Author's note: 'Sup, y'all? Well, here I am again with my first Ouran FanFic! THIS STORY IS OFFICIALLY THE FIRST ONE OF MY STORIES THAT HAD BEEN EITHER FAVED OR ALERTED! I LOVE YOU GUYS! Y'all get a special message at the end of the chapter. ^_^
Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran. If I did, I would be living with the incredibly hot, sexy beast that is Mori-sempai. Do not sue me for copyright infringement; this is bloody fanfiction . net, which means that the stories on here are written by fans, not the actual author. It's kinda obvious. Trust me on this one, I plan on becoming a lawyer. ^_0
Chapter 2: Curse of the Reverse Harem
Haruhi and I became thick as thieves, even after school. She kept me out of trouble, and I'd help her out around her house. We also studied together, and consistently tied for the top spot in the class.
After school one day, Haruhi and I were looking for some place on campus to study.
"I can't believe all sixteen of these gigantic libraries are so loud," I complained, tugging at my off-white 'RACISM, JUST UNDO IT' sweatshirt.
With a shrug she replied, "Haven't the slightest. 'Sides, rich people don't really seem to use common sense."
I laughed. It was nice, having someone to talk to. We actually had a lot in common. We both were what the preps called 'commoners', we were both scholarship students, and for the most part, we both liked school.
We wandered the halls until I noticed a room that looked like it might be empty, the 3rd Floor Music Room.
"Want to try here?" I asked, jerking my thumb at the door.
"Sure," she replied, reaching for the door handle, "Why not?"
She opened the door, and we stepped into a cascading curtain of red roses.
"Welcome," came a warm greeting.
It was one of the oddest things I'd ever seen. In front of us was a collection of some of the hottest guys I'd seen since arriving in Japan. There was a blond guy who looked about my height—a modest 6 feet—with purple eyes, a black-haired guy with black eyes and glasses who appeared to be just a few inches shorter, the hot twins I'd met my first day here (Kaoru and Hikaru), a black-haired guy with grey eyes who looked like he was a few inches taller than me, and an adorable blond cutie with big green eyes who looked like he was no more than 5 feet tall.
"Oh, it's two guys. How odd," the tall blond said. I looked him up and down, and then snickered. He looked like a pansy version of one of my subordinates back in the States.
"Fujioka Haruhi and Maddox Raille, the first-year scholarship students. Aren't they in your class, Hikaru, Kaoru?" Glasses asked.
The twins shrugged, uninterested.
"Yeah," they said simultaneously, "But they don't talk to anyone else too much."
"Except for Raille-kun," Hikaru said with a glare in my direction, "And when he talks, its' to be rude."
"/Sorry for being rude,/" I growled underneath my breath.
"Considering the fact that this school is primarily for those of great wealth and lineage, for a poor student—let alone two—to be enrolled here, they must be extremely studious commoners," Glasses commented.
My eyebrow twitched dangerously, and Haruhi placed a concerned hand on my shoulder.
"Rai-kun?" she asked carefully, mindful of the stories I'd told her about my infamously bad temper, "You okay?"
I nodded tersely, not trusting my voice to remain calm.
"I must commend you two commoners," the tall blond said, walking over to us with a rose in each hand, "You two are truly brave adventurers, to venture out of your pauperish niche to our great academy."
That was the final straw. When that blond prick came close to me, I snatched one of the roses from his hand, crushed the petals with my fist, and let it drop to the floor.
"Watch your tongue," I said icily, "Before you lose it."
"Rai-kun?" Haruhi said, a flash of fear shooting through her eyes as I looked over at her. My face was cold, the corners of my mouth twisted into a cruel, sadistic smile. Her fear made me calm down, I didn't want to scare away my only friend. I forced my face to return to normal and smiled apologetically at her before turning back to face the gaggle of guys.
Unable to completely curb my anger, however, I shoved my hands into my pockets and mumbled, "/Damn rich bastards wouldn't know good manners if they danced naked across their noses…/"
"At any rate," Glasses said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Who would've thought the famous scholarship students were gay?"
Right when I was prepping to rip Glasses a new one, the short blond kid tugged on my sleeve.
"Ne(1), ne, Haru-chan, Rai-chan, are you really famous?" he asked, his green eyes wide with admiration.
[/So…cute! Must…resist…the cuteness!/](2) I thought.
"No," Haruhi said, bringing my out of my thoughts, "We're not. We're just looking for a quiet place to study."
"Oh." The kid frowned for a second, then pulled out a cute cake from behind his back. With a bright smile he asked, "Do you want some cake?"
My heart melted. Don't ask me what it is about kids, but they're just so damned cute that I just can't resist!
"/Aren't you just the cutest thing?/" I cooed, picking him up to spin him around, "You're a right beaux enfant, n'est-ce pas(3)?"
The tall blond perked up when he heard me speaking French, but the tall grey-eyed guy seemed upset about me holding the small blond kid.
I glanced at the silent tall guy and asked, "What's with you? You this kid's bodyguard or something?" He blinked in affirmation, and I snorted. With a humorous smile I told him, "Not that he needs it. Don't worry, I don't fight kids, even if they are as insanely strong as this petit enfant.(4)"
Glasses gave me an approving glance as the tall blond asked, "Wait, you speak French?"
I put down the adorable kid, playfully ruffled his hair, and then straightened to nod at the tall blond.
"Yeah," I said with a shrug, "I took French and Chinese at my old school. I'm better at English and Japanese, though."
"We should go now," Haruhi said, grabbing my arm, "We have a test tomorrow, remember?"
As she dragged me toward the door, she bumped into a vase. We both turned toward it, reaching out to grab it before it fell, but we were too slow. It hit the ground with a loud crash, and cracked into millions of tiny, sharp pieces.
"I'll pay for that," we said simultaneously.
With a shrug the twins replied, "Oh, you will. We were planning on auctioning that off. The starting price was going to be 8,000,000,000 yen(5)."
"8,000,000,000 yen…," Haruhi mumbled, "That's 4,000,000,000 yen apiece…"
I frowned. [/What kind of dumbass left such an expensive thing lying around? It was practically asking to be broken!/] Then I sighed. Of course, this was a prep school. Normal common sense didn't apply here. To them, it was probably a cheap vase, one purchased with pocket change.
The tall blond's manner changed once again. He sat down in a lavish chair that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and pointed a finger at Haruhi and me. Not his middle one, mind you, I'd've punched his lights out if that'd been the case.
"You broke it, you bought it," he quoted self-importantly, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do!"
I stared at him blankly, waiting for him to make his point.
"From this day on, until you have paid your debt in full, you two will be the Host Club's dogs!"
Haruhi froze in shock, but I just blinked. Paling a few shades, I whispered, "Did you just say, 'Host Club'?"
The blond nodded.
I gulped, then asked, "As in, a bunch of hot dudes entertaining a bunch of chicks?"
Another nod, this one proud and obviously happy that I knew what his club was all about.
"For money?" This time, my voice came out in a high-pitched squeak.
This time Glasses was the one who nodded at me, a cold smile on his face.
I paled even further, it was painfully obvious now, and then glanced at Haruhi. If this had been an anime, she would have been dissolving right about now. I looked back at the group of guys, and slowly started backing into the wall. This could not be happening. Life couldn't be that cruel, could it?
"/Not again!/" I wailed, sinking to the floor and focusing on my breathing. [/Why do these things always happen to me? If they guys find out…What if I have a relapse? What if…what if he finds me again? Does fate have a grudge against me? Did I commit some terrible sin in a past life?/] Almost as an afterthought I considered, [/Why the hell am I considering things I don't believe in, anyway?/]
"Hmm…again? I wonder…" Glasses said, wandering over to his laptop.
Today was really not my day.
The next day, Haruhi and I grudgingly showed up at the Host Club before it opened. When we got inside, we were met by the other six members.
"Today," the tall blond said with a wide smile, "We will begin with introductions. I am Suoh Tamaki, the King of the Host Club. I'm the Princely Type. This is Ohtori Kyoya," here he pointed to Glasses, "the Vice-President of the Host Club. He's the Cool Type. Those are the Hitachiin twins," here he pointed to the twins, "Hikaru and Kaoru. They're the Brotherly Love Type. This is Morinozuka Takashi," here he pointed to the tall grey-eyed guy, "Otherwise known as Mori-sempai(6). He's the Wild Type. And, last but not least, this is Haninozuka Mitsukuni," he pointed to the cute blond kid, "Otherwise known as Hani-sempai. He's the Loli-shota(7) Type. Together, we are the Host Club!"
Hani bounced over to us and held out a big pink stuffed rabbit.
"And this is Bun-bun!" he said, flowers seeming to bounce around in the background.
I smiled at him, glad that I'd at least have the distraction of this cute kid to keep me sane.
"You will be doing general chores and running errands," Kyoya said, and Haruhi and I just looked at him.
"So…" I said, resigning myself to my fate as I rubbed my hands together, "When do we start?"
"Now. We're out of coffee. Haruhi, go get some."
I smiled sympathetically at her as she headed off, and then crossed my arms. "What about me," I asked.
"Ne, Rai-chan," Hani asked, tugging on my arm, "Do you want to eat cake with me until the club opens?"
With a smile on my face due to the proffered out I replied, "Sure thing, Hani-sempai." Lifting him up on my shoulders I added, "So long as you make sure you don't leave out Bun-bun. We wouldn't want him to get jealous, now would we?"
"Nope!" Hani replied with a bright smile. Mori followed us over to a little table laden with both tea and cakes.
"So, Hani-sempai, Mori-sempai, how long have you guys been fighters?" I asked, cutting a giant slice of a triple layered vanilla cake to put on Hani's plate.
They looked at each other, then at me.
"A long time. Why?" was Mori's question.
With a shrug I replied, "Just wondering." I cut two smaller pieces for myself and Bun-bun. "I mean, it's not often that I meet people as alert while seemingly relaxed as you two are."
"Well," Hani said, taking a large bite of cake, "Takashi's and my families run two famous dojo's(8), so we've trained since we were kids. What about you, Rai-chan?"
I put my finger to my lips, then leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "Promise not to tell?" Hani nodded brightly, so I looked at Mori who also nodded in confirmation. "I've never had a Sensei, not even once. All my skills are self-taught, from the fights I got into out in the streets."
Hani frowned. "If you're a girl, Rai-chan," he asked softly, "Why were you out fighting in the streets?"
"Aw, you're too cute, Hani-sempai," I said, ruffling his hair, "You're the first person who's cared about that."
Before Hani could stress the point, Kyoya called me over.
"Yeah, Ohtori-sempai?" I asked coolly.
"The guests are due to arrive soon," he said as he slid his glasses further up the bridge of his nose (a/n, you know everyone with glasses does this with their middle finger! I know I do!), "Prepare the tea and snacks."
"Sure thing, Ohtori-sempai. How many pastries per table?" Forcing myself to ignore the part about the guests, I focused on the logistics.
He studied me for a few seconds before replying, "No more than six. One of each is preferable, but not necessary."
I blinked. "Doesn't that cost a lot?" I asked, frowning as I mused aloud, "Wouldn't it be more cost efficient to have a menu for the clients, so they could order at their leisure, and not have it distract them from the hosts?"
As I walked over to the food cupboard, Kyoya followed me.
"What kind of menu did you have in mind?" he asked, obviously interested.
'Well," I said as I gathered the materials needed for each table, "Just a simple one. It'd have pictures of the snacks available—no prices, mind you—and recommended teas to go along with each snack. And if we arranged to have whatever host is off-duty to serve the food and drink, it would cut down on the cost of the staff to move and prepare everything. And if we keep records per month of what is ordered the most, we'll know what to keep larger stocks of, cutting down on the price of the initial order." Noticing that I was beginning to babble, I shrugged and started to steep the tea leaves. "But that's just a suggestion. You're the accountant, do as you see fit."
"What a novel idea," he said, calculating the cost/benefit ratio in his head, "Why, that would save nearly 35% of our food costs!"
I shrugged at him, smiling. "Small business tactics," I explained, finished with the job I'd been assigned, "It's all about cutting your costs wherever you can."
That was when the *shudder* guests began to arrive.
I dutifully led the guests to their tables, and then I headed for the back with hopes of having enough peace and quiet to be able to get a start on my homework.
A commotion at the door led me to go check out what the ruckus was with a heavy sigh.
It was just Tamaki, going gaga over the instant coffee that Haruhi had purchased. I shook my head and chuckled dryly.
"/Even though he's as rich as Satan, I guess a gaki's(9) still a gaki, after all./"
(1): 'Ne' is sort of like 'say', as in " 'Say',…you know…?"
(2): Raille has a major weakness for cute things. Shh, don't tell, she'll hunt you down and kill you. Oh, and [ -words- ] are thoughts.
(3): French for 'handsome child, aren't you?'
(4): French for 'little kid.'
(5): Yen is the name of Japanese currency.
(6): Sempai, this title suggests that the addressee is one's "senior" in a group or organization. It is most often used in a school setting, where underclassmen refer to their upperclassmen as "sempai". It can also be used in the workplace, such as when a newer employee addresses an employee who is senior to them in the company.
(7): Loli-shota refers to an attraction to younger looking men.
(8): A dojo is a school for a martial art.
(9): 'Gaki' means 'brat', i.e. police brat, military brat, etc.
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