I stood frozen outside the classroom, the carefully wrapped cake clutched in my hands. I had managed to find my way to the Class 3A homeroom was but I hadn't worked up enough courage to make my way into the room. I glared at the closed door, willing it to open by itself so I wouldn't have to make the final push by myself. My stomach was still doing the same flips as last night. I had only managed to eat a few bites of breakfast this morning before feeling like I was going to be sick.
"Mi-Chan?" I couldn't help but jump at the voice that broke my concentration. I sheepishly turned around, recognizing the owner of the voice. Haninozuka Mitsukuni was hanging off the shoulders of the much taller Morinozuka Takashi. Haninozuka looked at me curiously, his brown eyes zeroing in on the box in my hands. Morinozuka showed no emotion on his face but the look in his dark grey eyes made me flinch back. His eyes were so expressive and I saw nothing but anger in them, not that I could blame him. I bowed deeply and stuck the box out in front of me.
"I'm deeply sorry Haninozuka-san for what I did yesterday. Please accept this as an apology." I stood up once I felt the box leave my hands but I continued to stare at the ground. I couldn't bring myself to look at them.
"Takashi! Look cake!" He sounded so excited; I guess I made the right call. Suddenly he was around my neck again hugging me tightly. "Thank you Mi-chan! You'll eat it with me, ne?" He looked up at me with his huge eyes that would make impossible for anyone to say no too.
"Um…"
"We'll eat it together at lunch! See you then, Mi-chan!" He grabbed Morinozuka hand that wasn't holding the open cake box and skipped into his classroom. I caught the taller boys eye before he too disappeared into the room. His eyes had softened and I could have sworn his lips were ticked upward into a smile. I stood there dumbly for a few more seconds alone in the now empty hallway. What just happened?
There was no way I could've escaped the lunch date that had been forced upon me. Somehow, despite the fact that our classes were no where close to each other, the mismatched pair was already waiting outside my classroom when the lunch bell rang, leaving me no way to slip away. I dragged my feet, clutching my precious leather bound book to my chest as a lifeline and I followed the bouncing senior to the cafeteria. Both boys seemed oblivious to the quiet mummers and the looks as we walked together down the hallway. This is the opposite of keeping a low profile.
"I can't wait to have your cake, Mi-chan. It looks really yummy, ne, Takashi?"
"Hm" He hummed in agreement. I didn't say anything; instead I focused on turning the silver ring on my left hand over and over again. The repetitive motion was soothing. As we entered the cafeteria, the small blonde skipped his way toward a table in the corner of the room. The rest of the host club was already was already sitting at the long table talking with each other. Once again my heart started racing, I wiped my palms on my skirts trying to get them as dry as my mouth felt. I can't do this. Haninozuka bounced easily into a free seat, while grabbing my hand, forcing me down in the plush chair next to him. I could feel that all eyes were on me as I tried to burn a hole into the beautiful wood table. I don't want to be here.
"Look everyone! Mi-chan brought me a cake!" His voice was so sweet and seemed to instantly break through the heavy tension that hung in the air.
"It looks so boring." One of the Hitachiin twin drawled out, I could feel my ears getting hot. "Ow!" I glanced up to see Fujioka Haruhi lowing his hand as one of the twins rubbed the back of their head as the other one laughed.
"Don't be rude, Hikaru." Fujioka caught my eye and offered another kind smile. "It looks really good, Kusumoto-senpai."
"Thank you." I mumbled fidgeting with a stray thread on my uniform. A slice of the cake was placed in front of my line of vision, saving the table from my gaze. I finally lifted my head up so I could fully see everyone at the table. Haninozuka had offered the entire host club a slice, keeping almost half of the cake for himself. I pushed my slice around a bit with my fork. I couldn't bring myself to eat the sweet, my stomach still hadn't settled down. The small senior was the first one to take a bite and his eyes started to sparkle.
"Mi-chan! This is so good!" I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. The rest of the hosts took a bite and none of them spit it out. Well, that's a good sign, maybe Ojiisan was right.
"What kind of cake is this, Kusumoto-senpai? I don't think I've had chocolate with cinnamon before." Fujioka placed a finger on his lips and looked up in thought. His face was round and softer than those around the table; their eyes were large and doe-like. I was fairly certain after being able to study the younger student closer that Fujioka was biologically a girl though he chose to present himself as a male.
"Mexican Chocolate cake. It's my great grandma's recipe." I forced out despite feeling like there was a lump in my throat. I could feel the harsh gazes of some of the girls on my back.
"Mi-chan, did you make this yourself?" Haninozuka tilted his head to the side, some crumbs on his cheek was all that was left of his cake. I nodded my head slowly and was instantly wrapped up in someone's arms being swung side to side.
"How beautiful, Mami-senpai! To give the gift of homemade baked goods." Suoh Tamaki held my head close to his chest, tears streaming down his cheeks. He let go and got close to Fujioka. "Daddy wants homemade baked goods too!"
"No." He said bluntly, taking another bite of his slice. This sent Suoh into the corner, with the twins poking fun at him. Suoh tried to get Ootori to save him from the twins but he ignored him and continued to tap away on his laptop. I was slightly surprised to see his plate empty. He ate my cake? He didn't look like the type to like sweets.
"Thank you, Mi-chan. It was so good~" I couldn't help but offer a small smile in return. His smile was contagious.
"I'm glad you like it, Haninozuka-san." He pouted.
"Call me Honey, Mi-chan. Everyone does!"
"Honey-san" I saw slowly, he grinned again, nodding.
"Are you going to come to the host club today, Mi-chan?" The way he looked at me told me he knows I couldn't say no to his puppy dog eyes. He's using his looks to his advantage. He's not as innocent as he looks apparently. What have I gotten myself into?
I felt guilty sneaking away after the last bell but I really didn't want to be around people again. The glares I got after coming back from lunch didn't help my stomach to settle settled down and my body just felt so heavy. I was exhausted. I'm sure he won't even notice I wasn't there. I tried to convince myself based solely on the amount of girls in my class alone that rushed to the club. I should get out of here; I've pressed my luck too much already. I stopped in my tracks.
A large truck was parked alongside the cars taking students home. 'Kusumoto Wildlife Rehabilitation' was written in large letters on the side. What are they doing here? I watched at four men carefully lifted a large cage out of the back of the truck. My heart sank as I raced over toward them.
"What's going on here?" I yelled at the man standing near the truck holding a clipboard. I could see him roll his eyes before turning to me. His eyes widened and he bowed deeply.
"Kusumoto-sama. Someone ordered some animals for this afternoon." He looked at me sheepishly when he looked at my less than amused face. In the large cage that had just been taken out of the truck was a two-year-old tiger, panting and pacing.
"Why is Tuko here? And who is in charge of caring for these animals?" He flinched back.
"They ordered a tiger, Kusumoto-sama and I didn't see anything wrong. Tuko is the gentlest large cat we have." If I could set things on fire with my mind, this man would be burnt to a crisp. I was no longer exhausted. I got my second wind and I was being fueled by pure rage.
"He's still a dangerous wild animal. He is not going into that school. Send him back to the center now." I growled out. He hastily motioned for the four men to put Tuko back on the truck. I stopped them briefly as the walked by. I placed my hand palm out close enough to the cage so that when Tuko pressed his head against the steal mesh that was in-between the bars, I could scratch behind his ear. I cooed to him softly before nodding, having the men finish taking him again. I turned to face the leader again. "Now, who else is already in there and who is the caretaker for them?" He looked even more nervous and tried to hide behind his clipboard. Today was not his day.
I fiddled with the locket around my neck as I stomped my way to the third music room. I was furious at Ootori for saying I had volunteered to be caretaker for the afternoon. On the plus side, my stomach was no longer upset. Unfortunately, no other caretaker was available on such short notice combined with the facts that not only were there already animals in the room but the fee was paid in full.
Ripping the doors open, I froze. I blinked a couple times to make sure I wasn't seeing things. The room was decorated to look like a tropical jungle and the hosts were all standing around shirtless, except for Fujioka who was still wearing his uniform. I snapped out of my daze when crab-eating macaque made himself comfortable on my shoulder, his long tail wrapping around my neck. I scratched under his chin.
"Mi-Chan~! You came~!" Honey cheered, he had lei around his neck. He sounded genuinely excited that I came. Morinozuka's outfit was the only one that had a sash that went across his chest. I didn't mean to ignore him but I only had one thing on my mind right now.
"What do you think you're doing? And why are all the animals roaming free?" I snarled as I stomped over to the table where he was sitting, typing away on his laptop again. He was decked out in a chunky gold necklace. Ootori pushed his glasses up and smirked at me. I'm sure I would have looked more menacing if it weren't for the cute primate checking my hair for bugs.
"We're having a Bali themed today in the Host club and we like to make our theme days as immersive as possible for our customers. As for volunteering you for animal caretaker, I looked it up; you've clocked in the most hours caring for these animals making you the most qualified for the job. It was just a plus that we didn't have to pay extra for your travel fee."
I couldn't argue with that logic, as annoyed as I was. I was the most qualified person to be the caretaker. I've spent a large portion of my free time at all of the rehabilitation centers my family owned across the world since I was a baby. Ojiisan taught me how to take care of and above of all, respect all of the animals in our center. It was easy to forget sometimes that these aren't fully tame animals; they're still wild at heart. Before I could properly respond, the doors opened and a bunch of girls rushed in, amazed at the theme of the day. They all cooed and 'aww'ed at the animals that rushed around the room.
One girl rushed over to me and asked if she could pet the macaque. I felt my anger ebb away as I slipped into trainer mood. I felt most at ease when talking to someone about animals, I took a lot of pride being an advocate for those that didn't have a voice. I showed her where she could touch him and answered any questions she had about the young primate that was now swinging happily from my arm. She looked amazed on amazed as I told her about how they would use stone tools to open nuts, oysters and even sea snails. The girl thanked me before making her way over to Fujioka's table.
My head shot over to the twin's table when one of the girls screamed and jumped on their chair. I quickly place the macaque in his proper cage before rushing over to gather the bronzeback snake in my arms safely. She made herself comfortable wrapping herself around my upper body, enjoying my body heat.
"Shush, you're okay" I whisper to the cute little snake softly walking away from the scared girls. I'm going to kill Ootori for being so careless. Fujioka came up to me as I was placing the snake safely back in her cage. He was calmly holding a Sunda pangolin in his arms.
"Senpai, would you mind talking to the girls? They seem to really interested in him?" Fujioka nodded toward the reptile. I glanced at the remaining empty cages. It looked like the last three were birds. The windows and doors were securely closed. I sighed and carefully grabbed the pangolin and followed the host back to the table. I could feel my heart start to beat faster as all eyes turned to me. The girl that had asked me questions about the macaque offered me a kind smile. This is just like at the center. Just talk about what you know.
"This is Kiki, we estimate she's about four years old." I felt so relaxed and in my element talking to the girls about the scaly mammal. "Sadly, her species is critically endangered. They're often poached for their skin and their beautiful scales for clothing, traditional medicine, and even some are eaten." Kiki slowly unrolled her self after a few minutes of me stroking her hard scales.
I excused myself as a brown hair girl announced it was her turn to talk with Fujioka. I placed Kiki in her cage and glanced around quickly for the three birds. I whistled a three note tune while holding my arm straight out. From the corner of the room, two coconut Lorikeets glided down from a branch and landed on my arm. The multicolored birds made themselves comfortable on my arm as few girls clapped in delight at the brief show. All right last one.
I found the last bird perched on Morinozuka's shoulder. The large funny looking bird ignored me as I walked closer, even going as far as to hop over to his far shoulder. A small smile was one Morinozuka's face, his eyes shining with delight, he clearly didn't mind being used as a perch.
"Isca, come here." I placed my hands on my hips, tapping my foot. The rhinoceros hornbill ruffled his feathers and seemed to shake his head. "I'll give you a papaya if you come." The bird clicked happily and hoped on to my outstretched hand. After safely putting him back in his cage, I turned to face the host club who was watching me curiously. "I'm going to have the workers come get them." I mumbled as I made my way to the door, trying my hardest not to make eye contact with anyone. And I thought I was tired before.
A/N: I hope you continue to enjoy the story! I only own Mami and her family.
Mami is a very good at observing so she easily figured out that Haruhi is a girl but because Haruhi refers to herself using male pronouns, she's going to continue to use them for Haruhi as well (until they have that conversation). I know it's an overused trope of the OC figuring it out fast but it didn't make sense given the observational skills Mami has. She may not be the most social of people but she's not an idiot.
All the animals do live in Bali and this is actually the part where I got the idea for this story.
I'm going to be following the manga mostly but I'm going to change some minor things, like the fact that it starts in the spring suddenly it's christmas then spring again. I'm going to try and make the timeline make a bit more sense season wise.
Also I'm leaning toward making the pairing Mori/Mami but I could also see the story taking an interesting turn toward Kyoya/Mami. What do you guys think?