Pairings: N/A
Warnings: None for this chapter.
Disclaimer: Fortunately for the Fandom, I do not own Ouran High School Host Club.
A/N: Hehe, I adore these characters and the way they interact with one another, especially when they are stuck in foreign situations. And I really wanted to attempt at writing something with the group of them, so I guess that's how this came to be? But to be honest, I'm not really sure what this is...? An attempt at writing something humorous, maybe? Eh, though admitting, this first chapter might be a tad boring. Also, maybe a bit awkward, because this is my first time writing interactions between this many characters. Anyway, enough of me! I really hope you enjoy.
Chapter One
Haruhi groaned face-first into her pillow as she reached out to silence the incessant beeping of her alarm clock. Blindly guiding her fumbling hands around her bedside-table, she took hold of the familiar device and harshly applied the snooze button. She felt she deserved a few extra minutes of sleep – since she'd spent majority of the previous night dancing away at yet another of the Host Club's extravagant parties.
However, when her alarm went off for the second time, she caved, and rather sluggishly uncurled herself from underneath her blankets. Sitting up-right, she began rubbing the sleep from her eyes, making a mental check-list of the things she needed to finish that day. Amongst the list of mundane chores, homework only became apparent when she opened her eyes and noticed the stacks of unfinished papers on her desk.
Dammit…she thought.
Well, there would be plenty of time to work on her studies in the afternoon… hopefully.
Haruhi always made a conscious effort not to fall behind in her studies – and normally, she wouldn't. Of course, that was only up until a certain High School Club had more or less taken her hostage – with a frighteningly large debt forever looming in the shadows of her High School years. Don't get the wrong idea; the Host Club weren't bad people. On the contrary, they had shown her considerable kindness on numerous occasions. However, their pampered lifestyle had left them more of less ignorant to the struggles Haruhi faced on a day to day basis – most notably, her struggle to balance her studies and home responsibilities on top of a rather demanding role as a Host at Ouran Academy.
Damn rich people… she found herself muttering, as she headed towards the adjacent bathroom for her morning shower.
Afterwards, feeling rather refreshed and considerably more awake, Haruhi wondered into the Kitchen to prepare breakfast. Irritably, she flicked back the dampened locks of her bangs as she bent over to investigate the contents of her pantry. What she saw was a little disheartening – it seemed their food supplies were running a bit thin, (she made a mental note to make time to stop by the grocery store.)
With little to choose from, Haruhi settled for a small portion of cold Soba noodles for breakfast – making sure to set aside a dish for her father when he arrived home from work. Whatever time that was supposed to be.
Haruhi was just about to set away the dishes when she heard someone begin to knock at her apartment door – rather instantly too. She didn't have to ponder about the anonymous presence for long, because the lively tapping at the door was soon followed by a charismatic greeting that left Haruhi groaning.
"Oh, Haruhi! My precious daughter, we've come to visit!"
Why?! She thought.
Why now?!
Yes, that charmingly sweet chime could only belong to one man – Tamaki Souh. How typical it was of him to drop by on a Saturday… Uninvited!
Haruhi rolled her eyes and groaned. Reluctantly, she got to her feet and shuffled towards the door. Upon opening it, she was greeted with the charming smiles of six young men – along with the faint aroma of strawberry cake.
"Haruhi!" the Host's chimed in unison upon her arrival.
With an exhausted sigh and a thorough massage to her temple, Haruhi replied, "Guys… It's seven-thirty on a Saturday morning… What do you all want?"
"We came over to see you Haru-chan!" chimed Huni. The young boy's sweet radiance was only amplified by the wafting scent of strawberry and cream coming from the neatly tied gift-box held in his hands.
"Come on, don't tell us you're not happy to see us," began Hikaru, "we just want to hang with our favourite commoner," finished Kaoru.
All the while, Kyōya and Mori remained pleasantly silent.
"Look… you guys. I don't have time to entertain guests today, I've got a lot of work to do," explained Haruhi. She prayed they would be reasonable for once and just go home.
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Tamaki.
Well… apparently not.
"A young lady should not be spending her free hours slaving away with the work of the common man! She should be enjoying herself and living her life to the fullest!" he finished – taking time to emphasize certain aspects of his speech by pointing and posing enthusiastically.
"And she should be enjoying cake!" exclaimed Huni. The short blonde then presented the neatly tied gift-box to Haruhi, eagerly awaiting her response with doll like eyes.
Once again Haruhi found herself sighing. They just didn't understand, did they?
"I've said this already… I can't have people over today," grumbled Haruhi, (trying her best to avert her gaze from the sweetly smelling box of cakes.)
"Look. Even though it's really none of your business, I've got a lot of work to do around the house, and on top of that I need to study. I'm falling behind in most of my classes because I spend all my spare time at your Host Club," Haruhi paused for a moment and sighed, "I mean no offense, but I already see you enough at it is. I just don't see why you should monopolize my weekends as well," said Haruhi. Rather mater-a-factly to boot.
The girl's blunt statement sent Tamaki to the brink of tears; her curt speech often had that effect on him. With the King suddenly reduced to small sobs, Kyōya took it upon himself to step forward and speak next.
"Really, Haruhi?" he began, "I would have thought managing routine study on top of a thriving social life would be something, you as an honour student, would be able to accomplish?"
Haruhi couldn't tell if he was being smug or issuing a challenge – probably the latter.
"Yeah, well you try keeping on top of household maintenance with all your studies. Unlike you guys, I don't have servants to look after me," Haruhi said blankly.
"Kyōya!" exclaimed Tamaki, he then proceeded to grip the man by the shoulders and speak in a rather harsh whisper to his face, "how could you be so insensitive? Haruhi already works hard enough as it is – even without the privileges of the wealthy!"
And as usual, Takami's attempts at being both discreet and sympathetic fail miserably.
The tall blonde then spun on his heels to face the irritated brunette. He paused for what would have been a very brief second, before declaring the marvelous idea that had popped to mind in said moment.
"I— Have a wonderful plan!" he began, "Haruhi, you will assume your studies in peace of mind while the Host Club undertakes the task of completing these 'household maintenance' tasks, as you so called them."
To say Haruhi was shocked would have been a dire understatement. The Hosts… cleaning? She couldn't exactly picture it, not convincingly anyway. And apparently, neither could any of the other Hosts, because Takami was immediately reeled backwards into a small huddle the others had created to be scolded.
"Are you crazy?!" hissed Hikaru.
"We don't know the first thing about cleaning!" added Kaoru.
"Yeah… And I think Haru-chan would be really mad if we messed it up…" mumbled Huni. To which Mori added an agreeing nod and a, 'Mm'.
Kyōya just massaged his temples, now it was his turn to get a migraine.
Tamaki pouted, "Do none of you have any faith in yourselves? How hard could it be to do a bit of spot cleaning? Just take this as a hands-on learning opportunity about the lifestyle of the Commoner."
Hikaru and Kaoru looked at one another, and Huni looked up at the tall raven haired teen hovering over him. All of them, curiously pondering the idea.
"Well…" began Hikaru, "I guess it wouldn't hurt. If it's just for the one day," continued Kaoru, "and Haruhi would be pretty happy with us if we did her a favour," finished Hikaru.
Mori gave an indifferent shrug and looked to the small blonde for an answer, "… Mitsukani?"
Huni thought for a moment. Then giggled and said, "If Takashi and Usa-chan say yes, than I do too!"
Mori took a moment to consult the pink stuffed-bunny position on his shoulder for the older boy's amusement, then looked to the others and simply said, "Sure."
So it was settled, and the next thing Haruhi knew – she was seated in her small living room surrounded by the six teenage boys, eagerly awaiting instructions. Save Kyōya, who with a smirk and dismissing hand had simply said that he was not interested. Though evidently, was still keen to watch as everything unfolded.
And to be honest, (with added anxiety) so was Haruhi.
A/N: Um, I don't know, what do you think? Some feedback would be really appreciated. Ah also, I should mention, this is my first attempt at writing something with multiple chapters. What I plan to do is try and focus each chapter on a specific Host – next chapter (which I hope to upload very soon), will be Mori and Huni centred. I'm not sure if I'm readying to have so many characters active at once, so this way I can break them up into smaller groups.
Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day :)
—Kjersti Nohr
