CHAPTER FOUR

"Dance party?!" Kiyoko's disgusted face was so funny that the twins sniggered.

"You didn't know? Because of this formal theme..." Kaoru began.

"...we have a dance party to finish it off on the third night." Hikaru finished, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"It's a pretty formal party, held in the ballroom of Ouran Academy. The ladies dress in their fine dresses and the Ouran Host Club, namely, us, put on these suits." Tamaki explained with more unneeded gestures.

"Ew." Haruhi said.

"Double ew." Kiyoko nodded. The girls had kind of become friends, maybe because they were the only girls in there, but also because they agreed on a lot of things.

"Aw, come on, my daughters."

"Tamaki-senpai, I already have a dad, so I don't need another one." Haruhi deadpanned.

The other girl kept silent. She would've said the same thing, except that she didn't count her biological father as her dad anymore.

He sniffed dramatically and went to sulk in the 'Tamaki Corner', as Kiyoko liked to call it. "Mommy," Tamaki cried, "You should speak to Haruhi!"

"No." The Shadow King stoically said.

"Wah! At least I have my other daughter." He edged his way towards her. "KIYOKO!"

She turned away. "No."

He froze and faded, going back into the 'Tamaki Corner'. Everyone could hear him muttering as he turned into dust. "My daughters... dear Haruhi and Kiyoko..."

~Kiyoko's Point Of View~First Person

The host club were such weird people; I mean, there's this melodramatic 'princely' guy who is the president, a rather evil 'cool' Shadow King, a mini 'boy Lolita' who's the oldest in the club but looks like a elementary schooler, a set of 'little devil' twins who do gross twincest acts, and this giant guy who's supposed to be 'wild' but I really couldn't see where that came from.

Of course, there's Haruhi and I too, but she was pretty normal, maybe a little dense and too nice sometimes, but hey, who was I to criticise?

"Miss Kosume, would you like to explain this problem for us, since you don't seem to be paying attention?" My maths teacher interrupted my daydreaming.

"Er...It's working backwards to find the answer. Well, 172 plus 215 equals 387, so 387 divided by 3 equals 129, and 129 subtract 38 is 91, and 91 multiplied by 2 is 182, so the final answer is 182." I half-smirked at the teacher and he narrowed his eyes at me. Obviously, I didn't care the least about what he thought.

"That's correct." He sounded surprised. Jeez, I was a scholarship student. What did he expect? Besides, I'm pretty sure that that question was meant for elementary schoolers.

"Well done, Kiyoko." Haruhi smiled from next to me.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Why are all poor people so smart?" One of the twins (I'm assuming Kaoru by the tone of his voice) poked me on my arm and the other poked Haruhi. She just sat there blinking, but I growled at them and did an 'Extending Emu', which was what my old friend and I made up.

It's basically when I shape my hand into an emu's head, then when aiming for their ribs, I extend and straighten the hand, giving the person a good, hard poke.

"Owwwwwwwww..." Kaoru groaned, rubbing the spot where the 'emu' landed.

"Ooh, harsh." Hikaru said, amused, from the other side of the table.

Then the teacher shot a glare this way and they all fell silent.

I had on my 'sour-as-a-lemon' face as I slipped into a silver shirt with flared sleeves and a pair of black leggings with random shiny blue swirls on it. I would've seriously preferred a normal t-shirt and some comfy pants... Well, at least I didn't have to wear a stupid dress. I was being so loud and annoying about dresses that in the end, the host club didn't force me into one.

Hehe - suckers.

"Kiiiiii-chaaaann!" A now familiar babyish voice shouted. "You done yet?"

Jeez, impatient much? I gathered up my stuff and got the heck out of that weird changing room that was full of roses painted on the walls.

When I stepped out, I saw the host club wearing suits and looking 'fabulous' as usual. Haruhi was in this yucky pink dress with a bow on the front and wearing a long wig. I sniggered a little when I saw that but quickly managed to regain my composure as Tamaki led us out to the ballroom.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of Ouran Academy!" He cried, throwing his hands up towards the audience. "I am the president, Suoh Tamaki!"

A chorus of squeals erupted in the whole ballroom.

"KYAAA~ Tamaki-sama!"

"SO HOOOT! MORI-SAN!"

"Honey-senpai...!"

"Oh my, so many cuties... KYAAAAAA~"

I face-palmed. "Oh gawd..." What the hell is with these weird people? The host club were, I must admit, good-looking, but seriously? Eeeeeeww.

The dance party introduction went on, and soon the actual dancing started.

"Um, Kiyoko-chan?" An annoying girly voice stuttered. I took a deep breath and turned towards her, but still didn't manage to control my flaring temper (cos I was still mad that those stupid people for making me come to this stupid event).

"Yeah what?" I said, sounding impatient, even to my own ears.

The girl winced. "A-ah, sorry... I just wanted to... um, never mind." She twisted around uncomfortably and tottered off in her high heels. The hell is wrong with people these days?

Then another voice interrupted me. "Kiyoko."

"What?" I hissed.

The guy now in front of me grinned. "Will you dance with me?"

"No way in hell." I immediately replied, patience and pretence all flown out the window.

The brunette smirked. "Aww, come on, Ki-chan, that's what you're here for!"

I tilted my chin up. "I'm here because the host club forced me to, not because I had a choice, dude."

The random guy didn't reply, instead he started walking towards where Tamaki and Kyoya were taking a rest. I stared suspiciously at him as he struck up a conversation with them, and then all three glared my way. I knew that PIG (Pesky Ignorant Guy) was planning something.

Soon the president of the host club and the PIG who I didn't know the name of came over. A triumphant smirk was showing on his face.

"Kiyoko..." Tamaki started pleading.

"Dun wanna hear it." I put up a hand to stop the flow of words I knew were going to flood me as soon as he opened his mouth again. "You told me I had to come but never told me I had to dance, dude."

He made the wide-eyed puppy dog eyes again, but I shook my head.

"That doesn't work on me." Then his face turned rather evil-looking and beckoned Kyoya over. Uh oh...

I sighed as the Shadow King pushed up his glasses nonchalantly. "Well..." He began.

"OKAY!" I put up my hands in defeat. "WHATEVER!"

I glared at the annoying - still unknown - guy and hissed at him when the others left. "You will pay for this."

To my surprise, he started laughing, clutching his stomach.

"What the hell's wrong with you?!"

"N-Nothing...AHAHAHA! Just wanted to see your reaction when I did that. I don't really want to dance - I hate it almost as much as you do..." He finally stopped the 'giggles' and straightened. I just kept staring at the maniac.

"I'm Akiyama Koichi, Haruhi's cousin. I went to visit her a few days ago and she told me about you and the host club. Oh god, you're even funnier than what I expected." With that, he burst in peals of laugher again.

"Okay... That's very...very...er...nice of you..." I was weirded out by this Koichi person.

That's when I spied some cupcakes on the other side of the ballroom and immediately went over. "Well, it was...nice meeting ya dude, but I'm gonna go grab a cupcake or two now...or three."

Finally the dance party was over... But because of that I only managed to sleep for 4 hours last night. NO ONE TOLD ME THAT WE WE'RE GOING TO BE CLEANING UP THE PLACE AFTER THE PARTY! It finished at 1 'o' clock, the cleaning took 2 hours, and I had more homework to finish afterwards. I was so exhausted I just stayed in Music Room 3 during the night, resting on a comfy sofa. My eyes were literally bloodshot today, because the nightmares still persisted even though I was so tired.

~Flashback~

The girl woke to a dim light in her new room. Ever since her baby brother was born, her parents had moved her to the tiny cupboard-like room because 'he needed the bedroom more'.

She sighed. Mum never even bothered to be caring to her, always 'oh just look at darling Hitoshi' or 'he learnt so much faster than Kiyoko'. Dad just listens to whatever mum says.

"Oh, Kiyoshi, honey, get me some water for our son, please."

"Kiyoko, go get some water." Dad would say.

But after a while, they didn't even use her to help them anymore. It was as if she doesn't exist to them, her own parents. Her presence was nothing.

All the girl had were her friends, but slowly, they drifted apart too.

Some transferred. Others just started ignoring her like her parents.

She didn't matter.

~Flashback End~