Hide Away

Chapter 22: "I lived, bitch!"

Kojiro pouted before he let out a sigh, "Anyways, you dodged my question. What's with the look change."

Setsuko sighed, in all honesty she didn't want to tell Kojiro what had been happening recently, before the coma, the stalker had just been an intense fan who would send mounds of fan mail, and he wasn't going to know, not if she had anything to do about it. "I wanted some privacy in my personal life, people were swarming me with cameras and microphones and notebooks wherever I went. With Kuwata's approval I decided to change my look to have some semblance of peace."

Kojiro was quiet, "So this intense look change, and apparent gender change, are all because you wanted privacy?"

She nodded, "Yeah! I even took it one step further and enrolled in a school. I'm a second year at Ouran Acadrmy."

Kojiro sputtered in shock, "Ouran Academy? Not Ouran High? You're at one of the most prestigious schools in Tokyo- in all of Japan?!" He shouted.

"Maybe if you yell a little louder, you'll wake mom and dad. It was an easy academy to get in to and with all the rich kids there the school understood my need to work as an idol as some of the other kids work for their parent's businesses."

Kojiro nodded, seeming to have slightly recovered from the shock. "So, meet any cute rich boys or girls?" He asked.

"Kojiro-"

"Scratch that, do you even have friends? You're not just sleeping whenever you have free time and avoiding human contact, are you?"

"Kojiro-"

"I'm only asking because I'm concerned about my little sister." Kojiro said, raising his hands in defense.

"To be honest, Ms. Akemi spends most of her time sleeping, especially during club hours." A new voice said, and Setsuko looked over her shoulder to see Kyoya walk into the room, an amused smile on his face.

"Sure, just go on and expose me to my brother." Setsuko grumbled.

"Ah-ha! I knew it! Setsu, you can't just slink off somewhere and take a nap whenever you're tired."

"Says the one who doesn't have to work until, like, 3am."

"Actually, your sibling's sleeping during club activities has made her quite popular, especially amongst the ladies, she's been requested quite often within the host club."

"Oh yeah, just tell my brother I spend all my time after school flirting and sleeping, why don't you. Hey, don't you still have to deal with Suoh? Why are you even here?"

"He dismissed the club early due to an issue Honey-senpai is having, apparently he developed a cavity so there's been a ban on sweets for a few days until it gets better."

"That's gonna be difficult." Setsuko sighed. Refusing to give sweets to an adorable kid like Honey was an almost near impossible task for her.

"Okay, wait, I have to wrap my head around this. My sister, who starts stuttering and fumbling her words when anyone even compliments her outside work, is flirting with girls and is actually popular with them?" Kojiro said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What? In disbelief that I can pick up more girls than you?"

"Who else is in this club? It has to be that you're the most attractive, that's gotta be it." Kojiro said.

"That's quite rude." Kyoya said from beside Setsuko in mock offence. "I'll have you know the children of Japan's most influential families are in this club, such as the Suoh, Hitachiin, Huninozuka, Morinozuka, and Ootori families. In fact, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm name is Ootori Kyoya, it's a pleasure to meet Ms. Akemi's older brother."

Kojiro just stared in silence, trying to process everything he heard. "Setsu... how the fuck did you do it?"

"Sleeping."

"I'm serious."

"So am I." She saw the look of doubt on Kojiro's face. "You don't get it. My type is literally 'The Sleeping Angel'. Girls literally pay to watch me sleep."

"Okay that's creepy."

"I- well-, yeah, a bit. But at least I can sleep during school hours." Suddenly her phone started ringing, interrupting the conversation and causing Setsuko to pull out her cell and look at the caller ID, "Sorry, it's Kuwata." She stood up and clicked answer on the phone, stepping out of the room to have her conversation, leaving Kyoya and Kojiro in the room.

"So, seriously how's my sister doing?" Kojiro asked. "She's putting that smile on her face telling me she's fine but she's not an idol for nothing. She's good at acting."

Kyoya glanced at the doorway, seeing that Setsuko was standing outside still on her phone, enough distance away for her to not hear the conversation going on inside. "It might be wrong of me to tell you, but as her brother you do need to be made aware. For the past three months, there's been this man stalking her, he's intruded her home, stole some of her possessions, and even knows her real identity. Your sister went into witness protection and assumed the persona of Kuwata Itsuki and will be assuming that persona until this man is caught."

Kojiro was stunned into silence, before he placed his hands over his face, "Damn it, Setsu, you can't bear all this alone." His hands fell down to his lap and a sullen gaze appeared on his face, "My sister's not good in confiding in other people, ever since she was young. I remember when she was three, she got in one of my motorized cars and drove it until she crashed into a tree. Our parents didn't know she hurt herself until they saw the blood soaking through her jeans. She still has a tiny scar on her hip from then. Setsu tries to put on a tough act, so people aren't worried about. My parents and I don't know why but she's always insisted on doing things herself, even signing up to become an idol and finding her own manager was her own doing."

At that moment Setsuko walked into the room, hanging up the call. "I have to go in to cover some new choreography, I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Kojiro?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow. Have fun as Momo-chan~" Kojiro said, plastering a smile on his face.

Setsuko rolled her eyes tiredly and turned to walk out of the room, once again leaving the two alone, the moment she turned the smile on Kojiro's face fell.

"Hey, Kyoya, was it? You seem to know my little sister pretty well, at least she seems comfortable around you, watch over her for me while I'm on here, okay?"

Kyoya looked at him for a second before he smiled slightly and nodded, "I plan on it. No matter the threat she will be safe."

__

A proper sibling dynamic.

**

Setsuko: Dumbest scar stories, go!

Kyoya: I burned my tongue once drinking tea.

Hikaru: I dropped a hair dryer on my leg once and burned it.

Kaoru: I have a piece of graphite in my leg for accidentally stabbing myself with a pencil in the first grade.

Haruhi: I was taking a cup of noodles out of the microwave and spilled it on my hand and I got a really bad burn.

Tamaki:

Tamaki: I have emotional scars.

*

Kojiro: Oh, fiddlesticks.

Setsuko: Look, I understand this is a tense situation, but let's watch the fucking language.

*

Kojiro: I'm so excited!

Setsuko: We're gonna have the best costumes, get the most candy...

Kojiro: And have the biggest stomach aches ever!

Setsuko: Yeah!