A/N: Hello! I'm really excited to join this fandom. I watched the anime on Netflix last month and have been obsessed since then. Needless to say, that is story will be based off the anime and not the manga. However, I have been reading the manga and have done a fair amount of research, so I hope that everything is okay. Also, I've been looking over how to use the Japanese honorifics and I think that I have them pretty figured out, however if I slip up PLEASE let me know and I will change it as soon as I can. I am not above admitting my mistakes and accepting help, I am human after all. :) So yeah, with that said I hope you all enjoy this story. I'm trying my hand at a slow burn fic again; I haven't been too successful with those in the past, so I'm gonna try again. Okay, Seriously, done talking now. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I'm not making any money off this fic and I only own my original characters.

It was odd, that at such a prestigious academy quiet places to study were few and far between. However, that seemed to be the case at Ouran Academy. The school had not one but four libraries and all of them were buzzing with conversation. Not that any of the students were shouting across the room or anything obscene like that. However, weren't libraries supposed to be quiet places? But after attending Ouran Academy for as long as she had, she should have known that finding a quiet space would be harder than necessary.

After closing the door to Library number four, she set out in search of a quieter location to start her studies in. Honey brown eyes scanned the halls, peeking in doors to see if there were any vacant classrooms or if there was an unoccupied bench that she could take residence upon. After failing to locate a spot inside, she decided to move outside.

Finally, she found a vacant area near the fountain and took advantage of it. Sitting down on the first bench she found and tugging her textbook from her bag. While school had only started two weeks prior, she was determined to stay ahead of the curve and the rest of the class. She was dead set on keeping her position, or better yet improving it, as third in the 3A class. At the end of the previous school term, she had been trailing closely behind the student holding the second position, while they were both falling far behind the student holding the position at the top of the class.

Her honey-brown eyes scanned back and forth across the words on the page as her right hand worked to copy down the equations and work them out in the notebook that she'd placed on her lap. Unconsciously, she allowed her canine teeth to bite down on her bottom lip as her eyebrows lowered in concentration.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Reluctantly, her honey brown eyes left the textbook and her hand stopped its motion across the page. Standing before her was a petite brunette with dark brown eyes and a bright smile. Her cheeks were flushed and she seemed out of breath as she placed her hands on her hips and stared down at the girl with the textbook.

"Ami?" the honey eyed girl questioned as she moved to shut the textbook on her pencil, knowing that whatever work she might have gotten done before her friend appeared was most certainly not going to happen at this point.

"I've looked everywhere for you!" she restated.

"Why?"

Ami looked down at her friend with a smirk on her lips. "You are going to the Host Club." To that the honey eyed girl scoffed and opened her book again. "Matsuri." Ami reached down and flipped the cover shut. "This is your last year here!" the brunette exclaimed. "You have to come."

"I don't have to do anything," the girl by the name of Matsuri replied.

Ami looked at her blankly, before frowning. "But, you have to come!" When Matsuri didn't respond, she continued. "Tamaki-kun invited the entire class today!"

That he had. He'd barged into the classroom, demanding the attention of the ladies in the room, which he received with no qustion, and announced that the Host Club was having an open even of sorts and that everyone was invited. Of course, all of the girls swooned at the mention of going to the Host Club, most of the making plans right then and there with who they wanted to meet with.

"Well, I guess that they are very busy and do not need me to come."

"Just go, Matsuri."

"No."

Ami's eyes grew larger as they began to water. "Please!" Matsuri shook her head. "Please! It'll only be a little while. Thirty minutes and you never have to go back again!" Matsuri remained motionless. "Twenty? Fifteen?" The tone of Ami's voice was turning more and more desperate Sure, she could go to the Host Club, she was a regular guest choosing to spend her time with Souh Tamaki. However, Kinjo Matsuri had never attended the Host Club. In the whole three years of its existence and success, she had never gone. And for Ami that was a problem.

In response, Matsuri opened her textbook and retrieved her pencil, before closing it again. She then dropped the book and the notebook into her bag Wordlessly, she stood and hoisted the bag on to her shoulder, turning from her friend. She turned her attention towards the castle-esque building that they called Ouran Academy and huffed.

"Fifteen minutes, Ami," Matsuri agreed as she started to walk towards the school.

The petite brunette clapped her hands excitedly as she followed her friend into the building. She began blabbing about how excited she was about the fact that she was finally, putting extreme emphasis on the word, going to visit the Host Club even if it was three years too late.

"Wait!" Ami exclaimed loudly.

Matsuri turned and looked at the girl with her honey colored eyes. "What now?"

Ami reached up and started to brush stands of Matsuri's raven toned hair down and into place. The wind must have blown her hair out of place when she was outside. Grateful, she gave the girl a soft smile. She reached up and ran her fingers through her long raven hair, catching a few tangles on the way.

"Okay," Ami said with bright smile.

"Welcome, Princesses!"

Kinjo Matsuri would recognize that voice anywhere. Souh Tamaki pulled himself away from the group of girls he was speaking with to bring his attention to the girls that had entered the room. Ami immediately started to brush her hands over the front of her yellow dress and fluff her short brown hair as the slim blond man approached them.

"Tamaki-kun," Ami giggled as he took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. Matsuri had never seen Ami's face turn that red, in fact she was almost certain that it wasn't healthy for her face to be that color.

"My dear Princess," he continued as he pulled her closer to him. "Are you here to grace me with your presence?" Unable to speak, Ami nodded. "Well, my…" His voice trailed off as he either finally realized that Matsuri was standing there or finally realized who she was. "My dear, Matsuri-san!" he exclaimed, still holding Ami close to him as he reached over and kissed the back of her hand as well. "You have finally come!"

A little flustered by Tamaki being, well, Tamaki she could only nod.

"Please, my dear," he returned his attention to Ami. "Please take a seat," he told her as he gestured to the area where he had been sitting. "I'll be there shortly."

Ami cast a glance at her friend, who waved her away.

"Well, Ms. Kinjo," Tamaki said as he glanced at her with a soft smile on his lips. "Who would you like to see?"

Matsuri glanced around the room. To her left there were the Hitachiin twins of class 2A. One of the twins, she wasn't exactly sure which was which, was holding the other's face in his hand, while the other looked up into his eyes. From her distance, she was unable to hear what was said, however she did see that the twin whose face was being held blush deeply. The girls sitting around them swooned. To the right of the twins was Fujioka Haruhi. He was sitting on a sofa sipping on his tea and conversing with the girls around him. He would smile gently, tipping his head on to the side, and say something that would make the girls laugh and blush. Standing with his back pressed against the wall in in the back of the room was Ootori Kyoya. The light reflected off of his glasses hiding his eyes from the customers as he scribbled away in the notebook he was holding.

"Um," she replied unsure of what she wanted to do. In all honesty, she had no desire to be here. "I don't know." The twins seemed to be doing a lot, they were very out there, and Fujioka Haruhi seemed busy. Tamaki was to grand for her, so that only left, "Ootori-san, that is if he isn't too busy."

Tamaki laughed and took her hand as he guided her across the room. "Kyoya is not too busy to host," he informed. "Isn't that right, Kyoya?"

As he looked up from the notepad in his hand, the light glinted off his glasses and he pushed them up higher with his middle finger. "What was that, Tamaki?" he responded.

"You've been requested," the blond told his friend as he pulled Matsuri in front of him. "By Kinjo-san."

"Well, Kinjo-san," Kyoya said coolly as a smile found his lips. He tucked the notepad under his arm and held a hand out to Matsuri. "It will be a pleasure to host you."

The hafu placed her small hand into Kyoya's larger hand. "See," he whispered into her ear as he handed her off, "he's not too busy too host at all." A soft blush crept across her cheeks from Souh's closeness. "I leave her in your capable hands, Kyoya."

His large hand closed around hers, dwarfing it. "She will be well taken care of, Tamaki."

With that Tamaki took his leave and made his way back to the sofa that he had been sitting at. The ladies that had been waiting, Ami included, watched with excitement as he took his seat and apologized as they started announcing how much they missed him, saying that they missed him more than the one that had spoken previously.

"Kinjo-san, have a seat, won't you?" he questioned as he gave her hand a soft squeeze, drawing her attention back to him and his smile. She nodded and he guided her to a small table with two seats where his laptop was sitting. Matsuri sat down in the chair that he'd pulled out for her, muttering a quiet thank you. "Would you like some rose flavored tea or coffee?" Kyoya questioned.

"Rose flavored tea?" the raven hair girl echoed slowly.

A smirk crossed his lips a he left the table where she was seated. She took this time to watch the Hosts more. Again, the twins were sitting closely, holding one another and still talking too quietly for her too hear. Haruhi was laughing at something that one of the girls had said. His laugh had a light ring to it, lacking the bass of the other boys. Then there was Tamaki, drawing the girls close to him and speaking quietly to them causing them to blush dramatically.

"Kinjo-san," Kyoya's voice said as he placed a cup of tea in front of her and took his seat across from her. "It's fairly sweet, I must warn you."

"Thank you," she replied as she picked up the small white and green tea cup in front of her. Gently, she brought the cup to her lips and took a sip. He was right. It was sweet, but it was good.

Ootori Kyoya watched her from behind his lenses. Kinjo Matsuri, third year student, classification A, and third in their class. Daughter to Kinjo Hayate and sole heiress to Kinjo Technology, a company six generations old. Member of Ouran academy Tennis team, and from what he could tell from her student records – he'd pulled them up when he saw her walk into the room with Ami – she was rather competent at the sport she played.

"Is it to your liking?" he questioned.

"Yes. Thank you," she answered, placing the cup back down.

Ootori Kyoya and Kinjo Matsuri had been in class since their start at Ouran Academy in the elementary grades. However, their paths had never truly crossed. There had been the occasional exchange of pleasantries in the classroom. Occasionally, she would see him with his father at Galas and speak to him briefly. However, that was essentially the extent of their conversations over many years.

"Yen for your thoughts, Kinjo-san?" Kyoya's voice questioned.

"Oh, no," she replied as she crossed her legs under her yellow dress. "Sorry, I fear that I am wasting your time, Ootori-san."

"Oh?"

"You seemed quite busy when I requested you. If you need to go back to," she paused, "whatever you were doing, I won't mind."

Kyoya tilted is head to the side and watched her. She looked mildly uncomfortable. Her lip had found its way between her teeth and her honey toned eyes wouldn't settle on just one thing, nervously flickering from one space to another. When she glanced over at him, she blushed.

"I was just looking over the finances for the club," he told her. "It's nothing that can't wait until after conversation with a beautiful lady like yourself."

Matsuri attempted to get a look at his eyes, but the light in the room continued to glint off of his lenses. There was a pleasant smile on his lips, however she was sure that it didn't quite reach his eyes. Like he was just going through the motions of hosting.

"Ootori-san, tell me, do you prefer not to host?" she questioned as her small hand wrapped around the cup of rose flavored tea. She looked down at the light liquid, but not before seeing Kyoya look up. She could almost see his eyes – a surprised expression crossing through them? – but the lenses caught the light before she could fully see the expression.

"What makes you say that?"

Matsuri opened her mouth to speak, but closed it before she said anything. This was her first time at a Host Club function. Who was she question if he preferred to host or not? He could be a very popular Host here and today he could have chosen to stand in the background and observe. "I apologize," she told him with a gentle bow of her head.

Kyoya watched her. She was perceptive. Of course, he shouldn't have expected anything different from the person that was third, and very close to being second, in their class.

"Tell me, Kinjo-san," Kyoya said, taking the curious tone that she'd had moments ago. "What brought you to our club today?"

Without hesitation, she gestured to Ito Ami, who was all but curled up in Tamaki's lap as he gazed into her eyes. "I was trying to do some work for class, but she found me and insisted that I come," she replied honestly.

"I see," he replied. "What class?"

"Excuse me?"

"What class were you working on?" he questioned as a smirk crossed over his lips.

"Oh, physics," she replied.

Kyoya was quiet for a moment. "You and I share that elective course this term, do we not?"

"We do."

"I see," he mused. "Trying to stay ahead of the course?"

Matsuri made a noncommittal noise. "The tennis team starts practicing for the season in a few weeks, and then holding tryouts for the team a few weeks after that, so I'm trying to get into the flow of things before the team starts to practice."

"Ah, that's right. You are a member of the tennis team," he said as if just now remembering that fact. However, she could tell that that was not the case.

"I am serving as captain this year," she informed.

"Oh? It seems that congratulations are in order, Kinjo-san."

Again, she made the noncommittal noise before bring the cup to her lips, finding that the tea was still warm. "Thank you, Ootori-san."

Kyoya nodded in acceptance of the thank you for his congratulations. His eyes then flickered up towards the clock in the room and then moved to shut his laptop. "It seems that it is time for the Host Club to close," he told her as he glanced at her again.

"Yes, I suppose so," she replied as she watched Ami reluctantly tear herself away from Tamaki and start over towards Matsuri. "Ootori-san," she started quietly.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for hosting me today," she told him. "I hope that you are able to get the finances of the Club in order and I did not serve as too much of a distraction."

A smirk played across his lips as he stood from the chair he was sitting in when she stood. He then produced a lavender rose from the breast pocket on his blazer and offered it to her. "Kinjo-san, you mustn't think that you were an unwelcome distraction. You are always welcome here."

A bright blush crossed her cheeks as she plucked the rose from his fingers. "Thank you, Ootori-san." From the corner of her eye, she could see Ami lingering at an awkward distance. "I must take my leave. Thank you again for hosting me."

And with that she turned and left the room with Ito Ami.

A/N #2: Hi again! Let me know what you think with a review! I read that school starts in April in Japan so this starts in mid-April during the year after the anime is set.