Two Commoners in the Club

I Made a Good Day to Offset an Annoying One

I got home from school with Haruhi about two weeks after my dad was able to work again. My hair was back to being blond in the front and silver in the back because I really preferred it that way when it was short. When we got to our building, we had to pause because there was a limo there. After a while of staring at it, no one left or called out to us so I deemed it safe and pulled Haruhi to the stairs with me.

"What if it's the guys? I have a lot to do at home so I don't want a visit from them right now," Haruhi complained. I looked back at her as we climbed the stairs.

"If it were them, they'd have called out to us the second we appeared on the scene or they're already inside and we're screwed anyways. The other likely thing that I worried about was the Zuka Club, but no one tried to kidnap us or call out to us about abolishing the Host Club so I figured we were fine from them."

"So, who do you think it is?"

"Well, the only other likely possibility I can come up with is Umehito or Kirimi-chan."

"Kirimi-chan?"

"Yeah. She visits me sometimes. Apparently, Umehito told her that I'm a girl and that we're dating. She comes over occasionally with those two that were there the day we first met her. I've been reading her all sorts of manga! She even started to like Naruto even though there's no prince character in there! It's all because her brother is a real prince!"

"Ok, your lovesick attitude is really starting to scare me."

"I'm not being that weird... compared to my normal self. You should be used to this by now," I told her while stopping in front of my door.

"Just because I should, doesn't mean I am," she replied while moving over to her door.

"Whatever. I'm going to go see if it's Kirimi-chan or Umehito."

"I'll see if the Host Club decided to come to my place."

"See ya, Haruhi Love."

"See ya, Aki Dear."

"Awwwwww... now that makes me happy!"

"I already regret doing it. That's just so weird to me."

"The fact that you did it just once improves my mood even more than it already was. I'm so happy!"

"Great. Now, I'm never doing it again."

"See, you started that as a joke, but it felt weird. However, at the same time, there was this tiny little thrill where the hairs on the back of your neck stood up. You're going to start saying it more to see if it happens again. Eventually, you'll do it all the time, even though the hair has stopped rising since you do it so often."

"Good to know. Well, I'm gonna go inside now."

"Ok! Bye Haruhi."

"Bye Aki." We both pulled out our keys, unlocked our doors, and then headed inside our apartments in time with each other.

I took off my shoes at the door while looking at the pair of shoes that belonged to the visitor in my place. It was a single pair of shoes so it wasn't the Host Club or Kirimi-chan. The shoes looked too big to be Umehito's so I just stared at them until my shoes were off, completely confused on who it could be. I then lifted my head and moved over to where my dad was sitting at the table with a man I had never seen before in my life.

"I thought that you had a daughter, Yoshiteru," the visitor stated before taking a drink of whatever was in his cup. I frowned.

"I am a girl," I responded.

"Are you? You look like a boy. Your hair is two colors and short. You have no feminine physique. You carry yourself like a boy. You are dressed in a boy's uniform. Also, I heard you talking outside and you sounded a lot like a boy would."