Dedicated to Nearing for providing the most insightful constructive criticism I've gotten and for taking the time to read this series. I really do appreciate it and your comment motivated me to post this chapter!
— Chapter 33 —
Apprehension
"A cast party, Tama-chan?" Hani wondered out loud with a curious expression. A little smile formed on his face, and he looked up at Tamaki once again. "I think that'd be pretty neat!"
"It'll be held in the club room afterwards," Tamaki explained cheerily. "The other school clubs will be joining in as well!"
"And you decide to let us know about this on the day of our performance?" I asked, peering down at the gown I was wearing.
I allowed my hands to travel along the silky fabric on the dress. Although I'd already tried it on several times before, I was still amazed that the seamstresses had measured everything perfectly.
"Hiro-chan!" Hani beamed, looking up at me. "You look so pretty."
"Thanks, Hani-senpai," I smiled in reply.
We were getting ready to perform in an hour. Even though I'd already recited my lines fluently multiple times over, it was still a little nerve-wracking to think of being on a stage in front of everyone. Hopefully things would go smoothly and I wouldn't stumble on my words too many times.
Kyouya was acting a little strange today; he'd happen to take a few glances at me as usual, but there were no signs of even a slight grin. Unease washed over me after what had happened when we were rehearsing the day before, but I couldn't let emotions get in the way before we were going to be on stage.
It was a good thing we were performing in the evening; it was a little too warm in the daytime for everyone to be performing outside with bulky costumes on. The stage looked even prettier than I'd imagined. Despite the fact that Ouran didn't exactly specialize in the arts, the school clubs and the people in charge sure knew how to set things up. White lights were wrapped around the small pillars surrounding the platform.
The black magic club went first with their act. "Macbeth" was clearly perfect for this group of people in particular, and Nekozawa did a pretty good job of portraying the darker side of the main character. I was really glad that the violent scenes were more comical when performed by this group, and Kirimi certainly made a hilariously adorable witch. Surprisingly, even a group of people like this managed to make everyone laugh with their rendition of the play. As expected, they received a high score from the people judging: a nine out of ten.
The clubs who performed several acts from the plays like "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Much Ado About Nothing" received high scores as well, and although I still felt nervous, it was hard not to enjoy myself.
Shuffling behind the stage curtains was a little more nerve wracking than I thought it would be, but seeing the others get into character eased my anxiety. All of us gathered around in a huddle and Tamaki offered a few words of encouragement to all of us before we began to act out our first scene.
All of us were doing very well so far, and of course, all of the host club's customers cheered for us and appeared to be on the edge of their seats the entire time. They especially liked Tamaki's lines. The twins' cooperation with playing a single character was something else that induced wondrous looks from the audience, given that they even managed to work a few of their twincest acts into it.
During the marriage scene between Romeo and Juliet, I did my best to avoid Kyouya's gaze, as doing so would only make me mess up my lines. Focusing on the fact that Hani played an adorable little Friar seemed to help, and I was able to settle for a content smile. With the concept in mind that these were mere lines from a sheet of paper, I was able to carry through with the rest of it.
At this point in the play, Romeo had already committed suicide, and Juliet was getting ready to do the same.
"Haply some poison doth hang on them, to make die with a restorative," I recited with a shaky voice and a choked up expression on my face.
I leaned in, placed my hand over Kyouya's cheek, and positioned my face closely to the other side of it. I could still feel my face beginning to heat up even though we were only leaning in at a certain angle. It didn't help that he began to open his eyes just slightly. Raising an eyebrow, I nearly shut his eyes for him, but I settled for a light sigh and pretended to plunge the cardboard dagger into my chest.
Now came a part that I hadn't quite braced myself for: Juliet needed to fall on top of Romeo just shortly before the others came rushing in, and I did my best not to put one-hundred percent of my weight on Kyouya. Unfortunately, my head was rested on his chest in a way that allowed the audience to see my face, so I had to do everything in my power not to change my expression.
Mori cleared his throat, and the girls in the audience gazed at him in anticipation with love-struck expressions. "For there was never a story of more woe," Mori recited in his usual deep tone of voice, "Than this... of Juliet and her Romeo."
Ending our performance there probably would have earned us a slightly lower score, so we added just a few more personal touches to it.
"Waaaaaaah! Poor Juliet-chan and Romeo-chan!" Hani cried out. All of the high-pitched sobbing in the audience gave away that the customers could see his little pout through the big fake moustache he'd been wearing. Acting as a ridiculously adorable Friar really wasn't a bad idea at all. "They'll forever eat strawberry pie thither in Heaven, Montague-kun," he sighed.
After many more "aw"s from the audience, Tamaki leapt out onto the stage. According to what he told us earlier, he'd be throwing roses out into the audience. More applause erupted from everyone as he bowed and thanked them.
I opened my eyes and slowly began to stand up alongside Kyouya, and we briefly dusted ourselves off before the final results were announced. The judge in front of us allowed a smile to cross her lips, and all performers were gathered on the small stage together. Her boyish hairstyle and smug expression seemed a little too familiar, but it was only when she spoke that I'd realized who she was.
She was no other than Benibara Amakusa, the leader of the Zuka Club who was likely back for revenge. "All of you are certainly fine young students. Not necessarily to the point of being cut out for St. Lobelia Academy, but decent," she said. She continued after clearing her throat. "Your methods of acting have proven to be quite unique, however, and it was difficult to choose only three groups to be winners."
I sighed. There was no way we'd win if she was the main judge. How the heck did she even work her way into the competition, anyways?
"The award for third place goes to the baseball team," she announced. "For a group of people who likely don't partake in these kinds of activities on a regular basis, their rendition of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' wasn't far from impressive."
All of us cheered for them as they stepped forward to claim their prize. "Was that a back-handed compliment?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked simultaneously as they clapped.
"Second place goes to the black magic club for acting out several scenes of 'Macbeth.' They've portrayed the characters reasonably well," Benio said.
Everyone cheered once again as Nekozawa stepped forward to claim the prize for his club, and he took a bow as Benio began to speak up again. "It was especially difficult to choose a first place winner," she began in an even less friendly tone of voice. "But we've come to an agreement that the award rightfully belongs to a particular club that often takes pride in shenanigans."
She cleared her throat and looked back up at us as she forced a cheeky smile. "Ahem, Ouran Academy's host club."
A roar erupted from the audience, and the other school clubs turned to us with sad smiles on their faces as they gave us pats on the back and congratulated us. But the disappointed looks on their faces didn't last too long; they were happy to hear that Tamaki had arranged a party for everyone in the club room, and they were on their way to the south wing's back entrance.
Just as I was about to step forward to join them, a hand had grabbed my shoulder and I'd been spun around. Benio's face was only inches away from mine within seconds, and she tilted my chin up.
"My, my," she chuckled as my eyes began to widen. "It appears that you and Haruhi possess talent in the acting world after all."
I gulped and turned my head to the side to see that the other two in her trio, Suzuran and Hinagiku, had Haruhi's arms locked in theirs. "Uh, we're sorry, but..." I began as Haruhi and I eyed each other nervously.
Tamaki suddenly spun around and dashed towards us as the others lead the way for the rest of the classes. He pulled us away abruptly, holding Haruhi closely and dragging me by my shoulder with his other hand. "I'm afraid my little girls must be leaving shortly."
After the three had taken their blazers off to reveal more of their school uniforms, they let out a sigh. "Well, it's certainly been an interesting evening," Benio said. "We'll be leaving shortly as well. Adieu, my fair maidens, but keep in mind that this won't be the last you hear of us."
The three of them began to disappear from view, and Haruhi turned to Tamaki with a bit of nervous laughter. "I wasn't gonna let them take us or anything," she said.
Tamaki's eyes widened just slightly at the sight of Haruhi's expression, and then he settled for a cheeky grin as he ruffled her hair. At that moment, I'd visualized the way Kyouya would ruffle my hair up.
Looking down, I began to walk towards the double doors along with the other two. Tamaki seemed to have noticed the weird look on my face as we continued to stroll, however. "Is everything all right, Hiroshi?" he asked. "Kyouya's been acting weird today, huh?"
I cleared my throat and looked up. "Ah, he's probably just tired," I replied.
I wanted to believe the words that had come out of my own mouth, but it was too difficult for me. Kyouya hadn't worn that same blank expression on his face since the day before he'd nearly been wed.
As we continued to walk, my anxiety worsened by the minute. Even the smiles on Tamaki's and Haruhi's faces couldn't do so much as distract me.
It wasn't too long before we reached the club room, and by the time we walked in, everyone was already laughing and chatting excitedly about how it was nearly the end of the school year. The host club's guests rushed up to us immediately after realizing we'd entered the room.
"You guys were amazing!" they practically squealed. "Gosh, you must have worked hard to memorize everything."
"Thank you, princesses," Tamaki smiled charmingly in reply, handing a rose to each of them and making them sigh dreamily.
The party went on for a good two hours; everyone chatted and laughed nonstop while they helped themselves to a bit of food. If Kyouya hadn't been acting strangely, I would have been completely at ease.
Everyone who was about to head home stopped by to thank Tamaki and tell him that he didn't need to go through the trouble of planning such a thing. But he merely replied with a smile and said that they deserved it for all of their hard work.
Suddenly, a darker aura seemed to be making its way in our direction. We saw a cloaked figure walking towards us followed by a few others who were dressed in black Victorian-style clothing, and there was no doubt it was the black magic club. "You were quite amazing," Nekozawa said with his usual slightly creepy smile. He held up his Bellzenef doll and waved it around lightly. "Not bad at all. I'm very impressed with your designing abilities as well, Hiroshi."
"Ah, thanks, Nekozawa-senpai," I laughed nervously.
He grinned in reply. "By chance, would you care to design for our club as well?"
"Sorry, no can do!" Hikaru and Kaoru shouted simultaneously, grabbing each of my arms and pulling me towards them.
Kirimi slowly removed her hood and looked up at me with the huge blue eyes I hadn't seen in so long. "Silly brother," she said. "Mommy's happy in the host club, can't you see?"
I jumped a little at the fact that she still referred to me as a parental figure, but I laughed right afterwards. "You did very well today, Kirimi," I smiled, bending down to her level.
She giggled and reached up to give my cheek a pinch. "Where's daddy?" she asked.
"Uh," I gulped.
Nekozawa took Kirimi's hand and looked down at her. "Well, we must get going, then."
After they'd said their goodbyes to us, the hosts began to tidy up a bit. Hani insisted on eating the leftover cake so that it wouldn't go to waste, and the others adjusted the furniture just slightly so that it was perfectly in place.
As we neared finishing up and Hani happily put the last piece of cake into a container, I took a glimpse at one of the double doors that was cracked open just slightly. I wondered if Kyouya had already left.
I walked over to the pair of doors and cautiously pushed the one that was slightly ajar. Apart from the club room, all of the lights had been turned off in the building, and the shadow of Kyouya's silhouette was visible against the light of the moon.
Despite the beauty of the scene, I couldn't help but feel afraid to take a step towards him. Was there something I'd done to make him feel it necessary to act this way?
I slowly paced forward, trying to be as discreet as I could, but I was sure that even the faint sound of my footsteps could be heard from where he was standing.
I kept my gaze on the moon once I was standing beside him. Wishing for him to speak first, I held my tongue and didn't make a sarcastic remark about how "awfully cheery" he's been all day.
After a few long seconds of silence, he cleared his throat. "Are you in need of my assistance?" he asked.
I raised an eyebrow at his hard facial expression. "You're worrying me a little," I replied.
"I'm not quite sure I understand what you're talking about," he continued in a tone similar to the business-like one he'd used with his father.
Slowly turning my head back to the moon, I let out a quiet sigh. "It just seems like you're more tense than usual. Does it have to do with the school fair? We have more time to work things through with the arrangements. It's not wrong to ask for help sometimes, you know."
After another bit of silence, he cocked his head slightly to look towards me. As much as I wanted to keep my head forward, it was difficult for me not to stare back. The expression he wore on his face at that moment made my heart drop; it was one I'd never seen before.
For a moment, it seemed as though he'd only be able to look at me once more before one of us vanished permanently. Even with his lips pressed firmly into a line, the sadness in his eyes seemed to be so prominent.
My heartbeat began to quicken. What on earth was going on?
Just as I'd opened my mouth slightly, he cleared his throat again and allowed his expression to change back into a more rigid one. "I suppose I'll need to tell you now so that all of you can make the necessary preparations for the future of the host club."
I gulped as my head turned back towards him. "What are you talking about?" I asked quietly.
His jaw was clenched just slightly as he continued to face forward, but he managed to compose himself and turned towards me slowly with a rigid expression that put up a wall of stone between us.
An eternity of silence passed as I waited. I hoped that the news wasn't something I feared it would be, and my heartbeat began to quicken at an even faster rate. "Kyouya-senpai?" I asked a little more shakily than I intended.
A few more long seconds of silence ensued, and he worded things so concisely that I wasn't able to fully understand until a minute afterwards.
"I'll be leaving for the United States the day after the festival," he said.
He cleared his throat once more, and then he continued. "From that day forward, there will be no further contact between you and I."