Here's another chapter! Happy Holidays :)
Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC!
Chapter Nine: A Commoner's Day 2: Where's Lunch?
"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."
-Abraham Lincoln
"Ah, after that cake, I'm getting a bit peckish." Honey says after all the cake is eaten.
I nod in agreement, "I'm getting pretty hungry." Cakes just can't fill a girl these days.
"Now that you mention it, it is long past lunch," Hikaru states.
"Is lunch ready?" The idiot trio asks simultaneously, tilting their heads in unison.
Haruhi angrily mutters something under her breath in reply.
"Now, we're the ones who dropped in on you without warning, so we'll pay. How about ordering some of your favorite sushi, or something?" Kyoya stands, starting to take something out of his pocket.
"No, that's okay," Haruhi quickly interjects, "I'm going to dread it later if it's on you."
I nod firmly in agreement. Kyoya is not to be easily trusted with such kind acts.
"Not to worry. This comes out of sale of photos of you that were auctioned off." Kyoya pulls out a golden credit card.
Haruhi flinches, "Then, isn't this really on me?" Haruhi gathers herself, "Fine. I have a friend who runs a nice sushi shop nearby, so I'll give them a call. They'll have some high-quality stuff."
At Haruhi's words, Tamaki quickly pulls out a piece of paper and writes a message on it frantically. The twins look on curiously. I place my head on my arms, lazily watching the idiot's work. The message said something about premium food is not necessarily high-quality. This will be something to watch. The blond sneaks towards Haruhi and passes the paper.
The young brunette reads the paper under her breath, crumples it up and throws it in the waste bin. "I know that much Tamaki," Haruhi states, glaring angrily at Tamaki.
Tamaki starts to flail his arms in response. "Aah you dummy!" The blond prince cries, "Daddy even took care to act all casual as not to embarrass you!"
Kyoya's glasses glint, "If you do not wish to get takeout, Addie can make the lunch."
"Ehhhh?" I exclaim. Today's my day off! At least I thought it was. I start to protest, "How-"
"I'd like to have something made by you, Haru-chan." Honey speaks up, innocently.
I look to Honey with glittering eyes, sending a silent thank you. I can cook decently since I lived alone for a bit, but I'd rather not have the Host Club's presence near me when I do-especially the twins.
"That's fine, but starting now, it will take some time." Haruhi responds.
"We'll wait!"
Tamaki and the Hitachiin brothers start sobbing in happiness. I sigh. At least I get some free food.
"Well, I'll have to go to the supermarket again." Haruhi mumbles.
"Oh I coming-"
"-We want to come to the commoners' supermarket." The twins state simply.
"I'll come too." I quickly interject, wanting to investigate the auburn-haired brothers.
"Me, too! Me, too!" Honey yells joyfully.
"Well, this might be a good experience. Addie can help carry bags." Kyoya states.
Why must you order me so! This is my day off! I sigh and stand up, stretching
Hosts start to leave the small apartment. "Yay! Commoners' supermarket!" The twins chant. I follow the two out the door quietly.
Once I get down the stairs with the other hosts. I look around. Tamaki and Haruhi are still in the house.
As I the hosts situates themselves outside the apartment complex, Honey dances happily around Tamaki, excited for the shopping trip. The twins stand at the bottom the stairs conversing to each other. Kyoya looks at his mysterious notebook, an unreadable gleam in his glasses. I walk halfway down the stairs and I lean on the stair railing, staring at the blue sky. When was the last time I hanged out like this? I fidget with my shorts as a breeze passes through.
"Yay, grocery store! Grocery shopping! I wonder if they'll have cake…" Honey exclaims joyfully, still bouncing around the silent Mori.
"Didn't you just have a bunch of cake?" I mumble, turning my gaze to the blissful senior.
The twins flinch, turning to me with shocked amber eyes, "How long have you been there!" Hikaru exclaims.
"A while now," I reply simply, stretching my arms in the nice weather.
Kaoru narrows his eyes at me suspiciously, "If you're here then…"
Hikaru looks at Kaoru urgently, "…Then Haruhi and Tamaki are in the apartment alone!"
Suddenly a tall woman quickly walks past us and enters Haruhi's open apartment. The twins glance at each other, smirking. They quickly follow the stocky women.
I tilt my head confused, "What just happened?" I ask, looking at Kyoya.
Suddenly, a large crash emits from Haruhi's home, catching all the remaining hosts' attention.
"Something very interesting." Kyoya puts away his notebooks, "Shall we go investigate?" The Shadow King starts to walk towards the apartment, not waiting for an answer.
I scratch my head and sigh. What happened to going to the grocery store?
"I see. You're the host club I've been hearing about." Haruhi's father states, as the host club sits around the table in Haruhi's apartment, "You really are a fine set of boys. I don't know with one of you I would take." The transvestite waves his (her?) hand at Haruhi, "Right Haruhi?" He looks back at the hosts, "Oh, you can just call me Ranka. That's my professional name I use at the bar."
"Professional name? Like a stage name?" Honey asks.
"That's right, Mitsukuni," Ranka replies happily.
"Huh? How do you know my name?"
Ranka smiles, "3rd Years, Haninozuka and Morinozuka Takashi…" Ranka looks at the twins, "And you would be the 1st Years, in the same class as Haruhi, Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru, right? Which of you is which, I wonder…I'm always hearing stories about you! Ah, is Addie here too?"
"Right here," I raise my hand, sitting right next to Haruhi.
"Ah! It's true! You really are like a ghost! Except Haruhi can see you, right?"
"Uh….Yeah…she can…"I mumble in reply, confused. How did he get all this info?
Kaoru blinks. "Haruhi talks about us?" He asks, voicing my question.
"Mm-mm, it's always from Kyoya on the phone." Ranka turns and high fives the Shadow King.
Kyoya smiles, returning the high-five, "Ranka, you really are beautiful."
"What!" The host club exclaims.
My shoulders drop. Of course. Why am I not surprised? This is Kyoya Ootori we're dealing with.
"Kyoya…" I looked to see a certain hunched prince grabs the Shadow King's shoulder.
"We're looking after his precious daughter." Kyoya replies, not batting an eyelash at Tamaki's aggression, "It's only natural I keep in contact and give periodic reports on her, right?" Kyoya sips his tea, "Ordinarily, that should be your job , right?" Tamaki flinches at the words and crawls away defeated.
"You really are a fine club president." Ranka praises Kyoya. I could see Tamaki's confidence being crushed in the background. "Oh, Kyoya, you're the vice president, aren't you? So the president isn't good for much, huh?"
"Hold on there, Dad!" Haruhi calls out angrily, "I never heard that you were in contact with Kyoya!"
"But Haruhi, you never tell me about school." The father whines.
"So then, without telling me, you…" Haruhi looks over at Tamaki, who is currently growing mushrooms in the closet, "Tamaki, would you please stop growing mushrooms in other people's closets!?"
I look over at the depressed club president. I wonder if those mushrooms are edible…? My stomach growled. I really hope they remember that it's long past lunchtime.
"Haruhi," Ranka murmurs, "The thing about you is…you're even cute when you're angry!" The father hugs his unwilling daughter lovingly.
"There's something about this guy that reminds me an awful lot of someone." Hikaru mumbles.
"It explains why Haruhi is so good at handling his highness." Kaoru replies.
"Haruhi is pretty unique…" I murmur, sweat dropping at the situation. "…But what about our lunch?"
The beloved daughter pushes her father away and opens the entry door, "I'm going shopping, all by myself." Haruhi announces firmly. "I'll be right back, so everyone, please behave yourselves." Haruhi leaves.
Hikaru reaches out towards the door, "Haruhi! We want to go to the commoner's supermarket, too!"
Ranka waves his hand dismissively, "That's okay, that's okay. Once she's spoken, she won't listen to you. That girl made up her mind to go to Ouran, and did the enrollment paperwork by herself. I'd like to respect her independence, but I wish she would sometimes depend on me more." Ranka' s eyes fill with memories. "I'm grateful to you guys. She seems to be happy and enjoying herself at school now, in her own way. Right Tamaki Suou?"
Tamaki looks up hopefully from the mushroom filled closet, "Father-"
"I knew who you were at first glance. You're the idiot that comes up often in Haruhi's stories." Tears flow from Tamaki's shocked eyes, "Come to think of it, you're the one who mistook Haruhi for a boy right up to the end, aren't you? At least with Addie she had the boy's uniform. You're just awful." Tamaki huddles once again in the mushroom closet. "Now then, why don't we all have ourselves some fun?" The father's eyes glimmer mischievously.
I gulp, unsure of what is to come.
How did I end up in this situation again? I stand right behind the hosts and Ranka in a commoner's neighborhood, watching Haruhi amble to the grocery store.
"So we end up going with her after all, huh?" Hikaru and Kaoru state, simultaneously.
At least I can get more data on the twins. I look at the surrounding houses and sigh. This trip turned out much longer than expected. Lunch better be good.
"Is this the game?" Kyoya asks.
A disguised Ranka gives a thumbs up, "This is tailing, Kyoya" Surrounding locals start murmur in awe of the group of attractive hosts, "Then again…I just wanted to go walking around with lots of fine boys in tow!" Ranka exclaims, adjusting his sunglasses.
"Sure enough, this one and that one are cut for the same cloth." The twins observe.
Once our group arrives at the local supermarket, the host club disperses and observes the shopping Haruhi or explores the commoner's market. I quickly separate from the main group and browse the grocery store casually. I curse, looking at all the beautiful edibles-I didn't bring my wallet. I would have to wait till lunch to eat. I look and see Ranka and Tamaki closely observe Haruhi and conversing. Now where are the twins? If they truly adored Haruhi, wouldn't they be watching too?
I quickly find the twins looking at the different brands of instant coffee. They are fascinated at all the different brands. I stand at the end of the aisle, pondering my next action. I can't just stand here and watch them like a stalker? Right? It's not like they'll notice me…
"Hey Kaoru, should we buy some? This brand looks cool. It's limited edition." Hikaru says, pointing at a particular brand of instant coffee.
"Yeah, let me just get my wallet out." Kaoru reaches into his pocket.
"….."
"….."
"….."
"…Kaoru?"
"I don't have my wallet. I left it at home" Kaoru sighs.
"Whatever, we'll just bug Haruhi about it later." The twins shrug. "Now where are they?" The brothers turn around and start to exit the coffee section.
"I think Haruhi is in the meat section." I call out automatically across from the end of the aisle. I immediately regret revealing my presence when the twins turn towards me. What happened up to being sneaky? They walk towards me casually.
"Yo, Addie-I didn't see you there." The twins tilt their head, their expression full of curiosity.
"You sure that you're not a ghost?" Hikaru asks.
"I'm sure." I place my hand up in defense at the approaching demons. I curse inwardly. I have to be careful. I don't want a repeat of the dog incident.
"How do you do that?" Kaoru asks. The twins now standing in front of me, leaning on each other.
"Do what?"
"Disappear." Hikaru completes the question. "You have no presence. Is there a trick to it?"
"Uh…I guess it comes naturally…?" Well, that's not a lie.
"Liar." Hikaru and Kaoru say.
"How would you know?" I reply, irritation rising in my voice. "You can't just read my mind."
"It's one thing to have a low presence-"
"-It's another to be able to conceal yourself completely." The brothers state persistently.
I lower my hands. Silver eyes meet gold. "So? Whether it's intentional or not, does it really matter. I don't like people-Why should I deal with them?" I reply firmly, slightly taken aback by their sudden statement.
The twins' amber eyes glimmer. "Because we're curious."
"And it's an order, co-manager." Hikaru smirks.
"It's my day off." I repeat, venom infecting my voice. The day off where I 'decided' to come Haruhi's house on whim. Yep. Great reasoning Addie. I continue my revolt, as I tilt my head and cross my arms stubbornly. "What does it matter? Don't hosts like to be noticed?" I will not them get the better of me this time.
"Ehh? That's so mean Addie-"The twins take my rebuffs in stride. Their cat-like eyes looking at me like I am a malfunctioning toy.
"-so then how can Haruhi see you?" And then there's the clincher.
"How can Haruhi breathe? I don't know." I reply apathetically. How am I supposed to know? I turn around and start to walk away from the twins as a tactical retreat. It would be a bit before I could defeat the devious duo in argument. I still need to investigate the brothers more for dirt. "Nice chatting, but a magician never reveals her secrets." I chirp, raising my hand in farewell.
Kaoru opens his mouth to say something, but Haruhi's loud voice cuts through the aisle, "Hikaru, Kaoru, Addie, we're leaving! I just paid." Haruhi appears at the other end of the aisle with Tamaki, waving.
I turn around to see the twins walking towards the responsible girl. The stomach snarls with hunger. I perk up, recalling lunch. I smile, forgetting about the all too recent conversation with the twins.
Time for lunch! And then I can finally go home!
I stretch my arms groggily as I finally return back to my manor. I walk through the entrance with Paris. I rub my bloated stomach. That hot pot hit the spot! Even if it is summer, nothing beats a good meal. I grin, thinking about the delicious stew.
"Have a good day Addie?" Paris asks casually, taking my grey zip-up hoodie.
"It had its moments." I reply.
I got free hot pot after all.
