Everyone was dead silent with a bunch of cards in their hands and several decks of cards mixed together were seperated into two piles and placed in the middle of the table. Fruits and chips and crackers were placed around the table along with everyone's glasses placed where ever was comfortable for them. It was just the way Toshiko liked it. The room was quiet save for the shuffling of cards in someone's hands or munching on food or what have you. Haruhi glanced out the window. "Toshiko-senpai, is that Elsa?" Haruhi asked in the middle of the silence.
Elsa was the neighbor kid who Toshiko babysat fairly often. Toshiko treated Elsa like her own kid, because Elsa's parents faught fairly often. The home owner backed her chair up and stood on her toes to look out the window before she sighed loudly and nodded. "Yeah," she muttered, "that's Elsa." After confirming the assumption she skurried off to the door and ran outside, picking up the small girl and twirling her around. The two entered, but Elsa took her babysitter's spot. "How about some apple juice, sweet pea?" Toshiko asked from the girl's side as she removed her own jacket and rested it on the smaller's shoulders. The neighbor girl only nodded with wide eyes and pulled the jacket close to her. "I'll go talk to your parents and I'll be right back. You can play cards, but be wary of those boys, I think they broke in," she said with a wink to the girl as she handed her a bottle of apple juice and hurried outside barefoot.
The neighbor girl turned out to be almost-seven. She had a small-but-cute button nose, round chesnut colored eyes, and long dark brown hair that was braided in the back. On top of all that, she played cards like a real champ and didn't get butthurt when she gained unwanted points from the card game. Like any little kid, she was antsy and impatient. Every round she would ask when Toshiko would be back, or why the host club broke into Toshiko's house. It wasn't long before she was enthalled in the card game and forgot about Toshiko as the sun set and outside grew darker.
The other guests were doing their best to avoid witty comments that a little kid like Elsa would take seriously. For a while quiet whispering was working. "I wonder if they killed her," one of the twins muttered to the other behind his palm.
"Shh, don't talk like that," the other whispered back behind his own hand as Elsa looked up at them with a fat, pouting lower lip that quivered slightly.
Luck hit everyone in the room when the front door opened and Toshiko entered the house, shutting the door and locking it behind her. There was a backpack and a bottle of medication in her hand. "Alright, Elsa, you're staying here tonight and going to daycare tomorrow morning. Go get ready for bed and I'll get the guest room ready," stated Toshiko as she waved at her guests and waltzed away into the kitchen.
"I don't wanna!" Elsa argued loudly and childishly.
The black haired teen returned to the room and set a chewable pill in front of the youngest guest. "If you don't get ready for bed and go to sleep, I will go to the closet. You know who's in the closet, right?"
"No!" Elsa shrieked, completely horrified. "Don't talk to the closet monster! He'll take you away too!"
"Take your vitamin and get ready for bed. Here's your things," Toshiko said and handed the small girl the bookbag. Once Elsa was out of the room the black haired girl gave an apologetic look to her guests. "Sorry about that, the neighbors are going through a rather... violent divorce. Um... You all can spend the night if you like, but I have to get her to sleep. It might take a little while."
Kyoya was the first to speak up, "We'd be happy to wait."
Toshiko hurried down the stairs about fifteen minutes after she had disappeared up them. Her first matter of business was leaning over the table and lightly smacking the twins upside the head. "Elsa told me what you two said, I wouldn't have minded had she not heard you," she explained with a playful scowl. "Who's staying the night and who isn't?" The black haired girl asked as she offered a raised brow.
Hikaru and Kaoru stood at the same time and put their hands on their hips. "We have to go home. We're supposed to go on a trip tomorrow," they explained in turns before running off.
The card game was obviously done, so Toshiko started piling up the cards and clearing up the table. "I'm going to assume you're all staying then. Boys sleep in the living room. If you don't want to sleep on the floor or there isn't enough room on the couch, I can pull out however many cots are needed," she offered as she separated the different decks into piles and put them away.
"You're parent's are divorced, right, Toshiko?" Kyoya asked as he sipped tea from his cup.
"Yes," she responded easily, "is there something you're trying to get at?"
"I was just trying to grasp why you care so much about that neighbor girl," answered Kyoya smoothy. "But I'm sorry to hear about your parents."
The girl grunted as Haruhi helped her out by taking away the used dishes. "It's old news. I don't care. Elsa on the otherhand, needs to have somewhere safe to go when her parents start breaking glass."
Kyoya let it be as she hurried up the stairs for bedding, but his blond friend wasn't going to let it go. Tamaki followed her up the stairs. "That has to be hard on a kid, hard on you, I mean," he said, not the slightest bit of venom sounding in his voice. His tone of voice wasn't something Toshiko had heard in a long time. Somehow, despite how soothing he sounded, his words startled her. She stopped moving and started at the ground thinking over what the taller teen had said. When she turned to continue putting things together, the boy was slightly startled. "Are you not listening?"
Toshiko turned on the balls of her feet to face Tamaki and gave him a sad smile. "I hear everything, that's the only hard thing about growing up as the only adult," she sighed, "even though all I will ever be is a stupid, little girl."
"Is that really what you think of yourself?" The blond pressed on. "You think you're stupid?" The tone in his voice was baffled, though he did his best to stay quiet for the sleeping child in which ever room was the guest bedroom. "You think you're worthless? It's because of your brother isn't it?" He continued with the questions. "It's Nori who always got everything and you were pushed into the sidelines, right?"
"Tamaki, stop it," Toshiko whispered in near silence, her eyes veiled by bits of hair that had fallen out of their regular buns. Several neatly folded blankets rested in her arms as she pulled them out of the closet. "My life is my life. I feel what I feel. Nothing is going to stop me from any of that, not even me. I can't stop myself. I was raised stubborn and that's how I'm staying. I get it if you think little of me... I don't care if you think little of me either. Just let me be." After that, the girl pushed past him and scurried down the stairs to set up everyone's beds.