REWRITTEN 1/13/2019
Author's Notes: Don't fret! The chapter has finally been complete! Now that you're done reading this...
Enjoy.
Kyoya punched numbers into a calculator. "It seems our finances have gradually increased. If this trend keeps up we'll have excess profit to spend." He said to no one in particular.
"Everyone! Get in your places!" Tamaki yelled. "I think I hear someone outside the door."
They gathered in front of their Arabian backdrop and made sure their costumes were in order.
"Senpai, don't you think these clothes are a bit much?" Haruhi asked Tamaki.
"Of course not! We've got to look and act the part of Arabian royalty!" He insisted.
Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Right."
The doors opened and, as usual, flower petals cascaded down to the floor. When it cleared, the hosts saw something they weren't expecting. A little boy, who couldn't be older than eleven, stood in the doorway, dumbstruck at what he'd just seen.
"Oh. It's just some kid." One of the twins said.
"Not just a kid but a boy. What a shame." The other brother replied.
"What's wrong? Have you come to my palace to search for something?" Tamaki asked him, fully encased in his persona.
"Is he really going to stay in character?' Haruhi thought.
The boy stumbled back to his feet. "Uh. Are you the king here?" He stuttered.
Tamaki took a surprised breath. He reveled at the sound of him being called king and motioned with his hand for the boy to come closer. "What was it that you called me young one?"
'Pedophile.' Haruhi thought.
"The king." The boy repeated.
Tamaki twirled around in delight. "Yes! The king. Long live the Host King!"
The boy gave him a bored expression and clenched his fists. "I'm a fifth-year elementary student. My name is Shiro Takaoji." He introduced himself. "I want the Host King to take me on as his apprentice!"
Haruhi stood beside Kyoya. "Don't you think it's a bit weird to have him observe Tamaki up close like that?"
Currently, Shiro was closely watching as Tamaki did his thing.
"Not necessarily." Kyoya answered. "Many people believe that humans are more beautiful the closer they are viewed, and besides, what's the worst thing that could happen?"
Later
"Put this boy in isolation!" Tamaki instructed.
A cage crashed down from the ceiling, right on top of Shiro.
"What do you think you're doing!?" He yelled.
"Hm. I may have spoken too soon." Kyoya mumbled.
"Where did it come from? This was supposed to be a music room, right?" Haruhi asked, stunned.
Tamaki sat back in a chair and sipped some tea. "I took you on as my apprentice because I thought you said you wanted to make women happy. Not to insult them and cause a ruckus around here!" He yelled.
Shiro grabbed and shook the bars. "I do want to make them happy!" He insisted. When it seemed Tamaki was unfazed by his words, he looked down at the ground. "I'm going to run out of time. Please help me." He said softly. "You put a smile on women's faces. You want to make them happy! That's why you do it right?"
Tamaki didn't answer.
"You're a genius. Th-the king of it!" Shiro told him.
His face turned shocked. "Genius?" He thought before smiling to himself.
Haruhi sighed. 'He needs to stop feeding Tamaki's ego.'
"Alright." Tamaki said. "You may be a little brat but I can see you really want this so I'll teach you. First thing you need to do is use what you already have."
"Wha-what do you mean?" He asked, confused.
"What he means is" Kyoya directed the boy's attention on him. "we use our individual personalities and traits to meet the needs and wants of our guests. For example, Tamaki is the princely type. The strong silent type. The boy lolita. The little devils. The cool type which is me. Haruhi is the natural."
"The natural?" Haruhi pointed to herself.
He ignored her. "We also hadn't planned on a new member but there were a turn of events and now our group has a good coverage. He's our unpredictable type."
"What a dumb title." Shiro snorted. "Where's this guy then?"
"Well, we didn't expect him to work out so well with our dynamic but it seems he works quite well with our customers. As for his location, I couldn't tell you. He's most likely on his way now. The point is that right now we have a perfect blend so it'll be difficult to include you."
"Are you serious? Is that all you can do?" A familiar voice asked.
The room started to shake again like before. Once again, it was Renge standing right on top of her rising platform as it elevated from under the floor.
"I must say, I'm very disappointed. Listen here boys. Shota (the love of little boys with baby faces) is a broad category. Honey is cute and innocent but some girls don't necessarily want that. Shota itself can be divided into many sub-categories. If I had to pick a type for this boy then it would definitely be" She pointed to Shiro. "the naughty boy type!"
"The naughty type?" Shiro said, horrified. The cage lifted up by itself, releasing him from his...well. Cage.
Renge started to blow on a whistle she pulled from seemingly nowhere. "First you gotta wear shorts." She looked down at his uniform shorts and nodded. "Then you have to have injuries."
The twins stuck Band-Aids on random places on his body and began drawing scars on his face.
"Now you have to run like a spoiled child!" She gave him a push to start running. "Now make a big scene while tripping and give your catchphrase!" She commanded.
He tripped over a rope they'd set up. He got back up and wiped his face with the back of his arm. "It was nothing."
"That was perfect!" Renge praised him.
"I didn't know you were such a good tutor Renge!" Tamaki said. They started to gather around Renge.
'They're all a bunch of idiots.' Shiro thought. "Arg! I've had enough of you all!"
Everyone turned back to him.
"None of this'll make her happy." He yelled at them and ran off outside the room.
"Wait!" Tamaki tried to stop him. "We haven't told you how to use all of the techniques you just learned!" He called out to him.
"They're all stupid!" Shiro said aloud. "I can't use anything they told me! None of it will make her happy." His eyes started to fill with tears as he ran. "She'll never know I..." His vision became watery and blurred right in time for him to hit somebody in the chest. "Hey, watch it!" Shiro yelled.
"Woah there." The guy said. "What's wrong little guy?" He gave Shiro a hand to help him stand back up.
Shiro pushed it aside. "It's none of your business!" He shouted.
"Don't cry." The person said in a calm voice.
"Who said I was crying!?" He shouted at the person again.
"Here."
Shiro could feel the guy pick him up and place him around his neck.
"What do you think you're trying to do here?" He tried to wiggle out of his hold.
"Stop squirming or I'll drop you out of the window." The man warned.
Shiro stopped out of pure terror.
"See? Isn't that better?" The person asked him. "As I was saying, I think I know some people that can help. Would you like that?"
"Who's says I need help with anything? Just let me go!" He protested.
The guy stopped walking. Shiro looked confused at the sudden stop.
He turned to the window. "How far up do you think we are from the ground?" He asked Shiro.
A shiver went up his spine as he gulped.
After a moment of silence, the other guy began to speak as if he hadn't threatened the boy seconds before. "Alright, we're almost to the room." He started to walk forward again.
Shiro still had a sour look on his face but didn't dare try to escape. Other people began to pass by them, looking quizzically at them. Shiro could feel his face heating up and tried to hide it behind the stranger's head in embarrassment, but instead he got a face full of hair. When he tried to breathe he was surprised to smell a fruity shampoo.
'Why does this guy smell like a girl?' He sniffed it again and blushed. "I guess it doesn't smell bad though.'
"Is it about a girl?" The man asked.
Shiro had to ponder for a second about what he was talking about. "How-how did you know?" His speech was a bit muffled by the hair.
"I heard you talking before you hit me. I'm not going to ask you what's wrong but I will say that if you're trying to make a girl happy then you shouldn't have to act like anything. I know it sounds cheesy but if she likes you then she should like you for you. But that's only my opinion." He told him.
He thought about what he said for a bit. 'Maybe he's right.'
"Here we are. This is the place I was talking about." He started to open up the door. Shiro looked up at the door and when he saw where he was his mood took a nosedive.
.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`
"Hey everyone. Sorry I'm so late. I got held up at archery practice. They wanted me to help a few of the kids get their posture right."
"It's about time you got here Kagome. And just as I was going to compliment the great work you've been doing so far." Kyoya said.
"Sorry Specs. There was nothing I could do. I promise I'll try be here on time from now on."
"I think you're missing the worst part! We got you this great Arabian costume and you weren't even here to see it." The twins said, frustrated.
"I'm really sorry. But I think I have someone that may need some help." She pointed at the angry little boy around her neck.
"Shiro?" Tamaki asked.
"You know him?" Kagome directed to Tamaki.
"You're one of them!" Shiro started to frantically move around, trying to get off of her but she held him down by his knees.
"What's wrong Shiro?" She asked. She put her hand to his face to try to calm him and received a deep bite in return.
"OW! Son of a-!" She tried to let him drop to the floor but he kept his mouth gripped onto her hand.
"Let go!" She yelled at him.
He ground his teeth into her a bit before losing the strength in his jaw to continue and released her hand but scratched her hand with his fingernails in the process. He fell off of her shoulders, scrambled off of the ground and ran away again.
Everyone's eyes moved from the fleeing boy to Kagome holding her red hand. She didn't seem to be in pain, rather it looked like Kagome's face had contorted into one of pure startlement and puzzledness. It was clear she was still comprehending what had just happened.
Honey cupped his hands over his mouth while Tamaki and Mori came to her aid.
"Are you okay Kagome?" Tamaki asked.
Tamaki kneeled down to get a closer look as Mori tried to examine her wound but she suddenly pulled it back.
"It looks pretty bad." Tamaki said. "Mori take him to the nurse. I'll take care of the rug rat." He started to get up before Kagome pulled him back down with her good hand.
"No. It's fine. It doesn't really hurt." She stood up. "There's no need to get mad at him. He's only a kid after all. Besides, it's not that bad."
Tamaki looked at her as if she'd gone mad. "Not that bad!? You're bleeding everywhere! You have to go to the nurse."
"It looks worse than it is." She explained.
"Kagome! Go to the nurse!"
Her eyebrow twitched. "It's a bite blondie! A bite from a child at that. It's not that bad. Stop acting like my hand just got run over by a car. All I need to do is wash it, wrap it up and it should be fine."
"If your hand is bleeding that much, it has to be serious Kagome!" He said.
Mori watched the two go back and forth. At this rate, nothing was going to get done. The fact that Kagome was even debating this was really starting to piss him off as well.
'Why does he have to be so stubborn?' He thought to himself.
"Go now!"
"No!"
They continued to bicker as the blood from her hand began trickling down to the floor.
"Go to the nurse!"
"Are you deaf?! I said it's not that-"
Mori grabbed her by the wrist and held onto Kagome's injured hand.
"Hey!" Kagome grimaced as he relentlessly squeezed on it.
"Mori! What are you doing? You're making it worse!" Tamaki screeched.
Mori ignored him. "So you're telling me this feels fine to you?" He asked her.
"...Of...Of course it'll hurt if you do that, asshole!" She choked out. Her eyebrows furrowed together and she turned silent after her exclamation, focusing her energy on not yelling out.
Everyone just watched, not believing what they were seeing. Finally, he let go.
"I'm taking you to the nurse." He pulled her away by her other hand and they both left the club room.
The others didn't say anything, unsure of what to do.
"I'll add the price of that imported rug to your fee, alright Haruhi?" Kyoya said as he jotted down the future bill.
"What? Why?!" She protested.
"It has bloodstains in it now. Those are a real pain to try to get out." He explained.
'Why does he know how hard it is to get bloodstains out?' Haruhi thought, concerned.
With the Nurse
"That is definitely deep." The nurse took a look at her hand. "I can give you a little bit of cleaner and some bandages but I think you might need to go to the hospital for this."
"The hospital?" Kagome asked. "There must be a mistake. All that happened was that a kid bit me and now your saying I need to go to the hospital?"
"Well, a number of things could happen if you don't get it checked out. A main problem of something like this would be the risk of infection. The teeth and fingernails house a good portion of bacteria and germs on the human body. I don't have the tools here to check, so I would advise you to go get it checked out by a professional."
Kagome sighed.
The nurse continued to stare down at Kagome's hand. There was a bit of intrigue in her eyes. "That must have been some struggle. That kid must have had a good jaw to do this must damage."
Mori coughed to get the nurse's attention. When she looked at him he pointed at the bandages on her desk.
"Oh, right." She remembered and shuffled through her drawers.
'Does she even know she said that out loud?' Kagome thought.
.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`
Mori looked at the tired expression on Kagome's face. He rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her. He could feel Kagome slightly jump in surprise but quickly calmed down. As she relaxed into his hand, he swore he could feel something underneath her shirt. It didn't feel like an undershirt. What was it?
He looked back at her but she wasn't paying him any attention. Mori slightly ran his fingers across it again. There was definitely something around her back. To his surprise, it almost felt like...
'Wrappings?' He thought.
Without thinking about his actions, he pulled back a bit of the shirt from her back and took a peek, confirming it.
''Why would he wear those? Unless...''
"Kagome." He called to her.
She turned towards him. His face looked oddly concerned. "What?" She asked, uneasy.
"Do you have a wound around your torso?" He asked.
"Here they are." The nurse snatched her injured hand and sprayed something on it.
Kagome grasped one of Mori's hands and squeezed it. "That hurts!" She winced.
"Sorry. I thought if I caught you off guard it wouldn't hurt as much." She said as she started to bandage her up.
Mori didn't say anything as Kagome continued to hold onto his hand. He could tell every time the nurse touched a scratch or puncture on her hand because she would squeeze her hand tighter onto his. 'His hand is really warm.' He thought as he unconsciously clutched onto Kagome's hand as well.
.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`
Kagome tried not to sneer at the nurse's bandaging skills. 'I could have done better than that.'
"All done. Now, I really insist that you go to a doctor. My handiwork will only last for so long." The nurse told her.
She glanced at her bandaged hand. 'I might kill that kid.' She thought sinisterly. "When do you think I should go?" Kagome asked.
"Honestly, I'd go right now. There's no telling what may happen if you prolong the visit."
Kagome sighed. "I guess I'll go now then." She stood up from the cot.
"I'll come with you." Mori said as she began to walk out the door.
"Great." Kagome said with fake happiness.
With the Hosts
Tamaki and the twins were huddled up in the middle of the room.
"So, it's official." Tamaki said. "Operation Get Haruhi To Wear A Dress is underway!"
"Ahem." Kyoya aimed at them.
"We mean, Operation Do Something About Shiro." Tamaki "corrected."
"I thought you would be more concerned about our injured friend. Not making schemes."
They looked down in guilt from Kyoya's scolding tone.
"Haru-chan, is Kaggy going to be ok?" Honey asked with big watery eyes.
"I'm sure Kagome is doing ok right now Honey-senpai. Kagome has probably gone through worse than this." She told him.
"Speaking of them, where are they?" Hikaru asked aloud.
At the Hospital
"I'm telling you that you need to fill out the paperwork before you can meet anyone."
"And I'm telling YOU, that I am currently bleeding a lot from my hand right now and if I need stitches then I have no time to waste." She yelled. "I can't WRITE. Ok? No dominant hand means no paperwork will be filled. Got it?"
Kagome and the man behind the counter had been arguing for a while. It didn't seem like either were going to let up.
Mori stood quietly behind Kagome, watching everything unfold.
"This is protocol. If you're not going to follow the rules then I'll be forced to call security." He said.
"Security? Security!? You're going to call security on a person who is currently bleeding buckets over here because you need to follow protocol?!"
"Who's bleeding buckets?" A nearing voice asked.
A man in a white lab coat and thin rimmed glasses walked over to them. He had his long green hair tied in a low ponytail that was draped over his shoulder.
"I could hear the yelling all the way down in the hallway." He smiled.
"Sir, this person doesn't want to fill out the paperwork." He looked at her. "No paperwork, no visit."
Kagome sneered at him.
The other man looked at Kagome. "And just what seems to be the problem?" He asked.
Kagome held up her injured hand. Some of the blood had now soaked through the bandage and was now visible on the outside.
The man whistled. "That's a doozy." The man looked from Kagome's hand to her face and his skin immediately turned pale.
Kagome raised an eyebrow at his sudden change of mood.
"Doctor?" The man behind the counter said.
The doctor took Kagome by the other hand. "Don't worry. We'll get you situated and check you out right now." He turned to the hallway before giving the other man a dirty glare and led Kagome deeper into the hospital. Mori followed right behind them.
He led her into a room and told her to sit down on the bed. Mori, seeing nowhere else to sit, sat on the bed as well beside Kagome.
The doctor gently took Kagome's hand and unwrapped it. "How long ago were you bitten?" He asked.
"Um. About 2 hours ago." Kagome guessed.
He thought to himself before nodding. "We're going to need to close that up. It doesn't seem like it's infected which is good." He told her.
"How are you going to close it up?" She asked.
"It'll just be a simple stitching. Shouldn't take too long but we need to move to another room to perform it and we'll have to numb up your hand as well."
"So, he can't come?" Kagome pointed at Mori.
The man didn't even seem to have noticed Mori the entire time. "Uh. No. He won't be able to come along." He answered.
He looked at the clock on the wall. "Kagome, come with me and we'll take care of your hand." He looked to Mori. "You can stay in here and I'll bring Kagome back here when we're done."
With that, the two of them walked out of the room to take care of her hand.
About half an hour had passed before the sun began to noticeably set. Mori looked out the window. The sky had turned orange with the sun slightly visible. If they didn't leave soon it would be dark out.
After...uh Hand Stitching...Stuff..
"Alright." The doctor examined the stitches on her hand. He stayed seated in his rolling chair as he did so. "The procedure went well." He rolled over to his desk and pulled out a piece of paper from a drawer. "You'll need to refrain from doing physical activities. You'll also need to make sure that you keep the stitches from getting wet." He handed her the paper and a small card. "This has a list of instructions and tips on how to care for your hand. If you have any questions or concerns, don't be afraid to come back and ask me or call me on the number on that business card."
"Ok." Kagome simply said. It was late and any remaining energy Kagome had was being burned to try to remain awake.
As if he could read her mind he said, "If you're tired, feel free to sleep here the night."
"I want to go home."
He awkwardly laughed. "You know, it is procedure to look after a patient overnight to make sure-"
"I'm going home." Kagome repeated, a little sterner than before.
"Right." He said in a defeated tone. He looked back at his desk. "Oh. One more thing." He picked up some bandages off the desk. "I'll need to wrap up your hand before you leave. You should unwrap it from time to time so it can get air flow."
He reached for her hand but she pulled back.
"Could I wrap it instead?" She asked. She didn't want a replay of what happened with the nurse.
He shrugged. "Make sure you wrap it tight enough." He told her. "In the meanwhile, I'll get your friend in here so you can both leave."
Mori still silently sat in the patient room. It was almost pitch black now.
'What's taking so long?'
The sound of the door opening jostled him out of his thoughts.
"Ah. You're still here. Good. We've finished and you can take Kagome home now."
Mori nodded and stood up.
"Now don't tell Kagome I said this." He slightly whispered as if someone would hear them. "But make sure Kagome follows all of the instructions I gave. Just...keep an eye on Kagome please. If you hadn't noticed, he can be a bit stubborn at times."
Mori nodded again but questioned what he was saying. How did the doctor possibly know that about him? Kagome hadn't seemed to know the man.
Actually, now that he was on the subject...
He led him to the other room where Kagome sat on the bed with her freshly bandaged hand.
...had they ever told him Kagome's name?
Kagome's head raised to look at them as they walked in.
"How'd the wrapping go?" He asked. He walked over and took a look at her handiwork. "Hm." He examined it a bit closer with a small look of amazement.
"I'm impressed Kagome. You wrapped this pretty well." He smiled.
Kagome's cheeks turned a slight shade of pink. "Thank you." She quietly said.
"What great handiwork." He continued to praise her.
Her face turned from pink to red.
Mori took Kagome's other hand. "Let's go."
"Uh. Right." Kagome said, standing back up again.
He left the room with Kagome still in hand, trailing right behind him.
The doctor chuckled to himself as he watched them leave. Right after, he pulled a phone out from his coat. He pressed a few buttons and held it up to his ear.
Immediately, the other line picked up.
"What?"
"Kagome came by today. I'm just calling before I send you the file for her visit to you. As per your request."
"Email it."
He rolled his chair over to his computer. "No problemo." He said, then laughed. "Haha. You wouldn't believe how I ran into Kagome today. I found her arguing with the man at the front desk with a friend of hers and I walked over to-"
"Someone came with her?" He interrupted.
He looked back over to the door they'd left out of. He seemed to be debating something in his mind. "Uh. Well..."
'It's getting late.' Kagome thought as they went into the main entrance room. She sighed. 'I was going to give that kid a pass but this is a lot of trouble to go through to fix his mess.'
A voice from behind called out to them. Mori stopped. Kagome kept her stride but looked over her shoulder.
Before they could leave, the man behind the counter called out to the two of them.
They looked back to see him forcing a smile at Kagome.
"I would just like to apologize for my rudeness to you this evening."
Kagome rolled her eyes and began walking away again.
"Oh. And tell your family we appreciate their donation they provided a little while ago!" He said as if it were a last resort.
Mori looked back to see Kagome already outside. He easily closed the distance between them.
"Kagome?" He started.
"I know what your question is going to be." She said.
Mori waited for her to continue as they walked but she didn't say anything after that. He decided it'd be best not to press on the issue.
With the Hosts
The six hosts began to leave the school and head towards their rides. "Honey, it's getting late and I don't think they'll be back anytime soon. Are you okay with your driver taking you home without Mori?" Tamaki asked before he left.
"I'll be fine." Honey said sadly. "I'm more worried about Kaggy. But maybe if Takashi is with him he'll get better faster so I'm okay with it!" He exclaimed, his cheerfulness back.
"Maybe he'll get better if you bring him a treat tomorrow." Tamaki suggested.
"That's a great idea!" He bounced up and down. "What am I going to make? I know. I'll ask Kagome!"
"You don't have to follow me to my house, you know." Kagome said, a bit of irritation seeping into her voice.
Mori didn't pay much attention to it. "I'm going to keep an eye on you." He told her.
"That doesn't mean follow me around. What? Are you going to sleep in my house as well?"
He didn't say anything for a second. "I would if I thought it would help. You're too headstrong to follow directions."
"What's the point in walking me to my house anyway? It's not as if I'm going to enter some hand wrestling championship on my walk home." She whispered to herself. 'Why is he acting all caring all of a sudden?'
Kagome tried balling her fists but winced from the movement.
Mori moved beside her to try and look at her hand but she jerked it back.
"I'm fine." She continued to walk to her house. That's when they made it to the landmark trees.
Mori looked around puzzled. 'He lives deep in the forest?'
They walked a bit more before they stood in front of the gate.
She took out her gate key with her other hand and swiped folded her arms as she waited for the gate to open. Her face was completely taken over by annoyance. She abruptly turned towards Mori. "I can get in my house on my own. So-" She looked down at his hand. It was completely covered in blood.
Her face turned from annoyed to concerned. She took his hand in hers. "What happened?"
He looked at her with his usual blank expression which made Kagome want to hit herself in the face. 'Duh Kagome. You're the one who was bleeding. He's not hurt. It just got on him.'
"You're washing it off right now. You can't walk home with a bloody hand. Ugh. And you got it on your clothes too." The doors started to open and she pulled him through. "You're cleaning up right now."
Mori let her drag him into her house. He didn't want to say it but he didn't want to walk around covered in blood anymore either.
Just as she was about to open the door, she was tackled to the ground by an all too playful redhead.
"Kags! It's about time you got back home. Where have you been? What were you doing? Who were you with? What the hell happened to your hand?!" He asked surprised.
"Get off of me Shippo!"
He didn't listen to her demand and continued to sit on her while bombarding her with question after question. He only stopped when he felt a huge hand on his shoulder. Shippo followed the arm to Mori.
He got off of Kagome, not helping her up. Kagome shook her head as Shippo sniffed the air a bit. "Who's this?" He asked.
She stood back up and yanked on the back of Shippo's shirt to put more distance between him and her friend. "This is Takashi. Everyone calls him Mori though. This is Shippo. But who cares? You need to get cleaned up right now. Shippo, let him borrow some of your clothes." She grabbed Mori's hand again and took him down the hallway.
Shippo stared at them until they were out of his line of vision.
Later
Mori exited the bathroom. He'd cleaned his hand and borrowed one of Shippo's T-shirts. His bloody clothes were in his hands.
"Oh, you're done." Kagome was leaning against the wall. "I'll see you tomorrow 'kay?"
Mori couldn't help but feel Kagome wanted him out as soon as possible but, nevertheless, he didn't hesitate to go out the door. Well, I guess try to go out the door is a better way of putting it.
"Where do you think you're going?" Shippo blocked the door. "Kagome you should know better than to be so rude to a guest. It's late. Almost 1 a.m. You should just stay here the night."
"No. I think he should leave. He'll be more comfortable at his own place." Kagome argued.
"I'm afraid that if he doesn't get enough sleep then his grades will suffer."
"As if. You don't care about grades." Kagome said.
"It's dangerous to go out at night on your own."
"Mori is one of the strongest and biggest people I know. I don't think anyone will be trying to mug him."
"He'll catch a cold."
"You're telling me you're worried about him getting sick but you almost started a fight with him outside?"
"Better safe than sorry right?" Shippo said.
"Shippo, he is not staying the night."
"I can't believe you're making him stay the night!" Kagome said.
"What do you mean you can't believe it? I'm looking out for this guy's well-being." Shippo said innocently.
"How'd you even manage to get him to agree to this? You used some kind of kitsune power on him, didn't you?" She accused him.
"Don't be silly. We don't have powers Kagome. I merely only suggest things to people and I usually get my way is all."
"You. Used. Powers!"
Shippo wagged his finger. "Suggested." He corrected.
Kagome held her head in her hands. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I've been given the duty to know about any guy that waltzes in here with you. That's why. And don't act like you're not happy he's here."
"What are you talking about?!" She screamed at him.
"When I first came to visit you, there was a scent all over you. I thought it was that girl Haruhi's but it didn't match. Then I see you with this guy and I find out it's the same smell. It's all over you again today so don't act like you haven't been touchy feely."
"You're insane. He doesn't even know I'm a girl."
Shippo put his hands up and gave her a shocked look. "You're lying AND taking advantage of a homosexual? I never plagued you as that type of person Kags."
She blushed. "I'm telling you there is nothing going on between us! Sure he's cute, strong, smart, a gentleman and-" She shut her mouth when she realized what she was saying and by the growing smirk on Shippo's face he already caught on.
Kagome began to get even more flustered. "Why am I even telling you this? I don't have to explain anything to you!"
"Just accept it Kagome. You like him don't you?" He prodded her.
"I already said I don't have to tell you anything!" Kagome continued to yell.
He put his hand to his chin, not listening to a word of what she was saying. "My. My. It seems we're going to have to have the talk sooner than I thought. You know? About the birds and the bees."
"Bu-but." She stuttered, "I'm older than you! It's supposed to be the other way around."
"Correction. You were never older than me. Even when I was a small kit I was older than you. I'm more than five hundred years older than you now."
The raven haired girl was about to explode. "That's it. I'm putting my foot down! We're going outside."
Shippo took a few steps back. "Why?" He asked, suspicious.
Kagome gave an eerily cheery smile that didn't match with her threatening body language a single bit. "We never got to have our training fight when you first got here. Don't you think now would be a great time?"
He gave a nervous laugh. "Actually, I'm not sure about that."
"Wrong answer." She said sweetly.
.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`
'Why am I here?' Mori thought to himself. 'I could have easily called my driver to pick me up.' He sighed.
He sat down on the guest bed and ruffled his hair. After a minute of staring at the ground he glanced at his vibrating phone.
.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`
"Don't you think we should talk about this instead?" Shippo asked.
Kagome began wrapping up her good hand with sports tape making him gulp. "Relax" She said. "You have the advantage after all. My dominant hand is injured."
"Yeah but..." His eyes looked at the murderous air flickering off of her. "I'm not sure how much of an advantage that gives me right now."
She pounded her hands together. "Ready to have some fun?" Her flaming eyes dimmed when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
It was Kimi.
"Kimi? What is it?"
"I've been looking for you. Your friend was requesting you." She told her.
'Requesting?' She thought.
Kimi took Kagome's good hand and led her away. "I'll take you to his room."
"But…" Kagome looked back and saw no trace of Shippo. 'That sneaky fox.' She sinisterly thought.
They stopped in front of a door. "This is where he is staying for the time being." She told her.
Before Kagome could ask her what Mori had wanted she was already walking away.
She shrugged and opened the door without warning. Kagome turned beet red at what she saw next and quickly looked back at the ground. "Sorry to interrupt." She squeaked out. 'Why didn't I knock first!?' She scolded herself.
Mori looked back at her without a care. He was still wearing pants so why was Kagome blushing all of a sudden?
"Here."
She looked back up just in time to catch the phone he tossed to her. She looked at him in confusion before holding it up against her ear. "Hello?"
"Kaggy! I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to know what type of sweets you liked to help you get better! Do you like vanilla? Wait, you like chocolate for sure right?"
Mori walked back into the bathroom as she talked.
"It's nice to hear from you Honey. I sure do like chocolate." She said smirking.
"Great! Ooh. Do you like strawberries? I like strawberries. Wait do you eat sprinkles? I love sprinkles!"
Seeing how long the rest of this conversation was going to go, she decided she'd temporarily sit on the bed.
"We can put strawberries on it!" Honey excitedly said.
Sitting became laying.
"What if we got a layered cake!?" He asked.
Laying became resting.
"Would you mind if I got a piece too? Kaggy? Kaggoomme?"
.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`
Mori walked out of the bathroom from the shower. That Shippo guy's clothes barely fit him.
As he left the bathroom, the first thing he saw was a sleeping Kagome. The phone was still in her hand but nowhere near her face.
He walked over to her. He would have taken Kagome to her room…if he knew where it was, and it was probably too late at night to find many servants walking around the hallway. He sighed, turning his phone off and put it on the dresser. What was he going to do with this situation?
He looked at Kagome's serene face. Waking him up was definitely not an option. He sighed again, picking Kagome up. Before he could place her properly in the bed, he noticed just how light Kagome was. He was barely heavier than Haruhi. Strange.
After his pause, he flipped up the covers and placed Kagome properly in the bed.
Just as he was about to get in himself, there was a voice in his head that told him that was not a good idea. He wasn't sure why he got the feeling that he shouldn't get in the bed as well, but he had learned to trust his gut.
He pulled the blankets over her and walked towards one of the cushioned chairs in the room instead.
The Next Day
Kagome slowly opened her eyes and found that she was in a bed. Weird. She didn't remember going back to her room last night. Hadn't she passed out in Mori's…
She sprung up.
She'd slept in Takashi's room yesterday.
She frantically looked at the bed. He wasn't there. Had he gone somewhere else to sleep? Her eyes moved over to the chair which held the incapacitated guy.
'Oh. He slept over there." She looked over to the clock. "We should get up." She muttered.
Kagome slid out of the bed and walked to him. When she got halfway there, she stopped and fell down on her knee, holding her chest.
'Ugh. I fell asleep with these stupid things on.' She thought. Note to self: Never wear tight bindings as you're sleeping. 'This hurts a lot.' She grimaced down at the floor.
.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`
Mori grunted as he lifted his head, slowly opening his eyes. There'd been a small thump sound that had woken him up. His eyes focused in on what seemed to be Kagome doubled over in pain, clutching her chest.
Without hesitation, he quickly got up and kneeled down in front of her, checking to see what was wrong. It looked like Kagome was holding her chest, then he remembered something.
"Kagome."
She looked up at him.
"Take off your shirt."
She blinked at him.
He looked at her seriously. Why was Kagome looking at him like that?
"I'm not taking off my shirt!" She yelled at him.
He reached for the buttons on her shirt, ignoring what she'd just said. This was not the time to get body shy. 'What if the wound opened up?' He thought, remembering the bandages around her torso.
She tried to smack his hands away and protectively held her injured hand in front of her shirt buttons. "Takashi! Stop it right now!" She ordered.
What was Kagome getting so worked up about? He was only telling him to take his shirt off.
He tried again, but this time Kagome closed his hand over his, not looking at him.
"Takashi."
He paused when he saw the face he was making.
"Stop." She finally said.
"Kagome…" He whispered.
The door slammed open, startling them both. Shippo walked in with a not so pleasant expression. He threw a plastic bag at Mori which he caught.
"Your clothes are clean. Get dressed." Shippo told him. His eyes went over to Kagome. "Wash up in your room. Breakfast will be coming to you both shortly."
They both watched as Kagome got up, still holding her hand over her chest and exited the room.
Shippo glared at Mori before slamming the door behind him.
If the Shippo had liked anything about him at all before this, he definitely didn't anymore.
Mori sat on the left side of the car while Kagome sat on the right. Her head rested on the glass of the window. Milo, of course, was driving. Somehow, he'd talked Mori into letting him drive them both to school.
'*sigh* Milo can be so persistent sometimes.' Kagome thought. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Mori fidget in his seat.
She crooked her head around to look at him. "If you're worried about Honey, I'm sure he's okay. You should have more faith in him Takashi."
To Kagome's pleasure her words seemed to calm him down a small bit, although that wasn't the only thing that was on his mind.
Even though her words seemed to work, she couldn't help but remember what had happened that morning.
'That was way too close.' She thought to herself. If it had gotten any worse she would have resorted to violence and she really didn't want to fight with him over something so stupid. And it wasn't like she could blame him. He thought she was a guy after all. Seeing another guy shirtless wouldn't be a big deal.
"You have arrived." Milo said in a monotone voice. Kagome assumed he was trying to jokingly sound like a GPS.
"Thanks for driving us." She said. She reached for the door handle only to be met by the feeling of brisk air. Mori stood behind the door, holding it open for her.
'I didn't even notice he left the car.'
Kagome stepped out of the car. "I could have opened the door. My other hand isn't dead." She said under her breath.
As she waved Milo off and turned around, she saw the two of them were under the watchful eyes of several girls outside in the courtyard and a few looking through the windows.
'This is...creepy.' Kagome thought.
They both began to walk to the school's doors right after exiting the car. Mori didn't seem to mind the staring at all as the girls' eyes moved with them.
Kagome began thinking to herself and slowed in her step. Suddenly, she hastened her pace and began pushing Mori in the back in an attempt to make him go faster. He gave Kagome a questioning look.
"We need to hurry up before anyone else sees us." She told him.
He still didn't budge.
"Don't you know what's going on?" Her voice asked. "They just saw us come out of the same vehicle together! People are going to get the wrong idea and think-"
She was interrupted by girlish squeaks and squeals.
"I can't believe it!"
"Has our favorite pairing come true?"
Kagome sighed and rested her head on his back as a sign of defeat. This only increased their suspicions as they mistook it as a sign of compassion.
'Why is this my life?" She thought.
With the Hosts
"Why am I dressed up like this?" Haruhi asked.
"What better way to sneak into an elementary school than to wear disguises?" Tamaki said.
Before she could answer, Kagome and Mori entered the Host Club room.
Kagome looked towards her. "Woah. I'm gone for a day and you get to dress up Haruhi? No fair." Kagome pouted as she walked to her.
Haruhi was wearing an elementary school girl costume and beside her was Honey in the boy's.
"I didn't want this at all." Haruhi told her. "And why aren't we all dressing up? Why is it only me and Honey-senpai?"
Kagome slightly bent down to be on eye level with Haruhi. "I think you look cute. Just try to act girly. Wouldn't want anyone to think you're a guy in girl's clothing. That would be ridiculous." Kagome joked.
Haruhi's eyebrow twitched. "I guess you would know something about that, wouldn't you?"
Kagome gulped and forced a smile as she backed up.
"Since you know so much about that, then maybe you can dress up too and help me out. All for the sake of keeping this infiltration on track of course." Haruhi said.
Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "You may be on to something. Though we only have a girl's uniform left but you could definitely pass as a girl Kagome."
Tamaki clasped his hands together. "You're right! I'll go get the uniform right now." Before he could take one step he could hear the sound of Kagome cracking her fingers.
"Yes." Her voice was threatening. "Get the uniform and let's see what'll happen."
"On second thought, I don't think we have another costume. Silly me." He nervously laughed.
Mori looked at her right hand. "That didn't hurt?"
She smiled. "Not at all." She hid her spasming hand behind her back. "My hand feels great."
Haruhi and Honey snuck into Shiro's classroom.
"Now let's see what we can find." She whispered to him.
The other hosts walked right through the doorway.
"It's nice to be back in our old class." The twins said loudly.
"What was the point for the two of us to wear these if you guys were going to stroll around and look too?" Haruhi yelled.
"Don't worry. No one's going to find us." Hikaru said.
Footsteps echoed throughout the hallway. Everyone panicked and ducked under the tables.
"We've got to be quiet." Haruhi said, motioning with her hand to zip it.
'So adorable.' The twins and Tamaki thought.
"Hey, look at what I found." Kagome sat on top of a desk, legs crossed.
"Kagome!" They all whispered.
"Huh?" She looked at them. "What are you guys doing?"
The sounds of the steps were getting closer.
Mori pulled her down and clasped his hand over her mouth. The more she protested, the closer he brought her to his body.
'Why am I getting a feeling of deja vu?' She thought.
They could hear the footsteps walk past them and soon it was quiet again. Kagome managed to pull Mori's hand away and pointed at the picture in her hands. "I think it's obvious what's going on here." She said, holding up the picture. It showed Shiro enjoying playing the piano. Beside him was a girl who was smiling at him.
The hosts exchanged glances at one another.
"Get out of the way. I want to see what's happening too!" Kaoru tried to push Kagome out of the way. They were all crowded around the indoor window to the classical music club.
"Wait. I see something." Kagome said. "It's Shiro. He's watching that same girl play the piano."
"It's sweet." Haruhi whispered.
"Sweet? He's so ignorant. That girl definitely wanted to play with him and he shooed her away like a pesky insect. I'm going to go give him a piece of my mind." Kagome raised up her shirt sleeves as emphasis. Kyoya put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head no.
Shiro appeared by the door. "What are you doing here?
'Guess we were too loud.' They thought.
"Get out and leave me alone!" Shiro exclaimed.
Tamaki's usual perky face dimmed. He walked over and hoisted the little boy over his shoulder.
"Let me go!" He struggled.
"Quit thrashing around." Tamaki muttered.
"Now we're talking! You earned some respect points Tamaki." Kagome playfully hit his arm.
"Re-really?" He gave a goofy smile as stars developed in his eyes.
At the Host Club
The hosts had brought Shiro to the club room. He was still struggling on Tamaki's shoulder when they walked in.
He threw the boy onto a couch. "I will be teaching you how to play the piano for the rest of the week." Tamaki told him.
Shiro frowned. "Why?"
"You never wanted to make women happy. Only one. That girl you were with."
Shiro made a surprised sound.
"You didn't come to me to be a host. You came looking for someone to help you become a full-fledged man. And the only way for you to do that is to express your feelings to her."
Tamaki went and pulled back the yellow curtain, unveiling a grand piano.
"When did we get a piano in here?" Haruhi asked.
"It is a music room after all." They all explained.
"Why wouldn't there be one?"
"It's always been there."
"It sure has."
"We just had it covered up."
Haruhi aggravatedly sighed.
"I will teach you to play the piano. You will come here anytime you are able to. Recess, lunch, all free time." Tamaki ordered.
Shiro stared down at the floor. "Why are you helping me?"
Tamaki looked at him with kind eyes. "That girl looked like she wanted nothing more than to play the piano with you."
In the Morning
Flower petals flew through the opening door. The Hosts wore white tuxes and bowed down to the little girl that entered the room.
There sat two grand pianos. Shiro sat at one of them.
He turned around in his seat to look at her. "Do you want to play with me?"
She glanced at the bowing hosts and then back to Shiro. She beamed at him. "Sure."
Music filled the room as the two of them played in perfect sync.
10 days later
"You exchange e-mails with her everyday now that she's moved?" A girl asked.
"Yeah. I like her but she can get pretty jealous for an elementary kid so let's just keep this our little secret, alright ladies?"
The group of girls fawned over Shiro.
"Naughty boys are so attractive." A girl kissed him on the cheek.
Tamaki would have pounced on him if the twins hadn't been holding him back. "Those are my girls you're stealing!"
"I wouldn't know. It's so easy to take your customers. There just might be a new host king now." Shiro winked.
Not much could be heard over Tamaki's yelling.
Shiro went back to entertaining when he saw Kagome handing out a few refreshments for her own customers. Shiro balled his fists before walking towards her.
She'd finished putting the sandwich platter back down when he pulled on her pants leg. Kagome smiled and sat on the ground to meet his eyes.
"Look. I'm sorry about hurting your hand and some other stuff I did. But don't go bringing a lot into this. This is only an apology."
"Aww~" The girls said.
Kagome rolled her eyes at his dismissiveness and brought him in a hug. "I forgive you." She said and laughed at the boy's blushing.
"What do you think you're doing!" Shiro yelled at her as she hugged him tighter.
"Kaggy, I want a hug too!" Honey said.
Kagome let go of Shiro enough for him to escape. She held out her arms for Honey as he happily ran into her arms. She swept Honey up in a hug, twirling around.
"Wee~!"
Honey moved awkwardly in her arms and hit her right hand in the process.
A shockwave of nerves went through her arm. She was able to maneuver Honey to her left hand and let her right dangle to the side.
"Did I hurt you? I'm sorry!" Honey's eyes started to tear up.
She sat him back on the floor. "It's okay. It was an accident."
Mori took her hand. "Do you need an ice pack?"
"No. It doesn't hurt anymore." She waved his offer off. Honey clung to her.
"I'm really sorry! I would give you the cake I brought for you to cheer you up but I ended up eating it on the way to school." Honey was on the brink of tears.
"There's no need to cry." She placed her hand on his head. "It wasn't your fault."
"It's another family moment!"
"So cute."
"This is the first one I've ever seen."
Kyoya glanced at them, making a mental note to himself.
At Home
"I wonder what's for dinner." Shippo whistled as he locked the door back.
Suddenly, something knocked him on the side of the head, landing him on the ground.
"What the hell!" He yelled. He looked behind him to see Kagome with her foot still in the air.
"That's what you get for yesterday." She said.
Shippo held his head. "Di-did you just kick me in the head!?"
"Tch. What gave it away? Maybe it was the fact that my foot is still up." She said sarcastically.
He rubbed his throbbing head. "Haha. Now we're good, right?"
She put her leg back down. "I suppose so."
He gave a sigh of relief.
She turned around to go back to her room. "For tonight."
A chill shot up his spine. Needless to say, Shippo didn't get much sleep that night.
Author's Notes: Aah Shippo. Sounds like he really dug his grave huh? While the next chapter is in progress just remember: Never eat another person's cake. It's wrong! I will also be updating the chapters all day today so check in for that today.
See you next time.