a/n: Notes about the story will be at the end. I'm sorry for the sudden hiatus again.
Kyo could tell that the hosts wanted to talk about what happened with Renge. She knew it, they knew she knew, but no one wanted to bring it up. It was the big elephant in the room, and Kyo had no intention about justifying her actions. She did what no one would have the audacity to do, put a spoiled brat in her place. If they couldn't see why she was so angry, it wasn't her job to teach them. They thankfully didn't try to give her a lecture, but she could see their looks of concern and disappointment. She didn't care.
What she did care about was staying away from Renge. It was just her luck that Renge decided to stay instead of going back to France, but it seemed that she was just inclined to avoid Kyo as well. Tamaki told her that Renge mainly helped through emails instead of attending the club meetings. That still didn't stop Kyo from avoiding the club for the past couple days, only interacting with the hosts during lunch or while passing in the halls. It seemed they were starting to understand her better, not forcing her to join them.
Stepping inside the house, she took off her shoes, calling out her arrival. Tohru didn't respond back, making her pause as she heard voices toward the backyard. She padded her way over, stopping before reaching the doorway and eavesdropping as Tohru talked to Shigure and Yuki.
"It's my mother's memorial day. We're visiting my mother's grave." Her voice was cheery as she put the empty bowls onto a tray to take back to the kitchen.
"Hm, it has been a year…" Shigure mused, setting down his newspaper.
"Yeah, and we aren't doing anything special either. Sorry to be so troublesome, but I need to go visit her grave."
"Eh? Of course you can, it's completely fine-"
"I…" Tohru paused as Yuki's voice interrupted Shigure. "I...want to go with you too, may I?" Yuki smiled fondly at Tohru's shocked face. "I want to go too...to meet your mother."
Tohru beamed in happiness, nodding. "Thank you! Mother will definitely be pleased…"
"Kyo. If you don't have anything else to do, go with them." Kyo jumped at the sound of Shigure's voice, ears burning at being caught. She stayed where she was, staring at the wall intensely. She pushed off of the wall, heading to her room without a response.
Kyo sighed as she made her way into the club room. She was over the Renge incident, her shoulder was now healed and she was more than ready to never think about it again. Stepping inside, she paused as she noticed the twins sitting in the corner, looking bored out of their minds, paper taped to their chests.
"What's up with them?" Kyo arched her brow, sitting down at Hani's table. "What'd I miss?"
"Tama-chan punished them for teasing the Black Magic Club President and for photoshopping Haruhi to have a man's body." Hani laughed, pushing a slice of cake to Kyo.
Kyo huffed out a laugh in disbelief, bringing the teapot close to pour herself a cup. "I don't know what's more surprising, the photoshop or the fact that this school has a Black Magic Club." Hani gave her a shrug so she focused on her cake, watching as a new round of guests came to sit down with them. Being next to Mori, she found herself in an interesting conversation with him about Kendo, finding the art interesting, but never enough to pick it up.
"Kyo-chan, you should come with us to my family's dojo, maybe we can spar!" Hani suggested, entering their conversation.
She hummed, pouring herself more tea. "I don't know about sparring, but maybe catching a glimpse at the dojo would be nice." Shishou* might be interested in hearing about the prestigious dojo of the Haninozuka, she mused internally, the corner of her lips turning up. Noticing Hani staring at her, she cleared her throat, she turned her attention to Haruhi, who she could hear from this distance.
"-But are there any other differentiating factors?" A guest asked.
Haruhi pressed a hand to her lips, pondering for a moment. "Well, if I must really say...Hikaru's speech and behavior sometimes reveals ten percent more evilness." She nodded, satisfied with her answer, which was without any malice.
Kaoru struggled to stifle his laughter, slowly drawing the attention of those nearby. "Sorry Hikaru…" He wheezed out.
Hikaru looked ahead indifferently, laying back on the couch they were seated on. "I must make this clear, it's because I do not attempt to hide myself hypocritically, and if we're going to talk about evilness, that really should be your forte, Kaoru."
Kaoru straightened, his laughter halting. "Please don't spout nonsense, Hikaru. It's always been me tolerating your stubborn ways."
"Even if I am the brain behind the plots, the one who deeply planned every execution is you, Kaoru. If you don't like it, then don't do it, fool."
Kyo watched with wide eyes at the twins speaking to each other in such a manner. Although she barely conversed with the twins, it was clear as day that the two were always on each other's side, attacking others, not themselves. The rest of the hosts were on edge as well, stopping their host duties to take in the scene.
"You are so silly, it's pathetic. I can't take it lying down." Kaoru huffed, crossing his arms. "You're the one who came up with the toy concept...actually, you like Haruhi right…? It's so obvious, you're always touching him!"
"Huh?!" "What!" Tamaki and Hikaru shouted in shock. Hikaru glared at his twin, face red in mortification.
As the two continued to bicker, Kyo was not pleased to see Renge pop out of nowhere, gushing about a love square going on between the twins, Tamaki, and Haruhi. Oh how soon it was to see her again, and just when she was trying to forget about the incident.
"You're irritating every time you burrow into my blanket while I'm asleep!"
"I only did that because I thought you were lonely!"
"Pervert, always peeping at me while I'm in the bath!"
"That's it! I'm going to sever all ties with you!" The twins finished off at the same time, somehow being able to stay in sync even while angry.
Kyo could hardly pay attention as the guests were ushered out of the room. It was no longer funny or something the guests could keep on looking at.
"Wait a minute, Hikaru, Kaoru…" Tamaki stepped forward to break them up, but it was no use.
"Buzz off!" They shouted, glaring at each other once more before leaving the club room.
Kyo looked at the others to see if they had any other insight on what just happened, but they were as clueless as she was.
As much as it would have been good to stay on the roof during her lunch as usual, trailing after the hosts as they made their way to the cafeteria was more interesting to her. Hani had caught her up to speed with what had been going on with the twins that day. Apparently they hadn't made up since yesterday, going as far as to dye their hair pink and blue to avoid any confusion between the two. And to think, this was all because of a comment Haruhi had made about them.
Kyo shook her head, watching Hani run ahead of them with his attempt to referee, a small cake in his hand. The senior got between the two boys, stopping their arguing about which lunch tray they were getting.
"Hika-chan, Kao-chan! Have half of this cake and you'll be alright!" He beamed, showing off his cake to the twins, who were just not having it. "...Ah, but I want a piece too, so it'll have to be three pieces...but what do I do about the strawberry…?"
The cake was knocked to the ground by Hikaru as the twins continued their lunch argument. "In addition, I want set D's Cappellini and Barberie Duck and Foie Gras's Peole with Pariguu sauce!"
Hani ran back to the group, launching himself into Mori's arms. "They tossed my cake!" He cried, saddened.
"I was wondering why it was so noisy here...those two are still going at?" Tamaki sighed, stepping into the cafeteria with a disappointed frown. "They really are a disgrace to the host club."
Kyo shook her head, watching silently as the cafeteria tittered with whispers, surprised the host club was all together outside of the club room. Taking the opportunity to view the room she never entered, she gazed up at the menu displaying the lunch of the day. Four set options the students could choose from, half of them in fancy words or languages that Kyo had no clue what they even hint at being. There were also no prices, but it was to be expected. There was no doubt that all of the students in Ouran could afford a lunch plan, the exceptions being herself and Haruhi.
"Are you going to eat the school's lunch Kyon-chan?"
Kyo turned her head to look at Hani, who got over his crying moment pretty quickly.
"Nah, it doesn't look all that great. Besides, I have my lunch right here-" Kyo paused as she realized she didn't have her bag with her. It was still in the classroom, snug on her desk hook, her bento laying inside of it. She had forgotten to take it with her when Hani and Mori came to collect them. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to not lose her cool. There was no point when she was at fault. "No. I'm not going to get anything." She repeated, opening her eyes. She headed off to the table where the hosts were standing around, joining them as they watched the twins bicker over Haruhi.
Hani joined them after a few minutes, setting down his lunch tray on the table. "Hey Kyon-chan, I got the pasta meal, but I didn't realize it had spinach in it." He stuck out his tongue in distaste, picking up the plate and offering it to the second year. "Do ya' want it?"
Kyo looked at the plate with a blank stare, then back at Hani. "You rich people and your picky tastes." She scoffed, taking the plate and fork. "You should have looked closer before picking this set." She lectured, grabbing some noodles and stuffing her mouth eagerly. She wasn't about to let this chance go to waste, especially if by the look on Haruhi's face, the food here was good.
Too busy eating, Kyo never noticed how Mori stood by Hani, a slight frown on his face. "Mitsukuni, you don't hate spinach."
Hani looked up at his cousin with a secretive smirk, humming. "I know." He went back to watching Kyo devour the pasta. He knew if he had offered to get a meal for Kyo, she would have refused out of pride.
Mori made a noise as he looked from Hani to Kyo, an understanding glint in his eyes.
Kyo got pulled away from her pasta as the commotion grew louder, escalating to throwing items. She let go of her bowl in favor of ducking when a chair flew over her head, gasping in surprise.
"What the fuck!" She yelled. She could see the twins throwing anything they could get their hands on, not caring for their surroundings.
There was no way she was getting in the middle of chaos to try and stop the twins, but before she could even move to step back, Tamaki already stopped the fight, albeit when he got out of the way, allowing for a fork to land in a bowl of soup, splashing onto the face of the vice principal. The room fell silent, and Tamaki gulped, knowing they were in trouble.
.
.
.
Kyo grumbled to herself as she threw down the rag in her hand, tired from cleaning the cafeteria. After the vice principal tore Tamaki a new one (after the twins pushed the blame onto him), they were forced to clean up the mess the twins made after class. Kyo got annoyed she was dragged into the mess as well for being associated with the hosts, but she took it with no talk back. She didn't need the school calling Shigure, or worse, the main estate.
Everyone settled back into the club room, worn out mentally and physically.
Tamaki sighed. "The twins are fighting, but we're the ones getting knocked around?" It didn't help that the twins were nowhere in sight, escaping the punishment.
The sound of Kyoya's calculator clacked rapidly, the man looking stressed for the first time. "If the situation continues, we'll have to suspend the club's 'Brotherly Love' offering…and accept the inevitable decrease in business. We'll formulate a penalty to impose on the twins later. Oh, by the way Haruhi…" He turned a polite smile to her, a cold sweat going down Haruhi's spine at the sight of it. "I've determined you bear no real responsibility. Their reaction to your simple observation was wholly unwarranted."
Hani hummed, piercing his latest piece of cake with his fork. "Hikaru and Kaoru have never fought before…"
"Really?" Kyo asked, skeptical. "Surely they must have fought at some point in their lives."
Hani shook his head. "I've known them since they were in kindergarten. They never seemed to need anyone's company."
"Yeah, I've only known them since middle school, but…they were always out of place." Tamaki added, his face solemn. "A very closed off relationship; there was them, and then there was the rest of the world." He smiled softly, placing a hand on Haruhi's head. "You know, this fight is a good thing. Maybe it'll open up their world a bit more. Just let it run its course and…" He stepped back, tripping a trap wire and sending arrows in his direction that he barely managed to dodge.
The twins stepped out from the hiding spot they were in, cursing at their failure before running away as Tamaki began to scream and chase them.
Haruhi came to stand next to Kyo, catching her attention as she mumbled to herself. "If this is their first fight…" She seemed to come up with an idea, following the twins and Tamaki.
The remaining hosts looked at each other. Kyo sighed. "Well, we might as well go after them all. See the fucking show that will no doubt happen."
And she was right. By the time they made their way outside to where the twins were, they were yelling at each other once again.
"But I'm tired of being mistaken for you!" Hikaru screamed. "In fact, now that I think about it, I hate you!"
Kyo's eyes widened. He can't mean that.
"You think I feel any different?" Kaoru shot back, pulling a wooden cat from his pocket. "Look! One of Nekozawa's voodoo dolls! I've put your name on it, Hikaru! So whatever this doll suffers, you will too!"
Wait…
Kyo put her hand out, panic lightly lacing her features. They can't do this. They were each other's rocks, they were family. They can't just wish harm against the other.
And it hurt her because she knew they could. Just as her father did, family meant nothing if hatred got in the way. That thought made something inside her snap. Anger filled her as she looked at the two idiots, Kaoru lifting the doll to smash it against the ground.
But for once Haruhi beat her to the punch, literally, as she smacked both Hikaru and Kaoru on the heads. "This is a sibling squabble, not a fight to the death! You're both wrong, and acting like idiots only proves it!" She grabbed the voodoo doll, clutching it in her hand. "Now stop this and make up. If you don't, I'll never invite you to my house!"
That last part didn't make sense to Kyo, but she was shocked, like the others, when a smirk appeared on the twin's faces. "So what you're saying, you'll invite us if we make up?" They said in sync, before fawning over each other, apologizing for being so mean.
Haruhi turned over the voodoo doll, revealing not the name of Hikaru, but just the word 'Loser'. She deflated in exhaustion, tricked by the evil twins.
Kyo stood still, staring at the twins in disbelief. The animosity between them was gone, back to their usual selves as they began to apologize to one another.
"Unbelievable." All the anger that she had was gone, she couldn't even muster up the will to try and scold them anymore now that it was apparently fake. "You two are the devils.
.
.
.
"Hey Kyo, can we visit your house too?"
"No way in hell!"
Kyo wanted to leave. She had told Yuki she was going with them to the grave site, and she wanted to stick to her word, but she was regretting this already. This was a bad idea to come here, she doesn't know what she was thinking. She thought she could do this and stay neutral, but it was harder than she had anticipated. Hearing what happened to Tohru's dad, it just made the guilt build up tenfold.
She took a chance to take a breather as the others kept talking, walking a small distance away to the railing that looked over the city. Footsteps sounded behind her, and she turned, finding Hanajima standing there.
"Do you need help?"
Kyo's brow twitched. "You tell me, you're the one that came up to me." Shoving her hands in her pockets, Kyo hesitated. "...Hanajima, you…can see spirits, right?"
Hanajima closed her eyes. "Of course I can't see them…I don't have psychic powers."
"Huh? But you have the electric pulse…"
"Having the electric pulse and being psychic are two totally different matters…Don't mix them up!" She said in a 'duh' tone. "To put it simply, electric pulses are people's thoughts. Instead of using ears, I use the brain to detect other people's thoughts directly. That is the electric pulse."
"You don't have to explain!" Kyo groaned, scowling.
"...Why are you asking about this kind of thing all of a sudden…?"
"It's nothing special…no particular reason." Kyo deflected, but paused when Hanajima spoke.
"In the end…a person who is alive is the strongest…It's the same with the electric pulse. The electric pulses of most of the dead are too weak…before the strong thoughts of people who are alive, they are completely overshadowed…like now…Your electric pulse is pulsating extraordinarily." She turned to lock eyes with Kyo. "Why do you have feelings of regret…? Standing in front of this grave."
Kyo's eyes widened in terror, stepping back from her. The air between them became tense, neither of them saying anything.
"Kyo-chan? What's wrong?" Tohru broke through Kyo's turmoil as she walked over, and Kyo turned her face away.
"Nothing!"
Surprisingly, Hanajima supported her, assuring Tohru everything was fine.
"Is that so…? You two can come sit over here now! Everything is ready!" She grabbed Kyo's arm, pulling her back toward the others.
Glancing back to the others, Kyo gaped. "Don't eat in front of the grave!" She shouted, appalled at the sight of a whole picnic set up on the floor, Yuki and Uotani sitting down.
Uotani looked up, holding up cups. "Huh? Don't get your panties in a twist! Kyoko had always liked things lively!"
"What if we get discovered by the people in the temple?!"
"Then we'll just apologize, jeez…" Uotani rolled her eyes.
After sitting down reluctantly, Kyo crossed her arms, shaking her head.
"Kyo-chan, what do you want to eat?" Tohru asked, chopsticks ready to make a plate.
"Anything's fine…"
"Okay!"
Kyo avoided looking toward Hanajima after that, choosing to listen to Uotani telling the tale behind Kyoko's gang life.
.
.
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In the end there was little that happened after that, and within a few hours of staying at the temple, Yuki, Tohru, and she went back home, parting ways with Uotani and Hanajima.
The sun was setting, and Kyo had changed out of her black clothes. The house was quiet, void of even Tohru's normal movements. Kyo slid open the back door, eyes landing on Tohru's sleeping figure. "This girl. Why did she go to sleep in this kind of place?" She mumbled to herself, crouching down to shake Tohru awake. "Hey, it's windy here. You'll catch a cold!" She scolded before jumping in fright as Tohru laughed in her sleep.
Giving up, Kyo sighed. She would have to carry Tohru up to her room before she got sick.
Kyo's face became somber, looking down at her. "Hey…I'm sorr-..." She bit her lip. "Sorry…I'm so sorry."
IMPORTANT A/N:
Shishou* - master. Kyo calls Kazuma that instead of teacher like he wants because Kyo thinks he should be called more respectfully.
Rereading this whole story, I realize I might have put in a few plot points that won't go anywhere, like the girl who glared at Kyo a few chapters ago, but it'll have to just be like that, unless I just make a small mention of that to close it up.
Also there will be a lot of skipping of dialogue, since 1) I want to keep it to the point of view of Kyo as much as possible, so only scenes she can see or hear herself. 2) I don't want have a copy and paste version of every episode/chapter.
About the story/me:
Again, I didn't realize just how long I was going to take to make this next chapter. Covid had hit when I last updated, and since then, it's been so hard to get life back on track. It's not an excuse but just an explanation. This chapter had been started and it wasn't until this year that I began writing again.
I have the next chapter almost done, and I hope to have it out by next month, but I won't make any promises just to not keep people's hopes up. Thanks for those who continue to read this story.