Just Look into It

55. Celebrate

Things were good. 

Now that she was certain that Kyouya felt the same way towards her, she felt less tense about how she acted around him. There wasn't as big of a worry about letting something slip out or wondering if she had been staring too long. 

Of course, neither were too keen on public confessions or affections, so very little had changed between them on the surface level. As much as she hated to admit it, it seemed like she had very poor control over her emotions, as Kyouya claimed to be able to read her like a book. She had asked one night just after Yuu had gone to bed how long he had suspected her feelings towards him. He had replied that he had first questioned it when Renge arrived at Ouran but wasn't certain until everything that had happened on the beach trip. 

Kyouya, as she expected, refused to say anything about when he returned the sentiment. 

They had never gone any further in the conversation, both fine with simply knowing that the other felt the same. There was a second or two longer added when they met eyes and there was almost always an extra chair nearby if Kyouya was working on something when she arrived. He was more prone to asking about her sleep schedule, quickly finding the questions turned back on him before they decided it would be less effort to simply inform the other when they were heading to sleep regardless of if the other was still up or not. 

Ryo suppressed a grin as she realized it was little more than an excuse to send goodnight texts. They really were sappy idiots. Tamaki would have a field day if he knew.

She refocused on her work, sending a quick look to where Yuu was sitting with Haruhi and their guests. Much to her chagrin, her brother was more than willing to spend his time after school with the hosts. He was making a nice profit for himself and the club, though he had originally been a bit unsure about charging for his sketches. To Yuu, they were little more than practice so he didn't see the value that Kyouya did. 

Still, it hadn't taken much for the younger boy to be persuaded. 

She stood to approach Kyouya with a question as he was across the room dealing with the twins at the moment, grabbing her notebook in one hand as the other prepared to lock her computer up. She stopped, however, as an email notification caught her eye in the corner of her screen. A few quick movements opened it up to read. 

The notebook fell to the ground. 

Startled, Ryo practically fell back into her seat, throwing her hair out of her face as she started to read the email over again. Her eyes were wide as she struggled to comprehend what she was reading, quickly opening the documents attached and scanning the text.

"No way..." she muttered, rubbing her hands against her thighs. 

Her tongue flickered over her lips. Her hands couldn't decide if they should rub her face, press against her legs, clench together, or hover anxiously over the keyboard. She couldn't keep her eyes on the screen or off of it, continuously looking anywhere possible before returning and repeating. 

Ryo just didn't know how to process what was going on. 

Eventually, she managed to still herself before she attracted too much attention. One hand was pressing down on her thigh as the other rested on her face, her thumb tucked between her teeth so she could apply a bit of pressure and pull herself from a stupor at any moment. Her eyes stared off into space. 

She didn't want to distract from the host club and their guests. 

After a while, the brunette slowly stood and made her way to the bathroom, keeping her hands clenched tightly at her side so she didn't start waving them around or wringing them out repeatedly. Ryo immediately checked to see if she was alone before tearing her glasses off and staring at her reflection. She let out a shuddering breath as she ran her hands through her hair. 

She looked ridiculous in the mirror. 

Suddenly she couldn't stop smiling. Tears started to well up in her eyes, and she quickly covered her mouth. She laughed a bit through the tears, completely floored at the news that she had received. There were so many things she had to do now. 

She didn't mind. 

Ryo laughed as she fell to the floor, hands holding onto the sink. She was quick to stand up again and try to calm herself down, splashing water from the sink on her face. She needed to get her act together long enough for the host club to finish up for the day. 

For a moment she wondered if she should keep the news to herself, a reminder floating through her head to be cautious of the situation. 

Completely out of it, she made her way back into the host room. Her confusion deepened when she realized that all of the guests were already gone. The hosts were all gathered around the table she had been at, all eyes finding their way over to her as she approached. 

Kyouya handed over her notebook, and she realized she had never picked it up. He gave her a small smile before looking away. Her eyes glanced around the hosts, wondering what was going on. 

Tamaki suddenly burst, throwing his arms around her. "This is great news! I'm so happy for you!"

A quick glance at her computer showed that all of the documents were still up and visible. 

She bit her lip, unable to stop the tears from forming again. Ryo laughed and wrapped her arms around the blond. "Y-Yeah!"

The rest of the more expressive hosts started to celebrate with her, letting out whoops and cheers as they realized just how important this was to her. Haruhi gave her a wild grin, holding an arm around Yuu, who seemed incredibly confused as to what was going on. 

Ryo quickly wiped at her face and knelt down by her brother. He was quick to wipe away what she had missed, and she laughed, gently pushing his arms away. "Now Yuu, there's a lot of things we have to talk about as soon as we get home. There's a lot of explaining and a lot of things we'll have to decide. But, I want to let you know that our dad will be coming home soon."

Yuu froze, staring blankly at her. "What?"

"You're going to get the chance to meet our dad," she repeated. "Like I said, there's a lot more to talk about, but for right now we can celebrate, alright?"

Ryo held tightly to her brother as he started to cry. She bit her lips and closed her eyes, hoping and wishing that everything would work out. As positive as she wanted to be, a sense of dread was starting to form the longer she thought.