Before Anne had even walked back into the now empty room, she and Haruhi were stopped by the twin terrors.
"Hold it. Before you go..." Hikaru began, and Kaoru continued.
"Here. We got dresses for both of you, and a wig for you, Haruhi. You'll pretend to be your cousin visiting as usual~" Kaoru said happily, much to Haruhi's dismay.
"You don't even ask if that's what I want to do... you just demand it" Haruhi mumbled, and Anne took the yellow bag from Kaoru's hand that had an A scribbled on it. The other bag, a blue one, had an H scribbled on it.
Anne, having never been able to afford dresses before, was now given not only the school uniform free but now another free dress from the Hitachiin's, whose mother happens to be a famous fashion designer. She was beyond grateful for this gesture, and despite not being completely into girly clothes, when something like this happens to her it makes her feel like she's on cloud nine.
"Thanks, you two... I appreciate it a lot" Anne said with a smile and clutched the bag in her hands, as if she was afraid someone would steal it.
"We only did it because we knew a commoner like you would have nothing appropriate to wear" Hikaru said, only to be pulled away from the group quickly by Tamaki.
"Hikaru! What have I told you about saying harsh things like that! I thought you knew better by now!" Tamaki tried to whisper, but failed as everyone heard him.
While Hikaru was being defiant and stubborn, Anne simply rolled her eyes and turned toward the door.
"I'm grateful to Kaoru, anyway. Hikaru... I just want to punch YOU right now" Anne said nonchalantly, and gestured toward Haruhi, letting her know she wanted to leave.
Kyoya looked over his glasses as the american girl, "You're pretty rough around the edges, aren't you?"
Anne looked over her shoulder, and smiled at Kyoya, "Only when I need to be"
Haruhi shook her head at this insane group of people, and left the club room with Anne following beside her.
Later that night, Anne and Haruhi stood outside the huge Hitachiin mansion. Inside, the music could be heard and every light in the ballroom was turned on. Haruhi was donned in a yellow skin tight dress that flared out at the bottom, and a brown wig to make herself look much more like a girl. Anne was wearing a light blue dress that was sinched at the top, but at her waist it flowed down loosely.
"You ready, Haruhi?" Anne asked, actually feeling a bit nervous about going to such a fancy event like this.
Haruhi smirked, "As ready as I'll ever be, Anne"
Anne knocked on the door, and a house maid opened it and welcomed them into the lively household, and escorted them into the ballroom. People were waltzing around, food was set out on elegantly decorated tables, and hanging from the ceiling was a giant glittering chandelier that completed the look of the ballroom. Across the dance floor, it didn't take long for Anne to spot the host club, dancing with swooning girls that seemed to be on another planet. While Haruhi gazed off, looking at the food table, Anne watched Kaoru dancing with one of the girls she's seen at school, a petite little red haired girl that looked as if she was in a permanent state of happiness as she swayed back and forth in Kaoru's arms.
"Hmph... stupid ballroom dances" Anne mumbled to herself, trying to ignore the small pang of jealousy she was starting to feel.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hikaru was dancing with a girl was well. It didn't bother her when he danced... he had been so rude to her. What the hell was his problem? In America, she would have ripped a man's arm off for being so disrespectful, but she didn't want to risk ruining her stay in Japan. Despite that though, his twin brother was different, he was nicer than Hikaru, and it was easy to tell that Hikaru wasn't exactly pleased by that. Anne's eyes shifted away to the food table as she saw a cake sitting there, and imagined taking a piece and shoving it right down Hikaru's pants. Anne turned and watched Kaoru as he glided across the sparkling ballroom dance floor, as if he had danced with a woman a million times. Anne's thoughts were cut off though, as Haruhi spoke to her.
"Anne? What are you staring at...?" Haruhi asked, and was holding a plate of multiple pastries that seemed completely foreign to Anne.
Anne turned her head toward Haruhi, and with ease said: "Just watching everyone dance. I've never danced like that before in my life" Anne said, lying was all too easy to her.
"Alright" Haruhi said, and shoved what looked like a chocolate cream filled doughnut hole into her mouth.
"Is that all the boys do at these parties? Dance with the girls that they already have to court during club hours?" Anne asked, and looked over at Haruhi, and realized with heels on, Anne was a lot taller than Haruhi.
"Pretty much. Kyoya-senpai has club activities going on all the time... he likes to keep everyone at the top of their game, I suppose" Haruhi said after swallowing the sugar filled treat in her mouth.
Anne gazed off, and as Kaoru twirled his dance partner, he caught eyes with Anne and gave her a friendly smile. Hikaru noticed from where he was on the dance floor, and aggressively swung out his dance partner and pulled her back in. Once the song ended, Kaoru bowed to the girl and Hikaru bowed to his, but before Hikaru could walk off, two other girls came over asking him if they could be his next dance partner. Kaoru, on the other hand, was able to slip away and walked over to Haruhi and Anne, with Tamaki following behind him. Tamaki's eyes were practically sparkling as he stared at Haruhi, the dress she wore clung nicely to her thin frame and Anne didn't even want to know what Tamaki was thinking inside that tiny brain of his.
"Haru- Haruhi's cousin! Kayko! Nice to see you~" Tamaki said, almost completely giving away the fact that it was their dear Haruhi Fujioka.
"Hey, Tamaki-senpai" Haruhi said a bit lathargically, and stuffed another pastry into her mouth.
While Tamaki tried his best to impress Haruhi, Kaoru turned and looked at Anne, with a polite smile on his face, "That dress looks nice on you, Anne. Are you enjoying the ball so far?"
Anne rubbed one of her shoulders, with Kaoru finally in close proximity and without his rude brother nearby, Anne felt herself getting a bit shy, "Yeah, it's really... elegant. Much different from any event I've been to"
"You've never been in a mansion before, have you?" Kaoru asked, knowing what her answer would be.
"Ah, no. I've never even been within a few feet of one, nevermind actually IN one" Anne replied honestly, and was glad that she wasn't an easy blusher, it made it a lot easier to hide her emotions.
"How about I give you a grand tour of the Hitachiin mansion? It's really interesting... we've got a lot of rooms to look through" Kaoru said, still smiling as he spoke.
"I'd love to, Kaoru~" Anne said, trying not to show how truly excited she was.
Kaoru and Anne slipped out of the noisy ballroom, thinking they had gone undetected... but Hikaru had been watching their every footstep.