Claraowl: I have returned! *awaits cheers; hears nothing* Hello? Anyone there? *turns around* Oh, hi! I just have two things to say before we get on with the story. First of all, a million thanks to kaitlynchosenisme, who gave me advice on which host Misaki should play, plus something else. ;) Millions of thanks also to the others who sent me pieces of advice and took my impromtu poll! Second of all, I don't own KWMS, OHSHC, or anything you may recognize. Please enjoy~!
"So today's another girls-only day for customers, right, Misaki?" Takumi asked as they walked to Maid Latte.
"Yup," Misaki nodded, somewhat distracted from his words by his arm around her waist. "Ladies only, as it's another male dress day."
Takumi smiled, his eyes soft. "Aren't you excited for this? You said you were really looking forward to doing another cross-dressing event."
"What?" Misaki blinked, snapping herself back to the conversation. "Oh, yes - it's going to be fun. I'm pumped for this!" She nodded, making the final turn they needed to take to get to Maid Latte.
Upon entering, she was met by a particularly frantic Satsuki. "Misa-chan, Usui-kun! Than goodness you're here!"
"What's wrong?" Misaki asked, pulling herself out of Takumi's grip and rushing over to Satsuki.
"We forgot one of the characters!" Satsuki wailed. "We're supposed to open in half an hour, and we don't have a Tamaki!"
Misaki winced. "We really can't leave him out?"
"Of course not!" Satsuki gasped. "He's the president of the host club, after all! Besides, most of the ladies coming here today will be expecting to be wooed by Tamaki! He's the most popular character after Haruhi, after all!"
Misaki sighed. "Yeah, but what are we going to do? We can't possibly find someone willing to do this in such a short time -" She would have said more, but her words were cut off by Takumi's hand over her mouth.
"Would it be possible to bend the rule about only females serving for a day, Satsuki-san?" Takumi asked, hugging Misaki from behind. "I could step in and act as the host club king."
"Hmm…" Satsuki considered, mulling things over in her mind. "Would you be able to portray him accurately?"
"Wait, how did you know that he was the host club king?" Misaki asked, pulling his hand away from her mouth.
"Well, when I heard you singing the theme song, I was overcome by this undeniable urge to find out everything about any of the characters you might be playing," Takumi shrugged. "Sakura-san was very surprised when I asked her if I could borrow her set of the manga."
"You borrowed the entire manga series from Sakura?" Misaki sighed exasperatedly, leaning her head back against his shoulder. "Why am I even surprised?"
Takumi cleared his throat, then declared grandly, offering her a rose he pulled from thin air, "Ah, princess, it was only to know more about you, so as to grow closer to you and bask in your beauty." He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her.
"Whatever," Misaki muttered, wriggling out of his embrace, her cheeks flushed. "I'm going to go get changed, Tamaki-sempai."
"No, Haruhi! Not sempai!" Takumi called after her, striking a dramatic pose. "I'm you're father, remember? No, don't leave me!" He then retreated to a corner and grew a few mushrooms.
Satsuki quickly located a handkerchief to take care of her heavy nosebleed. "You pass! Go get changed!" She thrust the Tamaki clothes - which, thanks to Aoi's perfectly silent, rather evil plot, would fit perfectly - at him and left to get changed. By this time, everyone else had arrived and had changed into their respective outfits. "Perfect, hosts! We'll be opening in seven minutes! Be ready!"
"Okay," they replied, putting the finishing touches on their outfits and heading out to their pre-planned poses.
Satsuki squealed, pulling on her outfit and heading out to join them. She unlocked the door and stepped back, letting their first customers open the door to a shower of rose petals.
"Welcome home, Mistresses," the maids chorused, decked out in their host attire. The customers - hardcore otakus when it came to all things Ouran High School Host Club - nearly swooned on the spot.
"Welcome, princesses," Takumi beamed, making roses blooming around him. He plucked a few of them from thin air and offered them to the ladies. "You honor us with your presence."
"Tamaki-sempai!" one gasped; Tamaki happened to be her favorite character.
"May I show you to a table, princesses?" Takumi smiled.
Misaki blinked, forcing herself to remain outwardly calm. She smiled at the girls. "Careful, he's a kiss-a-holic."
"That's not so, Haruhi!" Takumi gasped, whirling around to face her. "Your father's no kiss-a-holic!" He grabbed her to him.
"I know that much, sempai," Misaki said, forcing herself to roll her eyes and not blush furiously. "My real father isn't a kiss-a-holic. However, you are not my father; you are a kiss-a-holic."
Takumi, inwardly grinning at the blush he knew Misaki was suppressing, flung himself into his corner of gloom. Mushrooms sprouted around him as the ladies watching him went into the throes of moe.
Misaki, playing the part of Haruhi, ignored him and lead the ladies to a table. "What would you like to drink today?" she smiled, causing their hearts to throb. They placed their orders; when Misaki left their table to fetch their drinks, Satsuki walked over.
"What do you think of our event today, mistresses?" she asked, beaming. "I'm so glad that everyone was able to come today! Maybe I'll write about this in my next doujinshi!"
"We love it, Renge-chan!" one girl squealed enthusiastically. "Tamaki-sempai and Haruhi-chan are perfect!"
"The others are doing great, too," a second girl giggled. "You pulled off Mori-sempai surprisingly well. I was worried about him."
Erika, wearing platform shoes and a wig, was stoically serving her tables. She graced her customers with a rare Mori-sempai smile, earning excited squeals from them; more so when she asked, "What may I get you?"
At this point, one of the girls nearly passed out.
Honoka, hanging off Erika's arm, was giggling with one of the ladies. "…so then Takashi told me that Usa-chan just wanted some tea, and then we all had cake!" She hugged Usa-chan to her, grinning at her customer.
"Oh, you're so kawaii, Hunny-sempai!" she squealed, wiggling in her seat.
Gon and Sayu were immersed in Hitachiin twincest, causing the ladies to crowd around them.
"Where are you going, Hikaru?" Sayu asked with wide eyes as Gon began walking to the kitchen.
"Don't worry, Kaoru, I'll be right back. We mustn't leave the ladies by themselves, now," Gon smiled back at her 'twin.'
"But where are you going?" Sayu asked.
"I'm just going to get these ladies' orders, that's all," Gon smiled.
"Don't leave me, Hikaru!" Sayu cried out, grabbing her 'twin's' sleeve, tears sparkling in her eyes.
"Shush, now, Kaoru," Gon comforted, hugging Sayu. "I'll never leave you."
"We don't mind if you go together!" one fangirl squealed.
"Do hurry back, though!" another one added.
"We will, princesses," Gon and Sayu chorused, heading towards the kitchen together, hand in hand.
Subaru took down her customers' orders in her little black book. "Thank you, princesses," she smiled, using Kyoya's 'open for business' smile. "I'll have your orders up right away - in the meantime, may I interest you in upcoming events at the café?"
"Y-yes, Kyoya-sempai," the girls answered breathlessly.
"Aren't you glad I told you about this?" a girl in glasses whispered to her friend.
"So glad," her freckled friend whispered back. "I wanted to sit with Hunny-sempai, though."
"Yeah, but I won Rock-Book-Dagger-Wizard-Owl," her friend smirked back.
Misaki was entertaining her guests calmly and naturally; well, as calmly and naturally as she could with Takumi, in the guise of Tamaki, hugging her from behind and spinning her around every six minutes, on the dot. "Sempai, will you knock it off?" Misaki sighed, trying her best not to blush furiously.
"I told you, I'm not sempai," Takumi pouted, causing the fangirls to squeal. "I'm your Daddy, remember?" Very quietly, so that only Misaki could hear him, he added, "Who's your daddy, huh?"
"You're not my father," Misaki growled, peeling Takumi off of her, spitting out the last words, "Tamaki-sempai."
Takumi acted as if a giant insult arrow had pierced his heart; he returned to his corner of woe to grow mushrooms for the tenth time that day. He quickly recovered, however, and resumed his entertaining of the ladies, much to the deep displeasure of Misaki.
Misaki had been glancing over at Takumi every few minutes for some time; this did not go unnoticed by the ladies she was serving. They, however, assumed that she was playing a later manga version of Haruhi, and found it perfectly delicious. When it came time for her break, she discreetly excused herself from her group and went to the break room. She smiled slightly when she saw Takumi also excuse himself from his group. He caught up with her quickly and caught her hand after they turned the corner of the hallway. Misaki sighed slightly as they entered the break room, not quite meeting his eyes when he pulled her around to face him.
"What's wrong, Misaki?" he whispered, running a finger along her jaw line, tipping her chin up towards him, forcing her to look at him.
"N-nothing," Misaki whispered back, all of the blushes she'd been restraining bursting forth at once upon her cheeks.
"Are you sure?" Takumi murmured, putting one arm around her waist and pulling her to him. "You kept looking at me."
"I still can't believe you didn't even have to wear a wig," she muttered, avoiding his question and raking her fingers through his hair.
"Lovely coincidence, no?" he smirked, a chuckle escaping his throat.
Misaki gritted her teeth, and then smiled silkily. "How was it that the Tamaki outfit fit you perfectly, Takumi?" Misaki purred, dropping one hand from his hair to his tie. "Do tell me."
Takumi blinked, a blush creeping its way into his cheeks. He could never resist her will when she purred to him; that being the case, he surrendered. "I actually planned this with Aoi-chan a while ago. He said that he'd make sure it was my size and that Satsuki-san wouldn't realize you were missing a Tamaki until it was too late to redo the costumes if I learned my part. I just wanted to be with you, Misaki."
"Don't you think that's cruel, to plot like that?" Misaki whispered to him, pleased that her purring had succeeded once again.
"A bit, I suppose," he smirked. "After all, I didn't give my Misaki enough time to prepare herself to see me flirting with other girls."
"Just don't let it happen ever again after this event, idiot Takumi," Misaki sighed, using his tie to tug him to her for a kiss.
A few exceptionally long moments and one squealing Satsuki later, the two broke apart. They made their way back out to the main room, being bombarded with the flowers of moe as they went.
"No fair, milord!" Gon complained as Misaki and Takumi reentered the main room.
"Yeah, no monopolizing Haruhi!" Sayu added.
"I want to play with Haru-chan, too!" Honoka pouted, hugging Usa-chan.
Erika said nothing, but nodded, watching the chaos unfold around her.
Subaru made a note in her little black book and said calmly, "You might want to get back to serving your customers, Haruhi. You still have nine hundred thousand yen left, and you wouldn't want that increasing, would you?" Misaki gulped and returned to her customers very quickly, not noticing the forlorn look Takumi gave her, nor Sayu and Gon following in her wake. The latter two, playing their part, proceeded to lick both of Misaki's cheeks. Misaki rolled her eyes at them and shrugged. "Don't mind them," she smiled to the ladies around her, "they get overly friendly at times. Would you like some more tea?"
Several hours later, Satsuki announced, "Unfortunately, everyone, Maid Latte will be closing in fifteen minutes. We thank you for coming, and we hope you'll come again soon! Maid Latte will be waiting for you!"
"Thank you, mistresses, we await your safe and speedy return!" the maids and Takumi chorused, bowing as their customers left.
"Great job, everyone!" Satsuki beamed. "Thank you all for making this possible. Thank you, especially, Takumi, for joining in at the last minute - we couldn't have done this without the host club king!"
Takumi smiled. "Anytime my assistance is required, let me know," he bowed and kissed her hand, "princess."
Misaki, already busy cleaning up, stiffened visibly for the space of a few seconds; she then gave a small laugh and resumed cleaning. They all said goodnight after they had changed back into their regular clothes and went their separate ways. Takumi, of course, feel into step beside Misaki a few seconds after they had walked out the door. She extended her hand to him and he took it. He smiled at her; she stuck her tongue out at him. He tangled their fingers as they walked in silence, not needing to say much of anything.
Eventually, Takumi broke their comfortable silence. "So, Misaki, you really were jealous of the other girls getting my attention?"
Misaki was silent for a few moments, and then sighed heavily. "I already answered your question, Takumi. I told you not to let it happen again, after this event."
"I promise, Misaki," Takumi grinned, "that I will never lavish my attentions outrageously on anyone but you - and our future family - ever again."
"W-who said we're having a family?" Misaki stuttered, blushing.
"Why, you did;" Takumi grinned, "you said that you didn't want me flirting with anyone else. If I don't flirt with anyone else, then I will flirt with you the rest of my life - whether you like it or not. Also, since Misaki seems to get as jealous as I do, we're a perfect match."
"Shut up, Takumi," Misaki whispered.
"Make me," Takumi smirked.
"If you insist," Misaki blushed. She grabbed his tie and pulled him to her, sealing his lips with her kiss.
Behind them, a small cat puppet rubbed its paws together and said, "Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Claraowl: I hope you liked it! Please leave your thoughts and criticisms in that lovely little review box~! If you want to know how to play Rock-Book-Dagger-Wizard-Owl, please let me know!
To whom it may concern: Sayu's and Gon's names appear in course 29, the first chapter in volume seven. They appear sporadically throughout the manga and are in the closing beach episode's final picture.
By the way...you get a bonus hug from me if you tell me the name of the cat puppet! XD I'm fine with either spelling. :D