Yuzuru Suou (19:46) – Looks like ur winning on our lil bet so far..
Yoshio Ootori (19:53) – Elaborate then, you fool.
Yuzuru Suou (19:55) – My son was just rejected and won't stop moping. Thnx a lot 4 that one.
Yoshio Ootori (19:58) – Interesting…
Yuzuru Suou (20:01) – Tamaki will jst have 2 up his game! I'll make sure of it.
Yoshio sat back in his chair, in the dim lighting of his study, pondering the Chairman's somewhat vague text. So his son really was in for a chance with the Fujioka girl, good. It was time to take some action it seemed, just to let his son – and the world – know of his intentions for the pair. This would be very interesting indeed.
"Tamaki-senpai, why do we have to dress in this weird getup? It's too tight!" Chika groaned as the twins yanked a skin-tight shirt over his head. He had learnt to stop resisting their wicked ways and go with the flow so to say when the host club king got an idea in his head. Although in his defence, I had no idea what the theme was supposed to be on this occasion, other than to make Chika look as ridiculous as was humanly possible.
Satoshi bounded out the changing area after managing to get into his outfit without assistance. The flared trousers flapped with every step he took, "It looks pretty funky, though. But you really don't suit pink, Chika; the twins have got your colouring all wrong."
"That was intentional, I assume," Ritsu muttered, amusement playing at his features.
The Hitachiin brothers rounded on the outgoing Morinozuka defensively, "Nobody insults our colour schemes!"
"He just looks so adorable dressed all in pink!" Hikaru cooed teasingly.
Chika however, did not look so amused. He stood there with his arms crossed tightly across his well-toned chest to hide the exposed areas of his upper body. "Assholes, the lot of you."
It had been a couple of weeks since I'd left the host club. We had all been busy getting used to the new dynamics that our replacement hosts were bringing to the team. Satoshi had become reasonably friendly with the twins in the short space of time, mainly because they were amused at seeing Chika getting frequently whacked with a shinai. I would have to step in whenever they went as far to making the young Haninozuka cry however, which left me feeling more like a mother figure than ever.
Tamaki had been bouncing between avoiding me completely and then desperately trying to seek out my attention – both of which I attempted to ignore – but he was persistent and it was hard for all of us to ignore the elephant in the room. Today was one of the days he had decided to pay no attention to my existence as I poured tea and served up biscuits.
After finishing my minor tasks, I took a seat next to Kyoya who was tapping away vigorously on his laptop. He spared me a smile as I rested a hand on his knee under the table, but other than that, we were reserved about the attention we gave each other during school hours. It was yet to be noticed by our regular customers that anything was going on thankfully, although I could tell the twins were dying to openly tease us once and for all.
Textbook in hand, we settled into companionable silence as the world bustled around us unnoticed. That was until Kyoya's phone started to ring. The furious buzzing shook me free of my trance like state and into reality, where he'd already picked up the offending gadget and had it cradled against his ear with one hand whilst the other continued typing.
"I see – Yes, I'll be there. – Seven o'clock sharp. – Goodbye."
"That must have been a riveting conversation," I jested as he set the phone down on the table.
"It was my father calling," he removed his glasses and rubbed gently at the bridge of his nose. "A rare occurrence but he wants to meet with me tonight to discuss some business it seems."
"That doesn't sound too bad," I tried to reassure him. Stress was apparent on his face without the safeguard of his spectacles and I gripped his hand tightly under the table to try and comfort him.
"It's never just business when my father calls. He would usually just leave a message with the staff for when I returned home."
"Oh…" My voice trailed off. "Well, call me after you've met with him. Just so I know you're alright."
He smiled weakly in response before replacing his iron clad mask of aloofness and returned to the job at hand. I tried to settle back into studying but I was curious now as to what his father could want to discuss that would lead to Kyoya feeling so stressed out. If I was correct, the omniscient boy already had an inkling as to what he was in for tonight, but I didn't want to pry in what wasn't my business. So I left him be and skimmed the pages of my book without taking anything in.
Hosting finished soon enough and the boys looked thankful to get out of the costumes. I joined the first year hosts in cleaning Music Room 3 as we all packed up for the night and went our separate ways. The twins had offered to make me dinner in exchange for being their dress up doll for the night, but I vehemently declined. Wearing a dress all day long was more than enough for me, and I longed to change back into a baggy shirt and pyjama bottoms each night. Even Chika had been kind enough to offer me a ride over to his home to visit Honey – which I was still undecided upon.
He picked up his bag and waited impatiently for his cousin and I to finish our duties. "Mitsukuni and Taka-nii have been looking forward to seeing you all again, though Haruhi-senpai."
"Well I would have visited already if I didn't think they were too busy at university," I called from across the room. "Are you sure I wouldn't be bothering him?"
"I wouldn't have offered otherwise, duh." I rolled my eyes at his antics but allowed him to lead me out of the host club after I snatched up my bag and flicked off the lights. Satoshi buzzed ahead of us, enjoying the freedom now that his responsibilities for the day were fulfilled.
"Are you ready for our evening spar, Chika? I'm really looking forward to it! I need it after sitting there talking all afternoon."
Chika cracked his knuckles gleefully, "Yeah, I'm ready to kick your ass. Maybe Taka-nii and uncle will join us tonight."
"I hope so!"
It was hard not to enjoy the boy's company when they were on pleasant terms, so I walked slightly behind and observed them contentedly. "You guys are far too excited over exercise."
"It's stress relieving, Haru-senpai! You should join us sometime," Satoshi bubbled as he held open the limousine door for me.
"Hmm, maybe I'll take you up on that offer," I replied as I clambered in. "Although you'll have a tough job teaching me to do anything."
"Pffft, it's much easier than you're making out. All you've gotta do is hit your opponent and block when they're hitting you. Simple!"
"I think there's more to it than that, Satoshi…"
The limousine pulled up outside the Haninozuka's modest looking home. High wooden fences disguised its grand scale and the vast training areas that encompassed the building. We made our way inside and dumped our belongings in Chika's room before hunting down Honey.
First port of call: the kitchen. Satoshi sauntered in and greeted the chefs but his cousin was nowhere to be seen. That left the training grounds. As we neared the door that led us outside, we could hear the steady thrum of stamping feet and grunts of exertion. Honey and Mori were in front of several dozen muscular men, flowing seamlessly between different offences and defences. I watched mesmerised as they leapt about effortlessly as the men began to struggle.
"Alright, that's enough for today!" Honey bellowed out with authority. "Same time next week. Well done!"
The men trudged away to the changing areas, exhaustion slowing their steps. Mori noticed our presence first, smiling warmly at our arrival and informed his cousin. Honey bounded towards us at full speed and tackled me to the ground in his excitement.
"Haru-chan! I've missed you so much! Did Chika bring you over? That was really nice of him!"
I cradled him in my arms as well as I could, although it was odd holding him when his strong muscular frame was on display yet he acted like a child still. "Woah, woah! Honey, slow down! I can't understand you when you talk that fast!"
His once luscious gold locks were a thing of the past, now trimmed into a much shorter style with bangs that still framed his youthful features softly. Mori however, had kept his trademark stoic appearance identical to his days at Ouran Academy.
"Inside?" Mori gestured to the open door. We all nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you pair could really do with a shower!"