They're all dressed like pirates. Each costume consists of bright colors accented with overly frilly white shirts and black pants. My eyes hurt from looking at it. No pirate talks, they all start at me for more than a few seconds. I haul myself on to my hands and knees, and look up.
"A first time guest! We love first time guests. Please, come in, my beautiful flower," His voice is as smooth as honey, and contains a hint of song behind it. He's tall, with golden hair and strangely violet eyes. And he's extremely, heart-poundingly handsome. He holds out his hand to me, and I take it graciously.
"What's your name, flower?" He asks me. Damn. This happens a lot. Someone starts talking to me and I just can't answer. I want to, but no words come out of my mouth. I look at him, open my mouth, close it, and drop my head.
"It's okay, do come in," The tall boy says, spinning me into the room.
"Tamaki, you'll scare her," A second voice says. I lift my chin and see it came from an auburn-haired first year. He and his brother are in my class. I think I can recall their names. Kaoru and Hikaru Hitachiin. That's it. I look at them, the only - even if slightly - familiar faces in this room.
"Oh, hey, you're in our class. You're new. Akira, right?" The other twin says. I can't really tell which is which, but I do notice that their voices are different. I make a mental note of that.
"Yeah," I say. It comes out weaker than I thought, more embarassed. Heat rises to my cheeks and I drop my gaze to the floor. I feel a hand lift my face up, and I find myself looking into the eyes of the tall blonde boy, Tamaki.
"You don't need to be embarassed, not with the beauty you posess," I feel heat enveloping my face, and I know that I've gone beet red. Damn him.
Suddenly, confidence fills me, and I push that boy firmly to a respectable distance away. "Yeah," I say, crossing my arms and drawing myself up to my full five-foot-nine height, "I just got lost. I'm not your guest, nor do I wish to participate in your..." I trail off, searching for the right word, "...ridiculous club". Tamaki visibly pales. Dammit, I've gone and done it again. My blush reappears and I drop my eyes again.
"Sorry, but I-" I whisper. I bite my bottom lip and twirl a strand of my dark brown hair in between my fingers.
"Hey," Yet another voice says. Great, more people. "I apologize for my senpais. They're a little bit too crazy for their own good," I look up again to see another younger boy, with longish brown hair and wide, deep eyes the color of honey. "I'm Haruhi," he says with a charming, deliciously adorable smile. I suddenly feel like he's the best host in this place.
"Hi, I'm A-Akira," I manage to stammer.
"Akira, would you like to stay for some tea?" Haruhi asks in her strangely high voice. Isn't Haruhi a girl's name? I find myself thinking. Poor guy, having to be stuck with a girl's name his whole life. I don't bother to bring it up because it might upset him, and I really don't want to do that. He's just so... nice. Not a sickly sweet nice like that Tamaki guy, or a friendly-without-being-interested nice like the twins. Haruhi is different. Haruhi seems like he genuinely wants to spend time with me.
I nod in response to his question and follow his lead to an overstuffed, elegant couch. Haruhi prepares the tea and I graciously take my cup, trying to gather enough confidence to speak again.
"You know, I'm pretty new around here, too," He says, obviously trying to relate to me and get me to feel more comfortable. I look around and notice the rest of this club trying to pretend they aren't watching our conversation. "It took me a while to get used to all this craziness".
"Really?" I murmur. "You seem pretty settled in."
"Yeah. I really love it around here. Tamaki and the others may seem pretty weird at first, but they're all really nice when you get to know them".
"Hmm," I say, as a thought hits me. I wonder... they probably put on acts for their guests. They get to know the guests, but the guests don't get to know them for who they really are. It seems pretty unfair. Or maybe sad? Or maybe...
"What's it like being a host, Haruhi?"
"Oh, it's really fun! I get to meet new people every day and get to know the frequent customers more. Besides, I have great coworkers!" He's obviously trying to sell me on the thing as a whole, but I sold myself.
See, this is something I could gain from. It seems like a good opportunity to try to fight my... social anxiety. But then a thought dawns on me. If I become a host like them, I'll be forced to interact with more people on a daily basis.