Chapter 4
The next few days flew by relatively uneventfully, it only took me a few hours to get the hang of hosting, especially with Haruhi's advice.
"Just forget they're rich and talk to them like normal girls. The ladies who request me really like that. Oh, and be patient if they start asking you questions about life as a commoner, they're just genuinely curious and don't mean any harm. If anything, just give a lot of details about your personal opinions and little stories, they can't get enough of that."
It did require a bit of patience, but I eventually got the hang of it; asking about their day, pouring tea, and shooting sweet smiles. Honestly, it was a bit hard at first to come up with stories or names of products I used, it was so long since I had lived with Haruhi and dad, that I couldn't really remember what it was like to be a commoner, but I guess that was part of the weird limbo I lived in between being a commoner or another rich person. If it weren't for my constant communication with Haruhi for the past few years, I would have struggled a lot more to fake it. They ate it up and never suspected a thing, kind of sad considering how much time they spend with Haruhi, but that's beside the point.
Speaking of, I can't believe the hosts haven't figured it out yet?
"Who is that!?" The twins hissed, crouching behind a plush sofa and dragging the club's president down with them.
"You guys are being ridiculous!" Tamaki hissed back.
"We're serious boss, I don't think that's Haruhi, even Mori and Honey senpai think something's up." Hikaru looked over his shoulder at the Haruhi look-a-like, paranoid about her overhearing them. For the past two and a half days, the ginger twins have known something's not right, from her slightly off reactions, to there being just something about her that felt wrong. It all really came crashing down when they ruffled her hair playfully one day at lunch and noticed all the piercings in her ears. They were fully healed, which would have taken months, and just a few weeks ago when they gave Haruhi a makeover, her ears were completely bare! After that, they kept a watchful eye over her and noticed that she was acting as if she was from a parallel universe or something. Sure, her reactions and the way she spoke were similar enough, but there was just something not right.
"Just get back to your customers!" The blonde scowled and shooed them away. He looked over at where his precious daughter was sitting. How ridiculous! As her daddy, he would have been the first to notice if something was wrong with his little angel. "Honestly, can you believe the nerve of those twins? They must be really bored if they're making up such farfetched stories, and here I thought they had at least a small shred of creativity." He shook his head in mock disappointment, leaning against the back of his friend's chair.
"Honestly Tamaki, I thought you knew Haruhi better than this." The blonde immediately felt like he'd been struck by lightning.
"W-what! What are you talking about mommy dearest!" He leapt to the front of the table so he could see Kyoya's face. It was unbothered and he didn't even look up from his sleek laptop.
"Have you really not noticed?" Kyoya finally looked up and his eyes were amused. "Seems as though you're the last one still out of the loop, yet again." He was, of course, referring to a few weeks ago when they one by one discovered Haruhi was a girl. The blonde's jaw dropped for a second before regaining his composure.
"Excuse me everyone!" Tamaki stood straight and charmingly smiled, quickly gathering everyone's attention. "I'm so sorry my dears but we have to cut our hosting hours short for today, we promise to make it up to you, but as much as it pains me, we must say goodbye for now." The girls all sighed disappointed but bid their farewells on their way to the door. Once the last young lady left and the door was closed, Tamaki whipped around and made a beeline toward Yuki. "Haruhi!"
"Ah, yes?" The girl had just picked up a tray of dirty teacups and saucers.
"Can you believe your fellow club members would dare accuse you of impersonating someone? Preposterous!" He picked up the tray and practically tossed it onto an empty table, making Yuki flinch, but luckily nothing broke. Tamaki then grabbed her by the shoulders and stood her in front of the group of hosts, giving a light squeeze as he smiled encouragingly. "Go on princess, prove them wrong!" He grinned.
Yuki could have definitely tried to worm her way out of this. About a dozen excuses and arguments rose to the front of her mind, but as she stared at the five boys in front of her, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that they all knew and wouldn't accept anything but the truth. So, she took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it all whoosh out of her lungs, cocking a hip to the side and crossing her arms. Tamaki proudly put his hands on his hips, joining his friends in watching her as they waited for her answer.
"So," she began, running a hand through her short hair. "You guys totally noticed huh?" A playful smirk lit up her face and Tamaki seemed to suddenly turn to stone.
"We knew it!" The twins pointed at her. "Something was off, you couldn't be Haruhi!"
"Ah, it was the piercings, wasn't it? I'm pretty sure you guys caught a peek at them the other day." She ruffled back her soft hair, showing off the small bits of jewelry in the cartilage, making the stone Tamaki crack a bit.
"She couldn't be Haru-chan," Honey looked up at his tall companion. "Haru-chan really likes sweet things, but she didn't like the cake we shared yesterday." The short senior played with the ears on his stuffed bunny.
"She also kept making faces when she thought no one was looking." Mori added. With every addition, the stone boy seemed to crack even more.
"What about you Kyoya senpai?" The twins turned to him. "You don't seem surprised either."
"Pfft, it was obvious he knew since the beginning." Yuki interrupted. "He didn't call me out on it, but I knew he knew." She shrugged nonchalantly and Tamaki finally crumbled into dust.
"But if you're not Haru-chan, who are you then?" Honey put a finger to his chin, subtly inspecting her from head to toe.
"Yeah!" The twins started circling her like a pair of foxes. She tried keeping her eyes on them, but it was hard when they circled from both sides and in different directions.
"Some sort of doppelgänger?"
"Maybe a clone?"
"You're from a parallel universe, come to warn us about terrible events?"
"No way, a twin?" They finished together excitedly. Just as Yuki was about to open her mouth to explain, she was interrupted by the boy she had just interrupted a few seconds ago.
"Well, how about a proper introduction?" Kyoya flipped open his black notebook, causing Yuki to narrow her eyes suspiciously. "Yuki Fujioka, age 15, birthday February 4th, the same as Haruhi. She's currently enrolled in Yokkaichi Private Academy near Nagoya where she lives with her maternal aunt, Miko Katayama, and has been for the past eight years. Her grades are above average, placing her in class 1A, and she often gets invited to social events by her classmates who find her 'charming' and 'likeable'. She usually spends her free time with three friends, two male one female." He snapped his book closed. "Haruhi will be attending Yokkaichi Academy while Miss Yuki stays with her father."
"Want my social security number while you're at it?" Yuki scowled, annoyed at how much the dark-haired boy knew about her.
"Wait Kyoya, don't you usually do a background check on anyone affiliated with the host club? How did we not know about Yuki?" Tamaki bounced back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Yeah, you'd think it would have come up by now." The twins shrugged at each other.
"While I was aware of Miss Yuki's existence and had a brief understanding of her living situation, I never investigated it because I deemed the information unnecessary. Haruhi obviously thought the same considering she doesn't share her personal life with us." Yuki felt like an arrow was shot through her heart when he said Haruhi felt the same, but she quickly shook it off.
"Yeah, the situation is pretty fucked, but what can you do, you know?" She shrugged and picked up the tray of cups that was just tossed aside.
"Wait, so are we just supposed to act like nothing is wrong here?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, we're literally hanging out with a stranger, shouldn't we be freaking out more or trying to get to know each other or something?" Kaoru continued.
"Yeah! I'd love to get to know Haru-chan's sis!" Honey grinned, popping up in front of Yuki.
"I'd personally love to hear cute stories of my daughters growing up!" Tamaki flailed almost gracefully, wrapping an arm around Yuki's shoulder.
"Daughters?" She raised an eyebrow in response.
"Yes! Haruhi is my adorable darling daughter and you, being her sister, are obviously my daughter as well!" There was practically a tail wagging behind him, and she could only stare at him blankly before shrugging off his arm.
"I've already got a dad, I don't need another one." Yuki rolled her eyes, walking to the back where the kitchenette was to wash the dirty porcelain.
"This is amazing!" Tamaki bounced in place, excitedly looking at all his friends.
"How is this amazing boss?" Kaoru raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, who knows when Haruhi will be back." Hikaru raised another, crossing his arms for emphasis.
"Miss Yuki will be staying for approximately one month before she has to go back to her aunt's estate and continue attending her own school." Kyoya went back to typing on his laptop, already bored with the conversation.
"Estate? Isn't Haruhi's family made up of commoners?" Tamaki raised an eyebrow, leaning against the back of Kyoya's chair.
"Oh her father's side, yes, but her mother comes from a family of sizable wealth. When Haruhi's late mother left the family, they were only upper middle class, but their aunt managed to bring the family business success after she inherited it more than ten years ago." He swiveled around his computer, showing them an article with a woman who vaguely looked like Haruhi and Yuki; she had the same hair color and general facial features, but besides that there wasn't much of a resemblance. "How do you think Yuki is able to attend Yokkaichi Academy? They don't offer scholarships the way Ouran does."
"We assumed she got in on a scholarship." The twins shrugged at each other.
"So did Yuki-chan move in with her aunt so she could also attend a good school?" Honey tilted his head from his perch on Mori's shoulder.
"I don't have any information on why she moved in with her." Kyoya closed his laptop, crossing his arms.
"Geeze you guys are nosy, Haruhi really wasn't kidding." They whipped around in surprise, finding Yuki casually leaning against the armrest of a nearby couch. "If you guys wanted to know something you could have just asked, no need to invade anyone's privacy." She shot Kyoya a small glare, loosening the tie around her neck and pushing up the sleeves of her white button up, the blazer was already discarded on a nearby chair.
"Well Miss Fujioka, there is a matter we need to discuss." Kyoya smirked, folding his hands neatly on the table and the light hit his glasses just perfectly to cover his eyes.
"What about?" Yuki raised an eyebrow, slowly walking toward him.
"If you weren't already aware, Haruhi is a host here; she hosts to pay off a debt she owes us. In her absence, which you are attempting to make up for, it's only natural that the money going to that debt be paused considering Haruhi is the one in charge of the responsibility of paying back her debt, not you or-"
"Hold that thought." Yuki interrupted, lifting a finger toward him as she ran to her backpack. Hikaru and Kaoru snickered at their senpai's face, watching the girl dig through her bag before pulling out a folded piece of paper and triumphantly holding it above her head.
"She's funny, don't you think Takashi?" Mitskuni giggled quietly at his taller companion.
"Yeah." He quietly agreed. Yuki jogged back to Kyoya, smirking as she held out the paper toward him.
"Here you go, glasses." Her tone was playful, a tone they'd rarely heard in Haruhi's voice.
"I should inform you that we do not collect bribes in this establishment." He raised an eyebrow, amused at the little scrap of paper.
"Oh, it's not a bribe," she laughed without humor, her eyes suddenly sharp and running over his form almost the way an x-ray would. "A person of your stature couldn't be bought with something as trivial as money, you'd want something along the lines of a favor which, judging by your family's status and natural connections, isn't something I can give you. Sure, if it isn't too troublesome for you, you'd accept the bribe with the intent of collecting that favor later, but, because of the same reasons, it would probably be more to amuse yourself at having something to hold over me until you become bored of it, and then we're back at square one." Kyoya's face was no longer amused, narrowing his eyes behind the cover of his glasses' glint, watching as the girl gave a particularly un-Haruhi like smirk, tilting her head almost sarcastically. "Which means if I ever need anything from you, I'd most likely be paying it back with my body, right? Either through manual labor the way Haruhi does, or through something a bit more intimate, though you don't really seem like the type of guy to try to buy girls that way. Don't get me wrong, not because you don't want a good lay, who doesn't, am I right? But I doubt you'd want to have any risk of the press finding out or any illegitimate children being traced back to you; so, since I'm not really up to getting my guts rearranged after school in one of the many rooms you have at your disposal," she gestured around the music room for emphasis. "I think I'll pass on ever trying to bribe you in the future." Her lips stretched into a wide smirk, but her eyes were guarded, almost glaring at him.
"A lady should never say any of those dirty words!" Tamaki screeched, launching himself at her, squeezing her tightly and shaking her back and forth. "Kyoya would never ask for something as low and ungentlemanly as for you to pay back a favor in such a way!" Yuki was desperately trying to squirm out of the blonde's suddenly iron-like grip, pushing against him as hard as she could.
"H-hey! Let go of me you lunatic! -" her sentence cut off as a stronger pair of hands pulled her up and into safety, away from Tamaki's arms. Yuki looked up and saw the impassive face of the tallest senior. "Oh, thanks Mori." She sighed, only slightly uncomfortable at being held up by her armpits like a baby.
"You have to admit boss,"
"Her logic is pretty sound." The twins shrugged at each other, reigniting Tamaki's anger.
"What do you mean her logic is sound!? You two perverts are probably just agreeing so my darling Yuki can owe you a favor!" The twins gasped indignantly, turning up their noses in perfect synchronization.
"Our thoughts were entirely innocent,"
"We just wanted to point out that you're overreacting,"
"You even strangled poor Yuki,"
"She probably has a poor first impression of us now!"
"She'll probably tell Haruhi, she'll be furious." They turned toward each other and started whispering too loudly to pretend they were trying to have a private conversation.
"He's the real pervert, why did his mind immediately jump to cashing in favors from Yuki-chan?"
"Yeah, he said Kyoya senpai is too much of a gentleman to do that, but he seemed pretty defensive and was too ready to put his hands on her."
"We hardly know Yuki-chan but he didn't hesitate to stake a claim and call her his daughter."
"He probably wants Yuki-chan to think him and Haruhi are closer than they really are by calling her his daughter,"
"What a sick pervert, claiming girls like that isn't cool."
"I pity the girls that request him."
"Alright, that's enough." Kyoya clapped his hands together, rolling his eyes in Tamaki's direction who was sitting in his dark little corner. Mori gently set Yuki down, giving her head a small pat as he turned to stand next to Mitskuni again. The twins stuck their tongues out, shrugging at each other innocently, as if they weren't the cause for Tamaki's distress. "I've read over Haruhi's note," Kyoya help up the folded note for emphasis before pocketing it. "And have decided to honor her request, Yuki will continue to fill in for her and the work she puts in during her time here will continue to contribute to Haruhi's debt."
"Who knew Haruhi could be so persuasive." Kaoru shrugged at his brother.
"Wow, Haru-chan is amazing!" Honey grinned cutely, looking up at Takashi.
"Yeah." His friend agreed.
"So Miss Yuki, I expect you to work hard in Haruhi's absence, her debt rests in your hands." Kyoya smirked deviously, sending a shiver down Yuki's spine.
"Great." She sighed tiredly, not trusting that look for one second.