A/N: Hi there! I've loved Ouran for soooo many years now, but I recently started re-reading the manga and oh man, I've missed fangirling over this series so much! I'll also be going off the manga for this story, with some changes of dialogue here and there :)
Important note before we begin - I did a student exchange in Japan for 2.5 months at a private school, so I'm going to be using what I know of Japan in this story (even though it's been 4 years). So my OC will be literally the only thing I've made from scratch, though her life will be made up of stuff I know well and/or experienced. But she will not be me, she is her own person.
DISCLAIMER! I don't own Ouran High School Host Club, Bisco Hatori does!
~ Chapter One ~
"There are four libraries in this school, so why is it so noisy everywhere?" Haruhi complained, stomping down a hall at the top floor of the south campus. "If they don't feel like studying, then why don't they just go home!"
I laughed, which earned me a glare from my frien— err, acquaintance. "Because they use the libraries as a place to be social, rather than for study." I myself didn't mind the noise, but when I chose to get some work done, it had to be silent. That's why I was looking for somewhere quiet with Haruhi.
The two of us liked to stick together, because even though she was a scholarship student and I paid to be here at Ouran, we both stuck out like a sore thumb. Due to certain circumstances, neither of us could afford the school uniform.
People generally avoided us because of it, and both being in the same classes, we found common ground and decided to be pals. I wouldn't exactly call her my friend, though. We only ever hung out at school, and that was just to study. And when we weren't studying, we were off doing our own thing.
Haruhi stopped in front of a door, the sign above it reading 'Third Music Room', which I was certain was abandoned. There was no noise coming from it, at least.
"This is probably the only place left that's quiet…" She muttered to me, opening the door as she did. What we saw next was surprising, to say the least.
"Welcome~!" Six incredibly attractive boys greeted us, all but one smiling as if they had been waiting for us. All of a sudden, I knew who these guys were - the infamous Ouran Host Club… The very same club that I thought was some joke the girls at school made up.
I had to contain my laughter while Haruhi looked like she was about to pass out from shock. She turned her back on the guys and leaned against the wall, hiding her tomato red face from them. I couldn't believe this club actually existed! How did they even manage to make it?
"Oh, they're guys," the ginger-haired Hitachiin twins, who I knew from some classes, stated while looking disappointed. Wait, did they think we were boys? I really did laugh this time, much to their confusion.
"Watch your mouth!" The only one sitting down, a blonde, chastised the twins. "They're our important guests, even if they are guys." He stood up and held his arm out to address us. "Welcome to Ouran Host Club! Rare scholarship student Haruhi Fujioka, and the attorney's son Yuki Nishihara!"
Haruhi looked terrified. "How did you know…?" She asked, though what I wanted to know was how he knew my name but not my correct gender.
"It seems that commoners aren't fit for the tone of our school. So if you don't have a lot of nerve, you can't get a scholarship here." The only guy wearing glasses stated. He was handsome like the others, but his quite obvious know-it-all persona took away from that. He turned to me. "And as for you, some know the Nishihara family for their recent financial issues."
"How lovely," I muttered, sweat-dropping, while Haruhi said, "Yeah… Thank you for explaining it so kindly."
The blonde guy rushed over and grabbed Haruhi's shoulders. "So to speak, you are a hero, Fujioka-kun! And so are you, Nishihara-kun! You're both the poorest in this school. People will call you a weed, and you'll be despised for your lower class! Don't worry, I praise the poor for their hard work! They are heroes! And what's important to the hero is the reckless spirit!"
What. The. Hell. Was. This. Wacko. On. About. Like seriously, if you know the answer, please enlighten me.
"I cannot believe the two poorest students are gay." He continued. God, did he even breathe? "What would you like? Wild? Lolita? Mischievous? Cool? Or…" He flicked his hair, pushed us together and leaned in close. "Would either of you like to try me?"
Oh, my God. This guy was actually being serious, and I found it hilarious. I burst out with more laughter, which made blondie stumble back and a shadow of depression fall over his face.
"You misunderstood, we just—" Haruhi jumped when the only other blonde, who looked like he was in primary school, appeared.
"Haru-chan, Yuki-chan, are you heroes?" He asked us, looking so adorable and innocent. I'm pretty sure I could see little flowers hovering around him, he was that cute.
I bit down on my knuckles to stop myself from squealing due to the cute-overload. "You're so kawaii!"
But he didn't hear, because at that moment Haruhi got mad. "Who gave you permission to call me Haru-chan?!" She screeched, giving the poor kid her demon face. He ran away to the tall guy that never smiled, who gave him a pink stuffed rabbit and a pat on the head.
"Anyway, we were looking for somewhere quiet!" My friend continued to moan, overwhelmed by all these crazy guys and all their crazy assumptions. She was backing away, not noticing where she was going. Which was to a podium holding a very, very expensive looking vase. "Please excuse…"
"Haruhi, watch out—!" I shouted, and jumped to pull her away, but it was too late. She'd already backed into the podium and knocked the vase off it. There was a huge crash, and Haruhi looked mortified.
"That vase was supposed to be the feature for the school auction." Said the twin with his hair parted on the left, his tone nonchalant despite the severity of his words.
"What will we do…?" Continued the other twin, his hair parted on the other side. "We were going to start the bidding at 8 million yen…"
Poor Haruhi, her eye was twitching and her face was flushed. You could practically see her dying inside. "I'll pay it back…"
"Can you? You can't even pay for your own uniform." Said the first twin again.
And like before, the other twin continued. "What's with that lame clothing you're wearing? At least your friend has some style."
I couldn't help but smirk at that. Haruhi was wearing her dad's clothes like usual, as she had nothing that looked like a uniform. So she was stuck with a button-down shirt, oversized sweater, and ill-fitted slacks.
As for me, I couldn't afford the uniform, but seeing as my family actually had quite a bit of money once upon a time, my outfit was nicer. I was wearing a dark green shirt under a long black trench coat that wasn't too big, but didn't hug my body either. My slacks had been fitted a few years ago, but because of a recent illness, I'd lost quite a bit of weight since then and they were loose around my thighs.
Oh. The fact that our outfits didn't show off any feminine curves and our short hairstyles were the reasons why these people thought we were both guys. I guess that made sense. But still, I actually had boobs. Thank you, mum, for your good genes!
"What would you do, Tamaki?" The know-it-all asked blondie. Ah, so that was the flamboyant one's name.
Tamaki was back in his seat, looking exasperated. "Do you know this proverb, Fujioka-kun?" Suddenly his demeanour changed, and it was kind of unsettling. "When in Rome, do as the Roman's do. If you don't have money, pay with your own body. From now on you are the Host Club's dog!"
Haruhi cried out with horror at that, while I cried out tears from too much laughter. Oh, God, what has she gotten herself in to? All we wanted was a quiet place to study. I'm pretty sure I even saw her spirit leave her body.
"I'm sorry, Haruhi, but this is the best day I've had at school so far." I wiped a happy tear from my eye as my laughter finally died down. "Talk about bad luck!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Yuki Nishihara." Know-it-all turned to me and smiled almost sadistically. "As Haruhi Fujioka's friend, you should have kept him under control and stopped him from knocking the vase over. As punishment for your negligence, you too will be the Host Club's dog, sharing the debt."
"Eh, what?!" I demanded, and proceeded to glare at glasses-boy so hard I was surprised he didn't flinch. Tamaki sure did though. "This is so unfair!"
A/N: Chapter 1 done and dusted! How did you like it? Or didn't you? Please give me any and all opinions you had of it :) It was a short chapter, I know. I myself prefer to read lots of short chapters rather than a few long ones, so I'm going to try and write this fic without too many chapters that exceed, oh, idk, 3000 words.
But! I will be doing a little "fun fact" segment at the end of each chapter, concerning this fic and/or Japan in general. They are completely optional to read, but most of them will give a little insight into the making of Yuki and it might be interesting to you… Or not.
Fun fact time!
The name Yuki is quite common, I know, but it is unisex and I've never met a Yuki I haven't liked. Her last name, Nishihara, is my Japanese aunt's maiden name and it literally translates to 'Westfield', which is also the name of a company that owns the mall her and my uncle live down the road from.