Chapter 1: An uninvited houseguest

Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or any of its characters. This is my first ever fanfiction story, so I hope it's okay. Enjoy :-)

The Third Music Room, Monday, 3 p.m.

'Haru-chan!' Huni waved his fork in the air, beaming at Haruhi as she slouched into the elegant music room. 'Look at all the delicious cakes Tama-chan had flown in from France! Usa-chan is testing the strawberry cake, to make sure it's good.' He held up his bunny while munching on a mouthful of cake.

Haruhi's face slumped in wry disbelief as she took in the mountain of cake that was currently occupying every table in the room, most of the floor, and even covering the piano. A tower of boxed cakes were teetering dangerously in front of Nekozawa-senpai's door.

'Eh?' Haruhi muttered, her eyes searching for the other hosts amidst the sea of cake. She spotted Mori effortlessly shifting boxes, presumably full of cakes, into the kitchen, and the twins dancing around Tamaki, who was talking into his cellphone and looking rather red in the face over by the piano.

'Yara - yara,' she said, shaking her head. 'Did he order too much by accident?' she wondered aloud.

'Unfortunately not,' Kyoya said, his sudden appearance beside her making Haruhi jump. 'Our highness has taken it into his head to throw an extravagant party this evening in honor of the Host Club's reunion as a family.'

'A party?' Haruhi said in wonder. It had been almost a week since the Ouran Fair, when Tamaki had almost left them forever. Haruhi had been out of school with the flu after falling from the carriage she had chased him in, into the river. Tamaki's father had mysteriously agreed to give her an 'A' in all her classes so that she could remain at the top of the class. She had tried to protest, preferring to earn the grades on her own merit, but he had assured her that illness was excusable and that as a straight 'A' student, her illness should not prevent her from maintaining the average she deserved.

Kyoya glanced at her. 'Superintendent Suoh has an interest in you, Haruhi,' he observed coolly, as if reading her mind.

Haruhi felt herself blushing as the tall host's glasses flashed white in the sunlight. 'How do you know about -?' she began to ask curiously, but Kyoya simply opened his black notebook and began to write.

'I take it you are staying in the host club, despite your debt being paid off?' he inquired coldly, as if he were asking her about the weather.

Haruhi nodded, wondering what Kyoya was really thinking about. For some reason, the memory of him stealing her away from Tamaki at the Fair's dance sprang to mind. He had returned her to Tamaki with an ironic smile, as if he were only being generous.

'Senpai -' she began. 'Did you really give the management rights of your father's company back to your father?'

His pen stopped moving across the page for an instant, then resumed. 'Hai, Haruhi,' he said calmly. 'I did this to prove a point. I no longer need to paint within the confines of an extravagant frame. Tamaki taught me that. From now on, I intend to serve only my own interests.'

Haruhi's eyebrow twitched. 'Demo... isn't that what you've always done?' she asked sardonically.

Once upon a time, she would have faced Kyoya's wrath for such a bold comment, but now he simply smiled and snapped his notebook shut. 'No, Haruhi,' he disagreed pleasantly. 'Before now, I have served the interests of the Ootori syndicate, and in particular, my father, knowing I should not overshadow my older brothers. But from today, I have decided I will serve my own personal interests, regardless of whether this pleases my father.'

Haruhi shivered slightly.

'Unfortunately,' Kyoya paused and pushed his glasses further up his nose. 'I rather suspect my father's wishes are the same as my own. Of course, our goal may be the same, but our motivations are very different.'

Haruhi just stared at Kyoya in surprise. 'Senpai - you don't normally talk about your plans. Did something happen?'

He turned to look at her, his smile faltering slightly. 'Yes,' he said simply. 'You're forbidden to wear the boy's uniform from now on. Superintendent Souh has requested this. You will be allowed to continue to host, however.' He ignored Haruhi's shocked expression and consulted his notebook once more. 'Based on my calculations, I believe a female Haruhi will make our profits increase by roughly seven percent.'

'It's our toy!' cried the twins, appearing like jack-in-the-boxes on either side of her, maniacal grins etched onto their faces. 'What was that about an increase in profits senpai?' Kaoru smirked.

'Maybe he's suggesting we should loan Haruhi out to each host member for a profit. You'll have to stay at our mansion and do whatever we say as our bunny girl slave!' Hikaru declared, his eyes flashing excitedly. The twins cackled in unison, and hovered over Haruhi, whispering things and clawing at her uniform.

'I'm too busy to be your toy this week,' Haruhi said flatly, knocking away the bunny ears Hikaru was trying to slide onto her head. 'I have to study to catch up with the class.'

'You can study at our house Haruhi, nee, nee?' the twins chorused suggestively.

'Superintendent Suoh has already requested that I tutor Haruhi so that she may catch up with her classwork,' Kyoya interrupted. 'And her father is going to be away in Kuruizawa this week, visiting a friend. So with the exception of tonight, I'll be staying at her apartment for the rest of the week.'

The twins froze, Huni stopped chewing, Mori paused in the act of picking up a box, and Tamaki dropped his cellphone with a clatter. 'S - s -staying?' the Host Club King stuttered. 'A - a - at Haruhi's - house?' He turned to stone and crumbled into fine white powder, but no-one noticed. They were all too busy staring at Kyoya, who was smiling at Haruhi.

'Let me guess, you've already talked to my father about this, haven't you senpai?' Haruhi asked, her frosty gaze penetrating Kyoya's guarded black eyes.

'As usual, you are one step ahead of me, Haruhi.'

'Hardly,' Haruhi retorted. 'If I were, I would have made sure that my father refused.'