Hey look at me, being all active with my stories lately! :D I am so proud of my self!
Oh my gosh, this chapter was up to 11 pages on Word! I decided to end it where I did before it got too long, but the next chapter is in the process of being written now.
Anyway, since I didn't get a chance on my last couple stories to address reviews, I'm gonna go ahead and do it on this chapter, just down at the bottom so you readers can get to the story!
Ouran 10
I knew it was gonna be a long day when Mom and Dad called me in to the office for a "business talk". I took my breakfast with me (chocolate chip bagel with strawberry schmear; don't judge me) and shut the door as I sat on the other side of Dad's desk. He and Mom didn't look like they had bad news – which was a relief—but they obviously had something they wanted to discuss with me.
"So what's up?" I asked as I buttoned my uniform blazer and straightened my tie.
"Well, sweetie, with you turning sixteen pretty soon and heading your family's company, there are gonna be some crazies wanting to get up in your business." Dad said.
"Specifically in the merging businesses area; those CEO's are kinda creepy about that." Mom added. I had to process that for a minute before my eyes got wide and my bagel almost dropped out of my mouth.
"Are you talking about an arranged marriage right now?!"
"Nope; what we're saying is that you should be on your guard. And we're also saying that we're gonna support you whether you decide to get married or not. And at this point in your life marriage isn't something I think you wanna think about; but we'll stand behind you either way." Dad said, taking Mom's hand. I smiled at the both of them, but then something occurred to me.
"There's something else you wanna tell me isn't there." I folded my arms and shoved the rest of the bagel in my mouth.
"Yeah, and this is the part of the conversation I was trying to avoid." Dad mumbled, putting his head in his hands. Mom rubbed his back soothingly.
"It's not your fault; he talked too fast for you to get a word in edgewise. Kashi, honey, your dad is having one of his clients over for dinner in a couple weeks and that client is bringing his son with him. He's very interested in getting to know . . . the feminine you."
" . . . Please tell me you're joking." I said, voice shaking. I felt my fingers go numb at the prospect.
"I wish I could say that I was, but I'm not." Dad said from behind his hands. I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling sick.
"I'm gonna have to get Natsuko involved aren't I?"
"Unfortunately." Dad and Mom said in unison. I went limp in the chair with a groan; if I had to get my older, more fashion forward sister involved, it was a dark day for all of us.
My mood showed through the rest of the day, to the point where I had Kaoru and Hikaru on either shoulder asking me why I was sulking all of a sudden.
I didn't answer right away, choosing to doodle angrily instead of satisfying their curiosity.
"I don't wanna talk about it." I said, and Hikaru made a whining noise before putting his cheek right up against mine.
"Oh come on; you can talk to us."
"You are extremely close to getting a pencil in your eye, Hitachiin."
"Guys, leave him alone." Haruhi said, shoving Hikaru away from me. I snapped my notebook shut and stood up, which caused the twins to fall over on one another due to gravity.
"If you guys are gonna continue to pester me about it: I got some news that didn't put me in the best mood. Happy?"
"Not really." They answered. I scoffed at the both of them; I would never know why those two insisted on getting all up in my business. But then again they were pestering Haruhi at the same time so all of the attention wasn't on me.
Small victory for me; yay!
Anyway, while Haruhi and I lounged at the small table in the back corner of the club room, the twins were pestering my brunette friend about swimsuits of all things. I knew they'd given the poor girl a hard time at the water park about her swimming attire, but why did they feel the need to bring in an army of mannequins wearing bathing suits?
"Not that one!" I heard Hunny-senpai pipe up from across the room. He'd take possession of a mannequin wearing a much more sensible one piece suit instead of the frilly pink two piece the twins suggested.
"Why that one?" I decided to bite and ask the two redheads why it was imperative Haruhi wear that swimsuit.
"Just look," they said, forcing the poor girl to stand out of her chair. "This uniform barely hides the fact that Haruhi is as flat as a cutting board."
"A one piece like that would only draw attention to her lacking feminine physique." Kaoru said.
"That's why: we've carefully selected this two piece suit, see?" The twins waved their hands in front of the suit, and I could almost see their mental image of Haruhi prancing down the beach in that thing; ew. "The ruffles help hide the fact that she's so flat-chested!"
There was a crack like someone hitting a home run in baseball, and suddenly Tamaki was there, yelling at the twins.
"You punks had better quit sexually harassing my little girl! I've had enough of you!"
"Take it easy senpai." I patted him on the shoulder. "Swing that bat too much and you're gonna end up decapitating someone."
"So . . . we're not going to the beach?" The twins cowered behind a side table, out of hitting range. Tamaki slung the bat onto his shoulder.
"Who said that we're not going?"
"You wanna go after all?" I felt my face light up. Tamaki looked at me with a twinkle in his violet eyes.
"Why not? Let's go to the beach!"
"You know, you don't have to keep driving me home; I can walk." Haruhi said, unclipping her helmet. I'd given her a ride after school, and I chuckled as I removed my own helmet and swung my fringe out of my eyes.
"Hey, I'm doing a friend a favor. You may as well get used to it."
"Well, since you're here, do you wanna come inside for a bit?" Haruhi asked, gesturing to the apartment building behind her. I glanced at my watch; I had a couple hours before I needed to get home.
"If you're sure; I don't wanna impose. And I didn't think you wanted any of the Host Club seeing where you live . . . "
"The rest of them, yes; with you it's not a big deal."
I parked my bike on the rack in front of the complex and followed Haruhi up the stairs and to the door, where the knob turned.
"Oh, Dad's home early."
"Just you and your dad?" I asked, hating myself immediately for bringing it up.
"Yeah; my mom passed away when I was little, so it's just been the two of us. But we've managed to make it through okay." She gave me a smile and I immediately understood why she was so popular with the girls that hung around the Host Club.
"Nice pad." I poked my head around the doorframe.
The apartment wasn't anything fancy, room enough for two people to move about freely, and that was all anyone really needed. The kitchen was to our immediate right, with the living room in front of us and the bedrooms down the hallway.
I took my shoes off and set them and my bag next to the door while Haruhi called for her dad that she was home. A door slid open and a man stepped out to greet us.
I assumed he was a man; Haruhi had said it was her and her dad, but I could never be entirely sure with some of the friends I'd made over the years.
Haruhi's dad wore a white shirt with black Kanji that read "father" on the front, black sweatpants, and a light blue bandanna over his long red hair.
"Welcome home Haruhi! Oh, who's this enchanting gentleman you've brought home with you?" His greeting was pleasant enough, but I could hear the alarm bells going off in his head. I stepped back and smiled to show that I was NOT here to make a move on his daughter.
"This is Kashi; he's the new kid in my class I told you about." Haruhi said, giving her father a look that said "lay off Dad; you're scaring him". I bowed respectfully.
"Pleasure to meet you sir."
"Oh! You're the one who's been giving Haruhi all those rides from school!" Haruhi's dad lightened up after that, and it turned out that he was a pretty cool guy. He gave me the grand tour while Haruhi (on her own insistence) whipped something up in the kitchen. I paused by the small shrine in the corner of one of the rooms. Inside was a photo of a beautiful woman with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, smiling. The incense sticks weren't smoking, but the scent still lingered in the room.
"That's Kotoko: Haruhi's mother." Ranka said from my left (he'd asked me to call him that and I was willing to roll with anything).
"Haruhi takes after her." I said, and I meant it. I could tell just from looking at the picture that Haruhi would be just as gorgeous in a few years; not to say that she wasn't already a good looking kid.
"Indeed; Haruhi actually has a goal to go study law just like her mother."
"She's a smart kid; I know she can do it. And that's a great goal to have. I'm one of those kids who aren't entirely sure what they're gonna do, not because I haven't gotten a chance to explore my options, but because . . . my option has been chosen for me, I guess." I admitted. I'd never liked talking about my future, and I wasn't gonna dump my anxieties on the Fujioka family right now. Still, I felt comfortable enough to elaborate on my previous statement over dinner. I explained that while art was my passion, I was expected to take over the business my parents had left behind, which meant I also had to know how to run a business and every other aspect that came with that.
"Is that why you were in such a bad mood earlier today?"
"Partially; another bit that comes with becoming a business leader is the possibility of merging companies, and there are the men that own those companies who may try to pair me up with whoever is 'destined' to take over their business." I chomped down on my rice and held it in my mouth while I stewed angrily for a few seconds.
"In an arranged marriage scenario? Why would you put your own kid through that?" Haruhi asked.
"I'll get back to you on that." I set down my empty bowl and got my stuff together. "I should be getting home before my parents start freaking out."
"Oh, must you go so soon?" Ranka gave me the puppy eyes.
"Afraid so. But I'll be by again soon, I hope. I'll see you at school Haruhi, and thanks for everything." I waved my goodbyes and dashed for my bike, thanking the powers that be that it was still there.
Once the door swung shut, Haruhi smiled. Kashi could be kinda standoffish when you first met him, but he grew on you. Though, she wondered whether or not it would be a good time to start thinking of Kashi as a girl, and whether to let her know that Haruhi was able to see through the charade.
"Sweet kid; I'm glad the two of you get along so well." Dad said. Haruhi thought back to the beginning of dinner, when Kashi had asked what Ranka did for a living; perfect segue into why he was home so early.
"Manager decided to close early today for some reason; I work at a transvestite bar."
Kashi had nearly inhaled his (her?) water and spent five minutes trying not to drown. Once she got her voice back, she had taken an active interest in the conversation. Haruhi could tell by watching that Kashi had some good people skills: knowing what kind of questions to ask and when, even though she stumbled over what she was trying to say.
"Yeah, but Kashi's still . . . pretty awesome."
I wasn't sure what I was expecting when the Hosts said "beach". It'd been a tossup between a private villa in the Caribbean, or somewhere in Fiji, which would've been over the top to me but comfortable nonetheless.
Where we ended up was surprising: Kyoya's family's private beach in Okinawa. Kyoya reasoned that it was because Haruhi was the only "commoner" and didn't have a passport, but I could see through that; it was a much cheaper and much shorter trip down to Okinawa.
See? I'm learning.
Still, the beach was beautiful, and I never got sick of looking at the ocean and marveling at the power hidden underneath the waves.
Until a volleyball smacked me in the head.
"Ow! Hey!" I whirled on the twins and their pickup game.
"Sorry!"
"Watch where you're bumping it next time, okay?" I tossed the ball back to Hikaru and he gave me a sheepish grin.
"Are you okay, Kashi?" One of my girls asked. I was sitting under one of the beach umbrellas with some of my recurring guests, including Mikazuki and Chiyoko.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." I waved my hand in a "don't worry about it" gesture. "My head's still attached, after all."
I think the only downside to this whole weekend outing was the fact that Kyoya had sneakily roped all of us into Hosting by inviting about a dozen girls along for the ride. Not that I minded much; I needed the extra request time. Still, I had thought that a beach excursion had meant a couple days of fun in the sun without the company of the girls.
Haruhi had thought along the same lines and quietly made her opinion known as we sat under some umbrellas away from the water, watching Honey senpai, Mori senpai, and some of their girls do some stretches.
I decided it would be a good idea to keep a safe distance from that area.
Chiyoko gazed out at the waves.
"The water looks so nice today; so calm." Her smile got a little wistful.
"Yeah; it's been so long since I've been to the beach. I've kinda missed it." I lay back on the blanket under the wide umbrella and caught sight of Tamaki rolling around in his chaise like he was having a seizure.
"Is he okay?" Mikazuki asked.
"I ask myself that question every day."
Mika and I had bonded over our mutual agreement that Tamaki—while he did have his moments—was a bit obnoxious and just plain weird.
"Follow me; I found this really cool little lagoon that's perfect for cliff diving." I offered Chiyoko my hand and helped her off the blanket while Mika hopped up and charged down the beach when I pointed her in the right direction.
I led Chiyoko down the beach to catch up with Mika, who'd roped a couple more girls into coming with us. The blonde didn't say anything, but I could see the blush making its way up her neck; honestly that caused me a bit of concern.
"Are you feeling okay?" I asked. Chiyoko actually squeaked as I turned my attention towards her.
"Yes I'm fine; it's just –" she trailed off, her blush deepening. I squeezed her hand as a sign of reassurance.
"You can tell me."
"Well . . . you mentioned cliff diving and I wasn't sure how to tell you . . . but I'm . . . I'm scared of . . ." Chiyokos' voice got quieter as she kept going, until she wasn't looking me in the eyes anymore and I was looking at the top of her head; she was starting to get a sunburn in her part.
"Chiyoko . . . are you afraid of heights?" I asked. Chiyoko gave a small nod in response. "If that was the problem, you just had to tell me. I wouldn't have laughed at you; and if you don't wanna jump off the cliff I won't make you, and I'll stand guard to make sure no one else does." I tilted her chin up to look me in the eyes.
"You promise?"
"On my life, dear princess." I bowed slightly, the way I'd seen Tamaki do it, before brushing my lips over Chiyokos' knuckles.
"Look at him; he's really laying it on thick, isn't he?" Hikaru scoffed, watching the scene before him. Kashi was chatting it up with that blonde girl who'd become one of his regulars, and even had the audacity to kiss her hand; the poor girl was already the same shade as a strawberry, why was he making it worse?
Kaoru said nothing, choosing to watch the dark haired Host walk off with his customer on his arm. Kashi had chosen to keep his shirt on, despite the protests of the other Hosts that showing skin was popular with the ladies; he was dressed in dark blue swim shorts decorated with stars and a grey T-shirt that bore the kanji for his name.
The younger Hitachiin twin was still trying to figure out how the boss and his brother hadn't picked up on the fact that Kashi was actually a girl; everyone else seemed to have figured it out by this point. Kyoya-senpai was obvious, since he knew everything about everybody; Mori-senpai had hefted Kashi over his shoulder that first day, and judging by the panicked expression on Kashis' face, Mori had figured it out then.
Kaoru fought back the blush as he thought about how he'd found out.
It wasn't like he'd been able to knock to let Kashi know he was there with the towels and extra clothes; that and he'd wanted to scare the crap out of the new kid to see if it would be as funny as he'd imagined. What Kaoru hadn't planned on was seeing Kashi about to remove his undershirt, bearing his well toned torso . . . and also a very small bust.
Kaoru had been shoved out of the room before he could say anything to Kashi, and he'd been sitting on his hands ever since. As much as he wanted to tell his twin, Kaoru wasn't sure that Kashi would appreciate him spreading word around that the "bad boy" type of the Host club was actually a "bad girl" type.
Haruhi started yelling something about the shellfish she and Hunny-senpai had caught down at the shoreline, a smile splitting her face. As cute as that was, Kaoru turned his attention to Kashis' retreating back, a strange feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.
"GERONIMO!" I screamed, not as loud as Chiyoko did, but mine was a scream of elation rather than one of terror. The two of us plunged into the water, and came back up wiping salt water out of our faces. I pushed my hair back and started treading water while Chiyoko clung to my arm. Mika and the other girls had jumped off the cliff first and had gone back for repeats; I'd convinced Chiyoko to jump at least once, just to say she did, and she consented but only if I went with her.
Which is how I ended up in my current position.
"So? How was that?" I asked as the two of us went back to the shore. The sun was starting to set over the horizon, turning the sea a wonderful burnt orange.
"Still terrifying, to be honest. But it wasn't so bad . . . with you there." Chiyoko admitted shyly. I squeezed her fingers that were poking out of her beach towel.
"Just doing what I can to help."
She went on her merry way after that, while I went to the top of one of rocks and took mental pictures of the sunset. Getting caught up in the moment, I spread my arms and let the sea breeze cool me down; I hadn't felt this good in a while.
"Oh, Kashi; I didn't realize you were up here." A girl's voice made me turn around to see three of Haruhi's regulars paused in their ascent. They'd been blushing and talking with Haruhi the last time I'd seen them; Little Miss "Natural" Type obviously knew what to say just at the right moment.
"You're welcome to join me." I smiled and sat down, letting my legs dangle over the edge of the rocks while the girls gathered behind me, admiring the sunset and the breeze like I had just moments before.
In the meantime, I spotted a little brunette down below, happily picking through a tide pool with one of those kiddy beach buckets in hand. I gave my best taxi whistle, and Haruhi looked up at us.
"Look up here, Haruhi!" said the girl in the purple two piece.
"What's up? The breeze up here feels great!" One of the other girls, wearing an orange suit that wasn't as low cut as her friends, waved down to my friend.
"It's dangerous! Be careful, especially you Kashi!" Haruhi warned. I assured her I would be careful; I was also there to catch the girls if they started to fall, or at least break theirs if I didn't manage to pull them back onto the ledge.
"This feels so good." Purple Girl said, the breeze ruffling her long brown hair. I took a deep breath of salty air and felt myself relax just a little.
"Hey! There are chicks up there, man!" A slightly slurred male voice shouted. I tensed immediately, readying myself to spring into action.
"Well, aren't we lucky? You ladies wanna hang with a couple of locals?" I turned enough to see our unwelcome suitors, who hadn't noticed me yet. Purple girl stepped forward and put out her arms, protecting her friends. I slowly got to my feet and crouched behind the dark haired girl for a minute.
Drunk guy number one was wearing a regular polo shirt and cargo shorts, brown hair tied back in small ponytail, and was gripping the wrist of Purple Girl and leering at her.
"Hey buddy." I dug my nails into Drunk #1's wrist and forced him to let go. "Take your friend and go sober up." I pushed him away, not very hard, but it's kinda difficult to keep your balance when you're hammered off your a**, apparently. Drunk #1 stumbled backward and then glared at me once he got his feet under him. I stepped in front of the girls and got into a fighting stance, signaling Purple Girl with my eyes that she needed to run and get help NOW.
"Kashi . . .?" The dark-haired girl gripped the back of my shirt while Purple Girl took off running.
"Don't worry about me; I can handle this." I gave her a confident smile, and that was all it took for Drunk Guy #2 to throw the first punch when he thought I was distracted.
Okay, so maybe the snakes were a bad idea. Apparently Okinawa didn't have rat snakes like Tamaki thought they were, and he was now carrying around a bucket full of poisonous habu snakes, chasing after the twins.
"Help, Tamaki!" One of the girls that had been with Haruhi earlier came running up to the hosts, tears starting to fall down her cheeks.
"It's – it's Kashi!"
Tamaki froze as the girl relayed her story, but the moment that she mentioned where the newest Host was fighting, Kaoru was gone.
I managed to get Drunk #2 in a stranglehold with one arm and Drunk #1 had his arms twisted behind his back with my other hand, giving me time to yell at the other girls to run. I was enjoying my victory when Drunk #1 ripped himself free and twisted my arms behind my back, and then proceeded to frog march me to the edge of the cliff.
"Not so tough now, are you?"
"Don't hurt him!" I heard the girls scream behind me.
"Look, do what you want with me, but let those girls go! That's all I'm asking!" I struggled to keep from sliding off the edge. My captor just scoffed at me.
"Still trying to be the hero? That's cute."
And with that, he lifted me up and threw me into the ocean.
I hit the water a little too close to the rocks to be comfortable, feeling the stone scrape my arm and leg as I fell. I held my breath on instinct, knowing that I had to get to shore somehow before I started a feeding frenzy with a school of sharks.
A hand latched onto me and I panicked, only to find that instead of pulling me down, it was pulling me forwards, and happened to be attached to a certain redhead mischief maker.
Kaoru and I broke the surface of the water, gasping.
"Are you all right?" He asked. I nodded, keeping my arm out of the water to inspect the damage. Just a scrape; I wasn't bleeding horribly, but the fall had been enough that I'd be tender until I healed.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?"
"I'll feel better once we get to shore; come on." We paddled until our feet touched the sand, and Kaoru proceeded to sweep me and carry me piggy back style the rest of the way.
"I can walk, you know; it's okay." I protested. Kaoru's response to that was simply to pull me closer. He was well muscled for a rich boy; of course I was making comparisons to other rich boys I'd met who were a little flabby in the torso from not enough exercise and too much rich food.
"Kassa-chan!" I heard Hunny-senpai squeak my name as Kaoru and I came up to the rest of the club. The little host ogled the scrape on my leg and poked at it ("That looks like it hurts"), forcing me to hiss in pain.
"Where'd they go?" I asked.
"We took their ID cards and asked them to leave." Kyoya said, handing me my beach towel.
"Are the other girls okay?" I wondered, toweling off my face.
"Of course, you'd ask that. They're okay; but what was all that bravado about?" Haruhi demanded. She had a shirt around her shoulders and was getting the third degree from Tamaki at the moment.
"Um, maybe it was me being a good person and keeping a couple of drunk creeps away from innocent people?" I answered; Kaoru had finally set me down, but then he turned me around and got in my face, hazel eyes blazing with anger and . . .
Was that fear?
"You against the two of them? What were you thinking?! You're not a martial arts master like Hunny-senpai."
"Says you; I may not be a master, but I know enough martial arts to keep myself safe!" I protested, feeling my temper rising.
Stay rational, Kashi . . .
"And does it matter that I went against two of them? I had to do something! I wasn't gonna let those girls get hurt!" By this point, my train of rational thought had gone out the window, and I was saying the first things that came to mind. "And maybe I wasn't thinking, maybe I was just being stupid! But I know that I was doing the right thing, so why are you so mad right now?"
I'd realized that I was breathing hard, and none of the Hosts had said anything, not even Haruhi, who was undoubtedly upset with me.
"You really don't know?"
I leveled my gaze with his, not about to back down and also not caring about anything else but the fact that it was between me and Hitachiin right now.
He was the first to break eye contact.
"Fine; but I'm not saying anything to you until you can figure it out." He started to walk away, leaving me staring at the ocean.
"You know something?" I said finally. I heard Kaoru pause and shift to face me. I turned, and with an angry frown said:
"Shockingly, I don't have a problem with that."
Originally I was gonna have this with Tamaki but then I realized that it was too much like the anime, and Tamaki and Haruhi needed to have their moment.
I only got one review from the last chapter, but I'm okay with this; I'm not one of those authors that doesn't update until they have like fifty reviews on a story, and I'm gonna address it anyway.
NightmareTheFoxWitch: I'm glad you like it! It means a lot to hear you say that!
So, like always, leave me a review or a favorite/follow, because it makes my day every time.
Thanks again for being so awesome and patient with me, and I hope that it doesn't take me as long to update the next chapter.
~~Sady Mordan.