On a beautiful mid-spring Sunday morning, Miki had planned the night before to sleep in. She laid on her side, curled up comfortably and snoozing away. Her long hair was sprawled into the white pillow covers, the slight wavy texture creating hearts. The morning sun peeked through the window, beaming down gently onto her face as if they were trying to poke her awake. It was a peaceful, tranquil morning. Or it was supposed to be when...
"T-That's just ordinary lean tuna, and is by no means fancy tuna!"
Tamaki's loud shriek shook the entire second Suoh estate, worrying the staff and jolting Miki up. She glanced over that the door with hazy eyes wondering what that could be about. But after a few seconds, she concluded that Tamaki probably had a nightmare and gave into her heavy eyelid's demands. Flopping back down onto her bed, she lazily hid her face under the blankets, ready to fall back into a deep sleep when...
"Miki! Get up and get ready for school!" The double doors to her room busted open as Tamaki dashed in wearing half of his school uniform. Stomping hastily up to her, he pulled the bed sheets out her grasp, watching as she sat up and began rubbing her eyes in a daze.
She let out a small yawn before opening her eyes, Tamaki reached forward and began shaking her by her shoulders. "Come on!" He urged, dragging her out of bed and shoving her into her bathroom. Miki jolted slightly at the feeling of the cold tile press against her feet. It was enough to wake her up a little, but only by a little. Then, before she realized, the Ouran yellow dress, hung up neatly in her closet was tossing into the bathroom and the door slammed shut. "Hurry up, get changed and get ready!"
Miki just blinked wearily at her clothing piece about to doze off while standing, only to be woken up by a desperate voice behind the doors.
"Don't laze around in there, we need to get to school as soon as possible!" He commanded.
As soon as Miki stepped out of the bathroom with clouded eyes, fully dressed and cleaned up, Tamaki proceeded to drag her down the stairs. He charged forth with sheer determination glistening in his eyes, his sister's wrist in hand, and his bookbag clipped under his arm.
Miki followed sluggishly, still haven't fully woken up on this supposedly relaxing weekday. She yawned once more as her eyes trailed down to her brother's mismatching pants and house slippers. She blinked curiously.
At the end of the staircase, Shima greeted them. "Good Morning, Master Tamaki, Miss Miki."
"Good Morning... Shima-san..." Rubbing her eyes as she felt another urge to yawn wash upon her, Miki gave a tired smile.
"We will be leaving at once. Please bring the car around immediately." Tamaki order, finally letting go of Miki's wrist as she swayed drowsily, trying to stay awake.
"Yes, Master Tamaki." The family driver, Koganei, bowed in response.
"I beg your pardon, Master Tamaki," Shima interrupted as Tamaki began to step towards the front door. "But what will you two have breakfast?"
Hearing the word breakfast, Miki perked up slightly. "Oh, I would like French toast and some commoner's cof-"
"Ah! Enough!" Flailing his arms like a child, Tamaki whined. "There's no time for that! Miki, we need to be on our way!" He announced turning his head dramatically.
"Begging your pardon, Master Tamaki!" Shima scolded in a stern voice. "You are still half dressed in pyjamas, and you still have house slippers on your feet."
"Ahhh!" Hearing her, Tamaki flinched and immediately turned to dash back upstairs. "Miki, why didn't you tell me?!" He yelled, voice trailing all the way upstairs.
"You never asked." Tilted her head in confusion, Miki replied as her brother paced his way back downstairs, attempting a new take at leaving the house.
"My, what poor manners," Shima muttered beside her.
Coughing into his hand, Tamaki grumbled with a slight blush. "All right, once again, we will be off." He took Miki's wrist once more, attempting to leave when Shima stepped in again.
"I sincerely beg your pardon Master Tamaki, but today is Sunday, so there is no school today." She pointed out with a deadpan face.
As Tamaki and Shima began to banter back and forth, Suzuno approached a dozing Miki with a cup of commoner's coffee. "Here you go, Miss Miki." She smiled gently, handing the high-class plate and coffee cup to the girl.
"Ah, thank you Suzuno." Flashing a tired look, Miki was about to drink the warm drink when Tamaki's voice once again interrupted her.
"Someone, bring me the phone!" He yelled as he was about to be dragged off by Shima to the disciplinary room, the adorable Suoh family dog, Antoinette following close behind.
One of the giggling maids brought the phone over a top of a pillow, handing it over to the young master who began dialling a set of numbers. "Kyoya, is that you? I need to discuss something important with you." He said.
Sitting in one of the two luxury limos, Miki sipped her commoner's coffee happily. She has since changed out of her school uniform and into something much more fitting for a Sunday, a white chiffon dress while her hair remained in the braided crown that tied to the back. Finally feeling awake, she let out a satisfied sigh as the limo pulled to a stop. Placing the cup down, she peeked out the window letting out a gasp in awe.
"What are you doing?" Kyoya asked.
"This is so exciting!" She chirped, pressing her palm against the cool window. "My first time going over to someone else's house!"
Soon the car door opened. "Master, if you please..."
With that, the hosts began to trickle out of the two limos. Tamaki, Kyoya, and Miki in the first, Hikaru, Kaoru, Honey and Mori in the second.
"Wow, so this is Haruhi's house..." Kaoru hummed.
"It's pretty big, isn't it? Bigger than I thought." Hikaru added.
"It had lots of rooms!" Honey squealed in excitement.
"But why are all the hallways outside?" Miki tapped her chin. "Isn't that a little unpractical to have to go outdoor just to reach a different room?"
"No, this is what's called aggregate commoner dwelling," Kyoya explained, "Haruhi's place is probably just one of the rooms among these."
"Eh? So they only have one room each?" Miki asked, wide-eyed.
"Kyoya! What's with all of these people?!" Placing a hand on his friend's shoulders, Tamaki grumbled, "Especially those two doppelgangers!"
"Oh." Placing his hand under his chin, Kyoya said thoughtfully. "I was sure that you didn't have the courage to come alone, so it would be better if we came en masse, I guess that was uncalled for. Okay, children, let's go home." He urged tapping the twins on the shoulder.
"No way, I don't want to go home." They protested.
"I'm sorry, forgive me, I don't want to be alone..." Tamaki sulked.
"Alright, listen up, men. Do not forget..." Pointing a finger up, Tamaki warned. "This is just a 'we happened to be passing by' sort of nonchalant visit, and is definitely not research on the Fujioka family's standard of living! The words 'shabby,' 'cramped,' and 'run-down' are absolutely forbidden!" He emphasized.
"Yes, sir!" Honey, Miki, Hikaru and Kaoru responded with a salute.
Getting a satisfactory answer, Tamaki continued. "Under no circumstances are you to say or do anything to make Haruhi or her father wish that we would leave."
"Too late for that. Go away, right now!" A voice behind Tamaki immediately drew everyone's attention. They look up, to find Haruhi standing there with plastic bags in hand and visibly twitching in anger.
"Ah! Haruhi!" Miki waved, jumping for joy.
"Plain and simple, looking good!" The host complimented.
"Shut up! Get the hell out of here!" She spat.
As Tamaki went on to accuse and lecture the twins about 'not teaching Haruhi bad words,' Miki went up to her with a clueless beam. Peeking into the grocery bags Haruhi was carrying, spotting some fresh vegetables. "What do you have there Haruhi?" She asked with an innocent beam.
"Some advertised special from the supermarket, Miki-senpai," Letting out an exasperated sigh, Haruhi's shoulders slumped in defeat.
Miki's eyes went wide. "You went to the supermarket?!" She gasped in disbelief, staring incredulously.
"Yes, why?" Eyebrows twitching, Haruhi followed up reluctantly. She had a terrible feeling in where this conversation was going.
"What was it like, shopping all by yourself?" Miki questioned, her eyes glimmering with admiration. "What does a supermarket look like from the inside? How big is it? Just how many assortments items are there? It's always been a dream of mine to visit a real supermarket!" She beamed.
Damn these rich people... Haruhi thought to herself.
After convincing Haruhi to finally open the door to her apartment with Honey's cake offerings, the view of an adorable little room came into view. It was rather simple, much less grand than what Miki was used to. She heard her brother let out a sigh in what seemed like relief next to her. She, in turn, held her breath, feeling a little uncomfortable by how small of a space this was. She felt as if the doors would shut on her any time, and she would be alone in the room.
"Shabby," Hikaru muttered, earning himself a face pull from Tamaki.
Kyoya hummed as he glanced around the room. "A wood built, two-story 2K. That's about right for a two-person father-daughter commoner family." He observed.
"Yeah, at Haruhi's size, she won't go hitting her head on the low ceilings." Kaoru nodded.
"It's a darling little room." Honey twinkled.
With another eyebrow twitch, Haruhi muttered. "That's okay; you don't have to force yourself to compliment it." She sighed.
"It's quite small, is it not?" Miki stated more than asked, distracting herself from the nagging fear by gasping at the strangely unfamiliar items in the room.
Haruhi took off her shoes and began to walk into the room.
Noticing this, Honey pointed at the shoes at the foyer. "Haru-chan, we take our shoes off?" He asked.
"Yes, please."
"We have to take our shoes off before going in," Honey beamed up at Mori. "This room is like a dojo, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, forgive the intrusion!" Honey, Hikaru and Kaoru sang, stepping carelessly into the room.
"Pardon the intrusion," Mori said, passing by Haruhi.
"Excuse us." Tamaki apologized.
"Sorry to intrude." Miki bowed slightly.
"Forgive the intrusion." Kyoya tailed the group into the main room.
The Host Club filed into Haruhi's living room, as they goofed off over their sitting positions, Miki was off studying some structure details in Haruhi's home. She ran her hands along the walls of the compact Japanese style room; it helped to distract herself from the unsettling feeling that chilled her skin and assured that the walls weren't going to close in and swallow her whole. The small table, the placement of everything was minimal and allowed maximum storage, something Miki made sure to make a note of in her mind. Running her hand along with wall, she looked out the balcony window absently. Gripping the pastel green curtains in her hand, the voices of the host club drowned out of her mind as she watched the busy people bustle by, families holding hands, cars turning corners.
Kyoya, who had been looking over Haruhi's books noticed she froze up in the corner. Curiously, he waltzed over.
"Something the matter?" He asked, glancing over her shoulder at the view.
Shaking her head, Miki smiled blissfully. "It's nothing." She chimed as Haruhi called out that tea was ready. "Let's go; I'm a little hungry." Pulling Kyoya by the arm, she led him over and sat down on one side of the table, opposite to Mori.
"Haru-chan, you get to choose your cake first," Honey announced as he opened the box enthusiastically, showing a large assortment of cakes.
"Oh, are you sure?" Haruhi asked. "Well then, let's see..." She thought completely ignoring Tamaki and the twins in the background, eyes scanning over the colourful selection. "The strawberry one!"
"How cute!" Miki glanced over, watching as Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru move around restlessly muttering incoherently. Kyoya also raised an eyebrow, staring quizzically at them.
"Miki-chan, what about you?" Honey turned to the strawberry blonde curiously. "Haru-chan and I are going to have the strawberry ones; you can pick next." He offered with a small giggle.
"Then I'll have the Spanish Flan," Miki beamed, thanking the lolita as he picked up the dessert and placed it in front of her.
Before Haruhi could dig into her cake, Mori began to place strawberries onto her plate with a calm expression.
"You like strawberries?" He asked.
"Yes, thank you very much!"
Miki's eyes crinkled as she took a bite of the Flan, but before she had long to indulge in the flavour, she noticed a stifled yet dramatic cry coming from her brother and the twins. She blinked, watching as the trio as they cried and squealed, hammering their fists against the ground.
"Should we have taken action?"
"I wanted to give them to her!"
"We were taken in!"
Miki cocked her head to the side, not understanding what they were talking about. Cluelessly, she turned to Kyoya for help, who was also staring at them. "Kyoya-kun," She called out, tapping his shoulder. "What do they mean by 'taken action' and 'taken in'?" She hummed, pointing her fork in their direction.
Kyoya looked down, observing her for a moment. Then, with a slight smirk, he picked up a piece of cake in his fork. "I'll show you, open your mouth." He instructed her, watching as she stared blankly for a few seconds before opening it obediently. His smirk deepened as he quickly placed the dark chocolate cake into her mouth.
"Mmph..." Miki automatically closed her mouth, feeling Kyoya pull the fork out and let go of her. She began to chew slowly, indulging in the slightly more bitter and structured piece of cake. "So it means to feed someone?" She cocked her head, gently wiping away the crumbles of chocolate cake that got on her lips.
Going back to eating his cake without making eye contact, Kyoya shrugged with a slightly smug smirk.
"You could have just told me so, Kyoya-kun." She stated with a wry smile.
"I prefer actions over words."
In a matter of no time, the hosts have each finished their respective cakes.
"Ah, after eating that cake, I'm getting a bit peckish." Honey piped up, letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Now that you mention it, it is long past lunchtime." Hikaru noticed.
Then in unison, Hikaru, Kaoru, Tamaki and Honey asked. "Is lunch ready?"
"Could you please stop living so relentlessly fancy-free..." Haruhi muttered, eyebrow twitching.
"Now, we're the ones who dropped in on you without warning, so we'll put up the money. Why not order some of your favourite sushi or something?" Standing up, Kyoya offered.
"No, that's okay," Haruhi declined with a fearful look, "Kyoya-senpai, I'm going to dread it later if it's on you."
Taking out a credit card, Kyoya's glasses shone. "Not to worry. This comes out of sales of photos of you that we auctioned." He assured her.
"Then, it's really on me..." She muttered before letting out a sigh. "All right. I have a friend who runs a nice sushi shop nearby, so I'll give them a call, they have some high-quality stuff." She informed them.
The moment Haruhi mentioned high quality, Tamaki snapped around. With a pen and paper that came out of nowhere, he swiftly wrote something down and passed it over to her.
"Even if the sushi pack says 'premium' on it, you can't call it 'high-quality.' Be very careful," Haruhi read out loud. Then with a dark look, the crumbled the paper up and threw it into a nearby trashcan. "I know that much, at least." She growled.
"Ehh?!" Slamming her hands on the table, Miki looked utterly awestruck. "Really?! Then what's the point of it being called 'premium'?!"
"Miki-senpai..." Haruhi's shoulders slumped in defeat, "Just what sort of world have you been living in...?"
With a finger to his chin, Honey requested. "I'd like to have something made by you, Haru-chan."
"That's fine, but even starting now, it will take some time." She reasoned.
"We'll wait." Honey sang.
"Well, then..." Haruhi sighed. "I'll have to go to the supermarket again."
Hearing that word, Miki jumped onto her feet. "Supermarket?!" She repeated, her hands clutching to her chest. "I want to go! I want to go!" Cheering, she stared at Haruhi with round puppy eyes. "Please, can I come with you?"
"Hey, that's not fair. I'm coming too." Hikaru got up.
"We want to come to the commoner's supermarket, too." Kaoru followed.
Honey raised his hand. "Me, too! Me, too!" He jumped.
"Well, this might be a good experience." Kyoya reasoned.
"Yay!" Putting on their shoes, the twins ran out of the Haruhi's apartment. "Commoner's supermarket! Commoner's Supermarket!" They cheered.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Miki giggled as she put on her gladiator style sandals, Miki quickly followed after the two. "I was the one who suggested we should go!"
Flying down the unsteady staircase, Miki quickly caught up with the twins.
"Took you long enough." They grinned at her.
"That's because you both had a head start!" Miki reasoned with a cheerful expression. "If we started at the same time, I swear I can probably beat both you!"
As the trio exchanged waves of laughter, Honey hopped down the stairs gleefully, Mori a few steps behind him with his usual stoic expression. "Miki-chan! Hika-chan! Kao-chan! I can't wait to see what Haru-chan is going to cook for us."
"Neither can I!" Miki exclaimed with excitement, noticing a figure approaching the apartment building. She quickly turned to look. In the distance, a woman with beautiful auburn hair was walking towards them. She brushed past the hosts and headed up the stairs with a slight bounce to her step.
"Do you think that person..." Hikaru started.
"... Is Haruhi's father?" Kaoru finished.
"Eh?" Miki tilted her head to the side in confusion. "But that was a woman." She pointed at the figure turned the corner on the second-floor staircase.
Clicking their tongues in unison, the twins shook their finger at Miki who grew more puzzled. "Miki-senpai, you don't get it." They patted her head with a hand each, gazing at her with eyes of pity. "That is called a tranny." They explained.
"A... Tranny?" Blinking rapidly, Miki hummed before instinctively searching for Kyoya who was right behind her. She looked up at him, asking for an explanation.
Kyoya let out a soft sigh, pushing up his glasses. "Tranny is a short form for transvestite." He explained, and before Miki could follow up with another question, he answered. "And transvestite a person who takes pleasure from dressing in clothes primarily worn by the opposite sex, in other words, a crossdresser. "
Miki pressed her lips, looking down thoughtfully as she blinked.
"His Highness and Haruhi are taking so long..." Hikaru whined as he looked up at the apartment building.
"We'll go check on him; you guys wait here." Kaoru offered, leaving with his brother.
With beady eyes, Honey looked up at Miki who kept her gaze to the ground as if she were lost in thought. "Miki-chan, is something the matter?"
Closing her hazel eyes, Miki pursed her lips. She reached her hand up and began tapping her chin. "Wouldn't that mean..." She began. "Haruhi is one too?"
The three present with her became dumbfounded, staring at her without words.
"She's a crossdresser, is she not?" Miki pointed out innocently.
With a weary sigh, Kyoya placed a hand atop her head. He gently ruffled her hair, causing her to lower her head slightly.
"It's a little different, Miki." He said, eyebrows twitching.
As it turns out, the person, the rest of the hosts, ran into was in fact, Haruhi's father. And so, they were invited back in to be properly introduced much to Miki's discomfort. Something seemed to have happened between 'Papa-san' and Tamaki because he was in his usually sulking position in the corner of the room.
"I see. You're the Host Club I've been hearing about. You really are a fine set of boys; I don't know which one of you I would take. Right, Haruhi? Oh, you can just call me Ranka-san. 'Ranka' is the professional name I use at the tranny bar where I work." Ranka greeted the group, cooing at all of them. As Ranka talked, Miki couldn't help but absentmindedly stare at how pretty that auburn hair was.
"Professional name? Like a stage name?" Honey piped up curiously.
"That right, Mitsukuni-kun." Ranka smiled.
"Huh? How do you know my name?"
Ranka's eyes narrowed as she swept across the hosts, "3rd-Years Haninozuka-kun and Morinozuka Takashi-kun... 2nd-Year Miki-chan... And you would be the 1st-Years, in the same class as Haruhi, Hitachiin Hikaru-kun and Kaoru-kun, right? Which one of you is which, I wonder... I'm always hearing stories about you."
Kaoru looked dumbfounded as he asked. "Haruhi talks about us?"
Ranka shook his head. "Mm-mm, it's always from Kyoya-kun on the phone." He said before turning around to high-five Kyoya.
"Ranka-san, you really are beautiful!" He complimented, smiling and high-fiving with Ranka.
"What?!" Everyone yelled.
Seeking for answers, Tamaki reached out of his sulking corner. "Kyoya..." He muttered.
"We're looking after his precious daughter. It's only natural that I'd say hello, and give periodic reports on her, right? Ordinarily, that should be your job, right?" Sipping his tea casually, Kyoya commented indifferently.
"You really are a fine club president." Ranka rushed forth to compliment the boy as arrows of betrayal jabbed ruthlessly into Tamaki. "Oh, Kyoya-kun, you're the vice-president, aren't you? So the president isn't good for much, huh?" After dealing with all the shock, Tamaki crawled into the futon closets as mushrooms began to form and grow on him.
"Hold on there, Dad!" Haruhi cut in, looking a little pale from all this new information, "I never heard that you were keeping contact with Kyoya-senpai!"
"Huh?" Ranka whined. "But Haruhi, you never tell me anything about school."
"So then, without telling me, you..." Haruhi paused and snapped at Tamaki who was growing mushrooms at an alarming rate, "Senpai, would you please stop growing mushrooms in other people's closets?!" She let out a tired sigh, clearly having a headache with family and friends clashing to meet.
"Haruhi, the thing about you is...you're even cute when you're angry!" Ranka cooed, nuzzling Haruhi.
With a grumble, Haruhi pried herself out of Ranka's grip and grabbed her bag. "Miki-senpai." She called out to the strawberry blonde who was still entranced by Ranka's hair. "We are going." She announced.
"Eh?" Miki's eyes widened. "Okay!"
"Oh, no, where are you going?" Ranka pouted.
"To the supermarket," Haruhi opened the door, gesturing for Miki to hurry up. "Miki-senpai said it was her dream to go, so I'm bringing her along. The rest of you, please behave yourselves at home." Once Miki had her shoes on, they two girls walked through the door, closing it behind them.
Should I ask if Haruhi is a tranny?
Walking down the streets, Miki's eyes wandered to the sky. The conversation that played outside the apartment building a little earlier was still fresh in her mind, though she never got an answer from Kyoya in the end. She remembered Kyoya's face. He looked a little angry, though she couldn't understand why.
Maybe asking would only make him angrier... I'll just drop the subject then.
"I'd never know..." Haruhi murmured, quickly catching Miki's attention. "Who'd thought dad and Kyoya-senpai were in touch with each other..."
The blonde giggled, seeing her underclassman in such a defeated state. "You have a great father, Haruhi." She commented, causing Haruhi to look up. "He loves you very much," Her eyes crinkled as she thought nostalgically.
"Miki-senpai, how's your relationship with your father?" Haruhi turned to ask, expression slightly softened.
"Huh? Me?" Averting her eyes, Miki looked back up at the bright blue sky. "My father loves me very much too," She said, thinking of Yuzuru. "We don't see each other very often even when we lived in the same place, but he does his best to get through to me when he has the chance."
"I see," Humming Haruhi glanced forward. "What about your mother?"
Miki's eyes widened for a moment as a blurry image she managed to carve into her memories resurfaced. She doesn't remember the face very well, but she remembers seeing a figure looming over her with a delicate warm hand petting her forehead along with a smile, a smile that could ward away all the evils of the world.
"I don't get to see her very much either, all I have are memories of her." Her expression turned sorrowful, yet tender.
"I see, I'm sorry."
"By the way," Miki chuckled as she changed the subject, her mannerisms a little childlike. "Thank you for taking me to the supermarket!"
Haruhi smiled wryly. "You said it was your dream to visit a supermarket; I couldn't just shoot that simple-minded dream down."
Giggling, Miki's steps grew lighter. "You are so kind, Haurhi." She stated merrily.
A comfortable silence loomed between them as the late May breeze brushed past, sending Miki's dress a flutter. "Haruhi," Miki finally called out, earning a small hum. "Did you, you are my first and only female friend?" She revealed, a little absentmindedly.
"Eh?" Haruhi was taken aback by her statement, her silence urging Miki to go on.
Miki flashed a bright smile towards the brunette and hopped over, taking her hands in hers. "I guess I'm just saying, I'm glad to call you my friend. And I sincerely hope it will stay that way for years to come." She pronounced, her voice clear like a bell.
Haruhi was taken aback, but moments later, she too smiled.
"I hope so too, Miki-senpai."