AHAHAHAHA! I'M BACK SUCKERS! Man, have I missed this! So, I'm currently stressed out of my mind trying to get back into the swing of school even with my store manager trying to pin every problem on me and the introvert in me basically dying from overexposure to society. But it's whatever, right? I have two pounds of gumballs and a fully functioning laptop, so let's get this done!
Thank you to starrat, Momochan77, Shadowing, Stolyint, queenglitch, Sunstar Writer, DemonQueen26, and three guests for your reviews! I hope you like this chapter despite how late it is!
Disclaimer: I own Jin, and she is perhaps my greatest achievement in life.
*Chapter 5*
"To say 'hello', you hold your two pointer fingers out like so," Gima-sensei paused with her hands in position, watching as the rest of her class mimicked her to the best of their ability, "And now bring your two fingers closer together, as if they were performing a bow towards each other."
The teacher watched in amusement as her students began repeating the simple message over and over again, in order to remember it. Some scurried to write out the movement in their notes, while others began signing it to their friends. A blond boy nudged the brunette girl to his left before showing her the sign. She grinned and repeated it back to him. He then tried to do the same with the ravenet seated behind him, but was ignored.
Clapping her hands together for attention, Gima-sensei gave her class one final nod, "Class is almost over, and your homework for tonight is to come up with a sign name for yourself. These sign names will take place of your own name so you will not need to spell it out every time. You are encouraged to work in groups for this assignment, as once you've chosen it, you will not be able to change them for the rest of the semester." The adult then gathered up her papers and proceeded to walk out of the classroom, lesson completed for the day.
As one, the kids started chatting with each other, trying to find a partner or group to assist with the homework. And more than a couple eyes were glued to the three host club members sitting on the far right side of the room.
Tamaki turned around excitedly in his seat, looking between Kyoya and Jin in turn, "You guys will work with me on this, right?"
Jin nodded, but Kyoya merely raised an eyebrow without even looking up, "Why bother? It's obvious what your sign name will be."
Tamaki's eyes widened in delight, but before he could reply his friend had already made a quick formation with his hands. Frowning, not recognizing the word, the blond started flipping through his book, "I… don't see that one, what page was that on?"
"It wasn't in the book, but I did some research before classes started and came up with your sign name beforehand."
"Oooh… what did you say?"
"Idiot."
Jin snorted before she could stop herself. Covering her mouth, she attempted to stem off the giggles as her desk neighbor gasped. At least he didn't seem to notice how Jin was finding humor from the situation. Clearing her throat to disrupt the tail end of her laughter, Jin leaned over and tapped at the page Tamaki's book was opened to, "Hey, there's an idea for you, Tamaki."
The blond quickly turned back around in his seat to look at the page. Even Kyoya attempted to glance around his friend's body to catch a peek. The page she was pointing at was a picture of the world separated into countries. A few of the countries were labeled with the sign language for their name, including China, Russia, the United States of America, and-
"France!" Tamaki curled his right hand into an 'ok' position and made a scooping motion towards himself, beaming. "That's perfect! Now to find names for you two! Kyoya, you said you found… that word... online, right?"
Before Kyoya could answer, the blond was already pulling out his laptop and typing away. He rolled his eyes before continuing to pack away his books. They had free period next, and normally he, Jin, and Tamaki would be hurrying to Music Room 3 to open the host club until 5th period began. But since Mori-senpai had Kendo club meetings during Tuesday and Thursday's free period, Tamaki had decided it wasn't worth it to open up when they were missing a host. Which meant they could take their time today.
"Tamaki, I thought you were looking up sign names?"
Kyoya glanced over at the blond's desk once again as he stood up. The screen on Tamaki's laptop was most definitely not showing anything regarding sign language. He had the Host Club's website up instead, a picture of all eight members smiling out at them.
The blond let out a nervous chuckle, "Well… I was, but then I remembered I gave Hikaru and Kaoru the job of maintaining the club's website and-"
"You're looking at pictures of Haru, aren't you?"
"There are new photos!" Without another word, Tamaki gleefully clicked on the button with the word 'New' underneath it. The three 2nd years stared at the following screen. Jin's mouth fell open. Kyoya's usual blank face rippled with interest and confusion.
Tamaki took the less subtle route and ran out of the classroom, leaving his laptop and books behind. His classmates sighed before scooping up the blond's things and following.
"So… is it always like this… being Tamaki's friend?" Jin huffed.
"If I said 'no', how long would it take for lightning to strike me where I stand?"
"With my luck? Not until you're 97."
They regressed back into silence all the way down to Music Room 3. Sure enough, by the time they arrived Tamaki was attempting to tackle the Hitachiin twins out of their chairs. Hunny, Mori, and Haruhi were watching the carnage in confusion.
Jin, holding Tamaki's laptop, approached them and opened the device while keeping an eye on the struggling boys across the room. The same page was still on the screen... showcasing a composite photo of a shirtless Haruhi.
"Ooo… you're one cool dude, Haru-chan!"
Haruhi didn't respond to Hunny's 'compliment', too busy staring at the photo in abject terror. Jin placed a consoling hand on her sister's shoulder. She knew her sister hated having her picture taken, so having someone alter a photo of her in such a way…
"Idiots! That's a scandalous abuse of technology! If you're going to photoshop Haruhi's face onto anything, use a model like this!"
"Why bother?"
"We already did that with Jin-senpai."
"You did WHAT?" Jin nearly dropped the laptop in her haste to turn it around, frantically pecking at the keys until said photos popped up. Immediately her nose wrinkled. "Ugh… why'd you have to put me in a pink frou-frou dress?"
Despite the situation, Haruhi managed a slightly evil smile, leaning her head against Jin's arm, "Wow, lookin' good, Nēchan. But maybe it would look better in person?"
"Why you little-"
Before Jin could say anything regarding the thoughtful expressions on the twin's faces, Kyoya stepped into her line of sight, "Miss Fujioka, it might do you well to kindly begin your duties before our guests arrive."
She blinked, having forgotten her other classmate was even there, but was quick to scowl once again. A number of backhanded comments came to mind, but Jin managed to reel herself in. Whether or not Kyoya was goading her on or not, it would probably be best if she did her job.
Snapping the laptop shut and handing it back over to Tamaki, the brunette began her opening rounds. A teapot here, some cake slices there… she quickly fell into routine, pushing her cart around the room.
"Ugh… it's so boring around here."
"Haruhi? Could we visit your house after club hours?"
Jin raised her head as her sister responded, "No way. You'd poke fun because it's not a mansion like yours."
"Hm." Spotting Jin watching them, Hikaru called out to her, "Jin-senpai, can we spread rumors about you and some guy? Maybe a host-"
"No!"
Haruhi frowned and started walking away, "Geez, you two. Whaddaya think we are?"
"Uh… duh? You're toys!"
Jin opened her mouth, shut it, then walked back into the kitchen, shaking her head as she went. What the heck is WITH the boys at this school? She managed to give Haruhi a quick little pat on her head as she passed by, a sort of reminder that she wasn't going crazy.
The moment the kitchen doors fell shut behind the taller Fujioka, the front ones opened, "If you're looking for great toys… you should come to the Black Magic Club." A cloak-covered head poked into the room, the person's black bangs obscuring the top half of his face and his cat-shaped hand puppet held in front of the bottom half.
"We currently feature an antique magical artifact market with a promotional voodoo doll giveaway now in progress! We've been waiting for new customers…"
Haruhi slowly inched away from the doors, finding herself next to Kyoya as she did so. Not exactly the person she wanted at the moment, but still, "Um… who the heck is that?"
"That's Nekozawa-senpai. He's a third year and the president of the Black Magic Club. He also tends to avoid bright light, saying it saps his strength."
"Do not get involved with him, Haruhi… or you'll be cursed… I guarantee."
Haruhi let out a rather high-pitched yelp at the sound of Tamaki's oddly soft-spoken voice behind her. She hadn't even heard him walking up to her, which was really saying something. Usually all you had to do was listen for loud proclamations of love or screaming and you could easily pinpoint what building on campus the blond was in.
"Geez, you're so shrouded in darkness."
"Need some light? Here."
Nekozawa-senpai shrieked in obvious pain as Hikaru and Kaoru shined bright flashlights in his face. The boy fell backwards, tripping on his long black cloak as he frantically ran for his life.
Jin immediately poked her head out of the kitchen, "What happened? Was someone hurt?" Her eyes immediately zoned in on the twins who were smirking maliciously at the newly abandoned front doors. Tamaki was jumping around them, screaming at them for being idiots. Nothing unusual…
"Don't worry about it, Nēchan. The twins shined some bright lights in someone's face and he ran away."
"Well, that wasn't very nice."
"Miss Fujioka? We're opening in fifteen minutes…"
Haruhi watched with bated breath as her sister leveled a fiery glare at her black-haired classmate, only managing to breathe again when Jin's head disappeared back into the other room. As much as she would love to see Jin chew Kyoya out for all the times he was a jerk to her, Haruhi knew their debt balance would probably double in size if she did.
Despite Kyoya's warning of how close opening time was, Tamaki was still screaming himself hoarse at Haruhi's classmates, "Don't do things like that! You have no idea of the horror you could've unleashed upon us!"
Hikaru scoffed, "Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Yeah, Tamaki-senpai." Haruhi couldn't help but put in her own two cents, "You have a tendency to over-exaggerate. What proof do you have that-"
"OVER-EXAGGERATE? How can you say I over-exaggerate?" Haruhi only managed a blink. Tamaki made a soft whimper in the back of his throat before spinning around, allowing his face to become overrun with shadows, "Very well… if you require proof… it was last semester. I remember it like it was yesterday… the day I stepped on Beelzenef!"
"The doll?"
"IT'S NOT JUST A DOLL TO NEKOZAWA-SENPAI! Ahem, as I was saying. After I stepped on that stupid little doll, I went to take my exam and it had been translated into rune-like writing! I couldn't read it! And when I looked around for help I didn't recognize anyone! I had been cast into a different dimension!"
Haruhi felt oddly faint. It didn't seem possible… but he said it with such conviction, "But… then… h-how'd you get back…"
"You were so frazzled by the encounter you walked into the beginning Greek class and took their exam with them. By the time I found you and pulled you out you were on the verge of passing out."
"Ha! It was a curse!" Tamaki ran up to Kyoya, "Three days later and I woke up to my legs feeling like dead weights!"
"Because you ran a marathon the day before."
Haruhi rubbed at her eyes, willing away the headache developing in her right frontal lobe. Why did I even consider believing him? I should've known better than to listen to Tamaki-senpai when he's like this.
Two loud sighs broke the tension of the room, Hikaru and Kaoru unhappily flopping down into a couple of chairs, legs tossed over the armrests.
"Well, that was fun for a while."
"Still dull as toast around here, though."
Tamaki's lower eyelid twitched, "If it's so boring around here… I have something to occupy your time…"
*Time Skip*
Jin raised an eyebrow at the boys sulking on the floor, "Um… are you guys gonna do this all afternoon?"
Hikaru, who was lying flat on his back, glared up at her, "Take us to your place."
"No."
The redhead's scowl deepened and he turned his head away. Kaoru repeated the motion, resting his cheek against the broom in his hands. Jin, not caring to entertain the twins while they were acting so stuck-up, rolled her eyes and walked away. But not before leaving two cups of tea for them on a nearby table.
As she made her usual rounds between the different hosts (avoiding Kyoya as much as she could) Jin couldn't help but notice that the twins were the number one topic of the day. Probably because Tamaki's not letting them host for two days as punishment and their guests are scattered around at the other host's tables. If only those two were actually helping me clean up the club room instead of moping around...
She placed a new pot of tea on her sister's table, listening quietly as one of the guests asked, "Hey, Haruhi? Since you're in the same class as Hikaru and Kaoru, have you found other ways to tell them apart?"
"Yeah," another girl chimed in, "I know that Hikaru parts his hair on the right and Kaoru on the left, but if their hair gets messed up it gets kinda difficult."
"Well, yeah. I mean, sure, they're identical appearance wise, but they're still their own persons. Their personalities are different, at least." The girls around the table leaned in, their eyes wide with curiosity. Exchanging an amused look with Jin, who was smiling down at the table still, Haruhi shrugged, "I'd say the easiest way to tell them apart is that Hikaru's words and actions are a bit more evil in comparison to Kaoru. He takes more risks. But Nēchan pointed out to me a few days ago that Kaoru is a bit more pleasant when greeting people. Like during hosting hours, Kaoru will be the first to bring their clients back into conversation-"
A badly concealed snort cut the conversation short. Turning around in their chairs, the four girls watched as Kaoru succumbed to his giggles. Burying his face in his hands, the younger twin hunched over.
"S-sorry, Hikaru… hee hee… I don't mean 'ta *snicker*... but you gotta admit…"
"Hey, I just don't try to hide my intentions. The real evil lurks in sneaky people like you, Kaoru." Jin's eyes narrowed as the laughing stopped immediately. What are they…
"You should talk, Hikaru. You're full of selfish notions."
"It's you who takes my notions and runs with 'em, Kaoru. If you don't like 'em, leave 'em."
Now the whole room was watching as the twin's went back and forth. The boy's voices were low and dangerous, neither of them even facing the other. And the insults just kept coming, each one more sharp and pointed than the last. Hikaru's ears were growing red fast, and Kaoru's grip on his sleeves had started to tighten.
Jin's eyes narrowed a little more. She gently steered Haruhi and the guests further away from the arguing boys.
"If it weren't for me playing along you'd make an ass out of yourself in no time. I'm the only reason people at this school even like you."
"Is that so? Then explain why I'm always cutting the joke short before you take it too far? How many times have you almost been publicly humiliated? I'm surprised our family name still has value, thanks to your impulsiveness."
Any amusement the guests had found from the twins bickering had long since ended. The room was silent save for the tennis-match of insults. The hosts shared nervous looks with each other as they started ushering the guests out the door.
And thank goodness they did.
"Besides, though you called her a toy, you're actually quite fond of Haruhi, aren't you? You sure like to touch her-"
"Huh?!" Hikaru jolted, his entire face now lobster red. For a moment, all he did was gape at his brother in apparent horror, "Fff… fon- wha're you… Don't say such imbecilic things, Kaoru! I'm not attracted to that little raccoon!"
"Oy!"
He ignored Jin's outburst, "I bet you just said that because you're into her! Or did you think I wouldn't notice you constantly including her in your little schemes?"
"Schemes?!"
Standing at what she hoped was a safe enough distance away, Haruhi finally turned to her sister, "Hey, Nēchan? What's going on?"
"I'm… not sure." Jin's arms were crossed over her chest as she watched the fight, her right pointer finger tapping like mad against her left arm, one of the many stimming actions she had. But Haruhi noticed it for the tell it was.
So… there's something more to this fight. But Nēchan can't make it out. Hmm...
"Oh, how splendid!" Renge, who had been perfectly quiet up to that point, suddenly spun out from one of the back rooms, "Haruhi's got himself caught in a love square! And two of them are twins to boot! And now they're fighting!" The girl practically swooned into a nearby chair.
"Button it, Otaku!"
The girl stuck her tongue out at the twins, "Oh please, like I'm going to miss out on this! I mean, an all male love square with sibling rivalry throwing in is amazing, of course, but with Haruhi struggling to stay close to Jin-senpai on top of it… how could I possibly stay away?"
Jin opened her mouth, reconsidered, and shut it again. Perhaps it was a mistake to let her stay. But I wonder if she's a little hard of hearing since she obviously didn't catch on the 'she/her' pronouns.
"Oh foo! You're pathetic in math, you are!"
"Oh yeah? How about you and French?"
"Shrimp!"
"Pig!"
"You're so annoying! Always slipping into my bed! Pervert!"
"Well, you're too insecure to sleep by yourself! You think I want to share a bed with you?"
Then, as one, they marched to the front doors and flung them open, each twin storming off in different directions, "WE'RE FINISHED!"
The seven remaining members of the host club couldn't do anything but stare as the doors fell shut again.
"Huh."
At once, Tamaki began pacing the room, "What do you mean 'huh'? Why didn't anyone say anything! We should've tried to head them off! How are they supposed to host if they don't speak to each other?!"
"Oh, calm down, Tamaki." Jin scooped up her school bag, "I'm sure they'll cool down by tomorrow. It's probably from their boredom. And if not, then we can step in before things get too crazy."
"But-"
"Relax, already. Come on… yeah, big fights like that aren't exactly healthy, but trying to interfere might not be the best move. I remember how annoyed Haru and I used to get when our Dad tried to force us to make up after our arguments."
Haruhi nodded in agreement and was about to walk out of the room when a pair of arms around her waist stopped her. Hunny stared up at the sisters with wide eyes, "Haru-chan… you and Jin-chan have fights?"
"Um… 'fight' is a strong word. More like 'disagreements'. And yeah. But disagreements are healthy." She grimaces, thinking back over the last five minutes. Fights are not.
*\/*
By the next morning, Haruhi was as tensed up as an overstretched rubber band. Not even riding to school on the back of Jin's bicycle this morning had been enough to relax her. Ever since they left the school yesterday afternoon she had been worried about the twins. Well, not exactly worried about them, but about what they might do to each other in class.
She sat between them.
Jin, of course, noticed immediately. She might've smiled if she wasn't also worried. So instead of leaving the 1-A classroom as soon as Haruhi went inside, the two simply hovered by the doorway. They exchanged good mornings with the students who passed them and Haruhi introduced her big sister to any of her interested classmates. Even Hunny and Mori dropped by.
And then the whispers started up.
"Did you see Hikaru this morning? Where is Kaoru?"
"I saw him arrive in a separate limo, but forget that, did you see their hair?"
"Are they fighting about something?"
Jin pushed herself away from the wall she was leaning against, "Here we go… Mori-kun, do you see either of them?"
Her friend was scanning the tops of the crowd, his face just as passive as ever, even when he suddenly nodded towards the end of the hallway and stated, "Pink."
And pink he was. Hikaru's flamingo pink head was bobbing its way up the hallway, most students making way for the boy so they could stare at him instead. Hunny's mouth had fallen into a perfect 'o' shape, but the other three did their best to keep a blank face. If he was still mad…
"Oh, good morning, everyone." He raised an eyebrow, "Is there a reason you're all gathered here?"
Jin gathered her thoughts first, "I was just talking to Haruhi for a moment and Mori-kun and Hunny-kun stopped by. I like your hair."
"Look, I know pink is rather out there-"
"I wasn't kidding." And she wasn't. Jin was actually eyeing the colorful strands with interest and… a little jealousy, "I've always wanted to dye my hair, but never had the time or commitment or money."
Hikaru blinked a little, and unless she was seeing things his ears had turned a little red from the praise, "Oh… thank you."
"You look like Bun-Bun, Hika-chan! That's so cool!"
"T-thanks... but, um, I think class is going to start in a little bit. Come on, Haruhi."
"See you for lunch, Nēchan!" Jin went to wave back to her sister, but froze suddenly. Lunch… aw crap! She almost smacked herself in the face. I forgot to pack myself a lunch! Deciding to leave that problem alone for now, she went to walk to her own classroom-
"Hey, guys!"
A shock of turquoise was the first thing they registered, and Jin's jealousy deepened, "Hi, Kaoru. Love the color."
"Thanks!" The younger twins beamed, certainly looking to be in high spirits, "It was between this and slightly more purple shade, but I like the brightness!"
"It's really cool, Kao-chan!"
He beamed at Hunny, and looked like he was about to say something else when a voice echoed from inside the room, "No longer shall I be mistaken for Kaoru!" Immediately his expression soured and he stalked into the classroom.
Jin nibbled at her bottom lip before she started pulling her friends away. She had a feeling things between the twins were going to get worse before they got better. But… there was still something that was bugging her about this fight.
*Lunch*
Jin poked her head into the cafeteria nervously, her finger tapping away at the seam of her pant leg. It didn't look… too different from the usual lunch rooms in the other schools she had been in before, save for the fancy food on everyone's plates. Even still, it wasn't until she saw Haruhi practically slumped against the wall in exhaustion that she ventured inside.
"Hey, Haru. How're you holding up?"
A non-committal groan answered her just as a gathering of students started applauding. The sisters glanced over. It would appear that the Hitachiin's had just ordered the same thing for lunch, and were now glaring heatedly at each other. They changed their order perhaps twice after that, both of them changing it to the same thing at the same time before they began snarling at each other. Jin felt bad for the chef's waiting for the twin's to order, and for all the students waiting in line behind them.
"Okay! This fight has gone on for long enough!" Jin blinked in surprise as Hunny rushed past her, carrying a piece of cake he had probably nicked from the host club's storage. We should probably invest in a couple locks for the cabinets…
As the short blond tried to settle the argument with the cake, the murmurs of the cafeteria took a sudden upswing.
"It's the Host Club!"
"Eeee! The Host Club in person!"
"All of them at once! Oh my!"
Sure enough, Mori, Kyoya, and Tamaki were walking up to the lunch line, pausing beside the girls. Tamaki shook his head at the twins, who had started arguing again, scaring Hunny back into his cousin's arms, "I thought I heard a commotion in here. They're still at it… that's not good for our image."
"Our image?"
"Oh! Haruhi!" Jin took a step back as Tamaki bounded over to her sister, "I've never seen you in the cafeteria before!"
As Haruhi began to explain that she and Jin were trying to keep an eye on the twins, her sister was eyeing the lunch line again. The twins had finally moved along, though neither of them looked pleased with what they had gotten, and the rest of the students were finally able to place their orders.
A sudden whiff of the cappellini and barbary duck lunch tickled the 2nd year's nose. She couldn't help the soft groan of her stomach. This wasn't the first time she had forgotten to pack a lunch, and it probably wouldn't be the last, and even though the stomach cramps were a little painful, it was nothing Jin couldn't handle.
Even if everything around her smelled delicious. It reminded her of her afternoons spent as a waitress in America. And since the restaurant's owner and head chef was the father of her host family, she even got to eat the yummy smelling foods.
Which, she supposed, was where the similarities ended. The lunches here were too expensive for her to order with a clear conscious.
"Nēchan, let's go sit over there. I think I see an empty table."
"Wait." The girls stopped. Jin arched an eyebrow as Kyoya fixed her with a sharp stare, "Miss Fujioka, might I inquire as to where your boxed lunch is? Surely you have one as well?"
"Already ate it. It wasn't much-"
"You mean nothing at all." Jin leveled a warning glance at her sister, but Haruhi ignored it, "She forgot to pack a lunch today, Kyoya-senpai. Would it be alright if she has a slice of cake or something similar during hosting hours today?"
Jin did her best keeping her sigh internal. She already knew what the answer was going to be. A big, fat, no-
"I'll buy you a lunch."
Everyone let out a gasp. Even Kyoya looked a little surprised by his own words for a second before he collected himself.
"...why?"
The question was out of Jin's mouth before she could stop it. Immediately afterwards, she wanted to kick herself. What are you doing? Free food is free food! Then again… Kyoya does seem to be the type of person to quote 'there's no such thing as a free lunch'.
But the boy surprised her once again.
"Consider it repayment for the many customers you've brought to the host club since your arrival. They seem quite taken with your attachment to Haruhi. Besides, it's easier to buy you food out of pocket than calculating out whatever you may take from the club's storage."
That was a BS call if Jin ever knew one. That was basic accounting, and no different from the many cakes Hunny munched on before and after hosting hours. And she would've called him out on it had something not occurred to her in that exact moment.
Kyoya was… being nice. Well, in his own cold, aloof, Kyoya-ish way, of course. Pretending it was all in the name of business, when he just wanted to buy her a lunch so she wouldn't go hungry all day.
What… the hell?
On the outside, however, Jin merely nodded and followed the ravenet to the lunch line without a fuss, leaving Haruhi to go find them a place to sit.
"The B lunch. And I'll be paying for Miss Fujioka's food as well." He shifted to the side so the girl could move forward.
"Hmmm…" she scanned the menu for a moment before glancing to the side, "Money's no object?" With a head shake as her response, she flashed the cashier a quick smile, "Could I get the C lunch with a side order of pasta… and a slice of bread, please?"
The man behind the counter blinked at the 'please', not used to polite requests, before giving her a small smile in return and ringing the order up. Even so, Jin felt Kyoya's eyes boring into the side of her head as they moved along down the counter to where their ticket and meals would be delivered.
After a moment she returned the stare, "Something bothering you?"
"That's… quite a few carbs you just ordered."
"Bless my metabolism." On impulse, she flashed him a lopsided smile before accepting her lunch with a quick 'thank you'. She turned and was about to walk towards Haruhi when she stopped. Haruhi wasn't sitting alone. The twins were on either side of her.
"Jin-chan?" Hunny was watching her from over his shoulder, grabbing his own tray off food from the cafeteria worker, "Are we gonna sit with Haru-chan, Hika-chan, and Kao-chan?"
"Unless you want to sit in the middle of a war zone, Hunny-kun… we might want to find a different spot." And true to her word, no sooner had she and the four boys set their trays down that the twins were glaring at each other, each with a hand tightly gripping one side of Haruhi's boxed lunch.
Spotting her sister frantically waving her over, Haruhi managed to sneak away from the table just as the twins began throwing food and silverware at each other. Sighing, the short brunette sank down into the chair on her sister's right hand side, "Thanks, Nēchan. Hey, can I have some of your lunch? I had to abandon mine at the table- Senpai!"
Before they could stop him, Tamaki was marching over to the twins, demanding they release Haruhi's lunch so she could eat. The remaining members of the host club watched in what could only be described as pity as their president was almost stuck with a fork for his troubles.
Thankfully, the blond ducked out of the way just in time.
Unfortunately, the fork landed in someone's soup, splashing it all over the man's face.
The cafeteria fell into a hush. Even the twins ceased arguing, staring in shock as the man slowly picked up his napkin. The soup was in his hair, on his glasses, and all across his suit jacket.
"Mmm… today's consommé… quite tasty." Jin swallowed nervously at the Vice Principal's words, glad that she had pulled Haruhi away from the scene of the crime before it was too late.
Once most of the soup had been wiped away, he spoke again to the dead quiet room, "Alright, who threw that fork?"
Sudden movement drew everyone's eyes back to the twins, who were pointing at each other.
But all the Vice Principal saw was Tamaki Suoh standing in between the twins, both of them pointing at him.
"Suoh?! I'm astonished! You, of all people, behaving so irresponsibly! This does not reflect well on the Suoh family name!" Tamaki meekly dropped to his knees, taking the scolding with tears in his eyes. There wasn't anything else he could do, really. The twins had booked it the second they were off the hook. "Since you seem to enjoy making messes, your punishment will be to clean up the entire cafeteria after school!"
At that, Tamaki whimpered, ducking his head even further down. The whole cafeteria? That would take hours! He tried his best not to cry.
Jin felt her heart lurch in sympathy. The punishment wasn't even deserved! Nibbling at her bottom lip, she slowly stood up from her seat. Haruhi tried to pull her back down, but she shook her off.
"Kazama-sensei?" The man turned in surprise towards the girl, who was bowing hurriedly towards him, "I offer my service to assist Tamaki in clean up after school." Tamaki gave his friend a watery smile as another gasp circulated the room, followed by a few whispers.
"Isn't that Fujioka-san? The scholarship student?"
"That's Haruhi's older sister, Jin-senpai!"
"Wow… what a nice offer!"
"I wouldn't have expected a scholarship student to directly question Kazama-sensei's punishment… what do you think he's going to say?"
To everyone's surprise, the man actually smiled kindly at the girl, "Fujioka-san, was it? Well, it is certainly a noble offer for you to make, but there's no need for you to share the punishment of your classmate."
"We'll help, too!" Hunny and Mori had rushed to join Jin, also bowing. Now the Vice Principal looked shocked. He began to stutter out another insistence to let Tamaki serve his punishment alone when Haruhi and Kyoya also joined. All around the room, the girls were cooing at the scene.
Giving the five of them a quick once over, the man finally nodded his consent, "Very well." He turned to the blond behind him, "I expect you to still remember that this is your punishment your friends are now sharing." Receiving a quick nod from the boy, Kazama-sensei finally waved them off to go finish their lunches.
Tamaki was oddly quiet as he slowly munched on his food, only speaking twice over the remaining lunch hour. Once to thank Jin and the others for volunteering to help him after school. And the second was to say he came up with a sign name for Jin. He got it from when he heard someone refer to her as the 'scholarship student'.
They'd have to look up the motion for the word 'intelligent' later on, of course.
*Time Skip*
With the six of them, it only took about forty-five minutes to clean up the cafeteria. Jin couldn't help but think they could've finished sooner if the boys hadn't complained and lagged behind so much, but she kept quiet. They were unaccustomed to such labor. She might as well cut them some slack.
Even though they had closed the club for the day (due to the feud between the Hitachiins) they had all gone to the music room anyways. It wasn't like they had anywhere else to go. The boys were groaning and shifting in their seats as their bodies complained from all the activity. Jin had just enough energy left to grab a slice of cake for Hunny, ruffling his hair as she went, before sitting down.
To her right, Tamaki groaned and sprawled his upper body across the tabletop, "Why is it that the twins are fighting, but we're the ones getting knocked around? It's so unfair… they didn't even help clean up!" The others hummed their agreement, but Haruhi noticed how Jin's eyes had narrowed once again, her head tilted back to stare at the ceiling.
She elbowed the taller girl, making her look over, When are you going to tell me what you're thinking about?
Not now… not until I'm sure.
Haruhi scrunched up her nose before rolling her eyes, Fiiiiine.
"If this situation continues, we'll have to suspend the club's Brotherly Love package. Perhaps indefinitely if this feud isn't solved. There'll be an inevitable decrease in business if we go through with this, of course, and the twins will have a penalty imposed on them to make up for it. It's unlikely they'll be as popular hosting separately as opposed to together, but there's not much we can do with their arguments being so violent. Oh, and Haruhi?"
Kyoya eyed the brunette for a long moment. She was starting to squirm in her seat by the time Jin cleared her throat. The classmates locked eyes for a brief moment before he returned his attention to the younger girl, smiling, "I only meant to say I've determined you bear no real responsibility for this mess. Their reaction to your simple observation was wholly unwarranted. And cafeteria clean-ups are no big deal. Most of us volunteered for it, besides."
Haruhi gave a small nod, but gave her sister another look, Thanks for that.
No problem. It wasn't your fault. Besides, I think he's learning not to mess with me.
Haruhi cracked a smile when Hunny whined softly, "Hika-chan and Kao-chan have never fought before…and I've known them since they were in kindergarten."
"Wait… ever?"
The small boy shook his head, munching on his treat a little slowly. Usa-chan was tucked up under his left arm, cuddled close. Clearly this fighting between the twins was making the 3rd year student more upset than he'd been letting on.
Tamaki hummed in agreement, despite the fact he hadn't known the twins for as long as the others had, "Ya'know? Ever since I met them, they were always together, not getting too close to anyone else. Probably because they always had each other… maybe they didn't think they'd need anyone else?" He pushed himself to his feet, "Well, if they're separated now, maybe they'll finally expand their horizons? Meet new people, make new friends! Heck, this fight might be a good thing-"
He had started walking around the room restlessly, like he usually did, when his foot caught on two separate trip wires. A high-pitched scream tore from the blond's throat as spears shot out from either side of the room, just narrowly missing the president.
For a moment, everyone was frozen in shock. Tamaki's face was white. It didn't even look like he was breathing. A good two dozen spears were littering the floor around him, some just barely a centimeter away from their target.
Then two soft voices hissed from behind a couple of columns, "Rats!"
"YOU JERKS!"
The rest of the host club watched as Tamaki chased the twins out of the music room, still too surprised from the sudden attack to move. They turned around in their seats to watch as the three boys became visible through the windows, Hikaru and Kaoru tearing across the lawn with Tamaki in hot pursuit, screaming at them to stop.
Jin blinked, like she couldn't decide between amusement or disappointment, "This… is 'good thing'?" She stood up and started walking towards the door, Haruhi following immediately.
"Jin-chan?" Hunny set his fork down, "You said we should wait until they cooled down, right?"
"Well, they're obviously not going to cool down, Hunny-kun. You said this is their first fight, corrent?" She paused at the doorway, looking over her shoulder at the nodding boys still at the table, "Then that means they don't know when to call it quits, or how to make up. Guess, we'll have to do that for them."
Hunny, Mori, and Kyoya all exchanged a look before following the rest of their club members outside.
*\/*
"Well? Are these all of the traps, you irritating twits?" Tamaki was shaking in place, his head bowed. He knew he looked like a mess. Two birds were perched on his head and shoulder, there was an outrageous amount of egg yolk on his jacket, and multiple strings, tripwires were tangled around his arms and legs. He wasn't exactly sure how he had managed to stay on his feet the whole time.
Even so, it was almost amusing how they had both set the exact same traps.
Standing a few feet away were the twins, who looked upset at all of their traps being sprung on the wrong person. They each pointed at the other, "He would know, Milord."
They scowled at each other, once again speaking in unison.
Hikaru was the first to scoff and turn away, "Sheesh… this is really starting to tick me off! Kaoru, we may be alike in so many ways, but I'm tired of being mistaken for you! In fact… now that I think about it, I hate you!"
At that exact moment, the rest of the club ran around the corner. It hadn't been hard to find them. There had been a trail of carnage from the traps for them to follow. Hunny let out a soft gasp at Hikaru's declaration and tucked his face into Mori's shoulder, everyone pausing as well.
For a brief moment, Kaoru's face is one of shock. Then it morphs into unrestrained fury, "OH! You think I feel any different? Here! Look!" He grabbed something out of his back pocket and held it out in front of him, "I went out and got one! A Beelzenef curse doll!"
Tamaki screeched. Jin tilted her head, eyes narrowing at the wooden cat. Softly, so only Haruhi could hear her, the girl whispered, "They're… faking… I thought…" Haruhi wasn't given any time to process that idea, Kaoru was already scribbling Hikaru's name on the back of the doll.
"Prepare yourself, Hikaru! Whatever this doll suffers, you'll suffer!"
As one, the Fujioka's hurried forward. Kaoru reeled his arm back, ready to slam the wooden doll into the ground…
Suddenly, the weight that was in his hand was gone. He still threw his arm down with as much force as possible, but now his center of gravity was off. Kaoru stumbled forward, and a sharp smack upside the head sent him into the dirt.
He managed to catch himself before he face planted the ground, the sound of Hikaru shouting in pain as well coming from in front of him. He heard a soft thump as his brother also hit the dirt.
"That's quite enough, you two."
Stunned, the red heads couldn't do anything else up stare up at their attackers. Haruhi and Jin were standing over the boys, the wooden curse doll in Jin's hand. They couldn't remember a time the girls had ever looked so angry, at them or otherwise.
Jin's grip on the curse doll tightened, "I thought you two would have far more sense than this."
"You've turned a sibling squabble into a fight to the death! What were you thinking!"
"There is never a good reason to do something like this when you're fighting! Especially over something so petty and ridiculous!"
"Both of you are at fault here, and acting like idiots is only proving it!"
The girls glared down at the twins, their anger obvious in their eyes and they said in unison, "Now, apologize!"
The twins were still gaping at the girls, as if seeing them for the first time. Jin lifted an eyebrow, attempting to prompt them into movement, but Haruhi groaned in frustration and stomped her foot, "I swear, if you don't make up right now, we'll never invite you to our house! Ever!"
As soon as the words left Haruhi's mouth, the twins began to smile. Jin felt the last of the puzzle pieces click into place.
"Oh… you guys were faking…"
The twins were on their feet again, wicked grins on their faces and two scripts in hand, "Penny for the smart lady~"
Jin flipped over the doll in her hands. Hikaru's name wasn't on it.
"'Loser'. How kind of you both."
Tamaki fell backwards, dislodging the white doves from his person. Haruhi dropped to her knees and Hunny ran to the twins, lightly pounding his fists on their waists for being so mean. They ignored him in favor of swooning all over each other and apologizing like crazy.
Jin stayed still, frowning at the wooden cat in her hands. There was something crazily familiar about it… but for the life of her, she couldn't place it. It was driving her mad!
"Miss Fujioka?" She glanced over at Kyoya, who had come up to her other side, raising an eyebrow in acknowledgement, "You said earlier that the twins were faking it, before they admitted to it. Why is that?"
"Well, I had a feeling that the fight was fake since the beginning."
"Really?" The rest of the club was staring at her now.
She shrugged, "Eh, I dunno. Something about it didn't feel right to me. I thought that being 'evil' and 'mischievous' was kind of the twin's thing. So, if Haru was saying Hikaru was better at being a Hitachiin twin then Kaoru was, why did Kaoru start laughing? Also, you were bored all day, so with the two of you suddenly having something to do… I dunno." Jin paused for a second, "And we're still not letting you come over to our house."
"What?!"
"She said you had to make up. You were never fighting. Ergo, you never made up."
The twins opened their mouths, probably to rebuke, but shut them again at the deadly look Haruhi was giving them. They supposed the game had been fun enough, anyways.
Pranking Tamaki without his awareness was a big plus, at least.
*The Next Day*
"Alrighty~ It's time for the 'Which One is Hikaru' game!"
The large group of girls around the twins giggled like mad, tittering behind their hands. One girl near the front raised a hand, "Easy! Hikaru has the pink hair!"
"Right again!"
"You ladies are so smart!" More giggling as the twins planted quick kisses to the guest's cheeks. The girl nearly fainted back against her chair, the rest of the group shrieking and rotating around, so everyone could get a turn to answer the question and reap the reward.
"Did you guys switch?"
The twins spun around, shocked to see the Fujioka girls behind them, smirking. Jin raised an eyebrow, "What Haru means is we know Kaoru has the pink hair today. But it's nice to see you being sweet with the girls."
The sisters exchanged a smile before they both wandered off, Haruhi towards her own guests and Jin-
"Jin!"
"Ack!"
The brunette stumbled, one of her hands propping her body against the wall and the other coming up to tug at the arms wrapped around her neck. It took a lot of her willpower to not flip Tamaki up and over her shoulder at the sudden death hug.
How did she know it was Tamaki?
Simple. The overzealous crying.
"Um… Tamaki? Could you maybe-" she sank to one knee as the boy stopped holding himself up at all. Jin might be strong, but she wasn't that strong. "T-tamaki? What are you-"
"He's upset because he can't think up a sign name for me."
Jin fell to the side slightly, switching hands so her left one was now helping to keep her off the floor while her right was holding the blond's arms away from her neck, "Wha… really? Oh, wait, I never got around to telling you two."
"What?"
"I came up with a sign name for you."
Instantly Tamaki released the girl, hopping to his feet and pulling her along with him, "Really? You did? What is it?"
Jin yanked her hands free, dusting at her pant leg, "I thought it would be obvious." She raised her right hand to her face, her index finger and thumb making a curve that she pressed above and below her eye. Then, she moved it off her face by a few centimeters and back again.
"What was that?"
"Glasses." She dropped the hand, "You're the only one who wears glasses in the host club and in the JSL class."
The ravenet slowly closed the journal he was holding, regarding the girl with slightly narrowed eyes, "I am? How did you-"
"That's a perfect name!" Tamaki was repeating the action over and over again, along with Jin's and his own. Then he frowned, "Man… your signs are really similar to each others. Hopefully we don't mess them up in class tomorrow."
Jin smirked, "I think we'll manage."
Oh… my… gosh. This took forever. I am so sorry that!
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