Phew. Hey, it's been awhile! I've been finishing up a few chapter stories on my main account, so this poor story bit the dust in the meantime. Evie made me feel bad enough though, so I updated as soon as I could! xD Just kidding, I've really been meaning to get back here. I've missed this story a lot, so I'm glad I can finally start writing for it again with less stress on my shoulders. Thanks for reading!
Much thanks to Neko-Mitsuko for the review! I'm glad your mom thought this was cute, bahaha. xD
Escape of the Famous Host Club!
Mary stared out the window in a daze, rocking back and forth despite the smooth movement of the limousine. Low radio was playing over the speakers, but it was otherwise quiet. Leaning her cheek against the glass, Mary tried to take in every inch of the world zipping by the car. She couldn't believe Evie's plan had worked…
Evie had entered the next episode with confidence, striding straight up to Kyoya first thing. Mary had watched in wonder as she spoke with him, and he flipped open his phone to give instructions. Evie had skipped back over, swinging on her heels with a grin, telling Mary to wait and see.
As it turned out, the newspaper club was scheming against the Host Club this episode. All Evie had to do was warn Kyoya of their plans, and as he trusted her knowledge of the future, it was simple to get to their headquarters and put a stop to their tabloids.
Of course, it wasn't the Host Club personally handling the situation. To keep their hands clean, they were kept as far from the newspaper crew as possible. Suoh lawyers were currently swarming them, politely warning that false tabloids were frowned up. And Renge was called and informed of the escapade, staying back to do any damage control if necessary. She proved to be a good manager after all.
With everything taken care of so early, Mary half-expected the episode to cut off then and there. But they still had their allotted twenty-four minutes or so. And there they were. Out on Evie's adventure.
"Don't you see? You said yourself that you got to leave with the twins and explore," Evie's eyes were alight that morning. The boys were debating what to do behind them since they were all being forced off of campus for the messy day – Evie and Mary guilty by association. Everyone was gathered outside on the front steps, and Tamaki and the twins were fighting over who had the superior limo to take. Mary had been doubtful, but Evie's enthusiasm was convincing. "Think of the places we could go! We're literally traversing the limits of Bisco Hatori's imagination! It's incredible!"
"Incredible…" Mary mumbled, unable to come up with a better word for it. Because really, it was just that. Incredible. She stared up at the buildings and voluminous clouds overhead, the limo speeding by the street signs and passing pedestrians on the sidewalks. They expertly wove around corners, and careened down the streets of this perfectly populated, functioning world.
"Hm? Whatcha say?" Evie nudged her with her elbow, smiling as she was sitting beside her. She was wearing a stylishly cut T-shirt and shorts, all ready for a vacation like she was a tourist here.
Mary shook her head, smiling back with a shrug. "Nothing."
"What are we going to do today, boss?" Hikaru whined, sitting upside down with his feet to the ceiling, prodding away at his cell phone. "There's nothing fun in this town."
"Yeah, we're all for free days, but we didn't exactly plan for a daycation," Kaoru agreed, tossing a hacky-sack between his hands. "Couldn't we have flown to Martinique or something?"
"But Evie-chan and Mary-chan don't have passports!" Honey reasoned, happily swinging his legs and hugging Usa-chan in his lap. He was sipping on a lemonade, taking a slurp through the straw before continuing. "Since they're kicked out of school, too, we can't just leave them behind. That's not very nice at all!"
"Yeah," Mori said, elbow on the sill as he looked out the window at the traffic much like Mary was doing.
"Aw, couldn't we just buy passports?" Kaoru asked, slumping in his seat.
"Or leave them with a board game…?" Hikaru suggested under his breath.
"We're a family, and as a family, no one gets left behind!" Tamaki said, testy with their attitude. He slapped his knees with renewed spirit. "I'm sure we'll all find something fun to do together! Ooo! We could explore the commoner's market and street shops!"
The twins released groans of boredom, but they had no further retort. The only sound for awhile was Honey's bubbling as he reached the end of the sugary drink, trying to suck the bejesus out of every last drop.
Mary adopted a rueful expression, crossing her arms and slouching as she wondered what was so great about leaving Ouran with the Host Club in the first place. Half the magic of the show was the location and all of the silly things that happened there in a rich kids' school, so being in such a normal environment was a little bizarre and listless. Also, Hikaru was getting on her nerves already.
Evie was still outrageously pumped, bouncing in her seat and sitting ramrod straight with a tune to hum as they drove along. She was the only one to notice Kyoya alone, off to the side in the corner as he appeared to be doing some sort of figuring with a calculator and his notebook open on his lap. She guessed he was calculating how much money they were losing since they weren't going to see their guests today. Or maybe he was counting the profit margins for that new magazine they published. Oki Doki something or other. Frivolous Host Club crap that the guests were all too eager to waste their money on… and something Evie secretly wanted with morbid curiosity to peek through herself.
Tamaki was hopping around with ideas, suddenly holding brochures procured from God-knows-where, as he tried to organize a plan to visit all of the local shopping malls with Evie's peppy input in the seat across from him. Kaoru missed his hacky-sack toss, and it went flying at Mary's head, which only resulted in her throwing it back to hit Hikaru on purpose. Honey's face was blue from his persistence with the straw, and Mori was trying to dislodge it from his vacuum sealed face. Kyoya became irritated as the noise level grew, slamming his notebook and realizing he wasn't going to get any work done today.
"I have to pee!"
All eyes turned to Honey-senpai who had his hand in the air like he was answering a question in class. They all blinked in unison.
"Me, too!" Evie joined him, thrusting her hand above her head.
Tamaki cleared his throat, using his king voice. "Anyone else in need of the facilities?"
Heads shook in the negative.
"Very well! We shall make a short pit stop for Evie-senpai and Honey-senpai before our journey!"
The chauffer pulled to the side of the road at the announcement, parking parallel in front of one of the malls Tamaki was excited to see. He was so thrilled to recognize the name that he burst from the car first before anyone else could clamber out.
Soon, everyone was standing on the sidewalk, staring up at the complex before them. Similar buildings surrounded the block, creating a maze of urban development and speedy people with places to go. Evie ran up to the directory sign and searched for a public restroom, quickly pointing it out on the map.
"Let's go, Evie-chan!" Honey fist pumped, running to her side and leaving Mori's in the process.
"We shall await your return here!" Tamaki gave them a thumbs up, absolutely glowing. He clasped his hands by his cheek with a dreamy expression. "It's like we're on a real field trip~!"
Mori made to follow after them, but he was stopped by Mitsukuni.
"Don't worry, Takashi! We'll be right back!" Honey waved him down. Mori bent so the little blond could pat his head in a fatherly way. "You take care of Mary-chan while we're gone, okay?"
"Yeah…" he said, though he doubted the little spit fire currently still bickering with the twins would be in need of any protection he could offer. Maybe from herself.
"Okay~!" Honey jumped, pointing down the busy hall with stores packed back to back. "Come on, Evie-chan; I smell an adventure!"
"I think that's the deep fried food, but alright!" Evie giggled, hurrying to catch up with him. She turned and threw a wave to Mary. It was returned with a lackluster eye roll, as a bathroom break did not garner so many fare wells in Mary's mind.
Kaoru put his hacky-sack in his jean pocket, hooking his thumbs in the corners as he let out a sigh. Brushing off the blue sleeve of his stylish shirt, Hikaru crossed his arms in frustration. Kyoya pulled up his cuff and checked his watch. Mori stood stolidly waiting as Tamaki paced in circles around him. Mary tapped her foot with impatience, finally huffing at her bangs.
"I should've known! Evie gets lost all of the time. I'm going in after them. Wait here," she held her hands stiffly at her sides, stomping towards the entrance out of the sunlight. She jumped in surprise when she noticed Mori falling into step beside her, but she should have expected that, too. He'd be a good magnet to find Honey-senpai anyways. Was like a dowsing rod, this guy…
"Actually, I'll be joining you. I could do with stretching my legs after the drive," Kyoya tagged along, putting his hands in his pockets.
"But what if the mall eats you, too?!" Tamaki feared, clutching at his face like The Scream.
"Don't be ridiculous," Kyoya admonished. "They've only been gone seven and a half minutes."
"We'll be back before you know it!" Mary saluted to the host king. Her low pigtails bounced off her shoulders as she took the lead, disappearing down the long hall.
"But…!" Tamaki held his hand out, watching as even Mori blended with the crowds. He firmly nodded his head. "Okay, we follow them if they're not back in thirty seconds!"
"Right!" The twins agreed, shouldering him side to side.
"Eh?"
Evie and Honey eyed the empty parking spot at the curb where they had left the limo and their friends. They tilted their heads in synchronized puzzlement, wondering if they were in the right area.
"Where did everybody go?" Evie asked, holding a hand over her eyes for a visor as she looked up and down the street.
Honey got to his tiptoes to mimic the action, pursing his lips into a pout. "This is where we started, right, Evie-chan?"
"I'm positive!" Evie nodded, frowning with her hands on her hips. She turned back to the mall. "Did they go in after us? We had to wait quite awhile in line after taking that wrong detour towards the shoe store…"
"But why is Tama-chan's limo gone?" Honey asked, pointing to the deserted spot.
"I… don't… know…" she carefully thought it out with a finger to her lips. Evie twirled on her heel, beckoning for Honey to follow her. "They probably circled the block! There's another entrance on the south side, right? Let's check there!"
"Okay!" Honey agreed with the logic, skipping after her. He swept up her hand and wove his fingers with hers in a surprisingly intimate gesture. He swung their arms like a pendulum as they walked through the crowd and smiled at her. "Let's stick together, so we don't lose each other, too. Okay, Evie-chan?"
"O-of course!" Evie agreed with a light blush dusting her cheeks. Little bastard caught her off guard. She forced herself to look ahead, losing all sense of direction as she focused on the hand holding hers and thinking this was the first guy to ever hold her hand like this. And it was the last guy she ever expected to do so. His level of cute should be illegal.
The two marched back inside, not realizing the limo pulling up, coming back to the two parking squares it hogged. Out hopped Tamaki and the twins, looking more frantic than usual.
"We've scoped out all of the exits! They have to be inside!" Tamaki declared, planting his foot with authority.
"But we checked everywhere," Hikaru hung his shoulders.
"You were right, boss! The mall really did eat them!" Kaoru trembled.
"Brave faces, men! Brace yourselves – we're entering the abyss!" Tamaki pointed forward.
But Kaoru refused to get lost, too. And so, they regrouped at the limo, determined to loop around once again. They then proceeded to give the driver wrong directions, resulting in them circling the next block over.
"They weren't in there?!"
Mori and Kyoya shook their heads as they left the divided bathroom area to meet back up with Mary. She bit her nails, starting to pace back and forth.
"If I had the Flashmatic, I could stop all of this before it gets out of hand… I knew we shouldn't have let the two dimmest bulbs go off on their own!" She cursed angrily.
Kyoya's eyebrows rose, holding the bridge of his glasses. "Rather a stark insult…"
Mary rolled her eyes, twisting one of her pigtails around her fingers. "I didn't mean it! I'm angry! Well, only a little. Evie's just bad with directions, and Honey's too sweet to pay any attention. I walked right into this."
Mori stood between them, looking left and right as he observed the faces around the trio. No one resembled a ponytailed brunette and a kid-sized blond boy with a rabbit. He was getting antsier, but he didn't have that feeling of impending doom like when he was usually separated from Mitsukuni. Evie's training in martial arts probably soothed that fear somewhat… yet that didn't feel like the whole truth.
"Is there more than one exit to this place? Maybe they accidentally wound up on the wrong side," she deduced, pointing to the left.
Kyoya crossed his arms. "That's where we entered."
Mary paused before she quickly agreed, changing the direction of her point. "Right. This way!"
"It appears they're both directionally challenged," he muttered, following after her before Mary, too, could disappear. He hesitated, finding the third member of their party wasn't with them. He turned. "Mori-senpai? Do you see something?"
Having been lost in thought, Mori shook his head. He loosened the collar of his shirt and met with Kyoya.
Mary emerged from the open arch first, squinting at the bright lights of the outdoors. With a quick look up and down the lane, she grumbled. "Not here either…"
"We'd best head back to meet Tamaki and the twins," Kyoya said as he stopped beside her. He beckoned his head back towards the shopping center. "They might have beat us back without us realizing it."
"That makes sense…" Mary nodded with an exasperated sigh. She stood at the curb an extra second, wondering how she missed seeing Evie in such a narrow place. Unless there were multiple restrooms… Bisco Hatori sure knew how to unintentionally make a labyrinth!
Mary couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Evie was off adventuring with Honey-senpai, and she was stuck with the quietest characters on the show. Her time this episode would no doubt be a bore since they were so serious. At least she would be safe and secure with them. Mary pushed back her bangs and resigned to the chore.
Before she could turn around and follow Kyoya and Mori back into the mall, a car raced by. Its tire dipped towards a puddle by the curb, splashing all sorts of nastiness all over a shell-shocked Mary who shrieked in surprise from both disgust and the hit of ice cold water. Her jeans and blousy grey shirt were stuck uncomfortably to her skin, smelling of swampy water and sour city waste. Paralyzed with her arms up defensively over her face, Mary slowly unfroze herself, wishing she could have reacted quicker and at least flipped off the driver.
Mori hadn't the time to react to the freak accident, but he was quick to guide her away from the street. Mary couldn't help the tears of embarrassment in her eyes as people openly gaped at her. Had anime people no shame?!
"I suppose the first order of business now is finding you some new clothes," Kyoya said, rifling through his pockets to make sure he had the wallet with his gold card.
"You okay?" Mori sympathized, searching his own jacket pockets.
"Yeah…" she managed, now angry with herself for being so close to the street. Mary glared up at Kyoya, shaking her arms of the sludge as Mori provided her with a handkerchief for her skin. She accepted it with a thanks and cleaned her forearms with it, her tone biting towards Kyoya. "You seem awfully generous today. Going on my tab, I assume?"
"No," he shortly answered, keeping his fair distance from her as he re-entered the building. He called back over his shoulder, waving his hand for them to follow. "I'd rather not be seen with someone so foul-smelling. Consider it a favor."
"Of course!" Mary grouched, trudging alongside Mori-senpai. As he didn't accept the handkerchief she handed back to him, she balled it up and threw it away. "Just when I think I've got it easy…!"
"Was this where we started? Or was it the other way…?" Evie twirled around, having gotten herself truly lost with all of the backtracking they had done.
Honey frowned as he looked stonily out at the street. Strings of irritation buzzed around his head like flies, and he was wearing a dangerous glare. So much for the criminally cute of before.
Evie chuckled warily, rubbing the back of her head. Her own stomach was growling, so she got the hint. Perking back up, she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Hey, want to search for a place to get a bite? I could use a pick-me-up!"
"Yay~!" Honey cheered, throwing Usa-chan in the air as he spun and caught the bunny. He merrily skipped to her, grabbing Evie's hand again and dragging her to the nearest food source. He had a nose for these things, and when he was low on sugar, Honey could find it just about anywhere. He plowed through people, toting Evie along like a kite, until they reached a little café just outside the mall on the corner.
"Wow! And here we are," she said, staring up at the cute sign with their chibi mascot of a pig beside the name.
Evie was hunched in order for Honey to hold her hand the way he was, and she felt like she was entering a children's playhouse of pastel colors. Honey had no ifs, ands, or buts as he forced her in, and a kind waitress showed them to an empty table. Unlike the place Mary found herself in that had a European theme, the drinks were decidedly unfamiliar from what Evie could read, so she went with water. Honey helped her order a sandwich while he bought half the dessert menu.
As none of the entrées were cooked to order, their food arrived soon enough. It was a good thing, too, as Honey was still stewing. His face immediately lit up at the appearance of his various cakes, and the restaurant got an eyeful of him impressively downing a slice whole with a finesse akin to a snake unhinging its jaw.
Evie munched on her sandwich in quiet awe tinged with fear at his super human ability to consume sweets. Honey noticed her staring, and she quickly looked down at her plate. "Thanks so much, Honey. You didn't have to pay for me…"
"Silly~! You still owe us a vase. How can you afford lunch?" He hummed, not realizing how it could be taken as a total slap in the face.
Evie pursed her lips. "Well, that vase is worth a helluva lot more than a turkey club…"
She eyed the establishment around them, finding girls giggling and pointing at them. When Evie was paranoid something was stuck to her face or her shoe and was checking herself, she realized it was Honey they were looking at. He was adorably singing with his stuffed bunny and eating his food, but in this world, it wasn't something to be mocked. No, these girls were instantly obsessed with him. His cuteness won them over, as was his trait as a host, and he had fans whenever he entered the public eye. It was a little baffling, but it was a pleasant change from the crueler world she was accustomed to that would no doubt belittle a seventeen-year-old boy and his stuffed pink bunny.
"Evie-chan?" His fork poked at the green fondant decoration atop his next slice. By the sound of it, he was already feeling much more like himself. But when she looked, his expression was melancholic.
She was wary of his severity, ignoring the girls ogling him. "What's up?"
Honey himmed and hawed about his question, his free hand flicking Usa-chan's ear back and forth as he thought. She had to wonder if he was actively ignoring his popularity or if he was just so used to it by this point that he didn't even notice everyone staring at him. She began to understand Tamaki's ego a little better. "You know about the future, right?"
"Well… yeah. Kinda," Evie decided, sitting up a bit straighter. And she thought his Bermuda shorts were going to be the strangest thing about today. She tugged on the hem of her own shorts, pulling them lower. "I'm not a crystal ball or anything, but I've got a general sense. What did you want to know?"
Honey suddenly jumped, reaching into his pocket. He eyed his phone for a second, noting the contact that was illuminated there as it vibrated. He didn't want to lose this conversation though, so he pressed the end button and looked back to Evie who was inquisitively watching him.
"What can you tell me?" He countered, looking perceptive despite his childish grin. Evie was taken aback. "You said that you and Mary-chan are waiting for a story to play out, so you can leave… Is it a good story? Does it turn out okay? Will everyone be happy?"
He's… He's… He's so cute! Evie shook her head to clear her thoughts, distracted by his magnetic, loliboy charm. Get serious! She cleared her throat, setting the corner left of her sandwich back on the plate. She propped her elbows up on the table. "You've got nothing to worry about, Honey-senpai. I promise!"
"But what can you tell me?" Honey persisted, scooting forward in his seat and stuffing some more cake in. Once he swallowed, he prompted: "Since you're from the future, do you have any advice?"
"Advice?" She blanched, completely at a loss. Sure, Mary would come to her for advice all of the time but Honey-senpai? The sneakily perceptive, most level-headed one of all of the hosts? The one who saw all, knew all - speculated long before Kaoru on their inevitable fall out with their separate paths in life and still smiled so positively for everyone because they had the present together? THAT guy?! Evie felt very underqualified. What if she screwed everything up with whatever her reply was? Well… she always was reassuring Mary of that same old tired fact. They were going to change everything back to normal in the end. So it didn't matter. Evie smiled wide. "Well… if you want to know what I think…?"
He nodded his head enthusiastically, so she sighed and went on. "Keep doing what you're doing, Honey-senpai. Don't change. Don't grow up too much, and keep life fun! Go pick some dandelions!"
"Dandelions?" He wrinkled his nose, cake crumbs stuck to his cheek.
Evie blinked. "Oh. Is that an American thing?"
He laughed. "Haha, no! But okay, Evie-chan. Whatever you say~!"
She rolled her eyes and determined to eat the rest of her sandwich… before Honey's bottomless pit of a stomach could get to it first.
Mary gawked at the designer store Mori and Kyoya just wandered into like it was an everyday Walmart. She idly picked up a sleeve to try and discreetly catch a price tag to see what they were working with, but the store was so high end that their prices weren't on display. She whistled low and caught up to the boys talking to a sales representative.
"Oh, you poor dear!" The woman gasped upon seeing her blotched shirt and pants.
Mary shrugged, quite used to the stench by now and already drying off. "I know – I'm a wreck."
"Right this way!" She chuckled, guiding her to a curtained area. Mary shamelessly stared up at the chandeliers overhead. Did everyone in this show have shit tons of money?! "Just step through there. You can change in here while I help your friends shop! Do you know your sizes?"
Brought back by the woman trying to do her job, Mary shuffled her feet as she drew back the corner of the curtain to peer into the roomy changing area. "There are multiple sizes? I just need a top and pants, yeah? So… medium?"
"Very well then…" she said, patting her coiffed curls atop her head. She was clearly dissatisfied with such a commoner answer.
"We can take it from here," Kyoya dismissed her. Mary stepped behind the curtain and slid out of her gross clothes, piling them to the side. His voice on the other side of the curtain still sounded much too close when she was standing there without a shirt or pants. "Do you have any preferences?"
"Whatever you're not going to gripe about me wearing later will do just fine," Mary retorted, hugging her shoulders against the chills of the highly air-conditioned department store. "Just remember, I didn't pick this place!"
"Fair enough," Kyoya surrendered. He turned to the taller young man who was looking around the place like he was lost in a zoo. "Mori-senpai? Would you like to find something for her to wear?"
Mori shrugged, going off in the first direction and grabbing handfuls of clothing from the racks.
Kyoya flipped open his cell phone, hoping to reach Tamaki to let him know of their change in plans. It rang ceaselessly until he cut off the connection, trying another number. After the fourth try, he grew frustrated.
"No one is answering their phone…" Kyoya announced, closing his own cell with a snap. He could just picture Tamaki and the Hitachiins running around in a blind panic, getting themselves lost in the city in the process. "Morons…"
All of his calls went to voicemails, but one attempt was outright rejected. Which was odd. He was curious as to why Honey-senpai wasn't answering, but those theories would be left for another time as Mori approached with an armful of choices. Kyoya's eyebrows rose, his glasses clearing as he looked up in surprise at the hodge-podge of clothes. "Ah. Quite a selection. Thank you, Mori-senpai. She will be most appreciative."
Mary was becoming impatient as she was left in her underwear, feeling terribly awkward that Kyoya and Mori were just on the other side of this sheer wall. She let out a terrified scream when the curtain was pulled back and the object of her horror was standing there with a dress in hand. "Jesus, what's the matter with you, Kyoya?! Don't just waltz in here!"
"Did you have another suggestion as to how I should hand it to you? Don't be so over-dramatic," Kyoya retaliated, infuriatingly calm about the whole matter.
"Pass them through the curtain!" Mary demanded, snatching the dress, giving him a shove, and yanking the curtain back in place. Kyoya looked to Mori who just shrugged in response. They could hear her muttering curses as she hopped into the red number and zipped it up the side.
"Well? Is it to your liking?" Kyoya asked, ignoring Mori as he waved around a blouse for her to try instead.
"It's… a little much, honestly…" Mary finally said, staring into the big mirror provided for her. "Yeah, no. This won't go with my shoes. Next!"
"Try this," Kyoya said, taking the blouse from Mori and sticking it through the curtain.
Mary retrieved it with a sarcastic tone, dropping the dress around her ankles and putting it back on the hanger before changing into the shirt. She returned the dress over the top of the curtain. "There. Was that so hard?"
He snorted in irritation, and she chuckled. Pulling the blouse over her head, Mary freed her hair and looked in the mirror. It was a soft pink with a high collar and billowing sleeves. She admired it, twirling back and forth. "Huh… Actually, I like this a lot. Got anything to go with it?"
"Mori-senpai, it's a winner," Kyoya told him. Calling over the curtain, he said: "Coming right up, your highness."
How incredibly strange… Mary shook out her hair, fixing her pigtails after the fact as she tried on another skirt handed to her. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever go clothes shopping with the Host Club. Especially not the pair she was stuck with. If anything, Tamaki would be a blast in here…
Her face darkened at the thought of the twins in this situation. She couldn't stand their taste in fashion, so it would be one inane screaming match until she lost two against one and wound up in something entirely inappropriate for a public place with lots of families.
She rolled her eyes, somehow wishing they were here despite all that. Having the club split up was strange. They worked better as a group, but things always got out of control fast. Mary smiled at the thought, hoping Evie was off with a strange setup of her own and having some unexpected fun.
"Well? Have you chosen something?" Kyoya asked, not bothering to disguise the exhaustion in his voice. He and Mori had been running all across and back through the store, creating quite the tornado in their wake. The sales rep was testily reorganizing racks they had been through, glaring daggers at them and wishing for their hasty departure.
The curtain pulled back, and Mary stepped out in the blouse Mori had originally chosen with a simple grey skirt. She cutely smiled with genuine happiness - a first for her. "Yeah, thanks, guys! This is great!"
"Very good," Kyoya smiled gallantly in return. He spread his arm out towards the counter. "Shall we?"
Mary followed, swishing her skirt with a broad grin and a happy giggle. She pointed to her shoes as she walked, looking to Mori. "See? See how they match? Isn't it great?"
"Yeah," he agreed in his quiet way.
"Found something you like?" The original sales woman who greeted them at the door smiled politely at them from across the counter.
"Yes," Kyoya greeted her with a professional nod. The woman looked over Mary's choices and rang up the items on her computer.
"I really appreciate it, Kyoya-senpai – this blouse is the greatest thing ever! Mori-senpai, you've got a good eye!" She complimented. Mori smiled, scratching his neck.
"Good, because I changed my mind. It's going on your tab," Kyoya said, handing over his credit card to the woman who quickly swiped it.
Mary's jaw dropped, her glare returning at the insult to her trust. She pouted her lips and crossed her arms. "You sneaky son of a bitch…!"
"We should focus on finding the others. This setback has put us behind a good twenty minutes," he said, retrieving his card and leaving them behind.
Mary hurried to catch up, back to mumbling and grumbling to herself like an angry little girl whose lollipop was taken from her. Mori kept a safe distance, hoping Mitsukuni wasn't being such a bother to poor Evie.
"That was really fun, Honey-senpai! Thanks!" Evie said, jauntily in step with him.
Honey swung Usa-chan around, almost reeling off into a passerby. "Mm~! I love a good snack! We're glad you joined us, isn't that right, Usa-chan?"
Evie giggled, feeling more and more at ease in this world and with the people in it. She remembered when the Hosts were this phenomenon. Untouchably distant and more or less on a pedestal of fictional princedom. But after the time she spent here in Ouran, they were starting to feel like real people. And not just that but friends. And Honey was a good friend she was glad to have. Her dream in Wonderland showed her that. She couldn't stay forever, but the bonds she made here were very real. At least to her. And she'd always have that, come what may.
Rapid, pounding footsteps grew in volume. Evie heard them in time to turn around just as she stepped outside, getting tackled by what felt like a linebacker. She staggered and found Mary latched to her waist. "Is this going to be a regular thing?"
"Where have you been?!" Mary scolded, pushing away and slapping her friend in the arm. "We've been all over looking for you two!"
Mori held up a hand in greeting before Honey mimicked Mary and hug tackled him, soon on his shoulders. He happily drummed Mori's head and laughed, his flowers dancing around his head's pink aura. "Takashi! Did you have fun today?"
"Yeah," Mori half-lied. Shopping wasn't his forte, but he could think of worse things to do.
"We went for lunch when we couldn't find you guys," Evie explained, observing her friend's new outfit. "You look fabulous!"
"Right!? Kyoya and Mori picked it out for me!" Mary giggled girlishly despite the consequences of the price tag.
Evie clapped her hands over her cheeks in shock. "NO WAY."
A limo blew a dust trail as it flew up to the curb, the original spot everyone disembarked earlier that day, in fact. Out came the twins and Tamaki, looking panicked. "There you are!"
"About time you goons found your way back," Kyoya greeted in turn with a nod and an annoyed frown.
"Mommy, I looked everywhere!" Tamaki sobbed, running in for his own hug.
It was rebuffed with an outstretched hand, smacking him square in the face like a brick wall. "Answer your phone next time, and none of this would have happened."
"Kyoyaaaa…" Tamaki whined, muffled by the other's hand.
"Let's go," Kyoya pushed up his glasses, finally surrendering a smile.
"Way to get yourself lost," Hikaru snapped, always starting his conversations with Mary in the rudest ways possible. He also had his hands in his pockets as usual, the pinnacle of sassiness.
"Hey, Evie got lost first!" Mary blamed the brunette.
"Nu-uh!" She refuted, crossing her arms. "Everyone else got lost! Honey and I just came back and found everyone gone."
"At least you're all okay," Kaoru shrugged with a sweet, sheepish smile. "We were worried for a while."
"Aw~!" Evie squealed, forcefully grabbing his cheeks and stretching them. "That is so cute!"
Mary put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back and releasing the twin. "Down, Evie."
"You still got lost," Hikaru repeated with a snarky smirk.
"You're gonna be losin' a few teeth in a second," Mary threatened, rolling up the sleeve of her frilly blouse. Her adorable outfit completely mooted any intimidating weight she held.
"Everyone in!" Kyoya ordered, firmly pointing at the open limo door. Tamaki was already inside, looking all teary-eyed. As Kyoya had used his rare Shadow King voice, everyone put their tails between their legs and quickly found their seats.
The day had been too much for the Host Club and the girls, and everyone was snoozing away on the long drive home. Mary had sprawled out across an entire row, very unladylike in her skirt as she dreamed with her head propped up on Mori's leg. She and Kaoru had kicked Hikaru off entirely, so he was dozing on the floor, his twin foot to foot with Mary where he slept on his own row of seats. Mori was sleeping like a soldier would, sat upright with his eyes closed yet blinking at every bump in the road. Honey was sat next to him in the corner, curled up and using Evie as a lean to. Kyoya found he was the lucky one to catch the weight with Evie leaning on his shoulder, totally floored despite her usual abundant energy. The whole crew had collapsed like dominos.
"I can't believe we got stuck looking for you guys all day while you got to pick out cute outfits…" Tamaki grumped through pouted lips with his arms crossed nearly to his chin. He was the only other one still awake.
Kyoya turned his way, careful not to shift Evie and wake her. "I assure you it was not as thrilling as you make it out to be. Mary was quite the handful."
"They're interesting though," he said, suddenly more serious. Kyoya watched as Tamaki got that look about him. That scheming face. Nothing sinister of course. Tamaki was too dense for such plotting. But it was that same look he got whenever he had something big on his mind. Like when he played the piano… or when he got the idea for a host club.
Kyoya called him out on it. "They're leaving, you know. I wouldn't get too attached."
"I know," Tamaki replied flippantly, relaxing into his seat and bringing his knee up to lounge.
Kyoya doubted he did. Or if Tamaki did accept their inevitable absence, he wasn't showing it. But Kyoya was betting on the former. He was going to remain oblivious to the dour ending until it came back to bite him in the ass. That's how Tamaki functioned. Ignorance was bliss. Bad news could wait forever and ever for all he cared. Let it pile up until it couldn't hold, and it would all come crashing down at once.
Still, Mary and Evie were a nice addition for the present. Their visits had their oddities and annoyances, but it was good for the Host Club to expand a little. It was almost like having guests around all of the time without the strange doting aspect. Well, every now and again… but it didn't feel like they were on duty to impress anyone. It was nice for them to just be themselves and not worry about going out of their way to make anyone happy. Evie and Mary seemed to be happy with them at the get-go, or rather, they liked them better casually anyways. Mary might have been harder to read with her attitude, but she wouldn't hang around so much if she was decidedly unhappy. And Evie was about as open with her bubbliness as a cardboard baby book. Which had its own kind of benefits and irritations.
Kyoya suddenly turned to Tamaki with an accusation, nearly forgetting Evie was still snoozing on his shoulder. "You think they'll stay."
Tamaki couldn't help the grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. He shrugged, appearing content watching his little family all piled together like they were. "We'll see."
He glanced down at Evie, the bag with the Flashmatic clutched tightly in her arms like a teddy bear. Kyoya wondered how their dimension hopping, time travelling device would allow for such a thing. But if he knew anything about his best friend, he knew Tamaki would try to find a way.