Chapter Four
Melody is Now Open for Business!
Melody: Wait, what? I am?
Jewel: We'll get to that soon enough.
Mary: The title is a bit mis-leading.
Jewel: Eh, let the haters whine about it later.
Blue: DTC doesn't own Ouran.
Jewel: Or the last song in chapter three. That was 'Give Your Heart A Break' by Demi Lovato. By the way, a HUGE shout-out to our reviewers, followers, favoriters, etc. And to Mary, who so awesomely took over the last chapter.
Mary: Aw blush.
Jewel: No, here we go~
Melody was dumbfounded. "E-excuse me?! A hostess?!" she practically screamed. By now, Kyoya had successfully herded all the girls out of the room, ending the session for the day.
"Precisely!" Tamaki said, and Melody widened her eyes, then gave a nervous chuckle.
"Ha, no. N-O spells 'no'! I refuse." she said, then gave Haruhi a guilty look, but she simply shrugged. Melody sighed, and shot a glare at Tamaki.
"You can't really be that cold-hearted." she muttered. In all truth, Tamaki isn't. However, there was a certain Shadow King...
"Pray tell, Miss Uniyoke, has your friend heard of the Ootori family, and our influence?" Kyoya asked. Melody rolled her eyes.
"Of course, Mister Ootori." she replied coldly.
"Then of course you both know the influence that our family has on immigration matters, correct?" he said, and glanced into his black book. "Says here, that Miss Johnson was originally from the States, correct?" he asked, and snapped it shut. Without waiting for an answer, Kyoya said, "It would be a shame if she had to leave suddenly, now wouldn't it?" he said. Melody's face paled instantly. But then she started to grow red.
"You wouldn't dare. I'm sure the Uniyoke family can have the same influence on the Ootori family. I wonder," Melody pulled out her cell phone. "What a difference a single phone-call can do. Care to see?" she said, her face growing dark. Heck, everything around her started to grow dark. Melody had changed from a kind girl, to a dark queen. Even darkness was around Kyoya, as well. It was a battle between the will of the Shadow King, and the Shadow Queen.
Melody finally gave in, and pocketed her phone. "Lucky for you, I'm in an especially gracious mood today." she said, the dark fading around her and Kyoya. "Fine, I'll be a hostess," she said, and both twins, Tamaki, and Hunny started to celebrate. But she wasn't done yet. "But I have some conditions," she said, stopping the four in their tracks.
"Pray tell, Miss Uniyoke." Kyoya said, and Melody frowned.
"First, you leave Blue out of all this junk from now on, got it Ootori?" she said, folding her arms. Kyoya nodded.
"Agreed, what else?"
"A percentage of the profits I make from hosting goes towards Haruhi's debt." she said.
"Fine, anything else, Melody?" Kyoya asked. Melody twitched slightly, but then shook her head.
"No, that's it." she said, and turned to the twins, Tamaki, and Hunny. "Now you can celebrate." she said, and the four proceeded to cheer, and throw confetti they had some-how gotten ahold of. Melody couldn't help but grin.
While the other hosts—with the exception of Mori, who simply stood and supplied the confetti for Hunny, and Haruhi who was just standing and watching—celebrated their new addition to their club, Melody turned to Kyoya. "I get the feeling you're not gonna leave Blue out of this," she said, and Kyoya gave her a sly grin that sent chills up her spine.
"Perhaps, only time will tell," he said, and Melody rolled her eyes.
"You're a sick, twisted human being." she said. "So, how is this gonna work? Since I'm the only hostess, and I doubt I'm gonna be every guy's type." she said, and Kyoya nodded.
"Yes, I'm aware of that. But maybe you can be."
"Come again."
"You can take on different personalities, right?" he asked, and Melody made a face.
"Don't insult me, sempai. Of course I can." she said.
"Then it's settled."
"Not entirely. How much of a percentage are you going to give Haruhi?" she asked. Kyoya glanced back into his black book.
"Hm, 2 percent sounds fair, wouldn't you agree?" Melody's jaw dropped to the floor.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" she said, and Kyoya simply gave her a look.
"You never specified how much of a percentage you wanted for her to have," he said, and Melody groaned.
"Fine, whatever. I don't have enough energy to argue right now." she said. I wish I had a wall to smash my head in right now... Melody thought to herself, then sighed. Well, it can't be helped. "So, do I start Monday?" she asked, since it was Friday.
"Yes, I'll be calling tomorrow to set up your schedule," Kyoya replied, and scribbled something down in his book. Melody rose her eyebrows.
"Great! Will you now grant my freedom?" she asked, picking up her bag.
"If you must," Kyoya said. Melody made a face.
"What? No 'See you later, Melody!'? Or 'I'll miss you, Melody.' Maybe even, 'Melody get out of here already!'? No, okay." she said, and scurried out. Blue is SO gonna kill me. She thought as she ran out.
"Melody, I'm going to kill you."
"What else was I supposed to do Blue? He was blaming poor Haruhi for the whole thing, it wasn't right!" Melody came back with. They were sitting around Blue's rather small apartment. Blue put on a mock sympathetic face.
"Awww, poor Haruhi. What a sob song. I'd play the violin for her if my hands were willing to unclench from fists! Gosh, I wanna hit that four eyed loser!" Melody rolled her eyes at this.
"While you're at it, why doncha murder the blonde and get yourself deported back to America to do time? He threatened to-"
"I. Don't. CARE! Mel, now there are gonna be guys oohing and aahing at you. You think I approve of this? I'm your best friend, how do you expect me to react?"
"Not much different than how you're doing right now," Melody muttered.
"If I so much as have to LOOK at one of those prissy kins that have the nerve to call themselves 'Men', I'm going to puke. Melody, I thought we washed our hands from them," Blue said, mostly to herself as she glared into space, arms crossed over her chest. Melody placed a hand on her forehead as she fought her temper down.
"Blue... What makes you think I want to do this? I don't. But Kyoya hinted that he could deport you if you do this, and Haruhi would have to stay at the host club longer than she was promised. She doesn't like being in there either, Blue. I'm not doing any of this for my sake, okay?" she said sharply. Blue's green and blue steely glare met Melody's.
"What in the name of all that has value makes you think I'm mad at you? I'm FURIOUS at that black headed smarty snot nosed prissy RICH kid that has the gaul to threaten my life style," Blue moved her hands to her hip and leant closer to where Melody was sitting, "You know what? LET him play his little money game. LET him play like he's the boss. I'll hawk his threats and rules straight back into his face and get his mind out of the golden rich gutter and remind him that no one. NO. ONE. Messes with Mary Blue Johnson, and even LESS mess with MELODY!" With that, Blue stomped her mocha brown boots over to one of her small wooden chairs, sat down and crossed her leg over the other in a fast motion. Melody blinked at her a moment and then smirked.
"The wheels in your head are turning, I just know it," she said fairly quietly, but with an amused air. Blue stared angrily into space.
"Grinding," she corrected. Melody rose an eyebrow.
"Don't worry about it, I told Kyoya to leave you out of the junk from now on, he can't do anything else concerning you," she replied, suddenly remembering her deal with Kyoya. Blue slowly met her gaze.
"Mel, do you remember Trina?"
"Of course I do," Melody said, scoffing.
"Do you remember when she pushed me into the mud?"
"Vaguely."
"Let me recap some for you. She made fun of me not getting a lot of attention from those folk of the opposite gender. I replied something snotty, so she shoved me into a mud puddle. I got up fast, and shoved her into the concrete, took off my jacket that had the mud all over the back, rubbed it on her face to get it off, put it back on, spit on her shoes, then left. Simply walking away doesn't cut it for Blue Johnson, Mel. Let's just say I'm dealing with a male version of Trina," Blue went over to a desk and grabbed a pencil, "Now, miss hostess, ya wanna stick around to do math homework?" Melody folded her hands into her lap.
"It's not that easy, Blue. If you mess with him, he's going to mess right back. Besides, there isn't much you can do," Melody said, shaking her head.
"Trina thought I couldn't mess back with her when I was in the mud puddle. But it turned out that concrete hurts a whole lot more than mud," she said, turning to her table and getting out her textbook from her bag. Melody sighed.
"I'm gonna go home to do my homework, okay Blue?" Blue grunted in response. Melody picked up her stuff and left. I know her. She's mostly mad at Kyoya, but she's got a little bit of a grudge for me too. That's why she was so blunt about calling me a hostess... She thought as she walked home.
When she finally got home, she went into her father's office to report how her day went like she always did. Somehow Mr. Uniyoke considered having her voice tell how her day went in the background as he worked on paperwork and didn't really listen counted as quality time with his daughter.
"Come in," came the man's somewhat reluctant voice when she knocked.
"How'd your day go?" he muttered like he did everyday when she came in.
"Well... Um... Turns out that.. well, you know that Host Club at the high school?" she asked.
"Mhm."
"They.. uh.. wanted to recruit me," she said barely above a whisper. Mr. Uniyoke's eyes slowly turned to her.
"And?"
"I... uh... under the current circumstances... decided to accept," she mumbled. Mr. Uniyoke smiled, actually smiled, and straightened his posture, folding his hands on his desk.
"Did you? Well, that, I believe was a good choice my dear," he replied. Melody rose her eyebrows. This was not the reaction she was anticipating from her father. Heck, she was expecting the explanation to Blue would look like a birthday party compared to how her father would react.
"Uh.. you do?"
"Absolutely. You are using your potential in a true business manner, I believe this is an excellent practice!" Mr. Uniyoke replied, leaning his head forward just a little. Melody's face went funny.
"My potential?"
"Of course. You can use most anything for business, my dear. That includes your particular appearance and vocals." Melody's mouth went into an O shape as she processed this.
"Oh.. So.. you.. You prefer this for the business purposes?"
"Well of course. What else for?"
"I... sort of thought you'd be upset.."
"What reason do I have to be upset?" Mr. Uniyoke asked, this time his face going funny. Melody opened her mouth to answer, but her voice died before she could make it come out. Hastily she put on a fake smile and stood up.
"Oh.. uh.. nothing. It's not important," she said. At least not to you. She thought as she turned to leave.
"Well done Melody," Mr. Uniyoke called like he did everyday after her report as he turned back to his paperwork. Once out of her father's office, she turned and shuffled as quickly as she could to her room and closed and locked the door, choking on a sob.
It was like Blue cared more about her than her own father. While Blue was in conniptions about Melody being put on display like a china doll in a shop window for boys to gawk at, her own father was encouraging her to make money off how she looked to them. Even then, Blue was still a little mad at her about the whole thing. It was as if no one truly understood her.
Melody was angry at the blasted twins for dragging her to the host club and forcing her into this mess. She was angry at that moron Tamaki for making her a hostess, angry at Kyoya for threatening her friend. Maybe also she felt betrayed for her father not caring about her pride as she was going to be put on display in front of boys, some she wouldn't even know. Also a little sorrowful with Blue, considering how she was angry at her for having to go through with this. All in all, misunderstood, and uncomforted. Melody let a few tears pass down her cheeks. How could she stand being in front of so many boys who were paying her to flirt with them, especially considering her shyness. She sat on the floor alone against her bed for a few hours.
Finally, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, which had not stopped watering for those hours, she got up and opened her window to look at the full moon. It looked so big and bright as she stared at it. She just stared at it for a few minutes, and then saw what looked like a little dark blue ball pass in front of it like a shooting star would. Melody blinked tears back as her slight confusion turned to bittersweet irony.
That's what it felt like to be in this mess. A shooting star without it's color or glow or shining streak, no promise of wishes or hope. It was like the moon was the only thing that understood her in this moment, and was reflecting how she felt. Melody took a deep breath. Win or lose, she had made a bargain, and she would keep her end of the deal. With that, forgetting that she hadn't eaten dinner or changed into pajamas, Melody shut the window, drew the drapes, crawled into bed and fell asleep.
I was thinking about you
Thinking about me
Thinking about us
And what we're gonna be
Open my eyes
It was only just a dream
Was the first thing that Melody woke up to. She thought that the song Just a Dream would be an appropriate song to wake up to, so she programmed her alarm clock to play it at given time. Ironically, her eyes cracked open at the 'Open my eyes' part and her hand shut the clock's alarm off right after 'It was only just a dream.' She had dreamt that the whole deal she had gone through the other day was a dream. 'Thinking about me, and what we're gonna be, it was only just a dream' rang out in her head as she prayed that the whole hostess deal was a dream. Small memories like Haruhi getting shoved down and Melody asking Tamaki for mercy on the host/hostess flooded to her and she groaned as she realized it wasn't a dream. It was a living nightmare.
Mary: Well, I took the wheel over for the second half of this thing. Making Blue blow up was very fun.
Blue: Hey!
Mary: Well it was! Well now, I bet some of you are wondering what was that blue thingy that went in front of the moon earlier.
Melody: Yeah, what was that?
Mary: XD Let's see how many people are wondering what it was.. if there is enough people, I'll tell them.
Blue: Aw come on!
Mary: I'll give you a little hint though. It is not a big part of this story, and it vaguely has something to do with the moon. I'm not sure if it will have another appearance in the story again, but, it's just mainly for symbolic purposes. Oh, and Just a Dream doesn't belong to me, if it did, I wouldn't stop singing it.
((Jewel sneaks in the room after every-one is gone))
Jewel: I really have no idea what she's talking about the whole blue thingy... But she did an awesome job with the chapter, amirite? ;D