I was surprised by the fact that there hadn't been any calls or texts from Eric. In a way, it comforted me. Maybe he really had taken what I wanted to heart. If he had, we could have always been friends once more one day. That was, if he wasn't too mad at me. I honestly felt free from my situation, even though I knew it wasn't quite over, yet.
On the other hand, Hikaru constantly avoided me like the plague. Not in that he wouldn't be in the same room, but he wouldn't ever be alone with me. As soon as that situation arose, he would find an excuse. He even kept telling me that he couldn't study French with me because of some project he had to do, which I knew was a lie because Haruhi was in almost all his classes, and she didn't have a single one. It was only after Tamaki told me that Hikaru had asked him to continue his piano lessons that I figured out how Hikaru had managed to do so well when we had to perform for his class. I only found that out after performing for his project, and I had been wondering how Hikaru did so well after barely one practice.
Of course, he was only trying to help me. He didn't want to do anything wrong or make being engaged harder on me, but he wasn't giving me the chance to even tell him that the engagement was off! I wanted to tell him alone in person, and there was just no way. I would have hoped that after a week he might have at least asked me about it, but no. I was stuck in a never-ending waiting game.
It was a week before Halloween, but the Host Club had already decorated the room with pumpkins, crosses, tombstones, spiders, and just about every other creepy thing for our weeklong theme. We were even in a different costume each day, and the first was vampires. The boys were all supposed to be the old-fashioned, Dracula-type of vampires, but I was recruited to be a damsel turned into one. I wore fake fangs and two holes dripping blood on my neck. I was barefoot in a simple white dress, and layers of foundation made me look pale.
I poured the tea for my guests and grinned, showing off my fangs, "Good day, ladies." I sat down and took the matchbox to my right, striking one of the matches. I lit the single candle in the middle to illuminate the table in the dim lighting. I blew out the match and smirked, "I hope you're day wasn't too horrifying." I kept myself from cringing. Some of the lines Tamaki made me say were just too cheesy....
One of the three girls, Ran, admitted, "Honestly, I'm a little afraid of the dark."
I reached over and placed a hand on her cheek, "Oh, ma chère, there is nothing to be afraid of. Those who wander in the shadows like me are simply lost, craving affection from someone. Tell me, will you be the one brighten my immortal life?" She blushed and giggled at this. "Ah, there it is. Your smile. I can already see this room fill with life."
One of my regulars, Mako, asked, "Are you going to be vampires the entire week?" She usually tried to take my attention off others.
"There will be a new costume each day, but I'm afraid it will have to be a surprise. Why? Are you not fond of my fangs?" I asked, smiling at her now.
"O-Of course, I am! It will be sad to see them go," she stuttered. I stood and sat in the chair next to her, putting my mouth next to her ear. I heard her gasp softly.
"Well, you have me for today, and you smell absolutely ravishing. Let me have a taste, will you? Let it be my treat? I would hate to have to play a trick," I whispered softly, running my fingers over her pulse, which I felt go rapid. I knew I was being almost cruel with my flirting, but it was the time of tricks, and I just wanted some joy.
"Oh, I-I could n-never let you, Katashi. You'll-You'll have to p-play a trick i-instead," she continued to stumble over her words, and I could only imagine how red her face was. I pulled back only so I could put our lips every close to each other, though I would never kiss her.
I traced a finger over her bottom lip and narrowed my eyes playfully, "It is your price to pay, my dear."
"You better wrap this up, Katashi. There's a group waiting for you," Kyoya's voiced came from behind me.
I moved away from Mako and turned to Kyoya, asking, "What do you mean? I just started!"
"The twins and Haruhi are late, and their customers are starting to get impatient and picking other hosts. If they don't show up soon, this is going to be an awfully busy day for you," he explained, checking his notebook.
I sighed and returned to my guests, "I'm terribly sorry, ladies, but it seems that due to the absence of a few other hosts, I have less time than usual today. Please, come again tomorrow. I will surely make it up to you." The three seemed upset, but they agreed to come back and said their goodbyes.
I rushed to clean up my table when I heard the twins say, "Hello!" I looked over and saw Haruhi was with them.
"Why are you guys late? Hurry up and change," Tamaki demanded, holding one of his guests.
I frowned, "Yeah, there are a lot of girls here for you three today!"
Hikaru smiled, "Sorry, but from now until Halloween..."
Kaoru finished, "... count us out!"
"Okay?" they said.
"What?" Tamaki gasped.
"Count you out?" Honey repeated.
I set the tray I was holding down and crossed my arms, "And what's so important the three of you have to take an entire week off?"
They revealed, "We're on the preparation committee for a special event. Class 1-A is sponsoring it." I moved my hands onto my hips. There had to be something up. They never would do something like that.
Kyoya allowed, "Duty calls, then."
They waved, "Good luck without us here for a week!"
"You have fun!" Honey called after them.
"Hold on! Why is Haruhi going?" my brother stopped them.
Hikaru looked over his shoulder and grinned evilly, "Oh, Boss, she is in our class, you know."
Kaoru mirrored his brother's expression, "Oh, the special event is an after dark test of courage tournament." That suddenly made a lot of sense. No doubt it would be a gold mine for pranking.
"After dark?" Tamaki shrieked, thinking about all the horrifying possibilities of what could happen, specifically to Haruhi. "Haruhi, you're not going to take part in this, are you? For decency's sake, tell me you won't!"
Haruhi assured him, "Calm down, Tamaki. It's just some harmless fun."
He repeated, "Harmless.... She thinks it's harmless!" He put a hand to his forehead. "Why me?" He grabbed her by the shoulders and told her, tears in his eyes, "You won't go! You can't! Daddy doesn't like it! Auntie, tell her she can't go!" He looked at me with his puppy eyes.
I sighed, rolling my eyes, "It all sounds kind of silly to me."
The twins narrowed their eyes at me, "Oh, really?"
"Yeah, I do."
Hikaru said, "I bet you wouldn't even last an hour."
I protested, "I could! I would last a lot longer than you two!" They started laughing at me. "You really think I can't do it?"
He said, "Listen, Frenchie...."
"Girls just aren't that great at pranking people, and that's what this tournament is about," Kaoru continued.
"Must I remind you that I even pranked my brother with you when I first got here?" I told them.
"Yeah, but we thought of it. We just needed you to convince him to do it," they shrugged.
"You're gonna pay for saying that," I vowed. It wasn't going to be just an empty threat that time.
"Lookin' forward to it," Hikaru winked, causing me to blush. They grabbed Haruhi. "Okay, time to go now!"
They mockingly said goodbye as they ran out, "Adieu!"
Tamaki called after them, "Wait! I can be a valuable asset to the planning committee! Let me come, too!"
I placed a hand on his shoulder and shook my head at the twins, "They have an awful lot of nerve." We both jumped when a spooky laugh echoed through the room. The creaking sound of one of the coffins opening followed. We looked over and saw just that with Nekozawa standing inside.
"Nekozawa, when did you...?" Tamaki trailed off as he began to sweat.
"Well, now, isn't that interesting?" Nekozawa spoke, making the puppet on his hand nod. "What was that? You think it sounds like fun, Belzenef?" The puppet nodded again. "You may just be on to something there. If it's fear they want, the Black Magick Club will be happy to oblige! After all, what's Halloween without a healthy dose of pure, unadulterated terror?"
I walked over to him and asked, "Would you really be willing to help us get back at the twins?"
"Don't go near him!" my brother whispered. I waved him off, knowing Nekozawa wouldn't hurt me. We had become fairly good friends since we tried to help him, especially since I was so understanding of his condition.
Nekozawa smirked, "Not only would it be my pleasure, but it is almost my duty, Katashi."
I grinned, "So then, how exactly are we going to scare Hikaru and Kaoru?"