Gah, I'm sorry I've been away for so long... I had writers block and exams and my laptop was lost and my notebook fell under the bed and I'm gonna stop rambling now and get on with the story. I have one more chapter written, but probably won't post much after that for a while, because I'm obssessing over The Chronicles of Narnia lately... Sorry in advance for that...
A shout out as always to my BETA reader Lil_Miss_Caprice who puts up with me sending her large amounts of documents at outrageous hours and expecting them back within an unrsonable timeframe...
Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or the hand clapping game, Sevens, thaat is played at the beginning of this chapter.
Chapter Nine
They waited with a moderate amount of patience for William to return. It wasn't boring really, but Kaoru really wanted to know what was in store for them this time.
It was about an hour and a half before his return, and during this time, Julie taught Kaoru a game which she called "sevens". It was a clapping game that involved making rhythms that added up to seven beats.
She kept muttering about his deprived childhood as she taught him to play, and Kaoru thought he should probably have been offended by this, but he really couldn't have been, even if he had wanted to, because she was just so… likable.
William was greeted with a rather interesting sight when he finally returned to their room; the two of them were seated on the bed, with random objects on their laps (the first aid kit, and their tray from dinner) ready to begin tapping.
Blatantly ignoring William's presence in the doorway, Julie said, "Let's try this one last time, shall we?"
Kaoru blinked. "Umm… William is back though."
"Just ignore him for now and focus on this. We'll acknowledge him once we finish."
Kaoru nodded, and tried his very best to ignore the gaze of those slivery-grey eyes and focus solely on the game.
He closed his eyes, which seemed to help a bit.
"Ready." he said.
Kaoru heard a muffled giggle, which he assumed was Julie, then her voice said, "One… Two… Three…"
"GO!"
He let himself get lost in the rhythm.
BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM
BAM, CLAP, BAM, CLAP, BAM, CLAP, BAM
BAM, CLAP, SNAP, BAM, CLAP, SNAP, BAM
BAM, CRISS-CROSS, BAM, CLAP, SNAP, CLAP, BAM
TAP, HIT, TAP, HIT, TAP, HIT, TAP
TAP, FIST, TAP, FIST, TAP, FIST, TAP
BAM, FLIP, BAM, FLIP, BAM, DOUBLE FLIP, BAM
Kaoru stopped, as this was all that she had been able to teach him in the amount of time that they had had. Julie kept going for minute, rhythms that Kaoru had yet to learn or master coming from her hands.
She finished by hitting her elbow then her forearm off the tray.
"Hello, William," she said, without turning her head.
"Hello," he replied, sounding very, very happy about something. He walked into the room, and sat down on the far corner of the bed. Kaoru shifted slightly closer to Julie, still in quite a lot of pain.
"I'm sure you two are wondering what it is that I would like for you to do."
"I wonder where on earth he got that notion…" Julie muttered to Kaoru, who once again stifle his laughter, this time in a cough.
William continued to speak, oblivious to the teenagers' amusement. Or perhaps he was just ignoring them…
"So, as you have probably already guessed, I'm here to tell you what you are to do for me."
"What do you mean by that?" Julie asked, playing dumb.
"Well, I have some… scenarios… and stories in my head that I would like to see played out by real people."
William's eyes seemed to shine in a rather disturbing manner, and Kaoru felt goosebumps erupting all over his arms. That piercing gaze unnerved him more than almost anything that he had seen before in his entire life.
"What sort of scenarios?" Julie continued to fake ignorance.
William looked slightly uncomfortable, perhaps because he had to say and explain what he thought would have been inferred automatically aloud.
He faltered for a moment before managing to choke out, "Umm… Well… That is to say… Sexual ones."
Julie blinked.
"Oh. Okay." She seemed totally unfazed by this, and William relaxed slightly.
"So…" Julie broke the silence, "You gonna tell us what we're supposed to do?"
William's face went from slightly awkward to excited in the span of two seconds.
"You two are going to be what I like to call the "Lustful Insecurities" pair. You, Miss Julie are very insecure in yourself, and so you are throwing yourself at Mr. Kaoru here. You are willing to do anything he wants you to. He cares for you very much, and doesn't want to take advantage of you, but his deep-set desires and animalistic instincts get the better of him on occasion."
It was Kaoru's turn to blink. That was… slightly unexpected.
Julie's Japanese inquiry abruptly snapped Kaoru out of his shocked stupor.
"Think you can handle it?"
"Yeah, Probably… I mean, I pretend to be in love with my twin brother for Host Club, so this shouldn't be too bad… At least you're a girl…"
Kaoru was trying to be optimistic. And failing. Epically. They both knew it, too.
"Well, I suppose we'll just have to make the best of it." Julie replied after a minute of silence.
Switching languages so quickly that it made Kaoru's head spin, she continued, now addressing William, "Kaoru would like to know if this is to be improvised or scripted."
"Well I do have a script, but you can put your own take on the lines if you want to. Just so long as the content remains basically the same I'll be happy."
Julie gave a sharp nod, and turned her attention back onto Kaoru once again.
"Are you sure you'll be okay to do this?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine." he replied, also nodding his head. In truth, a ball of nervousness and unease had settled in his stomach, but he ignored it as best he could.
"Wonderful!" William exclaimed, clapping his hands. "I'll leave you for now, but I should be back sometime tomorrow with your first script. You'll then have three days or so to study it before your performance."
Julie nodded her head once more, and Kaoru realised that she was quite the natural-born leader. Authority suited her, and he shuddered to think of what sort of situation he would have been in right now, if it were not for her.
William headed out the door, smiling serenely for some unknown reason. He looked back at them one last time before the door snicked shut behind him, outrageously loud in the silence he had left in his wake.
Julie had her face in her hands. As Kaoru watched, she began to hum a little tune to herself, so quietly that he couldn't make out the words, if there even were any. She then sighed softly, looking as if all the sorrows of the world rested upon her shoulders, then straightening, face an emotionless mask.
"I have neglected my duties for too long," she began, "and it is high time that I resume them again."
Walking over to the bed, she pushed out the piece of the ceiling, and grabbed the edges of the hole.
"Where are you going?" Kaoru asked, alarmed.
"To get some answers."
"How?"
She smiled, the expression both wicked and mysterious all at once, and quirked an eyebrow.
"You'll see..."
Then she vaulted up through the hole and disappeared.
Oh, and if anyone takes offence that I don't reply to reviews, I'm sorry. I didn't really have much time while I was still in school, but maybe now that I'm on summer break maybe I'll have time to do replies... Who knows? You'll only find out if you review! ^_^ (Not begging or anything...)