Chapter 2: Books, Sweet Treats, New Female Manager…wait what?

Ok, from here on out I'll be going off of the manga so if you haven't read it then;

a) You should so read it, it's awesome! And the ending is completely different!

b) There will be spoilers.

Lineage first, money second…that's the order of precedence in the High School Division of Toney Ouran Institute, where the host is the main diversion. Female students, graceful as butterflies gather to be feted in a garden filled with handsome men who look and smell sweeter than the grandest orchids imaginable.

Today the Host Club room was decorated with orchids and sweet smelling flowers that were placed around the room and sent a sweet smelling aroma around the room. We were dressed in what looked like dressing gowns but were actually…kimonos? I don't know but they looked like dressing gowns to me. The one I was wearing seemed to just have the colours dark red and deep brown. It had a red base with what looked like splotches of brown every here and there. I didn't really like it all that much but it was comfortable and the ladies seem to like it.

"Alan-kun!" Speaking of ladies, "Where is your usual video game?" one of my clients asked me looking at my book with puzzled written all over her features. "I just thought with the flowers placed all around the room and with the lovely aroma wafting around that it would be nice to take a break from the video games and perhaps read a book instead," I explained looking at the book in my hands. "Plus, I'm a little embarrassed to say this but, I'm a sucker for romance novels." I admitted as I blushed. The two girls gushed. "Do you mind if we join you today?" The lady with the long brown hair asked with a small blush on her face.

"No I don't mind at all, in fact I'd be glad for the company." I said with a wide smile as I gestured at the couch opposite from me. They both sat down and smiled at me. "We absolutely adore your outfit, the colours really suit you," the lady with the shoulder length black hair complimented while twiddling her thumbs. "Thank you! We don't have these sorts of cloths where I'm from so I wasn't so sure about it." I said pinching a bit of fabric and rubbing my thumb and forefinger against it. "What's it like, where you're from?" they asked curiously together. "It's very green because it rains a lot! And the people aren't the nicest but they'd help you if you needed it. The city is dangerous at night but during the day it's very busy and crowded with lots of different shops and people. The country side is stunning, especially in the mornings with the sun rising in the background." I described it to the best of my ability while thinking of the green island I grew up on.

"Oh, imagine sitting next to Alan-kun and watching the sun rising in a field of flowers." They swooned, gripping each other's hands. "Yeah, we'd be sitting on a blanket with a little picnic sitting in front of us on the luscious green grass with a book in our hands as we read it together," I said to fuel their imagination. This is where I differ from the other hosts, the other hosts just let them imagine it by themselves but I get involved and add my own input as well. I think it's really cute when there happy that I share the same daydream as them.

I noticed Haruhi wandering around and decided to see what she was up to. "Excuse me for a moment ladies." I said rising from my seat and walking over to Haruhi. "Seems like everyone's blubbering today," Haruhi mumbled. "Hm? Oh, you mean the crying? I noticed it as well," I said to her while standing next to her. "Glad I wasn't the only one who noticed," she said sending a small smile my way. I, of course, smiled back.

Kaoru accidentally bumped into Haruhi and a little container with the word 'MENTHOL' printed across it fell onto the ground. Haruhi picked it up and we looked at it. "Are those-" my mouth was covered by Hikaru's hand. I felt something fluttering in my stomach and I could hear my heart beating loudly in my ears. Haruhi shouted out, "That's cheat-" but Hikaru's hand also covered her mouth. "It's just one of the tricks of the trade." Hikaru commented while removing his hand form over our mouths. "But you're scamming them!" Haruhi protested, though it was quietly so the guests couldn't hear. "Girls just melt at the sight of tearful eyes." Kaoru said while rummaging through his pocket for something. He pulled out two fancy looking sweets in a little clear box.

"Here, an uncommon, expensive tea snack, just for the two of you." Kaoru said holding out both of the tasty treats. I picked up mine with little care but Haruhi was holding hers on the palm of her hand. "For me? Really?" Haruhi asked looking at the little sweet. I just threw mine up into the air and caught it with one hand. "Ooh, gotcha," I heard the twin troublemakers chime simultaneously. "Eee!" and then came the customers. "Are you two fond of sweets?" a group of four asked, two of them being my clients. "Yeah, I have a giant sweet tooth," I said opening the box and taking out the pink puffy sweet. "No, I don't care for sweets…but…it would make a nice offering for my mother," Haruhi said softly gazing at the sweet. I just popped mine in my mouth.

As I was relishing the delicious tasting candy I missed out on everyone freaking out and giving Haruhi all their sweets. As I swallowed the delicious treat I noticed a cute girl peeping through the door as if she was shy. "Hello," I said with a charming smile. The twins joined in saying, "Oh…hello and welcome! Come in, don't be shy." And even Hunny shouted out a cute, "Pretty!"

"Hey! Gentlemen, please!" Tamaki scolded us. For what, I'm not too sure. Tamaki then turned his attention to the new girl. He walked towards her with his hand outstretched. "Welcome princess, to the Ouran Host Clu-" And she hit him. Yes, you heard me right, she hit him. Straight in the face while shouting, "Don't touch me you phoney!" And then she went on to insult our 'king' even further. "How did you get to be the king of the Host Club? The king does not spread his love around like cheap margarine! A girl's heart responds to the enigmatic smile, the indecipherable glance! You're just a mushy oaf! An airhead pretty boy! A cut-rate Romeo!" Tamaki looked like he was stabbed at this stage but she said the one thing that really looked like it killed him on the inside. "In short—A Lousy Lover!" On a brighter note Tamaki developed a new move, personal slow motion.

Once the crazy girl was done with Tamaki she caught sight of Kyoya. "Kyoya!" she yelled out, launching herself at him. She hugged him while he just looked down at her. "How I ached to see you. My one, my only prince!"

After that shocking discovery Hikaru and Kaoru decided it was a perfect time to shout out, "Kyoya has a fiancé!"

We all disappeared into the changing rooms to change back into our uniforms. I took of the dressing gown and looked at myself in the mirror. My tan scrawny frame had multiple scars and burns that dotted my body. All the burns were small except for one large burn that ran along my back and the scars were all relatively small as well. You see when I was younger I was given to an orphanage but when I was five one of the older kids set the whole building up in flames.

I wasn't supposed to be in the building at the time, I was supposed to be outside playing with the other kids, but instead I stayed inside to play the old PlayStation that was hooked up to the TV. The little homemade bomb went off, sending bits of wood and metal all over the place, some of it tearing my skin. The little bomb started a fire and the fire got really big really fast. I woke up in a hospital and I got on with life, I'm still scared of fire though.

I sighed at my body, got dressed in my uniform and went back into the club room to find that all the flowers had been removed already. I sat down on the couch next to Kyoya's fiancé. "My name is Renge Hoshakuji. I'm transferring into 1-A tomorrow," Kyoya's fiancé said to the guys. I smiled at her, "That's the same class as me Renge. I could show you around if you like." I said shyly with a small blush on my face. She smiled at me which I took as a yes.

Renge suddenly sighed before saying, "Oh my, it was love at first sight…watching him tend to the plants in the yard, which get so little attention. Then caring for and comforting that injured kitten." She said with that glazed expression and doting voice that you could only use for someone you really care for. "Really? That's rather hard to picture…" Hikaru and Kaoru said simultaneously with face smiles that looked almost painful. "Kyo-chan is very nice." Hunny said in his cute little voice while holding Usa-chan.

"Are you sure you mean Kyoya?" Haruhi asked blankly, it was almost as if she didn't care that he was standing right next to her. I just laughed quietly as the scene they were all making. "Kind to all and asking for nothing in return! A lonely soul who loves solitude! Priceless moments captured in a love stimulation game…Uki Doki Memorial!" Of course everyone flipped out, and by everyone I mean Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru. Haruhi looked confused, Mori's face was blank, Kyoya started thinking, Honey hugged Usa-chan and I just laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Then what she said clicked into place.

"Oh, you mean an Otome game?" I asked looking at Renge with interest. She nodded furiously. "I have a cool Otome game at my house that you might like; it's called 'Fire Emblem Awakening'. It's really good and it's basically about a magic war where you create your own character and you can get married and have a kid, it's cute." She looked at me with sparkly eyes. "You like Otome games?" she asked grabbing onto my arm. "Only the ones where you're in supernatural worlds and can use magic and stuff…also I prefer them if I get to be a guy."

"Oh like Yaoi games?" Renge asked. It was then I realised that I had just admitted to playing girls games in front of the club. The only ones who seemed to notice were the Hitachiin twins…I'm screwed. "No not yaoi games! I don't really like those kinds of games! I like RPG games and it wasn't originally an Otome game, or at least I didn't think it was!" I said in a rush to try and save myself. I turned away from Renge and tried to leave the room but those twin terrors caught me. "Oh Alan, we didn't think you were that kind of guy." They said standing in front of me with identical teasing smirks. "W-what kind of g-guy?" I asked nervously. "The kind of guy who plays girl games."

"I didn't know it was an Otome game, ok? I thought it was an awesome game where you received and army and got to fight weird zombie-things! I don't regret getting that game because it was awesome and there was a lot of action and it did keep me entertained so leave me alone!" I kind of exploded in their faces.

_Time Skip_

So me and Haruhi were left 'in charge' of Renge by default. Haruhi thought the best way to make sure Renge didn't get into any trouble was by baking cookies. Renge didn't want to do that until I convinced her to make them for Kyoya. We went to Cooking Room 1 to start on our cookies. Haruhi made me wear an apron and a silly little headscarf which was really embarrassing, good thing the twins didn't see me like this. "Haruhi! Haruhi!" Renge called while stirring her batter. "Shall I add the sugar to the cream?" Renge asked from the other side of the room.

Haruhi was helping me with the cookies but she soon went over to Renge causing me to pout. Renge was making a mess of her cookies and Haruhi's cookies were already in the oven. I finished mine and popped them in the oven next to Haruhi's. Mine were different since I added a whole bunch of chocolate chips and coco powder. I watched as Renge kept messing up.

"Zip it you faker." I heard Renge say coldly at the door. Those words made my blood freeze in my veins. I turned slowly to see the door open. Renge was giving Kyoya her cookies that were burned to a crisp. I laughed under my breath as Renge went Medusa Mode on poor honey. I took off the stupid headscarf while walking over to Haruhi's side. I looked at my own batch of cookies that I had put in a little bag. "How'd yours turn out?" I asked Haruhi who was taking a bite of hers. "There not too bad," she said taking another one. "Hm…wanna try one of mine?" I asked holding out my packet. She took one look at my cookies before turning away quickly. "They…um…look very chocolaty." She said slowly. "I would hope so; I added lots of coco powder and chocolate chips." I explained looking down at my cookies. I picked up one and took a bite, I spat it out almost straight away.

"What went wrong?" I yelled trying to get the horrible taste out of my mouth by wiping my sleeve against my tongue. "You added way too much coco powder," Haruhi told me bluntly. "B-but chocolate makes everything taste better?" I said, it sounded more like a question with the way it came out. "Not when you add that much." Haruhi told me. "This is stupid! It's not like I even wanted to do this in the first place!" I muttered angrily throwing my coco filled cookies in the bin. "You can have one of mine if you'd like," Haruhi offered holding out her batch. I took one and popped it in my mouth. "It's not too bad," I mumbled around the cookie residing in my mouth.

I noticed the troublesome twins share a look which could only mean one thing, trouble. They waltzed over to Haruhi and I with big slightly scary grins. "May I?" Hikaru asked, tilting up Haruhi's chin and taking a bite out of the cookie hanging from her mouth. "Mmm…tasty."

I felt something inside my chest squeeze painfully. I took a sharp intake of breath as the pain ebbed away in my chest. "Yum! Bake us a cake next time!" Hikaru exclaimed cheerfully while patting Haruhi's head.

Someone tell me what this pain is, please, it hurts.

"Oh my, you've got a bit of cream right there." Kaoru said bending down and licking Haruhi's cheek. Tamaki freaked out, yelling at the twins who were grinning like the troublemakers they are. "I can wipe it off myself, Kaoru. And there's plenty more in the bag Hikaru." Haruhi said wiping her cheek. "Hey, hey, hey! That's a very bad reaction! You should've given out to them for their impertinence!" Tamaki yelled grabbing both sides of Haruhi's face and placing his own face very close to hers. "This is sexual harassment you kiss-a-holic." Haruhi said bluntly. "Sexual harass-I just touched you! They licked you like dogs! MURDER! HELP! POLICE!" Tamaki yelled out like a maniac. "Simmer down Milord." The twins said simultaneously, trying to calm Tamaki down.

The pain was gone, I wonder what it was? I've never had asthma so it wasn't and attack. Maybe I got a little heart attack, it certainly felt like that. It was the first time I've ever felt anything like that before and I hope I never feel it again.

"What are you wearing?" Hikaru asked me looking at the red apron I had on…damn it! I forgot about that stupid thing! "Does our little Alan like baking with the girls?" Hikaru asked wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "N-no, damn it! I've played a lot of cooking games in my life but I couldn't bake to save my life so there's no point on baking if I suck!" I defended shrugging off his arm and taking off the cursed apron. Renge chose the perfect time to distract everyone.

"All of these characters are Tepid! Except Kyoya," Renge shouted out, well, she said the last bit. "There's no depth, no shading, no angst! Women love to swoon over tragic, handsome men! Without that, men are just silly and stupid and boring! And that will not do for Kyoya's shop." Renge just snapped, she was like a bomb. "This calls for major character revision! Starting with you," Renge pointed at poor little Hunny who was already in tears.

"Being cute inside and out is too one dimensional! From now on you're cute on the outside but inside…a ravening monster!"

"Mori, You will hover over Hunny, consumed by concern for him! Your every rare utterance will be profound!"

"The twins will agonize over how their similarity constrains their individuality, especially in…yes, the basketball club!"

"Haruhi…hmm…poor in wealth and family, yet a student at this school…that'll do!"

"Alan! Trying to be a hero like the video games you play and books you read, trying to do some good in a world that brought you nothing but pain!"

"And Tamaki, Praised and idolized everywhere because of his appearance, he doesn't know who he really is, "The Lonely King"!"

I went into shock for a minute before nervously glancing at Renge. "Um…Renge? Why do we have to pretend to be something we aren't?" I asked.

"Did you not hear me? It's to make the girls more interested in you."

That doesn't seem like a good enough reason but ok.

Tamaki seemed to enjoy the idea and even started posing for Renge. The rest of us, however, were not too keen on the idea.

"Kyoya do something." The twins said looking over at Kyoya. "Such as…? Haruhi and Alan are in charge of her. And look, our president is quite into it." Kyoya said wisely while gesturing to Tamaki. "Lets just see how it goes, shall we? It could be interesting," He said with a cold, calculating smile that made me shiver and let out a little 'Brrr'

_Time Skip~_

"End of the line, pauper," A cold ruthless voice called out, directing its ferocity to the honour student that had collapsed under a tree, the rain pouring down soaking the poor girl to the bone.

What has brought such shadows to these youthful souls?

"Remember when you go up against me, this is what you get!" Hunny and Mori are shown, Hunny with a demonic look spread across his features.

"You must stop. For to hurt others, is to hurt yourself greatly." Mori's calm voice said, perhaps a saviour has been found.

Has a saviour come, bringing an edifying light…?

"Don't question my actions, Takashi. My next scolding may be more severe," Hunny said coldly, disregarding the wise words said to him.

"There are those who must learn their place."

The scene changes to one where a certain black haired teen is sitting under a tree with an umbrella protecting him and his book from the rain. The title of the book can be read as 'Peter Pan'.

Maybe a Hero will come and save the day.

Alan noticed the position Haruhi was in and immediately rushed over to help, leaving his umbrella and book on the ground, forgotten. He stood in front of Haruhi protectively. "What are you doing? Leave him alone! You have no right to pick on him like that!" Alan yelled out, his hands balled up into fists at his side. "Oh, so the little geek thinks he can play the hero, huh? I'll show you what happens to people who must learn their place, people like you!" Hunny said before his angry expression morphed into a teary-eyed Hunny. "I'm so sorry!" Hunny cried launching himself at Haruhi while apologising to the both of us. I patted his head and Haruhi hugged him back.

"CUT! That's not in the script!" Renge shouted out waving a copy of the script that was rolled up.

We somehow ended up shooting a movie. Hikaru and Kaoru already did their basketball scene and Tamaki already did his 'Lonely Prince' scenes. "Ok everyone, take five!" Renge yelled to the professional filming crew that came from Hollywood. We suspected that she was making the movie version of 'Uki Memo' but of course with us instead of the original characters.

"What's with us playing basketball anyway? And getting drenched in fake rain!" Hikaru complained while drying his hair. "Yeah, check out the script!" Kaoru complained. Written in the script it said, 'At first it seems that Hikaru is the Seme but in fact the more mature Kaoru is the one who drives the action.'

"We work that way anyway!" They said at the same time as Kaoru tossed the script in the air. "What's Seme mean?" Haruhi asked. "It…doesn't really matter, forget about it," I said smiling softly. Tamaki came over demanding her attention. I laughed quietly and turned to see Hunny pretending to be Little Red Riding Hood with a red towel. "Hey nice," Kaoru said while Hikaru just grinned. "You look really cute Hunny," I said patting his towel covered head. "Thanks Al-chan!"

"Haruhi, Alan, could you come over here, please?" Renge called. "Coming," I yelled out rushing over to her with Haruhi behind me. "I would like these gentlemen to appear in our production, could you fill them in?" Renge asked. "Yeah, scholarship wimp, geek what's up?" Two random D class students had been dragged over here by Renge, this can't be good. "We need villains in this piece!" Renge said passionately and then started to go on about their role in the movie. You could tell the D class students didn't know they would be in the movie at all and they certainly were not happy with being villains. Renge grabbed one of their arms and pulled the poor guy forward.

"Cut it out! Just because you're in class A doesn't mean you can push us around!" He yelled shoving Renge towards some filming equipment. Looks like me and Haruhi had the same idea because we both ran over and got behind Renge to cushion her fall. Of course, just my luck I'd end up behind both of them so not only did I get a painful bashing on my back but both of their bodyweight combined was enough to wind me.

"Haruhi! Alan! I heard a…" Tamaki trailed off when he saw the position we were in. I was sitting on the floor with both my hands holding my stomach, that really hurt, and tried to get my breath back. Haruhi was bent over, gasping. And the two class D students were just standing there. Tamaki hit the closest one and yanked him up by collar of his shirt. I felt someone help me up and it turned out to be Hikaru. "'sup?" I asked breathlessly, trying to diffuse the tension.

The poor D class students ended up running away when Mori and Hunny walked over. "You ok?" Hikaru asked. "Yeah, just my whole body hurts." I said bluntly. "What do those two eat? That was like a bus hit me in the gut!" I complained while looking at Tamaki and Haruhi who were standing very close together. "Why'd you do it?" Hikaru asked as Kaoru just looked at me with curiosity. "I suppose Renge was right about me…I really do want to be someone's hero."

"Camera! Did you get that?" Renge suddenly yelled out, causing me to jump. "That's perfect! Now all we need is a narration from my Kyo-" a big SMASH was heard. Kyoya had smashed the lens of the camera complaining about how Renge was a nuisance and what not. Renge started crying saying, "But, Kyoya would pat my head and say "Don't worry about it." Kyoya would…"

"Nah, that's not our Kyoya."

"But really looking at a person and getting to know him…that's a real relationship," Haruhi explained with a comforting smile. "Yeah, and who cares that he's not the guy you were looking for! You just keep looking for that someone special and you'll find him in no time at all. After all you are an attractive young girl with a great personality," I said trying to make her feel better. It worked as she catapulted herself at me and hugged the stuffing out of me. "Help, my back hurts," I whimpered as the pain increased. She immediately let go of me and asked if I was ok. "No need to worry, we got him," I heard Hikaru say in a hateful tone. I was picked up and thrown over his shoulder. "C'mon Kaoru," Hikaru yelled already half way to the school building.

"We need to get him to the nurse's office," Kaoru said and Hikaru started walking in that direction. "No," I mumbled gripping the back of Hikaru's blazer. "No, don't make me go, Please don't make me go!" I protested tugging on his blazer. Hikaru changed courses and instead headed to the club room.

Once we were inside the club room I was placed on one of the couches. "Let us see how bad it is," Hikaru demanded as Kaoru sent me a comforting smile. I hesitantly took off my blazer and unbuttoned my shirt. Apparently I was going to slow because it was soon ripped off me and I heard two gasps. "How…" Kaoru trailed off tracing one of the scars. "I was caught in a homemade bomb and fire accident when I was five," I explained trying not to shiver when I felt two fingers trace down my spine and along the big burn mark down my back. I don't know how but I knew that it was Hikaru's hand.

"You don't have to worry anymore," Hikaru said softly which was very out of character of him. "We'll take good care of you."

"Huh?" I asked looking back at him. "That's just Hikaru's way of saying we're always there if you need us. And also, your our friend now," Kaoru explained while rubbing my head. "Cool, I don't think I've ever had any friends before," I said quietly to myself. "That's good, we haven't really had friends before too so it works," Kaoru said with a small smile.

_The Next Day_

The club was in full swing today. Tamaki was flirting up a storm, Haruhi gained a steady amount of regular customers and Hunny was still swallowing cake after cake. Today things did go a bit differently. The twins decided that we should host together to raise the amount of customers that I've been getting since I don't get a whole lot.

"We saw the video," one of the Hitachiin's fan girls said swooning slightly. Then they all started saying their favourite parts and people. I just sweat dropped and looked over at Kyoya and it looks like everyone else had the same idea. "I broke the camera but all the video footage was saved and I couldn't just let it go to waist, all in all a most profitable venture," Kyoya said writing more in his book.

Renge just waltzed in and was absolutely smitten with Haruhi. So much so that she dragged Haruhi out the door with Tamaki complaining the whole time. After a couple of minutes of confusion we settled down and went back to hosting.

I was seated in between them and we got a whole couch between us. "Why did you decide to host with the twins today, Alan?" one of my clients asked. "They asked me too and I don't mind hanging out with them," I answered truthfully while narrowly avoiding the edge in Mario Kart. "Yes, yes, yes, yes" I mumbled under my breath as I was about to win. A hand suddenly turned my head away from the screen and I found myself face to face with Hikaru. I blushed asking, "Hikaru why did you…" but trailing off as he leaned in until our foreheads were touching.

"Don't pay attention to that silly little game, pay attention to me," Hikaru said in a low voice. I felt the game being taken from me by most likely Kaoru and my head was released. I moved away from Hikaru's face and slightly shuffled towards Kaoru, watching as he played the game. "At least I still won," I mumbled reaching for my 3DS. "Nah, ah," Kaoru said holding it out. "Give it back!" I demanded, he just shook his head and laughed. I straddled him and reached out for my aqua 3DS that was just out of my reach. I felt arms wrap around my waist and I was pulled back into Hikaru's lap. "I can't have you making a move on my brother, now can I?" Hikaru said holding me firm even though I struggled.

"Also, you're just so cute that I want you all for myself,"

"Hikaru don't be so mean! At least share with me!" Kaoru said pulling the bottom half of my body onto his lap so now I was lying on them both.

"Ok Kaoru, but just for you," Hikaru said holding his brothers face close to his own. I looked away with the blush I had on my face deepening to a scarlet red.

Why is my heart pounding so fast?