Chapter 3: Convincing the Natural
"Ma-sa-shi!"
Masashi Kobayashi ignored the sing-song voice from the other side of the table, continuing to stare at the screen of his lap top with a small frown.
"Ma! Sa! Shi!"
Masashi pulled his reading glasses off and slipped them onto the pocket of his uniform jacket as he rubbed his slightly sore eyes. He'd been staring at the computer too much these past four days.
"Maaaaa-Saaaaa-shiiiiii-!"
And for what? A project that might completely fall through. He'd heard nothing since he'd sent the e-mails with the individual proposals to each of the original seven hosts and it was beginning to worry him. Where they actually taking this long to decide or were they just ignoring him?
"Ma-san!"
He hadn't been able to see the Superintendent since then either, which was strange since the man loved to hang around the school, be it in his office or wandering around and talking to anyone and everyone. So, yes, it was rather worrisome. Had the original seven decided to debate his proposal? Was that why the Superintendent was oddly absent?
"Ma-kun!"
And if they all decided against coming? There was the end to all the work he'd done and there would be no way to salvage virtually anything worthwhile from it. He didn't have a lot of confidence in the fact that the Superintendent would get them all to come.
"Ma-chan!"
After all, Masashi had done his research on the original seven and it was obvious that the real brains behind the operation had been Kyouya Ootori, even though he'd only been the vice-president. If Ootori didn't agree, that would be the end of everything. So was there anything he could do to make sure Ootori said yes?
"MASASHI!"
The cool type jumped as someone grabbed his shoulders and his green eyes met the hazel ones of the current host club's prince type and president, Hiroaki Tamura, who had stood up and reached across the table.
"Hiroaki?"
The black haired third year released his best friend and sat back down, eyes never leaving the other.
"So you're back with me now? Good. You should really take a break, Masashi. You've been working too hard lately."
Masashi leaned back with a sigh, letting the plush chair pull him in. "I know, I know, but I can't help but worry. I want this to go over well and if they won't agree to it, everything will have gone to waste. I keep imagining all the reasons they haven't contacted us yet, but I keep coming back to the fact that they're probably brushing us off as annoying little kids, or something else along those lines."
Hiroaki smiled sympathetically at his vice president. Masashi had always admired Kyouya Ootori, the original host club vice president and co-founder, and he was always doing his best for the club, trying to surpass the image he held in his mind's eye of what Ootori must have been like.
In fact, the Original Seven had become something of a legend in Ouran. The fact that all the current members looked up to the Originals in some form or fashion had been part of what sparked this whole idea to begin with.
"I know how much you want this to work out, and if I know you, you'll find a way to make it so," Hiroaki told him reassuringly. Masashi looked at him, obviously still unconvinced. "Hey, we haven't been friends all these years for nothing, right? I know you better than you do. So, enough of the stressing. I want my cool type V.P. back, got it? And that's a direct order from your president, Kobayashi."
Masashi couldn't help but smile in return to the ridiculously confident smirk on the other's face. He bowed his head a little as he swallowed a laugh and attempted seriousness.
"Of course, President Tamura. I'd never dare go against a direct order from you."
Hiroaki blinked at him in surprise. It had been a joke. Why was he taking it seriously? Was he still stressing? Masashi looked up and Hiroaki saw the smile playing on his lips. He chuckled. Good. Masashi was back to normal for the moment.
"Come on, Maaaaa-kuuuuun," Hiroaki said in a sing-song voice, standing up. "Treat your president to something tasty before he goes home."
"Don't call me 'Ma-kun', you glutton," Masashi shot back, the barest hint of a smirk tugging on the corners of his mouth as he collected his bag and lap top to follow.
Hiroaki threw an arm around Masashi's neck with a bright smile as they made their way out of the club room.
"Is that any way to speak to your superior? I'll have you out for insubordination if you keep that up!"
The smirk became full fledged at that. "Have fun bankrupting the club, president. I'm sure the Superintendent would just love you for that one."
Hiroaki pouted. "Low blow, Ma-chan. So cruel. And you call yourself my best friend?"
Masashi raised an eyebrow. "Says the man who was going to bring me up on insubordination charges a moment ago? And don't call me 'Ma-chan'."
"Touche, Ma-san," laughed Hiroaki.
Masashi sighed in mock despair. "Ma, Ma, Ma! Why can't you just appreciate that I let you call me 'Masashi' instead of shortening it even further?"
Hiroaki grinned foolishly, poking his best friend in the head. "Because it's more fun my way!"
Masashi rolled his eyes and Hiroaki glanced over at him. He really did hope that their challenge was accepted, but just to be sure, he'd better do a bit of follow up on all the hard work his vice president had been doing. After all, that was no more than the duty of a president, right?
XXXXXXXXXX
"I'd like to speak with Kyouya Ootori."
Ms. Tento looked up at the young man standing in front of her desk. He had a bright smile and was stunningly handsome. Beautiful hazel eyes were set in a perfectly chiseled face and his black hair was somewhere between purposely messy and chaotically neat. He was wearing jeans and a purple button up shirt, left slightly open, with a black suit jacket over it and there was a braided silver chain around his neck.
"I'm very sorry, but Mr. Ootori won't be coming in today."
The young man frowned slightly. "Why not? Is he out of the country?"
"No. I believe he said it was some sort of urgent business he had to attend to personally. He also said it would probably take a good week to deal with, so he wouldn't be back in until it was settled."
The young man ran a hand through his hair with a sigh and Ms. Tento blinked. Who did he remind her of?
"Besides, Mr. Ootori doesn't see anyone without an appointment," she added.
"Hm," he murmured to himself before turning a breath-taking smile on her. "Actually, I'm pretty sure he'd want to see me. Is there any way I could contact him?"
Ms. Tento had to give herself a huge mental shake to stop her staring. He really did remind her of someone. He was oozing charm. Who else did she know like that?
"I'm sorry," she said, collecting herself once more. "But Mr. Ootori has a strict policy of not giving out his personal information, unless he okays it. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until he gets back."
The smile fell and the young man's face became so suddenly sad that just the look tugged at her heart. Yes, he was definitely like someone she knew. It clicked. Of course!
"Thank you, anyway, my lovely lady," he said, bowing politely before giving her a beautifully saddened smile. "Perhaps another time, then?"
Ms. Tento watched him turn away, eyes widening. It was like the twilight zone. They were so alike.
He and Tamaki Suoh.
XXXXXXXXXX
Haruhi sighed.
To be perfectly honest, she was a bit worried. Ever since she'd told Tamaki she wouldn't do any hosting, there had been total and utter silence from all former members of the club, 'king' included. It was a rather disturbing thing. She had figured Tamaki would have been endlessly calling her, or the twins could have come to kidnap her, or even that one or all of the members would have been pounding her door down.
But no. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
It shouldn't have worried her. Had the former host club members been anyone else, she wouldn't have thought twice about it. However, she knew them better than that and she hated the fact that now she would jump when the phone rang, hesitate in opening any door, and look cautiously around every corner, ready for them to jump out of nowhere and drag her away.
It was the beginning of the third day of silence and as Haruhi slipped on her shoes, preparing to leave for work, she froze. Were those... voices she heard outside? She listened intently for a long moment until she heard a child's voice and the closing of the neighbors' door.
She let out the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. Just the neighbor leaving for work. Nothing to worry about.
She picked up her bag, turned the doorknob and opened the door of her apartment... to be greeted by an all-too-familiar blonde face, grinning stupidly at her.
Tamaki.
She blinked and as he opened his mouth to speak, she closed the door.
Haruhi stared at the wood of the door in front of her. No. She was just seeing things. Must be. She was still half asleep. Yeah, that was it. After all, she couldn't even remember if she'd eaten breakfast, so obviously she wasn't completely with it.
Obviously Tamaki wasn't standing there, waiting for her. It was just her imagination. She shook her head and opened the door again.
Twin brunettes stood on either side of the blonde.
Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki.
All three grinned at her.
She closed the door.
Wow. She really was out of it this morning. Now she was seeing Tamaki and the twins. She grinned a bit at the ridiculousness of it and shook her head. Crazy. No way were they out there. Right, weren't those two supposed to be working on a new line? Like they'd really have time to come all the way to her apartment this early in the morning.
They were serious about their work. No way they'd drop it for something as minor as an early morning social call. She sighed at herself and opened the door again with a little grin.
Her grin froze as she saw the blonde, identical brunettes, and a silent wild type with a bunny-totting loli shota standing in front of him.
The two blondes and two brunettes opened their mouths to speak.
She closed the door.
Her grin widened a bit. She chuckled. Now this was really crazy. Not just Tamaki and the twins, but Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai too? Now that was nuts. She knew for a fact they were in America, and would be until next month, at least. It was logically impossible for them to be standing on the other side of the door. With Tamaki and the twins, no less!
She couldn't possibly be so out of it this morning. Maybe she was coming down with something? She glanced at her watch, shook her head, and opened the door...
To come face-to-face with a brown eyed french beauty standing in front of the five aforementioned young men, who were still there for some reason.
Renge.
The other girl took a deep breath, lifted a finger, and Haruhi closed the door for the fourth time that morning.
No. No. No. Now this was just... no. It was even crazier than Mori and Honey being here when they were supposed to be in America. Renge was supposed to be in France. There was no way she was here now!
She touched her forehead with the back of her hand. Maybe she should call work and tell them she was sick? She didn't have a fever yet, but she was definitely delusional already, so she was coming down with something for sure.
But just to be sure... she opened the door once more and looked out of the partially open entry. Six very confused faces stared back at her. She nodded and closed the door. Yes, already delusional. Better just call off work and go back to bed.
At least she hadn't imagined Kyouya out there too. That would have been over the top, even for this delusion. She set her bag back down and slipped off her shoes, going for the phone to call her boss.
Just as she was about to pick it up, it started ringing. Haruhi nearly jumped out of her skin, but rolled her eyes and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, Haruhi," came Kyouya's pleasant voice.
Her eyes widened. Not just seeing things, but hearing them too?
"K-Kyouya-sempai?"
"Have the others made it yet?"
"Made it?"
"Yes." She could almost see the sadistic grin on his face. "I was just going to send a car for you, but they all insisted on going to pick you up together. So have they made it yet?"
Haruhi blinked. "So they really were standing out there?"
She sighed. So much for delusions.
Someone knocked on her door. She looked over at it but didn't move.
"Kyouya-sempai, I already told you and Tamaki I wouldn't be a part of this challenge. Why are they here?"
"Just a small change of plans. So go quietly with them, alright Haruhi?"
The knocking on her door was getting louder and more persistent. "Haruhi!" She heard the twins calling. "Daughter! Daddy's here!" came Tamaki's voice.
She brought the phone back up to her ear. "I'm not going to do it, Sempai." She told Kyouya firmly.
He chuckled. "Of course you will."
She frowned at the wall, ignoring the people calling for her outside. "Why's that?"
"Because things can be made very unpleasant otherwise. I assume you still don't have a passport?"
'Well, he's as sweet as ever,' Haruhi thought.
"Look," she tried in a reasonable tone. "You were just as against this stupid challenge as I was, sempai. Why are you suddenly changing your mind?"
"Because I was ill-informed as to the extent of benefit and profit within this endeavor when first presented with the idea. Knowing Tamaki wouldn't let it go so easily, I did some research and found that it could prove to be very worthwhile if handled properly."
'Always about the benefits as usual,' she inwardly sighed. 'He'll never change.'
"Plus," Kyouya continued. "I'm sure you haven't had breakfast yet, so why not join us? I'm sure there will be plenty of strawberries and fatty tuna."
Haruhi opened her mouth to flat out refuse, paused, and closed her mouth. She sighed.
"Really, sempai, you don't seriously think I'm still such a glutton that mentioning something like strawberries or fatty tuna will immediately make me go along with those obnoxious people outside just like that, do you?"
There was silence on the other end. Haruhi sighed again.
"I'll have to call my boss and tell him I can't come in today," she said finally.
"Already taken care of," Kyouya replied promptly. "You're off for the next week, with pay."
Inwardly, Haruhi shuddered. Not just her home life, but now her work, too? Did this guy never stop?
Without bothering to say goodbye, she hung up the phone and turned to the front door, realizing that the yelling had gone up an octave and gotten much louder. She stomped toward the door, feeling suddenly very tired, and threw it open. Tamaki and the twins tumbled gracelessly in, falling flat on their faces in front of her.
"Will you quit screaming? You're going to have the neighbors calling me about the nose level!" she growled.
All three popped up simultaneously and Haruhi found herself in the middle of a crushing three-way hug.
"HARUHI!" Tamaki practically sang. "WE CAME TO GET YOU DAUGHTER! WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER? I WAS SO WORRIED!"
"Haruhi!" chorused the twins. "It's been so lo~ong!"
"Haru-chan!" Honey called, bouncing up and down as he waved.
She met Mori's gaze and he gave her a small smile, which she returned. Then she noticed that a black haired stranger, almost as tall as Mori, was standing off to the side. Unfortunately, she didn't get a chance to wonder who he was, much less ask, because a moment later she was being dragged down the stairs toward the waiting limo as Tamaki and the twins kept babbling about completely different topics, neither of which she was paying attention to.
It wasn't until her feet hit the pavement that she managed to stop long enough to realize she was missing something.
"Hang on you idiots! I don't even have my shoes!"
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A/N: Haha. I love writing for this story. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. :) I wasn't planning on putting this chapter out yet, but I figured it had been a while and you guys deserved the latest addition.
And for those of you who were looking forward to it, chapter 4's title is "Wyatt's Confusion". L.O.L.
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Till next time! :)