A/N
Okay, much like the previous chapter, this one's long as well -but there's a reason for that. I won't be able to update this fic until after the 4th of May, because I have an assignment that's due then. Sigh, stupid assignment. (I was supposed to be working on it now, but...Mori-sempai and Misao just wouldn't stop calling out to me, asking me to continue...)
Anyways, thanks everyone for the reviews! I'm really glad you're liking this!
Thanks also to;
gigi0203: Heh, was it that obvious that it was Misao? Great job! Yay!!! More people think that this pairing is possible!!!! Heheh, thanks for the review, and hope you enjoy this next chapter too!
Chapter Four: Deals, Accidents and Attempted Murder
People stopped and stared, watching as the bespectacled boy walked alongside the dark-haired girl. Girls shot glares at the girl with the long braid, glares which she oh-so-kindly returned with ones of her own, whereas the guys in the vicinity just shrugged, thinking that the girl was just another rich kid who the friendly, charming senior was just showing around.
Obviously, they didn't know Otori Kyoya very well - or at all.
Glancing at her senior out of the corner of her eye, Misao wondered what it was about him that practically reeked of...well, evil. Maybe it was the way his glasses glinted every now and then?
Ah, no, it had to be the smile. That pleasant, 'I'm-smiling-but-I-would-much-rather-dispose-of-you-right-now' smile of his. She nodded to herself. That had to be it.
Or maybe it was-
"While I appreciate the implications behind it, do stop staring Misao. It's rude," said Kyoya, smoothly, as they continued to walk around the school grounds.
Why that-!
"I'm not staring," she said, huffing. "Geez, can your ego get any bigger?" Kyoya simply smiled as he turned sharply, following a well-kept path.
"Do I need to inform you that it isn't wise to insult, or attempt to insult the one person who can make sure you enter the kendo club?" he questioned, charmingly.
Misao sweat-dropped, dropping her gaze to the ground as she did so. Despite the fact that she...despised it, the fact was that he was right. She couldn't afford to make him mad at her and go back on his word. "Ah, here we are. The kendo dojo." Kyoya smiled as he turned to the silent girl. "Please wait here a moment, Misao."
Left outside the dojo with nothing to do, Misao found herself thinking back to what had happened earlier.
Flashback:
45 minutes ago:
Misao stared at the bespectacled senior looking for all the world as though he had suddenly sprouted ten heads. Or something like that.
"Misao, please shut your mouth. It's rather unattractive to gape at people like that. Not to mention rude," said Kyoya, pleasantly. That only caused Misao's jaw to drop open some more.
"Okaa-san, what are you doing to our dear niece?" asked Tamaki, as he sauntered up to the pair.
"Something that's between an aunt and her niece, Otousan," replied the shadow king, smoothly, making a note to ask his friend when the girl had become his 'niece'. "Really, Misao, get a grip on yourself."
Tamaki turned to Haruhi who was being...jumped on by the twins. Once he had 'disposed' of them, he turned back to his daughter.
"What's going on?" he asked, as Haruhi straightened her uniform.
"Kyoya-sempai just informed Misao that the Host club would be keeping an eye on her while she's at school."
"Oh."
There was a brief silence during which Tamaki stared at Misao and -was that a fly flying around her opened mouth? "And, er, why does she not seem to be happy about it?"
Haruhi shot him a look that clearly asked; 'being-told-that-you're-being-watched-by-the-host-club-is-something-I-wouldn't-even-do-to-my-worst-enemy-and-you-want-to-know-why-SHE-isn't-happy?'
Tamaki sweat-dropped, comically, causing Haruhi to sigh.
"Because he appointed Hikaru and Kaoru as her 'keepers'..."
"My poor, dear niece.what has she done to deserve that fate?"
"She realized I was a girl."
"Ah."
"Tamaki-sempai, it's not like she's going to tell anyone about it," argued Haruhi, trying to save Misao from the horrors that would lie in store for her with the twins as her 'keepers'.
"She might -you never know," said Tamaki, sounding rueful at the same time. "Although I really pity her for having the twins as her keepers."
Kyoya looked over to him, a smile on his face.
"There's no reason for that, Tamaki," he said, calmly. "Besides, with the twins having their hands full with Misao, they won't have the time to...bother Haruhi, will they?"
Tamaki shook his head.
"Well, no, but------" As the gigantic light bulb flickered to life above Tamaki's head, Kyoya turned back to the gaping girl, satisfied that he wouldn't get any more complaints from Tamaki about the whole thing.
Haruhi sent Kyoya a long, hard look.
"That was low..." she muttered, knowing precisely why Kyoya had brought her into it. Risking a glance at the golden-haired senior, she found herself sweat-dropping at the far-away, dreamy expression on face. She didn't even want to guess what was going on in that inner-mind theatre of his. "By the way Kyoya-sempai, where are Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai?"
"They have a late chemistry class. Honey-sempai will be coming here after it finishes -which should be in a while- but Mori-sempai will be at the kendo club instead of joining us here," was the quick answer that she got.
"Oh."
"No freaking way." Kyoya turned to the braid-girl. "There is absolutely no freaking way that I'm going to agree to this. Go fly a kite! Are you out of your mind?!"
Misao, it seemed, had come to her senses.
"I assure you, I am completely sane," said Kyoya, smiling. Misao glared daggers at him.
"I don't think you are! You're asking them to practically stalk me around school?"
"And escort you home, just in case," reminded Kyoya.
"And- what?! I will not let those...idiots follow me around like that! Just because you're one of those stupid, filthy rich students doesn't give you the right to-"
"Stupid, filthy rich students? Hardly, Misao. I might be filthy rich, but I can honestly say that I'm not stupid," interrupted Kyoya, smiling pleasantly at her, while his glasses glinted.
Hikaru and Kaoru suddenly surrounded the pair.
"Sempai, I have to agree with her," said Kaoru, in his soft voice. "I don't think this is a good idea."
"Yeah," said Hikaru, nodding. "Itachi over here isn't worth the---"
"-Don't call me that!"
"-time and effort," finished Hikaru, casually.
Kyoya nodded.
"That may be so, but we cannot leave her alone, especially since she knows about Haruhi."
"Ah."
"...I see...but still-"
"-Is that what all of this is about?" asked Misao, interrupting Hikaru and not bothered about the glare he was sending her. "Geez, what do you take me for? Do you honestly think that I'm just going to walk around telling everyone I see that Haruhi's a girl?" She shook her head. "I have nothing against Haruhi to go around doing that, and besides, it's none of my business anyway!"
"It's good that you know that," agreed Kyoya. "But the twins are still going to be carrying out their orders."
"We are?"
"Sempai, really, why don't you just use your vast resources and just...threaten her, or something?" suggested Kaoru.
"Threaten me?" scoffed Misao, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'd like to see him try. What's he going to threaten me with? That black book of his?"
Kyoya's glasses glinted once more as he smiled at the girl.
"Actually, Misao...I have other means of threatening you," he said, pleasantly. "My personal security force would work quite well...or I can just cancel all the medical benefits that you and your family have, through the Otori Company. Ah, and I can also make your family bankrupt enough to be forced out into the streets..."
Haruhi sighed as Hikaru and Kaoru snickered at the expression on Misao's face. Tamaki was too engrossed in his inner-mind theater to notice what was going on.
"I bet she didn't see that coming," muttered Hikaru, looking pleased. Misao's mouth opened and closed, making her look quite the goldfish. Of course, Hikaru felt the need to point this out to her, earning him a solid 'thwack' on the back of the head. Kaoru had to place a hand on his brother's arm to prevent him from lunging at the girl.
"Well then, Otori-sama," said Misao, suddenly speaking up. "Let me ask you a question. Who do you think supplies your precious hospitals with their food? Who do you think runs the canteen at your hospitals? And at the Otori Corporation?"
If anyone had been observing the pair closely (which Haruhi was doing) they would have seen the slight, ever so slight twitch of the smile that was on the dark-haired senior's face (which Haruhi did).
"I do not think that that is any of your concern, Misao." Misao snorted.
"Let me tell you; it's the Aoiya - the most famous restaurant in this part of the country." A grin found itself on her face. "And do you know who owns the Aoiya, and the other chain of restaurants similar to it?" The grin widened. "Kashiwazaki Okina."
Kyoya sighed.
"Yes, Misao, I do know that," he said. "Although...I'm not quite sure of what you are trying to achieve with-"
"-Kashiwazaki Okina, sempai, happens to be my grandfather." In the brief silence that followed the girl's statement, Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged raised eyebrow glances, whereas Haruhi had her eyes on Kyoya.
"Ah." The smile was back on Kyoya's face as he consulted his black book. "But he's not your biological grandfather, is he?" The grin disappeared from Misao's face, just when Haruhi had thought that someone was finally standing up to the shadow king. "Okina-san is just a close family friend of your biological grandfather's. When Makimachi Hiroshi-sama passed away, he left you in the care of his friend, as you had no other family to be given to."
Misao's eyes widened. "You were raised by a young man - actually, by a famous martial-artist and acclaimed business-man, Shinomori Aoshi. Okina-san helped him wherever possible. You are currently living with Okina-san, in a traditional Japanese-styled house, complete with a dojo et al. Everyone at the residence is fiercely protective of you, but they would much rather that you...developed your feminine side as opposed to wanting Shinomori-san to continue teaching you martial arts, which he stopped doing when you were ten."
He adjusted his glasses. "Was there anything I missed out...?" The expression on Misao's face told him that he hadn't. "I thought not." He snapped the black book shut. "So, Misao, do you see how much I can threaten you, without you being able to do anything in return?"
End Flashback
She couldn't, for the life of her, figure out how the bespectacled, manipulative boy had gotten all of that information about her - and the worse bit was when Haruhi had told her that there was nothing that the senior didn't know about them.
How had he gotten all of that information? It just wasn't...normal.
In any case, their minor...er, argument (or attempt at one, on her part), ended with a good suggestion, surprisingly from Tamaki who had managed to leave his inner-mind theater.
'If Misao promises not to tell anyone about Haruhi's secret, we'll make sure she gets into the kendo club and stays there. But only after she promises not to divulge Haruhi's secret to anyone. If she breaks her promise...she will be kicked out of the club and will have seven new enemies...'
Like she cared. About enemies, that is. It wasn't like she had even entertained the slightest idea of mention Haruhi's true gender to anyone. But, the offer was too good for her to avoid being tempted; entrance to the kendo club -come on, that was big! She unconsciously wondered what the sexist would have to say about that.
Speaking of the sexist (who was apparently her senior...hah, that moron?!) and kendo...how had Suoh Tamaki known about her interest in joining the kendo club?
And so, there she was, standing outside the kendo dojo while Otori Kyoya went to work his magic with whoever was the authority in the club.
She snorted.
More likely the senior was threatening them to make them take her in.
"Done." She stared at Kyoya as he walked out of the dojo, followed by a somewhat familiar male. He stared at her, smile still on his face. "Go on in. You're in the club now." Misao fought down the wide grin that threatened to break out across her face. She didn't want Kyoya, of all people, to see her happiness. "Remember the deal," he whispered in her ear, "and remember that we will be keeping an eye on you."
Misao shivered as she watched the bespectacled senior leave.
"Ano..." Turning around, her green eyes narrowed as she recognized the boy she had been speaking to the other day.
"You! You're the one who refused to let me join yesterday!" Morinozuka Satoshi scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"G-gomen," he said. "It's just...well, since we don't have a single female in our club, I just thought---"
"-Whatever. You're all just a bunch of sexist pigs. The only reason why you're letting me in is because Otori-sempai probably threatened to do something evil to you if you didn't."
Satoshi sweat-dropped. This girl...how did she know so much about Otori Kyoya? "I'll take that as my answer being correct," muttered Misao. "Stupid rich kids...or kid, in particular."
Hearing a few yells from inside the dojo, Satoshi allowed a serious expression to form on his face.
"Ano...here's a set of training clothes," he said, as he held out a neatly folded white bundle to the dark-haired girl. "There's no particular size as such, but I tried to get the smallest one I could find since...well, you know..." He looked embarrassed. "Um, anyway, why don't we, er, go inside? I'll give you a bamboo sword once you've changed out of your uniform."
Misao nodded, anticipation gleaming in her eyes as she kicked her shoes off outside the dojo before entering it. The shouts from the members, who were already dressed and were practicing, stopped as they caught sight of her. Holding her chin up, Misao walked past them, not seeming to be the slightest bit bothered by their stares...
...until she tripped as a result of not watching where she was walking, and fell face down on the hard floor of the dojo. Satoshi sweat-dropped as he made to kneel down beside her twitching figure.
"I'm fine," growled Misao, before he even said anything. "Just fine." She grabbed the set of clothes he had been holding as she scrambled to her feet. "Where do I change?"
Wisely choosing to ignore the embarrassed flush on the girl's face (for his own safety), Satoshi pointed to a set of rice-papered doors in the far corner of the training room.
"There are two rooms there, pick whichever one you want. No-one will be going in there, since everyone's already changed." Nodding, Misao headed towards the doors, thankfully not tripping over anything -until she turned to slide the doors shut and...well, smacked her forehead on the door.
Swearing under her breath, she headed for the room that was closest to her, and slid the door open. The room was quite large, and its design was, once again, that of a traditional Japanese room. The only 'modern' item that seemed to have been added into the room was a set of metal lockers, each with a name marked on it.
Except for that, the room was otherwise unfurnished. Sliding the door shut behind her, Misao dropped her book-bag on the ground and held up the white bundle of clothing she had been given. It consisted of a pair of white, somewhat baggy pants and a top that looked rather like the traditional Japanese over-coat that was occasionally worn over kimonos.
But how on earth was she supposed to wear the top without...well, exposing her front? Shaking the bundle out, she was relieved when a long strip of black cloth fell to the ground. That was what she was to use to keep the top in place, securely covering her.
"Hah! I finally get to get out of this horrid...thing," she said to herself, as she started to change.
Meanwhile:
By the time he took off his shoes and entered the dojo with his tie hanging undone around his neck, the shouts and yells had reached a loud pitch, indicating that the practice was going well. A small smile formed on the dark-haired senior's face as he looked around at the furiously training members of the kendo club.
His brother really was doing a good job as the captain of the club.
"Ah, Mori-sempai," commented one of the boys, nodding respectfully at him. "Satoshi-kun decided to start, not knowing if you'd be coming or not..."
Mori shrugged. Nodding politely at the boy, he headed towards the doors in the far corner of the training room, intending to change quickly and get involved in the practice. As he slid the door shut behind him, he shifted his book bag to his right hand and quickly shrugged off his light blue jacket, slinging it over his free arm as he started to swiftly undo the buttons on his shirt.
He hoped that Mitsukuni handled his 'customers' at the Host club, so that the club wouldn't suffer any loss at his absence. He doubted if Kyoya would be happy if they did.
The last button was undone, and his hands moved to his belt.
He also hoped that Tamaki would keep Mitsukuni from having too many sweets. And that he would remind him to brush his teeth. No, he should rephrase that. He hoped that Kyoya would keep Mitsukuni from having too many sweets (Tamaki was too soft-hearted and easily moved by tears to resist) and that Tamaki would remind him to brush his teeth.
Heading towards the closer of the two rooms, he slid its rice-papered door open while using his other hand to pull his belt out of its belt-loops. The sooner he got out there the better.
Grey eyes widened as he stepped into the room and saw that it was occupied.
Grey eyes widened even further when he saw who it was that occupied the room.
Brushing her black-bangs out of her eyes, Misao looked down at herself, allowing the top she was supposed to wear to hang limp on her small frame. The pants fit her fine...but the top...
Hmm...how was she supposed to do this? Just wrap the item around her and then tie it in place with the black cloth? Shrugging, she picked up the black cloth from the ground, and was about to start working on the top when she heard the rice-papered door slide open.
Surprised, she turned around, quite forgetting the state of...undress she was in.
Green eyes widened as she saw the tall, dark-haired senior with his shirt unbuttoned and holding his tie, jacket and bag in one hand and his belt in the other hand.
"S-Sempai..." she spluttered.
Mori stared at her, eyes slightly wider than usual when she turned around, revealing her...well, undone top, which in turn revealed a black --
His face grew warm as he averted his gaze to the ground.
"...Suman," he mumbled, tightening his grip on his clothing. "I...didn't realize you were in here." Misao's eyes widened again, and her face immediately took on a magenta hue.
"You..." She choked. "Y-you...PERVERT!!!!" Mori's head snapped up as he glanced at her, surprised, before he quickly glanced down again.
He was not a pervert. He just hadn't know that she-
He ducked, in time, as a book-bag was sent flying at his face -with quite a bit of force too. Dropping his own bag (and his tie, belt and jacket) on the ground, he held his hands out to the girl, not daring to look at her.
"I didn't mean -"
"YOU BLOODY SEXIST PERVERT!!!" screeched Misao, her anger levels rising dangerously. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!"
Morinozuka Takashi, the famed middle-school Kendo champion, and famed martial artist in general, did something that no-one would ever have expected of him.
Then again, a quick look in the dark-haired girl's eyes told him that she would kill him. And enjoy it as well.
With his best interests in mind, he spun around and ran out of the room. "-WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING??? ARGH! COME BACK HERE YOU FREAKIN' PERVERT!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU, REMEMBER?!" screamed Misao, as she took off after him.
Having heard the screams, Satoshi, ignoring the fact that the other members had stopped their training, had sprinted towards the changing rooms, worried. Pure instinct made him jump out of the way just before his brother sped out through the door, only half dressed.
"Niisan---" Pure instinct made him jump out of the way again, just as the dark-haired girl sped through the door...in a similar state of undress as his brother. He flushed. "Ano...a-ano Makima-"
"-to kill you and --- gimme that!" snarled Misao, grabbing the bamboo sword out of his hands before speeding after the sprinting Mori. Satoshi could only stare after them, his jaw on the ground.
Niisan...?
A couple of minutes later, Misao skidded to a halt by the pond in the courtyard, breathing heavily. Gripping the bamboo-sword tightly in her hand, she leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees, taking in a couple of deep breaths.
The idiot, the sexist, stupid, perverted senior had disappeared roughly a minute ago, leaving her rather lost -as to his whereabouts. Green eyes narrowed.
She couldn't believe him! How could he just walk into a changing room, when a girl was changing, just like that?! Didn't he have any sense of decency?! Where were his manners?! How would he have liked it if---
Feeling the hand on her shoulder and taking a wild guess as to who it belonged to, she pulled herself up before spinning around, swinging the bamboo-sword as hard as she could.
Mori grabbed the weapon in one hand, halting its progress, causing Misao to glare swords, kunai, shuriken and spears at him. "Pervert," she hissed. "I can't believe you just walked in like that!" Upon closer inspection, she noted that there was a faint tinge of red on the senior's face.
"Sorry," he mumbled, not flinching away from her gaze. "I just didn't know that you were in there."
"Well you should have!" The glare on Misao's face faded to a somewhat embarrassed expression. "You...saw me...you saw...w-well, you-"
Mori unconsciously hoped that his face wasn't as bright as it felt.
"Once again, I'm sorry," he mumbled, moving his eyes from hers as he heard the whispers of the few students scattered around them. Grey eyes narrowed at the expressions on the male students faces as they stared at the quick-tempered girl. Or rather, at her open top.
Snatching the bamboo-sword out of her hand -earning a sharp yelp from her- he shrugged out of his shirt and held it out to her.
"W-what are you doing?" asked Misao, staring at the shirt that was being held out to her.
"Put it on."
"What?"
"... ... ..."
"Why the hell should I?"
Mori sighed inwardly. Was she always this difficult?
"...People are staring..." he muttered, nodding towards the scattered students who were staring. Seeing the looks she was getting, Misao flushed. In her blind fury, she had forgotten about the state of her clothing. Snatching the shirt from the senior, she quickly put it on, fumbling with the buttons, but managing to put it on over her 'training' top.
Mori let out a soft sigh once she was done. That was better. He wiped his damp forehead with his arm, partly relieved.
Hearing a few high-pitched squeals, Misao looked at the girls before following the direction of their gaze. It was the senior; standing tall and straight. That wasn't what caused the squeals, or what caused her to be certain that there was a bright flush forming on her cheeks.
He was shirtless. (Naturally, since she had his shirt on)
And what was worse was...
...he didn't look half-bad like that. Heck, he looked...good.
Misao shook her head hurriedly, growling at her mind for betraying her. He was a pervert - albeit it just might have been an accident on his part.
Damn it...
Meanwhile:
From one of the many sets of well-designed windows in the 3rd Music Room, a brown-haired host, taking a two minute break from dealing with customers, stared down at the figures by the fountain.
"Ara..." she mused, as she watched their interaction."Mori-sempai...? Misao...?"
"Ha-ru-hiiiiiii!!! Break's over! Come, quickly! Your customers are waiting!" cried out Tamaki, as he started to move towards his precious 'daughter'.
Sighing, Haruhi quickly turned her back on the windows and headed back to her place.
"Hai, hai," she mumbled.
But...I wonder what that was all about...
A/N
Another chapter done! Well, as always, I hope you enjoyed this one too!
See ya in the next chapter!
Siriusgirl1