CHAPTER 7

Kyoya's POV

She shut the door in my face. I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose and exhaled before walking back to the Host Club's room.

My Google search on Miss Konanawa had yielded nothing. She had never been quoted in a newspaper, been in a school play, or written a blog post – nothing. I was left empty-handed as I headed to her room, and I felt even emptier after I left.

Now, sitting in Music Room 3 as the Host Club was cleaning up from a day's work, I poised my fingers of the keys of my laptop and begged myself to work on the budget for the coming month. I couldn't get my fingers to move. Instead they hovered frozen over the keys while I stared blankly at the spreadsheet on my computer screen.

I couldn't get Miss Konanawa's injuries out of my head.

What on earth could have caused her to inflict such pain on herself? I knew that cutting was often a sign of mental illness, but there had to have been some external stimulus or stimuli to force her to so low an act. What kind of treatment had she received, if any? What was psychiatric treatment like in the U.S.? Why had my father not told me?

"Goodbye, Kyoya-senpai," said Haruhi as she passed me on her way out. "Have a nice evening."

"You as well, Haruhi," I responded.

Tamaki hastily followed Haruhi out of the room. The twins were next to leave, followed by Honey-senpai and Mori. I was finally left alone in the room.

I pulled out my phone and dialed my father's number before pressing the device to my ear. He answered on the third ring.

"Kyoya," he said brusquely. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hello, Father," I greeted him. "I was just wondering something about Miss Konanawa."

He breathed roughly into the receiver and it echoed static on my end of the line.

"What would you like to know?" he asked.

"Why is it exactly that she self-harmed?"

He was silent for a long time, long enough that I thought he had hung up. Before I could end the call myself and redial I heard a sigh on the other end of the line.

"I think it's best if you left that alone, Kyoya," he said. "I gave you enough information for you to work with."

"Yes, sir," I said deferentially. "Thank you for your time."

"Of course."

This time he did hang up, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Why was it best if I left it alone?

I did not pride myself on my curiosity; it had gotten me in quite a lot of trouble in my childhood and it wasn't the best asset in the business world. However, I was a curious person, and that was part of the reason why I researched all of the Host Club's clients. It was at that moment that my curiosity was taking full root. I could feel it in the soles of my feet and in the back of my chest – I wanted to know what was going on with Oleander Konanawa, and Kyoya Ootori always got what he wanted.

That night I repeated my walk, something that had become a routine for me since coming to live at the school. I once again found myself at the Host Club's door and, once again, found myself mesmerized by the sound from within.

It was a violin that night, and the music was dark and sorrowful as she dragged the bow across the strings. I peeked through the door and saw that she wasn't using any sheet music, and had probably gone without it on the previous nights as well. It was then that I realized that she wasn't just talented – she was a prodigy.

I spent several hours working on homework on the floor in the hallway outside of Music Room 3, leaning my head against the wall and drowning myself in the music emanating from the room. When the music stopped I quickly strode back to my room to avoid detection and went to sleep.

The next day at breakfast I sat with Miss Konanawa again, much to her displeasure; once again, we were joined loudly by Tamaki. He threw his arms around me and yelled happily.

"Kyoya, I have something to show you!" he exclaimed before sitting down beside me and pulling out my laptop. A normal person would have hit him for disrespecting the notion of private property. Perhaps I should have hit him. Either way Miss Konanawa looked amused across the table as she awkwardly delivered balls of rice to her mouth.

"What do you want to show me, Tamaki?"

"This!"

He turned the laptop to face me. On the screen was a YouTube video, the frame completely black.

"Should I put in headphones?" I asked tightly.

"Sure."

I pulled my earbuds out of my bag and unwound them before plugging them into the side of my computer. I pushed the headphones into my ears and pressed play.

The screen never changed, but through the headphones came the most beautiful voice I had ever heard. I turned to look at Tamaki.

"I know!" he exclaimed. "She's wonderful! I listened to all of her music last night."

"Who is it?" Miss Konanawa asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Tamaki smiled brightly at her before answering.

"Her real name isn't mentioned, but her YouTube channel is called KonaMusic."

She immediately stiffened, her eyes going wide. Her back suddenly shook like it had when she had been bombarded with the crowd of students several days earlier. I reluctantly pulled out one of my headphones and asked if she was alright.

"I'm fine," she breathed. "Just need… to leave for a second."

"Alright."

She stood and took her nearly untouched tray to the trashcan and emptied it before placing the tray itself in its designated slot. She hurried out of the room, hands in her pockets.

"What was that about?" Tamaki asked as his eyes followed her out of the room.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "But I can guarantee you that I'm going to figure it out."

Andi's POV

After a five-minute-long anxiety attack in the bathroom I managed to calm myself down.

KonaMusic. I hadn't heard that name in a long time.

I had started making YouTube videos when I was twelve, singing and playing music to upload to the Internet. It was all in good fun, but my popularity surged in the U.S. and Canada as I uploaded more and more videos. I had eventually become a YouTube partner for my music, able to make money from my videos. In fact, that money was what enabled me to come to Japan in the first place.

My channel's name? KonaMusic.