A/N: That's right, your favorite author is back! Just kidding I'm trash. Anyways, I got a job, school sucks, and my family's crazy! Yaaay!
Special thanks go to BizzyLizy, Reaperdeath, camsam17, OneDirectionLover18, Stormsong of ThunderClan, kyoya'sgirl2, imnoone7.5, AliceEverette, MaidenZorriah, Gembomz, Hershey gurl, Ashneal, Triple T 123, and je suis la fille en feu for following and faving!
BizzyLizy: Congrats on your new computer! And thank you!
GoldenLombaxGirl: I'm assuming you're talking about the Hosts that crowded under the one table, I just used what actually happened in the episode, I'm too lazy to make my own version lol.
YuYuHakushoObsesser: Thank you very much, and I'm sorry it took so long to get this one out! And my interview got me the job that I have now (less time to write boooo) and my school year is going really well actually. I hope you're having a good year too (idk if you're in school? Have a job? Idk)
Anyways, sorry it took so long to update, but hey, getting closer to the end! Just one more chapter and then the epilogue (both a happy and sad thing). And then of course I'm still rewriting some chapters as well...
"Are you sure I can't just, sit this one out?"
"Positive. It is required not only by myself, but by the school as well for you to attend and particupate in the Ouran Fair." Kyoya didn't even have to look up from his notebook to know that Rena was making a face at him.
It was the morning before the fair, and all classes had been cancelled for the day so that the students could set up their stations.
Working men and women bustled about carrying furniture and supplies as the students told them where to go and what to do. It was a sort of organized chaos.
The whole Host Club had to be present for this so that they could get everything set up in time. They had managed to get the Main Salon in the central building, the best-and most expensive-spot on the whole Ouran campus.
"Well, what if I suddenly fall ill with a mysterious plague and have to be quarantined on a remote island? Can I not come then?"
"If such a thing were to happen, we would all simply wear hazmat suits." Kyoya poked her forehead with the end of his pen, "Now stop bothering me and do something productive."
Lorena stuck her tongue out at him, "You're no fun."
"I am painfully aware." Kyoya went back to writing in his notebook, ending the conversation.
"Stop trying to get out of it, Rena. If I have to, I will drag you kicking and screaming into the fair."
"Haruhi, you wound me." Lorena clutched her chest dramatically and fell into Haruhi's arms, "Betrayed, by my own flesh and blood." She pretended to faint.
"Ugh, you've been around Tamaki-sempai for too long." Haruhi had the urge to drop her friend, but decided not to.
She was going to see what everyone else was doing when a horse and carriage pulled up next to her. In the carriage was Tamaki, the twins, Honey, and Takashi.
"Nicely done. You handled the reins like a pro." Takashi complimented Kaoru.
"Haru-chan! Rena-chan!" Honey waved to them. "Come aboard!"
Next thing she knew, Lorena was sitting next to Hikaru with Honey in her lap and across from Kyoya, Haruhi, and Tamaki.
"Hey, you know you've gotten pretty good at this."
"There's nothing to it. You should've practiced with me earlier."
"Well, just because we're twins doesn't make both of us good drivers."
"Ain't that the truth." Lorena laughed.
"It's kinda neat having us all together like this for a carriage ride, huh?" Honey played with Lorena's hands that were holding him.
"Yeah, whatever." Haruhi deadpanned.
"It's not like we're not spending most of our time together already." Lorena mumbled.
"Oh, and for the actual parade tomorrow, we'll all be in 18th century French costumes. Yours and Rena's outfits will be especially flashy, Haruhi."
"Hooray..."
The day of the fair came way too soon and no body could say they were bored.
The Host Club was booming. All the regular guests were there, and their parents, their siblings, their friends... Pretty much everyone and their brother came to the Host Club, okay?
At the monent, Lorena was wearing an ankle-length dress that was white from her waist up, and dark gray from her waist down. The dress had to be gray and white to match the outfits that the rest of the Hosts were wearing, a dark gray button-up, a white vest, red ties, and dark gray dress pants.
For two days they would be open to the general public of Ouran. They all had to be at the top of their game.
As Lorena made her way around the room, talking to a dizzying amount of people, she quickly learned all of the other Hosts' tactics. Tamaki had his normal "flirt-until-she-swoons" plan. Takashi would do little things for Honey, like tie his shoe or "fix his buttons," and Honey would cling to him even more than before. The twins pulled out the sympathy card very often. Kyoya mostly talked politically. And Haruhi... Well, Haruhi was just herself.
As for Lorena, well, she used logic against the parents.
"Oh, I assure you ma'am, your daughter attending the Host Club will not interfere with her studies in any way. In fact, a main role that I have in the Host Club is to tutor and help students with their homework and class work."
"In the Host Club, everyone talks to each other. We encourage interaction and trust-building. I myself have made many friends and met many wonderful people because of the Host Club."
"Father!" Tamaki's voice stole Lorena's attention away from the girl in front of her to the front of the Salon.
"Do not refer to me as 'Father'. The term is far too familiar. You will address me properly as 'Chairman'."
"Wow, savage." Lorena said to herself before turning back to her guest.
She had just bid the girl goodbye when a loud slap echoed throughout the room. Lorena's head shot up and she gasped. Kyoya's glasses clattered to the ground.
"That's Kyo-chan's father, isn't it?"
"Yeah, Honey. He is." Lorena placed a hand on his shoulder.
Kyoya's father left, and the Hosts approached Kyoya.
"Kyoya, are you all right?"
"Your dad was mean."
"You should never ever hit someone who's wearing glasses!"
"I don't think it's really about that, Honey-sempai."
"Kyoya-sempai, he wasn't angry at you because of the Host Club, was he?"
"Don't worry about it." Kyoya brushed them all off as he walked away, "It's not like I haven't been expecting this."
"Regardless of any of that, you're not ignoring us. Come here!" Lorena stomped over to him and dragged him by the ear out of the room and to the closest bathroom.
"Would you please let go of my ear?" She did, and he stood up, rubbing his ear sourly. "I do not understand why you're upset with me."
"I'm not upset with you, I'm upset with your father." She examined his cheek. "It won't bruise, but it's still kind of red." She began soaking a washcloth in cold water, "I really hate him, you know?" She glanced up at him, "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"It's quite alright. Many would agree with you."
"And you?" She gave him the cold cloth to hold to his cheek, "Do you hate him?"
He stared at her, "I don't know."
Lorena was setting out some tea at her table when suddenly she went blind. "Hey!" Removing the hands from her face, she turned around to see a smiling Mizuno. "Oh my god, Mizuno! What are you doing here?"
My sister told me that Ouran was having a fair today, and I decided to come see you. Why didn't you invite me?
"I'm sorry, I guess I just assumed you would have better things to do then come see me at school."
He smacked her over the head, Idiot.
"Owww, meanie."
Someone tugged on the end of her dress, "Rena-chan, who is this?" Honey clutched her leg as he peered up at Mizuno, trying to decide if he was friend or foe.
"This is Mizuno Kenzo, my friend. He's mute, but we can both speak American Sign Language." Mizuno waved.
"It's nice to meet you, Mizuno." Haruhi shook his hand, followed by Kyoya, then the twins, then Takashi and Honey.
"Alright enough spectating, we have guests waiting for us."
"Kyoya, would ya loosen up every once and a while?" He simply ignored her and walked away.
"So, Tamaki is escorting this Eclair chick for the rest of the fair?" Lorena sat at a table across from Honey.
"Apparently." The twins answered her. "But who is she? That's the question."
"I can tell you." Everyone turned to see Renge, "Éclair Tonnerre, she's the youngest daughter of the renowned Tonnerre family. They descend from royalty."
Kyoya, without stopping his typing on his laptop, interjected, "Indeed, the family has quite a history. Their wealth is something of a legend among financial heavyweights. In fact, just being associated with them makes you part of a very elite group." He paused, "They also own Grand Tonnerre, a firm that's been buying up a lot of businessess in Japan lately. Of course, that doesn't explain why Lady Éclair has come to visit Tamaki."
Lorena looked to Haruhi, trying to gauge her reaction to all this, but her back was turned to them.
Lorena slipped into her red heels and carefully stood up. Tamaki had arranged three different outfits for everyone that they had to change into during the day.
Lorena-all dolled up once again-was about to see what was taking Haruhi so long, when she saw her coming down the hallway. "Haruhi, I was just about to come and get you."
Haruhi looked Lorena up and down, "You look very nice, Rena-chan."
"You clean up pretty well yourself." Lorena winked at her, "Can you help me with this clip? I don't have a mirror."
Haruhi smiled at her friend and took the hairclip with the black and red rose on it, putting it in Lorena's hair. She held out her arm, like a proper gentleman, "Shall we?"
"We shall." Lorena smirked and took her arm.
They walked back to the Salon in silence, Haruhi lost in thought, and Lorena concentrating on not stepping on her beautiful dress.
Arm in arm, Haruhi and Lorena entered the main salon, causing a rush of chatter and compliments to sweep the room.
"Haru-chan and Rena-chan look great!" Honey exclaimed, smiling at the two of them.
"Yeah, she does." Honey looked up at him and smiled, Takashi was off in La-La Land, staring at Lorena.
He couldn't help it, he'd fallen for her.
And it didn't help that her outfit was frickin' gorgeous. She was wearing a deep red ball gown, a white shawl draped over her arms that sat in the crook of her elbows, a hair clip that had a black and red rose on it, and he caught a glimpse of red heels under her dress.
The white shawl matched their white waistcoats, and the red of her dress matched their red ties.
He was going to go talk to her, but he was beaten to it by that Mizuno dude. He decided that now wasn't exactly the best time either, so he resolved to talk to her after the fair ended for the day.
After the fair had closed for the day, the rest of the Hosts were explaining to Haruhi and Lorena about Tamaki's childhood and family history.
They told them about how his father met his mother, and how he grew up in France with his mother, but had to come to Japan and never see her again so that she could live comfortably. Then she disappeared, never to be heard from since.
"It's easy to feel sorry for him," Kyoya stood up from his seat, "but the events of his childhood helped mold him into the person he is today. He'll be fine. And when everything is said and done, he still has us." Everyone took comfort in that fact.
The main doors suddenly opened, yellow sunlight spilling inside. Behind them, Tamaki and Eclair stood, "Everyone, I have an important announcement." He had all of their attention, "As of today, Lady Éclair Tonnerre and I are officially engaged. Furthermore, the Host Club will be permanently dissolved after the Ouran Fair. That is all." After dropping that bomb on them, Éclair dragged the somber Tamaki away.
"Oh, Haruhi you go on ahead, I left my other clothes in the room." Lorena made her way to Music Room #3 to get her clothes, the darkening sky outside just barely producing enough light for her.
Haruhi was going to sleep over at her house, the limo was waiting outside to take them there. She hurried through the room, not wanting them to have to wait for ever for her. She really could've left the clothes, but knowing her luck, she'd never see them again.
She gathered her clothes in a bag and paused, slipping her heels off her feet, she sighed, "Much better."
The door opened behind her, looking over her shoulder, she saw that it was Takashi. "Lorena," he greeted.
"Takashi."
"We should talk."
"What about?" She faced him, tilting her head. He just looked at her like You know what. She shrugged innocently at him and tried to make her way past him.
He grabbed her wrist, lightly so as not to hurt her, "You can't ignore me forever." She didn't look at him. "Won't you say something?"
She laughed, "Like what, Takashi? That I like you? A lot? And that I know you like me too? That nothing can ever come of it? Is that what you want me to say? Well there you go."
He turned her around to look at him, "Why do you say that?"
She sighed, "What I told Misa the other day, when she confessed to me... I wasn't lying. I'm not ready for a relationship quite yet. I'm too broken." His eyebrows scrunched together, Broken? She licked her lips, "Right now, I'm not capable of caring for you the way you deserve to be cared for. It would be unfair for me and you."
His hand trailed from her wrist to her palm, intertwining their fingers, "I can fix you."
"I don't want you to fix me!" She pulled her hand away, nearly yelling at him but not quite. He was taken aback. She continued in a softer voice, "I want you sit with me while I fix myself." She looked at the ground, "I know it's selfish..."
He shook his head, "It is selfish." He grabbed her hand again, "But I want that too."
She looked up at him, a sparkle in her eye, "Really?" He nodded. She smiled up at him, a full, teeth showing, eyes-crinkled, happy smile.
A/N: There you go! See, I'm not a complete heartless bitch all of the time, I can make my character happy. Anyways, feel free to tell me what you think, the next chapter should not take as long, I will begin working on it tomorrow. Till next time!
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