Taking a "Pet" to the Mall
"Kyoya-senpai, is it really a good idea to take him with us to the mall?" Haruhi motioned to Kyoto, who was standing nearby, dressed in a blue hoodie and cargo pants.
"After last week's incident, we were asked not to leave him alone at Ouran unless absolutely necessary." Kyoya pushed up his glasses, giving Haruhi a look as if daring her to defy him.
"Alright." Haruhi noticed Kyoto strolling over to a group of college students and rolled her eyes. "Kyoto, get over here!"
Kyoto turned, grinned at her, and waved. He made several gestures before pointing at Tamaki. Haruhi frowned, not comprehending at all.
"He said he'll only come if Suoh buys him sweet and spicy chicken for lunch with a large drink," Kyoya explained nonchalantly. Haruhi arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. Tamaki looked slightly hurt that Kyoya called him Suoh. He figured it was just a slip of the tongue though and so didn't cry about it. He wasn't too happy about buying Kyoto food though.
"Why do I have to spend money on him?" He crossed his arms, glowering at Kyoto.
"Come on, Senpai. I don't have that much on me," Haruhi said. Tamaki glanced at her, then nodded, giving in.
"If it's to help my little girl, then I'll do it," he sighed dejectedly. Kyoto ran over.
"Thanks, Suoh, I'll pay you back as soon as I get some money."
"No need, I'm doing this for my darling daughter, not you."
"Hikaru and Kaoru said they'll meet us later, they've got some business to attend to." Haruhi closed the phone, sliding it into her pocket.
"Haru-chan! Tama-chan! Kyo-chan! Kyo-chan 2!" Honey called, running over cheerily. Mori followed, carrying a bag of popcorn.
"Honey-chan! You're as adorable as always!" Kyoto smiled widely.
"Thanks!" Honey smiled back. Kyoto got along well with him and Mori, much to the surprise of the other hosts.
"Mori-senpai, why do you have popcorn?" Haruhi gave the bag an odd look.
"Takashi wanted something salty." Honey tilted his head. "Where's Hika-chan and Kao-chan?"
"They're coming later," Haruhi said with a shrug.
"Oh, okay!" Honey seemed satisfied with the vague answer, so they began wandering around the mall. Tamaki tried making them stop at a clothing store to go shopping for Haruhi, but they dragged him away. Kyoya acted disinterested in everything, though he did look around when they stopped by the music store and an art display. Honey made them go into three toy stores, though he wouldn't tell them why. He also tried running off to the candy store and was stopped by Mori, who told him to wait until after lunch. Haruhi kept heading towards places with sales. They were just coming out of another store when something caught Kyoto's attention and he stopped. Now, this wouldn't have made any of the others curious, except for the fact that he was frowning and had a sad smile of nostalgia on his face.
"What's up?" Haruhi stepped forward, trying to figure out what he was looking at.
"Would you mind if..." He paused, his words unsure. After a moment, he cleared his throat. "Would it be okay if we stopped at that shop?"
Their eyes followed where he was pointing and they finally saw it, a store with a painting of a red-and-gold dragon in the window. They stared at it, wondering why he seemed so drawn to it.
"Sure," Tamaki said, his voice unusually serious. "You've been going to where we want to go, so you should get a turn as well."
Kyoto blinked and gazed at him a moment, his eyes wide. Then, a genuine sincere smile appeared on his face. "Thank you, Tamaki."
Tamaki gaped as Kyoto walked away, making a beeline for the store.
"Guess he's not all 'bad'," Haruhi said, a little surprised by Kyoto's attitude.
"I think he's scared," Honey told them, his voice soft.
"What do you mean?" Tamaki asked, confused.
"Well, he's from a different reality, right?"
He nodded.
"So, this place, us, he knows nothing about where he is. He may know buildings and names of cities, but those aren't the important things. A place isn't made of what it's built out of, it's made of the people there. And here, he doesn't really know anyone, because we're not the same as the us he may have known."
Tamaki frowned thoughtfully and Haruhi watched Kyoto, her expression unreadable. Kyoya was the first to follow him, quietly saying something about keeping an eye on the "pet". The others shared a glance, rolling their eyes and smirking after him before following. As they entered the store, they looked around in amazement at the various paintings and sculptures of dragons, medieval castles, and mythical creatures, among other things. Tamaki started rambling about an idea for a new Host Club theme, making the others laugh when he announced Kyoto would be playing a dragon. Kyoto responded by informing Tamaki that that he'd be a jester if that happened. The group left the shop with a depressed Tamaki in tow.
"Senpai, next time don't order so much food," Haruhi reprimanded Tamaki who was currently carrying three bags of leftovers.
"There's just so much to try though!" Tamaki went to make an exaggerated motion with his arms and nearly dropped the food. "Besides, I thought my darling daughter would be happy with extra food!"
"I'm not your daughter." Haruhi sucked on the straw of her milkshake. "Besides, Mr. Wolfie is the one who needs extra food, not me."
Tamaki gave her an inquisitive look.
"Kyoto," Haruhi said pointedly.
"You gave him a nickname and yet you only call me senpai!?" Tamaki nearly dropped his food again, his face horrified. Haruhi ignored him, suddenly turning in a circle.
"I take my eyes off him for one second and he disappears," she sighed. There was a weird crackling sound and everyone glanced around in confusion until they realized it was the speaker system.
"Uh, wait, is that really what it says?" a voice came over the speakers, disbelief and uncertainty in its tone. "Okay... Fujioka-san, your bacon is on the loose?"
"Bacon?" Haruhi frowned. Suddenly squealing could be heard and a couple of pigs ran past. The hosts stared after them, the connection clicking in their heads instantaneously. Haruhi shook her head. "Well that explains a lot."
"That must be why Hika-chan and Kao-chan said they were gonna be late," Honey voiced everyone's thoughts.
"And why Kyoto disappeared," Haruhi added.
"Um, Fujioka-san, is this yours?" a girl around Haruhi's age walked up carrying a white piglet with a black patch on its back and over one eye.
"Moreau-san. No-"
"Elliot! There you are!" Kyoto seemingly appeared out of nowhere as he ran over, taking the piglet and hugging it. "I was worried sick! What if the bigger pigs had trampled you?"
The others just watched, unsure how to react to the scene before him. Then Kyoto made things even weirder by looking at the girl, giving her a once over, and saying, "Oh, hey, it's the chick who tried to kill me."
They all gaped at him, turning their heads as they glanced back and forth between the two.
"What?" The girl was clearly confused.
"Kyoto, you've been here a little over a week and hardly talked to any of are classmates, Moreau-san included. When could she have tried to kill you?" Haruhi inquired. "She's not even that kind of person."
Kyoto held up Elliot, placed him on top of his head, and said, "I have no idea." After a moment, he glanced at Moreau-san, gave her a thorough once over, and turned away, his expression blank. "Sorry, I forgot this is an alternate reality."
The twins arrived just as he was walking away, the smiles on their faces fading. They gave the others questioning looks.
"He just remembered he's not home," Mori told them solemnly. He then added, "Be prepared for something you won't be able to do anything about soon. He's breaking."
The others exchanged looks, the pigs forgotten.
Author's Note: Okay, so this chapter was supposed to be humorous and ended up more serious than originally intended. Hopefully you still liked it!
Their classmate is Ai-Pi's character whom I was given permission to use.
