BLOOM [OHSHC]

Chapter 18 - Silk and Starlight

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Incessant buzzing woke Kyoya Ootori from sleep.

He hissed through gritted teeth, tossing and turning in his sweaty sheets as he tried to get comfortable again far, far away from the scathing sunlight pouring in through his windows. But then his phone began to ring.

Kyoya fished around for his phone blindly on the bedside table, bringing it to his ear without looking. "What."

"LOOK AT THE GROUP CHAT IMMEDIATELY, KYOYA!" Tamaki screamed through the speaker, "I'M SO SORRY TO WAKE YOU, BUT THIS IS A HOST CLUB EMERGENCY!"

"What could possibly be a 'host club emergency' during summ-"

Tamaki cut him off. "IT'S ABOUT MICHIYO!"

His brain slowly processed the words "emergency" and "Michiyo" together, finally realizing what Tamaki tried to tell him. Kyoya forced his eyes open, squinting through the late morning sun, and scrolled through his texts while he listened to Tamaki nervously pace and sigh over speakerphone. It seemed that Kaoru sent a video to the group chat just after Kyoya went to sleep with the caption, "!!!!!!!"

"Are you watching it?" Tamaki asked softly, noticing Kyoya's silence and breathing shift.

Something gave Kyoya pause, hesitating with his finger over the play button. "Not yet," he admitted, "I... how bad is it?"

Tamaki sighed into the phone. "I think you need to determine that for yourself, Kyoya. Watch the video, read the group chat, and text me when you're done. Okay?"

"Sure," Kyoya muttered, still staring at the video as if it contained a virus capable of killing him on sight.

Without any further discussion, Tamaki hung up.

And Kyoya pushed play. He tried to focus on translating the words being said, on the creepy grin of the talk show host whenever he spoke to Michiyo, or even on their body language... but all he could see was her. The orange cocktail dress she donned hugged every curve, emphasizing her feminine physique that she typically hid away under the boys' uniform. Careful makeup emphasized Kyoya's favorite things about her: her watchful eyes and her expressive brows. Often, when Michiyo said nothing or hid behind her teacup, Kyoya could read her mind and her tone based off of her eyes and brows alone.

When the video ended the first time, Kyoya groaned and sat up, shoving his glasses on and focusing even harder on his phone screen. After a deep breath, he pushed play once more... and he heard it.

Michiyo was graduating early, in the coming spring.

When Honey and Mori walked across that ceremonial stage, they were taking Michiyo with them into adulthood.

At first, Kyoya swallowed back the rising guilt in his throat that came with the thought that maybe, somehow... perhaps it was his fault. Maybe if he and Michiyo hadn't fought about the stalker, maybe if he hadn't been so concerned with her safety... maybe she'd be staying.

But after the third and fourth viewings of the video, he realized with absolute certainty... it wasn't her decision. Michiyo's wide eyes and weak answers meant she'd been blindsided just like the rest of them. And for some reason, that helped.

The air in his room seemed to go thin as Kyoya considered this new information. In his plan for high school, he'd imagined her by his side for the rest of third year... joking and studying and going to events together and running the host club. But now none of that would come to fruition. Now Kyoya would return to his life pre-Michiyo... simple and straightforward and dull. Michiyo Kimura and her radiant energy remained as elusive as ever, slippery as silk and starlight. There one second and gone the next.