~ Chapter Four ~
~ Taking on Ayanokouji ~
With a sigh I buried my face into my hands, I had just written down everything corresponding to specific days on my calendar. Everything that would soon be happening would be happening within a matter of days – requesting a host every day (2,000¥), attending my first tea party at the nearby Lolita Café with Hunny (only Kami knows how much that will devour my finances), a Physics exam was scheduled for next week, not to mention cleaning every single day till graduation…I was getting tired thinking about it all.
Then to top it all off, the administration had shot my work permit to smithereens! According to them, if I had another job my grades would decline and make a black mark on Ouran's perfect record. I also happen to feel that they are right, it's a challenge to push through many of the A-1 classes as it is, if my grades were to slip…
So what was I supposed to do about that dang Host Club and Hunny's sugary appetite? Use my savings?
Which very well might happen, my savings made up financially for my lack of pride to use it. I thought by investing all my past birthday money and allowance into mutual funds and saving envelopes in the bank, that I was doing the right thing. In the long run I would be able to afford my own housing after graduation or dorming at a university, to be able to pay my college tuition without a worry.
If I delve into my savings now, it would all be gone by my last day of high school.
Would it last me though? This led to other questions, like, is it even worth coming here to Ouran? Was it honestly worth the bother using my parents' connections to get into the place even if it meant physical labor?
Granted, I was as ignorant to cleaning as a good majority of Ouran's students, but to survive I had to adapt. As primitive as that may sound, that's what I had to do. Most people would turn to their parents, but me?
I wanted to see something for myself I guess you could say.
My cell phone vibrated on my desk, I eyed it as the front display showed an image of a small envelope and the name of the sender.
Tamaki? I picked it up and flipped it open, a text message flipped open and revealed its contents.
Want 2 go 2 a park w/ the Host Club Sunday? Commoners like that sort of thing rite? Haruhi will come 2, he said, I frowned.
I would be spending a good amount of time with them against my will, why would I want to spend time outside of class in what little free time I have? Then again, Tamaki (a Suoh) is going through a lot of trouble texting me about it. It would be rude to refuse when in all honesty, I had nothing better to do.
Except studying. My eyes deliberately turned to gaze at my Physics textbook, of which, gleamed evilly in the dim lighting of my room.
Needless to say, I accepted Tamaki's invitation.
Thursday//Significance? Last official day of my unofficial freedom.
"What do you think about Albert Einstein?" I asked absently, twenty minutes ago our "Bunsen" burner had been taken away on the account my hair had almost been set on fire. I could have sworn I pulled all of it back! Instead of using fire, Kyouya had resorted to a more simpler way of experimentation.
Writing out the complicated vocabulary in this week's chapter on flashcards for me to study.
"What do you mean?" Kyouya replied back mildly, per usual, his laptop was out and about, pleasing its master with its juicy informational blogs and ability to tear down firewalls as persistent as the Great Wall of China. Our Physics project was due tomorrow and since Kyouya confessed ours was finished (what a surprise), he would spend the rest of today's class attempting to make sense of it to me.
In which I thought was rather kind of him, although he looked extremely bored out of his mind.
Unlike the usual, his hair seemed a little tousled as if he had been shaken awake this morning and he wasn't adjusting his glasses nearly as much as he usually does. Throughout class, I had been meaning to ask him if something was wrong, but every time I opened my mouth I shut it nervously, whenever the question repeated itself in my mind it sounded awkward. It's not like I knew him that well to begin with…
"Well, some people believe he shouldn't have come up with E equals Mc squared as it led to the Atomic bomb on Japan from the United States, thus, killing many people. Yet the formula benefitted the scientific and medical world, surely you, an Ootori, would have some opinion of him?" I explained, Kyouya gave me a semi-amused look.
"You're using such big words, perhaps this exercise works for you Honiwa-san," Kyouya claimed.
"Don't change the subject, I know you heard me."
"You do know Einstein became so engrossed in his work, almost an obsession really, it led to familial issues?" stated Kyouya, I nodded.
"Yeah, tends to happen when your priorities are screwed up." I replied, Kyouya's fingers stopped typing along his keyboard.
"If his family came first, do you think he would have discovered e equals Mc squared?" he inquired further, my eyebrows furrowed.
"Maybe, maybe not, if it did, it probably would have happened later in his life." I inferred.
"Is that so? He did live apart from his wife and two sons for five years before his marriage ended up in divorce, don't you think he should have spent more time with his family? Despite the fame his brilliance would eventually come to?" Kyouya gave me a practical stare, as if expecting a practical response.
"He shouldn't have been so far from his family, it wasn't as if he were a soldier in a war," I whispered mostly to myself, "it's not like humankind would have been better or worse with the coming of his discoveries, it's not like the end of the world would have come if he experimented and discovered at Zurich with his family."
"And besides, if family was so far down the ladder, why even bother going through the trouble of making one?" was my conclusion, my mind could sometimes be far too practical for my own good, but it made more sense and stupidity became more clear that way.
Getting lost in these ramblings made me forget who I was speaking to.
"Heirs are important, but I do see your point," Kyouya spoke, but his voice did not betray him and it irked me how I felt there was more to be said on the matter concerning him. My green eyes bore into his gray ones – spending time with him has left me almost used to him, like a friendship just waiting to happen.
Not that I would ever admit to that, nothing would come from it, would it?
"Kids aren't that great, why go through sex and child birth when you could get a kid from an orphanage." I claimed, Kyouya blinked.
"Interesting theory," he said as his lips curled up in amusement, I shrugged.
"What can I say, I'm different." I looked at him as he returned to his laptop until my brainwaves came to an abrupt thought.
"Did you just agree with me?" I blurted out, causing some heads to turn in our direction. Kyouya just smiled as his continued to type.
"You could say that,"
As the class came to a close and the labs were shuffling to be cleaned before the bell rang, Kyouya skimmed through my flashcards.
"That's a good start, I think we both will agree to keep you away from fire in the near and far future however," Kyouya claimed as he went to pass me the cards, when our hands touched for the briefest of seconds, butterflies erupted in the pit of my stomach.
"Thanks for your help," I managed to say as I packed the cards away, the flesh on my skin that touched his still tingled.
"You did get Tamaki's message right?" Kyouya asked as we headed toward the door as the bell rang.
"Yes, I'll be meeting you all at the Koen Gardens?"
"I was under the impression one of us would be picking you up?" I narrowed my eyes up at him suspiciously.
"No, it's all right, I told Tamaki I would find my own way." I tried to assure Kyouya, but he didn't seem convinced. We went our separate ways as soon as we stepped out of the Physics classroom. Shame riddled every fiber of my being.
Did he know? Did he want to know how and where I lived because he knew? Or am I just exaggerating? Maybe he just wants to make sure I get a ride, geez Tsuyu, not everyone has ulterior motives!
Lunchtime I hung out with the girls who had been talking with me since they fancied my bento lunches.
There were three of them ~ the first of whom who spoke to me was Ayame Jonochi, a pale, thin girl with wavy, brown hair. Her bangs were split and shoved aside to frame her face, of which consisted of brown eyes hidden behind frameless glasses. She claims she a regular at the Host Club when they're open and normally requests Tamaki or Haruhi.
The second was my grade's Class Vice-President, Momoka Kurakano. Adorable with long, honey-colored hair (a small portion spun into a pair of braided knobs on either side of her head) complete with wayward, fluffy bangs. Without glasses (like Ayame and I) her eyes appeared huge and bubbly.
The oddest of the bunch is Reiko Kanazuki, who hardly spoke at all. I found out the hard when she did speak, it was of curses and black magic. It was only at lunch that I ever saw her, apparently she was in cohorts with Nekozawa-sempai's Black Magic Club in the basement. Despite those strange attributes, she was an attractive girl with black, straightly-trimmed hair and deep eyes. In comparison to Ayame and Momoka, she was rather shy, but managed to be a regular at the Host Club as well, but normally requested Hunny.
Somehow I managed to grab a table with three other occupants who did not require a borderline, or so to speak. It felt strange and wonderful at the same time, to think I managed to find company in this glamorous school while holding a janitor job down and they did NOT enjoy excessive amounts of cakes, plus they talked.
"So, Tsuyu-chan, we can call you that right?" Momoka asked bravely, I nodded as I unpacked my bento.
"I have no problem with that," not that I could stop you anyway, I thought, Reiko glanced at my lunch, thankfully not with the same fascination as Ayame and Momoka.
"Is there…anyway you could sacrifice your onigiri, Tsuyu-chan?" she asked, I frowned.
"You mean…onigiri are not served here?" I asked, bewildered. From personal experience, I knew the cafeteria staff took great pride in being able to serve anything the students desired, no matter the kind. Reiko looked away, slightly flushed.
"They already have condiments added…"
"Meaning they're not plain?"
"Yes…" My eye brows rose into my hairline, she may not be a janitor, but Reiko was as odd as they come.
"Sure, you can have one, but you are eating lunch right?" I asked, pinpointing the empty space in front of Reiko. It was then I noticed that Momoka and Ayame didn't have their meals either. I gave them all odd looks.
"Are you all going anorexic on me or something? Or did the kitchen break down?" which was absolutely impossible, or as close as one could get to impossible anyway. This school must have ten extra generators for every function throughout the premises.
"That's not it, Tamaki's in line…" Ayame claimed as she gazed toward the back of the dining area, sure enough, Tamaki and his loyal fans were blocking the entrance to the food. I sighed, this was ridiculous – the Host Club would be up and running tomorrow for Kami's sake!
"I'm sorry, but that's just pathetic," I growled as I leaned back in my chair. I refused to touch my food until my newfound friends had theirs!
"It's the way things are though," a new voice popped up, my brain sent up red flags as warnings as a girl came up to our table. Although she wore the same pastel-colored dress as us, her red, long hair and sly eyes screamed 'witch.' Reiko may seem like one to the ignorant, but during school hours, she bore the same uniform and merely symbolized a quiet person.
This girl was trouble, it was written across her acne-free forehead.
"Hello, Ayanokouji-san." Momoka said, but it sounded strained, like she was forcing herself to be polite. I scrutinized this girl, she certainly didn't have the aura a nice person would have.
"Hm, some would suppose so," I replied, putting a hand to my chin out of habit, I normally did that when I would do some intense thinking (like Physics homework.)
"Then again, it's illogical and people have gotten hurt because of their lack of decorum." I explained further, "I thought this was a school of fine upbringing, surely this isn't the first time any of these girls have seen good looking men, or people in general."
Momoka seemed almost bolder (if it was possible) since I spoke up to this Ayanokouji (what a mouthful, I'll call her Ayano-san instead.) Reiko remained silent and her eyes were downcast as if in concentration on the onigiri in her hands that I had given to her. Ayame seemed to be glaring at the redhead.
Ayano-san smirked.
"It's also illogical for Tamaki to have feelings for another male student, as he so carelessly expresses toward the peasant," I couldn't help but join forces with Ayame, there was no doubt in my mind she was referring to Haruhi.
"So he's homosexual, so what?" Ayano-san shot me a fierce look and Momoka looked appalled.
"Tamaki-san is not gay!" Momoka gasped, "he's such a ladies' man!"
"Plus there is no evidence for it," I continued with a smirk of my own that I shot back at Ayano-san. "These feelings you claim he has toward Fujiouka-san may resemble something else, friends should not always be assumed to be couples, good grief."
"But all he does is hug him, swing him around and call him adorable, he's even called him his own 'daughter!'" Ayano-san cried, the glare lifted off my face to be replaced by something of mock empathy.
"Ooh, that certainly makes things more kinky then, I now see your perspective on this Ayano-san," I claimed, Momoka and Ayame gave me looks of pure disgust at the use of my language, Reiko, on the other hand, burst out laughing. Surrounding students that overheard the conversation either shared feelings with Momoka and Ayame (mostly the girls) or Reiko (mostly the boys.)
Ayano-san? The redhead thought with great aggravation, a shadow cast over her face.
"You're not taking this seriously-" she growled, but being the kind person that I am, I cut her off.
"You don't know that, you also don't know that from this conversation I have picked out tidbits of info from your reactions and dialogue that led me to a conclusion about you." I said, I subconsciously knew that I had a good portion of attention drawn to my person. "You have been brought up in a fine manner like many of the good students here, but you believe you should only associate with those of similar standing. Thus, making you a complete and total harpy, in modern slang, a bitch."
Momoka and Ayame's eyes widened even further, Reiko had to hide her laughter in the palms of her hands.
"Expressing your thoughts over Tamaki's possible homo-sexualism is a way for you to make you feel better about yourself, I'm guessing you and the Host Club (or Tamaki personally) had a bit of a tiff in the past. Why else would you be so bitter?"
"And lastly, ever heard of the saying 'misery enjoys company?' You are misery, expressing your meager thoughts with those who could care less shows this – you want someone to join your bandwagon against the Host Club. Tell me, are any of these wrong?"
Ayano-san must have been holding in some wicked shrieks by the looks of her inflating head, Reiko had grown quiet watching this.
"You have no right to talk you-"
"Is there a problem here?" It was Kyouya – how convenient, no? Ayano-san snapped around, glaring holes up into face, I wanted to bring up the fact that if lasers did shoot out of peoples eyes, Kyouya's glasses would have done Ayano-san in instantly. I refrained, I had to contain some of my dignity, even if I just sacrificed some of it to curse.
"Not. At. All." Ayano-san huffed out before stomping away, her eyes narrowed on me dangerously before sitting down at a far, faraway table. I smiled calmly as Kyouya gave me a questioning look, but as always, I had that lingering feeling that he knew the entire story already.
"I'm guessing you would like to know where that came from?" I asked, Momoka and Ayame were too busy fawning over Kyouya's charming looks to listen to my 'appalling' speech. Reiko I trusted the moment she laughed at my 'elegant' insults toward Ayano-san.
"Indeed," he replied, he too, sounded amused with a slight touch of confusion. If he were baffled he would never admit it outright.
"My…occupation has it's quirks, the girl had it coming to her anyway." Was my answer, Kyouya's face seemed to soften, as if in understanding.
"There's a waiting list for Tamaki, Jonochi-san. Would you like to book your reservation now? Same goes for Hunny-sempai, Kanazuki-san." Kyouya claimed, Reiko and Ayame looked downcast, I felt sorry for them.
"Do you think that might have been a little too harsh, Honiwa-san?" Kyouya questioned as the girls tried to figure out what they were doing a month from now (a month in advance to book a high school student…wow.)
"If they have to book their hosts, how come I can't book for a later time?" I asked, Kyouya gave an evil smile.
"You're automatically in the system and don't change the subject,"
"Even Stevens," I replied, an eye brow rose on Kyouya's face at the new phrase, making him look completed bewildered and adorably confused, I couldn't help but laugh. I wish I had a camera!
"Oooh~good one Shadow King!" I heard one of the Hitachiin Twins cry from behind a plant along the wall that ran parallel to our table. I turned around to find them, one holding an advanced Canon camera, I looked back at Kyouya, he appeared slightly miffed.
"About your question, I have my connections." I stated, Kyouya gazed at me for a moment, I felt my skin tickle uncomfortably. Unknown to yours truly, the young Ootori was trying to figure me out, his brain attempting to solve how mine functioned.
He returned to his cool demeanor within half-seconds.
"You do, I wouldn't want to lose a loyal customer." Kyouya agreed, I frowned.
"There's nothing loyal about your customer!"
Later that day, as Tamaki babbled on about something irrelevant to math, I recalled a time earlier in the year. It was strange that I was remembering it now, but Ayano-san was to thank for that.
I had known she was pestering Fujiouka at the beginning of the school year. Numerous times I had attempted to thwart her bullying, but Ayano-san seemed to have been a better tracker than I. She scented Haruhi's items out better than a Bloodhound, tossing them into waters or sabotaging his blazer with pins. Apparently Haruhi couldn't find one 'usual spot' and my job made it hard to look out for other students.
The day before Ayano-san had been banned from the club, I was cleaning one of Ouran's large windows. The job was uncomfortable and painful, it required more than one person to clean and I was one of ten on that floor that day. Yet I was alone on that window, my hands over my head for long periods of time.
At some point I looked out of the window and along the scenery of one of Ouran's many courtyards. This one had the largest fountain of them all, the one with the largest base that transformed into a uninhabitable pond.
What caught my interest was that Haruhi was rummaging through the water in search of something, I could only guess this was one of Ayano-san's latest schemes at harassing him.
Then Tamaki appeared.
"What's with that face, Tsuyu-chan?" Tamaki spoke, snapping me out of the flashback, I figured I must have been staring at him unintentionally. He gave a charming smile.
"Did you fall in love with me?"
"Did you fall in love with me?" I overheard Tamaki say as I opened the window to let in a breeze, I inwardly laughed as he tugged at Haruhi's face.
"Anyway, let's continue searching!"
"Oh, no, but can you tell me what it's like?" I asked the blonde, he seemed taken back by it.
"Love is a splendid thing, something I have yet to experience, just because I am a host, doesn't mean I know what it's like, silly!" Tamaki explained, I drew my hand to my chin as my eyes returned to the math packet we had been assigned.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I heard it was something that could not be explained." Tamaki claimed, although he had this faraway look to his eyes.
It didn't matter to me if Tamaki turned out to be homo or bisexual, I knew he had a certain fondness for Haruhi Fujiouka. Besides, Japan was known for it's yoai origins anyway. Moments later I applied the same thinking level to Kyouya and immediately got a reaction I wasn't expecting from myself.
He damn well better NOT be.
"Ootori-sempai!" I called as I raced after him down the hall, the dark-haired youth turned around and gave me a stoic expression.
"Yes…Miss?" he asked, my mission kept any offense at bay.
"It's Ayanokouji who has been terrorizing Fujiouka-san, just so you know." I felt like I was tattle-taling, the fact that I was reporting this to this guy was disturbing enough, but I felt that the boy shouldn't have to put up with this.
"Hm, really? We know that," Kyouya claimed, I huffed.
"Then why haven't you stopped this then? Hasn't he gone through enough to get into this school?" I growled, he adjusted his glasses.
"You feel you should look out for him," it wasn't a question, I glanced up into his face and into his eyes. A hint of knowing flickering in his irises.
"So what if I do?"
"Did you think we didn't know about it? Please don't look down on our information network. Of course, we have evidence on the other issue as well." Kyouya stated as he raised a few photos of Ayanokouji with Haruhi's things. He never did admit to anyone it was me that gave him his lead, that if I hadn't pinpointed Ayanokouji, it would have taken longer to get the photographs. His 'information network' was at its prime, another reason he would never confess it was on the word of a student janitor that they caught the one behind Haruhi's bullying.
A/N: For those of you who are confused, the last quote by Kyouya is in the manga, volume 1, chapter 1 when Ayanokouji was found out. The paragraph in bold was a past event when Tsuyu first spoke to Kyouya ever. I feel I should note that since Tsuyu is a second year and adores CSI shows and so on, that just because she doesn't do all that well in Physics doesn't mean she doesn't have an advanced vocabulary. ^^ I hope she doesn't offend anyone through her...vulgar words (vulgar in this age?) Although she only swore once, it was foreign for the both of us (meaning in character and author) to write her saying "bitch." She doesn't swear that often and only does so when she feels it will get the point across, saying 'harpy' before ' bitch' was a means of showing she had other 'appropriate' words to bestow upon Ayanokouji, but preferred the more modern term. I shortened her name down to Ayano-san for my sake, I could only type 'Ayanokouji' so MANY times! And since it's an alien name, Spellcheck would have been of no use to me...bleh.
Anyway, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Lol I know those who are faving and alerting, but not reviewing!!! I can stalk you...if I so desired. Which I don't, but despite that, give some feedback~
Special thanks to Laleanen~ I have taken your advice and ideas to heart and hope to apply them soon! Consider that your email inspired me to write this chapter out in a quick and elegant manner! I was really inspired!