It took Hanaka some time before she was composed enough to speak to Tetsuya without the severity of her family situation weighing on her mind. It was a constant source of emotional draining for her, and her studies were beginning to feel the consequences. Her daily detail of kendo teammates to and from club practice to other parts of campus continued, but the more days that went on - the more Hanaka began to question the rotation of male companions.
"There are a lot of your father's supporters' children in kendo club - many of whom who would agree with your father's stance towards you!" Tetsuya, her new "detail" on every trip back to Kasanoda's (these days, he stayed late at the Host Club to talk to Haruhi and never walked home with Hanaka), never let her forget. Why could he never get the hint? She didn't want to hear it. She knew, somewhere deep down, that she wouldn't be safe anywhere. But couldn't Tetsuya just let her have the happy illusion that life at Ouran would be an improvement with the addition of kendo club?
Sitting in last period, she sighed. Today would be the day that she couldn't avoid Tetsuya's panicked warnings. He'd scheduled time to speak with her, effective immediately after kendo club closed for today.
The soft chimes of the day-end school bell rang just as Hanaka had finished absentmindedly doodling her shinai. Another heavy sigh helped her pile her notebooks into her bag, and a deep exhale gave her the strength to pick up her feet to head to kendo. Her quiet, somber peace did not last long, however - a jarring push dropped Hanaka to the floor by the door as a shock of maroon hair adorning a blue Ouran suit rushed by.
Hanaka recognized the offender immediately. "Kasa-kun, you idiot!" He was certainly rushing off to the Host Club, likely to snatch up Haruhi's time... But couldn't he have been more considerate?
Couldn't he?
Her eyes beginning to well up, Hanaka slumped her shoulders, unable to drag herself out of the weight of her situation. She had nobody to turn to. Kendo club apparently held secret enemies, Tetsuya (a yakuza escapee himself) couldn't stop offering unwelcome advice, and Kasa-kun, her only kind cousin, was too besotted with an obviously taken cross-dressing girl to even consider Hanaka's well-being.
This, apparently, was the unfortunate reality of life. I could use this negative energy and channel it into my craft, Hanaka thought bitterly. That's the yakuza way, isn't it?
A sigh escaped her lips once again - it was all she seemed to have in her these days - as she subjected herself to her fate and began to rise, reaching out to collect her spilled notebooks. To her surprise, though, her notebooks were now hovering in a neat stack before her.
There was a hand attached to her books, and Hanaka's gaze followed the attached arm to find the face of her helper.
"Mori-senpai!" Hanaka flushed immediately, embarrassed to have the great national champion see her in this state. How could she be so foolish to rest in her thoughts?! How could she so blatantly display her weakest self in front of the man she most respected? "I am so sorry - thank you for all your help, you really didn't have to!"
Quickly accepting her books, she brushed herself off and stood up. "Shall we be off to kendo club?" Hanaka plastered an unusually bright smile onto her face, although the look in her eyes displayed the internal battle within.
Mori gave nothing but a small smile, before taking her bookbag to hold for her on the way.
The awkward silence between the two was palpable; Hanaka took great care to ensure that her shoes made no sound as she walked. Curse the athletic facility for being so far away from the main campus!
Mori, on the other hand, politely said nothing. After many walks to the main athletic facilities on-campus, he'd come to learn that the long walk was one of Hanaka's precious moments - it was a time of day where nothing mattered, where she could make peace with her thoughts before diving into one of her passions. Still - something was different today. Her energy seemed more nervous than usual. Was it really the embarrassment of having Kasanoda klutz his way into a path of destruction?
He smiled slightly to himself. He'd been watching her earlier, waiting outside her classroom door to pick her up, and he'd noticed the emotions that she went through. Mori had seen her break and dejectedly try to pull herself together, and he'd been aiming to reach out in comfort when the girl had suddenly acted startled and nervous.
A lost opportunity, he thought. But perhaps there was something that could be done about eliminating negative distractions and instead helping her empower herself.
Mori's steps had come to a halt, and Hanaka was jolted out of her swirling thoughts. "Mori-senpai?" Her senior stood stock-still, a rather intense look burning into her eyes from his, and Hanaka was certain that her sweating would be visible any second now. "Is something wrong?"
Mori tilted his head slightly, pondering his next plan of action. "Come with me," he simply said, giving no clues as to his decision.
Hanaka found the statement somewhat odd - wasn't she already coming with him? But quickly she learned that Mori was no longer heading to the main building. "Mori-senpai? Isn't the practice room that way?"
"Yeah," came the short reply. Hanaka scurried to keep up with the pace of Mori's long legs as he led the way through a beautiful (but petite) bamboo forest. She wasn't even aware that Ouran had such well-preserved botanical facilities within campus bounds, but honestly - she didn't put it past the Suohs.
The path through the forest became narrower, so to keep them together Mori reached out and took Hanaka's hand. A slight gasp escaped her lips, but she found herself not wanting to let go as he led her deeper into the pseudo-forest.
Mori came to a gentle stop, pulling Hanaka from behind him to stand next to him. Taking in her surroundings, her eyes lit up before she turned a touched expression to Mori.
A little plot of cleared land had been delicately paved with precision-cut rock, forming a small flat surface. Traditional elements had been preserved around the space, like a makeshift tributary carrying the sound of flowing water past the clearing (no doubt bringing the water to the main botanical gardens, where sakura lined the grounds).
To the side of the clearing was an elegant wooden box - likely part bench, part storage. Releasing Hanaka's hand, Mori strode across the the area to open the box, where two freshly pressed keikogi and hakama lay folded - with two bamboo shinai lying across them.
When Mori began to take out the objects and place them atop the closed bench, Hanaka understood. This was his private rehearsal space, where he went instead of kendo club. After giving up captainship to devote more time to the Host Club, he seemed to have preferred letting his younger brother Satoshi train for the leadership of the high school club.
This, then, was Mori's sanctum.
"Come," he called to Hanaka, gesturing gently for her to take one of the uniforms. Her eyes darted around the clearing - surely, after the last run-in with Mori and her indecency, she should seek to find privacy!
But she need not have worried. As soon as the uniform had been deposited in her hands, Mori had gotten up to drape a large, opaque cloth between bamboo branches, creating a veil for her to change behind in a little alcove of the forest.
Wordlessly, he picked up his own uniform and walked back toward the path they took, presumably to find a spot to change himself.
Behind the veil, Hanaka clutched the uniform, trying to calm her racing heart. Mori - he's sharing something so private and sacred to me. Can I really accept his kindness? Squeezing the fabric in an attempt to relieve the urge she had to hug the older boy tightly, she shook her head to clear her thoughts and changed into the uniform.
Face-to-face in the clearing, Mori solemnly offered the shinai to Hanaka, who took it in equal respect. Before assuming their stances, however, Mori smiled at her.
"Consider this your new practice space." His eyes never left hers as he spoke. "You'll be safe here. Focus on your craft and let all the other worries fade away."
I'll be able to protect you here, he almost added - but perhaps now was not the time to be expressing his innermost thoughts.
Now was the time to help Hanaka defeat her demons. Cultivating something more would have to wait until a coming day.
He nodded - Hanaka responded. They both bowed low in deep respect, then in unison -
"Onegaishimasu!"
A/N: Thanks for reading! It's been... well, years since I updated this fic BUT I think out of all the ones I've written, this one has the LEAST disparity within old and new chapter styles. My writing has changed, obviously, but the tone of this piece still hasn't, so it seems less jarring than perhaps some of my other old fics.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! In order for me to churn out more writing, please LEAVE A REVIEW! It's really difficult to stay motivated when your outpouring of words is met with silence.
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