Thank you for returning for chapter two! We're all fairly excited that you've made it this far. Thank you to all of you who commented last chapter and we'll try to incorporate as many fan suggestions into our story as we can! In our last chapter, our OC, Piper, was declared a host by her cousin, Mori-sempai. Today, she'll be sitting with Haruhi so that Renge can "evaluate her natural talents". And with that, lets begin!
DISCLAIMER!: We don't own Ouran (yet), only our OC's.
Piper sat by Haruhi, watching her sit there and be who she was, the natural. (Keep in mind Piper still doesn't realize Haruhi's a girl!)
"So, who's this, Haruhi?" Asked one of Haruhi's regular customers.
"This is Piper. She's Mori-sempai's cousin," explained Haruhi with one of her signature smiles.
"Hello, Piper!" The customer said, cheerfully.
"U-um, hi," stammered Piper, her face turning red. "I-its nice to meet you." Piper looked up at the girl in a way that made the girl instantly turn red and her voice softened.
"Haruhi," Piper looked over at her mentor. "Can I grab my sketchbook? I feel a bit safer if its nearby..."
Haruhi nodded. "Sure."
"Thank you," Piper smiled with the same smile Haruhi had used.
Haruhi blushed a little as Piper went over to the corner and pulled a sketchbook out of her somewhat beaten-up, old backpack.
Mori smiled, recognizing a trait often used by the Sayanozukas. "There it is," he said to Honey. "I knew she'd pull that out at some point. She must really be nervous. She did that extremely quickly."
"I suppose so," said Honey.
"What do you guys mean?" Asked one of their customers.
"Well," Honey said. "The Sayanozukas, like the Haninozukas, have also developed their own way of life. The Sayanozukas specialize in blending in and being able to get by without having to do much. When placed in a situation such as this, she used the 'copy' technique. She copied Haruhi's smile in order to escape for a small time to plan the best course of action. She's probably going to use her art in some way. She doesn't do well with strangers, so by showing her customers something else, she won't have to talk as much!"
"Wow! You sure know a lot about her, don't you Honey!"
"Of course! We three grew up together. Me and Piper used to have these HUGE cake eating contests! Speaking of which, would you like another slice?"
"Sure!"
Somewhere else in the room, Tamaki, Kyoya, and Renge also sat, spying on the newest host.
"Hmm," thought Renge. "You said the twins described her as artistic?"
"Yup," replied Tamaki.
"We need to find some way to bring that out of her..."
"Well, what if we asked her to design something for us?" Suggested Kyoya.
"Good idea!" Tamaki gave him a thumbs up. "But how do we get her to open up and stop being so shy?"
After a moment, Tamaki and Renge looked at each other. "Haruhi!" They said in unison, although for different reasons.
It was true that Haruhi was good at befriending people, but when the idiot king of the host club and the self-proclaimed lady manager called her over in the middle of catering to her customers, and to tell her she had to become "besties" with the new host, she worried that someone as seemingly shy Piper wouldn't know how to handle the customers while she was gone.
"So, how did you end up becoming a host, Pi-chan?" Asked one of the customers.
Apparently, although still painfully shy, in the three years she had been gone Piper had learned how to make a good impression on a stranger, so there was hardly any need for Haruhi to worry. She was a Sayanozuka! It was the family style to make, or fake, your way through anything.
"Well, Taka-chi was the one who made me a host," said Piper shyly. "It's my first day here and seeing my cousins were having fun here, they decided to let me be a part of it. It's been great so far." Piper turned to the clients with her bangs kind of covering her face. "After all, I get to meet even more great people like you ladies." Piper's eyes shone at her guests, leaving them speechless and red-faced.
"I was wondering if you would, um, critique my sketches, if you want to that is," requested Piper.
"Of course!" The customers cried in unison.
"I don't really get what's so great about the new host," said Hikaru to Haruhi and his brother after the twins had successfully pulled Haruhi away from the three who were evaluating Piper.
"Oh, don't be like that Hikaru," said Kaoru, staring at Piper. "Something about her reminds me of us."
"It could be the red hair," said Haruhi. "Or the fact that she's extremely artistic. You guys are fairly artsy yourselves, right?"
"I don't know..." Sighed Hikaru. "It seems like she's hiding something."
"Well if you guys are so interested in her, why don't we go ask Mori and Honey-sempai about her?" asked Haruhi.
"They've got customers," the twins replied in unison.
"And? That never seems to stop anyone else around here..."
"Point taken."
Over with Tamaki and Renge, people began to get restless. Needless to say, Renge and Tamaki were tired of just sitting and watching the new host.
"Oh... Mommy why can't we go over there again?" Asked Tamaki, wanting to go and actually meet the new host.
"Would you approach a lion in the wild?" Asked Kyoya simply.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Tamaki. "She seems more like a lamb, than a lion."
"Well, I've been doing some research and background checking on your 'lamb'. Apparently, a little while after the rumored incident at the US military base, the head of the Haninozukas got into an argument with the head of the Sayanozukas. Somehow, it ended up where the eldest child of each family, meaning Piper and Honey-sempai, were forced to duel."
"And?"
"It wasn't Honey who won."
Tamaki stood there, shocked.
"What's more is that it's rumored that the past three years, she's spent training in a secret base instead of attending Ouran. She hardly has any records besides that. Although it says she her only friends were her cousins and she often ran away from home..."
"Geez," said Renge. "Still, she ended up rich, pretty, talented, and surrounded by beautiful people. Who could ask for more?"
Tamaki stood there thinking. This shy, young girl was able to beat Honey-sempai in a fair fight? On top of that, she was an artist and was juggling her own problems?
He decided that despite Mommy's warnings, he was going to sit with his daughter's new partner.
Piper would prove to be an interesting character yet...
Thank you for reading all of the way to the end chapter two! We are glad you enjoyed this story enough to make it all the way here. Be sure to R&R! Join us again next chapter!
-Team GingerHaruhi
