How Did I End Up With Them? (OHSHC)

Home Living

My mom's car was parked in the very modern-looking garage, which fascinated the boys further. They lived in mansions and were really wondering how I managed to have this architecture? Hikaru himself was ecstatic, being a math nerd and all, he was into the landscape and schematics of the house, peering at everything when we walked in. The ceiling was slightly elevated to give it an open feeling, with the walkway leading into the living room and open concept space, serving as the kitchen and dining room. The rooms were upstairs, two of them, and that was what got the boys the most.

"How do you live with just two rooms?" Hikaru asked aghast. "What about when people come over?"

"We only have my dad's sister, and her son, but they don't visit much. They're estranged mostly, my dad and her had a falling out when they were younger. No grandparents, and my mom's an only kid," I counted off, shrugging because I hadn't felt the loneliness of not having a big family since I met the Host Club, and I had Haruhi before that. "Haru was always across the street anyway, and we share a room all the time."

The boys managed to stop standing around wondering more about "commoner" living long enough to gather around the television on the couches. I brought out pillows from my room to sit on the floor for Haru and Kaoru, who chose to sit on the floor. Huh. My mind will not linger on that, nope.

It was then my stomach grumbled and my face flushed, but I brushed it off with a loud laugh that resonated in the large living room. The boys and Haru soon joined in, until it became a congregation of us laughing for longer than needed, but it felt so good to just laugh like a kid again, huddled around with your friends, it felt like I had aged backwards ten years. I knew I made the right choice inviting them over.

Wiping a stray tear that had come out from laughing so hard, I put my hands behind my back and asked the weighted question: "Who wants food?"

With a babble of agreement from everyone, Kyoya pulled out his phone, going through a list of some sorts. "Would you like sushi? I could order from a place I know," he offered.

"Nah, that's okay, I've got it." I stood up from my seat in-between Haru and Kaoru on the floor, fetching an advertisement from my kitchen countertop. "How about this place?" I handed Tamaki the flyer, knowing he'd be the pickiest/most excitable of the bunch. "It's an arcade we could go to today instead of just staying in, you guys could see more of what we experience. They've got a small food court type of deal, so we could have the best of both worlds."

The gang's eyes lit up. The all gathered together in a rush, fists to their mouth, glancing back at us every once in a while, ultimately concurring with each other. They turned around, some of them standing now.

Tamaki cleared his throat before speaking. "Okay, the Host Club says... yes! A day in the life of a commoner, ah, yes," he proclaimed, exaggeratedly standing up from my loveseat with a flourish, extending his arm into the air. He opened his eyes expectantly. "Now where to, Chiyo, dear?"

I grinned. "Give me a sec to get changed and I'll take you guys. And before you ask, no cars. You might as well ask them to leave for now because we're walking there. No buts, Tamaki," I said with finality. I turned around and headed up the stairs. In my room, I vaguely heard laughter; I smiled fondly at the sound. It wasn't usually like this in my house, most of the noise came from when we were at Haru's house. It was a nice feeling to fill a house with teenagers just trying to have fun.

A knock on the door brought me back to reality. As faced back, I saw Kaoru lounging against the door, looking around with a soft smile at the mauve and white themed room. I flushed with embarrassment, a flurry building up in my stomach at seeing the ginger in my room, a very large part of my life colliding with another.