Chapter 4: Confrontations
~Izumi*Aoki~
Everything had been calm for the past hour. Like any other weekday the dinner hour was very slow. The serene atmosphere however, turned crazy the moment Renee noticed the clock.
"Oh god! They're going to be here any minute!" The blonde screeched, shooting up from her sitting position and began running her hands through her ponytail and began primping and preening herself.
"What are you going on about now?" Izumi grumbled as she watched her friend.
"Every Wednesday the most handsome group of men I have seen in my life come in. They always arrive here about this time." She finally decided just to pull out her pony tail and redo it. "Hiro is so lucky that I am a faithful woman, because if I wasn't…"
Izumi shuttered at the thought her coworker had just put into her head. Renee whirled around, facing the smaller girl and then almost tackling her.
"We have to get you all dolled up!" She cheered, roughly pulling Izumi's own ponytail out.
Across the room Izumi's small pink cell began to vibrate madly, but Renee refused to let her go.
"Your sister can wait! I am determined that you make a good impression on these boys!" Expertly she tossed Izumi's hair into a neat bun, leaving out a small strand of hair.
Izumi lightly hit her friend's hands away, shooting up to put some distance between them.
"I am not here to impress anyone Renee." She sighed crossing her arms and glaring. "I mean have you seen my face? I've got no cover-up on today."
Effectively put off, the older woman crossed her arms and looked away. The small square that let the workers peek into the dining room took her interest away and her face began to shine brightly again. She quickly scurried away from the kitchens and into the dining room. Her high pitched voice could be heard as she loudly greeted someone.
Rolling her eyes again Izumi started for the table that held her small phone as it continued to vibrate. Aoki's name was flashing across the screen repeatedly, but right before she could grab it Renee had returned.
"I told them you'd be out any second!" the blonde giggled, shoving her fellow waitress towards the swinging doors. "Get out there and shake your money maker!"
Izumi pasted a smile onto her face as she entered the dining area, expertly picking out the new group of customers. They were wearing vaguely familiar uniforms and as she made her way over she tried to place where she'd seen them before.
"Hello I'll be you waitress today, what can I get you for drinks." She cheeped happily, glancing around at the faces.
They were very handsome she could admit, but her gaze locked onto the two most familiar faces.
"Ao...ki?" she stuttered as she saw her twin sitting next to a small blonde boy and Haruhi.
Her brain clicked on what uniforms they were all wearing and she immediately felt shame at being caught like this by her sister's friends. Aoki's embarrassed face screamed everything she needed to know and she quickly bowed in apology and ran back towards the kitchens.
"Ai-chan! That girl looked just like you!" Honey claimed eyes wide.
Shame at embarrassing her twin flooded through Aoki's veins and she dropped her head into her hands. Haruhi timidly patted her back as she heard the twins' laughter begin echoing through the restaurant.
"What happened to her face?" Hikaru mocked.
"You better watch your mouth." Aoki hissed, abruptly standing and sending her chair flying to the ground. "Don't you even think of finishing that sentence Hikaru."
Reassuring hands found their way onto Aoki's shoulders and she whirled to find emerald eyes staring at her. Izumi gently pulled her sister away from the stares that had found their way to them back towards where Aoki assumed the kitchens were. She hadn't even realized tears of anger had begun leaking out of her eyes until she found herself sitting on a chair with Izumi wiping them away. The blonde waitress stood behind them glaring angrily and Aoki felt another wave of shame come over her as she figured she'd just gotten her sister fired.
"Do you want me to knock them around some Izumi?" the woman asked seriously. "I don't care who they're the children of, I will kick them out without a second's hesitation."
A warm mug of what Aoki assumed was milk was placed into her shaking hands and she glanced up into her twin's kinder eyes.
"No that's fine. I think Aoki got him pretty good." Izumi chuckled, smiling.
"Sorry…" Aoki murmured, looking down into the cup ashamed.
"It's fine. You're going to have to apologize sometime, but I know what you were doing." Izumi soothed. "Now you stay back here. I'll have the chiefs make you something and then you can wait for me to get off of work."
There was a tense air between the two for a second.
"I'm sorry I embarrassed you." They said at the same time.
Both glanced at each other in shock before smiling in the same way and laughing.
"I didn't mean to let your friends see me working such an embarrassing job. I know it's hard to go to school with rich kids whose parents are like gods." Izumi murmured.
Aoki shook her head furiously laying her hand over her sister's.
"I'm sorry that they looked at you so rudely just because of your scar. I know it bugs you." Aoki claimed, glancing down.
Izumi rolled her eyes but smiled and hugged her sister.
"I'm fine. I promise." She murmured.
There was silence for beat until Renee started squealing furiously.
"You two are so adorable!" She claimed, appearing to dab at the tears in her eyes.
Izumi rolled her eyes and Aoki blushed slightly.
"Just ignore her." Izumi whispered.
The younger twin stood up from her squatted position and whirled to face a dark haired man.
"Caine! Make my sister whatever she wants." She said before turning to her sister again. "I've gotta run back out there, but they'll take care of you back here. Right, Renee?"
The blonde haired woman nodded excitedly, reminding Aoki of a female Tamaki. Izumi straightened her uniform and took in a large breath before walking back into the dining room. She threw out apologies to the few customers still eating, all of which were probably ignored, before she made it back to the table of students. Neither twin would look her in the eye which vaguely amused her.
"Alright, now that that's all out of the way, what can I get you for drinks?" She asked cheerfully.
No one answered her, choosing instead to just stare at her.
"I'll take strawberry lemonade, please Izumi." Haruhi claimed breaking the awkward silence.
"Okay Haruhi." Izumi nodded, scribbling on her notepad.
The blonde to her left reached out and grabbed her hand delicately.
"Oh beautiful and gorgeous Izumi-chan, would you please accept my humblest apologies for the twin's cruel behavior." He asked dramatically, kneeling onto one knee in front of her.
"Oh…umm…sure?" Izumi squeaked, making it sound more like a question.
"Tamaki-sempai!" Haruhi growled. "I told you not bring it back up!"
The brunette slapped the blonde over the head and glared him into the corner of the restaurant. Izumi watched curiously as he began to grow mushrooms and tried to figure out how he did so.
"Genmaicha tea, please." A dark haired boy wearing glasses sighed out, also staring at the blonde in the corner.
"Does he do that often?" She asked off hand as she wrote down chocolate milk for the smaller blonde and Green tea for another dark haired boy.
"You'd be surprised, Iz." Haruhi muttered as she sighed and turned away. "Is Aoki in the kitchen?"
Frowning slightly Izumi nodded her head before turning her attention to the twins who had yet to give her a drink. One of them slowly met her eyes before looking down quickly.
"I'm not gonna punch you if that's what you're worried about." She sighed, placing a hand on her hip and giving them a small smile. "I've had worse said. Trust me."
"You are as forgiving as you are lovely!" The blonde cheered appearing next to her again.
"You I might punch." She muttered as the boy turned to ashes and blew away.
Shaking her head she turned back to the gingers.
"If you don't stop pouting and give me an answer I'll put you down for something awful and bitter." She claimed.
"We'll both take a soda." One of them finally said softly.
Nodding Izumi turned and started away.
Aoki was sitting in the kitchen twiddling with her thumbs as the blonde waitress named Renee fluttered around, directing people here and there. Her milk was nearly gone and she could almost smell her spaghetti cooking. She gave Izumi a smile as she bustled passed, and felt a note of anger and pride as her sister got the rude rich boys' drink, but kept her head held high despite that. The older twin hated it when anyone teased or ridiculed her sister for her scar, something that used to be so sensitive to her sister's self-esteem. Izumi had outgrown the shame of her appearance, but Aoki had yet to outrun the eternal anger she had when someone said something about it.
"I should've known you'd get spaghetti." Her sister laughed as the dark haired chief placed the plate in front of her.
Aoki smiled as her sister teased her lightly. Izumi had disappeared out the door and came back a moment after. Plopping down next to her sister they took turns munching on the delicious pasta. Aoki had been wary about her sister appearing lazy in front of the blond, who Aoki assumed was the boss by how she was ordering people around, but Renee simply rolled her eyes and smile some. The twins sat in silence until Izumi stood back up and sauntered out of the kitchen into the dining room.
Aoki had never been able to figure out how her sister dealt with so many hours at a nonstop pace. The older twin could hardly handle school and homework, but her sister somehow could shoot through a thirteen hour shift for five days a week and still manage to keep their home clean and Aoki in nice clothing.
"Haruhi wants to know if you want to go back to her house to wait for me to get out of work." Izumi said as Aoki finished her third cup of warm milk.
Her mind was beginning to slow as she became drowsy, but she wasn't so far gone that she would get back into a limo with those assholes. Shaking her head she said a quiet 'no' and proceeded to lay her head onto the table.
Izumi watched her tired twin shake her head and lay down. Izumi smiled and rubbed her back before exiting to the dining room. All of her customers had already left except for the seven that were still finishing up their meals. Haruhi met her green eyes questioningly.
"She said no thanks." Izumi said lightly. "She'll just wait with me until my shift gets over and then we'll probably head over to your place."
"But Izumi, that's not for another three hours." Haruhi frowned, not enjoying the thought of Aoki brooding in the kitchens without hearing her apologies. "My dad was so excited to have her over."
"It'll be fine Haruhi." Izumi claimed smiling. "She's tired anyone and will probably just sleep for the rest of the time. We'll just meet up with you later."
Haruhi nodded her head as Izumi giggled.
"We'll be paying with credit today." The dark haired man claimed, his glasses glinting as he handed the pale brunette a shiny card.
Izumi nodded and scurried off, leaving the group to sit in silence.
"You really shouldn't have said that Hikaru." Haruhi growled quietly.
Neither twin acknowledged her scolding, choosing to glare firmly at the ground.
Izumi returned quickly smiling and telling them goodbye. They left in silence and crawled into Kyouya's limo. The air was tense and everyone felt nervous to speak up to the angry girl in front of them. Haruhi glared out the window, disappointed in her friends and their behavior.
"Haruhi, how did Izumi-chan get that scar?" Honey asked quietly.
Turning her brown eyes onto the small blonde she shrugged.
"I don't know. They're not the most open of people." Haruhi responded softly. "I've known them ever since they first moved here, and still I don't know hardly anything about them."
Shocked into silence no one said a word for the rest of the ride, the only sound coming from Kyouya's laptop as he clicked away.
Wow. So that was a thing.
Review f you can.
:D