Sakura Hopes: Part 1

Meet the Ouran Host Club

WARNING: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or any other allusions mentioned in this story.

I was nervous. The nauseous feeling tugged at my stomach, threatening to throw my breakfast out in front of me. I tried to ignore it, but it wasn't enough. I'd been at Ouran Academy for a week now, but I hadn't socialized with anyone at all. I didn't know what to think of the bright yellow uniform either. It was so conspicuous! Well, I guess it was hard to be conspicuous when all the girls were wearing it, too. I felt so out of place at Ouran. None of the other students with their contemptuous attitudes had time for a lowly scholarship student like me. I knew that I was already the laughing stock of class 1-A.

I did have one friend at school, Haruhi Fujioka. We had met while applying for scholarships, but she was posing as a boy at school for some reason and was constantly getting mobbed by random girls in our class. I hadn't had a chance to say anything but a quick 'hi' to her in the hallways. She had made friends with some guys in our class, the Hitachiin twins. I didn't know what to think of the twins. They had a different vibe than some of the other kids here, not snotty or rude, but playful and somewhat impish. But still, they seemed to be troublemakers, and I had a feeling that they were the ones who led the gags against me behind my back.

I all but ran into the classroom just before the bell rangm still feeling queasy. Our teacher gave me a warning look, one eyebrow raised. I blushed and hurried to my seat. Unfortunately, the only seat left was in the middle of the room, right behind one of the Hitachiin twins. I sat down quickly, trying to ignore the muted laughs around the room. Holding back tears, I grabbed my textbook and began the class work on the board. While other students struggled with the work, I finished it without difficulty, my pencil flying across paper. Just before the bell rang, our teacher called me over to her desk. When the classroom was devoid of people besides the two of us, she sighed and began speaking.

"Starting at a new school is incredibly hard, Amaya, I understand that. But, coming to class this late is unacceptable. Do you understand?" She barked. I stammered, trying to say that I wasn't late, but she ignored me completely.

"You attend Ouran Academy, so you have to get to class earlier. This is a prestigious school, and it's time you started taking it seriously!" She stared me down with deadly eyes. I gulped, and nodded silently. I must have looked terrified, because her face softened. "Just come to class on time, all right? I know you had got here before the bell, but I prefer to have my students here a bit earlier," she murmured kindly. I nodded again, promised to come earlier, and thanked her before leaving the classroom. I opened the door to see Haruhi waiting for me, concern etched upon her face.

"Were you in trouble? What did she want?"

"Just asking me to get to class on time... nothing more." I looked around, there was no one paying attention to us. "Did you finally escape your admirers?" I asked, a small smile on my face. Haruhi sighed exasperatedly.

"Yeah... it's about time. Hey, I'm sorry I haven't had much time to talk to you. I just got dragged in to joining a host club," Haruhi said, looking incredibly tired.

"It's fine, no big deal. Wait... Do they know...?" I asked, thinking over what she had just told me.

"Yeah. They all kind of knew from the start except for one guy...he's a total idiotic foo-" Haruhi was cut off by a tall blond boy who casually slung his arm around her shoulders.

"Hello, Haruhi! How are you on this lovely morning? I, your king, am flattered that you are so graced by my presence," he said dramatically. Haruhi pointed at him and mouthed 'this is the idiot' to me.

"Who is your friend Haruhi? OH! Is this the other scholarship student? Amaya, isn't it? Hello, I'm Tamaki Suoh, and it's a pleasure to meet you!" He said, smiling confidently. I smiled shyly and managed a small 'hi' back. Then he towed Haruhi down the hall, with a quick good bye over his shoulder. I looked at my watch quickly. There were about ten minutes left of break. I decided that i would get to class early to do some extra studying. I was so focused in my own thoughts that I didn't notice that someone had stuck their leg out as if to trip me. I plummeted, completing the classic gag, my books and pencils spilling to the floor. Laughter echoed in the halls as I scrambled to pick up my books. I heard someone call out "Loser!" in the midst of all the chaos. Tears leaked out of my eyes as I quickly shoved textbooks into my arms and the hilarity had stopped.

"Is this yours?" I looked up to see the twin I had sat behind in class today. He was holding out my notebook, his expression blank.

"Thank you," I said quietly, hoping that verbal contact would not fail me now.

"No problem. I'm Kaoru, by the way," he replied, in a tone of voice that matched mine, with a touch of sincerity to it.

"I'm Amaya… it's nice to meet you…" I said, blushing. He smiled, and put his hand on my shoulder as a comforting gesture. I felt the need to smile back, meant as a thank you. It was a shy smile, but I felt happier than I had ever felt at Ouran.

After that small exchange, nothing improved for me at all. People started to tease me in my face, following the example of the other person. I bumped into Kaoru now and then, but there was nothing more between us besides a small greeting. Haruhi and I were talking much more, though, but either the mob of fangirls or the Tamaki person often interrupted us. At one time, she asked me if I wanted to go to the host club with her.

"Er... I don't really know... I mean, I don't want to run into a place that's going to make people hate me even more than they do already. And a host club's not really my kind of thing..." I murmured, twirling a lock of my brown hair around my finger.

"Come on. It's not that bad. We can go after club hours, so no one is going to be there. And besides, I need someone for moral support. I might go insane if I stay with these people for too long," she said while I laughed quietly.

"Okay, fine! I'll come, but as long as no one is going to start... you know... er... making some sort of move..." I said. Haruhi agreed, and on that note, we left for the 3rd music room together, no idea what was about to be in store. Just before we entered, Haruhi turned to face me.

"You know, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. It's fine with me." She was right, i didn't really want to go in, but I knew she would feel better if I did.

"I'm fine with it," I said tentatively, hoping that was convincing enough. She nodded, looking much better. The double doors burst pen, and i got my first full look at the 3rd Music Room. It was so... pink. Everything about it was frilly and girlish, it seemed almost nonsensical. In there was Tamaki, the Hitachiin twins, a short, cute boy who looked as if he should be in an elementary school class, a tall and silent boy with dark spiky hair, and a black haired, glasses clad guy.

"Hello Haruhi. Nice of you to finally show up. I'll add another, lets see, how about a 100 more yen to your debt. Now, who is your friend?" The glasses guy asked, looking at me skeptically. Haruhi glared at him, while I was left confused. Debt...?

"Oh! I know who you are! You're Ama-chan, right? Right? I'm Hunny! Have you met my Usa-chan?" Hunny gushed enthusiastically, and bounced forward holding out his stuffed bunny. "Oh, and this is Takashi! But people call him Mori!" Hunny added, gesturing to the tall, silent one, who merely gave me a small wave.

"Why are you even here?" The twins asked simultaneously. Tamaki glared at them fiercely.

"How can you say that? All patronage is accepted here!" He chastened. He then turned to me, a smile on his lips and a rose in his hand.

"Welcome to the Ouran Host Club, Miss Amaya Nakamura. It's a pleasure to have you here. Well, you might be a bit late, but it doesn't matter. Of course, I'm the most requested host, having 3000 requests a day. Would you like to increase that number?" That did it. I turned around slowly, and ran. This wasn't what I signed up for. No way. I heard no pursuit behind me, but I was so upset that I wouldn't stop even if there was. My hand was on the doorknob, about to turn it, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. In shock, my hand immediately froze on the knob, while I turned to see who it was. It was Kaoru. Our gazes had locked, and it seemed as if all time had stopped. After a moment, I tried to shrug his hand off, but it remained glued to my shoulder.

"Don't leave. Not yet… at least..." My eyes widened, hearing these words spoken to me for the first time. He kept his gaze locked on mine, his amber eyes unable to leave my blue. "You shouldn't feel forced to do something… that you don't want to do," Kaoru's quiet voice echoed softly around the empty hallway.

It was good advice. He didn't say much, but what he did say had a lot of sentimental meaning to me. It meant that he cared enough about the ostracized scholarship student to ask her to stay. In the years to come, I would always remember and cherish those words.

"I'm going to let go now. You can run out of here if you want to, and we can pretend like this never happened. Or you could stay. The choice is yours," he murmured. After a moment, the pressure on my shoulder lifted, but I remained where I was. A smile lit up his face, and I returned one. A real one thids time.

"Thank you... Those words that you said... you have no idea what they mean to me," I said, "I really owe you one."

"I'm not letting you forget that," Kaoru said, still smiling, but the smile had already left my face.

"I'll only come back if it doesn't bother anyone or anything…" I muttered shyly.

"I'm sure no one will have a problem with it," he murmured. We didn't say another word until we were back at the 3rd Music Room.

After it was explained that I wasn't interested in hosting or anything of that category, I just watched the rest of them spaz out before it was time to go. But, there was a new feeling in the pit of my stomach. It wasn't nausea, like that early morning a few days ago. It was a feeling I hadn't felt since i came to Ouran. A feeling that you can only get from certain people. A feeling of belonging.