I've been trying to find the library for hours now, without any luck. It's as though it simply disappeared off the face of the earth… I'm finally to the last door on this floor and I'm desperately hoping it's finally the right one- the stairs here are killer. The room I actually enter is large and, well, strange- to say the least. There are seven guys in here. Cosplaying as characters from Naruto. Of course, all I can think is, of all the things to cosplay as, why that? I came here, because I thought I might find the library.
This is not the library. Obviously. My eyes dart around the room, taking in all that I can. It seems mostly empty, there's only one other door and it's black, creepy, and rather foreboding. It crosses my mind to leave. It more than crosses my mind, actually. Don't get me wrong; the boys are attractive enough I guess. All rather tall, except for a brown-haired one and a cute little blond kid, but I've seen places like this and they're usually flooded with moe, yaoi, and many, many, many screaming fangirls.
"Um… Hi. Can you tell me where the… library is?" I ask in my slow Japanese. Seven heads whip in my direction. There are two blonds (one being a cute little kid whom everyone is addressing as senpai…?), two redheads who look exactly alike (and are grinning like a pair of creepy cats), two guys with black hair who both have an air of mystery –and are completely stone-faced and silent-, and the one with brown hair. The brown haired guy looks a little more feminine, which makes him seem friendlier, but he looks just plain… confused.
"Hey boss," Says one of the red-haired boys. I can only assume the two are twins.
"A customer," Says the other. Completing each others' sentences? Definitely twins. Or a really weirdly alike gay couple…
"Well? Aren't you going to greet her?" They say in unison. I frown.
"Uh… I just need the library. If you could -uh- tell me how to go there, I would be very –erm- grateful…?" My Japanese is still awkward, and probably far too polite, and the boys kind of look at me like I'm crazy. But not for the reason I suspect.
"Why would you want to go there?" The twins say. I think I'll call them the carrot-heads. In fact, I should just give them all nicknames. That should be simple enough.
"Well… I have to study, obviously. Since people don't use the library here, my father says to go there for some –uh- quiet… study time." I reply, slightly annoyed. Why would they delve into my business anyway? It's just because I have to take my damn pills once a day at about noon in a private, kind of dark place. You'd think that after my recent transfer from our American sister school there'd be some kind of recognition. The carrot-heads shake their red locks, obviously not recognizing me and also replying with a very serious no.
"Nah, we usually hire people to do our work." One replies.
"Do you actually do the work here?" The other asks.
"Yes, I do." I reply, growing more aggravated by their surprise. "I have a father- he insists I do all my work by myself…" They stare at me, smiles slowly spread across their features. Not very pleasant smiles, mind you.
"Now Kaoru, Hikaru, that's not fair to our guest," Says a smooth, slightly feminine voice. I look in the direction of the speaker. It's the tall blond. Blondie? Yes. Blondie. He has a sort of airy look to him. Like he's going to grab me and spontaneously start dancing with me. Which would be much more exciting if he were less obviously interested in bothering me. "Lady, thank you for gracing us with your presence."
"Uhm… Thanks, but- ah!" I start, but am cut off as Blondie, as we'll call him from now on, takes my chin in his hand, placing his other fingers and palm on my waist. Oh, the touching issues… "What the hell are you doing?"
"Dancing of course! Now, you place your hand here," He guides my hand to his shoulder, well, he actually kind of forces it. "And just follow me!" Wow… Future-sight isn't just a Pokémon attack… His grin is childish and the whole thing has an air of kiddish fun. I growl, my slightly annoyed look turning to one of pure venom. The others are grinning from ear to ear, except for the guys with black hair. They're still just kinda sitting there. Chillaxed.
To change the subject as I avoid tripping Blondie-senpai, I ask, "Hey. What are your names? I know the redheads are Kaoru and Hikaru (I have no idea which is which) but you and the rest are still mysteries."
"I am Tamaki Suoh, president of the Ouran Academy host Club!" He says, stopping abruptly to bow. Of course, he kind of throws me out of the way to get to his… friends, making me fall and I have to gather my books, stand, and brush the floor-dust off my ass. He continues, "And these are the rest of the host club!" He lines them up (according to height) and begins patting them down in some ways and fixing their clothes.
"Tamaki, why don't I take over…? I am Kyouya Ootori. This is Takashi Morinozuka, Mori-Senpai if you'd prefer. Next to him are the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, then Mitsukuni Haninozuka, Hani-Senpai if you like. The girls use the twins' hair to tell them apart. Kaoru parts it on the left and Hikaru on the right. You can also tell by which side they stand on. Kaoru is usually on the right, Hikaru on the left. You've met Tamaki, unfortunately, so you should know all there is about him…" The second to tallest -Kyouya- says smoothly. He has black hair and glasses that he seems to habitually push up every other pause. The glasses flash in a sort of unnerving way and I feel myself shift anxiously- my father's do the same thing. He looks uncannily like my father, too. A shiver runs down my spine.
"Thanks." I smile, the little unfortunately seems to have had its effect on Tamaki-Senpai. "Could you, um, please tell me how to get to the library now?" I reply. He pushes up his glasses again and again, they flash in the same way my father's do. I shift from foot to foot. I need to take my pill soon or I'll be having a freak attack in here with all these people, which would not be good for my reputation.
"What? You mean you're leaving already?" the little one, Hani-Senpai, says, running up to me. His eyes are wide and seem like tears are about to begin to flow from them. Tamaki-Senpai seems to have beaten him to the crying session… I don't know what's up with the corner he went to, but he seems to be growing mushrooms in it.
"Well… yeah." I reply, still waiting for directions. "I mean… You're obviously very… busy…" I say, eyeing the Naruto costumes again and, unable to help myself, raising a sarcastic eyebrow.
"Our boss is a fangirl…" Says Kaoru. Tamaki looks up, still pouting, and mumbles incoherently. We all catch the words "ungrateful", "Naruto is awesome!" and "fangirl? I prefer fanboy!" They laugh. I smirk. Which only makes him turn his back and tend his… mushrooms. Jeez... If they don't stop his bi-polarness –funny I should be the one to say that…- this place is going to be a mushroom kingdom… And everyone's gonna have to start wearing those hats… On second thought, might not be so bad!
So I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter of "Mushroom Kingdom"! Please rate and comment! Love from the author, RileyCruel.