Chapter Sixty-Five: Told You So
Yuki's POV
After rehearsal was cut short due to Renge scaring Kenta so bad that he fell through two of the sets, we went back to the Host Club room.
"Hey Kyo." I greeted him, "How was the cosplay?"
"It went well until Tamaki kicked a ball through the Newspaper's club room, hitting Kotmatsuzawa in the head." He sighed.
I laughed, "That's karma for you."
"Karma didn't fully do its job." He replied bitterly.
I gently squeezed his hand, "I'm fine, my reputation's almost back to where it was and by the fall, he'll be gone and no one will remember it happened." I was trying to keep optimistic about the situation, Kyoya was keeping cool, but in truth, he was angrier at Komatsuzawa than I was and he couldn't do anything about it except to sit and watch everything play out. "Now, what happened with the Newspaper Club?"
"Their club's practically ruined, no one buys their paper."
"See Karma."
"Not done." He replied.
I nodded, "Okay."
"They told us an overly dramatic sob story about what's happened to them, begging us to help them and let them write a story about us."
"Tamaki wants to do it." I guessed.
Kyoya nodded, "He was the only one."
"By the way it looks like things are going, he's going to have Haruhi giving in any time now and then you have two people saying that you should just do the story."
"What do you think?"
"I think that Reiko and I are not going to be here this week due to rehearsals and that I'm a third party that has absolutely nothing to do with this particular situation. I know my brother and he's not going to let you be until you agree. It's completely up to you if you guys decide to let them write a story about you or not because if you agree, everyone else will follow suit. From an outside standpoint, I don't think the Newspaper Club should suffer because their president is an egotistical, incompetent, sexist bigot. A whole group of people should not suffer because of one person."
"We'd be suffering if we did this." Kyoya replied.
"No, you would be doing something you didn't want to do, which is different." I corrected, "We're not like them. We're actually friends and we care about each other. We're a family and they're not."
"What are you saying?"
"All for one and one for all." I smiled lightly.
"You think I should agree." Kyoya sighed.
"I think the problem won't go away unless you do." I replied simply looking at Tamaki, who was still in his costume playing with a ball.
"Well he's obviously upset with us." Hikaru commented.
"Yeah, he hasn't even changed clothes." Kaoru added.
"I hate it when he ignores us when we're right in front of him." Kyoya commented, "He's such a child."
"Nah, Tama-chan's just a lonely guy, you know." Hunny replied.
"A club is like a family, their family's about to be broken up, I feel sorry for them." Tamaki said in a childish voice.
"I hate to give in, but would it really be that bad to help them out with their newspaper?" Haruhi asked Kyoya.
"What?" Kaoru asked her confused.
"Since when are you taking his side?" Hikaru asked her.
"Since never." She replied dryly, "Just listen, I know any moment now he's going to look over with those puppy dog eyes he uses when he wants something and none of us will be able to say no."
"Is now the right time to say 'I told you so'?" I asked Kyoya.
"It is, but I'd prefer it if you didn't." He replied.
"Okay." I smiled, "I told you so." I told him as Tamaki started to give them the puppy dog eyes.
"There will be some conditions." Kyoya told him, "The outline for their article will be submitted by us. Interviews are strictly prohibited and it's vital that our clients' identities are kept confidential." Kyoya closed his notebook, "Do we agree?"
"Well, if you think it's cool, Kyoya-Senpai." Hikaru agreed.
"Then we do too." Kaoru agreed.
"I guess it wouldn't be that bad if it's just for a few days." Kimi shrugged.
"I'll do it, since Kyo-chan says it's okay." Hunny agreed. Takashi nodded.
"We'll let them know tomorrow then." Kyoya stated and then looked to me, "We have a math final coming up, would you like to pick up dinner and study for it."
"The first part sounds nice."
"Either all of it or none of it."
"Alright, fine math, but if we're studying for one final, we might as well study for the rest of the ones we have together." I replied, we started to walk away. We looked at each other, then back to Tamaki, who was still looking at Kyoya with his puppy dog eyes, we looked at each other again.
"If you want to." Kyoya told me.
"C'mon Tamaki." I called back to Tamaki, "Grab your uniform, you can change when we get home."
He did as he was told and we left.
Kimi's POV
Kyoya and I went back to the Newspaper Club's room the next day while Yuki and Reiko were at rehearsal. Kyoya and Yuki gave us the go ahead, so begrudgingly we were doing it. Kyoya told him the terms and conditions, which Kotmatsuzawa agreed to a little too quickly. Kyoya told them that they could start the next day.
"So how is that bump on your forehead feeling?" Kyoya asked him. This was the only reason I had come with him. The only one of us who trusted them was Tamaki, so Kyoya and Yuki came up with a plan and I was the only available girl in the club that Kotmatsuzawa hasn't screwed over and as sexist as he was, he had a thing for pretty women, especially pretty women who liked to flaunt what they were given. He'd be a little too distracted by me to even second guess Kyoya's gift of a first aid gift that had a recording device hidden in it or notice me planting a bug under the corner of his desk.
"Oh that? I hardly feel it anymore." He replied, touching his head, "I owe a lot to this bump."
"Really?" I asked, overly sweet, "And why is that?"
"Well without it, we'd never have come together for this article." He replied, looking more towards my blouse than at me, I took the opportunity to plant the bug under the corner of the table.
"That's true, but we're still very sorry it happened." Kyoya replied, setting the first aid kit and opening it, "I brought you a little something as an apology of sorts. This is a first aid kit made by my family's company."
"Thank you, I appreciate it." He looked at Kyoya and then looked back at me smiling, before he could say something, Kyoya spoke up.
"No problem, now if you'll excuse us."
"Oh, it just dawned on me." Kotmatsuzawa spoke up, slightly peeved. We stopped. "Your family runs the Ootori group, right? They manufacture medical equipment, don't they?"
"We mostly deal with hospital management." Kyoya replied coolly. Kotmatsuzawa went on to talk about his family and the fact he might not get his father's company. He was trying in the worst way to get a sympathy vote from Kyoya, which he wasn't going to get. We just walked away. "You alright?" He asked after we left.
I nodded, "I feel kind of cheap, but I'm okay."
"Thank you for doing this."
I nodded, "No problem."
