Chapter 18 | The Host Club goes on a safari adventure!

~Kaoru's POV~

"Okay," Hikaru whispered the next morning as he put his hand on my shoulder. "here's the plan, it's a classic wingman move: I can pay someone to rough up Arabella a little bit, and then you, my brother, will go in, beat the hell outta the guy, and save Arabella! Therefore becoming her hero! How's it sound? Great, right?"

I groaned and removed Hikaru's hand from my shoulder. "Enough already! For the last time, I don't have feelings for Arabella. Okay? And you are most definitely NOT gonna pay someone to scare the shit out of her! Got it?" I said.

Hikaru groaned and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Fine."

"Alright everyone," our guide said as we packed up for the safari. "We're getting ready to move! The African Safari Adventure will be starting soon! Get ready for a day of fun!"

Honey smiled and clapped happily.

"This is so exciting! Isn't it, my little girls?" Tono said.

"Yeah! I can't wait to go on the safari and explore part of Africa!" Arabella said.

"Thanks for bringing us all on this trip, Senpai. We really appreciate it." Haruhi said.

Tono smiled brightly. "Anything for my little girls!" he chirped. "Of course, I could've done without the shady twins coming..."

Hikaru and I glared at him. "Hey!" we both said.

Tono shrugged. "It's the truth. Both of you twins constantly harass my precious little girls! Well, no more! From now on, I've got my eye on you two...!" he said.

Kenji rolled his eyes at Tono. "Tamaki, cut it out. Hikaru and Kaoru aren't doing anything wrong." he said.

"B-But, Uncle Kenji...! When we're at school, they both harass my daughters! Especially Kaoru!" Tono said.

"I don't harass anyone!" I stated.

"You harass Arabella!" Tono said.

My cheeks probably went full-on pink. "N-No I don't! Do I, Arabella???" I said.

"Uh, no, he does NOT harass me in any way, shape, or form. Tamaki's just... a little bit delusional..." Arabella said. Tono gasped.

"They-They've brainwashed my little girl!!!" he exclaimed.

Kenji sighed at his nephew. "God, you're a weird kid..." he mumbled.

Tono stared up at his uncle in disbelief.

"He is a weird one, isn't he?" Hikaru said.

"Yes, Tamaki is quite... unique I believe is the word I'm looking for." Kyoya said.

"Ha! You're so weird, Tama-chan!" Honey said. Mori nodded.

"I-I am NOT...!" Tono protested.

Daniel leaned over towards Arabella. "Your friends are weird..." I heard him whisper. Arabella just chuckled.

"Yeah, they are. But that's what makes them awesome. Weird people are the best people." she replied. I smiled at her response.

Suddenly, our guide appeared again. "Okay everyone, into the Jeeps and we'll get started on our adventurous safari!" he said.

We split into two groups and got into the two Jeeps that were waiting for us.

Hikaru and I ended up with Arabella, Haruhi, Daniel, Mrs. Hashimoto, and Kyoya.

In the other Jeep was Tono, Honey, Mori, and Kenji.

Our guide cleared his throat. "Okay, everyone, make sure to keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. We're entering a place where wild animals roam and we wouldn't want anyone to get eaten. Now would we?"

"No, we most definitely wouldn't." Mrs. Hashimoto said.

Our guide nodded. "As I thought. I will show you the savanna, just please don't exit the vehicle." he said.

We all nodded.

Our guide smiled. "Okay, good. Let's go then! On to the safari!"

We began driving, the second Jeep following behind us.

Suddenly, Honey pointed at something and shouted, "Look, guys! Is that a lion?!"

We all looked at what he was looking at.

It was a lion.

And it was practically ripping apart some poor animal that was now its dinner...

Honey turned pale.

We all watched the gore. Tono looked as if he might faint.

"Awesome!" Daniel said.

"Daniel Hashimoto, quit it." Mrs. Hashimoto snapped at her son.

Tono wobbled a bit. "So much blood and gore..."

"Uck..." Haruhi mumbled as she and Arabella watched the lion.

"That's disgusting..." Arabella said.

"It's the circle of life," Hikaru shrugged. "Everything out here is trying to survive, and in order to do that, they have to eat each other. I don't see the problem with it."

"What is wrong with you, you shady twin?!" Tono screeched, obviously mortified at what the lion was doing.

Hikaru just rolled his eyes. "What's wrong, boss? Can't take a little blood and gore?" he said before he turned to me. "Pathetic, isn't it, Kaoru?"

I shrugged. "I dunno... I have to agree with the boss on this one... It's kinda gross..." I admitted.

Hikaru glared. "You're only saying that because you're siding with Arabella! What a shock...!" he said.

My eyes widened. "I am NOT siding with her...! I would NEVER side with her...!!!" I said.

Arabella shot me a glare.

"E-Er... Uh... Th-That's NOT what I meant...! I swear...!" I said.

Arabella sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Shady twin! Quit being mean to my daughter!" Tono snapped.

"I-I wasn't trying to--"

"We're here!" our guide interrupted me as we approached a hiking trail.

We all got out of the Jeeps and looked around.

"Is this where we'll be hiking???" Honey asked.

Our guide nodded. "Yes, you will get to explore some of the savanna! But be careful, we don't want anyone getting lost or eaten!"

"Well that's comforting...!" Haruhi said sarcastically.

Soon, we began our hike.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh...! My legs feel like they're about to break off...!" Tono whined as we walked on.

"Boss, we've only been walking for about seven minutes...!" Hikaru and I pointed out.

Tono glared at us. "Shut it, you shady twins."

"Don't worry, everyone! We'll be coming upon the waterfall soon!" our guide said.

"Finally!" Daniel said.

Mrs. Hashimoto nudged him. "Don't be rude...!" she said.

Daniel just rolled his eyes before saying under his breath, "Nag, nag, nag..."

"I heard that, Daniel."

Daniel coughed.

Eventually, after about ten more minutes of walking, we came upon the waterfall.

"Woah..." we all said as we looked at it.

It was large, beautiful, and glorious. It was probably the biggest waterfall I've ever seen.

The perfect place to swim.

Daniel smiled and began to take off his clothes, revealing his swim trunks. "I don't know about y'all, but I'm going swimming...!" he said before he took a running start and dived into the water.

About five seconds later, he surfaced and smiled wildly. "That was awesome!" he shouted.

Soon, everyone else was jumping in.

"Hey, Arabella! Haruhi!"

Arabella and Haruhi turned to face Hikaru and me.

"Yeah?" Arabella asked.

Hikaru and I held up two bikinis. "Remember these...?"

Haruhi and Arabella's eyes widened at the sight of the same bikinis Hikaru and I tried to make them wear on our trip to Okinawa; the light pink bikini with ruffles for Haruhi, and the red bikini with a small yellow flower on the side for Arabella.

Both girls immediately shook their heads. "Nuh-uh, no way." they said together.
"Come on...! You ladies would look mighty fine in these...!" Hikaru and I tried to persuade them.

"I can't believe you two somehow managed to bring those..." Haruhi mumbled.

"I don't know how they do it..." Arabella muttered.

Hikaru smirked. "We have our ways~! Now, come on..."

"... it's bikini wearin' time~!" I sang.

Both girls winced.

Arabella then suddenly smirked at us.

Huh?

"Daddy!" she cried.

Tono instantly appeared by her side. "Yes, my daughter?!" he said.

Arabella pointed an accusing finger at Hikaru and me. "Th-They're trying to sexually harass me...! Please save me, daddy...!" she fake-whined.

Tono's eyed immediately softened at her before he glared at us. "Hikaru! Kaoru! How dare you two try and sexually harass one of my little girls?! If one of you so much as lays one finger on even ONE of my little girls, I will END YOU!!!" he shouted.

Jeez...

"You can't stop us, Tono!" Hikaru said.

"Yeah! Besides, you'd think you'd be grateful to us since we're putting Haruhi in a girly, pink bikini..." I said. Tono instantly turned red, just as I knew he would.

"And we all know you'd definitely wanna see that~!" Hikaru sang.

Tono turned redder. "Y-Yes... I really want to see--" he fantasized before he cut himself off. "N-No...! I will NOT let you two shady twins take over my brain...!!!"

"Come on, boss, we know you wanna see it. And anyway, there's no shame in wanting to; it's a thing all guys want at some point, you're just starting early because you're just that much more perverted." Hikaru said. Arabella snorted under her breath.

"Yeah, even pervs deserve their manly needs met at some point." I added.

"Um... ew..." Haruhi said.

"Y'all are nasty...!" Arabella said as she struggled to keep from laughing.

"See, Tono? You should listen to Kaoru and take his word for it; after all, no one but Kaoru himself knows how much guys want their needs met. I mean, he's been fantasizing about Arabella in a bikini since... Wow... It seems like forever now... Yes, that's right, it was since forever!" Hikaru said.

I turned redder than Tono. "W-What?! Don't you dare, Hikaru...!!! Don't you dare turn this on me...!" I studdered.

Hikaru shrugged. "Turn what on you, Kaoru? I'm just simply stating the facts. That's all." he said innocently.

I glared at him.

Does he EVER get enough of this??? Like, EVER?!

Arabella turned red as well.

This time, Haruhi began to chuckle a bit.

"Will you ever stop, Hikaru? Huh? Will you???" I asked.

"Hm... Lemme think about that one for a second... Uh...," Hikaru said before he was silent for about three seconds. "nope. Not at all."

I groaned. "Ugh, WHY???"

"Because, I won't stop until Kaobella is a thing!"

This time, Arabella groaned.

Tono covered his ears. "La, la, la, la, la, la, la...!!! I can't hear you...! I can't hear you, Hikaru, you and your crazy accusations...!!! Kaobella will never happen!!! I'll make sure of it!" he blabbed. "Kaobella is the Titanic, and I am the iceberg! I will sink this ridiculous ship before it ever comes to pass!!!"

"Please do, Senpai..." Arabella said.

"You all are crazy..." Haruhi mumbled under her breath, which didn't mean we didn't all hear her.

"We're not crazy, we're just creative," Hikaru stated. Then he nudged Arabella. "Right, Arabella?"

"Uh, I'm not in this," Arabella said. Then, she glared at my brother. "Oh, and stop shipping Kaoru and I!"

Hikaru crossed his arms and huffed. "No way! You two are meant to be. And, when you two eventually get married, I'll be at the wedding and I'll say, 'I told you so'! Because I did!" he said. Both Arabella and I rolled our eyes.

Suddenly, Honey and Mori approached us, soaking wet with water. "Hey, everyone! There's a huge cliff that you're allowed to jump off of into the water! It's so much fun! You should try it! Takashi and I just did!" Honey said.

Mori nodded.

"I'm not one for heights..." Tono muttered.

Hikaru and I leaned over near his ear. "Are ya' sure about that, boss?" Hikaru whispered.

"Yeah, I mean, if you decided to man up and jump off the cliff, we both know that'd impress a certain girl..." I whispered.

Hikaru nudged Tono. "Namely, Haruhi."

Tono's eyes immediately widened before he turned pink. Then, he cleared his throat. "Ya' know what? We're in Africa for crying out loud! And opportunities like this don't come along often! And I certainly will not let opportunity pass! I will jump the cliff!" he said confidently.

Haruhi put a hand on his shoulder. "Senpai, are they pressuring you into anything? Because if they are, you don't have to do anything for them." she said.

Tono snorted. "Them? Pressuring me? They wish they could pressure me! Nothing pressures me!" he said. Then he made his way up the cliff.

Hikaru smirked. "This is gonna be great..." he snickered. I smirked back.

"I can't believe milord... Doing this just to impress a girl... Tsk, tsk..." I said.

Hikaru shot me a sideways glance. "Really? You're really saying that? I bet if you were in Tono's shoes and Arabella was the one that needed impressing, you wouldn't hesitate to jump that cliff either."

My eyes widened. "Sh-Shut up, Hikaru...!" I blurted.

Arabella's cheeks were tinted pink.

But Hikaru wouldn't stop. "Ya' know, the boss isn't the only one that needs to man up... I bet you're too scared to jump that cliff... I bet you'd scream like a little girl the whole way down...," Then he leaned into me. "Not to mention you'd totally embarrass yourself right in front of Arabella..."

I didn't know what came over me, but I suddenly found myself saying, "Ya' know what? I'm gonna jump."

Hikaru smirked at this. "Wise choice." he said.

I wanted to slap him.

Arabella suddenly stepped forward. "I think I'll jump too. It sounds fun, actually." she said.

Hikaru patted her on her back. "Be my guest," he said before he turned to me. "Hey, Kaoru, it looks like your girlfriend is jumping with you."

I blushed. The very thought of Arabella being my... my girlfriend...

I blushed harder.

I wanted to slap myself.

"She NOT my freaking girlfriend, Hikaru. Shut it, would you?" I snapped.

"One more word about Kaoru and me, and I'll smack you into tomorrow, Hikaru Hitachiin. Clear?" Arabella said to Hikaru, darkly.

Hikaru simply shrugged. "Clear." he said calmly.

Then, Arabella and I headed up the cliff.

When we got to the top, I looked down...

It was a LONG WAY DOWN...

I gulped.

"I-It's real high, don't you think...?" I studdered nervously.

Arabella must've sensed my nervousness, because she put one hand on my shoulder and said, "Kaoru. Breathe. It's okay, I know it's high, but it's alright. We'll jump together. Okay?"

I nodded. "Uh huh..."

Then, she grabbed my hand. My heart thumped against my chest.

"Okay, let's do this." Arabella said.

Then, I took a deep breath.

And we jumped.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nice job, Kaoru! That was great! Apparently, you aren't such a chicken after all." Hikaru said as Arabella and I emerged from the water.

"Oh, my little girl! Daddy's glad you're safe! I thought that twin might've somehow killed you...!" Tono said.

Really?

"I'm okay. We jumped together." Arabella said.

Hikaru smirked at me and wiggled his eyebrows.

I shot him an immediate glare.

Suddenly, Kenji and Mrs. Hashimoto approached us. "We better get going; it's getting darker faster than we thought it would." Mrs. Hashimoto said.

"Yeah. Come on, kids, it's getting late. Our guide is waiting for us by the Jeeps." Kenji added.

So, we all grabbed our towels, dried off, and headed back.

Once we were in the Jeeps, we drove off back to the hotel.

When we got there, our guide parked both Jeeps and we all headed inside.

Arabella was the last one out of the Jeeps.

"So, did you have fun at the waterfall?" I said.

She nodded. "Definitely. The hike was awesome too."

I nodded. "Good. I had fun too." I agreed.

Arabella smiled. "I'm glad."

"Thanks for jumping with me," I suddenly said. "I'm not too keen on heights."

Arabella shook her head. "No problem. I'm not a real fan of them either." she said.

I helped her unload our hiking backpacks. "Well, thanks. It was actually kind of terrifying up there. I'm not gonna lie." I said.

"Same for me." Arabella said.

Suddenly, a guy approached us. He looked about our age, maybe a bit older. "You need help with your bags?" he asked.

"Uh, no, thank you." I said.

Then, the guy looked at Arabella and smirked. "Well, hello there, gorgeous... What is someone like you doing in a place like this?" he said.

"I... Uh... My friends and I are staying here..." Arabella said.

"Are you? Well, whoever your boyfriend is, he's incredibly lucky to have a babe as hot as you..." the guy said.

Arabella immediately blushed. "I... I don't have a boyfriend..."

The guy's eyebrows shot up. "Really now? Well," he grabbed Arabella's hand. "maybe you and I could go and grab something to eat... and do other things..."

Arabella wiggled her hand out of his grasp. "No thanks..." she said.

The guy grabbed her hand again. "Come on, beautiful, you know you want to."

Arabella snatched back her hand. "Uh, no, I don't."

This time, the guy practically yanked Arabella towards him. "Yes, you do." he hissed.

"Let go of me...!" Arabella said.

The guy smirked. "Not gonna happen."

I grabbed Arabella by the arm and yanked her back towards my body and held her close. "Are you deaf? Because I'm pretty sure she said to buzz off." I snapped.

The guy scoffed. "And who exactly are you? Her bodyguard?"

"No, but I'm her friend. And I personally don't like people who harass my friends. So, buzz off, buddy." I said.

The guy rolled his eyes. "Whatever. There are hotter girls out here anyway." he snapped before he left.

Arabella wiggled out of my hold. "Thanks, Kaoru..."

"No problem. That guy was a douche anyway." I said.

There was silence before I said, "He's wrong you know."

Arabella looked at me. "About what?"

"What he said about there being hotter girls here than you. Because there's not; you're the hottest girl here."

Arabella blushed hard.

So did I.

WHY THE HELL DID I JUST SAY THAT?! What's wrong with me?!

"Um... Uh... Thanks, Kaoru..." Arabella said.

"N-No problem..." I mumbled.

We stood in awkward silence before Arabella spoke up.

"We should probably head inside..."

I nodded. "Yeah, let's do that." I agreed. Then we headed inside the hotel.