I, Hanabi Mirei, own nothing of Ouran High School Host Club.

I don't even own Kadomiya Keiichi as he belongs to Bisco Hatori-sama as well.

I only own my OCs and this fanfiction.

Have fun reading!

This fanfiction is based on the manga version of Ouran High School Host Club.

May I Love You?

By Hanabi Mirei

CHAPTER 3

After the weekend ended, I went back to school as usual. The different thing that I would be doing today was...

Joining the host club.

My heart raced when my thought paused to that particular topic. I didn't really know what reason I should give when Suoh-senpai asked for it. I mean, come on, after thousands of rejection and suddenly he accepted the fact that I would join immediately?

Souh Tamaki was not that stupid.

Not only that, I was afraid that I would see him with his partner, Ootori Kyoya-san.

If Tamaki didn't suspect my sudden change of behavior, then Ootori-san would. He was a very sharp person and I didn't like dealing with him very much. Living up the Ootori name, I didn't know what I should do. He probably knew the answer already.

Business connection.

Somehow, my heart didn't mind it as much as it minded the Suoh if my reasoning was found out. I felt immensely guilty about this.

Sighing, I sat down on my seat in the classroom after greeting my classmates. Rubbing my temples lightly, I tried to figure out what method should I use to not make the accepting suspicious.

Everything is suspicious.

You wouldn't go like, "Okay, I'll go because you're so persistent." after thousands of rejection would you? Or go like, "Fine, I'm going if only..." you stated your requirements there in the dots. An act would be needed here...

"Mornin', Kadomiya!" Saotome Masato put his bag as he sat in the seat in front of mine.

I greeted him back before continuing my train of thoughts, trying to keep replying to his current trivial blabbering.

"Yeah..." I answered

"Hey, ya listenin', Kadomiya?" Masato took a hint of my distant answers.

"... Not really, sorry." I smiled guiltily at him, "I got lots of things inside my head right now... Trying to solve the puzzle..."

Masato looked at me weird all of the sudden, "So there is something the Kadomiya Keiichi couldn't solve..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Now it was my turn to look at him oddly.

"Dude, ya're a genius and everyone thought of ya as the definition of perfect. No problem and such; like, living a totally happy life." He elaborated with some hand gestures.

I chuckled lightly at the new information, "Oh, come on. That is not true. I have my weaknesses as well as problems. It's just that I tried to solve it as efficient as possible."

He just nodded, understanding.

The bell rang a few minutes after our brief conversation. The teacher came in and we greeted him like always before the class began.

oOoOoOo

"Kadomiya Keiichi!" the teacher of the second period called my name.

I stood up to take the paper from the old man. Walking for the paper, I felt eyes followed me. I took the paper from the teacher when he said,

"It's another perfect score, Kadomiya-san. Keep it up!" he spoke in English.

"Thank you and I will, Sir." I replied him with the same foreign language.

I looked at the number that I'd scored at the latest English test.

10/10.

Proud of my work, I let myself smile happily. A whistle sounded in front of me. I looked up to see Masato looked at the number I had scored as well and found a light scowl tugged on his mouth.

"Dude, how did ya do that? I could have sworn that the test was a piece of cake and yet I didn't score perfect." He raised an eyebrow questionably.

"... Uhm, I studied?" I dumbly answered my maroon-haired friend.

He gave me the oh-really-expression, "Ya sure? Ya didn't take any of those courses and such? Or maybe an extensive English lesson?"

I shook my head, "No. I just like English, so learning the language is kind of a breeze."

Masato looked at his own test paper and borrowed mine, trying to see the differences. As he took my paper, I paid more attention at the students that were being called forward to receive the same paper.

"Hitachiin Kaoru!" the old man called out to the boy.

I turned my attention to the Hitachiin who were sitting next to each other. Guessing that the right one was the younger Hitachiin, I was wronged when it was actually the left that took the paper. It seemed that I gave him a certain face because he raised an eyebrow at me slightly, hinting that he noticed my sudden attention on him. I immediately looked away from the eye contact and rolled my eyes to another student. From my peripheral vision, however, I could see the sitting Hitachiin saw this.

What had just happened?

"Oh! I see!" my friend's voice brought my attention to him.

I turned to him, ignoring the pair of eyes on my head, "You know the differences now?"

"Yeah! Man, I forgot to change some of the words into their plural form. That's why I didn't score maximum." He grumbles at the last sentence.

I chuckled lightly, "Don't worry. There are more than 3 tests to undergo before the final scoring. You should do more for those tests."

He nodded and his eyes suddenly looked at something from my left side before looking at me. He gave me an unreadable expression when he met my eyes.

"What?" I blinked.

He then mouthed, 'Hitachiin'

My eyebrows furrowed at the mention of the name.

'Why were they looking at me?' I thought silent.

I shook my head lightly, quietly telling Masato to not bother. He nodded his head, not wanting to get into my business. Trying to distract the heir of Saotome, I threw a topic into the conversation.

"The Saotome's Corporation 30th Anniversary is on the 25th. Are you ready for the party?" I lightly asked.

He frowned immediately, "As much as I love my family, I can't stand how my necktie has to be very tight. It's literally suffocating me, man!"

I laughed at the expression he gave, "You've got to get used to it by now. You're going to do that for a lifetime, you know."

He grumbled, "Well, yeah, sure. Sometimes I wish I'm the second son of the family so that I won't be the heir. Being an heir is such a pain."

"Now, now. It's our calling for that one." I leaned back on my chair.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, 30th of April, that's your birthday, right?" He ruffled his maroon hair, making it messier than before.

I nodded, acknowledging the nearing birthday.

"Then ya'll be doing a birthday party, right?"

I nodded again, knowing that Father and Mother would want to celebrate this like any other year for business purpose. My heart clenched lightly at the notion of celebrating another party without that person. Something inside of me disagreed once again at how submissive I was about 'letting my parents walk their way in my life', especially for an event this big.

No, more like for this particular event every single year.

"Yeah. Like every other year, Saotome-kun." I smiled.

Snap!

I winced at the pain I gained on my forehead. My eyes looked at the maroon head in confusion for his abrupt change of behavior. Frowning, I asked what was wrong that he had to flick my forehead all of the sudden.

"I know what ya're thinking, Keiichi." He suddenly changed how he called me with.

I blinked before lowering my eyes. Masato maybe an idiot, but that didn't mean all those years together went to waste just like that. He could smartly pick up on things that I was thinking. Even after I had changed for some years, he didn't go away. He stayed as the person who I could cling on for a while until I recovered.

With my lips turned upward for a bit, I looked back at him. He took this as a sign to continue,

"Ya're thinking about Shiori-chan, right?" he bravely spoke the name I hadn't heard coming out of the people's mouth for some time.

I missed it, but of course I missed her more than anything.

"It's been quite a while since I heard her name being spoken, even from you, Masato."

Masato smiled sadly and closed his eyes as he spoke, "I am trying not to. But, what can I say? It's your birthday. A birthday should be celebrated with the people ya love."

I nodded my head in agreement. 'Another incomplete birthday party to hold. A forever incomplete one.'

"... I miss her," I muttered, "Everything of her."

oOoOoOo

I was brought inside a dream where everything was white. I looked around the odd place with nothing in mind, simply wanting to know my surrounding. There, a few feet behind me, a music box was placed on the concrete floor. My back turned to face that familiar looking object. My mind took control of my body, wanting to touch that wooden box.

Crouching to get ahold of it, I was surprised to see the box was gone. My eyes saw a pair of tiny feet instead. Moving my vision upward, I slowly saw a thin body of a girl, wrapped with a simple white cloth. I slowly saw the person's face. Her green eyes stood out from her face. They were looking at me…

No, they were looking through me.

The girl was looking at me bitterly. Her expression showed of how disappointed she was to me. Arms that she linked behind her back slowly pulled apart and her right hand extended towards me. Does she want me to take her lending hand?

As if she could hear my thoughts, she nodded. With her eyes still looking sad, she gave me a strained smile. My body moved on its own, reaching for her hand. When my hand did, my eyes widened when my hand went through hers. It seemed like she did not expect that to happen as she jumped lightly.

She seemed to understand the reason behind the peculiar contact because she smiled again and shook her head. Tilting her head lightly, she pulled back her hand, linking them once again behind her back. When she looked at me, her lips moved, forming a word after another.

My ears couldn't hear anything she said. I asked her to repeat, but she only waved me goodbye.

oOoOoOo

The night of the 30th had come and gone. It was like any birthday party of the rich people to have. Tall birthday cake, dressed in a fine of suit and tie and dresses for the ladies, amazingly decorated hall, five stars cooking from top Western and Japanese chefs, music played by a well-known orchestra, and of course the mountain of birthday presents were there. Adults talked among themselves in small groups with their children copying their action. I looked at the crowd filled with people I knew as well as not. Most of the adults were of course friends of my parents, while I only know a handful of the teenagers of my age and some younger and older ones. In instance, the Haninozuka's and Morinozuka's Head Family came to congratulate my aging self with their sons, Haninozuka Mitsukuni, Haninozuka Yasuchika, Morinozuka Takashi, and Morinozuka Satoshi.

Some whom I didn't really know well were of course the Suoh and Ootori. I put on my business smile as both Suoh Yuzuru and Ootori Yoshio gave me their well wishes before that business smile cracked a bit at the sight of Suoh Tamaki following his father. My business smile was mirroring the perfect fake smile of Ootori Kyoya right after that. I could hear his whisper quite loud when he made his way to the drinking station.

"It's a pleasure of working with you in the near future," he said with what I swore to be a smirk.

Yes, I had accepted Suoh-senpai's offer of being a member of the host club. I remembered clearly of how his jaw dropped to the floor at how I 'submitted' to him. Well, of course, he asked for my reasoning of suddenly taking the offer. I chose to answer them with honesty that my lessons were taken back, so I had the time to go to the club now. I joked that it would do me some entertainment other that books. After that, I told them some of my condition of being a member of the club. Not long after that, I found myself on the ground with Tamaki on top of me, holding me close all the way, blocking my way of breathing.

He was pulled back by a tired looking Ootori Kyoya and apologized for the Suoh heir rash action. I shrugged, saying that it was okay and thanked him for the help. Suoh-senpai expressed slight discouragement, but he popped back into his happy-go-lucky personality as he told the black haired boy about how happy he was for I accepted his offer. Kyoya said that he had heard the agreement for himself, saying that he watched the whole thing while pushing his glasses.

I wasn't aware that my nervousness in the beginning had melted away easily and I came back to my normal self. I informed them again about what I would do and they agreed to it with some conditions, knowing that it was something my father had to do with. Finally, we agreed to each other's term and wa-la!

My mom called me in no less than a minute after that to reunite me with two who had one shared my fate of being chased by Suoh-senpai, Hitachiin Hikaru and Hitachiin Kaoru. The twins wore the same bored expression and I could see clearly how they didn't want to be here. They were probably forced to come by Hitachiin Yuzuha due to the fact that my mother and theirs were quite close to each other just recently. The Hitachiin brothers grumbled a "Happy Birthday" to me after a jab was given from the female fashion designer.

When I felt sure that no one was going to look for me, I went to the balcony. To my surprise and pleasure, no one was there. I got the entire space for myself. My feet take me near the railings and my hands automatically moved for a comfortable leaning position with a glass of fruit punch in my left hand. Looking at the broad dark sky above, I sighed.

The balcony used to be the place where I and my dearest sibling hid from the crowd. No one was looking for us whenever we went here which brought us a sense of peace. In this same spot, we sat, stood, and started to talk about anything that came in our mind. From some stingy ladies' bad fashion taste until the taste of the food that were prepared. We laughed and talked like the world was filled with only the two of us.

I still remembered how we didn't really want to talk to our classmates since we had met them every single day nor did we talk much to our closer acquaintances like Takashi-nii. It was either I forgot the reason why or we plainly didn't care about it because we got each other. And having each other was already enough… until one of us left.

It was then that the world felt very lonely and vast. Everything felt new and frightening. I had been forced to face the universe with little time to recover from the wound of losing my other self. No one was there to protect me, to calm me down, to cheer me up, and to give me attention when Mom and Dad were just too busy. Masato had been there, but it wasn't the same.

Everything just wasn't the same.

"Ah! Keiichi! What are you doing here alone when you have a fantastic party for yourself, mon ami?"

I didn't need to turn my head to see who talked. Who else if it wasn't the heir of the Suoh to speak 'mon ami' out of the people I know of? To be polite, I turned myself to face him when he reached the spot beside me.

"Good evening, Suoh-senpai." I smiled lightly.

He glanced at me again with his index finger being moved from side to side in a 'tut-tut' way, "You didn't answer my question yet, Keiichi. And you should call me Tamaki instead! Suoh-senpai is too formal. It made me feel old as well!"

"Well," I looked back at the shining stars, "I had been searching for fresh air."

The blonde looked at me with a weird face, "Why would you need the evening breeze to be of comfort? Haven't the fantastic party done you good?"

I laughed lightly before turning to him, "I'm not the party people, Suoh-senpai."

"Not anymore…" I muttered.

Tamaki turned to me all of the sudden, making me aware that he had hear of what I muttered. His face expressed how he wanted me to elaborate further. I contemplated my next move as my heart and my mind were fighting for dominance. The little battle, however, was won by my heart.

'It's not like he knows her anyway… ' I thought silently.

"Well, Senpai, I am missing someone who hasn't been coming to my birthday party for some years now. She didn't give me any message nor call for the absence. We lost contact of each other I guess even though her parents attended this party." I explained, not wanting to give more information of the person I was referring to.

"Oh, my! Keiichi has a crush on someone?!" Tamaki gaped, "Who is this lucky girl might I ask?"

I smiled lightly, denying his jumping conclusion, "No, no, Senpai. I love her in a brother and sister relationship, not in that way."

The senior nodded his head, "I see. You know, Keiichi? The more I know you, the more I want to do some change about you."

"Uh, what?" I sweat dropped at him, not getting what he said.

"I don't know why, but I feel as though you're putting a mask like how Kyoya used to do. Though, you're different from Kyoya. Behind his mask, Kyoya was cunning, but behind your mask? I'm thinking of the line of more secrets." Tamaki said in a serious voice as he tried to figure me out.

I blink my eyes at him before turning my gaze to the starts above once again.

'Hee~ He doesn't know how right he is.'

Author's Note :

I'M ALIVE! :D

I'm sorry for the late update! Fanfiction was blocked from my internet all of the sudden! I was so upset that I almost downloaded a proxy just to upload the next chapters of my stories! It's a good thing I didn't because I never used a proxy before and I don't really know if it's alright to use it. My big bro has jsut given me a program that could safely open the blocked sites from the internet soooo here I am now!

I will add the next chapter of my other stories as well this week! This information is of course for those who has read my other fanfics :D

I do hope that this chapter doesn't cause a lot of confusion and such and that you like it!

Thank you for those who still read this story! It means a lot to me! For those who only read but didn't review, it's alright! I'm happy!

For Kookie: Thank you for being my only reviewer for my previous chapter! :D And thank you for the compliment as well! I'm glad that this story keeps you on the edge (just kidding!) and that the plot is interesting enough to continue reading :') I hope to hear your opinion for this chapter and the ones in the future! :D

Thank you for those who has added this story in their alert or favorites as well!

Just, thank you!

Reviews are appreciated! PM me if you need me for something or just want to talk to me :P

I hope to see you soon!

Love,

Hanabi Mirei