im sorry i suck, guys.

im taking forever to upload these, arent i?

and now im turning into one of those people i hate.

lovely.

well, i could rant and give you all my excuses of why im taking so long and how sucky life is right now, but that would be complaining and you guys are not here to hear me complain, right?

my life is better than most people's, and so is yours. but thats assuming alot. i mean, i dont know you guys or how hard your lives are.

gahh whatever. just read. ~RBASA

C13: How Many?

"THIS IS BORRRINNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG." Midori groaned, shifting her turban around on her head.

The club had finally ended after a long day of… well… being Egyptian. It was by far one of the most difficult arrangements the Host Club had ever done, but they pulled it off quite nicely. Sphinxes and mini pyramids decorated the corners, and I didn't even WANT to ask if they were made of real gold.

The costumes were quite similar to the day before's, but much more intricate. Gold paint adorned each club member's face, along with a turban and jewels and fancy robes.

I however, had stripped myself from the constricting layers, sliding back into my awesomely awesome sweatshirt and some shorts. Midori was still lounging in her royal garb.

"Oi. Vinn. Entertain me." She drawled, waving her hand in the air like some aristocrat.

I narrowed my eyes and took another bite of my apple.

"Yeah! Vinny-chaaaaaan. Entertain us." The twins joined in. I rolled my eyes internally. Why was it always me they picked on? "You're an acrobat, right? Do a split or something."

Um. Gymnast. My mind corrected, but I just stayed where I was. One, I was far too stubborn to take orders from the likes of THEM, two, I was still exhausted from the night before's subconscious activities (which just so happened to take me across the hall into the bathroom, where I woke up staring into my own reflection. Lemme tell ya, it took me a LONG time to fall asleep after THAT heart-attack.), and three, I was just downright lazy.

"Ne, ne, Vinny-chan, why don't you show us some cool moves?" Honey hopped up onto the couch next to me. Yeah, like you need a demonstration, my mind sighed as I glanced around the room.

The twins and Midori were on the couch across from Honey and I, Mori slowly making his way over to us. Kyouya was off to the side typing away on his ever-present laptop, and Tamaki was annoying a very un-responsive Haruhi, who was looking over Kyouya's shoulder.

"Mah, she probably can't do anything cool at all." Hikaru huffed, leaning back into the couch.

"Yeah, Vinny's lame." Kaoru finished, doing the same.

"Hm. Proabably can't even do a handstand. So sad." Midori continued, glancing at me pityingly.

I rolled my eyes. Trying to provoke me, eh? It would never work.

"She's a disgrace to all acrobats in the world."

"It's a shame, really."

"So very sad." They all went on.

I gritted my teeth and stood up as Mori sat down next to Honey. I couldn't believe it was working. Idiots.

I rolled up my sleeves and the trio cheered.

I just sighed and flipped onto my hands, my legs straight up in a perfect handstand. I lifted my head and glared at them, raising my eyebrows. Happy now? I asked with my eyes, mainly focusing on not letting my sweatshirt fall up- er. Down.

"Ooh ooh ooh! Do it on one hand!" Midori laughed, clapping her hands like and excited child.

I sighed and shifted on to one hand, the other one reaching up to grab my discarded apple off the table. I took a bite and narrowed my eyes at them.

"Now walk! Now walk!" The twins cheered, and I blushed.

In my gymnastics class, I was the only one who couldn't walk on my hands. It was insanely difficult, but it seemed to come so easily for all the other girls.

I nervously tried to take a couple steps with my hands, but ended up wobbling and falling over, landing flat on my back.

"Nnnnn." I groaned, lifting myself up and holding my head in my hand.

After two whole seconds of silence I was suddenly being glomped by the twins.

"GAHH VINNY-CHAN YOU ARE SO CUTE! THE WAY YOU BLUSHED AND FELL OVER AND SAT UP WITH THOSE SPARKLY TEARS IN YOUR EYES AND THAT LITTLE GROAN!"

I blushed even more and threw them of off me, trying not to notice how Midori was practically cracking her ribs with laughter on the couch.

"Ne, ne, Vinny-chan! Can you do a cartwheel?" Honey asked, chocolate eyes wide as the twins skipped off to bug Tamaki.

I nodded and proceeded to do one.

"Whoa. Doesn't that make you dizzy at all?" Midori asked, recovered from her laughing fit.

I shook my head.

"How many can you do in a row?"

I blanched and shrugged. When I was younger I remember trying to count, but I always got too dizzy or lost track of the number.

"Hm. I have an idea. KYOUYA!" she yelled across the room.

"Already on it." He said, typing away.

I sweatdropped. What are they planning, and do they have telepathic powers?

"The world record for consecutive cartwheels is… one-hundred." He said after a moment.

I blanched. One… Hundred?

"I believe we have a challenge on our hands." Midori grinned. "GET TO IT, VINN!" she yelled to me.

My eye twitched. There was no way in hell I could beat one hundred! IN A ROW? No way! It was true I did have a high tolerance for motion, but still… One hundred?

"Vinn! Get crackin, we got a record to beat!"

I just robotically shook my head.

"Hm," she said, tapping her chin. "You're right. We're going to need a bigger space! EVERYBODY OUTSIDE, STAT!"

[][][]

The next thing I knew I was outside in the courtyard, lined up and ready for my very first cartwheel. Haruhi would be my counter and the others would be my spotters, making sure I didn't hit any trees or walls.

I seriously doubted that any of it was a good idea.

But I just sighed and took a deep breath, trying to block out the "YEAH VINNY!"s and the "WOOTWOOT"s coming from the right of me as I started my endless cycle.

MIDORI'S POV

She visibly took a deep breath and started. After a while I got too dizzy to keep watching her. She spun around the courtyard so gracefully, it was amazing she didn't fly away. Or spew chunks in a circular motion. I suddenly burst into laughter at the thought, and saw Kyouya raise an eyebrow at me.

I just shook my head, smirking.

After approximately 3 minutes, I could tell Vinn was starting to lose it. She slowed down significantly, and couldn't keep her course. She started to wobble all over the place and-

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kyouya push his glasses up ever so slightly. I turned my head to face him, the simple action catching my eye. The way his muscle-toned arm bent and stretched, the way his glasses glared, the way his perfect black hair gently rustled in the breeze, catching the light…

His dark eyes shot up to meet mine and I was frozen, ice locking around my stomach and freezing my mouth in a very embarrassing jaw-dropped position. I swear I saw the side of his sculpted lips pull up into a smirk, and I couldn't help but remember what he said to me that day in the Host Club, after Vinny had left to catch her ride with the twins.

"You can come to me for anything, just know that. I will always be here." He said, smirking the tiniest bit. "Make sure you take that medicine, and come to me if you feel any sort of other pain." He went on, just ruining the perfect moment-

BOOM

CRASH

CRACK

SNAP

"Maahh!" A quiet, pained voice snapped my out of my daydream, and I whipped my head around, trying to hide my red face from Kyouya and find the source of the commotion.

My eyes widened a mile when I turned around.

VINNY'S POV

I knew I couldn't hold out much longer. I knew I was about to collapse. The world was a whirlpool of color, and I eventually just squeezed my eyes shut tight, but my arms were tiring and I was wobbling and I didn't know where I was going and-

BOOM

CRASH

CRACK

SNAP

"Maahh!" I cried out weakly.

I heard a few gasps from the club, and I unscrewed my eyes shut, only to see the whirlpool again, and I had to stop myself from spewing chunks everywhere. I pressed my fists tightly against my eyes.

Ice ran through my veins when I heard a few nervous chuckles and stifled giggles from the group.

Oh God… My mind automatically came up with the worst-case-scenario as a defense. MY PANTS FELL DOWN, MY SHORTS RIPPED, MY SWEATSHIRT FELL UP, EXPOSING MY NON-BOOBED-NESS TO THE WORLD… I struggled to come up with anything worse as Midori exploded into full-blown laughter and the twins joined her.

I chanced peeking my eyes open a little bit, and automatically regretted it. Oh, this was much worse. Much. Worse. I would have willingly exposed my non-boobed-ness to the world than this.

There, right in front of me, er, below me, was a very fuzzy, very swirly looking – but very unmistakable – Morinozuka Takashi. My blush matched his when I saw that I was straddling his waist. Oh God, oh no, OH GOD NO! My head wailed.

I quickly tried to scramble off, but failed miserably, my face coming dangerously close to his.

Midori was literally rolling on the floor, and my face flushed even brighter. I wrenched myself off of him and tried to stand, only to fall over again a few feet beside him, at which point I just gave up.

I heaved a sigh and rolled onto my back, shoving my fists into my dizzying eye sockets as hard as possible, trying to calm the swirling and the red that I knew tainted my cheeks.

I could hear him sit up beside me, and I squeezed my fists tighter.

"Uh…" He said softly, and my face heated up even more.

I wanted to say sorry, but if I opened my mouth I knew I would just spew chunks or say something horribly stupid and make the situation approximately 129053.074 times worse.

Fortunately, Honey came to my rescue. He launched himself onto the both of us, yelling "ARE YOU GUYS OKAY?"

I blinked and nodded.

Mori 'mmhmm'-ed, and the rest of the group made their way over.

"OH MY RICEBALLS THAT WAS HILARIOUS." Midori yelled, wiping tears from her eyes.

I just scowled at the ground, sitting cross-legged.

"So how exactly did that happen? I wasn't really paying attention for the whole thing." Kaoru asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, Vinny was about to crash into the school building! So Takashi jumped in between her and the wall, but…" Honey trailed off, giggling, and I glared at the little monster.

Tamaki jumped up. "WHAT A DARING RESCUE ATTEMPT BY OUR BELOVED MORI-SENP-"

"SO ANYWAY…" The twins interrupted him, turning to Kyouya. "How many did she get?"

"I don't know. Haruhi?" He asked.

"Well… If I counted right, which I'm pretty sure I did, she got to 86 and a half before she took down Mori-senpai." She turned to me. "Sorry, Vinny, you didn't beat any records today." She reached down to help me up, and I gratefully took her hand.

Of course, I fell as soon as I got to my feet, landing on my knees with a thump. I tried to stand yet again, and wobbled, trying to keep up with the whirlwind that my head was perceiving the world as. That was, until I felt a pair of strong hands wrap themselves around my shoulders.

I think it was about then that I passed out.

~end of C13~

yayy.

review. ~RBASA