Disclaimer: I in no way own Ouran High school host club.
AN: hey. this is my first time writing a host club fanfiction, so it might be a little out of character. but I love this series so I wrote it anyways. hope you enjoy.
A fifteen year old girl looked at the sullen faces of the people around her. A single red rose was held gingerly in her hands as she stood beside her crying father. The white casket had already been lowered and the dirt filled in. All that was left to look at was the smooth tomb stone standing tall in front of them.
She had stopped counting how many people came up to her and her father telling them that they were sorry for their loss. Why were they apologizing? It's not their fault. Her mother had been sick for a long time; she always knew this would happen eventually. Still, as much as she had mentally prepared herself for this, Haruhi couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks.
Her long brown hair fell over her shoulders as she bent down to place the rose before the grave. "Goodbye, mother. I'll miss you." With that Haruhi moved to console her sobbing father as they walked back to the car.
It had been three weeks since her mother's funeral and already everything was a disaster. Her father had always been the one to joke around while her mother was the more serious one. She was the one with the job as an international lawyer while her father worked at a bar once or twice a week. With her mother gone, it seemed as though their budget had gotten significantly smaller. So small in fact, that the amount of money they were bringing in could barely support one person, let alone two.
"Dad. I could always quit school and get a job. I don't like you working so much." The brown eyed girl watched as her father paced the room, reading the want adds in the paper for any available jobs.
"No. I will not let my daughter quit school just to help her father. You have to go to school. So don't worry, I'll think of something." He sat down at the table across from her with an encouraging smile.
Haruhi gave him a level look before rising from her chair. "Fine. I'm going to go study. Goodnight." Ranka smiled as he watched his daughter leave. She was only four weeks into her sophomore year and she was already preparing for the midterms.
"Yes. My daughter will go far. Just like her mother." Ranka gave off a sigh as he looked around the small apartment. He couldn't afford to pay the rent anymore and the landowner was getting impatient, there was no way they could continue living there. Reaching for the phone, he took out a small black book and flipped through the pages, stopping when finding the name he wanted. "Well, I guess it's time to make that call. Wouldn't want to wait until it's too late. That would be rude."
"Yes, I understand. Of course I'd be willing to. She was an old friend of mine after all. I'd be a delight to have another girl in this house anyway. Yes of course. I look forward to it. Goodbye, Ranka-san." A woman with short light brown hair rested the phone back on its receiver. Her golden eyes danced as she spun in her chair and gazed out at the setting sun. "Haruhi-chan huh? Wonder if she'll be anything like her mother."
"Mrs. Hitachiin, the board members are here to see you." She turned back around to face her secretary.
"Ok, thank you. I'll be out in a minute. I just have to make an important call first. Please apologize to them for me for the wait." With a nod the man left the room and she once again picked up the phone. After a few rings the person on the other end picked up. "Hi Kaoru-kun, its mommy. Listen, I know you and Hikaru-kun are in Fiji at the moment but I need you to come home right away okay? Love you, bye."
Putting the phone down a smile formed over her lips. This was going to be interesting.
Haruhi awoke to the sound of drawers being opened and clothes being pulled off of hangers. Opening her eyes to the early morning light she was met with the sight of her father humming happily while putting all her clothes and personal objects into various suitcases.
"Umm…dad, what are doing?" She sat up in her bed, only really caring enough to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh Haruhi, I see you're awake. I'm just packing for you dear. Wouldn't want you to miss your flight now would we?" he continued humming as he fit the last of her clothes into a bag.
"Flight? What flight?" Haruhi didn't remember planning going anywhere, much less a place that would involve taking a plane.
"Your flight to Japan of course." He laid out a cute outfit on her bed as he talked, smiling the whole time.
"Japan? Why would I be going to Japan?" Haruhi was remaining calm, although her father's lack of skill in sharing information was starting to get to her.
"Because, Haruhi my daughter, Daddy can no longer afford to support us. So, until I can find a steady and well paying job, you're going to stay with a…family friend." Haruhi swung her legs out of bed and entered the bathroom, splashing some water over her face.
"And of course this family friend happens to live in Japan?" her father thought she sounded skeptical, but then again, she sounded like that a lot. "We don't have any family friends in America? Where we live?"
"Well, the woman you're going to go live with was a close friend of your mothers and is the only one who I trust with the life of my precious daughter." Haruhi exited the bathroom and shooed her father out of the room to change. "It's only for a while Haruhi. Just until I can get our financial business in order."
Haruhi could hear the sadness in his voice and felt guilty for acting the way she did. Her father was going through a lot right now. He had just lost his wife and now was being forced to ship his daughter off to another country. She didn't really want to go to Japan; it would be such a pain to switch schools in the middle of the year. But, she would do it if it's what her father thought was best.
Emerging from her room with her luggage Haruhi pilled the bags by the door. "Fine. When's my flight?" Ranka hugged his daughter tightly, a big happy smile plastered on his face.
"In two hours so we better get going." Haruhi only nodded as she followed him out of the apartment.
Two sets of golden eyes stared out the window of the plane in the same bored fashion. Their partially spiked light brown hair rested lazily around their tired faces. The twins had been forced to leave their weekend vacation early due to a call from their mother. She hadn't specified why they had to go home, only that they had to. Giving out a frustrated sigh the twin closest to the window turned to his brother.
"Kaoru, are we almost there? I feel like we've been on this thing for forever." The oldest Hitachiin brother gave an annoyed sigh as he gazed around the plane. Sure they were flying first class but he still didn't enjoy the idea of being thousands of miles in the sky.
"Don't worry Hikaru, we're almost there." Kaoru stiffed a little laugh at his brother's face. He always got agitated when they flew.
"What do you think mother wants with us anyway?" Hikaru shifted in his seat so now he was completely facing his twin.
"I'm not sure. But it sounded important. I just hope it was worth canceling our vacation." Their bored expression once again graced their features as they stared listlessly ahead.
A stewardess came by and asked if they wanted anything to drink. Both took a glass and sipped in contently until the sound of shattering glass filled the otherwise silent area.
Kaoru looked down at the shattered glass on his table, feeling a slight sting on his hand. Looking at it he saw small cuts on his fingers.
Hikaru jumped to his feet and bent down in front of his brother. "Kaoru…are you ok?" He pulled his younger sibling into a hug as he held him closely.
"I'm ok Hikaru…now that you're here." Kaoru returned the hug as he clung to his brother's shirt, gazing up longingly at his face. Tears formed in their eyes as they looked at each other, whispering the others name.
The girls in the area blushed as they watched the scene and the stewardess from earlier accidentally knocked her cart over as she was distracted by their act. Sitting down, both of the boys had satisfied grins as they huddled close to each other.
"Must you always do that Hikaru? It's just a tiny cut." Kaoru showed him the small injury and gave him a bemused look.
"I'm sorry Kaoru. It's just so tempting and you really do make me worry." Both sat in comfortable silence for the remainder of the flight, wondering what their mother could possibly want.
"We're home!" Both twins chorus as they entered the large mansion they lived in. They were greeted by the polite greetings of the staff as they passed, taking their luggage.
"How was your trip, young masters?" The maid escorted them to their room followed by the other servants with their things.
"So-so. Tono booked a huge estate for us to stay in." Answered both. The maid simply nodded, being use to their behavior. "Oh and where is our mother?"
"She is waiting for you two in her office." Nodding they walked off, one hand in their pockets and the other waving over their shoulder.
Bursting through the double wooden doors, the twins waved in greeting to their mother. "Mother." Started Hikaru.
"We're back." Finish Kaoru.
Their mom looked up at them and beamed at seeing her sons. "Hikaru! Kaoru! I'm so glad you made it in time." She gave them both a hug and kiss on the cheek.
"In time for what?" they asked. Walking back over to her desk, Mrs. Hitachiin sat down in her chair and motioned for her sons to sit across from her. Obeying their mother, they took a seat and waited for her explanation.
"Well you see I have an important guest coming and I'd like for you to greet her for me." The brothers blinked a few times before getting up to leave the room.
"Can't believe we came back for that, Hikaru." Kaoru said to his brother in a bored tone.
"Such a waste of vacation." Hikaru responded in a tone matching his brothers. They were already exiting the room before a hand landed on their shoulders.
"You boys aren't going anywhere." Their mother shut the door and ushered them back to their seats.
"Why should we have to be on chauffer duty? Don't we…" Hikaru shrugged his shoulders with raised hands.
"Have drivers for that kind of thing?" Kaoru mirrored his brother's movements as he finished his statement.
"Because, my dear and wonderful children, this guest is a family friend and I think it would be best if the family she was friends with picked her up and since I can't be there due to a meeting, I'm counting on you two." She held up her index finger in a matter-of-fact way.
"What about dad?" Inquired Kaoru. Hikaru nodded to show he too thought that was a valid idea.
"Your father is also busy with a meeting at the time. Speaking of time, I gotta get to that meeting. You boys had better leave now; her plane should be arriving soon. Her name is Haruhi Fujioka and she's from America so I'm not sure how much Japanese she knows. Be nice to her. Love you, bye." With that the mother Hitachiin left the room leaving the two boys to stare after her.
Sighing, both twins shrugged to each other and left for the limo. Neither wanted to do this, but their mother was practically law. They just hoped that the old lady they were suppose to pick up wouldn't fond over them like all the other old ladies their mother sent them to get.
Haruhi stepped into the airport main lobby where she was told someone would be there to pick her up. Her father had said she would stay with someone named Hitachiin but that was really the only information on the woman she got.
Looking around, Haruhi didn't recognize anyone from the pictures her mother had shown her from her high school days in Japan.
Sighing, she walked around the room with her things seeing if maybe someone would recognize her.
Hikaru leaned against the pillar beside Kaoru, both attracting a lot of attention from the general female population.
"What do you think she'll look like, Hikaru?" Kaoru questioned as he watched the people stream into the lobby.
"I don't know. She said she's American so probably blonde. Maybe even fat and most likely older. If she's a family friend I'd think she'd be about mom's age." Kaoru nodded as they both looked over all the people. Finally the constant stream of people came to an end, but they still hadn't found who they were looking for.
Hikaru looked over the faces of all the girls, some blushing madly at the fact that he was looking at them. His eyes landed on a petite girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes. Her head turned and she made direct eye contact with the Hitachiin. He gave her a dazzling smile and she simply turned away with a bored expression.
The fact that she didn't blush or even blink when he smiled caught him off guard a little, but it also made him smile. Tearing his eyes away from the wandering girl, he motioned for the driver to come over.
Reading his brothers mind, Kaoru stepped in. "Hold up the sign so she knows we're here for her." The driver merely nodded to the youngest sibling before lifting a neatly printed English sign reading Haruhi Fujioka across it.
They waited for another few minutes but no one seemed to be reacting to the sign. A small voice from behind caused them to turn. Hikaru recognized the girl from before and briefly wondered why she was there.
"Ano…Hitachiin?" Haruhi pointed to the driver who was holding the sign. He seemed a bit confused since obviously he wasn't a Hitachiin, but luckily Kaoru stepped in.
"Hello, I am Hitachiin. Are you Haruhi?" Kaoru talked in fluent English, smiling politely at the girl.
"Yes I am. But I was told that Hitachiin was a girl." Haruhi answered also in English, seeming a bit disbelieving that these were the people she was looking for.
"Oh. You must be referring to our mother. Well, she had a meeting so she sent us instead." Hikaru watched his brother converse with the girl and let out a slight sigh. He was happy that the guest was a young girl. If they could handle anything, it would definitely be a girl their own age. Putting on a smirk, he walked up to the two and put an arm around his brother's shoulder, the other resting firmly on his hip.
"I'm Hikaru Hitachiin and this is Kaoru." They both struck the same pose as they could hear girls in the background swoon over them. However, the girl in front of them only nodded before following the chauffer to the car. The twins merely looked at each other and shrugged.
Two identical sets of eyes watched the brown haired teen from where they sat across from her in the limo. When they had first gotten in they had each sat on either side of her and wrapped an arm over each shoulder, attempting to lure her in like every other girl they had met.
Haruhi had, however, simply got up and sat on the other side. Now they were watching as she seemed to be a bit taken in by the limo. But, not like they would normally expect a girl like her to be. She wasn't in awe or impressed by the car. In fact, she was actually twitching a little bit.
"Rich bastards…" She mumbled, looking at the bar inside the roomy car.
"What was that?" Hikaru leaned forward in his chair, getting with in a few inches of her face.
"Ha-ruh-hi-chan?" Kaoru leaned in too, chestier smiles forming over their faces. Haruhi gave them a level look before mumbling a nothing under her breath.
"Kaoru, it would appear as though this girl is rather rude." Hikaru turned to his brother and spoke in Japanese, thinking Haruhi wouldn't be able to understand them.
"Yes, it would appear that she is not fazed by us." Haruhi's eyes watched them as they spoke. Of course she understood what they were saying; she had lived in japan until she was about six years old. But it was simply too much work to tell them so.
"Whatever will we do?" their eyes slid to the corner of their eyes, focusing of the stoic girl.
"I know, lets play…" Kaoru leaned moved closer to his brother so their heads were touching.
"A game." The door popped open as he finished his statement and Haruhi climbed out, leaving two pouting brothers. She stopped at seeing the mansion before her. Hikaru put his elbow on her shoulder and gazed up at the house, Kaoru winding an arm around her waist.
"Welcome to our house." Hikaru stated leaning his face in to see hers.
"It's not much, but we're getting a south wing added during the break." Kaoru nuzzled her neck as he tightened his grip on her.
Haruhi shook slightly as they both started to rub their cheeks against hers. "Rich bastards."
Ushered in by two twin devils, she was lead to what would appear to be a dining room, even if there were well over five hundred chairs at the exaggeratingly large table. Staring around the room, Haruhi didn't notice the woman enter through the door.
"Mother. We brought her back, just like you asked." They said at the same time. Their mother gave them both a hug as she nuzzled their cheeks. Haruhi could see the family resemblance now.
The woman's eyes landed on Haruhi and she quickly embraced her in a tight hug. "You must be Haruhi. Ranka didn't tell me how much you looked like your mother. You're very cute, don't you think boys? You have to model for me sometime. Come, sit, sit."
Haruhi was pushed into a seat by the end of the table. Mrs. Hitachiin took the end seat while the twins sat across from her.
"So tell me, Haruhi, how is your father? I didn't really get to talk to him very much while on the phone. Is he handling everything ok?" Haruhi smiled politely at the woman next to her.
"He's ok, considering. I just feel bad for having to leave him like this. I offered to drop out of school and get a job but he wouldn't hear of it." Mrs. Hitachiin gave her a kind smile as she listened to her talk. She had only been talking to her for a minute and she was already reminded of her old friend.
"Speaking of school. Were you planning on starting tomorrow?" Food was placed in front of them by the servants. Haruhi looked around at all the amazing foods placed before her.
"Is it really ok if I eat this?" The twins, who had been trying to keep up with the English conversation looked at her like she was a stray dog.
"That is so cute. It's almost like she's not use to this kind of food. Now open up Haruhi-chan." Sidling around the table, they ended up on either side of her. Both held out a spoon full of the food before her. Haruhi just ignored their antics and turned to their mother again.
"Yes, I was planning on attending Ourin high school." A loud clatter was heard causing the twins to stop trying to force feed the girl between them.
"No daughter of my close friend is going to attend a public school while living in this house. You will attend Ouran Academy and I will not hear otherwise." She stood up and summoned two maids. "You two, take measurements for her uniform immediately. And you over there," She pointed to a butler in the corner. "Get Ouran on the phone, I need to call in a favor."
The boys looked at each other confused. "Live with us?"
Haruhi stared in disbelief as people around her scurried in and out of the room. "Ouran Academy?" Still feeling overwhelmed, she was dragged away by two maids, measuring tapes being thrown over different parts of her body.
Hours later, the Hitachiin brothers walked idly down the hallway, thinking back to the conversation they had had with their mother.
'Mom, what did you mean by live with us? Isn't she just some daughter of some business partner of yours?' They were honestly confused. They had never had someone actually live with them before. Stay for a few day sure, but never actually live with.
'No. like I said, she's a friends of mines daughter. She will be living with us for a while and I don't want to hear any complaining.' Their mother moved across the room as she looked for the right fabric for the uniform she was making.
'But, mom, we don't want to have to live with some stranger. It'll be just one more person to get us mixed up.' Hikaru sneered, not bothering to mask his annoyance. His mother gave him a stern look before answering him.
'Listen to me Hikaru, Kaoru, I need you to make that girl feel as at home as possible. She's having some…family issues right now so BE NICE.'
"Why do we have to entertain her? She's probably just like every other girl. I doubt there's anything interesting about her and she can't even speak Japanese." Hikaru looked out the window as they passed, taking in the already dark sky.
"Oh I don't know about that Hikaru. She didn't seem all that interested in our brotherly love act before." Kaoru answered, sticking a finger in the air.
Hikaru looked at him in question. "Don't tell me you're not bothered by the fact that we have to take care of some girl."
"Well, no one said how we have to take care of her." Identical smirks covered the twin's faces.
"Kaoru, are you insinuating that we should…?" Hikaru slid his eyes to the side to see his brothers face.
"Yes, Hikaru. I think it's time we get ourselves…" Holding hands, they leaned in close, foreheads resting against each other.
"A new toy." Smirks spread across their faces as the idea ran through their head. They could definitely have fun with this.
AN: and that's the first chapter! yay! next chapter Haruhi starts school in the classy and sophisticated world of Ouran high school. Obviously, reviews are welcome and appreciated.