Tamaki and Kyoya texted me saying that they approved of my idea for the sleepover theme. They told me that the theme would take place at the end of next week. I was too excited when I got home to think suspiciously about it. Arashi thought it was strange of Kyoya to actually accept my idea after me calling him a professional stalker twice. Arashi of course warned me that there was probably something behind him approving my idea, and warned me to be cautious. I rolled my eyes at him.
"Nah, he just liked my idea that's all! Now if you'll excuse me, I must finish this week's homework." I gently brushed my clone aside, and headed towards our room to start on homework. Haku had been dropped off at work on the way home; he had permission from the school to work of course. His job was more of a hobby, he always really liked baking. And because he was the son of an important business figure, he would come and leave the bakery whenever. The owner didn't mind though, the shop always had more customers(mostly female) whenever he worked. The owner and him were actually childhood friends, I guess she was like an older sister to me a long time ago. She and Haku only recently met after us moving into this apartment, so I've never met her. I slumped onto my bunk, and got out my homework.
Six hours later...
"Yes...I'm finally done," I slammed my pencil on the ground and jumped up to stretch my legs. I hoped to tell Kyoya and Tamaki more ideas I had for the club's theme. I had tons of ideas! Like: a hospital theme, a pirates theme, a Victorian era theme, a steampunk theme, Alice in Wonderland theme, Disney theme, Superhero theme, cat boys theme(who doesn't like cat boys?), merman theme, Fairy tale theme, a Secret Garden theme, a Candyland theme, a Toyland theme, and so much more!
While I was too busy visioning the possible themes, I hadn't noticed Haku, Osamu, and Arashi standing by the doorway. I only noticed after Haku knocked on the wall and cleared his throat.
"Hey, did you guys need something?" I tilted my head to the side.
"We just wanted to talk to you about something," Haku and the others entered and sat in Osamu's lower bunk sitting across from mine.
"You...know very well that after two years we will all be married off to someone our father has chosen." Osamu stared into my face in a grave manner. I lowered my head and looked at the ground.
"I know," I said quietly.
"I know it's not fair, we all wanted to marry someone we chose ourselves," Haku said gently.
"It's just business," I said for him. I've heard this lecture so many times.
"Keep your guard up, and don't let yourself become vulnerable enough to develop feelings for anyone. Especially in that Host club of yours." Surprised, I looked up. Osamu wore a stern expression on his face, while Haku wore a sad one. I couldn't discern what emotions Arashi was feeling, maybe he was feeling just as hollow as I did.
"No worries Osamu, I've never fallen in love before and I'm not stupid enough to start now." I gave all of my brothers a half-hearted smile.
"Same goes for the three of you, don't fall in love with anyone." I stood up and went back to my "normal" self.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna take a shower. Catch ya guys later!" I grabbed my clothes, and headed into the bathroom. The three of them stayed in the bedroom, following me with their eyes. I could tell they didn't fall for the "I'm fine" trick. They could probably sense my misery, as I could sense their gloom.
In the shower, I just stood still while I let the hot water wash down on me. In silence, tears and water streamed down my stoic face. It wasn't fair. Because I was born into the prestigious society, I couldn't escape. I thought about the Host club, and it lightened my mood. I was definitely going to have as much fun as I could in the two years ahead of me, my last two years of absolute freedom. Yeah, that was a good plan. I slightly smiled to myself.
After getting all squeaky clean, I crept out from the bathroom to not make any noise. Arashi probably went to bed already. He was not a night person, the later the night the fouler his mood. Sure enough, he was bundled up on his bunk, softly breathing. I crept into my bunk as quietly as I could, and got myself snuggled in. And of course I grabbed Curry, my stuffed, orange cat and cuddled with him. I know, very childish of me. But hey, I wasn't alone. Osamu slept with a shark plushie named Selachimorpha(the scientific name for a shark). Mom won it for the both of us a long time ago at a festival, Haku and Arashi never really liked dolls much. No one ever mentions her at our house, it wasn't a taboo but...we just never really talked about it. There wasn't any reason to. Oh well, the past is in the past. I closed my eyes and fantasized about what would happen next in my manga, I already knew Sakura was going to go for the second boy. The popular senpai or rude bad boy almost always wins, and the childhood friend always loses for some odd reason. In my opinion, she should go for the friend who would always care about her like an older brother. Drowsiness took over, and my thoughts and consciousness faded away.
The next day...
"Hello Kyoya, Tamaki, good day today!" I entered the Host club with more energy than the previous day.
"Akari! Arashi! Good to see you both!" Tamaki was always either too happy, angry, or too depressed, there didn't really seem to be an in-between.
"Akari, Arashi." Kyouya was furiously typing, and so he didn't look up when he greeted us.
The club opened, and I had a lot of customers again! It was once again super loud, but I guess that meant the club was going along smoothly. I caught glances of the other Host's acts while I entertained my guests. So far, my favorite was Honey and Mori senpai's. Mainly because of the cake. And how mysterious Mori senpai seemed. And that bunny, I really wanted one...
"Akari senpai?" I looked up at my customer, then smiled apologetically. I had a wandering mind.
"So sorry ladies, I was curious about the other Hosts. You will forgive me, right?" I gave them the smolder, the one from the Disney movie Tangled.
"Of course we forgive you!"
"Could you tell us a story?"
Oh yes I can.
"What type of story would you like?" I asked them. Please pick a love story.
"A sad, but romantic one," the three girls said together dreamily. I closed my eyes to quickly make one up, and I did. After a few moments, I opened my eyes and began.
Once upon a time, a lonely princess lived in her father's palace. She spent her days longing to explore the free world that lay outside of her windows, outside of the stone walls that trapped her inside. She had many, many servants who all loved her dearly but were forbidden to look or even speak to her unless they were spoken to. If anyone broke the rules, or had fallen in love with the princess, the penalty was death.
I had a very, emotional tone to my voice. I didn't notice that other Hosts and their customers were listening. The ladies all looked at me intently to continue.
The princess spent many days singing her lovely song of despair in her garden. Her voice was so sweet and enchanting, even the wind stopped so not to disturb her. Little did she know, that her personal guard who always followed her listened everyday. In his heart, his love for her grew, but he didn't dare show it. It seemed as if with every note she sang, his love only grew. If anyone were to find out about his love for her, he would certainly be put to death. However, he didn't know that she had fallen in love with him as well. Everyday her unhappiness festered in her heart, slowly taking away a little bit her happiness and dreams.
On day, she would be married off to a complete stranger. She was to marry to a man with equal status as she, but their marriage would be nothing but days of silence and emptiness. Just once, she wanted to be held by a man who loved her with all of his heart. And her guard, he just wanted to see her smile, even if it was just once.
One fateful evening, knowing that if he was caught he would be killed, the guard declared his undying love for the princess. He swore to protect her forever, and that he would do whatever it takes to make her happy. Crying tears of joy, the princess asked the guard if he would follow her if she ran away. He promised that he would. Under the silver moonlight, they shared their first kiss. Little did they know that another servant had scurried off to her father to tell him what he had witnessed.
The next day, the King's army of soldiers came to take the princess away, and to put her guard to death. When one of her father's guards forcibly grabbed her, the guard protected her. He fought off as many soldiers as he could to protect the princess. He fought for as long as he could, her love for him giving him strength. He kept fighting until he eventually collapsed from exhaustion. In his vulnerable moment, a soldier attacked him. Crying, the princess held him as he was dying in her arms. He begged her to sing just one last time for him. Although it was difficult, the princess choked back tears and sang the song she sang the day they first met. The day when he became her guard. They were only children then, and with every note she regretted not being with him sooner. When she thought she could finally be with him, he was slipping away from her grasp. The guard died smiling, happy to have heard her voice just one last time. At the end of her song, she found her guard to be nothing but a cold, empty, shell. She sobbed and held him so tight and close to her heart, hoping that if she held on long enough he would come back. He never did, and no one could bring themselves to tear her away from her dead love.
The princess was locked away forever in a house in the mountains. For the rest of her life, the princess never uttered a single word or sang another song again. She lived in darkness and anguish, there was never a day she didn't cry herself to sleep. Her servants watched her die slowly from a broken heart. She died only a month after her love passed away. The servants mourned her death, and in remembrance of the two lovers, the king had them build two statues. One of the princess, and one of the guard on two different hills that would never meet. Then the king too, allowed heartbreak to eventually kill him many years later. He never forgave himself for causing his only daughter so much pain. The legend claims that the king disappeared one day and was never found.
Most of the Host club was crying, while others held back tears. I was surprised, I didn't realize such a large crowd had been listening to my story. Glancing around a bit awkwardly, I noticed even Haruhi seemed a bit moved from my story. Honey senpai and Tamaki were straight out bawling.
"Er...I hadn't realized so many people were listening," I smiled nervously.
"That...that was such a touching story!" One of my guests had eyes brimming with tears, while the other two had already cried and were wiping away their tears.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you ladies cry!" I frantically reached into my pocket for some tissues and handed all three of my customers one each. I then turned to the rest of the guests and Hosts.
"Sorry!" I smiled apologetically.
"That was so sad Akari-chan!" Mori was wiping away Honey senpai's tears with some tissues, he even seemed a bit sad.
"It was so emotional, so romantic!" Tamaki dramatically wiped away his tears with a tissue.
It took about ten minutes for everyone to recompose themselves, and club activities resumed. Everything went back to normal. I knew that I was going to be questioned again after the club was closed.
"Which story was that?" Haruhi asked me curiously. I shrugged my shoulders.
"I just made it up, it was fairly easy and I thought it was very typical." I grinned at her.
"Don't tell me my brave little sister cried over some stupid story like that!" I playfully punched her on the shoulder. She smiled at me.
"We didn't think it was that stupid," Hikaru said.
"Yeah, it was really a tear-jerker. More than half of the customers were crying." Finished Kaoru.
"I cried too!" Honey senpai said with his childish voice.
"Heh, sorry I made you cry senpai," I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.
"It was a beautiful story! I didn't know your boyish self could come up with such a romantic and sweet fairy tale!" Tamaki slung his arm over my shoulders dramatically.
"I see bringing out your more feminine side will not be so hard after all! You are already a romantic!" Tamaki said happily. I shot him a glare.
"I can be as boyish as I want to be. An liking romantic stuff doesn't necessarily mean that I'm girly. You like romantic stuff too Tamaki." I coolly brushed his hand off of my shoulders.
"So you do like the romance genre," Kyoya gave me that cold smile again. I froze. Dang it. Kyoya and his way to twist my words.
"That's not what I mean!" I said frantically.
"Sure," the twins said. I let out an exasperated sigh.
"Guys cut it out, there's no reason to make such a big deal out of nothing." Haruhi defended me.
"I only have you Haruhi," I slung my arm around her shoulder and beamed. I heard Arashi made an angry grunt. I turned towards him, and assured him that I was aware he would always be on my side. The twins and Tamaki pestered me to bring my older brothers next time, and I said I'd ask. Just then, my older brothers walked in from nowhere. Perfect timing.
"Arashi, Akari, if you two are always going to be so late then we going to leave without you," Haku said in a whiny manner.
"Sorry! We got so caught up!" I smiled at my two older brothers.
"Host club, I present to you my older brothers Haku and Osamu. " I gestured towards them with a grin on my face.
"Nice to meet you all," Haku smiled. Then he saw Haruhi.
"Oh good! I'm glad Akari isn't the only one who pretends to be a guy, the two of you could be friends!" Haku smiled at Haruhi. Tamaki and the twins freaked out.
"Haruhi's not a boy silly!" Tamaki said frantically.
"Hey Haruhi, looking quite manly today!" said Hikaru.
"Yeah! You were so strong carrying all those-" Haku laughed, cutting off Kaoru.
"Akari told me about all of the Hosts already, including Haruhi. Don't worry about it, I won't tell anyone about her. And I'm surprised people don't know she's a girl, look at that cute wittle fwace!" He activated his doting brother mode. Osamu hadn't looked up from his textbook or said anything upon arriving. He just continued reading while sipping his coffee. The Hitachiins crept up from behind him to see what he was reading.
"Why are you reading some boring medical textbook?" They said in unison.
"Because I have to," he said flatly while furrowing his eyebrows.
"That's no fun," the twins left him, seeing that he was boring.
"Do you like cake Haku-chan?" Honey asked cutely. Oh, Honey was going to love my big brother.
"Of course, and if you like cake you should visit the bakery I work for. I bake and decorate almost all the pastries there. Feel free to stop by or make a special order." Haku fumbled around his pocket before handing Honey a card with the address and phone number of the shop. Honey's eyes widened from joy, and he did a cute jumping motion. Usa-chan's ears flopped up and down as Honey jumped.
"Hear that Takeshi? Haku said we can come by whenever! Isn't that great?" He giggled happily while twirling Mori around.
"Akari, I thought we specifically told you not to tell anyone," Kyoya looked at her with his glasses reflecting the light. She gulped nervously while rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.
"Sorry, it kinda slipped! But don't worry my brothers are way better at keeping secrets than I am." I smiled at the club apologetically.
"It's alright Akari, it doesn't really matter too much to me," Haruhi was so sweet. Osamu closed his book and checked his watch.
"Hey, we should really get going." Osamu drew the attention of his siblings in a tired voice.
"You all look surprisingly good-looking, how would you like to join the Host club? That way, you can keep a better eye out on your younger sister. Based on what I've seen and heard, you all are very protective and caring of her." Tamaki looked at Kyoya, who seemed to be approving.
"I'll consider it." Osamu said nonchalantly.
"Hmm..." Haku tapped his chin with his slender finger.
"Well, I don't really want to entertain ladies all day. I may like flirting with women but I already deal with enough of that at work. But, I would be willing to supply the Host club with sweets from the pastry shop I work for. The club would save more money buying from our less well-known shop rather than a professional sweets company. I assure you, the cakes and other pastries will be satisfactory. Sound good, Ootori?" Haku gave Kyoya his rare business smile.
"And what merits will it bring you?" Asked Kyoya casually.
"I'd be helping out the owner of course, who is a good friend of mine. Your club saves money, I help a friend. Win-win, right? So, do we have a deal?" Haku held out his hand towards Kyoya. He thought for a moment, before taking it.
"Deal." They both were giving each other the cool, polite smile. I think their feelings toward each other is neutral. We bid our farewells, and left to the courtyard. We apologized to Bill(our driver) but he was cool with it.