"Oh my gosh," I gaped at the scene before me, and the others probably wore the same shocked/excited expression that I wore on their faces too.
"I think our mission was successful," Kyoya whispered to me. Blankly nodding, I turned to the rest of the hosts. Honey and Mori were smiling at the embracing pair, and the Hitachiins looked like fish taken out of water.
Yesterday, after explaining my plan to the group, we all assigned roles to each other. Kyoya was to get Tamaki to go to the park near Haruhi's house, tricking him into thinking the rest of the Host club would meet him there to "learn more about commoners." Mori and Honey were to escort Tamaki there to avoid suspicion, and then leave because they forgot they had "training." Then, the Hitachiins were supposed to call him and tell them that they were sick. I was to call Kyoya when Haruhi left to go to the park. It was easy fooling Tamaki; Haruhi was a little harder to deal with, but not impossible. I composed a fake letter from "a secret admirer" that said to meet her at the park. I knew normally Haruhi wouldn't go, but the sneaky way I worded it kinda forced her to. It went something like this:
You may already know who I am, but I'll still call myself the "secret admirer" anyway. Haruhi, I've always liked you. From the day you've joined the Host club, you were all I could ever think about. Please, could you meet me in the park near your house at the huge tree? If you're going to reject me, I'd rather have you do it in person. I know that if you do, things won't ever be the same between us, but I'd rather take a chance now instead of regretting it for the rest of my life. I'll be waiting for you. -Secret Admirer
I gave the letter to Kyoya, so that the letter would "arrive" the next morning. I saw Haruhi's face turn a light shade of pink as she read the letter, but she actually did a pretty good job keeping a straight face. I think she went mainly out of curiosity, but I could tell she was hoping that it was from a certain someone(cough Tamaki cough). In these last couple of weeks I've noticed that Haruhi became a little more uneasy whenever Tamaki dragged her into one of his choking hugs, or when he casually slung his arm around her shoulder. No one else had noticed this very slight change. I'm actually not so sure if Haruhi herself knows she's grown attached to our bubbly king.
"Hey uh, I think we can go now..." I whispered. Honey senpai nodded, and we all started to crawl away from Tamaki and Haruhi. We went by unnoticed, and soon we were about ten feet away from them. Ducking behind a wall, I let out a sigh of relief.
"Akari-chan, does this mean that Tamaki and Haruhi will be together now?" Honey senpai was grinning up at me, and I smiled back.
"Hopefully, but for now we should just wait and see what happens."
"So what do we do now?" Asked Kaoru.
"It's doesn't matter!" Hikaru growled. He shoved past me as he stormed away from the rest of the group, hands buried in his pants pockets.
"Hey! Where are you going?" I tried running after Hikaru but Kaoru stopped me.
"Just leave him, he will be fine." I blinked after looking into the other twin's eyes. Then it hit me: Hikaru likes Haruhi too. The only reason he came was because he wanted to see, no. He hoped that the plan failed. Eyebrows raising and mouth opening, a shocked expression washed over my face.
"I didn't know! I-"
"Let's just drop it," Kaoru smiled apologetically at me, and then he released my arm. Chasing after Hikaru, the two, fire-haired twins left us looking at them with concern. Groaning, I slumped against the wall.
"Ugh. I should've noticed sooner that Hikaru had feelings for Haruhi too..." I grumbled.
"It's okay Akari-chan, I'm sure Hika-chan knew deep down that Tamaki and Haruhi would end up together anyway," Honey senpai patted my shoulder, and I slightly smiled at him.
"Oh right, thanks for helping me out guys. If you hadn't, then Tamaki and Haruhi's date wouldn't have been possible." I smiled up at the two taller boys.
"Not a problem. After all, you and your brother have been increasing the club's profits, and the Host club has been saving more money ever since Haku's bakery started supplying the cakes." Kyoya gave me his business smile, and Mori just grunted while wearing a placid expression on his face.
Peeking over towards where Haruhi and Tamaki was, I could see that they now started walking away standing at an awkward distance. I smiled a bit. I'm sure Haruhi and Tamaki will be fine from now. Turning back to the remaining hosts, I clapped my hands together.
"So, do you guys want to hang out or do you guys want to go home?" Honey senpai answered right away as he jumped on me.
"We want to play with you of course!" I beamed at him.
"Alright then! Do you guys want to go somewhere?" Another great idea popped into my head.
"Oh! What about the new Maid cafe? It might give us more ideas for the next cosplay theme for the club, and there's a lot of great drinks and sweets," I smiled up at the two midnight-haired boys, then down at Honey senpai who was jumping up and down happily.
"Cake! Cake!" Honey senpai grinned.
"I see why not," Kyoya said. Mori grunted.
"Great! Follow me! You guys don't mind walking, right?" I slightly tilted my head to the side.
"Is it far?" Kyoya asked.
"No, it's right across that street!" I pointed in the direction we were going towards.
"It's a reasonable distance," he started walking towards where I was pointing, and I grabbed Honey senpai's hand.
"Let's go get some cake!"
"Yeah!" Honey senpai and I skipped ahead, laughing like little children, and earning a couple of strange looks and stares from passer byers.
When we arrived, we were greeted by a group of attractive teens dressed in Maid and Butler outfits. And they all were wearing cat ears!
"Welcome, Milords," they said in unison.
"Heya!" I grinned at them.
"May I escort you to your seat?" A cute maid asked. She was a red-head, and shorter than Honey senpai.
"Please!" Honey senpai giggled. We were all seated, and given a menu to look at. Honey senpai and I skimmed through it, rambling excitedly.
"Ohh! The bunny-shaped ice cream looks really cute! Don't you think so Takashi?" Mori senpai grunted in agreement. Kyoya was jotting some notes down. A suave-looking Butler approached.
"Are you ready to order?" He purred in a silvery voice.
"Not yet, there's so many good stuff to choose from!" I laughed happily. The Butler's emerald eyes widened a bit in surprise, and he leaned a bit closer to me.
"I don't mean to be rude but, why is a pretty girl like you dressing up as a boy?" I looked at him in surprise.
"You can tell I'm a girl? At first glance?" I tilted my head to the side.
"Of course! You may not be able to see it, but your cheerfulness really exposes how beautiful you really are on the inside," he smiled charmingly. I turned a little red. I was...beautiful? No one's ever called me that before...
"Uh...Thanks I guess?" I grinned and recomposed myself.
"You're the first person to not mistaken me as a dude despite my appearance. Congrats!" I gave him a thumbs up. He chuckled, and then left us so that we could finish deciding what we wanted.
Being in a good mood, I whistled a bit despite myself. Honey senpai had grown a little more quiet after the Butler had left, and he was still picking out some sweets with Mori. I glanced over at Kyoya. He was stealing glances at the Butler from earlier, and he wasn't writing notes down anymore. To outsiders, he would've looked completely calm. But I could see his eyebrows twitching just the slightest; he was annoyed. I blinked a bit in surprise, but I pretended I didn't notice.
"Honey senpai, are you done ordering?"
"Yup! I'm getting everything in the desserts section!" He giggled.
"Okay, but share, kay?" I gave him a closed-eyed smile.
"Kay!" He gave me the same smile back.
"Hey Kyoya, want anything? There's tea and stuff," he looked at me for a brief moment, before staring out the window of the shop.
"Order some coffee for me," I nodded, then Mori said he'd get the same thing. I waved my hand up to summon a Maid or Butler. The guy from earlier came to our table.
"We're ready!" I said cheerfully. He smiled.
"We would like everything in the desserts section, and two cups of coffee."
"Bitter, or sweet like you?" He purred while winking at me. I turned towards Kyoya.
"Do you want it bitter or sweet?" I asked him.
"I don't have a preference," he said coldly.
"And you?" I asked while looking at Mori.
"Bitter," he said in a monotone voice. I turned my attention back to the Butler.
"Bitter for both! Since we be eating a lot of sweets," I handed him the menu as he continued smiling at me like how Tamaki would smile at his guests.
"I'll be back soon, my pretty moon," he said in a smooth voice.
I gave him my boyish smile. Our Butler then left, and Honey senpai and I chatted idly together. His favorite cake was strawberry cake(no surprise).
Mori didn't say anything as usual, and he would only grunt occasionally when Honey senpai or I asked him a question. Kyoya was silent the whole time, and I couldn't help but feel that he was glaring at me.
"Your orders!" The red-haired maid from earlier came out with two trays, and three other Butlers/Maids came out as well with more trays.
"Wahhhh!" Honey stood up from his chair from excitement.
We devoured everything, and the bill was ridiculous. Honey senpai paid for everything despite my protests, and we were all about to leave before the Butler with green eyes approached me.
"Before you go, please promise me that you'll come back to see me," he handed me a piece of paper with a name and phone number on it.
"What's this?" I asked him curiously.
"My contact information, feel free to stop by whenever," he winked at me before leaving. Exiting the store, I was about to shove the piece of paper into my pocket, but then Kyoya took it and skimmed it.
"Vincent Hugo, he goes to our school you know. I believe he is the son of the famous pastry chef Pierre Hugo," he crumbled up the piece of paper before dropping it on the ground. Glaring, I picked it back up.
"Littering is illegal," I grumbled. Kyoya stared at me nonchalantly, while I continued giving him the cold look.
"Akari-chan? Kyoya-chan?" Honey senpai glanced between the two of us worriedly.
"It's not polite to take other people's things," I said to Kyoya. He narrowed his eyes at me.
"I didn't think you would allow someone to flirt with you so easily," he said in an even tone that matched my own.
"It's not like I'm dating him or anything, and besides I like someone else!" I gasped then bit my lower lip. Crap.
"Uh...never mind."
"What?" Kyoya's annoyance melted away, and now instead curiosity filled his gray eyes.
"You like someone Akari-chan?" I froze, and looked down at Honey senpai who was grinning at me knowingly. He was a lot more observant than I thought him to be.
"Who is it." That was more of a command than a question. I glanced at Kyoya nervously.
"Uh...I like cake is what I meant! Haha!" Darn it. Why did I suddenly become a horrible liar...
"Is he in our Host club?" Asked Mori. I gulped, before smiling at him sheepishly.
"I don't like anyone that way! Honest! And even if I did..." I trailed off.
"Bye! I'll see you guys tomorrow!" I sprinted away before they could stop me. I heard some footsteps following me. Panting, I sped up. Flying down the sidewalks, my feet carried me towards the park from earlier. I could still hear someone chasing me, probably Honey senpai or Mori. I pumped up my arms up and down, and my feet felt numb. The only sensation I could feel was the wind slapping past me and my body accelerating at a speed I didn't know I was able to reach. The world around me was just a colorful blur.
I was almost losing him! Just as I was about to turn, my foot caught onto the leg of someone and I was sent hurling forward. Crashing into the ground, the impact sent a sharp pain shooting through my knees. Wincing, I tried to stand but my knees refused to ben straight.
"Akari! Are you alright?" Out of breath, Kyoya stood in front of me, and his hair was disheveled. He was bending down with his hand on his knees, wheezing to get more air into his lungs.
"Yeah, I just tripped! Haha..." I was also out of breath, and when I tried standing again, Kyoya kneeled down so that he was eye-level with me.
"Let me see it," he reached his hands out to roll up the leg of my jeans to inspect my knees. Without thinking, I slapped his hands away. He glared at me in annoyance.
"I-I can do it!" Averting my gaze from him, I rolled up the legs of my pants, and saw my scabbed knees that were bleeding.
Kyoya stared at them for a little bit, and lightly touched the clean area around the bloody mess. I grimaced.
"I'll be back," before I could process what was happening, Kyoya had helped me up and sat me down on a bench, and then ran off. It was really weird seeing Kyoya Ootori run. He looked like a normal teenage boy, and his hair looked kinda nice when it was all messy...He looked even prettier than-Wait what?! I slapped myself and tried to get rid of the blush that had wormed its way onto my face.
After sitting on the bench for a couple of minutes, Kyoya came back with a something in his hand.
"Here," he opened a container full of cream, and he started to rub it onto my knees.
Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush,Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush,Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush.
I repeatedly chanted this to myself in my head, but even so my cheeks still burned from embarrassment and another emotion. Yup. I'm definitely infatuated with this guy. But why him out of all people? Wouldn't I have fallen for someone as loud as I was? Someone as dramatic and slightly clumsy as Tamaki?
"Thanks," I grumbled after he stood up. I averted eye-contact and fixed my gaze on a nearby tree.
"Not a problem, if you answer a question I ask you." I glanced up at him, only to see him smirking at me like the proud, rich jerk he was. Pursing my lips into a thin line, I narrowed my eyes.
"Alright, ask your question," I stood up, facing him.
"You're obviously infatuated with someone," Kyoya said.
"That's a statement," I crossed my arms as I tried to calm my fast-beating heart.
"Tell me who it is," he smiled coolly.
"Why?" I asked defiantly. Good thing I could act. No one could see how flustered and awkward I really felt on the inside.
"Because I'm curious," he said frankly. My heart sank a bit in disappointment. Pft, did you actually think he'd like you? Come on! This was Kyoya Ootori we're talking about. Sighing, I ran my fingers through my messy, wind-swept mop of hair.
"It doesn't matter. I'm stuck with Erai anyway," I spat bitterly.
"But what if you weren't?" I turned towards Kyoya curiously. We stared at each other for a few, quiet moments. I thought about it for a little moment.
"I...I don't know..."I said quietly.
"Let's make a deal then," I looked at him, and he continued.
"If I help you break your arranged marriage with Erai, you tell me who you like." I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
"But that wouldn't bring you any merit," he looked confused this time.
"Pardon?"
"You're a very calculating, careful, and no offense, but selfish person Kyoya. If something wasn't worth your time, you wouldn't waste your efforts on it. There isn't much you can gain from helping me. So may I ask: why are you offering to help me?" The raven-haired boy didn't say anything for a while.
"As much as I hate to admit it,"he started out snobbishly. I rolled my eyes.
"You're a part of our family in the Host club. If Tamaki and the others knew, I know that they wouldn't have hesitated to help you. I'm just doing what any other member would have done." A small smile settled onto his lips. A real smile, not his cold, business smile, but his genuine one. I gazed at it for a little bit, then I smiled back. He was being real, honest. He was basically saying that he was my friend, and that he cared about me. Aww, he really is a softie deep down.
"Aww, you're really sweet! So does that make me special to you? I'm you're best friend too, right?" I poked him while grinning like a kid. He re-composed himself, and shot me an "annoyed glare."
"Yeah sure," he rolled his eyes. Smiling and with a more serious tone of voice, I said:
"Alright then, thanks Kyoya. You're a great friend, and your help would mean a lot more to me than you think. Thank you." I hugged him. But before he could register what I was doing, I pulled back and grinned. It was extremely difficult not turning red.
"So deal?"
"After you tell me who you like, and honest answers only," he said sternly.
"Are you really that curious?" I asked.
"Yes! Who is it?" He sounded pretty childish just then. Laughing, I poked his nose.
"Help me first, and then I tell you. Okay? Because I'm honestly not sure if I like him or not," grumbling in dissatisfaction, Kyoya nodded reluctantly.
"I'll find out sooner or later," he said.
We walked out of the park together, and hung out for a bit at a manga cafe. I got him to read a couple of shonen mangas, and I read shoujo ones of course. We had a lot of fun, and I saw him smile and laugh a couple times. We left afterwards, and I arrived at Haruhi's house only to find it empty. Later after Haruhi came back, she told me everything that happened, and I pretended to be shocked. I laughed evilly internally though, he and Tamaki were a little closer now! There will be more devious plans in the future however...hehe...