First A/N: Confession time: I messed up on the timelines a bit because I forgot the Hani's Cavity and the Newspaper club episode happens. I used the summer thing reference from the last chapter to kickstart the summer, but since that happened, let's just squeeze this in before the next chapter.
This was also meant to be an actual filler and lighthearted, but I love angst.
I also had had this finished for weeks and I have a head start on the next chapter, but I got the idea to make fanart of this episode to link it here, but I never got around to it hehehe.
~2/10 4 days before Valentine's day~
Valentine's day. The holiday of love and desperate girls trying to get the attention of their obsession. Even the richest of the rich succumb to this day, although they have the money to go to the very extremes. It was absolutely the cringiest thing to watch, especially with the boys trying to coax the girls to give them chocolate. But it was clear who the objections of affection were for the majority of the girls at Ouran. None other than the Host Club.
Kyo was sick of hearing the girls giggling amongst themselves and flirting with the boys about this. And it was still four days before Valentine's day even arrived. She didn't know why she was surprised to see that Ouran took part in Valentine's day, even more so than regular people.
She sat next to Tamaki and Kyoya, watching with dead eyes as the nth girl came around to shyly ask what they would like for Valentine's day. Torture. Witnessing the constant teasing and joking between her classmates made her very aware of the fact that besides the host club, she didn't have any other friends. Should that thought make her sad? Yes. But it didn't. The less friends she had, the easier it was to break ties if…if she had to break contact.
Her mind drifted as she made her way to the club room, Kyoya and Tamaki having left earlier to set up for the club. She was still debating if she even wanted to go or if she should just wait until the holiday was over. But she did promise Mitsukuni that she was going to spend time with him today. Sighing, she bared herself for the worst and pushed the doors open.
"Hani~, what kind of chocolates do you want this year?"
"Mousse? Bonbons? What color ribbon do you like?"
"I would be happy with anything!" Mitsukuni beamed, squeezing Usa-chan to his chest. "Chocolates, you girls, I like them all!"
The girls all around the table squealed, blushing red with his words.
Kyo's steps faltered as she neared the table. Multiple girls filled Mitsukuni's tables and the couch he sat on, all buttering up to him. Not one seat was left vacant for her, which she didn't care about at all. It wasn't like she had a reserved seat at his table or anything. Even though he always saved a seat for her… Straightening her shoulders, she walked past the bumbling idiots briskly, deciding she would sit with Kyoya who was alone.
"Kyon-chan, you're here-!"
"Kyoya, hi!" Kyo spoke over Mitsukuni's voice, stopping in front of Kyoya's table.
"Kyo, what a lovely surprise. You hardly ever come to visit me, I've missed you." Kyoya gave her his host smile, staring up from his chair.
He was teasing her. Bastard. She bit her tongue, taking a chair out to take a seat. "Oh really? We just saw each other in class, miss me that much?" She crossed her legs, acting like the lady she wasn't.
"You know the answer to that question." Kyoya replied smoothly, leaning closer to her. "Should I be expecting a box of chocolate from you?"
"In your dreams." Kyo rolled her eyes, getting away from Kyoya by pouring herself tea. They fell into an easy conversation, Kyoya giving her updates on his quest to land a contract with the Sohmas. Which surprisingly was getting somewhere. Looks like the medical supply route was the way to go instead of medical professionals.
Minutes passed before she could see Mitsukuni walking toward her from the corner of her eye. It took that long for him to detach from his guests, huh? Her mouth twisted in displeasure, ignoring him as she listened to Kyoya's explanation on how the auctioning process worked.
"Kyon-chan."
"Hm?" She sipped at her tea, barely turning her head toward him.
"You didn't come sit at my table." He mumbled, speaking to her but his eyes were on Kyoya. "I said hi to you."
"Oh, well it did look a little crowded over there, it was hard to hear anything over that chatter. Luckily Kyoya had so much room, so I decided to let you work in peace since you were so busy."
His gaze returned to her, and he reached out to tug at her sleeve. "Come back. I'll bring a chair for you."
She pulled away, finally giving a sharp stare. "I'm fine right where I am, thanks. You can go back to your guests; wouldn't want to keep you from them." Kyo twisted slightly to turn her back on him, raising an eyebrow to Kyoya, daring him to make a comment.
Proving to be as smart as he looked, Kyoya said nothing, pushing up his glasses. She felt Mitsukuni's presence leave, and only then did she let herself slump against the chair. Was she being childish and petty? Maybe. But he should have considered not asking to hang out with her if he wasn't going to make room for her. And what was with that stupid line anyways?
"You know he's just doing his job, right?" Kyoya's voice broke her out of her thoughts.
"What?" She frowned.
"You let your emotions show easily on your face, even if you don't think you are." He explained.
"No I don't."
"Yes, you do. Why else could I know that you're jealous about Hani-senpai flirting with his guests. Besides, this time of year he's more inclined to since it would get him more chocolates."
"I'm not jealous!" She hissed, flustered at the accusation.
"Of course you aren't. That's why you're here with me instead of telling one of his guests to make room. We both know you would do that." He gave her a pointed look.
"Shut up Kyoya. I didn't ask for your advice."
"Wait, open your mouth for a second!" Haruhi shouted in the background.
"It's nothing! It's nothing!" Mitsukuni cried out.
Kyo turned around, seeing Mitsukuni trying to push off Haruhi and the twins. She frowned, not understanding what the issue was until Haruhi swiveled her head toward her.
"Kyo-senpai, Mori-senpai, hurry! It's Hani-senpai!"
Any animosity she had vanished at Haruhi's words. Her eyes widened in fright, and she jumped out of her chair, spilling her cup across the table in the process. She didn't care, hurrying toward Mitsukuni. Mori only passed her with his long legs. She didn't even know he had come back from his Kendo Club.
Haruhi and the twins moved out of the way, just in time for Mori to grab Mitsukuni's wrist and chin, forcing his mouth open.
She skidded to a halt behind Mori, watching in bated breath. "What is it?"
He hummed, letting him go. "A cavity."
Kyo let out a breath, relieved and feeling a bit silly of how she reacted. "Oh. A cavity. It's not that bad then."
"Tamaki." Mori threw a look over his shoulder at the president, who gave a curt nod.
"Ah, yes. I understand." Tamaki cleared his throat, "Hani-senpai, you're prohibited from eating any sweets until your cavity is healed! The entire club will join in on the prohibition and we will practice self-restraint for this year's Valentine's day."
"What?!" Mitsukuni cried out, looking betrayed. "Wait, no! It doesn't hurt that much! Takashi!"
Mori looked up from where he was clearing the table of pastries. Without hesitation, he pulled it out of his reach, shaking his head. "It's forbidden."
"No!" Mitsukuni cried, following after him in vain.
Kyo bit her lip, feeling bad for him. It was probably the best course of action, seeing as he would do more damage if he kept eating sweets, but to cut him off cold turkey? She had never seen a day that he didn't eat at least one pastry.
~2/11 3 days before Valentine's Day~
Kyo mary jane's clicked against the hallway floor as she made her way to the club room. She was worried about Mitsukuni and from what she was able to garner from Mori, the Haninozuka's dentist was out of town and wouldn't be back until the 14th to remove his cavity.
She spotted him down the hall, walking slowly with Mori trailing behind. She quickened her pace to catch up. "Mitsukuni!" God, he looked like a kicked puppy. He had a bandana tied around his face, cupping his swollen cheeks and giving him cute bunny ears from where the ends were tied. His expression was a mix of depressed and defeated, blinking at her in a daze.
"Hold on for a little longer, okay? You'll be eating sweets again before you know it." She tried to cheer him up.
He simply pouted at her, but said nothing.
Mori's shadow loomed over them. "Mitsukuni, your bag."
Mitsukuni held onto his bag tighter, giving Mori a side-eye glance. "I can carry it."
"That's not it. Just give it to me for a minute." Mori didn't bother to give him a chance to react, grabbing his bag and turning it upside down. A stream of candy and chocolates landed on the floor between them, exposing the shorter.
Mitsukuni's cheeks flushed a dark red, staring at the ground. "I was only looking at them." He mumbled, petulant.
"Is that so?" Mori dug into his own bag and pulled out a flier. Reading from over Mitsukuni's shoulder, Kyo could read that it was a flier for a bakery. "If you're only looking, then I'll give you this. I'll hold onto the real stuff."
Kyo gently reached out to put her hand on his shoulder, seeing the tears forming in his eyes. Their attention was pulled to the side as one of Mitsukuni's guests lamented over the fact that they already had a mountain of chocolate ready to give to him. Another male student was quick to swoop in to take those chocolates instead, sending Mitsukuni into a spiral.
His shoulders trembled under her hand and when she called out his name, he jerked away from her. He said nothing as he walked away, his head hanging low. She pulled her outstretched hand back to her chest, closing it. Scowling up at Mori, she was more annoyed to see that he was already staring at her.
"I get that he needs to stay away from sweets, but do you really need to embarrass him like that?"
"It's for his own good." He reasoned.
"You're treating him like a damn child. He's old enough to decide what's good for him and isn't." Her hands moved in anger as she ranted.
Mori didn't respond to that, only giving her a strange stare. Kyo huffed, seeing this conversation was going nowhere. She chose to try and catch up with Mitsukuni.
~2/12 2 days before Valentine's Day~
The next day is when Mitsukuni began his strategy for getting sweets.. It was about time that Mitsukuni tried to fight this prohibition.
"Takashi! I think my cavity is all better now! It's not even hurting anymore!" He trailed behind Mori, pleading his case. "I'm not even swollen!"
It seemed like Mori was content on ignoring him, walking into their small kitchen. He came back and before Mitsukuni could blink, he shoved a popsicle into his mouth, right on his cavity.
Mitsukuni jolted back, clutching his cheek in agony as he stumbled away from Mori .
Kyo sighed from where she was watching at Mitsukuni's table. She was sitting with a few of his regulars, trying to be social for once and speak to people outside of the club. These two were the least annoying to talk about, they weren't as obsessed with Mitsukuni like the others.
Ten minutes passed before Mitsukuni's next plan took course, slinking up to her table nonchalantly. The girls froze in dread, but Kyo stayed calm.
"Hi Mitsukuni.
"Hi Kyon…What are you all drinking?" He asked in an innocent tone.
One of the girls bravely spoke up, sending a smile to him. "It's darjeeling, Hani."
"And what are you eating?"
"Just some sandwiches…"
Mitsukuni put his hand on his chin, thinking hard. "I think some sweet cookies would pair better with black tea, don't you think?" He tilted his head, smiling brightly at them.
The girls twitched, feeling the pressure from him. "O-oh, you're right…" Their facade crumbled and they both bolted from the table. "We're sorry Hani! Please excuse us!"
Mitsukuni's jaw was slack in shock as he watched them go, his plan in ruins. Thinking quickly, he tugged on Haruhi's sleeve as she was passing by.
"H-Haruhi…am I a bad boy?" He sniffled, peeking up at her through his lashes. "Have I done anything to receive God's wrath?"
Haruhi pursed her lips, feeling sympathetic toward him. "Okay, here. Just a little bit, alright?"
Kyo sat up straight, in disbelief that Haruhi was the one to crack. She witnessed Haruhi placing a small item in his palm.
"Here, it looks like chocolate, doesn't it?" She ruffled his hair before continuing her original path.
Mitsukuni was still like a statue, moving robotically as he turned to drop the item, sitting down and slumping against the table.
Taking a peek at it, Kyo struggled to hold in her laugh as she realized the 'candy' was actually seaweed. Looks like Mitsukuni targeted the wrong person.
"I shouldn't enable you, but can't you eat sweets at home?" Kyo inquired, resting her cheek on her propped up hand.
Mitsukuni laid his head sideways toward her, his cheek getting squashed by the table. "That's what I thought too, but Takashi was one step ahead of me and told my parents. They had the staff clear out my sweets and ordered them not to make me anything."
Well, he's fucked then.
~2/13 1 day before Valentine's Day~
It seemed like Mitsukuni was almost through the five stages of grief, and today he was angry. He had been in a bad mood the entire day, daring anyone to test him.
Everyone was walking on eggshells around him, albeit her and Mori, but she was starting to pick her words wisely…which was to not pick them at all. There had been a point in the day where he had snapped at her because made a comment on a book he was reading, and she had stared at him until he apologized.
She had been right to worry about Mitsukuni from the beginning. Sugar was addicting just like any other drug, and he was getting withdrawals from it. From how he was acting, she didn't think it was a good idea anymore to keep him away from sweets, cavity and Mori be damned.
But how would she give him a candy with the mother hen around?
She came up with a plan as they headed to the club room once again after classes. Her hand slipped into her school bag, pulling out a tiny cube of chocolate. Holding it in her palm, she moved closer to Mitsukuni, slipping her hand into his.
Mitsukuni jolted, not expecting the contact as he gave a sharp glance at her.
Kyo smiled, pressing the chocolate into his own palm. "What? Can't I hold hands with you?"
Understanding flickered in his eyes as he felt the candy, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards, "Of course you can, Kyon-chan!" His mood was already lifting.
The shadow that fell over them was the only warning they got as Mori's hands shot out, grabbing both of their wrists tightly.
"Hey!" Kyo gasped, her hand opening in reflex. The chocolate fell out of her hand and clattered onto the floor. All three of them stared down at it, the silence enveloping them.
"Kyo." Mori stated.
She ripped her hand away from his grip, holding her wrist softly. "I already know what you're going to say."
Mitsukuni had a scowl, his shoulders slumping. "Takashi…"
"No Mitsukuni, you know better. You do too Kyo."
Kyo rolled her eyes. "Stop acting so fucking holy Mori. It's one chocolate to tide him over."
"You should be helping instead of making him worse."
She didn't have to stand there and be lectured by him. She ignored him as she turned away, walking without them.
It was a meeting day for the hosts, meaning there were no guests, thankfully. Once everyone was present, they sat down at a big table, sans Mitsukuni who was in an even worse mood because of Mori. He paced around the club room, almost choking out Usa-chan with his tight grip.
"Remind me again why I'm included in the club meetings now?" Kyo asked, breaking the tense silence in the room. She glanced to her left and right, where Kaoru and Kyoya sat.
"You're an honorary member of the club!" Tamaki whispered, holding up a small flag with Kyo's face on it. Her eye twitched but she chose not to put focus on it at the moment.
"Whatever, I guess. Why are you whispering?"
"I don't want to risk upsetting Hani-senpai even further." He explained, eyes darting to the small senior, as if afraid he suddenly had super sonic hearing.
"Right…"
They got back on track, trying to see how they could deal with Mitsukuni before he exploded in rage.
"Senpai, you should go talk to him. He would never get mad at you." Kaoru suggested.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and decided not to bring up the earlier incident. "I don't think that's a good idea. There's nothing I can do to make him calm down, and as it is, I want to give in and give him candy." Mori's head turned toward her, eyes narrowed. "Oh shut it Mori, one candy won't hurt him, and he's going to the dentist tomorrow."
Behind them, Mitsukuni stalked toward the snack cupboard, opening it to dig around.
"The snack cupboard!" Hikaru whispered, panicked,
Kyoya waved his hand. "Don't worry, it's been emptied out."
Apparently not completely, as Mitsukuni found Tamaki's teddy bear and threw it down to the floor in frustration.
"Kuma-chan!" Tamaki yelled out in horror, running over to save him.
Mitsukuni finally gave up, falling to the ground in despair. Tamaki paused, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "Hani-senpai?"
"He held out longer than I expected." Kyoya mumbled to Kyo.
She opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by Tamaki's scream. Mitsukuni had bitten his hand like a feral child.
Kyo let out a small breath, sighing as she stood up. "Mitsukuni…" She made a move toward him, but an arm was put in front of her. She stopped in her tracks, looking up at the culprit. "Mori, get out of my way."
He stood firm. "No. You're too much a danger to Mitsukuni's health. You need to go."
She sputtered, caught off guard with his statement. "What the fuck did you just say?"
Mitsukuni's head lifted as he released Tamaki, his attention going toward his favorite people.
"You need to go before you make him worse. You're banned until tomorrow."
"Wait a second, Mori-senpai." Haruhi stood up, just as surprised as the others at the turn of events. "It's not fair to ban Kyo-senpai!"
She grit her teeth, hating that she couldn't do anything or else she might risk being in contact with him. "You're acting like I'm going to hurt him! You're being too dramatic about this, fucking hell!"
"You're nothing but trouble for him." His eyes were cold as he stared down at her.
Kyo's eyes widened at his words, a shaky breath coming out of her. How could he say that? Her eyes moved past Mori, meeting Mitsukuni's shocked and furious eyes.
"Go."
Mori's hand brushed against her shoulder, and she slapped it away. "Don't fucking touch me!" A dry chuckle left her as she shook her head, stepping back. "You act like a fucking dog always trailing after Mitsukuni, barking at every little thing. You're acting like you hate me-"
"I do."
Her breath caught, her train of thoughts getting cut off. Oh. So that's how it was. Anger pooled inside her stomach and her eyes hardened. "You know what Mori? You can go fuck yourself with that giant pedestal you put Mitsukuni on." She pivoted on her heel, hurrying to the doors and slamming them shut behind her.
.
.
.
The room was dead silent as the reverberation of the doors being slammed echoed in their ears.
Haruhi had a hand covering her mouth, speechless. What just happened? She looked around to see if the others were having the same reaction as her, and from their wide eyes, they were. But they weren't staring at Mori. They were staring at Hani.
Hani's eyes were covered by his fringe, but as he tilted his head up, his dark gaze would have had Mori dead by now. He stood up, long forgotten about Tamaki as he stalked forward. His calm steps echoed through the room until he stopped in front of Mori.
"Takashi." He reached out, and when Haruhi blinked, Mori was being thrown over Hani's shoulder, getting body slammed to the pristine floor. "You asshole!"
No one dared to intervene between the cousins. They huddled together for support, watching the scene in complete shock.
"You had no right to talk to Kyon-chan like that! She means a lot to me and you crossed the line by telling lies!" Mitsukuni shouted, his rage finally exploding. "She's right, I'm old enough to decide what's good for me, and that includes her and sweets." Tears filled his eyes as Mori said nothing, only sitting up. "I…I never want to see your face again!"
Tamaki called out for Hani as he ran out of the club room, while Haruhi went closer to Mori. What a disaster this all ended up being.
Kyo didn't end up going too far from the club room. She found a small alcove near the end of the hall and ducked into it, slumping to the ground. She pressed her hands against her face, wishing she could just scream. So that was how Mori really felt about her. She was nothing but trouble for Mitsukuni. She tried to push back the tears that longed to be free, her shoulders shaking. It hurt so much that it came from Mori, Mitsukuni's best friend.
From her peripheral, a blur shot past the alcove. Her head lifted, and ruby eyes met honey brown, identical tears flooding their eyes. Kyo sniffed, rubbing her eyes harshly to get rid of any evidence of her crying. "W-what are you doing here?"
"I body slammed Takashi." He stated, slipping into the alcove beside her. He was careful as he pressed their arms together, sharing warmth.
"You what?!"
"He was wrong about everything. You're not trouble and he has no reason to hate you."
She tilted her head back until it was against the wall, exhaling softly. "He does though. I mean-Mori's not dumb. He knows something happened between us, and then I tried to go against his orders to give you candy."
"That's not good enough. I don't care what Takashi thinks. I like you Kyo, and I'm going to keep being your friend no matter what. I don't want you to go away."
Why was he so sweet on her? It almost felt too good to be true, finding a guy as sweet and kind as him. Pulling her knees to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them to rest her cheek on. She stared at Mitsukuni, the anger she felt before reducing to embers inside her chest. "I'll do whatever I can to stay with you." She murmured.
His eyes flickered down to her lips, the air around them changing. She held her breath, butterflies fluttering within her as Mitsukuni began to close the inches between them.
"Kyo! Hani-senpai, there you are!" Tamaki's loud voice boomed within their small alcove, jolting them away from each other. The blonde was oblivious to their ruined moment as he waved his hands, urging them to follow him. "You guys need to come back to the club room."
"For what?" She snapped, ignoring how flustered she felt. "It all went to hell in there."
"Precisely! A lot of things were said back there, and we can't just leave it like that. Everyone needs to talk it out like grown adults." Tamaki reasoned, stepping back a bit. "All three of you are close, especially you and Mori-senpai, Hani-senpai."
Mitsukuni pursed his lips, giving one last glance to Kyo before nodding. "You're right…" He stood up, dusting off his pants. He offered Kyo a hand, helping her get up, but refusing to let go when she tried to pull away. Not that she actually tried.
Voices could be heard from the club as they neared it, and Kyo stopped as the words became clear. They could see through the partially open doors how Haruhi, Kyoya, and the twins were surrounding Mori, who was still on the floor.
"Mori-senpai, you need to talk to us. You just can't stay quiet forever." Hikaru grumbled.
"...Is it possible you were trying to make Hani-senpai hate you, on purpose?" Haruhi kneeled down to be at Mori's level, trying to meet his eyes.
The twins shook their heads in disbelief. "Impossible!"
"It would be the end for him if Hani-senpai hated him, why would he do that?" Kaoru pointed out. "Unless he thinks he's the reason for Hani-senpai's cavity-"
"It is." Mori interjected, looking down at his hands. "I forgot to remind him to brush his teeth, twice. I should have been more attentive. He might need dentures in the future because of me."
Haruhi chuckled nervously. "That's a really pessimistic thought; that won't happen. But…even if you did want to get punished, you shouldn't have gone that far for that. You really hurt Kyo in the process, and she doesn't deserve that. Do you really think that way of her?"
"...No." He sighed. "I knew Hani would not like it if I said that to Kyo. I needed him to get mad so he could hit me, to give me a punishment for causing his cavity."
"Then when you rejected that girl's chocolates?" Haruhi asked. "Was it also to punish yourself?"
Mori nodded.
The twins looked at each other with a grimace. "So you took it out on Kyo-senpai and that girl…" Hikaru muttered.
"All for a single cavity, excessive and pathetic." Kaoru finished off, both of them not bothering to soften their tone. Mori's head dropped down into his hand at their remarks.
Tamaki let out a small chuckle. "So that's how it is…What do you guys think?" He opened the door fully, revealing themselves to the others.
Kyo brought her eyes toward Mitsukuni for his reaction, giving his hand a small squeeze. He was visibly overwhelmed by his emotions, from the past three days. She slowly peeled his hand off of hers, sending an encouraging smile as she nodded toward Mori.
That was all he needed for him to launch himself toward his cousin and best friend, crying out his apologies.
Kyo trailed behind, hesitant. She met Mori's eyes, and she was worried that he would tell her something again.
Mori's eyes softened. "I'm sorry Kyo; I don't hate you. I'm glad Mitsukuni has you."
A choked sob got caught in her throat. She didn't know how much she needed to hear that from him directly. She dropped down to her knees, her hands clinging on to Mori's and Mitsukuni's arms in lieu of hugging them. "You're an asshole, Mori." She rasped out softly.
"I know." His lips twitched. "Call me Takashi."
Mitsukuni's eyes shined bright, looking up at his cousin.
A sharp clap brought Kyo back to the surface, realizing the others were witnessing this emotional scene as well. "Alright you guys, we have no time to lose! Valentine's Day is now on again!" Tamaki announced
"Huh? M'Lord, there's no way any of us are going to get chocolate this late." Hikaru crossed his arms. He was right. Classes had ended hours ago and most of the students would be gone by now. It was too late to get the word out.
Tamaki smirked, turning his nose up at Hikaru. "Have you forgotten? I live in Japan now, but I'm still a French gentleman! This year the Host Club will be doing Valentine's Day European style!"
European style?
~2/14 Valentine's Day~
Kyo was impressed at just how well Tamaki's plan panned out. The entire room was decorated with hearts and roses, a feat considering that there were thousands of roses all around the room. All of the hosts had bundles of roses, giving one out to each guest. The girls loved it, faces tomato red. Tamaki had explained to them how in Europe and America, both boys and girls gave their love interest gifts, not just the girls like in Japan. They also didn't have White Day either.
Making her way through the crowd, Kyo was able to spot Takashi giving a girl a flower. Mitsukuni was next to him, distributing his own flowers, but when he spotted her, he paused to wave her over.
"Kyon-chan! You're here!"
Kyo grinned, hurrying over to him. "Mitsukuni…How was the dentist?" He had come in late to go to the dentist first thing in the morning.
"My cavity's gone! I just need to take it easy today while the numbing goes away." He laughed. "'I'm glad you came, I need to give you your flowers."
"Ah? I've never been much for flowers, but I guess I'll take a rose." She muttered, suddenly bashful. Waiting in bated breath, she frowned when Mitsukuni didn't give her a rose, but instead reached behind him to pull out a bouquet of Marigolds. "What…"
"I wanted to get you something different than everyone else." He answered, speaking softly. "And when I saw these, they reminded me of you."
These Marigolds weren't native to Japan; she couldn't imagine how much they must have cost Mitsukuni. The petals were a vibrant red orange, with the tips and edges being orange. They were beautiful, and she was in disbelief that she reminded him of these flowers. "Mitsu…" She reached out for them, slowly taking it into her arms. "I…I don't think you know how much I want to give you a hug right now…thank you…"
Mitsukuni's cheeks darkened, ducking his head. "I'm glad you like them. The florist actually said they mean different things in cultures, but in the flower language they mean-"
"Hani-senpai, Kyon-senpai!" Kaoru cut in, waving his hands above his arms obnoxiously from where he stood. "What are you guys doing? Come on, M'lord bet he could carry the rest of the roses in one hand!"
"Look Haruhi, maybe I can teach you the Tango dance! They put roses in their mouths!" Tamaki's voice could be heard in the distance.
"No way!"
Kyo stared at them, warmth filling her to her core and she let out a small grin. "Fucking goofballs. Let's go join them, Mitsukuni." She held her flowers tightly as she walked toward the others. "That reminds me, can you meet me on the rooftop after the club ends?"
"Sure!" He agreed easily.
Kyo sat on the stone wall watching the sunset bathe Ouran in an orange hue. It had been a while since she had come up to the rooftop, being in the club room with her friends most days now. Her eyes drifted shut as the light breeze brushed against her face.
"Hey, what did you want to see me about?" Mitsukuni's voice came up from behind her, and she twisted around until her legs were on the inner part of the wall.
"Do you want a kiss?"
Mitsukuni's eyebrows shot up into his hairline, and his jaw went slack at her blunt words. He fumbled over his words trying to answer her. "Y-yes! I've been wanting that since forever!
Her face felt on fire, but she smirked and dug out a Hershey's kiss from her bag. "Here. A kiss. I wanted to be the first to give you an introductory sweet after your prohibition."
This was the first time Kyo had seen Mitsukuni disappointed to see a sweet. She felt a twinge of guilt for tricking him, hopping off of the wall. "You don't want it?"
"...No, I do…" He mumbled, gently taking the offered piece. "I just thought…"
Kyo leaned in, quickly pressing their lips together. Pulling back, she avoided eye contact with him.
The silence rang clear throughout the roof, before a rustling was heard. His fingers brushed against her jaw, palm cupping her cheek to pull her in for another kiss. Their lips met with kinder words this time, getting to know each other in this new context. She was careful not to give into temptation and wrap her arms around him, her hands instead clutching onto his suit lapels.
Breaking away to catch her breath, she leaned her forehead against his. So this is what kissing felt like…
"Can I kiss you again?" Mitsukuni asked, his lips shiny from Kyo's lip balm.
She couldn't find her voice, so she just nodded, her lips finding their way back to his once more.
Kyo's behavior didn't change one bit while she was at home. She still fought with Yuki, and yelled at Shigure when he made a lewd comment towards Tohru, and helped Tohru around the house. But in the privacy of her bedroom and under her covers, she hugged her pillow to her chest, tracing her lips as she remembered how they felt against Mitsukuni's. She suppressed a squeal, wriggling in her bed from the butterflies. They hadn't kissed since that day on the rooftop, but that was okay. They made up for it in the way their hands inched toward each other, or how their shoes would touch if they couldn't hold hands in front of guests.
Mitsukuni had told her he suspected the others knew something was going on between them, although he didn't mind them knowing, he was willing to let them figure it out on their own. Kyo had to agree. She herself didn't know what exactly they were, and putting a label on it, or telling the others felt intimidating. She wanted to keep Mitsukuni safe but she still wanted to continue how things were going.
She adjusted her jūnihitoe* as she walked through the garden filled with cherry blossoms. The theme for today's cosplay event was a Heidan Aristocratic Garden. And it did look the part, with there even being a Yarimizu** being installed to bring the era to life. The hosts were wearing sokutai*** to commit to the bit, and they had offered her the chance to dress up with them as well, recalling their comment of her being an honorary host. Kyo had shrugged and said yes, hence the layered getup. She found she quite liked it, feeling regal in all this silk. For a moment, she closed her eyes, imagining this is how it felt to be in the New Year's banquet, seated with everyone else.
A pipe dream.
Kyo's eyes fluttered open, regretting the fleeting thought as her mood dampened a bit. Her gaze moved a bit, catching Mitsukuni's, who stared at her in worry from where he was inside Mori's sokutai, playing a game. Kyo gave him a grin to assure him, hoping her ears weren't red. It seemed like he had a sixth sense for when she was feeling down, always having an eye on her to help her.
A loud boom caught her attention, and quickly turning around, she saw a soccer ball launching over everyone's head and flying off toward one of the school's buildings. She sighed, knowing the exact culprit.
And she was right. Tamaki had let himself be egged on by the twins (per usual) and he delivered that monstrous kick that sent a soccer ball through a window and ended up hitting someone.
Kyo was crouched on the floor with Haruhi, Mistukuni, and Takashi cleaning up the glass bits that were strewn over the floor. The victim of Tamaki's attack was the president of the Newspaper Club, Akira Komitsuzawa, who was a third year. She didn't even know there was a newspaper club at Ouran. Beside him were second years Chikage Ukyo and Tomochika Sato who were in different classes than she, Kyoya, and Tamaki since she didn't recognize them at all.
Tamaki stood from the ninety degree bow he was in. "I really am sorry that this happened! I don't know how to express how truly sorry I am."
Akira waved his hand politely, taking off the ice bag he held against his head. "No, don't worry about it. I believe it was a total accident for you to shatter our window and hit me upside the head." He chuckled.
Kyo was glad she wasn't visible from in front of their desk, as she rolled her eyes. She made eye contact with Haruhi and had to stifle a laugh. This guy was so obviously being passive aggressive.
"I must say however, the timing is impeccable. I was just about to request cooperation from the Host Club about covering you for a story."
After tossing the remaining glass shards, Kyo picked up one of many newspapers on a table. Skimming through it, it was clear it was just a trashy gossip tabloid, which is what Hikaru and Kaoru reiterated to Haruhi. It was either a bold or stupid move on their part to openly make up lies about people they went to school with; rich influential families at that.
Akira sighed loudly. "Yes, it's obvious that in our quest to stay afloat we have strayed a little from the truth. This is why I am seeking your help, to help us remember our calling before we officially face foreclosure." All three of them stood, giving ninety degree bows. "Please help us! We wish to do a cover story called, 'An inside look: 24 hours with the Host Club!'"
Kyo narrowed her eyes. There's no way a gossip tabloid would suddenly try to tell the truth as a last chance effort. No, if they were desperate they would want to go out with a big bang. Peeking at the others through her bangs, she could tell the others minus Haruhi and Tamaki were also on the same wavelength as her.
Tamaki rested a hand on his chest, feeling moved by them. "Oh…like a crime documentary!"
"No."
He gave a little twirl, throwing a thumbs up. "We accept-"
"We refuse." Kyoya cut in, putting a heavy hand on Tamaki's shoulder.
Tamaki gasped, facing Kyoya who ignored his woes. "Kyoya, it's my fault he got hurt, we need to help them!"
Kyoya gave his signature cold polite grin to Akira. "I apologize for your injury, but we don't permit any personal information being given out to those outside of our clientele."
"Yeah, we'll pay for your hospital bills, and by we, we mean Tamaki, but we don't see any merit being involved with those who print whatever type of story they want." Hikaru shrugged.
Kyo felt a tug on her hand, and she stood, letting Mitsukuni lead her away.
"Ugh!" Akira let out a shout of pain, collapsing against his desk.
"President!" His subordinates shouted, fussing over him.
"No, it's okay…" He muttered, clutching his head. "Maybe it's time we accept defeat and take this chance to disband with grace."
He continued to moan pitifully and Kyo just knew that someone was going to crack. And that someone did. She watched with an unimpressed stare as Tamaki tried relentlessly to convince Kyoya and the twins to agree to the interview, even going as far as to use his presidential authority.
"As your president, you will do as I order!"
"We refuse!" The twins stood to their full height, glaring at Tamaki. Kyoya stood beside them, not speaking and exhaling hard.
With that final nail in the coffin, it shut Tamaki down, and they were able to pull him out of the newspaper club room relatively easily. But now after everyone except him had changed out of their cosplay, it was clear that he was sulking hard in his usual corner.
Kyo shook her head at him, leaving him be. She focused on her math homework that she was trying to catch up on, meanwhile Mitsukuni devoured a slice of cake next to her. Being with the members majority of the time now didn't allow for much free time to do her homework.
"Is it really that bad to consider working with the newspaper club?" Haruhi questioned, a bit aways from their table.
"What, don't tell me you're suddenly on M'lord's side." Hikaru accused, shocked.
Haruhi groaned, shaking her head. "It's not that, but I have a feeling that pretty soon he's going to look over with puppy dog eyes until we agree to do what he wants. Besides, it's this something you guys would normally go for?"
The twins shrugged. "We just can't be bothered to."
"Hani-senpai?" She turned to the senior.
"Nah, I'd rather eat some cake." Mitsukuni answered, stabbing his fork through a strawberry. He held it out to Kyo silently, who looked up from her homework. She smiled but shook her head. She knew he loved his strawberries. He gave her a pout but ate the fruit with glee.
Taking a break, Kyo turned to watch the entertainment of Tamaki slowly but surely wearing all of them down with his puppy dog eyes. And damn, he was good as he even got Kyoya to crack.
"There will be conditions." Kyoya relented, pushing up his glasses. "We will be deciding the cover story and will need to get the outline shown to us before it gets published. There will be no interviews and no reveal of our client services since that might compromise our clientele. Is that okay with everyone?"
"Since it's Kyoya's proposal, I'm okay with it." Kaoru nodded. The others all followed suit and Tamaki was over the moon.
"Why do I get the feeling that this might be a bad idea…" Kyo mumbled. This felt similar to the Renge incident. Speaking of which, she didn't see her as often anymore, which was fabulous. Her anger toward her was gone, but she still thought she was annoying as fuck.
"Alright men! And ladies! Let's start brainstorming what story will be published."
Kyo noticed how Kyoya slipped away from the meeting, heading out of the room. She said nothing, thinking he must be going off on his own agenda. The Newspaper Club didn't know what was headed their way.
She had to avoid looking at the Newspaper Club for fear of laughing at them. It was obvious that playing a commoner game of 'Red Light, Green Light' was not what they were expecting out of the Host Club. Clearly they were out of the loop of Tamaki's obsession in commoner things.
"Grrreeeen Liiggghht-Red light!" Tamaki shouted, practically getting whiplash from how he kept turning his head fast to catch them slipping up.
He was facing a big tree, covering his eyes as they all formed a horizontal line, moving forward when his back was turning and freezing when he looked and called out green light.
Kyo almost lost her balance at one point, dropping to the ground instantly when Tamaki looked at them. She stayed there, not bothering to move as the rest of the group continued to play.
"Kyo it doesn't count if you just lay down!" Tamaki shouted at her. She raised her hand. "Kyoya, did you see that?! She flipped me off!"
"I didn't see it, no."
She stayed on the ground as the blonde began his spiel to the three journalists on how this whole game makes sense in the grand scheme of things. Her face rotated to the side to stare at them, taking note of just how uncomfortable they looked. Nothing suspicious as of yet, since that was the normal reaction when being faced with the host club and their antics.
The instant they zeroed in on Haruhi however, is when she made her move. She got up from the grass meanwhile Tamaki implored Kyoya to take his pinkie because he caught him moving.
"...Did you know the rumor going around that this club was created to show off the influence of Suoh?" Akira asked, a smirk on his ugly face.
"I thought the latest rumor was how you had to beg the chairman to keep your club running this semester?" Kyo gently shoved Haruhi to the side away from Akira…maybe not too gently from how Haruhi almost face planted. "You're a senior, right? Three years here and nothing to show for it. Kinda pathetic."
His eyes twitched in irritation, staring down at her. "You must be Kyo Sohma, the supposed honorary member of the host club and a transfer student."
"Gee, you got something right for once."
"Why exactly did you transfer so late into the year, and from a public school no less. Trouble?"
"Oh yes. I got expelled for allegedly threatening to break someone's knees with a pipe for spreading lies about me." She gave him a sharp smirk. "They could never prove it, apparently the student was too frightened to talk."
Akira gave an audible gulp, but he still pushed through. "I-"
"If you excuse us, it looks like the others are calling us." Kyo cut him off, holding Haruhi's shoulders to usher her back to the group. She could hear Akira sputter with anger from behind.
"Wait! What do you think about the talks about you being shared between Morinozuka and Haninozuka!"
Kyo's steps halted and she swiveled around to glare at Akira. "What the fuck did you just say?"
"Senpai!-" Haruhi gasped, holding onto her forearm.
She hated the leery grin he had on. "You heard me. Sources say you three are inseparable and even go home together. What do you have to say about these accusations?"
"How about get off my dick-
"Cut!" Hikaru and Kaoru shouted, swinging their arms between her and Akira. Each twin taking her and Haruhi's wrist, they all ran away from the scene, Tamaki's shouting in the background that they were playing it wrong.
They had made it back to the others, sans Tamaki who had gone back to Akira to talk more bullshit. She pulled her hand away from Kaoru, hugging herself.
"Senpai…" Haruhi spoke, biting her lip.
"What happened?" Hikaru asked, eyebrows furrowed.
She opened her mouth to speak, but only released a frustrated grunt, covering her face. She was going to kill Akira.
Seeing as Kyo wasn't going to answer, Haruhi took it upon herself to break the news. "Um…Komitsuzawa-san said…there was a rumor going around that Kyo-senpai…was being shared between Hani-senpai and Mori-senpai."
A shockwave passed through the boys, and their eyes turned cold with anger. Not that Kyo could see from where she was still hiding behind her hands.
"This is all the permission we needed to have no mercy on these…idiots." Kyoya spoke up, breaking the small silence. "Rest assured Kyo, we won't be going easy on them."
Kyo lowered her hands, giving a sharp nod to her classmate. She turned to stare at Mitsukuni, seeing the fury in his eyes. Takashi was the same, his stance stiff and his jaw clenched.
"Kyon, I'm sorry this happened."
She let out a dark chuckle. "Why are you sorry? He's the one who's gonna be sorry for trying to defame us. Making up any type of lie to benefit him. What's the plan?"
"Leave it to me. When the time comes, we'll strike." Kyoya hummed.
The time came quickly, during the next game they were playing. Kyoya was set to be 'it', and everyone scattered to hide from him. Tamaki and Haruhi ran into the nearby rose maze, while everyone else ran outward, circling back afterwards. Kyo made it back to Kyoya, noting how the twins were also gone along with the Newspaper club. "Kyoya?"
"The twins went ahead first to wait for the Newspaper Club. Let's go to catch up with them, shall we?" His glasses reflected the sun, hiding his eyes, but not the smirk he had.
When they rounded the corner of the hallway leading to the Newspaper Club, voices spilled out through the open door.
"I knew it! You're using the influence of your wealthy families! Did Suoh put you up to this?"
"Of course not. Tamaki would never do something like that." Mitsukuni stepped in through the doorway, announcing his presence. "We love him very much, you know, so we won't tolerate anyone who hurts him."
Akira's scared face pleased her greatly as she followed Mitsukuni inside.
"Yeah, he's thick around the edges but we appreciate all he's done for us." Kaoru hummed. The twins were seated on Akira's desk, one leg propped up on it. They had all the members boxed in, with nowhere to run.
"You however," Hikaru's lip curled in disgust as he threw something down on the ground. Photos scattered across the floor, showcasing pictures of all of them from different angles and days. Kyo sucked in a breath as she spotted a photo of her and Mitsukuni kissing on the rooftop. "You're a nuisance who won't go away."
"So our suspicions were correct." Kyoya's voice was sharp as he too spotted the same picture as she did. "You've been spying on our members."
She moved to pick up the photo, her hand trembling. What if they hadn't been on time to stop them? Would they have published this in the school paper?
"You can't prove anything, how do I know you didn't plant these photos?!" Akira shouted, pointing a finger at them.
Kyoya moved toward Akira's desk where Hikaru handed him an Ootori First Aid kit. He pressed a button on the front, releasing a small disk. "Then maybe the chairman would like to take a listen on this? This has been here since yesterday recording everything you've said." A small bluff to assume he actually said anything incriminating, but with all this evidence and Akira turning green, it was safe to say there was something on the disk.
"Damn you all…" He hissed, trembling with anger.
Kyo handed the picture to Mitsukuni, taking steps toward Akira. She stood in front of him, and before he could utter a word, she swung her fist into his nose, feeling something crack under her knuckles. Akira shouted in pain, falling to the floor from the hit.
She felt nothing but a slight pinch in her knuckles, a wild look in her eye as she smiled down at him. "That was for calling me a whore and for spying on us. Try to run to your daddy or the school about this and I'll show you exactly what I learned at that public school."
His face was smeared with blood as he held his nose, nodding desperately. He scrambled backwards until he hit the legs of his lackeys, all of them pale with fear.
Satisfied, she took her leave. She knew they would discard everything; she just couldn't be there for it.
"Is that the last of it?" Kyoya asked, looking behind his shoulder. He had a paper shredder in the club room where he was disposing of all the pictures accumulated of them all.
"Yeah, looks like it." Kaoru raised his hands over his head, groaning at the stretch.
"Hani-senpai?" Kyoya called out to the senior.
Mitsukuni stared down at the picture of him and Kyo kissing. Smoothly tucking it into his inner suit pocket, he let out a small hum of confirmation, boldly meeting Kyoya's eyes. "That's the last of it."
Second A/N:
jūnihitoe* - Formal court dress worn by noble women in the Heian Era.
Yarimizu** - man made river for gardens
sokutai*** - Formal attire worn by noble men in the Heian Era
Marigold meaning - they have a lot of different meanings in many cultures, but for the red marigolds, they usually symbolize love, passion, and courage.
Futago No Akuma Shimai left a review that had me reeling back in shock. It's about 10 years since I started this series, back in around 2013, when it was really cringey and bad. I was barely a teen then and didn't know what I was doing, but I'm happy that I'm doing my best to continue this series and revamp it to something better than the original. I started this on FFN and then also put it on Ao3, so thank you to anyone who has stuck around since the very beginning.
let me know your thoughts about this chapter! next up is what I have been excited about since coming up with this plot, the summer house!, and I struggled a lot with deciding how I wanted it to play out.
p.s. idk how to link anything on here, but this is how the marigolds look like