It's a Twin Thing
Chapter 14
Sei drummed her fingers against the wooden desk in her room boredly while resting her chin in the palm of her other hand. Her eyes were sore and she didn't even dare to look at herself in the mirror, she didn't want to confirm what she suspected she must've looked like.
After Itaru had left she had remained in the garden for another hour, lying in the dewy grass by the koi pond and that's where Sai had found her. He had fruitlessly tried to get answers out of her, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened and the purple bruise on her cheek was proof of that.
Infront of her was a scholarly looking old man with wildly unkempt silver hair and thick-rimmed coke bottle glasses. Sei wasn't even bothering to pay her tutor any attention and honestly didn't care if he went and told her father how unproductive she was.
Sai pushed open the backdoor, his sister clinging tightly to his back after he had found her broken in the garden. She seemed dazed and jumpy, any small movement or sound made her jolt and Sai was pissed. Whatever Itaru had done to her she wouldn't tell but he had his theories and he was going to confront the american about them.
"Nanami, I justed called a colleague of mine and he agreed to be your tutor. No more gallavanting as the opposite sex at Ouran for you, you are to be home-schooled starting tomorrow." The man before them spoke in a commanding tone that demanded respect, too bad the twin's didn't have any for him.
"That's not fair! Ouran is one of the most prestigious academies in all of Japan!" Sei sputtered,"and I never straight up said that I was a guy, they just assumed."
Hideki shrugged,"My decision still stands. I've also taken the liberty of going through your wardrobe and disposing of anything that wasn't lady like."
In other words a large majority of her jeans and tshirts were now gone, leaving her with dress shirts, formal and casual dresses, and some skirts.
Sai had stormed out of the kitchen with her still hanging on to him and had brought her to her room, where he had stayed the night with her.
She ran a hand through her straight burgundy hair, she wasn't even allowed to gel it anymore because that type of hairstyle was 'inappropriate for a young lady' or so her father had clearly stated.
"Miss Nanami please answer the question." Siraiya-sensei was, surprisingly, a kind old man and she vaguely wondered how he had ever gotten mixed up with someone like her father.
"Er...what question?" She snapped herself awake and out of her dreamworld, giving him a sheepish grin.
The man didn't seem all that displeased that she hadn'tbeen paying attention and merely smiled,"Can you even named one of Charles Dickens' works or must I start the lesson over completely?"
Okay maybe he was a little miffed by her lack of attentiveness.
"Ano...he wrote Great Expectations, ne?" She answered hesitantly.
The older man chuckled,"I guess you're not as incapable of paying attention as I had thought."
Sei frowned,"I'm capable, I just daydream...I want to go back to Ouran..."
Siraiya-sensei sighed,"I know you do but you know how your father feels about that."
"But I have responsibilities to the Host Club and I need to go so I can pay off my debt!" Sei bit her lip.
"Debt? What're those boys doing to you?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
She straightened up,"No, that's not what I meant! They're my friends and I really enjoy being with them."
The older man smiled knowingly,"Is there a certain boy you've got your eye on?"
Sei flushed and turned her head away,"N-no! If you haven't noticed, I'm engaged now, so my free and single life is over."
He gave her a sympathetic look,"Don't fret about it, everything'll work out."
She snorted,"You know, everyone's been telling me that and I'm beginning to think that it's just out of pity and there's no way out of this."
He sighed, pulling up a chair beside her and taking a seat,"Your father is doing what he believes is best for you, I know you may not understand his line of reasoning--"
"--Like hell I don't! What could possibly be his reasoning for this?!" She snapped angrily, she didn't mean to just blow up at him and she knew that none of this was his fault, she just needed to vent.
Siraiya-sensei didn't seem fazed at all by her explosion,"Well, you are aware that when you're older you will be taking over your mother's corporation while your brother will be heading your father's, correct?"
She nodded,"Yes, but that won't happen until we're way older."
"That is true but his way of thinking is that something could come up which would toss either of you into the business world and he wants you both to be prepared."
She quirked an eyebrow at him, her confusion was almost tangible,"How does marrying me off to an assface prepare me for the business world?"
His lips twitched upwards at her nickname for Itaru,"In the business clause it states that all female heirs must take a husband in order to keep the business in the family."
She paused a moment, thinking over his words with a perplexed expression,"So if I don't get married...we would lose our zoos and animal health corporation...?"
He nodded solemnly, now that she understood the good that was coming out of the arranged marriage. Siraiya Heiji did not agree with this method by no means, it was the 21st century and ethics had changed, women were more independent in this world. However, old families in the business world generally still lived by the old laws that a woman must be married in order to inherit the family business. Tsukyoshii Hideki was an old student of his and while he didn't agree with the laws of business, he wasn't going to question him because it wasn't a matter that he could help.
The burgundy haired girl sat there quietly, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully. She didn't know about the whole marriage clause, it was a stupid law, whoever said that a woman wasn't capable of running things on her own? That was utter bullshit. An image of her smiling mother popped into her head, Tsukyoshii Sayu loved animals and certainly enjoyed what she did, Sei could not risk losing the company just because she didn't want to get married, she couldn't risk losing all that her mother had worked for. She hated Itaru, but then again, her parents hated each other too and they made it work. She could do the same, she would do it for her mother.
Yasai sensed the tenseness in the air and lifted his head, jumping from Sei's bed and slowly ambling towards her. He swished his tail and wound it around and between her legs, placing a paw on her knee and staring up at her with adoring eyes.
The emerald eyed girl cracked a small smile, picking up the fox and cradling him in her arms, snuggling her face in his soft fur.
"He's quite fond of you, is he not?"
Sei smiled,"And I'm quite fond of him aswell, he's my baby."
The man with silver hair that rivaled that of Einstein smiled warmly,"How is it that you came across this little guy? Doesn't your father not like animals?"
Her smile dropped at the mention of her father, who believed in the whole no-nonsense teaching method,"Three years ago okaasan was with a rescue group and they brought him in after his mother had been killed by some hunters, who I guess had also taken his siblings or something because he was the only one found.
Okaasan came and got me and Sai that summer and we helped her nurse Yasai back to proper health. He took to the 3 of us as his surrogate family and since he had gotten so attached to us okaasan found that he could not be released into the wild because he'd never survive." Sei smirked,"Me and Sai brought him home with us at the end of the summer and father flipped out! As you said, he does not like animals, but we convinced him to let us keep Yasai if we kept him away from father."
The affectionate fox looked up, twirling his body around into a sitting position so that both his front paws were resting on her chest. The two stared at each other for a moment in silent understanding before he licked her face, she laughed.
"So I can see that you and your brother obviously don't share your father's dislike for animals then. I myself have 3 cats back home, I couldn't imagine not having an them around." Siraiya-sensei smiled fondly at the red and black fox in his student's lap.
The burgundy haired girl let out a laugh that sounded more bitter than she had intended,"We don't exactly see eye to eye with our father, incase you didn't know."
Just then her bedroom door swung open and her brother rushed in like a blur and pulled her into his arms. Yasai growled in annoyance on the floor at their feet for having been disturbed from his comfortable position in Sei's lap.
"I had a God awful day, father didn't buy the I'm-sick-I-have-a-fever-and-should-stay-home act this morning and all I could think about was you all day." He moaned, dramatically burying his face into her hair.
Siraiya-sensai shot the twins an amused look before glancing at the clock,"Oh, I should be getting home, have a good rest of the day Nanami, Kaito." he grabbed his suitcase and bid them farewell before leaving the room.
Sai lifted his head and watched the older man leave before kicking the door shut with his foot. "How're you feeling?" All joking aside, he was completely serious now, his eyes scanning her over, she could see his gaze lingering on her cheek and she frowned.
"I'm...fine I suppose..." She cast her eyes downwards, becoming fascinated with her black and white striped knee-high socks.
Her brother let out a sigh,"I talked to okaasan today during lunch."
Sei's eyes lit up and she lifted her head to meet his gaze,"What'd she say?"
She didn't miss the unmistakable grin pulling at the corner of her brother's lips, which only made her even more eager to hear what her mother had to say about her father's actions.
"She's going to talk to father about it, and if that doesn't work then she said she'll come up with something." He answered.
"Sei you've got some visitors waiting for you downstairs in the foyer," Yamina entered the room and bowed,"It's those boys from Ouran."
The two glanced up and nodded to the woman before she took a step back and left the room, Sai tilted his head to the side, watching his sister.
"Were you expecting them?" He asked curiously and she shook her head.
"I wonder why they're here..." She wondered vaguely before starting for the door, but was stopped when her brother's hand shot out.
Sei turned around and eyed him curiously,"What is it?"
Her brother held out his hand and then she understood, he intertwined his fingers with her's and tugged her forward as they left her bedroom and ambled down the hallway and the stairs towards the foyer. The two broke into simultaneous grins at the sight of the Host Club in the entrance hallway below them.
"Nana-chan! I missed you so much!" Hunny launched himself from his cousin's shoulders and wrapped his arms around her neck,"Usa-chan missed you too!" he held up his bunny and she couldn't help but to smile.
"I'm sorry, I missed you too, and you aswell Usa-chan." That seemed to make everything okay again in the tiny senior's eyes and he hugged her tighter.
"Sei this is awful! My dear father told me that you dropped out of Ouran and decided to be homeschooled instead, is this true?" Tamaki gripped her shoulders, staring straight into her eyes.
Sei cast her gaze downwards, not able to meet the Host King's questioning gaze, instead she just nodded her head. Her smile quickly flipped into a deepset frown as she heard the devastated wail from Tamaki, the upset cry of Hunny, and the annoyed scoffs from the Hitachiin's.
"Nana-chan doesn't like us anymore...?" Hunny sniffed, looking up at her with tear-filled eyes.
Sai frowned,"That's not it at all."
Al eyes turned to the burgunfy-red haired boy, urging him to give them the answers that Sei couldn't speak out loud to give.
He sighed, wrapping an arm around his sister for comfort,"It was our father's idea."
Sai's eyes narrowed as he remembered the night before,"He found out about her going to Ouran and ruled it as 'unlady-like' since she wore boy clothes and whatnot. So along with pulling her out of Ouran he also went through her closet and tossed out anything he didn't deem proper for a young lady to wear."
"So that's why you're wearing that..." Hikaru mused.
Sei glanced down at the short black ruffled skirt and white button-up sleeveless collared shirt that she was wearing, her long striped socks added her own touch to the outfit.
"Yeah...he threw away most of my jeans..."
She looked up and a collective gasp was heard among the Host Club, immediately she turned her face but they had already seen it.
"Nanami-chan...who did this to you...?" Kaoru's voice was soft and filled with concern as he stepped forward so that he was standing infront of her. Sei blinked at the closeness and winced as his hand came towards her face, making him pause in the motion and stare at her as if her were silently asking for permission. She closed her eyes briefly and he gently placed his hand on her cheek, tracing the purple hand-shaped bruise with his cold fingers.
Tamaki stepped forward,"Was that your father too?" his voice was hard and uncharacteristically serious.
"She won't tell me what happened..." Sai frowned, watching his sister carefully as she started playing with the ruffles in her skirt.
the tiny blonde senior bowed his head slightly, his innocent eyes darkening as he stood infront of her, gripping his Usa-chan tightly.
"No one hurts my Nana-chan."
Shudders ran up everyone's spine at the dark tone the usually cheery senior had spoken in.
"It's fine Hunny-senpai, no one hurt me." Sei said softly,"I fell down the stairs on my way out to the garden, I'm as clumsy as Haruhi sometimes and last night just wasn't my night."
No one believed her blatant lie and they all silently wondered why she was protecting the one that had hurt her. They knew it had to be either two people; Itaru or her father.
Kaoru let out a bitter laugh, startling the emerald eyed girl infront of her,"You fell? Nanami, do you take us for idiots? It's in the shape of a fucking handprint! How could you even think that you could get away with lying about this?" his eyes were narrowed on her, gauging for her reaction and trying to figure out what was running through her head.
"I...don't want anyone to get hurt." She mumbled beofre rupping herself from the ginger-haired boy's grip and running up to her room, leaving everyone to ponder her last spoken words.
"Doesn't want us to get hurt?" Tamaki frowned, turning to see whether the others knew something that he did not, but from their frazzled expressions they were just as stumped as he was.
Haruhi frowned, trying to figure out what could have possibly happened to her friend to make her turn away the help of the Host Club. Sure the guys were often overdramatic and made big scenes out of the tiniest situations but this was serious, they were all genuinly worried and she wouldn't tell them anything. She averted her gaze to the devastated boy standing by the staircase, Sai was the closest to Sei and even he couldn't get any information out of his sister.
Her attention was brought back to the present when the resident Shadow King spoke up for the first time since they had gotten there.
"She's hiding something from us," He was interrupted before he could continue.
"Well no shit sherlock." The Hitachiin's rolled their eyes.
Kyouya let out a low growl of annoyance and everyone turned to give him their undivided attention,"What I was trying to say before I was rudely interrupted is that she's hiding something important from us, something that she thinks could put us in danger if we were to find out." He frowned,"I'm thinking that she's being blackmailed, or something of the sort."
Sai ran a hand through his messy red hair, "That makes sense, but who could have threatened her like that? From what I've heard Sei's adored at Ouran, and she doesn't know enough people outside of school to have any negative relationships..."
"Couldn't it be Itaru...?" Hunny asked, biting his lip and hugging Usa-chan close to his chest.
"What possible reasons would he have for threatening her? She's already been promised to him so it's not like he has to work for her hand in marriage, he has no reason to blackmail her or those close to her--why're you guys staring at me like that?" The emerald eyed boy tilted his head at the incredulous stares he wasa receiving from the Host Club.
"Sei's ENGAGED?!"
He winced at the loudness of everyone's voice screaming the same thing all at once,"Er...yeah, father had it arranged, she didn't tell you?"
Kaoru grit his teeth,"No, she didn't."
Hikaru glanced over to his brother and wrapped an arm around his waist, he knew that this was the last thing Kaoru had wanted to hear, even if they had already had their suspicions from the start, hearing it confirmed made the situation seem even more hopeless.
Sai frowned,"I'm sure she had her reasons, she didn't want to accept the marriage and has been searching for a way out of it, we both have, ever since father told her about it."
"What can we do to help?" Tamaki asked.
"I...I'm not sure yet, I know there's got to be a way out of this, a loophole or something..." The burgundy haired boy said softly.
"Nana-chan's going to keep getting more and more depressed unless we do soemthing to lift her spirits." Hunny quietly spoke,"I think we should take her to the beach and get her mind off of this marriage with Itaru and I can give her lots and lots of cakes! Cakes always make me feel better when i'm sad!"
Tamaki grinned,"That's perfect!"
"It is?" Everyone quirked an eyebrow at the two blondes.
Tamaki laughed as if it were the most obvious thing,"Of course it is! We take her away from Itaru and her father and take her to the beach for a few days to cheer her up, and while we're there we'll have time to strategize and think of what we're going to do to rescue our fair princess from the marriage to Itaru!"
"You know, " Kaoru started,"tono's idea isn't half bad."
Hikaru smiled,"it could work afterall."
Sai's eyes lit up at the thought of Sei being happy again,"Let's do it."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
I decided to save the author's note until the very end of the chapter this time so you guys could go ahead and read without having to bother with my rantings xD!
I'm sorry it took so long to get this up, being a senior means that you have hardly any spare time anymore, worrying about college stuff and classes, I've been very busy. But I have been working on this chapter as much as I could the past few weeks, I'd carry my notebook around with me and write in it whenever I could lol.
It's snowing right now as I type, we've already got several inches (and being in the south, that's a LOT for us) so school's cloed for tomorrow, which gave me the incentive to finally type up what I had written already and go ahead and finish this chapter.
So, I really hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter will be the beach trip and the Host Club trying to cheer up poor Sei!
Please review, thank you!
