Oblivious || Hikaru Hitachiin Love Story

Chapter Four: A Party?

           The second the bell rang and Haruhi helped me pack up all of my books, then started dragging me down the hall.

"Huh? Haruhi?' I asked frantically while trying to keep my books from falling out of my bag.

"We'll never hear the end of it if we're late. And it takes you years to get across the school with that bag of yours," she told me. I sighed, even though she was exaggerating I knew she was right. About how slow I was, and that they would kill us if we weren't there on time.

When Haruhi opened the door, we found that the room was decorated like a tropical paradise, animals included. The boys were standing in their usual position, but instead of their normal uniforms they were dressed to fit the theme.

"You finally made it. You're so late," the twins said.

"What's going on? It's early spring, why does it look like Hawaii in here?" I asked.

"Huddling under a kotatsu table fearing the cold is nonsense! And besides, the heating system we have is the best!" Takami explained, although I still didn't quite understand the need of this all.

"Do you two have a problem with the way we run our club? Be careful what you say, you owe us eight million yen, remember?" Kyoya asked.

"Gentlemen don't bundle up in bulky clothing," Takami said. "It may be chilly early spring out there in the real world, but here at the club we want to surprise our chilly little kittens with a warm, tropical paradise. Oh yes, we've turned this place into Nirvana, a balmy tropical island of everlasting summer!"

"That's funny because I feel a massive chill right now." Haruhi mumbled. I eyed all of the boys and thought about it for a moment.

"I guess I see the point, all of you do look pretty cute in those outfits." I said and taped my chin with my index finger. Takami gasped and hugged me tightly from behind.

"Miyoko, do you have no acknowledgment of flirting?" Haruhi asked in a strained voice.

Tamaki ignored her comment. "You see! Miyoko understands! Oh you're going to look so adorable in the outfit we have for you!" he squealed.

I sweat-dropped. "Wait, you mean I have to wear one of them too?"

I was pushed into one of the dressing rooms and was told that my outfit was already in there waiting for me. There was a long white skirt made of some heavy material, a deep red halter top, a white shawl of some sort, gold gladiator sandals, and floral accessories. I felt the material of the skirt that was meant for me, and thought that it would be way too hot for me to wear considering how humid and warm the music room had gotten. I had another idea. I unraveled the shawl to make it a giant rectangle of fabric. It was much lighter than the skirt was. I wrapped it around my waist and tied it at my left hip bone to create a sarong skirt. I put on the halter top that hugged my body, and there was a sort of belt that was made of white and gold flowers, so I wrapped it around my waist. I took out my braid out and arranged my wavy hair so that the matching flower headband looked right. After putting on the sandals I was content with my appearance and left back into the paradise that the boys had created. The second I exited the changing room, I heard Tamaki yelling as he ran over to me.

"Miyoko! That's not the outfit I gave you!" he cried and frantically ran around me.

"It is, it's just modified. That other skirt would've made me melt, it's so hot in here," I said innocently. Haruhi was drawn to us due to the fact that Tamaki was having another meltdown.

"Do you have no shame?" Haruhi asked me.

"I don't see what the big deal is here," I said, crossing my arms and sticking my nose in the air.

"Neither do we," the twins said; Kaoru snaking his arm around my shoulders, and Hikaru's around my waist.

"As your father I demand that you put on the outfit that daddy gave you!" Tamaki yelled.

"But you're not my dad."

"I am from now on!"

"Well I'm not changing. It's burning in here, and I have work to do," I said and walked away to do my job.

When Tamaki finally calmed down and everyone got back to work, I walked over to Kyoya to talk to him about a few things.

"All the girls seem even more excited than usual," I said to him.

"Showing some skin proves popular with the ladies," he answered.

"So you're the mastermind behind this operation?" I asked with a sly smile.

"I have no decision making authority. All the club's policies have been laid out by the club's king, Tamaki. But I guess there's no harm in admitting to casually slipping a Bali photobook onto his desk."

"Ah, so you are the mastermind," I said.

He pushed up his glasses and gave me a small smile in return. "I guess you could say that."

I almost had a heart attack when someone latched onto me from behind.

"Miyo-chan! Did you hear about the big party we're having next week?" Honey asked.

"A party? Really?"

"Yeah! It's gonna be super formal and everything! Are you gonna wear a pretty dress?"

"Um, I don't know. I guess it depends on what I have in my closet," I said and rubbed the back of my head.

"Don't worry..." Kaoru said.

"I'm sure we can find something for you from our mother's collections." Hikaru finished.

"Really?" I asked, and they both nodded. "Thanks, you guys!" I said and used both of my arms to give them each a one armed hug.

"No worries!" they said with their devilish smiles.

¤¤¤

Later in the evening when all the guests had left and the music room was back to normal, we all stood around one circular table, except for Kyoya who was typing away at his laptop, and Tamaki who sat at his own table in the corner while eating some instant ramen. He had been sulking the whole afternoon, although I had no idea why.

"Hey, boss. Why don't you stop eating that commoner's ramen and come over here to help us with the party planning," Hikaru finally called to him.

"Does it really bother you that Princess Kasuga has taken a liking to Haruhi?" Kaoru asked.

"What happened?" I wondered.

"He shouldn't be surprised, she's had the illness for a while now, hasn't she?" Kyoya stated.

"What illness," Haruhi asked.

"She's got the host-hopping disease," Hikaru informed us.

"AKA the never-the-same-boy-twice disease," Kaoru added.

"Usually our customers choose a favourite host and then see them regularly. However, Princess Kanako tends to change her favourites on a regular basis," Kyoya said.

"That's right!" Honey butted in. "Cause before she chose you she was with Tama-chan!"

"Oh, I get it now," I said. "He's upset that you took one of his regulars from him."

"Shut up!" Tamaki seemed to have rose up from the ground and yelled at us. I squealed and jumped back into a strong chest. I titled my head up and saw two amber eyes gazing back down at me.

"Oh, I'm sorry Hikaru," I apologized.

"No need," He said and winked. I scoffed and punched his chest lightly. Tamaki was fuming.

"I'm running out of patience!" he yelled. "Haruhi, it's time you started dressing like a girl! I don't understand how you could be so popular with the ladies when you yourself are a lady!"

"Maybe it's because girls know what girls like," I suggested. Tamaki disregarded what I said.

"No one in the entire school knows the truth except for those of us here!" Tamaki continued on his rant.

"Yeah, she opted out of taking gym classes," Hikaru said.

"And the attendance numbers are all mixed together so no one can tell," said Kaoru.

Tamaki quickly grabbed a big chest of some sort and started digging through it. "That's enough Haruhi, now you listen to daddy!" he said and pulled out a huge framed picture of a girl who looked identical to Haruhi, except she had long hair and bangs across her forehead. "Daddy wants you to go back to the way you were!"

Haruhi was furious. "Don't go blowing up my photos without asking me first!" she yelled.

Tamaki weakly hung the photo on the wall and knelt before it while crying, like it was the beginning of some freaky shrine or something.

"Wow, Haruhi, I've never seen pictures of you from when you were younger," I said and traced the portrait with my fingers.

"The more I look at this picture the more amazed I am. How could this possibly become that?" Hikaru asked, and everyone looked at her expectantly.

"Before school started one of the kids from my neighbourhood got some gum stuck in my hair. It's a real pain to get gum out of long hair, so I decided to cut it all off, I didn't care if I looked like a dude, you know?" she explained.

"Girls should never refer to themselves as a dude!" Tamaki yelled. "MOMMA! Haruhi's using those dirty boy words again!"

"I'm sorry, but who is momma?" Kaoru asked.

"Based on club position, I'd assume it's me," Kyoya said.

"MIYOKO!" Tamaki yelled and pointed his finger in my direction. "As Haruhi's cousin it should be your duty to rub your feminine ways onto her!" He then grabbed me from where I was standing and physically rubbed me against Haruhi, which was extremely uncomfortable.

"Tamaki-senpai, would you knock it off!" I yelled. He set me down, then let his legs give out under him and began to cry hard into a handkerchief.

"Look, I don't see what you're crying about. Working as a host I can pay off more of my debt. It would never happen if I'm just as errand boy," Haruhi stated.

"Hate to change the subject, but do you have formal dancing experience? You'll need it at the party," Hikaru asked. I nodded, but Haruhi had a blank look on her face.

"Ah, no. But the party doesn't have anything to do with our quota."

"We have to work at that party? If that's the case I would rather be excused," I said while laughing awkwardly and rubbing the back of my head.

"Definitely not, Haruhi, a refined gentleman must know how to dance. If you want to live the life of a host that badly, you're gonna have to show us how far you're willing to go. I order you to master dancing the waltz in one week, and you will demonstrate it for us at the party. Or I tell the entire school that you're a girl, and knock you back down to errand boy," Tamaki threatened.

I knew that this was a serious situation, but I tried my luck. "Just because Haruhi has to be there doesn't mean I have to, right? I mean none of the girls are going to want to dance with me," I said.

"On the contrary, Miyoko. It is mandatory for all host club members to attend every event that is held by the club. In addition, some of the girls have found you to be quite charming, and would be disappointed to see that you did not attend." Kyoya said. I hung my head.

"Great." I said dully. This gig just kept getting better and better.