~ Chapter Eight ~
~ Surviving Koen Gardens ~
"How do you not like strawberry pocky?" one of the twins, my guess Hikaru, asked, having prodding me for questions for the last hour or two. The questions mostly consisted of my favorite foods (apparently my taste was bland at best, despite Tamaki's protest,) my hobbies – studying and the graphic arts (considered mediocre in comparison to Haruhi's more commoner approach to life, although they seemed minutely interested when I mentioned my experience in graphic design,) why I lived on my own, and so on and so forth.
"I'm not big into pocky and besides, cherry's better," I retorted casually, so far the Hitachiins and I had managed to put our relationship to the next level from annoying to tolerant. Once or twice they would crack a joke or tease Tamaki, making me laugh outright. Haruhi seemed to be the only one lacking humor, along with our blonde companion. Then again, Tamaki is the butt of the twins' twisted jokes.
Since we managed to drag Tamaki away from the deer from earlier, we managed to make our way down an inclining trail. Unlike Haruhi and I, the twins and Tamaki were not as well prepared for the submerged roots and loose stones the wilderness threw at them.
"Ahhh!" Tamaki face-planted into a nearby tree, twitching in agony.
"You okay Tono?" Hikaru asked, although his lips were twitching upwards in attempt not to laugh.
"You should be more careful Tamaki-sempai, it's not Ouran here, you can't skip around with your head in the clouds if you plan on not breaking any bones." Haruhi claimed bluntly, Tamaki nodded sadly, possibly wanting some wishy-washy comfort over his bruised face and ego from the brunette.
"She's right, especially since there's no reception out here," I said as I pulled out my cell, noticing the screen didn't display any bars. Devil horns rose from the Hitachiins' hair.
"Yes Tono, if you break something we would have to leave you out here on your own!" the twins whispered to Tamaki loud enough for Haruhi and I to hear. The brunette shook her head as she too noticed there was no coverage for her phone either.
"You would think rich kids could afford more reliable communication standards," mumbled Haruhi under her breath, I sweat-dropped.
"Hm," I peered around the forest of Koen Gardens, it expanded for many acres and had multiple trails, but thanks to Tamaki we had wandered onto one of the longest ones for the sake of seeing more deer(the last one was scared away by both Tamaki and Antoinette).
Now all we wanted was to turn back and find something more entertaining with air conditioning. Despite it being a bit chilly, Haruhi and I had both removed our jackets.
Antoinette wagged her tail as she led us down the path, uncharacteristically distancing herself from Tamaki. We didn't say much about it, although Tamaki did tear after her.
"Don't leave me with them my blessed companion!" Tamaki cried with dramatic vigor, I pushed aside as he ran past, rather certain he wasn't referring to me.
"Of course, I am not referring that I part from you Tsuyu-hime~" Tamaki suddenly said, as if he read my mind, "you have shown me nothing but kindness as of far and to show my apprecia – Antoinette!" Tamaki exclaimed halfway through his speech he had begun after materializing before me on one knee. The twins decided to poke fun at this, even after the blonde let my hands slip from his and scurry after the energetic golden.
"He was totally going to propose to Yu-chan…" one of them began, their devil horns set firmly in place on their heads.
"Yeah, right in front of Haruhi-chan…kukuku…" the other finished, said brunette only gave a sigh.
"Better Tsuyu-sempai than me," Haruhi claimed, the twins' faces imitated The Scream.
"Tono! Did you hear that! Haruhi granted you her blessings!" The twins cried as they hurried after the tall blonde, leaving Haruhi and I to venture on our own, although I could definitely see their rich clothes through the coming foliage.
"Hey, Haruhi-chan?" I asked a few minutes later, we continued down the trail at a regular walk, not in the least interested in running after the boys and the dog.
"Hm?"
"How are you doing in Physics?" Haruhi's big brown eyes blinked.
"I'm doing really well," she said, as if announcing a well known fact, I sweat-dropped.
Modest aren't you? I thought sarcastically.
"Why?" she questioned.
"I need help in that particular subject, I'm aware you're ahead of your classmates and in more advanced classes such as Physics, so I was wondering if you wouldn't mind lending me a…er, couple of tutoring sessions?" I was careful with choosing my words, I did need help. Haruhi didn't reply right away, I took that as a bad sign.
"I mean, you don't have to, I was just wondering," I added quickly.
"It's not that I don't want to Tsuyu-senpai, I just don't have the time, it's hard enough accommodating between the Host Club and my own studies." I nodded, understanding perfectly. She had to keep up her grades to keep her scholarship, I had to keep up my grades to stay at Ouran as well.
"Why don't you ask Kyouya-senpai," Haruhi suggested, I frowned.
It's not like I hadn't thought about it, but I couldn't wrap my head around how to go about asking for his help.
"For a cost, I'm sure," I added, Haruhi smiled.
We walked on in silence until we came upon Tamaki and the twins, they stood beside a large bush.
"Thanks for waiting," I said, the twins sighed with exasperation.
"We wouldn't have," began one of them.
"But Antoinette ran off somewhere around here, we can't find her." The other finished.
"Gee, thanks for being considerate enough to be honest," Haruhi replied blandly, they smiled at her.
"No problem!"
It was then, that a head popped up out of the large bush, a squirrel chattering away on it.
"Mori-senpai?" I yelped, the other four jumped and followed my gaze.
It is Mori!
"Mori-senpai, what are you doing in that bush?" Hikaru asked, Mori gave him a nonchalant look.
"Ah," he took a step back and pushed the bush aside for us. It turns out he hadn't been in the bush, but had been behind it, Antoinette sat on her hutches next to him, happily watching the squirrel a good five feet above her. The rodent didn't seem perturbed there was a dog around, it seemed pretty content munching on its acorn perched atop Mori's head.
He wasn't alone either.
"Hello everybody!" Hunny cried, bouncing up to our small group. We greeted him back with much less enthusiasm.
"About time you all woke up to join us?" one of the twins said with a huff, Hunny made a face, pressing Usa-chan against his chin.
"Join you? We thought you were lost and came to rescue you!" he cried, as if on cue, a gale picked up and instantly all of us hid our faces behind our arms. Antoinette barked frantically.
The sound of helicopter blades ripping through the air rang in my ears.
"Hunny-senpai was adamant," another voice broke through the rushing winds, it was Kyouya. We all looked around looking for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. I gazed up along with the others to find said Ootori in the helicopter peering out of a window, a small device was close to his lips. I reasoned it was his voice that was emitting from the speakers hanging below the chopper.
A ladder was hurled at them, narrowly missing hitting Tamaki and I.
"Hurry!" Hunny cried out with a serious expression on his face, it looked horribly adorable.
"What's the rush – hey!" I gasped when the twins rushed past and grasped the ladder, they had large grins plastered to their faces.
"First one up gets the remote!" they cried as they scurried up the ladder with ease.
"What about the dog?" I asked, but Mori answered before I had finished, he had already picked up Antoinette as if she weighed nothing, Tamaki was all teary-eyed.
"It's all right Antoinette-chan!" he cried, I sweat-dropped, Haruhi sighed.
"Damn, I can't go a day without this madness…" she said, but I could hardly hear her over all the noise.
"What's going on?" I was so confused, everyone but Haruhi and I were treating this like it was an actual emergency situation, but Haruhi appeared unperturbed.
Tamaki decided to only go up the ladder after Mori went up with Antoinette with Haruhi right in front of him. Despite the chaos, I grinned in despite of myself as I called up to Tamaki.
"Hey Tamaki! Good thing Haruhi's not wearing a skirt eh?" I laughed when Tamaki blushed a deep scarlet, Haruhi (who couldn't hear) carried on up the ladder, looking as if she were being forced to climb up the side of a house to hang up holiday lights.
"TSUYU-CHAN!" Tamaki cried, completely embarrassed, "How could yooouuuu!" A large gust of wind sent the ladder swinging violently, thankfully Tamaki was the only one on the ladder to worry about as Haruhi just managed to clamber into the helicopter before it hit. The blonde clung on for dear life, miserably whimpering to himself and calling out verses of his future will.
"-I leave my commoner candy wrappers and commoner card collection to my beloved daughter-"
I grasped the ladder tightly after the gust died down to the usual whirl of commotion associated with the chopper, Hunny stood right beside me.
"You go ahead! Usa-chan and I will be right behind you!" he cried, his warm eyes twinkling happily. I nodded, I had never been in a helicopter before let alone climbed up a rescue ladder. It couldn't be that much different than climbing up one of the ultra-long ladders at Ouran, this one just seemed more free-standing.
Stepping into the first rung, I made my way one step at a time, the ladder swung back and forth. Terrified another huge gale would erupt I kept a strong hold of the rope, when I reached the top Mori grabbed my hand and helped me up the rest of the way. I happily obliged, after catching sight of the ground below I began feeling a little woozy.
"Rest," said Mori as he indicated one of the vacant seats in the helicopter. I had realized how large it was from the outside, but from the interior I could tell it wasn't an emergency vessel – it was purely for luxury.
Hikaru and Koaru, true to their word, controlled the large, flat-screen television situation near the back of the chopper, grinning like they were sitting at home. Tamaki was sitting beside Kyouya on a plush sofa, chatting away with him about something with a pitiful look on his face while Antoinette gnawed on a bone with a red ribbon on it. Haruhi was in a recliner, probably thinking how impractical all this was, but she was secretly enjoying the spacious comfort of the furniture she was in.
Hunny had just bounded in and Mori was rolling up the ladder when the pilot announced they were on their way to a remote location.
"Kindly explain what just happened," I said to no one in particular, but I was expecting a reply from Kyouya when I walked past him and Tamaki to fall into a vacant seat near Kyouya. I fought back the urge to moan, I sank right into the cushions as if they had been molded for me.
"As Hunny-senpai said, we rescued all of you." He replied simply, I closed my eyes with a frown.
"From what? Rabid trees?" I asked sarcastically, knowing he would understand my humor.
"You were at least half a mile away from the nearest marked trail, or did you not notice you were all meandering through undergrowth?" questioned Kyouya lightly, as if to antagonize me.
"You're not serious?" my eyes shot open and instantly fell on Tamaki, the blonde floundered and anxiously looked away. Kyouya smiled, aware that it wasn't only me that had heard.
"Tamaki-senpai!" Haruhi yelped, the twins glared.
"No way!"
"We didn't notice!"
"That doesn't say much does it?" I said, earning a double Hitachiin glare myself.
"Now look everyone! We had fun right-" Tamaki tried (and failed) to appease the situation, but Haruhi had already sighed with exasperation before falling back into a comfortable stupor on the recliner, mumbling to herself about stupid rich kids.
"We should have left you all on your own!" Koaru (or Hikaru) exclaimed, the other nodded in agreement.
While the twins and Tamaki went at it, I gazed out of the window I was closest to, frowning I pulled the shade over it. Heights did not bode well with my stomach and the slight lurch in the helicopter every now and then did little to help.
"Where are we going?" I asked as politely as I could, remembering I may very well have to ask Kyouya for help in Physics later. He had been writing in a slender planner for the last five minutes, ticking and scratching things on it without a break in his rhythm.
"A spa my family owns and runs in the north, shouldn't take long to get there now." He replied smoothly, not lifting his eyes from his work.
"A spa?" I repeated, looking at him questionably, his smile softened.
"Yes, a spa, our business statistics claim too much stress can deter learning capacities and promote depression. We cannot have our customers paying for something less than our best." Explained Kyouya, I raised an eyebrow.
"Are you saying we all need to relax?" It was a sincere question, the only other person I noticed that seemed slightly flustered would be Haruhi, then there was me, what did the rest of the Host Club need to relax for?
"Of course we do, our sweat and blood go into this club Tsuyu-chan!" Tamaki said with a bright smile, he had remained silent up till now since I joined them on the sofa. The climbing incident was probably still fresh on his mind, although the humor I had for it had already passed.
I smiled, but not for the reason Kyouya and Tamaki were probably thinking.
"Ah, you can drop me off at my complex then," I said without feeling, Tamaki blinked and Kyouya smirked.
"Why?"
"I can't go,"
"Why ever not?"
"It's free for Host Club members," Kyouya said, the pen in his hand never stopping.
"I'm not a member," I retorted.
"And guests with personal invitations," Kyouya finished politely, although the smirk on his lips remained. My eyes were trained on him, never leaving, Tamaki was grinning like he had just won a year's supply of instant ramen.
"What's the catch?" Kyouya didn't grant me a response, but his smirk did soften and the rest of the ride was silent between us. Antoinette pawed at Tamaki, the bone's ribbon hanging from her jaws.
A/N: I am sooooooo sorry for the long wait, but I'm sort of happy that I did since I kept coming up with chapter ideas and each one I knocked down for lack of 'interest' and then this one came out of nowhere and I was like 'yes! That's it! Has Ouran all over it!' It's a great anime, but it's so exaggerated and every time I write I wonder 'is this fascinating enough?' and 'I'm not coming up short am I?' Keeping them in character is as much fun, since Haruhi is the most realistic she comes to me naturally, but Tamaki is hard to write without making him unrealistically cheesy (if that makes sense at all...) and of course, I had to write about Antoinette (not only is she my fave dog breed, but I love writing out dogs!)
Another thing I've been thinking as I wrote this - I'm incredibly happy being an American student, yes, I work incredibly hard and study late into the night to pass my tests and write good papers, but geez, cram schools, school on the weekends, eeeewww. I could be wrong, but what I've read up on the Japanese educational system just made me want to cry for those kids...
Aurora-16: Tamaki was in an illusionary frozen wasteland for a reason, it shall be revealed soon lolol
Hoshi Hanabi: The reason I spell 'senpai' 'sempai' is because 'sempai' was the first spelling I had ever seen it in so it kind of stuck to that, but apparently when it's translated for English speakers (like thyself haha) it's changed to 'sempai' or something along those lines...I'll change it, since I do know that 'senpai' is the correct spelling. It just hasn't ever sunk in yet lol. On another note, I had Tsuyu call Kyouya and Tamaki 'senpai' mostly because I planned for her to be a first year, then decided 'nah, no one has their OC in the same year as Kyouya and Tamaki.' When I made that change and created her back story, I kept the senpai there for respect reasons and Tsuyu is younger than they are, but not by much. Also the classes at Ouran are split up by wealth, family, and power, remember Tsuyu has to work at Ouran to attend it, if she had to work to get into class A-1 she still considers herself below them in those aspects. I use that reasoning, but don't think much of it anymore since she's stopped using them.
Spirit-of-the-Rain: Oh yes! Good job catching that! I was hoping someone would! As for the suggestion, thanks for making that, I hadn't thought of that to be honest ~
Chapter Question!
What could have Kyouya and Tamaki been talking about when Tsuyu entered the helicopter?