Superiority
A Kamen Rider Faiz/Ouran High School Host Club Crossover
By MechaManiac
Chapter 1: Do as the 555 Romans Do
Bespectacled eyes stared into the library, jam-packed with other students... and unfortunately for the owner of said eyes, also jam-packed with noise. What did one have to do when they wanted a nice, quiet place to study?
'Mom, can you hear me from Heaven?' the boyish, bespectacled person thought as they walked down a hallway located one floor up. 'It's already been ten years since you left us.' Soon, the figure approached a set of double doors; the sign above said that it was a music room, #3 to be precise. Well, at the very least, it was almost virtually guaranteed that there would be no one inside. 'I guess this is the only place where I'll be able to study in peace and quiet,' the person assumed, turning the handle on the right and pushing the door it was located on inwards. They couldn't initially see inside the room... but that was due to the sudden deluge of rose petals that had swirled on outwards.
"Welcome," a handful of voices called out as their forms came into sight. Sitting in the chair (situated in the middle of the group) was a suave, blonde-haired boy that looked to be about 16, also definitely had the looks of a pretty-boy prince with his blue eyes and fair complexion. Off to his right was another blonde-haired boy that looked several or so years younger than the sitting prince while to the back and the prince's left were a pair of red haired boys whose hair pointed in different directions; twins, by the looks of things. Also to the back, but the prince's right, was a black-haired man with glasses, who looked cold and intimidating. The other man with his back to this cold bishonen was much more reserved and stoic, and seemed to tower over the others. The last person, standing to the left of the twins, almost looked as though he didn't belong with the group; his hair almost looked frayed and went all over the place while his eyes were a pale green and looked almost animalistic. Yet, as the person with glasses looked closer, they could see that this was the point; after all, wildness did have a certain charm to it. All of them were wearing the same thing: the standard boys' uniform for the high school area of this private academy.
The boyish student would remember this day to come, for this was the day they met the Ouran High School Host Club.
In the words of the club's leader, only those with social standing and filthy rich families are lucky enough to spend their time at the elite school, Ouran Academy. The Ouran Host Club was where the school's handsomest boys with too much time on their hands entertained young ladies who also had way too much time on their hands. It was often considered to be an elegant playground for the super-rich and beautiful...
...which was not exactly where honor student Haruhi Fujioka wanted to be at this particular moment, judging by how said student was trying to get as far away as possible from the group of bishonen.
"This is nuts..." Fujioka muttered. "Why does this school have a Host Club?"
"Now this is something you don't see every day," the twins spoke in tandem. "A boy visiting our Host Club."
"Hikaru, Kaoru, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this young man in your class?" the boy with glasses (and cold disposition) asked.
"He is, but he's pretty shy," the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru, confirmed. "Just like Takumi-sempai before he joined us, he's not very sociable, so there's a lot we don't know about him."
"Not by choice, I can tell you that much," the wild-looking boy, apparently named Takumi, chimed in.
"How impolite..." the cold man reprimanded.
Takumi's eyes were currently focused on Haruhi, and unseen by anyone else, they had narrowed in concentration. He knew there was something off about the person he was looking at, but it wasn't the normal kind of 'off'... that is, it wasn't the kind that would usually put him on high alert.
"Welcome to the Ouran Host Club," the boy with glasses continued, "Mr. Honor Student."
"What!-?" the white prince piped up (paying no attention to the fact that said honor student was attempting to get back out into the hallway without much success). "You must be Haruhi Fujioka! You're the exceptional honor student we've heard about!"
"How..." Fujioka turned around. "How did you know my name?"
"Why, you're famous," Mr. Glasses elaborated. "After all, it's not every day a commoner gains entrance into our academy. You must be quite audacious indeed to work your way into this school as an honor student, Mr. Fujioka."
"Thanks... I guess..." Fujioka deadpanned, left eyebrow twitching in annoyance.
"You're quite welcome!" the white prince accepted, somehow misinterpreting Fujioka's sarcasm as an honest offer of gratitude while extending an arm around the honor student's shoulders. "See, you're a hero to other poor people, Fujioka! You've shown the world that even a poor person can excel at an elite, private academy!"
Fujioka managed to wriggle out of the prince's arm, sliding sideways to the left.
"It must be hard for you, constantly looked down upon by others," the prince continued, not taken aback by this show of odd behavior (though Fujioka would argue that it would be the other way around, and that he was taking this whole "poor" thing a little too far). "Spurned... neglected... but that doesn't matter now. Long live the poor!"
"And thus that quote shall enter the great annals of history," Takumi snarked, "right behind, 'Let them eat cake.'"
"Welcome, you poor man, to our world..." the prince jubilantly shouted, either ignoring or not hearing Takumi's remark, "...of beauty!"
Unfortunately for him, Fujioka had brushed him off entirely. "I'm outta here," the honor student simply announced, heading for the door.
"Hey!" a high-pitched voice cried out; it was the little blonde boy, who, in that moment, had glomped onto Fujioka's arm.
"Come back here, Haru-chan!" the boy demanded, dragging the honor student back into the main area of the room. "You must be like a superhero or something cool like that!" (Takumi sniggered.)
"I'm not a hero," Fujioka deadpanned. "I'm an honor student. There's a difference."
A pause.
"AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING 'HARU-CHAN!-?-!-?'" Fujioka yelled, the sheer force of the bellowing driving the little boy to the floor.
"You know," the white prince mused from the sidelines, "I never imagined that Fujioka the scholar would be so openly gay."
"Oh, please..." Takumi tonelessly pleaded.
"So, tell me what kind of guys you're into," the prince offered, somehow making sparkles dance off his index finger as he flexed it. "The strong, silent type?-" (gesturing towards the tall stoic;) "-the boy lolita?-" (the blonde child;) "-the mischievous type?-" (the red-haired twins;) "-the cool type, perhaps?-" (the cold, bespectacled man;) "-or the wild charm?" (Takumi, naturally.)
"I..." Fujioka sputtered, backing away. "Uh... I... it's not like that! I was just looking for a place to study!"
"Or maybe..." the prince came in for the finishing blow, caressing his hand under Fujioka's chin, "...you're into a guy like me? Whaddya say?"
This was the blow that normally conquered even the frostiest maiden's heart. All it did this time was cause Fujioka to jump backwards... right into a pedestal that played host to a rather large and expensive-looking vase. Said vase was bumped off; as if in slow motion, Fujioka reached out to catch it by the handle...
*SMASH!*
...only to fall painfully short.
"Awww..." the twins moped, showing up on either side of Fujioka.
"We were going to feature that Renaissance vase at an upcoming school auction," the deeper-voiced twin revealed.
"Now you've done it, commoner," the higher-pitched twin elaborated. "The bidding on that vase was supposed to start at 8,000,000 yen!"
"WHAT!-? EIGHT MILL-!-?" Fujioka cried out in despair, attempting to count the cost by finger. "How many thousands is that? Um... uh... I'm gonna have to pay you back..."
"With what money?" the twins asked, shrugging and looking at each other. "You can't even afford a school uniform!"
Fujioka rapidly descended into panic. Takumi, in the meantime, nonchalantly walked over to the pile of china shards that was once a priceless vase. "Can't believe something like this happened again," he muttered, picking up a shard off the floor; Fujioka took notice once he spoke. "So, boss, what are we gonna do? We can't simply let Fujioka off."
"Well, there's a famous saying you may have heard, Fujioka," the prince ominously announced, sitting back down in his regal chair and crossing his legs. "'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.' If you cannot pay us with money, then you must pay with your body. From this point forward, you are the Host Club's dog!"
Takumi's right eyebrow twitched in annoyance while Fujioka sank to the floor, knees first.
'I don't know if I can handle this, mom... I've been captured by a bunch of boys that are calling themselves a host club...'
The Host Club is now open for business.
Sitting around carefully-placed wooden tables, the girls of the high school lavished much of their attention on the boys of the Host Club. Judging by the volume of the clientele, this was something they were quite adept at.
"Umm, Tamaki, what's your favorite song?" one of the girls asked.
"What song?" the white prince, second-year Tamaki Suou, repeated. "The song that reminds me of you, of course."
"I baked you a cake today," another girl piped up. "Would you like to taste it?"
"Only if you'll feed it to me, darling," King of the Host Club Tamaki answered, caressing the girl's chin in his hand. She melted like butter in his warm touch.
"May I have a word with you, Tamaki?" a red-headed student sitting to his left requested. "I've recently heard the Host Club has obtained a mutt without a pedigree."
"Well, I don't know if I'd refer to him like that," Tamaki responded. "I imagine Takumi wouldn't be too happy with me if I did." He soon spotted a certain bespectacled someone approaching with a brown paper bag in their arms. "Speaking of the subject of our conversation, thanks for doing our shopping, little piglet. Did you get everything on our list?"
"What?" Fujioka muttered. "Piglet?" Placing the bag on the table, the honor student soon backed away as Tamaki sifted through its contents. He soon pulled out a bottle of brown powder.
"Wait... what's this?" he asked, staring intently at the bottle's label.
"Just what it looks like: it's coffee," Fujioka deadpanned, not believing that these elitist snobs had never even heard of something like NesCafé.
"I've never seen this brand before. Is this the kind that's already ground?" he dimly asked.
"What are you talking about? It's obviously instant coffee," Fujioka monotonously stated.
"It's... 'instant?'" one of the girls opposite Tamaki inquired.
"Wait... wait! I've heard of this before!" Tamaki cried out. "It's a coffee used by commoners! You just add hot water, stir, then that's it!"
"I didn't know that there was such a thing..." one of the growing crowd of girls observed (much to Fujioka's own annoyance).
"So it's true... poor people don't have time to ground their own coffee," yet another mused.
"The ingenuity of commoners never ceases to amaze," the bespectacled second-year Kyouya Otori marveled.
"100 grams for 300 yen?" the deeper-voiced twin, first-year Hikaru Hiitachin observed.
"That's a lot less than we normally pay," the other twin, first-year Kaoru Hiitachin, pointed out.
"If you're so sensitive, then I'll just exchange it for something else," Fujioka complained.
"No, this is fine," Tamaki announced. "I'm going to give it a try. I will drink this coffee!"
The onlookers, sans (obviously) Fujioka, clapped in admiration.
"Haruhi, come over here and make some of this commoners' coffee, would you?" Tamaki sweetly asked, not noticing the honor student's suffering face.
'I hate all these damn rich people,' Fujioka privately complained.
"Tamaki, I think you're taking this joke too far," the red-haired maiden snarked, putting down her teacup; like Fujioka, she had not joined in on the applause. "I don't believe that your palate will be able to stomach that abomination. Just because your mutt bought it doesn't mean you have to drink it."
Fujioka looked around; she and the redhead were the only ones left at that particular seating arrangement.
"Apologies," she turned around, her eyes closed with a serene smile on her lips. "I must have been talking to myself again."
Fujioka just stared blankly at her.
"Haruhi~" Tamaki's voice rang out; the honor student's head snapped back up.
"I'm coming..." Fujioka muttered.
While Fujioka was busy making the coffee (and Tamaki was making a stir), Takumi was sitting in his own little corner of the club with his usual clientele. He took a short sip of his lukewarm tea.
"Takumi-sempai, there's something I don't quite understand... why don't you like your tea warmer? It's best when it's fresh," a girl with short brown hair wondered.
Second-year Takumi Inui let out a theatrical sigh as he put down his teacup.
"People often say that I look like a wolf given human form," he monologued. "And yet... how ironic, for I have the tongue of a cat." Takumi had what was known as cat's tongue, a condition in which the afflicted was not able to withstand food and drinks that were either too hot or too cold. That meant letting hot items like coffee or heated meals cool down to room temperature, and also meant he couldn't eat chilled items like ice cream without it melting on him first.
"Awww... that's so sad..." another girl with long blonde hair comforted.
"Actually," he whispered, caressing her chin in his hand, "as long as I have you, I won't ever feel sad."
"Aaah... Takumi-sempai..." she withered.
After having a soft chuckle, Hikaru put his teacup down on its designated place. "...so he had this nightmare that made him bolt up right out of bed," he continued.
"Don't tell them that story!" Kaoru pleaded of his brother, a single solitary tear dropping from his eye. "I asked you not to tell anyone that... Why are you so mean to me...?"
"I'm sorry, Kaoru," his brother apologized; the two girls sitting at the twins' table held each other in tense enrapturement. "I didn't mean to upset you," he explained, caressing his brother's head in his hands. "But you were so adorable when it happened, I had to tell them. I'm sorry."
"I forgive you," Kaoru accepted. The girls went giddy with glee.
"What are they so excited about?" Fujioka muttered, passing their table as it so happened.
At that moment, a soft yawn announced the arrival of third-year student Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka, being carried via piggyback by Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka, who was himself a third-year. "Sorry we're late," Honey apologized in a sleepy tone.
"Hi, Honey! We've been waiting for you and Mori to show up," one of a trio of girls greeted; it seemed as though they were the duo's clients.
"Sorry about that," Honey sleepily replied as Mori let him down. "I was waiting for Takashi to finish his kendo meeting, but I fell asleep." He sat down on the couch and rubbed his drowsy eyes a bit. "Looks like I'm still not fully awake yet..." he mumbled. Honey's main preferred tactic was using his natural shota-like cuteness to win his clientele over, despite the fact that he was in actuality the club's oldest member. Thus far, it worked extremely well.
"I still can't believe that Honey-sempai's the oldest out of all of you," Fujioka mentioned to Kyouya, the latter of whom was standing next to the former.
"Looks can often be deceiving," Kyouya explained. "Likewise, Mori-sempai isn't unemotional... that is, once you get to know him."
Fujioka just looked at Kyouya with a blank stare.
"Oh, Haru-chan~!" Honey called out in a sing-song voice; he leapt up to the honor student's arm, sending Fujioka spinning in place. "Do you wanna have some cake with me?"
"Sorry..." Fujioka muttered with dizzy eyes. "I... don't really like cake..."
"Then do you wanna hold my bunny, Usa-chan?" he sweetly asked.
"Not... really into bunnies..." the honor student mumbled.
"Aw... really?" Honey wondered aloud, holding his favorite stuffed animal out for all to see.
Fujioka took a good long look at the stuffed animal in question. After a few moments, Usa-chan inexplicably blushed.
"I guess he is sort of cute, huh?" the honor student sweetly asked, leaving Honey puzzled.
Takumi, who had heard the entire conversation somehow, twisted around in his chair slowly. He took a good look at Fujioka's face, at that happy expression. His eyes narrowed in curiosity; it wasn't, after all, normal for boys their age to be gushing over stuffed animals. Honey was different in that he often acted like a child, but there was no explanation for why Fujioka was acting that way.
"Well... take good care of him, okay?" Honey ordered before leaping back into the waiting arms of his clientele.
"Just in case you haven't noticed, each member of our club caters to a certain desire of our guests," Kyouya exposited. "For your information, Tamaki is number one around here. He's the king: his request rate is seventy percent."
"What is this world coming to?" Fujioka groaned.
"Unless you can pay off your 8,000,000 yen debt," the vice-president of the club continued, "you will work for us as our errand boy, until the day you graduate. You can try to run, but you'll be dogged every step of the way by my family's private security forces. 100 officers tend to add up."
Fujioka immediately paled, imagining the legion of heavily-armed soldiers waiting at Kyouya's beck and call.
"By the by, do you have a passport?" he cheerily asked as if nothing was wrong.
Fujioka was silent.
"Gonna have to work hard if you wanna pay off that debt," Tamaki remarked, inexplicably appearing at Fujioka's side. "Isn't that right... my little nerd?" He then blew into Fujioka's ear, causing the honor student to jump away from him in shock.
"Please don't ever do that again," Fujioka requested, neck-rubbing in the process.
"You need a make-over," Tamaki observed. "Otherwise, no girl is going to look twice at you."
"Well, I'm not trying to do that," Fujioka retorted.
"Are you kidding me?" asked Tamaki incredulously. "That's the most important thing! You have to learn to be a gentleman, and please the ladies. Like me."
"Yeah, well, I don't think it's all that important," Fujioka argued, catching Tamaki off-guard. "I mean, why should I care about labels and appearances anyway? All that really matters is what's on the inside. I don't even know why a host club even exists in this school."
"It's a cruel reality..." Tamaki commented, instantly drawing the honor student's ire. "It's not often that God creates a perfect being like yours truly; one who is both beautiful from the inside-out."
"Excuse me?"
"I understand how you feel: not everyone is as blessed as I am, but you must console yourself. Otherwise, how would you go on living?"
Fujioka immediately sweat-dropped.
"Think about this, Haruhi: why do you suppose they hang up paintings or place sculptures on display in museums? Why, it's to share their beauty with the world, of course! Those born beautiful should..." he droned on.
'What's that word...' Fujioka privately mused. 'I know that there's a word that would be perfect for people like him... but what is it? Why can't I remember?'
By this time, Takumi's guests had left, which meant that he was free to prowl around, and he had just stumbled upon Tamaki's scene-making antics once more. By the looks of things, Tamaki was trying to teach Fujioka gentlemanly etiquette.
'…a pain in the neck...? No, that's not it,' Fujioka continued to muse. 'There's something else that fits him perfectly...'
"...and above all else, Haruhi," Tamaki continued unabated, "you must remember how effective..."
He walked over to Fujioka and shot the student a sideways glance. "...a glance to the side can be."
"I've got it!" Fujioka announced at that moment.
"Oh? Did I strike a-"
"Obnoxious!" Fujioka interrupted. That single word caused Tamaki's entire character design to drain of color on the spot. In a flash, he curled up into a sitting fetal position; the very image of sulking.
"Fujioka... I think you broke him..." Takumi commented.
'Doesn't change the fact that he's a pain in the neck...' Fujioka ruminated.
"I'm sorry, sempai," the honor student apologized aloud. "I think your lesson did strike a small chord with me."
With all the speed of a dashing cheetah, Tamaki's color returned, and he stood up straight like a reed in a pond. "Really? It did?" Tamaki marveled. "Then let me teach you more, my friend!"
"You sure got over that pretty quickly..." Fujioka deadpanned.
"Hey, boss?" Kaoru queried; both he and his brother inexplicably appeared on either side of the honor student. "You can teach him all the basics of hosting..."
"...but he's not going to get very far with the ladies if he doesn't look the part, you know," Hikaru finished. He then walked in front of Fujioka and began to remove the student's glasses. "I mean, he's not exactly Host Club material, but... maybe if we have him ditch the glasses first..." It was at this point, after he had finished removing the glasses that Hikaru stood transfixed, and Kaoru, who came around to have a closer look, soon found himself the same way.
"Hey! I need those!" Fujioka complained. "I used to have contacts, but I lost them on the first day of school!"
The twins weren't the only ones that stood there just staring at the honor student: Kyouya, Mori, Honey, and Takumi were left gazing as well. Tamaki managed to pry the twins apart to get a better look. Suffice to say, he fell under the same spell.
"Hikaru. Kaoru," he ordered, snapping his fingers.
"Got it!" they chorused. They took one of Fujioka's arms in their own and dashed out of the club room. The doors then comically slammed shut.
"Kyouya! My hair stylist!" he continued; Kyouya immediately began punching a number into his little black cellphone.
"Mori-sempai, go to the eye doctor and get him some contact lenses!" Mori rushed off without another word.
"Takumi! Go set up a changing area!"
"On it!" Takumi affirmed, dashing out of the club room himself.
"What about me, Tama-chan?" Honey chirped happily.
"Honey-sempai..." Tamaki stuttered, clearly at a loss.
"Yes, sir!"
"You... go have some cake!" Tamaki ordered lamely. Honey immediately retreated to a table, lamenting the situation with his favorite bunny while eating cake gloomily.
"Here!" the twins ordered; after Takumi had finished setting up the changing area with impressive speed, the two plus Fujioka immediately drew the curtains, blocking the trio from view. "Change into this uniform!"
"What!-?" Fujioka incredulously asked. "Why!-?"
"Don't ask questions! Just do it!"
"No way!" the honor student shouted, all while the twins yelled out the same demand over and over. "Fine, I'll do it, but you two have to get OUT!" On that last word, Fujioka shoved the twins out of the changing area, and they struggled to regain their balance.
Takumi saw the entire thing: it was really strange for a boy to throw two others of the same gender out of a changing area. That sort of behavior wasn't normal, and considering the feeling he got when first looking at Fujioka, and Fujioka's reaction when taking care of Honey's favorite stuffed animal, he believed the pieces were all starting to come together. However, he didn't yet know what the overall picture was just yet, and he daren't say anything in case he was wrong.
"Umm... sempai?" Fujioka's nervous voice came from behind the curtain a little while later.
"What's the matter?" Tamaki probed. "Aren't you done changing yet?"
At that moment, the curtain slid aside to reveal Fujioka's new look.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to keep this uniform? I mean, it's supposed to cost 300,000 yen," Fujioka asked.
"CUTE!" Tamaki cried out, tears of happiness streaming from his eyes. "You're so adorable... you look just like a girl!"
"Tama-chan's right!" Honey chirped, eyes bulging from his sockets. "You really are cute!"
"If we had known that's what you really look like..." Hikaru began.
"...we would have helped you out sooner!" Kaoru finished.
"Hmm..." Takumi mused, apparently admiring Fujioka's new look.
"Who knows? Maybe he'll draw in some customers," Kyouya observed.
"That's just what I was thinking!" Tamaki added after he got over his initial joy spell.
'Yeah, right,' Takumi inwardly snarked.
"It seems as though our errand boy is moving up the ranks!" Tamaki announced. "Starting today, you are an official member of the Host Club!"
Fujioka looked stunned.
"I will personally train you to be a first-rate host," Tamaki continued. "If you can get 100 customers to request your services, we will completely forget about your 8,000,000 yen debt."
"Me... a host...?" Fujioka... no, Haruhi akwardly wondered.
Haruhi is now also available for business.
"So, Haruhi," one of the honor student's new customers, a fair brown-haired girl, inquired, "do you have any hobbies?"
"I'm curious," another with longer, chocolate-brown hair spoke up, "what kind of products do you use on your skin?"
"It's so pretty!" yet another girl, this time with fine black hair spoke up.
'I can't do this anymore...' Haruhi furiously thought, eyebrows alternately twitching. 'I have no idea what I'm supposed to do!'
"So why did you join the Host Club, Haruhi?" all three asked simultaneously, making the honor student sweat even more.
'No, all I have to do is get a hundred clients to request me, then they'll waive the debt completely!' Haruhi realized. 'If there was a perfect time to use this story, then this is it.'
While Haruhi launched into a monologue, the small party was being unknowingly being eavesdropped by Tamaki and the twins. Takumi wasn't with the three boys; he was so good at eavesdropping that no one knew that he was unless he outright said it.
"I see," the girl with chocolate hair observed once Haruhi had finished. "So your mother passed away from sickness a little over ten years ago... Who does the chores around the house?"
"I usually do them myself," the honor student answered. "My mother taught me a lot of things, especially how to cook. When she went to the hospital, she left me all kinds of recepies to try out. I had a lot of fun making each dish, especially when they turned out well. And it also made me happy to see my dad try them. Sure, I've had a hard childhood, but... Dad and I have managed to make it through okay."
"Um..."
"Is it alright..."
"...if we request your services next time as well?"
"Yeah," Haruhi confirmed. "I'd really appreciate it if you do that, ladies."
Tamaki's little eavesdropping party had by that point gained Kyouya as a member.
"Why is he so popular?" the king asked.
"He must be a natural," Kyouya answered.
"Then we don't need to train him," the twins observed.
"Tamaki, have you forgotten about me?" the red-haired compainion asked of him.
"Oh, dear, my apologies, princess," Tamaki apologized. "I'm just a little concerned about our newest host."
"Well, that's obvious," she responded. "You sure have been keeping an eye on him."
"It's my responsibility to," Tamaki explained. "After all, I'm training him to be a gentleman like me." He then snapped his fingers. "Haruhi!" he commanded. "Come here for a moment."
"What's up?" the honor student asked, approaching Tamaki's table.
"I'd like you to meet someone," he answered, gesturing to the guest sitting on his other side. "This is my regular guest, princess Ayanakouji."
'The girl from earlier...' Haruhi realized, staring at her. "It's a pleasure to meet you," the honor student smiled.
Tamaki's eyes widened. Then, he glomped onto the student's head, twirling them about with a beet-red face. "That was so cute!" he cried, gibbering in his happiness.
"MORI-SEMPAI!" Haruhi screamed. "HELP ME!-!-!"
With a glint in his eye, Mori dashed in, separating the two. He held Haruhi up quite easily, as though the honor student weighed less than a boy normally should. Of course, Takumi saw this as well. He knew from experience that males were not that easily lifted up. For Mori to do so handily was very unusual. Takumi felt as though he had a rough explanation, but decided to hold back. This time, however, he was certain he was right. He just wanted to screw with the others first.
It was then that Takumi saw the look on Ayanakouji's face. She looked like she was livid, and she wouldn't take it sitting down. It was then that he realized.
That girl would be trouble.
"Wait... what happened to my bag?" Haruhi wondered after club activities had ended. Taking a look out the window, the honor student saw said bag and materials strewn in the pond that lay in the courtyard the music room overlooked. "Are you kidding me? How did that happen? *sigh* I didn't think that there were bullies in this school..."
Haruhi immediately tore out of the room and headed down the hallway, but soon stopped; the honor student had passed Ayanakouji.
"You again," she greeted in a voice dripping with disdain. "I bet you love Tamaki making you over and fawning over you. It's useless, though. You're only a common mongrel." She then walked off.
As she walked off, Ayanakouji felt so elated that she decided to show a flash of her true self emerge from the facade that was her face. It lasted a brief moment, not long enough for anyone to really get a look at it.
...or so she thought. In reality, an eavesdropper had hidden himself so well that not even she had noticed his presence. His pale green eyes kept watching her as she headed down, having noticed that flash as if it had been revealed in slow motion. The usual sense of unease came over him as he watched, and that only meant one thing: she was one of them.
He was right. That girl was trouble.
"It must have been terrible," Ayanakouji muttered as she sipped her tea, Haruhi sitting on her opposite. "I can't imagine what I'd do if someone tossed my bag out a window." In private, Ayanakouji fumed that her plan to humiliate the honor student had failed utterly. Even worse, the incident had brought Haruhi and Tamaki closer together.
'Why did she request my services when it's obvious that she doesn't like me?' Haruhi wondered. 'Something stinks, and I don't think it's me.'
"And you actually made Tamaki search that dirty little pond with you," Ayanakouji continued. "How astonishing. You do realize that he's a blueblood, and not a commoner like you? The only reason he's paying attention to you is because he's trying to turn you into a gentleman. Don't start thinking he cares about you just because he dotes on you."
"...now I get it," Haruhi uttered in a low voice. "You're jealous of me."
Ayanakouji went silent, looking at Haruhi with a wild look in her eyes. She then got up and pulled the honor student on top of her, knocking over the table and sliverware with a great crash. Ayanakouji screamed. "Haruhi! Leave me alone!" she cried hysterically. "Someone! Help! He just attacked me!" Haruhi just looked stunned. "Someone teach this commoner mutt a lesson!"
A splash of water put an end to the histrionics. Ayanakouji looked up dimly at the man holding the now-empty pitcher of water over her head. Haruhi, also dripping wet, looked up, and saw Takumi glaring daggers at the woman on the floor. If his eyes looked feral before, they were absolutely predatorial now, pressed into an unnerving squint that made it plain to the both of them that he wished nothing but death on the fallen princess.
"I'm disappointed in you," Tamaki told Ayanakouji as he lifted her off the floor. "You threw his bag into the pond, didn't you?"
"You don't know that!" Ayanakouji cried out. "Where's your proof!-?"
"I saw you do it," Takumi plainly stated. "As soon as I saw Tamaki again, I told him just what you had done."
"And you believe his word over mine!-?" she hysterically demanded.
"Takumi is one of my closest friends," Tamaki explained. "We trust each other implicitly. If he says you did it, then you did it. Besides, Haruhi is not the kind of person to just lash out at another customer."
Ayanakouji fell silent.
"You may be beautiful," Tamaki continued, "but I'm afraid that you're a bit too crass for this club, my dear." The tone of voice made it clear that the "princess" was barred from any further visits to the club.
"Tamaki..." she muttered, making her way out of the room. "YOU IDIOT!" She then rushed out of the room with tears in her eyes. Needless to say, her actions didn't win her any more sympathy from the others.
"Now then, what to do about you?" Tamaki wondered directing his ominous aura to Haruhi. "After all, this is your fault."
Everyone was silent.
"Your quota is now one thousand!" he announced, making Haruhi sink deeper into dispair.
"One... thous... and...?" the honor student hopelessly muttered. Tamaki extended a hand to lift Haruhi back up.
"Don't go totally blank on me now," Tamaki cheered. "I've got a lot of expectations from you, my dear rookie."
"I'm sorry," Kyouya piped up, holding a red gift bag in his hand. "This is the only spare uniform we have. Better than a wet one, at the very least."
"Thanks a lot," Haruhi sarcastically offered, heading for the make-shift dressing room. "I'm gonna go change."
It was a short time later that Takumi saw Tamaki approach the dressing room. "Haruhi," Tamaki called, opening the curtain. "I brought you some tow-"
Takumi had pretty much known why Tamaki fell silent. The silence lasted for a short moment before he closed the curtain again. Any moment now...
"Haruhi..." Tamaki tentatively asked. "You're a... girl...?"
"Biologically speaking, yeah," she answered from behind the curtain.
Yeah, that did it. The admission served as final proof to a question whose answer Takumi had pretty much already figured out. The bunny, her insistance on privacy while changing, the ease with which Mori had lifted her... it all made perfect sense. And from what he could tell, only Tamaki hadn't figured it out until now. That theory was soon proven correct when Haruhi stepped out looking just as cute in the female uniform as in the male uniform. He effectively wigged out.
"Listen, sempai," she monologued, "I don't really care whether you recognize me as a boy or a girl. In my opinion, it's more important for a person to be recognized for who they are rather than what sex they are."
"Well, isn't this an interesting development?" Kyouya snarkily asked, feigning ignorance. Takumi didn't buy that line one bit, considering that he had given Haruhi a girl's uniform. It seemed much more likely to him that the local Shadow King of the club had known from the very beginning. He hadn't delayed in dragging the rest of the club along for the ride, but most of them figured it out along the way, from the way the twins were looking at each other.
"You know, sempai, I thought you were pretty cool earlier," Haruhi told Tamaki. He immediately stopped wigging and started blushing furiously.
Kyouya turned to Takumi. "You know, I think that might be a sign of love at first sight," he commented.
"I don't know, Kyouya," Takumi countered. "I think that's more from embarassement than attraction."
"Being a host and getting fussed over by other girls may not be so bad," Haruhi mused turning her back on the white prince. "I wonder how I can pull it off... I've got it! I'll just call everyone 'dude' and 'bro' now!" She then let out a sincere laugh.
Ayanakouji raced down the halls, humiliated by the events that had just transpired. How dare that commoner mutt gain enough sympathy to get her kicked out! It was... it was... she was so angry that she couldn't finish a coherent thought.
She stopped halfway down an empty hallway to catch her breath... to think straight. Should she, of all people, lie down and take this kind of punishment? No! She was going to let them know just how angry she was. She hadn't wanted to do it, since being a guest of theirs had helped her gather some useful information. Now, though, she didn't mind in the slightest. She would follow the orders that were originally given to her. One by one, she'd hunt down those who had humiliated her...
"...and you're first on my list, Haruhi Fujioka..." she whispered menacingly to thin air. Flower-like markings danced across her face, the pupils in her eyes glowing a menacing white...
Open your eyes for the next Faiz...
"What's going...?"
"Haruhi Fujioka... you're an eyesore..."
"An Orphenoch."
"They claim to be the next stage in human evolution."
"That... but that's...!"
"Henshin."
Next: 555 Faces, One Truth
A/N: This story's been in my head for a while now, and it boggles my mind that a crossover between Ouran and Kamen Rider hasn't occurred yet! If you're wondering where the action is, you'll have to wait for next time.