Ouran High School Host Club 1. Hitsuzen

**A/N: **I've been wanting to write an Ouran High School Host Club fiction. Someday…I shall write a story with Haruhi and Tamaki being stupid losers when it comes to dating. They're both awkward losers and cuties, I must hug them.

Eeeeeeh—for now, it's going to be KaoruxOCxHikaru. _**For now**__. _Let's see how will this turn out and who do you want her to end up with.

It's clearly Rated T because she's violent and stuff might happen. Oh, it might follow both the anime verse and manga verse because I like the manga verse. Everything is resolved._  
_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. If I did, we will see the truth about Kyoya's notebook. It might have some secret doodles, that love umbrella thing, and more secret stuff.**_

Let's roll with this!

* * *

The afternoon sun was high in the sky, shining down upon the massive grounds known as Ouran Academy—an elite school known to school the most wealthy and had proper lineages to different powerful families throughout the world. The mid-spring breeze blew gently against the cluster of cherry blossom trees that were beautiful bloomed showing off its pink petals. It was such a beautiful day after school, especially since there wasn't a single cloud in sight which showed off the blueness of the sky perfectly.

The leaves rustled quietly as the breeze continued to blow causing some petals to be plucked from its flower. It was a beautiful sight, like pale pink snow gently falling towards the ground and decorating the green grass with pink dots. One of the petals decided to dance down to the ground where someone slept, landing gracefully on the rosy cheek right below the eye. The simple disturbance was enough to tickle her awake, her eyes fluttered open revealing crystal blue eyes that sparkled with tiredness.

Her eyes moved towards the disturbance, she raised a hand and plucked the stray petal from her face. The girl rose up from her sleeping position—an arm tucked underneath her head as a cushion with her cheek pressing up against her arm, her short orange hair curling up against her cheeks from the tossing and turning she had done before to find a correct position to rest in. Her hair was sleek but curly, ending above her shoulders—but unlike normal lengthened bob-cut styled hair, her hair curled inwards towards her neck.

Eyes lowered slightly, her lips formed into a straight line. A simple thing had disturbed her from her thoughts wandering along with the wind itself yet it took her fifteen minutes just so she could actually be awake every morning?

"Hmmm…"

She observed the cherry blossom petal for a moment, staring at it with interest on the structure and the color. She inhaled deeply before blowing on the petal causing it to return back fluttering in the sky. Her hands were on her lap as she stared at the petal flutter back into the sky, fluttering over to somewhere else.

It was past three-thirty in the afternoon, classes had ended at three but they had to attend to after school curriculums such as clubs or meetings. Nearly all of the student body had something to do after classes…except for her. She decided to spend the next hour or so to study for her subjects or to nap outside underneath a shade. She chose the latter after seeing what had the students done to the libraries scattered throughout the academy, it was loud and bustling with people like what a cafeteria would be like.

Her eyebrow twitched, remembering when she sought for a place to study and/or to nap. For the past two days being in the school, she had expected that the school would be at _least _quiet about what they do or not. Being quiet for others' sake is a very polite thing, isn't politeness taught in this school at all? But for the past two days, nothing interesting happened—her peers didn't want to talk to her since, according to the world of gossip and rumor—she had frightening abilities that including super strength, taking down a gang by herself, and scaring others with a simple glare.

She didn't even remember doing the other two except the latter, the latter was completely true. It happened yesterday when a group of Class 1-D boys decided it would be _brilliant _to comment about her height which was a big _hell no_ in her book. She radiated her best '_Run now_' aura followed by a glare that seemed to make them flinch in horror before hightailing out of there before anything would happen. For the past two days, she had found the students of Ouran _annoying_.

She preferred to be alone these days. And annoying people weren't part of her good list which is why they sometimes steered clear when she would enter, they would go about in their own business but they made sure to _not _push her. Probably the previous rumors she had in her other previous school wormed its way into the school.

They wanted to befriend her but it was like she had erected a barrier to prevent them from doing so. They avoided her so she avoided them, if they didn't have enough courage to accept her then she won't accept them, simple as that.

It was her policy in her life.

Maybe it was because of that policy she didn't have friends. But she didn't care, she didn't want that feeling again.

Despite that, there was this one person. A single one that was sincere in her opinion, the person was very open and had a homey feeling…she felt reluctant to even accept what that person offered. It was like she had saw that she _wanted _to talk to someone.

_Fujioka Haruhi._

Her classmate and the only person who had offered to eat with her when she ate alone in the classroom, offered to borrow textbooks when she didn't receive hers until yesterday, and even hanged around her before club hour began. The shocking thing about when she had first laid eyes on Haruhi was the fact that _she _was dressed in the periwinkle boys' uniform. She passed off perfectly as a cute boy but she realized instantly that Haruhi was in fact a girl.

Instead of blurting it out, she decided to keep it quiet since some people had their own reasons. She may be rude and cynical but she knew when she had to keep quiet. Haruhi was a very, _very_ nice girl who spent her time helping her get used to school life. She was tolerable to say the least—but she didn't officially call her a '_friend_' until Haruhi made it clear they were, for now…they were just classmates.

She didn't want to believe so quickly if someone was simply being nice, she didn't want her hopes to be crushed again. Not again…

She shook out her thoughts with a shake of her head.

_No, I decided that I would continue this life without making those mistakes again._

She wondered if Haruhi was in the club she was in. The Host Club—a club dedicated to pleasing girls…and sometimes boys. It was club filled with handsome fellows she had heard through the world of gossip—namely the girls.

There was Suoh Tamaki, a second year, and the President. Ootori Kyoya, a second year as well, and the Vice-President. Followed by the members: Haninozuka Mitsukuni and Morinozuka Takashi who were third years, and Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru who were first years. She had recognized Hikaru and Kaoru as her classmates and was seated in between Haruhi and luckily, they paid no mind to her.

Haruhi told her that the one sitting on her left side is Hikaru and the one sitting on the right side is Kaoru. It wasn't hard for her to distinguish them for the past two days, especially since she had cousins who were quadruplets.

She wondered if Haruhi was still in her club duties as a Host. Then a thought crossed her mind.

Just _why _was Haruhi even in a Host Club dedicated to girls? She didn't look like she was attracted to the same gender. Did the Host Club even know she was a girl?

By the way Haruhi had spoke of the Host Club, it was like she was forced to be there—especially when she talked about the different hosts and their types. She felt very cautious of that Ootori, a.k.a The Cool Type, especially when she passed by him walking with Suoh Tamaki during lunch period when she headed over to the restrooms. He was cool and calculated, their eyes had met for a brief moment before he gave that sickening sweet smile that made her want to punch his lights out.

It was like he was planning something, something she didn't approve of.

She yawned loudly, pressing a hand to cover her mouth before exhaling out. She had another hour to kill time, she could probably try to fall back asleep or she could go and see if the Library was now quiet.

Then again, she might have to waste energy just to stand up and she didn't feel like moving from her comfortable spot underneath the shade of the cherry blossoms. Her eyes flickered up to the building that had a nice tone of pink—it was strange how the school was pink, pale pink, rose pink, and lavender. Did the chairman enjoy the color pink? She snorted at that thought. The building was far from where usually students occupied, it was the building filled with mostly abandoned classrooms or store rooms.

But that building was lively since it had Music Room #3 located there and according to Haruhi, that's where the club is. It was located at the top floor somewhere in the north corridor—or something like that.

She stretched her arms into the air, letting out a content sigh before standing up. "I think I'll return back inside the building." She dusted her daffodil yellow dress, adjusted her red bow, and fixed up her orange hair. With one last adjustment, she set off to the high school building.

The school grounds were massive—she had gotten lost quite a few times. Haruhi had given her tips on getting to class quicker which were complete help for her, especially since she would grow frustrated when she was in a rush.

She made her way through the classrooms which were in another building. Sometimes she wondered if this school was rich enough to even have elevators or escalators since it would be _much_ faster if they did have those. She actually liked this school, it may be pink but it was also quiet at times and made the whole place very serene.

Her footsteps echoed in the halls before she turned to stare the window, her monotone eyes staring at the bright blue sky. A flock of birds decided to take flight at the time, creating a picturesque scene that almost took her breath away. She stepped forward to the window, pressing a hand against them.

"I want to be a bird."

Birds were free and they had no worries.

Her eyes lowered before turning around, continuing her way to her classroom. It was going to take around five minutes for her to actually reach her classroom since this school was pretty large, she began taking the route Haruhi told her when she saw the restroom.

_Make a left on the second hallway you see, then continue going straight, after that, take another left then a right…_

She carefully followed her words, turning a left then continued on with Haruhi's directions. She was very grateful that Haruhi had given her directions so now she wouldn't get lost easily and soon, she would master the school and would no longer barge into different classrooms.

Sometime she would enter the Home Economics Room without realizing it only to glare at everyone who was giving her strange looks then turned back.

A lot of embarrassing things happened during her two days in this school.

Her thoughts were cut off when she had rammed into a taller figure, causing her to stumble back in shock at the sudden impact. "Whoa, sorry there!" She heard a voice apologize, then a more kinder voice followed behind. "Hikaru, you should watch where you're going."

Her eyes flickered up, two identical _and _familiar faces were staring at her. The one who had bumped into her—Hikaru, squinted his eyes as if he was trying to think about something. "Hey, wait! You're that new girl, Suzuhara Aria, aren't you?"

She didn't look unfazed at the topaz eyes and the identical expression they wore as they stared at her, "…What about it?" She crossed her arms, an eyebrow cocked up. They seemed to exchange a glance before giving a smug smile. "_You're rather cold aren't you? Aria-chan~!" _They sang together.

Aria's eyes hardened, "…And what gave you the right to call me so familiarly, Hitachiin-sans?"

"She's very cold, right Hikaru?" Kaoru looked over to his brother, his hands on his hips.

His brother mirrored the position, "Yes she is, Kaoru."

She sighed in exasperation, "If you just came here to bother me then don't waste my time." She was ready to leave but the twins decided it would be fun to block her way. "_But we haven't talked much haven't we?"_

"And what about it?"

They exchanged glances once more. How she wanted to just _shove her foot _to their annoying looks, as if they were plotting something. They began circling around her, looking her up and down in a mocking manner. "You've never spoken a single word in class," Hikaru smirked,

"But you've only spoken towards Haruhi or the teachers." Kaoru continued.

Aria carefully eyed them, "Maybe it's because I do not _like _having attention on me, nor do I want to mingle with others." She wondered how long will they bother her? Don't they even have club activities to attend?

They stopped at either side of her, glancing at each other with smirks. "_Why don't you come over to the Host Club?_"

"Hah?" She narrowed her eyes, "Are you deaf? I don't want attention nor do I want to mingle with irritating people."

"_Ehhh? But I'll be so much fun." _

She glowered at them, "My patience is wearing thin, Hitachiin-sans."

Suddenly, they were at each other's sides whispering loudly. "She's very cold, Kaoru."

"Indeed she is, Hikaru."

"_HIKARU! KAORU!_"

Before Aria could even do anything, a loud voice caught their attention. She turned her head to see a blond person running straight towards him with a trail of dust following behind, the twins sighed in exasperation. "_Aw, Boss is here._" They complained, mimicking each other's expression.

She identified him as Suoh Tamaki, the president of the Host Club. He ran towards them in full-speed, storming up to the twins who just raised their hands up in defense. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" He demanded with a sharp tone, they didn't look unaffected and shrugged. _"We were busy."_

He suddenly began ranting about host duties and club activities. Aria just watched the three of them banter about the whole situation with a deadpanned expression, she decided it would be the best time to escape. "Well then, I'm leaving."

"And then you decided to hold up this petite princess!" He shouted at them, pointing at Aria with his index finger causing her to immediately halt in her tracks. Tamaki whirled around, immediately standing in front of the girl with a flourished bow. "I apologize if the twins have disturbed you, my young fairy."

He flashed a charming smile, "My name is Suoh Tamaki. And you must be Suzuhara Aria-san? It's a pleasure to meet such a cute and small princess such as yourself. I did not expect that the transfer student would be as small and cute." He placed a hand on her head.

A vein popped on her head, you could practically see flames beginning to rise out from her body. Tamaki seemed to be unaware of the whole situation but the twins were, they watched in amusement on how low the temperature was turning into. "…small…" She muttered to herself.

"Yes, small!" He repeated, sounding elated that the girl liked being called small. "Are you lost? It's expected that people might lead you around, thinking you're an elementary student with your small height." The temperature grew even lower.

"…A…elementary…student?" She repeated, her hands curled into fists.

"Do not fret, princess. Girls are adorable when they have an extremely small height."

They could hear the sound of a wood breaking somewhere.

Her foot connected with his jaw causing him to be thrown backwards in a slow manner before he came crashing to the ground with a dopey expression meaning he was now seeing stars and was stuck in La-la land. There was a sound of a bell with the twins raised their hands at the sight, "_Knock-out!_" They called.

Aria's hair was fluffed up in a manner of a hissing cat, her eyes had fire in them with her breathing heavy. "_Who _is short? _WHO _IS MISTAKEN AS AN ELEMENTARY STUDENT?!YOU_**PERVERT**__!" _She barked. Her cheeks were flushed red in embarrassment of being called short, it was one of the things that can make her blow up easily.

"She's feisty, Hikaru." Kaoru smirked, Hikaru returned the look. "She has interesting reactions, doesn't she, Kaoru?"

Her eyes were on them now, "Shut up!" She lashed out causing them to whistle out innocently.

Aria growled to herself, glaring at the twins then glaring at Tamaki. "Hmph!" She turned around and huffed, walking away from the incident with her nose held high. The angry smoke didn't leave her head as she began muttering something before leaving the hallway without a single glance.

The twins glanced at each other before skipping over to Tamaki, they knelt down and poked his body.

"Boss, if you sleep here you're going to catch a cold." Hikaru chimed, poking his cheek.

"Wakey-wakey." Kaoru followed, poking his arm.

His eyes were swirly, "Ha…ah…ah…" He managed to mumble out. They both sighed before hoisting him up, "_Whoa there._" Hikaru carried his arms while Kaoru carried his legs.

With that, they began walking off to the clinic, carrying Tamaki like he was some sort of baggage. No one made a word when they saw the twins carrying the fallen president to the clinic before throwing him on the soft white bed. The nurse just simply nodded her head and recorded down the event like it was a normal thing to happen.

Hikaru and Kaoru just glanced at each other once more before shrugging then running out the door, leaving Tamaki in the clinic.

* * *

**A/N:** What a great way to meet someone, knock them out senseless. Brilliant.

I actually expected this to be about four thousand but it ended up in three thousand. I don't want to add the meeting with the hosts on the first chapter since that seems too…spontaneous. Like boom! I knocked out someone and end up in the host club. Naaahhh, I'll save it for next chapter.

_FINALLY_, I get to write this after twenty years (Actually, two months). I could just cry.

*throws confetti*


	2. Annoying Encounters

**A/N:** I made this very long. Around five thousand words. Heck yes! Imagine if it was longer.

The person who made a cool fanfiction reviewed this. Actually, everyone is cool.

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club. If I did, there will be a season two.**_

Enjoy~!

* * *

It was nearly the end of club hours and students were ready to leave the school premises. Their chatter was suddenly silent when a certain orange haired girl stormed in, absolutely livid over something they didn't know. They didn't want to know who had triggered her bad side, every student immediately stood clear from her path and avoided much eye contact as possible when she stormed into Class 1-A to retrieve her bag. It was terrifying for them since the temperature immediately dropped down—it reminded them of Class 1-D's Human Blizzard but it was she was more like the sun itself, an angry sun that can burn anyone to a crisp.

An angry sun tiger-like person.

As soon as she grabbed her bag, she noticed that the students were eyeing her with curiousity. She simply looked at them unimpressed, the students immediately turned away to avoid her icy eyes. They all shivered when she scanned the half-empty classroom. As if on cue, they immediately bid farewell to each other—even towards Aria, before fleeing the room before anything could happen.

"She's so scary…" A girl mumbled to her friend as they left the classroom. She snorted to herself at that comment.

_Scary, huh?_

Aria wondered when the whole 'scary' thing about her started. Middle school? Elementary? She didn't know, it has been so long she forgot when the whole fiasco of her beating up a gang of people started. She found it very amusing how crazy the minds of people can go when rumors spread. Rumors in this school spread like wildfire, she just stayed her for two days and she already had a reputation. It was so entertaining to see how far rumors would go.

At the same time, she wished the rumors would just end. End like how it started.

Rumors were funny things but sometimes, it would go out of hand. Ouran didn't have much cruel people but she knew that even if they didn't look cruel, they are secretly selfish in the inside. All wealthy people were selfish.

They use their own children for the benefit of their family and ignore their own happiness. She hated people like that. She hated selfish people.

Yet it was that selfish people that made her into what she is today. She didn't know if she should be grateful that she was no longer ignorant or she should hate them for taking away those days when she was naïve and innocent. It was much better to not know than to know. Life would go much easier that way.

She stared at the lavender buildings outside. It was purple…

Purple…

Purple eyes…

"_It's expected that people might lead you around, thinking you're an elementary student with your small height."_

A vein popped into her head again, she curled her hand into a fist. "Damn that stupid pervert. Damn him to hell." She grumbled, glaring at the trees outside with all her might. As if she believed that if she glared hard enough then the tree would burst into flames.

She blew a strand of hair away from her face, "…I'm still a first year in high school, surely my height would grow when I'm second year or maybe I'd hit my growth spurt someday."

Aria was cursed with the height of one hundred and forty-nine centimeters. And according to the world of gossips, she was the same height as Haninozuka Mitsukuni, a.k.a Honey-senpai. She actually felt like she had found an ally into someone she had never met since they were both so short—and Honey is a third year!

She actually _tried _finding Honey but in the end, she had failed miserably since there were so many _people _in the cafeteria and the loud chatter annoyed her since she had no one to talk to. Plus, the glances she kept on receiving when she ate by herself in a corner of a table. It wasn't her fault that she was eating alone!

…

…

…Okay maybe it was.

"Oh yeah, don't we have homework in Italian?" She said to no one in particular before taking her seat in the orange-lit room.

She liked working in school rather at home since her schedule in her home consists of curling herself up into a ball in her oversized sweaters, blankets, pillows and play video games and/or read books. Plus, more free time at home if she would finish her minor homework at school and do those that consists of researching and reports at home.

Aria plopped down in her seat, taking out her notebook, Italian workbook, and mechanical pencil with a snowflake on top. "Okay, Italian grammar…" She murmured to herself and set to work. This was going to be a breeze for her.

"Heeeey! Kaoru! Kaoru! I found her!"

She spoke too soon.

Aria let out an irritated groan that turned into a frustrated shout as she glared at the Hitachiin twins that peered into the classroom. "Can I just be in peace?! Like for the past two days when you ignored me? I like it better if you just kept your mouth shut—no scratch that, I'll be better if I don't see your annoying faces." She returned back to her homework.

"_Awww, don't be like that!" _They sauntered over to Aria who was so close to breaking her mechanical pencil. They both peered over her shoulder, "_What are you doing?_ _Homework?_"

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious. Now that you figured it out with your tiny brains, can you…oh I don't know—leave?"

Hikaru looked over to his brother, "She's so stingy."

"Very stingy."

Right now, it would be a great time for her to stand up and grab her chair and smack them with it. She needed to vent out some anger right now and they were practically _begging _to be smacked right at the face. But instead, her phone decided to be her godsend.

She quickly gathered her homework and stuffed it inside her bag, "I'm leaving." She ignored the sounds of protest from the twins and pulled out her phone, she pressed it against her ear as soon as she left the classroom. "Alright, I'm on my way."

"_I'll see you soon, mistress."_

She let out a sigh, holding the back in front of her. "Why did they decide to bother me now out of all days? I would be alright if they spoke with me in two years during graduation." Boys like them were the least trustworthy, flaunting off constantly and even commit an act of incest between the two. She praised the heavens above she didn't have a gag reflex or she would have probably thrown up when they were _inches _away from their faces.

Aria had this urge to make a snarky remark but then the attention would be drawn to her and they would bother her like they're doing now.

She just hoped that this would be the last day they would bother her. She _did _walk out on them, so maybe that sent them a message that she didn't want to be handling people like them. With a hope that it would be true, Aria exited the main building.

The next day…everything did go out like she had hoped. She entered the school without anyone bothering her, the students were avoided her eye contact as usual and made sure they stayed clear from her pathway. No one spoke a word to her when she went through the hallway towards her classroom.

They were instead, whispering quietly and making sure that they weren't in the way. They didn't want to face the wrath of the petite girl—she may be tiny but her fierceness was like one thousand tigers ganging up on their prey. In her opinion, they were just scared people who would run at the sight of anything they didn't understand. Everyone was like that, not single person except those who were victims could understand that.

That was why it came to a surprise when blue clashed with brown.

Standing in front of the door was Haruhi Fujioka, she was about to enter the classroom but she had noticed Aria making her way towards the classroom as well. She gave a polite smile, "Good morning, Aria-san."

Aria blinked for a moment, staring at the girl before nodding her head slowly. "…Ah…Good…morning…" She muttered out, Haruhi nodded her head before entering the classroom. She could immediately hear all the whispers heard by the students.

"_Expected of Haruhi-kun, he can greet anyone with an ease!"_

"_Even Suzuhara-san can't deny Haruhi-kun's wonderful personality."_

"_Wow, Fujioka is pretty brave to greet her."_

"_I can't believe Suzuhara didn't lash out."_

Haruhi-kun this…Haruhi-kun that…

They were making a big deal over a _greeting_.

_Oh well whatever…_

She just simply ignored it and entered inside the classroom, the class was still noisy but they made sure that they made enough space for her to head over to her desk which was located at the back of the class. She hung her bag on the hook of her desk and plopped down her seat, she pressed a hand to her cheek and stared at the sky outside. So far…the twins haven't bothered her—actually, they weren't even in the classroom right.

"_Good morning, Haruhi!_"

_Speak of the devils themselves…_

"Good morning, Hikaru." She looked over to Hikaru then moved to Kaoru, "Good morning, Kaoru."

They grinned from ear to ear at the sight of the brunette before they paused, their smiles disappearing when they noticed Aria not too far from them. She simply pretended that the exchange yesterday never happened and continued staring off at the distance. They gave a sidelong glance at the orange head for a moment before returning back to bothering Haruhi about homework and other stuff like that. She exhaled through her nose, thankful that they didn't bother her.

She didn't want to be bothered by selfish people like them.

Aria wondered to herself since the Host Club is technically friends with Haruhi, did they know that she was girl? They seemed to be very open about affection with her but people would usually believe it's friendship between boys or forbidden love between them. (She didn't understand why homosexuality was considered forbidden. Love is love)

"Heh." She breathed out. It would make a lot sense if they knew. If they didn't…it would be interesting to watch if one of the hosts fell in love with her as a _guy_. Haruhi was a sweet person in general, she could tell by the way she treats the girls but she was oblivious to her own charms.

Aria just continued to stare off to the distance.

* * *

Forget whatever she had said that the twins wouldn't bother her. _That was a complete and utter lie_.

It was the last subject before lunch time and for the past subjects, the twins had been constantly flinging paper notes towards the girl with precise aim. At first, she ignored the paper that kept on flicking her head, face, and arm and land on her desks. She read the notes but crumpled it as soon as she was finished, not even sparing a second glance at it or at the ones responsible before throwing it away.

But that didn't stop them.

They continued throwing paper notes and other things that had messages on them towards her which broke away her concentration from class. She glared at the offenders sitting side-by-side next to Haruhi who were pretending to pay attention to class which they weren't. Those bastards.

Aria had tried to ignore the fact that they were trying to bother her on purpose. Trying to get a reaction from her or probably make her rage on them after class. She had forgotten how _annoying _people can be since they spent their time ignoring her instead of trying to get a reaction from her. She wanted to chuck her book at their heads, hoping to see if they could get a concussion and she wouldn't see them for a few days—or probably weeks.

Hopefully if she threw hard enough, they would go into a coma.

She was growing angrier by the minute but she didn't want to disturb the teacher's lecture in English I. She actually liked the teachers here since they were direct to the point…a bit like the students but they were okay-ish for her. Glared at the clock, hoping that time would tick faster.

Another paper note came her way.

Aria let out a groan and ignored it. Writing down notes inside her notebook was the best way to pretend to ignore them…even if she copied every word the teacher wrote down but she would do anything just to get away from them.

The clock a minute away from lunch time, and at that moment, another came her way.

Fed up, she opened the note. She failed to notice the stifle of their laughter from the twins.

_I remembered you reacted when you're called short. It's no wonder! You're really short. Like an elementary student!_

There was a distinct sound of wood snapping somewhere followed by the bell ringing, the teacher gathered his stuff. "Alright, remember that they'll be a test on this lesson we tackled. Study hard. Stand and Bow."

Everyone followed what they were told to do, the teacher left with the students waving goodbye. Aria held the note tightly in her hands and grabbed the closest thing she could find, which happened to be twin erasers.

She eyed the twins underneath her bangs as they stood up…and placed their arms around each other's shoulder. _And so happened_ to be facing Aria with smiles as they chatted with Haruhi about where she would have her lunch.

_Ready._

…

_Aim._

…

_**Fire.**_

In a blink of an eye, the twins were smacked right straight on the forehead causing them to stumble back in sync. "_Ow!_" The erasers were literally smoking by the pressure she had thrown them, they were on their foreheads for awhile before they dropped down like birds. The twins held their foreheads that seemed to smoke from the surprise attack.

Haruhi was surprised by the sudden movements they did, she noticed the erasers on the ground. She knelt and picked it up gingerly with her fingers, "…Erasers?" She turned to see the culprit only to see Aria pulling out her seasonal themed bento box with her eyes closed.

She sighed and turned to the twins who were mumbling underneath their breaths. "That's what you get for bothering her so much." Haruhi did noticed that they were flinging papers towards Aria and tried to stop them but they were being hardheaded as usual.

The twins recovered from the attack and immediately glared at Aria, fully aware that it was her fault. She just simply glanced at them uninterested before pulling her eye down and sticking out her tongue and turned back to her lunch.

Hikaru was full blown angry while Kaoru was…more like held back furious. Hikaru glared at Aria for a moment before pulling on Kaoru's arm, "Let's go, Kaoru."

The younger twin complied before glancing at the orange haired girl before they left Haruhi to eat in the classroom with Aria. Haruhi took out her own lunch and placed it in front of Aria, the orange haired girl looked up to Haruhi with a bewildered expression when she pulled the chair towards her. "Do you mind if I sit next to you, Aria-san?"

She stared at her for a moment, "…go ahead."

Haruhi sat in front of her and uncovered her own lunch, "My lunch is only leftovers from yesterday's dinner."

"Leftovers? Do you cook your own dinner?"

She nodded her head, it was no surprise that Aria didn't know how to cook. "My butler makes my breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I'm terrible when it comes to cooking, I burnt water once." She flushed red in embarrassment.

Haruhi blinked at her words before chuckling, "If you'd like, I could teach you how to cook."

"Really?!" Aria's eyes lit up in childlike mirth, the brunette just stared at her for a moment. She immediately coughed and composed herself, "I—er, I-I mean, really? Are you sure about this?"

"It's fine but my kitchen isn't fancy or anything."

She shook her head, quickly too. "I'm fine with anything! It's just…are you sure that you want to teach _me_? Me?"

Haruhi shrugged, "Why not? If you want to then it's okay, I don't see anything wrong." She ate another piece of scrambled eggs. Aria blinked then eyed Haruhi for any trace if she was just pretending or maybe she was lying or was going to trick her.

But her eyes were really honest. She sounded very genuine about her offer too—especially to a new student? Was she this trusting? How could she trust her so easily? How could anyone trust anyone so easily? Were they even friends?

"You don't seem up to it." Haruhi slightly looked down, Aria shook her head. "I am. I'm just…surprised."

The brunette seemed relieved, Aria felt jealous. She was trusting, so easily…trusting. And no one abused her trust. Haruhi reminded her of spring day—just like her name. She was the spring day while Aria was the air. Invisible and easily swayed.

"Hey, um…I'm sorry for, uh, hurting your friends." She began, her cheeks turning red at apologizing for someone. Haruhi shook her head, "It's fine, they did deserve it for bothering you so much. You're not that open about your feelings, aren't you?" She laughed.

Aria turned even a brighter shade of red, her eyebrows furrowed together as she glanced away from Haruhi. _God, this is embarrassing. _

"Why don't you come over to the Host Club and apologize to them there? It's the perfect time to say sorry." She suggested, Aria's embarrassed look immediately disappeared. She scrunched her nose in distaste, "Go to that obnoxious club? Um, no. I rather go to the Black Magic Club instead of seeing them with those obnoxious charms. I could even see it radiating from the window outside!"

"You need to apologize to them." Haruhi furrowed her eyebrows, her voice stern. "At the club, or you three will be at each other's neck."

"That sounds stupid and—" Haruhi's eyes suddenly narrowed which reminded Aria of a _mother_, which was completely and utterly terrifying in her own opinion. She slightly shivered under her cold gaze, "Ugh…fine!" She crossed her arms and huffed.

The coldness was gone like how it appeared, "Good."

"Under one condition."

"Which is?"

"Tell me, why are you in a Host Club run by boys when you're a girl?"

…

…

Silence loomed over the two.

Haruhi scratched her head, "Ahahaha, you found out?"

"I've known for two—wait, three days. It was pretty clear when I first met you actually." She ate more of her lunch before talking again, Haruhi followed as well. "Do you swing that way?"

"Swing?" She pictured an actual swing or the swinging of a bat in her head. Aria waved her hand around, "I mean, do you like girls? As if love-_love_ girls?" She put emphasis on the love since Haruhi didn't understand the meaning of swinging that way.

Haruhi shook her head, "Not really. I'm kinda…indebt to them."

She furrowed her eyebrows, "…What did you do? Steal something?" She eyed stared at the girl for a moment.

The brunette's eyes widened, "No! I wouldn't do that! I broke a Renaissance Vase that costs eighty million yen and now…I have to repay it by working in the Host Club. Oh, Kyoya-senpai said if I manage to have one thousand customers designate me then I'll be off the hook." She started to count her fingers, "I'm still seventy-six million yen short though…but Kyoya-senpai manages to find ways to raise my debt." She gave a deadpanned look to no one in particular.

"Eighty million yen?!" She half-shouted, Haruhi nodded at her words with a heavy sigh.

Her mind began reeling.

Usually, if it was other people then she wouldn't care about their own problems and leave them alone. It was _their _problem and not hers so what gave her the reason to butt in? The last time she helped someone…they ended up turning against her.

But this was _Haruhi_.

The first person to talk to her in class, the first person to help her in class, and her only companion in this school. When everyone else was too afraid to talk to her, she was the one who initiate the conversation between the two. Haruhi was clear that she was nice and pure…it reminded her so much of her.

So much of her mother.

"So basically, you work off as a host right?"

"Mostly. Sometimes it gets a little strange."

She nodded her head and finished her lunch before the bell rang, a plan formulating in her head as she watched Haruhi finish her lunch as well. When they finished the bell rang, Haruhi stood up and politely nodded her head. "Remember to visit, okay? Do you want me to escort you?"

"Nope, I'm good."

Haruhi nodded her head and politely smiled before returning back to her seat. The students began flooding inside the classroom, Aria packed up her stuff before putting it inside her bag before anyone could notice. The twins entered the classroom, they no longer glared but just exchanged glances with a Cheshire smile on their faces, she eyed them for a moment, knowing they're planning something but ignored them later on and returned back to staring at the sky while resting on her fist.

Aria watched the clouds flutter by.

_Haruhi is a nice person._

…

…

…_Unlike me…_

* * *

When the final bell rang, Aria packed up her stuff and per usual, students in front and next to her fled to another place to pack up. She still hasn't joined any clubs so she was practically free for two hours so she would use this free time to visit the Host Club under Haruhi's request for her to apologize to the twins. Hikaru and Kaoru were immediately at the sides of Haruhi, "_Hey Haruhi! Let's go to club together!_"

Haruhi looked at them, "Okay…?" She glanced over to Aria, the orange haired girl nodded her head which Haruhi returned politely. Hikaru and Kaoru looked over to Aria with a sidelong glance before ushering the brunette outside of the classroom.

Now, she would just wait for five minutes and then she'll head over. Knowing the girls, they would come in around four o'clock in the afternoon meaning she'll have twenty minutes to come and go.

_It's only saying sorry. It isn't like you _mean _it. Haruhi said I just need to say sorry, it's just a word._

She watched the students leave one by one, leaving her all alone in the room. For some reason, she felt uncomfortable in the silence despite being in solitude was the only thing that kept her okay. She didn't like being around people who didn't accept her, she was always a burden to others.

Aria just sat on her seat, her head bowed down and just stared at the desk.

_I feel like in middle school again._

Previously, she attended two middle schools. She transferred out of the first one due to personal reasons and the second one was just plain…ugh. But at least the second one had morals and weren't like those people. The people she hated the most.

She kept herself busy by working on school work and reviewing for the test for the past five minutes before she set off to head over to the host club. She left the classroom door open and walked towards the farthest building where the abandoned rooms were supposed to be.

"Now kids, follow the pink colored trail." She said in her sarcastic tone, staring at her shoes for a moment before looking up.

She noticed that the female students weren't going to the Host Club, maybe they were waiting around four o'clock…or maybe they were going to go around three fifty-nine and stand in front of the doors like a lost puppy. If the girls squealed over Hikaru and Kaoru doing incest or Haruhi just smiling, they actually do that.

Aria finally made it to the building, she went down to the north corridor where the Host Club is located. The orange haired girl stared at the double doors with the sign of 'Music Room #3' written in kanji. She stared at the door for a moment before placing a hand on the golden handle, "I hope this is the right room."

With that thought, she pushed the door open.

Her eyes widened when a bright light attacked her eyes causing her to squint followed by a swirl of elegant rose petals. Rose petals makes everything elegant so it made sense why would they use rose petals as an entrance, she had a good whiff of the smell of roses—her birthflower.

She could make out figures standing before her, seven of them to be exact.

"_Welcome." _

When the light died down, she found herself inside the room with the doors closed behind her. She noticed that figures standing before her contained Haruhi, Hikaru, Kaoru, and that stupid pervert who she had knocked out yesterday.

"IT'S YOU!" Aria and the blonde, Tamaki immediately pointed at each other. She had forgotten that the stupid pervert was he president, "You're that pervert I met in the hallways! I knew it. You must be a lolicon with those words you said!" She pointed at him, waving her finger around.

He seemed to attacked by the words 'Lolicon' before ending up in his corner of woe with little will-o-wisps behind him. She seemed pleased to see a reaction from him, "Serves you right." She murmured under her breathe.

"_Ah, it's Suzuhara-san._" The twins commented with a bored tone, where did that mischievousness from yesterday go?

"Ah yes, Suzuhara Aria, correct? The new scholarship student? I'm very surprised to hear that a esteemed person from the Suzuhara Family entered a scholarship." Aria identified the person as Ootori Kyoya, the one who had been sending her those sickening sweet smiles when they crossed paths. He flashed a smile, "Nonetheless, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

She narrowed her eyes dangerously at Kyoya, the short blond one—Haninozuka Mitsukuni looked over to Aria. "Eh? She's like Haru-chan except not a commoner!" He smiled brightly, Aria's eyes widened at the sight of him.

_So this is Haninozuka-senpai?_

"And here she said she didn't want attention yet she comes to the Host Club?" Hikaru shrugged, raising his hands. Kaoru mimicked his expression, "I wonder why she's here."

Haruhi piped up, "I invited her here." All eyes turned to her, Aria shrugged at her words. "I couldn't turn down an invitation. Besides, I was wondering how irritating this club is with that idiot over there as president." She pointed at the Tamaki with her thumb.

The darkness of his corner seemed to worsen, Aria found herself irritated at him overreacting at her words and somewhat—she'd never admit it—guilty. "Ugh…okay, fine! Senpai, I'm sorry for calling you a lolicon and knocked you out cold yesterday so can you _please _stop overreacting?!" She shouted to the blond, her hair fluffed up once again.

_She's an angry cat. _Is what everyone was thinking as they stared at her hair that was really fluffed up in a manner of a hissing cat.

"Wait, Arie-chan knocked out Tama-chan?" Honey piped up innocently, Aria scratched her hair. "He deserved it. Implying I look like an elementary student…" She murmured, Tamaki was now recovered and back to the group of Hosts. Then she remembered something, "Hey, wait…_WHO SAID YOU CAN CALL ME SO FAMILIARLY?!_" She barked, her hair fluffing up once more.

Honey retreated to the tallest one she recognized as Morinozuka Takashi, he was holding a cute bunny to the crying third year. _…That bunny is cute. _She noted it in her head with a tiny blush on her cheeks but quickly washed away when Tamaki stood proud in front of her.

"Amazing! Those from the first-class actually living a life of a commoner! What brilliance! What dedication!" He gestured with his hands, "Tell me, my princess. What is your secret to living such a wonderful life?" He leaned closely to her. She backed up with her nose scrunched in disgust, "Don't stand close to me, senpai or I'll kick you again."

He retreated back but that didn't stop him front continuing his speech of commoners. "Is he always like that?" She pointed at Tamaki, Haruhi sighed and nodded her head. "I'm afraid so."

"Now, tell me, what business do you have here?" Tamaki once again, bowed in front of Aria. She just stared at the sparkling people before her, they were so bright and…and…ugh! She just wanted to jump reverse hook kick half of them to oblivion. The only people that were tolerable were Haruhi, Honey, and Mori.

She eyed Haruhi, "Well, first off. I would like to request Haruhi to be my host." She gestured to the stunned brunette, Haruhi did a double-take. "Wait, what?"

"Alright." Kyoya immediately went to writing, Haruhi turned to Kyoya. "Wait, _what?_ I thought you were…"

"_And!_"

Everyone turned to Aria once again, her cheeks were flushed red as she crossed her cheeks. "I—er, I wo-would like to…" She cleared her throat and glared at the twins, "I'm going to say this once, you hear!" She looked around awkwardly, "Wo-would like to apologize to the Hitachiin twins for throwing an e-eraser at their heads. Even though you did clearly deserve it for bothering me yesterday and commenting that today, I'm sorry."

Hikaru and Kaoru weren't expecting an apology for the so-called Tiger of the Sun. They just stared at her with wide eyes before a grin broke out, "I knew it, you can't handle our charm." Hikaru shrugged, Kaoru nodded his head in agreement.

She immediately turned cold, "Would you like it if I end up reenacting the whole scene with Senpai again? Don't push your luck, Hitachiin-sans." She placed a hand on her hips. Tamaki gushed over how cute she had acted just then, "You're _sooo_ adorable like that!" He cooed and lunged towards her for a hug.

Out of instinct, she did a side-kick on his chest which caused Tamaki to be instantly thrown back once again. She stared at the wreathing blond on the floor, "Oh, whoops. You scared me there." She said rather nonchalantly shrugged and walked towards Haruhi, _stepping on _Tamaki like some sort of rug. "Now let's see this Host thing you've talked about."

Haruhi just stared at the whole scene with bewilderment before following Aria and leading her to a table. The other hosts just watched Tamaki wreath on the floor, Hikaru glanced at Kyoya. The shadow devil pushed his glasses up, "Suzuhara Aria. First year, same class as Haruhi, Hikaru and Kaoru. Age, fifteen. Height, one thousand and forty-five centemeters or four feet and nine inches—exact height of Honey-senpai. Born on June thirty. Cancer. Blood type AB. Favorite food is French fries and can stomach large amounts of food. Hates comments about her height and reacts violently if so."

"_That explains her actions…_" Kaoru and Hikaru murmured, looking over at Tamaki. Kyoya gave a dangerous smile, "It would seem that having a Suzuhara along side will prove to be great. Now, shall we open the doors?"

Everyone chirped into agreement while Tamaki had a hard time standing up.

Kyoya gave a sidelong glance to the orange head who was drinking tea, she noticed the look Kyoya gave and simply glared before turning back to Haruhi. He smirked.

…_Now, to find the reason for her missing documents and the reason why her father is unnamed._

* * *

**A/N: **I finished this at three am, someone be proud. (No need to actually)

Aria is what do you call, a tsundere. The real plot starts next chapter and it will skip ahead to a certain episode, you'll see~! And to the review about Kasanoda, she will meet him somehow. Let's see what will happen, yes?

It'll follow both manga and anime storyline plus throwing in Aria's whole fiasco on why _can't _trust and why she trusts Haruhi fast.

**_Fun fact:_** Haruhi means 'Spring Day' in Japanese—actually, Haru does.

Aria on the other hand is Italian for 'Air' which is why she compares herself to air.


	3. Whoa, wait! A MANAGER?

**A/N:** I'm literally crying because I got my first critique for the first time in forever. I haven't seen those in awhile! Especially the good ones that aren't rude like: 'The character description is terrible, delete this story and reflect what you have written', I'm so happy you don't even know. Like I need to hug that Guest person right now and give him/her all my love. You don't know how thankful I am when I get those, seriously. It helps improve my writing skills.

This is why I always want people's input in stories like: 'What do I lack?' or 'If I mess up, how will I bounce back?' or 'what are my mistakes?'

…I wonder if I should get a beta-reader.

Oh, before I forget to mention…I'm combining the subbed and dubbed together so that it might make sense on some parts. I prefer the subbed version _but _there are some who likes the dubbed version sooo…why not?

* * *

Aria vaguely knew about the Host Club and what they do aside from entertaining girls and making them happy. During the couple of days in the Host Club, Kyoya provided her with information about the club and what they do and don't. Even the customers had their own rules they had to follow, they had to mind their manners towards the Hosts and other customers or else they would be banned from any further activities. There was an incident with a person named Ayanokoji Seika from Class 3-A that stirred trouble with Haruhi in the beginning and now, she couldn't come to the Host Club.

She needed to mind her manners and adapt herself to the annoyances and ignore their attempts when they try to pry into her life. She was here for Haruhi's sake and that's all, she can't risk letting people intrude into her life again.

Not again.

Even so, she got interested on how great everyone's acting skills were. Haruhi was completely natural but the others—they were different, they had two-faced personalities.

She hated two-faced people.

The whole thing better be worth it, she was risking herself to exposure to the students in the school.

The Host Club—according to Kyoya, conducts different themes and/or special events in different outfits and garbs. She just transferred last week so she had missed out on the Dance Party, the Southern Country theme, and the Garden Tea Party they had done. She braced herself everyday for those themes since sometimes it might end up looking ridiculous, with the personality of the so-called 'King'…she was pretty sure it would end up strange.

And yet, she was completely surprised by the fact the whole room was decorated well. Everyone was dressed in kimonos. Everything was Traditional Japanese themed.

She will never get used to this.

Per usual, Aria was being hosted by Haruhi. She was seated next to Haruhi and looked around in interest, "I can't believe you managed to make everything traditional, under thirty minutes no less." She murmured.

Haruhi lifted her sleeve-covered hands to her mouth in thought, "It didn't take too long honestly." She shrugged then gave a smile, "But thanks for helping me put on my kimono."

Aria took a sip of green tea, "It's nothing. I was taught by my grandmother how to put on kimonos and such—she's a type traditional person." She remembered all those trainings she received by her grandmother when she was younger. She was a traditional person and traditions were upheld with the most highest regard in the Suzuhara Family.

She noticed Tamaki talking with other girls right across them. He was holding a pipe that wasn't lit and sitting on a chair like he owned the place, he was wearing hair extensions to make him look like he had a ponytail.

"Tamaki-kun…" A curly brunette glanced up, holding her hands in front of her with a flushed expression. "Tamaki-kun, why is it that you're so beautiful?" She murmured, her eyes sparkling brightly.

She resisted the urge to snort at that comment.

"Because I want to catch your eye, if only for one second longer," He replied with a charming smile that made her want to gag.

Another girl, wearing pink lip gloss joined in. Her cheeks equally flushed, "Why is it that your voice is so mellow?"

"So that my feelings might reach your heart."

_Another _girl blinked, her eyes shining brightly. Her brown locks were held up in a twin braided buns. "Why is it that you look at me with such moist eyes?" Her eyes looked moist too, touched by the fact Tamaki was crying.

He ran his fingers through his blond locks, revealing tear-filled eyes with a smile. "Because your fresh, young smile makes the spring in my heart overflow." He murmured earnestly.

They girls sighed in unison, "Tamaki-kun…"

Aria wrinkled her nose in disgust at his words and those tears, "I feel like I should kick him out this room." She crossed her arms and just stared at Tamaki with a slightly disturbed look. He was throwing around those lines and it made it sound so…so…ugh! She felt a weird shiver.

"The two of you _would _wear making kimonos, huh?" A voice caught her attention, she gave a sidelong glance towards the Hosts next to Haruhi. It was Kaoru and Hikaru wearing matching dark blue kimonos with colorful flower patterns, they both mimicked each other's expressions.

"The ones that everyone is wearing today were designed by our mother. If you like, we can take your order." Hikaru grinned brightly, Kaoru smiled. "It's our grandmother that dressed us, though."

Out of nowhere, Hikaru grabbed Kaoru's chin and pulled him closer than normal. "And of course, it's my task to undress you…" He leaned closer, murmuring softly. "Kaoru…"

Kaoru whimpered, "Hikaru…" He glanced away, tears suddenly in his eyes, "You're embarrassing me in front of the others…"

The girls erupted into squeals, Aria winced on how high-pitched it was. She suddenly shivered, "That was even _more_ disturbing than Tamaki-senpai." Aria wondered what the girls sawin them. They were annoying in class and Tamaki is a complete idiot, what do they _see _in them?!

Haruhi just looked at them with the same expression as Aria. The petite girl folded her arms again and sighed out loudly, "This place is filled with nonsense." She snorted, remembering Tamaki's lines.

"What a tender embrace!" One of the girls screamed out, holding a hand to her cheek. Her friend was squealing too over the fact the twins wouldn't let go of one another, pretending that they were in a tender moment in their own little world.

More girls appeared, two of them in fact. Aria recognized them as the girls in her class, Kurakano Momoka and Sakurazuka Kimiko. Kimiko spoke up, "Haruhi-kun! You look cute in a kimono!" She sighed.

Momoka nodded her head in agreement, "You almost look like a girl in it."

Haruhi was dressed in a layered kimono, she wore a gray butterfly printed kimono underneath the pink flower printed one. A cute little loose ribbon was on her head and Aria _knew _they did this on purpose. She actually helped Haruhi dress up in the kimono since it was complicated for her to do it by herself.

"Yeah…" She muttered out.

Momoka and Kimiko noticed Aria staring at them with uninterested eyes, they instantly froze up. "Uh…Su-Suzuhara-san…" Momoka began, trying to smile at the petite girl. "I-It's nice to see you here, in the Host Club."

She blinked for a moment, "Yes."

Kimiko noticed her friend's stutter and tried to back her up, "Are you…requesting Haruhi-kun?"

"Yes."

Her answers were short and simple, they felt like she didn't want to talk anymore but they wanted to at least _try_ to strike up a conversation. "Um…wh-what do you like about H-Haruhi-kun?" Momoka asked.

Aria blinked and glanced over to Haruhi for a moment, staring at her intently before deciding to speak. "…The way he's friendly, I guess." She slightly looked down, Haruhi noticed the sudden shift of her expression. It suddenly reverted back to cold and unfeeling, "Is that it?"

They froze up once again, "Y-Y-YES!" They accidentally cried out, Aria cocked up an eyebrow at their loudness.

_Oh well whatever._

"Haruhi, you've been requested."

They turned to see Kyoya also sitting across from Aria on a dark green pillow, he was writing with a brush and paper—like in the old days of Japan. "Your clients have pretty well stabilized lately, haven't they? Keep it up."

He turned towards them, "We're not planning to charge interest on the original debt you incurred, so just keep working hard and pay it off." He gave a charming smile, the evil sweet once that made Aria want to shove her foot on his face. "The rental fee for that kimono is nothing to sneeze at, after all."

She glowered at him, "Kyoya-senpai is secretly the devil. Someday, I'll throw salt into his eyes to banish the evil."

Haruhi had sweat rolling down her head, "That's kinda…" She trailed away,

"Little? I agree with you. I'll throw salt at his eyes and splash lemon juice to wash the salt away." She nodded her head, folding her arms and smirking to herself on her master plan she would one day carry out. Maybe she should add vinegar in the mix as well.

_Sadistic…_

Haruhi just s deadpanned at Aria who was still nodding her head up and down at her own thoughts.

"Kyoya-sama," A girl with brown ringlets wearing a blue headband sighed happily, her friend stood next to her holding a hand to her cheek. She had dark brown hair with orange barrettes. "You're just too much, in that kimono."

They sat down in front of him, "Are there any new photo collections of the Host Club coming out?"

He smiled politely, "Unfortunately, nothing is scheduled at present."

Out of nowhere, the twins popped from behind the yellow screen. They eyed Kyoya, "The club makes much of its money,"

"From the sale of promotional items, right?"

Kyoya paused before turning around, remembering something. "The promotional items themselves are poor." The twins looked at each other for a moment. He took out four blurry pictures of the Host Club, all of them clearly amateur. "The photo collections are just amateur hidden camera shots."

"In order to draw even more for the club's expenses out of the school budget," He pushed his silver rimmed glasses and began working on a calculator. "We have to start coming up with some higher-quality products."

Haruhi just deadpanned while Aria took a sip from a clay cup of green tea, "In my opinion, they should have those photo shoots where the girls could line-up and wait for their picture to be taken by the hosts." She muttered to herself.

The brunette glanced over to Aria and poured more tea into her cup, "Ah, so like those celebrity shots?"

Kyoya's ears perked up at her comment, he gave another polite smile. "What a brilliant idea, Aria. That will be useful in the future." He began writing it down, Aria's eyebrow twitched at her name being used.

"Who said you can call me so familiarly, Kyoya-senpai?" She growled, glaring at the Shadow King with all the fury she could muster. Kyoya looked unaffected and continued with is business.

Soft footsteps came towards them, "Haru-chan, Arie-chan." Honey rubbed his tear-filled eyes holding a slipper. "I lost one of my sandals."

Haruhi stood up and walked over to Honey while Aria just drank her tea, leaning to the side to take a good look at the blond senior. He was sobbing like a four year old, Aria found herself slightly blushing on how cute it was to see him cry.

…_That sounded sadistic._

She cleared her throat while Haruhi tilted her head, "You just wearing them a while ago, weren't you?"

Mori appeared, kneeling down. "Mitsukuni." He murmured, grabbing his ankle and slipping on the slipper.

Honey's eyes were still moist with tears, "Takashi…"

"It was lying over there."

He tackled the taller man into a hug, "Takashi!" He cried, holding him tightly. Mori reminded her of someone…she just couldn't figure out who.

A girl with low pigtails stared at the scene with a sigh, "Fantastic…" Her friend beside her nodded her head in agreement, "It is fantastic…"

Haruhi stared at the scene with a suspicious look, "These tearful scenes seem to be spreading." She muttered to herself, Aria had finally stood from where she sat and sauntered over to Haruhi holding a plate of strawberry cake. The brunette glanced down to the girl, "…Where did you get that?"

She ate a piece with the small fork, "It was there so I took it."

"You mean you took it without knowing who owned it?"

"Well no one ate it so why not? It's a waste to leave perfectly good cake lying around." She ate another piece, Haruhi just sighed at her logic. "On the other note, everyone seems to catch hay fever. They can't stop crying even if it's stupid. It's like they were slapped by a sad movie."

Haruhi nodded her head in agreement as they both began walking towards, "How is it that everyone can get so weepy all of the sudden."

"They were slapped by reality?"

Accidentally, Haruhi bumped into Kaoru where something fell out of his sleeves. It was a fake tear bottle. Aria gingerly picked it up with her nose scrunched up, "As expected…"

"What's this?" The brunette grumbled out in irritation.

Kaoru and Hikaru appeared behind them, "I should let you know, it's a common practice for a host." Kaoru smirked, Hikaru looked smug. "There isn't a girl around who won't swoon over moist eyes."

"That's cheating."

Aria had another plate this time, a chocolate cake one. Haruhi had no idea where she was getting the sweets from but she didn't want to know how she got them. "I feel like you're ignoring that fact I'm a girl." She muttered, taking a bite out of the cake.

Hikaru smirked, "Ah, but you're not considered a girl with your attitude. Wait 'til your body develops into a lady then we could consider you as a girl."

Aria reverse roundhouse kicked him on the side causing him to fall down to the floor, she still held her plate in her hands. "Sometimes I wonder if you're an idiot, Hikaru." She took another bite from the cake. Hikaru managed to recover himself from the sudden attack, "Don't be so cruel to the truth."

"Shut up, Hikaru." She glowered, "Do you want me to kick you again?"

Kaoru dug into his sleeve, "Hey, now. I got you something, Haruhi." He pulled out a pink confectionary and placed it Haruhi's hands. Kaoru placed on in Aria's hands earning a surprised look from the petite girl. "And one for you."

Haruhi's eyes brightened, "I can have this?"

The twins grinned, "_How cute._"

The girls immediately went to Haruhi. Aria on the other hand stared at it, her eyes were bright and childlike—something that the twins were pretty surprised when they turned to look at her reaction. They had expected her to throw it right back at Kaoru.

"…"

"_Are you going to say something?_" They leaned down to look at the girl, she glowered at them. Before walking straight towards Haruhi, ignoring the twins. They didn't seem pleased with her actions since they actually _got _something for her.

Aria turned back, her eyes still emotionless as ever. "Thanks…I guess…"

They grinned at each other, "_You're much better when you're docile._"

She immediately glowered at them. "Do you want to be punched?" She growled, "I'll castrate you with a rusty scissors, just watch."

"Still, it might be nice as a memorial offering for my mother." Haruhi stared at the sweets in her hand with a loving look. The girls seemed to be in tears at her words, touched that she would so something so sweet to her mother.

Aria's eyes lowered.

_Memorial…offering…huh?_

Suddenly, Tamaki appeared with flair. "How admirable of you!" Tears were in his eyes as well, he leaned closely to Haruhi with a sparkling effect. "Such devotion to your mother! Here, Haruhi, take as many as you like!" He began piling up the pink sweets in her hands.

In the background, they were clapping at his words (Or maybe Haruhi?) while Aria just eyed the sweets longingly.

"Are those fake tears, too?" Haruhi deadpanned at his actions and words, Tamaki looked deeply insulted for some reason despite it being the truth.

"How can you say that? My tears are always genuine. Being able to cry without using eye drops is the mark of a true host." He began dramatically, Aria just held her sweets in her hand and stared at him with an uninterested look.

"That sounds dumb." She muttered underneath her breath, she noticed someone hanging around in the makeshift hallway but decided to ignore it since it might be another annoying girl. She had seen shy girls like them during her time at the club.

"Well? Are you impressed? Have you fallen for me anew?" He held out his hand, the twins were bored with his words and yawned obnoxiously while Honey was literally _asleep_. Haruhi just deadpanned at his words, "Not really."

"My overtures just don't seem to reach you, huh Haruhi?" He flipped his hair with flair again, it made Aria want to smack him hard. "Perhaps I should alter my character somewhat." Haruhi wasn't listening to Tamaki at all, instead she noticed that same person that Aria had noticed before. Tamaki followed her eye-line and noticed a girl with honey colored hair hanging around in the background.

"_Huh? We have a brand-new guest._" An idea formulated in their minds, they appeared in front of the girl in a blink of an eye. Kaoru offered a rose, "What are you waiting for? Come on in." Hikaru appeared next to Kaoru, with another rose in hand. "It isn't any fun to just watch."

"_Come on…"_

"U-Uh…"

Tamaki popped in this time, Aria felt pity for that girl for being raided by the most annoying of the club. He held a rose of his own, "Hey, I'm always telling you to be more courteous to our first-time guests, aren't I?"

He turned and offered a hand to the girl, "Here, don't be afraid, my princess." He held a finger to her chin, "Welcome to the Ouran Host Club."

"N…"

"N…?" He murmured, that stupid smile on his face.

Suddenly, the girl pushed him harshly on the face. "NO! DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU PHONY!

The hosts including Aria looked very surprised at her reaction, Tamaki fell over before looking at her with tear-filled eyes and cradling his face. "I'm…a phony?" He whispered.

She pointed at him, "Yes, a phony! I can't believe that _you _are the prince figure in this club! The prince character doesn't go spreading his love around so readily!" Tamaki backed up at her accusations, she still continued with her rant. "How can you be so stupid?! It's almost like you're a dim-witted narcissist! Incompetent! Commoner! Disgusting!"

Strangely, Tamaki seemed to be attacked by those words itself, striking him on his weak points.

Aria couldn't help it, "Don't forget lolicon."

That seemed to finish him off, he began falling down in an overly dramatic motion that caught the attention of the twins. "Oh, it's a new technique!"

"One-man slow-motion!"

Aria stared at her with a Cheshire cat smile, "Hmmm, I think I like you." She folded her arms, the girl smiled. "Thank you!"

Kyoya was thinking for a moment, "By any chance, are you…?"

The girl noticed Kyoya and tears immediately appeared, she ran towards the Shadow King. "Kyoya-sama!" She cried out, jumping on Tamaki before tackling Kyoya into a hug.

Kaoru and Hikaru appeared behind Aria, placing their arms on her head. "_This reminds me of that time when you stepped on Tamaki—except the hugging part. You love torturing Boss, don't you?_" They glanced at the petite girl who was looking at them curiously.

She shrugged and didn't reply back, instead, she wondered why was this girl in love with _Kyoya _out of all people. He was the spawn of the devil. He didn't even have good points except for a nice face! Sure, he is handsome but he was the _spawn of the freaking __devil_.

Aria just stared at girl for a moment before musing to herself, "…I wonder if I can get more sweets." She murmured.

The twins deadpanned at her reaction, "_Where did that come from?"_

"Nothing you would understand."

"Maybe she's eating sweets so that she could grow, Kaoru." Hikaru looked over to his brother, Kaoru nodded his head in agreement at his words. "I believe so."

They were roundhouse kicked across the room.

* * *

The Host club's hour of hosting was finished and now they had one more hour before the school day ended. Aria placed her sweets inside a flower printed plastic bag with a blue ribbon tied to hold the sweets instead the bag. Aria—with a lot of negotiating with Kyoya, was able to spend the whole hour with Haruhi but allowed Haruhi to entertain other customers while she just sat somewhere by herself.

She was used to be avoided and left alone, which is why she always stared at the sky as the source for her entertainment.

Now Hosting hours were finished and Aria was prepared to head to the classroom to grab her back and phone her servant to pick her up. Aria stood in front of the door with Haruhi changed back to her uniform, "I'm going home since hosting is finished."

"Sorry that I can't spend my time with you, Aria-san." She sighed, Aria shook her head. Her eyes were still emotionless as ever, "It's fine. My servant would come to pick me up soon anyways."

"Do you want me to see you off?"

She turned around, "No, I prefer heading out alone." Aria stared to walk away but two bodies prevented her from stepping out the door, she looked up to see the Hitachiin twins towering over her. She cursed height difference, her height ended up below Hikaru and Kaoru's chest—right around their stomach. She glowered at them, "What?"

They exchanged glances, "_Why don't you stay for awhile?_"

"Hah? Why should I?"

Kyoya appeared this time, pushing up his glasses. "I agree, with that idea that has never crossed my mind. You might prove to be useful to the club itself, plus…I would like to ask you certain questions about you." He gave a sickening sweet smile again.

"You're a bother." She crossed her arms, "And _no_, I don't care if I'm useful or not. I don't want to be here anymore."

Honey ran up to her, they were exactly the same height but nonetheless, he hugged her tightly. "Nooo, stay here Arie-chan! We can have lots and lots of cakes together!" He pleaded with watery eyes, Aria immediately stiffened. She might be cynical but she just couldn't say no that cute face—if they find out her weakness, there would be no doubt that they would use Honey as their messenger for anything.

They all stared at her expectantly, even Haruhi's eyes pleaded her to stay. She let out a combination of a sigh and groan, "_Cazzo…_" She muttered before crossing her arms, "I have no idea _why _you want me here but whatever."

They cheered (aside from Kyoya, Mori, and Haruhi, she just smiled). Tamaki lifted her up from the ground, hugging her tightly to his chest. "That is wonderful! Haruhi will spend her time with a female friend!"

Aria was suffocating with the hold causing her to turn slightly blue, "Let…me…go!" Her muffled cries were unheard, a vein popped into her head. "Let…me…GO!" She exploded, her hair fluffing up once more as Tamaki was violently punched on the chin across the room.

Honey, Hikaru, and Kaoru in the background were clapping on that feat while Mori held up a sign that read '10/10'. Haruhi just deadpanned at the whole thing.

"…Senpai…" She muttered, Aria's was breathing hard until she composed herself. Her hair returned back to the normal sleek self.

"I'll never understand him." She muttered to herself, scratching her hair. She pulled a seat to a round table and just sat there, her arms crossed and eyes staring straight at the skies.

Aria noticed the looks she was receiving causing her to lash out, "What?!"

They immediately whistled while Kyoya offered the new girl a seat across them. Honey on the other hand, decided to approach Aria with a plate with two slices of cheesecake. "I secretly took more without Kyo-chan knowing, do you want to have some Arie-chan?"

She found her anger washed away just at the sight of the kind smile and the plate of delicious strawberry cheesecake, she slightly watered at the sight of the strawberry all slurpy on the white cream cheese. Aria pressed her lips, "I…I guess it won't hurt."

Honey beamed brightly, placing a plate in front of her. "Do you want to borrow my Usa-chan too?" He showed the bunny to the girl, Aria blinked for a moment before looking at Honey then back at the pink rabbit with cute floppy ears.

"…Are…Are you sure?"

"Why not? We're friends, aren't we?" He grinned brightly.

She froze at that.

…

…_Friends?_

"Arie-chan?"

Honey returned her back into reality, she didn't even realized she wasn't speaking. Aria stared at him for a moment before turning away, staring outside with a bored look. "We…we _aren't_ friends. So, no."

"Oh…okay…"

She heard Honey slowly walk away from her. She lowered her eyes for a moment, staring at the ground below. There were only a few birds hopping around, of course since it was already five pm so it made sense. Birds are lucky creatures, they're free and able to do whatever they want.

Just like clouds.

She took a bite out of the cheesecake Honey grabbed for her. She felt a little guilty for shooing away like that but she had to, she couldn't take any chances. She ignored the voices and conversation that was going around, this wasn't her problem so what gave her the right to join in the conversation? This was between the Host Club and the new girl.

Aria just wanted to get out here, the faster they continued with their conversation the faster she could go home. She sensed Tamaki had returned back to his corner…or rather wall of woe over something the new girl had said.

"Fiancée?" Hikaru muttered,

"Kyoya-senpai's?" Kaoru glanced over to Kyoya who was calm as ever.

"Of course, my name is Hoshakuji Renge. I will be transferring into First-year, Class-A tomorrow." She said with a smile, Aria had to double-take before turning to Renge. She was completely shocked to hear that Renge was going to transfer into her class soon.

_I didn't know our class was having another transferee aside from me._

Aria noticed Tamaki sulking, clearly mad about something. "Look, he's mad." Hikaru pointed out.

"That's because Mommy was hiding something from Daddy."

"Whatever. Are you trying to make this married couple thing stick?" Kyoya also looked over at the frowning Tamaki

Aria snorted rather loudly gaining a lot of looks from the members, she gave an amused Cheshire smile towards Kyoya. She was leaning on the table with her hand on her cheek, she held the fork to her mouth in a sly manner. "I didn't know you had a Mommy fetish, Kyoya-senpai. Is it fun to hear others call you Mommy?" She received a glare from Kyoya but she just turned away. "But then again, Tamaki-senpai is the 'Daddy' and you're the 'Mommy'. Wow, what a roleplay you got there."

Hikaru and Kaoru literally had to prevent themselves from laughing since by the look that Aria was receiving from Kyoya…he looked like he was ready to strangle her, and if they laughed…well, he would kill them. Especially since he realized she was making sexual innuendoes. Haruhi blinked, "Roleplay…?" She muttered, squinting her eyes in thought.

"_You don't need to know, Haruhi._" They patted her head,

Honey tilted his head, "What did she mean, Takashi?" He murmured to Mori who was looking at Aria, he glanced back to Honey. "Nothing." Was all he said.

Renge suddenly giggled, her hands in her cheeks as she began dreaming of her fantasy. "It is indeed love at first sight!" She sighed out, "The way you adored those flowers by yourself in the back courtyard, even when no one else was looking. And the way you kindly reached out to that injured little kitty."

Aria looked horrified, imagining Kyoya doing all those sweet actions. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. With the time she spend with Kyoya—short ones, she might add, she had learned that Kyoya was the _spawn _of the demon itself. He literally added more debt to Haruhi when Aria accidentally broke a cup when she went to attack Tamaki for his stupidity, of course, she _paid _for it but still…he still kept on passing those sweet and fake smiles.

She shivered.

"_Who are we talking about?_"

"Could you have the wrong person?" Haruhi reasoned,

_Yes, please have the wrong person. It's disturbing to think about it._

She pleaded in her mind, not wanting to attract attention at the same time. Even though this was hilarious but just a single input might cause them to round on her. Maybe because it was her first time remaining behind in the club even though she's officially a customer in the Host Club list. She knew they might pull her in.

It was a gut feeling.

"No! You can't fool these eyes!" She retorted,

"He's someone who is kind to everyone," Around his time, everyone seemed to be panicking about _who the hell_ Renge was talking about. Especially since it didn't fit Kyoya's description. "And yet does not seek to anyone take notice of him. He love solitude, but is actually, lonesome. The one who looks just like the star of the currently popular love simulation game, Uki-doki Memorial!"

She rounded on Kyoya, pointing at him. "Ichijo Miyabi-kun, and that's you!"

Silence loomed the room.

"Uki?" Haruhi muttered,

"Doki?" Honey repeated,

Tamaki looked horrified, surprised, and shocked at the same time. "Otaku!"

Hikaru looked exactly like Tamaki, "She's an otaku!"

Mori was silent at this point. He was always silent, Aria really admired him.

"I've never seen one before!" Kaoru cried out,

Suddenly, Aria jumped up from her seat with her eyes bright as day. Even though she didn't want to join in but at the mention of that game automatically made her excited to join in the conversation, "Ah!" They turned to her in confusion, "I know that game! I chose the route with Mizushima Suzuya-kun and his twin brother Tsubasa-kun!" She cried out in glee on finding a fellow fan of the game.

She and Renge began chatting animatedly about the game to the point everyone had to sweatdrop at the sight of Aria being a fan. They didn't expect her out of all people to be a fan. It was no wonder she had zero conversational skills.

"…Aria is an Otaku." Hikaru muttered,

"Two Otakus." Tamaki nodded his head,

"We have two Otakus in the clubroom." Joined in Kaoru,

Aria glared heatedly at the three hosts, "Shut up!" She barked angrily. The three of them suddenly gathered together and whispered something along the lines of 'So cruel' causing her to blow up even more, her hair fluffed up once again.

Kyoya, who happened to be sitting on the chair, placed his hand to his chin in thought. "I see now, you're infatuated with a character." In the background, Renge was squealing over the character of the game while Aria was still glaring heatedly at Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki—lighting could be seen from her. "You're projecting the character infatuation onto me, going so far as to delude yourself that we are engaged."

"This Miyabi-kun character probably wears glasses too, right?" He pushed his glasses up,

Aria placed her hands on her hips, "Now that you mention it, Miyabi-senpai looks exactly like Kyoya-senpai except with brown hair and brown eyes." She muttered to herself before wrinkling her nose again, "Oh great, I can't look at the game the same anymore. I'm going to be horrified every time he pops up."

Hikaru, Kaoru, and even Tamaki looked at Aria for a moment before moving over to Kyoya. "Whoa, deluded, you say? Then that story about her being your fiancée." Tamaki trailed away,

"I don't remember ever acknowledging that." He said simply, "For one thing, I've never even met her before today."

They all looked surprised, Tamaki looked completely relieved.

Out of nowhere, Renge appeared sitting right next to Kyoya. "According to my information, Kyoya-sama, I understand that you administer everything about this club."

Honey nodded his affirmation, "That's right, Kyo-chan is our director."

"The director? That's perfect!"

Aria retreated back to her seat, taking bites out of her cheesecake. "If Hoshakuji knows about Uki-doki…I wonder if she knows about Night Sky or Koe no Ouji-sama." She muttered to herself, crossing her legs. She was pretty happy to find a fan in Ouran, not many people played Otome Games. Especially since they were from wealthy families, Class-D were the mafia while the rest didn't look like they had time.

"I've always dreamed of being the drawing card for someone's business." Renge sighed to herself,

"_We don't need one. We're a host club, after all." _

"I've made up my mind. I'm going to be this host club's manager!" She declared with a grin, the twins just sighed at the girl's decision.

Tamaki crawled over to Kyoya with a worried look, "Hey, Kyoya…" Kyoya nodded his head in affirmative for some reason.

He closed his eyes, "I will not accept her as the manager." He muttered, Renge looked shocked while the twins were completely elated to hear that. Even Tamaki smiled brightly at his decision.

"Not unless Suzuhara-san will work as one of the managers." He gave a smirk, pushing his glasses up. Tamaki immediately looked crestfallen, the twins—even Haruhi, Honey, and Mori turned to Kyoya in surprise at his words.

Aria did not take it nicely.

"_HAH?!_"

Aria nearly choked on her own cake, she stood up and stormed over to Kyoya, her chair fell down in the process. "Who gave you the decision to make _me _a manager?! This is a Host Club, goddammit! You're the one running the whole show!" She pointed an accusing finger at Kyoya.

"I accept! I don't mind if Suzuhara-san becomes one of the managers as a fellow fan of Uki-doki!" Renge raised her hand from behind, Kyoya nodded his head.

Aria glared at Kyoya, "I'm going to kill you when you sleep." She whispered, he just smiled that sickening sweet smile again. "Don't worry, Suzuhara-san."

Renge smiled brightly, "Everyone, I can't wait—no, Suzuhara-san and I can't wait to work with you."

The orange haired girl covered her face with her hands and groaned out in agony.

_I should have never spoken up._

* * *

**A/N: **And chapter three is finished! I had to re-write this whole thing over and over and over again. It was first going to take a dark turn but I thought it was too early so I moved it away somewhere to another chapter. And yes, Aria is a sucker for Otome Games. One of the reasons her social skills are horrible. I re-read this and tried to make sure there are no mistakes.

If there is any, please point them out! Also, if you saw mistakes in the last chapter, please point them out so I may fix and reflect! Thank you!

**Facts:** _Night Sky_ is based on an Otome Game called _Starry Sky_ which is one of my favorites

_Koe no Ouji-sama_ is based on _Uta no Prince-sama_ which is also my favorite.

_Cazzo _is a curse word, can either mean damn or shit in Italian.

Do review~!


	4. Of Cooking and Cookies

_**BOOM!**_

The whole school quivered at the sudden explosion causing all the students to shriek and duck out of instinct, the teachers quickly clung to their desks in panic, while everyone outside just whirled to see what the hell just happened.

Smoke escaped from one of rooms, a group of boys clung to the wall in fear at the sudden explosion. Slowly, the meekly returned to the double doors and peered their heads in while covering their mouths from the smoke fuming.

Standing in front of the oven was Aria with black soot-like smoke covering her face. She stared at the now ruined pot of white chocolate and simply shrugged like it was no big deal.

"My bad."

Renge coughed, covering her mouth with a pale hand. "That surprised me."

"Are you all right, Aria?" Haruhi held out a handkerchief with flower prints on the end.

Aria gave a curt nod, taking the handkerchief and wiping her face. Haruhi took the now unusable pot to the sink, dropping it with the rest of charred pots and pans filled with unidentifiable sludge. This had been the tenth time an accident occurred.

The brunette turned to Aria who was eating off from the bowl of melted chocolate. She looked appalled on how carefree she was on the situation. Was this an everyday thing for her…?

Aria's short hair was tied into a small ponytail, her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and she was wearing a plain white apron with chocolate smudged on her cheek. There were bandages on her fingers with cute flowers on them, courtesy of Renge. Unlike Renge and Haruhi, she refused to wear handkerchief since her hair was already tied into a ponytail.

Apparently, after Kyoya had agreed to letting Renge _and _Aria become the managers of the Host Club (It was mostly Aria's job). Someone had to take care of Renge and that someone happened to be her, she could remember that sparkle in their eyes when they zeroed in on her.

Immediately, she tried to escape out of the classroom but she tripped over Usa-chanwhich was conveniently placed on the floor. She became screaming threats in rapid fire until Haruhi just sighed and offered to look after Renge with her.

And that's why the following day, they found themselves in the First Cooking Room after class hours.

"Are you…really not that good at cooking, Aria?" Haruhi just stared at Aria who was still eating the melted chocolate, she looked unaware of the chocolate smudge on her cheek.

"Wasn't all the accidents not clear enough? I'm terrible at cooking. I burnt _water_ once." She replied back curtly, her eyes landed on the never ending ingredients that somehow popped right back onto the counter despite being used. She squinted her eyes, maybe if she stared enough then time would pass and this hell would be over.

It was ingredients to make cookies, suggested by Renge. Probably to impress her beloved 'Kyoya-sama' or something like that. Since Haruhi was the only one who knew how to cook, she was reluctantly brought in since she had to watch over Renge.

Why the Host Club couldn't be the ones to watch them was beyond her.

Lazy bastards.

"Haruhi-kun, Haruhi-kun," She beamed, approaching the brunette and holding out her bowl, "Should I put more sugar in the cream?"

Haruhi was wearing a plaid apron over her white buttoned up shirt, her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows which were similar to both Renge and Aria. Renge on the other hand was wearing a flower printed apron and cooking something inside a pot.

"Ah…it's okay. How are the chocolates going?"

Renge cheerfully gestured to the pot that was sizzling burnt smoke, "Everything is going fine. I'm melting them right now."

"_DON'T USE THE DIRECT FLAME! THAT'S BASIC KNOWLEDGE!"_

"So I should do like this?"

"_N-NO! NOT IN THE BOWL WITH CHOCOLATE!"_

Meanwhile, the Host Club peered into the room with expressions filled with mirth. Tamaki looked like he was about to cry just watching Haruhi all dressed up in a simple apron, it was an adorable scene for everyone.

"What are you doing?"

Aria suddenly stood in front of them, holding the bowl of melted chocolate. Chocolate was smeared on her cheek and it was similar to a child eating messily. They all jolted and fumbled away until Tamaki noticed the expression on Aria, he instantly melted. In his mind, she looked just like a young eight year old girl.

"Such childish mess! You're indeed just like an elementary student, how cute! Come now, let me hug you to me bosom, young on—_**URGH!**_"

The blond idiot host crumpled onto the floor, holding onto his stomach and moaning woefully onto the ground. She just pressed her foot onto his head rather cruelly, staring down at him with eyes that screamed murder.

"What was that, senpai? Did I hear that correct? You wanted to…die, right? That's what you said, right?" She dug her foot even harder, "Right? You wanted to die and be put into a coma, right? Answer me, senpai."

"F-F-Forgive…me…" He groaned,

The Hosts just watched in half-amusement and half-fear, Honey clung to Mori and whimpered pathetically.

"Aria, what are you doing?" Haruhi popped in then noticed Tamaki on the floor with Aria's foot on his head, she looked apalled. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Where's your batch of cookies?"

She pointed over Haruhi's shoulder, "Next to Hoshakuji-san's batch."

"Ah, thanks—oh? You got a little chocolate over here, Aria." Haruhi gently wiped the chocolate off her cheek with her thumb, Aria complied obediently. The brunette rubbed the top of her head with a smile. "There, there, good girl."

Despite not even smiling one bit, it was painfully obvious that Aria was very happy to the point it radiated off her body. She just bowed her head obediently, her cheeks were clearly turning rosy from the pat, she didn't even fuss when Haruhi brought her inside by the hand.

Hikaru just looked apalled, "She hates being treated like a child…"

"…Yet she allows Haruhi to treat her like one." Kaoru sighed, mimicking his brother's expression.

Honey looked to Mori with a bright smile, "But don't you think that Arie-chan looks the cutest all tamed and dominated?"

"Ah." Was all the tall senior could reply.

"She's like a cute kitty!"

"A feisty kitten," Hikaru commented,

"An orange tabby kitten," Kaoru nodded his head, crossing his arms across his chest.

Kyoya just pushed up his glasses to his nose, "Don't let her hear that, it'll take a drastic toll on our budget if one of the host club members is out of commission." He commented, watching Aria as she was directed by Haruhi and helped by Renge.

Hikaru lazily glanced over to the Shadow King, "Are you saying that a small girl like her can defeat us? You gotta be kidding me."

"If the rumors are correct, it's possible that she could even hold up against Honey-senpai."

That caused everyone to instantly grow quiet, and then looked down onto Tamaki who was still recovering from Aria's sudden attack. He was still groaning with tears practically rolling down his eyes in a melodramatic way.

"By the way," Kyoya suddenly spoke up, the atmosphere taking a drastic turn. "What's the process?"

"She said she'd make cookies for Kyo-chan!" Honey chimed in, patting his Usa-chan closely.

The twins looked appalled again, _"I'm sure she mistook the Host Club with bakery or something…poor them."_

Tamaki suddenly stood up angrily, a foot mark on his cheek. "Idiots! Are your eyes knot-holes?!" He stormed up to the door, gesturing to the whole area with grandeur it made Aria sneeze in the background. "In the room which if full of sweet fragrance…cute cookies which are just baked, and three female classmates who are getting along very, very well!"

"_EEEEK! SUZUHARA-SAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE BLOWTORCH?!"_

"_I'm gonna melt the chocolates, what else?"_

"_ARIA, PUT THE BLOWTORCH DOWN! WHY IS THERE EVEN A BLOWTORCH IN A HOME ECONOMICS ROOM?!"_

"_Fine."_

"_NO, NO! PUT THE WINE AND MATCH DOWN!"_

"_SUZUHARA-SAN!"_

"_EEK!"_

"_AHH!"_

There was another explosion in the room, everyone felt like they were blown away by the sudden wind. Tamaki didn't look fazed at the explosion, rubbing his chin with a nod of approval.

He nodded his head, "Everything is well planned!"

"_What a liar."_

"This is one big project to make Haruhi realize she is a girl!"

Everyone turned back to the door, seeing Aria holding the turned off blowtorch with one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, some matches were on the counter. Haruhi was clearly scolding her but Aria just stared at her like she grew two heads and didn't quite understand what's wrong with the situation.

A bead of sweat rolled down their heads.

Tamaki sighed dramatically, once again going into loud and loud speech. "The gentle atmosphere that only girls can posses will aid Haruhi to realize she is a girl—!"

"_You're annoying, fake prince."_

Renge popped in behind him, holding a bag.

While the said fake prince was going to the corner of woe, Renge offered her horrible attempt of cookies to Kyoya with a bright smile. "Kyoya-sama, I learned how to make peasants cookies from Haruhi-kun. It's my first time to cook so I was bit scared."

Kyoya just gave a smile, "Well…the colors are okay."

"I know, I'm bad at it! But I'm sure…" Renge sighed to herself happily, her cheeks turning bright red. "If it's Kyoya-sama, he'll say: Anything you make is delicious."

"Tastes nasty." Hikaru commented,

"What is this, a rock?" Added Kaoru.

Honey looked like he was about to cry on the taste, "It doesn't taste good."

Mori squinted to stare at the charred…thing. As soon as Mori saw Honey eat a piece of the cookie, he hounded him. "Mitsukuni, stop. They're bad for you."

The comments caused Renge to go onto a fit of rage similar to what Aria would do if she was angry, the twins were somewhat terrified and laughing at the same time. Honey on the other hand, cried out for his mother as they bolted away from the angry girl.

Haruhi nibbled on her own cookie, it was nice and sweet but it wasn't great like she used to cook it before. Hikaru and Kaoru looked at her then at Tamaki, an idea sprung into their heads as they reappeared next to the brunette who was still eating the cookie.

Her chin was lifted up, Haruhi stared curiously at Hikaru who was too close for comfort—for others. He leaned closely, tilting his head and taking a bite out of the cookie with a suggestive look. Tamaki looked up, staring at them like he was trying to process what was just happening right now.

Kaoru placed a hand on her head, "Ah, Haruhi. You have cream on your face." With that, he gave a slow lick to her cheek.

Tamaki started screaming incoherent words, pointing and yelling at the twins and looking at Kyoya like he was pointing at proof.

"Anyhow," He said, ignoring Tamaki's shouts and screams. "She's getting along very well with male classmates, doesn't she?"

His screams went even louder. Aria came in while covering her ear with one hand, she cringed on the noise before she glared at Tamaki, "What the hell is going on?" She demanded, her eyes darting around to see anything strange.

At that Tamaki starting yelling more incoherent words at the petite girl, Aria just cringed and rubbed her ear. Her eyes landed on the twins who were smiling to themselves like they just achieved their goal with Haruhi just rubbing her cheeks, her eyebrows were creased together as she looked up at the twins with a frown.

"You know, if you'd just say so, I could get them off myself. And if you wanted one, they're right here." She showed her ginger cookies to the twins who just shrugged with their mischievous smiles still plastered on their faces.

Tamaki blinked in a mixture of disbelief and horror. He suddenly grabbed her face with a horrified look., "_Y-Y-Y-Y-_Your reaction is all wrong! This is where you're supposed to rebuff them, and casually brush them aside!"

"_This is sexual harassment, senpai." _

"_Sexual harassment?!_ If that's sexual harassment then they're twice as guilty!" He pointed at the twins furiously, "Somebody call the police! The police!"

Aria just stared at Tamaki with an 'are-you-serious' look and just scowled, "God, you're so annoying." She grumbled under her breath, shaking her head.

Honey noticed Renge's thoughtful look, she was thinking deeply with her eyebrows creased. "Renge-chan, Renge-chan!" He called cheerfully, running up to the girl who simply glanced down to him. "Would you like some milk?"

The tiny senior was holding a mug with cute prints on them. It was filled with warm milk. She muttered something to herself before suddenly grabbing Honey's cheeks, tugging roughly. The small senior immediately burst into tears, running towards the tallest host with his hands outstretched.

"She pinched me!" He cried to Mori who was as stoic as ever.

"_Lukewarm…_"She mumbled to herself, Renge's gaze immediately hardened, "Lukewarm…every single one of you!" She snapped.

Everyone looked up in surprise at her outburst, even Aria looked momentarily stunned and gaping slightly.

"Except for Kyoya-sama andSuzuhara-san, all of your characters are lukewarm!" She shouted, pointing at them with a dramatic finger.

Aria recovered from the sudden outburst, her expression was similar to Mori except from the fact that Mori looked calm while Aria just looked bitter. She actually found a bit respect towards Renge for openly scolding them.

Renge wagged her finger around in a scolding manner, "Each of you needs to have some sort of dark side. You understand? Girls are vulnerable handsome young men who are troubled!"

…Never mind. Aria found herself walking away from the shouting Renge, she was an okay girl in her book since well—she was a fellow fan. They were in the middle of the hallway and Renge was shouting, thankfully it was still club period and there weren't any students lingering around. Aria just rubbed her ear, looking to the side in disinterest.

"If you keep carrying on like this, it's only a matter of time before the girls get tired of you and stop coming all together! Are you _trying _to ruin my precious Kyoya-sama's business? As one of your managers, it's my duty to change your character backgrounds. Let's start with you!" Renge honed onto Honey who clung onto Mori, terrified. "If all of you are is cute, inside and out, then you're no different to a baby. Therefore, from now on, you are the baby-faced thug!"

Aria paused for a moment, furrowing her eyebrows in thought. Now where did she hear that from…?

"And Morinozuka-senpai, you're his childhood friend, the flunkie!"

Mori didn't look any different but he clearly was disturbed by this, but the petite girl ignored their reactions and mused to herself quietly. She held a hand to her chin, her eyes lowered her thought. Where…where did she hear this from…?

Why were they so familiar…?

"And the twins! You suffer from the fact nobody can tell the difference between the two of you! You're also basketball players enslaved in their own world!"

Her eyes snapped open in shock, turning to Renge with horror written all over her face. "…Don't tell me…" She murmured, looking at the twins for a moment before she instantly glared at them. They noticed her sudden spark of anger and felt chilled at her sudden annoyance. What did they do? _What was even happening?!_

"Haruhi-kun, you're an honor student who's constantly being bullied."

Aria raised her hand suddenly, "Ah. Doesn't this already count as bullied because Haruhi's always harassed by the club members." She said nonchalantly. Tamaki looked like a kicked puppy at that.

Tamaki looked horrified and whirled over to Haruhi, "Is that true?! Haruhi, tell me it isn't true! We've treated you diligently, right? Right?!" He cried, grabbing her shoulders firmly.

"Please stop sexually harassing me, senpai."

Before Tamaki could even cry out, Renge's hard gaze landed on him causing him to immediately stiffen. "And Tamaki-san, you're the school idol who's admired for your good looks but you actually have an inferiority complex you're hiding from the world. The lonely prince."

As if it dawn on him, Tamaki was in complete awe. Aria rolled her eyes, the urge to smack him was surfacing.

Renge turned to Kyoya with a loving sigh, "And Kyoya-sama, you're perfect just the way you are now. So I want you to stay as kind and affectionate as ever, 'kay?" She smiled cheerfully.

"Wait, why doesn't Aria get a role?" Hikaru pointed out, still not sparing a glance at Aria who was still busy glaring at the twins for some reason.

She turned to them before looking over to Aria, Renge nodded her head. "Like Kyoya-sama, Suzuhara-san is perfect the way she is. She is one of the managers and doesn't require having her background change."

"Oh thank God." She sighed out in relief.

"But if Suzuhara-san were to a role then she would be your everyday tsundere type A."

The host club looked a little lost on the term while Aria's eyes widened for a moment before she shook her head, "I-I'm not tsundere!" She retorted. Renge just grinned brightly and grabbed the tiny girl's hands into a tight hold.

"It's perfect! You can be one of the directors! No…one of the love interests! Whichever you choose! Anything you will be perfect for my plan!" She cheered,

This caught everyone's attention aside from Tamaki.

"_What plan?_"

Tamaki didn't even notice, he looked up into the sky and staring at the ceiling in epiphany. "The Lonely Prince…it's true, that title is perfect for me." He looked like he just had a revelation about something, Haruhi's eyebrow twitched followed by Aria wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah, right. She couldn't be farther than the truth."

Kyoya was pulled to the side by Hikaru and Kaoru, "Come on, Kyoya-senpai,"

"Do something!"

"Why? It seems like your highness is up for it." He pointed at Tamaki, everyone turned to Tamaki who was leaning against the wall looking woefully.

"Renge-kun, Renge-kun. Do you think that these poses work…" He flipped his hair here, "For a lonely prince?"

Renge was on a roll as she chatted animatedly with Tamaki who was listening to it enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, Hikaru noticed something Aria was holding tightly in her hand, it was a teardrop and umbrella printed bag filled with deformed cookies. He nudged to Kaoru with his elbow and gestured to the bag, Kaoru just gave a smirk which he returned as they rounded up on Aria who was busy staring at Tamaki in disgust.

"Hey, Aria." Kaoru moved in front of her, catching her attention.

She looked up with indifferent eyes, Kaoru actually faltered on her cold gaze but he continued on. "Did your attempt to bake cookies work?" He said with a smile but Aria didn't buy it, her eyes immediately narrowed.

"…You're being nice."

Kaoru just blinked before he shrugged, "I can be nice too."

"I don't trust you." She said bluntly,

The younger twin actually faltered there before stifling a laugh, "Looks like I've been caught. Now!"

At that moment, she felt her bag being snatched. Her eyes went wide, whirling towards Hikaru who was holding the bag high enough for her to not grab it. The older twin just waved the bag around, staring through the transparent bag while squinting.

"…This doesn't even look like cookies. They look terrible."

Aria's hair bristled angrily as she stormed up to Hikaru, attempting to grab her bag. "Give it back, Hikaru!" She snapped but Hikaru just waved the bag around teasingly before tossing it to Kaoru.

"Catch!"

"Whoa there," Kaoru caught the bag, he peered into it with a curious look. He cringed, "Amazing, it looks like cookies but at the same time it's not."

"I said give it back, Kaoru!" She snapped.

He just raised it high, waving it before tossing it back. "Here!" He shouted to his brother,

Aria whirled over to see Hikaru attempting to catch the bag but it ended up falling through the window, her eyes widened as she practically dashed over to the window to attempt grab it before it was too late but a hand grabbed her back before she could even jump out to catch it.

She watched in horror as the bag opened and spilled the contents of the ground, Aria looked over her shoulder to see Mori holding onto her with one hand.

Before she could protest, Mori held her under her arms and lifted her up over his head before putting her gently on the ground. She looked frazzled for a moment until his large hand fell onto her head which snapped her out of her thoughts. He began patting her head repeatedly.

"Be careful."

Was he said, still patting her head. He walked back to Honey who was smiling brightly at their interaction. Renge had calmed down, staring at the Hosts for a moment thoughtfully then Aria.

"_A~ah, what a waste. The cookies fell out of the window." _The twins glanced over the window, staring at the cookies that were spilled out. Some were still inside the bag.

Aria curled her hands into tight fists before she glared at the twins, the atmosphere suddenly took a drastic shift again. She was seething, it was unnoticeable but her body trembled to do something. Everyone could feel how chilly the room had gotten, Tamaki just glanced at the orange haired girl but didn't say anything.

"Hikaru, Kaoru. I believe you should apologize right now." Kyoya's voice cut through the thick tension,

"_Eh?" _They looked over to Kyoya, surprised that he asked something like that. It was surprising to hear it from the Shadow King. "_Why should we? We were just playing."_

They glanced at Aria, she was now looking down at the ground with her face unnoticeable. Hikaru approached the short girl followed by Kaoru, they both looked a bit hesitant since she was prone to kicking someone who got too close to her personal space.

"Hey, Aria-chan, are you…"

"That angry?"

When their hands moved to touch her head, she slapped their hands away harshly. She glared at them darkly, she looked really angry to the point it wasn't surprising if she suddenly burst into angry tears, but she didn't. Her pride wouldn't allow her. But she couldn't forgive them.

She could never forgive them for this.

All of her hard work, outside on that grass—all because they were _playing around_.

"_Don't touch me, you goddamn trash._" She seethed, her eyes burned with complete fury, "I didn't like you in the beginning, but I didn't hate you either. What you just did showed me that I was right, I was always right, I should have never came here. I should have never joined this pointless group. Because each and every one of you are all inconsiderate bastards who only think about themselves and their own amusement."

"Aria…" Tamaki began but she just turned her heel, walking down the hall.

"I don't want to be here, your presences are already a complete nuisance in my life. I was only here because Hoshakuji-san and Haruhi requested me to join them in making cookies, my cookies are done and ruined so what's the point on making another when you're going to ruin it anyways? What's the point on staying when what I'm here for is done?" She stopped in the middle of the hallway, glancing back at the Host Club with a bitter scowl. "I had always hated two-faced people._"_

Without another word, Aria walked away leaving them behind in silence. They were surprised on how angry she looked, she looked like she was about to cry right then and there but she didn't. She held everything back.

Honey looked at Mori with sad eyes, "…Arie-chan looked really hurt. Right, Takashi?"

"Ah."

Haruhi turned to the twins, she felt angry at them. "Hey, you know that was a really cruel joke for Aria-san."

"_But we were just joking around, we didn't know it would be thrown out the window."_

The brunette shook her head, "That isn't an excuse for what you did, if you were really were just joking around then you would have apologized. Aria-san worked extremely hard on making those cookies, did you see her hands?"

It was true, there were bandages wrapped around her fingers. Plenty of them in fact.

Renge nodded her head, "I agree with Haruhi-kun. Suzuhara-san worked the hardest out of us and when she finished the cookies, she looked very happy. Like a girl would when she would make cookies for her special someone on Valentine's Day like in the mangas I've read." She raised a finger,

Everyone just gave Renge a look, she looked completely unaware of the situation.

Haruhi just looked apalled before she returned back to looking at the twins who were silent, "Anyways, both of you should apologize and _mean it_. I'm serious you two." She said firmly, giving them a hard look which they just clicked their tongue and looked away.

Hikaru scratched his head, "We were just kidding around…" He grumbled to himself, irritated.

The younger twin stared at the window, before he remembered something. "Hey, Hikaru?"

"What?"

"…Did you say my name when we were playing with Aria?"

Hikaru grew silent.

"…No."

They were silent for a moment before they turned to where Aria left.

How did she manage to identify them correctly?

Hikaru snorted, "Beginner's luck, she doesn't even care about us anyways."

"That's true." Kaoru looked away, leaning against his brother's shoulder.

…

…

But how she managed to call them out nagged them in the back of their minds.

* * *

**A/N:** GASP. What is this? I…I…I actually…UPDATED?! WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD? _[muffled riot noises in the background]_

Hello friends, I have updated. It's been 121412535323 days since my last update because writers block. I suddenly went 'I NEED TO FINISH THIS SHIT' so I did. _**Hallelujah**_. It took me about 20 tries to write this again and again without cringing to myself and whisper 'what monstrosity is this?' and cry on the floor. I re-read this over and over again to make sure there wasn't a mistake, hopefully.

**_Note: Aria's water burning incident actually happened with me in real life because I'm trash_ **

If there are any mistakes, do tell me. I'm always striving to be better and other people's input are always helpful.

thank you for putting up with my inconstant writing and update times because i'm a terrible person for doing it. Love you all! I'd give you all hugs and kisses if possible. I actually kiss my monitor every time something happens with with my story.


	5. Forgive and Forget

**A/N:** I WOULD LIKE TO FORMALLY APOLOGIZE FOR THE LONG WAIT. I'M AN ASSHOLE SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR NOT UPDATING. NOW THE STORY CONTINUES.

THIS IS LONG FOR YOU ALL BEAUTIFUL READERS. THANK.

Sorry for the wait, I re-did this like…five times.

* * *

The next morning was as normal as any morning in the Ouran Academy. Around seven in the morning, students would pour in from their respective rides—limousines, expensive cars, anything that wasn't 'commoner-like'. In the eyes of those spoiled silly by their parents, expensive things were considered the norm.

It was really normal in Ouran.

The only difference was a tiny first year student walking through the halls where the second and third year rooms were located. Why you may ask? She was currently avoiding certain classmates of hers whom she never forgave ever since that incident yesterday.

It was childish of her to ignore them like this but that's how she grew up living. Not giving a single crap on what others thought.

The said students of the second and third-years had heard about the rumors of the fearful transfer student—tiny and dangerous, she defeated a gang, and could send people to the depths of hell on a single glance.

Everyone grew quiet when the said transfer student was walking through the halls, staring straight ahead without acknowledging those around her. They steered clear of her path, murmuring to one another on her reason for being here.

"_I saw her attend the Host Club."_

"_Eh? Really?!"_

"_Yeah."_

"_I guess Suzuhara has a soft spot for cute guys."_

"_I don't think so, you see, yesterday she was yelling at them."_

"_What?! She did?! Then…then maybe she threatened them!"_

"_Poor Haruhi-kun…She's just taking advantage of him!"_

"_Expected of her…"_

"_How hateful…right?"_

Aria didn't bat an eyelash. This sort of treatment…she was used to it.

"Aria!" A shrill voice came from one of the rooms of the second years.

She knew she shouldn't have turned. She _knew _she just ignore the voice but she turned her head. She paused mid-step, turning to voice only to wrinkle her nose.

Tamaki was staring at her with wide eyes, as if surprised to see her here. His eyes brightened, "Have you come for me? Oh, you cute little kitten! You just couldn't stay away from us." He jumped towards her, extending his hands out to hug her. "Let me hug you to my bosom!"

Aria turned her heel and walked away without batting an eyelash. He crashed to the floor and onto his face. All the girls collectively gasped and with a loud scream of his name, the girls ran to his side to coddle his injured face.

"Hey, you!" One of the girls spat, glaring at Aria's retreating form. She stopped walking. "You shouldn't be so rude to Tamaki-kun. For a transfer student, you're sure cocky, huh?"

Aria just stood there for a moment but then resumed walking, a brunette bristled in anger.

"Hey! She's talking to you! Why don't you apologize for that rude manner of yours?" She grabbed her wrist forcefully.

In a blink of an eye, Aria smacked the hand away with a cold glare. "Who're you to tell me what to do?" She spat, "Touch me again and I will _rip_ your arm out of your arm socket,"

The girl backed away fearfully, holding her hand. "…I…I'm sorry…" She whispered, her lower lip quivering in fear.

Aria gave one last glare at the girl then turned around, walking away. Everyone quickly dispersed, allowing Aria to pass through.

Tamaki just watched as Aria continued her way to the classroom, "Still angry, isn't she? She's deeply troubled about that incident yesterday."

"So it would seem." Kyoya came out from the classroom where he was watching the whole exchange, he crossed his arms. "Hikaru and Kaoru are too prideful to apologize at school."

He sighed, "…No one likes being alone. Aria is troubled, it's our duty to bring happiness to troubled students." He turned to Kyoya, determined to help.

Kyoya looked over to him apathetically, "What do you propose we should do?"

"Before we begin the actual plan, it's best to gather the Host Club together to begin Operation: Cheer up Aria Suzuhara." He clenched his fist in determination, a smile gracing his features. Girls in background swooned on how bright it looked.

Kyoya was silent for a moment, "…All right."

"You…You're agreeing to this?"

"Naturally, losing Aria would mean losing a great asset." Kyoya gave a calming smile, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

"Excuse me."

The two second years turned around, a man around their height (if not taller). The girls whispered to one another about the appearance of a beautiful man. Even Tamaki and Kyoya was wide-eyed, he was practically radiating an aura of beauty.

"I apologize for interrupting your conversation but I overheard you speak of Aria. Might you tell me where her classroom would be?" His voice was kind, it wasn't too deep and very relaxing. He offered a sincere smile, tilting his head to the side. "Ah, if possible, please do not tell her I'm here."

Tamaki was speechless, opening his mouth and closing it like a fish out of water. He had a mop of silver hair and bright blue eyes.

"…An-Angel…"

He smiled, "Hm?"

"What my friend meant to say," Kyoya recovered from his initial shock, shoving Tamaki away and smiling fully. "Is, do you mean Aria Suzuhara?"

"Ah, yes, sir."

"Her classroom is down the hall, to the left. You'll reach the first year side of the High School building."

He bowed politely, "Thank you for your assistance, sir." He smiled, waving to the girls who gathered the courage to wave at him first. They immediately burst into giggles, hiding their red faces.

The man bowed again and left, walking away with girls _and _guys pausing to stare at him. They gawked as he left.

"…Kyoya."

"Yes?"

"Search up that man."

"I'm on it."

* * *

Hikaru and Kaoru were absolutely annoyed. Not only they were being ignored, they were treated like they never existed which irked them to no end. Their newest toy wasn't responding like they hoped she would, her reactions were the best out of everyone, and now she was getting boring.

They wanted to see her get angry again, get angry like a hissing cat.

It was lunch time and the Host Club was gathered in a single table with their respective lunches, even Haruhi was dragged out leaving Aria alone in the classroom.

"You know, if you really want Aria-san to warm up again then you should apologize." Haruhi said, staring at Hikaru and Kaoru who were pouting like five-year old children.

They crossed their arms at the same time and huffed, _"No way, she started it first."_

Haruhi grumbled in annoyance, "Selfish, rich people…" She muttered under her breath, massaging her forehead.

"Throughout the morning, I came up with many plans that would help Aria." Tamaki began, slamming his hands on the table. "The first one, buy cookies for Aria in replacement of the ones thrown out the window."

Honey tilted his head, "But Tama-chan, wouldn't that lose the meaning of why she made those cookies? Didn't Haru-chan and Renge-chan say that she made it for someone and not for herself?"

"That's true, she made it for someone." The brunette bobbed her head up and down,

Tamaki nodded his head, rubbing his chin. "Hmmm…that is true. The feelings she poured into the cookies had gone to waste and it won't be the same if we buy them." He cracked an eye open, "Then second one! We'll make our own cookies."

"If you want to school to be burned down," Haruhi deadpanned, shooting down the second idea without a second thought.

"Fine." He huffed childishly, "Third option. Give her something equally important, like Kuma-chan."

Kaoru made a face, "I don't think she'll appreciate that, rather, she'll chuck it out the window or burn it."

Tamaki paled at that thought, "O-Okay then, fourth option, we'll take her to the most expensive place in the city as an apology."

Hikaru snorted, "You think she'll agree to come along cooperatively? Look at her, she's avoiding us like we're the plague." He rested his arm on his brother's shoulder, "Face it boss, there's no other option but leave her be."

Kaoru lolled his head to the side, glancing away. "Yup, she's already treating us like how she treats the others, there's no point."

Tamaki sat down back to his seat, huffing childishly. "Then we'll have to resort to our last option."

"You have a last option?" Hikaru shot, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course! Is that you two," He pointed at them with an accusing finger, "Are to apologize to Aria for what happened yesterday."

"And we're back to square one." Kaoru comment sarcastically,

"I agree with Tamaki," Kyoya cut in, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "The best option we have is a sincere apology about yesterday by you two."

Everyone turned to Kyoya, Tamaki's eyes began to water in joy. "M-Mom! I knew you would agree with me!"

"As I said before," He drawled, giving an exasperated glance at Tamaki, "There only reason is the merits of having Aria on our side. The Suzuhara group is a group not to be trifled with."

Honey beamed, "I'm sure Arie-chan would accept! Right, Takashi?" He turned to Mori with a smile.

"Ah."

Hikaru crossed his arms, "Just because Aria's soften up to you two doesn't mean she'll soften to us."

It was true. The only members that managed to get her to actually speak to them were Honey and Mori. Before they headed to the cafeteria, they dropped by and gave Aria some cake and actually held a conversation with her.

How they did that without being scorned or ignored was beyond them.

"But Arie-chan is a nice girl, even Takashi thinks so!" He pouted, "You're just jealous that Arie-chan likes me and Takashi the most," He sang,

Hikaru's eyebrow twitched while Kaoru groaned.

"All right, I want all of you to listen to me carefully." Everyone leaned in to listen as Kyoya began explaining his own plan on Operation: Cheer up Aria Suzuhara.

Tamaki and Honey were the only ones nodding their head at every word Kyoya said. Haruhi was at first scrunching her face together then looked thoughtful, nodding her head up and down. Hikaru and Kaoru listened before making a face then shrugging then making another face again. Mori just…Mori just had an 'I don't look like I care but I actually do' look—which was different.

Everyone returned back to their seats, Hikaru groaned out.

"Are you _sure _there's no other way than to follow that?"

"Yes, I'm positive this will work without a single hitch." Kyoya smiled to himself, finishing his lunch and opening his notebook. He wrote on a white card and handed it to them, "Here,"

Kaoru took it, observing it with a squint of his eyes. "…It's not too far from where we live, Hikaru."

"Seriously?!"

Kyoya offered a smile, "You understand what happens when you fail, correct?"

The twins paled, looking everywhere but Kyoya who chuckled under his breath.

"You could warm up to Aria-san this afternoon. Didn't Renge-chan say that she wants us to do something after classes?" Haruhi offered,

They turned to Haruhi, she blinked innocently. Hikaru lowered his lashes, "I don't think Aria would attend if she's avoiding us."

She shook her head, "You're wrong. Aria-san always fulfills her favors, Renge-chan wants her to attend so she will attend. Without fail."

Kaoru lowered his eyes too, "Are you sure?"

"Postive."

And it was true. After classes, everyone gathered where Renge was with a Hollywood crew she hired straight from America. And lo and behold, amongst the chairs in the shade with drinks and snacks—Aria was sitting in one of them, sipping on a drink through a twisty straw.

True to what Honey said, he was the only one talking to Aria with Mori behind him (but she only spoke in short phrases). The others had to get ready for their shoot. Renge was screaming at everyone, pointing out what to do, where to go, and how it's done.

Some students from the school were there as extra when Hikaru and Kaoru's shoot came up. Meanwhile, Tamaki tried—keyword _tried_—to get Aria to talk to him but she ignored him completely.

"Tamaki-san!" Came Renge's shrill scream, "You're up!"

Tamaki sobbed all the way to Renge at being ignored. Mori, Honey, and Haruhi had to leave since it was their turn afterwards and had to get ready.

Aria was left alone, watching the Host Club with an apathetic look. She quietly slurped on her drink and stared at her brown mary-jane shoes without any interest.

Why was she here? For Haruhi, yes but…

She failed to realize that a certain amount of time had already passed. A hand was on her shoulder causing her to shriek out in shock and whirl to the person, ready to punch the living daylights.

Haruhi looked at her surprised. She lowered her fist and her head, "…Ah…sorry, it's a natural reflex."

She smiled, "It's okay, it's my fault for scaring you." Haruhi stood beside Aria who resumed drinking through her straw.

Silence loomed between the two. Aria watched as Tamaki went through the raining field like a depressed teenager and began his speech of woe and heartbreak.

"Say, Aria-san. Those cookies…who were they for?" Haruhi didn't look at Aria but just stared at the three host club members.

Aria froze, turning towards Haruhi silently. The brunette noticed her stare and quickly explained herself, "I mean, not to pry, but…"

"No, no…it's fine," She lowered her head, she sighed out and looked everywhere but Haruhi. "Where do I begin…? I have a servant who has been assigned to be my caretaker. Ever since I was child, he was right there beside me—he was like another mother to me."

"He cooked, he cleaned, he watched over me, he tutored me when I didn't understand, and he's the closest I got to a family. No matter what stupid or reckless action I would have done, he never yelled at me, he never got angry, he would just say 'It can't be help' and help or apologize on my behalf."

Haruhi noticed Aria's eyebrows slowly furrowing together, "He's a stupid idiot sometimes. I had always felt like I took him for granted. I had always wanted to give him something but there wasn't anything I could do. And then you and Hoshakuji-san said that you were gonna make cookies so I thought his was my chance." She smiled bitterly, "…Then _they _had to pull that stunt. I worked hard on those cookies and seeing all that hard work thrown out because of a joke…I got angry. But it's a good thing it was ruined, it tasted horrible."

Haruhi's eyes soften. She placed a hand on her head. Aria's eyes widened. "I think that how it looks or how it tastes doesn't really matter. What matters the most is the fact you put your heart and soul into it. Aria-san, you're actually very nice, aren't you?"

Aria looked up, "…You think so?" She said meekly,

"Yup," She smiled, "Aria-san, would you forgive Hikaru and Kaoru for yesterday?"

She stared at her with an unreadable expression before she huffed and looked away, her arms folded across her chest. Haruhi laughed nervously.

"Agh! I'm so _tired_!" Hikaru appeared, stretching his arms into the air. Kaoru came in, handing his twin brother a towel. "Ah, thank you."

Aria didn't spare a glance at them and continued huffing to herself. Hikaru and Kaoru glanced at the petite first year for a moment before trudging back to their respective seats.

Not single word followed during the rest of the Hosts' shoot aside from Kyoya who was _behind _Aria the whole time.

There was a shrill cry and everything had to be stopped, Honey messed up on his turn and Renge began yelling again, she spout out directions before storming over to direction and began talking to them in English. She had an air of a spoiled professionalism.

"Why have we suddenly gone from talking about changing our characters into a movie shoot?" Hikaru grumbled, making a face.

Haruhi came in, a white towel draped over her shoulders to dry her off from the rain. "And why is there an entire film crew to shoot it?"

"Apparently," Kyoya suddenly spoke, causing Aria to nearly fall out of her chair on how near his voice was, "She flew them over here from Hollywood. Don't you recognize the director? He directed the vampire movie, Millennial Snow. It was the number one grossing box office hit in America last year."

"Millennial Snow…It's a story about a girl with heart problems having a fateful encounter with a vampire who claims to hate blood."

Kyoya leaned down, right near her ear. "Oh? So you have heard of it, Aria." He drawled, Aria automatically glared at Kyoya, scooting away from his sinister smile. He chuckled at her reaction and resumed back to his work.

"And another thing," Hikaru scowled, smacking the script he had. "How come this stupid script portrays Kaoru as the seme?"

Kaoru mimicked his brother, "Yeah." He said in a tone similar to his older twin,

Confused, Haruhi turned to them with a bewildered expression. Aria, on the other hand, just muttered something Italian underneath her breath.

"Seme? What do you mean?"

"_If you don't know, nevermind."_

She blinked, "Seme? Aria?" She turned to her friend for any explanation, Aria shrugged her shoulders and looked away.

"Wait 'til you're older, Haruhi."

Renge appeared in front of Aria, offering another cup with a twisty straw. "Suzuhara-san, could you help with me with something, please?"

She stared at her thoughtfully then wordlessly nodded her head, taking the drink from Renge and hopping off from her chair. Aria followed Renge to the other side of the building, ignoring the stares from the twins.

Renge led her to two unfamiliar boys around her age, Aria paused for a moment. She stared at them for a moment, inspecting them carefully.

"I asked these two gentlemen here to be part of the shoot! Wait here, I'll get Haruhi-kun." She beamed and quickly ran off, leaving them behind.

"Hey," One of them said, trying to catch her attention.

Aria stared at them for a moment then began slurping her drink quietly, turning away from them. They actually looked shocked that she ignored them so easily.

They approached her, "Hey, we're talking to you. Oi, pipsqueak!"

Aria's nonchalant expression suddenly turned icy, she turned to them with a glare. They jumped at her sudden change of expression. As expected, they were wimps.

Then Renge came back but Aria's glare did not falter, "I'd like these two to be in the film too. Of course, Suzuhara-san will have a chance to be in the scene too."

"Huh?"

"We need some bad guys for the climax! That's when all the club members come together to fight against the real villains at their school. According to the script, these two are from a wealthy family that got their money by being part of the Japanese mafia!"

There was an outraged cry from the said 'villains' while Aria just wrinkled her nose.

"Suzuhara-san will play as the trump card of the club members when all else fails! All anti-social characters are always the secret weapon. Isn't that the perfect casting choice?"

"_What?_" Aria hissed,

"What's with this girl?!"

"Whatever my dad does has nothing to do with me!"

"Renge-chan, wait!" Haruhi called out to the bubbly French girl, "Maybe it's convenient for you. But if you only see people two dimensionally, don't you think there's so much that you miss?"

Renge cocked her head to the side in thought before she laughed, "I don't quite understand what you're talking about. Well anyway, please come and stand here for your cue—"

The student roughly pulled his arm away, glaring at Renge. "Hey! You think you can do anything just because you're from Class A? You don't even know me!" He shouted, shoving Renge towards the equipment leaning against the wall.

"Watch out!" Haruhi caught Renge but the force caused her to slam against the equipment painfully. There was a soft cry from Haruhi, barely audible.

"HARUHI!" Aria shouted, anger sparked inside of her.

"What's going on—" Tamaki rounded the corner and spotted Haruhi on the floor, cradling her face. They both noticed the tears in her eyes.

In a blink of an eye, Tamaki punched one of the students square on the face and hoisted him up by the collar against the wall. "Which one of you did it?" He murmured darkly, ignoring the pleas of the student, "Would you both like to be expelled together?"

"ENOUGH, SENPAI!" Came an outraged cry from Aria, Tamaki turned to the orange haired girl who stormed up to him.

The student who was shoved to the wall took this chance to escape with his friend when the twins began calling for help nonchalantly. Mori just watched them with a blank expression, scaring them even further.

She shoved him, Tamaki looked at her in disbelief. "They didn't do anything to deserve being hurt, senpai— "

"But they hurt Haruhi!" Came his outraged reply

"Listen, _fottuto bastardo!_" She snapped but Tamaki didn't want to hear it, he reached out to grab her shoulders until a hand shot out and pulled his wrist away before his hand could touch her shoulder.

Tamaki turned, eyes wide to see the same silver haired angel he saw in the hallway this morning. He gave an empty smile, "_Sir_," His voice was icy despite the smile, "Please do not harm my mistress."

He was overwhelmed again, nodding his head absentmindedly. He released Tamaki who quickly ran over to Haruhi, cradling her face to see her injury.

Aria just stared at the butler who smiled at her. She scowled in response, her eyes lowered angrily. "What are you doing here?"

"Yesterday, you seem troubled about something. So I assumed something happened in class—I was deathly worried if something happened to you so I decided to inspect your school." He explained, looking sincerely troubled. "And what I found is one of these students _harassing _you! Are you all right, my Lady?!"

Aria massaged her forehead, a hand on her waist. "…The student that was harassing me is my senpai, you misunderstood _again_."

He blinked, "…Oh? I have?"

"Yes." She sighed exasperatedly,

Soon everyone found out that the reason Haruhi was crying was because her contact slipped out. Tamaki sighed out in relief but chuckled to himself for some reason. Aria ran over to Haruhi, her blue eyes wide with worry.

"Are you okay, Haruhi? Are you hurt?"

She offered a weak smile, "Tired but I'm okay."

Aria sighed in relief, "Thank goodness."

"Ca…Cameraman?! Did you just get that now?" Renge shouted,

"Yes, boss!" Came the English reply,

"That was perfect! Except for the contact lens falling out, that was the ideal last scene!" Still on the floor, Renge gripped the script in determination. Aria felt her anger return as she slowly began approaching her. "All it needs now is for Kyoya-sama to provide some moving narration!"

There was a loud crashing noise, the cameraman screamed like his baby died. Kyoya stood beside it, rock in hand, with a not so pleasant expression.

Renge blinked rapidly, "K-Kyoya-sama?!"

"I'm terribly sorry, but I cannot allow there to be any record of a club member engaging in violence." His voice was snippy and cold, "I think you've caused enough trouble around here, Renge. Please stop being such a pest."

Renge's lower quivered, she stared at him through watery eyes in disbelief, "A…A pest? But you're supposed to pat me on the head and tell me not to worry! You're supposed to be kind and affectionate, Kyoya!" She cried, voice hoarse. "…Why are you acting so differently now?"

Aria knelt down in front of Renge, her expression blank.

Without any warning, she slapped Renge right across the cheek.

All eyes went wide at this.

Renge could do nothing but pause, the burning sensation on her cheek made her silent from her cries. Slowly, she turned to petite first year who stared at her, holding her red cheek. She couldn't read her expression. Was she angry? Disappointed? Apathetic?

"I just had enough of your immature actions, Hoshakuji-san." She began curtly, her eyes lowered, "What you did was unforgivable. Pulling people into your messes and forcing others to change their personality because you don't like it. That's very shallow of you."

"Aria…" Tamaki muttered,

Renge lowered her head at her bluntness, "And!" At that, she winced.

"And, I understand your determination." Aria slowly nodded her head, "Personally, I believe that it's better to gradually accept the flaws of one's personality. Isn't that what loving someone is all about? To accept their _real _self instead of the false one. Isn't it fun to learn the person's inner self bit my bit?"

Renge grew quiet, looking at her through tears.

"I agree. I think it's fun," Haruhi came up to Renge and sat down next to Aria, "To know the person little by little through looking at their personality, right?" She offered a bright smile.

She stared at Haruhi, blinking for a moment. She looked down, "…I'm sorry…for causing trouble…" She murmured.

The Host Club smiled at this.

The silver haired man approached Renge, offering her an ice pack. "I apologize for the actions of my mistress, but she means well." He grasped her hand gently, Renge automatically blushed. "Care to forgive her?"

Renge fumbled for words, turning darker by the minute at the appearance of the beautiful stranger. "Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-_YES!_ I-It's um…It's my fault anyways…"

He smiled, "Thank you, kind student. A pretty girl like you shouldn't cry, so smile, okay?"

She nodded her head quickly then held the ice pack to her red cheek (it was even redder now).

Before anything else, Aria slammed her foot onto his head. Her arms crossed, eyebrow twitching angrily. "_Mi-no-rin_," She began darkly, her voice raising octaves on each syllable, "What did I tell you before?"

He sighed in content, "Ah, mistress. How I miss your brutal actions." His cheeks were flushed, a hand over his heart. "Is it punishment time already? _Aah~_!"

She made a disgusted face, "Oh God," She muttered.

Haruhi noticed the beautiful stranger, she blinked for a moment. "By the way, Aria-san? Do you know him?"

While he groveled on her feet to be stepped on even more, Aria sighed. "…This is Minoru Nakahara, my only butler who takes care of me. I call him Minorin. He's a complete and utter masochist."

"A masochist for you, my Lady! Don't forget that!" Came his protest from the floor but Aria stepped onto his back again.

"Shut up, Minorin!"

Haruhi blinked before making an 'oh!' sound, "So you're the one Aria-san wants to repay by giving those cookies!"

Minoru froze while Aria automatically turned red, "AGHH! DON'T SAY THAT!" She shrieked, running towards Haruhi to cover her mouth, using her tippy-toes to reach to her mouth. Sucks being short.

But it was too late. The damage has been done, Minoru stood up. "M-My mistress…you have been trying to make cookies for me?" He whispered, eyes beginning to water. In a blink of an eye, Aria was lifted up. "Oh! I'm such a blessed servant! For my mistress to give me a present! I truly must be blessed!"

"L-Let me go, Minorin!" She shrieked, her face turning darker.

Everyone (except Tamaki) had to deadpanned.

"…I understand why she hates the Boss' attitude now." Kaoru muttered,

"Boss number 2," Hikaru replied back, stealing a glance at Tamaki who pouted, looking like he wanted to do that to either Haruhi or Aria.

"Ugh!_ LET ME GO, MINORIN!_"

There was loud smack followed by a gleeful moan of delight.

* * *

"Your friends are quite nice, are they not, Aria-sama?" Minoru said as he served tea to Aria who was on her couch working on her homework. A white bandaged was on his head, covering the bruise Aria had inflicted hours ago.

After the whole incident with Renge, everyone went home. Aria returned back to her apartment with Minoru, she was dressed in a cream colored oversized sweater with comfortable black short shorts. Her hair was tied into a low ponytail.

She scowled, "They _aren't_ my friends. Only classmates and schoolmates, nothing more, nothing less."

Minoru tilted his head, smiling. "Oh? But that female classmate of yours, Haruhi-san, was it? You seemed to care for her."

Aria turned her head, "Because she's nice. I like her. She's the first one to approach me. She's very kind. Of course, I'd care for her."

"Haruhi-san is quite similar to Tsubasa-sama, don't you think?" He said, walking towards the kitchen.

Aria grew silent, listening to the footsteps of Minoru as he disappeared into the kitchen. She lowered her eyes, staring at her homework.

"Like Mom, huh…"

…

"_Aria-chan, don't worry. You're the nicest girl out there!"_

"_Aria-san, you're actually very nice, aren't you?"_

…

She smiled a bit. "…Maybe a bit like Mom."

The door bell rang, snapped her out of her thoughts. She raised her head in alarm of someone visiting, Aria placed her things on the couch.

"I'll get it, Minorin!" She called out before he could do anything and ran to the front door.

She opened it with curiosity—

—only to close it a second later.

…

…

"You know," Came a familiar, muffled, _annoyed_ voice from behind the door, "It's considered rude to slam the door on a guest."

Aria fumbled for words, staring at the mahogany door in horror. "Y-You're not real…" She muttered to herself, "You're not real! My mind is playing tricks on me, it _must _be playing tricks on me."

"Aw, that means you've been thinking of us!" The second voice teased, "Hear that Hikaru, we fill her thoughts with us!"

"Think we can break down the door?"

"I bet, we can pay for the damages anyways. But it's a waste of mahogany to break—"

The door opened before he could finish that sentence, she glared at the Hitachiin twins who were standing at her door dressed in casual. Similar outfits but different in color.

"What are you two doing here?! No, scratch that, how the hell did you find out where I _lived_?" She hissed,

Hikaru threw a crumpled paper towards her, "Shadow King. What else?"

"B-But…!" She caught the paper with ease.

"Kyoya-senpai knows everything." Kaoru supplied with the shrug of his shoulders,

Aria made a noise of anger before sighing out in frustration. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at them expectantly. "Okay, fine. What do I owe the pleasure?" She said sarcastically,

"You look cute in that sweater."

"Nice hairstyle, makes you adorable."

She narrowed her eyes, "I'm not in the mood of your stupid games, Hitachiins. You got twenty seconds before I'll kick both of you out myself."

"_Touchy, touchy…_" The muttered under their breath,

Aria's eyes narrowed. She waited patiently for them to say something but they were squirming for a moment, exchanging glances. It made her scowl.

"Hurry it up alrea—"

"Here!" An item was thrust forward and onto her face, she recoiled back on the sudden action.

But then she noticed the familiar teardrop and umbrella printed plastic bag. She blinked in surprise, isn't this…?

"About yesterday, we're sorry for doing that," Hikaru began, looking away while holding the cookie bag.

Kaoru looked at the floor, "…That was really inconsiderate of us to throw it out like that. We didn't know how important it was to you."

"Today we realized how boring it was without having you talking to use at all."

"That's why…"

"_We're very sorry!_" They bowed at the same time, the bag still not lowered.

Aria just stood there for a moment, staring at them in complete surprise. She did not expect this at all. Never in her life had she expected them to go to her house and _apologize _here.

Gingerly, she took the bag without a word. The twins looked up in surprise, they could have sworn she lightened up a bit.

She looked at them for a moment before crossing her arms, scowling. "Hmph, you came all this way for that?"

Before they could retort, she turned her heel and walked into her apartment home.

"Minorin!" She hollered, "Guests are here, two of them! Prepare tea and snacks for them!" She scowled, eyes closed.

They blinked, exchanging glances. _"So you…?"_

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get in or I'll kick you out!" She snapped, turning towards them with a glare.

They looked at each other then broke into a teasing grin, _"Yes, ma'am!" _They saluted and marched right inside, the door closed behind them.

"I knew you would forgive us, you're just like a kitten."

"Were you doing homework? That's boring! Play with us now!"

"Yeah, kitten! Play with us!"

"It's so empty! Hikaru, we need to fill this up!"

"What do you have here to eat, kitten?

"Oh, look! This must be Aria-chan's room!"

Aria groaned into her hands when the Hikaru and Kaoru began roaming around like curious animals.

She began to regret letting them into her home.

* * *

**A/N:** You don't know how long I wanted to introduce Minoru and the Hitachiins apologizing to Aria. I was like: "YES! YES! YES! APOLOGIZE BECOME FRIENDS! I NEED TO CONTINUE WITH THE STORY! YES! YES!"

It's hilarious because when I finished this, Sakura Kiss began to play**. [KISS KISS FALL IN LOVE INTENSIFIES]**

Aria's Italian translation:

_Forttuto bastardo – Dammed bastard!_

Sorry for the late! I re-did this so much I lost count.

Please review! _[Gives all of u chuchus for the reviews]_


	6. A Day in Life (Hell)

**A/N: **Well look at that. An update. I welcome the yelling. I accept slaps through money.

On the serious note, after 234823472983748923 rereads, hopefully this is good enough. But I need to press on! THERE IS THIS _ONE _SCENE I REALLY WANT TO WRITE TO THE POINT I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS FOR THAT CERTAIN SCENE. Huehue. So excited.

**Reminder: Just in case you would forget and ask questions (I don't blame you) Aria knows Haruhi is a girl but the Host Club does not know that **_**she **_**knows. Plus, I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.**

* * *

…

…

"…Time to get up, Aria."

A melodic voice whispered in the darkness of her dreamless sleep. She groaned in annoyance, swatting away whatever was touching her cheek. Her hand instinctively shot out to grab whatever that was warm and comfortable. Weird, it felt squishy but she didn't complain, she was too tired to deal with anything right now. Aria inhaled deeply, snuggling whatever she was holding closer to her body. In a few seconds, she was already drifting off.

…

Something was tugging the comfortable thing she was holding away. She held onto it tighter.

"Kaoru, she won't let go." Came a hushed voice. She felt irritated just hearing it for some reason. Who the hell …?

There was something prodding her fingers, trying to pry them loose. "Her grip is strong, Hikaru. Are you sure you can't pull it out?" A more gentle voice coaxed the gruff one. The gruff one whined audibly and tried to tug the object she was holding away. She growled and held tighter, nails digging into fabric_—was that skin she felt?_

"Ow, ow, OW! Retract your claws, kitten! That hurts!" The thing she was holding began to forcibly pull away, she didn't like the feeling of her nails digging into something foreign so she complied with the request in her head. She wondered who was talking—her dreamless mind or was someone watching her sleep? She was too sleepy to care.

"Are you okay, Hikaru?" The gentle voice asked softly. Fabric rustled against each other followed by the soft pitter-patters of feet.

"I'm fine, Kaoru. Don't worry," The rougher voice reassured. Then she felt a breath on her ear, it made her twitch at the ticklish feeling. "Kitten, time to get up." The voice dropped low, sounding as gentle as the gentle voice. The breath was hot on her skin, prickling her with goose bumps. A strange feeling welled up in her chest, it was a weird feeling. Like her stomach was squeezing tightly, her skin felt weak and tingly at the same time.

Slowly, she cracked an eye open. Her vision was blurry and dark due to the dim light in her room, the only light was from crack from her closed curtains. A face was staring at her, bright topaz eyes stared right back at her sleepy ones. It widened in surprise when Aria touched his cheek gently, tracing the unblemished skin. They were amber, a lovely color. She had always loved warm colors and amber reminded her of autumn. Autumn was a nice season.

"…Is…Is she still half-asleep?" The male said to the person to his side. Aria followed his vision and found a person who looked just like the person who was staring at her. They looked really alike, very alike. But the one in front of her looked more…rougher. The one standing next to him looked gentle. So alike but very different.

The said person leaned in as well, observing Aria carefully. "Her butler did say that she gets sleep inertia every time she wakes up. I guess she doesn't even realize it's you, Hikaru." He murmured, lowering his lashes.

Hikaru snorted, "She looks like a kid, curled up like that." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from his face. "Kitten, wake up. We're going to take you to school." Hikaru grinned at Aria as she slowly sat up from her bed, her hair was tangled into a hurricane of a mess. He wrinkled his nose at that, she looked like a complete mess in the morning.

"_Eugh, you look terrible."_

Aria blinked and stared, trying to process what they said for a moment. She stared at them, watching them carefully. Hikaru and Kaoru looked uncomfortable at her stares, she just wouldn't look away and now they were feeling self-cautious about each other.

And then it clicked.

Her mouth dipped downwards, her eyes slowly began to wide with realization.

Aria screamed.

She screamed in horror, a string of her native language came out in a blur as she scurried back and pointed at them with a shaky finger. Color flooded in her cheeks, turning them into a nice shade of embarrassment red. Hikaru and Kaoru watched in amusement as the cool and composed Aria suddenly fell into a blubbery mess of horror.

"W-W-Why?! You…H-_How?!_ I…You can't be…!" She fumbled for words.

Hikaru shrugged, "We came to visit,"

"Yup, yup. How could we refuse when you asked us to come to your home?" Kaoru grinned, leaning against his brother.

Aria blinked furiously, "I…what?! I don't remember inviting you into my home! Why the hell would I invite you two into my home?!" She screamed, hissing angrily. "Get out of my room, you stupid dolts!"

They raised their hands innocently, _"Calm down, no need to hiss at us, Aria."_

"Shut up!" She threw a pillow towards them. They pretended to shriek in fear in a monotone way, their stupid smirks on their face when they dodged the attack.

"_Aria is so scary, how frightening!" _

Aria snarled, her growl audible. "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she practically stormed off from her bed and was ready to punch their faces in. The twins ran away laughing as they were chased out from her room.

Minoru was standing next to the door, surprise at the sudden outburst from the four teenagers. He was holding a tray of tea for his mistress and the guests but he was very surprised to see Aria up and running.

After several objects were thrown around, Hikaru and Kaoru were sitting on the couch holding an ice pack to their heads with a scowl. Aria was dressed in her uniform, glaring down at the twins with a scowl. Her arms were crossed against her chest, her foot tapping, she waited for the apology.

They glared in opposite directions, mumbling a very, very, _very _quiet apology.

She was satisfied.

"You sheltered rich kids are all the same," She mumbled under her breath, glaring to the side. "Acting like you own the place, ugh." She turned to Minoru who was calmly preparing breakfast with a gleeful blush, there was an obvious bump on his head.

Minoru told Aria that he was the one who personally invited them to visit her home. Naturally, she punched him up the head. He groveled at her feet, begging for more direct punishment since he was nothing but a 'worthless maggot that deserves to be punished by his mistress', Hikaru and Kaoru just wrinkled their nose in disgust at that, Aria mimicked their expression but shooed Minoru to make breakfast.

Aria scratched her hair, "You rich kids have too much times in their hands." She turned her heel around and walked away, her arms still crossed. "Minorin's making breakfast so you either eat or get out of my home,"

Hikaru scowled, "How kind of you," He said sarcastically, glaring at her back.

"My home, my rules. Don't like, get out. It's simple as that." She shot right back, they almost flinched on how frank she was.

Aria was quick to burn down anyone that went against her, they noticed that since her time in Ouran. She was snarky and witty, but her reactions were something they liked to see. Especially thirty minutes ago when she woke up, seeing her turn that nice shade of red was extremely worth getting hit in the head. They exchanged glances with each other before following Aria to the table. It was an array of meals that they hardly see during breakfast. Two cups of milk and one cup of coffee with various rolls and bread, there was also sunny-side up eggs and sausages.

Aria took a seat with the twins across from her, Minoru stood faithfully next to her with a smile, his eyes closed as usual.

"…You eat this stuff in the morning?" Hikaru gestured to the coffee and bread,

"I'll be eating now," She said, ignoring Hikaru and took a bite from her bread. His eyes narrowed at that.

"Oi," Kaoru furrowed his eyebrows,

Aria looked up, dipping her bread into the coffee, "If you don't like then don't eat. Shut up and stop complaining. You get what you eat on the table." Her tone was icy. The twins grumbled underneath their breath but reluctantly followed Aria and did their table manners and began eating.

At first, they looked picky as they poked and hesitantly ate their 'unique' breakfast. The next thing they knew, they were practically asking for seconds. They began chatting animatedly to each other about how delicious was the food was and practically asked for some maple syrup for the bread. Aria ignored them as they inhaled their breakfast, quietly sipping her coffee.

"Y'know," Hikaru piped up, "I'm surprised on how you eat."

Aria's flickered up, an eyebrow raised.

Kaoru shrugged, "You have no reservations to hit someone that angers you yet you eat with a proper position, it's surprising."

She took another sip of her cappuccino, "Unlike you two, I was raised to be a lady."

"_Since when you were a lady?" _

At that moment of their life, they could have sworn to see their lives flashing before them when Aria sent them the _darkest _glare they had ever seen in their whole life. Her hands were inching towards the knife sitting close to her plate. Kaoru automatically came to the rescue, waving her hand around.

"I-I mean, uh…We…We…" He looked at his brother, who looked at him in equal panic.

"_We're sorry!_" They nearly screamed hysterically, praying to the heavens that their lives would be spared. She was as frightening as Honey or Kyoya, especially since she actually as an array of weapons she could use. With that look in her eye, she wasn't going to hesitate to send them to the hospital.

Aria glared at them for a moment but took another sip, "Finish eating and stop talking. I would prefer to head to school thirty minutes before the bell rings. Now _eat_." She snapped. They obyed, eating quietly and simultaneously.

They could make fun of her…but not around forks and knives. It was a miracle since they spend the whole breakfast meal in silence until they thanked for the meal. Minoru, still smiling, picked up the dishes and left them in the heavy silence. Hikaru looked around while Kaoru picked at his fingernails, Aria was the only one with her eyes shut in thought, her fingers tapping on her arm.

"…Are you threatening Haruhi?"

The sudden question pulled them out from their thoughts, they looked up to see Aria not looking at them but stared at the side. Hikaru looked at his brother in bewilderment, Kaoru could just only shrug in response.

What seemed like hours, Aria finally looked at them. "Are you?"

"_Where did this come from?"_

She lowered her lashes, obviously glaring at them. "Haruhi is part of your strange club doing stupid activities. He told me that she broke a vase that costs a lot of money so in return, he'll work for you. But are you threatening him to do things aside from club activities? Are you? Are you using her pedigree against her? Or possibly you threaten to take away everything if she doesn't obey your every whim under the guise of 'paying you back'? Hm?"

They literally at the stared at her, wondering what the hell she was saying and why she was referring Haruhi as a boy—_oh,_ she didn't know that Haruhi was a girl. They shrugged that thought off and grinned mischievously.

"Why do you care so much, kitten? Could you possibly…" Hikaru lowered his eyes in a teasing manner,

"_Like_ our very own Haruhi?" Kaoru grinned, the word 'like' rolling off his tongue. He rested an elbow on the now empty table and his chin on his hand.

They expect Aria to brush it off or give a snarky comment. What they didn't expect was her to suddenly turn that same shade of red. Her eyes widened at the thought, and her mouth quivered in embarrassment. She automatically looked away, glaring at the hard floor ground.

"Wh-What are you saying? I can't possibly like someone…!" She fumbled to explain, "N-No, I can _never _like anyone again…" She trailed away, her blush becoming apparent. She knew that the twins have no idea that she knew Haruhi was a girl but the like in her head was the friendship kind. And she couldn't make friends. She can never make friends.

The twins blinked at this revelation, exchanging glances. Did Aria really have no idea that Haruhi was a girl? But more importantly, did she actually have a crush on Haruhi? The cold and unsociable Aria actually developing…_feelings?_ Then the rumors were true that Haruhi was the only one who could tame this kitten right in front of them.

Aria was hiding herself in her fluffy hair before she abruptly stood up, chair screeching. "You're wasting my time! I'm going to school!" She shouted and stormed away, it was obvious she was mumbling to herself about something.

Hikaru looked at his brother, surprised. "…She actually is starting to like Haruhi."

"She doesn't know Haruhi is a girl! That might actually hurt her feelings." Kaoru whispered,

"We can't our toy get near our favorite toy. She might steal her away, look how much time they spent together during classes!" Hikaru whispered right back more harshly, glaring at Aria who was instructing Minoru something. "She's hogging Haruhi's attention!"

"Then…we'll spend as much time with her just like Haruhi, it might balance it out. Haruhi won't be taken away from us." Kaoru nodded his head.

Hikaru mulled this over for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah, if we hang out with her then there's a chance we can have Haruhi's attention back." He muttered then looked at his brother with a smile, "You're a genius, Kaoru."

He grinned, "You're welcome, Hikaru."

Even if Aria was interesting to play with, they won't allow her to take Haruhi away from them. Haruhi is _their _toy, therefore, they will never share her with anyone—even with their newest addition. They were possessive and they were proud of it.

Haruhi was theirs and no one else's.

* * *

It was a simple limousine, Aria noted.

Nothing like the ones she was forced to ride when she rode with the maternal side of her family—she wrote one with her Dad in Italy once and it was very fancy if she remembered correctly. Her mother hated the fanciness of the cars so she often complained saying that they had no need for such luxuries. Aria grew up often switching from limousines, expensive cars, or just a simple car her mother bought with her own money.

It was a sleek black limousine with the letter H on the hood of the car, shining a bright gold color. It was practically sparkling underneath the sunlight. The driver, a middle-aged man with a moustache opened the passage seat for them. The twins were right behind her, grinning from ear-to-ear as they looked at her expectantly.

Did they expect her to crawl right in?

"Well?" Hikaru gestured to the limousine with his head,

"Aren't you going in?"

Aria ignored them as she walked around the limousine and to the front seat. She opened the door, "Yes but not with you," She said curtly, crawling inside and shutting the door with a loud thump.

They looked irked, scowling at her stubbornness before they followed suit and entered the vehicle. Apparently, Aria pulled up the divider which promptly blocked them from even making a conversation with her. The driver reminded her to put on her seat belt which she did without a complaint. Aria slumped on her seat, her bag on her lap and leaned her head against the window. It wasn't as annoying as others thought when she leaned her head against the car, she found it rather soothing.

The ride to Ouran Academy was a quiet one. The Hitachiin twins gave up trying to talk to her when all she did was ignore them, staring at the bushes and trees they were passing by with half-lidded eyes. She watched as people walked by, going about through their daily lives. Some watched as limousine drove by, heading towards the direction of the esteem Ouran Academy.

She scoffed quietly at that. As usual, people only looked at their money, just like that stupid school. Her last name Suzuhara was a well-known name throughout Japan and in some parts in other countries like Italy, Taiwan, Germany…she lost count on how many branches there were for her family. They were a diverse group, specializing in the medical field, biology, agriculture, technology…but the most prominent was the medical field. Because her family was talented, they weren't afraid to broaden their horizon and adding more into their group.

Her grandmother signed her up for the scholarship, the tuition was free but she needed to keep her grades top-notch. The scholarship allowed her to be in Class A, those who had high grades and prominent families. Haruhi was one of those in the scholarship as well. Even without the scholarship, she would still be in Class A.

'_You are a Suzuhara, Aria. Therefore, you need to uphold our name.' _Her grandmother repeated that to her when she was young. Aria had no dream, she had no future, the only future she could follow was the one her grandmother picked out for her. She didn't protest. She would get nowhere without anything to pull her forward and her grandmother was the one who chose everything.

She sighed loudly.

She only had two more years before she would graduate and…

And then what? She didn't know.

The car suddenly came to a halt, pulling her back to reality. Aria jolted up from her stupor, looking around like a lost kitten. They arrived at Ouran Academy, the heavy gates shined underneath the bright sun. The pinkish school was still had its odd hue no matter how many times she came back. Aria unbuckled herself, opening the door the same time the driver opened his. She stepped out, closing the door behind her and shook her head.

"It was a pleasure to drive you to school, Suzuhara-sama." The driver nodded, bowing respectfully.

"Yeah."

"_Oh, so she speaks," _The twins said bitterly. Hikaru was openly glaring, scowling at Aria with his fingers tapping on the hood of the car impatiently. Kaoru, on the other hand, crossed his arms and frowned. Unlike Hikaru, his anger was much more mellow—he just looked annoyed.

Aria scoffed, rolling her eyes at their childishness and walked away.

"_Hey! Where're you going?!" _

"Away from you two, that's where. Sure, you ate breakfast at my house but that doesn't mean anything to me." She spared them a glance, her eyebrows raised rather indifferently. They felt irked at her haughty way of talking. "Do me a favor and stay out of my sight, just looking at you makes me feel nauseous." She wrinkled her nose and walked away with a small hmph.

Hikaru was so close retorting back but Kaoru held him back before anymore words could be exchanged.

Aria had already mapped out half of Ouran Academy, and right now, she didn't feel like facing anyone while waiting for the morning bell. She was already drained for playing host for the twins who came into her room unannounced. So she made a quick detour to the nearest park near her building where her classroom lied.

There were a few students, all upper years and in the same year level as her, who were lounging around quickly escaped inside with quiet whispers that didn't went on deaf ears. The next thing Aria knew, she was all alone standing in front of the small pond with a statue pouring out water.

Unlike the strange one she saw, this one was holding an urn and tipping it over—like a normal statue.

Aria walked towards the pond, listening to the water trickle in. She peered into the water, watching as the smaller fishes inside were swimming around fluidly. Aria crouched down, resting her chin on her knees. A couple of white ducks jumped onto the pond, quacking as they do so.

She watched them for a moment before digging into her bag, pulling out a piece of bread that Minorin wrapped for her and broke a piece off. The ducks, noticing the bread, swam towards Aria and happily gobbled the bread up.

A ghost of a smile played on her lips, "Such nice ducks."

They quacked again, swimming around her. One of them waddled over to her, picking at bag. She giggled, taking out more bread which they practically fought over. She loved animals. They were faithful little things, curious and cute as well. She felt more comfortable being with animals than being with people.

There was a rustling noise behind her, Aria turned around to see a tall red head coming into the small garden holding a bag. He wasn't wearing the Ouran uniform properly and his hair was rather long, half of it was tied back into a ponytail. He had a delinquent face, narrowed and small-eyed. Aria automatically recognized him as a child from a yakuza family.

She immediately felt cautious, watching him with a careful gaze.

He noticed Aria standing with the ducks that were eating a piece of bread. His eyes narrowed at that as he approached Aria. Aria watched him stiffly, watching for any movements if he would lash out or anything like that.

But instead, he thrust the bag towards her. "If you're gonna feed the birds, you better feed them with this. It'll 'cause malnutrition if you feed them with bread," He said, shoving the bag into her hands. Aria was momentarily stunned at the rough action but at his thoughtful words.

He had his own bag. He grabbed a handful of a mixture of cracked corn, wheat, oats, and other grainy seeds. He squat down and held out his hand gently, the animals seemed weary for a moment, watching him carefully before they pecked at the grains. "Birds are the only animals that aren't afraid of me," He muttered to himself.

Aria watched him for a moment before one of the ducks waddled over to her, pecking at her uniform. She handed them a handful of grains as well, the duck quacked before pecking at them with their bills. It felt ticklish when they pecked, more ducks flocked towards Aria. She smiled, pulling out more feed before dumping some of them onto the ground. The redhead next to her followed suit, creating a pile of feed for the ducks to eat.

Silently, they watched as the birds gathered around to peck at the feed.

One duck waddled over to the male, there was ribbon tied around its foot. The duck quacked and nipped at the male's fingers, he seemed to smile a bit, even if it looked frightening, and gently ran his hand against its soft feathers.

Against her better judgment, Aria glanced at the duck. "…Is that duck yours?" She said quietly.

His eyes widened when he realized she was talking to him, he stuttered. "U-Uh…n-nah, I just come by to feed the little fellas. This little guy just g-grew attached to me," She saw his hand trembling for a moment when he ran his fingers against the duck.

Aria had met those who were part of the yakuza, the bothered her and annoyed her by trying to look fearsome. But in reality, they were nothing but flaccid assholes that were cowardly as hell.

She observed him, watching his gentle touch to the look in his eyes. Noticing that she was staring, he looked back right at her but it ended up looking like a glare instead. "What? Do I have something on my face?" He rested his arms onto his knees. Aria seemed surprise for a moment, her eyes widening.

Before he could back down and apologize, a laugh came up from behind them.

"Would you look at that? Bullying another girl, Kasanoda Ritsu?" A blond male student snickered, his hands on his hips. Two lean males were behind him, smirking. Aria made a face at that, if they tried looking fearsome it was failing miserably. She mentally scoffed.

Ritsu stood up, talking a step forward. "…What'dya want?" His voice was low and cautious. He glanced at Aria who was still crouched down and wondered if she was scared. She was a small girl, a first year and looked very delicate. She looked like those part of Class B or Class A.

He snorted, "Revenge of course. You had the upper-hand yesterday and today let me return the favor…" His eyes trailed to Aria who stood up, her skirts rustling. She reached up to his shoulder, a bit lower than that. He grinned, "…That girl over there might do nicely!"

Aria realized they were locked onto her. Before she could retort, Ritsu stood in front of her, glaring. "Don't you think 'bout bringing her into this mess," He snapped. They looked intimidated for a second but they brushed it off.

"Hah! So sorry, Kasanoda but we have no choice. GET HER!" He shouted, the two lackeys ran forward. One of them attacked Ritsu head on, forcing him away from Aria while the other darted towards her. Ritsu cursed under his breath as he blocked the punches, his eyes locked onto Aria who was calmly standing at that spot. Why wasn't she running away…?!

When the lackey made a move to grab her, she just grabbed his hand, twisted it, and tossed him over her shoulder and into the water. He screeched, falling into the water with a loud splash.

Aria scoffed, "…All bark but no bite," She muttered, turning towards the others. The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy, it sent chills down their spine as Aria crackled her knuckles.

"_Oi_," She spat, "If you're going to engage into fist fighting, by means go ahead. But don't bring people who aren't even part of your stupid squabble into your ugly mess." She glared at the leader, his eyes widened in surprise before he sneered.

"Do you think you can handle me, shorty? Come back a few years when you're body actually fills out," He snapped.

At that very moment, Ritsu recognized the feeling of true fear. There was a large pressure being emitted, he could feel it and it left him rooted to the ground. Where was this coming from? Ritsu scanned the ground, following the aura—which lead to the small girl. His eyes widened. He had felt this sort of aura before with his family but…coming from a frail girl like her…

The aura of rage began to emit from her. Aria glared so darkly, her eyes actually darkened in anger.

"You know what? I was having a bad morning. First, those stupid twin hosts comes into my home unannounced, and then I found out that they had permanent access to my said home, and then they dragged me to come with their sorry asses to school and now this." Her head was bowed low.

"The hell 're you saying?" The blond scoffed. Aria walked towards him in slow strides, walking towards. Ritsu wanted to shout at her to run, to escape but the pressure left him breathless. The lackey that was holding him down seemed to quiver slightly, feeling the cold air.

"I hate this. I hate unsightly people like you people. I hate people who meddle into my business. I hate people who try to get into my life. I hate it. Hate it, hate it, hate it_, hate it, hate it_…"

He down to look at her, leaning down to glare and frighten her off. "Huh? What the hell are you blabbering—_URK!_"

Aria grabbed his necktie and pulled him to her face, her icy blue eyes bore holes into his plain brown ones. He trembled under her glare. "And I hate people who disrupt my time of peace." She growled, flames burned bright in his eyes. Her aura of dominance seemed to frighten him as he quivered slightly, "Do me a goddamn favor and the get the hell out of her before I'll make you regret ever talking, do you hear me?"

He tried to break out from her grip but she was strong, strong for a small girl. She tugged harshly, "I said: _DO YOU HEAR ME?_" She barked,

"Y-Y-Y-YES MA'AM!" He squeaked out, saluting.

She turned to the other, he jumped and saluted as well. "Y-Y-Y-Y-YES BOSS!" He squeaked,

She dropped the leader, "NOW LEAVE AND DON'T BOTHER ANYONE ELSE!" She shouted, pointing at the exit of the gardens. They saluted once again and scrambled away with frightened screams of 'Mommy!' and 'Help me'. The one thrown on the pond quickly ran away as well.

Ritsu just stood there, gawking. How could a girl—a _tiny _girl, command large and older students so easily? Not to mention that immense aura of domination. There were girls like her in his class and such but…this intensity?

Aria scoffed, "All bark but no bite. That perfectly describes men these days," She grumbled under her breath before turning towards Ritsu, "So? Why'd they want to fight you so badly that they dragged me into this stupid mess?"

"I…uh…" Words died on his throat as he fumbled to explain. "Th-They were from another gang. Erm…they were disturbing a family of cats so I jumped in to help 'em so they decided to take revenge…" He looked away, embarrassed.

She blinked, her eyes widened slightly in surprise. She didn't expect that. She didn't expect that at all. That was…really nice of him. It was obvious he liked animals if he cared for ducks out of all things but _this…_this was unexpected.

"…Wow, really? Cats?"

He turned red, "Sh-Shut up! I like animals, okay?!" He growled, "The only problem is that my face scares everything, not only animals but people as well. It's because of that I don't have many friends." He muttered the last part quietly, scratching his cheek.

"Your face?" She stared at his face. It did look terrifying, the first thing she had done when she saw him was put up a defensive guard. But seeing how kind he was to the ducks and actually tried to protect her, he wasn't so bad. "I think you're not _that _scary. You just look rude with your squinty eyes."

He made a noise of exasperation at that. Aria crossed her arms, "If anyone is scary, it's me—I think. People are afraid of me because apparently someone started a rumor where I annihilated an entire gang." She rolled her eyes, "People overreact way too much. But I don't think you're bad, in fact, I think we're in the same boat."

Ritsu looked up at that. Aria sighed, her eyes lowered as she stared off to the side. "I transferred here a few weeks ago. The only person willing to talk to me was Haruhi. The rest were just plain afraid or just didn't have the guts to talk to me, and they have the nerve to even talk behind my back." She scowled, glaring off. Her hands curled into tight fists.

"…You…You don't have any friends?" He repeated, surprised.

"Yeah, so?"

"N-No, I'm just…surprised. I mean, you're a cute girl and all and…" He trailed away, realizing what he had said and turned extremely red. Ritsu stuttered and fumbled for words, "I-I mean, uhh…that, e-err…_" _He tried but his voice cracked as he tried to hysterically explain himself.

Aria, on the other hand, turned red. She had met others who had told her the same thing, but the way he had said it was more…innocent, boyish, as if didn't mean to say it out loud. And now he was stuttering to explain himself, hoping that she wouldn't kill him.

She furrowed her eyebrows, wrinkling her nose. "You're strange. You aren't like anyone I met here in this school, the boys especially. For one, they don't flirt with me like this." Aria pointed out, tilting her head to the side.

"I-I wasn't…I…!" He half-shouted in a panic

Aria rolled her eyes, "I'm kidding, sheesh. …Ritsu, was it? Hm, sounds boring."

Ritsu looked offended at that, his name was boring?! He glared at her, "How is my name boring?! Your name sounds foreign!" He retorted.

Aria snorted, "Because I'm a half, obviously." She narrowed her eyes, her hands on her hips as she leaned forward threateningly. "Look at me, do I look like your native Japanese girl?"

His voice failed him as he tried to fumble for words. God, why was he feeling so _embarrassed _around her?! He met her just today and now he was blushing like some stupid schoolgirl. He raised his hands which were trembling before he looked to the side, his face burning red.

The petite girl pursed her lips together, giving him a scrutinizing gaze. A moment of silence passed between the two before Aria leaned back with a loud sigh, "…At least you don't leave. Most people usually leave when they have a chance. Because I'm too 'frightening'," She made gestures here and scoffed, "Losers. Anyways, let's head to class before we're late, Ricchan."

"…Wait, Ricchan? OI! Who said you can change my name, huh?!" He shouted, leaning forward to look more threatening. But Aria rolled her eyes, giving him a look.

"Uh, me?" Her tone made it sound like it was obvious. Ritsu didn't understand her logic, he really didn't. "Be happy! You have someone you can relate to! If the world was filled with you, Ricchan, it would be a much better place. Don't you think?" She tapped her chin at that thought.

Ritsu groaned at this. How did she do this? How did she go from Ice Queen to some…some _normal _girl? And now she was treating him like they knew each other for years! He really didn't understand how her mind even worked. He covered his face with a hand, trying to cover that blush that wouldn't just die down.

_He wasn't embarrassed so why was he blushing?!_

"Oi, Ricchan! Hurry it up! Get my bag while you're at it! Chop, chop!"

Ritsu turned to see Aria already far away from him, her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently. Her eyes were narrowed, as if she was losing patience. Wait. She…wasn't the patient one, wasn't she? He suddenly felt fear in his stomach. There was no way he would get her mad again.

Grumbling something underneath his breath, he picked up her bag and reluctantly followed Aria. He handed the bag to Aria who took it with a small 'thank you' and brushed her bangs away from her face.

At that gesture, he found himself staring at her. She had short, curly, orange hair that brushed her shoulders. Almond shaped blue eyes, long eyelashes as thick as a beautiful butterfly's wing. She had a baby-face that was a mixture of cute and beautiful at the same time. She looked like a small porcelain doll that he found cute, and that thought nearly made his heart stop.

She noticed him staring at her. She paused, causing him to pause in his footing as well, and glanced at him. She raised an eyebrow, her head tilted to the side. "What? Why are you staring at me? Is there something at my face?"

He blushed, realizing he had been caught. "U-Uh nothing, sorry."

She narrowed her eyes before turning ahead, her eyes closed. "Ricchan, where's your classroom? I'll escort you there." She said, walking ahead.

"Wha—Escort? Hey, I'm the guy so _I'm _supposed to escort!" He jogged to keep up with her fast pace.

"I'm from Class A, are you sure you're going to turn around and head back to your classroom if you escort me to mine?" She lowered her lashes, her eyebrows up in an 'oh-really' look. Ritsu stuttered for a moment before he looked away. She nodded her head, "Thought so, now let's hurry. Gosh, can you be any _slower?_"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

At that very moment, Ritsu thought his face was going to burst into flames.

* * *

"This is your class, correct?" Aria peered up at the sign, squinting as she attempted to translate the kanji in her mind. Kanji had been her weakest point, she never understood them fully. Sure, she was fluent in the language but she just couldn't get kanji down. She couldn't even write her own name in kanji until she graduated from middle school.

_Class 1-D_

Class of rich delinquents and yakuza, they were rich but their pedigree and their grades didn't cut for the other sections. Unlike her, she would naturally get into Class 1-A, but she applied for a scholarship that will remain if she maintained her grades above average. She peered into the classroom to see it quite messy, everyone was unkept and had piercings. They seemed angry but she could see a few reading a book about animal care. Some were even yelling as they attempted to help each other on various projects, she wrinkled her nose at the noise.

"…How uncouth." She repeated the words of her grandmother would often say. Ritsu made a face at her words but he had to thank her, an apologize. He helped him with that incident earlier and she actually escorted him, _him _out of all people, to his classroom. With that thought in mind, he turned his heel to look at her. His hands were clenching and unclenching, sweat began to dampen his forehead.

"…Suzuhara. I want to-…uh…wo-would…" He found himself stuttering when Aria look at him, her head tilted to the side. Her eyes were wide in curiosity and that made him sweat even harder. His brain went into overdrive as steam practically seeped out from his head.

_She looks like a kitten_. He thought. The urge to pet her was strong but he held his arm back before she could receive a kick to the stomach. Gathering up his nerves, he suddenly bowed causing her to jolted back in shock.

"_THANKYOUI'MSORRY!"_ He screamed hysterically before running away, his face red. Aria stood there, shell-shocked at the whole incident. She blinked rapidly, trying to process what the heck just happened before she turned back at the classroom to see Ritsu in the corner muttering to himself. He looked ready to explode. When people turned to who caused the Walking Blizzard into such state, they instantly paled when they realized it was Aria.

The Walking Blizzard was taken down by Aria.

Everyone pretended they didn't see that incident and continued their merrily way. Aria blinked, made a face, before she left to her classroom.

_That was weird_. She shook her head as she made her way to her classroom, which wasn't far. As soon as she entered, the twins were practically standing at the door with a displeased expression. Aria stared at them for a moment before she slammed the door close.

"Wrong room," She said before walking towards the other door and went through. Hikaru and Kaoru were literally taken aback on how fast she slammed the door on them, they made their way to the girl as she took her seat. Before they could talk, she suddenly stood up and approached Haruhi.

"Hey, Haruhi-san. We're partners for the Radiation report on Science I, right?"

Haruhi blinked, "Y…Yes?"

"Mind if I head to your house after club hours?" She placed a hand on her desk, tilting her head to the side as she stared at her indifferently. But she wasn't affected, in fact, she smiled a bit at that—a bit nervous and confused, but it was still smile.

"A…All right?"

"No."Came the angry reply,

They turned to see Hikaru approaching them with Kaoru right behind him.

"Yes." She shot back,

"_No."_

"Yes."

"_No!"_

"Yes! God, you two are so infuriating!" She snapped, "What the hell is your problem? Is it because I abandoned you at the lot? What are you, six? You still want to hold someone's hand because you're scared of the big scary world?" She mocked, glaring at them.

Hikaru looked down right offended there, Kaoru literally glared. "What's _your _problem? We literally wasted our time to come and get you and this is how you treat us when we gave _you_ special treatment?" Hikaru snapped.

"I didn't ask for it. Nor I asked you to pick me up. Stop bothering me!" She snapped,

Kaoru held his brother back from literally lashing out, girl or not, Hikaru won't hold back insulting someone. "Hikaru, enough. " He chided when his older brother was about to retort, "Don't waste your breath on her, she'll never listen."

Aria snorted, "That's rich, coming from you two."

Haruhi finally had enough of their conversation, they had apologized just a few days ago and now they were fighting again. She stood up front her seat and glared at the ones who started it, the twins. "Enough, both of you! You three finally reconciled and now you're fighting again? What you have to say, Hikaru, does not mean Aria-san will listen. Now will you two apologize!" Aria noticed their expressions changing to that of guilt for a moment as they glared to the side.

"…_Sorry…"_ Came their mumbled reply. Haruhi looked pleased, then she turned to Aria for her reply.

She crossed her arms, glaring to the side. "…I'm sorry I called you six year olds. Even though you are…" Came the whispered line. The twins snapped up and glared, Aria simply stuck out her tongue childishly before she stomped off with a loud "hmph!"

They grumbled under their breaths before they stalked off to their seats and plopped down when the teacher came inside. Haruhi felt tired at their banter, but she was amazed on how all three of them crossed their arms at the same time and huffed to the side.

She massaged her forehead, "…They're never going to get along, will they?"

During class, it took all of Haruhi's willpower to not throw something when the three of them began fighting again. Throwing paper balls, erasers, notebooks, you name it and they'll throw it. The entire class was silent throughout the fight. The elderly English teacher didn't know about the war occurring behind him as he taught his lesson. Haruhi was trying, trying so _hard _to pay attention but she could still hear the hisses and threats they were exchanging quietly.

Haruhi groaned into her hand.

_Why was this even happening?_

* * *

_**A/N: **_Whoops, did I update? Silly me. I should really start updating more frequently but I'm graduation so….dunno.

All right, there'll be a few chapters before the next episode starts. Most trying to develop their friendship. It's just, whatever Aria does, she'll end up fighting with the twins. It's accidental I swear to God. But at least we got Ritsu in, I love him so much I called him Ricchan.

Well then, thank you for staying with me despite my inconsistent updating. Recently, I've been getting into Fire Emblem: Awakening. I love Lucina and Morgan, my children, I'm so proud. **/wipes single tear**

Please review~!


	7. The Evil that is Math

_**I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. All of this belongs to the glorious Bisco Hatori**_

* * *

Aria wrinkled her nose at that, turning back to her work. She was sitting on a red velvet couch, legs crossed in a lady-like posture. Her shoes thrown haphazardly on the floor, as if she was a hurry to pull of her Mary Jane platform shoes that she bought because it made her look taller. On the table where she concentrated immensely on was notes and homework on Mathematics I, her most hated subject. Next to the notebook was an empty club application form neatly folded in half. Her homeroom teacher gave it to her, telling her that it was required for her to join a club and proceeded to give her a list of clubs.

It was a two paged stapled paper, back and front, no joke. It had a variety of clubs that was similar to her old school last year. But none of them really caught her eye. She wasn't interest in doing extra-curricular activities. Embroidery Club and the Drama Club did interest her but she didn't really feel like she should join. Obviously they wouldn't accept her, knowing her current reputation so she didn't bother it.

Right now she was focusing on this cursed activity called homework and hoped to God that a savior could descend from the heavens and help her understand these stupid numbers, variables, and equations. She was _thiiis _close on chucking her homework outside the window.

Twenty problems.

How wonderful.

Honey had came up to her, chatting animatedly about whatever topic he could create—which was amazing on how he never stopped talking about anything. He managed to make a conversation out of every little thing that happened and Aria naturally felt compelled to listen, she didn't reply but gave him a single nod or shake when the conversation calls for it. And then Mori came. He gave her a plate of hot chocolate chip cookies, chocolate still oozing and the cookie itself soft, and warm milk. He rubbed her head a few times before walking off doing god knows what. This wasn't the first time Mori would rub her head like that. He kept on _doing it_ when she was around.

Truthfully, she liked having her head patted but she would _never _tell anyone that. Nope. Her pride would be damage and it would give the twins an excuse to tease her. Then it would give her an excuse to punch them.

Huh. Now that she thought about it, it wasn't that bad.

Fifteen minutes later, and she was still stuck on problem number frickin' _two. _The Host Club was talking about their next plan, not bothering Aria, they swore to not bother her in return she would stay until it was time to go. It gave her an excuse that she did have a club and wouldn't have to be given another lecture about the 'importance of clubs and teamwork'. She just hoped her empty form wouldn't cause any problems.

For the umpteenth time, Aria sighed. Her leg shook, her mechanical pencil tapping on her leg as she stared at the problem as hard as she could, as if it would magically solve itself. How she wish it was so.

"_What'cha doing over there, Aria-chan? Are you writing in your death notebook?" _Came the voices she grew to despise. Her eyebrows creased even further, her lips turned into an irritated scowl.

"Mind your own business," She said gruffly, shooing them away with her hand. "Your stupidity is going to distract me, go away."

They rolled their eyes, _"Icy as ever. Don't you ever get bored playing Ice Queen?"_

"If you don't like it, go away. Simple. Even wild monkeys can understand that. But then again, with your mental capability, I doubt you understood my words."

"_Oi._"

"Sometimes I wonder if your two are just deaf or idiotic." She paused there, "…Wait, don't tell me. I already know."

Hikaru took a deep breath, his hands itching to strangle her but he was a gentlemen. He was going to be nice. Haruhi was watching him and god knows what would happen if she got angry again. Instead, he forced a smile.

"What are you doing, kitten?" He exhaled, clenching and unclenching his hands.

"Homework?" Kaoru followed behind, leaning over her shoulder to take a good look on her math homework. His eyebrow arched up as he scanned the notebook. They both held back a laugh, looking at each other then back to the homework.

Aria turned, mustering the darkest glare she could do. They looked away, whistling innocently. She was about to shoo them away with her shoe until Hikaru suddenly leaned over, surprising her, and pointed at one of the problems.

"No, that's wrong. First, you need to factor them in order to get the answer." He said, picking up an extra mechanical pencil and began to write. Aria turned to her homework to see him working in a heartbeat. "See, here, first you gotta do this…"

He scribbled on the paper, showing each and every work diligently that it amazed Aria. She could understand it. She can actually understand the alien language called math! Hikaru's eyes didn't move from the paper.

"Hikaru's an expert in mathematics!" Kaoru chimed proudly, giving a genuine smile to his older twin brother which he returned happily.

When he was done, he turned to look at her. "See?"

And Aria realized how close their faces were. She found her heart suddenly leap out from her chest from the sudden proximity she had _never _experienced much. No one came close to her like this, she wasn't used to contact like this. Hikaru's face was a finger width apart from her own, too close. Her face started to heat up in embarrassment.

"Kitten?" Hikaru called out, noticing her horrified look. "What—"

He was silenced when Aria slammed a pillow to his face, "GET AWAY FROM ME, IDIOT! YOU'RE TOO CLOSE!" She screeched, and shoved him away. Kaoru caught his brother before he came falling ungracefully to the ground.

Hikaru, on the other hand, was completely stunned at the sudden action and glared. "Hey! I was just trying to help! I didn't do anything wrong!" He snapped,

Aria was trying to calm herself, her chest pounding. _Too close. Too close. Too close. _She growled in the back of her throat, "That doesn't give you an excuse to invade my personal bubble!" She retorted right back, a bit shakily.

Hikaru rubbed his face, he nearly died there. "God, do you want me to help you on your math homework or not?!" He snapped,

The short orange haired girl pressed her lips together in a fine line. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed help on math. Her grades were at stake if her mathematics was at an all time low. Her scholarship wouldn't allow it. Her _grandmother _wouldn't allow it. And Hikaru did one problem really easily, like it was a walk in the park, an ability she wanted to have for math. But her pride wouldn't allow her to ask help from the likes of him. It was like she was admitting to defeat. And Aria was a girl who hated losing.

But she had no choice. She had to ignore her pride and accept this with the little dignity she had left right now. Aria turned her head to the side, avoiding their accusing stares and glared at the fabric of the couch.

"…I do. As much as I hate to admit, but I need help. _Your _help. Will you…Will you help me, Hikaru?" She didn't look at him. No. She didn't want to look at his smug grin. She could see it from the corner of her eyes. She admitted defeat, for once.

Hikaru looked at Kaoru.

Kaoru looked at Hikaru.

The older twin grinned, sauntering around the couch and sitting right next to her. "All right, I'm tutoring you. This means we're coming over to _your_ house and I'll tutor you there."

The younger twin leaned on the headboard of the couch, "Who knows, I might tutor you as well, Aria-chan." He lowered his eyelashes playfully.

Aria wrinkled her nose, inching away from them. "Don't push your luck. I'll let you tutor me at my home but any funny business and I'll kick you out without any warning. Got that?" She growled, watching their expressions carefully.

They beamed, _"Loud and clear, Aria-chan."_

* * *

"She's sooooo cute!" Ryoji, a.k.a, Ranka squealed upon Aria's entrance in their tiny apartment.

As said before, Aria would be visiting Haruhi in order for them to work on their Science Report on Radiation due tomorrow. Minoru, the ever faithful servant, accompanied them to the Fujioka home where Aria marveled on the simplicity she dreamed of having. The silver haired butler just smiled, agreeing to whatever his mistress had said while carrying her bag. Haruhi had explained about her own family and about her dad, Aria nodded and didn't mind about it. In fact, she felt like she could relate to Haruhi well.

As soon as Aria came inside, Haruhi introduced her to her father which promptly made him squeal over how adorable she was. It wasn't everyday that Haruhi would bring very feminine friends, especially a cute one like her. Ranka knelt down, rubbing her cheek against Aria's soft one with an excited grin. Aria briefly thought that he was way too similar to Tamaki. She stood there, allowing herself to be smothered by affection as Ranka continued to talk about every inch of her.

"I heard you had a transfer student but I didn't expect someone as cute as her! Daddy is so proud of you, Haruhi! You brought home your first female friend from Ouran Academy!" He chirped, cooing excitedly. His eyes glistened with unshed proud tears for his daughter, Aria wrinkled her nose at that.

Minoru stood in the back, smiling serenely. "Aria-sama has always been praised for her natural beauty and cute charm." He said, eyes closed as usual, "Because of her doll like stature, her family made sure she kept her charm and dolled her up at times."

Ranka jumped up and down, taking Aria with her. "I hope Haruhi can learn a thing or two from you, Aria-chan!" He grinned,

"Dad!" Haruhi said exasperatedly, she had taken off her blazer and hung it. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, and a plain blue apron was wrapped around her waist. She was holding a tray of tea, "Let Aria-san go, you're choking her!"

Ranka whined, giving her one last tight squeeze before letting her go. Aria's hair was completely disheveled, still stunned by the whole situation. Minoru began fixing her right up, whipping out a comb out of nowhere and tamed her fluffy hair. In less than a minute, Aria looked normal again.

"…Again, Dad. This is—"

"Yes, yes. Suzuhara Aria-chan. This fine gentlemen is…?" He scanned Minoru up and down, grinning.

Haruhi made a face at that, "…Okay then, and this is Nakahara Minoru, Aria-san's butler." She gestured to the silver haired pretty man.

Minoru bowed, still smiling. "It's a pleasure to meet Fujioka-sama's father."

"Aria-san, Minoru-san. This is my Dad, Ryoji."

"But call me Ranka!" He chimed in, grinning brightly.

Aria blinked, stunned at his perkiness. A complete opposite of Haruhi herself. She nodded her head and bowed hesitantly, "…It's nice to meet you, Ranka-san. I hope I'm not intruding." She eyed him carefully. He was too cheerful and happy for his own good. Too obnoxious. Just like Tamaki. _Too much like Tamaki. _It was frightening.

"Nope, nope! In fact, I'm glad that Haruhi brought a girl over! Now what are you two doing? Homework? Girl time? Are you going to finally have girl talk, Haruhi? Oh, Daddy is so proud of you." He looked teary-eyed. Haruhi wrinkled her nose at that, followed by Aria.

Haruhi shook her head, "We're going to work on a report, nothing more." The brunette sighed but then smiled, turning to Aria. _She really has big eyes._ Aria noted. "Come on in, Aria-san."

Aria nodded her head and pulled off her shoes, throwing them onto the ground and stepping onto the tatami mat. Minoru arranged her shoes dutifully, ignoring Haruhi's protests. Ranka grinned, sauntering over to the girls.

"If you don't mind, Ranka-sama. I will gladly aid on the preparations for dinner and your chores." Minoru tilted his head, if it was possible. You could see sparkles and flowers around him.

Haruhi waved her hands around, "There's no need, Minoru-san! You're our guest so allow us to take care of you, right Dad?" She turned to Ranka. He nodded his head in agreement.

"Yup, don't worry. Feel free to sit and relax, but I think you two are going to be working on your report, hm?"

"Oh, right! Let's head to the table, Aria-san." Haruhi gestured to the small wooden table.

She took out cushions for them to sit on plus some for her dad and Minoru. Aria nodded her head, silently following Haruhi to the table.

Minoru held a hand to his chest and bowed, "I apologize if my Lady does not talk much. It comes off as rude to most people but she means well. I can tell she has already taken a liking to Fujioka-sama." He explained, watching the two interact as they took out their supplies for the report.

Ranka chuckled, "It's been Haruhi's ability to befriend anyone. But this is the first time in a long time that she brought home a friend, will you come and visit again someday?" He glanced over to Minoru. The silver haired butler's eyes opened slightly, revealing the nice hue of blue he had.

"Perhaps. Aria-sama needs to learn how to open up, and she's already doing it with Fujioka-sama. Slowly, she might allow people to come into her world more." Minoru took off his shoes and rearranged the shoes that were laid on the floor once more. "Now then, I must prepare tea for them. Mind if I use your kitchen, Ranka-sama?"

"Enough with the honorifics! Ranka-san will just do. And yes, you may."

"Of course, Ranka-san."

Ranka observed the two again as they interacted, Aria was leaning against Haruhi with a loud sigh while the brunette just playfully pushed her to the side and scolded her to get to work. It was nice seeing two girls interacting happily like this. He grinned.

"Can Daddy join in the report?" Ranka chirped, hopping over to the two.

"Dad!" Came the immediate whine,

He pouted, sitting next to Aria. "Awww! All right, but Daddy wants to join with his daughter and his daughter's friend on their work. Ask me anything! I graduated after all!" He said with a proud look.

Haruhi leaned in to Aria. "Don't listen to him." She whispered quietly, "He always does this."

Aria blinked in surprise, turning to Haruhi who was smiling. She turned back to Ranka who was now doodling on a scrap of paper with a pen she brought. It was little stick figures with awkward hair and awkward proportions. She covered her mouth, stifling a laugh on how dumb it looked. Haruhi was surprised to hear her laugh, he had never heard Aria laugh much—or maybe at all. But hearing her laugh was like listening to wind chimes, it was light and cute.

Minoru appeared with tea in hand, "Tea?"

"Dad, you're distracting us. Please, what about the laundry?"

Ranka practically flew towards where the laundry was with a loud shriek of "I FORGOT!", Haruhi pinched the bridge of her nose. Minoru set the cups around before returning the tray to the kitchen and washed his hands.

"I will help Ranka-san, do enjoy the day." He bowed and went to the veranda where Ranka was practically panicking, throwing the clothes around and onto the lines or the washing machine.

Haruhi sighed as soon as the room grew quiet aside from the muffled voices outside, "Sorry about my dad, Aria-san."

She shook her head, "No, it's fine. Ranka-san is nice father, I can tell." She observed the room for a moment and noticed a little shrine on the corner with the picture of a woman that looked just like Haruhi. She pressed her lips together, realizing what that meant.

"Aria-san?"

"…You lost your mother too, huh."

"Huh?"

Aria blinked, realizing what she had said and shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Let's get to work. I'd like this finish before anything else." She said as she opened her Science book to the lesson they were on before. Haruhi grew quiet, eyeing Aria for a moment before turning back to their work.

"Let's see, Radiation is…"

With that, they began to work on their report. It was quite noisy with Ranka often jumping in for no reason and began to ask questions about Aria at the speed of light which Minoru answered for her each and every time. Soon, Minoru became a distraction for Ranka, thankfully, as they began to exchange moments about Aria and Haruhi respectively. Of course, Ranka witnessed the secret side of Minoru when Aria threw her notebook at him when he made an embarrassing remark but he didn't mind, he also didn't mind about Aria's aggressive side.

She would be a good friend to shoo away all of those suitors for Haruhi. Whoever they are. It was a gut feeling but there was a boy out there…trying to catch Haruhi's affections.

* * *

Tamaki suddenly sneezed loudly. Antoinette jolted up from where she was resting, her ears twitching to and fro. She blinked once at her master when he just rubbed his nose.

"Oh don't worry about me, Antoinette! Must be getting a little cold."

The golden retriever rested back onto her paws, staring at Tamaki before looking away.

* * *

It was dinner time and everyone was gathered around the table, it was an array of food prepared by both Haruhi and Minoru. Aria was silent as she watched Haruhi and Ranka interact with one another in the table, passing food and talking about different topics which they both happily conversed in. Aria munched on a tomato quietly, not wanting to ruin their conversation.

"Well, Aria-chan? Do you like it at Ouran Academy?"

Aria blinked, surprised at the sudden question. She swallowed, "…Well, I…I guess so. It's nice and big, the teachers are okay, I guess…but it's all right if I have Haruhi with me." It was tolerable with Haruhi around.

Ranka laughed, "I see! Oh, would you like seconds? Here, give me your rice bowl."

It took her a moment before she hesitantly handed the bowl to him, Ranka gave her another helping of rice. "Help yourself, Aria-chan. Isn't the food delicious?" He grinned, his eyebrows rising up.

Aria stared at the rice for a moment. It was warm. She felt warm. Her chest felt warm. She looked down and found herself smiling a bit, "…It is delicious." She mumbled. When she looked up, she realized that they were staring at her. She instantly flared red, "I-It's because Haruhi and Minorin cooked it! Nothing else!"

Haruhi smiled at that before sharing some of her portions with Aria which she gladly took.

It was warm here, very warm and comfortable. It was a fuzzy, soft feeling in her chest and it left her happy. It had been a long time that she experienced such feelings. More than five years.

It felt like she was home again.

* * *

"No, no! That's wrong, kitten. First you need to do this and _then _you start doing that." Hikaru pointed, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. He sighed exasperatedly, "You're really not good with math, are you?"

"Sh-Shut up! I'm trying my best here!" Aria retorted, glaring at the infuriating twin who was sitting across from her.

Hikaru shook his head, "I don't understand you. You're really good at Science but when it comes to Math…"

"I said shut up!"

"Shhh!" Kaoru cut in, pressing a finger to his lip. "We're in the library, we need to be quieter. Hikaru, stop pressing on about how well or bad Aria-chan is. She asked your help so do your job as a tutor." He sighed, tapping his fingers onto the open book of Algebra.

Hikaru huffed.

It surprised Aria on how level-headed the other twin could be, unlike his other twin. He was only infuriating when they were both doing things together. She took note of that. Kaoru was much nicer than the other brother.

Today was the day the Host Club would take a break from activities. Since Aria was unable to go home until Minoru would pick her up, Hikaru suddenly declared that they would start her tutoring at school and finish up at her home. She was unable to protest after suddenly being kidnapped and dragged away by them.

Naturally, they both sported an angry red fist mark on their cheeks. Hikaru winced when his finger accidentally touched the forming bruise. They expected a slap from her but they should have known Aria wasn't that kind enough to slap someone.

The library was quiet aside from a few students loitering around, the three of them were the only ones taking up a table.

Aria yawned suddenly, rubbing her teary-eyes. "I hate afternoons," She mumbled, trying to return to work on the problem Hikaru gave her.

Kaoru shrugged, "You're probably tired from playing video games. Didn't your living room have an entire collection of video games and consoles?" He folded his arms on the table, resting his head on them. "If you want to stop feeling tired every afternoon, start sleeping early. It's not good for your health or skin. Oh, and start working too, that helps."

"…Why do you know so much? That's creepy." Aria wrinkled her nose.

Kaoru snorted at that, "Hikaru is exactly the same,"

Said brother glared at him, "I am not like her who sleeps with teddy bears and tons of pillows. I'm perfectly fine."

Aria burned red in embarrassment, she slammed her hand onto the table. "SH-SHUT UP!"

"SHHH!" The librarian said from across the room, giving them a reprimanding glare. They bowed their head in shame, refusing to glance at the old lady.

"It's your fault," Aria whispered, randomly turning a page on her book and staring at it with a bored look.

"My fault? It's your fault!" He whispered harshly, glaring at her.

"Excuse you, but I'm here for your tutoring. You decided to go off-topic, therefore, it's your fault."

"It's your fault for fighting back!"

"Well, it's your fault for staring it!"

"YOU GUYS!" Kaoru suddenly whispered, lightly slamming his hand onto the table. "Stop fighting! I am this close to calling Haruhi here. Do you want me to call Haruhi?"

They bowed their heads again in shame, "…No."

"Then shush and start working!"

They automatically went back to their tutoring session, scribbling furiously as they quickly finished assignments along with it. Kaoru sighed in relief, leaning his head back against the soft chairs before resuming his own work as well.

Aria glanced at Hikaru, "…Kaoru can be scary when he wants to."

"He's frighteningly calm during the time when I broke his favorite vase he painted." Hikaru whispered back, "I thought he was going to kill me when I was asleep."

She stuck out her tongue, "Sucks to be you, Hikaru."

"At least I nearly finished my homework, what about you?" He gave a smug grin, gesturing to his almost finished his homework with a big gesture with his hands. "Sucks to be you, kitten."

Aria glared at him, ready to fight back until Kaoru suddenly slammed his hand onto the table, glaring at them. They squeaked in fear before returning to their work.

"…How to do number seven?"

"Again? This is the fifth time. _Yes, _I've been counting." Hikaru covered his face with his palm, "I thought you were as smart and knowledgeable as Haruhi. Especially since you took up that scholarship…" He paused, lifting his head and furrowed his brows. "Wait, _why _did you take that scholarship? Isn't that meant for commoners?"

She pointed her mechanical pencil at him, "That's rude, no wonder you're annoying." Before Hikaru could retort, she turned back to her book. "Mind your own business."

"Hey—"

"Is," She piped up and rested her cheek against her hand, lazily staring at the twins with a nonchalant expression. "What I always say but I'm in a good mood, so I'll humor you both."

The twins exchanged a look before gesturing her to continue. She gave a sidelong glance to her open book, "My grandmother is a proud and strict woman who upholds the values of being a "proper woman and lady". Realizing the benefit of the scholarship, she decided to sign me up for it in order for me to maintain my grades above normal."

Hikaru made a face and snorted, "Proper lady? You? Since when?"

Aria glared and kicked his shin with her hard leather shoes, causing him to slam his face onto the table, muffling his shriek of pain.

"You treat students with great care and love as Hosts but when it's down to personality, you're rude, selfish, and just two-faced brats. Unbelievable how you two manage to be so popular."

"W-Why you…" Hikaru grumbled, nursing his aching shin. Kaoru gave him a worried look which he waved it off. He cleared his throat, wincing a bit as he moved his leg and rested his cheek onto his hand. "The only reason they like us is because our good looks, not bragging or anything but we are handsome."

"That's true," Kaoru remarked, looking away nonchalantly. "But we don't care really, if they like us because of our looks then so be it."

"Yeah."

Aria grew silent at that. She silently turned a page of her book, staring at the kanji deeply. "Liars." She said suddenly.

They turned to her, surprised at her words. _"Huh?"_

She slammed the book close and stood up suddenly, "I'm thirsty, I wonder if the cafeteria still offers drinks." Aria turned to the exit, mulling it over for a moment. "Or do they have a vending machine?"

"Vending machine?" Hikaru scrunched his nose in confusion,

"What's that?" Kaoru tilted his head,

She turned to them, her eyes wide with disbelief. It was strange seeing Aria with a different expression aside from looking bored, angry, or just nothing. She furrowed her eyebrows together, "You've never…heard of a vending machine?"

They shook their heads.

She sighed loudly and scowled, "And here people call _me _sheltered." Aria stared at their bewildered expressions, she rested a hand on her hip. "Vending machines are what the people of the lower classes use to purchase drinks such as coffee, tea, soda, or any beverages it has to offer, sometimes it can be other things like cup noodles or charms. I can't believe I'm explaining a _vending machine_ to you people, amazing really. I thought you people knew about this since they're, well, _everywhere._"

Instead of retorting, their eyes grew wide with amazement as if they've been enlightened with the secrets of the world. They instantly stood up and dashed to her side, Aria immediately stepped back and wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Do they have…instant coffee?" Hikaru's eyes were sparking brightly, his twin brother nodding excitedly next to him.

She stared at them like they grew two heads, furrowing her eyebrows in irritation again. "Uh, obviously? How else they're in cans? Are you idiots?"

"You hear that, Hikaru?!" Kaoru exclaimed quietly, whirling to his brother. "They've got instant coffee!"

"Hey, hey, kitten! What else do they have?"

"Depends on the vending machine. It can sometimes serve beverages, food, charms, and—_why the hell am I explaining this?_" She cursed herself. Why didn't she just drop it at that and leave?

Hikaru and Kaoru ooh'ed and aah'ed, nodding their heads at the same time. They suddenly grinned from ear-to-ear and Aria knew she was in deep waters now.

"Kiteeen~!" Hikaru purred, grabbing her shoulders, "Why do you take us to a vending machine?"

"Hah?!"

"Yeah, take us to a vending machine! You know so much about it! Show us the vending machine commoners' use!" Kaoru ruffled her short hair with a hum and a grin.

Aria pulled away from them with a growl, "Don't touch me," She hissed, "And why should I? Not to mention the vending machines are probably in the city. Have you people even been to a city?! You should know a vending machine!"

They shrugged. _"We probably saw it but never cared." _

"You two are seriously stupid! Go ask your servants or Haruhi!"

"Haruhi would never accept, that's for sure." Hikaru said, grinning slyly. His eyes were lowered playfully. For a moment, Aria felt her entire body tingle with an odd feeling. She didn't like that feeling.

Kaoru shrugged, "She's always busy,"

"What makes you so sure I'm not busy?! I'll have you know I'm a very busy girl!"

They took out their phones and showed a mail from Minoru.

_Aria-sama does nothing much at home aside from her homework and playing her video games so it's quite alright if you take her to different places. It's no good to stay at home all the time. Do have a plesant time, Hitachiin-sama.  
_

Aria wanted to punch Minoru in the face, but then again, he would enjoy it so what was the point of punishing him when he relished on his punishments. She gritted her teeth, they could see her hair frazzling up just like a cat again.

She looked like she was on the verge of exploding until she sighed out sharply, turning her heel and walked off. But she turned again the last second before reaching the door, glaring at them with a scowl.

"This is the only time you'll be spending the weekend with me around the city, you hear me?" She hissed before leaving the room, slamming the door behind her.

The twins looked at each other again, before breaking into sly grins. "_Oh, I'm not so sure about that, Aria-chan." _They purred, hi-fiving each other before racing off to catch up with the angry first year.

…After they fixed up their mess in the library, as ordered by the librarian.

* * *

**A/N: Whoops, Aria. Looks like you'll be stuck with the nerds. It's gotta be hell with them, I know.**

**On the other note, I'm currently obsessed with FE:A and Abide by the Wind and it's distracting me. Damn my two adorable children and yandere dragon.**

**I'm struggling since I badly want to write that dang beach scene, pool scene, and NOT TO MENTION KARU-RU-RU-SOMETHING DURING SUMMER VACATIONS. YEEEEEE!**

**Please review~!**


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Ouran High School Host Club, Drama, Romance