♡ KILL KILL FALL IN LOVE ♡

Leo Hazuki, SHSL Host Affiliated with Archive of Despair 2

[shsl-networker]

Mind your own business | Leo

[shsl-networker]

"Thank you… I think. This isn’t normal… for me."

"Don’t get it in your head for a second it is."

[shslhostclub]

Leo paused for a second, a bit surprised at Manga's reaction. Perhaps he was bracing for the worst, yet the networker seemed to be thinking quite rationally despite all that had just happened. He wasn't sure just what it was about the whole situation that was making him feel like it, but something about it just made Leo feel oddly pleased and he couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"...heh heh. Man, you're a lot cooler than I thought you were."

He had never thought much of Manga aside from, well, mildly invasive, but he was surprisingly resilient. Sure, he hadn't exactly had the most graceful reaction coming straight out of the secret reveal, but he could see now the gears turning in the other teen's head. They weren't pleasant things to be thinking about, judging from his expression. Yet the fact that he was willingly confronting them rather than running from them impressed Leo. Although, based on the way he had phrased that admiration, it may not have come across all too well. He could only hope that he hadn't offended Manga in saying it.

However, he could still clearly see that Manga wasn't quite done dealing with all of his problems, but he wasn't exactly in the position to be provoking all the internalized anger he was likely holding right now. No, he would much rather leave it on a happier note than have it all crash down in front of him.

"Wouldn't think this is normal, either. I'll promise to keep this secret if you don't let anyone know that I'm actually a huge weenie who likes to give motivational speeches...?"

The host extended his hand out for a handshake as though to seal the deal - hoping that the action would please a networker who had likely done the same countless times before. It was a small gesture, but it seemed oddly fitting to him in the moment.

[shsl-networker]

Mind your own business | Open

...

"…WHAT-!?" He snapped at the person, hardly even paying attention to who it was. 

"Your timing - let me be frank, IS SHIT. Get out of the way!!” His tone was clipped as he hand-waved them to move aside. If Manga was previously a snake in a grass, then this was definitely the cobra rearing up and spitting venom.

[shslhostclub]

Leo turned around yet another corner and let out yet another disappointed sigh. That Manga kid was faster than he looked.

He wasn't quite sure what it was that had compelled him to start the search in the first place, but seeing the networker's secret in particular made him feel like he had an obligation to try and find him. Not that he could actually do anything about that choice now - the other student had bailed before anyone could process what was going on and now Leo was stuck wandering the halls in a fruitless search.

Well, that was the case, at least, until he rounded the next corner and found himself facing the same man he had been looking for. Before the host could say anything, however, Manga was already blowing up at him. Leo bit his tongue for and held back from saying anything impulsive. He had already come this far and he was going to say what he had to.

"Well, I can see that timing's not my strongest point."

He sighed and shook his head.

"Alright, look. I'm not going to try and stop you from being upset, but about who you used to be and all that..."

"...who cares?"

It probably wasn't the kindest way to say it, but Leo wasn't planning on stopping to rephrase himself.

"Yeah, maybe that's who you were once upon a time. The point is that you decided you were going to change and you went out and damn well did it. Not everyone starts out with their name already made out for them, but if you can go out and make one for yourself then who the hell cares who you used to be?"

[vrumivrumi]

Rain From the Cloud Watcher's Eyes | (Team Challenge Reaction, Leo)

[vrumivrumi]

...

Rumi finally dropped her calm façade. It was time to stop denying how sad she was, because it wouldn’t make Leo worry any less. The tears fell harder and she began to sob tremulously again.

"O-Okay, ok-kay, I’ll s-stop stalling… Let’s g-go…"

At last, she took his hand.

"Thank you, H-Hazuki-kun…"

[shslhostclub]

A grin crawled across Leo's face and he took her hand without a word, hoping that his actions would say enough for him. He kept his hand wrapped around hers as he helped her up and turned to lead her back to the building. He kept the umbrella perched over her head, getting some of his shoulder wet in the process but hey - it wasn't like he had much to lose at this point.

Despite his normally talkative nature, Leo continued to keep quiet as they plodded through the island, only facing Rumi occasionally to look as though he were about to begin speaking, then turning away just as suddenly. He continued on the trek in silence, breaking it only when the duo arrived inside, safe and sound. He slowly let go of her hand and turned to face her.

"...looks like we've arrived. You should probably get changed first. I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself if a pretty girl like you caught a cold just because I couldn't get you here fast enough."

His words were ones that he would normally say, but his voice was noticeably softer than usual.

[vrumivrumi]

Rain From the Cloud Watcher's Eyes | (Team Challenge Reaction, Leo)

[vrumivrumi]

...

Rumi slowly stood up from the seat of the swing so as not to splash the host on accident. He was one of the only dry ones. It’d be bad to put that to waste, huh? “Really… W…hy the sad face? I like the rain…” She was honestly starting to wish he hadn’t seen her at all. Good grief. Guilt-tripping someone was something she never, ever wanted to do. It caused the other party unnecessary discomfort and only made the mood of the situation worse.

Once again she put a smile on. If only it looked genuine with the watery and reddened eyes.

"…I-It really isn’t your fault. I never told… Even… Even then, it w-wouldn’t be your fault… Unless you p-promised to meet… Then it’d be shame on me f-for waiting so long, right? Ha."

[shslhostclub]

Leo's lips pursed, his desire to fix the situation growing stronger by the minute. He instinctively pushed his umbrella over her head despite the fact that she was already soaking, leaving most of his pants exposed to the rain. He sucked in a startled breath at the sensation of cold water running down his calves, but quickly tried to compose himself for the waitress' sake.

"Uh...please, let me at least take you back to dry off then. I can't - I wouldn't want you to stay here. You'll catch a cold."

He paused and balanced the handle of the umbrella between his neck and collar bone to shrug off his outer coat.

"I know it won't get you any drier but...maybe it could keep you warm. At least until we can get you changed out of those clothes."

The host gently draped it over her shoulders. He stepped back, hoping to feel even the slightest bit better, but only found himself struck once again with another pang of guilt. The sight of her bleary eyed, dripping water and buried under his over sized coat like some kind of abandoned puppy probably wasn't good for his heart. Though he knew it wasn't likely his fault, he couldn't help but feel that he had to take responsibility for it.

Realizing whatever he said would do little to ease the situation, he instead simply held out his hand so as to help her off the swing and take her back to the building.

[vrumivrumi]

Rain From the Cloud Watcher's Eyes | (Team Challenge Reaction, Open)

...

At this point, Rumi was shaking, raindrops (or were they teardrops?) flowing down her cheeks. She had no idea how loud her sobs were, or that she had been shivering for the past few minutes. The sound of rain hitting the ground was too overpowering and she was just too cold to feel anything.

She didn’t even notice the presence of someone there until they were directly in front of her. In that case, she looked up. How long had they been at the park? Who even was that? Her eyes were too clouded to tell, so she simply shut them again.

"Oh… H… Hello… F-Fine weather we’re having, huh…?"

She smiled, though it was clear that it was strained.

[shslhostclub]

Great, the one challenge he didn't mind losing and he had won.

Leo glared at the umbrella in his hand, mentally cursing everything. This was the perfect opportunity to win over some hearts. Standing out in the rain, hair slicked back, shirt stuck skin tight against his chest? It was a winning formula and now he had no excuse for it. The host let out a sigh and sent a longing stare out of the nearest window. He supposed that he would at least make use of his prize now that he had made it to the top from the bottom. It only seemed right.

He strode out, opening the umbrella and resting it on his shoulder as he plodded through the rain, not caring much about getting his shoes or pants wet (he still had a change in wardrobe, unlike the last place losers). He wandered on in this fashion for a while, simply taking in the atmosphere of the island while it was slick with rain and not really caring where his body was taking him as long as it was moving. He had managed to wander all the way to the park before he started paying attention.

Leo let out a hum of displeasure. He hadn't meant to go so far, but here he was, a grown man at the entrance of a kids park. Well, he could probably make it back and have enough time for a nap. No skin off his back. Just as he turned to leave, however, he caught sight of someone in the corner of his eyes. Curious, he pursued this vision until he found himself standing in front of the girl he knew as Rumi, the waitress.

Immediately he regretted the fact that he had ever wanted to lose the challenge. Her strained smile sent his heart sinking and his grip tightened around the handle of the umbrella. The smell of fresh rain that he had been enjoying just moments earlier suddenly stung in his lungs with guilt. For a while he stood there as he tried to find the right words to say, his shoes imbedding themselves into the water-laden earth and the rain pattering against the top of his umbrella.

"...sorry. I'm late, aren't I?"

He tentatively drew closer, not wanting to startle her.

"If I had known you were all alone like this, I would have come earlier."

[beautyqueenshsl]

Storms on the Horizon | Leo

[beautyqueenshsl]

...

"You didn’t mean to startle me, so you decided to call out while I was focused on another task and thought I was alone in here? Genius, just genius." Whatever Katsumi had shown that could be interpreted as vulnerability, it had all evaporated now, replaced once again with cold, cutting words. "I’d recommend that you think before you speak. Especially if people are holding knives. This is a mutual killing situation, you know."

[shslhostclub]

The host sighed and furrowed his brow, the gears in his mind turning. He had to be careful if he didn't want to further upset Katsumi. Clearly he was already at a disadvantage and it wouldn't be getting any easier from this point on. He straightened his back and mentally prepared himself for the inevitable onslaught of glares and sarcastic comments that he would be getting.

"...I hadn't realized you were so focused. Not that I'm saying it wasn't my fault, of course."

Noticing her struggle to find something to dry off with, Leo took a sweeping glance around the room and spotted a hand towel not too far off from where he was standing (he must have been blocking it from her view for her not to notice). He picked it up and handed it to her in the most non-threatening manner that he could muster, hoping she wouldn't bite off his hand in the process.

Despite his best attempts to remain calm, he tensed up at the mention of mutual killing. Perhaps his mind had been subconsciously blocking any sort of information related to it up until this point as he hadn't even given it a second thought, but now he was being forced to face it and he clearly wasn't taking it too well.

"...I suppose you're right. I guess I've been trying to avoid until now."

His gaze wandered off to the side and over to the knives. If she had been the one to bring up the topic pf mutual killing, he could only assume she wasn't planning on using those knives for murder. Anyone who had been caught in the middle of doing so would probably have tried to skirt around it as much as possible. No, it was something else, but what?

"So...what was it that you were doing just now, then?"

It had been a question meant for his inner-thoughts, but it had slipped out regardless. He could only hope that she knew he wasn't accusing her of anything.

[shslhostclub]

Punishment || Open starter

[hidingfromthingsfornow]

...

She practically bent over double in an attempt to see that hiding troubled expression, because any genre-savvy individual knew that a hiding person just needed to be comforted in their time of emotional need or something. So she…reached out a curious hand for his glasses like a little kid at an aquarium. She was gonna tap the shit out of those. Tap with a super literal meaning, okay. “Megane-kun sounds like a cool dude. So often we dehumanize the ones that inconvenience us and weigh us down. But we all have motivations for our actions, even badly-thought-out comic book villains, hmm?”

[shslhostclub]

Leo visibly startled at her tapping, clearly caught off guard by the random action. He had never questioned what it felt like to be a fish before, but now he was starting to get a pretty good idea of what it felt like (he could almost feel the faintest sliver of a spiritual connection starting to form). It was enough to rip him out of his melancholy mood, however, and he shifted his focus onto something more positive.

"Oh? I'm glad you think so, Matsura-chan. You're pretty interesting yourself."

Which, unlike certain occasions, was not a lie. Despite his uncertainties earlier, he could see now that the narrator was not nearly as bad as he had expected her to turn out. He felt relieved that there was at least one more decent person in the class that he could turn to when things weren't looking to good. It would probably be a good idea to try and learn more about her while he was at it.

"...I would ask you what the motivation for your actions is but I'm guessing I don't have enough relationship points to unlock that conversation, right?"

[shslhostclub]

Punishment || Open starter

[shslfluffytamer]

...

It was a good idea to do later, though! She could cook some stuff and give to people who were without cafeteria access! Yes, that seemed like a good plan… she grabbed a pack of biscuits and pocky on her way out, too, because his request at dessert was… Well. It was in the back of her mind and she’d rather give him an actual dessert rather than a kiss-!

Coming back with a rather large basin, with all assorted food inside, she offered it to him. She couldn’t get her notepad back without getting this thing off her, and it was rather heavy!

[shslhostclub]

Leo had been planning on playing it off cool, but the moment he saw Kiku walking out with her arms full of food, that chance was completely gone. His expression brightened considerably as he reached over to help her with the load.

"All this? For me?"

He quickly picked up the delivery with ease, silently swapping it for her notepad (his doodle now paled in comparison to what she had brought for him). Without thinking, his hand dove into the pile and brought out the first thing it could get a proper grip on. With skill he didn't know he had, the host unwrapped a sandwich with his free hand and began to eat, trying to hardest to restrain himself from simply shoving everything into his face at once. There was a moment of silence as he chewed and swallowed, then a bright smile crossed his face.

"Delicious! Ah...I'm so happy now, what am I going to do? I really might have to kiss you, you know~"

[beautyqueenshsl]

Storms on the Horizon | Open Starter

...

And so Katsumi ended up in the kitchen (she seemed to be spending an awful lot of time there, if only because there was little else to do on the island) with an entire drawer worth of knives spread out on the counter in front of her. By their side was a sheet of paper. Anyone observing would have seen Katsumi lift a knife, lightly press her fingertip against the blade’s edge, then put it to the side and write onto the paper. She did each action meticulously, completely engrossed in her task.

That was until somebody spoke. She didn’t hear what they said, but it made her jump; not good. Her slight start caused her finger to put a bit too much pressure on the blade, lightly cutting through the skin. It was not a deep cut in any way, and yet within seconds scarlet beads formed on her fingertip. Katsumi bit her lip in annoyance before putting the knife down and making her way to the sink where she began to run her finger under the tap.

She looked over her shoulder, fixing the intruder with scrutiny. “Is there anything you need, or did you not see that I was clearly occupied?”

[shslhostclub]

Leo had been plotting his own little rebellion against the dragon that was holding them hostage. Sure, he wasn't allowed in the cafeteria, but the over sized snake had never said anything about the kitchen, right? He snickered softly to himself, believing himself to be some sort of genius for having found the loophole, and confidently strode over to the kitchen, his mood having increased significantly.

Upon his arrival, he was pleasantly surprised by the presence of someone almost as beautiful as he was. Almost.

Unfortunately for the beauty queen, Leo had been blinded by his good mood and managed to completely overlook the fact that she was handling knives. Rather than, say, thinking like a rational human being, the host decided it a wiser idea to call out to the teen so that he could share his good fortune with everyone. Just as he began to speak, however, the girl obviously startled, injuring herself on the blade of the knife (it was only at this point that he realized she had been holding one in the first place).

"Ah - ! I'm sorry, I didn't realize."

The blonde quickened his pace as he made his way over to the sink, clearly distressed that he had done the exact opposite of what a host was supposed to do - cause a girl pain.

"I didn't mean to startle you like that."

He paused and made a gesture towards the sink to indicate the injury on her finger.

"Would you mind if I took a quick look at it?"

[shslhostclub]

Punishment || Open starter

[hidingfromthingsfornow]

...

Absentmindedly she measured her height against his when they were standing side by side. Having accurate measurements was important when she wanted to describe someone in her head, and it was the most important for more hypotheticals. “Personally she thinks that would make a more compelling show. Maybe it would even scare a lot of little girls straight about pining for random attention and cause them to grow up a little bit instead. More documentary-style stuff—not just regular documentary style stuff but the kind of documentary-reality of those really dangerous crab fishing shows. She could see herself getting on board for something like that.”

[shslhostclub]

Leo chuckled lightly. He was starting to almost appreciate her little side comments - they did wonders for lightening up the mood.

"Hm...crab fishing, huh? Sounds like a good idea. Sign me up if you ever get to work on something like that."

"...although I'd say it's not entirely fair to make them go through all that. It's not like the clients are some random women off the street who wander into the host club because they want to be fawned over. Usually it's because they're working a job where they're loved more for their bodies than themselves."

He stopped short of explicitly stating what he meant, knowing that the narrator would be smart enough to pick up on what he was trying to say. He hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his pants and turned his gaze downwards in an attempt to obscure the troubled expression starting to form across his face (hosts were supposed to be some sort of mythical ray of sunshine at all times, after all). When he finally spoke again, his voice was quiet.

"They're good people, really."

[shslhostclub]

Punishment || Open starter

[hidingfromthingsfornow]

...

"It’s like she has to beat people over the head with it for them to notice. I don’t suppose that’s a problem for you, Megane-kun, you just exude your charm and one-liners, right? The Narrator wonders…is real-life hosting anything like the animes? Does he get asked that question a lot? Is it perhaps the most common question he actually does get asked? She is in full on documentary mode here, wanting to learn the most about her newfound not-yet-friends, yes yes."

Almost like a counterpoint to Leo, her own stomach gurgled, but she didn’t appear to be the slightest bit embarrassed of it. “…Wizard Needs Food Badly,” was all she said, with her straightest face. Even if her straightest face was still kind of curly around the edges. 

[shslhostclub]

Leo closed his eyes, letting out a thoughtful hum. Well, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to let just one person out of the class know. She was curious enough to find out on her own, anyways, so he might as well just tell her straight up.

"Sure. Hosting is exactly like it is in anime."

"But let's say for a second that - just as an afterthought - hosting isn't all sparkly and happy. Let's say most of the customers are rich, older women who are tired of their husbands or girls who feel like they need to feel loved for who they are. Girls in that second group come in, waste all their money on us, go out to work again to make that money back, then feel empty so they waste their money on us again. They say they love us, then go out to another host club and say the same things and we find out eventually. In the end, everyone is miserable until they come back in for the next visit."

He hesitated, then smiled.

"...hypothetically speaking, of course."

[shslhostclub]

Punishment || Open starter

[hidingfromthingsfornow]

...

She curtsied even after that, somehow managing to make it look sarcastic even tough her bright smile never wavered. “And even if a person is friendly, becoming their friend is a little harder to get a hold of than any person should reasonably expect, right? …Right. It’s a Title. Not a descriptor. Like The Narrator. Not given out lightly.”

Well, that was an oddly dour route to take things. Even so, she joined him without a qualm at the cafeteria door like she was intending to set up a stakeout here for as long as possible with him. Everyone knew that when places to go were restricted, the murder would happen in that place soon after. Maybe she’d be exonerated on that basis. That would be a nice sore wa chigau yo to throw out in trial. “Hey, hey, what do you do, anyway, Megane-chan?”

[shslhostclub]

There it was again.

She was doing that thing where he couldn't possibly say anything in return. He was starting to wonder if he should start to make a tally for every time this happened during their stay here. Normally he would have laughed it off, but he didn't even dare to do that lest it turn into a high-pitched nervous cackle. At least her next line of thought was a little more normal.

"Mm...right, right. I see where you're coming from. Well, hopefully I'll be able to rightfully earn that title. We'll see where it takes us in the future."

The tone of the conversation was considerably more somber than what he was used to, but if such sad conversation was what gave him a break from her usual nonsense, he would talk about kids with terminal illnesses all day to make it happen (although...there was a chance that she might find that entertaining - he was never too sure with this one).

"Ah, I'm the SHSL Host, by the way. You know, host clubs and all that."

He paused for a moment.

"...I would ask you for your title, although I think I've already got a good grip on what you do."

[shslhostclub]

Punishment || Open starter

[shslfluffytamer]

...

And then… That sly smile appeared and she blinked, but didn’t even have time to think before he said that. Oh god. Oh god! She felt herself burning up to the tip of her ears- was he flirting with her?! Wh… What does she do upon that?! She looked at the notepad- think, Kiku, think! She scribbled hurriedly, then gave her notepad to the blonde boy.

"I’ll be right back!"

And she fled to the kitchen. Such quick escape, Kousuke has a challenger.

[shslhostclub]

Leo shot her retreating figure a small, self satisfied smile as she left. Quiet, shy people were either a pain in the ass or a walk in the park and it seemed as though the lavender haired girl was of the latter category. This came as somewhat of a relief, seeing as though some of the other teens present were already starting to give him a hard time.

But now that she was gone, all he could do was wait. He turned the notepad over in his hands a few times, flipping a few pages back, but not enough to be intruding on her privacy. He stared at the message she had so hastily scrawled onto the paper before giving it to him and rushing off. He could see a space at the bottom, and, seeing as though he was starting to get bored of waiting, he decided it would be a good idea to doodle. Why not?

With the art skills of an elementary school student, the host drew a cartoon lion to represent his name: Leo. Although it wasn't nearly as handsome as he was...to correct this, the host changed it's left eye into a standard ladykiller wink and added a circle of sparkles and flowers around it (and a pair of glasses, just so it would match with him at that particular moment).

He held the notepad away from his face at arms length and nodded in satisfaction. Perfect. Now he would have something to give to the girl in return when she got back.

[shslhostclub]

Punishment || Open starter

[shslfluffytamer]

...

Oh- it seemed like he noticed her rather quickly when she started to walk in his direction. And… He seemed to have a sparkle in his eyes? Maybe he was just really hungry… She felt bad. She was sure of this when she heard his question, though, and gave a shy nod. Then, she picked her notepad and scribbled on a empty page

"May I get something for you?"

[shslhostclub]

Ah...sweet salvation. Thankfully Leo's knight in shining armor seemed to be willing to help out (although not very willing to speak; he wasn't going to be picky about that, however). Though he was ready to ramble off a list of foods he would be willing to eat, he held back, not wanting to seem too desperate. Instead, he shot the girl a casual grin and tried to keep his voice smooth and steady.

"Oh, thank you. I'm not too picky so feel free to grab whatever would be easiest for you. "

He paused for a moment, a sly smile starting to spread across his face. He wasn't sure who this girl was, but if he had the opportunity to try and win someone over he would take it for sure.

"And for dessert...perhaps a kiss?"

Damn. It hurt to be so smooth.

[shslhostclub]

Punishment || Open starter

[hidingfromthingsfornow]

...

"An-y-way," she sing-songed, popping one hip and staring at her own nails in a terrible impression of a totally random beauty queen archetype that could be anyone, "Yep, same boat, that just crashed into an iceberg and is going aaaaaallll the waaaay down. We’re the captains that are obligated to go down with it. The Narrator sticks out a cute little hand for shaking! Oftentimes she goes by the name…Matsura Ameya! Well, most of the time. Show business. The blonde one knows how it is, probably. She assumes."

The whole time she was coiling one very long strand of hair around her finger and chewing on her lip trying to parse his word choice. “Ah, is the blonde one trying to butter her up? Take her advice, she cannot be swayed by word or deed. Also, she needs a name rather than a noun, because constant use of those is an annoying stylistic choice.”

[shslhostclub]

Leo decided he would just have to accept the whole narration quirk for now, seeing as though he wasn't nearly intelligent enough to come up with an alternate strategy right on the spot. Despite his best attempts to respond to her nonchalantly, however, slight hints of confusion would appear every now and then.

"Matsura Ameya? It's nice to meet you. I'm Hazuki Leo, but don't be afraid to be friendly and call me by my first name."

He reached over and gave her hand a firm shake before addressing her again.

"I must admit I'm a bit disappointed that I can't win you over. Just friends for now then, yes?"

Honestly, he was doubting his abilities to deal with this girl. She probably wasn't lying in that she didn't seem like the type who would want to get romantically entangled with him. Still, if there was a possibility to bridge some kind of connection he would take it. A platonic relationship was better than having no relationship, after all.

[shslhostclub]

Punishment || Open starter

[hidingfromthingsfornow]

...

"And then she shoots back up to normal posture, hair making a magnificent cascade in the air and probably whapping her poor conversational maybe-partner upside the face. These are dangerous follicles. Not sentient or anything, but close!" That was also more true than it had any right to be. Her and her ridiculous goddamn hair. "As for that important as hell question…she taps her chin thoughtfully like an aging scholar poring over this ridiculously difficult translation, only to flip the table and send fragile original ancient Greek texts everywhere.” She even makes a little flipping motion with one hand to accompany this, though it doesn’t touch anything.

"…Sadly, The Narrator was part of that sad runner-up team that got her hours restricted on the basis of being ooonly second place—despite her carrying the team, really, like a firefighter heroically taking an unconscious kid out of a burning building only to get crushed by a falling bit of ceiling just as he’s about to escape. So she can’t get in there right now. Tough toenails, man.”

[shslhostclub]

Leo could only watch on with a sense of confusion so strong it was nearly tangible. For once in his life, he had no idea what to say. He held his hands out in a gesture that looked as though he were about to initiate conversation, but failed to find the words in time and instead looked as though he were holding some kind of invisible baby that was probably also confused as hell. He didn't even flinch when the narrator's hair whipped up to smack him across the face since his mind was still busy trying to process what was going on.

For a moment he could only stand there, his mouth slightly agape. A moment of silence passed. Then, as though nothing had happened, the host broke out of his trance to address the girl.

"What a shame. It looks like we're in the same position then."

He let out a sigh and gently shook his head, hoping desperately that she just hadn't heard his stomach growl. He hurriedly tried to cover it up by speaking again.

"At least I got to have a moment to speak to you out of this. May I ask what your name is?"

[shslhostclub]

Punishment || Open starter

Leo let out yet another sigh as he lingered outside the doors of the cafeteria.  He had tried to distract himself from his hunger with a nap, but upon waking up, his half-asleep mind had led his body on instinct to the source of his suffering. He could almost hear the food mocking him from the inside and he was starting to actually feel hurt by these hypothetical insults.

"Ah...you're so cruel..."

At first, he had tried to take the punishment in stride, but he had forgotten how many times a day a human had to eat before feeling satisfied. It wasn't as though he could have done anything about it, though. Being a host wasn't exactly the most mentally stimulating thing to do and he had found himself struggling to keep up during the team competition.

The host paused to adjust his glasses (he had long since removed his contacts so that he could sleep comfortably) as he stared longingly into the gap between the doors. He reached his hand out to rest it on the cafeteria door, his expression and general demeanor more similar to someone waiting outside of an emergency room where a loved one was receiving surgery than a hungry teenager.

Thankfully, luck would have it that someone was heading towards the cafeteria (or at least in its general direction) at that very moment. Leo perked up and turned towards the newcomer, hoping they would at least have indirect access to food. Though he tried to maintain his composure, he was quite clearly excited by this possibility.

"Oh, hello! I was wondering if you had access to the cafeteria, by any chance."