Since the embarrassment of basically being turned up at the cafeteria, (Y/N) hadn't bothered trying to see the Host Club or Tamaki. Her lunchtimes now consisted of either spending time with Ryuk and his rowdy, misogynistic friends or spending time with her own, smaller group of friends: Carla and Yuri.
Occasionally, (Y/N) and Tamaki would pass by each other on their way to their classes but nothing was said between the two. If you'd have told anybody that the pair had feelings for each other, you'd been deemed crazy. The way they acted, it was like they didn't even know one another.
--
"How's the whole 'moving on' thing going?" Yuri asked, sliding her tray of food down onto the table where (Y/N) and Carla sat. Carla looked at the questioning girl and simply shook her head, indicating Yuri should drop the topic. "Ah, sorry," she quietly said, jabbing some lettuce leaves from her plate.
"It's fine, really," (Y/N) said through mouthfuls of food. "Like I said the other week: that was my sign to move on."
Carla snorted, looking at (Y/N). "As if!" she chuckled. "Don't act like you weren't just saying you missed him!"
(Y/N) gave her friend a death stare. Maturely, she said, "It's a part of the grieving process."
"Grieving?!" Yuri choked out. "(Y/N), you can't grieve someone who's not dead," she reminded graciously as the girl flashed an unimpressed look toward her.
"He's not dead, but he might as well be to me. Like I said, I'm getting over him. We can't work together, end of."
A silence hit the table at full force like a tsunami. Both Carla and Yuri were shocked at how dedicated (Y/N) was to getting over Tamaki. Finally, Carla broke the ice. "You're... actually serious about this?" she asked in disbelief; it stunned her how the girl who'd been fangirling over Tamaki just a week prior was now saying he was dead to her.
"Yep," she shrugged.
--
"Hey hey," Hikaru sung as he watched Carla enter the club room, holding her cello case as usual. She simply ignored the twin in the hopes he'd leave her alone. However, that was not the case.
He only wanted to bug her more.
"Hellooo?" he agitatedly said, getting up from the sofa he was relaxing on and strolling over to where Carla was setting up to play, otherwise known as where (Y/N) used to play. "Right, what have I done?" he asked, annoyed and, consequently, pouting slightly. Despite Hikaru's question, Carla remained nonverbal. He rolled his eyes, "Boss! She's ignoring me."
"Now, now Carla, it's not nice to ignore Hikaru," Tamaki scolded once he made his way to the pair. Previously, he'd been sulking in the corner because Hikaru had ignored him, so it was ironic he was taking the side of the person who had just done the same to him.
Haruhi giggled slightly, hearing the dispute from the other side of the room. "What's wrong with Carla doing it? I ignore Hikaru all the time," she chimed in with a small laugh, causing Carla's cheeks to heat a little.
"You ignore me, too," Kaoru added sourly.
"Haruhi ignores us all," Kyoya calculatedly said from his desk, where he had just been punching numbers into his calculator.
Haruhi scoffed. "Nonsense!" The denial of ignoring everyone had wound Hikaru and Kaoru up, so they began to annoy the petite brunette, constantly tapping her shoulders and playing with her short hair.
Tamaki chuckled, watching his three friends argue in the middle of the room. His mind wandered straight to (Y/N) however, an occurrence that had been happening rather often. He wished she could be there to experience the club once more. Alas, it was a longing he'd have to bury in the depths of his heart.
"So anyway," Kyoya spoke from across the room, "Carla, why are you ignoring us?"
The red-head girl glanced around the room as every Host's eyes lay upon her. Coolly, she said, "Now you know how (Y/N) felt when you ignored her letter." Carla noted how Tamaki's smile faded and how his skin seemed to pale a little.
Regretfully, the blonde stammered out something of an apology. "I- I'm sorry Carla, could you... could you tell (Y/N) I'm sorry?" His eyes pricked with tears, a heart-breaking sight even for those who weren't in love with the boy. "We... We did actually go Carla, I promise," he quickly said, mustering all the strength he could to keep himself composed.
Noticing Tamaki was on the verge of bursting into tears, Kyoya filled in. "Yes, we did go Carla. Could you tell (Y/N) that when we entered the hall, Ryuk was there talking to the three of you and, well, we didn't want him to be angry at (Y/N), so we decided to leave."
After a long, shaky breath, Tamaki nodded. "I couldn't bear to think what he'd do to her if he saw us talking," he gloomily said, earning nods and hums of agreement from the others in the room.
Suddenly, a pink bunny appeared in front of Carla's eyes. Below stood a saddened Honey, who asked Carla to tell (Y/N) Usa-chan gave her a hug. Mori, too, nodded at the blonde's statement, asking quickly to be involved with the 'hug'.
"Of course," Carla replied with a smile, livening up after hearing the Host's side of the story.
"And Carla?" spoke Kaoru, earning the girl's attention.
She swivelled round to find both Hikaru and Kaoru stood in front of her, mischievously. "Tell (Y/N) to stop ignoring us in class," they purred in unison.
The girl scoffed. "You know she literally can't," Carla defended.
"We have your middle school pictures," they swiftly threatened (politely) with a grin, completely changing how Carla addressed them.
"Well, fine. I'll tell her to."
--
In (Y/N)'s room, both Carla and (Y/N) sat on her silky bedsheets playing Mario Kart on (Y/N)'s Nintendo Switch. "I win!" (Y/N) screamed, watching as Princess Daisy (the character she played) did her victory dance on screen.
Carla sighed, watching as her character, Toad, was blown up by a blue-shell. "You always win," she grumbled, rolling her eyes as she finished third. Reluctantly, she peered to her side to see (Y/N), sitting expectantly on the bed. With an eyeroll, Carla groaned, "Fine, ask me."
The two weren't just playing any old game of Mario Kart, no, it had their own spin on it. Alongside the actual game, they'd decided to play their own game. The rules? Whoever beat the other in a race could ask the other whatever they wanted.
"So!" (Y/N) exclaimed, placing her controller onto the bed and turning her attention toward her best friend. "When you ignored the club - how did it go?" she asked with a smile.
Carla's heart dropped. Out of all the questions (Y/N) could've asked, that was the one Carla didn't want her to. She knew that if (Y/N) found out how Tamaki and the others reacted once Carla confronted them, she'd be completely smitten once more and, as much as Carla enjoyed (Y/N) and Tamaki's 'will they won't they' trope, (Y/N) had made so much progress in getting over Tamaki that Carla didn't want to ruin. "Oh," she chuckled awkwardly, "I can't really remember," she blatantly lied.
(Y/N) snorted, chuckling at her friend, "You did it yesterday. Be serious, how did it go?"
"If I tell, promise you won't go back to liking him? You've come so far..." Her pinkie extended, signalling (Y/N)'s should, too, to make a pinkie promise - a promise to never be broken.
"Sure."
Deeply inhaling, Carla began to explain. "Well, when I mentioned how they ignored you, Tamaki almost immediately went pale and begun crying. It seemed as if he was really sorry for doing it, (Y/N)," she gently said. "I was told it was because they saw us with Ryuk and they didn't want to get you in trouble, so they left instead."
(Y/N) nodded her head. In the past, her heart would've swelled knowing Tamaki was upset over his actions, however this time, she just felt sorrow - a pain in her heart telling her something wasn't right. Her brows knit together in confusion as she concentrated on her feelings, trying to pinpoint her overwhelming sense of unease.
Snapping (Y/N) abruptly out of her thoughts, Carla's arms wrapped around the girl. (Y/N) sat, stunned, on her bed while Carla's warm embrace enveloped her. Pulling away, Carla smiled, "That was from Honey, Usa-chan and Mori."
(Y/N) smiled at the heart-warming gesture. "That's sweet," she commented with a teeny smile.
"Oh, before I forget," Carla quickly said, cutting in. "The twins want you to speak with them in school."
"Um... Carla, you know I can't. Ryuk would kil-"
"They have old pictures of me. It's blackmail."
"Fine, I'll see what I can do."
--
"Hey Carls!" (Y/N) smiled, seeing her friend appear at her door. It was a weekend, so Carla was officially on maid duty.
Formally, Carla bowed to her friend to address her. "Your Father wants to see you in the dining room," she informed.
With a confused look, (Y/N) got up from her desk. "Okay?" she sceptically said, following the tall red-head down the elongated corridor.
Just before arriving at the destination, Carla turned to the girl. With a smile, she gave intriguing news to (Y/N). "You have a visitor." Before (Y/N) could say anything, Carla had walked away, leaving the girl nothing but information someone was there, on the other side of the door, to see her and that she'd meet them as soon as she walked into the room.
'Fuck' (Y/N) thought, grasping the cold, shiny brass doorknob, which held the answer to all her questions: "Who is it?", "Why are they here to see me?", "Am I in trouble?"
Slowly, she turned the handle, heart racing in anticipation as she pushed the door forwards.
"Hello, (Y/N)."