ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.
All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D
-Aloe
PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.
Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!
Dear Universe,
You suck. And I don't mean that in a jokingly way. You. Totally. Suck. Not only did you send me some dark welcome wagon that almost made me want to commit suicide, but you also dumped me at a house—no, mansion—containing two of the most annoying guys ever. I am now being blackmailed by these two chumps, Hikaru and Kaoru, just because they caught me using magic with a stupid phone. Gosh, how much do I want to crush that phone. But I can't, you want to know why? No, you already know why. It's all because those rich bastards made copies. Dammit.
The whole annoying thing is intensified because the two are identical twerps. Yep, I'm dealing with twins. Selfish, blackmailing, controlling, weird, possessive, annoying twins. ARGH! I wish I could just bury them in all of those videos they made of me! When I got here, I was depressed. Now, I'm just ticked off. What's worse is that they are making me stick around them and they won't leave me alone. I even have to go to school with them. Oh, what a joy that's going to be.
Shortly after I arrived, they really did take me to get a haircut. Now, my hair is about two inches from my shoulders, cut in layers to avoid it from looking like a boy's hairstyle. My side bangs remain long, but twins wanted to "see my eyes" so the long frontal bangs I was so usually proud of have been trimmed. I liked hiding behind them—they gave me a sense of successful cut-off from the world. Now I am fully exposed. The only upside to that whole make-over was that I got some new clothes. The truth is, I really don't want to accept anything from those two. But the fact of the matter is that I don't plan on staying in the same outfit all the time. Dammit times two.
Want to hear the fun part? This morning, I was in my new hotel, princess-like room, cursing you as usual, when suddenly, Hikaru and Kaoru came in all sneaky-like with a dress. But this dress was not an ordinary dress. It's my new school uniform. The dress is a creamy yellow and long, past my knees. It hugged my waist while puffing out with the skirt. The part where the sleeve meets the torso, you know, the shoulder region, was also puffy. And at the neck, there was a skinny red bow. Do you want to know my response after seeing that girly looking thing?
Hellllllllll no.
Somehow, they knew that I wasn't going to put it on easily. So their response was to flash the video in my face. When I started to curse them and you, Hikaru and Kaoru left the room with sneaky smiles leaving two maids—who were also twins…ugh—who came in and tore my clothes off. Before I knew it, I was wearing the horrid dress as well as white stockings. While looking at myself in the mirror—with the biggest grimace ever—the twins came back in, stopping me just before I used my power to burn the sad waste of sewing materials. Inspecting the two closer, I saw that they were wearing their uniforms as well. They wore light blue blazers with white shirts, as well as black pants and a black tie with a purple stripe down the middle. On anybody else, I would've said that it was a pretty impressive looking uniform. But on them, I wanted to rip it all up.
Now, I'm in their stupid limo on the way to Ouran Academy. I can't stop thinking about the shadow things and my whole situation. Leaving such valuable friends still hurts…and the thought of having to do it again hurts even more. I would've loved to stay in one of those worlds. But the whole problem was those two girls, Tohru and Kagome. If I had never known about them, would I really have considered one of those two my one true love? I'm still not sure, and it sucks that I don't. Do I feel regret about leaving? I don't know that either. Taiitsukun definitely isn't making anything easy for me. I just wish that all of this wasn't so confusing. The wish of wanting to be as far away from these twins may or may not be stronger.
Love Always, With a HUUUUUGE amount of sarcasm,
Aki
P.S. I tried the whole flying thing that Taiitsukun suggested. Hovered above the ground for about ten seconds, then fell straight to the floor face first. You truly suck.
"Hey, Aki. Why are you staring into space for?" Hikaru and Kaoru sat at both of my sides in the limo.
I sighed without trying to sound too bitter. "Oh, just taking mental notes."
"Regarding what?"
No answer.
"C'mon Aki, lighten up! You get to go to school with us!" Oh joy.
"It's gonna be fun! You'll see." Kaoru guaranteed. My response was to groan and continue staring out the window—watching all background images go by swiftly. I wasn't even completely sure if the one who spoke was Kaoru. Those two were freakin' identical and equally annoying. Not that I didn't have the ability to distinguish them—I mean, even twins have their differences, it was a matter of taking the time out to isolate them. The thing just was: I didn't care. But for the sake of not repeatedly saying "one of the twins said", I was just going to assign one of them a name whenever they spoke, not really giving a damn if I was right or not.
Don't give me that look. You probably think I'm being insensitive to them. How twins are "different people" and "individuals" and should be treated as such. Well, if you haven't caught onto the little arrangement they forced upon me, then have a nice time re-reading the past couple chapters. I was allowed to treat them however I wanted after they had the nerve to blackmail me.
Noticing Hikaru and/or Kaoru smirk, I tried my best to ignore him. "You know, if you smile more you'll make other friends. Things aren't as bad as you're making them out to be." Boy were they in for a big surprise about my character.
Glancing at him without turning my head, I reminded him, "You're blackmailing me. If you didn't even have that damn video, I wouldn't even be here."
"But since we did find out about you being a witch, you have to stick with us!"
Snapping my head towards him, I tried my best to make sure that I got my point across. "Sorceress!"
They both tried to look away innocently. "Yeah, what you said."
Clenching my fists, I resumed my attention back to the outside. What is this new place gonna be like? Any kind of school and I never really agreed with each other. My grades were always pretty much perfect—I wouldn't accept anything lower, and neither would my parents. You know, if they ever cared in the first place. Living in the shadow of my older sibling was never easy, but I had learned to accept it a long time ago. The sad thing about school was that studying was the simple part. Having to go to school with a bunch of other rejecting kids was difficult. It was hard to live with all of their eyes watching me every day as if I had some sort of disease. While it is true that I was taught not to trust anyone at a young age, barely anyone had tried to put in the effort of being my friend. However, because of the damned negative aura around me, people were constantly repelled no matter what happened. School was such a lonely place—home was too, but people there were forced to stay with me. My school in America was slightly better with the whole people-not-knowing-who-I-was thing. But even so, I still felt like an outcast and never got close to anyone. If Kyoko and Saru never came along, I probably would have never talked at all.
Aside from all that, the school I last went to with the Sohma's got totally desecrated—courtesy of the shadow creatures and yours truly. So, call me crazy if I think that going to yet another school is not the best idea.
But apparently my opinion doesn't matter.
Before I could wallow in self-pity any more, my eyes caught a glimpse of what seemed like the combination of a castle and…a…school. Holy crap! Is that Ouran? It had building with up to four stories made of some impressive bright, sturdy marble. The colors were really welcoming and peppy, complemented by the flower gardens that surrounded it. Just by looking at it, I could already tell that this was a private, spoiled, rich-kids school. No school that looked as prestigious as that was public in any way. Just thinking about a school filled with a bunch of Hikarus and Kaorus made my body shudder.
I completely didn't notice that the limo had stopped because when I finally snapped out of my thoughts, the twins were already standing outside, welcoming me out. Some of the other students started to stop and see what the two were looking at.
Breathing in deeply, I decided to just get everything over with.
The sun was bright, shining in my face as I looked at Ouran Academy up close. I was still completely stricken with awe—this place was really impressive. Not allowing me to gawk any longer, Hikaru and Kaoru looped their arms to mind to get me to start walking forward, through the large entrance gates.
While going throughout their business, I felt eyes staring at me—the new girl.
"Who's that with the Hitachiin twins?"
"Is she their cousin?"
"I wonder if the rest of the Host Club has seen her…"
"Aren't the twins looking super handsome today?"
"Hi Kaoru! Hi Hikaru!" Waved a group of seemingly fan-girls.
"Hello ladies!" They replied at the same time. No way. These two are popular? What kind of twisted world is this?
Seeing a lot of the eyes looking at me made me blush a little. I was never a fan of people staring at me—slightly self-conscious. Being in a crowd was never my thing, friends or not.
Just as things were getting awkward, we came to a complete stop. With a puzzled look on my face, I glanced up at the two.
"What is it?"
They exchanged sly smiles. That's never good. "I'm getting quite anxious. Should we move this along?"
"I agree completely." Before I could even blink, the both grabbed my arms and started to sprint at top speed into the building ahead. Everything we passed up was a blur at the high speed we were going. No matter how many times I told them to stop, they just kept going. If there was anything good about this whole ordeal, it was that I couldn't see the looks on the other students' faces. Past some kids, past some hallways, up some stairs, down another hallway, and up one more flight of stairs, we finally stopped.
Taking my arms back, I panted vigorously. "What the hell was that all about?"
"We wanted to get here faster."
"Get where?" Asking that question led to the double doors in front of us to open slowly, revealing a large, impressive room—brightly lit and completely furnished. In the middle of the room were four guys who looked around Kaoru, Hikaru, and my age. There was a fifth one that looked like a little kid—a little kid that sort of reminded me of Momiji. Though I'm not completely sure why…
A tall blonde guy with styled hair and deep purple eyes walked up, kneeling before me and gently took hold of my hand.
With a smooth voice, he spoke. "Welcome, princess, to the Third Music Room. We are the Host Club and are here to serve you." He then kissed my hand. I couldn't help but blush at the notion—while at the same time staring at the whole situation. How embarrassing! And why is this guy calling me princess?
Swiftly taking back my hand, I started to back up towards the door. Hikaru and Kaoru, unfortunately, wouldn't let me do that—they blocked my way.
"W-what is all of this?" I hesitantly asked.
"My dear, like I said, this is the Host Club and I am its king, Tamaki Suoh." King? Well isn't he full of himself? It was starting to seem like, when this guy spoke, it was like he was reciting poetry—with tons of over emphasized emotion. I wasn't completely sure if this was going to get on my nerves or not. This guy was making too much of a peppy atmosphere to really tell. "We've been waiting for you quite a while, princess. Would you please grace us with your name?"
"Umm…Akimoto…Tsubaki." I slowly told him. It was weird—I wasn't so used to someone acting this way towards me. The feeling was both comfortable and at the same time uncomfortable. He was so hospitable and charming that I couldn't really say anything witty or sarcastic.
"She prefers to be called Aki, boss." The twins explained at the same time.
"Ah…Akimoto…or even Aki. It's such a rich name reminding me of a calming and beautiful autumn night watching as the majestic leaves change colors. Your parents were geniuses for blessing you with such a name!" Yeah…geniuses. If I know my parents, they may have just gotten a hat with a bunch of name parts, drew two pieces of paper, and BAM! you get Akimoto.
"Uhhh…" For some reason, I could not find the right words to respond to what he had so fluently said.
"Hi Aki-chan! It's really nice to meet you!" Great…they use honorifics here. I sort of left those in the dust after leaving for America. The little boy with wavy dirty-blonde hair and big brown eyes came up to me with a huge smile on my face. What confused me was that he was wearing the high school uniform. WTF? He then brought up a big rabbit stuffed animal to my sight. "This is Usa-chan! He's also happy to meet you!" Okay…so it's both the bunny and the personality that reminds me of Momiji!
"Uhh…Hi?...umm…"
"Takashi! Come over and meet our new friend, Aki-chan!" The little boy signaled to a tall, rather buff good-looking guy with short, spikey black hair and sharp black eyes. When he walked up to me, I realized just how tall he was—really tall. Putting out his hand for me to shake, he quietly said hello. Shaking his hand, I stood there wondering what I should call the two.
One of the twins whispered into my ear. "The small one is Mitsukuni Haninozuka or 'Honey-senpai' for short."
"And the tall one is Takashi Morinozuka or 'Mori-senpai'."
"Ah." Wait a second… "Did you just call the kid 'senpai'?
"Yeah, he's a senior."
"As in, older than us." The twins had no idea how shocked I was to know that I was the same age as this little kid! Well, technically he's not a little kid is he? Jeez, what stunted his growth? Looking at him, he gave me one of the widest smiles I had ever seen. OMG, he is soooo adorable! Just like Momiji is!..was. The mere thought of the Sohma left me feeling a bit depressed again. At this time, I would have been at Kaibara with Kyo, Yuki, Haru, and Momiji—well, actually, given that I pretty much caused a good chunk of the school to be destroyed, I might not have been allowed back...but at least I still would have been with the Sohmas. The truth was however, that they didn't even know who I was anymore.
Looking away from all of them, I temporarily tuned them all out until Mitsukuni tugged onto my sleeve cuff. "Are you okay, Aki-chan?"
"Umm…I'm not sure—"
"Alas! What do we do? Poor Aki is sick! Kyouya, you must heal her somehow!" Tamaki over dramatized.
That was when a rather attractive guy with slightly messy, yet neat black hair and cunning dark-grey eyes and almost-invisible glasses made his way to the front of the mini crowd. Looking at me intensely, he adjusted his glasses, then leaned back with his arms crossed.
"She isn't sick, you idiot. Just calm down." Clearing his throat, he extended his hand to shake and I took it. "I am Kyouya Ootori. But I am more interested to know how a witch came into our midst."
I could faintly hear the twins snickering behind me. A…witch?
Turning around, I grabbed the twins' collars and pushed them back into the now closed double doors. "You guys promised to not tell anyone!" Turning my head back to Kyouya and the others, I stated, "And I am a sorceress. Not a witch."
The two of them didn't seemed fazed by my obvious threat. "We did promise that—"
"But we promised after you woke up. Before you even gained consciousness, we told the rest of the Host Club and showed them the video."
"So technically, we didn't break the promise. Believe us when we say that we didn't tell a soul after you woke up."
Growling, I tightened my grip. "Is there anyone else you failed to tell me about that you blabbed to?"
Pretending to think about it, I felt them shrug under my fists. "Nope! Can't think of anyone else!"
Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I took my attention off from the twins and spin back around only to have Tamaki get close and put a finger under my chin, lifting my face to his. "Princess Aki, don't fret. We would never tell anyone of your unique secret. I believe a lady as mysterious as you is a like a rare, precious gem that deserves to be kept a secret from those who would abuse you!" The fact that these clowns aren't shocked that I'm practically a super-human totally astounds me. I'll bet that they had their whole stupefied-trip when I was still off in coma land somewhere. "As king, I promise this on behalf of the entire Host Club!"
Noticing a bit of movement in the background, one more person joined our little "investigate Aki" group. This guy had short brown hair and big, non-energetic brown eyes as well as a small…somewhat curvy…figure…I mean...not totally curvy...barely noticeable...but there was a hint of curves. He also had a…feminine face…what? Wait a minute.
"Tamaki-senpai, I think that you're being too eccentric here," That person said with an exasperated sigh. "You need to calm down."
While silently thanking that "guy", I remembered to ask a question. "What exactly is a Host Club anyway?"
Stepping back from me, he ran his hand through his blonde locks staring up at some random space, with a gleam in his eye. "The Host Club is basically a group of strikingly handsome young men who enjoy making young women—such as yourself—happy every day. We live to see the joy in a woman's heart!"
"You see, Akimoto—do you mind me calling you that?" Kyouya asked. I shook my head. I guess not. Especially since he asked nicely. "This club appeals to the interests of young women by using and taking advantage of each members' unique personality traits."
"Meaning what?"
He sighed. "Honey-senpai is the Loli-shota type, Mori-senpai is the Wild Type, or more accurately, the Strong, Silent type, Hikaru and Kaoru are the Little Devil type, they classify me as the Cool Type, Tamaki is the Prince type, and Haruhi Fujioka here," He pointed to the "fellow" with short brown hair and the nonchalant atmosphere, "attracts our clients with his Natural Type."
Eyeing Haruhi top to bottom, I smirked. "A group filled with young men, huh?" I pointed to Haruhi. "If that's true, then why is there a girl in the club?" The moment I said that, all of them stiffened up. It was mostly a hunch, but noticing their reactions, I'd say I was spot on.
The twins laughed nervously. "A girl? What do you mean? You're the only girl in here."
Chuckling slightly, I walked up to Haruhi and looked her in the eyes. "Yup, definitely a girl. You guys can't fool me, she even looks like a girl!" To me, boys' eyes and girls' eyes looked different from each other, and Haruhi here is definitely a chick. Taking in their stares and uncomfortable shifts, I continued. "Are you seriously telling me that people were stupid enough to not know that Haruhi's a—" The twins immediately slapped their hands on my mouth and ran me away from the door.
"You have to keep quiet about this. Everyone at this school thinks that Haruhi's a guy and we'd like to keep them thinking that!" But she's so obviously a girl! I mean, she has curves! Slight, faint curves. But curves nonetheless.
For the second time, Haruhi spoke with a somewhat stoic tone in her voice. "I really don't mind if she knows you guys. I mean, it's the least we could do for her after finding out her secret. Besides," She glared at the twins, "it's not cool to be blackmailing her. You can't possibly expect her to be friends with you guys this way."
Switching from me to Haruhi, they hug her simultaneously. "Aww…Haruhi, don't be so mean to us."
"We're actually doing the right thing!" In what universe was this the "right" thing?
With a look of slight skepticism on her face, she responded to what they had said. "I know you two may think that, but you're completely wrong."
"I know what's wrong, you're jealous that she's gonna be our new object of affection!" One of the twins told her.
"But don't worry, you'll always be our favorite Ha-ru-hi!"
Sighing once more, Haruhi closed her eyes. "You two are crazy."
"You two stop hogging Haruhi!" Tamaki yelled. The twins responded by hugging her tighter. Tamaki panicked some more and flailed around.
"What a second!" Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at me. Analyzing the whole situation, I realized something important that could potentially get me out of all of this insanity. "Now, we both have a secret that we don't want getting out to the public! Let me leave and I won't tell anybody, deal?" Thinking that I'd give them some time to think about it, Kyouya surprisingly answered swiftly.
"No deal. You see, Akimoto, you need to weigh the significance of both secrets. If you were to tell everyone of Haruhi's true gender, then there would be a buzz about for probably a few weeks to about a month. But if we were to tell of your secret, the information would be broadcasted all over the world of a real magic-user. Scientists would want to study you and the governments of all countries would probably be fighting over who would get to own you and your abilities. It would probably take years for the talk about you to cease." Noticing my grimace, Kyouya decided to keep going. "In other words, you still have more to lose here than we do."
Dammit, he's right! I was so close too! Erasing all looks of shock from their faces, the twins immediately changed it to a look of amusement. Resting their elbows on my shoulders, they decided to smugly make a statement.
"We'll admit that you had us worried for a second there."
"But thanks to Kyouya-senpai, we have nothing to fear!"
Narrowing my eyes at them, I groaned. "You got lucky."
Haruhi gave me a small smile. "It's nice to have another girl here who knows the real me. It gets kind of tiring with just the guys." I'll bet it does. Why the heck would a girl agree to dress up as a guy anyway? Nah, I won't ask. Not now. My stamina is slowly depleting from being around this club and the school day hasn't even started yet!
"Hey, boss!"
"Yes, Hikaru?"
"Kaoru and I have an offer you can't refuse!"
This seemed to peak Tamaki's interests. "What would that be?"
Putting their arms around my shoulders, they extended their other arm out in a proclamation-like way. At the same time, they exclaimed, "Akimoto Tsubaki should join the Host Club!"
What?
"WHAAAAAT?" A bunch of girls came crashing through the door and feel to the ground in all of the chaotic-ness. Were they…eavesdropping? Don't these girls have lives? Kyouya said the word "witch" too quietly for the girls to hear, but when I almost said the sentence "Haruhi is a girl", the twins must have known that the girls were there. That's why they got me away from the girls so fast! Huh. They're more perceptive than I thought.
"Tamaki!" A girl with light brown, burnt orange hair and brown eyes wearing a big pink bow recovered from the fall and stood up immediately. "As the official Host Club's manager, I strongly advise against making this girl a Host Club member! I mean, she's a girl! It just won't work! Besides, she's not moe enough or even well-known to really even be considered. In other words, it's a big no-no!"
Even though I didn't really have the desire to join the Host Club, this girl was really getting on my nerves. Who the heck was she to decide what I could and couldn't do? After all, she obviously wasn't important enough to even be invited to my little "welcome" meeting. Honestly, though, the only thing stopping me from giving this cocky chick the argument—and potentially beating—of a lifetime was the fact that I didn't want to expose my own secret on such petty terms and that it seemed to be way too early to already be making enemies. Because of Hikaru and Kaoru's big mouths, word will spread to the school that I had been invited to join the Host Club. Seeing all the girls at the door made me realize just how popular these guys really were. I've seen scenarios like this before. There's a real popular guy that all the girls like. Once a girl comes along and takes him, all the girls become jealous and hate the girl because she had won the guy. Looking for a new life, I wasn't interested in having people hate me—especially not on the first day. If there was a good-enough reason for people to hate and repel me, which was pretty much going to happen in this scenario anyway, let it be because of the dark aura around me—not some stupid rumor.
Walking away from the Hosts and towards the door, I stopped in front of the loud-mouthed "manager". "You have nothing to worry about. I have no interest in becoming one of them. They are obnoxious and weird. Why you guys like them so much, I will never know. Later!" Swiftly going pass the girls, I heard some whispers.
"What makes her so special?"
"She just got here."
"A girl in the Host Club?"
"I've secretly wanted to be a Host, but never thought I could."
"She gets to be with Tamaki and the others all the time!"
"She just wants to get close to them."
I don't have to listen to this! I quickened my pace down the hallway after hearing a few of the Hosts shout something towards my direction. Fortunately for me, there were enough girls blocking the door for the guys to be barricaded long enough for me to get away.
Laying on my back, facing the sky, I watched as a few stray clouds slowly hover in the direction of the blowing wind. I had managed to get away from everything and everyone by hiding on the roof of one of the Ouran buildings. No one had been able to find me—had they been searching for me in the first place. I honestly think that if they really wanted to find me, they would have. It had been a few hours since the whole fiasco in the Third Music Room, which made this the only peace I've had since meeting the irritating twins. Okay, so I've missed a good chunk of the school day. Oh well. I didn't even want to come to this school anyway. The more time away from the Hosts—and those easily-swooned girls—the better.
I was having doubts about this whole thing. Twice had I been pulled away from a world that I liked way more than my own. Taiitsukun said that I could stay in a world if I had found my true love—at that point, my world would un-freeze and resume with their lives. Akimoto Tsubaki would just be a memory. That whole idea sounded fantastic—I had no regrets about leaving that world behind. The only person I ever really cared about and who cared about me was gone forever. Without them around, my life had gone from bad to horrible. Now I'm on a journey to fill that void—to find someone who can stand everything that's wrong with me, someone who would be willing to withstand the darkness that surrounds me. For once in my life, I want to know what it's like to be happy. If this whole world switching thing keeps up, I'll never get my wish.
But why had the first two worlds been such duds? I cared about Inuyasha and Kyo, and maybe I could have stayed with one of them—even after seeing Kagome and Tohru. The only problem being that my conscious put me against the idea. Something in the back of my head told me that there was something better for me out there. I just had to be willing to put out the effort to find it.
Closing my eyes, I planned on dozing off for a while. But my plans were disrupted when I heard faint footsteps coming from the stairs. I could have moved, but honestly, were could I go? Flying was definitely out with the whole "crashing to the floor" thing wasn't such a big risk. Damn. I've really got to perfect that if I want to get farther away than just the roof of the school.
I groaned. "If it's Kaoru, Hikaru, or both of them, I swear I will blow you right off of this roof."
"You want to be alone?" A familiar female voice said. The girl's head came up to where I was laying—her shadow providing shade from the sun.
"Oh, it's you Haruhi." I calmed down a bit. At least it's not the twins. "I prefer you over other options." Realizing how she seemed like the rational one of the group, if anything, her and I would most likely end up getting along the best.
She sat down next to me, seemingly brushing off what I had said. "You've missed your classes."
"Yup."
"I know, the Hosts can be a bit exasperating." Understatement. "The twins can also get on ones nerves."
Turning to face her, I saw how she was looking at some clouds in the distance. "Why do you put up with all of it? Why are you pretending to be a boy?"
"Mostly to pay off a debt that I owe. The whole thing is pretty ridiculous." Why would a rich person need to pay off a debt? Trying to think of possible reasons as to how this could be so, Haruhi responded as if by reading my mind. "I got into this school on a scholarship. I'm not outrageously rich like the other hosts and majority of this school." Ah. That's how. Haruhi must be pretty smart to get into a school like this—which brings up the previous question as to why the heck she was cross-dressing.
"So…you're a 'boy' here because…?"
"I don't really mind what gender they think I am. As long as they can see the real me, I believe details like that don't really matter."
Thinking that through, I was beginning to like Haruhi far more than the others—namely the twins (Okay, I'll admit that Takashi and Mitsukuni weren't that bad. Takashi barely even spoke). She had a sort of deepness to her that seemed to lose any anxiety and make me calm down.
As long as they see the real me…
If only they saw the real me.
I sat up. "I don't want to be a Host. I really don't want to cut my hair shorter and dress up as a boy to impress some girls."
"No one said you had to do those things. And the girls aren't that bad. They are actually, for the most part, pretty nice." I had the intention of telling her to remember what they had said about me. But it was crucial for me to remember that my influence on people tend to make any of their negative emotions stronger than usual. It wasn't completely their fault that they got mad like that. But just because I'm used to that happening, doesn't mean that I like to experience it every time.
"Why me? Why would the universe point me towards the Host Club?" I sort of asked this to myself, but it ended up being said out loud.
"The universe? I don't know about that, but Hikaru and Kaoru seem to like you and think you're interesting. Sure the way they're going about it is all wrong, but they have their own way of doing things. I can't say for sure, and I don't know your situation, but maybe the universe or whatever thinks that this is a good thing. I've learned to just go with the flow, you know?"
Go with the flow, huh? Is it really that easy? Deciding to hide my thoughts, I smirked and changed the subject slightly. "It really seems like you're the twins' favorite. I'm just their play-thing."
Chuckling slightly, she began to stand up. "I have a feeling that that is the exact same thing I am."
I initially didn't plan on getting up with her, but the sound of two people running up the stairs interrupted my plans. The different-as-night-and-day pairing of Mitsukuni and Takashi came up to face us with looks of semi-concern.
"Haru-chan! Oh, hi Aki-chan! We were wondering where you were. We're glad you're—"
Takashi cleared his throat. "Mitsukuni."
"Oh yeah! It's horrible you guys! Only a small few of the girls actually came by the room!"
"What's so bad about that?" It was a possibility that the girls were mad at them. Frankly, I couldn't see why that many girls would want to spend their time in that huge, stuffy room anyway.
Haruhi turned to me. "I know it's a little hard to believe, but a good chunk of girls reserve a spot in their day everyday just to spend with the Host Club. The fact that there is so few now sounds a bit…out of character for them."
"Well, where are they?"
"We don't know! We can't find any of our clients anywhere! The whole Host Club has been looking for them! Tama-chan however…is too depressed to do anything, so is sulking in the corner of the club room. He may be under the impression that all of the ladies are hiding from him. Usa-chan and I tried to cheer him up, but he wouldn't move. He just mumbled something about 'being failure as a king' or something."
Haruhi faced me. "Do you think that it's serious?"
"Hard to tell." It's probably nothing. I sighed. "But I guess I'll help you guys look for them. Haruhi, why don't you try to pry your leader up from the floor so that he could help too."
She didn't look too enthused at the command, but agreed. I could've done it…but that Tamaki guy bothered me a bit. Remembering how that guy was all dramatic and…so willing to be overly nice stirred unusual feelings inside me.
After rushing down the stairs, the four of us separated into separate directions. Even though it was true that I didn't know the school and how to get around, but when you're looking for lost people, did it really matter? After all, they could have been anywhere.
Other students watched as I scrambled around, opening random doors while looking for familiar faces from the mob of girls anywhere. Luckily, my odds of running into the twins were pretty slim considering the Host Club was spread out across the school looking for their clients. Was the Host Club really that big a deal around that school? They must have been if so many girls constantly went out of their way to see those guys plus Haruhi every day. I saw the looks that the girls around school gave those guys—they absolutely adored them. This was quite evident especially after those girls figured that eavesdropping was the right way to go when a new girl shows up to school. With that kind of adoration, girls like that wouldn't just abandon something they care about that much. Something must be up.
Suddenly, a flash of bright red appeared in my vision.
I saw the girls from earlier—and others I didn't—locked up in some dark, ragged room. They were on the floor with ropes tied around them all individually—they had terrified looks on their faces, some were even crying. There wasn't any sound coming from the scene, but I imagined that I would be hearing sounds of sorrow and panic.
In another flash of light, I blinked and found myself back in the hallways of Ouran.
Ordinarily, I'd sit there and wonder what the hell that was. But it was obviously a vision showing me what had happened to the girls. There wasn't any time to revel at the fact that I just had a vision. I knew that those girls were in trouble—deep trouble.
I'll question the universe later.
Sprinting even faster than before, I managed to finally crash into a Host Club Member. It was the oh-so charismatic Kyouya.
"Ah, Akimoto. Here you are—"
"Save the whole explanation—I was already told everything."
"It's not that. Do you know how much trouble we went through after you left those girls with us? It took us forever to calm them down—a waste of time. Now our clients are missing altogether." He gave me a stern look.
"Look, I'm not the reason for their disappearance and I don't have the time to debate with you about that. Do you know about some room or building in this school that's really messed up or abandoned?"
Taken aback by my concerned turn-around of the conversation, he quickly recovered. "I don't know why it holds any significance to the current situation."
"Just tell me please."
"On the east side of the school, near the courtyard, there was a chemistry lab where a student accidently mixed the wrong chemicals, sending in the whole building ablaze. Now the building is getting ready to be demolished for a completely new one. It has been completely taped off and students aren't allowed inside. Why do you ask—"
Having the information I needed, I dashed in the direction in which he told me.
Ignoring my lungs' need of oxygen and legs crying for help—after running my brains out—I reluctantly stepped into the forsaken building. It had broken windows and the whole exterior showed signs of fire damage. The inside was even worse. The hallways were deprived of all of the cheery colors that the other buildings at Ouran had. Everything was completely charred—the only sign of there ever being things there were piles of ash and wreckage. There was even a smoky stench totally consuming the place. Boy did someone do a number on this place.
Trying to listen for any human sounds, I was led into a dull-lit hallway deep inside. Prepping my wand, I prepared for the worse. Would those shadow creatures take hostages? Nah. At least I don't think so. Besides, I don't sense their presence.
"Stop crying you bitches! No one can hear you!"
The shout came from some guy further down the hallway. Quietly rushing to a slightly opened door, I peeked inside.
There were the girls, all sitting tied up on the floor, crying—just like in my vision. The only difference was that there were about six big guys wearing the school uniform surrounding them. Some of them were twirling around knives. Oh, so humans did this!
"Please. Let us go! Our fathers will give you all the money you want. Just please let us go!" Cried one of the hostages.
One of the guys sneered. "We don't want your money."
The girl who yelled at me earlier with the big pink bow spoke. "This is just like one of those manga where the helpless love-interest gets captured by the villain and awaits the appearance of her knight to take them out and carry her off into a happily ever after! This just has to happen! We can't just die like this!"
"Shut up!"
"Tamaki will come and save us!"
"Honey and Mori would never allow this to happen!"
"The Host Club will be our valiant princes!"
Pointing the sharp part of a blade at the girls' throats they all immediately went quiet.
"Your precious Host Club won't be coming for you. Why do you girls think we did this? All the babes in this school are always making googly eyes at those punks in that stupid club. None of us ever get any action anymore!"
"Making you girls believe that you got love letters from Suoh and tricking you here was so easy! You sort of made us believe that you were anxious to meet us. After all, no one is that naïve."
"Now that we've got you all to ourselves, nothing is stopping us from having a little fun." One of the guys started to touch and feel one of the crying girls. She cringed while he grinned. "You lovely ladies wouldn't want us to be deprived, right? It's the woman's job to please the man after all…" Tch. It was chauvinistic talk like that that i absolutely could not stand. And it was unforgivable when jerks like that treated women as their property.
"Seoshi!" A tough dome of energy surrounded the girls, repelling the guy's advances. For my safety, I tried my best to make the barrier as invisible as I could.
"What the hell was that?" The guy roared, still trying to get close to them. Him obviously too stupid to realize that that wouldn't work.
Kicking open the doors open, everyone in the room gasped. Feeling pretty confident, I decided to go for the classic witty banter. "You boys haven't been playing very nice. It's time I gave you a time out." Yeah, it was cheesy. Do I care? Not really. The situation kind of called for it.
"Who's the wench?"
"Oh my gosh, why is it that whenever I go to a new place, someone calls me that? Can't you bad dudes ever come up with a better noun? Or is your vocabulary that limited?"
"Why you little—"
"Who is that?" One of the girls anxiously asked.
"Is that the girl from earlier? What was her name...Tsubaki something?"
"Don't stay here! Go get help!" One of them shouted towards me.
Giving the girls a reassuring smile, I tried to comfort them the best I could, putting behind me the hateful words they said earlier. "Don't you girls worry. I'll take care of these guys. All I need you to do is close your eyes."
They started to cry again. "But…"
"Please close your eyes. And this will all be over soon. I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to you." I needed their eyes close so that they don't see me using magic. The problem is…these chumps will see everything. One crazy guy speaking of magic is one thing, he'd just be labeled as insane. But six crazy guys who conveniently saw the same thing aren't so crazy. They're witnesses. Damn. I just realized that fighting normal humans is a huge pain in the ass!
Summoning my wand away, I decided to go about this a different way.
"Ha! You think that you can handle all of us, girlie? Who are you anyway? I've never seen you around school."
"Whoever she is, she's kinda cute in a plain-looking way." Those bastards. "You think she's a fan of the Host Club?"
While stretching out another length of rope, one of the punks menacingly smirked. "Not anymore." I can't believe I'm fighting for girls for the Host Club against guys for the girls against the Host Club. Wow.
Taking out six highly built guys would be a challenge without my complete magic arsenal. I wasn't even sure if I could handle this without it. As the guys inched towards me, a realization came to my attention. Whenever I got angry in the past, my Wind element would go haywire and cause nothing less than a mini cyclone. And all of that was without a wand. If I could manage to use that power and still somehow conceal myself, I could get out of this mess!
"Look at her. She's too scared to even run."
Don't flatter yourselves.
Concentrating harder than ever, I tried to focus my magic in one spot. If I lost control with Wind like usual, I may end up doing more harm than good—and I couldn't risk the safety of the girls. Since I wasn't sure how long the Seoshi spell would last without my wand, I had to focus quickly.
One of them finally had the courage to come at me quickly, knife pointed straight for my chest. Dodging, I managed to avoid the slash. Unfortunately for me, he recovered way too fast and went for me again. Running to the other side of the room, thinking of a plan was becoming more and more of an obstacle. The girls could obviously hear the commotion and were starting to stir and panic. Whether or not they were actually closing their eyes was becoming less and less significant—because right now, using magic was totally out.
As my mind wandered, the crazy guy managed to get his knife through the fabric of my dress—almost cutting through to my shoulder (This'll be the one and only time I say this, but thank GOD for poofy shoulders on a dress!). Losing my balance, I fell to the floor, unable to get away. The guy with the rope came up from behind and started to violently wrap it around my upper torso. Trying with all of my might, I managed to summon a gust of wind to blow them both away.
There was no doubt in my mind that if this continued, I'd tire out before they did. That was just a predictable reality due to my sad physical capabilities. So I had to get creative real quick if I wanted to make it out of this alive. Finally thinking of an idea, I rapidly got to my feet and concentrated the Wind to certain parts on my body. This was my only chance to take the offensive as the guys were recovering from the wind blast. I can do this. I have to! Extending both of my fists from my body, I called forth Wind to my possession. Just as I planned, mini, circular gusts of wind surrounded my fits. Dashing towards the one who went at me first, I uppercut him in the jaw, making the wind shooting him up through the ceiling.
This is the...Tornado Fist! Another came at me, but not fast enough. Punching him in the stomach, he went flying across the room, crashing into the wall, completely knocking him out. Sensing a presence from behind, I swung a back kick, raising him up into the air, turning and kicking him with the essence of Wind into the closest wall and to the next room.
Seeing two guys with knives come at me from two sides, I used Wind to leap up high and, as they were shocked, punching them into the ground, creating a crater from the weight of the Wind-blast. Right as I was at the top of my game, there was a loud, violent Bang! as something sharp and hot grazed the side of my face. Stopping in my place, a stinging pain sensation came from my cheek. Raising my hand to it, I brought my fingers to my attention, witnessing the tips stained with blood.
He almost shot me in the head! Another inch to the side and I would've been done for! With my concentration ruined, all essence of Wind escaped from me. At that point, I was standing there with a gun pointed at me. Are you kidding me? After all of this, I'm gonna be wasted by a gun? WTF?
I knew that being scared would have been the appropriate reaction, but I was slightly angrier at the fact that I overlooked the idea of one of these psychos having a gun. Nothing I could have done at that point would have been a fast enough reaction to a bullet.
I was out of ideas.
The maniac walked closer, still pointing his weapon. When he had gotten close, he fiercely back-handed me, causing me to hit the ground.
He laughed maniacally. "I don't know what you are, but now, you and all of the other girls belong to me. The Host Club will never steal my women again!" Hearing this, the girls screamed even more than before.
Feeling an odd sensation deep inside of me, my vision began to go dark, eventually making everyone appear as shadows like before. But this time, each one of them seemed to be moving slowly while I was moving at regular speed. The dark ring around me began to pulsate. Lifting my hand to the slowed shadow, a dark blast of energy shot out and knocked him down to his knees. Feeling the need to make him suffer, I walked up to him and grabbed his collar. Darkness began to consume his body as he gasped for air. Developing a slight headache, I blinked as my vision began to clear. Looking into my enemies' eyes, I saw how his pupil was dilated and his breathing was slowed—I could feel the rate of his heart coming to a stop. Feeling alarmed and scared, I released him and allowed him to fall to the ground.
Shaking, I thought about what I almost did. What was that? I felt alone and cold all over. It wasn't the same as sensing the shadow creatures. It was unlike anything I've felt before. I was totally overrun with hatred and dread. I never want to feel that again. Luckily it only lasted for a second…
Before any more thoughts could go through my head, a bunch of policemen came rushing through the door. As they headed towards the girls, I made the barrier around them disappear completely. While they were being untied and explain things to the cops, I dropped to the ground on my knees with relief and exhaustion. I heard someone at the door with a smug look on his face.
"Just take all of the unconscious men away. All of these girls' fathers will deal with these guys as they see fit." It was Kyouya. I never bothered to turn around and see him—the unnatural chill still coursed through me, making me clench my body for warmth. This chill didn't come from the shadow creatures—it was a familiar chill, but not quite the same—it came from whatever was inside of me that tried to come out. Whatever it was scared the hell out of me.
"Kyou-chan!" Mitsukuni came running into the room—which probably meant that Takashi wasn't too far away. "All of the girls really were here, huh? How did you know?"
"Our little sorceress gave me the tip," He said smugly.
"Kyouya-senpai!"
"Are the ladies all right?" The sound of Hikaru and Kaoru's voices rang through my ears. I honestly lacked the strength to deal with those two at the moment.
"They are all fine. Akimoto dealt with everything right before we all got here—at least I assume she did."
Still refusing to turn around, I heard footsteps coming my way. Unexpectedly, my back and shoulders were covered by one of the lilac blazers. I looked up to see that one of the twin's had taken theirs off to give to me. They squatted down to my level and smiled. As I sat there confused, the one who had given me his jacket patted my head.
"You really had us scared there. We had lost you earlier, then you end up at the scene of this crime. You just have to make us keep guessing about you, huh?"
The other chimed in. "But we are glad that you're okay. And saving the ladies was a huge bonus. Thanks for doing that." My face started to flush a little.
"We knew that we keep you around for something!"
As he said that, my sudden calmness around them was gone and I scoffed. "I didn't do this for you guys. It was the right thing to do—"
"MY PRINCESSES! I AM OVERJOYED TO KNOW THAT YOU'RE OKAY!" Tamaki came rushing into the room with a goofy smile on his face. Hurrying towards the girls, Haruhi came in from behind—in no rush at all. As he leapt in their direction, all of the girls immediately stood up and came over to me. "My princesses…?" Tamaki's voice trailed off.
All of them surrounded me.
"Aki, you were amazing!"
"You saved our lives!"
"You were soooo cool!"
"OH MY GOSH! I never thought I'd meet someone as amazing as you!" The girl with the bow exclaimed. "Heroines like you only exist in manga, but here I am witnessing someone as awesome as you!" She ran over to Tamaki.
"Ah, my dear Renge—"
"Tamaki, how could you refuse Aki into the Host Club! You're so selfish! As your manager, I strongly advise her to join. She would be the coolest Host—or...Hostess ever!" All of the girls cheered to that. I vigorously blushed at all of the attention. Just this morning, all of these girls hated me, so I knew that they only like me now because I saved their lives. That's what part of me wanted to think. The other part was able to feel something warm throughout my body. It was such an odd…yet pleasant feeling. In a way, it felt like the dark aura around me had dimmed tremendously—as if I had relieved a bunch of negative pressure. If that was true, then the girls weren't being influenced by it at the moment.
"Well I—" Tamaki began to say.
"Let her be a Hostess!" They all shouted.
Regaining his composure, he faced me as the twins helped me stand up. "Well, Aki. Would you like to be a Host?"
Seeing everyone with their smiles, I looked beyond them all and saw Haruhi lock eyes with me. Well…why not? I'll need something to do while I'm here.
"I still think the whole thing is weird..but…what choice do I really have...I guess I'll do it." All of the girls bombarded me with hugs—yet another sensation and gesture that I wasn't familiar with. This will take some getting used to. And yet part of me didn't want to get used to it. This kind of treatment was much too far out of my comfort zone.
"Then it's official! Akimoto Tsubaki, starting right now, you are a Hostess!"
At the end of the day—and at the end of all the commotion—the six guys were carried off to hopefully some cold, dark place, never to see the light of day again. The girls were taken home and my cheek wound was cleaned and bandaged.
I sat in what was, starting tomorrow, going to be my club room as well. The fact that I was actually something I was cursing at the beginning of the day made my head spin even more. What I really wanted to do was just go to my room and collapse on my bed. Once again, the twins disrupted my plans.
"In commemoration of you being a Host, we would like to play a game."
I sighed. "What is it?"
They both put on black hats and scrambled before stopping in front of me. "It's the Which One of Us is Hikaru Game!"
"Seriously?" I asked, leaning my arm on the arm rest and holding my cheek in my palm in disinterest. They would make a game like that. Before they even explained the game, the rules were obvious: Guess which twin was which. I had to think fast.
"The object of the game is quite simple—"
Pointing my finger at the one who just spoke, I told them, "You're Hikaru and," Pointed to the other, "you're Kaoru."
They had shocked looks on their faces. "How did you know? Only Haruhi was ever able to get it that quickly."
Because I'm a badass. Well, actually, I still never took the time out to distinguish one twins personality and then associate it with a name. Whether or not I gave a damn, there was no denying the subtle differences between the two. My problem was still that they were identical and with them continually moving around, I hadn't been able to tell them apart just yet. So when faced with a challenge such as this, I did what every other great mind does when being faced with a conundrum on the spot: I guessed. Guessed, and then pretended as if I knew what I was talking about. "Quite simply actually. It's true that in many senses, you two are identical, but you have things about you that are different. I may not have known you two very long, but I can tell the differences. Ever since you guys introduced yourselves, I made sure to keep an eye on you two so that I could study you're differences. The thing that really tipped me off was when you guys warned me to remember which one was which, remember?" They exchanged glances. "One of the differences I noticed was that your voices are slightly different." Which did seem true. I could hear a difference every now and then, I just didn't think I was focusing on it much. "Hikaru's is a little deeper." I think. "Not only that, when you guys do that whole annoying thing around me, Hikaru tends to be the one to say the comments that infuriate me the most." Probably. "Aside from the twin charade, I can tell that Kaoru is a bit mellower." That sounded...somewhat correct, right?
For once, I managed to shut the two of them up. I couldn't help but smile at the victory. It was a faux victory, but a victory nonetheless. And if I ever wanted to back up this victory, I would eventually be forced to tell the two apart before they had the chance to call my bluff.
"Hey, that's the first time you smiled since you got here." Kaoru pointed out. "I never would have thought what a cute one you had."
Trying to conceal it, I turned away. "Shut up."
"Well Kaoru, maybe we should tell her the good news while she's so happy. I wonder if she can handle it." The fact that they became so smug again scared me. My grin wilted.
"Handle what?"
With a dramatic pause, then loudly exclaimed, "You're going to be in the same class as Haruhi and the both of us!"
WHAT?
Haruhi walked by casually. "Oh, really? I didn't know she was with us too."
"Yup! We handled her paperwork, remember?" Hikaru guaranteed.
"I'm going to be in the same senior class as you two?"
The room got quiet.
"Senior…class?" All of them said at once.
I gave a confused look. "Yeah. I'm seventeen years old. Where I come from, I'm a senior in high school." Getting the hint of their silence, I shot my head towards Hikaru. "What grade did you put me in?"
"Well, me, Kaoru, and Haruhi are all tenth graders so…"
Remembering the grading system in Japan, I exploded at them. "You made me a freshmen? You couldn't bother to wait until I woke up to get my age information?"
The twins looked away all weasel like. "It doesn't really matter."
"We probably would have put you in our class regardless of your age. Things will be more interesting with the four of us in there."
"Change. It." I ordered.
"Nah."
"Do it! Or else I will."
Holding up their cell phone, I froze. Hikaru smirked. "Oh look, in just one push of a button, your video will be uploaded to the internet." He sang.
Dammit! I hate those twins.
ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.
All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D
-Aloe
PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.
Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!