I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it anymore. Two weeks. That's as far as I could last without working at the bakery and every second of every day seemed to last a million times longer than it should. It had gotten to the point where I got up every morning at five, like I used to while working at the bakery, and I'd just sit on the couch and stare at the blank TV until it was time to get ready or school. And after school? I'd go home and bake. Anything, everything. My entire fridge was full of tarts and pies and mochi and anpans. So much, in fact, that there wasn't any more room in my fridge for anything else. Not only that, but I'd run out of ingredients to make things, and I was slowly running out of money. I needed a job and fast, but everywhere I applied to said I needed some sort of professional baking experience. That, and I was unable to use my work at the bakery to help me get a job because that would mean my possible employer would need to contact my mother who, wouldn't you believe it, must hate my guts still because she hasn't so much as called since I quit. The only word I'd received from her was letting me know that I had until the end of next week to have found a new place to stay. You know, one of those 'this is your last chance to take it back' sort of things.
Like hell I'd take back what I said. I frowned, not realizing that I was glaring heatedly at our teacher's back as he finished writing a math problem on the board. Of course, when the teacher turned around, I was quickly called on to solve the problem on the board and then scolded for not paying attention in class. Thankfully, I'd gotten no detention, but my actions did attract Hayato's attention and he confronted me after school.
"So what were you thinking about in class that had you giving the teacher a death glare, hm?"
"Nothing." I grumbled, earning a shove.
"Don't give me that! You were thinking about your mother, weren't you?"
I groaned. "Not only that, but all this freaking pressure that's stuck on me now! I've gotta get a job within the next couple of days or I'm not going to be able to afford a new apartment; what with my lease ending in a week. Add that on top of the mountains of sweets in my fridge and almost nothing else and I'll be lucky if I'm not some fat homeless person living in the park by the end of the month!" I realized I was drawing attention to myself as we exited the school and lowered my voice. "What am I going to do, Hayato?"
Hayato sighed. "I honestly don't know, Kosuke. I'd help you out if I could, but there's no room at my place for another person and I don't have any connections that could help you get a job."
He paused though, and I glanced at him only to pale at the look on his face. It's one of those slow smirks that creeps onto someone's face when they have an idea. Except with Hayato, I know better. His ideas usually tend to be very mischievous and, on occasion, illegal. There was one time he'd gotten that look on his face and we'd nearly gotten arrested. I would rather not recount that experience, but let's just say it involved sneaking into the petting zoo nearby and borrowing one of their ostriches while wearing a stetson and carrying a whip; much like Indiana Jones. Ahem, anyway… As I was saying, that look on Hayato's face was anything but good. And his idea? Not exactly what I planned on doing with my free afternoon.
"You want to what?!"
"Just do a little snooping, is all." Hayato pouted childishly as I grabbed his jacket and pulled him around the corner and away from the gigantic pink school.
I held him up against the wall and immediately began scolding him. "We can't just break in to some private rich kids school because you think it'll be fun. And how the hell did you find this place anyway?"
He smiled innocently. "Easy! I just looked up the uniform your friends were wearing and presto! I got the school, the address, and even their club page! These guys are pretty famous in this place apparently. You should see all the hits their website—"
"Hayato! There is no way we can do this!"
"Can't be that hard." He hummed, peering around the corner. "They should be getting out in a minute and we can just sneak in with the crowd and—"
"I am not doing this."
"I cannot believe we're doing this." I hissed under my breath as Hayato and I ducked around a corner and eyed the security guard walking through the hallway a little ways down.
Hayato grinned. "Think of it this way, it's got to be more fun than whatever you were planning on doing when you got home."
I frowned, but he had a point. I was honestly just going to be looking up cheap places to live and job hunting again, maybe while snacking on some of the treats in my fridge. Instead, he had somehow convinced me to go along with him and sneak into Ouran High School where Honey and the other Host Club members went to school at.
"Over here!"
I blinked out of my reverie and hurried after Hayato, only to run smack dab into a young woman in a yellow dress. I heard someone shouting—a guard, most likely—and quickly bolted upright, helping the young woman up and scrambling out an apology.
"I'm sorry! Really, really sorry!"
"Kosuke!" Hayato called out in a panic and I turned to see a guard rushing my way.
Gulping, I quickly gathered up the woman's books and handed them to her with a sheepish smile.
"Sorry again. Bye!"
I bolted away from her then, missing the pink tint to her cheeks as he friends joined her and began chatting, before I grabbed Hayato and we both hurried away from the man; neither of us knowing just how much of a commotion I had caused by running into that student.
"Welcome!" The host greeted their guests all decked out in tropical paradise cosplays despite the rather chilly weather outside.
They had done this once before and tend not to repeat themselves, but the guests had more than enjoyed it the last time, so they all had agreed to do it once more. Odd thing was, some of the guests were a bit distracted and gossiping among themselves.
"Did you hear? About the intruders on campus?"
"I heard the security is on the look out."
"I heard they're commoners our age, which is why they haven't locked down the school."
"Do you think they're cute?"
"Someone said one of them had purple hair! Can you believe that?"
Tamaki leaned over then, putting on his charm to try and get more info from his gossiping guests.
"What are you beautiful ladies talking about? I won't be jealous, would I?"
The guests blushed, before one of them spoke up.
"N-No, Tamaki. We were just talking about the intruders on campus."
Tamaki grabbed her hand in his. "We will protect you, if they're dangerous, milady. There is no need to worry. We will be your Southern warriors."
She swooned as the other girls blushed and demanded their turns next, but Tamaki gave Kyoya a meaningful look and he nodded, picking up his cell phone to find out what the situation was. As he spoke to them though, Honey turned to Mori in worry.
"Neh, I hope they're not scary, Takashi."
"Ah."
One of his guests spoke up then, nudging the girl beside her. "Tell them."
Honey looked over at the shy girl as she blushed and rubbed her hands together.
"I-I don't think they're scary."
"You don't?" Honey asked, curious as girls at other tables started to listen in.
"I-I bumped into one of them."
Immediately the other hosts and guests circled Honey and Mori's table to hear her story.
"Was he tall?"
"Was he scary?"
"Dangerous even?"
The girl shook her head, a blush on her cheeks. "H-He was actually kind of… nice."
The guests started murmuring to one another as the girl went on.
"H-He helped me back up and picked up a-all my things that I dropped, apologizing a-and he, um… he was kind of mysterious b-but had this really sweet smile."
The girls cooed and, after getting nothing more from the girl, went back to their tables, coming up with their own ideas on who the mysterious intruders could be. Kyoya, meanwhile had informed the other hosts that the intruders only seemed to be a couple of high school guys probably looking for a thrill and should not be of any danger should they run into them. But now they had the hard task of getting their guests' attentions back, which would be a challenge in and of itself; especially because they were wondering about the intruders as well.
Hayato and I came to a stop, doubled over and panting as he checked around the corner for more security guards and slipped back down the hall with a wince.
"Alright, I'm beginning to think this was a bad idea."
"Ya think?!" I hissed, looking around for a place to hide, but the marble bust would do little to hide us from the guards. "Let's just find an empty classroom to hide out in and bolt for it when they're gone."
"Alright, but I get to pick the room." Hayato grinned, but I immediately stopped him from opening the closest door.
"No way! You got us into this mess. Knowing you, you'll pick the door to the guards' office or something! I'm picking the room."
Hayato pouted. "Fine."
I nodded, walking down the hall a bit before catching sight of a door-sign and pointing at the door. "How about this one?"
Hayato looked at the sign and made a face. "What school needs three music rooms?"
I rolled my eyes. "Who cares. It just means that this room is most likely empty because they have two others."
Hayato shrugged and we heard footsteps heading our way so we quickly ducked into the room and pressed our ears against the door, listening as the guard hurried past and we both let out a sigh of relief before turning around and our eyes widened. All around us were pieces of a Southern jungle, from the fruit trees to the parrot squawking somewhere else in the room and then we saw the hosts, sitting at tables shirtless and covered in ornate jade jewelery. My mouth dropped open in shock and Hayato snickered as he leaned over to me.
"Is it just me, or are we in one of your wet dreams?"
The tips of ears turned a vibrant red and I hastily punched Hayato in the shoulder, making him chuckle and give away our positions to the people in the room.
"That's him! That's the intruder who ran into me!"
I stiffened at the shout, turning around and panicking as Hayato rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Ah, I think we got caught..."
"Oh really?!" I snapped at him, before Tamaki stood up and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"Everyone, there's been a slight misunderstanding. These are actually friends of ours. There was just some miscommunication and everything will soon be sorted. They are not intruders."
Some of the students let out sighs of relief, whereas others were eyeing us and giggling to one another. Hayato simply smiled and waved like the idiot he was, but I eyed everyone warily, never really being one for crowds. Or noise… or girls… I swallowed thickly, before someone bounded over to me and grabbed me around the waist, startling me out of my reverie and knocking me to the ground with a grunt.
"Oof!"
"Ko-kun! What are you doing here?" Honey chirped from on top of me, his bright honey colored eyes looking up at me from my stomach as I sat up on my elbows with a bright red blush on my face.
H-He's not wearing a shirt. He's not wearing a shirt. He's not wearing a shirt! My mind repeated as the redness grew darker and traveled from my neck all the way up to the tips of my ears as Honey tilted his head with this mischievous smile on his face. It was then that I realized he had asked me a question and I quickly stuttered out a response.
"I-I-I, um… Hayato thought it'd be… fun? I-I had nothing to do so..."
Oh my God, a shirt. Somebody please get him a shirt! I swallowed the lump in my throat, squirming uncomfortably before Honey got up with a grin, pulling me up onto my feet, and dragging me over to where Mori was sitting with a group of girls.
"Come on, Ko-kun! You can come sit with Takashi and I!"
I hesitated, looking around the room in worry. This was, after all, their club. One would think two strangers suddenly popping in out of nowhere would screw things up. So I tried to get out of it.
"I really think we should go, Honey. Security was looking for us and—"
Kyoya spoke up as we passed him, him hanging up his phone. "Already taken care of."
Not helping! I mentally shouted before I was pushed onto a couch and Honey plopped down happily beside me; three girls sitting across from us on their own couch looking at me curiously. I stayed perfectly silent for a bit, before Honey nudged me and gestured with his head towards the girls. I begrudgingly cleared my throat and gave them a little wave.
"Um, hello."
"Hi." One said softly, being pretty shy, whereas the other smiled brightly.
"I like your hair. Did you dye it that way on purpose?"
I reached up and tugged on the purple streaked bangs, peering at them as they dipped down in front of my eyes.
"Yeah. I sort of just did it. Spur of the moment thing, I guess. Parents weren't to happy, but..." I trailed off and shrugged a bit before the shy one spoke up.
"H-How do you know the hosts? Um..."
I realized then that I hadn't said my name and quickly blurt it out. "Kosuke. Kosuke Saito. Sorry. And they, uh, sort of showed up where I worked and offered to help me with some things, is all."
Honey nodded excitedly as my eyes slowly drifted to him in an attempt to get me out of this mess.
"Uh-huh! Ko-kun makes really good cakes and stuff!"
I wrung my hands together at his compliment, feeling more than a little out of my element here. "They're not that great."
I was used to walking around and having the briefest of conversations with people, before helping another person with their order and heading in a back room to bake. Sitting down with customers and actually talking to them wasn't really my thing and every second I sat on this couch was another second for me to steady grow more and more uncomfortable. Thankfully, Hayato came to save the day and popped up behind me along with the twins.
"Hey, Kosuke! These two gave me a great idea!"
That can't be good… I mentally worried because Hayato had that smile again, and the twins had their own mischievous smirks.
"U-Uh, what's that?"
"Wellllll, seems that their usual baker is going on maternity leave for a couple of months so, I thought—"
I paled. "No. N-No way. Me?"
The twins shrugged. "Why not?"
"You're out of a job anyway."
I winced at that fact, knowing it was true, but not really sure on whether I'd take the offer. Honey though, looked more than excited and his eyes seemed to widen like saucers as he looked up at me pleadingly.
"Please, Ko-kun! I want to eat your cake every day!"
The twins started doing it too. "Yeah Kosuke. Pleaseeeeeee?"
Haruhi, my savior, stopped by the table and gave them all an annoyed look. "Did you guys even ask Kyoya if it's okay? I doubt he'd appreciate it if you just went on deciding things without thinking about it.
The twins leaned heavily on my shoulders, giving her a bored look. "Why not?"
"Yeah, Tono does it all the time."
Honey nodded. "And it means we get to see Ko-kun dressed up too!"
I flinched, eyeing what little he was wearing as the heat traveled up the back of my neck once more, before I turned to them.
"I-I, uh, really don't think that's a good idea. I probably wouldn't look that great in those outfits anyway."
It was then that I realized I should've just kept my mouth shut, because it was as though I'd issued a challenge by uttering those fated words. And in an instant, everyone was muttering rather loudly to one another.
"He said he wouldn't look good?"
"That can't be right."
"I kind of want to see it now."
I slowly started to get up and back away from the group, only to bump into someone behind me. Said someone, was actually Kyoya and for a second I thought he'd let me go without a second look. Instead, he pushed up his glasses, making them flash in the light.
"All ingredients will be pre-ordered to your preference and a list of items you will be making will be discussed the day before. You will be paid for the time you spend baking, the quality of the goods, and their popularity within the club. And any new ideas that turn out well will also be added to you pay." He tapped something into a calculator he was holding, as I tried to wrap my head around what he was saying, and then held it out to me. "I assume this price to pay for your services would be enough?"
I looked at the number on the screen and felt my mouth go dry as I hesitantly raised my eyes to his.
"P-Per month?" I asked and he raised a brow.
"Per day."
I went slack-jawed at that, mentally crunching the numbers in my head and realizing that with that amount of pay I'd be able to, not only own a new apartment within the week, but also be able to afford my own little shop by the end of the previous baker's maternity leave. In other words, I could have everything I ever wanted if I took this job. And I'd be able to stay with the hosts. With Honey. I immediately stuck out my hand and shook Kyoya's.
"Say hello to your new baker."
He smirked; the noise behind us disappearing as everyone listened in. "Welcome to the Host Club."
The moment I let go of his hand though, two pairs of arms grabbed mine and started dragging me off towards some changing rooms in the back. I looked between the twins in confusion and surprise.
"W-What's going on? Where are we going?"
"You're a part of the club now." One said; Kaoru, I think.
"And all club members are required to wear the daily cosplays." The other said and I paled as their grins grew.
"Welcome to the Host Club." They snickered and I suddenly realized that I had made a deal with the devil.
"D-Do I have to come out in this?" I asked from the changing room, not really hating my cosplay, but feeling rather exposed in it.
No shirt, no shoes, no service, right? I grimaced as I lightly touched the bone tooth necklace hanging around my neck and the gold bracelets on my right wrist, wondering how much they were worth. Shaking the thought off, I heard responses from outside the room.
"Come on, Kosuke! You'll look great!"
"I wanna see, Ko-kun!"
I sighed, and came out of the changing room, hearing gasps and looking up to find even the guests standing there waiting for me.
"Um… ta-da?" I said hesitantly before the guests squealed.
"He looks amazing!"
"Are those real tattoos?!"
"Look at his arms! Does he work out?!"
I grew more embarrassed with every comment thrown out, shuffling awkwardly as I shifted my eyes towards the window in a vain attempt to hide my steadily reddening cheeks. And it only got worse when Honey hurried over and stood before me with a big grin.
"You look really handsome, Ko-kun!"
He's just… so damn cute. I heard snickers then and caught sight of Hayato and the twins whispering to each other and it was then I realized… They know. They know I'm crushing on Honey. I swallowed thickly, mentally panicking, though externally, I was as expressionless as usual.
"Um… thanks, I-I guess." I muttered, before Kyoya had the guests leave and I was allowed to change back into my school uniform.
I let out a soft sigh, feeling far more comfortable back in my own clothes, but the moment I was out of the uncomfortable feeling returned as Hayato and the twins headed over with those grins again.
"You're kind of red there, Kosuke."
"And you keep..."
"...staring at Honey-senpai."
"Something we should know about?"
"No." I said bluntly, ignoring the embarrassment that threatened to drown me as I grabbed my school bag and turned to Kyoya. "Is it alright if I just bring in some trail stuff tomorrow? I have some stuff at home, but if you need them fresh, I could whip something up with whatever's in the kitchen."
He nodded. "That's fine, just be sure to come right after school."
I bobbed my head in agreement and turned to Hayato with a frown as he spoke to the twins with a laugh, before I grabbed a hold of his ear and started tugging him to the door.
"O-Ow! Kosuke! Let go! It hurts!"
"Then maybe next time you won't drag me into this sort of mess." I grumbled, before bowing to the hosts. "I'll take my leave then. I best get this moron home before his mother panics."
"Bye Ko-kun!" Honey beamed, waving at me excitedly. "I'll see you tomorrow!"
That pink tint returned to my cheeks and I waved a little back, before Hayato snorted and I kicked him in the shin before dragging him out the door.
