Just Look into It

27. Childish Wonder

"I thought you two had made up."

Observant as ever, Haruhi followed Ryo after finishing her host duties and threw the words out once there were no signs of the boys. 

"We did," Ryo answered, glancing at her phone and quickly reacting to the system alert. "It's going to take time to return to how things were before if that's even possible."

Her cousin sighed. "Great. I hope you know Senpai has declared one of the current objectives of the host club is to figure out how to make you happy. It's called 'Operation Gardenia' or something and it's annoying how many questions they started asking me."

"Sorry, Haruhi."

It was true that they had made up, but the two had both silently agreed to stay silent about what had gone down that night, the two wearily waking the next morning from panicked phone calls from Tamaki. 

Ryo shook her head, rubbing at her face. "If there's anything I can do to get them off your back, just let me know."

"We do have that beach trip this weekend. Will you be going?"

"Ah, I don't think so," she replied. "I believe that's purely for the hosts. Besides, even if I had been invited, I'll be spending my time working on a project for the Ootori family."

Haruhi's brow raised. "Wow, that's good."

"Yeah, according to Kyouya, they were impressed enough with my work in identifying weak points and planning for the Tropical Aqua Garden," she mused, feeling a bit of pride. "Enough so that they asked me to install a version of my system in one of their private villas."

"You work too hard," her cousin sighed. "Don't you and Kyouya fight for the top rank among the second years?"

Ryo smirked. "Not quite. I never attend classes since I'm monitoring the school, so he almost always is first. It quite seriously irked him the two times I managed to snag his spot."

The two continued to walk, both likely thinking of the various things they had to do. Sure Ryo worked hard, but her cousin was no slack either. As the commoners in the school, they had to rank consistently high in all areas of their academics. Ryo just had a bit more room because of her employment. With a small sigh, she reached up and undid her hair, relaxing slightly as she ran a hand through her hair.

"You know, when you snapped at the hosts, I was pretty worried." She glanced over at her cousin, who had stopped to stare up at the clouds. "I think they all realized that not everyone can brush off their meddling. I was worried you would close back up completely."

Their eyes met. 

"I- I wasn't sure what I was going to do either."

"You've changed a lot Ryo. In a good way. You seem more confident with yourself."

Pouting slightly, she threw an arm around Haruhi and pulled the girl in closer. Her cousin let out a small cry of annoyance as she ruffled her hair. "You know, I wonder how much Tamaki or the twins would pay for old photos of you."

"You wouldn't!"

"We're family- of course I would."

With a laugh, she let the other girl go. They kept walking, both attempting to tame their hair as Haruhi combed it down and Ryo kept it from her eyes.

"But seriously, they'll get their hands on your photos some way or another. Just let me know if there are any you don't want out."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Once home, Ryo got to work preparing herself and Yuu for the weekend ahead of them. Not wanting to burden her uncle any further, she had requested that Yuu join her. Kyouya had waved off her concerns almost instantly, stating that he had assumed that his presence would be the case. As such, that Friday after school was finished, Ryo and Yuu returned home to change and grab their things. To her surprise, there was a limo already waiting outside their home. The driver stepped out as they approached, and she instinctually took a step in front of her brother. 

"Are you Miss Ryouka Hisakawa?" the man asked. 

"Yes, I am." She glanced around, watching for anyone else to arrive. 

"Good. Master Kyouya has arranged transportation to the site. Whenever you are ready, we shall depart," he stated, bowing. "If you need any assistance with luggage, please let me know."

Ryo paused, a bit taken off guard. "Alright, thank you, but I think we'll be alright."

Not wanting to keep him waiting, the two siblings hurried to gather their things. She changed into a pair of plain jean capris and a white off-the-shoulder blouse, making sure her hair was still tightly secured. A small smile landed on her lips as she watched her brother emerge in navy blue overalls and a brown t-shirt. 

"I thought you didn't like those," she teased, turning back to her task.

He grumbled slightly. "You got them for me, so I should wear them at least once."

"Uh-huh," she shot back, having seen his small smile. 

Yuu was mainly bringing his art supplies so he would have something to work on while she was busy, and Ryo didn't have to bring much considering the Ootori's were supplying pretty much everything. She did pack a small cooler of foods to last them the weekend since the estate they were heading to was currently not being used.

"Ready?" she asked, double-checking her mental list. 

"Yup!" 

With minimal struggle, she locked up the house and loaded their things into the limo. The two climbed into the back and the driver took off. With her notes in her lap, she started to work and remind herself of what all she needed to do during her time there. It seemed like she would be able to relax a bit more during this trip since the estate itself already had a security system installed- she just needed to update some problem areas and connect her system. 

Looking back in the rearview mirror, the driver watched the young boy excitedly scour the back of the limo and stare out the window with childish wonder. The young woman was exactly as she had been described, and the driver couldn't help but smile upon seeing the small grin of her own.