a/n: Sorry for the late update guys. We were gonna go camping but then we looked at the forecast and it's supposed to rain all week! So now I'm here but I've been on and off my computer because my cousin is staying with us to go camping, and now we're not going for another week. Since she's here I can only usually write at night. O-o
Anyway, I don't really like this chapter. D: I think its pretty lame. But hopefully others will like it. -_-
Now this chapter has been Beta read! Yay! Thanks to my awesome Beta. xD Your little notes always make my day haha.
~:*:~
Chapter 12: DDR and Harry Potter
~:*:~
Safira loved the strawberry pancakes. Once she had taken a bite, her mouth instantly began to dance with joy and it had only taken her a few minutes to consume all of them. They had looked absolutely delicious, topped with real strawberries and whipped cream, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. She was disappointed to discover that she had devoured all of them so quickly. She sighed, wishing that she had savored them just a little longer.
But she decided after they were gone that strawberry pancakes were to be declared her favorite food.
However, now that they were gone…
"Now what?" Safira asked herself.
Kyouya had left for school and she wasn't allowed to leave his room. She felt as if she were some kind of pet kitten that he had found on the street, stuffing her in his room and hiding her from his family because his father hated cats. Safira sighed as she pushed her now empty plate away from her atop of Kyouya' study table.
She could already tell that today was going to be pretty boring.
Safira stood up from her current sitting poison beside the table. She was still dressed in Kyouya's clothes, since she had none of her own other than what she had worn to the restaurant. She was still upset about leaving her duffle bag there. Now neither she nor Sasaki-san, would ever get those items back.
Trying not to think about it, Safira occupied herself by exploring Kyouya's bedroom. He didn't seem to keep a lot of stuff. His room was immensely clean, almost too clean. Nothing was hidden underneath his bed, not even a dust bunny. His clothes were all folded neatly inside his dresser and books were placed nicely within their shelves. Safira blinked, realizing that the books and even some movies that he had, were all in alphabetical order.
Completely unaware of the fact that rummaging through Kyouya's things could possibly be wrong, she opened his closet. There were a few jackets and long-sleeved shirts hanging neatly in a line. At the bottom there was a large wooden storage box with an extra blanket, folded smartly on top. How tidy did this guy have to be? Safira stood on her tiptoes, tilting her chin up to look at the shelf. There was several unopened boxes overhead, biting at Safira's curiosity. Interested, she reached up and pulled several of them down.
Games. Hundreds of unopened video games rested on his top shelf. Safira blinked, reading some of the titles. He had a PS2, PS3, Guitar Hero, DDR and even some kind of virtual reality game.
Her curiosity only increasing, Safira dragged the treasures towards his flat screen TV…
~:*:~
Kyouya tapped his chin with the top of his pen, looking over his notebook and staring off into space, appearing to be in deep thought.
I really should buy her some new clothes. I mean honestly, I can't keep lending out my own clothes. They don't even fit her properly. No. It absolutely won't do. I'll have to get her something after school.
Kyouya blinked.
No. That was absolutely ludicrous. Why was he even worrying about it in the first place? It was such an insignificant thing.
Ah, whispered that whimsical voice of the dragon. But if it was so insignificant then you wouldn't even be thinking about it in the first place, would you? It must not be as trivial as you think it is.
Kyouya gritted his teeth from behind closed lips, pretending to read over something within his notebook.
It's unimportant. She is going to be my family's maid. It's not as if she's my friend or anything.
Mmm. Yeah. You're absolutely right, said the dragon in a sarcastic manner. She isn't a friend. As a matter of fact, she means nothing. That's why you're letting her stay in your house. Moron.
Kyouya was not used to being called a moron. As a matter of fact, he never remembered ever being referred to as one so this sparked something unpleasant inside him, causing him to visibly glare at the dragon within his mind.
I am anything but a moron you stupid beast! I am an Ootori. If you're looking for a moron, it would be defined as that French idiot across the room.
Yeah, well when it comes to matters of the heart you're truly retarded.
Kyouya flinched as if someone had physically pinched him.
What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with my heart. You're the one who's being completely foolish.
"Kyouya! What are you doing?! Get out there and please our guests!"
At once Kyouya was snapped out of his inner argument, looking up from his notebook and staring at a very displeased Tamaki. He was dressed in black robes and a silver and green scarf, balancing a wand in his hand as he struggled to keep hold of his crutches. His cast was now filled with all kinds of signatures, most of them in loopy fancy cursive writing, probably from all the girls in the club Kyouya assumed.
"You are supposed to be role-playing as Harry Potter, Kyouya! You're the most important person in costume! Now get a move on and go satisfy our guests!"
Kyouya's expression was absolutely blank. He sighed, placing his notebook on his lap. "Why do I have to play Harry Potter?"
"Because no one else has glasses." Tamaki replied, as if this was obvious.
"That is not entirely true. Unless if you have forgotten, Haruhi also wears glasses." Kyouya growled bitterly, suddenly wishing that Fuyumi had not told him about the spare in his father's room.
"Oh, yeah… I forgot." Tamaki said, slowly turning to look over at Haruhi.
She was standing off to the side, garmented in Harry Potter attire, long black robes that were Gryffindor themed. Underneath her robes was a mid-length black skirt and knee-high black socks, with a Gryffindor tie secure around her neck. She was wearing a long brown colored wig today that came slightly passed her shoulders, clutching a book to her chest.
Haruhi must have been able to feel Tamaki's gaze on her because she turned her head, facing him. When her chocolate brown eyes met Tamaki's violet gaze, the blonde's face instantly flamed. He held both hands against either side of his cheeks, hold up his crutches from underneath his armpits, nearly squealing at the sight of her.
"But Haruhi is just so cute in a skkkiiirrttt!" Tamaki wailed, crying tears of joy. His tears almost seemed to have transformed into sparkles as they fell from his eyes. "To see her dressed so sweetly… ah! It truly is a wondrous sight to behold!"
Haruhi rolled her eyes, appearing slightly angry. "Why am I the only one who has to be a girl character?" She grumbled.
"Oh, Haruhi. You look so cute as a girl," one of Haruhi's guests cooed, slowly making her way towards her. "But I've never read Harry Potter. Who are you supposed to be?"
Straight-faced and clearly unhappy, Haruhi shrugged. "To be honest, I've never gotten into the books either. But Tamaki-senpai said that I'm supposed to one of Harry's friends. Hermonie or something."
"It's Hermione!" Tamaki cried. "Honestly, Haruhi. You have to get into character!"
"Yeah, like meee!" Honey sang, waving a small little wand and pretending to cast spells on random objects and people. "Bippity-boppity-boo! Dumbledore wants lots and lots of cake too!"
Honey was dressed in flowing purple robes and a giant pointy wizard's hat with blue stars all over it. However, it was much too big for his head because it kept slipping, and falling over his eyes each time he decided that he wanted to skip around the room. He also wore a fake white beard that came down to his knees and half moon spectacles.
"Well at least I don't have to be Dumblegore," Haruhi muttered.
"It's Dumbledore!" Tamaki corrected heatedly.
"Watch this everyone! I'm going to turn this chair into cake!" Honey-senpai cheered.
Just as he asked, everyone turned to watch. Excited, Honey dragged a chair into the center of the room. He closed his eyes and raised his wand, a look of determination over his face.
"Oh, chair you'd taste so much better as an éclair! So let's shake, shake, shake and I'll turn you into a cake!"
Just as Honey-senpai waved his wand, Mori came rushing forward and sent the bottom his foot into the chair, sending it flying in Tamaki's direction. Tamaki screamed and tried to run away but he was too late and the chair collided straight into him, sending him back several feet. Appearing completely calm, Mori placed a small slice of strawberry and vanilla cake onto the floor from behind his back, putting it where the chair once rested.
When Honey opened his eyes, his face lit up with joy. "Yaaay! I did it! I really did it! Yay!"
"Awww! He's so cute!" A group of girls screamed together in unison, watching in absolute delight as Honey fell to the floor and started to eat. Mori stood beside him, arms crossed and eyes staring off into another direction.
Mori was dressed as Sirius Black. His clothes appeared to be ripped and dirty as if he had just returned from living within the mountains for several months. On his feet he had giant black boots and around his shoulders, a slightly tattered black cape. Because of his torn clothing, his chest was exposed and it caused a ton of Mori fan girls to blush and squeal at the sight of him. It was almost downright laughable that none of them could stay still.
"Mori is sooo handsome!"
"I wish he always dressed like that," one of them sighed.
"Curse that horrible dress code! Curse it to the ground!" Another hissed.
"Curse? Did someone say – curse?"
Everyone in the room froze at the sound of a familiar frightening voice. All their heads turned towards the direction where the voice had come from, eyes wide in horror at the sight of a black door that had miraculously appeared within Music Room 3. A man cloaked in midnight, gradually peeked his head through a tiny crack in the threshold, one hand held up and veiled by a demonic taupe cat puppet. A wide and sinister grin spread across the man's face, blue eyes flashing with dark but wild enthusiasm.
At the sight of Nekozawa, Tamaki swiftly hopped over and hid behind Kyouya by use of his crutches, slowly peaking over Kyouya's shoulder to look at him.
"Curses? Curses you say? If you are so interested in curses then you can join my Black Magic Club. Come now… don't be shy… if you come forth now, then I'll be sure to give you a free Belzenef doll."
"N-Nekozawa-senpai. W-when did you –" Tamaki stuttered pure terror etched onto his face.
"Now, now Tamaki-senpai. Surely, you did not think that you could host a wizarding cosplay without the assistance of the Black Magic Club!"
"Eh? But I – I –"
"No, no. It's perfectly alright. The Black Magic Club will be more than happy to oblige your wishes, Tamaki-senpai. And since I am the president of the Black Magic Club… I will gladly take the post as – Lord Voldemort!"
"AAHHH! You said his name!" Tamaki screamed from behind Kyouya, pointing towards Nekozawa in unconditional fear. "How? How, can your lips utter such sinful words?!"
Kyouya rolled his eyes. "You know… Tamaki. If Nekozawa is planning on role-playing as Voldemort, I think it's more than necessary for him to be able to speak his own name."
"Ah! No! Kyouya, you said it too!" Tamaki gasped, throwing himself away from Kyouya as if he were a radioactive spider. "You are truly taking up your position as Harry Potter! For only he, is able to speak his name without flinching!"
Kyouya sighed, irritated. "I don't want to be Harry Potter. For the last time."
"Stop whining! You're Harry Potter, whether you like it or not!" Tamaki scolded. "As the only host member with glasses, your role is crucial!"
"Yeah, he does make a good Harry Potter." Hikaru said, gliding over to Kyouya's right and using his shoulder as an armrest. He was dressed as George.
"But you know…" Kaoru added, sliding in on Kyouya's left. He was cosplayed as Fred. "There's something that's missing."
Kyouya raised his eyebrows, looking between the two of them suspiciously. "And… what would that be?"
A pair of devilish grins appeared on both their faces, ember eyes glinting with something mischievous. "Well. How about we just show you?"
Kaoru grabbed both of Kyouya's wrists with a vice grip, forcing him to drop his notebook to the ground with a soft clatter. Kyouya's lips parted in surprise but before he was able to voice anything, Hikaru pushed up his bangs and with his other hand wrote something on his forehead in bright red marker. And then with surprising speed, the second twin released one of Kyouya's wrists and proceeded to ruffle Kyouya's raven hair until it was a complete mess.
The twins stepped back to admire their work, giving Kyouya a grin and a big thumbs up.
"You look awesome now, Kyouya-senpai!" They said in harmony.
Kyouya stared at the two of them, dumbfounded. But slowly, he felt his jaw close and his silver eyes became ablaze in a furious glare, his glasses now reflecting the suns brilliance from the windows.
"What. Did. You. Do?"
The twins blinked, seeming surprised by his reaction.
"Well c'mon. You can't be Harry Potter without his famous lighting bolt scar," Hikaru said with a shrug.
"Or without the renowned untidy hair," Karou interjected, copying the same motion as Hikaru.
"Ooohh! Kyouya looks so handsome with messy hair!" A girl shrieked from somewhere in the room.
"Totally! I love it!" Someone agreed.
"He should always wear it like that." Another sighed, appearing as though she may swoon.
"It's sooo wonderful!"
Kyouya exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. This is going to be a long day. He thought miserably.
"Kyouya! You're Harry Potter! So that means you have to fight off He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and force him to leave our club!" Tamaki cried, suddenly grabbing Kyouya by his arms tightly. The blonde's face was pinched in panic. "Please – make him go away!" Tamaki squeaked.
Kyouya pulled away, irritated.
"I am not really, Harry Potter. It's you who doesn't want Nekozawa to be here then make him leave yourself. You are the president of the Host Club after all."
"Yeah, but I'm supposed to be Draco Malfoy. We're on the same team." Tamaki pouted. "Draco would never ask the Dark Lord to leave!"
"Tamaki, he's not really the Dark –"
"Don't underestimate his Black Magic!" Tamaki yelped. "We are no match for his evil enchantments!"
"Weee~! Magic! Magic! Dumbledore loves magic!" Honey chanted, twirling and dancing around in his wizard robes and casting large loops in the air with his wand. Honey-senpai was obviously having way too much fun with this.
Tamaki's eyes suddenly widened as he was struck with realization. Somehow even with his crutches, he swiftly grabbed Honey by his shoulders and threw him over towards Nekozawa, Tamaki's face pale with anticipation. Honey blinked innocently, turning his head over his shoulder and staring at Tamaki in confusion.
"Tama-chan, why'd you do that for?"
Tamaki bent down behind Honey so that he was at his level, pointing over Honey's shoulder towards Nekozawa. His index finger was trembling with trepidation, as was the rest of his body.
"You're the one wizard that the Dark Lord fears most. Quick! Duel him so that he leaves!"
"Huh? But I don't wanna fight, Neko-chan!" Honey whined childishly. "Besides! Dancing and playing is so much more fun!" He added with a cute smile before he bounded away, smiling and skipping like before.
Tamaki stared after Honey, horrified. But then he slowly turned away and fell on his knees into a corner, sulking.
"My authority… is being…ignored." Tamaki whispered, dreaded.
Kyouya sighed, shifting his glasses. Then he turned his gaze out towards the window, staring off into the school grounds. His thoughts traveled back over to Safira, wondering how she was holding up back at the manor. She was probably feeling caged. He sighed, shaking his head.
He was neglecting his duties over this. He needed to stop worrying about her and return his attention back to the club. He turned around to face the others, only to come face to face with the twins, both holding identical troublesome smirks. Kyouya did not miss the fact that they were hiding something from behind their backs.
"What exactly are you doing?" He inquired, rising an elegant eyebrow. "I don't suppose that you –"
"Harry Potter simply isn't Harry Potter –"
"– without his trusted owl."
Kyouya stared. In their hands was a stuffed owl, so tiny that it fit in the palms of the twins hands. It was white with big golden eyes and very puffy looking. Kyouya felt himself grimace.
"No. Absolutely not." Kyouya replied, deadpan.
"Here you go Kyouya-senpai!"
"No. I refuse to be seen with that stupid stuffed animal."
"Aww. That hurts Hedwig's feelings, Senpai."
"I don't care."
"Aw, just take it!"
"No." Kyouya stated, unsmiling. "I draw the line at fluffy stuffed owls."
"But the ladies would love it!"
"No."
"C'mon!"
Kyouya turned and glared at the twins coldly. The two of them froze at once, looking as though he had just pierced through their hearts with icicles. They were both clearly afraid, backing away from under his glower.
"No." Kyouya hissed dangerously through his teeth.
"Alright. Well, we'll just be going now." The twins said together, now scurrying away in fear of becoming slain by the Demon Lord.
Kyouya shook his head and turned away, now rubbing his eyes rather tiredly.
This Host Club is going to be the death of me. He thought.
~:*:~
Mea moaned softly. She lifted her head and squinted to see into the darkness, her head pounding. How had she ever been able to fall asleep? She wasn't sure if it was night or day. It was always night in this basement, always pitch black unless if he switched the light on.
But something was different today. There was something… something out of place. She felt the presence of another person.
Mea felt her heart jump inside her chest and her stomach gave an uneasy twist.
She wasn't alone.
Mea looked around but found no one.
"H-hello?" she breathed. "Whose there?"
"Help me. Help me… please… help me."
Mea's eyes widened. She rattled at her chains, desperately trying to break free but to no avail. It was the voice of another girl.
"Hey, it's alright. You're not alone. I'm here too." Mea said trying to sound reassuring as she worked at her chains. "Where are you? I can't see you. It's too dark."
Mea heard the woman choke out a sob.
"I-I don't know. He put me in here. In this box."
Mea sucked in a breath. She could see it now. It wasn't that far away, a coffin built just this girl's size. Mea struggled against the chains again.
"How long have you been here?" The girl asked. "I-I haven't been here long. Please. Tell him to let me go."
Mea sighed sadly. She shook her head. "I can't. I am a prisoner here as well. He has me in chains. I'm sorry but I can't do anything to help."
There was something about this girl's voice that was strangely familiar. Mea felt her eyebrows furrow, quickly going through the names and faces of people in her past. The voice was defiantly recognizable. She just couldn't place a face to that voice.
The girl let out a strangely muffled wail. Mea could hear her clawing at the coffin's roof, just as she had done not so long ago. Mea stared at the little box utterly helpless. She pulled at her chains again, straining every muscle but they didn't give even an inch.
The girl started screaming and crying even louder than before. Mea winced at the sound of her nails scraping the wood and the gasps as the girl strained for breath. Mea bit her lip, trying to think of a way to calm her down. The more she panicked the less time she would have.
"My name is Mea," she said trying to keep her voice collected and leveled. "Well, technically my full name is Ameya. I don't like it though. Just Mea is good."
The girl in the box stopped all movement.
"Mea?" She replied in absolute disbelief. There was definitely something distinguishable within that girl's voice now, and yet Mea could not place the woman's identity. "No way… Mea?"
Mea blinked. "Yeah. Do you know me?"
"Mea, it's me! It's Karin!"
Mea's eyes widened in both terror and surprise. Karin was a girl that went to the same school as Mea and her best friend. They never got along with Karin because she was always doing something sneaky from behind their backs, always jealous of her friend and attempting to do nasty things to her. Karin was one of those girls who would do anything to get the top rankings with popularity, uncaring of those around her and completely cruel to those who got in her way.
"What are you doing here?" Mea demanded, more shocked than anything. But then Mea quickly came up with her own explanation, a nasty knot forming in her gut. Everyone knew how obsessed Karin was with this man. "Oh, God. Karin… don't tell me that you were with him last night."
Karin was silent. After a short pause Mea could hear her crying again, sobbing even. It made Mea's heart wrench unpleasantly and even though she couldn't stand Karin, there were times at school when Mea thought that she even hated her, Mea couldn't help but feel the deepest amount of sympathy and dread for her.
"Hey, it's gonna be alright." Mea said, trying to keep her voice gentle. "Really, it'll be okay."
"No! No, it's not going to be ok!" Karin screamed from within her coffin.
Mea flinched at the sound of Karin pounding her fists against the wooden lid, roaring as she tried to force it open. But it was useless. The box jumped a little when she thrashed around but other than that, her efforts were in vain.
"Don't you see? We're going to die!" Karin wept. "We're both going to die! He's going to kill both of us! He's going to put us in the ground just like all those other girls everyone read about in the paper! Oh, God. God. Why didn't we notice before? The signs… I see all of them now… uggh."
Mea felt a little sick to her stomach, despite the fact that there was nothing in it. Everyone at school knew how Karin had felt about him. She was obsessed with him – everyone told her that something was off about him. Everyone could see that there was something dark about him. Mea had tried to tell her friend too… but…
"Karin, please. Just try to relax." Mea said. "I know that it's hard to do right now, but you have too. He'll hear you. And it'll make him angry. If he comes down here because he's angry then he'll bury you sooner."
Mea could tell that Karin was trying to gather her bearings, trying to control herself. She breathed in a low trembling breath, sniffling loudly. For a moment all was silent. Mea was certain that she could hear the sound of both of their pounding hearts.
"Mea… how did he capture you?" Karin whispered quickly. "Why… why are you here?"
Mea was silent. She sucked in a low breath and leaned her body against the wall, shuttering at the coolness of it. Mea thought that she was going to be immune to the sound of her own racing heart. It was always pounding loudly in her chest and in her ears, pounding until she was almost deaf to it.
"I grew suspicious of him. After reading all these newspapers and hearing all about the Grave Digger on the news, I slowly began to put the pieces together. I didn't believe it at first – I mean – it almost seemed impossible, right?" Mea said. "But after awhile I noticed that everything was starting to connect. He would be gone for long hours, sometimes no one would even hear from him for days. I began to see that whenever someone was in pain, he would get this deranged look in his eyes, as if he took joy in seeing someone suffering. When I first met him there was just something completely off about him. Then… he started leaving my friend all of those creepy messages… and…"
Mea paused, thinking back on the memory. Her friend had been so scared. She had been scared.
"He wouldn't leave my friend alone. Eventually, she had to change her cell phone number and her family had to change their house number. Her father and brother even had a huge talk with him, telling him that he had to leave her alone."
Mea felt her heart clench in her chest at the thought of Shugo. She shook the feeling off, trying to cast him away from her thoughts.
"Then he started appearing wherever we went. He would show up at the mall or something and acted like it was a coincidence. But we knew better. He was stalking her. Wherever we went we had a feeling that we were being watched. Shugo and I never wanted to leave her side. It came to the point where they were going to move away and file a restraining order. I was furious, so one day after school I got so upset that I decided that I wanted to confront him. I was going to give him a piece of my mind."
"I came to his house and knocked but no one answered. It was unlocked so I went inside, thinking that he was just ignoring me because his car was in the driveway so he had to have been home. I… I found the darkroom upstairs and I freaked out. I saw this strange trail of blood along the walls and floor, leading into his basement. I followed it and I saw all the coffins. There was a girl inside one of them, where the trail stopped. I tried to free her but she was already dead by the time I opened it. He didn't even bury her yet but she had died from a blow to the head. But I finally knew that he was what the news was calling The Grave Digger."
"Anyway, he has a computer down here. There were these files up about my friend. The files contained where she and her family were planning on moving and I – I just panicked. I knew that he was going to follow her and do the same thing to my friend as he did to all those other girls in the news. I tried to delete only the ones that said where she was going but I ended up deleting everything – now it's as if she doesn't even exist! And now no one can pull them up again unless I give them the password." Mea sighed, thinking back upon the memory. "In a nutshell he found me down here and now I'm his prisoner. He wants the password. But once I give it to him – he'll kill me and he'll kill her."
Karin didn't speak throughout Mea's story. She only listened. The only sound was of her nails gently scrapping across the wooden lid, not in a frantic way but almost at a pace, as though she were in a trance.
Finally, Karin spoke.
"I… I'm sorry, Mea."
Mea lifted her head. She looked into the darkness and towards the coffin that confined her.
"I'm sorry… for everything."
~:*:~
"Failure!"
"Gaaahh! No! Not again!" Safira screamed, gripping either side of her head in absolute dismay.
She had been unsuccessful at DDR for hours. All day, just when she had just thought that she was doing well, the screen would flash 'failure'. Each time it caused Safira to roar and kick at the DDR matt, though this did no good, usually causing her to slip and fall flat on her back.
Sweating and gasping for breath, Safira crossed her arms and glared at the TV screen. It was still flashing with that unmistakable 'failure' causing a tiny growl to escape past her lips. Absolutely determined this time, Safira rolled up her sleeves and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. Her heart was still pounding from all the physical activity, her chest rising and falling rapidly with each breath.
She was not going to give up. By the end of the night she would become a DDR master!
And so she proceeded to try again, completely unaware of the all the people sacrificing so much just for her.
~:*:~
a/n: Thanks Amuary and my Beta for telling me about the document stuff. ^^ Now I can freely delete. :D
Haha. I was actually thinking about having Mori be Hagrid and Honey be Hedwig. xD Since Mori is so tall and Honey is so cute. But then I thought that all the girls would like to see Mori looking all sexy and when I discovered that I didn't have anyone as Dumbledore, I thought that Honey would make a really cute one! ^^ I hope everyone liked the cosplay. I'm a die hard Harry Potter fan, so I'm sorry but I just had to throw that in there. :3 I wish I could have figured out someone to play Snape though. O-o Eh, oh well.