Rika's POV:
"Um, I don't have any of my clothes with me..." I blushed, turning away from Honey. What was I doing here? With a boy too. Gahh!
"That's okay! Want some of my pajamas?"
What? "N-No, that's fine." But Honey had already left the room. Wearing Honey's clothes? Oh my God, that's like something from a manga! It's totally something from-
"Here," he handed me a set of pink pajamas. He smiled. "We do have extra clothes you know." So they weren't Honey's... Was I disappointed? No! What was I thinking?
thanks."
Later, I found that I could just sleep with Honey. What? I stared at him, jaw dropped. "Uh... the two of us?"
He nodded, already tucked under the bed. "Come on! There's school tomorrow you know." He yawned. "Aren't you tired?"
I nodded and slipped under the warm covers. Usa-chan and Momo-chan were lying next to us. Honey turned the nearby light off, snuggling over to me. I sighed, closing my eyes. It was really comfortable here. And I felt safe. Safe and calm, at peace and happy. I drifted off to sleep.
Um... My eyes fluttered opened. I was still half asleep, but I was vaguely aware of something wrapped around me. I turned to my left and saw Honey sleeping quietly next to me. He was really close, like maybe a few inches away.
OMG, he's hugging me?
Well that woke me up quickly...
He had his skinny arms wrapped around me, pulling me close to him. I could feel him against me. His head was lying on top of mine and one of his legs were tangled with mine. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but my cheeks were burning at the realization.
I have never slept this close next to a guy. Heck, I've never been hugged by a guy like this! Sure the twins, Tamaki too, knew nothing about personal space, but... uh...
I wiggled around for a while, trying to escape. But his arms had an iron grip. Even though he's sleeping? I'm not surprised he's strong but this strong? I sighed. Ah whatever. I was tired, and I still wanted to sleep. Plus Honey felt really warm. I curled myself into him. He was probably using me like a human Usa-chan but whatever. I closed my eyes, sighing, as my head rested against his neck.
3rd POV:
Mori sighed. One thing he hated doing every morning was wake Honey up.
Alarm clocks had long been useless. Honey would either ignore the irritating ringing noise or destroy the alarm clock with a single fist.
Now he stood in front of Honey's door taking a deep breath. Luckily he'd been waking Honey up for years that it wasn't too terrible anymore. He opened the door, walking in quietly.
There was Honey. And Rika.
And they were snuggled together. There was barely any space between the two. Mori walked over to Honey's side of the bed with a small smile. He knew how fond Honey was of Rika. Maybe with Rika's presence, Honey could wake up faster and more easily.
Or... since Rika was in Honey's grip, he might accidentally hurt her.
Mori started shaking Honey gently. "Mitsukuni. Wake up." He said softly.
Honey groaned, annoyed. "Ugh." He turned away from Mori, burrowing his face into a nearby soft thing. It smelled nice.
And it was Rika's hair.
Rika stirred but didn't wake up. Mori watched, amused. He shook Honey again.
"Wake up, Mitsukuni. School time."
Honey ignored his cousin's persistent actions. So Mori turned to the other still asleep person. "Rika, please wake up." He shook her. Her head rolled towards Honey's as she opened her eyes.
Wah! Rika thought, eyes widening. She was instantly awake. Honey's face was... like probably barely any centimeters away. She blushed and then noticed Mori towering over the pair with a warm smile.
"Ah!" she squeaked, slightly embarrassed. "G-Good morning, Mori-san!"
His smile widened just a bit. Honey stirred now. His eyes opened just a crack. Rika stared at his brown eyes opened. They were dark, like a terrible storm at sea. He wasn't exactly glaring at her, but she still felt frightened.
"Honey. Wake up," Rika said. This was not the Honey she knew.
His eyes widened just a bit and the darkness in those eyes receded. He stared at her through the foggy haze of sleepiness. It was nice to wake up and see her. If the first thing he saw every morning was her face, he would be very happy. He closed his eyes. He didn't want to have to let go of her yet and neither did he want to go to school. He snuggled into her once again.
"H-Honey, what are you doing?"
Mori had already left the two of them alone. He figured Rika would probably be able to wake Honey up without much difficulty. Now he was pulling out Honey's uniform and laying it on a nearby chair.
"Rika," he said. She glanced at him, still lying in bed because of Honey's tight grip around her. He pointed at Honey's uniform. "Breakfast is downstairs." Then he left.
"Mori-san! How can you just leave me here with him?" Her protest was cut short as Mori shut the door quietly behind him. He smiled and headed toward the staircase.
Rika sighed and frowned.
"Honey. Wake up. Now." She said, trying out a demanding and authoritative tone. Honey smiled, pulling her even closer to him. He decided that he would not listen until she called him by his first name. Since she's already calling Chika-chan by his first name, she should call me by my first name too. He thought, smiling.
"Honey, I know you're already awake. So get up and let go of me. Please."
Nope. Honey shook his head slightly.
"Honey, stop being difficult. And stubborn. And a little rich brat." Now she was trying insults. "You idiot."
Nope. Honey would not fall for that. Besides, he knew she didn't mean any of it. Rika sighed, crossing her arms while glaring at the ceiling.
"Honey, I will throw Usa-chan out the window." Nah, she would never do that. Besides, Usa-chan was on the other side of Honey, well out of Rika's reach. Honey tightened his arms around her though. He didn't really want to risk it.
"Honey!"
"You smell nice." He replied in turn.
She blushed. Fine. If he wanted to be like that, then she could join in. What might send him over the edge? Something so startling that he'd hop straight out of bed.
"You do too," she said, starting off easy. "You smell sweet. Like vanilla cake."
Honey giggled. What was she trying to do?
your hair is soft," he said, eyes still shut. Seeing her this close to him would surely make him blush. "Rika." Wow! Her face flamed up again. The way he said her name, he was obviously teasing her. Fine. Okay. Be that
way. "Mit. Su. Ku. Ni." She carefully pronounced each syllable in a sweet voice.
"Get up!" She screamed.
That scared Honey. He jolted up, pulling Rika along with him. He still hadn't let go. Rika watched his wide eyes turn to her. He grinned and she joined in. Both were blushing. They started laughing, sitting there on his bed, pointing at each other's startled and red faces.
Rika hadn't felt this happy in a while.
Rika's POV:
School was boring as usual. I spent class time taking short naps and doodling. Sometimes I'd read my current book about mammals found in the North checked out from the library. There was a range of reindeer to bears to penguins.
"What are you reading, Ri-chan?" Honey asked as we were making out way to the cafeteria. There were a lot of pictures and information about the animals and I showed him a picture of a bunny.
"It's a book about animals. I'm done though so I'm going to return it." I closed the book, veering off our path. "I'll see you guys later."
"Okay. Bye, bye!"
The library was, as usual, fairly empty. After returning the book, I went to the first aisle to pick up my next book. Yes, I was going through the entire school library. This would be much more difficult since Ouran's library was huge! It was probably ten times larger than the one at the boarding school. And I only had a year to get through all these books. It's a shame not a lot of people like the library. And it's a greater shame that they have zero manga books here.
I took off the next three books. Still about animals. Whatever, a lot of them are cute and fluffy looking. I checked them out and was on my way out when I spotted a familiar brown-haired person.
"Haruhi!" I said, walking over to where she sat bent over a textbook. She looked up and smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"Studying," she replied, returning her attention to the book in front of her. She had notes laid out across the table. They were really neat too. "Since eating lunch with the Host Club makes this impossible."
I chuckled in agreement. That was true. "May I sit here then?" She looked up again and nodded. "Of course."
"I'll just read here." I said, opening up the first book. She nodded with another smile. This book was about the mammals in the South. Oh my God. I hope I don't get too bored with it.
About twenty or so minutes into my reading, I heard some noisy students enter the library. So loud. Don't they know the library is a nice and quiet place?
"Ri-chan! Haru-chan!"
"So they were here!" mused two voices. "My daughters!"
...
Frick.
The Host Club immediately swarmed Haruhi and I's table. Seriously, they can't leave us (more like Haruhi) alone for like twenty minutes? Maybe my disappearance also further alarmed them. I sighed, trying to keep my attention on the book in front of me.
"Hey, Rika-senpai." The twins said, sticking their heads on my shoulders.
"Whatcha reading?"
"A book," I replied. My ability to state the obvious is probably the one and only thing I share with Kimiko.
"Guys, this is a library." Haruhi said angrily, glaring at the three troublemakers.
"Keep it down!" The three guys blushed very faintly, probably thinking Haruhi's angry face was cute. I agree. It is.
"But Haruhi," Tamaki said, wiggling around as usual. "We just wanted to see you!"
"That is no excuse for disturbing the library and the other students here." Haruhi replied sharply. "Please leave before you start bothering others."
Tamaki seemed to brighten when Haruhi said this. He turned around to a nearby girl, who'd been watching. "Oh, I'm not bothering you," he said, cupping her chin in his hand gently. "Am I?"
The girl blushed madly. Oh my God. They fall for that charm? The girl shook her head furiously, probably far too nervous to say anything. Tamaki smiled, then noticed the group of girls starting to gather.
"If I had known such beauties were in the library," Tamaki said, still continuing with his princely charm. "I would have come here far more often."
Oh God that is so cheesy!
Kyoya was writing in his black notebook. The twins had somehow managed to start up a twincest act between them. Seriously? Honey was eating cake with Mori at the table next to ours. Seriously?! This was not Host Club hours, and yet, they were immediately turning into Hosts! And why were they eating in the library?
Even Haruhi was chatting amiably with the girls. Oh God. I buried my face into my arms. This is disastrous.
"Oh, you're Hayashi-san, right?" One girl asked, tapping my shoulder gently. I looked up, smiling automatically.
"Yes. And," I studied the girl in front of me. I think she was in one of my classes.
Quickly I sought my brain. "With such a pretty face," I said, stalling for time, "You must be Ishii-san. Yes?" Her face brightened immediately. She had short, neat brown hair and bright hazel eyes.
She smiled. "Yes! And, thanks."
She sat down next to me. Wait, don't tell me I have to host too? Chat with her like Haruhi? We started talking. It was all small talk. I asked her about her hobbies. She liked playing soccer! Ooh, me too. She even told me, very quietly and while blushing, that she was an otaku. Me too! But she liked reading yaoi manga. Geez, can't agree with that, but I guess I understand.
Before I knew it, other girls had gathered around me and we were all talking about... girl stuff, I guess. Well not really. We talked about books, since most of them were bookworms like me. Genres we liked, authors we liked, things we didn't like. It was actually pretty fun. Plus, hanging out with some girls should be good for me since I've been with guys for the most part.
Then lunch came to an end and we had to disperse.
I followed after the Host Club as we made our way out. "Hey, Kyoya. Did you earn some money back there?"
He smirked at me. "Of course."
"How much?"
"6,300 yen."* He said. "Although there weren't many girls and it was an informal Host Club session, we still earned quite a bit. You were a surprising part in this."
"I was, now wasn't I?" I smiled, scheming already. "Say, Kyoya. Do you still think I should join the Host Club?"
"Yes. You would do well as a female Host, especially after what I just saw." he replied calmly, pushing up his glasses. "The girls who were talking to you are not regulars at the Host Club. But if you were to join, I'm sure they would become regulars."
"But, Kyoya, I have a condition." He didn't seem surprised at all. "I'll host people, however, any profit the club gets in which I play a part of, I get 5% of it. And another 5% of the profit will go into paying off Haruhi's debt, to speed up the process."
"Hm..."
"And I'll be willing to do paperwork and calculations for you." "But?"
Ah, Kyoya knew me well. I smiled. "Only five sheets of calculations per week, and they must be printed in 12 pt font. Basically you can't try to jam more than one sheet onto one sheet. Any more and you'll have to pay 2000 yen per sheet. What do you think?" I crossed my arms, studying Kyoya. Would he take the offer? Was I worth it?
"Let me think it through." He finally said. "I'll write a contract for it and give it to you tomorrow."
"Okay! See you then!" And I headed off to class where I'd probably just read my books. I did want to go through the entire library.