Packing up her books and other supplies at the end of the school day, Haruhi realized she was, once again, one of the last people to actually exit the classroom.
"You're so slow," Hikaru pointed out as he leaned casually against his desk on her right side with his schoolbag already packed. Unlike the previous day, the twins hadn't bothered to switch seats after lunch.
"What are you two still doing here?" Haruhi inquired, wondering if Ritsu was going to show up; she hadn't seen him at all that day.
"We're waiting for you," Kaoru said.
"We seem to be making a habit of it; wouldn't you agree, Haruhi?" Hikaru questioned.
"It's not like I'm asking you to," Haruhi muttered under her breath.
The twins, having heard her comment, only smirked in that devilish manner of theirs.
"But Haruhi," Hikaru stated, "you're our toy."
"You belong to us," Kaoru added with a wink.
Knowing her earlier (albeit, unknowing) admittance of said position would only be used against her, Haruhi merely grabbed her bag and made her way out the door.
"Where are you going?" Hikaru called from behind her as she headed towards the 1-D classroom, "the exit's in the opposite direction."
"I'm going to see if Kasanoda-kun is around," Haruhi tossed over her shoulder.
Hikaru and Kaoru stood side-by-side, watching her retreat down the hallway. Her long hair swished against the yellow fabric of her uniform in a rather hypnotic motion, but it wasn't the scholarship student's hair that kept the two in place.
It was panic.
"She was referring to that scary redheaded guy from yesterday, wasn't she?" Hikaru asked in a distraught tone as he recalled the "threatening-figure" from the previous day.
"Isn't Kasanoda the name of that yakuza group?" Kaoru asked, a fearful expression crossing his features.
"Oh no," the twins said in unison.
"I think we need," Hikaru began.
Kaoru continued, "some assistance from ..."
"The Shadow King."
.x.o.x.o.x.
"Kasanoda-kun?" Haruhi called out as she poked her head into the almost-empty room of class 1-D.
"Fujioka-san!" the redhead exclaimed in a surprised tone. He glanced up at the clock located at the front of the classroom and then down at the book situated before him.
"Studying?" Haruhi inquired with a bright smile as she stepped into the classroom.
"I got pretty caught up in the reading," Ritsu replied, "we're learning about the anatomy of animals."
"Ah," Haruhi said, still smiling, "you like animals?"
"Yeah," Ritsu replied, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment at her nearing proximity.
Haruhi stood at his side and glanced over his shoulder in an attempt to look at the textbook he was reading. It was a biology textbook, but it was the less-advanced one. Haruhi had the other, more-advanced version which had been provided by the school as part of her scholarship.
"Do you have any pets?" Haruhi inquired.
"No," Ritsu said before murmuring under his breath something undecipherable. His cheeks had, if possible, become an even darker shade of red.
"What was that?" Haruhi asked, a look of confusion crossing her face.
"I take care of injured animals," Ritsu muttered again, but this time it had been loud enough for her to hear.
"That's nice of you," Haruhi thoughtfully replied, "do you want to become a veterinarian?"
"I wish," Ritsu admitted, "but I gotta inherit my old man's position as the next head of the family."
"Oh," Haruhi said, reflecting on the fact that she was in an entirely different world.
It seemed like everyone in the school already had their future set for them. After high school, they would attend the colleges and universities that their parents would send them to, study the material they were assigned, and then they would inherit the businesses that they had been destined to control since birth. Ritsu Kasanoda was no exception.
"I guess it could be my side-job" Ritsu said with a nervous laugh. He closed the book in front of him and stood up from his seat.
"Yeah," Haruhi said, smiling kindly as she inclined her head to meet his gaze, "I think that's a great idea, Kasanoda-kun. However, I don't think neutering house pets or putting animals to sleep are very appealing tasks."
Ritsu felt his eye twitch in disbelief at how calmly she managed to say the last line.
"I was wondering if you wanted to walk with me," Haruhi said, suddenly changing the topic, "since the twins were rude yesterday, and dragged me away for some pointless reason of theirs."
"I'd like that!" Ritsu exclaimed quickly, lowering his gaze to the floor so he wouldn't have to see the radiant smile that made him feel like such a girl - not at all like the heir to the Kasanoda group.
"Do you mind if I stop by the market?" Haruhi asked, "I need to pick up some ingredients for dinner."
"Sure thing!" Ritsu said, already willing to follow her to the ends of the earth.
...Not that she needed to know that.
.x.o.x.o.x.
"That's her."
"So I just scare her a bit and tell her not to hang around that Suoh guy anymore and you'll go on a date with me?"
Ayanokoji gazed at her companion, a gruff looking teenager from a commoner's school who possessed many undesirable features. Then again, she was comparing him to the fair-faced prince, Tamaki Suoh.
"Yes," Ayanokoji said with a malicious smile, "just make her regret ever setting eyes on Suoh-sama."
"Alright," the boy replied, watching the scholarship student and her redheaded companion with shadowed eyes as they wandered off the school's campus and down the sidewalk.
.x.o.x.o.x.
"Fujioka-san!" Ritsu called as he held up a can of tomato sauce in one hand and a container of cheese in the other. He had offered to retrieve said items for Haruhi after being instructed to pick out only the specified brand. She had explained it was the best brand for its price; an observation she had made after countless years of being in charge of grocery shopping and other domestic tasks.
"Thanks, Kasanoda-kun," Haruhi said, plucking a box of noodles from the shelf.
"I haven't had spaghetti in ages," the redhead said, placing both the tomato sauce and the cheese into the basket dangling from her arm, "somehow, I always get stuck eating traditional meals."
"Really?" Haruhi inquired, blinking up at him with her large eyes, "you could stay for dinner if you'd like. Spaghetti always manages to serve a lot of people."
Ritsu felt his heart explode in his chest as he nodded dumbly in reply.
Haruhi grabbed two more boxes of noodles from the shelf and dropped them into her basket. It was a buy-two-get-one-free deal and she could always make spaghetti again later on in the week. She contemplated buying another can of tomato sauce, wondering if it was also on sale. If she bought another can, she wouldn't have to come back at a later time or worry about forgetting to buy some when she decided to cook the pasta dish again. Or she could make a completely different dish - alfredo, pomodoro – there were so many choices!
"I think I should get another can of tomato sauce," Haruhi mused aloud.
"I'll get it," Ritsu mumbled, rushing away from the girl as an excuse to regain his composure. The color of his face had finally surpassed his hair.
Haruhi watched her companion disappear down an aisle before making her way towards the bakery. She would buy some bread since it was the Tuesday sale and it would go well with the spaghetti.
"Excuse me," she heard a voice call from behind her.
Haruhi, unaware that the person was talking to her, continued on towards the bread stand.
"Hey!" Haruhi turned around as a hand clasped itself on her shoulder.
The boy who had grabbed her seemed to be about Ritsu's height and he also possessed, what Haruhi considered, a rough exterior. There was a scar on his cheek and a band-aid plastered across the side of his left eyebrow.
"Yes?" Haruhi inquired.
"You wouldn't happen to know a 'Suoh, Tamaki,' would you?"
Haruhi felt her eye twitch at the sudden recollection of the blonde, "Yes, I know of him."
"Well then," the guy replied with a sinister grin, "if you know what's good for you, you'll avoid him at all costs."
"Alright," Haruhi said, having already planned that from the start. She turned back to the bread stand and glanced at the selection.
"Eh?" the guy questioned in a befuddled manner; he had not expected her to comply so easily, "Are you making fun of me or something?"
"No," Haruhi said, placing the bread she had picked out into her basket, "why would I do that?"
He growled out in anger, "You are making fun of me!"
"No, I'm not," Haruhi replied, turning around to walk past him. She'd track down Ritsu, pay for her items, and then they could head to her house so she could start on dinner.
Well, that's how things would've turned out had the boy behind her not decided to pursue a fight. He grabbed her free arm and roughly tugged her back towards him.
"You're overly sensitive," Haruhi stated in a bland tone, "you get upset when no one is insulting you. Why should it matter if Suoh-senpai and I speak to one another?" She paused for a moment, appearing thoughtful, before asking, "You wouldn't happen to be attracted to him, would you?"
Feeling embarrassed by her sudden interrogation and highly insulted by her last question (she did, after all, allude to the possibility of him having a preference for men), the boy raised his hand to strike her.
Haruhi awaited the blow with wide eyes, but it never came.
She was tossed backward into a pair of familiar arms as the boy who had attempted to attack her fell to the ground. A man donning a black suit and tie had tackled him and was holding the boy's arms behind his back before securing them with a pair of handcuffs that he had pulled from his suit's pocket.
"Haruhi!" her 'saviors' exclaimed as they nuzzled her cheeks in affection, "we were so worried about you!"
"Have you been following me this whole time?" Haruhi dully inquired as Kaoru pressed his face into her neck.
"We had to get Kyoya-senpai's help to locate your position," Hikaru said as he wrapped his arms around her thin-frame, pulling her against his body.
Haruhi redirected her attention to the sidelines where the rest of the Host Club members stood, watching the scene with varying facial expressions.
"What about your club meeting?" Haruhi inquired.
"We didn't have club meetings today," Kaoru said, "because one of Tamaki's designators broke a teapot the other day and Kyoya-senpai decided we needed the day off in order to purchase a new collection."
"You really needed to order a new collection? Don't you have other teapots?"
Kaoru 'tsked' lightly.
The raven-haired boy, situated next to the club president, provided her with a charming, fake smile, saying, "We, the Host Club, exist for the sole purpose of bringing joy and pleasure to the women we serve. It would be an insult to the ladies if we treated them with second-rate services."
"I see," Haruhi said, thinking the whole thing was ridiculous, "but why are you all here?"
Shrugging his shoulders, the raven-haired boy merely said, "I extended my services to assist the Hitachiin twins, but as for the rest of the Host Club – ah, well - obviously they had nothing better to do. By the way, good work, Tachibana. Have you extracted any information so far?"
The man, who was still sitting on top of the boy who had attempted to attack Haruhi, grunted out, "Thank you, young master, and I have. He says he is working for a 'Miss Ayanokoji.'"
"Huh! Wasn't that the name of the girl who broke the teapot yesterday?" Hikaru asked.
"Yes, it was," Tamaki Suoh said, "and we had to ban her from the clubroom because she has yet to pay the fine for the damaged tea set. I suppose we must expel her completely from using the services offered by our club."
"NO!"
All heads (including those of several shoppers who had gathered to examine the group of richly dressed high school students) whipped towards the entrance of the store where a girl, dressed in the Ouran uniform, stood.
"You can't do that – please don't do that, Tamaki-sama!" the girl wailed, tears running down her cheeks.
"As much as it pains me to break a fair maiden's heart, I must, Ayanokoji-hime."
"But," she said, biting at her lower lip in a pitiful pout, "all I did was for you! Yesterday, that girl deserved to have tea dropped on her – and worse! She should suffer for forgetting her place and touching you in such a familiar way! And this girl," she pointed a finely manicured finger at Haruhi, "shouldn't even look at you, Tamaki-sama."
"I am honored to have your loyalty and adoration, my lady," the violet-eyed boy said, "however, the Host Club does not work in such a way. We seek to bring pleasure to all mademoiselles, and the behavior you have demonstrated at the club has sullied your name. Therefore, we, the members of the Host Club, must request that you never return."
"Tamaki-sama!" Ayanokoji cried out, "you idiot!"
She turned on her heel and attempted to flee from the store, but ended up colliding with a shopping cart that an old lady had been in the process of pushing through the door.
Letting off a frustrated scream, Ayanokoji stood back up and bolted through the door with nobody attempting to stop her from leaving.
"Was that part of a drama?" one shopper asked.
"Ah, kids these days! So lively, yet so full of angst," another lamented.
"I think we should get out of here," the raven-haired boy proclaimed, "Tachibana, please escort this boy out."
"Of course, Kyoya-sama. Shall I expect your arrival at the mansion?"
"Yes, and please tell the staff to have dinner prepared by the time I arrive. I estimate thirty-two minutes," Kyoya replied.
With a nod, Tachibana hauled the boy up from the ground and forcefully dragged him from the store.
Kyoya turned to follow him, but was stopped by Haruhi's question.
"Where's Kasanoda-kun?"
The bespectacled boy inclined his head as if racking his brain for any note as to the name's significance, "That was the boy Tachibana first knocked out."
"Why would he do that?" Haruhi inquired.
"The twins clearly stated that the redhead was the one holding you captive," he replied.
Haruhi turned to face the brothers who had just released her and taken a few steps back.
"Ah-ha-ha," the twins laughed nervously, "wrong suspect?"
"Where is he?" she asked.
"He went flying through three different aisles of food!" the little blonde boy called excitedly from the back, "Right, Takashi?"
"Yeah," the blonde boy's companion grunted in agreement.
"Oh," Haruhi mused aloud, "I suppose I should help him to my house, since I don't know where he lives or who I could call to pick him up. After all, I did invite him to dinner..."
"What?!" the twins (and Tamaki) cried out, "what about us?!"
"What about you?" the girl asked with a pointed look.
"We want Haruhi's cooking too!" the twins (and Tamaki) shouted.
"I already said I wasn't going to cook for you," she replied.
"We'll take him home then," Hikaru declared.
"Do you even know where he lives?" Haruhi retorted.
"No, but why would we make our toy suffer lugging around a heavy guy like him?"
Haruhi gave him a frustrated glance at the reminder of her (unwanted) position.
"I've got his address," Kyoya said, holding up a scrap of paper in his hand.
"He really is the Shadow King," Kaoru whispered loud enough for both Haruhi and his brother to hear.
"What do you mean?" Haruhi asked, looking at the younger twin with a curious expression.
"He works in mysterious ways – behind the scenes, if you will – and plays everyone and everything to his liking."
"I can hear you quite fine, Hitachiin."
"But you don't know which one is which," Kaoru teased back.
"By the way," Kyoya said, "don't forget about the contract you and your brother signed."
"Ya, ya, whatever" the twins chimed simultaneously.
"Contract?" Haruhi questioned.
"I've got the scary-yakuza-guy!" the child-like boy interrupted, dragging the (forgotten) redhead by the hair.
Haruhi hadn't even realized the blonde-haired boy had gone to fetch her friend. He appeared to be unconscious still and she briefly wondered what exactly the Tachibana person had done to him.
"Mitsukuni," Takashi said.
"Aw, Takashi! Fine," Mitsukuni pouted, letting go of the redhead's hair. The tall, dark-haired senior moved towards the unconscious boy and picked him up, swinging the yakuza heir onto his back.
"We'll take this guy back in our limo, 'kay, Kyoya-chan?" Mitsukuni said, bouncing over to the "Shadow King" in order to fetch the piece of paper with the address written on it.
"See you later!" Mitsukuni bid with an energetic wave, running out of the store with Takashi (and Ritsu) trailing behind.
"We'd better get going too," Tamaki said with a frown, "I've got to meet father for dinner."
"Yes," Kyoya agreed, "and I dislike keeping people waiting."
"What about this 'contract' you were talking about?" Haruhi inquired.
Kyoya waved his hand in the air, dismissing her question, "Just have the twins explain it to you."
The president and the vice president exited the store, leaving the twins and Haruhi staring at their backs.
"So what's this about a contract?"
The twins dropped their shoulders in a dejected manner.
"Basically," Kaoru started.
Hikaru continued, "We promised to stop playing pranks or Kyoya-senpai."
"But only if he allowed you to come to the Host Club free of charge, along with helping us rescue you from the yakuza guy!"
"You didn't have to ask him to allow me to come free of charge," Haruhi stated, "it's not like I'm going to come to your club meetings anyways."
"Ah – ah," Hikaru said, wagging his finger.
Kaoru whipped out a blue, plastic ring and pressed the top.
"I thought I was your toy?"
"What is that?" Haruhi asked, recognizing the sound that had just been emitted had been a recording of her earlier 'confession.'
"A ring voice recorder. It's a top secret piece of equipment that we bought from this spy gadget catalog."
"It looks like a mail-order cereal box prize," Haruhi said, examining it closer.
Looking offended, Kaoru withdrew the ring and tucked it into his pocket.
"But the point is: you admitted it and we have proof. We can have you do anything."
She gave him a bland expression.
"I've got things I have to do after school. Hanging around the clubroom to provide you two with a source of entertainment is not a part of my plans."
"What else are we going to do to keep us entertained. After all, we gave up playing pranks on Kyoya-senpai just to be able to keep you around!"
Haruhi rolled her eyes, saying, "Perhaps it's a sign that you shouldn't be playing pranks in the first place."
"Unlikely!" the twins chorused.
"Anyways," Haruhi interrupted, "I need to go purchase these items and head home to cook dinner. I'll see you two tomorrow."
"We want to come have dinner with you," the twins whined.
"No."
"You invited the yakuza-guy to have dinner with you, but you won't invite your best friends?"
Haruhi shook her head, "Unlike Kasanoda-kun, you two would probably just complain about how 'common' my home is. I'd rather do without."
"But Haruhi!"
"No."
"Then...we'll just have to invite you to dinner at our mansion! Gourmet food and all," Hikaru announced.
"I'll pass," Haruhi said, resisting the rather tempting offer of food. She'd rather not have to deal with the twins outside of school, especially since she could barely handle them during school hours.
"Then it's settled. We'll have dinner tomorrow at our place. See you at school tomorrow, Haruhi!" the twins proclaimed, running out of the store.
Haruhi stared at their retreating figures with a blank stare. She really needed to find out how to drill the word "no" into their heads.
-'Kumonri-Koi-Chan'-: Oh, it really gave off that effect? Just to clear things up, the three-way pairing is not out of the running yet.
Mistress Darky: Maybe they'll visit further along in the story, but I did add the "Tamaki-sama, you idiot!" bit just for you.
mak0-ch1: Even though Kyoya appeared in this chapter, his character is still developing.
AnnaSaphir: If only I could allow Kasanoda to remain conscious long enough to actually give his opinion...
CultKagome and Sesshomaru: Neckozawa will, most likely, maintain a passive role. I'm still trying to see what I can do with the rest of the Host Club, but I'm planning on basing the story's plot on the anime series.
Thanks so much for your reviews!