DISCLAIMER: I'm still waiting for Hatori to come running to me with Ouran's ending. I couldn't possibly own this.
One week, thirteen hours, and twenty three minutes ago…
Haruhi was walking down the hallways of Ouran High School and saw the Third Music Room in front of her. She sighed. Wonder what the theme will be this week… She shook the thought away and continued to walk towards the Host Club, who was—what she suspected—waiting for her to walk through the doorway. The pillars to the side of her skyrocketed to the blue sky and the windows shined from the sun gleaming down on the school. Different students occupied the hallway with her and watched outside as the scenery blew with the wind. (Some of the girls, however, screamed when they saw Haruhi walk past them.)
Haruhi glanced down at the books at her side and flipped a couple of the pages. She was due for some rough finals throughout the week, and the Host Club's activities were not going to help her, either. There was Calculus, History, Literature, English… the list continued on and on until she finally finished with Science. Soon enough, she stopped at the staircase that led down to the floor below, and she watched as some of the girls were anxiously waiting for the Host Club to open. Do they always congregate down there? Haruhi rubbed her head and continued on until she reached the door.
Haruhi placed her hand on the doorknobs. They were cold, as usual, and glittered with the sun behind her, as usual. She sighed, and opened the door. Rose petals flew out of the door and she was welcomed by a fantastical theme of Cinderella. The six handsome boys were there to welcome her, but then realized it was only her.
"Haru-chan!" Huni squealed before running over to her. Mori smiled while following his cousin to Haruhi. "Haru-chan, we made a dress for you!" The two twins placed a small white mannequin off in the middle of the room—about the same size as Haruhi, actually—and leaned against the frame's shoulders. It was blue and white, essentially, reaching down to the wooden floor with cloth billowing from the waistline down. The puffy sleeves were accommodated with the blue gloves to accent the precious blue on her pale skin. The collar of the dress was covered by lace around the edges and the lacing in the back created the illusion of an even more flat-chest Haruhi. Tamaki slid over to the mannequin and twirled what appeared to be a brown wig in his hand.
He rested one of his hands on the neck of the mannequin and leaned forward. "Haruhi! What do you think? I rather think it is cute and adorable, just like my daughter! The girlish fashion will grow on my little daughter of mine and we'll see her more and more in dresses, and perhaps we will finally reveal to the world her secret! Oh, Haruhi! Wouldn't that be lovely? Let's begin your realization with Cinderella and we'll be the Princes to help! Hikaru, Kaoru!" Tamaki swiftly backed away from the mannequin and Mori and Huni brought over a curtained area specifically for her. Haruhi stared at the blue dress and slid her backpack down to the ground. Why, God, why do I have to wear something that frilly? Seconds later, Kyouya was next to her, scribbling notes down in his black notebook. She looked over and found his notebook to be closed.
"Haruhi," he whispered. She blinked and felt a chill run up her spine once he said her name. "we hope that this is modest enough for you. If this seems too extravagant, you can take it up with the twins' mother, who had prepared this dress overnight just for you. But," he looked down at her and smiled, "we princes will carry the duty of swooning of the princess today." Haruhi felt a bit of doubt in the back of her mind as he said those words to her. You're not one that romantically talks to someone, Kyouya. She shrugged and looked back at the dress.
"It's not that I don't like it, it's just why am I always in a dress?" Kyouya pushed his glasses up and smirked. Instead of replying to her question, he pushed her in the direction of the twins, and she felt the hands of Huni wrapped around her own. She looked back at Kyouya to only find him scribbling more notes down in his black notebook. Before long, she was behind a red curtain and having her clothing torn away from her body to be replaced by the blue dress.
Tamaki walked over to his best friend and whispered, "Won't our daughter look cute, Mother?! She'll be the princess of the ball today, and we'll be the suitors she must choose from! Oh, don't you agree?"
Kyouya didn't reply.
0o0o0o0o
"Haruhi-kun, you look so much like Cinderella!" one of her customers swooned. "How does the dress fit you?" She blinked. What she really wanted to say was that it was suffocating her and the laces were tied way too tight. Also, the heels she was forced to wear were cramping her soles and very uncomfortable. And the sleeves were itchy with the pleasure of pushing into her cheeks when she really wanted to tear the sleeves off. Instead, she said something a bit more pleasant.
"Well, I never wear dresses, so this is normal to be a bit uncomfortable. But, if it means that you like the dress and are smiling, I guess it isn't as much torture when I can just see your happiness in my costume," the customers around swooned, and the twins plus Tamaki heard her exclamation. So cute! they all thought. "I see that you all have changed before you came to activities today; your dresses are very accommodating to the theme. May I ask why so formal?" The girls had hearts in their eyes and began to blush. Haruhi blinked a bit more and listened.
The girl to her left began. Her name was Aya. "Haruhi-kun, you don't know? All the hosts have been promoting this for the past week now!" Haruhi shrugged and heard the girl to her right continue. It was Renge.
"Haruhi, for the theme of Cinderella, the Host Club is holding a ball this evening! It is to begin in about an hour, and Cinderella is to choose between the suitors to find the Prince to ride into the sunset with! Oh, it will be a great story arch for our club! The romance, the drama, the angst! Oh, Haruhi, it'll be divine!" Haruhi looked in horror as she listened to everything Renge was telling her.
"And…" she began, "what happens when I choose my suitor?" Renge smiled and leaned towards Haruhi 'romantically'. Haruhi edged away from Renge.
"A dance in front of everyone in the middle of the dance floor will be performed!" Well, that's not so bad, Haruhi thought. She thought it was going to be something else, something more sinister and evil and diabolical. But, she was fine with a dance. "And who knows! The suitors could have something up their sleeves this evening!" Mother, please help me, she knew there was going to be a loophole.
There always was.
0o0o0o0o
To prepare for the evening ahead of them, they asked their customers to wait around the school for the Host Club to finish down in the main lobby with their decorations. Kyouya was over with a couple of workers in placing the piano over at the window near the stairwell when he heard heels behind him click closer and closer to him. He looked back and saw 'Cinderella' staring up at him with a tired look on her face. "Oh, hello Haruhi. What are you doing over here? I thought you were preparing the foods on the table across the room," he said. She sighed and blinked.
"Kyouya-sempai, why didn't you tell me about the event happening tonight? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Kyouya closed his little black notebook shut and placed his pen in the same hand as the notebook.
Without hesitation, he whispered, "Merit," and kindly walked away from Haruhi to help the workers with the piano. Haruhi stood there alone and watched him walk away from her. Merit…? She then heard the two twins yell, "Haruhi!" from behind her and she looked back. They were confused as to the placement of the food. She looked back at Kyouya for a moment, and walked away. Merit for what?
Kyouya sat down on the stool in front of the piano and looked down at the glistening white keys. Placing the black pen and notebook on top of the piano, he let his fingers glide across the tops of the keys without disturbing the preparations being made in the room. He knew he was making some kind of a mistake doing something like this, but in his mind, he couldn't help but notice how Haruhi glowed in the dress that evening. But, he shook the thought away and went back to business as to tuning the piano for the music.
Every time he closed his eyes, though, she was always there.
0o0o0o0o
The customers had already come down the stairs to see the decorations done for the evening. Candles surrounded different pillars and gave the room a yellowish tint from the flames; paintings beside the candles shimmered from the light radiating from the small flames. Tables were scattered around the room with numerous plates full of food prepared moment before. Fabrics of all kinds covered the round tables down to the marble floor below, and were neatly placed on top of the tables. A red carpet was placed going up the stairs to a throne atop a platform on the stairs; there, a golden chair sat with Haruhi in the middle sitting as Cinderella.
This is a little over the top, right? She watched as the customers from before screamed about the cute look Haruhi was giving as to the decorations around her. I mean, there are even flower petals sprinkled on the floor! She shook her head and listened to the piano below sing her melody. She closed her eyes and saw the music paint a wonderful landscape in front of her, one that was away from Ouran and away from reality and in her own world. She was laying in the flowers of the field feeling the sun warm her body as she picked the petals of a couple of flowers, singing along to this melody. She smiled. Soon enough, the music stopped, and then came another song.
She could hear screaming again, but this time it was much louder and more fan-girl than usual. She opened her eyes to see the customers swoon over the people behind her, rather than herself. She could hear footsteps behind her get closer and closer and saw the people, one by one, pass her by, each giving her a rose. Huni was first, with a dark blue blazer and black trousers (much like Ouran's uniform, only the blazer had a tail) to walk down the stairs. He quickly handed her a rose with a smile plastered on his face, and soon found herself with another rose given by Mori.
He was wearing the same colors, the same blazer and trousers as Huni. The only difference was the length of the outfit and the height difference of the two. She smiled as she saw Mori's smile glow with the lights above and around her. Then, he quickly followed his cousin down the stairs hearing his cries for cake with the customers. She looked down at the flowers on her lap and was then welcomed with two roses at the same time. She knew who they were and looked to her left and right. There, she was welcomed by Hikaru and Kaoru.
"Cinderella," they both whispered into her ears. She felt the roses drop down onto her lap with the others and watched both of them bow in honor. She then felt her hands be taken by them and felt their lips chastely kiss the back of her hands. She lightly blushed and watched them carefully glide down the stairs. The customers screamed as she felt the back of her hands tickle from the kisses. Straightening the roses, she found another one being placed down by her hands by another. She looked up to find a blonde haired 'prince' smiling down at her.
He whispered, "You look beautiful tonight, princess," and courteously bowed before her. She felt her heart skip a beat, but quickly regain its rhythm as she watched him walk down the stairs. She looked down at the five flowers. I'm missing one. She waited, and waited, and waited for the other prince to come down the stairs to give her the rose. But none came, and she listened to the speech of Tamaki boom through the halls of Ouran and through the crowded lobby filled with customers. She looked back up the stairs, but found no one.
"Dear princesses, we are here today to celebrate our latest theme of Cinderella! You may dance, you may eat, and you may enjoy the evening here with us all. Please love the music that will play through your ears tonight, and enjoy the dancing that will commence momentarily with us princes and the lovely Cinderella above," He looked up at Haruhi, who was looking up the stairs, and held out his hand. When the applause rang through her ears, she realized that the speech was over and she turned around to see Tamaki and the others holding out their hands to her. "Dear princess called Cinderella," they all romantically shouted. "We want to be your Prince!"
0o0o0o0o
One by one, she danced and danced with all of the suitors. First was Huni, who twirled her around with his mighty strength and energy with the waltz. She mainly flew in the air as he was the lead. She then quickly switched partners through the concerto to Mori, who was more relaxed and eased his dancing with her. She followed his steps and felt his soft hands hold hers. She couldn't help but lightly blush in embarrassment as she fumbled around a lot throughout the piece.
Then, she was given away to two more partners who were already dancing with one another. Hikaru and Kaoru each took turns to twirl her around, with Hikaru first. He felt flustered dancing with Haruhi again, and his palms were sweaty from his nervous side. Kaoru, however, calmed himself down before she was given to him and danced with ease as she felt her heart race from the excitement of the night. She spun around and felt a new hand touch her own and saw Tamaki smiling like an idiot as he began to talk to her.
"Haruhi! How do you like the ball!" he asked in delight. She looked around the room and saw others dancing as well. She couldn't help but notice the happiness around the room.
"It's alright, Tamaki-sempai. Thank you for the dress, really. But, Tamaki-sempai," she looked up at his face and saw his smile again. "Why are you and only four others here?" Tamaki spun her around and began to twirl her with his right hand with the piano's music. Then, she was let go and she spun around until a body caught her from falling. She stopped right away and bowed in apology, but soon realized that the black tuxedo belonged to Kyouya.
"Ah, Cinderella, what a pleasure it is to finally dance with you. May I have this dance, sir?" Tamaki nodded in agreement and Kyouya quickly took her hand in his own. His heart was racing from his own nervous side, but on the outside, he seemed like his calm, cool self. Haruhi felt his fingers wrap around her hands and started to dance with her to the music. She watched as his eyes never left her eyes, and she couldn't help but feel his heat radiate off onto her body. Then, a spotlight was lit on top of their bodies and they continued to dance.
They didn't realize that the rest turned to watch the Prince and Cinderella dance.
0o0o0o0o
As the customers filed out of the lobby, the rest of the Host Club started to clean up after the ball. Many of the workers were cleaning the dishes and food off from the tables, and Huni and Mori were taking decorations down from the pillars. Hikaru and Kaoru were folding the fabrics in a neat little pile while Tamaki was helping a few of the workers take the piano and place it where it belonged back over in another corner of the school. Kyouya and Haruhi, along with a few workers, however, were placing candles that were thrown into bags to carry up the stairs back in a box up in the Third Music Room. (Of course, the flames were blown out before they put them in the bags)
The table was just a small rectangular table full of white candles with burnt wicks. Haruhi was on one side of the table while Kyouya was on the other filling two boxes with the candles. And after that, there was a whole other table full of the candles that were stacked. Haruhi yawned as she slid each candle into the proper box with her blue gloves still on full of white wax that happened to drip from some of them. Kyouya closed his box up and sat down to watch Haruhi finish up with her batch of candles. She looked up and said, "You know, you could help me with these." But, instead, he just smirked.
"I have finished with my half; it wouldn't be proper for me to help you in your half. You're mature enough to handle a few candles to just place inside a box. Besides, what harm is there to put candles in a box anyway?" He looked up at her and she could only blush and continued to place the candles in the box. I've had enough eyes for one night. She wondered about something and looked back up at him; he was still staring at her.
"Kyouya-sempai," she began, "when you said 'merit' earlier, what possible merit is there for the ball? I realize that we have made a financial profit off this, and perhaps more customers from the event, but there must be another reason--" She was cut off by his chair being pushed away from the table and him rising from the chair. She placed her last candle inside the box and looked down at the hand that was being held out for her. She continued to stare at it, even when it was being lowered down to his side again. She looked up at his face and he looked at her with his brown, cool eyes. He smiled.
"Well, I got to dance with you, didn't I?" With that, he turned around and walked away from her to the other table with the candles on top. She stood there watching him walk away from her and looked down at the dress she was wearing. "Oh, and Cinderella?" She jumped at her new name from the theme and looked up at Kyouya again. He was still smiling. "Your Prince needs some assistance with this table. Would you mind helping him?" She sighed and shook her head.
"I don't know how I'm going to survive this week after tonight," she whispered. She closed her box up and walked away from the previous table towards the other one with Kyouya by her side. A worker stood next to the box and grazed the top of the cardboard. A phone quickly came out and dialed a number, and the worker began to talk.
"Yes, father? I've found him. How should I approach him, or properly introduce myself?" There was a pause. "Understood, father. In two days, I will meet this Kyouya Ootori, this interesting man everyone here tends to talk about or to, even the other girl here." The sound of the phone shutting quietly echoes and the box is then picked up by this worker. Sooner or later, that box would start to overflow.
Inside the Third Music Room, music for the Prince and Princess calmed their lovesick hearts while a wicked stepsister became jealous…
Phew! I wrote this all tonight! (Minus the first paragraph or so xD) I've been overworked at school that I haven't had time to actually sit down and write a chapter!
But, since I had the day off today, I figured I would please you guys, in more ways then one.
Anyway! I hope you guys like this chapter. I know, there's a lot of detail (probably) and rambling on about stuff. A lot of repetition, too! I actually think this should've been one of the later chapters, but you know me. I don't plan ahead half the time.
You'll see a few more "past" chapters after this one. (Maybe two or three, depending on my mood.) After that, though, it'll go back into the present and you'll see what happens after this is all said and done!
And oh no! Who is this mysterious person? Oh, snap, I want to kick myself for writing that! D: But I can't because I have short legs and I'm sitting down, so I can't possibly kick myself xD
Responses to Reviews?!:
XOiHeartMiloOX: Well, it looks like I can't trick anyone when it comes to mysterious people! I wonder if you can figure out this mysterious person now! ;D
Fuyuhiko: Oh, there is more! I just ... take a lot of time to update... Sorry ;__;
Nightfall 2525: xD Well, I didn't fulfill your wish of updating that day. I'm pretty sure I could've, but I get lazy sometimes :X
iloveanime2009: I hope you like this one! If not... I'll cry. ... Maybe xD
Well, I hope to update sometime in the near future. (May that be a week, month... I don't know) I'm sure I'll update before my birthday, so let's hope that I update sometime before March 2nd! :D
Until next time!
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