Got this one while reading the manga for "Silver Spoon/Gin no Saji".

I rolled my shoulders as I pulled off my hat and wiped at my sweaty forehead, looking up at the vibrant pink school as the sun rose higher in the sky and I leaned on my shovel next to the stables; my breath fogging up in the chilly weather. Yet another morning, and I still wish I was back home. I sighed and began shoveling manure out of the stable of Ouran High School, like I did every day at four in the morning. It'd become a habit for me, having transferred here from an agricultural school up in Hokkaido, where I'm originally from. I honestly didn't wish to leave, but my parents insisted that I get a good education in business here, since my mother was such good pals with the chairman. I honestly didn't see the merit in it, but I accepted if only to make them happy. That's what I get for accidentally mentioning that I wanted to raise horses and take over the farm. But at least this school has an equestrian club and a gardening club. I need to keep my hands busy. I sniffed as a piece of hay tickled my nose, but continued on cleaning the stables and soon moving on to brushing down the horses, before students started showing up and I frowned; knowing that I would need to change out of my dark green overalls and into something cleaner before classes started up.

I ended up changing into some jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt with a thick hoodie; giving the horses one last pet before heading off into the school as I pulled on my baseball cap once more. I'd rather not gather attention in a place like this. It's bad enough I can't afford the uniform with my family's wages, but having word get out that I'm from a much lower class definitely wouldn't be good. So I kept my head down and headed inside, ignoring the murmurs from the students around me who'd yet to grow used to my presence. The only one who seemed to pay me any mind, was the angry-looking red-head from 2-D; Ritsu Kasanoda. We were pretty good friends. I wasn't afraid of his icy-glare like everyone else. I had friends back home who had stares worse than his. That, and we were both in the gardening club and hung out during lunch discussing better ways to improve the growth of the school's vegetables and fruits in the greenhouse. Other than that though, we didn't talk to each other much. We were in two different classes after all. I was in 2-A; apparently being pretty smart despite my low class upbringing. Shocking what you can learn from agriculture.

Of course, this also meant that I was in the same class as one Tamaki Suoh—commoner lover and president of the school's famous Host Club—and Kyoya Ootori—Shadow King and vice president of the Host Club. Luckily, the 'commoner lover' Tamaki had yet to notice my presence since I usually arrived in class very early and sat near the back of the room; far from his seat. That being said, I had this nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen today and that it'd have something to do with said 'commoner lover'. And it had nothing to do with my daily horoscope.

Bad luck will befall Taurus today.

Aries is very incompatible and avoid the color yellow.

Your lucky item is a horseshoe.

I grimaced at my phone and held tightly onto the horseshoe I'd picked up at my old school one day while caring for the horses. It had always been my good luck charm, but even more so now as I begged the Gods not to let anything terrible happen to me today. And everything went well for the most part. Up until it was time for club activities. The equestrian club met four days a week and gardening only two, and today was the day I went to gardening club. On the way there though, the most unbelievable things started happening. I tripped on my shoelaces and took a nice fall down a set of stairs—thus earning a trip to the nurse's office—someone opened their shoe-locker after that, and hit me smack dab in the face. Then, once outside, I slipped in a puddle and fell into some rose bushes, tripped over a root and face planted into a tree, and finally got hit on the head by a falling bucket of water.

I tipped the bucket up so I could see and gave an annoyed glare as the person responsible rushed over apologetically.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, Toru!" Kasanoda apologized, bowing repeatedly and passing me a towel to dry off once I'd taken the bucket off and he saw what kind of shape I was in. "What happened?" His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched at his sides as he grew angry. "Is someone messing with you?! 'Cause I'll help you out if they are!"

I sighed, waving my hand nonchalantly as I wiped some of the water off my face. "No. I've just had some really strange... luck." My eyes widened and I passed him the bucket before scrambling for my bag and digging through it. "Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?!"

"You lose something?"

"My horseshoe!" I said in a panic, finally flipping my bag upside down and searching for it, but finding it nowhere as devastation overcame me. "N-No way. It's gone."

"I'll help you look for it." Kasanoda offered. "Just retrace your steps."

I nodded and rushed off; Kasanoda searching the outside of the school as I searched inside, but to no avail. We soon met back up at the greenhouse and I shed my jacket in the warm place, sitting on a bench and dropping my head in my hands.

"I lost it. I can't believe I actually lost it. It's no wonder I'm having rotten luck."

Kasanoda pat me harshly on the back—though I doubt he meant to do it as hard as he did. "It's alright, Toru. We'll just need to keep looking. It'll turn up sooner or later."

I sighed, too down trodden to really put up an effort. "It's not a dog, Ritsu."

"A-Ah." He grumbled, before I took a deep breath and pushed up from my seat.

"No use crying over spilt milk." I muttered, though I knew I'd search for the stupid thing until the ends of the earth, but right now I had club activities to tend to. "How are the tomatoes, Ritsu? Did the change in the position of sprayers help any?"

He nodded and off to work we went, adjusting a few things in an attempt to make the vegetables and fruits grow better, before the teacher in charge of our club entered and yawned as he spoke.

"The Host Club up in the third music room is requesting some fruit since they've run out."

Usually, Kasanoda did the delivering and I did a lot of the tending to the plants, but I knew he had an issue with the Host Club—have no clue what it was exactly, but whatever—so I called out to the teacher with a hand raised limply over my shoulder.

"Give me the list. I'll take care of it."

The man nodded and passed the paper as Kasanoda hurried over, and the teacher left as I started gathering what was on the list into two large milk crates.

"T-Thank you, Toru."

I waved him off. "It's no problem. Just make sure you take care of that grape vine in the corner. It needs to be trimmed or it will take over the tomatoes."

He nodded and hurried off to do that as I finished packing the strawberries, bananas, and a number of other rather exotic fruits into the crates, pulling my hoodie back on, and lifting the heavy boxes easily; heading to the third music room with thoughts only about my lost horseshoe. Upon opening the door though, all those thoughts were dashed at the scene of a number of shirtless men dressed in Southern outfits calling out.

"Welcome!"

I blinked, adjusting the box of fruits on my shoulder as I tried to wrap my head around what was going on exactly. I'd heard of the Host Club and what they're supposed to do, but I never really expected anything like this. It's like an over-the-top group of cosplayers… with money. Two red headed twins sighed, leaning on the spears they were holding.

"Boo."

"It's just another guy."

I felt my cheeks heat up then as I got a good look at the group, in particularly, the rather tall one. W-Whoa… Is he over 180cm? And his arms… I swallowed thickly, shaking out of my thoughts of well-defined arm muscles and was finally able to get my voice out.

"Y-You, uh, asked for fruit? From the gardening club?"

The glasses wearing one nodded and pulled a notebook out of nowhere and began writing something down.

"Yes. Perfect. Did you have everything on the list?"

I nodded, looking around the decorated room in slight interest; though more for the exotic plants than anything else.

"Yeah. Found a bit of it all, actually. It's good the greenhouse has temperature regulators in the different rooms, or you wouldn't be able to have all this. It's pretty hard to grow non-native fruits in areas of completely opposite temperature and climate." I rattled off, turning my gaze back to his; which was covered due to the light reflecting off his glasses.

"Hm, quite." He turned away. "Mori-senpai, if you would."

There was a deep grunt that came from behind me and the box on my shoulder was lifted up with ease as I turned to find myself face-to-chest with the tallest member of the group that I had been eyeing earlier. He only seemed taller in person and I felt my cheeks tint a nice red once more until he reached to take the second crate from me.

"Ah! No, it's alright! I can carry it. Just let me know where you want it." I quickly said, my nervousness seeming to take hold.

He watched me for a moment, but upon seeing that I wasn't struggling—especially since I had to take three flights of stairs just to get to this room—he nodded and began walking off; expecting me to follow him, I'm sure. So I did, but not without those twins wandering over and eyeing me.

"So, who are you?"

"Yeah, you never told us."

"Toru Ookawa. Class 2-A. Member of the equestrian club and gardening club. Got in through recommendation and a scholarship in... agricultural business?" The glasses guy rattled off, sounding confused by the last bit as I set the crate I had beside Mori's on a table.

"Yup." I hummed. "My mom's good friends with the principal here and he sponsored my scholarship. Apparently it used to be a real thing but got forgotten when the iron horse became a big thing here. The principal just pulled it out of the archives, I guess."

"Ehhhhh." The twins drawled.

"So you are..."

"...a commoner too?

I winced at the word, feeling sweat begin to slide down the back of my neck as I tried to figure out what I should say; and also because it was a bit hot in this room with the heating up all the way.

"Um, not exactly. I'm—"

I was cut off from having to save anything by another host; one who wasn't wearing anything ridiculous.

"You guys, just leave him alone. I'm sure he's got better things to be doing than answering all your questions." He said. "I'm Haruhi, by the way. Haruhi Fujioka."

"Ah, Toru Ookawa." I said, awkwardly bowing as he bowed back and gave me a look.

"Um, why are you acting all formal? You're my senpai, aren't you?"

I chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of my neck. "A-Ah, I guess I am. Sorry. I'm just a bit flustered. This is a lot to take in, and I only came here to drop off some fruits." I sighed then. "Ah, Ritsu's going to get mad I left him alone in the green house..."

"But we didn't get to introduce ourselves!" Tamaki wailed and I mentally groaned as he stuck a pose. "I am Tamaki Suoh! The Princely Type! This is Kyoya Ootori, the Cool Type! Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, the Little Devil Type! Mitsukuni Haninozuka, the Lolita Type! Takashi Morinozuka, the Wild Type! And Haruhi Fujioka, the Natural Type!"

I blinked at him. "Uh, thanks. Though I could've done without the 'types'. I'm not a customer here, you know."

Tamaki immediately went into a dark corner and pouted, as I turned to the others; unbothered.

"Nice to meet you all though, but I better get going."

Kyoya stepped forward. "Of course. How much is it for the fruit?"

After Kyoya and I haggled out the price a bit, I went to leave when I had a thought and turned back to everyone.

"Oh, and let me know if you guys find a horseshoe lying around anywhere. It's something important to me, so..."

The twins tilted their heads in confusion. "A horseshoe?"

I nodded as Honey bounded over and looked up at me. "What's it look like, Toru-chan?"

I furrowed my brows at the nickname, but shrugged it off. "It's, uh, metal, with small holes in it, and it's shaped like the 'hi' in hiragana… sort of…" I furrowed my brows a bit, before shaking off the strange feeling I'd suddenly had. "Just let me know if you guys see it anywhere. It's my good luck charm."

The twins scoffed. "Really?"

"You believe in that sort of thing?"

I deadpanned. "Ever since I've lost it, bad things have happened."

Honey looked me over in worry. "Is that why you've got all those band-aids, Toru-chan?"

I nodded, ticking off the incidents on my fingers. "I tripped on my shoelaces and fell down the stairs, and someone hit me in the face with their shoe-locker door. Then, I slipped in a puddle outside, fell into some rose bushes, tripped over a root and face planted into a tree, and got hit on the head by a falling bucket of water."

The group winced as I sighed with a shrug.

"So, I figure it won't stop until I find—"

"Wait! Toru-kun! I have it! I have your shoe thingy!" Tamaki wailed, rushing over excitedly with my horseshoe and my eyes widened.

Though it wasn't because he'd found it. More like I'd spotted the banana peel on the floor in front of him.

"Tamaki! Look out for the bana—"

I didn't even get to finish before he slipped on said peel and flew right at me. I probably would've dove out of the way and had been fine, if it wasn't for the fact that, upon stepping on the banana peel, he'd thrown my horseshoe; which hit me across the head before Tamaki himself followed, and the two of us tumbled backwards into a red curtain. It didn't stop there though. Why would it?

The curtain ripped and wrapped around Tamaki and Toru as they fell back, taking with it the curtain pole which knocked over a small palm tree that hit a table with a loud 'crack'. Said table tipped upwards and the tea set that had been on it fell on top of the tangled curtain with the two inside, shattering glass and spilling hot tea on them before everything finally came to a standstill. Mori and the twins hurriedly went into action to pull the two from the disaster, only to cringe at the state Toru was in; apparently having gotten the brunt of it all. There was a red bump forming already on Toru's forehead and the tea had apparently been poured onto his entire left side, as well as him having a few minor cuts from the bits of glass that had poked through the curtain. Tamaki, somehow, was relatively scratch free; Toru's body incidentally having protected him from the onslaught that had been brought along.

Toru let out a groan as Mori lifted him up and off Tamaki, and moved him over to a chair the twins had brought over; a lightbulb going off in the tall host's head as a light pink dusted his cheeks and he went to go help Tamaki next. Honey headed over to Toru in worry, clutching Usa-chan in his arms.

"Neh, are you okay, Toru-chan?"

He groaned again, before lifting a hand and showing him the horseshoe; making Honey grin, before he sat up and chucked it at Tamaki with a shout.

"You idiot! How'd you not see that banana peel?! Look what you did!"

Tamaki sniffled, tears pooling in his eyes before he went off into his corner of woe and Toru winced, clutching at his sleeve as Kyoya cleared his throat.

"For now, I believe it is more important for you to get checked out in the nurse's office, Ookawa-san. We'll get this cleaned up and drop by afterward."

Toru clicked his tongue and shook his head, starting to shrug off his jacket once he took off his cap. "No. It's fine. Probably just minor burns. I've had worse."

As he pulled off his jacket, it got caught on his shirt and revealed a long pale scar across his left side. The Host Club grew stiff at the sight, but even more so when they actually got a good look at Toru.

"Wha..."

Toru was ignorant to their shocked gazes as he looked at the tea stain on his hoodie with a frown. Tamaki grabbed everyone together in a huddle then, speaking quietly so as not to alert the only non-host to what they were up to.

"What do you think, Tono?" The twins asked as Haruhi frowned, confused.

"Think about what?"

"Sh!" They shushed her as Tamaki put a hand to his chin in thought.

"He could do it easily. His style is different. Sort of a rough, outdoor type."

The group turned to look at Toru more, eyeing his slim yet muscular figure, broad shoulders, foreign blue eyes, and his spiky brown hair with the long black pony tail in the back and buzzed sides.

"He was nice to Haru-chan." Honey commented, making the group nod and turn back to their huddle.

"But Tono..."

"...he's already in two clubs."

"Will he do it?"

Tamaki turned up with a confident smirk. "We'll just have to convince him to leave one!"

Haruhi sighed as she caught onto his plan and Kyoya rolled his eyes as the group turned back to Toru, who'd already started cleaning up the mess that they'd made. He easily picked up the fallen palm tree and stood it upright, before making to gather up the curtain as Honey bounded over with shocked eyes.

"Wow! You're really strong, Toru-chan!"

Toru looked at him and shrugged. "I guess so. I did a lot of the grunt work at home, so I'm used to it."
"Grunt work?" The twins questioned and Toru flinched.

"Y-Yeah, you know. Chores and stuff."

Tamaki hurried over then, before anyone could think about what Toru said, and he grinned. "Why don't you join the Host Club?! With those looks, you'd easily be able to draw in some customers and—"

"Not interested." Toru said bluntly, making Tamaki deflate a little.

"But, you'd get to make people happy and you could eat cake and—"

"I've already got two clubs to worry about. I wouldn't have time for this one even if I wanted to join. Which I don't."

"Why not, Toru-chan?" Honey asked, playing up his innocent child look. "Do you hate us?"

Toru turned to him and everyone grew tense, waiting for that moment that Toru would give in to Honey's puppy dog eyes like everyone always does, but he just blinked.

"I don't hate you, but I don't necessarily want to be in another club. Much less one with shady motives like this one." He said bluntly, his words stabbing into Tamaki as he went on. "Plus, I'm busy enough with my other two clubs and my studies. And I barely know you people. I mean, you all seem nice enough, but I honestly don't have time for goofing around."

Tamaki went to his corner for the third time that afternoon and the club members started to give up hope until Kyoya spoke up.

"That table you cracked and the vintage China tea set that was shattered are worth over four million yen."

Toru stiffened and Kyoya pushed up his glasses, going on.

"Add that on top of the ripped silk curtain, and that's a five point six million yen debt."

Toru turned towards him slightly, body tense. "Because blondie over there slipped on a banana."

"Hm, but he wouldn't have slipped if he wasn't rushing over to hand you your horseshoe." Kyoya hummed, a smug grin overcoming his face as he and the other hosts realized that Toru had just been ensnared in the Shadow King's trap. "Surely, you are not thinking of leaving after the amount of damages your actions have caused? What do you think, Tamaki? You are the son of the chairman, after all."

"Fine." Toru muttered and Kyoya turned back towards him with a raised brow.

"What was that?"

Toru scowled, turning around and stomping over to Kyoya angrily. "I said, fine. You want me in this stupid club of yours to work off some debt that is hardly my fault? Then fine. I'll join your stupid club and I'll quit the gardening club as soon as I head back. But I'm not going to be happy about it, so good luck getting me into any of those stupid outfits, 'cause that's where I draw the line."

Kyoya pushed up his glasses. "Very well, however, we cannot have a member of the Host Club going around in a state of undress, so we will issue you a proper uniform."

"Whatever." Toru snapped, clicking his tongue before heading for the door. "And I won't start club activities until next week."

Kyoya frowned. "Why not?"

Toru gave him a frown. "Because the gardening club needs a week's notice before anyone leaves in order to make sure that their position is covered once they're gone and that any work they were doing while in the club, has been passed on to someone else properly in order to make sure the quality of the fruits and vegetables grown in the greenhouse does not diminish. Now excuse me, I need to get started."

He snatched up his horseshoe from off the ground and slammed the door behind him once he left, making the hosts flinch, before Honey broke the tension in the room.

"I think Toru-chan is super mad."

"Ah." Mori hummed as the twins shrugged.

"That's a bit obvious."

Haruhi scoffed at their ignorance. "Well, I'd be angry too, if I were him. You did just blackmail him into joining a club he didn't want to be a part of and forced him to give up something he enjoys doing just because you thought he'd be a good addition to your club. Sounds pretty greedy, if you ask me; using underhanded tactics to get what you want."

The hosts winced at her blunt reasoning, knowing it was true in this case, but not being able to say anything more about it, because it was time for the club to begin. All thoughts of Toru being pushed to the back of their minds as they went about making women happy; only one of the hosts knowing that Toru was in fact female herself.