The next day at school, the whispers were worse. What had happened prior to the Host Club opening its doors spread like wildfire around the school, the story becoming more and more ridiculous with each retelling.
What had been a rather straight forward encounter was now an epic tale of heroism that involved a branch of Secret Police and government conspiracies that were all supposedly locked away in Merry's hard case.
The moment Daisuke had dropped her back off at home the afternoon before, Ran had been waiting with her lips thinned into an unimpressed line. She'd harshly told her to go back and apologise with 'a graceful air befitting her station.' Ran was immediately suspicious when Merry had simply smiled brightly and skipped inside, saying that she planned to do just that.
Which was why, after a long day of classes and sidelong glances from the student body, Merry found herself pushing open the doors to Music Room 3.
The light and petals remained the same but she was getting used to it. Her nose barely twitched.
"Welcome, Princess, to the-" Tamaki halted his extravagant dialogue to gawk at her.
Merry gave him a small smile that made him shift uncomfortably. "Hello, Tamaki-san. May I have some tea, please?"
He regained his composure with a speed that was admirable. "Of course, Merry-chan! Who would you like to serve on you, today?"
"May I be seated first and then choose? Preferably at a lone table."
"Of course! Right this way, dear Princess!"
In a show of gentlemanly grace, Tamaki swept into a bow and showed her to a table for two by the window overlooking the koi pond in the courtyard. He pulled Merry's chair out, but she didn't sit.
She'd glanced about during the short trek to the table, noting how busy the Host Club actually was, but one person wasn't tending to anyone, seeming content to observe and record everything that happened in the room in his notebook.
The Shadow King was a wealth of information, but it was time to see how expansive his knowledge was. She couldn't deny that he'd made her curious how he knew as much as he did after overhearing his little spiel to the others the day before.
He was exceedingly intelligent, so it would be a game of wits to suss each other out. She knew he had some sort of plan in place to bring her into the Club's prestigious fold, but she figured he wouldn't have expected her to show up so soon. He'd be rethinking his tactics, and that's what she wanted. She wanted him to be so confused and frustrated that he'd completely overlook the little things that would later add up in a big way.
The game had already started whether he was aware of it or not.
She slid into the chair, violin case between her and the wall where no one could take it without her knowledge. "May I be waited on by Kyoya-san, Tamaki-san?"
The bespectacled boy heard his name and glanced over. Tamaki clasped his hands with a smile, eager to please. "Of course, Merry-chan! Kyoya! You have a fair lady to attend to!"
The Shadow King appeared by the blonde's side, his notebook tucked away in his school blazer. He offered Merry a pleasant smile that was as equally fake as hers. "Of course, Tamaki. Nice to see you again, Merry-san."
"If only I could say the same, Kyoya-san."
Tamaki began to sweat at the intense atmosphere before he turned on his heel and fled. "I'll get the tea!"
Kyoya sat opposite her, clasping his hands beneath his chin, elbows on the table. "I must admit that I'm surprised you are here."
"I overreacted to a situation that got out of hand quite quickly," Merry conceded, though barely.
"The entire incident should never have happened in the first place and I apologise on behalf of the entire Host Club," he said, thanking Tamaki who returned with a pot of freshly brewed tea before returning to his own clients. "Tea?"
"Please."
He poured the spiced beverage with an ease that showed he'd done this a million times before.
"So, Kyoya-san, I hear people talking about your club offering different 'Types.' I'm curious as to what that means." Merry sipped her tea.
"We cater for all our clients no matter what their preference may be. It could be the Princely Type like Tamaki, or the Loli-shouta type like Honey-sempai, just to give an example."
Merry eyed her detached classmate. "And you?"
"I am known as the 'Cool Type,'" he answered with a smile. "Am I to your liking, Merry-san?"
"Hard to say," she replied blithely. "I wouldn't label you as the 'Cool Type,' per se. You come across as more deceitful and sly than the others. Like a puppet master working from the shadows. Shadow King suits you better than the 'Cool' label."
He smiled, genuinely amused. "Oh?"
"Then again, I could be interpreting 'Cool' wrongly. It could also mean your countenance is similar to what mine seems to be, despite my being here for only two days."
"But are they wrong to assume?" he smirked. "First assumptions are important, yes? Lineage counts first; Wealth a close second," he quoted the Academy motto. "Everyone is someone important here, Merry-san. Even you. We are an impressionable lot."
"Wealth and blood have nothing to do with individuality," she said, adding a small clump of sugar to her cup before raising it to her lips. "And first assumptions are almost never correct. Despite this, Ice Queen seems to have stuck." She smiled against her tea cup.
"Well, every Queen needs a King, ne?" Kyoya mused, laying on the charm to cover how interesting he was finding this foreigner.
"Every Queen needs a King that suits," Merry countered. "And I doubt you could match my standards."
"I think I can be awfully surprising if given the chance," Kyoya murmured, charm still on full. "A delicate lady such as yourself, keeping everyone at arm's length with a chilly façade… You must be awfully lonely."
Merry sipped her tea, unfazed. "How blunt. Speaking from experience, Kyoya-san?"
His eyes flashed but his smile remained. "Was that another brush off, Merry-san? Did I touch on a nerve?"
"Take it how you will. As evidenced before now, most of you Host's seem content to ignore personal boundaries and skew things in your favour anyways."
Kyoya's brow creased as he sat a little straighter. "Have I not already apologised on the Club's behalf? There is no need to further this dispute. Our families-"
"-Have nothing to do with this," Merry interrupted calmly. "Legacies and familial relations aside, what happened was a blatant disregard of another's boundaries and I will not tolerate another incident like it. Besides," she placed her empty tea cup onto its saucer. "Having such a prestigious name such as the heiress of Watanabe International added to your register would be a boon for you personally, yes? I'd imagine your file on me is actually quite thin."
A light bulb clicked in Kyoya's head. "Were you eavesdropping, Merry-san? How underhanded of you."
"As underhanded as taking my personal belongings without permission instead of simply asking me about them? Or trying to con me into coming here because of your need to know absolutely everything about someone?" she countered. His eyes narrowed a sliver. "Did I touch a nerve?" She mocked his earlier words. "Besides, what are you going to do, Mommy?" She leaned over the table until their faces were inches apart. Kyoya's face was unreadable. "Are you going to bend me over your knee and spank me?"
He blinked in surprise and Merry smirked. No doubt the Shadow King was more than aware that her little display was a subtle Call to War. She was also more than aware that their conversation had caused the entire room to go silent and stare with wide eyes.
If she'd judged his character correctly, she knew he wouldn't back down from her challenge now that there were witnesses. His pride wouldn't allow it.
Merry stood and swiftly grabbed her case from the floor. She gave Kyoya a pleasant smile that didn't fool him for a second. "Have a good day, Kyoya-san. And thank you for the tea. It was a delicious blend."
She swept from the room with a slight bounce in her step.
Haruhi slowly made her way over to Kyoya who was scribbling furiously in his notebook. The awkward silence that encased the room after Merry's departure lifted once Tamaki had switched on his Princely charm, successfully distracting the girls. Kyoya had started writing so fast his pen was a blur the moment Merry had stepped out of the room.
"Uh… sempai? Everything okay?"
"Fine, Haruhi."
She looked at him in slight disbelief. His tone was strange. "Sempai? Are you sure you're okay?"
Then Kyoya did something that made sweat drip down the back of her neck. He smiled. Really, really big, like he was happy, no, ecstatic about something. Something that happened during Merry's visit. Something she'd missed.
"I'm more than okay, Haruhi." He snapped his notebook shut. Haruhi idly noted that his pen was smoking. "I wager that we'll be seeing much more of Miss Watanabe than previously thought."
"Eh? Really?"
Kyoya simply nodded, but didn't elaborate.
Damn rich bastards…
Sorry if some characters seemed a little OOC :/
Review if you want to! :3