Hanako stood tall as she faced the crowd wearing suits identical to hers, skeptic brows and stony faces staring back at her as her audience wrestled with their respect for her father and their doubt surrounding the girl standing before them. The people standing before her in the classroom were a combination of her own subordinates, colleagues from the school's team, and strangers who had been privately contacted by parents. They hadn't said anything to her yet about their assignments for the night.
Taking a deep breath she said in a strong, clear voice that she hoped didn't betray the unease she felt from her own doubts plaguing her mind. "Stay out of sight and vet every person who comes in and out of this school. Anyone who can't show you a ticket from the host club cannot enter the building. Any questions?"
A murmur broke out across the security team, and she caught snippets of their conversations. Generally, they seemed to approve of the plan she had outlined. She heard some of them asking each other if they were really going to take orders from a child. She heard members of the Black Onion chastising their peers. Hana suppressed her irritation, but she knew that this wouldn't be happening if Honey was the person standing before them.
"Negida-san," one voice spoke out above the rest, and she zeroed in on a man who she only knew from his employee records and fleeting exchanges at similar events.
"Yes?" she replied, waiting for him to express his concerns.
"I'm just wondering what we should expect from this host club," he spoke at an unhurried pace and without any embarrassment for calling their hosts into question. "I mean, some of us have been protecting these girls since they were born, and you've gotta admit it's a weird club for a high school. Should intruders really be our biggest concern?"
The challenge in his question wasn't lost on her, and her blood boiled at what he was implying. She fought against the fist that she had formed and said, "The host club may be eccentric, but they'd never allow any harm to come to the guests under their care. I would appreciate it if you never suggest something like that again." The room somehow felt colder and every person under her gaze seemed to have experienced winter passing through their very souls. "If that's all, then this meeting is over. Let's do good work tonight."
"Yes, Negida-sama," some of them bellowed out of habit, even some who hadn't been employed by the Black Onion for years responded as if it were Yuudai Negida himself standing before them. Hanako blinked in shock but didn't correct them as she left the classroom.
Hanako found Kyoya waiting for her in the hallway, and she made an immediate beeline for him, wondering what he was scribbling in his notes. The security team had arrived first, and they scheduled the arrival of the entertainment, refreshments, and decorations well after the briefing to allow the security personnel to take their positions.
"You did well," Kyoya praised her. Hanako accepted his praise with a smile, pleased that her employer recognised her work. "You're going to be an excellent leader one day."
"Thank you, Kyoya," she said sincerely, letting the formalities fall away for a moment. She had worked hard to get to this point. In three years, she had done everything in her power to pull herself up to a position where she could say she was even worth standing in front of them and giving them orders like that.
"So, have you changed your mind about our plans for the evening?" he asked conversationally while turning a page in their work book to the agenda Tamaki had created for them. Hanako had listened while Tamaki plotted with the hosts all week, but she didn't say anything about it since her outburst when they first made up their minds to get involved.
"I haven't," Hana responded, mirroring his own attitude.
Kyoya regarded her thoughtfully. Hanako could be just as stubborn as Hikaru if she put her mind to it, and he knew that regarding this matter in particular, she wouldn't budge. "I understand your predicament," he said with the events of the past few years in mind. There was very little that the host club didn't know about each other, but there were some things that they all tried to avoid for the sake of their little family. "Would you have wanted us to do the same thing for you?" Kyoya asked her, referring to that time before the host club had even existed.
Hana's frown deepened, "How can you even ask me that? I'm going to finalize the preparations in the ballroom. Excuse me." She dipped her head to him before turning on her heel and marching away.
She had never wanted them to rescue her. When everything fell apart around her, she had stood by her father to salvage what they could from the ruins. When she had lost everything, she had stood on her own two legs and learned how to work for her own salvation. She chose to earn her way back to her place in their society after a rejection that nearly destroyed the scraps they had managed to save. She couldn't fathom how Kyoya even entertained the possibility that she may have wanted them to interfere.
"She's right you know," one of the twins sounded beside him, appearing out of thin air like the cheshire cat.
Kyoya frowned and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "I don't recall asking for your opinion."
Kaoru watched Hanako's back shrink in the distance and thought about the night they had planned. He sighed and looked Kyoya in the eye as he spoke, "This is going to be a difficult night for her. She's going to be surrounded by a bunch of people who don't get along with her, and there's everything going on with Princess Kasuga and Suzushima on top of that. It's a lot for one person."
They both knew what they were signing her up for, and they knew that she wasn't going to fight them any step of the way. Now that the night was actually there, they were going to see just how hard Hanako had worked to become the person they knew her to be now.
"Do you believe that Hanako's the same kind of person as Haruhi? She isn't someone who needs coaching to understand our society, and she isn't a newcomer to these events. If anyone knows what to expect to night, it's her. She's just as much a part of this world as you and I," Kyoya said to him, "even if she refuses to acknowledge it."
Spotlights have a way of masking the rest of the world. Shine a light in the darkness, and every pair of eyes will look to find that piece of gold that's bathing in the glow. Hanako couldn't think of anyone who belonged in the spotlight more than Tamaki, and as he greeted the Club's guests, she lingered in the shadows, watching the moths and the mosquitos drawn to his flame. The chandeliers lit up on his cue, and the orchestra's strings filled the room with music. Like clockwork, Hanako and the other bodyguards melted into the background, disappearing from view as the moths and mosquitos took over the room. They applauded and giggled in awe as the other hosts became visible, dressed to the nines in their formal evening attire. Hana stalked along the walls of the ballroom as Kyoya spoke to the crowd, the perfect host and emcee for the event.
"Based on her dancing skills, one lucky young lady will be chosen as tonight's queen. The queen's reward will be a passionate kiss on the cheek from our king," Kyoya outlined the premise of the competition, and the room seemed to get just a little bit hotter as the girls flushed with excitement. The host club had a knack for pushing the envelope without bursting it, as Kyoya's words spurred the imaginations of their guests without suggesting any indecency himself.
"Good luck to you, my darlings," Tamaki winked at the crowd and sent their guests into a frenzy. The girls squealed and swooned at the club's handsome golden boy and the opportunity to receive a kiss from him.
"Are these guys for real?" Hanako heard one of her hires deadpan. Turning to find the source of the question, Hana saw a small group of personal guards looking on at the odd spectacle before him.
"Looks like it," one of the others answered in disbelief, "and they're eating it all up."
"Who even says things like that?" the first guard shook his head, his expression hidden behind black shades but his mouth set in a disapproving line. "They're kids for crying out loud."
"What else are the wealthy, bored, and beautiful supposed to do with their time?" Hanako questioned, losing patience with the added members of her team. The young men froze in her unforgiving presence, caught in the faux pas of criticizing their employers and hosts by their supervisor.
"Negida, we were just thinking the same thing," one of the quiet ones scrambled to save the group.
"They've got to have homework to do, though, right?" one of the less intelligent hires voiced, "or do guys like that just buy their grades?"
"Guys like that can buy anything they want," the other added with a meaningful look in Hanako's direction. "Isn't that right, Negida?"
"I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourselves," she said coldly, sliding her tinted lenses down the bridge of her nose and glaring at them with furious, narrowed eyes. "The young gentlemen you see this evening are more than just deep pockets. They're tasteful and well-bred, and men of your caliber are a dime a dozen. We could always find less chatty security guards for the next event. Some food for thought."
With that said, she continued on her walk around the floor. Nobody who mattered had heard the chatter at the edge of the party, and Hana's private team would make sure that those words never reached the hosts' ears. Security at Ouran didn't just mean keeping their wards out of harms' way, and Hanako hadn't understood that until Spring Onion International was taken up by the Ootori Group. Once she donned the black jacket, she found that she had taken up the responsibiliy of sheltering Kyoya and the others from poisonous words and attempts at humiliation made by other students.
Hana's phone vibrated in her pocket incessantly as she eyed the crowd. Glancing at the staircase, she found Kyoya's gaze locked on her from across the room. She smiled back at him, amused at his ability to find her anywhere in a crowd, and answered the phone, "Yes?"
"Add some deluxe sushi," he said simply.
"I'll let Aijima know," she replied, ending the call and dialing up the other staff member who she had stationed at the kitchen and entrusted the catering to.
"Is everything okay out there?" Aijima's deep, mild-mannered voice sounded through the phone.
"Kyoya-sama would like deluxe sushi added to the menu," she reported.
"I'll get right on it, Negida-san," he assured her dutifully. "How are you doing out there? I could always take over on the floor if you need some time for yourself."
Warm appreciation for her coworker blossomed across her chest as he made the offer. Hanako was the youngest of the Ootori family's personal staff, and they had taken it upon themselves to provide her with support that she had desperately needed when she first came to the Ootori household. They treated her like a daughter and trusted her as their supervisor. "I'll be alright, Aijima-san. Thank you," she ended the call there and tucked her phone into her jacket pocket again. The hosts had gone onto the floor and paired with the girls who had entered the lottery to decide dance order. Hana counted off the hosts as she saw them. Hikaru with a brunette in purple, Kaoru and a young lady in mint green, Tamaki partnered with a blushing girl in pink, Honey gleefully danced with an equally enthusiastic girl in red, Mori danced with a much shorter girl in a green dress and yellow scarf whose hand rested comfortably above his hips, Kyoya perfectly guided a girl with shoulder length brown hair across the dance floor, and Haruhi stood among the spectators next to a column. Hana's gaze slid back across the dance floor, noticing that Mori's bare hand rested on the short girl's exposed shoulder as he expertly led them across the floor, consciously maintaining a safe distance from Honey who whooped as his partner spun him aroud with surprising ease.
"Hey, isn't that Hanako Negida?" A girl commented in a surprised voice just at the outskirts of the crowd. Behind the dark lenses, Hana tore her gaze from the dance floor and saw two girls chatting not that far away from her, trying and failing to be inconspicuous.
"They really let her come to this?" another girl in a pretty pink number glanced at the dark haired student employee who pretended not to hear them.
"Are you really surprised? The hosts never go anywhere without her."
"It's not fair," the first girl whined petulantly. "They're so handsome and everyone knows that they're from good families. Why does she get to spend all her time with them?"
"You know, I've heard that if you get too close to the hosts, she'll corner you between classes and threaten to make you disappear."
"What? Really?"
"Yeah, it happened to one of the girls in the 2-C class. Can you imagine?"
"Did you hear about what happened to Ayanokoji? Well, long story short, she said some things about Negida, and the hosts all told her off for it. They're so generous. I wouldn't even be caught in the same room for her if they weren't with her all the time. I mean, even Mori-senapi…"
"Don't listen to them," Kaoru's voice sounded above her, cutting through the gossip that Hanako hadn't noticed herself drowning in. Exhaling heavily, Hana took off her sunglasses and tucked them into the pocket in her jacket lining. The twin was leaning over the banister and easily slid down the marble railing to join her on the main floor. "Enjoy yourself, Hana, it's a party."
"Technically, I'm working," Hanako reminded him, the same easy-going yet firm tone in her voice as all the other times she turned down the hosts' invitations to join the fun.
Hikaru scoffed on her other side, appearing beside her almost out of thin air, "Save it, Kaoru, she's always working."
"Hikaru," the younger twin started to protest, but Hana cut him off.
"You're right," Hanako said, regret and warmth spilling from the words. She stepped away from the wall and faced the two of them who had immediately come together as she left the space between them. She smiled at the matching pair affectionately with a sadness that didn't leave her eyes, "But who would protect you if I wasn't? I'm going to finish my rounds. I get the feeling that it's going to be a long night."
She turned and walked away with her arms linked resting over each other on her lower back, gazing out at the dance floor and the guests watchfully. Kaoru sighed again as she went out of earshot and looked at his brother tiredly, "Would it kill you to cut her some slack once in a while? You don't have to be so hard on her all the time."
"If she's going to torture herself like this then she's getting what's coming to her," Hikaru snapped at his twin. "Come on, we've gotta go get everything ready."
As the twins left the dance hall side by side, Hanako found a new place by the romanesque columns to observe the dance floor. She caught sight of Kasuga and Haruhi approaching the center of the cleared space and wondered if those dance lessons throughout the week had really paid off. Before anyone could find out, though, two forms raced across the floor and snatched Haruhi from her dance partner.
Hanako groaned and spoke into her earpiece for all the shocked security members to stand down. The last thing she needed was for the hired additions of her team to start a fight with the Morinozuka and Haninozuka heirs. "I'll be right back," she said to them as she followed after the troublemaking host club. She had stationed one of her own men at each door leading in and out of the ballroom, including the doors to the hosts' club room.
Following behind Honey and Mori, she caught the eye of a surprised captain and motioned for him to let them pass freely just before they threw open the doors. The officer blanched as the hosts delivered Haruhi into the room over Mori's shoulder.
"Do you do this… every day, Negida-sama?" the captain asked, pale after the surprise he had witnessed.
Hanako shrugged, "You get used to it." She followed the pair into the club room and made her way to the dressing rooms in the back.
"A little accident towards the end of the night would be quite thrilling," she heard Kyoya saying from inside the room, amusement coloring his words. "And remember Haruhi, there are only twenty minutes before the party reaches its climax. Suzushima is already waiting for you in the classroom across the hall."
Hanako sighed heavily as she listened in from just outside the doorway. She had twenty five of her personal officers around the ballroom with one hundred and seventy school and hired guards in there and surrounding the school. If she hadn't anticipated something ridiculous from the boys, there was a good chnce that the school would have been forced into a lockdown following that stunt. Thrilling, she repeated to herself dryly. She slipped into the room silently as Haruhi opened the curtain and emerged in a cute pink dress that Hanako recognized from Yuzuha's studio.
Hana watched the twins match makeup to the brunette's skin tone and expertly apply the product to her face. "Uh, we know this is the boss's strategy, but it's kind of unsettling," the twin artists remarked in unison.
"You're doing well, though," Hana commented from her position against the wall, impressed with the alterations the twins had made to the dress and the professional application of makeup to Haruhi's face. "I can't believe you guys actually learned how to do makeup."
"Some of us pay attention on set," Hikaru shot back with his nose turned up at her.
"You know how it is in the industry," Kaoru added less pointedly. "Can't help but pick some things up. Okay, Haruhi, take a look." The twins spun the chair to face a floor to ceiling mirror, and the hosts all stepped away.
Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing a flustered king in white, "Gentlemen. Here you all are. What are you doing? The guests are waiting for…" He trailed off when he saw Haruhi stand up in the pink ensemble that the twins had prepared for her. Hanako smirked at the awe-stricken blonde, as the twins flanked him.
"So, what do you think?" they asked with cheesy grins, proud of their work and knowing full well the extent of the transformation. Hana's gaze followed Haruhi as she mechanically marched across the room, wobbling in the mules that went with the outfit.
"Wow, you look so cute!" Honey declared enthusiastically. Hanako's own amused smile melted away as she caught the blush coloring Mori's cheeks and his overly stoic expression. Her stomach flipped and she found herself unusually interested in the red carpet covering the floor.
"My face feels heavy, and it's hard to walk in these shoes," Haruhi complained. Hanako's eyes flitted up and accidentally caught Mori's as he watched Haruhi walking away uncomfortably. His piercing, dark eyes held her own gaze without embarrassment, and Hana was the first to look away as she turned to follow the twins into the darkened hall.
"Good luck, Haruhi!" the pair called out, chuckling as she walked away.
"So, did you change your mind after all?" Kyoya asked Hanako from her side, arms crossed and looking directly at her now that their plan was in motion. The girl at his right hadn't been fazed by their secret plan despite not knowing the details. She watched from the sidelines and didn't get involved directly, but Kyoya knew from the very start that she had vested interest in their shenanigans.
"It's not my place to challenge you at your own party," she said dismissively with a small shrug. "Your guests will be wondering where you all went."
"Ah, that's right," Tamaki recovered from his daze and rose to his full height. "Men, it's time to find Princess Kasuga!" The group of them turned down the hall, returning to the party and continue with the plan that they hadn't made Hana privy to yet.
"What exactly are you planning to do with this evening?" she followed them as they walked back to the ballroom, voicing her concerns just before they entered through those classic French doors into the party. "This event is supposed to be about raising funds and boosting the club's popularity and overall ranking, not interfering with two people's personal lives."
She had no idea what Haruhi was doing with Suzushima in that disguise, and she didn't know what they wanted to seek out Kasugazaki for. Hanako was always lenient with the hosts. She let them do as they pleased and rarely held their scheming against them, but there was a point where too much was just too much. Tamaki paused before opening the door, and all the hosts halted behind him. He turned to look back at her over his shoulder, violet eyes patient and brimming with good-intention, "I understand your reservations about all this, but can I ask you to trust me? I swear that it will all make sense by the end of the night."
His sincerity cut through her, and Hanako recalled why they had chosen him to be their king. "Do what you will," she said simply, turning back down the hall and leaving the hosts to their own devices.
She couldn't bring herself to rejoin the party while they kept her in the dark, so Hanako decided to search for Haruhi, convincing herself that it was best for security reasons if she kept an eye on what was happening outside of the event. The reasonable part of her kept questioning if she was doing the right thing by letting them carry on with their madness, but there was a more devoted part of her that trusted Tamaki beyond measure. Maybe she placed too much faith in the hosts, her doubts rose to the surface as she wandered the darkened halls of Ouran Academy.
Arrangements like Kasuga and Suzushima's came and went in their community as readily as any other business agreements among the elite. Some of them worked out, and some of them were called off due to some error on one end or another. They could be as fleeting and as meaningless as a joke between two parents or as serious and as prolonged as a lifelong merger. Hanako knew that anything happening among the students at Ouran was never just taking place because of what the students wanted for themselves. The truth was that they weren't the ones in control of their own lives.
"Kanako!" Suzushima's cry jolted Hanako from her reflections as Kasuga raced past her in the hallway and Suzushima followed not long after the sobbing heiress. Hana stopped walking and watched the pair, her heart thumping wildly in her chest as she pieced together the host club's intervention. Bile rose in her throat and her fists clenched. A wave of annoyance crashed over her, and she stopped to school her features before taking a deep, calming breath. She didn't need to see what happened next.
"Negida-san," Tachibana's voice sounded in her ear over the communication piece, "the young master and his friends have moved the event outside."
Hanako sighed heavily, moving to a window and seeing that a spotlight had been fallen on the young couple outside. "Everyone get into secondary positions. I'm on my way." Her steps echoed off the rose colored walls as her solitary figure made its way to the door.
Cherry blossom petals rained down on them from above, a moment of fantasy brought to life. They showered Kasuga and Suzushima as music wrapped around them in the cool, evening air, creating a small world for the couple in which the rest of the party ceased to exist in their eyes. Hanako watched from the shadows of the courtyard as the hosts reintroduced the party to the now happy couple. The twins announced Kasugazaki as the queen of the evening, and the crowd burst into applause.
"Haruhi Fujioka will stand in for Tamaki!" the unexpected announcement caused both Haruhi and Tamaki to freeze in dismay. Hanako shook her head in exasperation as Tamaki created an uproar by pushing Haruhi into Kasuga, causing their lips to connect in a soft kiss. The crowd erupted into delighted screams that blew their excitement from tropical days out of the water. The excitement drew on well after Haruhi and Kasuga separated, and despite the good-natured reception by the two girls, Tamaki poured tears onto the cement. Hanako glanced up at the clock tower, eager to call it a night.
"So," Honey voiced, stepping away from the crowd with Kaoru to approach Hana who had found another wall away from the party to call her own, "everything worked out okay!" His cheerful attempt to assure her that nothing was wrong fell on deaf ears, and Hanako regarded the two evenly as they stood across from her.
"Promise me that you'll never do this for me," she said dispassionately, waiting for them to give her their word. Kaoru and Honey exchanged a knowing look, and she scowled. "Promise me," she pressed.
"Hey, hold on a second," Kaoru protested defensively, "why're you just asking us?"
"What do you mean, Hana-chan?" Honey questioned simultaneously, feigning large innocent eyes.
Their plays at ignorance only succeeded in feeding the anger that had been building the whole evening. Every single one of them knew what this evening was to her, and they had all chosen to go along with it anyway despite knowing full well why she was so vehemently against it. "You two and Tamaki are the only ones who would even think about doing something like this for me," she said slowly, emphasizing every word, "and I don't want it."
She regarded Honey, who had ducked his head bashfully at her acknowledgement, and then Kaoru, who met her stony expression with one full of concern. "But, Hana-chan," Honey tried to speak up in meek protest.
"But nothing," she interrupted sharply. "If you have any respect for me, you'll never do it." A silence settled over the three of them. They had come to an impasse, and the boys knew that as dear as they were to her, she wouldn't show them any mercy if they refused.
"Alright, fine, I promise," Kaoru relented.
"I promise, too," Honey grumbled reluctantly.
The tension around the three lessened, as Hana accepted their word. "Thank you," she said to them gratefully before walking away towards the third son of the Ootori family, who was watching as the party died down and wrote hurriedly into the padfolio that he and his assistant shared between them.
The party drew to a close within the hour. Security guards emerged from the shadows and escorted their young wards to their cars. After the last young lady had said her farewells, the hosts returned home one by one. Hanako had stayed to express the club's gratitude to the orchestra and the caterers as they left and help take down the ice sculptures and put away the decorations. Without so many people and the ground covered with a layer of trampled petals, the scene felt much less whimsical and magical than it had less than an hour ago.
Suddenly, music started to play on the speakers, the same recording that they had played for Haruhi when she was learning how to dance. The spotlight shined down her, blinding her momentarily and sending a rush of adrenaline through her body. Turning, she found Tamaki standing alone with her in the spotlight, still in the white suit he had donned that evening.
"May I have this dance?" he asked gallantly, bowing to her and extending his hand to her. Hana eyed him skeptically but set her hand in his, recognizing an olive branch when she saw one. She let him lead her across the petal strewn floor. The movements felt familiar and easy despite her lack of using the skill. How long had it been since she had danced like this? The last time, she recalled, her partner had been much taller.
"I'm sorry for putting you through such a difficult night," Tamaki said sincerely, as he stepped in time with the music. "We shouldn't have asked you to be there."
Hana glided over the petals with him, matching him step for step, "That's not what I'm mad about."
"Oh," Tamaki sounded in surprise. "Then why are you so mad?" His genuine cluelessness was just about more than what she could take, and she felt her impatience boil over. It was an ugly, suffocating feeling that got stuck in her throat and made her stomach feel heavy.
"You can't push people's boundaries like this!" she snapped, finally taking out her objections about the evening on the person who had been the cause of all the mayhem. In a less forceful, albeit trembling, voice, she continued, "You can't guarantee that you'll make things better every time. Nobody can do that. You're just as likely to make things worse!"
Her voice was thick with emotion, and Tamaki could feel the muscles of her back tensing as if she wasn't sure whether or not she was going to keep dancing with the music or if she was going to throw him across the courtyard. "It's the job of a host to make every girl happy," Tamaki repeated softly, holding her gaze with his and not yielding against the caramel colored fire that threatened to burn through him as she glared back at him. "You're included in that, Hanako."
She stopped dancing and took a step back, putting space between them as he began to broach a topic that was better left alone. "I appreciate that, Tamaki. I appreciate everything you've done. I really do, but sometimes, it's best to just leave a situation alone." She continued to hold his amethyst gaze. There was a promise that he had made to her hanging between them in that moment. One that she had pretended to have forgotten as the host club came to fruition. She saw Tamaki trying to keep his promise to her, and she knew that Honey and Kaoru were unknowingly trying to help her to the same end.
Finally, Hana turned away and walked back up the stone steps into the school, leaving Tamaki alone in the bath of the soft yellow light. The host club's young king reflected on the promise that he had made to Hanako on the day that they had gotten the club approved, and he wondered if he was really capable of fulfilling what he had promised her back then.
A/n... Got some drama brewing for the host club! Drop a review and share what you think of this chapter :) Thanks for reading!
Next time: A security mishap. Hanako's responsible for security during the physical exams!