Chapter 14
Kyoya watched in amusement as Alexis scratched another club off her list, huffing in frustration. He leaned forward and grasped his cup of tea, putting it to his lips to hide the smirk. They had taken a break from visiting clubs today so that Alexis would have a chance to put her thoughts and impressions of the other clubs in order before their next batch of meetings. So far her interviews had been unsuccessful to the point of horrendously bad luck.
Of course that would be the case since I have spoken to each club member personally and impressed upon them the importance of her rejecting their club. His eyes glinted in unholy glee. Even I wasn't really prepared for the lengths the clubs were willing to go to however.
He reached over and patted her soothingly on the back. "Don't worry Alexis, there are still 5 more clubs to go. I'm sure that you can find a suitable match for you out of those." And I am not willing to miss their attempts at dissuading you either.
"This is absolutely ridiculous! I knew there were eccentrics in this school, but, do they have to be in EVERY club that I am interested in!" She pushed her hair out of her face and leaned into his shoulder.
A bonus that he had not anticipated from his little revenge was that she turned to him in her exhaustion. Each time she had more than enough to put her over the edge she would curl up to him and lean her head into his shoulder, sometimes for a second or like yesterday for a short nap. He found these times to be very relaxing as they brought about a small break for him as well.
He curled his arm around her waist and rested his chin on her head. "You have to find a club. The school rules dictate that if you are unable to find one you will be asked to leave. Its their way of making sure that you uphold the school's reputation of well rounded, exemplary graduates."
She humphed, "I'm not giving up, I just don't understand why it is so difficult to find at the very least a somewhat suitable club. Thank goodness I am going to be out of town this weekend in Sapporo."
"Sapporo? You will be going to the concert than?" The Sapporo Symphony Orchestra was well known for their enchanting musical performances.
"Yes and to visit the botanical gardens, the museum of modern art and so on. I don't suppose you would be interested in going along with me? I was going to ask the host club as a whole if they would be interested but Mori has that Kendo match which Honey will be tagging along to and the twins will be with their mom in Los Angeles for the showing she is hosting. That pretty much leave us, Tamaki and Haruhi, if they are interested."
"I haven't been to one of their concerts in a while, and I will have some business to conclude in the area I think I will. Have you asked the buffoon or Haruhi yet?"
"I already got a yes from Haruhi, she hasn't heard the Symphony yet herself, but, Tamaki has been a hard one to catch." She cocked her head to the side. "Actually, he has been avoiding me since the incident with the cage. I wonder if he thinks I'm still mad at him? Well, no matter I will corner him today for sure and see what he says."
"He will be a yes I am sure. He loves music and I am almost positive he had plans to attend the concert by himself anyway." She began to straighten herself up and pull out of his embrace. "He is currently entertaining over in the greenhouse as we speak would you like to head in that direction." He silently snickered as she shivered.
"No, I don't really think I can go to that place again without wanting to lose the contents of my stomach, I'll just pin him down when he gets back." She began to sort through the papers again. "When in our next appointment?"
"About thirty minutes from now with the culinary arts club."
"I'm going to cross my fingers and hope this one is, marginally acceptable." She stopped, her eyes widening. "I never thought I'd see the day when I would accept anything but perfect." She shook her head in disgust. "I'm not particularly proud of the fact that I'm letting my standards slip, but, its the only way I can stay in the same school with you." Her shoulders slumped. "If I can't find a club in time I may be forced to switch to Lobelia just to stay in the same country with my mother's approval."
Her last statement sent a bit of guilt chewing through his thoughts.
The sooner this cat and mouse game is over the better.
Just as Alexis began to reread her club summaries the doors to the hall swung open and Tamaki strode in. He was talking quite intensely to the two girls clinging like vines to his arms. On the right was a petite red head and on his left a chunky blond.
"My dear," he cooed at the red head "the roses could not compare to your vibrant coloring. They whithered in shame at the sight of your glorious red locks." When she buried her head in her hands, he turned his attention to the blond. "They could not compare to your angelic fragrance..." he got no further as she fainted from his direct eye contact. "Oh, dear was that a bit much?"
Kyoya calmly got up and checked on the girls pulse. "She is fine. How many times do I have to warn you that Ai is especially bashful and not to be overly forward with her. This is the fifth time this year you have made her collapse." He rolled his eyes.
"I am sorry Kyoya, but, I can not keep my feelings so tightly in check." His purple eyes tugged down in sadness.
Or in check at all.
"When she comes to give her some mint tea it ought to perk her back up." Alexis had joined Kyoya when she saw that Tamaki was almost done of the day. "Oh, and Tamaki, when you're done I need to speak with you. There is a trip coming up and I want to know if you are interested." She turned and walked back to the couch.
"Is she still mad about the cage? I swear I learned my lesson! No catching and trapping friends ever again." Tamaki nodded his head frantically up and down his face showing his seriousness.
"You idiot were you not listening? She is planning another trip and wants to know if you will be available. Just go and speak with her when you are done. Don't piddle about it either." He turned and walked off, intent on questioning Haruhi.
Alexis was thoroughly miffed by the time Tamaki came to speak to her. All of her attempts at singling out a halfway interesting club had been met with depressing and sometimes humiliating failure. She had already gone so far as to request a application from Lobelia as a backup plan.
She leaned back into the couch and watched as the twins cooed over each other to the delight of their customers. She smiled as one of the girls grabbed the arm of the other and they both let out twin shrieks of excess moe.
She glanced at her watch and than looked around the room for Tamaki. She spotted him wandering around the room his eyes trailing after Haruhi as she began to clear up her sitting area. The slightly glazed look and blush that told her that he currently resided in his private theater. Since it was Tamaki she didn't feel too embarrassed in imagining what was running through his head since it was more likely than not innocent.
I wonder when he will figure out that he doesn't feel as a father toward her? This game of hide the feelings can't go on forever.
The second he looked up and shook himself out of his imaginings, she caught his eye and motioned him over. It made her feel a little guilty that his shoulders hunched and his eyes stayed glued to the floor as he picked his way to her side.
"Tamaki, quit looking like the whipping boy. I asked you over to see if you would be interested in going with Kyoya and I to Sapporo for the weekend for the concert and of course a little site seeing." She watched as his eyes lite back up and he dropped himself into the cushion next to her.
"My family actually has reserved seating for each season, it would be perfect for this trip and I have a basic knowledge of the city itself so I would make a inspiring tour guide, if I could be so bold." He seemed to be deeply in thought. "There are quite a few places that I think you would like to see."
"I don't mind you showing us around, but, there are a few places that I want to see in particular so maybe I could let you know so that you could keep them in mind for scheduling purposes." She felt a little giddy. He knew where to go it would be perfect!
"Will it only be the three of us?"
"Well for now there is someone else I want to ask but I won't know for sure just yet." there was a slight glint to her eyes.
"Alright," he looked a little fidgety again. "I wanted to apologize for the..."
"Don't worry Tamaki." She grinned bumping her shoulder against his. "I know you didn't mean any harm. Just next time think twice before you do something like that." She wiggled her eyebrows at him, a smirk twitching her lips.
Even being as dense as he was Tamaki had noticed that Alexis and Kyoya were rubbing off on each other. It didn't really bother him so much as make him realize that his friend had met a person who could rub off on him.
He stood up and quickly bowed. "I have most definitly learned my lesson, Princess, there will be NO repeat of that particular experience. If you will excuse me, Haruhi seems to need my help, I will get back with you about the schedule as soon as I have a draft ready." Haruhi looked perfectly capable of completing her tasks alone, but, Tamaki liked to take any chance he had to speak with her without the intrusion of the devil twins.
She watched him walk away, while Kyoya began to motion towards the clock.
Damn, I forgot about the meeting with the culinary arts club.
She rolled her eyes. At this point the only reason she continued with the debacles that were her meetings were so that she could continue to attend Ouran. Anything short of that and she might of thrown up her hands and planned her first day at Lobelia.
She packed up her papers and tugged her brown bag over her shoulder, once Kyoya joined her at the door they began to make their way through the halls and up the stairs to where the culinary club held court.
"I love this school, I love the students, I will get over their eccentricities." Alexis chanted as Kyoya reached for the doorknob.
Before he had even twisted the handle a loud "clang" was heard from inside as something fell and once the door was open a massive cloud of white flour flowed over them like fog in a horror movie.
Alexis began waving her hand in front of her face futilely attempting to clear a path for her to breath.
"I told you three cups flour not three bags you nitwit." A shriek echoed from the depths of the cloud.
"We are making enough for the whole school to get a taste, we were supposed to multiply it you hag." A deeper more choked voice responded.
"That was last week you dense, poorly educated, short minded ass! This week it was only for us!" The first voice responded slightly gagging.
"Well I'll fix it, we just learned in Science that flour is flammable. All I have to do is..."
BAM!
A shell shocked and slightly charred Alexis and Kyoya slowly made their way to their respective limos. You really couldn't tell who was leading who (though two guesses it was Kyoya in the lead) as they supported each other.
"I think its safe to say that culinary arts club is off the list of available options." Alexis was not even sure if she had enough energy to be depressed about that.
"Considering they need a new room to meet in, that is a fairly educated guess." How they managed not to kill anyone was the real mystery.
He leaned over absently and kissed the top of her floured head and sent her into her car.
"I think I am glad that its no longer an option, cause goodness knows what exactly THAT group would end up teaching me." she shook her head in exasperation as Kyoya closed the car door.
Once her car was gone, Kyoya got in his own. As soon as the car began to move, he began to snicker.
Ouran's students are most definitely the best of the best. At what is really the problem...
I'm sorry it toke so long to update! I swear this story has been on my brain everyday as I tried to struggle and tear a way through my writers block! That with my schedule more or less put me in a bind. I decided screw it! I would write until it made sense and voil'e! I will try to keep this going as regularly as I can but this time the only promise I can make is that it will be finished and I won't let it die.
I don't own OuranHigh School Host Club. Or my brain currently, apparently possession is 9/10th's of the law.