Tʜᴇ Sᴜᴏʜ Hᴇɪʀ | 𝙾𝙷𝚂𝙷𝙲 [HIATUS]

𝚜𝚒𝚡

『 Iɴᴛʀɪɢᴜᴇ ᴀɴᴅ Jᴇᴀʟᴏᴜ𝗌ʏ 』

     OOTORI KYŌYA WOULDN'T exactly say he knew Suoh Kinoka.

Sure, he knew of her but then again, how could he not?

Being the only daughter of Ouran Academy's Headmaster, the half-sister of his best friend, and the legitimate heir of the Suoh family, it would be more of a surprise if one hadn't known of her.

Especially in the social circles he frequented.

On top of that, their fathers were somewhat acquainted and that was well before Tamaki arrived in Japan.

He could distinctly recall meeting her once when they were toddlers, but that was all the meaningful interaction they had.

Recently, however, Kyōya felt that he'd been more interested than usual in the lady.

Perhaps Tamaki was to blame. With all his wails and woes about how beautiful his beloved sister was, why she had someone like Fukuzawa Konstantin by her side, and whether or not she preferred to vacation in Okinawa or Hokkaido.

Kyōya had been the primary victim in the blonde's crusade to know anything and everything about Suoh Kinoka.

Thanks to Tamaki, Kyōya now knew that Kinoka disliked soup but didn't mind congee. Apparently, Yuzuru mentioned it during one of their dinners.

Thanks to Tamaki, Kyōya now knew that Kinoka was an avid collector and solver of jigsaw puzzles. Once again, Yuzuru had mentioned it to Tamaki offhandedly.

Thanks to Tamaki, Kyōya now knew that Kinoka always carried a handkerchief and was often seen covering her mouth with it. Okay, maybe he knew that due to observing the lady but Tamaki did make note of it as well.

And now, thanks to Tamaki once again, Kyōya now knew that Kinoka had asthma and an acid reflux disease.

It wasn't that Tamaki told him directly, though he did play a crucial role in Kyōya gaining such information.

You see, Kyōya was only on his way to the Headmaster's office because Tamaki was suddenly summoned there. The idiot blonde immediately dropped everything and ran to respond, leaving his bag, books, and bear in Kyōya's possession.

The plan was simply to leave Tamaki's belongings at the secretary's desk. He would have left them in the trash bins but he could already hear the blonde wailing around and causing more trouble for him, so he didn't.

And while Kyōya somewhat expected (and dare I say, wished) to come across Kinoka on his way, he didn't expect her to be in the middle of an asthma attack when they did meet.

What's more?

He didn't expect her to lean on him the way she did, to honestly tell him how she felt, or to even accept his assistance.

In his point of view, Suoh Kinoka was detached, proud, and independent,

And everything he portrayed himself as.

But the lady he crossed paths with trembled as she held onto him. She welcomed his help and revealed that she was suffering. She relied on him.

Suoh Kinoka was everything but what Kyōya perceived her to be.

So perhaps, she had been portraying everything he had perceived her as.

Just like him.

And that intrigued him much more than he'd care to admit for the time being.

༺ °─────── ✧ ───────° ༻

It would have been better if that asthma attack made her lungs collapse completely and rendered her lifeless.

Anything, anything at all would have been preferable to having Ootori Kyōya aware of her ill state.

And to think that she'd given him everything he needed to figure out what illness she had exactly. Unintentionally, but that didn't matter.

The Ootori family were pioneers in the medical field. Utilising his family's connections, it would take Kyōya not even an hour to figure out the whats and whys and whos and wheres and all the other double v's of her condition.

Kinoka pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, her head aching at the thought of Kyōya.

What bothered her wasn't just the fact that he knew her secrets.

It was that she'd chosen to disclose them to him.

"Left or right?"

"L-Left…"

—

"Are you alright?"

"No…I'm tired."

The lady cleared her throat in embarrassment as she suppressed the events that occurred only yesterday.

Another thing she had to deal with was the fact that Kyōya was best friends…with Tamaki, of all people.

How they became best friends, Kinoka didn't know and couldn't bother to find out just yet.

There were more important matters at hand.

Like how Yuzuru definitely told Tamaki that she was ill without actually telling him directly.

Knowing her father, he probably made it sound like she was the most physically sensitive person in the world (which wasn't exactly false but he did tend to exaggerate).

Arriving at the front desk that filtered who could and couldn't visit Ouran Academy's Headmaster, Kinoka was greeted by the absence of a secretary.

Perhaps she'd gone for a lavatory break.

Her father had summoned her once again but did tell her to come any time during the day.

The lady had just about decided to return later but was stopped as a certain blonde's voice reached her ears.

"Argh! You cheated!"

Kinoka turned back to the double doors of her father's office and noticed that it was slightly ajar.

Had Tamaki also been summoned again?

Curiosity filled her and she soon found herself peeking into the room.

Her silver irises landed on the centre of the wide room and she blinked twice in surprise as Tamaki roared once again.

"You were pocketing my pieces again, weren't you?! Weren't you!"

"Oh, there you go, accusing me again when you just haven't learned how to play as well as I have," Yuzuru hummed in amusement.

"Then why are more than half of my stones gone!" Tamaki stood abruptly, pointing at the Go board that was clearly dominated by black pieces.

As Tamaki rattled on and demanded that his father pull out his pockets, Kinoka couldn't help but be enamoured by his expressiveness as he outwardly accused Yuzuru.

"It's well within my rights to tease my adorable son when he comes to see me, yes?"

The man stood, revealing his pockets filled with white stones as Tamaki flared, simultaneously happy that he was right and mad because he lost yet again due to his father's schemes.

Yuzuru began apologising, promising to treat the boy with nabe for dinner as Tamaki began to tear up.

And as the father ruffled his son's blonde locks in adoration, Kinoka turned and walked away.

A stinging feeling filled her chest as her mind etched the scene into the walls of her heart.

How lucky Tamaki was, to be able to freely shout, curse, and love not only their father but everything and everyone around him.

꧁─────── ·✧· ───────꧂

『 Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 𝗌ɪ𝗑, ᴇɴᴅ. 』