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Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. I only own my OC.
The Manager Is A Relentless Force!
Shun groaned tiredly. "Do we really need to have a meeting about this? I need to get home so I can practice my swings," she complained, leaning her head on the back of the lounge chair she was slouched on. The other hosts were seated around her, listening (or ignoring) Tamaki as he began rambling about his daydreams.
Haruhi only sighed in defeat. "There's no point in complaining, it was bound to happen anyway."
"I've thought about it a lot last night, and maybe having a lady manager isn't such a bad idea," Tamaki stated.
The twins peered at him curiously. "Why do you say that?"
Holding his chin in his hand, Tamaki continued. "Well, it's fairly obvious, isn't it? Renge just transferred into the same class as Haruhi. So, if Haruhi has a girl friend around, it could bring out the female within her." Shun could tell he was beginning to fantasize again. "Renge's girlish air of tenderness might be able to stimulate Haruhi's own sense of femininity!"
"That's pretty wishful thinking there," Shun mumbled under her breath; unfortunately, Haruhi caught the comment and pinched Shun's hand, causing her to yelp. Forgetting whatever Tamaki was talking about (most likely his desire for Haruhi to act feminine), Shun blew cold air onto the sore spot and rubbed it pitifully. She was about to yell at Haruhi about abusing the love of her beloved cousin when the door opened, Renge's head popping out from behind it.
"Hey, everyone! You'll be happy to know that your new manager, Renge, has baked all of you some cookies!" At this, Shun perked up immediately, her mouth watering at the thought of sweets. Hurrying over to Haruhi, Shun buzzed around the bag in her hands, her eyes wide with excitement.
"Can I have one, Haruhi?" she asked eagerly. Haruhi—who already had a cookie in her mouth—dropped one into Shun's open hand, and she instantly gobbled it down with delight.
"They're not that bad at all, they've got a good flavor to them," Haruhi commented as she chewed, paying no heed to the twins' devious smirks.
Holding Haruhi's chin gently, Hikaru pulled her close. "May I try?" He asked, biting down on the other side of the cookie and breaking it off gently.
"Uh-oh, Haruhi, you've got crumbs on your face," Kaoru approached her, softly licking her cheek.
Shun made a disgusted face. Reaching her hand back into the bag, she was about to gleefully indulge in more treats, but it was abruptly snatched from her grasp. She whipped around angrily, only to be met with the mischievous leer on Kaoru's face. "Give it back!" she ordered.
Waving his index finger back and forth, Kaoru tutted at her. "Your hands are much too dirty." Grabbing Shun's hand, he lightly licked the center of her palm, causing her to reflexively rip her hand back.
"What the hell?!" she cried angrily, furiously rubbing at her palm. "You can't just do that out of nowher—" Before she could finish, Hikaru caught her from behind, angling her neck with his hand.
"You have cookie crumbs here, too." Despite her incessant squirming, Hikaru held her firmly, his lips approaching the delicate spot just beneath her chin, until—
"You pervert! Step away from Shun!" Tamaki shrieked, his foot stretched out and aimed at Hikaru's head. Hikaru stepped back, Shun in tow, causing Tamaki's foot to barely miss the tip of her nose. Instantly recovering from his fall, Tamaki sprang up, seizing the girl by the shoulders and attempting to pry her from Hikaru's grasp.
"Let go of her, you deviant!" Tamaki pulled hard, yanking a disgruntled Shun to the left.
Hikaru tugged with equal force, now bringing Shun to the right. "Who are you calling a deviant? Besides, we were just having a little fun."
The tug-of-war between the two continued until finally, Shun snapped. "Enough!" Bringing both of her arms back, she forcefully elbowed the two boys in the ribs, causing them to shrivel back in pain. Exhaling through her nose, she stalked over to Haruhi and the other hosts.
"Sorry about them," Haruhi apologized sheepishly, sighing to herself.
"Whatever," Shun said indifferently, resting her hand on her hip.
Observing the scene before her, Renge muttered to herself. "Lukewarm..."
Shun turned to Renge with a blank face. "What was that?"
Suddenly, Renge pointed directly at all of the hosts. "Every single one of you! Except for Kyouya, all of your characters are lukewarm! Each of you needs to have some dark side, you understand? Girls are vulnerable to handsome young men who are troubled! If you keep carrying on like this, it's only a matter of time before the girls get tired of you and stop coming altogether! Are you trying to ruin my precious Kyouya's business?"
All the hosts had stunned expressions, save for Mori, who was stoic as usual, and Shun, who had stopped caring.
"As your manager, it is my duty to change your character backgrounds!" She jabbed a finger at Honey, who flinched in response. "Honey-senpai, you're the baby-faced thug! And Mori-senpai, you're his childhood friend, the flunky!"
She directed her tirade to the twins. "The twins will be basketball players enslaved in their own world!"
She switched to Shun. "Shun, you're a troubled baseball star who has lost the passion to play after a sports injury from your past!"
Now, she moved on to Haruhi. "Haruhi, you're an honor student who's constantly being bullied!"
Finally, she peered at Tamaki with a strong gaze. "And as for you, Tamaki, you're the school idol who's admired for your good looks, but you actually have an inferiority complex you're hiding from the world—the lonely prince!"
Swiftly twirling around to Kyouya, Renge clasped her hands together and beamed at him. "And Kyouya, you're perfect just the way you are now, so I want you to stay as kind and affectionate as ever, 'kay?"
As Renge prattled on to Kyouya, Haruhi approached Shun, who looked bored. "I thought you would be reacting more to this. You're being strangely apathetic."
Shun shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "It's not like it matters anyway. I'm gonna miss most of the club meeting tomorrow because of baseball practice."
The next day...
Breathing quickly, Shun raced to the courtyard where the club meeting was supposed to take place. Crap, I'm way later than I thought I would be! I hope Renge doesn't kill me, she thought as she skidded to a halt. Noticing Haruhi drying her hair off, Shun jogged over to her, patting her shoulder to greet her.
Haruhi smiled at her arrival. "Oh, hey, you're here!"
Catching her breath for a few moments, Shun cleared her throat. "Yeah, what'd I miss?"
"I just finished one of my scenes, so I'm cleaning myself up right now," Haruhi answered.
Shun looked around, observing the scene before her. There was a big-shot Hollywood director chatting with Renge about the scenes they had shot, while expensive lights and camera equipment surrounded them. Where'd Renge even get the money for all this stuff? Shun was pulled from her thoughts when Renge called for Haruhi.
"Hey, Haruhi, you're on!" she said.
"Coming!" Haruhi answered, jogging over to Renge while Shun followed behind. Renge waved at the two of them, and they both approached her. Behind her, two monstrous-looking boys stood tall.
Renge gestured to the pair. "These two gentlemen have just agreed to make a special appearance in our film!" she announced cheerfully. Hearing this, the two boys turned to Renge with confused expressions. Ignoring them, she continued on. "After all, we're gonna need some tough guys for the big climax! That's when all of the club members come together to fight against the real villains at their school!"
"This isn't gonna end well," Shun mumbled to herself after noticing the annoyed looks on the boys' faces.
"According to the script, these two are from a wealthy family that got their wealth by being a part of the Japanese mafia! Don't you think that's a brilliant casting choice?" Renge asked, her eyes sparkling.
"Wait a minute, Renge—" Haruhi said apprehensively, only for it to fall on deaf ears. Renge dragged one of the boys by the arm, instructing him to wait for his cue.
"Hey, you think you can push me around? You don't even know me!" The boy abruptly pulled his arm from Renge's grasp, then roughly shoved her into a nearby pile of equipment.
Haruhi rushed over immediately. "Hey, watch out!" she said as she ducked behind Renge, breaking her fall.
Shun growled angrily, curling her hand into a tight fist. "So you think you can just push people around, huh?" Grabbing the boy by the shirt collar, Shun gruffly pushed him into the wall, digging her forearm under his chin. "What's your answer, punk?!"
"Hey, who do you think you are?!" The other boy suddenly appeared behind Shun, grabbing her by the lapels of her shirt and lifting her off of the ground.
Noticing the commotion, Tamaki rounded the corner.
"What happened, Haruhi?" Tamaki rushed forward worriedly, only to see Haruhi on the ground and Shun hoisted up into the air. He quickly shoved the boy who was holding Shun into the wall with an alarming amount of power. Shun—released from the boy's grasp—fell backwards suddenly, but she managed to catch herself.
The twins, who were also curious about the noise, approached the scene. After seeing Shun on the ground, they both hurried towards her, Hikaru reaching her first and gripping her arm.
"Shun, what happened? Are you okay?" Hikaru asked, worry evident on his face. Kaoru rested his hand on Shun's shoulder as she rubbed at her sore neck, looking at her with an equal amount of concern in his eyes.
Moving into a sitting position, Shun reassured them. "I'm fine. The people you should be worried about are those two over there." She gestured over to Tamaki, who still had not loosened his hold on the terrified boy.
"Wait, Suoh, it's not what you think! That girl started it! She was giving us a hard time!" The boy's friend sputtered quickly. After hearing this, Tamaki let the first one go, and the pair sped off in the other direction.
Hikaru offered Shun his hand, pulling her up from the ground. Ambling over to the rest of the group, Shun noticed Renge gaping at Tamaki and Haruhi. She gripped the script in her hand tightly, crumpling it in the process.
"Please tell me you got that, camera man!" she said, to which the man in question provided a thumbs-up. "That was an ideal final scene! All it needs now is a moving narration by my sweet Kyouya!"
CRASH!
All of the hosts turned in the direction of the sound. Kyouya stood by the camera, a rock in his hand and shattered glass littering the ground around his feet.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I cannot allow there to be any record of a club member engaging in violence. I think you've caused enough trouble around here, Renge. Please stop being such a pest," Kyouya said, his normally calm expression replaced with an irritated one.
Man, that's pretty harsh, Shun thought to herself, watching passively as Renge began to cry.
"But you're supposed to pat me on the head and tell me not to worry! You're supposed to be kind and affectionate, Kyouya!" Renge sniffled, her tears dotting the ground. "Why are you acting so differently now? Tell me why!"
"Because that's not the real Kyouya," Tamaki said calmly. At this, Renge sunk to the ground. Shun and Haruhi exchanged a look, then nodded to each other, both walking forward to Renge's slumped form.
Kneeling down, Shun gently placed her hand on Renge's shoulder, who jumped slightly at the action. "Don't cry, Renge."
Haruhi crouched down in front of her. "Who cares if Kyouya is a little different than you expected him to be? Take a good look at the person inside and get to know them little by little." Haruhi smiled softly. "It's a lot more fun that way."
"So don't be sad, Renge," Shun continued, patting Renge's back lightly. "It's not over yet."
A light breeze swept by, ruffling the cherry blossoms and blowing away the metaphorical clouds hovering over the host club. I guess, Shun thought, it didn't end too badly after all.
The next day...
"I bought the video of that film you made!"
"I bough it, too!"
"And so did I!"
What? Shun diverted her attention from the slice of chocolate mousse cake on the plate she held to stare at the girls in surprise. The other hosts had incredulous looks as well.
"That scene in the rain was just phenomenal!"
"I love the lonely prince!"
"And the loving relationship between Hikaru and Kaoru was so sweet!" The girls' voices faded into an amalgamation of squeals and excited gibberish.
Tamaki raised his hand slightly. "Kyouya..."
"I may have broken the camera's lens, but the footage we had already shot wasn't damaged. But, naturally, I did cut out that one violent scene." Clicking his pen, Kyouya turned to the group. "Sales have been pretty good so far. That Hollywood film crew did a fantastic job, but then, I guess that's to be expected."
Shun shivered at Kyouya's eerily chipper expression, nervously chewing her cake. After finishing, she set the plate down and walked over to Haruhi, who smiled lightly at her.
"That was a real happening yesterday, wasn't it?" Haruhi chuckled. Shun scratched the back of her neck and laughed in response.
"Yeah. Is it always gonna be like this?" Shun wondered aloud, absently rubbing her chin.
Turning to watch the other hosts' antics, Haruhi smiled. "Probably. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."