I sat quietly in our clubroom observing my friends and thinking to myself.
Our club room which was one of few abandoned rooms in the school was small and a bit crowded but it was our safe haven, A place we could be ourselves and drink delicious tea from all over the world.
I had formed the club earlier this year, a month after I started going to this school. To make friends with people like me who were lonely in one way or another, to give them a place where they could feel comfortable, and be themselves.
I was a weak child and got sick easily, I was also very small and frail. My parents treated me as if I was made of glass and I was never allowed to leave our home.
That resulted in me being tutored instead of going to school like every other child my age. Finally earlier this year after much begging they allowed me to attend Ouran.
My first day had been rough, everyone I came across seemed to think I was a foreigner due to my red hair and freckles, which I had inherited from my father.
I was very excited to meet people and make friends, but I never had experience with people other than my parents, my tutor, and our staff. So I was mostly quiet and reserved.
My parents own the biggest tea company in Japan, and as of recently their business has expanded to many other countries as well. So since a young age I had always Loved tea, I Loved trying new blends and creating some of my own.
After a month of going to school I figured out a way I could make friends, I could start a club! A Tea club.
So I talked with the Principle of the school about starting a club. He was happy I was starting to come out of my shell and agreed, however the only room he could allow me to use was an old classroom that had become a storage room. And the only way I was allowed to use that room is if I was able to secure at least four other members.
I told him that it would be perfect.
I looked over at Eriko, She was deeply engrossed with the book in her hands. She was the tea clubs resident blonde, we had come from a similar background, one of her parents was a foreigner.
Eriko was the tea clubs first official member besides myself and it had taken a few weeks until I convinced her to join.
I first noticed her while I was looking out a window in my classroom. She was hidden in the schools garden, sitting on a bench, and reading one of her books. When a couple of girls sat across from her and began talking to each other. After she shot them an annoyed look, I noticed that she preferred to keep to herself.
Her Father is the owner of a Major entertainment company, and her mother passed away when she was very young. Her father never treated her the same afterwards, because of her looking and acting so much like his deceased wife. He was also disappointed in her Love of books as apposed to movies.
He soon remarried and she gained a stepmom and a half sibling. She always got everything she wanted except for her fathers attention and affection.
One day I decided to introduce myself and make friends with the blonde.
"Hello! I'm Aiko Koizumi, I noticed that you like reading, And I know the perfect place for you to read your books without being disturbed."I said gesturing to her book.
She raised an eyebrow and looked slightly frustrated that I had interrupted her reading "And where would that be?"I smiled despite her irritated words "I'm the leader of the newly formed tea club. If you join you can drink tea, and read your books undisturbed in the club room."I explained happily.
After major persistence on my part we ended up forming a friendship, and eventually she agreed to join my club.
Next I looked over at the ever mischievous Sanae Hattori, She is the trouble maker of the club. She always seems to be playing pranks or tricking people for her own amusement. She is the Tea clubs third member. She has neck length brown hair that she never styles (Much to her parents dismay) and brown eyes that always seemed to be holding a mischievous glint.
She comes from a big family that consists of her parents, grandparents (Both on her mothers side and fathers side) and her six siblings. They all live together in one big house. Her mother is a famous wedding coordinator and her father owns a fashion company.
I think that her Love of playing pranks on people stems from not getting enough attention from her family and being treated as someone to marry off. It's a way for people to notice her.
Sanae is in the same class as me, I noticed she would often complain about the schools uniform and how difficult it was to run with it on after her pranks didn't end well.
I also noticed that she wore sneakers instead of the usual loafers the school required of it's students, and often wore pants or shorts under her school uniform.
It took me a little while to approach her due to the fact that she was always running around the school, she was never in one place for too long.
One day she needed a place to hide after one of her pranks had gone wrong "If you join my club you can hide in the club room whenever you need to. We also have snacks and delicious tea!" I told her enthusiastically before she could run away, She was suspicious of me at first. But she still ended up coming to my club room and hiding there, and eventually she joined.
I smiled at the memory. Of course Eriko wasn't too pleased with having the trouble maker in the club but she eventually learned to live with it.
Next I turned to Hiromi, She was eating a slice of cake happily. She is stronger and taller than most girls and has a very cool appearance. But she has a major Love for cute things and sweets. She's a very kind girl.
Hiromi's Father is the owner of a large sports equipment company and her mother is a sports wear designer, she is the middle child and has four brothers.
I met Hiromi one day when we were eating lunch, she had dropped her cake on the floor and looked devastated, so I approached her.
"Hello, You can have my cake if you'd like?"I smiled brightly at her, then she had a look of awe on her face "You're so small and cute."She gasped, I flinched slightly at the 'small' comment "I'm so sorry. That was very rude of me to say..."She blushed in embarrassment "That's okay. My name is Aiko Koizumi"I introduced myself "I'm Hiromi Hatanaka."She gave a shy smile.
"Well Hiromi, If you join our club you can have sweets whenever you want! We also have really yummy tea"I clasped my hands together excitedly.
She joined our club right away.
Then I looked at our most recent member, Kiyomi Tsuchiya. She was doing some sort of experiments in the corner which caused me to sigh and shake my head.
She has long brown hair that was messily tied into two braids, and she wears large circular glasses. She's our resident genius. She skipped three grades and is currently a 2nd year.
Her mother's family is the owner of several private hospitals, Of which her mother is the Chairwoman and CEO. Her father is a neurosurgeon and owner/chairman of Tsuchiya Medical University, she is also an only child.
I met Kiyomi after she got kicked out of the science club for 'blowing things up' I offered for her to join our club and conduct experiments to her hearts content, so long as she didn't harm anyone or destroy the club room.
She agreed then proceeded to haul all of her science equipment to our club room. Let's just say that Eri was less than pleased about it.
Kiyomi's snickering brought me back to the present.
I tied my short red hair into two low pigtails,"Eri, could you walk me to the restroom?"I asked hopefully "Aiko, you're old enough to go the restroom on your own."She pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation.
"What about you guys?"I asked the rest of my club members, and suddenly everybody was busy doing something "Sorry Leader, I have some pranks that need finalizing."Sanae saluted me and went back to sitting on her chair with her feet propped up on the table "So unladylike."Eri shook her head.
"Sorry Boss, I'm conducting a very important experiment, of which I need Hiromi's help for."Kiyomi pushed her glasses up her nose "I like how everyone got conveniently busy!"I pouted "Fine! I'll Find the restroom by myself."I crossed my arms and turned to leave, I received a chorus of 'Good lucks' which caused me to sulk even more.
I needed help finding the restroom due to my terrible sense of direction, I get lost no matter where I try to go.
Kind of like now...
After about half an hour It seemed as if I was going in circles, and at this point I urgently needed to find a restroom.
I decided to step into a classroom and ask for directions.
It just so happened that the room I stepped into was music room #3...
I stepped into the dimly lit classroom, immediately regretting my decision "Hello?"I called out and as I was about to leave a small demon like creature holding what seemed to be a stuffed rabbit came out of the shadows "Who interrupted my nap?"It said evilly.
I screamed. Then I realized I no longer needed to find a restroom. I sank to the floor in despair, and just began to bawl my eyes out. Suddenly another figure entered the room.
"Mitsukuni, go back to sleep."The tall man spoke to the demon then proceeded to offer me a hand up, noticing a small puddle I was mortified.
"I'm so so s-sorry!"I ceased my crying to apologize profusely, suddenly the lights turned on and several other men walked into the room "Ah Mori-Sempai your back."The tall blonde spoke "Huh? who is this Lovely princess?"I began crying again remembering the situation at hand, he flinched and held his hands up in attempt to try to comfort me.
"Boss made her cry!" The two I noticed to be twins piped in, the blonde looked like he was about to burst into tears any moment no, which only made me cry harder.
"I uh... I'm so sorry! I'll clean it up, can someone point me towards a mop or something?" I said between crying "Huh?"Everyone except for the tall man was confused.
Then they looked down and put two and two together "I uh, was looking for a bathroom, and I-I got scared, I'm sorry..." My head dropped in shame.
"Haruhi can you show this young lady to the changing room."The man with glasses spoke up, the brunnette quickly walked me to said room.
I cried the whole way, The tears were seemingly endless "Hey, it's okay."He offered me a genuine smile "Th-thanks..."I blushed in embarrassment.
"You can change into one of these dresses if you would like to miss." The man with glasses told me as the twins wheeled in a rack of elegant looking dresses "When you're finished please place your uniform into this bag and we will have it dry cleaned."He handed me a bag and I nodded.
They left the room and I changed into a random dress that was on the rack, and placed my uniform into the bag. I looked into the mirror and saw that the dress I had picked was white with black lace, and that my face was puffy and red from crying so much.
When I left the room I noticed that the puddle had been cleaned, and I flinched as my gaze dropped to the floor once again in shame.
"Princess no need to look so sad."The blonde lifted my chin with his index finger and thumb, I immediately blushed bright red and hid behind a couch, I had no experience with the opposite sex whatsoever.
He looked crestfallen and before I knew it began sulking in the corner. I held up a hand as if to stop him, but was interrupted by The man with glasses "Miss Koizumi,please hand the bag to Mori-senpai and he will take it to get it cleaned."I complied and handed the bag to him.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Kyoya Ootori, and the blonde sulking in the corner is Tamaki Suoh."He gestured to the blonde "I'm Aiko Koizumi, It's very nice to meet you Kyoya-senpai, Though I wish we could have met under different circumstances."I forced a smile.
"Not to worry about that."He assured me "We will be opening soon so please feel free to have a seat." He smiled politely "Opening soon?"I asked confused "Yes, this is the Ouran High school host club."My eyes grew wide "A host club?"I blushed, Suddenly the blonde stood up and walked up to us "Yes princess, the Ouran High school Host club. A place where the schools most handsome boys entertain young ladies with too much time on their hands."He gave me a princely smile and I blushed "Uh...Can I leave?"I blurted out, and before I knew it he was back into the corner, I gasped "I'm so sorry! That was rude wasn't it?"I quickly approached the blonde and placed a small hand on his shoulder.
He blushed "No! I was the rude one."We then began apologizing profusely to each other"If I may interrupt, Koizumi-san would you care to stay for some tea?"Kyoya-senpai caught my attention immediately "Tea? What kind?"I smiled brightly "A new blend we just got in from India."He replied.
And so that's how I ended up sitting in the Ouran High school host club.
My happiness was short lived however when the demon walked up to where I was sitting causing me to recall all of the events from earlier "A new princess! And she's really pretty too!"Then he smiled and instead of me seeing the angelic smile that everyone else seemed to see, all I saw was pure evil.
I yelped and hurriedly tried to exit the room, I ended up bumping into Haruhi who was bringing out a tray of tea,causing the expensive tea set to go tumbling onto the floor and my face to land on Haruhi's chest.
I was confused at how soft his chest was until realization dawned on me.
I sat up quickly "Uh, so... you're a girl?"I blurted out, I inwardly face palmed myself for my idiocy.
"Yeah..."Haruhi scratched the back of her head awkwardly, suddenly I heard gasps and we were surrounded by the rest of the Host club.
"Haruhi! You can't just go admitting you're a girl to everyone who asks!"Tamaki shouted dramatically "Well there was no point in denying it senpai, she kind of felt it."Haruhi replied bluntly.
Both Tamaki and I then proceeded to blush rather violently.
"Well this is a complicated turn of events."Kyoya sighed "I'm confused. Why did she run away from me?"The short blonde demon asked 'innocently' I gasped and hid behind Tamaki, clutching to his uniforms jacket I shut my eyes tightly.
"Huh?"Tamaki blushed and then a serious look came over his face "So, Miss Koizumi is afraid of hunny-senpai."He looked like he was deep in thought.
"Why is Aiko-chan is afraid of me?"Hunny pouted and looked like he was going to cry "You scared her."Mori responded.
"Those aren't the only problems here, she now knows that Haruhi is a girl. Not to mention that tea set was rather expensive."That last part seemed to be directed at Haruhi, who froze at his words.
"Uh..."I stepped hesitantly away from Tamaki "That was my fault, so I-I'll pay for the tea set."But I couldn't let my parents find out. "Is there anyway I could work off my debt? If I ask my parents to pay for it, they'll use this situation as a reason to take me out of school..."I clenched my fists.
Kyoya's glasses seemed to gleam almost evilly "That's a good idea, you working here could increase customers and we could also make sure you don't say anything about Haruhi;s gender."He pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled at me, except this time it wasn't polite.
A chill ran down my spine at his now cold, and calculating smile.
Just then the twins who were mostly silent up until now seemed to have grown horns as they each took one of my arms "Hikaru,"The twin on my left spoke up "Yes Kouru?"The other asked.
They both smirked "Looks like we got ourselves a new toy."They said simultaneously "Huh? I'm not your toy!"I shouted trying to free myself from their grip.
Haruhi looked at me sympathetically and I swallowed thickly. What Have I gotten myself into?!
To be continued~
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. I'm currently writing the next chapter, so it should be posted soon. Constructive criticism is welcome! I would like to know how I can improve my writing. :D
-FindMeInTheRice