Chapter Two: The Dress
Author's Note: Ohmygosh guys. I'm so sorry I haven't written anything for so long. D: I've been having such a horrible case of writer's block, but today I suddenly felt inspired to update this. I didn't have a lot of time to write, but I felt really bad for not updating for so long, and I wanted to leave you guys with something. So sorry if it sounds kinda plotless right now- think of this as a filler that adds a little bit to the plot. Maybe you can already guess the pairings? Oh, and speaking of which, you guys didn't tell me in your reviews which ones you wanted! So I just chose for myself. Hehehehe. (:
A few hours later, an exhausted Airii managed to somehow get into her cottage and trudge up the stairs, before collapsing in an ungraceful heap on her bed.
"Unghh," she groaned. It turned out that a day out Ouran was even tougher than the rigorous curriculum with her tutor. Definitely not because of the advanced learning taking place, pshhh. It was due to the overwhelming amount of walking and socializing that going to school in such a large building as Ouran required. Actually, it was more likely that her futile attempts to remove Hunny from her leg was the reason she felt sapped of all her energy. Airii was just about ready to close her eyes and fall asleep, right there and then, when Sazume cautiously peeked her head into the room.
Upon seeing Airii sprawled on her bed, Sazume plastered a patient smile to her face and entered the room.
"Airii-san?" she asked, letting the worry seep into her voice. "Are you alright, Airii-san?"
Airii immediately jumped up, fixing her hair a little bit, before nodding.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Saa-nee. Just a little bit tired."
"Oh yes, how was your first day at Ouran, Airii? Did your plan go well? Any new friends?"
Sazume knew about Airii's little experiment to see how people would treat a commoner, and she supported Airii wholeheartedly, being a commoner herself.
"My day was fine, thanks for asking. And my plan went great! Everyone was fooled, except this one commoner girl who's dressed up as a guy for some reason. She's my friend now," Airii replied almost coherently.
Sazume grinned now, pulling out the item she had been concealing behind her back. It was the dress, all fixed and tailored to perfection. The long sleeves and collar had been removed, leaving only a square neckline and wide straps. A halter at the back had been added, and the waistline had been cinched to accommodate for Airii's tiny one. Also, the ruffles had been redone, giving an impression of delicacy rather than poofiness.
Airii gasped in surprise, then again in happiness. She hugged Sazume, thanking her for the beautiful work she had done, then hurried off to try the dress on.
It was a perfect fit.
The next day, Airii wore her newly fixed dress to school, drawing attention from all of her classmates. The girls whispered to each other about why a commoner would have such a beautiful dress, and why their Daddies didn't get them dresses like that. The boys… well, the boys just made plans to visit the host club sometime and meet this strange commoner girl who seemed to be floating as she walked around the school.
Haruhi, on the other hand, was just astounded by the gullibility of all the students and faculty of Ouran.
"I can't believe you did that!" she hissed to Airii that day at lunch.
"What do you mean?" Airii innocently replied, delicately wiping her clean mouth on a napkin again.
"You got your dress fixed! Normal girls don't do that! You're the only girl in this whole school who is wearing something different!" Haruhi informed her, waving her hands in the air with frustration.
Airii politely pointed out that Haruhi was also wearing something different, then got up to buy a drink- she had forgotten to pack one.
But by the time Airii returned, the previously empty seats of the lunch table had been occupied by the other members of the host club.
"Oh gosh," she sighed, noting the curious gazes of all of them, except for Kyouya, who stared at Airii as if she were a pile of gold. Money-making gold. "What the heck are you guys doing here?"
Tamaki jabbed a finger dangerously close to Airii's face.
"Daddy does not approve!" he complained, babbling on and on and on about how Airii should refrain from wearing such "revealing clothes". Airii just rolled her eyes. Pshh. Revealing. Yeah, right. Revealing what? Her head? Then, Tamaki went on with his speech;
"Haruhiii~ Maybe you should follow Asami's example and get a dress like that too? Daddy will pay for it! ^^"
Haruhi immediately smacked him away from her, vehemently vowing never to wear something like that. She stalked off, muttering under her breath about rich people.
Meanwhile, Hikaru and Kaoru had been very interested in how Airii had gotten her dress fixed. They walked in circles, examining her outfit while nodding. Finally, they told Airii about how their mom was a fashion designer, and asked whether Airii could refer the person who tailored her dress to their mom. Airii agreed, and the twins smiled at her, then ran off to go do something else.
Right as the twins left, Hunny came bounding over, followed by an ever-faithful Mori.
"Asa-chan!" the little blonde beamed up at Airii. "I like your dress! Now, let's go eat some cake!"
Airii smiled at Hunny.
"Sure, but can you wait a while? I need to finish my lunch first. Oh wait, here you go!" Airii handed Hunny her untouched strawberry cheesecake, then watched in amazement as he seemed to eat it in one bite, and skipped away again, with Mori silently following behind him.
"See you at the host club, Asa-chan!" Hunny seemed to yell extra-loud. The heads of all the students eating lunch in the cafeteria suddenly turned and stared at Airii.
Airii blushed furiously. She looked down, and pretended to suddenly take great interest in her "commoner's lunch"- a bowl of garden vegetable salad, with olive oil dressing, and a sprinkling of basil leaves. She methodically stabbed a piece of lettuce and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly, fully aware that the crunching sound was the only noise in the dining room at the time. After about five bites, Airii heard people resume their talking and gossiping, and sighed in relief. She was just about to get up to throw away the rest of her lunch when she noticed that Kyouya was still sitting across from her, studying her.
"Uh… can I help you with something, Kyouya- senpai?" she hesitantly asked. Kyouya started writing something down on the notepad he always carried around, then looked up at her. He seemed surprised that she was still sitting there.
"Oh, my apologies, Asami-san. I was just thinking about something. Make sure you come to the host club later," Kyouya said as he got up and walked away, leaving Airii sitting alone at the lunch table, her half-eaten lunch forgotten as she closed her eyes and tried to block out the whispers of gossip that was starting all around her. She hated rumors…
Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! You don't know how much it means to me when you guys add my story to your watch list or favorites. And reviews are LOVE. 3 Also, thanks for being so patient! I love you guys~
Also, apparently I'm not allowed to post links onto my fanfics... so you'll just have to use your imagination to see what the dress looks like! ;)