Rennie ran out of her classroom in a rush to escape the students that kept following her. All throughout the day they would ambush her with questions that she was so tired of answering. They were all the same;
"You're from Russia, right?"
"Why'd you move to Japan?"
"I heard you were related to Nekozawa-senpai."
"Why are you dressed like a boy?"
"Where's your hair?"
And the ever-popular statement among the girls -
"You're such a freak."
It's not like Rennie cared that they insulted her; honestly, it just made her laugh inside. She didn't expect anyone to understand and things had went better than expected. Rounding a corner that led to the lunch room, she finally slowed down and took several deep breaths. She didn't notice the quiet footsteps behind her.
"Hey, are you alright? I saw you running and I thought something was wrong," Rennie jumped hard and flew to face her follower. She saw a boy with short brown hair and doe-eyes. He looked innocent enough, but Rennie was weary all the same.
Rubbing a hand through her shorn hair, Rennie sighed deeply and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... a little worn out. Who're you?"
The boy smiled and held out the hand not holding a bento box. "I'm Haruhi Fujioka It's a pleasure to meet you, Renata."
Looking at his held-out hand, something clicked in Rennie's head.
"You're a girl too, aren't you Fujioka?"
A small "yip" sound came from the suspected girl before she retracted her hand and laughed awkwardly.
"Uh, yeah... Is it that obvious?"
Rennie smiled. "Only if you know what to look for. Most people here seem fooled, even the teachers." A couple of girls came up just then and started talking to Haruhi, hearts in their eyes.
"Oh Haruhi-kun, would you like to sit with us today for lunch? It's so nice outside!"
Another one piped in. "Yeah, Haruhi, it would be amazing if you did!"
The third girl glared at Rennie before opening her mouth. "Besides, wouldn't you like to get away from this trash? I can't believe she had the nerve to talk to you. You know her story, right? Her father is marrying some strange lady so that he can just take all of her money, but the jokes on him! She's actually a prostitute!" All three began laughing and pulling at Haruhi, trying to drag her away from the "trash."
"Hey ladies, that's not very nice! Rennie-senpai is actually very interesting to talk to." Haruhi squirmed and sent a look toward Rennie for help. Sighing, the Russian walked up to the girls, now motionless at Haruhi's outburst as though she had grown two heads.
Quickly and carefully, Rennie pried the girls' fingers from Haruhi's shirt and pulled her out of their reaching grasps.
"Hey, that was rude! You scratched my hand!" The third girl yelped. Smiling wickedly, Rennie walked up to her and got in her face. The girl trembled a bit but held her gaze.
"A little scratch never hurt anyone, lady. Besides, don't you know it's rude to snatch someone away like that? You're all like kidnappers."
"E-Excuse me? Kidnappers?!" She gasped out.
Rennie shrugged a shoulder with her smile still holding strong. "Hey, you're the one trying to drag Fujioka away, not me."
The girls regrouped and scoffed collectively before turning their backs and leaving. Rennie sighed and faced Haruhi. The cross-dresser just watched with a curious expression.
"THERE YOU ARE MY DARLING DAUGHTER! DADDY HAS BEEN SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" A high voice yelled from behind Rennie and a blur rushed past and tackled into Haruhi.
"Tamaki-senpai, I am not your daughter! Let me go!" Haruhi shouted as she struggled against the vice-like grip. The blonde had no intention of letting go it seemed, so once more Rennie stepped forward and began to pull him off.
Once freed, Haruhi glared at the blonde as he pouted in a nearby corner before facing Rennie with a grateful smile. "Sorry you had to save me again, Rennie-senpai. This is Tamaki Suoh."
Tamaki perked up at hearing his name and immediately went into "host-mode."
"Well hello there, Miss Avilov. My, aren't you just a refreshing ray of light on this awful cloudy day! Yes, I am the famous Tamaki Suoh, king of the Ouran High School Host Club!" He took Rennie's hand and kissed it gently. "What an interesting Princess you are, my dear. A truly unique beauty, much like myself!"
"Idiot," Rennie grumbled as she pulled her hand free and wiped it on the front of her pants. "Look, I don't care who you are or what club you're apart of. I just want to get to lunch. It's half over as it is."
Rennie turned to walk away but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Thinking it was the blonde idiot, she hissed.
"O-oh, sorry senpai. I was just wondering if you'd like to each lunch with me in the club room. It's right down the hallway and I'm s-sure the others won't mind," Haruhi said.
Rennie froze. "Thanks Haruhi-chan, but I promised Umehito I would eat lunch with his club. Maybe another time," she muttered. Continuing her way down the hall, more voices began to join Haruhi's and Tamaki's, but there was no way Rennie was turning around and stopping again. She was hungry and still had to find Umehito's club room.
Pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket, Rennie looked at the hastily-written directions and realized there was no way she could get lunch and get to the Black Magic club room in time, so instead of heading to the cafeteria she made her way straight to the club.
She passed many students who had quickly finished their lunches and were hanging out in the halls. Their stares bore unseen holes in her back, but Rennie just continued on like she didn't care. And she didn't, right?
It took several minutes, but finally she was at the club. The door was cracked and so she just let herself in.
"I thought you had gotten lost, Rennie-san," an all too familiar voice whispered. Closing the door completely, Rennie's eyes adjusted to the near-darkness and she saw several students eating at a table in the center of a rather macabre room, all with eyes on the newcomer.
"Yeah, well, stuff happened and I wasn't able to grab lunch," she said as she took a seat next to her fully-cloaked cousin who was sitting at the head of the table with an empty seat, the only empty seat, beside him. He watched her carefully as she walked, her movement sluggish and weary. Belzeneef watched as well, wary of the girl.
When she sat, she folded her arms on the table and rested her head in them and sighed deeply. Umehito patted her pack and shook his head, though Rennie couldn't see this.
"Everyone, this is Rennie, my cousin from Russia."
"Hi guys," she called with her head still buried in her arms. Her eyes hurt and she was tired from lack of sleep and dealing with Tamaki and the three girls.
No one spoke, but the sound of metal hitting porcelain picked up once more and the sounds of small talk were heard.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Umehito whispered.
"Nope, I sure don't. I just want to sleep," Rennie's reply was muffled.
Umehito looked to Belzeneef and the puppet just shrugged.
Soon, lunch time was over and Rennie bid farewell to her cousin.
"Oh Rennie, there's something I want to tell you," Umehito whispered. Nodding, Rennie leaned in.
"You can trust the Host Club," he said.
Rennie straightened up quickly, her face turning slightly pink. "H-How'd you know about that?" She stammered.
Umehito smiled while Belzeneef danced happily. "I know everything around here, Rennie-san."
She groaned.
"Of course you do, Umehito-san. Of course you do."
"Would you like to come to the Host Club? I'd like to thank you for helping me, and since you missed lunch today I figured it would be good if you ate something. Besides, you wouldn't have missed it if it weren't for me." Haruhi smiled her natural smile and Rennie couldn't help but return it.
"I'd love to, Haruhi-chan."
Haruhi had found Rennie asleep in the same library she'd been in and decided since school was over with, she would invite the girl to the Host Club as a form of thanks.
"Will the blonde be there?" Rennie asked as she stretched and stood up, shoving her stuff in her bag. Haruhi nodded.
"Tamaki wasn't kidding when he said he was king."
"I assumed as much, with that large ego of his. God, he's such an idiot; it's a wonder he's king" Rennie mused aloud.
The sound of laughter immediately filled the library. Rennie looked at Haruhi questioningly.
"What? Was it something I said?"
A/N: Things will pick up next chapter! Rennie meets the entirety of the Host Club, a possible love interest, and maybe even a threat! Stick around to find out what happens next in "Volatile Times!"
(P.S. It's 3:33 A.M. right now, so I'm out of it. Don't mind my slight exuberance.)
-Nightowl