Just Look into It

23. Without Hesitation

After a day of panic, Ryo had gotten herself together. She explained the situation to Ranka and Haruhi that night over dinner while Yuu was preoccupied with his drawings. Both had expressed a sense of caution regarding her father, and she had taken it to heart. 

There were no guarantees. 

A few days had passed since the email, and things seemed to be normal. With nimble fingers, she finished putting together the folders of information Kyouya had requested. She considered it a bit odd, as he normally only had one request at a time. 

Ryo supposed something was going on with the host club that she hadn't been made aware of. 

The school was quiet as she made her way through the halls, noticing that by now most if not all of the guests should have returned home. She paused to look out one of the windows, seeing only two students walking towards the gates. A sigh escaped her lips as she thought about what she would make for dinner that night, eventually deciding to make Yuu's favorite dish to make up for her daze the other day. 

Deciding to warn the hosts before she showed up, unsure of what exactly had kept them all so quiet the last few days, Ryo quickly sent a message to Kyouya and waited for a response as she walked. 

To her surprise, there was no answer by the time she arrived at the doors to the music room. 

The brunette paused, hand on the handle. 

For a moment she wondered if it would be better to wait. Clearly, something was going on, though she hadn't seen anything suspicious through her system. Concerned, she slowly pushed the door open, eyes looking for any sign of the club members. Not seeing them in the main room, she moved further into the music room. 

Hearing their voices, she sighed in relief, glad that she hadn't missed them leaving for the night.

"I can't believe you paid someone to look into Hisakawa's background Kyouya," the twins were saying. "That seems low, even for you."

She froze, a second away from pushing open the door. 

"Does she know about this?" Tamaki demanded. 

She could hear Haruhi protesting. "This isn't right. If you just asked-"

She couldn't take it anymore. 

The brunette pushed the door open, taking a few steps into the room. Her grip on the folders was tight, the pages crumpling slightly. 

The pitying looks, the shocked blank expressions... Ryo knew them too well. She hated those looks and hated the silence that would slowly creep over. She hated the pointless words people threw to try and fill that space.

She was annoyed and angered. Yet she was also very, very hurt.

"Ryo-chan..." Honey mumbled. Even his sweet and childish voice couldn't stop her emotions. He seemed to be the only one to notice she was there.

Kyouya was staring off as everyone else gathered around Tamaki. Haruhi looked up and caught her gaze, a look of horror filling her face. Slowly, Tamaki started to read aloud, his voice hesitant and unbelieving.

"Ryouka and Yuu Hisakawa. Children who live alone, technically under the legal guardianship of Mr. Fujioka. Kaori Hisakawa, their mother, is currently suffering from severe memory loss and dementia. Hiroyuki Hisakawa, their father is currently imprisoned for theft. While unconfirmed, there were suspicions of neglect."

Her nails dug into her palms. Honey was staring at her with wide eyes as he pulled on Mori's sleeve. She was shaking, but with rage or sadness, she couldn't tell.

"Her father's in jail?"

"Neglect?"

"If you wanted to know about my past, why didn't you just ask?" Her voice echoed in the room as a deadly silence washed over the hosts the second she spoke.

"Hisakwa..." Her eyes snapped to Tamaki. He had sad and questioning eyes. She glared at the boy, causing him to flinch.

"My mother was in an accident traveling for work. The family she worked for paid to cover up the incident and gave my family a monthly check to pay for her medical needs."

"Please-"

"You don't need to do this," the twins spoke up.

"It was more than enough to pay for her to stay, not to mention any treatment. They blamed my father for the theft of one of their family heirlooms. My mother couldn't remember anything, and they convinced everyone that I was too young to testify to confirm his alibi." Ryo clenched her teeth. "There is a secondary trial scheduled to repeal his sentence. I just found out about it the other day, Haruhi knows."

"Hisakawa, you don't have to-"

"Cause you'll look it up behind my back?" she spat. "My father went to jail. I couldn't burden Haruhi or Ranka so I fought like hell to keep Yuu."

Her teeth dug into her cheek. She was done, for today at the very least. Done with talking, done with being stared at, and done with the hosts.

"Next time, ask first." Her gaze turned to Kyouya, her glare sharpening. She struggled to read his expression, glasses managing to cover his eyes. She felt betrayed. They had built a friendship from the trust she had gained by providing him quality, well-organized information. He had extended an offer to her first, and she had accepted. 

Like always, he had held the power. She had been fine with that.

Until now.

This wasn't just an insult to the relationship she thought they had created, but also to her value as a business partner. Ryo took pride in her work above anything else. Kyouya knew that very well, and yet he had gone behind her back.

She moved to stand in front of him, silence once again taking over the room. A sarcastic smile grew on her face. "I would have organized the information better than whoever you hired." 

The files she had brought for him hit the floor, pages scattering in the air.

Ryo took a breath, tightening her ponytail. Without hesitation, she turned and stormed out of the room. She could hear their voices calling after her. For once she couldn't have cared less.

She barely got to her security room before she broke down entirely.