Title: Chapter 4: First Phase: Persuade Cinderella into Attending the Ball
Word Count: 2112
*Recap: The Host Club boys made a plan, and now it's time to execute it. How will poor Haruhi and Chisaki cope?
Pairing: Mainly HikaruxOCxKaoru with various pairings (you'll see ^^)
Genre: Romance, Drama, & Humor
Rating: T
Warnings: Possible OOCness. There better not be any spoilers. It's TOO EARLY for any. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club in any way shape or form. Hatori-san is forever the owner of such a wonderful series. :)
A/N: WOOT! WOOT! THIS ONE IS MORE THAN A THOUSAND WORDS! IT'S A MIRACLE! You have to agree, this is pretty long compared to previous chapters. :)
I just realized, but I think I didn't curse a whole lot (if any) during the past chapters. WELL, that's about to change pretty soon! :D
…And, I also realized I made a few very stupid mistakes in the last chapter. If you read the last one when I first put it up, you'll understand (I accidently mixed up the characters for different stories). -_-'
It was strange.
It was ridiculously strange as Haruhi and Chisaki passed through the halls. How so? Well, wouldn't it weird if you could feel the piercing eyes of some shadows as you walk around everywhere? That's how the two girls felt as they passed through the day. However, every time they glanced behind, the gaze would just lift for the moment, as if nothing was really there. However, when they returned their gazed forward, the eerie feeling returned.
But Haruhi kind of figured what—or should it be who—was responsible for such a thing.
It was lunchtime, and the two decided to eat in the classroom with their homemade, delicious bento. That was when Haruhi's suspicions lifted a little as the twins sat down with them and ate—well, with their own food they brought form the cafeteria. "So Chisaki, how do you like the school so far?"
Chisaki glanced up from her food and gave a small smile. "It's a very nice school with…interesting people. I think I would enjoy it over here."
"That's great! So, how was the reunion?" Haruhi inquired.
Chisaki could feel the pressuring gazes of the twins and only smiled. "It was interesting to see everyone. However, I do hope they pick a better time to schedule such an event. They really need to consider other people's lives—especially us younger generation who need to attend school in order to go down a path where we will obtain stable jobs, and thus stable lives." She explained all this with careful selection of words, just so she wouldn't blow her cover yet. She still needed to get adjusted to this life, and she needed to adjust herself in a way where she'd encounter the least amount of problems. Yeah, she didn't want to go through another miserable experience, such as the one several months back during junior high. Never again will she allow herself to get into such a situation again. "I'll fill you in on the details later! First, we need to finish this lunch! Can't have any of this food wasted!" And thus, she returned to her food and ate in an elegant manner with the other following in suit.
The twins were thoroughly confused with Chisaki. First, she was shaking from nervousness, then she flips Tamaki, and then she's affable and sweet. Maybe Haruhi was right about her being bad with crowds, and just crowds—well, any number greater than four people. They almost felt bad about continuing with Tamaki's plan for her, but they were bored. Thus, the plan seemed very entertaining. So now, they had to follow through with the plan and initiate the first phase: persuade Chisaki to come to the Host Club after school. AKA, the First Phase: Persuade Cinderella into Attending the Ball.
~X~
"Okay men! We shall execute plan 'Cinderella's Pumpkin to Grand Chariot by Midnight' tomorrow, but we must set up everything today before we leave the clubroom!" Tamaki announced.
The twins looked up to the blonde and raised their hands in sync. "But Tono, how are we going to go on with this plan without the main actor? She's probably not going to enter the clubroom after what happened."
Their words were sharp like daggers, piercing Tamaki's heart.
"Yeah Tama-chan! She's probably going to avoid you at any cost because you scared her. Ne, Takashi?" Hunny explained further with Mori nodded in agreement.
Several more daggers pierced through Tamaki, killing his spirit further.
"Further more," Kyouya started as he pushed up his glasses. "…we'd only trouble Tetsuya Chisaki-san, as she seems to have a job after school. She's apparently working in a café in they city everyday except Mondays and Thursdays. And since today is Thursday, she was able to visit Haruhi here and wait for her after school."
The twins gave Kyouya two questioning looks. How the hell does he know that? they thought.
Kyouya looked up form his folder and smiled at Kaoru and Hikaru. "Naturally I'd know about our clients, hosts, and people related to our clients and hosts. Isn't it best to know the relations of people so we may better our services?" His smile radiated, but everyone knew better that it was smile of the Demon King.
Did he just read our minds? the twins thought with alarm.
It seemed that Kyouya's attack killed Tamaki, as the tall blonde was currently lying on the floor in a pitiful state, with his soul leaving from his mouth.
"T-tono?" Kaoru and Hikaru called as they tried to reach for their president. "A-are you—"
However, there was no need to ask such a question as Tamaki would shakily get up, supporting himself with his hands as he stood up slowly in the most dramatic way possible—after all, it is Tamaki, and it was very dramatic. "How could you…" Tamaki whispered.
The rest of the present Host Club watched Tamaki in curiosity. "How could you all hurt me so? Do you hate me that much?"
The twins shrugged. "Meh," they said while the rest averted their eyes.
Tamaki was struck dumb, and then turned around. He was kneeling on the ground and clasped his hands up in prayer, looking up past the ceiling at some invisible figure. "God, please, help this broken family of mine!" Tamaki shouted with rivers of tears pouring from his eyes.
"Before your melodramatic depression gets any worse, I would like to inquire as to how exactly we're going to lure Tetsuya-san here. As we all have stated earlier—before your stupidity rose to another level of absurdity—Tetsuya-san will stay away from the clubroom from now on." Kyouya stated, catching Tamaki's attention. "I'm guessing she figured we would have her compensate for the damage she's done today. Quite smart to understand that fact, thus making this little plan harder to execute; she'd probably make up excuses to "
Tamaki smirked, posing with his chin in the crook of his thumb and index finger. "Naturally I prepared for such a thing!" Tamaki declared with assurance. He pointed to the twins, who saluted him in response. "Kaoru, Hikaru! Both of you must execute the First Phase: Persuade Cinderella into the Attending the Ball!"
"Understood!"
"You will convince her to come to the clubroom after school tomorrow! We don't have customers that day, but neither Haruhi nor Tetsuya-san know this! At lunch, use whatever means you have in order to get her here, and make sure Haruhi doesn't know of this plan!"
Everyone sweatdropped. So he doesn't have a plan to persuade her…
~X~
Now how to execute the First Phase…
That's when they noticed a small container with some brownies in it. A devious grin briefly shown on the twins face, which Haruhi unfortunately saw—but of course, she pretended she never saw it as she refused to get caught up in one of their shenanigans. She learned that anything with those two—or anyone in the Host Club—would exhaust her and possibly scar her. "You like sweets, ne?"
Chisaki glanced to the two boys and stared at them for a moment as she processed their question. Finally, she swallowed her food and nodded with a smile. "Hai!" she replied. "They're very delicious—so I don't really understand why Haruhi doesn't like sweets much."
"I do like them to a certain point, Chisaki. However, unlike you, I don't eat them almost every single day." Haruhi remarked with a slight pout.
Chisaki opened her mouth to retort, but realized what she would say would ruin Haruhi's cover—not like anyone else was in the room, but walls have ears. "We'll continue this later."
Hikaru and Kaoru placed their elbows on the desk and rested their chins on their palms, leaning in a bit and looked up at Chisaki. "Ne, ne, why don't you stop by the Host Club after school? We Have sweets, and I'm Hunny-senpai would love to have someone to cake with."
Chisaki show a look of surprise, keeping her hands at her mouth in a delicate and elegant manner. "Oh my!" she exclaimed. Then, she dropped her hands and titled her head to the side slightly with a small smile. "Thank you, but I would cause trouble to you all. I assume what I did yesterday caused you boys to close up early, and profit for Ootori-senpai—that's his name, right—to be cut. I also assume that your dear president—Suoh-senpai, correct—was most likely depressed."
Hikaru and Kaoru looked away with a sheepish smile. She hit the bull's eye, the twins thought. Then, they quickly turned back to Chisaki and Haruhi with smiles. "Don't worry about it! I'm sure they would forgive you!" Well, Kyouya-senpai is another case…
"Plus, it would be too expensive—and I would not be able to frivolously spend my money on such matters because of my situation. As I recall, the cost of each appointment with a member is 2,000 yen (1)? I can't even afford the uniform, which costs 300,000 yen (2)—and that's just for one set. Someone, such as myself, shouldn't spend my money on it when I can't even buy the uniform." Chisaki explained further with a serious expression.
Th-that's also true, the twins commented in their heads, feeling more discouraged about persuading her. "Oh don't worry about the costs! You'll be a free guest today!" they assured with an uneasy chuckle.
"That's sweet of you guys—and would be nice to hang out with you all—but I have matters I must attend to as well; I need to spend my time wisely if I want to ever accomplish anything in life, a skill I must learn."
Hikaru and Kaoru averted Chisaki's gaze and grimaced. It's impossible. She's absolutely right.
"Ah, but Chisaki, you said you didn't have work today, ne? I believe you were given the week off—that's what otoo-san heard from Sayuri." Haruhi questioned.
"Well, it wouldn't matter, because I still have other work to do at home that requires my immediate attention—and Haruhi, you know very well what I have to do." Chisaki stated darkly, causing the twins to shake a bit in fear. Just as sudden as her dark aura appeared, it disappeared as Chisaki put up a bright smile. "So Hitachiin—"
"You can call us by our first names," the two boys interrupted in sync.
"Right. So Kaoru-kun and Hikaru-kun, how are the both of you? Anything particularly interesting happening?" Chisaki inquired good-naturedly.
The two looked at each other before turning to Chisaki and Haruhi. Well there is the plan… "Nothing too fun," they replied. Kyouya-senpai was right, this is hard. Kaoru and Hikaru glanced at each before they glanced at the food in front of them. I guess it's time for our last resort. With that thought, they suddenly flipped the bento and container, causing all the food to flying to Chisaki.
Miraculously, only the she evaded the ambush of food by scooting to Haruhi's side. However, the twins made sure their plans would not be foiled, and decided to "accidently" throw the katsu sauce at Chisaki.
"Kaoru! Hikaru!" Haruhi shouted as she got up in anger.
The twins stood up after the sauce hit Chisaki's shirt, pretending to be concerned and very apologetic about the act. "Gomen Chisaki! We didn't realized what we were doing until it happened!" they apologized fervorously. They maneuvered around the desks and Haruhi and "helped" Chisaki. "Let us help you," they stated with evil glints in their eyes. But of course, they "accidently" spilled Chisaki's iced tea on her lap. "Ack! Gomen!" They reached for some napkins, but two hands stopped them from reaching further.
They looked down and saw Chisaki looking down, her bangs shadowing her eyes, making her give off a deadly aura. Then, she looked up with smile, which dissipated the killing intent. "Oh, you guys don't have to worry about it! I'll manage somehow!" Chisaki replied pleasantly.
"But we insist, let us help you!" they replied, struggling to reach for the napkins—AKA, something else to ruin her clothes. Surprisingly, Chisaki's grip was stronger than expected. They stopped reaching for something as an idea "suddenly" popped into their heads. They pounded one hand once as "realization struck them". "We know! How about we lend you some clothes, and after school, you can return them after we get these clean!"
Chisaki was about to speak up, only to be stopped by the two boys.
"Let's get you changed! And then after school, you can meet us in the clubroom to get your clothes back!"
Chisaki gave a crooked smile. "Ch-chotto matte—"
"Off we go!"
"Wait!"
Side Notes:
Refer to Ch. 75 in the series. Kyouya mentions that each designation of a member is 2,000 yen. This is approximately $25 as of 6/3/12 (the values fluctuate).
Refer to Ch. 1 in the series. It was mentioned when Haruhi was putting on the uniform because the Host Club found out that Haruhi was pretty good-looking and had Host Club material. 300,000 yen is approximately $3,780 as of 6/3/12 (once again, the values fluctuate).
A/N: Oh those devilish twins… No wonder why Tamaki put them up to the First Phase. ;P
If you guys have any questions on anything, feel free to ask! Because honestly, I think there might be a few now or in the future. Also, if you guys spot any mistakes, LET ME KNOW. I don't have a beta, and I don't check them (yeah, I probably should, but I'm lazy :P).
Until next time! :D