It seems Hayami is going to resign herself to the fact that she is going to have to marry Ritsu! Maybe a little chat with her two favourite hosts will bring back her fighting spirit?

Chapter 5

Monday morning came around quicker than I'd have liked, though I knew being in school I had a sort of freedom from Ritsu, even if only for a few hours. We'd travelled to school together in silence, neither one of us wanting to talk and give his driver anything to pass along, since I figured Ritsu couldn't even trust the man who drove him to school every day. I could understand though, he didn't want anything getting back to his father and honestly, I didn't want anything getting back to the man either.

We'd split off for homeroom and I can't tell you how relieved I felt when I sunk down into my seat, resting my head on my arms as I tried to centre myself. I could hear other students talking around me and then of course the usual hubbub that erupted when the Hitachiin twins and Haruhi arrived.

"Tanaka-chan!" Izumi's voice cut through my brain just as I'd found my inner peace.

"Sasaki-chan…" I mumbled, lifting my head "you sound far too energetic for a Monday morning"

"Well when you hear what I've just heard, then maybe you'll perk up too!" she plopped down at the desk next to me with a grin.

I rose a brow at her "and what have you heard?" it wouldn't surprise me if it was just some baseless gossip from someone who overheard half a story.

"Well…apparently the host club is having some kind of event today! The theme is currently a mystery but apparently it's not something to be missed!" she gushed.

I stared at her… here I was thinking it was going to be some kind of juicy gossip but no… it was host club stuff.

"That was supposed to perk me up how?" I asked, sitting up and crossing my arms.

"Well I thought it might have? I mean you do go to host club so…" she watched me carefully as her words faded off.

"Yes… I do go but only for the sense of peace I get from Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai"

"Right…"

Ritsu had extra tutoring today so I was able to slip off to host club without any arguments, something I was very glad of. Oh, and the event? Butler Café. I still can't understand why the girls at this school were such… suckers for it honestly.

Sliding into my seat at Honey and Mori's table, I made the mistake of not having a smile on my face, something I realised too late.

"Haya-chan are you okay?" Honey was giving me that look… those large eyes turned on me with a concerned look.

"I…" I wrinkled my nose "I can't talk about it… not here…"

As always, Mori was silent, though I could see in his eyes that he was worried… about what though? Was he worried about me?

"Why not Haya-chan?" Honey slid me a slice of chocolate cake and a fork.

"Because" I exhaled heavily "it's not something I can talk about with so many ears around"

Why is that? It's simple. I had no idea if I was being tailed to ensure I was behaving myself and any one of the guests here could be a spy… though that was kind of hard to believe. I hadn't seen anyone suspicious but who knows… right?

Then an idea struck me. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out a notebook and began writing.

So… I can't talk about this but I can write about it and destroy the evidence later. My father has decided to put me in an arranged marriage with a man I don't love. He was… well is my friend and I don't like having my hand forced. I had a plan for when I graduated and it didn't involve getting married and becoming the wife of a future syndicate boss. I wanted to go to university, study law or something… get out of the syndicate life.

I looked up at Honey and pushed the conversation where I needed it to go "So, this is the example we were given in English to show us how to translate… could you help?"

I was giving both he and Mori a rather pointed look as I slid the notebook over to them, hoping they'd play along.

"Sure Haya-chan! We can help… right Takashi?" Honey beamed up at his cousin.

"Mm" Mori nodded and they both read over what I'd written.

Honey took up my pen and began to scribble a reply, checking with Mori before sliding my notebook back.

Oh Haya-chan! That sounds awful! Why would your father do that? Does he not want you to be successful and be your own person?

I chewed my lip before writing back;

Honestly? No. No he doesn't. All he cares about is the family and what benefits the family. My own life doesn't come into that equation. He wants to build bridges with other families and that clearly involves marrying your children off to their sons or daughters. I don't want to marry Kasanoda. He's a nice guy under that toughness but I don't want to marry him. I don't want to be the wife of a mobster.

I slid the notebook back, watching the both of them carefully as Honey scrawled his reply.

Haya-chan, can't you get out of it? I mean surely you can tell your father no?

And beneath that, Mori had written something.

Mitsukuni is right, can you not talk to your father about it?

I sighed and shook my head, scribbling back;

I can't refuse. If I do, it will cause a war between our families. I can't bring that upon myself or Kasanoda either. The only way out is if our fathers call it off for some reason or another and I can't see that happening. Not without repercussions.

Right at that moment my phone bleeped, a text from Kasanoda letting me know he had just finished his tutoring and was heading for the parking lot. I tore a sheet out of my notebook and scribbled my number down for them with a little note 'if you think of anything let me know' and slid it across to Honey who tucked it into his pocket.

"I gotta go… thank you for listening" I smiled and tucked my notebook back into my bag, mentally noting that I would have to burn that page later.

"You're welcome Haya-chan! We'll let you know if we can think of an easier way to translate that for you!" Honey winked at me with a little grin.

Giving both of them a smile and a wave, I took off out of there to find Kasanoda.

Normal POV

Once host club was over and everyone had left, all that remained were the host club members who were cleaning up.

"Poor Haya-chan" Honey sighed, looking at the paper Hayami had given him earlier before looking up at Mori "she really isn't happy about that is she?"

"No Mitsukuni, she isn't" the larger host was in agreement.

"Takashi… can we help her now?" the doe eyed host asked.

"Yes. We can help her now"

"Really?" Honey looked like he was about to come out of his skin.

"She asked for our help, so we can help her now" Mori nodded as he finished tucking the chairs under the table he'd been clearing off.

"Hmm… how can we help her though?" Honey mused "We might have to ask Tama-chan and the others for help on this one Takashi"

"Agreed" Mori nodded.

A short while later…

"I see…" Kyoya adjusted his glasses "so you want to make Tanaka-san the new HCPP?"

"The what now?" Hikaru and Kaoru blinked

"Host Club Pet Project" Haruhi interjected.

"Yes, exactly, thank you Haruhi" Kyoya nodded, looking to Honey and Mori "Am I correct?"

"Yes Kyo-chan" Honey nodded "she really needs our help… right Takashi?"

"Right…" Mori nodded "she is miserable"

Kyoya nodded, weighing up the options in his mind when Tamaki loudly interrupted.

"Well of course we must help! We cannot have a princess feeling miserable!" he was up out of his seat and striking some kind of pose, finger up and determination on his face.

"Slow down Tamaki" Kyoya sighed

"Senpai…" Haruhi hung her head at how over excited Tamaki was about this.

"No!" Tamaki was standing his ground "This club was founded on the idea that we would make women happy and never let anyone leave through those doors feeling anything less than that! We can't leave Hayami Tanaka feeling miserable! She is a loyal guest of ours and she deserves our help!"

"Wow boss" Hikaru blinked

"Yeah… wow" Kaoru nodded slowly

"You know, that is the most sense you have made for a long time Tamaki…" Kyoya was definitely surprised at his friends outburst "Okay, we'll help her"

"Yay!" Honey bounced happily.

"Mm" Mori smiled softly, content in knowing with the whole club involved, they'd be able to try and do something for Hayami.

Hayami's POV

I made it home without any suspicions from Ritsu or his driver, though I had a feeling if Honey and Mori were going to help me that Ritsu would have to be involved because as much as I wanted out, I couldn't set him up to take a fall or something without his consent. I guess that's what set me aside from my yakuza family. They'd gladly let someone else take the fall without knowing, whereas I'd end up confessing from the guilt.

The moment I was alone in my room, I took my notebook and carefully ripped out the page I'd written on, plus the next few sheets to avoid anyone doing the old pencil rubbing trick to see what had been written before it and took the sheets into my ensuite to promptly set them on fire in the sink. As I watched the evidence of my cry for help burn to ashes, I felt a sort of weight lifting off me, that pressure to keep that all inside seeped away and I felt lighter mentally for it. Once the pages had burned to ashes, I washed them away and immediately sprayed air freshener all over the place to get rid of that paper-burning smell.

Now all I had to worry about was what kind of plan the guys were going to come up with. Was I going to regret asking for their help?

Time would tell.

So! Hayami finally reached out to Honey and Mori for help! Will she regret this? Especially now the whole Host Club is involved? As I stated above… Time will tell!