{fanfiction} Selfishly Superficially Shallow
Title- Selfishly Superficially Shallow
Pairing- Eventual one sided Tamaki x Nekozawa/ Tamaki x Reiko? Tamaki x Haruhi?
Rating- T
Warnings- One case of discriminatory language
Summary- "But that would be shallow of me." They are words that should have never fallen from his mouth; but they did. How could a narcissist like that actually say those words with such...force. It was unknown.
xXx-Selfishly Superficially Shallow-xXx
-x-
Kirimi Nekozawa wasn't a child that forgot or gave up easily.
She may have found her real princely big brother, but that didn't make her stop making her way to the host club every Tuesday in search for big brother number two, the host club's king. I mean, why settle for one incognito prince when you could have him and one who shone like the stars?There was no reason to compromise.
"So, Kirimi-chan," Tamaki cooed, tickling under the little blonde's chin so she giggled sweetly, as he always did, "Why are you here today, now?"
And she answered once again, the exact same thing that she answered every single Tuesday- "To see my old big brother of course!" With a winningly cute grin, of course.
And so, Tamaki would play with the child, read her fairy stories or shoujo manga with shining heroes and dense, clumsy heroines, as the princesses he was supposed to be telling how beautiful he found them, smiled and 'kawaii'-ed over the adorableness of not quite sibling love.
And when a client got restless, Tamaki cooed over her for a bit, and Kirimi would ask one of the other hosts- who were nothing compared to Tamaki-nii-chan, but would do- to finish the story, which they would oblige to, for handiness sake.
But she knew now not to ask Mori. He wasn't very good at reading out loud.
And so, the weeks went on, and that became a regular occurrence. Her staying until a few minutes after hosting hours and the Nekozawa family's maid or butler picking her up. Sometimes they would spin a tale about light and dark and Romeo and Juliet, before being ushered out by Haruhi- who wanted to make the supermarket before it closed- with the little girl under her arm.
But today was different, and for the first time in several months, Umehito Nekozawa appeared in the doorway of the Ouran host club.
He slipped in the door, just as Tamaki was finishing off reading a volume of 'Tokyo Mew Mew' for the little blonde and the sudden cold and dark corner around the door alerted him of the dark prince's presence. He tilted back on his chair to look at the black magic club president, to confirm his suspicions, sighed, shut the book, handed it to Kirimi, stood up...
And promptly hid.
Kaoru sighed and picked up Kirimi, watching in slight amusement as Hikaru pushed over the cupboard Tamaki had taken refuge in. He passed the child over to the dark robed senapi, smiling slightly. "He's still quite scared of your dark aura," he told him, an impish smile playing on his features as he ran over to assist his brother in lifting the cupboard back over.
Nekozawa watched, somewhat entertained at this, as Tamaki fell out of the closet, whimpering in a ball before jumping up to angrily shout at the twins, who just stuck their tongues out at him and told him not to be such a wuss.
This scene. Tamaki falling out of a closet.
Nekozawa smirked.
It had a ring to it. He was going to remember this.
"Big brother?" Kirimi asked, cocking her head to one side as she watched brother watch her not quite brother. She received no answer for a bit, but suddenly Nekozawa looked down at her, smiling as nicely as he could manage.
"Lets get you home, hmm Kirimi?"
-x-
"Hikaru! Kaoru!"
Tamaki ran, flustered, in the door at lightening speed and over to the twins, an indescribable look etched across his face as he caught the two dopplegangers mid-prank, shaking and flushing slightly. Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged a worried, darn-we've-been-caught look before replying- "Yes?"
"I-I-I received a-a-a-a-a-" he gave up trying to word it and flung the piece of paper in the two's faces.
Hikaru and Kaoru studied it for a few moments, exchanged glances, before chorusing- "Its a love letter!" Hikaru grinned, swiping it out of the shaking blondes grip and reading it fully before smirking and reading it out loud for amusement.
"Ahem, You notice me, don't pretend you don't, but barely me, its her you dote, you'd give anyone, a simple chance, yet I dont get, a smile nor glance, tell me how, this is so fair, don't pretend you don't see me, I'm always there. One of your princesses, maybe?"
Tamaki shrugged, still shaken. Kaoru blinked, before leaning in, a teasing smirk playing across his lips. "You ain't ever gotten a love letter before, Tono," he asked breezily, chuckling aimlessly as Tamaki began to shift uncomfortably. "Would'a never guessed the host club king never had someone have unrequited love towards him."
Tamaki looked away, the flush still playing across his face. "No. I haven't. Not one like this anyway," he sighed, "I've had a few, but they were all simple 'Meet me at the fountain 12' and all, which I would go and politely decline," he bit his lip, before snatching the paper off Hikaru and rereading it, "Someone put effort into this. But I don't really understand it."
"Yes," Kyoya pondered, coming behind Tamaki and easily taking the paper away, depressing Tamaki and sending him to the corner of woe, "It seems to be a bit different. Almost a love letter," he tapped it intellectually, "But not quite, as it never once says it out straight."
"Its a riddle," Haruhi said simply, Tamaki coming out of the corner at the sound of her voice, wrapping his arm around her and proclaiming corrections. She replied with something blunt and cruel and he returned to the corner to make a hamster house.
"Yes, a riddle," Kyoya confirmed, letting the letter drop to the floor where Tamaki hurried out of hiding to capture it in a flustered sense, and put it back in his pocket, carefully, not creasing it.
"Its kind of sweet actually," Kaoru said thoughtfully, earning a elbow and smirk from Hikaru. "Well it is!" he defended, "She actually tried, unlike the other girls," he sighed, "We never got one like that, did we Hikaru?" Hikaru looked away, glaring at the nearby table, earning a smirk. "Of course we didn't. They never even bothered to care which one of us was which, never mind to write something like that."
Hikaru sighed in slight frustration. "She must be a nicer girl than our ones, huh Kaoru?"
Kyoya looked over to them, tipping his glasses so the caught the light, making an evil glint cover his eyes, keeping them out of sight. "You two are very sure it is a girl who wrote this?" he called, questioningly, not really caring.
"Well, yeah," Kaoru said, standing up and walking over to Tamaki to grab the piece of paper out of his pocket again, much to the king's distaste. "The writing is cursive with a lot of loops and stray curls," he tapped it slightly, imitating Kyoya to an extent, "The writer dots their 'i's with stars. Very few guys, even homosexual ones, would be that feminine."
Hikaru feigned horror. "You mean you don't dot your 'i's with little love hearts, Kaoru?" he gasped.
That earned an elbow jab and a haughty look. "No I don't!" he defied. Hikaru just smirked.
"Sure."
"Shut it! I don't!"
"So its a girl?" Haruhi asked, interrupting them, not really caring either, but she had no customers yet, so she was rather bored. Kaoru nodded. "Hmm, surprise surprise," she muttered, going back to the homework she had been doing before the conversation had erupted.
Tamaki snatched back the letter for the umpteenth time. "I'm sure the princess wouldn't like her work of art to be passed around like some sort of show and tell," he told them, placing it back in his pocket.
"But, Mi'lord, you gave it to us."
"Still," he sighed, "I only wish I knew who it was, so I could tell them that I liked it." The hosts looked sympathetic for a fleeting moment before the reality of the king's stupidness settled in again and he pondered- "Though, I have to wonder who this girl I dote on is?"
Hikaru and Kaoru's hands met their faces in a typical depressing face palm. Kyoya gave him the look of utter disbelief at his stupidity of trauma before turning to do his work in the little notebook of his. Hunny and Mori had never looked up throughout the whole conversation and they weren't going to now. Haruhi blinked, before replying- "Yes, its strange, hm? I've never seen you dote on one client more than another ever, senpai."
Hikaru and Kaoru gave up and went back to the prank that seemed to have been forgotten about by the king. "Oh, and Hikaru and Kaoru? Don't you dare set that thing off," Kyoya said, never looking up. They sighed. Plans, foiled again.
-x-
The next note came the day after.
Tamaki opened his locker with the small key with the crown shaped keychain, humming to himself, yesterday's antics a mere memory. The door of his locker creaked open slowly and Tamaki, not taking a second glance, shoved his books in and took the one's he needed out.
He was just about to lock it again, when he remembered his ritual. Grinning to himself, he took out the hair brush and opened to locker again, just to double take as he realized that the mirror in his locker had been defaced. Defaced! With lipstick!
He could have screamed that minute only but he realized that it was defaced with words. Being curious, he read them, surprised.
I apologize greatly, for this average letter, but as poetry goes, I cant get any better, I know this sounds strange, cliché it seems, but I need you to meet me, in the basement at three. Xxx
Tamaki blinked, a fleeting thought about how exactly the girl got into his locker came and passed, before he realized that her 'i's were dotted with stars. He gave a little oh of recognition. It was the girl who wrote the poem the day before.
"Tama-chan!"
Tamaki jumped, caught unaware. "Ah, Hunny-senpai," he exclaimed, steadying himself again, "Why are you here in this locker room? Isn't yours down the hall?"
Hunny ignored him, as did Mori who stood behind the blonde senior, saying nothing as per usual. "Tama-chan," Hunny giggled cutely, pointing at the mirror writing, "This is Reiko-chan's handwriting, ne? Does she like you too?"
Tamaki's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "Reiko? Why would she write this?" he asked, shocked, "I thought she was in love with you anyway?"
Hunny shrugged. "Guess not, thats definitely her handwriting though." He gave a small laugh before skipping off towards the door. "You might want to talk to her!" And with that the small blonde senior left the taller, dark haired senior in quick pursuit.
Tamaki blinked a few times before turning back to close his locker, just to have two pairs of hands jolt him back again. "Hey Tono!" the owners of the hands chorused, pushing him back so they could peer into his locker, curiously. "You have a mirror in your locker?" they questioned, "Narcissist much?"
"My hair gets frizzy if I don't brush it!" he defended, running a hand through it, remembering that he never had got around to doing that yet and putting it in a memo in his tiny brain.
"Your pretty little secret admirer left another note, I see," they commented, Kaoru running his finger along the words.
"Lipgloss," he confirmed, "Probably strawberry flavoured, the sticky stuff."
"You'd know all about lipgloss, wouldn't you," Hikaru teased, earning another elbow.
"Will you please stop implying that I am gay," Kaoru spat, only half angry, "Its bad enough that I have to act it during hosting hours without you bringing it up whenever possible!" Hikaru looked mildly shocked, though they all knew it was just an act.
"But brother dearest, I was simply implying that you would know a lot about lipgloss because you have kissed oh so many girls in your time!" he told them, shaking his head in an attempt to look pathetic. It didn't work and Kaoru just looked away with a mutter that sounded a lot like 'Very funny'.
"Its Reiko."
The twins turned to face the king who was looking at the note he still had in his pocket from yesterday. "Reiko," Hikaru blinked, "As in Hunny-senpai's Reiko, black magic club girl, unhealthy obsession with curses, unhealthy obsession with Hunny, that Reiko?"
Tamaki nodded. "Hunny-senpai was just here; he confirmed that the handwriting is indeed Reiko's."
Kaoru shrugged. "It makes sense, I guess," he mumbled, "I mean, she wrote love letters on mirrors with lipgloss and stuff before, didn't she?" Hikaru nodded. "But still, I never though she would get over Hunny-senpai that quickly." Hikaru nodded again.
Tamaki grumbled a bit. "Can I ask why people keep coming into the juniors locker room, when they are not juniors?" he asked menacingly, doing his best 'Mommy dearest' voice. It seemed to work, because the twins quickly scadaddled, leaving him to brush his hair, attempting to see his reflection around the unsightly marks marring his beautiful mirror.
Safely outside the door, and away from Tamaki's wrath, the twins exchanged glances. "Kaoru," Hikaru pondered, "Somethings off."
"Yeah, I know," Kaoru replied, bemused, "I mean, Reiko is so obsessed with Hunny-senpai, I wouldn't think she'd waver and pick Mi'lord over him," he sighed, looking up at the white hall ceiling, "And why were there no mentions of curses in the letter or mirror? If it really was her, wouldn't it have been a curse of some sort?"
Hikaru nodded. "It is very strange," he muttered.
"And also, Reiko did the things in person, not anonymously," Kaoru gave an undesired shiver, "Its out of character for her."
Hikaru looked at his brother, cocking his head to one side, all remnants of joking gone from both their eyes. "So its not her?" he asked, confused.
Kaoru looked back at him, a small smile playing on his lips. "Since when were you so interested in Mi'lord's love life?" he asked jokily, nudging Hikaru slightly in amusement. The action earned a smirk, and Hikaru ducked in to mess up his brother's hair.
"Because if he gets a girlfriend, I have a greater chance with Haruhi, thats why!" he joked, chuckling as Kaoru complained about him mussing up his hair, as he fruitlessly attempted to fix even somewhat. "But seriously, does that mean it isn't her?"
Kaoru sighed, looking away. "I honestly have no idea anymore."
-x-
Tamaki swung open the doors of the black magic club, just to be greeted with black powder swarming around him and several guys and one girl in black outfits, all crowded around one U. Nekozawa, wearing his fancy 'we-just-got-a-visitor-Ohemgee' cloak.
They all sighed and got back into their normal attire once they realized it was only Tamaki, for the exception of Reiko, who was preoccupied with her spell book, and the president who sauntered over to the host club king, an eerie grin plastered across his features.
"Tamaki-kun, is it," he said simply, Beezlenuff the puppet throwing out his little cloth paws in welcome, "Why are you interested in coming to our quarters?"
Tamaki gulped, frightened of the dark and creepy figures floating around the room. He had a hideous fear of the occult, and facing his fear wasn't really something he wanted just yet. He pitifully attempted to unfreeze himself, taking a small step towards Nekozawa, who's eyes widened slightly at this movement.
"I need to speak to Reiko, please," he said weakly, trying not to shiver at the sudden cold at stepping further into the room.
Nekozawa sighed, looking away in distaste. "She's over there, by her cursing table-" her dresser, in other words- "Coming up with a new curse for that wretched loli-shota of yours-" so, another love note for Hunny, then. Tamaki blinked. Why would she be doing notes for both him and Hunny. Well, the senior never had once said that his notes had stopped coming. Maybe she was fixated on the both of them now?
"Reiko?" he called, walking a few steps further over to her table, noticing that Nekozawa had seemingly teleported over to the other side of the room, and shuddered.
The dark haired girl never turned around, just said, in an eerie melodic tone, "I am here."
Tamaki managed to get all the way over to her, smiling as he took her hand and placed the note he had received two days earlier in her hand. "Princess," he asked sweetly, "Would you be able to confirm if you wrote this or not for me?"
Reiko glanced at the paper, her round eyes moving down the page silently. "Yes," she confirmed, "That is my handwriting." Tamaki blinked a few times, watching in slight awe as she turned back to her dresser to tape a bit of light blond hair- a different shade to Tamaki's- to a piece of paper, and tangle a bit of her own hair with it. She turned to him, catching his bemused look. "Its a curse," she said unblinkingly.
Tamaki nodded. "You did wish to see me, correct?" he said, hopeful that he didn't read the mirror note wrong.
"Yes, I believe I did write that on your mirror," she confirmed again, this time not turning around. Tamaki let out a little sigh and leaned on the back of her chair. He was nervous of this girl and was not in the right state of mind to coo over her like any other petty female.
"What did you wish to speak to me about," he pressed, getting a bit frustrated with the lack of finish in her answers. Two tickets were pushed into his face as he blinked, taking them from the black haired girl gingerly, reading the identical titles on both tickets. "You want me to go to a movie with you?"
Reiko nodded simply. "Yes," she answered, "Its a good movie. I was told so," she looked back at him, her expression still neutral, "It has good reviews."
Tamaki shone a smile her direction, taking her pale, petite hand in his own and drawing it up to his mouth. "As you wish," he murmured, pressing his lips to her palm, "Princess." She was unfazed, and once her hand was gently dropped by the blonde she proceeded to return to her curses.
Tamaki blinked a few times, at least expecting a reply, before placing the tickets back down on the dresser. "You should take your one," came her simple response, making Tamaki jump with a stuttered, 'O-of course,' before taking his own ticket and hurrying out of the basement room.
Nekozawa sauntered over to the only female member of his club, leaning in to mumble in her ear- "Next Friday?"
Reiko nodded. "Meaning not tomorrow, meaning in eight days time," she answered, putting the finishing touches to her note before picking it up and placing it neatly in the drawer of her dresser before turning to face her senpai. "Though I must ask; why?"
Nekozawa let his smirk fade into an unreadable expression, causing the younger girl's eyes to widen a minuscule bit. "I," he began, "Am working on a reason."
Reiko dropped the topic.
-x-
"You know Kaoru," Hikaru pondered, "Reiko was in club today."
Kaoru nodded. "I noticed. She designated Hunny-senpai." There was silence between the two for a bit, Kaoru playing with his sleeve while Hikaru fixed his hair in the moving limo's window. He gave a little sigh when his hair refused to sit down right.
"I don't know why you care," Kaoru said, mildly amused, "Schools over; no one's going to be looking at you."
Hikaru shot him a mischievous grin before replacing it with a mock innocent look. "Is it so wrong to want to look acceptable for my little brother?" he asked, big eyed. Kaoru smirked, leaning in to drape his arm around his brother's shoulders, mussing up his near perfect hair, much to Hikaru's horror.
"You always look acceptable," Kaoru chuckled. Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
"Ain't that a bit narcissist? Aye?"
Kaoru ignored him, mussing up his own hair so that they were identical again and resting his head on Hikaru's shoulder. "Hikaru," he mumbled, his voice muffled by the cloth of his brothers blazer, "Shut it and stop ruining every sweet moment."
Hikaru smirked.
-x-
Tuesday came around again and Kirimi was sitting in her usual seat in front of Tamaki, sucking the slush puppy they'd given her through a red and white striped straw. "So, Kirimi-chan," Tamaki started off again, "What brings you here today?"
And she shot him her award winning smile. "To see my second big brother, duh!"
Tamaki smiled and the princesses cooed; how cute a four year old could be! Especially when you already knew the answer that was coming. And as per usual, he read half a story to her, the princesses got restless and he hurried her off to one of the other members of the host club.
"Twinnumbaone-nii-chan," she wailed, going and tugging on Hikaru's sleeve haplessly.
Hikaru looked down at her, nonchalantly. "So?"
"Fix it," she said, pouting.
Kaoru stifled a laugh at Hikaru's incredulous look, quickly earning a glare so he shut up. Hikaru turned back to Kirimi, lifting her up to put her on the loveseat between him and Kaoru and smiling a bit sadly down at her and asking her- "You want us to rewrite the story?"
Kirimi nodded, shoving the book in Kaoru's face and then Hikaru's. The younger twin sighed, pulling it out of the little girls grasp and tossing it half way across the room. "If its honestly that bad," he told her, the child watching with a look of wonder, "Than its unredeemable. We'll make a completely new story up, eh?"
"No."
Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other, automatically recognizing the voice by the eerie undertone and Kirimi's lit up face. They turned to face the slightly growing dark patch by the door that usually didn't exist to see the regular figure in the darkly coloured cloak, a horrified look etched across his Russian features.
"No," he repeated, creeping out of his corner to approach the two red heads on the love seat and his little sister, "My God only knows what you'd pollute her mind with, you murderers!"
"Uhm, I think she's already po-"
Hikaru and Kaoru never got to finish that synchronized sentence, for they were interrupted be a small little girl, who funnily enough, actually proved the point they were attempting to tell the Russian black magic lover about.
"Queer."
Silence rang out throughout the entire music room. Princesses stopped drinking tea and giggling. Haruhi looked up from her homework, in complete amazement. Mori and Hunny looked over, the fork hanging in a gaping action out of the loli-shota's mouth. Tamaki froze, quickly mumbling a cuss word in French under his breath.
The twins stared, open mouthed, at Kirimi, who's finger was obviously pointing at her biological big brother. Nekozawa's hood covered his face, his breathing heavily. "Who, actually, no," he growled, his hood tipping up a bit with a nod of his head, to reveal a look of utter fury that they had never seen on the guy's face before, actually making the twins cower, "I can safely guess who taught her that."
The twins then found themselves actually levitated off their seats by the collars of their school shirts to come face to face with death itself, actual venom appearing to be seeping from the president's eyes. "You Murderers," came the hiss of an accusation, "Taught my sister foul language. You think its funny?" They shook their heads in terror. "Well, queer means strange or abnormal. Are you teaching my Kirimi that homosexuality is strange or abnormal?" They shook their heads again, cowering slightly.
"W-we didn't teach her that," Hikaru defended.
"Honest!" Kaoru completed.
Nekozawa sneered, on a roll here and extremely angry for his personality. But then again, blood is thicker than water. "I'm gonna f-ing kill you murderers-"
"Nekozawa-senpai, I did it."
Everyone who had been engrossed in the little exchange between the two freshman and the senior turned to face the host club king who had just stood up, a complete look of distress donning his face. Nekozawa stared at him in disbelief.
"You," he mumbled, staring blankly at Tamaki, "Told her that word."
Tamaki nodded, his hands reaching up in front of him in a defensive pose automatically. "I swear though," he stammered, "That I only told her to 'go ask those...uhm, the word, over there to read to you', I completely swear," he sighed at the frozen look on his senpai's face, "I was only meant to insult Hikaru and Kaoru and I apologize."
The twins fell back on the love seat, landing backwards on their asses, staring up at the guy who had just decided to release them. He still had a frozen look on his face, but they only caught a glimpse of the other emotion before the fringe of his black wig fell down to cover the top half of his face.
"Kirimi," he said in a complete monotone, "We're leaving."
-x-
It was six already and the movie was at ten past. Tamaki tapped his foot a bit, looking around for any sign of the younger girl. But there was none. At this rate, they were going to have to skip getting snacks- which Tamaki really wanted to try- and go straight in, not even guaranteed decent seating arrangements!
He was just about to give up when she miraculously came out of nowhere beside him. He jumped, stumbling away from her in surprise. "R-Reiko!" he choked, trying to calm himself from the initial shock, "You came," he ended up finishing lamely.
"Of course I did," was the only answer he received. His smile, which was placed helplessly on his face, faltered a bit when he realized that that was the best he was going to get, before pondering on whether or not she had actually been there the whole time and he had just failed to see her.
His eyes scanned over her clothing, surprising him even more. Her hair was normal; her straight fringe and bangs framing her face as per usual. But she was wearing a knee length green dress with petite green sandals and a short white fleece. 'What did you expect, a witches cloak?'
"I like green," she told him, catching him staring, "We should go in." With that, she snatched the ticket out of his loose grip and walked over to the check in counter, handing them to the lady behind the desk. Tamaki quickly followed her over, flashing a smile at the hapless employee who blushed before confirming their tickets and telling them that they were in screen four.
"Would you like some snacks," the king asked, taking Reiko's hand gently. She dropped his, turning and walking over to the snack counter herself. Tamaki gasped, running over and blocking her way. "You payed for the tickets," he scrambled, "At least let me pay for the food!"
She blinked a few times. "A drink," she finally said, stepping out of the line.
Tamaki sweat dropped. "Is that all?" he asked pathetically, sighing as she nodded. "What kind of drink?"
"Anything is fine." He sighed again, getting into the line up and buying her her drink and himself some popcorn- a commoner tradition, he chuckled to himself- before taking her hand and brining her off to screen four to be seated.
They got reasonably good seats, and the movie was exciting. At times, it even seemed like the characters were jumping out at them, making Tamaki jump and not even remotely fazing the younger girl beside him, who stayed silently sucking her drink through the straw throughout the entire movie.
The credits rolled and everyone stood, hustling and bustling out the double doors, blinking at the sudden light. Tamaki turned cheerfully to Reiko, who was absentmindedly tossing her empty cup into the rubbish bin. "Well, Reiko, did you enjoy the movie?" he asked happily.
"It was good," came the reply. Tamaki sighed. He was getting nothing out of this girl and she didn't even seem all too enthusiastic about anything! He sighed. She'd written all beautiful poems and it made him feel like she could've even acted a little more cheerful.
"Reiko, did something happen with Hunny-senpai?"
Reiko turned to look at him, a small smile playing on her lips, the first Tamaki had seen all through the evening. "Nothing," she replied, "Why do you ask?"
"Well," Tamaki pondered, wondering how to word it, "If you still love Hunny-senpai, why would you leave notes like that in my locker? It doesn't make sense!" Reiko looked at him for a bit longer before letting an uncharacteristic chuckle out, staring up at the bemused blonde.
"I never left them in your locker," she smiled.
Tamaki gaped. "But you said you wrote them," he teared up, "You lied to me!"
She played with her sleeves, looking up at the sky thoughtfully. "I said that it was my handwriting," she replied, "Listen to the wording. I never said once that A) Those words were from my own head, B) That I was the one who put them in your locker, or C) That I was your secret admirer."
Tamaki looked at her in awe, feeling a headache coming on. "So waiiiiiit," he said, rubbing his temples with his forefingers, "You only wrote them out? Why? Why did you write them and not the person sending them? Where is the logic in that?"
She blinked, before simply answering, "You're not very logical yourself, are you.-" Tamaki gaped- "And I have no idea why I was told to write it. I just was, I guess," she tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Its for some sort of project, I think."
Tamaki deadpanned. He was being used for someone's school assignment. Charming.
Reiko turned to walk away, leaving Tamaki in utter confusion, tilting her head back to glance at him a final time. "Tamaki-senpai?" she called, snapping him out of his daze. She smiled. "Thanks for this evening." And with that she left the theater.
Tamaki smiled slightly. That was the first time that she had ever used his name.
-x-
Tuesday came around again, meaning Kirimi came back to see her big brother once again.
"So Kirimi-chan," Tamaki Suoh started, smiling at the answer he knew was coming from he little blonde girl sitting right across from him, "What brings you to the paradise that is our Ouran host club today?"
"Why does big brother love big brother?"
The king's eyes widened in surprise. The twins attempted to stifle their laughter. The princesses watched anxiously for Tamaki's reaction. Haruhi and Mori never batted an eyelid but the spoon froze in midair, never quite reaching Hunny's mouth. Kirimi waited.
Tamaki attempted a chuckle, only doing it halfheartedly. "I didn't know you regarded those devilish twins as your big brothers too," he says lightly, earning a few indignant cries from Hikaru and Kaoru and an exasperated look from the four year old sitting across from him.
"No!" she wailed, "I mean you!"
Tamaki deadpanned, completely missing the real meaning. "I love myself?" he whimpered; confirmation of that rang out in chuckles and wolf whistles throughout the music room, sending the kind to his corner of utmost woe, sobbing pathetically.
Kirimi waved her hands around in exasperation at his stupidity, jumping off the love seat to toddle over to the distressed boy.
"No, Tamaki-nii-chan," she deadpanned, "Why does my real big brother love you?"
Tamaki stared up at her in shock, tinted with the smallest bit of wonder. Hikaru and Kaoru stopped their hysterics and also stared. Haruhi stopped conversing, Mori looked up, and Hunny's fork finally dropped to his plate with a light clink. The room was silent, almost like the week before when the little girl was last there.
"Nekozawa-senpai?" he asked carefully, gaping as Kirimi nodded, cheerful that she was finally being heard and understood.
"I mean," she started, the know-all tone creeping into her melodic voice, "Its the obvious conclusion since the ploy with Reiko-nee-chan to pretend that she liked you for his sake and all. Its really obvious- Huh? Tamaki-nii-chan?"
The host lub's king had stood from the ground, from his fetal position, dumbstruck and unthinking. He dashed for the door, flinging it open and scrambling out through it, the door banging shut behind him with a deafening bang that resounded throughout the entire room.
"Oh," Kirimi mumbled sadly, "I wasn't finished."
-x-
"Nekozawa-senpai!"
The black magic club's president looked up, watching in mild surprise as Tamaki burst through the doors of the club room, panting lightly from his run.
"Tamaki-kun," Nekozawa acknowledged, shooing the other members away, all of which quickly scampered away dutifully, minus Reiko, who didn't even let on that she heard her president, "What brings you here to my realm of darkness and solitude?"
"You love me," Tamaki accused bluntly, pointing his finger halfheartedly at the cloaked senior. The reaction he received after that bold statement wasn't the blatant denial accompanied by furious blushing he would have gotten with any client. All he got was a simple look of intrigue.
And then he stood up from his seated position, yanking his cloak up over his head in one swift movement, the dark wig coming off with it to reveal a perfectly uncreased uniform and bright blonde hair that rivaled Tamaki's, falling just below his chin.
Tamaki's breath caught in his throat; he never could remember that the older boy looked like this, considering the cloak he wore twenty-four/seven and all.
"Keen eye," was the only reply the younger boy got; he took it to be confirmation.
"Kirimi-chan told me."
Nekozawa watched him, cocking an eyebrow in intrigue. "I have heard rumors," he pondered, fiddling with his blonde bangs as Tamaki looked on, "That you are gullible. But I never thought that you would actually believe word for word a four year old with, lets say, a vivid imagination."
Tamaki felt a sort of resentment towards the older man for basically calling him and eejit and his own sister a liar. "So, its not true?"
"I never once said that."
They watched each other for a few moments, one pair of eyes astounded while the other pair wore a simple blank stare. Nekozawa twirled around to face the curtains, that hung for no apparent reason, as there would be no window beneath them, his hand grazing the soft fabric slightly.
"I do love you Tamaki-kun."
"N-Nekozawa-senpai?"
The elder turned to face Tamaki again, his hand curved behind him, now clutching at the blinds. "Whats this?" he said in a mocking tone of voice, watching in bitter amusement as the flush on Tamaki's cheek darkened, "No 'sorry m'dear' or any faux nonsense like that? Am I so worthless that I dont even deserve an answer?"
Tamaki raised a hand. "I never said that," he replied quietly.
"There was no need for you to."
There was silence as Tamaki mulled over what he should say next, and what would provoke an unwanted angry reaction from the older boy. It seemed obvious that he was already in his bad books, and he didn't want the situation to become worsened.
"Why?" Tamaki asked carefully and finally, "Why would you get Reiko to leave those notes?"
Nekozawa smirked. "She already told you that she did no such thing. She merely wrote them out in neat girlish handwriting for me; the words and breaking into your locker was all me`."
"But why?" Tamaki pressed, in utmost confusion.
"Because she's different," came the reply, a tiny bit of frustration seeping into his voice. "I am male just as she is female. As I well suspected, your reaction to her was quite a deal different than your reaction to me; don't try and deny it."
Tamaki shook his head slightly. "I was pretty shocked at both to be honest," he admitted sheepishly.
"Naturally," Nekozawa answered smoothly, "And anyways, time for you to reject me and get on with your life." Tamaki blinked. Nekozawa let out a small sigh. "You know, tell me that you dont go that way and get on with your daily hosting, and all."
"But that would be shallow of me."
Nekozawa looked up in surprise. Tamaki's tone had been serious throughout the whole visit; completely formal. But his tone had now changed. Yes, changed was the only word to describe his words and facial expression. It was almost like he had just grown up in front of the older boy and now Nekozawa was made unsure of everything he had believed that he was up until that moment- his words were that amazing. "P-pardon?" he stammered.
"I may come off as shallow," Tamaki continued, to the utter disbelief of his senior, "As a narcissist who only cares about appearances, but this would be going to far." Nekozawa's breath hitched in his throat. It was the truth. Tamaki Suoh came off as a superficial, fake moron who absolutely loved himself; Nekozawa would've never guessed that the younger boy actually knew and acknowledged this fact.
"And so," Tamaki concluded, shooting Nekozawa a smile, "It would be selfishly superficially shallow of me to only think of my own preferences above your feelings and not take anyone else's trauma into account!"
Nekozawa blinked, completely overcome. It was the feeling of helplessness that he rarely felt, and was now deciding that he absolutely detested as he only managed to stammer a- "What are you saying, Tamaki-kun?"
Tamaki smiled, flicking his own blonde fringe out of his line of vision and replying- "I'm doing nothing Friday. Are you?"
-x-
Nothing ever comes out the way you expect it to. You may have a plan, a person, an item that you think you have completely figured out, just for fate to change them, or simply to change your mind and boom- you yourself are suddenly being radically changed, sometimes overnight.
No one ever has someone completely figured out.
Nekozawa never thought that the moron he took the younger blonde to be would ever be capable of stealing his heart, let alone manage to keep it in his possession. Tamaki never guessed that either, but on top of it, never thought there would be a day when Nekozawa would walk into the third music room and he wouldn't feel the need to hide, to run away.
Its the same for everyone. Hunny never thought that anyone other than family would ever get a word out of Takashi, though a certain commoner came along and the stoic senior was suddenly able to tell her anything. Haruhi never thought she's get into a prestigious school like Ouran Academy, and yet, she passed entrance exams with flying colours. Hikaru and Kaoru neer thought they'd ever find the courage in themselves to venture outside their tight knit world, and here they were in a whole bunch of complete lunatics and yet they couldn't be happier. Mori never thought he'd see a day where a girl would wander in looking for his younger cousin, and offer him a spell book to read, and the little senior would spend the day reading it instead of eating mountains of cake.
"And so," Kirimi Nekozawa concluded, eating said discarded cake, "Big brother loves big brother, and its completely fine, right!" The twins nodded in complete boredom, wondering once again about how they's gotten stuck babysitting this child.
"Its alright," Kaoru said thoughtfully, "That everything's normal again."
Hikaru deadpanned. "How the hell do you manage to refer to the host club as normal."
Kaoru chuckled.
"Big brother loves big brother," Kirimi repeated, smiling before hopping off her seat, leaving the discarded fork behind, spreading crumbs across the sofa.
Pairing- Eventual one sided Tamaki x Nekozawa/ Tamaki x Reiko? Tamaki x Haruhi?
Rating- T
Warnings- One case of discriminatory language
Summary- "But that would be shallow of me." They are words that should have never fallen from his mouth; but they did. How could a narcissist like that actually say those words with such...force. It was unknown.
xXx-Selfishly Superficially Shallow-xXx
-x-
Kirimi Nekozawa wasn't a child that forgot or gave up easily.
She may have found her real princely big brother, but that didn't make her stop making her way to the host club every Tuesday in search for big brother number two, the host club's king. I mean, why settle for one incognito prince when you could have him and one who shone like the stars?There was no reason to compromise.
"So, Kirimi-chan," Tamaki cooed, tickling under the little blonde's chin so she giggled sweetly, as he always did, "Why are you here today, now?"
And she answered once again, the exact same thing that she answered every single Tuesday- "To see my old big brother of course!" With a winningly cute grin, of course.
And so, Tamaki would play with the child, read her fairy stories or shoujo manga with shining heroes and dense, clumsy heroines, as the princesses he was supposed to be telling how beautiful he found them, smiled and 'kawaii'-ed over the adorableness of not quite sibling love.
And when a client got restless, Tamaki cooed over her for a bit, and Kirimi would ask one of the other hosts- who were nothing compared to Tamaki-nii-chan, but would do- to finish the story, which they would oblige to, for handiness sake.
But she knew now not to ask Mori. He wasn't very good at reading out loud.
And so, the weeks went on, and that became a regular occurrence. Her staying until a few minutes after hosting hours and the Nekozawa family's maid or butler picking her up. Sometimes they would spin a tale about light and dark and Romeo and Juliet, before being ushered out by Haruhi- who wanted to make the supermarket before it closed- with the little girl under her arm.
But today was different, and for the first time in several months, Umehito Nekozawa appeared in the doorway of the Ouran host club.
He slipped in the door, just as Tamaki was finishing off reading a volume of 'Tokyo Mew Mew' for the little blonde and the sudden cold and dark corner around the door alerted him of the dark prince's presence. He tilted back on his chair to look at the black magic club president, to confirm his suspicions, sighed, shut the book, handed it to Kirimi, stood up...
And promptly hid.
Kaoru sighed and picked up Kirimi, watching in slight amusement as Hikaru pushed over the cupboard Tamaki had taken refuge in. He passed the child over to the dark robed senapi, smiling slightly. "He's still quite scared of your dark aura," he told him, an impish smile playing on his features as he ran over to assist his brother in lifting the cupboard back over.
Nekozawa watched, somewhat entertained at this, as Tamaki fell out of the closet, whimpering in a ball before jumping up to angrily shout at the twins, who just stuck their tongues out at him and told him not to be such a wuss.
This scene. Tamaki falling out of a closet.
Nekozawa smirked.
It had a ring to it. He was going to remember this.
"Big brother?" Kirimi asked, cocking her head to one side as she watched brother watch her not quite brother. She received no answer for a bit, but suddenly Nekozawa looked down at her, smiling as nicely as he could manage.
"Lets get you home, hmm Kirimi?"
-x-
"Hikaru! Kaoru!"
Tamaki ran, flustered, in the door at lightening speed and over to the twins, an indescribable look etched across his face as he caught the two dopplegangers mid-prank, shaking and flushing slightly. Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged a worried, darn-we've-been-caught look before replying- "Yes?"
"I-I-I received a-a-a-a-a-" he gave up trying to word it and flung the piece of paper in the two's faces.
Hikaru and Kaoru studied it for a few moments, exchanged glances, before chorusing- "Its a love letter!" Hikaru grinned, swiping it out of the shaking blondes grip and reading it fully before smirking and reading it out loud for amusement.
"Ahem, You notice me, don't pretend you don't, but barely me, its her you dote, you'd give anyone, a simple chance, yet I dont get, a smile nor glance, tell me how, this is so fair, don't pretend you don't see me, I'm always there. One of your princesses, maybe?"
Tamaki shrugged, still shaken. Kaoru blinked, before leaning in, a teasing smirk playing across his lips. "You ain't ever gotten a love letter before, Tono," he asked breezily, chuckling aimlessly as Tamaki began to shift uncomfortably. "Would'a never guessed the host club king never had someone have unrequited love towards him."
Tamaki looked away, the flush still playing across his face. "No. I haven't. Not one like this anyway," he sighed, "I've had a few, but they were all simple 'Meet me at the fountain 12' and all, which I would go and politely decline," he bit his lip, before snatching the paper off Hikaru and rereading it, "Someone put effort into this. But I don't really understand it."
"Yes," Kyoya pondered, coming behind Tamaki and easily taking the paper away, depressing Tamaki and sending him to the corner of woe, "It seems to be a bit different. Almost a love letter," he tapped it intellectually, "But not quite, as it never once says it out straight."
"Its a riddle," Haruhi said simply, Tamaki coming out of the corner at the sound of her voice, wrapping his arm around her and proclaiming corrections. She replied with something blunt and cruel and he returned to the corner to make a hamster house.
"Yes, a riddle," Kyoya confirmed, letting the letter drop to the floor where Tamaki hurried out of hiding to capture it in a flustered sense, and put it back in his pocket, carefully, not creasing it.
"Its kind of sweet actually," Kaoru said thoughtfully, earning a elbow and smirk from Hikaru. "Well it is!" he defended, "She actually tried, unlike the other girls," he sighed, "We never got one like that, did we Hikaru?" Hikaru looked away, glaring at the nearby table, earning a smirk. "Of course we didn't. They never even bothered to care which one of us was which, never mind to write something like that."
Hikaru sighed in slight frustration. "She must be a nicer girl than our ones, huh Kaoru?"
Kyoya looked over to them, tipping his glasses so the caught the light, making an evil glint cover his eyes, keeping them out of sight. "You two are very sure it is a girl who wrote this?" he called, questioningly, not really caring.
"Well, yeah," Kaoru said, standing up and walking over to Tamaki to grab the piece of paper out of his pocket again, much to the king's distaste. "The writing is cursive with a lot of loops and stray curls," he tapped it slightly, imitating Kyoya to an extent, "The writer dots their 'i's with stars. Very few guys, even homosexual ones, would be that feminine."
Hikaru feigned horror. "You mean you don't dot your 'i's with little love hearts, Kaoru?" he gasped.
That earned an elbow jab and a haughty look. "No I don't!" he defied. Hikaru just smirked.
"Sure."
"Shut it! I don't!"
"So its a girl?" Haruhi asked, interrupting them, not really caring either, but she had no customers yet, so she was rather bored. Kaoru nodded. "Hmm, surprise surprise," she muttered, going back to the homework she had been doing before the conversation had erupted.
Tamaki snatched back the letter for the umpteenth time. "I'm sure the princess wouldn't like her work of art to be passed around like some sort of show and tell," he told them, placing it back in his pocket.
"But, Mi'lord, you gave it to us."
"Still," he sighed, "I only wish I knew who it was, so I could tell them that I liked it." The hosts looked sympathetic for a fleeting moment before the reality of the king's stupidness settled in again and he pondered- "Though, I have to wonder who this girl I dote on is?"
Hikaru and Kaoru's hands met their faces in a typical depressing face palm. Kyoya gave him the look of utter disbelief at his stupidity of trauma before turning to do his work in the little notebook of his. Hunny and Mori had never looked up throughout the whole conversation and they weren't going to now. Haruhi blinked, before replying- "Yes, its strange, hm? I've never seen you dote on one client more than another ever, senpai."
Hikaru and Kaoru gave up and went back to the prank that seemed to have been forgotten about by the king. "Oh, and Hikaru and Kaoru? Don't you dare set that thing off," Kyoya said, never looking up. They sighed. Plans, foiled again.
-x-
The next note came the day after.
Tamaki opened his locker with the small key with the crown shaped keychain, humming to himself, yesterday's antics a mere memory. The door of his locker creaked open slowly and Tamaki, not taking a second glance, shoved his books in and took the one's he needed out.
He was just about to lock it again, when he remembered his ritual. Grinning to himself, he took out the hair brush and opened to locker again, just to double take as he realized that the mirror in his locker had been defaced. Defaced! With lipstick!
He could have screamed that minute only but he realized that it was defaced with words. Being curious, he read them, surprised.
I apologize greatly, for this average letter, but as poetry goes, I cant get any better, I know this sounds strange, cliché it seems, but I need you to meet me, in the basement at three. Xxx
Tamaki blinked, a fleeting thought about how exactly the girl got into his locker came and passed, before he realized that her 'i's were dotted with stars. He gave a little oh of recognition. It was the girl who wrote the poem the day before.
"Tama-chan!"
Tamaki jumped, caught unaware. "Ah, Hunny-senpai," he exclaimed, steadying himself again, "Why are you here in this locker room? Isn't yours down the hall?"
Hunny ignored him, as did Mori who stood behind the blonde senior, saying nothing as per usual. "Tama-chan," Hunny giggled cutely, pointing at the mirror writing, "This is Reiko-chan's handwriting, ne? Does she like you too?"
Tamaki's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "Reiko? Why would she write this?" he asked, shocked, "I thought she was in love with you anyway?"
Hunny shrugged. "Guess not, thats definitely her handwriting though." He gave a small laugh before skipping off towards the door. "You might want to talk to her!" And with that the small blonde senior left the taller, dark haired senior in quick pursuit.
Tamaki blinked a few times before turning back to close his locker, just to have two pairs of hands jolt him back again. "Hey Tono!" the owners of the hands chorused, pushing him back so they could peer into his locker, curiously. "You have a mirror in your locker?" they questioned, "Narcissist much?"
"My hair gets frizzy if I don't brush it!" he defended, running a hand through it, remembering that he never had got around to doing that yet and putting it in a memo in his tiny brain.
"Your pretty little secret admirer left another note, I see," they commented, Kaoru running his finger along the words.
"Lipgloss," he confirmed, "Probably strawberry flavoured, the sticky stuff."
"You'd know all about lipgloss, wouldn't you," Hikaru teased, earning another elbow.
"Will you please stop implying that I am gay," Kaoru spat, only half angry, "Its bad enough that I have to act it during hosting hours without you bringing it up whenever possible!" Hikaru looked mildly shocked, though they all knew it was just an act.
"But brother dearest, I was simply implying that you would know a lot about lipgloss because you have kissed oh so many girls in your time!" he told them, shaking his head in an attempt to look pathetic. It didn't work and Kaoru just looked away with a mutter that sounded a lot like 'Very funny'.
"Its Reiko."
The twins turned to face the king who was looking at the note he still had in his pocket from yesterday. "Reiko," Hikaru blinked, "As in Hunny-senpai's Reiko, black magic club girl, unhealthy obsession with curses, unhealthy obsession with Hunny, that Reiko?"
Tamaki nodded. "Hunny-senpai was just here; he confirmed that the handwriting is indeed Reiko's."
Kaoru shrugged. "It makes sense, I guess," he mumbled, "I mean, she wrote love letters on mirrors with lipgloss and stuff before, didn't she?" Hikaru nodded. "But still, I never though she would get over Hunny-senpai that quickly." Hikaru nodded again.
Tamaki grumbled a bit. "Can I ask why people keep coming into the juniors locker room, when they are not juniors?" he asked menacingly, doing his best 'Mommy dearest' voice. It seemed to work, because the twins quickly scadaddled, leaving him to brush his hair, attempting to see his reflection around the unsightly marks marring his beautiful mirror.
Safely outside the door, and away from Tamaki's wrath, the twins exchanged glances. "Kaoru," Hikaru pondered, "Somethings off."
"Yeah, I know," Kaoru replied, bemused, "I mean, Reiko is so obsessed with Hunny-senpai, I wouldn't think she'd waver and pick Mi'lord over him," he sighed, looking up at the white hall ceiling, "And why were there no mentions of curses in the letter or mirror? If it really was her, wouldn't it have been a curse of some sort?"
Hikaru nodded. "It is very strange," he muttered.
"And also, Reiko did the things in person, not anonymously," Kaoru gave an undesired shiver, "Its out of character for her."
Hikaru looked at his brother, cocking his head to one side, all remnants of joking gone from both their eyes. "So its not her?" he asked, confused.
Kaoru looked back at him, a small smile playing on his lips. "Since when were you so interested in Mi'lord's love life?" he asked jokily, nudging Hikaru slightly in amusement. The action earned a smirk, and Hikaru ducked in to mess up his brother's hair.
"Because if he gets a girlfriend, I have a greater chance with Haruhi, thats why!" he joked, chuckling as Kaoru complained about him mussing up his hair, as he fruitlessly attempted to fix even somewhat. "But seriously, does that mean it isn't her?"
Kaoru sighed, looking away. "I honestly have no idea anymore."
-x-
Tamaki swung open the doors of the black magic club, just to be greeted with black powder swarming around him and several guys and one girl in black outfits, all crowded around one U. Nekozawa, wearing his fancy 'we-just-got-a-visitor-Ohemgee' cloak.
They all sighed and got back into their normal attire once they realized it was only Tamaki, for the exception of Reiko, who was preoccupied with her spell book, and the president who sauntered over to the host club king, an eerie grin plastered across his features.
"Tamaki-kun, is it," he said simply, Beezlenuff the puppet throwing out his little cloth paws in welcome, "Why are you interested in coming to our quarters?"
Tamaki gulped, frightened of the dark and creepy figures floating around the room. He had a hideous fear of the occult, and facing his fear wasn't really something he wanted just yet. He pitifully attempted to unfreeze himself, taking a small step towards Nekozawa, who's eyes widened slightly at this movement.
"I need to speak to Reiko, please," he said weakly, trying not to shiver at the sudden cold at stepping further into the room.
Nekozawa sighed, looking away in distaste. "She's over there, by her cursing table-" her dresser, in other words- "Coming up with a new curse for that wretched loli-shota of yours-" so, another love note for Hunny, then. Tamaki blinked. Why would she be doing notes for both him and Hunny. Well, the senior never had once said that his notes had stopped coming. Maybe she was fixated on the both of them now?
"Reiko?" he called, walking a few steps further over to her table, noticing that Nekozawa had seemingly teleported over to the other side of the room, and shuddered.
The dark haired girl never turned around, just said, in an eerie melodic tone, "I am here."
Tamaki managed to get all the way over to her, smiling as he took her hand and placed the note he had received two days earlier in her hand. "Princess," he asked sweetly, "Would you be able to confirm if you wrote this or not for me?"
Reiko glanced at the paper, her round eyes moving down the page silently. "Yes," she confirmed, "That is my handwriting." Tamaki blinked a few times, watching in slight awe as she turned back to her dresser to tape a bit of light blond hair- a different shade to Tamaki's- to a piece of paper, and tangle a bit of her own hair with it. She turned to him, catching his bemused look. "Its a curse," she said unblinkingly.
Tamaki nodded. "You did wish to see me, correct?" he said, hopeful that he didn't read the mirror note wrong.
"Yes, I believe I did write that on your mirror," she confirmed again, this time not turning around. Tamaki let out a little sigh and leaned on the back of her chair. He was nervous of this girl and was not in the right state of mind to coo over her like any other petty female.
"What did you wish to speak to me about," he pressed, getting a bit frustrated with the lack of finish in her answers. Two tickets were pushed into his face as he blinked, taking them from the black haired girl gingerly, reading the identical titles on both tickets. "You want me to go to a movie with you?"
Reiko nodded simply. "Yes," she answered, "Its a good movie. I was told so," she looked back at him, her expression still neutral, "It has good reviews."
Tamaki shone a smile her direction, taking her pale, petite hand in his own and drawing it up to his mouth. "As you wish," he murmured, pressing his lips to her palm, "Princess." She was unfazed, and once her hand was gently dropped by the blonde she proceeded to return to her curses.
Tamaki blinked a few times, at least expecting a reply, before placing the tickets back down on the dresser. "You should take your one," came her simple response, making Tamaki jump with a stuttered, 'O-of course,' before taking his own ticket and hurrying out of the basement room.
Nekozawa sauntered over to the only female member of his club, leaning in to mumble in her ear- "Next Friday?"
Reiko nodded. "Meaning not tomorrow, meaning in eight days time," she answered, putting the finishing touches to her note before picking it up and placing it neatly in the drawer of her dresser before turning to face her senpai. "Though I must ask; why?"
Nekozawa let his smirk fade into an unreadable expression, causing the younger girl's eyes to widen a minuscule bit. "I," he began, "Am working on a reason."
Reiko dropped the topic.
-x-
"You know Kaoru," Hikaru pondered, "Reiko was in club today."
Kaoru nodded. "I noticed. She designated Hunny-senpai." There was silence between the two for a bit, Kaoru playing with his sleeve while Hikaru fixed his hair in the moving limo's window. He gave a little sigh when his hair refused to sit down right.
"I don't know why you care," Kaoru said, mildly amused, "Schools over; no one's going to be looking at you."
Hikaru shot him a mischievous grin before replacing it with a mock innocent look. "Is it so wrong to want to look acceptable for my little brother?" he asked, big eyed. Kaoru smirked, leaning in to drape his arm around his brother's shoulders, mussing up his near perfect hair, much to Hikaru's horror.
"You always look acceptable," Kaoru chuckled. Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
"Ain't that a bit narcissist? Aye?"
Kaoru ignored him, mussing up his own hair so that they were identical again and resting his head on Hikaru's shoulder. "Hikaru," he mumbled, his voice muffled by the cloth of his brothers blazer, "Shut it and stop ruining every sweet moment."
Hikaru smirked.
-x-
Tuesday came around again and Kirimi was sitting in her usual seat in front of Tamaki, sucking the slush puppy they'd given her through a red and white striped straw. "So, Kirimi-chan," Tamaki started off again, "What brings you here today?"
And she shot him her award winning smile. "To see my second big brother, duh!"
Tamaki smiled and the princesses cooed; how cute a four year old could be! Especially when you already knew the answer that was coming. And as per usual, he read half a story to her, the princesses got restless and he hurried her off to one of the other members of the host club.
"Twinnumbaone-nii-chan," she wailed, going and tugging on Hikaru's sleeve haplessly.
Hikaru looked down at her, nonchalantly. "So?"
"Fix it," she said, pouting.
Kaoru stifled a laugh at Hikaru's incredulous look, quickly earning a glare so he shut up. Hikaru turned back to Kirimi, lifting her up to put her on the loveseat between him and Kaoru and smiling a bit sadly down at her and asking her- "You want us to rewrite the story?"
Kirimi nodded, shoving the book in Kaoru's face and then Hikaru's. The younger twin sighed, pulling it out of the little girls grasp and tossing it half way across the room. "If its honestly that bad," he told her, the child watching with a look of wonder, "Than its unredeemable. We'll make a completely new story up, eh?"
"No."
Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other, automatically recognizing the voice by the eerie undertone and Kirimi's lit up face. They turned to face the slightly growing dark patch by the door that usually didn't exist to see the regular figure in the darkly coloured cloak, a horrified look etched across his Russian features.
"No," he repeated, creeping out of his corner to approach the two red heads on the love seat and his little sister, "My God only knows what you'd pollute her mind with, you murderers!"
"Uhm, I think she's already po-"
Hikaru and Kaoru never got to finish that synchronized sentence, for they were interrupted be a small little girl, who funnily enough, actually proved the point they were attempting to tell the Russian black magic lover about.
"Queer."
Silence rang out throughout the entire music room. Princesses stopped drinking tea and giggling. Haruhi looked up from her homework, in complete amazement. Mori and Hunny looked over, the fork hanging in a gaping action out of the loli-shota's mouth. Tamaki froze, quickly mumbling a cuss word in French under his breath.
The twins stared, open mouthed, at Kirimi, who's finger was obviously pointing at her biological big brother. Nekozawa's hood covered his face, his breathing heavily. "Who, actually, no," he growled, his hood tipping up a bit with a nod of his head, to reveal a look of utter fury that they had never seen on the guy's face before, actually making the twins cower, "I can safely guess who taught her that."
The twins then found themselves actually levitated off their seats by the collars of their school shirts to come face to face with death itself, actual venom appearing to be seeping from the president's eyes. "You Murderers," came the hiss of an accusation, "Taught my sister foul language. You think its funny?" They shook their heads in terror. "Well, queer means strange or abnormal. Are you teaching my Kirimi that homosexuality is strange or abnormal?" They shook their heads again, cowering slightly.
"W-we didn't teach her that," Hikaru defended.
"Honest!" Kaoru completed.
Nekozawa sneered, on a roll here and extremely angry for his personality. But then again, blood is thicker than water. "I'm gonna f-ing kill you murderers-"
"Nekozawa-senpai, I did it."
Everyone who had been engrossed in the little exchange between the two freshman and the senior turned to face the host club king who had just stood up, a complete look of distress donning his face. Nekozawa stared at him in disbelief.
"You," he mumbled, staring blankly at Tamaki, "Told her that word."
Tamaki nodded, his hands reaching up in front of him in a defensive pose automatically. "I swear though," he stammered, "That I only told her to 'go ask those...uhm, the word, over there to read to you', I completely swear," he sighed at the frozen look on his senpai's face, "I was only meant to insult Hikaru and Kaoru and I apologize."
The twins fell back on the love seat, landing backwards on their asses, staring up at the guy who had just decided to release them. He still had a frozen look on his face, but they only caught a glimpse of the other emotion before the fringe of his black wig fell down to cover the top half of his face.
"Kirimi," he said in a complete monotone, "We're leaving."
-x-
It was six already and the movie was at ten past. Tamaki tapped his foot a bit, looking around for any sign of the younger girl. But there was none. At this rate, they were going to have to skip getting snacks- which Tamaki really wanted to try- and go straight in, not even guaranteed decent seating arrangements!
He was just about to give up when she miraculously came out of nowhere beside him. He jumped, stumbling away from her in surprise. "R-Reiko!" he choked, trying to calm himself from the initial shock, "You came," he ended up finishing lamely.
"Of course I did," was the only answer he received. His smile, which was placed helplessly on his face, faltered a bit when he realized that that was the best he was going to get, before pondering on whether or not she had actually been there the whole time and he had just failed to see her.
His eyes scanned over her clothing, surprising him even more. Her hair was normal; her straight fringe and bangs framing her face as per usual. But she was wearing a knee length green dress with petite green sandals and a short white fleece. 'What did you expect, a witches cloak?'
"I like green," she told him, catching him staring, "We should go in." With that, she snatched the ticket out of his loose grip and walked over to the check in counter, handing them to the lady behind the desk. Tamaki quickly followed her over, flashing a smile at the hapless employee who blushed before confirming their tickets and telling them that they were in screen four.
"Would you like some snacks," the king asked, taking Reiko's hand gently. She dropped his, turning and walking over to the snack counter herself. Tamaki gasped, running over and blocking her way. "You payed for the tickets," he scrambled, "At least let me pay for the food!"
She blinked a few times. "A drink," she finally said, stepping out of the line.
Tamaki sweat dropped. "Is that all?" he asked pathetically, sighing as she nodded. "What kind of drink?"
"Anything is fine." He sighed again, getting into the line up and buying her her drink and himself some popcorn- a commoner tradition, he chuckled to himself- before taking her hand and brining her off to screen four to be seated.
They got reasonably good seats, and the movie was exciting. At times, it even seemed like the characters were jumping out at them, making Tamaki jump and not even remotely fazing the younger girl beside him, who stayed silently sucking her drink through the straw throughout the entire movie.
The credits rolled and everyone stood, hustling and bustling out the double doors, blinking at the sudden light. Tamaki turned cheerfully to Reiko, who was absentmindedly tossing her empty cup into the rubbish bin. "Well, Reiko, did you enjoy the movie?" he asked happily.
"It was good," came the reply. Tamaki sighed. He was getting nothing out of this girl and she didn't even seem all too enthusiastic about anything! He sighed. She'd written all beautiful poems and it made him feel like she could've even acted a little more cheerful.
"Reiko, did something happen with Hunny-senpai?"
Reiko turned to look at him, a small smile playing on her lips, the first Tamaki had seen all through the evening. "Nothing," she replied, "Why do you ask?"
"Well," Tamaki pondered, wondering how to word it, "If you still love Hunny-senpai, why would you leave notes like that in my locker? It doesn't make sense!" Reiko looked at him for a bit longer before letting an uncharacteristic chuckle out, staring up at the bemused blonde.
"I never left them in your locker," she smiled.
Tamaki gaped. "But you said you wrote them," he teared up, "You lied to me!"
She played with her sleeves, looking up at the sky thoughtfully. "I said that it was my handwriting," she replied, "Listen to the wording. I never said once that A) Those words were from my own head, B) That I was the one who put them in your locker, or C) That I was your secret admirer."
Tamaki looked at her in awe, feeling a headache coming on. "So waiiiiiit," he said, rubbing his temples with his forefingers, "You only wrote them out? Why? Why did you write them and not the person sending them? Where is the logic in that?"
She blinked, before simply answering, "You're not very logical yourself, are you.-" Tamaki gaped- "And I have no idea why I was told to write it. I just was, I guess," she tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Its for some sort of project, I think."
Tamaki deadpanned. He was being used for someone's school assignment. Charming.
Reiko turned to walk away, leaving Tamaki in utter confusion, tilting her head back to glance at him a final time. "Tamaki-senpai?" she called, snapping him out of his daze. She smiled. "Thanks for this evening." And with that she left the theater.
Tamaki smiled slightly. That was the first time that she had ever used his name.
-x-
Tuesday came around again, meaning Kirimi came back to see her big brother once again.
"So Kirimi-chan," Tamaki Suoh started, smiling at the answer he knew was coming from he little blonde girl sitting right across from him, "What brings you to the paradise that is our Ouran host club today?"
"Why does big brother love big brother?"
The king's eyes widened in surprise. The twins attempted to stifle their laughter. The princesses watched anxiously for Tamaki's reaction. Haruhi and Mori never batted an eyelid but the spoon froze in midair, never quite reaching Hunny's mouth. Kirimi waited.
Tamaki attempted a chuckle, only doing it halfheartedly. "I didn't know you regarded those devilish twins as your big brothers too," he says lightly, earning a few indignant cries from Hikaru and Kaoru and an exasperated look from the four year old sitting across from him.
"No!" she wailed, "I mean you!"
Tamaki deadpanned, completely missing the real meaning. "I love myself?" he whimpered; confirmation of that rang out in chuckles and wolf whistles throughout the music room, sending the kind to his corner of utmost woe, sobbing pathetically.
Kirimi waved her hands around in exasperation at his stupidity, jumping off the love seat to toddle over to the distressed boy.
"No, Tamaki-nii-chan," she deadpanned, "Why does my real big brother love you?"
Tamaki stared up at her in shock, tinted with the smallest bit of wonder. Hikaru and Kaoru stopped their hysterics and also stared. Haruhi stopped conversing, Mori looked up, and Hunny's fork finally dropped to his plate with a light clink. The room was silent, almost like the week before when the little girl was last there.
"Nekozawa-senpai?" he asked carefully, gaping as Kirimi nodded, cheerful that she was finally being heard and understood.
"I mean," she started, the know-all tone creeping into her melodic voice, "Its the obvious conclusion since the ploy with Reiko-nee-chan to pretend that she liked you for his sake and all. Its really obvious- Huh? Tamaki-nii-chan?"
The host lub's king had stood from the ground, from his fetal position, dumbstruck and unthinking. He dashed for the door, flinging it open and scrambling out through it, the door banging shut behind him with a deafening bang that resounded throughout the entire room.
"Oh," Kirimi mumbled sadly, "I wasn't finished."
-x-
"Nekozawa-senpai!"
The black magic club's president looked up, watching in mild surprise as Tamaki burst through the doors of the club room, panting lightly from his run.
"Tamaki-kun," Nekozawa acknowledged, shooing the other members away, all of which quickly scampered away dutifully, minus Reiko, who didn't even let on that she heard her president, "What brings you here to my realm of darkness and solitude?"
"You love me," Tamaki accused bluntly, pointing his finger halfheartedly at the cloaked senior. The reaction he received after that bold statement wasn't the blatant denial accompanied by furious blushing he would have gotten with any client. All he got was a simple look of intrigue.
And then he stood up from his seated position, yanking his cloak up over his head in one swift movement, the dark wig coming off with it to reveal a perfectly uncreased uniform and bright blonde hair that rivaled Tamaki's, falling just below his chin.
Tamaki's breath caught in his throat; he never could remember that the older boy looked like this, considering the cloak he wore twenty-four/seven and all.
"Keen eye," was the only reply the younger boy got; he took it to be confirmation.
"Kirimi-chan told me."
Nekozawa watched him, cocking an eyebrow in intrigue. "I have heard rumors," he pondered, fiddling with his blonde bangs as Tamaki looked on, "That you are gullible. But I never thought that you would actually believe word for word a four year old with, lets say, a vivid imagination."
Tamaki felt a sort of resentment towards the older man for basically calling him and eejit and his own sister a liar. "So, its not true?"
"I never once said that."
They watched each other for a few moments, one pair of eyes astounded while the other pair wore a simple blank stare. Nekozawa twirled around to face the curtains, that hung for no apparent reason, as there would be no window beneath them, his hand grazing the soft fabric slightly.
"I do love you Tamaki-kun."
"N-Nekozawa-senpai?"
The elder turned to face Tamaki again, his hand curved behind him, now clutching at the blinds. "Whats this?" he said in a mocking tone of voice, watching in bitter amusement as the flush on Tamaki's cheek darkened, "No 'sorry m'dear' or any faux nonsense like that? Am I so worthless that I dont even deserve an answer?"
Tamaki raised a hand. "I never said that," he replied quietly.
"There was no need for you to."
There was silence as Tamaki mulled over what he should say next, and what would provoke an unwanted angry reaction from the older boy. It seemed obvious that he was already in his bad books, and he didn't want the situation to become worsened.
"Why?" Tamaki asked carefully and finally, "Why would you get Reiko to leave those notes?"
Nekozawa smirked. "She already told you that she did no such thing. She merely wrote them out in neat girlish handwriting for me; the words and breaking into your locker was all me`."
"But why?" Tamaki pressed, in utmost confusion.
"Because she's different," came the reply, a tiny bit of frustration seeping into his voice. "I am male just as she is female. As I well suspected, your reaction to her was quite a deal different than your reaction to me; don't try and deny it."
Tamaki shook his head slightly. "I was pretty shocked at both to be honest," he admitted sheepishly.
"Naturally," Nekozawa answered smoothly, "And anyways, time for you to reject me and get on with your life." Tamaki blinked. Nekozawa let out a small sigh. "You know, tell me that you dont go that way and get on with your daily hosting, and all."
"But that would be shallow of me."
Nekozawa looked up in surprise. Tamaki's tone had been serious throughout the whole visit; completely formal. But his tone had now changed. Yes, changed was the only word to describe his words and facial expression. It was almost like he had just grown up in front of the older boy and now Nekozawa was made unsure of everything he had believed that he was up until that moment- his words were that amazing. "P-pardon?" he stammered.
"I may come off as shallow," Tamaki continued, to the utter disbelief of his senior, "As a narcissist who only cares about appearances, but this would be going to far." Nekozawa's breath hitched in his throat. It was the truth. Tamaki Suoh came off as a superficial, fake moron who absolutely loved himself; Nekozawa would've never guessed that the younger boy actually knew and acknowledged this fact.
"And so," Tamaki concluded, shooting Nekozawa a smile, "It would be selfishly superficially shallow of me to only think of my own preferences above your feelings and not take anyone else's trauma into account!"
Nekozawa blinked, completely overcome. It was the feeling of helplessness that he rarely felt, and was now deciding that he absolutely detested as he only managed to stammer a- "What are you saying, Tamaki-kun?"
Tamaki smiled, flicking his own blonde fringe out of his line of vision and replying- "I'm doing nothing Friday. Are you?"
-x-
Nothing ever comes out the way you expect it to. You may have a plan, a person, an item that you think you have completely figured out, just for fate to change them, or simply to change your mind and boom- you yourself are suddenly being radically changed, sometimes overnight.
No one ever has someone completely figured out.
Nekozawa never thought that the moron he took the younger blonde to be would ever be capable of stealing his heart, let alone manage to keep it in his possession. Tamaki never guessed that either, but on top of it, never thought there would be a day when Nekozawa would walk into the third music room and he wouldn't feel the need to hide, to run away.
Its the same for everyone. Hunny never thought that anyone other than family would ever get a word out of Takashi, though a certain commoner came along and the stoic senior was suddenly able to tell her anything. Haruhi never thought she's get into a prestigious school like Ouran Academy, and yet, she passed entrance exams with flying colours. Hikaru and Kaoru neer thought they'd ever find the courage in themselves to venture outside their tight knit world, and here they were in a whole bunch of complete lunatics and yet they couldn't be happier. Mori never thought he'd see a day where a girl would wander in looking for his younger cousin, and offer him a spell book to read, and the little senior would spend the day reading it instead of eating mountains of cake.
"And so," Kirimi Nekozawa concluded, eating said discarded cake, "Big brother loves big brother, and its completely fine, right!" The twins nodded in complete boredom, wondering once again about how they's gotten stuck babysitting this child.
"Its alright," Kaoru said thoughtfully, "That everything's normal again."
Hikaru deadpanned. "How the hell do you manage to refer to the host club as normal."
Kaoru chuckled.
"Big brother loves big brother," Kirimi repeated, smiling before hopping off her seat, leaving the discarded fork behind, spreading crumbs across the sofa.