It all started one day when Suzy, my best and closest friend, and I were eating lunch. The day felt long and it was getting unbearably hot, so she and I decided it was a good idea to sit in the air conditioned lunch room rather than where we normally sat outside. We picked a pretty long ornate table and placed our bentos in front of us. Suzy then slapped her hands down on the table and began swinging her legs back and forth. Consequently that meant she was hitting me in the shins, her long legs reaching all the way across to my short ones. I could see the curls in her short light brown hair bounce as she rocked slightly with the movement of her legs.
Suzy is a girl with a big heart that means well, but she often gets over zealous and makes the situation worse. She has a long line of suitors who see her fault as a cute trait, along with her wide hazel eyes that make her seem innocent.
She looks at me with excitement nearly bubbling over and exclaims "There are so many people here Maorin! Why can't we eat here everyday?" That's my nickname, my real name is Mao Tomoe, while I call her Suzy and her real name is Suzuka Morino. We've been friends since before I can remember.
"Because the crowds make me uncomfortable Suzy." She pouts at my monotone response but perks back up and smiles at me fondly.
"That's ok Maorin! It doesn't matter where we go as long as I can hang out with you." I smile shyly at her and she beams in response. I don't smile often, but Suzy's excitement makes it hard for me to stay stoic for too long.
"Your smile is too precious!" She exclaims reaching across the table and grabbing my cheeks. I sigh and resign myself to the torture. I pull away when I see a large group of people watching from afar. It's a group of boys watching and discussing amongst themselves, it looks like it's a serious discussion and they're all looking at us. I shrug to myself, trying to brush off the anxiety and open my bento as Suzy laments the fact that I won't let her play with my face anymore. She soon recovers and opens her bento and begins eating with gusto. She's always been a big eater, since she does sports.
As soon as we both start eating our lunch and conversing I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up to see the likes of my classmate Takashi Morinozuka staring down at me. I feel my stomach drop and my hands begin to shake slightly, my anxiety skyrockets and Ifeel my palms sweat. I know though, from the outside looking in I look as bored as ever.
I look across the wide table at Suzy and she's got Mitsukuni Haninozuka hanging off her arm and talking her ear off; not that she minds, she's talking back with equal fervor her accent making her words slur as she falls back into her old Osakan speech patterns.
"Ah hello Morinozuka- san." I say and he nods his head at me. Somehow I feel like we're in the way of something. With him and Haninozuka-san coming and stopping us, as well as the group behind him.
"Are we sitting at your table perhaps?" I ask in polite monotone while turning my head back to the group of boys who seem to be taking cover behind a pillar. They're not that sneaky, but they make me feel uncomfortable.
He looks down at me and nods and I just nod back in reply. I start to gather my things and put my bento back together. I look at Suzy. "Well I guess we're being escorted off the premises Suzy-q, we should be on our way." I say while discreetly wiping my palms on the soft, pale yellow fabric of our school uniforms.
Haninozuka-san quickly looks my way at the mention of leaving and at least has the decency to look ashamed but quickly recovers and looks at Suzy.
"Waah! Suzu-chan you let Mao-chan call you Suzy?" He asks "That's so cute!" He exclaims. Right as he says that I can see Suzuka's eyes light up and her face melt.
"I know Hunny- san! Isn't Maorin the cutest thing you've ever seen? She gave me that nickname when she used to come play at my house in the summer!" She nearly yells as her grin breaks into a full blown smile. "She's so shy! But she hides it behind her cold demeanor, it's one of her moe points if I do say so myself." Suzuka says crossing her arms over her chest and smiling like a proud parent.
I look at her and give her a sharp look "We should go now Suzuka." I hope the sternness covers up my embarrassment as she reveals silly things to the "prettiest" boys in our class.
"Waaaaah she's mad!" Suzy jokes as she uses her hands to hide her devilish smile. Hunny and Mori moved to stand side by side as they watch our antics, Hunny with an excited look in his eyes and Mori with his usual cool look. I was too busy fuming with Suzuka to see Hunny approach again until he announced his presence.
"Why don't you guys sit with us today?" Hunny suggested. I look at him over the rim of my glasses so I can get a better look at his face. I don't see well in front of my face, but I can see for a country mile beyond a certain point. I study him for a second, weighing the pros and cons of sitting with their group. I then look to Suzuka who looks like she's dying to spend time with these boys. I wait silently for a minute, moving my gaze back to my hands in my lap before Suzy speaks up for me.
"We'd love to!" She exclaims wiggling back and forth in her seat, her enthusiasm oozing from every pore.
"Hurray!" Haninozuka-san yells as he jumps in a circle. Once he's facing the pillar he cups his hands around his mouth and yells. "Tama-chan it's ok to come over! Mao-chan and Suzu-chan are gonna eat with us!" Mao-chan and Suzu-chan? I think as he refers to us in such a familiar way.
With that the floodgates let loose and the Host club rushed over and took seats, though they seemed to be pretty cautious about sitting around Suzy and I. It isn't until Haruhi sits next to Suzy and she smiles so bright that it could put the sun to shame and says.
"Wow! I get to meet one of my kouhai! It's nice to meet you I'm Suzuka Morino." And holds out one of her hands for Haruhi to shake. The young androgyn takes the hand offered to him hesitantly and shakes it.
"I'm Haruhi Fujioka, ah it's nice to meet you Morino-senpai." The boy says politely before adding a bow in for good measure.
"Woooah! What good manners you have, I mean kids these days always call me old and a monster freak." Suzy says scratching her neck and laughing. Her younger siblings are at a rebellious stage and don't like following her instructions. Therefore they're always calling her names.
Haruhi looks at her surprised and opens her mouth to ask why and I interrupt the boy. "It's 'cause she's tall and has an accent." I state simply and he snaps his mouth shut and nods.
"You don't look that tall, Senpai. " he offers kindly and Suzy laughs.
"It's ok Haruhi-kun! I'm tall, I've got long legs!" She cheers "I'm 183 centimeters, the tallest girl on my basketball team." She boasts.
The twins pipe up from the other side of Haruhi. "You'd make a great model Senpai." One says "But you probably have calves that are way too muscle-y. Quit the basketball club so you have a chance." The other adds as they lean over their meals. Haruhi glares at them and Suzy laughs.
"I do enough stuff like that, I swear!" She says holding up her hands. I think back to a few weekends ago when she was being worshipped at the Lolita meetup we went to in Harajuku. I'm brought out of my reverie by Haninozuka-san who asks me what club I'm in.
"I'm in the light music club." I say quietly. Being around all these people makes me nervous and I barely have the courage to speak at all.
"Huh?" Haninozuka-san asks and I can hear Suzy snickering from across the table. I try to kick her but end up nailing Haruhi-kun in the shin. My eyes widen and I reach across the table and take his hand out of reflex.
" I'm so sorry Haruhi-kun I didn't mean to kick you." I say, but no matter what I do the situation makes it difficult for me to raise the tone in my voice above a monotone. Haruhi looks surprised at the action and I quickly remove my hand feeling embarrassed. I wrong them nervously and look around a lite but before shifting my gaze back to him.
Haruhi looks at me with eyes that seemed to be made of honey and says that it's ok.
"I mean I get bullied by this club all the time, what's one more bruise." He says nearly laughing. I look at him in shock and the blonde across from him that everyone in the school knows is Tamaki Suoh, the son of the chairman, yelps and jumps to the clubs defense.
"We don't bully Haruhi! I swear we just love him a lot." Tamaki says and trails off slightly getting embarrassed at the end of his short rant.
The twins begin to snicker and pick on him while he goes into a state of depression. Haninozuka- san turns back to me and asks what club I'm in again. I feel a little more at ease now that Haruhi hasn't damned me for the rest of eternity. Plus this club seems like just a big group of goofs.
"I'm in the light music club." I say, my voice still in a monotone, but louder so people can hear.
"She doesn't look like she would, but Maorin plays the drums!" Suzy said to answer the unanswered question.
The look of Mao in Classic "Kiss" makeup flashed through everyone's heads at that time and the Twins burst out laughing. I could feel my face heating up and I put down my chopsticks and put my hands in my lap, looking anywhere but at the people at the table.
"Can it you two! Maorin is the best in the world when it comes to playing drums, and her stage outfits are the cutest. Her dresses are always a hit at performances." Suzy says hotly. The twins stop laughing at the mention of dresses. But only pick up again still thinking of the makeup.
I feel the heat build from behind my eyes and I take off my glasses and rub at them before standing up abruptly " I have things to attend to. Have a good day. " and take my leave as fast as possible without breaking into a run. I vaguely hear Suzy yelling at the twins and picking up my stuff and her stuff and walking after me. I feel so embarrassed I shouldn't be so upset, but I am.