Blah Blah Blah: Well, a Kyoya Fanfic was requested, so I thought I'd dig out an old idea and flesh it out more and vwala! Here's what came up! I decided to go with a mix of both the anime and the live-action since when I originally started this story, the live-action version had just been released. As you can see by the cover, I settled on modeling her off of Luka since I wanted her to be a singer with dyed hair, and I think Luka is sometimes underappreciated (love Miku, but c'mon guys! Where's Luka's love?). Expect some rewritten episodes, but not too many. Don't want it to be boring, right?(; Happy reading~

—1—
「In Which Tyler Meets the Host Club」

I'd admit it: I zone out when it comes to music. That was why mom used to always yell at me when I had headphones in—I literally ignored everything else and ended up ramming into things. That being said, this wasn't the first time I'd ran into someone. In fact, the last time I rammed into a stranger, it was on a school trip. The song had just reached the bridge—my favorite part—and when I went to sway into the melody, bam. Right in the shoulder of some vendor trying to sell me lotion.

Even though he was irritated, his reaction was better than the upperclassmen at Ouran High School.

"Are you going to apologize or not?" he barked, leering down at me. He was almost an entire foot taller than me, auburn hair down to his shoulders. His gray eyes were narrowed, angry and impatient.

I bit my lip, reminding myself that I couldn't cause any trouble, and held up my hands, trying to seem as innocent as possible. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see—I mean—I was a little distracted," I tried, motioning to the headphone cord dangling against my t-shirt.

The guy next to him leaned in. "Hey, Toru, I think that's the American transfer," he said, eyeing me. "You know, that one that got in on a music scholarship?"

He snickered. "Oh? That explains the street clothes."

My fist twitched, and I bit down harder on my lip to keep from snapping back, looking down at my green long-sleeve to distract myself. It was a nice pastel color in my opinion, going well with the white capris I had dug from my suitcase this morning. The move here had been abrupt and unplanned, so I hadn't been able to pack as much as I wanted—just a suitcase full of clothes to tie myself over until Uncle Wes could make the arrangements to get the rest of our things. Honestly, people were just lucky I found something that looked decent, let alone actually matched. Instead of defending myself, though, I thought it'd be better if I just kept my mouth shut. Maybe if I did, he'd let me go without too much of a scene.

After all, the only reason I was able to go to a good school at all was because of my aunt and uncle. It'd be awful to pay them back by getting suspended.

Auburn haired guy, Toru or whatever, opened his mouth, but a creepy grin spread across his friend's face. Before he could say anything, his friend tugged on his arm, whispering something in his ear.

A pit of dread settled in my stomach.

"How about you play me a song then?" he said, puffing out his chest in that alpha-male way. "To make up for running into me."

I almost shuddered. The offer itself wouldn't have been bad, but the disturbing grin on his friend's face made me wonder what he whispered, and then I remembered that there weren't any cameras in the classrooms, only in the halls.

Oh, God, what were they planning?

Instead of sticking around to find out, I backtracked, spun on my heel, and made a mad dash for the red-carpeted stairs. I could hear the upperclassmen behind me, shouting profanities as they followed.

I didn't know where I was going—it was only my second day, dammit!—but before I stopped and prepared myself for defeat, I saw a pair of golden, double doors. Salvation! Picking up the pace, I rushed in, slamming the door behind me loudly.

"Welcome~" came a chorus of voices, breaking my concentration.

I squeaked and turned around so fast, I was surprised I didn't give myself whiplash.

Seven guys were standing behind me. The one in the middle was smiling warmly at me, hand outstretched as if he was waiting for me to take it. It took me a moment to realize this was Tamaki Suoh, the famous prince of Ouran. Even after only two days here, I had heard so much about him that I felt like I had already met him. His blond hair was neat, accenting his purple eyes, and the school uniform made him look taller, but softer in a way.

On his left were a pair of identical twins—they looked exactly alike except for the direction they parted their orange hair. There were rumors of a pair of mischievous twins going around the school, but I couldn't be sure these two were them since the only thing I had heard about them was that they tended to stick to themselves, playing pranks and jokes on the teachers sometimes.

A little blond boy on the other side of the twins grinned widely at me, distracting me from staring too hard at the twins, but the tall guy behind him merely raised an eyebrow. I had no idea who they were. At all.

On Tamaki's other side, there was another boy. He was shorter than the rest—hell, he was even shorter than me a little—with short brown hair that matched his eyes. I noticed that he looked kind of out of place, though, his expression almost uncomfortable.

Completely away from the scene, leaning against a table without a care in the world, was the last guy. His black hair was hanging in front of his glasses, framing his silver eyes as he jotted down something on his clipboard. I recognized him immediately from my class: Kyoya Ootori, Tamaki's right-hand man. Like Tamaki, Kyoya was talked about so much that it felt like we had already met despite the fact that I hadn't even talked to either of them yet. Hell, I didn't even think I had looked their way once since starting here.

I blinked, trying to find something to say, but before I even finished the movement, fists pounded on the doors.

"We know you're in there, Commoner! Open the damn door before I break it down!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. As if barking was going to get me to come out.

But as big as the doors looked, they were just for show. With a few hard pushes, they broke apart, barely giving me any time to scramble out of the way. The upperclassmen came bursting through, looking murderous.

Someone cleared their throat behind me. I glanced back to see Tamaki looking quizzically at them. "And who might you be?" he asked politely.

Toru snatched me up roughly. "Didn't mean to bother you guys; just playing a game with our friend."

"Sorry to interrupt you." His friend bowed.

I opened my mouth to protest, readying myself to finally fight back, but someone grabbed my wrist, stopping the guys in their tracks. I looked up at Kyoya, blinking, but he kept his gaze on the guy holding my arm. Surprised, Toru loosened his grip, allowing Kyoya to pull me closer to him.

"Sorry, Toru Kito, senior in class 3-A, but we can't let you take the girl."

He looked uneasy but pushed on. "It's not as if she's anything to you."

Kyoya didn't bother retorting. "Mori-senpai, would you mind escorting these gentlemen out?" he asked, pushing his glasses up.

The really tall one stepped from behind the short blond and effortlessly picked up each senior by the collar, placing them on the other side of the door before shutting it in their faces.

I blinked a few times before looking up at my savior with a smile. "Thanks."

He smirked, releasing my wrist. "Don't mention it." He looked at the crowd of confused faces. "This is the new transfer student, Tyler Reed. She's in my and Tamaki's class."

The boy who looked uncomfortable seemed to relax as he nodded, looking at me. "She was the one I was talking about. You know, the one playing the guitar in the janitor's closet," he said.

I tilted my head, thinking. It was true that during lunch today, instead of sitting in the cafeteria with all of the stares, I had decided to find a small place to sing. The feat had turned out to be harder than I expected since every room I could find was twice the size of my old school's auditorium, so I had settled on a janitor's closet (that was still half the size of a normal gymnasium).

I was sure that the only person who had noticed was a girl, though. Even in the dark, the pitch of the voice that had apologized was too high to be a guy, especially a teenager who had already gone through puberty.

I must have been staring at him for too long because the boy started rubbing his head. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. It just sounded good, and I got ahead of myself."

Now that I thought about it, though, this guy's voice was too high too—almost two or three octaves too high. Not something that would be necessarily impossible, just something that would be really unlikely. Plus, with the way he was holding himself—with his arms crossed like that, straight and stiff—and the softness of his face...

I blinked. He was actually a she.

Huh. Interesting.

Instead of commenting on it, I smiled at her, shrugging. "It's fine. I was just trying to remember what song you came in on."

"Oh, it was a song from an anime," she said. "By EGOIST, maybe?"

"Ah. That one. Yeah, I messed up on the refrain a little."

She finally returned the smile. "I didn't even notice, so don't worry about it."

The twins, who were watching intently as we talked, decided to join in. "What're you talking about, Haruhi?" they asked at the same time.

"I told you guys about it when we got back from lunch," she huffed, annoyed. "That's why I was late, remember? After Sensei had asked me to run that errand for her, I got lost and ended up in the South Wing. When I walked past one of the doors, I heard someone playing a guitar and got distracted."

"No fair~" the shorter blond whined dejectedly, hugging a pink bunny to his chest. "I wanna hear her sing too~"

A sly smile curled the twin's lips simultaneously, giving me a small chill.

"Say, Boss, I agree with Hani-senpai," one started.

"Yeah. I've heard the new girl is such a great musician, the Board of Directors cried when they heard her singing," the other concluded.

Tamaki rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, I've heard that too," he mused. "Alright, someone get this girl a guitar."

My eyes widened, mouth dropping open. "Wait! What if I don't want to? I have something I need to—"

"Too bad," a twin inserted, grinning evilly.

"Because you owe us," the other joined, grin matching.

"Owe you?" I repeated dumbly.

Kyoya smirked a little, pushing up his glasses. "For saving you, of course."

I opened and closed my mouth like a fish out of water, trying to think of some way to retort, but then the tall one casually appeared out of nowhere with a Gibson acoustic guitar and my jaw almost hit the floor.

"Just one song," the twins said at the same time, snickering as if they knew they'd already talked me into it.

I bit my lip. Tempting me with a guitar was so not fair! They were technically right, though—they really did save me back there—and my appointment wasn't for another hour, so it wasn't going to hurt anything... Besides, that guitar was gorgeous, and it'd be a sin not to play it...

I sighed, giving in. "Fine," I agreed, "but only one song, okay?"

The twins nodded enthusiastically.

I blew a piece of hair out of my face and grabbed the guitar, feeling the smooth finish. It was a limited edition, Eric Church hummingbird acoustic guitar, nothing like the Yamaha I managed to borrow from the music room, with a beautiful swirl on the pickguard, and I smiled a little as I tested the sound. All seven of them gathered around as the strings rang out.

"Uh, so, this is called The 100 Events," I mumbled, awkward. I could tell which was worse: the too-enthralled looks on Tamaki and the short blond, or the completely nonplussed look on Kyoya's face. "It's, uh, it's what I was singing when Haruhi stumbled in, so... yeah."

Instead of continuing until I mumbled myself into a hole, I decided to shut my mouth and pluck the first couple of notes. The first stanza came out shakily because I was nervous, but once the song came to me, I smiled and blocked out the rest.

anna sasai na yakusoku wo daiji ni omotte
kimi wa nante shoushinmono na no darou
hisshi na kimi wo mitetara nandaka
hara ga tatteta kotode sae
taishita koto ja nai you na ki ga shita

watashi jibun no koto ga yoku wakarankunatte
kimi wa na no ni noutenki na kao shite
waratta kimi wo mitatara nandaka
zutoo nayandeta koto de sae
taishita koto ja nai you na ki ga shita

donna riyuu wo tsukete mo
setsumei ga tsukanai nokimi no koto

The chords were easier here because it was just a repeat of everything from before, but the notes were higher, so I cleared my throat and let myself get sucked into the song.

kanashii koto ga atte mo
itsumo gaman wo shita
nami wa hito ni misete wa ikenai mono
dana no ni kimi wa nani mo iwazu soba ni ite kureta kara
watashi no me wa chotto dake yurunde shimau

donna riyuu wo tsukete mo
setsumei ga tsukanai no
kimi no koto
dore dake kangaetatte
wakatteru no wa tabun
kirai ja nai tte iu koto

I hadn't realized I had closed my eyes until the last chord faded off. When I opened them, though, the entire group was staring at me in complete bafflement, all of their mouths hanging open except for, of course, Kyoya, who still looked like he was calculating the next expense rather than listening to music.

I mean, damn, even if he doesn't like the way I sound, he has to at least appreciate the clean sound of the beautiful acoustic they let me use, right?

Trying to ignore how alien Kyoya seemed, I looked at the rest. "Er, I know it wasn't that great—" I started, but Tamaki interrupted.

"It's perfect!" he practically shouted, grabbing my hands. "My little songbird, will you do us the honors of performing at our Autumn Ball?"

I blinked. "Huh?"

He continued on his own. "Yes, this is exactly what we need. The new transfer student suddenly debuts for the host club, earning recognition for herself and making new friends in the process! It's beautiful~" He pointed at me dramatically. "You will come here every day after school until Friday, where you'll perform for the annual ball!"

"But—"

"It's actually not a bad idea," Kyoya added, scribbling things down on his clipboard again. "According to my calculations, it'll save the host club a good bit of money—and, of course, showcase your talent to some very important people."

Tamaki's eyes were glowing. "Wonderful~"

While he did some sort of happy dance, Kyoya walked over to me. "I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves," he said. "As I'm sure you've heard, my name is Kyoya Ootori. You could say I'm the manager of this establishment."

"Uh, Tyler Reed," I said uncertainly, as if I didn't know what my name was.

He nodded. "Yes, you're the music student from America. There's a bit of scandal around your arrival here, so you're pretty well-known."

"Scandal?" I echoed, tilting my head.

"Quite. Haruhi being allowed in was one thing; it's an entirely different matter for an American to be flown to Japan specifically to go here." There was an edge of a question in there, but his face was indifferent, like it didn't matter if I answered or not.

"It sounds awesome when you put it that way, but it wasn't anything like that," I said anyway. It wasn't a secret, not really, and it wasn't like it was that big of a deal, so I didn't mind telling him. "My aunt and uncle have been big fans of Japan since I can remember—so much that they took Japanese classes together in college to learn the language—and their instructor invited them on a reunion trip to Okinawa. They were showing off recordings to someone, and, well, here I am."

He looked at me. "I see," he said rather blandly.

I made a face. Kyoya reminded me of the men Uncle Wes had to talk to when I was first asked to come to Ouran: stiff, expressionless, and hard to get along with.

The little boy with big brown eyes came bouncing over to me, a bright smile on his face. "I'm Mitsukuni Haninozuka, but you can call me Hani-senpai."

I tilted my head. "Senpai?"

His grin widened, a giggle escaping. "Oh, I'm a third-year."

I blinked, staring too intensely at him. He barely came up to my side, probably only around 4'10", with short, honey-blond hair. The boys' uniform he was wearing made him even smaller, like a little kid. He even had a stuffed, pink bunny was in his arms, snuggled against his chest! How could he possibly be a year older than me?

"Takashi~" he giggled, looking behind him. "Come say hi to Ty-chan."

The tall one walked over silently despite his size. He had to be taller than six feet, the uniform not doing anything to help his height, so I had to lean back just to see him. His dark hair was a mess of short spikes, showing his dark eyes and the blank look on his face.

"Hello," he said, voice deep.

I cleared my throat. "Uh, hi."

"Takashi Morinozuka," he continues, bowing slightly. "Mori."

"Good job," Hani said, patting his leg. "Now, let's go make sure everything's set~"

Mori gave me a curt nod before following after the bouncing boy.

"And I am Tamaki Suoh, my lovely little songbird," Tamaki said, grabbing my hand and kissing it in one smooth motion.

"Uh, nice to—er—meet you?" Songbird?

Kyoya sighed as he separated me from Tamaki. "She was just attacked by upperclassmen; flirting with her will scare her off."

"But, Mommy," he whined, "she needs to be shown there are kind gentlemen out there."

I chuckled.

"In any case," Kyoya said, disregarding him, "the customers should be arriving soon."

His eyes lit up. "Right you are." Then he was off, doing god-knows-what.

"Out of the way," the twins said, carrying a table.

I side-stepped them, moving towards Kyoya as he pulled out a small tablet, and had a look around. The room was big, almost too big, with a high, rose ceiling. The walls were mainly windowed, showing the courtyard and garden just below. Everyone was bustling to add finishing touches to the little things: making sure the curtains looked just right, straightening the intricate tablecloths, fixing decorations so they were dead center on their pedestals. It was interesting to watch.

"What is this place exactly?" I wondered.

Kyoya continued tapping on the screen as he answered. "It's a Host Club."

"Host Club?"

He nodded absently. "A place where male students entertain those who are bored."

"So those exist, huh? We don't have anything like that in America."

He stopped typing and looked at me. "Then allow me to explain further. Tamaki is the prince, always showering the guests with compliments and etiquette. Hikaru and Kaoru play the 'brotherly love' extension, acting as if they have more than sibling feelings towards one another. Hani-senpai is the innocent loli-shota, Mori-senpai being his silent and collected partner who watches over him."

"What about Haruhi?" I asked. "Is she here for those interested in the same-sex?" I didn't mind it. It was the opposite actually: I was under the impression Japan was a little tight-lipped when it came to same-sex couples, so it would be good to see them moving in a more open-minded light.

Everyone stopped, though, staring in my direction.

"Same—"

"—sex?" the twins repeated, bursting into laughter.

Kyoya pushed his glasses up, amusement tugging at his lips. "You can tell Haruhi is a girl?"

I tilted my head, confused. "And you can't?" I said dubiously.

He shook his head with a small smirk as Haruhi glared at the guys rolling on the floor. "Haruhi is a special case," he explained, definite amusement coloring his voice.

"I'm working here to pay off my debt," she supplied, ignoring the guys on the ground mumbling incoherent words before they sputtered with more laughter. "I accidentally shattered a vase my first day here worth a lot of money"

"How much?" I asked, purely curious.

"Eight million yen."

I whistled. "Geez. I don't think my entire house is worth that much."

"Same." She sighed. "So, there really wasn't much of a choice but to pretend to be a boy and join."

I nodded, catching a glance of the twins still rolling on the ground, and bit my lip. "I'm sorry about the assumption. I just thought—well, I mean, I had hoped—with what I heard about the views—"

Haruhi smiled, cutting off my rambling. "It's fine. After a while, you get used to it. No harm done."

I let out a breath. "I'm sorry."

"Haruhi~" Tamaki sang. "Come help daddy choose the best roses to use for the vases today."

She sighed again, muttering something about 'rich people,' and gave me a little wave before she headed over to him.

Hikaru and Kaoru calmed down as she headed towards Tamaki, wiping tears away as they stood up.

"Nice stumbling there, Commoner-senpai," Hikaru said, leaning on one of my shoulders.

"Yeah. Didn't know you were so tongue-tied," Kaoru snickered, joining Hikaru on my other shoulder.

"I don't like embarrassing people," I muttered. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Hikaru opened his mouth to reply, probably something sarcastic, but Kyoya interrupted him. "Hikaru, Kaoru, I believe there's a few things left for you two to do," he toned. "Guest will be arriving in three minutes."

"Gotcha, Kyoya-senpai," Kaoru said, still grinning.

Hikaru snorted. "Yeah, we'll get right on it."

They helped Tamaki and Haruhi set up, teasing the prince host about something, and I looked at Kyoya.

"Thanks," I said.

He didn't glance up from his work. "For what?"

"For helping."

He looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"You said that thing about stuff needing to be done just so Hikaru and Kaoru would stop making fun of me, didn't you? Same with Tamaki—just when I was getting uncomfortable, you sidetracked him so I could have some space."

"I can assure you that my only interest is ensuring this place is perfect for our guests," he said, pushing his glasses up. "My intentions weren't to help you."

I pursed my lips, narrowing my eyes at him as he returned my look indifferently.

I could've sworn...

My phone vibrated, startling me a little, and I broke away from Kyoya to glance at it. When I saw the caller, I groaned. Kyoya raised an eyebrow, interested, but I quickly answered it and hid in the dressing rooms for privacy. "Hello?"

"Hello. Is this Ms. Reed?"

I nodded but realized they couldn't see. "Yes, this is she."

"Ah, good afternoon, Ms. Reed. My name is Dr. Higurashi. Your uncle asked me to call and remind you of our appointment today at—"

"Yes, I know. I'm on my way there now."

"Oh? Good! I'll see you in a few minutes then."

I ended the call, sighing, and headed out.

"I have to go," I told Kyoya, trying to keep the tension from my voice.

Either he didn't hear any or he ignored it. "Remember you have to be here tomorrow after school as well," he said simply, continuing his tapping.

"I know," I said. "I won't forget."

After a little nod to the rest, I walked out of the golden double doors.