Today things got weird.
It was our normal start to the club. Everyone was gathered: Honey-sempai and Mori, Hikaru, the Hitachiin twins, me, and... Kyoya, of course.
He called the meeting to order. "Barring no objections from our king," he turned to me, casting that shut-the-fuck-up glare, "I've prepared a proposal for your consideration."
"It seems our king," he said, again casting that glare to me, only quicker this time, "is failing to live up to his title. As you can see here," he pointed to a chart - when did he have time to set that up? - "Tamaki's performance has declined steadily over the last six weeks, ever since the fall term began."
I looked over at the cheart, my heart sinking even faster than the numbers.
"For whatever reason," he carried on as smoothly as always, "it seems that Tamaki is just not the spectacle we had hoped him to be."
The twins looked unstartled. "We always figured he was a passing fad," they said. "He is a bit of a one-trick pony, don't you think?"
Hikaru giggled at this. "Why else do you think I asked the twins to be in classes with them?"
Honey-sempai merely chimed in, "if it weren't for all the cake you bring me, I'm not sure why you'd be here at all!" Mori, naturally, nodded his agreement.
They sat around me, looking at me like I was their puppet - nothing more than a doll to bend at their will. A long moment lingered as I swallowed the looks within each of their cold eyes, from Haruhi's indifference to Kyoya's scorn. Maybe he sensed me looking at him, catching his glance all too strongly. In either case, he continued.
"Curiously, Tamaki's merchandise is selling as strongly as ever before. It seems that our guests still enjoy our king's good looks - they just find his charms a bit lacking." His arched eyebrow hinted, what charms?
"Which is why I propose a brand new throne, where Tamaki will sit during hosting hours - unless he has customers, of course - but we all know the odds of that happening these days." Everyone laughed. It felt like Kyoya's scornful glare was contagious, because now I saw flashes of it in everyone else's eyes.
He flipped the page of his chart. It showed a golden throne with red plush seating, along with - hn? what are those?
"You'll notice," Kyoya continued, "that this is no ordinary throne. I've had it designed to ensure our king's comfort, since he will be sitting in it for long periods of time. The finest new fabrics and cushioned have been appropriated towards the final construction."
Everyone nodded slightly. It looks like they expected him to mention those other things.
"You probably expected me to mention these other things," he said. "As you can imagine, our king is prone to rather foolish impulses. For his own good, I've had manacles installed to restrain his feet and wrists. Not only will this ensure that he remains in his place, but the lively addition of a bondage motif will increase our upcoming photobook circulation by an anticipated 33 percent."
By this point, everyone's eyes lit up. Was it because of the throne or because of the profits? Either way, hands started rising in favor. One by one, each went up, until the vote came to me.
"Well, Tamaki," said Kyoya, glaring down at me. "This is your one chance to prove yourself useful. You do wish to be useful to your club, don't you?"
I mumbled out a quiet, "y-yes," the first words I spoke all meeting - all day, really.
"Raise your hand yes, then. All we now need is your vote to proceed."
Downcast eyes blinking twice, I held it up.
"Well," Kyoya said, a grin spreading on his lips, "it seems like we are unanimous. How generous of our king to put the interests of his club above himself."
The meeting went on for a while. Kyoya ran it all, of course. He's so smart - I don't understand how he manages to keep so many ideas together in his head. If it were me - well, you can tell by the vote that I would never be given that kind of power.
But I am good at being king.
Kyoya just made sure of it.
