Hide Away

Chapter 18: Common Sense isn't that Common

"The Cultural Exposition, huh?" Setsuko asked herself as she walked down the hallway. Two weeks had passed since the beach chapter, and it was the day of the Cultural Exposition, where choir and drama clubs from a bunch of other schools had been invited. According to Kyoya it was a big event that was hosted annually, which made sense as all the classes and club activities had been canceled that afternoon.

Luckily it wasn't mandatory, so her plan was to go to the club room and take a much-needed nap. The night before she had participated in a late-night newscast and being asked question after question and coming up with answers that would make her fans happy, as well as keep up her Momoko act was exhausting. Not to mention she still had to finish her homework before heading to bed. The sooner she got her nap in, the better it was for her mental state.

She got to the club room and opened the door, only to feel dread the moment she saw who was inside, more specifically were wearing. The rest of the hosts, except Haruhi, were standing there in a knight costume, which meant today was a cosplay day, which also meant they had club activities today.

"Itsuki!" Tamaki exclaimed.

"No." Setsuko said. Despite the beach chapter being a few weeks ago, she still hadn't completely forgiven Tamaki about what he had said. Besides, it was still too much fun to watch as he cowered away from her. She looked towards Kyoya, who was also in some knight attire. "Kyoya, what's happening? I thought club activities were canceled for the exposition."

"They have the option to cancel, it's just not mandatory for them to have activities today. And today I believe we'll get a fair amount of revenue from the visiting students."

"Right, this is all for money. Of course." Setsuko said.

"Now, go change into your costume, it's hanging up in the dressing room." Kyoya said.

Setsuko groaned and trudged towards the back of the room, where she grabbed a bag with her name on it and changed into the costume, a slim silver knight's outfit with golden accents. Under the tasset, there was a dark red pleated skirt. The armor went down to her elbows and from then on, she had gloves that were the same red as the skirt. Next, she had a dark red scarf wrapped around her neck. Finally, she had a sword that went in a scabbard attached at her waist.

"Where's Haruhi?" Setsuko asked as she walked back into the main room and sat on the couch, opposite from where Kyoya was sitting.

"She went to go grab some more coffee for us." Hikaru said.

"Gotcha."

In front of the group, the doors started to open, and everyone straightened up. They all reached their hand to the door and smiled, "Welcome, ladies!"

Tamaki pulled out his sword and held it up vertically. "Well, well, well, I see you ladies are from another school. I certainly hope we haven't startled you. We love first time guests." He put his sword away and walked up to the two, who so far haven't changed their expressions a single time. "I'm glad you've come, princesses. My darlings, even if the world were to be destroyed, I'd put my life on the line as your faithful knight and servant." He knelt down in front of them. "I will protect you."

"Oh my, do you really think you'd be able to protect us? That's awfully arrogant of you, wouldn't you agree?" The girl with long wavy hair said, looking away with a smirk on her face. "You think that's what a woman wants to hear? Well, you're wrong."

Setuko perked up, it looks like one of the girls has some common sense not to fall for Tamaki's poor flirting.

"C'mon, give him a break, Sister Suzuran." The girl with short brown hair said, "Men are just lowly life forms who don't care about anything other than perpetuating their testosterone-laden image. By 'protecting us' he is actually attempting to disguise the fact that he is weak and unable of even protecting himself."