Chapter 2
The knocking at the door was persistent, and Katherine was really getting ticked. She would tell them to hang on a bloody second, but she was a little busy, unable to speak. Even so, she called out a muffled 'Wait a moment!', though it sounded nothing like that. The metal object in her mouth almost fell, and she hurt her teeth chomping to get it before it fell.
Ten minutes later, when Katherine was done with whatever it was she had been doing, she stood up and walked to the door, where the knocks changed to pounds.
"Are you going to open up?"
"I don't think anyone's there… Are you sure Haruhi?"
"Yeah, she said she was the free one today. Plus, didn't you hear her trying to call out earlier.
"True."
Katherine sighed, glad Haruhi had warned her ahead of time of the Host Club wanting to come. They wanted to be their knights in shining armor it seemed. Well too bad for them, the pair were more into fantasy that dealt with actions, not mere fairytales. And they were definitely not into damsels in distress. At least not all the time.
The brunette opened the door lazily, while the Host Club suddenly felt silent from their argument on whether or not she was really there. "You know, Haruhi is my trusty neighbor." She yawned, nodding towards the other girl, "she knows when I'm home or not."
They stood their in silence, Katherine's right eye staring at them, waiting for them. An easy way to tell when she was tired was she generally closed her left eye. And damn was she tired, it felt as though she would never be able to open it.
"May I help you, or you just going to gawk at a girl you don't even know?" She finally asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and finally looking out to the day. She had the day off, but had a later shift at a restaurant for work. She wanted to enjoy the day by drawing or listening to music. She had already started off the day by watching a load of anime.
"Oh!" The blonde one with purplish eyes seemed to snap back into reality. Was he Tamaki? Possibly, Haruhi did say it was the tall princely one. And the other two the one his height and the other taller, didn't seem very princely. "Well, we came after Haruhi told us you two didn't go to school, and lived alone."
The twins peeked around her, looking around her place. "Wow, pretty clean, but not as clean as Haruhi's."
They walked in, followed by Katherine, who would not be letting anyone else in without her to watch them. The others followed, after she had beckoned them to follow with a small wave.
"Where's the other one?"
"Claire? Not here, she has morning shift today. I have most of the day off so I was planning on relaxing." She waved at them to sit down, where a sofa and big comfortable chairs were present. They were surprised, the brunette could see that on their faces.
"Don't you and Claire live alone? How did you afford this?" One of the twins asked, and Katherine then noticed he had a lighter pitch in his voice. She began to subtly assess them, watching them from the corner of her eye while paying attention to their questions.
"One of our bosses know that we live alone, and generally gives us his crap. I spent a few days fixing these pieces of crap up, but I didn't have to pay for them and in the end it was worth it. Fabreeze really does work." Katherine simply answered, done with her assessment.
They were a strange bunch, that much was obvious. The tall blonde did seem genuinely concerned though, so maybe she would tell him a little more about herself. "If I'm correct, you came upon hearing the news that I do not go to school, nor does Claire, correct?"
They stared at her as she grew a second head. "What? Is something wrong with what I said?"
The guy with the glasses and notebook came up to her, looking at her softly. Though Katherine could see behind those grey or dark blue eyes. He was assessing her, just as she had been assessing him earlier. "Not at all, but yes, that would be the reason as to why we're here."
"Ah, well…" She smiled big and wide, the annoyance shining through like a beam of light. "It's none of your concern whether or not I go to school."
"Yes it is!" Tamaki suddenly cried. "Your obviously a smart girl, and here you are working to live here, instead of working to college. Don't you want to go to school?"
Katherine felt offended. What a stupid question, was it that hidden? Well, then again, they barely knew her… "Of course! But I don't have the time, nor the money for that kind of stuff. I need to pay off this, and that requires me having a job, as well as Claire. You trying starting from rock-bottom with practically no cash. And what the heck man? You barely know me, why are you so concerned dude?" She stared intensely in his eyes. She wanted the honest truth, nothing more nothing less. He hesitated in his answer, looking into her deep brown eyes.
She was a pretty girl. Not beautifully gorgeous, no, but pretty indeed. She wasn't cute like Haruhi either, but did hold the same beautiful brown eyes. Her were bit darker though, but held the same , independence, and stubbornness. She seemed to be managing on her own… but a voice in Tamaki's head told him he had to get her to school. More specifically, Ouran Highschool. He felt as though she needed to be there. He felt that about both her and Claire, yes her too, from the moment he saw them.
There the two girls were, standing in front of the building. They gawked, bickered, then stared at the building as though it was a source of beauty. He had to admit, it was a very nice school.
"I… I'm not entirely sure." The other's stared at him in surprise. Usually he was so much more confident in his words. In his choices. He rarely gave these kind of answers. "Something is just telling me that I need to get both you and your friend at Ouran. I don't know why. It's like you two need to be there."
The others stared at the two as they stared into one another eyes. It looked as though Katherine was defeated as she sighed and finally looked towards a wall full of drawings. Seeing them, they saw they were strange, random, but most of all, wondrous. They were unique but looked so professionally done.
"Well, genius, how do you expect to get us there? We could take that test I've heard about, sure. We are two intelligent people, but what if we do fail? The last thing we can afford are ways into the school. Hell, Claire is going to flip on me. We have other business to take care of, and here I am bending my will for some dude I barely know." Katherine stared intensely at them. "Well, what's your plan, my dear prince Charming?" She asked, raising her eyebrows curiously.
"Just take the test, you'll do fine." Haruhi suddenly said, blinking at her own words. "You two have actually done my homework because you were bored, and even though you claimed they were wrong and you were stupid, they were right and you are actually pretty smart."
"Pfft," Katherine nearly laughed. "Me? Smart? Hah, I'm not smart. I'm purely awesome. That is that, my dear Haruhi." She suddenly felt really happy, and turned on her heel. "Would you guys like to stay until lunch? Maybe think of a plan and then talk to it with Claire when she gets back? She has the evening off, so she'll be free when I have work."
Before Katherine knew it, the seven were huddled in both her dining room and kitchen. The blondes and red heads dragged Haruhi to sit with them at the actual table. The hostess felt more comfortable in an actual chair instead of kneeling on the ground or a pillow or whatever it was Haruhi had. It reminded her and Claire of home, so they went with that. The two dark haired ones sat at her counter with her, watching as Tamaki bickered with the twins, and Honey tried to get Haruhi to eat cake with him.
"So, what are your names again? I don't believe I've heard them from either of you." She smiled at Kyoya, but like her, he saw past the shine in her big brown eyes, and instead saw the distrust, fear, and secrecy. It gave birth to a new curiosity, so he made a note to look into her past more.
"Kyoya, right?" Katherine finally answered when both had not answered her in the 10 seconds she had given them. She then looked towards the taller boy, "and you're Mori, Takashi Morinozuka. You don't mind if I call you Takashi, do you? I find that more formal." She smiled, and even the tall boy saw the same things as Kyoya. It also grabbed his attention, but he acted indifferent.
"Wow, someone who actually wants to called Mori 'Takashi' who isn't Honey." The twins both said. "Why not just call him Mori?"
"Maybe later." Katherine waved them off, "I feel it's more formal, and we aren't exactly the best of buddies just yet, so yeah. I've never been one to call someone by their nickname, even if everyone else does." She shrugged, and then looked over like everyone else as the door opened.
"…the hell is going on Katherine?" The blonde girl with devious blue eyes walked in, scanning the other faces before getting to the brunette. "Explain, now."
So, the brunette did. She didn't leave a single detail out it seemed, and even introduced the others. However, the blonde still looked annoyed as she dragged Katherine by the scruff of her neck to a corner. They whispered in English, loud enough to hear but not decipher right away. They could only hear the hushed 'sh's and 's's. And, of course, when they started insulting one another.
"Oh shut-up Kathy!" Claire finally declared, looking absolutely angry.
The brunette, instead of giving another insult, looked highly insulted. "You did not just call me that."
"Of course I did, Kathy~" The blonde said that with a little more cheer and fondness. "Kathy, Kathy, Kathy~" She repeated this several times.
That was, until she was interrupted by a pillow in the face. "Oh shut it you, we still have to tell them."
Both girls turned towards the confused Host Club, pointing at them - or more specifically, Tamaki - in a fashion quite similar to the princely blonde.
"Fine, we will attempt to get into Ouran High School."
A/N - Moo, I need to update my stories more. I am too lazy, goodness gracious. By the way, for anyone who isn't my dear taco, I do plan to make these longer. For my dear taco... I plan to make each chapter 3 words longer OwO