They learn the hard way that there are no friendships in Mario Kart.
It's been raining for days. Which, under normal circumstances, would have been fine but it just so happened that the former Host Club (plus Izzy and Fu) were vacationing in London and hadn't really left their suite. And as much as they had grown to love one another over the past years since High School, they were becoming antsy.
"Oh," Izzy drew the curtains back, pursing her lips as she watched the unforgivable downpour. "Would you look at that," She peeked over her shoulder at Haruhi, Fumiko and Hikaru. "It's raining," She pointed out with a dry wit about her. "Again."
"I told you guys we should have just gone to Puerto Rico..." Fumiko mumbled into her palm, smiling innocently when Izzy shot her a glare.
"Do any of you speak Spanish?"
"Of course not but don't you?"
"Italian and Spanish are two different languages, damn it!"
Fumiko and Hikaru both shared mischievousness laughs, completely amused with Izzy's irritation. Haruhi rolled her eyes at the two in slight disbelief that they were twenty-two and twenty-three year olds. Some things never changed. "We could still go out, you know," She suggested with a casual shrug. Hikaru frowned, twisting his face up at the thought of going out in the rain.
"Haruhi, it's raining."
"And the ocean is blue. So what? We could actually go out but you're all still a bunch of spoiled brats..."
"Hey! Don't lump me in with these morons. I just don't want to go out because the rain will completely destroy my hair. Are you going to brush all the frizz and knots out of it? What, do you think I just roll out of bed and my hair is just normal? No, this—this mane has a mind of its' own and I will not upset it by running around in the rain watching the trio of morons jump in puddles."
Haruhi seemed unaffected by Izzy's ranting but she did look towards Fumiko and Hikaru. They seemed rightfully disturbed by Izzy's rant and she quietly nodded, pleased that she wasn't the only one. "Speaking of morons," Haruhi turned back to Hikaru. "Where is Tamaki?" She asked, big eyes full of questions. She hadn't seem the loud blond since they all woke up hours ago and wondered where he could have gone.
Hikaru turned down his nose at her. "He's your husband, Haruhi, how should I know?"
"Because stupidity usually travels in groups."
Haruhi snorted at Izzy's dry input, dropping her head in a vain attempt to hide her amusement. Fumiko giggled into her palm, blushing sheepishly when Hikaru glared at her. He let out a small whine and shoved at Fumiko's shoulder, muttering that she was supposed to be the nice one. "Ah, I think he went out with Mori-senpai and Kaoru," Fumiko added helpfully after controlling her giggles. "Hani-chan is still asleep and so is Kyoya-kun. You know how they are when it comes to sleeping in. And all this dreary weather makes them even more sleepy as it is," Fumiko pouted, looking towards the room she and her own husband were using.
"Hani is only sleeping so much because Reiko didn't come with us."
"Sometimes I still can't believe Hani-senpai married such a weird woman."
Haruhi rolled her eyes. "That's the pot calling the kettle black..."
Izzy nodded, frowning. "Half the time I prefer her antics over yours, Hikaru."
Hikaru gaped at the two brunettes, clearly offended. "How are you both even married?" He hissed at them, pouting. "You're so damn mean. I can only imagine you two being Mothers. I'll pray for those kids," He huffed and puffed, whining when Izzy threw a book at him. It was only an hour later when the door slammed open, rattling the entire suite. The four gathered in the living area stiffened considerably before looking towards the rooms that Kyoya and Hani were still occupying. When no signs of two rage monsters stirred, they slumped.
"Are you trying to get us killed?" Izzy hissed and spat, throwing a glare over the back of the couch at the front door. Tamaki only grinned as he waltzed in, Kaoru and Mori following behind. "You freakin' tic," She finished with a snarl, throwing a book at his head.
It bounced off of his blond head loudly and Tamaki went down, whining and clutching at his head. Mori and Kaoru only offered the fallen blond a quick glance before either stepping over or around him. "Why do you keep throwing books?" Hikaru rubbed his own bruised head, silently sympathizing with Tamaki over the pain. Of course, she wasn't wrong for attacking Tamaki, he was just curious by her sudden mistreatment of books.
"The throw pillows are too soft."
"Congratulations, Mori-senpai, you married a demon."
"He knows exactly what he got himself into."
"It's true, I do."
It was Fumiko who got up to check on Tamaki. She crouched down by the wiry blond, patting him as everyone, including his own wife—why was she so mean, chose to ignore his whines. "Oh, Tamaki," She shook her head before noticing the damp bag he'd been carrying. "What's this?" She puckered lips and turned away from the blond, effectively ignoring him just like the rest.
Tamaki let out a particular whine that started as a low rumble but eventually turned into a loud mournful moan of despair. Still, no one looked at him and Fumiko only busied herself with digging through his bag. She pulled out a big blue box, frowning in confusion before realization dawn on her. "Oh! I know what this is!" She beamed, proud of herself. "This is a Wii U! You bought a Wii U, Tamaki?" Fumiko turned her blackberry eyes on the blonde, forgetting that he was in pain from the lump forming on his head. This gained the attention of Hikaru, Haruhi and Izzy.
"A what?" Hikaru drawled, not amused at all.
"You don't know what a Wii U is?" Fumiko sprang up, wildly clutching at the bulky box. It almost slipped out of her hands but Mori leaned down, catching it with ease. Fumiko blanched and quietly thanked her cousin in law. The last thing they needed was for her to drop a heavy box directly on Tamaki's face. The dramatic blond would never shut up and Haruhi would be forced to commit murder. A murder they would all keep secret because who really cared if she murdered her annoying husband?
"Should I know what it is? It sounds like a disease."
Fumiko rolled her eyes at Hikaru's behavior. "No, silly!" She shouted, not able to bring herself to calling anyone stupid. She also stealthily ignored Izzy's mumblings that they were all diseases to her. "It's a popular gaming system by Nintendo. How can you not know about it? It's made in Japan!" Fumiko exclaimed, holding the box up to solidify her words.
"Yeah, so's everything in the world."
"I thought everything was made in China."
"That's a stereotype."
"Shut up, Haruhi."
The only one who didn't seem interested or excited by the new game system was Izzy. In fact, she was glaring at the boxed system with a look of clear disdain across her face. Mori took notice of her expression immediately and lightly shoved at her shoulder. "Something wrong?" He asked, used to her dark looks after all these years.
She tore her eyes away from the box long enough to look at him with a haunted look in her eyes. "I'm not playing that thing," She said after a long pause. Her voice rang over all of their excitement, causing a slight lull to the conversation. Mori tilted his head to the side, wondering what she had against the video game system. Sure, they might just be a little too old to spend their day playing video games but it could turn out to be a lot of fun.
"Why?"
The haunted look in her eyes leaked out and took over her face as she drifted off internally. Then she shot Tamaki a dirty look because she knew this was his bright idea. "I have three older brothers, okay? Not one. Three. And a bunch of older male cousins. What do you think we did when they all came to visit? They forced me to play video games with them and...and...I refuse to play, alright?"
The room stared at her with questions drenched in their eyes. Just what went on in her childhood that she refused to play video games? Slightly disturbed, Mori placed his arms around Izzy and hugged her to his chest, patting her head as she relieved the horrors of her childhood. Having recovered from her abuse, Tamaki snatched the box away from Fumiko to rip it open. He pulled the gaming system out of the box, nearly dropping the game-pad in his haste. He placed it in front of their television and waited for a few minutes. Hikaru quirked an eyebrow. "Nothing is happening."
"You have to hook everything up, morons," Haruhi rolled her eyes and shoved them all aside to hook all the wires up to the appropriate outlets. It wasn't long before the screen game to life with the Nintendo logo. Tamaki pumped his fists in the air, loudly cheering that his wife was clearly the smartest. He only stopped when Izzy violently smacked him with a controller this time, berating him about his obnoxious yelling that was sure to wake Hani and Kyoya.
They went through an assortment of games (most of them they were all terrible at) before finally settling on Mario Kart. Izzy's eyes seem to widen as the game loaded and she sank down next to Mori, slowly reaching for a controller. If anyone noticed her odd behavior, they chose not to comment on it, instead fighting and bickering over characters.
"There's so many boards to pick..." Fumiko mumbled once everyone safely picked their characters. There was some debate as to which racetrack they should pick before Izzy's eyes seemingly light up. She smiled sweetly and that should have been everyone's warning. Whenever Izzy smiled so sweetly, disaster was sure to follow to her amusement and their horror.
"Pick Rainbow Road."
Drawn in by the colorful track, Tamaki ignorantly heeded her suggestion. 2.5 seconds after the race started, they all realized. Rainbow Road was the track from Hell. Apparently Mario Kart was a game played frequently during her childhood and she had grown used to Rainbow Road. She still did just as horrible as the rest of them but she expected that. Her makeshift family did not know what to expect.
"You're a monster, Izzy, a monster! Why would you even suggest something like this?"
"Don't fall, don't fall, don't fa—DAMN IT!"
"Who even came up with this track? How twisted do you have to be to come up with this?"
"Mori-senpai, please don't break the controller..."
"Does it ever end? My hands are cramping, for God's sake, they're cramping."
"Jesus Christ!"
"This is Hell. This is actual Hell. I'm in Hell right now."
"Oh my God, I'm in first place. I don't know how but—what's that noise?"
"The sound of betrayal."
"That's blue turtle-shell, Fufu."
"Who...who used it? Oh my God, Izzy, how could you!?"
"There are no friendships in Mario Kart."
And that is how a bunch of twenty-something year olds learned on a cold rainy day to never trust Izzy whenever it came to her making suggestions about anything. That was also the last time any of them even looked at Mario Kart for years. And not once did they ever talk about that cold rainy day in fear of having a mental breakdown.
TeeBeMe: Public Service Announcement: Mario Kart will bring out the worst of us. And no, friendships really don't matter. May the odds be forever in your favor.