*I don't feel that this is my best work. I still like it, I think it's cute, but there're some plot bunnies and whatnot... Enjoy it for what it is, and nothing more.
**Written when I really should've been working on Melissa's Kaoru one-shot or the next chapter of Difficulty... or my Algebra II homework. O.o
***I don't own Ouran High School Host Club... I have nothing witty to say here...
I'm pretty fond of the lifestyle I live.
I have both of my parents, and despite being an only child, I have a best friend who takes care of me no matter what goes wrong in my pathetic existence. My school's well-respected enough – sure, it's no Ouran Academy, but I'm still fine with going where I do. Our little apartment's big enough for the four in my family, and we have to struggle no more than any other average family.
When the sun was shining, on days like that one, even I couldn't keep my bitter, jaded self grounded. Japan was, indeed, the best place in the world.
Music was one of my favorite things in the world, even though I was an epic failure at it. From a young age I'd tried to teach myself to do anything with a musical inclination – no matter the situation, I was incompetent. My fingers bled on the guitar frets without me having anything to show for it, my hands stumbled over piano keys in a jumbled mess, and my voice cracked on every word of my favorite song. Nonetheless, I was content with just listening to others make that which I could only dream of doing. As long as it existed, I didn't have a problem with not being able to make it myself.
Whenever I could, I always walked through the ritzier part of town – Mom felt safer with me walking through there. Personally, I thought it just set me up for an easy mugging. So it goes.
Regardless, that one beautiful, flawlessly sunlit day, it was silent as I made my walk home. Or it was, until I strained my ears and made out the faint noise of a piano's dancing notes. Before I could think about it, I found myself slowly drifting towards the sound…
I bit my lip, wondering if it was really worth trespassing on a rich family's property only to listen to a song. I shook my head once, unable to believe I was actually doing this.
I found myself sitting outside a window, hidden in a bush. I wasn't really sure how I'd gotten there without being found, but I made it. And however uncomfortable I was, it was completely worth it for the angelic music I was hearing. The music stopped abruptly, and I sighed in awe of the talent of the player… only to lock up at a dog's barking.
"Hmm? What is it, Antoinette?" The voice got increasingly closer, and I flattened myself against the side of the mansion, trying to make myself as small as possible. I caught a glimpse of blonde for a split-second before it disappeared again, and I sighed before quickly escaping the yard, beautiful music chasing after me. And as I left, I sighed.
Without a doubt, I would be going back. Just to hear that flawless skill, and the tinkling notes of a piano.
Day, after day, after day, after day I returned to the estate that I eventually learned was the Suoh mansion. I trespassed daily, simply to hear that boy play his music, the music that melted my soul.
I really should've known that it was only a matter of time until something went wrong.
I hadn't slept well the night before, only getting in around three hours of sleep before having to awaken. Between nodding in and out of sleep and being drowsy all day, it hadn't been a great time.
So, at the sound of a light, soft ballad on the piano, I found myself falling into deep slumber, hidden within my bush.
By the way, waking up to screams of, "Milord! There's someone in your rosebush!" is not a pleasant way to start an evening. My eyes shot open to see a pair of redheaded twins, who looked at each other and then yelled, "And she's a commoner, by the look of it!" I looked around quickly, and saw that my school uniform was tattered, presumably from me rolling around and moving in my sleep. My eyes widened as I realized that I'd been discovered, and my jaw dropped, scared of the repercussions I was sure I would be facing.
"Eh? What's this? A princess hidden in the rosebush?" I froze, recognizing the voice of my beloved pianist. I hung my head, not moving, and attempted to apologize.
"I-I'm sorry… I w-was listening to you p-play…" For the first time I looked into his face, and he was clearly not of Japanese descent, blue eyes sparkling, "And it was too p-perfect for me to l-leave…"
"Worry not, princess," he said, taking my hand and pulling me up, "I play beautifully only for the beautiful to hear." He planted a kiss on my hand.
"Ah, yes, in fine form milord!" The twins were in perfect unison, but only one thing ran through my head.
Womanizer.
As much as I tried to fight it, I couldn't help but grow inexplicably attracted to this narcissistic ladies' man. The more I found him around me, though, the more I realized – he was serious. Everything he said he believed was true.
The bitter cynic in me found it very, very difficult to grasp that.
Regardless, from that point on, my life was continuously disrupted by the Ouran High School Host Club – a brigade of gorgeous men that my middle school hormones found extremely attractive. The day after I met Suoh Tamaki, and the Hitachiin twins, I was also introduced to the rest of their group, and I soon discovered that my life would never be the same. My father didn't approve of them, really, saying that I was far too young to be hanging out with so many boys at one time. My mother, on the other hand, simply shushed him, and said, "She needs this. Really." At which point I rolled my eyes. As if six overly handsome men (I don't count Hunny as a 'man', per se) would get me over the fact that I only had one friend, one who was addicted to alcohol at age fourteen.
I grew up with Noriko – it was almost required that we be best friends since birth, considering the closeness of our mothers through their entire lives. We were inseparable as children, and as we continued through our years, I lost many friends due to her 'problems'. Noriko was a party girl, and I was pretty much her bull dog, taking care of any fights she got in while drunk, and cleaning up the aftermath of it. Due to this, I didn't actually have any other friends, and the ones I made were temporary. They didn't stick around, simply because Noriko was a very needy person.
Don't get me wrong, there were times when I wondered why I was with still with her after all these years, getting rid of her messes and talking her (and, by association, me) out of sticky situations, but then after all of it was over, all said and done, she would look at me. Sober and after her hangover had subsided, she would look at me and say, "Akemi, I don't deserve you…", on the edge of tears, and no matter how tough my stare, how angry I was with her, I softened immediately.
"Noriko, we're best friends," I would always reply, a sad smile breaking through, "You deserve the best I can give."
And it didn't matter, all was forgotten. It was a sick, twisted cycle we were caught in, one that was, to both of our young, naïve minds, unfixable and normal. All that mattered was that I had her, and, more importantly, she had me. Who needed other friends when there was always that one person to make things okay?
Don't let me paint Noriko as the bad guy – I'm not rebellious the way she is, but she can always talk me down from whatever problem I'm having, be it that I'm frustrated over my English class, I can't deal with whatever my parents have thrown at me, whatever it is, she can fix it. Sober Noriko is the best listener I know, and we take care of each other, period, end of story.
I guess what I'm getting at is that, as I grew closer to my newfound, older, high school, Host Club friends, I kept drifting farther and farther away from Noriko, especially when I found myself in the Suoh mansion almost daily to listen to Tamaki play. I didn't think anything of it, until one day my cell phone disrupted "Minuet".
Tamaki stopped playing, and I answered my phone.
"Hey, Akemi!" I heard her laughing, and Noriko's voice shrieked a high-pitched, playful Stop it! Before she said, "I'm at this totally amazing party at Masahi's, you should get over here right now!"
"But… Noriko… I'm at Tamaki-senpai's place…" My eyes flitted over to the blonde-haired, gorgeous, perfect – okay, seriously stopping now.
"Akemi!!" Noriko was already massively drunk, I could tell, not to mention I could hear a deep voice with her in the background, doing only God knows what to her. "But I want you hereee…"
I sighed, and looked to Tamaki, who tilted his head concernedly. "Yeah, Noriko, I'll be right there…"
"Great! See you here, babe! Oh my God, that tickles –" The line went dead, and I stood up from where I'd been sitting, apologizing profusely for taking leave on such short notice. Tamaki smiled, pearly whites set ablaze in the setting sun.
"Take care of your friend. I'm sure I will see you tomorrow, Akemi-hime." I blushed bright red, and a dark voice entered the back of my head, muttering Princess, my ass. Egotistical nitwit.
I ran towards Masahi's place, who was a good friend of Noriko's, and it was quite the trip. As my feet pounded along the street, still wearing my school uniform, I couldn't help but go over again the reasons I was still enlightened with the Host Club's presence, and the mere thought of it brought a smile to my face. It was a bit of an accident, really, and I didn't realize what I was doing until it was too late…
I was babbling on about his beautiful playing, spouting off nonsensical words, trying to talk myself out of any trouble. It wasn't until after I was done that I realized how much the blonde-haired high-schooler fed off of flattery, and the way I lathered on the praise instantly endeared me to him. Whether I liked it or not, I soon found myself in his presence quite often.
While the sensible me completely rejected him, the hopeless romantic in me was falling ever deeper into infatuation…
To be honest, I didn't find it very fair. It was as if I didn't have any choice in the matter… That was okay, though, because I had Noriko, and she was all I needed. All I had to do was fend off this attraction, and all would be right with the world. Of course, I thought of all this around, say, twenty to twenty-five minutes before it happened.
To think, I'd been in a perfectly happy mood before I'd walked into Masahi's home to see my best friend half undressed and unconscious, some… some guy who was obviously in his twenties above her with his pants halfway off. I didn't even think – rage obscured my judgment, and without a thought I tackled him to the ground, pushing him off of Noriko.
He started pulling at my shirt – it was clear that he was intoxicated past the point of no return, and I spit in his face before pushing him off of me. Someone approached me, and I identified him as Masahi, who started blubbering nonsense about how he had no idea what was going on.
"Masahi." The venom in my voice stopped him cold. "I. Do. Not. Care."
I don't know how I did it, but in the heat of the moment I managed to get Noriko out of there, and back to my place. Her parents were home, and I wasn't forcing her to go back and face the music, no matter how pissed I was. This was the worst I'd ever seen her, and I'd already decided that this was it. Once and for all, I was determined to tell her that it was her problem, or her best friend.
It was hours before she woke up, and it was a very good thing that my parents were gone for the weekend, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to let her stay there and recover. When finally the last remnants of a hangover were gone, I found myself almost without the words to say what was needed.
"Akemi… I don't deserve you…" It was what she always said, and she was waiting for my standard response. I refused to give it.
"You're right." I was being cruel, and I knew it. Even the cynic in me didn't like this. "You don't. Not when you're letting that stupid alcohol addiction take precedence over me."
Noriko recoiled, caught completely unaware by what I'd said. I continued, before I could let myself stop and leave my work unfinished.
"You have to do something. Pick. Me, or drinking?"
Her eyes were wide with shock, and then her stare hardened.
"You… You bitch…" Noriko ran, and to where I had no idea. All I knew was that I had done my part.
Along with that, I had probably lost my best friend.
Tamaki's playing was the only thing that kept me grounded, and finally, after much prodding, I poured out my heart and soul to him, laying all my problems out for him to hear. After nodding sympathetically, and saying a few kind words, I always felt better, regardless of the fact that my entire world was falling to pieces.
When he finished another piece, content smile on his face, I couldn't help mumbling, "You're beautiful…"
"Hmm? What was that, princess?"
My cheeks went bright red, and, flustered, I groped around for a plausible lie, and just before finding one an intrusion occurred.
"We think, Milord –"
"She called you beautiful –"
"In such a schmaltzy way as to –"
"Imply sentimental attachment –"
"Of some kind."
The last line the twins finished together. Those damn Hitachiins always picked the worst times to show up.
"Um, uh, sorry, I need to go… wash my hair!" And I hustled it out of there, as fast as I could. Damn immaturity and middle school embarrassment…
It was around two weeks later when the flustered Suoh boy called me, a last resort after he discovered that every other Host Club member had plans. We went to my favorite ramen restaurant, where I questioned him about the various activities of the other members.
"Hmm… What about Haruhi?" I asked, the very girlish boy jumping to my mind.
"Ah. They were having a sale at the supermarket, and he needed to be there to get fish," Tamaki explained. I nodded. That seemed like something only he would do. I felt a little bad for Tamaki actually, all alone when all he wanted was to be with his friends.
We finished our food relatively quickly, and when we were done I really didn't want him to leave, although I felt there was nothing I could do to stop him. Not that I needed to, really, because as soon as we left my ramen place he spotted the coffee shop. His eyes lit up like a small child's, and with a cry of, "Commoner beverages!" he had grabbed my wrist and bolted off at full speed towards the building. I couldn't help but laugh at my upperclassman, so obviously entertained at the coffee shop. The gleam in his eyes was beautiful, and I found myself gazing at them, until he looked at me with a screwed up expression.
"A-Akemi-chan… I don't feel so well…" I cocked an eyebrow, and he proceeded to throw up into the trashcan.
Food poisoning. That was my conclusion.
He hadn't been thinking straight at all, too flustered in his sudden illness to say anything rational, and part of me was cursing that damn idiot, not even knowing where his own house was. But he was so helpless in his sickness, I somehow managed to get him back to my place. My mother was home, but I was father-less for the moment, and Mom smiled understandingly before going to get an icepack in case he was fevering.
"Akemi…"
"Shh. We're friends. You deserve the best I can give." I slapped a hand over my mouth the moment the words fell from my lips. I'd uttered the words that I always gave Noriko to him without a thought… What was this guy doing to me?!
Tamaki smiled weakly before falling asleep. "You're beautiful, Akemi-hime."
And even though I knew for certain that he said the same thing to every girl who walked through those doors to find the Ouran High School Host Club, I blushed bright red and fell backward onto the floor. I didn't have the slightest clue that my mother was standing in the doorway, shaking her head and smiling.
"A... Akemi?" Noriko's voice over the phone shocked me. It had been almost three weeks since the incident at Masahi's, and she'd refused to talk to me at all. I backpedaled, trying to desperately to get her friendship back while I had her ear.
"Noriko?! Oh my God Noriko I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said any of those things to you, they were awful and cruel and –"
"Akemi." Noriko's voice was somber and cool, deathly serious. I was silenced by this, considering that I didn't think I'd ever heard her like that before. "Don't you dare apologize to me when everything you said was right."
I was quiet, sensing that she needed to go on.
She laughed sadly before continuing. "And… I'm checking into rehab. For you."
I nearly dropped the phone out of shock.
"After all, you were right. I really don't deserve you. And I want to." Noriko was quiet again, and then she said, "I just wanted you to know that Akemi. I'm going to get better for you, and then we can be best friends again…"
A tear slid down my face, and I said, "N-Noriko…"
"Don't you cry, Akemi. I'm the sob story in our relationship," she said, an attempt at lighthearted humor, "And you'd better have won over that Tamaki guy by the time I come back, otherwise I might have to go after him myself." I knew she was kidding, but my muscles contracted nonetheless at the sound of Tamaki's name. "I gotta go, babe. I'll see you when I see you."
The tears fell as soon as she hung up, overwhelming joy spreading through my body. Tamaki picked me up, simply kidding around, stopping as soon as he noticed I was crying.
"Is everything okay?!" he asked, in that overly enthusiastic way that he had, and I nodded vigorously, smiling brightly.
"Everything's perfect. Absolutely perfect."
I was sitting at the ramen place. Tamaki was supposed to show up soon, and we were going to go pick up Noriko from rehab, even though he didn't know her. He'd grown to be my support system, even though as of that year he was a senior and I was a freshman, each of us from a completely different world. It sort of scared me that he'd be graduating soon, seeing as how at that point I knew we were going to be completely separated.
That was okay though. He was still the narcissistic, womanizing, immature idiot I'd come to know and love. And yes, I do mean love.
He'd chosen to walk with me to the rehabilitation clinic, since I refused to take the limousine. How weird would it be to show up to a rehab center in a limo?
"Why'd you come anyway?" I couldn't help it – the question had been eating away at my insides all day, and I couldn't contain it any longer. He looked at me, surprised.
"You're my best friend. You deserve the best that I can give." He said it, shocked, as if he couldn't believe that I hadn't figured it out. It took a couple minutes, and then I blushed deep red.
Those were almost my exact words… Except he added the word best…
We reached the doors of the clinic just as my blush was heightening, and I gripped Tamaki in a hug, which he returned, tipping my head up to look into his eyes, making my blush noticeable even in my forehead, I supposed.
"I said it before. You're beautiful, princess." My heart fluttered, and he stole a quick kiss.
When it was all over, I stepped back and laughed in disbelief. He looked at me confused, and I said jokingly, "What? I've been waiting that long for you to kiss me and that's all I get?"
And I pulled him into a far deeper kiss, at which time it was most definitely his turn to blush. Wolf whistling from the building caught both of our attention, and we both turned to the figure waving at us.
"So," I heard Noriko's voice, "You must be Suoh Tamaki. You'd better take good care of my best friend!"
It was almost as if Tamaki ignored her, turning back to me and getting down on one knee. He took my hand like he did when we met, kissing it gently, and whispering, "Only the best for a beautiful princess."
Noriko ran over, practically jumping on my back and talking a mile a minute, Tamaki still smiling softly in what I knew was his so-called "host mode". Yeah, we'd definitely have to figure out some boundaries there.
For that moment, however, I was on top of the world.