Tamaki let Kyoya's phone ring out for quite a while, though he eventually gave up, and snapped his phone shut.
"He didn't answer," Tamaki remarked with a hint of worry. "Well...I guess he's just busy. We should probably wait for him back at the house."
The boys meandered down the beach, and along the path back to the villa. It was empty when they arrived.
As soon as they opened the door, the smell of something delicious hit Honey's nostrils. "Mmmm…someone's been baking cookies in here!"
"It smelled like cookies in here this morning, too," Mori noted. "Perhaps you didn't notice it because your room was full of chocolate cake."
"Well I definitely smell them now!" Honey replied eagerly, as he ran off to the kitchen in search of them. The quick patter of his footsteps on the smooth marble tiles echoed through the hallway, and a muffled "Yep!" proceeded from the kitchen.
"I was right…there's so many cookies here!" Honey announced to the rest of the boys, who had just followed him in. Honey busied himself with the complicated business of shoving as many cookies into his mouth as possible, while the other boys observed, with some surprise, that the kitchen was filthy.
Every part of the Ootori villa was always kept immaculate. Fresh flowers in the vases, floors polished like mirrors; everything clean, everything tidy. But the kitchen was an absolute mess. Dirty mixing bowls cluttered the counters, baking trays still covered in used baking paper sat on the kitchen island. Almost every surface was lightly dusted in flour, like fresh fallen snow.
Whilst the other boys were taking in this bizarre state of affairs, Tamaki noticed a flowery pink paperback sitting next to Honey's pile of cookies.
"What's this?" Tamaki picked up the book, and flipped it over. "The Perfect Date, by Renge Hoshakuji…" Just as Tamaki was beginning to understand the significance of this, the book fell open to a dog-eared page. Tip #8…Do something sentimental! I recommend baking cookies. Most girls love cookies, and she'll think it's super-sweet that you made something just for her!
Tamaki's eyes widened as the realization struck him. "KYOYA TOOK HARUHI ON A DATE!" He wailed with indignation. "And he baked her cookies…"
Tamaki collapsed into a chair, defeated, and began muttering under his breath. "I can't believe Kyoya needed to read that stupid book just to think of baking cookies…If I went on a date with Haruhi, it would be the most beautiful-"
"The most beautiful expression of your fatherly love?" Hikaru interrupted him with a smirk. He had clearly intended the remark to be humorous, but Kaoru was sure he detected a hint of bitterness in the tone. For a few moments, nobody spoke, and the only sound in the room was the crackle and crunch of cookies between Honey's teeth.
"Well…I'm glad to see you're enjoying those, Honey-senpai," said a voice from beyond the kitchen doorway. Tamaki's blood ran cold at the sound of this voice…the cold, cruel, mocking voice of Kyoya Ootori.
"My officers have informed me that you three," the Shadow King announced diplomatically as he circled Tamaki and the twins with his index finger, "were the ones responsible for calling emergency services to report me missing."
At this point, the three culprits had sunk into their chairs, heads in hands. It was best to simply accept the Shadow King's judgment…Tamaki, at least, had learned and relearned that lesson first-hand. All they could really do was wait for their punishment.
"My officers deployed their entire naval fleet. As you can imagine, this process was quite expensive. In fact, according to my calculations…each of you has cost my family almost one million yen. My father will certainly expect me to cover this cost, so each of you therefore owes me one million yen."
Kyoya paused, allowing Tamaki and the twins to breathe a sigh of relief. Is money all he wants?
Kyoya smiled devilishly, and continued to speak. "However, this trip began as a Host Club vacation getaway. Therefore, all three of you were acting in an official capacity as Host Club members when you made this report. This means that the Host Club owes this debt to me, and, in turn, you owe the debt to the Host Club."
Tamaki and the twins could sense a scheme, but they did not yet realize the significance of this information.
"Here at the Host Club, we have established a precedent for the manner in which Host Club members are to repay their debts." Here Kyoya paused, hoping to see a glimmer of realization in Tamaki's eyes. Seeing none, he went on. "And so, in accordance with this precedent…each of you will take turns acting as the Host Club's dog."