Chapter 4
Enter - Haruhi!
Yuki fluttered her eyes open before jumping out of bed and getting herself ready for school. She was once again, glad that she didn't need to wear the uncomfortable girls uniform - it would make her commute to school rather irritating. She didn't have the luxury of being chauffeured to school like most kids. Instead, she walked to school which was about an hour's walk away. It was as easy as breathing for her.
Once she was ready to leave she promptly collected her things and headed to the huge wooden entrance of her home. Just as she closed the gates behind her, she heard a car pull up next to her like it did the previous day. The car door clicked open and the door slowly opened to reveal its passenger.
"YUKI!!! Hop in!" an enthusiastic Tamaki shouted out to her.
"Um Senpai... I'd like to walk to school today. You know, so I don't get glances in the hallways from everyone." Yuki explained with a sigh.
"Nonsense. You're a host! Being the centre of attention is what we do!" he argued, completely dismissing her argument.
"Well, you'd feel different about the situation if you were a girl." Yuki retorted, feeling slightly irritated at his inconsideration.
A girl version of Tamaki popped into Yuki's head. She imagined Sailor Moon with Tamaki's face. A shiver went down her spine. That would be a nightmare.
Yuki turned away from Tamaki and began walking ahead of the car.
"NO! My daughter! Why must you torture yourself in such a way!" he wept with elephant tears while the car followed her at a snail's pace.
"Uhhh... Exercise?" Yuki replied as she sped up to a speed walk.
"No! Daddy won't allow it! From now on, I will take you to school everyday! That's the fatherly thing to do!" he claimed. Yuki wondered if he thought she was still in elementary school and needed to be babied.
"But-" she protested. "No buts!" he countered firmly. Yuki gave in, realising that he would not budge at all.
"Fine." she said with a small pout. "Good girl! Listen to your daddy~!" Tamaki cooed as if he were talking to an infant. The trip to school was simliar to the day before - a chattering Tamaki and a silent Yuki.
Upon arriving in her classroom, Yuki headed straight to the back of the class in an effort to be left alone for once. Unfortunately for her, the twins spotted her straight away and sat on the seats adjacent to her. They stared at her intently from her left and her right, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"What is it?" she asked. "Do I have something on my face?"
"We were just wondering..." Hikaru started. "What you would look like if you were more feminine." Kaoru finished. "You look nice with long hair," Hikaru complemented. "And your eyes are a pretty olive colour." Kaoru said as he looked into her eyes. Yuki turned a few shades of red before she broke the eye contact. The staring was a little too intense for her.
"Umm... Thanks..." she mumbled as she looked down at her twiddling fingers.
"Awwww.... No wonder why you're the Shy type! Blushing from simple compliments like that!" they teased as they pinched both her cheeks.
|~|~|~| At the Host Club |~|~|~|
"Ok is everyone here? Can everyone hear me?" Tamaki said as he posed dramatically.
"Of course we can hear you, we aren't deaf." the twins drawled in perfect unison.
"Okay! Since Yuki is new to the Host Club, she will need to practice saying 'Welcome' in unison with us!" Tamaki declared as if he were passing a new law that everyone was to obey.
"Ahhh... I see. No wonder why it's always synchronized. You must need a lot of practice." she said aloud to herself.
"We'll give you a demo!" the twins chimed together as the rest of the hosts swiftly went into their positions.
"Welcome!" they say in unison in a group pose that would easily be found on the front of a magazine. The background seemed to cover itself in the group's sparkly aura and roses seemed to bloom out of thin air.
"Okay!" Tamaki began. "Before we try it all together, we need to let you practice on your own." he continued with a bright smile.
"You need to say it with feeling! As if you have been waiting for decades for the princesses to arrive and visit you!" Tamaki explained with some flamboyant gestures.
"But Tono, since Yuki is the shy type shouldn't she say it more gently and quietly?" one of the twins suggested.
Tamaki clasped his hands together in delight. "Yes! Good idea Hikaru!"
"It's Kaoru!" the twin protested which caused Yuki to look at him with confusion. "Huh? But aren't you Hikaru?" she questioned.
The duo looked at her with slight surprise. "How did you know?" they both asked. Yuki wasn't entirely sure how she knew either. "Instinct...?" she tentatively replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
Suddenly, the sound of the door creaking open caught all their attention.
"Looks like the first of our customers are here!" Tamaki said before quickly straightening himself up and heading straight for Yuki. "Yuki! This shall be your first test! Go and welcome them! Here's a rose!" Tamaki quickly explained while shoving a rose into her hand and ushering her toward the door.
"What?!" Yuki exclaimed before she was placed face-to-face with the customer who stared at her clearly and plainly with their hazel brown eyes. It was honestly a bit intimidating.
"Um... Uh... Welcome." Yuki mumbled out as she shyly held out the rose to the customer. "Awww..." the host club (with the exception of Mori and Kyouya) chorused in the background.
"That. Was. PERFECT!" Tamaki cheered as he picked Yuki up and span her around in circles. "...Thanks..." Yuki uttered, unsure of whether she should be flattered or not.
"Too bad it was a boy." the twins said as they shrugged their shoulders.
|~|~|~| Several minutes ago... |~|~|~|
The sound of footsteps on the hard marble floor echoed through the halls of Ouran Academy. A short figure dressed in a baggy shirt and pants and thick-rimmed glasses jogged down the hallway in search of a quiet place to study.
Haruhi had tried all the libraries but each and every one of them was filled with students just having casual conversations instead of studying. 'There's no silence in this school, I swear.' she thought to herself as she stumbled across a room labelled Music Room Three. This was the quietest place she had found so far. It was rather quiet considering it was a music room.
Assuming the room was empty, Haruhi slowly opened the door. To her surprise, she was immediately met with an awkward guy that was thrust in front of her. He had olive green eyes and was honestly so cute and innocent looking that Haruhi thought that it was a girl wearing the boys' uniform. 'I guess that uniform is more comfortable for her.' Haruhi reasoned.
A rose was then placed before her eyes, snapping her out of her trance. Haruhi blinked a few times before taking the rose out of politeness. 'What have I stumbled into now?' she thought as she scanned the room with the girl now being swung around and a few other people just quietly observing the scene.
"Too bad it was a boy." she heard a pair of voices chime together. Haruhi played with her short locks of hair. 'Ah, well I guess I could be mistaken for a boy with my new haircut.'
"What are you doing in here? This is a Host Club you know." a boy with glasses said. Haruhi's eyes widened in shock. A Host Club in a school. Rich kids really do live a whole different life.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't know-" Haruhi began as she started to step back outside the room. Tamaki immediately appeared beside her and ushered her further into the room with a hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay to admit that you're gay. No harm done." the blonde Host said as he patted her back in sympathy. Haruhi looked at him incredulously. "What? I'm not gay!" she denied frantically.
Completely ignoring her reply, Tamaki continued. "So, what type of guys are you into? The strong and silent type? The Loli-shota type? The devil type? The cool type? The shy type? Or the princely type?"
Haruhi stared at him blankly. "None of the above." she replied bluntly. This was definitely the wrong place for her to be.
"Oh come on, there must be at least one type that you prefer?" he said as he gestured to the group. Haruhi's eye twitched. He was like a pushy salesman.
'Sorry, I should leave." she quickly excused herself as she stepped back. She felt herself bump into an object that she didn't realise was behind her. She quickly turned around and the giant ceramic vase seemed to fall off the pedestal in slow motion before her very eyes. As the vase met the ground a loud crash echoed throughout the music room. The whole room then filled with silence as they all stared at the broken vase.
"Uh..." Haruhi started as she glanced around at the crowd surrounding her, unsure of what to say. "Oh no! We were going to auction that for 8 million yen!" the twins chimed dryly.
'8 MILLION YEN???' Haruhi screamed inwardly. All that for a vase? She had never even come close to thinking about that much money. "So, what will you do about this?" the twins asked devilishly as they approached her.
"Uh... I don't think I have that much money." Haruhi replied with her head hung in defeat. "Of course you don't. You must be the commoner who earned a spot as an honours student - Fujioka Haruhi. By the looks of it, you couldn't even afford our school uniform." Kyouya commented as he repositioned his glasses.
"Oh! You managed to get into this prestigious school. You are an idol for commoners everywhere!" Tamaki exclaimed excitedly as he hugged her side. Surprised and a little startle Haruhi stumbled and fell onto the floor.
"Can you all please stop? I'm pretty sure he doesn't like how we are talking about him and his position in society." Yuki said as she held out her hand to help Haruhi up. As Haruhi stood up Yuki whispered to her. "Would I be right in saying that you're a girl?"
"Yes, can I say the same for you?" Haruhi whispered back. Yuki was very surprised at her reply. "You can tell?"
"Yeah, just a feeling," Haruhi explained with a small smile. Yuki smiled reluctantly, it was yet another person who knew her secret but for some reason Haruhi made her feel like she wouldn't comment on it or share it around. "Let's see how long it takes for the rest of them to figure it out." Yuki said with a slight grin.
Haruhi had a feeling they would get along rather well. "Sure" she replied with a bigger smile.
"The only solution in this scenario would be for you to work the debt off Fujioka-san." Kyouya suggested with a calculated smirk.
"That's a wonderful idea Kyouya!" Tamaki said before looking back at Haruhi. "From now on, you are the Host Club's..."
"Dog!" he said as he struck a pose and pointed directly at Haruhi.
'You've got to be kidding me'
~~~~~~~
Edited: 01/06/2022