A/N: Okay, everyone, I'm really sorry for not updating my VK fanfic, but this caught my attention! This character is based on myself, so sorry if it offends anybody or if it seems weird, these are just my thoughts. Plus, all the music, unless stated so in this fanfic belongs to me.
Disclaimer: I was unfortunately forcibly removed from the Ouran Gakuin after I attempted to kidnap The Host Club. And it was going to work too!
Moonlight filtered down through the enormous, rain-misted glass windows and cast an eerie light over the deep blue carpet of the floor. It glinted off the chrome-trimmed furniture and painted the white walls a faint blue-gray. The light lit the bottom steps of a pair of curved staircases that led up to a raised platform that was completely swathed in darkness.
Kyouya Ootori adjusted his glasses and returned to typing on his laptop. He was halfway through the Host Club's accounts when a row of alerts ran up the right side of his screen. The first was an alert from a bug he had installed in the school system. Apparently, a student named Dai McKenzie was being moved from class 1-D to class 1-A, effective tomorrow, the end of the 3-week-long school holiday. Kyouya resolved to do a little research on the girl, she might be a prospective customer.
The next alert was from a news channel that he subscribed to. Apparently, Dai McKenzie, a half-American, half-Japanese musician was topping both the Billboard and Japanese charts for the 5th week in a row with her hit debut single. She had been unavailable for comment, but her publicist had remarked that she was, of course, very happy.
The third alert was an email from Tachibana, letting Kyouya know that the level of security at the family company dinner had been upped with the addition of Dai McKenzie to the performance itinerary.
So much buzz about just one person. Kyouya indulged in his curiosity and ran a search for her on both Google and the school system. He glanced through the school system first.
The first thing that Kyouya noticed was her picture. She was tanned and… well, boring. She looked a little on the chubby side and her skin wasn't exactly perfect either. Her dark brown hair was pulled into an absolutely common ponytail and her eyes were a flat, dull, dark brown. Kyouya raised an eyebrow, this was a star?
She was part of the music and poetry clubs and she was an average student. She was 5'4 tall and she played both the guitar and the piano. Her favourite subjects were English, World History, Modern Literature, Art and Music. She normally ordered the stuffed pasta shells with a Ceasar salad for lunch and she always got a chocolate soufflé for dessert. She lived in a mansion a few miles out of Tokyo, about 45 minutes from the Ouran Academy. She had been absent several days before the 3 week holiday due to press conferences, concerts and photoshoots. Kyouya frowned, she was normal, unremarkable: exactly the type for the Host Club. What made her so unique that she was a chart topper?
He opened up the Google search and raised his eyebrows in surprise. The photos that popped up under the image search were of a strong, vibrant young woman having the time of her life on stage. The two pictures couldn't have been more different. Her eyes wre bright and excited. Her hair hung in loose curls around her shoulders. She was a little bit skinnier, not by much, but just right. She looked happy, exuberant.
Kyouya looked up a few reviews of her album. She was praised for being able to sing both jazz and her own style of acoustic pop. The jazz was probably what his father hired her for, Kyouya decided. It was the perfect entertaining move. The senior citizens would appreciate the standard jazz classics and the younger guests would be impressed with her name and popularity. The perfect move…
A thought occurred to Kyouya. The girl seemed to have media staying power to have been on the chart for 5 weeks and she was, by all accounts, squeaky clean, morally. The private police didn't have any dirt on her, for sure, because he would have been notified of it the moment she hit the charts.
Plus, he admitted, she was prettier than most girls in an exotic kind of way. It wouldn't hurt to affiliate himself with her. She went to Ouran so he had the upper hand over his father and his brothers. With her newly acquired status, she was bound to head straight for the Host Club after school. Whatever her issue was before (self-confidence?) she was bound to have resolved it to have made it this far.
Kyouya smiled to himself. All he had to do now was wait to lure the latest kitten into his lair.
Kaoru Hitachiin was bored and annoyed. If he were just bored or just annoyed, it wouldn't be so bad. But no, he thought. It had to be both.
He stretched, then nestled against the pillows in the seat of his bay window, looking for a comfortable spot. He'd stolen the quilt off his bed and was currently attempting to drown out the sound of his brother's heavy, agitated pacing by getting as close as possible to the heavy pouring rain outside.
A loud crash sounded from the room next to him and Kaoru rolled his eyes. He was used to Hikaru's routine of worry, doubt, guilt, frustration then anger over the whole "Haruhi Situation". He loved his brother and he did his best to help and support him but sometimes, the repetitive cycle of arguments and emotions just became one big ball of annoying.
Kaoru sighed and stuffed his earphones into his ears, skipping through the songs on his iPod until he found what he was looking for. He smiled when the guitar riffs of his favourite song filled his senses.
Dai McKenzie, he thought absently. Who would have guessed she looked as gorgeous as she sounded. He'd been mesmerized since he'd first found her a year ago, on some random run through the internet. He couldn't play any instrument particularly well, much less compose songs, but he found a crazy kind of release in her songs. Almost as if he was writing and singing them himself.
"Is that all I am to you,
Just another missed call?"
He smiled wryly. That girl seemed to be peeping into his life and pouring it out to the world. He felt exactly like Hikaru was starting to need him less and less. Not loving him any less, but requiring him less. He knew he'd brought it on himself but it didn't mean he had to like it.
He stared out into the dark night sky and winced as a flash of lightning shot across the indigo mass. He snuggled into the pillows and pulled the quilt up to his chin. He would have to thank her one day. For tonight and for every other night of the past 2 months…
Dai McKenzie filled nervously with her new uniform. It was 2 sizes smalled than her old one and it was still all new and scratchy. She hadn't bothered getting a new uniform until the holidays, she'd been losing weight almost constantly up til then. It didn't make sense to buy a new one then have to buy yet another 2 weeks later.
She jumped when the limousine pulled up in front of the school. Her new bodyguard/driver Benson rolled down the window between the driver's seat and the passenger side.
"You'll be fine, Dai," he said, reassuringly.
"I know, I just need a moment," she replied. She'd grown to like Benson over the past few weeks.
She sighed and tightened her grip on the door handle. She was afraid, she decided. She was afraid because she didn't know what to expect.
Would everyone treat her like some kind of celebrity? She didn't think she deserved that kind of treatment and she wouldn't know what to do or say. Or would everyone hate her for garnering more (annoying) media attention than their parents' latest business deals? She didn't know what to say to that either. Or ( a small flame of hope flickered in her chest) would they simply act like nothing had happened and allow her to live her day in peace.
"Whatever it is, Dai," Benson broken her reverie. "You'll have to face it sooner or later."
"I know," Dai was used to his weird way of almost reading her mind. She took a deep breath and opened the door. "Thanks, Benson. Bye."
She shut it behind her and made her way uncertainly into the crowd of students in the lobby. She had let her long fringe down to give her some measure of privacy and she kept it down as she walked along the corridor of classes. Then she realized she was supposed to be moved to Class 1-A today. She looked up, trying to read the sign above the nearest door –
"KYAAAAAAA!!"
"It's HER! It's DAI MCKENZIE!!"
"Dai McKenzie!"
"Dai McKenzie!"
"Dai McKenzie!"
Suddenly, she was surrounded by a horde of screaming fangirls (and guys), characteristically screaming at the top of their lungs, all the while maintaining a 4 foot radius of space around her. Almost like a bubble. For a moment, she had a heated mental argument with herself about whether she should just stuff her fingers in her ears or run screaming home. A bubble, she wondered…
She moved experimentally a few feet to the left. The bubble swelled with her. She moved a little to the right and the invisible barrier moved with her. She determinedly sent their screams to the back of her head and marched along the corridor, as quickly as she could, keeping an eye out for Class 1-A. She tried her best to tune them out, but bits of the conversation around her filtered through her barriers.
"Dai McKenzie!"
"I can't believe she's HERE!"
"She's actually moved to our school! Right here, to Ouran!"
Dai bit her lip and kept walking. Of course, no one would have noticed her before her change from back-row student to a-list pop star. She almost wanted to scream at them, to lash back at them for being so superficial, but it was almost all she could do to hold back the frustrated drips threatening to leave her eyes.
The bell rang and her newfound fan club slowly began to diminish. She sighed in relief. She'd been starting to develop a headache. She pushed open the door labeled 1-A and looked around the classroom. She was glad no one screamed at her, although all eyes were glued on her and she did hear a few gasps.
She wasn't surprised, Class 1-A was made up of the elite of her year. The wouldn't be phased by the new "it girl" (she almost gagged as she thought of the title). She took a seat at the back of the classroom, as close to the far right corner as possible. She hated being in the limelight and staying at the back would at least make it harder for them to stare at her.
One boy didn't seem to be perturbed by her purposely awkward positioning. He just kept up his wide-eyed stare. Dai frowned, taking out her books. She could feel his eyes on her as she took out a pen and began doodling on the side of her notebook. She risked a glance at him. Ah, one of the Hitachiin twins. One of the boys in that inane Host Club. Now that she took the time to analyze the room, she realized his brother and the scholarship student Haruhi Fujioka was in this class too. She never understood why someone would pay to keep company with a bunch of boys who kept company with every other girl on campus. She wondered how new customers picked their hosts. Had they simply picked one at random?
She'd never gone to the Host Club herself, always blaming the fact that she couldn't see it's point. To be honest, she didn't feel worthy of being on the Host Club's guest list. They were all gorgeous boys who seemed, to put it bluntly, to be WAY out of her league. She wasn't fully Japanese, let alone half as rich as some of them and she wasn't exactly a-list material. All of that was different now, but she wouldn't be going to the Host Club. She wasn't one of those girls who just fold and fall into being divas at their first exposure to the public eye. She would be different.
Dai looked up and frowned at the boy. He was still staring at her. What was his problem?
Kaoru winced and rubbed his shin where someone had just landed a well-placed kick.
"Kaoru?"
He was aware that someone wanted his attention but it didn't fully register in his consciousness. He was too busy trying to decide is this was real or if his alarm hadn't woken him up today.
"Kaoru-kun?" Haruhi's voice broken through his reverie. "You have to face the blackboard now."
Kaoru reluctantly turned to face the teacher. Hikaru kicked him again. He cringed. "What's was that for?" he whispered tersely.
"What's wrong with you, man?" Hikaru whispered back. "Who's she?"
"She's…. but she can't be… no way…"
"Okaaay, very descriptive. Tell me when you're going to start making sense," Hikaru eyed him suspiciously for a moment then understanding lit his eyes. "It's her?"
Kaoru nodded, still shell shocked and not trusting himself to speak. "She's here."
"Kyouya!" Kyouya's aura threatened to flare up. Tamaki was invading his inner peace again. Calm, he told himself. His aura subsided. Unfortunately, Tamaki didn't notice. "Kyouya, did you hear? Dai McKenzie is in Ouran! And-"
"And she's in Class 1-A, which is the same class as Haruhi, Hikaru and Kaoru," Kyouya finished for him. Their class was having a free period in the library and he was determined to make the most of it by completing this book on accountancy. He needed a break from plotting anyway.
"Kyouya, we must introduce her to the joys of our glorious club," Tamaki affected a pose and produced a rose out of nowhere. "I'm sure she would appreciate my princely beauty. It isn't very often that God creates someone quite so beautiful from every angle!"
"Mm," Kyouya grunted. Stupid blonde, he thought.
"We should get Hikaru and Kaoru to rope her in!" Tamaki continued, almost bouncing with excitement. "We should let my darling dau-" he choked off for a moment, the blushed, remembering recent events that would convince him she was much, much more than just his "pet daughter".
"There isn't any need for us to intervene," Kyouya said, covering the awkward moment. "I'm fairly certain she will come to us on her own."
"Why?" Tamaki asked, straddling a chair and crossing his arms over the top of its back.
"She has been in Ouran since she was in middle school," Kyouya replied. He looked up momentarily to catch Tamaki's wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression.
"W-Why hasn't she come to the Club before?" Tamaki stammered, still reeling.
"An old love interest?" Kyouya shrugged. That wasn't all that difficult to take care of, if the situation arose. "Maybe self-esteem issues?" That wouldn't be a problem anymore, she was at the top of her game. "Whatever the issue, I'm certain it is no longer blocking her from attending the next Host Club gathering."
"Hmm," Tamaki stroked his chin, probably thinking up some other harebrained scheme.
"By the way," Kyouya added, adjusting his glasses again. "All of the Host Club is invited to the family dinner tomorrow night."
Omake:
"Kyouyaaa, you said she'd be here!"
"…."
"Kyouyaaa!"
aura flares up
cowers in little corner of woe
"Kyou-chan doesn't like it when he gets something wrong, ne, Takashi?"
"Ah."