~ Chapter Two ~
~ Text Messaging ~
"Two thousand yen?" How am I suppose to get all of ALL that money for the rest of my high school career? I sounded exasperated, the whole effect of the permanent damage to the floor polisher and the loss of the swifter were finally settling on my chest. I glared at the man behind the glasses.
"I'm a janitor here! You aren't seriously expecting me to be able to pay all of that?" The room was quiet, so even though my voice was slightly louder than normal, it sounded as if I were yelling at the top of my lungs. Kyouya frowned lightly.
"The third music room is obviously out of commission for the time being, while the repairs take place you can discover another way for your income to rise." Kyouya claimed in a silky smooth voice, my glare darkened even further as my eyes landed on the twins and a suddenly scared Hunny. Mori looked as nonchalant as ever and didn't even twitch when my eyes landed on his cousin, I must not have looked nearly as threatening as I had originally thought because only Hunny's eyes were shining (or were they tearing because out of guilt?)
The twins shrugged, not looking nearly as sorry for the incident they were most responsible for as I believe they should be. I went to open my mouth to blame them, but instantly mulled it over.
What difference would it make? Why would blaming them so openly help me? I straightened and calmly remembered our social differences – our clothes, our postures, our voices and mannerisms. Our connections (or in my case, lack thereof) and our money (again, lack thereof). I simply didn't stand a chance and blurting things out like a stupid monkey wouldn't assist my situation.
"Hey, that's not fair Kyouya-sempai! She had no control over what Hikaru and Koaru had done! They should have listened to her in the first place," Haruhi shouted out, the twins backed away with their hands up in mock defense when Haruhi shot them a vicious glare before gazing back at Kyouya. His support helped ease my nerves and rising blood pressure, I instantly began to relax, maybe I could get out of this entire ordeal unscathed.
"Hikaru and Koaru can take the blame for what they have done – they won't get thrown out." Haruhi continued.
"Hunny started it," Hikaru and Koaru claimed as they blissfully pointed him out on Mori's shoulders. The blonde began to cry.
"I'm sorry Tsuyu-chan for losing your feather-stick!" I sighed inwardly, truthfully I didn't really blame Hunny-sempai. The twins weren't supposed to be anywhere near the polisher in the first place.
"Why would that matter? Those items were in Honiwa's possession and in the headmaster's eyes she holds the responsibility for them. By allowing the club to cover the expanses, not only would Honiwa get off the hook, as they say, but we would also have another customer." Kyouya explained.
"I wouldn't exactly be a customer, more like a forced client." I told him, his glasses flashed.
"It's either that or get expelled," he said, looking straight at me, I felt my world crumbling beneath my feet.
"Wait, how will the headmaster not know about the cleaning items? As you said before, I hold responsibility over them – if he finds out they broke I will still get blamed." I reasoned, Kyouya continued to smile.
"He'll never know if we replace them fast enough," almost instantly his phone was in his hands, I took note it was small, sleek, and black like his laptop. It looked mighty expansive like everything else, of course, it was Kyouya's overall appearance and dark atmosphere that really made me take him seriously.
All thoughts and hopes of getting out of this situation unscathed flew out the window like the polisher did.
"But…" I trailed off with a sigh, my brain racked for any loop holes, but it came up with none.
"When…" I inhaled deeply, "…do you think the Host Club will resume? I don't want to miss a day and get in even more trouble with it,"
"Kyouya, I can't stand how you're putting such stress on an already (clearly poor) commoner who has managed her way into Ouran from scratch the commoner's way!" Tamaki blurted out as he slid over to Kyouya's side, he seemed sincere, but I doubted his airy attitude was honestly going to get me out of this, or help at least. I watched as Kyouya barely registered the blonde's existence as his glasses flashed, cell phone still in hand.
"If you're going to put her through this at least give her the benefit of the doubt – I'm sure she didn't mean to allow the twins near that polish-floor machine!" I found myself glaring at Tamaki, but I wasn't the only one.
"Tamaki-sempai! She told them not to touch it!" Haruhi corrected with a rough edge to his voice, I looked over at Hikaru and Koaru.
"I did, but this blame game isn't getting us anywhere and to be quite frank I don't want this to drag on any longer than it already has." I felt I was doing an all right job of holding back any aggravation from leaking into my words, but I was certain I was radiating of anger and annoyance. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mori (with Hunny still riding on his shoulders) take a step back.
"I agree," Kyouya claimed, brushing Tamaki off. The blonde slid into a corner, a dark blue mist hovered around him. Pity did enter my emotional system, but it died as quickly as it had come.
"Yes," Kyouya said into his cell phone, apparently he called whoever he was calling in the moment my attention had turned to the woeful prince. "A new set is needed immediately." Without another word, Kyouya hung up and returned his phone to one of his pant pockets.
"You could have at least said thank you," I nearly growled out, Haruhi shook his head.
"I'm going home," said the brunette, Tamaki snapped back to life and raced over to Haruhi.
"Noooo~! Don't leave me with Mom! He's mean!" the blonde whined as he clung to Haruhi, I watched as Haruhi promptly pushed him to the ground and walked out of the room, the twins followed after, but not before jubilantly stepping on the fallen Tamaki.
"See you tomorrow tono," the twins chanted together, their laughter echoed off the hallway walls. I felt pressure around my midsection and looked down to find it was Hunny embracing me. His big, brown eyes still teary and his face looked absolutely adorable. All I could to do was pat him on the head and reassure him I would live – somehow.
"I guess I'll have to get another job," I said after Hunny and Mori left, Kyouya was the only one left around to hear.
"That's for you to decide, why don't you ask your parents for money?" I turned to look at him, too tired to honestly glare. I shrugged.
"That IS for me to decide Ootori-san," I replied evenly, he adjusted his glasses.
"Call me Kyouya, it is proper considering I am a host." He corrected, I shrugged again.
"I guess that'll be the only reason ne?" I went to leave when Kyouya added:
"Your new supplies should be awaiting you in the janitor's suite, Tsuyu-san." The black-haired youth claimed as I opened the third music room's door.
"It's Honiwa-san, Ootori-sempai." I cast him one last glance before exiting, I didn't stay long enough to see his upcoming smirk.
"At least she dropped the –san." He said to himself.
Around the time I finished cleaning (Kyouya was true to his word, the new polisher and swifter were ready to go downstairs in the janitor's suite – yes, it's a suite as shocking as that may sound) all my ire toward the Host Club dissipated for the most part. I wasn't the kind of person who could hold a grudge, or at least not hold it for long. After putting the cleaning supplies away (an hour and half later), I changed out of my janitor clothes and into regular (and as Ouran students put it) commoner attire. A pair of faded, denim Jeans and a worn tee from Hot Topic. "Charlie the Unicorn" bounced off my shirt in all it's glory when I received a text message on my phone.
Unlike Kyouya's, it was battered and the red color had been chipped off some areas. Dents adorned it like a car that had been rear-ended one too many times. It was a brick, or at least had the endurance of one.
I slid it open to discover the number was unknown to the phone's memory, when I opened the message up I visibly paled.
"Greetings Honiwa-san, this is Ootori-sempai." Smartass."I thought it would be kind of me to inform you that our club activities will return to normal on November 20th."
I looked at the calendar on my phone afterwards, the twentieth was only a week away – that wasn't enough to get a job and a second paycheck! Well, technically it would be my only paycheck, this job as a janitor was my part in taking an education here at Ouran, I didn't get a cent back.
I got another text – this time from Hunny.
"TSUYU-CHAN!!!XD333333" Oh no, "I CANT WAIT TO C U 2MORROW!"
My phone vibrated again with another handful of text messages.
"Tsuyu-chan I'm so sorry Kyouya was taking advantage of you! I mean that in the least filthiest way btw 3" from Tamaki.
"Hello Tsuyu-chan! Bring in more commoner things! Haruhi neglects us," from Hikaru and Koaru, I faintly wondered if I would ever be able to tell them apart.
"…hey." Three guess who – Mori, seriously, why did he even bother sending a message?
The only one I didn't get a text from was Haruhi.
Another 'bing' from my phone made me take back what I thought.
"I'll try & get u a discount, trust me, I kno theyre pricey." Haruhi claimed, I couldn't help, but smile with appreciation. Taking the price for a host down even by ten yen would make my life at least ten yen cheaper.
I got another text message from Kyouya.
"I took the liberty of giving all the Host Club members your cell phone number, just so you can keep in touch." I noticed how Kyouya was the only one who didn't abbreviate his words or shorten them, he must have mastered Prediction.
"How did you get my number in the first place???" I texted back, some of the ire from earlier began to rise back up.
"I have my ways." Was his reply, I snapped my phone shut.
I left the school with flames sprouting from the ground behind me, unlike most of Ouran, I didn't have a limo, I preferred to walk – more environmental and less calories for me. I wasn't a terribly thin girl, there was some thickness to my hips and thighs that betrayed my Japanese heritage, but that allowed me to have more of a chest area, but even that was somewhat annoying.
The rest of the walk home my mind was filled with irritation at the Host Club, most of the blame in my mind resided on the twins and Kyouya's shoulders, but it was my pride that prevented me from doing much to act on it.
The next day at Ouran turned out normal, but due to the previous day's adventure, I didn't make any faulty predictions based on how the morning class turned out.
It also seemed that Hunny had made it his life ambition to make up for the "feather-stick" incident by greeting me every morning before homeroom.
"Tsuyu-chaaaan!" Bunny Boy, as I often like to call him (mentally,) bounced up onto me before giving me a tight hug.
"You look more like a girl!" he commented bluntly, but he didn't seem to realize it, true, I was in the buttercup yellow dresses that consisted of the Ouran female student population school uniform. My dark brown hair had been pulled back into a loose braid, ending with a matching yellow ribbon tied in a small bow, my bangs were split apart to frame my green eyes. I wore my glasses which weren't thick in frame, mostly in hopes of Kyouya still not being able to recognize me in Physics class and because it IS a part of my disguise. Hunny took no time at all to point them out.
"Why are you wearing glasses Tsuyu-chan?" Hunny asked, blinking innocently after I set him back on the ground (I feel I've been doing that a lot lately.)
"I'm near-sighted," I replied, I took notice of Mori standing behind where I had placed Hunny.
"Really? Takashi is too!" Hunny exclaimed as he looked up at his cousin, I nodded.
"Do you wear contacts?" I asked Mori, he shook his head.
"I wear glasses when I read," the tall boy stated, I nodded.
"Don't you have to go to homeroom?" I questioned further, Hunny nodded solemnly, Usa-chan's head moved in unison considering its head was bunched up against Hunny's chin.
"We'll see you later at lunch then, 'kay?" Hunny cried.
"All right, bye." Was my weak reply before going into my homeroom class.
My Physics class came into the day a little too soon, unfortunately for me, Kyouya DID recognize me and even went as far as volunteering to be my partner for the day.
Scratch that, the new assignment was a week-long one.
"What? Didn't get to torture me enough yesterday?" I asked as we stood at a black, sleek lab table. Was it just me or was everything associating with Kyouya black and sleek? Were these omens or clues to his sadistic personality I have yet to see in full bloom? Kyouya merely smiled, with yesterday and its outcome still hanging over my head, his handsome looks and cool charms still didn't have the effect on me as it did the overall female student body of Ouran.
"Apparently not," he replied, his laptop out and in full use, his slender fingers ran over it rapidly and efficiently. He was already way ahead on our project. Physics was not my forte and I would scream this to the world if I was ever loud enough to do it, but apparently this project revolved around E=mc2 and to be honest, I was daydreaming when the teacher explained it.
Kyouya was quick on that memo like he was quick on everything else.
"We have to study from where the Chinese alchemists left off on magnetism, then write a paper about how it connects to future discoveries such as the attraction between fur and amber, alias electricity. Lab consists of small demonstrations between two objects that prove magnetism exists and photographs are required." Kyouya briefed, my brain fizzed and sputtered like the floor polisher on grass.
"I'll leave you to the photographs," he said, surprising me with his generosity, I shook my head.
"I don't understand this and as much as I hate to say it, I've got to take part in more than just taking pictures." He raised a brow at me and I absent-mindedly took a glance over at his old partners he had in the past when lab companionship was required. So far I knew four girls were his partners and one guy, the four girls fought tooth and nail to be his partner and the boy somehow became his partner when the teacher finally banned Kyouya being paired up with a girl. I was an exception since I didn't fight for Kyouya and jump on his fan bandwagon.
"What I'm saying is," I growled, if I were a partner with anybody else, we would fail because I'm usually dubbed the "smart one." If I didn't have a clue, the whole group didn't have a clue. "I want to do some work too, smart work." I emphasized, but I felt unintelligent in saying that in that way. Kyouya blinked then continued with a more genuine smile.
"All right," his fingers slowed to a stop on his laptop, "let's get going."
I was suddenly under the impression that if I slowed the assignment down he would take off and finish without me.
"By the way, Hunny-sempai claims he has a proposition for you. Talk to him later if you want to find out about it," Kyouya stated thirty minutes later in between equations and formulas, I nodded with a questioning frown on my face.
By the time Advanced Statistics rolled around, I was all "hosted" out, Tamaki, on the other hand, was overly enthusiastic and like Kyouya, wanted my utmost attention. Okay, Kyouya didn't want my utmost attention, but it was my attention nonetheless Tamaki wanted the most. Somehow he did this without neglecting his normal, pampered crowd of ogling girls.
"Did you get my text yesterday?" Tamaki asked from his seat next to mine, I gave a nod.
"Yes, along with everybody else's," was my reply, Tamaki smiled brightly, it wasn't like Kyouya's, perfect, sincere, and happy. His violet eyes shined with excitement, he kind of reminded me of a little boy (not like Hunny) who was normally overly eager for usually nothing.
"Tell me, considering you are being forced into coming to the Host Club once it reopens – but you should enjoy yourself, it's not expansive for no reason – what cosplay do you love the most? Food? Dishware? Flowers? Decoration?"
"What? Are you planning on having the room ready for me alone for the rest of my high school career?" I asked, Tamaki smile got a little broader, if it were even possible.
"It seems like a good idea, as long as your ideas are better than Hikaru and Koaru's…" he trailed off and looked off into the distance, as if remembering something tragic. The girls in the room swooned because for some unfathomable reason, even though he probably didn't do it on purpose, he looked like he were posing for a photo shoot in Milan.
"Um, well, let's see…" he seemed sincere enough to listen to my ideas, of which I did appreciate. So far, I like him, Haruhi, Hunny, and Mori. The twins and Kyouya had their work cut out for them to impress me, but I didn't really want them too.
"I like watching Studio Ghibli movies," I said, Tamaki returned in full bubbly mode with those words.
"Really? I LOVE him! What's your favorite movie?"
"Uh, probably The Cat Returns and Nausicaa, why?" Tamaki looked up in thought, using his fingers to count something. Then in a burst of excitement he cried:
"All right! Leave it to me!" I wasn't sure what he meant, but the next hour Tamaki had devoured a small notebook with random doodles and words. When class was over he raced out of the room.
A/N: Second chapter to my first OHSHC fanfic - woot! At first, I wasn't sure it would get a lot of attention, but there are more faves than reviews - please REVIEW if you are going to fave! I want to know why you like it and what you think should be different, predict what might happen - sure, you KNOW this is a KyouyaXOC pairing, but spare me some thoughts! I'm trying to improve my writing skills and as much as I want the attention (I'll be honest) I want the critique even more. I'm an art student at one of the best colleges in the nation! I can take a review full of bad marks as long as they are constructive! I want to be a serious author, but how can I prove that if no one will take me seriously enough to review? Just a LITTLE bit of feedback please!
Lol, I also kept forgetting Tsuyu doesn't know Haruhi is a girl (yet) and had to keep correcting myself (she is a he at this point in time.)
Thank you for your reviews ~ -YouStoleMyName- , Kinthinia , & sessys girl forever