Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club or any of the songs in this fanfiction. I only own Sora Kawashima and other OC's
Oh hey there beautiful people! I'm happy to bring you another chapter!
Thank you for the comments the last chapter! Both praise and criticism make me happy! Just remember I respond to comments at the end of each chapters!
Chapter Ten/ The American Football Club's Vendetta!
"Rich men!"
"Nobleman~!"
"..Common Man."
"...Poor man..."
"DESTITUTE!"
Haruhi dropped her deck of cards in shock, having lost the game of Daifugō* within record timing. The club members had no guests at the start of their day so they all decided to pretend there were no club activities at all to prevent people from coming later, allowing the eight of them to just loiter in the music room and play card games. Sora, not understanding how to play, just chose to just watch them instead and laughed when Haruhi and Tamaki lost.
The twins shook their heads in disappointment and dropped their cards as well, Kyoya being the one to win the whole game. As they began shuffling the cards, Hikaru rolled his eyes "C'mon Haruhi, what kind of commoner doesn't know how to play this?"
"You could at least try to win," Kaoru added with an annoyed expression on his face. Haruhi shrugged her shoulders, "Well excuse me, I just never really played cards before. And I-"
Sora gasps, cutting the girl off midsentence. The second-year hostess covered her mouth in shock with teary which confused Haruhi until Honey approached the scholarship student with teary eyes as well.
"Haru-chan..." He mumbles, wiping tears, "D-does that mean-"
"HERE HARUHI!" Tamaki shouts, running up to the girl with a deck of cards. He leans towards the girl in a hushed voice, "No one's looking... Just take them..."
Haruhi pushed his hand away and turned around, walking out the door. "I can easily afford cards, senpai." She shot back, hurting the boy with her cold rejection.
As Tamaki started crying and protesting Haruhi's rudeness, a sinister glare appeared on Kyoya's glasses. Haruhi, who was almost out of the room completely, felt a shiver go down her spine as the wind grew cold and the energy of the room felt eery. She slowly turned around, hearing each bone in her body creak shakily as she did so. Kyoya smiles, "So, this means Haruhi's my servant for two weeks?"
"TWO WEEKS!?"
[Kyoya: Richest man]
[Haruhi: Destititute/Beggar]
[Penalty: the beggar must serve the winner of the game for however long the rich man wishes (within reason)]
Haruhi shoos away the text boxes above her, "Within reason? That's not reasonable at all! Besides, I have classes to worry about an I have to help prepare for the school festival!"
Sora laughs, "After that whole 'zuka club' scandal weeks ago I almost forgot we're still having our school festival!"
Kyoya smiles and nods his head, "Speaking of that, what is class 1-A doing for their part?" He asks Haruhi and the twins
The twins wrap around each other and spin around the room, clearly excited about their class theme. Kaoru raises a finger, "We'll have mysteries for our costumers to solve. There will be imposters, teammates, betrayal, drama! And fancy prizes!"
Hikaru copies his brother's actions, "There will be a range of costumes and creepy setups so our costumers really feel like they have to solve a mystery! Your team either has to complete all thirty tasks or find the imposter to solve the mystery or you'll lose!"
The twin's high-five, "We call it: Among us!" They exclaim together, music erupting behind them as if they just announced something grand and important. Sora and Honey clap, impressed by the idea. Mori even nodded his head in approval, "It sounds like fun." He states matter-of-factly. Sora gives the twins and Haruhi a thumbs-up, "I'm so impressed! You guys must be working hard!"
Haruhi sighs, "Yeah. that's why I'm busy with the festival, I have to come up with different tasks, suspects, and figure out our voting system."
"Well then, the timing sounds perfect," Kyoya says, a cold look still on his face. Everyone turns towards him in confusion, not liking the shiny and evil-looking glare on his glasses. The vice-president lifts up a note and twirls around in his hand without revealing what it says, "You see Haruhi..."
"...And Tamaki" He adds, remembering the Tamaki had also lost the game. The blond flinches in fear, raising his hands defensively. Kyoya smirks, "You two will help me find a real culprit."
Tamaki and Haruhi both jump in fear, lighting striking behind them dramatically.
[The next day]
From what Haruhi could tell, school festivals in Japanese high schools usually came around only once a year.
For Ouran, there were many events that the students worked hard to make exceptions in order to show off their school, their skills, and their classmates to entertain one another. The cultural fair, the school festival, the winter expedition, the school auctions, etc.
With that being said, this event was still the only official school festival that was titled as such, so it was supposed to be the most normal, teenage event Ouran has.
...'Supposed to be' being the main words here.
Honestly, the only thing that made it different than other schools was just how much money everyone put into it.
"And why are there so many merchants here!?" Haruhi asks, snapping herself out of her internal monologue. The twins shooshed Haruhi and put their hands on their hips. "Merchants? How rude!" Hikaru scolds, "These people are the parents of your very own classmates, Haruhi!" He was just teasing the girl, but Haruhi's eyes went scarily wide, afraid she offended someone
Kaoru chuckles at Haruhi's obvious fright "Don't worry, no parent here is going to pay attention to what some random kid says. Besides, parents are just as focused on the school festival as we are."
Haruhi tilted her head, "Huh? Why?"
Without warning, Sora runs up and hugs the first-year girl, scaring Haruhi enough to make her gasp in surprise. A couple of parents give both Haruhi and Sora a look, but no one dares to gossip about either one of them, recognizing but of them as popular students from their children's gossip. Sora laughs and pats Haruhi on the back, "Sorry Haru-kun~! I'm just bored so I wanted to check on my favorite first-years!"
Hikaru smiled at Sora and walked towards her, "We were just telling Haruhi who all these adults are." Kaoru leaned onto a desk, "Haruhi was just confused on why everyone's parents are here."
Sora links arms with Haruhi but gives the girl a strange look, "Huh? Isn't it obvious? Our parents pay money to send us here, they want to know where their money is going towards and see what we can do with our resources... The school festival is somewhat competitive, there's definitely a 'is my kid the best' element to this but it's all in good fun. They just wanna see our skills come alive."
Haruhi thought for a moment. When she words it like that, it does make sense. After all, most, if not almost all, of the students here are heirs to respectable families who own major companies. If you're some bigshot CEO, you'd wanna know if you're son or daughter was prepared to go into that kind of hard work.
Before Haruhi could respond, another first-year ran into the room excitedly, almost crashing into her in the process. He slams down a sheet of paper with a smile on his face, "They announced the candidates and the contest for the central building!"
Both students and parents alike crowded around the boy and examined the paper, all gossiping about the event with both praise and disappointment. Haruhi, who is always out of the loop at Ouran, didn't even feel the need to speak. Instead, she just gave Sora a deadpanned expression, which made the hostess laugh.
Sora lifts up the paper after the crowd dispersed "The central building is that HUGE building on campus that isn't used for any classes...Well, besides astronomy since there's a planetarium* in there." Haruhi thinks for a moment, realizing there was a giant, yellow building that almost looked like a cathedral on campus that she had simply ignored. She nods in understanding, allowing Sora to continue
"Because most other big buildings on campus are used as a lounge for the families during the festivals, the central building is the one that gets the most attention. Whichever club gets the central building is automatically the club that gets the most visitors, praise, and just overall attention."
A boy with glasses chimed in, "I thought about having this class join in as candidates but there's no way first-years would win!"
Sora nods, "No way. And after a while, it just became clubs that were picked as candidates." She wrapped an arm around Haruhi, pointing to the paper "Ahhh~ well, either way, looks like you're competing Mr Fujioka~"*
Haruhi scans the paper, reading the list of candidates.
The Host Club, The Student Council, The Basketball Club, The Ikebana Club, Class 3-B, and...
"The American Football Club? I didn't even know we had a football club!" Haruhi exclaims turning towards Kaoru, who was now standing beside her. Sora had long since left Haruhi's side and began gossiping with Hikaru about the competition, both humored by the fact the flower arrangement club* somehow made it on the list. Kaoru pats Haruhi on the shoulder. "It's just some macho club filled with a bunch of jerks, not really you're style."
Haruhi thought about disagreeing with the younger twin but decided not to diss the host club in front of everyone.
Haruhi looks at the paper again and smiles, "Well... guess there's nothing to worry about! I mean, we're competing against two sports clubs in..." She reads the paper again, "a race! There's no way we're going to be in that race!"
...
...
"Of course we're going to be in that race." Kyoya declares, pushing up his glasses, "What about it?"
Even Tamaki gave Haruhi a strange look as if it was completely ridiculous Haruhi would assume the host club wouldn't compete in an athletic event against guys who do nothing but athletics. The honors student's eye twitches in annoyance, but her glares go misunderstood as more confusion. Honey takes a big bite out of a cake and nods his head, "We always compete! Last year it was a chess competition and we lost the final round against the student council~"
"Huh? You guys lost?" Sora asked in shock. She turned towards Honey and Mori, "Mori-senpai aren't you, like, really good at chess?"
The stoic member nods and just motion towards Kyoya, who merely shrugs in response "Don't forget the host club was just established last year. An important associate of the Hitachiin family was student council president last year so for PR purposes we lost the final round."
"Ahhh, that makes way more sense!" Sora says while nodding her head. The girl suddenly jumps up, filled with newly found energy "But this year are we winning!?" Tamaki nods and puts a friendly arm around Sora, "There are no setbacks this year so we have no reason to lose!"
The two classmates both cheer and jump up together, pumped up to win the competition and therefore, in some strange way, 'winning' the whole school festival. Kyoya clears his throat, "Well.. not no setbacks." He states, causing Sora and Tamaki to freeze in their tracks. "There is one slight problem"
At that, hundreds of thousands of notes flood the room, Kyoya having dumped them out of his bag. Curiously, each member of the host club picked one up and read its contents. Everyone froze and went white in shock. Some notes were blank, some were long, some were one word, most reeked of citrus, but what each note had in common was that they all contained minor threats of some sort, all creepily warning the host club to stay out of the race this year or they would face consequences.
[Not at all a 'slight' problem]
"These letters! They're clearly hatemail!" Haruhi exclaims, clutching some letters in shock.
Sora rereads the one in her hands and then reads ones on the floor, "Is that what you meant by Tamaki and Haru finding a 'culprit'? Kyoya this is serious!"
Kyoya shakes his head, "Relax. I doubt someone childish enough to threaten someone over a school festival has enough courage to actually make use of these threats. It's not at all a serious problem." He stated nonchalantly, annoying both Sora and Tamaki.
Tamaki marched up to his best friend, "But you're just now telling us?! Why would you feel the need to hide this?!" He demands, stomping his feet up and down. Kyoya nudges him away and digs in his pocket, "Well I had no plans on announcing it until after the festival but..."
He unwrapped the note, "I felt like I should share this one"
Tamaki and Sora peek at the note Kyoya had in his hand. It was written using magazine cut out words so that they couldn't trace back the notes through handwriting. Though it was cut sloppily, they could make out what the note said.
{ pRE Pare to DIE }
Tamaki shrieked in fright and Sora rubs the bridge of her nose, irritated by Kyoya's casual demeanor towards a literal death threat. Kyoya shrugs his shoulders, "Like I said if they are willing to go this far to win a race they clearly are too childish to actually harm any of us."
"I agree but you still should've told us sooner." Sora whines, crossing her arms "...Well, whatever. Let's just figure out who's behind this."
"ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?"
A familiar laugh ran out and everyone in the host club grumbled, not really in the mood to see Renge. The french girl rose up from the ground with a hurt expression on her face, clutching chalk. "Don't moan and groan, I'm just helping you all out!" She protests. She marches up to the chalkboard that appeared out of nowhere and started writing down theories and clues.
Renge whips her head around, "It's obviously the student council president!"
Everyone deadpanned, now used to Renge's erratic behavior. Sora shakes her head, "It's not, but do enlighten us on how it's obviously the president?"
"Simple!" Renge's eyes went starry and she grinned passionately "The student council president is handsome and cool, but feels like he should rule the entire school based on his position. He's cold, he's calculating, he would do anything to win respect! The Host Club is popular so he feels threatened by you all!" She quickly writes down his name, having fully convinced herself he's the perpetrator
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..You've never actually seen the student council president, have you?"
As if on cue, the student council president and the vice president walked into the club room. Toshiyori Matsudaira stood 6 feet and 4 inches tall, but never gained enough fat or muscle to match his weight to his height. Therefore, the boy stood gangly and thin, his weak stomach and frequent headaches also made him pale, through and through... He was sickly in both appearance and fact. Without saying a word, Renge quickly erased his name and sunk down into the floor, disappearing once again.
"Hiya Toshi-chan!" Honey waves. The student council president shakily waves back, acquainted with both Honey and Mori because of the three being in the same class. "I'm sorry to interrupt, please pardon our intrusion. We just came to announce that the student council will be pulling out of the race."
The vice president, Kanan Mitsuyama, stood beside him with a gentle smile on her face. She was an average but elegant looking girl and had silky auburn hair she had tied into two french braids. She lifted up her clipboard, "Will the host club be withdrawing as well?"
She had an airy and gentle voice that for some odd reason annoyed Sora immediately. She sounded like a kid
"Nope!" Sora declares, "Not at all."
Kanan looked surprised by Sora's statement but quickly shook it off and smiles. "Of course! I was just asking!" She says defensively, bowing her head "Best of luck to all of you! I know you will do well!"
The student council president and vice president both leave after saying their goodbyes. Once they were gone, the club went back to gossiping and theorizing amongst themselves, all trying to figure out who the culprit was.
Something about Kanan seemed so fake to Sora, but obviously it wasn't her. What would the student council vice president gain from threatening death to the son of the chairmen, the well-respected Morinozuka/Haninozuka clan, an Ootori son, the heirs to Hitachiin brand and company, and members of the respectable and stupidly wealthy Kawashima family?
...
...
...Why do I hear rival music?
"Hmph! So the student council is turning their tails and running? Wise decision!"
Three members of the American Football club stood at the door, the one in the center awkwardly biting into an unpeeled orange. Though his fruit-eating methods were very off-putting the boy was surprisingly... pretty? He had a similar hair cut to the twins except with light brown hair. His eyelashes were even lighter in color and were extremely long. The boy had a long, very straight nose as well.
[Takeshi Kuze: Football club president, third year, class 3-A]
Two other members of the football club stood by his side, one super tall and muscular third year, and the other a second year in class 2-B. The football player at 2-B was of average height but an athletic build, with short messy black hair. Sora and Haruhi both scanned the football club members, confused by their similar appearance to that of the host club. Haruhi sighs, "I don't even know where to begin." She mumbles, watching Kuze eat the entirety of that unpeeled orange. Sora fake gagged at the sight, pointing at her throat.
Tamaki shrugged, "They might look gawky but amongst the athletic clubs they're the most talented. They make it and win national championships regularly."
Sora rolls her eyes, "Big deal! All of our clubs are known for being exceptional that's why we have this school festival in the first place." Sora turns towards the twins, "Kuze-senpai's family owns the largest market share in imported produce in Japan... You guys ever piss him off or something?"
"Hey, why would you assume we did something!?"
Before Sora could even speak up, Kuze marched past her, slightly moving the girl aside. He pulls out another orange and stomps up to Kyoya, "So Ootori... Word is going around you guys deliberately at chess last year!"
...Renge and her big mouth
Kyoya smiles, not letting Kuze's offended glare affect him. "Oh? Is that what people are saying?"
Kuze's eye twitches crazily but he tries to match Kyoya's cool aura by just simply smirking and chomping into another unpeeled orange. Once again, Sora gagged at the sight. "Do you have any idea how dumb that makes the rest of us look? We might become laughing stocks but I can move past that... problem is, you let this rumor reach the ears of my fiancee...And that pisses me off."
"Your fiancee?" Sora repeats, raising an eyebrow in thought. Suddenly, a lightbulb lit up, and Sora's eyes went wide in quick realization. She exchanged a glance with Kyoya but did not speak up.
Kyoya pushes up his glasses, "What an unjustified grievance, Kuze-senpai. Perhaps people should respect you more so no one would dare pass around at such a baseless rumor" Kyoya says in a faux concerned tone. Kuze stress ate the entirety of that second orange and balled his hands into fists, "So you're saying it's my fault!? You have some nerve! Even when we were kids..." His words faded and his eyes grew dark
[6-year-old Takeshi Kuze]
"So even the peels are nutritious! Try one Kyoya!"
[5-year-old Kyoya, same refreshing smile, same evil eyes]
"Hmmm... No thank you. The peels are tough and yucky, and they might be covered in pesticides! That's a big no-no for the girls since they might have babies one day!"
The girls in their kindergarten class all gasp and start surrounding Kyoya, touched by him looking out for them in... some sort of way. Hearts started surrounding their little heads as Kyoya continues, "But the rinds have a lot of good stuff in them so eat marmalade! Peels are also good for skin and you can extract them into oil, then the smell is good for aroma-therapy! Just don't eat the pesticides or-"
"THERE NOT COVERED IN PESTICIDES! THAT"S FROM MY FAMILYYYYYY"
An awkward silence filled the room as Kuze shivered from his tragic memory. "Even when we were kids..." The football captain repeats with a growl, getting even angrier after remembering that one incident.
"I don't remember whatever I said as a kid"
"You-"
"...Please don't get the juice from those oranges onto the carpet."
Kuze screamed and stomped his feet down, trying to control himself before he completely lost it. The two members of the football club with him quickly comfort their overly dramatic club president. Kuze regains his composure and stands up. After clearing his throat he gives Kyoya a confident smirk, "Ha... Do you really think an heir to the Ootori family should be in a carnal* club such as this?"
His genuine jab at Kyoya was unexpected and surprised even the other football players. The air in the room goes ice cold, the tension so thick you could cut into it. Kuze tilts his head to the side, still smirking
"Excuse me, I forgot... You're only the third son. Aww, so no matter how hard you try you'll never become the heir to the family, will you?"
The boy goes on, "No wonder you lick crumbs of glory from the boots of the chairman's son.* Wow, the mere thought of that could make me weep"
At this point, question marks were surrounding the very lost Haruhi. Third son? Chairmen? Kyoya senpai licking someone's boots? Whatever Kuze was talking about, the other host club members, including Sora, must know about it because they all looked enraged. Tamaki approached Kuze and glares, "Hey, none of that is any of your business. If you have some sort of problem save it for the competition."
"Also known as-" Sora stomps down, causing Kuze to jump backward clutching his now-aching foot, "Beat it before I take that football your buddy is holding and shove it so far down your throat it'll come right out through your-"
"We're leaving" Kaze hisses. The twins and Sora put up their middle fingers at the younger football club member, which he angrily returns. The tall football club member exchanged a glare with Mori, and Kuze kept his focus on Tamaki and Kyoya, "Let's see just how impressive this host club can be"
[It's a fight]
One full week and some days passed and today was finally the day of the race, which meant it was two days before the actual school festival. Despite this not being an official part of the school event, the race between the host club and football club cause a large amount of the student body to show up and watch as fans (with most of the male student body cheering on the football club and the girls cheering for the host club).
Once word got around that the student council and the flower arrangement club dropped out of the race, hundreds of other students and clubs entered, hoping to do well against the host club and football club. Now, this event was the most talked about, most hyped up, most competitive event in Ouran history. Even the hosts, fueled by their newly-found rivalry with the football club, trained for this event (minus Haruhi and Kyoya, who both decided not to do the running portion of the competition to focus on the letter mystery)
Tamaki wrapped a bandana around his head, "Alright gentleman... Let's do well to win!"
"Yes, boss!" Sora and the twins exclaim, saluting Tamaki. Haruhi sweatdropped in irritation, embarrassed from the outfits Tamaki chose. He chose to wear black and white athletic jumpsuits with long jackets. To Haruhi, the clothes made them look like cheerleaders instead of fierce competition, but Tamaki was more of a fashion over function guy anyways.
The race, instead of being a standard relay race, was mixed with bizarre quizzes and challenged that would either let the competitors pass and move forward towards victory, or set them back so far they drop out. The race was personally set up by the student council after they dropped out of the contest, which raised Sora's suspicion of the vice president even more.
"Well if the rules are clear... Let the race begin!"
All of the racers ran forward, screams of support erupting from the sidelines. After a while, the first quiz booth causes all the racers to stop. The hosts' first question was related to Shakespeare, which Tamaki answered the quickest, setting the host club in the lead. After a few more quiz booths, the first physical challenge was up next. It was a large slope with ice covering it, making it near impossible for those with no running skills to make it up in time.
Kyoya pushed up his glasses, "Interesting... They must've wanted people out of the competition fairly quickly" He noted
Tamaki was the first to approach the ice, a calm expression on his face. The girls all scream shouts of support which unfortunately go unheard by the blond, who crashes face-first onto the slope. The twin, humored by his goofy action, try to run over him, but soon also slip and fall, causing Kyoya and Haruhi to sigh in annoyance.
"Tarumi of the football club quickly passes the three host club members!" The announcer shouts "Could this be the end of the host club!?"
Fortunately for them, Honey, Mori, and Sora all arrive within good time to the slope as well. Honey pauses and without a word, Mori launches him into the air, causing the boy lolita to make it to the top of the slope with ease, automatically passing the rest of the host club to the next round (much to the chagrin of those who actually had to run up the slope and those who didn't make it up in time) Sora and Honey give each other a thumbs-up and Mori and Sora high-five
[Sporty trio]
Meanwhile, the twins and Tamaki were still stacked on one another, trying to figure out how to get off without completely falling
[The brainless trio]
"The host club passed the first site! Will they win the next three!?"
...
...
The short answer to that was yes.
The next challenge after the slope was a math quiz and a hundred pull-ups, the one after that was a memorization quiz and tight-rope walking, and the final one was a game of concentration and free throws in the basketball court. Both the host club and the football club had knocked out all their other competition, ultimately finishing at the exact same time.
Everyone was hyped up for the final round, which was to begin in thirty-minutes to let the clubs get a brief break. Haruhi ran up to join her fellow members, collapsing into Sora's arm from being out of breath. What can she say– Haruhi is just not the athletic type. Sora brought the girl into a hug, "What is it, Haruhi? You okay"
The first year nodded and slightly pushed away, "I'm fine... I just wanted to say good job during the race and also that I think there are two perpetrators."
"Two?" Sora asks, tilting her head. "Why?"
"I saw that football player talking to the student council vice-president!" Haruhi says, putting a finger up "All evidence points to someone wanting the football team to win! So I think he's forcing her to write notes too!"
Sora slapped a fist into her hand, "I knew it! That girl was– wait... forcing her? No, I'm pretty sure-"
"If you ladies are finished gossiping we got the final clue here!" Hikaru interrupts, waving the two over.
The two girls exchange knowing looks and nod at each other, knowing they had more time to theorize at a better time. Not only were they ready to win, but this whole note mystery was soon going to be a thing of that past.
The hint they received was weird and abstract, but all of them deduced that the crown that held their victory was near the west gym, which was the area with the largest swimming pool, being so long it wrapped around the entirety of the building. Due to the change of location and the Italian themed decoration in that particular area of Ouran, Tamaki had the club quickly change into carnival-themed costumes, much to the joy of the fans still watching. Even the male announcer from the broadcasting club was thrilled.
"WOW! SO COOL!" He screams, stars in his eyes "Well– yeah it was unnecessary to do so as them looking nice has nothing to do with the outcome of the race... and it wasted their time... but in a way, isn't being reckless the same as being COOL!?"
"Why have I never been to this part of Ouran?" Sora asks herself, admiring the Italian art. "Why didn't I hear about them reconstructing Venice in the West buildings?"
Haruhi gave the girl a look, "Are we seriously ignoring how absurd it is to rebuild Venice?"
Ironically, Haruhi's statement went ignored (much to her irritation) as the twins kept rowing their canoe through the pool, which was as large as a river. The football club, almost directly across from them, watched their competition make small talk as they rowed. Tarumi, the second year, turned towards Kuze, "Uh, captain? Is this alright? All the attention is going to the host club."
The third-year and stoic of the football players shrugs, "Should we put on dresses too? Or...?"
Kuze waves both of them off, "Relax you two, it's like the announcer said. Them looking nice has nothing to do with the race." He grabs two oranges out of his pocket and whistles, catching the attention of the host club.
"Hey, Suoh!" Kuze grips both in one hand and chucks them over at the canoe, "CATCH!"
"BOSS LOOK OUT!" The twins warn, trying to grab Tamaki before one of the fruit splats on his head. Luckily, Kuze had thrown them so hard one immediately went into the water, and Tamaki was simply not foolish enough to plunge into the water to get something he had no chance of catching. Unluckily, there was still a second fruit, which crashed straight into Sora's forehead, knocking the girl backward.
"WAHHH I SHOULD'VE CAUGHT IT! SORA ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?" Tamaki asks, shaking the limp girl in fright. She remained still, her eyes swirling into spirals. After a moment, Sora's tongue fell out of her mouth, making the girl look completely dead. Tamaki screamed and Haruhi shook her head, "That Kuze really is a bad guy!" She announced, bothered by the sight of the... dead(?) Sora
Kyoya raises an eyebrow "Which reminds me... Haruhi, you say you think two people are involved with the letters?" He asked curiously
Haruhi nods, "The vice president, Kanan Mitsuyama." The hosts all thought about the gentle appearance and squeaky voice of the vice-president and gave Haruhi an unsure look. Haruhi nods, "I'm sure she's involved... Kuze is forcing her to."
Sora groans and tries to speak but still remains unconscious. Kyoya, taking Sora's lack of verbal ability as her response, pushes up his glasses with a smile "That's a bold claim Haruhi, what evidence do you have?"
Haruhi raises a finger, "Well for starters, I always thought it was a little weird the vice president asked us if we were dropping out of the race, but now I understand she was just warning us! And Tamaki-senpai told me about how Kuze-senpai's family owns the number one import company of produce in Japan... And guess who's number two?"
"Vice-president Mitsuyama's family!" The twins exclaim in unison. "They're competitors!"
"Exactly." Haruhi confirms "And she's too afraid of him to disagree with his actions, so she's just been sending us the less scary letters and the blank notes! Kuze is forcing her into this whole shenanigan!"
Tamaki glares back at Kuze just as they finally rowed back to land, "He's threatening her. Men, we absolutely have to put a stop to this and win!" Tamaki proclaims jumping out of the canoe. The other host club members excitedly agree and run with him, everyone except Kyoya, who stayed behind with the dizzy-Sora. The black-haired girl slowly regained consciousness and sat up, covering the bump on her forehead with her hand.
"Two things" She hisses angrily "One: I'm going to murder Kuze... and two, you do know it's only the girl who's writing the notes, right?"
Kyoya chuckles, "Obviously. Kuze isn't bright enough to take the time to write notes that were untraceable."
"And Mitsuyama..." Sora sighs and rubs her temples in annoyance "She's his fiance he was going on about, isn't she?"
"Well, I'm amazed." Kyoya claps slowly "I think Kuze was right about oranges still covered in their skin being good for you. It gave you some insightful thinking skills." He says in a faux impressed tone. Sora gives Kyoya a middle finger and watches as Haruhi runs past them.
Turns out the building they were rowing towards was actually the stand being built by class 3-A for the festival. The building was yet to be finished and was still so shaky there was no way the crown was in there (Honey and Mori, despite both being in class 3-A, did not think about this while rowing)
Instead of having to go around the pool that surrounded the west gym to find the other building, the clubs were supposed to go through that pool into the west gym. Sora and Kyoya both quickly figured that out as well and without a word, they stood up from the canoe and joined the others. "Guys, c'mon!" Sora shouts, motioning towards the west building they had been circling for the past twenty minutes.
The football club and the host club were neck and neck, both having realized the prize was on top of the west gym instead of outside. Haruhi was in the lead but, once again, that girl is just not athletic and had turtle-level speed. Some of the football club members shoved Haruhi aside, almost knocking the girl into the water.
Luckily, Sora caught Haruhi right in time and watched as Tamaki sped past all of them. He and Kuze were neck and neck while running and both jumped for the crown.
...
...
"TAMAKI SUOH GOT THE CROWN! THE HOST CLUB ARE THE WINNERS!" The announcer shouts happily, setting off what feels like a national celebration.
Though they were on the complete opposite side of the campus, the supportive screams of some of the guests could be heard below them. Sora sighs in relief and the hosts briefly cheer amongst themselves, having felt like they went on quite the journey for some silly plastic crown. Kuze, who jumped for the crown, was buried into the concrete, having hit it with quite a force. The twins tilt their head to the side, "Uh... Why is the vice-president running to check on Kuze?"
"She's his fiancee, dumbasses." Sora answers while crossing her arms angrily. She just knew that girl was suspicious from the start
"She's also the only one who wrote those letters," Kyoya confirms, letting out a slight chuckle. Tamaki recognized that particular tone of Kyoya's voice and immediately realized Kyoya had known the whole time.
He was just messing with everyone.
The blond went off in a rant and scolded Kyoya for dragging everyone through that mystery like that and Kyoya did little to defend his actions.
As the "parents" of the host club bickered, Sora took the initiative and marched toward Kuze and the vice president. Kanan Mitsuyama bowed her head, "I apologize for writing those awful letters... And the fact that Takeshi threw that orange at your big head." She whispers, sounding ashamed.
Her baby-sounding voice irritated Sora once again, but the girl let it go since she was apologizing. Kanan continued, "It's just that... Kyoya and Takeshi have always had some sort of rivalry since preschool that Takeshi always lost. I just wanted him to win this one time."
Certain words of hers dug into Kuze like knives, causing the football captain to go limp "So you had no faith in me even before the contest?" Kuze asks meekly, looking up at Kanan with dark eyes. She fiercely shakes her head, "Oh darling that's not it at all! I just want you to finish this rivalry once and for all... I love you no matter who you can or can't beat so... Stop focusing on Ootori and focus on me instead!" She confesses, blushing slightly.
Kuze's whole face gets crimson red and he stands up. After a moment, he shyly looks to the side and nods slightly.
"Okay..." He whispers, causing the vice president to plant an affectionate kiss on his lips. Sora rolls her eyes and lets them have a moment, before kicking the back of Kuze's leg, sending the boy forward into the pool.
"That's for throwing an orange at me...mister second place."
[Day of the School Festival]
[Class 1-A]
"Where was the 'body' found?"
"By the library area!"
"I'm telling you, Fujiwara-San is the imposter!"
"Miss Shinozaki, I was doing the task over there the whole time! How could I be the imposter?"
"...The whole time? Dad that's so suspicious."
"WHAT!?"
"I'm voting him out, I think he killed Haruhi."
Sora watched on the sidelines with Hikaru (who had been killed first by his own twin brother in the game) and laughed as Haruhi had to lay limp on the floor until each member of the current group voted someone out.
Class 1-A made their event fun and it turned out to be a hit among the visitors. Families turned on each other, celebrities accused one another, classmates snitched on each other; it was chaotic. Sora sat on the table with her legs crossed, entertained by how fun class 1-A made their event be. Hikaru tapped Sora on the shoulder, "You're not going to see your sister?" He asked
Sora shakes her head, "Nah. Kai said the middle school festival events are nowhere near as cool and all her class did was a maid cafe... Not that dissimilar to the commoner food market Tamaki convinced my class to do." She winks, "So boring compared to getting death threats"
Hikaru lets out a small laugh, still humored by the fact Sora got absolutely demolished by an orange. Alls well that ends well and seeing how the host club won the central building, all the hosts' classes were all hits as well, and the beef between the hosts and football club was slightly resolved, it seemed today everyone was getting a happy ending. Despite that, Sora frowned. Hikaru gives her a look, "What? What's up?"
"That..." Sora jumps down from the table and sits beside Hikaru. She leans closer to him, talking in a hushed voice "That think Kuze said to Kyoya... I hope it doesn't still bother him."
"The part about being the third son or the part about him 'licking Tamaki's boots' or whatever?" Hikaru asks "Cause both were crazy to say."
"Both I guess... But mostly the third son thing since everyone besides Kuze is smart enough to realize Tamaki and Kyoya are best friends." Sora explains. The girl was worried about her classmate and friend, who she sensed did everything in his power to impress his family. Hell, Sora already knew Kyoya was willing to do anything to impress his family seeing how he almost married her.
On the other hand, Hikaru shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not wanting to be snippy with Sora but also annoyed by her constant focus on Kyoya. Ever since the beginning of her joining this club, Kyoya was awfully friendly to Sora, and vice versa. But in Sora's case being so concerned and observative about someone was in character, Kyoya on the other hand just seemed to like Sora.*
Hikaru shook his head, disagreeing with his own thoughts.
He didn't want to make the same mistake he did when they went to that beach and if Sora liked Kyoya, it would be way obvious. She's not exactly a subtle person who holds in what she's thinking.
"He's fine, Kyoya-senpai is always fine." Hikaru finally answers, which Sora hums and agrees to in response. The number of people still playing the came kept getting lower and lower as Kaoru kept 'killing' people without raising any suspicion.
Hikaru didn't know why he was so annoyed but he tried to shake it off without ruining the moment. he decided to change the subject. "Where's the rest of your family at?"
"Huh?"
"Your mom, your dad, your brothers?" Hikaru shrugged, "Did they want to come to this event?"
Sora laughed dryly, which causes Hikaru to flinch. "God no." She answers, counting off on her fingers "My dads doing god knows what god knows where, my mom lives in Yokohama, my twin is having a dramatic teenage angst moment and is about to get kicked out of school if he doesn't come back, Minato is... busy, and Keito is here but he's just visiting my sister Kai."
Hikaru frowned and thought for a moment. "If I'm being honest, I already heard about your brother Shouta ran away and was skipping classes... I just didn't want to bring it up." Hikaru scratches his head, "...Sorry to hear about that."
Sora blinks for a moment before breaking into a gentle smile. She tucked a strand of her long black hair behind her ear, "We've sure become a lot closer than when I first came back."
She suddenly pinched both his cheeks in her hands, stretching them out "And you have sure grown since the first time we met! Look at you... bewing~ honwest~" She coos in a baby voice that matched the student council vice-presidents. Hikaru rolled his eyes and pushed her hands away, "You're breath smells like sushi sold for two hundred yen*"
A red vein popped onto the back of Sora's head. "Hikaru... You-"
"This is just too cute! ❤︎ "
Hikaru immediately recognized the voice, as did Kaoru who had just won the game (much to the fury of the crowd). The twins both whipped their heads around and saw their mom and dad both standing at the door.
Sora's eyes widened at the sight of the Yuzuha Hitachiiin. Her family and the Hitachiin's were business partners before the Hitachiin twins ever met the Kawashima twins but Sora has never had the honor of actually meeting the famous fashion mogul, designer, and CEO. She was still as young and bright and beautiful as ever, with short, wavy auburn hair matches the twins in color. Her eyes were dark but still shiny her-
At this point, Sora was drooling so she quickly spun around and shook her head to control her thoughts. The twins both stood up and excitedly approached their mom with both Haruhi and Sora in their arms. Kaoru held up on of Sora's arms, "Mom! This is the devil-dog we've told you about!" Hikaru held up Haruhi's arm "..and this is Haruhi! We're gonna adopt her one day so don't forget it!"
Haruhi looks up, flabbergasted "Huh?"
Yuzuha looked both girls up and down and walked around them. Sora fought the urge to run away in fear, and simply stood still and crossed her fingers. After a moment Yuzuha just fixed Haruhi's crooked bowtie and vest with a few notes and smiled at Sora, "...And like I said earlier, you are just too cute! ❤︎ "
Internally, Sora was screaming. Externally, she just bowed and smiled back, "That means everything coming from you, ma'am. The clothes you design for the celebrities under my family* are always so beautiful so I guess you can say I'm kind of a fan."
Yuzuha clutches Sora's hands in her own, "Oh nonsense dear, I'm one of your fans! Every insult you've ever hurled my sons' way has been hilarious! And what a pretty girl you are~ And no, you're breath does not smell bad like Kaoru or Hikaru* said, you actually smell quite strongly of citrus!"
"Oh, I-"
The word 'citrus' triggered a flashback in Sora, whose eyes went wide. She thought about the student council vice-president's confession and her annoying ass baby voice. She thought about how the older girl apologized to her.
I apologize for writing those awful letters... And the fact that Takeshi threw that orange at your big head
...And the fact that Takeshi threw that orange at your big head.
...threw that orange at your big head...
...your big head...
"Sh-She… She…!" Sora sputters angrily, much to the confusion of the whole Hitachiin family. Sora rips both her hands away rudely and runs out the door, "That stupid... ORANGE loving... LETTER WRITING...! BABY-SOUNDING-BITCH! SHE INSULTED MY HEAD SIZE! I'LL KILL THEM BOTH!" She screams distantly, already practically down the hallway.
With that, the loud and less-than-elegant Sora ran off in pursuit of the happy couple she was going to beat down. Yuzuha still had her hands raised from when Sora ripped her own out from her grip. The Hitachiin mother covered her smile with one hand, "So cute! Hikaru Kaoru~ She's a keeper! ❤︎"
-Chapter end-
HOOOOO Shitttt this chapter felt so long... But omg I finally get to write Day in the life of the Fujioka Family next... I LOVE that episode idk why.
Also y'all I'm thinking I wanna skip Honey's three bitter days and Haruhi in Wonderland but Idk if that's a bad idea. I mean, I'm trying to stay as close to Ouran as possible, that's why I'm incorporating the manga plotlines into this very anime-based fanfic. Honey's three bitter days and Haruhi in wonderland just seem kind unnecessary story-wise Idk I'll think about it (I would replace Haruhi in wonderland with "Sora-rella" A Cinderella fairytale instead but... idk
In case you have not noticed, this whole plot is from a chapter in the actual manga. Chapters 22-25 of the manga are when these exact events all take place so no the football club members, the student council members, the school festival, all that is not mine... Besides Hikaru and Kaoru making their class do a real-life game of Among Us... That's all me.
Chapter (*) Notes
*Rich man poor man is a card game that people say fruits basket invented?
*Carnal meaning horny basically
*HAHA THE AMONG US REFERENCES lol in case you don't know among us is this game where you are either a crewmate (who does tasks and helps the team) or an imposter (who is out to make the team lose and kill the other players) This fanfic takes place in 2019 so Among us exists but it wasn't popular yet. Hikaru and Kaoru are gonna think someone stole their idea lol
*A Planetarium is a theater built for showing off the night sky and space. It's to teach you about astronomy
*The Ouran middle, elementary, and high schools all have one big school festival. Despite this being Sora's first high school festival, not much differs from how it was for her in middle school, that's why she knows so much about it.
*"Ikebana" means the art of flower arrangement
*Kuze never refers to Tamaki directly as the chairman's son and I took out the part of Haruhi meeting the chairman because I want to keep it aligned with the anime, with Haruhi not finding out about Tamaki's dad until the newspaper episode and not meeting his dad (and grandma) until the final arch.
^^^ALSO THAT'S CANON DIALOGUE KUZE ACTUALLY SAYS THAT TO KYOYA omg what douchebag.
*KYOYA DOES NOT LIKE SORA AND SORA DOES NOT LIKE KYOYA. They are just similar in terms of personality in some ways so they click fairly well
*It's mentioned in one past chapter but most of the music artists under the Kawashima entertainment company only wear clothes from the Hitachiin label for music videos and performances.
*Two hundred yen is like... $1.90 USD. Hikaru originally said her breath smelled like something else but it was gross and out of character lol
*YUZUHA CAN TELL THE TWINS APART. In the manga, she confesses that she just likes to mess with them by pretending she can't but she can actually tell them apart (she doesn't realize how much that hurts them so she's not being cruel, just goofy)
-Comments-
Mide1718- No problem! Thank you for being so interested in them! Guess what dude? The chapter explaining the dynamic between Sora's dad and Nagi is coming right after the next one! I realized how I could transition from "A Day in The Life of the Fujioka Family" to a flashback chapter and what can I say... I'm eager to answer your questions! Thank you for your comment and support!
EddaValkyrie- Whoops! Thanks for letting me know omg. I went back and fixed that! Thank you!
purplekittycatofthemoon- omg don't cryyyy it's okayyy. Dude thank you so much for your comment :))) You're very kind! I had realized that I felt like the relationship between Tamaki and Sora was lacking and with Sora having a gay brother I figured the Lobelia episode would be a good way to get them closer. I won't make you cry ever again though I swear! All good vibes from here on out!
Guest- Me reading this comment: "oooh wooo?"
For Valhalla- I will try my best! Thank you so much for your kind words! Your kind words make my heart go "uwu"
AnimeLover345643- Oh don't be sorry dude that's completely valid! YOOOO TBH I FORGOT ABOUT THAT LOL dude I wrote most of those early chapters in 2017 and published them 2018 a lot has changed lmaooo consider that whole her wearing a male uniform thing retconned that is no longer canon.
But also I disagree with your comment juuuuuust slightly! Ouran is lenient with their uniforms it's just that most students don't break standard dress code. Nekozawa wears a large black cloak over his uniform, if you look closely you'll see that Kasanoda wears a yellow t-shirt under his white blazer instead of just having the white blazer and jacket buttoned up, Haruhi wears a brown sweater and black jeans to school before she's given a uniform (which may also just be because she couldn't afford a uniform but don't you think if the uniforms were that big a deal they would just give her one along with the scholarship?)
BUT LIKE I SAID LMAOO I THOUGHT I WENT BACK AND DELETED THAT CAUSE IT MAKES NO SENSE FOR SORA TO DO THAT I think when I started writing this it was very "she's not like other girls ;)" which I no longer think matches her character so I appreciate your comment nonetheless cause dude you just reminded me there's SO much I need to go back and fix
Thank you all so much! Leave a comment if you want, follow & favorite if you wish, and stay beautiful! You're all super rad!