Nearing the Third Music Room for the day, Fujioka Haruhi blinked at the sight of a group of girls fussing outside the cracked door. Odd, though she supposed that it was not an entirely uncommon occurrence with how often Tamaki's whimsical nature changed the theme for the day. Knowing that they were probably gushing over the lavish setting, Haruhi raised her hand to greet them when she heard the first faint whisper.
"I thought she wouldn't come anymore!"
"Well…" the other girl grimaced. "Saito-sensei canceled rehearsal for the day. She had some kind of emergency." Shuffling her feet, she looked away from the fierce, unhappy gaze the first girl sent her. "Kagome-senpai and Suoh-senpai are good friends, you can't just—"
"Can't just?!" another girl snapped. "That girl is a bastard, and is lucky that her father pitied her enough to send her here! Just because she can sing and dance doesn't give her any right to be hanging around with Suoh and Ootori so much!" She looked away, her lip twisting angrily. "She comes from nothing, and she can offer nothing."
"They're in the same class!" the other girl defended, despite shrinking away.
"And she monopolizes their time there, too. I heard she practically had Tamaki-kun hanging off her in class today, and the way she looks at Ootori... it makes me…" the first girl growled, shaking her head as if she simply could not believe what she had imagined. "It makes me sick." Her nose was suddenly in the air. "Ootori's father would never, but that stupid, penniless…!"
A frown on her lips, Haruhi clipped, "Hello, ladies," before the sentence ever finished. Her expression neutral, she watched as they practically tripped over themselves with the realization that they had been caught red handed. She tightened her hand on the strap of her school bag at the smiles that popped into existence, only the girl that had spoken against them having the decency to look remotely ashamed, and honestly wondered if they thought she would not report this to Kyoya. "Are you here to visit the Host Club today?"
Various forms of confirmation rising with the question, the only girl who still had a shred of respect from the cross-dressing student shuffled forward. She fiddled with her fingers slightly, her face flushed when she had Haruhi's full attention, as she said, "We… we heard that Kagome-senpai was going to be joining you all today. We were just curious, that's all."
"Tamaki-kun was practically raving about having her sing for everyone!"
"Yeah." Noting the way the first girl, Yui, if she remembered correctly from seeing her before, showed entirely too much teeth with the statement, Haruhi gave her a dead eyed stare. It was obvious she was basically bullying Kagome's fellow choir member from the conversation she had heard, and it did not take a genius to see that she reeked of jealousy. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was. Kagome-senpai's voice is beautiful, don't you think?"
Frozen beneath the look, Yui gaped, "Uh, uh…!"
"Yes!" The third girl was a regular of Mori's she did not recognize, though she was certain that Kyoya would know her immediately once she pointed the group out to him in case they decided to cause any trouble. "It's been quite some time since Higurashi-san was able to sing for the Host Club, hasn't it, Ayano-chan?"
"Ah, yeah… we usually have rehearsal," Ayano ducked her head. "But…"
"But Saito-sensei canceled, right? An emergency?" Haruhi asked, trying to keep her voice even. She almost felt satisfied at the way the three girls paled at the words, immediately realizing that they were faced with the one Host Club member who probably related to Kagome the most given her financial situation. The fact she was still considered a commoner regardless of whoever her father happened to be in high society, and Haruhi felt a rare, bubbling anger boil over at the thought.
Did Kyoya know what these girls said about Kagome behind her back? She was almost certain that he would not stand for it if he did, and there was little doubt that the Shadow King was as vindictive as they come.
"Fujioka-kun, we didn't mean…" Mori's customer fisted her hands in her dress. "We were just…!"
"Joking!" Yui snapped. "We were just joking. Right, Chiasa-chan?"
"Joking?" Haruhi shut her eyes for a moment, trying to hold back a laugh. It really did not surprise her in the least, she realized, the more she thought about it. The spoiled brats might accept her readily among their favorite Hosts, but that was only because they were unaware of the fact that she was not a male. A pretty girl like Kagome, though? A commoner beauty that seemed to have enchanted the Vice President of the club? Who was good friends with Tamaki and the rest?
It only made sense that they would try to cut her down.
The girls stepped away when she finally moved toward the door, and Yui outright flinched when she settled her narrowed gaze upon her. "I'm sure you were," Haruhi smiled, knowing that the expression was in no way pleasant from the way the other girl's lip trembled. A simple push opening the door, she looked at them from over her shoulder as she asked, "Weren't you all coming to visit today?"
Chiasa shuddered, clearly embarrassed, as she said, "I… Fujioka-kun…"
"M-Maybe we should come back tomorrow," Yui replied quietly.
Ayano only looked away, frowning deeper, and her head shot up in surprise when Haruhi's hand settled onto her shoulder. Her mouth open in wonder, she cast a confused, anxious glance back toward the other two girls that still had Haruhi's complete attention.
"Tomorrow then," Haruhi said. Squeezing Ayano's shoulder in reassurance, she hoped that the choir member would understand that she did not approve of the other girls bullying her into keeping tabs on Kagome for them. Allowing her teeth to show a bit, she continued, "I'm sure that Kyoya-senpai will love to see you."
The implication clear, they trembled.
Leaving the girls to imagine whatever horrible fate they could conquer up, Haruhi tugged on the choir member's shoulder to usher her into the Third Music Room. She sighed quietly to herself once they were inside, allowing her face to relax back into the neutral expression she normally wore, and hoped that those jealous, petty heiresses would never step foot in the Host Club again. If only to escape Kyoya's wrath, if nothing else, since she would not put it past the second year to somehow have them shipped off to another school entirely if she told him what she had heard.
"Ah, Haruhi-kun," Ayano breathed, "thank you." She shuffled her feet a little, her face turning completely red at the proximity between them. "Kagome-senpai is… She's…" The Choir Club member raised her face, her eyes determined and sure. "She's very kind, and I'm sorry that Yui and Chiasa… It's not right."
Allowing a small, honest smile to cross her lips, Haruhi said, "I hope you enjoy the performance today, Ayano-chan."
"Kagome-senpai's voice really is beautiful." The girl shook her head, smiling mostly to herself at whatever memory had surfaced as she agreed with Haruhi's earlier question. Ayano shifted away from her then, adding, "I'm sure that everyone will enjoy it," before she drifted toward the crowd surrounding the grand piano that Tamaki was maneuvering clients around for the best view.
"Haru-chan! Haruuuuu-chan! Haru-chaaaaan!"
Blinking owlishly at the sound of her name, Haruhi realized that Honey must have been calling her since she stepped into the room from the way his face was beginning to turn red from the lack of oxygen. Shaking her head, she quickly moved toward the area where the other hosts had settled in for the show. "Sorry I'm late," she said. "There was a… disturbance in the hallway."
"A disturbance?" Mori frowned, his eyes shifting toward the door.
The twins both looked at each other, before Kaoru asked, "Are you okay, Haruhi?"
"Yeah," she sighed. Allowing her school bag to drop where Hikaru and Kaoru had haphazardly thrown theirs, she took the seat Honey was eagerly patting beside him. "It wasn't that big of a deal, I guess." The frown returned the moment she allowed the words to slip, knowing that it probably was a big deal to the other Host Club members who seemed to adore the raven haired beauty. Especially Kyoya. "There were just some girls upset that Kagome-senpai was here today. They were saying some pretty mean things about her."
Honey's hold on his stuffed bunny tightened, as he cast a look toward his silent cousin at his side. "What kind of things, Haru-chan?"
"Should we tell Kyoya-senpai?" the twins asked, both frowning.
Shaking her head, Haruhi said, "Honestly, I don't think they'll come back anytime soon." Her heart warmed at the sight of them immediately wanting to protect the older girl, as she reminded herself that not everyone at this stupid school was like those petty heiresses. The Host Club treated each other like family, and even if she had only become aware of it a day ago, it was obvious that they considered Kagome a part of that family. "I'll talk to Kyoya-senpai about it afterward, though, so don't worry about it."
They glanced between each other, no doubt curious.
"Where is Kyoya-senpai?" Haruhi asked after a moment, realizing that the only other person she had seen so far was Tamaki near the piano.
Hikaru's face split into a grin, as he said, "Kagome-senpai insisted that the song she wanted to sing wouldn't sound right without a violin accompaniment." He bumped Kaoru when he snickered beside him, before continuing, "She said that Kyoya-senpai should 'find it in the goodness of his heart' to play the piece for her, since he still has a tape of her performance."
Haruhi blinked. That sounded an awful like the raven haired beauty had essentially blackmailed the Shadow King into playing the violin for her. Slowly, she felt her lip tug upward into a smile, knowing that it just fit. There was little doubt that it would have taken a challenge to perk the Shadow King's interest, but it would have taken more than that to fully occupy whatever piece of Kyoya's heart Kagome had seemed to snatch up.
She supposed the only real mystery still was just what that original challenge had been.
"And he said that he would need the sheet music to be able to do that," Kaoru drawled. His face twisted up until it matched the expression on his brother's, as they both cast looks toward the back. "Kagome-senpai said he could just look it up on his laptop, so they went to get it from where he left it in the back."
Slowly, together, the twins sang, "They've been gone for a while."
"They went together?" Haruhi blinked. "Alone?"
A knowing look on his adorable features, Honey smiled, "She had Kyo-chan's notebook when they came in earlier."
"His notebook?" Haruhi was slowly beginning to think that maybe the Ootori boy had made a move on his own without them knowing. "The one that he keeps tabs on everyone with?"
"Un," Mori nodded, a small smile on his face.
That definitely sounded like Kyoya had made a move to her.
"Kagome-senpai was really red," Hikaru said.
"Like, really really red." Kaoru fluttered his lashes up at his brother, causing both of them to fall into a fit of laughter when he said, "Oh, Kyoya-kun!"
Hikaru only went along with him, replying, "Of course I'll play the violin for you, Kagome-chan." Leaning into Kaoru, he tipped his brother's face up toward him in a mockery of their brotherly love act that sent girls into a frenzy at every turn. "I just need to get the sheet music."
Mori bumped them both on the head lightly, despite the amused grin on his face. "Stop it."
"Yeah!" Honey's voice lowered into a whisper, as he said, "Haru-chan already said there were girls saying really mean things about Me-chan. You don't want them to hear you." His face turned serious, his eyes sharp. "Kyo-chan will have to be careful if he doesn't want anyone else to know."
Hikaru waved his hand. "That's only if he actually did."
"They really could just be getting the sheet music," Kaoru sighed, shrugging in mild disappointment. "I think Kyoya-senpai mentioned something about getting the piano piece for tono, too, so they might have just gone to find a printer."
"But she had his notebook," Haruhi stressed. "That has to mean something, right?"
"She used to steal his pencil all the time," Hikaru shrugged.
"And she's hid his bag when he left it in the back," Kaoru added.
"She took his teacup one time," Honey chirped. "It was funny!"
"He said she wrote in his textbook during class," Mori said.
"She probably just took it," the twins said.
Haruhi felt her brow crease with the knowledge, as she said, "It's his notebook, though…" She laid her finger up against the side of her face, contemplating for a moment. "I mean, have any of us ever seen him without it? It's basically attached to him."
Kaoru finally spoke up with a shrug, "If he has his tablet on him, I guess."
"Did he, though?" she asked.
The Host Club members glancing between themselves, they each agreed, "No."
"Then it has to mean something," Haruhi muttered. Maybe he wanted her to take it.
The door swinging open suddenly, the raven haired beauty came in with a rush, her dress fluttering around her ankles as she clutched a handful of music sheets close to her chest. The smile on her face immediately lit up the room, and she moved quickly across to where Tamaki was waving at her from the grand piano. Her face flushed, she bubbled with giddy laughter when the jovial second year prince swept her up in her excitement.
The Ootori boy trailed behind her, pushing up his glasses and holding his own set of music.
"Sorry, sorry," Kagome looked away at the questioning look Tamaki gave her. "Kyoya and I had to, uh, wait for the librarian to get done using the printer before we could use it." She turned that brilliant smile upon the guests then, the papers she was holding onto wrinkling in her hold. "I'm sorry you had to wait!"
"Kyoya?" the twins chimed.
Watching the interaction, Haruhi felt her mouth fall open ever so slightly.
Kagome had dropped the suffix she had been using the day before…
That definitely meant something.
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