Chapter 1: The Assignment
Disclaimer: I claim no rights to Ouran High School Host Club or its affiliated characters.
Warnings/Notes: Please excuse the imperfect grammar and spelling. Story rating reflects future chapters that may include swearing, brief sexual or nudity humor, mentions of violence, etc.
Even the hallways of Ouran Academy were superfluous, she observed for perhaps the tenth time since her admission. Stretching on into the cascading light of chandeliers were mahogany doors and signs that depicted the alphabetic backwards. Class 1-D, 1-C…and at last, the final door on her right, class 1-A.
She pushed the heavy door open with a bit of difficulty, still groggy after her late night study session for a third period Chemistry exam. She smiled nervously upon realizing she was one of the last to arrive to homeroom, just minutes before the bell. "Good morning." She quietly offered her classmate Satoshi, who sat closest to the door.
He nodded and politely returned the sentiment, "Morning Fujioka."
Moving to her seat she anticipated the surprise attack from a pair of mischievous twins, "Haaaruhi!" They sang out, each of them grabbing one of her arms and linking it in his own. "We have wonderful news!" They continued in playfully flawless unity.
Haruhi groaned and pulled herself free of their hold with some effort, "Class is starting." She told them pointedly as she took a step toward her seat.
"Ah, ah, ah!" They chided, Hikaru more cheekily than his brother, "I wouldn't be so careless about such an important re-assignment." He spoke up, retrieving a folded slip of paper with her name written on it.
"Hikaru!" She snapped in hushed tones, chancing a look at her sensei, who had just sat down to his desk, "Don't go reading my things without asking me first!" The elder twin only grinned and moved with his brother to the back of the classroom, "Hey wait!" Haruhi called after him hesitantly, but he hushed her.
"After class." He taunted, and with a defeated sigh she sat down. Today was going to be long.
The end of role-call led immediately into an English lesson in which her classmates proudly called out the same foreign phrases again and again. Her sensei, like many of those at Ouran, did not bother to correct anyone with poor annunciation or little progress. Time went on with students demonstrating their knowledge of 'please,' 'thank you,' and, much to her conflicted sensei's dismay and astonishment, 'shut up,' complete with dramatic emphasis and hand gestures.
Eventually the sound of the bell pulled Haruhi from her hazy state of half-awareness, for with it came the twin's laughter and crooning. "Hikaru, you stepped on my foot."
"I'm sorry Kaoru, let me kiss you and make it better." The other replied in a raspy whisper, sliding two fingers underneath his brother's chin and traveling the length of it in a soft, sultry caress.
Haruhi smoothed her hair as a group of girls yelled out excitedly in response to the display. Some things, she noted almost nostalgically, would never change. "You two still haven't told me what that paper is about." She called over to them as most of the girls filed out to grab something to eat before second period started.
"About that." They said in unison, suddenly a bit too serious for her liking, "Your second period has been re-assigned." The informed her, "But don't worry, our half of class 1-A will still take it together. It's a new class required for first years."
"Oh…really." She replied, moving a hand behind her head and smiling a bit nervously, it would've been nice to spend a class period away from the twins and their constant chattering to her from across the room. She smiled more genuinely now, part of her glad for their company, "So what's it about?"
The two of them shrugged and handed her the notice, ushering her out the door, "It doesn't really say." They put in as she began to read the few sentences that had been hastily written, "We just know it's in the old west building, weird huh?"
Haruhi nodded to the note in her hand, "Isn't that building usually for third year students?" She asked, nearly tripping over a stair.
"Be careful!" The twins called out, grasping her and getting her firmly on her feet.
"Sorry." A laugh, a breeze, the faint scent of blooming flowers as they began to cross the courtyard. The twins seemed to carry on a conversation in silence for a few moments until the three of them reached their new class building.
"What a pain." They finally declared, leaving Haruhi's head bowed for a moment.
"C'mon guys, I'm sure it won't be that bad. It's kinda nice to walk outside in such nice weather."
Her comment was ignored as the three of them filed in together and took seats toward the back of the room, side-by-side. To their utter amusement and concern, the board read 'Child Development' in bold kanji.
"You've gotta be kidding…" Haruhi muttered under her breath as the last of the students hurried into the room, laughing loudly with one another. She thought back to a TV comedy she'd caught a few glimpses of while her father watched late at night. Students were paired off into "couples" and tasked with taking care of an egg "child" for a full week, at the end of which they would be graded. "It can't be…can it?"
With a smile the only adult in the room stood up and clapped her hands. "I know you all must be very excited to hear about your new class, so let's get started! There's a lot of information to get through so I ask that you all bear with me and pay close attention." The sweetness in her voice triggered nearly everyone's suspicion.
In just twenty minutes Haruhi realized that every reservation she'd had since entering the classroom had been confirmed. Now sitting at the end of a lecture with three brightly colored papers, she felt her stomach sinking. "If you've had a chance to read through the yellow paper." Called a voice from the front of the room, complete with a show of the sheet in question, "You'll know that each of you will be put into pairs and assigned a baby to look after. You will take the child with you to class and have each of your teachers sign off on the blue sheet of paper, evaluating your performance as a caregiver during that time. In addition to school time, you are all required to have 180 hours of extra time with your baby as a couple by the end of the semester. How you divide this time will be up to the pair of you and the child's mother and father. Since there are an odd number of students, there will need to be one group of thr-"
"DIBS!" The twins called out, standing immediately and gesturing to Haruhi as their third group member.
"Hold on a minute!" Haruhi challenged both angry and worried, but before she could continue, a smile graced her instructor's features.
"Thank you so much for volunteering!"
She sank down in defeat, "I can't believe this is happening…" She felt at a total loss for taking care of children, and surely Hikaru and Kaoru didn't have much experience.
Nevertheless, the three of them were a group and she knew that at least impressive teamwork would be on their side. For the sake of her grade she hoped the three of them wouldn't make a total mess of things. Still though, it seemed surreal that a couple of high school first years would seriously be tasked with caring for a child, especially financially. She cringed at the thought. Damn these rich people.
"If you would please listen for your name, I'm going to assign each group a little one. With the baby will come his or her schedule, part of your weekly evaluation will be based on how well you were able to follow this schedule according to your other instructors' notes."
The three of them looked to one another in anticipation as the first set of parents entered holding their infant son and a small diaper bag. Such brave people… the twins mused only slightly intrigued, …to leave their baby with high school students.
"Group Hitachiin." The trio simultaneously braced themselves as if waiting to be struck, but rose a moment later to collect the baby. The twins stopped mid-step and pushed Haruhi ahead. She narrowed her eyes to the sleeping child and took her effortlessly.
Through the cloud of apprehension that lingered the twins did not hesitate to make an observation. It seemed Haruhi was a natural even outside of the host club.
Maybe, they decided, this wouldn't be so boring after all.
AN: Please note that coming chapters will be much more developed, eventful, etc. This was pretty much an introduction to fit everything into place before moving onto the interaction with host club members. Feel free to leave any feedback you may have, thank you for reading.
