Chapter 1

Paint what's already been painted. That was the unsaid theory that chained every Ouran student to their riches.

Yet everyone looked so happy about it.

Hikaru rested his head against the cold glass of the window, sighing in relief as the oaken doors closed with a small thud. He would have a small break of rest from entertaining the guests now.

Through half shut eyes, he watched as his fellow hosts busied themselves into finishing the little homework they had, or to clean any tea-stained teacups that had been left unattended. Kyoya's laptop was on, giving off muted clicks as the bespeckled host tapped various keys on the device. Tamaki was talking to Kaoru, while Honey and Mori sat at one of the vacant tables, a plateful of cake in front of Honey.

Everything was normal.

Hikaru faintly heard rain at the back of his mind as the window grew colder behind his back, and he turned to stare at the crowd of students that was diminishing quickly. The sea of yellow and blue quickly grew thinner and thinner as the groups dashed for cover. Hikaru was about to turn away, uninterested, until something caught his eye.

A figure stood alone in the middle of the walkway, as if ignorant to the rain falling around them. A jacket's hood covered the person's face from view, so Hikaru couldn't tell if the figure was a girl or a boy, since they donned neither uniform. As he watched, the hood slipped lower and lower until a head of damp brown hair was revealed to the pouring rain, the locks cut up to the figure's ears.

Hikaru never took his eyes from the window, as if transfixed to the spot where the figure had once stood. The hair, the hoodie, the jeans; they all screamed male.

But when the person had turned their face upwards, Hikaru had almost been certain that they had locked eyes.

And those eyes...

...They weren't the eyes of a male.

The door opened.

Hikaru stood stiffly in his position, forcing the smile to stay on his face. Kaoru stood just as rigidly beside him, an arm slung across his shoulder.

"Welcome!" They chorused along with the rest of the host club, but no squeals of delight was heard beyond the wooden doors. Hikaru stayed in his posture for a beat, waiting impatiently for the guest to appear.

Finally, after a moment of silence, Tamaki arose from his chair and walked towards the door, pulling back...

...A boy?

Hikaru blinked; he never knew that there were males among their admirers.

The boy had distinctively messy brown hair, and thick glasses obscured his eyes. A bleak knitted sweater was worn over a simple collared shirt, and grungy dress pants completed the shabby outfit.

This person was definitely just a mere commoner, Hikaru deduced. He didn't have anything to do with him. However, Tamaki took a different approach, pulling off a performance complete with exaggerated gestures and expressions.

Meanwhile, the terrified newcomer just looked like he wanted to bolt. Hikaru faintly heard the name "Haruhi Fujioka" be pronounced with a flourish from Tamaki's mouth, and decided that it was the commoner's name.

Haruhi Fujioka... he heard the name before. It was the honor student that had been admitted this week, along with another student. However, he had never heard of the other student, only that their name was Aoi.

Hikaru and Kaoru quickly walked over to Haruhi, who was currently being glomped by Honey, and scanned over him with narrowed eyes.

"It's a boy," Kaoru sighed, and Hikaru nodded, though he had already come to the conclusion a while ago. Haruhi gaped at them as Tamaki took over the show once again, now introducing the other hosts. However, when Tamaki grasped Haruhi's chin, the commoner backed up so fast he ran right into the Renaissance vase that was put on display.

The blue-green glass fell towards the ground, despite Haruhi's attempts to secure it in his hand once more. Hikaru saw Kaoru cringe once as the shatters of the vase echoed around the room.

"Now you've done it," Hikaru sighed, bending over to examine the damage done.

"We were going to auction that off for 8 million yen, you know?" Kaoru added, grimacing as he delicately pushed a glass shard with his foot. Haruhi blanched at the sum, his fingers twitching. The expression was so comical, Hikaru wanted to laugh, but stopped himself as the door slammed open once more.

Hikaru turned towards the door, a deadpan expression on his face.

"Welco—" Hikaru started, but abruptly stopped, seeing the person standing in the middle of the doorway.

The black hoodie.

The pale skin.

The rain drenched outfit.

This was the person he had seen through the window earlier.

The newcomer briskly walked towards him, leaving small puddles of muddy rain in their wake. Brushing past him, the hooded student knelt next to the kneeling Haruhi, and pulled him up without another word, and stalked back towards the door.

"Wait," Kyoya called, his voice as annoyingly smooth as always. Hood, which was the name Hikaru decided for the newcomer, turned their head back, still supporting a protesting Haruhi.

"What?" The student asked icily, their voice as cutting as knives. Hikaru unintentionally shivered— whoever this person was, he or she wasn't in a good mood. Again, Hikaru could deduce no gender from the voice; it was just as deep as a young boy's, yet feminine enough to pass for a girl's.

"Honor student Haruhi Fujioka broke the Renaissance vase here that was supposed to be auctioned off for 8 million yen. One way or another, she does need to pay for it, yes?" The Shadow King said, his voice deceivingly kind. Haruhi seemed to pale even more, glancing worriedly towards Hood, whose aura seemed to darken even more.

"What do you want my twin to do?" Hikaru would have shivered at Hood's voice again, if it weren't for the words that caught his attention.

"Twins? You're Haru chan's twin?" Hikaru heard Honey ask, surprise in the lolita's voice.

"Who are you?" Hikaru blurted out. Hood muttered something incoherent under their breath, and Hikaru was almost certain that it wasn't so kind towards the Host Club.

"My name is Aoi Fujioka."

Hood... was the unknown honor student, Aoi?

Hikaru blinked at the transition.

Definitely a boy, Hikaru thought. "Aoi" was a boy's name, after all.

But, his mind whispered, Aoi can be a girl's name too.

Shaking off his thoughts, Hikaru turned his attention back on Aoi.

"Yes, I'm Haruhi's twin." Aoi said, and a pale hand reached for her hood. Haruhi blinked in shock at her action, but said nothing as the black hood fell back.

Yep. Aoi was definitely Haruhi's twin.

Choppy brown hair reached Aoi's ears, and the pale skin was equivalent to Haruhi's original complexion. The nose, the lips, even with the scowl, was all the same.

However, the eyes was a different story.

Hikaru could barely see Haruhi's eyes through the thick glasses he wore, but he could deduce that his eyes were wide and innocent— equivalent to a child's.

But Aoi's eyes were slightly narrower, and darker in shade, almost black instead of a light shade of brown, like Haruhi.

However, the other hosts didn't seem to recognize the difference.

"Hey! If Aoi had the looks to be a host, and Aoi and Haruhi are twins, shouldn't Haruhi be just as good host material?" Honey asked eagerly, clutching Usa-chan in a tight hug. In a blond flash, Tamaki had crossed over to Haruhi, and had pulled off her glasses.

The hosts, all except for Hikaru, Mori, and Kyoya, gave off noises of astonishment.

Tamaki snapped his fingers, and in a flash, both of the Fujioka twins were gone, being carried off to the wardrobes by both Kaoru and Hikaru.

"Hey! Hey! Weird freak! Let me go!" Aoi yelled. Hikaru smirked back at her, and kept on dragging her along, much to Aoi's fury.

His smile quickly melted off his face, however, as he continued down the hall, Aoi's yelling fading into the back of his mind.

Who the hell was Aoi, anyway?

Aoi stared at the foreign appearance in the mirror, bangs brushed and falling over dark brown eyes, the black hoodie gone (Aoi had thrown a fit over that) and replaced with a pale blue blazer with the Ouran insignia threaded on the left.

Tamaki was cooing over how adorable they looked behind them, with the rest of the obnoxious Host Club beside him, nodding their approval.

"From now on, you two are hosts!" Tamaki announced, grabbing Haruhi's arm and sweeping the Fujioka twin off to who knows where. Aoi overheard something about showing Haruhi how to properly set down a glass cup, and sighed with remorse for Haruhi.

When, oh God when, had this painful of a punishment had been assigned to the world?

"Aoi, gomenesai..." Haruhi whispered, who had somehow escaped Tamaki's grasp and ran back to Aoi. Aoi only smirked, making sure the celebrating Host Club was out of earshot before leaning over to whisper in Haruhi's ear.

"It's fine, Haruhi." Aoi's smirk grew wider, amused as the Hosts scrambled over each other to get ready under the calculating eye of Kyoya.

"It's especially funny how they think both of us are boys, you know?"

How was the first (revised) chapter? Review please? :3