A/N: Yo! First of all before you freak, I'm not dropping 52 Pick Up. This story has actually been bouncing around in my head before 52 Pick Up ever sprung from the wells of my imagination. Although the old form of this story was very, very different. Anyway, I'll do an arc of this before resuming the latest 52 Pick Up arc.
私のペット白馬の王子様 (My Pet Prince Charming)
Arc One: 赤ずきん (Red Riding Hood)
Chapter One: 盗まれた籠 (Stolen Basket)
The Ouran Host Club certainly knew how to throw a ball. The chandeliers glinted like stars. The orchestra was playing a lovely waltz. Everyone, boys and girls looked stunning in their suits and dresses. It was only a shame that Loi Tiên was only there as a server. Platter of some sort of shrimp puff in hand, she wove her away around the outskirts of the party, stopping to ask guests who were also on the fringes if they wanted any.
Tiên could tell it was going to be a long night. Serving food wasn't easy. It took a lot of her focus not to spill or drop anything. On top of that she had to be on her feet for hours without break. Plus there was the fact that all of the people she was serving were snobs - to varying degrees to be sure, but they were all still snobs. Honestly, Tiên missed being a waitress at her grandfather's friend's pho restaurant. It had been just as physically exhausting as her current gig, but the people had been nicer. Of course, the pay had been much much worse which was why Tiên took the job at Ouran.
"Tired already, Tiên-chan?" A silky voice asked behind her.
Tiên spun around, her reflexes saving the shrimp puffs from a messy fall. Her low ponytail smacked into the face of her stalker, causing the boy to reel back. Tiên's lips quirked up, karma dealt him a swift return. Her stalker was dressed the same as her, as he was staff like her: tight dress pants, a well ironed white button down shirt, a slim black tie, with a matching black vest.
"Stop being so creepy, senpai." She scolded.
'Senpai' was Onishi Yushin, a college student who was also working at Ouran Academy like she was. Tiên actually found Yushin very attractive. His personality added and subtracted from his appeal in equal measures.
"Don't be so sour, my cute little kōhai!"
Tiên gave him a deadpanned expression. Yushin sighed through his nose and took a spot at Tiên's side, making it look like they were standing at attendance together.
"Why can't you give me that cute starry eyed look and say 'notice me senpai'?" Yushin asked with a long sigh.
Tiên's cheeks flushed slightly and she looked away pointedly, "Because I'm not foolish."
Balancing his plate of deserts on one hand, Yushin reached over and pinched one of Tiên's cheeks, "Come on, say it, 'notice me senpai'!"
Tiên looked up at the taller teen with an unamused look as he pulled on her pinchable cheeks, "Unhand me this instant."
Yushin pouted. "Why can't you be more like him!" He pointed at Haninozuka Mitsukuni who was dancing with a girl. Well, dancing was probably putting it too kindly. More like he was having the girl twirl him in the circle with his feet off the ground.
"I'm confused. You want me to a boy or you want me to act like a child?"
"I want you to be cute little kōhai!" Yushin whined.
"I'm pretty sure Haninozuka-san is a third year."
"What no way!" Yushin did a double take on the petite blonde boy.
"Yup," Tiên reaffirmed popping her 'p' (which always satisfying when wearing lip gloss).
"Huh." Yushin scratched his head, before glancing back down at Tiên, "Here let's switch." He said passing her his desert tray while he took her shrimp tray.
Since Tiên was unwilling to spill she had little choice but to do as Yushin directed, "Why?"
"You're almost out," Yushin grinned, "And you don't like the chef very much do you?"
Tiên frowned, "I can handle him."
"What did you call him?" Yushin mused, rubbing his chin. Tiên knew he remembered her exact words and her cheeks began to heat up in embarrassment, "A sausage fingered letch? I believe those were your exact words?" He asked with a teasing lilt.
Tiên pointedly looked away, out the window at the moonlight garden, "I wasn't wrong."
"And what sort of dashing gentlemen would I be if I let Cinderella deal with a 'sausage fingered letch'?"
"Stop calling me Cinderella. She wore a dress to the ball, not a butler outfit."
"But I bet she didn't look half as fetching!"
Tiên shot Yushin a dangerous look. He raised his only free hand in surrender. "Alright, alright, you're not Cinderella. I'll cya around, Tiên-chan." He said turning to go.
Tiên let out a small sigh. Dealing with Yushin was always a headache and a heartache. He was a shameless flirt but he didn't mean anything by it. Tiên glanced back where Mitsukuni had been 'dancing'. He wasn't there now, in fact, Tiên couldn't spot any of the hosts at the moment. A frown pulled at her glossy lips, Tiên wondered if Yushin's criticism about her was right. Maybe she was too harsh and not very cute?
"Oh and Tiên-chan," Tiên's head snapped up, Yushin hadn't quiet left yet. He turned his head to look back at her, "I was just teasing, I like my kuudere kōhai just the way she is!~"
"Get out of here baka." Tiên responded coldly, glad that Yushin was already walking away before he noticed her face turn red.
If only Yushin was slightly less attractive, then his flirtatious words wouldn't have any affect on her. But really, an older attractive boy hitting on (even in jest) a younger more plain girl really wasn't fair in Tiên's opinion. Her hormones strongly disagreed with her head - which wasn't something Tiên enjoyed. She prided herself on her tight control over her own body and mind and her hormones were trying to mess that up. Tiên wouldn't allow it.
Tiên mused over Yushin's threat to her tight reign on her teenage hormones as she served girls, who had taken a break from dancing, little cakes and treats. Nope, Tiên would not allow Yushin to threaten her control. He didn't even like her like that, she constantly had to remind herself. Yushin flirted with everyone - he had even warned her about it when they met.
"Hajimemashite, I'm Onishi Yushin, but you can call me senpai. I'm an outrageous flirt, so try not to fall in love with me, okay?" Tiên could still hear his pompous and ridiculous tone. He had played it off as a joke, but there was some truth there.
Not that Tiên had any intention of falling in love. She didn't have time for that nonsense. Besides, Yushin would be a terrible boyfriend. He was unreliable. Tiên was sure she would be the jealous type, anyway (though she had nothing to base this off of). If Yushin dated anyone it would have to be someone who was secure enough not to be jealous. As a younger girl, Tiên would never feel secure enough to handle Yushin's flirtations with other women. Nope, they would never work as a couple her mind confirmed. Not that her hormones fully agreed.
"Cake!" A childish voice cried out alarmingly close to Tiên.
"Omph!" A sudden weight fell against Tiên.
Tiên's feet slipped out from underneath her but before she could fall very far, a strong hand caught her around the middle. Tiên didn't have time to marvel over the swift catch, she had her own responsibilities, such as not letting the cakes fall off the platter. With a swift movement of her arm, she tilted her platter to make up for the unbalance, re-centering the cakes on the platter without any falling off.
"Wow! You have really fast reflexes!"
The firm hand helped Tiên get her feet back underneath her. The firm hand and the childish voice (and the person who knocked into her) was the blonde boy Tiên had watched 'dance' not too long ago, Haninozuka Mitsukuni. Tiên stared. She really had no idea how she was supposed to talk to one of her employers - well one that was also only a year or so older than her and had nearly caused a disaster. She couldn't exactly scold him but it wasn't in Tiên to lie. Should she just treat him like a child of a client?
"Mitsukuni," came the stern voice of the giant who followed Mitsukuni around like a shadow.
"Oh right, I'm really sorry for bumping into you miss. I just really wanted a cake." Mitsukuni apologized, widening his suddenly watery eyes.
This club is nuts, "It's fine, Haninozuka-san, just be careful. I'd hate for you to get hurt." Or you know, to throw out my back or something. I literally cannot afford to get injured.
"What cake did you want?" Tiên asked, trying to get the conversation back on grounds that she could handle. If she had to have conversations with strangers then Tiên preferred to have a script to fall back on when her anxiety reared up.
"Oh um.. I don't know they all look so good..." Mitsukuni said, looking at the selection Tiên had. "Which one would you recommend?"
Tiên wanted to die. They didn't let staff eat the cake. "I like the fruitier cakes, so the strawberry shortcake." Tiên tried to make sure her inflection didn't come out as a question.
Mitsukuni beamed at her answer, "Great choice!"
Wait, was that a test or something?
Morinozuka Takashi plucked the slice of strawberry shortcake off Tiên's platter and handed it to Mitsukuni. During the distraction of Mitsukuni cooing over his cake, Tiên made her escape towards the kitchen doors. Yushin was leaning against them snickering.
"Did the little wolf get your basket, Tiên-chan?"
"Basket?" Then Tiên realized she was platter-less. She whirled around and Mitsukuni was running with the cake platter from Takashi. "When did that little sneak grab it? How didn't I notice?!"
"Well you did all but book it away from them," Yushin teased.
"Exploitive brat... taking advantage of my embarrassment!" Tiên seethed.
"You going to fight a wolf, Little Red?" Yushin asked in a teasing tone. His ridiculousness put Tiên off and her temper evaporated.
"Eh, the wolf can keep it." She sighed. There was no way to get it back that Tiên could think of that didn't end with her getting into trouble.
Yushin snorted with laughter and hooked his arm around Tiên's shoulder, "Let's go get your another basket then, Little Red. And don't worry about it, nobody will even notice."
The two ducked back into the kitchen and Yushin distracted the cook while Tiên grabbed another platter of cakes. Of course, upon exiting the kitchen Yushin and Tiên switched back, just in case Mitsukuni tried to pull the cake trick again. The evening passed with no other events - at least that Tiên was directly involved in. Haruhi did end up kissing the queen of the ball on the lips (by accident) which had caused a huge stir.
But the ball ended, and Yushin offered Tiên a ride home, "It's a bit too late for you to ride your bike, don't you think?" He asked, looking out at the dark night with concern. There were cars and creepers and Tiên was prettier then she thought she was.
"You offering me a ride?"
"You live in Kamata right?" Yushin asked, referring to the Vietnamese enclave of Tokyo. It was filled with former refugees from Vietnam. Tiên was only second generation, and was only a fourth Japanese (on her mother's side).
"Yup, I can give you directions." Tiên said, following Yushin out towards the parking lot. They stopped at the bike rack where Tiên's red bike was the only bike.
"Even if he is a tricky little wolf, I gotta say, Haninozuka was pretty smooth putting the moves on you, Tiên-chan." Yushin laughed as he lifted her bike into the bed of the truck he drove to Ouran.
Tiên flushed at the memory, "He's surprisingly strong for someone a head shorter," she grumbled, "And I don't think he was flirting."
"I dunno, Tiên-chan~"
"You think everything is a flirtation," Tiên grumbled as she clamored into Yushin's truck.
"True," Yushin laughed, getting in himself, "But you never notice when someone is flirting with you~"
The truck started after one terrifying second where Tiên was worried it wasn't going to.
"How's school going?" Yushin asked, as Tiên leaned her tired head against the window.
"Ugh... I still have homework."
Yushin made a whining noise, "Me too."
"Half an essay. You?"
"Advanced calculus."
Tiên winced.
Yushin shrugged, "Nothing to be done about it. I didn't expect to have to work this job. Damn that sub-clause." All employees of Ouran Academy could be called upon to work club events. Yushin and Tiên had just pulled the short straws (literally). "The event wasn't all bad though. You should have seen your face when Mitsukuni caught you!"
Tiên glared, "Stop bringing that up."
"Come on, he's kind of cute don't you think? He caught you like a regular prince charming." Yuushin teased, "Do you like the loli-shota type?"
"No, that boy is bad for business. And stick to the wolf references, that's more fitting then a prince." Tiên deadpanned, "This is my complex," Tiên said pointing to a brown brick building.
Yushin pulled over and came to a stop so that Tiên could get out.
"Need help getting your bike?"
"Nope." Tiên denied. It took a bit of effort but she managed to get the bike down. Yushin waited until she disappeared into the lobby before driving off for his own apartment that he shared with two other boys.
Later that night, after Tiên had finally finished her essay and was washing her face before jumping into bed, she found her mind drifting back to Haninozuka Mitsukuni. He had been surprisingly strong for someone so short - and he wasn't that short. Tiên wouldn't be able to wear heels around- woah Tiên back peddled on that thought. Mitsukuni was so out of her league she'd be better off trying to date an angel. Besides, since when was childish and cute something that Tiên was attracted to?
Mitsukuni was nothing like her last boyfriend - Tiên sighed through her nose, that was what this must be about. She hadn't dated anyone since her last boyfriend. Sakura was trying get her to 'rebound' or something ridiculous to that effect. Maybe Tiên ought to take the girl's advice for once, if it would get Tiên to start acting like herself again, it was worth it.
Tiên splashed her face with cold water, "Trouble. Bad for business. That's what any student at Ouran is Loi Cam Tiên," She told her reflection sternly as she pulled her hair out of the low ponytail that she almost always had her hair held back in. Then she flicked off the light and went to bed.