After agreeing to go to the Host Club after school, Reiko felt that her afternoon classes that day had passed much too quickly. She could already imagine Tamaki's glare when he'd see her walk in and was not looking forward to dealing with the male's theatrics.
When the bell rang, Ayame stared at her for a moment. The two of them had a silent conversation as she told her to wait to start packing up until Kyoya and Tamaki had left the room. Once they had, the girls packed up their things and proceeded toward the Host Club together.
As they walked, Reiko noticed the dark-haired female was becoming increasingly agitated. She tugged at the ends of her hair, and her hands tapped nervous beats against the skirt of her dress. When they arrived at the doors of Music Room 3, they stopped.
"If you don't want to go in, you don't have to," Reiko informed her.
Ayame looked at her and shook her head slightly. "It's not that..."
The silver-haired girl stared at her, patiently waiting for her to share her thoughts.
"It's just... what if I end up actually liking that idiot?" she asked.
"Then you like him... you can decide whether you want to or can act on those feelings or not. You might like him but find that being in a relationship with him isn't beneficial or worth the risks that come with courtships," she told her.
Her classmate nodded in understanding. "You know. I don't think I could deal with being in a relationship with him."
Reiko shrugged. "I suppose you won't know for sure until you enter. Let's head in, shall we? I'd rather not stay longer than intended."
Ayame took a deep breath and nodded, signaling Reiko to open the doors.
Because they arrived fashionably late, there were no petals, nor was there a bizarre introductory speech. (Sakura had warned them this was how the Host Club opened each day and worried it would scare Ayame off, so she told them to wait a few minutes). A few people glanced at them when they entered, but most ignored their presence as they concerned themselves with trying to get the attention of their favorite hosts.
Not knowing exactly how to go about "requesting" a host, Reiko waved Haruhi over. Thankfully, the brunette wasn't entertaining anyone then and was able to quickly make her way toward them. To say she was surprised to see the two second-years there was an understatement.
"Hey Reiko, what's up?" she asked.
The silver-haired girl looked over at Ayame, who had suddenly become unwilling to tell Haruhi what their business there was and whose gaze was trained on the floor.
Reiko sighed and shook her head. "Hey, Haruhi, my apologies for bothering you. I was just wondering how we could get a seating with Tamaki," she said with a casual smile as though she had asked about how her day was going.
The brunette's jaw dropped in surprise. It was already bizarre to think that the second year wanted to partake in club activities, but Tamaki was the absolute last person she thought she would request.
"It's not for me," she explained, noting the first year's expression. "Ayame's a bit curious about how things work around here, and Tamaki supposedly has the highest ratings. I'm merely escorting her."
"Oh, I get it. Well, usually we have a reservation policy. Guests have to sign up for an appointment on the club's website to sit with one of the hosts, but I think Tamaki-senpai had a cancellation, so it should be fine."
"I see. I'm sorry we came unexpectedly then."
"It's no big deal. I can take Miss. Ayame to him. Are you coming along too?" she asked.
Reiko laughed and shook her head. "I highly doubt he'd appreciate my sudden visit. If you could just point me to the quietest table so I can get some work done while I'm here, that'd be just fine."
The brunette tilted her head, thinking about what the quietest place in the room would be. Truth be told, the Host Club was pretty loud since there were so many people talking all the time. "I guess the quietest spot would be with Kyoya-senpai," she answered. Most people steered clear of the male unless he was hosting.
Noticing that Haruhi's newest acquaintance had dropped by for a visit, the twins momentarily excused themselves from their conversations to investigate.
"Reiko-senpai, fancy seeing you here," Kaoru greeted.
"Yeah, what are you doing here?" Hikaru asked, casually leaning against his brother. Their tones were light, but their amber eyes glanced over the silver-haired female carefully as though inspecting her.
"I didn't come to request anyone. I'm accompanying Ayame and was just asking if there was an empty table I can use while I wait."
Haruhi gestured toward a table at the back of the room. Kyoya usually sat there but looking around, she couldn't find the raven-haired male anywhere. "Kyoya-senpai's table is over there."
"Haruhi, are you sure that's a good idea?" Kaoru asked her.
"Yeah, you know how he gets!" Hikaru exclaimed. Sure, they didn't really like Reiko all that much after the fit she'd thrown the other week, but that didn't mean they wanted to see Kyoya kill her.
Haruhi rolled her eyes at the two boys. "You guys are talking as if he'd kill her for sitting there."
Reiko raised an eyebrow. "If it's going to be a problem, then any empty table is fine. I'd rather not cause any trouble while I'm here."
"Really?" the twins asked simultaneously.
"I thought you didn't like the Host Club," Hikaru said.
Kaoru nodded. "Yeah, you made it clear we weren't on your good side."
The silver-haired teen shrugged. "If you're referring to when you lot attacked me in the library, the whole situation was rather ridiculous. Tamaki's an idiot, but that's not exactly news. I'm just amazed no one's had him tested yet."
"Tested?" they echoed.
Reiko tilted her head. "Well... he's definitely not normal," she told them.
The twins looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
"You're right Rei-senpai... Tamaki-senpai's definitely not normal."
Haruhi shook her head. "Knock it off you guys. Reiko, you can go ahead to Kyoya's table. No one'll bother you there."
Reiko nodded. "Thanks Haruhi." With a wave, she said goodbye to the twins and made her way to the table at the very end of the room. Taking a seat, she pulled out her laptop and her notebook. She had to take notes on that night's assigned reading for the next day's class discussion.
When Tamaki walked into the room five minutes later, he was shocked to see Reiko at Kyoya's usual worktable. "I didn't know you were taking appointments," he commented to the ravenette. Since Kyoya's primary role was director, the male rarely took requests. What was more surprising was that it was Reiko since she and Kyoya didn't have the best relationship, he thought she would've requested Haruhi or Mori-senpai if anyone.
"No, I am not," Kyoya said, just as confused as he was. Rather than theorize about her reasons for suddenly showing up, however, he purposefully walked over to his table to ask her herself. "Good afternoon Reiko. Is there anything I can do for you today?"
Reiko flinched slightly. She hadn't heard him approach, and he had startled her slightly. "Kyoya- no, I'm perfectly alright thank you."
The dark-haired male tilted his head. Her tone was polite, but he hadn't missed the fact that she was dismissing him.
"Reiko, although we do appreciate you wanting to visit us, all guests are required to make reservations at least one day before they intend to come in, during the afternoons at least." He glanced down at his notebook: "And as I thought, you're not on today's guest list. I can certainly arrange for you to have a seat tomorrow, however, with the Host of your choice."
The silver-haired girl gave him a bored look. "I'm not here to partake in your hosting."
"Then to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit then?" he asked.
Reiko turned her attention to her laptop once more as she answered him. "Ayame asked me to accompany her but seeing as Tamaki, and I aren't on the best of terms, I thought it best to leave them in peace and get some work done instead."
Kyoya glanced down at her. As far as he knew, Reiko Sakamoto didn't have any known friends at Ouran Academy. That wasn't to say she was disliked among their peers, she simply kept everyone at a distance. To see her willingly inconvenience herself for the sake of another person was surprising. "I didn't know you two were close."
The silver-haired female turned to look at the table where Ayame sat with Tamaki and the others. "Maybe, though I suppose it depends on your definition of close."
He stared at her for a moment. Her answer held a note of melancholy that revealed much more than intended. He'd always found it strange that a girl as well-liked as Reiko Sakamoto didn't have anyone she was close to at school. At first, he'd theorized that she didn't consider anyone in their year worthy enough to be her friend, then he wondered if she saw lunch as a networking opportunity and made a conscious effort to mingle as much as possible, but was it possible that she didn't form attachments out of necessity?
As if seeing the thoughts rushing through his head, Reiko waved dismissively. "Don't think too deeply about it, Kyoya. It was just a comment."
Kyoya sighed; he didn't answer, but he slid out of the seat across from her and sat down.
Having nothing more to say to each other, Kyoya and Reiko fell into a surprisingly comfortable silence. Not long after having sat down, Kyoya had whipped out his laptop to look through the club's expenses for the week. Reiko, meanwhile, continued to take notes on their assigned reading.
After about twenty minutes, however, the silver-haired girl finished the reading and turned to her next assignment, her greatest academic challenge: chemistry. It was by far her worst subject. No matter how long she studied, no matter how many tutors she visited, she was barely scraping by with a 94. In her book, that score was unacceptable.
Her homework stared back at her- a beast she had yet to tame. She nearly groaned at the thought of having countless problems to solve, check, recheck, and redo. Channeling her frustration into her hand, she twirled her pen repeatedly as she read the instructions.
Hearing her sigh hopelessly, Kyoya glanced up at the silver-haired girl from over his laptop. Her eyebrows were scrunched together, and her grey eyes were narrowed in concentration. He couldn't quite decide whether she was angry or confused.
"Is there a problem, Reiko?" he asked.
The teen huffed and twirled her pen a bit faster. "Problems- plural. It's the chemistry homework we were assigned," she commented, momentarily forgetting she was talking to her class rival.
Kyoya smirked; chemistry was one of his best subjects. It was quite pleasing to discover the seemingly perfect and invincible Reiko Sakamoto had a weakness.
She glanced up at him, and, noticing his smug expression rolled her eyes. "Don't make it so obvious that you're pleased. It's unbecoming," she snapped.
Seeing her become defensive and short with him only made his smirk widen. He was enjoying this conversation now. How could he not? It was refreshing to see her struggling a little. "Well, I was going to offer my assistance... but since you seem to think that it's "unbecoming" of me, I won't interfere."
Reiko raised an eyebrow. "You're good at chemistry?" she asked.
At that moment, Tamaki was passing by after walking out one of his guests and overheard the question. "Kyoya? He's the best in the class! Chemistry's his strongest subject," he answered, momentarily forgetting his distaste towards the silver-haired girl to brag about his friend.
The raven-haired male nodded at him appreciatively and flashed Reiko another smug smile, absolutely relishing in her annoyed and embarrassed expression. "Would you like some assistance?" he asked, gesturing to the seat next to him.
Reiko said nothing for a moment and debated whether a grade was more important than her pride and her reputation. On one hand, she and Kyoya weren't on the best of terms, and she knew he was only offering his help to boost his ego. On the other hand, she couldn't afford to get anything less than a perfect score on this assignment if she wanted to raise her grades. Sighing in resignation, she internally cursed herself and moved her things to the other side of the table.
Once she settled, Kyoya moved his laptop aside and, using her notes and textbook, went over the entire lesson again. They were both surprised at how quickly she was grasping the concept, though, of course, neither of them showed it. Frankly, Reiko was impressed with how easily she understood the material after Kyoya had explained it to her. Kyoya, meanwhile, was pleasantly surprised with how quickly she processed new information. After giving her a basic explanation and helping her through the first few problems on their homework, she'd completed most of the questions without an issue.
As she worked, Kyoya returned to his laptop and the challenge that was accommodating Tamaki's lavish expenses into the club's budget.
Occasionally, Reiko would tap his arm gently and direct his attention to a problem she was having trouble solving on her own. They'd refer to her notes and go over the steps before she would try to solve the problem on a separate piece of paper.
"May I ask why you insist on solving the question on another page entirely?" he asked, noticing that she was using an entire sheet of paper to redo just one problem she didn't understand.
"It allows me to keep track of the problems I found challenging for when it's time to study for the exam," she explained, not looking at him as she wrote in her notebook.
The raven-haired male hummed thoughtfully. As expected of one of the best students at Ouran Academy, she was extremely organized.
Over an hour passed before Reiko finally finished her chemistry homework, and she glanced up at Ayame, who was still talking to Tamaki. She noticed the bright smile on her face as they conversed and, seeing that things were going well, "it wouldn't be a problem if I left first." Rather than immediately gathering her things, however, she lingered a moment longer. Though she didn't show it, her reluctance caught her off guard, and she struggled to admit to herself that it was because of the dark-haired male sitting across from her. The atmosphere between them that afternoon had been so different. For once, the dark-haired male was pleasant to be around, and she'd quite enjoyed having a study companion for once.
"She seems quite taken with him," Kyoya commented, following her line of sight and spotting the pair.
She nodded in agreement breaking from her previous thoughts. "I wonder if that's a good thing or not," she mused.
"Is there a reason it wouldn't be?"
Reiko's lips twitched into a smile. She merely shrugged before turning to put away her notebook.
Noticing that she was preparing to leave, a strange feeling of disappointment overcame him. Surprisingly, the silver-haired teen's presence hadn't been a bother. When their conversation wasn't limited to trading sarcastic quips, Reiko expressed herself gently. Her voice was soft and sweet, and her words delicate. It was a sharp- but welcome- contrast to the rowdy bunch his friends were.
"Thank you for today, Kyoya. I really appreciate it," she said, smiling as she stood up.
The dark-haired male followed in suit. "It was my pleasure. Allow me to escort you out."
Reiko nodded and adjusted her bag as she allowed him to lead her out.
Kyoya walked her to the doors of the club and bowed gracefully in farewell. "You are always welcome to visit."
She smiled slightly, finding the sudden formality amusing. She bowed slightly in return and gave him a small wave. "Take care of yourself, Kyoya. I'll see you in class tomorrow. Thanks again for your help."