"Make sure to finish reading the first chapter. We will be having a reading quiz next time. Class is dismissed," the teacher hurriedly said before shooting out of the classroom with his briefcase in hand.
He needed to escape from the campus before the after school activities commenced. He knew that he should have been more hesitant about applying for the job. Any school with a Safari Club that actually had an on-ground safari could not have been the safest choice for a man in his late thirties.
As soon as the teacher had made his mad dash out of the classroom, the students began to pack up their supplies and head out.
Haruhi, who had just finished packing her bag, was about to leave the classroom when she was stopped by Hikaru and Kaoru.
"Where are you going?" Hikaru inquired.
"Home," Haruhi replied, curious as to why he was asking. She had been contemplating the idea of stopping by the market to pick up some fish for the next day's lunch, but had eventually decided that she would just use the leftover meat from that night's dinner. Besides, she still had to complete the assigned reading, cook dinner, and do some laundry when she got home.
"You haven't planned on joining a club?" Kaoru asked with a raised brow.
"Or perhaps going to see a particular one?" Hikaru added as if hinting at something else.
Having not caught the hinting tone in Hikaru's question, Haruhi replied that no, she was not in a club, and no, she hadn't planned on visiting one either.
Emitting an exasperated sigh, Hikaru questioned, "Haven't you ever heard of the Host Club?"
Haruhi looked thoughtful for a moment before replying, "I heard a girl mention it earlier."
"Aren't you curious to go see what it is?" Kaoru inquired while leaning in closer to her face as if he were studying her.
"No," she stated, not bothered by the nearing proximity of the younger twin's face.
"Not even a bit?" Hikaru asked, sounding a bit annoyed.
"Not particularly," Haruhi stated.
"Why don't you come for a minute? If you don't like it, you can leave," Kaoru offered.
Haruhi didn't see any reason as to why she should go check out a club she held zero interest for. Even though she had no other pressing matters to attend to, it would just be a waste of her time to follow the twin brothers around the school in order to see what the "Host Club" was about. However, the scholarship student was saved from answering his question by a familiar redhead trying to capture her attention just outside the doorway.
"Fujioka-san!" Ritsu called in greeting as he stepped into the classroom. The other students had already left, leaving the twins and Haruhi by themselves.
"Hello, Kasanoda-kun," Haruhi greeted the gruff-looking boy.
"Can I walk you home?" the redhead asked with a slight blush staining his cheeks. He had been practicing that line in his head, over and over, ever since lunch ended.
"I take the train," Haruhi replied, missing the fact that both Hikaru and Kaoru were staring at the 'intruder' with identically narrowed eyes and annoyed expressions.
"Oh," Ritsu said, blinking, "how about I walk you to the train station, then?"
"Wouldn't that be out of your way, Kasanoda-kun?" Haruhi inquired.
"That doesn't matter to me," Ritsu replied, starting to nervously rub the back of his neck.
"She can't today," Hikaru interrupted, "Haruhi is coming to the Host Club first."
"Huh?" Haruhi inquired, "I never agreed to-"
She was cut off by Kaoru clamping a hand across her mouth, preventing her from speaking. He rested his chin on her shoulder and grinned lazily at Ritsu who was looking at the three of them with a confused expression.
"Maybe next time?" Hikaru questioned with mock-sympathy as he and his brother quickly carted the girl away, leaving Ritsu Kasanoda to stare at the empty spot where they once stood.
.x.o.x.o.x.
"That wasn't nice," Haruhi said as the twins continued to drag her down the Performing Arts wing. They had already passed by the ballroom, four theaters, two music rooms, and at least eight private practice rooms before Kaoru finally let the hand he had on her mouth fall back to his side.
"How else were we going to get you to come to the Host Club with us?" Hikaru asked with a wry grin.
"Especially since that scary redhead was trying to take you away," Kaoru added in with a bit of a shiver. That guy could have frozen a person with his terrifying features.
"Kasanoda-kun isn't scary," Haruhi said in a rather blunt tone.
The twins shared a glance and then shrugged.
"Besides," Haruhi continued, "I have things to do at home."
"Like?" the twins questioned simultaneously.
"I need to do the laundry, make dinner, wash the dishes, read the assigned chapters, and finish up the rest of my homework," Haruhi listed off each task from her mental to-do list.
Kaoru looked curious, "You actually do all of that?"
"Yes," Haruhi said, "and that's why I wanted to get home sooner rather than later."
Hikaru shrugged, "You only have to stay for a minute."
"Yeah," Kaoru said, agreeing with his brother, "we just want to introduce you to our club members."
"My lord will love you," Hikaru said with a snicker, imagining how the idiotic blonde would try to shamelessly flirt with the clueless brunette and be turned down each and every time.
"'My lord'?" Haruhi repeated, "Your club leader actually makes you call him that?"
"Yeah," the twins said.
Haruhi paused for a moment, "He sounds like a narcissist."
Hikaru and Kaoru grinned in both amusement and agreement.
They finally stopped in front of a pair of doors. The sign overhead labeled the room as the 'Third Music Room', and Haruhi wondered what type of club this was to be hosted in such a place.
Each twin pushed one door open, prepared to reveal the splendor and beauty of its contents.
"WHY ARE YOU TWO ALWAYS SO LATE?!"
Haruhi immediately reacted by jumping backwards as a flash of blonde appeared before the three of them.
She took in a set of gorgeous violet eyes and an angelic face. Well, it would have been angelic had it not been distorted into an angry expression. It appeared as though the owner of such a beautiful exterior was foaming at the mouth in rage.
"Hey, my lord," the twins chimed together as if they weren't fazed by what had just occurred, "we were a bit held up in the classroom."
"Huh?" the blonde inquired. The confusion was evident in his eyes as he looked at the two brothers with a curious expression.
The twins stepped apart so that the violet-eyed man could get a better view of the female who had been previously hidden from his gaze by their towering figures.
"Ooh!" Tamaki said, his eyes immediately going misty as he stepped forward to claim the girl's hands in his own, "Princess! Forgive me for my previous behavior, but your beauty was hidden from my view by these two disdainful brothers."
"It's fine," Haruhi reassured the blonde as she tried to tug her hands free from his grasp. She heard the twins attempt to stifle their giggles.
"Your beauty surpasses even the stars! No! The sun!"
"The sun is a star," Haruhi corrected him.
The twins held each other as their bodies shook with mirth.
"Fair princess, perhaps I might better entertain you inside?"
"No," Haruhi stated, "thank you."
"Come!" Tamaki said, ignoring the first part of her statement as he began to drag the girl into the room.
The Third Music Room, Haruhi noticed, was just as extravagant as the rest of the school. It possessed a rosy glow, bright lighting, and expensive furniture. What immediately caught her gaze was the expensive-looking vase on display nearby.
There were several tables spread out around the room. Many of them had multiple chairs surrounding them, but there was one – off in a corner – with only one chair. That one, however, was already occupied by a raven-haired boy wearing a pair of glasses. He was typing away on the laptop in front of him, completely ignoring the commotion occurring across the room.
There was another occupied table in the room where a child-like blonde boy with honey eyes sat eating cake next to what looked like his polar opposite. Those two were busily watching as the twins – still laughing – trailed behind the enthusiastic blonde who was dragging a rather resistant-looking brunette towards one of the couches.
"Would you be so kind as to tell me your name, beautiful princess?" the violet-eyed boy inquired as he deposited her on the couch and took the seat next to her. He gazed into her eyes as though she were the only woman in the world.
"Fujioka," Haruhi said, still trying to tug her hands free, "Haruhi."
"What a beautiful and befitting name, Haruhi-hime. I am Suoh, Tamaki, of class 2-A."
"Will you please release my hands, Tamaki-senpai?" Haruhi inquired.
Tamaki's eyes widened and he immediately released her hands.
Finally free, Haruhi stood up and quickly stepped away from the blonde.
"What is wrong, fair princess?" Tamaki inquired, also standing up.
Haruhi took a few more steps back for safety measures.
"The twins asked me to accompany them here," Haruhi said, "and now I'm going home."
The twins were laughing hysterically at that point. The dejected look on the club president's face was just too much.
"Don't you wish to stay in my company?" the blonde asked.
"No," Haruhi said, making her way towards the exit.
"But..." Tamaki desperately said, trailing off as the girl stepped through the doorway and disappeared from his sight.
"Wow, my lord," Hikaru said as he propped an elbow on his twin's shoulder, "time off from club duties has sure made you rusty."
Tamaki frowned and stood there for a minute, thinking to himself about what he had done wrong.
"You two must have paid her to act in such a way!" Tamaki announced.
"Nope," the twins retorted, "your charms just don't work."
"That's not possible! I know every method on how to woo a woman," Tamaki defended, before something dawned on him.
"Was that even a girl!?"
The twins didn't know whether to hit him upside the head or laugh at how much of an idiot he truly was.
.x.o.x.o.x.
"How was school, Haruhi?" her father, dressed in his work clothes, asked. He was smiling at her from across the table with red-painted lips. They were having an early dinner so that her father could eat before he had to go to his job at the bar.
Haruhi blinked at him from over her rice bowl and tried to think of the appropriate word that would sum up her first day of high school.
Between students wearing black capes, a set of twins with identity-crisis, her newly acquired redheaded friend, scraps of paper asking her to leave class with different boys being thrown at her, and the Host Club with its very eccentric president...
"It was interesting."
Thank you, again, to everyone who's been reading my story. And a special thank you to all of my reviewers!