#bunny haruhi my beloved

[ellssbellss]

Lavender Roses ~ Kyoya Ootori x Reader

pairing ~ Kyoya Ootori x reader

In which a rational head hides a generous heart, but you have always known how to see past his walls and help him bloom into the gorgeous rose he is. Enjoy a slow burn between an honor student and our beloved glasses character!

Happy 1 year to Lavender Roses and this entire, wonderful blog. Without you, this story wouldn't have reached as many people as it has. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

-> summary: "But not anymore. You haven’t been alone for a long time, (Y/n), not since you joined the club. Not since you met me."

-> word count: 25.6k (she extra, extra long just for you)

tw! the scene on the cliff gets a little intense, mentions of blood, demeaning language against women, slight PTSD, weaponry (knives), verbal assault, physical assault, sexual misconduct.

legend:

(M/n) - mother's name

(n/l) - native language

(s/c) - skin color

see masterlist! masterlist

taglist: @abbysblogsstuff @sunukissed @kisskissshutmydoor @idonia-dovahkiin @greensnakegoblep @vervainnnn @desert-fern @delievia @obeythemasters @luca-nightshade @sweetandsourwrites @wrzloyd @1234567890nono @inactivecrofters @katiebwalczak03 @reader3 @radical-bunny @stevexbucky404 @localgaytrainwreck

The Sun, The Sea, and The Host Club

Silence was so underrated. 

Before the host club, you thought of yourself as a sole extrovert. At the wish of your mother, you did everything you could to make solid connections with the kids in your year, flapping your wings from friend group to friend group, thinking that social fulfillment was a simple blueprint of friends, tons of conversation, and no alone time. 

But then you would come home, and the minute you stepped in your room, your energy would deflate like the school bag next to your desk, setting it down with a thud!. 

The comforter on your bed would dip, giving way invitingly as you sprawled across the duvet. It would hug your figure, caressing every tired muscle and massaging every sense that might’ve been overstimulated. Familiar air would flow through your nose and into your lungs, and you could finally just sit in the silence. 

Your stomach would dip in guilt, even as you selfishly indulged in the absence of sound; of people. The people in your school were nice, polite, and didn’t necessarily do anything for you to not want to be around them. It’s just that there was no connection. No undeniable force that pulled you to them, no little ball of light in your stomach after spending time with them. Maybe a business connection was made, but no connection of personality, of soul. 

There was a connection, however, with the silence. With your parent’s interesting habit of constant travel, you learned to respect your own thoughts and instincts, and they became a reliable companion in your never-ending search for genuine companionship. Maybe a few had made their way past your standards, like the boy you kissed under the tree, or maybe a student who sometimes traded her lunch for yours. 

But the silence was really your friend. 

You didn’t realize how much you could fully enjoy it until you met the Host Club. Until you met Kyoya. 

Because now, you had someone to enjoy it with. 

On the same duvet, you laid on your stomach, casual lounge wear draping over your body like a soft breeze, comforting and refreshing compared to the uniform you were forced to adorn. Knees bent, your ankles crossed in the air above you as you flipped a page in your textbook, highlighting the most important sentence in the paragraph with a bright yellow highlighter before switching to a new color for secondary information. Your head rested in your hand as the other threaded the blue highlighter through your fingers, the sound of plastic clicking against the rings on your finger adding to the sound of typing and the occasional sigh. 

Next to you, Haruhi reclined. Instead of her stomach, she rested on her back, your pillows supporting her weight as her arms braced a book. She was nearly at the end, her eyes focused as they zigzagged down the page before shifting to the next one, engrossed in the storyline of her historical fiction. 

Reading the passage you were on until your eyes had gone crossed, you turned to Haruhi to ask how her book was going before a sharp twang hit the back of your head. 

A pen fell onto the bed, and Haruhi met your eyes in surprise before you both heard snickering behind you. 

Rolling your eyes, you turned to see Hikaru and Kaoru fight to stop their shaking shoulders as they went back to their Nintendo games. Their thumbs turned the joysticks with no real purpose; they just wanted to look innocent. 

It didn’t take much thought for you to chuck the highlighter in your hands back at them, smacking Hikaru in the forehead.

The two armchairs your mom had picked out to accent your bedroom made it hard to escape your impeccable aim as you sacrificed another writing utensil, a pencil thumping against Kaoru’s chest. The twins gasped a little, before they smirked and shrugged, placing the study tools on the small table between them, making it clear you were not getting them back. 

A frustrated growl lovingly rumbled in the back of your throat as you turned to rifle through your bag, intending to pull out your entire pencil case for more ranged weapon options, before your eyes met with a deep brown.

Mori arched an eyebrow at you as he sat on a bean bag that decorated your floor, encouraging a silent conversation between the two of you. His eyes squinted slightly, as if to say Don’t do it. 

Scoffing, you gestured lightly to the gingered haired brothers as they continued to ignore you, mischievous smiles playing on their faces as they watched the interactions between you.

The stoic just shook his head, his earphones dangling lightly on his ears as he turned his attention back to his phone which was probably playing a youtube video on martial arts. Mori always thought he could learn more about his practice. 

Your shoulders dropped as you huffed, but in your heart you knew he was right, lest you wanted to litter your floor with anything and everything you and the twins found to throw at each other. This time, you shuffled through the case trying to find a new highlighter, or anything to underline what you needed to in your book. 

You came up empty, the bag only consisting of lead containers, cool erasers, and a few expo markers. And who would ever use dry-erase markers on paper?

Next to Mori, Honey kneeled on the floor as he watched you rummage through your bag that leaned on your bed frame, once, twice, and then a third time as your luck didn’t improve. Curiously, he looked down at his coloring book, the rolling meadows already colored in a deep green with a bright yellow sun in the corner. The boy-lolita’s plump cheeks rose as he thought of an idea, grabbing the green and yellow colored pencil before pressing the tops of his feet down on the soft carpet. 

Standing up, he toddled over to your side of the bed, passed the bedroom couch that Tamaki slept on, and laid the two colors out in front of you.

Seeing that his height only allowed him to barely see over your mattress, when you saw the things he offered you, you had to shift to the edge of your bed to hug him tightly, cooing a gentle thank you in his ear before letting go. 

His light brown eyes were bright as he just nodded, Honey’s blonde hair bobbing with the movement as he started to walk away, but you caught his shoulder.

Beckoning him back to you, you leaned down and whispered in his ear, your stomach almost hanging off your sheets.

“Could you also grab a red pen from my desk drawer?”

Always willing to help, Honey eagerly nods, padding across the carpet to the far side of your bedroom. As he gets closer, he realizes that he has no idea where you keep your pens, or really anything about how your desk is organized. How was he to find it without messing everything up?

Once his small figure makes it to your desk, he figures to ask the host sitting in your comfortable desk chair, a pair of glasses reflecting the light of a screen. 

A space on your forever cluttered desk was cleared for Kyoya’s computer. Blue and white light shines on the megane’s face as he types, switching between windows to reference his resources for a large research paper he is working on. 

When he feels a tug on his sleeve, the Ootori son utilizes his skill to be able to type without looking as he slips his gaze onto the martial arts master. Kyoya only pauses his menstruations when Honey looks pointedly behind him, and he turns his lean frame to see you watching the pair of hosts expectantly, spinning the remaining blue highlighter between your forefinger and your thumb. 

Rolling his eyes, he opens the drawer to his left, plucking a red ballpoint pen out from the stash you kept for moments like these and handed to his senpai before the clacking of his keyboard fills the air once more. 

And when Honey hands you your pen, a small smile is penciled on your face as you casually glance around your room. 

Your friends enhanced every corner in your bedroom, their presence secure and safe. Spreading your smile even wider, you go back to scanning the pages of your textbook, a contentedness warming your chest. Your definition of silence had changed into something that didn’t need to be hidden, but something that wanted to be shared. 

And you were willing to soak in that feeling forever, but you had no such luck.

Sharp heels clicked against the polished tile of your home, but before you had time to think about the fact that someone had broken in, your mother’s voice managed to carry through the mansion with ease. 

“(Y/n)! We’re home!” (N/l) reached the entrance to your bedroom.

Neck straining with the movement, you quickly broke your attention from your book and swung your legs over the side of your mattress. 

Passing the awakening Tamaki, your bare feet padded to the door of your bedroom and you peaked around the corner. 

Household maids, butlers, and anyone else employed by your family rushed past the mouth at the end of the hallway, finding the foyer that was right outside the opening. You follow their blurred movements as white uniforms come back the way they came, luggage piled in their arms and around their shoulders. 

You sweat dropped, your heart picking up speed as you turn to the host club behind you. 

Next to you, you saw a paused menu from the twin’s switches as they stretched their necks around you, trying to see who was calling for you. Tamaki was rubbing his vibrant purple eyes as he leaned on the back of the couch at the end of the bed, looking to a curious Haruhi to ask her what was going on? 

Honey watched you from his coloring book as he chewed on the end of a pencil before turning to Mori, who was still engrossed in his video, minding his own business. 

Kyoya still typed, and he too was ignoring the arrival of your parents, although you caught a not-so-subtle side eye behind the frame of his glasses. 

Uncertainty waved through your vocal chords as you held up your pointer finger to the group. “Uh, give me one second.” You stepped out before swinging half of your body back into your room, sending a pointed look at the twins. “Stay here.” 

And then you were gone. 

Your feet touched cool tiles as you made your way to the main entrance of your home, that chandelier still sparkling, even if no sunlight was pouring in. You hadn’t even realized how long you had been studying, considering the club had arrived early this afternoon. 

“Mom?” Your native language was confused on your tongue. At your call, she came around the corner that led to the kitchen, strikingly well put together considering having just come home from a two-week business trip in Belgium. Or what was supposed to be two weeks.

“Darling!” Your mother’s mouth twisted into a closed, but genuine, smile as she opened her arms out, hugging you deeply before parting from your touch. Your hold on her was loving, but still weary as you remembered what – or who was in your bedroom. 

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, because I am, but what are you doing back so early?” You put on a small smile as you watched her fly between one maid to another, directing them on where to put her bags.

“The meetings ran long, but that meant that we got to finish up a couple days earlier than we planned. Marney helped keep our schedule tight so that I could surprise you!”

A hesitant chuckle seeped out of you as you walked behind your mother, even if your heart skipped at the thought that she had wanted to come home early for you. 

“Well, you got me! I’m surprised!” Your tone felt too bright in your throat, but you released a breath as your mom walked straight past the hallway leading to your bedroom. “Where’s Dad?”

“Still in the car,” she replied, releasing her (h/c) hair from her ponytail as she made her way to the master suite, shaking the tension out of her roots. “You know how he gets about bringing germs from our travels into the house.” 

You hummed as you nodded. When you were born, your father had been so worried for his first and only child’s health that he had adopted the habits of a germaphobe. And being the incredibly consistent man he was, he never broke out of it. 

“But how was your day, dear?”

Your teeth scraped against the inside of your cheek before forming a reply. “It was good, just studied with some friends.” Not a total lie. 

“That’s it?” 

A small sigh left you. “Yeah, mom, that’s it.”

She hummed thoughtfully, but changed the subject, and you felt the silent judgment drip down your back, wetting your spine with its sludge. 

“You’ll never guess who I saw at the Belgium Conference.” You stopped in the door of her room as she pranced around her bed, lugging one of the suitcases into her arms and onto the expensive sheets in front of her. 

“Who?”

The bedroom light glowed a warm yellow against the darkness of the windows as she popped open the case by its latches. “Tomoya Arai.”

Your eyebrows raise. A sense of awareness washed over you, but you couldn’t quite place it. “Why does that same sound familiar?”

“You went to middle school with his son for a year or two before their family moved. Turns out they moved back to Japan a few years before we did!”

“Arai…Arai…” Your finger came up to scratch the wrinkle that had folded between your eyebrows. It felt salty on your tongue, the syllables releasing something recognizable, but the image was still a blur. You just shrugged. “I don’t really remember him.”

“That’s not surprising,” The woman ticked her tongue against her teeth. “His son was pretty quiet.” Rummaging through her luggage, her hands pulled out something wrapped in a thin, brown paper, too large to be another novelty pin. 

The package crimped from her featherlight grasp as your mother shifted it into one hand before walking away from her bed towards you. Behind the parchment, you could see a sparkly fabric, and surprise etched onto your features as she took the steps to place the gift in your palms. 

“Here, baby.” Her voice, one that would be yours in a few years, smoothed over your shock as you felt the weight of the clothing in your hands. You met her eyes again, still processing what she had given you.

“This…this isn’t a pin.”

“Or a postcard.” She said with a knowing smile as you stared down at the tiny diamonds dotting the dark fabric, still hidden behind the transparent paper. 

Having contained her excitement for the entire trip back from Belgium, your mother clapped her hands in front of her. “Open it!”

It took you a minute to hear what she said, but soon you were gracefully peeling back the tan sheets, gasping as a deep, royal blue was presented from behind its curtain. 

“Mom…” Once freed, the floor length dress billowed down to your feet as you unfolded it, the soft velvet fabric tracing against your arms and then your legs. You held it up as it winked back at you, the small, twinkling stars catching the light against the dark night of the gown. 

“Isn’t it gorgeous?” The thin straps of the dress were transferred from your fingers to your mothers as she turned it around to place it against your front, finding that it was the perfect length for your height. “Oh my god, I just knew it would look amazing on you.”

You tilted your head down as you watched the navy dress being held against your body. It was expensive and extremely formal. The straight neckline was held up by delicate straps, while the length of the gown was an uninterrupted starry night, save for a slit up your mid-right thigh. 

Could you even pull something like this off?

“Really?”

“Really,” Her eyes meet your own. “You’re becoming a woman, (Y/n), and this is the perfect dress to celebrate that.” Draping it over her arm, she handed the dress back to you as she busied herself with the rest of the luggage. You didn’t miss the extra spark in her step. 

“I want you to wear that to dinner tonight.” A manicured finger pointed back at you as she started to pull clothes from her suitcase once more. Fancy blouses and modest pencil skirts lined the contents, but their colors blurred together at the mention of dinner. 

“What?” Eyeing the lower neckline and the higher slit of the dress, the image of your usual Sunday night dinners came into your mind. Your dad in his t-shirt and expensive sweatpants, your mom with her hair undone and a casual dress swimming over her. And there you sat, glittering like a spotlight, trying to pull the slit of this dress closed before you could take a simple sip of water. 

“The dinner. You need to wear that gorgeous thing tonight, baby, to make a good impression.”

“A good impression?” You followed your mom into her bathroom as she rounded the corner, slipping her jewelry off to place them in the dish that had a little symbol of the (L/n) Tech gracing the porcelain. “For who?”

“Arai and his family. They are coming over for dinner tonight.” 

Again, the style of the dress came to the forefront of your mind, and you imagined tugging at the neckline uncomfortably in front of people you didn’t even know.

Stuttering, an awkward smile came to your face as you glanced down at the dress before lifting your head up to your mother once more. “Mom, I have plenty of business casual attire to wear for something like that. Why do I need to…to wear this?”

In the mirror, you saw a small pout form on the CEO’s lips. “You don’t like it?”

“No! No, I do!” Like a switch, the people-pleaser in you shined as you gestured to the sparkle of the gown. “It’s beautiful, really. It’s just…it might be a little inappropriate, don’t you think?”

A simper reflected back at you as your mom made a sweet coo before turning around and placing her ringless fingers on your cheeks. “You are a woman, (Y/n). A gorgeous, capable woman. Let the world see that.”

“I don’t see how a dress shows that I’m a capable woman.” Your squished cheeks deadpanned in her hold. 

“It doesn’t. It just amplifies it.”

Now her hands were on your shoulders, and you’re being pushed out of the room. Her painted nails grab your forearm as she swiftly exits her bedroom and turns back into the entryway, with you in tow.

Worry starts back into your bloodstream as she turns on her heel, intending to take you back into her bedroom. You tried to dig your feet into the expensive tile, but her tug was too strong, and you needed to distract her before she opened the door to find seven random people in your goddamn bedroom. 

“Wait, Mom! I, uh-”

“Don’t fight me on this, (Y/n).” The tone of a successful businesswoman laces into her speech, and you knew better than to struggle any further. With her back turned to your room, she flings open the door and grasps your shoulder. “Get changed, and meet us in the foyer in an hour. I’ll handle everything else.” 

With that, she shoves you inside, turning towards the entrance of your room. You hold your breath as she meets the curious, and slightly worried stare of each of the hosts, Tamaki and the twin’s eyes wide with uncertainty. 

Only a second of surprise wipes across her face before it settles into a confused, but welcoming grin. “Hi, boys.” Glancing at the brunette frozen on your bed, she adds, “And Haruhi.”

Your jaw was so agape, it nearly got caught in the door as your mother effectively shut it behind her. 

And suddenly you were frozen in your own bedroom, bare feet frozen to the ground as a dress that cost as much as a small country hung loosely from your forearms.

Your friends stare back at you as an awkward silence fills the room as they try to piece together the events that had taken place outside of your bedroom. Tamaki and Haruhi note the state of your open jaw, while Mori and Kyoya see the confusion in your eyes. Honey-senpai worries over his coloring mostly, but he takes a peak at your stiff, shocked stance. 

The golden hued gaze from the children of a fashion designer sweep past that, however, and spot the sparkling magnum opus that was being clutched close to your chest. 

Shooting up from their seat, Hikaru and Kaoru crowd around you, pulling the piece of clothing out from your firm grasp.

“(Y/n)...” For once, Hikaru is at a loss for words, his eyelashes sifting through each tiny diamond.”

Kaoru is just as breathless, his already light-voice becoming airy in his astonishment. “What is this?”

Blinking, the twin’s orange hair finally comes into focus as you process your mother’s unpredicted reaction to a group of boys in your room, but you decide to ask her about it later. “Uh…it’s…what did you say?”

Holding it up by its straps, Kaoru raises the dress up to your body, similar to how your mother had presented it, while Hikaru lays out the skirt, the velvet material flowing over your figure. 

“That’s beautiful…” You hear Tamaki’s voice in front of you now, and as he swoops into your view, you watch as the idiotic trio basically commit the dress to their memory. Their minds work with a great effort, picturing you in the dress, how the dark blue of the material would compliment the undertone of your skin. How the shape would accent your silhouette.

Tamaki’s mental theater shimmered, pink and gold lights bordering the image of one of his best friends dressed to the nines, looking glorious and worthy of the most valuable jewels. 

The twin’s imagination took a different approach, thinking of the dark-haired director that sat just inches away. 

But all three came to the same conclusion. 

“You need to put this on immediately.” As if the twin’s had temporarily transferred their telepathy to Tamaki, the trio looked you dead in the eye, dramatic determination swirling in yellow and purple irises. 

Finally shaking off the fact that your mother had zero reaction to seven random people in your room, you rolled your eyes, taking back the dress with a huff before draping it back over your arm. “I will, but you guys need to go.”

You looked at the rest of the host club, an apologetic tone glazing over your tongue. “My mom invited some old family friends over for dinner tonight. So, in addition to this,” you gestured to the dark blue fabric, “I need to get everything else ready in less than an hour.” 

Shrugging, the host club watches as a sheepish posture curls into your spine. “I guess this is the end of our study session.”

Haruhi, Mori and Kyoya give you a gentle nod as they each begin to pack up their things. The more vocal of the three smiles her pretty simper at you from the place on your bed. “Don’t worry about it, (Y/n), there’s always next wee-”

“You have to try on this dress! Right! Now!” 

“Tamaki!” You exclaim as your blonde best friend parks himself into your personal space, interrupting Haruhi’s calm response.

“Don’t ‘Tamaki’ me!” The prince suddenly spins you around, toward the doors leading to your en-suite bathroom. “You will march right in there and put that dress on for us so that we can see how beautiful you are!”

“Excuse me?!”

“We’ll help!” Two arms loop through your elbow as the twins support your weight and begin to drag you into the bathroom. You thrash slightly in their hold, digging your bare heels into the ground below you.

“Hey! Wait just a second-!” 

“Nope! Just like you said! We only have an hour!” Hikaru says, grunting slightly as he struggles to push you from your resistant position.

“Yeah, we wouldn't want to waste any time!” Kaoru reasons, and with one final push, the twins fall into the bathroom with you. The club watches as the force of your bodies swings the door on its hinges, shutting you and the twins out of their sight. 

Tamaki stands outside of the door triumphantly before a deep sigh emits behind him, one that he knows all too well. 

“Was that necessary? She just sprained her ankle a few weeks ago.”

The blonde spins to his best friend behind him as Kyoya fidgeted with his glasses. “Anything is necessary to bask in the light of beauty.” Tamaki declares in a lush tone, posing with a princely demeanor. “She is going to thank me when she steps out of there looking like a goddess!”

Kyoya was about to argue, but a noise behind the bathroom doors proved the point he was going to make. The ravenet quirked an eyebrow, his gaze going past his best friend and beyond, settling on the bathroom door as it shook slightly.

Tamaki turned back around as muffled shouting and banging seeped through the cracks, and Haruhi and Honey tried their best to conceal their laughter at what they could make out through the ruckus.

“Hikaru! Stop, I can do this myself!”

“Let us help you!”

“Kaoru if you don’t-, oh my god!” 

“You just need to put this on, and then-what the hell?!” A gasp breathed from his lips. 

“(Y/n), I swear to God.” 

“Put it down-!”

The hosts wince and freeze as a crash rumbles from inside the bathroom wall. There was a baited pause as the club listened for any sound of life from the twins, just in case you killed them.

The silence didn’t last long, to their near relief, before Hikaru’s voice rushed back into the scene. “Did you just throw a hairdryer at me?!”

“Wanna see me do it again?” There’s more rustling, and more shocked breaths.

Suddenly, Kaoru’s voice crept closer to the doorframe. “Shit, why does she have so many heating tools?”

The wood of the door creaked, and then burst open as the twins sprinted out. The host saw a blur of ginger and gold as the brothers ducked one last time, a lone curling flying through the air. It would’ve hit the wall if Mori didn’t catch it with one hand, barely looking up from his phone.

“Get out!” A final warning from you, and the door slammed closed again, locking the twins out of your sight, which was probably the best position for their survival at the moment.

Falling onto their stomachs, cat-like eyes fall onto dress shoes and then trousers as the twins land at Kyoya’s feet. 

Sheepish smiles appear on their faces as an annoyed grimace displays on Kyoya’s. They laugh awkwardly before both brothers stand, brushing themselves off and then straightening out each other’s clothes. 

An awkward laugh bubbled out of them as they re-tied their ties. “She’ll be out in just a minute.”

“You guys are the worst.” Haruhi mumbles as she hangs her bag from her shoulder, having packed up the last of her studying materials. 

Tamaki waved a flippant palm her way, a passive lilt in his voice. “She will be thanking us soon enough, Haruhi. How many opportunities does she have to get dressed up like this?”

“Speaking of…what is she really getting dressed up for anyways?” Kaoru asks, drawing the attention of every host to the twin brothers. 

“Yeah, a dress like that isn’t for a casual business meeting, that’s for sure.” Hikaru confirms.

“You think (N/n)-chan has a date?” Honey says, no longer distracted by the coloring book he put away. 

“What? A date?!” Tamaki whipped his head to the boy-lolita, his dramatics inflecting his tone. “(Y/n) said nothing about a date!”

“I can assure you…” The hosts’ attention is sharply drawn back to the door of your bathroom as it opens, the clicking of heels echoing behind you as you make your way back into your bedroom. “It is not a date.”

An amazed silence glazes over the room, expressed in wide glances and parted lips as your friends take you in. The last time they saw you dressed up like this was during the Ball of the Cherry Blossoms, or how you so endearingly called it when you thought back to the night everyone at Ouran danced under pink petals. And sure, they’ve seen you in the constant costumes and get-ups that really never seem to fit you just right.

But this dress?

God, this dress was made for you.

As you step into their view, the long, dark blue fabric hugs and caresses your figure with a divine purpose, enhancing every tasteful dip and curve that your body holds. A sharp neckline frames your collarbone with elegance as your hosts notice that you stand a little taller, more proud to look this good than you are letting on. The heels picked the front of your dress a little off the floor, but weren’t so high that the small train in the back was snuffed from its glory. The extra height made your refined hairstyle just that more pristine as you exited, putting it atop a higher mantle. The neutral, deep blue complimented every color of your eyes and skin, as if it’s one job was to enchant the very soul that was dressed within it. 

The twins and Haruhi shake the stars from your dress out of their eyes and glance at Kyoya, hoping for any sort of reaction. They could see that the ravenet’s gray eyes had softened, his stoic expression melting into something of…amazement? Surprise? Neither the little devils or the natural really ever got better at reading the club’s director, but they could tell that he was definitely trying to process the art piece in front of him. 

But if Kyoya had heard their thoughts, he wouldn’t agree. Not entirely. 

You could never merely depict something as material and fragile as an art piece. 

He thought you looked beautiful, of course. And the small diamonds that freckled the fabric that wrapped you so graciously clearly resembled something that should be placed into a museum. 

But to him, you were not only the person his heart had begun to yearn for just months ago, but his best friend. The person he put his trust in and someone he knew would be at his side for better or for worse if he allowed. His best friend, who was anxious and ambitious, creative and kind, had just stepped into a light that was nearly otherworldly. 

You were elevated, and his heart grew for the person he saw in front of him. 

“Wow (Y/n),” The twins gasped slightly as their hands reached up to their chests., “Be still our heart.”

You rolled your eyes as you fidgeted slightly, waving your hands at your friends who were staring at you. “Shut up.”

“Wow, (N/n)-chan! You look so nice!” Honey bounds up to you gleefully, rainbow-tipped fingers from his creative escapades reaching out to grab the skirt of your dress. Gasps from the twins and Haruhi blow past him as he rushes up towards your form with a gleeful smile on his face.

Suddenly, a hand shoots out, gently yanking him back by the collar of his shirt. Mori keeps a firm grasp on him as his cousin runs in mid-air for a minute before setting him down. The boy lolita’s blonde hair bounces as he glances up towards the older host. 

“It’s like a sculpture in a museum, Mitsukuni.” Mori’s deep voice carries over your bedroom. “Look, but don’t touch.” 

But, as Honey sulks slightly in Mori’s grasp, the stoic can’t stop a second unbeatable force. 

You feel weightless as you are lifted off the ground – long, delicate arms encasing your whole body in a firm embrace. Tamaki spins you around as he cheers and coos, his eyes almost morphing into a heart shape as he fangirls over you. 

“Mon ami! You look so cute! Why don’t you ever dress up for us like this?” His usual buttery voice becomes strained with excitement as he twirls you around. He drones on and continues to spin to the point where you think you might throw up all over your new dress if he doesn’t stop.

“Tamaki.” Your muffled voice vibrates against the cotton of his shirt. 

“...you need to wear this 24/7, every day of every week of every year!”

Vocal chords are constricted, and his name barely squeaks out of your throat. “Tamaki-” 

“...and then, we can match! I know this color would bring out my eyes, oh we would be so cute (Y/n)!”

“Tamaki! Put me down!” Your sudden volume startles him for a moment, allowing you to twist out of his grasp. Your room spins a little, the floor becoming uneven as you are sat back down, the thin, strappy heels on your feet not helping the situation.

Tamaki’s hands shoot out to your shoulders, helping you find your balance. “Sorry, amour. I just get excited when my best friend is so beautiful!”

Your smile still finds its way to your lips as those violet eyes stare down at you with a bright adoration. 

A small laugh bubbles past your lungs. “You’re good, Tamaki. Thank you.” Looking towards the rest of the club, you give them a nod. “Thank you guys, too. It means a lot.”

You had to admit, the dress did feel nice. The fabric was expensive, but stretchy, as it wrapped comfortably around your figure. It lifted and tucked nicely, while accentuating those parts you loved. Your mom really had you in mind when picking this out. 

“Alright,” You clapped your hands a little and gestured toward the door. “I think I have to kick you guys out now.”

“Awe, what?” Honey whined as Mori stood off of the bean bag chair, lugging the lolita’s bag onto his shoulder along with his own. 

“I’m sorry,” You say, clearly not wanting them to go. “You heard what my mom said, we have company coming over.”

“What kind of company?” A deep voice resonates. 

You look over to Kyoya as he lightly places his laptop into his messenger bag, his trusty dry erase board following suit. 

“My mom has a new aspiring business partner that she wants my dad and I to meet. I’m not really sure what they do, but apparently they are important.” You say as you pick up Tamaki’s bag, handing it to the blonde before folding up the blanket he was using to nap with. 

“Wow, a new business venture…” Hikaru says, already halfway out the door.

“Hopefully your mom isn’t spreading herself too thin!” Kaoru finishes, following his brother out as they both slip past you as they exit your bedroom. 

“Of course not! (Y/n)’s mother is a wonderful business woman. Don’t underestimate her greatness.” Tamaki exclaims as he and Haruhi walk into the hallway as well. 

Soon, your bedroom is devoid of the liveliness of your host club as everyone leaves. All except one.

You wait by the doorway, fidgeting with the ankle strap of your heel as it twisted unnaturally while Kyoya packed up the last of his things. 

“A new business partner. Interesting.” He says, slowly buckling his bag closed. 

Your eyes squint at his slow movements. “Yeah, I’m not sure what’s really going to happen with this family, but I guess it couldn’t hurt to reach out a bit more.”

“And I assume that this won’t affect the relationship your mother has with the Ootori family?”

A (h/c) eyebrow picks up while your shoulder hits the door frame as you lean against it. “Of course not. I wouldn’t let that happen.”

A final click is heard as the megane closes his bag and wraps it over his shoulder. “I would hope not. It would be a significant loss for either of us.”

Humming, you nod as his dark shoes clack against your floor, the director making his way towards you. “Significant indeed.”

Kyoya stops in front of you, a gentle smirk on his face as his gaze peers at you from behind his frames. 

“You look stunning, in case you haven’t heard.”

You laugh, the sound billowing out of your throat. “I think I’ve heard it too much.” 

Your eyes divert from his own, and you catch your reflection in a mirror propped against your wall. Scanning yourself, it’s too easy to point out the flaws, to pick out the things that you’ve had to grow up with. The things you’ve forced yourself to accept, but you knew that if a genie magically appeared in your grasp, your first wish would be to wish them away. 

Seeing a darker spiral in the distance of your train of thought, the path is interrupted by a softer, colder touch. Kyoya’s finger directs your stare from the reflection back to him as he puts a slight pressure under your chin. 

There is a more sincere visage on his sharp features as he draws a little closer. “This dress fits you well. Insecurity, however, does not.” 

Lips parting slightly, you swallow. The weight of his assurance for your potential is a shocking one, and through all the time that you’ve known him, you didn’t think that you could ever get over his constant belief in you. 

“Thank you, Kyo.”

Another tap from his finger before his touch is gone. “Of course.”

You smile up at him, appreciating the softness of the moment, before a familiar call bonus through the outside hallway.

“(Y/n), dear! Your friends need to leave! Our guests will be here any minute!” Your mother’s voice rattles in (n/l), breaking you from the bubble you and Kyoya had created. 

You let go of Kyoya’s fingers just as he lets go of yours, and you peek your head out of the door. “Coming!” You reply back in (n/l) before switching over to Japanese. “You ready?”

He nods, and the two of you begin to slip out into the hallway before you wince slightly.

“Shit.” You curse, gasping as a shot of dull pain pitches up your ankle. 

Cotton blurs into your line of sight as Kyoya appears in front of you, his hand coming to rest on your elbow in support. “Is your ankle still bothering you?”

“A little, yeah.”

Air rushes over your arm as his touch leaves you, but he offers you his arm instead. “I can be of assistance.” 

Gratefully, you sew your arm through his, pressing a little more of your weight into his side as you both begin down the hallway of your home. 

“Do you know the name of the family you're meeting with tonight?” Kyoya asks as you begin to walk to the foyer.

“Arai. Apparently I knew his son back in elementary school. Him and his parents are coming over for some kind of special dinner.” You look towards Kyoya as you both keep a calm pace with one another. “Do you know them?”

A contemplative hand adjusts his glasses as Kyoya thinks. “Hm, not personally, but I have heard of them. Arai Produce is one of the main sellers for most of the products Japan’s supermarkets hold. They focus on selling very natural and holistic goods.”

“Oh, so not really down your alley then.”

The ravenet shrugs slightly as the main foyer comes into view. “As the saying goes, to each their own. I can understand the desire to use more natural products in our day to day life, as the earth could benefit more towards it.” 

A small sigh blows over his lips. “But when it comes to the field of medicine, holistic followers tend to want to erase chemical medication completely. The research I’ve done shows that it should really become more of a balance rather than a battle to erase one or the other.”

“And the Arai's work to replace medications?”

“Not mainly, but they have advertised that most any common ailment can be cured with elderberry syrup and rest.”

You cringed a little. “Oh.”

“It’s not favorable, especially since they are such a large company with powerful influence.” Kyoya says, but when he sees the slight worry on your face he begins to look on a brighter side. 

“They are reasonable people, I’m sure. They would have to be in order to receive the professional following that they hold.”

You hum thoughtfully, “Good to know.”

He nods as you guys join the rest of the club waiting at the front door. 

“What took you guys so long?” Hikaru asks, arms folded while golden eyes catch where yours and Kyoya’s bodies meet. 

“Too busy making out?” Kaoru teases, an evil smirk coming onto his face to match his brothers.

A cough blocks Kyoya’s air pipe as your jaw drops and a deep blush forms onto your face. You wack both of them on the shoulder with a decent amount of force, playful betrayal coming out of each slap. “If you two don’t shut up, I’m going to go grab more of my heat tools.”

The boys laugh and the wince as the memory of flying hair dryers and curling irons flips back into their memory. “Okay! Okay! We get it, stop!”

“(Y/n).” The laughing stops, and the host club watches as you immediately straighten at your mother’s voice. Her heels click sharply as her face gives a warm, professional smile. “Stop messing around and say goodbye.” 

“Of course, Mom.” You turn back to your friends. “Thanks for coming, you guys, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

Mori nods at you as Honey gives you a big hug. The twins push your shoulders gently as they look from you to your mom. “Thanks for having us, (L/n)-senpai.”

“Nice to see you too, boys.”

The gingers wave back to you as they walk out the door. 

“Thanks, (L/n)-senpai, your home is lovely.” Haruhi says brightly, bowing to your mother before giving you a hug goodbye.

“Always lovely to see you, Miss (L/n).” Tamaki says, bowing deeply as he takes your mother’s hand, kissing the back of it. 

“Alright, Tamaki, out we go.” You say, pulling your blonde boy away from your mother before she melted completely, the sweet blush coming to her face already starting to deepen. 

“And Ootori, you know you're always welcome here.”

You turn over your shoulder as you push Tamaki out the door to see Kyoya match your mother’s professionalism. If you squinted, you would see the stretch to their smile, and the stiffness of their stance, but the whining of the prince in front of you distracted you until you got him through the door.

“Thank you, (L/n)-senpai, for having us. I hope to see you at the next Ootori company meeting.” The ravenet bows with his hand over his heart, a perfect practiced position. 

“As do I.” Your mother replies and watches Kyoya walk out through her front door, towards her daughter.

Her teeth clench. 

Outside, the setting sun displays blends of purples and oranges descending into a dusk blue. Stairs descend into a large front yard, a home for rose bushes and lovely flowers your father picked out to keep the bugs away. 

Each host has a limo parked out front, shining and crisp against the evening night. Tamaki insisted that he could take Haruhi home, but you asked one of your drivers to take her instead, knowing she would like the alone time after being around all of you for most of the day.

“Bye, you guys, see you later.” You say while watching your friends pile into their respective vehicles and begin to leave. You all wave as they vanish into the streetlamps on your avenue.

Picking up the skirt of your dress, you begin to turn towards your home before a quiet rumble interrupts your movements. 

Just as elegant as those of the Ootori’s or the Suoh’s, the stretched automobile was pristine and well-established as it slowed to a stop at your doorstep. A man with salt and pepper tossed on his scalp stepped out of the driver’s seat. Suited with a dark jacket sporting an embroidered Arai on the vest pocket, he gives a respectful nod towards you as his fingers wrap around the car door handle. He pulls, and polished, dark brown shoes gracefully step onto the pavement.

Another man emerges, taller than his driver. Wearing a suit to match his shoes, who you can only assume to be Tomoya Arai rises out of his limo, pulling a finely dressed woman by the hand as he helps her out as well. 

His gaze is full of melted chocolate as it meets yours, and his lips quirk up with an immediate smile. 

“Miss (L/n).” The older Arai’s voice is warm and even if he is speaking at a normal volume, it’s deep note booms in the open space around you. Something familiar itches in the back of your mind, as if you’ve heard it before. “My, how you’ve grown!” 

Coming out of a slight shock to his family arriving so soon, you fix a welcoming, practiced smile onto your face. “Arai-senpai. Wonderful to meet you again.” Your arm delicately stretches in his direction, and he takes it, his smile growing. 

“Ah, well, it’s always wonderful to meet a young woman with a strong handshake. Please, just call me Tomoya.”

Nodding, you bow slightly. “Thank you, Tomoya-san.” 

His smile grows a little wider. “It might be better than my own son’s.”

“I’m not sure if I should take offense or not.”

Turning your head to the sudden voice, that sudden familiar itch grows. Brown hair, brownish-grayish eyes come into your vision as a lithe boy rounds the back corner of the limousine.

Suddenly, you’re back in middle school. Plenty of tables are lined up in your favorite classroom, but each one is taken as you’re running late. When you reach the doorway, you scan the room, hoping for an open spot. Your eyes pass a girl who you noticed had forgotten her lunch the other day, or you pass the boy who was the star of your school’s baseball team over the weekend. Both ignore you, as they are too busy talking with the people they’ve bonded with, the people in their own inner circle. 

Since this was the intermediate school that everyone in your area was assigned to go to, you had known these kids all your life, but had never really made any real, lasting connections, save for a few.

But, through the blur of your growing social anxiety, a hand shoots up. 

One, pale, lithe hand waves in the back of the classroom, gently and hesitantly as if whoever owns it is already regretting their decision of putting it up in the first place. 

Your eyebrows go up in surprise, but then you smile lightly when you see a boy with a tussle of brown hair and big eyes looking at you with a sweet reluctance. And when you start walking over to him, you see that reluctance change into surprise, then fear, then slowly emerge into a hint of excitement as this mystery boy tries to make his desk as organized as possible.

“Hi.” His voice was so young, so light. 

“Hey. Thanks for letting me sit here.” You say as you promptly put your hand out to offer it to his own. “I’m (L/n). It’s nice to meet you.”

The boy starts at your sudden gesture, but relaxes into an awkward smile as he shakes your hand lightly, putting the other hand behind his neck.

“I’m Arai, and it’s no problem. I know what it’s like to be running a little late at times.”

You click your tongue as you begin to pull out your school stuff, arranging them nicely onto the desk in front of you. “Unfortunately, it can be a little more often than just ‘at times’. I really need to get a new alarm system.”

“I live on a farm,” Arai begins as he taps a pencil onto the wood of his desk, “so my alarm system is just a rooster crowing a million times.”

Your smile morphs into a little laugh, and you shake your head. “Okay, not that kind of alarm.”

He laughs too. “It’s an acquired taste.”

Then, the bell rings, and you're forced to turn your attention away from a potential new friend.

That all seemed so long ago now as you clasped hands with that same boy, the same awkward smile playing behind his lips, but with some additional confidence.

“Arai, it’s good to see you again.”

The man before you brightens. “You remember me?”

“A little.” Breaking the handshake, you cross one arm over your chest and grab your elbow, a sweet expression on your features. “To be honest, it took a minute. Since you moved away after we first met, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

“That’s okay, it makes sense.”

“But it’s still nice to see you!” You say, hoping to put yourself into a better light. “There’s probably a lot that we need to catch up on.”

“Oh, there sure is! My boy here has grown in many ways, we are proud.” Arai’s dad slaps him on the shoulder, and the two of you are brought back into reality. As the setting sun comes back into focus, you realize that you have just been casually chatting with your mother’s esteemed guests on the sidewalk outside of your house for more than 15 minutes. 

Shit.

“Oh my, where are my manners?” A manicured hand flies up to your glossed lips as you angle your body to point towards the large double doors of your parents mansion. “Would you please come inside? My mother has prepared quite the night for us, I’m sure.”

Arai’s dad just laughs it off while his mother gives you a reassuring nod. Arai is pulled along by his father as they pass you and soon they are climbing the large stairs up to the main entrance. As you fall behind them, your professional facade drops slightly, and you pick up your skirt to take each step at a time. 

Watching Arai’s back, more memories begin to seep into your mind. Arai encouraged you on a test that you were scared for, both of you hunched over your notes to make sure that everything was in order. Or when he asked you if you wanted to see pictures of his new dog his uncle had bought him, and how you cooed over it for hours on end.

He was a sweet guy. Quiet, like your mom said, but also kind and supportive. You remember getting a little closer as time moved on, but he moved away pretty quickly after you two met. 

A sense of peace settles over you. After your mom sprang this dress and this meeting on you, you had been a little anxious about the whole thing. But re-meeting Arai and his family puts you a little more at ease, especially with how gracious they’ve been. 

This night might go better than you had pictured.

“And thank god we left, because I’m not sure how I would have gotten out of that.”

The entire dinner table erupts into a fit of refined chuckles and polite laughter as Arai finishes his story. Your napkin is pressed to your lips as you look to your side where he sits, and when your eyes meet, it causes even more laughter to bubble out of your throat at his complete shame of what he had done to prank one of his teachers in middle school. 

“Oh, god, Arai, what a tale, truly.” Your father says, his cufflinks glinting in the light of the chandelier. “Who knew you were so rebellious?”

“You know what they say. Boys will be boys.” Arai’s mother, Yuko, replies, as she has opened up more throughout the dinner that you were close to finishing. The two parents have another additional giggle at that comment before the table settles down into a more mellow energy.

Your plates have nearly been cleared, the dinner that the chefs made too well-prepared to be left on the white porcelain.  Conversation flowed easily when talking about business arrangements, but it took a little more encouragement for anecdotes of personal lives to be shared. 

A few wine glasses for the adults fixed that, however, and your father even let you have a sip or two when your mother wasn’t looking. By now, at the end of the night, most of the awkwardness had faded, and it had become an easy night with old friends. 

Your mother’s gold ring tapped against her crystal glass as she drank the last of her wine, her eyes meeting yours over the rim. 

“Now that we got all of the details out of the way, and had some time to relax.” Your mother drawls. “What do you think of this partnership, (Y/n)?” She asks, folding her hands below her chin. 

Straightening your spine, the attention of the table turns towards you as you answer. “I think it’s a wonderful investment. If Arai Produce is looking to build their own grocery stores, (L/n) Tech is more than capable of developing easy to use technology for their shoppers. I think we could do each other a lot of good.”

The CEO tilts her head to the boy sitting next to you. “And you, Arai? What do you think?”

“It’s smart, Miss.” Arai stumbles, also not expecting the question. “Since I’ve been working as a delivery boy, I haven’t really been involved with a lot of the networking that has led up to this point, but I’m excited to delve more into this partnership.”

Arai gives you a questionable side glance while your mother breaks her eye contact and shrugs, and you nod approvingly, giving him a small thumbs up. 

“And what do you think of each other?” Arai’s father asks as he cuts the last piece of meat on his plate and forks it into his mouth. “You two get along okay?”

Lip falling between your teeth, you look to Arai again, some of the awkwardness filing back into your systems. 

“Yeah, of course.” You reply, folding the napkin back into your lap before looking up to the head of Arai Produce. “It’s been nice getting to know the man Arai grew into. You raised a good son.”

Pride flourishes within the man’s chest, and he nods while keeping a smile on his mouth. “It’s good to hear you say that. It will be important that you two work well together.”

Smacking her lips as she swallows, your mother nods as well. “Yes, this deal will definitely bring our families closer together.” 

“I look forward to it.” Arai says, and you two share another kind smile. 

Your mom clasps her hands together and squeals slightly. “You guys are two cute! Dressed up to the nines and looking at each other like that! Arai, did you see (Y/n)’s dress? I picked it out just for her in Belgium.” She asks, using her fork to gesture to the midnight fabric gracing your features. 

“I did! I did.” His manner becomes a little sweeter and more reserved as he compliments you. “You look lovely.”

You roll your eyes playfully, a small smile on your face to play off the embarrassment rising through your sternum. “Yes, I know, thank you.” Another round of laughs chime through the dining room.

Arai’s father pats his stomach before stretching, his meal settling comfortingly into his gut. “This was great, (M/n), thank you.” He praises as he pushes out his chair, his napkin falling gently next to his empty plate.

Your father promptly leaves his seat, rushing over to pull out your mother’s before following some of your butlers to the coat rack where the Arai family’s jackets hang in wait. Your mom rises as well, much calmer as the heads of newly partnered companies. You and Arai follow behind as they chatter towards the front door.

Out of the corner of your eye, Arai leans over slightly and speaks quietly next to you, out of earshot of your parents.. “It was good to see you again.”

Genuine smiles came to you more naturally throughout the night, so this one wasn’t difficult as you turned to him. “Yeah, it was nice to catch up a little.”

“Looks like we will be seeing each other more often,” The delivery boy says, his signature awkward smile creasing his cheekbones. “It might be good to get to know each other a little more? I could give you my number and we could talk over a cup of coffee. Or, actually, you might not love coffee, but I’m totally fine with whatever you would want, if you chose the place!”

Puffs of laughter ripple from your lips at his backtracking, and you put your hand on his shoulder to stop his rambling. “Coffee is fine. Even if I didn’t like the drink, I still like the atmosphere. It’s a good place to get to know anybody, even new coworkers.” Light teasing breathes from your words, and you can see Arai visibility relax from your assurance. 

And as you arrive at the front doors, Arai sticks his hand out again, and you shake it, good nature winding around the both of you. 

“I meant what I said earlier. You look lovely.” His dark eyes turn to crescent moons as he smiles at you. 

“Thank you, thank you.” Looking down, your fingers play with the fabric of your dress. “I have a feeling my mother picked it out just to impress you all, so I’m glad it fulfilled its purpose.”

Arai chuckles along with you as he pulls his coat on. “You were very impressive. Very elegant.”

He looks at you then with a sense of admiration that you hadn’t seen before, and the feeling whiffs down your spine. Blush rises to his cheeks accompanied by a glint in his brown eyes, and you inhale a little more sharply before smiling and thanking him. Your family leads his family out to the top of the stairs that lead to the edge of the road. 

‘Goodnight’s and ‘safe travels’ are shared as you all say your goodbyes, and you stand with your mom and dad as the industrial farmers begin their drive home, catching Arai’s wave in the tinted windows. 

Your mother is still waving to them when she speaks behind you, a professional grin still etched into her features. “Arai is a nice boy. Driven, kind.”

“He’s cool, seems like a good person.” You say back, still waiting for their car to disappear into the night.

The tail lights glow red as the limo breaks before taking a left out of your neighborhood and into the night. 

Your mothers breath matches the cool spring breeze that winds into the dress she bought for you. “That’s good to hear. Seems like you two will get along nicely.”

With yours and Kyoya’s big presentation coming up on the horizon, your brain was in full work mode. Dedication shined through you as you briskly walked the halls towards the club room, flashcards grasped tightly in your fingertips as you worked on drafts for your opening statement. Books jostled in your bag with each step, and your mouth moved with the words on the index cards as you mumbled to yourself while gliding past groups of students. 

Weaving through students, the skirt of your uniform ruffles as you take the stairs two at a time, eager to meet up with Haruhi for a little study session she proposed. An extra packet of instant coffee, brand new pieces of mechanical pencil lead, and your favorite red and blue pens jumped in the side pocket of your backpack, preparing you for the long night of studying ahead. 

Blindly, your shoulder juts into the wood of the door to Music Room 3, pushing it open. The sound of the twin’s voices dull in your ear as your concentration sticks to your cards, and you barely register pieces of their conversation with Haruhi as it flows into one ear and out the other. 

“..the beach?”

“Of course!”

“But why?...”

“Don’t you remember what you said?” 

“You said you’d like to go to a real beach!”

Still, you let muscle memory take you to your favorite studying table. Across the pink tiles, cut across the-

Boof!

Plush, foam mannequins stand in your path as you run straight into them, knocking your index cards out of your hands. It wobbles on its stand on the impact and you panic, reaching out to steady it before it falls into the two around it. 

Why were there three mannequins just sitting in the middle of the club room? 

Wait, not three. 

“What the…” Looking around you, at least a hundred fashion statues scatter the tiled floor, each wearing a unique swimsuit over its fake form. “Where the hell did these come from?” 

“The twins.” A deep voice says next to you, making you jump a little before realizing that Mori had come to help you pick up your presentation cards. 

You bend a knee, thanking him before processing the sheer mass of swimsuits in the clubroom. “Why would they bring all these swimsuits all the way over here? Did Kyoya order them for another themed hosting session?” 

“No. We are going to the beach.”

“Well, yeah,” You sigh as Mori places half of your precious notecards into your hands, stacked neatly but completely out of order. “Not until the end of the week though. Not like I’m looking forward to it.”

“You’re not?” Mori gives you a raised eyebrow. “Why?”

Before you can answer, you hear questions come from seemingly nowhere as they fall through the maze of mannequins. 

“Is that who we think it is?”

“Do we hear (Y/n)?”

Disembodied voices branch out from the sea of mannequins, causing you and Mori to stand completely still. 

You clear your throat. “Uh, yes?”

Rustling is heard as some of the fashion forms are disturbed, rattling on their stands form an unseen force. 

“We’ve been waiting for you.” This time the voice was synonymous. 

“Why are you guys being so creepy?” You scoot a little closer to the martial arts master, but even the stoic couldn’t locate the figures of ginger and gold. Dark eyes scanned the bikinis and one-pieces, but he was looking in the wrong direction. 

Somehow, you feel twin tugs on the creases of both your elbows, and you're surprised when two annoyingly familiar voices appear on either side of you.

“(Y/n)!” Hikaru exclaims, and your body whips as they yank you back. 

“We have a surprise for you, too!” Kaoru states, and suddenly your being dragged through the array of swimsuits, not having time to admire any of them as your index cards float out of your hands and onto the ground.

“You little-, let go of me!” Wiggling in their hold, you can’t seem to break it as you’re dragged through the music room. Mori tries to chase after you, but your chance at being rescued deflates when he gets distracted by a maroon, seashell themed two piece. Hikaru and Kaoru throw you into a chair on the other side of the music room, ironically right next to the table Haruhi was studying at. 

As the twins step back, they pose in front of you, and even if they look smug, your temper simmers when you see genuine excitement in their stance. 

Leaning over, you whisper to Haruhi through the corner of your mouth.“How long have you been sitting here listening to their nonsense?” 

“Only a few seconds, but it feels like years.”

“Okay!” Kaoru points a finger out, ceasing any side conversations and directing all of your attention to them. “You know how we are going to the beach because Haruhi said she wanted to?”

“Did I really say that?” Haruhi challenges, and the twins deadpan at the natural host. 

“Yes, Haruhi. But here’s the fun part!” And suddenly, their aura becomes that of a talk show host, splaying their arms to display the many arrangements of swimsuits that held a myriad of designs and lacings. “We brought some swimsuits for you to choose from!”

“Some?” You say, quirking your eyebrow at, again, at least a hundred swim pieces. 

With the boys out of the way, you notice a particular swimsuit had been placed front and center, a baby pink one, with a modest cut set of bottoms and halter top, ruffles cascading down the front.  

Hikaru pushes it closer to the two of you, a persuasive smile on his lips. “Pretty cute, don’t you think?”

“Not that one!” A sweet voice sprouts in the crowd, and Honey makes his way to the front, using his supernatural strength to lug a tasteful blue-shaded one piece, a mock collar and a little ruffled skirt adorning the silhouette. “I think that this swimsuit would look much cuter on Haru-Chan!”

Putting a finger to your chin, you nod in agreement. “Yeah, actually, Haru would look nice in that shade of blue-”

“I don’t think you get it, Honey-Senpai.” After clearly being ignored, you reach over and take a sip of Haruhi’s lukewarm coffee. 

The boy lolita tilts his head as the twins lug Haruhi out of her chair, her already-exhausted-with-this-conversation state causing all of her deadweight to be putty in their palms.

“Just look.” Hikaru says, gesturing to Haruhi’s chest. “This uniform barely hides the fact that Haruhi is as flat as a cutting board.”

Coffee jumps to the front of your mouth as Hikaru makes his observation, and you have to cup your hand under your chin to catch any of the liquid that dripped over.

Swallowing, you gently set the cup back down. “I’m sorry, what?”

Kaoru raises a hand towards Honey’s suit of choice while the blonde hugs it protectively. “A one piece suit like that would only upset her because it draws attention to her lacking feminine physique.”

Together, the twins shove Haruhi into the direction of the pink bikini, imagining the honor student galavanting on the beaches of Fiji in the cherry blossom fabric. “That’s why we carefully selected this two piece suit, see? The ruffles help hide the fact that she’s so flat chested!”

A vein in your forehead pulses at their proud smiles, their teeth sparkling under the light of the clubroom’s chandelier. Gritting your teeth, you spring out of your chair to grab each brother by the ear, ignoring their whines as you drag them to the floor.

“I don’t know where you get off defining femininity, but before you go around calling people flat chested, how about you take a look in the mirror?” You cross your arms over your chest, nodding your head towards a full length mirror on the wall. “Go to the gym, and then we will see who the flat chested ones are.”

If you could have a large, red arrow point to their lithe, toned frames, you would. 

Rubbing their heads, they pick themselves off the tile. “Hey! What the-”

Your smile spreads into something cocky and sinister. “Not so great when someone comments on your body, now is it?”

“We were just stating the obvious.” Whines Kaoru, lending his brother a hand.

Hikaru scoffs at you as he straightens. “Yeah, we can’t apologize for being right.”

“Oh yeah? Alright then, you asked for it.” Cupping a hand around your mouth, you call out into the crowded clubroom. “Tamaki!”

The Hitachiians blanch, and they lunge to cover your mouth, but you’re too fast for them. “Wait, (Y/n), don’t-!”

“The twins are sexualizing Haruhi!”

A rumble is felt from behind the swimsuits before Tamaki leaps out, majestically arching over the mannequins with a battle cry, a bat in his hands as he lands and whacks at the two perverts. “You punks had better quit sexually harassing my little girl! I’ve had enough of you!”

The twins rush behind the table Haruhi was studying at as she sits there, trying to block out the events going on around her.

They pop their heads up onto the dark wood, watching as Tamaki cools down, but shudder at the way both he and you look at them, geared and ready for any other wrongly worded sentences. 

“So…” The brothers tread lightly. “We’re not going to the beach then?” Something in you feels a little relieved.

The bat falls onto Tamaki’s shoulder as he adjusts, the other hand coming to sit on his hip. “Who said we’re not going?” 

“Really?” You turn to the prince, a hesitant tone in your voice. “These two are just going to goggle over Haruhi all day.”

“Gross.” Haru pipes in.

“Agreed.” You confirm.

Tamaki boops you on the nose before giving you a wink. “Not to worry, mon ami, I have the perfect solution so these perverts will never get a chance to look at my little girl again.”

“Gross.” The honor student winces again.

“Agreed. And okay Tamaki, if you’re sure.” You draw out your reply, not really believing anything could keep the twins from being their lovable, disgusting selves, but you’re always hopeful for Tamaki. 

A tug on your sleeve causes you to look down and see big milk chocolate eyes peering back up at you with a pleading glance. “Can Usa-chan come too?”

“I have no problem with that.” Out of the mannequin woods walks Kyoya, poised and precise as he prims the edges of your index cards that you had forgotten in the midst of this fashion drama.

Long legs stride over to you as Honey celebrates with the twins, all three excited to be going to the beach. “You seemed to have dropped these.”

“Oh yeah, thank you.” Taking them from his grasp, you look them over, noting how they seem to have at least a sense of order compared to when Mori was putting them together. “Did you read them?”

Pale fingers reach up to adjust expensive frames as he nods. “I assessed them. There are plenty of introductions in that deck that would fit perfectly into our presentation.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I trust that you will be able to pick the right one.”

Shrugging, you move to shove them back into your backpack as you shine from the validation. “I’ll think about that later. It, uh, it seems the beach is coming up faster than I thought.”

“Huh?” That catches Honey’s attention as he breaks away from the happy gingers. “We’re really gonna go?”

“Why not?” Tamaki sighs, a content simper resting on his handsome face. “Let’s go to the beach.”

“So, why’d we come to Okinawa?” Slight distaste forms the twins' words as your group of hosts walk down the sandy beaches of Okinawa Island. The sunlight beams down onto you in glimmers, casting over your skin as the sand sinks in between your toes with each step. 

It’s a calming feeling, with Mori to your right and Kyoya to your left, the less talkative of the group keeping a serene atmosphere as the other four partake in light conversation ahead of you. Now and then, while soaking in each beam of sunshine and gust of wind, you���ll make eye contact with the club’s director. 

Sweet smiles were exchanged, but the silence wasn’t broken until you decided to reply, the comforting stillness making it easier to enjoy the scenery around you. 

“Because Kyoya’s family has a private beach here.” You explain, your voice carrying with the sea breeze. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Honey asks, and it's hard not to agree as you spot some large cliffs bending over the shoreline, and you can’t help but imagine the view from that high up, the things you might be able to see. 

And then your stomach forms little knots at what might be at the bottom of that view, making you focus on something else almost immediately.

Mori nods next to you, the sun reflecting admiration in his eyes for his cousin. “Yeah.”

Hikaru's shoulders slump. “But why couldn’t we have gone…”

“...to the Caribbean?” Kaoru suggests.

“Or even Fiji?” Hikarue finishes, and you scoff quietly, shaking your head at their ignorance to the beauty in front of them. The people you grew up with always wanted more, never being satisfied with what they had. 

But with fresh air whipping through your eyelashes and the black hair of a certain man beside you, it seemed like you had all you needed.

“Do you think a commoner like Haruhi has a passport?” Kyoya barely finishes his sentence before an elbow jabs him in the side, and stumbles a little before catching your disapproving glare.

Haruhi gives him a side glance, her deadpan expression clear in the sunrise. “You do realize I can hear you, right?” She tries to hide it in the pocket of her cargo shorts, but you can clearly see her attempt to flip Kyoya off.

You can’t help but laugh a little, and your heart grows warm with the people around you. It’s nice to have your family here. 

As your group rounds a corner of a large cliff, the peace is broken by what sounds like whimsical sighs and high pitched laughs breaking up the rush of the ocean. Looking to Mori with a furrowed brow, you pick your speed up, catching up to the twins before passing them completely, leaning around the edge to catch a peek of the other side. 

Your visage turns from confused to jaded as you see crowds of girls from your school, grouped up in cliques adorned with expensive swimsuits and cover-ups. They talk and smile, hands going up to cover faces as they talk about the latest gossip, hair-dos too intricate to be beach appropriate swaying too and fro with their laughter. 

Sighing, your head hits the rocks as you lean into them, connecting the dots in your head as the rest of the club meets you. 

“What the-” Hikaru cuts off his speech as he takes in the scene before him, and both he and Kaoru whip their heads around to glare at the person who was most definitely responsible for this. 

But all they find is a smirk, as Kyoya pulls his black book out from under his arm, and strides past you all like nothing is wrong. 

“What?” Smooth, deep tones fall over the six of you as Kyoya walks towards the mass of women, and men, you notice. “Surely you didn’t expect to have another day off, did you? So soon?”

“Yeah, actually.” Kaoru slouches as your group begins to follow the megane. 

“I think we all did, Kyoya.” You say, waving weakly at some of your regulars as you all get closer, trying to hide your displeasure.

“Don’t look so glum.” Pale fingers gesture towards a rock with a blonde form on top of it as Kyoya stops to justify himself. “At least you all got to sleep in. Tamaki has been getting requests for meetings since before the sun rose.” 

Sure enough, Tamaki practically glistened in the distance as a long line of guests ended with the prince of the host club perched on a boulder surrounded by shallow water with a dazed girl at his side. The whites of his smile shine in the sunrise, you watch as his finger comes to rest under the girl’s chin, saying something to make a blush crawl up her cheeks. 

Kyoya hums in satisfaction, a business owner relishing the success in front of him. Clicking his pen, he hooks it into his shirt pocket before continuing down the beach. “Breaks over. Get to work.”

Mockingly, you salute him before you make your way towards a few guests you recognize, digging up the energy to host and dazzle that you weren’t prepared to utilize. 

But two hands shoot out and stop you, boring into the pit of your elbow and pulling you back.

“(Y/n), did you really think you could host in that?” Kaoru’s voice plays in your ear as the twins, once again, drag you to an unknown place. 

Getting used to it, you hang limply in their grip. Your eyes travel down your figure at a simple sundress, something comfy and light to where in the heat of the sun. “Yeah? What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s basic. Too simple.” Hikaru states as your heels stop dragging in sand and start bumping over hardwood as you enter a hut of some kind, probably a beach-themed bathroom. “All those girls and boys out there need to be enchanted by you.” A judgemental eye sweeps over your frame before looking ahead again. “They can’t do that when you’re wearing something off the rack.”

An offended gasp flutters over your tongue, and your obedience is erased as you start wiggling in their grasp. “Alright, you know what? You both can let me go and suck my-

“Hello there!”

Interrupting your classy words, the twins open a door that reads Unisex across the front, and two incredibly similar women greet you, a sinister sparkle in their eye.

Stumbling as the twins set you on your feet, your brow twitches in confusion. “What is happening right now?”

“Bye, (Y/n), have fun!” Before you can react, the twins shoot out the door, getting out of range in case you decide to hurt them physically. “Make sure to pick something nice!”

The door slams shut, and you turn back to face the maids. 

“Hello, Miss (Y/n).” Says the lady to the right as they both bow, a shadow casting over their faces. “We’ve been instructed to make you over.”

Looking past them, you see rows and rows of bikinis and one-pieces, professionally displayed onto the same mannequins you saw in the club room. In fact, all of these pieces look painstakingly familiar. 

You grumble, another sigh pushing past your teeth as you complain under your breath. “Let’s just get this over with. 

“It’s so beautiful.” Tamaki watches as his guest’s eyes glaze over, the stretch of the horizon gleaming in her blue eyes. Her eyelids are hooded when she looks back at him again, and she gives him a look he’s seen a million times before. Something foggy and blissful takes over her face as she daringly inches her hand closer to his. 

“Tamaki,” her voice is like white chocolate, pouring over him with a sweet delicacy, “being alone here with you, and looking out into the sea, it feels like a dream.”

Tamaki hums, the white chocolate mixing with butter as he reaches to touch her cheek, his fingertips dipping into her hair and she leans into it. 

“It’s no dream,” He says, gazing at her with admiration in his eyes, “It’s real. And if I could have it my way, princess, I’d be in your dreams every night.” Gently, he pulls her in, resting his forehead against hers as she absolutely melts. 

As planned. 

“Oh, Tamaki.” Her voice says it all, and Tamaki’s heart feels a lighter, pride filling into his breath. Another woman was satisfied, feels cared for. A smile is carved into his lips. 

The smile falters, however, when scratchy laughter interrupts his moment. Tamaki grimaces as the twins run by, Hikaru and Kaoru performing their brotherly love act as they run after a volleyball, kicking sand up on their heels.

“Hey, wait for me, Kaoru!” One brother calls, a romantic light being shed over the two of them. 

“It’s not my fault! The ball is rolling away!” The other sings back, and their laughter pierces the air again, annoyance twitching at Tamaki’s brow. 

A tap on his shoulder breaks the prince out of his annoyance, and brings him back into the moment. He turns slightly to see Kyoya holding out his hand to his guest on the rock, who thankfully didn’t notice his loss of focus. 

“Her alone time with Tamaki is up.” The Ootori son declares, his voice loud enough for the infinite line of guests to hear as he helps the girl stand in the shallow water. “The next guest may proceed.”

In between the space it took to transfer guests, Tamaki took a moment to survey the beach behind him, watching his friends entertain their guests.

His violet gaze freezes on Haruhi, who is sitting on a picnic blanket under an umbrella, her antisocialism making an appearance as she separates herself from the large groups. A blue t-shirt sits comfortably on her torso, and he swears he watches her sink into it a little more as a breeze rushes by. She runs a finger through the sand, her knees tucked into her chest as she mindlessly draws before a hermit crab runs by her. 

Instead of scrambling away from the thing, Tamaki smiles as she simply curls an eyebrow at the crustacean before going back to doodling, her shoulders relaxing as they exist together.

His heart sighs. 

Moving along, Tamaki finds Mori and Honey with their guests, a red bucket in the smaller boys’ hand as he collects seashells and other things while Mori supervises. 

The beach stretches as he continues to watch, making it clear that someone was missing. 

“Hey, Kyo?” 

“Hm?” Kyoya’s focus remains on his checklist before beckoning the next guest over. 

“Where’s (Y/n)?” 

This draws Kyoya’s attention, a confused manner coming over him as he follows Tamaki’s gaze out onto the busy beach that was missing a certain (h/c) host. 

“I’m…not sure, actually.” The club’s director pointedly stares at the group of men and women making small conversation in the shade of one of the umbrellas, clearly waiting for you to show up. 

Tamaki watches as his friend's visage changes slightly, watching as Kyoya’s cheek dents. It took a couple of months for the prince to notice the director’s nervous habit, but one night Kyoya had only a few more minutes to turn in a complicated project the teacher had unexpectedly assigned that day, and Tamaki saw Kyoya bite the inside of cheek subtly as the minutes ticked by. 

Suoh was sure that while Kyoya was nervous for you, of course, he was always trying to think of what to do with all the guests that were currently not being attended too. 

This time though, he didn’t have to chew for long, as the blonde caught a glimpse of (s/c) skin wrapped in (f/c), and he breathed a little sigh of relief as he pointed you out to Kyoya. “There she is!”

Pointed toes glided quickly on the sand as you weaved through guests, dodging and waving to the crowds as you drew closer and closer to your own set of responsibilities. Your sore ankle was clearly not bothering you as you leaped out of the way of a rogue volleyball. You were a recognizable blur as the two men followed you with their eyes, seeing you stop only when you were in front of your guests. 

And when you did, both men swallowed. 

“Wh-what is she wearing?” Tamaki’s voice wobbled, stunned by your fashion sense for the second time that week. 

The (f/c) that tied around your skin was in the shape of a swimsuit, one that differed from the bikini you wore to the waterpark. It was clearly new, being absent of any wrinkles or tarnishes as it bent with your frame, and neither Tamaki or Kyoya had seen it before now. 

It also showed a lot more skin. 

It was to a level with which you were comfortable, but this piece was clearly meant to impress. Ties knotted at the back of the neck and at your hips, giving an illusion that the fabric might just fall off if you give it a good tug. The adjustability also made it easier for you to accentuate some areas, making it tighter and looser in the places you chose. 

Enticing energy channeled into the suit, and it was clear your guests thought the same. 

Tamaki began to panic a little, his overprotective nature kicking into full gear. “Where did she get that from Kyo, huh?” Wildness swirled in his eyes as he saw the men in your group inched a little closer to you. “They shouldn’t be looking at her like that! Why is mon ami dressed like that~?” 

His whine hitched as both hosts saw two tussles of ginger run around you, throw you a quick thumbs up, and ditch the scene. And when the boys looked closer, they saw a golden H reflect the hot morning sun against the swimsuit’s fabric. 

Kyoya and Tamaki frown. “Goddamn twins.”

But Tamaki continues to come undone. “I don’t care if she’s a host, it’s too much!” He thought you looked beautiful, of course, and although he would never feel that romantic pull when he was around you, he was still a man who appreciated a woman’s figure. 

He just would rather not with yours.

But before the blonde could leap off the rock and cover you with a towel, Kyoya broke out of his paused amazement and continued to wave the next guest over, who had frozen awkwardly, not knowing if he should advance or stay put in Tamaki’s outburst. 

“(Y/n) is a good host.” The megane’s voice sounded strained, so he cleared his throat to rectify it. “She’ll be fine. Let’s get back to work.”

But the image of you running on the beach, a pretty smile on your face as you welcomed greedy eyes roaming around your figure, never really left his mind. He didn’t take his eyes off of you.

Not that he wanted too. 

Around midday, the sun hung brightly in the sky, painting the beach with serotonin and heat as activities exploded into full swing. 

Somehow, you and Haruhi had managed to sneak a little ways away from the hosts, finding favor under a pink umbrella, a soft towel creating a barrier between sand and skin. Haruhi respired, still drawing shapes into the dirt. 

“This sucks.” Her chin rests on her knees as she talks, causing her head to bob. “I thought going to the beach meant a day off.”

You nod, breaking your attention from Mori and Honey, who were practicing Tai Chi with their guests in the distance. “I think everyone did.” 

“I guess it makes sense, though.” She draws a flower in the sand. “It’s a good business venture.”

“Sure it is. At the expense of our ability to have a relaxing time.” You both chuckle as you take a sip of your cold drink, some carbonation fizzling on the side of the cup. “It sucks that you can’t swim though.”

Haruhi just shrugs, her next art piece already in the making. “It’s part of the job, I guess.” She looks at you. “What about you? Are you going to get in anytime soon? You have a cute suit on.”

Another slurping sound comes from your straw as you look out across the endless amount of blue, and the knot re-ties itself in your stomach. “Maybe later.”

Three reflections appear in the glass, and a shadow casts over your figures as some girls appear behind you. Recognizing them as some of Haruhi’s regulars, you wave to them and excuse yourself, their voices fading away as you duck out of the umbrella. 

Pulling at the straps of your swimsuit, you try to dull the anxiety sharpening in your stomach. You have no problem showing skin, but the maids had forced you into something a little more adventurous than you were used to. It was the right choice apparently, as Kyoya will be pleased to hear that you nearly doubled your guest list today, but it took you a minute to get used to the seabreeze brushing against your exposed hips. 

For some reason, multiple people had taken an interest in pushing you out of your comfort zone this week, from your mother to the stylists. You were excited to change back into something more your style when the day ended. 

But you had to admit, every time you came across your reflection in the water, or your image in a phone camera, you couldn’t help but stand a little taller.

This dress fits you well. Insecurity, however, does not. 

The same could be said for your swimsuit. 

Soft thumps interrupt your thoughts as a volleyball rolls to your feet. Looking around, you see the twins running at you, waving their hands and gesturing for you to pick up the ball. Doing so, you meet them in the middle, handing it back to them as they simper apologetically, Hikaru scratching the back of his neck. 

“Hey, (Y/n). You wanna play?”

“We could use a fourth.”

“Who else is playing?” 

“Mori said he would try once he was done with his Tai Chi.”

Kaoru shrugged. “He didn’t really say it, he just nodded and told us to hold on a minute.” 

Shrugging, you turn back to Haruhi, who was surrounded by three blushing girls as she unknowingly glittered at them like an expensive treasure. 

Giggling, you turn back to the brothers. “Sure, Haruhi looks like she’s doing okay anyway.”

As you walk, damp sand tumbles around your toes, dusting the soles of your feet. 

“I can’t believe he fooled us.” Hikaru complains, tossing the ball up in the air.

Kaoru catches it before his brother can, twirling it on his finger. “Who’d have thought he’d bring the guests with us?”

“Yeah, well.” You scoff. “We certainly didn’t expect it.” 

“You were invited on this all expenses paid trip for a reason.” 

In the midst of your conversation, you didn’t notice that the three of you had passed by Kyoya, who was lounging in a beach chair, one of his favorite drinks at his side. “And that reason is to keep our clients entertained.”

“We know,” whines the mischievous twin, his shoulders slouching as his brother mirrors him. “But with the ladies here…”

“...Haruhi can’t change into her swimsuit.”

“That pink thing?” You say, picking up Kyoya’s drink and taking a sip. The megane rolls his eyes. “I’m pretty sure she didn’t want to wear that anyway.”

A satisfied murmur rises to the right, and you see Tamaki also relaxing, palms creating a pillow behind his head. “Don’t worry. I got it all under control.”

You all share a knowing, tired glance as a shimmering varnish washes over Tamaki’s purple eyes, a sure sign that the prince was flying to his own fairytale. “My little angel shouldn’t be prancing around in a swimsuit, at least not in front of two perverts like you.”

You almost gasped, offended, before the twins beside you groaned and rolled their eyes, and you realized your best friend wasn’t talking to you. 

In fact, he was talking to anyone at this point, his cheeks becoming redder as he spoke under his breath, his voice wispy and dream-like, fully engulfed in his own world. 

Folding your arms, you lean over to Kyoya as you watch a blissful smile spread across the blonde’s face. “Do you think, one day, Tamaki is going to go into his mind-theater and never come out?”

Kyoya was watching as well, his pen spinning in his fingers. “It’s possible. And what a silent, peaceful day that will be.”

But, alas, Tamaki suddenly squeals, curling in on himself as he rocks side to side in the plastic lounge-chair. “It’ll happen just like that! The greatest day of my life, I don’t know if I can handle it!”

“Is he going to have a seizure?” You ask, studying your prince as he squirms.

“Don’t get your hopes up.” Hikaru smirks, his hands coming behind his head. 

Kaoru follows his movements. “We don’t wanna jinx it.”

You and your friends wait for Tamaki to come out of his excited state, but when it’s clear that he isn’t any closer to being normal again, you turn back to the Hitachiians. 

“So. Volleyball?”

The twins nod their heads, ginger hair bobbing as they continue to give their boss a weary glance. As they walk ahead, you do too, then picture yourself playing volleyball in a suit of flimsy strings, and then pace back a few steps.

“Kyo?” But his attention had been snatched by his book once again.

“Hm?” 

“Can I borrow your shirt?”

That gave you his attention as his lashes flicked up at you from behind his book. “Why?”

“I want to play volleyball and not worry about everything falling out.” You vaguely gesture to your figure before putting a teasingly contemplative finger to your chin. “Although, I’m sure the guests would love that.”

Kyoya’s inquisitive look flattened, and he held that deadstare as he shucked off his Hawaiian shirt, perching it off of his finger tip as he lifted it towards you from his beach chair. You fought yourself not to ogle at his toned chest, but your eyes still slipped in a few glances. 

As you pulled the short-sleeved cotton fabric around your shoulders, you sighed a little bit as his expensive cologne surrounded you, and you felt a little more protected as you buttoned it up. 

“You want to come with us?” You ask, slipping another button through its notch. “You could keep score.”

His gaze hadn’t left you, calmly taking in the image of you in his clothes. “Not really, but thank you.”

“Oh, come on. We both know how much you like numbers.”

A raven eyebrow quirked up, as well as the corner of his mouth. “Are you calling me a nerd?”

You smiled, deceivingly innocent. “Of course. What else would you be?”

“I believe the applicable phrase here is ‘it takes one to know one’.”

“Ah, so you admit it.” Walking around and bending over his shoulder, you look at his budgeting for the next round of inventory shipments. Tracing your finger over the left side, you simply flip the page, receiving a scoff from the director. “See? You love numbers so much, this book is full of them.”

In the close proximity, you could feel the wisp of his half-assed sigh passing through his lips as you kept flipping back pages. “Obviously this book is full of numbers, it’s my budgeting journal. It’s called math, if you need to look it up later.” Light sarcasm, the kind you loved, seeped into his voice.

Laughing, you mock amazement. “Woah, hold on, math? Let me see.” With a quicker pull than he could’ve been ready for, you yank the book out of his lap, running to the front of his chair and hold it upside down, still flipping through it.

“I can’t read this.”

“I don’t think anyone could read it like that.” Kyoya said, a closed lip smile in full light on his pale face. “Now give it back.”

“Oh wow, do these spirals mean something?” You gasp exaggeratingly, pointing to one of the doodles Kyoya made in the margins of the page. “And this smiley face is one of majestic art.” Flipping the journal around, you flashed him the drawing you made the one late night that he still didn’t erase. 

“(Y/n).” Was that a chuckle in his tone? It was deep, and slight, but it still rang in your chest. “Give it back.” Upturning his palm, he waited. 

But he didn’t get it. 

Instead, you quickly wandered off, turning the book upright this time to trace the little circles and connecting doodles in the margins as you followed the twins' footsteps. “Come on! You can use it to keep score.”

Kyoya was frozen for a second, his outstretched hand basking in the sun as he watched you leave, waited for you to turn back, and then accepted that he would have to follow you if he ever wanted his most prized possession back in his grasp. 

Sighing, he fixed the glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose as he rose out his seat, his newly bare chest and back feeling the warmth of the sun when he stepped out from under the umbrella.

Slipping a hand into his swim trunk pocket, he followed you in the sand, watching how his shirt rippled in the seabreeze on your body. 

His smile cemented onto his face when he decided that he liked it on you.

“Dive, (Y/n)! Dive!”

One of your guests shouted from the borders of the court as a ball volleyed into the air, arcing over the net, and was set to go long and to the side, farther out of reach than either you or your teammate were prepared for. 

And while it was nice for the boy to say something, he didn’t need to. You were already in motion. 

Sand crushed and whipped under your heels as you propelled yourself forward. Running in sand was hard, and you felt the burn in your quads as you rushed forward, your breath coming to you in quick pants. 

Since Mori was tall, you both had agreed that he should be in the front, to block any spikes or short balls that the twins decided to throw your way. That left you in the back, passing over serves or any balls that Hikaru accidentally put too much power into. 

Which was most of the time. 

This one had gone off the rails. The passes before this had been crooked and unplanned, the two identical boys just working to get it over the net at that point without dropping the ball. So when Hikaru finally hit a good set, Kaoru spiked it, victory shining in his pointy grin before he realized he basically hit it out of bounds. 

Which would’ve been fine, if Mori hadn’t tried to hit it back. 

You knew your fate was sealed when the stoic type’s fingertips gave the volleyball the barest of touches, sending it askew and off to the edge of the court. 

Legs pulsing, knees bending, you leaped off of the uneven beach, fingers weaving together as you clasped your hands too tightly in front of you. Your shoulders whined as your muscles stretched, but you ignored the discomfort. Clenching your teeth, you put your hand under the meteor made of leather and rubber as it’s shadow began to be casted onto the dusty floor below. Arms burning, you made a move, forcefully smacking it back towards the net.

A cheer burst through the crowd as your side banged into the hard ground below. Your breath was squished out of your lungs, but you ignored it. Helplessly flopping onto your back, you turn your head to follow the ball and see the twins scrambling, surprised that you had made it over.

They fumbled again, but this time the ball flopped just out of Karou’s reach, sealing your win. 

Exhaustion coursed through you, but you still opted to pump your limp arms in victory, a breathless smile coming to your face as the small audience that gathered shouted their congratulations. 

Mori came into your view, his handsome face blocking out the sun.

“You okay?”

You nodded with a smile.

“Do you need help getting up?”

Another nod. And maybe a grunt. 

Strong hand against strong hand, Mori pulled you onto your feet. Studying your frame a little and finding no real injuries, he put his long arm around your neck, patting you on the shoulder with a small grin. 

“Good game.”

Taking a deep breath in, your oxygen finally came back to you. “Ha…good game.” 

Mori smiled at you and shot you a thumbs up, then left to gloat to the twins, who were kicking sand and comforting each other. The Brotherly Love package was in full force, and the twin’s own fans awed and cooed at their performance. 

You rolled your eyes as a voice swept over the crowd. 

“Match point for Team Stoic and Sweet. And that is game, everyone.” 

You turn to see Kyoya smiling kindly at his own admirers that were mixed into the on-lookers as he made his way towards you from his perch as the score keeper. His book was tucked neatly back into his underarm, since he needed it to keep score.

“That was quite a dive.”

“Yeah…” Still trying to catch your breath, you roll your shoulders. “I guess I’m pretty great, aren’t I?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” 

“(Y/n)! That was awesome!” Haruhi came jogging towards you both, carrying a red flag in her hand. 

“You were awesome! You did a good job keeping track of what went in and out, Haru. Thanks for doing that.”

She just shrugged, a content look on her face. “It was fun, actually. I never knew volleyball could get that intense. I was pretty into it.” 

Mori met you three at the base of the net with a certain golden-eyed duo, tongue in their cheeks. 

“Good game, (Y/n).” Kaoru said, his tone showing he meant the opposite. 

“Yeah it was, wasn’t it?” You say, putting your hands on your hips through Kyoya’s shirt. “You guys are pretty easy to beat.” 

“What did you say?” Hikaru stepped forward, a mischievous grin on his face. 

You met his step, your own smile locked in place. “I said it was pretty easy. Looks like you boys need to get in shape.”

“Hm.” Hikaru looked you up and down, nodding. “You seem confident in your athleticism. Doesn’t she seem confident Kaoru?”

A pale arm came to rest on Hikaru’s shoulder, Kaoru wearing a matching grin. “Yeah. Why don’t we put that to the test?”

Your confidence decreasing exponentially at the evil look in their eyes. “Hey, wait a minute.”

“Let’s see how fast you can run.” Kaoru builds your coffin.

“Until we catch you.” Hikaru nails it together. 

Putting your hands in front of you, you backup a little. “Come on guys, we can talk this out.”

“Nah. You got a three second head start, (Y/n).” 

“Starting….now!”

“So unfair!” You scream, but your voice grows distant as you sprint down the beach, careful to avoid the incoming waves as you laugh the whole way. The twins are giggling too, as they barely count to three before racing to catch you, and the trio of mostly stoics watches as you disappear around an edge of a large rock. 

“Was that your shirt, Kyoya-senpai?” Haruhi asks, remembering splotches of damp sand on the Hawaiian pattern. 

An exasperated sigh comes from the Ootori son. “Unfortunately.” 

“Hey Haru-chan!” The dark-haired hosts follow the high-pitched voice a little to the left of where you and the twins had run off. Honey stood closer to the ocean, waving at Haruhi with a large red bucket in his hands. If Kyoya squinted, he might be able to see a pink bunny printed on the side. “Wanna go hellfish shunting?”

Haruhi and Mori chuckle a bit before the honor student cups her hands over her mouth. “I think you’re trying to say shellfish hunting.” 

The trio begins to walk towards the boy-lolita, getting closer to the large rock. 

“But this doesn’t seem to be that kind of beach, Honey-senpai,” Haruhi continues, distractedly looking around the sand. “You’re not gonna find any shell…fish?”

Suddenly, Honey steps aside to reveal large piles of all types of shellfish stuffed into pink, bunny-themed beach buckets. Haruhi’s brown eyes go wide with amazement as she whips her head around, only to find that the three of them have stepped into, what Tamaki might call, a crustacean station. 

“What the hell? No way!”

“Ow! What the hell?” An exclamation is heard from behind the rock, followed by two more.

“Where the hell did this truck come from?”

“Who are these guys?”

“Hm.” On the other side of the rock, Mori and Kyoya move to investigate the source of the noises. 

As they peek around the base of the large obstruction, they see a large 18-wheeler, one that Tamaki’s driver might yell at to drive faster on the highway. Many costumed soldiers stood on each side of the giant, garage-door-like opening at the back of this truck, creating an assembly line for transporting a multitude of shell-fish and other, surely invasive, shelled creatures. 

They also saw you and Kaoru gingerly pulling a crab from the end of Hikaru’s finger. 

Kyoya made a knowledgeable hum, whipping out his book as he recognized the situation. “Mori-senpai,” He said to his friend, “my family’s private police force has stopped by. They wanted to make it up to Honey-Senpai for attacking him at the water park. So they brought shellfish.”

“Amazing!” Honey cheers again, practically swimming in his treasure. “Look how many we got.”

Kyoya could see that Haruhi was practically drooling when she nodded her head. “We’re gonna have some fancy side dishes tonight.”

“Well, they are certainly enjoying themselves.” You shrug as you and the twins rejoin the group. “And they forgot about the other person they tried to flush down a wave pool, but whatever. I guess all's right with the world.”

“What makes you think we forgot about you?” Kyoya asks, casually recording the attendance of his guards. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Nothing. I was just asking a question.”

It took you a moment, but your hands came up to cover your mouth a little as your eyes gleamed. “Oh my god, did you get me something? A present?”

“Yeah, Kyoya-senpai. You get her a gift for all her troubles?” Snickered the twins. 

Ignoring the ginger pains in his side, he fixed his glasses. “I can’t confirm or deny anything. I wouldn’t want to ruin any potential surprises.” 

“Oh my god, you totally did!”

Rolling his eyes, the megane flipped to a new page, hiding his smirk. 

“Hey, Senpai!” 

Haruhi’s call brings all of your attention to her, as she perched herself on the side of the rock and started waving. “Dinner is gonna be awesome, it’s a major haul!”

In the distance, many guests look over to see the root of the commotion, but a tuft of blonde rises quickly. Too quickly. 

“It’s a major haul!”

Tamaki is halfway across the beach at this point, practically reaching Mach 7 as he bolts down the sand. His legs looked like those cartoon animations, where the character runs so fast, his bottom half is just a blurry wheel. 

“It’s a major haul!” Her excitement for dinner punctuates Tamaki’s arrival, as he stops abruptly at her side. She smiles at him, gesturing to the shellfish around her, and he gives her a thumbs up, a puppy-dog look in his eye. 

“Dinner’s gonna be awesome! It’s a real treat!” And, even as her best friends, no one can remember when you saw her this excited. It brings a smile to everyone’s faces. 

But when the natural-type wanders off with Honey to collect more shellfish, you all watch as Tamaki deflates, catching his breath as he meets your group. Pushing past some girls who had followed the sound of Haruhi’s call, he smiled at the honor student.

“Oh, I’m just so proud. Look at my little girl!” You don’t know if it was the running or if his fountain of emotion was overflowing, but it left him breathless. 

“Alright, alright, have some water, Boss.” Kaoru says, handing Tamaki a bottle. 

The blonde begins to drink it before a crab catches his violet eye as it struggles to climb a piece of the steep rocky structure. 

“Hey, Haruhi, (Y/n)!” Tamaki picks up the crab easily, to Hikaru’s jealousy, and holds it out, putting on a charming face. “Do you think this crab is…crab-tivating?”

You couldn’t help it when a chuckle burst from your lips at your best friend’s joke. Kyoya watched you laugh, and scribbled something in the corner of his page. 

Two twins appeared at his side. “You’re writing that down, huh? Who are you trying to impress?”

But he just gave them the cold shoulder, shielding the contents of his book from golden, wandering eyes. “Shut up.”

Even Haruhi giggled, too deep into her good mood to be pulled out by Tamaki’s antics. “Oh yea!”

And Tamaki practically melted before you, taking his time to capture her slight blush and what the sound of her laugh did to his heart. “You’re so cute.” 

But the lovey-dovey look was sucked out of his eyes soon after as a long, twirling centipede arose from the crab’s shell. It twisted around the crustacean, and the girls who had gathered around Tamaki jumped back, horror in their features at the bug. 

“Cen-!”

“Ti-!”

“Pede-!”

Even the strong prince’s arm trembled as he froze in place, shock and terror shaking through his body. 

But Haruhi simply blew a piece of her hair out of her face, walked up to the president of the host club, and plucked the bug off the crab, chucking it behind her. 

The bug arched over her shoulder before landing on your face with a gentle smack. You jumped a little in surprise, but your shoulders shook with a giggle as you picked it off your forehead and watched it squirm. 

“Aw, cute.” You cooed, then promptly flicked it over the rock, dusting your hands off afterward. 

“Oh, shoot. Sorry (Y/n).” Haruhi says as she turns to walk towards you, but she’s laughing with you, the glow on her face still present. 

It’s dimmed, however, by a set of twin shadows. 

“Hey, Haruhi…” Hikaru says, placing an elbow on her small shoulder. 

“(Y/n)...” Kaoru reflects Hikaru’s pose, his sharp joint digging into your collarbone. 

“Now, I know most girls aren’t exactly the bug-loving type, and I certainly didn’t think you were, but-”

“-Don’t you think you both could’ve been easier on that little guy?” They whine, and you roll your eyes. 

“Please, it’s not dead. It takes more than that to kill a bug.” 

Then more shadows join, and the four of you turn to see guests looking at the two of you with hearts in their eyes, pushing the twins off of you and surrounding you in an astonished hue. 

“Haruhi is so brave, so manly!”

“(Y/n) barely even flinched. She’s the perfect woman!” 

You both thanked them while looking at each other like what is going on?. This left a few very quizzical hosts looking at you through your groupies as if you both had grown another head. 

“Well, isn’t that just great.” Hikaru pouts, watching as the guests swarm you. 

“Yeah, those two aren’t normal.” Kaoru adds. “I thought girls were supposed to be afraid of bugs.”

Tamaki’s yellow eyebrow twitched, watching as the guests fawned over you both so easily. “I’m sure they’re afraid of something.”

That got the wheels in the twins’ heads turning. As rusty as they were in other areas, these gears were always up for the planning of a good scheme. They turned and turned until the metal scraped together and produced a spark, zipping up their brain stem to power a collective lightbulb. 

“Hey Boss, listen up!”

Tamaki barely diverts his attention to the twins, the crab still waiting patiently in his grasp. “Hm?”

“We just thought of a new game to play!” Business men in the making, the twins pose pointedly, driving their offer through with enthusiasm. “It’s called the ‘Who Can Find Out Haruhi’s and (Y/n)’s Weakness Game!’ You think you’re up to it?”

But the flamboyant man blanched, a sweat dropping on his forehead. “But…that game sounds terrible.” Finding out what made both of his girls vulnerable and scared? Or sad, or unbelievably happy, without their knowledge. He couldn’t do that to you. 

His purple eyes divert to where Kyoya, Mori, and Honey are walking closer to him, and follows that flash of sun against Kyoya’s rims. 

Plus, he thinks, I don’t think we would have to search that far for (Y/n)’s weakness.

The twins just sigh, blowing him off as they slowly begin to walk away. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Besides, they would only really share their weaknesses with someone who they were close too so…”

All of his caution is tossed aside as his immense desire to form a stronger bond with you takes over. “What are the rules?”

Hikaru and Kaoru whip their heads over their shoulders, a dangerous look in their eye. “Now that’s more like it!”

Hikaru pops up first. “The deadline is sunset tomorrow.”

“Whoever finds their weaknesses wins.” Kaoru finishes. 

“And it seems I have the perfect prize for the lucky winner.” Kyoya and the others had caught up, and with the sunlight still flashing in his lenses, the ravenet fans out four pictures in his palm.

Two of them depicted Haruhi when she was in middle school, long hair and a female uniform. The other two, unfortunately, were pictures of you.

While Haruhi’s pictures were sweet and flattering, yours were just embarrassing. One showed a time where you thought you were in a safe place to nap, drool coming out of your mouth and seeping into one of the club’s couches. But the other one was much older, where a failed ice-bucket challenge had taken place, and you stood there soaked in your middle school uniform, a brown haired boy trying to cover his laughter in the background. 

An intense look formed on the faces of the Idiot Trio, and Tamaki began to reach for them, causing Kyoya to move them around the prince so he couldn’t grab them. 

“We wanna play too!” Honey declares, a look that said he was just happy to be included. 

“I guess that means we are all competing.” Kyoya states, lifting the pictures to the far right, trying to shake his best friend who was grumbling about where he was able to get those never-before-seen pictures of Haruhi.

“Hey, wait a minute, where did you get those pictures, Kyo-chan?”

“Yeah, where’d you get them, Kyo-chan?” 

Along with the excitement for the game, Kyoya had been too immersed in his pride of finding the perfect use for these pictures to notice that you had separated from the crowd. Once again, he wasn’t fast enough as you plucked the photos out of his hand and looked through them, grimacing at the ones that defiled you. 

The hosts turn, looking like boys who just got caught with their hands in the cookie jar, as you rifle through all four of them before looking up at them quizzically.

“What’s, uh…what’s goin on here?”

“Nothing!” Tamaki and the twins say immediately, but Honey bounds up to you happily.

“We’re gonna play a game, (N/n)-chan, we’re gonna find out you’re weakness! And Haru-chan’s!”

“Honey-senpai!” The Idiot Trio whines.

You give him a confused look before looking at the rest of your friends. “My weakness? Like, what I’m scared of?” Scoffing, you shake your head. “That’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid.” Kaoru huffs.

“Yeah, it’s fun.” Hikaru counters. 

Shrugging, you pull out the picture of the failed ice-bucket challenge, examining it a little closer. “Not when you already know what I’m scared of.”

There’s a small silence, and you look away from the photo to see them blinking up at you owlishly. 

“We do?” Tamaki asks, his head tipping to the side. 

But Kyoya flipped through a couple pages in his book and wanted to slap himself in the face. “Oh, that’s right.” A few flashbacks came to the forefront of the hosts' minds.

~

You and the supernatural didn’t mix very well. You weren’t weak, obviously, and would fight anything head on. But when there was a ghost that you couldn’t punch, that’s where you ran into a problem.

~

“What’s up with her?” The honor student asks, directing her question to the club director while still keeping an eye on you. As you pass Shiro, you give him a wide girth, your posture slouching slightly.

An amused chuckle resounds through Kyoya. “(Y/n) is scared of children.”

~

A long, drawn out “Oh, yeah” exhales from the hosts as the dots connect, and the twins get a bored look on their face. 

Hikaru and Kaoru begin to list them. “Sooo…ghosts?” 

You nod. “Scary.”

“And children?”

“Gross.” You say shivering, save for a certain boy who had grown on you.

“Right, right.” Tamaki sighs. ‘Anything else we should know about?”

You shoot an eyebrow up. “You mean you don’t know the other one?”

This gains their attention. Kyoya continues to flip through his book to see if he wrote down anything else, but he comes up empty. “There are more?”

At this, you smile, a small chuckle bubbling over your tongue. “Of course there are more. I’m not made of steel, you know. I’m scared of all kinds of shit.”

“What is it?” Mori says, his arms folded across his chest.

“I don’t know if I want to tell you..” A coy smirk perches onto your features. “I guess I'll get to play after all.”

~ Let the Games Begin!~

A singular voice echoed off dark walls. 

“This is the place…it’s the most haunted spot in all of Okinawa. The locals don’t even come out here.”

Taking a stuttering breath, the humid air of a cave rushes through your lungs. You hold it there for a second, scared to make the barest of noises in case it might disturb something. Or someone. 

Another voice, similar, bounces off the rocks of the cave as they take you and the crowd they’ve brought further and further into the horror. “They say that the only time you can even find this cave is at low tide. Evidently, many people have died here from drowning, and their souls still linger. Taking revenge on anyone who dares to come inside!”

That causes a sharper stab in your side as you fear peaks. You jump as Kaoru raises his voice in the darkness, and you try to squint, but from the back of the crowd you realize that you can’t see them anymore. 

“Alright, I can do this…I can do this.” Your nerves are skedaddling, fluttering in your stomach and sternum as you swallow, wincing when an unexpected drop of moisture plummets from a stalactite and onto your shoulder. 

“It’s okay, (Y/n). Look over there.” Haruhi, somehow unfazed next to you, points to where the light from the beach reached the depths of this dark cave, reflecting in the condensation and creating a small little rainbow. 

She smiles at you then, and you feel your nerves firm up a bit. “See? How can things be scary when there’s a nice rainbow, right there?”

The pounding from your heartbeat slows a little before Hikaru shouts from the front. “Look! A ghost!”

Whipping your head around, Haruhi becomes exasperated knowing all hope is lost when you feast your eyes on a shadowy figure, moving erratically in the shadows. 

“Nope! Fuck, no!” Turning on your heel and driving it into the rocks below you, you are about to sprint to the entrance when a tall, toned torso blocks your path. 

“I would watch your language, (Y/n). We are around guests.” Kyoya stands calmly in front of you as he gestures to Hikaru and Kaoru’s guests, an amused smile on his face. 

“Kyoya, we have to get out of here. That thing is going to possess us, and then what?!” You whine, a hand crazily motioning to the gloom you had witnessed. 

Gray eyes scan behind you, then meet yours, that smile growing. “What ‘thing’?”

Screwing your eyebrows, you turn spin to find the nightmare gone. “Oh shit, where did it go?”

“Language, again.” Kyoya’s tired, but entertained voice comes to rest beside you as he falls into step with you and Haruhi, and you feel a hand on the small of your back. “Come now, (Y/n), surely you can’t be afraid of what isn’t there?”

You scowl at him, rolling your eyes before becoming attentive to the cave around you. “Don’t patronize me. I know what I saw.” But the weight his hand provided was nice, it pulled you back to earth. 

But then you jumped out of your bones when literal bones grasped your shoulder, cold and clackity as it touched the fabric of Kyoya’s shirt. 

“Ah!” Going into a complete fight or flight mode, your elbow ran back, jamming into whatever had decided to take your soul at that moment in time.

“Oof, ah…” The figure’s wind got knocked out as it bent over, and you reeled to see Hikaru, clutching his stomach and bending over, two fake skeleton hands in his grasp. “I…probably should’ve seen that coming.”

Haruhi stood there, brushing off where Hiakru had placed the hand on her shoulder, and looked confused. “What’s going on? Are you guys trying to freak me out?”

Pushing past his guests, Kaoru emerges with a puppet with the same silhouette as the ghost you had seen in the darkness. An angry tick appeared on your forehead. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Kaoru whines. “I thought everyone was afraid of ghosts. (Y/n) definitely is.”

“I swear to god, when I get my hands on you…” You mumble, and try to walk towards the twin before Kyoya holds you back by the collar of his shirt. 

“This stuff doesn’t really freak me out.” Haruhi says, wrapping the cloth the puppet-ghost-demon thing was dressed in around her finger. “I’ve never seen a real one, so why would I be scared of it?”

You slouch, dragging your feet as your lead out of the cave. “If only it were that easy.” 

~ Paranormal Fear Strategy Failed ~

“Haru-chan! Would you come over here? (Y/n), you too!” 

The shirt now unbuttoned, it blew in the breeze of the sea as you and Haruhi got up from your sunbathing to meet Honey-senpai’s request. Walking past the deep, vast water of the ocean next to you lights your nerves again, but you keep a calming distance. 

Rounding the corner of the large rock where the boy-lolita had found the shellfish, you see him standing and waving at the base of the large 18-wheeler that had carried the crustaceans.

“What’s up, Honey?” You say, shielding your eyes as the rest of the hosts join you. 

Haruhi gasps, not having processed that a giant truck was parked on the sand until now. “Are you sure it’s okay to drive a truck like this on sand?”

“It’s A-OK!” The martial arts expert says, beaming. “Just get up here!”

After some struggling – neither of you being the most athletic type – both honor students now stand a little away from the edge of the truck, more confused than you were on the beach floor. 

Your voice fills the space. “Honey, why did you want us to-”

But he interrupts you with a thumbs up in the air. “We’re ready when you are, private police people! Please,” his blonde hair flops as he bows, “lower the door.”

A hearty Yes Sir! rings through the sunlight as brown eyes meet yours. Haruhi looks at you in confusion, and when you start to shrug, you're shrouded in darkness again, the door of the truck falling shut with a heavy slam. 

“Oh, mhm.” Nodding, you look around the small, dark space. “I see what he’s doing.” 

“What who is doing?” Instinctively, Haruhi’s voice falls to a whisper in the quiet trunk. 

Before you can reply, a cry resonates against the steel walls, and you feel around helplessly for a boy, his shoulders shaking. 

“Wahh! It’s dark and scary in here, I feel like I can’t breathe!”

“Honey-senpai, what’s wrong?” Haruhi’s whisper is replaced with alarm as she tries to find Honey in the darkness. 

“Somebody let me out! I can’t take it anymore!”

And with that, the door is promptly lifted, a very alert Mori holding it up. 

~ Claustrophobia Attack Strategy Failed! ~

“You haven’t gotten in the water, yet.” 

“Hm?” Your hum ended in a chuckle as you watched Mori point a very sharp thing at a very confused Haruhi. She reaches out and touches the end, testing it’s blade, then gives a deadpanned look to her Senpai. As defeated as Mori can look, you supposed, he dragged the harpoon in the ground and walked off. 

~ Fear of Sharp Objects Strategy Failed ~

Where was he going to put that?

“I haven’t seen you swim today. I thought you’d be jumping at the chance.” Kyoya says next to you, the day having stretched and flew by as the group had focused on the recent game proposal. It had quieted down a little as nothing was working against your fearless Haruhi, but they were determined to find something. 

You had been slightly forgotten, which was okay with you. 

Now you lounged deeply. Your body thanked you, seeping into the beach chair without a care in the world, Kyoya’s shirt dangling off the chair’s arm. Surprisingly, he hadn’t pestered you about getting it back, not that you were complaining. Seeing him shirtless was like seeing an eclipse across a night sky. Rare, but beautiful. 

“Yeah, not really my thing.”

“Oh really?” His voice picked up in an inquisitive manner, and you felt him rustle beside you as he got off his chair. 

Standing in front of you, Kyoya held out his hand, the sunset creating a brilliant stream of oranges and purples behind him. “Why don’t we go together, then?”

A blush that matched the pink in the sky painted onto your cheeks, as he looked very handsome at that moment, but a certain apprehension resisted his offer. 

“You want to swim? With me?”

His eyes squint slightly. “If you’d like.”

If only you could say yes. 

“But, uh, what about your glasses?” It was reaching, you both knew that. “Won’t they get wet?”

“I can take them off. You do realize they aren’t attached to me, don’t you?” Proving his point, he slid his glasses down his nose, leaning over and setting them on the small, side table that had been between you. 

Now he was shirtless, and wasn’t wearing his glasses. 

While the sharpness of the glasses complemented the angles of his face, the complete vulnerability of Kyoya’s gaze left you a little bit speechless. His sharp cheekbones and jawline softened slightly and he looked at you, so inviting and collected. Even the air around him seemed to stop whipping around, blowing a gentle wind through his raven locks. 

Your jaw muscles clenched as you swallowed. Not just from the thought of getting into the ocean, but from the sight of this man in front of you. 

Needing to look away, you darted your eyes out of his sight, pulling at your swimsuit and laughing his offer off. “You go ahead, really. I don’t really want to get my hair wet.”

“Says the woman who cannonballed into a lazy river.”

Shrugging, you grab your drink, still avoiding eye contact. “I’m full of surprises.”

But the glass doesn’t reach your lips. The tips of Kyoya’s fingers bring it down, and as he leans over you, you can’t avoid the questioning eyebrow he gives you. “Why are you avoiding the water?”

“I’m not.” Bringing the straw to your lips successfully this time, you bite it between your teeth. “I just had better things to do.”

A bored sigh blows through the Ootori son’s nostrils as his sweet, gentlemanly persona is gone, arms calmly crossing over his chest. “Don’t insult my intellect, (Y/n).”

You look at him for a moment, debating whether to keep pushing it off, but you decide against it. Expelling a breath, you set your drink down and bring your knees to your chest, shielding yourself from judgment. 

“The last thing I’m not the most keen about is the ocean.” Resting your chin on one of your kneecaps, your gaze focuses on the sea behind the club’s director. “Or really any large body of water.”

“Any particular reason?”

Another shrug waves through your shoulders as you stare out into the horizon. “Not really. Just don’t like the idea of being deprived of oxygen. Then I’d just sink, and be lost.”

Your voice had gone monotone for a minute before you exhaled, finally meeting your crush’s eyes. The naked, gray irises had turned thoughtful, intent. 

“Sorry,” You say, a small laugh offering to lighten up the mood. “Didn’t mean to be so morbid.”

“No, no.” Kyoya says, and he wears his glasses once more. “I can understand that.”

But he has no anger in his face, no judgment. Because you’ve known him for so long, getting to know the little shifts in his features, the signals between happy and frustrated had become second-nature to you. 

So, of course you saw the dimples of sincerity, of his attempt to be open to what you had to say. But did you also see a little hint of victory?

Settling back into his chair, Kyoya heaves a deep sigh, a rumble shooting through his chest before rifling through the pocket of the shirt you had stolen. 

“Well, I guess these belong to me, then.” And you were right to sense victory in his voice as the air about him turns triumphant when he pulls out two of the four photos he had presented as prizes for the ongoing competition. 

“You-!” You gasped as a boastful smirk appeared on his sharp features. Suspicion coloring your voice, it’s your turn to squint. “Did you even want to go swimming? What would you have done if I had said yes?”

A deliciously pompous shrug ripples across his torso as his smirk grows wider. “Who knows? I’m full of surprises.”

“Give me those!” Drink ignored, you reach over your chair, smiling as you move into his space to steal the pictures.

But his arms are longer as he moves the pictures out of your reach. “Absolutely not, I won these.”

“You tricked me!” Your voice strains as you stretch, your fingers wiggling out their efforts.

“I would argue that you let yourself be tricked.” Despite himself, Kyoya couldn’t help the chuckle that tumbled across his upturned lips as you put a knee onto his chair, reaching and reaching. 

You’re giggling, still trying to make yourself as long as possible. “I would argue that you’re a dick.” 

This time when he laughs, it’s much closer, his breath trickling down the nape of your neck, and you realize just how close you are. 

His arm is stretched out, the pictures well out of your grasp, while the other rests on the arm of the chair. One of your palms supports your weight on one side of his hip, while the other one is extended towards what could become some embarrassingly good black mail. Your knee perched on the edge of the chair as your other leg fell straight behind it. 

It wasn’t the most comfortable position, and now that you were thinking about it, you weren’t completely sure how you got there. But you damn well didn’t want to move. 

The goofy smile on your face softened as your torso bent over his knees, and his simper melted into something effortless. 

Your eyes followed the movement as Kyoya’s cheekbones relaxed, his dimples shallowing as you met his eyes once more. 

“You’ve been smiling more lately.” You say, your voice barely above a whisper. 

Sparkling gray irises flash with questions, but who were you kidding? They were always full of questions. “Have I?”

Nodding, you tug the inside of your cheek between your teeth. “Yeah. It’s nice.”

The effort in his arms dissipates slightly, and as it sinks back onto the arm of the chair, a meaningful gleam shines in his pupils. “Maybe I have more of a reason too, lately.”

Letting your hips drop, you end up kneeling on one side of the chair while partly caging him in, getting lost in the moment. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“I couldn’t say.” His deep voice dipped and rolled as Kyoya leaned his chin up, keeping his lips a breath or two away from yours as you leaned over him, lost in the moment. 

Winds blow the two of you ever so closer, the smell of sea salt and cologne accompanying the warm feeling of sun on your skin. That feeling paired with the one in your heart when you were asking yourself if…finally…

“I still need more time. I want to tell you, I just-”

“It’s okay. I need more time too.”

…time had run out?

As your torso began to brush his, you gently held your place. If he wanted this, he would have to make it as clear as the water behind you. You couldn’t risk making him feel pressured or uncomfortable. 

Your heartbeat pitched as he still stretched forward. 

“(Y/n)! Haruhi!”

The glass that was creating the kaleidoscope of romantic, rainbowy emotions around you shattered, making you jump back as it plunged into the sand. 

Dazed, you look towards the shout, just now registering that Kyoya’s hand had found purchase on your waist before it completely disappeared. Your view is obstructed for a moment by another large boulder before the source comes into view.

The sun illuminated three feminine figures, waving atop a large cliff. You see one, taller with long, brown hair, cupping her hands over her mouth, seemingly trying to locate you. “Haruhi! (Y/n)!”

Blinking, your mind catches up with you as you realize what they are standing on. The tallest cliff on the island sits under their feet, thick and hulking as it stretches over the waters below. 

“Those girls shouldn’t be up there.” You say, your voice wavering as they step closer to the ledge. 

Turning back to the man underneath you, his usual sharpness has returned. No longer lost in the effects of the moment’s suncatcher, Kyoya nods his head before turning to you. “Go see what they need. Our guests come first.”

“Okay.” But your voice trails off while your brain overthinks everything that just happened, or what was about to happen, in what felt like hours, but really only took a few seconds. 

The lightest of touches appear on the edges of your cheekbones as your director’s knuckles graze them, a reassuring gesture. “I’ll-,” he takes a second to clear his throat. “I’ll stay here. If you’re wondering.”

You can’t bite back the smile that stretches over your deprived lips as you sit back, plucking his shirt back on as you get up. “Flustered, are we?”

Scoffing at your surely ridiculous notion, the megane rolls his eyes. “I could say the same for you.” Kyoya’s gaze drops down your figure before opening his black book, filing those treacherous pictures into the side of it, and noting down whatever thoughts are running through his mind. 

If only you could read what he was writing.

Heart skipping as you walk, you turn to make your way towards your guests, your footsteps printing themselves on the beach behind you. 

Whatever happened, or was going to happen, with your best friend left you fluttery and nervous. 

That was a close call. But it certainly felt like the right one. 

“Oh, (Y/n)! Look up here!” Another girl, around your age with bobbed blonde hair started waving more frantically as you got closer to the base of the cliff. 

“Woah, you guys are pretty high up there.” You call, shading your eyes as you look up towards them. “Be careful!”

“The breeze up here feels great!” The third student calls, their shoulder length hair stretched into a shaggy ponytail. “C’mon, (Y/n), join us!”

You were about to say no before Haruhi joined you at your side, her left hand shielding her eyes from the sun while her right carried a sand pail full of squirming shellfish. “What’s going on?”

“They want us to go up there,” you say wearily. “But I’m just trying to get them to come down.”

“It’s dangerous!” She calls out, but the girls just shake their heads and disappear from your view.

Haruhi’s mouth flattens into a thin line as she squints in the sunlight, and then sighs. “They probably can’t even hear us.” 

But your attention isn’t on them anymore. 

Silhouetted by the sun, three masculine forms stop at the bottom of the cliff, which laid a good distance from you. Your eyes narrowed as one of the figures pointed up the landmark, and they all eagerly, too eagerly, staggering their way up the path. Have they been drinking?

“If they can’t hear us, then we need to go to them. Right now.” Urgency pulses in your tone as you hastily grab Haruhi’s hand, pulling her along as you briskly walk across the sand.

“Woah, (Y/n)-”

“There are boys climbing up the cliff.”

Haruhi finds a way to keep up your pace. “Boys? Like our guests?”

Shaking your head, you keep an eye as the trio of shadows get higher and higher. “I couldn’t get a good look at them. But they were drunk, and we don’t serve alcohol to guests.”

But suddenly one comes into the light, a mess of a low bun and sharp eyes, his mouth twisting into a grueling smirk. 

Swallowing, you break out into a full on jog. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Hm.” Chiyo says, her shorty, bouncy blond hair falling over her face as she looks over the cliff again before turning towards her friends. “I think (Y/n)-Senpai and Haruhi went somewhere else. I don’t see them anywhere.”

Her best friend since middle school, Hinata, pouts, braiding her long brown hair down her back. “Awe, I was really hoping to look at the sunset with Haruhi.”

“Yeah, and (Y/n) would’ve really loved this view.” The new girl in their class, Emi, folded her arms, her layered bangs blowing in the breeze. She had been eating lunch at Chiyo and Hinata’s usual table when the duo appeared, and they’ve hit it off ever since. Especially when they all started going to the host club together after school.

Chiyo, the bright personality of the now-turned trio, smiled a comforting smile. “It’s okay! Maybe we can get the twins’ attention, or Honey-senpai’s! I’m sure they’d love to spend some time with us.”

Hinata just shrugs, her angsty aura showing through, but Emi gives her an encouraging thumbs up. “You’re right! I’ll stay here while you two head down, so that no one steals-”

“Hey! They’re chicks up there man!”

All three girls freeze. A deep voice rang through the air, but it seemed a little far away. 

“Did you guys hear that?” Emi swallows.

“I think it came from down here.” Hinata says, calculating eyes fixating on the slight slope of the cliff. 

Their breaths catch when two heads appear over the slope, revealing two men, clearly older than they were by at least a couple years. Hinata’s long legs step in front of her two friends as they appear, wincing at their appearance. 

One had his hood up, dark brown eyes raking over Hinata’s form before foggily swinging to her friends behind her. 

The other had his hair pulled back into a low bun, his red shirt swaying with his wobbly movements as he threw an empty beer can onto the rocks. 

“Oh, well aren’t we lucky..” Red shirt slowly walks up to her, his neck craning to meet her height when she steps protectively in front of her girls. “You girls want to hang out with a couple of locals?

Her face set in determination, Hinata pushes him on his shoulder, forcing him to stumble back a few inches as she gains her ground. “No thanks. Leave us alone.”

Too quickly, the man finds his footing and reaches out, pinning her outstretched wrist in his biting grip. 

His voice drives onto gravel as his lips curl. “Awe, c’mon you fighter, we just want to show you girls a good time.” His hazel eyes flick behind her as she clenched her jaw. 

Chiyo and Emi hug each other, protecting themselves from the stare of the man while losing sight of the other one. 

“This is a private beach!” Chiyo shouts after watching Hinata stand up for her for years and finally gaining some courage. “You guys are not allowed to be here!”

The color in her face drains as arms encircle her and Emi, pulling them into a muscled torso.

“Private?” The other guy’s breath reeks of beer as it blows through Chiyo’s blonde hair. “Does that mean we’re alone?”

Suddenly, the man holding Hinata hostage by her wrist shouts out in pain, his back arching as he lets her go.

Hinata’s eyes light up when she sees Haruhi standing behind him, an empty bucket pointed right at her attacker.

She was never the one to fangirl, but damn did she want too.

“Ah!” Red shirt yells, turning around to face the person who just chucked spikey and pinchy shellfish at him. “What the hell?”

“Why don’t you quit bothering them!” Haruhi yells, her voice sounding confident but her heart beating a million miles a minute. 

You and the honor student had gotten there just as the hooded boy wrapped his arms around your guests, and it left the two of you fuming. 

Coming around behind Haruhi, you lifted your chin, shouting above the loud waves of the sea below you. “Weren’t you jerks listening? You better leave them alone!”

“Haruhi, (Y/n)!” Emi draws your attention as she shouts. You were so used to her smiling at your table when you hosted her. Now, her brow was stitched in fear, making your heart swell and your anger grow. 

“You little runt!” The man with the low bun slurs, his words blurring together as he races forward, palms outstretched to restrain Haruhi. But you step in front and push your hands onto his chest, sending him backwards again.

“Don’t touch her or anyone else.” Your voice is stone cold as you straighten your back. 

“Oh, we got a brave one, huh?” And the drunkard laughs. 

Then he lunges.

Haruhi gasps as you’re pulled off your feet. The joint between your shoulder and your arm protests as Red Shirt harshly grabs your wrist and sweeps his leg under you, sending you to the floor.

“(Y/n)!” You hear Haruhi’s voice, but it’s distorted as your chin slams onto the hard ground. Your teeth crack together, and you instinctively roll yourself onto one side, wincing as you move your jaw. 

“I’m fine, I’m good.” Grunting, Haruhi runs over to you to help you up. When your vision is less tilted, you see the drunkard stalking closer to the three girls. 

“Hey! Douchebag!” Haruhi yells, pulling you up to your feet. “Leave them alone!”

“I can do what I want!” His words are connected by his drink, and he carelessly waves a dismissive hand to you.

Fuming, and apparently unable to learn a lesson, you rush towards him, grabbing the back of his collar and tugging him away from them. He lands on his backside, unable to catch his balance.“I said, don’t touch anyone!”

He sits there, shoulders heaving. There’s a moment of quiet where you think you won. Where he and his friend might finally leave you all alone.

“Aoi. Let them go.” Red Shirt says to his friend, apparently named Aoi, and the hooded guy hesitantly unwraps his arms from Chiyo and Emi. 

The two girls immediately run to Hinata, who hugs them all gratefully, and you smile as the group is reunited. 

“Girls, let’s get you out of here.” You hear Haruhi behind you as she ushers them away from the two men as they stay frozen with their heads down. 

Keeping an eye on the intruders, you see the girls run around and behind you, and listen as Haruhi sends them down the cliff, out of harm's way. 

You hear Aoi whimper pathetically as he slouches. “C’mon Ren, I wanted to hang out with some ladies, if you know what I mean.”

Red Shirt’s, or Ren’s, shoulders shake a little, a deep chuckle rolling out of him. “We will, man, we will.”

His back still facing you, he stands. His low bun coming loose with the action, Ren turns to face the two honor students over his shoulder. 

“Let’s hang out with a chick who has some bite to her.”

Both their eyes land on you as they start to walk, their uneven steps making them seem like zombies hunting their next meal. 

Heart beat pitching for the second time, you spin towards your favorite brunette. “Run, Haruhi, we gotta run!” 

Trusting you, she spins and begins hiking it down the cliff. You start to follow before the collar of Kyoya’s shirt is pulled against your throat.

“Thought I’d take a page out of your book, pretty lady.” The smell of alcohol blends in with the breeze as he breathes into your ear, holding you by the back of the collar. 

Hearing your struggle, Haruhi whips around, already halfway down the mountain to see the two boys surrounding you.

Shaking your head, your voice is harsh as you try to kick him off of you. “Go get help!”

Worry seeps into her eyes, her chest heaving as she bites her lip. Turning her head to the bottom of the cliff, then to the top where you were. You managed to kick Ren off of you, but Aoi was there. She knew she wasn’t going to be much use.

Brown eyes glistening, she exhales roughly as she sprints down the rest of the cliff, hoping that a certain host was where she had seen him last. 

Back atop the cliff that overlooks the water, you elbow Aoi in the side before grabbing Ren’s arm and twisting it behind his back. 

“You think you can just take what you want from girls? Is that it? That you can do whatever you want?” Your voice was strained, stress and emotion stretching your vocal chords to new levels. 

Flashes of a dressing room come to the forefront of your mind, a doctor’s coat wrapped around a fake doctor who slipped into your dressing room and pushed you against a wall. His hand pushed into your mouth to silence you, and you couldn’t scream, couldn’t do anything. 

With as much force as you could muster, you push Ren to the ground, tears of frustration coming to your eyes. “Women aren’t your toys, you asshole. Have some fucking respect.”

You were helpless in that dressing room. But not anymore. 

When Aoi tried to reach for you again, you kicked him in the groin and watched him double over. Before you could celebrate, Ren scrambled back to his feet on the small rocks that littered the cliff and dove towards you. He grabbed your shoulder, spun you around to face him and slapped you. Hard. 

That dizzy feeling came back, your cheek pulsing as this man yelled in your face. “Don’t talk to me like that, you bitch! Just shut up!”

Blinking, you came back to reality and jerked out of his grasp, jabbing him in the stomach before putting your head in your hands. You were okay. It was a hard hit, but you could take it. Until help came, you could take a few punches. 

Once your vision was restored, you put another step forward before Ren pulled something shiny from his shirt pocket. 

“I know somethin’ that’ll make you like me.” That terrible smile that will give you nightmares for weeks curled at his lips once more as he flashed open a small blade, turning it so that it glinted in the sunlight. 

Your heartbeat had jumped to your head, thumping in your eardrums as all of your senses zoned into the knife he held in his large grasp. 

Your throat went dry and your breaths turned shallow, the anxiety you had worked so hard to keep under control boiling to the surface. 

“W-wait, hold on, man.” You say as you back up. How could you not check if he was armed?

As if he caught the scent of your fear, the back of his throat makes a satisfied growl. “Yeah? You scared? You gonna calm down for me?”

When he begins to take a step forward, you take a step back. “Please. I have people waiting for me. Let me go, and I won’t tell anyone you’re here.”

“Bullshit.” Hazel eyes flash with anger as he takes another step towards you, and you realize throughout the entire commotion, somehow he had ended up blocking the exit to the cliff. “Like I’d believe that a girl as fiery as you would let this shit go.”

“I will! I will.” You try to take a steadying breath, but it’s shaky and broken. “I swear.”

Taking another step back, your foot drags in the dirt as you hit a hard chest and feel arms wrap around your torso. A laugh rings out behind you and you recognize the cruel chuckle of Aoi as he traps you. “Don’t move, lady, or you might not like what happens.”

Arms pinned to your side, there’s nothing you can do but watch as Ren smiles, sharp canines reflecting as the sun sets behind the horizon. 

“Please.” Your words breathless, fear and worry stealing your voice from your throat. “Just let me go.”

“Heh.” With a concerning amount of serenity, Ren brings the point of the knife to your chin. “I don’t think I will. I like my girls with a little fire.”

Your body was finally at his mercy as Aoi shifts his grip on you, now holding the sides of your arms instead of wrapping them around his waist. 

“Whose shirt is this, sweetheart, hm? A boyfriend’s?” The hand that wasn’t holding the knife felt the fabric of the Hawaiian shirt, seeing how wrongly it fit you. “It’s definitely a men’s cut, that's for sure.”

Aoi hummed behind you, cold and disquieting. “Wanna see if she has anything under it, Ren?”

Ren’s eyes seem to flash with pride as he looks at his friend. “Absolutely.”

Shaking your head, you dig your heels in the ground as you try to push and fight when Ren brings the knife to the top button of your shirt, but Aoi holds you in place. 

“Stop, stop!” Kicking your feet, you manage to make an impact with Ren’s stomach. He grunts before catching your foot in his hand. 

Anger wells up in his form as he brings the knife to your calf, slashing a shallow cut across your skin.

You bite your lip to stop yourself from crying out, trying not to give them any satisfaction as a stinging, real pain burns through your skin. 

“Stay still, bitch, or the next one will be deeper.”

He walks into your space again, and you turn your head, a single tear rolling down your cheek as he cuts open the buttons of Kyoya’s shirt.

Your swimsuit is revealed one button after the other, and soon the entire shirt is now hanging over your shoulders, a curtain to what was beneath.

“Oh wow, we caught a rich one, didn’t we?” Ren laughs, tracing the small H on the swimsuit with the blade he just cut you with. “What is this brand, Hitachiian? This must’ve been like a million dollars.”

“Can you pay for our drinks later, rich girl? Or maybe the rest of my tuition?” Aoi teases, and you wish something could strike him down and shut him up.

“Get the shirt off her, Aoi. Let’s see what we’re working with.”

The guy behind you’s grip loosens for a split second, and you take your chance. You push him off of you and Ren’s arm shoots out, only being able to grab the fabric of your shirt as it’s pulled off of you. Stumbling, you find a little bit of your footing and run to the edge of the cliff, stopping as you look down at the crashing waves. 

“Nowhere to run, sweetheart.”

The ocean laughs at you as the water runs up the wall of the cliff, its deceptively calm waves taunting you. You wouldn’t dare.

Looking over your shoulder, Ren flips the knife in his hand. He throws Kyoya’s shirt to the wind, and you watch as it blows away, freer than you were as it succumbed to the breeze. 

Your toes curled on the edge of the rocks, the heartbeat in your ears picking up its pace. You took a few breaths in, then out. In, out, in, out. 

Just do it, (Y/n), jump!

But the endless blue swirled and swayed, hiding its secrets to anyone who dares to consider it at such a surface level. You imagined the blue on top turned darker as you’d sink down, lower and lower until there was nothing left.

Anxiety lurched in your stomach, but you took a step back.

But Ren’s hand spun you around by your sore shoulder, grabbing you by the straps of your bathing suit as he laughed.

“What? Too scared to take a dive?”

Part 2 is up! Go check it out in the masterlist! <- (click there)

[collarus]

mobile muse list, to be updated as i remember & fall in love w/muses.

animated / manga →

wolf's rain: hige - he/him, werewolf (i guess), silly guy beloved

wolf's rain: hubb - he/him, divorced ♥

fruits basket: i'm not sure yet but the whole manga is right in front of me, and i am weak. this will happen. i will pick up at least one character. it is inevitable.

the devil is a part-timer!: sadao maou - he/him, the devil, silly guy

the devil is a part-timer!: urushihara hanzo - he/it, fallen angel, emo boy

soul eater: maka albarn ( anime ) - she/her, bookish scythe meister

rwby: ruby rose - she/her, sillyheaded w/adhd & a weapon hyperfixation

another: mei misaki - she/it/they, a sacrifice in some ways

adventure time: princess bubblegum - she/her, good... for the most part.

adventure time: prince gumball - he/him, also... good, for the most part.

beastars: haru - she/her, a very capable bunny

beastars: louis - he/him, deer prince beloved asshole

gravity falls: dipper pines - he/him, cryptid hyperfixation that might be dangerous

gravity falls: pacifica northwest - she/her, local rich lesbien

noragami: yukine - he/him, a weapon for a god

fairy tail: lucy heartfilia - she/her, celestial wizard

fairy tail: levy mcgarden - she/her, sweetheart ;v;

kagerou project: shintarou kisaragi - he/him, loser

horimiya: kyoko hori - she/her, pretty girl who is so silly housewife also

horimiya: izumi miyamura - he/him, emo boy who gets reformation

my little monster: natsume asako - she/her, girl who needs so much validation

ouran highschool host club: haruhi fujioka - any/all, needs a break

ouran highschool host club: mitsukuni haninozuka (honey) - he/him, he's baby

tbd.

video game →

resident evil 7 & 8: ethan winters - he/it, mold, a good dad :(

the legend of zelda: link ( lozzy ) - any/all, hylian, mix of hero's incarnations

pokemon sun/moon & ultra sun/moon: gladion - he/him, pkmn trainer, yikes :(

pokemon x/y: serena - she/her, pkmn trainer & model, bitter rival

pokemon r/g/b: green - he/him, NOT the female protag, this is the male rival

yume nikki: madotsuki - she/they, sleepy girl with a sad life.

ib: garry - he/him, scaredy cat living in a horror movie trying to act like he isn't

DRAMAtical murder: noiz - he/him ( request only !! )

i'll take on like anyone from danganronpa they're just request only ♥

tbd.

original character(s) →

pokemon scarlet & violet: valley - he/him, pkmn trainer, not quite a self insert?

pokemon legends arceus: koukari - they/them, pkmn trainer, zorua enthusiast

soul eater: tea lea - he/they, weapon, laid back, workin through trauma

soul eater: vio lette - they/them, meister, self indulgent 'raised by canon char' oc

literally anyone in this link, if you're ever interested in peeking around

tbd.

[hopeassassin]

Rally’s Scribbles in the Work

So after that lovely anon blew my mind away with their kind words and wonderful support, and because I keep telling you guys about my writing plans without actually giving you even a teensy little detail, I have decided to stop being coy and actually likely get your hopes up a bit by dilvulging small details and bits of plots of what is currently going on in my G-Drive. 

This will be a brief recount of what I have currently baking in the AoMomo oven, so let’s dive right into it! Please note that the numbers are in no particular order - I just keep revisiting each of these stories and writing a bit more to them whenever I feel like it. So there’s no ranking and no importance, just a number to keep proper count.

1. “Knight of Renown” Dragons and Knighthood AU, based on that one AoMomo pic with Momo ithe Knight and Dragon Aomine that I reblogged a while back and I actually let me imagination go a bit too much in the tags. I ended up actually rather enjoying the premise I set up in the tags so I actually started writing that one out!  Completion rate at about: 5%? I’d say? Less? :D 

2. AoMomo Music AU - a dearly beloved project that I am pouring a lot of love and attentioin to. That’s why it’s coming along super slow. It’s been in the making since November and I chewed it and mulled through it so thoroughly that I’ve grinded to a halt with it. Intending for there to be 2 chapters, and I am at about 25-30% of chapter 1 currently ready currently. At the pace I’m going, it might be another full year before you actually get to see this bad boy up, but when you do, I’m sure you’ll see all the care and effort that went into making it perfect. Honestly, no joke here, I am intending for this to be one of my rare masterpieces in this tag. So I’m not gonna rush it!

3. AoMomo Car Accident AU where Daiki barely manages to save Satsuki from being run over by a hit-and-run and ends up being the one run over instead. This was my first piece of writing after coming back to AoMomo last summer and yet completion rate is a sad thing. I want it to be flawless, a perfectly agonizing, thrilling type of torturous read that gives you a great sense of relief by the end of it. Needless to say, the clusterfuck of negative feelings is a bit difficult to hold onto for a prolonged period of time and the work is coming along slowly. Planned at about 5 chapters, I have 2 complete ones and the 3rd one is at about ... 30%? Hopefully before this year’s whumptober, we’ll have a finished piece!

4. AoMomo bond character study, which went in a direction I did NOT expect nor intend. It was suppsoed to be an idea that you will see also listed below. But I started this one from their early childhood and somehow, instead of focusing on the kids and their bond and their weird interactions with each other and their first moments of realizing they are of opposite genders, it turned into something much too fun to let go of and the ideas for scenes just kept piling. It’s going to be a long one, very explorative and very in-depth character study on the bond between these two and how it changed over the years, and their first encounters with their sexuality inbetween (because that was really the main idea that I started with... xDDD;;;) Currently at 1 chapter complete, chapter 2 somewhere around 50-60% completion, and at least 6-7 chapters to come after that, soooo.... :’DDDD YEAH. THIS ONE AIN’T SEEING THE LIGHT OF DAY ANYTIME SOON.

5. AoMomo deciding to practice stuff on each other, because I am a sucker for this trope.THIS will be what the idea under previous number 4 was SUPPOSED to be like, but it instead spun out of control. So this one, under number 5, is going to be the smutty, idiots bumbling through physicality to discover that they actually have serious feelings for each other kind of piece. Chapters are planned at about at least 6-7 or so, but not my usual monstrocities! :D First we start with practice kissing, and we move our way up from there! 

6. “The Evil of Humanity” AU - a dystopian futuristic kinda mecha AU, sort of an amalgamation of some of my favourite anime in the genre - a bit of NGE, a bit of Gurren-Lagann, a lot of Darling in the Franxx rewrite and improvement, in distinctly AoMomo colors. I poured a lot of thought and love into initial outline of main moments for this one, and I really hope to make it an epic, thrilling action/adventure with a big dash of romance kind of read! Chapters currently not even planned properly, because I need to sit down and consider this seriously. It will definitely be more than 10-15 though, and they will be my usual chapter lengths so.... likely no time soon. :D 

7. Aomine Fanclub - I got a plot bunny some time ago and I shared it here and my friends were spurring me on with it, so I started trying it out a little more. I’ve written out like... maybe 30% of this one as well, but need to re-read and reconceptualize to get it back on track. The issue with this one is that I’m not really sure where I want to take it, thus it’s on the back burner at the moment.

8. KagaKuro AoMomo double-date kind of story, where Aomine is asking some curious questions of Taiga about going to America and pondering if any of his immediate friends know what Satsuki wants to do with her life. I’m really invested in this one but haven’t started properly writing it out yet beyond just sketching out the idea so I don’t forget it. (I’d say 1% complete here.) Really looking forward to using the idea of Kagami being super impressed with AoMomo perfect sync when playing as a team in arcade games!

9.Laws of Attraction Chapter 2 - You might be surprised at this, but I’m actually super invested in this one. Likely the reason why I am delaying so much working on it - I feel like all my great scene ideas are just too chaotic and I have a hard time starting the chapter flowing properly. I had like 4-5 false starts already and I’m feeling a bit skittish with picking it up. But I have such AMAZING concepts on where to take it after it revvs up the engine, so... Maybe sometime this year! Completion rate: 0% written, but at least about 30% ideas built up for the installment!

10. AoMomo college rooming together story - sort of an expansion on my fill for one of the prompts way back those years ago in AoMomo week. I really dig the concept and the trope of sharing spaces with someone you consider nothing more than a friend and then gradually learning to appreciate each other for something so much more. I am definitely doing this one some day, but not anytime soon, likely.

11. A random idea bit me the other day (read: a month ago) and I actually wrote out like... maybe 25% of it already as well. A random comment from Wakamatsu miffs Satsuki but then she realizes why he’s asking dumb questions and she comes to realize that something is wrong with the equation: either Dai-chan likes someone really close to them and she hasn’t realized, which is unlikely, or Dai-chan likes HER and is super blase about it in a way that betrays his feelings not at all, which is even more unlikely. Being a curious  individual, she sets out to find which it is! Some hilarity should ensue but mostly just some mess-with-Dai-chan fun!

12. Touou summer training camp at the sea - progress is practically 0, I wanted to write a summery piece and set my mind on this, but nothing beyond has come to me, so I’m not forcing it.

13. AoMomo cultural festival fic in second year of high school (meaning something approx end of Oct -> beginning of Nov.) with Daiki being in a distinctly Haruhu Suzumiya role at that festival (has anyone even seen this anime? I adored that episode to freaking bits, man, it’s engraved upon my soul) and singing Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” and one more song just like Haruhi did. And Satsuki just beholding the phenomenon he becomes in no time flat while he lays bare his passion for life for all the student body to see. Shippiness will happen in private afterwards!

14. You Can Leave Your Hat On Chapter 2 - Probably like 2-3 years ago while I was still in the damn woodwork and wrestling with real life and adulting being crap, I remembered this AU premise and I got super hyped on the idea of Club Owner Dai-chan being a flirt with innocent Satsuki who got dragged to his joined and fell in love at first sight with his shenanigans. I’ve already played around for like 7k words with the second chapter of this but I’m still not where I want to be at, so it will take a while longer to flesh it out.

15. Idol Worship - a story that I promised my mate aricana some 6 years ago the premise for which I am super hyped for but not quite engaging with it yet. The idea was that Momoi finally starts gettiing the dates she has been pesting Kuroko for for years, and Daiki feeling terrible about beholding that, whilst Kise is being pestered by Horikita Mai for a date and instead ditches her with Daiki because he knows his former Teikou classmate is a huge fan of her. Mai-chan isn’t particularly happy but somehow ends up enjoying her time with Daiki and starts considering actually pursuing him instead of Kise when she sees what an interesting soul he is, with the torch that he’s carrying for some girl in his life he doesn’t really talk about but is evident from the little things he drops off as hits. AoMomo shenanigans will start to ensue properly when Satsuki realizes that Daiki is actually having a close female friend who is not her but is Horikita Mai instead, Dai-chan’s perfect woman, practically. She doesn’t take well to the news and has to grapple with why that is! And what to do with these newfound frustrating emotions!

16. Obstruction of Justice Chapter 3 - MAYBE SOME DAY, I WILL GET TO WRITING THIS. Last summer I inteded to do just that but instead, Wild Side of Justice was born. And it became a spin off of sorts on its own. ORZ. I WILL FINISH THIS SOME DAY, I do have some plans for it and I do have the desire to pursue them. I just need to be in the right headspace for it ahsjkfhkjaf

17. A PWP story of Kagami arriving early for a practice match at Touou and somehow walking in on AoMomo getting busy with each other in very unexpected and explicit ways that Kagami did not see headed his way. Because, we need more PWP in this fandom, honestly.

18. And since we DO need more PWP, recently when checking the 30 lemons community on LJ (shut up, I’m not ancient, YOU’RE ANCIENT) I was wondering how exactly a smut plot around the “Taken by the Faceless Stranger” could work for Aomomo and I came up with this Masquerade ball that they end up both attending because of their friends and meeting each other and hitting off fantastically just chatting the night and then banging in a niche in the long castle-like premise of the ball. :’DDDD Cuz it’s me and if I don’t have something like that in the works, you know i’m likely sick.

ALL OF THESE I am planning on eventually finishing one day. ONE DAY!

For now they are in various states of completion and in various stages of being cared for and improved on with more ideas added and fleshed out.

I am not joking when I say I am very invested in this fandom. I just have difficulty getting to writing out these ideas when I spend like 60% of my free time playing my mobile games. :D 

So there you have it. I didn’t want to say anything about these because 1) I don’t want to get your hopes up. You Can Leave Your Hat On 2, for one, has been in the making for 3 years, very on-again-off-again kind of way, and I just... can’t do that to you guys. I have decided against posting any incomplete fics so I don’t torture you guys and my muse doesn’t abandom me forever for them. So when something is complete, it gets posted promptly for your viewing pleasure!

And 2) If I divulge too much of the story, I feel like my hype of it may disappear completely. Ehh, my muse is a willful creature, what can I tell you... 

So let’s hope at least SOME of these get to see the light of day soon!

[alcoholicseraphim]

A Study in Caricatures

Part 2

“Mione, Mione, will you watch Usa for me?” Mitsukuni Haninozuka held out his stuffed bunny with a look of distracted expectation, and Hermione took the toy.

She sat alone, waiting for her turn to be examined. Predictably, she wasn’t a priority patient, and so she had plenty of time to watch the hosts disappear behind curtains for their turns. Haninozuka was the last of them.

A thought twinged in her head— was she like a pet to them? A servant, perhaps? Hermione vividly remembered the relationships between those with money and those without at Hogwarts, and it was nothing she wanted any part of.

Hermione wasn’t quite the last to be examined. That would have been a blatant statement. She and Haruhi Fujioka avoided eye contact as the line dwindled down to nearly nothing.

“Fujioka Haruhi!” a nurse called.

A miserable-looking boy sank down into his seat, turning dejected eyes to Hermione.

If Hermione thought about it, a memory came up to the surface. It was an offhand comment in the hallway, snidely remarking that the boy had been disowned from his wealthy, influential family. Hermione had no idea why, but she could be certain from his demeanor that he regretted it.

For a few minutes more the boy tried to catch her eye and Hermione didn’t let him. She would look up occasionally to find him staring at her, and she would smile politely and look away.

“Granger Hermione!” And she was saved.

The bunny felt bulky in her hand as she stood, smoothed her blouse, and went to meet the nurse. “Hello, good morning,” she offered, smiling reflexively.

“Good morning!” the nurse chirped. “If you would come behind this curtain?”

Hermione’s fist clenched around Usa, and she nodded.

###x###

It had been hardly a week since she’d begun hanging around the hosts after school, and during that time she’d learned several things about her new acquaintances.

Suoh was half-French, which explained his European looks. He didn’t like talking about his family, and never mentioned his mother. What was she, a mistress? Dead? Blonde, almost certainly. Despite his mother, Suoh clearly held a lot of sway in the culture-simulation that was Ouran Academy. A lot, based on some overheard snippets of conversation. As beloved as he was by his patrons, his male classmates were significantly less fond of him. Suoh appeared oblivious.

Haninozuka and Morinozuka were cousins and best friends, and if they were apart then either something was wrong or they were planning something. Neither was a good thing. As she’d observed before, they were polar opposites, but Haninozuka wasn’t as brainless as he seemed, or as unobservant. Morinozuka, while no slouch himself, wasn’t as perceptive as his small friend.

The twins didn’t like talking about their mother either, though she was very much a presence in their lives— even when she was travelling, which seemed to be often. After club hours some days they would get so tired that it was almost as if they built a bubble separating themselves from everyone else. On those days no one dared disturb them.

Ootori wasn’t nearly so free with his inner workings as the others were. He didn’t count on other people’s lack of perception like the others did. Hermione did gather that he was the third son and fourth child of the patriarch of the wealthy Ootori family and that his father didn’t know he was involved with the Host Club. Hermione especially made note of that bit of information, for she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t have to put Ootori in check one day.

For all she’d been learning about them, she hadn’t revealed much of herself. It was more that she was becoming a fixture, a piece of furniture, than a friend. She was harmless, after all.

It was one of the twins’ introverted days, and all but Ootori tiptoed around them. They’d already snapped at Suoh, sending him into a sulk, and sat near Hermione, since they’d discovered that she didn’t try to disturb them and was a deterrent in her own right. Hermione was going through books like minutes while keeping an ear out for a disturbance.

The doors slammed open, causing Hermione and the twins to jump. The twins even snarled in the direction of the noise, and when everyone turned to look, they paused.

She was a girl, slender and sandy-haired, eyes wide with wonder. When Hermione followed her gaze, it was aimed directly at Ootori.

“It’s you, Kyoya,” she whispered.

“Club hours are over,” Hikaru barked, and Kaoru put a hand on his arm. They both turned away to glare at the table.

The girl was still talking: “Oh, how I longed to meet you! My one and only prince charming.”

Hermione looked between the girl and Ootori, taking in Ootori’s cool, almost disdainful expression and the girl’s manic eyes.

Was no one going to deal with her? It was obvious no one knew her, but there must be a reason she hadn’t been escorted out yet.

Fine. Hermione stood and closed her book.

“Don’t bother,” Kaoru muttered behind her.

“Miss? Club hours are over, but any guest of- of Kyoya’s is welcome here. Please, come sit. Would you like some tea?” Hermione smiled her best and held out a hand.

“Who is this?” the girl asked. Her voice was suddenly chilly. “Why is she using your first name, Kyoya?”

Hermione put her hand down. “My name is Hermione Granger. I don’t have the honor of knowing your name, I’m afraid.”

Ootori stepped forward, coming to Hermione’s side, and that appeared to distract the girl. “Get away from him,” she said.

“Sure, Miss. I’ll go make some tea.” It took effort to keep the anger from Hermione’s voice, but she managed, even if her footfalls were perhaps too loud.

“Don’t bother,” the girl shouted after her, but Hermione didn’t stop.

Hermione closed the door behind her, thankful for the kitchenette. She set a kettle to boil and stared into the shiny metal, willing the tears away. The nerve of her, to talk to a stranger that way! To be so obscenely possessive over a boy she’d admitted to never meeting before!

The tears fell anyway, splashing onto the stove, and Hermione did her best to brush them away.

When she had herself under control and the tea was ready Hermione emerged into the parlor again, carrying enough tea for everyone bar herself.

The girl met her eyes from across the room and immediately became grumpy again. “You can set it down there,” she said, pointing to the table someone had finally convinced her to sit at.

Hermione’s eye twitched, but she obeyed. The situation was tense enough without Hermione getting indignant. Once she’d set the tray down she backed up, fully prepared to leave the hospitality to the others, whom the girl didn’t seem to have such violently negative reactions to.

“Kyoya tells me you aren’t actually a part of his club,” the girl said.

“That’s correct,” Hermione said, turning back.

“It’s obvious what you’re trying to do, you know,” said the girl. “You’re trying to get close to Kyoya by separating yourself from everyone else. He lets you stay here because he feels sorry for you.”

“If you say so,” Hermione said, and suddenly smiling was easy. She could feel smug eyes on her back as she collected her books and her bag and left.

###x###

She didn’t come back the next day.

“Maybe something came up!” Honey suggested.

“It’s that stupid girl’s fault,” Hikaru said. Honey deflated, pouting.

“She’s not actually your fiance, so who cares?” Kaoru said.

“Miss Hoshokuji may not be my fiance, but she is the only daughter of a very important Ootori family client. Miss Granger was correct to remove herself from the situation,” Kyoya said.

“You would think so, wouldn’t you?” the twins grumbled..

The hosts pulled themselves together for their customers, but as soon as they left they were back to silence and irritability.

“Everyone!” Renge sang, the doors crashing open as they’d done the day before. The hosts winced as one. “You’ll be happy to know that your new manager has baked all of you some cookies!”

Tamaki cleared his throat. “Thank you, Miss Hoshokuji,” he said.

“I’m so sorry, Kyoya, they’re a little burnt.-- but I already know what you’ll say.. Oh, Kyoya, you’re always so sweet to me!” Renge set down the platter of charred cookies, and they all eyed them suspiciously for a moment.

Honey plucked one from the top which was only black on one side. He gulped and took a bite. “She wasn’t kidding,” khe squeaked. “They really are burnt.”

“Don’t eat that, Mitsukuni, it’s bad for you,” Mori said, and Honey happily relinquished the cookie.

Renge glowered at them. “Some hosts you are,” she huffed.

###x###

Changing up her routine was a pain. Where was she supposed to study now? Her apartment? The libraries? No dice.

There was still plenty of space to explore, fortunately, and that kept her mind off of lost opportunities. Sometimes, anyway. When she had nothing to do but pace the halls looking for somewhere else, she could hardly not think.

She’d known it. Suspected it, in any case. Hadn’t that always been the case? Harry and Ron befriended her because she was a Muggleborn. Ron dated her briefly because she had no one but them. Hadn’t she been pitied her whole life? Teachers, friends, her boyfriend? That girl had been completely right, and Hermione was just grateful she’d been told right away. Wouldn’t it have been awful if she’d grown attached and then found out?

A latch in the wall twitched under her searching fingertips, and Hermione took her wand in her other hand and put up a shield before pressing it. She’d spent enough years in Hogwarts to not trust that something malicious wouldn’t be built in just because it was a school.

Rather than the booby trap Hermione half-expected, a crack appeared in the wall. She opened it carefully, not letting down her shield, and peered inside.

It was a tiny little room, though bigger than a closet. A dusty old desk rested against one wall, low to the ground.

A flick of her wand Vanished the dust, and Hermione stepped inside and shut the door behind herself.

With the door closed, Hermione felt safe enough to perform more obvious magic. “Lumos,” she whispered, her voice pressing in from all sides in the pitch darkness.

The brighter light revealed more than the light from the hallway had. The desk was made of dark wood, polished to a gleam. The craftsmanship was exquisite, and if she crouched to look at the legs it featured some designs typical of the Meiji period. Dragons stretched up the sides, the depths of the carvings accented in red lacquer. Two small drawers fit into the legs. It was a beautiful little piece.

As pretty and expensive-looking as the desk was, it was the only hint of furnishing in that small room.

Hermione knelt and tested the drawers, which opened easily, smoothly. There was nothing inside but more dust, which Hermione Vanished.

When a more thorough examination yielded nothing new, Hermione moved on to the wall opposite the secret door, and, lo and behold, there was another. She slid it open as cautiously as she’d opened the first.

On the other side was a much, much larger room, though it was hard to tell just how big since the lights were off. A group of several students huddled in a seated circle, each holding a lit black candle.

“We have a visitor,” one said calmly. In a single fluid movement, he set his candle down on the floor and stood, his cloak swishing.

Hermione scanned the group, finding no familiar faces. Their attire was remarkably similar to Western wizard wear, however, and the echo of home expanded in her chest. She stepped forward. “My name is Hermione Granger,” she said, her grip on her bag tightening.

“Welcome, Hermione Granger,” the group said together.

“What brings you here, lost Eris?” the boy, clearly the leader, asked. His voice was smooth.

She would hardly call herself an Eris— she was more of a Harmonia, after all. “I’m just exploring,” she said, and her voice was jarring in the quiet room.

The others stared, and their eyes were glassy in the candlelight. It would be safe to ignore them; they were high on something, though she couldn’t be sure what it was.

“My name is Umehito Nekozawa,” the boy said. “There’s no need to worry about them. They are safe.”

“Glad to hear it,” said Hermione, “but it’s none of my business. What is this, then?”

“This,” and Nekozawa seemed to swell as he said it, “is the Black Magic Club. Are you perhaps interested in joining?”

“Not exactly,” said Hermione, smiling. “There’s not much I can learn here.”

“Is that so?” Nekozawa smiled back, and his was surprisingly friendly. “What is it you think you know? What is it you think we do here?”

Hermione was beginning to relax, despite herself. Magic, even if they were only pretending, was a welcome surprise. “You do curses, rituals, love spells, things like that. Right?”

Nekozawa asked, “And what is it you do?”

What spells could she perform without using her wand? Mostly elemental spells, or minor physical ones, since she hadn’t been training for long. “Look,” she said unnecessarily, and snapped her fingers. A flame sparked to life in her hand, and after a moment spent staring at its flickering blue light she clapped her hands together, cutting off the oxygen and effectively extinguishing it.

They sat in silence for a few bare seconds, Hermione amused and Nekozawa shocked. “How can this be?” Nekozawa said. “Please, do it again.”

Hermione cupped her hands and blew into them, and they filled with water, which soothed her poor singed fingers.

It felt good. Nekozawa stared into her hands and then up to her face with an awe approaching reverence, discernable even in the dark. Hermione blew on the water which was fast trickling from her grasp and it froze solid.

“How much can you do?” Nekozawa asked, “What else?”

“A lot,” said Hermione, a warm feeling beginning in her chest and spreading throughout her body.

It was, perhaps, a fortuitous trade: the Host Club for the Black Magic Club.

###x###

No matter how hard the twins searched, they couldn't find Hermione Granger after the final bell sounded. It was as if she vanished as soon as classes were over. They hadn't actually gone so far as to skip their last class in order to ambush her, but that option became more and more appealing every day spent searching in vain. Their only evidence that she went to school at all was the testimony of Kyoya and Tamaki.

Renge made a nuisance of herself every afternoon, clinging to Kyoya. She'd tried to forbid him from entertaining as a host, and only Kyoya's dizzying logic made her calm down.

It was, perhaps, an unfortunate trade: Hermione Granger for Renge Hoshokuji.

"You're not leaving early again, are you?" Kyoya called after them as they sneaked to the door.

"We lost our toy," they said, and went anyway. Kyoya didn't try to stop them.

"We checked all the libraries on Monday, and I think most of the clubs yesterday. What are we missing?" Hikaru muttered.

"Cooking Club, Gardening Club... Chess Club... Black Magic Club... Oh, hey, Nekozawa hasn't come by lately. We haven't seen the room yet."

Hikaru shook his head. "She'd hardly go there, though, would she? Probably not enough light to read by. Besides, she doesn't seem very "magical", does she?"

No, she did not, not with her practical braids and books and slacks. Nothing like Nekozawa.

Cooking Club was full and loud and messy, and immediately upon the twins' arrival they had plates of cake shoved at them.

Gardening Club was hot and muggy, and a girl with pigtails invited them to stay and tend the plants.

Chess Club seemed like a good bet, but there were only guys there— and one single, bitter-looking girl.

Hikaru and Kaoru trudged to the main part of the Academy.

“You still have flour on your face,” Kaoru said, but didn’t move to clean it.

“You still have dirt on yours,” Hikaru said. The twins exchanged a look and a sigh.

The Black Magic Club was in a part of the school not oft traveled, since it was less modern than the rest and way off to the north in the basement. It was a long walk, and they arrived at the double doors dejected and irritated.

Together they swung the doors open.

“Granger?”

“Oh, hello, Hitachiins,” Hermione Granger said, A breeze lifted her bangs and let them still again, and the flame on her candle flickered.

It was an odd picture. Hermione Granger sat on a chair just outside the circle of creepy children, her legs pulled up and crossed. Nekozawa sat in front of her, leaning back so his head rested on one of her knees. His wig was conspicuously absent.

“Did you need something, Hitachiins?” Nekozawa asked, his voice deep and spooky, though not as much as usual.

“Can we talk to Granger for a moment?” Kaoru asked, the first of the two to recover.

“Certainly,” said Granger, her voice just a smidgen colder. Nekozawa lifted his head obligingly, and Hermione unfolded her legs and stood. Her shoes were gone.

The trio retreated to a corner, and the twins could feel Nekozawa’s gaze piercing them, judging them, warning them.

“What is it you needed?” Hermione asked.

“Hoshokuji is so annoying!” the twins cried. “If you come back then she’ll go away!”

“No,” Hermione said, gently. “It won’t be so easy; if I come back it’ll only invite confrontation. I know you two get bored, but I’m not about to sacrifice myself on the altar of your entertainment, all right?”

“But Granger—”

“No.” Her face twisted, seeming to alternate between anger and sorrow. “I thank you for the invitation, but I must decline.” This sentence was pitched just loud enough for the others to hear.

On cue, Nekozawa said, “Perhaps it’s time you two get back, Hitachiins.”

Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other, shrugged, and left.

###x###

Even Kyoya's patience was beginning to stretch. As little as he'd liked Granger, she had at least kept to herself, for the most part, and was undemanding of their time and attention. The same could not be said for Renge Hoshokuji.

His willful silence didn't seem to perturb her in the slightest, and neither did his subtle indications that he wasn't actually as kind as she seemed to think.

The twins left almost immediately after club hours every day, and Kyoya couldn’t bring himself to stop them. He knew what they were doing, but he couldn’t bring himself to want to stop them. It was probably for the best that the least tactful of the hosts absented themselves when Renge arrived, for they could offend her without even trying, and then his careful cordiality would be all in vain.

Tamaki and Honey were becoming less and less cheerful. It was time to do something.

“Say, Renge, how much do you know about me?” They sat on a couch without anyone in earshot, which was no accident. He even went so far as to look up from his laptop as he asked.

“Oh! You’re a gentleman who's kind to everyone and doesn't ask for anything in return. You like solitude, but in fact sometimes you get lonely, and you look like the star of the popular dating sim, Uki-doki Memorial. You're my real-life Ichijo Miyabi!” Renge turned to look at him with hearts in her eyes, the steam of the tea in her hand bringing a blush to her cheeks and brightening her eyes.

Kyoya was, after seeing this exact picture day after day, completely immune. “What have I done to lead you to that conclusion?” he asked.

“Well,” said Renge, sobering a bit at his serious expression, “You were adoring those flowers in the backyard when you thought no one else was looking, and you reached out to that poor injured kitten—”

“I didn’t actually do those things,” he said. “You're in love with that character. You're projecting the love onto me, and you somehow deluded yourself into thinking that we're engaged. It’s gone on for long enough.”

“What are you talking about? Why are you being so cold? This isn’t like you, Kyoya,” Renge whispered, tears beginning to well up.”

“It is exactly like me, Miss Hoshokuji. I couldn’t be any less like that character.”

“I know what this is about! It’s that commoner girl, isn’t it? You like her better than me! It’s her fault you’re acting this way, it’s her fault your friends don’t like me! Where is she?” Renge stood, fabric flaring around her as if to illustrate her sudden righteous fury.

“Miss Hoshokuji, sit,” Kyoya commanded. “I don’t know where she is, because she’s removed herself from the situation as a favor to you. The way people view you is entirely up to you. It’s unbecoming to blame your problems on someone else simply because you’re jealous of them. You’ve caused enough trouble around here. Please stop being such a pest.”

“A pest? What do you mean? You’re being so cruel!” She was sobbing in earnest now, and the sound grated on his ears.

“Everyone here is missing their friend. You drove her away, so it’s only right that you convince her to return, yes?”

“If I do that... If I do that, will you love me again?” Renge sniffed.

“No,” Kyoya said, “Because I never loved you in the first place, and you never loved me. But it’s the right thing to do. Do you want to be remembered as a jealous, petty person?”

“No,” said Renge, her whole body sagging down toward the floor. “But how do I apologize if no one can find her?”

“If you’re determined, you’ll figure it out,” Kyoya shrugged, stolidly avoiding glancing at the twins. “I would start checking in club rooms if I were you.”

###x###

“You’re bringing in an awful lot of visitors, Hermione,” Umehito remarked, smirking, craning his neck to look at her from the floor..

Hermione glanced down at the boy resting against the fold of her legs and murmured, “I’d really rather not deal with this one, but I suppose I’m going to have to.”

“I could deal with her for you,” Umehito said.

“Tempting,” said Hermione, “But if I let you then I’ll just have to have this confrontation another time.” She pushed gently on the back of his head and he lifted it enough for her to move.

Hermione’s posture, gait, everything was far different from what they had been when the twins had found her. She was stiff, guarded, prepared for a fight.

“Miss Granger,” Ootori’s guest said, her voice almost musical in its contrition. “I’m so sorry for my behavior. Can you forgive me?”

“Of course,” said Hermione, “There’s nothing to forgive. I never did catch your name, Miss...?”

“Renge Hoshokuji,” she said. “Do you mean it?” She seemed so excited.

“Yes,” said Hermione. There really was nothing to forgive; after all, there was no damage done, except for a momentary blow to her self-esteem. “You’ll be glad to find that I really don’t have designs on your paramour, I trust.”

“Oh,” said Hoshokuji. “Kyoya. He... he’s the one who asked me to apologize to you. He says that his friends are upset that you don’t come around anymore.”

“I’m sure they are!” Hermione snorted, chuckling. “Don’t get the wrong idea, Miss Hoshokuji— I’d only been studying in the club room for a few days at that time. There’s no need on your part to feel guilty. I wasn’t particularly attached to them, nor them to me.” Her voice may have been friendly, but anyone could see that she was uncomfortable. Of course Ootori would send Hoshokuji after her. Was she finally too much to handle? It was no less than he deserved.

“Oh!” said Hoshokuji, again. “That does make me feel better! Do think about coming back sometime, then.”

“I’ll think about it,” said Hermione. “Is that all you needed?”

“Yes, thank you!” Hoshokuji chirped. Recognizing the obvious dismissal, she turned and left.

The heavy double doors banged closed, and when they did Hermione relaxed.

“Are you okay?” Umehito asked, his voice soft. “Are you crying?”

“Of course not!” Hermione sniffled. “I’m just... I’m stronger than my body is, all right?”

Slender arms wrapped around her shoulders and squeezed, and Hermione turned to face him. “We won’t let her in from now on,” Umehito said.

“There’s no need to go that far,” Hermione mumbled, hiding her smile in his shoulder.

“Fine,” he agreed in a voice that told her he would be having a talk with Reiko Kanazuki, his second-in-command. “You said before that emotion can enhance spellwork— do you want to try?”

Hermione hummed. “I’m not in the habit of letting loose like that, Umehito,” she said. “Too dangerous. It’s a—” It’s a wartime thing, useful on the battlefield and in controlled environments, but otherwise too unpredictable.

“It’s a what?”

“Nevermind,” Hermione said, thinking.

Too often, wizards think that their magic is their slave, when in fact magic is almost a separate, sentient identity. Magic chooses the wizard. Magic loves the wizard. Magic is simultaneously older than time and a child, volatile and powerful in its youthful wisdom. It is not to be abused or underestimated.

Perhaps someday she could tell Umehito that, but he was, despite everything, a Muggle.

Umehito let her lean her weight on him and was quiet.

“I can show you something, if you want,” said Hermione at last. “But you’ll need to acquire the ingredients.”

“A potion?” he said, always quick to catch on.

“Yes,” said Hermione. “It’s nothing too powerful, mind, but it is magic.” She raised her head and looked up at him, her eyes far away.

“What does it do?”

“It will help you with your condition. There’s little research done into whether the magic-less can actually create potions with their fullest power. As far as I know, actually, an actual magic touch is necessary. I can help in that regard, but if you’d like to make it on your own then—”

“Hermione,” Umehito said. “I would be honoured to accept your help.”

Hermione paused, her consciousness coming back into her eyes. “Okay then. I’ll help.”

The pair shared a fond smile.

“You should write this down,” said Hermione. “Lemon balm, bay leaves, burdock, agrimony, aloe, yucca, violet, rue, and rose hips. You got that?” She’d intentionally chosen a potion that was made up entirely of Muggle-accessible herbs. It wouldn’t be so effective that it would work without hard work on the part of the user, but it would help some.

“I’ve got it,” said Umehito.

“Since your condition is mental rather than physical, it will cause you to sleep and dream. When you wake up you will have traveled into your psyche and dealt with the problem at its root. And if... if you want, I know how to go with you.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Umehito. “Perhaps this is something I should face on my own.”

“Perhaps,” said Hermione.

“I will have the ingredients by tomorrow,” he said. “Now, we’ve left the others on their own for long enough. Would you join me again in the circle, Eris?”