Ouran Host Chef

Beware the Physical Exam!: 2

'We will be conducting physical exams shortly. All students, please proceed to the clinic in your respective school building.'

The sound of a sigh bounced off the walls of the kitchen area. You brought your arms up over your head until you felt a satisfying pop, then scratched the back of your head as you yawned.

With your feet lazily dragging against the floor, you picked up your apron from the hanger and kicked the door open as you tied it around your waist.

"Not so fast, chef."

Jumping a bit from the voice, you turned to see Kyoya leaning against the door frame as he wrote in his black book.

"Kyoya? H-How long have you been there?"

"Irrelevant."

He shut his book and turned his head to you.

"Why are you in uniform?"

Your eyebrows rose up as you instinctively glanced down at yourself.

"Uh...I'm gonna start making lunch soon, so it's kinda necessary--"

"Didn't you hear the announcement?"

You moved your shoulders up and let them drop.

"Yes...but I'm not really a student, now am I?"

He actually sighed and pushed up his glasses.

"Mei, you are enrolled here. Take off the apron and hurry up. We can't afford to be late to the exams."

Mentally groaning, you untied the strings of the apron and pulled it off. But before you had a chance to hang it up in the kitchen, you were pulled back by two sets of hands.

"There you are, butterfly."

With wide eyes, in a matter of seconds, you found yourself squished between Hikaru and Kaoru as the entire group came together. And though you weren't sure how, Haruhi looked even less enthusiastic than you were.

"Men, lady....Let's go!"

Rolling your eyes at his over dramatic words, you all started forward, Tamaki opened the door and you all came out, huddled together, merging with the long walking sea of students. And you couldn't help but notice how close the twins got to you once you did, as if they were trying to protect you from everyone else surrounding you.

But if you were being honest, it made you feel happy inside.

"Mei!"

You frowned as you stopped for a second, but the twins continued pushing you along.

"Come on, Sis. We can't hold up the crowd."

Your brows furrowed.

"Weird. I swear I heard someone say my..."

"Mei! Over here, Mei! It's me, Emiko!"

Your feet immediately stopped, your body froze.

Emiko...Oh no...

Hikaru gently grabbed your hand to pull you along, but you pulled your hand away.

"Butterfly, what's wrong?"

Your eyes searched through the crowd of fancy students until you saw a hand frantically waving, then once you saw the big smile on a familiar face, you stepped away from your group. Well, you were going to, but this time, an arm came out in front of you and continued pushing you along. Looking up, you were surprised to see it was Mori.

"Mori, what are you doing? Let me g--"

"If you are a member of the Ouran Host Club, the most popular club on campus, and in a dangerous crowd like this, none of us are separated. Don't wander off, Mei," Kyoya coolly stated as he pushed up his glasses.

You glared at him, then tried to look back for that familiar face, and your eyes widened when she was actually running towards you now, pushing past students to get to you and she was lightning fast, because the next thing you knew, Mori's arm was gone and you were being squished into a hug.

Her brown hair flew into your face and she lifted her head up. Her yellow eyes met your purple ones and a huge smile appeared on her face. You managed a small smile.

"Mei! What are you doing here?!"

"Emiko...I could ask you the same thing. I-I thought you were going to a school close to home."

"Mei, do you know this girl?"

Your hands tightened as you glanced around, realizing the hosts had all stepped away from the crowd and were watching your exchange in curiosity.

"W-Well, uh..."

"Wait a second, Mei, why are you hanging around with the host club?"

"E-Eh...I..."

"Aren't you Emiko Takahara? "

All eyes went to Honey as he stared intently at her. Then Kyoya hummed.

"That's right, I'm sorry we didn't recognize you, Princess Takahara. Your father owns the tableware company, correct?"

She nodded and smiled at them briefly, before returning her attention to you.

"Mei, is this where you've been all this time?"

You felt your heart sink.

Oh no, no, no, no.

"Your father's been--"

Your hand slammed over her mouth and you nervously laughed with a sweet smile towards the club.

"I-I'll be right back, I need to talk to Emiko privately. I'll meet you all inside."

And with that, you were fast walking away, almost running, as you dragged her with you.

The twins looked at each other and shrugged while Mori, Honey, Tamaki, and Haruhi continued walking to the Physical exams, but Kyoya was still staring after you, no emotion clear on his face.

"Hikaru, Kaoru."

The twins stopped walking and turned back to Kyoya.

"Keep an eye on Mei. I have a feeling she's hiding something from us. Try to figure out what it is."

Their eyes widened.

"What are you talking about? Mei would never hide anything from us."

Kyoya turned his head, his sharp eyes landing on them.

"Emiko mentioned something about her father. Do you know anything about her father?"

Their shoulders drooped as they shook their heads.

"No."

Hikaru lifted his head.

"Here's the thing, Kyoya-Senpai. We've known Mei since we were kids, but we don't exactly know her. In fact, we know little to nothing about her."

Kaoru shrugged his shoulders.

"We don't even know who her family is, all we know is her name, she hates bullies, and that there was a time that she lived around the area of Azabu."

His eyebrow rose. "Azabu?"

"Yeah, that's where we first met her. The only time we met her."

Kyoya stroked his chin in thought.

"Then find out what she is keeping from us. This just got interesting."