Essay

Tamaki was perplexed. The new girl, Chrome Dokuro, had become a client of the Host Club. That was expected. However, she had not nominated a host, and was in fact sitting at a quiet table some distance from the rest, writing. That wouldn't do. He couldn't have any of the beautiful ladies neglected in this hall of romance! Especially such a lovely, fragile flower.

"Most beautiful rose, why do you wither away here in the dark," he began.

"It's not dark here, Suoh-sempai. I'm working on my essay for English," she told him in a quiet voice.

"Brains as well as beauty! Truly our humble club is blessed by your presence!"

"I'm glad you think so, sempai. Truthfully, this was just the quietest of the available rooms. Ootori-sempai assured me that it would be no trouble for me to simply stay and work here. Was he mistaken?" She turned away from her paper to look at him. He tried not to look away at the sight of the eyepatch. It was a distressing reminder that there were problems that couldn't be fixed with money and connections, like his own mother's health. He forced the smile – which had slipped slightly – back onto his face.

"Of course not! Kyoyo-kun is never wrong," he told her in a conspiratorial whisper.

"I did get that impression," she said. Was that sarcasm? The lovely rose had hidden thorns.

"But I would be remiss in my duties if I did not endeavour to ensure that you got the Host Club experience!" He prided himself on his club. He didn't like the idea of it being dismissed and turned into just another study hall.

"This is important, Suoh-sempai. Bossu has faith that I can excel here. I don't want to let him or Mukuro-sama down." She bit her lip as soon as she finished speaking, obviously realising that she had said too much.

He was tempted to leap on the information presented. A story of a beautiful girl engaged to a Yakuza boss, an overly controlling guardian, so many possibilities! But he couldn't bring himself to, not in the face of her obvious distress.

"I will leave you here then, most beautiful flower, and be content to admire you from a distance!"

And with that he returned to his customers, placating them with the flowery speech that the twins mocked him for, but which he genuinely enjoyed. Maybe he would keep an eye on Chrome-chan. It was always fun to meet a girl who didn't swoon at the sight of him.

So here is my fourth series of random short fics based on one-word prompts!