Curiosity Killed the Cat (An Ouran High School Host Club Fanfic)

“Tsukiko?” Kyoya Ootori called out as he wandered into the maze garden, looking around every corner he could spot before moving down the path. His dark colored eyes scanned over every little crevice, nook-and-cranny that he could find at that point, remaining calm and collected despite the fact that the girl in question - Tsukiko Tanaka - had been missing for some time now. Even though he had been searching for her since he left the Host Club to do the cleaning, which was probably a bad idea, the missing girl was nowhere in sight. “I know you ran this way, Tsukiko. I saw you run past just a minute ago." He paused a moment to see if she would respond. When no response came, he went on. "There’s no reason to be hiding out here by yourself.”

School had already been over for over two hours now, and the Host Club had finished hosting for the day. It turned out relatively normal for everyone, and the turnout for sales was relatively decent. However, something seemed off with Tsukiko, or as her alter ego "Takashi," while she was with some of the other women. Granted, it was not very noticeable for anyone, but even Kyoya could see that the aura around her seemed...different. She would occasionally become distracted by something that was not the women, but at the same time remained focused on what they were saying. It was strange; the look in her eyes appeared to be angry or at the very least frustrated with something. Though it was none of his business as to how she felt, Kyoya was wondering what could have been distracting her from her job as a Host and "entertainer" for the women.

Turning down a different path in the garden, the Shadow King could not help but sigh and cross his arms over his chest. Women were very much complicated in their own right, even if they were easy to read on some occasions. Tsukiko was no exception to that. She was very kind, he had admit that much, and pretty independent. She never asked for any help from anyone, not even from the other Host club members. She preferred to do things herself. Who was Kyoya to judge a woman's independence, especially if was good for the Host club's merchandise? Then again, her independence has lead her to become secretive. That much was seen today, when she was not acting like herself in the most subtle of ways. He realized that she was very secretive about certain topics, as if she was hiding something from the people around her. It was hard to really say what topics those were, as they seemed to be rare, but a boy like Kyoya could easily see past the ruse. He was not considered the "Shadow King" for no reason after all.

It did not take him long to reach a small clearing with a large cherry blossom tree centered in the middle, an assortment of other plants and flowers surrounding it. Very much a wealthy garden setting; any person with little money would have felt their wallets shaking with fear. Kyoya, however, was not all that worried about how much money was put into the garden right now. He was much more worried about the missing member of the Host Club and ask why she left in such a hurry. However, when he looked around, it did not seem as if there were any signs of her having come by.

"I suppose she isn't here either," he muttered in a low tone to himself, fixing his glasses and causing a glare to form on the lens. "Maybe she joined up with the others by now." Instead of taking a closer look, he decided to turn around and look somewhere else. "Still, I think I should look around a little more before heading back myself." Before he could walk any further from the garden, he suddenly heard something that caught his attention immediately.

"Why...?" The Shadow King stopped midstep upon hearing that voice, making him turn around once more. He looked around for a moment in search of the source. He remained stagnant for the longest time, waiting for something to make itself known. When another minute passed, that voice appeared from seemingly nowhere. "Why...?" His brows furrowed as he started to listen in more. It was at that point that he started to hear...faint sobbing? That made him curious. Who could have come out here to cry? "Why do they always put me down?" The voice questioned in a low voice, even cracking at the end. "Why can't they just...let me do what I want and be happy...for once?"