XXx Hikaru xXX
As Kaoru and I step up to the group of girls along with the other hosts, I can't help but think these girls look familiar.
At least the two standing closest to us do.
The taller one has wavy ink black hair that reaches to the small of her back and carelessly tossed side bangs that frame bright blue eyes. Her whole posture looks ridged but trying to pass of as uncaring.
The shorter one looks increasingly anxious with every passing second. Her reddish brown bangs fall into her face, almost as if she's trying to hide her face from everyone. Her large jade green eyes never hover on a single spot for more than five seconds.
"Yoshida-san, Hosokoawa-san…" Haruhi says in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
The girls look over at Haruhi, almost as if their surprised to see her here too. The taller girl's face relaxes as she takes a step towards her, the smaller girl at her heels.
"We just stopped by as a favor for Aya-senpai," the tall raven haired girl replies with a carless lilt to her voice. "And we told you Haruhi, just Setsuko and Akina is fine."
"You know them Haruhi?" Kaoru asks.
She turns back to us with annoyance written all over her face.
"They're in our class Kaoru," she says irritably. "Yoshida - I mean Akina, sits right next to you. And the five of us are partners for the biology project sensei is handing out tomorrow."
"Huh…who knew?" Kaoru muses, his eyes darting back to the two girls.
The small brunette shrinks back from Kaoru's gaze, hiding behind the tall raven haired girl. She in turn ever so slightly puts herself between us and the smaller girl, a protective and almost possessive gleam in her eyes.
A smirk crosses my lips and I share a knowing grin with Kaoru.
There's two of them, and there's two of us. Either we've somehow completely over looked these toys or neither of them ever did something to make an impression on us. Well, we can't have that can we?
With a single look it's all planned. Kaoru will take the shy brunette and I'll take the proud raven. We quickly produce our roses from our sleeves and hold them out.
"We're so sorry Princesses," we say in unison. "Please accept this gift as a token of our apology."
There's a slight jolt of disappointment when the brunette takes Kaoru's orange rose hesitantly, a vivid blush staining her cheeks. What a drag, that was almost too easy.
But as I roll my eyes back to the front I am met with a rather amusing sight. The brunette may have fallen easily, but raven haired girl on the other hand is looking at my blue rose with distaste.
You'd think I was offering her a rat snake instead of a rose.
"Is this supposed to make me go all weak in the knees or something?" she asks as she snatches it from me. "What a joke."
She tosses the rose over her shoulder with a scoff. After a few seconds Akina follows her example, the flower slipping from her fingers and crashing tragically against the tile floor. She watches the delicate rose petals as they bruise, suddenly looking ashamed of herself for having taken it in the first place.
Kaoru and I share a glance as they turn away from us. The raven haired girl ushers the brunette back towards the other two unfamiliar girls.
Aya-senpai sure has made some interesting new friends…
This might be more fun than we thought.
XXx Mori xXX
"That was kinda rude Setsuko."
The girl is small, with long gingery hair that falls in relaxed curls down her back and large cinnamon brown eyes that hold the same childlike innocence as Mitsukuni's.
"Hey, it's not my fault I can't be suckered into this," the opinionated raven haired girl says as she examines her nails. "I don't believe in fake romance."
"What do you mean fake?"
Tamaki looks as crushed. The girls regard him with mixed emotions, but only the small girl seems genuinely sorry for her friend's harsh words.
"Well, it's not as if you actually love these girls," the raven haired girl says as she pulls out the pink bow at the neck of her uniform before sending Tamaki an icy glare. "Though if you actually did…I'd say we have a little bit of a problem here."
Tamaki wilts away at her blunt statements, falling to a trembling fetal position on the floor.
"Sorry!" the small girl whimpers as she drops down next to him, her yellow skirts fanning out around her. "Setsuko didn't mean it like that! She just…speaks before thinking most of the time."
"Sounds familiar," Haruhi mutters as she pinches the bridge of her nose.
"Hey," Mitsukuni says suddenly as he tugs on the cuff of my jacket sleeve. "Isn't she in our class Takashi?"
I take a second look at the girl, who's trying in vain to pull Tamaki to his feet. To be honest something about her does seem vaguely familiar, I just can't put my finger on it.
I look back down to respond, but Mitsukuni is already lost now that Amaya has walked up to him. Even though they're hidden being me, he takes a quick second to make sure no one's watching before he places a soft kiss at the corner of her lips.
Her face glows like a Christmas light but she gets a hopelessly in love look on her face. Mitsukuni seems proud of himself but catches my eye quickly and nods at my warning to keep the affection levels down for the time being.
He seems insistent on at least holding her hand, which is actually just fine since the rest of the club members are used to seeing it by now.
They finally seem to notice it's been a full minute and Tamaki hasn't broken out of his funk, but the small girl is still trying to do her best to bring him to his feet. Which is a hard task considering she just barley stands at five feet tall against Tamaki's six feet.
Eventually she gives up and collapses on the floor next to him, her energy levels seemingly depleted.
XXx Aya xXX
"It's alright Shiori," Aiko says calmly as she lifts my classmate to her feet. "He's fine. Trust me he'll bounce back in a moment."
I almost laugh at her statement but I bite my lips and hold it back. Aiko looks like she's seen her fair share of Tamaki's tantrums. But then again, she is rather unfortunate to have both Tamaki and Kyoya in her class. Well, at least her class is never boring. But I'm impressed that she can be the highest grade of her year with all the distractions they must pose.
"So if you ladies aren't here for the club services then what are you here for?"
The way Kyoya manages to sound charming yet demanding at the same time kinds scares me. But I may as well get this over with. It's not like he can punish me too harshly with the four of them here. And it's not like anyone ever requests me as a host anyways. so what should I be worried about? All of Honey's regulars will be ecstatic.
"It's my fault Kyoya," I say, stepping away from Honey's side. "I actually had something to tell you guys, and they're just here to let you know this isn't just some weak attempt to ditch the club."
Kyoya's glasses glint as his eyebrows raise a fraction of an inch. Tamaki on the other hand finally jumps to his feet and looks down at me with teary eyes.
"D-Ditch the club?" he whines. "Why would you even put those words in the same sentence?!"
"Anyways, the point is Tamaki," I say with less irritation than usual. "Our dance teacher volunteered the five of us to help the middle school with their Christmas program this year. It's going to be pretty demanding, and I won't be here at the club as often as I was last semester."
There's a few moments of silence, and for a second I almost think that they're going to say no. But instead, Tamaki captures me in one of his back breaking hugs and begins spinning me around in circles like he always does whenever he gets particularly excited about something.
"You're helping the middle schoolers so daddy can look the other way this time," he gushes as he sets me back on my feet.
Wow…well that was easy. Well not really, considering the room is spinning a mile a minute. A hands rests on my shoulder to steady me, an once my vision comes back into focus I look up to see Aiko looking down at me with slight concern in her deep golden eyes.
"Well," I manage to choke out. "Mission accomplished."
"Alright! That takes care of that!" Setsuko exclaims, a happy grin splitting her face. "Let's go."
"Before we start celebrating, there's a matter we must attend to," Kyoya says, bringing her attention back to him as he brings out his infamous black notebook. "How are you going to make up the profits we'll lose by letting Aya-senpai take time off the club?"
XXx Aiko xXX
"What are you talking about Kyoya?" Aya-senpai asks in a slightly nervous voice. "No one ever requests me. That one bitch only requested me to tell me to back the fuck off or else..."
I wince slightly at her choice in words, but Ootori doesn't even bat an eyelash. It's no wonder Setsuko seems to admire Aya-senpai. They both have very colorful vocabularies.
"On the contrary, there have been a few students who have inquired if you are a genuine hostess."
I watch as Aya-senpai's face seems to drain of color. While her expression remains carefully blank, her eyes flood with terror at Ootori's words. She must not know how loudly her eyes declare her emotions.
"W-why?" she asks in a slightly wavering voice.
"Some of them have sisters who are regulars at the club, and because of them, saw the short movie we made last semester," Ootori explains calmly, as if the topic was the afternoon forecast and not something that senpai acts like could scar her for life. "They wanted to know if you're a member of the club or just a girl picked from the dance department used to make the plot more interesting."
"And you told them…?" she trails of nervously.
"That yes, you are indeed a hostess."
"Does this mean I can expect actual customers?" she asks.
"Would I be concerned about losing money if the answer was no?"
Charming. Clearly, he really does have a heart of gold he keeps hidden from us all.
Senpai sighs in defeat before running a worried hand through her bangs. Worry seems to radiate off her in waves. I can't help but think she acts a lot less composed than he did last semester.
"Well what am I supposed to do Kyoya?" she asks anxiously. "For the next two weeks I can only come every other day."
"Maybe we can work out a compromise," I say quickly, the distress in her eyes tugging some kind of feeling that's unusual for me to act on.
Everyone turns to me, and I almost regret speaking aloud. I clench the fabric of my skirts in my hands, trying to stop them from sweating.
"It appears we think similarly Inoue-san," Ootori says with a small smirk, putting emphasis on my last name. "As a matter of fact, I think I have a solution."
"Well go on then," I reply coolly, returning his gaze with more confidence in my voice than I really have in my body. "What is it?"
"If you ladies would be willing to become members of this club to make up for the hours Aya-senpai will be losing because of this show, we will gladly let her perform without any complaints."
XXx Kaoru xXX
"How does that make any sense?!"
My gaze shifts towards Setsuko. Her hands are planted firmly on her hips, and she glares at Kyoya-senpai without the slightest trace of fear. Either the girl has more guts than we thought, or she's just plain stupid. I'm willing to go with stupid. That's usually it.
"It's simple Hosokoawa-san," he replies with his trademark 'cool type' smile. "If we add the four of you as hostesses then we can easily make up the money we'd lose if Aya-senpai were to do this alone. And everyone goes home happy."
"I'm not happy," she retorts.
"Yeah but your never happy Setsuko," she small third year giggles.
She shoots the girl a glare, but it only makes her laugh harder. So instead, she unlaces her arms from across her chest and reaches out of the girl's long ginger hair. Taking a sizable lock in her hand she gives it a fierce yank, which stops the girl's laughter almost immediately.
The small girl lets out a yelp, before her hands fly up to cradle the section of her burning scalp. Setsuko doesn't even look sorry.
"So do we have a deal?" Kyoya-senpai asks, the beginnings of impatience seeping into his voice.
"Sure," the small third year says though her pain. "I'd be willing to do it. It sounds like fun."
"I-I guess we could," the tall red-head says reluctantly, her hands clenching the skirts of her uniform.
"Oh no…no way!" Setsuko protests, planting her hands firmly on her hips.
"But, maybe Shiori is right. It could be fun."
Setsuko looks down at Akina like she just sprouted a second head. I'm a little surprised that she of all people would be the once convincing the proud raven haired girl. Even now she looks incredibly timid, as if the force of Setsuko's refusal could make her burst into tears. But instead, the exact opposite happens.
"A-are you sure about this Akina?" Setsuko asks seriously.
The brunette nods once and all of Setsuko's resistance seems to reluctantly crumble around her. She looks down at the feet she can't see through her dress's skirts, some odd emotion bubbling up in her vivid blue eyes.
"Alright fine…" she growls weakly. "I can't say no to you. I'll do it."
The boss lets out a happy cheer and goes to hug them. The small third year is the only one who actually returns the hug, but I think he's too excited to notice.
Ten bucks she'll be his new favorite by the end of the week.
"Alright Mommy we have four new daughters!" he yells excitedly.
Kyoya-senpai just let out a sigh of acknowledgement from his spot on the nearest couch. He never looks up from the new data he's entering into his notebook.
"Wait…" Setsuko says as she looks at Kyoya-senpai skeptically. "So he's the dad, you're the mom…and the four of us are your kids now?"
"That would appear to be correct Hosokoawa-san," Kyoya-senpai sighs, glancing at her from over the rim of his glasses.
"And these are your brothers!" the boss says as he points dramatically to Hikaru, Haruhi and I. "Now let's get them dressed for today's show!"
"So you have seven kids…" Setsuko trails off as we lead her past Kyoya-senpai and towards the dressing rooms. "Damn, you need a hobby."
He sends her a bone chilling glare that resembles the ones he gives to anyone who dares to wake him up in the morning. But she just ignores him and saunters over to the dressing rooms after us, humming under her breath.
XXx Akina xXX
I pull my shoes off and set them in a corner along with Aiko's, Setsuko's, and Shiori's. They form a nice little line, and I stay crouched in front of them for longer than necessary.
This is all I've ever known for the past few years. The four of us and no one else.
I wasn't prepared to go this far to helping Aya-senpai, or why I actually decided to join a host club of all things. But I have Setsuko and the rest of them, so this should be alright. I stand up an return to the group, trying to steady my shaking hands.
"Alright," the twin with his hair parted to the left says as he pulls a clothes rack up to us. "We didn't really plan for this, so be glad almost all these clothes are on the stretchy side."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Setsuko bristles, quick to pick a fight with the Hitachiins.
"I'm sure he means your height differences," the one with his hair parted to the right says quickly.
"Better be," she hisses.
"Well here," the one with his hair parted on the left shoves a black garment bag at Setsuko.
She scoffs and heads into the nearest changing room. I try not to shrink back as the twin with his hair parted to the right hands me my own garment bag.
"Thank you…uh," I trail off.
"Kaoru," he replies curtly before turning to hand Aya-senpai her bag.
I nod and head into the changing room next to Setsuko's, and hope this won't be anything embarrassing.
As I lock myself inside, I force myself to take several deep breaths. I hang the garment bag on the hook by the mirror before taking a step back and staring at it, as if I was prepping myself for a show and not an object of people's attention in a host club.
This will be good for me. I assure myself. I will branch out more and try new things.
My hands reach out and pull the zipper down, determined to make the best of today so that hopefully the next time will be easier.
XXx Setsuko xXX
I sigh heavily as I slip into the outfit the doppelgangers gave me.
My initial response when I pulled my outfit out of the shiny black garment bag was confusion. I hold it out in front of me, staring at it in a mixture of fascination and horror. It's like someone took one of those ugly Christmas turtleneck sweater and chopped off the sleeves and made it more fitted.
A fucking Christmas sweater mini dress. That's what they want us to model?
I have a hard time believing that this was designed by the great Hitachiin. But the more look at it, it's not as bad as I originally thought. I It's a beautiful deep evergreen with a white snowflake pattern on it. The neckline is a cozy turtle neck, and once I slip it on, it almost doesn't look half bad.
After rummaging around the bottom of the bag I pull out a pair of dark grey stockings embroidered with silver thread. I slip them on along with a pair of high heeled furry black boots I was provided with and tossed my uniform in a pile on the dressing room's bench.
As soon as I step out of the tiny cubicle, I'm whisked into a salon chair and one of the twins is sectioning off sections of my hair for curling. I almost smacked his hands away, but I restrained myself. Barely.
I glance to my left as the hot curls bounce down my back, leaving a brief warm feeling on my bare shoulders. Akina is in the chair next to me, having her makeup done by the other twin. I can see the tension in her shoulders as he touches her face, but I must admit that she's doing remarkably well.
They've put her in the same the sweater mini dress, except hers is pale pink though she has a white snowflake design as well. But her dress has a white faux fur collar, and her grey tights have a similar pattern embroidered in them with sliver thread.
Her newly curled hair bounces lightly as the twin helps her step into her pale pink boots and loop a white belt low on her waist. My hands clench as he brushes his fingers over her face.
"Ok you're done, now turn around," my twin commands.
I blink rapidly and am spun around to be met with some really red lipstick and a huge blush brush.
Crap.
I thought I wasn't supposed to let a Hitachiin get this close to my face.
XXx Shiori xXX
I play with my borrowed pearl drop earrings as I bounce my leg in my salon chair.
"So am I good to go?" I ask as once one twin finishes off Akina's mauve lipstick.
"Yeah go ahead," he says, not bothering to look up.
I feel my own burgundy painted lips slip into a pout at the lack of interaction, but it dispels as soon as Aiko steps out of her dressing room. She wobbles over to me in her black heeled boots, looking more distressed than I've ever seen her in all my time knowing her. I have to fight the snort that rises up in my throat.
"Are you ok?" I ask, while trying not to laugh as she trips over her own feet.
She glares at me before tucking a nonexistent strand of hair behind her ear. She composes herself before dropping down in the chair next to me.
"No," she grumbles.
She's wearing a Christmas sweater dress just like the rest of us. Hers is a cream color with a burnt gold diamond pattern. Her top is secured around her neck with a black lace halter, giving her an elegant and sophisticated look. She fiddles with the black belt that rests low on her waist.
"At least you look cute," she whines as one of the twins makes his way over to her chair.
I guess that's true…but I'm just happy it's in my favorite color. My dress is a purple, mauve, and gold plaid pattern. A large lilac bow rests right in the center of my chest and I have a sheer lilac halter.
I look back at Aiko, who's eyeing the twins suspiciously as they start piling makeup on her face. She normally doesn't wear makeup except for our dance shows, and she really doesn't like the idea of others touching her face. She cringes as one of them brings out a tube of wine colored lipstick and a dark bronzer. They sculpt on her brows neat and thin, and build up her lashes with a heavy amount of mascara.
"Hikaru, Kaoru!" Aya-chan calls as she sticks her head into the changing room. "Tamaki says he's letting the girls in in a minute. Is everyone done?"
"Yeah senpai," the one with the lower voice says as he slides some pins into Aiko's hair to hold her slick strands in a curled topknot.
"Just one last touch," the one with the higher pitched voice says as he adds a jeweled snowflake hair pin to of Aiko's bun.
"Alright go," they say in unison as they all but shove her out of the chair.
Aiko wobbles a minute before Aya steadies her. The twins don't even give us a second look before they leave the room to us. I stick out my tongue at their retreating backs.
"Ok, let's go," Aya-chan says as she leads us out to the club room.
"So senpai," Setsuko huffs as she stalks up to meet us with Akina at her heels. "What the hell are we even supposed to be doing?"
Aya-chan rests her hands on her hips and sighs as the telltale squeals of girls begin ringing throughout the room. Strangely enough, she looks at home in her navy, red, and black sweater dress. Her red heeled boots make her stand taller, and her purple lips are pressed in a thin line.
"Well today we'll probably just be running the tea back and forth," she says bitterly. "But just try to smile, and no matter how much you want to, don't upend the teapot on anyone."
"No promises," Setsuko mumbles before we hear the wind pick up and the petals swarm again.
XXx Kyoya xXX
I turn away from the club festivities for a moment to survey our newest club members.
They seem to be doing well…even though Hosokoawa-san seems to only just controlling her temper. You can tell just by her posture she wants to break that expensive Ginori teapot in her hands.
We'll have to fix that.
The other three seem to be fairing rather well, even if they are a bit timid. But if this show the girls were talking about is as grand and spectacular as they make it seem, then these four will defiantly be around for a while.
That means I'll have to figure out their characters and how to package them to ensure maximum profit. Such a large amount of work to do before their next day of work. And then there's the whole rose color deal as well. I'll have to have a word with the man who supplies us our flowers.
Everything seems to be falling into place nicely.
Amaya Atsumi, our Snarky type.
Shiori Asukai, our Artistic type.
Aiko Inoue, our Intellectual type.
Setsuko Hosokoawa, our Tough type.
Miss Akina Yoshida, our Innocent type.
Hopefully I can complete this before Renge can get her hands on them.
XXx Author's Notes xXX
I'll see you all soon and hope you enjoy my back to school gift. ^^
Lotsa love, Krystal