Dearest Starling

Chapter Two

Kokoro Uta—usually simply referred to as "Korota"—was a band best known in Japan, Hawaii and, strangely, Germany. They were Komugi, Minori, Izumi, and Sumire Shigemiwa, Japanese-Americans, who had gotten famous by using Minori and Izumi, identical twins, as frontmen. This gave the twins the largest fan base of the group, and among this fan base was none other than Hoshiyama Natsumi. Now the group was on their way to Tokyo, where they had been hired to play at a said fan's wedding.

Minori looked at the board again and whined. Their flight had been delayed for another hour due to a big storm. "Ugh! How much longer?" she asked, restlessly.

Her younger twin mostly ignored her, as she played a handheld game and only looked up to check the time every now and then. "It's a good thing we decided to go a few days early as a 'vacation'," Izumi muttered, putting extra sarcasm on the 'vacation' part.

Her older brother caught the passive aggressive jab and glared at her, "I already told you, no vacations. We've got sound checks, and practicing, and schmoozing to do, so just put up and shut up."

"I think a vacation would be nice. We go all over the world, and we never get to visit any sights," Sumire, the youngest sibling, interjected.

Minori sat up a little straighter (she had a nasty habit of slouching), and looked at her brother, "Komugi-niisan, why are we going five days early if we don't get to look around a little?"

"We have to set things up and get our costumes fitted. Then we have to go to the rehearsal dinner the day before the wedding, be at the wedding, and play again for the reception. It's, like, a three day thing."

"The flight to Tokyo is now boarding. Thank you for your patience."

Hikaru and Kaoru stood, happy that they could finally get on the plane and get going. As Kaoru handed him his carryon, Hikaru asked, "Why don't we have a private jet, again?"

This was something of a joke, because the Hitachiin family did have a jet, it was usually tied up with their mother's business. They passed through the gate first, possessing first-class tickets, and made their way to the plane without paying much attention to anyone outside 'their world'.

The twins behind them didn't notice much of anything around them, either, but this was because they were trying to browbeat their older brother into letting them have some time off. None of the Shigemiwa siblings even noticed when Hikaru's strap came loose, and the contents of his carryon spilled across the floor.

One of the young ladies, about to give the taller man of her group a piece of her mind, turned toward him suddenly, just as her foot came in contact with one of Hikaru's fallen objects, and began a fantastic display of flight, backwards, through the air. The whole affair would have been funny as hell to both Hitachiin's, had her freefalling body not been on a direct collision course with Hikaru. The older twin flinched in anticipation for the blow, but when none came, he opened his eyes to see that she had disappeared. Amazingly, she had somehow overshot him by a foot, and landed hard on her back on the other side.

Izumi saw stars for a conscious moment before the pain came. She stared, dumbfounded, at the ceiling, feeling bruised and thankful that she didn't seem to have a concussion.

"'Zumi! Are you okay?" Minori asked, stepping around the human obstacle that was Hikaru, and kneeling at Izumi's side.

"Ouch."

Minori helped her sister into a sitting position, all the while checking for anything that looked out of place on her sister's body. When everything was fine, Izumi turned an angry glare onto the person who had caused her fall.

"Watch where you're dropping stuff!" she yelled.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" Hikaru snapped back.

"I wouldn't have to if you had kept the aisle clear, you clumsy oaf!"

"I'm not the one flat on my ass, so who's the clumsy one here?"

Minori tugged on her sister's arm, "People are staring."

Hikaru went to say something else, but Kaoru interrupted. "We're sorry about the mess. Are you okay?"

Izumi regarded him skeptically, but nodded nonetheless, turning narrowed eyes to Hikaru, "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." She looked at him like she wanted him to spontaneously catch fire, as she righted herself and brushed imaginary dust from her pants.

Komugi and Sumire had been quiet until Komugi felt the need to tease Izumi about her fall, and Sumire made an observation. "Hey, you aren't the only twins around for once," she pointed out to her sisters.

The twins and Komugi hadn't really noticed this, being so used to seeing double. Sure, they had come across twins before, but none that look quite so similar as the two in front of them.

Hikaru and Kaoru also took note of this. The two girls that they had recently been fighting were completely alike. If they had been wearing the same clothes and if the more friendly one hadn't curled her hair and done her makeup, they would have been difficult to tell apart, even by a trained eye. The Hitachiin twins, though, could see a few differences, just as they could pick out the subtle distinctions between themselves, granted they were few and far between. The first indicator was the scowl on one's face, giving her a faint, permanent line between her eyebrows that indicated her common use of the expression. This same girl also had hazel eyes that had held a strange, almost watery hue in them. The other girl was smiling calmly, dark hair curled perfectly and cosmetics applied so well that it seemed almost natural. This girl had eyes that seemed a little darker than her sister's.

The two sets of twins assessed each other in less than a second, before the Shigemiwa family moved along to their seats, stepping around Hikaru, who finished shoving everything that was sprawled over the carpet into his bag.


The famous Imperial Floor of the Imperial Hotel Tokyo had mostly been completely rented out to guests of the Haninozuka-Hoshiyama wedding that would take place in less than a week. Regular guests would check in the day before the wedding and leave the day after; more exclusive guests, such as close friends and family, would be staying from Monday until Sunday, when everyone would be leaving. The Exclusive List, as their wedding planner had called it, should only have the names of the people closest to the couple, and should leave room for each person to have one guest, should the need arise. All in all, this was the list: Haninozuka Family, Hoshiyama Family, Morinozuka Takashi, Suou Tamaki, Fujioka Haruhi, Ootori Kyouya, Hitachiin Hikaru, Hitachiin Kaoru, Takuro Momoe, Opal Willard-Jones, Amelia Willard-Jones, Isaac Beresford, Shigemiwa Family.

Natsumi sighed, looking at her copy of the list again. Minus family members, she had one guest that she actually knew coming, four that she idolized, and three that her mother had taken the liberty of inviting for her. The Willard-Jones family owned one of the largest publishing companies in the world, Opal being the head of this company, and Amelia being the heiress. Isaac, on the other hand, Natsumi had never even been in a crowded dining hall with (for that was the extent of her acquaintance to Amelia); all she knew about him was that he had recently inherited some kind of corporation, and had been engaged to Amelia in very much the same fashion that Natsumi and Hunny had been engaged.

When Hunny suddenly bounded into the room, dragging Mori with him, Natsumi was pulled from her musings.

"Natsu-chan! Takashi and I are going to get ice cream, do you want to come?" he bounced excitedly from his toes to his heels and back again.

Natsumi looked at the tall man as the frequent feeling of terror began to curl in her stomach. "Ah, no! Thank you, Mistukuni-kun, but I have very… important things to do," she lied. She was actually bored to tears, but she wasn't about to get into a car with her fiancé's intimidating cousin. She picked up the folder with all the finished wedding arrangements, and held it up as if it would somehow prove that she really was busy.

Hunny tilted his head sweetly, "I can help you with that."

Natsumi's face suddenly went deathly pale before it flushed as red as a tomato. "No, no, no, Mitsukuni-kun! I'll handle it, I'm fine!" she waved her hands in front of her, instantly wishing she could lie without digging herself deeper, for once.

Hunny smiled widely at her, "Okay, then!" With that said, he turned on his heel and skipped back out the door, Mori in tow.

Once outside, Mori looked down at his little cousin, "I thought you said that everything was ready, Mitsukuni."

Hunny nodded, "It is. I think she's just shy."

"Ah."


The home of the Willard-Jones family could be classified as nothing less than a mansion, and was located in Northern England. If Amelia had cared enough to learn her family history, she might have known when, exactly, her family came into possession of their fortune. Apparently she had an ancestor that had been a duke, or something, though that could hardly account for what they had now.

"Miss Willard-Jones, your mother asks if you are ready yet?" one of the staff asked from outside her door.

Amelia gave the mirror a distasteful look before replying, "A few more minutes." Her mother had always said: 'A woman is only as good as the concealer she uses.' Amelia dabbed more foundation onto a triangular sponge, wiping it over the bruise on her cheekbone, hoping silently that the swelling wasn't noticeable. Amelia was vain by nature, perhaps caused by years of being told that external beauty was the only thing that mattered, perhaps simply due to her own character flaw. Regardless, she spent more hours in front of the mirror than she cared to count, and was rarely completely satisfied with the results. When every blemish—existent or not—was covered, she finally stood and collected her handbag, looking at the full body mirror on her way out.

Isaac waited for her in the foyer, looking like the gentleman he should have truly been. Amelia wondered if he resented her and slept around because he hadn't had the chance to live as an adult before they were engaged as teens, or if he was just destined to be a cad.

He held an arm out to her, and Amelia had to fight not to ask him to point to where the camera was; this was, after all, paparazzi behavior. Instead of earning a slap (which would be saved for when they were in private), she bit her tongue and placed a delicate hand on his arm, which was almost as delicate as her own. The man didn't know the meaning of 'work', then again, neither did Amelia, really.

Isaac escorted Amelia to the limousine, where her mother was already waiting in a none-too-patient manner. This was Opal Willard-Jones we were talking about, and when she said jump, there was often a chorus of 'How high?'s.

Amelia sat between her mother and fiancé, which could be compared to sitting between two rotating saw blades; one wrong move, and she could expect something terrible from either side.


Renge perched herself annoyingly on the edge of Kyouya's desk, where he was typing away at his Pineapple laptop. She stayed there, watching him over his shoulder, and unwittingly irritating him to no end.

Kyouya kept calm and asked, "Is there something you need, Renge?"

She finally stopped looking at his computer screen and instead asked him a question of her own. "Why didn't you tell me Hunny-senpai was getting married?"

"If you weren't invited, it wasn't my place to say anything," he retorted coldly.

She would have flinched back, but she had gotten used to his indifference a few months ago, and now she just held on tight over the rocky points in their conversations. The two of them weren't really dating, but for some reason, she felt like they were. After debating her next request for a few minutes, she finally decided to ask, "Would you take me with you?"

Kyouya stared, disturbed by her forward approach, but recovered with a grace that only he could ever possess. "No," he answered flatly, "Because that would mean that I'd have to share my suite with you, and I'd much rather have it to myself. Besides, I'm not your Miyabi, and I've never confessed to loving you, Renge."

She was only slightly hurt by this comment, but refused to show it. Instead, she opted to argue with him. "Why not?" she asked, "It's not like you'll ever love anyone, anyway, so why not pretend? After all, of all the women in the world, who have you known the longest? Who has been willing to give you her heart from the beginning?" She paused for a minute, these were not the points that would get Kyouya to listen to her. There was only one thing she could say, "And, we both know, that whoever I marry gets joint-ownership of my father's company, which should be enough for you to crush your father's with. Or isn't that what you want?"

Kyouya knew bribery when he heard it, but she was still partially correct. He only had one thing to cling to, though, and that was the fact that if he agreed, she'd turn it around in her head that he desired a relationship with her. Perhaps it was cruel, but he had to make her understand that all aspects of his life, even love, were strictly business. "Even if I marry you, I'll never feel affection for you," he warned her, more for his sake than for hers.

"I know," she said, standing, "But you're a host, and hosts prosper when pretending."

The silence that engulfed the room was deafening. When had Renge's mind fallen from the flowery idealism of girlhood into the cynical darkness of reality? Kyouya was left speechless by her evaluation of him, and the fact that it was mostly true was even more surprising. He swallowed a lump in his throat after a minute, and then said the only fact there was left to say. "We leave in an hour."


The Imperial Hotel Tokyo was home to thirteen restaurants, serving foods from a variety of different countries. The Exclusive List guests would all be meeting at the Parkside Diner at one o'clock on Monday. The ex-hosts had all decided to meet an hour beforehand to have some time together before the other guests arrived; Hunny had a sneaking suspicion that they also wanted to inspect his bride.

Said bride was sitting to his left, wringing her hands worriedly. She kept her eyes averted, and when she did look up, she never looked in his direction. This was probably because Mori was sitting to his right, and the girl—for reasons Hunny couldn't fathom—seemed terrified of his silent cousin. She glanced at the clock for the hundredth time, and went back to studying her lap.

Hunny also looked at the clock, 11:53; she was probably feeling more anxiety now than ever. The light caught her engagement ring, and Hunny hummed in thought. He hadn't really thought it was a necessary gift, with them getting married barely a month after meeting. The look on her face when he had placed the velvet box in her hand, though, had been undeniably adorable. He couldn't understand why she was so shy, but if it meant cute expressions like those, he'd be willing to deal with it. Even now, her face was tinted pink across her cheeks, and her brow was furrowed in concentration, but the pout on her lips was what really made the scene look endearing.

Hunny sighed inwardly. While he may act like a child, he had a clear understanding of the adult mind, and he was noticing how the fact that their parents had hardly let them leave each other's side was affecting the way he looked at her. This, coupled with the fact that he had no initial objections to marrying her, would probably mean that even if he never had romantic feelings for her, he could still care for her the way a husband should. Hunny couldn't help but feel a thankfulness toward his father for finding someone who matched him so well.

Mori noticed that Hunny was in deep thought. "Something wrong, Mitsukuni?" he asked.

"Eh?" Hunny looked at him, "Oh, no. I hope they get here soon, I'm hungry!" Hunny was instantly back to his usual self, then, bouncing in his seat, and telling Natsumi about the host club members, and how much fun they were. Mori saw her smiling genuinely at Hunny, as he continued on with his stories, while she listened intently. Mori smiled, too, happy for his cousin.

The first hosts to arrive were the twins, who had apparently just checked in, and had come right to the diner. "We meant to get on the plane at eight in the morning yesterday, so we could be here today by ten, but the flight was delayed for a couple hours," Kaoru explained.

"It's okay, have a seat."

Hikaru and Kaoru sat across from Hunny, putting Kaoru three seats to the right of Mori, and Hikaru four. "Are you going to introduce us?" they asked in unison.

Hunny sat up a little, nodding, "This is Natsumi-chan. Natsu-chan, these are Hitachiin Kaoru and Hikaru."

"Actually," corrected the one on the left, "I'm Hikaru, he's Kaoru."

"Oops," Hunny apologized, "Sorry."

"At least they aren't trying to confuse you," came a voice.

Hunny jumped up suddenly, "Haru-chan!" He ran toward her and glomped her. "Haru-chan, Haru-chan! Did you miss me?"

Haruhi nodded, "It's been too long since I've seen you all."

"How is Tama-chan?" Hunny suddenly asked.

Haruhi narrowed her eyes, "How should I know?"

"Because he drove you here," said Kyouya, who had entered behind her, Renge at his side.

Haruhi turned to the shadow king, irked at him. "That doesn't mean anything. You came with Renge," she countered, thinking this would prove her point.

Kyouya nodded, "Yes. But after attending this wedding, we might be planning one of our own soon."

Mental sound effects: tires squealing. All of the hosts stared in shock at Kyouya's nonchalant way of saying, 'I'm also engaged.'

Behind Kyouya, there was a gasp, "Mother, how could you keep this from me?!"

Kyouya turned to meet the over-dramatic, tearstained face of Tamaki, who had just finished checking in. "We just discussed it this morning," Kyouya replied, "And besides, I do think I'm allowed to have a little privacy."

"That's more than you can say for the rest of us," Haruhi muttered, thinking back to Kyouya's earlier knowledge of her transportation.

Tamaki seemed to recover from Kyouya's 'betrayal' quickly, when he remembered why he was even at this hotel. "Ah, this must be the young lady," he said, gesturing toward Natsumi, who was awestruck by the strangeness of the group.

Hunny skipped happily back to his seat, "This is Natsumi-chan! That's Haruhi, Kyouya, Tamaki, and Renge." Hunny pointed to each person as he said their names, before gesturing to them all to sit down.

Haruhi sat in the vacant chair next to Hikaru, and Tamaki didn't miss a beat when stealing the seat on her other side. He dragged Kyouya with him (not that Kyouya had intended to sit anywhere else), and Renge sat next to Kyouya, putting only five empty chairs between her and Natsumi.

Every ex-host regarded Natsumi silently for a moment before anyone spoke. The silence was finally broken when Haruhi, not understanding that they were all supposed to be busy staring at Natsumi, asked where Natsumi was from.

Blushing, as usual, she answered that she was from the Kyoto area.

Tamaki perked up, "Have you seen the Golden Pavilion?"

Natsumi nodded, "Yes, but my personal favorite place in Kyoto is Fushimi Inari Shrine."

Tamaki talked enthusiastically about tourist locations that he had seen with Kyouya (who mostly recalled being forced to go), while Natsumi listened politely, and added her opinion in where it was asked for.

The hour they had together passed quickly, being mostly spent interrogating the little, auburn-haired bride-to-be, when other guests began to arrive. The first was an average-looking girl with mousy, undistinguished features. The second Natsumi noticed her coming, she leapt from her chair and was at the girl's side in record time.

"Momoe-chan!" she called out happily, suddenly thankful for some familiarity in her newly hectic life.

Momoe hugged Natsumi, "Natsumi-chan, I've missed you so much!" When they pulled away from each other, Momoe tilted her head discreetly toward the table. "So, which one?" she asked, blushing a little at the obvious fact that they were all good looking.

Natsumi grabbed her best friend's hand, "I'll introduce you." She pulled the girl to the table and sat her in the chair next to herself. "This," she gestured to Hunny, "Is Haninozuka Mitsukuni, my fiancé. And these are his friends, who I just met today."

Momoe bowed her head politely, "Nice to meet you Haninozuka-san."

Hunny shook his head at her, "Everyone calls me Hunny."

"Thank you, Hunny-kun," Momoe grinned.

"Mitsukuni-kun," Natsumi continued, "This is Takuro Momoe, my best friend since Junior High." She was glad to have her friend with her, perhaps now she'd be distracted from the tension.


Amelia followed her mother into the hotel, and waited quietly while she and Isaac checked in. She was surprised to have a keycard shoved toward her.

Isaac stared icily at her, "You get your own room. I don't want you in the way, so don't come to me unless I tell you to."

Amelia tilted her head in a single nod, before wandering toward the diner. 'In the way,' meant that he didn't want her interrupting if he happened to find himself an easy lay. She snorted to herself as she entered the diner, suddenly thinking back on her choice of clothing. She could have dressed a bit more casually for this place, but she consoled herself with knowing that she wasn't overdressed, at least. She wore something akin to business garb, except the skirt was longer and the outfit itself looked almost military. Her flaxen curls were pulled back into a bun, and topped off with a decorative comb.

Isaac came up behind her, "Opal says that she isn't feeling well. She's going to her room for the evening."

'Perhaps to raid the mini bar,' Amelia thought scornfully. As they found their party, Amelia noticed that there were six open spots: four between two women, and two between two men. It wasn't surprising that Isaac chose to sit with the men, being the misogynist that he was, and had her sit next to him.

One of the men at the table got up from his spot and bowed to her, pulling her chair out for her, "Your seat, Mademoiselle."

She sat gently, "Merci beaucoup." The helpful man went back to his spot (where the brunette next to him rolled her eyes), and Amelia surveyed who she would be dining with. To her right was her good-for-nothing fiancé, but to her left was a tall man (his legs were miles long), with pale skin, dark hair, and strong features.

"Hello, Miss Willard-Jones," Natsumi greeted her quietly in Japanese-accented English, making sure to call her 'Willard-Jones', and not just 'Jones'. The Willard's were a proud family, and had been annoyed when they had only managed to have a daughter a few generations back.

"Konnichi wa, Natsumi-san," Amelia replied just as quietly, in English-accented Japanese. While Natsumi's quietness was due to her bashfulness, Amelia's quietness came from her inferiority complex, which seemed to make her think that her accent was worse than it really was. A cough-like hint from her right reminded her that she had to acquaint her fiancé with the girl. "Natsumi-san, this is Isaac Beresford, my fiancé," she explained obligatorily, dying a little inside every time she called him that. Maybe now he'd leave her alone for the rest of the week.

It was now nearing 1:30, and everyone had arrived except for the guests that Natsumi had secretly been the most excited about meeting.

Everyone had their food ordered and were conversing while they waited for it. Hunny mostly spoke to Momoe, getting to know her better, while Tamaki continued to ask Natsumi about her favorite things that she had seen while in Tokyo. Renge and the twins pestered Haruhi, who was altogether too hungry to care much, and Kyouya spoke to Isaac—mostly in English—making mental notes of facts that were interesting.

Amelia mostly felt bored that she didn't have anyone to talk to, but it wasn't like she could just insert herself into a conversation; especially not a Japanese one. The man next to her hadn't said a word the whole time she had been there, and she wondered if he could talk at all. She decided to find out, "Hello, I'm Amelia."

He turned and looked her in the eye, contemplating her for a minute. In his silence, Amelia had been afraid that either he couldn't talk, or she had pronounced something wrong. Eventually, though, he said, "I'm Mori."

When someone new entered the room, everyone turned to look at the stranger. "Sorry we're late. My sisters wanted to look around for a while, and we sort of got lost," he apologized. There was bickering from behind him, and two more people entered the room.

The silence that followed when these newcomers' eyes met with the Hitachiins' only lasted for a stunned minute, before Hikaru jumped up and pointed at one of the girls, who took on a similar stance at him.

"YOU!" they shouted in unison.