Just Look into It

34. Delayed

It was more of the same the next day. 

After exhausting herself further, Ryo attempted to stay in her library, only for Haruhi to ask for a favor. After retrieving her cousin's notebook from the first-year classroom, she attempted to leave the school grounds but found herself caught. 

Chizuru and Hinako dragged her through the halls to meet up with Haruhi and Benio. 

She stubbornly refused to look at the taller girl, glaring when forced face to face. 

"My dear Ryouka, I shall close the distance between us and fight fate itself to mend your heart," Benio mused. "I shall destroy the spirits of those young men so they can no longer enslave you."

"I am not enslaved to them Amakusa," she bit back. "When will you realize that I lie to your face every time we meet?"

"Dearest maiden, please do the honors and open the door," she told Haruhi. 

The sound of falsetto singing reached their ears as the door opened. 

Ryo stared in shock at the sight of all hosts in wigs, makeup, gowns. Unable to speak a single word, she turned to Haruhi who was unable to stop herself from laughing. Her cousin seemed to lose all sense of control. 

Benio, on the other hand, was furious. 

"Amakusa, accept the fact that neither of us will be transferring to Lobelia." Ryo adjusted her glasses. "While Lobelia has a number of reasons to consider transferring, none of them outweigh what we have already found and created for ourselves here."

Benio gracefully stormed over to Haruhi, who was still being harassed by the twins. 

Ryo sighed, moving to one of the many couches that filled the room. She placed her bag down and sat. There was a slight pain forming behind her eyes. The sound of heels approaching caused her to tense and glare, but her gaze relaxed when she saw who she assumed to be Kyouya approaching. 

"I am surprised that you came up with such a wild scheme to keep Haruhi here," she mused, closing her eyes again. 

"It is an experience I never thought I would have," he replied. "Though, this wasn't just for Haruhi."

"Oh? Has one of the twins been hiding a secret desire?"

He chuckled. "No. The host club was worried about losing your assistance as well."

"Ah, there's no need to worry. I will only transfer to Lobelia if there is not one brick left remaining of Ouran," she responded, unable to stop a small smile from landing on her face. "They won't be returning for a while, too busy licking their wounds. Go change if you wish."

"I will be back in a moment then."

She relaxed slightly now that most of the noise died down after the Lobelia girls left. She pulled her glasses off and rested them on the table. Sure enough, after a few minutes, Kyouya returned and sat by her side. 

"I plan on going back through the footage to find good images of you all," she joked. 

"I would appreciate if those images stayed within the host club," he said, no real malice in his tone. 

She smiled slightly. "The guests would love to see you all in dresses, but I suppose."

"I was surprised to hear what you were telling Benibara yesterday. One of the girls recorded it and found a way to send it to the hosts. That was the main source of their panic."

Ryo winced. "I shouldn't be surprised. But it's the only way I've found to get Amakusa from dragging me around."

He leaned back. "You seem to have a history with Lobelia academy and the Zuka club."

She nodded. "Remember how I got a contract with Ouran? Well, I had done the same thing to Lobelia and a few companies. Lobelia gave me an offer similar to that of Ouran, but Ouran's was better."

He paused. "I see. Did you meet with the Zuka club before you decided?"

"When Lobelia realized I wasn't choosing them, they tried to send Amakusa after me to try and sway my decision, but it only further cemented my choice." Ryo sighed. "I was not one of physical contact then, as you should recall, and I despise her way of puppeteering others even now."

"Are you feeling alright?" he suddenly asked. "Ever since they dragged you here earlier today, I've been receiving an influx of messages regarding events around the school."

Her eyes flew open as she scrambled for her glasses. "Wait, what?"

He handed his phone over, and she quickly glanced at the numerous alerts she had on her own device. 

"I am so sorry," she said, pulling out her laptop to regain control of the system. "It must be the secondary function I created a while back. The system must have recognized they were dragging me through the halls."

"Secondary function?" he asked, peering over her shoulder. 

"Yes, should something happen to me, control of the system will shift to you," she answered. "Since I was still conscious and on school grounds, it didn't alert the chairman thankfully."

Ryo cleared the notifications and regained control, feeling her shoulders slump but the pain behind her eyes worsen. She winced, taking off her glasses once again. 

"I should have warned you or asked permission to set you as my secondary," she sighed. 

"No, I am flattered," he replied. "Though, you didn't answer my question. I'm inclined to believe that you are in some kind of pain."

"I'm alright," she insisted. "Just a bit of a headache- nothing to worry about."

He sighed. "I hope you realize that constitutes as enough pain for concern. I've been told that keeping your hair up so tightly and so often can be painful."

She turned to look at him, a bit suspicious. "From who?"

"My older sister," Kyouya shot back, a bit of amusement on his face. "She has hair as long as yours if not longer."

"Oh."

"If her advice is trustworthy, I would hope that you'd leave your hair down, or at the very least in a looser style." He stood, adjusting his blazer. There was a pause just long enough for his next words to sound more like an afterthought than a continuation. "For your health. I'd better be on my way. Tell Mr. Yuu hello for me."

"Uh, w-will do," she sputtered, watching him move to pack up his things. Pulling herself from her thoughts, Ryo grabbed her things and headed towards the door, taking a moment to thank the hosts for their show. 

Ryo was delayed in leaving, but as she rolled her eyes at the twins for what seemed to be the fifth time in the last thirty seconds, she didn't mind the loss of time too much. Yuu asked a number of questions that night when she pulled up the footage, taking careful note of good images and videos to give to Kyouya for selling to the guests. 

They were such dorks and she could finally admit that she loved them.