A.N/ Hello! Happy New Year! Sorry for updating late again! I also had a problem with fanfiction yesterday and couldn't update! I have a busy holiday! Thank you to thecrazymonkey and Chibisensei110787 for your awesome reviews! Thank you for your support! I hope you enjoy this chapter. That's enough from me so on with the story!
Chapter 10
" I can't believe I get to see where my daughter lives!" The overly happy host club King announced as he raced up the stairs to the door.
Not far behind Tamaki was a laughing Honey as he ran to catch up. Calmly, Hikaru, Haruhi, Mori and Kyoya followed in their footsteps. Meanwhile, me and Kaoru were trailing behind the rest of them, still holding each other's hand. Honestly, I was amazed how large his hands were compared to mine. The warmth of his hand was comforting which helped me calm down. I hardly know anything about this guy and yet he affects me this much!
" Are you going to open the door today?" Hikaru questioned in a sarcastic voice.
" What?" I asked confused as I was still lost in my thoughts.
" I said are you going to open the door today? I bet you're so mesmerised by my brother that you can even think straight." He joked.
Embarrassed, I spoke flustered, " What makes you think that?"
" Well, your holding his hand and you're not letting go." He scoffed.
Wide eyed I stare at my hand and then look up at Kaoru. He smiled sweetly and I blushed the usual bright shade of red. I snatched my hand out of his light grip and rummaged through my jean pockets for my keys. A sharp prick of the key's jagged edge could be felt on my hand as I grabbed them out. With the click of the key turning in the lock, I gently opened the door allowing the host club to enter into my humble abode.
My flat was hardly spacious but it was a decent size. In the living area, two beige leather, three-seater sofas occupied most of the area along with the quirky designed rug. There was a small sized television which sits in the corner of the room and beside that was a tall bookshelf which held home to my prized book collection.
" Take a seat in the living room. There won't be room for all of you so you can sit on the arm of the sofas. Anyone want tea?" I asked.
" Yes!" All seven relies spoke completely in time. I certainly didn't expect that.
Carefully, I set out the cups along the kitchen top. It was actually nice having so many people around the place. It always felt so empty and lifeless in this flat since my parents' deaths but with these guys round they definitely won't be quiet. I smile at the thought until I heard...
" Wow I never thought she would read books like this."
Quickly, I darted into the living room to see one of the romance novels in the hands of those troublesome twins.
" Give them here!" I shouted as I ran full speed ahead my hands reaching out for my goal.
" Oh no you don't!" The twins spoke as they lifted up my prized possessions out of my reach.
" This isn't fair. Who said you could go look through my things?" I demanded for an answer.
" No one but if you want to hide things like this so badly then you should hide them beforehand if you don't want people to look."
Desperately, I jumped as high as I could but it wasn't enough as they raised there arms higher and higher.
" Why don't we read a couple of pages?" Suggested Hikaru devilishly.
" Sure. This one looks interesting." Kaoru replied as he started to flick through the pages.I see a brief glimpse of the cover and mentally cursed as I realised which book it was.
" Don't read that book! Trust me!" I protested but they soon were ignored.
" ' Oh, Kiyoshi-sama! You can't love someone who is your servant! You're engaged to Yuki-sama! ' Protested Mia as she tried to stop her master's advances. ' But Mia I don't love Yuki. I love you! Why don't you give into your feelings?!" Kiyoshi's eyes bored straight into hers, demanding for an answer." Kaoru started to speak.
" Stop there! Please!" My short height gave me a disadvantage as I could only jump. I nearly touched the book but it didn't knock out of his looked down at the wrong moment as my head clashed with his.
" Ow! That hurt!" He complained. I noticed that his hand had weakened its grip on the book. My head throbbed in pain but while he was distracted I tired to grab the book but it was stolen at the last second by the other devil.
" Wow I never though you would read such a soppy book like that but you're obviously hiding something so I'll continue." Hikaru said.
" Stop! Save yourself while you can!" I warned.
Regardless to my warnings, he continued, " ' But what will your family do if they discover us?' Her eyes held little hope in the possibility of them ever being together. Much to her shock, Kiyoshi touched her face and kissed her sweetly. He rested his forehead against hers as he whispered, ' Forget them. I want you and I will run away to be with you if needs be.' With one whisper of his name on her lips, he claimed her lips again. His lips left hers as he traced the nape of her neck trailing light kiss along the area as he.."
Hikaru's face turned a bit shade of red as his voice trailed off until it was barely audible. Meanwhile, the awkward silence which loomed over the room was broken by Kaoru's sudden burst of laughter. I took the book out of his hand and hid it behind my back.
Blushing bright scarlet, I stuttered, " I-I tried to warn you."
Tears of amusement ran down Kaoru's face as he started to laughed harder, struggling to breath.
" Well, that's new! Who would of thought that you were a pervert?!" He choked out through his fit of laughter.
" It's not mine! My mum was a big fan of the author who wrote it. I would have got rid of it a while ago but I could never reach the top shelf and before you pulled it off the shelf I completely forgot that it was up there."
" A likely story." Hikaru murmured before he went to sit on the sofa.
" Honest! Look in the cover! She even went to a book signing to get the author's autograph."
Wanting to prove my innocence, I opened the cover and showed the scribble that was addressed to my mum. The twins inspect the book with a closer look. They shrugged their shoulders and looked away with disinterest.
" Just when we thought things were getting interesting." They continued to look around the room again.
I walked back into kitchen to finish pouring the boiled water into the cups of tea. As I started to lay out the cups onto the tray, a familiar, cream haired boy ran up to me with child-like excitement brimmed in his dark chocolate eyes. Mori trailed behind him at a causal pace, taking every step in his stride.
" Hey, Haz-chan! What's this?" He asked curiously, holding up a game. When I saw the game, I slowly took it from his hands and grinned in nostalgia.
" I love this game. It's been ages since I last played it."
" Can we play it?" He asked with a pleading look in his eyes.
" Sure. Let's see if the others want to play first." I smiled at him and then I shouted, " Hey! Does anyone want to play Twister?"
" Twister? What's that?" The twins asked, interested, as they peered around the corner.
" You've seriously never played Twister! It's one of the best games out there. What you do is..."
" A game! Let's play it!" Tamaki interrupted as he dashed into the room.
" Shut up Boss! She's trying to explain." Hikaru complained.
" As I was saying, it is a game where you have a mat with different colours and you spin a dial which tells you which hand or foot you need to place on a certain colour. So if you had left foot and red, obviously you would have to place your left foot on the red spot. You keep going until you fall and the last person remaining wins." I explained. Gradually, I handed each cup of tea to each host and I noticed Tamaki had a competitive glint in his eyes.
" Let's play!" He said determined.
" Do you want to play by ourselves or in teams of two?" I questioned.
" Teams!" Honey said with a grin on his face.
" Ok. Is everyone playing?" I looked around the room, staring at Kyoya in particular as I couldn't even being to imagine him playing the game.
" I don't intend to." Kyoya said bluntly.
" Come on Kyoya! Everyone else is playing! It won't be fair teams if you sit out!" Tamaki whined.
" Fine. But you owe me." He slammed the book in his hand out of frustration.
" Right. To make it fair we should draw names out of a pot. Any objections?" I asked and no one answered.
Once I quickly wrote the names on scrap pieces of paper and shoved them in the first container I could find, I walked into the living room where the atmosphere was tense. I stood in the centre of the room, where I could see all the hosts' gazes on the pot.
Anxiously, I drew the first name out of the pot. Slowly, I unfolded the paper to see...
" Kyoya-senpai and he's paired with..." Secretly, I pleaded in my mind to not be paired with Kyoya. " Mori-senpai!"
The pair briefly glanced at each other and Mori nodded in response. The next pair to be drawn were another unexpected combination of Honey and Haruhi.
I don't want to be teased anymore " Let's do our best to win, Haru-chan!" Honey declared as he ran to her side. Sweetly, she smiled.
Unfortunately, this meant that I was likely to be paired with one of the twins. I don't want to be teased anymore by those tricksters! Hopefully I have better luck than I have had for the past few days.
First, I drew out Hikaru's name. The tension in the air rose as I was about to unfold the scrunched up piece of paper. Please don't be me!
" Tamaki-senapi!" I yelled out in surprise.
Tamaki went into a depressed state as he murmured, " I wanted to be paired with my daughter."
" That's it. I really have bad luck." I complained.
" Hey! I'm not that bad." Kaoru protested.
Once the game had been set up, the first round was ready to begin.
" For the first round, it's Honey-senpai and Haruhi versus Mori-senpai and Kyoya-senpai!" I declared in a commentator's style.
" You know that's a really bad impression of a commentator." Kaoru stated with a light smile. I felt the heat rise to my face and then I glared at him.
" In team play, you are allowed cover the same circle as your team mate. As soon as a player is eliminated, the game ends and the other team wins. I will referee the first match. Let the first Twister battle commence!"
It didn't take long before arms were beginning to give way as it was clear Haruhi was struggling to stretch. I was surprise that Kyoya moved in such an agile way as every move he made looked elegant compared to Honey's and Haruhi's clumsy moves. Mori moved with precision. With a loud shriek and a light thud, Honey's leg gave up from the strain on his limb.
" Our first winners are Kyoya-senpai and Mori-senpai!"
Honey looked disheartened as he spoke, " I wish I could have played longer."
To encourage him, I ruffled his hair and smiled as I spoke, " It's not as easy as it looks first time round but we can play again soon if you want. How about you referee the next match?"
He beamed his child-like smile as he nodded.
" Right. Tamaki-senpai and Hikaru versus me and Kaoru. I think we will have a bit of sibling rivalry going on."
" Don't think I will go easy on you just because you're my twin." Hikaru stated in a provoking tone.
" I don't expect you to. Let the best team win." Kaoru challenged with a fire in his eyes.
" Let the match begin!" Honey declared in an intense voice.
As limbs began to intertwine, it began to get hard to move freely. It wasn't long before Hikaru and Tamaki started to argue.
" Move your leg Boss. I can't move with it in the way." Hikaru complained.
" What else can I do with your arm there?" Tamaki shot back.
" Let's just get on with the game." I interrupted. Actually I was amazed at how well I was able to work with Kaoru as we were able to respond to each other without the need to talk. The match has so far lasted longer than the previous and everyone was struggling as limbs started to shake. Both teams were holding strong as it was willpower that kept us going. We were all waiting. Waiting to see which one of us would make the first wrong move.
I could tell Tamaki wasn't going to last much longer as he was in a fairly unsteady pose. Then, he made a fatal mistake. As he swung to move his foot he knocked Hikaru down and then he tumbled onto the mat after the twin.
" The match is over. Kao-chan and Haz-chan win!"
Sighs of relief came from the pair of us as we collapsed onto the mat with our aching arms.
" That was clearly your fault! If you hadn't have knocked me over, we might have had a shot at winning!" Accused Hikaru.
" How could I move with your arm there?" Tamaki defended.
" Calm down. It was a good game. It's the longest game I have played in a while." I walk over trying to prevent an argument from arising.
" You may have won this time round but next time I will beat you!" Hikaru said with a fiery passion.
" Maybe next time." I replied with a lazy smile and I turn to Kaoru and hold up my hand. " Do I get a high five?"
He chuckled at my gesture. As our hands collided, my hand started to sting.
" Maybe that wasn't such a good idea." I said with a hint of humour in my voice.
After a few minutes of rest, the winning teams were prepared for the final.
" The final match of the Twister tournament is Kyo-chan and Takashi versus Kao-chan and Haz-chan! Let the match begin."
Kyoya and Mori obviously had the advantage as their match didn't last as long but that doesn't stop me and Kaoru from wanting to win. Each move had to be careful as Mori and Kyoya aren't people who would easily give way. early on in the match I was beginning to struggle.
" Are you going to give up anytime soon and save us the trouble of dragging out the match of being longer than it needs to?" Questioned Kyoya calmly.
Even though, I was tired I smiled and said, " You're determined for someone who didn't to play."
I thought I was dreaming when I saw the corner of his lips curving into a small smirk. So even the Shadow King can smile. My limbs and Kaoru's limbs were becoming more tangled so we had very little space to move compared to the other team. Slowly, I tried to move my leg to a better position however it soon back fired. Kaoru's leg buckled from the impact and knocked me down onto the mat. The thud indicated the end of the match and tournament.
" The winners are Kyo-chan and Takashi!"
My back hurt from the impact. There was a heavy weight against my body. Twister shouldn't hurt this much. But as I looked up I realised why I was in pain. A certain twin was currently lay on top of my body. As he looked up, I could see the startled look in his eyes as he realised our current position. His aurous eyes captivated me as I couldn't look away. A light rosiness swept across his cheeks as I felt my cheeks burning in embarrassment. Someone cleared their throat and I avert my gaze as soon as I got the chance.
On the floor, I see an empty transparent container which was supposed to be home to an certain escape artist. My eyes widen as I realised it was missing.
" Are you getting up?" Kaoru asked holding out his hand.
Instantly, I grabbed it, lifting me off the ground.
" Where's the bathroom?" Asked Tamaki politely.
" Go through the bedroom and it's the door on the left." He exited the room slowly.
" I don't mean to make everyone panicking but does anyone hate reptiles?" I asked hoping no one feared the creatures.
" They're a bit creepy but they're ok. Why do you ask?" Hikaru had a confused look on his face.
Hesitantly, I explained," Well... There's a snake I'm looking after and it's escaped."
" Do you know where it might go?" Haruhi wondered.
" No. Honestly, I haven't even looked after one before so I don't really know what kind of places they like."
" Why do you have a snake to begin with?" Hikaru asked.
" I'm supposed to look after it for a neighbour. They have gone away and I needed more money for the rent this month. It's for a good cause!" I explained.
Suddenly, there was a loud shriek coming from the direction Tamaki had walked in. We all rushed into the room, piling through the door, to see a petrified host shaking pointing as the scaly escape artist as it hissed, trying to threaten Tamaki. The sly creature slithered slowly towards the host. Its bronze, thin slit eyes were fixed on the host with its rough tongue flicking viscously.
" S-s-snake!" The nervous host stuttered as he latched onto Kyoya who looked very displeased.
" There's nothing to be scared of. You scared him." I stated as I calmly strolled towards the snake and picked it up. The snake started to coil himself securely to my arm slithering up my slender arm.
" I scared it! It was the one appearing out of no where and starting to hiss at me!" He protested.
" It has a name and he's called Monty! Look at him. He's tiny and he wouldn't harm anyone! He's only 45cm long."
" Wow! He looks like the kind of snake you would see in the zoo!" Honey exclaimed as he step closer in awe of the cold blooded reptile.
" Step away from that Mitsukuni. He could bite." Mori warned as he wanted to protect Honey.
" He isn't venomous. I wouldn't agree to look after this python if it was venomous. Not even for a million yen!" The snake's head popped out from my shirt's neck startling some of the hosts.
" It's so creepy. What are you? A snake lady?" Kaoru and Hikaru said.
" No! Fine, since you're not as fond of my scaly friend as I am, I'll put him away." I place the small snake back in his container. " He probably needs feeding soon. Anyone want to help giving Monty locusts?"
All of their faces turn in disgust as they obviously didn't want to help.
" It's getting late. We better get going." Tamaki said.
" Alright, I'll let you out." One click of the door and I open it. " Thanks for today. It took my mind of things."
" Aww, anything for my daughter!" He clutches me into one of his almost unbreakable hugs.
" Bye everyone." I said.
" Bye, Haz-chan! See you tomorrow." Honey beamed. I nodded in response.
Kaoru was behind everyone and I grabbed his wrist before he walked out of the door.
" Thank you. You helped me a lot."
Gently, he showed a rare, mature smile as he said, " It's fine. Me and the host club will always be there for you."
I nodded and waved as he turned to walk out of the door. Lightly, I shut the door. I rest my head against the frame. The thing is Kaoru doesn't know the weight of those words. He has helped me more than he will ever know. Maybe that's why I like him so much despite his teasing antics. Would he ever know it was him I was talking about at the gravestones? Things are getting complicated and I have the feeling it's only going to get worse.