There's a Story Behind Every Smile (Hitachiin Triplets, OHSHC)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

She sat in a stiff seat, her back straight and hands clinging to the knees of her pants. Her heart darted around at a fast pace, while her eyes stayed glued to her tennis shoes, as none of her shoes fit properly anymore, and she needed ones she could lace up tightly. She looked dashing in suspenders, a bow tie, and her suit pants, however, even with her shaking form.

She was still thin, yet she was certainly getting better. She was starting to overcome the bulimia she'd caused, although when she'd shared her story on tumblr (as Takuma had suggested), she'd become a thinspiration instead.

She sighed, trying to shake that horrible memory away. She didn't need that. She didn't need to relapse again. 

She listened to Takuma drone on to whoever he was in a meeting with. His voice was soothing, and she smiled slightly at the comforting sound. Even as he raised his voice, she didn't flinch. Because she knew what he was doing. What he was doing to free her from this, after a year. 

It had been roughly a year since then, since Akira had been sent off, since she'd last escaped the hospital, and they planned to make it the last time for her life. After Kyoya had promised, she had worked her hardest to prove her father.

And after the day the host club discovered her gender, and he finally got to hear Hikaru and Kaoru call her "she", with a little help from her father, too. 

She stood at the door, shaking in worry. What would they think? What would the do? Would they know? Those same questions from the day Lobelia came. 

"Teru, you'll be alright. They won't recognise you as their sister, unless you want them to." Kyoya had leant down to her ear, a smile on his breath. She licked her lips before gritting her teeth and nodding.

She wore a new, white shirt-dress without sleeves, with a vertical line of words printed on the front left in a black typewriter font: "Behind every sweet smile is a bitter sadness that no one can ever see or feel." She had an oversised black sweater over it, and tall black boots on her legs that covered up her anorexia. But they were still laced tightly, and the dress hung off her frame, even as she sat. 

Kyoya took the handles of her wheelchair, and she leaned over on her hand and looked away as they walked in.

"Tamaki-kun, I have someone you might like to see." She gulped, continuing to look away and starting to shake as the men in her club watched her. Finally, someone said something.

"Teru... Is that really you? You have ginger hair, and a dress... oh... You're a girl?!"

"Teru-chan, you're a very pretty girl, you know!" She stifled a giggle as she looked up at the upperclassmen.

"Hunny-chan, you knew all along, didn't you?" She smiled a tiny, crooked thing. 

And everyone smiled back at her, Kyoya growing a little stiff with jealousy from behind.