Summary: Basically, Haruhi comes into contact with the Yakuza at a young age, and all shall dread the days to come.
Authors note: I realize I haven't actually highlighted this yet, but this story is now on the Top Favorite list for this fandom! Absolutely crazy. I owe my wonderful readers for that privilege. Also, I got my first actual flame for this story, which wasn't as nice. But With great power comes great responsibility, or something like; Tough skin is obviously a thing you need. That's at least a lesson Haruhi comes to learn in this chapter.
This is the start of her Ouran arc, subcategory "Only the beginning". Enjoy!
o0o0o0o0o0o
Chapter 11
Haruhi fairly skipped out of the subway by her nervous anticipation alone. It would be a brisk walk from the station, but she had memorized the route, so she wasn't worried. The reputation of Ouran however got her to constantly glance around, as if anticipating the clock to jump two hours ahead when she wasn't looking. Ritsu was away at the moment, taking care of business though he would have dearly wished to come with her. But he wouldn't go to school until next week, and though he had offered the use of any of the drivers, who willingly volunteered to the task she might add, Haruhi wanted to get there by her own means.
It always chaffed at her when she accepted help, all the more when it was something she could do on her own with a bit of work. Take for example her clothes. She had noticed it would be cheaper to buy the school uniform in bulk instead of separately, and since she hardly grew that much, Haruhi decided to wait until she had enough money without dipping into her savings to buy the different versions of it. From the catalog, she knew it was a yellow dress she would be wearing. They had winter, fall, summer, and autumn versions, although with the exception of the summer version which had short sleeves, it completely escaped her what was different about them. Her father sensibly pointed out that it was probably the fabric.
Either way, that left her without a uniform for the first week. She called ahead and asked the school about it, but it seemed they were "accustomed and understanding about a delay in acquiring the proper clothes when it came to the scholarship students". Although it had sounded slightly patronizing, she would take what she could get.
That's why she decided that her father's old shirt and sweater would have to do in the meanwhile. They were ill fitting though, the shoulders too wide and the neck ring hanging down if she didn't constantly drag the sweater up.
When she commented on this dilemma at the dinner table in the Kasanoda compound, Ritsu's father abruptly stood and beckoned her to follow. Sharing a long look with Ritsu, they both followed. He ended up showing her a small storage unit, apparently having stored various clothes belonging to her friend. Ritsu had blushed deeply, wheezed and glowered when she found a green baby blanket, but he was just as adamant as his father that she would borrow one of his jackets.
Haruhi was peeved that the dark blue jacket that she ended up loaning was from when Ritsu was thirteen, since it was at about that age he began outgrowing her like a beansprout, but it was the only one that fit across the shoulders and the torso. While she wouldn't admit this because she didn't want him to get ideas that she was a charity case, she was grateful that she had found an outfit to wear that would at least partly blend in with the uniforms present at the school. A jacket and shirt was infinitely better than a brown sweater and shirt in a school with western inspired uniforms.
Nervously tightening the simple black tie, Haruhi reminded herself that she was about as ready as she could be. She grimaced slightly at the oily feel of her hair though. It was up in a low hair tie because Ami had messed around with it the night before, adding gel and spray and glitter in a mess that she hadn't been able to completely remove before going to sleep. The result had been a tousle that went in different directions and a tangle that she had been forced to cut. Her hair went to her shoulders now, rebellious and grudgingly obeying the hair tie. She made a note to never allow Ami near her hair again. Haruhi let her play with her hair in hopes it would cheer her up, since she had been quiet and oddly despondent for a few weeks now.
It had worked, to an extent. Ami had smirked at her mirror image and then left for home, leaving her to deal with the result.
Never again, she promised herself.
She walked briskly, smoothing out her jacket once again for luck. Going around the corner and smiling at the flower shop employee who was setting out their wares and the small girl who waited for the light to turn green, she paused when she caught sight of her destination. It wasn't the first time, but still.
It was a rather large school. With at least four floors in every building and probably a few going down, the wide pillars, extravagant fountains with cherub statues, windows stretching the whole wall, the plush gardens and generally the whole vibe of the school, Haruhi couldn't help but think it was all very... pompous. But then again, with their reputation, Haruhi supposed they could afford the extravagance. The front entrance had room for limousines to pull up and deposit children of various ages, and if she squinted, she could see similar entrances at the preschool and middle school sections of the building.
Last time she had been here, it had been for the interview with the headmaster, and she had taken a different route to get inside. She had thought that she might as well try and blend in with the rest of the students in her first day by taking the 'official' entry. With a sinking heart, she expected that her calculation had gone wrong. Not a single student walked along the pathway to the door. At least from this side of the school, they all took their expensive cars right up to the archway. She would stick out like a sore thumb if she walked alongside the vehicles.
She twitched. Were they too rich to walk, or something?
"Ah, lovely school, isn't it?"
Taken out of her spiraling thoughts, Haruhi offered a smile to the employee, nodding in agreement. While the school was a bit too loud for her tastes, she wouldn't have studied nearly as hard if it wasn't worth it. Maybe she had needed the awed hum of a bystander for her to remember? "It certainly is."
The light turned green and a cat darted ahead of her.
She waved at him, ignoring his startled yelp when she headed across the street and towards the school. Deciding that nothing would lower her mood this first day, she walked forward with a skip to her steps.
A shout stopped Haruhi in her tracks.
Turning around, she saw the small girl standing petrified in the middle of the walkway, a cat sauntering closer to Haruhi, and the blinking light that indicated it would turn red. "Wha- Come over here, quickly!" She tried to wave over the small blonde girl, but with the exception of a pained whimper, the girl didn't move, her eyes fixed on a spot near Haruhi's feet. The two pigtails of the girl drifted in the wind, letting her catch a glimpse of the pink ribbons holding them up.
The light blinked insistently, close to turning red for the pedestrians.
Glancing around, she didn't see anyone nearby, none close enough to hear the first cry of help. When a large car came quickly down the road, front bumper high enough that she doubted a child could be seen directly under, she made a snap decision. The sunny light would reflect off the girl's bright hair and even brighter clothes, blending her in with the surroundings, and when the driver finally saw her it would probably be too late.
Rushing forward, Haruhi bent low to scoop up the child. The car honked and began to swerve. The added weight gave her pause as she was forced to adjust, but she didn't hesitate in jumping herself to the other side. The car clipped her hip though, throwing her off balance and making her land on her left hand. It folded underneath her and a sharp pain raced across her arm. She hissed out a breath.
The car had completely stopped at this point, doors slamming open and two people rushing out. One upside to the rich school was that the vehicles were upgraded with the latest models. Haruhi was sure that if it hadn't been so quick to stop, this would have been much worse. As it was, the driver helped her and the girl sit up with obvious worry. "Are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Almost as if you came out of nowhere."
Everything felt blurry around her suddenly, her eyes tearing up. Rubbing, Haruhi quickly plucked out one of her lenses, realizing her right one must have escaped. However, the sniffle from her arms delayed the search of her glasses and Haruhi sent a quick smile the driver's way before she turned to look at the bundle in her arms. The small girl peered up at her with watery blue eyes, sniffing and shaking in fright. "Are you alright?" She asked carefully. The girl nodded rapidly, burrowing closer to her chest, and Haruhi winced lightly when her wrist twinged at the forced movement. An angry throb at her side informed her she would later get a bruise on her hip.
"I'm so sorry," the girl whispered. "I just, the c-cat."
It took her a moment to place it. "You're afraid of cats?" Rapid nodding confirmed her guess. "I..." She looked helplessly up. The second person from the car came forward then, a female Ouran high school student by the look of the dress, and helped the small child up. Placing her hands on the child's shoulders, she solemnly sighed.
"You can't keep doing this, Nekozawa-chan."
Nekozawa looked down on the ground and shuffled, not arguing.
She sighed again before she looked down where Haruhi sat. Absently brushing a black strand out of her face, she offered a hand out, a small smile playing about her lips. "Sorry about that. Nekosawa-chan has a tendency to escape in search of her brother. It is quite... troublesome." The small girl flinched. "I'm Reiko Kanazuki, by the way. You aren't hurt, are you?"
When Nekozawa turned to her, tears beginning to well up as she seemed to only now realize what had happened, Haruhi decided to do something stupid. She hid her hand.
Angling herself so that her shirt would ride down on her left arm, she casually tucked her fingers inside her pocket, ignoring the renewed throbbing that it brought. "Thank you." She took the offered arm to heave herself up. "Fujioka Haruhi. And no problem at all. I'm just glad I could help." Haruhi closed her eyes and beamed down at the younger girl. "No harm done."
Kanazuki smiled briefly, more like a tugging of her lips before she abruptly turned and went back to her car. "I'll take her back to her house. The preschool section doesn't open until tomorrow, so I'm sure her parents miss her." The car door slammed shut behind her.
Haruhi blinked. The driver smiled and answered her questioning gaze calmly, "Don't mind her. She's shy." He bowed. "Well then, Nekozawa-sama, let us ride you home."
Haruhi watched their blurry forms leave, blinking slightly from how fast the event had transpired. Even the bystanders hadn't so much as paused in curiosity to why a car braked, and reversed in such a short time span. The dull pounding coming from her wrist assured that it had indeed happened though. She was just glad Nekozawa hadn't been hurt. The wrist wasn't broken, so she could stop by the nurse's office later on in the day. No harm, no foul.
Her first day in school would take place without a problem since she had kind of promised a worried Ritsu that. Spraining a wrist wasn't that bad, right...?
Ah, who was she kidding? He would definitely overreact.
Taking out her glasses from her bag and putting them on, she continued to the school, more determined than ever to pretend everything was fine.
The entrance speech was short and didn't require for the students to stand in a gymnasium as her former schools had done it. They had instead been ushered to their respective classes and sat down as the announcer system carried the headmaster's voice through the speakers. The rest was just a normal class from what she could see. The teacher greeted them to this section of the school, thanked them for their attendance and shortly introduced her as the new student to Ouran on the scholarship. While Haruhi got a few odd glances because of her clothes, nobody spoke to her at break and she likewise didn't reach out to any of the students.
Their curriculum was slightly different from what she was accustomed to, and while the entrance exam had prepared her for it, she wanted to study up on the knowledge she was shaky on. Her scholarship depended on her top scores, so there could be no slacking.
There were two students in her class, on the other hand, that she had a hard time ignoring.
Haruhi remembered vaguely having met one of the redheaded boys when she had been rushing towards the interview a few weeks ago. He had said his name was Hikaru when she asked for directions in this maze of a school, but now she wasn't so sure. Who she could have sworn was Hikaru laughingly corrected one of the students that he was Kaoru, and when she looked up a second time, he was apparently Hikaru again. Was she truly that bad at recognizing faces? Haruhi made a mental note not to address them directly by names if she wasn't certain who was who. That would only be unnecessarily hurtful of her, and incredibly rude.
When the last class before lunch ended, the twins sidled up to her side and courteously allowed her to go out the door first, a wide grin on their matching expressions. She didn't know why, but she felt uneasy at the sight of them. It didn't help matters when they closely followed her every step in the hallway. "Yes?" She turned, a polite smile fixed on her lips. Her left hand was still concealed in her pocket, and she winced slightly when she accidentally pulled at it. "Can I help you?"
"Help us?" They echoed, sharing a glance full of laughter. "Don't you think our scholarship student has the wrong idea? Helping us?" They shook their heads before turning to her, one propping a fist over his hip and the other leaning forward, their elbows locked together. "Maybe you should be more worried about what you're wearing. And that hair." They pulled matching grimaces.
She resisted the urge to touch it with an accompanying grimace. She scowled instead. Politeness apparently escaped them. "Yes. It will be better tomorrow." Curtly, she tried to dismiss them. They made tutting sounds though and leaned back, reminding her that she couldn't keep on enabling her own lack of face perception. It bothered her, if nothing else. Quickly dipping into a light bow before they could commandeer the conversation again, she said politely, "I believe we haven't been introduced. I'm Fujioka Haruhi. And you?"
She stared intensely at them through her thick glasses. There was no way she was going to miss this.
They shared another glance. Grinning, the boy who she first met chirped, "Kaoru," and was soon followed by, "Hikaru," and two swooping bows. When they rose again, their eyebrows were raised in matching dubious expressions.
"Now that's over with," Kaoru said, "we can get back to business."
Wearily, she echoed, "Business?"
"Do you need our help?" They grinned. "Do you even know where the dining room is located?"
She had read that she would have to pay for any of the lunches provided by the school. Apparently the wide selection and the different chefs that prepared them made it necessary to have various price tags attached to them. While the costs hadn't been written, Haruhi could take a guess considering the students dining there. Hideously expensive, then. With that in mind, she had brought a bento in her bag.
Smiling thinly, she shook her head. "No thank you. I'm heading towards –" She cut herself off when her two classmates leaned forward, pushing into her personal boundary. A trick of the light made their eyes sparkle, but she was sure she didn't imagine the curiosity shining through. She had a bad feeling that if she told them she wanted to go to the nurse's office, they would ask why, and somehow, the entire story would be pulled out of her mouth. And spread through the school. Ritsu would get that look in his eyes if he heard. Nekosawa would probably get in trouble, or sad, and what was the reason for hiding the injury in the first place if that was the case? Haruhi sighed. "I forgot my bento," she said instead. "You go on ahead. Thank you for the offer though."
They looked at each other and shrugged at the same time, apparently not bothering with her dismissive answer and went to follow the rest of their class. Popular with the girls, they easily blended into the group ahead.
Haruhi sighed again. What would the odds be that they would be suspicious if she didn't appear in the dining room?
Pretty high, she mourned.
Her wrist twinged when she experimentally lifted it from her pocket, an angry red color blotting her natural tone. It could bend though, if she bit her lip and ignored the pain. Since it wasn't broken, it could afford to wait until after the next set of classes. Briefly sending a thought back to small Nekosawa, she carefully placed her arm so that it once again hid the mark and went inside to grab her bento.
Entering the lavish dining room by simply following the sounds of cutlery, she was met with something directly pulled out of the sixtieth century. Decorated windows and high ceilings, marble floors with intricate details and furniture that somehow tastefully matched. Haruhi grimaced at the sight. This would take a long time to get used to. Sweeping her eyes through the large room, she spotted red hair, the twins glancing at her before going back to pestering a blonde guy. If only Ritsu had been here, she wouldn't need to worry about finding a place to sit.
A delicate hand lightly touching her shoulder made her finally notice a familiar face, and she lit up at the sight of Kanazuki. "It's nice to see you again. Is Nekozawa-chan home and safe?"
She retreated her hand and nodded slightly, her movement regal if not a bit stilted. "Yes. Thanks to you. She must have had a curse placed on her for our driver not to notice." She hesitated slightly before she motioned to a table further in. "If you don't mind, you can sit with me."
"Yes, I would love that." Relieved, Haruhi followed her. The table she had indicated was with another class, five other girls who stopped their conversation when they stepped close.
Kanazuki sat down primly and nodded for her to do the same. "This is Fujioka Haruhi, the scholarship student. He will be joining us today." They all nodded slowly, glancing curiously at her before returning to their discussion of what was apparently the former holiday and their activities. Haruhi didn't catch the wrong pronoun before it was too late, so she decided to let it slip. She wasn't bothered anyway.
Haruhi began to set out her meal, taking out rice, curry and some vegetables. Kanazuki watched curiously, sitting in front of her own plate of lobster. The girl didn't comment though on the obvious disparity between Haruhi's and everyone else's meals.
It didn't take long before she realized that, like the driver had said, Kanazuki was shy. From a mutter Haruhi managed to pick up, she wouldn't even have approached if not for her horoscope urging her. It took a bit of conversational wrangling that Haruhi had learned from her father's job, but she did find out some things about her, like that she was her age of sixteen and was in the class of 1-D. Also, she was in the Black Magic Club. Haruhi paused at the name but decided not to ask, convinced that it would give Haruhi a weird expression and cause the shy girl to retreat further behind her blank expression and clipped words. If she had picked up anything from her friendship with Ritsu, then it was that easy does it.
"Um, excuse me?" Realizing that the other girls had gone quiet, Haruhi looked over at the girl who had spoken. She had long brown hair which was braided to the side and a chipper smile. "I saw you talking to The Twins earlier? Do you know them?"
"... No." She had to pause at the eager faces directed at her. Besides, had Haruhi heard capital letters somewhere in her question? "They offered to help me find the dining room, that's all." And insulted her hair, but that was neither here nor there.
"Is that so. Well, they're the heirs of the Hitachiin company. Have you heard of it?" She smothered a squeal inside a napkin, eyes glowing as if she was talking about her favorite subject. "Gosh, they sell clothes, can you believe it? Their whole family is designers of some sort, fingers of the art gods!"
Haruhi shrugged, not really caring. Everyone except Kanazuki traded looks at the response, a murmur of, "weird transfer guy," following.
The girl who had sought Haruhi's attention in the first place sighed dreamily. "I wonder. What would it be like to own a multimillionaire company and get to dress in all the latest fashions, before they even hit the runway?"
Haruhi shrugged her shoulders in disinterest and took a bite out of her meal. "Uh-uh. Sounds nice."
The girl nodded frantically in agreement, her eyes curving up into bliss. "Besides the money, but that's a huge bonus right there and more than enough reason to marry any one of them, is that they're so devilish handsome! And I'm not talking hot like what a nice guy they are, but hot like–" She paused mid-sentence, finally hearing the lackluster answer. "How nice?" She repeated incredulously.
Haruhi nodded in agreement, still dutifully eating her food. It took some shuffling mentally to be able to eat with the help of only one hand, therefore she was understandably busy trying not to spill anything.
The other girl flailed her fingers around the napkin, looking like she didn't quite know what to do with them, before she took a deep breath and expelled it in disbelief. "Is that all you have to say when you hear about his fortune? I know you might not... like him, but really?"
Haruhi paused to swallow before opening her mouth. "What else is there to say?" She wondered. "It doesn't really concern me more than what their hair looks like." Internally placing a spiteful jab at their earlier rude behavior, she continued her meal, briefly glancing at Kanazuki to see her doing the same. If it was because of shyness or disinterest, she didn't quite know.
The other girl slumped, head hanging. "I give up. It must be a guy thing."
'More like a you thing,' Haruhi added in her mind, but she continued to eat without comment. If she hurried, she might have enough time to look for the nurse.
She had underestimated the time needed to get back and then find the ever elusive department of medicine. The school was a maze with stairs and windows that seemingly ignored common sense. Maybe it was the western architectural influence? Castles had apparently been built like that to confuse any infiltrator.
The thought that she was the infiltrator in this case soured her mood and she grumbled under her breath about rich people and their paranoia while tracing her steps back to the classroom.
Her classes in 1-A was at least engaging and made her forget for a moment the reason why her whole body ached like a giant bruise. She was used to feeling similar thanks to the kenjutsu training, so it was easy to brush the throbbing away and focus on other matters. When the last class ended, Haruhi was the first one out, determined to at least map out the castle for tomorrow. She wasn't simply being stubborn though. If she could, Haruhi would have gladly asked for directions from the first student she came across. From the discrete steps the other way when she approached or the sudden interest in a nearby object, Haruhi sensed that the students in this school would hardly appreciate being approached by the shabbily clothed Haruhi and thusly concluded that trying to explore on her own would be the best course of action. Asking for directions wouldn't go over all that well, at least not without an introduction from a third party like what Kanazuki had given earlier.
It made her wonder about the red haired twin and his willingness to efficiently point her way without any fuss that time so long ago. A gimlet eye and tightened lips, but he hadn't avoided her when she approached before. Too bad she got an ominous feeling only thinking about it, otherwise she would have gone to him again for help.
At about an hour of aimless wandering and the discovery of no less than four different noisy libraries, she enlisted the help of a teacher who kindly pointed her the way.
And... The nurse's office was empty. Of course it was. The note outside the door helpfully wrote that their business hour was nine to three with the exception of certain events, and if it was an emergency, to go to the hospital or a personal Doctor.
Her eye twitched and she had to take a deep breath before slowly exhaling.
Trying the door handle informed her that while she wouldn't be getting help anytime soon, the room was available to her. And so was the unlocked cupboards. Reasoning that the nurse wouldn't mind if she borrowed a bandage, Haruhi wrapped her wrist tightly and sighed in relief at the support it allowed her. It continued to throb dully, but the bandage went a long way in helping matters along.
Again tracing her steps back, she was soon forced to stop near the main stairway because of the long line of girls blocking her way. They stood paired up or alone, different classes and years anxiously waiting for what seemed to be a locked door to open.
Deciding that her day really had been eventful enough, Haruhi squeezed past them. She had planned to take advantage of their libraries and have a study session, but she figured that with her wrist being as it was, she would get more out of it by simply going home and resting. A familiar face standing furthest from the starting point of the line brought her short though.
She walked over to her after a moment of internal debate.
"Ah, Kanazuki-san, I'm almost afraid to ask, but... What are you doing?"
The girl stared stoically ahead, but did make room for Haruhi to stand next to her. "The Host Club is soon opening their doors."
Haruhi followed the train of people and saw to her bemusement the closed double door and the plate hanging above it, declaring it to be the music room number three. It made sense, in an indirect way, for the music room to be occupied by performers. Hosts, was it? What a strange club.
"You go here often then?"
Stiffly, she shook her head.
"Then what –?"
The doors were suddenly thrown open, white light flooding into the previously warm hallway and scattering red rose petals. Haruhi squinted even as the line began moving forward, excited titters being exchanged by the girls.
Booming voices conveyed to those that had entered, "Welcome, to Ouran Host Club!"
She immediately knew she wanted nothing to do with this lavish waste of time. Just as she was about to turn, a hand grabbed her left arm and squeezed, making her wince from the already pained nerves she was assaulting. "You can't leave," Kanazuki intoned. "I won't let you. I will curse you with misfortune if you do."
"Alright!" Haruhi slipped out from the strong grip, rubbing the area. She frowned at her. The way her shoulders had stiffened and the glaze to her eyes, Haruhi thought that it really was no use trying to hide it. "You know, if you're scared to go alone, you could have just said so."
Kanazuki's expression tightened. "I will curse you."
Recognizing her embarrassment, Haruhi dropped the matter with a small head shake. "You can go in with some of your classmates, if you're that nervous. I'm sure they would help you."
Kanazuki reached forward as if to grab her again, but Haruhi twisted to the side, already wary. She had a feeling that if she was caught again, like a drowning woman, Kanazuki would drag her down. This sentiment was clearly conveyed between them, because Kanazuki changed tactics, dropping her arm and lowering her head.
"I ask you for a favor."
Although the formality threw her slightly, Haruhi nodded slowly.
Locking eyes with her and eyes blazing with intensity, she intoned, "Please, go inside for a bit and tell me how they are."
"... That's it?"
With that kind of a tone, she would have expected the favor of sparing somebody their life. It could be her yakuza experience lending her a different perspective, but Haruhi figured anyone would be thrown by that request. She glanced hesitantly at the door and the line that was getting shorter. As if an added incentive, Kanazuki said with a completely straight face, "I won't curse you."
"I don't know..." Haruhi hedged. Hosts weren't really her thing despite having been around a variant of them for some time. She liked this student though and wouldn't mind eating together again. Would it really be so bad if she helped?
The resigned acceptance must have shone through, because before Haruhi knew it, she had been caroled to the door and Kanazuki was hiding behind it, nodding and flicking her fingers so that she would continue inside. Hesitance made her feet rooted to the ground.
"Ah, a new guest! Come in, come in, don't let all the love out."
… She was already regretting this.
Turning to look inside, she saw a student in the blue male uniform striding towards her with large steps, smile just as blinding as the blond hair. The borderline serenading voice must have belonged to him. Behind that student another person stood with the same uniform, the reflection of his glasses obscuring his eyes for a moment. "I take it that you're the new scholarship student." He adjusted his glasses, and she saw his eyes do a quick clinical sweep of her, an amused smile peeking out before he looked down at the notebook in his hand. "What type will it be then?"
"Type?" Did she even want to know?
"The Wild and Loli type isn't here at the moment, having clubs of their own that's soon finished," the blond guy explained to her reasonably, coming closer with every step. She resisted the urge to step back. "The Devils," he motioned to two redheads, and she noticed belatedly her classmates' presence further in, entertaining the girls that had already taken seats. "The Cool type." The student with black hair smiled, glasses glinting. "Or, maybe, you want me? The Prince type."
He crowded her back so she was pressed against the door entrance and his smile was curved wide, probably in an effort to look charming and 'princely'. A quick glance confirmed that Kanazuki had already fled. Haruhi was on her own in this. Internally promising herself that she never needed to do this again afterwards, she mustered up a smile. "Ah no, it's fine? I can just watch?"
He drew back, frowning. He glanced back at the Cool type who shrugged in answer. The Prince type smiled at her and graciously stepped back so she could breathe, motioning to the room. "Please then, take a seat. It's your first time so don't feel any pressure. We will be along shortly with refreshments. Kyoya, will you write down his name and a blank space next to it?"
The Cool type, Kyoya apparently, was walking away, his notebook tucked away under his arm. "Already done it, Tamaki."
He smiled. Turning to her again, he gave a gracious bow. "This way."
Feeling more and more decomposed by the second with this kind of atmosphere, she began walking, hoping to end it soon. The room was pretty large for a music room that had absolutely no instruments to be seen. Their furnishings were more fitting to a chateau instead of the school it was supposed to be, but the longer time she spent in their presence, the less she could imagine anything else fitting them.
Rich people and their rich sensibilities, she grumbled mentally.
"Hello everybody! I'm sorry we're late!"
Two new male students walked inside the room, someone at about her height with blonde hair and someone that could contest with Ritsu in length and win. The shorter student rubbed his eye and smiled drowsily.
"I fell asleep waiting for Takeshi's club to end. So-orry!" He sang.
Haruhi stopped walking, blinking in confusion. There was something tugging at her head... Familiarity, maybe?
"Honey-sempai! Mori-sempai!" She wasn't quite sure where the words came prominently from, echoed as they were by most in the room. Tamaki was easy to hear though when he took a step forward, conveniently standing directly next to her. His eyes were fixed on the newcomers. "You told me it would take a bit longer today, didn't you? It's fine, it's fine. We have a special guest today. Meet, our poor scholarship student." He laid a hand on her opposite shoulder to where he stood and continued his monologue, taking no heed to the twitch she made. "The top student, but also the poorest, has come to our humble establishment with starry eyes, hoping to elevate the day from the usual monochrome."
"No, I'm actua–"
"Also," he continued, swinging her around so that she stood facing him instead, "don't be worried. I praise the poorest!"
"What."
"I admire the poorest for their hope! Their reckless spirit makes them all the more admirable in my eyes." Having had enough, she extracted herself from his arms and took a step back. He followed, reaching down to take both of her hands. "I had no idea the new scholarship student was gay though."
His words distracted her the few seconds it took for him to grasp her slack right hand and reach down to place his hand at her left wrist, probably in an attempt to tug it out from the admittedly rude stance when indoors. She jolted. The pain sizzling up her arm combined with the lack of a personal bubble with a stranger got her to move backwards in defense. She bumped against something. It was small and light, immediately giving away from her.
Tamaki's startled inhale accompanied her when she turned around, attempting to understand what she had touched.
Haruhi watched in alarm as the brown pedestal wobbled and the vase on top of it, precariously balancing on the edge, tipped over. She gave a small cry of dismay and she shot after it, left arm stretching out.
Her wrist twisted, her fingers gave a spasm, and the vase dropped to the floor.
Pieces of what was formerly an intricate vase was now in tiny pieces. The crash echoed in the room.
The silence following was thick. Haruhi knew it wasn't though; simply an illustrated illusion of her widened eyes. In fact, whispers had broken out and raced across the room. Small gasps of dismay. What Haruhi heard the loudest was her heart beating, pounding away against her ears and for a brief moment overshadowing the pain of her wrist.
Meekly, she turned around and said, "I can pay?"
The dubiety of the offer was clearly mirrored on the Hosts' expressions. Tamaki, the charming one, shook his head first and gave her a bright smile. It felt blinding in its calculation. "You weren't hurt, were you?" Striding towards her quickly and pushing against her shoulders before she could answer, he continued jovially. "Great! Let's discuss in the other room."
Haruhi, bemused and sheepish, let herself be pushed into another room where the Prince type followed, firmly closing the door behind him. He took a deep breath. Turning around, Tamaki leaned against the door, arms folded and scrutinizing her with mock apology.
"That was Rene's vase. We were going to sell it at the auction for eight million yen."
Her throat constricted for a second. Had she heard right? "That's... I'm sorry."
"I'm afraid that won't be enough." He tapped his finger against his elbow, simply watching her for a time as she tried to frantically come up with payment methods in her head. She could maybe get a job? Three jobs? That line of thought got disturbed when he sighed and straightened, grinning. "You know what? Have you heard when in Rome, do what Romans do?"
"... Invade other tribes?"
He looked taken aback, but he rallied quickly. "Nothing that barbaric. You will become our running boy in exchange for the vase! No, wait, you will become our dog!"
What struck her first was that he looked smug at his words, as if proud for having found such a handy solution. The second thing was that despite her guilt, her teacher Yoshiteru had taught her entirely too much for her to accept this verbal agreement at face value. A knock at the door derailed her for a moment, but only a moment, so when the Cool type had slipped inside the room too, Haruhi had already mentally compiled a list for her case.
It began with a simple, "No."
They both blinked at her. Kyoya adjusted his glasses, smiling pleasantly. "No? What do you mean?"
"I mean, no, I won't become your dog just like that." She directed her words to Tamaki who furrowed his brows.
"But, you don't have the money to pay for the vase."
"Don't I?" She waved the matter away with her right hand, the three of them already knowing the answer. Haruhi didn't need Tamaki delicately pointing at her clothes as if she didn't realize this herself. "It's dangerous to assume. But if that's how you want to do it, please, let's assume I had hurt myself on that vase. Would it still be property damage, or would it be a case of injury and endangerment? You can't pick one without reason for the other."
Tamaki's mouth was hanging open. It clicked shut after a moment and he glanced at Kyoya who was looking at her with calculation. "Can he do that?" Tamaki asked plaintively. Kyoya gave a low hum in answer. Adjusting his glasses, he made a pleasant smile.
"My family has around a hundred trained forces in our private police."
The seeming non sequitur threw her before she quickly pinpointed his meaning. Was that supposed to frighten her into obedience? To be fair, it would make things difficult if she had to constantly look over her shoulder. Shaking her head lightly to dispel his words, Haruhi frowned in disagreement. "I'm not trying to run from the responsibility. I'm simply trying to negotiate the terms to this implied contract."
She stared steadily back at him, somehow knowing that if she backed off now or made any motion towards weakness, this student would easily strike her down. Kyoya with his lithe grace reminded her of Kasanoda Senior's advisers, their minds a weapon more lethal than anything their hands could do. Then again, perhaps it was an insult to compare the two to each other.
Her problem lied in that she didn't know if the insult was to Kyoya or Kasanoda's advisers.
At last, Kyoya gave a nod.
Tamaki, who had been quiet during the interplay, smiled brightly. "Great! Welcome to the Host Club." Leaning forward so that he was close enough to look up at her from an angle, he winked. In a low and suave voice he said, "Call me King."
She deadpanned. "Absolutely not."
He jerked back, struck. "Oh. Well. Alright." Standing up, Tamaki hung his head down. He turned to Kyoya. "I better go and entertain our guests. I trust you'll deal with this?"
Kyoya's murmured "Of course" followed after him and soon enough, Haruhi and Kyoya was left alone in the room. He gave another pleasant smile at her. "With eight million yen, I expect you to be our dog for the remaining three years of your scholarship in Ouran. Ah," fake contrite flashed across his expression and he tilted his head, "pardon me. That was a rude wording. You will do chores and some other trivial tasks we direct you to. That is non arguable."
She could definitely argue the point if she wished, but Haruhi had to admit to herself that whenever she thought back to the vase crashing, guilt would crawl through her stomach. Wonder how old it had been? For eight million yen at the minimum, probably a decade if not more.
Squaring her shoulders as much as she could with one hand tucked inside the pocket, Haruhi launched herself into the contract. It wasn't her first time arguing or even doing revisions on similar deals, but it was the first time with herself as the affected. First she tried to tackle the precise cost she would be paying back. Only the vase and the eight million yen he knew for sure it would be sold for.
"Also any additional costs you cause with your actions."
Which, fair, but a bit muddled. She accepted it though. After agreeing to another non negotiable matter, the time frame in three years at the longest or earlier if she managed to somehow pay her debt before that, they went to tasks that could be asked of her. Shopping, cleaning and general gofer chores.
She could manage that.
However, the number of days she needed to be at the club was harder to hammer down. Kyoya had a mind for business it seemed and it was like pulling teeth as she tried to get more information out of him. He had initially suggested one day off from the club every week. It was a generous offer. It was in fact so generous she immediately called foul, and sure enough, after pressing for two days and Kyoya accepting it, she realized he counted the weekend as her off-days. When she flatly denied it, they were back to square one.
Discussing the possibility that she could get three days to herself every month soon fell flat when he refused that she would get to decide which days on the ground that some days would be more important to the Host Club than others, and that it would be impossible for her to know which would be which.
Her skin felt flushed from the attempt to negotiate with him. He was tough, but so was she. Haruhi hadn't studied law for so long without picking up a few trick along the way. She was enjoying the experience, but she was growing tired, her body reminding her it had been a long day.
Trying to rub her eye with her left hand, failing horribly to even pull it out of the pocket and getting a jolt to her system, was exactly the last bit of energy she needed.
Approaching the problem from another angle, she offered one day off every month that they got to decide and two days which Haruhi got to decide if she informed them three days before. If it wasn't for the slight loosening of shoulders, she would never have known that he was pleased. Again, something about him got her to second-guess every word uttered. What would the fine print in this be?
Interrupting before he could open his mouth, she added, "The day you get to decide can't be a day where there is no obligatory school, a day where there is no Host Club planned or a day where half of the club members aren't present during club hours."
She felt inordinately pleased with herself when his lips pinched. He looked briefly irritated that she had managed to catch that but he eventually conceded with minimal concessions from her part. She only needed to inform them a week before any planned leave instead of the planned three.
After discussing pay, time, tasks, leave and an assent that sick days wouldn't be added on to the debt, Haruhi and Kyoya was finally done. She felt the urge to exhale heavily and shake hands with him like athletes does after a rough match. She had never quite been challenged like that with someone near her age. Then again, it wasn't often she felt a need to go into heavy lawyer-mode outside settings with Yoshiteru.
She laughed lightly. "Alright then, I'll come to the Host Club tomorrow."
"Not today?" He raised an eyebrow.
She shook her head, unconsciously angling her left side away from him. "No, not today. I won't argue with this because I honestly can't stay much longer."
"Hm. Then I expect you to arrive at three."
"And you open at four?" He nodded and she nodded back. "I can manage that. Pleasure doing business with you."
He returned the sentiment, amusement flashing across his eyes before he turned to open the door for her. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
Pinning her left arm tightly to her side, she nodded, bowing lightly to the guests watching her curiously and the Hosts who technically owned the vase. When she looked over at the place of incident, she saw no one had cleaned yet. Figuring that it couldn't hurt, she kneeled down and unclasped her bag, taking out a kerchief and placing the vase pieces on top of it. Some of the edges was sharp enough to cut, so it took some finagling for her to put them all on the green checkered cloth with only one hand. All of the students except one had gone back to their previous action when they were satisfied she wasn't doing anything particularly exciting.
The only one who hadn't gone back to Club matters was Tamaki who soon approached her. He crouched in front of her, curious. "What are you doing?"
"I thought I could take this away, as an apology for damaging it."
He tilted his head. His eyes flickered down to where she was trying, and to no avail, to tie the kerchief with only one hand. Tamaki smiled. "Here, allow me." He smoothly tied it for her before she could respond. "There you go."
"I still won't call you King," she said bluntly.
He slumped his shoulders and whined, "I didn't do it for recognition."
Haruhi raised an eyebrow in disbelief but decided to drop it. Taking the small bag of pieces the vase had been reduced to, she stood up and nodded to him. "See you tomorrow, sempai."
Tamaki smiled charmingly up at her and echoed, "See you tomorrow, errand dog."
What had she expected from this school, really?
Her father began work late and worked even later that day. Seeing no need to stay home alone for the entirety of the evening, she quickly dropped by home to hand him his bento and wave him goodbye before heading to the Kasanoda compound. Her footsteps were sure and she wasn't bothered by anyone on her way there. Tetsuya was outside when she came, smiling brightly and briefly knocking her shoulder with his arm. "Welcome back, Nee-san. How did it go today?"
"Fine."
Her expression must have given something away, because he began to frown. "How would you describe your day, then?"
"To be completely honest..." She grimaced. "Rich bastards."
She managed to get a startled laugh out of him. Bypassing Tetsuya and giving him a friendly reminder to be in time for dinner, Haruhi went to help the cooks. She hesitated next to the honey, but she decided to pass on it with no real inspiration for what she would serve. They were nearly done when she arrived, and in almost no time at all, yakuza from all corners of the compound had trickled into the wide dining hall. Haruhi settled down on a cushion of her own, happy for the normality of it. She winced slightly but didn't react more than that when she placed her left hand on top of her knees, hidden from sight by the table. Having already visited the Kasanoda medical area and explained that it had been a training accident, they informed her that plenty of rest, no strain and support would fix it in no time.
She had been right not to worry, although she felt lightly irritated at how much trouble her day had become because of it.
The dinner was pleasant though. Ritsu was even back shortly, having come by to eat before he would leave again. Kasanoda senior was in a completely different branch altogether with most of his more experienced Kobun, which meant the room wasn't overflowing with noise. Before she knew it, she had shared some of her day's highlights with Ritsu. Of course, when it came to Haruhi, every yakuza spared half an ear to anything she did.
"... You have a debt of eight million yen?"
"Hm," she answered in disinterest, though she frowned a little at the memory.
Haruhi could feel when everyone's attention snapped to her and saw when their heads almost agonizingly slowly followed the motion. She glanced up, an eyebrow raised. Around three hundred people were staring at her though she was sure only half of them could even see her. The silence indicated they were focused on her at least.
"What?"
Delicately, Ritsu placed down his rice dish and turned to her. "You sound very casual..." He trailed off. Clearing his throat, he scowled in concern. "Are you alright?"
"I have a way to repay, so I think it will all work out alright." When their attentive gazes didn't so much as waver, Haruhi heaved a sigh and also placed down her food. "This is why I didn't want to tell you. I knew you would blow it out of proportion."
Tetsuya couldn't quite hide his disbelief. "Can eight million yen even be blown out of proportion?"
"That was my thought, too." She drummed her fingers on the table, internally debating before she figured that if she didn't tell them now, they would have someone stalking her at school. Their worry was kind of overbearing like that. "It could have been much worse," she admitted finally. "The vase I broke could have been sold for quite a bit more than that. The eight million was only the starting price. Also, they were pretty nice to me since it happened in public. My social reputation will never recover, but I think that's a small price to pay considering the alternative."
"And that would be...?" Ritsu glowered, looking afraid to ask.
Haruhi shrugged. She preferred not to think about that. "Getting kicked out of school. My scholarship hinges on my actions, after all." She plucked up her food. "Maybe get arrested. Having the debt posted home, forcing my father to pay. Hanged drawn and quartered." She bit into the carrot casually, shrugging again.
"Please don't say such things with a straight face."
She raised an eyebrow, sweeping her gaze over everyone sitting at the long table. "My point is, joining a club isn't that bad considering it was my fault from the beginning." However, she didn't point out that she had thought it outrageous at the time. It would only give them fuel. Tetsuya looked dubious, mouth opening to argue, but she shook her head. "Drop it, could you? I'm sure the Host Club is perfectly alright."
"Oh, a Host Club? Is that similar to your father's club? Okama?"
"No..." She frowned, thinking about graceful but exaggerated movements, all to please customers. And she had to admit, they were pretty beautiful, aesthetically speaking. "Maybe?" She shrugged in answer to the yakuza who had asked. "It's only been a day. I can't say for sure."
They subsided grudgingly after that, especially when she refused to answer anything related to her debt, and the small talk turned into lighter topics. Businesses that had yet to pay, wives that was soon going into labor, who of the common thugs were stirring trouble, which of the cars had a scratch, and so on.
Haruhi peacefully continued her meal, chewing slowly as she thought about the issue they had raised. The debt was a nuisance, no doubt about it, but she could handle it. She thought back to her earlier argument that strictly speaking, they couldn't force her to pay. But then again, she was back to the scholarship problem and the frankly chilling smile Kyoya had awarded her when she admitted she didn't have a passport. As said before, they seemed nice though. Slightly obnoxious, loud, flirty and calculating, but that was nothing she wasn't already used to.
She would just have to see tomorrow how the start of her life in the Host Club would go.
A/N I think she's tempting the fates here. But oh well, it's only the first day. Haruhi will learn the true meaning of the Host Club soon enough. And vice versa, the Host Club will realize what an involvement in Haruhi's life brings. Did this meeting go like how you imagined it? Better, worse? In-character?
Thank you for all the nice reviews last time! I'm so glad that I have such lovely readers. See you all next chapter!
