A/N: In case you're interested, I added in another paragraph to Chapter 3 a few days ago. It leads in quite nicely to this chapter and adds an important detail or two that I previously left out.
Episode One: Spy Games
Kyoya Ootori was an incredibly ambitious individual. He required perfection in the execution of his plans and employed only people that met his meticulous expectations. He expected quick and efficient results and did what was necessary to accomplish his goals. He prided himself on being several steps ahead of everyone because he had so much at stake.
He was the third son in one of most prestigious families in the world. His pedigree was impeccable, but because he was the youngest son he worked the hardest to outshine his brother's stunning achievements. Failure was not an option and he had to be ambitious and push boundaries to lead the pack. He was waiting for just the right moment to make his move and outshine his brother's completely.
As a skilled tactician, Kyoya did understood the importance of patience. Information was just as valuable as currency in his world and the Shadow King was efficient at using everything to his advantage. He was confident that everything of important notice was tucked away in his files for future use, or on its way there. Recently though, he was noticing a hole in his net. And her name was Toru. Sometimes information played hard to get and Kyoya allowed it for just as long as it amused him, but when collection time came, he got results. This time however, there was nothing. He'd patiently waited for nothing. Which in the end, was an interesting bit of something.
A good look at her file showed that there were just some questions that weren't answered. As a student he didn't have access to the physical paperwork, but it was clear from the digital file in Ouran's database (that he didn't officially have had access to) must have had redacted information. There was no family history, not even Haruhi, she didn't even have any previous schooling listed. It was glaringly incomplete and it irritated him. It was beneath him to straight out ask her. He knew she was more observant than the others would guess, he knew she was precise and calculating. He didn't want her to know just how much he was digging around in her secrets. And without a doubt he knew she had some interesting connections for Suoh-sama to sign off on such an embarrassingly blank enrollment form. After having her public record investigated he'd learned that she didn't seem to exist before the summer of last year when the Fujioka family had moved to a larger apartment in the same complex they'd been at for years, despite no apparent increase in Ranka-san's income. There was no record of Fujioka Toru's birth.
He started gathering information from within the school itself. Not many people had taken notice of her. She'd been in his class the whole year and while he was aware of her presence, and basic pertinent information, she'd intentionally kept herself away from his notice without ever triggering his internist by outwardly trying to hide. The girl was skilled at going unnoticed, she was observant, and she had a quick, cunning mind. All of which she hid away in a completely blank persona. A persona that had some flaws upon closer inspection.
Tachibana had commented that she moved in and out of crowds like one of his rookies, it was high praise from the seasoned security professional. Kyoya found out that while Toru was quite bored with school work in general, her grades in Japanese, Math and Science were the worst. She put some effort into her creative writing and art class. She excelled in gym, which was optional, without ever joining any of the teams that sometimes tried to scout her. She'd only ever been seen chatting with the honor student, Fujioka Haruhi. The latest information gathered just seemed to underline the fact that she was no common girl. Fighting skills were rare among girls in their social class, and today she'd proven to be highly resilient when damaged. It put her beyond any of the small time or just for flash fighting camps of his wealthy peers. She was skilled, and yet seemingly not skilled enough to have gained previous notice from the Haninozuka or Morinozuka clans. He'd actually asked when they came to him with their interest in her after a very peculiar bit of her school history came to their attention. A very mysterious injury that took six months to recuperate from.
So when the twins had borrowed her phone for one mischievous reason or another, he'd taken full advantage of the opportunity to see what kind of information the little device held. He was now privy to her contact list, along with everything else stored in its memory. He now had some leads to follow. For one, all the notes in her phone were written in Portuguese.
He'd gathered enough information about Toru to formulate a plan on how to utilize her as a competent assistant, but he'd also gotten a few nice clues to investigate that would hopefully clear up his questions about her history. His little "protegee" was proving to be quite interesting and he had some profitable ideas planned for her. And he would start laying the ground work as soon as Toru walked through the door.
Pain killers must do strange things to one's perception of reality. Toru blinked as she looked around the 3rd music room. Tamaki was sitting at his throne, nose buried in a magazine with a colorful photograph of Bali on the cover. He was devouring a cup of instant noodles. Honey was happily eating cake. Mori, quietly sipped tea and reading from his history text book. The twins were leaning on each other, one playing a PSP, the other watching. Kyoya had been writing in his notebook, but it snapped shut when she came through the door. She felt a little strange that the site before her already seemed so familiar, so welcoming, because she'd known them for less than a week.
The cloak was still wrapped around her, hood drawn. "Did you get my backpack?" she asked as Kyoya intercepted her. She'd sent a short text asking him to have someone grab it from her locker. After hours at the clinic Toru wanted nothing more than to change out of her bloodied clothes and have a cup of tea. "It's in the prep room. When you are done we are going to have a chat," his smirk was a clear signal that said chat wasn't in any way optional.
The exchange had taken place rather quietly as he lead her to the prep room. He stood at the door and looked at her for a moment; she noticed his focus was her left side before he tilted his face fractionally and the glare caught his glasses. She just smirked and took off the borrowed cloak, revealing the sling her arm was hanging in and answering his unspoken question. His eyebrow quirked and he stepped backwards after she handed him the disguise, shutting the doors and leaving her to change. Toru grabbed her bag with her right arm and stepped into the ring of curtains they used for privacy when Honey took a nap. There was a little table inside, Usa-chan was propped in the center.
Toru believed in preparedness. She never used her back pack at school because it was stuffed with other things she thought might be useful, a change of clothes in this case. She'd shoved her backpack in her locker after the first week of school and hadn't checked on it since, but it was there waiting for her, like Bat Man's utility belt. She dug around for a moment before opening it wide and looking in. Her eyes narrowed. That was not the outfit she had packed. Rankapoppa strikes again. And from the past too.
She sighed, it didn't matter. The only reason she dressed the way she usually did was because it seemed like attention would be bothersome to her situation. School was out, the host's didn't seem to be entertaining today, it was unlikely to matter. Kyoya was already too involved and the other boys weren't likely to do anything vicious. She still had to tread carefully; with Kyoya one never really could tell what he knew and what he wanted you to think he knew. Mental maneuvering and secrets aside, the crusty patch of dried blood on her top made the decision for her.
Toru slipped first out of her sling and then her clothes. The hideous fake glasses were carelessly tossed in her bag as she pulled out her pants first. The black slacks were nice, she'd bought them with Rankapoppa. They sat low on her hips and accentuated her curves and the long line of her legs. She pulled the satin push-up bra out of her bag. Had it been anyone else, but Rankapoppa, that alone would have been creepy, but in the time she'd lived with him, she'd grown very fond of him. The man had a fantastic eye for women's fashion and Toru had very similar tastes when it came to the clothes she wore outside of school. They differed only on the subject of lace. Rankapoppa was highly pro-lace. Toru was absolutely not.
After swiping herself clean with a few wet wipes, courtesy of her bag, Toru picked the pink monstrosity up and spread it on the table before her. She'd put on a black cami, it had spaghetti straps and molded closely to her form, showing off her flat, hard stomach. She didn't normally wear just a cami in public, there was just too much skin showing, especially cleavage, for comfort, but the lacy pink material of the over-shirt made her reconsider.
"Have you seen Usa-chan?" Mori's deep voice asked just a moment before the curtain was tugged aside. Toru looked up at him, one hand on her hip, the left hanging at her side, it was the longest sentence he'd spoken in front of her. She watched the tall senior's form go rigid. "Yeah, it's right here. Hold on." She turned and bent over the table slightly, reaching for the bunny. She was already dressed, so the intrusion didn't bother her and Toru wasn't the type to get upset over "almosts" like this.
Toru ******
She turned back to an odd site. Mori was blushing. Well, I suppose that answers that. Clearly, the cami showed too much skin if even the stoic Mori was too embarrassed to look at her. Then she froze, Wait a second. Hazle eyes widened and her own cheeks flamed. In a moment of daring she later blamed on 900 mgs of vicodin, she spoke, "You didn't know did you?" That explained why the gentlemanly Mori had just walked in as well, he'd thought she was a boy. Mori's cheeks burned just a shade brighter and Toru buried her face in the soft comfort of Usa-chan.
She heard him move suddenly and expected him to have retreated from the uncomfortable situation. It was a surprise when she felt his warmth in front of her. She peaked up between Usa's ears, still mostly hidden. Mori reached out and grabbed her forearm gently, tugging it up for inspection. His eyes flickered to her cheek and then over her shoulder resting lastly on her mouth. His silent attention somehow seemed even more intense than Kyoya's. Finally he tore his eyes away and was looking at her knuckles. They had been cleaned and had already scabbed over nicely. Toru had removed the bandages so the skin could breath. "You've been in a fight," it was not a question. And was that...disapproval in his tone?
Something about the situation made her giddy. Not it a happy, warm way, but in a nervous kind of way. It was like if your father caught you sneaking in late with liquor on your breath and your shirt was clearly all mussed up and you had the sudden, overwhelming urge to giggle at the amount of trouble you were in. Toru tried to make light of it, "That obvious huh?" Oh, I'm brilliant, she thought sarcastically. Mori's mouth quirked down just a fraction, his eyes narrowed.
Toru gulped. How was it possible for someone to say so much and so little at the same time? "Listen, Mori-kun, please don't be angry with me." His eye brows shot upwards. Toru couldn't help, but notice the difference between Ayanokoji's or Kyoya's cool, detached gray and the simple quiet strength of Mori's. He looked down at her hand again and moved to take Usa-chan. His finger's brushed very gently over her torn knuckles before her let her go completely. Ah, concerned then. She gave him a small grin, mindful of the four stitches on the inside of her lip. They locked eyes and understanding passed between them. With that, he turned and left. Toru let out a soft breath when she heard the door click shut. It seemed she had another ally, the excitement made her just as heady as the drugs in her system.
In a much more optimistic mood, she grabbed the pink monstrosity and slid into it. The silken fabric was flowy and light, it stirred with every movement or breeze. It was a stylized Renaissance design that fit tightly around her midsection. Its purpose was to show off the length of her trim midsection and the noticeable size difference between her ribcage and bust. It was of modest cut at the chest and the sleeves were fully lace, an angel wing shape that fell to her elbows. With practiced ease, she pulled most of her hair back into high pig-tails and looped them into a messy, spiky buns. She liked how it gave her puppy ears. Her bangs fell freely past her chest. Lastly, she put her left arm back in the sling. Her medication and cell phone resting in the crook of her arm.
As she walked towards the door, she caught sight of herself in the mirror and laughed. She looked good, but she'd always been confident about her body. She looked...funny. The left half of her wasn't as pleasant, between the sling, the fist sized bruise on her cheek, and the gash on her lip. If she turned the other way though, she looked adorable. Two Face. Toru grinned as she pulled the door open. Two Bat Man references in one day, she was on a roll. Of course, the pain killers will get all the credit.
Toru had just walked through the door when she was shocked out of her silly thoughts by the suddenly very close presence of Tamaki. "I'm sorry Hime-sama, but we're closed today. Oh!" His eyes filled with sympathy tears as he caught sight of the Princess's battered appearance. "You poor, wounded, Princess! You wanted nothing more than to see us and-"
"Tamaki-kun," Toru interrupted. "No, I understand!" His arm was around her right side and he was gentle with her left. "The pain was too much, you just-" Toru interrupted him again, "Tamaki-kun its just me." Tamaki put on the sparkle, "Don't talk like that, Hime-sama. You're a precious jewel. I will heal you with my love! Can you feel the burning intensi-"
"Toru-chan!" Honey's cheerful peep cut through Tamaki's glittery prose, "You look so cute!" Tamaki let go of Toru and looked her over, "I must have heard that wrong," he muttered. His eyes traveled over the exotic Princess before him. She was tall, feminine, and beautiful with her golden skin, strange hazel eyes, and a proper womanly fashion sense. She looked like a girl who, injuries aside, would perfectly fit in with the Princesses that filled the halls of Ouran, if not in Class A, then certainly in Class B. His Inu-chan was...a sturdy girl. With a terrible eye for design. Who blended into the walls and sometimes had a foul mouth and a rough demeanor.
Honey spoke again, "Takeshi, doesn't Toru-chan look cute!" Toru glanced over and happened to meet the tall senior's gaze. A faint blush covered his cheeks, "Ah." Toru looked over to Honey and then the twins, it seemed to be unanimous, blushes of approval from the lot of them. Tamaki still looked confused, as if he were trying to merge his previous image of her with the reality before him. She didn't blame him; her other clothes and the items she carried in them made her look about fifty pounds heavier. With nothing covering her features it was like seeing her for the first time. At least he had known all along that she was a girl. Seeing the difficulty he was having with this situation she figured she could attribute that more to the fact that they'd had class together all year than to his observational prowess.
Honey came bounding over, clearly intent on a glomp, but he put on the brakes when he noticed her arm in a sling. His eyes flickered over her injuries in much the same way Mori's had. She'd never seen the little blond look so serious. "Toru-chan, what happened?" His eyes were deep, complex mixture of emotions that surprised her. She instinctively reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder, reassuring him that she was alright. "That's actually what I wanted to talk about," Kyoya spoke. "Have a seat, Toru," he gestured to a set of chairs at the end of a coffee table. There were love seats pulled around the other three sides.
She sat in the left chair, "Um, where's Haruhi?" The twins answered, "He said he'd meet us here in a bit. He was looking for something." Honey sat on the couch that was closest to Toru's seat, "Want some cake?" She smiled and nodded in response. Mori prepared her a slice and sat it in front of her with a cup of tea. "Arigato," she blew on her tea gently to help cool it. The tall senior sat on the couch closest to her, right beside Honey. The twins were seated across from them, beside the empty chair that waited for Haruhi. Tamaki and Kyoya were across the table from Toru. The lone girl grinned and shook her head before pulling her iPhone out of her sling and placing it on the table; it was followed by the three bottles the doctor had given her.
"Wow, did the doc go overboard with the meds or what?" One twin asked. The other leaned over and began playing with her cell phone, Kaoru if the part of his hair could be trusted. "Maybe a little," she flicked her fingers at the two big bottles, "He said those would help the bruising on my shoulder, but its mostly for my ribs." Hikaru looked over, "Ribs?" Toru placed her hand just under her bust line and winced a bit, "Thoroughly bruised one on each side," she opened her eyes and deadpanned, "The really dumb thing is that it was my stupid anatomy text book that did it." She'd always found it funny that she kept that particular book closest to her body.
"What about the little one?" Kaoru gestured. "Antibiotics so the stitches don't get infected." Honey meeped into his forkful of cake, "You had to get stitches?" Toru felt a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth and barely restrained it, "Yeah, in my mouth." That made everyone wince. They all had a serious expression. Toru would have had one too, given the events of the day, had she not felt such an incredibly lack of energy at the moment. She emptied her tea cup and sighed happily before placing it on the table. Mori refilled it as Kyoya spoke.
"There was an incident at lunch." All attention was on him, except Toru who was demolishing her slice of cake with gusto. A fight, a fall, awkward revelations, all on an empty stomach, she was starving. As Kyoya filled them in Toru focused on the delicious flavor of vanilla and avoided the worried glances the boys shot her when Kyoya occasionally said something they didn't like. She had just started reaching over to slice herself another piece when Mori laid a hand on her arm. She paused and looked over at him. He gestured for her plate, so she handed it to him. He served her a fresh slice and she mouthed her thanks so as not to interrupt Kyoya's recitation of events.
"Someone attacked you?" There was a definite atmosphere of displeasure in the room now. It rolled off of everyone and seemed to smother her. She blew on her tea and looked up at Tamaki, who'd spoken. "Yes," simple seemed best. She didn't know what to expect from her volatile classmates. Honey spoke next, "And you don't know who?" Kyoya added in, "Any recently gained enemies?"
As the prissy Ayanokoji flashed through her mind, Toru stilled for fraction of a second before taking a big sip of tea that was still too hot. She winced as it hit her stitches, a keening whine sounded from her throat, but she managed not to choke on it. "Oh, that was so stupid," she covered her lips with her hands and shut her eyes, taking deep, calming breaths through her nose. A softness found its way into her arms and she pressed her face into it, recognizing Usa-chan's shape and the sweet scent of baked goods that perfumed her "fur." When she thought she could look at them without watery eyes she did. "Gomen," she began. "Honestly, I don't know who it was, but I'm sure I'll find out in the next couple of days." She hugged the stuffed rabbit tight with her good arm, "He'll have to come back to school at some point and when he does, he'll probably look like me only worse." Her own eyes narrowed, "Its one thing to meet an opponent in the Octagon honorably, but jump me in a dark hallway and I'm going to assume I'm fighting for my life."
"That's pretty dark," Kaoru murmured. "Its a good rule to follow as a woman," Toru answered. "I agree. Its bad to hit girls!" Honey's words were cute, he'd even punctuated it was a finger in the air, but his eyes still had that barely perceptible serious edge to them. "You said Octagon, you practice Mixed Martial Arts?" His face portrayed a bit of awe, with a wide encouraging smile, but his chocolate eyes held a spark of more calculating interest that was difficult to discern.
"Not since my injury last year, but yes. I don't think my attacker was expecting it, his skill was more of a bully brawler type, but..." she trailed off in thought for a moment as she replayed the fight in her mind, "he had a basic understanding of judo principles," she spoke with her eyes closed. "I'm absolutely horrid with judo, but its because of that I recognized the throw so well. He was trying, but unsure of himself." She opened her eyes again. "I planned to check out the martial arts clubs over the next week and see if I can't recognize him, by injury or style." Her eyes flickered to Kyoya's as he wrote in his note book. "And to answer you're question, I'm not sure, but I plan to watch very carefully. I don't want to point fingers with so little to go on. I'm more of a watch patiently in the shadows type," she knew he would understand her sentiment on that of all things. His answering smirk, a tiny quirk of his lips, did not go noticed.
Toru tried her tea again, this time with no pain. She finished her second cup and started on the cake. "That brings me to the actual reason for the meeting," Kyoya stated. Toru didn't bother looking up, but acknowledged she was listening with a nod. Mori refilled her tea cup again. This time he'd poured cream into it, to cool it. She smiled and knew that was thanks enough when he nodded.
"We utilize our individual talents to meet the needs of the customers," the Cool type began, "I've been doing some research and came up with a few conclusions about what your position in the club could be." He opened his note book and pulled out a manilla file. Toru was more than curious about the contents of that slim folder. "Firstly," he spread a handful of glossy photos on the table before them, "you are a skilled amateur photographer." Some were of them, doing Host activities. There was one of Honey, mid-flight, as he pounced at someone off frame. A picture of Tamaki, flinging Haruhi around in a circle. An eerie one of the twins alone in front of the mirror. Other's were of Haruhi and herself at home doing random things. Toru's eyes narrowed. Suddenly forgetting her phone at school seemed less likely than it having been pick-pocketed for his research. It was a notion she definitely filed away for later.
"Wow, Toru-chan! You took these?" Honey was leaning forward, his interest clearly caught by one of him sitting before a towering cake, a fork and knife in hand. "Yeah, I like to keep a scrap book of important things," she chirped back at him. Something about the chibi-blonde brightened her mood. Tamaki perked up, beaming at her, "Awww, are we you're important things?" Toru laughed as she finished her cake. "Of course, I'm Host club's Inu-chan. My owners would have to be important to me or I'd be a pretty bad dog," she beamed, cocking her head sideways. With her hair put up the way it was, it really did look like she had puppy ears and suddenly Tamaki was behind her chair, hugging her neck and resting his head on hers, "Oh you're so cute!" Toru tolerated a small portion of the abuse Haruhi suffered on a daily basis and couldn't help, but feel a little light-hearted.
Kyoya reigned him back in, "As I was saying..." Tamaki patted Toru on the head gently and went back to his seat, "considering no one noticed you taking pictures and these are of acceptable quality I'd like you to begin taking photos as our unofficial photographer. We'll need to edit out any shots of the customers and there will need to be some tweaking in Photoshop," he looked at the twins. Hikaru was holding up one of him and Kaoru playing the Which one is Hikaru game, "Yeah, the lighting function on the iPhone sucks, so does the motion sense." Kaoru nodded, "You don't make many mistakes that we can't fix pretty easily," Hikaru finished his brother's thought, "But it would probably help a lot if we get you a better camera. Yours is too cheap." Kyoya was scanning his note book, "That can be arranged. It would be worth it to have better quality photos to put in the periodicals." His eyes slid to Tamaki. The Host King nodded and Kyoya made a note. Toru grinned. "That's cool, and now that you know I'm taking pictures, I could probably get some really good posed shots of the costumes," she mused.
Kyoya gathered up the photos, "I'd like those please, at least the ones with Haruhi. If she finds out I let you keep them, she won't let me take anymore." He smirked and handed them over. They both knew he had digital copies. She looked through them as he pulled out a new sheet of paper, "Moving on, your mastery of your own presence makes it easy for you to move around unnoticed. I'd like you to begin making weekly reports of Host related gossip from the customers." Toru sweatdropped, the confusion in her voice was quite evident, "Excuse me?" Kyoya's cold smile had more than a little shark in it, "Its a good market research technique. The complaints help us better serve them and their wishes help us predict popular trends." She chuckled, "Okay, that's easy enough," her laugh still seemed a little incredulous. He handed her the sheet and she set it on top of the photos. "That is a list of the type of things I'm interested in hearing about. Please follow the directions for e-mailing it."
She nodded and reached across to grab a third slice of cake. Mori placed his hand on her arm, his eye brow quirked. She grinned sheepishly and just handed him her plate. He nodded as he handed it back to her and she was struck with deja vu.
"There is one last thing," Toru looked up as Kyoya spoke, "Tamaki..." he signaled the Prince type who bloomed under the attention and took the lead. "I have decided on an official course of action regarding today's incident." His amethyst eyes and a serious edge, "From tomorrow on, you will be an official member of the Host club." Toru's form went stiff, her fork was paused in front of her face, mouth slightly parted, "Say what?" Honey piped in, "Toru-chan, if you're officially one of us, instead of just Host club's Inu-chan, it will make you safer." Mori nodded, "Ah."
Tamaki spoke again, "We'll be a family, protection in numbers and in name." Toru understood, they were showing her favor after the incident. With their names now attached to her own, a culprit would think twice before taking her on a second time. "But don't you need to be...well, a Host to be an official member?" Kyoya held up the school hand book, "Technically, you do need to participate in hosting activities, though not to the degree that we do. It would be impossible for you to masquerade as Haruhi does so I've come up with another plan." He adjusted his glasses. Toru let out a breath in relief, she had no interest in Hosting, but then he continued, "After speaking with Haruhi, I've determined you will be the "Sister" type."
A/N: This is actually the middle of the conversation, but its already around 4,890 words long and if I didn't cut it off here the chapter was going to get close to 10k. We see what Toru looks like for the first time. Hope it didn't come off ridiculous, lol. I tried to make everyone as in character as possible and when in doubt I referred back to how they might react to Haruhi at this stage in their relationship...so I think its accurate. This all takes place during the meeting that Haruhi missed when she was searching for her things in the fountain, which is why Haruhi is absent. This chapter we see a bit more Kyoya being developed, as well as Toru. I hope to continually develop Toru every chapter, but I have also been trying to develop one of the other characters in each chapter. Next chapter we will either see Honey or Mori. I'll be happy to see your guesses in review. :) As usual, I'll update early for +10 reviews, otherwise I'll update next Saturday. Thanks everyone who alerted and/or reviewed already! I really do appreciate it.