Typical Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club, nor do I own the rights to "I Have Confidence", "Part of Your World", or Ariel from The Little Mermaid
Chapter One: Part of Your World
'Take a deep breath and open the door. You can do it'. Thought the strawberry-blonde haired girl who found herself staring at two large and ornate maroon doors. She glanced up at the sign to double check that she was where she was supposed to be.
'Music Room Three. Yep. I'm at the right place.' She thought as she remembered the room name that she received in her response e-mail.
'Ok, now remember that this is a new life and you need to take charge of it. No more being unsure about what to say or do. No more mistakes, you have to be perfect. You are a brand new person with a brand new life. No weaknesses are allowed.' She thought as she started humming 'I Have Confidence' to boost her self-confidence up.
'No fear' she thought as she finally found the courage needed to pull the door open. She closed her blue eyes and stepped into her new life.
"Welcome" she heard as a swirl of roses seemed to emanate from a group of six handsome boys that she found herself in front of. They all wore the same periwinkle suit, which was the school's uniform, and were all perched on or around an elegant velvet couch.
"We bid you the warmest of welcomes fair princess" said a smiling, tall blonde haired boy as he stepped away from his group and bowed deeply as he reached out for her hand. Taken aback by the dramatic welcome for a second, the girl reminded herself that she couldn't show any fear or hesitancy. Nobly she extended her hand for the boy to take and soon found his lips upon the back of her hand.
"My name is Tamaki Suoh and you have just found the Host Club mon cheri."
Smiling with the glittering smile that she was used to giving to her friends back… well in another life, the girl graciously said "Thank you Tamaki, I'm Michelle Rose Warner".
At the mention of her name, she noticed the tall black haired boy glanced at the notebook that he held in front of him and made some sort of notation in it after fixing his glasses. Before she could explain why she was there, Tamaki whisked her around the room asking her something about what would she prefer.
"I'm the princely type" he stated as he grinned even wider, a feat that Michelle would not have thought was possible.
"Mori-Senpai" he said as he motioned to the tallest boy in the room.
'He kinda reminds me of Frankenstein. At least the build of him and the fact that he has a rather unemotional look on his face', "is our wild type" Tamaki finished, snapping Michelle out of her train of thought.
Mori simply nodded his head and looked like he was going to say something when a short, honey blonde kid jumped up and down and pulled on Tamaki's pant leg.
"Me next! Introduce me next" the little boy bubbled with a huge grin on his face.
Tamaki looked at the little kid who was overflowing with joy and said "but of course Hunny-Senpai", matching the little one's smile.
He then turned back to the girl who was obviously puzzled by the age of the little boy that Tamaki called senpai.
'If I'm correct, that honorific Tamaki used when he talked to the little boy means that the little kid is his senior. How can that be?' Michelle thought as Tamaki said "this here is our beloved Hunny-Senpai and he is our boy-Lolita type".
Next thing he knew, Tamaki was being flicked on the back of his head and two identical boys scolded him for not introducing them first. Stunned by their antics, Tamaki stuttered and the twins took that as an invitation to introduce themselves.
"I'm Hikaru-" one said while reaching out for her hand again
"and I'm Kaoru" the other said as he also reached out for her hand.
Confused, but not wanting to show it, she put out her hand and silently prayed that one would reach for it first so she wouldn't have to choose. To her surprise, they both took her hand at the same time and kissed it together.
'It seems like they are abnormally close. I mean I knew a couple twins, but they were never this in sync' Michelle thought as she smiled politely at their attention.
Gaining his composure back, Tamaki shoved the two aside and said "they are our mischievous type and-" he said as he turned to them for this part, semi-scolding them "they sometimes forget their manners around new costumers".
"Um, excuse me Tamaki-" Michelle tried to say before she was whisked off to the last boy. The tall blonde ignored the fact that she was trying to speak, not because he was being rude, but because he was getting excited at all the introductions.
'This must be the person who I've been in contact with' she thought as they approached a boy who seemed like he couldn't care less about the outlandish manner that Tamaki was carrying on about a girl who wasn't even there as a customer.
Tamaki took her over to the boy with the glasses and said "and last, but not least, we have Kyouya who is our-" he started, but was cut off by the other boy.
"Ah Michelle, I'm glad to see that you made it here, and on time. That's quite unusual for our club" the grey eyed boy said, not even looking up from his notebook.
She smiled, slightly surprised that he didn't even make eye contact with her, and said, "I've always believed that the reason you make appointments is to keep them and punctuality is key".
"I presume that you had no difficulties finding us here" the boy said as he turned to face her with a fake smile plastered upon his face.
"Oh not at all, you gave me excellent directions, thank you" she politely responded, ignoring the fact that she could tell that he wasn't being sincere in his manner of speech at all.
While their small conversation was going on, all the other host club members stood there with their mouths open and in shock that their shadow king knew the girl. They all looked at each other trying to think if Kyouya had mentioned anything about an important client that was coming, since he usually does. However, none of them could think of anything.
Smirking at the fact that all his friends looked puzzled, Kyouya turned to Michelle and told her "I guess we had better inform them on why you are here".
Before she could say anything, the energetic Tamaki squealed "she's not here as a customer?"
"No Tamaki" Michelle began, wondering what was up with this overly emotional boy, "I'm sorry that you didn't give me a chance to tell you that earlier, but I'm here for an interview".
"Interview?" Tamaki and the hosts said, obviously surprised. "Interview for what?" Tamaki questioned.
Now it was clear to her that Kyouya really didn't tell them anything about her. She figured that was the case since no one recognized her name or thought that she had another purpose for being there besides as a customer.
'Great, now remember, confidence' she quickly thought as she responded "interview to join this club".
At that the two doppelgangers spoke up and said bluntly "if you haven't noticed, we are all boys here".
Hikaru said "and unless you're very good at hiding who you really are-"
"How could you possibly join our club?" Kaoru finished for his brother as they sneered at her for wanting to join their inner circle of friends.
Tamaki chimed in next, with a sulking attitude that was caused by Kyouya's not telling him about the girl, and in a complete one-eighty from how he was just a few seconds ago.
"I'm afraid they are right Michelle, why do you think that we would want to submit a maiden to the inner workings of a host club?"
"Well", she replied "as you were introducing me to the members of the club, I realized that you didn't introduce a very important type. Unless Kyouya fills that position, you are missing a very valuable characteristic that you could offer to your costumers".
She glanced at Kyouya for a second, because he knew what type she was talking about, and he shook his head no when she asked if he was that type. Realizing that he wasn't going to explain what type she was talking about, Michelle turned to the confused group in front of her, who at the moment were looking around at each other and trying to figure out what was missing.
"You do not have a person that girls can go to for counseling and advice" she said with a smile. "That is very important to girls since they usually are unsure about their life and need to bounce ideas and fears off of someone whom they can trust. No matter how close you may feel with your clients, I assure you that they do not tell you everything and they secretly wish they had someone like that. But, she must be the same sex as they are in order for them to feel truly comfortable." Impressed at the ease and eloquence that she used in describing the position she discussed with Kyouya, Michelle smiled even greater and thought 'maybe I can do this' to herself.
Tamaki rested his head upon his hand as he thought over her proposal.
"And, she sings" Kyouya said to his best friend coyly and in an attempt to convince him to let her in.
Normally Kyouya has nothing to do with who his friend decides to allow into the club or not, but something about this girl troubled him. He was well known for having the inside information on every single student in the school and prided himself in his knowledge. However hard he tried, he couldn't find any information on Michelle and he hated that feeling. All he knew was that she was an honor student and that she came from America. He could tell she was intelligent, due to her e-mails to him and through her interaction with the club, so he wouldn't mind having her around. But more importantly, the closer she was to the club, the more he could find out about her and he wouldn't be in the dark about a student anymore.
Surprised that his friend said something in a stranger's favor, Tamaki took a second before the words registered in his mind.
"She sings!" He excitedly proclaimed as he jumped up and was restored to the same bubbly personality that he had when he first greeted Michelle.
"Thank you Kyouya, I had actually forgotten to mention that" Michelle said to the boy who returned her acknowledgement with a polite small smile. "I was in my school's A Cappella choir, honor choir, and a soloist for major events, and in my church I was in charge of the youth choir, the entire music program for Summer Bible Camp, and I was the only young person in the adult choir" Michelle said as she fondly remembered all the good times that she was describing in her resume.
With a huge grin on his face, that was slightly creeping Michelle out, Tamaki rushed over to her and said "I play the piano! We can perform together!"
"I heard that you played masterfully Tamaki and it made me really excited at the idea of being able to work with a fellow musician" Michelle said with a smile.
Beaming at the praise he just received, Tamaki asked "What song would you like to sing right now?"
'You knew that singing would most likely be part of this interview. Remember, the louder you sing, the more control you have' Michelle thought to herself as she asked "Do you know 'Part of Your World' from the Little Mermaid?"
"But of course" he answered as he rushed over to where the piano was covered. With one swift and dramatic movement, the violet eyed boy pulled the cover off.
Michelle gasped a little with happiness and sadness as she saw a shiny black Boston piano. 'We have that exact same piano at church…. Stop it! You're here now' Michelle argued with herself.
Before she could go and stand next to the piano, Michelle found each of her arms being grabbed by a twin.
"If you want to be a host-" Kaoru said.
"You need to be used to dressing in cosplay" his brother finished.
Next thing Michelle knew, she was being shoved into a dressing room with a mermaid costume hanging in front of her.
Completely bypassing the shock of being grabbed and thrown into a dressing room she sarcastically muttered, "Great, costumes" as she switched from her comfortable jeans and button-down shirt into a mermaid tail and sea-shell cups that were for some reason already prepared for her. "I was perfectly comfortable in my other outfit..."
"Are you changed?" the anxious twins called over to her.
"Yep" she said, trying to figure out how the heck she was supposed to move in the tail she found herself in.
As soon as she said that she was dressed, the twins rushed in again. In a blur the two red heads did her make-up, put a red wig on her head, and hoisted her onto a moving platform so that they could roll her over to the piano.
The remaining hosts all gasped at how beautiful Michelle looked when she emerged from the dressing room, even Kyouya looked up from his laptop, pleased at the way she looked.
'With her looking like that we are sure to attract some male customers' he thought as he looked back down at his work.
The hosts couldn't really tell her body shape through her slightly baggy shirt and jeans combo, but they could now see that she had an amazing figure. She had makeup on before, but the twins wonderfully accentuated her striking blue eyes and gave her ruby red lips to match the wig. Michelle really did look like Ariel.
'Actress mode now' Michelle thought uncomfortably to herself as she saw that all eyes were glued on her in fascination.
"Whenever you're ready Tamaki" she sweetly said after she was positioned right next to the piano thanks to the twins.
Remembering the task at hand, Tamaki scampered over and sat on the piano's bench. He then started to play the hauntingly beautiful beginning for 'Part of Your World'.
Getting swept into the magic of the song, the wonderful memories she had from the last time she heard that model piano playing, and the talented pianist who was playing for her now, Michelle sang her heart out.
Remembering all of the blocking that she did with that song while she practiced at home when she was younger, Michelle completely engaged her audience and could tell that they were happy when she was and that their hearts went out to her when she got melancholy. Looking longingly at the ceiling as she ended the song, she forgot all about everything. She forgot about why she was here, why she had to leave home, why she left all the people she cared about the most, and just was one with the character that she was playing. Still wrapped up in her own little happy world, Michelle didn't notice that all the host club members were in awe at the girl in front of them.
When she snapped out of it and looked around, Hikaru and Kaoru were leaning on each other and wiping tears from their eyes. Tamaki and Hunny were doing the same in their individual seats, while Mori and Kyouya just seemed lost in thought, since they never really show any emotions.
'Why are they crying? Is that some sort of sensitivity technique that they use with the girls? I hope I don't have to do that. I don't cry.' Michelle thought.
"Brava! Brava!" Tamaki shrilled, breaking her chain of thought. "You're in!" he said with a huge smile on his tear-stained face as he rushed forward to hug her.
"Knock it off pervert" Hikaru said as he left his brother's side and ripped Tamaki from the girl who was still basically clad in a bikini top and skin tight tail.
"Sorry about the boss, he sometimes can be a sexual harasser" Kaoru added speaking to Michelle.
The girl was blushing at all of the attention and was wondering if the twins were telling the truth or if they were just trying to annoy their friend. Tamaki looked like he was about to defend his character, but after receiving two sets of death glares from the twins, he just rushed over to his sulking corner.
'Yeah, they were just trying to annoy him.' She thought as she turned her thoughts back to the performance she just gave.
'I actually did it! I have a good feeling about this. But what do I know. I thought my life was perfect before… Well before that happened'
Kyouya just smirked at all of the clamor, as if it was due to his comment that the new girl was admitted into the group.
'Good, now I can have a complete file on all of the students here' he thought as he started to redo the budget to add a new host.
Michelle found herself being whisked back into the changing room so everyone could hug her, once she was in more appropriate clothes. Instead of being able to change back into her comfy garb, a brand new girl's uniform was hanging in the place where her clothes once were.
'That's going to be the only problem' she thought as she put on the atrocious pale yellow dress. 'This dress is ugly as sin and way too frilly and girly for me. I hope that we do a lot of cosplay so I don't have to stay in this hideous thing for too long' she thought as she stepped back into the music room.
She didn't even take two steps before she was bull-rushed by the twins, Hunny, and Tamaki, who was done sulking. They were all bubbling over about how happy they were that she was a part of the club and were arguing about stupid little things. Things like, who would walk with her from class to class, who would sit next to her during lunch, and who would take her on a tour of the school. Surprised that she became so instantly popular after singing, Michelle was overwhelmed by their arguments over spending time with her.
"What class are you going to be in" was the first real question that she could respond to. She was about to answer when Kyouya spoke up for her.
"She's going to be in class 2-A" he disinterestedly said as he turned to Tamaki to add for clarification "our class". The twins slightly pouted when they found out that she was older than she looked and wouldn't be in their class. That meant that they couldn't hang around her and toy with her as often as they would like. Michelle just nodded her head as Kyouya explained what class she was in.
'Now he speaks up' she thought slightly annoyed that he left all of the hard explanations earlier to her.
"WONDERFUL!" she heard Tamaki screech as he shoved the pouting twins aside and grabbed her arm to escort her to the main door.
"Since you are in the same class as mommy and daddy, daddy gets the right to show his daughter around the school" Tamaki said as they walked to the door. Completely thrown off by his terminology and still not ready to hear such words in use around her, Michelle quickly pulled her arm away from Tamaki. This caused the confused prince to halt in his tracks as he turned to face the girl who just rejected a tour led by him, a feeling he was rather unused to.
"What's wrong my dearest daughter" he asked with a sad and worried look on his face. Stepping out of the polite and false mask that she was wearing the entire time, Michelle raised her voice and said,
"Don't call me your daughter. You are not my father!"
Noticing that she had shocked everyone in the club by her mild freak out, Michelle cleared her throat and thought of a way to cover up her little 'episode'.
"I'm sorry Tamaki, it's just that… Well" she said as she was desperately trying to find the proper way to describe what she needed to say. Michelle realized that she just had to use the story that was given to her in order to get out of this problem.
She sighed and thought 'Well, at least I was part of the host club for three minutes'.
"I'm sorry" she began, "it's just that I recently lost my parents in a car accident. That's why I moved to Japan. I wanted to get away from everything that reminded me about them". As she said this, she gazed out of the window and tried to look sad without really thinking about the words she just said.
'I can't really think about it or I'll cry. I don't cry.' she thought as she waited for someone else to speak up. Since no one said anything, for what felt like forever, Michelle took that as the response she was expecting if she told them sooner.
"I'm sorry everyone that I bothered you with my problem. Thank you for letting me into your club, but I'm sure I'll only bring the mood down. See you in class Tamaki and Kyouya" she said with a half smile as she walked to the door by herself, purposefully avoiding eye contact with anyone. Not realizing that the reason no one said anything was because they were shocked that this new girl had to go through so much, so recently, Hunny was the first to snap out of it.
"Wait Mi-chan" the little senior said as he reached out for her before she left the room for good.
Surprised that someone was calling her back, Michelle turned around and found all of the hosts rushing over to her, with the exception of Kyouya. He was just writing something in his notebook, secretly happy to have learnt something about her so soon.
"We don't want you to leave" Hunny said as he grabbed her hand, handed her his pink stuffed bunny, and led her back to the nearest couch.