Summary: The hosts are disturbed by a sudden guest, Hayashi Tsubaki, the new girl. As her typical quiet life continues, Tsubaki finds herself tangled in the troubles of the host club and meets a worthy opponent, Ootori Kyouya. Will she survive through this net of troubles and find the peace she deserves? Or will she fall into an even bigger obstacle - love.

Chapter 1: A Worthy Opponent

It was a normal Monday afternoon and the hosts were entertaining their guests regularly. The dramatic "forbidden" love between the Hitachiin twins was causing constant nosebleeds and faints. Girls were hovering over the cute and innocent Mitsukuni Haninozuka, also known as Honey, and the silent protective Takashi Morinozuka, or Mori. As usual, most girls surrounded Tamaki Suoh. His princely charms made him the king of the host club and yet, he was one of the most immature of the group. Fujioka Haruhi, a girl in diguise as a male host, was also entertaining her guests. As a poor honor student who depended scholarships to pay for her tuition, she accidentally broke an expensive vase one day. Ever since, her duty was to work as a host to pay off the $80,000 debt she owed. And of course, in the corner, we have the witty Ootori Kyouya, the brains of the seven.

If you ever noticed more closely, you would see another silent person in the corner, never interfering with the hosts nor spoke regularly. She had her eyes glued to a classic in her hands while silently sipping her tea. After the day ended, she walked outside with her book, again quietly.

It was a regular day in class when Haruhi walked into class, she was normally the first to arrive, but today, someone else beat her too it. She walked into the classroom and was surprised to see a girl reading quietly in one of the window seats. Her dark hair fell to her back, straight and healthy. Her sapphire orbs moved constantly through the page of her book. She occasionally jotted down some notes in her leather notebook. Her uniform was the normal Ouran Highschool female uniform, however without the bow. Her dress was neat and wrinkle free.

Haruhi sat down at her seat, trying not to stare at the new face stranger. Her figure and presence was beautiful and elegant, yet there was something that told her to keep away from her. Haruhi brought her textbooks out and began studying ahead.

It was quiet for a while until time clicked away and more students filed into the classroom. Students began to chatter after exchanging greetings. Haruhi's peace and quietness was soon disturbed when two certain orange heads sandwiched her.

"Hey Haruhi," they greeted in unison. "Studying ahead again? No fun."

Haruhi looked up at the twins, "Well, you guys are early today."

"Yep, we were bored. Wanna hang out with us after school? Our mom's new spring collection is out, we wanted you to try some out," they asked mischievously.

"No," came the blunt answer.

Hikaru sighed, "Jeez Haruhi, you're no fun."

Kaoru picked up Haruhi's book and read a bit of it. "You're on chapter 36 already?"

"Yes," Haruhi snatched the book back, "because unlike some people, I know what studying is."

"Hurtful," Hikari pouted.

"No need to be harsh," Kaoru complained.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. She quickly glanced back at the quiet girl from earlier. Despite the chatter, she was still reading, completely unaffected. Then she noticed that she occupied the seat where she never seen anyone occupy.

"Hey you guys," she called the twins, "who's that?"

The twins followed her gaze and saw the girl. Haruhi expected them to answer since they practically knew everyone in the school. To her surprise, they shrugged. " Don't know, never seen her."

And with that they walked away from her desk.

After class, the twins followed Haruhi out the hallway.

"Why do you two always follow me?" Haruhi asked irritably.

The twins shrugged, "well, we're bored."

Haruhi mentally face-palmed. A crowd of people were hovering over some notice in the hall caught her attention. "What happened?"

"Oh, the scores of the midterm's up. I bet you want to go see if you ranked first again huh?" Koaru teased.

Haruhi ignored Kaoru's words and walked up to check her score.

2. Fujioka Haruhi

Haruhi looked up again. She was... rank second?

"Woah, what happened Haruhi?" Hikaru asked.

"I don't know..." Haruhi mumbled.

"There must be some mistake, my daughter is the smartest girl in school! As a commoner, she even got a scholarship here!" Came a dramatic voice. All eyes were on a certain 1/2 French blonde who danced his way towards his "daughter." He lunged forward to hug Haruhi but she quickly moved away.

"There is no mistake for the school board to announce wrong scores. And I am not your daughter, Tamaki-sempai."

Tamaki sniffed and became depressed in his own little depressing corner.

"Haru-chan!" Honey-sempai hugged Haruhi. "How was your midterm score?"

"I was rank second."

There was silence...

Finally the shadow king broke the silence. "Who ranked first then?"

Haruhi walked back to check. "Hayashi... Tsubaki."

"Tsubaki? Is that a girl or a boy?" Hikaru asked.

Haruhi shrugged. All eyes returned to Kyouya.

"What?" He asked.

During club activities, Ootori Kyouya hacked into the school files with his computer.

"So, how is it?" Tamaki asked eagerly like a little kid.

"I found her."

"You did?" Tamaki quickly went to Kyouya's side. The screen showed a picture of a dark haired girl with crystal blue eyes. She didn't smile or frown, her expression on her pale face was neutral. An aura of elegance surrounded her and she was in a normal Ouran High uniform.

Hayashi Tsubaki

Age: 15

Height: 160 cm

Blood Type: O

Class: 1-A

Status: Current honor student

"A beauty, isn't she?" The twins popped out of nowhere. Tamaki and the twins later got into a fight about Haruhi again, but Kyouya's eyes were glued to the screen. Current honor student?

"Stop fighting, you idiots," Kyouya's cold voice demanded, the trio stopped. "You do realize that she is an honor student right?"

"Eh? You mean she's from a commoner family like Haruhi?" Tamaki wondered.

Kyouya shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Ouran only accepts one honor student per grade. If the school board accepted Tsubaki, then either she or Haruhi has to leave Ouran."

Haruhi stopped in her tracks and turned to Kyouya.

"Leave?"

"Yes."

Haruhi twitched. "I'm going back to work."

In the corner of his eye, Ootori Kyouya saw a brunette sit in a quiet corner. He recognized her immediately. Closing his laptop, he walked towards the girl and sat down across from her.

"Enjoying yourself?" He asked.

The girl didn't speak. Attention was drawn to the quiet corner. Ootori Kyouya personally accepted a client? Did the shadow king change his heart? Tsubaki continued to turn the page.

"Hayashi Tsubaki, you don't seem to come here often or talk to the hosts. What's the purpose?" Kyouya continued.

Tsubaki sipped her tea. "It is merely interesting... that is all." She snapped her book shut and stood up. "I paid beforehand, so don't worry, Ootori Kyouya," she said before leaving.

Kyouya was left alone. He smirked. Hayashi Tsubaki huh? I'll see what you're up to.

The silent Wednesday afternoon bothered Haruhi, moreover, she was worried about her scholarship. Before she knew it, her worries was even more burdened when she accidentally crashed into the table and broke a china cup.

"Haruhi! Are you alright?" Tamaki ran towards her. Haruhi snapped out of it and quickly picked up the broken shards but cut her index finger. Seing this, Tamaki rushed towards her, band aid in hand.

He then dragged Haruhi outside the hall where there was no one around. "Haruhi, what's going on? You've been spacing out all day," Tamaki asked in concern.

Haruhi shook her head, "I'm fine, Tamaki-sempai."

Tamaki frowned. "Don't lie to your own father." He touched Haruhi's face gently, "tell me, what's wrong."

Haruhi's heart flustered. It never bothered her when the Hitachiin twins touched her, but whenever it came to Tamaki, she always had this strange feeling. But she brushed away the stupid thought since Tamaki always thought of her as his "daughter."

"I was just worried," she mumbled.

"Eh? About your scholarship?" Tamaki immediately understood, although he was an idiot.

Haruhi nodded. "I'm only able to keep my scholarship if I keep my grades as the highest, and no that there is two honor students, it's most likely that I'll be kicked out."

Tamaki smiled. "Haruhi, if you keep on worrying it'll only get worse. Even if the one honor student per grade rule is set, people decide those rules. If Ouran really kicks you out, they'll be the one that should be worrying. Because they just made the biggest mistake of letting one of the most beautiful, smart, and independent girl go."

Haruhi stared at the usual flamboyant and narcissistic Tamaki in front of her. No wonder the girls get captured by his charms. His words were soothing and comforting, just the medicine she needed for worry.

"Thanks, Tamaki-sempai," Haruhi's worries seemed to fade.

Kyouya walked out of the teacher's office after running some errrands and walked down the stairs. There, he unexpectedly met the junior of him. A dark haired Tsubaki. Right before they crossed path, Kyou stuck his leg out and tripped Tsubaki but then caught her.

Tsubaki was silent during the fall but dropped her book. "Let go of me," she said coolly.

"Can't you at least say thanks to your savior?" Kyouya smirked.

"You were the one who tripped me, Ootori."

"I'm just paying back the favor."

"Tch. Stuck-up men." Tzubaki picked her book up and walked towards the host club. Kyouya followed her.

"When did you take your entrance exam?" he asked.

"How rude, do you always talk to people like that with your stuck-up attitude?" Tsubaki insulted, book in hand she walked ahead of Kyouya.

Kyouya easily caught up with her, "I do."

"The midterm was my entrance exam, do you have a problem with that?" Tsubaki answered swiftly. By this time, they had entered the third music room together and caused quite some attention.

"I'm surprised that Ouran allowed another honor student in, especially in the middle of the year," Kyouya smirked, "you seem to have your connections."

Tsubaki glared at him but then smiled. "Well then, I'm surprised that the third son of the Ootori group has interest in such a common girl like me."

"I suppose you do interest me, and I'll enjoy finding out all about you," Kyouya smiled in a friendly matter but an intense aura started to form around the two.

"Are you being a stalker? You know it's against the law to dig up people's privacy," she sat down at her usual corner, "it doesn't surprise me that a son from a wealthy family doesn't care about equality and law."

Kyouya seemed unaffected by this. "Who are you?"

"I thought you already dug up my profile in the school files, straight-laced 4-eyes-kun," Tsubaki smirked. "Perhaps you can learn your manners and stop being a nosy man. With that attitude of your's, you can definitely become a famous paparazzi."

"Over my dead body." Kyouya smiled. A brow twitched.

The Hitachiin twins and Tamaki quickly moved towards the opposite side of the room. "S-Scary... Evil Kyouya..."

Honey and Mori stared up and watched which caused everyone in the room turn their attention towards the once quiet corner. Even Haruhi stopped making instant coffee and looked up.

"Oh look, you ruined my peace and quiet," Tsubaki complained flatly.

"I'm glad I did."

"I'm thirsty Ootori, get me a cup of Early Grey," Tsubaki commanded.

Gasps from the guests were heard. Did that girl just order Ootori Kyouya to brew tea for her?!

A vein twitched. Kyouya smiled, masking his boiling anger inside. But he stood up and got started on the tea.

"Oh wait," Tsubaki called after him, "I expect it to be at perfect temperature, 82 degrees Fahrenheit, not too cold, not too hot."

Kyouya smiled, a scary sinister smile. "Of course, that is what a gentlemen is for."

After bringing the tea to Tsubaki Kyouya sat down and the guests were calmed down a bit.

Tsubaki sipped her tea silently and started to read, completely ignoring Kyouya's presence. Kyouya kept on staring at her - more like observing.

"I feel like you're trying to burn holes on my face, Ootori."

"Have your parents ever taught you manners? To address your elders correctly, and especially your savior."

"What? My savior's here? Where?" Her eyes never left her book. "And I don't see you as my elder, considering the fact that you were the one who tripped me, I don't see why I should call such a 'respectable' elder you sempai."

"I can now confirm that you were either raised in a family without manners or you were just born this way," that made the not only the other hosts, but the ladies in the room also feel uneasy. The air was intense. "You ill-natured women," Kyouya finished with a smile.

"Oh so now we're dragging our family into this conversation, stuck-up man?" Tsubaki looked straight in Kyouya's eyes.

"Why don't we talk in a more private place? You are obviously making the ladies here feel uneasy," Kyouya suggested.

"Oh yes, however I think your constant eyebrow twitching is very annoying and your presence is giving off a scary aura. So, I'm not sure if I'm the one making everyone uneasy, or you."

"K-Kyouya..." Tamaki dragged Kyouya outside into the hall. "Finish your black hearted showdown here okay?" Tamaki whispered.

Tsubaki followed and complimented, "You two seem close, by any chance, are you homos?"

Kyouya cracked his knuckles...

"N-Now, now Kyouya... No violence needed..." Tamamki remined, "she is still a lady, a gentlemen should never hit a lady." Tamaki saw Kyouya's face smile, but his evil aura seemed to only grow.

"Don't worry, I won't," Kyouya said throught clenched teeth. Tsubaki just smiled.

"I-I'll take my leave now..." Tamaki scrambled back into the music room to reassure their guests.

"Tch." Tsubaki spun around and started to walk away.

"It seems that you have just arrived to Japan, isn't it beautiful here?" Kyouya glanced out of the window.

Tsubaki stopped in her tracks. "Well well, Ootori. It seems like you checked the arrival forms in Japan too. What is it that makes you so interested in me?" Tsubaki's crysal eyes stared intently at Kyouya's dark orbs.

"You know that I never waste time on things that won't give bring me any merit."

Tsubaki smirked at his words. "So you think I'm merit to you?"

"It is the same reason that you come to the host club. Whereas, you are merely interesting... that is all."