He didn't come here much. Actually, he had never been in this exact area before. He wanted to see the commoner life. He wanted a taste of what it would have been like to be a commoner in Japan since early childhood.

Thus, Tamaki walked the pavement before the public elementary school.

He smiled nostalgically as happy children poured out of the gate and began their treks or bike rides home. He scanned the small groups of children who lingered and spoke to one another.

What? What did he just see?

He trained his eyes back along the path they had previously followed and spotted it: three children... with cat ears atop their heads and tails behind them. The girl was very boxom, especially for her age - it seemed as though her breasts must have grown first and the rest of her body whould have to catch up - and her hair... was the oddest shade of pink! A boy with long hair and glasses stood near, and his hair and cat ears and tail were tipped with white.

Had Tamaki stepped into an anime?

He kept looking. All the children had cat ears! He could have sworn they hadn't the last time he looked, before these strange ones distracted him!

But there was a man. A man with long, sandy blonde hair and a cigarette in his fingers. He was devillishly beautiful. He did not have cat ears. He seemed to be waiting. But he was also watching the children.

He saw Tamaki. Tamaki smiled innocently. He approached Tamaki, flicking away the cigarette. Tamaki felt nervous, and his smile faltered.

"Are you a fighter?"

Tamaki was surprised. "A what?" Surely this man wasn't going to challenge him to a fistfight in front of an elementary school!

"A sacrifice, then? You must be a fighter. I can feel your energy."

"Energy?"

"Yes... But it's strange."

A boy - the one in that first group of cat-eared children, the one most normal-looking with black hair and big, feminine eyes - came forward and stood next to the odd man.

Tamaki made a decision.

The man asked the highschooler, "What is your name?"

Tamaki puffed up his chest. "Suou Tamaki," he answered proudly.

"No, I mean your true name - your team name."

"Team name? Well, that's just what I was going to talk about. I am from Ouran Academy High School. My team is the Ouran Host Club!"

"No, that's not what I -"

Tamaki pointed at the pretty boy. "And I would like you to join us!"

The man and the children stared.

"Huh?"

"Why would I join a host club?" Ritsuka asked, appalled. "I'm just a child!"

"Oh, but you're not!" Tamaki sang. "I can sense an inner maturity in you... and you're so very attractive!"

Ritsuka scoffed. "Pervert."

Tamaki retorted, "I am not a pervert!" Soubi's expression said that he found this quite humorous.

"I think it's wonderful!" said Yuiko."Now that you're living with Soubi, wouldn't it be nice to have a job? And you are so attractive!"

Tamaki crouched to her level. "Princess," he said dramatically, "I'm so pleased to hear you agree." He grinned handsomely.

Yayoi frowned. Tamaki was charming his girl! "I don't see what's so great about being in a host club," he complained.

Tamaki looked shocked. "Why, it's the most wonderful thing! We at the Ouran Host Club make the dreams and hopes of young ladies come to fruition! And we hosts are like family."

Yuiko's blue eyes glittered like a pool of clear water in the starlight on a breezy night. "How romantic!" Yayoi huffed.

Soubi seemed to be interested. "How would such a young host be recieved?" he asked. "What would his benefits be?"

"Honey-senpai is close to this boy's size. He makes about..." Tamaki looked at his fingers. "... Three-thousand six-hundred yen."

Soubi's eyes opened. "Per week?"

"Per day. Two hours."

The children exclaimed, "Wooow!"

"School days only, of course. With occasional functions outside of school."

"What kind of functions?" Soubi asked skeptically. That was a lot of money for just one boy.

Tamaki smiled. "Oh, all sorts of things! Ballroom dances, trips to the beach, costume parties... We do other things, but they aren't part of club activities. Just because we're friends."

"So you're not a fighter?"

"Oh, and there is cake, tea, and coffee at every meeting, and food at all other functions."

Yuiko hopped up and down in glee, causing her chest to bounce. "I wanna go, I wanna go!"

"Of course, my Princess!" Tamaki spread his arms wide. "You should all come! I'll allow you to visit for free tomorrow!"

"Yay!" Yuiko squealed. Yayoi sighed, aggrevated.

Ritsuka sat at the table, doing his homework, while Soubi cooked in the kitchen. "What do you think, Soubi?" Ritsuka asked him.

"I think hosting would be a lot of work for you," Soubi said. "You can be... shy... at times."

"Hm." Ritsuka thought back to their first meeting. He blushed. "At a host club," he wondered, "you just have to be nice to girls, right? That's all?"

"And pour tea, yes."

"Being nice to girls is hard sometimes..." Ritsuka admitted.

Soubi looked over to the boy. "You're generally kind to Yuiko. You could just pretend that they're all Yuiko."

"That might work."

"Anyway, there's no need to decide right now." Soubi brought dinner over to the table. "We'll visit tomorrow afternoon, and then you can decide."

The visit was uneventful. Everyone was on their best behavior, including the twins, which could be a bit intimidating, perhaps more so than when they weren't behaving, but only when you knew that their normal behavior was no less than mischievous.. Overall, Soubi decided this was a prim and proper place, and a reasonable way for a young man to spend his time. It was the ladies who needed to be worried over, quite frankly. They were practically helpless. Even the regulars fawned over Soubi and Ritsuka, who sat on the corner sofa, mere spectators.

"Would you like my slice of cake?" the girls asked.

"No, thank you," responded Ritsuka and Soubi.

"Would you like my macaroons?!" the girls squealed.

"No, thank you," Ritsuka and Soubi said politely.

"Would you like some milk?" Honey and Yuiko asked. The girls stared.

"No, thank you."

"Would you like some tea?" asked Tamaki.

"No, thank you."

One or two of the girls fainted.

And thus, Ritsuka and Soubi were accepted into the host club.