Hello readers (new and old)! This story is something I started around a year ago, and I've just now (Now being April of 2014) begun updating again. I'll be going through and updating bits of older chapters, but still and all, I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of the characters of Ouran High School Host Club; that honor goes to its respective author and, as for the anime, its creators. My only claim to fame is…
"Orie Hoshiyo?"
I turned on my heel briskly, straightening my posture as quickly as possible by nature. It became a habit, I suppose, whenever someone called me by my full name. Tilting my chin up, I met the person who inquired my attention's eyes.
The older gentleman with light brown hair and soft eyes smiled warmly at me, holding out his hand. "I'm the chairman of this academy, Suoh Yuzuru. Thank you for meeting me here in my office so early today."
I grasped the man's hand firmly; besides, my mother always said that you could tell a lot about the way someone went about their handshake. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."
Chairman Suoh gestured for me to take a seat as he did as well, behind an expensive looking desk cluttered with picture frames. The pictures I couldn't see, but I imagined they were of his family. I tried to imagine what the man's kids would look like, if they'd have any features similar to him. I wondered, as well, if any attended the school themselves.
"Now, while you were to be granted a scholarship due to your achievements in the Martial Arts, your father has paid in full the tuition. However, the Kendo and Karate clubs are still fully interested in your membership with them. I've talked to the captains, both students here, third-years like yourself, and they've agreed to keep you on the roster if you're still interested." He explained, lacing his fingers together and settling them on top of the desk. I smiled, grateful for that.
"I'd love to join up with the Kendo club, sir. It'd be an honor." I replied hastily, hardly able to keep the smile off my face.
Dojos felt like home to me. Although I can say I've never lived in Japan until now, the Japanese culture always comforted me. It brought me close to my father, a Japanese man himself. He and my mother were both Kendo champions, thus how they met and eventually, fell in love. My mother is beautiful Italian woman, who loved nothing more than martial arts and yoga. Whenever I asked for her reasoning behind this passion, she always answered the same way: "It's always a learning experience."
At first, of course, I'd thought that a bit strange. But, as I began practicing and picking up Kendo myself at her dojo that she owned and operated, I felt what she must have felt. I always learned something new, whether it was about me or Kendo or even Japan. Mother always told wonderful stories about her visits to my father in Japan, and how she fell in love with the scenery there. I could really only imagine, up until now, that is.
My parents divorced fairly early in my life. They lived two different lives. My mother resided in Florence, Italy, where she owned a large and wonderful dojo. She loved her life of teaching and expanding her students' and her own world. My father was heir to the Hoshiyo family business- art dealing. They broke apart not long after I was born, feeling it for the better. There didn't seem to ever be any bitterness towards the subject. Mother was an independent lady- that was for sure. So, it was that I stay with my mother, Claudia, in Italy, as her lifestyle, as my dad put it was, "more efficient for childhood." The only thing still holding them together was me, and the only thing holding their two different heritages was my full name: Gia Orie Hoshiyo.
Recently, though, my dad had contacted her, inquiring about my status. He did this every so often, wanting to keep up with me. While I admired his efforts, I always wondered why he never bothered to try and meet me. I tried to not let it bother me, especially not now. Apparently, as he had explained to my mother, my achievements in Kendo had reached word to Ouran Academy in Tokyo, Japan. When it was connected that I was the daughter of Takagi Hoshiyo, father was asked if I ever considered studying in Japan and becoming closer to the martial arts. And so, my mother passed this along to me.
And…here I am! Ouran Academy. Japan. So far from Florence, Italy. But, it was a change of scenery, and if I'm being honest here, Ouran was the kind of school to go to if I wanted to excel in my future. While I admired martial arts and wanted to stick with it for as long as physically possible, my head was swimming with all different kinds of professions.
However, I couldn't lie, Otousan's company held great interest for me, as well. I held great passion for the arts, and couldn't be any happier that I could potentially be the heiress to a company in which I could expand and teach all kinds of people the value of their own art.
Anyway, that's why I decided to go ahead with the transfer to Ouran. While it was hard leaving my mother after so many years of being just her and me, I couldn't help but feeling like the change was a going to be a beneficial one to many of us.
Chairman Suoh presented my schedule to me, as well as the school uniform that was "especially tailored to my measurements." While the dress was hideous, I found no way of getting around it, and thanked the man as I backed out of his office, ghastly tent thing in tow. I quickly found a bathroom to change in, and just chuckled at my ridiculous reflection. The dress was just…horrid. The material was pale yellow with puffy shoulders and white hemming, all with a white color on top that clung to my neck uncomfortably. The white stockings and brown loafers didn't complete the look much at all, either.
What a disaster…
Although it was ridiculous, I shrugged it off, deciding to use my free time before classes started for the day to find the dojos. The school, I might add, was large, spanning over elementary, middle, and high school. A few courtyards were littered about, and a large, elegant clock tower sat in the back behind what I presumed was a high school building. The dojos were located near there, and the walk wasn't too bad. Guess I could have it worse, I thought lazily.
Peeking into the cracked doors of the dojos, I noticed that their practices were in the mornings. My eyes widened, I sure hope this is the karate club…I'm definitely not a morning person.
I opened the door wider to study the movements made by those inside. Many students, many more than I had ever seen a mom's dojo, were following instruction from a tall, dark guy. He towered over my height- five feet, one and a half inches- at what could be over six feet. Wild, dark hair stuck out all over the place, and while he seemed rather looming and frightening, when he stopped practice, most of the students seemed…content.
After admiring from afar for a few moments, the instructor suddenly turned towards me, as if by instinct he knew I was watching. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I hadn't realized how...handsome he was. Although he was dark and scary, his face was soft and eyes deep and observant. He cocked his head to the side and gestured for me to step into the dojo. I obliged quickly, closing the door behind me, watching as tall, dark, and scary walked up to me. My eyes widened comically as I noticed that his pace was so…wide. I must seem like I scuttle everywhere to get places compare to his giant leaps. I gulped as he neared me. He did tower me, it wasn't an over exaggeration in the least.
"I-I'm sorry for disrupting your practice. I'm a new student here and I'm supposed to be meeting with the Kendo club captain. Do you know where I could find him or her?" I said, smiling gracelessly as I backed myself up into the door as much as I could. I almost didn't expect the guy to speak back to me.
"Yeah. I'm the captain." He held out his large hand to me. "Morinozuka Takashi."
I relaxed at the sound of his calming, bass voice. Reaching out, I shook his large hand firmly, admiring how slim it made my hands look in return. "Hoshiyo Orie. Pleasure to meet you, Morinozuka-San." I swear the ends of his lips slightly turned up. He didn't seem too scary once you got a good look at him.
"You may call me Mori."
I couldn't help but giggle. "Well, you can call me Orie. Anyway, Chairman Suoh told me that you were willing to allow me to still join the Kendo club?" My new acquaintance only nodded in response. "Wonderful! When are practices?"
"Every morning, six to seven." He answered briefly. Yikes. Early. I nodded in understanding anyway.
However, I could see that the conversation wasn't moving along anymore. "Well, I'll leave you then. I'll see you tomorrow morning." I turned to leave, reaching out to open the door, when it was flung open suddenly by an unseen force. I pushed myself back so I wouldn't be hit, causing me to ram into Mori. All I heard was a cute little giggle when I reopened my eyes after shutting them tightly in shock.
"Sorry, Takashi!" I heard a cute, timid voice say as Mori stood up and reached out a hand to assist me. "Oh! And Takashi's friend! I'm sorry!"
I looked down to see possibly the most adorable boy ever. His wild blond hair and big brown eyes complimented his round, boyish face. He was short, and I briefly wondered how the hell an elementary school kid got into the dojos. I dusted off the ridiculous and atrocious uniform and just smiled, waving my hand.
"It's nothing. I'm sorry."
The boy smiled, a faint blush rising to his pale cheeks. "My name is Haninozuka Mitsukuni, but you can call me Honey! I'm a third-year, like Takashi!"
My jaw dropped, by two accounts. A: you mean to tell me that this little boy's eighteen? And B: he did say Haninozuka, right? "Y-You're Mitsukuni Haninozuka? My goodness! It's an honor to meet you! I admire your skills very much!" I bowed slowly, in awe that I was standing before someone I'd only heard about. Mother always mentioned the Haninozuka family to be the best name in martial arts.
Mitsukuni chuckled, clutching tightly a stuffed, pink rabbit that I hadn't noticed he had been holding closely. "Thanks! Do you like martial arts?"
I nodded happily. "Yes, I've been studying Kendo all my life!"
"That's so cool! Takashi, did you know that? Is she on the Kendo team?" Mitsukuni shouted to Mori, slamming him with question after question. He turned back to me. "What's your name?"
"Hoshiyo Orie." I replied, smiling politely at the adorable young man. I couldn't help but wonder what Mori's relationship with a Haninozuka was. Did he say…?
Mm, that's right. Mori's surname is Morinozuka, after all. The families were tied together. They must be cousins. Mitsukuni waved a hand in front of my face, laughing when I blushed and brought my attention back to him. "Are you a third year, too?" I nodded to him, grinning. "Takashi, we should invite her to the Host Club this afternoon!" He shouted, as if it were the grandest of plans ever. I raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Mori, who didn't seem to have any flooding emotions over the ordeal.
"Yeah." Mori replied. I suppose that's good?
"Yeah!" Honey replied a bit more enthusiastically. "Orie-Chan, you can come with us after school to the Host Club, and we can eat cake together!"
Ya know- I never would have pegged a Haninozuka as a…cake eater.
"Well, I'd love to, Honey, thank you."
What the hell is a Host Club? I thought as Honey celebrated. He went on to ask me about my schedule, in which he informed me that all of ours, meaning Mori's too, I assumed, were similar. The only difference was that I opted out of taking English for Italian, instead, however we were all in the same first couple of hours, and so, I was to be escorted by the Haninozuka/Morinozuka combo deal.
Classes were hard for me here, which became more and more noticeable as I became more and more stressed throughout the day. I was previously warned that Ouran's academics would be considerably more work compared to what I was used to dealing with in Italy, which I could have figured as much. And, while I was good with speaking, reading, and writing Japanese, it was still enough to slow me down during lectures.
Honey and Mori must have taken notice of my stress, as Honey turned to me while we were in a math class and smiled warmly as Mori slid a piece of paper on my desk. I raised my eyebrow at him; he didn't seem like the note passing type. He lightly grunted and gestured to the paper.
It detailed the lecture to a fine T, giving me the highlights of all that I've missed up to the point in order to catch me up. I sighed heavily in relief, mouthed a quick thanks to him, and stuffed the paper into the appropriate binder.
Lunch came quickly, thankfully. I assumed Honey and Mori would be alright with me following them to the lunch room, which they gladly did. I opted out of not eating, too anxious from the large lunch room and overbearing ways of the school itself to even begin to think of stomaching their fancy hot and fresh lunches. More people joined us at the table, and as they did, Honey was rushed to introduce me to them.
Three first-years were introduced to me: a freakishly girly looking boy and a set of twins who screamed mischievous. The latter were identical, save for the parting of their hair. Once they spoke, though, it was easier to hypothesize who was who by the tone in which they spoke. Alas, it was still difficult.
"I'm Hikaru,"
"And I'm Kaoru." The other finished. They glared at me deviously, as if devising some plan together telepathically. I laughed nervously and turned to the other first-year.
"I'm Fujioka Haruhi." He said calmly, holding out his hand. As I gripped it in a handshake, I couldn't help but take notes on the softness and size of his hand. Nearly the same as my own. And probably not much taller than me…
"It's great to meet you all. I'm Hoshiyo Orie. I just moved here from Italy to live with my dad." I replied, smiling gratefully for the flood of new friends, even if the twins were a bit monstrously creepy.
As lunch wore on, I was also introduced to Suoh Tamaki, who was in fact the son of the Chairman, and Ootori Kyoya, who was scary in his own fashion. As soon as they all sat down, the Hitachiin twins turned to Kyoya and asked about me. He only took a few seconds to glance over at me before replying with what felt like my life story.
"Hoshiyo Orie, as far as the school takes it. Full name is Gia Orie Hoshiyo. Seventeen years old, half Italian, half Japanese on her father's side. Originally was given a scholarship for martial arts to Ouran, but was dropped. Signed for the Kendo club. Good student with a higher than average grade point average, and is more than likely the next heiress to her father's company." He closed the black leather bound book he was writing in and smiled at me as if we were best friends. "It's quite a pleasure, Hoshiyo-Senpai."
The twins popped in, looking at me with boredom. "Gia?"
Before dealing with Kyoya's eerie assessment, I turned to the twins. "My mother is Italian; I couldn't get away with just one name, now could I?" I couldn't help but allow my eye to twitch. "H-Have we met before, Kyoya-Kun?" He simply laughed, and shook his head.
"I simply make it my business to know everyone." Right. Note to self: stay away from him. "And, another thing, her blood type is AB, just for future reference."
"Future reference?" I asked incredulously, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by all of the boys' staring and chuckling at jokes I had no part in.
"We've had run ins with type AB." Haruhi explained to me as she shuddered and glanced at Honey. Well, I suppose I'll have to hang around them more in order to understand.
I did find myself having a good time with all of them, even if some of them were scary and overwhelming. They each explained to me a couple of things about their Host Club, which Tamaki-Kun started with Kyoya-Kun's help. They all invited me, saying they'd love to see me there and get to know me better. I felt comfortable in a group of goof balls like them. Their family dynamic appealed to me, I suppose.
And, family dynamic it was. Tamaki referred to Haruhi as his 'daughter', only furthering my question of his actual gender; equally, he referred to all the others as his 'homo side cast'.
Although, he did surprise me when he turned to me and his violet-blue eyes softened. He snapped out of it suddenly and he grasped me in a bone-crushing hug twirling me around in the lunch room, shouting: "Orie-Senpai can be my niece!"
Once he stopped spinning me and released me, I stumbled around, feeling desperately for the table, and held onto something else. I glanced down, noticing the periwinkle color of the boy's Ouran Academy uniform. My eyes travelled to see that Mori's dark eyes were watching me with concern. I laughed it off, patting his shoulder and sitting down, mumbling a sorry.
"It's okay." He replied. Even though I'd already heard him speak, his deep voice always shocked me.
Lunch eventually ended, and I parted ways with Mori and Honey to go to a different class. They promised to meet me in music room number three, where Host Club was apparently held. I was instructed to come as early as possible, so I may beat the rush of the other students. As friendly as they all were, I wondered why it was they were so enamored with me. I had come to Ouran this morning having to tell myself to breath in an out; coaching myself to be able to handle any off-handed comments towards my racial background.
Surprisingly, I was well received, and mostly everyone wanted to know me, or greet me. Everyone was friendly, wanted to know why it was I moved from Italy, or wanted to know what it was like in Italy. I answered them truthfully- my parents are divorced and neither remarried, so my dad offered to pay for me to attend Ouran, although I was already granted a scholarship.
Apparently some kids recognized my surname, Hoshiyo, and wanted to talk business. Kyoya happened to be one of these people, and his glasses shined with devious lighting as he mentioned it. I turned him down, though, as I did everyone else who asked about it. I hadn't the slightest clue what the business was like just yet.
So, the day ended, and I happily made my way to the third music room, and opened the door. Blinding lights shone through the crack, and…rose petals? I couldn't help but laugh at the antics. I could see why girls fell for it all, it was…distracting.
"Orie-Chan!" I heard Honey shout as I pushed the door open some more. Taking my first step in, I felt as if I was being welcomed into a whole new family. I smiled as Honey hugged me around my torso, snuggling his head into my hip.
"Hi, Honey." I greeted him as he released me and went for my hand, towing me along further into the music room. "Hello, everyone." They all waved, as Kyoya stepped forth and began explaining how the Host Club worked.
"Our costumers chose a man who they prefer and are entertained by them through appointments. We have the boy Lolita, the wild type, the cool type, twincest, the natural type, or the princely type." As he explained, each boy raised their hand at the mention of their type, but it was fairly easy to pick up on.
"So…you all entertain girls for three hours every day after school?"
"Basically." Haruhi confirmed while rolling her eyes at Tamaki's hurt expression.
"And sometimes…" One of the Hitachiin twins began as he walked over to me and threw an arm around my shoulders.
"…we even get to go on field trips!" The other answered, mirroring his brother's movements.
"Uh huh." This is…odd. But, oh well. I need friends, and although it's strange, I like them all. "Well, may I stay today, Kyoya-Kun?"
Kyoya looked up at me, peering through his glasses. "Of course, Orie-Senpai. Choose your type."
My type…right. What is my type, anyway?
"Maybe you all could do an evaluation for me. I'm not really sure of my type."
The twins jumped at the opportunity. They removed their arms from me and each but a finger to their chin in serious thought. "You definitely aren't the princely type, sorry, Boss." One began.
"Sorry, Kyoya-Senpai, but she looks like she's going to pass out every time she sees you, and not in the good way. Cool type out." The other, maybe Kaoru, went on.
"Hm, my loss." Kyoya replied as he walked to a table and sat in front of an open laptop. Yeah, real convincing there.
"Let's see. While she may be fond of Honey, she'd never go for it."
Honey turned to me with tears welled up in his eyes. "Orie-Chan doesn't like me!" He wailed, and I glared daggers at the twins.
"Of course not, Honey, I adore you!" I replied as he ran up and hugged me once again. I felt like a mother. Mio Dio.
"While we are the best act here, I doubt Orie-Senpai would fall for it." A twin said, crossing themselves off the list.
"Which really only leaves Haruhi and Mori-Senpai." They evaluated together. I sighed, feeling Honey's grip vanish as he skipped back to Mori's side.
"If it makes a difference, Haruhi's got appointments all afternoon. Mori-Senpai's practically free." Kyoya said from the laptop, not bothering to look up at any of us.
"I'm guessing it does make a difference." Haruhi muttered. "Well, sorry, Orie-Senpai, but we can talk later, right?"
I smiled fondly at Haruhi. "Of course!"
Regardless of the evaluation, Honey and Mori sat at the same table, and so I once again got the Haninozuka/Morinozuka value pack. I watched intently as Honey consumed two pieces of cake in less than three minutes, my eyes widening with every bite he took. Mori sat next to me, his usual quiet façade that I had come to recognize as normal still intact. Eventually, more girls came and Honey and Mori were made to entertain them. It was funny watching girls fawn over Honey's cuteness while realizing that Honey knew he was cute, and he knew how to play it up. Meanwhile, what Kyoya dubbed as "Mori Fans", girls were asking Mori questions that he'd answer with basic one or two words. However, these girls still thought the world of him. I couldn't help but laugh at it all, it was so absurd.
I think I'm really going to love these guys.
"Orie-Chan, we're out of tea!" Honey shouted suddenly, pulling me out of a reverie, spaced-out moment. I glanced down at the tea kettle and chuckled.
"I'll go get some more, okay?"
"Are you sure? You're still our guest!" He protested, but I waved him off as I stood and grabbed the tray of tea and began to walk away. Mori stood before me, ready to grab the tray from me when I smiled sweetly and shook my head.
"You have guests to entertain, Mori. I don't have a problem getting it for you guys." I told him, gently patting his shoulder and guiding him back down to his seat next to a raging fangirl. A flicker of a smile touched his face before he nodded and allowed me to go.
I began walking away, when I slid, dumping the contents of the tray onto myself. I flung backwards, landing on my butt and catching only two tea cups, while the rest of the set smashed to the floor of the music room. All the chatter ceased around me as I rubbed my back with my free hand and cradled the two saved cups. Groaning as someone pulled me up and clasped onto my shoulders, I could immediately see what was happening as Kyoya came to assess the damages done to the tea set. He opened his mouth to speak, when someone beat him to it.
"You're lucky I'm here to deliver some more tea sets! Good thing that wasn't a rare one. Although, they are pretty pricy." A boy said, holding out a box to Haruhi, who took it in his arms and began looking back and forth between the boy and another girl. I assumed something else was happening, but as of right now, everyone else but Tamaki and Haruhi were paying attention to my stupid accident.
I turned to see Mori holding onto my shoulders to steady me, partial worry and partial concern etched on his normally expressionless face. I huffed out a sigh as Kyoya snatched the two saved cups out of my hands and smirked at me evilly. Oh boy. He's going to hate me. He's going to make sure I can never see any of them again. Way to loose friends this early on, Orie…
"Orie-Senpai, this set cost about 1,000,000 yen." Didn't that boy say that I was lucky because it wasn't rare? What do the rare ones cost?!
"I see." I replied icily, unsure of where this was going.
"As I know you'd be able to pay off the debt with actual money, we could do a transaction that way. However, I like to keep things interesting. Test theories, if you will."
"Uh…huh."
"How would you like to pay off your debt in another fashion?" He asked, the glare of his glasses seemingly foreshadowing a grim outlook on the situation.
"Oooh! Orie-Chan could hang out with us all the time then, right, Takashi?" Honey celebrated as I gaped at Kyoya, at a loss for words.
"I…well, why not?" I replied, shrugging my shoulders. Haruhi walked up beside me, the box of the tea paraphernalia still in her hands.
"There are a million reasons not to." She muttered under her breath to me, to which I just smiled and rolled my eyes. I don't think she realizes that she's one of the melodramatics, here.
"I'd love to be taken up into the club."
Kyoya smiled. "Wonderful. You can start tomorrow."
