Chapter revised and re-written on May 5th, 2021!
"Today we have a new student, now please settle down for introductions," the female teacher announced to the 2-A class.
The students began to whisper eagerly amongst themselves about this new student. The whispering ceased when a short and plump sixteen-year-old girl wearing the puffy yellow dress wandered inside the classroom with a gentle, but anxious smile.
She had a round face and her cheeks were rosy from shyness, her tawny, straight hair was short and its length was above her shoulders, hugging her round face as her bangs covered her forehead. Her eyes were big and had two different shades of blue, it started with a darker blue but as the iris descended it became lighter.
"Please introduce yourself," the teacher requested nicely.
"Hello, my name is Hatsumi Oriko and I hope we'll all get along," she said pleasantly.
The murmurs rose again and this time they were more vigorous.
"Does anyone have questions for Oriko-san?" the teacher inquired.
Some hands were raised.
"What are your hobbies?" a pretty girl with long and wavy dark hair asked.
"I love sewing," Hatsumi's rosy pinks grew redder as she revealed her passion.
"How cute!" the girl praised with a small squeal.
"Ne, what's your favorite food?" a boy asked, hiding his mockery behind a mean grin.
"I love rice!" Hatsumi replied lightly, ignoring it.
"...and everything" someone whispered. Some male students that heard it snickered, but Hatsumi kept her gentle and friendly smile without hinting that she was forcing it.
A pair of violet eyes looked angrily at the rude student and two onyx ones behind a pair of modern glasses glanced to the violet ones.
"Oriko-san please take a seat behind Suoh-san," the teacher said while looking at the certain popular student.
Hatsumi followed her teacher's eyes and saw a tall and very attractive fair-haired boy with pleasant violet eyes standing up to show where her seat was located. She gulped nervously and walked towards the table behind his seat, as the teacher ordered.
As she sat down, a red rose was summoned in front of her face; she looked at it surprised before taking it and smiling briefly.
"It's an honor to have the presence of another beautiful princess like you in this class, please accept this rose as a welcoming gift, Hatsumi-san," the same handsome man said kindly, "My name is Tamaki Suoh and this," he pointed to the other handsome dark-haired man with glasses, "...is my friend Kyoya Ootori, if you ever need anything please don't hesitate on calling us~" Tamaki smiled characteristically with sparkles around him.
Hatsumi blushed, not being used to be treated like this, "Y-Yes. Thank you..." she smiled at him and held his rose closer to her, "I will take care of it," and she would, as soon as she gets a vase and water.
Tamaki almost glomped her but then he remembered that he was still in class, he only bowed and turned around in his seat to face the blackboard again, what Hatsumi couldn't see was that an aura of overjoyed happiness was surrounding Tamaki, only Kyoya could be annoyed by that.
"Let's continue with our history class from yesterday, Oriko-san if you need help please call me."
"Yes!" she beamed.
It was after school and the host club was almost opening, Tamaki was twirling around in happiness and the Hitachiin twins happened to notice.
"What's wrong with the lord?" they asked in unison.
Kyoya was sitting on the table and typing on his laptop to check some things before opening, "There was a new student and she wasn't weird about his princely welcome into our class."
In one of the double couches, Mitsukuni Haninozuka stopped the fork with a piece of his cake in mid-air, "Really? That doesn't happen a lot right? Usually, they call him names~" the small pink flowers around him danced happily like his mood as, finally, the fork was led to his mouth.
"Ah," Takashi Morinozuka replied monotonously.
Haruhi could only blink, completely indifferent about the conversation while she waited for the club to open, but she did watch her idiotic senpai in his happy corner, where his usual woe corner would be.
"She's a real princess and I don't care how chubby she is~ It's more to love~" he said dreamily.
"Ah? The new student is chubby?" Hikaru said.
"There isn't any chubby student here right?" Kaoru questioned, turning to the shadow king.
His glasses glittered, "We had Tomiko-san but her family moved to Ireland two months ago."
"So that means she's the only chubby student, right?" the twins said with a hint of mischief.
Haruhi had to intervene, "Hikaru, Kaoru, if you two do something horrible to this girl just because of her physical figure then I will never forgive you!" she warned with a scowl, the twins paled and nodded furiously.
"Don't get us wrong Haruhi," Hikaru said with a nervous chuckle.
"We would never judge people like that!" Kaoru added, nodding with agreement.
"Ne, you judged Haru-chan because of her commoner clothes when we met her right?" Honey said happily as he gulped down another cake.
"HONEY-SENPAI!" the twins cried in despair that their short upperclassman wasn't helping their case.
"Nevertheless, if she does visit us today I want everyone to be polite and leave the nasty comments about her body aside, she is a princess and she is beautiful!" Tamaki ordered sharply.
"Yes sir..." Hikaru and Kaoru begrudgingly obeyed.
Haruhi smiled towards Tamaki, "I think you're being really nice senpai, its good seeing that you care about strangers sometimes."
The blond blushed and continued to make the usual harassment towards the petite brunette.
"Tamaki the club is about to open," Kyoya stated while closing his laptop, "I suggest that everyone gets in place and ready for another day." He started to walk to the couch, Mori and Honey followed suit as the twins quickly pulled and dragged Haruhi away from Tamaki on purpose.
The king glared at them but walked to his place in the middle of the couch, and just seconds later the big doors opened, the rose petals flew and seven melodic and synchronized voices worked together to say:
"Welcome~"
At this point, everything was fascinating for Hatsumi.
The halls, the enormous and shining windows, the gardens that she could view as she walked and even the ceilings kept her in a bewildered state. She loved her new uniform, the puffy long, yellow dress made her feel like a princess and the red ribbon was charming, her new shoes were comfortable and she didn't feel as much exposed as wearing a knee above skirt like her last uniform, this dress was good. It had a well, strange color but she couldn't complain.
Classes were over and she was now alone, Hatsumi saw that coming.
In her old school, before her family became suddenly billionaire, it took her until middle school to finally make friends, or at least, one best friend. But now they were living in another town, in a better neighborhood, in a mansion and currently finishing her last two years of high school in the elitist and prestigious Ouran Academy.
She was delighted about it, her youngest sister was the only one to rebel against this sudden change, but what could she do? Her parents only wanted what was best now that they had the money for higher education and Ouran was without a doubt the right answer to ensure their daughter's futures.
Her classmates seemed nice, especially that Tamaki boy. Hatsumi was still mildly astounded about this morning. No boy ever approached and talked with her like that—at least not ever since him—she would often be teased half-heartedly and her best friend from the karate club would just kick these guys butts because of it. Hatsumi learned to just smile and accept herself but now and then she would have insecurity issues when no one was around.
"I wonder if Tamaki will eat the cake that I baked today..." a feminine voice wondered nearby.
"He will! He's so kind, you'll see!" another girl responded, enthusiastically.
Hatsumi ceased wandering just around the corner when she spotted two girls walking together while smiling, they walked up a staircase below a giant chandelier and when they disappeared on the second floor the chubby girl grew curious.
"Cake?" she mumbled, with her cheeks growing rosy, "Is there a cake party?"
She followed the girls, with a minor setback of walking up these stairs but when she succeeded with ascending them, she paced quicker to catch up with them. Of course, she didn't want to be spotted and be marked as a creep, so she followed behind them discretely. After a few minutes of walking, she observed the girls stopping in front of a large, shiny door. They opened the door and Hatsumi saw a glimpse of brightness coming from inside the room, but the light faded as the doors closed behind them.
Hatsumi frowned.
Now that interest had taken over her body, she stepped towards the door and looked up to see what room was this.
"Music room three?"
She was confused—did those two girls belong to the music club?
Hatsumi looked at the golden door handle, her plump fingers pressed on it, and with a quick move, she opened the door and pushed it forward. The scent of roses, sweetness and warm air overwhelmed her nose and inside she saw yellow dresses everywhere.
The only male uniforms inside the room were from the handsome boys surrounded by girls, and Hatsumi's eyes widened when a certain blonde from her class spotted her.
"Princess Hatsumi!" he cried joyously, already rushing towards her with a rose ready.
"Suoh-san?" she asked, surprised to see him here.
He stopped in front of her with a glowing aura, "You came here~ I'm so happy! Did you kept my rose?" he seemed very pleased with her presence.
Ignoring everything and paying attention to his questions, Hatsumi forgot about the people behind them and beamed at him, "Of course! I was able to find a vase in the gardening area and I left it there. I was on my way to get it to take it home but" she didn't know how to finish the sentence, she was too flustered to admit that the reason she was because of following two girls like a creep after hearing the word 'cake'.
"Ah, I know~ you heard about the famous host club and you couldn't help but to see it for yourself!"
She blinked, seizing the chance for a quick excuse, "Yes, exactly! I was curious!" Hatsumi felt bad for lying, but a white lie wouldn't harm anyone.
"Wonderful!" he whirled a little away from her and struck a dramatic pose, "So what's your type?"
"My type?" she repeated slowly.
He nodded while humming, "Are you interested in the cool type?" she looked at the same boy that Tamaki introduced in the classroom, "Or the devil type?" two red-haired twins with mischievous golden eyes smirked at her while hugging each other, "Maybe the cute type and the wild type?" a short boy with blonde hair with two big honey-colored eyes looked at her with an adorable grin and the tallest boy that she has ever seen blinked at her with, calm dark eyes and a short, black hair, "The natural type?" Tamaki continued as Hatsumi was shown a petite boy with short brown hair and two beautiful chocolate eyes and when he smiled kindly at her, Hatsumi blushed at how genuine and natural it looked, "Or perhaps" suddenly, she felt her chin being cupped and her blue eyes met a pair of violet ones, "You might find the princely type perfect for you, princess~"
She flushed deeply, "I-I-I don't know..." out of shyness and too many embarrassing emotions, she gently pushed him and covered her scarlet face, "I can't choose!"
She has never been surrounded by so many handsome boys before.
Tamaki blinked, "Hatsumi-san you..." he finally snapped and glomped the chubby girl, "YOU ARE SO CUTE! CUTE! CUTE!"
She gulped as Tamaki twirled her around, he was stronger than he looked.
"Oi lord, you're hurting her," two voices warned at the same time.
Tamaki stopped instantly and seized her shoulders gently to keep her steady, "Hatsumi-san, I'm so sorry!"
She was still a bit dizzy but she managed to smile, "I'm fine..."
But she wasn't, Hatsumi was inwardly panicking.
Where was she?
What club was this?
Why is there a host club in high school?
Isn't it a little too much?
She calmed down and decided to leave. Maybe she shouldn't have come here. And looking around better, she saw attractive girls everywhere and they were looking at her with mixed expressions. Hatsumi sighed between her smile and turned to Tamaki to bid him goodbye, but when she was about to do it two arms fell on her shoulder, and just like that, she was being stared at by two incredibly handsome twins.
"Hey, why don't you stay? Have some cake?" the one on her right with a deep voice spoke.
"Yes, Honey-senpai always has the best cakes on his table," the one on her left with a calmer voice suggested.
Cake?
Tamaki paled when he heard the twins and pulled them away from her to a certain corner as fast as he could—and Hatsumi could perfectly hear their private conversation.
"What are you two doing?! I told you to not be rude towards her!" Tamaki whispered sternly.
"Eh? But we offer cake to every customer," they told him with a confused and annoyed tone.
"Yes, but she may take it in an offensive manner!" the blond insisted.
The short girl sweatdropped, she didn't feel insulted but she was getting concerned if they were muttering loudly on purpose or if they had no idea that people could actually hear them.
"Please forgive their behavior, Oriko-san. I am sorry, but we are currently full at the moment, and it's almost closing time. But I will be pleased to see you again tomorrow, would you like to make an appointment with one of the hosts?"
Hatsumi blinked towards Kyoya, who was smiling at her, seemingly in a kind way. Something about his smile was wrong though, it was like he was smiling politely to make a business deal offer.
"No it's all right, I don't really belong here. But thank you for the warm welcome," she glanced at Tamaki again, who was now arguing with the twins, "I'll be going now, thanks for having me!" she giggled softly at their antics and headed towards the door.
"Of course, thank you for coming," Kyoya stated with a glint on his glasses. He watched the plump girl disappear as the doors of the club closed behind her.
"And that is why princess, you must choose me as- Uh? Hatsumi-san?" Tamaki was back from the argument, he looked around searching for the tawny-haired girl, "Kyoya, where did she go?" he asked looking at his nearby friend.
"She went away feeling like she didn't belong here and she didn't make an appointment, so I doubt that she will even come back," The shadow king replied, uninterestingly as he moved away to please another customer.
"WHAT?!"