Kaoru (As You Run Away Again):
No. Not again. Don't leave me here, please. About to run, people are already pounding him with questions and remarks. "She kissed him!" "That's Prince Hikaru, right?" "No, I think it was Kaoru!" "Get her out!" "Where's her formality?" Standing there shocked, he clenches his fist, still feeling the faint heat in his cheeks. This girl. I don't even know her name and... Hikaru rushes over and someone announces that there will be a ten minute intermission. Still, the people don't disperse, their remarks more present than ever. "Kaoru! Are you okay, I saw it-" stopping immediately, he watches as his brother looks into his eyes, with pure happiness, a wide smile spreads on his face that says it all.
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The Next Night:
A gentle knock is heard at the door. "Prince Kaoru..." begins a familiar voice, and the man with the notebook steps into the princes' room. Hikaru is sprawled out on his bed, already asleep while Kaoru stares out the window, arms crossed, thinking about the events of the night before. "How are you?," Kyoya begins, surveying the room that's an absolute mess. "Just get on with it, I know you're here to lecture me again about how it has to be a-" "yes, a princess. That's how it should be, but it didn't turn out the way, did it?"
Confused, Kaoru turns to see Kyoya give him a slight smile. "I never realized how... serious you were about her. By the way, I know Ella's the maid that you like," he says, shrugging a little. "So why did you still terminate her?" "You both needed a little more desperation, an extra push in the right direction," he says smoothly, and the love struck prince finally realizes it. Despite how evil it may have seemed at the time, it's all coming together now. "You were helping the entire time." Nodding, Kyoya says, "you may not be able to see her ever again, or find her, but at least you got that one moment together, that's all that matters, right?" Kyoya checks his watch, and tells Kaoru that he has to leave. "Oh, and remember the last night of the ball is tomorrow. Keep your mind open, maybe you'll find someone else who interests you." After he departs, Kaoru is filled with a new sense of hope. I will see her again, I just know it. And I'll never settle for anyone other than her.
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Around Dinnertime at Your Stepmother's Home (a day after "the next night")
"Oh mother, he was wonderful," June gushes, eying you as you clean the fireplace in the living room. "They're both so romantic, it doesn't matter who I get, I just want one of them!" Cackling, April stretches out on the couch and says, "one for me and one for you!"
It's been like this for the past day you were here, which included chore after chore after chore. And, not to mention, the deep fits of sadness you fell into last night and throughout today, thinking about what you did. How did he know... why did I do that? Your stepmother has taken every opportunity to make your life a misery. "When they come knocking at my door looking for us, I bet they'll sweep me away to the palace," says June, squeezing herself into the little room left on the couch.
"Hey! That's my spot!," says April, kicking her sister. "Ow!" "Stop!" "You're mean!" "I hate you!" "It doesn't matter," says June, huffing, sitting on top of April. "When we go to the palace as their fiancées we'll have plenty of room."
"You know you can't have either since you're not princesses," you say somberly, sounding sadder than you intended. Continuing to sweep the fireplace, thinking about the last time you did this with him, you have no idea what you just caused by saying those words. "Awwww did someone think they could have the prince?," taunts April. "You're not a Princess," mimicks June, getting up and strolling over to where you are. "I bet they threw you out since they hated seeing your disgusting face everyday," she adds, and with that you lose your temper. "Just stop, okay!," you say, slamming the feather duster on the floor.
You hear the front door creak open and close, and heavy footsteps go throughout the house. "Oh, I guess she wants to die because she kissed one of them-" "Girls settle down," says a voice as the figure with the heavy footsteps walks into the room. That voice. Looking up at him with your dust covered face, you see someone who you never expected to see again: your father.
Taking a few steps into the room, you study his face. I can't believe it. It's him, a little older and a bit more rundown, but it's still him. Standing in a worn out jacket, he clutches a cap in both hands and looks at the three of you. "Hello girls."
Your Mother rushes into the room and turns her chin up at him in disguist. "Hello Stephen," she says curtly, standing closely to her daughters, as if protecting them. "I received your letter and I'm perfectly fine with you taking that rat away," she says, glancing in your direction. Gritting his teeth, he looks at your stepmother with a dirty look. "Don't call my daughter that. Please leave while I speak to her."
Before leaving, April wraps him into a hug and kisses him on the cheek, saying, "I love you father." June does the same, except without the hug. You catch your stepmother's icy stare gazing at you coldly as she hurries out of the room, leaving you and your father alone. "Father..." you say, getting up and clutching the skirt of your raged dress and playing with it nervously. You haven't seen him in years, and for all this time you presumed he was dead, not preferring to think about him willingly leaving you with your stepmother and stepsisters.
"Y/n, I'm so unbelievebly sorry," he says, coming a little closer to you, spreading his arms a little to offer you a hug. Declining his embrace, you shake your head, and your eyes fill with tears. "You left me alone here." "I never knew this would happen, and I was planning to get back," he says, scratching the stubble on his chin and collapsing down on the couch.
"What?" You creak out, not believing that he is actually here after so many years. "I was selling watches across the countryside, as you know, and I accidentally crashed the carriage into a tree causing me to break my arm. I had a little amnesia, and my writing hand was unable to be used, so I couldn't remember the address to write to, but please remember that I haven't forgotten you." Still, you stand there, still in disbelief. "When I was in the hospital... my nurse, Joanna... she took care of me for a while. We talked a lot. She was a widow also. We talked and talked..." he says dreamily, and you know what comes next. "You fell in love and married her, didn't you?" you say, and he nods his head up and down confirming it. "And now I have a steady job digging graves for the dead and my boss, Nekozowa, is a bit frightening, but he pays well."
"So you left me here and went to stay with her, not even letting me know you were still alive," you say, not bitter about your situation, but for how you've always thought your father was better than this. "You don't understand. When I married your stepmother, I think I was desperate for love again." Smiling a little as he remembers the good times spent with his first wife, he continues. "When our hands touched... this astounding feeling would come over me. That is a sign of true love. With your stepmother, now that I recall, I never felt that. But with Joanna... it's back. Every time our hands touch it's just pure magic. I love being with her, even if we are in the same room I feel happier. Without her though... I'm lost and worried."
Touching your hand gently, you think about Kaoru. That always happens to us. "So what does this mean for me?" you question, not wanting to hear any answer. Sighing, he looks at you. "I live far, far away now in the kingdom of Lobelia. It took me a month to travel here. Y/n, my darling, I want you to come back with me and live with Joanna and I."
Standing there, you feel your face fall. What does this mean? Leaving the home you've always known, with so many memories of the years before, some good, some bad, but all have shaped how you are as a person now. And... you'd have to leave the kingdom of Ouran, which means probably never seeing him again. Your heart seems to moan in agony at the thought of this, and you see your father staring at you. "It isn't a choice. One week from today we set off."
"What?!" You say, finally snapping. "You come back in here and barely apologize, and then just tell me that we are going to leave!" "Frankly, I thought you would be overjoyed to go. From the way your mother speaks of you, I thought you would have nothing to miss here." Heart racing at the thought of never seeing him again, and you shake your head and bolt up the stairs, him not even trying to stop you, until you collapse onto your bed.
First no more palace with him, now no more living here? I can't not live here, it's my home and I'm not going to just give it up to those three. And my father, he isn't the kind gentleman that I've remembered him to be, and Kaoru.... Your heart practically explodes out of your chest as you think of him. The thought of the kiss definitely confirms it. You barely know him, but there's definitely something between you, and that something could definitely turn into something more. This apparent infatuation can become love.
Touching your hand again, thinking of him, you think helplessly about whether or not you will ever see him again. First you admitted your feelings to him with the kiss, and now you to yourself. He had already admitted that he felt the same. Nothing will every become of it now, you think somberly. By the end of the night, some other girl will be chosen and will be his wife while you're left to spend your life as a servant to your own family, or going to an unfamiliar place. "Hello princess," says a dreamy voice, and you look up, teary eyes, from your pillow to see an odd man in a sparkly blue suit holding a long silver stick. What the f-?!
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Thx for reading! Over 100 reads for this story too, thanks everyone 🎉 Plz feel free to comment and read my other stories and I hope you enjoyed this trash :) TBC