Chapter Text
"Hi! Do you think you can get me an appointment at your father's office?"
“Oh, don’t listen to her! I want an appointment at your mother’s salon.”
You sat still at your desk, only your eyes moving between the flock of young female students gathering around your desk. It’s only the second week since school started and you’re exhausted by the endless requests of appointments. You’re the daughter to your mother and father, not a secretary like these girls are suggesting.
Pulling the best polite smile you can, you looked each girl straight in the eye. “Apologies, ladies, but I can’t take any requests for my mother and father. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” pushing yourself out of the chair, you smoothed the skirt of the garish yellow uniform and gathered all your materials. All of the girls dispersed, some muttering to each other as they walked away from your desk.
Pulling your crossbody bag over your shoulder, you sauntered out of the first-year classroom with your head held high, ignoring the looks of disappointment and slight disgust from the girls that still lingered. Once you exited the classroom, making a right turn to exit the academy, you heard approaching voices echo loudly through the semi-empty halls. Their hurried footsteps approached your direction, but in no way was it directed to you.
“Come on, Haruhi!”
“You don’t want to be late for your second week!”
You tilted your head at the similar voices. Your brows shot up at the sight of three students rushing towards you—two identical guys and one much shorter guy. You assume they didn’t take notice of you as you stepped out of the way to not be run over. Unfortunately, you must’ve miscalculated the timing and distance as the shorter of three tripped over your walking foot. He stumbled on the polished floor, palms clumsily making contact with the floor. He groaned in pain, turning over to sit on the floor. The other two skid to a stop, rushing back to check on their friend.
With worry on your face, you took a step forward and leaned down. “Are you alright? I’m sorry about that; I didn’t mean to trip you.” The guy giggled, shaking his head. “Yeah, it’s not too bad,” he assured. You stretched out your arm, preparing yourself to hoist the guy up. He gratefully took your hand, meeting your strength halfway as to not have you pull his entire weight.
Your brows furrowed, taking note of the lighter weight you didn’t expect. “Haruhi, you okay?” The supposed “Haruhi” turned to the two guys, nodding his head as he dusted off the back of his school slacks. You mentally sighed in disappointment, wishing that the girl’s uniform looked just as nice and polished as the boy’s uniform. Your eyes drifted from “Haruhi’s” uniform to the other two. Judging by their identical appearance, you assume they’re twins—awfully familiar-looking twins. Your parents always suggested that you take note of the other wealthy families and the businesses involved, but it was never in your interest.
“Hey, who are you?”
You looked up at the smooth voice, your eyes meeting one pair of narrowed gold ones. His face looks sour, and honestly, you’re disgusted by the expression—disgusted that he could be wrongfully judging you. Nevertheless, you held your head high, eyes narrowly looking back at him in a similar fashion. With your arms folded in front of your chest, you introduced your full name in a faux haughty voice. Now, you don’t want to seem arrogant, but this guy is already testing you from one look and one sentence.
“Oh! You’re the daughter of the plastic surgeon and cosmetologist!” You looked to your left to the other twin. Your eyes softened as his face seemed more inviting and approachable. He offered a light smile to you to which you returned back out of politeness. “Our mother went to your mother’s salon. She said she loves your mother’s work.” The second twin commented. You hummed, a thoughtful look on your face as you asked, “And who might your mother be?”
“Yuzuha Hitachiin,” the same twin replied.
Ah yes. You now know why they seemed so familiar. As much as you're not interested in keeping tabs of other wealthy families, the Hitachiin family is one you’re familiar with considering your own mother’s love of Yuzuha Hitachiin’s fashion company. The family name is one you can never ignore as it’s littered on almost every piece of clothing your mother owns.
“So you’re Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin.” You looked both of them dead in the eyes before politely nodding your head at them. “It’s nice to officially meet you both. My mother is a fan of Mrs. Hitachiin’s fashion designs.” You coolly commented back, thinking it a wise decision to show the mutual appreciation of each mother’s work for the other.
“Rich people…”
“Haruhi” muttered to himself, but the comment is clear as day despite how he tried to be quiet. You turned to face him, looking him up and down. “Who might you be?” You watched as he straightened his posture, fumbling slightly with his own limbs. “Uh, Haruhi Fujioka.” You cocked one brow up, then you raised both as you realized who this is. A genius at best, you assume. He’s the first-year scholarship student—the only commoner you’re aware of in the entire school.
“Ah, you’re the Haruhi Fujioka. Impressive,” you clapped your hands, taking mild interest on his pink face. He stuttered out a ‘thank you,’ bowing his head out of politeness. You then spared a glance at the clock, noting that eleven minutes has already passed. “The three of you should be going, yes? I believe I heard you being late for something.” The reminder made the three of them jump, the Hitachiin twins both grabbing onto each of Haruhi’s wrists.
“Kyouya’s gonna kill us!”
“We need to go!”
The three of them flew—or more like, the twins flew and Haruhi was dragged like a ragdoll. You watched amused, not thinking much of the comments that the twins made. Uncrossing your arms, you fixed the strap on your bag, turning your body back to exit the academy.
“Godspeed… I guess.”
It’s the next school day and you spent the entire school day avoiding every girl, and the occasional guy, from requesting appointments for your mother or father. You would think that they could all find a different option, but of course, the students of Ouran want nothing less than luxury and big names. Of course, you yourself are not blind to your own want of luxury and big names. This situation is just different due to the big names being your parents.
It’s now after school, and you figured you can get your homework done before you get picked up. You’re walking through the empty halls, searching for a quiet room. So far, every room you have walked into is beyond noisy—even the library!
Passing by one of the doors, you didn’t bother looking at the sign above as you pulled the door open. Once the door is wide open, you expected there to be noise—which there was—but you did not expect to be pelted by rose petals. Your nose crinkled in disgust, spitting out a lone petal that flew into your mouth.
“Welcome.”
You blinked away the too bright light that shone in your face. You mindlessly brushed away the stray petals that stuck onto your dress as you squinted your eyes at the group in front of you. There are seven boys settled in the middle of the room with only one sitting in a chair. You scanned each of their faces, three of them strikingly familiar. However, before you can get a word out, the guy sitting in the chair stood up and strolled his way over to you.
“Hello, my fair maiden! To whom do I owe the pleasure?”
The guy grabbed your hand, brushing his lips against the back of your hand as he knelt on one knee. You watched him in disgust, immediately recoiling your hand back once his hold loosened. The action shocked him, but he hid it quickly by pulling on a cool composure. “Not accustomed to physical affections, maiden?” He stood up and fixed uniform blazer. You judging stared at the guy, wondering if he had hit his head on something. “…No. I simply do not know you,” you replied. The guy placed a hand over his chest. “My apologies, maiden. The name is Tamaki Suoh, and you are?” He bowed slightly, head tilted to look at you.
Unconsciously, you leaned back. Tamaki Suoh—you vaguely recognize his name. The name seems to be popular among the female students, and if you heard correctly, he’s the chairman’s son. No wonder he’s the talk of the school. This guy is literally connected to the school!
Tamaki is looking at you expectingly, his posture unmoving until you offer a reply. Hesitantly, you introduced yourself. Tamaki straightened his posture and graced you a charming smile. You awkwardly smiled back, weirded out by Tamaki’s mannerisms. “It’s such a pleasure to—“
“It’s you!”
The Hitachiin twins suddenly appeared in your line of vision, effectively blocking the sight of Tamaki. You flinched back out of surprise. “Hello,” you greeted curtly. As quick as the twins' appearance was made, their disappearance was made just as quickly. “You twins know her?” Tamaki’s charm went away in an instant, now replaced by suspicion and what you can suspect as slight annoyance. “Yeah, Boss. Us and Haruhi bumped into her on our way to the club,” One of the twins replied. They’re too identical in appearance for you to know who is who.
“Haruhi! You know her too?”
Tamaki is a man of many emotions you’re quickly learning. He whipped his entire body around to face Haruhi who is idly standing with the rest of the unnamed group. His face is now replaced with a deep pout, eyes shining with… unshed tears? Sheesh. To hell with being the chairman’s son, he should be an actor. “Well, technically, I only met her yesterday.” You agreed with Haruhi’s statement by simply nodding your head.
“So you’re the one who made them late.”
You narrowed your eyes at the perfectly enunciated sentence coming from the guy with glasses. He has a smirk on his face, his head held obnoxiously high as he seemed to glare at you. Your face twitched, highly annoyed by his smugness. “What of it?” You retorted, your arms now crossed as you held your head high too. If this guy can do it, you can do it too.
Electricity struck between you two, eyes glaring at each other. “Nothing,” he coolly replied. He pushed his glasses up as he continued. “At least, nothing you should be concerned about.” Oh, whoever this guy is, he’s getting on your absolute nerves. Instead of letting your annoyance take over, you bottled it up and exhaled deeply. You looked him straight in the eye in a calmer manner and said, “Of course. If you say so…” You trailed off, seeing if you can get a name out of this guy.
“Kyouya Ootori.”
“Pleasure to meet—“
“I’m well aware of who you are,” Kyouya interrupted you. “Your mother is a well-renowned cosmetologist, and your father one of the top plastic surgeons.” You scoffed at his statement. “Everyone knows that,” you said and rolled your eyes. You’re not sure how much longer you can stand this guy. He thinks he knows everything—well, too bad. He only knows the public information; he knows nothing about you and your personal life. “Yes, of course. You’re the only daughter of the family, no? I’m assuming you’ll inherit either one or both of the businesses.” Kyouya’s gaze is calculating and if you can punch him in the face, you would. “Inherit? If I care to,” you scoffed. You looked down when you noticed his hands move, deft fingers flipping a black book open. He clicked his pen, jotting something down in the book.
“What-what are you writing?”
Kyouya ignored your question, more focused on his book. You’re baffled. What is this guy’s deal? You fumed, wanting to snap the pen in his hand in half. If he’s writing down your personal information, you’ll make sure to steal that book of his and throw it in a fire. “You should just ignore him!” A very short—and you really mean short—guy bounced over to you, his large doe eyes looking right at you. If you’re honest, he creeps you out a little; he’s a little doll-like to you, and it doesn’t settle right with you. “Would you like some cake?” He stretched his short arm all the way up to you, offering a slice of untouched strawberry short cake. You practically shiver at the pitch of his voice, wondering if he’s some sort of child-prodigy or just never… grew, for a lack of better words.
“Uh, I’m okay. No, thank you,” you politely declined, shuffling a bit as he stood unbearably close to you. “I guess this is all for myself!” You’re impressed at the speed he eats the cake, watching the plate be eaten clean with no crumbs left behind. He licked the fork entirely, the plate and fork being taken away from his small hands. You craned your neck up, curious eyes meeting narrow dark ones. His face is expressionless, offering you a nod as a greeting. You awkwardly nodded back, mouth slightly agape at his extreme silence.
You suspiciously looked around the room, wondering why everyone (minus Haruhi) is so comfortable talking and touching you especially Tamaki with his affirmations. “Sorry about them.” The group stepped back allowing Haruhi to walk through and calmly approach you. Relief swept you, a deep exhale leaving your lips. Waving your hand, you gave Haruhi a light smile. “That’s alright. I guess I was… surprised,” you hesitantly assured, not sure if you chose the proper phrasing but it’s all you can think of. “So why—“
“May I ask what you’re doing here, maiden?” Tamaki cut Haruhi off, annoyance colouring Haruhi’s face. You gave Tamaki a suspicious look, one brow cocking up. “Oh, you can just use my name and I came here looking for a place to do my assignments,” you replied. “But I guess there’s no quiet place so,” you trailed off, fanning the sides of your school dress back and forth. You turned on your heel, ready to leave the room until a loud “Wait!” halted you.
You shouldn’t have stopped, your mind is telling you not to stop but your instincts say otherwise. You internally groaned, eyes rolling to the back of your head as you lolled your head back to look at the voice that stopped you. Honestly, you’re not surprised that Tamaki is the one that stopped you. What, with his outstretched arm and dramatically panicked face pinning him as the theatrical and dramatic suspect. “What?” You snapped, crossing your arms as you had to turn your body to face the host club again.
Tamaki recollected himself once he got your attention, pulling his blazer close across his body. “You can study here. As the host club, we will make sure that you will get the proper atmosphere and silence to focus on your studies,” he suggested. Tamaki pulled one of his proudest smiles on. You scoffed, turned back around to face the door, then walked forward and pushed the door open. As the door slowly swung to a close and you began walking out of the room, you shook your head at the faint statement from none other than Tamaki.
“You’re always welcome to study here, maiden!”
Yes, no thank you.