Hello! Ouran High Host Club and Bleach are not owned/created by me. However, the plot is.
I have plans, and this will be long. So be patient and all will be revealed! Though, FYI, I did fix cosmetic changes to the first chapter. San to Kun, so on and so forth in case you're wondering.
Pink continued on the inside walls, with their feet standing on a single white expanse of tile. Ichigo had never seen so much of the pale-bright color in use and he swore then that he never would again.
Quickly he moved his eyes to something else. They went to a pair of ascending staircases curving around the entrance hall. The same level of detail could be seen in the use of molding and some white columns holding up the tall dome-like ceiling. What drew his eyes toward rather than away, was red carpeting on the steps dark in comparison, and the large chandelier. It hung over the room's center, made of minuscule pieces that shone from reflecting upon itself.
'Looks like no school I've been to.' He muses, noting the decorations lining the walls. Either pictures with golden frames hung under their own display lighting, or there were decked-out side tables. In spindly, intricate designs along elegantly slim legs, each stood with a full vase of vibrant flowers. Most are roses.
'The guys put up with this?'
Tugging his hood off he ran a hand through his hair. Then he heard the mumbles of conversations from either side of the room. Large French doorways opened at the foot of each staircase and led into main hallways.
All around many students moved about or stood chatting away. The girls wore bright yellow dresses with a distinct poof to the skirt and their shoulders. Meanwhile the male students at first seemed to wear a more standard uniform of an odd grey, until his eyes finally registered the color of pale lilac. Ichigo gave up on making sense of the school.
His eyebrows twitched subtly in his frustration. Now they had people gawking at his group again, just not as blunt as earlier in the day. He did not meet the glances directed at them, or glare, knowing If they had something to say, they would get someone 'delegated' to eventually.
'Maybe by then I can distract myself. Really, why should I care the guys have to put up with this crap of a school? I can see why Ishida would not have stayed, but why does he keep in touch with people here?'
Ichigo internally sighed, relaxing enough to portray equal amounts disinterest and boredom to mask his inner confusion. Briefly he glanced at the rest of his group. Karin's own personal frown grew as each yellow dress filled her sight. However, Yuzu looked pleased with one of her wide smiles as she took everything in. Inoue matched Yuzu and upped it with large eyes. She seemed particularly transfixed by the flowers filling a third of this room alone.
It felt awkward to stand there with none of the students approaching them yet, Ichigo had to admit. While being strange newcomers down on the ground floor, some people standing in the over-hanging balcony didn't pretend to be busy or pass by. By them Ichigo and the others were watched openly.
"This is so big!" Yuzu exclaimed.
"I can't wait to see the classrooms…what do you think the President's like?" Inoue asked, her curiosity spiked.
"I don't want to meet him…" Karin muttered under her breath, glad Yuzu was there to respond than her.
"Nn," Ichigo agreed with Karin. He didn't want to meet this school's president either, a class or student council or school president, and felt it upon himself to get this favor of Ishida's done with quickly. He had questions and Ishida wasn't there for the answers.
With his slow but precise inspection of the room he didn't see any maps, flyers, or guides. Yuzu had started talking to the others, so he took his time to see if a guide would present him or herself from the mass of Ouran students, preferably one not content to just stare or gossip in speculation.
"Oni-chan?"
"Yeah." he grunted softly, trying to now stare someone over, not down. He demanded to be approached for once.
No one came over, and his quick secondary glance only confirmed the same thing. While a few people did seem to want to approach them, others would dissuade or stop them if they didn't stop themselves.
'The lot of them easy to scare…figures.'
Odd, but normal when Ichigo considered his attire and the usual assumptions about his appearance. Plus he wasn't the only unusually hair colored teen of the group, which would confuse them about their assumptions. Their shock factor would be high. That didn't mean he didn't feel somewhat disappointed.
"To save time…" Ichigo began to offer a plan, stopping at finding a lack of bodies in their group. "Where's Yuzu and Karin?"
Only Inoue stood next to him poking her first two fingers together and facing downward. "We-well since Karin-chan and Yuzu-chan don't know me so well, they said they'd go together so we all went with someone we knew…"
"Hold on. When was this?" He tries to see his sisters going down a hallway, but it's been too long. It irritates him. "How come no one asked me about this?"
"Yuzu-chan did, Kurosaki-kun…" Inoue replies, caught in a peeking glance as he turned to face her with what looked like mild annoyance, "She asked if it was okay for them to go check the right and us the left. Karin-chan said they'd come back in an hour…and since you said okay…we figured you meant…..um, that it was okay."
"We all meet back here in an hour?" He asks, looking down the hallway his sisters took, inwardly debating on how well the two would fare in the (weird) school.
"Of course Kurosaki-kun." Orihime's head tilts and her brows lower, "Where else would we meet?"
'…It is the best option, and there's no other choice…' Sighing he jams both hands into his pant-pockets, "Never mind. It's fine. Let's go." He almost grumbles this, turning towards the left after assuring himself that Karin could handle any upsets.
'Oddballs, but not the dangerous sort. One good kick and the obstacle's gone anyways, with how little the backbone's here.'
"Mm!" Inoue agrees, her cheery usual self returns to nearly skip alongside his slightly rushed strides.
Ichigo didn't know where to look but two things were clear. He, Inoue, and his sisters would not be able to do so discreetly. They stood out based on the sudden increase of chatter upon entering a room. Secondly, Ichigo could not find someone decent to ask for directions. To find the guy, they first had to find his club. It wasn't how awkward things could get for them asking about a host club, because Ichigo could glare it away with his all-purpose hardened stare, but something else.
'We stand out as it is, but any more and there will be trouble.'
He shot down Inoue's third attempt of approaching someone, not sure if she knew why he stopped her. Maybe she did not hear exactly how they were being talked about.
Just right now he could turn his ear to the left and hear three students asking each other about how he and she got to the school.
"…Did you see them walk in? They walked! Where did their chauffer go?"
"Did they share one?"
"I wonder if their school has a helicopter landing…"
He stopped Inoue again so they didn't have to answer such ridiculous questions, and in the edges of his peripheral vision something entirely black caught his attention. He noticed just in time to see something disappear from the room, unable to recognize whatever it was.
Ichigo turned to address her, but stilled at the empty space beside him. He growled silently, not sure why it became so easy to loose others here, and soon caught sight of her. She stood off to the side with another girl looking very unsure. She appeared to be in the same boat, as she wore no yellow dress but a sailor uniform with a blue pleated skirt, white shirt and red tie.
'She didn't have to wear a uniform. Seems she's lost though…reminds me of Yuzu a little.'
He approached, realizing she had wanted to go talk to someone in that area, most likely the girl.
When Inoue saw him come over, she brightened further, "Kurosaki-kun, look! Renge-chan's by herself and from a different school, like us! Her uniforms different, see?"
The girl had the top half of her brown hair pulled back. From her facial features she appeared to be an exchange student of some type, which meant she should have been at the school long enough to not look so lost, or to be so alone amongst her fellow classmates. If from a nearby school, then she would have come with others like himself, he reasoned.
'Got separated then, but if not, then how long has she been here? How big is this school?'
Not giving an answer, Inoue considered his silence a 'go ahead' compared to him refusing the other times before, now even more interested in the girl since Ichigo didn't object.
"Renge-chan, this is my friend Kurosaki Ichigo-" he grunted a greeting here as the girl stared up at him, "Would you like to see Ouran's cultural fair with us? Did you come with friends who could come too?"
"Hello Kurosaki-san. I'm Houshakuji Renge," the girl replied a little surprised if not hesitantly. Ichigo decided the latter since she paused as if waiting for a reaction, before looking at them with wide eyes. He figured it was his hair, or his given name, but either way her mouth opened in a near squeal, "Just call me Renge-chan! Okay? I came on a dare to see a host club here…but even if I figured out where it is, I wonder if it's okay to go in by myself. It's so nice to meet you! Have you been?"
"On a dare?" Ichigo asked cutting in Renge's loud and fast paced explanation, wary of her large sudden gesture coming close to bumping his arm.
"Ooh! We came to give the host club a message from one of our friends, so we're going the same way. That's why, do you want to come with us!" Inoue responded without omission, and not holding a thing back she explained their situation.
It didn't care if people knew, though it might help more than hurt as he looked out a nearby window, even patiently, now that they were getting somewhere.
"…We could go together, right Kurosaki-kun? We don't know where it is and you won't go in by yourself that way."
Facing them again, Ichigo noticed Renge standing closer to him than earlier.
'Did I move?'
Her face split into a large hopeful smile that could almost match Inoue's while looking up at him. She had to look up sharply, in a bit more severe angle than when he first approached as well. Taking a step back as if to lead or point in a direction, he grunted his assent.
"Okay, good! It's this way!"
Renge grabbed a wrist each, startling them both, and began tugging them straight through the room. She cut through groups of people, skirted inanimate obstacles just enough if in the way, and made a beeline towards the club without a pause.
"Actually…Kurosaki-kun, and I di-did come with—"
Orihime tripped as Renge abruptly let go to spin around, "You know, I have to ask since I'm really curious! Is your hair really blond without dye? You look like a gangster, a Yankee! But you don't talk like one."
"Hey, I—"
"Kurosaki-kun does not dye his hair!" Orihime stated strongly, squeaking as she realized her outburst.
Renge chuckled, "That's so cool! You know some people here have blond hair. Know any gangsters?"
"No."
"What do you mean by gangster Renge-chan?"
"Any gangsters at your school?"
His eyebrow twitched, "No."
"Are the female uniforms as nice as Ouran's?"
'Like I'd answer that,' he thought with a frown. 'This is not the time for twenty questions!'
Renge took his frown as an answer, "What a pity! These are so pretty! What about your name, hm?"
He stilled, "My name?"
Renge nodded, "Of course!
"Stop that. Right now we can't go without the others, so hold on." Ichigo almost glared at the girl and took the first few steps back the way they'd come.
"Nooo!" The wail echoed down the hall as Renge grabbed a hand of his and leaned backwards to pull him in her direction, "I-I…I don't like crowds! I live far away and I need to go now or have to go home!"
Her words wobbled, frantic-like as Renge started crying, small tears building up as he eyed her.
"Surely, yes surely these others of yours will understand! You can come again right? Won't that make them more at ease if someone knows what to expected ahead of time, Please! I don't want to go alone…"
"Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime glanced at Renge and back at him while standing off to the side with clasped hands before her, "maybe…maybe we should go twice? Once with Renge-chan now? I don't mind, really."
Renge stopped the small whine in favor of quieter sniffles, angled to look up through her damp eyelashes and watery eyes at him.
He scowled.
She still had hold of his right arm. While Ichigo's powers diminished outside of his shinigami form he still remained strong in his own right, and refusing her request was easy to do. However, Renge appeared determined to weep and cling as long as it took for him to cave, based on how hard she stared up at him. In the halls her voice had proven to carry as well. She could make a big issue and involve other people walking past.
'The less trouble the better though. It seems I'll have to.'
Instead of a smile or jump for joy at his grimace of a nod, Renge smirked and continued pulling them along. At least the further she took them, the less crowded the halls slowly became. They climbed three staircases in the process both up and down to his confusion, passed several different chandeliers, more flowers, and then some busts on display. Ichigo realized he could refuse now, but that didn't solve the issue he realized earlier in trying to the first time.
'Crap our luck. How do we get back? It's hard to sense even my sisters in a crowded place and we would still need her. Every room blends together! You'd think all the details would make it easy…'
Unbeknownst to them is that Renge knew many ways to reach the third music room. She had chosen to weave them around in the most complicated way possible, so as to try and tire her new 'star' out. A punk character had stamina, and didn't agree easily. Plus, while she knew a couple of the club members took martial arts, it wouldn't do to start fighting in Kurosaki's first meeting.
'Perfect scores all around! He tried to refuse, and he's not even winded! Papa is a huge donor so Kurosaki-kun HAS to be a host. I'll make him,' she thought checking behind her once more. The deepening frown he gave sent shivers down her spine, and the stars in her eyes just seemed to grow bigger if anyone who knew her, could see the mad dash of theirs to snatch him up fast.
San- A polite form showing respect
Kun/Chan- A form showing familiarity, and or used by mentors/those in higher positions
Nn- The equivalent to 'yeah/yep/u-huh/hm'
Ni- A form showing respect and means 'older brother'
