The Pianist and the Businessman

Physical Exams Pt. 1

I woke up with a start. My dream ended with all the hosts staring at me after being exposed as a girl during physical exams. This was going to make things even more difficult. I'm sure the hosts would somehow figure out how to keep Haruhi's secret, considering the fact that they knew she was a girl, but what I didn't know was how I was going to keep a secret the fact that I was a girl. The hosts still didn't know about my secret identity.

I'd been having quite a bit of fun with teasing Tamaki by finding ways to wrap my arm around Haruhi's shoulder or other things like grabbing a loose hair off of her shirt. I was doing what I always did around Haruhi, but the fact that Tamaki thought I was a guy and as such might be trying to woo Haruhi was amusing to me. Once, Tamaki and the twins asked if she and I were dating, and I just shrugged. Play up the act, so to speak. The thought still made me chuckle.

The twins, I had figured out, suspected that I was hired by Kyoya's father to try and replace him and kick Kyoya out of the club. I thought that was funny, though I wasn't sure why they thought Kyoya's father would try to kick him out of the club. It seemed to me in my observations that they were very selective with who to let in to their friend circle. I got the feeling that they had opened up from an even more secluded world before I even met them.

Speaking of Kyoya, though... I was pretty sure that Kyoya had suspicions about my true identity, but as of yet, I still had no proof of how much he actually knew. I was still trying to figure out if I could trust him, since physical exams were getting closer and closer, and I was running out of ideas. I got ready still musing over what to do. I hardly noticed anything the entire drive to school.

As I wandered toward my class, I heard the gushings of the girls. Since the dance a couple of weeks ago, I had become more popular, but not this popular. I looked behind me and saw Kyoya and Tamaki approaching me as they both stepped out of their vehicles. Ah, now I see why they are so excited. Tamaki practically glittered as he waved to me.

"Hey, Akira! How is my cute little brother?" Tamaki gushed. Brother?

"Fine, I suppose," I muttered. I still didn't feel properly prepared to deal with Tamaki's energy this morning.

"Akira. I trust you are looking forward to club activities? You have become more popular; it has brought in more customers. Keep up the good work!" Kyoya stepped forward more calmly than his best friend.

Shaking off the awkwardness of talking to Tamaki, I turned to Kyoya, "I suppose, I'd rather have some peace and quiet today, but I guess I can accommodate a few more customers for the sake of the club."

"Good work." He walked off. What is with him? No good morning, or nice to see you? I don't even know why I care, we're barely friends, but still.

. . .

"Hi, Akira! It's nice to see you in a kimono, it looks so good on you." the girls surrounding me gushed.

"Thank you, you're very kind. I think all you ladies look lovely as well!" I put on a rather fake smile. It felt more forced than anything. And still no closer to solving my physical exam problem...

I glanced over at the twins as the customers I had been serving were leaving to get home for the evening. I wasn't booked for the rest of club time, so I wandered over to where the twins were. It seemed that they were deep into their twincest thing. I looked down at the girls watching them.

As one turned away the other one said, "You have to watch this, you may not get another chance! Who knows when this will happen again?!"

"You're absolutely right mademoiselle," Kyoya appeared next to me, he glanced down at me briefly, then continued, "and that's why I captured this photo book that contains photos of the beauty of each passing day. Incidentally, I prepared similar books of the other hosts as well."

The girls immediately jumped at them. Typical. I'm not surprised. I was pretty sure nothing escaped Kyoya's mind. He knew everything...except maybe that I am a girl. That was still unclear.

"Well, now we know how the club makes extra money," the twins commented, "but I have to wonder, when did he take all those pictures of us?"

Actually, I wondered the same thing. I grabbed one of the photo books and stole a glance through it. It was well done, though the photos were rather blurry. A hidden camera on a timer perhaps? Or photos were taken hastily from a distance. I was actually kind of surprised, Kyoya struck me as someone who was very intelligent and skilled, but I suppose photography was not high on his list of talents.

. . .

By the end of the club, I had made a few discoveries. First, I realized that Tamaki's remark about me being his 'little brother' was not too far off base from normal. It seemed that he thought of the club as some sort of family, with himself and Kyoya being at the top as Mommy and Daddy. How he came to the conclusion that Kyoya was Mommy was unclear. I guess he was the closest to Tamaki. I never thought Kyoya would have gone along with it though. I chuckled at the thought.

"Something amusing to you?" Haruhi interrupted my thoughts.

"Not really, just something Kyoya said," I responded.

"Oh, I see." Haruhi looked at me teasingly.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh, no reason." she wandered off.

My train of thought continued, I had also realized that apparently Tamaki also seemed to be under the impression that this was a romantic school comedy anime, and that he and Haruhi were the main love interests and all the rest of us were just the homosexual supporting cast. Honestly, is he insane?

And the third thing I realized was that I was going to have a very hard time covering up my true gender. I mean, I already knew this, but it was made more apparent to me when Tamaki came up with some ridiculous plan to protect the secret of Haruhi's gender. A plan he wanted me to be a part of. As if being called homosexual side cast wasn't enough, I now had this to deal with.

Kyoya approached me once everyone began packing up to leave, "Could I trouble you for a moment, Miss Fukushima?" He spoke softly.

"Sure, I--" I froze and glanced at him in suspicion. Miss?

"Yes, I am aware of your situation," He said as if reading my mind. "Don't worry, I have already made arrangements for you and Haruhi. Tamaki's plan is idiotic, but I think it will be a little revenge for being called a homosexual supporting cast, don't you think?"

Feeling relieved, I responded, "Thank you Kyoya. I was worried about how I was going to pull off the charade. And yes, I suppose so. I'm a little irritated myself."

"Good, see you tomorrow." Kyoya made to leave, "Oh, and don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you Kyoya." I waved him off as he left the room. Not such a bad guy after all.

A/N: Another chapter!! Woohoo! Also, I decided to divide the physical exams into two chapters, it was getting a bit long, and I found a good stopping spot for this chapter. I hope you guys like this. Enjoy, stay tuned! Thanks for any readers, and the one vote I have received so far. Thank you, thank you!!