Disclaimer: If I owned Ouran High School Host Club, Season Two would so be out for everyone to enjoy now...

Summary: They say 'let bygones be bygones', and that the past should be laid to rest. So if you're Fujioka Haruhi, what do you do when the past decides to catch up with you, and the Host Club interferes?

A/N: These are "English" conversations.

Collision Of Time

Chapter One: Guests Unexpected... And Uninvited

Haruhi, you sneezed just now. Are you sure you're not catching a cold?

No.

But-

I'm sure of it, Faust-senpai. Now, stop worrying and get back to work!

"Haruhi, you sneezed just now."

"Are you sure you're not catching a cold?"

Hitachiin Hikaru and Hitachiin Kaoru laughed simultaneously as they walked towards the Third Music Room, now the location of the popular (among the females, that is) Host Club of Ouran High School. The orange-haired twins and fellow classmate Haruhi were members of the club; although Haruhi was biologically a girl, most of the school's population had assumed 'she' was actually a 'he', thereby permitting the brown-haired freshman to join the club. (Not like she ever had any intentions of becoming a member, but there was the issue of an 8 million -now 5.3333 million or less- debt to settle, and the rest of the Hosts were not willing to spill the beans on Haruhi's gender, so she had to remain a Host for now...)

Speaking of Haruhi...

"Haruhi?" Said female in question had a blank look on her face, the type that clearly showed 'my body's here but my mind's somewhere else'. The identical twins backpedaled over to where Haruhi was standing still. After a few minutes' worth of waiting, Kaoru snapped his fingers in front of her, and Haruhi blinked twice before resuming her walk again.

"Haruhi, are you alright? What was that all about?" The twins asked simultaneously; Haruhi merely shook her head and ignored them.

'Not really alright, since my train of memories has been derailed by you both... I wonder where I've heard those words before?' A feeling of deja vu fell over Haruhi before it was chased away by the twins' constant pestering and questions on both her physical and mental health, which she tactfully and skillfully deflected away.

Neither of them noticed the tall blonde and his black-haired companion passing by at the end of the same corridor...

"Wow, this place sure is big!"

"... I know..."

"I'm surprised they let us in, actually. What's with the security of this place? Isn't this a rich kids' school? Honestly-"

"-Ryu called ahead and told him there were two foreigners coming here who had an urgent message for a student named Fujioka Haruhi."

"... Oh... Speaking of Akusa, where is he?"

"He said he'd check-in for us first, then head off to deal with some urgent business of his. He'll be meeting us for dinner."

"Ok. Now, where to, onnisan?"

"I was told that she'd be on the third floor of the south wing..."

"Right, let's go!"

Upon reaching the Third Music Room, Haruhi successfully escaped both Hikaru and Kaoru with the well-placed excuse of "I'm going to change now", and speedily entered the changing room, costume and school bag in tow. (Today's theme was 'A day at an ancient Chinese palace'). As she walked in, her foot slipped on a banana peel (where did that come from?) and she fell backwards with an undignified yelp on her rump, barely managing to hold up both costume and bag from getting squished under her.

'Imagine what would Kyoya-senpai do to me if I rumpled or tore this costume in any way...' Nightmares of her debt being raised by a few thousand more yen came unbidden to Haruhi's mind, and she involuntarily shivered. How troublesome that would be...

The letter from earlier fell out of the bag and rested on the floor for a long while before the brown-haired girl spotted it. Having finished her dressing preparations, she decided to read its contents before club activities begin.

Unfortunately, that was the time Haninozuka Mitsukuni (a.k.a. Honey), with Morinozuka Takashi (a.k.a. Mori) following behind, came to tell her that since they were opening early today, it was time to get ready for customers.

"The Host Club is on the third floor of the north wing, baka!"

"Welcome!"

'Note to self: a Chinese theme is well-recieved by customers,' second year student Ootori Kyoya thought as he jotted down more notes in his ever-present binder. The bespectacled teen was dressed in a scribe's costume and looked "very dashing", as one swooning student whispered to her friend. Her friend whispered back, "They're all dashing!".

And so they were: the Host King Suoh Tamaki was wearing gold-coloured robes and flirting with all his customers; the Hitachiin twins had on identical black 'advisor' robes and were showing off their so-called 'brotherly love'; Honey, dressed in a chef's costume, was happily eating strawberry cake with a bodyguard-themed Mori hovering close by, and Haruhi was entertaining her regulars with tales of how she managed her household chores. Kyoya smirked as he calculated the profits gained from this particular afternoon.

Then the door opened once more and Kyoya turned to greet new customers... or so he thought...

"Eh?" was Natari's first word upon meeting the Ouran High School Host Club. Not elegant at all, but what could you expect from a shocked teenager of sixteen who didn't even know such clubs existed?

Her blonde companion, though, merely raised an eyebrow before politely greeting the black-haired vice president and asking, "Is there one Fujioka Haruhi here? We were told she could be found here, and we have a message for her."

Kyoya's surprised look disappeared in an instant and he glanced over at Haruhi's table. Feeling three stares at her back, the female host turned, and cocked her head in puzzlement before excusing herself from her customers. She walked over to a blinking Natari (who was still trying to grasp the concept of the Host Club) and stared at her for a while.

Realization dawned on her face, and Haruhi's eyes widened in mild confusion.

"Tari?" Turning her head, she gazed up at the other stranger, who still had his eyebrow raised. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if he had ever been this tall, but mentally shrugged it off; there were far more important matters to ask...

"Faust-senpai, what are you both doing here?"

'Because I haven't met you both since we graduated from elementary school...'

You're leaving Japan?! Why?!

I'm sorry...