A/N: Surprisingly, a lot of you said you'd want to see the talent show, so here we go~!
(I am very happy with this too - it gives me more time to write the rest! :P)
Monday brought a surprise at the Host Club.
"We have been challenged!" Tamaki declared, holding aloft a letter. "The Football club has challenged us to a duel!"
The twins groaned and rolled their eyes. Kyoya frowned, and Haruhi looked like she was trying to keep from laughing.
"A… duel?" Kagome asked, trying not to sound as confused as she felt.
Haruhi giggled.
"The captain of the American Football Club doesn't like Kyoya," Haruhi told her. "He's constantly declaring Kyoya as his rival, and he gets really angry that Kyoya doesn't take him seriously."
Kagome could just picture an angry basketball player challenging Kyoya to a match, and Kyoya raising an eyebrow and turning away with a scoff. Kagome giggled, and Kyoya glanced over, raising an eyebrow at her, which made her giggle all the more.
Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "We will, of course, be-"
"Accepting!" Tamaki declared. "The Host Club never backs down!"
"-declining," finished Kyoya. He looked annoyed. "Tamaki-"
"We cannot turn down this challenge!" Tamaki proclaimed, gesturing widely. "They have challenged us to display our talents at the school talent show! How can we not use this opportunity to display how amazing the Host Club members are?"
"A talent show…?" Kyoya's lips pursed. "And what talents will we display?"
"Hunny and Mori can show off their martial arts!" Tamaki said, thinking quickly. "And I can play the piano! And Haruhi can… Haruhi can display her expertise at commoner's cooking! The twins can design something very very fast, and you can do math very fast, and Kagome can-"
"Kagome can do a magic trick," Kagome said, stepping forward and cutting in. Tamaki looked pleased.
"And Kagome can do a magic trick!" he finished, beaming.
Kyoya looked and Kagome curiously, and Kagome grinned.
"I've always wanted to do a magic trick on stage," she told him.
Kyoya looked at Tamaki, who was already arguing with the twins about their chosen talent, and sighed.
"Fine," he conceded. "When is the talent show?"
"It's this Friday," Haruhi said, scanning the challenge, which Tamaki had dropped in his flourishing. "The Football club has already reserved the auditorium in the evening."
"This Friday?" Kagome could see that Kyoya was appalled.
"The Football team has probably been practicing their talents all month, ne!" Honey piped up.
Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "Undoubtedly, Honey. Undoubtedly."
Kyoya looked stressed, Kagome saw with a frown. His aura was losing its silver shine, becoming streaked with dark gray and navy blues.
"We'll be okay, ne," she told him, going over and laying a hand lightly on his uniform-clad shoulder. He looked up at her in surprise, and she gave him a smile. "We're all wildly talented already," she said with a smile. "All we'll need to do is put together the order of our acts, and we'll do fine."
Kagome could feel Kyoya relax under her touch, his aura slowly returning to its usual silver sheen.
"Alright," he said. He pushed up his glasses, which flashed, and opened his notebook with a look of grim determination. "Let's do this."
"We need seven acts," Kyoya read from his sheet. He'd gone directly to the American Football club's manager to demand details. The boy had been intimidated, but had finally handed over a sheet of paper with the intricacies of the talent show on it."
"There are eight of us, though," Hikaru said, popping his head over his shoulder to read it.
"That can't be right," Kaoru agreed, looking over his other shoulder.
"But there are only seven in the Football club right now," Kyoya said, pushing his glasses up. "They accounted for themselves, not us."
Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged a glance, then shrugged.
"That's okay," they chorused. "We were planning on performing together anyway."
"Ne ne," Honey said, bouncing. "Me and Takashi are going to perform our martial arts together too!"
Kyoya frowned. "That'll leave us one act short."
"Don't worry about that – we'll do the magic act as the grand finale," Kagome said, eyes sparkling. "It'll be amazing."
Kyoya turned to her, hiding his curiosity. "And you'll do another act in addition to that?" he asked.
Kagome nodded. "I'll do a traditional fan dance."
Kyoya's eyes widened in astonishment, and a smile played around Kagome's lips.
"I'm not entirely uncultured, Kyoya-senpai," she told him sweetly. "I do have some formal education, after all."
Kyoya flushed slightly and turned away to hide his embarrassment.
"I will play piano," Tamaki declared. "We will have to arrange for a grand piano on wheels to be in place on the stage."
"And we're going to sing," Hikaru said, slinging an arm around Kaoru's shoulder.
"With two voices, we can do two-part harmony," Kaoru said, slinging his arm around Hikaru.
"The twins are singing," Kyoya repeated, writing in his notebook. He looked up. "Haruhi, have you decided what you're doing?"
Haruhi looked uncomfortable.
"…I thought I'd read a poem," she said. "That I wrote."
Kyoya blinked but masked his reaction.
"And Haruhi will read a poem," he said, writing it down. "Excellent. That makes all seven acts. Now we just need to decide the order."
"Attempting to pretend you have actual talents, Ootori?"
The scent of oranges permeated the room, along with a gruff voice. They all turned to see Kuze, president of the American Football club, standing there, clutching an orange and looking smug, two of his confederates around him.
"Kuze-kun," Honey piped up. "What are you doing here?"
Kuze looked momentarily annoyed at being addressed by Honey, before refocusing on Kyoya and pointing at him dramatically with an orange.
"Be prepared to go down, Ootori!" he declared. "The Football Club has incredible acts planned that there's no way you will be able to beat!"
Kyoya raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah!" Yakamura shot him an attempt at a smug smirk from Kuze's side, but somehow the smirk came off as terrified. "Our part of the show will be awesome!"
"And the audience will decide the winner," Nakamaru added from Kuze's other side, nodding. "So everyone can come and see your defeat!"
"And a glorious defeat it will be!" Kuze said, striking a pose. He glared down at Kuze. "You and your silly little club… it's not like any of you can do anything besides flirt. You and your stupid club are going to humiliate yourselves, and then you'll regret embarrassing me for years and years…"
There was a loud cough, and Kyoya turned to see Kagome stepping forward.
"I'm sorry," she said pleasantly. "I'm afraid we've never met."
Kuze stopped short in his glaring to stare at Kagome, who smiled sweetly.
"I'm Higuarashi Kagome, of 1-A," she said, dipping him a curtsey. "Pleased to meet you."
"Kuze Takashi," he said reflexively. "2-B."
"I just wanted to check," she said, tilting her head coquettishly. "Takashi-kun, there are no changes to the challenge, are there? We still need to do seven acts?"
Kagome was a marvel to watch, Kyoya reflected privately, hiding a smirk behind his notebook. Even as she introduced herself and curtsied, her short pleated skirt was let to flare just the slightest bit, making a daring amount of leg "unintentionally" show, and now with this 'confused' pose, her breasts forward, her eyes wide and confused…
If the Host Club could do nothing but flirt, at least they did it well.
"You're in the Host Club?" Kuze blurted.
"Yes, seven acts," Yakamura confirmed from Kuze's side, looking at his clip board. "The Football Club will be going first, and then we'll alternate back and forth."
"Wait wait wait wait wait!" Kuze still looked struck. "You're in the Host Club?"
Kagome gave him a hurt frown.
"Is that a problem?" she asked, biting her lower lip and letting her eyes shine just the tiniest hint, creating the illusion of tears. "Do you not think I'm pretty enough?"
Kyoya and the twins hastily stifled their snorts. Kagome was laying it on a bit thick – but then again, Kuze was a bit thick…
"No no no no no!" Kuze said hastily, stumbling over his words. "No, no, you're pretty – you're very pretty – it's just, I thought, we thought – isn't the Host Club all boys?"
"I'm a new member," Kagome told him, offering him a small smile and curtseying again. "Tamaki-senpai and Kyoya-senpai were most gracious in accepting me."
Kuze looked torn, before his anger came surging back.
"You shouldn't be associating with the likes of these freaks," he told her furiously. "Suoh… running around in the school doing whatever he wants just because his father's chairman. And Ootori… he's the worst of the lot." He sneered at Kyoya. "A weasel has more honor than an Ootori."
The temperature of the room suddenly seemed to drop, and Kagome's eyes became icy.
"There's no need to be rude," she said, her tone soft but cold. Kyoya was astonished at how quickly she seemed to change the feel of the room. "Maybe you should go."
Kuze looked confused.
"But you-"
"Regardless of your own opinions, I am a member of the Host Club," Kagome told him. Her voice was sharp, like a blade of ice, and she turned away, walking toward the back of the room. "And after all, we have a show to prepare for..."
The Football club looked at each other bewilderedly, confused by this apparent abrupt dismissal. Kagome glanced back over her shoulder, giving them an icy smile, this time, her eyes glinting with something… unkind.
"We look forward to seeing what… talents you have," she murmured. "See you soon…"
The Football club shivered, their eyes wide as they pushed out of the Host Club room, whispering rapidly among themselves. As soon as the door closed behind them, the Host Club relaxed some and broke back into conversation, but there was an insulted, angry feel to the room. Kyoya watched as Kagome whirled around, her eyes angry.
"Kuze is the guy who considers himself your rival?" Kagome said, looking at Kyoya incredulously. She sniffed. "Kuze?"
Kyoya spread his hand helplessly. "You see why I have trouble taking him seriously?"
"Yes." Kagome scowled. "He called you a weasel. Lower than a weasel."
Kyoya shrugged. "It's not as if I think it's significant-"
"I do." Kagome looked murderous for a moment, and Kyoya was surprised to see her so angry. After a few moments, she looked back up, a new glint in her eyes.
"I have an even better idea for the finale," she told him. "We'll all need to play a part. But it'll be incredible. Mark my words…"
Her eyes glimmered with secret plans, and Kyoya shivered – though in anticipation or excitement, he couldn't tell.
"We will blow them away," she vowed. Her eye glinted. "We will blow them away."
Haha, this will be such fun! Try to predict what you think will happen! And don't forget - if you read it, review! :)
