Chapter ONE –Tamaki's Despair

Chapter ONE –Tamaki's Despair

!1!

"Neh Kyouya, have you heard?" Tamaki poked Kyouya's shoulder with a pen during the self-study class.

"What?" Kyouya acknowledged without once looking up from his book.

"About the rumors involving the annual ball?"

"I heard from a senpai that the annual ball is the ultimate test for couples!"

"Um hm…," Kyouya decided not to burst his friends bubble by telling him that he had already heard all the silly rumors.

"I heard that couples destined for each other will be able to be together for the rest of their lives if they attend the ball together. However, if the people aren't meant for each other, bad things will occur to break the couple up, and the two would hate each other for life."

"That's harsh," Kyouya smirked at the irrationality of the story. Only hopeless romantics would believe in something so absurd.

"Yea, I heard this curse was placed on the ball ten years ago when there was still a witchcraft club. One of the club members fell in love with a senior and thus placed a spell on the ball to make true couples stay together forever, believing that they were a true couple. Unfortunately, the two were not meant to be. Her bitterness drove her to place another spell to curse those who are not meant for each other…"

"There was never a witchcraft club…"

"Do you remember Tsuyoshi-senpai and Kita-senpai?" Tamaki recalled, not paying attention to what Kyouya said. "They were so close before they went but right after the ball, they had a very nasty breakup. They just weren't meant to be…"

"That's because Tsuyoshi-senpai was dating two other girls and all three girls happened to meet at the ball—"

"Oh, do you remember Takeda-senpai and Yamamoto-senpai? They were fighting before but when they went to the ball, they miraculously made up. I hear they're engaged."

"They were fighting because Takeda-senpai spent too much time playing video games. It was a simple solution…"

"Also, Maeda-san and Hiroshi-san were complete strangers before they met and fell in love at the ball. They're still going strong."

"Their friends introduced them to each other."

"Get this, five years ago, another couple came out safe and are now happily married with two children and another on the way…"

"Your point?"

Doooooo—t! The sound of the dismissal bell interrupted their winding conversation.

"We better get going Kyouya. I have a feeling we'll be having a lot of customers today…" Tamaki grabbed his books and made a bee-line for the door.

!2!

"Hikaru, what are we going to do about the ball?" Kaoru asked Hikaru, as tears brimmed around his eyes.

"Kaoru, we might just have to find separate dates," Hikaru turned his back to his brother as if trying to hide his own emotional breakdown.

"But I want us to go together!" Kaoru embraced him from behind, earning squeals and nosebleeds from voyeurs.

"Society doesn't accept people like us Kaoru. We can't…"

"MOE! It's a double taboo!" the girls swooned.

"Take me! I don't mind if your heart isn't with me!"

"Me too, even if you leave to go to each other, I won't mind!"

"As long as you can be together!" The customers offered, their heart-felt eyes shimmered, like puppies begging for a walk.

"Hikaru, I don't think I can do this," Kaoru looked at him helplessly. "The mere thought of you with someone else is tearing me apart!" Hikaru grabbed Kaoru's hands and placed it over his heart. The girls swallowed their breath in anticipation.

"My silly Kaoru, don't you know that you're the only one in here?"

"MOE!!"

!3!

"Hunny-kun, you're so lucky!" one customer sighed to her designated hosts.

"Hm? Lucky?" Hunny looked up at her with his big innocent eyes as he put his cream stained fork down on his plate.

"You can eat all the sweets you want without worrying about dieting…" she answered staring longingly at his slice of cake.

"You're on a diet? Why? You look fit," Hunny said off the top of his head.

"I want to fit into this dress for the ball," she smiled just thinking about the dress.

"Lea-chan sure is—ack!" Hunny dropped his creamy fork on his shirt.

"Oh my, Hunny-kun you have cream all over your shirt!"

Mori appeared wordlessly with a handkerchief and began to wipe away the mess. He was grooming him like a child and it drove the girls crazy. There was something about his silence that charmed the female population.

!4!

"Tamaki-kun, I was wondering—"

"Please go with me to the ball!"

"No, go with me!"

"You have a boyfriend!" Tamaki-kun, go with me!"

"Ladies, ladies! Shhhh…" Tamaki hushed the bickering girls with a finger across his lips. "My apologies love, but I simply cannot take everyone…as much as is breaks my heart."

"You can!"

"That would be unfair to everyone, neh Haruhi—"

"It would be my pleasure," Haruhi bowed to a customer.

"See, Haruhi agrees—wait…"

"AH! OH. MY. GOD!! Thank you so much, Haruhi-kun!"

"Thank Haruhi-kun for what?" Tamaki asked, puzzled by her outburst.

"Haruhi –kun is taking me to the ball!" the girl exclaimed.

"HEH!?" the Hosts stood up; dropping whatever was in their hands. Tamaki blinked twice, unable to digest the words that the girl emitted.

"T-to the ball you say?" Tamaki repeated in a strange tuneless whisper. "I'm fainting—" Tamaki melted to the ground.

"Tamaki-kun!" the girls crowded around Tamaki. "Eh? Where is he?"

Tamaki had somehow made his way out of the crowd without their knowledge. He stood like a ghost from a horror movie, frozen with a strange aura emitting from his being.

"My deepest regret, but we're closing early today," Kyouya announced before the unpredictable president does something rash to scare the customers. "Your unused time will be made up."

!5!

The room was uncomfortably silent. No one knew where to start. Haruhi sat still in her spot, waiting for her interrogation.

"Ha-ahem- Haruhi…son…are you really going to take that customer?" Tamaki choked out the best he can manage.

"You were there when I said yes…is there a problem?" Haruhi answered still not getting the fuss.

"A problem!?" Tamaki closed his eyes and takes a deep breath before opening his eyes up again. " Haruhi, you're a girl," Tamaki stated, more confidently this time.

"…and?"

"AND!?" Tamaki closed his eyes again and swallowed hard. "The customer is a girl."

"I know…" Haruhi nodded, suggesting him to carry on.

"You don't see the problem?"

"But to her, I'm a boy," Haruhi reminded. "Besides, you called me 'son' before…"

"But to me, you're a girl—MOM! Tell her!" Tamaki switched the attention to Kyouya, hoping no one caught that last thing.

Kyouya pushed the bridge of his glasses closer to his face, having been addressed as 'mom' by Tamaki yet again. "If I'm correct, you feel obligated to return the favor to Sakura-san for lending you a pencil during an important test, for returning your wallet when you dropped it, and for when you accidentally spilled coffee on her favorite dress…" Kyouya counted. "It's just the premise of it though. Did I miss anything?"

"Is that is!?" Hikaru snarled in disbelief.

"You don't have to sacrifice yourself for that!" Kaoru reasoned.

"Haru-chan, maybe you can still turn her down," Hunny suggested while Mori nodded in agreement.

"Haruhi, there are many ways you can compensate…" Tamaki lectured. "I'll—we'll help you get out of this!"

"May I add that Sakura-san is known for having emotional upheavals," Kyouya interrupted casually. "Like I said before, I only told the very, very basic of her reasons."

"You mean…she's crazy." Hikaru verified

"I wouldn't doubt that possibility," Kyouya concluded

!6!

That night, Tamaki found it immensely difficult to fall asleep. He peered at his alarm clock for the sixteenth time since the moment he laid down on his bed. It has been four hours.

He tried every method known to induce sleep besides taking medication. He tried drinking warm milk with honey but it only made him get up one hour later to relieve himself. He sniffed chamomile sprays hoping aromatherapy would take its toll on him, but he got sick of the scent after two whiffs. He tried counting sheep but Haruhi's face kept appearing on the sheep's head.

"Mou! What's wrong with me!?" Tamaki grabbed a handful of his own golden locks in frustration. "Antoinette, fetch the sandman!" Tamaki ordered the dog at the foot of his bed. "I know what you're thinking, Antoinette…that I can't sleep because of Haruhi, right?" Antoinette whined. "You're wrong." He hugged his knees to his chest. After contemplating for a moment, he moved towards the foot of his bed and cuddled Antoinette. "You're right, are you happy?" Tamaki sighed, suddenly feeling like the loneliest man in the world. How pathetic was he, getting mad at his dog for no reason.

At times as such, talking it out with a friend would really help. Tamaki picked up the phone and dialed hastily.

"Kyooouuu-chan!"

"—doot…"

"He hung up…" Tamaki frowned at the phone. "Antoinette, should I call her?" He stared at the golden retriever for a response.

"Woof!"

"Not so loud!" Tamaki reprimanded in a whisper. "Why am I asking a dog anyway!? I'm losing it!" He stares at the phone longingly and he finally picked up the phone and dialed Haruhi's number in a maniacal frenzy. After 10 seconds of sanity-pushing rings, Tamaki was about to hang up, but the line got through before he could.

"Hello?" greeted Haruhi's sleepy voice. "Dad?" she asked half conscious.

"Yes, it's dad!" Tamaki cheered. A sense of pride glided over him for a second.

"Tamaki-senpai…" Haruhi subconsciously looked over at the clock. "It's 3:32 AM…"

"Haruhi…" Tamaki wracked his brain trying to think of something to say. Just a moment ago he thought he had everything he wanted to say ready in his mind, but once he heard her voice he forgot everything.

"Can we talk tomorrow?" Haruhi yawned.

"Yea, let's meet at the waffle house near your house tomorrow at 9 AM," Tamaki breathes out in one breath.

Haruhi nodded, her eyes growing heavy again, forgetting she was on the phone.

"Good night," Tamaki hung up. "What do I do, Antoinette!?"

!A/N!

I haven't written in so long that I've forgotten how much average amount for each chapter is for me. I kept telling myself it was 8 pages on Microsoft word, and I just couldn't get to it so I was panicking! Then I looked back at my past works…only 4-5 pages.

After I have thoroughly wiped off the dust on my hands, accumulated from last summer, I began to write in a little spiral notebook, the new ideas.

I tried to fit a little bit of everyone in this chapter because unfortunately (or fortunately for my little brain), this story will focus more on Tamaki, Haruhi, Kyouya, and an oc (which I will introduce in the next chapter).

You don't know how difficult it was for me to develop that summary...I'd say that was the hardest part. It really sucks doesn't it? (sighs) Too little space I was this ( ) close to writing the entire thing in fragments.

Don't expect periodical updates. You'll be disappointed. In the mean time, please leave a review or two. I'd like to hear some thoughts. I'm quite self-conscious about my writing right now because I haven't published any online works for a while. So, save me!