On day two of the Fair, Masae showed up early. And— as she was hoping— Tamaki and Éclair did too.
She heard the sounds of the piano as soon as she stepped into the parlor. Music Room Three wasn't all that far away from the parlor, and the sound carried through the empty halls. Masae would know Tamaki's playing blind. Her heart thudded at the sound of it.
She walked down the hall as if in a daze, the train of her Rococo costume trailing out behind her. When she found the door to the club room closed, she didn't think twice about pushing it open.
Only to stop in the doorway.
Tamaki had stopped playing. And sitting on the couch closest to the piano was Éclair. She stood up when she saw Masae, looking at her through a pair of gold Opera glasses. Her lips twisted into a sneer.
"Masae." Tamaki smiled, oblivious to the feelings of his woman. "I haven't seen you since yesterday. I forgot to ask— how's Kyoya?"
He was totally innocent— oblivious, as always— but that didn't stop the irritation turning about in Masae's gut. "Tamaki, can I talk to you?" Masae scowled at Éclair. "Alone."
Tamaki laughed airily. "Why, what do you mean, Masae? What's so important that you can't say it in front of Éclair?"
"Yes, just pretend that I'm not here," said Éclair. She grabbed Tamaki's hand and held it in both of hers, smiling pointedly at Masae.
Masae sighed. But, fine, if Tamaki wanted Éclair to hear what she had to say, then Éclair would hear it. "I think you're making a mistake."
Tamaki laughed apprehensively. "What are you talking about?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Knowing Tamaki, that wasn't a guarantee. But Masae was much too agitated to care. "This– this engagement of yours." She spat the word out like it was something disgusting on her tongue. "If you mean it, you're being incredibly rash. And if you don't– which I'm sure you don't– you're just being spineless. And either way you're being selfish. What about the Host Club?"
Tamaki swallowed sharply– she had struck a nerve. "What about the Host Club?" He asked quietly.
"You're trying to leave us!" Masae's loud voice bounced off the club room walls, making Tamaki flinch. "I thought we were your family."
Tamaki opened his mouth to respond, but Éclair beat him to it. "Your club was a nice substitute, but I'm going to give him the real thing."
Masae set her jaw. The Host Club wasn't some starter handbag that Tamaki could trade up for when he had the means. They were a real family.
For the first time, she really looked at Éclair. She was a beautiful girl: red-haired and delicate, wearing a dark brown dress. Masae had met some of her relatives, and she looked like them. A Tonnerre through and through.
Though, if Éclair was aware of the position of power she was in over Masae, she had yet to exploit it. She would go as far to guess that Éclair had no idea about what had happened with her father; there had been no major news coverage of it yet, since circumstances were still mostly speculative. She didn't know if Éclair even knew her name.
The girl was effective, but altogether not very tactful. Her actions to this point seemed sloppy and heavy-handed.
Still, she was trying to take away the best thing Masae had had in a long time. And she was being very rude about it.
Masae's eyes narrowed just before she turned around to storm out. "You give gold digging a bad name, do you know that Miss Tonnerre? You'll never make him happy."
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Comes up Roses
Fanfiction[OC x various OHSHC] || Seventeen year-old Masae Aoki doesn't believe in love; and why should she? Her mother ran away, leaving her to be raised by her father and his much-younger second wife, and she works as the secretary to a club false adverti...
