Twilight: God, I miss the furball. I don't own Ouran. I'm sorry for the wait; I'm moving to Australia!

. Doe Eyes .

… an Ouran High School Host Club fanfiction

Doe Eyes © Dragon of Twilight

Ouran High School Host Club © Bisco Hatori

This introduction format © B a y o – B a y o

CHAPTER F I V E:
"Welcome To The Host Club"

University classes the next day were six hours of pure hell for one sore, aching, sleep-deprived Zenmyo.

Leaving her apartment at five in the morning to go do her chores at the clinic was routine, but Mika seemed especially lively, and took full advantage of Zenmyo's weakened state to lead her on an almost half-hour long chase before she was able to catch and medicate the doe. Arriving at the university after a twenty minute walk to the bus stop, Zenmyo took notes mechanically in a dull-eyed stupor as the professor droned on in his usual toneless monotone, occasionally snapping out of her daze to arrange the ice pack she'd strapped to her poor, abused shoulder.

Sloughing through the day and ignoring the stares thrown her way, she'd somehow managed to forget about having to go to the Host Club after classes. She was abruptly reminded of it after her cell phone buzzed incessantly in her pocket, startling her into letting out a loud yelp as she walked home. The strap of her black bag—crammed full of books and her laptop—cut into her sore shoulder as she jumped, briefly bringing tears to her eyes.

Cheeks burning, she doggedly ignored the stares from passersby and yanked the phone out, checking the caller ID. She didn't recognize the number, but answered with an irritated "Hello?"

"Yuhi-san, I do hope you haven't forgotten about our little agreement." Kyoya's deceptively pleasant tone came through the speakers. Zenmyo nearly dropped the phone.

"O-Of course I haven't!" She replied guiltily, eyes wide. "How did you get my number?"

Ignoring the question, Kyoya said frostily, "You aren't a very good liar. The Host Club opens in twenty minutes. You'd better hurry if you don't want the twins to think up something special for you." Click.

Zenmyo snapped the phone shut, slumping in defeat. "Why do they want me around so much?" she asked the sky in despair.

Little did Zenmyo know of the chaos that had been going on at the Ouran Host Club ever since leaving the clinic. Tamaki was beside himself, desperate to make up for his offenses in ordering an obviously fragile young lady to be tied up and constantly brooding in his corner of woe, while Haruhi was distracted with worry for her new friend. Mori was clumsier than ever, stumbling through his classes and tipping over desks, racking up costs that Kyoya was rapidly becoming irritated over. Only Hunny and the twins seemed unaffected, though they went about their Hosting with a slightly halfhearted, mechanical air, and cast expectant and anticipatory looks towards the doors.

Now, Kyoya sat silently at his laptop, a slight scowl on his handsome face as he eyed the clock. Zenmyo was almost eight minutes late and counting. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Mori nodding at a request for more cake from one of his customers and moving to get up.

"Oh, I'll get it, Takashi!" Hunny volunteered cheerfully, launching himself off the couch to go for the Host Club room's personal kitchen. He bowed to the four customers they had that day, pouting cutely. "Takashi's not feeling very well, so he's not supposed to get up."

Mori nodded at Hunny's words, although it was obvious to anyone that knew him that his thoughts were a mile away. Usually, he'd at least look directly at his customers and listen intently to what they had to say, but today he stared off into space, only responding to their questions when they actually touched him to snap him out of it. Even these four girls realized something was strange, though they were all of similar shy temperaments so they didn't ask what was wrong.

"Of course, Hunny!" The girl with shortly bobbed black hair and dark brown eyes answered cheerfully, smiling gently at the tall boy sitting across from her. "We'll just wait for you to get back."

The other three nodded in solemn agreement.

"Thank you~!" Hunny trilled while grinning widely, though Kyoya caught the worried glance at Mori as he bounded off.

Kyoya's jaw clenched briefly as he spotted Tamaki once again retreating to his corner of woe, leaving a circle of worried and unsatisfied customers behind him. He could understand why Zenmyo's obvious fear had affected over half of the Host Club in such a deep way. Most people who interacted with them were less fragile and could easily take the craziness that happened on a regular basis, but Zenmyo seemed much less able to handle it. Tamaki was sorry for what he'd ordered the twins to do, but the desperation he showed in getting her to return seemed to speak of a second motivation. The Shadow King suspected it had something to do with the Host Club's unofficial golden rule—make every girl happy. Everyone in the Host Club, like it or not, was subject to this rule. To even think of defying it pulled guiltily at one's conscience, making it impossible to resist Tamaki's good-willed antics.

But it wasn't the work of the Rule alone or the rising costs of broken tea sets that drove Kyoya to force Zenmyo to attend the Host Club free of charge. That knowledge was his and his alone. Black brows furrowed briefly and glasses flashed as Kyoya again looked at the clock.

Fifteen minutes late.

A flash of blond alerted him of Tamaki's presence, so the Shadow King didn't flinch as the Tamaki's tearful blue eyes appeared in his line of vision. "Do you think Zenmyo-hime won't show up, Mommy?"

Letting out an imperceptible sigh, Kyoya placed a hand on the blonde's forehead, removing Tamaki from his personal bubble with one brisk shove. "Of course not, Tamaki." He replied icily, flipping open his cell with one hand and checking the calls. "I called her earlier and she informed me that she was on her way."

Haruhi heard this on her way to the kitchen, remarking dryly, "More liked blackmailed her into coming." She was ignored.

Tamaki pouted, lip quivering. "But—!"

A loud creak cut him off as the doors edged open, revealing a panting, haggard-looking Zenmyo. Letting the doors close with a soft click, she leaned forward to catch her breath, hands on her knees. "Sorry…I'm late…"

Across the room, Hunny called out, waving delightedly as all eyes turned to her. "Zen-chan~! You made it!" Next to him, Mori sat up a little straighter and glanced over at her before looking away again.

Hikaru and Kaoru's eyes narrowed as they took in her casual clothes, guessing correctly that she had taken no interest at all in making herself look nice for them. Both let out an indignant huff.

"I suppose we aren't important enough to have her at least try and look presentable." Hikaru sniffed, his nose haughtily in the air. The girls around them tittered nervously, looking curiously over at Zenmyo, who was staring in their direction. Kaoru gasped dramatically, turning away from Hikaru and hugging himself like he was cold.

"Does…Does that mean…I'm not important, Hikaru?" He whispered, clenching his fists at his sides, relaxing as Hikaru pulled him close. The girls instantly leaned forward, eyes focused and faces alive with eagerness.

The black haired twin nuzzled against his sibling's ear, whispering fiercely, "No, Kaoru. You will always be important to me."

"Hikaru…"

W-What the hell? Zenmyo's mouth gaped open at this display and her cheeks flamed a bright pink before pointedly looking away. Don't look at it, don't look at it, don't look at it…

Kaoru and Hikaru looked at each other before pulling identical evil smirks and moving to get up. Abruptly, both of them caught Kyoya's lens flare. Something about his demeanor seemed to warn them to behave themselves in front of the guests, and they both briefly indulged in a little sulking before they allowed a worried customer to cheer them up.

"Zenmyo-hime, you came!" Tamaki let out an almost girlish squeal and leapt for her, arms outstretched for a gleeful hug.

Almost reflexively, Zenmyo let out a startled squeal and started running. Thoughts like 'Is this guy for real?' and 'Why me?' circled through her mind as she looked frantically around the room for Haruhi while Tamaki slowly caught up, his longer legs able to take much larger strides. Unable to find Haruhi to hide behind, the chase continued for several minutes.

In front of the bewildered eyes of the twenty or so girls in the room, Zenmyo weaved around tables and hid behind pillars, trying desperately to shake the psychopath behind her. Tamaki, on the other hand, jumped over tables and vaulted over anything in his way, once including using Hikaru's head as a springboard and ignoring the resulting "Hey!" The other Hosts watched with a mixture of surprise at the fact that Zenmyo was actually running from the younger Tamaki, slight irritation that was more on Kyoya's part as he watched the customers gradually get more confused, and an air of general amusement settled over the room. The four girls at Hunny and Mori's table were gripped by a small case of the giggles, which proved contagious and spread throughout the room until even the more serious girls that designated Kyoya were laughing slightly, most with a hand held delicately over their mouths. Hunny rolled back and forth on a girl's lap, giggling madly while Mori watched the chase with a small smile. Hikaru and Kaoru stared with raised eyebrows, but gave off an air of amusement all the same. Well, Kaoru did. Hikaru seemed irritated, and glared at Tamaki for using his head like a pole vault. Kyoya's eyebrow slowly climbed up his forehead as he observed the guest's surprising acceptance of this sudden development before penning something in his notebook.

Out of the kitchen came Zenmyo's savior, speaking with the dull monotone of a guardian angel. "Please stop chasing her, Tamaki-senpai."

Instantly, Tamaki stopped, frozen in a position that seemed impossible to hold. And it was. He crashed to the floor, ending up in a twitching heap of blond hair and expensive blue cloth. Zenmyo watched carefully from behind a couch with some concern, but kept her distance as though he was a sleeping alligator.

Seeing that no one was going to come help him, Tamaki sprang up and greeted Haruhi cheerfully. "Hello, my dear daughter!"

The ladies attending the club giggled slightly; they'd long gotten used to the fact that Tamaki addressed Haruhi as his daughter and most just put it to Tamaki's overprotective attitude toward their 'family'. They still didn't know Haruhi was a girl, and the Club was still doing it's damnedest to make sure it stayed that way.

Tamaki continued woefully, dramatically pressing the back of his hand against his forehead. "It seems as though Zenmyo-hime is still tense after the little fright she had yesterday." He announced woefully, proceeding to introduce Zenmyo to the room at large, much to the young woman's embarrassment and discomfort. "This is our new guest, Zenmyo-hime from the university." He pointed to the figure hiding behind the couch before casting a suddenly stern eye over his guests. "She is your sempai, so please treat her with respect."

The girls nodded, some giggling nervously, some solemnly, but all in general seemed to take well to the new guest among them. Tamaki nodded approvingly, beaming a warm smile around the room. The girls who met his eyes blushed and busied themselves with playing with whatever happened to be nearby. Zenmyo watched in amazement at his sudden calm, princely attitude, and could only stare numbly at him when he gently took her hand and led her towards the center of the room.

"Now, Zenmyo-hime…" His voice was gentle and exaggeratedly soft, and she gritted her teeth as she realized he was treating her like a nervous fawn. She knew she had nerves of glass, but even those who acknowledged it didn't take any precautions to make life easier for her stress levels. What irritated her was that she actually felt grateful for his care, and the realization made her eye twitch.

"Who would you prefer to be your Host for today?"

"Eh?" She blurted, not quite sure what he meant. Tamaki smiled patiently, and Zenmyo wondered vaguely where the crazy, hyperactive manchild had gone.

"What type do you prefer? The Devil type?"

The twins grinned evilly at her from across the room, again unnervingly in sync.

"The boy Lolita?" Hunny waved enthusiastically.

"The Cool type?" Kyoya glanced up and smiled in a warm, vaguely artificial manner before returning to entertaining his two guests, who each had their own laptop.

"The Wild type?" Zenmyo swallowed the lump of fear that rose in her throat as Mori glanced up, briefly meeting her eyes before dropping his gaze to the tray on his table. Undeterred, Tamaki continued, pulling her closer. Zenmyo squeaked embarrassingly as his arm wound around her waist. "Perhaps the Princely type?"

She leaned away as far as she could while still actually being touched by him. Tamaki pouted briefly before brightening up. "And then there's the Natural type." Zenmyo followed his dreamlike stare to Haruhi, who was sampling different portions of a couple bento boxes her customers had apparently made.

Zenmyo's face lit up like a Christmas tree and she grabbed for the lifeline with both hands. "Haruhi! I pick Haruhi."

Looking delighted, Tamaki turned and opened his mouth to call the small brown-haired girl, only to be cut short as a pale hand slapped over his mouth. Zenmyo followed it up a blue-sleeved arm, past a shock of black hair to lock eyes with the Shadow Prince.

Hand falling from a shocked Tamaki's mouth, Kyoya smiled at her and said smoothly, "I'm afraid Haruhi has reached the customer limit for today and can't accept any more until tomorrow. May I recommend Mori-sempai? He's always very patient with new customers and works well with those who are shy."

Offended slightly, Zenmyo asked, "What makes you think I'm shy?"

Kyoya's false smile widened, and he took a step towards her. "Well, you have rather opted to hide behind Tamaki rather than confront me openly."

To her dismay, she had indeed edged behind Tamaki as Kyoya approached, using the confused blond boy as a human meat-shield. Cheeks blazing, she focused on Kyoya's tie, only to gasp in shock as slim, pale fingers slid under her chin to tilt her head up, forcing her to meet his eyes. Shaken, almost frightened, Zenmyo jerked back. Behind her glasses, wide green eyes stayed locked with his, even as she felt her legs tremble. In the background, she saw Tamaki walking away, apparently satisfied that Kyoya had taken charge.

No, no, no! Don't leave me with the vulture! He scares me!

"You recoil from another's touch." The gray eyes were smug and confident as he said it, like he'd expected her to do that all along. "Those are usually indicators of one being shy."

Instead of feeling angry, to Zenmyo's horror and dismay, she felt tears welling up for absolutely no reason. Biting her lip harshly, she looked away. Her voice wavered pitifully as she mumbled, "Fine, whatever. But I want someone else."

A vaguely disappointed looked flashed across Kyoya's face before he schooled it into a mask of business, speaking so casually it was as if he hadn't just invaded Zenmyo's personal bubble.

"Very well. Haruhi is out of the question, so I would recommend you sample each of them. You are a new customer, so this is the only time I will allow it without making a prior appointment." Smoothly ignoring Zenmyo's silently moving lips as she weakly tried to find somewhere to cut in he began to walk off, throwing his last sentence over his shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have guests to attend to…"

Zenmyo opened her mouth to yell after him, but closed it after a couple seconds with a click. Angry, frustrated tears pricked at her eyes, and she sniffled a little as she wiped them away. Haruhi was watching her with a concerned expression, but Zenmyo caught her eye and smiled weakly, giving her a thumbs up. To Zenmyo's surprise, the look of skepticism she received in reply cheered her up immensely, and she gave Haruhi a much more confident smile as she began walking toward the twins.

She had a sudden vision of someone walking toward the edge of a cliff and realized that that was basically what she was doing. Forcing down the bile that rose up in her throat from her roiling stomach, she sucked in a deep breath and dropped off the cliff.

A/N: You like?

Special thanks to; sethrox9730, WerewolvesMoon, KageNoNeko, novellover, LookOutShe'sGotAPen, and Mariel of Fantasy. And, as always, my beta HowCouldThisHappenToMe.

Thank you!

Signing out,
Dragon of Twilight!