Write Me a Love Story (OHSHC)

IV: Who's Asking?

September 9

I walked into the host club a little bit early and was honestly surprised to not see Tamaki there. Granted, this is the earliest I had ever been; I found myself looking at the clock more often throughout the day, waiting for school to end so I could go hang out at the host club. It amazed me how easily my mind changed. Two days earlier, I was kicking and screaming when Sachi dragged me down here.

I set my bag down at the table that I'd sort of acquired for myself; it was the one I sat in on my first visit here. It was the perfect distance from everyone, not so close that I had to listen to the girls' exaggerated sighs but close enough that I still felt like I was with everyone. I was just about to settle in and get to work when the music room doors flew open and a little boy about the size of Honey-senpai came barreling in. Honey, who was walking in with Mori from the back, laid eyes on the boy and immediately broke away from his cousin, launching himself at the boy.

"What in the world...?" I slowly rose from my chair and watched in awe as they started fighting flawlessly. Close and long range attacks, use of weaponry, perfect form... The judo champion wanna-be in me wanted to scream, skillfully ignoring the fact that they were fighting in the middle of my high school. Mori and I watched as Honey pinned the boy to the floor with kunai that he'd pulled out of nowhere. The little blonde landed easily on his feet, brushing nonexistent dust off of his uniform before freeing the boy and walking over to Mori-senpai. I couldn't stop myself as I ran up to the both of them, eyes wide.

"Honey-senpai, I didn't know you studied martial arts!" I exclaimed. He smiled adorably, showing no signs of the serious manner in which he'd just fought.

"Yeah! Takashi does kendo, too, right?" From where he was now sitting (on Mori's shoulders), Honey patted his cousin's head in waiting for a response.

"Yeah."

"That's so cool!" I couldn't help but jump up in excitement. "I want to be as good as you two someday." Honey cocked his head to the side.

"You fight, Kaiyo-chan?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Kind of. I just started learning earlier this year, and I practice with my mom. She's really good, she used to fight competitively." I explained.

"Who's your mom?" Honey asked, resting an arm on Mori's head.

"Does the last name 'Sahni' ring a bell?" I asked. His eyes lit up, and he nodded.

"Your mom is Miyumi Sahni? She still holds the title of the best female judo fighter in Japan!" He exclaimed. "That's pretty cool." Even Mori nodded his head in appreciation, and I smiled.

"I just want to be as good as you two and my mom someday. But, in the meantime-" The music room doors opened again, and Tamaki came running in, dragging Kyouya behind him. "I'll stick to writing."

"Honey-senpai!" Tamaki yelled from behind me, causing me to jump. I had to stop my reflexes from smacking him. "Why is Chika outside?" He asked.

"We were fighting! He lost," Honey explained, climbing down from Mori's shoulders. From that, I assumed that Chika was the boy whom Honey had it out with a few moments earlier. Tamaki promptly began crying.

"Siblings that don't get along! This must be changed!" He grabbed on to Honey-senpai, who was not expecting the extra weight of Tamaki to suddenly be thrown on him. Honey stood there, patting Tamaki's head, while Tamaki cried questionably authentic tears.

"Senpai, let them be," I implored, grabbing Tamaki by the arm and pulling him away. "The club opens in around 10 minutes, doesn't it? You haven't looked in the mirror at all today." I was completely making that up to spare Honey-senpai, but Tamaki's eyes lit up.

"Princess! You're right!" He picked me up and twirled me around, hugging me and squeezing the air out of my body. "It's not every day someone can appreciate themselves for being such a beautiful creature!" As soon as he put me down, I kept him at arm's length.

"Okay, Senpai. Whatever you say." Before he could begin spouting nonsense again, I walked back over to my table and actually got the chance to sit down. But of course, as I was about to put my pen to the page, someone appeared before me.

"Miss Sahni." The same smooth voice in the same smooth tone, every time. I raised an eyebrow as I looked up to see none other than Kyouya looking down at me.

"I do have a name," I informed him. Of course, he plastered on that mini smile.

"Is 'Miss Sahni' not one of them?" He asked. I had no reply, because he was right. I supposed Sahni was one of my names. At my silence, he smiled a little wider, the cocky little...

"In order for you to write the books that will appeal the most, I've put together a survey for you. Go around and ask the girls who they want books about and what they want them to be about. That should make it a little easier to narrow down your options." He handed me a sheet of paper. I nodded, looking over it as I saw what he'd intended reflected on the page.

"Sounds good to-" I looked back up, and he was gone. I looked around and caught his eye after a moment, as he was sitting at the table directly across the room from mine. He held my gaze in such a manner that made me look away, that forced me to look away. I could practically feel him smiling as I averted my gaze back to my book and started writing. I could barely focus on that, though; his burning look was still etched into my mind, and the strangest part was that I couldn't identify what the look was supposed to mean.

*

"Tamaki!" The last girl squealed. I etched another tally under Tamaki's name, indicating that 37 girls would read a book about Tamaki, and that he was their favorite host.

"And would you buy a book that put you at the center of a love story with Tamaki?" I asked monotonously, as that was the 65th time I'd asked someone that. The girl's entire face reddened, and I feared that she was going to die as she started to scream. She fainted, slumping back into her chair, and I sighed, adding another note to the page as her friends fanned her face. The paper was filled from top to bottom with ideas that I'd thought up, along with things that the girls would like to read.

I sighed tiredly as I returned to my table, glad that the host club was finally emptying, soaking in the quiet and lack of blushes and shy glances. It was far beyond me how the guys and Haruhi- especially Haruhi- dealt with all of these fangirls. I couldn't take that much screaming.

I sat for a while and watched the host club room empty, many of the girls lingering and trying to get a few more seconds in with their favorite hosts.

"Hey, Kaiyoka," I heard Hikaru's voice call. I looked up to see him waving wildly from across the room, looking like a crazy person. I stood and walked over to him, weaving my way through the girls who were still leaving. On my way toward him, I bumped into that brunette with the blue eyes. She gave me an evil glare before stalking off with her friends, waving sweetly to Kyouya before leaving.

"What's your middle name?" He asked.

"Who's asking?" I answered his question with a question, eyebrows furrowing as I tried to figure out why he was asking.

"Um, me. Obviously," He retorted, crossing his arms. I nodded, unconvinced.

"Uh-huh. Then why is Tamaki standing behind a pillar and peering over here?" I asked. Hikaru whipped his head around to see that Tamaki was, indeed, failing miserably at being sneaky.

"Boss!" He complained, sighing exasperatedly and walking over to him. I took that as my opportunity and went back to my table to pack up my things. Hitching my bag onto my shoulders, I waved goodbye to everyone and smiled as the majority of them waved back at me. Kyouya, who was still seated, simply gave me a nod. I nodded in return and walked out of the music room with a smile on my face. Somehow, this quirky group of weirdos managed to spike my interest, and I couldn't say I minded at all.