Hey-ey.
The song "she moves in her own way"
is officially stuck in my head :]

xoxo,
Spoons

Crybaby!

...Chapter Four...

Subliminal Messaging

"The way I see it, there's really not a whole lot we can do for your situation. But not that it's impossible you see, it's just difficult because without practicing you'll never get more comfortable, but by practicing we're only alienating the two of you more…" I stare, wide-eyed as Tamaki-kun goes on and on, using elaborate hand gestures and displays, my mind tracking his movements with hawkish intensity. It's been a week. A whole week and it feels just as unsure as it did the very first day I showed up.

"Basically," The brash twin says (I have come to somehow tell that one is far more honest than the other), "We're gonna hand you over to the only person we think we can help you because frankly, we're desperate." His twin snickers softly as I blush and Haruhi looks impassive.

"You called Renge didn't you?" He says and Tamaki stops his ongoing monologue to stare at him for a moment.

"Yes…is that..bad?" He asks hesitantly, dissolving his outlandish actions for a more hesitant, goopier mess of a person. My brow furrows as I watch the exchange, Haruhi-kun's deadpan expression becoming increasingly more apparent. Their interactions are so awfully confusing; bipolar in the most polite of senses, although shortly following this revelation, Haruhi-kun voices what was already going through my head.

"I think it's ridiculous." He states evenly and Tamaki-kun whimpers.

"Why Haruhi? Why are you so hateful to Daddy?" Haruhi turns his head away, blatantly ignoring the small cheeps of astonishment from the melted Tamaki.

"Because you act like an idiot."

Kyoya, who has been observing as he mostly does, moves to interject before I can say anything, but suddenly the floor beneath us vibrates and suddenly, the great rotors of a turning motor begin to kick on, the floor splitting in a circular seam before a pronounced lift is pushed up from the ground and a top it is seated a very beautiful foreign girl with a huge pink bow on top of her head. Now, to better understand my shock, you have to comprehend that I have been taking extensive care to avoid other people when visiting the Host Club. Special arrangements have been made while Takashi-kun or Mitsukuni-kun are occupied so that we can meet uninterrupted, and for the most part the illustrious third music room is nothing more than a large and unused space when it's only the members and myself.

But now, there is a very strange girl, perched on what appears a teacher's desk with a black board, rotating up from the floor.

In front of a girl who's easily surprised and scared by an unexpected spider's web or a piece of paper blown across her path.

"W-what on earth!" I find myself crying, tripping backwards as the girl settles her piercing stare on me, standing to point an accusing finger in my direction.

"YOU!" She says, her keening voice carrying across the space, echoing back in my ringing ears. I point at my chest, almost not even believing the antic going on before me and the twins are suddenly on either side of my shoulders, rather engrossed in the whole situation.

"Your guinea pig madame!" They chant, shoving me forward again and saluting. The girl nods in satisfaction and steps down from the platform, shoes clacking on the marble.

"At ease!" She barks and the twins let their arms go limp, watching with devilish smirks on their features. For some reason, the whole room has gone darker than usual and they are brandishing two flash lights dangerously.

The torches click on and off and Tamaki berates them, going on about how this is "No time for such allusion to black magic!", but I'm too caught up in the girl who's stepping forward.

"You're Hoshiko-senpai, the resident and legendary possessor of the 'Tears of Moe', right?!" She fires and I find my words fumbling.

"L-l-legendary?" I ask and she puts her hands on her hips, one of them going up to gesture in a most dignified manner.

"OF COURSE! The flames of Moe are so strong in you that it reduces you to tears! Naturally it should spread like a love-induced fire to the rest of the beautiful girls in attendance! We were there after all!" My face goes cherry red and I stutter unintelligibly, realizing that latest display of 'passion' or whatever she called it for Takashi-kun had been in fact viewed by the general public.

"I think you've got it all wrong! I just want to say th- !" She cuts me off, her hand going up, slicing the air as I try to persuade her otherwise. She lowers her chin, eyes level with me.

"The first step is denial kid!" She snaps her fingers and out of nowhere the black board appears and within seconds I am forced into a simple classroom desk. The slide-projector she is now seated at begins to flip at rapid speeds and several host members (the twins specifically) are gathered round, watching with bated breath. The girl, who I have inferred is Renge at this point, settles onto her stool, clicks a small remote and suddenly my picture has appeared across the screen. It's nothing special, just me standing with my arms at my sides and smiling unsurely, yellow dress making me appear an over grown daffodil.

"This is you." She says, using a laser pointer to emphasize her point; the red beam darts to the bottom of the projected image, highlighting the word beneath it, "You are most definitely the 'crybaby' type." Before I can ask what that even means she switches the slide and I am faced with a surprisingly adorable picture of Mitsukuni waving and hugging his bunny under one arm.

"NOW." She continues, standing to pull a rod from her sleeve and point to Mitsukuni-kun's smiling face, "While it is true that Honey-senpai is in fact a loli-shota type, it can also be subdivided."

Click.

A candid shot of Mitsukuni-kun in tears.
"Honey-senpai due to his appearance and child-heartedness can also be categorized as a 'crybaby' type, which brings me to the next slide."

Click.

I turn slightly over my shoulder to find that the twins are taking diligent notes, Haruhi-kun is quite uninterested and Tamaki is just watching, this confused, yet enthralled look on his face, as if he's about to raise his hand and ask a question. I cannot see Kyoya…he has somehow (with a sense of great foreboding) dissolved into the shadows around him.

They almost surround him like a coat and crown…but I am certain my eyes are paying tricks on me as Renge continues on.

"Continuing, it can be said that a Crybaby, no matter how denominated that might be, has three main components."

She slaps her stick against a close up (candid, yet again) of my crying face.

"A beautiful tear-filled expression…"

Slap.

"A child-like appearance…" There is a comparison shot of me and a girl in an Ouran elementary uniform who is also wearing a ribbon in her hair. I finger it subconsciously, unable to tear my eyes away. The resemblance is ridiculous. I'm not much taller and my hair has been styled the same way since elementary school. Even my eyes give off the naivety of a little girl and not the senior I am.

Click…slide…

"And finally, a 'comforter' or someone they go to rely on! In Honey-senpai's case, this can be attributed to both Usa-chan and Mori-senpai…but in your case…"

Takashi-kun flashes across the screen and my eyes automatically react, watering profusely. My nose sniffs and I take a breath, attempting to control myself. Renge watches, intrigued by the sight of me.

"Somewhere along the way Mori-senpai became both your trigger and your comforter, causing a severe inability for you to function in any social situation with him since your poor heart can't decide which to call him! And so, you're heart cries, unable to reach the verdict that is necessary for you to grow closer to the one you love!" She yells and the slide flips and my tears dissipate, as quickly as they've come.

I feel the chair shoot out from behind me.

"No." I say sternly, "That's not right…I …I don't know what you're trying to do here, but I'm…" I fight to keep my voice even, "I don't like Takashi. Not like that. I just want to tell him I'm grateful, and that's all. That's all." I stress. Renge comes over to the desk and leans on it, eyes fiery.

"You're a textbook case of a crybaby Hoshiko-senpai, and it's common fact that the crybaby always becomes hopelessly emotionally bound to the their comforter, and in this case you are terribly in love with Mori-senpai." I shake my head desperately.

"No. That's not it at all…" Renge smiles, treating it all as if it's one giant game. I feel my heart start to fizz in my chest. What am I? A toy for everyone? Do they really take my feelings so lightly? Does this Host Club really think I'm so stupid as to subject what's the most important thing in the world to me to this kind of… kind of…humiliation?

"This isn't a game!" I cry suddenly and the room goes very quiet. I back out of my chair, "This isn't something I thought would be taken so lightly…I…I thought you were here to help girls! Not exploit their fragility!"

And like lighting, I am gone.

Renge, her face suddenly becoming sad, shuffles back.

"It's worse than I thought." She murmurs, and Kyoya scribbles something down.

"If she doesn't come back, then we shouldn't interfere. We've got too much to do anyway, what with the senior ball coming up in just two weeks…"

Tamaki, watching the door hang open, not even properly closed, looks at the marble dejectedly for a moment. Haruhi looks somewhat startled and even the twins appear surprised. Tamaki closes his eyes, before raising his head and opening them.

"We won't interfere." He sates plainly, "But…we will make her change her mind about us. We are a company to help girls…and if we can't help Hoshiko-senpai the way we thought we could initially, then we will make it so some other way." He smiles softly.

"What are you thinking Tamaki-senpai?" Haruhi says quietly, for once unable to follow where his free mind has led him this time.

The man's grin grows.

"Perhaps it's more complicated than we thought, but I know that somehow we'll make one lonely star's wish come true. I think…maybe we've been to direct about this…it's time for a less obvious approach."

"Ne, ne! Takashi did you get that text too?" The young man blinked, seeing the screen of a pink cell phone abruptly shoved into his face. They were currently walking down the hall towards the Host Club Room (as a previous text had directed) when all at once the chime had sounded again in Mitsukuni's pocket (conveniently next to his ear) and flipped open after a brief scramble. Situated on his shoulders, Mitsukuni was flexing his toes as he thought, before thoughtlessly pushing the phone back into his pocket, Mori nodding silently.

"It says the senior ball's theme is going to be star-crossed lovers! There's even going to be some kind of contest! You think that'll be fun?" He continued, tapping Takashi's head rhythmically. The taller man really couldn't say. He didn't think much of dances or balls.

They weren't bad, but they weren't his favorite either. Even when he was younger, the Champion's Kendo Ball was always a pain no matter how much the status he gained made up for itchy suits and even itchier people.

It only meant two things; girls and dancing.

Both of which he found himself increasingly neutral and uninterested in as time wore on.

Mitsukuni wasn't deterred by his silence, still beating on his head as they walked, still thinking about this and that. He let his cousin remain in his head as the girl went passed them, obviously upset.

He knew if he saw, Takashi would just do what he always did and become concerned. Mitsukuni's little brow creased in his continued pensive state.

Did his cousin even knew how he really acted when the girl cried?

Could his cousin even see that face he made…

"I wonder what Tama-chan is up to this time." He said softly as they came to the staircase, thinking of the text and Hoshiko's distressed appearance. He smiled sadly to himself. "I hope Tama-chan understands what he's doing."

Everything is moving along a little better, and a the Host Club silliness was soooo fun too write.
What has Tamaki-kun got up his sleeves, yeah? Has Hoshiko-chan given up on the Host Club after only a week?

Will ANYTHING be solved?!?! haha. Such casual questions.../OTZ

Please R and R, i'd love you forever.

xoxo,
Spoons