Just a reminder, I still don't own Ouran. Only the Quints and Kyle. Plus a few more OCs...

(Sara POV)

The visit to father's home had not been quite as bad as I had suspected it would be.

I had almost forgotten that we had a dinner with the Suohs while I was with Kyoya, but thankfully it was called off and rescheduled for another day. I suspected that Tamaki had convinced his father to allow him some time to work or some other sort of lie.

Unfortunately this had meant that my father had been in a rage at being "slighted."

"How dare he? I arrange a profitable marriage between our families and he refuses to pay me courtesy?" He bellowed throwing something at the door. An empty glass rested on its side next to a half full bottle of whiskey.

I quickly silenced my phone and stepped into the office. "Father?"

Once he saw me he instantly calmed. "Suzette, I'm sorry."

"Y-you wanted to see me?" I've learned it was best to pretend I was one of my other siblings when I was with him. For some reason he didn't want to hurt them. I supposed that was a good thing, but I couldn't help but feel a little hurt that his lack of affection was only for me.

"Yes, I have some paperwork for you. I hear you are doing business with that Hitachiin woman." He sounded bitter, that's never a good sign.

"Sara encouraged me." I answered with a small shrug. "The numbers look good for our collaboration."

He grunted and poured himself another glass. "If you are making money I suppose that is good enough for now. Stab her in the back once you don't need her anymore. That woman refused to do business with me and our family before. Nearly ruined another market I wanted to open up to us."

I simply nodded and took the papers next to his desk. "Is there anything else I can do father?"

"No, leave me." He looked me over and frowned. "You look too much like your sister. Cut your hair or do something to it. Unfortunately she must be the face of the family for the time being. She should stand out from the rest of you."

He finally understood the merit of us being different? I was shocked.

But I hid it under a blank stare and nodded once more. "Good night father."

He merely waved me off before taking a swig from his glass.

This was a victory for the night. Me leaving without a bruise or cut or anything.

I should pretend to be them more often if this was how he was going to treat them. If I had cared, and I was trying my best to convince myself that I didn't, I would wonder why he picked me to hate when all I had ever done was work to please him and meet his standards.

Once I left the office, I quickly walked into my old music room to collect something.

Tamaki had once expressed interest in the violin and since we now have mandatory meetings every week I figured I may as well teach him something.

A soft buzzing from my phone surprised me, but I allowed it to keep buzzing while I retrieved my case with my old violin and sheet music. It was probably one of my siblings or Kyle and I could speak to them later.

Now that I had everything I needed, I could just exit out of this room and head out to the-

"I want to speak with Mr. Kobayashi."

I froze and tried not to panic once I recognized the voice. If Mr. Ootori is here and my father is drunk in his office, we'd all pay for this somehow. No matter how much I wanted to see him fail, I could not allow our family to be shamed by him.

"S-sir, now is not a very good time." The maid tried to say but it didn't seem that her words had any effect on him at all.

"And why is that?"

"Because...because-"

She's not very good at these things is she? I glanced at my watch and noted the time. It was only seven, but I could still use my favorite excuse.

I walked purposefully into the room and said smoothly "because my father has retired for the night. He felt unwell."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Though he seemed to be more annoyed than anything. "Which of the sisters are you, miss-?"

"Sara Kobayashi."

He nodded once in acknowledgement "Ah, yes the one who Akito speaks of often."

I wanted to wring his neck. "Is there anything I can do to assist you as my father is unable?" A crash sounded throughout the hall and I tried not to jump. "Go and check if someone has dropped the crystal." I ordered the maid with a warning in my eyes. "And take care of it."

She nodded quickly, probably too used to things like this happening.

Now I had to take over. "I am terribly sorry Mr. Ootori for the inconvenience. We recently hired a new maid and judging from that sound it might be her last day. If there is anything that I can do to assist you I will but I'm afraid that my father should stay in bed for his own health."

"Is he that unwell?" Mr. Ootori stared at me quite forcefully. "Perhaps I can arrange for a doctor to come."

"That will not be necessary." I assured him with a small smile. "I think it is only my sisters being overprotective, but they will unlikely allow him out of bed."

"I was under the impression that you all lived in a separate home." He said.

I now understood where his son got that annoying habit of knowing everything. "We do. But when we can, we are sure to pay visits to our father. He has been so kind to allow us to transition back from having the independence we were used to abroad."

He nodded his head and looked me over once more before announcing, "then I will be going. Be sure to tell your father that I expect for him to call me as soon as he is well."

"I will, thank you for stopping by." I started to escort him to the door. "Good night Mr. Ootori."

"Good night Miss Kobayashi. I hope to see more of you in my home or at the very least when you visit one of my sons." The way that he was looking at me reminded me of Akito and Kyoya at the same time. I wasn't sure of what that stare meant but I was sure I really did not want to find out.

I quickly opened the door as another crash can be heard. "Of course, but for now I must ask you to excuse me. Someone is being much too careless."

"Yes, someone is. I hope you will do something about it quickly for the sake of managing your...home." Somehow I knew he wasn't referring to the running of our household.

He was too cunning, just as his son was. I narrowed my eyes slightly, "thank you for the advice. I will take it into consideration when I think about firing the person responsible. Good night."

And I did not wait for a response before shutting the door and hearing a shout of anger. Perhaps I was too careless with my brief encounter with Kyoya's father. I said firing the person responsible to keep him from suspecting the truth, but what if he took my words too seriously? What if he guessed the truth and then realized my goal?

Obviously today's anxieties have made me a little too paranoid. I inhaled deeply and then willed myself to move- to go handle my father's tantrum that nearly costly us a powerful ally.

"Miss! Miss no, he is not in a good mood." One of the older maids grabbed my arm and particularly dragged me away. "We have security taking care of him miss. He will harm you please go home."

The violin case in my hand swung against my leg, but I would rather have that pain than whatever my father could inflict on me. "You will keep this in the strictest confidence correct?"

"Yes, miss." She answered in a sigh. "Everything is taken care of tonight. Go home and rest miss."

"Thank you, I think I will." As long as I could go home and hopefully avoid Kyle for tonight I thought that everything should be all right.

Unfortunately Kyle had been waiting for me when I had gotten home last night. I had tried to brush him off but he had been very insistent and annoyingly concerned about me. Especially after he had heard that I willingly had dinner with Kyoya Otori.

After a couple of minutes of us arguing I had agreed to talk to him about my plans tomorrow, or today rather.

A buzzing in my pocket and a familiar ringtone played. Before the first verse could play out I quickly picked up my phone. "This is Kobayashi."

Silence.

Was this a prank call? Because I was not in the mood to be trifled with. I took a look at my phone again as I exited the limo. "If anyone is there, I must insi-"

"Kobayashi Sara?"

Who was this? I couldn't help the annoyed tone that slipped into my words, "As I said, now state your business please."

"You visited me and my sister earlier this year. And the money stopped. And I don't know what to do. I used the plane tickets and we're going to fly out in a couple of minutes...I thought you should know since I want answers from you."

Despite my previous mood, this made me smile. "Ah, Soo Jin correct?"

"Uhh, yes. Although if I am going to be in Japan I would prefer Suyuri. That was my name before my mother brought me to South Korea."

"My apologies Suyuri. You said you were flying in today? Shall I send a car to the airport?" As soon as I offered, I realized that I had no driver that I trusted enough to ask to pick them up alone without any questions being asked. And I doubted she had come without her younger sister, so how would I disguise her as a business associate? She was too young to be a mother to the girl.

"Oh, no that's fine. I'm sure that you're busy. I just wanted to make sure that you knew I wanted to talk."

There was that false bravo. She was unsure of herself and she did such a bad job trying to hide it, poor thing. But at least that would work in my favor if I needed it to. Not that I was hoping I would need to exploit her weaknesses. "If you're sure. I will see you as soon as I can."

"O-I mean good. Good, I want to see you as soon as possible."

I shook my head with quiet amusement. She would not survive in the business world, of that I was sure of. "Good-bye Suyuri-san. I look forward to seeing you and Min Hee again."

"H-how did you know that Min Hee was coming?"

She sounded suspicious again. I couldn't afford to have her distrust me and considering I needed to convince her. "I gave you two tickets. Now I have to go but I will make sure to speak to you after your flight."

"Fine, good-bye."

Well, I had better make an excuse to my sensei and get to the airport in an hour. Did it that long to get to the airport? I couldn't remember anything except that flight here from Seoul was less than two hours.

I wished she had given me more time to prepare for her arrival. But at least I could ask her some questions that her file had been missing.

Hmm, I would have to consult Kyle. I quickly dialed his number and waited for him to answer.

"Hello Sara."

He was not happy but unfortunately for him I didn't have very much time to make him happy. The best I would be able to strive for today was satisfied. "We're going to have a visitor, I need your help."

"Who?" Now he sounded more intrigued than annoyed.

"I'll explain everything once I pick you up. I need to miss school and you're going to help me think of an excuse."

"Business related excuse. I'm sure your school is used to that and you can give them my number if they have more questions."

He was right, but I had hoping for a more specific excuse so that I wouldn't have to think so hard. "You're right, I will be there soon and meanwhile can you tell the maids that we need the extra bedroom prepared?"

"You mean that kind of visitor? Is it...her?"

It would be patronizing for me to commend him for guessing correctly, but I was glad that he caught on so quickly. "Yes. I hope you're ready for this."

"Are you ready for it?"

I knew that 'it' meant a lot more than Suyuri's presence.

"There really is no other answer than yes." This time I allowed a genuine smile. It was wrong to place so much hope on one card in my hand, but I was sure that considering the state my father was in there was no other outcome but victory for me.

So so so sorry that this took so long to write! School is so much busier than I expected it to be but I'm out for the summer so hopefully I'll have more time.

Tell me what you think in a review! :)