Greetings loyal readers! First off, I apologize for the later update. I know I normally update every day, but apparently I lost to heat stroke. Apparently, I had it once as a kid and apparently that makes it more likely for me to get it now. So I've literally been bedridden for two days, and it's driving me insane! I'm just glad it's not too severe. I promise, once I get better, I'll be back to regular updates, but right now it's just at random. I'll try my hardest for the every day updates, but I have to take care of my health too. Anyways, thanks for your patience, now go ahead and read!
"So, what are you three doing for summer vacation?" A trio of girls asked the girls in disguise as they all sat out in the courtyard, the hosts all wearing Yukata's for the theme for the day.
"We haven't decided yet." The Russian sisters said in tune to one another as Haruhi poured a cup of tea for each of the ladies.
"What is it you have planned for the vacation, ladies?" Haruhi asked instead, since she didn't want the hosts to know about her plans for the vacation. If they tagged along once more, then it would ruin the vacation away from them.
It was a nice, warm, peaceful day for once. The club was out in the courtyard since the approaching summer heat was just on the horizon, so the weather was just perfect to sit out in the courtyard in yukata's and relax with the guests.
Near the girls, the twins were playing a shell matching game with their own guests and pulling their normal twincest routine as the girls in disguise discussed summer plans, the twins slyly trying to listen in to see what their plans were for summer.
It would be fun to spend the summer together. Maybe go to Fiji or the Caribbean with the girls.
Or, more specifically, it would be very interesting to see a certain pair of girls running around in bikini's during the summer.
"Hikaru's daydreaming, again." Kaoru advised the ladies as he nudged his dreamy eyed brother in the cheek to try to get him to focus, giggling since it was one of those moment's when he knew what his brother must have been thinking about.
"Oh, is he daydreaming about one of us?" One of the girls asked as the other giggled excitedly.
"Maybe." Kaoru mused, earning giggling and squeals of excitement even though Kaoru wasn't being serious. "Hey, Haruhi, come here for a moment." Kaoru called to the natural before turning his attention back to the girls.
The only way to figure out which girl his brother was daydreaming about, was to test it!
Haruhi came over, only to realize Kaoru was trying to pull something devious. "Leave me out of it if you're trying to pull a prank." Haruhi reminded as she tried to ignore the squealing girls ruining the peaceful air of the courtyard.
A few minutes later, while admiring the flowers, yet another voice broke the peacefulness however. "Haruhi, DUCK!" Tamaki suddenly tackled her in to a flower bush with a loud thud before jumping back up. "HIKARU! You came THIS close to snuffing out the light of Haruhi's life!" Tamaki screamed at the twin, unaware he was standing on top of Haruhi.
So much for peaceful.
"Hey, it's your fault for not catching the ball in the first place, boss." Hikaru reminded the boss as he and Kaoru stood nearby, hands up at their shoulders in shrugs to what had happened.
"Yeah, who knew he'd be so bad at Kamari. So much for him being the Gengi of Ouran Academy." Kaoru agreed with his brother as they turned to one another, Tamaki earning a tick mark on his head from annoyance with the twins.
"What?!" Tamaki demanded furiously, before beginning to yell at the twins further.
After yelling for a few minutes, Tamaki suddenly performed his best move, Starlight Kick. Which sent the ball flying.
"Take care of yourself! Bye!" The twins said as the ball flew away, waving napkins in farewell as a beat of sweat dropped from Tamaki's forehead at his blunder of sending the ball flying too far.
"It just went through a window." Ren revealed as she walked by, motioning to a window that the ball had shot straight through across the courtyard as Tamaki paled at his immense blunder.
"Nice job, boss." The twins mocked with smirks before Tamaki took off to go make sure he didn't accidentally hurt someone when the ball went through that window.
Soon, everyone was gathered in the Newspaper Club room where Tamaki had kicked the ball through. "Really, we're terribly sorry about that." Tamaki said sincerely, bowing to the club president as everyone else besides Kyoya sat around and did their own thing.
The twins were reading through one of the newspapers, Haruhi and Ryo were nearby cleaning up the glass off the floor, and Honey, Mori and Ren were sitting over near the door talking quietly.
"I've been meaning to ask you something, Ren." Mitsukuni said as the king talked with the newspaper clubs president. "Why does my guest Leiko and her friends suddenly have a problem with you?" Mitsukuni asked as Ren looked back at the conversation taking place.
"She has a problem with me?" Ren was playing dumb, unwilling to tell him about the excessively jealous girl who's been trying to get on her nerves since Mitsukuni had a cavity. Every time she tries to set her up to look back or stupid, she sidesteps her little traps and infuriates her even more.
How such an ignorant girl could think he could fool her, she really didn't know.
"Ren, I saw the way she was looking at you one day back after my cavity got better. She looked like she was going to cry almost." Mitsukuni advised as Ren tried not to roll her eyes at the fact that he would think someone so spoiled would actually honestly cry.
She'd probably only cry if it were to her benefit, not for real. Girls like her don't know any emotion besides jealousy and angst, after all.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Whenever she talks to me, it's always about the club. I don't talk to her otherwise." Ren stated honestly, since Mitsukuni was part of the Host club, and that was the only reason Leiko went to the trouble to try to bother her was to try to get her to stop being friends with Mitsukuni.
Not like the boy himself would even let that happen if he knew about any of this.
"Ren..." Mitsukuni didn't want to let her get away with hiding what was going on, but right now he would have to since Tamaki was trying to volunteer them to help the Newspaper club. There were more important things to worry about at the moment.
After everyone's disagreement to help the Newspaper club, the Host returned to their own club room, where Tamaki began pouting over how no one wanted to help the poor family that was going to be forced to break up.
Unfortunately, no one can say no to the king though. Especially when he uses his signature Puppy Dog eye pout. "There will be some conditions." Kyoya gave in, pushing his glasses up slightly as he tried not to show his annoyance over having to give in to Tamaki's pleas.
"Ruff!" Tamaki barked excitedly, in to the puppy character too much.
"The outline for their article will be submitted by us. Interviews are strictly prohibited, and it is vital that our clients identities be kept confidential." Kyoya listed off the conditions for giving assistance to the unkind Newspaper club.
"Ruff, ruff!" Tamaki continued barking excitedly, hands out in front of him even to make him look more puppy like as he continued giving his puppy dog eye look at everyone.
"Do we agree?" Kyoya asked everyone, but continued looking at Tamaki specifically since this was his idea after all.
After everyone agreed, Tamaki finally stopped acting like a puppy dog pout.
"This isn't going to take too much time helping them, right?" Ryo asked, not particularly happy with helping the other club as she sat between the twins on a couch while they sipped tea, everyone waiting for Tamaki to change out of his Yukata and back in to his uniform.
"Why? Got plans?" Hikaru asked instead, leaning closer to her with an inquisitive yet devious smile over intruding on whatever she may have planned.
"No, I just don't want to spend days helping people who only write gossipy crap." Ryo replied before reaching forward and snatching a box of Pocky she spotted in his pocket, grinning triumphantly at him as she held it up in his face. He should know better than to let her see the treat.
"Hey, I didn't say you could have that." Hikaru protested, trying to snatch back the Pocky only for the two to start wrestling on the couch, Kaoru on the other end trying to avoid getting pulled in by either of the two as they fought for the Pocky.
"You should know better. You never win when it comes to fighting, real or not, me." Ryo reminded as she sat on top of Hikaru, who was face down on the couch with his face buried in the cushion, defeated as Ryo took out a piece of Pocky and stuck it in her mouth.
"Okay, get off of me." Hikaru's voice was muffled by the cushion as Ryo sat on his back, unwilling to get off.
"Will you share the Pocky with me if I do?" Ryo asked as Kaoru moved over to the far end of the couch to avoid the play fighting.
"No." Hikaru snapped even though muffled as Ryo stayed put.
"Okay, then enjoy laying face down in the couch until I get bored of this." Ryo said with a laugh at the end as he began to struggle, trying to throw her off.
"Since when is a girl so heavy?!" Hikaru questioned as he continued struggling, only to earn a slap for the insult.
"I'm not heavy, I just know how to use my weight to keep you pinned. Share and I set you free." Ryo reminded as she patted Hikaru on the head like a child, Kaoru only able to watch the way his brother was around Ryo now.
This had been the norm since Hikaru talked with Ryo back when everyone else was dealing with Honey-senpai's cavity. Kaoru had noticed that Hikaru and Ryo were gradually getting more comfortable around each other, but now all he could wonder is how long this will continue.
Kaoru knew about Hikaru's special attention towards Haruhi as well and why it took place. He knew Hikaru had a certain interest in Haruhi, just like himself. But when it boiled down to it, Kaoru also knew that Hikaru had a special interest in Ryo. Whether he knew it yet or not.
Just now, all he could wonder was how this would turn out. He couldn't have both the same way. He would have to choose who he got even closer to.
But...if he didn't pick one...that meant he would have a chance with one of the girls. He liked both of them, they were fun to be around. He knew that the boss was interested in his precious Haruhi anyways. So...maybe he could try to get closer with Ryo too.
It's not fair that Hikaru should be allowed to be her only close friend. They were brothers, after all. He should be allowed to be closer friends with Ryo or Haruhi without having to worry about his brother getting excessively jealous or upset.
Kaoru glanced over at his brother and Ryo again to see his brother still struggling beneath the surprisingly stronger girl on top of him. Maybe he should try to get closer to Ryo too. Besides, he already knows her fear while Hikaru does not. He has a bit of an advantage over his brother in that area. It wouldn't hurt to know more.
Soon, Haruhi came over and coerced Ryo to get off of Hikaru and give back his half empty box of Pocky, though Ryo was very reluctant in letting him go.
"Aww, you ate half the box." Hikaru whined as he looked in to the box to see it was half empty thanks to the Russian girl.
"It was good, too." Ryo said with a smug smirk through the stick of Pocky between her teeth at that moment.
Soon the Hosts were sent their ways as Kyoya went to meet with the Newspaper club's president and relay his conditions, as well as give them a first aid kit for Tamaki's blunder.
The next day the Newspaper club began to follow the club around as everyone went outside to play some "Commoner games" as Tamaki announced. "The Daruma Doll fell o...ver!" Tamaki screamed before turning back to the group on the other side of the field.
Everyone was just standing completely still.
The moment he turned back to the tree to start again, everyone inched forward slowly.
The moment he turned around again, Mitsukuni, Ren and the twins did a pose, the others just standing completely still.
Once more facing the tree, everyone shuffled forward quickly. "The Daruma Doll fell oooover!" Tamaki whirled on them to see the twins with their hands in the air, still, and beside them Mitsukuni had the same position, while Ren had chosen to lean on Mitsukuni since he was on one leg, testing his balance to stay still.
Turning around once more, everyone inched forward again. The moment he whirled around, he frowned upon seeing the positions this time. Mitsukuni had his Usa-Chan balanced on his head, while Ren had dropped down to the ground with her tongue stuck out at him mockingly. Hikaru had his arms up in the air, while Kaoru was pointing at Tamaki with a mocking look in his eyes as well since next time he turned around, someone was bound to win.
Instead though, Tamaki began to accuse the twins of moving after he called out, waving his finger at them accusingly as they denied having moved, everyone else stuck frozen until this display of childish antics was done.
Instead, Tamaki left everyone else frozen in their spots and walked over to the watching Newspaper club to talk to them, unaware of the annoyed looks he got for leaving all of his club members frozen since he didn't call a time out.
"YOU need to learn friendliness!" Tamaki pointed at the Club president as everyone else on the other side of the field was unable to do anything else aside from watch.
"Can we just call a time and go do something else?" Ryo asked Kyoya, since he was the one who said go along with Tamaki's stupid antics.
"We do as the King says, for now." Kyoya advised, even though he really wasn't really playing. He was just going along, but otherwise ignoring Tamaki.
Haruhi tried to ignore Tamaki when he began talking about her and how she was now given the chance to relive her childhood right there at Ouran with the rest of the, looking to Ryo barely before everyone began moving, ignoring the rules since Tamaki wasn't playing anymore really.
"Ah, ah, I saw that! You all moved a bit!" Tamaki announced to everyone who moved, which so happened to be everyone but Mitsukuni and Ren, who were enjoying the game more than they probably were letting on.
"Lets just ignore that and keep playing since we didn't know if you quit or not." Ren spoke back to Tamaki before he begrudgingly gave in and agreed.
"Why can't this just be over?" Haruhi asked, bored beyond anything as she slumped over. A second later, the Newspaper club approached her and began asking questions.
As they were asking her questions about Tamaki and his family abusing their power however, the twins and Ryo intercepted, the twins slamming their hands down between the President and Haruhi to distract them before Ryo grabbed Haruhi and began running towards the trees with her.
Everyone began running away at that point. "Hey wait! That's not how you're supposed to play, you know!" Tamaki screamed at everyone but Kyoya, since he was the only one who didn't give in to the childishness and run away.
When no one came back, Tamaki decided on a different game. "Next, we're playing Kankeri." Tamaki announced as he found a can and placed it on the ground. "And you're it, okay Kyoya?" Tamaki asked as he pointed at his friend before turning back to the can, everyone behind him now.
"If I must." Kyoya said, sounding indifferent to the idea of even playing this game.
Tamaki groaned before preparing to run at the can and kick it. "Starlight...kick!" Tamaki announced before kicking the can at full force, it zooming past the Newspaper club as the President screamed in fear but it missed him.
"If you honestly think I'm going to fall for the same trick again...you've got another thing..." The president was cut off when the can, after bouncing off various trees, cracked him over the head and brought him down to the ground with a cry of pain as everyone else began running to hide from Kyoya.
"Haruhi, come with me." Tamaki took Haruhi's hand and began to lead her off to hide, heading in to the rose bush hedge maze with a cheerful smile as they ran.
Haruhi could only stare at the King as he led him. How could this boy have a dark side. It's just not possible. Or is it? Come to think of it, she really doesn't know anything about Tamaki's family.
The Newspaper club's president hobbled back to his feet as Kyoya sat a few hundred feet away with the dented can, counting to himself for the game. But he could hear the obvious anger in the President's tone over today's events.
Once the President began to walk away, Kyoya turned to him with a knowing glint in his eyes. He knew that the Newspaper club couldn't be trusted.
"Did you get us lost, Senpai?" Haruhi asked as Tamaki stopped after a while, freezing at her accusation since she wasn't exactly wrong.
"Look, Haruhi, I found a great hiding place over here!" Tamaki announced excitedly after walking ahead a bit, waving at her excitedly after finding a place to hide.
"Yeah right." Haruhi muttered, but none the less walked forward to see what was supposedly such a good hiding place.
Mitsukuni furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He had seen Ren run towards the trees, but now he couldn't find her anymore. How did she hide that well?
The newspaper club had barely gotten back to their club room, when they saw the Hitachiin twins sitting on the desk near the window watching them, behind them seated in the chair being Ryo with her feet propped up on the desk. "So, we were right all along." Kaoru advised as the President's eyes narrowed at the sight of the three most devious of the club.
"You three." The twins chuckled at his tone, but none the less didn't move.
"Well, I guess it was pretty obvious." Hikaru mused as they continued to stare him down with a look that could send anyone running.
"The boss is the only one who hasn't caught on yet. He can be really dense when it pertains to anything about himself." Kaoru advised, voice calm yet in a threatening manner as the three Newspaper club members in front of them stayed in the doorway.
"I should warn you, if you threaten him, there will be consequences." Hikaru warned as the three members opposite them looked between the three carefully.
"Are you ready to have the Hitachiin's and every other club members families as your enemies?" Kaoru asked carefully as the President in front of them stepped back at the threat.
"I knew it. You're nothing but his lackeys! Tamaki's holding his parent's power over all of you!" The boy was suddenly shoved forward a bit by a firm hand on his back, the same force shoving the other two boys inside before the door closed behind them, turning to see they were now surrounded by all but Tamaki and Haruhi, as it had been Kyoya and Ren who had pushed them in and closed the door.
"That's not true." Mitsukuni said in response to the President's accusation, him and Mori having been off to the side of the room and out of sight until then. "We don't hang out with Tama-Chan because of his parents, we love him. We all like being around him, and that's why we like being here." Mitsukuni explained with a gentle smile, but the President didn't look convinced.
"He may be a hopeless idiot, but even so." Kyoya mused as he sat down on top of a pile of newspapers, in his own thoughts.
Every one of the hosts seemed to be in their own thoughts for a minute on the Host Club King, before turning their full attention back to the Newspaper club members they were surrounding.
"Well?"
"What will you do?"
"Please leave Tama-Chan alone, okay?" Mitsukuni asked, coddling his Usa-Chan.
The Newspaper club's president glared furiously at all of the Hosts. "I'll get you all." He hissed angrily through his teeth as he glared each host down. "It's not just about him anymore. I'll write an article that will ruin all of you!" The president cried, before Ren stepped forward and fetched the medical box off the desk, handing it over to Kyoya.
"Go ahead, be my guest." Kyoya said as he flipped the box over, pushing a secret button for a disc to pop out. "Although, what do you think we should do about this little disc? You see, it's been here since yesterday. And it recorded everything." Kyoya advised before motioning to Ren as she walked over to the window, throwing back one of the curtains to reveal a hidden camera had been attached outside the window that had been shattered.
"And courtesy of the Nikolai family, we've recorded everything with a camera as well." Kyoya continued as Ren opened the window and pulled the camera, handing it over to Kyoya with a brief glare at the threatening Newspaper club.
The two newspaper cronies cowered and hugged to their president. "President, just give up already." They plead with him as the hosts waited for the inevitable surrender.
The President dropped to his knees as Kyoya stepped forward. "Let me explain to you in terms you can understand." Kyoya began as he walked forward towards the president who was now in tears. "You will do well to remember that the Ootori group and Hitachiin family alone have enough stock to remove your father from his position as president from the Komatsuzawa publishing firm." Kyoya reminded the petrified boy on his knees before him. "However, we would never do something like that. We're not like you." Kyoya advised as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. "What we strive for is fundamentally different, however." Kyoya cut off as he motioned for Ren to step forward, the girl looking deadly serious.
"Should you continue with your harassment of Tamaki Suoh or his friends and acquaintances, you will most certainly be met misfortune the likes of which your self absorbed mind cannot comprehend. It is highly recommended that you cease and desist your attempts from here on out, otherwise you will regret it. Do we have an understanding?" Ren questioned, sounding far older and more business like than any of the hosts aside from Ryo or Kyoya had ever seen.
The two newspaper lackeys nodded quickly in fear and after a second the President nodded his agreement as well before the hosts left them to their thoughts.
And so they could go find their missing president and Haruhi.
Fortunate for the other hosts, Ryo had seen Tamaki drag Haruhi off in to the rose hedge maze, so it didn't take long to figure out where they were.
"I found you." Kyoya announced, the two previously moping teens shooting up happily and looking like matching excited puppies.
"Where's the newspaper club?" Tamaki asked upon noticing that the club was missing.
"They had to cancel. Something came up." The twins advised in unison.
"They said they're going to focus on writing respectable articles." Hikaru revealed as they all began to walk out of the hedge maze.
"Maybe they'll get by without having to shut down." Kaoru mused as he looked back at the boss walking behind them.
"Really? That's good news." Tamaki said, slightly surprised by the revelation since he was actually having fun helping the Newspaper Club stay together as a family.
"Let's hurry back to the club room and eat some cake." Honey said excitedly as he sat on Mori's shoulders, excited for some cake before looking to Ren for her to agree with him.
"Yeah." Mori agreed with his older cousin.
"So long as you don't eat it all." Ren teased, sticking her tongue out at Mitsukuni when he faked that he was offended by her thinking he would eat all the cake.
"That does sound good. Cake. Cake." Tamaki said happily, stretching his arms over his head with a big grin over having cake with his club.
"Kyoya-Senpai?" Haruhi asked as she walked beside the Shadow King. "I was wondering, is the Suoh family really that big of a deal around here?" Haruhi asked as she looked up at the Vice President who seemed to know everything about anyone.
Well, except for the Russian's, that is.
"Well, the foundation of their business lies in corporate finance. But they do have some extensive real estate as well. They also have a hand in other things, like school management for example." Kyoya advised knowledgeably as Haruhi just listened intently about Tamaki's family.
"I didn't know about that. Which school?" Haruhi asked, stopping a second later as Kyoya stopped at her words.
"Why, Ouran Academy." Kyoya advised, genuinely surprised that the scholarship student didn't know just who it was that was floating the payment for her enrollment.
Haruhi stared at him before gasping as she realized she never really met the Chairmen of the Board who was paying for her scholarship.
"You've been here long enough that you should at least know who the Chairmen of the Board is. You know, if you think about it, you're able to attend school here because of the financial aid you receive from Tamaki's family. You should be grateful to them." Kyoya reminded Haruhi as he continued following after the rest of the group, Haruhi still frozen in place.
"Haruhi!" Haruhi finally snapped out of her thoughts to turn to Tamaki who was calling to her. "You should hurry up, or we're going to leave you." Tamaki reminded as the rest of the hosts stood around him, looking her way.
"I would hate for you to end up lost again."
But he was the reason she was lost in the first place...
Haruhi groaned in frustration before following along.
Later, Mitsukuni was eating his cake with Takashi when he noticed Ren over talking with Kyoya. She didn't talk to him that often anymore, but she was passing over that little camera she had somehow gotten placed outside the Newspaper Club's window.
Since when is she sneaky enough to do stuff like that? Or cooperating with Kyoya's sleuthing?
She came back over to him after passing off the camera and sat down while he ate. "Something you want to ask me, Mitsukuni?" How does she always know when he's thinking about something?!
"How do you always know when I want to ask you something?" Mitsukuni asked through a mouthful of cake.
"Because you stare after me while I'm walking around. What's on your mind though?" Ren asked as she reached over and grabbed a plate of cake for herself.
But...sometimes he just stares at her because he's admiring her. Does that mean she always sees when he's watching"
Ignoring the feeling of embarrassment over being caught, Mitsukuni swallowed his cake. "Since when do you know how to sneak around and place stuff like cameras like Kyo-Chan does?" Mitsukuni asked carefully as he poked at his cake with his fork.
"I know a lot of ways to sneak around and find out what needs to be found out." Ren said with a shrug as if it were unimportant before taking a bite out of her cake.
She's known how to do stuff like that? How come he's never known that? Come to think of it, he's never seen her act the way she did when she spoke to the President earlier either. The way she was so professional but the look in her eyes as she spoke was a bit scary.
Were there still important things he didn't know about her?
"Is...your families business law enforcement? I mean, I've never met someone who knows how to sneak around but at the same time defend themselves and others." Mitsukuni muttered as he poked his cake again with his fork, wanting to know what was going on. Right now, Kyoya knows more about her home life than he does. That's not fair.
"You...could say that I guess." Ren hesitated with her words. Why isn't she being straight forward with him all of a sudden. Recently it's just been a lot of secrets. If it weren't about her family, there's the thing with his guests.
Which he still needs to find out whats going on there too.
"Mitsukuni, don't feel so left out about me not talking about it. It's not that important, really. Now eat your cake." Ren broke him from his thoughts by shoving a plate of cake in his face with a devious smirk at him as he gaped at her for such a childish action.
Questions can wait for a little while. Right now, he's just going to enjoy making her regret wasting cake.
Just a bit of a filler chapter, but we get to see the loyalty here of the Hosts, as well as a little sneak peak as to what the girls family does. Don't worry, we'll find out a lot more very soon. I can promise though, considering the next two episodes are very hectic and entertaining, that there will be an increasing amount of excitement in store for you readers! So keep reading!
Again, thank you for your patience in waiting. I'm not gonna cut back on my writing if I don't have to. I just have to make sure I don't make the heat stroke worse than it is. That's the downside of living where I do. It's already in the 90's each day, and it's not even summer. Either way, I won't let it keep me from writing, I promise. So keep watching, I'll try to write as much as I can when I'm not stuck resting. Don't worry, more likely if I don't update tomorrow, it'll probably be the day after or so.
So, thanks as always for reading, now scroll down and review for me so I can at least read the reviews while I'm stuck bedridden. Thanks as always for your patience though!