Chapter 12
The Road Back to Normal!/Covering the Famous Host Club!
It was yet another late night for Reika and Kyoya as they went over the Host Club's budget over the last month.
"Range's manga is doing great." Reika said looking at the numbers on her laptop. "We sold out in seconds, those girls sure love Renge's idea of what happens in the Host Club. As for Tamaki's special, I think we'll need to order more copies soon too."
"Did you reserve the traditional garden for tomorrow?" Kyoya asked her as he typed on his computer. He knew that she did, but he liked watching her reaction whenever he questioned her competency.
She looked away from the screen, narrowing her eyes at him. "No, I didn't." she lied, catching his eyes widen in surprise as he looked away from his computer to catch her expression at him. "Two can play this game, you know."
"But you did reserve the gardens, correct?" he asked her, his face was expressionless as he tried to keep from smiling. His eyebrows gave him away to the fact that he was joking.
"Yes." she said rolling her eyes at him. "Of course I did."
"Good." he said standing up and closing his laptop as he started to pack up. "Then we can go home now."
"It's already eight." she said looking at her wrist watch as she too started to pack up. "Where did the time go?"
"Between setting up the Host Club's calendar for next semester, the online auctions, and the product testing. It's surprising we finished earlier than usual." Kyoya said as they walked to the door.
"Don't forget your cooking lessons." she told him, as they walked down the hall.
"I'll have you know that my cooking was explendid even before you started to teach me." he told her.
She laughed. "If you wanted to eat gourmet ramen for the rest of your life." she replied as they walked outside.
"The Ootori's have great chiefs at our disposal." he argued back. "So you don't have to worry about me going hungry."
"What about learning and doing things for yourself?" she asked him triumphantly. "Wasn't that what you told me when I didn't want to learn how to sew?"
"And now you could have a successful career as a seamstress." he teased her, smiling.
"The Niigata's have great tailors at our disposal." she joked, recalling his words. "So you don't have to worry about me walked around with tears in my clothes."
His eyes narrowed at her and her joke. "Sometimes I regret making you my assistant." he said, though not meaning it.
"Too bad." she said, sitting on her scooter and putting on her helmet. "Because I'm here to stay."
"Drive safely." he told her, smiling.
"Don't forget about our presentation tomorrow." she said, starting her scooter.
"It's Tamaki you should be worried about." he said.
"I know you already took care of him." she told him, a satisfied smile on her face as she drove off.
"Of course you do." he laughed to himself when she was gone.
Later the next day, the Host Club members were entertaining their guest at the garden while in traditional Japanese costumes. Because today Kyoya was entertaining guests of his own, it was up to Reika to do analyze and take notes of the Host-guest interactions.
"But we can't do this, Tamaki." the guest said, while she was wrapped up in Tamaki's embrace. "There are so many girls who love you, and if we get any closer I'm afraid they will all hate me for it."
Tamaki pulled her closer. "Princess, these beautiful hydrangeas will keep us hidden from the others. You don't need to worry for this moment I belong to no one but you. My love, the spirit of the hydrangeas-"
Reika stopped listening. "Seriously?" she asked herself as she walked away from the hydrangeas and the couple behind them. "Girls actually fall for that?"
She walked off to observe how Hikaru and Kaoru were doing with their guests. They were playing a game, one that Kaoru was losing.
"Sorry, Kaoru!" the girls said while laughing at his misfortunate attempt at playing the game.
"No way! I lost again?" Kaoru said, still trying to match up the seashells.
"Go easy on him princesses." Hikaru said to the rescue of his brother. "Kaoru is quite the crybaby."
"Here we go." Reika whispered to herself as she waited for the twins' performance.
"Hikaru, that's not true!" Kaoru said, but despite his argument his voice sounded like he was near tears. "I am not a cryba-."
Hikaru grabbed his brother's chin. "Ah, so you're going to deny it, huh?" he said while his brother blushed. "How about when the two of us are alone playing punishment games? Tell us what happens then, Kaoru."
"But that's because you-" Kaoru didn't get to finish as Hikaru traced two fingers up and down his brother's throat.
"Ah!" the girls screamed excited. "What happens?! What happens?!"
"And there it is." Reika said laughing as she shook her head at the reaction of the girls. She made a note of it in her notebook and moved on to Kyoya and his guests.
Kyoya rarely hosted guests, today it was to keep Tamaki's other guests occupied while Tamaki gave each of the girls some time alone with him. At any normal circumstances, Kyoya would have preferred to be taking notes rather than teaching his guests about the stream, but since Reika was doing his job he didn't worry.
"I had it specially made for all of you, hoping it would express my desire to spend all four season with you." he said as he talked about the stream, while he had other intentions in mind when he pulled out his notebook. "So then, what do you say, ladies? This fall there's an autumn leaves tea party with a limited number of invitations."
"Oh, sign me up!" the girls said immediately.
"Great." Kyoya said writing down their names. When he looked up he saw Reika rolling her eyes as she wrote on her own notebook, she looked up at him and gave him a thumbs up as smiling before she moved on to Honey and Mori.
Reika saw the two friends tried to work other as one. Mori was the arms and the body while Honey was the mouth that Mori was trying to feed soba to. She genuinely laughed, amused at the upperclassmen's antics. She had seen them practice the same thing hundreds of times, but to make things look more adorable, Mori was purposely missing Honey's mouth as he tried to feed the blond boy.
"He's so cute!" the girl shriek.
Reika moved past the cute duo and tried to find where Haruhi had gone off to. She found the younger girl in the middle of the hydrangeas looking peaceful and pensive. Haruhi and Tamaki had a lot more in common than they knew.
"Are you taking a break?" Reika asked as she closed her notebook.
"Yeah, I was just thinking about how I'm finally getting used to all this." Haruhi said.
Reika laughed. "In between all the drama, costumes, and the crazy ideas that Tamaki and Kyoya come up with, I don't think I'll ever get used to it." she said. Haruhi laughed with her.
"Haruhi, duck!" Tamaki said frantically, and out of nowhere, as he came charging in through the hydrangeas. A soccer ball was just about to hit Haruhi, but Tamaki jumped on top of her, making them both fall on the ground before the ball hit either of them.
Reika looked around for them as the dust settled down. "Are you guys okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine, I think." Haruhi said to her friend while Tamaki stood up with anger in his eyes that surprised both the girls.
"Hikaru!" Tamaki yelled. "You came this close to snuffing out the light of Haruhi's life!"
"That would have sounded more convincing if you weren't stepping on her." Reika said while pushing Tamaki off of Haruhi and helping her friend up.
"Hey, it's your fault for not catching the ball in the first place, boss." Hikaru said while he and his brother shrugged simultaneously.
"Yeah, who knew he would be so bad at kamadi." Kaoru said. "So much for him being the genchi of Ouran Academy." he said, making Tamaki angrier than he was before.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Reika asked pulling out a first-aid kit.
"It's okay." Haruhi said. "I'm getting used to that too. Hey, why do you have a first-aid kit with you?"
Reika rolled her eyes. "Kyoya made me carry this around when I was taking notes, in case something happened to one of our guest." she said.
"Ah," Haruhi said nodding. "Knowing Kyoya-senpai, it probably has a bug on it."
Reika laughed. "I already checked." she said shrugging it off.
"Of course you did." Haruhi said. "Did you find any?"
"Surprisingly, no." Reika said. "Which means he probably trust me a lot more now."
"That's good." Haruhi said.
"Well, check this out!" Tamaki said to the twins, trying to end the argument that Reika and Haruhi were talking over. He set up the ball and prepared to kick. "Star-line kick!" he yelled, the ball went up with velocity and power.
"What?!" Hikaru said. "So fast!" Kaoru said as the ball heading towards them. And since it was Tamaki who kicked it, it went up and far away. "Take care of yourself!" the twins said while waving to the ball as it sailed over the school building. "Bye."
Tamaki soaked while Reika's eyes went wide with surprise. "I better check on where that ball went." she said pulling out her cell phone and going to find Kyoya.
She found Kyoya when he was getting off the phone. "I just go the strangest call," he told Reika when he saw her. "Apparently a soccer ball flew through the widow of the Newspaper Club and hit the president on the head."
Reika cringed. "That might have been Tamaki's soccer ball." she told him.
Kyoya sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Well, we need to go to the Newspaper Club and apologize." he said.
"Of course." Reika said. "I'll go gather everyone."
The Host Club entered the Newspaper Club. Tamaki went in first followed by Kyoya and Reika, Haruhi and the twins, Honey and Mori entered last.
"Really, we're terribly sorry about that." Tamaki apologized to Akira Komatsuzawa, the president of the Newspaper Club, the one who was hit in the head by Tamaki's soccer ball.
Most of the Host Club members had made themselves useful while Tamaki was apologizing. Haruhi, Honey, and Mori were sweeping up the glass shards. The twins were looking over the Newspaper Club's newspaper articles, while Kyoya and Reika stood behind Tamaki.
"Don't worry, it's no big deal." Komatsuzawa said, being more polite than both Kyoya and Reika knew he really was. "Could've happened to anyone, right? Just a ball flying through a window and hitting me upside the head."
Tamaki was feeling guilty, unaware that he was being manipulated. "Please, accept our apology." he said nervously.
"Well, this works out perfectly," Komatsuzawa said making both Reika and Kyoya look at each other worriedly. "I was just thinking about approaching the Host Club about a cover story. I don't suppose you would be interested."
"I didn't know we had a Newspaper Club." Reika heard Haruhi say.
"It's more gossip rag than newspaper." Hikaru said, while he and his brother held up the newspapers they were reading.
"Yeah, like a trashy tabloid." Kaoru agreed. "It's filled with stories about scandalous love affairs, family power struggles, and junk like that."
Reika noticed one of the newspaper stacks next to her. Her eyes widened at one particular story that made her stop breathing.
"It's just a lame gossip rag that specializes in stirring up scandals." Hikaru said. Reika picked up the newspaper and showed it to Kyoya.
His eyes widened in surprise that he barely had any time to shift back to his neutral facial expression and hide the newspaper behind him.
"And everyone knows it's all lies." the twins said together.
"Nothing but lies." Reika mouthed the words sarcastically to Kyoya, who motioned for her not to panic.
"So nobody reads it anymore." the twins finished together, making Komatsuzawa jump from his chair offended.
"You know, I guess we kind of have lost sight of the truth," Komatsuzawa said. "Because we've been so worried about bringing in more readers." he looked down pensively. "It's a shame we just now realized our error, now that the paper is at risk."
Tamaki looked surprised and worried. Uh-oh. Reika thought.
"We finally realized what we should have been reporting to the students of Ouran." Komatsuzawa continued before him and his two fellow club members bowed. "Help us, please. For our last paper of the semester, we would like to do an up close special edition revealing the charms of Ouran's Host Club members. I'm begging you, without your help our club will close."
Tamaki chuckled, wiping the hair out of his eyes. "You can count on us." he said, taking everyone by surprise as he played his beloved role as the knight in shining armor. He bowed. "On behalf of the Host Club I-"
Kyoya pushed Tamaki out of the way, keeping him from finishing. "We'll have to decline." Kyoya said, smiling politely. Reika breathed out in relief.
"But Kyoya, he got hurt because of me!" Tamaki said outraged. "What's the big deal, huh? So they want to do a story on us..." he trailed on.
"Sorry, we have a policy prohibiting us from sharing any personal information to anyone other than our guests. But we would be more than happy to pay any medical expenses related to your injury." Kyoya explained while holding Tamaki back.
"And another thing," Kaoru said. "What makes you think we want to help you spread more rumors and gossip. We have a reputation to uphold and you'd just ruin it."
"Besides you guys cause a lot of trouble for other people." Hikaru said. "And who would want to get mixed up in that?"
Reika looked at the ceiling to prevent herself from laughing as she thought about how hypocritical it was for Hikaru to say that.
"I understand." Komatsuzawa said over-dramatically as he slumped in his chair. "Well, I guess you really can't erase the sins of the past, can you? People won't even give you the opportunity to try and redeem yourself. Oh, my head is killing me!"
"President!" the Newspaper Club members said in union with genuine concern as they checked on their president.
"I'm okay." Komatsuzawa said like he was in between tears to try and bring the rest of the Host Club members to his side. "Don't worry you two. Oh, no! I'm getting dizzy again."
"President!"
"No, wait, I'm fine. Ah!"
"President!"
"I guess all we can do at this point is disband with grace."
"No, you don't have to." Tamaki said, making the Newspaper Club members look up and listen. "You can always make a fresh start, we'll help. We will rally the power of our Host Club and we can re-establish the Newspaper Club together!"
"Well, count us out." the twins said as they dragged Haruhi out the door.
"You're way too trusting boss, we can't go along with everything you do forever." Hikaru said.
"Yeah, we've had enough." Kaoru said.
"We're leaving too, Tamaki." Kyoya called back to Tamaki as he and the rest of the Host Club went towards the door. "We're holding an evaluation meeting. Mostly about you."
"Sorry, Tamaki." Reika said without turning around.
"Hold it." Tamaki said, making them all stop. "How can you be so heartless. These men are about to lose their club, don't you feel sorry for them?" he turned around with sympathetic tears in his eyes. "Their family is breaking up. As your president I demand you help them and that is a direct order!"
Everything stood still until the twins, Kyoya, and Reika turned back and glared at Tamaki. "We're not going to do it!" they said together.
Later that same day, the Host Club went back to Music Room #3. Tamaki was still pouting about the club members refusing to do what he asked them to do. Mori and Honey were having tea like any other day. The twins were playing around with Haruhi, making her laugh which just made Tamaki sulk even more.
"Should we even talk about it?" Reika whispered to Kyoya as they were typing on their laptops like usually. "While they're here?"
"They are all too preoccupied to listen." Kyoya told her in his usual calm tone. He took out the newspaper and laid it on the table. "And we have nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about?" Reika asked him outraged. "This literally spells out the fact that we are- you know." she said looking around to the other members who still didn't know.
"Engaged?" he finished her sentence. Her eyes widened at his cavalier way of approaching the subject.
"Shh!" she said, her worry made him smile involuntarily. "Now what are we going to do about this? You know at some point you're going to give in to his wishes."
"I most certainly will not!" he said, making her give him a dubious face.
"Yes, you will. You know you will and so does everyone else." she said. "If we want to keep this," she pointed at newspaper. "From being taken seriously instead of the joke the Newspaper Club is, we have to think of something."
"You're worrying far too much about this." he said. "Not even the person who wrote that article believes it's true."
"Did you check the date?" she asked him.
"Yes, it's from the latest edition." he said, still not as concerned as he should have been, at least not on the outside. "It's just a coincidence."
She sighed, defeated. She knew he cared more about this than he was willing to show her, she relaxed because she also knew that he would take care of it.
"Come on," she said standing up and motioning for the rest of the Host Club to join her. "I'm getting worried about Tamaki."
They watched their 'fearless' leader play around with the soccer ball that hit Komatsuzawa in the head while soaking in a corner.
"Well, he's obviously upset with us." Hikaru said.
"Yeah, he hasn't even changed clothes." Kaoru said.
"I hate it when he ignores us when we're right in front of him," Kyoya said. "He's such a child."
"Nah, Tama-chan is just a lonely guy, you know." Honey said from his tea table with Mori.
"A club is like a family, their family is about to be broken up. I feel sorry for them." Tamaki mumbled.
Haruhi sighed. "I hate to give in, but would it really be that bad to help them out with their newspaper?" she asked. Reika smiled to herself.
"What?" Hikaru said surprised.
"Since when are you taking his side?" Kaoru asked.
"Since never." Haruhi cleared up. "Just listen, okay, I know any moment now he's gonna look over here with those puppy dog eyes that he uses when he wants something, and none of us will be able to say no and so he'll win."
"Let me guess," the twins said together. "You're speaking from experience. Aren't you?"
"Ah," Haruhi said, thinking better before answering. "Besides, maybe I'm wrong but isn't this the kind of thing you guys usually go for?"
"Well, no." the twins said. "This seems like more trouble than it's worth."
"What about you, Honey-senpai?" she asked.
"Count me out." he said. "And I have this cake to eat and Takashi sticks with me, right?"
Mori grunted in agreement.
Haruhi looked over at Tamaki. Tamaki looked back at her and everyone else with his puppy dog eyes.
Reika held in a laugh as Kyoya fixed his glasses, falling prey to the puppy dog eyes. "There will be some conditions." he said, making Tamaki look up. "The outline for their article will be submitted by us, interviews are strictly prohibited, it's vital that our client's identities is kept confidential, and any mention of Reika will be excluded from the article. Do we agree?" Tamaki barked in agreement.
"Well, if you think it's cool, Kyoya-senpai." Hikaru started. "Then we do too." Kaoru finished.
"I'll do since Kyo-chan says it's okay." Honey said with a bright smile. Mori grunted in agreement.
"What about you, Haruhi?" Kyoya asked, smiling.
"Since everyone agrees there's no point me disagreeing." she said. "But why are you blocking Reika from the article? Isn't she a part of the club too?"
"Given the Newspaper Club's history with starting rumors, it would be best if Reika's name is not mentioned." Kyoya said shutting his folder. "If that's all, I should tell the Newspaper Club that we agree to do their article." he walked off into the closet and getting a first-aid kit out. "Are you coming, Reika?" he asked from the door.
"Sure." she said excusing herself from the Host members. Kyoya handed her the first-aid kit as they started to walk to the door.
It didn't take long for them to reach the Newspaper Club. Kyoya knocked on the door and they were let in.
"What brings you here, Ootori?" Komatsuzawa asked as they approached his desk.
"This is my assistant, Reika Niigata." Kyoya introduced her.
"Pleasure to meet you." Komatsuzawa said to her. He looked from Kyoya to Reika, a hidden smile on his mind.
"Like wise." she said, though not meaning it.
"I would like to formally accept your offer to cover the Host Club." Kyoya said politely. "That is, if you follow our conditions."
"Of course!" Komatsuzawa agreed. "If you'll allow us to cover you, we promise to observe your conditions."
"Well, then you may start tomorrow." Kyoya said.
"Excellent!" Komatsuzawa said.
There was a pause. "So how is that bump on your forehead feeling?" Kyoya asked.
"Oh, that." Komatsuzawa brushed it off, like he wasn't fake fainting only a few hours ago. "It's no big deal, I hardly feel it anymore. I owe a lot to this bump, because without it we would never have come together for this article."
"That's true, but we're still very sorry it happened." Kyoya said smiling. He motioned for Reika to give him the box. "I brought you something as an apology of sorts. This is a first-aid kit made by my family's company."
"Thank you." Komatsuzawa said, politely grateful. "I appreciate it."
"No problem, please excuse us." Kyoya said, as he and Reika turned to leave.
"Oh, it just dawned on me." Komatsuzawa said, making them stop. "Your family runs the Ootori Group, right? They manufacture medical equipment, don't they?"
"We mostly deal with hospital management." Kyoya said turning around.
"And, Niigata, your family owns the Niigata Enterprises, correct?" Komatsuzawa asked. "Don't they deal with security services?"
"That's right." she said, her voice as leveled as Kyoya's.
"I do find it interesting how two very different companies would be making such a big investment in each other." Komatsuzawa taunted, wanting them to know that he knew.
"How did you acquire that information?" Kyoya asked, still smiling politely.
"My father is a president as well, of the Komatsuzawa Publishing Firm." Komatsuzawa said.
"Yes, I am well aware of that." Kyoya said. "So being president of the Newspaper Club is your way of preparing to take over the family company?"
"Yes, to an extent." Komatsuzawa said. "But I have this younger brother, he's a bright young man, and my father is very proud of him you see. So now my father has decided to turn future management of the company to my younger brother." there was a lot of resentment in his voice. "And thereby passing over me. The eldest son, firstborn. However, if I'm able to finish my third year at Ouran Academy as the president of a successful newspaper club, I think he might reconsider my canadency as his successor. Do you understand? I cannot allow this club to fall apart, no matter what."
"Please excuse us." Kyoya said, walking away with Reika.
"Are you okay?" Reika asked him as they exited the Newspaper Club.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? He does know, after all." Kyoya said.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." she told him. "Right now, I want to know if you are okay."
"Why won't I be?" he asked her, he smiled but it was a fake one.
"Don't pull that with me." she told him, taking him by surprise. "I know you are in a similar position with wanting to take over your father's company. I know that can't be easy, being the third son and all. But I want you to know that whatever comes, I'll be right here."
He looked at her and took in all that she said. "T-thank you." he stuttered out gratitude before looking away from her, embarrassed at his sudden insecurity.
She smiled, sighing. "What type of assistant would I be if I didn't help out my boss." she joked. "Especially when my boss is actually my fiance."
He smiled at her. "Do you think we got enough evidence?" he asked her.
"From the bug in the first-aid kit?" she asked not at all surprised. "I think so, but if we leave in there he might say a lot more incriminating stuff."
"You have a point." he said. "Well, I guess we'll have to go through with the article tomorrow."
"It'll be okay." she assured him as they headed back to Music Room #3.
"I hope you're right." he admitted.
The next day, when classes were let out, the Host Club meet outside in the gardens near the hedge maze.
Reika sat in the shade while she bemusedly observed the Host Club members while they planned commoner games. She laughed at the Newspaper Club's reaction to just what they were covering for their newspaper. Tamaki was looking away while singing as the other club members slowly got closer to him. Reika had no idea as to what this game was, but it was sure entertaining to watch, especially when Kyoya joined them.
"You need to learn friendliness!" Tamaki yelled at the Newspaper Club when they questioned his motives for playing silly games, Reika started to pay attention. "If you want to clear the negative reputation of the Newspaper Club, and attempt to capture the hearts of your readers, you must try to be more down to earth! I can just imagine the headlines now, the handsome boys of the Host Club enjoy commoner's games. With pictures of us frolicking in the scenery of early summer."
Reika was almost died laughing from his speech. It had just the right amount of whatever Tamaki was made of. Some of the things he said were true, she had to admit it was good advice, if only they would take it instead of trying to sabotage the Host Club.
"It would be the perfect face lift for your front page." Tamaki continued. "And it gives you the chance to show that a certain commoner is happier now reliving his childhood here with us!"
Reika smiled. "Of course." she whispered amused, as Tamaki waved at Haruhi and Haruhi looked annoyed.
Tamaki continued playing his game, this time he finally 'caught' Kyoya moving. Komatsuzawa called Haruhi over, making Reika slightly worried. Kyoya caught her eyes, he motioned for her not to worry. She nodded and continued to watch Tamaki play his game, which he soon got bored with and decided to play a new game.
This time Kyoya was it, which made Reika stand up and watch.
"Star-line kick!" Tamaki said as he kicked the can. The can bounced around, almost hitting Komatsuzawa in the head again.
Reika laughed as she joined Kyoya on the field as the others ran to hide while the can was still bouncing off of trees. The can finally stopped when it did hit Komatsuzawa on the head.
"Oh," she cringed she and Kyoya watched Komatsuzawa fall to the floor. "That's gotta hurt."
Kyoya crouched down on the grass, making the smashed can stand still. He looked at Reika. "Is everything set?" he whispered to her before he started to count.
"Yep." she said when Komatsuzawa and his club members started to leave. "Good job, boss." she said giving him a thumbs up as he smiled triumphantly.
"Tamaki took Haruhi with him?" Kyoya asked.
"Of course he did." Reika answered. "He took her to the hedge maze, you know he's not getting out of there soon."
"Good." he said. "Then let's find the others and head to the Newspaper Club."
They didn't have to wait long, as they heard the commotion that Komatsuzawa was causing outside the door. "I'm going to expose Tamaki for the twit he is." he said as he opened the door. He and his club members were surprised to find the twins sitting on their desk.
"Hum." Hikaru said, acknowledging that they heard everything.
"So we were right all along." Kaoru said.
"You two." Komatsuzawa said.
"Well, I guess it was pretty obvious." Hikaru admitted, smiling.
"The boss is the only one who hasn't caught on yet." Kaoru said with the same smile. "He can be really dense when it pertains to anything about himself."
"I should warn you." Hikaru said. "If you threaten him, there will be consequences."
"Are you ready the Hitachiins and every other club member's family as your enemy?" Kaoru asked.
"I knew it!" Komatsuzawa said nervous but deciding to show anger instead. "You're nothing but his lackeys, Tamaki's holding his family's power over all of you."
"That's not true." Honey said from behind Komatsuzawa with Mori by his side. "We don't hang out with Tama-chan because of his parents'. We love him. We love being around him and that's why we chose to be here."
"He may be a hopeless idiot, but even so." Kyoya said, calling attention to his place sitting on top of the newspaper stacks with Reika standing below him.
"Everything he does he puts his whole heart in it, and that's why we would do anything for him because he would do the same thing for any of us." Reika said.
The club members collectively remembered how kind Tamaki was when he invited each of them to join the Host Club, making them all into a family.
"Well?" Hikaru asked.
"What will you do?" Kaoru asked.
"Please leave Tama-chan alone, okay?" Honey asked.
"I'll get you all," Komatsuzawa said. "It's not just about him anymore I'll write an article that will ruin all of you!"
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Reika asked him, her voice was serious as she distracted Komatsuzawa as Kyoya got the the disc out of the first-aid kit. "Because the Niigata family takes security and reputation very seriously. I wonder what my mother would do to you if she heard you making those threats?"
"Now, now, Reika." Kyoya said more amused than he should have been. "There's no need to bring your mother into this." he held up the disc and turned to Komatsuzawa. "Although, what do you think we should do about this little disc? You see it's been here since yesterday and it recorded everything."
"President!" the Newspaper Club members said as they hid behind Komatsuzawa. "Just give up already." Komatsuzawa fell to his knees, defeated.
"Let me explain in terms you will understand," Kyoya said walking up to Komatsuzawa. "You would do well to remember that the Ootori Group, the Hitachiin family, and now with Niigata Enterprises and all of their other companies, as you so admirably pointed out earlier have invested in the Ootori Group, alone owe enough stock to remove your father from his position as president of the Komatsuzawa Publishing Firm." he said, stopping to fix his glasses. "However, we would never do something like that, we are not like you. What we strive for is fundamentally different."
Later that day, when everything was sorted out, Reika was in Music Room #3 reading when Kyoya walked in and slid a paper over for her to read.
"What's this?" she asked, putting her book down.
"A signed contract, stating that the Newspaper Club will not be publishing any articles or divulging a word to anyone about our engagement." he said, sitting down opposite her on the table. "Now you don't have to worry about that anymore."
She read over the contract as he waited patiently. "What did you have to do to get this?" she asked him.
"I promised to no longer interfere or threaten the Newspaper Club and it's members again." he said smiling.
She let out a chuckle. "You really had him going when you said you would remove his father out of his president position." she said.
"I could've done it if I wanted to." he said shrugging.
"No, you couldn't." she told him, shaking her head as she put the contract in a safe place.
"My father would have love the excuse." he said, following after her, wanting to prove to her that he was right.
"That's not what I meant." she said looking back at him as she put the contract in the cabinet file.
"Then what did you mean?" he asked, curious. Which wasn't something he often felt, but he started to feel more and more curious whenever Reika was involved.
She closed the cabinet file and turned to face him. "That you're not the type of person to do that to someone's family. You're not as petty as half the people in this school who would have done it for a lot less than what you threatened him for." she explained. "You're too good of a person for that."
"I am not a good person." he said seriously.
She put a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes as she smiled. "Yes, you are." she said. "And it's about time that you start believing it too, because you're not the monster you think you are."
He stood there, staring at her. He understood her words, but none of them seemed to make any sense to him. Did she really believe that? And because she believed it, was it true? He didn't know what to say, or what to do, so he just stared at her in disbelief. The thoughts that usually clouded his mind were gone as he just stood there like an idiot.
She saw that he seemed to be taken aback, and she smiled brighter as she let out a laugh before deciding to help him out. "I'm going to get dinner, do you want the same thing as always?"
"Um." he said, still at a loss for words. She waited patiently. "Yes." he said finally, making her smile again as she exited the room.