"Flawless people can make mistakes too, right?"
- An All-Nighter

|Chapter 2|

  "Oi, Natsume! Why're you late?" The blond yelled from the brightly lit stage. Today was the second to last practice day as the actual show will be opening in two days.

  "Sorry! I had to, uh, shake off some people." I grabbed my black violin out and proceeded to polish it.

  Yumi raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Just come early tomorrow. I talked to the executives and they allowed us an extra thirty minutes of rehearsing." Yumi is our manager/ backup pianist because Kito, our usual pianist, is very sensitive and gets sick easily. She's sometimes strict but is a great manager even though she's a third- year in high school.

  She flipped her braid. "If you ask, Sakura is backstage and Kito is in the bathroom. He ate too many donuts the people had brought." Yumi sighed and sat on the stage. "I want to hear your part of the song. Plus, I get to see if you've been practicing or not."

  "Okay!" I eagerly put the rag I've been using down and picked up my violin, swiftly getting into playing position. "1, 2, 3..." It was a habit of mine  to count right before any type of performance namely because it calms me. Consider it a good luck charm... Sorta.

  (The song that they will be playing is called Koibumi by Yanagi Nagi. It should be the second link.)

  Once finishing my part of the performance, Yumi clapped. "Good, good. You should be-" Her phone suddenly rang and she picked it up. "Yello! What's up?" She paused and looked at me. "Eh? Do I really? Mom! Please? Yes... Fine!" Yumi finally snapped her phone shut and looked at me with disappointed eyes.

"Did something come up?"

"My mother said that the pizza is late so I have to pick it up," she said as she picked up her things. "See ya! Tell Sakura I took her pads!"

"E-eh? She's going to release her rage on me!"

"I know!" The last of her words echoed after the door was shut leaving me alone with my violin. I sighed. "Might as well hurry up."

Sakura was changing when I carelessly walked into her room. I had heard music so I came to the conclusion that maybe she was practicing. Maybe. The first thing I saw upon entering the room was Sakura's kitty panties. She was bending down doing some sort of exercise.

"Ah!" I shrieked and immediately covered my beaming red face with my hands.

Sakura stopped the music. "Oh! Natsume! You like what you see?" She winked, showing off her cleavage as she was only in her sports bra and underwear. Her curly blond hair had sweat dripping out of it and her playful onyx eyes radiating happiness.

"N-No! I mean- Yes? No?"

  "Oh?" She raised a playful eyebrow and proceeded to put on a loose shirt. "How's practice?"

  "Yumi said I've perfected it but I think I can do better."

  Sakura tied her hair in a ponytail and pushed up her glasses, "You're the overachiever as always," she said with a smile. "By the way, did Yumi leave? I heard her bidding farewell."

  "Uh huh and she wanted me to inform you that she... Took your pads."

  Sakura froze and slowly turned around. "Eh?"

  "I-I have extras if you need it-"

  "Those were scented! C'mon! Yumi!" She raised a shaking fist threateningly towards the mirror. "Oh well. Anywho, we need to finish practicing! Let's go and get Kito! I'm sure he's done puking by now!"

  "Sakura, you might want to put on some pants."

  "Eek!"

  By the time we reached Kito's room, he was passed out on the couch with a single marshmallow sticking out of his mouth. I looked at the refreshment table and sneaked a few marshmallows in my bag along with a couple of dozens of chocolate bars. After all, it would be a waste to just leave it all there untouched.

  "Ew..," said Sakura as she slowly approached him. "Oi! Sugarlover! Are. You. Okay!" She suddenly yelled as she shook the poor boy.

  "E-eh?" Kito jolted from his sleep with the marshmallow falling onto the floor. He rubbed his tired hazel eyes and yawned. "Is the practice over yet?"

  "Yep! You slept through the whole thing!" Sakura grabbed a donut from the refreshment table and took a bite out of it.

  "And Yumi wanted us to know that we have an extra thirty minutes if practice tomorrow if we arrive early," I said with a slight smile, still stuffing some leftover sweets in my pockets.

  "Okie dokie..." Kito ran his hand along his black hair and it stopped at his little ponytail where he fixed the loosening string. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. I have to give my sister some piano lessons tonight." With that, he picked up his things and waved farewell.

***

  On my second day of Ouran, I managed to bump into the host club members a countless number of times. Sometimes I cross paths with Kyoya down the hallways, the twins and Honey and Mori at lunch, and Tamaki at the occasional corner with Haruhi in his usual stoic face. Admittedly, they make the school more lively.

"Hey, Natsume!" Tamaki happily cheered after he was done growing fungi in the corner. "Why don't you come to the host club with us today? It'll be fun!"

"Um, I have practice today, sorry Senpai." I showed him my violin and he goofily grinned.

"Aww!" He pinched my cheeks with an overly-exaggerated facial expression incomprehensible to me. "You're so cute!"

Cute? Me? I felt my cheeks redden from the pinches but why do I feel warm?

"Senpai," Haruhi spoke up, concerned. "I think you're going to rip Natsume's cheeks off."

"How morbid, Haruhi!" Tamaki let go of my now numb cheeks. "Girls aren't supposed to think like that." He then turned towards me and gave me the most irresistible eyes I have ever seen. "Please, Natsume!"

I glanced at the clock nearby and sighed in defeat. "Alright. But only for a few minutes!"

After arriving at the already packed Host Club, I quickly eyed the sweets. Sugary things have always been my weakness. Kyoya walked up to me with his black notebook still in one hand and the other scribbling away. "If you want to stay, you have to request one of the hosts."

I scanned the room and chose between the homosexual twins, the sweet and wild duo with cake, the melodramatic "prince", and Haruhi. I want the cake. However, I want to learn more about the hosts. Dang it. "By any possible chance Kyoya-senpai, may I request you?"

He momentarily stopped writing, taken aback then looked up at me through the top of his glasses. His eyes were... Indescribable. Mesmerizing, hypnotic, yet pain-stricken. It reminds me of the color of the worn-down stone wall where Humpty Dumpty splattered in my old storybooks. "I believe I do have a few minutes to spare," he finally sighed, pushing up his glasses.

My heart had skipped a beat. But why? Am I catching a cold? A genetic heart condition that I wasn't aware of? Am I dying? Is it possibly a symptom of some sort of disorder or illness? What if-

"You mustn't stress yourself," Kyoya said as he nonchalantly sipped his cup of tea while typing on the computer. I looked at the reflection of his glasses and saw... Cats?

"You're one to talk."

It was silent for a few more tense seconds before a slight, almost unnoticeable smile formed. It wasn't one of those simple genuine or pleasurable smiles. It was more of a strained smile that just plastered the word "irony".

For some reason, I wanted that smile to be genuine.

***

Once our short and awkward conversation came to a halt, it was almost time for closing. And that means that I am 25 minutes late to practice! I had everything packed already and headed outside into the spring afternoon. I looked at the bus stop to see Kyoya waiting for his ride. How peculiar.

As I slowly made my way there, I noticed he dropped his notebook and pen. The pen rolled onto the street, earning a soft sigh from him. He went to the middle of the outstretched road after looking both ways twice and quickly picked up the pen. Unfortunately, he tripped and saw me walk towards him. The bus came into view down at the intersection and was heading directly towards us showing no signs of slowing. On instinct, I quickly grab onto his shirt (much to his surprise and dismay) and dragged his body back.

I wasn't sure if I made it on time due to the occurring horn and crash followed after.

***