21. Windows Close

                                    

                                          
If there was one thing every student had in common at Ouran Academy, it was their unbridled excitement for a school-free summer. Plans for international vacations, water park getaways, and seaborne activities filled the glossy floored halls of the school. While everyone discussed their anticipated plans, those in music room three discussed matters more dire. 
                          
"So, what do you think you're gonna do?" Haruhi asked Hibiki, who sipped on a cup of sangria tea - made perfectly by the hands of Takashi. 
                          
"I don't know," Hibiki answered. 
                          
"It's pretty black and white, the entire situation," Kyoya said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 
                          
"It's not that easy, Kyoya. This decision is altering her entire life," Tamaki said, giving Hibiki a sympathetic look. 
                          
"Both of you are right. This can either go one way or another," Hibiki admit. "There's nothing I can do to stop either one of these decisions from happening." 
                          
"All Hibiki has to do is figure out what she wants most. To stay here with us and leave her family or leave everything she's ever known behind and leave Japan," Kyoya said. 
                          
"You're being pretty insensitive, Senpai. This is a tough choice for Hibiki," Haruhi said sternly. 
                          
"It's a tough choice, but a choice to be made soon. My parents are having a dinner arranged for Hibiki to meet them," Kyoya announced. 
                          
"A dinner?" Hibiki asked.
                          
"It's protocol for whenever someone has been considered for engagement," Kyoya said. 
                          
"Considered? So, what, this is like a trial to see if she's good enough?" Haruhi asked.
                          
"Something of the sorts. It's tradition. My family wants to know who and how Miss. Sadeki is," Kyoya answered. "You and I can discuss the details later."
                          
Hibiki looked down, then glanced to Takashi, who stared lifelessly out of a window. 
                          
Would staying in Japan be worth it all if she couldn't be with the one she wanted? 
                          
At the end of the day, when it was only Hibiki and Kyoya left, Hibiki looked out the window at the beautifully landscaped grounds of her school. 
                          
"I know this wasn't an ideal way for things to happen, Hibiki, but there are a few promising things about the situation." She didn't respond. "You can always go to America with your parents," he suggested. 
                          
"I don't want to leave Japan and I don't want to get married," she protested. 
                          
"You don't want to get married to me," he corrected her. She sighed. Hibiki opened her mouth to say something when she felt Kyoya's hand grasp her shoulder and force her to face him. His eyes, free of their glass layer, were dark and filled with assurance. She felt her back against the cool glass as he closed her in with his hands on either side of her. 
                          
"I want to see what Mori-senpai sees," he said. "Love is a state of mind, Hibiki, it's a trick of desire, you know."
                          
"Kyoya," she whispered almost breathlessly within his trap. 
                          
"He thinks your beauty is unmeasurable. He basks in everything about you. I've never seen him act the way he acts with you. A subtle love waiting to bloom." He lifted his hand from the glass and traced a finger along her chin. "And if you're going to be my bride, then I want to see what he sees." 
                          
"Kyoya, I-" 
                          
"Do you think he'll ever forgive me? Taking something so precious to him this way," he nearly purred in her ear.