The Handsome Princes
"But mom-"
"Dear, please. It would mean so much to me if you spent more time with her, you're going to be sisters soon after all! And Ryoji wanted to see you today, so please?" My mother's eyes pleaded for me to say yes. And of course, I couldn't say no. Not to my mom.
"Okay," I slipped on my impassive mask. Mother had asked me to spend more time with Haruhi and to get her know her better. After school, I was supposed to go to Haruhi's school after picking up Hotaru, and then go to her house to have dinner with her and her father. Her school was about five miles away from Hotaru's, and I'm not sure if my legs can pedal that far with Hotaru as extra weight. But, it's what mother wants me to do.
"Yay! We get to eat with daddy!" Hotaru giggled before stuffing her face with more chocolate cereal. I forced myself not to flinch after hearing the word "daddy".
"That's my good girl," mom patted me on the head while she gave me a warm smile.
After breakfast, I dropped off Hotaru at her school. Because we only had one bike, she'd sit on the back everyday. Mom usually left to for work a little after we left for school, and wouldn't come home until late at night.
As I rode towards my school, I noted to myself to tell my teachers that I'd be moving soon. There wasn't going to be an official "wedding." Mom and Ryoji were just going to sign some papers that would legally register them as a married couple, and then afterwards we all would move into a new apartment. Afterwards, I would be attending Ouran Public High School and Hotaru would be attending Ouran Elementary. There was no way I would get into Ouran Academy even if I wanted to; entrance exams aren't given out as if they're free. Haruhi was just an exception since her grades were perfect. My grades were average, so even if Haruhi's prestigious school was offering more entrance exams I wouldn't be invited to take it. It doesn't matter though, I'm already really busy with work.
After school, I'd pick up Hotaru and take her to my workplace. Today was my day off. I only work when the daycare gives me a call, so on average I only work there for three days a week. I work as a part-time assistant at "Niji Daycare," for children ranging from the ages one to eight. On weekends, I work at a music store owned by an old man. He's grouchy, but I can tolerate him pretty well. I love my week-day job. As creepy as it may sound, I really like being around kids. Sure, they're loud, messy, and annoying sometimes but they're so innocent and honest. When children say something, there isn't any other hidden meaning behind them; they say what they really mean.
I find it difficult to connect with kids my own age. Most the girls at my school only talk about make-up, clothes, the latest J pop stars, boys, upcoming dances, or school; I'm not saying that they're all shallow. I'm sure there's plenty of great girls out there, but I don't have time for friends. And frankly, I don't really want any. Any "friends" that I make at school are just temporary; the next year, the people who you sat with at lunch will have grown tired of you and will have moved on to other people. Every year you'll have to make new friends and find another bunch of people who you have to "fit in" with. It's too tiring and pointless. After High school, you won't really see each other again anyways. It will just be a distant memory, and you won't even remember the names of most of those people.
I do have close friends, yes, but they're all younger than me. Most of my friends are kids from the daycare! But I don't mind. But my one and only best friend is my younger sister Hotaru. She may be only six years old, but she is a very clever girl. She can read me like an open book even when my emotions are concealed from the rest of the world. When something is off about me, she is the first to catch on and find out. She is okay with mom remarrying not because she wants a father, but because she knows that it'll make mom happy. She's so altruistic, so pure.
Last night, when we came home from the restaurant, Hotaru asked me if I was feeling alright. I just told her I was tired, but I knew that she didn't believe me. But, she knew I wasn't going to talk about it so she dropped the subject.
I arrived at my school's driveway, so I hopped off of my bike. The girls and boys all wore the same thing; black dress pants, white button-up shirts, black ties, shoes, and black blazers. We all looked like an army of lawyers, clad in suits. I rather liked how both genders were given the same uniform, but many girls at the school complained against it. I can't see why though; sure, the uniform doesn't look very flattering on the ladies. But, in the winter our legs aren't freezing off and we don't have to worry about accidentally flashing someone.
School dragged by as the usual, and the homework load was a little heavier than normal. I was able to quickly bike to Hotaru's school, and sure enough she was at the front patiently waiting for me.
"Onee-san!" She gave me a wide-toothed grin, and after I skidded to a halt she climbed up to the back of the bike and held onto me.
"Was today fun?" I asked her as I started pedaling. Her head was resting on my backpack but I still felt her head nod.
"That's good," we exited the school's driveway and entered the street. I directed the bike over towards the bike lane, and started pedaling faster.
"Are we going to see our new sister?" Hotaru's voice was slightly muffled due to the wind rushing past us, but I could still understand what she was saying with that tiny voice of hers.
"Yeah," I said. We were speeding down, and the world around us was just one colorful blur.
Later...
My sister laughed happily as she was spun around by a blonde boy, who eerily reminded me of Haruhi's dad. A crowd of girls cooed at her, commenting on how adorable she was. The female, yellow-wearing students of Ouran either ignored my presence or openly stared at me.
When Hotaru and I walked in, the first person we saw was that blonde dude. When he asked us who we were, Hotaru answered for us. After Hotaru said that Tamaki looked like a "handsome prince," the guy was so overjoyed he started spinning my sister around.
"That's Haruhi's sister? They look nothing alike!"
"Well, she isn't related to her," were the whispers that circulated around me.
I walked over to the loud blonde who kept on spinning my sister around. In one, swift motion, I scooped her out of his arms and held her close to me. Her head was spinning around in little circles from dizziness, but her face was still smiling widely.
"That was fun!" She nuzzled into me.
"Kawaii!" A group of girls squealed. Have these people never seen a child before? What was this place anyway? My eyes quickly scanned the room, searching for Haruhi. I found her, sitting at a table with some other girls, and they appeared to be talking about something. I was about to walk over when a hand grabbed my arm. Turning my head, I saw it was that blonde boy again.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself, my name is Tamaki Suoh, lovely princess," he bowed as if he was a fairy tale prince. My face remained blank. Hotaru tugged on my sleeve, and I set her back down.
"I'm looking for Haruhi Fujioka," I said.
"But wouldn't you rather spend time with me?" He tilted my face up towards his, and my eyes widened in surprise. Fighting down a rising blush, I couldn't find the right words to say. He took my silence as a good thing, and then went down on one knee.
"Will this lovely princess please tell me what her name is?" He brought my hand to his lips, and kissed it. My mouth was hanging open now, and my usual stoic mask was absent. Quickly shutting my mouth, I pulled my hand away.
"Hitomi Hayashi. Now if you'll be so kind to tell me-"
"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl!" He cut me off. I slightly frowned, but then I washed away my face from any emotion.
"Can you tell me where Haruhi-"
"Why is it that you can only think about Haruhi, princess! Why oh why can't you pay attention to me for once, please..." Tears fell from his violet eyes, but I felt no mercy. He cut me off twice.
"Listen pal, I didn't come here to see you so can you just back off?" Even though I said it like a robot, I could tell that I hurt his feelings for real. He immediately retreated to a corner of the room where he sulked in a tiny ball.
"How rude of her! She hurt poor Tamaki!" A swarm of girls rushed over to the boy's side in order to comfort him, and I was even more confused now. Was this some sort of Butler cafe? I'm pretty sure this is part of some act, right?
"You must be Haruhi's new stepsister, Hitomi and Hotaru Hayashi, am I correct?" A calm voice said. I saw this nerd with glasses, holding a book. Well, he wasn't bad-looking for a- wait...he's pretty good looking actually. I glanced around the room. All the boys were attractive. Well, there was this one boy who appeared to be ten years old, maybe he was the younger brother of someone.
"Hitomi, I'm surprised to see you here," Haruhi said as she walked towards me. She was wearing the guy's uniform, and I didn't blame her.
"My mother suggested that we went home with you, since we would be eating dinner there later anyway. " I said calmly. She gave me a closed-eye smile.
"Sure, but you'll have to wait for a little bit until the club closes."
"We get to go to big sister's house?" Hotaru said sweetly while tilting her head.
"Sister? But Haruhi's a boy!" Said one girl. Hotaru frowned in confusion, and I did too. Before she could open her tiny mouth to say anything, the boy in glasses said:
"She means that Haruhi looks attractive enough to pass off as a girl, isn't that right Hotaru?" He gave my sister a menacing smile, and she understood what he was saying. Although his face was smiling, it was obvious that he was telling Hotaru non-verbally that if she said anything then something bad would happen to her.
"Y-yes!" She squeaked with terror in her eyes. I whipped my head around and glared at the guy. How dare he threaten Hotaru!
"Aww, your such a sweet little thing!" The girl smiled at my sister while patting her head. Hotaru visibly relaxed, and then a little blonde boy came by.
"Would you like to eat cake with me?" Said the boy sweetly. Hotaru gazed at me with sparkling eyes, begging me to approve. I nodded my head, and once she skipped away happily with the young boy I glared at the other guy in glasses.
"Is something the matter, Miss Hayashi?" He said in a cool voice, as if he did nothing wrong.
"Yes, there is. May I have a word with you?" I growled in a low voice. I did not like this guy. Threatening a child?! How did no one else notice him smiling coldly at Hotaru earlier forcing her to lie about Haruhi's gender?! If this room was empty, I would've slapped the glasses right off his pale little face!
"Of course," he led me away to a quieter corner of the room.
"What was the meaning of that?!" I hissed.
"There is no reason to be hostile. I see that Haruhi has not told you about her current circumstance. I'm sure she will explain later, but for now do keep in mind that her gender must be kept a secret due to her...unique situation." I narrowed my eyes at him. He wasn't apologizing!
"But that's still not a valid reason to intimidate a child," he gave me a fake, polite smile.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I only did what I had to in that situation. I hope that this minor incident will be condoned," he said coolly. Sighing, I slipped on my emotionless mask to hide how badly I wanted to punch this guy.
"Of course, since you've done nothing wrong," sarcasm dripped from my voice. Turning on my heel I walked back to where Haruhi and Hotaru were at. Haruhi, along with a group of girls were listening as Hotaru once again recounted the story about pushing a boy off the swings.
"He cried, but it's okay because I gave him a cookie later," she finished with her childish voice. She had some frosting on her face.
"Awww, you're so sweet!" Cooed a girl with shoulder-length hair.
"Hotaru-chan, you should be a little nicer next time," said Haruhi.
"Don't worry! He and I are now best friends!" She giggled. When she saw me walking towards her, her smile grew brighter and she leaped off the lap of the girl she was on, and ran towards me.
"Onee-san!" She jumped up towards me, and I luckily caught her in my arms.
"I was just talking to Big Brother and his new friends!" She gestured towards Haruhi.
"That's nice," I said in a monotone voice. Still holding the child in my arms, I glanced at Haruhi.
"The Host club will be closing in about thirty minutes, can you wait until then?" I merely nodded, and I set Hotaru down who then ran off towards the direction of the little blonde boy from earlier.
I ended up sitting with Haruhi the whole time, incredulous to how the girls couldn't see that Haruhi was also one too. Observing the other hosts, I was able to conclude that this was some sort of Butler café. Based on other people's conversations(that I eavesdropped on) Tamaki was supposed to be the "Prince type,"which would explain why he was behaving so strangely when he met me. The little blonde boy who Hotaru was enjoying cake with is apparently a senior, and the passive-faced boy next to him is his cousin. There are two twins who are mischievous, I don't really remember their names, and that horrible nerd who non-verbally threatened Hotaru is Kyoya. He's some sort of accountant for this "Host club," and by far my least favorite. It's so creepy how he's always typing something on his computer. Why is someone as quiet and studious as Haruhi associating with such a dubious group of boys?
Haruhi's "guests" kept on asking me questions, to which I gave short, one-worded answers to. I was trying to appear cold, so that they would leave me alone. To my dismay, the girls would squeal and rant about how "cool" I was. I'm starting to suspect that everyone who goes to this school is crazy.
When the Host club closed, I was just about ready to take Haruhi and get out as fast as I could but a pair of twins stopped me.
"Now where do you think you're going?" Said thing one.
"Yeah, you haven't even introduced yourself to us," said thing two. Hotaru skipped towards me.
"Onee-san! Mori-san and Honey-san and I had a lot of yummy cake together!" She wrapped her tiny self around me; she only came up to my waist. She lifted her chin up so that she could see me, and she gave me a closed-eye smile.
"Aww, isn't she adorable?" Said one of the twins again.
"Yeah, but this one's a real cutie too," the other one tilted my face towards his while smiling at me like the Cheshire Cat. I shoved him away from me.
"You can drop your acts now," I smoothed down the front of my uniform, which made me look like someone's spy or bodyguard.
"Who said it was an act?" The twins said in perfect sync as they wrapped their arms around my shoulders. Were these people for real?
"Guys, leave her alone she's gonna think that you're all weirdos. Well...never mind you guys are weirdos," Haruhi shooed the twins away from me, and I couldn't help but notice how everyone took an interest to me because Haruhi knew me.
"Haruhi, why are you pretending to me a guy?" I asked with a poker face.
"I broke an vase worth 8,000,000 yen," she said flatly. I didn't say anything for a few seconds. No one said anything actually, everyone seemed to be waiting for my reaction, and so silence loomed over the ornate room. It took a little while for the information to sink in.
"You what?!" Panic washed over me. Eight million yen?!
"Don't worry about it though, I'm working as a Host to pay it off. I'm fine though, really. These guys aren't that bad," her face and voice was just as calm as before, and she said it as if it wasn't a big deal. Mother and I can't earn that money even if we worked twenty-four hours seven days a week for the rest of our miserable lives. I glared at the rest of the boys. This Host club consisted of the twins, the loud flirt from earlier, a tall, emotionless guy who looked like he belonged in a yakuza, a little blonde boy who was playing with Hotaru earlier, and that nerd with glasses who had the audacity to threaten a child. It was such a strange group of people, and the even stranger thing about them was that they were all very attractive. I'm sure they're even more appealing than some J pop stars! They were all handsome and rich, and probably lived in mansions that resembled castles. Careless rich jerks, that's what they are. I eyed them up and down, with a glare plastered on my face.
"Don't be so alarmed princess, we are only just a group of handsome boys with too much time on their hands seeking to entertain beautiful girls who also, have way too much time on their hands. The Host club is basically the playground for the super rich and beautiful," he bent on one knee and grabbed my hand again. Who did he think he is? Some prince? I jerked my hand away.
"Listen pal, I don't know who you think you are but I demand that you get rid of this ridiculous debt. It'll take longer than this girl's entire life to pay off that kind of money. Heck, even if her entire family combined can't make that kind of money. You're probably rich, so why don't you just let it go this one time?" Tamaki only laughed as he stood up. He's laughing?
"You're such a caring sister to Haruhi, I bet you have a kind heart!" Said the blonde. My face froze, and I felt guilty. If Haruhi's dad and my mom found about this huge debt, I will most likely have to help pay it off. I don't want to do that. The only reason why I was so worked up was because I didn't want to work anymore than I already did; I'm selfish. I only looked out for my own interest, and Hotaru's. But when this Tamaki guy thought that I was being a kind soul, I was really just thinking about myself. I felt dirty, and as if I had done something wrong. I put on an emotionless mask and shrugged, not denying or confirming what the boy said. I'm so cruel.
I was introduced to everyone, and everyone was introduced to me. These people live in a very different world. They have different goals, different worries, and they live a completely different reality from me. Living in ornate mansions laced in gold, eating only the finest of foods and being clothed in the most expensive of clothes, these boys don't know what it's like to live in constant worry on whether or not they'll have enough money to get by. Their world is full of limousines, parties, and luxury. They don't have to lift a single finger, because they have hundreds of servants that do everything for them. They live a carefree life, and bask in their wealth. I would expect such group of people to only associate with the most beautiful or wealthy, but they choose to be with Haruhi. She, like me, is nothing more but a little commoner who in the future could even become a servant where they wouldn't be given a second glance. But, here they were, staring at Haruhi and giving her their utmost attention as if she was the most beautiful princess who ever walked the earth. Based on what I've seen, I'm sure all the girls at this school would give anything to be genuinely loved and cared for by these men, these handsome princes. They probably try so hard to look beautiful, to perhaps even receive just a small glance from one of them. Haruhi seems to have captivated all of them without even trying. Life seems to be all too easy for her.
After saying out goodbyes, I walked with Hotaru and Haruhi home. Well, it was Haruhi's home. Two weeks until we all move into one apartment, two more weeks until Haruhi becomes my stepsister. Hotaru happily skipped while humming a song she made up on our way to Haruhi's apartment, and she insisted on holding Haruhi's hand. I slightly smiled, knowing how this change will be good for Hotaru. Even if I may not be happy with our current situation, I can't really do anything about it. I have to endure this, no matter how much I hate it because it's what's best for mom and Hotaru. But, I don't know if I'll ever learn to like Haruhi or Ryoji. They may be becoming our official "family" soon, but they're still strangers to me. Strange people who are too kind for this world, two people who will change everything.
I know that it's childish of me, but I always hoped that maybe our real father would come back one day. Everyday, I always had a small ray of hope of seeing him again, seeing our family happy and together again. Deep down, I always knew this was just a childish fantasy, but I still held on to this hope anyway. But now I know for certain, that this will never be.