OuranHighSchoolHostClub x DOS (2/?)

...

When Shikako finished identifying every flower petal and analyzing every speck of glitter that surrounded the group of very handsome students sitting some feet sitting some feet away from their table, she found Itachi glaring at them across from her.

There was no doubt in her mind that he was wishing he still had magical eyes that could set them on fire or worse.

Fortunately, Itachi couldn't actually maim anyone with his eyes alone because this world wasn't a magical one at all, unless the sparkles and flowers that appeared on and around a person was some sort of genjutsu ability only a handful of handsome people could use counted.

It was also unfortunate for the same reason, especially because the dubious genjutsu ability seemed to be reserved for males only.

Seriously. How did they do that? It was like Gai and his crashing waves and glorious sunsets that not even Kurenai, or any of the other highly skilled jonin, could confirm was a genjutsu or not.

It. Just. Was.

One of her original theories was the world's magic had all been directed into making every single person as attractive as humanly possible, and those who could conjure up flowers and sparkles had an excess of it for them to throw around.

But then Shikako had tossed that theory out the window because Itachi couldn't even muster up a flower petal and he was already pretty enough to stun kidnappers long enough for his bodyguards to tackle.

God, she wished Tenten or Shikamaru was here with them. Unlike Itachi, they'd be very interested in figuring out the mystery of flowers and sparkles.

Shikako glanced back at her boyfriend, who was still glaring. Why couldn't he do that flower and sparkle thing? She wanted to see Itachi do the flower and sparkle thing.

"You know you can't set them on fire anymore, right?" Them, being the Hitachiin Twins, Tamaki Suoh and Kyoya Ootari. Such sparkly, flowery people. Gai would've loved them. Springtime of Youth and all that.

"Can I not hope?" Or dream, or fantasize, he didn't say.

"What do you have against them anyway?" Besides the fact that the four of them was among the few who could use genjutsu and they, as far as she knew, couldn't. Unfair.

They were just a bunch of rick kids who were inordinately handsome and catered to the romantic fantasies of other rich kids. Not unlike the relationship between Itachi and herself, because wasn't that exactly what he was doing when he brought her cake everyday?

"Hm."

She sighed and left him to his glaring so she could push around the food on her plate.

Behind her, she heard the door open and another group of gossiping students poured in.

And then across from her, she noticed Itachi stilled, just a bit.

"Are you finished with lunch?" he asked stiffly.

"Oh, um, yeah. Remind me not to get this next time. It's as spicy as Lee's Curry of Life."

"It would be simpler if you brought your own lunch."

"You don't bring your own lunch. None of the students here do. Besides. I don't seem to be able to cook in this reality."

Fact: she'd actually burned rice in the rice cooker she'd bought and everything else was either overseasoned or utterly tasteless. She didn't dare try to boil water. She didn't want to know what would happen if she turned on the burner.

"You are wealthy. Have your chef do it."

Sh cringed at the thought of it.

Servants waiting on hand and foot. Private chefs stolen from Michelin Star restaurants. A legion of armed and trained bodyguards waiting in the shadows. Three chauffeurs.

She didn't know how it was so easy for Itachi to accept all the splendour and luxury. As far as she knew, the Uchiha compound was much like the Nara's. A large neighbourhood of families with the same name and some sort of relation. Wealth was spread around equally, though the head family got first dibs, and households were managed by the people living in it, not servants.

Unlike the Hyuuga compound, that really was more like a large communal mansion surrounded by smaller homes and where dinner was a clan event, served by servants.

Shikako just couldn't get over how weird it felt ordering someone around to do things for her. Like tie her shoes. Or sharpen a pencil. Or make her something to take to lunch at school that would probably turn out to be a six course meal.

"Maybe after I've tasted everything on the menu," she said as Itachi took her hand and pulled her along with him to return their plates. Most students didn't. There were maids for that, but it was faster to do it themselves.

And for some reason, Itachi was in need of speed. He was moving more urgently than usual. Usual for this reincarnation, anyway. Stealthily, too. Well, as stealthy as he could be. It wasn't possible to completely silence footsteps in this life, and like herself, Itachi had tried every skill he remembered from being a shinobi and a wizard to see how it transferred.

Most of it didn't, but they both agreed that different worlds had different rules and realities. Hence why a handful of people could go walking around covered in sparkles and flowers that weren't actually there.

She was not envious.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

If that wasn't a red flag and blaring siren, she didn't know what was. Itachi always answered her questions. Unless the answer would draw her into something potentially life threatening and dangerous (which they hadn't encountered in this life so far because there weren't a lot that could get past their little army of bodyguards).

All the more reason for her to know. They were filthy rich. A kidnapping, maybe? An evil uncle after their fortunes? She hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, but she supposed Itachi might've caught whatever she missed. She hoped the threat was at least something she could fight.

"Itachi, what-"

"Kouhai!" a sweet, bubbly voice exclaimed somewhere behind her. "Jun-chan!"

Shikako tripped, and would've fallen flat on her face had Itachi not caught her. He did it all in one swift, fluid motion as he walked that would've had her envying his natural grace if she wasn't still reeling from the stranger's audacity.

"Kouhai? Jun-chan?" she repeated under her breath. Was she hearing things?

Itachi's new name was Junichi, but no one called him that. Not his parents, who weren't really around at all, or his servants, or his peers who were amazingly afraid of him despite how unintimidating his good looks made him. Not even she called him that, but it was because she only ever called him Itachi.

He shot her a look that clearly warned her not to say another word or else he was going to stop bringing her new cake to try out.

"Good afternoon, Haninozuka-senpai. Please excuse us," Itachi said over his shoulder. He never stopped. In fact, he was speeding up. Who could instill such a fear in a former S-rank wizard and shinobi?

An adorable blond skipping towards them carrying a pink stuffed rabbit in his arms, apparently. Mitsukuni Haninozuka.

This was Itachi's senpai? Wait, then he was also her senpai. It meant there was actually someone she was taller than. Huzzah!

She remembered hearing about him. Haninozuka Mitsukuni, who had a sweet tooth unprecedented in his family of world famous martial artists. His sweet tooth was so powerful that in recent years, the Mitsukuni family had become one of Itachi's family's biggest customers and investors.

"Join us! Join us!"

Creepy. Creepy and scary, because if Itachi, who took to martial arts and kendo like a duck to water, was reacting to the short blond in such a way, he must be very dangerous.

"Itachi?"

"Don't make eye contact, Shikako," he warned her gravely. "It will be over soon."

Funny. It was almost the exact same words Kakashi-sensei had used to refer to Gai.

"Wait! Jun-chan! I have the club forms for you to fill out! Join us! We can eat cake together! And drink tea! And cake! I'll let you hold Usa-chan!"

Shikako laughed. "It sounds like your kind of party. What club does he want you to join?"

Itachi mumbled something.

"What?"

"The Host Club."

Itachi said something about the discount Kyoya wanted him to give the club for the amount of cake that was consumed on a day to day basis, but Shikako wasn't listening.

Mitsukuni-senpai was a Host.

It explained the flowers that popped up around him when he spoke. And his eyes were sparkly too. Very sparkly. Seriously, how. And what would Itachi look like if-

Her brain just stopped so that she could divert all energy to register the epiphany she'd just had.

What if-

It made sense.

Shikako stopped and pulled him in another direction, down a hall and looked both ways before pushing him into the janitor's closet (it was a huge closet) and slammed the door behind them both.

"Shikako, what-"

He looked so frazzled and bewildered. But he trusted her. He better after all the stuff they went through as wizards. But he trusted her. A former missing-nin who was as paranoid as he was powerful, he trusted her not to drag him into a closet to slit his throat or stab him in the back or throw him under a bus.

Itachi was going to hate her for this.

"I need you to join."

"What? No-"

"The flowers, Itachi. And sparkles! For science! Think about it. You could cast genjutsu again!"

"I don't want to cast that kind of genjutsu!"

...

A/N: Junichi is written as 順 一, meaning obedient and one. Jun, apparently, is a unisex name. Junko for girls.

Poor Jun-chan.

Finally got my laptop back. Huzzahh!

TBC.