Oblivious || Hikaru Hitachiin Love Story

Chapter Thirty-Two: Kasanoda

  We were all working at the host club, since it was after school hours, and today everyone had cosplayed in the late-Edo era. All of the customers went crazy over seeing how the guys were dressed, which resulted in a slightly busier work day. It also meant that I hardly had a minute to relax between catering to the customer's needs. The only conversations I were able to have with anyone were one-sided; them squealing over which host was dressed as who. Each of them, excluding Tamaki, were dressed in identical samurai outfits.

I was walking past Mori, who was taking a break to sit down and drink his tea, and could hear three girls hiding behind a wall divider next to him, discussing between themselves who he was cosplaying as.

"So, Mori has to be Kai Shimada, don't you think?" the first girl asked her friends.

"No way he's totally Yamazaki!" a second girl disagreed.

"I think it'd be super cool if he was Soma!" the one with the green headband said.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Mori-senpai picked up his weapon, twirled it in his hands, then lunged forward and stabbed the sharp end of his blade through the wall of a divider. While all of his fans went crazy at him showing off his skills, the hosts were frightened at his seemingly random attack.

"Mori-senpai?!" Haruhi gasped.

"Why the sudden lunge?" Kaoru asked.

"Are you not getting enough attention?" Hikaru asked.

"Please calm down Mori-senpai!" Tamaki begged. "I know you're upset that you only have one line an episode. We're three fourths through the season and you haven't had your own episode, is that it?! I'm sorry!" Tamaki cried.

"No," Mori said calmly, and opened the sliding door that he had just stabbed through. "We have a trespasser."

Behind the door, sitting on the ground in front of us, there was a mean looking guy with red hair glaring up at us. He was wearing the Ouran uniform, yet I couldn't remember ever seeing him before.

"Takashi Morinozuka!" the stranger yelled, and leaped towards Mori.

"Surprise attack?!" all of the hosts yelled, while my mouth silently dropped open, and I wondered why Mori wasn't making a move to block the attack.

"Senpai!" the red-haired male shouted, as he bowed before Mori-senpai. "Please take me on as your apprentice!" he pleaded. Everyone looked at him with confused looks on their faces. Kyoya cleared his throat, and took a hold of the situation.

"Why don't we go and have a seat," he said, and led us over towards the couches. He told us to wait there while he closed down the club for now, sending all of the girls away. Once he was done, he sat down on the couch that the twins, Haruhi, Tamaki and I were occupying. Mori and Honey sat together at a table behind us, and the scary looking stranger sat on a sofa on the other side of the coffee table in front of us.

"Kyoya-senpai, who is he?" I asked gently.

"Ritsu Kasanoda. First year class-D. Heir to the third generation head of the Kasanoda Syndicate, the most powerful gang in the Kanto area. He was admitted this year into Ouran Academy's high school. He had long red hair, a mean looking appearance, is reserved and has few friends. It is said that if your eyes meet his you will have bad dreams for three months. If you bump into his you'll end up in the hospital, and talking back to him sends you to an early grave. He is so feared by his classmates that they call him the walking blizzard," Kyoya informed all of us.

"Seriously? But why would a human weapon like yourself want to be Mori-senpai's apprentice?" Tamaki asked.

"Well because... look I may be tough but I'm not a human weapon," Kasanoda said, not looking any of us in the eye. "I was just born with a face that makes me look mean all of the time."