Okay… so a lot has happened since I last updated which was about…. Oh let's say a century ago. Yeah…. I'm sorry about that. Anyways, I plan on writing again because it's so much fun. And don't forget that my good friend ChubbyLover is writing some good stories! Both are with underrated characters like Kasanoda, only she's writing about under loved characters from Naruto. The characters are Chouji and Lee, and I especially want you guys to read the one about Lee because the story is being written with my character! Hooray! And guys, I write much faster with reviews! Remember, if you can spare a moment to read it, you can spare another to review it! Anything helps! Alright, happy reading!
After talking about the potential job with Kyouya, I was too excited to sleep that night. It was invigorating to know that I was going to use a loophole in Yuyi's plan to keep me a student full-time and I should have felt bad but I couldn't bring myself to feel that way. I was glad to put my skills to use and it would give me a sense of freedom. After all, I would be using what my mother had taught me all life to live by in this new world. I guess the cleaning would give me a sense of normality when everything else changed recently.
Since I could remember, she had instilled in me a sense of being neat when it came to important things. She always worked, so when I was 5 I took over all the chores in the house because I felt that it was important. I was so happy when she would come home from a long, exhausting day at work to a clean house, knowing that she was proud of me even if it wasn't the best job in the world.
I stood up and walked to my beautiful mint plant that was sitting almost happily on my desk. After thinking about it for a moment, I sat down in the chair that was in front of the desk, and planned to only be there for a short while. I folded my arms on the wood and soon laid my head down so that I could still look at my precious plant. I was so mesmerized and consumed by my thoughts and plant that the next time I looked away I could see the tiniest of slivers of light peaking through the window at me.
With on glance back at the plant, I finally forced myself to get ready for the day. I knew that how this school day would determine my future days at Ouran, and so I promised myself to do my best.
As usual, I only got a glance of Yuyi as he quickly walked out the door, heading toward a meeting or something. I noticed that he hadn't been home very much since I came here and I didn't know if it was how he had always been or if he was purposely making sure our contact was minimal. Either way, he was too rich to work so much in my opinion.
I quickly told Tennoji that I was planning to stay after school for a club but I couldn't bring myself to tell him why. He didn't ask any further questions, and I gratefully let his imagination fill in the blanks of my activity. Then I headed toward the car that the driver was taking me to school in. Every time he looked at me with his cold eyes I got chills and couldn't help but look the other direction. After what seemed forever, he pulled up to the school and I got out of the door that he held open for me. I thanked him quickly, and walked onto the school grounds.
The looks people gave me today were similar to the day before, but there was something else to them. The looks were almost of amusement and wonder, but it was hard to be sure. I ignored them all and just headed in the direction towards my classroom.
"Good morning, Sano." Haruhi greeted me as I walked into the class.
"Morning, Sano." The twins said as I came near them. They were sitting casually near Haruhi and looked extremely tired, which made me grin.
"Morning. Why are you two so sleepy?"
"We found a game the other day, and we stayed up all night playing it." One of them said. I couldn't tell which, but I didn't really care. I just started laughing at how foolish it sounded. Then again, I knew I looked exhausted as well since I had only been half asleep last night rather than actually sleeping.
"You guys do know that whatever game it was would still be here in the morning, right?" I said, still laughing. They gave me a matching blank stare and before they could reply the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. They took their seats and the teacher began the lesson.
The lecture in our class was so boring that I fell asleep only a few minutes into class, but thankfully the teacher didn't notice. Good thing the teacher didn't too, because it would have been hard to explain to Yuyi why my second day I was in trouble for dozing in class. Scratch that, Tennoji would have told him since I haven't even been able to say more than hello to him since our last major discussion of which school I was to attend. Somehow, the day passed really quickly and before I knew it the 4 of us were heading towards the third music room that held the host club. On the way there, the twins decided to pay me back for my comments earlier.
"You know, Sano, that the test will be extremely difficult, right? You'll have to clean everything from top to bottom with only a toothbrush and 5 paper towels. Anything more and you'll be disqualified! Oh, and not to mention that if you fail to get EVERY speck of dirt out of the room, that you'll be sent packing!" The twins said with a devilish glint in their eyes. I didn't believe them fully, but they were starting to get me, making me a little nervous.
Haruhi saw this and thankfully told me different things. "Don't worry Sano. I'm sure that they will have things set up differently. I know that you will do fine if you try your hardest." She then gave me a comforting smile that could lift anyone's spirits.
"Thanks Haruhi. I'll definitely blow you all away with how well I'll pass the trial, just wait and see!" I said as confidently as I could. Before I knew it, we were about to pull open the door to the room. I hesitated for a moment, but then firmly grasped the cold handle and opened the door and walked in.
I saw the upperclassmen pulling a curtain shut that was separating a part of the room and I immediately realized that behind that curtain must be where my ultimate test was to be.
"Ah, hello Sano." Kyouya greeted me once he realized that we had arrived. "Are you ready for the trial?" He asked me calmly. His gaze on me was strong and almost unbearable despite his words.
"Yes, I think I'm ready." I replied casually, and I was proud to hear that my voice was strong even though I felt like he was sizing up how I could handle myself.
"Alright, I'll explain your task then. Through this curtain you will find a mess that needs to be cleaned up thoroughly. You will have 30 minutes to complete as much as you can, and you are only allowed to use the supplies we have left inside for you. The rules are that you can't have outside help, and that you don't use any other cleaning items than the ones we have provided. When the time is up, we will evaluate your work and discuss and vote on whether or not you are to be in our service. Am I clear?"
"Crystal. I'm ready to begin." I said as I walked forward to the curtain. When I passed through the fabric, my first thought was that it was already night time, even though the other side I had just exited showed otherwise. On further inspection, I realized that mud covered the windows completely. I was in awe at the mess of the room because there were muddy handprints everywhere, random clothes strewn about and ripped paper thrown around, and that wasn't even all of it.
"You have only 29 minutes and 31 seconds remaining Sano, so I suggest you begin." I heard Kyouya say from the other side of the temporary wall that separated me from everyone else. His voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I quickly looked around, and was glad to find Windex on the table near me. 'I might as well begin with letting some light through' I thought to myself. As quick as my body could, I cleaned the windows to where the sun shone proudly. Then I picked all of the clothes up and put them in a basket that was placed in the middle of the room and when every item of clothing was picked up I dragged it to the corner where it was out of my way. I dusted and oiled the large table in the room and then picked up the broom and swept all of the paper that was on the ground and threw it away, leaving me with the biggest job of all: mopping all of the mud off the floor. The soapy water soon became dark and by time I finished the entire floor the liquid was unrecognizably black. Just as I was making my last touches I heard a timer go off on the other side.
"Sano! Times up! It's time for us to judge your work!" I heard Tamaki say in a sing-song voice. I sat down in a chair by the windows and watched as they pulled the curtain open completely.
"Wow, Sano, this looks great!" Hunny said in an amazed voice. I saw Mori nod as well, and I was glad to know that I had their support.
"We didn't think-"
"That you would do so well." The twins said and I figured that I should take that as a compliment.
"This place is magnificent! Sano, this is so wonderful! It truly is inspiring to have this room so clean in such a short time! " Tamaki praised. He was almost dancing around in happiness at my work, which made me smile.
"I knew you would do well." Haruhi told me, making me even happier.
The only who had yet to say anything about my work was Kyouya, who was closely examining the table that I had worked hard on. He seemed to be taking notes on my work by writing them down in his notebook. After he was done looking at all my work, he remained writing in his notebook and after a minute I was growing exceedingly nervous at his silence. He adjusted his glasses and then began speaking.
"This is a thorough job that you have done in so short of time given. As it seems that everyone thinks that your job was successful, I would like to extend an invitation for you to become our room handler. However, if you accept you must understand that you will do more than just clean. You will handle most of our menial tasks like the cleaning and shopping. This way no host will have to be sent someplace that would take up time that could be sent hosting. You would act as a sort of butler, if you will. You must be serious about the job or otherwise we will have to let you go. Do you think you are up for the job?"
"Yes, of course! I wouldn't have done the trial if I wasn't serious about my work. I'll be the best butler this host club has ever seen!" I said enthusiastically. I couldn't help but feel happy that I had passed the examination for working for the club.
"Alright, well we open in 15 minutes so we would like for you to begin today. Is that alright?" Kyouya asked, but I could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew I would do it.
"Yeah, just let me catch my breath before I start. This room took a lot out of me."
"Sano! Sano! Did you notice my handprints?" Hunny asked while coming up to me. He was excited and I laughed at the cute face that he made.
"I sure did. They were really hard clean off. If I didn't know any better, I would think that you were trying to get me to fail." I replied with a grin on my face.
"No! I wanted to make sure you really serious about the host club! Oh! Cake!" Hunny saw Mori put a piece of cake on the table in the main section of the room and ran off to enjoy it. I glanced at the clock and figured now was as good a time as any to get up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Haruhi approach me with a suit in her hands.
"Kyouya says that while you're here, this is to be your uniform. You're supposed to wear it at all times except when told otherwise." The suit was basically nice dress slacks like the one for the school uniform and the white shirt had a few ruffles in the front but they weren't that bad looking. There was a black vest that went over the shirt and a small, thin black ribbon that was meant to be a tie. To finish it off there was a large cloth that was supposed to be wrapped around the waist. All in all, I actually liked how it looked and surprisingly was a perfect fit, even with my cover up.
"He just happened to have a suit in my size?" I questioned.
"I guess he figured that you would pass the test." She said back.
"Haruhi, it's time to take your place! Oh, Sano, we would like to formally introduce you as our butler to the customers once they are let in if you don't mind." Tamaki explained as he pulled me to the center of the room. Now I felt a thousand times more nervous than when I was waiting to be tested. I had never been good with being the center of attention when I actually had to pay attention to people. After all, ignoring people I could handle but I knew that it would have a negative impact on my work here if I did that.
"Are you ready?" Tamaki asked. I was about to have a panic attack until I felt his calming presence near me. I thanked him silently and after a moment of waiting I smiled as wide as I could manage, though I'm sure people automatically saw through it.
"Yeah, let's get rock and roll this joint." The door then opened to reveal all the awaiting ladies who were wondering what the delay was. When the crowd saw the entire host club in the center waiting for them with me beside them, they began to give me curious looks.
"Welcome beautiful princesses to the Host Club. We as your humble hosts would like to introduce to you our newest club participant: our butler, Sanosuke Shields. Please welcome him as you would welcome any of us." Tamaki told the entire group of girls inside the room. I was then expected to say something and as everyone turned to look at me I couldn't help feeling fidgety.
"Hello, my name is Sano and please don't hesitate to ask me for anything." With that, I ended in a deep bow. When I straightened up, it seemed to me that the crowd was more open to me than before and I was thankful that I wasn't expected to be perfect or anything.
The ladies, or 'princesses' as Tamaki liked to call them, separated and headed toward the different hosts in the room like nothing had interrupted their day. I breathed a sigh of relief that I wasn't the ladies only focus now and headed to Kyouya to find out my first task as the host clubs personal butler. In my mind, I noted how odd it seemed that Kyouya was more of my boss than Tamaki who was the club president.
"What are my duties as of now, sir?" I addressed Kyouya. It felt a little odd to speak to someone and putting them in a higher title than myself, but I knew that I could get used to it after a little while.
"We need you to go to the office and pick up some boxes meant for this week's activities. Just tell the people in there that the club sent you and you shouldn't have any problem.
I went and picked up the boxes without trouble and by the time I made it back to the third music room I noticed there were some new girls in there. There were a lot of girls standing around and I tried to maneuver around them without dropping anything but I accidentally knocked over someone else who had been trying to get around the crowd as well. I quickly apologized, feeling my face redden in embarrassment without looking up and trying to get the boxes off the floor. I was surprised when I heard a male voice that didn't belong to any of the hosts.
"Are you okay? I knocked you down pretty hard." I got the courage to look into the face of the person that I had taken down with me, and was instantly met with eyes that reminded me of a snow storm that I had once been in when I was 8 years old. They also seemed sharp and dangerous. The guy had red hair and was almost frightening in how he looked. His face was hard and in an unpleased look, like he was frustrated all the time. He made me think of the gangs that I used to run into trouble with back in one of the places my mom and I lived in when I decided to be friends with someone that they didn't like.
It took me a moment to do anything more than stare, which I think he noticed, but then I found my voice.
"I'm alright. It was my fault; I couldn't see where I was going and you just so happened to be in the path I was mowing down!" I said as jokingly as I could with a big smile. I could tell from the look on his face that he was about to argue with me again about whose fault it was, but I cut him off before he could.
"My name's Sano. I'm the new butler for the host club but I don't think I've met you before."
It took him a moment before I got his name, like he was hesitating on whether or not to tell me.
"I'm Kasanoda." He replied.
We both finally got off the floor, after he and I managed to pick up everything that I dropped, and headed to the side of the room where the table was. When I put the stuff down, I turned back to him.
"What grade are you in?"
"I'm in 1-D." Was the casual reply.
"You're in your first year? Wow, I thought you were a third year for sure! I'm really glad to meet you then. I mean, it's nice to get to know people my own age in school and all. Not that I wouldn't be glad if you were older, but oh you know what I mean." I said, excited. Finally, I knew more people! Now I could say that I was meeting new people to Tennoji and everyone else at home. Kasanoda looked at me like he didn't believe me, and it seemed to be a look that he gave a lot and I knew then and there that I was going to get him to trust me one day.
"What class are you in?" He asked me.
"Oh, I'm in 1-A with Hikaru, Kaoru and Haruhi." Immediately when I mentioned Haruhi, I noticed he started blushing a little bit which caught me off guard. I didn't understand why, but I thought that his blushing softened his features quite a bit and I couldn't help but think that it was one of the cutest things I had ever seen, kind of like seeing a kitten meow or a puppy chase its tail. However, I became a little disturbed because of his obvious crush on my classmate. There were only two things that would make sense here: one was that he knew about Haruhi and liked her as a girl and two that he DIDN'T know about her secret and liked her anyways. At any rate, it didn't matter to me.
Just then Haruhi walked up to us. Kasanoda seemed to freeze altogether much like the blizzard I saw in his eyes previously.
"Hi Casanova. I saw you guys fall back there, are you two alright?" She asked. I couldn't help but become confused at her calling him Casanova. Was it a nickname?
"Yeah, we were just getting to know each other." I replied when Kasanoda didn't say anything. I slightly elbowed him in the arm to get him to speak which seemed to break him out of his daze.
"Yeah. Ah, Haruhi I brought you a Sage plant for your home. I know you wanted more plants that could be used in cooking." He told her, still blushing, and handed her a small item containing a somewhat familiar plant. She accepted it with a surprised yet happy look on her face.
"Thank you." She said now with a smile. I could see the host club looking at all three of us, some with concern on their faces (namely Tamaki and the twins) the entire time and I felt like asking Haruhi what the big deal was but before I could Kasanoda spoke again.
"I have to go right now but I'll come by and see you again tomorrow." He said his face still as bright as a Christmas light on a tree.
Haruhi and I waved to him as he left and I couldn't help but to feel a little pang of envy as I thought of a guy actually doing something romantic like that. I hoped that someday I would get a guy to do stuff like that for me.
"Bossa-Nova was here? Kyouya, can't you kick him out?" I heard one of the twins say as they walked up to Haruhi and me.
"He is a valuable customer therefore I see no reason in making him stop coming." Kyouya replied while writing in his notebook. I heard the twins and Tamaki grumble about it for a little but I stopped paying attention and finally was told to cater to the club while they were with the ladies.
For the rest of the day I catered to the club and before I knew it I was being picked up by the driver. He pulled up and the moment he got out of the car I felt that familiar chill go up my spine that I had come to associate with him. It was almost like walking through a freezer but I tried to ignore it as usual. For a fleeting moment I almost thought that I knew this feeling from long ago, but I ignored it. I felt the door close behind me and, in what I'm sure was record time, he was back in driver's seat.
He started driving and after a few minutes I noticed that it wasn't the regular way back to Yuyi's home. My mind immediately kicked into worst case scenario solutions, but I managed to suppress the images running in my head. I voiced my thoughts to him about the different road from my seat way behind him.
"The regular route is out of service." He replied. Thankfully, not even 5 minutes later we were pulling up to the familiar mansion and I couldn't help but feel happy that I was finally here and able to get out of the sight of those watching eyes.
The driver as usual opened my door and as I walked to the door I knew he was watching my every move like a hawk. I greeted Tennoji and went up to my room where I was finally able to escape and be with my mint plant. I touched the soft leaves and told the plant all the things I had done that day and happily told the plant that I was going to make sure that I was good friends with Kasanoda no matter what.