REVISED 13/09/17
CHAPTER ELEVEN - COMPLICATIONS
So complicated,
Look how we all make it.
Filled with so much hatred
Such a tired game
It's enough, I've done all I could think of
Chased down all my demons
I've seen you do the same
F***in' Perfect ~ Pink
…
NALI
A thick lingering smell hung the air like an encompassing fog rolling down a cold white capped mountain. Ovens roared and grumbled, creating enveloping warmth that filled the whole room, save for a cooling breeze that blew in softly from the back of the room where a single window lay open. A radio crackled in the background, barely audible over the low hum of life that drifted in through the gaps of the swinging door.
The bakery was alive with the usual bustle of post-school customers. The din of conversations and laughter accompanied by the squeaking of shoes as waiters and waitresses alike moved to and fro and the scratching of chairs against floors, broke through the almost serene atmosphere of the kitchens. Unlike the rest of the building's modern themed architecture, the kitchen had a more rustic theme. Reflected orange light, sourced from the few overhanging lamps and the large archaic ovens lined against nearly every wall, danced in every corner of the room and off of scratched steel worktops; the wooden floor creaked under the weight of each step, the loudest sounds made when you got to close to the fridges or the ovens. Almost every worktop was currently covered with baked goods, waiting to be served, decorated or stored away; save for one old wooden surface that was situated towards the back of the room which was covered with a mix of science papers, notebooks and the occasional chewed up pencil or pen.
"So, atoms are made up of electrons, protons and these neutral things, right?"
I glanced up from my notes to face Kito, who was peering down at the numerous piles of paper with a baffled expression. Inner Nali snickered at his lost face, and I bit back a smile.
"Neutrons," I corrected distractedly, "And the heart of an atom is called a nucleus and it's made up neutrons and protons, while electrons orbit this nucleus. Well, it's a little more complicated than that, but that's the basic idea."
While my attention may have been diverted to my current predicament of studying, that didn't mean I couldn't hear Kito's distinct murmuring under his breath as he attempted to translate my messily scrawled notes on the differences between Fission and Fusion.
"Right, so electrons, protons and neutrals."
"Neutrons, Kito, not neutrals," I said, moving to cross out a few calculations.
Kito let out an exasperated sigh as he returned to delicately shaping his batch of mochi.
"I thought you were studying an art course, what does physics have to with that?" He mumbled.
"I am studying an art course, but that doesn't mean that I only take art and nothing else," I explained, twirling my pen rapidly, "I also have to take some mandatory subjects as well as a few electives."
Kito looked up at me with a surprised look on his face, his eyes comically wide, a sight I could not help but giggle at. While I was mostly amused, another smaller part of me was affronted by his obvious surprise. I may be a bit of a ditz and lacked coordination sometimes, but I was still smart. Well, smart-ish.
"I am smarter than I look, you know," I told him with a sly smile, "I may have my moments but I'm not an idiot. Well most of the time."
"I-I wwasn't doubting your ability, Nali-Bali!" He placated, hands held up defensively, "It's just I thought that being an art student meant that your whole curriculum revolved around…well, uh, art."
He unceremoniously dumped the dishes in the sink while I paused for a moment to contemplate my response.
"Essentially, my course does revolve around art, but what if art doesn't work out for me because let's face it, it is a tough industry to get into," I muttered, "My other subjects allow me to create a back-up plan should my course not turn out the way I hope it will."
Kito screwed his face up, before nodding in understanding.
"Furthermore, part of the course entails keeping my grade at an appropriate level, so I have to do well across all of my subjects, not just my arty ones," I said, pushing my ripped sleeves up to my elbows, "So acing Physics has a lot to do with that."
"Ok, ok, I get it. Physics is important," Kito muttered, as he set to washing the dishes in the soapy water, "It just seems like a lot to do on top of all your art stuff. And you're already so busy between trips to the hospital, working here and completing your commissions…"
I shot Kito a look, shuffling my notes about. I knew that he worried about me, like Yori and Mika did. Heck, I worried myself sometimes, but I wasn't going to let myself get knocked down. My stubbornness wouldn't let me.
He wavered in the scrubbing of the dirty dishes, and my gaze slipped towards the soapy water and the rainbow light that danced across its surface, reflecting over the events of the last couple of weeks. It had been eerily quiet, despite Mei's shenanigans and Yori and Mika's infrequent phone calls. Life had almost fallen into a sort of routine, different from the way it was before, yet somehow better.
I'm not going to lie and say it had been all plain sailing. There were always going to be points where it seemed like nothing was wrong with world, like maybe this was all a bad dream that was created in the dark and chased away by the light of dawn.
But then there were the moments where the sun would set, the nightmares would rise once again, and sometimes there was no one else there to fight them off. Sometimes, I was left alone to fight them myself and with the truth that someday I would lose that fight.
I guessed that's why I was so focused on surrounding myself with the people I cared about, avoiding returning home until the last possible moment, because they were my stars. They chased away the demons and lit up the dark and when I was with them, I could believe that everything would be alright.
"I'm doing fine, you know," The words escaped me without much thought, "I'm not going to shatter before your very eyes."
There was a heavy pause within the room, only broken by the roaring of ovens and the sounds of life beyond the kitchen doors. As it continued to ring out, I risked a glance back at Kito.
Hazel eyes met brown ones, until his gaze moved away, but not before I saw the guilt swirling in their depths. Exhaling softly with an irritated twitch of my eyebrow, I rose to my feet to quickly tug the stupid boy into a hug, my arms wrapping around him securely. Kito hesitated, before burying his head in the crook of my neck his gangly arms tightening around my smaller form. I burrowed myself further into his white tshirt, like it would protect me from the betrayal of my own body. As if the safety and protection Kito's arms offered could keep me safe and protected from the incurable.
"I'm supposed to keep you safe," He mumbled incoherently in my hair, "How am I supposed to keep you safe?"
Mentally I rolled my eyes. Stupid Boy. This was no more his fault than mine.
"This is not your fault, ok?" Pulling back slightly, I slapped his cheeks slightly, ignoring his slight wince, "Stop beating yourself up about it."
He scowled at me as I released his tanned cheeks, rubbing the side of his face slightly. Well, he was asking for it, he needed someone to beat some sense into him. Or slapped in this case. If I was aiming to be more positive, then, damn it, so was he.
"You seem to be doing enough beating for the both of us," He muttered under his breath, worry fading from the depths of his eyes. For now, at least.
"What was that?" My eyes narrowed playfully, raising my sharp pen threateningly and I heard Kito gulp audibly.
"Nothing!" He sang, with an innocent expression that would fool no one.
Scoffing, I watched as he placed the last of utensils on the drainer to dry with a clatter, and then dried his hands off with a discarded tea towel. My mind wandered. If they were my stars, dispelling the darkness with their shining light, then what was I? I was not selfish enough to claim that I was another bigger star which they orbited around constantly, nor would I say that I could be a planet in their own galaxy, that basked in the safe light they exuded. It was more like I was a moon, continually orbiting the planets that their shine touched, but only spending a few precious moments in their light before continuing on my travels. I exhaled with a soft smile, that sounded about right.
Accompanied by a small smile still playing on my lips, I pushed away distracting thoughts, falling back into study-mode with a relaxed ease, or into what Mei so affectionately called 'Little Miss Bossy'.
"No more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars," I sang quietly.
Calculation swirled in front of my eyes and my hands began to shake again. With a sigh, I dropped my pen onto the table, trying to focus on breathing through the pain. The waves came on more often now, it was getting harder to leave my bed in the morning, to encourage myself to keep going.
The medication helped, but it didn't solve the issue.
Kito's eyes followed me as I placed my palms on the table riding the wave of stabbing pain. Once it had disappated, my gaze dropped back down to my notes again.
"You're some kid, you know that?" he muttered, ruffling my hair as I glanced at him over the piles of notes.
Indignation washed through me at the action, and I scowled up at him through my messy hair while he simply smirked down at me. Inner Nali pouted from a corner in my mind, grumbling about evil friends and complaining about our inability to grow a few more inches while drawing weird shapes in the dust on the ground.
"Oh, I know," I grumbled distractedly, attempting to fix my hair and ignore the insanity of my inner thoughts.
"And modest too," He commented dryly, throwing a rag at me which I dodged expertly allowing it to fall to the ground in a heap.
"Ha! You missed! No one can defy my ninja moves. Haiiiii-ya!" I cried dropping into my ninja moves with a determined look on my face.
Kito just shot me a disturbed look, to which I grinned madly in response. What, ninjas were cool. I could totally be a ninja if I wanted to…if it wasn't for my lack of coordination and complete inability to stay quiet. But besides that, I had all the skills of a ninja.
Right. Inner Nali muttered sarcastically, and I scowled.
Thanks for the back-up.
"Mei got to you again, didn't she?" Kito's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked up at him, blinking.
A sheepish grin split my face as I laughed awkwardly, returning to normal posture. So maybe all of my insanity didn't fully exist inside my mind.
"Uh yeah," I scratched the back of my neck, "She offered to show me some moves if I gave her tips for art, so she could get Mrs Hanabusa off her back about her drawing ability."
"Oh," Kito said, "And Mrs Hanabusa is that teacher that loves you right? The one who told Mei she draws like…um 'a blind dog with no limbs'."
My shoulders slumped down at the thought of the overbearing and scarily smiley art teacher and I nodded in reply.
"She scares me."
"She sounds like she scares a lot of people," Kito muttered, propping himself up against one of the worktops, his arms crossed across his standard plain t-shirt, "And speaking of scary people, where is our darling Mei this afternoon? She normally doesn't pass up any opportunity to eat away our stocks."
Frowning I thought back to when Mei had rushed past me at the end of class, shouting something over her shoulder about the Host Club and helping Haruhi before disappearing. After a moment of confusion, I'd simply shrugged and made my way to the bakery, content to let Haruhi deal with Mei's antics for one day. I couldn't however shake the feeling that I had forgotten something important, and it was kind of annoying me.
"Mei is with Haruhi at the Host Club. She shouted something about being invited by Haruhi before dashing off," I grinned at Kito mischievously, suppressing my annoyance for now, "But I get the feeling she cajoled the poor girl into letting her go with her."
"I can hardly say I am surprised," He muttered, "But what about you?"
"What about me?" I asked watching Kito with a confused expression.
He dropped his head into his hands with a loud groan and I scowled. What did he think I had gone and done now? I was completely innocent, devoid of any wrong doing I tell you.
"Have you attended the Host Club yet?"
I couldn't stop the disgusted expression that spread across my face as Kito's words registered in my mind. One, ew fangirls and two, one trip with those boys was more than enough excitement for me. No, I was perfectly fine with the way things were. Mei occasionally pestering me about attending, Kyoya laying not-so-subtle hints, Blondie remaining seemingly oblivious to my presence and Haruhi telling me I wasn't actually missing much.
Kito took one look at my expression and sighed exasperatedly.
"I'm taking that as a no then," He said and I nodded furiously.
"The beach trip was good enough dose of the Hosts to last me a lifetime," I muttered, shuddering at the thought of the evil trip, "In fact it was probably more of an overdose of their antics."
Kito wilted, falling into a heap on the closest stool. I simply watched his idiocy play out, a niggling feeling told me it wouldn't be long until he broke out the 'You Must Broaden Your Horizons' speech again. I was pretty sure I had that whole thing memorised word for word.
"You did say you would at least give them a chance," He mumbled into his arms, "And I thought you were getting on better with that creepy boy?"
I stared at Kito disbelievingly, what was with the men in my family encouraging me to seek the company of boys. Especially those boys. Weren't they supposed to be all 'we-must-protect-you-from-their-evils' and 'keep-your-virtue-safe'?
"I believe I said I would think about it. And for your information, I did give them a chance. I went on their little beach trip which went spectacularly wrong," I said dryly, "And if by creepy boy, you mean Kyoya, then we're…alright."
Alright pretty much translated to I no longer hated his guts and was instead only mildly irritated in his presence. We'd had a few conversations in the days that had followed the beach trip, which pretty much consisted of me insisting he stopped with all the annoying polite Miss Tanaka's and honorifics, embarrassing small-talk and sass (mine of course), and him attempting to convince me to come to the Host club where I then promptly told him that hell would sooner freeze over.
But apart from that, things were pretty much the way they were before.
"You're 'alright'?" Kito's voice broke through my pondering and I glanced up to see his disbelief, "Mei told me that you two were getting pretty cosy."
I froze where I stood, my eyes narrowing on Kito's form as horror crossed his face and he gulped audibly.
"Mei said what now?"
"She…uh…Nothing. She said absolutely nothing about you and the Ootori boy," Kito stuttered, jumping up from his seat and scuttling back nervously.
Irritation rushed through me, oh I was so going to kill my best friend and her little comments. She hadn't shut up about her new O-T-P since we had returned from that stupid beach trip thing. But first, Kito and I were going to have a little talk. I began to stalk towards the cowering boy threateningly, fury surrounding me. Kito shuffled away awkwardly, half hiding behind a worktop as if it would protect him from my advance.
'Ain't it fun? Living in the real world, ain't it good? Being all alone…'
We both paused, simultaneously turning to face the worktop where my phone was blaring loudly and vibrating along the smooth wood. I raised an eyebrow threateningly at Kito, who had deflated with relief at the sound of the familiar ringtone.
"Don't think this is over, Kito."
He nodded sheepishly, before walking over to where my phone was intent on trying to leap off of the worktop. He handed it towards me with a cheeky grin, but I only scowled in response. Turning from the main nuisance in my life currently, I picked up my phone, keeping an eye on Kito as he returned to his stool. Which so happened to be a little too close to my meticulously oragnised notes for my liking.
"Hello."
"Nali-Bali!" I winced at the decibel of Mei's voice and retracted the phone from my ear slightly, "I've been trying to get a hold of you for ages."
Speak of the devil and she will call. Inner Nali snickered.
"Really, that's weird because this is the first time my phone has gone off since your hurried escape from the classroom earlier," I muttered dryly into the phone, slapping Kito's hand away from his fresh batch of mochi.
"Well, maybe not for ages," She conceded as Kito scowled at me, holding his wounded hand close to his chest protectively. Big Baby.
"Right, what do you want Mei?" I asked bluntly, shifting the phone into the joint between my shoulder and my head so that my hands were free.
"Why do you always think I want something?" she grumbled, "Maybe I just wanted to check up on my bestest ever friend."
"I know you're at the Host Club and you wouldn't call unless you were: A bored and scheming or B just scheming," I pointedly ignored her grumbling, instead working on reorganising my boxes, "So spill, idiot."
"Well…"
"Mei," my questioning tone caught Kito's attention and he glanced up at me, "What have you done now?"
"I may or may not have accidentally mentioned in complete passing to Honey-chan about how amazing your cakes were and he may…or may not have practically demanded that I bring him some. Except I might've theoretically eaten all my stash at lunch and may need you to deliver more," Mei rushed out.
Groaning, I sunk down onto the floor, dropping my head into my hands.
"Why?" I whined, "I'm fine where I am."
"Oh come on, it's just a quick delivery and then you can leave after. I'll even pay," Mei's voice moaned down the line, "It's just that I'm hungry and you promised to always feed me! What kind of friend are you to leave me dying of starvation! I mean for all you know…"
Tuning out her rambling, I pulled the phone away from my ear and sent Kito a helpless look. He simply raised an eyebrow, leaning his chin on one hand before mouthing the words 'What's wrong now?'.
'She wants me to deliver food to the Host Club.' I mouthed back, tapping my fingers off of the workbench. 'I can't be bothered.'
Horror slid onto Kito's face as he deciphered what I had said and I shot him a weird look as Mei continued to whine down the phone, completely oblivious to the fact that I was no longer listening to her tirade.
'You're getting in between Mei and food! Are you suicidal?' Kito mouthed back furiously, to which I hesitated before shrugging. There was a possibility I might be; refusing Mei any food in general was always a bad idea. And I really was not in the mood to become a human sandwich today.
"…you know the relationship between me and food is sacred. Why to even entertain the thought of…"
'Host Club.' I mouthed back to the older boy as if that was the answer to all of his queries. Which it mostly was. I was too young to gain those premature grey hairs that would surely appear in the presence of their antics. It genuinely baffled me as to how Haruhi dealt with it on a daily basis, but whenever I had asked about the secrets to her survival she had simply waved away the inquiries with the words 'You get used to it'.
Kito's reply was a withering look which was scarily similar to the one I shot Mei on a daily basis. Shifting uncomfortably under his gaze, I mouthed back a quick 'What?'.
'You're being an idiot.'
'No I am not.' Scowling at him indignantly, I crossed my arms over my chest. I was not a little child.
"…it won't even be for that long. All you need to do is drop it off and then you can leave…Are you even listening to me?"
'Yes you are. Reminding you of the previous conversation. Give them a chance.' Kito mouthed back with a serious expression on his face. 'What would you rather face? Mei's wrath at not getting food or a couple of minutes of exposure to the Host Club?'
Pick the Host Club! Inner Nali cried waving her arms about wildly, Mei is scary when she's hungry!
I winced slightly at the memory of the last time someone had got between Mei and food. Maybe I could survive with a few grey hairs, but I don't think I would survive Mei. Hell knows who could.
"Nali!" Mei's voice burst through our pseudo conversation and I glanced resignedly down at the phone still clutched in my grasp, "You're not listening to me!"
'I hate you' I mouthed at Kito, who leaned back in his chair with a smug grin and a very pleased expression. Smarmy nutter. I cursed him mentally, raising the phone to my ear once more.
"I am listening, Mei," I muttered, "What do you want delivered?"
There was a beat of silence from the phone. And then, Mei began to squeal horrifically loud and the phone had to be withdrawn once again from my poor battered ear drums. She seriously needed a volume control. Kito only continued to grin at my grimace, before standing and retreating from the kitchen, no doubt to find someone to cover the shifts while I completed the delivery and to also escape Mei's freakishly loud decibel.
"Are you serious? Like really, really serious!?" She cried excitedly as the door slammed shut, "You're going to bring me food!"
"Mei, tell me what you want before I change my mind," I said, "And for Kami's sake, would you stop screaming into the phone. You're going to give me a flipping headache."
…
The walk to the school was exceptionally unextraordinarily boring. Unless you count watching a devious seagull snatch an ice-cream out of some poor kid's hand incredibly entertaining, which it definitely isn't. It's freaking scary.
That poor ice-cream, Inner Nali cried chibi tears running down her face at the memory of that poor ice-cream's death and I couldn't help but let out a sad sigh at its loss as well.
But I was digressing.
Music pounded in my ears as I slowly climbed the stairs that would lead to the third music room, diverting my attention between balancing the several bakery boxes in my arms and not tripping back down the stairs. The school was eerily quiet, but not quite as deserted as I thought it would have been by that time. A few students had wandered past me, their hideous yellow skirts swishing with each movement and their not-so subtle giggling, whispering and pointing was just audible over the music pouring through my earphones.
I ignored them. It wasn't like I wasn't used to their childish gossip by now, although they had certainly backed off a lot more after the news of Makiko and I's show down at the beach had gotten around. I'd assumed they were too scared to face my wrath or my punch.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket as I reached the top of the stairs, halting me mid-step. Mei had been sending me constant texts ever since I had left the bakery, mostly consisting of 'I'm hungry' and 'Would you hurry up!'. I'd stopped replying after the tenth buzz from the back pocket of my shorts.
The door to my doom drew ever closer as I began the long trek down their corridor and I still hadn't managed to shake that feeling that I had forgotten something. I paused to quickly count the number of boxes in my arms, not wanting to tempt Mei's wrath if I had forgotten anything. Only when I was secure in the knowledge that everything was in order and that it was definitely not the cause of the niggling forgotten feeling, did I continue down the corridor, deciding to ignore the feeling in place of humming quietly under my breath.
Stairs were another thing that was becoming increasingly annoying. Every step up felt like climbing up Mount Everest and the continuous shaking made keeping steady even more difficult. It didn't deter me though. I just kept going.
And then the hideous doors lay before me, unopened as it was still too early for the Host Club to have officially opened yet. Biting my lip awkwardly, I hesitated outside the door, tugging on the edges of my black shorts uncomfortably.
I distinctly remembered being this hesitant the last time I had a face down with this door. The Host Club was supposed to be welcoming and nice, so why the heck was their door so tall and intimidating?!
Maybe it's because you're so short. Inner Nali pointed out.
I scowled, ignoring her jab.
Ok Nali, all you have to do is slip in and out. Easy peasy, right? I thought quietly to myself, Deep Breath in and go for it.
Then, pulling out my earphones wistfully and praying to all the Gods I could possibly think of to spare my poor red hair from turning grey, I pushed open the door. Clenching my eyes shut, I waited for the fall of cliché rose petals that usually accompanied the creaking of the door as it opened. But nothing happened. This really should've been the first indication that something was wrong.
Thinking that they must not use the petals this early before opening time, which was a stupid thought because they had used them the last time I had shown up early, I decided to open my eyes and step into the room, eager to give Mei her stupid cakes and then return home.
Big mistake.
Abject horror rushed through me as I took in the scene before me. The idiots known as the Host Club were crowded around Blondie, who appeared to be unconscious in a bed I swear I had never seen before, while Mei sat off to the side on a red sofa watching their antics play out before her with a massive grin on her face. But that wasn't the source of my horror.
Oh no, to my complete dread, only a couple of metres away from the boys stood Haruhi and the Zuka Club, who I thought I had finally gotten rid of weeks ago. And then I remembered what it was that I had forgotten: Ouran was hosting that exposition thingy this week. Mrs Hanabusa had briefly mentioned it to me in passing before making off with a couple of my works, including my school project, for the art club exhibition. I'd pushed it to the back of my mind afterwards because students weren't required to attend, something I had thanked my lucky stars for at the time. Now, I was wishing I had taken that invite. Anything to get away from the insanity of the Zuka Club.
Kill me now.
"You see, Tama-chan is having his nappy time right now," Honey's voice broke through my terror as he addressed Benio-san.
They hadn't noticed me yet. I could go into full ninja-mode and escape before they noticed me and apologize to Mei later. She would understand; she knew how uncomfortable I was around Benio. Backing up slowly, I watched as Kyoya and Benio continued to have their glare down.
"Wake him up!" Benio growled, twitching with irritation at the sight of the bed-ridden Blondie.
Just as I'd thought I had reached my freedom, the doors clicked shut behind me, echoing loudly throughout the whole room and every single pair of eyes swivelled towards me. Except King Idiot's of course, he was still blissfully unaware of what was transpiring. I gulped awkwardly, a strained smile tugging on my lips as I mentally cursed those stupid doors.
I hate you. Inner Nali pouted, whether it was directed to me or the doors I had no idea but I knew exactly how she was feeling.
"Um, hello."
Smooth. Real Smooth.
Mei squealed upon catching sight of the boxes in my arms, causing me to wince and side step her assault as she rushed towards me.
"You brought me food! I was absolutely starving in here," She exclaimed, hurriedly taking a few of the boxes from my arms, "Did you bring everything?"
Both of the Insane Clubs, as I had now decided to call them, were silenced by Mei's enthusiastic greeting and were basically staring at us with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. Disbelief mostly because of Mei's noise (Cough…Zuka Club…Cough) and amusement, mostly from Haruhi but I'm sure I saw a grin tug at some of the boy's lips, at the sight of my bafflement.
"Uhh…yes?"
Mei's eyes narrowed down to dangerous slits at my hesitation. She spun to face me, her thunderous expression promising pain had I forgotten even one small cake from her order.
"Was that hesitation I heard in your voice, Nali-Bali?"
"For Kami's sake, Mei, I remembered all of your food, ok?" I said exasperatedly, desperate to keep this visit as short as humanely possible, "I even got Kito to count."
The girl's eyes shone with glee as she began to physically jump up and down in her spot, her halo of frizz dancing around her face and an almost deranged grin stretching across her face. She stepped forward, presumably to relieve me of the last of the bakery's boxes, when Benio pushed past her to stand before me.
"My dear Maiden Nali," She smiled creepily, "It is a pleasure to once again bask in your presence."
I physically deflated, sighing. Well there goes my plan for a quick getaway.
"Hello, Benio-san," I replied in a monotone.
"I saw your wondrous works in the art exhibition. Every other work seemed to pale in comparison to your genius," Benio said, swiftly pulling the remaining boxes from my hands and dumping them upon Mei. Her back up nodded and voiced their praises, but I only scowled at Benio's actions, opening my mouth to scold the girl, "Have you given any more thought to my offer, dear maiden?"
"I already told you Benio-san. I have no interest in transferring back to Lobelia," I said dryly.
Benio withered at my words, but I paid her no heed. I was too distracted by the eyes of the Host Club that were burrowing into the back of my neck, especially a pair of cool grey orbs whose owner I seemed to be unable to completely shake from my mind, much to my embarrassment. So distracted was I, I failed to notice Benio as she crept forward until she grabbed my hand and spun me about to the point where I felt like I was going to puke. God knows that I would aim it at her if I was sick.
"And yet again I find myself offering you my protection and great recognition for all of your work," She told me, kneeling before me with my hand tightly clasped in her grasp and a crony on either side.
Scowling I pulled my hand quickly from her grasp and took a step away from her.
"One, no. Two, I have a personal bubble," I said spreading my arms out and around myself as if to show where my bubble existed, "Do not enter the bubble."
Benio eye's widened at the action and she quickly scrambled to her feet with an air of grace I would never ever be capable of achieving in this lifetime. However, just as she stepped forward to speak once more and I began to consider drop-kicking her from the window, Haruhi stepped forward a tray of coffees in her grip.
"Excuse me," She asked, stepping between us with a quick wink at me, "I made some coffee. Would you ladies like to have some?"
Benio immediately brightened at the sight of Haruhi, and Mei seemed to consider this the perfect opportunity to pull me away from the crazy ladies.
I tuned the conversation out as Mei dragged me away towards a table at the back of the room, instead taking the opportunity to survey the Host Club's room curiously. The horrid room was worse than I remembered, I mean I could distinctly remember it being pink but I didn't recall how bad it was. It honestly looked like someone had swallowed a cheesy romance novel and then thrown it up all over the walls. It could've been the wide billowing curtains that created that look, but it also could've easily been the roses that covered every available surface in the room.
I said it once, gonna say it again. I thought bitterly, so cliché.
"Hey, you ok?" Mei asked softly, effectively pulling me from my thoughts.
"I'm fine, she just freaks me out," I answered, helping her to neatly place the boxes upon the table.
Haruhi had given us a quick way out and boy was I thankful. Until Mei giggled and that joyous feeling fell flat like a popped balloon. I shot her a sharp glare.
"You looked pretty petrified," She grinned while I continued to scowl down at the linen table cloth.
"Shut up," I said irritated, "Just give me the money so I can go before Crazy over there can corner me again."
Mei's giggles instantly stopped, her eyes growing wide and her smile turning strained. She glanced over at me apologetically and my stomach sank at the look she gave me.
"Well, you see, I don't," She paused hesitantly, toying with the tassels of the table cloth, "I don't actually have the money."
A chill spread over me at her words and I turned to face my friend with a horrified expression.
"What do you mean you don't have the money?"
"Kyoya has it." Was her simple reply.
I turned robotically to look over my shoulder, assessing the battle that was transpiring between the two Insane Clubs for Haruhi's attention. A battle Kyoya was very much involved in, much to my chagrin and Inner Nali's panic.
"You're telling me, I have to wait for Kyoya before I can leave?" I questioned Mei blankly.
"Uh, yes?"
"Mei when we leave today, you are so dead."
Mei rolled her eyes at my dramatics, nudging me in the side playfully.
"Stop being such a drama queen," She said, "It's not like you're-"
Mei's words were cut off as Benio grabbed me and pulled me rather abruptly into the middle of the hideously pink room, along with Haruhi. The Hosts stared at her blankly while Mei attempted to swallow her giggles. I withered under Benio's arm, plotting the different ways I could kill both Mei and Kito for putting me into this situation in the first place.
"And we'll welcome them into the Zuka Club," Benio declared, clutching us both so tightly I thought I was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. Kami, this girl had a grip.
The words went straight over my head. I had not been paying any attention to her prattling, but I was guessing it was bad, judging by the shocked silence that followed her words. The irritating silence continued on and I persisted in my struggling, but no one attempted to save me from Benio's iron grip.
Free us! Free us! Inner Nali cried.
I flailed for a few more beats of silence before Haruhi finally took notice and pulled herself from Benio. Momentarily gob-smacked, I wondered exactly how Haruhi had managed to escape this crazy's hold.
Maybe I was just weak. I was smaller than Haruhi by about half an inch after all.
"Hey, just wait a second, will you," Haruhi spoke up, "There seems to have been some misunderstandings here."
"Yes," I piped up, still struggling under Benio's hold, "For one, what the heck did I just say about my personal bubble!"
Upon realising I was still entrapped within her hold, Benio hastily released me, sending me stumbling forward and flapping my arms about wildly. However fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you assessed the situation, Kyoya of all people caught me before I could land in a heap on the ground. He quickly righted me, our eyes meeting briefly, and then handed me over to Mei.
Is it just me or is he almost always coming to our rescue? Inner Nali pointed out, watching him carefully.
Various memories of Kyoya helping me flashed across my mind before I could perish my inner thoughts, sending a weird squirming feeling into the pit of my stomach. I was not thinking about that now of all times.
Shut it.
Mei, oblivious to my mental torment, led me back over towards our table, out of the warzone and onto a simple seat that sat near the table and within arm's reach of the bakery boxes. I aimed a quick glance over my shoulder at Kyoya, only to see him scrawling furiously away in his little black book. His hands moved with amazing speed, I noted briefly, watching as his arms flexed underneath his blazer.
Swoon. Inner Nali giggled to my alarm. Oh for goodness sake. Bad thoughts, very bad thoughts.
"Um are you-" Mei's voice brought me back to earth with a startling thump.
"If you ask me if I'm ok one more time, I will not hesitate to whack you with the first dangerous utensil I can find," I cut her off bluntly, irritation surging through me, "Just pass me a cake, sit, shush and let the two Insane Clubs battle it out for Haruhi."
A wide smile stretched across Mei's face and she quickly hopped to following my instructions.
"What do you mean battle it out for Haruhi?" She asked through mouthfuls of dango as we followed the shouting match between the Hosts and Haruhi. I think it had something to do with a mechanical pencil and auctioning, but I wasn't sure. For all I knew, it could've been about a doughnut and I still wouldn't have cared. Well, maybe I would've cared about a doughnut because at least then there might've been a chance I could've eaten it.
"Isn't obvious? Both clubs want her attention," I told Mei, biting into my brownie blissfully.
"Huh," She murmured thoughtfully, "Oh look, the Zuka Club are leaving."
"Oh thank Kami," Ducking with the hope that they had forgotten about me and turning slightly in my seat, I observed their weird twirling departure, wondering if they practiced that in their free time.
As they disappeared from sight, I released a breath I hadn't realised I was holding. Only to jump when Benio stuck her head back through the door.
"Do not think I have forgotten about my quest to return you to Lobelia, my flower," She said, shooting me a creepy smile from across the room, "We shall meet again."
And with those last words, Benio-san disappeared from sight, hopefully for good this time. Although I was sure she would appear once again like the bad penny she was.
They scare me. Inner Nali told me, to which I agreed whole-heartedly. The Lobelia girls were very, very scary.
"Haru-chan does not look pleased," Mei whispered to me, bringing me back to the present situation.
Glancing over at my other friend, I instantly shrunk back from her aura. I had to agree with Mei there, Haruhi looked like she was about to kill someone and it was kind of terrifying. Never in the short time we had been friends had I ever seen her so…blank before.
"I better be going," She spoke up finally after a few moments of awkward silence, "I have some thinking to do."
And with those words, she turned and left, the click of the door closing echoing in the silence that descended upon her departure. Only seconds later, Tamaki broke the aforementioned silence by beginning to freak out. Mei and I shared a look, and I exhaled loudly.
The Host Club was made up of idiots.
"Gentleman, just think about it," Blondie spoke after he had finally calmed himself and his companions, "Haruhi may be basically indifferent. But if she had to choose we know that she tends to favour men's clothing. And besides when she first joined the Host Club, didn't she tell us that 'Being a host and getting fussed over by a bunch of girls, might not be that bad'."
I physically wilted in my seat and Mei face-palmed at Blondie's words. Idiots, they were all complete and utter idiots.
"Why didn't I realise this before," King Idiot continued on, staring gloomily out the window, "Perhaps they would be a better match for Haruhi, maybe she would be better off with the…Zuka Club."
Inner Nali keeled forward at Tamaki's words anime-style, while I choked on my brownie. Did he have brain problems? Did he seriously think that Haruhi would be better off with those crazy Lobelia girls? Mei shot me a pained look, patting me on the back as the Host Club began to panic.
"Should we say something?" She asked, her voice only just reaching my ears over the idiot's panicked cries.
"The only thing I think we should be doing is planning an escape from this loony bin," I replied between deep breaths.
I could kill for a cup of tea right now.
"Calm down, gentlemen, it will be alright," Blondie's words cut through our conversation and we both turned to face the group, "Listen to what I have to say."
Slight panic washed through at Tamaki's words. There was no doubt in my mind that Tamaki now had a plan and that that plan was either going to be stupidly brilliant or just plain stupid. More likely to be the latter rather than the former.
"I have a secret plan."
Oh brother. Someone please save me from this madness!
My prayer however remained unanswered and the boys began to huddle and scheme in a corner, assumedly hatching their so called secret plan. Mei's eyes lit up with glee at the sight and she turned to face me with a pleading expression.
"Oh no, no way am I getting involved in any scheming, Mei," I told her, furiously shaking my head, "I just want to go home."
"Please!" She pleaded her eyes wide and begging.
Oh please not the puppy dog eyes.
"No. No. No," I said, determined to stand my ground despite the power of her puppy dog eyes. I was not getting involved in any hare-brained scheme of King Idiots and his bunch of followers, not even slightly.
"Excuse me ladies, may I interrupt briefly," I started, clutching at my heart and spinning to face Idiot with a furious look.
"Jesus, Blondie, are you trying to kill me?" I accused, "Warn a girl before you sneak up on her."
Tamaki's violet eyes widened, an apologetic look crossing his face as he stuttered out his apologies.
"Ignore her, Tamaki-senpai. She's just easily startled," Mei quickly deferred his apologies and ignored my indignant grumbling, "How can we help you?"
King Idiot grinned widely at us, his eyes twinkling with mirth, before he paused. He blinked his violet eyes in a baffled manner, looked between Mei and myself and then proceeded to lean towards me until his face was about an inch away from mine.
"Blondie, you have two seconds to tell me what exactly you are doing and get the heck out of my personal bubble, before I drop-kick you out of it," I told him deadly serious, which caused him to back up a couple of steps sheepishly.
"Nali, I was wondering," He started curiously, "Why don't you refer to any of us Senpai?"
Say what? Inner Nali asked dumbly. I was frozen, staring up at the idiot with my nose screwed up in confusion.
"Huh?"
Tamaki didn't reply, only looked down at me with what could only be described as a curious expression crossed with a sheepish one. The other Hosts had turned to face us now, clearly interested in the conversation. Except Honey, who had started to eat his way through all of my cakes like a machine, and a stoic Mori who appeared to be dividing his attention between said cake machine and Blondie and I's conversation.
"Why on earth would I refer to you as Senpai?" I asked him, genuinely thrown by his seemingly random question.
"You are a middle school student, right?" Tamaki asked with a bewildered expression.
My body twitched in annoyance and a dark expression settled on my face. He thought I was a blooming MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT. I mean of course I knew I was short but I didn't think I was that short! Tamaki, finally realising that his question was one that should never have been asked, gulped at the furious aura that was encompassing me.
Well you are shorter than Haruhi. Inner Nali muttered.
"Everyone duck! She's gonna blow!" Mei warned, scooting away from me.
"I am not a Middle School Student, you oblivious nutter!" I screamed, jumping out of my seat and flailing my arms around, "I'm a Second year! I'm in your freaking class!"
Tamaki squealed and ducked behind the sofa, so that only the top of his head was showing. The other Hosts backed up as well, with the exception of Kyoya, who only briefly glanced up from his notebook before returning to his scrawling.
"Nali can be scary sometimes," Tamaki squealed.
I was this close to banging my head off of a wall. An overwhelming need to escape rushed through me, I think I had suffered enough of the Host's idiotic shenanigans for one day. I don't think my poor hair was going to make it any longer.
"I don't have time for this nonsense," I grabbed my things and spun to leave the Club room, "Come on, Mei, we're leaving."
"Ah, ah ah. Not so fast, my princess," Tamaki jumped up with a renewed sense of vigour that was quite frankly really frightening. He was like a cockroach, just when you thought you'd knocked him down, he shot back up stronger than before.
Ok, so maybe that was a little mean. Tamaki wasn't a cockroach; he just had a small attention span.
Maybe I should cut the guys some slack. I thought biting my lip and pausing mid-step. With a sigh, I turned to face the idiot and maybe hear him out, when his hands suddenly latched down onto my shoulders tightly and all thoughts of being civil vanished out the very window I was planning on kicking him out of.
"Tamaki, let me go," I hissed, trying to turn so I could whack him or at least get a good hold of him.
"Unfortunately, we can't let you leave," He cried, spinning me around, "Uncle has a vital role for you to play in our plan!"
"Uncle! What do you mean Uncle!?" I cried, continuing to struggle in his arms, "Tamaki, let me go, I mean it! I'll kick your scrawny butt into the middle of next week if you don't. Let. Me. Go!"
"Mori-Senpai, do you mind?" Tamaki asked, pushing me towards Mori, who didn't even in hesitate in throwing me over his shoulder.
"Mei! For Kami's sake, help me out here!" I shouted to my best friend, who only giggled at my predicament instead of rushing to save me from the giant senior.
Oh, merde. Inner Nali thought resignedly. These Boys are going to kill us.
Well, I thought back, watching Mei laughing and joking with the twins and Kyoya's lips tugging up into a small grin at the sight of my continued struggles, I can't say it won't be an interesting way to go.
