Chapter Nine
Out In The Crowd
The music room was full to capacity. All around, sofas and armchairs encircled tables but the ones making the most noise were the five where the hosts sat. Tamaki was entertaining five ladies at once, all of them in a permanent state of happy fainting – so much so that they didn't notice that every so often he glanced over to Haruhi's table, where the 'natural' host made easy conversation with two first year girls. Honey was glowing; he'd been presented with three different kinds of cake and was desperately trying to decide which kind to eat first. Mori watched him closely, giving short but apparently swoon-worthy answers to their customers. I licked my finger and turned over the next page of my book, sitting one of the spare tables behind the open door, my feet on a chair. The books were getting much easier to read and though in most of them, the content was quite archaic, the storylines weren't that bad. I turned another page.
"Did Kyoya send you over to test me again?" I said without looking up. There was a sigh and the twins leant on my table.
"You are kind of good at that," Hikaru said grudgingly.
"Which book are you on?" Kaoru asked, peering over my shoulder. To my eternal shame, I was still on the first book. In English, I could have got them done in two or three days. In Japanese and with all the extra work I had to do, they were taking me forever. I had so much to deal with that I hadn't really had much time to curl up with a book and relax – not that these books could be considered relaxing. Life in the apartment block didn't seem to be getting any better. I'd literally had to jump and run this morning, using the element of surprise as my getaway plan. Yuri and I were shattered. We still don't know how I'd managed to get past them all beaten up after my 'interview'. Yuri was off the opinion that Jai was watching me and laughing his ass off. I wouldn't have put it passed him and the very idea gave me chills. I didn't like to think of him watching me at my weakest.
I was suddenly very aware of Kaoru's face next to mine and felt heat rising in my cheeks.
"Don't you guys have a job to do?" I asked mildly.
"Hai, hai, we're going," they said, exasperated. I watched them stroll back to their table out of the corner of my eye and breathed out. Goddamn it.
Though I knew I shouldn't be, hidden behind the door as I was, I felt really self-conscious. Sure, the new uniform was growing in popularity among the more active members of the student body, and I could count at least six other in the room wearing it, but I was sure Kyoya's 'you're-a-girl-you'll-blend-in' method wasn't going to work. I tried to refocus on the story, searching the page for the place I previously was.
"You have a job, too, Katya." I sighed and looked up at Kyoya.
"I'm sorry, boss," I said sweetly. "Did a huge fight happen while I was only half-looking?" His stare did nothing to me. I'd seen better – worse? Scarier – stares before. I still didn't think I could trust him though. In my defence, the music room was a bundle of happiness today. The only drama that was happening was the twin's usual brotherly love piece and the fact that Kyoya had disappeared from his table. I looked pointedly at his guests, which he ignored and pushed up his glasses.
"Seriously, Kyoya. I can do multiple things at once. Besides." I held up my hands. "I read all your emails, learnt all the names, memorised the pictures of banned members and remember all the things on the 'do-not-do' list you sent me." I counted them off on my fingers. I knew I was winding him up.
"As long as you are taking this seriously," he said pleasantly, pulling a piece of paper out of his folder and handing it to me.
"I've been doing this for a week now. I'm serious as death." I looked down at the paper. "What's this?"
"I drew up a list of customers it would be wise to have you avoid escorting out, should the need arise." I looked up at him sharply and then back down at the list. It wasn't very long and a couple of them I hadn't heard of, but I was willing to bet the shadow king's judgement on politics was better than mine. More importantly, Tsubame and Akemi took up two spaces – known associates, six more.
"Thanks," I muttered, pocketing the list. He gave me a look.
"Of course, I have no idea what you mean." I grinned to myself and went back to my book. I was sure he was holding that information until it suited him to release it but honestly, he was helping me out greatly.
For the amount I was earning each time the Host Club opened for business, this job was a breeze. Nothing had happened for me to get involved with – it was almost boring. I scanned the crowded room, eyeing every face. There were literally no problems here at all – they ran this club like it was their life and it showed. It was almost bizarre. These girls seemed to be so well behaved and perfect and beautiful. How come the only one I ever ran into was Queen Bitch Fukui?
With a sigh, I went back to my book. At least all this peace and quiet meant my face was staying in one piece.
"What do you think, Katya?" I tucked my hair behind my hair, looking at the problem in front of me.
"Don't know," I said vaguely, not really listening. Hikaru leant back, his chair balanced precariously on two legs.
"You are no fun," he accused me. I levelled my best IDGAF gaze at him and went back to my maths homework. His chair rocked forwards and he put his elbows on the table, looking at me oddly. I ignored him for a few minutes before putting my pencil down in defeat.
"Yes, Hikaru?" I asked with mock-patience.
"Why did you come if all you're gonna do is work?" I looked across the garden. It sprawled out under the house, a maze of flowered bushes and trees surrounding the main lawn. A ball spiralled through the air into Honey's reaching hands, the small boy riding on Mori's shoulders. The other hosts spread out in their respective teams of three. Tamaki tried to block the pass but Kaoru dodged around him and snatched the ball out of the air. Why had I come? Because they'd asked and I found I couldn't say no.
"I'm a busy girl," I replied, going back to my work. He took my pencil with the same skill his brother had. I grabbed for it.
"Hey!" He held it away. I huffed, and crossed my arms.
"Come on, you're always working! Even Haruhi doesn't work this hard and she's… well, Haruhi. Don't you have any free time?" No, not really.
"I'm busy," I repeated, picturing the dark of my room and the uncomfortable cramped floor that was serving as my desk.
"What do you even do in the evenings?" Hide, I thought, but that wasn't an appropriate answer.
"Why did you agree to play if all you're going to do is ask me questions?" I shot back at him. He tilted his head, eyeing me.
"Hikaru!" Haruhi's desperate shout caught our attention. She waved to him. She and Tamaki were getting absolutely destroyed. I grabbed my pencil back. He opened his mouth to protest.
"Go and play, Hikaru." He looked across at Kyoya before slinking away to the game. It didn't take very long for him to throw himself in. Having one Hitachiin on either side seemed to make the teams quite evenly matched. At least, I thought so, but I wasn't even sure what they were playing. I glanced across at the dark host, who seemed to have been reabsorbed into his laptop. I was half expecting him to admonish me but I wasn't sure what for. With a shrug, I tried to concentrate on my work.
The trouble is that there was a group of incredibly attractive young men playing sports in the afternoon sun and it was incredibly distracting.
I threw down my pencil in disgust, my traitorous brain refusing to even do simple double integration. Instead, my eyes wandered to the lithe hosts as they threw the ball back and forth. It was at times like this that Haruhi's difference shone through, I thought, as she stood on the side-lines waiting for her moment. It was obvious this wasn't really her thing but she seemed to be enjoying herself. She moved suddenly, catching the slow ball Tamaki had tossed her. In a blink, Kaoru picked her up and ran towards the goal. Tamaki set after him, yelling in his exaggerated way. He set her down over the makeshift line and she swatted him. He laughed.
I put my head in my hands.
"Struggling?" I looked up at Kyoya. He stood by my table with a small smile.
"No," I said and then, more convincingly, "I'm fine." He raised an eyebrow and sat down, reopening his laptop. I had a sneaky feeling he wasn't referring to my maths problems.
"No, please, have a seat…" I muttered to myself, going back to staring at my work and waiting for my brain to function. The game was slowly falling into chaos to my right. Haruhi was the first to collapse on the side-lines, exhausted, followed one by one by the others. They chatted and laughed among themselves. I heaved a much bigger sigh than I meant to.
"You know, Katya, perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to have fun every now and then." I pulled myself out of self-pity for the sake of the irony.
"You are telling me to have fun?" I said, sceptical. It seemed the irony wasn't lost on him either.
"Indeed." He looked over his glasses at me. "You need to have some moments where you're not thinking about the darker sides of your life." I leant back in my chair. I still wasn't entirely sure how much he knew but I almost didn't want to know.
"And do you, Mr Ootori, ever not think about the darker side of your life?" I asked. He smiled at me in that ambiguous, infuriating way he had and I resisted throwing my pencil at him. I supposed he had a point, though. Even though I now had this to distract me, Jai and Tsubame were definitely overshadowing any thoughts of having fun I would have had. I was obsessing over them but really, what else was I to do?
"Hey, Kyoya." We looked up at Kaoru, who stretched his arms above his head. "We're going to play that hide-and-seek game Haruhi taught us last semester. You coming?" Kyoya looked at me.
"Katya will join you," he said.
"Cool. Come on, Katya!" Kaoru grinned, walking towards the group.
"Oh, I will, now, will I?" I muttered to Kyoya. My chair tipped over and I shot to my feet, looking down. His foot disappeared from view.
"Childish," I hissed at him as I walked past.
"And yet effective," he murmured. "Have fun." I gave him one last death glare and caught up with the twin at the door.
"I'll give you a tour at the same time," Kaoru said as I caught up with him. My stomach flipped as he grinned at me. I sighed, following him.
I was in so much trouble.
Author's Note: So this may seem to be moving along slowly. For which I apologise. I'm trying to set the scene I want and it's taking me some time to get it feeling right. As for the regularity of updates, this will possibly slow down as soon as university starts back up again.
