This time, everything would be perfect. Hana marched through the grounds with a vengeance. She needed this to be perfect. No more strangers sneaking past security check points, no more technical difficulties, and no thugs giving students trouble. After what had happened during the physical exams, the school's security team had gone through a thorough testing process to screen for any employees who weren't up to par with Ouran standards. There had been a couple of guards who didn't make the cut, and now they knew that nothing but the best was acceptable. The cultural exhibition was a particularly challenging day for security, but Hana was in charge of coordinating their safety plan with the security teams from all of the guest schools.
Her briefing earlier that week could have gone better. The other heads of security from the visiting schools were skeptical of her. She knew that when they looked at her, they saw a child with little experience and limited guidance. Some of them had worked with her father, and some of them had never collaborated with the Black Onion before. Regardless, they had their doubts about taking orders from a child whose family legacy had been ruined by one job gone terribly wrong. Their lack of confidence in her made Hana worry about how successful the next two days would go because she knew that if they didn't respect her, they wouldn't cooperate with her. Her plan was perfect. She had run it by Team Kyoya and the captains of each squad under her command, and they provided their criticisms and approval until she formulated something iron clad.
The only thing that could ruin it was if the officers didn't do what she said, and she was having trouble with making sure that they were doing their jobs. There was a glaringly large problem that she had to overcome, and it was the same one every year. Ouran hosted the best schools in the nation for this event, and every year, Lobelia Girls' Academy would attend. Which wouldn't have been a problem, except for the fan girls.
As the students started trickling in past the gates in uniforms vastly different from Ouran's daffodil and periwinkle, the first cry echoed. "Kiku-no-kimi!" the first shriek sounded, and Hanako froze. Her blood pounded through her veins and every nerve and instinct commanded her to run as the herd gathered. The ground under her feet thundered, and her muscles tensed before she launched off the ground, running as fast as her legs could take her.
Fan girls.
"Negida-hime!" the crowd of girls cried out for her as they chased. She didn't know how it happened, but two years ago, she had gathered a legion of fans from the all girls school. They were just as demanding and obnoxious as the fans that she fended off from the club room every day that the hosts showed some skin, but the problem was that these fans never let her get any work done. She sprinted away from the gates and into the school. It was as if they had some kind of radar. No matter where she went, they found her. If she went to a classroom, there would be a crowd waiting outside the hallway. If she went to the library, they would form a crowd behind the shelves. If she went to the kitchens, they would flood in after her from the dining hall.
"Negida-hime!" They roared as she ran to escape them. "We love you! Kiku!" They cried out their declarations, and Hana prayed to whatever gods existed that they wouldn't trample her with the stampede. All she wanted was for her security team to follow orders. One day without something going wrong. That couldn't be too much to ask.
Her prayers seemed to be answered when unexpected hands wrapped around her arms and pulled her out of the girls' warpath. She was too relieved to be bothered by the unexpected intervention. Sighing heavily, Hana sagged against the wall and groaned.
"Jeez, sis, have some decorum," Hikaru snickered as his exhausted godsister cast a glare at her rescuers.
"What would your fans say if they saw you like this?" Kaoru teased with his hand hiding the laughter that threatened to bubble out from him.
They rarely saw Hana in such a state of disarray. Running around the entire campus had caused a sheen of sweat to form on her brow, her ponytail had fallen from the top of her head and hung limply at the base of her skull in tangles, and her clothes were wrinkled beyond what was considered professional. She glared at them with annoyance, but she didn't have the energy to muster up any fervor behind it.
"It's weird how many of those girls know about you," the twins noted.
Hana took down her slackened pony tail and flipped her hair over in front of her to fix it, "I hate when Lobelia visits because this always happens." It started when she was still in middle school, and her popularity at the school only grew after she took over her father's position within the Black Onion. They saw her as some kind of testament to the capabilities of womanhood, or something glorified and ridiculous like that.
"Lighten up," Hikaru rolled his eyes, but they were full of mirth instead of the cutting malice she had grown accustomed to. "Enjoy the attention. It's pretty good to have fans, you know."
"I have other fans," she grumbled, thinking of the normal, level-headed fans who supported her modeling career.
"Hey, are you gonna come to the club today?" Kaoru asked, changing the subject before Hana's mood could worsen.
The girl shook her head and explained how her day would go, "I have a lot of work to do today. Renge and Haruhi should be able to cover my responsibilities for the day." It wasn't that she was avoiding the club, exactly. In fact, she had redoubled her contribution to the host club ever since the beach. She successfully managed to make up for the work she avoided when she was avoiding Takashi, and she didn't have to worry about addressing what happened at the villa without skipping host club activities.
Hikaru pouted, "We just sent Haruhi to get more coffee."
"Yeah, come on, Hana," Kaoru encouraged. "At least you'd be able to get away from your fans for a bit."
She considered the suggestion seriously. The host club would, ironically, be the quietest place for her on campus. If she didn't have so much riding on this event, she probably would have taken him up on his offer on the spot. Unfortunately, she still had some time before the event picked up, and she wanted to at least try to walk the perimeter. "I'm afraid I can't right now," she declined politely. "I can't risk anything bad happening at this event, but I'll make sure to see you guys later."
"Suit yourself," they said, shrugging. Hana smiled at them and messed up their parted hair before checking both ways down the hall for any fans and heading back to where she had last been taking her notes.
Alone in the secluded hallway, the playfulness melted away from the Hitachiin brothers as their conversation took a more serious turn. Hikaru leaned against one wall with his arms crossed over his chest while Kaoru rested the back of his head on the wall across his twin. "So, you were able to talk to her at the villa, right?" Hikaru asked.
"Yeah," Kaoru answered back with the weight of the conversation between he and Hana carried in the word. "Did she tell you anything about what happened after dinner?"
"No, you?"
"No," Kaoru's answer echoed his brother's, and matching looks of discontent settled on their faces. "So, something definitely happened…"
"After you talked to her…" Hikaru picked up when his brother trailed off, and a heavy thoughtfulness engulfed them as they came to the conclusion.
{OR}
Her fan club was maddening. She really made a good effort to continue her discreet patrol of the grounds, but all it took was one eagle eyed fan to snatch away what patience she had left. She curled and stretched her fingers in frustration and headed to the only place in the entire school where she knew the girls from Lobelia wouldn't be. She stalked through the pink walled hallways towards music room three, hoping that, for once, the boys weren't in some kind of mess. Of course, what she found was exactly the opposite of what she needed. Haruhi was stretched back in the air across a girl's knee with her sleeve and pant leg rolled to the joints while two other girls caressed her skin. Of course, it would be those three in front of her club room.
"Don't go touching my Haruhi without asking my permission!" Tamaki raged and raced at the group of girls in the hall. With equal ferocity, Benio punched him in the cheek and sent him flying back into the club room.
"Leave her alone!" the short haired president of the zuka club retaliated, and Hanako felt the beginnings of a headache pulsing at her temples.
"I'm not in a good mood, and this is the last thing I want to deal with today," she informed them with her eyes narrowed on Benio. "Stop harassing Ouran students." It was a no-nonsense, straight to the point instruction, and the Lobelia students released Haruhi when they saw her.
Benio got to her feet and eyed Haruhi with a cold look in her eyes, "I felt threatened by this boy's aggressive approach. I merely acted in self defense."
Hanako hummed, unimpressed with the claim, "Benio." The curt greeting induced a chill in the hallway as the two young women stared each other down.
"Hanako," the taller, short haired girl greeted in return. "I should've known you were going to be here."
"And I was really hoping that you wouldn't be," Hana retorted in a clipped tone. Her gaze slid to Haruhi, who was watching the odd exchange with curiosity, and the model relented. "Go about your business, Benio, but do not go too far with the host club, unless you want to go through me." She turned sharply on her heel and walked down the adjacent hallway, leaving behind whatever chaos was about to ensue with the club.
She gave up on finding somewhere peaceful and committed to finishing her patrol. Once the activities started, there were fewer students on the grounds, and she found that she was able to conduct her work more effectively. She was starting to notice that squads from other schools were slackening their form as the day went on. She took note of the crests on their breasts and what positions they occupied around the perimeter. It became clear to her very quickly that there were teams blatantly ignoring her orders by trading posts with other squads. They were exchanging partners and stationing themselves at different locations without her approval. It was an abhorrent disregard for her authority, and when she asked them who sanctioned this, she was informed that the requests had been approved by their respective school's head of security.
Her unpleasant mood seemed to only worsen, and she summoned her peers from the visiting schools to a conference room to straighten this issue out. The room was packed, and the girl standing at the front held on to her ever present clipboard with a grip so tight that her knuckles were white. "It has come to my attention that some of you have failed to follow my guidelines for today's security plan. As you all know, the Black Onion was granted full charge of the security for this event, and as such, you answer to me. Some of you are unaware of our expectations and standards, so I will make this simple. Disobedience will not be tolerated and, should anything happen to the students during this event, it will be your personal responsibility." Her gaze passed over the crowd, unrelenting as they stared back at her with hardened expressions. "The repercussions for your team members individually and for yourselves will be the same as those practiced by the Black Onion. Your employers will know the exact nature of your failure, as will all others in our industry. The stain on your reputations will never be undone."
"You'd know all about stained reputations," one of the men in the back of the room voiced. He was a clean looking, older man who was old enough to have been her father, but that didn't stop him from flinching against the wall when she suddenly appeared in front of him. The sound of her clipboard slamming into the wall rang in their ears, and they saw that she had actually managed to lodge it into the wall next to the man's face.
She regarded him like some kind of jaguar cornering a bird on the jungle floor. Her caramel colored eyes glittered with malice and her entire being put them on edge as she radiated a merciless aura that was as cold as the dead of winter. "Stained or not," she said in an even, dark tone that sent chills up their spines, "you are all under the Black Onion's leadership now, and you will act like it. If you don't like it, you can feel free to leave now but know that you've failed your employers, and I will make sure that they knew to what extent you let them down." She pulled her clipboard out from the wall, and parts of the marble crumbled to the floor behind her.
They left the room after she dismissed them, and when she returned to her patrol, she saw that each team was stationed and grouped exactly as she had ordered them to be. Satisfied, she allowed herself to wander deeper into the campus. The guests seemed to be enjoying themselves well enough. There wasn't a campus in the world that could hold a candle to Ouran, and the staff took great pride in maintaining their beloved school. She hoped that the boys were taking care of themselves, and as she did her rounds through the school's property, she wondered if it was a good idea to leave the host club alone with the zuka club. The thought occurred to her while walking through the rose garden, and coincidentally, she found Chizuru admiring the large, blooming red roses alone. Hana approached the other young woman, and Chizuru looked up at the sound of footsteps nearing.
When she saw Hanako, Chizuru smiled, "It's good to see you, Hana."
The amicable greeting from her longtime friend did not deter the body guard from scanning the area for the pesky pixie haired president of the zuka club, "Is Benio lurking around somewhere?"
Chizuru sighed at the half-joke that Hanako had made, "It's such a shame that you and Benibara don't get along. She and Hinako are doing a costume check right now."
Visibly relaxing, Hanako joined Chizuru in admiring the roses, "We would get along better if she didn't disagree with me over everything." Every time Hanako and Benio were in a room together, Benio would criticize the role she played in the host club. No matter what Hana said, Benio thought that she knew better and refused to listen to any of the sense of Hana's perspective. As long as Hana modeled with the twins and worked alongside men, Benio would have some kind of criticism ready.
"You know, it's a myth that two alpha females can't get along," Chizuru commented with a small smile playing on her pretty features.
Hanako scoffed as the two models started walking side by side through the courtyard, "It has nothing to do with Benio being a strong woman. I have no problem with you or Haruhi, and you've met Auntie Yuzuha. I don't have a problem with strong women. It's that Benio's so critical of everything, and she always has something to say about how I live my life."
"She just has high expectations for you," Chizuru said to placate her friend. The relationship between Chizuru and Hanako was a pleasant one despite of the mutual dislike that Hanako and Benio felt for each other. Chizuru was the only person who Hanako modeled with consistently. Throughout their careers, Chizuru and Hanako had been matched due to the contrast of their features and their chemistry on set. Anything they shot together would always be a hit. Chizuru respected Hanako's boundaries, and Hanako respected Chizuru's self-expression. There had been moments when the two girls had defended each other from the viciousness of their less pleasant coworkers.
"She doesn't get to have opinions about how I live my life," Hanako protested.
"Never mind Benio," Chizuru said to her friend. "It feels like forever since I've last seen you. How are you doing? You know that you're something of a hero to the girls at Lobelia. Our first year students are particularly fond of you."
Hana groaned at the reminder of her fan girls, "It's for no good reason. You and Benio just make me seem like I'm something more than I actually am, and now they think I'm some kind of knight in shining armor."
"Hanako, you're a real life inspiration to those girls! There's a reason why they call you the Lady of the Chrysanthemum. You're royalty! The perfect balance of elegance and strength! It's a shame how your gifts are wasted on that host club."
"That just sounds ridiculous. Speaking of the boys, what exactly was going on with the host club earlier?" Hana asked.
Chizuru turned her nose up at the suspicion in Hana's question. "It's despicable to see how those men treat that fair maiden like a dog," the fair haired model said haughtily. She was surprised by the laughter coming from Hanako. It was rare for her to see Hana so amused by something that she actually laughed, and she certainly hadn't expected this of all things to be something funny.
"Haruhi's running errands for the club because owes a debt that is rightfully being paid off," Hanako explained in good spirits once her laughter subsided. A small smile came to her face, and her expression softened, "Believe it or not, they genuinely care about the girls in the club."
Hanako's promotion of the club's good character surprised her companion, and the other model was taken aback by her friend's comment. "You can't seriously say that those idiots actually take into account the feelings and opinions of the girls who walk into their club," Chizuru protested. "There must have been at least one time when they crossed the line."
Frankly, Hanako could think of at least four times when the boys overstepped what most people would have considered appropriate. Although, every time that the hosts did something that was just a little bit too much by normal standards, it was coming from a place of good intentions. They pushed people outside of what was comfortable, and more often than not, it worked out because that push tended to be exactly what their guest needed. Her silence confirmed Chizuru's suspicions, and the tawny haired girl knew that she was right. "You should transfer to Lobelia, too," Chizuru said, cutting through Hanako's reflections sharply. "You could get out from under the Ootoris and that ex-fiance of yours."
The invitation was one Hanako might have considered years ago, but things were very different once she settled into her routine. The deal she had with the Ootori family patriarch wasn't a bad one, and it ensured her education and her company's return as long as she did what was required of her. As for Takashi, well, that was a very recently closed book. Regardless of the details, Hanako enjoyed the host club. She loved seeing her godbrothers every day, and she wouldn't dream of leaving Mitsukuni or Tamaki behind. "I'm quite content at Ouran, thank you," she dismissed Chizuru's suggestion good naturedly.
The two models continued to walk through the campus, enjoying the good weather and each other's company while they had the time to spare. While walking through a different garden, Hana spotted a familiar face in a group of girls wearing the Lobelia uniform. Nana looked quite plain without the jewels and designer clothes on her, but she was unmistakable as she chatted with her schoolmates. Chizuru noticed Hana's silence and saw that the girl had become distracted by Nana's presence at the school.
"Have you done any work with Nanami?" Chizuru asked, summoning Hana from her reverie.
The body guard nodded, her expression quite stern as she removed her attention from the blonde girl surrounded by other students. "Once, briefly," Hana replied vaguely. She made a mental note of the name Chizuru used to address the rising model, noticing that it was different than her professional name.
"She's a first year student at Lobelia from a yakuza family," Chizuru informed her friend, confirming the suspicions that Hana had been considering.
Hana raised a delicately sculpted brown in question, "I wasn't aware yakuza daughters attended Lobelia." From what she knew, Lobelia had even stricter admission policies than Ouran due to the nature of their school's reputation. They placed the most emphasis on a moral lifestyle of all the schools in the area.
"Well, Nanami's a special case," Chizuru said, casting a long look in the girl's direction. "She was top of her audition group in theater, dance, and song. The school hasn't had such talent since Benibara's audition."
"Impressive," Hana remarked, sounding anything but.
"She's an ideal for femininity and innocence," the fair haired model continued in complete admiration of the first year student. Hana thought back to the interactions she had shared with Nana during their photoshoot, and she couldn't help but think that there was something much darker lurking beneath the cute, innocent exterior that Nana presented to the world.
"I'm surprised, Chizuru. You're neither naïve nor superficial enough to believe that." Hanako's knowing gaze turned to her friend, and Chizuru's cheeks took on a pleasant rosy complexion as she blushed prettily.
"Nanami's had a difficult life that none of us could imagine," she said seriously in defense of her schoolmate. "I would say that she's allowed to have some rougher qualities, wouldn't you?" the challenge in her voice wasn't lost on Hanako, and the security guard hummed thoughtfully but didn't provide an answer. There was something about Nana that rubbed Hanako the wrong way, and it seemed that the more she found out about this girl, the more cautious she felt she should be.
She escorted Chizuru to the theater and promised to watch her performance before taking her leave. As the first day of the cultural exhibition came to a close, Hanako felt utterly drained by everything that had happened.
{OR}
The second day of the cultural exhibition went much more smoothly. Hanako had fulfilled her promise to Chizuru and taken some time out of her schedule so that she could watch her friend's performance. She thought it was a beautiful commentary on gender expression and the roles of young women in society, but she didn't stick around for the other performances from other schools or students. With her fans occupied by the exhibition, she was able to get much more work done, and by the end of the day, she was able to formally thank all of the security teams for their cooperation and mean every word that she said.
The crowd of security leaders from other schools trickled out of the conference room now that their jobs were done, and there were a few who lagged behind. The stern looking older man who had spoken out the day before regarded her with cold eyes for a moment before his entire face broke into a smile and he extended his hand to her, "You're doing good work, Negida-san, your father would be proud." The men behind him nodded in agreement, and Hana smiled back as she shook his hand.
"Thank you. I apologize for being so harsh yesterday," she said, recognizing that she may have let her bad mood get to her.
The officers started shaking their heads. "Don't apologize for doing your job," their spokesperson said to her. "It's us who owe you an apology for how we conducted ourselves. It's an honor to have worked under your leadership." They bowed to her respectfully, and she returned the gesture. A spark of pride danced in her chest as she locked up the conference room and made her way to the music room. After two very long days of work and a successful event, Hanako was in perfect shape for whatever the host club could throw at her. She passed the officers of the zuka club pirouetting down the hallway, and she felt some tension leave her, knowing that she wouldn't have to deal with Benio any more.
She hoped that the president of the zuka club hadn't given the hosts too hard of a time in her absence. The boys tended to make fools of themselves, and she would hate if they gave Benio any ammunition against them. Her worry for her friends quickly faded once she actually stepped into the club room. There was genuinely nothing in the world that could have prepared her for the sight before her. Each of the boys was in an outrageous costume that wasn't fit for anything other than an on stage production of an Shakespearean play, and even that was a stretch.
Each of the boys with the exception of Takashi wore a floor length ballgown complete with long wigs and full faces of makeup.
"Hana-chan, do you like my dress?" Mitsukuni skipped up to her in a cute pink dress with a matching bow in his hair and on Usa-chan's ear.
Amusement and love welled up in Hanako as she took in the sight of them. They certainly were a bunch of idiots, and she had no idea what had spurred them to dress as princesses for the day, but she knew without question that it was out of a place of love that they did.
"It's a lovely dress, Honey-nee," Hanako indulged the older student before the twins spun up to her in poorly executed twirls.
"Whose makeup looks better, big sis?" the twins asked her in higher pitches that they couldn't seem to get just right.
"Kaoru's," she said without missing a beat and throwing her arms over their shoulders with a wicked grin. "This reminds me of when we were little kids and your mom would dress you two up as girls…"
Her memory prompted Kaoru to slap his hand over her mouth to silence her as Hikaru ducked under her arm and broke character, "Shut up! Sis, don't bring that up!" Her energetic godbrother protested vehemently as she snickered behind Kaoru's hand, and the younger twin blushed bright red in embarrassment. The trio was so immersed in their play fighting that they didn't notice how Haruhi was observing them, Hanako in particular. Kyoya's personal assistant interacted with the club members so happily and freely that Haruhi couldn't help but feel a sense of family when all of them were in the room together. Something told her that she wouldn't be able to find that sense if she joined another club in some other school.
Hanako escaped from her godbrothers after thoroughly teasing them for their costumes before finding her usual place at Kyoya's side. "Is that my fan?" she asked Kyoya playfully, her eyes glittering with laughter at the sight of his maternal costume.
"As a matter of fact, it is," the shadow king said to her. He snapped the fan shut in his palm and turned towards the dressing rooms, his interest in what was happening around him waning, "Help me get this makeup off, would you? My face feels heavy."
Hana followed him to the back rooms without hesitation, "That's because you let an amateur put it on you. Was it Tamaki? Kaoru's much better at this, you know."
"Actually, it was Honey-senpai," he replied mildly, gathering his skirts as he sat on one of the stools in front of the grand mirror. He reached behind his head and unclipped the long ponytail from his hair while she searched through the cabinets. "I don't know how you and the twins wear this stuff all the time."
Hanako retrieved a bottle of makeup remover and some cotton pads. "And you think I'm the one who gives in to him too easily," she teased and reached out to his face. "A professional hand makes all the difference. Besides, we only wear it for work."
Kyoya stiffened when her cool fingertips brushed against his skin as she removed his glasses from his face. His expression didn't change as she pocketed his lenses in her jacket and tilted his face up by his chin to get a better look at the makeup caked on his face. He was in much better shape than the others, and Hana assumed that he had scared Mitsukuni out of using any bright colors. She started by brushing a damp cotton pad across his jawline, and he watched her face as she carried out her work intently.
Kyoya's uncovered face was nothing new to Hanako. They had known each other their entire lives, long before he started to wear the delicate frames. He had always been a handsome child. It was actually quite clear early in all of their childhoods that they would grow to be beautiful adults. Hanako knew that Kyoya considered his glasses to be a selling point for him, and she wouldn't say he was one to hide behind the lenses. On the contrary, he seemed to recognize that he was just as handsome with them on as he was without them. Vulnerable wasn't the right word to describe him without his glasses. Raw, she thought, suited him better. Unfiltered was, ultimately, the best word for his appearance without them.
The frames seemed to soften the intensity of his expression, and without them on his face, he looked colder and less approachable. Not that his resting face ever bothered Hanako. Kyoya carried a confidence that very few others possessed. He knew his place in the world, embraced it, and challenged it appropriately. It was one of the things she admired about her employer. Even in drag with a face full of makeup, there was no insecurity, no doubt in his own greatness.
She gently wiped the purple-hued lipstick from his lower lip, and the memory of how his mouth slanted against hers flashed through her mind. Her breath caught, and his gaze met hers steadily, challenging her to say or do something the proved the incident between them was still on her mind. She doubled her resolve and continued to work on removing the product from his face in silence. They had an agreement between them, and she wasn't going to break it.
She finished thoroughly cleaning his face and inspected it again for any lingering traces of makeup. Satisfied with her work, she leisurely returned the makeup remover to Kaoru's designated makeup cabinet. "Thank you, Hanako," Kyoya voiced, leaning towards the mirror to fix his hair that had lost shape due to the heavy extensions. She returned to his side with a small smile that he could see in the mirror, holding out his glasses to him. He turned to take them from her, ignoring the softness of her palm as he did. "I'm going to change," he announced. "You can wait outside, I'll meet you there when I'm ready."
"Of course," she responded. The ease of falling into their dynamic comforted Hana, and her playfulness returned like the sun emerging from behind the clouds on a dreary day. "Can you manage with those strings, Miss Ootori?"
Kyoya's lips turned up in a smirk, and his gaze caught Hana's before he pulled the curtain closed behind him, "I think I can handle removing a dress, Hanako." She could hear the subtle banter in his tone, and she ducked out of the dressing rooms with an unwanted warmth creeping up her neck at the double entendre.
When she returned to the other hosts, Hikaru and Kaoru caught their godsister's pink ears peeking out from under her dark locks. Suspicious and playful, they circled around her like tabby cats. "Hey, sis," Kaoru drew out the questioning lilt, "where's Kyoya?"
"He's changing into his uniform," she answered impassively, much to her godbrothers' disappointment. It wasn't often that they were able to get a real rise out of her those days. She knew all their tricks, and she went out of her way to discourage them from turning their mischief on her.
"Do you have a rash?" Hikaru tagged in suspiciously, brushing her hair away from her burning neck.
"Maybe I'm allergic to the makeup remover we have in stock," she said without missing a beat. The twins pouted at her refusal to give them any acknowledgment as her flush darkened against her porcelain complexion.
"Hanako, is the car ready?" Kyoya called, already dressed in his school uniform.
"Yes," she answered back. Smiling at the brothers' annoyed faces, she bid them good bye and found her place at Kyoya's side. The twins frowned at their backs as Hana and Kyoya left the club room. Something had definitely happened at the villa.
{OR}
Kyoya and Hana fell into their normal pattern once they returned home for the day. They went into their separate rooms and completed their end of the day routines before meeting in Kyoya's room to work. She made his coffee for him the way that he liked it, and he reviewed the invoice for the Black Onion's security consultation services.
Their interactions were almost like transactions, but over the past two years, their little exchanges had forged an understanding and repaired some of the friendship that had been lost between them. They worked well together, and it was no surprise. After all, Akina had taught Kyoya everything she knew about running a business. His father had always told him that Akina Negida was one of the most intelligent women he had ever met, and Kyoya had admired her greatly. She taught him to be meticulous with his work and how to see the shortcuts that nobody else could see. While Hanako might have inherited her mother's good looks, Akina's cunning hadn't passed to her, and she often counted on Kyoya to make up for what she lacked.
They finished working not long after half past twelve, an early night for the two of them considering that they were managing the online auction page and managing the Black Onion's account. Hanako had just changed into her pajama shorts when her phone started buzzing on her violet sheets. Kaoru's name flashed on the screen, and she considered leaving it alone. She could let it go until the call went to her voicemail. After all, everything was fine and there wasn't anything to talk about. The twins were just being royal pains, and that was nothing new. She was on top of her duties for the club. She and Kyoya had just completed a night of work. Everything was going perfectly. It would be more strange if she didn't pick up. Kaoru's name continued to flash, and she growled in defeat as he snatched the phone off the bed and answered.
"Hello?" she greeted. Right, nothing was changing.
"What happened at the beach house?" Kaoru demanded without hesitation, his voice pouring from her phone urgently and shattering Hanako's previous thoughts.
{OR}
A/N... I wonder what it's like having a regular update schedule and keeping to a consistent writing plan. I promise this whole story is mapped out. I just have to actually write it all, haha.
What do you guys think happened between Hikaru and Hanako in the past?
Next time: A talk. Kaoru gets to the bottom of what happened at the villa.