Prologue
Kyoya woke with a start, immediately tensing at the unexpected warmth wrapped around his body, clinging to his back. The arms around him held him closer, and the warmth shifted until the smell of dusty wood and acrylic paint calmed him.
"Five more minutes . . ." The body groaned.
He stayed still, watching as his phone light up for a few minutes before gently untangling the limbs from around his body. Sitting up he put on his glasses as he checked the lock screen, 47 missed calls from Tamaki and 134 missed messages. He frowned as he noted the time and unlocked his phone, scrolling through the missed texts.
The weight on the bed shifted and soon he felt someone else's warm breath on his left shoulder. There was a mixture between a groan and a hum before a long yawn, "Your phone was going off like crazy so I put it on Do-Not-Disturb, I hope I didn't make you miss anything important."
Kyoya gave a long sigh before shaking his head and typing a response to the Host King before setting down his phone again and adjusting his glasses. "It's fine, just Tamaki."
"Good." The arms wrapped around his chest again from over his shoulders, pulling him back so that the blankets enveloped them, "Then come back to sleep with me." They buried their face in the crook of his neck before snuggling in further, their hair tickling the underside of his chin.
He placed the palm of his right hand on the top of their head and pushed them away, "Otouto, Tamaki will be here in an hour to discuss club activities. Within that time I need to have what remains of breakfast and get ready for the-"
Kyoya's short lecture was interrupted by a soft knock and the tentative entrance of a household maid. She blushed slightly at seeing her masters' unruly appearances and slipped into the room with a low bow, "Good morning Ootori-sama, Ootori-sama." With skilful grace, she carried with her two trays, one of a traditional Japanese breakfast, the other a traditional Irish breakfast in addition to two pots of tea.
She placed the two of them on the coffee table on the lower level as she moved to open the curtains, making light flood into the pristine room. The maid worked in silence under the watchful gaze of the young Ootori's, giving them another low bow before exiting the room with a complementary, 'Please, ring if you need anything else, Young masters.'.
There was a pause in the room and his younger sibling, Kouki, moved to the other side of the bed, sitting up sleepily as they rubbed their eyes. "I requested breakfast in your room last night in preparation for this." They explained slowly as Kyoya got up from the bed, their voice slipping into the customary 'Ootori-efficiency' tone.
Kyoya restrained from rolling his eyes as he slipped out of bed and threw a shirt over his bare chest before descending the stairs to the tantalising meal waiting for them. A loud thump told him that his little brother had rolled out of bed, and he stayed clear of the area as a figure went flying over his glass railing into the couch, making it tilt dangerously. He let out another sigh as the figure crouched on his clean cushions, pouring the tea into their cups respectfully, the green tea into a traditional Japanese tea cup while the other tea found its way into a cup of fine china- "Irish Breakfast Tea." He remarked, taking the cup offered to him as Kouki started to add milk and sugar to theirs.
A comfortable silence filled the room as the two siblings ate, finally finished with their meal the younger Ootori put down their cutlery neatly. "So what is it that Tamaki-san wants to discuss?" They questioned, wiping their mouth with a napkin.
He paused a moment between mouthfuls, "He wants to discuss the club's first theme, it needs to be memorable, but the moron wants to go all out already."
"Can I help?"
Kyoya stopped for a moment, finishing his tea silently. "I suppose that would be beneficial, Tamaki would be happy to see you anyway."
His younger sibling responded with a short hum before returning their attention towards their breakfast.
.+++.
Kyoya barely looked up from his laptop as Kouki opened the door to let the maid in. Within an instant a yellow blur nearly crashed into him, momentarily pausing to thank the woman who had let him in.
"Kyoya I had the greatest idea last night!" Tamaki nearly screamed into his ear as he sat next to the shaken Ootori with the enthusiasm of a puppy.
The raven-haired boy adjusted his glasses and sent his friend a slight glare before sighing, he was doing that a lot recently. Before he could reprimand the French boy beside him Kouki interrupted them with as they cleared their throat. "Would you like some tea, Tamaki-san? Aniki?" They asked politely as they set down a tray with finger sandwiches, sweets, and a traditional Japanese tea set.
The blonde brightened at the presence of the young non-binary but pouted at the formality. "Koukichi, I told I told you to call me 'Big-brother'." Tamaki pouted.
"I already have three elder brothers, I certainly don't need another," Kouki responded, unphased as he started to prepare the cups. "Would you like some?" They repeated their offer, making Tamaki's shoulders sink as he nodded.
Kyoya watched as Tamaki attempted to use his puppy-eyes to no avail on his younger sibling, quietly observing Tamaki's technique. Yes, if they were going to run a 'host club' then they were certainly going to have to work on that.
Kouki handed each of them their tea silently before going back to mull over their homework, leaving Kyoya and Tamaki to sort out their business. Tamaki sipped his tea thoughtfully, lost in thought as he noted that each of the Ootori children had dutifully turned towards their work without another word. He watched over the younger Ootori's shoulder as he waited for Kyoya to finish looking over the documents that the blonde had sent him earlier.
It had been a few months since the idea first arose and they had since been planning their steps towards officiating the club by the start of high school. Getting approval wouldn't be an issue, seeing that Tamaki's father was the head of the school, this detail already took care of a good amount of the workload, however, they needed to hash out the other aspects thoroughly.
Tamaki had already set his eyes on the desired members, but there were still other things to take care of. It was obvious that each member was drastically different from each other, leading the three to come up with 'types' for each host. While Kyoya and Kouki were struggling to come up with a comprehensive theme for the club, Tamaki's irrational and impulsive changes resolved in the decision of having weekly cosplaying events, partially so that Tamaki could be occupied but also to differentiate their services from alternate groups.
Having the club being comprised of not only some of the most handsome people in school but also influential would certainly draw in customers. This would easily provide an excuse for many 'closeted' customers, whose parents or guardian figures still disapproved of their club. However, in the end, their goal would be to make people happy.
Kouki stroked their face as they mulled over the profiles of each (to be) club member. Kyoya and Tamaki were talking about the more nitty-gritty details of running the club while Kouki unofficially took responsibility of marketing and creative details. While each one of them was undeniably unique, which was provide a nice variety of choices for customers, they needed something that could stick, a symbol for each of them.
Doodling on some spare paper Kouki started to list different things that were often connected with 'love'; a heart (too childish), a harp (too large and overly complicated), a maple leaf (while traditional, seasonal and common), a dove or swan (too difficult to take care of living animals in a high school club), a seashell (plausible, but not common enough), and a rose-
They stopped at the flower, spinning their pencil around their thumb as they stared at the word before starting different sketches around it. A rose, a classic symbol of love and devotion, why hadn't he thought of it before? Thinking of ways to differentiate the symbol between each host Kouki concluded that a physical object would be more effective than a picture of some sort, flowers were common items to be given as a sign of flattery anyway.
Drawing a circle on the page Kouki started naming the main colours on the colour wheel before filling in the common traits and messages the colours held. Pleased with his work the younger sibling moved towards Tamaki and Kyoya, clearing their throat as they leant in from the back of the couch between them, showing them their plan.
"You're going to need something to make the club stick if you're not going to have a consistent theme. Since the hosts' 'types' will be the only thing constant I thought that it would be beneficial if the club had a symbol of sorts, like a logo, but easily altered so suit each host appropriately." Kouki explained, moving his pencil along the list of typical love symbols before stopping on the last one, roses. "Roses are the symbol of love in many cultures and even carry the same message in the language of flowers. Since each host is uniquely different but meant to be charming it would help that roses can be found in different colours."
They looked up, between Kyoya and Tamaki for a reaction. Both of them seemed pleased with the idea, the blonde's eyes sparkled happily as he thought about the idea some more while Kyoya seemed to have already given his approval. "Superb!" Tamaki finally exclaimed as Kouki stood up, straightening their back. "After all, what's more romantic than receiving a blossom from a charming prince?" he went on, this comment more so to himself as he took on a strange pose- Tamaki's flamboyant side finally showing.
Kouki nodded anyway, coming around to sit next to their brother, leaning in to rest their head on their shoulder as Kyoya had started to add the detail to the plans. "I know a good flower company that can take our orders once we find out each host's corresponding colour." He turned towards Tamaki, "Would your father be opposed to having some bushes planted on school grounds? It'll make it much cheaper than ordering dozens every day or so, and it may be a great way to draw attention to the club."
"It'll leave a legacy at least." Kouki put in as they watched the digital characters appear on their brother's screen. "I can coordinate the colours for you. I'll just need some time to meet and talk to them so that I can get a good grip on their personality." they offered, feeling their brother nod under his head. Kyoya knew that Kouki was a good judge of character, they were an Ootori after all, and their artistic knowledge was offer a precise shade and tint for each blossom.
They rested on their older brother comfortably as he continued working, Tamaki distracted by his daydreaming. "How are you going to get them to join?" Kouki muttered the question, growing drowsy.
"Tamaki is in in charge of recruitment since this all was his idea," Kyoya said plainly, his tone sharpened as to remind the blonde of his responsibility.
The blonde broke out of his reverie and turned his stunning deep blue eyes towards them, "Don't worry Koukichi, I'll make them an offer they can't refuse." He smiled and Kouki felt his face heat up a little, how could someone make such a genuine expression? If this was the sort of charm he was going to pull at the host club then the girls never had a chance.
The group fell into silence once again and Kouki felt their eyelids drifting closer and closer together as they listened to the rhymic click-clack of their brother's typing.
Hello there,
This is Knovember, previously "Crymson Contradiction" and "iNsANiTy aNd reALiTy".
A lot has happened since I last wrote fanfiction and now I'm back. However, scars still remain so I need to know if it's really worth it to throw myself into the fray again.
On my profile is a poll, if you truly enjoyed my story then please go there and submit an answer to the poll, "Which story of mine do you enjoy the most? (This will help me focus on which stories I should be updating more)"
Like the title says, it will decide the future of all of my paused fanfictions. I'm doing this slowly, one at a time, so I can put my all into a story. Please support me and other authors by participating like this and leaving reviews.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Knovember