This is my first fan-fic. Please read!!!

Forever Yumiko

By Eternal Freedom

Everyday is the same in the Ouran High School Host Club. The same people, the same hosts, the same room… Everything was normal… Except one day in April. Tamaki unexpectedly wrote a note to the hosts and left early that day in school.

Several days later, he came back to school. But he wasn't alone. He was with a girl half a year younger than him. She had long blonde hair like Tamaki's. Her hair was flowing down her waist. All the girls and boys noticed her when she walked in the classroom.

"This here is our new student, Hanna Yumiko." The teacher said. Yumiko nodded and smiled at the class. Every student was speechless, not only because of her beautiful hair and her picture-perfect look; it was because she looked so much like Tamaki. No one dared to even breathe when they looked at her. It was as if they might break her delicate shape. "Yumiko, you can sit beside… Haruhi. Haruhi, stand up please. See, there? Go to your seat now, please." Yumiko looked back at the teacher. Then she looked at Haruhi. Everyone was still stayed quiet. Yumiko walked up to Haruhi and sat down beside her.

Immediately, Yumiko noticed. Even though Haruhi was in a boy's uniform, she looked like a girl. Yumiko easily spotted it.

By the time lunch came around, Yumiko wanted Haruhi to admit the truth. Even when Yumiko can see the truth, she always wants people to admit it themselves. As Haruhi was about to walk away from her desk, Yumiko called after her.

"Yes, Miss Hanna?" Haruhi said it in the most formal way she could think of. Before Yumiko could ask her, Tamaki took Yumiko's hand and walked her away from her classroom. He greeted Haruhi, Hikaru and Kaoru in a formal way. He never said it that formal before. He was obviously not going to tell them much about this new girl who looked so much like him.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends there?" Yumiko asked. She stopped walking and turned around. Tamaki seemed like he had no choice but to follow her instructions. He also introduced them to each other in a very formal but fast way. He just wanted to get it over with. "Tamaki, why do you have to be so formal?" Yumiko pulled her hand away from Tamaki's in an informal way. She sure looked like a princess on the outside. But if she wants to get her normal self out, you'd be surprised.

"I heard you started a host club. Show me around, will you?" Again, Tamaki had no choice. Later, when they saw Kyouya, the club members asked him about the mysterious transfer student. Since Kyouya knew about everything, he knew about this girl, too. Yumiko is actually Tamaki's cousin from France. She goes to a Japanese school in France so she can speak both Japanese and French. Apparently, she and Tamaki were very close. They even lived close to each other.

"A music room? Wow, I'd never thought that a host club would be held in a music room." She quickly looked around and saw a piano by the back corner. Without another thought, she rushed to the piano and started playing a song. Tamaki slowly walked closer to the piano. He sat beside her and she just let him play instead. When the introduction ended, she started singing. Her voice and the piano melted together in a way. Tamaki was getting excited though he tried so hard to not show it. He hasn't played this song since the last time he saw Yumiko. When the song ended, the hosts applauded, Tamaki bowed and Yumiko curtsied.

After school, Yumiko followed the other host members to the third music room. Even though Tamaki asked Yumiko to not go to the host club, she still did. That's just the way Yumiko was. If she made up her mind, she won't change it. In other words, she's just very stubborn. As always, so many girls wanted to be with Tamaki. He wanted to say no, but Yumiko made him agree. He did his normal work while Yumiko was just standing around and exploring the music room.

Kyouya saw her being so bored, so he told her to play on the piano and sing. At least then, she could make herself useful and perhaps attract more customers. Of course, Kyouya didn't say that last sentence. Just as Yumiko started playing on the piano, everyone was looking at her. They were either happy to have her there or just plain jealous. When she started singing, more people were entering. They heard the beautiful melody of the piano and the voice melting with the piano. When she was about to start to play the second verse, Tamaki rushed up and genteelly moved her aside while taking over the piano. Yumiko just kept singing. She somehow looked even happier than she already was. When they finished playing and singing four more songs, they stopped and they both went to find something else to do.

The other hosts asked Kyouya if he knew why Tamaki had moved her aside when she was about to play the second verse of the first song. Naturally, he knew. It was because Yumiko would always make a very noticeable mistake while playing the second verse. He also knew that Tamaki wrote all those songs. Tamaki was the one who taught Yumiko how to play the piano and how to sing. The histories behind the two cousins were very clear that they spent all their free time together. They were like the best of friends. They were inseparable.

Tamaki walked Yumiko to the car. When they got in, Yumiko couldn't help but burst out "Why were you acting so formal? What happened? Did I do something wrong? Something you didn't like?" Tamaki just stared at her blankly. The rest of the trip back home was silent. They even turned off the music from the car. When they arrived at the Suoh residence, Tamaki walked Yumiko to the main residence and left her at the front porch. He then returned to the second residence of the Suoh family. Instead of going in the house, Yumiko stayed outside for a bit. She walked to the second residence.

"Miss Hanna, what brings you here?" the maid asks. Yumiko told her that she wanted to talk to Tamaki. The maid was going to call Tamaki down to meet her, but Yumiko insists that she meet him upstairs. Tamaki greets her at the stairs. Yumiko asks him the same questions she asked in the car. She was still at the bottom of the stairs while Tamaki was at the top. Again, he stares at her blankly. "Is it because of grandmother? Did she tell you to? Tamaki, if she made you think that I'm not part of your family, just ignore her. It seems to me that you've forgotten how much fun we had when we were little. Remember? I thought the piano would bring us as close as we were back in France. As if we just saw each other yesterday. Don't you remember?" By now, Yumiko was walking up the long spiral stairs. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Yumiko. I shouldn't have been pulling our friendship so close when we were younger. It'll just make everything worse if we were as close as when we were little. Those ten years I spent with you, I thought it was what life really was. Happiness. But I was wrong. Life isn't just about having fun. There's no time for that anymore. We're no longer children, Yumiko. It's no longer just fun and games."

Yumiko couldn't hold it in any longer. She was crying, she made her way up the stairs, but she flopped down in the middle of the stairs. Tamaki ran down the stairs to meet her in the middle. There was nothing else to do but hold her in his arms help her up the stairs.

The next day at school went the same. But Yumiko wasn't talking much to anyone except Haruhi. She still wanted Haruhi to admit it, but she didn't feel like doing much of anything today. Everyone could obviously see that she wasn't feeling well. Yumiko tried to smile as much as possible to cover up what happened yesterday at the second residence, but she didn't do a good job at it.

When school ended, she went to the host club. She knew that if she sang and played the piano, she could help the host club. She made sure she didn't play something that Tamaki taught her. She didn't want to think about him. She only played two songs. Her voice no longer melted with the piano. It was beautiful, but not as beautiful as the day before. Her voice was empty. The songs she played were sad songs mostly about losing friendship with a close friend. After the two songs ended, some girls were touched by the lyrics and started crying. Yumiko curtsied and left. Instead of taking the car, she walked home. It was a long walk, but it was just what she needed. She just wanted to escape from the whole "rich" form of her life. For once, she wanted to be just a commoner.

She arrived at the Suoh residence and saw the piano she ordered being taken up to her room. She waited until they placed it in a sunlight filled spot. She quickly examined the piano and started playing a song. She didn't realize it until the part where she had to sing came. The first syllable came out and she just stopped. She recognized the song immediately. It was the first one she learned how to play and sing. It was their favorite song. They always played it before they played anything else. She quickly got out of her seat and pulled the cover over her new piano. She couldn't take it anymore. All she wanted was to be with Tamaki.

"Who am I kidding? He's right. It's no longer fun and games. Arrg! Grow up, Yumiko!" She lied down on her bed and fell asleep. Even in her dreams, she was crying. A single tear rolled down her cheek and onto her soft, feather-filled pillow.

Yumiko didn't even bother waking up for dinner. She wasn't feeling well the next day or the week after that. The club members were getting worried. Tamaki was the one who was worried the most. Every time, the name "Yumiko" came out of someone's mouth, he would react very concerned. He would start walking in circles and start mumbling by himself.

On the Friday, they all went to the Suoh residence after the host club closed. They found out that she had a cold and a bad fever. She didn't want to see anyone, but they went in her room anyway. Her naturally pink, pure cheeks were red; her smooth hands were sweating; her attractive blonde hair was messy and didn't have the shine to them anymore. This fever of hers is not any normal fever. Her voice didn't even sound like her. There was definitely something wrong.

After an hour, all the club members went home except Tamaki. He stayed there with her. For the first five minutes, they just sat in silence. Tamaki wanted her to feel better so he played their favorite song. He played the song but he didn't sing. When half an hour passed, he stopped playing. Before he left, he told her that playing on the piano without her beautiful voice never felt right. He wished her to get well soon. He also promised to visit her everyday after school when he came back. And he did. Everyday for the following month, she still stayed home while waiting for Tamaki to come back from school and play the piano for her.

Another day in May passed, just like the rest. But this day, an unexpected visitor came to see her when Tamaki was at school. It was Mrs. Hanna, in other words, Yumiko's mother. She rushed up to Yumiko's room and started to cry when she saw her daughter.

"I thought you would get better if you saw Tamaki… I-it didn't help, did it? Oh, I shouldn't have sent you here by yourself… I'm so sorry, Yumiko…" Yumiko just stayed there motionless. She wanted to say something to comfort her mother who came all the way to Japan just to see her but her voice would hurt a lot when she even made a sound, so she decided to give her mother a hug instead. A hug always made either of them feel better. Mrs. Hanna gave Yumiko a kiss on both cheeks the French way. Soon after, Tamaki came to see her. The maid informed him that Mrs. Hanna was there with her.

Tamaki knocked on the door and Mrs. Hanna answered and let him in. "Bonjour, Madame Hanna. Hello, Yumiko." He chose to use French to greet Mrs. Hanna because she was living in France for so long. Mrs. Hanna decided to leave them alone and closed the door behind her when she left.

Tamaki went straight to Yumiko's bed and sat down on the chair next to her. He brought a single rose to put in her small glass vase on her bedside table. Then he went to the piano and started playing. For a second, Yumiko felt as if her throat no longer hurt when Tamaki started playing on the piano. He started playing their favorite song and when the introduction ended, her voice came back to her. She started singing. Tamaki was surprised but he didn't stop playing the piano. He knew that stopping in the middle of a song would equal to just making her annoyed. So instead, he just enjoyed the moment. Mrs. Hanna opened the door. She had obviously heard the beautiful voice and the beautiful melody. Tamaki's father and even their grandmother came to see them make the greatest team. The maids and butlers stood outside just as if they had nothing to do or that they forgot about their busy life styles. All anyone could think of was the happy memories they've had before. Even their grandmother was impressed. She knew that the two was very close and she always told Yumiko to stop being around Tamaki as if she would catch some disease from him. But this time, she just treasured the moment. Even when the song ended, she didn't say a word and just went out of Yumiko's room. Everyone's eyes were watering. Even Yumiko and Tamaki.

Perhaps it was because Mrs. Hanna came or maybe she was just feeling happy, she could talk normally again. The next week, she went back to school. She couldn't say was feeling "awesome", but she was feeling better. She attended classes and she did help out at the host club. She and Tamaki were closer, but still not as close as when they were younger. Everyday, she would sing and Tamaki would play the piano in the host club. They played something different everyday. Some girls still water their eyes while listening to them. This went on for another month.

June came very quickly. By the time it came, Yumiko was feeling a lot better and she did make Haruhi admit that she was a girl. Yumiko also became good friends with the host club. Whenever she didn't feel well, all she needed to do to feel better was to close her eyes and imagine that her friends at the host club were beside her. Or she could just look at Haruhi whom sat beside her in every class.

In the middle of June, however, her sickness came back. She tried imagining her friends but they just won't come to her mind as clearly as they did before. Although she still went to school and still sang in the host club, she became very weak at times. She tried seeing many doctors, but none of them could figure out what was wrong. Some said that it could be just something messing with her mind. The club members didn't know what was wrong either, but they did know that when she was with them, she felt better.

By the end of June, she couldn't sing anymore. School was ending anyway, so she didn't go to the host club at all. A few more days pass and then she just stayed home. Mrs. Hanna was living with her the whole time after that last incident. Somehow, she wasn't making things better like last time she was there.

When school ended, Tamaki would go to her room and play the piano like the last time. Though they still weren't as close as before, she could still talk when he was there. If he wasn't there, she didn't even have the energy to sit up.

A week passed and she wasn't getting any better. Tamaki still went to play the piano to her, but even Yumiko lost hope in herself. Tamaki still tried, he even brought the host club there. She did feel better, but she was still "weak" in general. She stayed in bed for most of the time. If there were a day when she felt better, she would go to her piano and start playing their favorite song.

After a month, Tamaki finally became closer to her. He no longer used the formal terms when they were alone or with their friends. Thanks to that, Yumiko regains her energy. So they all decide to go to France for a vacation. Even Haruhi decided to go. They all got first-class seats on the plane. Everyone thought that was normal except Haruhi. She was amazed at all the service there. She's never been on a plane before. Everyday in France, they visited places like the Eiffel Tower and the Disneyland Resort Palace. Everyone had fun and they forgot all about everything else.

Several years later….

Tamaki and Yumiko's relationship as best friends lasted forever. As for their love life, Tamaki ended up with Haruhi while Yumiko ended up with Kyouya. Unexpected, you say? Well, there's a romantic story when they were in France that summer. I guess you can say "…and they lived happily after." Right? I guess… for now anyway…

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There is a sequel to this called "France?" Please check it out!