Ouran High School
Sarah sat and stared out the window. She felt like she was always in a cage, only being let out to show how beautiful she was. For the most part her parents chose to ignore her, but sometimes her father would drink a little too much. He was an angry drunk and he would find her and beat her. He knew she was not his blood. She was forced to call him father but her mother was pregnant when they met. He was different with her little brother and sisters. She knew he loved them and would watch them play together out the window. She loved them too, but was also jealous of the relationship they had.
"Sarah, are you in here?" her father asked walking in. Sarah scooted so that her back was on the wall.
"There you are, of course you're in here. Why wouldn't you be," father said.
"Yes, father," Sarah said looking down, the bruise still stinging on her back from the night before.
"You have reached high school age. I've decided to send you to Ouran High School in Japan. I will not have to see your ugly face that way," he said frowning down at her.
"Father, I am sorry," Sarah replied, she had learned long ago not to fight him.
"You might as well make yourself useful and make friends with some of the more well known families. You can highten our social standings that way at least, maybe even marry one them, if you're lucky and there are no other girls there. But I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you," he said, "You leave in two hours for the school. It starts tomorrow."
Sarah looked up at him wide eyed.
"To-tomorrow, father? T-t-two hours?" Sarah asked.
"You really do not need to pack much. You'll get a uniform there," he said turning and leaving. Sarah rushed around picking up a picture of her and her brother and sisters. She threw some clothes in a bag and as she zipped it up a driver came to take it to the car. Sarah hugged her brother and sisters before getting into the back of the limo. Everything was happening so fast. She felt relieved at being away from her mother and father, but also afraid because she had never been to a school before. She had tutors and could speak five languages, but what use was that when there was no one to speak it to. She looked over the water sitting in the private jet her father owned. There was a limo waiting for her as she left the plane. She arrived at a huge building with fountains and marble everywhere. She walked along the water and found the principal at the steps.
"You must be Sarah Nelson," the man said.
"Yes, that is me," she replied.
"I will take you to your dorm then," he said walking into the building. She followed him through the beautiful halls. Some girls looked at her and giggled as she walked past in her flowery summer dress.
"You're father told me your size so I have a few of our uniforms in your closet," he said, "As usual you have your own room."
He opened up the door to a large room with a king size bed in the middle.
"The bathroom's through there," the principal said pointing to the bathroom.
"Thank you, sir," Sarah replied putting her bag down. She walked around her new room.
"Here's your class list for tomorrow. I asked a student, Renge Houshakuji, to show you around the school tomorrow," The principal handed her a paper and headed out the door. It was late in the afternoon and although she had not eaten dinner, she was too tired to deal with it. She threw her pajama's on and jumped into the big soft bed. It didn't take long for her to pass out.
The beeping came right in the middle of a good dream, isn't that how it always goes. She slammed her hand down on the alarm clock and turned it off. With a sigh she rolled out of bed and went to her bathroom to shower and get ready for her first day. She opened her closet and stared at the yellow dresses with white collars. Sarah frowned putting the dress on and slipping on her shoes. A knock came to the door. Sarah opened the door to a girl around her age.
"Are you Sarah?" she asked smiling.
"Yes, I'm Sarah, are you Renge?" Sarah asked.
"That's me, let's get going," Renge said. Sarah followed her around the huge school as she talked to people and introduced her to other girls. Sarah smiled at them, but didn't know what to say.
"Renge, what is this host club they keep talking about?" Sarah asked.
"Oh, you have asked the right girl! I'm the manager, you should come to the meeting today at three. I'll meet you after your last class. You'll love it. Girls all gush over the boys of the host club!" Renge replied, "But stay away from Kyoya, he's all mine."
"Uhm, okay," Sarah replied with a shrug.
"You know, you are awfully quiet. You should love Mori-senpai," Renge replied.
"Thanks, but I'm not looking for love," Sarah said.
"Well you should enjoy the host club anyway," Renge said, "It's the first meeting of the school year, so it ought to be great!"
"What's a host club again?" Sarah asked.
Renge gave her a look like she was crazy and said, "You'll see. It's basically like a tea party and the guys fight for your attention."
"Oh, okay," Sarah replied reminding herself to keep quiet. It was hard getting used to a new way of learning, a new school, and a new culture on top of that. Just because she could speak the language did not mean she knew the culture. It was definitely different than American culture. She followed Renge around quietly and heard the whispers about her being rude and a snob for not talking much.
By the end of the day Sarah felt sad that she had not made many friends, but she still wasn't used to the culture and didn't want to offend people. Although she was pretty sure Renge was getting annoyed with her.
"Okay, let's get to the host club before anything good happens!" She shouted happily grabbing Sarah's arm and pulling her. Renge led her up stairs and letting go of her arm she turned a corner. Sarah couldn't stop herself from slamming into a door. Renge was nowhere in sight. Sarah looked around.
"Renge!" she called but the halls were empty. Sarah looked at the door that she hit and slowly opened it peeking in. She walked into a huge room with tons of women and seven guys in knight costumes.
"Excuse me," she said walking up to a guy sitting on his own wearing glasses, "Is this the host club?"
"Yes, it is. Who are you?" he asked looking up from the book he was writing in.
"My name is Sarah, I'm new here," she replied, "Renge was showing me around. Did she come in?"
"No, but you might as well stay since you're already here," Kyoya said taking a sip of tea.
"I've never been to one of these, what am I supposed to do?" Sarah asked.
"You just sit down with your favorite host. The girls take turns with the host. I have pictures for sale if you choose a favorite and would like them. Normally you would have to pay to join us, but you obviously aren't from around here. Next time I'll have to charge you," Kyoya said.
"Okay, I understand," Sarah replied thinking she better enjoy this free visit because her father would never pay for it. She walked around and watched the guys interact with the girls. There was a smooth blonde, a kidlike blonde, a scary big guy, twins, and a girlish guy. She looked at the girlish guy and thought about it. It was definitely a girl, not a guy. She wondered if her name was Pat, and how no one could tell. Sarah shrugged and went with the twins. She sat across from them on a couch. They were way to happy.
"Hello, you are new here. Have some tea," he said handing her a cup, "I'm Kaoru, and that is my brother Hikaru."
"Hello, Kaoru," Sarah replied taking the cup and sipping from it. The tea was delicious, but the warmth of it made her a bit sleepy. Maybe she shouldn't drink it, she was already tired. Kaoru had already moved on to another girl. Sarah stifled a yawn and took another sip. She almost spit it out when the brothers held hands and talked about sleeping in the same bed. The girls squealed with delight making her jump.
"Oh, the brotherly love!" they shouted bouncing on the couch. Sarah realized that there was a lot of squealing going on. Her head started to hurt from the noise.
"I know, let's play which one is Hikaru!" one of them said. Which brought about another round of girlish squeals. Sarah groaned. She said a quick excuse me, getting a bad look from the twins as she got up and left. She found an armchair by the window that was slightly farther away, so she could avoid the noise and wait for Renge there. She sat with a plop, but then felt something under her. She picked up the pink bunny and sat back holding it. She looked out the window to the beautiful blue sky and drifted off to sleep squeezing the bunny close.
As the last girl left Haruki turned to Kaoru and said, "Did you see that strange blonde girl?"
"Yeah, I didn't catch her name, but there was definitely something different about her," Kaoru replied.
"I didn't see her leave. She was waiting for Renge, but she already came and left," Kyoya said, "Have any of you heard of a Nelson family? Renge said she was Sarah Nelson."
"Well Sarah Nelson is not a Japanese name, probably English or American," Haruhi said.
"Hey, have any of you seen Usa-chan?" Hani asked getting up and looking around. He stopped in front of the armchair Sarah sat in.
"I found her," Hani said, "She's taking a nap! Takashi, can you move her to the couch? It's much more comfortable."
Hani grabbed Usa-chan from her arms as Mori came over. He gently picked her up and started walking when Sarah let out a cry of pain. She jumped awake screaming and wiggled until Mori let her go. She ran behind the chair and put her head in her hands to cover the tears. Sarah took a deep breath to calm herself and wiped the tears away. One of the twins handed her a napkin.
"Thank you, Kaoru. I'm sorry, I didn't meant to…," Sarah said taking the napkin and wiping her eyes.
"I'm Haruki," he said. Sarah looked up into his eyes.
"No, you're definitely Kaoru," Sarah said smiling at him, "You remind me of Sandy."
"Who's that?" Kaoru asked still shocked that she knew it was him. Hikaru's jaw dropped to the floor.
"My sister, only she's younger, but her and Sable like to play the guessing game. I suppose it must be a twin thing," Sarah replied smiling and getting up.
"How did you know?" Kaoru asked.
"The eyes are a window to the soul," Sarah replied touching his nose, "Trust me, Sable and Sandy get mad because they can't fool me. They can fool everyone else, but not me."
Sarah looked over at the big guy, "I'm sorry if I hurt you."
Mori shrugged.
"That's Morinozuka and I'm Haninozuka, but you can just call him Mori and me Hani," the blonde kid said with a smile. Sarah smiled and rubbed his head.
"And how old are you Hani?" she asked.
"Seventeen," he replied with a laugh. Sarah's smile slipped and she looked at him curiously.
"Yeah, he seems younger, doesn't he?" Kaoru asked. Sarah nodded and smiled giving him a hug and spinning him around. Hani laughed.
"So you're Hani, Mori, Kaoru, Hikaru, and Kyoya, but who are you two?" Sarah asked.
"I'm the king or Tamaki, and this is Haruhi," Tamaki said with a smile.
"Tama-chan, she kind of looks like you," Hani said, "She could be your sister. Can you be my sister too?"
"But I'm not his sister," Sarah said.
"We can be the blonde older brothers!" Hani said clapping.
"She can be your auntie, Haruhi!" Tamaki said dancing with Hani. Haruhi shook her head.
"Why am I the child and her my aunt when we're the same age?" Haruhi asked.
"Because you don't have blonde hair," Hani said shaking his head. Sarah looked at Haruhi and Haruhi shrugged.
"Oh, my niece it has been so long," Sarah said laughing and gave Haruhi a hug.
"How did you know?" Kyoya asked.
"How did I know what?" Sarah asked.
"That Haruhi is a niece and not a nephew," Kyoya asked.
"Because she looks like a girl?" Sarah replied.
"Is that a question or an answer," Kyoya asked.
"I'm confused… I don't understand why you have a girl dressed as a guy in your group. If I wanted to join your club would I have to dress as a guy?" Sarah asked, "I don't want to cut my hair, though. Can I keep long curly hair? I might be able to bring male clients in."
Then the powerful engine came and Renge rose from the floor with a microphone in hand.
"She has the looks but she would have to work on the personality. You are too quiet," Renge said pointing at her.
"But she is from another country so she has that going for her," Kyoya replied.
"She is my sister from England!" Tamaki said hugging Sarah.
"America," Sarah corrected.
"She is my sister from America!" Tamaki said.
"Oh she is so cute!" Hani added, "She would look great as a geisha!"
"I look nothing like a geisha," Sarah said.
"Just go with it," Haruhi replied.
"Okay, I'm a geisha," Sarah said shrugging.
"You know Sarah we could really use a girl like you to keep our troublesome twins in check!" Tamaki said putting his arm around her, "Since you are their Aunt I am putting you in charge of keeping them in line."
Sarah's eyes widened.
"I also ask that you keep them from dear sweet Haruhi," Tamaki said. The twins popped up next to them with closed fists.
"Hey, boss. It's too bad we are in the same class as Haruhi," they said together.
"Well, your Auntie can keep an eye on you since she is also in your class," Tamaki said waving his hand.
"I don't know…," Sarah replied looking down.
"Yes, Auntie can keep us in check anytime. Why don't you take us to our room and spank us?" Kaoru asked putting his arm around Sarah. Sarah scooted toward Haruhi.
"Don't come to me, you are now my partner in crime. The attention on you takes some off of me," Haruhi said with a smile.
"Kaoru I don't know if I want her to share our room," Hikaru said pouting and pulling Kaoru into his arms, "I love when you come to me after having a bad dream. Our bed isn't big enough for three."
"Hikaru…," Kaoru said.
"Okay… Renge, can you tell me how to get back to the dorms?" Sarah asked looking over to where she was, "Renge?"
"I can take you over there," Haruhi said.
"Thank you," Sarah said turning to the door.
"Huh, guess she doesn't like brotherly love, Kaoru," Hikaru said putting his arm over Kaoru's shoulder.
"Wait," Hani said running up to Sarah and tapping her on the back. Sarah screamed and crumpled down. Hani cocked his head to the side and touched the spot again. Sarah cried out with tears dripping down her cheeks.
"Sarah, do you have a hurt button back here?" Hani asked hugging her, "I will not push it anymore. Mori is big but he's gentle he wouldn't hurt you like that."
"No, it was not Mori," Sarah said taking a deep breath and getting up.
"Was it someone at school? I'll teach them a lesson," Hani said slamming a fist into his hand. Sarah laughed.
"No, it was not someone here," Sarah replied. Kyoya gasped.
"It was your father?" Kyoya asked. Sarah looked at him from the side and turned to leave. She ran out the door and down the stairs with tears streaming down her face.
"Sarah, wait up," Haruhi called chasing after her.