The host club walked, well 6 of them walked…Tamaki more sashayed, through the doors of the Azumi Children's Care Center. The inside lobby area was painted a cheerful yellow with a white trim. Plush, but slightly worn, armchairs dotted the room giving it the inviting feeling of a cared for family dwelling. A woman, roughly 40 years of age with short fiery red hair cut into an attractive bob and startling emerald eyes, approached them with a warm smile on her face. Smoothing down the front of her apron, she opened her arms to the boys in a welcoming gesture.
"Ah, you must be the boys from Ouran, we've been expecting you. The children are all abuzz! I'm Kietsu, Chizu, the chief caretaker and owner of this center. Please, please come in, let me show you around," Chizu motioned for the hosts to follow her as she started down a long hallway. Turning around and walking backwards with the natural grace of a tour guide, Chizu pointed to Tamaki. "You must be Suou, the one who I talked to over the phone, and the president of this fine club."
Tamaki, being the ever-elegant host he was, stepped forward and took Chizu's hand, bowing down and giving it a kiss. "Yes, but please call me Tamaki. After our delightful chat on the phone I could not delay our meeting. Thank you for honoring us with the opportunity to spend this lovely day with the children."
"Quite the charmer you are, Tamaki," Chizu blushed softly. "Well, we thank you for taking an interest in our students. They don't often get visitors here to just socialize." With that Chizu turned back around to continue showing the hosts around.
"Here is the kitchen where our two cooks and myself prepare all meals," Chizu gestured, pushing open the first door down the hall on the right. The hosts all crowded in through the door giving a quick glance around the interior of the kitchen. It was small, just barely big enough for 4 maybe 5 people at most (and with the entire host club plus Chizu crammed inside, they were nearly bursting at the seams). Chizu maneuvered with great difficulty around the kitchen pointing out the various ovens, refrigerators, stoves, and other cooking gadgets much to the delight of Tamaki and the twins (a commoner kitchen!) before deciding it was time to move on with the tour.
Back outside, Chizu showed the hosts a small sample bedroom that was currently vacant of tenants, a music room with a small upright piano, a few violins, a flute, an acoustic guitar, and a cello (all graciously donated, Chizu added), the classroom where she lead studies during the week, and finally back into the foyer.
Kyouya was the first to speak up upon reaching the end of the tour. Pushing his glasses up and jotting a few notes down, he turned to face Chizu and asked, "Chizu-sama, how many students currently reside here?"
Chizu replied quickly, "27. 15 girls and 12 boys between the ages of 3 and 17." The twins smirked at each other when they heard there was someone 17 years old, hoping it was a girl while simultaneously thinking and plotting about a new "toy". Haruhi rolled her eyes and whispered "perverts" before whacking each of them upside the head.
"Speaking of the children, would you like to meet them now?" Chizu asked. Each member nodded their head, Hunny so frantically he almost fell off Mori's shoulders. "Well then come on, they are all waiting in the play room. They simply cannot wait to meet you!" She exclaimed before walking to the door off the foyer and pushing it open, revealing a large open living room where the children were waiting.
"Kids, please welcome the Ouran Academy Host Club. They're here to spend the day playing with you, and I know you are all excited, but please be on your best behavior," Chizu addressed the small mass of bodies. The young faces stared back anxiously at the host club, not knowing whether to be frightened or ecstatic about their newfound friends. A little girl, no older than 6, with dazzling plum colored eyes and a cute black pixie cut walked up to Tamaki and grabbed his hand. She looked up (and up and up considering the height difference) before smiling sweetly and asking him if he wanted to be her best friend.
And that was it. Tamaki was a mush squealing about his darling children and how much fun they were going to have. He swung the little girl around as she giggled delightedly before running off into a corner of the room still holding the girl, a small mob of children falling in line behind him. Just like Tamaki-senpai to have the masses at his feet, Haruhi smiled in his direction before deciding the take up residence by a small boy with glasses who was reading intently from what appeared to be an encyclopedia.
The twins spotted another pair of twins, two small girls with brown pigtailed braids about 10 years old, holding hands quietly by themselves at the table in the back. Seeing a lot of themselves at their age in the twin girls, Hikaru and Kaoru walked back to them intent on getting them to come out of their shells. Kyouya in the meantime was circling the room with his notebook in hand, taking notes on the conditions of the children's center, stopping occasionally to have a quick conversation with various children. Finally, Hunny was running from group to group with Mori in tow, asking everyone and everything if they would like to share some cake with him. It was a happy sight for Chizu, as the students never really had older role models to share their time with.
A sudden creak came from the stairs in the corner, snapping Chizu out of her quiet thoughts. "Oh, there you are Shizuko-chan. You finally cared to join us huh?" Chizu softly scolded whoever had just entered the room. Glancing up from their current positions to see this mysterious Shizuko who had so rudely shown up late to their "party", the hosts were all shocked to see a girl their age cautiously making her way down the stairs.
She had long hair, so blonde it was almost a silvery white. It cascaded down her back in perfect rolling waves. She was tall, about 5'11" if Kyouya had to guess. She was wearing the same pale blue and white dress the other girls were wearing, but it seemed just a bit too short on her, and the hosts could all tell she felt uncomfortable in it. She was thin, but not unhealthily thin, just small boned. She kept her head down as she silently stepped off the last step and walked towards Chizu. She hugged the woman in what appeared to the hosts to be a sorry I was late gesture. Then she meekly turned away from them all, and started to walk out of the room.
"Just where do you think you're going now Shizuko?" Chizu questioned her eldest ward, "You're being rude to our guests. Please come back here so they can properly meet you young lady."
Shizuko stood rooted to the spot where she stood, her hand still out and posed to pull the door in front of her open. Slowly she lowered her hand to let it rest at her side, but she did not turn to face them. "Come on Shizuko, don't be shy," Chizu tried to coax her over. Finally, Shizuko swiveled around to face the room, which had gone silent in anticipation. Her head was still tilted downwards but the hosts could start to make out more of her face, which included an angular jawline, thin pink lips, and blunt bangs.
Trying to calm the nerves of the shy girl, Tamaki's host instincts kicked in and he stepped forward reaching out for her hand. He picked it up, speaking softly, "Little princess there is nothing to be afraid of. We're here only to be in your company." He started to lower down to kiss her petite hand, but she suddenly jerked back pulling her hand free and slapping his hand back, her head snapping sharply up revealing her wide eyes. Tamaki took in a deep breath when he saw her eyes, such a light blue they were the color of ice, but then recoiled when he saw they were glaring intensely at him.
In the background Hikaru and Kaoru had stopped talking for once, too shocked by the girl's reaction to Tamaki. Kyouya was frantically writing in his notebook, no doubt about the interesting girl that had just appeared. Hunny had a piece of cake on a fork, which had made it halfway to his mouth before freezing in midair. And Mori…well he looked no different from his usual resigned demeanor. But on the inside, his heart had started to race at the sight of the angelic beauty in front of him.
Another tense moment passed before Shizuko realized the entire room was staring at her, waiting for her to make a move. She slunk back, hating being the center of attention, before turning on her heel. She walked to the nearest bookshelf and grabbed randomly at a book before silently gliding out of the room. Just before the door closed she looked back, accidentally making eye contact with Mori. Her eyes narrowed as she gave him a good look, then continued on her way, the door swinging shut behind her.
"I'm so sorry about that," Chizu ran forward where Tamaki was still frozen in place. "That was Shizuko, our oldest resident. She's normally quite friendly I don't know what came over her."
"It's quite alright, Chizu-sama. I just don't know what I did to offend her, that is all," Tamaki replied, genuine concern on his face.
"Shizuko is a tough case unfortunately," Chizu began to explain. "She was brought into my care 8 years ago. Her mother had been killed right in front of her, poor child. She was dropped at my door with only the clothing on her back, and a small trunk with her meager belongings." She looked up as the host club slowly began to crowd around to hear her story.
"Shizuko Koi is her full name. She has lived in my care for so long. She is such a sweet girl, fiercely protective of the children here, especially those two over there," Chizu motioned to the plum-eyed girl and her slightly older, freckled, redheaded friend. "She's very intelligent too; her IQ is close to exceeding 170. But she has one flaw which ultimately kept her from ever getting adopted." The hosts all leaned in close to hear what Chizu had to say.
"She will not, or cannot, speak."
He had called me Little Princess. Only my mother had ever called me Little Princess. That was why I reacted the way I did. I instantly regretted my actions, for he seemed like a genuinely nice character, but as soon as I realized they were all staring at me I had to get out of there. Especially the tall one in the back, with the slightly spiked hair and almost cold look in his eyes, I had to get away from; his stare unnerved me.
I looked down at the book I had grabbed; it was a physics book. I've read this three times already, I thought to myself. Coming to the conclusion that I wasn't going to be reading my book, I decided to head towards the music room where I knew some piano playing would ease my mind.
After getting over the initial shock of the information Chizu had imparted them, the hosts slowly went back to their former activities. They tried to forget anything had happened, but it was hard to remove from their immediate memories. As the air in the room started to move back towards the playful mood of earlier, Hunny suddenly yelped. "Wait! Where did Takashi go?"
I tried to make this chapter longer than the first two. After this, I feel the majority of the chapters will be somewhere around this chapter in length, if not a little shorter.
Once again, please review, and as always enjoy!