Chapter 7: Enter the Maternal Type Hostess!
The days passed on in a flurry of yellow dresses, boring textbooks, and delicious cups of tea. Kagome found that her little corner in the host club would become more and more populated as the days went on. Igawa consistently requested for Kagome to sit with her and Tamaki, the stipulation allowed by the money the girl was willing to pay to have the miko there. Slowly, Kagome began to endear herself to the other girls in the Host Club.
While the clientele would stick to their preferred hosts, occasionally they would request for the raven-haired girl to accompany them. Whether it was a walk in the gardens or a simple cup of tea, girls from each of the hosts would call upon Kagome in some capacity.
It was a strange development, one the miko was not expecting considering how she was received upon her arrival at the host club. But the change was refreshing and welcomed. It had been a while since she had tried to find a female friend to connect with.
On a beautiful afternoon when the Host Club dressed up as characters in a Wild West film, Kagome was approached by Kyoya. Bright blue eyes looked up from her textbook apprehensively. Kyoya stood by her tableside, notebook in hand and a calculating expression. Today he was sporting a black cowboy get-up, dressed to the nines from his hat to his shiny black boots.
'Damn him and his beauty,' Kagome thought begrudgingly.
"Ootori," she said aloud.
"Higurashi."
She hated how formal they had become. Snapping her notebook shut, the miko addressed him head-on.
"Can I help you?"
"You can," Kyoya said, sliding into the chair across from her. Kagome bristled at the ease in his posture, cursing him for his nonchalance. "To benefit the club, I think adding you as one of ours could be beneficial. An unofficial hostess if you would."
"A hostess? As if. The girls would have a fit if our male classmates joined in on the Host Club.
"Not exactly. Your position would be unspoken to make it more natural. If you act as our 'maternal type' hostess, we could bring in more clients using your motherly or rather sisterly touch."
"So you're trying to profit off my studying here?"
"More or less. If you decided to interact more with our customers then I would consider you a true host, but assuming your principal interest is in your studies this proposition would respect that boundary."
"I get to have my study time interrupted for your profit?"
"Your study time is interrupted for nothing," Kyoya replied. Kagome stared at him, unwilling to admit his point. She had spent many hours talking to the girls attending the host club to the detriment of her own studies. "Why not help our cause while you're here?"
"And what is your so-called cause?"
"To make the women that attend our club happy, in the words of Tamaki of course," Kyoya stated. Kagome balked slightly at the words. Who was she to argue with making others happy? She had gone out of her way to do so for her classmates.
"When you say that it sounds like a business, Ootori."
"It is."
Bright blue eyes locked into his flinty gray gaze momentarily before flitting away thoughtfully. Of her own accord, she attended the Host Club every day. If the club profited off of guests wanting to talk to her, would that be so bad?
"Fine. On one condition."
"What would that be, Higurashi?"
"You help tutor me with English whenever I need. Doesn't matter when or where you have to do it." Kagome said with a smirk. A small voice in the back of her mind called her insane for her proposition, but a devilish part of her was thrilled by her being this direct.
"Sounds like a deal, Higurashi," Kyoya replied smoothly. Kagome blinked owlishly at him, stunned at the quick agreement. With a smile, she stuck out her hand.
The two shook on their agreement, forever sealing their fates.
Her stint as the Host Club's maternal-type hostess began soon thereafter.
Arriving at Music Room 3 early, Kagome settled into her typical spot with more nervous energy than she used to. Her eyes darted from her homework to the door and back until a figure finally appeared through the door. A small blonde head followed by a gentle giant immediately calmed her nerves.
"Gome-chan, you're here early!" Honey chirped, bouncing over to her. The senior paused upon looking at her face. "Are you okay?"
"Oh! Yes! I'm perfectly fine thanks for asking." Kagome blurted, opposing her words with the wobbly syllables. Before she could loose another pathetic excuse, two elbows perched themselves atop her head.
"What's got you in such a twist, Higurashi?"
"You look like you're going to burst."
The miko shot them an intensely annoyed look. After having gotten to know her better, the twins were a little more resistant to leaving her alone. This resulted in them cornering Kagome in her chair by invading her personal space.
"Are they kicking you out for being a commoner yet?" asked Hikaru rudely.
"Did you fail another English test?" Kaoru asked concurrently.
"Would you butt out! Jeez!" Kagome wiggled her way out of their trap and took refuge behind Mori's back. "If you must know, Ootori asked me to start as an 'unofficial' hostess. I guess I'm more nervous than I thought I'd be."
Nobody said anything then as the mental gears in their heads began to turn. The twins looked to each other, whispering about the new development while Honey's bright doe eyes looked into hers curiously. Suddenly, a wide smile stretched across his face.
"Kyo-chan's so smart, you're gonna be great Gome-chan," said Honey sweetly. Kagaome glanced at Mori and saw a similar sentiment reflected in his face.
"I guess when you helped out Igawa it did something for the rest of the girls," said the twins.
"Thank you… All of you."
Suddenly the doors to the music room were opened with a slam. Tamaki and Kyoya stood in the doorframe, the former with eyes filled with dramatic unshed tears.
"Mommy! They're having a moment without us!" Tamaki cried, grasping Kyoya's sleeve
"Mommy?" Kagome asked. The others simply shook their heads and moved on.
Without the surplus of nervous energy, Kagome got through her first club meeting as the unofficial hostess with little issues. Igawa invited her to sit with Honey and Mori, together they all drank tea and enjoyed each other's company.
"Igawa, I don't think I had the chance to thank you for the rose," Kagome said.
"It was the least I could do, thank you for encouraging me," replied Igawa. She smiled brightly as she took another sip of tea. "I was meaning to tell you, Hideki tried to get back with me after his ex dumped him again. Guess what I told him?"
"To get lost?" offered Kagome.
"To never eat cake again!" declared Honey.
"Exactly! I told him he couldn't have both of us and to never see me again or my father's contacts will destroy his family's livelihoods!" Igawa giggled. Kagome blanched at the severity of the threat, but was nonetheless proud of the girl for sticking up for herself.
Smiling, Kagome propped her chin up with her hand. It had taken her way longer to find the confidence to shake the devastation of her first break up off. Yet this girl had done so within a mere week.
"I'm proud of you, Igawa. Good for you."
Igawa's eyes widened a fraction before her cheeks turned a rosy shade of pink.
"Thank you, Higurashi."
While Kagome spoke her praise to Igawa, Kyoya sat at a table close by to monitor. The natural ease of her interaction with the girl was impressive and her words were so believable it made her sound genuine. Tapping a few notes onto his laptop, the bespectacled host plotted more profitable endeavors for their new hostess.
Later when the club concluded for the day and the others had left, Kyoya stopped Kagome in the courtyard. With the later hour, the sun began to set in a fabulous display of pinks and oranges. The golden light reflected off of Kagome's eyes, her azure gaze glowing against the colors of evening. Kyoya lost himself for a moment as tingling feeling crawled up and down his skin seeing that they were completely alone.
"Marvelous first day, Higurashi. As I figured, you are quite the natural when it comes to having a maternal touch. Your words to Igawa sounded perfectly genuine." Kyoya said cooly. Although his mind was in disarray, it didn't mean his words had to be.
Kagome quirked her head to the side in confusion and was about to answer when an Ootori family car pulled up. As he climbed into the backseat, he paused hearing Kagome's laugh.
"What I said to her was genuine, Ootori. When I went through that it took me forever to pick myself back up and she did it in a week. Of course I would be proud of her."
The driver chose then to drive away, leaving the raven-haired girl behind.
"Hm," Kyoya hummed thoughtfully. He watched as Kagome's silhouette became smaller and smaller until she disappeared. "How interesting."
