H, everyone! First of all, I would like to thank all of you for your support! I never would have thought that people will still read this story that has been on hiatus for more than a year! Thank you so much for those who followed, Favorited, and reviewed this story. I hope that you will still continue to support this story as the plot thickens and the secrets slowly reveal. So, without further ado, here is chapter 4 of "Pirouette"
Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC. I only have the rights to my original characters and the plot of the story
"-jou-sama…."
'It was that day that completely changed my life'
"Ojou-sama!"
"Huh?" I immediately went back to the real world when I heard the baritone voice of my chauffeur. Quickly plastering on my signature poker face, I masked how startled I was and looked out of the tinted glass window to see that we are approaching the flamboyant campus of Ouran Academy.
Everything was exactly the same. The pink colored walls and the carefully tended garden were she usually spent her time promenading during her middle school years were exactly like how she left them.
"We are nearing Ouran Academy, Setsuko ojou-sama." The chauffeur announced as he drove towards the entrance of the lavish campus where a few students were already heading out since it was already dismissal time.
Setsuko mentally cringed as she looked at the horrendous yellow cupcake that was an excuse for a uniform. She was so glad that she transferred during her final year in middle school. She can't even begin to imagine how she would look like in that uniform which makes anyone look like she just bathed in yellow frosting.
Finally, the car stopped in front of the entrance doors of the high school building of Ouran. The chauffeur went out of the driver's seat and opened the car door of the passenger seat with his gloved hand. He offered his free hand to Setsuko and used his other hand to lift it above her head in order to protect her head if ever she will bump it as she goes out of the car.
Accepting her chauffeur's hand, Setsuko made her way out of her white limousine and accepted her Chanel bag from her chauffeur.
"Hey, isn't that Fujiwara Setsuko-san?" a girl whispered to her friend as she pointed her perfectly manicured finger towards the ballet prodigy.
Soon enough, her presence garnered the attention of other people and many of the students looked towards the direction of Setsuko. Not only was it because she's wearing a different school uniform, signalling that she obviously went to a different school and that she is a renowned ballet dancer but the students, especially those who knew her from middle school were curious as to why after more than two years did she only show her face at Ouran.
Her mysterious dropping out of school when it was already the end of her second semester during her last years in middle school at Ouran was a mystery enough but her act of not even stepping foot on the grounds of Ouran was a puzzle itself.
"She's probably here to visit Setsuna-chan." A girl with short, brown hair said.
"Yeah, or she's here for Ootori-kun. She's his fiancée after all." The girl's friend replied.
Setsuko, not minding any of the hushed whispers of the students proceeded on her way inside the school where she would have to meet her fiancée.
(Dance room no. 1: Ouran ballet troupe)
"Point those toes higher!" Madame Eleanor commanded as she roamed around the dance studio to observe the dancers who were doing their routine. Her sharp eyes quickly analyzed every dancer, watching out for any mistake or a sign of imperfection.
She has been teaching and monitoring the ballet troupe of Ouran for many years now and she could clearly say that many of them have a potential. All of them, except for one. Fujiwara Setsuko, her former student and the previous principal dancer of the Ouran ballet troupe. Her talent was beyond ordinary. She was an exceptional ballet dancer that her performance brings you to tears. It was like watching an improved version of her colleague, Adalicia Sinclaire Desrosiers, now known to be the wife of a business mogul and also the mother of Fujiwara Setsuko. She was like her mother in a sense that the way they dance make it seem like the music was alive. Their performance makes it seem like every emotion was almost tangible. That was also one of the reasons why Setsuko was a student that she would never forget. It greatly saddened her when she learned that her favorite student was dropping out of Ouran for some unknown reasons. Her talent was extremely rare to find and it became a great loss to her when she had to let go of the ballet prodigy.
As she roamed around, her eyes drifted towards Setsuna, Setsuko's younger sister of two years. Ever since Setsuko left, Setsuna was the one who replaced Setsuko's title of being the principal dancer of the troupe. Needless to say, Setsuna was a remarkable dancer herself but the way she dances never seems to give an impact and impression similar to that of the previous principal dancer. However, Setsuna was a hard worker. She strived to outdo herself to the point of breaking. Maybe it was because all her life, she has always been in the shadows of her older sister. The two of them are sisters but the total opposite of each other. Based on her point of view as a mentor of both of them, the aura given off by Setsuko was that of a cold and precious porcelain figure, her performances were perfect to the point of being frightening while Setsuna releases a warm, bright aura that makes everyone in the room smile as they watch her performance. The two are definitely top notch dancers but very different in their own way.
Suddenly, a girl bolted into the room, making everyone stop their dancing.
"Hey, did you all hear?!" the girl exclaimed.
Madame Eleanor sighed as she approached her student who made an ungraceful presentation of herself.
"What is it that you have to say, Rika-chan?" Madame Eleanor asked the female who obviously ran her way towards the studio, obvious from her large intake of air as she heavily breathe in and out.
Finally, when she composed herself to start talking, he eyes drifted towards Setsuna who was looking at her with an equal amount of surprise as that of the other members of the dance troupe.
"Fujiwara Setsuko-san is here." The girl whose name was Rika announced which caused quite a buzz inside the studio. Even Madame Eleanor was shocked since no one has ever seen her step foot in Ouran for more than two years.
Setsuna's eyes widen in surprise as she thought of reasons as to why her older sister went to the very place that she herself vehemently despised. The place that started and ended it all….
Her eyes gazed down as a frown grazed over her face as she remembered her sister's sudden request to drop out of Ouran. It was all so sudden for everyone.
Well, except for two…
No one truly knew the reason why her sister dropped out. No one knew except Setsuko, Setsuna and her mother….
Setsuna lightly bit her lip, a habit that she developed whenever she tried to suppress her feelings. She shook her head to stop herself from remembering the painful past as she sighed deeply and plastered on her bright, comforting smile.
"Really? She must be here to see Kyouya-kun. The two of them are so busy that they rarely see each other anymore." Setsuna said with a smile, masking the turmoil boiling up inside of her.
Yes, no one would have to know. As long as neither of them speaks up, everyone will continue to be blind to the truth.
Strolling down the halls of Ouran Academy made her feel nostalgic. She was a middle school student when she studied at Ouran so they are in a separate wing from the high school students. However, the ballet troupe studio was located at the main building where the high school students study so she have had the chance to explore the building. Her light steps echoed on the perfectly polished tiles and she tried her best to mask the pain in her ankle which was badly sprained.
'How come I always injure my right ankle?' she randomly thought to herself as she glanced at the familiar surroundings.
After a few minutes, she found herself standing in front of the third music room. She proceeded to open the door and what greeted her was the overpowering waft of the scent of roses and rose petals themselves.
"Welcome!" a group of males said in unison.
Setsuko slightly squinted her eyes from the sudden brightness of the room and after adjusting her vision to the light, she found herself staring at six guys and a girl who for some reason wears a uniform prescribed for guys.
She rose her eyebrow in curiosity as she searched for the familiar face from the group. Finally landing her gaze on the handsome man with dark hair and obsidian eyes framed with glasses who was holding a black notebook in his hands, she walked towards him.
"Kyouya." She said, gaining the attention of the said man.
"Setsuko, it's a surprise to see you here." Kyouya replied in a gentlemanly manner, masking his surprise of seeing his fiancée. He broke out from the group and went towards her.
"My mother has been bugging me for ages to come and visit you so I merely want her to shut up." Setsuko replied with a light roll of her eyes as she made herself comfortable on a plush velvet couch.
The other members of the host club stared at Setsuko for quite awhile until the president of the club, Tamaki, went towards her with graceful strides and then bowed to her in a princely manner as he took her hand and kissed it.
"My, how fortunate am I to suddenly be graced by a beauty comparable to that of the fresh flowers kissed by the cool drops of spring rain…" he then gently caressed the hand he was holding and then produced a single red rose out of nowhere.
"Tell me, my beautiful spring rain, did the heavens take the loveliest of the periwinkles and placed them into your dazzling eyes?" he exclaimed with a princely voice that can make most of the ladies squeal in delight.
Setsuko stared at him hard and long with an emotionless gaze until she finally turned her attention towards Kyouya.
"Is he the phony and narcissistic prince whom you were talking about before?" her crisp, cold voice permeated through the air as a pregnant moment of silence enveloped the third music room.
Suddenly, sounds of sniffling were heard and then, the blonde haired guy ran away and leaped into the arms of Kyouya.
"M-Mother, she's so mean! She just called me phony and narcissistic!" Tamaki wailed into Kyouya's shoulder.
"She's just telling the truth, boss!" the twins, Kaoru and Hikaru said in unison as they approached Setsuko. The two linked their arms together as they circled around her as if she was a prey.
"So… the legendary ballet prodigy, Fujiwara Setsuko…."
"Since you are known for having a keen eye… Can you tell us…"
"Which one is Hikaru…."
"….and which one is Kaoru?"
The twins were just barely an inch apart from Setsuko's face that it made Setsuko feel uncomfortable. She stared at the two of them for awhile until a voice interrupted their one-sided game.
"Now, that is enough, you two." Kyouya's calm but sharp voice said.
The two turned to look at Kyouya and it only took a second for them to get away from Setsuko when they noticed the evil aura coming off from the dark lord.
Kyouya adjusted his glasses for a second and then turned his attention to the newbie host, Haruhi.
"Haruhi-kun, can you please bring a cup of tea for Setsuko? Assam tea will be fine." Kyouya requested to which Haruhi gave a small nod and went towards the backroom to prepare tea.
Kyouya then approached Setsuko and sat across from her. "It's really a surprise to see you here. Don't you have ballet practice during this period of time?" he asked her.
"My ballet instructor forbid me to join practice until my sprain heals. I don't have anything to do because mother and father are away on a business trip and I basically can't do anything much because of my injured ankle so I came here. Put in a good word to my mother, okay? I don't want to have another petty talk about me not properly playing my role as your fiancée." She stated as she crossed her arms and looked at Kyouya in the eyes.
Kyouya secretly smiled at Setsuko's bluntness. She was the only one aside from the host club who can directly tell him what they want to tell him. Many people often worry about how they'll treat him just because he is the son of the CEO of Ootori Medical Corporation. They worry that if they spoke ill of him, his father will bring their family down into financial distress.
Maybe it is because they live in the same world. Maybe it is because they have the same experience of being pressured to the point of breakage or maybe it is just because more than else, he felt the closest and most comfortable with her.
Haruhi then came back and placed a cup of tea in front of Setsuko to which Setsuko gladly accepted.
"I see that it's not yet the time for the host club to open?" she asked as she took a sip from the deliciously made assam tea.
"No, it's not yet time. We'll open in about ten minutes."
"I heard that Setsuna is quite a frequent customer of this host club. I would often hear Setsuna and her friends talking about this host club whenever they would come over for an afternoon tea."
"Yes, she's a regular customer of Tamaki."
"Oh, she likes those kind of guys, huh?"
The conversation between the two drew on until the host club decided to keep a bit of distance from the two of them but still enough to hear their conversation.
"Eh, so that's Kyouya-sempai's fiancée. We've only watched her ballet performances but never actually met her in person." Hikaru stated as he and his twin observed how the two interacted with each other.
"Yeah, she avoids Ouran like a plaque. It makes everyone wonder what happened 2 years ago." Kaoru replied. The twins then sighed as they drifted their attention towards Tamaki who was silently crouching and growing mushrooms on a dark corner with a sad aura looming over him.
"Tono! Can you please stop growing mushrooms on every corner?" Hikaru exclaimed towards Tamaki who was still sulking.
"Ne! Tama-chan, don't be upset!" Honey-sempai exclaimed while he approached the still sulking Tamaki.
"Why does he keep on growing mushrooms every time he is upset? It's such a chore to clean them up." Haruhi said while silently looking at Tamaki who was being consoled by Honey-sempai. "By the way, who is she? She seems close to Kyouya-sempai." She added.
"Her name is Fujiwara Setsuko. She's Kyouya-sempai's fiancée."
Before Haruhi could even react, the loud sound of ceramic being slammed down was heard throughout the entire room. It made even Tamaki turn his head towards the direction of the two engaged couple who were just conversing a while ago.
Setsuko was standing up as she tightly formed her hands into fists. She was slightly shaking and she had her head bowed down.
"Setsuko" Kyouya called out to her as he too stood up. "You cannot change the past, Setsuko. What's done has already been done." He said in a low voice.
"I-Is it my fault that I keep on holding on? Is it my fault that I want to hold on to my belief that in some way, he truly loved me? That he loved me not because I am a Fujiwara but as Setsuko?" Setsuko said in a soft but harsh voice. Her lips were quivering just a little bit as she looked at Kyouya straight in the eyes.
"He may have loved you for a while but that love of his was not enough to shield his eyes from the wealth and prestige of your family."
Silence followed after that and as the final words of Kyouya rang into Setsuko's ears, all she could do was give a smile, a smile that of a forsaken woman who truly and purely loved with all of her heart.
"Then, let me hold on to that love for awhile. Let me until I finally tire of feeding my mind and heart of illusions that he may have loved me just as much as I have loved him." She said as a lone tear escaped her eye for the first time in a few years.
That's it for the 4th chapter of Pirouette! I hope you like this story. Reviews as well as criticisms are warmly accepted. Just click the review button or send me a PM! Thank you and have a nice day! -Spark of Memories