(Seina's POV)
By the time the next week rolled around, the excitement of my date with Kyoya had faded to be once again replaced with my grim reality. I could not be with him. Yet the thought of his lips on mine and his arms around me was enough to set my heart racing. I wanted to spend every spare moment with him before my future caught up with me and ended it for good. But we were both busy, working hard for our family companies and anything excessive would begin to attract suspicion.
My maid fastened the back of my school dress as I secured the cuffs. Everything from my hair to my shoes were pristine. Her eyes met mine in the mirror but unlike most times she didn't look away.
'What is it Yuki?' I questioned.
'Forgive me Seina-sama, but you were in such high spirits all weekend and now you seem awfully sad.' I offered her a small smile.
'I'm alright Yuki, reality is just catching up with me faster than I would have liked.' That only seemed to concern her further.
'Seina-sama you're not in any trouble are you?'
'No Yuki of course not. In all honesty, I wish things were as simple as a little trouble.' Somehow she seemed to untangle the truth from the words I offered her. She picked up a brush from my dressing table and began to draw it through my hair for the second time that morning.
'Do you love him?' I hesitated, taken aback by her straight forward question.
'No. But I could. And somehow that's worse. It's a cruel what if. I can't get further involved with him. It hurts now, never mind if...' I trailed off with a sigh and an uncomfortable laugh. 'It doesn't matter.' She put a comforting hand on one of my shoulders and I gave it a small squeeze. 'Thank you Yuki. I'll see you tonight.'
I entered the host club to find it suspiciously empty of guests. It was peacefully quiet which was even more suspicious. I looked around for the tell tale signs of the murder which they had to be covering up, only to see Honey-senpai taking a nap under a makeshift canopy. I glanced at Mori-senpai, the surprisingly handy and very devoted creator of the adorable set up before me. The hush within the clubroom finally made sense, they weren't covering up a murder, they were trying to prevent one.
I crept over to where Mori-senpai was sat next to Kyoya and drew up a chair. 'Good morning Mori-senpai, Kyoya-senpai.' For my efforts I received two small nods, the former's attention fixated on his sleeping cousin and the latter's attention glued to his laptop screen. I tried not to take Kyoya-senpai's behaviour personally after all I knew he was a prick and there were few times he wasn't distracted by work. Yet I still felt a small twinge in my chest. I had looked forward to seeing him since our date, since his confession and here he was barely acknowledging me. Before, I could get too worked up a hand appeared on my knee under the table and gently rubbed up to my thigh. A small smirk played on his lips even as he continued to look at the screen. He was very good at this.
I heard a splashing sound and a familiar yelp and turned to see the twins, clutching Haruhi between them and staring down at a coffee table on which lay a tea stained Usa-chan. That was not good. I immediately turned to Mori-senpai to gage his reaction but he remained as impassive as ever. That was good. If he was not worried, neither was I.
Tamaki-senpai however, was horrified; jumping up and down and gesticulating wildly. This then devolved further into an argument about whether or not Haruhi should be dressed as a 'bunny girl'.
Kyoya sighed. 'Guys since there are no customers here I don't mind you making a racket but are you sure you want to? You'll wake Honey-senpai.' This had the desired effect and the four of them seized their current argument. All three boys jumped for cover behind a sofa facing the sleeping Honey-senpai. Haruhi however, didn't realise the risks involved and walked towards him.
'A high school third year taking naps? Well we can't help the fact his bunny is stained. Let's just wake him up and apologise.' The terrified trio shook their heads frantically and gestured for her to join them in hiding. She reluctantly walked over to them but refused to cower behind the sofa. 'What do you mean?'
'Honey-senpai wakes up in Megaton-class ill humour.' Haruhi began to look nervous as the terrified boys got closer, whispering noisily. 'This is just a rumour but apparently, once the Haninozuka family was in America and Honey-senpai was sleeping off his jet lag when a soldier made the mistake of waking him up. Honey-senpai wiped out two whole platoons of Green berets. There have been diplomatic issues with America ever since.' I rolled my eyes, entirely plausible yet obviously fictitious.
'Worse still, Usa-chan was made by Honey-senpai's favourite, late grandmother and since he carries it around everywhere with him there is little doubt that it is a precious article. Once he wakes up and sees that Usa-chan is irrevocably altered-'
'-We'll be irrevocably altered!' Finished the near hysterical twins.
Haruhi looked unimpressed. 'You're exaggerating. No matter what way you look at it, those stories do not ring true.' Tamaki-senpai edged closer.
'No! There is other evidence that Honey-senpai has an evil split personality. He is type AB.'
'So?'
'That means he has the same blood type as Kyoya!' Haruhi looked horror struck, utterly convinced and they all turned to peer at Kyoya who remained focused on his laptop.
'Do you have some kind of problem with my blood type?'
I grinned at him. 'You can't pretend it's not a compelling argument.'
'Oh really?'
'I'm almost wholly convinced myself.'
'That's very interesting considering your blood type is also AB.' I narrowed my eyes at him.
'And how pray tell did you know that?'
'I hacked your medical records.'
I shook my head in disbelief. 'I could have you arrested.'
'But you won't.' Irritated by his arrogance, I batted his hand off of my leg and folded my arms, fixing my attention on the now stirring Honey-senpai.
Tamaki-senpai and the twins were becoming more panicked by the second. 'This is bad, we have to do something before he wakes up. Hikaru. Kaoru.'
'Sir!'
'Get your parents' Cessna, fly to Osorezan and collect a medium to channel the spirit of Honey-senpai's dead grandmother to help us make a new usa-chan. Take this map of Aomori prefecture. Don't forget the apple juice, apple jam and Nebuta souvenir dolls.' Even the twins were not impressed with this nutty scheme.
'We don't have that much time. We don't mind derangement but please come up with something more constructive.'
'Ok, while we send Usa-chan out for cleaning, Haruhi will wear this bunny suit.' Poor Haruhi immediately attempted to escape.
'No way! And where did you get that thing!? It's too obvious!'
In the argument that ensued, Honey-senpai was awoken and began to stir. As a last minute solution, Tamaki put his bear next to Honey-senpai which was thrown hard onto the ground. This caused new fear in Tamaki-senpai and the twins, especially as the sleepy boy spotted his beloved soft toy. His face became shadowed and enraged, his small form tensed and ready for a fight.
'Who got Usa-chan dirty?' They were all quaking in their boots. Then Mori-senpai decided enough was enough and stepped in to save them.
'Usa-chan said he absolutely had to have some tea.'
'Really? So that's why his face is all dirty! Do you think he wants some cake too?'
The next day, Usa-chan had been perfectly cleaned, leaving no signs of tea staining and Honey-senpai was in high spirits. He chattered happily about sweets and cake, while eating lots of them. Haruhi was eyeing him with obvious concern. 'Honey-senpai if you keep eating nothing but sweets like this, you're going to end up with cavities.'
He brushed off her concerns cheerfully. 'It's ok, I make sure to brush my teeth really well.'
Apparently he spoke too soon as the next bite of cake caused him to go pale with pain. Me, Haruhi and the twins crowded around him, trying to get him to open his mouth to no avail. Mori-senpai then intervened, pinning his cousin to the sofa and forcing his mouth open. He quickly concluded that the distressed boy did in fact have a cavity. Honey-senpai protested that he was fine and in no pain but one quick look from Mori-senpai had Tamaki-senpai announcing that sweets were banned until further notice. I winced as Honey-senpai cried and begged for mercy, protesting that he was completely fine. It was not nice to know my friend was unhappy and in pain.
The following day Honey-senpai turned up at school with a little bandage tied around his head, the sight very reminiscent of a little rabbit. He looked thoroughly forlorn and miserable as he shuffled along the school corridors. He was receiving a lot of sympathy throughout the school, especially from host club guests.
Me, Haruhi and the twins stood watching from the end of the corridor as Mori-senpai approached. He searched Honey-senpai's bag and emptied out what had to have been a metric ton of sweets. Honey-senpai insisted he was 'just looking' and consequently had his sweets swapped out for a menu of sweet treats instead. The twins were shocked by the harsh treatment.
'I didn't think Mori-senpai could be so firm. I would have thought that his principles would prevent him from doing anything to upset Honey-senpai. And to think that he could get his highness to go along with him too.' I glanced back at the older students thoughtfully.
'That's what I don't get. Why would Tamaki-senpai go along with him so willingly?' They shrugged and we headed onto the host club.
Kyoya was in a very good mood, practically prancing around the host club, while indulging in many unusual behaviours such as smiling and laughing. He was gleeful as he iterated Mori-senpai's instructions. It was fascinating how someone with so much money could be so stingy that money saving on sweets could cause this kind of personality change. It was very disturbing to watch.
I walked into the host club without him doing anything to provoke or insult me and was then twirled in a circle. 'Kyoya, not to put a damper on your good mood but are you feeling ok? Should I call someone? Do you need a doctor? You're scaring me a little.' He simply smiled widely and ruffled my hair, leaving me staring after him, open mouthed.
Me and Haruhi were heading back to the host club after class when we spotted Mori-senpai, talking alone with some girl. She was obviously confessing her feelings or about to. Uncomfortable, as I knew what the outcome would be, I tugged on Haruhi's sleeve impatiently.
'Come on Haruhi, this isn't something we should be watching.' She didn't listen and stayed fixed to the spot, watching the scene unfold in front of us. Surely enough the girl confessed her feelings and Mori-senpai simply stood and stared at her, not saying a word.
It wasn't long till the girl concluded that he liked someone else and ran away in tears. I glanced at Haruhi with disapproving eyes.
'Are you happy now? Some poor girl got her heart broken.'
'You knew he was going to react like that.'
'Of course I did. I've known him for years. He receives confessions almost as often as I do and he has never accepted their feelings, never mind reciprocated. Sometimes they even come to the dojo, I can't tell you the amount of time I've had to ask them to leave and been mistaken for his girlfriend.' Haruhi looked at me thoughtfully.
'You're a good friend Seina.'
'I like to think so.'
'So how often do you receive confessions? Are there more than the ones who come to our classroom?' I laughed and started walking away.
'As if I'm going to tell you!'
'I won't tell the twins!'
'Of course you won't. Because I'm not giving you the chance.'
Over the next few days, Honey-senpai upped the antics in an attempt to get his hands on some sweet treats. He looked like he wasn't far off withdrawal symptoms. His first offensive was a two pronged attack of cuteness and a false miraculous recovery. Mori-senpai saw right through him and stuck an ice lolly in Honey-senpai's mouth, immediately causing the swelling to return. He then calmly walked away.
Honey-senpai's next strategy was less direct. He sidled up to some girls who were quietly enjoying some tea and sandwiches and suggested that their tea would be far more enjoyable with a slice of cake. He stared at them eagerly, clearly expecting them to give into the pressure of his excited cheering. However, after a moment's consideration they got up and fled the clubroom. I was surprised at their resolution but Honey-senpai was crushed.
Finally he tried guilt tripping. He walked around the host club with a dejected look on his face, shoulders slumped and feet dragging on the ground. I was stood chatting to Haruhi when Honey-senpai practically walked into us. He tugged on each of our sleeves. 'Haru-chan? Sei-chan? Am I bad? Did I do something to make god hate me?' We looked at each other guiltily then down at the tearful boy in front of us.
Haruhi then looked around conspiratorially, as if checking we weren't being watched and pulled something from her pocket. 'Just one ok?' She then opened her palm to reveal a small commoner health treat, made of kelp. 'It's the same colour.' She reasoned but his hopeful face had already fallen to depression. Haruhi was not the correct person to ask.
By the third day without sweets, Honey-senpai was incredibly irritable, sitting alone off to one side from everyone else and sulking. He then began pacing in a tight circle in front of the storage room which held the sweet cupboards. We were all assembled around a table, watching him with growing concern.
Hikaru frowned. 'He's scaring me.'
'Someone should talk to him.' Kaoru said, backing up his twin. Both twins immediately turned to me but I shook my head firmly.
'Not a chance. I know a bad idea when I hear one.' Then Honey-senpai opened the door to the storage room causing Hikaru to jump to his feet in alarm.
'He's going for the snacks!' I rolled my eyes, gesturing to Kyoya.
'As if Mr Cheap and Cheerful here hasn't already hidden all the snacks.' He confirmed my suspicions with a charming smile. 'How can you be enjoying this so much!? Look at him. He is distraught and that's making Mori-senpai upset too. You are a horrible person.'
The smile fell slightly from his handsome face. 'It is just business Seina-san.'
'Friends don't make business from their friends' misery!'
By this stage Honey-senpai was lying on the floor of the host club, his motivation to live apparently drained. Tamaki-senpai went over to check on him only to have his hand bitten, the small boy hanging on like a piranha.
'And that is why I didn't want to be the one to talk to him.'
Mori-senpai stood up and separated the two boys, saving Tamaki-senpai again. 'Mitsukuni don't take it out on other people or things. It's disgraceful.' Honey-senpai suddenly snapped and judo threw Mori-senpai on to the ground.
'Just a little bit won't hurt right!?' He screamed. 'You cheapskate! You hardhead! Takashi...Takashi I hate you!' Honey-senpai then fled the room, Tamaki-senpai right on his heels.
I made my way over to Mori-senpai and sat down next to him, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. 'He didn't mean it Mori-senpai. He could never hate you. He loves you.'
The hosts all still looked shell shocked, except for Haruhi who was clearly thinking about something. The twins attempted to speak to him also but he didn't seem to be listening to any of us, staring hard at the floor.
Haruhi interrupted. 'It was on purpose. Mori-senpai were you trying to make Honey-senpai hate you?' We all turned to her in confusion.
'What? Why would he do that?'
'In order to punish himself. Am I wrong?' Mori-senpai's shoulders slumped slower.
'It's my fault. I forgot to make him brush his teeth before his nap. Twice.' He was being painfully intense about this whole thing. I looked around to the others for help. What was I suppose to say to that? The twins exchanged a glance.
'But Mori-senpai that's not your...responsibility...is it...?'
'If Mitsukuni has to get false teeth I'll...I'll...'
'No. No. That won't happen.'
Haruhi sighed. 'He's surprisingly negative isn't he?' I nodded my agreement. He was only getting worse.
'If Mitsukuni hadn't thrown me down...I wouldn't be able to live with my self.'
A tearful and repenting Honey-senpai, clearly having heard the entire thing was then ushered back into the room by Tamaki-senpai. Sometimes the host club's king deserved more credit than we gave him. Honey-senpai ran straight over to his cousin and I took that as my cue to get out of the way. 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry Takashi! I promise I will never forget to brush my teeth again! I won't forget!' Mori-senpai put a reassuring arm around the sobbing boy. Thank goodness they'd made up.
About a week later, Honey-senpai's cavity was all better and he was enjoying sweet treats with a new lease of life. Everyone was glad to have things back to normal. Except Kyoya who was reviewing the receipts for sweets purchases with growing despair. I sat down opposite him, smiling brightly. 'I guess this is Karma for you being such a dick last week huh?' He scowled at me and I skipped off to sit with the twins.
'Karma huh? Are you by any chance restyling yourself Seina because our understanding was that you ordered the extra cake.' I gave them a smug smile and leaned back into the sofa, a warm cup of tea in my hands.
'Ok so occasionally Karma needs a little helping hand.'
'You're enjoying his suffering.'
'Not at all.'
Haruhi turned up beside us with a fresh tray of tea. 'Are you sure you want to go head to head with Kyoya-senpai like that Seina? You're very brave.' The twins shook their heads.
'Nope. She's immune to him. He is at her mercy.'
Haruhi frowned. 'How come?'
'Because, poor, innocent, little Haruhi. Kyoya-senpai is in love with Seina.' I blushed and scowled at them, even as Haruhi's mouth fell into an o shape.
'You are completely wrong. What on earth would make you say that!?'
'Well for one, you cost him money, and rubbed it in his face yet your tea is clearly not poisoned.'
'That's absurd.'
'We rest our case.' They stated as if my reasonable attitude had condemned me. I looked at Haruhi for help but she was just smiling at me with a vague look on her face. Fantastic.
Before I could construct a plausible defence, loud squealing erupted from the other side of the room. I turned to see the girl who had confessed to Mori-senpai the week before, standing next to Renge-san in a large group of fangirls. Surprisingly she looked ecstatic. It soon became clear why when we all turned to see Mori-senpai delicately wiping some cream from Honey-senpai's face. Thankfully the disgruntled Haruhi was too busy criticising this conclusion to remember anything the twins had said and I was spared further debate on the subject.
Before I could leave the host club Tamaki-senpai intercepted me. A piece of paper held out towards me. I took it from him, and examined it carefully. It was thick, high quality paper with embossed writing swirling across the front. It shimmered slightly in the light and roses adorned the corners. It was an invitation to a host club event.
Dear Princess Seina,
We the Ouran High School Host Club would be honoured if you would grace us with your presence at a special one off event at the Suoh mansion. This event is strictly for our most esteemed guests and as the whole host club will be in attendance, we hope to see you there. The event takes place on Saturday evening. Dress to impress. We will be eagerly awaiting your arrival.
Sincerely,
The Ouran High School Host Club
'No thank you Tamaki-senpai. I have other things to be doing.' His face transformed into a mask of immeasurable sadness. Feeling guilty, I remembered how admirably he had acted with Honey-senpai during the sweets ban. I sighed. 'Perhaps I could make some time in my schedule. But only because you impressed me with your behaviour last week. This is a one off. Ok?'
He nodded eagerly. 'Seina-san you will not regret this!'