DISCLAIMER: Ouran High School Host Club is by Bisco Hatori, but this piece of fan fiction belongs to me. I am also using the list from Manga Art Challenge: 100 Themes ( http ://angiechild .efhost .com/ 100theme/ ) as inspiration. The actual challenge requirements seem to be for manga artwork, rather than fan fiction, but I made my own challenge out of it, that's all.
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Some Princes Become Kings (1/10)
001. Introduction
Ohtori Kyouya was set on befriending the chairman's only son when he heard Suoh Tamaki was transferring into Ouran. Sources told him they were the same age, and would be sorted into the same class. Being called into the Faculty Offices to meet Suoh, because Kyouya himself was the top student of the top class, seemed most convenient.
Too convenient.
Because Kyouya's father, not a man of excess, demanded the best, even from his third son, his forth child. Neither the heir, nor the spare, or the princess, Kyouya was born to extend the Suoh-Ohtori alliance, and he knew it.
002. Love
Tamaki grew up with his mother, and her fanciful fairytale romance stories. He believed in the power of wishes, hopes, and dreams - in following one's heart, and doing right.
She told him she used to be a princess, who thought his father her Prince Charming, but found that he was King of Suoh, who already had a Queen. Although he couldn't make her Queen instead, they were truly, madly, deeply in love, and Tamaki was born Suoh's prince nonetheless.
When he moved to Japan, and she couldn't, he told her, "Don't worry, Maman(1). Go make your happy endings come true."
003. Light
There was someone playing piano in the music room, haltingly hitting different note combinations, as though searching the keys for the rest of a song. Kyouya didn't recognize the melody, and unknowns irritated him. He only cared to find peace in that room - his room. No one else used it during break, until now.
Ducking his head, he straightened his glasses, and made sure his Ohtori mask was on before opening the door.
He found an angel on the bench, hair blonde and haloed, skin aglow under sunlight.
Then, his cell phone vibrated.
Kyouya automatically left to answer the call.
004. Dark
Tamaki smiled warmly at the two students who entered the office. As it was only proper, he greeted the lady first, and partially curtailed the charm when he introduced himself to the gentleman.
But black-haired, brown-eyed Ohtori was uncommonly good-looking for a fourteen-year-old Asian male. When he spoke, he chose his words sparingly, and his voice sounded like silk to Tamaki, who mused,
"You're a cool type, I bet... Like a dark prince-" He paused when his brain caught up with his mouth, and desperately hoped he didn't just scare away another potential friend.
Ohtori's reserved smile thinned... Diplomatic reaction.
005. Seeking Solace
Halfway through lunch break, the classroom was filled with girls - nearly all the ones from their homeroom, as well as an impressive mob from the rest of the school. A small, shy harem hovered outside the double-doors. By the time classes resumed, Suoh managed to satisfy the entire swarm with his cheesy sweet-nothings, and the majority promised to return tomorrow for more!
Kyouya was awed, yet disturbed, not by the warm welcome, but by the earnest, effortless way Prince Charming would give an "only you" smile to every single female student, and the same, indiscriminant lip-service just because he could.
006. Break Away
At the end of the day, Tamaki took leave of his new friends, and spent some time saying goodbye to some lovely princesses before running back to the music room. He had a song to finish composing, for his beloved mother, who taught him how to play piano, and new tunes were in his head begging to be fixed onto paper.
Tamaki booked the music room, because it was preferable to his new abode. His grandmother didn't allow him, the child of her son's mistress, living with his father in the main mansion. Yet.
He missed his mother something dreadful.
007. Heaven
Kyouya stared at the "Reserved" sign on the music room's doors. Another phone call confirmed his suspicions, so he waited. Before long, someone called his name in pleasant surprise.
Suoh stopped in front of him, smiling. "Nice to see you again so soon, but what are you doing here? I thought you left for the day."
"I usually study here." Kyouya eyed the sign, then the blonde again. "But you're the one actually coming for music, correct? I'll find somewhere else." He took a step back.
"Oh! Wait, sorry..." Suoh's impossibly purple eyes glittered brightly. "But now, we can share!"
008. Innocence
Tamaki tried to compose quietly so as not to disturb. Every now and then, he peered at Ohtori, curious.
His friend seemed completely at ease on the grand sofa in the middle of the room, his pen moving steadily over a black clipboard. It'd probably been an hour since Ohtori started writing - without much pause.
When Tamaki sat beside him, Ohtori brought the clipboard closer to his chest. There was a warning look, but the blonde dismissed it with a concerned pout.
"Isn't your arm tired?"
Ohtori blinked. After a moment, he shook his head, chuckling.
"No, it's just numb."
009. Drive
Kyouya was mind-mapping everything he knew, or thought he needed to know about the chairman's son, and finding it ironically fitting that Suoh exuded Prince when his family name meant "ought to rule."
Suoh was certainly attractive enough... Charismatic. Perhaps borderline narcissistic. Exotic, yet appropriate lineage...
But was he fit to lead? Could he resist criticism, stand up to those who question, or challenge in decisions about how to control his future kingdom?
Unlikely.
The fairytale Prince would become King just because he was an only child.
Kyouya clutched his clipboard tighter. Life was unfair; he thought he accepted that!
010. Breathe Again
When they talked, Ohtori was polite and distant, but unambiguous. He asked concise questions, gave thought-out answers, and seemed genuinely interested in what Tamaki had to say as well.
"You know, you remind me of my mother," Tamaki quipped.
Ohtori gave him a level stare. "She's a 'cool type'?"
"No, she's warm, kind, and beautiful-" He shook his head, embarrassed, quickly adding, "I mean she talks to me.
"You talk to me… And you listen! Like you… really care."
He held his breath, feeling like a little boy.
Ohtori covered his mouth when he laughed. "That's because I do care."
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NOTES:
(1) "Maman," from 002. Love, is French for "mama."