-Chapter 8: You Wanna See Some Real Speed?-

I knocked on Haruhi's door, brushing my hair so it covered the scar on my neck as the doe-eyed brunette opened the door.
"Come on in, Sasaki. Dinner is almost ready." I stepped inside and smelled the air.
"Wow, Haruhi. You never cease to amaze me. Please teach me your ways!" I drooled a bit, thinking about how good the food Haruhi made.
"You're not a bad cook yourself, Sasaki. Especially with fried rice." She closed the door behind me as I took off my shoes.
"Make yourself comfy while I get tea. My dad should be home soon," she said, throwing things into a pot and stirring it around with chopsticks.

I sat down at the table and placed my feet directly under my butt, feeling the muscles pull my calves and around my ankles. It hurt a bit, but somehow felt amazing. Feeling bored, I leaned back, seeing if my head could touch the floor while my feet were still directly under my rear end. I bent back easily, and my head touched the ground. Closing my eyes and relaxing, I sighed.

Hearing a gasp behind me, I opened one eye to see Haruhi wide-eyed at me, a look of terror and concern on her face.
"Are you okay, Sasaki?" One hand held a tray of tea while the other was to her mouth. I sat up without using my hands for support and got into a sitting position that was a little more comfortable. I smirked at her.
"Yeah I'm fine," and let out a low chuckle as she gave me a scared smile, placing the tea down.
"I didn't know you were so flexible! Where on Earth did you learn how to do that?" I considered my answer for a moment.

I shrugged.
"No where in particular," I took one of the cups of warm tea bringing it to my lips. It was green tea, kind of ironic considering my hair and eye color.
"Why do I not believe that," she smirked. Sighing, I gave in more easily than I should. Maybe it was the tea.
"I actually have started going to a gym..." She wiggled her eyebrows a bit, egging me on.
"... And I have started a sport." I finished. She gave me a look.
"What!" I smiled. She took a sip of her own tea. When I had accidentally boarded the wrong train coming home from school, I ended up in a neighborhood that had a gym nearby. I followed some kids who had the same-shape bag as the one sitting in the living room. That first day, I simply stared in awe. But I knew this was something I wanted to do. A month has passed since that day wrong turn, but wasn't a mistake that I regret.
"Just make sure you stay on top of your schoolwork," Haruhi reminded. "I don't know how the school feels about outside clubs."
"Yes mom," I chided chuckling at her.

I perked my ears up as I heard the lock turn in the door and Ranka burst through the door.
"HARUHIIIII! I'M HOOOME!" The man had the personality of a Tamaki.
"Hi Dad," Haruhi shot back, sipping her tea. I smiled and waved at the cross-dressing man as he spotted me and rushed over, scooping me up in a hug.
"Ohh! Sasa-chan! It's so nice to see you again! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" he squealed, giving me an almost bone crushing squeeze.
"Ranka-chan, it's only been a few days," I gasped out as he finally released his hold on me and went to his room to change.
"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, Dad." called Haruhi as Ranka closed the bathroom door. I smiled at Haruhi as she shook her head, getting up to check on the food.

I turned to face the kitchen and asked, "So what's for dinner tonight? Udon? Ramen? Some kind of stew?" She mixed the large pot of stuff that was brewing and went to the fridge to get something. I sniffed the air, trying to guess tonight's meal. It was a little game we had. Haruhi wouldn't tell me what we were going to be eating but told me "hot" or "cold" as I called out guesses. She claimed I had the dog nose.
"Hmm... oh! I've got it! Curry!" Haruhi smiled, pouring the warm curry into separate bowls.
"You got it! What took you so long this time? Usually you're pretty quick." I shrugged, stifling a yawn from staying up late again last night.

I had a competition coming up and was trying to get in as much practice without passing out. It had happened once, already. I was in the middle of a bout and next thing I knew, someone was staring up at me while I was sprawled out on the floor. She had a scared look in her eyes, like something of worry.
"Thank god you're alive! I was afraid I would've had to call the police." My coach pushed them aside. He had helped me up and sat me down on a bench. He started scolding me for not taking good care of my body. He had said it was a good thing to push past your limit, but it was also good to know when to stop. Ever since then, I've been trying to balance my academics with the sport, but the competition coming up was making me lose sleep.

Lost in my own thoughts, I was brought back to reality as Haruhi put a steaming bowl of curry and rice in front of me. Ranka sat down across from Haruhi, with me in between.
"Itadakimasu!" I cried, clapping my hands together. Grabbing my chopsticks, I began stuffing my face full of curry and rice, my cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk. Haruhi stared at me as I was shoveling food down my food hole before beginning her own food. I swallowed and chuckled at Haruhi.
"It always surprise you how much I can eat, right?" Her mouth full, she nodded.
"Like I was starving or something. Heh. Well, I just don't want any food to go to waste. It's not right." Ranka chuckled at that and smiled at me. Plus, Haruhi's cooking was amazing. I wish I could eat it every night, but I didn't want to be a bother to the brunette, having to cook for three people. She had also had to take care of her dad and keep on top of her grades. I had myself. I was already taking advantage of her kindness.

Finishing the scraps in my bowl, I placed it down with a "clink" and chugged down my tea. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve with a contented sigh, looking up from my empty bowl to see Ranka and Haruhi staring a bit with open mouths. Their bowls were only half finished. I looked between at the two of them.
"What?" I asked.
"That... Has to be the fastest I've ever seen someone eat." Haruhi stated.
"Can I have some more?" I asked, lighting up a bit.
"Of course!" she replied. I grinned happily and jumped up, dashing to the kitchen to get a second helping. After we had finished eating, Ranka pestered us with questions about school. My smooth tongue danced around them and Haruhi refused to tell him anything much either. But Ranka was such a supportive parent. Something I never had. He was caring and loving and everything I imagined a great parent to be. Not one who would use you for their own personal selfish gain. Who would willingly give you up. Who didn't truly love you.
I stood up stretching and saying "Well, I should head back." Ranka pouted and pulled me into another bear hug wailing a bit at me leaving.
"Oh Sasaki! Don't leave yet! You just got here!"
"I have a lot of homework, Ranka-chan. And homework waits for no man!" I lied. We had finished our work earlier in the day.
"How about you and Haruhi study together!" the trans man suggested. Haruhi shook her head, smiling at me.
"I'm all done for today, Dad. I planned on getting to bed early, even." Rank sighed.
"That's great, Haruhi, but I just want her to stay here with us. It's so nice to have so many people in the house!" He flopped onto the floor. I chuckled at the dad.
"Why can't Haruhi be more girly like you..." The man mused. "Haruhi doesn't have many friends at her new school. You practically the only one." Me? Haruhi's friend? No no no no no. Haruhi and I sighed.
"Just because Sasaki is my friends doesn't mean that she'll rub off on me." The brunette spoke.
"And Ranka," I started. "Haruhi is plenty girly enough. She may not look like it or act like it, but she's still very female in her own way. More-so than I will ever be." The brunette gave me a secret smile. The her dad's eyes widened. I grabbed my things and started out the door, thanking Haruhi for the meal before slamming their door shut, leaving Ranka to think about my opinion.

-When she sleeps, she dreams (it's a time skip)-

My alarm blared as my eyes shot open. I stood up off the floor, groaning a bit after a mostly peaceful night of sleep. I had only woken up twice, staring at the ceiling for an hour. I stretched, hearing my body crack and groan along with me. As soon as I relaxed, my scars began aching a little. I stumbled to the bathroom, rubbing my eyes a bit.

Fixing my tie in the mirror, I trudged downstairs. I began humming a song that I heard on Haruhi's radio.

-'9 in the Afternoon' by Panic! At the Disco-

I opened the door, seeing Haruhi have her hand poised to knock. I gave her a smirk and closed the door behind me.

The day went by without a hitch. Which was suspicious. Even physics seemed to be making more sense! But, that ended when Haruhi and I entered the club room. As soon as I stepped inside, I was picked up by the twins and thrust into a changing room. From the outside they ordered me to put stuff on. They were outside the room and I got into the first part of the kimono for today's work. They were very caring, remembering that I didn't know how to put on a kimono by myself and instructed me step by step on how to put it on. Sometimes I called for help and one would step in to fuss over a little thing that they played with until they were satisfied. Putting a long Edo-period wig on me and being forced to wear makeup, I stepped out into the club room. Immediately, Tamaki and Honey who had their own kimonos began gushing over how cute their neighbor looked. I sneezed a little at the powdery substance covering my face. I scowled silently. The makeup made my face itch and the wig was heavy, being super long and all. Why couldn't I have Tamaki's hair extension instead?
As if reading my thoughts, Kaoru replied, "Women of the Edo-period had long hair that sometimes reached past the floor. Men also had long hair, but we needed to cover up your green to be historically accurate."
"I don't think the guests would care if it was historically accurate or not. Can I at least take the wig off?" The princely blond decided to spin and pose, saying "But of course not, Sasaki! The club takes great pride in being historically accurate as much as possible!" I sighed, giving up.
"Plus," Kyoya started. "That was the most common wig, unless you would have preferred having a giant hairpiece..." I chuckled weakly, backing away. Everyone was in splendid kimonos. The twins were exposing some chest in costume and Haruhi looked really cute with the her floral hair clip. I grumbled a bit, muttering about how Haruhi didn't have to wear a wig but I did. I sat down in today's designated spot. Haruhi's station was on the left of mine and behind us was our vice-president. I slinked into my seat, and closed my eyes relaxing a bit. I had two guests in front of me who were adoring and fawning over every little thing I did.
"She's so ladylike! Even acting like a member of the court in the Edo-period!" I cocked my head to the side, wondering what I was doing that was so cute. "The way you gracefully sat down and closed your eyes, exhibiting a sense of humility was amazing!" The girl on the left said. I smiled at them, but had to put my hand to my mouth and stile a yawn that came from out of nowhere.
"Eee! She even hides her smile behind her hand like a true lady!" I just nodded at them, guessing they would fawn over me no matter what I did.
"Haruhi, you look so cute in your kimono!" I heard a guest say. Turning to see, I watched as Haruhi and her guests interacted. She really looked like a girl today. Maybe that talk with Ranka had opened up something.
The megane walked over to us. "Haruhi, you've booked another appointment. This one wants you and Sasaki-chan together. It seems you both have had a pretty steady flow of new customers lately. Keep up the good work. I'm not going to charge you interest on your debt like I normally would." I rolled my eyes at that and walked over to where the ravenet was.
"So keep this up and you should be able to pay it off." He gave her a smile and added, "Although, the rental fee on that kimono you're wearing is nothing to sneeze at." She drooped and the raven-haired boy turned to me.
"As for you, Sasaki, you still have a ways to go. Also, your rental fee cost more than Haruhi's, so you're probably going to be paying off your debt for the rest of your life." He smirked at me, looking for some reaction.

I looked down and stared at the patterns on the kimono. A shifting of papers was heard at the table. I looked up directly where his glasses hid his eyes.
"Senpai, I was wondering... uhm... Y-you see, I... Have been having some... er... Troubles in my math and science classes and was... Was wondering if..." I trailed off, hoping he got the message. Even if I was getting better at interacting with people, I didn't talk much. My guests were usually the ones who chatted away. I would smile and nod at them, interjecting a thought or two. I twiddled my hands in my lap as he pushed up his glasses, leaning back in his seat. You could practically see the gears turning in his brain. We stared at each other directly in the eyes, not braking contact for a few seconds but what felt like a hours.
"It'll add to your debt, you know. I can't tutor you for free." I relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. Pushing up my glasses I held out a hand for him to shake.
He shook it, adding "We can't have a host slacking in their academics. It would reflect poorly in the rest of the club."

I don't own this lovely gang but he who I made up!

This episode I put into three parts because this chapter feels too long already. I have to scroll sooooo much.