Chihana Host Club, Tokyo, Japan

Silver night had fallen over Tokyo, bringing with it the flicker of streetlamps and the colorful glow of the signs which decorated the red-light district. Early on in the evening there was an odd sort of silence in the streets outside Chihana, a gap left behind so the common folk fled to their homes, and before the creatures of the night came out to play. This had always been Eien’s favorite time of night, since he had first arrived on Tokyo’s night scene nine years before. Now, before the guests arrived, all was quiet, and the hosts still slept. They could not disturb him…

The hosts still slept.

“Oya, oya…” Eien whispered, rolling his eyes. They were all grown men – one would think that they could wake themselves up in time for work, but so far Eien had not seen a day when the hosts were all up on time. Why he paid them as much as he did, he would never understand. Perhaps it was simply to make sure they did not leave?

Sighing dully, Eien ran his fingers through the trailing strands of his brow hair and turned up the hall towards the elevator. He kicked his apartment door shut ehind him, well aware that the lighter sleepers in the building would hear it close. Maybe they would have the sense to get out of bed before Eien arrived on their floor.

He waited in tense silence, arms crossed over his chest, toe tapping impatiently as the elevator rose. As Manager, Eien slept in the apartment on the second floor, closes to the stairs heading directly down to the club level. The placement was a convenience in more ways than one – it allowed Eien to make it up to bed quickly in the morning, but it also meant that he could hear anyone walking into or out of the apartments. Eien knew all.

The low dong of the elevator, the rattling of open doors, spelled doom for all sleeping hosts as Eien stepped out onto the third floor. He glanced around, searching for any signs of movements, and then he opened his mouth.

“Everybody up!” he shouted in a voice which would carry clearly through the apartment doors. “You have ten minutes! I want you dressed, groomed, and in the kitchen before I put the rankings up!”




Rai lay curled up on his side, warm beneath the heavy blankets that concealed his are body. He was caught in that tight space between sleep and wakefulness, dazed with open eyes, not yet aware that he was not dreaming. Last night had been hard on him – that crazy customer had taken all the energy he had. Sure, Eien had gotten rid of her before she did any real damage – he was a good manager even if he was grumpy – but he had not been able to stop her drunken rage before it happened. He could feel a bruise blossoming against his ribs, where the sharp heel of her shoe had struck. He could have prevented it… but he was a host. How else could have answered the request for marriage…?

He had just begun to rise the rest of the way into wakefulness when Eien’s voice blasted from the end of the hall.

“Everybody up!” he shouted in a voice which would carry clearly through the apartment doors. “You have ten minutes! I want you dressed, groomed, and in the kitchen before I put the rankings up!”

Jolted out of sleepiness by the shout, Rai sat up too quickly, wrenching at his bruised ribs and pulling a shrill cry of pain from his throat, which he stifled with one hand. He glanced nervously over at Ai, sleeping on the futon beside him, praying he had not disturbed the boy. It was unlikely that he had not woken – Rai’s luck simply was not that good.

In his solo apartment, light streaming in from a crack in the curtains, Kami stirred when the manager's door slammed. He had always been one of the lighter sleepers - which was why he preferred having his own room. Or rather, why it was a good thing he had his own room. If he had to room with anybody else...Kami bristled at the thought.

He didn't look like a host in the morning. Without his make up or his clothes, he was just another twenty four year old male with bedhead hair and bags under his eyes. He groaned, clutching at his head. A hangover? Now of all days? Well shit.

He groped around for his bedside table, finding the cup of water and the two aspirins he had put there last night, knowing he'd wake up with such a pounding headache. He threw the covers off then, shivering slightly in the cold morning air as said morning air hit his bare chest. He never slept with a shirt on, it just wasn't something he could do.

He downed the medicine and the water, grimacing at the taste it left in his mouth as he slipped his feet into a pair of bamboo slippers. His suitcase was against the wall - all of his clothes, except the ones that could get wrinkled, packed neatly inside. He pulled out a black silk vest, a red dress shirt and a pair of black slacks, changing into them immediately. He glanced out the window as he did so - nearly night time. Hmm...he'd woken up early today. He enjoyed this silence before the crowd. It let him gather his thoughts, let him be more human than he'd have to be tonight.

Later tonight...he would be a god. But for now, Kami was as human as the boys next door. Dressed and washed up, Kami headed into the kitchen. He leaned against the counter, smirking lazily at the manager.

"Ohayou (morning), Ushio-chan," he purred, looking around for food.





He had been sleeping soundly, dreaming of something that probably did not go along the lines of bunnies hopping in a meadow. Natsu's sleep had not been restful. It had never been for the past few years. He tossed in his sleep, turning and unable to awaken from the grips of the dreams and the nightmares that had him in his grasp.

He was awoken, however, by Rai's anguished wail. Natsu's eyes flew open and he jerked into an upright position, heart pounding in his throat. "What's going on? What happened?" he asked dazedly.

When he realized it was only time to get up, Natsu slumped back against the pillow. He rubbed his temples, feeling a little dizzy. What was his blood sugar level...? He quickly checked his blood sugar levels, grimacing at the brief moment of pain when he had to pierce his finger to get at his blood. Ah. That would explain it. His levels were almost dangerously low.

He quickly adjusted the number on his pump, before turning to Rai.

"What time is it...?"

Ryuu yawned boredly as Eien's voice pierced the air, his slender fingers running through his hair in a shallow attempt to wake himself up. As usual, it failed as he flopped back onto his back, staring hopelessly into the swirling fan above his head. He loved the life that the city had to offer him, but occasionally he missed the gentle, countryside breeze that had befriended him in childhood. But his once annual trip was more than enough to sate his desires.

Even so, Ryuu slowly dragged himself from bed, not wanting to upset Eien or the other hosts by arrive late. Early is On Time, On Time is Late, and Late is Unacceptable, as his grandmother said, something Ryuu lived by. Although they differed in how to spend their time and their business moral, Ryuu obeyed his grandmother's manners and customs, one of the factors that drew in his clients.

He dressed quickly but carefully, ending with the silver dragon pendent that he polished once a week to retain its radiating beauty. This trinket, although almost his own age, was the one possession that Ryuu cared about. It had been a gift from his elder sister, now deceased with the rest of his immediate family. He smiled sadly to the dragon and glanced to his reflection once again before decided that he was ready. Although he prepared himself as well as any host, it was more of a natural charm that drew in his clients. He never wore too much or too little make-up, his hair slightly styled that it was as if it fell naturally in place.

He slipped out of his private room and down to the kitchen, his lithe smile nodding to the two others present in the room. "Ohayou gozaimasu (good morning), Ushio-sama, Chiyo-san," he said with a small nod in acknowledgement. He grabbed an apple for himself at sat at the table, coring and slicing it with a pocket knife as he listened in on the other's conversations. he often did not speak until spoken to, not wanting to appear rude by interjecting in conversations. He hummed quietly to himself taking a bite of apple while waiting for the ranks to be posted. Delicious.

Daichi groaned as Eien's voice boomed into each apartment. His sister had texted him to many times earlier, just to talk about how Mizuki would be coming for the first time. Man, did Miami get excited easily. The young adult sat up in bed, rubbing the back of his neck sorely. He had a hell of the night before hand, that was for sure.

All Daichi could remember of it though, was that he had fainted as soon as he got to his bed. Getting out of his warm bed and getting out his suitcase from under his bed. Daichi took out his nicely folded white plaid shirt with black dress pants and put them on. Quickly, he shut his suitcase and tucked it back under his bed.

Daichi yawned as he sat on his bed for a moment starring at his necklace Miami gave him. He adored how his little sister, no matter what, came daily to at least say how she was doing everyday. Quickly, Daichi put back on his necklace, the star shining slightly as the light from the window hit it. Opening the door, Daichi strolled out of his apartnt and shut the door behide him.

Daichi jogged downstairs into the kitchen with his peppy smile like normal. "Ohayou gozaimasu (good morning) everyone!" Daichi chirped to Eien, Ryuu, and Kami. Daichi always had a unnatural happy mood once he was with the others, no matter how tired he is. Under his breath Daichi began to sing under his breath as he texted his sister back.

The look Eien gave the hosts as they filtered through into the kitchen could only be described as cold. He was not pleased that they had woken so late – the customers would be arriving any minute, and when the hosts got up late it meant that Eien had to entertain the customers for half an hour, and hour, sometimes more while the hosts prepared for the night. Eien was the best host there – he had seventy customers named to him – so it was not exactly difficult for him to entertain the girls until the hosts were ready, but that wasn’t the point, was it? One of the reasons that he had taken up managing his own host club was because managers, and other hosts of their ranks, only had to host a few times each month to keep their customers happy.

Eien, with such lazy hosts as he had, found himself hosting for an hour every. Single. Night. He was not happy with this.

“Yes, yes, ohayou gozaimasu (good morning), now shut up and eat. Breakfast is in the oven,” he jerked his head at the machine, which was lit, to reveal a rather large stack of pancakes and sausages within. One of the first signs that the quirky manager did not really hate his hosts as much as he said he did – he always had breakfast made for them when they got up, whether he bought it or cooked it himself. “We have some new guests coming tonight. Get yourselves ready. I’ll be down entertaining them, so hurry up.”





“Sorry, sorry,” Rai mumbled, watching as Ai jerked awake and began checking his blood-sugar levels. He was too groggy to really register what it was that Ai was doing, or the fact that he adjusted his pump, otherwise he might have been more nervous. But it was too early in the morning to panic beyond being scared awake my their Manager. “Eien-san woke me up…”

He shook his head slowly, running his hands through his red-brown hair and rolling off of his futon. He did not bother to take his blanket with him, though he slept with nothing but his underwear on. They were all men, they all saw people naked more often than most people did. Even Ai, who was brand new, should be able to deal with someone as pretty as Rai walking away from them and wearing no pants or shirt.

“Dunno,” he answered Ai’s question about the time. “Guess it must be almost seven, if Eien’s that angry. The guests’ll be here any minute and we’re not fed yet.” He laughed lightly, even as he winced, running his hand gingerly over his side. Just as he had thought. The bruise on his side was large, considering the size of the heel that had struck him, and such a dark blue it was nearly black. She really had hit him hard… absentmindedly he wondered if he’d cracked a rib. “Ne, Ai, you have some pain meds somewhere around here…?”

Kami watched in amusement as the manager rushed around, snapping like he was in the worst mood of all worst moods. "Calm down, Ushio-chan," the number one host - or as far as he could tell for now - called, walking over and putting a gentle hand on Eien's shoulder. "It's not like the guests are going anywhere."

He opened up the oven, pulling the pancakes out and taking one for himself. He couldn't afford to eat too much - he had to drink quite a bit later.

Looking around, he paused. "Wasn't the busboy supposed to start hosting tonight..." he mused, as he chewed on his pancake. He glanced at Eien, realizing the manager had forgotten something rather crucial. "Yah, Ushio-chan, the rankings," Kami said lazily. "The customers gotta know who's the most expensive tonight." He managed to speak quite well despite the food disappearing rapidly down his throat. He finished eating, drinking water to make the food go down easier.

Kami was ready.




Natsu looked over at Rai, as he tucked his kit into his pocket and started changing out of his tank top and boxers into his new smarter clothes. His fingers shook with nerves. Tonight was going to be his first night as a host. After six months of busboying and cleaning up and learning...Natsu was finally ready to be one of the hosts. He knew he was at the bottom of the rankings - he had no named guests after all, and Natsu doubted he would get any for a while. He sighed, as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Ah..." he dug around in his suitcase, pulling a small container of pain killers out and tossing it at Rai.

"Not too many," he warned. Technically, Natsu wasn't even supposed to be taking the pain killers, because of his diabetes. But he found painkillers helped him get to sleep a lot faster. Frowning in concern at the bruise on Rai's skin, Natsu crossed over, ghosting his cold fingers over the bruise.

"Be careful with that tonight," he cautioned. "It'll hurt more tonight...."

Ryuu smiled to himself as the hosts began to file into the room, continuing to peel and slice his apple directly into his mouth. He was careful not to allow any of the juice to drip on his outfit, knowing that a messy host was a cheap host. And, at the current, Ryuu was anything but a cheap host. He took only a single pancake, wanting to make sure there was enough for everyone.

"Wasn't the busboy supposed to start hosting tonight..."

Ryuu nodded in response to this. He himself had been awaiting Ai's appearance. Even subtly, each host had their own theme by the way they dressed. Ryuu was curious as to how the newest member would choose to present himself and what talent he would use to capture attention. He noticed many small messages about people that were often overlooked, including the fact they Eien cared more than he was willing to admit. At this, Ryuu chuckled and slid the deck of cards out of his chest pocket, carefully checking once again that they were all there and in place. "He will be here shortly, give the boy some faith. I'm sure he's nervous. Not everyone is as natural as you are, Kami."

"Yah, Ushio-chan, the rankings," Kami said lazily. "The customers gotta know who's the most expensive tonight."

At this, Ryuu paused and placed his cards down to gance at the manager. Yes, that had been forgotten. Although the ranking was not overly important to Ryuu, it was nice to be appreciated for his work. For the most part, he genially enjoyed being a host and the company of the other hosts. But still, to say that he wasn't curious would be a blatant lie. "Aye, you must be getting forgetful in your old age, Ushio-sama. No wonder you find yourself entering our clients," he joked gently.

Daichi mentally slapped himself at the way he had forgotten about the rankings so quickly. He could only stay quiet as Kami spoke about the new host, only a smirk craved his lips. A quiet laugh cutting his voice from it's silence only to be hushed once more as Ryuu spoke. 'Now, to only text Miami about Mizuki...' Daichi thought quietly as he began to text once more.

He thoughts as they went on from Mizuki and Miami, we're cut off as Ryuu commented on Eien being old. Wasn't the man only 27 or something? Did Ryuu want a death wish, because at this moment, Daichi looked nervous for the boy. Putting his phone away with a small smirk once more as his sister texted back.

"Aye aye!" Daichi groaned, misreading his text as he took it back out and reread it. "Leave it to Miami-chan to let Mizuki-chan drive on her first time to the red light district. Now their lost..." Daichi groaned out look annoyed. "Looks like they may be late." Daichi muttered, only to look at Kami quickly. "Mind telling my sister to never ever let Mizuki drive?" Daichi joked slightly as he took out a pancake and ate it quickly before texting again.

Daichi stared at the next text message he received, a smile craving on his lips as a laugh came out. "Eh, such air heads..." Daichi said with a smile, scratching the back of his head. Daichi blushed slightly, forgetting he was in the room with others. Quickly, he recovered as he texted back and shut off his phone.

Daichi could only wonder what customers little Ai would get, even though Dachi felt he shouldn't care, he ended up caring always in the end.

Eien huffed softly in irritation at Ryuu's comment on his age. Ridiculous... the man was completely ridiculous. Yes, Eien had done a lot in his life, and yes, he had a lot of responsibilities. Running this host club was chaos, and the hosts he had hired only made his job harder. Still... no one had ever started to lose their memory at the age of twenty-seven, at least as far as he had heard.
"Shut up," he advised Ryuu shortly. "And you too, Kami-kun. I think we all know who's most expensive."

The answer, of course, was Eien, with Kami coming in close second. It had been that way since the club had opened - Eien and Kami having been the first hosts to serve at Chihana - and no one could really see a change in the near future.
Still, for the sake of the guests, he needed to re-organize the host-book.

Striding over to a table in the far corner, he picked up the big binder which held Chihana's information. Menus for snacks and drinks, and their prices, brochures for the club's planned special events, and most importantly....
The host pages. Small pamphlets, one for each host, containing their names and details and all sorts of beautiful pictures. These were what the customers looked at when they selected a host for the first time. Eien snatched the binder up and carried it back to the rest of the group, pulling out the pamphlets and laying them on the table for everyone to see. He left his own pamphlet in the binder, at the front - that was where his would stay. He was the Manager, after all, and there was a reason he could afford to run his own club.

"First rank, Kami-kun," Eien declared, snatching up Kami's pamphlet and slipping it back over the rings. "Second, Daichi-kun. Then Ryuu-kun, then Rai-kun. And, of course, our newest addition, Ai-kun."
He pulled out a fresh new pamphlet, nearly empty, and slipped it last over the rings, snapping the metal loops shut.
"Any questions?" he asked irritably. "Where are those two, anyways?"
__________________________________________________



"Thanks," Rai mumbled, taking the bottle of pills from Ai. He flinched slightly when Ai touched the bruise, but didn't protest, nodding at the boy's comments. "Yeah, I know," he sighed. "I can't imagine what it's gonna be like if it hurts like this now..."

Slowly shaking his head, he read through the label on the bottle. Of course... he had the worst look. Didn't anyone make a painkiller that could be taken with alcohol? Even an off-the-shelf one to sell to hosts...?
Sighing, he passed the painkillers back to Ai.
"You're not going to be able to use those anymore," he observed. "From this day on you don't end your nights sober. At least, not completely."

Kami watched with satisfaction as his pamphlet was put in the sleeve where it belonged. He doubted it would move from there this night. Even if there were plenty of undecided customers coming, Kami was confident in his ability to throw his line and catch them in his net. He chuckled quietly, as Eien complained about their two newest hosts not being in the kitchen.

"Well, Ai has diabetes and Rai went to sleep pretty wasted last night," Kami mused as he fixed his appearance in a nearby mirror. There seemed to be mirrors everywhere. "Either way, it doesn't matter to me." He shrugged, before heading out of the kitchen and making his way down onto the main floor. He looked around - the club was pretty much a ghost town without any guests or any other hosts.

He walked around, trailing his finger down the granite of the bar in his hosting area, before rearranging some of the cushions and the flowers. He hummed quietly to himself, as he smiled almost tenderly at the keyboard in the corner of the room. Perhaps he'd play a song tonight. Or paint a picture. Or just talk. Mm....That was part of the beauty of Kami's hosting. He never really planned in advance. Depending on which guests showed up, Kami would display different talents. But whatever it was that he did, he was always positive that his guests were going to enjoy it. That was his job, here at the host club. To take his clients away from their normal lives, and bring them into a world where he, a god in human flesh, lavished attention on them like they were the only ones in the world.

A sudden flash of anger made the bile rise in Kami's throat.

Was this all he wanted with his life?

Clenching his hand into a fist, Kami nodded firmly.

Yes. Yes it was.




Ai nodded. "I know how much you hosts have to drink every night." His voice was quiet, quivering slightly. No. He wasn't scared. That was a lie. Ai bit his lip, forcing himself to stop. He was Ai now. Not Natsu. Ai. But wait. Wasn't Ai the fragile one? Ugh. Confusion. No. Think straight. Think...straight. One thing at a time. Natsu now, Ai when he got downstairs. Yeah. That should be easy enough.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Natsu finished buttoning up his shirt. "We should head to the kitchen," he said to Rai. "Before Eien-sama gets mad at us..."

Natsu didn't want to start his first night as a host off badly. He needed Eien to help him. He needed the manager to watch him and to make sure he didn't do anything wrong. Mostly, though, he needed the manager to make sure he didn't kill himself...

Ryuu

Ryuu smiled calmly in satisfaction as the rank were listed. He was pleased with his rank in third place. By not being the most expensive, he could still fetch a few new clients while not losing his old that could no longer afford the charge. Yes, this was good. He stood up and brushed the possible crumbs from his lap, a mysterious smile brushing his lips. "Very well, Ushio-sama. I will now take my leave of you. May the rest of your day be stress free and pleasant," he mused, bowing in respect to his manager. Straightening his back, he motioned a wave to the others in the room. "Sayounara (Good bye), my friends," he said with a smile as he left the room and descended to the Chihana.

As usual, tonight was a mystery as to who would be showing up for him to host. The mentioning of new clients interested him. The type of women that invested in the club were always a sort of surprise to him. It seemed the richer they were, the more that they expected from the hosts. On the way into the club, he slipped a rose into his breast pocket and fingered the petals softly as he nestled into his spot and awaited for his clients to arrive. Beautiful, he thought gently, pondering the flower.

Kikio Mio

Kiko entered the club nervously, her brown hair obsessively falling in front of her face. The transition from the cool outside to the warm club fogged her glasses, causing her to blink in surprise. Quickly she took they off and cleaned the think lenses, her brown eyes squinting to see without them. The was a pretty girl, but one would never suspect so behind her ancient spectacles that covered much of her face. "Aye," she sighed, realizing that she had failed to remove her laboratory coat before leaving the lab. This coat was like her second skin. She was a well renowned scientist, dedicated to her work. Perhaps too dedicated, leaving the girl introverted and alone. She replaced the glasses on her face and slipped out of the coat, draping it possessively over her arm. She glanced around the room, a small, nervous smile spreading across her face. Money was not an issue for the scientists. Finding company besides her lab specimen was. "Kami," she called softly to her named host, raising her arm up and then dropping it quickly to hold her hands protectively over her chest and lab coat. "Are you. . . are you busy?" She looked down, pushing her glasses back up on the bridge of her nose.