"You look adorable, dear!" My mom gawked over me, all dressed up and ready to go.
I spun around and looked at myself in the mirror. I had bought a thin-strapped purple velvet dress for the occasion. The dress was printed with black velvet roses, and around my waist was a large black satin bow. The hemline ended just beneath my knee, and under the skirt were panniers to fluff up the dress. I wore matching gloves with lace on the edges and a pair of low heels. My dark hair was pulled up in to two buns with long strands of white ribbon added for decoration. Instead of my electric pink glasses, a sleeker pair of silver frames replaced them for the event tonight. Finally, around my neck was my 'good luck charm'—Takashi's medallion, and inside of it was a picture of Morinozuka himself.
"Yeah, I suppose so." I said, looking at myself again. "I better get going, before I'm late."
"Don't have too much fun, Hanako!" My mother laughed and waved goodbye to me as I drove off in the backseat of our limousine. I had to do to just as Ueda told me—be on my toes. The fate of night rested on my shoulders.
----
"Welcome, miss, to the Ouran High School Host Club Christmas Party!" Tamaki greeted me with a smile. "I see my daughter has decorated herself to be true to her name."
"Hana-chan's roses are pretty!" Honey chimed. "Ah." Mori stated.
"Thank you. I, uh, guess I'm going to eat now, then…" I scuttled away to the food. And wow, these kids can really throw a party.
There was a large array of food spread out on the tables, but I didn't want to overeat; lest I burst out of this dress. Instead, I got a small plate of pastries. "Hey, Soga!" I noticed her standing out in the crowd. She was a lofty student, just less than six feet tall. Her unnatural orange hair lay down on her shoulders and her bangs were tucked behind her ears with the aid of pearl barrettes. Her gown was simple; a little strapless silk smooth gown the color of candlelight. Adorning her thin neck was a lace and pearl choker to match her hairpins. "Yo, Saranson-chan. Gawd, you're adorable…"
Even though she and Ueda-kun had some sort of a 'more than friends less than a couple' relationship; Soga Rika loved being in the company of pretty girls. It wasn't that she was considered ugly herself, or it was her preference; she just enjoyed the atmosphere. Sometimes, she would even film them.
"Even on a classy occasion like this you've got to talk like that, huh Soga?"
"Well I reckon so." She took a glass in her hand and sipped her drink. "But anyways, are you enjoying yourself?"
"I guess so. I kinda just got here."
"Oh. I'll go get you something to eat, then. Your plate's empty." Rika offered me.
I didn't object to that.
As my sempai walked off to the food again, I took the time as an opportunity to catch up with Morinozuka. Maybe I could even steal a dance…
Soon, I found myself lost in a swarm of girls.
----
"Guh, it's like a big sea of fan girls…" I worked my way through the crowd until I found my way out of the ballroom and into a corridor of the school. "And being in school at night is weird too…"
There was always a bunch of rumors of the creepy things that went on in a school at night. I myself don't like scary stories; in result I'm easy to spook.
"Flower chiiiiiild…Fufufufufu…" I felt a cold hand on my bare shoulder, and with the contact on my skin I got goose bumps allover. I cried out in shock and fear as I turned around to see the shadowed face of…
…Soga Rika with one hand on my shoulder and one carrying a dish of egg custards.
"Jeez Soga! You scared me!" I caught my breath and took one of the small custard pies and placed it into my mouth, chewing on it nervously.
"Ha, you deserved it Saranson-chan. You ditched me." She took a rubber band from her wrist and pulled back her hair. I could tell she had the urge to wear her hair back in that haphazard ponytail as she always did. "What are you doing running around the campus at night anyways?"
I shifted from foot to foot. "I was taking a look around, and I got lost."
"That's hard to believe, but okay." She leaned down and looked me in the eye. I stared right back at her. "Well, let's get going. Can you see alright?" She took out her mobile phone and flipped it open, illuminating the small radius around us.
"Going where? What the heck are you talking about?"
"You got yourself lost. Might as well make the best of the situation, hmm kid?"
I looked at her as if she was insane. Soga's always been so reckless. Her black pupils sparkled with adventure. This was her last year after all; she might as well make the most of it.
"Yeah. Might as well."
Rika chuckled and lead the way into the dim halls of the Ouran Private Institute after dark; which lead to hours of pointless wandering.
----
"Sempai?"
"Yeah?"
"What's that light up ahead?" I pointed into the direction of a classroom among many with their lights on.
"It's a classroom, duh." She laughed quietly and motioned me to silence myself as well. "Let's go see what the commotion is about."
We both tip toed over to the illuminated classroom and peeked through a crack in the door.
"She's so cute…." Soga sighed contentedly as she saw the petite figure of an unfamiliar student with eyes the size of baby worlds.
Was that Fujioka in that wig?
"Yeah, she's darling." I said in reply.
I felt someone's eyes fixed upon us; as if they'd discovered a surprise. "Move, Soga." I shot a sharp glance in her direction, and she moved out of the way before the door swung open in my face.
"Saranson Hanako." Ohtori stated my name as I narrowed my eyes to adjust to the light. "Y-yes sir?"
This little romp had gone on far enough—I had just crossed the Shadow King.
"What did you see?" He asked me in a calm manner.
"I saw this girl, that's all." I didn't want to mention names; Soga might not have gotten away, and I didn't want to involve her in the heap of trouble I might have walked right into.
"Come in, and close the door behind you."
----
"Go to the classroom. You don't want to be late." Kyoya ordered the maiden, and she left with a nod as she closed the door behind her.
I took a seat in a desk and took a look around. "What's going on here?"
It was a meeting of sorts. Kyoya was still dressed in his fancy attire, as well as Kaoru and Hikaru, but I'm sure that girl I saw was Haruhi in drag.
No, no, she's a girl. I nearly had forgotten.
"We're playing matchmaker!" Hikaru and Kaoru answered my question in a sing-song voice. "Check out this love letter we composed, it's really good." The red head handed me a piece of lined paper, a rough draft of sorts. I read it out loud.
"My love…just thinking of you smashed my heart to pieces like a scene in a tornado. I badly want to fall in love with you. Let's rendezvous on Noah's ark."
I kept in my giggles as I set the note down. "You think this is really going to work? The letter itself is totally unlike Haruhi. That was Haruhi in that wig, right?"
Kyoya nodded. "The thing is; that's not the Haruhi that the boy knows. That Haruhi is a girl." A ray of light hit the shadow king's glasses, illuminating the lenses.
Disturbing.
"Don't tell, it's a secret!" The Hitachiins warned me. "Don't worry, boys. Hanako will keep our little secret, won't you?"
I gulped and nodded. That guy was scary.
"Now scurry along, Hanako. You don't want to miss the night's festivities."
"Right, I don't want to miss the anything at all…Good-bye."
Still dazed up by Kyoya, I ambled down the hallways looking for Soga. She tried to spook me again; but this time I wasn't so phased. "Hey Soga."
"Well look who's not a crybaby anymore. What just happened in here?" She took the last custard from her plate and chomped it down. "I couldn't hear anything through the door. You okay?"
"A little shaken up, but I'm fine." I straightened out the panniers through my skirt. "Let's get going, I don't want to miss the last song." I dragged Rika along and eventually we found ourselves back in the ballroom.
----
"It's a shame, really."
"A crying shame, Soga-chan…" I sighed and looked at all of the hosts occupied with the various ladies, and a brown headed boy dancing with the Kasugazaki girl from 2-B. "I didn't get a chance to earn any points, so I don't get the last dance…"
"Or a kiss from Suoh-kohai." Soga added in.
"Yeah, that too." I said listlessly. A kiss from Tamaki-sempai didn't really impress me much. All I wanted was a dance from Morinozuka, and now I'm sitting here sipping punch.
Rika glanced over at me with concern. "Are you feeling all right?"
"Eh, I suppose."
She took my hand in hers. I never really noticed until then, but Soga's naturally square fingernails were nice and pretty well kept. Did she get manicures on a regular basis…? "Would you like to dance, Hanako?"
I blinked twice and stood up, taking the floor with my senior. She was taller than I was and had a gallant air around her. Even if I didn't dance with Takashi Morinozuka that holiday night, I got the next best thing.
A/N: Sorry for the delay! Here in this chapter Soga Rika's character was explored into a bit more, so now she's less of a recurring minor character to a supporting role. She tends to add on a "-kohai" title when she refers to Tamaki, which is used when addressing someone in school that is in a lower year than you. Thank you very much for reading along this far!
