I skipped after Haruhi today, having managed to avoid my cousin so far this beautiful spring morning, and therefore avoided a good half hour delay in my daily schedule.
"Why're you so peppy this morning?" Haruhi asked, a small smile gracing her lips as I twirled around happily, skipping after her as she led me to the classroom for 1-A students.
"Why not?! The day is bright, the birds are singing, you're in a good mood, I can see René freely again, and the cherry blossoms are blooming. It's a beautiful day to begin my academic career here at this most prestigious academy!" I answered loftily, following her to a row of four empty desks in the back of the room.
"That sounds really great for you, Belle," Haruhi replied, a lazy grin spreading across her features as she sat her stuff on one desk and motioned for me to take the other one. "It's good to see you really happy."
"Merci, Haruhi," I smiled, blowing her a kiss as I too began preparing for today's lessons, "and might I say you look quite ravishing yourself when you're happy!" I tossed, flirting lightly.
"Huh, look at that Kaoru, she really is French!" Ahh, the twins, I suppose that means the loud mouth is Hikaru.
"Yeah, I suppose that proves it." Kaoru (I think), answered his brother, earning them both an amused grin from myself and a deadpan from Haruhi.
"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Haruhi demanded, her tone defensive. She's like an angry puppy, so cute, so lovable.
"Well, look at how she's flirting with you! It's so cliche!" Hikaru stated matter of factly, sitting to Haruhi's left while his brother took the seat to my right.
"Talk about stereotypes!" Kaoru added, sending a friendly smirk my way. Haruhi scoffed as I tried to keep my giggles contained, focusing on what was in front of me.
"Please, just because she likes me doesn't mean she's a flirt. She's not like that with everyone." Haruhi argued.
"Oh please, being related to the boss, she has to be," Hikaru argued. I interrupted when it seemed like Haruhi was going to try and refute the statement again.
"To be fair, you're both kind of right, I'm French and therefore I'm naturally charming," I admitted easily, batting my eyes at each twin, "but I don't genuinely flirt with someone unless I'm friendly with them," I added, nodding my head towards Haruhi. "I'm just a very coquettish creature, naturally." I shrugged, smirking at them all, daring them to challenge what I said.
"Pfft, ok." Kaoru chuckled, a hint of sarcasm tingeing his tone. "Whatever you say, Angel." He spoke, sending me a mischievous look from the side. I could feel the faint flush spread across my face as I puffed my cheeks out. Angel, indeed.
"Whatever you say!" I mocked sarcastically under my breath as I pulled my ePod and wireless earbuds out, carefully arranging my hair so I could listen to music undetected with at least one ear during this lesson. "Angel my ass…" I grumbled, glaring at Haruhi and Hikaru as they laughed at my agitated expression. "Stupid pretty boy twins. Stupid Haruhi. How dare they! I am not an angel! I'm a fucking pirate, a pirate filled with rage and sin! SIN I TELL YOU! I'm twice as devilish as both of the 'little devil types' put together. How fucking dare they..." I thought to myself, grumbling incoherently as I began taking down notes on what the teacher had added to the board.
The day was long and, as I had suspected, really beautiful despite the slight chill in the air. I had managed to sneak Haruhi passed the twins and outside for lunch, where we managed to split our two Bentos. Haruhi enjoyed some high-class sushi in exchange for some of her homemade cookies, and eventually the day wound down and classes were dismissed. We couldn't escape the twins this time and I'm ashamed to say I permitted them to man-handle me all the way to Music Room 3.
"You know, this could be construed as harassment." Haruhi deadpanned, following behind us as I pulled dead weight on the twins. If they're going to kidnap me in such a rough manner they're gonna have to put some effort into it.
"She's having fun!" Hikaru scoffed,readjusting his grip as they dragged me down the hall. "You can tell because she's making it so much harder for us!"
"Obviously, she enjoys being held in our arms," Kaoru added in explanation.
"You guys suck…" I grunted, flushing pink for at least the fifth time today, as I dropped the dead weight act so we could at least get there quicker. Damn the twins and their cocky ways.
"Hahaha!" They even laugh in freaking unison!
"Will you guys stop messing around? We are going to be late if you don't hurry up!" Haruhi scolded from up the hall.
"We're coming!" We called together, exchanging startled looks.
"Great, now I'm doing it," I murmured, escaping their grasps and jogging to catch up with my friend. "Haruhi, don't leave me with them! They're infectious!" I cried out, grabbing her arm and pulling her ahead with me.
"HEY!" I giggled as we rounded the hall to the music room.
"Belle~!" Honey-senpai called out, giving me just enough time to brace myself for impact as he jumped into my arms. He's not that heavy but I still let out a hard grunt when he made contact latching his legs around me as he peered at me over my shoulder. "Honey, I know I'm not exactly short, but I'm also not made of muscle. Give me some warning in advance next time, k?" I lightly scolded, laughing as he pouted at me.
"Hey, is that a fat joke?" He teased.
"No, it would only be a fat joke if I had dropped you," I responded, pulling him off my person and handing him over to Mori-senpai. "I believe this is yours, sir," I spoke seriously, staring my most handsome senpai in the eye.
"Ah." He responded, sending me a small smile and patting my head affectionately. These two are totally my favorite hosts. I've decided.
"MON BELLE!"
"And now there's another blonde on me." I sighed, exasperated by my cousin. It's a fond exasperation, though, I honestly have missed him for a long while, so this, this is nice, if not a bit restricting.
"Oh, Mon Belle, I haven't seen you all day! How were your classes? Are you adjusting well? Did Haruhi keep those Devil Twins away from you?!" A million and one questions at once.
"Er…" I trailed off, thinking about how best to answer all that.
"Actually, she spent most of the class doodling in her notebook and listening to music." Hikaru ratted me out.
"And in between lessons her and Haruhi couldn't seem to stay away from us!" Kaoru went right along with him. Traitors.
"We've decided we like her! She's our little Angel now." They spoke in tandem, throwing their arms casually around my person. I would have contradicted them, but I didn't get a chance before Tamaki started freaking out. He's so… screechy. The twins were cracking up laughing, leaning heavily on me, and it was difficult for me to hold back the giggles with the way Tamaki was going on.
"They'll corrupt you, Mon Belle! STAY AWAY FROM THOSE DEVILS!" was just a bit of what I managed to catch as my giggles began to settle. I smirked, an evil idea crossing my mind.
"Oh but, René…" I started off, pouting up at my older cousin, knowing he's a sucker for the puppy dog pout. "Every devil needs an angel." I countered innocently, snickering to myself when his jaw dropped.
"BAHAHAHAH! That was a good one, Belle!" Kaoru commented, placing one hand on my right shoulder.
"Yeah, look at the boss!" Hikaru laughed coming up on my left. I peered back at them over my shoulder with a smirk of my own placing my hands over each of their own.
"Who says I was kidding?" I questioned, turning to face them without letting go before walking between them and over to Kyoya senpai, who had so far stayed out of the exuberance of the others. I didn't notice the shocked looks they exchanged behind me, nor the impish grins that slowly blossomed onto their faces as they watched me walk away. "Kyoya-senpai!"
"Yes, Annabelle?" He asked peering at me over his glasses as I scrunched my face up at the name.
"Belle is fine, seriously." I corrected before jumping back to my reason for bugging him. "Where are all of your customers? You guys are hosting today, right?" I questioned bluntly. They had managed to get me to join their stupid club and yet my first day we aren't doing anything. What's up with that?
"No, not today. We have unanimously decided that today would be used to prepare you for your new hosting duties, and to take the time to recover after the eventful party we threw last week." He explained patiently enough, his glasses only barely flashing at me.
"You had a party last week?" I questioned him further as Haruhi brought us out some tea from the back room.
"Yeah, didn't I tell you about it?" Haruhi asked, joining Kyoya and me at the table.
"Noooo!" I replied, rolling my eyes at my forgetful friend. "Well, tell me how it went! Did you have fun dancing? IS THAT WHY YOU ASKED ME TO TEACH YOU THE WALTZ?!" And so the story was told, and by the time she got to kissing her client, I was straining to keep the impassive look on my face, a small whimper slipping out as I turned away covering my face with my hands.
"I thought what we had was special, Haruhi!" I managed to let out, tears streaming from my eyes as I tried to keep the laughter in.
"I can guarantee that out of everyone in this room, you are by far my favorite person." Haruhi statedly blandly, a dry smile on her face as she patted my back, I was shaking from silent laughter.
"I can't believe they put you in a dress!" I managed to bark out. "That sounds just like something your father would do! Whose dumb idea was that?" I laughed, getting louder when I saw my words had offended my cousin.
"It kind of does, doesn't it?" She began giggling with me. Man, my cousin is stupid.
"Well, if you two are quite done," Kyoya interrupted, a small smile on his own face, "I suppose you can help tally up our weekly spending while we go over some guidelines for Belle to follow." He ordered, shoving a few papers with numbers on them into both of our hands.
"That's a lot of cake," I commented, looking over the account statement that had been shoved into my hands.
"As the only hostess in the club, there are a few rules we'll have to set down," Kyoya started as Tamaki and the twins pulled out a whiteboard and some markers.
"First rule!" Tamaki interrupted, "No philandering with strange males! Keep all interactions with clients strictly professional, and you are most certainly not permitted to date any of them." He ordered firmly, writing that first rule in large bold lettering, not noticing the cold glare I was sending him until he was finished.
"I don't like it, and will probably argue it at some point, but for now, that's fine." I nodded slowly, already thinking of possible loopholes and connotations that came with that rule.
"Second rule," Kyoya took over again, "From what Tamaki has told me, your methods of romancing are quite straightforward and very… suggestive. You will need to keep that toned down when speaking with the clients. No need to give any false hope."
"Third," Hikaru and Kaoru broke in, stealing the marker as they pushed Tamaki out of the way.
"You probably shouldn't host alone," Kaoru spoke up.
"Especially, if you're hosting to guys," Hikaru added.
"After all, you're our little angel." The finished in sync, nuzzling into my hair like some kind of animals.
"Angel my ass," I grumbled, pushing them off of me. "These rules are stupid. Besides Haruhi and I already discussed it, and I don't think it would be a good idea for me to host to guys. I don't want to give any of them the wrong impression." I sighed, rolling my eyes "However hosting in pairs or a group of girls sounds fun…" I thought aloud, perking up a bit.
"Oh, Mon Belle! We can be a team!" Tamaki announced grandly.
"Er, no, actually I was thinking either with Haruhi or with Mori and Honey- senpai." I cut him off, quickly latching onto the tallest and smallest host. "They're my favorite senpai and I crave their approval," I added, hitting my cousin where I knew it would hurt.
"Well, we'll have to see about that. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to let you filter by each group…" Kyoya thought about it. "Potentially it would be an excellent way to gather more feedback from our clients. If they are comfortable enough to discuss things with you."
"I'll have them eating out of the palm of my hands," I assured the shadow king with a pleasant business smile.
"Well, then that will have to do until you can develop a following of your own." Kyoya sighed, giving into my request.
"This is going to be awesome!" I mumbled to myself, a true smile crawling onto my face as I returned to helping the Megane crunch numbers.