"Let me go!" The girl struggling to get free of the large man flailed about in attempts to throw him off balance. He was like a solid slab of stone with how little her wild movements seemed to falter him. She'd gone into a tirade of obscenities that Haruhi chose to drown out her focus set on the weight of the cold metal in her hands. "Just don't point it at anyone." Tamaki smiled much too bright.
"You!" Haruhi was dragged out of her daze as the woman struggling pointed right at her, "Don't be fooled!" Confused, Haruhi glanced around at the entourage. "These rich bastards work us like dogs and then cast us aside when they're done-mmph!" Takashi handed the girls to a large force of armed guards who instantly subdued them both.
"While I must thank you for warning us," Haruhi felt drunk and numb, as if she was swaying when she turned. "I have to remind you that it is crucial during the day you do not step out of your room." Tamaki beckoned for someone to take the weapons she was still holding. She felt intense relief when the armed guard took them both from her, disappearing out the door.
Within seconds the 2 girls were dragged out the door, the one still screaming profanities, most pointed at the sobbing girl. "What should we do with them sir!" A guard saluted in front of the group. "It is no concern of mine." Kyouya waved a hand, obviously not interested anymore, leaving them to once again ascend the stairs to wherever he'd come from. "What will they do with them?"
"Nothing short of what they deserve." Haruhi felt odd, and any interaction with Tamaki left her wishing to be somewhere else. Takashi again stepped in front of her, checking her for some magical new injury that might have appeared on the walk to the front foyer. To no avail. "Here," He lifted her hands lightly, cleaning the filth from them with a wet cloth he'd probably gotten from the guards. The group had thinned, only a few left to tend to Tamaki and await more orders.
"Best return her to her room." Takashi corralled her away from the chaos, not hard to do with how much bigger he was than her. "Good night Miss Fujioka!" Tamaki waved as she let herself be led from the entrance. It wasn't a long walk but she hadn't worn shoes, she was dirty and as the adrenaline subsided she felt a bruise blossoming on her knee when she fell to the floor. "Will he be ok? He was cut." She glanced back but couldn't see him at all. "Hm." Takashi nodded.
"Sleep well…" He finally spoke again when they reached her door, he stood at a distance again eer expressionless and calm. At least that's what she'd convinced herself in the dim light of the hallway. They'd walked in complete silence though Haruhi appreciated it with the overload from earlier. She had so many things to think about but couldn't tack down any one thing just yet. "You too Morinozuka-sama." She was probably in shock.
He waited until she entered and closed the door before leaving. Haruhi once again felt the wash of fatigue hit her, clasping the cloth she'd been given she stripped out of the dirty gown leaving it crumpled on the floor fetching a new one. This one had blue accents on it and less lace, had she looked earlier this would've been the one she'd have used. She crashed into her bed with vigor. She would toil with her thoughts later, for now, sleep.
"Miss Fujioka." The old lady from the night before turned on a dim light waking her, it felt too soon. "Time to get up." She nodded still groggy, rolling herself to the floor as the woman opened her wardrobe. The gown and cloth from the night before were gone. "Where is the uniform?" The woman was pulling out a basic kimono with the same embellishments as the maid uniform. "Tamaki prefers the Kimono." That was it. What an annoying person.
"Much better." The group of them were in a sitting room as if the events of last night hadn't happened at all. The twins were gone though, she was a little relieved. "Sleep alright?" Haruhi nodded, noticing the windows were open, letting in a cool night breeze. "Fantastic. For the remainder of this week you will begin your transition to the duties of head maid." She nodded, bowing when the old woman turned to lead her. If he had been hurt he didn't show it, in fact he seemed much more full of life than before.
"Good morning, or I guess good evening." Toru was a welcomed normal for Haruhi as she sat down at the long table. "Something warm for the girl." The old woman busied herself with something else as Toru served her some rice with an egg and broth. "I hear you were a regular Wonder Woman." Toru poured her a cup of coffee as well. Happily she indulged in the food. "I just woke up when they were loud."
They chattered easily about things in the castle and things outside of the castle. She found out he was the main reason for the amazing wares and selections of tea and food as his family ran a shipping company while he pursued his interest as head chef for the Suoh Castle for the time being. He spoke a bit about his fiancee, how she was not exactly happy that he had moved into the castle but that he intended to go see her again soon and legitimately propose.
"Well I should get started" Haruhi stood and the old woman finished up leading her to a small study where the butler stood like an ornament beside. The room felt, lived. As if it held the secrets of many before her. "As head maid you will learn to keep the documents required for the position. We will teach you, but this is your study. Please use it well, I know you're a studious girl at least." The old woman handed her the key. "It's a master, as head maid you'll have access to all of the rooms you've been given clearance to." Haruhi nodded, putting the key away and sitting at the desk.
She spent most of her time in that office looking over wages, and staff and learning the layout of the Castle with the old woman and the butler. She discovered there were quite a few different parties during the year that required temporary staffing for guests and the kitchen. Her responsibility would be hiring temporary staff for those times and assigning them appropriately for each guest.
The guards she saw her first day were the police force under the Ohtori family. A small section of this force was housed at the Castle in service of Kyouya for use as Tamaki's right hand. She had clearance to call upon them for disturbances as she saw fit, though Kyouya had to be informed and a report written in detail following that.
The twins had a pair of maids who tended to them, Haruhi finding a note from someone in the Hitachin home that they had sent them to alleviate any trouble caused by the sons. The two were paid by the Hitachins as well. At one point Kyouya stopped by for the most intense budgeting lesson Haruhi had ever taken and he'd left her a mountain of work he'd apparently been taking care of in place of a head maid.
Not once did she see any of them out and about as she shuffled people and tasks. Eventually she had refreshed the Castle back to how it had worked when someone with the initials V had been the head maid several years prior. They're design was spectacular, they were thorough about rotations. Having maids and staff rotate meant that no one could pull ahead of anyone else and those less driven to work were weeded out. Of course it was essential she keep the day and night staff as they were.
"Miss Fujioka!" Toru waved at her from the kitchen as she instructed the staff to prepare for an up and coming dinner party. It had been nearly a month since her arrival and she was heading the preparations for her first event. Using the strange notes from Tamaki he dropped off one day walking about without pants she figured out what he wanted. Of course when she went to Kyouya about the budget he had handed her a slip of paper with what she could use before he had her leave.
"It's coming along I think." She said as he nodded beckoning towards the kitchen. "I wasn't sure exactly what he meant but eventually I figured he just wanted to-" "HAPPY ONE MONTH!" Her book fell to the floor in shock as streamers were shot and everyone yelled from inside the kitchen. "What is this?"
"You really got the Castle in tip top shape Miss Fujioka, we haven't had as smooth a time in a few years." Toru handed her a box wrapped in bright paper. "You didn't have to…" She gently took the box. "We all had a say in it." He laughed as she pulled it open thinking how nice the paper would look around a book. There were a few items in the box, a notebook bound in leather with her initials embossed on it in gold, a pen and a selection of hair ribbons. "Thank you all so much." She felt warm running her fingers over the smooth leather.
I know I said I wasn't going to follow along with the episode titles but they fit so well. Though I am having trouble with a few as the story deviates from Ouran so much from here on out.
I hope you've had a good weekend, I certainly did. I've been sifting through other stories in my old devices and I think I'll be uploading another for a more obscure manga called Pika Ichi I really liked. So look forward to that if you're interested. I really enjoyed Pika Ichi, I recommend it if you like a bit of cheesy slice of life situations.
Also I do notice the chapters are slowly getting shorter but the next few will be longer. Big thins are on the way for Haruhi!