XXx Aya xXX
I groan as my alarm pulls me out of my nice, warm, dream world. My eyes are assaulted by bright light coming from my windows, making me wish I had drawn them closed last night. I groggily sit up to glance at the digital clock on my nightstand before flopping back down into the cocoon of nice warm overs and rolling over and bury my face in a nearby pillow.
But it doesn't do much for me. Maybe I should invest in a nice sleeping mask.
But does it really have to be morning already? That means I have to start school today…
Reluctantly, I push myself into sitting position. Rubbing my eyes, I crawl out of bed and bury my freezing feet in the deep plush carpet. I pick up my phone and turn off the alarm, pulling the charging cable out before stumbling across the room and towards the bathroom.
I should set a song as my alarm tone. That might make waking up more pleasant…she says doubtfully.
Somehow, I manage to get to the sink without tripping over anything and begin to splash ice water over my face. The chill shocks me awake and makes my bangs cling to my face.
After all the jet lag, dinner, and my normal lack of sleep, waking up at 6:30 is just a tad bit early for me.
I place my phone on shuffle and brush my teeth quickly, waking up even more as the mintiness of the toothpaste burns my tongue.
There's a faint knock coming from the main room's door just as I'm in the middle of working a comb through my tousled hair. I tie a rubber band around the smoothed straight side before I saunter over to answer it, face and hair still slightly dripping.
Akimi is standing just outside the threshold, holding a shiny black garment bag.
"Morning," I yawn as I toss my still mangled and tangled half of hair over my shoulder.
"Morning," she replies with a forced smile. "I've um…brought you your new uniform," she says.
My face falls at her tone. Oh dear god.
"How bad is it?" I ask, dread seeping into my voice as I step aside to let her into my suite.
She just bites her lower lip and walks in, laying the garment bag on my unmade bed.
I hesitate for a moment before swallowing hard and pulling down the zipper. It can't be that bad…can it? I'm almost immediately proven wrong when I push aside the flaps and almost have a seizer.
"Please tell me this is a joke," I say with a slight quiver to my voice as I pull the dress out and let in hang out in front of me.
"I wish I could," Akimi says as she grimaces at the shocking shade of yellow.
"And I don't suppose not wearing it is an option?" I ask with a faint glimmer of hope.
"I wouldn't know," Akimi answers as she sets aside the empty garment bag and begins to make my bed. "I've never set foot on an academy as prestigious as Ouran."
"If they're as rich as you make them sound you'd think they could afford a better uniform," I mutter as I set the dress down on one of my plush chairs.
"Well what can you do?" Akimi sighs as she straightens out the last of my pillows. "Breakfast will be ready soon, is there anything in particular that you would like?"
"Umm, well, can I just have some toast and strawberry jam?" I ask as I head back to bathroom.
"And to drink?" Akimi asks as she goes to show herself out.
"Some hot chocolate please," I call from the door of my bathroom.
She bows and leaves me, and I resort to attacking my hair again. I turn back to dress laying across my chair.
I really don't want to wear it.
I trudge back into the bathroom before pulling out my makeup quickly, and set aside a lip gloss tube for after I eat. I sigh and glance back at my dress from the doorway.
The fabric slides over my skin, coming at a rest at my knees. The white stockings are too plain for my taste. I rummage through my unpacked luggage and pull out a pair of black and white lace-up platform ankle boots to lend myself some height.
I search in vain for a pocket in the skirts, or just any place to put my phone. As expected, I find none, so I begin leafing through my pile of clothes from last night for my gray jacket. The puffy sleeves of the uniform make the jacket fit weird in the shoulders, but it works well enough. I have pockets now and that's what's important.
My backpack sits on the coffee table and I swing it over my shoulders. After double checking for the ear buds are in one of the smaller pouches, I set out to find my way down to the dining room. But once I make it three steps down the hall I double back to my room and quickly cram Usako into the depths of my backpack before sprinting back out.
When I finally find the dining room, Yasuchika and Mitsukuni are already seated and eating. But there's a thick blanket of silence that hangs over them. I almost don't want to enter, but I'm starving at this point. My face keeps its normal indifferent expression as I walk over to the table and just plop down at the empty setting placed next to Mitsukuni.
Within a few seconds of me sitting down Akimi appears and sets my food in front of me, giving me a small smile that seems to be her way of saying 'good luck.' I nod shallowly back at her, and she returns it briefly before quickly scurrying back to the kitchens.
"Your hair is still blue."
It sounds like more of a statement than a question, but there's really no telling with Yasuchika. I glance up, to seem him glancing critically at the hair draped over my shoulder.
"I hadn't noticed," I reply stonily.
Yasuchika makes a face at my response, but Mitsukuni chuckles into his cake.
I do a quick double take to confirm what I thought I saw. And sure enough, Mitsukuni is inhaling a large piece of strawberry layer cake complete with frosting and a decorative icing rose. I bite my lip to contain my want and glance back down at my toast. Is it polite to ask your host for breakfast cake? Or do I stick with my boring toast?
"I think it's pretty Aya-chan."
I do my best to make my hair fall forward and cover my face, because I can feel my cheeks heating up, much to my annoyance. This boy has only known me for a few hours and he already calls me Aya-chan. It's really unnerving. And now, he's calling my hair pretty.
I mumble a thank you in response before quickly biting into my piece of toast. The silence carries on from there, and Mitsukuni just continues humming happily between mouthfuls of cake while Yasuchika tries to pretend we aren't there.
Well, on the bright side of things at least I'm getting along well with one of them. Last night's dinner would have been incredibly awkward if Yasuchika was an only child.
We had gone to a really fancy Teppanyaki restaurant, with the four adults on one side of the grill and the three of us on the one across from it. Mitsukuni spent the whole dinner alternating between telling me about Ouran and asking me about my life in Paris. I think the only time I wasn't being made to talk was while I had food in my mouth.
He's friendly, and didn't seem to write me off at first glance the way Yasuchika seemed to. And he put up with my first few monosyllabic answers and even got me up to over five syllables in just the first half hour.
Yasuchika on the other hand was the complete opposite.
He rarely spoke at all, and fixed me with extremely judgmental and stone cold stares. He didn't bother taking part in any conversation. Mitsukuni practically dragged him in…and even then he only spoke up to tell his brother to stop talking so much.
I'm sure by now I dislike him as much as he dislikes me.
"Takashi-sama and Satoshi-sama are here," Akimi says as steps into the large room, holding out two school bags.
Blinking rapidly, I cram the rest of my toast in my mouth and drain my of the hot chocolate, which thanks to my spacing out, is now not so hot anymore.
Mitsukuni and Yasuchika are grabbing their bags from Akimi as I set down the cup, pulling my compact out of my bag to quickly add a swipe of my raspberry lip gloss. Once done I sling the bag over my shoulder again and follow them out. Akimi offers me one last smile on the way out, which prompts an awkward attempt at one from me. I run to catch up to the boys and hopefully outrun my embarrassment.
Out on the sidewalk, Mitsukuni is standing next to some tall guy with short, spiky black hair and eyes the color of storm clouds. He's wearing the high school boy's uniform, but in my opinion, he looks like he could be in the university.
"Aya-chan!" he yells, waving me over. "This is my cousin Takashi, he's in our year too."
"Nice to meet you," I say evenly, extending my hand.
But to my surprise, he ignores it and just ruffles my hair instead. Mitsukuni's face lights up as my face heats up.
"C'mon let's go!" he says happily, grabbing for my wrist and pulling me towards the limo that waits just outside the gates.
I'm struck with the urge to pull my hand out of his grip, but I can't really. His grip is insanely strong. So I reluctantly crawl into the car, and I take a seat with Mitsukuni and Takashi on either sides of me.
Yasuchika is sitting across from us with a younger boy who strongly resembles Takashi. Only he seems like a normal care-free teenage boy. He looks up at me curiously, almost like he's never seen a girl before, and I look back with my normal indifferent expression.
"Oh! Satoshi, this is Aya-chan," Mitsukuni says as he notices the silent staring contest we seem to be having. "Her family is staying with us at the estate."
The younger boy holds out his hand to me.
"Nice to meet you," he says with a huge smile plastered on his face.
I take it, cautiously attempting to smile back at him. He has an infectious happy aura around him, and I feel my shoulders begin to lose their tension.
"It's a pleasure," I reply softly.
"That's not fair! How come you guys get to have a cute girl stay at your house?" he asks as he elbows Yasuchika in the side.
Yasuchika just glares at him, refusing to respond, though I could swear he was blushing high in his cheeks, just under the frames of his glasses. I try to bite back my own embarrassment, but Mitsukuni's laugh tells me I've been caught.
Satoshi just goes right ahead and changes the subject, as if he hadn't just made my face glow like a Christmas light, he just goes back to talking with Yasuchika. My hands dig under the top flap of my backpack, seeking the comfort of Usako's warmth.
"Does she make you feel better?" Mitsukuni voice suddenly whispers next to my ear.
I feel my face heat up even more and I hastily clamp my bag shut. But I know that I've been caught, so I still offer a nod in response.
"Great!" he exclaims, much to my surprise. "I brought my Usa-chan with me too. Maybe they can have a tea party later."
I can't tell if he's joking or not, but luckily for me, the car glides to a stop that second. I'm spared from having to answer him for now.
"Well, what do you think Aya-chan?"
Takashi holds the door open for me as I step out of the limo. As soon as I'm on my feet and my gaze shifts upwards, I feel my jaw slacken a bit. It's so…pink.
"It looks like a doll house I used to have," I say quietly.
I guess he takes my answer as positive, because he just turns to Takashi, who's watching Yasuchika and Satoshi disappear into a group of buildings I'm guessing belong to the middle school.
"Hey Takashi, will you let the teacher know I'll be a little late to class?" Mitsukuni asks. "I'm gonna take Aya-chan to get her schedule."
Takashi nods before swinging his bag over his shoulder and heading through the gates in the opposite direction of Yasuchika and Satoshi.
I watch him leave and I feel Mitsukuni pulling at my wrist again.
"This way," he says with a smile.
I nod and allow him to escort me through the campus. It's rather impressive. Not to mention it's a lot nicer than my old school as well. It does have a rather disturbing fountain, but so far it's nice. But I do think they could have chosen some better paint colors other than pink and blue.
But it does have a certain charm to it. And it really does look like my old doll house.
The thought of it almost has a smile crossing my lips.
XXxXX
After fifteen minutes I have my schedule and Mitsukuni is leading me to our classroom. Surprise, surprise…we're in the same homeroom class. Somehow I figure our parents worked that one out.
"This is great!" he says, breaking me out of my inner musings. "We're in the same class!"
He hands me the slip of paper and I stick it in the front pouch of my backpack, along with my new school ID. I'm slightly surprised Mama and Papa filled out most of the paperwork already, and that we're back to using the clan name. Well at least I don't need to worry about wondering how the hell I was supposed to write my last name in Japanese. Another surprise, my photo looks like I'm planning to murder the camera man.
"The only classes we don't have together are the electives and math."
I sigh mentally. Math would have been a great one to have a familiar face in.
"That's too bad," I say sincerely. "It would have been nice to have someone I knew in all my classes."
He takes my hand, which utterly shocks me, and smiles.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine," he says confidently.
I can feel heat rush to my cheeks and quickly avert my gaze. I keep blushing this morning, and I'm really getting annoyed by it.
"Come on," he says. "We should probably check into class before the period ends."
I nod, my throat feeling too thick to form words, and allow him to lead me through the halls. This is just so weird. How can he already hold my hand? And why in all the hells am I letting him? I should have threatened to break his hand at least once by now. Am I really so nervous that I need to clutch something for support? And if I do, then why is it his hand, and not Usako, who conveniently sits right in my backpack?
"Ready?"
I snap back reality. We're standing outside a classroom, and he still hasn't let go of my hand.
"As I'll ever be," I say, sounding more confident than I really am.
He finally lets go and opens the door for me. The teacher looks up from the board, smiling in our direction. He looks like a nice guy, with glasses, a friendly smile, and a receding hairline.
"Ah, is this our new student?" he asks cheerily as Mitsukuni motions for me to follow him in.
I feel like my legs are made of lead as I walk into the room. My feet scuff the floor, making subtle squeaks as each step brings me closer to front of the class.
"Well, go ahead and introduce yourself," the teacher says.
Shoving my nerves aside, I put on the closest thing I can to a smile. This is my chance to start over; I am NOT going to screw this up.
"Hey," I say calmly. "You can call me Aya. Nice to meet you."
XXxXX
My first day wasn't so bad.
It went smoothly, and I think I made a fairly ok impression. Not really surprisingly there were no people other than Mitsukuni and Takashi that attempted to interact with me, but for now that's fine.
My elective ended up being art, which was fun; most students were impressed that I could draw since I didn't come from and artistic family. But I'm going to admit it, I really suck at realism. Stylized cartoons are more my area of expertise. But I was told right off the bat that that excuse wouldn't get me anywhere in this class.
For my PE credit I had dance. I didn't come prepared with a change of clothes so I just watched for today. It looks fun, I'm almost looking forward to tomorrow.
I sat with Mitsukuni and Takashi at lunch. And I can't believe that there's someone in this world who can eat more cake than I can. I don't think I've even seen Mitsukuni eat real food yet. If Mama had let me, I most likely would eat like him.
But no…it is crucial to the fate of humanity that I stay at least a size two. I mean what's the point of having a high metabolism if I can't splurge on cake more often than others? Honestly…
The only other class I had without them was math.
Why do they have to be so advanced? Or I guess the question is why am I so behind? Truth be told, I was behind before the whole incident that made me all but flush my grades down the toilet. But lucky for me, they were having a test today, so I got to space out while pretending to read.
By the time the final bell rang I was actually kind of amazed to have made it through the day.
I'll admit, it felt so weird going a full school day without having to constantly look over my shoulder. But it really feels nice not needing have a list of comebacks ready to shoot off my tongue.
The only thing now was…..I'm kind of lost.
And I have no idea how to find Mitsukuni and Takashi. Great. You'd think I would have asked to meet them somewhere. Or given them my cell number. Man I'm an idiot. So I decide to wander around the campus, looking for them like the smart girl I am. I'm bound to find them eventually...right?
Within few minutes, it's safe to say I am officially lost.
I huff in annoyance as I come to terms with the fact that I'll have to ask for directions. And I hate having to ask for help. I turn the next corner, hoping to find someone willing to point me towards the exit when I smack straight into something. I fall, landing flat on my back.
Looking up, I see a boy standing in front of me, extending a hand.
"Are you ok?" he asks.
"Fine. Sorry about that," I say, bowing my head apologetically.
"It's alright," he says as he helps me to my feet. "Can I help you with something?"
Wait is it just me or…? No, I'm sure I'm right. I mean this one kind of reminds me of-
"Is something wrong?" he asks.
"You're really pretty," I say. "Why are you dressed like a boy?"
"How can you tell?" she asks with a laugh.
"I just kind of knew, if that makes sense," I say with a shrug.
"I'm Haruhi," the girl says, holding out a hand to me.
"Aya," I reply, shaking it quickly. "Uh Haruhi, I'm kind of lost. You wouldn't happen to know Mitsukuni Haninozuka, or Takashi Morinozuka…or where I could find one of them would you?"
"You mean Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai?" she asks in a slightly puzzled tone.
"Uh, I guess…" I trail off. "A short blond and a tall black haired guy."
"Alright," she says with a nod. "I'm actually on my way to meet them. We have a club meeting."
She says the last sentence somewhat unhappily. But I just shrug it off and follow her. She seems alright.
"So I'm guessing you're a third year?" Haruhi asks nonchalantly as she leads me expertly through the maze of school hallways.
"Yes," I reply as I pull my hair down from a messy lopsided bun. "And you?"
"I'm just a first year," she says with a shake of her head. "I only enrolled when I got to the high school. But I think everyone here has been with this place since nursery school."
"Damn," I mutter as I card my fingers through my hair to straighten it. "I think I'd go insane if I was stuck in class with the same people for that many years."
"It's taken some time to get used to," Haruhi says with a sigh. "Until this last year I was in the public school system."
"I came from a private school and this is still an intense experience," I mutter. "It's pretty impressive you haven't cracked when I'm so close to."
"Where did you transfer from?" Haruhi asks with genuine curiosity.
"My last school was in Paris," I say with only a few seconds of hesitation.
"Well that certainly was a big move," she says in slight astonishment. "Why did you transfer?"
I flinched inwardly and frown at my feet. Damn, Haruhi is so easy to talk to I almost forgot how much I hate to have people pry into my personal life. This girl is dangerous.
"I, uh…had some problems with some classmates," I say carefully.
"I know the feeling," Haruhi replies. "I got on the bad side of a second year two days ago. She had all my stuff thrown into the pond."
I have a feeling she can tell I've suddenly pulled back from the easy conversation we were having, but she doesn't say anything.
"You mean the really gross one with the statue of the baby who's…" I trail off.
Haruhi nods as she sees the face I'm making.
"That's disgusting," I say, wrinkling my nose. "To think they have a fountain like that in a school."
Haruhi chuckles but breaks off quickly.
"Here we are," she sighs heavily.
I looked up to the class's gold plaque. Music Room 3 is scrawled across the surface in an elegant script.
"Brace yourself," Haruhi mumbles, suddenly sounding very peeved.
I look at her questioningly, but she's already opening the door. I don't really know what to expect, so my shoulders tense in anticipation. But nothing could really prepare me for what I saw when Haruhi stands aside.
To start things off, I was assaulted by about bazillion rose petals. They flew into my face and got stuck in my hair, and then I almost inhaled one of them, but once the storm finally died down and I deemed it safe to open my eyes, my jaw dropped.
The tile floor ended and was swallowed up by fine white sand, and palm trees are sticking out in random places of the room. I take one step in and my foot sinks halfway down to the floor. I yank it back up and trudge after Haruhi, who doesn't seem as surprised by this as I am.
The temperature rises a few degrees, as I get farther into the room and a weird cool breeze ruffles my hair.
"Um Haruhi," I huff as I catch up. "Just where the hell are we?"
But we're interrupted before she can so much as open her mouth to answer me.
"HAAARRRUUUUHHHHIIIIIIIIII!"
I duck and cover as a blue blur pounces on my poor companion. They hit the floor with a thud, making me wince even though the sand should more or less cushion their fall.
"DADDY MISSED HIS LITTLE GIRL!" a hyper blonde yells as he struggles to catch Haruhi in his arms.
Well it doesn't sound like he's trying to protect the fact that she's a girl much. Maybe it isn't as big a deal as I thought. I guess everyone knows. I continue to watch his strange displays of affection, or obsession, from the sidelines as pair of ginger haired boys yank Haruhi up in their arms.
"Hey! Give Daddy back his little girl!" the blond whines as he makes a move to launch himself at the twins.
"To slow boss!" they chorus as they dodge his reach and he plummets face first in the sand.
"Let go!" Haruhi whines as she wriggles like a worm on a hook.
"Not a chance!" the twins say in a singsong voice, rubbing their cheeks on her head.
Well ok then…
"You don't seem to concerned about keeping the fact that she's a girl under lock and key," I mutter.
Both the twins and Blondie's heads snap up and gape at me, as if they've just noticed I'm there.
"And who are you?" the twins ask in a menacing voice that is nonetheless in perfect unison. "And what makes you think you think that Haruhi's a girl?"
"Um, well Blondie there just called her his 'Little Girl,'" I say as I point to the teary blond, who panics at my answer.
The twins exchange an annoyed look before tightening their grip on Haruhi and turning back to me.
"Well, now that you know our little secret," one of them says.
"We can't just let you leave now…" the other says.
"Can we?" they finish in unison.
I can feel a slight bubble of panic begin to grow inside me. But then I remember they can't really do anything to me.
"Oh?" I force myself to reply calmly. "Then what will you do?"
An evil grin spreads across their faces, making all my previous confidence in defending myself fade. I brace myself for an onslaught but we are interrupted before they can answer.
"Oh! Aya-chan!"
I turn around to see Mitsukuni sitting on top of Takashi's shoulders. Takashi strides over to us before Mitsukuni jumps down and faces me.
"You know her Honey-senpai?" the twins ask in unison.
"Yeah! Aya-chan's a friend of mine," he says with a smile before he turns back to me. "I'm sorry I forgot to tell you we had a club meeting, it completely slipped my mind."
"That's alright," I reply quickly. "So what exactly is this place?"
"Why I'm glad you asked!" an overly dramatic voice sings.
And before I know it, the blond idiot is kneeling in front of me, handing me a pure white rose.
"Welcome Princess," he says dramatically. "To the Ouran Host Club."
Ok, you've got to be friggn' kidding me. A host club. They're high schoolers!
"A host club?" I ask incredulously. "Are you serious? Is this even legal with you all being underage?"
Blondie's eyes widened for a nanosecond before he quickly retreats to a small, dimly lit corner. I don't believe it.
"You have an emo corner?" I ask in disbelief.
That question seemed to only burry him deeper into the corner. I almost start to feel bad when hysterical laughter burst out behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I see the twins rolling around the floor clutching their sides.
"I like her," the one with the lower pitched voice gasps.
"Yeah Boss! Can we keep her?" the other asks.
I roll my eyes and shift my gaze to the swaying palm trees I'm almost certain weren't there a minute ago.
"So why is this room decked out like the Caribbean?" I ask no one in particular.
"Ah, it's the Host Club's theme for the day!"
Well Blondie sure recovered from that quickly.
"Which reminds me!," he continues with a flourish of his hands. "We all need to change into our costumes before our guests arrive!"
"Costumes?" I ask skeptically.
"Yes!" he yells. "We are all going to be a crew of the most handsome and charming pirates to sail the seven seas! Except for Haruhi, she's going to be our mermaid!"
"No way," Haruhi says bluntly.
Dramatic lightning strikes Blondie straight through his heart and he returns to his emo corner.
"AWWWW, HARUHIIIIIIII," the twins whine as they scoop her up in their arms again.
"No," she insists.
"No matter how much we beg?" they ask.
"No way."
"But the Boss even got you a nice little pool to splash around in!" they whine.
"NO."
I don't know what possessed me to say this, but the words were out of my mouth before I thought about it.
"Would you like me to do it for you Haruhi?"
Haruhi does her best to face me through the cage of arms.
"You'd do that for me?" she asked. "Are you sure?"
"You helped me out, so I'll return the favor," I say with a nod. "And maybe this will get the two of them to stop threatening me."
I gesture to the twins, who are now sharing another scary smile. But before Haruhi can say anything else I'm encased in a bone snapping hug.
"DADDY IS SO HAPPY HIS NEW DAUGHTER GETS ALONG SO WELL WITH HER SISTER!" Blondie gushes as I flail around in his arms.
"How can I be your daughter when I'm older than you?" I gasp as I try to wriggle out of his death grip.
He freezes and I'm able to pry myself out of his grip and drop back down to the floor. I adjust my now wrinkled dress and watch in in amusement as he staggers backward.
"MOMMY!" he cries in distress. "HOW CAN OUR DAUGHTER BE OLDER THAN US?"
A tall, dark-haired boy with glasses is standing off to the side, scribbling something down in a small black book.
"No comment," he says, and continues writing without glancing up.
Suddenly two arms hook under mine and I see the twins grinning really creepily down at me.
"Come on then," one says.
"Let's get going!" the other says, and with that I'm dragged off to a room that's divided from the main room by a thick curtain.
They set me down once they pull the thick curtain back into place and one grabs a pile of cloths wrapped in a few layers of tissue off the table sitting between the changing stalls and the makeup bench.
"Change into this!" they command, shoving the package into my hand.
I take it with a raised eyebrow and they impatiently shove me towards the nearest changing room.
I unwrap the package and feel a sense of doom and foreboding. The costume they gave me consists of a cobalt blue bikini style top with silver embroidered detailing and a pair of black spandex shorts.
What have I agreed to?
Once changed, I step out, only to be guided by the twins to a small vanity table.
"You look great," one twin says. "Now just sit still as we do your hair and makeup."
They are already dressed in long puffy white shirts and long blue vests. They both have sashes tied around their waists, one wearing orange and the other light blue. Hooked to the sash is a fencing rapier, and I briefly wonder if they'll put on a play fight. They seem just about as dedicated to this club as if it were a real business.
"Lift your arms," one of them commands.
I do as I'm told, and they begin to hook a lining of black Tahitian pearls across the hem of my top. They drape the stands delicately over my upper arms, then one twin begins to comb and style my hair while the other takes some make up and begins painting some scales on my body with blue and silver paint.
Once those are dry, he moves onto my face. I almost smack them when they attempt to take off my makeup, so they just add onto what I already have on. Which means they pretty much means just smearing glitter everywhere.
Once they are done they slip on a matching pearl necklace and crown, and allow me to look in a mirror.
"Voila!" they exclaim. "We can now commence to phase two of dress up!"
Reluctantly, I follow them out of the dressing room, and towards a new part of the Caribbean set. They created a really fancy elevated kiddy pool with a small island of sand that has giant flat rock in the center of it. A synthetic waterfall falls behind it, disappearing up into the ceiling. The edge is surrounded by rocks, with a small ladder in the back to climb up into it.
"Ahhh, our new daughter looks so lovely," Blondie sighs as he waltzes up to me.
He's all decked out in a crimson captain's coat. His outfit is complete with a sword with a jewel encrusted hilt, an eye patch embroidered with gold thread and pearls, a hat with a gigantic white feather on it, and an excessive amount of necklaces and rings.
"You'll be stationed here for today," he explains as he places a hand on my shoulder. "Just sit here and look pretty. You can do that right?"
I raise an eyebrow and shake off his hand.
"There's also a treasure chest prop that will be placed in there for you to play with."
I turn to see the guy Blondie referred to as 'Mommy' earlier. He's decked out in a black coat that's just hanging off his shoulders, revealing a light and flowing dark purple shirt underneath.
"Alright," I say, not really knowing what else to say. "So does 'Mommy' have a real name?"
He glances at me over his glasses, regarding me with slight interest.
"I am Kyoya Ootori," he says, then points over to the twins, who are lugging a mermaid tail over towards the two of us. "The two of them are the Hitachiin twins, Hikaru and Kaoru."
"And Blondie?" I ask, regarding the tail with a mixture of awe and horror.
"He's our club president, Tamaki Suoh."
Well that explains a lot.
"Come on senpai!" one of the twins wheezes as they reach us.
"Time to get in," the other finishes.
They zip me into a cobalt blue tail with shimmering silver scales. I immediately hate the restriction of movement.
"Shouldn't you have done this once I was already in there?" I snap as I point to the kiddy pool.
They then have Takashi, or Mori as they seem to prefer to call him, carry me over to the tiny island in the middle of the pool. He sets me down on top of a large rock and the twins then toss him a treasure chest that he catches without blinking and sets it at my feet.
He flips the clasp and arranges it so I can reach it without leaving my rock before leaving me completely alone.
"Alright, that's everything!" Tamaki declares. "The Ouran Host Club is open for business."
XXxXX
"Man I'm beat," I whine as I flop down onto the cushy limo seat. "How do you do this every day?"
Mitsukuni lounges on the opposite side of the limo, looking completely unfazed. We had just dropped of Takashi, and after an hour and a half of hosting, I feel like I've been steamrolled. And I don't even do much, that's the sad part.
But I'll admit it wasn't too horrible, the hosts took turns bringing me slices of cake and cups of tea, so I wouldn't have to keep getting in and out of the heavy tail. They did end up fencing, though I'd say it was more because Hikaru and Kaoru enjoy provoking Tamaki than any actual planning on the club's part. But everyone seemed to enjoy it anyways.
It was nice eating all the cake I wanted, and I'll admit, I wouldn't go back just for the cake.
But one things for sure, I swear I'm gonna sleep like a rock tonight. But sadly, being the new kid didn't get me outta the crap load of homework that was assigned in every class.
"You kind of get used to it," Mitsukuni replies as he hugs his Usa-chan.
A short silence fills the air for a moment. As I curl up on the seat with Usako in my arms, a thought crosses my mind out of nowhere.
"Hey?" I asked quietly. "How come all the girls at the club call you Honey?"
He looks over at me, a small but bright smile plastered on his face.
"I really don't know," he admits. "It could just be that my real name is a real mouthful and it's just an abbreviation for my last name, or it could just be because I'm the Boy Lolita type."
"Oh," I yawn.
"If you want…you can call me that too," he says quietly.
If I didn't know any better, based on his tone of voice I'd say he was nervous or embarrassed. But at the same time it almost makes my heart stop. I avoid looking at him as I give my answer, choosing instead to play with Usako's ears and feign nonchalance.
"I dunno," I say, fighting to keep my voice even. "That seems way to close to couple territory to me."
I can feel my cheeks burning, but I refuse to let myself acknowledge it. The car comes to a stop and saves this awkward conversation from going any farther.
"Thanks for looking out for me today," I say as I pull myself into sitting position and sling my backpack over my shoulder.
And with that I climb out of the limo and head for the sanctity of my room.
XXx Author's Notes xXX
So this chapter almost doubled in size…damn…
Well onto the next one! Thanks so much for those of you who are supporting the re-vamp!
Till next time!
Lotsa love, Krystal