Author's Note: This is my first attempt at writing Ouran fan fiction, so please be gentle.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this; I'm merely manipulating a manga series to create my own plot.


Haruhi Fujioka was a smart girl. She was naïve but she had all the book smarts a commoner needed to be accepted into the prestigious Ouran Academy.

Her dream was to become a lawyer – even half the lawyer her mother had been. She wanted to go out each morning feeling confident and come home each night feeling accomplished. She hoped that someday she could inspire her own children to be great.

Presently she was a 16 year old girl trying to deal with the stress of school and the Ouran Host Club. It was surprising to many when they found out she was part of a Host Club, as it contradicted her very nature and personality. She was an independent and quiet girl – and yet she was part of a Host Club, in which she entertained young girls and fooled them into believing she was a boy. One must ask, why would any girl put herself through that?

Because she had to.

Haruhi had been a part of the Host Club since she began school in her freshman year. Currently a second-year in high school, she still had a large debt to pay for the vase she accidentally broke over a year ago.

She would never admit aloud to anyone that she actually enjoyed being in the Host Club. If it hadn't been for the club, she wouldn't have made many friends at all. Now she had plenty of friends, all of whom were boys. Most girls would feel flustered at the attention she received from these boys, but Haruhi had never held gender in high regard. It was part of the reason that she was willing to pass herself off as a boy. She believed that gender was only a small complication, and that it should never get in your way.

Besides, she had grown up with a hard-working feminist mother and a currently widowed transvestite father. It would be hypocritical of her to think that gender mattered, when it so clearly didn't.

At the moment Haruhi was trudging up one of the grand staircases of Ouran Academy with a heavy book sack on her back, making her way to the Third Music Room – the headquarters of the Host Club.

She opened the large wooden doors and heaved a sigh, panting to catch her breath.

"HARUHI!" she heard a male voice squeal.

Haruhi squeezed her eyes shut and cursed under her breath before turning around.

"Hello senpai," she said politely to her elder, Tamaki Suoh.

Tamaki was a tall 17 year old who did not look Japanese at all. He was half-French and most of his gene pool had taken after that. He had platinum blond hair and large, blue-purple eyes that were always curious and playful. He mostly acted like a petulant child, but he had his moments when he would show surprising amounts of growth and maturity. His only vulnerability was caring too much about the people around him.

"Haruhi, I have not seen you in so long!" he whined, hovering over her shoulders like an excited puppy. His eyes were large and gleeful.

"Senpai, I just saw you over the summer," said Haruhi reasonably yet bitterly. She was still not over the fact that the Host Club had invaded her apartment over the summer. She had so been looking forward to the summer when she could get away from the Host Club for a while and just relax.

"But that was weeks ago!" protested Tamaki.

Haruhi decided the best approach was to just ignore him, and she made her way to the back of the room where she set her heavy book sack on a couch and stretched her arms, tired from the first day back to school.

Around the room the other three members of the Host Club were doing their various activities. Kyouya Ootori was predictably typing away on his laptop, oblivious to his surroundings. His face was straight and his glasses were reflecting the light from the room so that his gray, cold eyes were not visible. He had a slight furrow in his brow, showing his frustration. Haruhi wondered what was bothering him now.

On the other side of the room the red-haired twins, Kaoru and Hikaru, were whispering to each other, a mischievous glint in their eyes.

The room seemed so empty without its other two members, Hunny and Mori. They had graduated the previous year and were now attending a prestigious university together, which was not far from Ouran. Haruhi missed Hunny's adorable way of speaking and attaching himself to her legs, and his penchant for sweet foods. She also missed Mori and his silent wisdom. He seldom spoke but when he did he always had something interesting to say.

"Haruhi," sing-songed Kaoru, finally taking note of her, "We don't have any classes together this year!"

Hikaru agreed and complained, "Maybe we should go to the headmaster and ask him to change our schedules!"

"Please don't!" Haruhi pleaded, sincerely hoping the twins wouldn't ask to change their schedules. "I see you both everyday as it is, I just want to focus on my studies during school hours."

Suddenly Kyouya spoke from behind his laptop, "Tamaki, a Host Club without Hunny and Mori is illogical. We'll lose costumers and ideas."

"Oh, don't worry about that, Kyouya," said Tamaki airily. "We can always ask more people to join our Host Club."

The twins were alarmed.

Hikaru protested, "Ask more people to join? But this is our Host Club! Five people are more than enough!"

Always the rational twin, Kaoru said gently, "It's okay, Hikaru. It's still going to be our Host Club, but we do need more people."

Kyouya took note of Haruhi's inquisitive expression and said, "Something on your mind, Fujioka?"

Haruhi chose her words wisely. "Wouldn't it be unwise to add more people to the club? Our costumers are already so used to us and they trust us. Adding more people would only confuse our costumers and might ruin us. How do we know we can trust these new members? We're not loved by everyone, after all."

Kyouya praised her with a raise of his eyebrows. "That's exactly what I was thinking. Tamaki seems to think everything will be fine, however."

"Because everything will be fine!" said Tamaki, annoyed. "Only two new members, I promise. We can hold auditions! And it'll be a rule that everyone has to agree on the new member."

Everyone else in the room was reluctant, most of all Hikaru, who looked angry at the prospect of having to share his world with new people. Kaoru was the only one willing to give Tamaki's idea a chance.

Kyouya heaved a sigh and resumed typing on his laptop. "I'll send an email out to all the boys in Ouran, letting them know of the audition."

The remainder of the session consisted of Haruhi trying and failing to get some studying in, being distracted constantly by either the twins or Tamaki. Haruhi appreciated Kyouya's cold and indifferent demeanor for once, as he never irritated Haruhi in any way.

She looked over at him again, lost in thought, and she saw the furrow in his brow once again. He looked up at her suddenly and looked at her with his gray eyes, and then looked back down at the keyboard. Haruhi, with Tamaki's arms around her shoulders protectively, was left staring at Kyouya.