Rated T for Language

Edited: July 12, 2014


Song Inspiration

"I've got thick skin and an elastic heart."

- Elastic Heart by Sia


Chapter 9 – Truth About Mori, Nekozawa, & Fun

"I am extending the invitation to stay at our home in Kyoto. I'm serious."

Reina aimed her statement too Kyouya. The fall term began a week ago and Reina was visiting the host club once again.

"I'll take your invitation into consideration. Do you think October would work for you?" he asked.

"Yes! That's a perfect time. I love fall."

"Rei-senpai…" Hikaru and Kaoru cooed. They draped their arms over her shoulders.

"Yeah…?"

Kyouya noticed her apprehension.

"You know, we didn't get to reveal your big model identity as dramatically as we had wished," began Kaoru.

"I had hoped you two would forget that little slip up," she muttered.

"So, as punishment for keeping it from us for long…"

"Punishment?!"

"You have to let us do your make up…"

"Why?!

The twins dragged her away. She waved her arms ecstatically and looked toward Kyouya pleadingly. He simply shrugged. She pouted as they sat her down in a chair separate from the others.

"Please, Rei-senpai," Kaoru drawled.

"Shut up and just do what you want," she sighed.

###

Haruhi sighed. She stood next to Hani sipping tea. They were watching Mori, who was sitting on the windowsill staring out into the rain.

"Mori's presence is the only peaceful facet of this club," she sighed again. "He keeps the club in good balance."

"Um, Mori…" some girls walked over to where the peaceful giant was sitting. "Isn't it cold over there, why don't you sit over here and have some tea?"

"Thank you. You're sweet."

The girls blanched. Haruhi jumped in surprise. Still in shock, she ran over to Tamaki, "Senpai! Did you see that? Did you see what just happened?"

"Haruhi, daddy's working right now…"

Haruhi turned back around and bumped right into Mori.

"Mori…"

"Are you okay? You have to be more careful, Haruhi. You're such a little thing…"

"I'm sorry," she faltered.

"You don't have to apologize. All I mean was that you're pretty cute."

The hosts turned around with shocked looks. Reina and Raiden looked on with shock too.

"What's going on!" Reina screamed.

"Some weird switch has been turned on…or off!" Tamaki ran around in circles.

"It has to be the rain, he's usually so robotic!" yelled Kaoru.

"A machine!" added Hikaru.

"Hikaru, Kaoru."

Everyone stopped and stared at Mori again.

"I'm not a robot. You're being silly," Mori smiled. Smiled!

Reina gripped her face and started running around yelling. "Someone do something! He's scaring me."

Mori gripped her by the arm. "You shouldn't run around so much. You'll get hurt.

She looked more scared than shocked now.

"You look really pretty right now. Are you wearing make up?" He trailed a finger across her cheek and down her chin.

Reina literally stopped breathing. She could feel herself becoming lightheaded. Her mouth began to open and close, almost like a fish. She tried desperately to get something out.

Kyouya suddenly grabbed her arms and maneuvered her away from Mori's steel gaze. He sat her down in the seat he previously inhabited. She visibly relaxed. Her breathing was beginning to get back to normal.

"Takashi!" Hani ran over to his cousin. "Is it possible that you might be a little sleepy?"

Mori stared off in the distance. "I think so."

The hosts grew wide-eyed.

"Then you should probably take a nap." Hani steered him toward a sofa and sat him down.

"Yeah, okay. But only for a little while." Once his head hit the pillow he knocked out.

Raiden sat down next to his sister. "Are you okay?"

She regained her breath. "I-yeah. You bet I'm okay. I was just…a little surprised. That's all."

The hosts and customers went back to their business. Hikaru and Kaoru returned to their subject.

"Oh good, our hard work wasn't ruined," Hikaru grinned.

"Let's just finish up with this eye shadow…" Kaoru applied the makeup carefully.

"There! You look just like you do in this photo!" The twins stuck a magazine underneath her nose.

She gasped. "Wow, I look really good in this…"

"We wanted to see if you were the real deal," Hikaru noted.

"We did your hair the same way. Well as best we could since you wear hair extensions during photo shoots." Kaoru handed her a mirror.

Her eyes grew wide. She liked the way the twins made her look.

"You know…for a model…you seem to have some self-esteem issues…" Hikaru commented.

She turned her head around and glared. "I do not!"

"Ooh! You see that look she's giving us. Sultry! No wonder mother likes her!

"Wait," some girls walked over to the group, eyeing Reina curiously. "You're the model in these magazines?"

Reina gritted her teeth. She felt her chest get heavy. She was keeping it a secret for such a long time she was having a hard time in admitting the truth. Her own family did not know the truth until recently. She even used contacts and hair extensions to hide her identity. Everything seemed to be unraveling quickly.

"That's so cool!"

"What's it like being a model?

"What's the boy like? Is he this handsome in real life?"

Raiden stood back, away from his friends and his sister. He didn't know anything about his sister and her side job. He hardly knew his sister at all and it was killing him inside.


"Raiden?" Kaoru sat down in the seat in front of him.

Raiden was sitting in the library, trying to get ahead with the week's homework. He gulped. "Yeah?"

Kaoru set down of pile of books in front of him. "Do you think your sister would mind us tagging along on one of her photoshoots?"

Raiden's shoulders drooped. Of all the things to talk about, Kaoru had to pick his sister. "I don't know. I mean she didn't even tell us she was a model. I don't think she's happy about people knowing."

Kaoru rested his chin in the palm of her hand. "True." He concentrated on Raiden's notebook. "What are you up to?"

"Just homework."

"You're always studying, aren't you?"

Raiden avoided his gaze. "I have nothing else to do."

Kaoru jumped from his seat. "Let's go do something fun!"

"Like what?"

"You'll see."

###

When Kaoru said, let's do something fun, he didn't really have this in mind.

Raiden stared at all the brightly colored booths and rides. He smelled various types of food and his stomach automatically lurched at the scent of cotton candy.

Kaoru and Hikaru stopped next to him.

"What should we do first?" Hikaru grabbed Haruhi's arm. "Don't run off! We need to accomplish something before you run away."

"I don't even want to be here right now. I need to go to the market," she groaned.

Raiden sighed. This was probably just another one of the twin's attempts at having fun with Haruhi. Why did Kaoru invite him if he was just going to ignore him?"

"This will be fun, right, Rai-chan?" Hani hopped next to Raiden. Mori stood behind them.

Raiden shrugged. "I suppose." He stared after the twins, who had run off, dragging Haruhi behind them.

Tamaki yelled and ran after them. Kyouya was walking slowly behind him.

"What should we do first, Rai-chan? Do you want to play some games?" Hani was enthusiastic.

Raiden settled. He didn't want his foul mood to brush off on his upper classmate, especially when he seemed to excited. "Sure."


"Its raining men. Hallelujah!"

"We're not falling out of the sky Rei-senpai..."

"You guys might as well be because you're out of this world! Holy shit! Police officers? This might be too sexy for high school, you guys should go change." Reina tried to hide the smile from forming on her face with her hand.

She wondered if the boys had realized the main real reason she came to the host club was because of them, not only because her brother was a member. They were too handsome for their own good.

Suddenly the door behind them opened. A small child peeked through.

"Oh my god." Reina's jaw dropped. She turned back to the host club, "this so low even for you."

"What are you...?"

"She's a child!" she placed her hands on her hips firmly.

"Nee-chan! Stop jumping to conclusions!"

"Welcome my dear sweet lost kitten?" Tamaki said softly.

The little girl looked up at them cutely. Her eyes big and wide and then she pointed a lone finger at the club and announced, "male harem?"

Reina's eyes widened and a loud laugh burst out of her. She dropped to the floor in a fit of giggles. Raiden groaned. The others were shocked stiff.

The little girl continued. She pointed at Kyouya and labeled him 'glasses', Hani was labeled 'lolita', Mori was 'stoic', Haruhi was 'nerd', and the twins were 'incest'. The girl turned to Reina last who finally stopped her nonsense and sat up on the floor.

"Heroine."

"Awe!" Reina cooed.

But then the girl turned to Tamaki, realization flooded through her eyes, "brother!" and she leaped into his arms.

"You didn't tell us you had a little sister!" the twins ran up to them. Reina, Mori, and Hani joined them, crowding around Tamaki.

"You two do look alike," added Hani.

"But…I'm supposed to be an only child," Tamaki said timidly. "What's your name little girl?"

"Kirimi," she squeaked.

"'Kill me'?"

"'Creamy'?"

Tamaki looked at her again, "I think you have me mistaken for someone else. I don't have a sister."

She began to tear up, "you're not my brother…?"

Tamaki's eyes began to tear up too, "I will be starting today!"

"How precious!" Reina clutched her hands together.

"I know you feel sorry," Haruhi began a little monotonous, "but you can't claim her like a lost kitten."

"I volunteer as tribute!" Reina pushed her way into Tamaki, "I'll claim her. We'll have tea parties and read shojo manga."

"Kyouya do something," Raiden groaned.

"What do we do, Kyouya?" Haruhi asked.

"Her actual brother probably does attend this school."

"She must've confused Tama-chan with someone else," Hani offered.

"Yeah, but there isn't anyone else who looks like milord."

"Well, there is someone," Reina contemplated out loud.

The door creaked open. "Kirimi," a creepy voice entered the room.

"Kirimi!"

Tamaki and Kirimi screamed!

"Nekozawa!"


"How's it going?"

Reina entered the host club on the third day of Nekozawa's light training. The host club was determined on making Nekozawa immune to the light and reconnect him with his little sister.

"Not much development, Rei-senpai." Kyouya answered, but jumped slightly at his own familiarity with her.

She noticed his mood change and shot him a questioning look. She watched as Tamaki drilled Nekozawa in poetry. He was not wearing his wig or robe but he was holding a candle. Every time Nekozawa slipped up, Tamaki would shine a bright flashlight in his face.

"Is this really alright for Umehito-kun?"

Kyouya looked at her from the corner of his eye, noting again, her familiarity with the third year.

"Kyouya-kun," she whispered, catching his attention.

He turned his full attention to her. "Yes?"

"Thanks for taking Raiden out last week. I kind of just wanted it to be just him and Kaoru, but oh well," she shrugged. "Thanks anyway."

"What was it for, if I may ask?" Kyouya kept his voice low.

Reina looked away from his eyes. "He's usually down during this time of the year. I just wanted him to be cheered up."

Haruhi suddenly entered the room. "If you guys have time to waste and goof off can you go play and take care of Kirimi instead."

"Oh you don't like children, Haruhi?" Kyouya asked, his eyes glancing over both females in the room.

"No. I like children, but after these three days I've had to read fifty manga to her. I'm getting tired of reading shojo…"

"Nii-chan…?" Kirmi entered. "It's dark!"

"Oh no, Kirimi I asked you stay in the other room," Haruhi said.

Kirimi started to cry and Tamaki rushed to her. "Look, it's not scary at all. Here's a candy. Look today I brought you a doll."

Nekozawa stared at them wide-eyed.

Reina sighed. "Tamaki is so fatherly…It's adorable!"

A few hours later, the host club succeeded in getting Nekozawa to withstand the light from a flashlight.

"We did it!"

"Good job, Nekozawa!" Tamaki patted him on the back, "just keep it up and you'll be able to walk around in…"

"Oh…Kirimi!"

Nekozawa turned to face his sister, "Kiri…"

She screamed and ran out the room.

Kirimi's harsh scream made Reina jump behind Kyouya.

He stiffened slightly.

She gripped the back of his blazer. "I got to admit," Reina began, "that scared the shit out of me too."

Nekozawa plopped over.

"Nekozawa!" Tamaki ran to him.

"It's okay…even if I continue to training like this. It doesn't mean Kirimi will like me. She doesn't want a brother like me. She wants someone like you Tamaki."

"No! The person that little girl wants is you! She wants to be with you! If you care about your sister you shouldn't give up even if it kills you!" Tamaki's yelling sounded surprisingly inspirational.

"Boss, she's in the courtyard and she ran into a cat. That stray's taken a liking to her," the twins announced, "Not surprising considering she's from the Nekozawa family."

"Huh? No, it's not like that! It's true we like cats but we don't like the actual animal. Kirimi is afraid of cats!" he jumped from the ground and ran for the door.

"Wait, Nekozawa your robe…!" Haruhi tried to hand him his robe but he ignored her and ran through the door.

"Kirimi!" Nekozawa ran across the courtyard.

"Nii-chan…" she cried.

"Kirimi!" he ran those lost few feet and scooped her up in his arms. The host club ran out after them followed by Reina.

"It's okay Kirimi. Don't be scared," Nekozawa took out his cat puppet and started to distract her, "Belzeneff will curse the bad…cats…" Nekozawa fainted.

Raiden nudged his sister. "I can't believe you dated that loser."

"What?!" Hikaru, Kaoru, Tamaki, and Haruhi turned to her and invaded much of her personal space. "You dated Nekozawa?!"

She shrugged innocently. "Yeah…we were in the same class for like, ever. He's cute. It was bound to happen," she shrugged.

"Why…did you guys break up?" asked Hani who was surprised by the news too but did not show it like the others.

"Uh, well," she scratched her cheek sheepishly, "we really couldn't go on any real dates because of his…er, condition." She laughed.

###

"A date?" Kaoru's bangs concealed much of his view of his upper class men. The host club had just finished cleaning up their club room, when Reina had pulled him aside to speak to him.

Reina pushed a short strand of hair behind her ears, but to no avail, it fell back onto her cheek. "Yeah, a date or if you prefer, just an outing as friends. I wouldn't call it a date really. I just want to hang out. What do you say?"

Kaoru began to fiddle with the middle button on his blazer. He liked Reina and he thought she was pretty, but he didn't see her as anything past that.

She stared back with bright eyes. She moved on her toes slightly, back and forth, waiting for his response. A ball of regret began to bounce around in her brain. Kaoru was looking at her strange.

"Just friends?" Kaoru quirked up an eyebrow.

"Mhmm." Reina nodded.

"Okay," he muttered. "Sure."

"Great! Meet me at Meiji Shrine on Saturday at ten. Don't be late!" She skipped away from him and out the double doors of the host club, barely giving her brother a goodbye pat on the back.

He stuck his hands into his pants pockets and began to wonder what he had gotten himself into.


Raiden groaned silently. The girl walking away was the third girl to come by his desk and 'inquire' about his life, particularly his sister. A week had passed from the initial announcement, which gave the school plenty of time to rile up their courage and confront him about it.

Hikaru turned around in his seat and faced Raiden. "You're quite the attention hog aren't you?" a grin played across his face.

"Shut up. This is all your fault you know."

Hikaru shot a hand across his chest and pretended to look hurt. "What do you mean by that? I have done nothing…wrong."

"If it weren't for you the whole school wouldn't know about my sister and her…"

"Secret," Hikaru finished for him. He leaned his elbow on top of Raiden's desk. "It was bound to get out eventually. t did turn out to be quite dramatic, didn't it? But, no harm done. Your sister didn't really mind either."

"She was just being nice." Raiden rested his chin in the open palm of his hand.

"She's always nice," Hikaru furthered. "That's just the way she is."

"You think so?"

Hikaru nodded. "How many girls have come by?"

Raiden sighed. "That was the third girl this morning. Classes haven't even started. I'm sure it'll get worse as the day goes by. Yesterday, a whole bunch of girls came up to me and a few guys too. I don't think I like that."

Hikaru laughed. "Get used to it, man."

Kaoru and Haruhi interrupted their conversation.

"You guys took forever," Hikaru complained.

Kaoru pulled out his desk chair. "I couldn't find the book. I had to ask the librarian, but she was helping a few other people too."

"It wasn't that long," Haruhi interjected. She placed her book bag on her desk with a plop. "We're not even late for class."

"What are you guys talking about anyway?" Kaoru began to fish his textbooks out of his book bag.

Hikaru grinned again. "Rei-senpai's new found celebrity status at school."

"Rei, Rei-senpai," Kaoru stuttered.

Hikaru shot him a quizzical look. "Yeah…"

Raiden looked at him with an odd expression as well. It wasn't normal for Kaoru to stutter like that. "Girls have been coming up to me nonstop because of my sister."

"Really?" Haruhi asked this time.

He nodded. "They ask about her and the guy she's always with. I hope they stop soon once they realize I know absolutely nothing." He rested his head on his desk.


Raiden stared into Kaoru's eyes, surprise clearly written on both their faces.

"Raiden? What are you doing here?" Kaoru asked.

"Me?" he breathed. "What are you doing here?"

Kaoru gaped. He settled his eyes on the ground at his feet. "Rei-senpai asked me to meet her here."

"Really?"

Kaoru nodded.

"Why were you – "

"Why are you here?" Kaoru interrupted.

Raiden fingered the DSLR camera hanging from his neck. "My sister asked me to take some photographs for her today. She said she was going to go, but she wasn't feeling well."

"Oh…"

Raiden shuffled around on his feet and decided to give it a shot. The worst thing he could say was no, right? "My sister is making me hop around town. Do you…want to join me?"

Kaoru shrugged. "Sure. I'm already here."

Raiden couldn't help smiling. "Great. Let's get to it."

###

"Rei-senpai wants you to do all this?" Kaoru read over a piece of notebook paper. Reina's handwriting scrawled all the way to the bottom.

Raiden and Kaoru walked out of Meiji Shrine and walked toward the train station adjacent to the shrine. "Yeah, but she told me to do what I can."

"Traffic. Pedestrians. Bicycles. Park. Public Transit. Food. This is…interesting?" Kaoru handed the paper back to Raiden.

"My sister thinks out of the box sometimes." Raiden stuffed the paper into his jacket pocket.

"We'd probably find 'people' in Takeshita-dori or in Omotesando," Kaoru offered.

"Okay, let's head over." Instead of entering the station, they walked across the street and entered one of the most famous streets in Japan – Takeshita-dori in Harajuku.

"Have you ever been to Harajuku?" Raiden asked. They walked past underneath the overhead sign signally the entrance to Japan's fashion capital.

"I've been a few times. My mom has told me she sends her interns and assistants around here all the time, but I don't come here a lot. I shop online mostly."

"I see." Raiden began to snap photos and internally registered everything Kaoru said. It was still early in the morning, so the stores just began to open and groups or duos of teenagers were barely making their way down the street to their favorite stores.

"Do you come here often?" Kaoru asked this time. Kaoru moved his hands into his pockets.

"No. My sister comes here almost every week. She likes to shop, even though she doesn't actually buy a lot of things. She likes the action, I guess."

"I haven't really seen you or your sister out of school uniforms," Kaoru eyed Raiden, causing him to blush. "You look good."

"Thanks," Raiden muttered a reply.

Raiden took some more photographs. Random shops and secretly random people. Kaoru walked next to him in quiet solace. He gazed around to the random shops and people. Anytime someone would look toward him, he would look quickly away. Raiden thought it was endearing. He lifted the camera and took a quick picture. He felt eternally grateful his sister asked him to come in her place. If she hadn't he wouldn't have the chance to spend some time with Kaoru.

He pictured his sister at home, curled up with a cup of tea and probably reading a book or playing a game. She seemed fine yesterday. He couldn't believe she caught a bug so quickly.

"You know," Kaoru began, interrupting Raiden from his thoughts, "Rei-senpai seemed fine this week."

Raiden stared in awe, it was like Kaoru read his mind. "I, I was just thinking that. She usually takes very good care of herself, but she could be careless at times."

"Your sister is weird."

"You think?"

Kaoru gave him a quick glance. "People ask me out all the time, but she was the first person I said yes too.

Raiden stopped in his tracks. "Really? Why?"

"Why did I say yes?"

Raiden nodded, hoping he would continue.

Kaoru sighed. He crossed his arms before him and looked up at the sky longingly. "She's the first person to ask me to 'hang out'. I've never been asked to just hang out. Girls usually ask for dates and then sometimes they're not even specific. They ask my brother and I or both of us," he huffed the last part. "Rei-senpai, wanted to hang out, as friends. I liked that."

Raiden stared back in amazement.

"We should get the rest of senpai's pictures," Kaoru added quickly. He moved down the sidewalk.

Raiden had to jog to catch up with him.


A.N. - Thanks for reading!