Deafening silence. Haruhi found herself pressing her ears, as if trying to get the distinct noiseless annoyance out of her head. A soft, yet distinct note penetrated the music auditorium, and then the meager, small noise grew into a barrage of fast, complicated, rhythms that dramatically changed from forte, to pianissimo in a heartbeat. Haruhi was embarrassed to admit that she caught herself leaning forward in anticipation when the piece changed to legato, the smooth, expressive section.
"Man, that guy can play the piano…" She mumbled softly to the host next to her.
Although she didn't know exactly whom she was whispering to, she figured it had to be one of the twins in the dark, spotlighted music hall. They always had to sandwich her in everyday events, much to her dismay. A girlish, cute voice whispered back, and Haruhi knew instantly who stood by her side.
"Yeah, he's really good, right?" Hunny squeaked excitedly, trying not to speak loudly.
Haruhi glanced up at the giant senior who stood beside the small host, and in return he smiled hesitantly. Haruhi looked at him inquisitively, starting to mouth something, but Mori held his pointer finger lightly against her lips and looked at the stage, which bared a Tamaki in a dashing tuxedo, thrashing and tapping the small ivory keys that covered the Steinway piano. The spotlight faded out, and in the darkness, the last sound reverberated through the huge palace-like place.
Applause erupted through the sections of rows, and the spotlight blinked back on momentarily to cover a Tamaki, who bowed with vigor and dramatically threw roses out into the audience. Girls squealed and rushed to grab the blood red roses. Haruhi swore she heard the twins yell in unison, "Way to go, Milord!"
"Wait. Isn't he the one that's supposed to be getting roses?" she thought, annoyed. She distinctly remembered purchasing a rose for Tamaki at the beginning of the concert, due to endless begging from the Host Club's king. Hikaru and Kaoru offered to chip in for the flower, but Haruhi had something to prove about her fiscal status.
"Danm rich bastards…" She mumbled under her breath, just as talking and laughing conversations were audible. The Piano concert was over, and silence fell over the crowd once more. An old looking man in a suit walked onto the curtained stage, with an envelope in hand. He cleared his throat, and proceeded to the microphone placed by one of the backstage.
"Hello, hello," The man said, in an awfully British like voice, "Thank you for coming to the Piano Convention Hall Composition Contest. Now, the contestants were all exceptional, but one stood out. The winner of the contest and American tour is-…"
"Wait!!" Hikaru hissed. "This is a competition for a tour?!-…" Kaoru intervened, slightly calmer than his identical brother. "…What if he wins, Kyouya? Who would be the King of the host club?
Kyouya smiled and adjusted his glasses ever so slightly, his lenses gleaming with the blinding spotlight, refracting from some glass near the stage.
Flashback-
Haruhi's hand twitched on the 3rd music room's door handle. She was late, and she was never going to hear the end of it from-… The doors flew open, slamming the cross-dressed girl into a heap on the floor. She covered her nose and swore indignantly. Tamaki stood wide-eyed, releasing the door handle quickly as the girl stumbled to her feet, head down.
"Ha…Haruhi?! Are you all right?! I'm so sorry!" He screeched, as he sprinted frantically to her, and cupped her face in his hands.
"Sempai…" Haruhi whispered.
"Haruhi…" The king mumbled, softly.
Haruhi looked up slowly to reveal the face of one of the 'shadow kings'. Tamaki halted in his caressing and twitched away from the malice filled host. He knew better than to stay farther then a mile of one of these faces. A voice in the back of his head screamed, "Demonic! DEMONIC!" But he still stayed, trying to explain himself.
"I… I'm sorry, you see, I was excited about submitting my rhapsody to the Piano Convention Hall, so I wanted to let you know as soon as…" He broke off, ashamed of himself. "…Possible."
Little did Tamaki know, Kyouya was standing right behind him the whole time. He leaned down next to the Host Club King's ear and breathed, "And you better make that Composition contest. I already advertised the date of the recital around the school for profits." Tamaki nearly jumped 3 feet into the air, and spun around to see the original shadow king.
"Oh shit…" He thought helplessly. "I can't win against a shadow king duo…"
"Wait," Tamaki stuttered. Where were the twins to his rescue?! Didn't they care about their beloved lord?!
"How is that to your profit? This organization isn't…" He faded away, due to the Shadow Kings smug smirk. "Yes," He countered. "My family is indeed incorporated in this program. It works out, actually, seeing as you excel in music."
Tamaki slumped and slinked away, forgetting about the injured Haruhi, into his dark corner or woe. Haruhi, momentarily forgetting her slightly bleeding nose, stared into the distance. What did she excel at?
Present-
"Tamaki Suoh!" The ancient man spoke clearly with precise diction. "Congratulations!" From where the host club members were sitting, there was a visible set of hands shoving a certain blond haired, violet-eyed sophomore onto the lighted stage from the backstage. Haruhi nearly turned and walked out of the concert hall.
Tamaki had no idea what he was entering for.
The shock and confusion was painfully visible on the foolish man's face. He quickly covered this up with a façade of dazzling smiles and continued to walk gracefully towards the man to accept this prize. The man held out the scholarship, and Tamaki reached to receive it, but then retreated slightly. He looked towards where the rest of his 'servants' resided in the audience. He then sighed and grabbed the scholarship with perfected ease. He then quickly retreated to the backstage again, and applause started up again. The auditorium lights came up, and the room was then in perfect lighting.
He then rushed past the congratulation spectators, only one thing on his mind.
He knew he had some clearing up to do.
"Why does Kyouya always exclude things like this?!" He thought furiously to himself as he made his way to his confused companions.
Meanwhile, Kyouya was being harassed by the twins and bombarded with questions from none other than Hunny. Kyouya grinned and cocked his glasses once again, then he shrugged.
"Sometimes a change is profitable."