Chapter 35

Chapter 35, A Relatively Normal Day

Haruhi, Satoshi and Yasuchika walked calmly towards the door of the music room and paused for a moment to collect themselves. Well, Chika and Haruhi did, Satoshi was fine either way. Once they were centered, all three walked in and found that hosting hours were in full swing. Several guests turned to greet the trio exuberantly, which Satoshi returned with a bright smile. Yasuchika just grumbled slightly before offering a greeting of his own and Haruhi just gave her host smile before walking further in and towards Kyoya.

Kyoya looked up form his table when he saw the trio of martial artists walk in. He knew that Haruhi would be the first to walk over, the younger Haninozuka and Morinozuka in step just behind her. When such happened, he felt the corners of his lips turn up slightly before disappearing altogether as he handed their client lists to them.

Yasuchika sighed at the list but looked it over and was thankful that it was relatively short and would also keep him near Haruhi. Glancing over at his cousin's list, he saw it was roughly the same.

"Keeping on par with the "punishment" given to us?" Satoshi chuckled.

"Naturally," Kyoya responded.

Chika sighed and took Haruhi's and Satoshi's bags to the back room while they went to sit with the small group that was waiting for them. While he was back there, he grabbed a tray of tea and was about to grab one of the trays with light snacks when he heard his brother's voice coming closer to the room.

"Wait here a moment ladies," Hunny smiled. "I need to grab something really quick."

Hunny walked through the door and paused at the glare his younger brother was giving him. Holding up his hands in a placating manner, Hunny moved around the room, making sure not to get within four feet of his brother. They had made a small accord between them that as long as a distance of at least four feet was maintained, they could be in the same room without coming to blows unless it was in the dojo. It had been a compromise they could agree on, especially since they wouldn't always be able to fight each other. The only exception to that was when they had to be near each other for formal events and family gatherings that did not have a demo. When he managed to get to his bag, he knelt down and rummaged through it to pull out a couple small boxes.

"What are those?" Yasuchika asked, trying to remain in place.

"They are for Kyo-chan," Hunny explained. "One has a token of thanks from father and the other has a similar token from uncle for letting us stay in the Vortex and train there."

Chika nodded and let his brother continue what he was doing.

"Oh," Hunny paused just before the door. "There are some protein based snacks in that cupboard if you are looking for some. Haru-chan had shown them to me once while I was still here. It was after the time she agreed to watch the full tournament that all of us were in last year. They are actually pretty tasty."

When his brother had left, Yasuchika went to the indicated cabinet and opened it. He snorted slightly at the well organized arrangement of peanut butter protein bites and oat bars with fruit mixed in. Taking a small collection of both options, he put them on the tray with the tea and carried them out. He saw that Haurhi was talking to some of the gathered girls and Satoshi was talking animatedly with some of the male customers that had originally requested to be hosted by Haruhi. He glanced at the Shadow King and saw that the man didn't seem to care as long as nothing inconvenient happened and things were going smoothly.

Haruhi looked up just as Yasuchika returned and smiled at the assortment on the tray. When he set it down, the group of guests looked at the items in curiosity.

"What are those?" one of the guys asked as he pointed to the small protein bites.

"They are peanut butter protein bites," Haruhi explained. "They are made with peanut butter, oats some chocolate chips and sometimes you can add fruit. They are really good for you and taste great too. If stored properly, they can last for a couple weeks. I made these about a week ago. The others are oat and fruit bars. Made with oats, mixed dried berries and held together with honey."

"Wow," the others said softly before taking one or the other to try.

Haruhi smiled as the guests took a bite of the snack they were holding and exclaimed that they were good. A couple even said that they tasted a little better with the light mint tea that Yasuchika had picked. All three of them easily switching back into conversation and the rest of their time hosting was done in relatively the same manner. When the last bit off hours were done, Satoshi and Haruhi went into the back room to wash dishes while Yasuchika began to help clean up the main room with Hunny. Hikaru, Kaoru and Tamaki watched with baited breath as the two Haninozuka brothers went around the room cleaning up waiting for the moment when the lull would end and they would begin fighting.

Kyoya shook his head at the moron trio. He laughed softly as they would suck in a deep breath whenever the two would get close to each other before letting it out in a comical display of relief. Kyoya knew that as long as they kept to their agreement, neither one would instigate coming to blows. He turned his attention to the two items that now sat in front of him. The Haninozuka patriarch had given him a small Blood Charm that would act as an advanced warning against attacks to his person by creating a barrier around him while the Morinozuka patriarch had given him pair of Blood Gem seal shields that would take the brunt of any kind of physical or magical attack against him. Each one came with a small message of thanks for the offer of letting them spend time inside the Vortex with their children and away from the stresses of the day.

He had just finished penning his responses to the gifts when hosting hours had finished. He hadn't been that surprised to not see Saichi during hours that day when one of his Shadows informed him of her lunch meeting with Haruhi and the others and what was relayed. He needed to begin his plans of getting Akito and the rest of the Katayama family to slip up and make another set of mistakes. Quin'Derax was working on getting the rest of the family's secrets and was getting closer and closer to making them fall into the position that Kyoya could use to crush them, thus making them leave Haruhi alone to enjoy the rest of her life and only have to worry about school and her upcoming union.

When the room was clean, Yasuchika looked towards his brother and saw that he was picking up the last stray pieces of trash. He placed the bag on the ground and went into the back room where his cousin and Haruhi were so that Hunny could take care of the rest of the main room while he went to get the few small bags of trash in the back from the preparations of hours that day. He saw that the two of them were nearly done with the dishes.

"Hey Yasuchika," Satoshi greeted. "Mind helping Haruhi-nee fishing drying the dishes? I'll take the bags out to Mitsukuni."

Chika nodded and took Satoshi's place while the excitable teen dried his hands to get the trash bags, or rather, bag. When he was out of the room, Yasuchika easily took up the offered task.

"When did he start calling you sister?" he asked quietly.

"Not that long ago," Haruhi answered softly. "He actually asked if he could call me that when it was just family since I am essentially going to be such anyway in about nine days."

"Makes sense. Luckily he can keep to that promise while here at school."

"Yeah. By the way, you did really well in not picking a fight with Mitsukuni today."

Chika smirked slightly and nodded in thanks. He knew she was genuinely proud of him not trying to attack his brother when he had many opportunities to during the last hour of hosting. He and Hunny had made the accord in front of her and their parents and were going to keep to it as best as they could for as long as they could. Both of them took it as a challenge of their self control, patience and skills. Thus far they had been doing well in keeping to it while in the Sanctuary and the times they encountered each other at home.

Although they had been offered the ability to stay in the Sanctuary with Mori and Haruhi, both Haninozuka sons and Satoshi opted to only spend a few hours there with their family as a whole before returning to their proper homes for the night and returning in time to pick the two up for school. Even though ti was clear that Satoshi missed having his brother at the Morinozuka estate, he was rather happy that his brother was getting the needed time to spend with his soon-to-be sister-in-law.

When the last dish was dry and put away, Yasuchika and Haruhi dried their hands and got their bags, Chika grabbing Satoshi's since his cousin hadn't come back into the room to grab it yet. Upon exiting, the duo saw that only Hunny, Kyoya and Satoshi were left.

"They left?" Haruhi asked.

"Tamaki had a meeting to attend with his father," Kyoya explained. "Hikaru and Kaoru went to escort their mother back down to her car after dropping off the bag they have our costume layouts for the Gala in."

Haruhi nodded and went to sit down on one of the couches. Yasuchika sat near her with his brother and Satoshi sitting across from them. Kyoya took a seat on a near by chair with his black notebook in hand. The twins came back a few moments later with Hikaru carrying a duffel.

"Okay," Hikaru smiled as he placed the bag down. "Haruhi, you will be first since we can't go in with you to make tweaks. It is large enough that you can still wear your dress under it."

Haruhi nodded and took the offered bag that Kaoru had dug out. She went into the changing room and slipped into the large tunic and noted that although it was big, it fit comfortably. There were also a set of loose pants and she slipped them on. She easily found the snaps that would keep them up on her waist and fastened them. She took a look in the mirror and smiled when she saw the symbols embroidered into the light cream fabric. She saw the symbols that Mori had asked be placed on the look where in the spots he had explained as well as the stunning dragon coiled around a crescent moon just over her heart with dark blue rose petals floating around it. Once done admiring the details herself, she stepped out to the main room for the others to see.

Hikaru and Kaoru smiled when she came out. They could tell she was happy about the details being correct and instantly agreed that the color change that Trekiva had suggested was perfect. Haruhi looked much better in the light cream rather than solid white. The dark blue trim and designs brought attention towards her hands.

"There is a hood attached to the tunic," Kaoru stated. "Can you pull it on?"

Haruhi nodded and pulled the hood up and set it so that it framed her face.

"Perfect," Hikaru smiled as he took in the image.

The twins began walking around her, muttering slight teaks they should make to have it fit her more comfortably as well as debating on adding an inert Arcane Circle to the back of the tunic so that it didn't look so bland. They also asked her about possible accessories she would want to have with the look.

"Maybe a Spell Tome," Haruhi suggested. "Not a real one but one that has just a jumble of mixed up shapes and letters. If I had a real one with me, people would think that it is just a blank book since they wouldn't be able to see they real symbols."

"You could actually get away with using a few minor spells during the Gala that could be played off as parlor tricks," Kyoya mentioned.

"Won't that get me in trouble?"

"Only if it is an attacking spell. Minor illusions and Levitation are common tricks that we could get away with. Halloween is one of the few times a year that we can actively use our powers and everyone think that it is just elaborate costume work."

Haruhi nodded softly. She could understand that. "Okay, little spells and charms would be okay but nothing major."

Kyoya nodded and Hikaru stated that she could take the costume off. She went back to remove the outfit so that she could give it back to the twins for their edits. She walked out just as Kaoru was handing Kyoya his and noticed that Hunny, Satoshi and Yasuchika all had similar bags. She went over to the couch to sit and wait for the others to get done. Kyoya's outfit was slightly similar to hers except that it was black and silver with the top being more of a haori than a tunic. His was open in the chest and she noted that it showed some of the marks of his demon blood since he had let it out to see how it would be when the Gala came around.

Hunny was dressed in a light red haori and hakama set with his family symbol on the back and black trim with black boots on his feet. There was a light pink rose on the front of his haori just over his heart. Yasuchika was in a bit of a darker red with the Haninozuka symbol on his back but he had white trim and black boots. Satoshi was dressing a dark blue, near black, haori and hakama set with silver trim and the Morinozuka crest on his back with black boots on his feet as well.

"Wow," Haruhi uttered.

"I wonder what Taka's looks like," Satoshi pondered as he looked the outfit over.

"Not that different from yours," Kaoru stated as he looked over Hunny's clothes. "It's just that his has the Mark of Othil and the Bloodbond in the same places as Haruhi's and your family crest on the back. We also added Trekiva's crest to his rather than a sash like Haruhi."

"That reminds me," Hikaru stated as he snapped his fingers. "We need to add Mori-senpai's family crest to the sash as well."

Kaoru nodded and made a small notation on the notepad he had. Once the note was added, the twins went back to looking over the outfits and began asking about different accessories that each wanted to add as well as any changes they wanted to make to the outfits. When they got their responses, the twins wrote them down and once done, the males changed back into their school uniforms. They all said their good byes before heading to their respective transports.

Haruhi sighed as she leaned back in the seat of the car. She was tired but felt that today had been a relatively good day, she just hoped the it would stay that way and that the next week or so would do so as well.