author's note: Welcome to my first fanfiction. I appreciate any reviews, as English is not my first language and I need plenty of help to improve!
The Damaging Waltz!
The Ouran High School Host Club had spared no expense when it came to their casino-themed festivities that evening. Paid dealers ran blackjack, 21 and poker tables. A band was playing music in the corner, and lights were strung from wall to wall. All of the lovely guests were dolled up in their cocktail gowns, a striking difference from the pale yellow and blue school uniforms they typically wore. There wasn't an unhappy guest to be seen in the entire room. One host in particular looked very pleased, but it wasn't the wonderful table decorations that had caught her eye
"Crab legs..." Haruhi was nearly drooling as she made her way towards the buffet table. Ahead of her were some of the most delectable things her mind could ever dream of. When she had finally gotten the opportunity to excuse herself from her guests, Haruhi hadn't wasted a minute in making a beeline for the seafood. But right as her hand was about to snatch one of the steamed crabs from the tray, two twin hands clamped down on her shoulders. Out of surprise, the tongs in her hand fell back to the table with a clatter.
"Haruhi," one voice grinned into her ear.
"We've been looking for you all night," the other continued. She was spun around and now faced the Hitachiin twins, who were dressed in tuxedos that matched her own. Their mischievous expressions made Haruhi quickly realize that she would not be enjoying any food any time soon.
"What do you want?" She didn't really want to know the answer.
"What makes you think that we wanted anything?" Kaoru looked offended.
"But now that you mention it," Hikaru looked thoughtful, but even Haruhi couldn't miss that mischievous gleam in his eye.
"Just say it," Haruhi couldn't hide the irritation in her voice. She hated the way that the twins played with her, as if she was a part of their act. There weren't even any guests around! She struggled against their grip, but it made no difference. The twins had her locked down, she had no choice to go along with whatever they had in mind.
The twins exchanged glances before starting to steer Haruhi away from the buffet line. "Let's dance, Haruhi!" they chimed, and she found herself at the edge of the dance floor near the band. It was surprisingly crowded. Haruhi was a little confused, until she spotted a blonde mop of hair twirling with a young guest in his arms. All around, girls were squealing at his display. Of course, Haruhi grumbled. But before she could stop herself, the twins had dragged herself onto the dance floor. This seemed like a bad idea; wouldn't it look strange if three boys all danced together? The twins didn't seem to care about that trivial fact, however. They pushed her to the dead center of the dance floor, near Tamaki, just in time for a new song to start.
At first, Haruhi had thought the twins would pass her off between them, and so it seemed. Kaoru spun her gracefully across the dancefloor, while Hikaru danced with a nearby guest. Then they switched, Hikaru a little rougher than his kinder brother. His grip was tight on her waist, and she could hear the whispers of the guests looking on, thinking how sweet of a dancing couple the pair made. If the idea of forbidden twin love drove the guests crazy, then throwing Haruhi into the mix drove them wild.
Haruhi, on the other hand, was less than thrilled. She was struggling to keep her underpracticed feet from trampling all over Hikaru's. He didn't seem to mind her bad dancing skills, but when Kaoru cut in to take his turn, his grin flickered for a moment.
"It's not your turn yet!" he snapped, latching on to one of Haruhi's arms.
"The next song is started," Kaoru reasoned, grabbing Haruhi's other arm.
"Haruhi was enjoying dancing with me!"
"It's my turn now!"
"Stop it!" Haruhi yelled, but it was too late. Somewhere in the fight over the possession of her, the twins jerked too hard on the sleeves of her tuxedo jacket, pulling it in opposite directions with a definite ripping sound. For a moment, the trio froze, just staring at each other. Very slowly, Haruhi's eyes travelled down the front of her jacket, spotting the gaping hole that ran down the front left panel seam. She couldn't move. The only thought that spun in her head was that of Kyouya, tripling or even quadrupling her debt in the blink of an eye. It made her nauseous just to think about it.
This thought seemed to hit the twins a few seconds later, and before Haruhi knew it, they were sweeping her out of the ballroom and away from guest's prying eyes. She struggled to keep up as they dragged her outside. Once they slowed to a stop, the twins eyed the tear on her jacket.
"That's not good," Hikaru started.
"...but not impossible to repair! You're in luck, Haruhi, our mother's studio is a few minutes from here!" Kaoru smiled, and before Haruhi could protest, she was being swept away into the Hitachiin's waiting limo.
They were dropped off before a multi-story building with ornate pillars stretching up the front. The twins, more experienced with where they were headed, dragged Haruhi up a flight of stairs and down three different corridors before pushing through a magnificent set of double doors.
Coming to a stop, Haruhi found herself standing in a large open room, with a wall of windows on the far side. Fabrics of all different kinds stretched over large tables that Haruhi assumed were for pattern cutting. Mannequins with gorgeous garments dotted the floor, and in the corner of the studio, several sewing machines sat unused. For a moment, she was awestruck at the sheer size of it all. The room alone had to be at least three times the size of her apartment.
"Where's mother?" Kaoru asked,sounding unimpressed while his eyes searched the room.
"She's not here," a stranger's voice cut in, and all three heads whipped around, searching for the source. "Hitachiin-sama is in Paris for the week."
"You didn't even know your mother had left the country?" Haruhi snapped.
The twins responded with matching shrugs. "We're not that close," they muttered. Haruhi was ready to snap again when she noticed the stranger from earlier had appeared, and was staring fixedly at the front of Haruhi's jacket. Feeling uncomfortable, Haruhi shifted so that the tear was less visible.
"Who are you...?"
Dark brown eyes snapped up to Haruhi's face, searching them with the same intensity that they'd been investigating the gaping hole in her didn't answer the young host's question. "I can fix that for you," she said simply, waving an already threaded needle at Haruhi's coat.
"Eh?" The twins echoed. Did they not recognize her either?
"I can fix that coat she's wearing," the girl said pointedly. "The tear is on a seam, and it shouldn't take too long." The girl ushered Haruhi to sit down and remove her coat, spreading it out on the closest table and setting to work. The twins watched her with mild interest for a moment, then Kaoru turned to Haruhi. Hikaru's eyes, however, remained glued to the quick movements of the girl as she secured stitch after stitch into the tuxedo jacket.
"I'm sure Kyouya will notice if we're gone too long, so its probably good that we repair this quickly," he nodded. Haruhi raised a surprised eyebrow.. In the flurry of movement from the Ouran ballroom to the Hitachiin studio, she'd completely forgotten about the Shadow King's omnipotent tendencies. A chill ran down her spine, and she was surprised he wasn't already standing in the room with them, giving them his trademark glare. "Maybe we should put him off our trail?" Kaoru said slowly, then shook his head.
"I don't think that will do much good," Haruhi voiced his thought. Kyouya-sempai always knew when a host lied to him. If anything, it would only alert him to their absence. Starting to feel nervous, Haruhi fidgeted in her seat and looked back over to the girl hunched over her coat, tying off the finishing stitch. Was she done already? "That was fast," Haruhi breathed, standing up to take the coat from her, but her reaction was too slow. The girl swept behind Haruhi, sliding the coat over her shoulders before spinning her around and jerking the jacket tightly around the small host's midsection. A small frown line appeared on her face as she tugged on the fabric again, then looked up at Haruhi in confusion.
"What an odd fit," she said, buttoning the coat and rising to her feet all without taking her eyes off of Haruhi, who instinctively paled. Of course it was an odd fit. Even though Haruhi had a small chest to begin with, her figure was still decidedly feminine, and as a result, decidedly against wearing male clothing. Even though she had picked the smallest size tuxedo coat and padded out the shoulders to mimic her male host counterpart's shoulders, a trained eye could still pick out that the jacket didn't fit her quite perfectly.
Apparently this stranger was that trained eye.
"Good, its fixed," Hikaru came to Haruhi's rescue, sweeping an arm across her shoulders and steering her towards the door. Kaoru was quick to follow, both twins picking up on the seriousness of the stranger's comment. As she was being ushered out of the room, Haruhi looked over her shoulder to the woman, who still stood in the center of the studio. In her grasp, a needle thoughtfully tapped against the table.
"Thank you..." Haruhi called, realizing that she hadn't even learned of the woman's name.
"Genoveva," she answered with a polite smile. She appeared unfazed that the twins were essentially dragging Haruhi from the studio.
"Thank you, Genoveva," Haruhi smiled, then Hikaru jerked her forward and Kaoru shut the door behind her. They raced through the corridors, down the stairs, and straight into Kyouya who was waiting outside by their limousine. "Kyouya-sempai?!"
He did not look pleased.
As the limo pulled away from the Hitachiin studio, Haruhi looked down at the seam running down the front of her vest. A hour ago, there had been a gaping hole there. Now, there was nothing. The stitches were identical to those anywhere else, put in by a hand with machine-like precision. She could barely tell where the production seam ended and Genoveva's quick handiwork began. "Kyouya-sempai?"
The man next to her had been glaring at the twins, but now turned his head to her. His glasses caught the lights from outside, and she could only guess what evil expression lurked behind them.
"You know, she did a really good job."
"That is no excuse for leaving your guests, Haruhi. I have half a mind to double your debt because of your actions tonight" he said coldly.
Haruhi frowned, glancing at the seam again before focusing on Kyouya. "It's not my fault that Hikaru and Kaoru tore my jacket in half," she snapped. "Why should I be punished?"
"Because, Haruhi," a twisted smile split Kyouya's lips, "you are the host club's dog. I won't even begin to mention how much that jacket cost." Deeming the conversation over, he turned back to the small black notebook in his lap. Haruhi, on the other hand, was not satisfied.
"If I'm such an expense to the Host Club, I don't know why you keep me around," Haruhi muttered under her breath. "I had it fixed for free," she said, a little bit louder so she knew Kyouya could hear. A wary eyebrow raised above the rim of his glasses, but Kyouya did not answer her. He seemed to be considering her words. Scribbling down something in the little black notebook in his lap, he turned his gaze to the street lights passing by outside. The rest of the ride passed in tense silence, broken only by Tamaki's joyous cries upon seeing his precious 'daughter' when they returned to the ballroom.
author's note: The end of chapter one. Let me know what you think!