Jin Study 101!
'Don't wake me up~! Don't wake me up~! Don't wake me up, up, up, up, up, up~'
"Ugh…" Haruhi lifted her right hand and swatted at her nightstand, searching for the device that was playing the american song. However, it wasn't until the chorus had looped twice that Haruhi was able to scoop up the phone and swipe at the lock screen, effectively cutting off the alarm.
The brunette scowled at her sister's iPhone in her hands. Her own alarm clock had broken yesterday (after nine years of service) so Jin had offered to loan her new phone as a replacement until they could buy another one. It had been a very sweet gesture, but that didn't change the fact that Haruhi was now awake. The Fujioka's had never been known for being early risers. Well, except for Jin, but that's a different story.
Still, seven a.m. Time to get up.
Wriggling herself out from under her sheets, Haruhi stood up and padded over to her closet, setting the phone back down on the nightstand. Once she was standing next her bedroom door, she realized that she could smell something. Something… good.
Knowing that could only mean one thing, she quickly grabbed her school uniform and pulled it on. She opened her bedroom door and stumbled out into the kitchen, her left foot stuck just before the opening at the bottom of the pant leg. Since she didn't have either her contacts in or her glasses on, everything was really a big blur, but she could still see someone moving around the kitchen with a big stack of pancakes piled high on the counter. She could hear her father's light snores from his own bedroom. Seriously, that man could sleep like the dead.
"I know you're there, Haru. Go finish getting ready for school and then come eat, okay?"
Haruhi attempted to answer, but a huge yawn slipped through instead, so she turned back around and disappeared into the bathroom. The mirror was steamed up a bit around the edges and the shower cubicle was wet. Haruhi shook her head in disbelief.
To think, there used to be a time where Jin would sleep until noon if they allowed her to. Now however, ever since she went to America where she had to wake up at 6 every morning, it seemed as though her internal clock had placed a lock. Every day, with or without an alarm, Jin always woke up between 6 and 7 in the morning. 8 if she had been exhausted the previous night.
Just thinking about it makes me tired.
Once Haruhi was done, she went back into the kitchen and saw a plate of pancakes awaiting her on the table. She passed by her sister who gave her a fleeting kiss on the forehead and a murmured 'Morning, Haru' before returning to the dishes.
She sat down and started digging in. The pancakes were warm and fluffy, melting in her mouth a little bit. They didn't have anything else on them except for some butter, but that was all that was needed.
"Mmm… Nēchan, how do you make these so good?"
Her sister shook her head with a smile, wiping her hands dry before joining Haruhi at the table, "You know where, Haru."
She hummed, "Yeah, I suppose I do. So, what are your plans for today? Anything big?"
Jin chewed her first pancake bite slowly as she thought about it, "It's Friday, right? Well, I have a math test today, but that's about it for school. My boss wants me to go in from six to eight to cover for him, and then I'm going to bed early because I've been invited to give a demonstration at 8 tomorrow to celebrate my return and then I have to babysit Eiichi between 6 and 11:30 tomorrow night."
Haruhi shook her head and took a sip of milk, "Sometimes I think you work yourself too hard, Nēchan."
Jin reached across the table to ruffle her sister's hair, "Yeah, me too. So, do you have anything planned?"
Haruhi shrugged, "Renge wanted me to go over to her house again sometime this weekend to play some more video games, but then her dad showed up from France and now she has a few dinner parties to attend, so I'm just going to study." This made her sister chuckle and shake her head.
"Haruhi, there's more to life than studying, you know."
"I know, but all my fun times left when you did, Nēchan."
Jin suddenly pressed her hands against the tabletop, leaning forward with a bright twinkle in her eyes, "Do you know what? You're right. We haven't done any of the fun things that we used to do back in the old days since I got back home. So… what if we finish these pancakes as quick as we can and ride my bike to school?"
Haruhi grinned, the sparkle having now spread to her eyes as well, "That... sounds awesome, Nēchan."
Their eyes twinkled identically as Jin swallowed another bite, "I sure hope you remember how to hang on."
*1 hour later*
Tamaki crawled out of the backseat of his limo, "Thank you, Aoi. I'll be waiting for you when I finish my school day."
"Yes, Master Tamaki. Have a great day." And with that, his chaffeur drove off. The blond smiled up at the pink school in front of him. Another day at Ouran. Another day being a host. And another day with Haruhi!
He walked up the lawn, greeting the girls along the way until he reached one of the bike racks for the school. It was a bit of a mystery as to why the school even had bike racks. No one biked to Ouran. Still, they were always kept in perfect condition just in case of the off chance. Tamaki leaned against the polished metal and waited. This was generally the place he'd meet up with Kyoya before school started the year before, and now it was where he waited for Haruhi to arrive from her train ride so he could be the first person to greet her in the morning. Of course, he knew he wasn't really the first. She had Jin.
His smile faltered.
Okay, wait, he did like Jin. She was a really great person. Intelligent and tough, yet caring and compassionate, and everything Haruhi deserved as an older sister! But still, she was a little frightening. During the movie shoot she had those two boys on the ground in a matter of seconds!
"You look like you're in deep thought. Is it Haruhi or Jin this time?"
The blond jolted slightly as Kyoya walked up to his side, "What?"
"I said that you looked like you were in deep thought. Were you thinking about Haruhi or Jin this time?"
"How did you know I was thinking about-"
"You tend to follow a very strict pattern. If you meet someone who doesn't fit where you want them to, you think about how to change their minds. And right now you are stuck on both Fujioka's, so which one of them is it now?"
Tamaki blinked, "Jin. And how frightening she was last week."
"Ah, yes, so I've heard. It was rather impressive I've been told."
"But it was scary! Where did she learn to fight like that?"
The other boy shrugged, "I do not know."
The blond leaned more heavily against the bike rack, "Kyoya… exactly how much do you know about Jin? She's a student here now, have you looked in on her school record?"
Kyoya pulled his black journal out of his school bag and flipped a few pages, "Yes, I have. And again, I'm a bit impressed."
Tamaki crossed his arms, "You continue to say that you're impressed, but whenever you and Jin are in the same room you both take cheap shots at each other. Why?"
His friend rolled his eyes, "She's the one who starts it."
"Now you're sounding defensive."
"Do you want to hear this or not?" Tamaki lifted his hands in defeat, but they both knew that the topic was going to come up again soon. That's just how things worked with them.
Kyoya cleared his throat, "Let's start at the beginning. Jin Fujioka… she's been the number one student in her class ever since she started school. She began to take piano lessons at the age of 4, quit before she turned 6, and then started again when she was 11 under the instruction of Kagome-sensei, who is Ouran's most prominent music teacher, and she taught herself guitar at the age of 8. When she was 14 she won 3rd place in a national essay competition, 2nd place in a national art competition, and performed her final piano recital in Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. She knows seven languages including Japanese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and is teaching herself Swedish, despite only ever taking English and French classes in school."
Tamaki's mouth was agape again as Kyoya snapped his journal shut, "How did she meet-"
"I do not know."
"Is she a robot? How is all that possible for one person?"
Kyoya slipped the journal back into his bag, "Unclear, but it's all true. And that's only what she told the school. She might have-"
Loud laughter coming from the gates interrupted the ravenet. All of the students still waiting outside on the school grounds turned to watch as two people on bikes pedaled through the school gates at top speed. Tamaki squinted at the figures before his eyes snapped wide open. Wait a second… that's Haruhi and Jin!
Tamaki straightened up as the two girls moved closer. But it wasn't until they were halfway between the gates and the bike racks that he noticed something even stranger. There was only one bike. Jin was on the seat, smoothly pedaling her and her sister down the stone pathway, but Haruhi was standing up behind her with her arms wrapped around Jin's chest.
There was no second seat. There were just two bars sticking out from the bike frame near the center of the back tire where Haruhi's feet were planted. The sight of it almost gave Tamaki a heart attack if it wasn't for Haruhi grinning from ear to ear and her laughter as the wind blew at her hair.
The siblings zipped along the path. As they drew closer to the bike rack, Jin stopped pedaling. But she didn't brake.
"Ready, Haru?"
"Ready!"
"3, 2, 1!"
When they reached '1', Jin turned to the left, riding alongside the bike racks and Haruhi let go of her sister, jumping off of the bike. She stumbled an inch or two when her feet hit the pavement, but other than that she landed smoothly. Haruhi removed her helmet and finger combed her short hair.
"Hey, Senpai."
"J-j-j...j-j-j… juST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
The short girl patted her school bag which had been fastened securely to her side, "I'm not sure why you're shouting, Senpai. I just rode my sister's bike to school. It's no big deal-"
"YES IT'S A BIG DEAL! HOW COULD YOU BE SO IRRESPONSIBLE! THAT WAS INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS!"
"What are you talking about? Nēchan and I do that all the time!"
Tamaki's head jerked back, "All… the time..?"
The poor blond was trembling from head to toe as Jin pedaled back. She climbed off the bike and wheeled it onto the rack one handed while she unhooked her own helmet. Haruhi fastened her helmet onto the right handlebar while her Nēchan chained up the bike. It was painted lime green with a few chips in, but it was still a nice bike.
"Maybe we should've practiced the dismount a couple times before we headed here, Nēchan. I stumbled a bit."
Jin attached her own helmet to the other handle, "Yeah, I was thinking that too. The bike shook something awful when you jumped off. I just figured that since getting on the bike went so well the dismount would be fine too. Oh well, I suppose that counts as practice."
The girls grinned at each other and Jin threw an arm around Haruhi's shoulder, "Let's head to class."
They walked up the steps, but Kyoya and Tamaki remained immobile. Tamaki was about fifteen seconds away from hyperventilating while Kyoya simply stared off after them. A few seconds later the twins ran up.
"Boss! Did you see that?"
"That was so cool! I didn't know Haruhi had that in her!"
And with that, Tamaki crumbled to his knees rocking back and forth on the cement, "My precious daughter… so dangerous… how could they…"
Kyoya looked down at the blond, "Quit being so overly dramatic, Tamaki. Yes, it was surprising, but clearly those girls have practiced that move before. It's no use crying over it."
"Tama-chan! Why are you crying?" Honey and Mori appeared at the side of the group, having just missed the Fujioka's stunt.
"Honey-senpai! You're not going to believe what Jin and Haruhi just did!"
"Hm?"
Kaoru opened his mouth, but Tamaki jumped up to his feet and interrupted, "I've made a decision! We have to increase Jin's femininity! Only when we do that will we ever make any progress with Haruhi!"
The boys stared at their club's president with dry looks.
"Hey, Boss-"
"-we know you're very sold on the idea of making Haruhi act more girly-"
"-but in case you've forgotten, we know even less about Jin than we do about Haruhi."
"Tama-chan, don't you think we should get used to Jin first?"
The blond boy gripped his chin and started pacing, muttering under his breath, "What if… what if we try to classify her? Yeah! We find out what kind of personality she has, and if the girls notice it we can tell them that we're trying to give Jin a type for the club!"
Kyoya cocked an eyebrow, "Must we all take part in this?"
"Yes! It is a requirement! We're going to need all the manpower we can get! Operation Classify Jin Fujioka is now underway!"
*3 hours later*
"Can anyone provide the answer to question one?"
The class of 2-A didn't even bother to raise their hands. Instead, they just watched as Jin Fujioka and Kyoya Ootori instantly shot their hands up in the air at the same exact time, leveling less than friendly stares at each other. Their math teacher waited for a few moments before sighing.
"Ms. Fujioka? I saw your hand first. Could you answer the first question, please?"
The brunette nodded with a smile and stood up from her seat, "The answer is X=25. There are no other solutions."
"Correct."
The brunette shot the ravenet behind her an unreadable look before going back to scribbling numbers on her page. Kyoya didn't even need to look to know what she was doing. He'd seen it before. Completing tonight's homework assignment during class time. Ridiculous!
"I believe that is one more point to me."
Kyoya scowled and hissed back, "It's not a competition."
Jin merely smiled sweetly, her eyes never leaving her book, "Is that why you keep tabs on my test scores?"
The boy clenched his fingers tightly around his pencil, but chose not to answer. She's winding me up. If I don't pay attention in class she will pass me. Kyoya didn't know what to think of the elder Fujioka anymore. At first, he thought she would be a good asset to have. She was very intelligent, socially skilled, and had a bright future ahead of her.
Now, however, he saw a more sarcastic side of her. One that was a tad bit headstrong and even, on occasion, smug. What was worse was that she was perhaps the kindest person at this school. Perhaps even honestly... Just not to him. Of course, he knew it was partially his own fault for goading her on. For example? Most of the time he only said he was adding onto Haruhi and Jin's debt, just to get back at her for "innocently" asking for his score on a test she did better at.
So much for dealing with this in a mature fashion.
"When dealing with radicals in the denominator-"
"Psst! Jin!"
Kyoya kept his head facing forward, but his eyes flicked down to Tamaki. The blond was crouched low over his desk, leaning so far over to the left he was about to fall off his chair. The brunette he was trying to talk to peeked out at him out of the corner of her eye.
"What?"
"I was just wondering. What's your favorite type of music?"
This time, both Jin and Kyoya physically turned their heads to stare at the other boy.
"...Can I tell you after class?"
"No. Just tell me. Is it K-pop?"
Jin's mouth fell open for a split second before she shut it again. She quickly turned back to her desk, pulled out another sheet of lined paper and started scribbling frantically on it. Kyoya returned his attention back to the front of the classroom, but found it hard to focus when he could hear Jin's pencil scratching at the paper and Tamaki kicking Jin's shoe underneath her desk.
Ten minutes of that nonsense later, she folded up the paper into halves. Then fourths. Then eights. Sixteenths. And finally thirty-seconds before tossing the paper onto Tamaki's desk. In his surprise, the blond nearly swatted the paper onto the floor. Kyoya tried to keep himself focused on the lesson, but was finding it difficult with his friend squirming in front of him as he quickly unfolded the paper.
Could he just stop already?
Almost like he said the magic word, Tamaki froze. And deflated. He folded the paper back up and stuck it in his pocket as the teacher continued with his lesson. Kyoya was finally able to focus for the final twenty minutes of class time, relieved that their lunch period followed the lesson. He needed to get away from the two in front of him. Unfortunately he knew Tamaki would stick to his side like glue, but at least Jin never ate in the cafeteria.
Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring~!
"Class dismissed."
There was a great shuffling of chairs as the students began chattering away amicably. Kyoya packed away his textbook and notes but remained seated, not wanting to be bothered with the initial rush of students out the door. He had tried perhaps once to get out of the classroom ahead of the crowd only to be jostled from every which way by the mad rush. Now, he was plenty comfortable with waiting out the tide of bodies.
Tamaki, though he liked to be in the throng of things, had decided some time last year that he would accompany his friend in waiting. Jin, however, had no such qualms. She packed away her things, stood up, and skillfully slipped through the crowd of her other classmates. She was usually the third or fourth student out in the hallway, and today was no different.
As soon as she was gone, Tamaki slumped back in his seat until his head was resting on the back of the chair, nearly sliding off altogether. Kyoya cast an unamused glance at the blond.
"What exactly was that?" Tamaki let out a groan and pulled the paper back out of his pocket, holding it up for his friend to take.
Kyoya unfolded the paper as Tamaki explained, "I wanted to know what kind of music Jin liked to help classify her, but she only made me more confused." And Kyoya could see why. The paper Jin had given Tamaki had a very long list of song genres, ranging from Classical to Pop to Jazz to Punk Rock to Acapella to Rock N' Roll. At the very bottom she had scribbled, 'I listen to whatever songs I like. The genre really doesn't matter to me.' Kyoya rolled his eyes and handed the paper back.
"I'm not exactly sure what you were expecting, but I'll have you know that if those are the types of questions you're going to ask her you'll find out nothing."
Tamaki pushed himself up and whipped around in his seat, staring straight into Kyoya's eyes, "So, you'll help me?"
"I never said that."
"But do you know the right kind of questions to ask?"
"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean-"
"To the lunchroom! We have to start planning our attack!"
Kyoya frowned but allowed himself to be yanked harshly out of his seat and out into the hallway. It wasn't like this was an odd occurrence anyways. Besides, this could prove to be interesting. It always is.
*In Music Room 3*
"Alright men, you're all aware of the question you're supposed to answer, correct?"
"Yes, Sir!" The five boys nodded, Honey and the twins saluting their "king".
"Good! Now, divide and conquer!"
"Yes, Sir!" they responded once again before splitting off in different directions around the music room. No reason to make the girls suspicious the second they arrived at the host club. Tamaki nodded to himself. It's only three classifications. Surely with the six of us we can find the correct one before club activities are over.
Still, he felt a bit nervous. What if Haruhi or Jin found out what they were trying to do and got angry again? Tamaki didn't want Haruhi mad at him and Jin still frightened him a bit. How could she not? She nearly kicked those boy's heads in!
"Hey, guys. Sorry we're late, I forgot my pencil in the library and we had to go back for it." The brunettes of the host club entered through the double doors. Haruhi was looking around the room like she couldn't care less about being there, but Jin was wearing her usual smile as she flicked a wave at the boys she hadn't been in class with all day. The twins were quick to approach the girls and start chatting.
Tamaki flicked his gaze back and forth between the group of four and his table for the day that he was supposed to be preparing. For a strange reason, he felt nervous. Jin was unlike anything they had seen before (except for Haruhi, in a sense) so when they had come up with possible classifications during lunch, they could only come up with three likely candidates.
The serious one, the bookworm... or the Yandere.
Tamaki really hoped it wasn't the last one.
"One minute, everyone. Positions, please." The hosts quickly regrouped at the front of the room. There was no chair set up, so they all stood in their signature poses. From left to right it was Kyoya, Kaoru, Hikaru, Tamaki, Haruhi, Jin, Honey, and Mori.
Just before the doors creaked open to allow the guests in, Tamaki snuck one last glance at his target for the day. Jin was leaning slightly against her sister, her elbow planted on Haruhi's shoulder so she could rest her chin on her palm. She looked calm and collected and just plain ol' pleasant, but Tamaki still couldn't figure her out.
Maybe she could be the mysterious type... but then again Kyoya and Mori cover that area fairly well.
The front doors opened and Tamaki had to redirect his thoughts back to his guests.
"Welcome ladies!"
*\/*
"Jin, what's your favorite book?"
The brunette pursed her lips as she scooped up the empty tea cup and set it on her tray, really thinking it over. She read so much that asking for her favorite book was like asking which of her fingers she liked best. Deep inside, she felt the oncoming feeling of embarrassment. Only half an hour to go and now they give me the hard questions! Will they think I'm weird if I don't answer right away?
Thank goodness she always had a signature answer for this question in case she wasn't given the proper time to think them all over.
"Well, I've never finished a book I didn't like so it's almost impossible for me to even consider choosing a favorite. But if I really have too… it's probably the Harry Potter series, and don't ask for me to pick a favorite one from that!"
The two girls giggled away at her (severely lame) attempt at a joke and Jin glanced at Kyoya to see if he wanted her to continue with the conversation or go away. But, as usual, he was refusing to look at her, and had been ever since she had appeared at his side. Probably so that he doesn't accidentally snark at me in front of his guests.
She sighed internally. Jin wished that they could be friends. Kyoya seemed like a cool guy, if not for his taxcollector-like attitude when it came to Haruhi's (and now her own) debt, and she'd hoped that some friendly banter would get him to relax a bit around her.
But nooo… instead he had to be a ja-
"Are fiction books your favorite?"
Jin shifted from one foot to the other, knowing that at least one person at this table wanted her gone, "Well, I mostly read fiction books for joy reads, but I also love reading about mythology. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, you name it, it's all incredibly interesting to me. As for the fiction books, I prefer ones with action and perhaps some humor."
She tilted her head to the side as a random memory resurfaced, "Well, except for one."
The three girls leaned in, eyes shining and completely ignoring the host sitting at their table. Jin regarded Kyoya to see if he was sending out any 'go-away-or-so-help-me' signs, but all he did was pull out his black journal and scribble something out on one of the pages. Oh, fine then. Might as well.
She pinned the tray between her left hip and her left wrist, leaving her right hand free to emphasis her words, "I read it in America. It's called World War Z. Yes, it's about zombies and all that fuss, but it's actually really interesting. I only liked it because it had a different way of looking at the zombie apocalypse. There were more psychological aspects in it and spoke more about the humans than the zombies. It dealt with religion, instincts, society, class, mindsets, and morals and was pretty serious for a fiction book. World War Z is just a very serious and deep way to think about a zombie apocalypse in a very real way."
The girls were positively shivering with interest, and Jin noticed a small frown working its way onto Kyoya's lips. He was finally displaying his inner emotions. Aaaand that's my cue.
"Well ladies, I should probably get back to my work. Maybe you should check out the book for yourselves if you're interested. Kyoya, any other books you think these ladies would enjoy?"
The ravenet lifted his head from his black journal, fake smile back in place, "Of course! I was just reading one myself a few days ago that I found rather interesting..." With the host back on the center stage, Jin flicked away back into the kitchen. Once she was able to slip into the other room, she let out a big sigh and leaned against the door. The emptiness of the room swept over her and her nerves calmed down greatly.
I wonder if they can tell I have a slight social anxiety?
Jin thought about it, then started giggling. The giggles became loud laughter as she pushed away from the door and further into the kitchen-like room. Of course they can't tell. I'm so used to pushing down the anxiety when in public sometimes even Dad can't see it! Her laughter dies down as she sets the dirty dishes down by the sink. She had already washed the last round of dishes, so Jin decided to wait before filling the sink up again to wash just 3 little cups and saucers.
I should probably put the clean ones away now then send out another round of cake for Honey. Jin nodded once to herself before she started scooping up all the matching Foley tea cups. She skillfully opened one cabinet door with her chin, set everything back where it belonged, and bumped the door shut again with her hip. Hips don't lie.
She giggled slightly at her own mental joke, but stopped quickly when her phone began ringing from in her jacket pocket. A quick glance at the screen told her it was Mrs. Inoue. Eiichi's mother.
'Hedwig's Theme' was abruptly cut off when she answered, "Ello?"
"Hello, Jin?"
"That's me. Is there a problem, Mrs. Inoue?"
"I'm afraid so, Jin. Eiichi's teacher called me at work today because he wasn't feeling well. I think he has a stomach bug."
"Oh no..." Jin let her lower lip push out a bit, "Is he going to be okay?"
"Yes, but I'm going to stay home and take care of him, so I don't need you to babysit tomorrow. Is that going to mess anything up for you?"
Jin smiled understandingly and shook her head, even though she knew Mrs. Inoue couldn't see it, "It's not a problem, Mrs. Inoue. But if you need any help just give me a call. And tell Eiichi I hope he feels better soon, alright?"
"Of course. Thank you, Jin. Have a good day."
"You too."
*Click*
Jin slipped her phone back into her pocket. Huh. Now I have 6 and a half hours of free time tomorrow. Don't we need to go shopping soon? I should ask Haru if she wants to go shopping with me tomorrow after my demonstration.
The brunette poked her head out into the main room again and scanned it for her sister. It was easy, considering Tamaki was currently pulling her into a more remote corner of the room. Jin smirked and shook her head. It was pretty clear that Tamaki felt something for her sister. In all honesty, she couldn't wait to see where that led them.
Still, she remained silent as she slipped over to them, listening closely to their conversation.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Haruhi!"
"You didn't really give me much choice on the matter, Senpai..."
Tamaki waved the comment off, "Details, details. So, Haruhi, I've been meaning to ask you about Jin. What are her hobbies? What does she like? I've decided to make Jin a 'type', similar to me being the princely type, and figured you'd be the best candidate to help me discover it." Jin smirked and silently crept even closer until she was standing about a foot behind the boy. Haruhi saw her and cocked an eyebrow.
"Why don't you ask her this yourself?"
Tamaki sighed dramatically and pressed his hand delicately against his brow, and Jin mirrored the move behind him, "Because, Haruhi, I want to surprise your sister. Technically, she's not an official host, so she wouldn't be expecting us to put a lot of thought into making her a type! Don't you see that by talking to you instead of Jin, she will have no idea of our plan until the grand revelation? But that will never happen if you don't help us... what's with the face?"
Now, Tamaki had been completely unaware of Jin standing directly behind him the entire time, mimicking every flail of his arms and flick of his bangs, but Haruhi hadn't. She was squeezing her lips as tightly together as she could to muffle her laughs. Closing her eyes had only created a very vivid mental image of Tamaki's face once he discovered what was going on, which hadn't helped her case at all, and the scene was nearly enough to bring her to her knees.
At Tamaki's question, however, she couldn't hold it in any longer.
"HAHAHAHAAAAAA!" Haruhi dropped to her knees, clutching at her stomach. Tamaki jumped back in surprise, only to run right into Jin. He whipped around and saw her grinning too, as well as the twins who were watching from behind a pillar.
"Jin! W-what's going on?"
The taller brunette threw an arm around the blond's shoulder, "I was just making Haru laugh, Tamaki. Nothing to worry about."
The boy looked around at everyone still laughing, "What?"
The twins waved him off and Haruhi quickly stood up, a few laughs still slipping through now and then, "It was nothing, Senpai. We -hehehe- should probably get back to our guests now." The girls linked their arms together and walked back to Haruhi's guests, still giggling every few steps. As they walked away, the twins stumbled over.
"Well..."
"I guess she isn't the serious type."
"But... what was she doing?"
The twins shared a look before turning away, "Nothing at all, Boss."
Tamaki stared after them, now with rampant curiosity. Maybe Kyoya will tell me. Still, there's one personality down... and it's not the one I wanted.
"So, Jin? Do you have any hobbies other than reading?" Tamaki froze to the floor before bolting after the girls. They were now seated together on a couch talking to Haruhi's guests. The guests who had just asked the question Tamaki had assigned to himself and Kyoya. He dove behind a pillar just to the left of the group and pressed his ear against the cold marble. Please be the bookworm. Please be the bookworm...
"Well, actually there are a lot of other things I like to do, such as gymnastics, drawing, writing, cycling, biking-"
"Uh, Jin? Aren't biking and cycling the same thing?"
There was a bit of a pause before she responded, "Actually, cycling refers to a bike. Biking refers to motorcycles."
All at once the girls let out matching squeals, "You can ride a motorcycle?!"
"Yeah! I was taught when I went to America. I can drive motorcycles and snowmobiles. It's pretty much the same thing."
The clients began asking question after question about her biking ability. Meanwhile, Tamaki was leaning his back against the pillar, staring off into space with an exceedingly dead look. Motorcycles. Of all the things, why a motorcycle? Tamaki was at war with himself. On one hand, he wanted to jump out and lecture Jin on the dangers of riding a motorcycle, yet at the same time he wanted to keep hidden from her. She wasn't the serious type, nor the bookworm, which left only one option left.
"Don't you ever wonder if you're overthinking things, Tamaki?"
The blond didn't even look up from his knees, "Not at all, Kyoya. We've exhausted all other options. Clearly, we are dealing with a Yandere. Now we must plan on how to approach Haruhi. If we don't convince her immediately, she will never believe any accusations in the future. And we have to do so without Jin discovering-"
"That you think I'm a Yandere?"
Tamaki screamed.
Straight up, high pitched, screamed. His hair even stood up on end.
The poor blond boy bolted from his hiding spot and cowered behind Kyoya's legs, peeking out at the tall brunette girl leaning up against the pillar. She was giving him her usual soft smile, but that did nothing for Tamaki's nerves.
"J-J-Jin! I d-didn't know you were th-there!"
Jin rolled her eyes, "Mind telling me exactly what's going on? All day you've been acting weird around me, Tamaki. Did I say something? Was it the bike ride earlier?"
Kyoya responded before Tamaki could, "You frightened him last week after the movie shooting, which is why he's been acting strange around you, but today he was making the attempt to get to know you better so that he could bring out your feminine side, followed by Haruhi."
Jin's smile disappeared in the blink of an eye to be replaced by a heartbroken one. She crouched down low and stared at the other boy.
"Tamaki? Are you really scared of me?"
He twiddled his thumbs together, "Not…extremely. I just feel a slight nervousness whenever you get angry."
The elder Fujioka sat down fully on her feet. When she spoke, it was in the same tone of voice she had used with Haruhi when she had first learned of her debt.
"Tamaki, I want to make this very clear to you right now. I am not a danger to you. This is exactly the reason I don't broadcast my fighting abilities. I hate it when people are afraid of me, even when I would never do anything to hurt them. You're my friend, Tamaki, and I promise I won't go on a rampage anytime soon, alright? Please don't be afraid."
To absolutely no one's surprise, Tamaki was in tears when she finished. He jumped out from behind Kyoya and held Jin in the tightest hug he could manage.
"I'M SO SORRY, JIN! I WAS UNFAIR TO YOU! I PROMISE TO NEVER THINK NEGATIVELY OF YOU EVER AGAIN! WE'LL BE THE BEST OF FRIENDS FROM NOW ON!" Jin, also unsurprisingly, simply laughed and squeezed the boy back, a smile back on her face. Kyoya rolled his eyes and walked away. I should be getting paid for dealing with these idiots every day.
Jin waited until she and Tamaki were alone before whispering, "Well, I'm glad we got that cleared up. And now that we have, I'm going to tell you straight up to stop trying to stereotype me."
Tamaki withdrew from the hug as if he'd been burned, "What are you talking about?"
Jin scoffed and pushed herself back up onto her feet, "Oh please. 'Making the attempt to get to know me better'? If you'd been trying to do that, you should've come right to me. Instead you went to Haruhi and told her you were trying to give me a 'type'. And you were just freaking out a minute ago because you thought I was a Yandere. You're trying to make me fit in a box."
She patted his head lightly, "I know I can't convince you to stop trying, so I'll just leave you with my opinion and a question. Why deal with labels? No one is ever just one thing."
Tamaki remained frozen as she walked away, turning the question over in his head. He was still thinking about it as Kyoya declared the club's closure for the day and all the host's gathered their things to go home.
In fact, it wasn't until everyone was outside and only Tamaki and the girls were left that he spoke again.
"Jin?"
"Yeah?" She asked as she unlocked her bike from the rack.
"I think you might have a point. From now on, I won't label anyone just one thing! I mean, I should know, shouldn't I? After all… I am both kind and beautiful!"
The girls gave each other the same leveled kind of look, "Right. Haru? Are you ready to go home?"
Haruhi snapped her helmet on, nice and tight, "Absolutely, Nēchan."
"Good, I'm just going to warm up, alright?"
"No problem. Take your time."
The girls nodded at each other before Jin took off down the bike racks. She pedaled around in a few circles before swerving to a stop and wound up facing back the way she came. The long haired brunette grinned suddenly and started pedaling fast. She quickly picked up speed, her eyes drilling into Haruhi who was flexing her hands and bouncing on her toes.
Tamaki was looking between each sister in growing concern, "Wait… Haruhi…"
Just then, Jin rushed by the two. Haruhi stuck out her left hand and grabbed onto her sister, jumping up onto the bike in the process. Her feet landed on the pegs perfectly, and Jin hadn't slowed down for even a second. The two girls whooped at the perfect mount and didn't even notice the blond crying out after them.
"Just because I said you had a point doesn't mean you can do something as dangerous as that! Noooo! Jiiiiin! HA-RU-HIIIIII!"