Chapter 6: Mean Girls
She followed her usual routine and grabbed the list of things she wanted for her room before walking out of the kitchen with the bento boxes she took to making and her school bag. Her miko garbs were cleaned to perfection and her hair was pulled into her customary low ponytail. A few people had whispered about it when she showed up to school in it and several had asked about in class or during the host club. She had told them, that she was raised on a shrine until recently and felt more comfortable in these clothes then the restrictive dress that was Ouran's female uniform. They could only say that it was modest but suited her. She would only smile.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, she headed towards the front of the house where the family was waiting. She handed out the lunches and turned to her father again. "Ano, can you just get these items?" She held forward the list. He looked over it and nodded, still confused.
"It will be here when you get home from school, musume. The current furniture will be setup in a different room, in case you change your mind."
"Arigato." She bowed and got into the car with her siblings.
"What did she ask for?" His wife looked at the list she gave him. Things like cushions, a kotatsu, a low table, futon, partitions, incense holder, incense, and other items they couldn't quite understand why a young girl would want.
"I should have figured she would be…. More traditional." She seemed to nod. "I have an order to put in and work to get to." He kissed her cheek. "I will see you when you get home, koi." He grabbed his briefcase and bento and headed into the awaiting limo.
They made it to school on time and Nana was quick to find her best friend. Naosuke had become estranged from what he thought was his best friend so just headed for class instead. She was just about to head for her own class when she felt a hand ruffle her hair.
"Ohayo, Mori-senpai, Honey-senpai." She smiled at her seniors. She remembered something and reached into the bag she had with her. "A bento, as my thanks," she said as she held forward two bento boxes. One was a baby blue with pink bunnies on it and the other was a dark blue with lighter blue and white traditional Japanese wave designs.
"For us?" Honey took the baby blue one and Mori took the offered dark blue box.
"Yes." She blushed slightly. "I know it's not much…"
"Hm." Mori placed his hand on her hair, a very slight tinge of pink on his cheeks.
"But the lunches you bring always look and smell yummy," Honey said. He was grinning up at her.
The three didn't notice the murmurs going on around them. "Mori-senpai and Hisagawa-senpai look so good together," one of the first-year girls said with a blush on her face. Her friends nodded their agreement, equal blushes on their faces. "They're so lucky Kagome-chan made them lunch," a second year said, tears streaming down his face. His friends nodded their agreement with an equal number of tears. "You really can tell she was raised a commoner," a third-year girl said snidely. "She cooks like a commoner and she dresses like one too." She crossed her arms, her friends standing behind her. You could tell they were the mean girls of the school. "Everything about her screams commoner." She walked towards them and roughly shoved past Kagome, causing her to jerk forward. Mori steadied her as those around her commented on how rude the third-year girl was.
"You okay, Go-chan?" Honey asked her.
"Yeah. I am used to mean girls by now." She dusted her haori off. "We should get to class." They nodded and dropped her off at her class before heading to their own class.
Lunch time rolled around and it found him looking at what he thought was his friends, and the host club. His friends were ignoring him because of what used to be his best friend threatening them. He looked back at the host club to see his sister smiling and waving him over. He turned towards the table and took a seat next to his sister, at the end of the table. Across from him was the youngest Ootori son. He looked at him and nodded before he pulled out his own lunch.
"Go-chan made me and Takashi lunch," Honey said cheerfully as he pulled out the cute lunch box. Mori had his box in front of him. She had her own box in front of her and her chopsticks were in her mouth.
"Senpai, what about us?" The twins harassed, taking a break from stealing food from Haruhi's lunch. Tamaki had been trying to get them to stop. "You always bring your lunch and you make him lunch." They pointed at Naosuke, who was also eating his lunch.
"I think commoner tradition has girls making lunch for the boys they like, and family," Kyoya said. Kagome blushed.
"It's nothing like that, senpai," Haruhi said. "Though it does occasionally happen. There are other reasons to do things for people, like, to say thank you." She continued to eat as the twins went back to trying to steal food from her.
"Oh?" He took some notes down.
Mori blushed but no one seemed to notice. He opened the bento to see onigiri, tempura, kappamaki, and salmon rolls with a small container of soy sauce. There was a dab of wasabi and ginger off to the side. He lifted it off and looked inside the next layer to see a fresh salad with carrots, tomato, cucumber, and a container of sesame dressing. Lifting that off, he came to the last layer, which had different kind of tea cakes with different designs on them. They all looked intricate and like they took a lot of time.
"Wow!" Honey looked at the top layer to see teriyaki chicken with rice, pickled ginger, and a small salad. Lifting the next layer, he saw a slice of strawberry cake with fresh strawberries. The last layer held chocolates. His eyes were sparkling with happiness. He looked at his cousin's lunch to see that it was different from his own. It was more thought out where his was food that tasted good. He took a peak at Kagome's lunch to see fresh fruit, a salad, grilled salmon on a bed of rice with lemon. There were no sweets, but hers was balanced and more towards healthy food. Her brother's lunch looked more geared to comfort for the top layer, a salad for the middle layer, and a French pastry in the bottom. "Go-chan, how do you plan your lunches?"
The others looked up to see the four lunches were different. Naosuke was just noticing this now.
"Well," she said as a thoughtful look came to her eyes. "You like things that taste good and sweets. Yours was easy. I like healthier food so that is what I packed for myself. As for my ototo, I know he has a few tests today, so I packed him comfort foods to help him relax." She smiled. "Though I still want him to eat something healthy or he'll get fat," she said jokingly.
"Ane," he complained weakly, but it was true. The food was making him feel better about the tests he had to take.
"As for Mori-senpai's food, I know he has kendo and karate practice, so I tried to make his lunch based off muscle recovery, energy renewal, and food that can help him focus. The tea cakes were just a creative extra touch." She smiled.
"You seem to know a lot about the human body," Kyoya interjected.
"I do want to be a doctor," Kagome said with a shrug. "Call it the caring part of me." She went back to eating.
Mori looked at the food, now realizing the type of thoughts she went to when it came to planning lunch. It meant a lot that she would go through the trouble to make him something that would help him in the long run. He bit into the food and hummed lowly. He could appreciate food like this for lunch.
Club time rolled around, and Kagome was finishing up setting up her area. She set out the tea cakes she went through the trouble of making this morning. Each one was different from the last one, even if they tasted the same between the color schemes. She had a pot of tea set up on the table. Her tea seemed to be popular, so she made sure to bring extra. She took her position just as the doors opened. With the customary greeting the club began.
Naosuke sat with her on the couch. He could see the same third year from the day before. She was sipping the tea. She hadn't grabbed a tea cake yet, but she could see some others eating them and sipping tea. He noticed another girl and her posse come in. They usually requested Kyoya but they were approaching him and his sister now. He was suspicious, but Kagome placed a hand on his shoulder and he relaxed. He leaned back into the couch and a girl shyly sat next to him, all her attention on him. He wasn't really sure who she was.
"Ano, Hisagawa-kun, I am Hisoka Aoi." She was blushing. "I am in class with you." She was shy and had freckles on her face. Her hair was short and raven, eyes a purple color. She was playing with the skirt of her dress.
"Ah, sorry. I am not sure who you are." He was uncertain.
"It's okay. I don't think anyone knows who I am." She looked down at her lap. "Can I just sit here? I won't cause any issues."
"My ototo has no issue with that, right?" He nodded. "Here, have some tea." She placed a tea cup on a saucer and filled it with tea.
"Hisagawa-chan's tea blends are really good," the second-year male said. He seemed to become a regular for her. "And the pastries and deserts she sets out are fresh and delicious." The first-year girl blushed and sipped the tea. It was warm and fragrant.
The third-year girl glared down at a first-year male that was sitting across from the Hisagawa siblings. He stammered and moved, taking his two friends with him. She sat down with her two friends on either side of her. She poured herself some tea and they followed her lead. She looked directly at Kagome before taking a sip. "How can anyone drink this swill?" She said after swallowing. "It tastes like toilet water." Her two friends nodded in agreement, though they thought she was crazy for saying such a thing.
"Takashi, isn't that the girl that shoved Go-chan this morning?" Honey asked his silent cousin.
"Ah." They looked on, like the rest of the hosts ready to jump in if they had to.
"How would you know what toilet water tastes like, unless you drank toilet water before." Naosuke said with a malicious smirk, ready to defend his ane.
She sputtered as everyone tried to hide their laughs. "You know what I mean," she scoffed back at him.
"Frankly I don't," Naosuke said, dropping the smirk he had on before. "You've insulted my ane's hard work and dedication, and that I cannot stand for."
"I have to agree with Hisagawa-kun," the second-year male said. "The tea she makes is delicious and fills one with warmth." He took another sip. "Grandfather thinks the same thing. Might I introduce myself. Second-year from class A, Tatigawa Satoshi, fourth generation tea connoisseur." He took another calculated sip of tea. "I enjoyed a blend of tea with my grandfather that she made. It was not this particular blend, but it was good. This one happens to be my favorite so far."
"Thank you, Tatigawa-kun," Kagome said with a smile. "I didn't know someone with such an expert pallet enjoyed the teas I blend in my free time." She turned sharp eyes on the third-year girl. "And who may you be?"
She scoffed and pushed her hair over one shoulder. "Tatsuya Tsubaki. My family…."
"Manufactures things like perfume, shampoos, conditioners, makeup, and the like. All of which are full of nitrates and aren't good for skin or hair," Kagome mocked.
She was furious and red in the face. "I'll have you know my family's products are used in places like Paris. Models use them."
"I can see you use it as well." She set her cup down, everyone watched with morbid fascination as Kagome uncrossed her legs and straightened out her skirt. She closed her eyes and took a sniff. "You see, there is a difference between me and you. I happen to make my own shampoo and conditioner and body wash. I haven't found a single one of your over priced products that I would use willingly." She leaned forward and took a few strands of the other girl's hair into her hand and sniffed it, taking in the scents and having to hold back a fit of coughs. "The scent you use," she said, finally opening her eyes and looking the older girl in the eyes. "It is over powering to mask the scent of the chemicals they use. Your family boasts stronger, healthier hair. At a distance, it looks shiny and taken care of, but it feels brittle and ready to break." She allowed the strands to slip through her fingers to land back amongst the rest of her hair.
Naosuke took hold of some of Kagome's hair and held it to his nose as he took a small sniff. The other girls blushed, and the males were speechless, wondering how this would play out. "A soft scent of lavender and magnolia," he commented lowly and everyone hushed to hear him. "Silky and shiny with not a single split end." He let the hair slip from his fingers. "Ane, do you have anything I can use?"
"I can blend you something later, ototo." She looked over at him. "I was thinking a warm sandal wood with a citrus green tea." He nodded.
Tsubaki looked flabbergasted at the response she got from the second-year female. She seemed sweet so she thought the girl was a push over, but something fierce hid behind those sweet blue eyes and charming smile. She gave and aggravated sound and made to throw her tea in Kagome's face, but a hand held her wrist firmly. It was not enough to harm but it was restraining. She looked back to see the usually bubbly third-year male standing behind her.
"Try to harm Go-chan again, and you won't like the results," he warned, a scowl on his face. She got up and stormed out of the room with her two friends following after her.
"Thank you, Mitsukuni-kun," Kagome said with a smile.
"You should be careful with what you say, Go-chan," he said.
"If I just roll over, her behavior will not change. No, it would get worse. You have to remember Mitsu-kun, females can be very vindictive and cruel. By standing up to her and knocking her down a few pegs, her attitude may change for the better. If not, I might have to actually use my claws instead of just displaying them." She looked into his eyes. "I do appreciate you and Takashi worrying about me, but I grew up with bullies that would rather use fists instead of words. I have dealt with a lot in my life. I will not break, and I will remain strong. You will see." She lifted him into her arms and approached Mori. "I apologize for worrying you, Takashi. I will try to be more careful." He rubbed her hair and the others just took the moment in.
"You owe us lunch as an apology." She smiled and nodded.
"Of course."
"That is enough excitement for one day,"Kyoya said, closing the doors of the club early that day.