Chapter 1/?: She doesn’t even go here
Pairing: Kyouya Ootori x Reader
Author: see-the-fandom-imagines
Warnings: None at all.
Word Count: 3244
A/N: I rewatched OHSHC and I almost forgot how amazing it was. Is this fandom still active I wonder?
You scoffed slightly annoyed and checked your wristwatch as you stared up at the Ouran High School. Up close the building really was impressive. Nonetheless had you been waiting for Haruhi now for more than twenty minutes and she completey ignored your texts. You knew she had joined a new club, something with music, but she didn’t really like talking about it, so you didn’t press. However, you started to get slightly annoyed. If she had known that practice would have taken longer today, she could have just told you so.
You took a deep breath and decided to wait another ten minutes and if you hadn’t heard anything by then you would simply march in there and go look for her.
“God damnit, this school is enormous”, you whispered as you made your way through the hallways, people staring at you due to your different uniform, but you chose not to notice. You had had enough after your encounter with a real guard at the entrance, who you had managed to sneak past, while he was answering some questions from a few other girls. You felt like he could pop up everywhere.
“Music she said…”, you mumbled, walking on through the enormous school, and decided the smartest thing would probably be to look for a music room. “Ah, excuse me”, you stopped two girls passing you, whispering. They flinched slightly when you talked to them. You weren't quite sure if you had actually startled them or if they were just really taken aback by your uniform. Based on their looks probably the latter. You were a trespasser, but still ... That felt a little bit rude. I know I am not that rich, but do I look that terrible? You decided to ignore that voice in your head. You were a woman with a mission. “Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. It is just ... I am looking for Fujioka Haruhi?”
“Haruhi-kun?”, the girls asked and blinked a few times. Kun? You thought for a second, but then determined that they must be third years or something.
“Yeah”, you confirmed, “we were supposed to meet today, but I can’t find Haruhi’s club…”
The girls looked at each other for a second, they still seemed very confused even if less than before. At least the mystery about your uniform had been cleared up for them as it seemed, because their posture relaxed a little.
“You got to go to music room 3”, one of the girls said, smiling now, but still eyeing you curiously. “It’s upstairs and to the left. Are you Haruhi's girlfriend or something?”
“Ah, thanks so much!”, you said smiling and bowed, deciding to absolutely ignore her last comment, before taking off, leaving the girls behind you.
“This must be it”, you murmured, before pushing open the door that was labeled Musicroom 3.
The light blinded you a little when you opened the door and although you hadn't quite been sure what to expect based on Haruhi's terrible description of her club, it certainly wasn't this. What you certainly hadn’t imagined, was a room full of girls, having tea, snickering and a few guys here and there. You blinked a few times, looking around. What kind of club was this?
But you didn't have a lot of time to ask yourself what was going on, because suddenly two light-haired twins appeared in front of you. “Huh”, one of them said, tugging at your uniform. “Who are you?”, the other one asked, tugging from the other side. “So this is what poor people wear to school?” “That’s not even real cotton.”
You stumbled back a few steps, your back hitting the door that had closed behind you, slightly taken aback about the people who had just deciding touching you was alright.
You opened your mouth to speak, but were interrupted by a blond-haired boy stalking in your direction. “Oh my!”, he yelled approaching you. Your eyes widened in terror. What the heck. “Has my fame travelled so far that even maidens from other schools are looking for me?” “Fame?”, you asked, not sure, what he was getting at. “You’re Tamaki”, you concluded, and he grinned, kneeling down in front of you.
"You really want a girl that is dressed so cheaply in our club, boss?", the twins asked in unison.
“H-Hey, that was expensive!”, you muttered, and immediately regretted it as Tamaki appeared again out of thin air.
“Do not embarrass the fair little maiden! Although the cost of this uniform is mere peanuts for us, we got to respect the little people and their financial struggles.”
You weren’t sure if you should feel insulted again. “My princess. I cannot believe you have come all this way to visit me.”
“I didn’t”, you said very dry-mouthed, making the twins chuckle and the blond guy freeze at your cold tone.
“But… you know my name”, he stuttered and you nodded.
“Yes, but…”
Suddenly another voice rang out, as a black-haired boy with a notebook in his hand approached you. “You must be (y/n)”, he concluded and you nodded, slightly overwhelmed by all these people. How did he know your name again? Haruhi must have told him about you waiting for her.
“Huh?”, the twins asked in unison, appearing in front of you again, this time facing the boy with glasses. “How do you know her, Kyouya?” “Yeah, she goes to a completely different school and not a good one based on how she looks.”
“Hey!”, you exclaimed, but Kyouya didn’t even react to their insult towards you. He must be thinking the same.
“Haven’t you noticed?”, he simply said, scribbling something down. “She is wearing the uniform of the local Adachi Nishi Senior High School. Location-wise this is the closest school to Nishiwaseda Junior High School, Haruhi’s former school. Given that and the fact that Haruhi has mentioned that she needs to leave early, plus the most frequently contacted contact in her phone after her father is listed under the name (y/n) I do assume that this is the young woman standing here in front of us.”
He said all of this matter-of-factly and without looking up. You looked up at him with big eyes. As weird as it was that he knew all this, his conclusions had been kind of impressive. But wait… Did he just say…
“You went through my phone?”, you could hear Haruhi’s voice as she approached you, but Kyouya just shrugged. “I merely saw the name pop up several times”, he said, barely noting how upset Haruhi was at that. Haruhi sighed, before turning to you. “What are you doing up here?”
“Me?”, you asked, still a bit overwhelmed, as you realized everybody in the room was staring at you now. Including two other boys and all the girls. “I…”, you stuttered before shaking your head to get back into reality. “We were supposed to meet half an hour ago, but you weren’t there and also didn’t pick up your phone so…” She looked at the clock outside and realisation hit her, while you were still talking, when suddenly you noticed something. “But Haruhi, why are you wearing that uniform? Isn’t that…” “We gave it to him”, the dark-haired boy interrupted you, “it will be added to his existing debt, of course.” “Debt?”, you murmured and you looked around the room, then back at Haruhi and at the dark-haired boy. “How did you make it past the Security Guard, by the way? I am sure he wouldn't have let you through like that?” Slowly you looked up at the boy apparently named Kyouya, who was still scribbling into his booklet, a smile plastered on his face, but you weren't fooled. That was a threat.
You didn’t understand what exactly was going on, but you definitely understood that there was a reason Haruhi was wearing a boy’s uniform and if you even so much thought about saying anything about it, he would kick you out. Suddenly it also made sense, that the girls had called her ‘kun’ earlier. “Ah, yeah”, you nodded quickly, as you saw the confused looks of the girls. “I hadn’t seen it yet, cause Haru-ch… Haruhi-kun always gets changed before we meet.” You felt the piercing look of the raven-haired boy of you. He was smiling, obviously pleased, that you had picked up on the situation so quickly.
“So, you are Haruhi’s friend from Middle School?” The blonde guy had appeared again, and you nodded. “Yeah… and we were supposed to get some ice cream and study together, but…”
“So you knew my name, cause Haruhi was talking so much about me?” His eyes basically turned into hearts as he said that. “That makes Daddy so happy!”
Slowly this all started to get a little bit too much for you. “I knew your name, because you seemed like the most annoying one here, so I figured.” He stopped in his happiness and seemed to collapse under the word “annoying”. You felt a little bad, but at least it was quiet for a second.
“Haruhi”, you said and you smiled at her, ignoring her exhausted expression, “may I talk to you for a second?"
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Haruhi had nodded, but Kyouya had interrupted as usual. "You may talk once all our dear guests have left." That sickly sweet smile appeared again. "We do not want to burden them with our issues. I am sure you have some time, right?"
You sighed. You knew you couldn't win against that guy, so you just nodded. Defeated you had sat down on one of the couches, and immediately found yourself surrounded by a bunch of girls and the rest of the hosts.
“So you went to middle school with Haruhi-kun?”, one of them asked.
“Uh, yes.”
“What was he like? Do you have any pictures? I bet he looked so cute in a commoner's uniform.”
“Well”, you started, looking at Haruhi from across the room and ignoring the comment about the quality of your school uniform. “I guess Haruhi has been the same as now. He always studied hard. Sometimes too hard”, you chuckled at the memory. “Sometimes he wouldn’t notice the most obvious things.” Your gaze darted to the blonde haired host who was still sulking, but appeared to be listening intensely. You wondered in how far this character trade of Haruhi applied here, too. “Pictures…”, you trailed off, feeling the eyes of the ravenette burn into your back. You began to chuckle awkwardly. “I got a new phone so I must have deleted them all.”
The girls made some disappointed noises, but Kyouya went back to scribbling something in his booklet, walking past your couch. “Too bad, these things happen.”
“Yeah, crazy”, you said, rolling your eyes, earning you a raised eyebrow from him, but you didn’t care.
“So, you’re also poor.” The twin that said to your right stated and you slowly turned your head towards him. How rude. “Of course, look at that uniform." Now you looked at the other one. How did Haruhi survive this.
“Well, not poor…”, you said, but were interrupted again, as the younger blonde host appeared in front of you. You blushed a little. He was really cute. The boy grinned at you, and you were thankful that at least one person here seemed to not want to offend you. Smiling he offered you a piece of his cake. “Here!” Confused you blinked. “This is really good cake, and since you cannot buy it so often you can have mine!” So much to not wanting to offend you. The girls started squealing, whereas you still tried to figure out if that was nice or also very rude.
“Mitsukuni”, a dark voice spoke up and you looked up to the other dark-haired host that had kept to the background so far and had suddenly appeared behind the boy. “Don't say it like that.”
The younger boy looked like he was about to cry. "What? Really, did I say something bad?" Yet again overwhelmed you quickly grabbed the cake. You really didn't want to be responsible for making him cry. “Oh, no, no, it’s fine”, you assured quickly. “Thank you so much.”
The boy smiled again and also the taller guy gave you a smile that you returned gladly.
You decided that fighting your situation wouldn’t help right now. You would just have to survive until Haruhi was free to go and she could explain everything to you. You picked up the fork that was lying on the plate, and picked up a piece of cake to shove it in your mouth. It was heavenly sweet, just the right amount. The little boy had been right, you didn't get the chance to eat food this good so often. But you also felt like you couldn't let them win, so you tried very hard not to show too much just how delicious it was. But this was the best goddamn cake you’ve ever eaten. You saw the twins staring at you mischievously from the side. If you admitted to that they would never let you hear the last of it. Mori, meanwhile, noticed the slight pause you made, while eating the cake and smiled a little, placing a few cookies in front of you. With big eyes you looked at him, but he didn’t comment on it and instead followed Mitsukuni who had already ran away towards Haruhi to also offer her some of your cake. Surprised you looked after the young man who seemed to be the only one not too affected by your status as a commoner.
Finally, all the girls had left the club and it was just you, the boys and Haruhi left.
“So”, you concluded their explanations, “you broke a highly expensive vase, they thought you were a boy”, you side-eyed the hosts, “and now you got to work here as a host until you paid off your debt?”
Haruhi sighed, collapsing a bit into herself. “That’s about it.”
You were silent for a while. “And why didn’t you tell me about it?”, you asked, almost already knowing the answer.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess, I didn’t really think it was important.”
You pinched the bridge of your nose. “Haruhi, we gotta talk about priorities again. When you complained about that guy”, you said, pointing to Tamaki, sending an arrow straight through his heart, “you could have mentioned he is the leader of a Host club!”
You sighed, letting yourself fall down back on the couch. Being mad at Haruhi wouldn’t help and you also knew you didn’t have the right to actually be mad. She didn't choose this and you knew she would rather eat her own leg than inconvenience anyone with her problems.
"Alright", you suddenly spoke up, sitting up straight again. “How much debt is left?”, you asked Kyouya directly. If someone knew the numbers, well then it was the guy with the notebook.
“Exactly 7 million and 281.928.”
You nodded slowly, trying not to show, how much that number affected you. Gosh, that was so much money. “Alright then”, you said, looking at Haruhi for a brief second, before fixating back on Kyouya. “Let me work here.”
That actually made him look up from his notebook and you could feel the stares of all the other hosts on you as well. “You can’t be a host”, one of the twins said. “Yeah, you’re a girl.”
“I know”, you said, still not looking at anyone else than Kyouya. “But it appears you could do with an errand girl or something.”
Kyouya raised an eyebrow. "Why would you think that."
You shrugged. "Well apparently she was supposed to be your ‘dog’ or something.” You looked over to your friend who looked like she was about to say something, but you wouldn't let her interrupt. “And I think she is struggling enough. So I would like to help her.”
In the background you heard the twins whisper. "A part-time job." "Makes sense, since she is poor, she needs to work extra." "How sad." "Yeah, really sad." You decided to ignore them.
“You want to work here, to help her pay off her debt”, Kyouya concluded and you nodded. Haruhi grabbed your arm.
“(Y/n), don’t do that! Really, I can make do!”
You ignored her. “So?” You were waiting for an answer from Kyouya.
He smirked, and for the first time you got the feeling that he was actually looking at you. “What’s in it for you?”
You shrugged. “Not much, to be honest, but Haruhi helped me out so many times. It’s time to return the favour.” Haruhi stared at you in awe. “(Y/n)…”
Kyouya nodded. Paying back favours was something he could understand. “Well, that’s not on me to decide, the other club members will have to –“ But he didn’t even get to finish talking, because immediately the twins chimed in. “A new toy sounds fun”, one said, grinning at you and wrapping his left arm around you. “Especially one that we can order around.” The other one wrapped his other arm around you. You already regretted this.
“I think it would be nice, if Haru-Haru had a friend here”, Honey exclaimed. “And she can eat a lot more cake with us!” Well the regret vanished a bit. Mori smiled at you and just nodded. You looked at Kyouya who had noticed the interest everyone seemed to have in you. He would lie if he wasn’t intrigued by this himself. An errand girl, free of pay, that could give him valuable information about Haruhi and also might bring more people in. “You could proof yourself as valuable”, he said, putting up the fake smile he had already worn earlier. You really couldn’t read the guy.
Now it all was on Tamaki. The whole Host Club, including you, turned their gaze at the blonde, still lying at the ground. Maybe you should have insulted him less.
He didn’t move for a second, before looking at you, then back at Haruhi and back at you. Of course. That was it. Immediately, you knew how you could convince him. He was a lot easier to read than Kyouya, so much was sure. “You know", you started dramatically and a bit louder than you would have had to, "I just want to support Haruhi and you know how important friends are." He moved. That was it. You got him “We have been best friends since Elementary School, so I have a lot of stories”, his head shot up, “pictures…” He had recovered fully. Suddenly he was kneeling in front of you, holding your hands in his. “(Y/n)! A female friend is exactly what my daughter needs!” “Daughter?”, you asked, but he ignored you. “I accept you as our errand girl, only the best for Haruhi! And if she remembers her lovely days in school, maybe she will get back to feeling more like a girl!”
You nodded, although you knew that wouldn’t happen. Haruhi had never cared much about gender. That’s what happened when you grew up with Ranka, you guessed, and you fully understood her in that regard.
Haruhi just sighed, she didn’t even comment. She knew how good you were in reading people, of course you had figured out Tamaki’s soft spot immediately. Well, not that he was a closed book to anyone. “So, I’m in?”, you asked, looking at Kyouya, who had also noticed how quickly you had found the right words to say to Tamaki. You would be useful for the club, certainly, but he suddenly also was intrigued personally.
“You start tomorrow.”
