The next day at school, Isan rushed through the large main hallway of Ouran. Haruhi had already gone to club, but Isan had been busy asking the teacher a few questions in math, her worst subject. Although Isan was a good student in most areas, math was a strange combination of boring and numbers that her inquisitive mind never allowed to settle. She was more interested in things with a deeper meaning, like theology or literature or psychology. Math was just as it was, and there was nothing else left to ponder, and that left her uninterested. Now that the problem was cleared up (well, not really, but she believed she'd get it eventually), she was on her way to the third music room, where her friends would be waiting.
As she ran down the red carpet that stifled the sounds of her shoes, someone came around the corner. He stood in the shadow for a moment, before almost walking into her.
Isan stopped abruptly to talk to the person. "Senpai?"
"Isan. There you are. Tamaki sent me out looking for you," he said with a sigh.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just speaking to the teacher. Was he looking for me?"
"No, it's alright. Haruhi told him you had a few questions, but he was afraid you'd get lost. I was on break, so I came in Haruhi's place." His glasses flashed in an intimidating way. "Do you have problems in math, Isan?"
"Well, yeah." She shrugged casually. "It doesn't make sense to me. My father's disappointed, because he wanted me to be a scientist, too, but I'll never make it. I need a tutor. The level math I'm taking is ridiculously complicated."
"Oh? What are you taking?"
"Algebra."
Kyoya chuckled hollowly at the blunt way the word came out. She was in the lowest form of math that the school offered. He, of course, was in advanced statistics. "Well, Isan, I'll tutor you."
"Oh, no! It's okay, I don't need help. I can do it. I'll ask Haruhi if I have any questions." Isan shook her head furiously, her long brown ponytail whipping her her cheeks at the absurd idea. She barely knew Kyoya, and she did not want to burden him that way. Besides, something about the way he carried himself said that being in debt to him would be a terrifying thing.
"Haruhi needs to stay at the top of her class, or she'll be expelled. She doesn't have time to tutor you if she's studying. Tamaki has the attention span of a rodent. Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai have too many clubs to juggle. Kaoru failed math, and Hikaru is... well, he's Hikaru." Kyoya said the last part as if that explained everything. And it did, to Isan, but an upperclassman passerby stopped for a moment as if the sentence made no sense before continuing on his way. "I, however, have the time. Maybe not the patience, but I have the time." Kyoya smiled, and it made Isan nervous. It was evil, as if he had a plan hatching, or as if he was doing this against his will. Maybe both.
Isan wanted to ask something along the lines of then why are you going to do it if you don't want to? but her mouth would not open. She shrugged and nodded, without a word. This Kyoya had something up his sleeve, and the mystery kept Isan intrigued in him.
"Alright. We'll start today, for half an hour after club." They walked together to where the Host Club was waiting in complete silence.
--
Club was over and the cluster of girls in the room was thinning out with fulfilled "good bye"s following them out the doors.
"Isan, please come over here to where it's quiet," Kyoya called, waving to a few girls he had been hosting moments before. Isan obediently followed him to a corner of the room where there were no people. He was sitting at a little desk with a pad of paper and a few pencils, and an extra copy of the Algebra text book Isan used in class, opened to page they had been working on earlier that day. "Now," he said once she got there, "what do you not understand?" He flipped the book around so that she could read it.
Isan bit her lower lip and shrugged. The numbers looked like a foreign language she only slightly recognized. "All of it?"
--
An hour later, Kyoya walked out of the music room, where the host members were waiting, with the exception of Honey and Mori, who were busy at other clubs. As he entered the hallway, four heads looked up at him simultaneously. Tamaki had had tears in his eyes staring at a non-complying Haruhi, and the twins had been laughing. The mood sombered, except for Tamaki who wined like a puppy dog.
Kyoya was going to kill someone.
"How was it, Senpai?" Haruhi asked. She ignored the fact that he had been tutoring her cousin a half an hour beyond the set time.
"That girl," Kyoya began; his index finger was pushed angrily to the bridge of his nose and his body trembled, "is going to be the death of me!"
"That bad, huh?" the twins asked in sync.
Isan peeked out from behind the door. "Uhmm.. I still don't get it, senpai."
Kyoya turned to her furiously, and she retreated back into the room with a scared yelp and the slam of the door, which echoed down the hallway.
--
This continued for a few weeks, until Isan began to get a little better. Each day she improved, and Kyoya left the room a little less agitated. Eventually, the two left the room laughing.
"But Daddy does believe that I'll be a scientist," Isan was saying as the two met the rest of the hosts in the hallway. She had been being tutors for about four weeks. Within that time, the teacher and student had become friends.
Kyoya laughed, much to the surprise of everyone within earshot. "That's quite witty, Isan. "
"What's with those two?" Haruhi asked the twins in a hushed tone.
The brothers shrugged.
"Who knows what's on Kyoya-senpai's mind," Hikaru answered.
"I think Kyo-chan might be beginning to like Isa-chan," Honey-senpai said from next to Mori-senpai. The martial arts clubs were training this week for a competition, and so there was no formal "club" for five days, is it was a free-for-all. Honey and Mori were taking a few hours off to spend some extra time with the other hosts.
Tamaki's eyes were set far off, although he was staring right at the two laughing in the doorway. "Yeah, I've never seen Kyoya this happy with someone in such a short period of time. I wonder what happened between them?"
--
"So," Haruhi began as the cousins walked home, "you and Kyoya are very good friends, huh?"
Isan blushed and picked up her pace a little. "Hm? No, I don't think so."
"You get along well," Haruhi noted as she quickened to keep up. Her shorter legs had to move twice as fast to walk side-by-side with Isan, and she noticed for the first time their height difference. She's as tall as Hikaru and Kaoru, Haruhi thought. She suddenly felt very short.
"I suppose."
"Hm." With that, Haruhi said no more. It was clear Isan wasn't going to answer, and she was still brooding over her height (or lackthereof).
--
The Host Club opened its doors for the day. Rose petals flew out to greet Isan at the door and she walked into the room.
"Isan! Welcome," Tamaki yelled. He was sitting with some upperclassman, who stared daggers into Isan who dared take Tamaki's attention from her. She had long blond hair combed to the side, and arrogant blue eyes. Her dress was pulled up a little so that her slender thigh was showing to Tamaki. That made Isan disgusted. She hated this type of girl. She probably hadn't been loved enough as a child.
Just because she could, Isan floated over to Tamaki and placed a quick kiss on his cheek, who reddened with the shock. "Hi, senpai. I'm going to grab a piece of cake and sit until club is over, ok?"
"Sure." Tamaki grabbed the closest piece of cake off of the table- his customer's piece. "Strawberry shortcake?"
"Perfect." Isan watched the eyes of the girl as she said it.
"Tamaki! That was my cake!" the girl wined in an attempt to be cute. Her hand found its way up Tamaki's arm to his chin, while her other one found its way around his back.
"It's alright, princess! There's plenty of cake." Tamaki broke out of the girl's grasp and leaned over the arm of the couch to yell, "Honey-senpai! Bring over a piece of strawberry shortcake, will you?"
"But I want that one!" she complained as another piece was set in front of her.
Isan took this time to take a bite, and then another. Her eyes met with this girl's, and a fight had begun.
--
"Isan," Kyoya asked as they sat down to do math, "why did you pick a fight with Hanayomi-san?" The room around them was empty and quiet, so that Isan would be able to concentrate completely.
"I'm on my period."
The bluntness of the touchy subject took Kyoya by surprise, but he adjusted his glasses and settled himself. "And that's an excuse? Her family is one of the wealthiest in the entire school."
Isan narrowed her eyes, but the threat didn't even phase Kyoya.
"Let's do math, shall we?" he asked.
"Hanayomi? Hanayomi. I'll remember that."
"You didn't even know her name?"
Isan shook her head and stood up. "I don't feel like doing this today."
Kyoya sighed. "Fine. But at least study a little tonight." And then he added quickly, "and do something about that attitude. I don't need you cat fighting all of Tamaki's customers."
It angered Isan that there was not even a hint of jealousy in his tone. Although, she hadn't done it because Hanayomi had been Tamaki's customer, specifically. "I only did it 'cause she looked at me wrong," she mumbled.
Kyoya chuckled. "Well, she's very popular. You're in for it if you don't apologize."
"Apologize my ass."
"Maybe you should stay home for the rest of the week." Kyoya smiled, but it was very annoyed.
Isan left him in the music room. She walked by everyone waiting for her, ignoring their calls.
As she and Haruhi walked home, Isan kept her strides long and quick, and Haruhi soon fell behind, and did not try to keep up.