Hello again! So quick note, I spent about 8 hours of my day writing this chapter, and now my wrists hurt like hell! Also, the country I'm in doesn't allow me to re-watch the anime series, so I'm going off of memory and fandom wiki to help me write this, so that's a lot of fun. I forgot to mention in the first chapter that the cover art is my own, so please don't copy it or try to use it elsewhere, please and thank you.

Alright, that's all for now, here's chapter 2!

Meli's next few classes went by smoothly, with only the occasional mild embarrassment that comes with mixing up languages. Haruhi stayed by her side most of the time, to which Meli couldn't appreciate more. Her first day at a new school in a new country, and she already has a friend! At least, that was how Meli felt. How Haruhi felt about their relationship was unknown to Meli, but she could appreciate the company, nonetheless.

They had finished their morning classes and were now in their free period. Haruhi was guiding Meli down a lavish corridor.

"So, you were a new student too?" Meli brought up the point the teacher from first period had made.

"Yeah, I was. It wasn't the same as your situation, I didn't move across countries, but I am here at Ouran on a scholarship, so I felt like an outsider too."

Meli flinched at the term 'outsider' but understood what Haruhi meant. Maybe they had more in common than she thought…

"It must have been hard," she commented. "I mean, I can't imagine it from your situation, but- oh my, that sounded really rude! I'm sorry, Haruhi!"

Oh goodness, how could I possibly know what it was like for Haruhi? He had to deal with being poorer than everyone else!

"No, it's okay." Meli looked to Haruhi, only to be met with absolute understanding and kindness. Her cheeks went aflame. Why does every person at this school have to be nice and good-looking?! Meli smiled at him, clutching her schoolbooks against her chest, trying to hide how flustered she felt by her attractive classmate. There was something so unusual about Haruhi. He was so gentle and kind to her, and didn't get frustrated with her like she expected, and those brown eyes…

"Well…anyways," Meli started, tucking her hair behind her ear. "What is this club we're going to?"

"The Host club? It's um…" Haruhi tried to answer her. "Its not easy to explain, so I guess you'll just have to see for yourself."

Meli looked at the door they were standing in front of. She squinted up at the sign that was above the door.

"Music…room 3? Oh, is this a music club?" Meli asked excitedly, pushing open the doors. Did Haruhi play an instrument? Oh! Did he sing?!

Where she expected to find perhaps a choral group, or students playing instruments, she was instead met with...a tropical forest and…are those rose petals? What on earth?

"Ah, Haruhi, you're here." Meli looked to her left- oh goodness a shirtless man? What kind of club is this? "And I see you've brought a guest. Welcome to the Host club mademoiselle."

She was silenced by utter shock. Sure, she had been around plenty of shirtless people, but most of the time, she knew who they were, or it was at the beach, where that sort of thing is to be expected. She did not think she would find half naked people at school. Thankfully, Haruhi responded to the guy before Meli could let something stupid slip past her lips.

"This is the new student, she's with me this week. I'm showing her around the school."

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Miss Kealoha. If there's anything I can do to make your stay at the Host club more pleasurable, don't hesitate to ask."

Shirtless, abs, and a gentleman? Good lord, is every boy here- wait, how did he know…There was something slightly unsettling about his smile; it didn't feel like a smile out of happiness or kindness, but it also wasn't forced, like there was some sort of ulterior motive hidden behind the smile…

"Oh- uh, thank you…" Meli trailed off, waiting for a name.

"Ootori Kyoya."

"Thank you Ootori-senpai," Meli said with a gentle bow of her head. She assumed that he was older than her and didn't want to offend more than she already had today with her less than pleasant skills with speaking Japanese. She looked around the room, taking it all in. Palm trees, large plants with bright flowers, it even felt more humid than the rest of the school, and- oh goodness, are those actual snakes?!

"Haruhi, your outfit is in the backroom, please change, and join your guests," Kyoya directed at the brunette. Haruhi muttered something unintelligible, but complied, leaving Meli with the taller man.

"Um, may I ask what the Host Club is?" She asked. She hoped it didn't sound too rude or tactless. She had been invited here by the twins, and even escorted by Haruhi, and she didn't know what this even was! Her question must have attracted the attention of some of the others in the room, because almost immediately, she was greeted by another man, who was just as shirtless as the previous. Come to think of it, all the boys in the room were bare-chested, wearing sarongs around their hips.

"Has a new princess has graced us with her presence?" His violet eyes captured hers, and he gently tilted her chin up. Oh, dear lord, this is how I die. "Welcome to the Host Club, we are honored to have you with us today. What is you type, my dear?"

"T-type?"

She suddenly felt surrounded by so many handsome men. Why, why, why? Why is it always me?

"Perhaps you would like the Cool type," the blond started, gesturing to Kyoya, who now was bearing a soft smile. "Or the Wild type," now to the very tall dark-haired man, who looked rather stoic, almost unreadable, but gentle. "The Loli-Shota," he continued, directing her attention to a honey-haired boy, who looked much too young to be in high school. Oh, he's so cute. "The little Devil type, maybe?" She felt two different sets of hands on her shoulders, and looking up, she could see the Hitachiin twins. "Or maybe, you would like the Natural- oh, where is Haruhi?" The blond abruptly stopped his wooing, looking amongst the boys.

"He- he went to change," Meli spoke up, words jumping over each other. Her Japanese was coming out stuttered and uneven, her non-native accent far more than obvious. She never imagined that on her first day of school at Ouran would involve so many beautiful men asking for her preference. Oh gods, please let me disappear!

"You must be the new student!" The honey-haired boy gushed, suddenly grabbing her arm. Goodness, he's strong! "Would you like to sit with us and eat cake? My favorite is strawberry, but you can have whatever kind you like!"

Meli could only nod in response, her embarrassment taking over her ability to speak coherently, and the smaller boy pulled her over to a table where a few girls sat. The tall dark-haired man followed along. They must sit with each other…

"Honey-senpai, who did you bring?" One of the girls said. Senpai? That honorific was used for someone who's older…Just how old was this boy?

"This is the new student everyone!" He remarked, grabbing a plateful of cake with bright red strawberries on it. The tall man sat down, pouring a cup of tea, and handing it to Meli. She gave him a smile as a 'thanks,' still too flustered to really speak.

"Ah, the girl from Hawaii! We've heard all about you!" Another girl gushed. Meli's eyebrows came together in concern. Had she already made a fool of herself so much that the entire school knew who she was? "Oh! Don't worry, it's nothing bad, everyone is just so curious about you!" A couple of the other girls nodded.

"Really?" Meli responded, taking a sip of the tea. They all responded in a chorus of various approvals. "Oh." It was better than being known for doing something out of line or stupid, but it was still a huge amount of sudden attention. She crossed her ankles, tucking them to her side, almost as if she was trying to shrink herself into the velvet couch. Honey-senpai must have picked up on her uneasiness.

"Meli-chan, do you want some cake?" He asked, turning the focus back to him. His smile was genuine and child-like, and she suddenly felt like she had been embraced by a warm hug. He's adorable.

"I would love some, thank you, Honey-senpai."

She sat with Honey and Mori, or Takashi which was what Honey called him, for a little while. Honey had taken extra care in explaining every option of cake they had, minding how quickly he was talking so that she could understand him better. She had eventually opted to try to the vanilla cake with lemon curd and citrus frosting. Thankfully the conversation never turned on to her again, instead it was filled with Honey making cute remarks about his pink stuffed rabbit or cake and the girls gushing over his adorableness. She found it peculiar that Mori didn't speak much, but still had quite a following of girls who fawned over him. He was attractive, for sure, and a bit of a mystery, which she could appreciate more than anyone. She had always enjoyed a good mystery, novel or otherwise. Still, she wondered why he was called the wild type, as his demeanor was rather calm and collected.

Haruhi had come out to join the guests a little while ago, dressed in matching tropical garb like the rest of the boys, though his was far more modest. Meli could see him across the room, hosting several ladies, who seemed absolutely enthralled by his natural charm. Meli wasn't surprised though, as she herself was charmed by Haruhi simply helping her through the hallways. Now he seemed to be casually flirting with these girls. She wasn't sure she'd be able to handle the romantic attention if she was sitting at Haruhi's table. Honey and Mori's table wasn't flirting, or very romantic even, mainly just friendly conversation.

She looked at the other hosts around the room. The blond prince-charming boy, or Tamaki Suoh she learned was his name, had a large gaggle of girls with him, all fawning over his good looks and charming quips. He has caught her staring over at him at one point, offering her a kind smile, to which she blushed and waved at him before turning back to Honey and Mori. Kyoya was currently alone, typing away on his laptop, occasionally making polite talk with the girls who passed by him. The twins were across the room, acting awfully close with one another. She was a little weirded-out by their more-than-casual affection towards the other but didn't pay it much mind. The Host Club, she figured, was simply to entertain the girls that came in, so she didn't really take most of what was happening around her too seriously. But it was nice to instantly have someone to talk to, who would shower you in affection, simply by showing up to Music Room 3.

Several of the other girls sitting with her had switched to other tables or left entirely, but Meli stayed where she was for the hour. Now it was just her and the two hosts, Honey and Meli talking back and forth for several minutes, while Mori occasionally offered small nods or grunts in agreement.

"Meli-chan, when did you move to Bunkyo?" Honey asked, eating his fourth…no, fifth slice of strawberry cake.

"About a week and a half ago. My family and I are still adjusting, but I really like it here in Japan. I only visited here once several years ago when I was little, but it wasn't to Tokyo, it was at a beach, though I can't remember where," She drank from her teacup, thinking of what else to say. Honey didn't seem to have anything to say, waiting for her to continue with wide eyes. "It's really nice, and I really like Ouran Academy so far. Everyone has been so kind and welcoming, especially Haruhi. He's been so wonderful, helping me around the school and explaining things I don't understand," she continued, looking into her now empty teacup. "It's only been my first day, and I even have friends- ah, I mean, not that I'm presuming anything! I just-" she tried backtracking her words, realizing that she was literally paying to talk with these boys, they weren't actually her friends. She looked away, feeling abashed and overcome by unease.

"Meli-chan, you're my friend," Honey said. She looked back up and didn't see any deceit in his eyes. She saw nothing but pure intention. Why is my heart beating so fast? She shyly looked down, suddenly feeling with that warm-glowing-feeling all over her. "Do you want some more tea?"

Meli nodded a 'yes,' passing the teacup and saucer to her senpai, who happily poured from the tea pot. She politely took the tea from Honey, taking a sip of the hot drink. She didn't drink a lot of tea back home, and when she did it was usually for day-time occasions involving business with the people from the family company. It was offered more as a formality. However, the tea that the Host club was serving was comforting. She looked around the room, and- hold on, where did everyone go?

Over in the corner of the room was Tamaki, looking rather woeful and forlorn. Why was he suddenly so upset? Club hours must be over now, judging by the fact that she was the only girl left in the room, so she supposed that he was only charading the romantic prince earlier and was now able to let out his feelings. Does she approach him about his sudden depression? She stood up, setting down her teacup, and quietly walked over to the corner where the blond boy was brooding alone.

"Uh- Souh-senpai? Are you alright?"

"Don't even bother Meli," two voices rang out behind her. The twins had appeared on either side of her, staring at the boy sitting in the corner.

"But what has him so upset?" Concern laced her voice as she gestured to Tamaki.

"One of his regular clients switched to Haruhi today," Kyoya said from across the room, typing on his computer, not even glancing up. "I'm not sure why he's so distressed by it though, considering Kanako's disease."

"Disease?" Meli looked behind her seeing Haruhi, back in his normal uniform. "Meli, you're still here?"

Meli could feel the tips of her ear turning red.

"Oh- yes, I wanted to wait for you Haruhi…" she trailed off, before shaking her head. "What is this disease?"

"Kana-chan is a host-hopper!" Honey piped up.

"She jumps from host to host," a voice to her right said.

"And never picks a favorite," another voice finished the sentence on her left.

He was upset because he was no longer a favorite? Tentatively, she approached the sulking boy, bending down to meet his current height. Hopefully this broken heart was quick to fix…

"Suoh-senpai, it'll be okay. I'm sure you're a favorite of many of the girls, maybe you'll be able to win over Kanako." She didn't know who this Kanako girl was, but she was sure that Tamaki would be able to win her back with just a smile. "You know, you won me today too when you greeted me earlier," she added quietly, figuring his ego needed a little attention. That seemed to do the trick, because he instantly jumped up, pulling Meli over to Haruhi.

"Oh, you darling princess! Haruhi, this is why you need more female companionship! You need to learn to be more kind and feminine like Kealoha-san!" Hold on…feminine? He suddenly had pulled out a large framed photo of a schoolgirl, who looked quite similar to Haruhi. Wait, was that Haruhi?

"Boss!" The twins yelled, obviously trying to get the blond to stop talking, but it was no use trying to get Tamaki's attention now.

"Daddy wants you to go back to how you were!" Daddy?! Meli was now utterly confused. It seemed as though the attention had been taken off of her entirely, and now everyone was gazing at the portrait Tamaki held preciously. She inspected the portrait closer.

"Haruhi, is that you?" She asked, to which Haruhi casually nodded. The focus of the room switched back to her, and she felt so small under the gaze of the others around her.

"I guess the secret is out then…" One twin said. Both shook their heads in annoyance.

"…Now Kealoha-san knows," the other completed. This twin had a lower and sharper voice than the other, who's voice was slightly high pitched and had some gentleness to it. She couldn't tell the apart yet, but she felt inclined to know how to soon. Wait- knows what?

"Is it a secret that you're a boy Haruhi? Or that you used to, um…" Meli didn't finished her thought, not quite sure how to word it.

"Biologically speaking, I'm a girl, but I don't really care if people see me as a boy or a girl. It doesn't really matter to me," Haruhi sighed at the girl and gestured to the rest of the room before continuing. "It's a long story."

"A long story that you can be filled in on at another time I'm afraid," Kyoya said. "I'm more concerned about if our new guest will be able to keep this between only who is in this room," he continued, staring at Meli with intense eyes, glasses glinted in the light as he pushed them up the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, Haruhi, you can trust me! I promise to keep this between us. I would never tell someone if you don't wish me to," Meli said fervently, grasping Haruhi's shoulders. "After all, I would hate to cause problems on my first day here at Ouran!"

That seemed to be enough for Kyoya, who merely wrote down a few things on his notepad.

"Well then, Miss Kealoha, will we be expecting to see you again tomorrow?" He asked. Tamaki seemed overcome by Meli's declaration of secrecy and proceeded to embrace her.

"Oh Kealoha-san, you are the sweetest princess I have met! I know you will be a perfect sisterly role-model for Haruhi!" He gushed, squeezing her a little too tight.

"Ah, thank you Senpai, but um- could you," she stuttered, feeling warmth wash over her body. He let go of her, apologizing for getting overzealous.

The twins seemed off put by both Kyoya's nonchalance and Tamaki's gushing over the new girl.

"Wait, we're just going to trust her just like that?" The twin with the sharper voice said. She had to admit, his remark stung. Was she not trustworthy? Well, they have only known me for less than a day…

"I trust that she will keep this between us. After all, who is she going to tell? It is her fist day here." There was something almost sinister about the way he said that.

"She'll keep her promise, won't you Meli-chan?" Meli smiled up at Honey, who was now perched atop Mori's shoulders, and nodded a 'yes' to him. At least she had the trust of the others…

She had a feeling that the twins had a bit of a wall built up, and weren't particularly interested in letting other people in. She couldn't blame them though; she was a new student and they seemed to already have an established friend, almost family, group here with the Host club.

"On a separate note, Haruhi, how are your dancing skills? You'll need to be comfortable dancing with our guests at the upcoming party." Both girls turned to face Kyoya.

"Party?!" They remarked at the same time, however, the excitement on Meli's face and the unenthusiastic sound of Haruhi's voice showed just how different their outlooks were on this 'party.'