Lonely Souls

The next few weeks followed a similar pattern to the first day of school. Walk to school with Haruhi. Get escorted to class by Kyoya and Tamaki. Study. Get escorted to lunch then back to class. More class. Go down to the Host club. Do homework and occasionally play the cello while Tamaki played the piano. Go home. Work on the embezzling project. Go to bed. Then do it all over again.

About a month into the school year, I got an unexpected surprise. I walked into the Host Room and the lights were off. Huh? They were never off. And I was a few minutes late because Kyoya had asked me to bring some paper from the front desk to him. I walked further into the room. “Hello? Anyone here?”

Suddenly the room was flooded with light and a huge group of people jumped up and yelled, “Happy Birthday!”

“Ahhh!”

I ended up falling backwards and hitting my head on the edge of a table. My vision went black for several moments. I sat up with a groan, rubbing the back of my head. Good, no blood. That’s when I noticed the Host Club kneeled around me. “You ok, Hisoka,” asked Haruhi.

“Yeah.”

They helped me stand up. That’s when I realized that there were a bunch of our classmates, both male and female, around the room. “Um, what’s going on?”

Tamaki looked at me oddly. “Hisoka-chan! You actually forgot it was your birthday?”

Was it? I took out my calendar from my backpack and looked through it. Well, dang. It was my birthday. “Yeah. I guess I did forget. Usually Yoichi would wake me up by bringing me breakfast in bed. I always went with that to remember it.”

My voice broke a little remembering my little brother jumping on me and I’d get mad. But only for a little bit before he’d place the breakfast he made me for my birthday on my lap. Haruhi pulled me into a hug as I said, “I miss them.”

“It’s ok. I know dad and I will never replace them. But that doesn’t mean we don’t love you.”

“I love you guys, too.”

Our moment was broken up by the squeals of some of the girls in the room, watching us. One of the girls rambled, “Oh, Haruhi is such a loving cousin. Such a touching hug! So much love! OH!!!”

I rolled my eyes and turned to the rest of the host club. “Thanks guys. This is such a surprise.”

The twins in unison said, “It’s no problem, Hisoka-chan. We have games, presents, and cake for you.”

I looked around the room and indeed there were games strewn across the room. One table had a three-layered cake with white and teal frosting. My favorite color. And next to that table was a table covered in presents.

Suddenly I was being dragged by a giggling Honey to a table with a game. I ended up playing several games before I called it quits. That’s when my curiosity peaked. Where was Kyoya? He was the only one here who hadn’t wished a happy birthday yet.

Before I could go looking for him, I was picked up. I turned around in time to see Mori. He picked me up and carried me over an elevated seat. “Mori-senpai! Put me down!”

He placed me on the seat and a silly party hat was placed on my head. “Huh?”

Suddenly Tamaki was playing the piano and everyone gathered around me. Everyone began singing ‘Happy Birthday’ as the twins carried the cake over to me. On top was 17 candles. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I made a wish and blew out the candles.

Everyone clapped as I opened my eyes. The twins took the cake away to be cut. I got off the chair and took off the silly hat. Finally a chance for me to go looking for Kyoya.

After several minutes of looking for him, I spotted him. He was on the other side of the room, speaking on the phone. And he seemed upset and... embarrassed? Hmmm?

Just I took a step towards him, one of the girls from my class grabbed my hand. “Come, Hisoka-senpai! There’s someone you have to meet!”

“Bu---“

It was too late because she dragged me towards a group of second-year girls. Once we stopped she said, “Hisoka-senpai, this is Ritsu Kasanoda. Kasa-kun, this Akiyama Hisoka.”

I recognized this guy immediately. He was the scary dude who sat with Haruhi once a week. Sometimes even more. He bowed slightly towards me. “Senpai. Haruhi has told me a lot about you.”

“I hope good things.”

“Of course.”

He shifted his gaze to where Tamaki was currently trying to feed Haruhi some cake. He was actually winning some ground with my cousin. Kasanoda seemed to be angered by this for a second. “Ladies, could you excuse yourselves for a few minutes. I need to speak with Kasanoda-san alone.”

“Of course.”

The girls left us and Kasanoda immediately knew that this was not going to be good judging by the look on his face. “I know that you know the truth about my cousin. And I know your feelings towards her. The boys have told me. Now, listen closely. She is the only family I have left. Do not hurt her. Don’t ever get your hopes of a relationship with her. Because if you hurt her, there will be hell to pay.”

And with that I walked off. Damn! Kyoya was not where I last saw him. I suddenly felt a tugging of my hand. I looked down at Honey. Smiling he offered me a piece of cake. I took it and scooped up a piece. I took a bite and moaned a little. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting; my favorite. “Thank you, senpai.”

“Your welcome, Hiso-chan.”

I took my piece of cake and sat down on a couch. I was enjoying the cake in silence until I felt the couch shift slightly. I looked up and saw Kyoya. I smiled at him and he returned it. Giving me one of his rare genuine smiles. “How are you enjoying yourself, Hisoka-chan?”

“It’s been great. Though I haven’t seen you most of it.”

He chuckled unpleasantly. It was short and forced. “I had to deal with my father. He wants me to do something, but I don’t think it will work.”

“Oh. Perhaps I could help.”

“An intriguing idea. Possibly.”

I took another small bite of my cake that had a lot of frosting on it. Kyoya chuckled a little and grabbed my chin. “Little Hisoka-chan, you can be quite messy.”

Kyoya took a napkin and wetted it with his mouth. He then proceeded to clean my upper lip with it, without breaking eye contact with me the entire. Blood rushed to my entire face, making me bright red. The moment he placed the napkin on the table I stood up. “I, uh, better return my plate to the table.”

I walked away from him, my heart in my throat. I knew he was being considerate and there was nothing in his actions that suggested anything more. He wasn’t even that close! Our legs were at least 8 inches away from each other. Yet my heart was pounding.

I placed my plate on the table and I was suddenly dragged backwards by the twins. At this point, I’ve learned that it’s useless to struggle. I just allowed them to take me wherever they wanted. Apparently that wasn’t very far because I was suddenly tossed on a couch that was surrounded by some presents.

Everyone that was still there gathered around me. Most of my classmates just gave me cards. Which was still nice. I learned that most of them didn’t even know about the party until yesterday. Then came the gifts from the Hosts.

Haruhi gave me a few Black Butler manga (A/N: SEBASTIAN!!! *NOSEBLEED* ADMIT IT! IM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO FEELS THIS WAY!) books since she knew that they were my favorite. Tamaki bought me some cello sheet music. Most of the pieces I had never heard of. Mori gave me a hug and a big smile. I was so excited because he spoke more than one word to me. He just told me ‘Happy Birthday.’ It was great!

Honey bought me some wonderful little confections that he got from his latest trip to Belgium. Then the twins. There gift was something I couldn’t show to anyone else. I opened the box and immediately slammed the lid down. I glared at them. Though it didn’t really look menacing because of the fact that my face was redder than a cherry.

In unison they asked, “You like our gift?”

“I’m going to kill you two.”

They grinned like the Cheshire Cat again. You may be wondering what they got me. Underwear. A matching set. And it was lace. I wanted to kill them.

Though they were saved when Tamaki started some music and told everyone that it was time to dance. Most everyone made their way to the dance floor. I didn’t follow. I watched as everyone else danced to various types of music. The only reason that I was still seated was because as much as I liked to dance, I was a klutz on the dance floor.

“I see you haven’t joined the others.”

I jumped slightly and turned around to see Kyoya. His glasses glared and he joined me on the couch. “Not much of a dancer. Why aren’t you out on the dance floor? Haruhi told me that you’re an excellent dancer.”

“She would be correct in that statement. But I prefer a competent dance partner to a girl whose just going through the motions.”

“Ah.”

We sat there in silence. I was staring at my hands in my lap. I looked up when he shifted next to me. He pulled out a box from under the couch. It was about 2 feet wide by 1 foot long. It was wrapped in teal wrapping paper with pretty purple-silver ribbon. Kyoya placed it in my lap and sat down again. “I have yet to give you my gift.”

“Thank you, Kyoya-kun.”

I untied the ribbon and tore the wrapping paper off. It was a plain white box. I lifted the lid and found black tissue paper. ‘Huh?’

I gasped when I peeled the tissue paper away. “Oh, its beautiful!”

I lifted the dress up and out of the box. It was a gorgeous purple cocktail dress. (A/N: YOU WILL SEE A PICTURE OF IT IN EITHER THE NEXT CHAPTER OR SOON AFTER.)

“Hisoka-chan, remember earlier about when my father called? Well I believe that you can help me.”

“Alright. What do I have to do?”

“Wear this dress on Friday. You will accompany me to a banquet. Both my parents insist upon me bringing someone. This would be good for you to make some business contacts.”

“I accept.” I placed the dress in the box and got up. “And Kyoya-kun?”

“Yes, Hisoka-chan.”

“You’re my best friend. You can invite me anytime. You don’t have to make it so formal and business like.”

And with that I gathered my presents and put them in a bag. I grabbed Haruhi and we headed back home. I had to figure out a way to tell Ranka that I was going out Friday.