Hey guys! I'm back! WOW BOY HOWDY am I excited about this one. It's a two-parter, but it's extra special because TEAMWORK! I cannot send enough expressions of thanks to KerrolynWolf for the use of her family of characters, and making the plot of this so undifficult for me to figure out and so FUN, AND for answering my many many questions. This has literally been one of my favorite things to write. I really really want to do more of these now.
MIROKI: I'm excited too! Let's go now, FeatherSong!
Welp, you heard her. Into Ouran we go!
It was a week after the uniform shift, and the Subete Club's weekly tea party was more full than ever before—with more subtly dressed students, to boot.
Kotoko was floating on cloud nine. "Ariana, can you believe it!? I mean, all we wanted to do was have a little fun, but here we are, the most popular club in the school! THIS IS SO EXCITING!"
"Mm-hm, yes Kotoko, very exciting, don't you have a table of people waiting for you at your table?"
Kotoko gasped and looked over her shoulders. "I do! See you later, Ariana!" she said before skipping away.
Ariana smiled and shook her head, turning back to the homework she was working on.
"It's only a matter of time before she comes up with another elaborate plan for you to orchestrate, isn't it?"
Ariana chuckled and nodded at her friend. Emi Maeda was a lot like her, a loner type that stuck to the shadows and learned things by watching and listening. She was perhaps a little more right-brained than Ariana, more creative and definitely more given to emotion (though there weren't many who were not). She was actually Miroki's age, but she was very mature and had advanced an extra grade due to her extraordinary test scores.
Emi shrugged her medium black hair behind her shoulders, turning her silver eyes back to the homework as well. "Although I didn't mind the last one, really."
"Nobody minded the last one." Ariana said with a smile.
Emi looked up suddenly when the door opened. Ariana followed her gaze to see the Miroki and another girl: She had medium length brown hair and green eyes, green eyes that were staring right back at Emi. The smiles dropped from both of their faces. The gaze continued for a prolonged moment, before Miroki said something to the girl to make her turn back and grin again.
"Hmm…" Ariana turned back to her homework, her thoughtful sound snapping Emi's gaze back to her.
"What was that?" Emi said.
"Nothing." Ariana said.
Meanwhile…
"Hey, Kiki!" the boy turned at the sound of his best friend's voice. "Kiki, I want you to meet someone! This is my friend Eri, Eri, this is Akihiko!"
"Hi, nice to meet you! Hey, I know you, you're our class rep!"
Akihiko chuckled somewhat nervously and smiled. "Yep, that's me, it's a pleasure to meet you too, Eri."
"Eri's in art class with me, she's a fantastic painter. It's her first time here. I told her she should get in on it early, before she had no clue what was going on!"
Akihiko chuckled again. "Yeah, well, with my sister running things and you helping, that's more than likely to happen."
"Hey!" Miroki elbowed him, pretending to be indignant. "Bullying is not a good example to set for the club or your class, Kiki."
Akihiko simply stuck his tongue out in response.
"Anyway, Miroki was just saying that we should drag you out of that textbook you've had your nose in all afternoon." Eri said with a sly smile. "We were gonna play a board game, wanna join us?"
Akihiko considered his textbook for a moment, then shrugged and put it away. "Sure, why not?"
The girls grinned. "Great!" and grabbing one arm each, pulled him back over to Miroki's table.
Later…
The club was seated in a circle around the coffee table, as they usually were right after a tea party. Kotoko was addressing them with excitement.
"Guys, we like, tripled our original turnout. This is so fantastic, I'm like freaking out!"
"We know so much more of our class now, too." Taylor added.
Matsuko nodded in agreement. "Me too."
"Yeah, Kiki is being an excellent class rep, meeting so many people."
"Excellent, excellent!" Kotoko clapped her hands together.
"Excuse me, Kotoko, if I could interrupt for a moment?" Ariana said. Everybody got very quiet. "I believe I have a project that requires our attention."
"A project?" the twins chorused.
"Yes." Ariana said. "As I recall, when we began this club, one of the premises we founded it on was helping people in need?" she looked around.
"Yeah, that's right, because that's what our parents used to do." Akihiko said.
"Well, I believe there are two guests who need our help."
"Really?" Kotoko's eyes seemed to light up a bit. "Who? How? Oh, this is so exciting!"
"Well, there appears to be a rift between sisters that needs fixing. You see, there is a girl who my father bid me to become friendly with in middle school, since our families work very closely with each other. She has of late become a rather good friend of mine. Well, she has a twin sister who has been estranged from her due to constant pressuring from their parents, competitiveness, and their separation in grades, she having skipped one due to superior test scores. And although she would never say it, I believe she misses her sister and the closeness they doubtlessly once had. Her name is Emi Maeda, her sister's name is Eri. A friend of yours, I believe, Miroki?" she turned to her sister.
Miroki's eyes widened. "They're sisters?! I had no idea!"
"They have a brother, too." Matsuko spoke up. "Takeo."
Ariana looked over. "You know him?"
He nodded, a somewhat dark look seeming to cross his face.
"He graduated a year ago." Ariana said, not missing the expression, filing it away for future reference and turning back to the rest of the group.
"So, we're going to help these two reconnect, that's fantastic!" Kotoko said excitedly.
"That's so sad, I couldn't imagine drifting apart from Zura." Taylor said.
"Yeah, who would help me prank mom and dad or hide the good desserts with me?" Zura added.
"We have to help them." they concluded together.
"Okay, but how?" Akihiko said. "I mean, we have to be subtle about this, we can't just shove them at each other and be like…here…be friends again…or something."
Miroki giggled. "Of course we can't, silly. I'm sure Ari has a plan."
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a plan." Ariana said. "Dad was planning on having a dinner party this week. The Maedas were already invited, as were you Suohs and Hitachiins (for your mother's position in the company, naturally.) Matsuko, your parents aren't exactly business associates, and I'm sure my father would normally be reluctant to avoid the headache of inviting the WHOLE former Host Club, but if I explain the situation to him I'm sure he'll understand."
"So, we'll all go to the dinner party and work it out there?" Akihiko asked.
"Precisely." Ariana replied with a cool, calculating smile.
That Saturday night…
"And may I present my daughters," Kyoya had the three girls lined up as he usually did on nights like this, in age order. "Ariana, Miroki, and Aiko." Each girl bowed when her name was said, and afterward they were dismissed and the cocktails began officially.
"All of the guests are officially here." the twins said, approaching them, dressed in matching cocktail dresses with flared waists, one in plum and the other a deep green.
"Stop, wait, who's who?" Aiko asked.
The twin in the green dress spoke first. "That one with the curls is Taylor."
"The one with her hair straightened is Zura." the other finished.
"Got it." Aiko said.
"Look at you three!" Zura said, grinning. "All dressed to the nines…why Ariana, is that an actual dress you're wearing? Without the sweater that might be quite foxy."
"And Aiko! I've actually never seen you with your hair down, and so straight! Did you straighten it?" Taylor asked.
"Uh, Miroki did, thanks."
"I'm sorry to pause you on your fashion tangent, girls, but the reason we're here tonight is not to appraise each others' appearances. Where is everybody else?" Ariana looked around.
"Right behind you." Kotoko giggled when she actually got a small jump out of her best friend. "Ha ha, scared you!"
"Yes, very amusing. Has anybody seen our…targets…for the evening?"
"The Maeda family just arrived five minutes ago." Matsuko said, pointing over to the small group chatting near the entrance to the dining room.
The twins cocked their heads to the side. "That's some hairstyle their mother has…" Taylor said.
"It looks like a fancy lowercase g!" Zura exclaimed.
Ariana smiled. "Yes, Rika Maeda has always been known for her…creative hairdos."
"Well, what do we do now?" Kotoko asked. It was clear she was trying to be serious, but it was difficult for her to suppress her excitement.
"Let's give it a little bit of time." Ariana said. "The night is young. We'll mingle, charm parents like we're supposed to. Maybe talk to the girls separately once or twice before dinner. After dinner is served, we'll get down to business."
Everybody nodded, then separated.
"Hey, Mimi?" Akihiko caught her by the shoulder as she walked away. She turned around, her dark pink dress swirling about her knees, and her pinned-back curls whipping around as she turned.
"Yeah?"
He twisted the toe of his brown dress shoes on the ground as he spoke. "I just wanted to say, since the twins didn't mention it earlier…you look really pretty too."
Miroki grinned. "Thanks, Kiki!" she gave him a hug. "You look really handsome, you know. Not everybody can pull of a brown suit." she winked at him before turning and walking away, the tails of the bow around her waist bouncing as she did. He was glad she couldn't see how furiously he was blushing. It took him a moment to regain his faculties and walk away.
…
Ariana had managed to weave her way through the crowd without anybody attempting to make conversation yet, which was quite a relief. As good as she was at talking to people, they drained her of energy, and she would need that tonight.
"Mr. and Mrs. Maeda," she said with her best adult-charming smile as she approached the family. "Lovely to see you again." she bowed.
"Oh, and you, Ootori-kun, and you!" Rika said with a smile, setting her drink on the counter. "Have you met our son?"
"No, I can't say I've had the pleasure." she said, turning and bowing to the young man. He had green eyes and brown hair that he had tied into a ponytail at the nape of his neck.
"The pleasure is all mine." he said with a smile, his voice smooth and low.
"And Eri," Ariana turned to the girl, who was wearing a green dress with black lace. "Lovely to see you as well." she turned to Emi. "Emi, did you manage to finish that last problem?"
Emi nodded with a smile. "Yes, after I got it home and looked at it again it proved rather simple."
"Emi, why don't you go ahead and talk to your friend?" her mother suggested. "We'll see you again at dinner."
"Thank you, mother." Emi said, taking leave of her family and going with Ariana.
Meanwhile…
"This is a lovely party, Kyoya." Hanako approached him with smile, Mori, Honey and Reiko in tow.
He smiled graciously. "Thank you, Hanako, but as you know, the party planning was all my lovely wife's doing."
"Yeah, Kyo-chan, where is Ellie-chan?" Honey asked, looking around.
Kyoya looked around as well. "I'm not sure, she may be in the kitchen with the cooks…"
"…Or talking to her sister." Ella finished, approaching the group from behind with Emma next to her.
"'Sup, nerd?" Emma grinned as she said the old nickname.
Kyoya rolled his eyes. "Hello, dear sister-in-law. Where is your husband?"
Emma shrugged. "Beats me. With his brother, wherever he is."
Masaki was next to approach. "Has anyone seen Kaoru?"
"We were just wondering that ourselves." Reiko said.
Just then, familiar sounds of mild anguish could be heard approaching them. The group looked over just as Tamaki's voice became distinguishable.
"That's enough, you shady twins! Leave my lady alone! Didn't you get your fill of pestering her in high school."
"Tamaki, it's fine, after this many years I think I'm used to it…" Haruhi said, waving away the twins as usual.
"Hello, everyone!" the twins said in unison as they reached the rest of their friends.
"About time…" Masaki fake pouted. Kaoru flew to his side in reaction.
"Hey, it's the Haninozukas and the Morinozukas!" Hikaru observed. "I didn't expect to see you guys here."
"We didn't really expect Kaoru and Masaki here either." Emma said. She turned to Kyoya. "I thought this was a business dinner?"
"It was," Kyoya began. "However, my daughter requested the attendance of Matsuko so that their whole club could be here—apparently they have a pair of twins who need reuniting—and I supposed that if I were inviting Mori's family I may as well dive straight into the pit of snakes and invite all of you here."
"Woah, woah, back up." Haruhi said. "What do you mean, twins to reunite? Like…that "community service" that our Host Club used to do?"
"More or less, I suppose, yes." Kyoya said.
Tamaki went starry-eyed. "OH MY GOODNESS! That's absolutely splendid! I can't believe this, it's so wonderful, can we help?!"
"Tamaki, please calm down…" Haruhi said, looking around.
"No, no…" Kyoya said with a smile, looking on with a silent pride as his middle child pulled the second twin away from her family. "I think they have it well under control."
…
"Now," Ariana said to her friend, being out of her parents' earsot. "Why don't you tell me what that awkward moment at the club earlier was all about?"
"I…don't know what you're talking about." Emi lied.
Ariana gave her a look. "Don't even try that." she said. "My sister annoys me more often than not and I still can't get rid of her. You two are twins, and you're so disconnected most of the school doesn't even know you're related. It's clear this isn't how you want things, and we want to help, but first you have to tell me exactly what the problem is."
Emi shrugged sadly. "I don't know exactly where it went wrong. When we were little it was great, she was my best friend. I guess it all started when I moved up a grade. Or maybe it was when I figured out I had to compete for the family company and I started focusing more on my grades. I…I don't know."
"Well, that's all well and good." Ariana said. "But I don't think that's all. She seems to be…avoiding you. There's some unresolved problem there." she gave her friend another look.
"Well…"
"Attention everyone!" Ariana's overly cheery mother (she had probably had a few more cocktails than absolutely necessary) rang a little bell. "Dinner is served!"
Emi took this as her chance to escape. Ariana looked back and she was already walking away. "Damn." she thought.
"Hey." Kotoko appeared on one side of her. "Did you find anything out?"
Ariana sighed. "No more than I already knew." she said. "She's still hiding something, but this will have to be enough."
"Miroki? What about you?"
The middle Ootori sister appeared on the other side of her. "No such luck. She acted like she didn't know what I was talking about, then changed the subject. A lot. She's really good at that!"
Kotoko sighed. "Well, I guess we'll have to see how things go after dinner…"
TO BE CONTINUED! :D If you liked this chapter, well...the next one is gonna be even better!
AIKO: Don't forget to remind them all to keep submitting their OC's! We can't let things get too easy for these guys!
Yes, that's right Aiko! Go ahead guys, be as creative as you want, PLEASE, I had so much fun with this one!
As usual, let me know what you thought! You guys are absolutely fantactic!:)
-FeatherSong
