"So Homura, tell me, what is it about that book of yours that you like so much?" Hikaru asks, walking over to me with Kaoru by his side.
"Yeah, whenever we have time off from our hosting duties, you're either studying or reading that book." Kaoru adds, bending down to take a look at the cover. The club is closed for today for whatever reason and they don't have anything planned, so we're just hanging out.
"Hey, I'll have you know that I do other things in my free time, and also, this is not the same book, this is the third book of the series" I say, tilting the book up so that they can both read the title without having to bend over.
Tamaki walks over to read the title as well, "Saving The World.. and other extreme sports?" He reads aloud. "..remind me again what this is about?"
"You'll have to read it to find out." I say, looking back down to continue. "although, I suggest you read it in order or it will be really confusing" I add, keeping my eyes on the page.
"aw, come on Homura! Tell us, pleease?" The twins as well as Tamaki beg. I close the book, seeing that i'm not going to be able to read anymore today without disruption, and simply shake my head, standing up as well.
"nope. If you really want to know what its about then you're gonna have to read it. As for me, if we're not going to be doing anything today, well then I'm going home. I have some things I'd like to get done today and with the extra time I might be able to get more done faster." I walked over and grabbed my bag. Haruhi stood too.
"Ill be going too" Tamaki is in his emo corner again, I guess upset that we are leaving so soon. I stick my tongue out at his back and the twins laugh at my childishness. I stick my tongue out at them too.
"don't laugh at me, you would've done it too." they think about it for a moment before silently agreeing with a nod. With that I follow Haruhi out of the door and soon out of the school. As we're walking I turn to her "what all do we need the from the supermarket?"
"I'm pretty sure we're out of milk… and dad was saying something about trying peppermint tea. I think that's all, but if there's anything else I'm sure we'll remember when we get there"
I nod and make a small hum to make sure she knows I heard her. I look at some bushes as we're passing by to see a couple little birds hopping around and chirping loudly at each other. I pick up on their conversation, remembering my newly found ability of communicating with animals.
"This isn't good, this one doesn't have anything either.." I noticed that the two were slightly different colors of brown, the male, who had just spoken.. er… chirped… was slightly darker than the other. When the other spo- chirped, I recognized it as a girl.
"what are we going to do? We can't find any food to give to the chicks and-" she stops when she notices me walking up to them slowly with my hand out. They hop back a bit as I get closer and I stop. I guess they would be afraid of a human randomly walking up to them… and I guess I'm not close enough yet for them to sense that I'm part avian…
"it's ok, i'm not going to hurt you, I promise." I give a reassuring smile and they stop hopping back, looking at me curiously, "you said you're looking for food? I can help if you want?" I take another cautious step forward. They don't move, earning another small smile from me.
"you understand us?" The female of the pair asks, and I nod. I kneel down, and they hop up to me.
"First, my name is Homura, and i'm part avian, I guess it comes with a few little perks" I whisper so only the birds can hear me.
"interesting… You can call me Rico," The Male, Rico, chirps this time, hopping over to the girl, "this is Chip. You said you can help us find food?"
"just tell me what kind of food you eat"
"berries, earthworms, sometimes nuts, etc…" I hold out my hand with one finger out, earning a curious look from the both of them.
"hop on, I'm going to the supermarket anyways, I can all of those things there." they hop onto my finger and I stand up, walking up to Haruhi, who had stopped to wait for me. "this is my sister Haruhi, Haruhi, his is Chip and Rico." they each chirp a 'hello' and she smiles at them. I'm guessing she figured out what they said on her own.
After explaining to Haruhi their situation, we continue walking to the supermarket. They fly off my finger and make themselves comfortable on my head instead and I let out a laugh. "what? Wasn't comfortable enough on my finger?"
"nope, guess not" I notice the smirk that slides onto Haruhi's face and just laugh more. After a couple minutes we are at the supermarket. I get a few stares from people as we walk past but I just do my best to ignore them. I walk over the fresh produce section and let the birds hop back onto my finger so they can look at the different choices. Chip hops off my finger and over to a small container of mixed berries.
"all of these are great." she chirps up at me happily. I smile and pick up the container and move on to fishing bait and stuff. I pick up a little container of earthworms and then move to nuts. Rico chooses this time, choosing little nuts that I don't really know the name of. I pick them up anyways and join Haruhi and Chip and Rico perch themselves on my head again.
"get everything you need?" I nod at Haruhi's question.
"you?" she holds up a small basket with a carton of milk, some tea, and some spices. We head over to the cashier and she immediately notices Chip and Rico. She lets out a small laugh and looks at me.
"they're cute, you like birds?"
"yes, how can you tell?" she lets out another laugh as she finishes scanning our stuff. We leave and as soon as we're a good length away from all the people Chip hops off my head flies in circles around me happily.
"thank you so much! You're a life saver!" I laugh at how energetic she is.
"hey, birds have to stick together, right? And you should come with us to our house so that you know where to find me, because I know you guys cant really eat all of this in one day" I look down at the berries, nuts and worms. The berries alone were quite a lot.
"sounds like a plan" Rico chirps, still happily perched on my head, soon rejoined by Chip. Suddenly I remember that Haruhi can't understand them and explain. She gives a worried look.
"um… Homura… you're forgetting about one thing.."
"what?"
"Neko"
"who's Neko?" Rico asks, sounding a little uneasy. Maybe because Neko itself already means cat in Japanese.
"She's just my kitten, but don't worry, she chases birds sometimes, but she never actually hurts them or eats them or anything, I promise, and I'll tell her not to chase you." I hear a relieved sigh like sound from one of the birds and let one out myself. I almost forgot about Neko…
As we round the corner to our apartment building, I quickly notice the back half of a very flashy looking car and the crowd surrounding it. I quickly tense up and make sure to zip up my jacket, even though it's warm outside. The host club soon emerges from the car… which I am now realizing is actually a limo… and I clench the bag i'm holding tightly, feeling the anger wash off me in waves.
"uh… Homura? Haruhi?" Chip chirps, an edge of nervousness in her small voice. She must be able to sense our anger…
"We mustn't do or say anything that might offend the Fujioka's and cause them to ask us to leave!" Tamaki exclaims to the rest of the host club.
"well it's too late for that! Go home!" Haruhi yells, trying hard to hold in her anger, just as I am. The hosts turn around, startled, finally noticing us.
"What's with the birds on your head Homura?" They all ask in unison, well… except for Kyoya and Mori, completely oblivious to the anger washing off of me.
"none of your business! Get the hell out of here!" Tamaki immediately starts freaking out because I cursed and then blames the twins and I sigh at his idiotness. Our landlady comes up to us.
"excuse me, these young men are driving such expensive cars, they're not Yakuza are they?!" she asks, sounding scared. I would've answered, but Tamaki quickly butts in, using his charm to win her over. There he goes again, always winning over the ladies… somehow… I suddenly remember the that the twins have already been inside my house.
"hey wait a second! Hikaru! Kaoru! You've already seen our house, what are you even doing here?!"
"We forgot what it looks like inside." Hikaru says and Kaoru nods. I sigh and we lead the hosts up to our door.
"ok, here's the deal, only a quick peek, then you leave. And also, to answer your question, the birds are Rico and Chip, they were… hurt… so I decided to help them…" Chip hops off my head to my shoulder and down my arm until she reaches my hand, giving me what i'm guessing was a questioning look, and I give her a 'just go with it' look back, putting her back on my head.
The twins come up to me with their trademark smirks. "wow Homura, we didn't realize you had"
"a soft side for animals" Hikaru finishes Kaoru's sentence, and I roll my eyes.
"whatever, I decided to help some animals in need, I don't think that means I have a 'soft' side, I mean, wouldn't you do the same?" they thought for a moment and then shrugged in defeat. I smirked. While I was having this conversation with the twins I guess Honey senpai convinced Haruhi to let them stay longer by showing her that he brought cake. She opened the door and I went to my room, closing the door behind me.
I noticed Neko on my bed, eying the two birds on my head. "who are they?" she mewed with mischievous eyes.
"just some friends, don't chase them." she looked disappointed, but gave a slight nod. I put Chip and Rico on my desk and opened up each little container and let them take what they want, when they were done, I opened my window and they flew onto the sill.
"thank you again Homura." Chip chirped, stealing a glance at Neko, who, even though was just a kitten, was much larger than both Chip and Rico.
"it was no problem at all, come back when you need more, I'll leave some on the windowsill in the morning for you. You have to let me meet your chicks sometime too, I bet they're adorable." she gave a curt nod and then they both flew off. I smiled, and then sat on the bed next to Neko, petting her soft black fur before getting up and heading back out to where the hosts and Haruhi were.
Well… here we go I guess… I'm definitely not looking forward to this.
yes, I know this is late but here it is, at last! Chapter 14! I hope you enjoyed! Bye now!