"OK," I whisper to myself as Blondie begins to position the other boys around his small throne.
He collapses into it a few seconds later and gives one of those hair flips that lands his hair in the exact same style it started in. I groan internally. This guy must be the egoist type, because I don't buy the "Princely" tag.
"C'mon," I sigh as I try to talk myself up. "You've played tons of otome games. You know what you're doing."
But as I stare down at my rose, something bubbles up in my stomach and I gnaw on my lower lip nervously. Of course, it's one thing to do something in theory, and another to do it in practice. And I'm not Haku, Hiro, Saeki, or Russell. Or anything near that level at all…A shameless flirt is the farthest thing I can get from my personality.
Can I even pull this off?
"Having second thoughts?"
I almost jump as I feel the breath on the back of my neck.
I spin on my heel to see the two gingers staring at me with a mocking smile gracing their faces. I glare at them and furiously rub the back of my neck with my free hand. To my dismay, I'm pretty sure my face is flushed a nice red.
"I'm going to kill you if you try that again," I snarl through grit teeth.
"Ah…" they sigh in unison as they share a rather creepy smile. "So your neck is a sensitive spot huh?"
"Well what was your first clue?" I snap, to shocked and furious to even deny the accusation. "Don't try that again, I'm not into that kind of stuff."
"You know," the twin with the lower pitched voice drawls as he leans on Blondie's chair. "You're not as cool as we initially thought."
I suppress the urge to pop my hip and cross my arms. God this is hard! So I settle for just steeling my spine and shifting my weight slightly to my right.
"Because I was trying so hard to impress you this whole time," I scoff as I roll my eyes.
"Are you sure you can pull off your type with that kind of attitude?" the higher pitched twin asks. "You sound like a whiney little girl."
I flinch at the accusation and rack my brains for a decent comeback.
"The unfortunate side effects of having little sisters," I say humorlessly before stalking off to the other side of the room.
"God what am I getting myself into?" I moan as I rake my fingers through my bangs.
The action pulls a few strands out of my ponytail it's in so I take the opportunity to calm myself down and retie it. I set my rose on the arm of the chair and hold the rubber band in my teeth. Just as I'm tying it off swirl of rose petals pick up and begin pelting me at high speed.
"Welcome Princesses," Blondie says with tons of unnecessary flourishing. "We'd like to introduce our newest host-"
But he never finishes, because as soon as the girls see my face they go all wide eyed before pulling out their cell phones. I'm blinded for the next few seconds by the flash from several camera phones as the girls proceed to text and yelp to friends on the phone.
"I guess it was a good idea to add him to the group," I hear the glasses guy, say.
"Well am I actually gonna host some of these girls or are they just going to stand there all day?" I ask.
"Alright my son!" Blondie says as he wraps his arm around my shoulders. "Why don't you just make yourself at home?"
He gestures to a section of loveseats and coffee tables that are arranged in a circle. I nod and step out of his grip.
When I look back at the mob of girls I can swear that the group has doubled. Most of them have broken off of the edges of the crowd and floated off to what I assume are their regular host. But a few of them are still clumped together, not event trying to obscure the fact that they're staring at me. I sigh. Well, here goes nothing.
"So," I ask as a take a few steps and collapse on one of the plush sofas. "Are you just going to stand there all day or are you going to join me?"
One girl, who I recognize as one of the three from this morning, boldly breaks away from the crowd and takes a seat next to me.
"It's nice to finally get to talk to you Fujisaki-san," say says shyly as she tucks a lock of her brown hair behind her ear. "I was hoping you'd join the Host Club."
"Just Nao is fine," I say as I throw her a crooked smile.
"My name is Nanako," she says quickly as she smooths out her skirts nervously.
"Alright Nana-chan," I say as I hand her my black rose.
She flushes but smiles in delight as she takes it. But by now all the other girls look like they're beating themselves up for not being the first to step up.
"Hey!" a childish voice whines. "I thought I was the only one allowed to give cute nicknames."
I look over the back of the chair to see a small blond boy looking up at me with a large pout on his lips. He's tiny, and looks like a grade schooler, but he wears the high school uniform. And he carries a pink plush bunny. But the only thing that stops me from picking him up and squeezing the life out of him is the tall, scary looking giant standing behind him.
Now him I can see being in high school, or even in the university with Akira.
"Sorry," I say as I ruffle his honey-blonde hair in slightly cautioned boldness. "I didn't know that was your thing."
His pout lifts and he smiles up at me.
"It's ok Nao-chan! I don't mind if you do it too."
"Thanks Honey-senpai!" Nanako says cheerily.
The boy just gives her a large smile before bouncing off towards a rather impressive spread of cakes and puddings. I sigh and turn back to the coffee table. So not only is that kid in high school, but he's my senior. Will wonders never cease?
When I'm facing forward again the other three couches are filled with at least four girls each. They nudge and shove, trying to make room for themselves.
Wow…
"So Nao…"
I try not to jump at the voice that comes from beside me. The girl from my homeroom period with brown eyes and hair like a copper penny.
"Yeah?" I reply as I slouch back in the sofa and prop my feet up on the coffee table.
"Well," she trails off. "I was wondering if you could tell us about what happened to your eye."
There's a chorus of agreements as the girls lean in closer.
I cringe internally. What am I supposed to say? I fell asleep with makeup on? So not manly. And a gateway to tons of questions that would eventually expose me.
"It's not really that interesting," I reply tonelessly.
"Oh come on!" another girl begs. "Please tell us!"
I smile sadly.
"I'd rather not," I reply. "It doesn't put me in the coolest light."
"What do you mean?" Nanako asks warily.
I sigh and look down at the floor. Well this was short lived maybe I won't be sticking around that long after all. Too bad…
"I didn't get into a fight or anything. My little sister just thought it would be funny to put makeup on me while I slept last night. I don't tend to use mirrors much, so I didn't even know it was on my face until you girls pointed it out."
Ok, well it wasn't a total lie. But not a majority of truth. I glance back up to see the girls string at me with…wait…is that…admiration?
"Wow!" the brown eyed girl exclaims. "That's so cool!"
Wait. What?
"What do you mean cool?" I ask in genuine confusion.
"Well when most guys get injured they twist the story to make themselves sound all cool and tough," a girl sitting across from me says.
"But you told us the truth even though you thought it made you sound lame. Not many guys are willing to do that."
I smirk as a sudden idea pops into my head.
"I tried to get it off earlier," I say, trying my best to sound frustrated. "But water just made it worse!"
The girls giggle among themselves for a minute before one of them speaks up.
"You need make up remover," she says, pulling a small packet of makeup removing wipes from her designer bag.
I smirk and lean forward.
"You think you can get rid of it for me?" I ask in what I hope sounds like a husky voice.
She flushes and nods and I close my eyes. This may be a lot easier than I thought.
XX
I sigh as I flop down on my bed.
I have fourteen names to memorize by tomorrow.
Nana-chan, Saku-chan, Miki-chan, Sai-chan, Suki-chan, Mei-chan, Asa-chan, Chi-chan, Miyo-chan, Kura-chan, Nami-chan, Ana-chan, Kuru-chan, and Setsu-chan.
God that's a ton of girls.
I reluctantly get up and change into my pajamas. It's still early, so I bring my laptop over to my bed and log into one of my favorite online games.
Falen pops up on my screen a minute later, all decked out in her pink and black armor and clutching her bow and quiver of arrows.
She slings her quiver onto her back and begins walking. But she stops in her tracks as a screech rings through the speakers. I've never taken Falen through these mountain ranges by herself. She may be a level thirteen archer with a little skill for earth magic, but you need someone to watch your back in a place like this.
I quickly put in a search for Falen's regular ragtag guild members. But unfortunately for me, neither Lyra or Myrese are on right now.
I sigh heavily. Even just one of them would be nice to have right now.
Myrese was a level twenty-one fire and lightning mage while Lyra was a level twenty-six warrior that liked to float between a battle ax and a giant hammer-like club. But then again, both of them had been playing the game a lot longer than I have.
Together, the three of them formed the guild Blood Moon.
They were the closest things I had to friends at the moment, but unlike me, they had social lives and weren't online 24/7.
I sigh and back up again. On the other side of these dragon infested mountains was a large desert filled old hidden tombs and oasis. Apparently there was some sort of rumor going around that there was a magic coin purse hidden inside one of the tombs that would never run out of money.
Our guild had tried looking for it no less than twelve times.
We had an agreement that we would split the money among the three of us, but so far we had all died before we mad it halfway through any of the tombs we entered.
I could start the search again and maybe get the chance to level up a bit. But that means going in alone.
Well, there's a first time for everything.
Just as I'm about to guide Falen into the mountains, another avatar climbs out of the foliage near her. I can tell by her appearance that she's a pitifully low level archer, and should be nowhere near this part of the world.
You know I type. It's not safe to wander around these mountains on your own
I zoom in closer to the character to better see her reply, and almost fall off my bed when I recognize her as that stupid archer girl from last night.
WAIT! YOU! I type furiously.
*smiles* Hullo
What are you doing here?! I ask, trying to convey my annoyance through the screen.
Oh…you know *pokes* stufffffff
I glare at the screen. But my laser vision sucks and the archer girl doesn't explode.
I'm warning you! If you don't quit it I'm going to knock you out and leave you in the middle of these mountains! The dragons don't take to strangers.
I smirk and leaned back against my stack of pillows, hoping to scare her off.
Da ****? There are dragons up here?
Yup… I type it's suicide to go in alone at your level.
Then good thing I'm not alone ;D
I bristle at her cockiness.
Well I'm going in right now so yeah…you are
Hey~ the archer girl says with a creepy grin so you should totally train me
The nerve of this girl is really beginning to piss me off. How the hell do I lose her? Then I get an idea.
Fine…I respond you'll learn by experience
I turn Falen around and lead her into the shadow of the looming mountain. I'll just ditch her when the dragons begin to swarm.
Yayyyyyys
I groan and have Falen strap a small wand for her magic onto her thigh before pulling out an arrow out of her quiver and fitting it into her bow.
It's every man for himself in there I warn her but maybe if you're good enough I'll let you join my guild
Yay!
I grin at the screen. Any level one player would die to get accepted into a guild that easy.
*smirks* but you must kill at least three dragons for me to even consider it
Easy!
My smirk widens. She took the bait.
We'll see I type
As our avatars walk deeper into the mountains the cliffs begin to block out all the sunlight coming from above.
I press a key combination and Falen creates a large ball of light that floats above them and gives them a nice view of the area around them.
Dragon skin is the best armor you'll ever get your hands on. So it will be difficult to pierce. Especially since you're only a level one archer
Leave it to me! Her avatar salutes Falen and sets an arrow into her bow.
Just as that happens a screech rings through the speakers and a large red dragon swoops down on us.
"Shit," I mutter as I begin furiously typing in key combinations.
But spells that don't require a wand tend to be weaker, so they don't even put a dent on the dragon.
The archer girl fires arrow after arrow, but they just ricochet off the dragon's hide and stick in the floor and rocks around us before disappearing.
Another shriek announces the arrival of a second dragon. This one is purple and smaller than the red one, but that just makes it faster and more nimble. It doges around us, shooting balls of green fire that scorch even the rocks around us.
I curse under my breath and decide that this might be the best time to make my escape. I have Falen pull a vile out of her bag and take a small sip.
A countdown clock appears in the upper left hand screen. I have one minute of invisibility to get Falen out of here. I weave her through the green flames, desperately trying not to get her burned. I don't have good medicine in my inventory right now.
On the positive side, with the dragons unable to see me, they focus all their attention on attacking the other girl.
I glance up at the timer.
35 seconds.
I can see the exit up ahead, a thin arch in the mountains is my only way of getting out. Just as Falen approaches it, the red dragon lands roughly on the cliff above it, causing a rockslide.
When the dust clears, Falen is trapped under the rock, one of her legs caught under a large boulder.
I cringe as her health bar lowers to the halfway point.
I look up at the clock again.
15 seconds.
I sigh and rake my hands through my bangs. This isn't what I hoped would happen.
To my surprise, the archer girl is still alive, and fighting, but she's now retreating towards me.
7 seconds.
In a panic, I push a key combination to raise a shield. But because my health is so low its flimsy and bursts as the next ball of fire hits it.
I got yah!
The archer girl steps in front of Falen, and aims her bow at the dragons flying towards us. She shoots, and it ricochets off the red one's shoulder. But just as I'm about to give up it pierces the eye of the small purple one.
I watch in amazement as it shrieks and falls from the sky. The archer girl gets a level up as it shrivels up and dies.
Oh yeah! Uh huh! Oh yeah oh yea uh huh!
I watch in awe as she breaks out in a victory dance before trying to push the boulder off of Falen's leg.
Watch behind you! I type furiously.
I pull an orb spell from Falen's inventory and chuck it at the large red dragon. It explodes in the dragon's face, but still doesn't do much damage. It just gets angry and shoots another fire ball at us and I manage to raise a shield again now that my health has been slowly replenishing, but the force of the next fire ball almost shatters it completely.
Whoa! The archer girl types how'd you do that?!
Not the time or the place I reply quickly.
I brace Falen for the next round of fire balls, but the next one shatters the shield and incinerates both of our avatars.
They wake up side by side in the cemetery, all ghostly and transparent.
THAT WAS AWESOME!
I sigh as I read the archer girl's comment.
But we still died I reply.
Oh yeah she replies how does this work now?
Just follow me, we're not that far from our bodies
We walk in silence until we get to the area right in front of the mountains. Our avatar's bodies are lying there in a heap.
Just click on your body now I instruct her.
I click on Falen's body and Spirit Falen walks over and places herself back inside her body.
And then just like that scene at the end of Hercules, the color returns to her body and she sits up.
I look over to see the archer girl begin to sit up. She actually wasn't that bad. I look down from the screen and at my hands. She's got guts, I'll give her that. And with practice she might make a great addition to Blood Moon.
Well I guess I'll see you here at 4:30 tomorrow I type we'll start your training then
I log Falen out before she can respond and close the laptop. Flopping back on my bed I sigh heavily. I think I may have my work cut out for me.
A knock on my open door announces Akira and Shoko. Like me, they're in pajamas and slippers.
"Hey Nao, wanna join us for a movie night?" Akira asks cheerily. "We're getting pizza and cinnamon bread."
I smile and push myself up off the bed.
"Sure!" I exclaim before pulling on a pair of thick socks. "What are we watching?"
"We thought we'd let you pick," Shoko answers.
My smile widens as I pull my hair up into a ponytail.
"You ever seen Legend of the Fabulous Battle for Windaria before Reiko?" I ask.
Akira rolls his eyes as Reiko shakes her head, her copper hair escaping from its messy knotted updo.
"Then this is going to be fun."