Invisible || Kyoya Ootori ||

『Chapter Twenty || Lobelia Girls Academy Strikes Again!』

Suddenly, Benibara let out a strangled scream, stopping the sisters in their tracks. "I'm sorry, I cannot be as you were," she sobbed dramatically, "Please forgive me, Mother."

"Benio..."

"Benibara-sama..."

"Your mother?" Haruhi repeated.

"Benio's mother was a graduate of Lobelia, too," Suzuran explained, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, "She was a senior member of the White Lily league and is regaled even now as a beauty in men's clothing."

"Especially today, on Pink Day, she left us with many legends of her magnificent performances in the songs and plays that she puts on," Hinagiku said, "Benibara-sama has dreamed for so long that she could be like her mother."

"If today's performance is canceled, that dream will be crushed," Benibara exclaimed.

"Oh no you don't, Haruhi," Fumika muttered, "Don't you dare fall for that sob story."

"But don't you feel bad?" Haruhi whispered.

"No. Not one bit," Fumika said in a monotone voice, no emotion on her face whatsoever.

"Kyoya has had a very bad influence on you," Haruhi muttered, "And come on, her mother..."

Fumika glanced at the depressed Zuka Club before sighing in defeat. "Alright, fine. But you're playing the heroine."

|| Meanwhile, with the Host Club... ||

"Now that I know Haruhi and Fumika were taken by the Zuka Club, I can't just do nothing," Ranka said as he and the Host Club stood outside of gates of Lobelia Academy, "Listen to me, the Zuka Club is like a fiendish flower's nectar that once you're caught up in, you want to get out of, even if it bankrupts you."

"How do you know so much about it?" Honey asked.

"I doubt neither Fumika nor Haruhi is the type of girl to get caught up in anything," Kyoya commented.

"You're right," Ranka agreed, "Kotoko was a cool woman, too, and not upset by anything."

"Kotoko?" the twins repeated.

"Their late mother," Kyoya explained, "Haruhi and Fumika both seem to have more richly inherited their mother's blood in many ways. Being like their mother is also something that Fumika and Haruhi aspires to."

Ranka looked down solemnly, "For a short time after we were married. I was so elated, I didn't notice it."

|| Flashback to when Ranka and Kotoko were newlyweds (Fumika and Haruhi were in Kotoko's stomach)...||

"Kotoko, what are we having for lunch?" young Ranka asked.

"Miso soup, with mezashi and rice," Kotoko answered with a smile.

"Yay! Calcium is good for you!" Ranka cheered.

|| Interruption ||

"What's mezashi?" the twins asked.

"They're dried, salted sardines," Kyoya explained.

"Don't interrupt my story!" Ranka shouted before going back to telling his story. "But then, one day, while I was cleaning, I found it...Kotoko's vast Zuka Club collection!"

Tamaki, Honey, and the twins let out surprised screams.

"What do we do, sir?!" Hikaru asked.

"Fumika and Haruhi more richly inherited their mother's blood in many ways, right?" Kaoru stated.