I do not own Ouran Highschool Host Club or any of its characters. I only own Sayuri, Graham and Hatsumomo Nitta, Umiko Nekozawa, Ferio, Mameha, Vincent Knight, Ifaac Zelkova Loki Radhmoninoff the Third, Markus Knoll, Ephriham Delacroix and Delilah Kaede.
Chapter 22:
He was not just a fad. Over the past week, Ouran High School had been the political battleground of Sayuri and Ephraim. He always seemed to be able to one up her somehow, though she wasn't sure HOW he knew what she was going to do. If she passed out lolipops, he'd hand out cupcakes. If she made buttons, he designed scarves. If she posted flyers, he erected banners.
"Why is he so determined to make my life miserable?" She asked of Kyoya during Host hours one day. "I haven't been able to determine that," The bespectacled senior admitted absently as he scanned statistics on his laptop. Sayuri pouted and whined, "I need something to get an edge over him! ...What if the Host Club backs me?" Her eyes lit up as ideas began to come to her. "And you guys can hold a political themed event, and I'll be there with posters and more memorabilia-"
"No." A cool voice interrupted her smoothly, immediately making the freshman's excited expression fall before forming one of determination. "It will get you more customers though! We'll both profit from it, there's no downsides, I'd bet the others would be willing too-."
She was cut off yet again, "The answer is still no. Instead of being selfish and only thinking of how to benefit yourself, think of the repercussions of your actions." Kyoya's tone wasn't heated, but one could tell at a glance that he was annoyed as he snapped his laptop shut and sighed an 'excuse me', before leaving the table to find a quieter place to work. Leaving Sayuri to sit by herself, stewing in a mix of self pity, frustration and self-loathing. Was she really being that self-centered?
Taking a minute to think about her situation, the heir realized the position that her fiance was in. It would likely look bad if he or worse, the entire Host club took a side in the campaign. Besides, she didn't want to become student body President just for her own sake, she actually wanted to make changes that would benefit her peers. Her eyes set in determination, she immediately exited Music room three and found the first year's advisor. Through him, she found out who else was running for the various positions of first year student body government.
Ferio of course was running for Treasurer along with Yasuchika Haninozuka. Umiko and Kaede were competing for Secretary and Satoshi Morinozuka was going against Markus Knoll for Senator. And whoever was runner up for President would get the position of Vice President. That was unfortunate as even if she won, it was likely that she'd still have to put up with his presence. There weren't any other runners for President unfortunately. But now that she knew the identities of all the possible government officials, she made it a goal to find and meet all of them. Kaede and Markus were counted out though as known friends of Ephriham, and labeled as enemies. So she obviously supported Umiko and Satoshi as a result. As a runner for President, it wasn't just popularity that would get her votes, but the ideas she had as well. But if she could befriend other runners and get them to support and spread word of her... Sayuri smiled in confidence as she planned everything out.
Once back home, the raven haired girl checked on Toya and quickly finished her homework before researching her future cabinet members and their possible connections to her family. Ferio's family owned a chain of private banks that had numerous influential investors, one of which being Nitta corp. Yasuchika was indeed Honey's younger brother as she suspected and seemed to follow the Haninozuka code much more closely than his brother, though why he was interested in the Treasurer position was beyond her. Umiko's position was shaky as the Nekozawa's didn't have the best reputation, though she herself was popular among the other first years. Kaede on the other hand was known to be liked by the male population and was likely to have certain underground connections... Sayuri would likely have to push that design for the new female uniforms were her creation and that Sayuri simply supported her. She knew very little about Satoshi other than he idolized his older brother, Mori, and was generally well liked by everyone. It was likely that he would win the popularity vote against Markus, unless the devious fencer pulled out an unknown ace. She sighed in satisfaction before saving her research and going to bed. She stared at the glittering ring on her vanity before turning over and drifting to sleep.
The next day, Sayuri made sure to have lunch with Ferio san, explaining her goals and her support of him, though was surprised when he admitted that he didn't really want to be Treasurer, but was pressured by his family to. His passion was baseball apparently, though he did say that he would support her. After school and Archery Club, she skipped going to the Host Club and instead visited the Kendo Club, where Satoshi was finishing a match.
She couldn't see his face, but the raven haired girl knew which one he was. The one winning obviously. He was taller than his opponent and carried a certain...certainty about him. A veteran stance her father would say. When the match ended with a win for him, he took off his protective head gear and laughed along with his opponent, shaking his hand before going to put up his kendo stick and other equipment. That was when she remembered to get his attention. "Morinozuka-san, could I have a moment please?" Some of the other boys tittered and teased him about having a girl asking for him but he simply laughed it off and waved them away before going over to her. "Don't mind them. What can I do for you?" He asked curiously with an innocent smile.
Smiling shyly, Sayuri suddenly realized that he looked very much alike to his older brother and yet so much more open. Remembering why she was here, the young heir stated, "I'm Sayuri Nitta, one of the runners for first year's Student Body President. I heard that you're running for Senator and wanted to show my support as well as maybe share some ideas to help us both succeed. Um, if you're busy now though, then perhaps later?" She added.
He looked vaguely surprised at the reason why she was here, but the smile stayed. "Satoshi Morinozuka, though you can call me Satoshi. Don't want people getting me confused with my brother." He laughed lightly before stating, "Well I'd like to take a shower first, but I'd be up for comparing notes. Wait right here okay? I'll be back in five." He waved at her before running off back into the dojo. Thankfully there was a nice garden nearby with some benches, so Sayuri took advantage of this and browsed through her English Literature class' latest novel as she waited. As she did, another student walked into the garden and sat down on the opposite bench. He looked to be the same age as herself, with golden brown hair and eyes. He too pulled out a book and read and so they continued doing in silence until Satoshi returned.
"Oh, hey Chika. Have you guys met already?" The two looked up from their books to stare up at Satoshi before looking at each other and blinking. "Sayuri Nitta." She stated with a bow of her head before being replied with, "Yasuchika Haninozuka." Her mouth made an 'O' shape before saying, "I thought you looked familiar." Which earned her a grimace of distaste from Chika and a chuckle from Satoshi. "I promised her that we'd discuss some things about the student body cabinet. Do you want to join us Chika? You don't mind do you Sayuri-san?" She shook her head.
"Well then let's get started." He said brightly before going over to sit on the bench next to her, making Chika's eyebrow twitch imperceptibly in annoyance. The afternoon was spent discussing their various strengths and weaknesses as well as who they already had supporting them, who they were likely to vote for themselves, and what their ideas for each others' campaigns would be. Since Yasuchika was there as well, Sayuri included him, though he didn't seem very talkative. At the end, she asked them if they had anything that they would like her to pass out and Satoshi passed her flyers for both himself and Chika, to which the latter was surprised. "I knew you wouldn't take the time to make some for yourself." Satoshi explained with his usual easy going smile.
The raven haired girl supposed that the ties between the Morinozuka and Haninozuka clans weren't rumors after all. Taking the fliers and handing back some of her own, Sayuri bid her goodbyes to her classmates and wished them both luck before heading home. She received several disgruntled texts from Umiko that night and was extracted a promise to eat lunch with the blonde the next day. As she finished her homework, she was summoned for dinner with her family. She expected an easy going meal with her father but shortly after they dug in, her mother entered, instantly causing Sayuri to sit up straighter. "Darling, we didn't expect to see you tonight. How's work?" Her father asked as he stood and walked over to the CEO, tickling her cheek with a whiskered kiss before sitting back down.
The servants rushed to set a place for their mistress and immediately another plate of food was brought out, along with her favorite wine. "Exhausting as always. The Suzushima's were adamant on drawing things out. They want to be part of our Cafe Diem chains, but I told them that it was unlikely that everyone would agree considering that the cafes would likely rely on disposable products rather than high quality china." She shook her head before smiling tiredly at her daughter. "How have you been Sayuri? I heard that you're running for Student Body President. I know that you'll be able to win. You're a Nitta after all. Learning to manage a student body is just a step towards learning to manage a company." The woman smiled confidently before beginning in on her dinner.
Her daughter tried to meet her smile as she said, "Yes. Things have been going all right so far. I've gotten the support of a lot of other people running for cabinet, but the competition is really difficult. I'm going against Ephriham De...Dela...Delacroix." She stumbled over the bastard's unpronounceable surname.
Hatsumomo's chewing slowed as she thought of the name and all behind it. "Delacroix... Hmm, I wasn't aware they were in Japan. Tell me about this Ephriham." She demanded as she ate.
Sayuri grimaced and pushed her food around her plate before finally saying, "He's pretty popular with the girls and is good at archery. I don't have him for many of my classes. Thankfully..." She whispered that last part to herself before continuing, "He and a couple of his friends are running for cabinet. I don't remember the names of all of the Triple O's, but Delilah Kaede is running for Secretary and Markus Knoll is running for Senator." Her mother nodded thoughtfully at the names, obviously recognizing them and making mental notes. "Have you made any new friends?" The CEO asked, obviously hinting.
Schooling her face to a neutral expression, the young heir replied, "I'm acquainted with Satoshi Morinozuka and Yasuchika Haninozuka now. They're running for Treasurer and Senator respectively. They're also the younger brothers of Takashi Morinozuka and Mitsukuni Haninozuka. They said that they would support me in my campaign for President and I in turn will support them."
Hatsumomo nodded approvingly, "That's a good strategy dear, you're starting to think ahead. Just be sure not to tie yourself down lest they drag you down with them." She cautioned morbidly, to which her daughter nodded tentatively. "And how are you and Kyoya doing?" The matriarch pressed, making her heir blush slightly and fidget as she answered, "We're fine mother. We're both very busy though. We both participate in clubs and are running for student body government positions as well as keeping up our grades. We went on one date the other week and since then we occasionally have lunch together." The girl shrugged, not knowing what else to say.
This was when Graham took the opportunity to speak up, "Well these things take time. And we wouldn't want to take away from your studies! You just focus on school for now dear." The boisterous British man advised good naturedly, ignoring the look his wife was giving him. Sayuri smiled gratefully, "Thanks daddy." The rest of their meal was filled with idle chatter about interesting yet meaningless anecdotes of their day before she excused herself to bed.
The rest of the week was spent furthering her campaign. Sayuri followed Umiko's advise and didn't let Ephriham's one-upping get to her and focused on the students themselves. A good number of the female population (and at least half of the male numbers as well) were willing to vote simply because of her revolutionary idea of changing their uniform. She even gave some rather inspiring speeches during lunch breaks. Things were starting to really look up for her. It didn't hurt that she was seeing Ephriham less and less, he had even stopped coming to archery practice. This only lifted her spirits more and she was confident that he knew he was going to lose. But Sayuri made sure to campaign for her allies as well.
Satoshi didn't seem to need her help any, though she regularly name dropped him for support. And Yasuchika didn't seem to particularly want her help, so she decided not to take sides in the Treasurer position. She was worried for Umiko though, as Delilah was proving to be a worthy adversary. She had her own clique of girls that were aggressively loyal and pressured their friends and classmates to vote for her. Umiko was popular in her own right, but she didn't have the connections that the brunette girl possessed. Sayuri tried to help Umiko in her campaign, and even helped host a presentation of the uniform she designed, taking input from their fellow classmates, and even earned the interest of their senpais. It made her wonder how the yellow dresses lasted this long if the majority of the student body abhorred them so.
Finally the fateful day arrived. Friday was voting day. All of the participating parties gave one last speech to earn those few extra votes before the polls opened. Ephriham did actually show up for this, much to Sayuri's disappointment. But she was still brimming with confidence and frankly was glad that the whole thing was over now. The ballets would be counted over the weekend and the results announced the following Monday.
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Author Ramble:
Hello all who happen to be reading this. To the new, thank you for reading this far! For the old, THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME! T~T I know, I'm a terrible author for abandoning my story for so long, but life is cruel. C'est la vie. Took a lot for me to get this chapter out, big thanks to mah hubby for urging me on and helping me get rid of some serious writer's block. I'm looking for a beta reader if anyone's interested. I wonder if anyone can correctly guess the winners of all the cabinet positions~? If someone does, I'll tell them a special plot secret! I've gone from California to Maine to North Carolina to California and now I'm about to go back to North Carolina again! It's been hectic but I do still plan on keeping with this story. Please, reviews always help me keep going and I love answering questions and listening to ideas that you guys have.