Ouran High School Host Club © Bisco Hatori

Eden

III.

That evening, Yoon Ah twisted her arm into her grandfather's and guided him carefully through the maze of carefully-trimmed hedges and beautifully cultivated flowers that took up a small portion of the garden on the Oshiro property. In the beginning, she was quiet - her father had told her that today had been a good day, but Yoon Ah often found that her definition of good compared to her father's left much to be desired.

Today, however, it seemed luck truly was on her side. The blonde grinned to herself, tightening her hold on her grandfather's arm after hearing him chuckle in response to her latest comment regarding Ayanokoji Seika.

"I also discovered that Seika is quite the ugly crier," Yoon Ah told him simply. After a beat of silence had passed, he turned his head, squinting at her oddly. She pouted, fluttering her lashes mockingly. "What? Don't look at me like that. I certainly didn't make any effort to pacify her, I'll give you that much, Hal-abeoji, but I wasn't the one to make her cry."

It only took a moment for her grandfather to shake his head in exasperation and Yoon Ah drank in the sight of his lips curling up minutely like a girl dying of thirst.

When they had finally reached the center of the maze and sat down at the edge of the fountain together, the blonde sighed happily, stretching her arms up above her head. The sleeve of her sweater fell down to her elbow at the movement, and sunshine glinted off of her newly-purchased Jaeger-LeCoultre watch.

Although it wasn't the same watch she had been wearing earlier that day at school, the casual reminder of Fujioka Haruhi's existence, like a freight train, hit her right in the face. "Did I mention that I got to meet the scholarship student, Hal-abeoji?" Yoon Ah asked him quietly. He shook his head in the negative. "He- she- they," she stammered, unsure of how to refer to the younger student, "are very interesting. Their name is Fujioka Haruhi. Everyone believes them to be a male, since they are a part of the Host Club, but I caught a glimpse of their Student I.D. earlier. Biologically, they're female."

Her grandfather turned to look at her, hazel eyes curious. Yoon Ah smiled, shrugging. "I'm not quite sure why they're in the Host Club. Anyway, they aren't particularly modest or shy - quiet, yes, and perhaps a bit stubborn, but they're very intelligent, blunt, and rather funny, as well."

Yoon Ah turned and watched her grandfather grin so widely his eyes shut tight and his crow's feet became more prominent. She laughed breathlessly, shaking her head in disbelief. It truly is a great day, isn't it?

"I don't think they're a liar, either. They may not tell the truth when they are busy entertaining the other girls in the Host Club, but I imagine if I were to ask them about their gender, Haruhi wouldn't lie to me about it. Haruhi is… not like the others, Hal-abeoji - they're not the type of person that usually goes to academies like Ouran or Pandem. They…" Yoon Ah trailed off, unable to find the perfect word to describe the brunette she'd met that day.

Her grandfather sat there patiently, and the blonde laughed at the words that found themselves coming out of her mouth. "... are a commoner. They're a commoner. They're not the kind of person that aims only for things that are guaranteed to make them more money and expand their influence in the world. They're the kind of person that aims only for happiness. Haruhi's like Eomma. Like you."

Silence reigned over them as the sun slowly began to sink in the sky. Then, suddenly, her grandfather released a heavy breath; as Yoon Ah lifted her head up to look at him, she heard him utter, "Chin…"

"I- what- what did you say?" she stuttered, clumsily scrambling away from him in shock only to scoot back towards him in awe. Realizing she'd spoken in Japanese unthinkingly, Yoon Ah quickly repeated herself in Korean. "What did you say, Hal-abeoji?"

"... Chin-gu," he said, eyes boring into her own with a seriousness she hadn't seen in a long time.

Yoon Ah felt her jaw drop wide open, and her stomach felt heavy, as though someone had dropped an anchor into it. "Haruhi?" she clarified nervously. Her grandfather nodded, turning his gaze away from her and onto the sunset in the distance. The heavy feeling in her stomach intensified, and Yoon Ah found herself cringing and glancing at her watch. "Do you think Obaa-san would mind horribly if I went out shopping again before dinner?"

Her grandfather swiveled his gaze back onto her, cringing at her question. She grimaced. "Yes, I know. But I've got to do something now- I guess- well, let's get you back inside, Hal-abeoji. I'll be back sooner than you think. Maybe before Obaa-san even notices I'm gone…"

::

"Hello, Haruhi-san," Yoon Ah greeted the next day.

Haruhi whipped around, wide-eyed, obviously not expecting to be approached so early in the day; it was only half an hour past seven in the morning, and classes had yet to start. Not even the teachers were there in the room - only a few students, aside from Haruhi and herself, were loitering about.

"Yoon Ah-senpai," Haruhi murmured, blinking hard. "Oh! Hello," he tacked on nervously, shoving a hand through his hair. The movement was quickly aborted, however, when his eyes fell upon the stack of books in the older girl's arms.

Yoon Ah adjusted her grip on them anxiously. They were first year books, recently purchased, in mint condition - obviously not hers. Her own books were located in her messenger bag, weighing down upon her shoulder heavily, and the blonde girl spared a moment to briefly regret the fact that she hadn't stopped by her own classroom to drop them off before seeking out the younger student she stood before now.

"What are those?" Haruhi asked, bewildered.

"Books," Yoon Ah deadpanned. Haruhi flicked his brown eyes up to hers in a clear sign of exasperation, and the second year twisted her lips into a sheepish, lopsided grin. She jerked her head sharply, knocking some of her rosy hair over her shoulder, and shrugged dismissively. "For you."

Haruhi furrowed his brows, frowning. "Why?"

Yoon Ah's own brows puckered the slightest bit, and she tilted her head slightly. "Because your old ones were ruined by the darling Ayanokoji Seika. Why else?" she wondered, the slightest tinge of sarcasm to her tone. Of course, she didn't quite mention the fact that she mostly bought the books out of guilt - guilt for the fact that she'd had the opportunity to salvage Haruhi's books before they'd been ruined, and hadn't. Then, she hadn't even thought to replace them once she'd gotten home…

But, well. She wouldn't incriminate herself out loud.

"You didn't need to buy me new books," Haruhi objected, swallowing tightly. "I don't need charity," he bluntly stated. He seemed the slightest bit apprehensive as he said it, the blonde noted, but he certainly didn't seem nearly as skittish as Yoon Ah felt in that moment. She envied him for that.

She also appreciated his honesty. She knew he was different.

"It's not charity if I'm simply giving aid to a… friend," Yoon Ah reasoned, holding out the books to the first year student. When he didn't reciprocate the gesture in order to grab them, the blonde bit the inside of her lip, thinking over her next words carefully - this hadn't been a part of her plan, and now she had to rework her mental script on the spot. "It'd be charity if I bought them with the intention of making you feel bad for yourself. Now I don't pity you, and you most definitely do not pity yourself - and, well, I harbor no ill-will towards you, Haruhi-san, so it's not charity."

The brunette still didn't reach out to take the books. He stared at her in obvious confusion, and Yoon Ah mentally cringed.

Her definition of the word charity may have been a bit skewed, she'd admit. The meaning was still there! her mind insisted stubbornly.

Yoon Ah took a deep, steadying breath, pushing the books a bit closer to her companion. "Please take the books if you need them, Haruhi-san," she pleaded quietly. "I didn't mean to offend you by perhaps suggesting that you were unable to replace them yourself. If you've already repurchased yourself a new set of textbooks, then that's fine. I just… wanted to make sure you had them."

Haruhi gazed at the books nearly knocking into his chest, then at Yoon Ah's face, and was silent for a few tense moments. Finally, he took the books out of her hands, and Yoon Ah nearly sagged in relief. "I'm not offended," Haruhi denied. "I almost was, but I guess if… well, it doesn't matter. Thank you, Yoon Ah-senpai."

Yoon Ah smiled at the brunette hesitantly. "It was my pleasure… Haruhi-chan."

Haruhi paused on the way to his desk and stared at the blonde, eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline. Yoon Ah's small smile fell into a smug smirk and she shrugged guilelessly. "Do you mind if I call you that? Or do you prefer Haruhi-kun?"

Haruhi huffed out a disbelieving laugh and turned back around, continuing his journey across the room. "I don't really care, I guess. See you later, Yoon Ah-senpai."

"For lunch?" Yoon Ah called out.

"If you want, yeah."

"Then I'll meet you here."

::

"Yoon Ah-hime!" a voice chimed as she entered her homeroom.

"Tamaki-san," Yoon Ah muttered, squinting up at the blond who'd unexpectedly sidled up to her as she walked over to her desk. "Good morning."

"A good morning indeed," the boy confirmed, peeking over his shoulder in order to stare out of the windows across the room. "It seems like it'll be a beautiful day, does it not?" He sat down in the desk beside her own - it most certainly was not his seat, but no one seemed to be protesting to the spontaneous switch, and so Yoon Ah couldn't quite bring herself to care about it.

"From what I've seen, it's meant to drizzle a bit later in the day," she corrected absentmindedly, taking out her books for their History and Math classes.

"Oh, is it?" Tamaki pouted, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "Hopefully it does not last all day. It simply wouldn't do for such bad weather to inject itself upon our hosting hours. Speaking of!" he exclaimed suddenly, leaning over in order to stare directly into her face, "You are coming to the Host Club today, aren't you? You must!"

"And why is that?" the blonde teased mildly, shaking her head to herself.

"Because today," Tamaki dramatically whispered, holding a hand up to block the sight of his mouth from potential lip-readers, "we are bringing all of our guests to a fantastical, tropical paradise!"

"What he means," a cool voice interrupted, "is that we are planning to set up the Third Music Room as a pseudo-tropical paradise."

Yoon Ah leaned on her desk the slightest bit, glancing around Tamaki's tall form in order to stare into the calculating grey eyes of his ever-constant companion and his club's vice-president. "Good morning, Ootori-san."

"Oshiro-san," he intoned politely, dipping his head to her. He turned to Tamaki with a raised eyebrow, sitting down in the desk beside his friend. "Why, Tamaki, are you going around sharing our club plans with others?"

"Not others," Tamaki countered immediately. "Just Yoon Ah-hime. I'm trying to lure her in, you see," he whispered loudly, winking at Yoon Ah over his shoulder. All she could do was roll her eyes in response, biting her lip to keep herself from grinning. Although the blue-eyed boy was clearly joking with her, he wasn't being dishonest - that much was clear.

Even Suoh Tamaki is interesting, she mused silently. Was it something that all the Hosts naturally had in spades? That innate humor, intelligence, kindness - and honesty?

If so, another part of her murmured, perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to spend time with them all.

"I wonder if it's working?" Tamaki interrupted her train of thought by leaning back over towards her, grinning from ear to ear. "You look quite charmed, if I do say so myself, Yoon Ah-hime. That face suits you," he told her. What face? she pondered, slightly unsure of herself. Am I making a face?

"Do I?" she needlessly asked. "I do not think I'm making any particular face, Tamaki-san," she told him calmly. "Are you sure you're not just seeing things?"

Tamaki stared at her for a moment, then said, "Well, perhaps I exaggerated," he allowed. "It's your eyes that look different. You do have a pair of bright, beautiful hazel eyes, Yoon Ah-hime. They radiate warmth, like the sunrise in the morning," he crooned, reaching out to grasp one of her hands between his own.

"Your flatteries will get you nowhere, Tamaki-san," she taunted, sliding her hand out of his grip smoothly. "I'm afraid that today, I plan to visit the Art Club after school. I'm not sure I'll have enough time to visit the Host Club, even if I had wanted to."

Tamaki frowned, leaning back into his seat in order to sulk to himself. "We do entertain our guests until five in the evening, you know," he informed her quietly, still frowning - except now it looked more like a pout. "And we stay after school until five-thirty, or on some days, six. Are you positive you cannot at least drop by before the day ends?"

Yoon Ah huffed out a laugh. "You truly wish for me to stop by that badly?" At his vehement nodding, she sighed deeply, smiling despite herself. "And why is that?"

Surprisingly, it was Kyoya who answered her question, his voice deliberately neutral even as his words caused her to look up at him sharply. "We simply wished to thank you properly for your help yesterday, in concern to Ayanokoji-san - and the photo evidence of her improper behavior you'd managed to provide us with."

"Well," Yoon Ah murmured, eyes flickering from kind, bright blue orbs, to shrewd, slate grey eyes. Had this been their intention the entire time? Of course it was. And yet Tamaki didn't look as though he'd just gotten one up on her - and for that matter, neither did Kyoya. "I suppose I can make an appearance in the Third Music Room after club hours end. If you don't mind, that is."

Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose, turning away to face the front of the room as the teacher entered, ready to begin their lessons for the day. "Of course not."

Tamaki beamed at her. "We shall see you then, hime."

::

For the first time since Yoon Ah began attending Ouran Academy, she actually had a partner to eat lunch with in the afternoon. After having ordered her lunch in the cafeteria, Yoon Ah made her way to Haruhi's homeroom and found the younger student digging into a box of assorted foods.

Her curiosity was piqued almost immediately. "What is that?" the blonde asked, placing her tray on the desk beside the brunette's. Haruhi blinked, glancing up at her, wide-eyed.

"This?" he asked, pointing at the box he was eating out of. "My bento?" He looked at her as though she were crazy for even asking.

"I have never seen one before," Yoon Ah explained defensively, sitting down. "Is it like a dosirak?"

Haruhi, who had at first looked as though he'd come to a sudden epiphany, now looked just as baffled as he had before. "A what?"

Instead of explaining, Yoon Ah leaned over, staring into Haruhi's bento box in clear wonder. "It doesn't look like one, I suppose. It's a lunch pack though, isn't it? How cute," she murmured to herself, then sat back in her seat, looking up at Haruhi through her lashes. He looked shocked and more than a little flustered. "Dosirak are a bit less pretty than that. I'm sure once my mother comes back home from her vacation, I will be bringing them to school with me for lunch. She does love to prepare my meals for me."

Haruhi breathed in sharply through his nose, poking his chopsticks around in his bento agitatedly. "Okay," he said, clearly unsure of how to respond.

Yoon Ah smiled to herself, picking at her own tray of food calmly. "So," she began after the silence became a bit too thick, "do you truly have no preference over what I call you?" Haruhi furrowed his brows, and the blonde continued blithely, "Haruhi-chan or Haruhi-kun?"

"Ah," he let out under his breath. "No, I don't."

"And what of how I shall refer to you as? Do you…" Yoon Ah trailed off, licking her lips awkwardly. "Are you…" Her spluttering beginning to get on her nerves, Yoon Ah sighed in exasperation and spat out, "Do you think of yourself as a boy, Haruhi?"

Haruhi's hand paused in mid-air, his food dangling from his chopsticks precariously. His answer took a moment to reach her ears, but it wasn't hesitant in the slightest. "No."

Yoon Ah flushed, embarrassed. "I apologize if I was a bit too blunt in my questioning. It's just that-"

"No," the younger girl interrupted, shaking her head swiftly. "I get it. I think. I mean, I don't care how you see me - if you want to think of me as a boy, that's fine, Yoon Ah-senpai. I don't really care how others view me. Gender isn't too big of a deal to me."

The blonde felt her eyebrows furrow involuntarily. "But if you don't think of yourself as a boy, I won't think of you as such, either."

Haruhi peered at her from the corner of her eye, rubbing her eyebrow with her thumb. "Okay," she said simply. "Just… um, well," she stammered, sitting up straight and peering around the room suspiciously. Yoon Ah found her paranoia oddly adorable. "Can you keep this to yourself? I kind of… have a debt- to, er…"

Yoon Ah crossed her ankles over each other and slouched slightly in her seat. "The Host Club." Haruhi's face was all the reply she needed. Yoon Ah burst into peals of laughter, ignoring the glare on the younger student's face. "Of course I'll keep your secret, Haruhi-chan. Though if you ever get tired of hosting and wish for your debt to just disappear, I will be more than willing to lend you my hand. That's what… friends do, yes?"

Haruhi sniffed in annoyance, pushing her bangs out of her face. "Sure they do," she sardonically responded. "But I can handle my debts myself."

"I didn't doubt that for a second." Yoon Ah told her. And it was true - she didn't.

If Haruhi was the type of girl her grandfather wanted her to be friends with, it had to be for a good reason.

A/N: Better late than never, right? I've been struggling with certain parts of this chapter, and honestly, it's probably very obvious which parts they were - characterization, for example, being a very big portion of what I had difficulty with. For chapters that are only around three-thousand words in length, they really are quite difficult to churn out sometimes. Anyway. Yoon Ah seems to take a lot of stock in what her grandfather thinks, huh?

Next chapter, we should be meeting the Host Club. Or, well, at least seeing the rest of them for more than a few seconds.