Black Roses

By Wolfic

Chapter 1

If there was one thing Fujoika Haruhi had learned from the time she spent in the Host Club, it was that she should never question anything she saw in that room.

Strange costumes and unique decorations aside, there were many things she knew that she was better off not knowing, especially when they involved Ohtori Kyoya.

Such an example would be the rather annoying fact that Kyoya would sell off her belongings whenever he saw fit.

And so when Haruhi began to notice a rather bizarre series of occurrences that happened during the club hours, ones that were directly related to Kyoya, she decided not to question it.

It had already been several weeks after she had broken that expensive vase, and she was still no where close to paying off her debt. She didn't wish to have her debt increase due to a slip of the tongue or some mindless comment made out of curiosity.

Kyoya had always been a dominating presence in the third music room. Despite being the vice-president, he was the one that overlooked everything in the Host Club, while working from the shadows, thus earning him the nickname, the Shadow King. But even though he was a part of the Host Club, he was never a host himself. The only interactions he made with the female customers were to sell off Host Club merchandise or to see if everything was to their fancy.

But he never received designations.

Thus, it was only natural that Haruhi found it strange that there were certain days at the club when one of the female students would come up to Kyoya and speak with him. However the manner they engaged one another was not as a customer to a manager, but rather of a designator to the designated.

Although his time with the female wouldn't be that long, Kyoya always served them tea and listened to them, his pretentious host smile plastered all over his face. After a brief exchange of words between the two, he would then take out his notebook and write down something. After that, the student would leave.

And it wasn't just a rare occurrence. Kyoya would get frequented quite often. So much that Haruhi began to wonder why Kyoya didn't become a host himself, instead of observing from the corner. But seeing as how she had already decided against asking such questions, she stifled her curiosity. Besides, studying was far more important than getting herself deeply involved with club matters.

However, like most cases involving the Host Club, Haruhi often found herself becoming involuntarily involved one way or another, even if she never knew about it.

It was as if Fate enjoyed such coincidences where Haruhi would be thrust into strange situations where she would involuntarily learn more about the Host Club and its inhabitants, further tightening the chains that bound her to them.

And such an occurrence did happen.

It had been a regular day, really, nothing strange had occurred, except for Kyoya receiving another lone designation.

The rest of the Host Club remained the same. Tamaki was still excessive in his love for his "daughter" and the Hiitachin twins were even more excessive in their need to play with their "toy".

Needless to say, it was not a good day for Haruhi.

She had intended to study up for her tests she had the following day in that brief period before the Host club had began, however this plan was never brought to fruition.

She had barely entered the room before she was soon yanked by Kaoru and Hikaru in their direction.

Their method of capture?

The usual slinging of their arms around her shoulders.

And of course, then Tamaki arrived in an overzealous fashion as usual and began shout at the twins to let up on his precious "daughter". And by the time they had finished with their arguments, Kyoya announced that the Host Club was ready to begin, and that they had better get ready.

And the Host Club proceeded naturally after that.

Tamaki was ever still the ideal of a dashing prince to all of his designations. Hikaru and Kaoru put on the same brotherly love act as on routine, eliciting squeals from their fans that never seemed to tire of the usual act. Honey was busy eating cakes again, and Mori was close to him as well, keeping a watchful eye over his friend.

After the club was over, Haruhi had made a move to walk over to her bag, but the arms of the devilish twins snaked out and ensnared her in their grasp once more.

They asked if she had wanted a ride home. As usual, she refused. However, her refusal fell on deaf ears as they proceeded to drag her out of the room, her complaints not getting through to them. Tamaki made a move instantly to free her from the twins, who each had one arm around her shoulders, and the other holding her hands, but Kyoya's hand clamped on his shoulders causing him to halt.

And before Haruhi knew it, she was in front of her apartment, and the limousine of the Hiitachin brothers had sped off.

Here Haruhi was, at home, without her school materials, and several tests would be issued tomorrow, deciding whether or not she could remain a student at the prestigious Ouran High School.

There was not much deliberation on the problem as she quickly turned around and proceeded to walk back to school.

When she had returned to school, the sun had already set in the distance, and the sky a deep blue, with the moon thinly concealed.

As she had made her way up the stairs to the Third Music Room, she proceeded to open the door, but stopped when her ears detected the sound of voices.

It was rather unusual for anyone to remain at the Host Club after hours, but the probability of such a thing happening was still there.

However, Haruhi was never one to be deferred from her goals and grasped the golden handle tightly before forcefully opening the door.

The moment those doors opened, a soft breeze blew past her as rose petals whimsically trailed by.

But these were not regular red rose petals, but rather black ones. Thin fragile little beauties tainted by dark murky shadows.

But such changes over the colors of roses were trivial to Haruhi's attention, as she entered the room boldly, not caring to verbally announce her presence.

The moment she invaded the room, the talking had quickly ceased as the inhabitants turned to see who their newcomer was.

All of the male host members were present in the room, as well as a girl Haruhi had never seen before.

This young woman wore the yellow dress that was required of all female students of Ouran (those who could afford them anyways) and was slightly taller then Haruhi. She had long black hair that stiffly cascaded to her thin waist, and eyes that were as cold and rigid as obsidian. She was an extremely beautiful woman, and yet, at the same time, there was a presence about her that made one wish to back far, far away from her.

This unknown person was currently sitting at a table with little cakes and tea laid out, all of which she had not touched.

The male host club members were all standing around her, none of them choosing to sit next to this woman.

It was quite obvious by their reactions they were not expecting Haruhi's arrival.

Tamaki, who stood closest to the unknown female, looked at Haruhi with wide eyes, while the Hitachiin brothers, who were on the farthest side, located to the group's right, moved swiftly in Haruhi's direction.

The rest of the club members glanced at Haruhi with less visible surprise shown on their faces. Honey stood relatively close to the woman to the woman's left, and gifted Haruhi with a wide, cheerful smile, while Mori, who stood next to Honey, greeted her with his stoic gaze. Kyoya, who was standing behind the woman, didn't even bother to look up from his notebook as he was intently scribbling down something with a fine ballpoint pen.

And before anyone could say a word, the twins beat them to it.

"Haruhiiiii." Their voices rang with perfect clarity and unison as they slid into her view, adding emphasis on the last syllable of her name.

"What brings you to school so late?" Kaoru asked curiously, his eyes sprinkled with curiosity.

"Perhaps," Hikaru cut in, "you wanted to see us so badly, you came back to the school?" Hikaru playful grin got wider as his eyebrows made suggestive motions.

"Not at all." Haruhi's stiff reply caused both of the twins to droop in exaggerated sadness. However this playful ploy was easily seen through as a farce. "I left my bag and I came to retrieve it." Her voice was as deadpan as ever, only containing a thin layer of irritation mixed in. Already she was behind on studying due to the antics of the twins, and she was in no mood to be ensnared once more. Walking by them she headed in the direction of her school bag.

However Tamaki now served as her new obstacle, and quickly scooped up the androgynous student into a tight hug. "Oh, Haruhi! Daddy's so sorry that we didn't tell you about this! I swear I will tell you everything, so don't be mad, ne?"

"I don't really care what you guys do in your free time. So could you please let me go, Senpai?" Tamaki's long thin arms slid off her Haruhi, his face morphed into shock.

"You don't care?"

"What's this?' Hikau's voice invaded the conversation as he slid up next to Haruhi with Kaoru close by. "You don't want to learn about our club's secrets?"

"I'd prefer not to." Haruhi replied, taking another step towards her school bag, only having Kaoru restrain her with the placement of his arm around her shoulders.

Hikaru naturally followed suit.

"Are you sure? I bet you're just dying to know." The corner of Kaoru's lips teased into a smile.

And at that moment, as everyone could clearly predict Tamaki's interference of the twin's closeness to his "daughter," Kyouya intervened. "Tamaki. Hikaru. Kaoru. In case you forgot, allow me to remind you. We have a guest that we are attending to."

Kyoya's sharp voice cut into the three deeply as they gave Haruhi a sad look before returning to their positions. As Haruhi grabbed her bag and was already nearing the doors when her perceptive ears caught Kyouya's statement.

"If you ever want to know about this, just ask."

Turning to her friends she gave them a short "good bye" before leaving the room.

As she made her way long walk home, her mind went back to Kyoya's offer, and she wondered if she should have agreed to the offer.

But in the end, very little thought was actually placed into her consideration as she instinctively dropped the offer.

Learning another part of the Host Club would mean she would solidify her position in the club, which was essentially the same as ensuring the placement of her debt to them.

As she made it out of the campus, the sky was already a blue shadow, one that stretched so thickly over the sky there were no stars to be seen.

However, Haruhi did not fear the dark. Nor did she fear walking alone.

Haruhi had always been a straightforward girl. Never one to care about simple things, and she also had a very small opinion about the difference between girls or boys. She merely viewed them as the same. And she wasn't the type to get over flustered or frightened at all either, well, except for the unique case of thunder.

And that was why as she neared her house and several men in black suits appeared, she didn't seem to comprehend the situation very well.

The normal (and perhaps smart) reaction when suddenly crowded by men of tall stature, who all easily towered over the short Haruhi, would have been to run away. The decision to make a hasty exit would have been easily justified, seeing as these men wore the same outfits, professional suits, and had red masks on, designed in a manner most befitting of the devilish Oni of Japanese legend.

This group of obscure men was obviously something to be avoided.

Haruhi, however, didn't avoid them.

It didn't matter to her that these men were irregularly dressed (she never cared about appearances) or that they concealed their identities for most likely dubious purposes (she didn't place much importance in identifying people either). And never mind the fact that they all stood in her path, near well into her personal space (but then again considering her company at school, this was something she was used to).

But when the men all reached into their jacked to reveal the finely constructed forms of handguns there was certainly no reason to stay there and ignore the dangers.

Haruhi though, being who she is, merely gave them a single stare before asking politely "Is there anything I can help you with?"

The long metallic barrel of the gun answered her question as one of the men pointed his gun at her, and opened fire.