"Host Club, unite!" Tamaki pointed dramatically in the direction of the large dining table they had set up in the room.
"Aye, aye, tono-baka!" The twins saluted and laughed, rushing forward to sit down as Tamaki shouted at them angrily.
"Come on guys, give him a break." Kodo sat across from them. For a moment, Tamaki was thrilled she took his side. "After all, he has to deal with his idiocies, so also dealing with your onslaught is kind of hard on the poor man's brain."
Tamaki gasped. "Pumpkin-chan, you can't just say those things, you're hurting my pride!"
"Is that all I'm hurting? Are you suuuure?" She teased, grinning at him.
"I- well- MOOM!" He yelled at Kyouya as he sat down. "Your sister is being mean again! Get her to calm down!"
"By all accounts I can see, she's being very calm. You seem to be the one who's overreacting to a simple teasing."
Whimpering, Tamaki then turned to Haruhi as she sat next to Kodo.
"Don't look at me, senpai. I'll not take a side in this."
"GAH! If you won't take my side, then you're my enemy! This means war!" Suddenly he was donning a captain's hat. "Men, to your stations!"
"Bun-bun at the ready!" Hani laughed as he swung his stuffed friend around before his grip slipped and Bun-bun went flying out of his hands to the ground. "NO! Man down, man down!" Rushing up, he pressed his small hands to the fabric of Bun-bun's chest and pressed.
Mori arrived, kneeling down to place a stethoscope to it's chest. "It doesn't look good."
"No, Bun-bun!" Hani began crying. "N-no man left behind, you- you promised you'd be with me 'till we grew old together! Hang in there!"
"Mh. He'll make it, but he'll never walk again."
"You'll live! Bun-bun, I'm so happy!" Hani scooped up the plush and swung it around a couple of times before gingerly placing it on a table. "You're a vet of war, now!" Grabbing a sheet of stickers form his pocket, he peeled off a purple heart and slapped it on Bun-bun's chest. "You're a real hero, sir!" He saluted the bunny, as well as Mori and the twins.
"That was.. bizarre." Kodo stared with her jaw unhinged.
"You get used to it." Haruhi sipped her cup of coffee.
"I've been with you guys for months and I'm still not used to it! Aren't those two supposed to be the eldest in our group?"
"Hey, it's okay to have fun once in awhile, right?" Hani laughed as he sat, setting down a plate of cake in front of him. "After all, if you grow up too fast, you lose all the excitement of young age, right?"
"Now you sound like an old man." Hikaru and Kaoru muttered the same thing as Kodo.
"Okay!" Tamaki cleared his throat as he stood at the head of the table. "Now that we're all here and accounted for, we need to get our meeting started!"
Hikaru waved his hand. "What is this meeting for!"
"If you let me speak, you'll find out!" Tamaki retorted. "As you all know, testing has started, and afterward there's going to be a fall festival for the school. We need ideas for what kind of festival we're going to have!"
The twins' hands went up first.
"No haunted houses!"
Their hands went back down as they muttered, grumbling to themselves.
"Oh!" Kodo raised her hand.
Tamaki grinned. "Yes, the star of autumn, Pumpkin!"
"Well, back in Germany our fairs included wienerschnitzel and a cabbage dish with onions and noodles cooked together served on top. We even had low count alcohol drinks for kids, and dart throwing! There was a parade and they'd play traditional folk music and people would dress up. They had pretzel stands at every corner, but that was more of a tourist thing. Puppeteers would hand carve marionettes and have them interact with the small children. But, I don't know if any of this would help with our theme, as I don't know what we're going to be doing."
"You Germans sure are hardy with your food!" Tamaki gulped.
She smiled. "I love food, so remembering the kinds of dishes I've had is something that just sticks sometimes. Especially if I really liked it."
"Why not just have the theme be autumn?" Haruhi asked. "While everyone else is doing things like cafes and haunted houses and whatnot, our theme would just be the embodiment of fall."
"Yes, yes! Haruhi, I like it!" Tamaki nodded. "We'll nee-"
"Please." Kodo interrupted. "You're just agreeing with her because you're in love with her."
Hikaru, Kaoru, Mori, and Hani looked shocked, minds thinking the same thing: "She said it!"
Haruhi's shoulders slumped as dread lines appeared behind her.
"Wh- wh- what- I'm allowed to love my daughter!" No one could deny the blush on the idiot's face.
"Idiot!" Kodo stood quickly, staring at him hard as she placed her hands on the table. "No quote end quote, 'father' would blush like that when he talks about his so called 'daughter'! Face the facts Tono, you're in love with Haruhi!" She was irate, and she didn't know why.
Kodo's voice echoed throughout the room as the sound of people sinking to their knees caught the room's attention.
"T-Tono.. Suoh-san.." It was Yuzai.
"Is in love.." Momashi.
"With Haruhi?" and Tetsuya.
"The calligraphy club!" Hikaru and Kaoru shouted. "What the hell are you three doing here!"
"N-no! I can assure you, it's nothing like that, I- I just-" Tamaki stuttered.
"Good luck getting yourself out of this one, Tono-baka." Kodo shoved into his shoulder as she passed him, walking over to get her bag.
Haruhi remained slumped over, eyes lifeless as she made a low incomprehensible noise.
"Now, now. You three don't have to worry about anything." Kyouya stood and walked over to the slouched young men in the doorway. "Despite your reasoning for being here now, you should probably be on your way. We will be open tomorrow however, so please return then, hm? We'll have special edition albums you can pick up then, with rare pictures of Haruhi-san. Won't that be nice!" That seemed to pique enough of their interest that they were able to regain enough energy to stand. "But you have to leave now, or else that offer will expire!" He managed to push them out before slamming the doors shut and locking them.
"Will you let me through?" Kodo stood behind him, bag over her shoulder. "I'm going home."
He turned around to face her. "You need to think twice before saying such reckless things."
"All I said was I was going home!"
"In regards to Tamaki!"
"So what, it was about time he faced reality any way, gosh."
"Yea, but look at Tono now!" The twins pointed to Tamaki who was lying on a couch, struggling with something inside his mind.
"Not my problem." She closed her eyes.
"You started it!" They shouted.
"So what!"
"So you finish it!" Kyouya grabbed her shoulders and for a split second Kodo felt her cheeks burn from his touch though she couldn't feel his skin directly. But as soon as he'd touched her he'd shoved her in the direction of Tamaki.
Whirling around, she glared at them as they waved at her, Mori and Hani included. "Dammit.." She muttered before approaching him slowly. For a long moment she stared at him, watching him mumble something under his breath, eyes open but unseeing what was going on. "I can't." She said finally before stomping over to Haruhi, yanking the younger girl from her chair and dragging her over to the couch. "You do it!"
Haruhi was still unresponsive, dread lines around her head.
"Haruuuhiiii!" Kodo shook Haruhi's shoulders. "Fine! I didn't want to have to do this, but it seems I have no other choice!" Gulping hard, she looked around quickly before grabbing on to Hikaru's shoulder and pulling him downward so she could whisper in his ear.
"Mhmm. Mhmm. Yes, Boss ma'am!" He whispered back before leaning in front of Haruhi, who sat like a rag doll against the couch Tamaki was on. "Haruhi.."
Kaoru looked thoroughly confused. "Uhh.."
"If that idiot won't have you, I will!" Hikaru shouted before kissing Haruhi on the mouth. His lips were closed, and it lasted a second, but it seemed to make Tamaki react.
Haruhi blinked, looking at Hikaru in surprise as a soft blush covered her cheeks. But his wink seemed to make her relax.
"WHAT!" Tamaki sat up suddenly. "How dare you deflower my precious daughter!" He grabbed Hikaru's collar and shook him as the younger boy laughed.
"I'm pretty sure that is NOT how deflowering works." Kodo rolled her eyes.
"Oh, H-Hikaru.." Haruhi muttered as she looked up at him, and he looked down at her, surprised as well as Tamaki.
"Huh?"
"Thank you." She smiled at him, which infuriated Tamaki.
"How dare you participate in such lewd acts of incest!" He shouted as he continued shaking the boy's collar.
"Does this mean, I'm not allowed to be with Hikaru any more during club hours?" Kaoru asked, pretending to be offended.
"What! That isn't- what I meant! You're just not allowed to- to-"
"Face it, senpai." Haruhi stood, wiping off the back of her pants. "You're a little jealous."
"A little?!" Kodo laughed.
"Then! I'll kiss you too!" Tamaki demanded and reached for her, letting Hikaru fall to his butt.
"No, too late, my kiss was taken by Hikaru." Haruhi shook her head.
"HIKARU! GIVE IT BACK!" Tamaki demanded, holding his hand out.
Not missing a beat, the red-head kissed the palm of the idiot before shrugging, sticking his tongue out.
"Here, here!" He raised his hand and held it out to Haruhi like it was some precious fragile thing. "Quickly, before it disappears!"
"Uh.." She stared at his hand a moment before giving in, feeling bad for the guy. "Fine, but only this once, Tamaki-senpai!" Her tone was teasing, playful, as she leaned down and gingerly kissed his hand where Hikaru had.
Kodo couldn't help but snicker with Kaoru as they thought about how it was a sort of indirect kiss between Hikaru and Haruhi, but- seeing Tamaki get so red from Haruhi's simple action was certainly worth it. The rest of the day Tamaki couldn't make direct eye contact with Haruhi.
"Wellp. I'm going home. And even though nothing got done in regards to the festival meeting, I'll see you weirdos tomorrow." Grinning, Kodo swung her bag back over her shoulder as she headed to the doors once more.
"K-Kodo." It was Mori.
"Yea?" She asked, turning, dreading having to speak to him.
"Shall I.. take you?"
"Nawh, I'm fine. I need the exercise any way. You and Hani-senpai have been fattening me up lately! I'm getting out of shape." Laughing softly, she patted her stomach as she sweat dropped as she tried to open the doors. They, of course, were locked.
He simply nodded at her.
"Heeey, Ohtori-saaan." She whined as she stared back at Kyouya, pouting. "Will you come unlock the doors?"
"Why, what would I gain from doing that?"
"A refreshed host club member tomorrow!"
He smirked at her as he walked up, slowly taking the keys from his pocket only when he got there. "Kodo." He whispered as he looked down at her.
She couldn't help but feel her body heat up before he was even next to her. Suddenly she could feel his whole bodily presence right in her area, and it felt.. almost intimidating. "Y-yea?" She asked, breathless as she darted her eyes up to look at him. He was smirking, eyes hinting he was up to something. She hated not being able to read him as well as he could read her.
"It's your turn." The doors unlocked.
"Huh?" Her head tilted.
"To think of me, during your.. escapades." He pushed her out of the room, one hand sliding down her back from her shoulder to her backside, out of view from the others who weren't even paying attention.
"Ah!" Whirling around, she stared at him with a red face, hand on her backside, watching as he had an almost evil smirk on his face which changed into a smile.
"Have a good night, Kodo." The doors closed once more.
She could have sworn that was a teasing tone, but a shiver still went up her spine. The feeling of his hand still seemed to burn through her clothes to her skin. What was this? Even her groin was heating up. "What the hell?" She muttered before shaking her head, taking off in the direction of the stairs.
-x-
"Dad. I'm home." Kicking off her shoes, Kodo closed the door behind her. "Dad?" It was awfully quiet. After her slippers were on, she went into the living room where his office was adjacent. "You in here?" She slid the door open a little and peeked inside. It was dark, and only empty of her father. "Wow, you really are messy." But his papers and binders seemed stacked in a chaotic way. "Something else I'll not do when I take your place. I promise to be extra organized!" Even her pencils and pens were color coded in her pen bag. "Oh!" Dashing through the kitchen, she went through the mud room to the garage. "Car's gone. What the hell, dad." Turning on her heel, she went back through the kitchen and dining room when a piece of paper caught her eye on the table.
Going out for the rest of the week for a meeting in the next town over. I called the school and they said it was impossible for you to come with me as there are exams. There's a box of money in my desk for food. -Dad
For some reason, this just made her angrier. He left without warning, assumed she even wanted to go, then just gave her money to keep up with? Did he think she couldn't deal with it herself? Frustrated, she stamped into his office and searched his desk for the box, ignoring any papers she moved. "There!" She grabbed the box but before she could open it, recognized something about it. It was her pencil box from the third grade, with little drawings of pouting bears and honey bees leaving dotted trails all over it. She remembered hating it because it was, "A boy's box!" But the worn corners brought back a soft nostalgia. She skinned her knee that year, and dumped a bucket of bugs on a girl's head. It was a good time. Smiling to herself, she opened the box to find a 1000(about $8.42) yen note. "You have got to be kidding me! I can't even buy one day's worth of food for this! Thanks Dad!" Slamming the box down, she turned and left the room and slid the door shut with a loud thud. "Guess I should study then." Sighing heavily, she pulled out of her uniform right there in the living room and plopped down on the loveseat in her panties, and camisole, pulling her hair out and shaking it out so it fell around her. "Guess I get this whooole house aaall to myself! Bwuahahaha!" Grabbing the remote for the stereo, she turned up the volume to some strange music station and nodded her head along to the beat as she pulled out her school books for studying.
At 11pm, Kodo shocked herself awake and stared long and hard at the stereo as it told her weird and strange things. Blinking a couple of times to rid her mind of the static and fuzz, she turned off the stereo with the remote and laid her head back on the arm rest of the couch. "Could have sworn.."
"Could have sworn what?"
"Huh?" Pushing herself with her feet at the other end, she leaned her head back further over the arm rest to see Kyouya standing there, upside down. "GAH!" Scrambling to sit up, she pulled the throw from her legs and wrapped it around herself. "How did you get in here!"
"Your door was unlocked, and the music was very loud, so I knew you were in here. Only you would listen to something so bizarre."
Grumbling, she pulled her legs up to her chin. "Did you at least lock the door after you came in?"
"And lock myself in here with a crazy person like you? Anyway, after you didn't answer when I called, I invited myself in. I hope I'm not intruding."
"No, of course not! This place is-" She was trying to reach her leg out and grab her bra off the floor with her toes. "-messy."
"If you looked after yourself, you wouldn't have to feel ashamed." Walking over, he knelt down and picked up her bra by the clasp and held it up.
Face burning red, she jumped up and grabbed it from his hand. "Don't just do something like that!"
"It's just a piece of cloth." Shrugging slightly, Kyouya dug his hands into his pockets.
"What do you want, anyway?"
"Actually, I came here to speak to your father, but judging by the atmosphere, I would assume he isn't here."
"Your assumption is correct." Her hands grabbed the small blanket as she pulled it further around her shoulders in an attempt to hide her chest.
"Hm?"
"What!"
"I'm not sure why you're trying to hide yourself, it isn't as if I haven't seen it before."
"Hey! We discussed this!"
"Did we? Oh yes, something about seeing the attractive sunset so many times, and always wanting to see more?" He nodded. "That was an informative conversation."
Crap, she didn't have a defense now. "So- what did you want with my dad anyway?"
"To give him this." He pulled an envelope from his breast pocket and handed it to her.
She didn't know what to do with the bra. Wadding it up, she dropped it behind her and kicked it under the couch before grabbing the envelope while still trying to keep the blanket around herself. "An- invitation? To what?"
"My family is having a dinner party, and formally if a young man wishes to invite someone of the opposite gender, he's to give the invitation to the girl's father."
Her eyes darted up to him from the paper. "I have a mind of my own, I can make my own decisions, you know. Gosh, you make it sound like you're trying to court me or something."
To that response he cleared his throat. "But seeing as he isn't here, I'll have to contact your mother and-"
"Did you hear what I just said!" Flipping over the envelope, she popped the seal on the back as the blanket fell from her shoulders. She didn't care at this point. But it was the contents of the letter that caught her attention. "This.. this is.. a formal event. This dinner party.."
"It's a black tie function."
"I mean, I'm honored you thought of me, but, I don't think I'm suited to go."
"Why is that?"
"Well, the obvious answer of course. My father is a laughing stock, so if I go anywhere it's his reputation on my shoulders."
"Not if you're referred to as Kotaphira Vogel."
"But that's my mother's name!" Her eyes darted back up to him.
"Imagine, using this opportunity to introduce yourself into the business world. And what better way, than to be associated with one of the top 100 influential women in Germany? Nothing about your father has to be mentioned at all."
Her hands gripped the paper a little tighter. "But- why not any of the other women we know, or go to school with? Wouldn't they be better suited anyways?"
"Not at all. You and I have a basic understanding of each other. Not only that, when someone of importance is around, you put on a very professional air that I don't trust others with."
"So you want me to act like I do when I'm hosting?"
His hands went up. "You may act how you wish. But your professional air is sought after, especially in someone our age. Mature and attentive, and you have an uncanny knack for picking out small details." Slowly his hands went back to his sides.
She couldn't help but snicker.
"What?" He looked a little caught off guard.
"Pleeease, keep praising me! More, more!" Laughing, she sat down on the couch, using the letter to hide her face from him.
Clearing his throat, he glanced away. "In any case, my father would have been the one to ask your father, but he's more concerned with his other two sons to do so. So I'm taking the initiative on my own."
Setting the paper to her side, she leaned forward a little and tilted her head at him. "What about Haruhi?"
"A commoner?"
Suddenly, Kodo realized he hadn't sat down yet and whispered for him to do so as he continued speaking.
"I considered it, but Haruhi is not one to hold back. She speaks her mind, and does not take into account the different levels of social standings in matters like this."
"So in short, you don't want to look bad?"
"You make it sound so awful when you say it that way."
"Well, I've learned a lot about you in the past couple of months." Leaning back, she raised her arms and linked her hands behind her head.
"Kodo."
"Hm?" Turning her head to look at him, she noticed he was staring at her with an almost intent look, his breathing a little hard. "What is it?"
"You-" Clearing his throat, he shook his head. "Nothing."
"Oh yea! I also don't have anything to wear to something like that. The last time I went to a fancy party like that, I was about twelve, and went with mom."
"I'll have that arranged."
"I also noticed it's on the night before the fall festival at school. Will we be able to handle the arrangements for that, too?"
"I don't see why not." A deep inhale from him caught her attention. "As, a lot of times when someone is high in business, they must make a lot of arrangements so close together."
"Hey, what- what's wrong, you sound a bit strange." Putting her arms down, she reached out to him and he almost jumped back when she tried to touch his arm.
"I should go." He stood, facing away from her.
"Uhh.." Could she call him Kyouya, that no one else was around? Would he act weird if she did? Hell, he already was acting weird! "Kyouya, what is it?"
He turned quickly, staring down at her with eyes a bit wide, cheeks a slight pink. "Nothing."
But her eyes were drawn to his crotch. There, a bulge in his slacks caught her attention and her eyes widened as she realized she was still in her camisole and panties, nothing else. Face burning, she turned away and grabbed the throw, pulling over herself. "What did you see!"
"I-idiot, I've already seen everything!"
"Pervert!" She kicked at him, though she couldn't help but feel amused despite the embarrassment. She heard his footsteps walking away. "Hey wait!"
He paused. "What is it?"
"Earlier, what 'escapades' did you mean exactly?"
"Please don't make me explain that."
"Please?"
Inhaling slowly, he kept his back turned to her. "If you decide you'll go with me to this event, I'll answer."
"Oh man, I am an idiot."
"Huh?"
"You're asking me out on a date!"
"Eh-"
"This is a date!"
"I was told to bring someone!"
"Then why not Tamaki?"
"No way!"
"So it is a date! And you're even offering to dress me for it. That's very nice of you."
"So you've decided then?"
"Yes."
There was a pause as it seemed he was waiting for her to continue. "Well?"
"Well what? You gotta ask me properly." She stated matter-of-factly.
Turning back to face her slowly, he made eye contact with her as he said slowly, "Kotaphira Kataishi Sagano. will you accompany me this Saturday night to my father's dinner event?"
She had to gulp. No way did she think he was going to be that frickin' formal! She had to think about her words before she said them, she really didn't want to stumble over them now. Trying to keep her heart from racing, she responded, "It would be my honor, Kyouya Ohtori."
He nodded before starting to walk away again.
"Hey wait a minute!"
"Hm?"
"You said you'd tell me what you meant by the whole escapades thing."
"Masturbating, of course."
"Eh- wha-!" Before she could even respond, he was out the door and it was closed behind him, leaving her speechless and red in the face.
A/N: Well well. These chapters seem to go on forever = n=
BY THE WAY, Stupid Crazy, I need my innards, please don't cut me!
wealhtheow1, I like to burn all the things, I am secretly a pyromaniac. BWUAHAHA.
ShadowJinxed22, thanks a lot, I really appreciate your comments and input c: