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~ Chapter Five ~

~ Stage Fright ~

That morning I woke up, it slowly dawned on me I would be getting to bed much later from now on (school - attending the Host Club - cleaning - getting home - eating - homework - bed - repeat.) Slinking out of bed I clambered into my half-bathroom, turned on the shower faucet and climbed in (after I stripped of course.)

My morning routine could be rather spontaneous, sometimes I took showers in the morning, sometimes at night (my hair's so flat it didn't matter if I slept on it wet or not.) After the shower, I would comb out the tangles before pulling it back into a braid (original, I know.) Putting on my glasses I eyed my appearance in the small mirror over the sink.

These glasses seriously did not suit me at all…but putting in contacts every day was a pain and I enjoyed my 'disguise,' even if it didn't fool anyone (normally there wasn't anyone at school after club activities, so who was there to fool anyway?)

In Ouran's uniform, I made my way to the small kitchen area in my rundown apartment. At first, I was reluctant, but edging over to the pantry, I discovered why I was normally hesitant to search for food.

There hardly ever was any to look for, I'm not poor by any means, cheap wasn't the word either. With a sigh I found a small box of 'commoner's' food I found on sale the other day.

Finicky was a good word, I decided as I heated the ramen. Why purchase a more expansive brand or type of food when I could gain more from something less exquisite? Although I never thought that way before I moved out of my parents' home, I never imagined it could be this difficult living on my own.

Since my first year at Ouran, I had been living off of money in a separate savings account (mostly provided by my grandparents.) It was fine since I never used money for anything other than groceries and other necessities, but now that stupid Host Club was going to eat the rest of it up and force me into using my other savings account.

Why did that polisher just HAVE to have a Max Power button? Why did the Host Club just HAVE to delay their leave that day? Why? Why? Why?

After eating breakfast I sluggishly gathered my school bag and jacket, it was spring and it was chillier than usual. Making sure I had my two grand ready in a safe place in my bag, I made my way out the door, but not before saying farewell to Gibbous.

"Don't wait up for me darling, I'll be late." I said dully, the silvery blue beta's shimmery tails swept through the tepid water. The filter bubbling and gushing somewhere in the back of the tank. You're probably wondering how I have a pet when I can hardly afford food for myself – my parents got it for me in case I got lonely…

Yeah, I know right?

My first time ever taking a train to school was a very unique and commoner experience, I would have preferred a car, but the train was all I could afford (plus traffic was terrible at this time of the day.) I did have a few encounters with those who recognized the Ouran puffy girls' uniform and on all those occasions, I lied through my teeth – telling them I was in Class D due to my Yakuza parentage.

They backed away immediately, nobody messed with the Yakuza unless they had a death wish.

My phone vibrated in my bag, I made a mental note to put it on Silent as I rummaged for it.

"OMG HOST CLUB IS OPEN AGAIN!!!! WHEEE!!!" From Tamaki, I visibly paled.

"Are you all right dear?" an older lady asked from her seat, I nodded weakly.

"I'm fine, thank you though." I said, the woman smiled sadly.

"It's not easy being the pretty daughter of the Yakuza, I understand." She said, my form froze.

I did NOT mean for that false information to spread!

Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I got to school, what a great way to start off this day, considering I would need all the energy I could muster.

"Good morning Tsuyu-chan!" Hunny greeted as I felt the familiar embrace, I patted the blonde on the head.

"Morning, Hunny-sempai." I greeted back, I peered up at a lingering Mori, "You too Mori-sempai."

"Hey," he said back.

"Whoa, you spoke," I said evenly, Mori remained nonchalant although I saw him shift his weight to his left foot. Hunny let go of me and jumped up and down.

"Guess what Tsuyu-chan?!" he asked, passing girls blushed as they stared at the small blonde and the tall Kendo student. Then they would look at me with confused faces, speaking to one another in hushed whispers not meant to criticize, I didn't blame them, I would be curious too if I wasn't so accepting of the way life works.

"The Host Club is reopening today," I claimed rather blandly, Hunny nodded.

"Aaaannddd….?" He trailed off, waiting for my answer.

"I'm coming with you tomorrow to a café for a tea party," I added, Hunny bounced even higher if that were at all possible, but this time he landed on my shoulders instead of the floor.

"Request me! Request me!" Hunny cried jubilantly, I blinked as I peered up at him.

"You hardly weigh anything," I observed, Hunny tugged at my hair.

"Do you not like wearing your hair down, Tsuyu-chan?" Hunny asked innocently.

"My hair is pretty flat, it looks more interesting this way," I replied casually, Hunny frowned, but the look vanished in seconds. Was it me or did everyone in the Host Club have massive mood swings?

"Mitsukuni," Mori stated, I didn't get the point, but Hunny apparently did as he jumped off my shoulders and onto his cousin.

"Ne, ne, Takashi," replied Hunny, after Mori placed him back on the ground, Hunny spun around to face me once more.

"We'll see you later Tsuyu-chan!" Hunny cried, with that, the two made their way to their homerooms.

What was that?

"Do you guys have a secret language of some sort? The Host Club I mean?" I asked later in Physics, Kyouya adjusted his glasses before giving me a wayward glance. We were preparing to present our projects to the class and to be honest, chatting was a way for me to ease my stage fright. Not that I was self-conscious or nervous, okay, I was a little terrified, but whenever I had to present, I tended to ramble and get off topic.

I didn't want to do that now, not with the top of our class as my partner…although he was the one who knew of what we have been doing. Yet I had to do some speaking to get a good grade as well.

"You memorized your flashcards right?" Kyouya asked, I nodded.

"Sure, why? Wait, I thought they were vocab-"

"I had them in a certain order you know," he replied, frowning, I pulled out the vocab words and eyed them warily. I only had fifteen of them, but…

"You had me…write my own speech notes?" I asked, hardly believing it. Each card led to another in a presentational manner, my eyes grew wider with each passing card, suddenly the butterflies in my stomach began to fly about as the fear of misreading them came to mind.

"Few put their vocabulary to good use, mostly due to the fact that they don't remember the words and prefer to use a less intellectual phrase to disguise their ignorance. This way, I calculated that not only would you learn, you would prepare as well. Let this be a lesson to you," Kyouya explained, I merely stared at him. His eyes were locked on the blackboard rows in front of us, his laptop shut away for presentations and note-taking.

I felt my face burn slightly at the thought of Kyouya looking out for me. My face fell when I realized if I didn't do well, that wouldn't bode well for Kyouya's grade either. Mentally sighing, I watched the current group return to their seats, hands clapping in applause. The next pair went up, fully prepared and I knew we were up next. My stomach flipped and flopped.

This is a lot of pressure, I thought to myself, trying to (in vain) to calm my nerves as the pair smiled and beamed at one another, as if taking cues to when it was one or the other's turn to speak. They were doing marvelously, taught to stand straight, smile, and have confidence in oneself. Granted, I had a similar background and took on a job unrelated to the family business that's uncommon in our class, but I couldn't help, but think this presentation rode on Kyouya's shoulders.

It's the way it usually went when we were in groups or pairs, I did the research and my partner did most of the talking. Yet now the roles were reversed and that routine had been shoved upon me. On the other hand, Kyouya probably didn't think that way…maybe the note cards were just a way of leading me if he were to 'spontaneously' pause to let me get a word in.

Which he would do.

"Tsuyu-chan!" someone whispered, I peered over to have a note shoved in lap (oh great, this must be an omen!) The person who passed it to me was some kid I never really caught the name of, but she pointed halfway across the room to Momoka, who had already presented less than thirty minutes ago. She signaled to my eyes.

Cautiously I unfolded the note and read it.

Take off your glasses when you present! You'll feel better! Trust me~

I blinked, that was terribly random. Looking up at Momoka again, she motioned with her hands to take off her invisible glasses, frowning I peered up at the teacher and the current pair. They were halfway through with their presentation and the teacher was hanging onto every word, she must have been looking forward to her next group (Kyouya was the most intelligent of us after all.) Putting the note in my bag, I fumbled with my thoughts.

Taking my glasses off wasn't that big of a deal to be honest, it wasn't about the 'disguise' idea either. I was short-sighted, so maneuvering around desks wouldn't be too difficult (most people avoid big, blurry blobs) and I could always take off my glasses at the front of the classroom, but what if I needed to look at the flashcards? The teacher recommended not using any, but now that I knew I had them, what if I forgot or stammered over something that could easily be remedied by rereading them as we presented?

Momoka narrowed her eyes on me, which was rather uncharacteristic of her, she was normally so bubbly. With a sigh (and a quick glance at Kyouya) I slipped my glasses off.

Almost immediately applause broke out in the room as the presenting pair gave big smiles as they returned to their seats. It was our turn now.

Not being able to see perfectly wasn't a hindrance, Kyouya and I made our way to the front of the room with little difficulty. He set up his black flash drive into the school laptop connected to the classroom projector. Once our PowerPoint had been brought up, Kyouya didn't come to my side next to the screen, instead, he wavered around the laptop since he would need to press the touch pad to switch slides.

I felt as if I weren't a part of the presentation as Kyouya opened the presentation with a few simple, yet powerful words that made the teacher swoon. My 'vocabulary cards' raced through my brain, the first one, I realized, came into play after Kyouya paused after going to the next slide with the blurry, but large, impacted word 'ALLOY' on the board.

I felt my cheeks burn, but when everyone's eyes turned onto me, I noticed I couldn't see them that well. Something akin to relief settled on my shoulders and heart, I was still nervous, but I opened my mouth anyway.

"Figuratively speaking, 'alloy' refers to a powerful attraction between something or someone, in reference to magnetism, it means the same thing as it attracts other alloys, or irons, into aligning-" when I felt myself speaking too fast, I slowed down, when I finished Kyouya instantly picked up on it and carried on.

This way of working continued until our photographs came up, one of the slides had a picture of me and a split end of mine on fire. The classroom burst out laughing, I had to squint at the screen to find out what was so funny. When I discovered what was so funny, I glared at what could have been Kyouya – the flash of his glasses gave him away. Even the teacher shook her head in amusement, but not even I could refuse laughing (admittingly in an embarrassed fashion.)

I believed that to be one of the last reasons I would come to despise about Kyouya, but I was wrong.

He left it to me to conclude our thesis and wrap up our presentation.

I suddenly wished I was blind, but not even going sightless would have stopped the feeling of all the eyes of my peers and teacher boring into my image.

This was NOT on the cards! I mentally screamed as my eyes automatically zoomed over at the Ootori, who had brought up an image of a Chinese alchemist on the projector screen beside me.

"In conclusion," I began, gnawing at my brain for what came next, "through our experiments and research, Kyouya and I managed to find out that magnetism is what makes the world go round, keeps us grounded, keeps compasses – that work – pointing north," there were snickers throughout the room, knowing well of the Disney movie I was referring to.

"This project was not only a test of academics, it also made us imagine what previous researchers and professors must have went through to discover what they did. For example, Albert Einstein," a moment later I stopped to breathe and this signified the end out our presentation.

Putting my glasses back on as Kyouya and I went back to our seats, I felt the week's stress evaporate and I gave a happy sigh.

"Good job," Kyouya said simply, Momoka gave me a thumb's up when I peered over at her out of the corner of my eye. When I returned my gaze to where I was going, I found that my seat had already been drawn back and Kyouya was already sitting at his desk, at ease and smirking softly.

"…" I fought the urge to blush as I sat down, knowing it was futile – damn my fair skin! Momoka gave me a strange smile that I couldn't help, but ponder over.

At lunch, she eagerly spilled her guts.

"Reiko-chan! Aya-chan! You won't believe it – Kyouya-san was so proud of Tsuyu-chan that he pulled out her chair for her!" Momoka cried as I buried my face into a book that I had been inconveniently holding upside-down. Reiko didn't even blink, but Ayame gave me an incredulous look.

"Why is your Physics textbook upside-down Tsuyu-chan?" she asked, I gave the traitorous book an evil glare, not that it was it's fault for my lack of attention.

"I'm learning to read upside-down, it's tricky in kanji, see?" I replied without haste, remaining cool and casual. The three of them didn't fall for it as I had so desperately hoped.

"It was just so cute! He only ever does that for his partners, well, except for Toro-kun, but that was probably because he was well, a guy-" Momoka claimed and continued to rant as my brain stumbled over a slow bump. That's right, I had seen him act gentlemanly toward other girls before (he is a host after all.) Now that I had gotten to know him (by a margin, but it still counted!) I felt…envious that I received the same treatment? I shook my head, what? Was I expecting something more?

He's probably scheming for another way to earn more merit having to sit next to me, I thought bitterly, but shoved the thought aside as quickly as it had come. I was a year shy of graduating, I couldn't afford to think like that and get jealous over a boy I hardly knew. I wasn't one of those frivolous girls who stared googly-eyed at him because of his cool looks – I knew the wicked Hyde inside.

Or, er, the Shadow King.

The day passed and eventually my Stats class rolled in, but Tamaki was so withdrawn and reserved, the silence was nearly unnatural. I gave him a wondering look as his eyes stayed glued to his notebook, but upon closer inspection, I realized he wasn't taking notes – at least not on math anyway.

There were bullets (drawn in the shapes of hearts and crowns) lined along the paper with host club ideas for themes, costumes, customers, etc written down the paper. The occasional doodle occupying any available space.

I shook my head in bewilderment. Yet what did catch my attention was a figure drawing (although poorly drawn) that looked remarkably like Haruhi – except he was in a frilly dress (or what looked to be a frilly dress.)

Biting my tongue, I realized I couldn't say anything out of fear of it coming out wrong such as 'wow Tamaki, you really are gay aren't you?' Sweat-dropping, I visualized this and wondered if I would have to exchange schools if I ever voiced that aloud…

An hour later…

"Welcome!" This was the word that greeted me as soon as I opened the door, that at one point led to another cleaning duty, to the third music room. Rose petals suspended in the air around me before retracting back into the room and falling gracefully to the floor. Thankfully, some of the Host Club had already gone into different sections of the room, waiting on their eager guests.

"Men!" I heard Tamaki cry out of nowhere, one moment my eyes fell onto Kyouya and Mori (who were awaiting their customers apparently,) the next my hands were grasped by the ones of the Hitachiins, either twin on either side of me. Tamaki materialized in front of me, his right hand to his chin. Hunny hopped onto Mori's shoulders and Haruhi, although much more slowly than the other members, made his way into my perspective.

"Aye, Tono!" the twins cried, the surrounding guests didn't appear disgruntled that their hosts had been taken away by me, but instead, watched with curiosity and fascination as Tamaki analyzed my face.

"I have been informed you wear contacts?" the blonde declared, I huffed.

"Sometimes, when I don't I'm wearing glasses obviously," was my reply, the faint sarcasm did not deter Tamaki as he gave the twins firm stares. I faintly wondered if he had even looked at me that fateful day in this room?

"Kyouya had already ordered a pair, get to it men!" Tamaki ordered, the twins saluted him before sweeping me off my feet and into another room.

"Ta-da!" one of them shouted as they plopped me in front of a vanity mirror, thankfully all that sat on the wooden surface was a pair of unopened, disposable contacts.

"We'll wait outside, knock so we can give a grand entrance to our newest customer!" they said in unison, I gave them a blank look.

"Does everyone go through with it or is it just me?" I asked, they gave me Cheshire cat smiles.

"Of course," I didn't believe them, but they quickly left without saying anything else. I stared at the set of contacts, I didn't understand why they didn't just ask me to come with them already applied (they're in my school bag in my locker downstairs.) Why was it even important that I even wore them anyway?

I began to feel self-conscious, something every girl is familiar with, but I never felt particularly strong about it. Thoughts reoccurring from my presentation and Kyouya made me wince – did I really look that bad in glasses? I'm not vain, my self-esteem was fine, but now I was beginning to doubt all of that – maybe I should try and look pretty when I wake up in the morning…

But how can I do that when I go home feeling dirty? Granted, this school was nearly perfect when it came down to cleaning (what is grime anyway?) I was unlike students at this school, Haruhi was a scholarship student who wanted to go to an elite school, probably to get good recommendations for colleges, but I came here because it was expected of me regardless of how I earned the tuition.

Eyeing my reflection, I made faces and moved my eyebrows in correspondence. How can girls be so frivolous? I couldn't see myself acting giddy over a good-looking guy, maybe a fuzzy feeling from a cute puppy, but never another human being (wasn't Hunny proof enough?) I slid my glasses off with a frown, opened the new contacts and put one in each eye.

I looked in the mirror again, that looked better, but instantly the braid didn't look right with my uniform…

"Are you ready yet Yu-chan?" the twins asked, then I heard Tamaki snap at them for rushing me.

I undid my braid and let the loose, brown curls decorate my shoulders (made to look delicate in the puffy fabric.) The curls would eventually unfurl and straighten the longer they were kept out of the braid, but for now, they looked…cute? Running my fingers through my bangs, I gave my reflection one last look-over before telling the twins I was ready.

"You're requesting Kyouya-sempai right?" one of the twins asked as I came out, not a grand entrance in sight. Girls would peer over at me curiously, smile and turn back to their host. Mori was now occupied with a group of charming brunettes I recognized from English, Hunny was stuffing his face with unfamiliar sweets possibly imported from a foreign country.

Tamaki seemed to be the only one who took it upon himself to compliment me.

"Why! Princess Tsuyu! You are absolutely stunning – I almost didn't recognize you with your hair down!" he cried out jubilantly as he approached me, suddenly the whole room was focused on me.

So this was the 'grand entrance?' I openly glared at the smirking twins as they scurried off to the door to greet a new wave of customers.

"Um…thank you…Tamaki," I replied uneasily, actually grateful for his kind words. Then Kyouya showed up at the blonde's side.

"Shall we commence into your studies then," Kyouya asked blandly, my heart sank as Tamaki bid 'adieu' before returning to his 'princesses.' The dark-haired youth didn't seem as effected by my mildly new appearance as Tamaki was, but with Kyouya, who would ever know?

As he led me to a soft, yellow couch beneath the newly mended window, I felt an increasing, uncomfortable feeling swell up in my chest and the silence between us grew thicker. I was somewhat aware of what was developing, but I had a difficult time coming in terms of the possibility only because I knew Kyouya would too if he felt the same in any way at all.

Did I have a crush on him? Every girl in this very school had a crush on one of the members of the Host Club at some point or another, the gushing fan girls were hard to miss in the school halls during and after hours.

"Um…Kyouya," I began, wanted to one, break the silence, and two, thank him for the flashcards I so meticulously memorized, but he smoothly cut in.

"That's twice today, you know." He said simply as our Physics books appeared on the table, a gray clipboard was in place of his laptop.

"What?"

"You have called me by my first name twice today?" he said, my eyes widened.

"A-Am I not supposed to?" I mentally slapped myself for stammering. Kyouya smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm not adding anything to your quota if you do." Said the Ootori as he scratched something down on the clipboard.

A/N: I was working on 'FuNsIzEd' and this chapter at the same time, it's not easy keeping to one anime while writing fanfictions for two different shows bleh...plus I'm such a big fan of Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lion King, Treasure Planet, and SWAT Kats that Ouran and Yu-Gi-Oh have taken a sort of back seat (although I haven't updated 'Good Time'.) But don't worry, all stories from now on are intended to be completed! SWAT Kats might become more of a comic than a fanfic anyway...

On the other hand, still preparing myself for Kyouya fluff (god knows that takes a LOT of preparing) and my 3rd quarter of school has been really pushing down on me...my Concepts class has us painting window and door murals in a ghetto part of town (I'm not being stereotypical it is what it is,) my Forum prof made us watch 'Swimming in Cambodia' (of which I thought was irrelevant to art and downright boring, sorry to any possible fans,) 3 20" drawings due by next week (1st one is due tomorrow,) my first history exam for this quarter is Tuesday, ugh...blah blah blah. Sorry, had to get that out of my system... especially since all I want to do is draw SK.

I also have a small request for my reviewers ~ the hopeless romantic in me has been sorely lacking and has been virtually absent since I had turned 14, suggestions and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated in the romance genre! So far the ones I have gotten are awesome! Keep it up! One thing I pride myself in is making things believable, I can't wait to start creating some chemistry between Kyouya and Tsuyu (since that's what makes readers go 'awww' and 'oh, I've been there.')

Thank you for all those who have reviewed and left more than 'good job keep it up!' Which was all of you! I can't believe this is even getting the attention it is getting~