Write Me a Love Story (OHSHC)

XI: Something Like That

November 6

"Princess!" Tamaki ran up to me and gave me an exuberant hug, already sounding more persistent and excited than usual.

"Hi, Senpai," I said, giving him a weird look as I began walking to my table. Every nerve ending in my body spiked as Tamaki followed me to my destination, watching me like a hawk.

"Uh, could you.... Not?" I asked, slowly looking over my shoulder at him. "You're making me unbelievably uncomfortable." I couldn't believe I had to actually voice that request. His eyes were so wide and searching, and I felt scrutinized beyond belief, like I was under a microscope.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Princess." He stepped back, leaning against the wall to my left. That also made me curious, even though he did what I asked. He didn't do it dramatically- not a flourish or fake tear in sight. Something was definitely up.

"Tamaki-senpai, are you feeling alright?" I asked carefully. The blonde nodded eagerly.

"Of course!" He assured me, without quite looking at me. I just tried to dismiss his unusual behavior (although nothing was really too out of the ordinary for Tamaki) and the fact that he'd already called me Princess twice as I unpacked my bag. Headphones, notebook, pens, and phone all were placed in their designated spots on the desk.

As I took the notebook out, I heard Tamaki intake a sharp breath. I looked up quizzically to see his lavender eyes shining brightly. He smiled widely at me, then bounded off yelling for Hikaru and Kaoru. I watched him go with an eyebrow raised, unable to justify anything that crazy, lovesick second-year did.

"Kyouya!" I turned and shook my head as I saw Tamaki run over to Kyouya with the twins in tow. Physically shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I began writing to distract myself. As always, it proved to be a worthy distraction, as I got lost in the fourteenth chapter of the book and about an hour had passed. The guests were now milling around the room, fawning over the boys and Haruhi.

Suddenly hyper-aware that the three usually eccentric hosts were unusually quiet and hadn't bothered me, I closed my book and stood up. I saw them talking to Kyouya excitedly and decided to go investigate. As I got closer, I saw that Kyouya was shaking his head with a resigned look on his face- the usual expression when talking to them.

"... A good idea-" Tamaki cut himself off as I approached, immediately grabbing the twins and running away from me. I just sighed as I looked after them.

"Are they going to do something stupid?" I asked, turning to Kyouya. He smiled, in a way that I could swear was almost sarcastic.

"Something like that." He beckoned for me to follow him after a second, and I complied. Kyouya led me to his desk where his computer was open, and he gestured to the screen.

"Miss Sahni, why don't you take a look?" He asked. I shrugged, taking a seat and looking over the page that was up. My eyes widened as I realized that I was looking at the sales page for the host club, specifically for my books, and that the sales were through the roof. My mouth dropped open a little bit, and I quickly shut it knowing that I was being watched.

"Senpai, this is crazy!" I said, marveling at the screen. "How did you manage to market it so well?" He snickered lightly.

"Well, I am by all means an incredible marketer, but this one was mostly you, Miss Sahni. The contents of the novel speak quite loudly for itself." I smiled at the roundabout compliment Kyouya had given to me. I took what I could get.

"Thank you, Senpai," I said, once I figured out what to say in my shock.

"For what?" He asked.

"For-" I stopped talking when I heard a prominent ripping noise reach my ears. I looked up at Kyouya-senpai, who was staring halfway across the room somewhere. He shrugged his shoulders to whomever he was silently talking to, and I followed his gaze to see Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru standing around my table.