Christmas, like every year, was fun. My dad and Tao flew in early in the morning from America just celebrate with Mom, Kuro, and I. Although my family was wary around me for a good portion of the morning because of the lack of sleep from the ball, they realized I was too hyped up on Christmas cheer to be a grump. Mom and Dad bought me a ridiculously long scarf (22ft) with ugly 70's colors after I mentioned seeing a scarf online and wanting to buy it. It wasn't going to stop me from wearing it though, oh no. It was love at first sight.
Tao sewed (his only other talent) me together clothes from one of my most favorite childhood cartoons that I still watch to this day: Xiaolin Showdown. He basically made a whole new wardrobe, making the boys and Kimiko's uniforms, their casual clothes outside of the Xiaolin temple (I got a lot of Kimiko's outfits), and each of their armor they received from Master Fung in season two. He even added in a plush dojo, Raimundo's medallion necklace, some wigs to go with Kimiko's outfits, and Clay's cowboy hat. It must've taken him months to make all these wondrous outfits.
Kuro was the last to give his present to me. Thankfully, it wasn't clothes because I'm not sure I could possibly fit anymore in my closet. My eldest brother gave me a butt load of books and video games to add to my growing collection. The video games were horror themed, which I loved to play at night in the dark with him or Tao, and the books were sappy magical/paranormal romances that would without a doubt make me feel giddy and girly and give me hope that, hey, maybe someone will settle down with a freak like me. They were such two opposite things that I wondered where my liking for sappy romance books and horror games came from.
Sadly, after Christmas was over, I was thrown back into the life of a host back at Ouran. I've only been able to host a few times since returning from Christmas, but the girls thought I was doing a fine job of it. Still, I wasn't prepared for when the host club decided to dress up and decorate the music room with rice paper walls, fancy plants in equally fancy vases, and have the twins attack me when I wasn't paying attention.
"Hiroki-kun, you look so cute in your kimono," Keiko cooed, my two other customers nodding in agreement.
The twins forced me into a kimono designed by their mother. It was mainly grey with peach-colored intricate accents starting heavy at the bottom of my sleeves and kimono and slowly fading as it made it's way up. The coat I wore over the kimono was reversed, it mainly being peach with grey designs, made a three-foot train and covered my hands. The twins also decided to play with my newly dyed hair by putting in a light pink hair clip with grey ribbons dangling from it. Yeah, Mom did re-dye it with Tao's help. I guess you could say I'm . . . peachy keen.
"Thank you so much," I grinned at them. "I thought the twins might've gone overboard with the pink but if you beauties like it, then I guess they did a good job."
"Oh, I don't think anything could look bad on you, Hiroki-kun," Kaori, a long, black haired girl with large, circular glasses, said bashfully.
"Well thank you very much, Kaori-hime!" I said cheerfully.
"Hiro-chan! Haru-chan!" I heard Honey-senpai cry.
"Excuse me, I'll be right back," I bowed quickly before running off to Honey-senpai, who was in tears, holding up one of his sandals. He was surrounded by his fangirls, each looking devastated and heartbroken for the boy. "I lost one of my straw sandals . . ."
"Where did you drop it?" Haruhi asked, approaching us.
"Ah, don't worry, Honey-senpai! We'll find it!" I cheered.
"Yes! Please don't cry, Honey-kun! We'll help you find it!" his customers said when Honey-senpai began to tear up even more.
Mori-senpai suddenly popped up out of nowhere, holding the missing sandal. He got down on one knee and slipped it onto Honey-senpai's foot. The whole scene reminded me of Cinderella and made me take a mental note to watch that when I got home.
"Takashi . . ." Honey-senpai mumbled.
The tall host stood up and pointed in a direction, saying "it was over there."
"Takashi!" Honey-senpai cried and clung to his friend
"Looks like you saved the day there, Mori-senpai!" I said and patted his on the shoulder.
The corner of his lip twitched upward ever so slightly. Still grinning, I walked over to Haruhi, who accidentally bumped into one of the twins. I noticed something fell from it sleeve, so I bent down to pick it up. My grin turned into a crooked smile when I saw what it was. Haruhi looked as well and deadpanned. Well, it would definitely explain why it seems like so many of the guys are busting into tears today.
"Dude, this is so weak-"
"You-"
Each twin came up behind us and covered our mouths so as not to expose their secret.
"Okay, okay, be quiet," Haruhi's twin, Hikaru maybe, said. "Tell you the truth; this is common knowledge among hosts."
"Here you go," Kaoru released me and pulled out two fancy looking tea cakes that, frankly, I don't like. Never have and never will like tea cake. "Some high-class Japanese tea cakes that commoners would never be able to buy!"
"Who will fall for that trap," Haruhi scoffed.
"You do realize I'm filthy rich too, right? Besides, I don't like tea cake," I scrunched up my nose and gave him the tea cake back. "You'll have to do better than that to keep this mouth sealed."
"How about we let you keep the kimono?" Kaoru suggested.
"As pretty as it is, I cannot take any more clothes at this point. How about you guys buy me lunch the rest of the week and we'll call it good," I said cheekily.
"Deal," they said in unison.
" . . . You'll give it to me?" Haruhi asked adorably, staring at the fancy tea cake.
"Oh, how cute," the twins and I cooed as Haruhi's fans came up.
"Haruhi, you like Japanese tea cakes?" one girl asked.
"No . . . I'm not into sweets very much, but," she then got this reminiscent look on her face, making her look cute and serene at the same time. "I was thinking that I might place this before the grave of my late mother as an offering."
I smiled softly at Haruhi's words. That was a nice thing to do. It was very touching, but the moment was kind of ruined when the other hosts gathered around and Tamaki, with tears in his eyes, began giving Haruhi more tea cakes.
"It's all yours," Tamaki said in his hosting voice, making the girls go crazy.
"What a way to ruin the moment," I muttered, sliding my hands in the other's sleeves, much like I had seen the twins do earlier.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a girl standing by the doorway, half hiding herself behind the door frame. The others saw her too and walked over.
"Aren't you a new face? What's wrong? Just come in," Kaoru said.
"Come!" Honey chorused.
"Hey! Be softer to the new guest!" Tamaki ordered then walked up to the new girl, putting on the host charm. He held out her hand to her and said, "here . . . Don't be scared, Princess. Welcome to the Ouran Host-"
"DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU FAKER!" she screamed, shoving him in the face and effectively knocking him away.
My interest was peaked. Just who was this girl?
"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU'RE RECOGNIZED AS A PRINCE IN THIS CLUB! A PRINCE SHOULDN'T SPRINKLE HIS LOVE SO EASILY! IT MAKES GIRLS' HEARTS TREMBLE IF YOU SMILE WITH SORROW, BUT WHY DO YOU LOOK SO STUPID?! IT'S AS IF YOU'RE A LIGHT-HEADED NARCISSIST! USELESS! TOO ORDINARY!" the strange girl ranted, stepping out from behind the door frame and pointing at Tamaki. With each insult, he acted like he was struck by an arrow and even though this was highly amusing, I couldn't help but feel bad for Tamaki. Being attacked by a girl he didn't know because of how he was . . . I kind of go that feeling. "YOU'RE THE WORST!"
Tamaki screamed and . . . oh my god, he's such a nerd. He started falling in slow motion, which I'm entirely sure how he did it unless he has excellent control over his muscles.
"A new technique!" the twins said in awe.
"Can it be . . ." I looked over at the mumbling Kyoya. "You are . . ."
"Kyoya-sama!" the girl yelled with tears in her eyes. She ran up to him and hugged him by the waist. "I wanted to see you so badly . . . my only prince."
We all stared in shock at the sight before us. Never would I have thought Kyoya would allow a strange girl to hug him. In fact, I would have thought he could shoot lasers from his eyes before he would let a girl to hug him.
Everyone quickly changed back into their uniforms and stood around the girl who sat on a couch, listening to her story.
"Fiance? Kyoya-senpai?!" the twins exclaimed.
"Yes~ I'm Houshakuji, Rebge. I'll be in grade 10 class A tomorrow," she introduced herself with a pleasant smile, so unlike when we first met her. Renge had long dark blonde hair with a pink bow on top of her head. She wore the hideous yellow dress that was the school uniform for girls and sat like a lady.
Tamaki was sulking in a corner, acting like a child even though he's the father figure of the group.
"Looks like Tamaki's angry," I observed, resting my arm on Honey-senpai's shoulders since for once he wasn't on Mori-senpai's shoulders.
"All because Mom was hiding something from Dad," the twins finished for me.
"Whatever, but will you keep that couple status from now on?" Kyoya asked, more annoyed by the prospect of being called "mom" than worried for his friend.
Renge, who wasn't listening to our banter, was still gushing over Kyoya. "It was really love at first sight. Being affectionate to the backyard's plants, which nobody paid attention to . . . Kindly stretching his hand out to the injured kitty . . ."
" . . . I cannot imagine that at all," the twins and I said simultaneously, almost sick at the thought of Kyoya being so . . . nice! And charitable!
"Kyo-chan's so kind, right Hiro-chan?" Honey-senpai said with a cute expression, looking up at me.
"Uh, it must be the wrong person, Honey-senpai," I said.
"Wait, Hiroki! You should be more polite to Kyoya-senpai!" the twins warned.
"NO! My eyes are justice!" Renge yelled.
. . . What? What the hell does that mean?
"Kind to everyone, and never asks for anything i return! Loves the solitude, but actually hates the loneliness!" By this point, her words were making the rest of us go crazy. The twins and I were running around, so very confused as to how the hell she thought Kyoya was that nice, Haruhi looked like the spirit was sucked right out of her, even Mori-senpai was beginning to look confused. Mori-senpai, the emotionless one! "The throbbing love simulation game, you!" Renge pointed at Kyoya. "Who looks like Ichijo Miyabi-kun from 'Uki Doki Memorial'!"
We stopped, suddenly understanding everything now. She was a huge nerd, an otaku as Tamaki and the twins so kindly put it by looking horrified. Uki Doki Memorial . . . why does that sound so familiar.
"Oh! That dating sim game!" I exclaimed and all the hosts turned to me with a questioning look. "My older brother Tao was obsessed with that game and forced me to play it until I got all the different endings in some sort of hope I would stop playing horror games with him and Kuro. But now that I think about it, Kyoya does look a lot like one of the characters."
"I see. A girl with a lot of interest in characters. She replaces me with her favorite character, makes me her fiance, and gets lost in her wild fantasies," Kyoya said, stroking his chin in thought.
"Her wild fantasies? Isn't she your fiance?" Tamaki asked weakly.
"I don't remember affirming that fact even once," Kyoya said.
I frowned. "You still could have told us earlier so we didn't have heart attacks."
The twins nodded in agreement.
"From what I see from the report, you're managing everything in this club, Kyoya-sama?" Renge asked, looking excited.
"Yes. Kyo-chan is the store manager-san," Honey-senpai said, hugging his Usa-chan, a stuffed pink rabbit.
"That's because nobody else can take care of it as well as Kyoya can," I said, giving Kyoya a somewhat compliment.
"The store manager-sama! It suits him very well!" Renge gushed. "It was my dream to be a draw-girl for the store."
"We don't need one; we're a host club," Hikaru sighed.
"We're not a bakery," Kaoru added.
I popped up between the two. "Not to mention that's kind of a sad dream. I mean, you could be something like a musician or a doctor, but a draw-girl?" I shook my head.
"I've decided! At the same time I'll prepare to be a bride, I'll be an administrative assistant for the Host Club!" Renge said, completely ignoring us.
"Eeh, Kyoya," Tamaki coughed.
"She's the daughter of one of the important business partner of my family: Ootori family. Please take good care of her," Kyoya said with a cool smile, basically saying he wasn't going to deal with her or break her heart . . . yet.
"As you heard," Tamaki sighed with a smile.
"Haruhi, Hiroki!" Tamaki and the twins said, placing a hand on our shoulders.
"THIS IS PART OF YOUR HOST TRAINING, YOU TWO! FATHER WILL BE COLD-HEARTED!" Tamaki blubbered as everyone, including Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai, ran away from us.
"Erm . . ." Haruhi reached out to Kyoya, who had his back turned to us.
"Of course, if something goes wrong, your debt will be doubled. I'll make note of it," Kyoya said.
"Why do I have to be roped into this? Is this because I'm a you-know-what?" I whined, not wanting to say girl unless Renge was actually listening for once.
"Why else do you think you and Haruhi were chosen?" Kyoya asked, writing something in his notebook.
"I was hoping you would say we had the most patience out of everyone," I sighed.
"Haruhi-kun, Hiroki-kun," Renge said, mixing together her cookie dough ingredients with a whisk, She wore a flowery apron over her uniform and a matching bandana in her hair to keep it from falling into the mixture. "Should I put more sugar in the cream?"
"Ah, yes . . . How's the chocolate going?" Haruhi asked, wearing a plaid apron and bandana, wearing oven mitts as she went to put my batch of milk chocolate chip cookies in the oven.
"Everything's going fine. I'm melting them now," Renge said cheerfully, gesturing to the smoking pot.
"DON'T USE THE DIRECT FLAME!" Haruhi hollered. "It'll separate. That's very basic knowledge!"
"I got the cookies, you go take care of Renge," I said, wearing an apron and bandana with cute little animals all over it like chicks, kittens, puppies, lions, tanuki's, and mice.
Haruhi quickly handed me the tray and quickly walked over to Renge to fix the situation. I walked over to one of the ovens which happened to be close to the door and couldn't help but hear the hosts talking on the other side. They should be up in the Music room in a meeting or hosting or something, not spying on us!
"What a beautiful scene . . . very cute," Tamaki said almost wistfully.
"By the way, what's that process?" Kyoya asked.
"She said she'd make cookies for Kyo-chan~" Honey-senpai said, no doubt he probably looked adorable saying it.
"I'm sure she mistook the Host club with bakery or something . . . Poor Haruhi and Hiroki," one of the twins said, but didn't sound too sorry for us.
"Dummy! Are all your eyes knot-holes!" Tamaki yelled. "In the room which is full of sweet fragrance, cute cookies, which are just baked. And three female classmates, who are getting along very well." I don't think that's quite true. Did he miss the point when Renge started burning the chocolate and tried to use her bare hands to move the entirely metal pot? "Everything is well planned. This is one big project to make Haruhi and Kiroki realize they are girls!"
I slammed the door open, frightening the hosts and catching Renge and Haruhi's attention. "I knew it! You stupid little twat! I hate baking! I've only been dealing with this because I want the cookies!"
Renge walked up next to me, obviously annoyed by Tamaki. "You're too noisy, fake king."
"Now, you lot, get out of here so we can finish!" I yelled and they scurried off, dragging a sulking Tamaki with them.
Renge and I looked at each other then smiled and laughed. We went back to baking and Renge tried this time to not make anymore mistakes. She began asking us what to do with every step and as annoying as it was, at least she was trying. Maybe I could get along with this girl.
After our cookies were done baking, we wrapped them in cloths and walked back up to the music room, where Tamaki was still sulking. Renge skipped up to Kyoya, presenting to him her burnt cookies.
"Kyoya-sama~ I've learned how to make peasants' cookies from Haruhi-kun and Hiroki-kun~ It's Renge's first time to cook, so I wa a bit scared," Renge said, suddenly talking in third person.
"Well . . . the colors are okay," Kyoya said, trying to be nice to the girl. They were as black as his hair.
"I know, I'm bad at it!" Renge admitted as the twins, Honey-senpai, and Mori-senpai each took a cookie. Mori-senpai had the sense to not eat it. "But I'm sure . . . If it's Kyoya-sama, he'll say, 'anything you make is delicious,'" she said dreamily.
"Tastes nasty," Hikaru mumbled, the cookie hanging out of his mouth.
"What is this, a rock?" Kaoru asked, copying his twin.
"It doesn't taste good," Honey-senpai said sadly, tears in his eyes either from how bad it tastes or from being disappointed.
Renge got really defensive and, I swear to god, turned into Medusa. She started chasing them around, but I didn't dare look. I wasn't going to risk looking at her when she had snakes for hair. For all I know, if I did, I could turn into stone! That would be an awful way to die. What if you had a stupid look on your face when you were turned to stone? You'd be like that forever until you crumbled into dust.
Haruhi took a bite of her ginger cookie and I tried my chocolate chip cookie. Even though I hate baking, I'm pretty good at it. Mom said I needed a hobby as a kid and had me take cooking classes for kids. That, and ice skating classes, sewing classes, and language classes. On the bright side, I could speak Japanese, English, German, and French.
"Mine went pretty well . . . I haven't made snacks in a while, but," Haruhi trailed off, probably criticizing her cookie.
"Mine are pretty good, but definitely not for someone who doesn't like a lot of sweet things," I said, the cookie hanging out of my mouth and suddenly, Hikaru got in my face, his face resting on the back of my head. "Personal. Space."
"Getting rid of a bad taste," he said seductively and bit off most of my cookie.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Tamaki's head shoot up. So, that's what they're doing. Trying to get a rise out of "Dad".
"Ah. It tastes very good. Can you bake a next time?" Hikaru asked with a grin, taking a step back and ruffling my hair.
"Psh, there had to be a life on the line if you want me to bake again. Cooking, I don't mind as much, but I just can't stand baking," I said, folding my arms over my chest.
"Hey Haruhi," Kaoru said. "You got some cream on your face," and he liked it right off her cheek.
Tamaki shot up and began yelling obscenities at the twins, who grinned at his reaction. Haruhi didn't mind, just wiping the spit off and giving them an annoyed look. I couldn't help but chuckle at Haruhi's reaction.
"Anyhow, they're getting along very well with male classmates, don't they?" Kyoya observed, talking more to Tamaki than anyone really.
Hm, now that it was revealed that I was a girl, the twins have been nicer to me. Of course, they still throw an occasional ball of paper at my head and poke my side every now and then. But they've toned down the cruelness a lot ever since they found me sticking a hand down my shirt. Why though? Did they think that now I'm a girl in their eyes, I would get easily hurt or something by their actions or words? It's stupid if they think that.
"Kaoru, if you'd have just told me, I could clean it myself," Haruhi said.
"And if you wanted a cookie, just take one and don't steal mine," I grinned, acting like it was just an ordinary thing.
Tamaki got into our bubbles and started screaming, "YOU TWO! YOUR REACTIONS ARE WRONG! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO REJECT THEM, NOT LET THEM GO!"
"Please stop the sexual harassment, kissing machine senpai," Haruhi said, looking away from Tamaki.
I busted up laughing, falling from Tamaki's grip and onto the floor. He ignored me and continued to yell about the twins being criminals. Apparently, Haruhi still hasn't forgiven Tamaki for the Christmas incident. Who wouldn't? I'd probably still be pissed if I lost my first kiss to some chick because my senpai knocked into my back. But it's the way Haruhi looked and how serious she sounded that made me start laughing.
"Everyone's characteristics are very bad! Except Kyoya-sama," Renge yelled, getting us all to stop and look at her.
"You lack any negative aspects, and girls find that dreadfully dull! Girls are weak for beautiful men involved in trauma! Girls will be bored with your so-called dummy actions soon enough! Are you trying to make Kyoya-sama's store go bankrupt!" Renge yelled then pointed at Honey-senpai, who had tears in his eyes and was hugging Usa-chan very close to him. "We'll be renouncing your characters starting today! You first! Hacing cuteness outside and inside is the same as a toddlers! Thus, CHANGE IT TO 'HAVING A CUTE FACE, BUT ACTUALLY BEING A BEAST'!"
"NOOO!" Honey-senpai screamed and clung to the nearest person (me) and cried into their blazer.
"Morinozuka-senpai! Take care of Haninozuka-senpai by staying with him all the time! And dignify the speeches you make once in a while! Twins, suffer from the fact that people can't tell the difference between the two of you! And be in a basketball club! Haruhi-kun! You'll be a super poor honor student, but you're being bullied!"
She turned on me and Honey-senpai yelped and hid behind me. "Hiroki-kun! You received your scars from a horrible accident and even though you act happy all the time, you are angry at how useless you felt at the time and vowed to protect those who can't defend themselves no matter what!"
Holy shit. Holy shit, she's not that far off from the truth. It's either a really big coincidence or she's really good at reading people but doesn't quite know it yet. Either way, now that I'm deemed a hero with questionable morals (what am I, batman?), I can only sense gloom and doom for what Renge has in store for us.
"And you, Tamaki-san! Be an institute's idol, and people always compliment your appearance, but actually you have a huge inferiority complex. THE LONELY PRINCE!" Renge claimed, shocking Tamaki.
". . . it suits me very well . . ." Tamaki said after he came out of his shocked state.
"Kyoya-sama, you're perfect~ Please always be affectionate!" Renge said, turning sweeter than sugar once she faced Kyoya.
"My pleasure," was all Kyoya said.
"Kyoya-senpai . . . do something with that princess," the twins said.
"Well . . .? Haruhi and Hiroki's supposed to be taking care of her. And see," Kyoya said and pointed in the direction of Tamaki and Renge. Tamaki was posing dramatically, a look of anguish on his face and Renge was absolutely loving it.
"Renge-kun! Renge-kun! Does this look like a lonely pose?" Tamaki asked in a soft, sad voice.
"Wow! It's pretty nice, Tamaki-san! If it were raining, it would be even better!"
"Club president is in it," Kyoya finished. "Well, let's see. It should turn out to be pretty interesting."
"But I have to act like a guy, do you guys not understand that?" I sighed.
"No, because we never got around to interrogating you," the twins said, wrapping their arms around my shoulders and making a perfect Hiroki sandwich.
"Really? I thought I told you guys," I mumbled and went through my mind everything from the Christmas ball to now. "Huh, I guess I never did."
"Why do you have to be a boy, Hiro-chan?" Honey-senpai asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Well," I looked over at Renge and saw she wasn't paying attention. "My mom's kind of a worry wart and is afraid I'll die alone with fifty cats that each have a ridiculous name. So, she hired Madame Bellerose to find me some rich guy who won't run away at the sight of me. It hasn't been going so well, so she concocted a plan. The plan was I would attend Ouran as a boy and without my cover up so people will get to know me for who I am and when we have some potentials, we'd tell them my real gender and Madame Bellerose would work her magic from that point on."
"You know Belle-chan?" Honey-senpai asked, getting a smile on his face.
"Uh, yeah. You too?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, we all know her. Our parents tried to set us up or one of our relatives up at some point in our lives, but it never worked out," Kaoru said from my right then grinned. "She gave up on Hikaru and I a month in."
"I guess I'm just a special case," I shrugged.
"So Hiro-chan has to find a husband?" Honey-senpai asked.
"Ah, a guy who's willing to go on a date with me first," I said and patted Honey-senpai on the head. "We'll slowly work our way up to husband."
The next day after school, I was forced to go outside by Renge who had a brilliant idea. Make a movie starring us and our new characteristics. My first reaction to seeing the cameras was to hide my face with my hands. I had to stop when they began filming and I had to get into position. It started out with the twins playing basketball and Kaoru getting hurt. After a touchingly sad scene between the twins, they magically appeared outside in the rain where Tamaki approached them, telling them that he was envious of them for having one another to support them. Then it was Haruhi, Honey-senpai, Mori-senpai, and my turn.
We were outside in a little "forest" of trees, the faux raining showering over us. Haruhi sat at the base of a tree, watching in horror as Honey-senpai knocked me down to one knee.
"You can't save the poor bitch, scar face," Honey-senpai growled, his entire being void of any childishness. What I saw before me was a small man as cutthroat as can be. "You should've known what would happen when you went against me."
"Then I would gladly defy you a thousand times over than help you, you little bastard," I sneered, getting back to my feet shakily.
". . . Stop it, Mitsukuni," Mori-senpai said. "You're the one who suffers every time you hurt somebody else."
"Don't admonish me, Takashi, especially in front of trash like him," Honey-senpai said coldly and "kneed" me in the stomach. I made a sickening sound and hunched over but refused to step aside so he could have at it with Haruhi. "You want to be punished again?"
Honey-senpai looked at Haruhi coldly with a Kyoya-ish smile. "I hate somebody living beyond his or her means," Honey-senpai got in my face, a sneer overcoming the cold smile. "You disgust me, Ookubo. Get out of my way, Chelsea Smile."
Ouch, that kind of hurt. "Make me, you pint sized little bastard."
We glared at each other and what was supposed to happen next was a fight of epic proportions, but we couldn't do it. Instead, our tough guy facade dissolved. Honey-senpai got all teary eyed and jumped on me, wrapping his legs around my waist and his arms around my neck. I was also a little teary eyed and hugged my small senpai back just as tight.
"I'M VERY SORRY, HIRO-CHAN!" Honey cried, tears running down his face.
"I'M SORRY FOR CALLING YOU SUCH MEAN NAMES, HONEY-SENPAI!" I wailed. "I PROMISE NEVER TO DO IT AGAIN!"
"ME TOO!" Honey-senpai parroted.
"CUT! THERE! FOLLOW THE SCRIPT!" Renge screeched, turning into Medusa. "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't just read it in such a bland manner! CAMERA! Stop filming for awhile! Rain! Be more painful!"
How can rain be painful!
We decided to take a break and watch the staff do their thing and Renge order them around.
"I heard she hired them from Hollywood," Kyoya said.
"When did it change from character reformation to a short film shoot?" Haruhi asked, drenched in rain.
"If I remember this correctly, this is actually pretty similar to one of the storylines of Uki Doki Memorial," I said, and set Honey-senpai down for a second before piggy backing him instead.
"Can it be 'Uki Memo live action!" the twins exclaimed.
A staff member came around and handed us towels to dry off with. Haruhi dabbed her face and Mori-senpai started drying mine and Honey-senpai's hair.
Hikaru sighed. "Why do we have to play basketball?"
"Look at this script. Shit," Kaoru insulted it as he flipped through it with an annoyed look.
Haruhi took the script and Mori-senpai, Honey-senpai, and I gathered around her to read the script.
"It appears as if Hikaru is leading the relationship, but in actuality Kaoru, being more mature spiritually, is the seme," I said after reading a few of their parts.
"It's true, so it's no use!" the twins exclaimed. "There's no point in changing our characters!"
"Eeeeh, really!" Honey asked.
"What does 'seme' mean?" Haruhi asked innocently.
I patted her on the head. "If you don't know, then it's probably best we keep it that way. 'Sides, I don't want Tamaki come yelling at me if he finds out what I told you."
"Haruhi!" Tamaki yelled, running over while loosening his tie. "How was my acting?"
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," I whispered under my breath. "Is it okay if I set you down, Honey-senpai, and dry off?"
"No problem, Hiro-chan! And you don't have to all us senpai," Honey-senpai grinned and hopped off my back.
"What? So I just call you Honey and Mori or Mitsukuni and Takashi?" I asked and used my towel to thoroughly dry my hair.
"Whatever you want!" Honey-senpai said and started drying off with his towel.
"Hey, let's play a game!" the twins suggested, a mischievous smile on their faces.
"What kind of game?" I asked curiously.
They grinned and repositioned the towel on Honey's head so he looked like Little Red Riding Hood and mine so I looked like an old lady. Honey and I looked at each other and laughed.
"Looks good on you," the twins laughed.
"Haruhi-kun, Hiroki-kun, can you help me for a bit?" Renge called for us.
I sighed and tied my towel around Honey's neck, adding on to the cloak look. "Welp, I gotta get back to work before the boss lady starts yelling again.
"Bye-bye!" the twins and Honey said and waved me off.
"Yes? What is it?" Haruhi asked as we turned the corner.
"I'd like those people to be in the film too~" Renge said and gestured to two very intimidating looking Ouran boys. I see them in the halls from time to time. They're class D students who come from yakuza families.
"Huh? What's the matter scholarship student?" the boy with shorter hair and ear piercings asked.
I looked down at Haruhi and saw she had that nervous smile on her face she gets when she doesn't really know what to do in a situation.
"Eh, don't sweat it, guys. He's just had a long day," I said with a shrug.
"There should always be bad guys in the climax! The club members unite upon being hurt by true villains! THEY'RE JUST THE MEN FOR THAT POSITION!" Renge yelled passionately.
"What? What is it!" the other boy yelled.
"This girl is so cruel!" the short haired boy exclaimed, the both of them genuinely hurt by her words.
"Wait, Renge-chan," Haruhi began, noticing the boys as well.
"The story ends wonderfully when the villains reform themselves after Kyoya-sama's touching line!" Renge was off in her own little world again.
"Renge, you can't just-well, how do I put this?" I questioned myself. "Renge, you can't just see what's on the outside. If you only see what's on the outside, you miss out on so much, don't you think?"
"I don't quite understand what you're talking about," Renge confessed then grabbed the longer haired boy by the arm and began to drag him. "Well, anyway, please come and stand by-"
"Asshole! Don't just whatever you want!" he yelled and shoved Reng away. "Don't act so big-headed just because you're from class A!"
"Watch out!" Haruhi yelled when she was headed for a structure that held the fresnel lights they used throughout the shooting.
I gasped when Haruhi ducked behind Renge to catch her, landing harsh against the metal structure. She was hunched over, holding her shoulder that took the brunt of the force.
"He-Haruhi-kun! Are . . . you okay?" Renge asked, kneeling next to Haruhi.
"I'm all-ouch!" Haruhi flinched when she moved.
I quickly turned on the class D boys and gave them a glare that would make the devil himself cower with fear. Before they could get the chance to run away, I snatched them by the backs of their jackets and threw them to the ground on their knees. I ignored their looks of fear, I ignored their pleas for mercy when I stood over them both. All I focused on was the fact that Haruhi was hurt and these two were the source of that pain.
"You boys have pissed me off and I have no mercy for those dare harm my friends," I growled lowly and punched them across the face.
"Haruhi! What was it just now . . .?" Tamaki came running around the corner and the boys standing at my feet cowered even more.
"Don't pay attention to him ,pay attention to me!" I roared and grabbing the long haired class D boy by his collar and jerking him upwards. "You hurt my friend Haruhi and-"
Tamaki interrupted my speech and punched the guy I was holding across the face. Tamaki ripped him from my grasp and shoved him against the wall and got in his face.
"Who did it?" Tamaki asked in a cool, threatening voice.
"We-we didn't mean . . . to . . ." he stuttered in fear.
"Would you like to be expelled together?" Tamaki threatened him.
"Wait, you started the quarrel first . . ." the short haired boy tried to defend his friend then saw Mori-senpai standing behind him.
Growling, I grabbed him by his tie. "Bull-fucking-shit! You two were the idiots who started it with the shove! If you had just stood your fucking ground and told her no, this wouldn't be happening."
"Teacher, this way-there-re scary class D people," the twins yelled for a teacher.
Annoyed by the prospect of a teacher coming, I let him go. He immediately grabbed his friend from Tamaki and ran off. Tamaki andI ran over to Haruhi, who I noticed had tears leaking from her eye that wasn't covered by her hair.
"Haruhi," Tamaki said urgently and cupped her cheeks.
"Are you okay, Haruhi? Is your shoulder in pain?" I asked gently.
"It . . . hurts . . ." she mumbled, rubbing her eye. "My contact lenses . . . moved . . ."
All that anger inside me washed away. Instead, I felt like an idiot for punching the class D boys. I felt like an idiot for over reacting. Haruhi held out her hand and her contact and in her palm. THis bubbling sensation started in my stomach and make it's way up my throat and in my mouth, where I began laughing.
"Ca . . . Camera! Did you get that just now?" Renge yelled, turning to the camera and audio crew who gave her a thumbs up. "This is it! It's perfect! Now, only thing we need is Kyoya-sama's touching-"
Kyoya slammed a rock against the camera's lense, shattering it. I'm surprised he didn't cut himself doing so. The camera operator freaked out over his camera and how it was busted now. I would be upset to. I've looked up how much those camera's cost and it's a lot. It ranges from $40,00 to $66,000.
"Kyo-Kyoya-sama," Renge stuttered, baffled by his sudden change of character.
"I'm very sorry, but we cannot leave any evidence of the club members' violent acts. And it's very unpleasant of you causing this kind of trouble," Kyoya said cooly, still holding the rock in his hand.
"Why? Kyoya-sama, you should have said, 'don't worry about it . . .' and pat my head gently . . . If it's Kyoya-sama . . ." Renge cried, tears streaming down her face.
"But, that's not the real Kyoya," Tamaki said.
"Well, it's okay, actually. It was rather fun," Hikaru admitted with a shrug.
"Right!" Honey said, climbing onto Mori's back.
"There're various reasons to fall in love," Kaoru said.
Haruhi and I crouched in front of Renge to have a girl-to-girl talk.
"I think it's fun to know the person little by little through looking at their personality," Haruhi said with a smile.
"Like when we were baking cookies. You learned I hate baking and we learned you're a very dedicated woman," I added with a grin.
Her tears were reduced and we helped her stand up. "I'm sorry . . . for causing trouble."
A few days later, everything was back to normal and we were hosting again. I told my customers all about the trials and tribulations of baking and acting, from burning your fingers with a hot tray to getting soaking wet from the fake rain. They ate it up and kept asking about what I was like, how my character was. But I would bring up a different subject and they would forget. Unfortunately, the same tactic didn't work on Kuro and Tao. Tao was still around. He and Dad didn't have to leave for America for a couple more weeks, so they were happy to intrude on my life as well.
"She seriously had you guys standing in the rain?" Tao asked as he combed my hair with his skinny tan fingers.
The light from the laptop illuminated Tao's dyed white hair and tan skin. Instead of dressing fancy like he usually does, he was wearing a purple knitted sweater that was far too big for him and ratty old grey sweatpants. Kuro wasn't wearing a shirt but had on pajama pants with Slenderman on them. His brown, almost black, hair was messier than usual from switching back and forth from lying his head on a pillow to holding his head up with his hand. I, for once, wasn't wearing my chest binder and wore a black tank top with camouflage boxer shorts. Kuro, Tao, and I were sitting on my large bed in the semi-darkness. In front of us was my laptop and Kuro took over to play Outlast when Tao started playing with my hair.
"Yeah. It sucked and it was really cheesey. We had to stop a lot 'cause Honey and I had a hard time calling each other names," I said and Kuro screamed when a character popped up out of nowhere, grabbed him, and threw him off the second floor. "God, you're such a baby."
"Hey, I'm the oldest! You should treat me with more respect," Kuro said then flinched when he saw a priest looking man do something to his character.
"No, she's right, brother dearest. Just last night you were begging to sleep at the foot of my bed because you watched Cabin in the Woods," Tao said with a smirk and made tiny braids in my hair.
"You promised you wouldn't tell anyone!" Kuro yelled and lunged at Tao, tackling him onto the bed.
I giggled at them and continued playing for Kuro. "I'm just glad the footage in the camera was damaged so Renge and her crew can't pull some sort of miracle and actually make the movie with what we got. And please stop choking Tao, Kuro. Mom and Dad will be awfully sore with you if you end up killing him."
"Yes, listen to Hiki!" Tao choked and I scowled.
"I told you to stop calling me that! It sounds too much like hickey!" I yelled and joined Kuro in torturing our brother.
The next day, classes went on like normal, but I couldn't help but hear more whispers about the host club today than usual. It wasn't until we went to the club after school did we find out.
"Tamaki-sama!"
Hikaru-kun! Kaoru-kun!"
"Haruhi-kuuun~"
"Oh Hiroki-kun!"
"Hello, welcome," Tamaki greeted them from a couch. We were all standing around the couch with welcoming smiles.
"We bought the video!" announced the girls.
. . . What?
"The scene in the rain is the best!"
"I was blown away by Hikaru-ku and Kaoru-kun's deep relationship!"
"I want to see Honey-kun's evil side!"
"Wasn't Hiroki-kun amazing when he stood up to Honey-kun?"
". . . Kyoya," Tamaki said, not looking towards the Ootori boy.
"Do you think I'm such a idiot as to break the camera without taking the data? The sales are going just fine. Of course, the violent scenes have been edited," Kyoya said, not looking at Tamaki as he wrote away in his notebook. "Aren't you happy to have more money for the club?"
I should have knocked on wood. I really should have knocked on wood.
"I finally realized," Renge approached Haruhi and I and took our hands.
The kindness to protect me that time with all your might . . . the depth of your love admonishing me occasionally. This is what you two meant by fall in love with the person little by little, through looking at their personality, isn't it? Haruhi-kun~ Hiroki-kun~"
"Uhh," I didn't even know how to respond to her.
"Here, let's go to my place and play games all night long! You need get to know me as well!" Renge said and began dragging us out of the club.
"Wait! I won't forgive you for this!" Tamaki yelled, trying to stop her.
"Get away, moron!" Renge hissed.
"B-But you can't have both of us!" I piped in. "So, I suggest you take Haruhi instead."
"Hiroki!" Haruhi said sternly.
"I know I can't have the both of you . . . but I hope we can become the best of friends, Hiroki-kun, despite your feelings for me!" Renge said cheerfully and continued to drag us away.
. . . I think I was friend-zoned by a girl I don't know all that well.
EXTRA
Everything stopped. No one dared to breathe. We could only watch in horror at what had been done.
"We . . . we've done it," Tamaki breathed.
The tea on the table spilled, soaking poor Usa-chan. Honey was currently sleeping on the couch, taking his daily nap. The twins had been chasing Haruhi around and in the process, accidentally knocked Tamaki into the table, spilling the tea onto the table. I had nothing to do with the situation. I was just hanging around Mori and Kyoya, discussing ideas of our next cosplay day with Mr. Manager.
"Tono spilled it!" the twins immediately put the blame on him.
"You fool! You ran into me!" Tamaki countered.
"That;s because Haruhi tried to run away from us. We were going to dress her in female attire," Hikaru said and he and Kaoru hugged Haruhi.
"Female attire," Tamaki deadpanned.
"Don't you wanna see it? Tono~" the twins said.
"I . . . actually feel insulted they didn't chase me around," I said, surprising myself more than the others. I looked up at Mori-senpai. "Am I not pretty enough for them to torture?"
He looked like he didn't know how to answer my question but he didn't have to, because Tamaki started to scream . . . again.
"I WANT TO SEE IT, BUT NOT UNDER THIS CIRCUMSTANCE! FOOLS! WHY ARE YOU HUGGING HER IN A MOMENT LIKE THIS-"
"We don't have any guests yet, so you can be as noisy as you want, but is it okay? Honey-senpai will wake up," Kyoya said, pausing Tamaki from killing the twins.
The three quickly ducked behind a couch, but Haruhi didn't. In fact, she walked up to the sleeping blonde to wake him up.
"We can't do anything about it, can we? Just wake him up and apologize," Haruhi said.
"Wait up! Don't get close to Honey-senpai! Take refuge in here!" Tamaki and the twins whispered/yelled but ended up dragging her to their pathetic hiding spot anyway.
"Listen up. This may only be a legend . . . But Honey-senpai is said to be in a very bad mood when he wakes up," Tamaki whispered to her.
"I've never seen him like that before," Haruhi mentioned.
"Even if his mood was good until now, that doesn't mean today will be the same! On top of that, I heard this rabbit was hand-created by senpai's favorite late grandma!" Tamaki whispered/yelled, only sounding more panicked as he went on.
"That's actually true!" I piped up, popping from behind the club president.
"How do you know?" Haruhi asked.
"Oh, I have Honey's number. We talk all the time. We invite Mori to our text talks but he doesn't join us as much," I shrugged, pulling put my phone and showing them my last conversation with Honey, which was on the topic of visiting this small bakery in town that I heard was really good.
"What if he sees what his Usa-chan turned into a totally different creature when he just wakes up," Tamaki pondered.
"We'll be the ones who'll turn into the totally different creatures!" Tamaki and the twins yelled.
"Legend and rumor," Haruhi dismissed it.
"I firmly believe my theory. Don't you remember senpai's act on the 'Renge Incident'?" Tamaki questioned.
"That was so real," Hikaru nodded his head.
"Nobody can make that expression as good as that, unless he already has some kind of foundation," Kaoru also nodded his head.
"And the most important fact!" Tamaki got in close to Haruhi's face. "Honey-senpai is blood type AB!"
"Meaning," the twins continued. "Same as Kyoya-senpai!"
Apparently that last little tidbit was all it took to convince Haruhi.
"Don't you think that'll hurt my feelings?" Kyoya asked monotonously.
Honey rolled over in his sleep, making my classmates and Tamaki freeze up.
"Not good. We should do something before he wakes up . . . Hikaru! Kaoru!" Tamaki snapped his fingers.
"Yes sir!" the twins saluted him.
"Go get your family's private sesuna! Fly to Mt. Osore and ask Itako to come! We'll ask Honey-senpai's Grandma to come out and make a new Usa-chan!" Tamaki ordered, stepping up to a new level of idiotic plans.
"We don't have that much time. Are you dumb?" Hikaru asked.
"It's okay for you to get confused, but please say something more constructive," Kaoru said.
"Grr . . . Let's do this instead! We'll take Usa-chan to dry clean, and in the mean time, Haruhi! Hiroki!" Tamaki ordered.
I jumped to my feet, eager to help out. But I quickly became confused when Tamaki was holding a giant Usa-chan costume. "Haruhi, wear this costume. Hiroki, make sure Usa-chan is safely delivered to the dry cleaners."
"What a nice idea!" the twins said, more about dressing up Haruhi, and gave Tamaki a thumbs up.
"WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? I MEAN, IT'S TOO OBVIOUS!" Haruhi screamed, trying to run away but Tamaki held onto her shoulder.
"It's all right! He'll be a sleepy head, so he wouldn't notice the size difference!" Tamaki yelled.
"Then why don't you wear it, senpai? Or have Hiroki-chan wear it!" Haruhi yelled.
"It won't be cute if I'm in it! And the smaller we go, the better!" Tamaki countered.
I chose to stand by Mori and read over his shoulder, not wanting help anymore once it became a thing about dressing up Haruhi. The only person who ever likes me ever enough to dress me up against my will not on special occasions is Mom, Dad, Kuro, and Tao. I guess I haven't been part of the club long enough for them to torture me with dress up.
Honey-senpai sat up, rubbing his eyes, awake but still sleepy from his nap. They already managed to shove Haruhi in most of the costume, but they wasn't fast enough.
"Oh my god, we won't make it!" Tamaki cried, looking over his shoulder at the older boy. "Fine, substitute strategy number 2!"
When Honey opened his eyes at last, he saw Kuma-chan, Tamaki's bear, sitting on his lap. The twins were snickering at the fact Tamaki had Kuma-chan with him and poor Haruhi was running into walls because she couldn't see with the costume on. Honey stared at Kuma-chan a little bit longer before throwing the offending bear to the ground.
"MY KUMA-CHAN!" Tamaki screeched while the twins just screamed in fear.
Honey stood up, wearing pajamas and dragging his blanket behind him. He was headed straight for Usa-chan.
"WHAT DO WE DO! IT'LL BE OUR TURN SOON!" Tamaki screamed.
"WAH! HE FOUND USA-CHAN!" the twins screamed.
Honey picked up Usa-chan. Tea was dripping from the soaked rabbit.
". . . My Usa-chan . . ." he looked in our direction but I made the choice to look away. Like with Medusa-Renge, I wasn't going to risk my life by looking at him. "Who dirtied it?"
The screamed in fear.
"MORI-SENPAI! HIROKI! HELP US!" Kaoru screamed.
Mori stood up and we walked up to Honey.
"We were having a tea party," I said with a shrug.
" . . . Usa-chan really wanted to have a cup of tea," Mori finished.
The world froze and the three idiots watched intensely. Haruhi, now free from her pink, bunny prison, watched with could actually see Honey morph back into the childish senpai we knew and love.
"I see! That's why his face got dirty, huh?" Honey said, holding Usa-chan closer to him. "Do you think he'll eat cake too?"
"Probably," Mori said.
"But first, lets clean up Usa-chan!" I said cheerfully and the three of us walked into the kitchenette. I couldn't help but overhear Haruhi's comment and smirk at it.
"Honey-senpai is scary when he just wakes up, but Mori-senpai and Hiroki-chan wheedling Honey-senpai is even scarier."
Hi, is'a me, Gabby~
I decided to include any extras/omake theaters that might be in a chapter.
So I hoped you enjoyed this chapter of Smiley Faces and Hiroki's interactions with the hosts and her brothers. Tao and Kuro (but mostly Kuro) will crash some hosting days and trips even though they're adults and should have their own lives by now, so expect some more of them in the future.
Until next time!
Toodles~
