read and review! details will be in the authors note at the bottom of the page!
"Thank you chairman, but if it's break right now I would really rather go explore the grounds while they work out my schedule, not that you don't make great company!" I called over my shoulder cheerily as I walked out of the large office, sharing a pleasant smile with the chairman.
"Alright Ms. Shimizu, it'll be an honor having somebody with as an impeccable record, not to mention background as yourself, attending our academy. Please, feel free to come to me if you have any questions."
"Thank you sir, it'll be a pleasure to attend your academy I'm sure." I responded politely bowing to him respectfully, while I readjusted the hospital mask I was using to cover the lower portion of my face, and allowed my hair to fall back into my eyes. "Now where would Haruhi be? Hmm… she's probably realized by now that rich people don't really study in libraries…. Guess I'll have to check everywhere!" I thought to myself, jogging through the halls at a moderate pace, and earning quite a few judgmental glares in the process. I suppose it's not an average sight for these 'elite' attendees of the 'prestigious' Ouran Academy to see a tall, random, faceless girl with crumpled, non-designer, figure concealing clothes, and horribly messy, wild hair speeding around corners and students alike. Oh well! They'll just have to get used to it!... "Haru-chan?!" I exclaimed slightly panicked as I peered into an abandoned music room only to spot her passed out on the floor. "OH MY GOD! HARUHI! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" I cried running over in a streak of messy dark blue hair to check her vitals.
"Sa… ki… nee…san…" She slurred out dizzily, pulling my fingers away from her neck and chest before going unconscious. Somebody then tapped my shoulder, startling me enough to cause me to jump and squeal girlishly as I turned to observe my attacker through my curtain of hair.
"Er, hello? What exactly did you gentlemen do to my protégé?" I asked suspiciously as I evaluated them and started searching through my brain for their files. So far all that occurs to me is they are all very attractive.
"May I ask just who you are Miss? I'm afraid that we cannot disclose club business with those not in attendance at this school." The glasses boy said with a falsely polite smile, it was actually rather cold and insulting the way he was insinuating I was an inferior. I paused a moment staring intently at this boy as I tried to pull up his file mentally before responding cheekily.
"Shimizu Saki, 2nd year, officially transferring into Ouran tomorrow. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Ootori-san." I said bowing low in a respectful manner and wiping his 'greater-than-thou' grin off of his face, if only a bit, "Suoh-san, Morinozuka-senpai, Haninozuka-senpai, and then of course the Hitachiin twins! Hikaru-kun and Kaoru-kun, if I'm not mistaken." I said happily, bowing to each of my peers in turn, and stunning the shit out of them according to their faces.
"Wow, how did you know our names?!" Haninozuka-senpai asked eyes wide as he clung to his bunny plushy.
"I may or may not have hacked the school systems a little over a month ago when trying to figure out which school I want to attend in Japan…" I admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of my head.
"She is Shimizu Saki, 17 years old, 2nd year student, heir to the internationally known Shimizu Heavy Industries*; she has a photographic memory, and is transferring in officially tomorrow. No photographs have ever been captured providing her full appearance leading many to believe that she is somehow hideously disfigured or otherwise incapable of being in the public eye." Ootori-san read off, as I nodded along in an agreeing manner. Of course these are all things made public through media and internet research sources.
"Wow, that's so cool, but kind of mean! You aren't horribly disfigured, are you Saki-chan?" Haninozuka asked sweetly from his perch on Morinozuka's shoulders.
"Unless you count a couple scars I have from rough housing as a child, no, I don't believe I would qualify as horribly disfigured." I said amiably, tilting my head to the side so one of my large almond shaped, lilac colored eyes could twinkle brightly at him.
"Shimizu Heavy Industries…?" One of the twins interrupted, turning to his brother.
"Aren't they the company that makes motorcycles?" The other one asked.
"Of course, but we make other vehicles too…" I trailed off as I started dragging Haruhi over to a nearby couch.
"But, princess, why would you hide what is surely such a lovely face from the world?" Suoh-san asked in a charming manner.
"I would prefer to keep away those who only want to be near me to better themselves, Suoh-san. Call it a means of defense, if you will." I explained carefully, slumping down next to my unconscious friend. "Now that you know who I am, and most of your questions are out of the way, I'm curious; what did you do to Haruhi?"
I really have no right to complain about the next 15 minutes of exaggerated theatrics that followed my question I suppose; after all, I did ask, and they provided me with refreshments. Honestly though, the likelihood of Haruhi attempting to bludgeon Tamaki to death and then knocking over an expensive vase as retaliation when the twins restrained her was highly unlikely. Implausible, if not all together impossible. She doesn't even know them all that well yet; she waits at least a week before becoming murderous. I've also observed that nearly all of these gentlemen with the exception of Ootori-san are under he impression that Haruhi is a boy. I told her not to wear the baggy clothes, but does she listen? Noooo… I suppose I could play along and see how long it takes for them to figure it out… should be fun.
"Excuse me?" I interrupted politely, raising a hand to get their attention, "Haruhi would never attempt to bludgeon you to death, it's too messy; he would find a cleaner more sophisticated way to get away with the crime, like poison, or calling me! Also, even if he was, wouldn't it be more logical for one of my senpai's to save you all? After all they are trained martial artists, correct?" I asked, turning to face the two in question for confirmation, which I got in the form of nods and a small smirk from each boy.
"It's good to know that not all ladies are so easily convinced of the obvious, unrealistic, fallacies these three often brew up." Ootori-san spoke up, not bothering to look up from his laptop where I can only assume he was attempting to compile further records on me, possibly even put a picture together based on all the snippets photographers have gotten. Pfft, good luck with that considering half of the pictures are actually of Kazu-Oniichan in drag…. And we look almost nothing alike apart from our skin color.
"Hey, Saki-chan, do you always hide your face, or will I get to see what you look like soon?" Haninozuka-senpai asked seriously, cuddling up next to me on the couch and totally invading my bubble.
"No, I don't always hide my face, senpai, the only reason the press don't have any pictures of me is because they never look for me in the right places." I shrugged as I pulled the older boy onto my lap like I would a child so we could both play with his bunny; I don't care if he's 18 and my senpai, he's adorable!
"You can call me, Honey, if you want Saki-chan! And call Takashi, Mori! Everybody else does!" He told me while we played with the bunny.
"Ok, Honey-senpai, if that's ok with both of you…?" I trailed off, staring up at Morinozuka for a form of approval.
"Ah." He grunted, nodding lightly as Honey jumped off my lap.
"So, senpai…"
"How do you know the dog?" The twins asked me, sidling up behind the couch and leaning their faces into my wild hair.
"You smell nice." The one on my left mumbled quietly, Kaoru, I believe.
"Thanks, it's my shampoo…." I answered questioningly, "Uh, I met Haruhi when I first moved into my home, at the beginning of break, at a local grocery store. We live near each other so I gave him a lift home after I dropped my stuff off. The next day he and his dad showed up at my house and helped me bring in my boxes from the moving vans. He even organized my kitchen for me while I fixed up the garage. We really hit it off and we've been friends since!" I explained briefly.
"But, he is a simple commoner! A princess like you should not dwell among such lowly peasants! You should be living in only the most grand of palaces!" Suoh-san exclaimed grandly, kneeling in front of me and grasping my hands in a caring manner as his eyes, quite literally mind you, sparkled.
"I'm a princess who much more prefers a simple cozy cottage over something so luxurious any day. It's why I don't live in the main estate, though I must admit my house isn't exactly a cottage either." I replied genuinely, ruffling his hair as I took in my classmates honest concern for my well-being, "You certainly are a prince though, aren't you Suoh-san? An honest to goodness gentleman. That's admirable!" I said allowing my hair to part once again and reveal my large hazy lilac eyes.
"Grahhng… Saki-chan?" Haruhi grumbled, rubbing at her eyes as she slowly regained consciousness.
"Yes, my darling?" I asked, allowing the sisterly tone to seep into my voice as I patted her head.
"Did it really happen?" She groaned out miserably, too afraid to open her eyes.
Fujioka, here is a list of things that I need you to buy from the grocery store! When you return your main priority as the host club dog shall be to serve refreshments to the ladies!" Suoh-san ordered, shoving a list into her hands.
"Yes, Haruhi, I'm afraid it did." I shrugged as I followed behind while the twins and Tamaki shoved her out of the room. "Adieu boys, I'll be with Haru-chan is you need me!"
"Tamaki and the twins seem very goofy, though the twins are both a bit distant and mischievous; I see no harm in their antics, though. Kyoya-san, at first glance, sort of reminds me of the spawn of Satan but I something about that seems a bit off also, watch out for him. As for Morinozuka and Haninozuka, well they seem ok to me, in fact I'm rather fond of them both based off of first glance, but I'll let you form your own opinion on them imouto-chan!" I broke down for her as we reentered the south corridor that the 3rd music room was located in. "If you want I could always help you pay off your debt, I have money saved up for situations like this. I call it the 'my-friends-did-something-stupid' account."
"Onee-chan, that's really very kind of you, but it's unnecessary. If I accepted your money then I would be indebted to you! And you most likely won't let me pay you ack." Haruhi grumbled as we opened the door to the club room.
"Well then I'll just have to help you some other way! After all, I agreed to become you mentor of sorts, did I not? It would be cruel of me not to take care of my protégé!" I stated, "I'll see you later, Haru-chan! I'm going to go speak business with Kyoya!" I said, quickly walking away before she could argue.
"Hello, Shimizu-hime, did you enjoy your trip to the market?" He asked, not looking up from his clipboard as I approached.
"That's Saki, no –hime, please, do not refer to me by my last name. It would be highly unlikely for me to be charmed by you, Ootori-san," I said drily, "And to answer our question, the market was fun! I got a free yo-yo!" I said primly, playing with said toy in a bored fashion.
"How very astonishing, a lady of your status has been raised in the same environment, with the same expectations as the rest of these ladies, and yet, you somehow turned out so very…" He trailed off, at a loss for 'polite' ways to describe me.
"Odd, brash, blunt, weird, strange, unique; in general not the prim and proper princess you were expecting when you read through my file, I'm sure. I may be from a wealthy family, but under no circumstances was my upbringing the same or even similar to the rest of yours. I've travelled enough to be exposed to, not only different people and cultures, but different classes of society as well. To you I may seem odd, but I like to think of myself as the normal one." I said as I attempted to untangle the string of my toy.
"I see, that's an interesting notion, in its own way." Kyoya responded, turning to look at Tamaki causing a commotion, "Please excuse me." He dismissed himself, going to check out what was happening.
"See ya." I shrugged, walking over to an empty couch in the corner of the room to watch Tamaki and the others go nuts over instant coffee from afar. "I think I'll read now…" I mumbled to myself, curling into a ball as I pulled a novel out of my bag and allowed myself to become immersed in it.
**AYE AYE AYE/ AYE AYE AYE/ AYE AYE AYE/ WHERE'S MY SAMURAI? I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR A MAN/ALL ACROSS JAPAN/ JUST TO FIND/ TO FIND MY SAMURAI/ SOMEONE WHO IS STRO-** my phone went off, obnoxiously loud in my opinion, startling me half to death as I dug through my bag fumbling for it with a blush dusting my unseen face.
"Konichiwa! This is Shimizu-senpai, may I ask just who is calling me at this most inopportune time?" I spoke cheerily as I waited for whoever it was to reply.
"Oh terrific! This number works."
"Kyoya, I understand hacking the school database, but this was unnecessary. If you wanted my number you could have asked." I deadpanned.
"You mistake my intentions." He responded coolly.
"You misunderstand my words."
"Yes, well, no matter. I have a business proposition for you that would benefit us both greatly." He stated formally.
"Can you wait to pitch it to me the 15 seconds it will take me to cross the room over to where you're sitting?"
"Yes, I believe that is reasonable."
"Good." I said, hanging up on him as I approached the couch he was relaxing on.
"How would you feel about being our clubs manager?"
"You already are the manager of sorts. What would you need me for?" I asked lazily.
"From what information I have compiled about you, you are money conscious, intelligent, and are as capable as I am to do research concerning our clientele. Not to mention according to your class schedule, you aren't required to take any academic classes except for exams, considering you apparently finished the courses a few years ago. That leaves you with a lot of free time in which you can accomplish things that would take myself and the others weeks."
"Yes, I suppose that's true, but how will this benefit me?" I asked, I was already getting bored with this conversation.
"We can offer you…" He paused to glance down at his laptop, obviously calculating something, "the basics of course; full access to the club room at any point of the day, attending club events for free, tea and snacks when club is in session, any costumes you may be coerced into wearing will be no charge, and 5% of any profits you make will go towards paying off Haruhi's debt."
"That sounds reasonable, though I must admit you sound strained offering all this, so if I may suggest; perhaps I could offer tutoring to your guests and the hosts on certain appointed days, you can auction half hour time slots o the highest bidders that way you gain more of a profit, but in exchange 7% of earnings go to Haruhi." I bargained professionally as I switched into business mode, internally laughing as I watched his eyebrows fly into his hairline.
"That seems like a generous enough proposal. Of course if I accept you conditions, you will only be allowed 2 days a week to tutor guests."
"I was going to suggest the same! I think it's not only reasonable but logical; to see and hear what they want and know I need to interact with them." I explained.
"I believe that's reasonable, we have a deal then." Kyoya-san said, holding his hand out to me, "You will be a great asset to our club, Saki-san." He smiled a cool business smile…. I don't blame him, if my mental math is correct; I just saved him about 780,000 yen, give or take one thousand or so.
"I'm glad I can be a beneficial asset, though in the future I hope to be a friend; You seem like you would make an interesting one." I told him honestly as I pulled out my own laptop and started checking work e-mails while simultaneously creating a new one specifically for club use.
AUTHORS NOTE!
Hello my lovely readers! To those of you that follow me regularly, you should know by now that i am horrible at updating in a timely manner. for any of you new to reading my fics, I apologize if this bothers you but I'm sort of mentally and physically disabled in the sense that im borderline ADHD and being tested for glaucoma, not to mention I have seizures, but who gives a damn?! I honestly think i am a most brilliant individual, for those of you who watch the big bang theory i have been compared multiple time to Dr. Sheldon Cooper, which is both insulting and flattering! XD Anyways, sorry if this note seems eccentric, I just drank a 6 pack of energy drinks and I'm having some mentally instability at the moment.
Anyways, to the point, I really probably shouldn't be starting another fic right now, but I fell in Love with OHSHC when i was watching it with my cousin, we watched the entire anime like three times in that one weekend and I've been obsessing ever since. I LOVE MORI! I've been told I'm as idiotic as Tamaki, but considering he has such a big heart, I like the comparison! Umm, Read and Review, if you please! Don't hate me! I'm trying to update regularly I forget sometimes so if anybody ever wants to remind me, for any of my stories, really... Also, i just finished updating a poll on my profile though you willl see that this fic is an option. I plan to write (cough cough finish writing cough cough) all of those fics at some point, but this will just give me a priority list. Thanks for the support!
~Sunstar Writer (A.K.A. THE MOST MAGNIFICENT, EXCELLENT, BRILLIANT, EQUILIBRIUM CHALLENGED GIRL ON THE PLANET!)
P.S.
*Shimizu Heavy Industries is not a real company and is in fact based off of one which i do not think i am legally allowed to name here.
** The song listed above as Saki's ringtone is called Butterfly by Aqua