Family Ties

@ Color Me Morbid

Hana finally got control of herself and looked around at all of the Host Club members, "You all look very nice, besides Tamaki of course."

Tamaki rolled his eyes at his little sister's comment before the familiar sounds of building female voices chimed outside the closed Host Club doors. "Is everyone ready? I think we might be running a little late with opening today... No thanks to you." Tamaki playfully stuck his tongue out at Hana nod she only did the same back to him before she patted his shoulder in a sort of goodbye and strode over to Kimi and her brother.

She blinked in surprise, Hana had been expecting some gloomy boy but with the royal prince outfit she struggled to picture Kimi's obvious brother as the serious boy she claimed he was. "Hello, I'm Hana," she said quickly to him before she turned to Kimi. "Do you want to work on the math homework with me while they, um... Host?"

Kyoya nodded slightly to Hana's introduction. "I'm Kyoya," he greeted. They hadn't ever really officially met, he realized; he had only seen her every now and then when Tamaki dragged him to his place to play video games that Kyoya didn't really understand. Still, he turned his attention to Kimi. "Make sure to do your homework properly, in that case. Father would be angry if your grades start to slip even in the slightest."

Despite that his words were stern, Kimi was fully aware that her brother was showing his own version of concern. Nodding, she offered a smile. "I'll do good, don't worry," she assured before looking to Hana and nodding. "Sure, let's do that."

"If you want, you can do your homework in the back room," Kyoya offered, gesturing to it. "It can get loud out here and I'm sure you don't want to get distracted."

@ Color Me Morbid

Tamaki watched his sister wearily as she talked with Kyoya and Kimi. Kyoya had a way of hurting people's feelings without meaning to and that was the last thing he wanted to happen to his sister but when he watched her smile brightly at him Tamaki relaxed. "That'd be wonderful, thank you Kyoya," she said with the smile while she also tested his name on her tongue. Hana found herself liking the sound of it and secretly wanted to say it again but didn't. "I promise we'll work hard."

Kyoya nodded slowly. "Very well. Try not to distract each other," he told them, though he soon got his attention pulled to his laptop. It wasn't that he didn't want to continue speaking to the two, but he knew he had to concentrate on the club at the moment. "Go on, then."

Kimi nodded slightly before smiling at Hana. "Let's go," she mused before leading the way to what she assumed was the back room while Hikaru and Kaoru moved to open the club doors to let the guests in.

@ Color Me Morbid

Tamaki instantly launched into Host mode and smiled his charming, light smile at the lovely girls who walked in. He bowed and kissed the hands of each who approached him, over doing the princely manner but only because he knew they loved it more than they could speak. Tamaki blt knew that because every time he did it, the response was a chorus of squeals and giggles. To make people happy made happiness overflow in Tamaki and he didn't ever want that to stop.

Hana was a little hurt by Kyoya's abrupt and blunt dismissal and followed Kimi with a bit of a frown. Not caring that she was still within earshot she sadly said, "I know you said he was awfully serious, but that hurt my feelings a little." They disappeared into the back room and Hana laid out her text books and notebook on the little coffee table with a bit of a sad heart.

Kyoya wasn't one who got many guests since he was primarily on his laptop. When he did catch the attention of guests, though, it always surprised him that they didn't mind that he didn't pay much attention to them. He guessed some girls were just like that - they were fine with being ignored as long as they were around good looking guys. It was a little annoying, but it didn't bother him much.

Kimi blinked and looked at Hana with surprise. A sad smile crossed her features and she lightly patted her friend's shoulder. "Don't let his behavior bother you too much. He's concentrated on business and that seems to be what his mind centers around," she explained quietly. "I think he's just trying to gain our father's approval with being so immersed in his work. He's not always that rude, though."

@ Color Me Morbid

Tamaki heard his little soster's fading comment and his eyes instantly flicked to Kyoya after she and Kimi disappeared from veiw. Tamaki angrily excused himself for a moment from his growing group of guests and charged over to Kyoya. Tamaki pulled Kyoya from his group, kindly excusing the two of them and brought him to a farther corner. "You hurt Hana's feelings, Kyoya," he said angrily.

Hana sighed and nodded, "Yeah, let's just forget it okay?" She motioned to the book in her hands, "Did you understand how to do problem three? I was so lost in class today..."

Kyoya frowned at Tamaki's angry tone. The blonde's emotions always seemed to run wild, in Kyoya's opinion. "I didn't do anything," he said simply. He had actually tried to be on his best behavior, having bit back his words when he feared he might say something wrong, for even he didn't want to mess up his friendship.

Kimi nodded slightly to Hana's question. "Yeah, I'll explain," she said with a smile before she began showing Hana how to do the problem. Math was something Kimi was good at, probably because she grew up in a business-obsessed family and mathematics was a big part of business.

@ Color Me Morbid

Tamaki wasn't convinced but he nodded anyway, not really wanting to deal with it at the moment. "Regardless, apologize will you?" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "She may act tough sometimes, but Hana's really sensitive. She picks up on social clues and body language that you do and may not even know about." He hated that about his sister, she always knew when something was wrong whic was nice, but she also knew whenever he was hiding something or lying. Surprise parties for her were never fun.

Hana nodded along and actually sort of, maybe, not really but almost understood the way the solve the equations on the girls' math homework. When their worksheets for math were finished she pulled out their essay paper and read the instructions out loud, "Write a short story or full page poem about one of the following emotions: content, love or hate. Due in two weeks." She raised her brows and looked to Kimi. "Hm, which will you write about, Kimi?"

Kyoya sighed at hearing Tamaki's words and pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbing it for a moment. "How can I apologize when I don't even know what I did wrong?" he asked. Honestly, Tamaki's persistence in the matter was rather confusing and the fact that he had upset Hana without even doing anything, as far as he was aware, was only putting him on edge and giving him a headache that he didn't want.

Kimi blinked a few times and turned her attention to the instructions. "I don't know," she murmured, "I've never been in love. Or can that be family-related as well? That'd still probably be difficult to write, though. I've never hated anybody, either. I'll probably just write about contentment, then." She realized she was rambling a bit and quickly shook her head. "What about you?"

@ Color Me Morbid

Tamaki shrugged, "I don't know, I just heard her say to your sister as they headed for the back room, 'I know you said he was awfully serious, but that hurt my feelings a little.' Whatever that means, just apologize, okay?" Tamaki didn't give Kyoya time to say anything more before he returned to his anxiously waiting guests.

Hana took a moment to think about it, "Well like you, I've never been in love or hated anyone but..." She smiled and blushed a little at her thoughts, "I've always dreamed of romance and falling in love with the perfect guy. Or even just falling in love with my life, you know? Just being so... Happy that I love every moment of my days." She laughed a little at herself, "Is that strange?"

Since when was Tamaki so serious? Kyoya shook his head at the thought and sighed, turning his attention to the back room. He would have gone ahead and gotten the apology over with, but he could tell that his guests were getting a little edgy with having to wait so long. With a sigh, he returned to them, though he didn't explain the conversation he had upon being prompted to.

Kimi smiled slightly and shook her head. "Of course it's not strange," she assured her friend quietly. "Everybody wants to be in love and to be loved, whether they'll admit it or not. I think it's brave to actually admit things like that, though." She nodded slightly, smiling to her friend before returning her attention to the instructions, trying to figure out what she should write. At least they had two weeks to do it.

@ Color Me Morbid

Tamaki spent the rest of his time pretending to be happy with his guests while Hana stayed in the back and talked with Kimi. The time for the guests to leave came quickly and as the Hosts were saying they're daily goodbyes one guest, a small and young looking girl stepped forward. "Tamaki? Kyoya? Are your sisters, Hana and Kimi going to be around soon? I.. I forgot to copy down the homework from class this morning." The girl was timid and just as she spoke up Hana and Kimi came out from the back room.

"Hi Momo," said Hana happily. "Which class do you need?"

The girl, Momo smiled and sighed, "Just math and history.. I was so sleep this morning. Will you two be here everyday? Do you help run the club or something? I... I didn't see you out here earlier."

Kimi blinked in surprise at the fact that the girl was speaking to them in a kind manner. Most of the other girls asked about their brothers, not about homework. "Oh, um, we don't run the club," she murmured, shaking her head slightly, "And I don't know if we'll be here every day." Kyoya might ask her to refrain from returning to the club, after all. When she glanced over at him, he didn't look as annoyed as he usually did and she sighed with relief at the fact.

"Why were you asking if they run the club?" Kyoya asked with an eyebrow arched in curiosity. He had never really thought about it before, but now that the girl had questioned it, he found his mind whirring with possibilities of how his sister and Tamaki's sister could get involved in the club without directly having to deal with guests. It would probably be better for all of them, in the long run.

@ Color Me Morbid

Tamaki turned an ear to the conversation as he said goodbye to the remaining guests besides the one in conversation with Kyoya, Hana and Kimi. Momo blinked and blushed when the attention was keenly turned onto her, "A-ah, well you couldn't possibly have time to run it all yourself... U-unless you do, then y-your doing a wonderful job!"

Hana smiled kindly at Momo, she remembered seeing the shy and timid girl in the halls of junior high but she'd never really talked with her other than to check homework or neutral things of that nature. Hana quickly wrote down the homework they;d been assigned on a little slip of paper before she turned to Momo, who looked like she might pass out from all of the attention soon. "Here, if you have any more questions I wrote down my phone number too. I'll see you around?" Momo sighed in relief, said goodbye then nearly ran from the room. "Why did you ask, Kyoya? I can see the wheels turning in your head," said Hana with a bit of her own curiosity once Momo was gone.

Kyoya shrugged slightly in response as he glanced around at the others once all of the guests were gone. "Well, even though she wasn't right with her assumption, the idea is kind of... enticing," he muttered as he stroked his chin for a long moment, soon adjusting his glasses. "Having you two in charge of things might make things easier for us - and it would give you more of a reason to come around here as often as you like."

Blinking, Kimi stared at her brother for a long moment, arching an eyebrow in curiosity. "Are you suggesting that we manage your little club, Kyoya?" she asked.

"Well, co-manage, since it's two of you. The choice is entirely up to the both of you, though," Kyoya murmured with a shrug.

@ Color Me Morbid

Tamaki blinked in surprise before he stepped forward, "Hana you don't have to if you don't feel comfortable. Don't let Kyoya pressure you into anything." He didn't really know why, but Tamaki was feeling awfully protective of Hana lately adn this only strengthened his protective feelings even though there really wasn't any reason to feel that way.

Hana shook her head at her brother with a grin, "I'm alright Tamaki." She turned to Kyoya then with unconvinced violet eyes, "But what does co-managing this Host Club mean exactly? I'm not going to walk into something blind, especially if your the one offering it." Hana wasn't an idiot, the Ootori family was full of incredibly intelligent members and Hana didn't want to get wrapped up in some verbal contract that she'd later regret.

"And Tamaki assumed I was the one throwing out insults," Kyoya muttered to himself, rolling his eyes a little. "Basically, you'd be handling the events we have - sometimes we have dances or we go to places that the Ootori family own, like amusement parks and beaches and such. You'd also have to make sure to get word around about the host club so that we can draw in more customers."

"So, like... Advertisements and such?" Kimi murmured after hearing him saying that they'd have to spread the word about it. "Are you sure it's a good idea, Kyoya? I mean, it's our first year here. Putting that much on us at once... Won't it be a little burdensome?"

@ Color Me Morbid

Tamaki nodded along with Kimi, he didn't want his baby sister getting stressed out over something Kyoya put onto her shoulders. "And they don't know many people Kyoya. I'm not sure that this is the best idea..."

Hana shrugged, "Why not?" The competitive side of Hana came out, she felt a need to almost prove herself to Kyoya and even though she heard his muttered comment she felt justified because of his blunt and hurtful dismissal earlier.

Tamaki looked at his sister with confusion written all over his face, "What do you mean 'why not?' You've got other thigns to worry about, Hana. You've got classes and homework and you need to join other clubs of your own and make other friends besides only Kimi."

Hana made a face of annoyance at her brother, "No, I like the idea of a challenge." She turned her eyes on Kimi for a moment, "You can do it too, but only if you want to." Hana's violet eyes then pierced into Kyoya's dark eyes with the faintest, almost invisible sparkle of mischief, "I accept your offer, Kyoya."

Kimi stared at Hana with complete surprise. She hadn't expected Hana to agree so easily and it seemed that she was almost taking amusement in the entire thing. Chewing on her lip, Kimi shook her head slightly. "I don't know..." she murmured quietly. At most, she was afraid her grades would slip if she invested herself into co-managing the club and that would upset her father and make it harder for her to meet her goals.

"Come now, Kimi, you're not going to let Hana do this all on her own, are you?" Kyoya asked bluntly, arching an eyebrow as he stared down at her sister. "If you let her do it on her own, she could end up stressed and confused. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Kimi felt conflicted all over again. She knew Kyoya was manipulating her kindness, but she couldn't help but to fall for it as she shook her head slightly. "N-No, I wouldn't want that," she murmured after a long moment.

"Good. Then you're both co-managers. Congratulations," Kyoya announced with a slight shrug.