A/N: If you've decided to read this far, I'm somewhat succeeding with my story.

I decided not to capitalise the word 'host,' so I apologise for my inconsistency with that. This chapter also mentions a system Ouran Academy has for contracts. I made the system up for the sake of this story, so please just go along with it.

If you were waiting for an update, thank you for your patience! I'm a busy person, but I hope you'll continue to read this regardless of the ridiculously long update times.

Anyway, enjoy! :)

The air smelled like wet pavement. It wasn't at all an unpleasant smell; Sierra liked it. Rain always seemed to relax her. Many people would call a rainy day "bad weather," but Sierra wasn't one of those people. Petrichor, she remembered. That was the name for the smell.

Holding her umbrella, she walked along the slippery concrete. Even small heels were an utter nightmare to walk in while the rain was pouring down. And, despite being the right size, they pinched Sierra's toes. Honestly, she thought, you would think that a prestigious school would invest in better uniforms.

Before entering the building, Sierra closed her umbrella and secured it. A feeling of dread crept up on her as she started to walk through the corridor. She wasn't sure what to expect. If she chose to spend her time forming good impressions, she would be respected. Exhaustion would surely follow. But if she chose to be aloof and disinterested as she often was, she would be disliked and therefore treated accordingly. As she neared the staircase leading to the Host Club, the feeling grew. There was no way to get out of it. Sierra just hoped that they wouldn't make her do anything ridiculous as a member.

Eventually, Sierra stood before the doors to Music Room #3. She already regretted her decision, but there was no turning back. All she could do was adapt to her circumstances. Reluctantly, she opened the doors.

At the sound of the doors shutting, Tamaki broke into a gleeful, childlike grin. "Sierra! You're here!"

"Hello," Sierra greeted. For a moment she considered smiling back, but decided against it. At that point, any smile of hers could easily turn into a grimace.

"Sierra, good morning," Kyoya said. He stood next to Tamaki, holding his black notebook and a pen.

"Good morning," was the half-hearted response. Sierra noticed that Kyoya addressed her more casually than the day before, but his polite, businesslike tone remained the same. She supposed that since she was now member of the Host Club, it would be a bit odd to call her 'Miss Abernathy.'

"I'm so glad you came!" I'm actually slightly surprised that you did."

This time, Sierra really did grimace. She herself was surprised that she showed up. But she wasn't going to quit. It was her own stupid decision that landed her in that role, and she was going to take on the challenge of being a Hostess, even if it inconvenienced her.

"You're earlier than expected," Kyoya observed. "Haruhi and the twins will be here soon, as will Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai."

"Yep! I can't wait for you meet them," Tamaki said, clasping his hands in joy.

"Are you certain that you can handle the role?" Kyoya asked. He didn't glance up from what he was writing. "If you would prefer to leave, it's best that you tell us now."

"Actually, I'd rather not-"

"Of course she'd love the role!" Tamaki interrupted, much to the girl's annoyance.

Sierra tried not to sigh. "I'm not awfully enthusiastic about the role," she admitted, "but it may prove to be interesting."

Kyoya looked at Sierra. Perhaps he was uncertain, or frustrated by her lack of motivation, but one wouldn't be able to tell by his expression. "You can't join the Host Club simply for your own entertainment. I'm sure you're aware of that?"

"I'm well aware of that. I'll do what is expected of me," Sierra said, although she didn't quite mean it. If anything, entertainment was one of the only things stopping her from exiting the room.

"In that case, would you care to sign this?" With that, Kyoya held out a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. Both seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm not yet of legal age. A contract with my signature on it isn't legally binding."

"That won't be a problem," Kyoya stated, pushing his rimless glasses up with his middle and ring fingers. "Ouran Academy allows its students to sign contracts within the school in order to prepare them for adulthood."

Without any other excuses, Sierra had no choice but to sign. She took the object from Kyoya's hand, and was then offered a pen. From a young age she had been taught to read documents carefully, so that's what she did. It took her a good five minutes to read each of the sentences. A few of the rules were potential nuisances, notably the one that stated she had to participate in 'weekend activities,' but Sierra decided not to overthink it and signed at the bottom of the page.

Kyoya took back the clipboard. "I'll have it emailed to you in the form of a document, and a photocopy will be sent to your address."

A small, almost inaudible groan escaped Sierra. "Why do you have all of my personal information?"

"Certain methods," was Kyoya's vague response.

"I guess I'll say farewell to my damn privacy," Sierra muttered under her breath.

"You may want to reconsider your choice of words," Kyoya suggested curtly. "A gentle, soft-spoken persona might suit your guests better."

"Perhaps."

Just as the conversation came to a pause, faint voices and footsteps replaced what would have been silence. Tamaki, who had been temporarily quiet, perked up.

The doors opened to reveal the redheaded twins Sierra had noticed the day before. Standing to the left of them was a brown-haired boy - or so she thought. All three of them looked at Sierra, but the brunette did so politely and the two brothers just stared.

"Good morning," was Kyoya's dull greeting.

"You're here!" Tamaki squealed. His voice radiated childish excitement.

Finally, a twin spoke. "Wow, Boss. When you said we had a new member, I thought you were talking about a human."

"Yeah," the other scoffed. "We should show her to Nekozawa! They'd fall in love in three minutes. She looks like she's never been in sunshine before.

Instead of saying something offensive, Sierra chose to keep her mouth shut. Years of being mocked about the same thing taught her that it's better to pretend you didn't hear. Doing so takes less effort and annoys people anyway. Sierra knew people wanted reactions, so she didn't give them any.

"Quit being so rude," the brunette scolded them. As she looked to Sierra once again, a warm smile spread across her face. "Welcome to the Host Club. Don't worry about them, they're always like this."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm-"

Sierra was hushed by Tamaki, whose hand was raised in a way that communicated 'stop.' He cleared his throat. "As president of the Host Club, it's my duty to introduce newcomers."

"Alright, if you really want to," Sierra said.

"Haruhi, Twins, this is our newest member, Sierra," Tamaki announced. Everything about him was dramatic, from the hand he held against his chest to the way he was talking.

"Boo. Get to the interesting stuff already," Hikaru complained.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you anything that would interest you," said the albino, who was viewing the whole situation with both intrigue and displeasure. "In a school full of rich students with uncommon lifestyles, my appearance is the only attribute that makes me stand out. And to be quite frank, I find it unprofessional that you'd judge me based on genetics."

"Shh, I'm still not done," Tamaki interjected. "Sierra here will be-"

Once again, the doors opened. This time, they revealed a tall, dark-haired young man. Sitting upon his shoulders was a blond-haired, bright-faced boy with a stuffed bunny dangling from his right hand.

"Brilliant timing!" Tamaki wasted no time in introducing the pair. "Sierra, meet Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai."

There were a few seconds in which Sierra struggled to speak. Senpai? If she wasn't mistaken, that blond kid was about six years old. But, setting aside her confusion, she said something conventional. "Nice to meet you both."

"Hello!" Honey said happily.

"I was just explaining what Sierra here will be doing," Tamaki said. "As you know, she's been selected to be our first hostess. She'll do exactly what we do with male clients."

"You know, you could've just gotten Haruhi to do that," Kaoru chimed in.

"I'll pass," Haruhi muttered from beside him.

The more Sierra heard, the less she felt she understood. She was about to speak up and question Kaoru's logic, but decided to restrain herself. It was too soon for such questions; besides, it would be less inconvenient to ask later. She was more likely to get answers when they weren't already talking about something else.

"As I was saying," Tamaki continued, "Sierra will be our first hostess. But, that's only half of her role here."

"What's the other half? Scaring her guests away when she's done with them?" Hikaru asked mockingly.

"Actually, she'll be the club's official artist from now on." It was Kyoya's voice. "She's already been awarded scholarships to two major art schools. If that says anything about her skills, I expect her to do a good job."

With every sentence spoken, Sierra became more exasperated. "This information hasn't been publicised, so I have no idea how you've obtained it."

Kyoya said nothing more, and continued to write. It was his way of putting an end to the conversation, and, if Sierra's suspicions were correct, the gesture was ever so slightly smug.

"I think we should all get going now, Senpai," Haruhi suggested.

"Of course, we couldn't have our members arriving to class late," Tamaki replied. "I'm so excited to see how well you do, Sierra!"

Sierra was grateful for an excuse to forget about the Host Club for a few hours, even if it came in the form of mathematics. Because there was a difference between algebra and the Host Club: one was easier to handle.

Note: Sorry for the short chapter! The next one will be longer and more eventful.