Kimiko was already there when I arrived with Azumi, wearing a sunny-yellow dress and black cardigan. Mom and Kimiko were seated at the living room, with a tray of tea and crackers in front of them. The entire house was super clean. I'd never seen it so clean before.
"Ah, Rika," Mom stood up from her seat, black kimono and all. She smiled. "Welcome home. It's good to see you dear. Now sit down so we can have a proper chat as a family."
That usually meant that she had news. It could be good or bad. I sat down next to Kimiko, opposite Mom. A maid came by and poured me a cup of tea.
"Thank you," I murmured when the maid handed the warm cup to me.
"I see you still have that odd habit of thanking our servants, Rika." Mom said. "I suppose it's not that terrible. Now, I have some good news for you, Kimiko dear."
"Oh, uh, Mom, I have news too." Kimiko said with a bright beam.
Mom smiled back, folding her arms into her lap. "I'm sure you do. Let me tell you first okay? Now, I have found you an excellent future husband."
Kimiko's smile vanished. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped opened. "B-But! M-Mom! I have-"
"Is there a problem with this?" Mom's smile, if possible, became brighter.
I sat there watching. Kimiko rarely fought back against Mom, so I'd thought she would just accept it. Even if it was about her future husband, and she did like that one dude...
At first, she sat there staring at her hands on her knees. She looked like she was going to accept it. What choice did she have anyway? Then her eyes hardened and she stared straight at Mom's smiling face.
"Yes! There is."
It was quite unexpected really. Even Mom flinched, surprised at the sudden harshness in Kimiko's voice.
Mom stopped smiling and stared calmly at Kimiko instead. "And what is this problem?" She crossed her arms.
"I already have a boyfriend," Kimiko replied. She looked down, biting her lip. "Since last week actually, but since you were coming, I thought I'd tell you in person. And tell Rika too."
"That is no excuse. You'll break up with him in a few months anyway. I've met the boy. He's a sweet one. I'm sure you'll come to like him, Kimiko." Mom just brushed it all away. She wasn't startled at all that Kimiko had a boyfriend. But I...
"A boyfriend?" I leaned closer towards Kimiko. "Who is it?"
She looked at me with a shy smile, a small blush dusting her cheeks. "Masahiko-kun! Finally! After all these years!"
Wow. How long had she been crushing on him? And finally her unrequited love became her boyfriend? That's so nice! And great! It just proves that unrequited love can always have a chance!
"A-And that's exactly why, Mom!" Kimiko whirled back to Mom, who was sitting patiently.
"I've loved Masahiko-kun for... for almost six years! Ever since I met him in my first year of high school. You can't just take that away from me! There's no way I'd let us break apart in just a few months! We know each other so well- I love him so much!"
Mom sighed quietly. "It's just infatuation. Something that will blow over quickly."
Kimiko's eyes narrowed. "If you call six years infatuation, then I don't know what love could possibly be."
"You've idolized this Masahiko," Mom replied coldly. "Once you truly know him, you'll learn that he's not who you imagined him to be. What family is he from?"
"Why does it matter?" Kimiko asked pleadingly.
"I have arranged for this marriage in the best interest of the Hayashi and Oshiro family. Surely you should understand."
"Well I don't want to marry this guy! I don't care what great family he's from!" Kimiko stood up, eyes blazing with a mix of emotions.
"Ungrateful brat!" Mom shrieked, standing up too. She wasn't very tall, and was, in fact, a bit shorter than Kimiko. "You of all people should know better than this!"
"Says who?! I am grateful!" Now she was yelling. "But you don't understand a thing at all!
You can pick my house! My job! Where I work and when I work! You can pick my clothes for all I care! But you can not take away my choice of who I love! I love Masahiko! And that's that! Not that dude! Whoever that dude is!"
Then she was crying. But she CONTINUED on amidst sobs, rubbing at her eyes and sniffling. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I can't do anything to repay you. I know I'm not as great as Rika. I know I'm not as smart or capable. I'm sorry I'm just a burden. But, I'm asking you, please just let me... please don't make me marry him. Please. I just want... this choice. And don't try to make... please don't force the same- not on Rika. Please, not Rika. Let-Let her pick too."
Mom frowned. Her forehead creased ever so slightly. She never had been much of a sucker for tears. But she would usually back up a bit when there were tears.
"Stop your crying, Kimiko. I'll let you think it over." She sat down, crossing her arms once more. "However, I believe in the end you will be with him."
Kimiko froze. She quickly rubbed the rest of the tears away and took a deep breath.
"That's it?" She said. "You think, that in the end, I'll marry this dude?"
"His name is Funaki Shoichi. And you've met him a few times before." Mom said.
Kimiko made an exasperated noise, throwing her arms up. "Whatever! Sho whatever! You think I'll marry him? Well I don't want to, Mom!" Kimiko seemed to spit the last word. "I won't. I have the choice of who I marry. Me." She pointed at herself.
"You don't seem to understand anything at all, Kimiko." Mom had regained her cool. "By marrying Shoichi, you'll be doing your part. Your marriage will bring together the Funaki and Hayashi family."
"Oh so we can be even more rich? So we can have even more power? For what? What is the point of all of this? Guess what, I'm not marrying that guy. The Hayashi family is good enough without that Funaki thing. We don't need-"
"You do not know what we need or do not need-"
"Yeah, cause I'm stupid right?" Kimiko was pissed now.
She glared at Mom, but really, her glares have no strength behind it at all. "I live my life ignorantly? Don't think I don't know anything. This is MY life. You have no right to control it. I'm an adult now. I have a job and a boyfriend. If you want money, I'll pay you back for every yen you have spent on me."
Okay. When did she have a job? That must have happened pretty recently. Now that I consider it, I hadn't seen Kimiko much for a while. She was always busy with her friends or school... or a job. And I was too busy to bother with her business.
Mom glared back. Her glares are scary! "That is not what I wan-"
"Just the same as how I don't want to marry Sho-whatever."
"We will discuss this further." Mom said.
"No, we will not." Kimiko started backing away. "Because there is nothing left to discuss. I won't marry this dude. That's that."
"You will." Mom said.
"No. I will not. Now, good bye." Then Kimiko was out of the living room and slamming the front door shut.
"That's basically what happened." I said with a cheerful smile. It was really rare for Kimiko to fight back against Mom, and even rarer for Mom to get so angry.
Honey raised his eyebrows. "Sounds like it was intense."
"Yeah." I shrugged. "Mom can be really scary, and Kimiko can become really, really angry. It was interesting though. Something like that doesn't happen often."
"Then what happened?"
"Huh?" The music stopped and the twins were chattering on the microphone. It was time for Tamaki's solo performance.
"What did your mom say to you?" Honey asked. People all around us were moving further into the room, trying to get a good view of Tamaki. He began playing, and sweet, beautiful music began to flow.
"Well she asked me what club I'd decided to join. And so I told her about the Host Club and how we were having a ball tonight. So she said she was going to come and drop by, to see what it was like. And I guess she didn't get a very good impression of the Club." I said, fidgeting with my fingers nervously. If it was about Kimiko, I was fine telling Honey about it. But me...
"Thanks, Rika." Honey smiled. It was a different kind of smile. One of contemplation, warmth, and genuine...thanks. He began weaving his way through the crowd towards Tamaki and the Host Club.
"For what?" I followed behind him.
"For telling me these things," he replied, glancing back at me with another one of those smiles.
Small and thoughtful. I didn't know what kind of smile I could call it. I shrugged uncomfortably. What could I say in such a situation? "Your welcome"?
We arrived in front of the platform Tamaki was performing on. In front, the rest of the Host Club was watching Tamaki along with the guests.
I stood next to Haruhi to enjoy the music. Tamaki was skilled alright. After the performance, Tamaki made some announcements.
"Thank you all for coming tonight!" He said, receiving an uproar of applause. "We hope you all had an excellent evening!"
There was some more chatter and then the room began to filter out. People had been leaving for a while. It was... almost twelve, actually.
I was tired. So tired. Tired of the drama that came with my parents, the drama that came with relationships. Crushes, friends, and enemies. Drama seemed to cling to every surface of my life. Why? When I considered it, my life could totally be a plot in a manga. Probably shojo though.
I sighed quietly.
Plus I hadn't gotten that much sleep last night. And, for some reason, I needed sleep. I wasn't like those who could stay up until three in the morning studying. My BRAIN usually malfunctioned at some time at midnight.
I stifled a yawn.
We, the Hosts, had to hang around until every guest was gone. We stood by the doors saying good bye and good night, wishing them happiness and joy and lalala.
Finally, at about twelve-thirty, it was quiet.
I let out a sigh, wiggling my legs. We'd been standing at the same place for a long time.
And now...there was the trouble of CLEANUP. Honey yawned.
"Time for CLEANUP," Kyoya said calmly, tapping a pen to his black notebook. "Let's just quickly wrap things up and go home."
"Sounds like the best idea you've ever had in years!" I said, yawning.
"What do you need help with?" Mori asked. Man, he must be tired too.
"Go ahead and change out of your clothes first," Kyoya said to the other Hosts. "Rika, you and I will deal with the CLEANUP."
"That's not fair, Kyo-chan." Honey said, though his eyes were almost slits. Now that I thought about it, he probably hadn't gotten much more sleep than I did. "Ri-chan is always doing everything."
"Kyo-chan does lots of things too." I said. "That's why I have to help him. Or else this demon who doesn't know how to procrastinate would die from lack of sleep." I smiled cheerfully, then pushed Honey gently towards the other Hosts, who were trudging to the back room.
Honey sighed then reluctantly followed. "Now, Kyoya. What do I have to do?" I turned back around. "Here." He handed me the clipboard once more. "I'm going to change too."
Eh? Really?!
"Kyoya, you jerk!" I yelled.
Then I quickly went to attend to everything on the clipboard. There was the orchestra that needed to receive their payment (Kyoya had tucked an envelope of money under the sheet) and the crew workers that needed to be directed to clean up the food, silverware, and trash, along with the tables, benches, and chairs that needed to be put away.
"Thank you guys so much." I said with a bow to the workers, who were busy moving things around. I smiled at them.
"Cute kid," One mumbled.
Someone tapped me on my shoulder as I stood watching the workers work. Kyoya stood behind me, and reached his hand out to take the clipboard back.
"Go change, Rika. I'll deal with the rest. Thanks for your hard work."
"Thanks for yours, Kyoya." I smiled. Ugh, I was tired. My eyes were really drooping. "You really do everything in this club." I patted his arm then headed to the backroom to change.
I rode the limo back with Honey. I fell asleep at some point. When I woke up, Honey was shaking me with a small smile.
"Thanks, Mitsukuni." I rubbed at my eyes in an attempt to wake up. "For lots of things. For everything."
"What are you saying, Ri-chan?" He replied with a short laugh.
"I'm tired. Good night, Mitsu-kun." I climbed out of the limo with a smile.
"Good night."
3rd POV:
It was ten-thirty. Honey had rarely slept this late on a Sunday. He'd always been one of early sleep and early rise.
He was finishing up his breakfast when Yasuchika entered the dining room. "Ah, Mitsukuni."
Honey looked up with sleepy eyes. "Hm?"
"Rika-san," Chika said slowly, "Is in the dojo right now, sparring with some dummies."
"Okay. Thanks, Chika-chan." Honey began eating his morning cake. His brother's words had barely REGISTERED yet.
Chika hung around, watching his brother with mild concern. He'd been expecting Honey to jump up and run straight to the dojo or at least perk up at Rika's name. After finally seeing that he'd get no such reaction, Chika left the dining room.
The cake woke Honey up, and, finally, the words came to him.
"Ri-chan!" He yelled suddenly, slapping his hands on the table. He inhaled the rest of the cake and ran out of the room towards the dojo.
At the doors of the dojo, he hesitated and leaned forward instead to listen. He could hear the solid thwacks and whacks as she attacked the dummy. But there was something else to it. At first, it seemed rhythmic, but after listening further, she began speeding up. Whack-whack-thwack-smack! He slid the dojo door open cautiously. She was wearing a short-sleeved, gray hoodie and cargo pants, bought from the mall last time. She was punching the dummy in front of her: right, left, right, left.
She was staring at the dummy with a hard, cold gaze, as if it wasn't a dummy that she was punching but something else. Maybe even a person. And her punches were becoming sloppy. They lost the good form and rhythm. She was blindingly pounding at the dummy.
Then he saw the red color on one of her hands.
"Rika!" He yelled, launching himself at her.
She was swinging her left hand around to punch the dummy again when a hand clasped around her fist, gently stopping her movement.
She was furious. Who dare stop her? Couldn't they see that she just wanted to be left alone right now?
Her right hand shot towards the anonymous intruder, but it was stopped by another hand. She glared. Who was this?
"Rika! Calm down!" Honey pushed the girl against the wall, forcing her to look at him.
There was a crazy light in her eyes, running wild. "It's me! Honey! Mitsukuni! Mi-kun! Mi-chan! Whatever you want to call me!"
Rika blinked at the word Honey. She blinked some more, trying to clear up her vision.
Damn it, she thought. I just had to fucking forget to put on my contacts this morning. Damn it!
But she could still make out the familiar blond hair and those brown eyes, which were gazing at her with deep worry.
Honey relaxed when he saw the clarity return to her eyes. He dropped her right hand but held onto her left, which was bleeding. "Are you alright, Rika?"
"I'm sorry." She dropped her head against his shoulder.
He pulled her left hand towards him to inspect. Her knuckles were bleeding. She'd been punching that dummy with so much strength that he wouldn't have been surprised if she'd also broken some bones. He probed her hand carefully and then rotated her wrist.
"Ow!" She jerked away. "That hurt!"
"You hurt yourself," He said calmly, pulling her left hand towards him again.
"It's fine." She tried to pull away, but he held on tightly.
"It's not fine. Come on, we'll go to Dr. Maruya." Honey then swept her into his arms. Bridal style.
Penetrating through all the anger and hate that had been fueling through her, a single thought rang clear: I'm being carried bridal style!
Oh my God it's my first time and it's just like in the mangas! Wouldn't that make me the heroine and Honey the hero? Wow! This is a first! A moment in history to be marked and remember forever!
Gah. What am I thinking... at this point... it'd be more like... "Ow!" She grimaced. Her pinky finger hurt.
"Are you okay?" Honey asked. He was walking briskly to the doctor's personal room. It wasn't far from the dojo, mainly because injuries usually occurred in the dojo. "What happened? Why were you-?"
He felt her press into his chest. Looking down, he saw that she had buried her face into his shirt.
"Does it hurt?" He asked softly, reaching the doctor's office. "Dr. Maruya! Open up please! Rika is hurt."
The door slid open quickly, revealing the same doctor who'd seen to Rika after the
kidnapping attempt.
"You again, huh?" The doctor said with a kind chuckle, moving aside to let the two in.
Honey set Rika down gently on the edge of a bed. "So what is it now?"
When Rika made no move to show her hand to the doctor, Honey grabbed her left hand. Dr. Maruya took it, inspecting the bloodied knuckles.
"I'm going to check your hand for any broken bones or fractures, okay?" The doctor said gently and began probing Rika's hands.
"Ow!" She yelped when the doctor reached her pinky. Honey sat down on her right side and took her right hand absentmindedly.
"Pinky finger is broken." Dr. Maruya said.
"Ow." Rika said quietly, biting her lip and squeezing Honey's hands. "My wrist."
"Seems like you've sprained it," The doctor said calmly. He then began cleaning the blood off her knuckles, using an antibacterial suave.
It stung, causing Rika to whimper and tighten her hold on Honey's hands. Then the doctor bandaged up her knuckles, which were just bruised and cut up.
"I don't know how this happened." The doctor said. "But you need to be careful. Hands are very precious things."
I know. Rika thought quietly. I've done lots of things with these hands, including beating the crap out of a whole ton of people.
Her wrist was wrapped up with a slight cast to keep her from injuring it further. Then her pinky was done the same.
"Take her to the hospital, Mitsukuni-sama," Dr. Maruya said. "Mainly for the pinky. I could cast it, but it'd be better if she got an X-ray first."
"Alright." Honey stood, and Rika followed.
"Thank you," Rika bowed slightly before being tugged out of the room by Honey. Once well away from the room, she said, "I don't need to go to the hospital."
"Don't be stupid." He replied quietly. "Can't he just cast it for me?"
"No. He doesn't specialize in broken bones, Rika. He deals with bruises and cuts and sprained ankles. Usually people don't break their bones when practicing martial arts. Come on, it'll be quick." They reached the front door, and Honey began pulling on his shoes.
"But my parents will find out," She said in a quiet whisper. He glanced at her. "They don't have to."
"But the medical bill-"
"I'll deal with it then."
"No. I have a bank account. It should be enough, since last night there was a lot of income. But won't others find out about this?" She slipped on her black flats.
"It's fine." Honey said, taking her uninjured hand. "Come on."
Rika swallowed. Why was Honey doing all of this for her? It was her fault. It was her fault she'd gotten herself injured like this. It was her fault she had to hide so many things from her mom. It was her fault. It was all her fault. So why? What could he possibly gain from this? Her trust? He already had it. He had more than that too. He already had her heart.
"I'm sorry." Rika said again. "I'm sorry."
"Stop it." Honey said.
She hung her head, gloomily. What was the point of all of this? In the end, they'd all be taken away. She'd be left with nothing but memories.
It's all her fault. How dare she... Once again, my friends, the ones I love, are being taken away. And I can't fight back. There's nothing I can do.
Why?
"Hey," Rika said quietly, not looking up. Honey glanced worriedly at her. Something was definitely wrong. She was never like this. "Mitsukuni, you want to know what I've been hiding from you and the Host Club?"
"Yes," Honey replied in a hushed whisper. He leaned forward tentatively.
"I'll tell you." She raised her head and met his gaze. This time there weren't any traces of anger or hatred, instead there was only strong determination.
"Okay."