Several spins later, and it's a mess. So far, no one's picked truth, so it's been dares left and right. Kaoru's hair is drenched in a mixture of honey and flour, Tamaki's stripped down to his boxers (unwillingly), Mori has sharpie marks all over his face, two of the Hitachiin residence's windows have been shattered, and Honey's whole head is covered with icing (pretty sure that wasn't from a dare, though).
"Okay, Kyoya, it landed on you. Truth or dare?" Tamaki says.
Kyoya's head pops up from his notebook. He's been scribbling notes down since we started playing, as per usual. Uninterested, he replies, "Truth."
"How did you get those pictures of Haruhi when she was in middle school?" Kaoru asks, amazed.
He's about to answer, but I stop him. "No, no. You have to ask him something good. If not, that defeats the purpose of picking tr- wait, what? You have what?"
Tamaki flails his arms like crazy, trying to distract me. "Uh, nothing! We have nothing at all. So, we need a good question, right? Come on, let's circle up."
The group huddles aside- excluding Kyoya- and takes a moment to brainstorm on a worthy question. I look back at the Ootori boy and think. What have you got to hide, senpai? I suddenly remember when we were at the product exposition and he noticed the fake pottery.
"I've got it," I say, "Why is it that you pretend to be a jerk when you're really a nice guy? I don't get it, Kyoya-senpai. It's not a bad thing to be good."
The boys turn their heads to Kyoya, confused. He cocks his head at me.
They probably haven't noticed.
"Interesting. I seek out what benefits me. Why else would I put up such an effort to impress? It's all about the endgame, Haruhi. Does that cover it?"
I don't say anything back. He completely dodged the question. I'm sure the others didn't pick up on that, but I let it go anyway. I blink at him, seeing past the facade. One day I'll find out why he acts so coldly.
"Hika-chan, I spun the bottle and it stopped on you! Good thing, too, because I don't think you've gone yet. Truth or dare?" Honey says.
Hikaru takes a moment, then decides on a dare. He waits patiently as we all think of one.
A smirk crosses Kaoru's face. "I dare you to play seven minutes in heaven with Haruhi."
Woah, what?
Tamaki's sputtering nonsense, completely panicked. He turns pale and is speaking in short sentences. "Seven minutes in heaven? With my little girl? No way! Uh-uh. Nope. Pick another dare; I will not stand for this!"
Clearly he and Hikaru are on the same train of thought. The older twin's completely red, glowering at his brother. "What the hell, Kaoru? What kind of dare is that? I'm not doing it."
"You have to do it, Hika-chan! No chickening out: that was one of the rules!" Honey enforces.
"Uh, you guys, I don't think it's a good idea..." My voice drifts when I see Kyoya hold up his notebook directly to me. On the page was written in dark black letters: "DEBT". He gives me the same menacing smile from before.
Note to self: kill Kyoya as soon as possible.
I stand up, smooth down my hair, and grab Hikaru by his shirt. "Come on, lets go. It's only for seven minutes." I mumble.
As I drag him into a nearby closet, different reactions arise. Tamaki is practically crying (Kaoru is holding him back), Honey is cheering, and Kyoya is scribbling down data. Mori is quietly observing.
When I push Hikaru into the dark room, he doesn't say a word. Well, he tries to.
"Haruhi, I- I'm really- Are we- um, so..." he stammers as I close the door shut and turn on the light. He's keeping me at an arm's length away and trembles.
Once we're locked in, I lean my back against the door and slowly slide down, exhaling. "Calm down, Hikaru. We don't actually have to make out or anything." I look up at him and smile reassuringly. Upon hearing this, the color in his face disappears and he settles. He sits down in front of me and smiles back nervously.
We sit in silence for a while. Hikaru is still uneasy, so I try to talk to him.
"I take it this is your first time. Don't worry, most people just chill out." I say, then reach out and kick his foot playfully.
He runs a hand through his hair and chuckles. "Uh, yeah, haha. I don't know what I would've done if we really had to do stuff. Pretty awkward, you know?"
"You seem like the type to go for these kinds of things, so I was surprised when you were avoiding it."
Hikaru looks at me and shrugs. He stares down at his feet. "Kaoru's a jackass."
After a few minutes, I tell Hikaru to take off his shirt. His eyes are full of panic, so I quickly explain myself.
"We need to make it look like we did something, so take your shirt off and put it back on inside-out. Do you get what I mean? Like make yourself look disheveled."
He looks at me for a second, then nods. As he undresses, I tuck a small section of my shirt in the back into my spandex, exposing my butt just a little bit. When I see Hikaru mess up his hair, I figure it's a good idea, so I do the same.
I hear a knock on the door. "Time's up," Mori says, "you can come out now." Hikaru and I stand up, prepared. I scan him over quickly for a final check. We appear decent enough; it'll convince Tamaki and Honey at the least.
Before leaving the closet, I turn around and kiss Hikaru on the cheek, making his face flush again. He's completely shocked, as expected.
I stand on my toes and whisper in his ear, "For good measure."
When I step out into the living room, I keep a shy smile and stare at the floor. Seconds later, Hikaru comes out, still blushing. I'm not sure if they can pick out our bluff, but I stick to the goofy grin on my face anyway.
The Host Club does enjoy a good performance, after all.