"Let's play the which one is Hikaru game!" the twins shout.
The customers around them get excited. they throw on some old-fashioned green caps to hide the part in their hair and switch places a few times. They've been doing this all afternoon. None of the girls can guess right on the first try. I think it's pretty stupid, I mean, they're so different. How can you get it wrong.
"Oh, I can never tell! You both look so similar." a girl sighs, Tomiko I believe.
I walk past with a tea tray and shake my head, "What about you Sebastian? Can you guess?" Hikaru asks.
I set the tray dawn at my table, "Of coarse I know who's who." I say blandly.
"Then take a guess." Kaoru suggests with a smile.
I point to Hikaru, "You're Hikaru. And don't try to convince me otherwise."
Hikaru looks at me with wide eyes, most of the girls' jaws drop, "How can you tell, Sebastian?" Tomiko asks.
I smile, "Isn't it obvious? I mean they're so different. They may look similar but it's not like they're the same person."
I go back to pouring tea for my customers, "Too bad you got it wrong."Hikaru says with a laugh.
I walk over to them, I grab Hikaru's tie and pull him close. He turns red in the face. I hear Tamaki yelling to Kyoya nearby.
"No, I didn't. Kaoru doesn't blush like you do." I let go of him and turn to Kaoru.
I grab his hand and wrap my arm around his waist, "I think I'd recognize my own dance partner."
The girls squeal and I walk back to my table. Haruhi is yelling to the twins now about taking photos of him without permission. Just another day in the Host Club. Kyoya comes up to me and hands me a magazine. On the cover is my face. I flip through it and see some other pictures of me. Some I know are photoshopped, but I think I know why Haruhi was mad.
"Kyoya...what's this?" I ask flipping through a few more pages.
"New magazines I had made, they're selling out quick. Our customers can buy a limited edition magazine about their favorite host or even collect all eight of them." he says not only to me, but to the girls at my table as well.
"I'll buy all eight!" one of the girls at my table says.
"I'll buy Sebastian's edition!" another chimes.
Kyoya looks to me with a smug smile then his fake charming smile as he speaks to the girls, "I'd be happy to place orders right now."
A dark shadow appeared in the corner of the room and Tamaki ran over to me and hid behind me, "Tamaki, what are you doing?"
"Nekozawa..." he whispers and points to the shadowy door.
I walk over to it and Tamaki is frantically calling after me. I stop in front of the door. How the hell is it so dark over here? It makes no sense, there's plenty of light in this room. The door creaks open and a cat puppet sticks out.
"You're not afraid?" a voice asks from behind the door.
I tilt my head to the side a bit, "I don't think so...maybe just a little confused."
A person in a black robe peaks out from the door, "Oh, hey Nekozawa." Hikaru says and slides next to me.
"What is your name?" the cloaked boy asks.
"Um, my name is Sebastian Parker. I'm a new transfer student." I say.
The boy chuckles, "Tell me, Sebastian. Are you familiar with the art of dark magic."
I shake my head, "Not personally, but I knew some people that practice it."
"Interesting. Would you be interested in joining the Black Magic Club?" Nekozawa questions.
Tamaki runs up and hides behind my back but yells at Nekozawa. Something about influencing his son. The other hosts gather around, drawn to the commotion like moths.
"I apologize for my club leader, Nekozawa. And although your club seems interesting, I'm already a member of the Host Club. I don't think it would be fair to your club if I don't have the time to participate." I say.
Nekozawa slowly backs up into the darkness, "I understand. If you ever have a change of heart, the Black Magic club is always here."
The door closes and the darkness slowly dissipates. An ordinary door remains illuminated by natural light. I go back to my customers and apologize for leaving so suddenly.
The rest of the day is practically ordinary, considering there's always some kind of drama here. I noticed the twins playing the which one is Hikaru game with Haruhi. They got all fired up after Haruhi guessed right.
"Why the hell would you ask that?!?" Hikaru yells at Kaoru.
They started yelling at each other, the last thing I heard was, "Your Mama wears too much makeup!"
I didn't quite catch what was going on but the twins seemed to be radiating anger. The whole room seemed to get silent except for Tamaki's rant. Honey and Mori walk up to me while Haruhi tries to talk some sense into them.
"This isn't gonna end well. Is it?" Honey says and takes my hand.
Time Skip---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Kaoru...you died your hair." I state the obvious as he takes his seat to my left.
"Do you like it? I thought the color suited me." he says running a hand through his now bright blue hair.
"Yeah. Sorry, it's just different. I wasn't really expecting to see you with blue hair when I came back to school." I say trying not to stare.
"Hey guys." Hikaru calls and sits to my right.
Oh, Lord. I look over to him to see his hair died a bright pink. This is a little much. I mean I know they're trying to make a statement but I can tell they didn't really want to dye their hair in the first place.
"You didn't." Hikaru says as he looks to Kaoru next to me.
Kaoru stifles a laugh, "At least I don't look as stupid as you."
They start arguing and I'm stuck in the middle of it, literally. Haruhi enters the calculus class room and looks to us in horror. The twins start throwing things at each other.
I look to Haruhi, "Please help." I squeak as Hikaru throws a desk.
Time Skip *******************************************************************
"They've been going at it all day." Honey whispers.
We sit in the back of my AP English Literature class. We're supposed to be reading Lord of the Flies a book I've read twice for English classes. A selection I'm not particularly fond of.
"We've got to do something. This is getting out of hand." I whisper and flip a page.
"What if I get a cake, right. And then you tell Hika-chan and Kao-chan to stop fighting. Then we get you and Haru-chan to kiss them. Then they'll be happy and we can all eat cake." he says and flips a page in his book.
I shake my head, "I'm not kissing Kaoru." I say.
He looks at me, "I never said if it was him or Hika-chan, but okay. How about we have them eat cake and make them work it out?"
I can feel my face heat up a little, "Honey senpai...do all your plans include eating cake?"
"Pretty much." he nods.
Time Skip<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<3
We're all in Music Room 3 and the twins are still at it. Tamaki suggested that maybe this is just their way of becoming more independent of each other. I can't help but think maybe its something more. Either way, I'm already sick of all this constant arguing. Kaoru pulls out something, a hex doll.
"That's enough!" I yell as Tamaki starts to freak out.
Kaoru holds out the doll, "I'll hex you Hikaru. I'll do it."
Haruhi gets in the middle of them before it can escalate. He threatens to not let them go to his house if they keep fighting. Suddenly they're mood changes and their mischievous smirks appear.
"So we can go to your house?" Hikaru asks.
Are you kidding me. This is why they've been fighting all day? To drive us insane and get Haruhi to invite them over?
"I can't believe you guys." I say and pinch the bridge of my nose.
"Their little fight raised our popularity by five percent." Kyoya says as he's working numbers at the table.
I sigh, "Can we take a second from the numbers and realize that this act went too far?"
He stares at me but then goes back to his Death Note. I see Honey eating cake while Mori does homework. Were they not worried at all?
Time Skip +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Let's play the which one is Hikaru game!"
"That's easy. Hikaru has the pink hair."
"That's right!"
I look over to the twins and shake my head. I'll never understand why they play that game or why they try to fool everyone. Haruhi walks by and I can see he's also sick of it.
"Hikaru has the blue hair and Kaoru has the pink. You guys switched colors." he states and walks away.
I smile a little,"Sebastian, is everything alright?" asks a girl at my table.
"Yes, sorry. I was just thinking of something." I say.
"It's alright. I was just telling Mai how cute you and Kaoru are." the girl giggles.
I laugh, "What do you mean?"
She picks up her tea cup, "Of coarse the twins are great together. But it's easy to tell that Hikaru has something for Haruhi and Kaoru has something for you." she says and takes a sip.
"You noticed too?" Honey pipes up as he walks over.
I look at the girls with me at the table with me, they start to tell Honey the little things they notice happen. I sort of drown them out and look over to Kaoru. He's way out of my league. I would never stand a chance.
"Go talk to him." Honey says and nudges me.
I look to Mori and he nods. The girls are bursting with excitement and nod to me. I take a deep breath and stand up. I walk over to the twins and touch the pink haired twin's shoulder.
"Kaoru, would it be possible to speak with you in private?" I ask, I can hear the girls at my table squealing with anticipation.
He nods, "Sure."
I walk with him out of Music Room 3 and lead him down the hallway. I find an open empty music room and lead him inside and close the door, remembering my last mistake of keeping it open. He sits on a piano bench and I grab a stool.
I take a deep breath, "So I need to ask you something because apparently I'm oblivious."
"Okay?" he says questioningly.
I look at everything but him, "So people have been talking, my customers and Honey Senpai, and I don't know what to do really because I'm pretty sure you don't feel that way and if you do then it might create conflict with the rest of the club because we're here to serve the girls and make them happy and I..."
"Sebastian. You're rambling." he says with a small smile.
I let out a nervous laugh, "I am, aren't I."
I look at him and take a deep breath,"What I need to know is...do you have feelings for me?"
He's quite. Good job, you made it awkward. I quickly regret this whole conversation. It didn't need to happen. Now it's...
"Yes."
I'm stunned, "Wait, you said yes?"
He nods his head, "Yes."
I rub the back of my neck, "So..."
He laughs a little, "So...what?"
I shrug, "Is this the part where I'm supposed to kiss you or are we supposed to go back like nothing happened?"
He chuckles, "Maybe if you agree to take me on a date and then play me a song you can kiss me."
"Deal." I say.
"Yes?"
"Yeah."
I take a look at what instruments are around. I spot a small case in the corner and open it. Inside is a sleek black mandolin. It's not necessarily a guitar. I only know a few songs on it. But I know the perfect one.
I sit down on the stool again, "I don't really have the best voice though...and the song is in English."
He brings up a stool closer to me as I tune the Mandolin, "I don't mind."
I start to play Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls. It's a song I remember my best friend Haley loved. (The song above is a cover of the song by Sleeping With Sirens) Is strum the mandolin and look to Kaoru. I close my eyes as I start singing. A few verses in I open my eyes again to see him smiling at me.
I know he probably doesn't understand much of what I'm saying but I keep singing anyway. The mandolin continues to create small high pitched noises that seem to go together. The song ends and I don't know what to do. That was the first time in a long time that I felt almost completely comfortable playing a song for someone.
"That was beautiful." he says and holds my hand.
I laugh a little, "You know I could be cheesy and say 'Not as beautiful as you', but I'll save us both the pain."
I set the mandolin back in it's case and close it up. I put it back in the corner where It'll probably stay unnoticed by the other students. I turn back to see Kaoru running a hand through his pink hair as he looked into a mirror across the room.
"You don't like it?" I ask and he looks to me a little startled.
He smiled a little, "Not really, I don't really recognize myself. If that makes sense."
"It does." I say and brush a stray strand of hair from his face.
"Haruhi told me." he says.
"Told you what?" I ask confused.
"She told me you're transgender." he says quieter.
I look away and back up a little, "Oh."
He gets up from the stool, "It doesn't matter to me. Well, it matters, but I don't care if you weren't born a guy..."
I nod, "I understand. You understand why I haven't really said anything about it right?" I ask.
He nods, "I get it. The way Tamaki and the others try to get Haruhi to be more feminine, that's probably a big red flag to you."
"Does anyone else know?" he asks taking my hand again.
"Just Haruhi and Kyoya. I think Honey and Mori might be figuring it out though." I say and take a step closer to him.
He reaches for the top of my shirt, "Kaoru, what are you doing?"
He loosens my tie, "You should unbutton it a little every once in a while. It's kinda cute."
"Another thing, you know this is a wig right?" he says as he unbuttons the first few buttons of my shirt.
I shake my head, "Can I take it off?"
"You really don't like it do you?" he asks.
"You look really uncomfortable with it." I say brushing some of it back.
He turns away and takes it off and the wig cap beneath it. His hair is all messy and it's adorable. He tries to fix it but I grab his hand.
"It's cute." I say and cup his cheek with my other hand.
I'm unsure what to do. I don't know what it is but I can't really think straight around him. This is probably really awkward.
"This is the part where you kiss me." Kaoru says.
I lean in and he wraps his arms around my neck.
The door slams open and I immediately back away. Tamaki is at the door with Hikaru behind him. Shit...
"What the heck is my son doing with one of the shady twins?!?" Tamaki yells.
"We were just talking." Kaoru says looking to Hikaru.
"Just talking, my ass. Where the hell is your wig?" he says noticing his hair.
Tamaki goes on babbling about how unfashionable and inappropriate I was being. I start to laugh a little. He gets quiet and the twins look over to me.
"Guys nothing happened. You can stop freaking out. Besides, I think we can take care of ourselves. We were just talking, I may have leaned in for a kiss but it didn't happen." I say putting my hand on Tamaki's shoulder.
"We gotta get this wig back on, come on Kaoru." Hikaru says, Kaoru takes a hold of Hikaru's blue wig and pulls it off.
Kaoru stifles a laugh, "Come on Hikaru. The wigs are stupid and we both know it."
Honey and Mori walk in, "Where've you been guys? We closed ten minutes ago. Oh...hey are you guys together now?" Honey asks looking to me.
I nod. Haruhi walks in too with Kyoya. The whole club is here now, I guess I'll never truly have privacy with these guys around.
"Sebastian you just added another hundred thousand yen to your debt." Kyoya states then leaves.
Kaoru looks to me, "I'll pay it." he says with a scared look.
I smile, "It's fine. It was worth it."
Word Count: 2795