Long Lost and Newly Found (OHSHC)

Chapter Nine: Kate ◆

~A/N: again, "this" is English and "this" is Japanese. XD just assume, from now on, that any time it's Kate's POV or Michiyo's POV, it's the same. I'll let y'all know if it's that way any other time.

Kate ◆

Today, the peculiar Host Club was cosplaying as people from some sort of southern country. Except for Haruhi, who was still dressed in... his?...her?... uniform. I could see that if Haruhi was a guy, he was very feminine. I have not had an opportunity to really study him though. My duty was to watch Lady Michiyo closely, and make sure she took her medicine.

We were here only because Lady Michiyo was going to throw a fit if she didn't get to stay. It's been like this since we arrived at this school, and I didn't see a reason to deprive her of this time she spent observing her younger brothers.

The two young boys were surprising, from what Lady Michiyo had told me. She had left them years ago, leaving them to fend for themselves. They had been angry at her, for leaving them. But now they acted as though she was always here, as though she had never left. It made me smile to observe them at home, joking around and laughing together as siblings should.

"Kate, you okay?" Lady Michiy touched my arm, looking concerned.

"Yes, I'm okay." I smiled, studying her complexion for any signs of her health failing her. So far, she looked good.

I worked on some assignments while the guys hosted and Lady Michiyo chatted with her brothers and some of the other girls. By the time I realized, the Club was over and the Host Club was cleaning up. Well, Haruhi was anyway.

I jumped up to help, not wanting to seem like a random freeloader. "Michiyo-sama, you stay sitting. Chat with your brothers awhile!" I smiled and waved her off when she tried to help.

Haruhi and I were finished in record time and sat to join the others at a table. The Host Club was holding a meeting about the upcoming Christmas party, so I was unsure why Lady Michiyo and I were still here. "Um, Lady Michiyo, why are we still here? Isn't this a private Club meeting?"

"It is, but seeing as you two are most likely going to be here often, we don't mind that you're here." The boy with glasses, Kyoya Otori, smiled a bit coldly.

"Ah, sorry." I looked down at my clasped hands in my lap, embarrassed. Of course these people would know English! They're all from well-to-do families!

"It's quite alright." He wrote something down in a black notebook, his glasses hiding his expression.

"Tono... stop eating peasants' ramen and help us make the final plans." One of the twins glanced over at the blonde boy sitting at a table eating a bowl of ramen. The young girl I perceived to be his cousin tugged at his jacket. "We only have one week until the party."

"He didn't like it that Kasuga-hime took Haruhi?" The other twin leaned his head on his hand.

"It's not like her illness just started." Kyoya stated, still jotting in his notebook.

"Huh?" The little blonde girl tilted her head.

Illness?

"Illness?" Haruhi voiced my thought, looking confused.

""So called 'switching guys disease'."" Both twins lifted their hands to their shoulders, palms up. ""Also known as the Host Club wanderer.""

I blinked, still confused. I glanced at Lady Michiyo, who had an amused smile on her face. She suddenly jumped up and glomped her younger brothers. "Ooohhh! I love it when you two do that!" She gushed, rubbing her cheeks against theirs. "It's so cute!"

"Ah, Michiyo-sama..." I shook my head at her childishness, mentally facepalming.

Ignoring the Hitachiins, Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "Usually regular guests stick to one Host forever..." he glanced around. "But she likes to change her favourite every now and then. Somebody's probably had her at least twice..." he mumbled the last part, writing into his notebook again.

"It was Tama-chan's turn until a while ago~" the little blonde boy from class clutched his bunny, tilting his head. The tall, dark and handsome boy stayed quiet.

"What a whore..." I heard through blonde girl murmur, her chin propped up by her hands and her elbows on the table. The boy sitting close to her snickered, slumping in his seat.

The little blonde girl stared at the two rude students, her violet eyes wide. "Bad word..."

"I see..." Haruhi looked over at the depressed boy. "All because I took his guest..."

"NO! THAT'S NOT IT!" the boy jumped up, suddenly angry. His cousin jumped in fright and ran to Kyoya. He shoved one hand into his pocket and pointed at Haruhi, a determined look in his eyes. "I cannot stand it anymore, Haruhi! Wear proper girls' clothing!"

I blinked in surprise. Girl clothing... Haruhi was a girl? Explains a few things...

The loud blonde continued his rant, clutching at his head. "How can you be so popular among girls when you yourself are a girl!? I tell you, it's only the people here that know you are a girl!" He looked very stressed out, and this time I really did facepalm. "Argh, I can't take it!"

""She's not taking PE classes since it's an elective, and the students' ID numbers are co-ed, so nobody would know!"" The twins saluted, creating a mirrored image of each other.

"Daddy ... daddy wants..." the blonde drama queen started ruffling through a chest suddenly. "Daddy wants to see when you were like this!!!" He held up a picture of a young girl I assumed was Haruhi before she cut her hair. "Look at this cuteness!"

"Don't just enlarge my photo without my permission!!" Haruhi yelled, obviously pissed off.

These people sure were entertaining.

"I wonder everytime I look at this..." one of the twins took the frame and studied it. "How can this-" he held up the picture, "-become this?" He gestured to Haruhi.

"Yeah... some kid in my neighborhood got gum in my hair, and since it's a hassle to get gum out of long hair, I cut it." Haruhi started explaining, most of the Club listening intently. "And as I told you guys before, I lost my contact lenses." She must have worn glasses before... "my dad stepped on them a while back and they broke." She put a hand to her hair, looking disinterested. "I* don't really mind being treated as a guy. Actually, that's better because I can finish my quota of 1000 people and pay off the debt of 8 million yen."

"A girl cannot express herself as 'ore'!!" (*ore is the term Haruhi addressed herself with. Obviously... ore is a masculine way of saying "I" "me" "my" etc in Japanese.) The boy now looked as if he were about to cry. He turned his head to glance at someone. "Mommy! Haruhi uses bad words!!!"

I looked around to find an annoyed Kyoya, pushing his glasses up yet again. I glanced over at Lady Michiyo to find her unusually pale. I went to her and put my hand to her forehead, only finding it slightly warmer than usual. "Are you feeling unwell? You're very pale." I kept my voice low, trying to keep our conversation private despite everyone around us. Not that anyone would have noticed. They were all in various groups around the room.

She blinked, her cheeks flushing just the slightest. "I'm just tired, Kate." She smiled.

"We should head home then." I started to gather our things and went to the twins. "U-um, Hikaru-sama, Kaoru-sama. I'm going to take Michiyo-sama home now. She is tired." I bowed slightly and turned, walking with Lady Michiyo out to her waiting limo.