Chapter 4

Corpse's, Customers and Cursing

It's been three days since Haku, Teto and Lily came home. So far I know next to nothing about them. Haku doesn't leave her room all day, Teto and Ted are almost always gone and Lily won't speak to me…so I'm at a loss here. Obviously Lily hates me, Haku's shy and Teto likes to travel…or they all just don't like me…I like my first idea better.

Gakupo's been on my case about giving him more points…he's lost almost all the points he gained. He's got 10 left now after I woke up with his hand on my ass. He totally did that on purpose. I wonder when he's gonna get enough points. In the past few days I've considered giving him enough points for a kiss but that would totally ruin the point of the point system and why would I ruin such a good thing?

Well I still haven't gotten another guest yet but mom's been requesting Piko every single day. Miki's been keeping a close eye on her…and is till know next to nothing about Miki too. I guess I know next to nothing about everyone actually. I think I'm gonna go in ABC order and just go down like that (mostly because I can't pick between everyone). Which means Dell is first.

It took a while but finally Dell had an opening in his busy schedule (which is a little to busy…) for me. As his guest left (she had big boobs and wore a slutty dress) I walked over to him.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked.

"Fine, sit." Dell looked at the girl. "Till next time sweetheart."

"Very well. Will you have new wine when I come back next week?" the women said with a smile.

"Well of course, we always update each week."

"Good, then next Wednesday it is." She walked over to Sora to pay. I sat down next to him.

"What's up half bread?" Dell asked leaning back on the couch and spreading his arms out like a guy usually does at movie theaters.

"Well, I've been here almost a week so I thought I need to get to know everyone better so I'm starting with you." I looked at him expectantly.

"So what do you want to know? I mean it's not like I'm gonna tell you anything anyways." Dell looked at me. "You think you can just waltz in and we'll all trust you." He chuckled. "You're in a house with a bunch of Demons and evil creatures. Know your place girl."

I sighed. "Well that blows trying to talk to you." I got up. "Fine, then I'm gonna go talk to Haku."

"Don't go bother my wife!" Dell snapped.

"Wife?" I asked curiously.

"Damn you you bitch" Dell hissed.

I smiled and sat back down. "So, tell me about how you met Haku."

"I'm not telling you anything." He crossed his arms angrily and looked away.

I got up. "Fine, I'll go ask Haku."

"Damn it Gumi! Just sit your ass down and leave her alone!" Dell groaned placing his hand over his eyes.

"So…" I waited for him to continue.

"I met Haku in an Elf village. Two years later we were engaged and then the next year we were married. Then we had 12 kids and then when they all left us we moved here. There's your story. Happy?"

"Why'd your kids leave? Did they grow up?"

"Haku's a Banshee. Being the son or daughter of a Banshee is a embarrasses meant. We gave them up as soon as they turn 8. The kids don't associate with us anyone. Are you happy now?"

"That's so stupid. Haku's no different then the rest of us."

"Banshees are frowned upon just like Rook and I are disliked. Were Demons. Demons are supposed to be evil so children of Demon's rarely stay with there parents. All children born from Demon's are born Angels. It's there choice if they want to be Demons. At this time none of our children are Demons."

"Do you want them to be?"

"Why am I even telling you? I don't trust human scum like you." He snapped.

"Remember, I'm gonna be a half bread soon." I pointed out.

He sighed. "No, I don't and I honestly don't want to see my children. There to pure."

I laughed. "There angels. Of course they'd be pure."

"Eventually they'll stray to the Demon side. They always do. I did."

"How long were you an angel?" I titled my head to the side.

Dell chuckled. "Until I turned 5. My parents were Demons so obviously they'd corrupt there kids. Haku on the other hand refused to corrupt our kids. I can't say no to that women. She's always hitting me over the head with something. I have the scars to prove it."

I chuckled. "That sounds like Haku."

"What do you know? You've barely even talked to my wife and you think you know her."

I crossed my arms. "I'm good at reading people. From when she sat on you I figured she was abusive. From the way she talked to you I figured she was harsh towards you but there was a hint of love in her voice so I really can't judge completely but I can make intellectual guesses."

"Oh really? What read did you get on me or whatever?" He rolled his eyes.

"From the way you dressed I figured you had the proper rocker kind of edge. From the way you sat on the couch I could tell you were slightly more sexual then most men usually are. From the way you spoke to me I could tell you were a tough guy who was mostly talk and no bite but I was proven wrong because you can obviously hold your own if it came down to it. Also your eyes are evil as your soul must be but there's also a hint of loneliness and love. A strive to be the center of attention at times which is why you tend to piss people off a lot."

Dell slapped me. "Shut up you bitch! You don't know me!"

I smiled but with sadness as well. "Your right, I don't know you but that was only my guess. I don't know any of you and that's why I'm trying to understand your individual situations. You wanted to know my guess so I answered knowing you'd become angry. You shouldn't ask questions if you may not like the answer. Slapping me wasn't necessary. You could have told me to shut up" I rubbed my cheek. "You hit like a bitch. Geez"

Gakupo grabbed Dell by the wrist. "Why'd you slap her you ass?" Gakupo snapped.

Dell pushed away from him with sadness and confusion in his eyes. "You're an interesting human Gumi. I'll give you that one but you really need to shut up."

"Coming from the one who pisses everyone off, I don't think I'll follow that little note of wisdom."

Dell's eyes narrowed. "I'm hungry." Dell walked away.

Gakupo sat down next to me and touched my cheek. I flinched from the small amount of pain. "What the hell are you doing? He could have killed you you know."

"I was trying to understand everyone's situation. Obviously, Dell's situation is a lot more difficult then I realized. I'll have to remember that."

Gakupo grabbed me by the shoulders. "Are you crazy? No more of this. Let them tell you there own stories. You can't just force them to tell it to you."

"But I didn't. I just asked if Dell would tell me. What got him to tell me the story was the fact that I was gonna ask Haku too. I'm still going to. I want her point of view too. It's best to know what not to say to people sometimes. For instance, I know now not to talk about Dell and Haku's children in front of them. Problem avoided."

"Problem not avoided. Dell's a lose canon. You're lucky he didn't kill you for using cheap tricks like that."

"You're a werewolf. You know that he wouldn't risk it. Beside's he was barely angry with me anyways."

"He slapped you!" Gakupo yelled.

"I'm fine. Give it a rest." I pulled my note pad from my pocket. "20 points for protecting me. Minus 5 for not trusting my judgment."

Gakupo's eyes narrowed. "How am I gonna get points if your always getting rid of them?"

"Quit being an idiot and listen to me damn it!" I yelled. I wrote down plus 5.

Gakupo groaned. "How many points did I lose this time?"

"None. You gained 5 for sticking up for yourself." I stuck the note pad into my pocket and sat down on the couch.

"Gumi" Sora called from the bar. I turned. "You have a guest."

A man that dressed like a gangster stood in the door way looking around at the room. He had black hair with a blond streak in it and gorgeous pail blue eyes. Really good looking. Lucky me.

"Very well. Have him join me" I said sitting down. I looked at Gakupo. "Run along. I'm sure you have guests breaking down the door Gakupo." I waved him off.

"I think you're the first woman to infuriate me." he grumbled walking away. I smiled and added 10 more points to the pad for amusing me.

Then the man joined me. He was a lot taller then I thought. "Hi, I'm Gumi." I said with a smile.

He looked me over. "You're pretty cute Gumi." He sat down. "I'm Kaeru Kowairo."

"A pleasure to meet you."

"Ditto." He looked around awkwardly. "So…how does this host stuff work? I've never been to one of these places before."

I sat down on the couch. "I have no idea." Kaeru chuckled. "I'm a new comer so…I'd say it's like a social hour kind of thing." I shrugged. "Truthfully, you're my second guest."

"You must suck then"

"Shut up" I mumbled. "I know I suck." I looked at Sora. "Hook me up Sora!"

"Of course Mrs. Gumi." Sora said grabbing a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"You don't look like a drinker Mrs. Gumi." He chuckled.

"I'm not but the other hosts drink so I figured it comes with the title of host."

"You're the one hosting. Do what you want" he shrugged.

"Well the taste is starting to grow on me. Even if it's still terrible."

"Well, it's worth a try. I'm not much of a drinker. Well not for wine anyways." Sora placed the bottle on the table along with two wine glasses then walked away. I opened the bottle and poured the wine as carefully as I could manage. We both took a glass. "You first."

"No way. You first. Be a man."

"Ladies first" He gestured towards my glass.

"I always hated that stupid saying." I looked down at the red liquid and groaned. I looked up at him. "Why don't we taste it together? Who ever can drink the most of there glass wins."

"Fine by me. I'm gonna win." He held up his glass. "To this terrible glass of wine."

"Yuk! Agreed!" We clanked glasses then quickly down the contents of the glass. We both made disgusted faces.

"That was terrible" Kaeru moaned.

"So disgusting" I moaned.

"Then why are we drinking it?"

"I…don't know…but it was fun right?"

"It kind of was." He grabbed the bottle and poured us more wine.

"I don't think I could drink more of this stuff" I moaned.

"Don't wimp out now. You suggested wine." He teased.

"I'm not wimping out" I mumbled.

"Gumi!" Piko jumped onto the couch next to me. I struggled not to spill my wine which I held in my hand.

"Geez Piko! You almost made me spill my wine on my guest!" I snapped.

"Sorry but I'm so excited! Kiku is visiting me today!" Piko shrieked.

"That's nice. Why don't you go tell Miki?"

"Ok!" Piko hugged me then ran away to go find Miki.

"Is that kid even 10 years old?" Kaeru asked.

"I don't even know how old he is but old enough to drink wine." I answered.

"That's too hard to believe."

"If I didn't know him, I'd agree but he's a pretty smart guy."

"For a kid."

"Yeah…" I sighed.

Kaeru took a sip of the wine, made a disgusted face and then looked at me. "So…how was your first guest?"

"Fine. He was an old friend of mine…but I don't think he really counts." I answered.

"A good friend or a bad one?"

"A good one."

He nodded then grabbed the wine bottle. "This stuff is terrible. Why do you guys own this?"

"I don't even know why" I shrugged. "So…are you in a gang or something?"

"Why does everyone think I'm in a gang?" Kaeru growled throwing his hand s in the air in exasperation.

"Well you have the totally hot tough look." I shrugged. "I figured you were tough enough to be in a gang."

He ran his fingers through his hair and blushed a little. "Why thank you."

I chuckled. "And you're wearing a lot of black."

"Well black is awesome." He stated with a smile.

"It's pretty awesome" I giggled. I took a sip of the wine and made a disgusted face. "So you're not in a gang?"

"Na, it's not my style." He waved it off and leaned back against the couch spreading his arms out along the back of the couch like a guy usually does.

I nudged him. "Then what is your oh so amazing style?"

"I don't know but gangsters are usually ass holes and I'm defiantly not that."

"Nope you're defiantly an ass."

"Thanks so much. That must bring in so many customers" he rolled his eyes.

"I speak my mind and I don't hold back. Is that so wrong?" I crossed my arms.

"For business it is. That's how I got fired form my last 4 jobs."

I laughed. "What did you do? Cuss out the boss?"

"Well I worked in a coffee shop at my first job and I kicked this one guy's ass for trying to force me to clean up his spilled coffee."

"Yeah…maybe you shouldn't do that"

"Yeah…" We both laughed.

"What about the second time?"

He chuckled. "Well the second time I was working at a restaurant as a waiter and I there was this hot chick there. So I asked her out and she slapped me and so the chick filed a complaint and I got fired."

"That's pathetic. What girl files a complaint for a stupid reason like that?" I rolled my eyes. "Must have been some dumb bitch."

"Probably but if there dumb, you can have a lot more fun with them."

I punched his arm hard. "Don't be so skeevy. Woman have feelings you know"

"Yeah well my third job I got fired for about the same reason."

"You really don't do well with women."

"I know" he groaned dropping his face into his hands.

"Don't get yourself down. I'm sure there's some really hot chick out there just waiting to be swiped up by you."

"What kind of pep talk is that? That is the worst pep talk ever." He mumbled.

"Was it really that bad?" I nervously ran my fingers through my hair repeatedly. "Well if it makes you feel any better, I'd date you if I didn't have a boyfriend already."

"No that doesn't help me at all" he mumbled.

"Why don't you just go ask some chick out or something?"

"Cause I always fail." He looked at me. "My friend suggested I go to a host club or something to get some practice or something."

"Well…I don't know what a hostess is supposed to do so I'm gonna wing it." I took in a deep breath then let it out. "Why don't you just practice on me?"

"No way. That's stupid." He said impassively.

"No it'll be fun. Just do it."

"I'd rather drink that whole bottle of wine."

"Fair enough but this'll help you when you have to ask out a chick so do it."

He groaned and then sighed. "Gumi would you go on a date with me?"

"Not like that! You have to mean it or you sound like your being forced to do it!"

"But I am being forced!"

"Shut up and try again!" I snapped. I crossed my arms expectantly.

He sighed and turned serious. "Dearest Gumi" He took my hand. "Would you accompany me on a date?" He kissed my hand.

I laughed. "Ok now you sound like a dork."

"Well I don't know what to do!"

"Just don't be a dork and ask my out like you think I'd do it."

He chuckled. "You ass hole, were going on a date. Let's go."

"I wouldn't do that!"

"Funny. You look like the forceful type."

I grabbed him by the short. "I'm not forceful!"

He smiled a smile that really pissed me off. "Cause this isn't forceful."

"Shut up" I grumbled. I let go and sat back down. "Ok, go again."

He groaned. "This is so stupid."

"You paid for my amazing hosting skills so I'm putting them to work now do it."

"I'm pretty sure this not what a hostess does."

"Forget the rules just do it."

He sighed and looked at me seriously. "Gumi, would you go on a date with me?" He sounded pretty sexy with his voice so serious like that. I'd defiantly date him if I wasn't with Gakupo…well whatever the hell he is to me.

"There we go." I grabbed his chin. "Make sure you have eye contact and don't put on some dipshit guy smile. Girls hate that. Romanticize with your eyes. Make that girl want you before you even ask."

"How do I do that?"

"I'm gonna have to show you aren't I?" I asked impassively.

"Please" he put on some dipshit guy smile. "Show me your expertise."

I grabbed him by the shoulders and stared at him the way I wanted him to. His eyes widened. "See. Just do it like this."

He pushed away from me. "Ok that's enough of that."

I smiled evilly. "Your not falling for me, are you Kaeru?"

He turned away from me. "You only wish I was."

"Oh yes. It's my long term dream to go on a date with you." I rolled my eyes. "Now do it again"

He groaned. "Fine." He cupped my face in his hands and stared at me just they way I wanted him to. "Gumi, would you go on a date with me?"

"Nope" I pushed away.

"Why not?"

Sora tapped his watch as he looked at me. "Because your time is up"

Kaeru laughed. "Well of course it is. Maybe this host club is a good idea after all." Kaeru chuckled. "Same time next weekend?"

"Sure. That'd be fun. Maybe I can find a good tasting wine by then."

Kaeru chuckled. "I highly doubt it."

I crossed my arms. "Well now I feel like I've been issued a challenge."

"Good. I challenge you."

We got in each others face. "You're on."

"See ya Gumi"

"See you later Kaeru" We smiled at each other evilly then he walked away and left.

"A satisfied customer I hope?" Kiyoteru said from behind me. I jumped a little. I didn't expect him to be there.

"Uh yeah. I think so." I said nervously scratching the back of my neck.

"He will come back many times in the future." Kiyoteru stated. He adjusted his glasses. "But eventually he will not come anymore."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"After 10 years we can't accept that guest."

"Why?"

"We don't age Gumi. We can't get away with it for a long time. It's how we manage to keep our place in business without anyone finding out what we are."

"So eventually I won't be able to see any of my friends anymore…right?"

He placed one hand on my shoulder. "It' the life we were born into. You'll find that the people in our world are much more understanding those in there's. That is why it's forbidden for to speak a word about who you are. Who any of us are. Do you understand?"

"You suspect I'm going to talk right?"

"I know you will but the future is always changing. Don't say a word. No matter what you think, that road only leads to darkness. To remain safe and unharmed you must not say a word. Understand."

"Yeah, I get it. I'll understand after a few years into this. I've got plenty of time to say a word but eventually I won't need to…right?"

He almost half smiled. "And so the paths of our future are shifting." He looked down at me. "You'd do well to remember our little chat Mrs. Gumi." He walked away to join the girl who Kaito told me was Luka. Gakupo told me she's a Corpse Bride. As in a bride who was murdered before her wedding. Luka seemed to always seem unhappy.

"Don't worry about her. That's actually her happy face." Kaito said sliding an arm around my shoulders. He smiled his princely smile which really doesn't work on me.

"So…Luka's fiancé killed her?" I whispered.

"On the contrary, Kiyoteru killed her."

"What?"