a/n: One of my most favorite little facts about Nekozawa is that he comes from a family that deals with firearms. It's got soooooo much potential for story writing!
I am VERY aware that it's really hard to own firearms in Japan, but just bear with me for the plot here.
Chapter 12: What Started As…A (Stupid) Idea (Part 1)
By some idiotic decree made by their foolish king, Kyoya's home happened to be the meeting place for their Host club's abruptly arranged meeting for this particular day. Haruhi wasn't informed of it of course, as this meeting was probably about her one way or another like all the others mostly were. At this point, it's happened so often that Kyoya didn't even bother climbing out of bed anymore. He laid in his pajamas as his friends surrounded his bed like some stupid support circle.
Tamaki stood at the foot of his bed, pacing back and forth like he usually did whenever he was worrying about something insignificant. Though he had to admit, this little spat with Haruhi and Nekozawa had definitely gone on for longer than anyone of them expected. They didn't expect the sudden friendship between to blossom, and he hadn't anticipated that their friendship would garner more than what was necessary. Not that Kyoya could complain about it. As long as the customers continued to come in, he was happy. And by the looks of it, it seemed that the ladies rather enjoyed this new budding friendship between the two, much to the dissatisfaction of the Host club president.
"This is absurd! That fiend, to dare lay his hands on my precious daughter like that. Daddy won't stand it! All right men! We must devise a plan to separate that no good, walking curse doll from our darling Haruhi! I call it, 'Operation: Save the Damsel in Distress'!"
Something in Kyoya's gut told him that such a plan, especially with that ridiculous title, would garner more trouble than it was worth. He kept silent about this though, letting his idiotic friend run wild like usual. If it began to cost him anything, then he would intervene. However presently, he didn't find any issue with letting him reign free. There was no merit in him joining in on the circus, nor was there any consequences to refusing it. Business as usual.
"What if we scare him away with a big scary monster!" suggested Huni, cutely trying to mimic a monster with a small roar.
"But he's already a walking monster."
"Yeah, unless you plan on throwing a mirror at the guy I don't think you'll scare him away."
Even though he went along with his brother, Kaoru couldn't help but think that Hikaru was being a little too harsh when referring to Nekozawa. Calling him a monster? Really? He already knew about his twin's seething jealousy, and now he had to make sure the other doesn't go too far with it again like what happened the last time.
"Takashi can scare him away no problem!" Voiced Huni again, trying to be helpful.
On the outside Huni was smiling, cheerful like usual, but on the inside his thoughts didn't seem to match his exterrior. Truthfully speaking, he wasn't really fond of the idea that his friends were proposing. What was wrong with Haruhi making new friends? The small boy already knew what was really going on here. They were jealous of Nekozawa for being able to catch Haruhi's attention and they hated it. But, if he were to interfere now then his immature friends wouldn't be able to realize their own complicated feelings towards her and they wouldn't grow out of their immaturity themselves. Mori felt the same way, refraining from meddling as instructed by his cousin so that their characters would hopefully grow for the better.
The two upperclassmen did feel slightly responsible though for not doing anything. They both knew that Haruhi, although maybe reckless, could very well take care of herself. But they wanted her to learn something too, that it was okay to rely on others and open up to others about her struggles. It was plenty obvious to them that the small girl was pushing herself too hard with the expectations that she put on herself. She was chasing after her mother's shadow, and she was bearing the brunt of all that pressure. She needed to relax, to learn that there are so many people around her willing to share that burden and help her achieve her goals. They hoped initially that she would learn that lesson with them, but it didn't appear that way anymore.
Nekozawa was the wild card in their plans, someone who they didn't expect to come into their small world. Or maybe it was just their illusion that their world was small? Nonetheless, it seemed like the man was the bridge they needed to steer their underclassmen into emotional maturity.
"That's not a bad idea Huni-senpai."
Honestly, he didn't think that anybody in the group would take his ideas seriously so he just said whatever crossed his mind. If something came from his thoughtless suggestion then it would be his fault if something bad happeneed. Huni could at least admit his own mistakes. He didn't expect Tamaki to formulate some sort of idea from it at all.
"We'll disguise Mori-senpai as a ruffian and scare Nekozawa-senpai away and then tell him to stay away from our dear Haruhi if he doesn't want to get hurt!"
He went on and on about the most random things that popped into his head and continued to spout nonsense scenarios that were starting to annoy the sleeping demon in his own bed.
"I'd hate to interrupt," Kyoya said sarcastically, "but Mori-senpai is too recognizable to be disguised so I fear that such a plan would only result in failure."
He rubbed his eyes before putting his glasses on.
"However," he continued, "I do believe there is someone who fits the description of a 'ruffian' more accurately."
"You don't mean…"
"I think he does…"
- An Hour Later -
"So…what you're saying you want me to threaten some guy who's trying get close to Haruhi?"
"Exactly! How very perceptive of you Bossanova!"
The redhead seemed to growl at Tamaki which caused him to flinch and hide behind a now fully dressed Kyoya.
"How many time do I gotta tell ya it's Kasano-"
"And you see Bossanova! We must go through with this plan as soon as possible! I'm afraid that Haruhi is falling deeper and deeper into his wicked, evil magic tricks!"
Kasanoda sighed in defeat and slouched in his armchair. He knew he shouldn't have come but he was weak to anything that had to do with Haruhi. He was also afraid that if he hadn't, Kyoya would've done something to force him anyway. Even if he wanted to make a quick escape, Tetsuya was forced to come along with him and he knew he wouldn't be able to leave his fella behind in case of an emergency.
"I'll have you know, the Kasanoda Syndicate's turned over a new leaf and it's been that way for a while now, so if you think I'll break that by doing something illegal now then forget it."
Tetsuya nodded in affirmation behind him, carefully keeping an eye on the other individuals in the room.
"Oh please don't be distressed over that! Nothing illegal will happen, we just need you to act the part!"
Tamaki looked to Kyoya and the man nodded as if understanding what his stupid friend was thinking.
"I assure you that no legal matters would be used against you in this matter, Kasanoda. After all, you're doing nothing more than executing a friendly favor."
Kasanoda sighed deeply. If Kyoya was involved in this then there's no way he could refuse even if he wanted to. There was only one choice for him now and since the black hearted demon already gave his word, then why the hell not.
"First I gotta know who I'm gonna be up against here. What's the guy's name?"
Tamaki bent back, the back of his hand dramatically placed on his forehead as if he was about to faint at the very mention of the name he was going to utter. Maybe he would, considering he definitely was still afraid of the older man.
"Nobody that the likes of you should worry over, Bossanova. After all, it's none other than the wicked and dastardly Nekozawa-senpai."
Both Kasanoda and Tetsuya's eyes widened in surprise. The red head frowned deeply in disapproval. Tetsuya stepped protectively in front of his young lord. He glared at the group and shook his head in refusal.
Kyoya had a feeling this would happen.
"No. Absolutely not." Kasanoda said firmly. "I can do it if it were anybody else, but definitely not that guy. It's impossible."
The twins furrowed their brows, displeased by the man's sudden dismissal.
"And why the heck not?"
"Yeah it's not like it'll be that hard."
But still, he continued to refuse.
"Do you even know who that guy is? Even without you guys asking me to there's no way that I'm messing with a Tokarev."
The Host club members (besides Kyoya) tilted their heads in confusion. As in typical ignorant fashion, the name seemed to have slipped their minds. It was as if they'd already forgotten about the other side of Nekozawa's bloodline. The idiotic trio were just stuck on the idea that the upperclassman was just some weirdo in a hood who loved to do some black magic mumbo jumbo and walked around with a creepy cat puppet all the time.
"If you've forgotten, I'll have to remind all of you."
Kyoya already sounded tired, already knowing that those three would've forgotten already. No, they never really considered the consequences of any of their actions to begin with so they chose to ignore facts.
"As you might have already assumed before, Nekozawa-senpai is the heir to the Nekozawa group, a zealous cult of cat worshippers that has a very large following and a supposedly high affinity with black magic, though whether you believe that to be true is up to you. In addition to that, from his mother's side he has also been named the heir to the Tokarev Dynasty."
He said those last two words with great emphasis as he fixed his glasses.
"They are prestigious group originating from Russia and deal with the manufacturing and distribution of various firearms and other forms of weaponry."
At the mention of what exactly his family dealt with, the rest of the group couldn't help but flinch.
"The Nekozawa family has their hands dipped in a multitude of business relations, including my family the Ootori group."
"As well as mine." Added Kasanoda.
"And my former syndicate too." Also added Tetsuya, albeit with a tense tone.
"So that means…"
Tamaki trailed off, his body starting to turn grey in fear. The twins weren't that far from his state as they started to petrify at the heavy implications of what Kyoya was explaining to them.
"It means that Nekozawa-senpai's family has very deep rooted connections to both the business and underworld." Kyoya finished with a frown on his face.
"Even without all that, the guy's untouchable."
The group curiously turned to pay attention to Kasanoda once more who sat in his chair sprawled out in typical scary yakuza fashion.
"You ever try to pick a fight with a guy the public knows got a known medical condition? Doesn't look good on you, if you go through with. Bad press will follow you like crazy."
"True it would bad on reputation. Laying hands no matter the reason is rather distasteful."
"For a softie like you, probably, but for other reasons too. Look, I'm not great friends with this guy but I have met him more than a few times during some…business talks."
Tamaki chose to ignore why he seemed to pause before saying 'business talks'.
"You've been acquainted?"
"Kinda hard to forget someone who walks around in a cape and puppet you know. But the guy's got other tricks up his sleeves. He's not a fighter, not that I've ever seen him raise his hand for anything but there's just…something about him that just gives you the creeps, enough so that you wouldn't even wanna go near him. Like there's something around him to protect him or something."
He continued glaring at the blond man. Or maybe he was just staring at him deadpan? Almost every facial feature he had looked like a glare that always managed to scare the living hell out of the same three people every time.
"And might I remind all of you? Nekozawa-senpai did smash through a window on a third floor building running after his little sister and was perfectly fine afterwards, save of course for collapsing under the sun exposure."
The notion that black magic really did exist briefly crossed over their thoughts and disappeared as quickly as they came. There was just no way right?
Mori and Huni couldn't help but be a little impressed with their fellow third-year. They both knew through their warrior instincts that Nekozawa could never lay a hand on anything, but to hear that he was way sturdier than he looked was pretty cool. Actually, nobody expected these little facts suddenly being brought to light about the dorky Black Magic club leader.
But Tamaki was already determined, and no amount of reasoning would ever get through to the blockhead. It was like he was blind to everything that wasn't about Haruhi and everyone knew this.
"Then invite him to a challenge."
Everyone turned to the shadow king, the glare of glasses seemed to cover the darkness in his eyes.
"The Nekozawas often engage in public demonstrations for the range of weapons that they sell so such a think wouldn't be foreign to them, and we just happened to have the son of a prominent syndicate leader in our company."
The yakuza lord wanted to deny those claims vehemently, but even he knew it was unbelievable. Kasanoda grew up the heir to a gang, there was no way that he wouldn't already be acquainted with firing a gun for his own protection. And if you asked any of his fellas, they'd say he was pretty darn good at it too.
"We'll have Kasanoda challenge Nekozawa-senpai to a test of accuracy at the training facility our family's police force trains at. You make a bet with him to leave Haruhi alone if you win, and even if you lose then perhaps the image of him will terrify Haruhi enough that she would distance herself from him naturally."
"Perfect! Absolutely brilliant Kyoya! Then let's go with that. Bossanova! Make it happen."
Tamaki snapped his fingers like the demanding little drama king he was. Kasanoda nodded, not happily, but he agreed with it anyway. He had always thought that the Host club had a few screws loose, but this was way worse than he imagined. He'd play along for now and then explain himself to both Nekozawa and Haruhi privately afterwards. His gut told him it wouldn't be good to get on either of their bad sides after this.
"Tetsuya, contact the Nekozawa family."
"Yes, young lord."
Kyoya blended himself into the sidelines, his face unreadable as always. Even though he himself suggested the idea, he had a feeling that things wouldn't go as his friend wanted. This was more of an…experiment for him to figure something out. There was something that didn't feel right when it came to the budding relationship between Nekozawa and Haruhi, and he wouldn't rest until he knew why that was.
