The Ouran High School Host Club is filled with very talented boys and one girl in disguise. They're known for being seductive, extremelywealthy, smart, and let's not forget the obvious: handsome. What many fangirls don't know is that each of them possess a certain hidden skill that wasn't so apparent to everyone.
Kyouya growled in frustration, glaring hatefully at the multicolored cube. His sister Fuyumi had surprised him by giving him a Rubix's cube on another one of her random visit's the other day.
Flashback
"Kyouya" Fuyumi sang as she waltzed in his room. Kyouya looked up from his advanced calculus to stare at his sister.
"Ohayo, Onee-san." Kyouya coolly greeted, showing the slightest hint of attention.
"I've got a present for you, Little Brother." his sister announced cheerily as Kyouya turned around to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh? And pray tell what might that be?" Kyouya challenged, his eyes showing a cross between amusement and irritation.
The last time his sister presented him a gift, it was a piranha from South America. Actually, Kyouya had rather grown some sort of attachment to that fish, but an unexpected visit from Tamaki caused it to be asphyxiated, flopping helplessly as the blundering president attempted to find another bowl of water quickly.
"Tada!" Fuyumi cried, showing an innocent Rubix's cube in her hands. Kyouya's eyes showed 1 percent more interest than before as his sister beamed.
"Ano, one of Shido's clients presented him with a Rubix's cube. He had no use for it, and told me that I could amuse myself, but you know how I'm terrible with puzzles. Thus, I want you to have it!" Fuyumi declared smiling uncertainly at the lack of response from Kyouya.
"I believe Nagoya-kun said, 'What's more fun than a Rubix's cube? It's all the latest craze in America!'" Fuyumi added as Kyouya stared blankly at the cube.
"Thank you for the gift, Onee-san." Kyouya said seriously, bowing slightly. Fuyumi's face lit up with a slight smile at the curiosity that commanded her little brother's face.
End Flashback
Fun indeed. At first, Kyouya assumed that this would be an easy novelty. But over time, he found out that this cube was deceptive. He became annoyed at how the colors simply refused to obey him. Every turn messed up another side. Of course, he got quite close several times, but something always eluded him, thus rendering the cube mismatched. He could have decided to look up possible permutations and combinations on how to solve it, but his pride refused to bend down to other's methods. He wanted to figure out the cube himself.
Throwing the cube aside, Kyouya resumed his math homework, vowing to attack at it again tomorrow with a fresh mind.
The Next Day
After a couple of twists on the Rubix's cube, Kyouya was typing away again during Host Club hours while all the other hosts were entertaining their designators as expected. Which was why it was unusual that Kyouya was suddenly approached by someone.
"Yes?" Kyouya abruptly said, not looking up from his screen.
"Mommy…I'm bored…" Tamaki whined rather annoyingly. Kyouya looked up and frowned.
"Don't you have customers to entertain?" Kyouya asked, double checking the designator list.
"I'm lonely…they've all gone over to those devilish twins or Daughter at the moment…" Tamaki sniffed, looking quite neglected.
"If you attempted to put more effort into entertaining our customers, your designators wouldn't abandon you for other hosts." Kyouya explained for the umpteenth time with no remorse.
"How can you be so cruel?" Tamaki sobbed, crawling to his corner in denial. Kyouya sighed, massaging his temples as he left his sanctuary to grab a breath of fresh air.
Upon his return, Kyouya was absolutely horrified to find his new toy completely solved. In addition, who else would it be but Haruhi on the table clearing up some miscellaneous items.
"Ah, Haruhi, thank you very much for solving this cube, however I must add to your debt for touching the belongings of other hosts." Kyouya said briefly as Haruhi looked up in surprise. 'Other hosts-namely me.' he thought silently as Haruhi opened her mouth to speak.
"But I didn't even touch your cube! How could I solve it?" Haruhi protested indignantly.
"Please, if you didn't touch this, then who solved it? Tamaki?" Kyouya snorted.
"Yes!" was the unexpected answer. Kyouya stared at the serious expression on Haruhi's face. There was an awkward pause as they struggled to see who would be the first to break eye contact.
"…You're kidding. There's no way that Tamaki could solve something as complicated as this." Kyouya said frowning.
"But it's true! I saw him do it." Haruhi explained.
Flashback
"Eyeh? What are you doing in the corner again, Sempai?" Haruhi asked Tamaki.
"First those conniving twins steal my customers…then Mommy abandons me…" Tamaki sniffed.
"Um." was all Haruhi managed to say before Tamaki suddenly grabbed her arm.
"Ano, you won't leave me right Haruhi? You're Daddy's little girl! Daughters don't abandon Daddies!" Tamaki pressed, searching for some sort of appeasement.
"Ano, Tamaki-sempai, your face is streaked with tears, I'll go get a tissue…" Haruhi replied, completely avoiding his question. She made her escape towards the empty table that Kyouya was just sitting on moments ago.
"Ahh! I knew that you wouldn't abandon me Haruhi!" Tamaki cried happily, following Haruhi.
"Nani? What's this?" Tamaki asked, holding up the Rubix's cube.
"Ano, it's a Rubix's cube, Sempai." Haruhi explained.
"I know what that is! Don't you have to rearrange the tiles to match on all sides or something?" Tamaki continued, rotating the pieces curiously.
"Ano, I don't think Kyouya-sempai would be happy about you messing around with his belongings…" Haruhi trailed off as Tamaki paid no heed, continuing to move the cube around.
"I'm just helping Mommy a bit…whee! This is fun! Oh look! I'm almost there….just a couple more should do it…Voila!" Tamaki cried with a flourish, presenting the solved cube.
"Tamaki-sempai…what did you do?" Haruhi cried flabbergasted while Tamaki frowned.
"The point of this puzzle is to solve all six sides right?" Tamaki asked rhetorically.
"Yes…but how did you solve it?" Haruhi asked in disbelief.
"…I don't know…I just see the cube and rotate the pieces to where they belong…" Tamaki answered nonchalantly.
"Ano…is Mommy going to be mad?" Tamaki asked in a small voice.
"Well, let's just hope Kyouya-sempai doesn't notice anything different about his cube…if you had realized that he would be angry, you shouldn't have touched the cube in the first place." Haruhi sighed.
"But it looked like fun…" Tamaki replied in his defense.
End Flashback
"….and that's what happened." Haruhi finished lamely.
"That must be a fluke." Kyouya decided, messing up the cube in a random manner and walking towards Tamaki who had managed to rope in some of his designators again.
"Mommy! What brings you and Daughter over?" Tamaki asked innocently. Kyouya said nothing but shoved the cube in his face.
"Ano, Sempai, would you mind solving this again?" Haruhi asked while all the nearby fangirls looked interestedly at the Rubix's cube.
"Sure…but what for?" Tamaki asked, taking the cube and twisting it once more.
"Because it's fun…?" Haruhi guessed.
"Hai, I agree. We have such similar tastes, ne Haruhi? Like father, like daughter." Tamaki remarked.
"Um, I believe that the saying is 'Like father, like son'" Haruhi corrected. In several minutes, Tamaki had once again solved the seemingly unsolvable cube. Kyouya was at a loss of words, staring slightly agape at the blonde. Tamaki
"Uwah! I didn't realize that Tamaki was so intelligent! How did you solve that cube?" a fangirl squealed.
"That my darling, is all thanks to the love and support from you and the secret method passed down in my family for generations…" Tamaki dramatized to the blushing girl.
"Wow…I knew Tamaki-sempai was smart…but I can't believe he knows how to solve a Rubix's cube…" Haruhi commented in amazement.
Kyouya on the other hand was confronted with a conflicting storm of emotions. On one hand, he reveled in the possibilities of using a Rubix's cube to recapture the interests of Tamaki's designators. However, his inability to solve something that the blonde idiot managed to do was too much of a blow to the dark haired Ootori. Kyouya decided that he would ban Rubix's cubes from the Music Salon thereafter. He also vowed to get rid of his own cube as well.
"I believe that's mine." Kyouya announced, grabbing the newly solved cube from Tamaki's hands and walking back towards his table where he dumped the toy unceremoniously into the bag.
"Ano…is it something I said?" Tamaki asked innocently.
At the Ootori Mansin
"Ohayo, Onee-san. I was just going to call you." Kyouya greeted smoothly.
"What a surprise! How's that toy I gave you coming along?" Fuyumi asked, smiling.
"Here it is. I don't want it anymore. Thanks for letting me play with it." Kyouya said bluntly, dropping the cube in his sister's hands.
"Nani? You solved it though, why are you giving it back to me?" Fuyumi cried, frowning.
"I found out that it's too easy…" Kyouya replied coolly, signaling an end to the discussion.
A/N: Lol, Kyouya just finds it ever so difficult to admit failure. We've all wondered how Tamaki ends up getting brilliant grades, and this is just an expansion on that phenomenon :D Thank you so much for reading this edition of Hidden Skill!
Likes? Dislikes? What character would you like next? Please leave a comment on any questions you may have!