Oblivious || Hikaru Hitachiin Love Story

Chapter Two: A Host and a Dancer

  The host club officially opened a little while later. I was surprised at how popular the club really was. It seemed like every girl in the school had shown up. It was interesting seeing all the boys work. I learned their names as well. Mori, the silent type. Honey, the boy-Lolita type. Hikaru and Kaoru, the mischievous types. Kyoya, the cool type. And lastly, Tamaki, the princely type. I found them all particularly interesting, since there was nothing like this back in America. I found Hikaru and Kaoru's act specifically intriguing. They seemed to have this act where something would happen, and the two would share, what I liked to call a 'moment', in which it sounded like they were in more than a friendly relationship. Their customers seemed to call it brotherly love. I called it incest. I watched both of them from afar while they worked their magic on a couple of girls. While looking at them I began to wonder how I would be able to tell them apart. Sure, Kaoru's hair parted to the left, and Hikaru's parted to the right, but there had to be more to them than that. They were different people after all. I shrugged it off. I would figure it out soon enough.

While Haruhi was sent to get groceries for the club, I was instructed to do the cleaning. I cleaned tables after someone had clients, and reset it for the next round. I washed dishes, I cleaned windows, I swept the floors, and all while everyone else around me was laughing and having a good time. I couldn't believe how involved these girls were getting. They knew that everything the guys were saying was fake, didn't they?

Haruhi returned with the groceries a few minutes after I finished resetting the twin's table for their next clients. She came up to hug me with her one arm, while her other one held the groceries. She hugged me a lot, ever since I got here. I think she felt bad and wanted to comfort me because of the death of my parents. I knew she went through the same thing with her mom, so I appreciated her concern. She handed the bag to Tamaki, who picked up the first thing out of the bag. It was a container of instant coffee.

"Wait a minute, what is this?" he asked.

"Just what it looks like, it's coffee," Haruhi said in a monotone voice.

"I've never seen this brand before. Is this the kind that's already ground?" he asked.

"It's instant coffee, senpai. All you have to do is add hot water, and ta-da!" I said.

"I've heard of this before! It's commoner's coffee!" he exclaimed.

"I never knew there was such a thing," one of Tamaki's clients said from the couch opposite to him.

"So it's true then. Poor people don't even have enough free time to grind their own coffee beans," the girl sitting next to her said. A group of more girls had circled behind them and all nodded their heads. Another group of people had formed around our side of the coffee table, which included the other hosts and a few more girls.

"Commoners are pretty smart," Kyoya said.

"One hundred grams for three hundred yen?" Hikaru asked.

"That's a lot less than we normally pay," Kaoru added.

"I'll go back and get something else. Excuse me for not buying you guy's expensive coffee," Haruhi mumbled the last sentence.

"No, I'll keep it," Tamaki spoke and put up his left arm. Everyone around him gasped. He stood up triumphantly. "I'm gonna give it a try." Everyone looked even more shocked. "I will drink this coffee!" he said confidently, and posed with one hand on his waist, and his other arm holding the coffee high into the air. The other's clapped and awed in amazement, while Haruhi looked like she wanted to kill someone and my eye began to twitch.

"Alright, you two. Come here and make some of this commoner's coffee," Tamaki instructed us.

"These damn rich people," Haruhi mumbled only to me. I giggled softly.

"Oh, Tamaki. Now you're taking the joke too far," the girl who had been sitting next to Tamaki said and set down her tea cup. "You're palette won't be able to stomach that crap. You don't have to drink it just because he bought it." It was only Haruhi and I left standing behind the couch that she was sitting on, yet she was talking to Tamaki like he was still sitting there next to her.

"Hmm?" I wondered.

She chuckled slightly. "I'm sorry, I was talking to myself." She turned around to smile at my cousin and me.

"Umm..." Haruhi and I didn't know what to say.

"Come on, Haruhi. We should go fix the coffee," I said to her and pulled her gently by her arm towards where the others were.

Everyone was standing near a long table with four cups on it. Haruhi and I both fixed two cups of instant coffee, and then put them on a tray for people to take.

"It's not bad. It's actually quite good." I reassured the girls who had taken the cups from the tray.

"I'm a little scared to drink this stuff," one of them said.

"I'm afraid if I drink this my father will yell at me," another said. Tamaki slipped in and took a hold of the situation.

"What if I let you drink it from my mouth?" he asked her.

"Uh - I would drink it." The brunette confirmed. All the girls around him began to squeal excitedly.

After the tasting finished everyone got back to work. I was cleaning up some dirty teacups from a table when I heard a conversation coming from the table next to mine.

Hikaru started laughing. "So he had this nightmare that made him bolt up right out of bed," he said.

"Hikaru! Don't tell them that story! I asked you not to tell anyone that. Why are you so mean to me?" Kaoru asked cutely while shyly touching his thumb to his chin and sparkly tears fell from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kaoru," Hikaru said with wide eyes. He pulled his brother close to him, with both hands gently cupping the sides of his face. They were so close that they were just inches from touching lips. "I didn't mean to upset you. But you were so adorable when it happened I had to tell them. I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," Kaoru said dreamily. The girls at their table were freaking out at this 'moment' between the two of them. Haruhi walked past me with another tray of dishes.

"I don't get what they're so excited about," she said to me.

"It's kind of strange, to be honest," I said. She continued to work, and so did I, until I heard Takami calling me over to him.

"Yes, senpai?" I asked.

"Maybe while we're at it, we can get Miyoko a uniform too," he said, obviously referring to an earlier conversation that I was not a part of.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

Tamaki snapped his fingers. "Hikaru, Kaoru," he said.

"Got it!" The twins saluted, and then pulled both Haruhi and I into the dressing room. Hikaru gently pushed me into one of the dressing areas and pulled the curtain shut so I had privacy.

"There's a uniform in there for you," he said, and then dashed off with his brother.

"Okay, but you might not want to see Haruhi change either!" I poked my head through the curtain to see both of them being kicked out of Haruhi's dressing room.

I slipped on my new uniform, which was a pale yellow dress that ended just below my knees, and was poufy at the shoulders. It had a high white collar with a red bow, and white stockings and black shoes that went with it. When I pulled back the curtain, I saw that the twins were both waiting for me. Kaoru blushed a little and turned his gaze away from me, but Hikaru kept staring.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You look good," they said in unison, then each grabbed one of my arms. "Come on," they said and pulled me to another one of the dressing rooms, where I guessed that everyone was now waiting for Haruhi to finish getting changed.

"Uh, senpai?" Haruhi asked and pulled back the curtain, revealing that she was now wearing one of the school's boy uniforms. "You sure it's okay for me to keep this uniform?" she asked. I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, and mine too. I mean, it's not the cutest, but it fits pretty well, don't you think?" I said with a closed-eye smile. He looked back and forth from me and Haruhi, before pulling us both into a very tight hug.

"Mmm cute! Haruhi, you're as pretty as a girl! And Miyoko, you look like a beautiful little flower! Adorable!" he squealed. We both pushed ourselves out of his grip.

"Maybe they'll even bring in some new customers," Kyoya stated.

"That's just what I was thinking! Our errand boy is moving up the ranks! Starting today, you're an official member of the host club. Haruhi, I will personally train you to be a first rate host. If you can get one hundred customers to request your service, we will completely forget about your eight million yen debt," Tamaki declared. I smiled and hugged Haruhi.

"Yeah, come on, Haruhi! This'll be so easy!" I laughed while jumping up and down.

"A host?" she questioned.

"You have to do this! We'll pay off our debt in a snap!" I said and snapped my fingers for emphasis.

"You do realize this still means you have to work as our errand girl, Miyoko," Kyoya said. I slouched a little, thinking that Haruhi's new host work excluded me from the club.

"Right," I said, but my face dropped.

"Maybe we can find a place for Miyo-chan too!" Honey said and jumped up on my back.

"Perhaps. Miyoko, is there anything that you're particularly gifted in?" Kyoya asked and rubbed his chin.

"Um..." I said and rubbed the back of my head. I snapped my fingers. "I used to take ballet classes," I said.

"Ballet?" the twins asked. I nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I'm not amazing or anything, but I could put on a few decent shows."

"Then it's decided. Haruhi will be our newest host, and Miyoko is our live entertainment!" Tamaki said and pulled us both in for another hug.

"Uh, Haruhi. I think we've bit off more than we can chew," I said and smiled warily.

She smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Miyoko! Like you said, we'll be done in a snap." Even though she was smiling she still laughed nervously. I just hoped that we could be done and out of this club as soon as possible.