Black Roses
By Wolfic
Prologue
With a sharp, effortless tug, the blade slid clean out of the person's throat in one fluid motion, splattering the finely woven red carpet with tiny droplets of blood.
Taking a step back, the blade's wielder, a tall young man with short spiky black hair, was careful to avoid getting any of the gore on his tight fitting and pristine black suit. His expression was unreadable, obscured by the presence of a plastic bear mask of comical detail, a common item at any local festival.
With a tiny gesture of his wrist, he flicked the blood off of his katana, and deftly slid it back into its wooden sheath.
The room was a small quaint one, and wasn't anything to be expected of most mansion libraries. And while there was a standard reading chair located next to a fireplace as well as a few tall bookshelves, carefully lined with leather bound books, these served more as decorations to the ideal of what a mansion library should appear like. The fireplace was empty, unused for years and was currently occupied by a dead corpse.
The dead corpse, who was once neatly dressed in a black suit quite similar to his killer, was an older man, of considerable athletic build with short crisp hair. The source of his death was by the katana, which had expertly severed his head from his neck, causing his tidy expensive suit to be discolored with red.
And while his body was crumpled in the fireplace, his head was on the ground, having rolled next to even more dead corpses. Some of these cadavers were sprawled over the floor, the reading chair, a nice wooden oak desk, and some tipped over bookshelves which had scattered several nice editions of Edgar Allan Poe over the carpet and among forgotten weaponry of handguns and the like.
Their deaths were too brought on by the katana, which had cut off several of their limbs as well impaling arteries, lungs, and stomach organs.
The killer was not the sentimental (or twisted) type of person who watched the aftermath of his gruesome work.
With a swift business like turn of his heel, he walked to the door, a hefty construct of wood, and gripped the ornate brass handle gently with his dark leather gloved hands.
Twisting slowly, he opened the door and exited the library, making his way into the hallway.
The hallway was rather wide and short, brightened by several cheap fluorescent light bulbs that hung from the ceiling. A long plush carpet extended the full length of the hallway and there were a few locked doors on the both sides.
As the young man neared the banister of the stairs located at the end of the hallway, he was suddenly greeted by a young boy with short blond hair and a rabbit mask of similar childish design on his face. The boy's outfit was an exact replica of the young man's own.
"Takashi! Takashi!" The boy's voice rang merrily with joyous greeting. "Are you done already?" The young boy removed his mask to reveal a wide smile. Taking off his own mask, Morinozuka Takashi gave the young boy a warm look.
"Mitsukuni" He voiced softly, addressing his younger companion by his traditional name.
"Takashi is so strong!" Haninozuka Mitsukuni exclaimed in a happy voice, despite the fact that in the once homely living room behind the little boy, with its four sofas and tiny glass table, was littered with dead bodies, numbers of which exceeded the library's crop by at least double. Each and every body had their necks twisted as unusual and seemingly impossible angles.
"Eh? And I thought we would be the first to finish." Two indignant voices resonated together from above the duo. Turning, Mori and Honey looked towards the stairs where two young twins sat on the railings. Fox masks were placed to side of their faces. Their identical similarities were eerie, with only the placement of their masks to differentiate the two. The twin with the mask placed on his left side spoke up first.
"As to be expected of the Honey and Mori combo."
"But as a duo, I think we do a better job, don't you think so too, Kaoru?" the other twin cut in, his voice was playful and heavily sprinkled with a provoking taunt. A wide grin spread over his lips.
"I agree, Hikaru." An identical smile danced across his face as well.
However their jibe fell on deaf ears as Mori gave the twins a calm recognizing look, while Honey was all smiles.
"Waiiiiii! Kaoru and Hikaru are both so strong!"
Both twins gave each other a look that clearly transmitted their annoyance before sighing deeply at the fact that they couldn't get a reaction out of the two. Thus they decided to change the topic and switch on to their favorite target of teasing.
"Say, is Tono done yet?" Kaoru asked his twin.
"I don't think so," Hikaru answered. "Why is he so slow at this?"
"Now, now," A tall and lanky man with a bird mask on top of his blond locks gently descended the stairs with a smile on his face. "Patience and care is most important when servicing a lady."
"Whatever Tono, let's go. Kyouya-senpai's going to get mad if we take too long." Kaoru reminded him sharply, as he jumped off the railing, his twin brother Hikaru following suit.
Outside of the mansion was a large yard, with a garden of several cliché flowers sprouting from the bushes. A plain fountain that lazily spouted water was located on the left side of the yard.
Leaving the porch, the team of five made their way to the side of the property, and climbed over the red brick wall.
On the other side, waiting for them was tall youthful male with smooth black hair and studious glinting glasses. A fancy and most likely expensive, black limousine was parked against the sidewalk next to him.
Ignoring common greetings the man with glasses scrutinized the group intensely.
"Good," he finally stated, "None of you have ruined your suits."
"You think we would after the way you reacted last time?" Hikaru jabbed "You could at least let up on small matters like that."
"Need I to remind you that we are running a business, and I cannot afford to spend a considerable amount of money on dry cleaning bills?" Kyoya said, as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "Much less explain why these outfits happened to be stained with blood."
Opening the door, Kyoya stepped inside as the group followed suit. As the door shut, the chauffeur, Tachibana of the Ohtori's secret police, started the limousine, and it sped down the road, carrying the six males of Ouran High School's Host Club long out of sight.
The Host club was quite popular among the student body of Ouran and was established by the Host Club's president (who also claimed to be the King) under the sole purpose of bringing fortune to the ladies.
And while it was a noble cause, the king managed to realize that despite his idealistic notions, that there are certain things that cannot evoke fortune upon a woman. There are certain circumstances where a well placed comment or the sight of angelic faces could not lift one's smiles.
Suou Tamaki, the president of the Host Club, had sworn to bring fortune to women, no matter what the costs, even if it meant spilling blood. And with that mindset, this was how it began.
In the daytime, they were hosts, elegant beautiful men who suited the many unique tastes of Ouran's female students.
However, at night, when school was long out of session, when the moon shone bright and the darkness cloaked the sky, these beautiful men killed for money, hoping to see a smile, no matter how small or faint, grace their clients' faces.
They were great hosts, but even better killers.
The term assassin, mercenary, hitman, killer, or murderer could all apply, but they didn't care what they were labeled.
And thus they continued their business, not worrying about having to deal with someone finding out about their nightly dealings.
And that was when Fujioka Haruhi entered into their lives, and broke a rather expensive vase, an event that would forever tie them together.