The first time Hanako Negida was invited into Yoshio Ootori's office had been after her father's death. Unlike Yuudai's home office, Yoshio's was cast in shadows by the single antique lamp sitting on his desk. The patriarch of the Ootori family had taken over everything that belonged to the Negidas, and while he was hailed for the power move, he mourned the losses of his two best friends quietly, burying his grief deep in his soul. Everything that made up Spring Onion International, at least, would stand as subsidiaries of the Ootori Group. That only left one more thing.
Yoshio sat across from Hanako, and she thought that he looked far more stern than she ever recalled seeing him. She knew about the custody battle raging behind the scenes, and after an incredibly brief time spent with her grandparents, she was offered a choice.
"I require that you meet certain expectations in order to prove yourself worthy of regaining the assets that I acquired from your father," Yoshio said to her in a solemn voice. She stood straight as a rod with her hands folded behind her back, unmoving and mute as he continued, "First, you will remember that this is a business agreement and must conduct yourself professionally. It is not out of my own kindness or generosity that I'm giving you this chance, Negida-kun. I won't show you any nepotism. Second, you will hold yourself to the same sandards that your parents held themselves to in this role. Tachibana-san will mentor you until you're ready to take his place as commander, and you will earn your place like any other member of the Black Onion Squad."
She nodded in agreement. It was fair, and she couldn't ask any more of him than that. He scrutinized her behind his lenses, "I don't expect perfection from you at the start, but I don't tolerate mediocrity. Lastly, you will remain enrolled at Ouran Academy as a student where you will be assigned to my son, Kyoya. This way, you can complete your education, and I'll have the peace of mind knowing that all of my children are adequately guarded. Can you handle that?"
"Yes, sir," Hanako Negida stated with complete confidence. He nodded with satisfaction, and they made it official. In exchange for the opportunity to join the Black Onion Squad and earn her place in her father's chair, she would continue her education and act as a guard for Kyoya Ootori.
{OR}
It was the spring of her final year in middle school when the deal she made with Yoshio Ootori was enacted. That semester, she severed her ties with the Hitachiin brothers and abandoned the standard Ouran uniform. Whispers followed her wherever she went, laughter, mockery. Everyone knew the story of Hanako Negida, and now, they relished the fact that she had been reduced to an employee of the Ootori family.
They had shown her no mercy when her father fell ill, and they were relentless in their efforts to humiliate her further. Words she had never heard associated with the Negida name became commonplace. Commoner, gold digger… she heard it all. So, by the time of her father's passing, she became desensitized to their ridicule. Nonetheless, as she looked out at the classroom and found twisted sneers and cruel eyes laughing back at her, she balled her fists at her sides. The whispers sounded like a flock of birds, indistinct and insufferable. They had run out of new ideas, and she found their repetition tedious.
Her desk in the 2-A homeroom had been vandalized again. A rotting onion, the crowd favorite, sat on a coverpage displaying the auction of what was the Negida estate. The chatter rose up to a roar as she gazed upon the latest intrusion upon her family's privacy. Then, the onslaught of laughs waned, and Hanako already knew why
"Hey, Kyoya!" their classmates called out to her new employer as soon as he arrived. Such was the fickleness of Ouran Academy's student body. Lineage counted first, wealth a close second. The students took this motto to heart. They indulged the wealthy and distinguished, and they derided the rest. It was a fish tank full of sharks, and only those at the top of the food chain survived. "We just heard, you're at the head of the class again."
"And you're gonna be class rep again." Hanako listened in while she cleaned her desk. It was such a grueling chore, removing the slime and stink from the desk. She had to wrap the rotting stems in the newspaper and carry it to the front of the class where the bin was, and they always watched her every step when she did, jeering like the crowd on the road to Golgotha.
The chatter overlapped, and she found herself listening more and more to the whispers than to the useless flattery thrown Kyoya's way. "Whoa! Look over there it's Kyoya."
"Something smells rotten," a girl's nasally voice commented.
"It must be Negida."
"He looks so handsome!"
"She's as rotten as her fraudulent family." They dissolved into giggles. Hanako let the garbage fall into the can with a thunk. Kyoya passed her, and they didn't acknowledge each other. As far as he was concerned, she was his shadow. There was another part of the school that was somehow just as bad as the worst of them. A handful of students, like Kyoya, took no part in the torment of Hanako Negida. They ignored it. The status quo mattered more than one person. There was no point in getting involved. The food chain was unforgiving, and if the sharks and scum didn't notice you, then your chances of survival were better.
"Hey, Ootori. How'd you like to come visit my family's villa in the mountains?" the son of a funds manager asked in a bold move. If he was rejected, then he'd never live it down. Then, he turned the invitation to the rest of the class, "You guys can come too. It's beautiful up there. You can see so many stars. We even built a small observatory. My father likes to use the villa for vacations so we might see him while we're there."
Hanako didn't care for the boastfulness, and she busied herself with cleaning out the inside of her desk. They were unnecessarily meticulous in their torment. It was more annoying than anything else at this point. "That sounds like a great idea," Kyoya accepted pleasantly with a smile. The boy took notice of the girl whose sleeves were rolled up to her elbows to avoid dirtying the fabric, and she caught the cruel glint in his arrogant gaze, spurred on by the pride of Ootori's acceptance.
"Negida, you can come, too," he said to her. The words were friendly, but the tone beneath them relayed amusement. "It's incredibly safe because our family has a contract with Double Shield, the new number one private security firm in the world. I apologize for the lack of business, I know you need the money, but, hey, you can make it up if you put on a good show for the rest of us."
Kyoya watched the interaction with a blank face. Hanako was stuck in place between the desks, holding slimy, browning onions in her bare hands. She stood toe to toe with the student, and her caramel eyes burned with poorly disguised fury. Her jaw worked slowly, like she wanted to say something but gagged herself with the rules of etiquette and order. "Ootori, do you mind if I borrow her?"
It was a new effort to pull Kyoya in with the faceless crowd – to drag him down to their level. Ever since it was made known that Hanako answered to Kyoya, they made more futile attempts to reel him into their fun. As if an Ootori needed to act out in order to establish his place. He never joined in, but he never held it against them when they did. He maintained his role of the careful observer. Hanako took their classmates' abuse with her mouth set in a hard line and cat-like eyes that promised the worst punishment to come, in time. She never talked back or complained, but she didn't cower.
Negida pushed past the student harassing her with her elbow and shoulder, and that alone caused him to lose his footing. She continued to dispose of the rot. Kyoya regarded his peer coolly, "I seem to recall that Double Shield was founded by a former member of the Black Onion Squad. If memory serves, he was cut from the final one hundred when the Ootori Group assumed Spring Onion International."
It was a clever move on his part. The students wouldn't dare insult the Ootori Group's judgment. Kyoya forced his classmate into a corner without putting his own neck on the line. He wasn't necessarily defending Hanako. He simply posed his criticism as a member of the Ootori family. "Negida is my body guard," he stated curtly with an even expression. "I'm afraid she isn't in a position to be borrowed."
Hanako went through the rest of her day shadowing Kyoya. She had eyes on him in class, during lunch, and through the halls. However, they were never together. They were never close enough for anyone to ever make the mistake of calling them friends. It was strictly professional, and Hanako was just like every other shadow lurking through Ouran Academy. Her day passed by in drawn out monotony, but she didn't mind. Monotony was predictable. Later that afternoon, she returned to Ootori Manor in the same car as Kyoya, driven by Tachibana. They didn't speak a word to each other. She looked out the window on her side of the car, and he looked out of the window on his. When they arrived at the manor, he entered through the main door, and she went in through the kitchen.
She was, certainly, the youngest member of the Ootori family household staff and the only one to permanently reside on the estate. The Ootoris' main house was quiet, and she found the silence defeaning. Her Mary Janes sounded heavy on the pristine white tiles. The off-white walls felt too bare despite the picture frames lining both sides of the long corridors. It felt too modern, too picturesque, and too far from home. She knew about the Ootori family's relationship. It followed the same patterns of most families of the same status. Well-regarded and generally respected, they presented a perfect image, and there was nothing wrong with that. The Ootoris got along well, but the echoes of her heels on the floor couldn't compare to the rambunctiousness of the Hitachiin household. The neutral tones of the house couldn't hold a candle to the warmth and eclectic style of her childhood home.
The suite that she was given adhered to the family's chic tastes, but Hanako couldn't see past the utilitarian function of the space. Besides the pieces of furniture that Madame Ootori picked out for her, the entire room was nearly empty. The monochromatic color scheme did nothing to help. When the room was dark, it felt too dark. When it was lit, it felt too bright. Hanako held on to very few belongings from her previous life as a debutante. Her closet was full of precious few heirlooms left to her by her late parents. She knew that Yuzuha and Yoshio held on to some sentimental reminders of their old friends, but the rest of her inheritance had been sold off after her father's death.
It didn't bother her so much anymore. She had done her mourning, and a part of her knew that the process would never end. All that she could do was move forward, and she had such a steep climb ahead of her. Hanako pulled out the chair at her desk and began her assignments for the day. She found herself flying through her humanities courses, and as soon as she ventured into mathematics or science, her momentum came to a lull. Hanako tapped her pencil against the desk irritably, wondering what it was about numbers that gave her so much trouble. Then, there was a brisk knock on the door, followed by Aijima's voice, "Negida-hime, we've wrapped up for the day."
"You can open the door," she called back, still tapping her pencil to the desk. She heard the doorknob turn from across the room, followed by footsteps. Then, she heard paper rustling beside her and finally gave her colleagues her full attention. The man presented her a small stack of papers, and she regarded him in confusion. "What's this for?"
"These are the reports from throughout the day," Tachibana sounded from the door. "We spoke about this last week. The staff will report anything requiring immediate attention, and we respond to the needs at the end of the day." She had forgotten about the task, and she began tapping the pencil on her notebook.
"Right."
Tachibana took note of the books strewn about on her desk, "I can take care of it, Negida-hime."
The pencil came to a stop between her fingers, and she cast a look at the two men. At the moment, they were her seniors. She had just started within the Black Onion not too long ago, and her father's former teammates were now serving as her guides. They taught her what duties she was expected to fulfill, and in their training sessions, the alpha squad set her up for success. "No," Hanako decided firmly. "Go home to your families. I can manage."
With her attention reverted to her school work, she missed the look of concern shared between the two men. Tachibana nodded to Aijima, indicating that they ought to do as she said. "We'll see you tomorrow, then. If you need anything, Honda's on night duty."
"Don't forget to eat tonight, Negida."
She hummed in response, "Alright. Have a good evening." Then, she was alone again. Hanako flipped through the short stack of papers, knowing that it could have been a much longer list. Still, she found herself annoyed. She had never expected her new tasks to be easy, but she didn't anticipate so many mundane duties to overlap with her schoolwork. She knew that it wouldn't bother her so much if she wasn't saddled with her responsibilities as a student, and she decided that paperwork was better than mathematics. Her momentum picked up again as she switched gears and responded to the requests in the reports.
It was night when she heard a timid knock on her door. This time, Hanako got up and opened the door herself. Fuyumi greeted her with a kind smile. Hanako's interactions with the Ootori family were very limited in these early days of her appointment, and it was the first time that Fuyumi visited her.
"Would you like to come down for dinner?"
Hanako blinked in surprise, "Thank you for the invitation, Ootori-hime, but I'm not hungry. Perhaps another time." It was, of course, a poor excuse, and Fuyumi saw right through it. The maids gossiped, and she knew that neither Hanako nor Kyoya had eaten yet.
"We're having seafood tonight," Fuyumi tried again. "I hope you'll change your mind. I'm sorry it's taken this long. I thought it'd be good to let you settle in, first. I'd like to get to know you better now that we'll be living together." The sincerity in her voice struck a chord with Hanako, and the younger woman reconsidered her initial response. After a moment of hesitation, Fuyumi started again with some sheepishness, "Kyoya's dressers are a mess, and I could use some help cleaning up."
A soft smile came onto Hana's face at the heiress's endearing admission. "I suppose I could take a break."
Hanako left her bedroom and walked down to the dining room with Fuyumi. When they arrived, Hana noticed that there were only three places set at the grand table. She was not taken off guard by the opulent spread. Rather, it was the young man already seated who put her off. He regarded her with disinterested mauve-gray eyes, and she held his gaze until he decided not to say anything. Fuyumi took the chair beside her brother, and Hanako seated herself across from her.
"It's so exciting to have another girl in the house," Fuyumi was saying, continuing with the smalltalk that she began in the hallway. "Kyoya, aren't you going to say hello? Honestly, you act so callous sometimes. Please, forgive him. Sometimes, he's just plain rude."
"I'm sitting right here," he responded in a flat voice. Kyoya Ootori was a completely different person in his own home than he was at school. Hanako wouldn't have been surprised if nobody knew about this version of Kyoya, but he wasn't nearly as good at hiding his indifference as he thought. She remembered his unfeeling eyes observing her as she carried rotting stems across the room, and she averted her attention to her silverware.
"How have your classes been so far, Negida-chan?" Fuyumi asked with interested, bright eyes. "Oh, they've been fine," Hanako lied tightly. "It's quieted down since the school year started, and I've been keeping to myself for the most part." She caught Kyoya's questioning gaze and held it momentarily before looking away. Neither of them mentioned the incident that took place during their homeroom.
"Are you settling in to your room? You can always let us know if anything isn't to your liking. I'm really sorry that we haven't invited you to join us for dinner sooner."
"It's really alright," Hanako assured her. "You've all been generous hosts."
Fuyumi's gaze softened on the well-mannered girl, "It must be difficult for someone your age with so much going on right now."
Hanako took the young woman's sympathy in stride and said, "It hasn't been so bad."
"Have your friends been very helpful?" Hanako recoiled visibly at the question. "They can come visit you at the house if they'd like…"
"I'm not particularly close with any of my schoolmates," Hanako interjected smoothly, not wanting to draw on the conversation.
Fuyumi turned to her brother questioningly, "You and Kyoya should be more friendly now that the two of you are going to spend so much time together."
"Ootori-hime, I appreciate your kindness," Hanako said with the utmost sincerity. "You seem to forget that I'm a member of your family's staff. I'm sorry, this is my own fault. I'm afraid I overstepped my boundaries when I accepted your invitation to dine. My relationship with the Ootori family must remain professional. I apologize for forgetting myself. Please, excuse me."
She collected the place settings before her and disappeared through the doors in the kitchen.
{OR}
"I have a meeting with Tamaki Suoh this morning," Kyoya informed Hanako as their car pulled up to the school's gates the next morning. "He's a new student in our class. There's no reason for you to come along. Feel free to go about your morning on your own, and we'll just meet up again in homeroom."
Hanako acknowledged him simply, "Yes, sir." They arrived on the steps of their campus just before 8 A.M. Hanako got out of the car first and walked around to open the door on Kyoya's side. Then, the two students went their separate ways. Hanako made her way to the middle school, and Kyoya walked in the direction of the administrative building. Hana's route to the middle school passed through a courtyard, under the shade of the cherry trees. It was a quiet morning at Ouran. The students didn't typically linger on the grounds before classes, and Hana enjoyed the moment of solitude, free of the insiduous whispers and invasive eyes following her every move.
Her mood improved considerably when she looked ahead, and all thoughts of her classmates disappeared. He may have been the most handsome young man in the world, framed by the limber trunks of the beautiful trees. He hadn't noticed her coming up yet, and his thick, dark eyelashes swept downward. The high school uniform looked good on him, too. The periwinkle jacket brought out the lighter shades of gray in his eyes, and when he sensed her approach, he slowly lifted his gaze. She smiled at him with full adoration – the picture of a schoolgirl in love.
"Good morning," she greeted, coming to stand beside him. "What are you doing here?"
A graceful smile turned the corners of Takashi's lips, "I wanted to see you before classes start." His eyes swept the path behind her, searching for someone who wasn't there. "Where's Kyoya?"
"He's greeting a new student, so I'm free for a moment." He didn't seem particularly moved by what she said, but for some reason, Hanako thought that he was pleased by her employer's notable absence.
"How are you doing at the Ootori estate?"
"Oh, it's alright," she replied with a shrug. "The Ootoris are a different kind of family than I'm used to, but I'll adjust."
"Is Ootori-kun giving you a hard time?"
She laughed lightly, "No, Takashi, everything's alright. He's not a very exciting person. He's smart and all, but I actually find him pretty dull. It's not so difficult."
He nodded, and a shadow came over his face, like there was something far more serious than her new living situation that he wanted to talk with her about. "There's a rumor going around the high school," he started.
His fiancee stiffened, and she silently listed the various rumors surrounding her name. Some were more horrid than others, and as confident as she was that Takashi knew better than to believe the malicious lies spread about her role at the Ootori household, she feared the impact that such things would have on the gentle giant. "Your classmates vandalize your desk," he said it like a fact, and his knowing stormcloud eyes pierced through her like Zeus's lightning bolt.
"I'm sure the rumors make it sound worse than it is," she said in a tight voice, clearly not wanting to address the series of incidents. "It's not such a big deal."
Her poker face was nothing short of adequate, but it fell far from convincing. Takashi regarded her skeptically, but he didn't say anything more about it other than to remind her, "You can always come to me or Mitsukuni if you need help."
Her smile lightened at his support, "I know."
Takashi relaxed and checked the face of Ouran's clocktower, disappointed with how quickly time flew when they were together. "I have to get to class," he stated. He glanced over her shoulder, scoping the scene around them. It was still quiet, and the two had a moment of complete privacy under the branches of the sakura trees. Takashi leaned forward quickly in a movement that Hanako had not expected, and while she was caught off guard, he pressed his lips against her forehead. The gentle kiss lasted only a second, and he stood back at his full height with a faint dusting of pink along his cheeks.
Without another word, Takashi walked off to the high school campus, and Hanako continued on her way to her homeroom, feeling the glow of a quiet warmth spreading through her body. He never failed to send her heart racing, and it never took much. He showed her a kindness that she thought difficult to come by. Even in a school flooded with gentlemen, there were none quite like Takashi Morinozuka.
Hanako's enamored thoughts came to a stop as she came across a strange sight. Her path brought her to the West Hall, where light filtered in through the pillars and the ceiling arched far overhead. In the soft shadows cast by the morning sun, she set eyes upon a completely frazzled Kyoya crumpled on the ground watching as an energetic blond leapt into the air. For a moment, she questioned the odd scene before continuing down the corridor, decided that it was none of her business.
"Kyoya! My pal! Mon ami! Yahoo!" the accented Japanese sounded enthusiastically. The foreigner didn't notice her pass behind him in his bout of bliss, but she caught Kyoya's gaze in passing. It was the first time that she had ever seen the young man so flustered. She could tell immediately that Kyoya and this Tamaki Suoh were total opposites, and she knew it was nothing more than social pressure that forced them together. A demure laugh escaped her, and Tamaki's boisterous cheers drowned it out.
Kyoya pulled himself back up to his feet, and he suggested that they find their homeroom and continue their tour during the lunch period. Hanako hung back and followed at a far enough distance that Tamaki hadn't noticed her. She could tell that he wasn't used to the watchful presence of a twenty four hour security detail by the way he conducted himself. He'd turn his head towards the shadowy figures pressed along the walls and corners of Ouran's interior, and he watched them turn halls and disappear with interest. She thought that she even heard him mumble quick 'hi's and 'good morning's when he passed.
Upon entering the classroom, Tamaki and Kyoya were greeted by a small crowd. The attention wasn't anything new, but Tamaki basked in the eager efforts to get to know him, turning the empty words back on his classmates with nothing but sincerity and kindness. Hanako took the opportunity to inch around the gaggle to her desk. It seemed as if news of the sudden enrollment had not been enough to deter her schoolmates from their typical harassment.
It was getting tedious.
Hanako rolled up her sleeves and stuck her hand into the hollow desk filled with rotting vegetables. Nobody said anything, and very few even noticed with how engrossed they were with Tamaki's arrival. The young man at the center of the crowd only saw her through an opening between the shoulders of strangers vying for his attention.
"Kyoya," he said, forgetting his etiquette, "who's that girl over there?"
The dark haired boy followed Suoh's gaze. The girl cleaning her desk had a flat expression, despite the filth grasped in both hands, as if she was simply cleaning out a clogged sink. This task was nothing more than a chore to her. "That's my bodyguard, Hanako Negida," Kyoya informed him.
Much to Kyoya's surprise, Tamaki turned a brilliant smile to the crowd. "Excuse me, ladies. May I pass?" Slowly, he charmed every person in the crowd until he managed to get through. Kyoya watched Tamaki stroll right up to Hanako's desk, and as he followed the path that Tamaki cleared, he heard the blonde saying, "Hello, I'm Tamaki Suoh. You're far too beautiful to soil yourself with a nasty prank like this. May I help?"
Hanako regarded him with amusement, golden flecked eyes holding some kind of secret that this newcomer had yet to grasp. "I'm afraid it'd be in poor taste to burden the new student, Suoh-sama," she replied in a clear, airy voice, "but I appreciate the offer." She walked away from him, then, and Kyoya could smell the foul stench as she passed without so much as looking at her charge.
The next day at school was no less absurd for Kyoya, and he couldn't focus on a single class following the midday recess. Tamaki's sudden desire to see Japanese landmarks had robbed Kyoya of his next open weekends. Never mind the fact that he himself wasn't an expert in history. His family had westernized rapidly, and Kyoya personally had interests in modernity and in future advancements. All he could see this endeavor amounting to was a useless hassle. However, his father requested that he do this, and he would not fail. He'd put his best foot forward, and to that end, he took a brief detour to the gymnasiums.
Kyoya waited just outside the doors of the Karate Club's gym, and he knew that it would only be a matter of seconds before the club activities came to a close. Precisely as predicted, students poured out of the now-open doors. He picked out the exact person who he came to see. Hanako walked beside the towering monolith that was Takashi Morinozuka, fully engaged in conversation with the short blonde on Morinozuka's right.
"Negida," Kyoya called to her, interrupting Haninozuka and capturing the attention of all three martial artists. Mitsukuni sized him up immediately and puffed out his chest. Kyoya had heard through the grapevine that Haninozuka had a fragile, masculine image, and it was not difficult for him to imagine why. The blonde looked like a child playing at being a man.
"What do you want, Ootori?" Mitsukuni demanded with an unnaturally deep voice. Kyoya didn't react to the attempted intimidation.
"Go ahead without me," Hana said to her clubmates. She had seen the slip of Kyoya's façade, and the last thing she wanted to do was deal with an altercation between Ootori and Haninozuka. The cousins regarded her questioningly, but when she nodded, they continued on their way to the parking lot.
"So," Kyoya mused, "that's your fiance and his cousin?" He had, of course, seen and heard of the two high schoolers, but it had been a long time since Kyoya last saw them in person. They were practically strangers to him.
"What can I do for you, Kyoya-sama?" Hanako asked curtly, not pleased with the hint of derision in his tone.
"I have a request of you pertaining to Tamaki Suoh," he replied.
One of her perfectly groomed brows arched. "Is this an order or a personal matter? I'm not sure personal issues are appropriate for our working relationship. I'm responsible for your safety, sir. That's all."
"I suppose you're right," he mused, fully in character as the perfect son. "I suppose this would be a favor, then. Perhaps I should start with an apology. I see, now, that I may have been too cold…" The smile on his face made her sick, and it seemed as if people like Seika Ayanokoji and Kyoya Ootori were only capable of wearing the same, false smile.
"Drop the act," she said in a bored tone. Gold and slate met with mutual indifference to the other, seeing only what they needed of the other. "I know fully well that you want nothing to do with me for the exact same reasons as everyone else. There's nothing wrong with wanting to save your own skin."
The depth of her knowing gaze unnerved him, and he felt a spark of indignance light the short fuse of his temper that Tamaki had steadily been working down. "Are you saying my family name is so fragile that I must mind the company that I keep?" he challenged.
"Mine was," she shot back. "You can say what you need, Ootori-sama. That is why you came by, right?"
He sighed heavily, releasing some of his pent up tension. "It turns out that Suoh is fixated on Japanese culture."
"That's not so surprising. He's half-Japanese and grew up in the West."
Kyoya hummed in agreement, "Unfortunately, I'm far from a historical expert. As I recall, your family adheres to traditionalist practices and insists on full knowledge of Japanese history. I was hoping you'd join us on trips to Kyoto and Okinawa as a guide."
"I think you misunderstand the nature of my position," she said in the same tone that he had heard before she abruptly left dinner the other day. "It is my job to act as your body guard. I'm afraid that teaching your friends Japanese culture doesn't quite fall under my job description."
"I'll get our classmates to leave you alone," he bartered. All of a sudden, they were locked into negotiations.
Something hard and angry flashed in her caramel irises. "I don't need you to take care of my problems for me."
He grit his teeth, "So, what will it take, then?" His desperation rose to the surface, and she could see how hateful he was of the circumstances forcing him to show such weakness. Here she was, thinking that Kyoya Ootori had nothing to offer. Perhaps she was wrong about the puppet on strings. He could have been a real boy all along.
"If I do this," she said slowly with a lazy smile, "then you owe me a favor, redeemable whenever I need it." She expected his hesitation, and he could not fathom what it was she could ask of him. He lived by his father's rules, and if there was anyone close to the Ootoris unlike anyone else, it was Hanako Negida. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. His father's voice echoed in the recesses of his mind.
"Good luck dealing with Suoh by yourself, sir." He waited too long, and she was ready to leave the negotiations.
"Fine," he snapped. "You have a deal, Negida."
{OR}
Hanako accompanied Kyoya and Tamaki on their trips to Kyoto and Okinawa. The boys wore stylish, casual clothes, and the girl was garbed in a full suit with reflective black lenses over her eyes. She played her part perfectly and quickly found that Suoh had little interest in the complete history of the landmarks. He was just happy to be there. He had been deprived of half his heritage for so long that it seemed he took simple pleasure in the immersion. They stopped for picture taking frequently, and Hanako let Tamaki run wild whenever he so pleased.
Her young employer was the odd one out for once. Kyoya lagged behind whenever he could, and he didn't share their interest in history or Shinto and Buddhist tradition. When Hana left Tamaki to his own devices, she joined Kyoya who spent the better half of both trips sulking.
"Are you tired, sir?" she inquired dutifully.
"No, I'm perfectly fine," he claimed, sounding terribly exhausted.
A curious hum sounded from the girl, and she wondered how long he'd keep up his act when he so clearly wanted nothing more than to go home. "Is that so?"
Kyoya hadn't looked at her once during the brief exchange. Instead, he eyed Tamaki. The blonde was running along the seashore with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. They barely knew each other, but Tamaki radiated light everywhere he did with everything he did. Something about him reminded her of simpler, easier times, and in all honesty, she enjoyed his presence. However, she had a feeling that Kyoya didn't feel the same way.
"I'll never understand what people see in this bumbling fool," Kyoya muttered after Tamaki blissfully presented his most recent beach finding to them and wandered back down the stretch of sand.
A laugh escaped from Hanako, and Kyoya shot her a pointed glare, "Are you mocking me, Negida?"
The girl shook her head, and the long, black ponytail swung like a pendulum behind her, "It's so simple, I'm not surprised you don't see it."
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"You overanalyze people, Ootori-sama. You act like everyone around you is either just like you or a complete idiot."
He didn't deny it. That was the nature of their society. People like them were all the same. Hanako, Kyoya, the Hitachiins, even her fiance and his cousin. They fell into one of two categories, and if he didn't have them playing by his rules, they would have him playing by theirs. "Are you done insulting me?"
Hanako spared a glance at the young man who became her housemate and charge not so long ago, and she wondered if he was what she would have become if not for someone like her father in her life. "People happen to like sincerity," she emphasized meaningfully.
"There's no such thing," he countered. He didn't sound sad about his perspective. Kyoya stated it like a fact, as if there wasn't a person on Earth who didn't have some sort of hidden agenda. Hanako fell silent and gazed out onto the beach with its crystal clear water lapping at the pristine white shore, and in the distance, she could see Tamaki running back towards them with another smile, brimming with life.
He was waving at them and running so fast that she wondered if he was going to fall face first onto the sand, "Hanako! Kyoya!"
"You know, Kyoya-sama," she mused, "my father was quite the bumbling fool himself." He swiveled his torso to look at her fully, but before he could say anything, Tamaki shouted out to them.
"Hey! Let's take a picture on the beach! Come over here you two!"
A chuckle sounded beside him, and Hanako started walking towards Suoh. Before she parted, however, she said one more thing. "Get over yourself, Ootori."
Kyoya followed the two of them in a stupor, and he didn't even protest when Tamaki herded the two of them under his long arms, pointing the camera lense at their faces and saying, "Alright, everyone, smile! This is to commemorate the start of our friendship!" The shutter sounded, and the image took to film.
Later that evening, Hanako and Kyoya returned to the Ootori house in the family's car. She considered the trip successful, and unlike Kyoya, she looked forward to the trip that Tamaki wanted to take to Hokkaido. At some point during the drive home, Kyoya took it upon himself to ensure that the next trip was absolutely perfect. He enlisted Hanako's assistance to make preparations, insisting that it couldn't wait. She hadn't even changed out of her uniform yet, but she made herself available. It was the first time that she found herself doing work in Kyoya's suite. They spread a selection of travel guides across his coffee table, and she sat across from him, flipping through brochures and considering what Tamaki might be most interested in seeing.
"My, my Kyoya," Fuyumi joined from the doorway, "I knew I'd find you up late studying, but I didn't expect to see you here, too, Hanako. Wait a minute, are those travel guides? Oh, wow, so you guys are going to Hokkaido next? That's wonderful, but if you need a guide, I'm sure that you could ask the family driver."
"That's not good enough. Not for this Tamaki Suoh guy," Kyoya grit out, gripping his pen so tightly that it trembled. Hana glanced up at the splintered plastic with mild interest, and she continued flipping through brochures.
"There's no need to bother Tachibana," Hanako informed Fuyumi easily. "I'm proficient with history and culture."
"When we went to Kyoto, he wanted to see the daimoanji bonfire even though it's still spring time, and, as we were eating Okinawa soba noodles, he tells me he wants to compare them to shinshu soba noodles. Then he went on about whether a shisa or a namahage would win in a fight. And then, after all that…" Kyoya lamented his time with Tamaki during their trips. He had wanted to complain about the blonde throughout the day. A sharpness came into his gaze when he talked about Tamaki's simpleheadedness, and Hanako became more and more intrigued by this atypical behavior. She didn't think he was capable of being so fired up.
"But this time I'm going to make sure I'm ready for anything!" Kyoya declared in a roar. "I promise that while the two of us are in Hokkaido, I will cater to your every whim, Suoh!"
It wasn't even a day after Kyoya made his vow that Tamaki turned around and decided that they should spend their time studying. Tamaki managed to completely freeze the superficial smile on Kyoya's face, and Hanako only looked up from her desk to watch Kyoya stiffly return to his desk beside hers. His teeth ground together, and Hanako wondered if he was going to completely snap right there in front of everyone.
Kyoya scruitinized her, searching for some trace of the irritation he felt at the sudden cancellation. She looked completely unbothered by it. In fact, she seemed completely immersed in her book. "How are you not upset by this?"
"It's just a day trip, Ootori-sama," she replied simply. "There's no use crying over it." She swore that she heard him scoff, but when she looked over to him, he appeared completely impassive.
{OR}
"That kid's got some gift," Honda was saying in the kitchen, surrounded by Hanako and the other members of the alpha team. Tamaki had paid the Ootori house a visit that weekend, and when Tachibana opened the door, he asked for the absent third son. Hana stepped in to invite Tamaki inside to wait and gave him a tour. The moment he saw the grand piano in the drawing room, Tamaki's face lit up. At Fuyumi's request, he sat on the bench and a beautiful melody filled the Ootori house with a soul it had been considerably lacking.
"I've heard world-class musicians during my time with your parents, but none of them play like that young man," Tachibana agreed.
"Yes," Hanako agreed, waiting while Aijima plated snacks to go with the boys' tea. "There's something about him. I get the feeling that no matter what it is he plays it will sound utterly heartbreaking, don't you think?"
Tamaki played piano the way some people looked at the most loved people in their lives. He lost himself in a place far from the present, and his music carried her to a life lost in the past where Ginori teacups lined the walls and bright red lips brushed her cheek. He played in such a way that couldn't be learned by any virtuoso or taught in any lesson other by life itself. Tamaki played the piano as if it was the only anchor to love and happiness, and it was impossible for anyone with the fortune of being in his audience to not find those moments of love and heartbreak in their own lives.
"Well, the tray's ready," Aijima declared, not sharing his colleagues' interest in classical music but somehow, jealous that he hadn't had the fortune of working on the main floor while Tamaki played.
"Thank you, Aijima."
Hanako picked up the tray and made her way to Kyoya's bedroom. She was just outside the door when she heard a clatter and a thud from inside. "Shut up, Tamaki!" Kyoya's voice sounded louder and angrier than Hanako could ever remember, and instead of rushing into the room, she lingered just outside the door, gripping the tray handles tightly as she listened. "Do you expect me to believe that crap? How can you possibly give up on being your family's successor so easily? You have no idea what it's like for me. You actually have a chance at it. All you have to do is try. Take advantage of your fortunate circumstances. Don't you realize the position that you've been blessed with?"
In all the years that she had known him, Hanako always perceived Kyoya as his father's puppet. Superficial, bland… all the things that made her think of the Ootori name were things she associated with Kyoya. The third son. He never seemed to have any goals, and she had the impression he only existed to please his father. Her mother used to say such good things about him, but Hanako thought he was underwhelming. She never saw what it was about him that Akina thought was so great, but she was starting to.
"Who the hell are you?" Kyoya bellowed on the other side of the door, and she wasn't certain if he was asking Tamaki or himself.
"Hold on. It sounds to me like you're the one who isn't trying. If you really want to surpass your brothers, then you can do it. But I think the one who's given up here is you, Kyoya."
Hanako never heard anyone talk so openly with Kyoya before, and these few sentences alone gave her more insight to Kyoya Ootori than her entire life just paces away from him. She was surprised, not just by Tamaki, but at herself. Hana prided herself on her acute perception, but she missed something so terribly obvious. The enigma that always eluded her had been uncovered within days by a Frenchman with boundless energy and optimism. Hanako heard laughter emnating from the other side of the door, and something strange stirred in her heart at the fullness of the unfamiliar sound.
It was the first time she ever heard Kyoya laugh. It was a robust sound. He laughed from his gut, and it poured into the room with a lively spirit that made the Ootori house feel, just a little bit, more like home. A smile came onto her face.
Hana let herself into the room and found Kyoya straddling Tamaki's legs. The two had somehow knocked the coffee table on its side and made themselves comfortable on the floor. "Am I interrupting something?" she announced herself with a playful voice.
The boys looked up at her and found mischievous caramel eyes trained on them. The distant exterior that Kyoya had become familiar with melted away, and he thought that he could have been looking upon a different person. His gaze turned back to Tamaki, and he promptly brought his fist down onto the golden hair, "It's not all about you, you know. Kotatsu are only used in the winter. So, if you want to sit under one, you'll have to wait until then. Now, would you quit being a dumb ass?"
"Oh, man, your face, it looks evil. So, you're finally showing your true colors," Tamaki took Kyoya's extended hand and let the other boy pull him onto his feet. His amethyst eyes then moved to Hanako at the door, and with the same soft expression, he asked, "Some employer you've got here, Hana."
Hanako didn't miss a beat at the nickname, but hearing it again after so long without her brothers at her side brought out a softer, patient expression on her face. She smiled at the two and crossed into the room, "I suppose I'm just lucky, Tamaki-sama."
Kyoya cleared his throat, "Hanako, could you please have this cleaned up? We do still have finals coming up, and when you're done with that, you can join us for the rest of the afternoon. I've seen your Introduction to Higher Mathematics work, and it's abysmal."
"Don't you know it's rude to insult someone's academic shortcomings?" Hanako shot back without any trace of annoyance. In fact, she felt far more comfortable there than ever, almost as if she was in the presence of family.
Hanako righted the table, and Honda came up to assist with the carpet. Once the space was clean, the three middle schoolers dove into their schoolwork. Finals would be upon them soon, and their first year of high school was right around the corner. They studied well into the evening, and at some point, Tamaki turned his textbook into a pillow, upon which he drifted into a deep sleep.
"What an idiot," Kyoya remarked under his breath, but all maliciousness from the week before had vanished. He said it fondly, now, endeared by Tamaki's simple-mindedness.
"With the way you study, it's no wonder you're at the top of the class," Hana commented. It was like a marathon, and even she never put this much effort into her studies. He shrugged. This was normal for him. He didn't even think twice about it, but when he saw the files peeking out from Hanako's folder, he wasn't surprised that she had trouble staying on task. "Why did you ask me to join you two?"
He looked at her in surprise. She thought about it from time to time, and this was as good a time to ask as any. She didn't think it was odd when he asked her for her help, but when she accompanied them on both trips, she started to wonder. Then, when he invited her to help him prepare for the Okinawa trip, she wanted an answer. Why was he spending so much time with her lately? He had ignored her for so much of her brief appointment as his guard, and before that, he only expressed as much interest in her as was required of the third son of the Ootori family.
Kyoya turned his gaze down, staring at the formulas written on the page because he wasn't quite comfortable looking into her gold flecked eyes, "You were right about me when I first asked for your help. I had been trying to save myself by not associating with you. Your family's reputation had decayed, and I saw no benefit in being your friend."
She knew that much. It was the most common narrative among her former friends. She lost her influence, and so, she lost her companions. What he said next, however, surprised her.
"For that, I'm deeply and genuinely sorry." He finally lifted his eyes to her, and there were no masks between them. The pools of his guard's caramel irises met his own slate colored eyes, and he knew, somehow, that this was the first time anyone ever apologized to her for their behavior. "I was a coward and, frankly, I always felt uneasy around you. To some extent, I believed that you could see through me, and if I were to spend too much time around you, eventually, you would reveal me to the rest of our peers."
"I accept your apology, but, you know," she started in an ambiguous tone, "it's still not professional to spend time together so casually."
For a moment, he thought that she was serious, but the playful glint in her eyes gave her away. She was teasing him. Kyoya chuckled and looked away from her. His gaze settled on Tamaki, who had started to drool onto the cover of his book in the obliviousness of his nap. A thought occurred to him, and he spoke without meaning to, "You might be the only other person in the world who knows what it's like to live in a shadow so large that every effort to get out of it gets swallowed up by the darkness."
Her image of an uncaring, unmotivated Kyoya Ootori changed forever in that moment. He cared far more about his place in the birth order and the life prepared for him than she thought. Everything he did – the studying and the networking – was not for nothing. A spark of ambition lived within Kyoya, it had simply never been given a chance to shine so brightly that others could see it.
"Mama was right about you," she mused in an equivocal tone. "You do have potential."
{OR}
Some time later, Hanako attended Fuyumi's engagement party as a member of the Black Onion Squad. It was her first formal assignment, and she played her part to a T. Hana pressed herself into the walls and disappeared in the background, watching silently as Kyoya and his brothers mingled with the crowd. She caught glimpses of Takashi and Mitsukuni socializing, and in the far corner of the room, she saw Hikaru and Kaoru enveloped in their own world. She even found Tamaki's face at his father's side, sporting the most sedate expression she had ever seen on his face.
When Kyoya left the party towards the restrooms, Hanako followed with the intention of taking a brief reprieve for herself and meeting with Takashi. When she left the bathroom, Hanako walked towards the foyer where she and her fiance meant to rendezvous. Her footsteps sounded soft on the carpet, and the man and woman standing in the center of the vestibule didn't notice her approaching.
"Kyoya is the most handsome of the three, but you're right, with two older brothers ahead of him, he doesn't stand a chance of becoming the family's patriarch," the female voice affirmed with a honeyed sympathy that didn't quite pass as sincere.
Her feet took steps forward on their own, and she hardly noticed what she was doing. Her blood boiled at how quickly they discounted him. The unfairness of his situation struck a chord in her, and the audacity these two had astounded her. He was just a boy with far more on his plate than his brothers ever had, but there was nothing about them that Kyoya could not and had not done himself.
"That's funny," her own voice echoed the woman's sugared tone, just barely concealing the hardened disdain with its sweetness. "My parents always said that Kyoya Ootori was the most like his father out of the three sons. If anyone has the backbone and the drive to succeed his father as the patriarch of the Ootori family, it's Kyoya."
She never would have defended him before, but the circumstances and the knowledge she had of him now demanded action. Kyoya was far more than the puppet on Yoshio's strings. He wasn't resigned to his role like Yuichi. He wasn't spoiled by his position like Akito. Besides Yoshio, nobody put in more work for the Ootori Group than Kyoya.
The adults gaped at her like fish caught out of water, and she skewered them with her criticism. Beyond the pair, she caught sight of Takashi and forgot all about the older gossips. Hana strode past them without saying another word, and a smile spread across her face when she saw how handsome he looked that evening, pride and love for him washed away the outrage they incited.
When she stopped just in front of him, she realized that his usually straight-lipped expression turned down in just the slightest frown. She lifted her fingers to his face and brushed his high cheekbones gently, hoping to offer him some comfort, "What's wrong?"
His hand covered hers, radiating warmth and firmly pressing her palm against his cheek. Heat crept up her neck and spread across her cheeks when he turned his face to kiss the sensitive skin. "It's nothing," he answered softly.
She wasn't so sure, but Takashi had never outright lied to her before. They told each other everything, and she trusted him deeply. Besides, how could she not believe him when he looked at her with so much love? His eyes had the colors of every shade a cloud could possibly be, and when he looked at her like that, she felt as though she was flying through a perfectly overcast sky. She could get lost in their depths, and she didn't care if her feet never came back to the ground.
"Hanako," Takashi's voice rumbled through her body, "I love you."
"I love you too, Takashi."
After that night, she came crashing back to Earth. It was not Hikaru or Kaoru who helped her back onto her feet. Mitsukuni showed her no sympathy when she failed to find enough courage to return to the Karate club. Tamaki still didn't know her well enough to understand the losses compounding in her life. She found comfort and support in the last person imaginable. He respected her space and encouraged her as she pulled herself out of the crater. In the span of four months, she and Kyoya Ootori came to understand each other better than they understood themselves.
In an unlikely turn of events, her innermost circle became Tamaki Suoh and Kyoya Ootori. The trio were almost always together, and on one winter night, while snowflakes danced outside, they finally brought out a kotatsu.
"Hey, Kyoya! I just had the most brilliant idea," Tamaki was saying as Hana and Kyoya brought trays of mandarin oranges and tea to the table. "We should start a club together! We could start our club activities as soon as we get into high school. And we can finally make use of our good looks with a high school host club!"
Kyoya and Hanako shared a look of disbelief at Tamaki's wild ideas, and the girl shrugged at her employer before walking to the other side of the table. "Sleep first and then dream," Kyoya advised, knocking Tamaki onto the floor. The blonde erupted into laughter, and Hana smiled to herself as she pulled the blanket over her lap.
"I'm serious. I already know who we should ask to join. We have to ask Haninozuka-senpai and Morinozuka-senpai from the high school and those second year twins!"
Hanako's heart skipped a beat as Tamaki divulged his plans with them, and she tucked her hands under the kotatsu so that neither of them could see how she pulled at the skin of her cuticles. At the time, she had no idea how she fit into a host club, and her heart beat wildly in her chest at the thought of being in a room with this set of young men. Her breaths shortened, and panic set into her bones before the sound of ceramic against the tabletop caught her attention.
Kyoya was looking at her meaningfully, his guarded expression in place, but a teacup had been placed before her. The meaning was clear. Relax. Hanako took a deep, centering breath and let her anxiety melt away as she lifted the teacup to her lips. At the end of the night, Hanako accompanied Tamaki to his car, and just before he left their home, Hanako stopped him.
"Wait a moment, Tamaki. Just what are you trying to accomplish with this host club?" she was naturally suspicious, and if it was anyone else in the world, she would have thought the intentions cruel. However, this was Tamaki, and he couldn't even hurt a fly much less another human being. She trusted him implicitly. That was why she told him so much on that day she retrieved him from the gardens. If he meant to torture her by gathering these boys together, she would be devastated.
Then, he looked her in the eyes. She didn't realize that amethysts could look so gentle, and the feeling that used to come upon her only in the presence of the twins filled her with affection. Tamaki took her hand in both of his, and a slow but confident smile spread across his face, "Trust me. I promise everything's going to get better, you'll see! Now, you don't have to choose between your work and your family, Hana."
It seemed too great a task, and she didn't have the heart to tell him how impossible that would be. But if he believed in it so fervently, maybe the only reason why it was impossible… was her.
{OR}
The Host Club's activites started to wind down around the usual time, and the last appointments of the day came to an end around her. Hanako said goodbyes in passing to the young ladies who would return another time, and she drifted from table to table, picking up baskets full of orange peels.
"Hey, Hana," Tamaki called from a kotatsu placed in the middle of the floor. He and Kyoya had finished their meetings for the day and took a moment together under one of the tables. Kyoya engrossed himself in his bookkeeping, and Tamaki finished off a teapot with a nostalgic smile, "Come sit down with us."
Hana walked over with a small stack of baskets in hand, "I have tables that need to be cleared, Tamaki."
A pout came onto his face, "Aw, come on, can you spare a couple of minutes?"
"The dishes aren't going anywhere," Kyoya supplied, "and you have to wait for the other appointments to end, anyway."
The young woman relented, and she left the basket of orange peels for later. Hana sat down on the floor, between Tamaki and Kyoya, and she pulled the fabric over her lap. Tamaki's pout immediately transformed into a radiant grin, but even that overenthusiastic display faded into a soft and sweet smile. "It's been a while since we sat down like this," he remarked, "just the three of us."
Silently, Hanako agreed. It reminded her of the day when they agreed to Tamaki's ridiculous plan. They never failed to surprise her, but that was one of the things she liked so much about those two. Every day they proved that they could be better people than they were the day before, and the family tapestry that Tamaki wove grew. An air of nostalgia came over the three, and if they closed their eyes and lost themselves in the scents of mandarin oranges and green tea, they could almost see a picture of the three kndred spirits who had found each other by a stroke of fortune.
"What're we talking about?" the chorus sounding behind Hanako broke the hold of the memory, and Hikaru and Kaoru settled between her and Tamaki as they tucked their legs under the kotatsu.
Tamaki's pout came back onto his face as he waved the auburn haired boys away, "Couldn't you two see that we were having a moment?"
"Hana-chan!" Mitsukuni's cry rang out through the floor as he ran to join them with Takashi in tow, "Are you taking a break with us?" He dove under the kotatsu, sitting across from Hanako with takashi squeezing in beside him.
Haruhi returned to the floor after sending off their last guest of the day, and the first thing she noticed was how noisy the boys were. Hikaru and Kaoru bickered loudly with Tamaki, and Honey shouted over them in his high pitched voice. It was enough to give anyone a headache, but something about the way they sat together reminded her of a family huddling together during the winter. Except, she was sure that these people never had to huddle for warmth before in their lives.
"Haruhi, come join us," Hanako called to the girl. Haruhi complied and joined them at the table, choosing to sit between Hanako and Kyoya. Haruhi studied the other two hosts sitting at the table. As expected, Mori enjoyed a cup of freshly poured tea and indulged Honey's childishness, and beside him, Kyoya ignored everything around him to focus on his notebook. She wondered how they could zone out so easily when the noise was enough to give anyone a headache.
"What do you think, Haruhi, isn't this wonderful?" Tamaki sang hopefully.
"I still don't get it," Hikaru stated.
"What's so great about sweating under a kotatsu?"
"We should do this again! With cake!"
"What do you mean you don't get it? It's the very concept!"
Then, Haruhi looked at the last person seated with them. Despite the chaos, Hanako smiled and engaged with the club members around her. She pushed Hikaru out of her space when he gestured too wildly, and she reached across the table to hand Mitsukuni a freshly peeled orange. She poured tea for Takashi and commented on Kyoya's notes. She smiled and glowed in the warmth of her friends' company, and Haruhi wondered if there was another reason why they huddled under the kotatsu like this.
Hanako looked up and caught Haruhi staring, and the brunette didn't look away. Her large, chocolate eyes held Hanako's caramel irises, and the model cocked her head to the side, causing her ponytail to cascade over her shoulder like a waterfall of black ink. "Is there something on my face?"
Haruhi realized that she had been staring, and for some reason, she felt embarrassed, as if Hanako would be able to recognize how Haruhi eavesdropped on her conversation with Mori back when Honey had his cavity. She felt, again, like she intruded on something personal and private. "No, not at all, I was just thinking you're really beautiful, senpai. Ha. Ha."
Hana smiled graciously at Haruhi and nudged the other girl with her shoulder, "You are, too, you know." Haruhi's awkward laughter died down, and she really looked at Hana, then. She swam in Hanako's caramel gaze and felt, strangely, as if she was the most incredible person in Hana's eyes.
"Thank you," Haruhi said in a dumbfounded way, wondering if anyone had ever told her that she was beautiful in such a way before. Not an empty compliment or for flattery, and not in a way that feminized or fit her into an idea of what it meant to be beautiful. She couldn't place what it was about the way Hana said it, but maybe, it was the sheer equality with which she regarded Haruhi…
"Aww!" Tamaki's obnoxious squeal broke the moment, "Look at how well my two favorite girls are getting along!"
"Knock it off, senpai!" Haruhi snapped in annoyance, and the chaos of the Ouran Host Club continued, filling the music room with a spirit that made it feel like home.
{OR}
A/N... Happy New Year! I'm back! Thank you so much for your patience. This chapter was such a beast to write, but it's here, it's long, and it's a lot. I'd like to start the note with a huge thank you to readers, followers, favoriters, and reviewers. 100 reviews, 100 favorites, and 135 follows! MY HEART IS BURSTING! THANK YOU! This is the first story I've ever written to achieve 100 reviews. Thank you for your feedback, I cannot begin to express how you all motivate me.
That being said, I want to share something with you guys. I started writing my book! I've been planning it forever, but I finally put a pen to paper and got it started. Don't worry about what that means for this story, I'm dead set on seeing Gowns and Roses through to completion!
Special thanks to xmichikox, JuggernautJJ, kaigirl, everylittleflowers, purplekittcatofthemonn, and springcraxy for reviewing hte last couple of chapters! I'm sorry if I missed anyone, I know that I'm not up to date on shoutouts, but I'll get it right with the next chapter!
Also, I've started a writing instagram if anyone wants to follow my writing and get updates on where I'm at regarding original stories and fanfiction. The username is icecandi_fic if you're interested :) (I'll be sharing brief excerpts, dialogues, and scenes from some original works and exercises)
Next time: An unkept promise... Hana always feared they would fly too close to the sun.
P.S. Since it's the beginning of the month, this site has a bug that causes inconsistent upload for new chapters. Please let me know if you can see this chapter! Thank you :)