sketchy, and annoying, and I don't like her." But Emi could tell from the slight pout that he was upset.
"Horiyuki-senpai, why do you guys want to be friends with us?" Emi said. "Surely there are better people-"
"Not for me!" Iwao shook his head. "You're-You're-" He blushed, turning a dark crimson and he ducked his head down.
"You're?" Sumiko said.
"The-The only one," Iwao said in a nearly inaudible mutter. "For me."
Sumiko spun to Emi with her eyes bright and a grin slowly forming. She nudged Emi under the table. "He's cute," she seemed to be mouthing.
"What? No," Emi mouthed back, not sure if Sumiko could get the message. Her friend didn't know that she already had a boyfriend, and Iwao wasn't quite her type. Too hyper, too much energy for her to handle.
"Um." Iwao peeked up. "Will you give me another chance, Emi-san? Please?"
Sumiko bumped her foot against Emi's again. "Go on, go on," she said.
Emi rolled her eyes. "It'll be your fault if things go bad."
"Sure sure." Sumiko smiled.
"Fine," Emi said.
"Yay!" Iwao threw his arms into the air, then scrambled to his feet to stand behind the chair. "Sorry I need to restrain myself, so I should go. Before I do something dumb again." Iwao bowed. "Thank you."
"Hey," Ryuu said, still poking at his food. "Tell your sister we can maybe be friends if she'll stop being so pushy."
Iwao stared for a second before smiling. "Okay! I'm sure she'll be glad to hear that." He waved before running off.
"I don't trust them," Emi said to her brother. "A pair of siblings suddenly taking interest in us at the same time? The timing's all too perfect."
"They seem harmless though," Sumiko said. "At least the brother does."
"We'll have to see," Ryuu said.
At the Host Club that day, Kyoya flipped through picture after picture for Emi to see. They were all people with the first name of Akira or the surname of Goto.
"Not him either," she said.
"Maybe his name isn't even anywhere close to Akira Goto," Ryuu said.
"That's what I suspected as well." Kyoya brought up another set of photographs.
"What's going on?" Kaoru said, tossing his schoolbag onto the table and hugging Emi from behind. He rested his chin on top of her head. Hikaru was just a second behind and joined the group clustered around Kyoya.
"We're looking for a sketchy dude," Ryuu said and leaned forward to get a better look.
"Who was the guy at your lunch table today?" Kaoru said.
Emi turned around. "Iwao Horiyuki."
"Is he bothering you?" Their hands intertwined.
"Not really," she said.
"The Horiyuki family," Kyoya said. Ryuu tugged on Emi's sleeve, and she returned to her position of peering over Kyoya's shoulder.
It was a family picture. Miwa Horiyuki looked about the same, though her hair was shoulder-length with simple bangs. Her arms was linked with her mother's, who had almost blond hair, in a high bun. Besides her mother was Iwao, half a head shorter than his sister. He was scrawny with his hair smoothed down. Next to him was his dad, who had black hair and a gentle smile. It wasn't slicked back, like Emi had seen, and he wasn't wearing any glasses. But his face was the same squarish shape, the eyes the same ashy shade, and the wrinkles less prominent.
"That's-" Emi swallowed and nodded. "That's him."
"Who? The dad?" Ryuu said. His gaze darted between the screen and his sister's face.
"His name is Sawao Horiyuki," Kyoya said. "Their gang specializes in trade. They import firearms, export rice, some other things I'm sure. There's not a lot of records on them."
"Do you think Dad knows?" Ryuu said.
"That's not the problem, Ryuu," Emi said. "This just goes to show how sketchy the Horiyuki siblings are. If, like you said, Sawao Horiyuki is the one trying to screw our family over, then wouldn't his children be helping? They're trying to get close to us - for information, or something."
"So, you should tell him to leave you alone," Kaoru said.
Emi nodded, staring at the sweet smiles of the Horiyuki family. "Miwa Horiyuki too."
Ryuu ran off to Michi's place the moment they returned from school. Their dad wouldn't be home until late again, so Emi told Berty about the Horiyuki family.
"You'll pass it along to Dad?"
"Of course," Berty said. "I also heard that Akimi-san will be back in a few more days."
"Really?" Emi perked up at the news. "And what about Roro?"
He shook his head, gaze lowered. "Roro is still recovering, Emi-sama. I'm sure he'll be back soon."
She slumped. "Yeah. Okay."
In Michi's apartment, Ryuu watched her play Mario Kart on his DS, laughing when she fell into the water and cheering when she was doing well.
"This is pretty fun," she said, grinning and handing the device back. "Maybe I'll get one after all." They'd talked about video games last time. Michi hadn't played since elementary school, and that'd been at a friend's house.
Ryuu watched his fingers fiddle about on the table top. "This weekend, uh, do you want to do something?"
"Sure. What?"
"We could go to an arcade." He glanced up with a small smile. "Or go bowling, or an amusement park, or go see a show, or the zoo, or something. Whatever you want, Michi." He couldn't stop the smile from growing and taking over his face, or the warm sensation in his stomach that spread all the way to his fingers and toes.
Her eyes crinkled as she smiled back. "You're too kind Ryuu. I don't mind. All of them sound fun."
"Then, let's do all of them! Wait, no. If we did all of them then we won't have anything to do next time."
She quirked an eyebrow. "Next time?"
Ryuu blushed, avoiding her gaze. "Ah. Yeah. If-If there's-"
"I'm joking, Ryuu," she said with a laugh and tapping his arm with her hand. "Let's just do two things then."
He grinned. "Okay!"
Emi and Ryuu ate lunch in the classroom on Friday to avoid the Horiyuki siblings. They enjoyed a peaceful meal without any interruptions. After school, Emi made her way to the music room. The hallways were clearing of students and becoming quieter when her phone buzzed with a text.
Ryuu? She paused in the hallway to pull her phone out and check the message. It was from an unknown sender.
A hand wrapped over Emi's eyes and she was flying backwards. Her arms flailed about, searching to catch herself, or grab her crutches, or fight the person off. Her phone slipped out of her grasp, as she fell to the ground.
"Ow." She winced and looked up in time to see the door closing in front of her.
Wait. What? Glancing around, she could see she was in a closet. No no no no no no. This is not happening again. My phone. My phone! Her schoolbag was in her hand but not her phone. Only one of her crutches was in the closet too. The other had to be outside.
Emi crawled to the door and tried the doorknob. Locked. Of course. She pounded on the door. "Help! Anyone? Someone, please open the door!"
There was no response. She squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart was pounding away, and it was getting difficult to breathe. It's okay, Emi. This is Ouran. School isn't over yet. There's still clubs and- oh no. Her eyes widened and she slammed her fists against the door with new vigor. It's Friday. No no no no. I swore this wouldn't happen again!
She next picked her crutch up and limped to her feet. She slammed the crutch against the door, resounding in a loud bang.
"Somebody," she said as she slid back to the floor. Her vision was blurring. Her head bumped against the door. "Please."
Click. The door opened, and Emi nearly toppled down. She gasped, quickly blinking the tears back.
"Emi? I thought I heard something."
Emi glanced up. "Kaoru!" She leapt to her feet and wrapped her arms around him. Oh thank God. She smiled, burying her face into his chest. I'm okay. I'm okay.
"Emi?" Kaoru checked their surroundings for anyone, but only Hikaru stood by. When the coast was confirmed clear, Kaoru hugged Emi back. "You okay?"
"Here." Hikaru held Emi's crutches in one hand and her phone in another. "It was lying right outside."
Emi smiled at the other twin, but made no move to release Kaoru. "Thanks Hikaru-kun."
"What happened?" Kaoru looked down at the top of Emi's head and began stroking her hair.
"Somebody pushed me in. Or pulled me in. I'm not too sure," she said, finally stepping back and taking the crutches and her phone.
"That's weird," Hikaru said. They headed off for the Host Club.
"Good thing you guys came by," Emi said with a quiet sigh. "Who knows how long I'd be in there otherwise." She shuddered from the thought and the memory. I hate closets. Especially school ones that can be locked from the outside. Whose genius idea was that?
Kaoru took her schoolbag. "You sure you're okay?"
She looked into his warm gaze and smiled. "Yup." Because Kaoru was here. It'd be okay as long as Kaoru was by her side.
But to leave my phone outside the door… Had she dropped the phone or had someone taken it from her? If the person's intention was to trap her in a closet, they wouldn't have left the phone or the crutch outside the door. And it wasn't like they hadn't had enough time to run off with her phone and the crutch. Otherwise someone would have opened the door right away, and she hadn't heard anyone coming. Then what was it? What did they want?
My phone? Emi glanced down at the device in her hands as she sat down. That's right. The message. She pulled up the text, only to find it was an advertisement. Strange. It was all very strange.
Emi and Kaoru visited the planetarium as promised while Ryuu and Michi had lunch together before going bowling on Saturday. Neither of them had bowled before, so a lot of the bowling balls ended up in the gutter. Ryuu dropped the ball at least twice, and once it landed on his toes. The two laughed at each mishap though and worked to get a score over one hundred.
They were walking back when a voice called out, "Goto-san!"
The two turned around to face a man in a black suit with a smile plastered on his handsome face. He had a strong jawline, deep set eyes, and hair that fell a bit past his ears.
"Koga-san?" Michi said, eyebrows raising.
"It's nice to see you, Goto-san." He bowed, then tilted to the side to glimpse at Ryuu. "Is that your brother?"
"No," Ryuu said with a bit too much vehemence than necessary.
"This is Ryuu Mazawa, and this is Subaru Koga." Michi introduced the two, but Ryuu was busy glaring at the guy who was a good head taller than him. "He's my new friend, Ryuu. I forgot to tell you about him."
"I'm so glad you accepted my offer on dinner, Goto-san," Koga said, extending an old palm to Michi. His smile had a flashy brilliance to it, and his eyes smiled along.
Fishy was Ryuu's final judgement of the man. Very fishy. Ryuu folded his arms, planted his feet on the concrete, and stared.
Michi smiled. "No, thank you for inviting me."
"I was planning on taking you to a nice French restaur-"
"Michi, let's go," Ryuu said, resisting the urge to push the guy away. He shook his head and began walking back. Aghh what's the point in keeping her away from the Host Club if she'll run into rich-looking, probably-smart-too bastards anyway?
He sighed and kicked at the ground. Michi wasn't coming. She was better off with a guy like that anyway. Someone older, smarter, more capable, more reliable, more responsible…
Ryuu felt something sharp stab his chest. He paused, clutching the pained area, and glanced around. Was it another heart attack? Was he going to die right here and now?
"Ryuu, wait up." Michi ran over and stopped beside him. "What is it? Is something wrong?"
It was gone. Ryuu glanced at Michi and smiled. "No. I'm fine."
Her shoulders dropped and she smiled back. "Good."
"So, who was that guy? How do you know him?"
"I met him a couple days ago at the convenience store. He asked for my number." She giggled.
"And you gave it to him?" Ryuu's jaw dropped.
"No. How stupid do you think I am, Ryuu? So he asked if we could meet again, and I said sure because, well, I didn't really know what to say. We had lunch together and he turned out to be pretty nice." She smiled, but her eyes lacked the usual light.
"If you want me to beat him up, just say the word," Ryuu said, smacking his fist into his other hand.
"Thanks, but that's not necessary." She looked at the sidewalk in front of them. "I'll just have dinner with him and tell him I'm not interested."
Interested?
"Wait what?"
Michi looked at him through the corner of her eye. "What? Why else would he talk to me? He wants something from me." She cradled her chin in between her thumb and index finger. "Maybe he thinks I'm rich and is a gold digger? Either that or it's plain lust."
"Or maybe he just thought you were" - he coughed and avoided her gaze - "uh, beautiful."
Michi stared at him for a second then laughed. "Yeah right. Besides, if he did, then he's just infatuated, which isn't any better. As for my personality, anyone can tell how awkward I am from one minute of talking to me. If that didn't scare him off…"
"It didn't scare me off," Ryuu said, then swallowed and blushed. He hit his head. Ahh, what am I saying? Aren't I defending that creep? Who might be a potential rival, and therefore I should do everything to decimate him… right? No, to begin with, she probably doesn't even look at me that way. And she did freak me out a little when we first met…
He sighed, staring at the ground.
"Ryuu." Michi tugged on his sleeve, so he glanced over. She smiled, eyes crinkling around the edges. "Thanks."
His ears tingled. He ducked his head away, rubbing the back of his neck. "It-It's nothing."
Emi entered Ouran with a smile on her face Monday morning. Her visit to the hospital had revealed that her ankle was healing well. Not to mention, Valentine's Day was coming up next Saturday, and she was scouring the internet for chocolate recipes and gift ideas.
The dating scandal with her cousin was off the magazines, though according to their dad there were still rumors circulating. With time, things would die down some more and the whole matter would be forgotten.
Emi received a message from an unknown number just as she sat down. It read: "Meet me in classroom 2-A today after school if you don't want this video to become public." Emi opened the attached video and felt a chill run down her back. It was a video of Ryoko taking off her wig to become Ryuu.
Ba ba ba baaaaan. (Or whatever that doomsday sound effect is.)
Also I didn't mean for RyuuMichi to become a ship... It might be too late now though.
Also also, this story should be wrapping up in a couple more (at most 10-ish) chapters. :P Thanks for sticking around to this point. And, as always, thanks for reading! :)