A/N: I know his name should be "Puki-kun" but "Puki-chan" sounds cuter. I have put too much thought into this. Now I want you all to remember something for me! These chapters are written in third person but follow a certain character each time and therefore comments on their experiences and their feelings. So although Haruhi sees it one way, it may not be that way at all. All will become clear soon enough!
The room was dark, shadows of both physical and mental state lurking around in the open. The faint sound of eager chatting could be heard outside but yet silence still seemed to be the most powerful sound in the room.
In the dark, Haruhi was unmoved. The shadows failed to subdue her, the atmosphere failing to drown her in any emotion. Oh, wait, scratch that last line out. She felt something alright: pity. She pitied the male client; she pitied the hosts; she pitied the management.
In one quick glance at the colourful array of idiots before her, she understood the situation perfectly, excluding some minor errors.
The second-to-shortest host looked firstly to the shadow king. He was reading out the note slowly and calmly, often trying to raise his voice over Honey's blubbering. Haruhi saw how he tried not to show his slightly sadistic pleasure from this note. Haruhi understood perfectly though.
There was, truth be told, no real reason to this rivalry. Kyoya had always ran the Host Club, all Renge ever did was be his little elf. So why would he feel threatened by her? Was it because she got Tamaki to reject a few of his ideas? Was it because she had good ideas too?
"Is it because they fancy one another?" She heard Tamaki's voice say. Some days she could not get rid of that boy! Speaking of Tamaki, his lordship was currently weeping too. His eyes dribbled uncontrollably, his face still able to look remarkably glamorous. He currently had his arms enveloping her, manipulating her head to rest on his shoulder. His eyes shifted subject to and from Kyoya and Haruhi. Those same eyes caught her auburn eyes for a moment so she looked away to the mysterious cousins.
From what she could estimate using the swaying flames, Honey was hiccupping his emotions away, his eyes unleashing tsunami after tsunami. He was comforting his companion the same way Mori was holding him. Mori was as silent and as hard to read as normal, like a book written in a foreign language. She could only calculate that he was concerned over his smaller half. But as she stared at them, something moved in the corner of her eye. Her head snapped to the sudden movement, so spontaneous that Tamaki became misbalanced for a moment.
The movement was Hikaru fixing his cat ears, a bored expression copied from his face on to his brother's. Soon Haruhi found herself confused mildly. The darkness and the expressions of the others made her paranoid. Umehito, Haruhi observed, seemed to be deeply contemplating whilst a hysterical Renge inspected Kyoya with great intensity. Such intensity made both Haruhi and Tamaki startle when Umehito held Renge in his long, slender arms. Now a new sound was added to the playlist of life. A loud siren had arrived in the universe outside the music room, quite unwanted too.
It was a moment when a moment lingered for longer than a moment. And so, in that deviant moment, Haruhi recalled what she had learnt of this male client.
Haruhi's first recollection of him was quite a subconscious and subtle one at that. She had heard of a new male in her year, but as his grades were poorer than her father's income, he was in class 1D, far away from her. So she did not particularly care as he had nothing to do with her.
But when Kyoya announced that the young male was going to attend at the host club, the commoner was quite intrigued. Gender does not matter as she always comments and neither did outward appearance. However she wanted to see how the others reacted to him and how he, being a boy, would react to a girl pretending to be a boy… If that makes any sense?
Haruhi soon learnt that the effect it had on the others was catastrophic.
The bitter rivalry between the female management and the prince of darkness soon heightened to an unknown measurement. She saw this from the way the two fiercely glared at each other and how this new war was totally dependent on the male client failing. He only had to be proven as a fraud or a nuisance and then Kyoya would gain the status of the new leader of the club. However, the boy only had to increase members or success in some other measurement and then Renge would have preserved her current status as female management.
This made life difficult.
When it was her turn to host for this trouble-maker; it was a warmer day as spring was fully confident on its hold of the world. The flowers twirled in the mild breeze with confidence, showing off their natural beauty only to be trampled on. Spring encouraged a slight breeze to keep the temperature at a happy medium, lest the sun get too cocky and cook everyone alive. The cherry trees outside joined in with the flowers, the blossoms cheering to the students below. A few rude students from the D and C classes snatched a few of the cherry blossoms away from their parent tree. One tree, animated by the breeze, managed to hit one of the students on the head for stealing its precious flower. Go tree-power!
Much to Haruhi's dismay, she was late for her hosting duties for the day the boy client was appointed to her. Even more unfortunately it was his appointment she was late for. She was not anxious for meeting the new boy but anxious for the deal the twins had forced her into. If she was late then they got to pick her costume for Euro Day.
So when she finally reached Music Room 3, she knew that her fate was sealed. All the other hosts had already started their appointments, so absorbed into their duties they did not see the common girl enter.
Hoping the male was late, her eyes searched for a boy in blue against the yellow girls. She found him talking to Mori. Knowing his location, Haruhi sat in her assigned seat and watched the two exchange a quick glance. Then the male bowed, held out a cake, muttered something and then left. Mori watched him walk off and then snatched the cake for Honey once the mysterious boy was a foot away.
Despite the other hosts' concerns about a female hosting for a boy, Haruhi was relaxed. All she had to do was be herself, as she was the natural type, and hope the new client did not pick her for his permanent host. Simple.
"Good morning senpai! My name is Fujioka Haruhi! But you just call me Haruhi, okay?" Haruhi greeted the new client, holding her hand out for him. The client stared at her hand for a moment as if it was a trap. A moment passed and then the male sat down, leading to Haruhi to withdraw her hand.
"Konnchiwa H-Haruhi but me n-no your senpai." The male whispered, folding himself up into a little parcel. Haruhi watched in awe at this rich boy. This boy was even scared of commoners?
"Oh?"
"M-Me class 1D, you c-class 1A."
Not knowing how to lead on from that, Haruhi pulled her signature smile and gently tilted her head to the side.
"How are you today?"
The blue-eyed male in front of her rummaged through his satchel and retrieved his two books. He flicked through the green book, searching for an answer to her question. This bought Haruhi time to analyse the situation, allowing her to make a list of questions in her head to start conversation with. If she was early she could have asked Honey for advice.
The female host glanced over at Honey's table where he was entertaining Anna and Anya. He was currently rolling around on Anya's lap whilst Anna gazed endearingly at Mori. Mori, however, was staring back at Haruhi. Seizing the moment, Haruhi wiggled her tongue at Mori. The tallest host kept staring but did not notice her. Poor Mori-senpai, Haruhi thought, this new guy has really scarred him for life.
The female then glanced in the opposite direction. Yet again her glance was met with a stare but instead of being met with a blank stare, she was met with Tamaki's wild stare. His eyes seemed to get larger and larger by the second. Desperately he tried to hide behind his seat but his disguise was flawed by his princess complaining. Haruhi smiled at the two and then returned to her client.
"I-I is fine, how about Haruhi?"
"I'm fine, thank you."
Ahhh, here come the wonderful conversation starters!
"How was your first appointment with the Host Club?" Haruhi asked softly. Always be soft when with shy people, the twenty-third rule of being a host!
The blue stranger hugged his knees tightly as his cheeks coloured a little and a warm smile lit up his face.
"Good. I like Usa-chan a-and Honey and Ta-Takashi." His voice came out like delicate whisper as he faced the mentioned hosts' table. Honey waved at him, noticing his gaze. Mori was looking at the ceiling. Then the client stared back at Haruhi, blinking. "Does y-y-you like ca-cake?"
"Not really…" An awkward pause settled on them both for an instant and then ran off, "Do you like Japan?"
"Hai, I like m-manga and… Hatsune Miku! Still need to g-get used to food and language." He pushed up his glasses and nodded at Haruhi. Haruhi could not help but feel his perfect host would be Renge, not herself.
And that awkward pause returned… But what could she use to fill that gap? Commoner stories, questions for him, cats? Suddenly, as she felt Tamaki staring at the back of her head again, she knew what to do.
"Do you know which Hosts are who?" Haruhi looked up at him from under her fringe, causing him to blush. He unwrapped himself from his parcel and pointed to Honey and Mori.
"Honey, Takashi, Usa-chan…" Then he pointed to her, "You're Haruhi!"
Haruhi found herself smiling. He was so cute. But something about him did not settle right in her stomach. If he was as cute and as shy as he seemed, how come there was so much hostility towards him from the twins?
"I'll help you out!" She got up calmly and sat next to him. "Where's your piece of paper?"
The newest client had hid himself behind a pillow; his arm was shaking as he gave her the paper Kyoya gave to him.
Haruhi's eyes skimmed over it twice. It seemed Kyoya really wanted to win the battle against Renge, going as far as to try and scare the boy out of the picture.
"Male freak?" She read out accidently.
"Hai, must be ch-ch-character problem."
Inwardly she sighed as his own naivety saved her.
"Okay, so after me you have the twins…"
The commoner pointed to the two ginger boys. Then she could not help but smirk at Kyoya's twisted sense of humour. The boy next to her pushed up his glasses and played with his over-sized sleeves as he looked over at the twins, unaware of her smirking.
"You have the twins for Yaoi Day…"
Some of the clients from the other tables giggled and squealed as they overheard Haruhi. Haruhi herself was biting down the grin that wanted to frame her face. The male, however, titled his head.
"Yaoi? What is that?"
Haruhi's smile turned into that unwanted grin.
"The twins, Hikaru and Kaoru… They'll tell you…" The host said and shrugged. How does one explain Japanese boy-love to a homosexual boy? Anyway he was in Japan now so he should find out soon enough.
"And then have… Ootori?" The male client nodded to the shadow king in the corner.
"Hai! And then we have Tamaki-senpai!"
Tamaki's head whipped round as his name was said. He then seemed to stare at the fellow European for quite some time and then he went back to his guest. Haruhi was not too sure what was wrong with His Majesty today.
"Hai, you have Tamaki-senpai for Euro Day, where we dress up with costumes from all over Europe."
"H-How…" The boy bit his lip. He probably wanted to say something like "exotic" but did not know how. "… Nice!"
Remembering Euro Day, Haruhi frowned to herself. Her tardiness meant the boys were now allowed to pick her costume. But what will it be? A frilly European dress? A Roman toga?
"Neko Day?"
Haruhi's concentration snapped back and placed her attention back to her client.
"Yeah, we dress up as cats. I think Kyoya wants you to pick your Host on that day."
"O-Oh! Can me dress up too?"
His glasses slipped to the end of his nose again but this time he was too busy writing something down in his blue book to push them back up.
"Sure! As long as you wear your uniform for class."
The awkward silence spread his wings across the couch, killing conversation with his penetrating glare. It was only now did Haruhi notice a few of the girls staring at them. They whispered to each other, staring mostly at the male client. A few of them giggled at Haruhi, probably shipping her with him. Mentally Haruhi sighed. The clients were often as crazy as the hosts.
"You're pretty."
The natural host turned her head back to her client, astonished that he could say a sentence without stumbling. She smiled at him and winked.
"Thanks, you're pretty cute!"
He bit his lip, a blush colouring his dull, spotty face. He raised his blue book up and his mechanical pencil.
"May I draw y-you sometime?"
Haruhi grinned. Eureka! Finally, something they could talk about!
"Sure. Do you draw? May I see?"
His chapped lips turned into a pout, his grip tightening around his book. Then he sighed softly and handed over his book.
After skimming through the book, Haruhi could not believe it. She thought he would draw silly comic book sketches like all the other silly 1D boys. But his drawings were realistic.
There were all sorts of sketches in there. Some of manga characters, some of modest mice, some of beautiful landmarks and glorious backdrops. There were some self-portraits which were too harsh; he often emphasised his spots or accentuated his weight. There were some sketches of a little girl whom looked familiar to Haruhi. There was a sketch of a familiar-looking boy too. Then there was a sketch of Honey and Mori hugging Usa-chan.
"Awww, that's cute." The female host commented.
"Danke."
"You like drawing then?"
"Yes," He answered, sitting back and unfolding himself, "I l-like seeing the beauty in everything. For e-everything has something beautiful physically, mentally a-and emotionally about it b-b-but everyone has something ugly too."
His otherwise beautiful speech was killed off by how he had to flick through his book for every other word. She was how frustrated that made him, having such a deep and passionate idea but not having the words to express it.
Haruhi sipped her coffee. This boy, despite not being aesthetically outstanding, had something about him. Something cute and quaint.
"That's why I like boys. Girls are always so pretty and easy to draw… But boys are far more challenging."
Haruhi tried not to choke on her coffee. That was it, he was definitely gay. Now all she had to do was remember to tell the boys.
"That's a very sweet thing to say." Haruhi chuckled softly.
"Вы Смешная девчонка." He whispered softly to himself, giggling a little once he did so. Haruhi ignored it, knowing that her time with him was drawing to an end. Haruhi inwardly frowned. She felt as though she had not really accomplished anything or made any bond. She knew she blew her chance of making her his chosen host. He was cute and would probably enjoy Haruhi's commoner stories or hearing about her father. But then the commoner decided that it was probably for the best. The shy, shaking pile of nerves in front of her would be best suited for Tamaki, whom would put confidence in his step and would compensate for his silence with Tamaki's loudness.
"You know Mori and Honey are eighteen, right?" The poorest in the room remarked knowing that it would get a reaction as she decided to end her appointment with idle chit-chat.
"Who's M-Mori?"
"Mori, the big guy!"
The stranger in blue blushed heavily so that Haruhi was worried they would ignite. His eyes widened behind his glasses.
"No, really?! Little H-Honey?!"
"Hai."
That was it. The next customer walked over to Haruhi; a girl in yellow with brown hair, just like the other girls. Haruhi smiled to her next client and then turned to the boy in blue.
"It was nice meeting you today."
The boy stared at her outstretched hand but this time shook limply. Slow but gentle progress.
"It was n-nice meeting you t-too, Har-oo-hee." The male concluded, bowing slightly. Then he bowed to the next customer and made his exit. Haruhi smiled to herself and then turned to her customer.
"Konnichiwa!"
Her customer did not reply to her greeting but pointed to the satchel on the couch- He had forgotten it. Immediately Haruhi took control.
"Don''t worry, Miss, I'll be right back!"
So Haruhi had to run after him as he was being rather quick with his walking. His funny little sway made him totter. Haruhi tapped his shoulder, once she had navigated her way past the yellow army of girls.
"Hey, you forgot your satchel!"
The male client turned around, smiling. His hand was clasped firmly on the door knob to an exit. Using his other, he carefully took the satchel from Haruhi's arm as if he was a child trying to preserve the wrapping paper on a present.
"D-Danke."
Haruhi realised his hand on the brass doorknob.
"Y'know, that's the door to the Black Magic Club, right?"
Laughing, he replied:
"Ja, I know."
Finally the time had come for the hosts to pack away. The youthfulness of the day had well disappeared by now as the world turned golden. This precious idea stayed in Haruhi's head as she gathered her plastic bags for all the washing and used dishes to go in. Using this time she had alone with Renge, the natural host decided it would be the best time to ask the question that was bothering her most.
"Why did you want that guy to join so badly?"
Renge sighed and patted Haruhi's head, pitying 'him' for not understanding moe.
"It's because any host that has him immediately has the 'yaoi' factor. Besides, have you noticed how many girls were here today? The vast majority of them simply wanted to watch you and your new client. That draws up business."
Haruhi sighed. Yaoi. It was always there, the word lurked in the host club and was muttered by the female clients. Yaoi.
Renge had then moved on to filling up her bag of flower petals, leaving Haruhi to finish picking up the used cutlery. The female host turned around as the "princely" type tapped her shoulder. But when Haruhi turned around to see what he wanted, he had trudged off to his corner. Something plagued him terribly; the twins were therefore joyful for this endangered opportunity to mither Haruhi with none of Tamaki's interference.
"You were late again, Haruhi—"
"—your punishment awaits…"
The common girl bit her lip. She had developed an aching weariness of cosplay-days. What was wrong with normal clothes? Comfortable, safe and practical. That circus theme they last had was far too extravagant, frilly and stiff for poor Haruhi. Heh, a bit like Tamaki…
So now the ideas of costumes sprung up like morbid rabbits in her mind. What would it be this time? A kawaii British rabbit? A rude French maid? A sensitive Belgian chocolate bun?
No, no, she remembered now. A frilly, French aristocrat dress was more likely. Or a cutesy Victorian chimney sweep. Yes, something horribly cute or dreadfully frilly.
With these thoughts, Haruhi sighed and looked at her torturers in the eyes and said: "Do your worst!"
"We had Mother design it for you—"
"—however, you must keep this a secret from the boss—"
"—Okay?" The two said, continuing on from each other. Haruhi grimaced and wondered if it was too late to give the lottery a go.
"Sure, whatever. But how will I keep it a secret? He's the king!"
The two twins grinned and slowly the other hosts (and Renge), sneaked over.
"It's a joint effort. It'll become clear soon enough!" Kyoya said, imitating Tamaki's tone and use of gesture. The other boy giggled at him whilst Renge grinned brightly at Haruhi.
"We knew you'd like it!" Renge winked as the two dastards revealed the costume from behind their backs.
How wonderfully peculiar, Haruhi did in fact like this cosplay. It did look stiff in the shoulder area but everywhere else was fine. It was their mother's take on a British Georgian military uniform: British red with the gold tassles on the shoulder pads and breeches and even matching boots. It looked sophisticated without it being a silly, frilly, dilly dress.
But… Why would the boys choose something so nice but "boring"?
"Guys, it is lovely but-"
"I know! Mother said she thought it's the best cosplay she's made!" The twins exclaimed excitedly. Haruhi sighed and decided she probably did not need to know the details behind their new scheme.
"Fine, fine, I'll wear it."
As soon as she said that, the group disbanded. Mori roamed away, putting the furniture back into its usual place. The twins quickly hid Haruhi's new costume and decided to start undressing the tables for Haruhi's washing. They muttered to themselves about new ideas for Yaoi Day. Renge was mopping the floor so soon the room smelt like chlorine. This left Honey, Haruhi and Kyoya to ponder about what just happened.
"Tell Tamaki about the costume and I'll double your debt," Kyoya warned her, "And this new male does not count on your charter, unless he picks you as his personal host."
Haruhi stared up at him and then grinned.
"No problem! He'll pick Tamaki-senpai."
Kyoya stared down at her.
"Really? I'd place my money on the twins winning."
Honey frowned and looked up at both of them.
"But what about me and Takashi? I want him back. I've decided!" Honey huffed, folding his little arms. Mori strolled over, picked him up, and then continued to move furniture with Honey on his shoulder.
Kyoya just shrugged at Haruhi and tottered off to attend to some needy maths questions. She paused for a moment. With this weird disagreement between Kyoya and Renge, it had been a while since the hosts bonded or even had a stupid plot. It was nice to see them back to themselves, even if it was only for a little while.
"Wow, we've certainly changed haven't we?" Tamaki commented, coming up from behind her. Haruhi jumped a little then nodded.
"Yeah, we sure have. You guys used to never help me and Renge tidy up," Haruhi replied, muttering: "But you still don't help," under her breath.
"We never used to have the necessity to clean up, remember? The Music Room solely belonged to us and no one else." Tamaki added, his hands now rummaging into his pockets.
"That's true, now it's used by that secret club."
"Haruhi?"
"Yes, Tamaki-senpai?"
"… Be careful of Europeans, okay?"
Haruhi scowled at the irony. Tamaki himself was half French, what on Earth was he talking about?
"Whatever, Daddy, I'm going home."
So Haruhi lugged her bags over her shoulder (with help from Mori) and sauntered off, leaving Tamaki in his moment of his bliss.
She walked down the cherry pathway. The cleaners were still trying to neatly arrange loose leaves from the other trees, which now were added to by the premature cherry blossoms that died. She tried her best not to mess the piles this time and dragged her bag along behind her like a lazy dog being dragged by its owner. She turned behind for a moment and saw Honey waiting outside the kendo club for Mori. He waved once he noticed her and then went back to spying. She looked up at the Host Club's window where a mute Tamaki watched the world with a solemn wisdom.
She could remember was Tamaki's words a bit too clear… Like piano sounds rebounding, in her head, spinning round.
"Be careful of Europeans, okay?"
Often Haruhi saw the male in the commoners' markets, looking for cheap art utensils. She would often smile at him but he would not notice. He stared at the ground whilst his older cousin did all the talking, his younger cousin clinging to him. Once he caught Haruhi's eyes and winked but they never really exchanged speech ever again.
And now, she realised, it is too late.
So, unimpressed and unmoved, she shook her head at her comrades. Why did it matter to them? Female clients were misplaced and replaced regularly and they never cared before. So what made this client so special? His gender?
Perhaps that's why they care for me so, Haruhi contemplated, because I'm different due to my gender…
What abysmal news.
Besides, they were filthy rich, they could have just visited him. They had airplanes, private jets, boats; all sorts of communicational media in front of them. She was the only one unable to see him again! She should be the one crying, not them!
Something about him must have moved them… Perhaps it was that ominous, impending sense of doom…
What is real and what is but a fictional dream? Both are fake and both feel real; both can be blissful, both can rip your senses into halves.
ACK! This is my worst chapter. I wrote a few ideas but then got too lazy for them, ack again! And yes, I did steal a line or two from Butterfly On Your Right Shoulder by Len Kagamine. Go ahead and judge! Also, the guy knows Kyoya's last name for a reason, mwahaha!