Wow. My first completed fanfiction. I feel so accomplished, since this is, like, the seventh fanfiction I've started! Lucky number seven. Anyways, I am a fan of kyouyaxtamaki (blame my friend), morixhunny (who isn't?), and hikaruxharuhi (blame episode 16). Then I thought "But what about Kaoru?" and came up with this. Flames shall be used to bake cookies for people with constructive criticism!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Ouran High School Host Club, nor do I own the rights to any of Jane Austen's novels!
PS: If you haven't read any of Jane Austen's novels, don't worry. I just used it for the title.
"Sakura-chan? Are you listening to me?"
"Of course I am, Nee-chan," I replied, turning another page in the book I was reading.
"Good," my older sister, Ayame, said, continuing to fix my hair. "Anyways, Tamaki-sama says that this is going to be the most amazing ball the host club has ever had! That is why-"
"'-Even if I have to tie you up and drag you by your toes, you are going,'" I quoted from the other thousand times she had told me this when I complained about it. I waved my book in a flamboyant manner as I said this, copying how Ayame waved her host club magazines when she talked to me.
"Honestly, Sakura-chan, I think you're going to have a wonderful time tonight!"
I laughed, though without humor. "The host club is simply a group of superficial, lying guys who are just looking to make a quick buck, despite the fact that they already have enormous fortunes at their fingertips. Not to mention the naïve girls who are willing to believe those lies to get a scrap of self-confidence."
I couldn't see my sister's face. She paused, but continued after a moment. "There are other boys who go to the balls."
"Waiting to dry the tears of rejected girls before they start coming on to them."
"Not all guys are like you think," Ayame said, moving to do my make-up.
"Please," I scoffed. "Our family is one of the wealthiest that has kids that go to Ouran. They only want us for our money, among other things." I opened my book again, but Ayame pulled it out of my hands and placed it on a bedside table out of my reach. "Hey!" I protested.
"You'll never get asked out if you look at books more than you look at boys!" my sister snapped.
"Well, at least one of us wants to be something other than an heiress who spends all her parent's money!" I yelled.
We glared at each other for a bit, then Ayame finished my make-up in silence. When she was done, she dragged me to the mirror.
"We look great!" she cried, spinning around.
Maybe you do, I thought, looking enviously at Ayame in her crimson ball gown. She had gotten the looks of the family, I, the brains. Not that I didn't look good in my dark blue and silver gown, but my sister looked beautiful and completely at ease. I, on the other hand, looked extremely uncomfortable.
"Can we just get this over with?" I moaned, gladly moving away from the mirror to get Ayame's crimson mask. It was handmade in Italy, covered in silk with two ribbons to tie coming off the back, with garnets lining the edges of the mask. My mask was identical, except for the fact that it was dark blue and had drops of silver lining the edges as opposed to garnets.
My sister sighed as she tied the ribbons for my mask. "You don't have enough fun, Sakura-chan."
I didn't answer her until I was tying the ribbons for her mask. "You have too much fun, Nee-chan."
Three hours later, I was on a secluded balcony off the ballroom, having snuck away from my sister one minute after we got there. That Tamaki person had come out, making a good distraction. I could hear the music and chatter, but where I was, it was reasonably quiet. Fifteen minutes of the ball and thirty pages of the book left to go.
I looked up from the pages to the darkened sky. I probably would have been able to see the stars better if there hadn't been so much light spilling out of the ballroom, but I could still see many of them. It was so beautiful…so peaceful…
"Whatcha reading?"
I yelped and jumped away from the voice. The boy standing by me was, I had to admit, pretty cute. He had a blue costume. His mask was pretty, and was a mirror image of the crescent moon that was currently in the sky. His hair was red. It was actually sort of pinkish.
His expression became a mix of concern and amusement. "Did I scare you?" he asked.
"What? No, of course not!" I snapped at him, blushing. "You surprised me!"
The boy chuckled and proceeded to read the side of the book. "Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen." He looked at me curiously. "Who's Jane Austen?"
"An English author," I answered shortly, looking at the ground, still ticked about the fact that he'd just scared the crap out of me.
The boy considered me for a moment. "What's your name?" he asked.
I looked at the boy. He seemed nice, and it wasn't as if he was patting my shoulder while I cried over one of the hosts. Maybe he was okay. Also, if I had a friend who was a boy, perhaps Ayame would lay off getting me to go to the host club…
"Oshiro Sakura," I answered.
"Well, it's good to meet you, Sakura-kun." The boy took my hand and shook it.
"What about you?" I asked, pulling my hand away. "Isn't it polite to introduce yourself before asking someone else their name?"
The boy looked somewhat surprised, but he answered. "Kaoru," he said. I waited for more, but he was silent.
"That's it? Just Kaoru?" I asked impatiently.
There was no doubt about it: He was definitely surprised, as if my reaction hadn't been one he had expected. Then he smiled, shrugged, and went to the edge of the balcony, leaning off the rail to look out over the grounds. I had to admit that my curiosity was piqued. I reluctantly shut my book and joined him, my gaze trailing over the paths I took each day.
"Why aren't you inside, dancing like all the other girls?" the boy asked.
"The only reason that I'm even here is because my sister is a customer," I answered, not facing him. "She's the one who dragged me here."
"Does she know you're out here?"
I walked to the arched doorway that led inside. I caught my sister dancing with a cute brown haired boy. I didn't see any fangirls staring enviously at them, so I assumed that he wasn't a host. Despite this fact, she was laughing at something he had said, having a blast. I returned to the rail.
"No, but I don't think she cares," I chuckled. "It's good. If she found me, she'd bug me about reading this book for almost the whole time."
"Is that all you've done?"
"Yes. I'm almost finished."
Kaoru laughed. "You're not like other girls, Sakura-kun."
"I'll take that as a compliment," I replied.
He smiled at me, and my heart leapt. Then my brain kicked into gear and I looked back at the grounds.
"So, what is it?" Kaoru asked. "Do you not like dancing?"
"That would be an understatement. I loathe dancing."
"Do you really, or is it just that you aren't good at it?"
I blushed. "Well, I'll admit that I'm not the most…talented at dancing…"
Kaoru laughed.
"Shut up!" I said, blushing redder. "I bet you're not one to talk!"
"That's what you think?" Kaoru asked, looking sideways at me mischievously.
"Yes!" From inside, I heard someone announce the last dance.
Kaoru, who must have heard the announcement, smiled. "Well, I guess I'll have to change that."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"This is the last dance of the night," Kaoru said. He bowed low, still looking up at me, grinning. "May I have this dance?"
I was shocked. "Um…s-sure," I stammered, placing my book on the railing.
Kaoru stood back up, stepping closer to me. He placed took one of my left hand and put it on his shoulder. He took the other one in his left hand, and placed his right on my waist, causing me to turn even redder.
"Relax, don't be so tense," Kaoru advised. "It's just a simple waltz." He led, softly repeating "1-2-3,1-2-3," for my sake. Eventually, I didn't have to glue my eyes to my feet. I raised my head, meeting Kaoru's eyes. He was smiling, causing me to smile in response.
Of course, the dance had to end sometime, though when the music stopped, we stayed in that position for a second longer. The sound of clapping came from the ballroom.
"I better go," Kaoru said, stepping away from me.
"Oh," I said, disappointed.
"It was a pleasure dancing with you, Sakura-kun."
"Same here," I said. "With you, I mean."
Kaoru smiled, leaned in, and kissed my cheek. He immediately walked back into the ballroom with a last smile to me. My fingers unconsciously went to my cheek.
"Sakura-chan!" Ayame appeared in the doorway. I forced my hand to go to my side.
"Where have you been?" she asked. "Come on! Weren't you the one who didn't want to go in the first place?"
"O-okay," I said.
We decided to walk back to the dormitories. The air had chilled a bit since we first came. Odd. I hadn't noticed that on the balcony.
"Did you have a good time, Nee-chan?" I asked.
"It was great! I met this boy, Ginjiro, and he was really nice. But the best part was that I got to dance with Tamaki-sama once! What about you, Sakura-chan?"
"Well, for almost all the time I read-"
"Sakura-chan!"
"Relax. Towards the end, this boy came on the balcony and talked to me. He even danced the last dance with me."
"Really?" Ayame asked, interested. "What was his name?"
"Kaoru."
Ayame stopped walking abruptly. "What was his surname?"
"I don't know," I said. "Come on, we're almost there."
"What kind of mask did he have?" my sister asked, a smile coming across her face.
"It looked sort of like a crescent moon. Why?"
Ayame started laughing.
"What?" I asked. "What's so funny?"
"You danced with Hitachiin Kaoru!" Ayame cried, jumping up and down. I looked at her blankly.
"Who's that?"
"He's a host!" Ayame said, grabbing my hands, still jumping. "You danced with a host!"
"A host? Seriously?! But he seemed so…well…I don't know how to describe it, but…not like a host!" I said in shock.
"Come on, Sakura-chan!" Ayame said, pulling me along. "We need to get back to the rooms so you can tell me more!"
That night, I realized something: I had forgotten my book on the railing on the balcony. It was the first time I had ever been so distracted from a book before. I turned to my other side in my bed so I was looking out the window. I looked out at the crescent moon and smiled.
It's hiin again. Review please! Reviews make me squee happily! Hope you guys liked it!
Lots of luv, hiin : )