I Prefer Spearmint: chapter 9
AN: hey guys! It seems like the chapters are getting progressively longer! And side-tracking a little... But not to worry! I've got everything planned out- yay :D
To be honest, I'm really afraid of turning Rachel into a Mary-Sue with her romantic entanglements, but I can assure you that I have absolutely no intention of doing so. There might be some... situations that make it seem like she's liked by everyone, but... no. I'm not sure if I just killed off your dreams or made you happier, but that's what I'm doing. I'll probably explain the intention of the story at the very end.
Thank you for all the reviews, because I know my writing is actually quite rambly and horrible, and there's no romantic action (as of now)! Which makes for quite a dull OHSHC fanfiction. But I guess I couldn't have gotten far without you guys, so thank you, and here's chapter 9!
Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC
Enjoy!
"Rachel Cho! Why didn't you reply me! I've texted you six times since last night, and you-" I pulled the phone away from my poor, abused ear.
"Chill, Mao. I'm good. Totally good. Yeah." I rolled my eyes, and checked out myself in the mirror. "I'm in the toilet now, if you're wondering."
"Too much information!" she shrieked at me again. "But, what are you doing?"
"I thought you didn't want that much information?" I giggled silently, and combed my fringe.
"Unnecessary information, that is. What's going on?"
"Man, I really, intensely dislike this bunch of guys called the Host Club. When you come back, don't forget to disassociate with them. They suck." I leaned against the wall and watched the door.
"Really? How bad? I thought they were supposed to be pretty hot."
"They are pretty and hot, but they're just horrible," I complained. "Especially the twins. And Tamaki. Even worse in real life."
"Wait, who?"
"Umh, you don't know them, right… Well, there are two black haired guys, two blonde guys and two red-haired guys and there's this brunette girl-pretending-to-be-a-guy thing yeah. It looks like a big bunch of pairings with one intruder. Anyway. The black haired peeps first. The one with the glasses is Kyoya Ootori-"
"You mean Ootori Kyoya, right?"
"Whatever. Anyway. The tallest one is Morinozuka Takashi but everyone calls him Mori-sempai. Moving on! To the blondes. The weirder one is the King of the Host Club, who is Suoh Tamaki. He also happens to be the son of the superintendant," I paused, trying to pronounce the word. "Anyway. The red-heads are the twins. The one who sounds more mellow is Kaoru, and the meaner one is Hikaru."
"Woah, woah, information overload," she warned. "No."
"What?"
"Is it break time there? And what did you mean by 'in real life'?" She pushed, and I felt that I was stepping on thin ice.
"We-ell, it is break time now. I still have ten minutes left." I shrugged.
"And?"
"Nothing…" I muttered.
The door to the toilet creaked open slowly, and I took that as a cue from whatever holy divine intervention that the phone call should be ended without much more hesitance.
"Someone's here, gotta go!" I whispered and hung up on Mao.
The person who entered gave me a look-over, and paused, as if trying to remember my name and my non-existent wealth and social status. Her eyes widened in realisation, and she smiled. I tried to remember her- from my class? I hadn't joined any clubs as for now, so the only circle of people I would interact with would be those from my class and the Host Club. I smiled politely back.
"Don't you remember me, Fuwa-san? I'm Kurakano Momoka," she said, a worried look etched on her face. "You haven't been talking to any of our peers much lately, so…"
Well, the reason I don't talk to them is because they don't provide an opportunity for me to enter their conversation! They keep shooting me odd, pitiful looks and dispersing away into little dandelions. I can't help it that people are repulsed by me? I laughed, and shrugged.
"Well, I'll try," I said vaguely, and started to walk by her. "They just keep ignoring me."
"Oh, Fuwa-san, if you don't mind me asking…" she trailed off. "Why are you wearing the male's uniform?"
I glanced down at the blazer and tie. "Well, it's gotten a lot colder, so I thought I'd want to wear something that's more suited to this weather… And besides, it's not like I don't alternate."
"A-ah. I think that might be why they've been ignoring you? You should stick to the female uniform. It'll be a lot more helpful, and besides, I think it's better to stay-"
"To conform?" I interjected, staring at her embarrassed face. "They must have pretty strict social laws around here, eh…"
She nodded, and then sighed, before straightening up and giving me a no-nonsense face. "I'm afraid so, Fuwa-san. It's… admirable that you try to stand up against those etiquettes, but I hope you'll try to fit in better. For the sake of your welfare and everyone else's."
She was the class vice-president, wasn't she… I nodded, and smiled, before exiting the toilet. Momoka Kurakano… She was Haruhi's resident customer, no? I looked down at my (flat) chest, and thought about it for a while.
"Anyway, that's just dumb," I concluded; Princess Rachel the peasant slug was happy where she was.
"As expected from you." I ignored the voice and continued walking towards the classroom.
I wasn't sure who it was, but if he was already insulting me, then I had no business whatsoever with him. I had a good guess who it was, but c'mon, it's not like he has an illness that forbids him from being nice or at least, stop him from spouting insults at me every time we meet. Is that so hard? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?
"Stop acting like a kid already," the voice said irritably. "And change into the female's uniform. It's unbecoming."
I smiled, and hastened my pace. So I was already getting to him? Wow, big deal. If he's acting like a jerk already, then I'm not going to waste my time trying to be polite. Civil, yes. But that's as far as it goes. This far, no further. And I'm not actually enjoying this- being mean- unlike him, and I'd bet that he secretly enjoys being a jerk and being unnecessarily horrible towards other people. Who is he to order me around?
He grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at him- oh god why can't he just leave me alone? I was perfectly fine, and then it just went downhill when he started breathing my air and enunciating words into the common atmosphere. Why was he bothering to intrude into my personal space bubble when he didn't even so much as glance at me for the first five days? I don't even know why I'm pissed, but he's definitely not helping. I didn't ask for this- I only asked for a dreamy world and a happy place with cake. That's all.
I didn't ask to have a plate of attitude shoved right into my face.
"Shut up, Hikaru," I snapped. "If you can't even try to be civil, then just shut up, okay."
He stared at me for a while, "I'm not Hikaru."
"As if." Liar.
"Why do you say that I'm Hikaru?"
That was one answer I didn't think of.
But if there was one thing I was good at, it was probably lying. "Lucky guess. Look, I'm sorry if we got off on the wrong foot, but I don't like the way you're treating me; I don't need your bitchy attitude, and I'm sure you don't want to breathe in the gas that I have been polluting with my existence. You're repulsed by the very idea of me, so why don't you just go and play with other people who will better appreciate you?"
"Fine, be that way." And then he strode away.
Like a stuffed, conceited peacock that needs to be shaved.
What is his problem? I apologized, just in case he's offended by me ignoring him or anything, and then he struts off like I'm some peasant and I don't deserve an actual answer? Wow, that's really gracious of him. And he's from the Host Club! How charming! God, he's only ever been concerned about Haruhi, so why the heck does he find the need to poke into my miserable life? It's not like I'm aching for a bit of human interaction, is it?
What a stuck-up pony.
I have never been more confused in my life about Math. One moment we were on a smooth-sailing Calculus ship, and the next, a storm of Biology and Organic Chemistry took over, with pirates of Japanese History and Modern Literature attacking the lesson. Surprisingly, everyone- but me- followed. I have no idea how they switched from Math and numbers to weird animal heart drawings in three sentences. I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with this world. Maybe a technical problem or a glitch.
Maybe the magnetic field of this universe is screwed up because of my appearance into this world. Not that it's unlikely, but I'm not so sure if I'm flattered that I wield so much power over the universes. Or perhaps I made a crack in the time-and-space continuum? Double unlikely.
I slowly packed up my things, before slumping onto the table. I didn't want to move. Nor did I want to socialise. And I needed a phone that could work in this world.
"Fuwa-san," Haruhi spoke. "Would you like to come with us to the Host Club?"
No.
But then again, there's Kyoya there. Which means transportation back to the storage of apple juice.
… Apple juice sounds tempting.
I looked up at her, and smiled. "That sounds really cool. Do you mind waiting for me for a bit?"
Well, at least someone around here's nice. I shoved everything on my desk into my bag, forced it shut, and followed Haruhi. To tempt her to the dark side where we bathe in apple juice. And cookies. Surprisingly, Haruhi seemed like a very transparent character. I swear, I can find nothing that shows her evil side (if she even has one).
"…And so, I was just going to approach them, when they just changed the subject from me to new cashmere socks," I complained.
"It was probably just a coincidence," she said reassuringly.
"And just this morning, Kurakano-san came and warned me to stay normal. How do you even stand them," I said, scratching my head. "Wait, you guys haven't done Bali yet, right? The tropical stuff?"
She looked over at me- brown doe eyes blinking innocently. "No…?"
I nodded, and decided that I should change the tracks of this conversation train. "So, did you understand half the things that were said in class? I didn't really get them down…"
She smiled and said, "Yeah. Would you like my notes?"
"That's cool. Can I copy them down during the Host Club hours? I'll return them to you by the end of the session so that you'll be able to study at home!" I said, almost banging into a pillar. "Hey- Fujioka-san, what day is it?"
"It's only Tuesday," she said, not noticing my near-death experience as she dug around in her bag for her notebook. "And… just 'Haruhi''s fine."
"Yeah." I paused, and then- for good measure, added, "Haruhi."
After that, she stayed silent- and I was grateful for that silence. Walking down the corridor with her suddenly made me feel targeted. She was a blunt person, but somehow I think we both knew that I wasn't going to let our acquaintanceship get anywhere far. I just hoped that she didn't think it too bad, or misinterpret, but then again, I wasn't going to interfere and make my thoughts known. I had no intention of being her friend- or anyone else's friend, for that fact.
Having something left behind in this world, no matter how insignificant, just made it seem like I was meant to stay and not go home. It was stupid of me to think so, but I couldn't help feeling so guilty towards myself. As though some part of me would fade away into Mao Fuwa and forget all about Rachel Cho. I didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing, but I was afraid of it.
When we entered the third music room, I realised that episode two had just began; the room was in full bloom tropical mode. And they had turned up the heater, causing it to feel a little hot. I left Haruhi for Mori's table, and planted myself firmly there, just zoning out. Half an hour later, when I realised that it was too hot for my liking, I removed my blazer and took out my tie, before haphazardly folding up my sleeves. I felt a lot cooler after doing that (in ways more than one). A cup was placed in front of me, and I held it up, inspecting it.
"Apple juice…?" I asked aloud, looking to Mori.
"Yeah."
I have never seen a shirtless and handsome guy in real life, so I was very pleasantly surprised (to put it lightly) to see Mori topless in his tropical-get-up. I forced myself to look away- and tried to wipe that goofy little grin off my face. Sipping my apple juice, I let my eyes wander about the place. It was very tropical, like the parks you'd find in Singapore- except that we didn't have so many flowers blooming everywhere. I kinda missed the ragingly hot weather in Singapore (while we had unexpected rainfall here and there, it felt nice and snug in the sun). I wondered how Nicole was doing…
"Mori-sempai, Honey-sempai said that we're friends, right…?" I asked.
All I got was a stare from him. "You don't want to be friends."
I wasn't sure if he was asking that, or stating that, so I shrugged. "No."
"Ah."
"Say, if you were… stuck- let's say you were lost in another country, and you have no means to get back- this is all hypothetical, of course- but you want to get back to your own country. And you think that there might be a way- but it's not immediate… would you think it wise… to live that life? Considering that you've swapped places with someone! … Yeah, that sounds dumb," I said softly. "What would you do?"
He stared at me again, and I was sure he had no idea what I was getting at. I bit my lip and took another gulp of the apple juice. Of course he wouldn't be able to answer me- I had no idea what rubbish I just blurted out- but I really wanted instructions and someone to at least give me an inkling of what I should do. I placed the cup down on the table, and realised that I had to copy Haruhi's notes. Looking up at Mori, I realised that he had given up on whatever that I said- or tried to ask, and instead focused on copying the notes as neatly as possible. There was two day's worth of notes in here! How did she manage to get so much information?
"I would live that life."
I glanced up at him. "Really?"
"Ah."
I realised that I had written something wrongly, and went to correct it. "But- getting back home partially depends on whether you want to do it, and if you lived another person's life for her, it wouldn't be fair, and if you did manage to get home, you'd never see those friends again. The thing is, you'd start to forget all about yourself, and I don't want that."
"Ah."
"I mean," I hastened to correct myself. "If I were in that situation."
"Is it so bad to forget?"
I considered my answer for a bit. "It is."
"Ah." He didn't sound convinced.
"I have a family and friends from my own world- and if I do forget about them- even if the person who's taking my place might care for them like I would, it just isn't- I mean, I'd be lying to them, and I'd be lying to myself, and I don't want that. I mean, names are just names, right? But I can't stand-" and then I shut up.
"You are afraid," he said.
I looked up- a fatally wrong move, because I swear my heart missed a beat. He looked as though he knew what was going on, and he knew that something was wrong with me. I didn't like that look. And so I laughed, trying to shake off the awkward, and continued copying down the notes in a blur. He stayed silent, and I didn't know whether I liked it better that way or not- because his silence sounded sharp and accusing. And the worst thing was that I felt guilty for not telling him everything.
I looked at Haruhi's notebook, and found that something was off; She had labelled three different dates for the notes.
By the time the Hosting hours were over, I returned Haruhi's notes to her. The Host Club seemed to have a meeting after the hours, so I stayed back and watched as they discussed how they wanted Haruhi to look more like a girl.
"Frankly, the only people who know that you're a girl are the members here!" Tamaki yelled.
The twins explained why, and Tamaki pulled out a chest. I tuned out of the conversation. I always thought that Tamaki was being selfish in the scene. And besides, it was pretty irritating of him to order people around to stick to his idea of what the world was- even if he did call Kyoya 'mommy'.
"If you can't master the waltz in one week…" Wow, that was fast. "…And show it off at the party, you will have to expose yourself as a girl and be demoted back to trivial chores!" How selfish.
But seriously, Haruhi never did mention to the school that she was a male; in fact, she just cut her hair and wore the male uniform, causing people to assume that she was a male. Look at her feminine features- her big watery eyes are a huge giveaway already! I sighed, and continued texting Mao pictures of cats.
"So, who shall be Haruhi's dance partner, my lord?" Hikaru asked.
"It can't be someone taller than her…" Kaoru added. "Like you."
At that, Tamaki slumped, and went into his mushroom-growing corner. I gawped- wow, to think that I can see someone in real life actually growing out mushrooms… That is an amazing talent. He turned his head to look at me pitifully. I shrugged.
"M-mommy, even Mao is ignoring me…" he wailed.
I paused. Wait, if they knew who Mommy was yesterday night, then why did they have that revelation just then…? I probably remembered the episode wrongly.
Everyone was staring at me, even Haruhi.
"Say, she could be Haruhi's dance partner," the twins said, purposefully not using my name.
"No."
"No?" Hikaru asked.
"No," I repeated. "I'm not interested. Besides, I'm not going to the dance."
Tamaki rose from his corner and pointed a particularly shiny finger (does he have a lifetime supply of sparkles or something?) at me. With a smug look, he ordered, "Since you are the Host Club's daughter, you have to go! And I will not tolerate you wearing clothes like those!"
"Excuse you," I said lazily. "You're wearing clothes like these, too!"
But he ignored me. "How un-ladylike! You will have to practise the female part of the waltz-"
"No."
"As your king, I order-"
"I'm not in the Host Club, so, no." I rolled my eyes.
"But-" Tamaki tried again.
"What part of 'no' do you not understand?" I put on the blazer and stuffed the tie into my already-full bag.
"Mommy, do something! Our child is being disrespectful!" Kyoya pushed his glasses up at the mention of his title, and made them glint, again.
I was sure that that guy had no dirt on me, and so I was safe from a night of socialising and weird ball gowns. Even if there might be cute girls and cute food. And six handsome men in suits and cashmere vests. Oh god.
"Your supply of apple juice is running dangerously low," he said, looking through his book. "The delivery of new crates was supposed to arrive tomorrow, but I think-"
"Okay, fine. I'll go," I bristled.
The Shadow King smiled. Of course he was the one to oversee the apartment, the food, oh, and my life. I grumbled. Live my life? When he was the one running it? Well, that's dangerously easy. I paused. I hadn't packed anything that was worth wearing to the ball.
"I don't have a dress," I said. "Or anything half-way formal."
Sometimes I forget how it's like to be a heiress to a bundle of money. I shrugged awkwardly at their incredulous stares, and sighed. Maybe I really wasn't going anywhere…
"Hikaru, Kaoru! Get something for this poor kitten!" Tamaki ordered, breaking the silence.
"Wouldn't it be easier if I didn't have to go?" I whined.
The twins looked at me dubiously, and shrugged simultaneously.
"I'm not so sure, my lord," Kaoru began to say.
"She doesn't seem like much to dress up," Hikaru said, and then added, "Look at her lack of a chest!"
I rolled my eyes. Biased, snarky, stupid rich bastards. Look, was it so hard to go one day without either ignoring me or insulting me? This wasn't fair- and I knew I couldn't do anything to them because of the damned time-and-space continuum whatchamali. So instead, I stood there stonily and pretended not to care. Because, you know what, I shouldn't be letting them get to me. I don't need to patronize them. They're just stupid little things that happened to get in the way of my life.
Tamaki then proceeded to give a long-winded speech about how important it was to treat a lady with respect, and that appearance was not all that mattered. I yawned into my hand, and watched as the twins toyed around with Haruhi, playing with her hair and teasing her. I swallowed, and looked down at my rumpled shirt. This wasn't what I asked for when I told the stranger that I would rather be in the world of Ouran Academy. But then again, I'm not much of a lady to begin with. I should have just kept my mouth shut.
Reviews will be greatly appreciated!