Chapter Text
As you walk up to the large, oversized building coated in light pinks, the sun shines down on you and makes you wish that the dress code of this place wasn't so stuffy. It wasn't even summer, and you already felt the heat from this damn dress.
Shading your eyes from the sun, you take a gander at the building you'd be calling "your school" for the next few years of your life. As much as you're already regretting it, you did come here with a goal, and your parents were already paying a good amount of money to help you, so the least you could do is stay. Not like they'd be financially worse off if they had to stop paying, you were unfortunately one of the many stinking rich families that could even dream of affording the tuition fee and such. God, even thinking about it just made you feel a little bit gross. But maybe that's because of who you were here to meet.
"Thanks for the ride," you say to your cousin nonchalantly, watching as they drive off in their expensive car. Turning around and facing the school, you bunch your dress up and hurry on in, shoes clicking and clacking on the well kept tiles. Some students watched you in confusion or even disdain as you ran towards the entrance, and even more so when you burst in, not taking the time to excuse yourself as you waded through the crowd and into the lobby of the main building. Wasn't your fault rich folks like this tended to gather AROUND THE ENTRANCE for no reason.
You glance around the place, letting out a small whistle of interest. The school had impressive infrastructure and architecture for sure, and the decor was stunning, you had to admit. But it was taken down a notch by the fact you were surrounded by excessive perfume wearing, snotty brat sounding rich kids. God, it makes you miss the comparably small countryside schools you used to go to when your family wasn't as stiff with who they associated with. Money changes people, you know that much.
Regardless, you were here now. And now that you were, you could finally begin your quest--
BING BONG DING DONG...
...after classes. Dammit.
...
...
...
Now that the day was over, you find yourself absolutely coated in determination! You'd have to leave in a few hours to do some stuff back home and to of course work on homework, so there's no time to waste!
"Hey, excuse me! Listen up!" you say, running towards one girl and a boy who were talking, "You know where I can find Haruhi Fujioka?"
You asked that same question to a few different students, but most of them either turned their noses up at your overly casual tone, laughed at you and said something about "being out of Haruhi's league," or just straight up ignored you. You're not sure if it's because your accent is much less Japanese than it used to be (spending time overseas will do that) or because of your appearance or what. But you're pretty sure that if you weren't in a school like this, you'd have probably slapped some of these people. No one was being helpful and you were getting fed up with it. Huffing in frustration, you sit on one of the large windowsills of the main halls, crossing your legs in a fashion you could only describe as "typical yankee." Damn. You didn't think people would be this avoidant of helping someone.
Maybe it's just because you haven't been in an atmosphere like this for quite some time.
Clicking your tongue (and attracting a few worried stares as some girls pass you by), you glare at the students as you try to think about what you could do next. You remember what time your cousin said they'd come by to pick you up, and you had about an hour before you had to make sure you were ready to go. But 1 hour in a place like this can go by in a blur...what to do, what to--
Someone taps you on your shoulder and your head shoots over to look at them. It's a relatively meek looking girl who yelps when you stare at her so intensely. "I-I'm so sorry, am I bothering you?"
You blink, "Uh, nah. I'm just thinkin'. What do you need?" You could be polite if you wanted to. It's just that a lot of people here couldn't help but make your face reflexively scrunch up in disdain.
"Um, well, I-I heard that you were looking for Mr. Haruhi Fujioka...?"
You blink. "Mister," huh? What was that about? You suppose Haruhi's always been kinda lax about their gender presentation...
"Yeah," you nod, "Why?"
"Well, um, h-have you tried the 'Host Club?'" She asks, holding some books to her chest shyly, "They're not open yet, but, um, it's in Music Room 3, I can give you directions..."
Finally someone helpful! You can ask more questions later. You get all the details you can from the helpful girl and once you know what to do, you're off! Heels once again clicking and clacking as you briskly stomp through the halls. Bumping into a redheaded guy on your way, you quickly apologize to him, not realizing that he seemed rather flustered at the brief contact. You run all the way to the location stated and stand in front of the doors, heavily panting as you lean against the wall next to the entrance. Staring up at the sign, you hum. Why would Haruhi be in here? And what was the Host Club anyway?
You guess your answers will come whenever you actually enter. Pushing the doors open, you feel a breeze as rose petals swirl out at you romantically. Still being a bit wobbly and tired from the trek here, you fall on your ass comedically as you stare up into the light. A shadowy figure emerges and coolly offers a hand to you.
"Terribly sorry, Madam, but the Host Club isn't open yet. Please come back in 30 minutes."
You look up to see a dark haired boy with glasses. His smile is smarmy and condescending and it pisses you off, so you gently slap his hand away and get up on your own, brushing dust and roses off of your dress. You're so caught up in your exasperation with this guy that you barely notice someone else sweeping behind him, their gaze drifting upward towards you as you speak, "I'm not here for the 'Host Club,'" you say bluntly, staring at him with annoyance, "I'm here to find--"
You hear your name. And that familiar, oh so sweet voice.
Only a little impolitely, you push past the black haired boy and smile at those familiar, big brown eyes. That cute smile and familiarly petite figure. "Haruhi!" You waste no time in giving her a hug, which seemingly does surprise her, but you feel her arms wrap around you and feel immediately relieved of all of your annoyance and social struggles. "Damn, it took me so long to find you! I'm gonna be pissed if it turns out we were in the same class and I didn't notice cuz you looked so..." you pull away and take a glance at her. Yeah, this is definitely Haruhi, but you wouldn't have guessed that from a brief glance.
Haruhi lets out a joyful laugh as she--they? He? You're not sure--looks at you with an amused smile, "I know, I know. If I knew you were coming back, I'd have greeted you myself. I'm sorry about that," she rubs the back of her neck, "It's been so busy here."
"Ugh, I can tell. I just got here and I already wish I was back in 'commoner school,'" You share a laugh with her after doing that intentionally annoying posh voice.
"Four Eyes" behind you clears his throat and you feel a smug sense of satisfaction knowing he was probably pissed at your behavior. The two of you turn to him, and he fixes his glasses and suit, holding up a little black notepad. "You know her?" He asks, "I wouldn't have guessed you'd be friends with someone so...forward."
Nice to meet you too.
Haruhi smiles and wraps an arm around your shoulders, "She's my old friend. I've known her for ages," she says.
"Damn straight," you smile in satisfaction as you wrap an arm around her waist, which seemingly gets a subtle eyebrow perk from this guy. "We've known each other since we were kids. Kept in contact as much as possible when I moved overseas n' shit," you say, smirking at Haruhi. She gives you an awkward little smile--probably because of your language--and that gets a breathy, although fake chuckle from the boy. He steps closer and takes a look at you, and you maintain eye contact with him the entire time. Easy way to show you weren't scared of him, though you can't tell if he appreciated it or found it annoying.
"I see," he says, pushing his glasses up, "Well, allow me to introduce myself--my name is Kyoya Ootori, a pleasure to meet you, Miss," he bows and offers a hand. You don't take it, so he just lets it fall back to his side as he stares at you. He writes something down in his notepad which immediately makes some of the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. This guy was shady, shady shady shady, you knew a sneaky businessman when you saw it.
"Haaaaruhi! You still need to sweep over here!" One voice rings out.
"We can't do it as well as a commoner, you knooooow~!" Another similar one rings out.
Two twins slide into view as they immediately notice you--a group of some more boys following behind. The twins whistle in interest and immediately crowd around you two, which makes you back up in annoyance. "Who's this?" "Never seen her before," they say. "I think we'd be able to recognize someone so chummy with Haruhi," they trap you again, swerving behind you and keeping you from backing up too much. Guh, these guys were weird! Much more...charismatic compared to most of the students, which threw you off and made you feel uncomfortable.
"Will you two knock it off?" Haruhi, sounding justifiably annoyed, pulls you back to her side and frowns at the two who just stick their tongues out, "This is my old friend," she introduces you. You just give them a small frown, which makes the twins smirk. All of the boys crowd around you as you're properly introduced to each of the boys, all of them with their own reactions. Some looking at you in awe, some not looking at you at all, and a few very engaged with what Haruhi was saying. It wasn't very varied, that's for sure.
"Old friends, so like...are you guys childhood friends, Haru-chan?!" Honey, the littlest boy, hops up to you with a big smile, "That's so cool! I didn't know you had friends before us, Haru-chan!" he says. You're not entirely sure if he's just saying his thoughts while in character or if he's genuinely like this. It makes you narrow your eyes a little. He gave you odd vibes, though you couldn't put your finger on exactly why.
"Of course she did? What do you take her for, a hobo?" you ask, crossing your arms. This gets a laugh from Honey and the Hitachiin twins, which makes you embarrassingly proud.
"Well, regardless of who you are or when you met him, it's very nice to meet you, Princess," Tamaki speaks up, flourishing extravagantly as he offers you a rose, "As you may have heard, I am the 'King' of our Host Club! You may call me whatever you'd like, although you know me as Tamaki," he winks at you, and you can just see the sparkles coming off of every inch of him. Even the rose, which still had dewdrops on it. You stare at him. Blonde, blue eyes, his accent was a little off in the way yours was too, so maybe he was foreign in some way too? Still, didn't mean you got along with him because of that. You stare at the rose before looking at Haruhi, unimpressed.
"Who the hell does he think he is?"
You could practically hear the glass break as Tamaki froze. In a split second he was sulking in a corner, dragging his finger along the grooves in the tiles on the floor. The twins burst out laughing, and you saw Honey gingerly petting Tamaki on the back. "I like this girl!" "She's honest, I can respect it!" The twins say, immediately trying to perch their arms on your shoulders. You push them off, but they just do it again--instead on your head, and you have to resist the urge to elbow the two of them in the stomach.
"If that's how you feel, well...I suppose I can respect it, since you're Haruhi's friend," Tamaki says, clearly pouting.
Haruhi sighs a little bit and gives you a look. You frown, but try and compose yourself, not wanting to make her seem like a fool for being your friend. Commoners--aka, normal people--were usually looked down on already in this school enough as is. "Sorry. I guess what I...meant to say...was, what exactly does being the 'King' entail?"
Haruhi gives you a more thankful look and continues to sweep, "It means he's the President of the club is all. Tamaki-senpai is very charismatic though, so I'm sure you could've guessed."
You look over at the blonde bombshell and he's now staring at you both--especially Haruhi--with big, wet puppy eyes, covering his mouth with a hand in a hopeful and pleading gesture. You grimace, but grit your teeth and admit, "He fits the role of king, I guess.." you tilt your head, "A pretty, charming and flamboyant guy," you hear him perk up, "...who's also slightly vapid and annoying," and there's the big ol' arrow straight to his confidence.
Haruhi chuckles, "Well, I can't really argue with that," she jokes. And you hear Tamaki make exaggerated sounds of pain once more, falling over as Honey panics a little over his collapse. What makes you find this entire thing even funnier is how Mori and Kyoya have barely even moved from their spots this entire time. Damn, he must get dunked on constantly.
"No matter!" Tamaki suddenly recovers, standing straight as he clears his throat, "Even if you're unimpressed by my beauty, I acknowledge that there's someone in the Host Club for everyone! Regardless, since you're Haruhi's close friend, I'll treat you as if you're a VIP in hopes I can make up for my first impressions!"
"Can you calm down?" You growl at him, which makes him back up like a startled puppy, "I don't hate you, okay? I was just a little overwhelmed by...everything in this place," you finally push the twins off of your head and watch as they slide away to do the same thing to Haruhi instead, "I don't hate you or this club, it's just--new, alright? Sorry I was an asshole."
Tamaki stares at you with such blatant hope and desperation for approval that you have to tear yourself away from the conversation before you either feel too bad for...not immediately loving him, or feel like you want to punch him. Again.
"Anyway, Haruhi. Can you please explain what in the world this club is all about? Aren't host clubs supposed to be for adult women anyway?" you ask, walking over to help her with some of the cleaning which earns you a smile of gratitude from her as she tosses the contents of the dustpan into the trash you hold up for her.
"This club is essentially like host clubs for women, but for...er, well, girls. We entertain various ladies who come into the club and give them a good relaxing time after school," she sweeps some more as you continue to help, picking up bigger chunks of trash and tossing them into nearby bins, "So, everyone has a 'type' in this club, which is basically their gimmick, and people pay to spend some time with us. It helps fund the club among other things," she says, smiling and nodding a thank you to you as you help her finish up. The boys do not seem very interested in doing anything related to cleanup, which irritates you, but you shove that aside for now.
"I see. But then my question to you is: why the HELL are you in this club?" you ask, "You're still a girl, aint'cha?"
The boys all freeze and it's like time stops for a split second as all eyes are on you. But as usual you're more focused on Haruhi, who gives you an awkward little smile as she scratches her cheek idly, "I still identify as a girl, yeah, I guess? But I'm not in here just because I want to entertain other girls," she says, picking up the dustpan to go put it up, "I'm in here because I have a debt to pay off and we figured out that the best solution to that would be for me to work for them for a while--and since I have a decently androgynous appearance, we figured, 'why not,' you know?"
"Oh, well, why didn't you say so?" you smiled at her confidently, hands on your hips, "I can just pay off the debt for you. I have more than enough cash to do it, y'know," you say, poking her cheek with an amused smile, "You're such a suck-up, Haruhi, I expected better...sigh...tell me how much it is and I can get my mom to send some over!"
"HARUHIIII! You wouldn't just leave after everything because some newbie came in and offered to help, right?!" Tamaki immediately slid over to Haruhi's side, tears streaming exaggeratedly down his face, "After all, you love us, don't you?!"
"Well," Haruhi starts, only to get cut off by the twins pleading--less tearfully, but just as exaggerated.
"C'mon, really? I didn't think you'd be that self-centered...abandoning us when we need you most.."
"So cruel, Haruhi! Really, I expected better!"
Honey joins in, pleading at her with his big ol' eyes and cute little rabbit plush, "Usa-chan would be SOOOOO sad if you left just like that! And me too! And Mori! So please, please, please reconsider!"
Oh brother.
"Will you calm down?" Haruhi asks, awkwardly smiling as she steps back, "I never said I'd accept her offer. And I'm not going to. It just doesn't feel right to use a friend like that, y'know? Besides, I do like the job a lot more than when I first started," she says, smiling at the boys as they all immediately cheer up. Haruhi looks at you and smiles, "I appreciate it, but I'll be fine. It's not like I'm in a crime group or something."
Sure feels like it. But you sigh and click your tongue as the four boys (and Mori, who simply came over when Honey motioned for him) group hug Haruhi while chanting thank yous and other things. You feel yourself cringe and groan at the display, grateful for once that Kyoya seemed much too high and mighty to do such a thing. "Whatever."
The sound of a tiny book closing catches your ears and Kyoya steps past you to address the club, "This little family reunion has been charming, but we need to get ready to open," he snaps his fingers and the twins are off with Mori to go and arrange the tables. Honey quickly bounds after them to help get snacks and the tablewear. Tamaki also seems excited to help, and you're a little relieved that they didn't just leave Haruhi to get the entire club ready by herself. But that relief is once again dashed away when Kyoya steps up to you, "And you. I'm very glad we were able to assist you in your reunion, but if you don't want to pick a Host, I'll have to ask you to leave."
You grin deviously, "Uh-huh, and if I don't? Actually, no, if I do? You don't necessarily seem like the kinda guy who'd just let someone with secret knowledge go out and about," you say, crossing your arms, "What if I decided that I wanted to expose Haruhi as a girl, huh?" Not like you actually would. It'd be shitty for multiple reasons, but you saw an opportunity to get under his skin and couldn't help but take it. Kyoya seemingly took the bait, be it of his own volition or otherwise, and smiles at you with the most genuine smile you've seen from him since you got here. Probably because it was less of a smile and more of an evil smirk, fitting.
"Well, if you want to be like that..."
"Calm down, you two," Haruhi scolds you as she rushes by to put some snacks out.
"Whatever. On a more serious note, I'm not leaving, but I'm not gonna pick a host either--why can't I just join the club, huh?" you ask. The boys once again freeze and most of them look at you, Kyoya being the only one to seem interested in a way that wasn't also layered in confusion. Having all this attention easily piled onto you is already a little daunting when it's just six people, and suddenly you wonder if you'd actually be able to handle a host's life.
"Why?" Tamaki asks, the simple question all of them had on their minds.
"I've been waiting YEARS to be able to see Haruhi again. And me havin' to give up personal time to catch up with her 'cuz of some stupid-ass club time I can't even join without paying? Hell no!" you say, frowning at the idea. Plus, you knew how busy Haruhi was even outside of school, she's always been a go-getter who tries to take care of herself and her dad. "I'm not sure she'll have much free time outside of school, so what's the harm in letting me in so I can spend some more time with her?"
"She has a point," Mori says. That's the first time he's spoken the entire time you were here. Damn!
"I think it'd be fun to have two girl friends!" Honey says, before pausing, "Three!" There was another girl in this club the entire time?
"That's even more reason to lemme join!" you say, glaring at Tamaki, who hides behind Kyoya.
"Well, she's joined the club as our manager," Kyoya says, "We have no other staff positions available as the six of us are more than capable of preparing and cleaning up the club room once the day is done," he says, "Not to mention we have our own staff that may help us should the need arise. So I ask you," he looks down at you, "What contribution could you offer to our club?"
"Male clients," you say simply. You're pretty sure you can see cat ears perk up on all of their heads, "Think about it. Businesses like to appeal to as many demographics as possible on average, yeah? Most of them may have target audiences, but a lot of corpos n' shit tend to try and expand to wider ranges of people. You never said that you couldn't entertain men in here, anyway. I'm guessing it's sorta seen as 'gay' to come in here, though, so most of the boys won't even bother," you point to yourself, "And that's where I'd come in. I could help you drag some male clients who aren't interested in bein' seen as 'gay' or whatever. Not that there's anything even wrong with it, but this isn't the type of club I assume any guy would feel very welcome in as a customer," you narrow your eyes, "And that's an issue if you're lookin' to expand or make more profit."
The boys make noises of awe and you hear four of them clap. Haruhi seems impressed with your insight, "Yeah, that is a good idea, actually. It'd mean more business, more profit, and it'd probably be good for the social climate of the school too," she puts a hand up to her mouth, "Most of the boys that come in here usually don't stay very long, even if they're interested in a romantic experience. It's probably cuz of the fact we're a host club. Maybe a hostess would make boys more comfortable coming in here and we could rake in more customers," she looks up at you and meets your eyes with an expression you can only describe as "synchronized" with your thought process, "More customers means more happiness, more happiness means students will overall feel more comfortable being themselves. So then we can openly appeal to absolutely anyone who could ever wanna come in here after-school!"
"Haruhi gets what I'm goin' for, as usual!" You walk up to her and smile as you fist bump.
"Interesting. I suppose I never really considered it that way," Kyoya says, "It'd be beneficial for us all if we were able to make our fellow men feel more at home in our club, huh...I think this idea is more than worth a try, what do you think, Tamaki?" he looks at Tamaki, "Besides, if people were more comfortable with their gender and sexuality expression in the school, perhaps you and Haruhi could even ride that wave, hm?"
Haruhi didn't seem interested at all in the prospect of being able to be romantic with Tamaki, but that was all it really took for the blonde to get excited at the idea. "Being able to be open with Haruhi even during club hours..." he smiles, "I like it, I like it! I'd love to be able to express my love and appreciation for my cute widdle Haruhi!" he gushes over her in a way that makes you feel extremely, EXTREMELY close to actually going through with punching him. "But the question is: what type would our darling Hostess even be?"
You hear rumbling and the slight crackling of electricity and machinery. The room shakes just a little as a platform rises out of the ground, a girl laughing enthusiastically and evilly atop of it. This must be their "manager." Was this room ever used for music in the first place?
"It seems this is where I can come in!" she smiles down at you, jumping off of the platform. You hear Haruhi greet her as "Renge," and you barely have any time to even process her sudden appearance before you're approached rapidly. Leaning away from her, you watch uncomfortable as she examines your features. If you weren't so stunned into awkwardness and could fully process what she was doing, you'd have probably slapped her for just feeling your face and turning you around like some sort of fashion designer. Eventually Renge backs away and puts a hand on her chin, "Hm, based on my very accurate and amazingly thorough investigation...." she points at you with a wide smile, "I deem you the REBEL TYPE!"
You blink, "Huh?"
"Ooh, yes, that's exactly it! I've seen you throughout the school and during your conversations, and I can concur that you are exactly the type of woman that doesn't take things sitting down!" Renge excitedly rambles, "You're like a 'gyaru' or 'yankee' type of character! Someone who isn't too naughty or rough but wouldn't just accept 'no' for an answer! Someone you could feel protected by, feeling supported by just a smile! An almost big sisterly attitude, one that attracts you because of her rough personality that hides a heart of shining gold!! It's the type of character that even girls would fall head over heels for!!!!!!"
"Can you please get out of my face if you want to yell--"
Renge interrupts you, "This is further supported by how she talks to Haruhi, after all! There's a certain 'moe' in how they interact, further supporting the idea that this rough and tumble girlie actually has such a soft heart, you can't help but be attracted to her!!"
'Moe,' she really said 'moe.' Otaku manager isn't something you'd ever have expected in a club like this and yet you're seeing her in action. The boys are interested by her analysis of you, and it takes little time for them to talk among themselves. Haruhi gives you an apologetic look and you're not entirely sure you'll ever forgive her for enabling the overwhelming tornado that comes next--Tamaki snaps his fingers. Suddenly, you're grabbed by the arms. The twins rush you into a changing room, and for a second you're about to pummel the shit out of them, but they don't undress you (thank god.) Instead, in what felt like an instant, your hair was well done and nicely arranged, looking shiny and smooth. Your dress had been adorned with frills along the bottom, a rose corsage placed on your chest, and some light layers of blush on your cheeks. You sit daintily on the chair as they swirl it around to reveal your new look.
Haruhi blushes a little bit and smiles, "Oh, wow. You...look really nice!" she smiles, "This could actually work really well!"
"WAIT wait wait, but I have to get home in an hour!"
"No time for that! I'd message whoever you need to that you'll be late," Tamaki smiles brightly at you and you just wonder what you've gotten into as his eyes sparkle, "You'll be spending your after-school hours in here from now on!"
"You better be ready--" "--cuz the workload can get intense!" The twins smile at you as they get in position.
"But don't worry, Usa-chan, Mori, and I will be here to support you!" Honey hops into your lap, and you have to hold back from pushing him off. Usa-chan waves at you and that makes you regret even thinking about it. And, also, the fact Mori is standing right next to you. But the way he smiles down at you makes you think he's completely unaware of whatever negative thoughts you could have of Honey.
"Me, too," Haruhi smiles and gathers herself, brushing her uniform clean and smiling at you, "Don't worry, it's way easier than it seems."
Renge is ready to open the doors--seemingly at Kyoya's command, with a bright red blush on her face as he joins the group. The final piece of the puzzle. Kyoya smiles down at you, "Get ready. This will be considered a trial of your integration--to see how well you work under pressure. The Host Club is everchanging, after all," he snaps a finger coolly and Renge opens the doors. Somehow, the same breeze and roses from before comes on cue.
"Welcome, ladies!" the club's members speak in unison.
You blink in wide-eyed bewilderment as the crowd of women enters the room, and they almost all gasp at the sight of you sitting in the middle.
"Please welcome the Ouran Host Club's newest apprentice," Kyoya speaks, motioning to you.
"Our dear Hostess."