Comes up Roses

Chapter 19: The Hopeless Gangster Boy with the Big Heart

Dearest Masae,

Please forgive me.

🌹🌹🌹

Of all the unexpected inquirers the Host Club had received, the one who arrived that day was the most unexpected. And the most disruptive.

Morinozuka was all the buzz, for a change. It was because he had just stabbed a katana through one of the privacy shields they'd put up around the room.

"Mori-senpai!" Tamaki squealed girlishly. Masae and the other Hosts gathered around him at the first sign of violence, partially to block the view of the girls, partially to figure out why their calm Host had gone rogue. "What's wrong?"

"What have we done to offend you!" Cried Hikaru.

"Mori-senpai, we're sorry!" Kaoru added.

Masae considered that it was her own actions that had inspired Morinozuka's violence. She'd opened the final letter that morning, on a whim, and found a cryptic message. Assuming it had been from Morinozuka, she didn't know what it was supposed to mean. But what else could have him frustrated besides some perceived burden of guilt?

"No." Morinozuka said blandly. He pulled back the screen to reveal a boy crouched on the floor. "We have a trespasser."

"A peeping Tom?" Kaoru guessed.

Masae ignored him. "We have a front door you know," she suggested, coming closer to the boy to look at him. He was a grungy, gangster-looking boy. Masae wouldn't be surprised to learn he was a peeping Tom. Her voice was venomous as she asked, "Who are you"

The boy made a low noise in the back of his throat. "Takashi Morinozuka!"

As he threw himself towards the Hosts, Morinozuka's hand shot out to pull Masae behind him. She blinked surprisedly at his broad back. Why had he saved her if they were in some kind of conflict with each other?

"Senpai! Please take me on as your apprentice!" The boy yelled. His rush hadn't been violent. Rather, he began bowing furiously to the third-year.

"Ritsu Kasanoda, 1st year class D," Ootori noted, disregarding the strange scene before him. "Heir to the third-generation head of the Kasanoda Syndicate, the most powerful gang in the Kanto area. He was admitted into Ouran Academy this year. He has long crimson hair, a mean appearance, and few friends. It is said if your eyes meet his, you'll have bad dreams for three months. If you bump into him, you'll end up in the hospital. And talking back to him sends you to an early grave. He is so feared by his classmates that they call him the walking blizzard."

Tamaki cocked his head. "Seriously? But why would a human weapon like yourself want to be apprenticed to Mori-senpai?"

Kasanoda paused in his bowing to look at the rest of the Hosts, possibly seeing them for the first time. "Well, because– look, I may be tough but I'm not a human weapon. I was just born with a face that makes me look mean all the time."

"At least you're aware of it," Masae remarked. He really did look like he was from Hell.

"My pops was a good teacher and he made me a true gangster. That's great and all, but everyone's afraid to come near me. Even my fellas are scared of me. So I'm all alone!" He buried his head in his hands, the very picture of patheticness. "It's like they forget I'm young. I just wanna get out with my fellas and play a game of kick the can!"

"A good game of Kankeri is awesome," Tamaki agreed sagely.

"So that's where Morinozuka comes in," Masae supplied.

"How does he manage to have so many friends?" Kasanoda cried. "I need him to show me! He's just as mean-looking as me! Morinozuka, you're expressionless, distant, and you hardly ever talk. Plus you've got a mug that looks like a watchdog from Hell. So how do you got so many friends? What are you doin' that I'm not? I'm begging you, please teach me your secrets!"