Ouran High School Host Club/Cinderella Fanfic (Kaoru x Reader)

10) Falling In All Sorts Of Ways

"I chopped it off because, honestly, I was tired of dealing with it...." she says, taking a tray of delectable looking cookies. Nodding, you compliment her on how good it looks and admit, "I thought you were a cross dresser." Laughing, she steadies the tray in her hands and says, "no, my dad's a cross dresser, not me."

You grab a tray of tarts (of course) and walk over to the princess infested area while she continues to explain that she let you have the dress since she didn't mind getting into it. So I guess I was right the first time around, you think to yourself, extremely embarrassed for not realizing it sooner.

Looking at the two princes, as you set the tray down, you see that they are exausted. Kaoru has bags under his eyes, but Hikaru looks like he hasn't slept in a week. His hair's a complete mess, his attention span seems to be shorter than usual, and the bags under his eyes are much worse than Kaoru's. What happened to them, you think to yourself in concern as you and Haruhi stand back, waiting for further instructions.

"So the only Princess, or Royal," he adds, giving a few cheery girls a look, "is Princess Ella," he says, slapping his notebook shut. "But why isn't she here," immediately questions Kaoru, and Kyoya responds, "There was no address on her file, and none of my research led to successfully obtaining  that information," he says politely. Seems demon Kyoya has went away... for now.

Kaoru nods, and resumes talking with the Princesses. Hikaru does the same, but seems to not be making as much as an effort hiding his tiredness. Suddenly, Kaoru looks up at you and you both lock eyes, you immediately breaking your e/c ones away, and you wonder why he's always looking at you when you're here.

"Do you think I should tell him to fix his hair," a concerned Haruhi says talking in a low voice. You think what she told you about her encounter with him the other night, and you say, equally soft, "I think he would appreciate it." You watch as she nervously walks over and taps Hikaru on the shoulder.
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Kaoru's POV

She's here! Between the masquerade and the servants having to clean, Kaoru hadn't seen you in ages. Why do I keep staring at her?

Confusion is the only thing that's wracked his mind for the past week, after he realized he's in love... but with who? Being in love with both is just ridiculous... I've only met one of them once and have barely interacted with the other. "Prince!," says a girl, tucking one of her chestnut brown locks behind her hair. "Are you even paying attention?," she says, sounding hurt.

Snapping out of it, he finds that multiple Princesses are looking at him, mainly wearing hurt expressions, but a few can't seem to hide their annoyed expressions. "We were discussing the ball...," of course you were, "what were you doing taking off your shoes like that?"

I'm so done with this politically correct game... at least Ella was interesting enough to admit her flaws. "Prince? Are you not listening to us again," the same girl says, sounding concerned. "It was interesting, so I did it, and that's that. Can we please talk about something else now," he says, not trying to hide his annoyance at all.

Looking at the other side of the group, he sees Kyoya giving him a condescending look. Between him and Hikaru 'behaving inappropriately' at the ball, along with their sleep deprivation he's had it up to here with them.

"Oh, yes, of course," bubble the princesses, eager to make the prince happy. Looking back over to where Dutchess is standing, he looks at her pretty h/c hair. She's a mystery... where was she even during the party? Maybe I'll ask her after I'm done with this 'fun' event. That thought put a smile on his face.
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Your POV:

You observe as Haruhi taps Hikaru on the shoulder and leans down to whisper in his ear. He gets up, and excuses himself for a moment from the rest of the princesses and goes over to talk to Kyoya. After a quick conversation, Kyoya makes an announcement. "Ladies, that's all the time we have for today," he says with a super fake cheery smile. "But don't worry, you'll be back again tomorrow," he states, sounding equally as happy.

The downcast princesses get up and say their precious goodbyes and slowly file out of the room as you begin to clear the plates. You see Hikaru wave a quick goodbye to a confused looking Kaoru and he leaves the room in a hurry. Kyoya announces, "maids, please take the dirty plates down to the kitchen for cleaning," and with that he too walks out.

All who's left is you, who's stacking the plates, and Kaoru, who is stretching his legs out on the couch. Oh no, you think to yourself as your heart starts to beat faster, not this again. Why does this keep happening every time I'm around him? You try to hurry, but just then you hear the other person in the room speak: "Dutchess, where were you the day of the party," he says serenely, and your gaze locks with his as his eyes wander in your direction.

"Uh, um," you stutter, trying to remember your excuse from before. "I got really really sick and Haruhi had to take care of me," you say, trying to match your acting skills to the ones you had before. You watch as he nods, and gets up off the couch and goes over to where you're trying to balance twenty plates in your arms. "I'm glad you're ok... I was worried about you," he says softly, almost sounding surprised. Why did he say that sounding so surprised?, you wonder.

"Do you need any help," he offers quickly after, holding out his hands. Yeah right, he sure helped last time. "You said the same thing last time and didn't even try to clean the fire place," you say, laughing to yourself a little. Scrunching his face into a forced thinking position, he says, "no, I did. I helped by being there." Shaking your head, you hand him two plates (any more than that he would probably drop them) and you gesture for him to follow you into the hallway to the kitchen.

For the first minute, you travel through the hall in awkward silence until you just can't stand it anymore. "Did you find anyone that interested you?," you question, thinking out loud but quickly realize that this thought was probably better off kept to yourself. He shrugs as you both turn right and says, "Not really. Ella, I guess, was actually pretty interesting. Assuming you've heard the rumors, that's the one who took off their shoes."

Oh no, Ella. That was my name at the Masquerade. Your heart begins to beat faster and faster and you realize that you won't be able to not go next time. I was already called out for not being here today, as her, what would happen if I don't show up next time? At the party? Before you know it, your vision becomes spotty and the room begins to swirl a little.

"D-did she m-make you happy?," you stammer, trying to regain focus of your surroundings. "Yeah, she actually did," he says, once again saying it as if he's realizing it for the first time himself. That means... that means that I'll have to go this time. Again. As a princess. To dance with him. Your walking speed decreases dramatically and you look to your right to see the prince look at you with concern.

"Dutchess, are you okay,?" you hear a worried voice say distantly as your vision becomes darker. Suddenly, your whole world goes pitch black as you loose consciousness, the last thing you hear being the sound of shattering china plates.
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40 Reads! That's 40 more than I expected. Thanks everyone! :)