I do not own Ouran High School Host Club - I can't nearly draw that well!
"So… you want me to sit here on this seat and play the piano?"
Tamaki nodded eagerly, "Yes! My dear lady, please sit down and let us hear your sweet, lovely music."
Akiko gave the blonde second-year a wary look and fibbed, "I don't know how to play piano."
She felt a tug on her sleeve. Akiko glanced down to see Honey looking up at her, "But Aki-chan! I saw you playing the piano! Why are you lying? Do you not like Tama-chan?"
"See! You are clearly lying!" Tamaki exclaimed, pointing at her.
What's up with his sudden mood changes? Akiko bitterly thought to herself, One minute, he's as courteous as a prince but in the next, he's just a bumbling, eccentric child. It's like his mother never was around to raise him and he still needs guidance, she studied Tamaki, then again, he is like a leader in most ways.
"Fine," she said grumpily, crossing her arms, "But I won't be playing for you, Suoh-san."
"Aki-hime," Tamaki walked towards her and put a hand under her chin, lifting it closer to his face until they were only centimeters apart, "Please, call me Tamaki. We're too close for formalities."
"Ugh, please get away from me, Suoh-san," groaned Akiko. At her words, Tamaki rushed to his too-well-known corner where he succeeds in his career of mushroom farming. Akiko rolled her eyes before facing the shorter blonde boy beside her, "Hey, Honey, you can go entertain your guests. I'll start playing in a minute."
Honey nodded excitedly and skipped towards Mori. Akiko turned to the piano, studying it as she had when Tamaki had revealed it. He hadn't shown her any of the other musical instruments that were probably stored in the room.
She sat down on the plush, red velvet piano seat, her fingers hovering over the keys. She shut her eyes, mentally going through the lists of songs she had memorized so long ago. After a moment, she took a deep breath and started playing. The song she was playing was a sad one – but Akiko always felt like she could relate to it.
The tune coming from the piano caused the Hosts and many of the customers to look up and stare at her in awe. Akiko couldn't see their expressions, and she panicked when she felt their gazes practically burning a hole through her. They must really, really hate my music… drats.
She slowed when she reached the end of the song, letting the last note linger in the air. Before anyone could say a thing, Akiko continued with a different song.
She couldn't stop playing in fear of people shunning her for her horrible performing.
Tamaki watched Akiko play, his eyes wide in astonishment. Hikaru and Kaoru appeared behind him, smirking.
"You love her…" Kaoru started, whispering in Tamaki's ear.
"…don't you?" finished Hikaru.
Tamaki flew out of his seat and flailed his arms, "No! Of course not! I respect her like I do with all princesses! I –"
"You have to admit," interrupted Haruhi, "Akiko-san's music is very good. Wouldn't you agree, Kyoya?" The brunette glanced at the black-haired schemer.
Kyoya stopped his typing to push up his glasses, "She will be of benefit to the Host Club."
The twins and Haruhi sweat-dropped, "Is that all you care about?"
The Shadow King glared at them, "Yes."
"You're really amazing, Aki-chan!" Honey chirped, sitting on the piano bench next to Akiko.
A great krrcccchhh filled the music room, causing many of the customers to cover their ears in shock and pain. The Hosts had gone back to hosting a few hours ago, and Akiko had relaxed when she realized that not as many people were staring at her. She had even taken a few breaks to drink water and relax her hands. She couldn't even remember the last time when she had practiced piano for longer than an hour. How long did these idiots spend each day woo-ing these poor young ladies?
Akiko flushed, "Honey! Um, er, thanks…"
Honey beamed, "No problem!" He skipped back to Mori and started to eat cake again. Akiko stared after him, a quizzical look on her face.
"Attention, everyone! The Host Club is now closed for today!" Tamaki announced, "Please come again tomorrow, my dear princesses!"
A few girls giggled and whispered to each other, and Akiko could swear she saw some of them wiping a few tears away. Many of them crowded around Kyoya, making tomorrow's reservations for their favorite Hosts.
What kind of girls are they? Akiko wondered, They're not like any people I've ever met. Don't they realize that this whole thing is an act?
"Hey, Aki –" the twins started to say, but Akiko cut them off, "Sorry, Hikaru-san and Kaoru-san! I need to go home now! Bye!"
She grabbed her bag and ran out of the room, hoping to avoid whatever chaos that the Host Club ensues after they close.
xXx
Akiko sat at the dining table, chewing her pencil. There wasn't much else to do – she didn't understand her schoolwork, and there was no way she was going to ask someone for help. Hiroshi didn't come home yet, so she couldn't chat with him like she usually did.
Unexpectedly, the house phone beside her broke the silence. Akiko yelped in surprise, falling off her chair. Rubbing her sore back, she scrambled up and grabbed the phone.
"Hello?" she said into the mouthpiece.
"Is this Hana Yamada?" a deep, man's voice asked.
"Sorry, my aunt isn't available. Would you like to leave a message for her?" Akiko tapped her pencil eraser on the wooden table, already bored. Business-people called a lot, asking for her aunt, so Akiko was used to this.
"Yes, I would," said the man on the line. He paused before asking, "Are you her niece, Akiko Kimura?"
"Yes, sir, I am," she confirmed.
"Please tell your aunt that the betrothal plan has gone well," the guy hung up, making the phone make a beeping sound.
Akiko's brow furrowed, her mouth pressed in a thin line. Betrothal…? she thought to herself. Her aunt was very elderly and it was unlikely that she would get married. I shouldn't worry about it… unless….
Her eyes widened, …unless I'm the one who's getting married.
It was impossible. She knew that people of rich standard did get betrothed at young ages, but… her aunt wouldn't do that, right? Her aunt knew that Akiko's parents didn't want her to be forced into marriage.
"I guess I'll need to ask her…" Akiko said to herself. She sighed and leaned back. The door to the room burst open, causing Akiko to fall out of the chair. Her head knocked into a chair.
"Not again…" she groaned, rubbing her aching head.
"I'm sorry, Aki-nechan! Do you want ice?" Hiroshi asked, rushing over to his sister. Akiko brushed him off, "Don't worry, Hiroshi. I'm fine. Did you want anything?"
Hiroshi flushed, and looked at the ground sheepishly, "… No. I was just wondering where you were."
Akiko stared blankly at her brother for a minute, slightly annoyed but happy that Hiroshi cared enough to look for her. She reached up and ruffled her adopted brother's hair, "Okay, little bro. Go and play now. I need to do schoolwork."
"Talk to you later!" he ran out of the room to play upstairs. Akiko laughed to herself, feeling sorry for whatever well-payed servant that will have to take care of him. She felt a small smile enter her face. Once Oba-san came back home, Akiko could tell her about the call and ask her what the man had meant.
xXx
Akiko groggily opened her eyes, dead tired. She had stayed up so late the previous night, but her aunt had been at a business meeting and couldn't return until… who knows when. Unfortunately, none of the servants had told her about the meeting until it was past eleven p.m..
"Miss Akiko?" a maid knocked on the door, "It's time to get ready to go to school."
"Then tell the school that I'm suffering from insomnia!" Akiko retorted, stuffing her face into a pillow.
There was a pause before the maid responded, "Miss Yamada said that she can't tell you some important information after school if you don't go to school."
Akiko jumped up and ran into her private bathroom to get ready. Outside the door, the maid chuckled to herself.
"Now, I don't see why she shouldn't wake up like this every day," the young employee smiled to herself.
xXx
Akiko stretched her arms out and leaned on the chair, tilting her head backwards so she was looking up at the ceiling. She didn't bother to cover her yawn – not many students were in the classroom anyways. Akiko shut her eyes, relief flowing through her. Today was – simply put – a boring day. There was no escape from the multitude of tests that were given today.
Out of nowhere, Akiko could feel someone breathing on her face. She reluctantly opened her eyes, and she saw the face she was hoping to never see again.
"You… you… you-disgusting-piece-of-filth-I-hope-to-never-see-you-again!" Akiko sat upright, nearly causing her head to collide with Tamaki's. She stood up and faced him, "You imbecile! How dare you bring your worthless face so close to one of a girl's? You pervert! Creepy creepy pervert!"
Tamaki gasped and hid behind Kyoya. "Mommy!" he cried, "Our baby girl is being mean to her daddy! She's using bad words again!"
When Kyoya ignored him, Tamaki retreated to his corner of doom. Akiko coughed, trying to hold her laughter in. But soon enough, she was laughing so hard that she was gripping her desk to keep from falling on the floor.
Kyoya paused in the middle of whatever he was writing in his mysterious notebook and glanced at Akiko before resuming, and even Tamaki rose out of the pit of despair he was in to stare at Akiko.
Akiko finally caught her breath, wiping a few tears away from her eyes, "Ah, that was a good one. Well, see you guys tomorrow!" She waved to the two Hosts and was about to leave when Tamaki grabbed her arm.
"Hmm?" she blinked at him, "What do you want, Suoh-san?"
"We're going on a trip!" Tamaki told her excitedly.
"Wha.. what? I don't need to be part of that, right?"
Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose, "Actually, because you're part of the Host Club,
Akiko slumped, "No kidding."
"Your aunt approves. She cancelled all of your activities you had to do today, so you have no reason to not come with us," stated Kyoya.
Akiko sweatdropped, "You actually talked to my aunt? Well, I –"
She stopped speaking, leaving her mouth hung open as she stared at Kyoya. Shock ran through her as she realized that Kyoya… must know her secret. That is, if he had actually contacted her aunt. She hadn't told anyone that her parents had... and Kyoya did seem like the prying type... Her surprise turned into hate as she glared at Kyoya. He smirked at her.
"Hey," Tamaki put a hand on her shoulder, making her look at him, "Aki-hime, you should keep laughing." He put a hand under her chin and leaned closer to her, "You look much more lovelier when you're smiling."
Before Akiko could respond, Tamaki started prattling on about the trip to who-knows-where, and he began to lead her out of the classroom. She followed, but her mind was somewhere else.
A/N: I know that you probably don't want to waste time for reading this, but I have a real reason as to why I haven't updated yet! First of all, I really want to apologize on the mess-up the other day. I accidently posted the beginning chapter of a story I had took off the site. So sorry!
So, when I was writing this chapter, I had extreeeeme writer's block. I was stuck trying to figure out what I should do. Fortunately, I got through that and had written about 1,000 words when I lost my flashdrive and I had to start from the middle of the chapter and I had completely forgot what direction I was going in. Oh well!
BUT THEN - my family was too busy and I had no time to write. See, we just moved to a completely different country because my mom's in the military. Anyways, I'll give you a hint as to where I am. I'm where "America's Day Begins!"
I know this chapter isn't the best, but I promise, the romance is going to be coming up real soon! And there will be an actual plot to this.
Also, a couple of chapters ago, I had asked you guys what story I should do after this story, and I decided to settle with Annoying Love, but...
I realized...
Take a Bow, Take a Breath would make a perfect sequel to this, just with a new OC. So I think I'll just do that. Fiddlesticks, I really am horrible at making decisions and not changing my mind, aren't I? Anyways, if any of my beloved readers would like to know about the stories I plan to write after this one, feel free to ask or PM me!
Please review! I would love it if you gave me any suggestions or told me what you like or dislike about this story. I mean, I love all the reviews I get, but I love it so much when you guys say more than one sentence. I hope I don't sound whiny...
I wish you all a good farewell! May we meet again!