Taruhi could barely stand still on the busy train as she and Haruhi made their way to Ouran together for the first time. She'd made this journey only once before on Haruhi's first day, Taruhi had skipped school just to escort Haruhi there, not that Haruhi was too impressed by her sister's truancy but the gesture was appreciated.

Never in her wildest dreams did Taruhi believe she would go to such a prestigious school at such a young age and more importantly that she'd be in the same classes as her beloved Onii-chan Kyouya - not to mention an entire year above her older sister. Now she could spend every single day with him. The only problem was that idiot Tamaki being his best friend but she thought if she could just point something out to distract him she could drag Kyouya away with ease. Maybe something shiny? She chuckled at that. Okay, that was cruel, he couldn't possibly be that moronic with his upbringing, she hoped.

Taruhi closed her eyes and tried to focus, if she got herself too worked up she'd make a fool of herself but calming down didn't work so she took a trip down memory lane instead. She found herself remembering the first day she ever spoke to Kyouya Ootori. Her journey towards him began the afternoon of Haruhi's first day at Ouran Academy. Taruhi had stayed home all day making a special dinner and then when Haruhi came home she spent her time probing her sister for information as best she could – although it was much like getting blood from a stone.

In the end she felt like hitting her sister for being so foolish to end up in debt on her first day, and to people who ran something called the Host Club of all things! But Taruhi absorbed everything her sister said to begin her own investigation into these boys. She determined that Ootori, despite only being vice president to this club, certainly sounded to be the most powerful or rather willing to use that power considering his threat to have Haruhi kicked out of the country if she tried to run from her debt. She could bet that freaked her sister out, a part of her would have loved to have been there if it had been a threat over something less serious than an eight million yen debt.

Taruhi knew her sister wasn't the best judge of character, she was a naive person who liked to see the best in people and the world around her and Taruhi couldn't allow her to go into a club with a load of boys who did nothing but tease pretty girls with their charms, and they probably believed Haruhi was an easy target, too. There was also the fact that her Father would be easily dazzled by some handsome boys, he'd think they were kind for letting her work off her debt and because they were from rich families they'd be gentlemen. Taruhi sighed as she considered all this, sometimes her family was truly exhausting. But Taruhi was no prize either, Haruhi had told her in the past that she believed Taruhi had become bitter and jaded. If Taruhi had it was due to her intellectual talent being ignored. But she had better things to do at this time than weigh up all her personal pros and cons. So Taruhi went to the library early the next morning and got to work on her research, and by that afternoon she was prepared to call Kyouya Ootori.

Taruhi drummed her fingers on the table in the living room as she waited for Kyouya Ootori to pick up his cell phone. She wondered if he would pick up seeing as it was an unrecognised number and a rich guy like him would probably be wary of such things.

"Yes?" Kyouya said.

Success!

"Is this Kyouya Ootori, a student from Ouran Academy High School Year Two-Class A, Class Present and Vice President to the Host Club, third son of Yoshio Ootori, head of the Ootori Group, birthday November 22nd, age seventeen, blood type AB Positive? " Taruhi reeled off some of the information she had on Ootori. She found that this tactic always worked best, it didn't seem like she had a lot of sensitive information when you went back to it but to have it fired at you so quickly knocked a person off-guard and left them open for attack. It also meant she could keep the juicy stuff back for later. Taruhi was sure she'd be an excellent poker player if she knew how.

"And who might you be?"

Oh yes, you're definitely him you smug ass, I can hear it in your voice!

"I'm Taruhi Fujioka. And if my older sister is going to be in that Host Club of yours you are going to buy me dinner and tell me everything, Ootori-San."

"I am, am I?" She could hear the smile in Kyouya's voice, "Aren't you only twelve?"

"Don't talk down to me, Ootori-San, I am a child prodigy. I didn't get all my information from Haruhi, you know, I got it through my own means."

On the other end of the phone line Kyouya smiled to himself, this girl certainly sounded intriguing. He had yet to begin his thorough research on Haruhi and it was surprising someone so interesting was related to such a simple girl. Perhaps Haruhi held slight value. "Very well, Taruhi, be ready in an hour and I'll come pick you up, okay?"

"No, I'll meet you, just tell me where." Taruhi didn't want rumours to spread if she was seen in the neighbourhood getting into a strange car and she wasn't going to give him the upper hand either.

Kyouya told her the address of a sushi restaurant, she was sure it would be five star cuisine all the way as it was his turn to knock her off-guard but she would not allow it. Then Kyouya told her to take a taxi which he would pay for as she wouldn't be able to find the place otherwise going by bus. Taruhi let that comment slide, although she was insulted that he believed she couldn't find a damn restaurant but she could find out a big hunk of private information.

Once Taruhi hung up she took a quick shower and dressed up as best she could in a pretty pink dress, she even put her hair in pigtails. She was going to look cute and innocent but she wasn't sure if she'd act that way, she would have to feel him out. Or perhaps she could pretend like she was acting strong and then suddenly bring on the tears. Taruhi shook her head, she was over thinking this, she needed to just let the moment rush up to meet her as she always worked best on the fly.

Kyouya was waiting outside the restaurant, he had changed into some casual clothes but he still looked like he should be in a place like this, he smiled at Taruhi before he paid the taxi driver. Then he turned to greet her properly.

"Hello, Fujioka-kun," he said with a smile that wasn't one of his practised ones for once. He held out his hand for her to shake.

Taruhi narrowed her eyes while the voice inside her mind was squealing with joy. Kyouya-san was even more handsome in the flesh and her heart began pounding against her rib cage. She looked away to seem uninterested while she also seemed to begrudgingly shake his hand, however he turned it over and kissed the back of it. Damn it, you should have seen that coming, Taruhi!

"Ootori-san," she replied as she pulled her hand from his grasp.

"Please, call me Kyouya," he smiled and took her arm to lead her inside, she didn't protest that move as she didn't want to cause a scene.

"Very well. Then you may call me Taruhi." He nodded and looked down at her with a warm sweet smile and she cursed herself for blushing and underestimating her opponent. Of course Kyouya was going to use his charm on her and despite sometimes wishing it, she was not a solely intellectual being, she had other feelings and desires even at such a young age. Usually those desires were pointed towards older, mature and intellectually greater men and Kyouya was an example of all three.

Once they were seated and had ordered their food Kyouya smiled down at Taruhi in a bemused fashion.

"So, Taruhi, just to level the playing field I did some of my own research on you. I'm quite sure I know just as much about you as you do about me, perhaps more."

"Would you like a gold star and a cookie for your efforts?" She replied in a bored tone as she glanced around the restaurant.

Kyouya chuckled. He had a really nice laugh, so deep and warm.

"It turns out you truly are quite the prodigy, as you say."

"I wouldn't lie about something like that and make myself out to be a fool. I also get the feeling your trying to slow walk me to a point, would you mind very much getting there?"

He smiled and picked up his water glass by the stem and twirled it around between his index finger and thumb before taking a sip and placing it back down on the table, "Despite that high IQ no one has ever done anything about you and you're still stuck in middle school. You've become quite the trouble maker in class because you're so bored and due to being bored you've filled your time with other things and now you've become quite the master hacker, have you not? Why did you want to meet with me if you could have found out all the information you wanted yourself?"

Taruhi blinked. She began to realise that although Kyouya hadn't said anything particularly tricky to understand she wasn't used to people talking to her like she wasn't a child. The most challenging conversation she had last week was with a substitute teacher who was positive she was cheating somehow when she completed a math test without using a calculator as requested.

"You're right, I can easily find out everything I need to know about the Host Club and its members, enough to blackmail you guys into letting my sister off the hook for her debt, I'm sure, but playing those games with rich men are unlikely to end well. And I'd rather set up a dialogue between you and your club, especailly if we owe you. I'm very over protective of my big sister because she's terribly naive so I'm reaching out to you so I can continue to protect her."

Kyouya smiled. "Ah. Very well, I can tell you what you want to know. It's perfectly natural for you to want to keep an eye on your sister, isn't it?"

"Thank you, I appreciate that," she replied, sounding truly sincere.

So Taruhi learnt all she needed to about this 'Host Club' during their meal. Kyouya told her when he met Tamaki three years ago and how the Winter before last Tamaki made it clear he wanted to form a Host Club, then he went about gathering up the members before his and Kyouya's first year of High School began. He gave some backgrounds on their members like the twins and Honey and Mori after that, then what they did in the Host Club.

Taruhi sat and considered all that for a moment when Kyouya was done with his explanations. He hadn't really given her that much to go on. She'd definitely have to go back to the library and look more thoroughly into their bio's. But she would pretend like she was satisfied so Ootori would begin to take her off his radar.

"Hm, I suppose I could accept it. But you'll have to talk to my Father, the sooner the better, he's overprotective of Haruhi, too." Although not very motivated, she thought.

Kyouya nodded, he decided to move the conversation onto something far more worthwhile. "Taruhi, how would you like to go to Ouran?"

She blinked in shock. She wasn't expecting that. "Impossible. The year has already started and the only scholarships available are to those in High School so I couldn't get into the Middle School even if I wanted to. You should be aware of that yourself."

Kyouya smiled. "I could get you into the high school. You'd just have to take a few exams. You could do it, I'm sure of it. And I would vouch for you, so all you have to do is make sure you don't let me down."

"Why would you do that?"

"I don't like to see talent go to waste."

Taruhi bit into her bottom lip. She stared into his eyes, he seemed to honestly mean that and the fact that he, a complete stranger would... She was so happy... No one had ever...

She stood up and ran around the table to throw her arms around his neck, nearly knocking his seat back.

"Thank you, Onii-chan!" She exclaimed and kissed his cheek, revealing her true age by behaving like a typical child. She clutched onto his shirt and buried her face in his shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly so the tears wouldn't escape.

Kyouya was shocked at her sudden outburst. He cleared his throat with a smile, he had expected her to try and stay cool and collected but this was quite the offer, many strong people would struggle to hold in their excitement. "That's quite alright, Taruhi, but please, sit down, your drawing attention," he said as he patted her back.

"Sorry," she said quietly as she went back to her seat. She was grinning now, she couldn't help it. Later she would tell herself that she was foolish for getting so worked up as she might not get into Ouran, even if Kyouya vouched for her but the very idea that she was finally moving forward to somewhere was so promising it made her heart swell with joy and she wouldn't let that negativity and realism ruin this moment right here, right now.

"There's something else."

Taruhi flinched and looked up into Kyouya's eyes. "A catch?"

"No, I want to offer you a job."

She cocked her head to the side and frowned, "A job?"

Kyouya nodded. "You have excellent potential to assist me, at least I believe so. I'm going to set you some research tasks. If you come back with the same information as me, or perhaps better information than I already have, I'll give you a very good job, alright?"

"Hm, do I get medical care and dental?" She remarked cheekily. Taruhi never even considered the fact that if she said no Kyouya might not let her go to Ouran.

Kyouya chuckled, "We'll work out your perks when you've done what I've asked. And before that we'll work on getting you into Ouran, hm?"

Taruhi nodded. "Thank you, Kyouya."

"My pleasure, Taruhi," he smirked.

Hm, could be better I think. I didn't really like the way I wrote Taruhi's happiness at Kyouya's offer to get her into Ouran. It seemed far too weak for my liking. There was more to this chapter but I decided to split it up and put it in the next chapter. I'll try and post again really soon.

And Thank You Tsubasa-Sensei for your great review! I have replied and I will reply to all reviews posted even if it's just a 'Thanks for the review' so feel free to ask me any questions according to the story.