AN: What am I doing? Why am I starting another fic when I have another one to work on? The world may never know.

Anywho, this fic is an idea I came up with after obsessively watching all of OHSHC in one day and then reading the whole manga in two. I don't do things halfway. Something about this series makes it so fun to write for, you know? I hope you all enjoy this first chapter and tell me what you think about it! Also, the cover is a drawing I made of my OC, in her school uniform. There's a link to a full sized drawing on my profile!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or any of it's characters. Nor do I own any of the books, TV shows, pieces of music, or movies I may reference through out the fic.

Edited 7-15-2015

The last few weeks of the school year at Beecher Academy were spent in the same way most schools spend their final month. The typical conversation topics were exchanged for talk of summer plans and vacation homes. Teachers had to work hard to keep their students in line, desperately trying to take their attention away from swapping numbers and emails and back to the impending finals. When the students finally finished the last exams for the year, all that was left was a few barbeques and parties and they were to be released on the general public.

On the final day of school, an air of anticipation filled the whole building. No one was safe from the excitement that came from seeing the last hours tick away on the clock. Teachers and students alike glanced at it all day, because their job was done. All of the homework was finished, all of the tests graded, and all of the students were waiting to surge out the doors and into the summer sun.

When the final bell rang, it was explosive. Hugs were shared, tears were shed and there was general merry to be made. Soon, most of the students had gathered up their backpacks and cleared out their lockers. Out the doors they went, not looking back for a second. All of the students were gone within thirty minutes of that final bell. Well, almost all of the students.

One student sat outside the principal's office, feet swinging idly from her seat. A distracted secretary sat across from her, typing on her computer at a breakneck speed, and occasionally glancing up at the girl on the other side of the room. She didn't look like the type of student that would be held back on the last day of school. She held her backpack close to her chest, shoulders hunched in the classic sign of insecurity. One hand picked at the hem of her school assigned skirt and the other limply held on to her cell phone. The phone would vibrate every few minutes, and the girl would respond to each message with increasing frustration.

"Miss Lowell?" A faint voice called from beyond the principal's door. "You may come in now."

The girl rose, stowing her phone into a pocket of her bag, before cautiously entering the room. The principal sat at his desk and was looking over several stacks of paper.

"You wanted to see me Mr. Robles?" The girl asked.

"Yes, please take a seat." The balding man gestured vaguely in the direction of the horribly plaid chairs set up on the opposite side of his desk. The girl picked the less scary looking of the two, sitting stiffly and dropping her backpack at her feet.

"Now, Miss Lowell..." Mr. Robles started.

"It's actually Ashwood now. I changed it over winter break." The girl interjected, making an apologetic face afterward.

"Is that so." The principal responded absently, still shuffling through the mess on his desk. "Well then, Miss Ashwood, as you know you are one of Beecher Academy's finest students." He paused, clearly expecting a response.

"Thank you sir." Miss Ashwood indulged him.

"Your test scores are well above your grade level and you take all advanced classes." Mr. Robles continued.

"I do my best sir."

"Your best is quite extraordinary. You are also aware that you are at this school on scholarship. The...oh, what was it called..." The man shifted through his papers some more.

"President's, sir." The girl supplied.

"Yes, yes that one. Now, as a President's Scholar, you are not only reimbursed for your tuition, but you have some menial tasks to complete as well."

Miss Ashwood blinked. "I was not aware of that. Sir." She added.

"It's nothing too difficult. Nothing a intelligent young woman like you wouldn't be capable of." Mr. Robles assured her. "Your only responsibility is to help guide the foreign exchange students, a responsibility you shall have from now until you graduate."

"If you don't mind me asking sir, why didn't I start last year?"

"Well, the flight that the students were to arrive on was canceled due to the hurricane last year. By the time it had passed, they had already changed their plans to go somewhere, how did they put it?...'a little more mild'." The principal explained, sounding thoroughly offended.

"I see sir."

"Now, the seven students you will be working with this year are staying in your dorm, and arrived last night. I have some paperwork for you to fill out with them. Once you've finished helping them settle in, you are to come back here to give them a tour of the school and facilities. Two of them are actually college students, but they made special arrangements to stay with the rest of the group. They'll be attend the adjoining Beecher University." Mr. Robles handed the girl the forms he had been looking over earlier. "Another one of your responsibilities will be to help them adjust to this new country and translate for them if necessary."

"Where are they from sir?" Miss Ashwood asked, looking over the forms and secretly hoping those poor kids knew enough English to navigate all the paperwork.

"Ouran Academy, in Japan. I assume you are comfortable enough with your Japanese to be of assistance, considering you are in the Senior level class."

"Yes sir, I should be fine."

"I'm afraid you will probably have to stay on site for the summer, seeing as you'll have to remain close to your charges."

Miss Ashwood glanced up quickly, attempting to recover before being caught.

"Will that be a problem, Miss Ashwood? I know you live across the country, so the lack of travel will be beneficial to you and your family's finances." Mr. Robles rose an eyebrow.

"Yes sir. I mean, no sir, no problem at all."

"Good, now how about you go over to..."

"Hinderlie Hall sir."

"Yes, that one. And introduce yourself."

Miss Ashwood carefully folded the papers into her backpack and stood to leave.

"And Miss Ashwood?"

"Yes Mr. Robles?" She turned to him to see his expression turn grave.

"Ouran Academy is a very wealthy school, and these students in particular are from some very powerful families. So try to make them as comfortable as possible, alright?"

"Alright sir." Miss Ashwood nodded, escaping the room as quickly as possible.

The secretary stopped her typing for a moment to give her a sympathetic look. "Good luck kiddo."

Miss Ashwood sighed, tugging on the straps of her backpack. "Thanks Gena. I'm going to need it."

She was barely out the door when the familiar open chords of Bohemian Rhapsody played from her phone. The girl flinched, knowing exactly who the ringtone belonged to.

"Hey Mom."

"Ena! How are you?"

"Alright. Hows the family?"

"We're just great dear! And Henry is so excited to see you, he's been talking about it all this month."

"Yeah, about that Mom..."

"Oh no, I know that voice. What's wrong?"

Ena winced. "I'm not going to be able to come home just yet."

"What? What happened this time?"

"Apparently part of my scholarship is to babysit the foreign exchange students. I just got out of Mr. Robles' office."

"That asshole!"

"Mom!"

"No it's true! First he 'just happens' to choose you to play host for those eighth graders over Spring Break, and now he's making you work during your vacation. What's he gonna do next, take away your summer?"

"..."

"You're kidding."

"I gotta help them 'adjust to life in a new country' or something."

"Why can't they have one of the teachers do it?"

"Because it's their time off?"

"Well it's supposed to be your time off too! We haven't seen you since Christmas honey!"

Ena sighed, scrubbing at her face wearily. "I know I know. I'm sorry, but I can't exactly tell the man giving me an all expenses paid education 'no'."

"I know sweetie. We were just excited to see you."

"Yeah me too. I'll see if I can get a couple weeks off once I've gotten the new kids settled in. And who knows? Maybe they'll be nice. It's a good experience to have either way, being the one in charge of the exchange students."

"That's my girl, always looking on the positive side."

"I try."

"Okay. If that's what you want to do, then I won't stop you."

"It's not really a case of want right now. If I was doing what I want, I'd be there with you guys already."

"You're sweet. I'll tell the boys for you, but don't be surprised if they call."

"Okay, thanks. Make sure to tell Richard that his Batman is brooding without him."

"He's my husband, shouldn't I be Batman?"

"You don't even like DC Mom."

"Well it's not like I like Marvel much either."

"Don't let Henry hear you say that."

"He already has. Apparently I'm to be excommunicated."

"Sounds like Hen." Ena laughed.

"He's gonna be heartbroken. Okay. I love you Ena bear. Get home to us as soon as you can."

"I will. Love you too. Bye."

Ena hung up, heaving another sigh. As she made her way to the parking lot, she turned the problem over in her head. Although she mainly had just said it to calm her mother, it was true that this would be a new and exciting experience for her. It wasn't everyday that you got to meet people from other countries, let alone be instrumental in their trip. She got to take them on a tour of the city, show them all the cool things about America and be their friend and adviser. If she started off the job in a black mood, she'd not only be hurting herself but hurting seven other people in the process. That alone was enough to turn her mood around, or at least turn it enough that she was sure she could fake a few smiles.

When she got to the parking lot, Ena chucked her backpack into the little trunk on the back of her (old beat up) "new" scooter. The little blue thing was something Ena was proud of, considering she had raised the money for it by herself. It had taken two years of part time shifts at her grandmother's store, odd jobs for this and that person and the occasional babysitting gig, but by the time she turned sixteen she had enough money for a scooter that actually ran. Well, ran was laying it on a bit thick. More like puttered. Or crawled.

The motor started up with a loud crash, a sound that Ena had grown used to in her time having it. The dorms were just down the street, but Ena lived by the philosophy that things that were earned could be used for even the most mundane of tasks. It was kind of backwards and not entirely true, but she was comfortable with it. Besides, she had spent the past week running around the school for all her finals, so it felt well deserved. Ena hopped on, and puttered towards Hinderlie.

It was because of the poor quality of the scooter's motor that she didn't hear the yelling until she'd turned it off. Passers by were stopped outside the building, curiously listening to the hysterical string of Japanese and English come from one of the upper windows. Ena stowed her helmet, and groaned, feeling in her bones that this job wasn't going to be as fun and exciting as she previously thought.

Ena gathered her strength and scanned her card at the front door. Lucy was sitting at the main desk, listening to what sounded like Debussy's Prelude to the Suite Bergamasque at full blast. Ena grabbed her attention with a wave.

"Hey Luce."

"Hey Ena! I thought you'd be on your way to Oregon by now!" Lucy shouted a little bit to be heard over the sounds from upstairs and her own music.

"I got delayed." Ena explained bitterly. "Are those the new foreign exchange students?"

"Yeah, they're an interesting bunch. A girl and guy came in first, the dude was going on and on about something called the 'love door'. I don't even want to know. Then the rest came in later today and the yelling started soon after they went upstairs."

"Huh."

"They're all super hot, but they've been at it all day." Lucy moaned as the sound escalated in pitch. "I feel bad for the poor bastard who's gotta manage them."

Ena winced visibly.

"Oh Ena. Oh hon, I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, that was actually what delayed me. Now I gotta go guide seven aristocrats through buckets of paper work. Wish me luck."

"I wish you all the luck in the world." Lucy said in a poor imitation of an Irish accent. "I really do."

"Tolkien can't save me now," Ena laughed, "but thanks."

Faint sounds of Butterfield's Lullaby followed Ena up the stairs, obviously being played off Lucy's laptop. She huffed another laugh, shaking her head at her friends antics. Ena had gotten the "RA" room from the school's brief jaunt as a college along with her scholarship. The other rooms were past the lounge and communal kitchen, at the opposite side of the hall. Ena decided that now would probably be a good time to stall, dropping off all but the forms in her room and giving it a quick tidy. She was still lingering when she heard a crash and tentatively made her way to the source of the fighting.

Inside the room was chaos. Two twins with mismatched hair stood a bit sheepishly by a broken glass, and a tall blonde man was standing over it, yelling at them in Japanese with (strangely enough) French words seeping through. In another corner stood a harried looking brunette girl, speaking angrily with another man, this one wearing glasses. On the couch sat two even stranger characters, a very small blonde boy and a much taller black haired man who seemed mainly indifferent to the fighting. Lucy hadn't been lying when she said they were 'super hot', their collective attractiveness was intimidating.

Ena gave a tentative knock on the door. All eyes swept towards her, and she felt a thing a bit like stage fright sweep over her.

"Um, right. Hi, I'm Ena. Ena Ashwood. I was assigned to your group by Beecher Academy as a guide and I have some paperwork for you to fill out. Is this a bad time?"

The silence stretched for longer than was comfortable before the tall blonde recovered.

"No, not at all Princess!" He told her in perfect English.

Wait...princess?

"These five were just leaving." He pointed to all but the brunette girl.

"No we're not." The ginger twin crossed his arms.

"We have just as much right to be here as you." Said the brunette.

"No you don't!" The blonde huffed, looking as though he was about to start yelling again.

"Actually, I was assigned to all seven of you, so they're correct." Ena interjected. The twins smirked, crossing the room to stand with her.

"See." The twins spoke in unison, sticking out their tongues at the man. He curled up in the corner, back facing the rest of the group.

"Uh, does he do that often?" Ena asked the twins.

"Constantly." The brunette responded as the other nodded in agreement.

"Alright. If you're all sure it's no trouble, there's a lot of paperwork we need to get through. I also have some papers from the college for the university students."

"That's us!" The small looking boy piped up, pointing to himself and the tall man. Ena passed him the two extra forms, not without surprise.

Ena proceeded to pass out the rest of the papers to the other students, double checking that Blondie was responsive before handing him his form.

"If you have any concerns about the form, or anything in general, feel free to ask me." Ena took a seat by the two college students on the couch.

"Hmm." The twins scrutinized her, looking at her clothing.

"Is that the school uniform?" They asked in unison.

Ena tugged at her knee high socks, suddenly feeling self conscious. She wore a black (regulation length) skirt along with the (frankly awful) blue school vest over a white t-shirt. Her long brown hair was pulled into a severe bun.

"Yes, the spring one at least."

"What's the boy one look like?" The brunette asked.

"It's pretty similar, except black pants instead of skirts. They also have sweaters instead of vests in the winter time, and the girls have the option to wear the pants instead."

They wrinkled their noses, but declined from making further comments.

"It's weird how they ask us to put our family name last." The brunette twin muttered to the other in Japanese, only to receive a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"Shut up! It's probably weird to them how we put ours first!" He snapped.

"A little weird, yes. But I find it interesting how our languages and cultures developed differently." Ena commented to the bewildered twins.

"You speak Japanese?" The redhead asked.

"Yes, well, it seems a bit unfair to stick you with someone who doesn't know your native language." Ena shrugged, pick at her hem again. It seemed as though she had another nervous tick to add to her collection.

"Well, the boss's 'native language' is French." The brunette pointed towards Blondie, who rejoined humanity and was sitting with the brunette girl, murmuring translations quietly whenever she looked lost.

"Can you speak that too?" He snarked, earning another jab from his brother.

"Oui, je parle français très bien." Ena remained nonplussed.

Blondie looked up with excitement. "Combien de temps avez-vous connu française?"

"Je commence quand j'étais petit."

"Moi aussi!" Blondie responded happily.

"Hmm." The twins repeated, something akin to respect in their eyes.

The next few minutes passed in relative silence. The only sound was pencils and pens on various surfaces and Blondie's continued translating. Ena tried to distract herself, but they were all so interesting and she couldn't help but stare. Especially Blondie and te little brunette, they had a familiarity with each other that was fascinating to watch.

"Ashwood-sempai?" The girl glanced up a bit later, meeting Ena's eyes.

Ena jumped, trying to not look too sheepish at being caught. "Please, just call me Ena."

"Alright," She condoned in clear (if not a bit stiff) English. "What do we put if we have a dead parent?"

"Oh," Ena walked to her spot at the table, the girl's bluntness throwing her a bit, "I suppose you could just put 'deceased'."

"Ah, thank you." She returned to her paper, writing in slow but legible English.

"Your name is 'Haruhi'?" Ena asked, taking a seat by her.

"Mhmm."

"That's lovely. Does it mean something?"

"Yes, 'Spring Day'. I was born in April, so my parents chose it." Haruhi smiled a bit shyly. "It's a little silly."

"That's better than the reason behind my name. Ena means 'fire' and my mom picked it because her contractions started during a forest fire."

Haruhi blinked, laughing slightly. "Oh no."

"Yeah tell me about it. 'How'd your parents pick you name?' 'Oh you know, just a natural disaster, what about you?' It makes for an interesting story though. And my middle name is Silvia, which means 'of the forest.' So my name literally means forest fire."

"You know what's even more silly?" Haruhi asked slyly. "Your surname is 'Ashwood'."

Ena snorted. "I never thought of that before."

"You've bothered to learn the meaning behind your other names, yet you've never thought about how your last name fits the theme?" Glasses pushed his namesake up his nose, having finished his form long ago.

"Well to be honest with you, Ashwood is my stepdad's last name, and I just got it changed recently. It used to be Lowell."

"Where is your biological dad?" The brunette asked bluntly, receiving yet another jab and probably a fresh bruise.

"Southern California." Ena shrugged. "I haven't talked to him for a while."

The group looked as if they were going to press the matter, so Ena hurried to change the subject.

"By the way, I don't think I caught all your names."

"We're the Hitachiin brothers!" The twins jumped into action first.

"I'm Hikaru," said the brunette, leaning on her chair.

"And I'm Kaoru." Finished the red head, who sat in the chair next to her.

"Pleasure to meet you." Ena smiled warmly.

"Likewise!" They responded.

"I'm Mitsukuni Haninozuka, but you can call me Honey!" The little blonde boy spoke next.

He gestured to the tall man."And this is Takashi Morinozuka."

"Everyone just calls him Mori." Hikaru said from the back of Ena's chair.

"Yeah." Mori agreed.

He seems rather monosyllabic. Ena thought.

"I'm Kyoya Ootori." Glasses added, still scribbling in his mysterious black book.

"Of the Ootori group? As in, the owners of the lead medical administration and equipment companies in Japan?" Ena recited, eyes wide.

"The very same." Kyoya sounded a bit surprised that she recognized the name, though minimally. "Do you know a good deal about the Japanese medical system?"

Ena blushed. "Um, yeah. My younger brother wants to be a doctor, so I spend a lot of time researching with him."

"Interesting." He responded blandly, making more notes in his book.

"And I am Tamaki Suoh!" The blonde lept to his feet. "I am sorry for my incomplete greeting earlier, Princess, that was impolite of me."

"If you don't mind me asking, what was the nature of the...conflict?" Ena tried to phrase it as gently as possible rather than just outright saying "yelling".

"Well you see Ena," Tamaki began, "my dearest girlfriend Haruhi and I planned to come to America for a romantic getaway from these people!" He gestured to the room at large. "But they couldn't just leave us alone, and followed us here."

"That's not exactly true Tamaki." Haruhi interjected, grabbing the flailing arm nearest her and pulling the boy back to his seat.

"What actually happened was I planned to come here to expand my studies and planned to do so alone. But I found out right before I left Japan that Tamaki was also going to be coming. That in itself was bad enough but then the rest of our group surprised us by coming as well."

During Haruhi's little speech, Tamaki had crawled to his sulk corner, and the rest of the group remained in various stages of silent and sheepish.

"I see. What are you studying Haruhi?"

Haruhi looked pleased by the question, but was cut off by Hikaru.

"Wait a second. She just told you that a group of friends went behind her back and followed her halfway across the world, and you want to know what she's studying?"

"Well, yeah."

"Are all Americans as weird as you?"

"Hikaru!"

"Ow!"

"Not really." Ena ignored the bickering. "I'm not really surprised that you would do that. You guys give off this vibe."

"Vibe?" Honey asked, a little confused.

"Um, aura, Ōra." Ena clarified. "Like you would do anything for each other. You seem like a family, you know? A dysfunctional one, but a family all the same."

"Did you hear that Haruhi?" Tamaki leapt to his feet, seemingly recovered from his little slump. "Ena says we're a family!"

"She also said we're dysfunctional." Haruhi deadpanned, sending Tamaki back into his corner.

"But what family isn't?" Ena tried to smooth things out. "Every family has it's quirks."

That was enough to rectify Tamaki apparently, because soon he was back to seat and helping Haruhi again.

"Ena-chan!" Honey tugged at her arm. "I have a little brother too! What's yours like?"

Ena smiled. "Well, he's really smart. And super sweet. I have no doubt that he'll become a doctor, or anything else he sets his mind too. I miss him very much."

"You miss him?" Kaoru asked.

"Where is he?" Hikaru added.

"My family lives in Oregon." The group stared at her blankly for a few seconds before Ena realized they probably didn't have much knowledge of American geography. "A state on the other side of the country."

"But wait a second Ena-chan, why do you go to school here if your family lives far away?" Honey questioned.

"I got a scholarship to this school. Plus my grandma lives in Boston all by herself, so I decided that I come help her out."

"So you mean to tell me that not only are you a survivor of poverty," Tamaki flounced, "but also assist your ailing grandmother while still attending a challenging school? How noble!"

"Um, yeah I guess?" Ena shrugged.

"Survivor?" She asked under her breath.

Haruhi gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm a scholarship student too. If he calls you a commoner, just tune him out."

Ena gave a snort. "I'll keep that in mind."

The members of the group brought her their papers one by one, with Haruhi bringing up the rear. Ena made a mental note to teach her how to take quick notes, because writing slowly in Mrs. Marvin's AP Literature class was not an option.

"Now that you're all done, we just have to stop by the school real quick to turn these in and I can give you a tour." Ena guided the group down the hall, picking up her bag from her room as she went. She had to push the twins away, promising them they could dig through her stuff later.

"Oh, Ena-chan, Ena-chan!" Honey bounced down the hallway. "Can we get dinner afterward?"

"Yes! I too would like to try the American cuisine!" Tamaki declared.

"Sure thing, I have a friend that works at a nearby burger joint. She lets me get everything on the menu half off." Ena smiled dreamily, reaching the bottom of the staircase first.

"Does she remind you of someone?" Kaoru asked. Everyone glanced at Haruhi.

"Not really." The oblivious girl shrugged.

"Hey Ena, how'd you shut up those rich asswipes?" Lucy called from the desk, engrossed in her laptop screen and still listening to aggressively loud classical music. Ena cleared her throat noisily in response. When Lucy noticed the rest of the group she paled considerably, slamming her laptop shut.

"Everyone, this is my friend Lucinda Palmer. Lucy, this is Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, Mitsukuni Haninozuka, Takashi Morinozuka, Kyoya Ootori, Tamaki Suoh, and Haruhi..." Ena turned to the only other girl. "I'm sorry, I don't think I got your surname."

"Fujioka."

"Ah, thank you, Haruhi Fujioka." Ena paused before continuing. "Also, Mitsukuni goes by Honey and Takashi goes by Mori."

The majority of the group looked at her in awe, whereas Lucy turned from white to an interesting shade of violet.

"Do you guys mind walking to the school, or do you want a ride?" Ena asked.

"Walking is fine with me." Haruhi responded just as everyone else said "Ride."

"Okay, I'll call a cab," Ena did a head count, "A big one. Lucy, would you be a dear and grab our guest's ID cards? They should be in the back room."

Lucy nodded and left her hiding spot behind the desk without complaint. The group remained struck with Ena's efficiency.

"Ena, are you magic?" Honey finally spoke.

"You don't get into a private school on the opposite side of the country for free without having a little bit of people skills." Ena smiled self deprecatingly, holding her phone to her ear.

"Here's the cards Ena." Lucy hurried out into the lobby, handing over the stack of plastic. Ena had just finished explaining how they worked when a van pulled into the lot and honked.

"That's our cab. Everybody ready?" The group nodded. "Let's move out."

The students walked out the door in a single file line, entering the car with military-like precision. Ena was just about to close the door when Lucy called to her.

"Hey Ena?"

"Yeah?"

"I think you might actually be a superhero."

Ena laughed. "Thanks Luce. See ya later okay?"

Lucy nodded, watching friend go. In the cab, The Host Club sat silently, waiting for their guide.

"Takashi?" Honey asked, watching the younger girl wave goodbye to her friend.

"Yeah?"

"I think Ena-chan is magic."

"...Yeah."

AN: I'm so sorry Mori, I'll make you talk more later I promise! Also, here's a translation of Tamaki's and Ena's conversation, because whereas I don't speak Japanese, I do know French.

"Yes. I speak French very well."

"How long have you been learning French?" (I kept his speech formal, since they had just met.)

"I have been learning since I was little/young."

"Me too!"

I also made some purposeful decisions about how they speak based on how well I assume each character would know English. If their talking seems out OOC, mainly in Haruhi's case, it is because she would still be learning the language at this point and may speak a little more slowly and formally than she would in Japanese.