Hana leaned back on the railing in front of Haruhi's doorstep the way she always did when the two of them met outside of Hsost Club activities. The early November gust carried wisps of her long dark hair with it, and she only tucked the pieces behind her ear while the rest of it danced behind her. This autumn had not yet surrendered to the impending winter's howling winds or freezing cold. The young security guard donned only her suit jacket in the cool air. Haruhi opened the door promptly at their meeting time, and Hana averted her gaze from the overcast sky. Haruhi wore a loose, knit cardigan over her shirt and clipped her bangs back with pink barettes.
"Good morning, Haruhi," Hana greeted, smiling kindly as the brunette locked the front door.
"Hey, senpai. Thanks for coming with me today, but I'm not planning on getting too much. I should be alright to do my grocery shopping alone."
Hana lifted herself from her perch and started down the stairs in step with Haruhi, "I have no doubt about that. The truth is Kyoya's assigned me to you for today."
Haruhi looked to her friend in surprise, "Huh? What for? I didn't think that he could do that."
"It's not as uncommon as you would think," Hana laughed with a touch of reverence on her face. It had escaped Haruhi how much Hanako genuinely admired her employer. Their partnership was as typical to her as the Host Club was starting to be, and so many of Haruhi's questions were forgotten with the time that she spent with all of them. Still, as much as the picture of Hanako Negida cleared for her, there was still so much that she didn't really know about the Host Club's third founding member. "He likes to send me after Tamaki and the others when he doesn't feel like wasting time looking for them himself."
Haruhi pictured Kyoya sending Hanako on expeditions after the mischievous twins and ostentatious club president. It seemed like just another chore to her, but Hanako didn't look bothered by the task at all. Despite all of the protests she heard from Hana throughout her time as a host, Haruhi had never heard her complain about her responsibilities. The girl's mood soured as she compared the observation to the men of their club who complained about anything and everything.
"That still doesn't explain why you're here, senpai," Haruhi pointed out.
Briefly, Hanako's eyes glinted with something hard and protective, and a memory of green snake eyes flashed in her mind. "After the Lobelia incident, we decided that we would both feel better if someone had eyes on you," Hana informed her without giving away so many details.
They arrived at the grocery store, and Hanako quickly surveyed the room. Headcount. Exits. Shelter. Blind points. Check, check, check, check, and check. It was a slow hour, and Hana started to realize from similar shopping trips with Haruhi that the other girl preferred going in the morning before other shoppers could get the best produce. Haruhi picked up a basket, and Hanako gently touched Haruhi's wrist, keeping her fingers outstretched for the handles, "Allow me."
"Aw, you don't have to do that." They weren't at school, and Hana usually treated Haruhi like an equal rather than someone who needed to be catered to. Their relationship wasn't quite as defined and fluid as Hana's relationships with the other hosts, but it was getting there. They were two polite young women who took pride in their work and bonded over their shared after school curricula.
"I know, but I don't know the merchandise as well as you do, and I'm happy to help while I'm here."
Haruhi recognized that her offer wasn't made out of a sense of duty, and she gratefully passed the basket to her senior. It wasn't as strange as Haruhi thought it would be to have a personal guard. Hana's presence felt completely natural as they perused the shelves together. While Hana had a better grasp on commoner living than their friends, she was no expert. Haruhi realized that Hana made up for what she didn't know with respectful questions and a genuine, quiet interest in learning. The girl with inky black hair learned quickly, and she memorized Haruhi's favorite brands with ease.
Haruhi wondered if this was what it was like for Kyoya. Obviously, Hana's dynamic with the Shadow King was completely different, but Haruhi thought that Hana softened some of Kyoya's harshness in a way different than Tamaki did. In Haruhi's eyes, Tamaki was like a golden retriever, and Kyoya was like the father who didn't want a dog in the first place but reluctantly came to love him. Hanako, however, was like that gentler side of Kyoya that he hid from the world. She reflected that side of him with genuineness and brought it out in him. Haruhi was sure that if she asked, Kyoya would attribute his order to Hana as an asurance that Haruhi would be able to pay off her debt. She knew, however, that they decided to have Hana leave his side temporarily because they worried about her.
They were in the meat section, and the basket was barely full. Haruhi reflected on how nice it was of Kyoya to assign his personal guard to her for a day while she and Hana browsed the section. "I'm starting to see why you stick with these guys," Haruhi said, comparing the price tags on two different cuts.
"It shouldn't be surprising to you at this point," Hana replied with a deep thoughtfulness in her gaze. "They're all incredible people."
Haruhi nodded in agreement. She never thought that it was a statement she would agree with when this mess started. She pegged them as rich bastards who were so out of touch with reality that they only cared about money and themselves, and while it was true to an extent, Haruhi learned that the Host Club wasn't as shallow as they first appeared. "Yeah, but it's more than that," Haruhi put down both of the cuts and turned to face Hana fully. "It's clear that the Host Club has been through a lot as individuals, but you've been through really difficult things as a group, too."
The observtion was one that escaped many people who came through those french doors. Most either missed it or chose to ignore it, because acknowleding the truth somehow broke the spell over Tamaki's kingdom. They came to the Host Club to leave their worries behind. Within those walls, they were just boys and girls with too much time on their hands. They couldn't all handle being more than that. "You're right," Hanako agreed softly.
Haruhi gazed openly at the other girl. Hanako was beautiful, and that almost went without saying. Haruhi never felt intimidated by Hanako's appearance, rather it was the intensity of her aura that most moved the shorter girl. Hana felt deeply and acted wisely. Her outbursts were never without reason, and while she could be childish at times, her maturity outshined any lapses of her comportment. There were such few things that Haruhi really knew about Hanako. She worked two jobs as a full time student. She loved the Host Club with all of her heart and soul. She lost her mother and father to violence and sickness. She spent every day in the presence of her ex-fiance. She knew Ouran's cruel underbelly intimately.
"How do you do it?" Haruhi asked suddenly. Hanako regarded her with a question in her eyes. "How do you handle everything as well as you do?"
Ah. The wistful smile that came onto Hana's face surprised Haruhi. It aged Hana terribly. She could have been reflecting on hundreds of past lives with that smile. As melancholy as it was, Haruhi could see an appreciation as vast and deep as the ocean in hues of gold and caramel.
"Well, Haruhi, I suppose it's because of them…"
{OR}
On the day of the Host Club's first meeting in Music Room 3, Hanako opened a slim black padfolio for the first time. Kyoya special ordered it. The binding was shiny black leather, and the sterling silver clip on the right side glinted in the light. Nothing had been written on the first page of the notepad under the clip yet, and the pages were smooth and unmarred. A clean slate. She heard the doors open, and her head snapped up to greet the last arrivals. Butterflies flapped delicate wings in her stomach and flew up to her throat.
The boys standing in the doorway froze completely when they saw her. Suddenly, the cavern between felt like a crack, and they were too close too quickly. Amber melted over her and encased her, and they swam in a sea of caramel with no start or end. She snapped out of the reverie first, and their eyes widened in surprise at how much that hurt. "Please, come in," she invited them cordially.
Hikaru marched in first, pushing past Hanako when he did and shoving her shoulder with his. Kaoru trailed after him tentatively, casting small looks back over his shoulder at the girl watching them walk away. The confidence he built up to open that door crumbled with Hikaru's sudden bad mood. They both knew that they would see her that day, but none of them considered how hard it would be to move past the damage that was done.
"You came!" Tamaki's voice reverberated through the hollow in Hana's chest, filling it with his enthusiasm. Hikaru and Kaoru passed their eyes over the room critically. Some furniture had been brought out onto the main floor, but they were mostly still covered in protective fabrics. They saw Haninozuka sitting on an uncovered chaise, kicking his feet up and down while bouncing his pink rabbit on his lap. At the window, Morinozuka leaned against the sill with his arms crossed and gaze lowered. The twins wrinkled their noses at him and stood closer together until they resembled a single form. "I'm so glad you all made it! This is going to be so much fun. I know it doesn't look like much yet, but Hanako and Kyoya think it could be a proper sitting hall by the end of the week! You all know each other, right? We could probably skip the introductions."
The only one in the room completely oblivious to the awkwardness was Tamaki. The twins eyed the third years warily, like wounded beasts cautious of a rival pack. Mitsukuni stared into Usa-chan's beaded eyes, fully aware of the brothers' reservations and guilty at how deserving he and Takashi were of the ire. Takashi let the waves of their distrust and anger wash over him like hot water, scorching but bearable. Not so far away, Hanako pulled cloth after cloth from the newly delivered tables, trying to keep herself busy and away from the young men gathering at the front of the room.
Kyoya emerged from the plain white door at the very back of the music room. He noted the tension immediately and joined them with his social smile in place. "Hanako," he said in passing, "we've received the tableware. Would you please go unpack the boxes in the kitchen while we all get to know each other better?"
"Yes, sir," she answered rigidly in a toneless voice reserved for the workplace. The girl garbed in black and white disappeared behind the door, and the young men were left alone. Once the door was closed behind her, Hikaru turned his anger onto the smiling blond standing in the center of the circle they unintentionally formed around him.
"This was a mistake," his gravelly voice sounded. Kaoru started, and the cousins finally looked up. Hikaru turned to leave. He had every intention of walking back out that door when he heard Tamaki.
"Hey, wait!" Tamaki's exuberance faded. In place of the boundless energy that was there moments ago stood a solemn young man with nothing but understanding in his violet eyes. "We all knew that this was going to be difficult, but we're here for a reason, right?"
That stopped him. Hikaru and Kaoru came of their own volition. Something he said to them earlier resonated with them. He was the first person to figure out the game. Tamaki found the hidden code that they built in all those years ago. He played, and he wasn't afraid to lose and keep trying.
"You must really miss her," Tamaki turned his light to each of them. The sadness in the room sank into his heart, and he could have wept for them. "She's all alone, isn't she? I know that I don't know her as well as all of you do, but she needs you right now, even if she doesn't show it."
His words carved themselves into every one of the young men he gathered for this purpose, and they would remember what he said for the rest of their lives.
"Maybe if we work together like this, we can make her happy again. So, what do you say?" He fell silent and gave them time to consider what he offered them. Their relationships were splintered and broken. They were torn apart and thrashed about by life, and they all made decisions that they weren't proud of. The twins hadn't done anything to deserve the way she weeded them from herself, but they wanted just as badly as anyone else to be back at her side.
Mitsukuni was the first to speak up, "It wasn't fair of me to kick Hana-chan out of the Karate Club when she was having a hard time." The remorse in his squeaking voice weighed on them as he admitted how he wrongfully chose a false image of himself over someone he called a friend.
"I want to stay," Kaoru's quiet admission caused his brother's head to whip back. Hikaru gazed at his brother in disbelief. After what these guys did to her? What she did to the two of them? There wasn't any way this would work. They'd have to forgive Haninozuka and Morinozuka for abandoning her when she needed them. They'd have to accept Ootori after taking her away from them. They'd have to let go of the pain she inflicted on them by cutting them away.
"Kaoru, what are you saying?" he demanded of his more reserved twin. Hikaru wasn't sure they were ready for that, but Kaoru saw straight through to the part of him that wanted so badly to be.
"I know you do, too," Kaoru voiced what the smallest voice in Hikaru's heart was saying, and his older brother fell silent. Hikaru's eyes flickered to Tamaki and Kyoya, and they read how hesitant he was to trust them.
"As long as I stay, so will she," Kyoya told them coolly, "and I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice but to stay." His name was on the club's activation paperwork, after all. Tamaki didn't say a word. It wasn't his place at this critical point. He was still new to this group of people who had known each other for their entire lives, and nothing he said could amount to what the others had to say.
Hikaru held Kyoya's stony gaze. He was looking for something to prove that Kyoya doubted this would work. He needed validation for all of his fears and skepticism, but he found none. Finally, Hikaru Hitachiin relented, "I'm in."
Tamaki perked up immediately, "Marvelous! Come, I'll give you all the tour!"
The five of them followed this princely character into a magic kingdom that they never thought they would see. It was a conversation that Hanako never heard and still didn't know about, but it changed the course of her life.
{OR}
There was a day long before the Host Club's inauguration when Hanako strode through the halls of Ouran Academy alone. She was a solitary figure dressed in black and white walking against a pastel colored school. She ignored the probing eyes and curious whispers that followed her and continued on her way. It was the first September of her budding friendship with Tamaki and Kyoya. She searched through the halls for the golden haired prince, and when she couldn't find him indoors, she made her way to the rest of the grounds.
He bumped into her in the hedge maze in the southern courtyard, and he yelped in surprise before deflating with relief. "Hanako! I'm so glad to see you. I thought nobody would ever find me here, and I'd become a wandering spirit trapped to navigate this maze for all eternity!" His rambling brought up a thought. "Hey, wait a minute. What are you doing here?"
"Kyoya-sama sent me to find you," she replied simply. They noticed that Tamaki had not joined them during the midday break, and Kyoya predicted that the buffoon managed to get lost on his own property. He was absolutely correct. "Allow me to escort you back to the homeroom." Her invitation was as gallant as it was obligatory, and Tamaki followed closely on her heels as they walked back to the main building.
Hana was the type who kept her cards close to her chest, and despite how much he was learning about Japanese life and culture from her, Tamaki still didn't know her very well. He knew, of course, what everyone else knew about her, but he didn't know her as her own person. "Hey, Hanako, we've been friends for a while now. Do you mind if I ask you about yourself?"
She continued to take even steps on the path. "What would you like to know?"
Her simple response surprised him. For all her mystery, he thought she would be more secretive. Yet, she offered without hesitation. He wanted to know everything. He wanted a friend who he could talk to about anything and everything, but he thought that it wouldn't be much of a conversation if he said that. "Well, for starters, do you have any siblings?"
"Not by blood."
"What does that mean?"
"I was very close to the Hitachiin brothers when I was growing up," she elaborated. "Our mothers were very close, and I consider them family."
He knew about her mother's untimely demise, and his heart ached for her before it hurt for itself. "That's sweet," he said in a heartfelt voice. "I wish I had siblings. Tell me about them?"
"I'm not so sure that anything I say would be accurate," she admitted. "We've been out of touch recently."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Can you tell me why?"
The regret she felt wrapped around them like a blanket in the early autumn. "We had a falling out when I decided to take the offer that Yoshio Ootori made." He hummed sympathetically. He heard of the deal she struck with Kyoya's father, but he didn't know the details or what it was that brought her to make it.
"What was the deal?" he asked with no sense of propriety but genuinely interested in the way she knew meant he had no ulterior motives behind his curiosity.
Hana looked at him as though the answer should have been obvious. "The one that made me a part of Kyoya-sama's security team." She heaved a heavy sigh, and her delicate shoulders rose and fell with effort as if they were carrying a heavy burden. "I took the deal over a formal adoption into the Hitachiin family."
It was the part of the story that nobody outside the six of them, and now Tamaki, knew. His eyes widened in surprise. "Why did you choose that?" It wasn't the decision anyone else would have come to, and he couldn't think of a reason why she would have picked a life of labor over one of extravagance.
"I am a Negida," she stated factually. The wind blew and moved her long ponytail with it, and they stopped in place. She carried herself with a pride Tamaki had never seen before from any of their peers. "The legacy I inherited from my parents is a set of principles synonymous with my name. I'm going to earn my right to sit in my father's chair, and I'm going to make everything right again when I get there."
Her determination illuminated her features, and Tamaki watched in complete awe of the person before him. "The distance between my brothers and I is my own fault," she continued. "When everything happened, I couldn't think of a better way to keep them from the fallout, but it's too late, now. The way things are now, it'd be improper for someone in my station to have the same relationship with them, and if I'm being honest, I don't want to make things worse. The important thing is that they have each other."
The sadness he saw on her features brought tears to his own eyes, and he wondered what it would be like to have a sister like her whose love for her brothers brought her to sacrifice that very relationship to protect them from the backlash of an unforgiving world. He saw her more clearly in that moment, passing through the northern gardens. The chrysanthemums were in full bloom, and the gold in their petals echoed the caramel of her eyes.
"I see now," he acknowledged with complete understanding. "You're a chevalier disguised as a beautiful girl."
She hadn't understood what he meant, and they continued walking together, getting to know one another better than they had before. By the time they returned to their home room, Tamaki knew about her failed engagement, the canyon between her and her brothers, and her dismissal from the Karate Club. When they returned to their desks, an idea stirred his hyperactive mind.
{OR}
Before Hanako struck that fate deciding deal with Yoshio Ootori, she faced the ugly underbelly of Ouran Academy's elitist culture. The day that she returned to school after her father's hospitalization, she was met by a completely different face than the one she knew. Hanako Negida of Ouran Academy's middle school, class 2-A, wore her brown uniform like any other student. She expected some disruption of the norm but nothing like what she found.
When she arrived at her desk, she smelled the rot before seeing what was done. Slime covered green onions filled the inside of her desk, and the surface was littered with magazine and newspaper covers depicting how her father was rushed to the hospital. Failed suicide attempt, they claimed. No, heart attack read others. The whispers around her felt like screams. Stiffly, she bunched the paper in her hand and used them to grab the rotting onions. After cleaning out her desk, she sat in her chair and endured the hisses and quiet laughter until the mid-day recess came. The clocktower rang out, and she was free.
The whispers followed her through the halls, like smoke following a fire. The chatter never ceased, and when she received her lunch in the dining hall, she searched out for one of her many friends who would make the chatter feel less loud. Her eyes fell on Seika Ayanokoji, a senior of hers in the same class as Takashi and Mitsukuni. Seika was one of the girls who Hanako considered to be a friend. She took Hanako under her wing when she came to the middle school, and Hana thought that they were close. She approached the table, and the girls who surrounded Ayanokoji looked up at her with distress. In that moment, their loyalties were challenged, and the flock waited to decide who they needed to follow.
"Seika-senpai," Hanako started with a small smile, "how was your holiday?"
The girl with dark red hair lifted her blue-gray eyes slowly and held Hanako with cold disinterest. As if on cue, the girls around Seika promptly ignored Hanako's presence entirely, and Seika didn't bother to whisper when she spoke, "Did you hear that? I can't believe she used my first name."
"That's way too familiar."
"Doesn't she know how improper that is?" Murmurs of agreement spread like wildfire among the girls who still wore their hair in high pigtails, and the shift in power began. The gravity that drew them to Hanako Negida disappeared, and they floated to the next best thing. Seika wasted no time in claiming the empty spot as queen bee in the Ouran hive.
She laughed regally at Hanako's humiliation, and the black haired girl stood there and took it with her hands balled in tight fists at her sides. Seika brought her gaze back to Hanako, too intentionally for it to have been anything but planed. "Oh, you're still here?" she sneered. "You're an eyesore, go away. It's bad enough that you're clinging to Morinozuka-kun, but you thought you could use me to stay relevant, too?"
No, that wasn't the case. Hanako had been in search of support, but it was clear that the very root of the rot was none other than the company she kept. They didn't give her the chance to defend herself. "We all see you for what you are," Seika continued. "You're just a gold digger from a second rate family."
The dining hall erupted into jeers; not because they found it funny, but because they meant to please Ayanokoji. There was only a few handfuls of students who didn't laugh. Hanako wasted no time searching for allies in the throng. She turned sharply on her heel and strode out of the dining hall, forcing herself to maintain a measured pace.
As soon as the doors swung shut behind her, her steps turned brisk. Hot tears of angry humiliation blurred her vision, and she made her way up to the bathroom on the third floor where nobody ever went. She slammed the door closed behind her and banged her fist on the marble counter before turning the valve so the water rushed over the memory of whispers trailing after her. She didn't care to mourn the loss of friends who cared so little for her, but the betrayal stung nonetheless. Her father was in the hospital. Her mother was dead. She just accepted an arranged marriage. She still had school with these people. The knife in her back twisted deep into her heart, and her breathing grew ragged. Her cries turned into sobs which became gasps as she fought against the rising panic squeezing her lungs.
Then, there was a knock on the door.
Hana held her breath and splashed water on her face to hide her tears. If the door opened, she wouldn't be caught in this moment of weakness. She wouldn't be humiliated further.
"Inhale." Her body relaxed as Tachibana's voice sounded just outside the door. She drew in a deep breath through her nose. "Exhale." She released the breath through her lips. "Breathe slowly, Negida-hime." She did. "Feel the floor under your feet and the water on your hands."
The world spinning wildly around her stilled as she grounded herself. Her breathing evened, and Tachibana remained on the other side of the door. The ever present shadow took his post outside the girls' bathroom, barring off anyone who may have tried to interrupt his ward's moment of peace.
"Throughout your life, it has been my duty to protect you from all those who wish harm upon you and your family." The man who knew Yuudai the longest of all the people she knew as his friends spoke emotively. "Until this point in your life, the wolves in sheep's clothing around you have been too afraid of you to show their true colors. This is temporary, Hanako. They know you're wounded, and that is why they're striking now. You know this strategy. They think they've attacked a lamb separated from the herd, but they don't realize that they've attacked the mightiest hunter. Hold your head high and don't waste your tears on those who don't deserve them."
{OR}
Hanako wasted her tears on very few people. She saved that honor for the people who mattered most to her in the world. Takashi Morinozuka became a very precious person to her. Their fathers worked closely together, and their families shared similar ideologies. Before their engagement was ever arranged, the two of them were already on their way to building a relationship all their own. Yuudai invited the Morinozuka patriarch to the Negida estate, and while the two of them discussed a possible arrangement, Takashi took long strides towards the rose garden for a rendezvous with Hanako. The gardens at Negida Manor were exquisite. Kazuha Hitachiin insisted on gifting them the selections when the newlyweds built their home, and her taste in flowers was extraordinary.
Takashi followed the winding path towards the tall hedges. The rose bushes grew along white arches and long panels. Waiting for him in the shade was a black haired princess who had laid out a blanket and buried her nose in a book. She wore her hair in two long ponytails, high on the sides of her head. She immersed herself in the story, and her caramel irises flickered from one side of the page to the other. They were starting to come into themselves at this point. The line of Hanako's jaw slimmed, and the roundness of her eyes narrowed. She could see over most of the girls in her class, now. Likewise, Takashi shot up like a beansprout. He towered over Mitsukuni, who grew more slowly than he did. His muscles filled in with more definition, and his voice dropped four octaves.
Hanako heard him before she saw him, and when she looked up, Takashi received the most brilliant smile in all Japan. He smiled at her in return, unable to resist the warmth that filled him when her eyes met his, "What are you reading?"
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," she replied in accented English as he settled beside her on the blanket. "Papa said I should read more Western books if I want to go to a school abroad one day. It doesn't make any sense, but it's fun. Are you planning on staying long?"
Negida Manor seemed more quiet than it had been for a very long time. The chatter from invasive reporters didn't rise around them. The stillness around them brought peace, but it would have been his Eden even if they were still there. "I'll stay as long as you want," he answered.
She laughed freely, tilting her head back. Her eyes glittered joyfully in the light. "If that's the case, then you're never going to leave."
A slow smile came onto his face, completely content with staying with her in this garden for the rest of their lives, "That's fine by me."
"Mitsukuni-nii is going to find us here, and we'll just live here forever. Aijima made snacks," she said, turning to the side and lifting up a delicate basket full of pastries and finger food. She passed him the basket and picked her book back up. They sat together in silence under the gentle warmth of the sun with the fragrance of fresh roses surrounding them. He chose a few sandwiches and baked goods and ate them slowly while she read. With his stomach full, Takashi's eyelids dropped lazily, and his head sank onto her shoulder as he drifted into a light sleep.
Hana glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Takashi's long lashes brushed his high cheekbones, and his svelte lips parted slightly with his even breathing. Takashi Morinozuka was one of the most handsome boys that Hanako had ever met, and he only grew into that beauty with age. His boyish good looks evolved into masculine ruggedness. She heard the other girls talking about him, and their jealousy of her closeness with the softspoken kendo champion never went unnoticed. Hana never joined in the hens' gossip, but in these moments, when they were alone, she allowed herself to admire him.
Takashi sensed her gaze on him, and his heavy eyelids slowly lifted. Nimbus cloud eyes peered up at her through his thick lashes, and her met her unguarded caramel gaze. Affection melted the gold flecks in her irises as he woke. "Hi, sleepyhead," she greeted softly. The sound of her voice drew him into the comfort of her presence, and he hummed in contentment. "Are you working too hard at judo practice?"
Sleepy Takashi yawned and covered his mouth with the back of his hand. "No more than you and Mitsukuni do at karate. I'm just comfortable." He shifted and laid his head down onto her lap. She set her book on the ground and ran her dominant hand through his messy hair. Despite the peaks of his hairstyle, the short pieces felt soft through her fingertips. She continued to work out some of the tangles in his hair absentmindedly and raised her face to the sky, watching the clouds pass overhead.
Takashi intertwined the fingers of her free hand with his. His hand had grown, and he could have wrapped his long fingers around her fist easily. When her elegant fingers threaded through his, she filled the spaces perfectly. He moved their joined hands to his abdomen, and the weight settled reassuringly on his diaphragm. As young as they were at the time, Takashi knew he loved her, and he basked in the glow of her love for him, confident that he would marry her one day.
{OR}
The second longest relationship in Hanako's life, besides her connection with the Hitachiins, was with martial arts. The young girl had a third home in the Haninozuka dojo, especially after Akina's death. She was able to work off her anger, fear, and sorrow on dummies and targets. When she lost focus, her sensei brought her back and grounded her. Mitsukuni, despite only being a year older than her, was an excellent teacher. His ability to perceive and understand made it easy for the two of them.
Hanako started training one year after he did, and she was the only person outside of the Haninozuka and Morinozuka families who was allowed in their private dojo. The Negidas had always been students of the Haninozukas, and they excelled in the art. Hanako was no exception to the tradition. She was the first girl in her line to join them, but she practiced the Haninozuka principles of restraint as well as any man. Mitsukuni's prodigious skill propelled him through the lessons faster than she ever managed, but she worked hard until she could hold her own against him.
They were sparring on the mats. Mitsukuni outsped her, but she timed her evasions perfectly. Her movements fell somewhere between instinct and strategy. He held back, but never any more than he did for Takashi. She put her best effort forward. Sweat poured down her hairline and soaked her back, but her eyes were alight with vigor. He struck at her left and she blocked the soft side of her belly with her forearm. When he twisted in the air to kick at her head, she ducked. He knocked her down easily when she lost control of her momentum. Hanako toppled onto the mat, tangled in her own limbs that were growing faster than she could keep up with.
Mitsukuni offered her a hand, and she grasped it. "Good job, Hana-chan," he praised. "Pay more attention to your center of gravity next time." He helped her to her feet, and she wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve.
"Thank you," she bowed before they left the mat and went to their bags.
"You're improving a lot, you know, but you keep over thinking. I got you the last couple rounds on basic awareness things."
She nodded and took the feedback to heart. Mitsukuni's astuteness never went unappreciated. He was a master, and as her friend, he cared about her personal growth as a martial artist. "Thanks. Are you planning to go with Papa and Haninozuka-sama to the United States on their trip?" She stuck her arm in the exercise bag, shifting her clothes aside in search of the water bottle she knew was packed.
"Ah, I dunno. I'm thinking about it, but I don't like how much of a time difference there is," he admitted. Mitsukuni patted down his face with a towel even though he hadn't broken a sweat.
"Fair point." The girl turned the bag over and emptied all of its contents on the floor. Her new middle school uniform fell in a heap followed by a hair brush, deodorant, towel, water bottle, and ribbons. Mitsukuni eyed the cute white kiten print on the pink ribbons she usually tied around her twin ponytails, and Hanako snatched the water bottle and towel. After three good gulps, she spoke again, "I'm curious about the training regimen these guys go through. It might be fun for us to check out."
She caught Mitsukuni staring at the ribbons on the top of her messy pile. Round eyed and fascinated, Mitsukuni clearly wasn't listening to her as he teared up at the cuteness of the accessories. "You can have them if you want."
Her casual offer only worsened Mitsukuni's turmoil, and he squeaked, "No, thanks! I'm not interested." Saying the words visibly pained him, and Hanako didn't believe his lie.
"I really don't need them." She started repacking the bag.
Mitsukuni swallowed thickly. "I'm a Haninozuka man," he asserted, but the words sounded more like a mantra than a conviction. Hanako tied the ribbons into little bows when she came to them, and she extended them to him in her open palm. Mitsukuni looked at them the same way treasure hunters looked at gold.
"Liking cute things doesn't make you less of a man," she stated factually. It was a point of disagreement between Hana's father and Mitsukuni's. Her father collected dainty things, and they both knew how mercilessly Haninozuka-sama teased him for the apparent weakness. Nonetheless, Yuudai would take the teasing in good-faith. He would show off a new teacup in his collection to Mitsukuni and be scolded by the Haninozuka patriarch, but when his friend wasn't looking, Yuu would throw a reassuring wink back in Mitsukuni's direction.
Hanako slipped the bows into Mitsukuni's open hand, and when he went home, he tied those bows to the strap of his practice bag.
{OR}
Wearing ribbons in her hair became Hanako's signature hairstyle in her last year of elementary school. She wore them for a photoshoot with the Hitachiin twins, and she was the center of a perfectly symmetrical scene. The twins liked the ribbons in her hair so much that they kept tying lace trimmings around her pigtails whenever they saw her. It became a style that every girl in Ouran's elementary and middle school started to wear.
Hana used to socialize with the other girls around the fountain in the central courtyard. She would usually sit next to Seika Ayanokoji while other girls flocked around them, and the Hitachiin brothers would sit alone on the opposite side of the fountain. The girls all wore their hair in the same way as Hanako, except Seika, who preferred her hair down.
"The photoshoot you did with your mother this season looked so good!"
"Is that a new ribbon, Hana-chan?"
"You ribbons look so expensive!"
The sweet words they spoke sounded real to her, and she noticed that they all tied ribbons of their own around their pulled up hair. "Imitation is the best form of flattery," Seika whispered behind her hand in Hanako's ear. She drew back and smoothed the skirt of her middle school uniform. "Would you like to join me and some other middle schoolers for tea, Hanako-chan?"
"That sounds nice," she smiled widely at the invitation. "I'd love to get to know some upperclassmen."
"Hanako-chan, you should invite the Hitachiins, too!" one of the girls threw out with a squeal. Hana turned her gaze to the girl, who suddenly felt like she was in the hot seat.
The black haired heiress smiled, but it wasn't quite as wholehearted as the one she offered Seika. "Actually, why don't you invite them? I think they'd like to hear it from you more."
The girl who spoke blanched. The Hitachiin brothers were known for being particularly cold to anyone other than Negida, and she heard stories from other girls who approached them in the past of how they only accepted invitations if the person asking could tell them apart. "Ah, actually, it might be better if this is an all girls tea party."
Hanako 's disappointment dampened her smile significantly, and the girls around her all asked what was wrong, hurrying to correct the other girl's mistake. For their benefit, she pulled another smile and forced a laugh, "No, no, don't worry! Ha ha, I was just remembering that I have to check my schedule before I commit to any plans."
"Oh, that's right!"
"How silly of us."
"You're so popular, Hanako-chan."
They sang her praises easily, and she had no problem soaking up their attention like a flower in the sun. She didn't care so much about how frequently they disappointed her, and she tried not to hold it against them. People deserved second chances, right? Maybe even a third and fourth. Fifth…
{OR}
Most children didn't understand the nature of the society that they were born into. The younger they are, the more ignorant they can be. That was the case for both Hanako and Kyoya Ootori. They met when they were preschoolers. The Ootori family visited the Negidas for dinner, and the two of them were left together under Tachibana's supervision while the adults socialized in the parlor.
Chubby faced Kyoya Ootori took an interest in the paints in Hanako's playroom, and Hanako picked out a doll to play with. She struggled with stubby fingers to dress the doll, and Kyoya smeared nonsense on a canvas in bold colors. They had no interest in each other. Hanako thrived socially in large groups of children, sharing in the excitement of others. When she was alone, she was far more reserved. Kyoya was always quiet, and for a child his age, too thoughtful. They knew so little about what they would inherit, and they were too young to take on the expectations that would eventually fall to them.
"Kyo-chan," Hanako warbled, pushing a white crayon at him "Purple."
"Yeah."
They couldn't even grasp simple concepts.
{OR}
Her parents loved her with all their hearts, and they loved each other with a love so deep that there was no end to it. Every night, before Hana could even walk, Akina Negida carried her only child in her arms and danced in her husband's study to soothe their daughter to sleep. She cradled Hanako's head in graceful fingers and hushed her lovingly through red painted lips. The Negida Manor study was designed so that it catered to the couple's individual tastes. Simple bookshelves in elegant dark wood lined every innermost wall in the room, and the top two rows on each shelf carried nothing but Ginori teacups. The rest of the furniture was an eclectic mix of luxury and modesty, and on three other surfaces sat flower arrangements gifted from Yuzuha's mother.
Yuudai Negida was not a man of extravagant tastes, but he had a fondness for beautiful and dainty things. Ginori were his favorites, and he collected new sets as soon as they were released. Conversely, Akina adored elegant opulence, and while she compromised on the complexity of their interior, she insisted on some grandiosity. The estate that resulted was nothing short of perfection.
Once in while, Yuudai would look up, tired from creating security plans for new clients, and he would gaze upon his wife and daughter. There was nothing in the world that mattered more to him, and he would do everything in his power and anything beyond it for them. Akina had opened the entire world to him, and she introduced him to some of the most important people in his life. Akina adored him just as much. The plain looking man saw into the deepest corners of her very soul and grounded her in a way nobody ever could. His earth brown eyes followed his wife around the room, and when she got to him, she planted a chaste kiss on his lips.
{OR}
Hanako Negida was born in late winter, just before the first signs of spring. The first person to hold her after her parents was Yuzuha Hitachiin, and the woman cried as she realized the incredible journey of parenthood that she and her friends were about to embark on. Her parents named her in honor of Kazuha Hitachiin, who was more of a mother to Akina than Lady Matsura ever was.
There were few days during the year when Kazuha could be found in her stately mansion, but the globetrotter was there to accept Akina into her home on the day that Shiori and Kosuke disowned their only heir. She wrapped her arms around the crying nineteen year old girl and, in an uncharacteristic moment of maturity, shared a Japanese proverb. The moon is often hidden by a cloud, flowers are often scattered in the wind.
Nothing in the world is certain, and misfortune may come in times of great happiness. Flowers may be scattered in the wind, but Hanako Negida's mother and father planted her roots deep into the ground where they tangled with the roots of the plants beside her. The two stems germinating from a single seed were planted with her. Then, the abounding pink camelia and the ephemeral morning glory joined them. The crawling ivy was planted but could't find sunlight until the french oak took root behind them.
So, the wind could blow. The snow could fall, but the garden would always grow again with the next spring.
{OR}
A/N...I couldn't wait to post this chapter. Thank you so much for reading. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm feeling a bit burned out, and next week's update might be the last one for a couple of weeks. I'm still working on the next chapters, but it might take me a bit longer to finish them. I promise I'm going to finish this story, though!
Shoutouts and thank yous for this chapter and the previous one in the next chapter. For now, everyone please be careful if you're going out to celebrate :)
Happy reading and happy Halloween! And if you have any recommendations for romance/comedy/drama anime that came out in the past four years please let me know!
Update 11/01/20: This chapter wasn't viewable after I uploaded it yesterday, please let me know if you can read it now. I genuinely don't know if anyone can see this chapter, Please let me know if it's showing up for you. Thanks!
- Candi