I sighed, twitching lightly in my outfit. The Club had decided I was flat-chested enough that nobody would know the difference between I and a man; and I had agreed if it showed little skin, though not much in the chest area, I would be fine with it. Haruhi was late! What would Tamaki say about this?... Earlier she had asked for a little alone time for studying and school-work so I had abided and went to help the Hosts set up the Club to fit the likeness of a tropical rainforest. And so here we were- The wide pink doors creaked open obnoxiously and I smiled sensing my sister's arrival.
"What's this?.. Where am I?"
And here we sat, Tamaki on his tribal throne, and us all in uniform.
"Welcome!"
Haruhi's face changed to that of complete disbelief to annoyance. I could hear her thoughts clearly from where I stood as if she had said them aloud. Can you see this from heaven mom?... this is the Club Michi and I were forced to join.. A toucan screeched and alighted from its haven in the tree-tops to rest on Haruhi's head. I smiled and giggled lightly, seeing her face unchanged.
"You've finally made it Haruhi" the twins said in their usual unison.
"You're so late."
I might be wrong but my calendar says it's still early Spring..
"Huddling under a kotatsu table fearing the cold is nonsense! And besides the heating system we have is… the best!"
I grunted softly watching Tamaki strike a pose. It was almost as if he saw himself sparkling in his own little glory bubble. What an nuisance he was..
"Ugh."
"Do you have a problem with the way we run our Club Haruhi? Be careful what you say. You owe us 8 million yen, remember?"
Shocked, Haruhi seemed to relive the moment for a short few seconds before Tamaki whipped out a fan, unleashing its folds and successfully interrupting their conversation.
"Gentlemen don't bundle up in bulky clothing. It may be chilly early spring out there in the real world but here in the Club we want to surprise our chilly little kittens with a warm, tropical paradise. Oh yes! We've turned this place into Nirvana; A balmy tropical island of everlasting summer!"
"-That's funny because I feel a massive chill right now.."
-
The Host Club having been opened for business, I beamed at the faces of my three now regular visitors. I had been telling them a ton of things about me, my brother, my life, my hobbies- only to be interrupted by something Tamaki had said.
"Oh yes! I almost forgot to mention to you ladies~ Next week the Ouran Host Club is sponsoring a party.~"
Haruhi, dressed formally in the male's uniform turned to look at him confused.
"We're throwing a party?"
From the Hitachiin's table, their customers spoke up.
"What kind of a party is it going to be?"
"Is it going to be formal?"
"Yes, in fact we've rented the school's largest hall."
"It's the perfect place for dancing."
And of course, Hikaru snatched him up in a loving gaze whispering.
"But I really wanted to spend some alone time with you, Kaoru."
"Don't be upset Hikaru… I know exactly how you feel."
The girls started to swoon, as usual and I rolled my eyes playfully, glancing my customers' way. The same three girls from yesterday were here, with the addition of another; a tawny, honey-haired exchange student from France. I smiled upon hearing my sister's comment on their reaction.
"I guess they'd be even more worked up than they usually are..."
"Showing some skin proves popular with the ladies..."
Kyouya uttered matter-of-factly. I slid from my seat, excusing myself first, and leaned on the counter behind me, at his side. Haruhi remained on his other. With a smart-ass smirk, I glanced up at him.
"Even if they're seeing another girl in her skin?"
He looked, slightly surprised, at me out of the corner of his eyes. A small smile began to blossom on his face and he tilted his head downward, closer to his clipboard, avoiding my gaze.
"It's not as if they know that... Besides, having such blemish-free skin as that of a girls seems to have really wound them up~"
"So are you the one who came up with this tropical paradise idea...?"
Kyouya didn't look up from his writing and I fought back the urge to peek around his arm at whatever he was scrawling.
"I have no decision-making authority... All of the club's policies have been laid out by the club's King; Tamaki."
He glanced up, smiling and readjusted his glasses.
"-But, I guess there's no harm in admitting to casually slipping a Bali photo-book onto his desk..."
And at that moment, my sister and I shared the exact same thought... So he's the real brains behind the operation... Honey went off on an adorable rant about how much he loves Balinese flowers and leis... of course, he had to adorn Mori in a matching lei which the girl's seemed to love. Now, watching the Club in action... I dipped my head just a bit, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks. I instinctively brought up a hand to cover my mouth but the soft giggle had managed to escape anyways. I had just realized... I really felt at home here... I liked, no, loved being a Host!
I sighed happily to myself, lounging across one of the many pink sofas of the Host Club room. I had a whole boat-load of new girls coming to meet me and I still hadn't a clue of how I did! Haruhi had done just fine with her newest customer. She seemed like an all-around nice girl; Miss Kanako. Until of course, I had got to learn more about her in after classes. Tamaki was already in his little emo corner, slurping ramen rather obnoxiously loud. But his thoughts were just loud enough I could hear them through his savaging of the noodles. I can't take this anymore!...
"Take what Tamaki?" I mumbled to myself.
Everyone else, gathered around a small rounded table didn't seem to notice.
"Hey boss! Why don't you stop eating that Commoner's ramen and come over here to help us with the party planning?"
"Does it really bother you that Princess Kasuka has taken a liking to Haruhi?"
Kyouya begun to speak, immediately catching my attention. From my sprawled position on the couch, I propped my head on the back of one hand listening curiously.
"He shouldn't be surprised. She's had the illness for a while now, hasn't she?"
"What illness?"
Haruhi and I interrupted. Hikaru slid up behind them, explaining.
"She's got the Host-Hopping disease."
"A.K.A. The Never-The-Same-Boy-Twice disease."
"Usually our customers choose a favorite Host and then see them regularly. However, Princess Kanako tends to change her favorites... on a regular basis."
Hone slid up between Kyouya and Haruhi, and I watched as my sister turned to listen.
"That's right! Because before she chose you she was with Tama-chan!"
"Maybe she's just confused?"
Haruhi seemed unamused; so was I.
"Oh, so he's upset because I took her from him?"
"I'd say so-"
"SHUT UP!"
Tamaki barked in her face. I flinched lightly but Haruhi didn't even budge.
"I couldn't care less! I'm running out of patience!" he said jerking backwards.
He pointed to Haruhi and then me also. I was taken aback for I didn't think my comment meant too much...
"Haruhi! Michi! It's time you two started dressing like girls!"
Our expressions matched one another's as I sweat-dropped.
"Huh...?"
"I don't understand how you can be so popular with the ladies when you yourselves are ladies! No one in the entire school knows the truth except for those of us here!"
The twins backed him up, blank.
"Yeah; they opted out of taking Gym Classes."
"And the attendance numbers are all mixed together so no one can tell."
Tamaki dashed off to the back of the room and ran back with a small ruby chest entitled "King's Private property". He flung it open and dug around inside for a bit.
"That's enough Haruhi. Now you listen to daddy-" yanking out a huge golden-framed blow-up of Haruhi's student ID last year; her with long hair, he held it up to her.
"Daddy wants you to go back to the way you were!~"
"DON'T BLOW-UP MY PHOTOS WITHOUT ASKING ME FIRST!"
Tamaki was bawling at the lower rim of the photo and the others had flocked around; Haruhi and I standing a little further back.
"The longer I look at this the more amazed I am... How could this possibly become that?"
Hikaru questioned, and everyone turned to look at Haruhi.
"The day before school started some kid in my neighborhood got gum stuck in my hair..It's a real pain to get gum out of long hair, so I decided to cut it all off. I didn't care if I looked like a dude, you know?"
Tamaki came a bit closer looking like he might explode into tears at any second. He began to squeal and then burst out;
"Thou shall never refer to yourself as a dude! Mammmaaaaaaaaaa!" he shrieked.
Did he just say thou?
"Haruhi's using those dirty boy words again!"
Tamaki wailed, slowly falling to his knees, tissue in hand.
"I'm sorry but who is mama?"
"Based on preposition I presume it's me..."
I laughed a little amused as at Kyouya's response.
"Look. I don't see what you're crying about. Working as a Host I can pay back more of my debt. It would never happen if I was just an errand-boy!"
"She's right..."
"Hate to change the subject but do you have formal dancing experience? You'll need it at the party..."
Haruhi's annoyed expression altered to one of sheer horror. I gulped lightly and flushed laying flat on the couch, turning my back to them.
"Uh... no... but the party doesn't have anything to do with my- our quota, right? I'm not interested in going to events so if I could be excused-"
Tamaki got an evil glint in his eyes and he slid up behind Haruhi, getting a sudden idea.
"Definitely not. A refined gentleman must know how to dance~ If you want to live the life of a Host that badly you're going to have to show us how far you're willing to go Haruhi."
Tamaki swayed a bit, a hand at his chest, as he stood.
"I order you to master dancing the waltz in one week and you will demonstrate it for us at the party~"
He cooed with a twirl. He then pointed sharply at her, but she was already shaking.
"Or I'll tell the entire school that you're a girl!"
There was a few moments' pause and I sighed sitting up just as he said it.
"You too Michi!"
"Already on it -_-"
Documentation: (Compliments of Michi)
I have no problem with having to learn the waltz... but damn is it more difficult than it seems.