“Alright, Tamaki and I are going to have to have a long talk.” I hissed examining the “flower girl” outfit. It was more like three scrap sheets of fabric tapered with a whole bunch of flowers. “I mean, what does this have to do with anything?”
“He said he saw it on TV once.” Haruhi was just as fed up with it as me. She was dressed in a man-ish suit made of fake bear.
“I feel like this is some sort of fairy cosplay? Maybe?” I guessed tossing the sad excuse for a dress aside.
“At least it’s Tamaki choosing and not Renge.” She sighed. I raised a brow.
“Renge?” I asked. “Who’s that?”
“Oh, right. I forgot you haven’t met her yet. Renge is the self-proclaimed host manager. She’s in France now visiting some family and friends. If you think Tamaki’s bad, wait until you see Renge. She makes him look like a saint.”
“Good to know.” I said unbuttoning my uniform. “I don’t have to sing today, do I?”
“After what happened yesterday, Tamaki said you’ll just be role-playing for a while.”
“Role-playing? How do I role-play as a fairy? I feel like his ideas are seriously flawed.”
“Oh, they are.” She laughed. “He means well, he just doesn’t think.”
I nodded slipping out of my uniform and slid into the skimpy fairy outfit. I itched at the flowers. “What, no wings?”
Haruhi smiled, flipping a flower over. “Not today, be grateful. At least he isn’t making you a Princess of the Pixies. Trust me, he wanted to.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” I smiled. “But what if someone’s allergic to flowers? Ever thought of that?”
“That’s why they’re hypo-allergenic.”
I spun on the balls of my feet to face Kyoya. He fixed his glasses and scribbled something down on his clipboard.
“So I see you’ve thought of everything once again, Kyoya.” I hummed. He carefully made his way to my side, tucking a stray hair back behind my ear.
“Almost everything.” He grinned. A chill leaped up my spine. I glanced at Haruhi who shared my confusion.
This was an odd friendliness.
“Anyways,” I said pulling away, “what should I do? I don’t know how to act like a fairy.” I studied him. Kyoya was dressed in skunk suit that resembled a fairy tale I once knew. Then it dawned on me. “I’m Tinkerbelle, aren’t I?”
He gave off a low chuckle. “And we’re the Lost Boys. Welcome to Never Land.”
I moaned. Under any other circumstance, I’d love to Role Play Peter Pan, I love Tinkerbelle, but the fact that I was forced and tricked into it, I hated it.
“Let me guess: Tamaki’s Peter Pan?”
“Why, yes. He is.”
I did a slow twirl in my make-shift fairy outfit and sighed. “I don’t feel very fairy-ish.”
“Stop complaining.” He said suddenly. “You girls take forever to get ready.”
“Gee, I wonder why.” I spat sarcastically.
“At least he didn’t make you Princess of the Pixies.” Kyoya said leading me out the door. I gaped over my shoulder at Haruhi who was smirking. My image of Tamaki was shattered. So he was secretly evil.
“Ah! Finally! There’s my lovely daughter. Look at you, so charming. Little Tinkerbelle, you are to die for!” He froze. “Bad choice of words, please forgive me.”
“You’re forgiven.” I said shifting uncomfortably. “This is embarrassing.”
“What? You look cute. Although, I wish you’d do something more with your hair. You always let it fall limply down your back. Imagine how lovely you’d look if you actually tried.”
“Excuse me?” I hissed. Haruhi grabbed my shoulder.
“Alright, that’s enough. Tamaki, we’ll throw her hair up in a bun, ok?”
“Fine.” I grumbled. I still wasn’t happy, but who was I to judge? Last night the boys saved my life. I was in dept to them. So if that meant dressing up as a slutty Tinkerbelle, so be it.
I yanked the rubber band off my wrist
And carelessly tossed my hair up in a bun.
I raised a brow.
He smiled.
“Perfect, now we can see your beautiful face. You know, now that I look at you, you actually look pretty exotic. What’s your heritage?”
“Lebanese, Italian, Spanish, Irish, and German.” I huffed. “Why? What are you?”
“Japanese and French.” He smiled. I nodded. I definitely saw more French in him than Japanese. Other than his eyes, he appeared 100% French. “Alright, places everyone!”
Without hesitation, everyone filed in front of the large double doors. Almost immediately, the doors flung open and in gushed a flood of people, swooning over their favorite “type”. I rubbed my temples. This was another headache waiting to happen.
“Let me guess, Tinkerbelle?” Someone said. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Why, yes.” I forced a smile. Remember, sad lost girl is your type. I told myself. I let my smile dissolve. “But I’m afraid I pale in comparison to the real deal.”
“No, no, no!” A whole herd of boys were suddenly consuming me. “Indie, you’re beautiful! Better than the real deal!”
“Breath taking.”
I blushed.
This was too much.
An hour later, I had already flirted with more than half the boys and counseled another handful. Somehow, I had managed to transform into “Tinkerbelle, Mrs. Fix-It.” I needed a break. I graciously excused myself and slipped into the back. I paused. Was that black door here before?
“I wouldn’t if I were you.” The twins sang at the same time. I glanced around. They had boxed me into a Hitachiin sandwich. I shook my head. Hitachiin-fox sandwhich.
“What’s behind the door?”
“The Black Magic Club.” Kaoru said in a dark, eerie voice.
“Are you scared?” Hikaru asked.
“No,” I replied evenly, “actually, quite the opposite. I’m intrigued.”
I stretched my hand towards the door handle, at the same time, the boys pounced. They latched onto my arms and started wheeling me away.
“Hey!” I screamed trying to wiggle my way out of the death grip.
“It’s for your own good.” They said. “The Black Magic Club is all about curses and, well, Black Magic.”
“Aren’t you the least bit curious?” I protested. “Come on, let me just see!”
“No.” They harmonized. I whipped free.
“Well, I am. Call me a snoop, call me a curious cat. Whatever. See ya!” That said, I lunged for the door and yanked it open only to be greeted by a man cloaked in all black. “Um, hello.” I waved sheepishly.
“Fairy?” He said breathlessly.
“Tinkerbelle, actually.” The boys chirped. I rolled my eyes.
“I’m India Valentine, second year student. Call me Indie. Who are you?”
“Umehito.” He retorted. “Can we help you?”
At that moment, I found the he was holding a puppet kitty. I tilted my head off to one side.
“What’s the story behind the cat?” I asked curiously.
“Uh oh, she asked.” Kaoru snickered.
“You know what that means!” Hikaru cheered.
“What? What does it mean?”
“Curse.” They hissed.
“Umehito, is that true?” I asked. “Am I cursed because I wanted to know about your cat?”
“Why are you so friendly?” He cowered. “You’re like the sun…I can’t stand the sun, I’ll, I’ll die!”
With that, he slammed the door into place leaving me even more confused. The twins snickered. I sighed.
“Well that was a bust. I guess I’ll never fully understand the Black Magic Club. Oh, well. No harm, no fowl. You guys hungry? I could go for some cheesecake. Where’s Honey?”
I was musing mostly to myself, but the boys tugged along anyways. I found Honey and Mori sitting together surrounded by a group of obsessed girls. Honey had on a matching pink bunny suit and Mori was dressed as a tiger. I smiled and waved to the girls, hoping to not spark any jealousy. My gaze fell on Honey.
“Honey-sempai, I have a question. Have you ever baked yourself a cheesecake before?”
“No! But I’d sure love to!” He sang dancing in his seat. I looked to Mori.
“Would the two of you like to help me bake a cheesecake? Mine was eaten last night, and I’ve been craving it since. What do you say? Call it a bonding experience.”
“Wow, Indie! You sure are in a good mood!” Honey chirped flipping his bunny in the air. “I like this side to you!”
Mori nodded and the twins sighed.
“Are we invited too? Or is it just a threesome?” They asked.
“I didn’t think you’d be interested, but sure! The more the merrier!”
“I love seeing my children getting along so well.” Tamaki commented zipping past us. I followed him with my eyes. He was all over a girl, making her turn the color of a rather ripe tomato. I looked for Haruhi. I wondered how she liked seeing her boyfriend all over other girls. But she seemed immune. Chatting on the couch with a bunch of girls. I shook my head.
“Point me in the direction of a kitchen?” I asked.
“Kitchen?” They all exchanged confused looks. I slapped my palm to my head.
“You guys have absolutely no idea how to cook or work a kitchen, do you?”
“Nope!” Honey hummed climbing up Mori’s side. “But I’ve always wanted to learn how commoners prepare their own food!”
“Us too!” The twins chimed. I let out a frustrated sigh.
Spoiled rich kids.
“Follow me, then. There has to be some kind of kitchen around here. But-“ I froze. My gaze danced along the crowd until they met Kyoya, Haruhi, and finally Tamaki. They have all been so kind to me, was it fair if I just ditched?
“Something wrong?” Honey asked.
“She’s lost in thought.” The twins said. I fixed my pathetic excuse for a dress and soothed back my hair.
“Should we just ditch?” I asked aloud.
“What do you mean?” Honey asked. I gestured around the room.
“It’s kind of a full house. It doesn’t seem right to just leave.”
“Nonsense, the boss won’t care.” Hikaru said waving his hand.
“The day’s almost over anyways.” Kaoru reasoned.
“Yeah, plus you have my mind set on cheesecake!” Honey giggled. “It wouldn’t be fair to go back on that promise now.”
“If you say so.” I sighed. I arched my back to stare at Mori. “You haven’t said a word; I’d like to know if you think this is a good idea, please?” The words came out harsher and more demanding than I thought. I lowered my head not wanting to see his expression.
“I think,” I snapped my head back up, “that maybe it’s not the best idea.”
“Takashi?” Honey gasped. Mori shot him a pleading look as I tossed the options over in my head. Maybe if I asked…
“What’s going on over here? Shouldn’t you be working?” I recognized Kyoya’s voice almost immediately. I smiled.
“Just the man I was looking for.” I chirped. “We’re all craving cheesecake and were wondering if it was at all possible for us to go and make some. The problem is, it would take the remainder of the day to do this, meaning we’d miss out on, erm, Peter Pan cosplay.”
“I see.” He fixed his glasses into place and sighed. “That is problematic, isn’t it?”
“Feel free to say no, it was just an idea.”
“No! I want cheesecake.” Honey whined. Kyoya ignored him.
“I’ll tell you what, you spend the next twenty minutes entertaining our guests and I’ll let you leave early to make some cheesecake at the Hitachiin house.”
“Why does it have to be our house?” They asked.
“That’s my deal. Take it or leave it.”
“Take it! Take it!” Honey chanted. Mori was frozen into place. I found myself slipping closer to his side. It was easy disappearing into him.
Harmless.
I sighed.
“We take the deal.” I murmured. Kyoya smirked. There was more to this deal than he was leading on, but before I could catch him, he vanished into the crowd. I huffed, flopping into a seat next to Honey.
Twenty minutes?
I could do that.