Renge's Surprise

Renge's Surprise

She knew it. There was no other validation for the strangeness of it all. Now all she had to do was confront them and expose the truth.

Renge was walking swiftly to the third music room, where she knew the host club would be changing and preparing to go home. She was still wearing her costume from the Ouran Festival that had taken place that afternoon. Her skirts were gathered into one hand, the other gently gliding along the stair rail. Her heels clicked softly against the marble staircase as she made her way to the host club's headquarters. Behind her soft1 brown eyes, her mind was determinedly set. It was time she knew the truth.

Renge made sure she was very thorough. She considered every possibility, followed every lead, and examined every stitch of evidence. In the end, there was no other viable explanation. Renge confided her thoughts to Kasanoda, whom she had become close with recently, and he told her the only way to know for sure was to ask the host club about it.

As she neared the giant doors that, upon opening, would reveal the host club, Renge slowed her gait. She thought of when she had first met the seven handsome hosts. Renge smiled, remembering the sillyness of that first encounter. She remembered telling them that they had no long-term appeal and how she had tried, unsuccessfully, to change them. How wrong she had been. The charm of the host club was eternal and each member had his own je ne sais quoi.

Suou Tamaki, 'the prince type'. Renge confessed that Tamaki had his princely qualities and his French was absolutely swoon-worthy. But the host club king was a fool in the worst sense and utterly clueless. Still, Tamaki was a true friend with a heart of gold and anyone would be lucky to know him half as well as she did and even she did not know him very well.

Ootori Kyouya, 'the cool type'. And indeed, Kyouya screamed cool. It seemed to ooze from his pores until Renge was certain his pen would freeze. The 'Shadow King' was calm, manipulative, and completely in control. He was emotionless, keeping all his feelings locked up tight, letting nothing slip through the cracks. In time, Renge had realized she would never truly know him, so long as he kept others out.

Haninozuka Mitsukuni, 'the lolita type'. Affectionately called Hunny, the senior was as sweet as the cakes he consumed, as cuddly as his Usa-chan, and as short as Haruhi's patience. Hunny was also considered one of the greatest martial artists of his generation and was required to never use full strength. Renge knew that the small teen was fiercely protective of his friends and would always come to their aid.

Morinozuka Takashi, 'the stoic type'. A man of few words, Mori seldom said more than was necessary. He was rarely without Hunny on some part of his person2, usually his shoulders. The national kendo champion, Renge knew the senior had no problem defending himself and others. In fact, Mori guarded his emotions so closely, no one could figure him out, with the exception of Hunny and Haruhi.

Hiitachin Hikaru and Kaoru, 'the little devil type'. The twins lived life with a scheme in their heads, a trick up their sleeves, and an arm each around Haruhi. Renge felt the twins, having two minds to plot with, were twice as devious. But the twins were separate entities as well. Hikaru was more boisterous, while Kaoru was slightly3 more contained. Kaoru was more soft-spoken and moralistic, while Hikaru was more outgoing and twisted. Hikaru barged straight on with a plan without thinking, and Kaoru contemplated his actions before acting. Kaoru was conscious of other's feelings, while Hikaru barely understood his own. But the ridiculous part was, Renge thought, while they wanted people to tell them apart, they consistently made it harder to do so. Still, at the end of the day, they lived to make things harder for Tamaki.4

Fujioka Haruhi, 'the natural type'. Haruhi was a natural. Everything seemed to come easy to the host. But more than natural, Haruhi was kind and gracious, down to earth and sensible, protective of others, intelligent and hard-working, and always ready to speak up if things got too out of hand. Renge knew that the host club would be unbalanced and disastrous if Haruhi were to ever leave.

And Renge? She had somehow manipulated her way into the midst of their friendship, bringing twisted schemes, elaborate fantasies, and emotional confusion whenever she showed up. Sometimes Renge wished she had never intruded into their lives, but she could no longer imagine of a life without the host club.

Gathering every ounce of courage she possessed, Renge opened the enormous doors to the third music room to find the host club as they usually were when there were no customers. Kyouya was at a table in the corner, tapping away on his laptop, no doubt calculating the day's profits. Hunny was sitting back to back with Mori in the window, looking up at the stars and chatting about their upcoming graduation. Tamaki was in his corner growing mushrooms, probably from something Haruhi had said. Haruhi was collecting the scattered teacups left from earlier. The twins had their heads together, most likely figuring out a new way to bother Tamaki.

Just then, Haruhi looked out the window and gasped. "It's such a beautiful night! Doesn't it take your breath away Tamaki-sempai?" With those simple words, Tamaki was crushing Haruhi to him and spinning around, crying, "You are right, Haruhi! Daddy wants to share in this beauty with you!"

Gasping, Haruhi managed to whisper, "Mori-sempai, help!" And then he was being lifted from Tamaki's embrace, and being set down gently by Mori. Haruhi thanked him, to which he gave a brief "Ah." Renge couldn't stifle her giggle at the scene before her. Everyone turned to look at Renge.

"Ah, Renge-chan5!" Haruhi exclaimed. "You haven't left yet? Is something wrong?" Renge shook her head and smiled at the natural. "Nothing's wrong. It's just…"

"Maybe she has…" Hikaru said, looking at her curiously. "Something on her mind. Something that she…" continued Kaoru, studying her as well. "Wants to tell us." finished Hikaru.

"Ah! Is that true, Renge-chan? Don't worry, we won't laugh." Haruhi queried. Renge nodded her head, suddenly feeling nervous and slightly ashamed for what she was about to do.

"It's been bothering me for a while now. At first, I didn't want to believe it. I mean, it didn't seem like Haruhi-kun. So I tried to prove to myself it wasn't true, but I ended up convincing myself more. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Then I thought, why would they hide this from me? Unless no one else knew about it. But you are Haruhi-kun's friends, so of course he would tell you. It all makes sense now. The comfortableness talking with girls…" Tamaki paled, "We can explain!" "The blushing around you…" "I do not!" "The smartness about shopping…" "That's because Haru-chan's mother is gone!" "Him constant wearing dresses." "She caught us."6 "I just can't believe why I didn't see it sooner." Renge took a deep breath.

"Haruhi-kun likes boys!"7 "Haruhi is a girl!"8

Nobody said anything for a minute.

"Why wouldn't Haruhi like boys?" Tamaki asked. "Haruhi-kun is a GIRL!?" Renge gasped loudly to no one in particular. Haruhi was the one who decided to answer her. "Biologically, yes. I have a debt to pay and until then, this is the easiest way to do so."

"Oh." Mori caught Renge just before she hit the floor.

Silence. Then… "I think she took it rather well."

"Tamaki-sempai, shut up."

Renge's Surprise

1 Alright, I know Renge's eyes are far from soft, but for the purposes of this story, please bear with the absurdity.

2 For all the hentais who find this "interesting," I meant sitting on him…hanging onto…ooooohhhh, just know this was not meant to be perverted!

3 Notice I said slightly. It means very little. And yes, I can tell them apart.

4 I know this paragraph was twice as long as the other descriptive paragraphs. I figured since there were two people, I could be twice as descriptive.

5 I think this is what Haruhi calls Renge. If not, tell me so I know for future reference.

6 Guess who said this. If you guess correctly, I will put you on my luv ya! list.

7 Renge said this.

8 Tamaki said this.