Umehito Nekozawa grinned to himself as he slipped the familiar cat puppet back onto his hand. His younger sister, Kirimi, and their family's faithful servant, Kuretake, soon joined him as they claimed their familiar positions at his side. They stood in the dark lobby, full of black lights and an assortment of different people. There was a group loitering around the front of a large screen television on which the names and rankings for the game were posted.
The gods must have been pleased by the countless offerings and prayers Umehito had dedicated to them for Kirimi had, after some time, decided to join her brother in his dark ways. The angelic blond now sported a black cloak, much like the one he wore, and a cat puppet similar to his own. She wasn't afraid of the dark any longer. Umehito had never felt a greater sense of happiness than when his sister had accepted both him and his world, and of course, Bereznoff.
"Look, big brother," Kirimi said in her light, childish voice, "you scored first place."
"Of course," Umehito replied as he gazed at his codename on the screen. He was not particularly interested by the information, "I did, after all, have the netherworld on my side."
His younger sister had ended up achieving the lowest ranking. He had planned on staying with her, but she had fallen to the bottom layer along with many others in the crowd before the game had even begun. Umehito had cursed whatever being had decided on such a fate for his little sister, and as soon as the doors had opened, both he and Kuretake had decided to take off in different directions in order to find the young girl amidst the chaos that had ensued after her disappearance. Many of the other guests had grown frantic as their friends, family, and teammates fell through the trapdoors beneath and had reacted in a less than positive manner. Had Kirimi not fallen in with the others, Umehito would have relished in the chaos.
Kirimi smiled fondly up at her big brother and clutched his free hand with her own. Her small, pale hand was completely engulfed by his much larger one.
Umehito was about to take his leave from the room, and most importantly, from the crowd, but he was stopped by the sound of his puppet's name.
Glancing in the direction from which he had heard the sound, he immediately spotted them.
Tamaki Suoh, the blond idiot who had once stepped on his beloved puppet and who had also been the one to assist in the task of bringing Kirimi and himself together, stood with his back turned to the cloaked figure.
On his side was the terrifying Kyoya Ootori, a powerful and worthy opponent. He was dressed casually, but posed in his usual, cool manner. Umehito, who could see very well in the dark, noticed that the third and youngest son of the Ootori family sported a slightly darker skin tone.
The stoic senior, Takashi Morinozuka, and his cousin, the sickeningly sweet Mitsukuni Haninozuka stood side by side. They were a fearsome duo; the swordsman and the martial artist. The common knowledge, "appearances are deceiving," could never apply more to a single person than it did to the eldest son of the Haninozuka family.
And then, of course, there were the Hitachiin twins. Umehito could never exactly tell who was who, but he already knew that they were more terrifying than the most evil of the demon lords combined. Bereznoff could only wag his ears in agreement. They were, in Umehito's opinion, the most properly labeled of their group. The "little-devils" were always wreaking havoc on others whether it be teachers, fellow students, or him in general.
And then there was someone of a shorter stature located in between the two brothers. From the outfit, Umehito could only assume it was a girl. However, Umehito was also aware of the fact that the Host Club possessed seven members and he had, although only through a brief scan, only counted six.
He glanced up at the screen once more, and sure enough, there was the name "Haruhi" located beneath his own. Haruhi Fujioka was the scholarship student who attracted girls and the occasional guy (he'd heard the Host Club's manageress' screams on the day Ritsu Kasanoda had decided to pay the boy a visit) with his natural charm and honest, straightforward conversation.
So, if the "natural-type" of their club had his name on the board, why couldn't the president of the Dark Magic Club locate him?
The blond, Tamaki Suoh, and president of the Host Club, immediately shushed the group, scolding them, "Don't say that name! You'll bring seven years of bad luck on all of us!"
Chuckling to himself in his dark manner, Umehito trailed closer to the group, keeping his hand clasped gently over Kirimi's. She looked up at him curiously before dropping her attention back to the group in front of her.
"My lord, it could merely be a coincidence," one of the "little-devils" said, hoping to reassure the club president that he was just being paranoid.
"But," the blond replied, "don't say the name! I still get chills, thinking about that exam..."
"You walked into the Greek class by mistake," Kyoya Ootori stated. The event was forever stuck in his mind because his friend always brought it up whenever the name of the Dark Magic Club's president was mentioned.
"Perhaps," Umehito said as he watched each member of the group in front of him visibly stiffen at the sound of his voice, "it isn't a coincidence?"
"Nekozawa-kun," Kyoya greeted in a chilling tone as he faced the cloaked figure.
Finally provided with a good view of the female situated between the two twins, he took in her appearance. The first thing that came to his mind was the fact that she was cute. The large brown eyes were strikingly like Fujioka's, as was her height, and her face, and her hair color, and pretty much everything else about her.
'Except,' Umehito thought to himself with a blush; his gaze had lowered to her chest, 'those are definitely one thing Fujioka and this girl do not share in common.'
He was sure he had heard a growl. His eyes quickly snapped away from the girl and landed on the smallest of their group – Mitsukuni Haninozuka. The short senior was looking at him with an almost feral aura. The bright smile and cute demeanor he usually possessed had disappeared. They were replaced by dark eyes and an emotionless expression that could easily rival Morinozuka's.
"Where is your 'natural-type'?" Umehito inquired of the group, not noticing how the two twins and the Host Club's president visibly stiffened once again at his question.
"He decided not to attend," Kyoya calmly replied.
"Then why is his name on the scoreboard?"
"That isn't his name. This is his cousin, Haruhi Fujioka," Kyoya said, referring to the girl that the twins had wrapped in their embrace.
Umehito arched an eyebrow at that and let his gaze slide over to the girl once more. So that's why she looked so much like the Fujioka boy! Except, with breasts. Umehito was glad that he had his cloak on to cover the blush that had crept onto his cheeks at the thought.
The girl, Haruhi Fujioka, seemed to have stumbled a bit at the Ootori's words. She looked at the "cool-type" with a weak gaze. He returned it with one of his sly, secretive smiles.
"Are you alright?" Umehito asked, having noticed the girl's small stumble despite the arms that held her up.
"She's tired," Kyoya interrupted, "we will return her to her room so she can rest."
Umehito nodded and watched as the group practically ran from the room, carting the girl off with them.
A tug at his hand brought his attention back to his little sister. He looked at her with a questioning glance, waiting for her to speak.
"Big brother," she said prettily, "do you like that girl?"
"Silly girl," Umehito said affectionately and squeezed her hand gently, "I only just met her."
But she was pretty, and something about her made him want to further investigate. It was like she was a secret waiting to be revealed. However, he doubted he would be able to investigate or spend any time with her. Especially when she had the rest of the club hovering over her like they were her personal bodyguards.
Besides, he was Umehito Nekozawa. He had the netherworld on his side, a book of spells at his disposal, and his trusty companion, Bereznoff forever at hand - no pun intended.