.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fanfic is a continuation of the Ouran High School Host Club fanfic, "The Switch," by starsofcrystal. If you want to catch up with the story, please read her submission first.

For more information on her, check out her Tumblr, Ao3 and accounts under the same name.

This story has been continued with her permission, and various parts are her ideas, or based on them. All credit goes to her for inspiring me to do this.

Credit also goes to Funimation for the dubbed version of the anime, from which some dialogue has been taken.

.

A BEAUTIFUL LIE

a sequel to starsofcrystal's "The Switch"

Snodin

.

He was a dead man. Or woman, depending on who you'd ask.

All Haruka Akiyama ever wanted to do was to help his sister Mari. After she had recently come out as transgender, both twins would know that life was going to get harder, and hardships were going to start at high school. And sure enough, it only took his sister a few days at Ouran to want to back out due to the harsh bullying of the posh, upperclass brats who saw her as a mere insect in their perfect little worlds. Both Haruka and Mari were born male, and yet they had some feminine features such as soft, thin frames, gentle high-pitched voices, and big captivating eyes; either one of them could pass as a girl, should they choose to. For that reason, and that reason only, did Haruka sign up to take his sister's place at Ouran.

And then, they came along. The Host Club.

Well to be fair, Kaoru happened first, then the Host Club. Kaoru was a twin too, of the Hitachiin family, and both he and his brother were part of an elite group of misfit rich kids all banned together to host tea parties, or some silly crap like that, and they called themselves "hosts" for the girls that volunteered to be swooned by them. So naturally, when Kaoru saw a new pretty face in school, he just had to drag "Mari" into his little circle of friends. And it worked out. At first.

What happened next should have come as a surprise to no one, and yet it caught Haruka completely off guard: Kaoru started to show signs of affection toward him. After all, Kaoru- as far as everyone knew- was a straight guy, and Haruka, posed as Mari, seemed like a normal and beautiful girl. It seemed natural, didn't it? And yet, it wasn't. It was all based on a lie. Kaoru Hitachiin was falling head over heels for a boy. And no one's told him yet.

Yep. Haruka Akiyama was a dead man.

..

..

Days felt like weeks as I've tried to erase the beach house from my memories, to no avail of course. Getting through classes wasn't so much a problem, but having to sit through Host Club hours felt torturous. There's somewhat of an unwritten rule, you see, that once you've signed up for the club then there's no backing out. No matter how many times I've tried to skip it, someone- either Tamaki, Haruhi, or some fangirl- would drag me back there.

Each day grew more worrisome, as I did everything in my power to not make eye contact with the Hitachiin twins. And I could only imagine how Kaoru felt; he was the one who was being forced to act like nothing happened, while pretending to flirt with his brother Hikaru. The two of them, I swear, gave Oscar-worthy performances; you'd never know if they were having troubles outside the club, they were so good at faking their smiles and giddiness. I envied them for that.

"Mari-chan," peeped a childlike voice, as I was snapped back to reality. "Are you gonna eat that piece of cake?"

I turned from my seat, and there was Honey-Senpai. He was the eldest of the Hosts, and yet you'd never know it by looking at him. I was starting to wonder if the sweets they gave out had some magical age-reversing properties.

"No," I said politely. "Go ahead, Honey-Senpai."

"Thanks!" he cheered, right before he nearly swallowed the piece whole. Poor strawberry shortcake, rest in peace. He was soon joined by three of his fangirls who offered him even more sweets and started to ask him which cake flavor was his favorite. That one conversation alone gave me diabetes.

"Honey-Senpai," said a concerned Haruhi as she approached the elder teen's table with a tray of tea, "you really shouldn't eat so much sweets all the time. You're going to get a cavity."

The boy, shoveling up more and more sugar-filled goodness into his mouth, smiled in reply. "Don't worry, Haru-chan, I always brush my teeth."

And then came the last chew. The chew heard 'round the world. With one small whimper from Honey-Senpai, the entire room turned at attention. The boy was palming the right side of his cheek; something was wrong.

"Uh... Honey-Senpai?" peeped a worried Haruhi. "...Is it...?"

"It's nothing," he quickly denied. But that wasn't going to stop the twins and even Mori-Senpai from carefully examining his mouth. Sure enough, Mori confirmed it: a cavity.

"Tamaki," said the stoic Mori to the club's leader.

Then the next thing I heard was Tamaki announcing to the whole room, "Until Hone-Senpai gets over his cavity, I'm afraid he can't have sweets. Therefore, we'll be supportive and that you kindly refrain from eating snacks in the clubroom until this ordeal is over."

What happened next came straight from a Shakespearean tragedy; Honey-Senpai, despite his teary eyes and pitiful begging, watched in horror as his beloved cousin Mori carried the last of the cakes out of the room. "Please!" the boy wailed, "I'll do anything! Please don't take away my cake!"

"No more cake," said Mori.

Honey-Senpai howled like a mournful wolf, as both his cakes and sanity went flying out of sight. Truth be told, I felt sorry for the little guy, but there was nothing me or anyone could do about it.

Later, I heard from Haruhi that Mori-Senpai confiscated his cousin's luggage bag, knowing he had stacks and stacks of sweets in it. I can only imagine how crushed the little guy was at that moment. Suddenly, my own life didn't seem so rough.

..

Later, back home, I reported the news of the day to my sister in our shared bedroom, like always. "Boy, you should have been there," I chuckled softly as I sat up in my bed next to my twin. "Renge was narrating the whole thing like it was a soap opera, and all the other girls ate it right up."

Mari giggled, "Hey, maybe you and I can switch places once in a while, just so I can get to know these guys a lot more."

"That's a thought," I said as I shuffled my feet. "...But there's one guy you need to watch out for: Kaoru Hitachiin."

"Why? Is he a creeper?"

"No... not really. In fact, he's really nice."

"So, then what's the big deal?"

"Well..." I paused to think of the right words to say. The sad truth was, I didn't know exactly how I felt about the guy. I knew he meant well, and that he was just trying to be a gentleman; but the way he looked at me and spoke my name, it gave me chills. "He's just... different."

"Different, how?" Mari pressed.

I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as I pulled up my legs and hugged them against my chest. "Well... You remember the beach house story? How he gave me my first kiss escept not really?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, later that night... he kissed me for real."

My sister's eyes were big enough to roll out of her head when she heard this. I thought for sure she'd be horrified, or even disgusted. But her tone was anything but; "Are you kidding me?" she cheered.

I glanced at her darkly. "You're not actually cool with this, are you?"

With her face beaming like a car headlight, she grinned, "My brother got his first kiss by one of the hottest guys in Ouran High! Gawd, I'm really starting to regret switching places with you!"

"Mari! He's a GUY."

"I know! This is amazing!" I swear, she had stars in her eyes.

"It's amazingly creepy!"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Then she gasped. "Did you tell mom and dad yet?"

"HELL NO! I don't need the whole world to know that I kissed a guy on the lips at a ritzy beach house!" My stomach turned as I doubled over in nausea. "Why did I open my big mouth?"

"To me, or to him?"

"STOP IT!"

Mari chuckled impishly. But then she calmed down to rub my back gently. "Don't sweat it, brother. Just tell him you're not into him and I'm sure he'll back off."

"I gotta see him every day. In every class. And in that damn host club." I started to shiver.

"...Hey, calm down Haruka-chan. If it's that bad, maybe I should-"

"No," I shot up in protest. "I can't bear the thought of that perv eyeballing you! I'll talk to him, I promise."

"Okay," she nodded. "Just let me know if things get weird between you too."

I grumbled beneath my breath; how could things possibly get any weirder between us, I wondered?

..

..

Day Two of Honey-Senpai's toothache didn't fair any better than the first. Initially, he tried to... pardon the wording... sweet-talk his cousin into having just a tiny piece of cake, assuring him that his toothache had gone down. Mori replied by shoving a full popsicle in his mouth, triggering a pain that made the boy's face flush blue.

Next he tried to get his own fangirls into sharing some cake with them, but much to his surprise they weren't as gullible as he had thought. They turned tail and ran, declaring, "We're so sorry Honey, but it's for your own good!"

For his third attempt, he went to the one person whose heart bled rivers: Haruhi. Giving her the puppy dog eyes and asking her why God hated him so much was enough to coax her into pulling something out of her pocket.

"Is it a snack?" he said with beaming eyes.

"Yeah," she smiled, as she put the small object in his hand. But as he examined it, he realized that she was giving him a small bar of Kyoto kelp. "It's the same color as chocolate," she explained. He froze stiff and turned white in reply.

Honey-Senpai went on to charm more and more guests for candy and cake, but to no avail. After nearly half an hour of unsuccessful coaxing, he found a corner to crawl into, assumed the fetal position, and cried softly. This antic caused most of the other people in the room to take notice, including some of the hosts. Mori sighed, but remained calm.

Meanwhile, my eyes wandered off and stopped at the doors and noticed that they were ajar. At last, a thought crossed my mind, a way out! I figured, everyone else was too focused on comforting Honey-Senpai, that I could just sneak off and rid myself of these wackos for a while. The tension was getting to be too much, I just had to escape! But as I crept closer and closer to the door, I failed to notice a shadow lurking behind me...

I made it through the door and into the hallway when a small voice from behind stopped me: "Mari-chan?" My skin shivered; I knew that voice. Only one other person called me that, and he was currently going through cake withdrawl. I turned around to face Kaoru. Seeing that pathetic, forlorn look in his eyes made me gulp.

"W...what do you want?" I said softly.

He bravely stepped forward. "I know you're trying to avoid me right now, but I really wish you wouldn't."

I took one step back. "Kaoru..."

"I know I overstepped my boundaries that night, and I'm really, truly sorry for that," he said quickly. "But I just want you to know, I meant no harm. I... I really don't know what came over me. I guess I was just taken by your... Mm," he hummed, glancing away in shame and guilt. "I just want us to be friends again. That's all."

"Kaoru," I said again, but for some reason all my other words were lost. I cursed myself inwardly, knowing that with each passing second I was only hurting him more. Finally, I dug deep and managed to pull something out: "It's not what you think!"

"Huh?" he blinked, his eyes beaming with curiosity.

"Uhh..." I uttered. Damn, if only my mind had subtitles!

"What do you mean? What's not what I think?"

"I... I'm not..."

The door flew open, and out popped the other Hitachiin boy.

"I'M LEAVING!" And with a poof, I was gone. (Actually, I ran so fast you could hardly see me, but you get the idea.)

Hikaru joined his brother's side, the two of them looking equally perplexed.

"What was that about?" asked the elder.

"I have no idea," frowned the younger.

Hikaru eyed his brother, who was looking alightly paler than himself. "Are you alright, Kao? You've been looking like someone knocked the wind out of you lately."

Softly, the younger twin replied, "I feel like she did."

Hikaru could only frown in concern.

..

"You have to tell him."

I know I didn't just hear that. In fact, I bursted out laughing, surprising the both me and my sister. I'm not sure if the entire household heard it, but it's very likely it did. After about a minute of howling laughter, I finally composed myself, took deep breaths, and sighed, "...What?"

"You have to tell him the truth, Haruka-chan, that you're a guy."

I blinked. I blinked again. My mouth went crooked. Was she being serious? "Are you being serious right now?" I said aloud.

Mari, in a very unusual serious manner, gave me a nod. "It's not fair to him. He thinks you're avoiding him for the wrong reasons."

"Right," I nodded sarcastically. "I'll just walk up to him, pull up my skirt and say, 'Surprise, sucka!' And he'll be all like, 'Ah-ha-ha, you got me! Good one, bro!' And we'll all live happily ever after. The end." I threw myself onto the bed, lying face-up at the blank ceiling, and let out a big melencholy sigh.

I saw my sister's face loom over mine. "Are you gonna keep it a secret all the way up to your wedding day?"

"That's not funny, sis."

"I'm not joking. Are you?"

I palmed my eyes. "I'm not marrying the guy! Ugh! I barely even know him."

"But you obviously care about him enough to worry about his feelings..."

"If I tell him, he'll not only hate me, he'll tell the whole school! My life will be ruined forever- No, YOUR life will be ruined forever! They all think I'm you, remember?"

My sister shrugged. "I'm turning into a girl anyway, so what's the problem here?"

I knew right then that she was only half serious, that deep down she too was scared. But she wanted me to be happy- for Kaoru to be happy. And, I'd admit, she was right about me being honest to at least the one person who wanted to be my friend.

"You're the second person this week to tell me that."

"Who else said it?"

"Haruhi."

"Well, we girls are geniuses." She bopped my nose.

I groaned. I didn't care about whether girls were geniuses or not, I just wanted to know what was the least painful way to die.

..

..

The following day, I walked into the music room- sorry, the "host clubroom"- to find my new friends all gathered around Honey-Senpai and Mori-Senpai as they sat up on the cold, rose-colored floor. I could tell by the looks of their faces that something big had gone down. Honey-Senpai was cuddling with his cousin, mumbling something about brushing his teeth and that he loved "Takashi."

Curious, I approached the group and boldly asked, "What just happened?"

"Oh!" grinned Hikaru. "You just missed all the action!"

I glanced at the tallest of the hosts, whose face was slightly bruised. "Mori-Senpai? Are you alright?"

"Allow me to explain," said Kyoya-Senpai, the club's vice-president. "Mori-Senpai blamed himself for Honey-Senpai's predicament; he had forgotten to remind Honey-Senpai to brush his teeth every night, and felt badly enough to want to be punished for it."

"Basically," Hikaru added, "he let Honey-Senpai lose his temper, and he hit him."

"Oh," I gasped. "...But... everything's okay now?"

"Yeah," smiled the Twins. "Honey-Senpai understands now that Mori-Senpai meant well," said Hikaru. "And," Koru added, "he promised him he'll take better care of his teeth."

I then glanced over at Tamaki, who for some reason was rubbing his left hand wrist. "...And what's with you?"

"Oh," blushed Tamaki in embarassment, "let's just say Honey-Senpai confused my arm for a piece of candy."

"Huh..." I mused. "...All of this, because of a toothache."

"It's more than that," Tamaki retorted; "this is about Mori-Senpai's devotion to his cousin. You see they've always been close, and Mori-Senpai feels that he has an obligation to take care of Honey-Senpai."

"Because he's bigger?" I blinked.

"Because they're family," smiled Tamaki sincerely.

As I watched the two cousins embrace, I realized something: the Host Club was more than just a circle of dim-witted friends, it was like a family. And they've welcomed me into it with open arms, while I hadn't yet returned the favor. It compelled me to step forward and address the group: "Guys?" They turned to me in silent curiosity. "I think I'm starting to get why this club is so important to everyone. You're all so close, and... and, I've only been close to one person my whole life. I, I think I'm ready to take the next step."

"What're you saying, Mari?" blinked Haruhi.

I gave her a big smile, which carried on to the whole club. "I'd like you all to meet my sister."

.

TBC