Chapter 1
Bonjour! My name is Elissa Girard. I'm French, if you haven't noticed, but I speak French, English, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese. I just moved to Japan because my daddy bought a new business. It's one of those really successful ones that have always existed. I think it's some kind of medical insurance law firm.
My father enrolled me in some school called Ouran Academy. I haven't seen the campus yet, and I imagine that it is going to be gorgeous, as all of the schools I've attended in the past have been, but I'd never imagined that it would be pink. There must be some real freaks running this place, I thought. But the moment I saw in the French double doors that reminded me of home, I knew that the outside isn't even half as tasteful as the rest.
Two students I have already met and have been friends with for my entire life greeted me in the front hallway: Kyouya Ootori and Tamaki Suou. Tamaki-oniisama's father and mine have been great friends for years, and Kyouya-oniisama's family has a lot of business with mine. And, with our family ties and my being a year younger, they have inadvertently become my deux grands frères.
"Hi, you guys! It's been a long time!" I yelled, waving at them.
"It truly has," Tamaki-oniisama said, taking my hand and kissing it softly.
"Tamaki, quit scaring her," Kyouya-oniisama grabbed Tamaki-oniisama's pinky and twisted, causing him to let go instantaneously.
"It's good to see you, Elissa. Did you get my E-mails?" he asked.
"Oh… you sent me an E-mail? I haven't been online in a while. I need to check it soon, though…" I blushed. The truth of it is that Kyouya-oniisama has confessed his love for me over an E-mail. The lie of not having been on is to cover up the fact that I didn't reply because I didn't return his feelings.
"Whaaattt?" Tamaki-oniisama screeched. "You've been speaking to her and I haven't?"
"You have her E-mail address, Tamaki. You have had the power to contact her for years. It isn't my fault you never did," Kyouya-oniisama said very calmly, obviously used to Tamaki-oniisama's antics. Then, to me, he said: "Come with me. I want you to meet my senpai."
He led me down the South Hallway to a room called 'Music Room 3' and opened the door, escorting me inside. Sacrébleu, I thought. The place is beautiful… but overdone. Someone has decorated it in the style of some old movie. Casablanca? Black and white photographs of an airport crowded the walls, and the four boys (and… one girl?) are dressed in old movie-like clothes. They all had girls in yellow dresses with maroon bows at the neck crowded around them.
Two of them are very handsome twins with red hair and olive eyes. There is an extremely short sandy-haired boy with brown eyes eating strawberry cake and holding a big pink plush rabbit under his arm. The person sitting next to him is dark haired, with dark, almost black eyes and looked very powerful for a teenage garçon.
The girl is short, but not quite as short as the little sandy-haired. It is obvious that she is trying to hide her femininity. Her eyes are large and dark brown. Her hair is beautiful, I can see, but she has it cropped short.
Kyouya-oniisama has black eyes and black hair. He is about the same height as Tamaki-oniisama, who is blonde haired, blue eyed, and is just a little bit taller than the ginger twins. Tamaki-oniisama is one quarter French, so I suppose we can speak privately, but not alone.
"Excuse me, ladies, but I'm afraid I must ask you to leave. Club activity has ended for the day," Kyouya said with sincerity coloring his tone. "Please feel free to come back tomorrow," he continued as the last few girls left the room. He closed the door behind them and turned to the boys and girl still inside.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Elissa Girard. She's our new student from France, just like someone else you know." He turned to me as he said, "Elissa, this is the Ouran High School Host Club. They will introduce themselves." Back to the others: "Be kind to her, all right? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go crunch some numbers."
He retreated into one of the many doors lining the walls, and the Host Club members were in action.
Immediately, the twins were on either side of me with each of my hands in both of theirs. "Hello, there." They said at exactly the same time.
"I'm Hikaru Hitachiin…" the one on my right said
"And I'm Kaoru Hitachiin," said the one on my left.
"They're lying," the girl said in a voice deeper than my own, but not unlike a female voice. "This one's Hikaru," she said, gesturing to the one on my left. "And this one's Kaoru." She gestured to the one on my right. "They do that a lot." She smiled, and I could plainly see that she was, in fact a girl. "I'm Haruhi Fujioka, an honors student here at Ouran."
The little sandy-haired one ran up to me and offered me his cake. "You can have some of my cake if you want to, El-chan! I like to share with the new students! But I still want some, so don't eat it all, okay?" The tall accompaniment to this little ball of happiness grunted in approval.
"Um… Okay?" I said, just a little confused. "Thank you?"
"I'm Mitskuni Haninozuka, by the way! This is Takashi Morinozuka. But you can call him Mori."
"We just call them Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai," the honors girl said. "Hunny likes calling people by nicknames. His for me is Haru-chan. Hika-chan, Kao-chan, Tama-chan, Kyo-chan, Takashi, and now, El-chan."She waved her hand at each of us as she said our nicknames. "It's just his way of showing he likes you."
"Can I ask you a question?" I said.
"Sure."
"Why are you trying to act like a guy?"
The room fell silent.