A/N I'm so sorry for the late update! They should be more frequent from now on, so please, enjoy!
Chapter 3-
"The Host Club wants to meet you"
This wasn't what Hana was expecting when she'd walked over to Haruhi on Monday morning, a little over a week after she'd run into Haruhi at the park. Hana had been expecting a 'Good morning', or a 'How are you?' And possibly even a 'hello'. She hadn't been expecting a blunt, 'The Host Club wants to meet you'
But since this was Hana, and not some other fool who wore their emotions on their sleeves, she recovered quickly, delicately arching an eyebrow.
"Good morning to you, too"
"Sorry. It's just that they saw the photos of us at the park and they've been asking about you non-stop since then... I know you don't like them... But they're good people, and even though they're a little annoying-"
"Haruhi, shush" Hana said, cutting of Haruhi's rambling. Haruhi shut up. Hana eyed her now sheepish friend and sighed. No she thought, I can't go. I won't go. I don't want to go.
But would it really be that bad? Haruhi's decent, and I haven't met them before. Is it fair of me to judge them before I've met them?
"Fine" she said finally, "I'll go, if only to prove how terrible they actually are"
Even though Hana's response was negative, Haruhi responded as though Hana had just told her she'd won the lottery, "Yay! Thank you!" She beamed, and then spontaneously crushed. Hana with a hug and let go just as fast, "Sorry. Tamaki just be rubbing off on me"
"So Tamaki randomly hugs people?"
"You have no idea"
A few hours later, after classes were over and school had ended, Hana and Haruhi were standing outside Music Room Three.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Haruhi asked, always the considerate one, "I don't want you to feel like I've forced you into this"
A little late for that, "I'm fine. To be honest, I've been a little harsh with my judgement of them. After all, I haven't met them"
"That sounded..."
"Uncharacteristically optimistic?" Hana finished.
"I was going to say out of character, but I'll go with yours"
And with this, Haruhi grasped both doorknobs and flung the doors open. Light streamed into the dim corridor, and Hana instinctively closed her eyes. Something brushed across her cheek, and she snatched it from the air. It felt smooth and soft; its scent sweet. Opening her eyes slightly, she realized that it was a rose petal.
"Welcome... To the Host Club!"
Six male voices greeted her as Hana opened her eyes fully, drinking in the sight greedily. Later, she'd be angry about her awe, but right then it was all she could do to stand upright, pride a thing of the past.
"Wait a minute..." Hikaru, one of the orange-haired twins from her class frowned, "You're not the girl from the photo"
His twin, Kaoru, never far behind, held a strand of her hair to the light, "Although you do share some similarities..."
Finally, Hana found her voice, "I am the girl from the photo" she said, gently pushing away Kaoru's hand from her hair. Hadn't they heard of personal space? "I'm Hana Kaneko. Nice to meet you"
"I wish I could say the same to you..."
"Yeah, you're a little underwhelming..."
They shrugged, turning away from her and facing each-other, and uttered their shared judgement, "Bland"
Hana blinked, and then Honey was standing in their place, scolding the twins, "Stop it, Hika-chan, Kao-chan, you're hurting Hana's feelings!" He faced her, gazing up at her with warm eyes the color of sunshine, and said, "I'm Mitsukini Haninozuka! Nice to meet you, Hana!" He pointed to a figure leaning against the wall, "That's Takashi. He's really cuddly once you get to know him!"
As Honey said this, Takashi straightened to his full height, looking very, very intimidating. He nodded at Hana. For some reason, Hana doubted Honeys judgement of him.
"Just call them Honey and Mori. Everyone does" Tamaki walked over to her, and gently raised her hand to his lips. Hana unfamiliar with the gesture, blushed slightly. "I'm Tamaki Suoh, the headmasters son. It's a pleasure to meet you, Hana"
"Likewise" Hmm. So this was Haruhi's boyfriend. He seemed nice. And normal. Not at all like Haruhi described him.
"Wow, Boss is actually acting normal" the twins said, apparently having the same thoughts as Hana, "Just wait until he- seriously!? He couldn't go longer than a minute?"
The cause for their surprise was Tamaki, now standing next to Haruhi and apologizing profusely, "I'm so sorry! We have Hana such a warm welcome and forgot about you! Don't worry, Tamaki will never forget his precious Haruhi!"
Hana bit back a grin as she remembered Haruhi's description of Tamaki.
'He can be really... Flamboyant, but he means well' she'd said, 'And no, I've never used that word to describe anyone before. Tamaki is one of a kind'
"Ah, you must be Hana" she whipped around to find the remaining member of the Host Club, Kyoya giving her a polite smile, "I'm Kyoya Ootori. Now..." He punched some figures into his calculator, "For the Grand Entrance and Warm Welcoming... That will be 15,000 Yen"
Hana miraculously kept her face impassive. 15,000 Yen!? How rich were these people!?
"Although... Since you're Haruhi's friend a discount is required... And also, there is no way you'd be able to afford this... so an alternate method of payment is also required..."
Hana felt anger swirl inside her at his rudeness. How dare he!? She hadn't even wanted to come here, and now she was being charged for it? The anger grew and grew until she could no longer hold it back.
"How do you know?" She snapped.
Kyoya looked up, "Know what?"
"What I can and can't afford. Who are you to tell me?"
"Hana-" Haruhi warned.
Kyoya smiled again, and this time she believed it was genuine. Cold, unfriendly, but genuine, "I'm part of the Ootori family, a family with much more prestige, honor and wealth than your puny mind could comprehend"
"My puny mind can comprehend more than yours can" she spat, "My mind can comprehend manners. When you meet someone for the first time, you are polite. Nice. You don't charge them 15,000 Yen for simply being in your boring presence!"
"My presence boring or otherwise, it seems you are rather defensive. Might it be the mentioning of the payment?"
"Please stop fighting!" Haruhi yelled, running in between them, as though she was trying to block the cruel words each of them were hurling at the other, "Please!"
The harsh retort died on Hana's tongue, "He started it" she muttered sullenly.
"Ooh, fiesty" Hikaru smirked, "I think Hana might be a little interesting after all. Right, Kaoru?"
"Right" Kaoru agreed.
Hana glared at them and they shut up, apparently getting her message loud and clear.
"Kyoya, Hana, please discuss the terms of your payment outside" Tamaki said, and Hana glanced at him in surprise. It wasn't the words, it was the tone. Tamaki said it in such a calm way that Hana felt compelled to listen to him. It was in that moment she realized why he was the leader of the Host Club.
"Agreed" Kyoya nodded, all traces of anger gone from his voice, "Mori, take care of Honey. He seems a little disturbed by us... Voicing our differences" and indeed he did. Honey was hugging his teddy bear close to his chest and shaking like a leaf..
Hana inwardly rolled her eyes. Voicing our differences she thought, He makes it sound so normal. As if charging someone 15,000 yen for meeting you is normal! This stuck up, arrogant-
"Follow me" Kyoya said, and without waiting for her or her reply he walked off, leaving Hana struggling to catch up. They left the main area of the Music Room and walked into the back room, where musical instruments sat collecting dust.
"So" Kyoya began, "Let me start by apologizing for my rudeness. I'm sorry, Hana"
What an abrupt change in attitude. What is up with this guy?
"Apology accepted" Hana said warily, "And while we're at it, I'm sorry too. For yelling"
He smiled, "Well, this is going fantastically. So, for your debt, what I propose is-"
"Stop" Hana interrupted, "If were going to have this conversation, let's be honest with each other. Don't stand there giving me that fake smile spouting pleasantries. I don't know whether or not you have control over your mood swings, considering you were angry just minutes ago, but please, be honest with me"
Kyoya, to her complete shock, doubled over and laughed. His shoulders shook violently, as though the mere force of the humor in the situation controlled him. Hana stood there, feeling awkward, until he straightened, composed himself, and flashed her a dazzling smile. It was a real smile, and it suited him well. Hana suddenly felt it hard to breathe as she stared straight into his dark eyes.
"Oh, Hana" he grinned, "You amuse me. Mood swings? I thought I was being polite"
Hana looked down, cheeks slightly tinged pink as he continued, "I must say, that was an impressive rant. And that makes me much more certain in asking you this. Will you go on a date with me?"
Hana's jaw dropped, 'A what!?'
He extended an arm and gently shut her jaw, "You see, Hana, I am the third son of the Ootori family, as well as the most ambitious. In order to be the most successful, I must prove to my father that I excel in all areas. And he has told me that I excel in every area but being social"
"So..."
"So I must prove to him that I can have a relationship that is not related to business, or at least, make him think that"
Understanding dawned, "You want to date me to prove to him that money and status doesn't matter to your... Socialness"
"An excellent choice of wording there. I don't believe I've ever heard the word 'socialness' used before. But yes, you have understood the gist of it. Don't think I'm choosing you for any special reason; I'm not. But your debt is an opportunity, and I intend to use it well. Do you accept?"
'Do I accept?' Hana thought, still partly in shock, 'I just met you! And now you want me to pretend to date you so that you can fool your father? And I'm supposed to agree because of a debt!?
Although... What if I add my own conditions? What if I benefit from this as well? Dating Kyoya isn't exactly what I want to do with my life, but...'
"There isn't anyway around this?"
"None whatsoever"
Hana took a deep breath, "Fine. For a month. That's more than enough for 15,000 Yen, so I want an extra 10,000 Yen afterwards. Do you accept my proposal?"
"Quite the businesswoman, aren't you? But 10,000 Yen is nothing to me, so we are in agreement. Thank you Hana. I look forward to doing business with you"
With that, he left the room, leaving Hana with the dusty instruments and her thoughts.
"Okay" she said to herself, "So that happened"
That night, as Hana was trying to sleep, her brain continuously recounting the events of that day. Growling in annoyance, she rolled over.
'A month. I agreed, to date that stuck-up arrogant guy for a month. The money would be great and all... Ugh. If I don't go insane during this month, it'll be a miracle. No use thinking about it anyway, it'll just give me nightmares...'
But try as she might, Hana couldn't rid her mind of the sound of Kyoya's laugh, or the glimmer in his eyes as he gave her a real smile.
A/N And that's that! Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review, and thanks to those who've already reviewed! I apologize again for the lateness, and I know this chapter isn't top quality, but hopefully that'll improve in the next few, when I can really get back into it. see you again in the next chapter!