Author's Note: Special thanks to TigrisRiver for her help on making this story stand out, and for critiquing as well as commenting!
2- A New Way to See
**SPOILER ALERT: Please proceed to the Author's Note if you want to read the sensitive material. It's up to you. Otherwise, the place where it's mentioned is marked clearly. ^^
"Miss Garetti, Bertrand and Demetri are here," a maid gently roused the young woman.
Adalina sat up, rubbing her face and tossing her rat's nest if hair over one shoulder. "Mmm? Alright. Please bring them in. Cleo won't mind."
At the sound of her name, the clouded Bengal raised her head, uncurling from the tight ball she had been sleeping in.
"Yes, miss." The maid exited, and Adalina tugged gently at all her clothing until it felt right. Bertrand had been the Garetti family's man since before Adalina was born, and to her, he was something of a muscular hulk of a brother, but she still felt uncomfortable dealing with him before she'd had a morning shower.
In a moment, Adalina heard her door open and close, accompanied by the padding of paws and thumping of combat boots. Demetri's collar jingled crisply as he jumped up on her bed and weaseled in beside her, wagging his German shepherd tail heavily.
"Hello, Demetri, baby. It's good to see you again," Adalina grinned, digging her fingers into the ruff of the dog's coat.
"He was whining for you all week," Bertrand chuckled. "I thought he would rip a hole in his carrier if we didn't get here as fast as we did."
"Ah, Bertrand," the blind girl greeted the man, hugging him gently.
"È buono da vederlo, my Ada, it is good to see you." Bertrand squeezed his charge. "I heard from your father you no longer need me," he teased. "And that he will put me on pension in Bali for my services."
"You could go to Bali now," she teased back.
Bertrand had, since Adalina became mobile in her social life, always escorted her to the various malls, and usually drove for her and was with her and Demetri at school.
"But there is a need. The school's big, and there are more students than Demetri can bumper back."
"Are you sure I won't just get in the way?"
"You? Eh, never. There's a club I'd like you to meet. There's a big one reminds me of you."
"Ah, is he a mighty warrior blessed by the ability to fight off a million deadly adversaries at once without messing up his hair?"
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of a 'gentle-giant' type of person…and he talks less. Much less. Perhaps you would do well to study his example."
The banter continued until Adalina let out a yawn so big Bertrand pushed her unto the bed. "Hey," grinned the escort. "Don't let a boring bodyguard who talks too much keep you up. You need your strength for school." He crossed the room to the door. "Your dad is putting me up in the room next to yours. Do you want me to leave Demetri here?"
"Yes, please, Bertrand," Adalina smiled, running her fingers through the dog's thick fur. "I missed him, and Cleo did as well." Truly, the Bengal was rubbing her nose against the dog's side—they had grown from puppy and kitten together and liked each other more than the usual stigma decreed.
"Alright. Goodnight, Ada."
"Goodnight, Bertrand."
As the door shut, filling in the sliver of light with blackness, Adalina lay back in bed. She actually hadn't been asleep for long when the maid came to wake her. Her mind was full of thoughts of the Host Club—after all the time she had been traveling, and to all the different countries she had experienced, there had been no people like this. A group so different, yet so obviously in tune to each other…Adalina was interested to see what had brought them together, and what was holding them to such a finely tuned balance.
The big one, Mori, seemed to be the calmest. Adalina didn't pick up the turmoil she sensed in the others, but surprisingly, Honey, his charge, seemed to have a lot of troubles. From the way he held himself, she thought his biggest problem was self-confidence, but it was a problem she saw a lot. It was easy to fix, and his feelings for Haruhi didn't seem to resonate as strongly or as stridently as the others—that would make things easier.
Kyoya…well, the boy had a lot of issues. The Italian was good, but she couldn't work those kinds of miracles alone—her priority now had to be his friends, so they could tackle him together when she earned their friendship.
Tamaki himself also had something amiss, but he was better at masking his troubles than any of the people he surrounded himself with. There was some shadow that colored his heart, but he covered it so well with his joy and…mild idiocy that Adalina had trouble deciding what it was.
Then…there were the twins. Adalina had seen plenty of twins in her time, but this was a strange predicament. While the two seemed in sync and almost acted like one entity split in two, there was a deep and unfathomable rift there as well, closed up to a mere half-step across, but still deep and still present. They would be her first venture—it would be Tamaki, but Adalina had a feeling she would be infringing on Haruhi's unrealized but very well marked territory there.
With a game plan marked out for herself, Adalina drifted off to sleep, thinking she had the battle well in the hand, but completely unaware of the surprises in the bush waiting for her.
—
"Ada-chan?"
No sooner did Adalina close the door to the Host Club than a silent pair sneak right up to her. When Hikaru and Kaoru spoke, it was in perfect unison, vowel sounds wide with smiles.
"Ah! You two scared me!" she yelled, whirling and putting her hand over her heart.
"Sorry Ada," one apologized, only to have the other start up again. "But we've been waiting for you to get here. We have a game for you to play."
"That's not even remotely stalker-ish," Adalina deadpanned. "But I do like games. Alright, what is it?"
"It's the…Guess Which One is Hikaru Game!" Again with the chorus, but it broke off into a solo afterward.
—SPOILER—
"We look different. Hikaru here has dyed his hair black for various reasons. But we figure, since you're blind and all, we can still play with you until you get it right!"
—SPOILER—
"So…all I have to do is decide which one is Hikaru and which one is Kaoru?"
"Yes, that's it."
Adalina cocked her eyebrow. "Are you guys serious? This isn't a game at all." But she seemed to hesitate a very long couple of seconds before she reached out and grabbed the hand of the twin in front of her, to her left. "You are Kaoru." She dropped his hand to pick up the other's hand. "And you are Hikaru."
Both twins were surprised beyond speech—her guess was correct.
"…Did I guess correctly?" Adalina's tone was unsure now.
"You did," confirmed one awed Hikaru.
"For sure," Kaoru added.
"How?" they chorused.
"…Hikaru, your voice is pitched a little higher. Also, it seems to me that you are louder, and you feel more spontaneous. As for you, Kaoru, you have a much more restful feel." Again, there was that hesitant pause. Kaoru looked at the girl with a small frown, wondering how well the girl could really tell, although his twin seemed carefree enough.
"Well the joke's on us, huh, Kaoru?" Hikaru grinned.
"I guess. Welcome to the Host Club, Ada. We're in session in a half an hour, and the club is almost ready for the public." Kaoru made the formal, ingrained greeting and took the blind girl's hand, leading her over to where the rest of the club had assembled.
"Alright everyone," Kyoya announced, checking his clipboard for reassurance. "Today's theme, as you know, is the popular shojo manga series 'Fruits Basket'. You've all got your costumes; please get ready. Haruhi, you're playing the female role today. Sorry about that."
"It's alright, Senpai."
"Um..Kyoya?" Adalina spoke up, and Kyoya looked her way.
"Ah. Adalina. Good to see you again. Can I help you?"
"Do you mind if…well, I didn't really properly meet everyone yesterday. Would any of you mind if I took a look at you?"
"Uhm…" the club replied stupidly.
Adalina smiled. "It's alright. I knew there would be confusion. Haruhi, may I use you for an example?"
"Of course." Haruhi set down the costume she had been handed and moved over to Adalina. "What do you want me to do?"
"Just stand still please. What color are your hair and eyes?"
"Brown hair and very dark brown eyes."
"I see." Adalina raised her hands and touched her very fingertips to Haruhi's face. "How dark is your hair?"
"Medium shade, I would say." Haruhi seemed calm and collected as Adalina's fingers skimmed along every feature of her face. There was no doubt in Adalina's mind that she was a little flustered, but she was polite enough not to let it show.
"You have a very pretty face," Adalina smiled, and Haruhi noted that she had closed her eyes, perhaps only by habit. "It's a shame you pretend to be a boy. And your hair." She ran a passing hand through it. "Very soft, but also painfully short. Thank you, Haruhi."
"You're welcome." Haruhi stepped away to put on her costume, and as she did so, Adalina considered her next choice.
"Tamaki? If you please, may I try you next?"
"Sure." Tamaki finished buttoning up the shirt he had replaced his uniform with and stepped over.
"Hair and eyes?"
"Blonde hair and dark blue eyes."
"Hmm. Do you have a mixed heritage?" As she had with Haruhi, Adalina gently roved over each feature of the lord's face.
"My mother was—" Tamaki broke off as Adalina trailed over his lips. "Sorry. My mother was French."
"Ah, I see. Not bad. I assume your high cheekbones come from your mother?"
"Yes, actually."
"Although you don't need me to tell you, you're very handsome, Tamaki. Thank you—you have no idea how useful this is for me."
"You're welcome. And that's always a compliment."
Adalina slowly moved through each of the Host Club, allowing for changing whenever Kyoya made it obvious he thought they were running out of time. They did well, however, she had just called Hikaru over when Kyoya insisted everyone get in place.
"Would you rather to finish while you host or wait until after?"
"We can do it while I host," Hikaru decided easily. "It might bring up ratings, huh, Kyoya?"
"I hadn't thought of that, but it might," Kyoya replied levelly, planting his feet firmly on the step block that had been brought in. It was necessary for him to stand over the rest of the club.
"Alright. If you can wait a few moments, we can continue." Hikaru left to join the rest of the club, and the timed doors swung open.
"Welcome," the club chorused, and a flood of girls washed the room. In no time, each host was occupied, although when asked, Hikaru politely declined.
"Actually, I just have to finish something up with our new transfer student. Adalina, come here, if you please." Adalina made her way over carefully to sit gracefully beside him, and he called the girl who was wandering off back. "Oh, you can stay, this will only take a moment or two, right, Adalina?"
"Definitely. Alright, you know the drill. Hair and eyes?"
"Black hair, light brown eyes."
As Adalina felt over the host's face and applied it mentally to make her own image, the girl waiting to be hosted watched in amazement.
"Can you really tell what he looks like by doing that, Garetti-san?"
"Fairly well," Adalina replied, tracing over the bridge of his nose. "It's surely not a hundred percent accurate, but it's pretty close."
"Am I studly?" Hikaru asked, grinning widely.
"You're no Tamaki, but that's to be expected," Adalina teased. Hikaru's grin slid off like melted butter. "I kid, I kid, now where's your brother?"
"Kaoru!" Hikaru called. "Adalina wants to crush your hostly spirit next!"
"You rang?" Kaoru obliged, sliding in.
"Alright, let's see how twinly you two really are," Adalina challenged, and she waited for Kaoru to sit down before gently touching her fingertips to his cheeks.
"Red hair and light brown eyes."
"Of course, of course…this is strange. The two of you are practically identical…"
Kaoru observed the girl as well, more thoroughly than the others had done during their turn. She had fairer skin that he was used to, and her hair was darker blonde than Tamaki's. Adalina's blindness wasn't the kind that could be hidden, though, that was something he had known right away. Her irises were flat-colored, milky white.
"How are your eyes like that?" Kaoru's words rushed out without his prior thought, and he blushed with shame after he said it.
"It's apparently a bodily reaction to the retinal scarring. That's what they told me, anyway. It was a wreck involving a semi and my family's car—we were in America at the time. Glass and metal damaged my eyes beyond surgical repair. Ah, I seem to be wrong." Adalina's fingers paused at Kaoru's lips. "I can't find a notable difference anywhere."
"Is that so?" he challenged, a little smug.
"Yes...you were both right. Apart from your hair colors, there's no outward way to tell. Except for maybe that Hikaru's voice is a little higher."
"Great," Hikaru whined. "You say I'm uglier than Tono, then you say I sound like a girl."
"I never said you were uglier than him, I just said you weren't as pretty. You're all abnormally attractive for guys, although I will admit you sound like a girl."
Across the room, three hosts met in moving around to new customers. Kyoya was the first to speak.
"The twins like her."
"Sure they do," Tamaki replied easily, brushing a few strands of hair out of his face. "They like her for the same reasons they liked Haruhi; she can see that they are individuals."
"Are you sure about that?" Haruhi asked after a pause.
Tamaki fixed the girl with a blank stare. "You saw her do it. She can tell."
"I'm not saying she can't, but did you notice? Even though she sounded confident, she hesitated for a long time before making her decision. I don't think it's quite as easy for her as she says."
"Should we tell them?" the troubled lord asked. He bit his lip.
"No." Kyoya's answer was immediate and simple. "We should not tell them. Think how fragile their balance with the outside world is already. Haruhi completely crushed any chances of either of them dating her…"
"Thanks Kyoya," the aforementioned crusher muttered.
"So we should pay special attention to this girl's chances of bringing them out even more. If we tell them now, or she makes a mistake, we run the risk of losing their customer shares in the Club."
"You really are a very evil person."
"Yes," Kyoya admitted, sounding not the least bit guilty, "And the sooner you learn that's not gonna change, the better off we'll all be. But we have to help Miss Garetti in any way possible, for the sake of the Club, and for the sake of the twins."
"But mostly for the sake of the Club," affirmed Haruhi.
"Yeah, mostly."
"Stop being obsessive, Kyoya," Tamaki chastised before wandering off.
Author's Notes:
XD I couldn't resist. Sorry, I was thinking of a fun theme, and I love Fruits Basket. I could not resist. Since the scene doesn't cover who is who, if you really want to know, ask and I'll PM you. Also, I love feedback! Tell me what you like and what you don't like! And please, be specific! I LOVE IT!!!!
**: for those of you who haven't read far enough in the series; Hikaru DOES dye his hair black. It's because Kaoru pushes him to tell Haruhi he loves her, but when he refuses, Kaoru starts dating her himself. In a fit of rage, Hikaru storms off, only to find Kaoru did all this on purpose to somewhat 'sever' the twinly bond between them. Kaoru can tell it's not good for their development, but doesn't have the strength to do it himself. After Hikaru learns this, he wakes up extra early the next morning and dyes his hair. This is a permanent change as far as I know.