First Visit to the Host Club!

Along with Haruhi Fujioka, I was the only other student to receive the honor of going to Ouran Academy. My reasons…I wanted to be an author. But I needed experience in writing actual books, and I wanted to get to know higher-ranked people who could potentially help me get published.

This could be my first published work.

Yumi

I hadn't heard from Haruhi in a couple of days. I didn't know what was up, so I finally ran next door to talk to her.

She invited me in, but she looked a little bummed.

"So…what's happening?"

"I got railroaded."

"Huh?"

"I was trying to find a quiet place to study…and I found the Host Club instead."

"The…Host Club?"

"Yeah; I ended up breaking a vase in there. Now I have to work in the Host Club to pay off my debt…" She pulled a boy's school uniform out of her closet. "…As a host."

"Wait…what?"

"They thought I was a boy. Tamaki-sempai was the last one to figure out that I was actually a girl."

"And…you're still working as a boy?"

"Sempai doesn't like it, but there's not much he can do about it if my debt's to be paid off. Anyway," Haruhi turned her attention back to me, "do you think you could do me a favor?"

"I'm listening…"

"Could you come to the Host Club and request me as your host? I need to collect a thousand customers before they'll call my debt paid off."

It was as if my world had come to a complete halt. Haruhi had barely described the Host Club, and it already sounded like exactly the kind of club I'd avoid! Handsome men, beautiful girls, tea parties, flowery talk –

"You did finish your replica of the girls' uniform, right? You could wear it to the Host Club."

That brought my world into motion again. I'm a pretty good knitter and seamstress. "It's almost done. I've just got a few touches to make to it to make the skirt fall right."

"Great! So…can I expect you?"

I hesitated. "Um…okay. How about…two days from now?"

"It's a date! Three o' clock in Music Room Three." Haruhi shook hands with me.

I nodded to her. "Two days from now…" I turned towards the door. "Gotta finish that dress…make a note to myself in my planner…" I looked back with my hand on the doorknob. "…I'm going to watch Cats."

My ultimate favorite musical, I'd gone out of my way and saved up my money so that I could buy a copy of the video version. If I was stressed, I liked watching it. Haruhi knew that; she laughed a little. "Sorry to throw this on you, but I really do need your help."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "You'll owe me big time for this; it's not really my style."

"I know. I'll think of something."

I didn't sleep for the next two nights, because I was trying to finish the dress. Finally, it was done.

The day came. I woke up after a catnap, threw on the dress and started working on my hair. If I'm going to visit a Host Club, I need to look extra nice and not just turn up with my hair in a bun.

I finished braiding my hair and tying the braids up with a ribbon. Then I looked at the clock.

"YIKES! If I don't run now, I'll be late!" I grabbed my bag and tore out.

The morning went about how I'd expect, with the exception of a couple of girls complimenting my hairstyle. I'm not entirely sure how my classes went; I was starting to get a bit hazy.

At lunchtime, I discovered a problem: the food here was expensive, and I'd forgotten to pack my lunch. Plus, I hadn't eaten breakfast.

This could cause some interesting interactions at the club.

Three o'clock rolled around and I climbed to the third music room. It took longer than I thought it would, probably because of how heavy my legs and head felt, but I finally made it.

…At three fifteen. I'd timed it wrong. By the time I went in, the parties were already well underway. Oh, well, no matter. I scoped around, trying to spot Haruhi.

There she was – already talking to a few girls. Well, I could wait. I found an unoccupied chair away from everything and just sat down, trying to look more alert than I had in class.

I sat there for a half hour that felt longer, and nobody noticed me, not even Haruhi. Finally, I gave up and stood up to leave.

Haruhi

Somebody shrieked, and I looked up. A girl had just fainted, and the entire Host Club was gathering around her. Kyoya-sempai was saying something about not recognizing her, and so she was probably a new customer.

I walked over to look. She wasn't much different from any of the other girls here, and I'd even seen her come in. About the only difference was that her brown hair was in about three braids that looped around and up, the ends hiding behind a yellow hair ribbon tied in a bow.

Suddenly, I realized that that wasn't three braids: it was one, spiraled around in three loops. And with a sinking feeling, I realized I knew who this was. I dropped to my knees. "Yumi! Yumi, I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you!"

"You know this girl?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked at the same time.

Tamaki-sempai took charge. "Mori-sempai, carry her to one of the sofas! Kyoya, call the nurse!"

I don't think I'll tell Yumi anything that happened while she was unconscious.

While she was still in Mori-sempai's arms and moving towards the sofa, she started waking up. It was a good thing that everything happened quickly in regards to the Host Club, because that was about the time that the nurse got here.

Tamaki-sempai had arranged for Yumi to be in his lap. Frankly, it was a good thing she was still out of it, because she wouldn't have taken that well.

"So what happened?" was the first thing the nurse asked.

One of the other girls answered. "I was looking. She stood up, set her hand to her head, and then just collapsed!"

Yumi finally spoke, her voice a weak imitation of her usual tone. "Hey, I'm okay…I just got a bit dizzy, that's all."

I spoke up. "Yumi, the nurse is right here. You might as well tell her if something's wrong."

"Haruhi? Nothing's wrong; I didn't sleep well the past couple of nights and missed two meals today, that's all."

Then it was the nurse's turn to give orders. "Maybe you should be taken home, then."

That sparked a reaction from Yumi that I'd been more or less expecting. She straightened up, catching hold of Sempai's tie to keep her upright, looked right at the nurse, and stated in a stronger voice that I suspected was taking effort to maintain, "I'm fine. I don't have to go home. My parents have enough to worry about as it is without my coming home in the middle of the day."

"In that case, make sure you eat something…something besides cake," and she cast a slightly critical eye over the table, "and get some rest. You still should be taken home as opposed to you going home by yourself."

"Okay."

The nurse left, and Yumi relaxed again, outright sprawling across Tamaki-sempai's lap. She apparently was slightly worse off than she was trying to let on.

Sempai helped her onto the end of the sofa, which got her off his lap and into a more reclined position. I apologized again for not recognizing her.

"It's okay. You never saw me with this particular look, so how could you have realized it was me?" Yumi's eyes were closed, apparently trying to rest.

"To answer your question," I finally turned to answer the twins, "yes, I know her. Her name's Yumi Kataneki, and she lives next door to me."

"Oh, now I remember," Kyoya-sempai opened his black book. "She came on the same scholarship as you did, and from the same school. Her grades were high enough by a decent margin to qualify, but there's not much information about her beyond that she's your friend."

Great.

Yumi turned and blinked at Kyoya-sempai. "You're cute."

That's it – she's delusional; she wouldn't normally have said that even if she was thinking it.

Yumi

That was an interesting session. Three different guys were waiting on me hand and foot – or was it four? I was having a little trouble counting. Haruhi was mostly just standing there looking embarrassed.

The guy I'd called cute – he introduced himself as Kyoya, and mentioned that he was a second-year – he drove me home after class, helped me back to my apartment and left me wondering how he'd gotten my address.

He really was a handsome boy…and he was quite the mystery. I might just go back there sometime after my recovery and observe him, and all the Host Club. They were certainly interesting characters…