Accidents Happen For a Reason
Chapter Two: The Nightmare On 23rd St.
Yasuchika hated surprises. Yes, he really did hate surprises. Everyone in the family knew that the younger, more serious, Haninozuka didn't like to be surprised. He liked knowing what was going to happen, planning for it, and calculating the results. He would be shocked that his family disregarded this important fact and planned him a surprise birthday party, nonetheless.
It started out as a pretty normal day for the, now, thirteen year old boy. He woke up and got ready for school, fought Mitsukuni, his older brother, before breakfast and lost. Then he ate his usual breakfast consisting of bento and rice while his older brother ate two full sized cakes BY HIMSELF. After that they both piled into the limo that would take them to school.
First clue that they were all hiding something from him.
Takashi Morinozuka and his younger brother, Satoshi, always rode with them to school. For some reason they weren't there, which made Yasuchika frown at the empty area next to him where Satoshi should've been.
Second clue that they were all hiding something from him.
Mitsukuni, however, seemed unfazed by their unexpected absences. That made Yasuchika's frown considerably deepen. His older brother was very attached to the oldest Morinozuka just as Yusachika himself was very attached to the youngest Morinozuka and vice versa. He shrugged it off knowing that they had their reasons for not being where they should be. He eyed his brother suspiciously.
Third clue that they were all hiding something from him.
Mitsukuni was acting more excited than usual. His short legs swung back and forth as he happily played with his pink plush toy rabbit, Usa-Chan. This wasn't too unusual. The flowers dancing around his head were suspicious though. He didn't get to see that very much, mostly because his and Mitsukuni's brotherly relationship wasn't a good one.
The ride to school was quiet. Yasuchika held strong resentment for his brother and his brother knew that due to his childish personality and the things he likes. It made things a bit awkward for the two and anyone around them when they were close to each other. While he did not like his brother, he respected him and looked up to him- to a short extent. He never outwardly showed it, he kept to himself mostly and was still reserved whenever he was around his cousin who was also his best and only friend.
"Happy birthday, Chika-Chan!" Mitsukuni said with a knowing smile before he hopped out of the vehicle holding his brief case in one hand and his light pink plush toy in the other.
Yasuchika pursed his lips as he got out of the vehicle as well. He made his way to the middle school sector which was on the opposite side of the high school sector where his brother was headed. Yasuchika was in his second year of middle school just as his brother was in his second year of high school.
Fourth clue that they were all hiding something from him.
Even though Yasuchika shared all of his classes with Satoshi, they didn't see each other until after lunch break. Yasuchika felt like he was going to rip the raven haired boy's head off by the time he saw him. He didn't care much for his birthday, but he did feel entitled to have his best friend with him throughout the school day, especially that day. That was his day and he wanted Satoshi suffer alongside him.
"Happy birthday, Chika-Chan!" Satoshi exclaimed, giving his companion a side hug. Yasuchika glowered at him, making him step away a bit and say nervously, "Now now, don't kill me. I had to be somewhere important this morning."
"Where did you have to be and why couldn't you do it yesterday or tomorrow?" He asked as they walked to their next class.
Fifth clue that they were all hiding something from him.
"Well I couldn't do it yesterday because my kendo meeting was extended later than usual and I couldn't do it tomorrow because they aren't open tomorrow." Satoshi said, subtly avoiding the other question and looking at copper haired friend in confusion. "Why aren't you wearing your glasses today?"
Sixth clue that they were all hiding something from him.
"I couldn't find them." He explained, "I could swear I put them on my night stand last night before I fell asleep, but they weren't there when I woke up."
"Maybe they fell under your bed, did you check?"
"Yes, but they weren't there or anywhere close to where I put them."
"Well you've lost them before," he reasoned.
"I just don't understand where else I could've put them. The only time I take them off is before shower and before I got to bed." Satoshi opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Yasuchika said, "I checked the bathroom as well."
"Hmm, strange," Satoshi said. Yasuchika could've sworn he heard his voice laced with amusement. "Well at least you don't actually need them."
"I do need them," Yasuchika insisted.
"Mhm, sure." Obviously being sarcastic.
Classes went by slowly. Yasuchika liked to sketch when he's bored so as he drew, Satoshi whispered to him about nothing important- to him at least. After school let out, Yasuchika and Satoshi went separate ways. Yasuchika went to his karate club and Satoshi went to his kendo club, both of which they were captains of and the classes were being held in two different gyms at Ouran, so they didn't have to leave school yet.
Yasuchika's class went well for the most part, nothing out of the ordinary happened. He still had his pupils challenge him, he gave tips, they complained and he barked at them to work harder. The class itself lasted an hour and a half. When it was over everyone was sweaty and in need of a shower and drink. Everyone filed into the locker room and got washed up. By the time Yasuchika and Satoshi met up, it was a little past 4:30 pm.
Seventh clue that they were all hiding something from him.
"Instead of going straight home," Satoshi said, taking his friend by the arm and leading him in the opposite direction of their ride home. "Let's go somewhere fun."
"Like where?" Yasuchika snorted, finding it funny and very un-Satoshi-like to not want to go straight home and take a nap.
"Town isn't that far away and this new place opened called 'Kyokutan'na sukēto', I think it'd be a fun place to check out." He said, his onyx eyes twinkling with excitement.
Yasuchika shook his head, "I don't know how to skate and neither do you. That being said, I don't want to risk falling and breaking something." Satoshi reaches up and smacked Yasuchika in the back of his head. He stared at his friend open-mouthed. "What was that for?" He growled.
"You need to pull that stick out of your ass and live a little." Satoshi lectured, "You're thirteen now and it's time you started acting like it. You're allowed to have fun, you're allowed to be happy and one day you're going to regret not living your life to its fullest."
"Don't curse at me you jerk." Satoshi whacked him again. "Ow! What was that for?" Yasuchika cried out incredulously, shoving the taller boy who just laughed.
"That one was just because I felt like it." Satoshi smirked looking quite happy with himself, making Yasuchika scowl at him.
They continued to bicker, throwing friendly insults and jabs at each other. Yasuchika thought that one day he was going to get a concussion from all the whacking upside the head he was getting. It usually only happened when he was being rude or Satoshi thought he needed to be taught a lesson.
They always acted like that. They had a special friendship one where they could insult each other to their heart's content and the other one wouldn't mind, he'd just throw one right back knowing that they were just kidding. There used to be times when they were younger, they would slip up and poke fun at a major insecurity and they'd get very upset and battle it out physically. They knew by now about the term boundaries in which they were very well aware it would be wise not to cross.
When they arrived at said destination it was very lively with upbeat music playing very loud, people skating around with friends or lovers, people eating and playing at the mini arcade by the concession stand. It smelled very… Cheesy? Like the kind of cheese that went with a box of nacho chips. They saw a bunch of people snacking on that popular Mexican food. Yasuchika's stomach rumbled and his mouth watered. All he could think of was 'I don't need it. I don't need it. I don't need it.'
After they paid for the skates and told the employee their shoe size, they got them on and stood up a little shaky. Yasuchika didn't want to be a chicken and back out, but he was starting to feel queasy as he tried to balance himself on the hand- rail. He didn't like this. He knew he was going to fall and make a fool out of himself. Why did he let Satoshi talk him into this? Because he's Satoshi, his best friend, that's why.
An hour later when Yasuchika had started to cry out of frustration, the two boys had just about all they could take. Both martial art artists had fallen down and made fools out of themselves more times than they could count. Every time they felt themselves falling they sucked in a deep breath and thought that they were finally going to break something. They didn't, but they were going to have a couple bruises and be very sore in the morning.
They glided over to the bench, sat down and unlaced their skates. "That was your idea of fun?" Yasuchika pouted as they turned in their skates and exited the building.
He laughed, causing Yasuchika to glare. "I thought it was hilarious watching you struggle not to fall and you ended up falling anyways." He bent over and smacked his leg, still laughing loudly at Yasuchika's expense. "The look of panic on your face was priceless."
"Are you describing me or yourself?"
"Touché, Chika-Chan, now where would you like to go and get some decent food?"
Yasuchika looked around. There were dozens of shops and places they could go. The streets were less crowded than earlier, they could actually stand on the sidewalk and not get trampled, but there were still a lot of people wandering around. He saw a bakery nearby that smelled heavenly, but he wasn't a fan of sweets so he kept looking.
"How about…." He spotted a decent looking restaurant a couple blocks away and pointed at it. "Benyue's Resutoran?"
Satoshi nodded his head in approval, "Looks legit, let's go."
When they walked in they were immediately assaulted with the mouth-watering smell of fried food. The place looked decent, not like the fancy restaurants they usually ate at, but it still looked decent. It was large, not ginormous, like they were used to. The floor was red carpeted, not marble, like they were used to. Lanterns illuminated pretty lights from above the tables. There were booths and tables, a few claw machines in the lobby, people eating, waiters and waitresses making rounds and taking orders and cleaning what needed to be cleaned. Soft music was playing quietly in the background. The room was filled with indistinct chattering and the clinking of dishes and silverware.
A middle aged man walked up to us with a smile holding two adult menus. "Would you like a table or a booth?"
"Booth," they both said simultaneously.
The waiter nodded and said, "Follow me." They followed him and he lead them to a nice table with a leather burgundy booth. It was a nice, clean, place to eat. Yasuchika decided he liked this commoner restaurant.
The waiter set the menus down, took his notepad and pencil out of his half apron. "What would you like to drink?"
"We'll have a martini with an olive on the side." Satoshi said with a straight face. Yasuchika's mouth dropped and the waiter looked slightly uncomfortable.
"How- how old are you?" The waiter asked, his face contorted as if he was having an inner conflict.
"He was joking," Yasuchika said quickly, sending a glare at Satoshi.
Satoshi broke down laughing, "You should've seen your faces," he gasped out, clutching his sides.
"I'll have some coffee, get him sweet tea." Yasuchika said, still glowering at his friend. The waiter however looked so relieved as he scurried away.
"Okay, you have to admit that was pretty funny." Satoshi said, looking at his friend with joyful tears in his eyes.
"That was dumb, you could've gotten us in trouble."
"It was funny."
"It was stupid."
"It was funny and you know it."
Yasuchika felt his lips twitch upwards. "Okay it was kind of amusing."
The rest of the time they were there, they enjoyed themselves. Yasuchika lightened up a little and even cracked a few jokes. They ate and talked about what they were going to do tomorrow since they had no school. They also talked about what they were expecting after they entered their third year in middle school since it was approaching quickly.
"I don't know either, I'll be fine just being captain of the karate club. I've got my hands full all the time with training and school." Yasuchika stated, eating another sirloin shrimp.
"But don't you think that there's more that we could be doing then training all the time and going to school?" Satoshi shook his head, taking a sip of his tea. "It's like a never ending cycle and quite frankly I'm getting bored of doing the same things over and over."
"So you think our lives are dull?"
"Yes."
"Well," Yasuchika sighed. "It is repetitive and it is uneventful, but that's just how life is. It's either boring or terrible. Life sucks and it's going to suck until the day we die." Yasuchika suddenly lost his appetite and he had only eaten about half of what was on his plate. He looked at Satoshi who was looking sorta troubled.
"I think that if we tried to put ourselves out there, we might be able to find something more interesting." He smiled and shrugged. "Life doesn't have to suck for us. We're rich and have the power to do basically anything we want."
"What would satisfy you?" Yasuchika asked curiously.
In all honesty he was jealous of his friend. His friend had everything that he wanted. Satoshi had an honorable brother who wasn't an alien and a good relationship with him too. Satoshi had the confidence, looks and personality to get all the friends he wanted. He had more privileges. He was allowed to slack off. He was allowed to show weakness and indulge on what makes him happy. What would satisfy Satoshi? He had the life Yasuchika wanted. He'd be satisfied if he could somehow switch roles with his best friend, but he couldn't. Yasuchika thought life was unfair for him. He thought he got handed a life with the muddy end of the stick.
He deserved better. He deserved to have a normal brother whom wasn't an alien. An honorable brother who took the family legacy seriously and one of which he didn't have to fight every time they saw each other. He worked so hard to beat his older brother and be the favorite son, but Mitsukuni didn't even have to try and he always beat him in a fight. He trained and trained and trained but it never paid off. He acted tough because he felt that was how a true Haninozuka should act. Sure, he cried some, but other than those 'few' times he was always the better brother.
It wasn't fair. Satoshi was right, he deserved to be able to let go once in a while and relax. He was just a kid and he wanted to be normal.
"I want," Satoshi's cheeks dusted pink as he thought hard on whatever he could possibly want. "I want to find love."
"Are you serious?" Yasuchika asked shocked, "You're only fourteen."
"And?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Being in love is never boring. If it's boring than it's not really love. I heard being in love is supposed to be the closest thing there is to magic. If I can fall in love, then I'll be satisfied with my life."
"Yeah," he snorted, "whatever. As if love is just going to come out of nowhere and save you from a life of boredom."
After they finished eating, Satoshi insisted on paying since it was Yasuchika's birthday. He left a genorous tip for the waiter as well.
"Today has been amazing, what do you think, Chika-Chan?" Satoshi asked as they walked down the sidewalk. It was busier than earlier now since most people were just getting off work. It was after seven o'clock after all.
"It was fine," Yasuchika stated, looking up at the cloudy sky with a frown. "It's going to start raining soon."
Satoshi looked at the sky too and nodded. "Yeah, it'll probably make you look even more like a drowned rat." He joked, laughing as Yasuchika playfully punched his arm.
"I don't look like a drowned rat you jerk," he said sounding offended.
"You're right, only when you're wet."
Yasuchika couldn't suppress the smile that formed on his face. "It's my birthday, shouldn't you want to be making me feel good about myself?"
"I'm your best friend," he smirked. "I'm supposed to be completely honest with you. I'd say I'm doing a wonderful job, wouldn't ou?"
"You're an ass, you know that?" Yasuchika scoffed and rolled his chocolate eyes.
"Only with you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means-"
"Watch out!" Someone screamed from a distance, startling the two boys.
Yasuchika noticed Satoshi had stopped walking and he stopped as well. "What are y-" he followed Satoshi's gaze and his breath caught in his throat. His jaw dropped, his body felt like dead weight and he wanted to move. He wanted to move so bad, but he couldn't. His mind screamed at him to get out of the way, to do something, but he stood there completely frozen, eyes wide like a a dear caught in head lights.
He stiffened, thinking it was too late to try to get out of the way. He felt like he should squeeze his eyes closed and brace himself for impact, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the large oncoming vehicle. It was like a morbid curiosity, he didn't want to look away.
It was all happening so fast; one minute his legs were glued to the pavement, the next he was flying through the air. His arms flailed, he heard Satoshi scream as they both skidded onto the concrete sidewalk. Yasuchika felt his skin rip away, a loud snap as he landed on his arm the wrong way, a whimper escaped his lips and his eyes teared up.
He paid it no mind though as he looked at his raven haired companion in question. How? What happened? Satoshi was on all fours, he lifted his palms up to his face and Yasuchika flinched, seeing blood form in patches. Yasuchika felt a searing pain in his arm, he looked down at himself and a sob sounded. He thought he broke it. The sting of the scrapes hand were nothing compared to the pain in his arm.
"Sat-Satoshi!" He gasped out as his arm throbbed again.
"Are you okay, Chika?" He asked in panic, scooting over towards his friend, careful not to press his bloody hands to the ground.
"M-my arm!" He sniffled, "I th-think I b-broke it."
"Hold on I'll ca-"
Satoshi started, but was cut off when someone screamed not too far away from them, "HELP! SOMEONE CALL 119*!" (A/N: 119 is 911 in Japan)
Both boys snapped their heads in the direction of the panicked voices. Their eyes widened and they both felt the color drain from their faces. About fifteen feet away laid a small limp body in the middle of the road. The body's limbs were twisted at unnatural angles. There was a puddle of red forming around the body. Yasuchika turned his head away and vomited the food he had just eaten. They couldn't see the stranger's face, but they assumed it was a girl because of her long brown hair and female school uniform.
"...You didn't push us out of the way, did you?" Satoshi asked, a look equivalent to horror formed his face.
Yasuchika shook his head.
Satoshi stood up and held out a hand. Yasuchika grabbed hold with his skinned up hand, but uninjured arm. He gritted his teeth as he was hauled up. The two staggered over to the crowd and pushed passed the crowd forming around the mangled body.
"Everybody back up! Give her some room!" Satoshi yelled, throwing a deadly glare at anyone who looked ready to argue. The crowd cleared. Yasuchika saw a few people with their phones out, calling the police. Yasuchika watched as Satoshi crouched down and checked her pulse on the curve of her neck.
"She's not breathing," Satoshi said in alarm, glancing at his companion. His dark grey eyes looked like he was on the verge of tears. They had no idea what they were supposed to do. They heard if a person wasn't breathing they should perform CPR but they didn't know how to do that. In the distance sirens were heard getting closer to them.
Yasuchika couldn't stop staring at their savior. Blood gushed down her cracked skull, her long dark brown hair was wet and sticking to her face from smeared blood. One arm was laying limp over her chest, the other was sticking out across the black pavement.
Moving father down with his eyes, Her skirt was pulled up, revealing her upper thigh and panties. He would have blushed had it been any other time.
He quickly averted his eyes and suddenly Yasuchika felt even more lightheaded as he gagged.
Something jagged and sharp stuck out of her leg. It was white and red. He knew what it was, he just never saw a bone sticking out of a body before. Her body was bruised and battered, her shoe was nowhere to be found it had fallen off when the truck smashed into her. Her sock was still on but foot was twisted in an odd angle.
His stomach churned, bile rose in his throat as it clenched together painfully. He cringed and caressed his arm, not wanting to think about what it looked like under his white Ouran Middle School uniform.
When the EMTs showed up they immediately ripped her shirt open gave her CPR. The man had to perform high-frequency chest compressions. Yasuchika was so confused. The man kept rubbing a device together and yelling "clear" before sticking it to her chest. He flinched as he saw her body surge forward just to slam itself back to the ground. Yasuchika found his ability to breathe again as the EMT man said she was breathing to his partner. They lifted her onto a gurney, strapped her to it and moved her quickly to the ambulance.
Yasuchika and Satoshi jumped in too, although Yasuchika found it a bit difficult.
"Do you know her?" The guy asked.
"No, we were about to get hit by a car and she pushed us out of the way I guess." Satoshi said, his legs bouncing around anxiously watching as his partner started hooking her up to unfamiliar machines.
"Alright," he said. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, but I think he," Satoshi gestured to his cousin who was cradling his injured arm. "May have broken his arm from the fall."
"Can you take your blazer off?" The EMT guy asked, shifting and getting an ice pack out of the compartment beside him.
"I don't want to."
"Well you're going to have to eventually so your arm can get X-rayed and treated." He said handing the ice pack out to him.
Yasuchika shook his head and said he'd rather wait for a doctor to fix it. Satoshi looked like he was going to smack him for being rude and difficult, but the stranger just shrugged and put the ice pack back into the compartment. He then gave them a blanket which they took and then he put his attention into the girl on the gurney and started working on cleaning the visible wounds.
When they got to the hospital they were rushing her through the double doors and someone at the front desk immediately lead them away while another person stopped the teens from following. They took that opportunity to sign Yasuchika in so they could fix his arm.
Satoshi forgot to check his phone in the back pocket of his slacks, he had several missed calls and unread texts from his concerned family. In all the 'excitement', he had completely forgotten about the surprise party. It was miles away from his growing list of worries.
When he did remember he paled and stepped out of the emergency room Yasuchika was in, currently getting a cast put on. He called his father and it rang once before the scolding voice of his father answered on the other end.
"Where are you? We've been waiting for hours."
"It's a long story, we're in the hospital." He said with a sigh,
"What happened are you guys alright?" Satoshi could hear murmuring in the background and his father told them to be quiet.
"Yasuchika broke his arm, but other than that we just have a few scapes. We'll explain how it happened when you get down here." He ran a hand through his spiked hair with a frustrated sigh and told them which hospital. He hung up afterwards and walked back into the room. He was dreading telling his family about their fatal mistake.
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Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.
I hope you enjoyed this long chapter. I apologize for the failed humor. Anyways, please leave a review and tell me how I did.
Until next time :)