Forgive me for not uploading in forever! But I hope you all enjoy this new chapter! I went back and forth making constant changes and while doing this I was making a playlist for the Battle of the Bands. But it was a lot of fun since I got new music on my iTunes! Woo! Anyways, here is the new chapter and like I said, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Ouran, characters and plot, belong to Bisco Hatori. Everyone/thing else is mine!
Chapter 36: Being A Hostess At Home
I gasped in shock as I stared at the two smiling teens that now had their hands around each other's shoulders. They just kept smiling at me and it was kinda freaking me out more than Kyoya's stares do.
Turning to Anzu, I gave her a look questioning if whether or not they were being serious. All Anzu did was shrug her shoulders but nod her head saying that Kain and Arashi was in fact correct. Shigeru just remained silent amongst the group.
"Why?" Surprisingly it was Takashi that asked.
"Well you see, Morinozuka-san, we decided to enter this competition and we kinda learned early who our competitors were," Arashi began the group's story.
"So we sneakily went to one of their shows and checked out, you know, the competition," Kain continued.
"In the end we learned that they are extremely good. Even used costumes sometimes in their set, already practicing the fact that during one of the rounds we need to wear costumes," Shigeru spoke next.
"So that's when we remembered Setsuna and thought that with her, we would have a better shot at winning. Also given the fact that she has experience when it comes to being on stage and that she knows about costumes thank to you all," Anzu explained last.
"Would we be able to use the recorded material for our club's own benefit?" Kyoya just suddenly asked.
Kain shrugged his shoulders, "Sure. I see no harm in that."
Kyoya's glasses suddenly gleamed as he said, "Very well. I see no problem with Setsuna-senpai being a part of this."
"And we can help design the costumes for you all," Hikaru and Kaoru grinned.
"My daughter, a star. You make otou-san proud!" Tamaki gleamed with excitement.
"Does that mean we get to see Suna-chan perform again?" Hunny asked his taller cousin.
"Ah," Takashi replied.
"Hold on!" Haruhi suddenly said, surprising everyone. "Shouldn't Suna-chan have a say in this before you all start talking like that?"
After Haruhi said that, all eyes turned towards my direction. Gosh, this is way worse than that one time when we did the Egyptian theme and everyone was hearing my "sad" tale. No wait that was the worst.
"I don't know. I mean I do have school work and Host Club stuff to worry about. Plus I would have to see if otou-san would be okay with it, even though I get the feeling he would be totally fine with it. I don't even know the band's name-"
"The Midnight Crisis," Shigeru interrupted me.
"And one of our competitors name is The Impenetrable. Come to think of it, I saw two of their members at your okaa-san's wedding," Kain grinned which caused me to freeze.
"I'm in!" I stated once I heard the other bands name.
Now everyone else was in shock once I quickly wholeheartedly agreed.
"Why say yes after hearing that name, Suna-chan?" Hunny tugged at hem of my blazer.
"That's the band that my ex-boyfriend plays in. One of the guys wanted me to sing a song or two for them, but Tatsuo said that he didn't want his girlfriend to be part of the band. After we broke up, his new girlfriend was allowed to play. Ever since then, I've held a small grudge even though we are 'okay' being around each other," I explained with an evil look in my eyes and perhaps there was even a background filled with flames.
"Wow, Setsuna-senpai is scary!" Hikaru said.
"What was that?" I turned to glare at him.
"Awesome! Now we have Setsuna as part of the team!" Kain and Arashi shouted with excitement.
"You know, I missed having you around," Anzu smiled at me.
"I bet," I laughed. "But wait, I know Kain plays the bass and Anzu does back-up vocals. What about you two?" I pointed at Arashi and Shigeru.
"Just to let you know, I also play the keyboard now and am band manager," Anzu pointed out before allowing the other two boys to speak.
"I play the drums," Arashi proudly said.
"Lead guitar," Shigeru stated.
All of a sudden, a ring was heard throughout the room. Kain began to dig through his pocket and pulled out a silver cell phone.
"That's okaa-san. We should head out. It was nice seeing you all again!" Kain said before giving me a hug. "I'll send you a text when we are gonna have a band meeting."
"O-okay," I nodded my head.
"Bye Setsuna!" Arashi glomped me.
"Laters, Arashi," I held myself making sure that he wouldn't topple me to the ground.
"See ya soon, Setsuna!" Anzu hugged me.
"Bye!"
All Shigeru did was wave goodbye in which I returned the gesture.
"See you all later!" The trio said to the group behind me.
"Bye-bye," Hunny waved with Usa-chan.
A chorus of goodbyes swept through the room until the others left. Once they were gone, I immediately moved myself to a couch and sat on it. I ran my hand through my hair as I thought about the events that just occurred. I mean, I just decided to join a competition in which my ex will be competing in as well. Am I really doing the right thing?
"No need to worry, Setsuna-senpai," Tamaki suddenly sat right beside me.
"What do you mean?"
"We can all tell that you are starting to double think this decision that you just made," he stated.
I turned to look and notice that all of the Host Club members were now around us. I sighed and said, "I don't know whether this is going to turn out as I want it to."
"And that's why you have us!" Hunny cheered as he made his way towards me and sat on my lap.
"You can always practice here, when we aren't on Host Club time," Kyoya pointed out as he looked away from his black book to look at me.
"And don't forget, we can do all the costumes for all the sets that you will be performing," Kaoru said while Hikaru simply nodded, agreeing with his twin.
"And we're always there to support you," Haruhi smiled.
I felt a hand touch my right shoulder and I turned to look at the owner. Takashi simply smiled down on me and gave my shoulder a small squeeze saying that he was there no matter what.
I smiled at everyone, "Thank guys. That means a lot."
Haruhi then looked at the time, "It's getting late. We should probably be heading home now."
Everyone realized the time and agreed wholeheartedly. We began to pack up our things and began to head out of the Third Music Room. Hunny was skipping down the halls tossing Usa-chan up and down; Haruhi was being pestered by Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru about how she looked cute in a dress and how they wanted her to dress like that more often; Kyoya was busy looking at his black book and going over the amount of profit we made today. That left Takashi and I in the back of the group.
With the school being practically empty by now, I grabbed Takashi's hand with my own. He jumped at first from the sudden contact but calmed down once he noticed that it was just me. He intertwined our fingers as we continued walking.
"Are you feeling better now?" Takashi asked out of nowhere.
"Yeah, I'm feeling much better now," I smiled at him.
He then suddenly stopped walking, pulling me to a halt as well. Simply leaning over, he whispered in my ear, "Do you want a ride home today?"
"It's okay; I can just walk home today. Besides, Haruhi is coming over today since she needed some help with homework and is gonna sleepover too," I responded to his question. "Next time, you can have me all you want."
A smirk was suddenly placed on his lips, "All I want? What if I want some of you now?"
"Then go for it," I blushed.
We slowly closed the space that was in between us and our lips slowly met each other. No matter how many times I kiss Takashi, I will always feel the same heat I did ever since we shared our first kiss. His lips were moving against my own in what I felt was in a passionate way. My tongue went through my lips as I licked his own lips asking him to open up. As he was about to, we were sadly interrupted.
"Hey, stop swapping spit and let's go!" Hikaru and Kaoru shouted from wherever they were at.
Immediately, my tongue went back to whence it came from and we both backed away from each other. A blush was immediately plastered on our faces since we had got caught. And like before, our hands reached out for one another as we caught up with everyone else.
As soon as we reached outside, four cars were already waiting to take their respective person or persons back to their home. Haruhi and I waved goodbye to the others as we began to walk out of the gates of Ouran.
"Are you sure it's okay if I stay over tonight?" Haruhi asked as we made our way down the familiar streets we would always take to go to school.
I turned to look at her as I dug through my backpack to find gum, "It's totally fine so there is no need to worry. Do we need to pass by your place to pick up clothes for tomorrow?"
She shook her head, "No I brought everything with me."
I grinned as I pumped my fist into the air, "Awesome. We should pass by a convenience store and buy some snacks or something. I've been craving gummy worms all day."
Haruhi laughed at my antics. We walked for another few minutes before we reached a local convenient store. I ran in and went in search for the colorful worms and at the same time reached for chips, chocolate, and chocolate flavored pocky. I may my way to the cash register with Haruhi right behind me. I purchased my items and watched as Haruhi paid for a strawberry flavored bread and Hi-Chew Taffy Candy.
"You really do love strawberries, don't you?" I asked Haruhi right when we stepped out of the store.
"Yes, I actually do. What about you Suna-chan? What are some of your favorite fruits?"
When she asked me that question, my mind went into a blank. Yes I know what fruits are, but what is my favorite?
"Watermelon."
"Watermelon?"
"Yup. They're just so juicy and refreshing on hot summer days and they make the best smoothies off of them. I just love it! Plus watermelon tasting candy is delicious too!"
"You would say something that dealt with candy," Haruhi replied with a sweatdrop.
"I can't help it."
After a few more minutes of walking we finally made it to my house and just in time to witness these next events that will take place. Just while Haruhi and I removed our shoes and made our way towards the stairs, a delicious aroma caught our attention. Following the scent we made it to the kitchen and saw otou-san and Fuka cooking.
"Otou-san, I'm home and I brought Haruhi with me," the two of us walking towards them.
Otou-san turned around and smiled, "Welcome home and hello, Haruhi-chan. Feel free to make yourself comfortable as the others did. You're staying over as well, right?"
This confused us but Haruhi still answered, "Yes and thank you, Ayase-san."
"By the way, Setsuna. I'm going to sleepover at one of my friend's house later so otou-san and I are going to eat first and then leave. Ne, otou-san?" Fuka told me.
"That's right. I need to go back to the office for a bit, but I won't be back that late. Besides, you'll have lots of company so you two won't feel lonely."
'What the hell is this man saying? Who the hell is here?'
"Dinner is going to be done soon, so why don't you two go upstairs and relax," Otou-san said calmly.
"Uh, okay then. Call us when we should come down to eat. Let's go, Haruhi," I grabbed Haruhi's arm with my free hand that wasn't carrying my snacks.
Leaving the kitchen, the two of us immediately looked at each other in confusion. Not knowing what to say, I just shrugged my shoulders and led the way towards my room. Finding my room, I grabbed the knob of my door and opened it, just to find something to almost give me a heart attack.
Why was the Host Club in my room? More importantly, why were they in my room unsupervised?
"How did you all get in here?" I exclaimed as I watched Hikaru and Kaoru about to open my closet door; Tamaki going through one of my photo albums; Kyoya looking through my books; Hunny playing with Usa-chan and Ichigo on my floor; and Takashi simply sitting on my bed.
"Suna-chan, am I just imagining things or are they really here?" Haruhi was just as confused as I was.
"Haruhi!" Tamaki shouted as he jumped off from his seat on the floor and made his way towards the two of us.
My foot simply stopped him, hitting him in the face, "Answer my question!"
"We wanted to stop by to say hi to you and Haru-chan when Kenji-san said we can sleepover too! Ne, Kyou-chan," Hunny spoke up first.
My head immediately moved to look at Kyoya.
He smirked, "We just wanted to see whether you both made it home safely when Kenji-san just happened to let us know that it was okay for us to stay. So we simply made it to our homes, packed what we needed, and made our way here."
"You two walk slowly like turtles," Hikaru and Kaoru stated.
"I'd like to see you walk from school to my house," I yelled as Haruhi grabbed my arms to hold me back.
"Suna-chan, calm down. You know how they are, so just ignore them," Haruhi spoke as she tried to play mediator.
"Haruhi, don't worry you'll get to sleep next to otou-san so you won't get scared at night!" Tamaki just shouted.
"On second thought, go for it, Suna-chan," my arms were now free.
"I'm going to murder you!"
I made my way towards them but something had to hit me in the head.
"Itai!"
"Did you like my surprise, Setsuna?" Otou-san asked me as I held my head in pain. "Your friends wanted to come over so I decided that it would be okay."
"Tou-san, you do realize that it's a bunch of boy's right?" I whispered in his ear once I recovered.
He just turned to me and whispered back, "Well Fuka said that one of them is your boyfriend so I thought it was fine. Besides, I know they are a respectful bunch."
My mind went blank. My face turned red. I'm going to kill Fuka.
"Anyways, dinner is ready so Fuka and I are going to be leaving now. I'll be back around midnight so you all better be in bed by then," Otou-san spoke. I think he just ignored my reaction.
"We will!" was all that was heard around my room.
Otou-san smiled and said, "Setsuna, don't forget to clean up after dinner before you start doing homework. And Haruhi-chan, Fuka said that you can sleep in her room tonight. Well, I'm off."
"Bye!"
Not a minute or two later, he was gone. Enter, inner-me crying.
"Let's just go eat," my voice showed no enthusiasm. Man, now I have to be the one showing all the hospitality since otou-san left.
Hearing the idea of food, everyone shot up from their current positions and ran out of my room and into the dining room. Haruhi and I sighed once more before leaving our things in my room and making our way down to meet up with the others.
Once in the dining room, everyone was seated leaving two open spots, one next to Takashi and the other in between Hikaru and Tamaki. I honestly don't even know where these extra chairs came from. Wait, I don't even remember the table being this big either. I smiled at how otou-san did the traditional step up. The bowl of gohan (rice) was on my left side while the miso soup was on my right; my green colored chopsticks were placed in front of me with pointed ends facing left being held by the hashioki (chopstick holders). Now to see what the main course was.
"I'll be right back with the main course," I said in a nicer tone.
"Do you need any help, Suna-chan?" Haruhi asked as she began to move from her seat.
I shook my head, "Nah, it's okay. I'm being a host to you all remember. Relax."
Making my way to the kitchen, I immediately spotted the pot that held our dinner. I recognized the smell and instantly began to crave dinner since it had been such a long time since I have last eaten this. Opening the lid I found nikujaga, a stew made of sliced beef, potatoes, and onion that had been stewed in sweetened soy sauce. I was even gladder when I saw that it also had carrots in it as well. I grabbed eight bowls and began to pour the stew into each one while making sure they all had a good amount of everything in it. I was just glad that the onion wasn't visible because I really don't like onions.
I grabbed a tray and placed four bowls on it and headed back towards the dining hall. The first group I served was Tamaki, Haruhi, Hikaru, and Kaoru. Then after, I quickly made my way back to grab the last four, making sure that I placed my bowl last.
"Any requests for drinks?" I asked once I placed my bowl.
"I believe water will be just fine for us all," Kyoya spoke.
"Coming right up," so this is how it feels to be a waitress at a restaurant.
As quickly as I could so that food wouldn't get cold, I got eight cups and began to fill them up with water. Once done I went back served the water and finally was able to sit down.
"Itadakimasu," was heard all over the table and then we dug in.
"Suna-chan, your otou-san sure knows how to cook," Haruhi complimented once she took her first bite.
"Thanks. I'll let him know that when he comes back," I said after swallowing the food that was in my mouth. Mmm, delicious!
Dinner went by smoothly than ever. Besides Tamaki ranting towards the Twins saying that they aren't going near Haruhi when she is sleeping and Haruhi being as she tried to speak. Otherwise, it was a nice family setting. It was almost a nice and calm atmosphere, especially since this is the Host Club we are talking about.
"Gochisosama-deshita!"
After wiping my mouth with a napkin, "I just realized, where are you guys going to even sleep? I mean, Haruhi is sleeping in Fuka's room, but what about the rest of you."
"We got that taken care of already," Hikaru said as he leaned back on his chair.
"Kenji-san already showed us the guest rooms where we will be sleeping in," Kaoru simply said.
'What guest rooms?' I thought.
And just like that, I received a text message which was coincidently from otou-san specifically stating that rooms have been arranged.
'Otou-san may be hanging out with Ranka-san way too much.'
"You didn't know about the guest rooms, Suna-chan?" Hunny asked.
My head slowly landing to the table answered his question.
"Apparently not," Kyoya said. "Well just to let you know Tamaki and I will be staying downstairs in the guest room that has its own bathroom. Hikaru, Kaoru, Hunny-senpai, and Mori-senpai will be in the guest room upstairs."
"How do you even know the structure of my own house?" I asked before witnessing his glasses give off its evil gleam. "Wait, please don't answer that."
"We should get started on homework now," Haruhi said as she looked at the clock that suddenly appeared in the room. I should start paying attention to my own home.
"How about we do this: you all start doing homework while at the same time take turns taking showers, and I'll just work on cleaning these dishes. Does that sound fine?" I spoke while gathering dishes from the table.
"In that case, I'll shower then," Haruhi called out.
"Go for it. You can use the shower upstairs. Now someone shower in Tamaki and Kyoya's room and the rest of you go do homework," I smiled and made my way with a number of dishes to the kitchen to commence washing them. It took three trips until I finally had them all in the sink.
"Setsuna-senpai! We wanna help!" Hikaru and Kaoru just suddenly announced as they both walked into the kitchen.
"Huh?" I mean wouldn't you not find it strange when it's coming from pampered twins?
"Yeah, Setsuna-senpai," Kaoru said coming up to the sink.
"We don't have that much homework to do, so we thought that we should find something to do," Hikaru finished.
With a confused face, "So with that you decided to help me wash dishes?"
"Yeah!"
"Are you sure it's not because Haruhi is currently in the shower and you have no one to copy your homework from or to bug?"
"Nooo…"
"Uh huh, sure. Whatever floats your boat. Now, if you wanna help me clean one you will rinse the dishes while the other dries them, okay."
"I call drying!" Hikaru announced as he grabbed a rag from the counter.
Kaoru shrugged his shoulders and moved to be next to me so that he could rinse the dishes that I would pass to say, the dishes were completed quickly. I'm gonna make sure to send Haruhi to shower first more often if the results of cleaning are going to be this fast. Muahaha!
Going back to the others in the living room where everyone was either on the floor or sitting on the couch, homework was being done; that and two people being in the shower. I looked up once from my homework to look at how everyone was doing and it was really interesting how they looked concentrated with their work. But of course there was the occasional yell that was done by Tamaki because of what they "horrible" Twins did.
"Suna-chan, I finished my homework! Can I go have cakie?" Hunny shouted with delight as he calmly shoved his finished work in front of my face.
"I don't have cake though."
"It's okay, I brought a lot of cake so that when I want my midnight snack, it will be right in your fridge," he smiled oh-so brightly.
"As long as you brush your teeth after eating then it's fine. Right, Takashi?" I turned to look at said person sitting right next to me.
"Ah," Takashi said as he had his towel placed over his slightly damp hair.
Without further ado, Hunny ran off to have his cake. I wonder if he has ever had a sugar high to the point where he won't eat cake for a day or two. Nah, I doubt that can ever happen. Anyways, by now about more than half of us were already dressed in our pajamas. Haruhi was simply adorning blue knee-high pajama bottoms and a white tank top; Tamaki was wearing a light blue pajama set; Kyoya was wearing a purple pajama set; Hunny was wearing a white set of pajamas that had little pink rabbits on his bottoms and a single one on the top; Takashi was wearing a dark blue pajama set and unlike last time, his shirt was buttoned up. Hikaru and Kaoru were each currently in the shower.
"Setsuna-senpai, the shower is yours now," Kaoru said as he came down the stairs in his orange pajama bottoms and white muscle tee.
"Ah, thanks Kaoru," I stood from the floor. "I won't be in for that long."
I made my way to room and grabbed the towel that I had left earlier this morning, knowing that I can just simply come back and change in my room. Now in the bathroom, I simply stripped out of my clothes and took the well earned shower after such a long a tiring day. I let the warm water hit my back for a bit before I began doing the normal routine, this time making sure my legs and underarms were shaven. I was out in a matter of fifteen minutes.
Wrapping a towel around my body after drying my body, I dashed to my room and once in I locked my door. I went into one of my drawers and dug around a pair of undergarments and for my black knee length shorts. The weird thing was that I couldn't find the shorts. All I found was a pair of black short shorts. Since this was the only option I had for now I grabbed them and a tight blue tank top.
"Who's backpack is that?" I found a black backpack on the floor next to my desk. I just shrugged my shoulders and continued to change.
After changing, I went back downstairs just to find everyone, including the Hikaru who was dressed in light blue plaid pajama set, watching a movie.
"Setsuna-senpai, hope you don't mind, but we decided to watch a movie since we all had finished our homework not too long ago," Kyoya spoke from his seat on the couch.
"It's fine. What time is it anyways?" I sat down next to Haruhi who was on the floor.
"Close to nine," Haruhi said.
"Ah."
I can honestly say that having the whole Host Club stay for dinner and even sleepover has so far been really fun. We spent the remainder of the night watching Toy Story and one by one, people slowly started going to bed. By ten forty-seven, the only people left watching movies were Haruhi, Takashi, and me.
"We should get to bed," I suggested while turning off the TV. The two agreed and we descended up the stairs.
"Goodnight," Haruhi said before going into Fuka's room.
"Night," I said. I turned to look at Takashi before pulling him down for a soft kiss. "Night, Takashi."
"Goodnight, Setsuna." With that said, I went into my room.
I went towards my bed and began to move the covers so that I can slip into them. Turning off all the lights, except for my lamp, I was ready to cuddle up with Ichigo. But of course, a knock had to interrupt my snuggling. I got up, walked to the door and opened it to find Takashi on the other side.
"Uh hi?" Wow Setsuna, good going. Now think of something else to say. "Why aren't you in bed?"
"I got locked out," he said as he looked downwards. "And apparently my stuff is in your room."
I blushed. That means he has nowhere else to sleep. Hm, what to do, what to say, "There's room on my bed if you don't mind sharing. I mean since I don't want you to sleep on the couch and all."
"You don't mind?" Takashi blushed at what I had said. I shook my head and allowed him to come in my room.
He closed the door behind him as I made my way back to my bed. Making myself comfy, he followed my direction and went in right after. Takashi pulled the covers and at the same time pulled me into him. I blushed and snuggled up, gathering all the heat that his body was emitting.
"Goodnight, Setsuna," he turned off my lamp and placed a kiss on my forehead.
"Night, Takashi."