Ouran Academy

xxxx"You may sit with me today if you wish, my dear. I will show you the ways of the Host Club, and you can figure out for yourself if it's something for you, though I'm sure it will be. We are quite popular, you know," It was a reasonable suggestion. The only way for Ai to know if she'd enjoy Host Club was to give it a try. But is the hand holding necessary? she thought, staring back into Shigure's eyes. The dog comparison wasn't over as she pictured a pair of dog ears sprouting from his golden locks. Shigure winked at her but Ai was ever phlegmatic as he led her deeper into the music room to sit down with a group. She was cooperative, sitting down beside the Host Club prince without saying anything but she could feel the intense gazes upon her from his other guests. She wasn't usually the center of attention so when she was, she was very conscious of it. "Miss, would you like some tea?" She carefully reached for the cup offered to her, holding onto it elegantly like she'd done this before. "Thank you." she said softly before taking a sip. She wasn't nervous venturing out of her comfort zone but the tea did manage to soothe her.

xxxxTime passed just like that, sitting down on the couches drinking tea. The Host Club was more relaxed than she imagined. It was just like having a tea party, only with one male host to lead or motivate the conversation. "You're new to Host Club right?" One of the girls sitting with them asked her. "Yes." Ai answered simply. Conversations continued just like that, Ai going along with the flow but giving short responses to any question directed her way. She was polite but she had just met these people. She wasn't going to blurt out her whole life story. Although, some of the girls did their own in an attempt to gain Shigure's interest and attention. Ai's eyes would subtly glance over to Shigure next to her to observe a host in action. He really was like a prince, an energetic one whose battery never run out...

xxxx"Oh no! I'm soooo sorry!" The peacefulness had crumbled because of one girl's 'mishap'. No, you're not. Ai wasn't being cynical. She could have sweatdropped at how obvious the girl's lie was. Her eyes lowered to her clothes that were soaked. She couldn't feel too much of the heat so that was a good thing. If the tea had spilled on exposed skin, it would have hurt and she might not be this calm and collected. "Miss Ai, I apologize. Come, let me show you to our changing rooms, I'm sure we can find something for you to change into. We can't have you stuck in wet clothes now, can we?" Ai held back a sigh, accepting Shigure's gracious offer but quickly, she was dragged to his pace. If Shigure was a dog, then Ai was having difficulty pulling back the leash. It wasn't until she was standing alone in an unfamiliar dressing room with a dress she did not choose for herself, that she released the sigh. Well, it is a Host Club for males. I should be thankful they have something for women in my size to begin with..

xxxxAi exited the dressing room. Although part of her wanted to stay inside until the club was over, Shigure was waiting for her on the other side and she should just get it over with instead of delaying the inevitable. His reaction was... unexpected. Etto.. He looks as happy as Shigure the dog did whenever I set down his pet bowl filled to the brim. "Shall we?" Gazing at Shigure the Host Club prince, that's when she realized her dog never blushed though. ... Huh? Ai wasn't the brightest when it came to understanding boys. She nodded and followed Shigure back to the couch, sitting back where she once sat like nothing had changed. Although, the stares directed at her felt more intense... like she was being burned alive by the sun. Ah, the dress does make me stand out more. she mentally noted about to sip her tea but feeling the cup had gone cold from the time she took to get changed.

xxxx"Ai, you're so quiet.""Talk to us!""How about.. dislikes?" Ai stared at her lap contemplating the question. Unlike the other questions, it wasn't closed-ended requiring a mere yes or no. The girls waited on her, particularly Hana who was the one to think asking about dislikes was a good idea. She thinks I'm stupid, doesn't she? Most people asked about hobbies or interests, not dislikes. It tipped Ai off that Hana was planning to use that information against her. For a moment, she considered passing the question over to Shigure and skipping it entirely. It was his job to entertain the women and surely, they would like to hear him speak more than her but something stirred within her as she clenched one of her hands into a small fist. "I dislike people." She wasn't through, lifting her gaze so her eyeglasses reflected Hana's face solely. "--who try to ruin a good thing for others."

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Always with that M'lady crap. Iro laughed a bit, remembering how if anyone else had used that with a normal woman they'd be rejected as fast as possible. Iro had never said anything because it seemed to work, even though the two weren't exactly social butterflies. "Right Camila, that technically is the answer we're supposed to provide you; "We're here for you and only you, it is our pleasure to entertain our guests.. Yada Yada Yada.." Iro laughed rubbing the back of his neck due to him being uncomfortable giving the cookie-cutter answer to any guest. "But I think of it a bit differently. While I believe I am here to serve you, there's a lot of people that ask for my time. So I try to make everyone feel as important and welcome as they possibly can. We provide a service at the cost of time, entertainment, like any other club. It's a really good way for us to come out of our proverbial shells, because if any of you know me outside of the club; I'm just a guy who's willing to treat people decently as often as I can." He chuckled as a few of his regulars nodded in agreement and laughed.

"I think we're all just normal guys, some less so than others," Iro motioned around the room to some of the more eccentric hosts and followed up with, "but I believe that making our guests happy in and out of the club is what we're all about." Iro looked around the room and gave a soft smile, everyone seemed so happy and that was the main purpose of the club. I haven't believed that ideal in years. Hmm, this year sure is starting... different.

Iro then remembered the musical side of the group, however small it was. He looked at his guitars, the piano the room shared, and the various other instruments belonging to the various hosts. "Iro seems to be the only musician in the club that I've seen." A girl remarked causing a few others to giggle.

"No no no. I'm just the one that's... the most diverse." He laughed knowing the Shigure would totally beat him in a battle of fiddles and Hisashi plays the classical Erhu far more competently. "No I don't think I should play right now, maybe toward the end if you all stay that long." He chuckled and gave an apologetic smile to the group for not giving them just what they wanted at that moment. It would be odd to start when the class was this chaotic.

CAMILA REYES
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thought: #fbdb0c

Camila flinched a little when she heard her name being mispronounced. It's not his fault, she told herself, It's a Spanish name, They're not used to them. At least it appeared that he was trying to be nice as well.

Satoru's explanation of the club was still a bit confusing for someone who would've never guessed a club like this existed, but Iro's extension helped Camila understand the club a little more. It sure did seem like a nice way to socialize, but Camila couldn't help but find it odd. She wasn't used to sharing boys, really. She always required that the boy invested his full attention on her and she would do the same. It had been like that with the guys from the all-boys school and obviously with Santiage, who was the only boy Camila had ever considered to be a boyfriend since the boys from the other school would only be allowed to see her once a week at most for a few, heavily supervised hours.

But Camila didn't say anything. It wasn't her place and anyways, she should give the club a sincere try; she could meet great people here and, in her state, she needed to make friends and find her clique.

At least Iro and Sakuto seemed friendly for the moment. Not knowing of the pranks the boys did, however, Camila couldn't help but think that they were rather tame for the social group she was used to having outside of school back in Spain. At the mention of other boys in the Host Club, Camila looked around for a moment and held back a giggle. Yes, there were definitely some flamboyant boys around.

"No I don't think I should play right now, maybe toward the end if you all stay that long."

At the mention of Iro playing an instrument himself, Camila smiled softly at him. "Perhaps I can join you?" she suggested, "I'm no Chopin, but I would love to try out a piece with you."

Camila glanced over to where Satoru had disappeared, "And tea does sound nice. Do you guys have fruit iced tea here in Japan, by any chance?"

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Koichi prided himself on his crust-making abilities and was quite relieved at Yukio's directions to split into two teams. The girls that had followed him into followed him as well into the crust station.

His eyes scanned over the recipe quickly, noting what filling the other team would be making. 'That's not quite the flavor I would go for myself... I'm sure they won't mind a little change.

"Now, ladies, we won't be following this recipe exactly. I have my own little plan in mind." He gave a small half-smile. 'Be cool, be cool. Just like Kyoya showed you. Making the crust was simple enough and he certainly could have done it on his own, but he didn't see that being very Host-like. Instead, he gave out directions to the girls, who giggled and attempted to gossip with him the entire time. He didn't know any gossip, never quite caring enough about other people's business to retain the information or pass it along.

The girls did rather well following the directions, certainly better than he expected at least. If the crust was a little too thick in some places and rather thin in others, it was all expected during a first attempt. Overall he found himself rather pleased at his ability to dictate the steps to others to form a relatively good finished product.

Despite being naturally aloof, he couldn't help but feel slightly ignored by the others. He took his slice of pie and returned to a corner of the main room to eat in silence. 'That's fine,' he thought, 'Leaves me less to worry about anyway.'

Of course the girls joined him soon after getting their own slices, and it wasn't until then that he truly thought the Host Club may not be for him. It was overwhelming to be unable to escape them to be alone with his thoughts and recharge his energy. 'How does anyone stand it?'

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Satoru couldn't help but laugh in his mind. It had taken him a bit more time than it should to get the sweets but as he had seen the candy he couldn't help himself to start a little prank. It wasn't a grand major plan. Just more of entertainment for girls.

As Satoru had filled a bowl with some sweets, he had noticed another pack of sour candy back of the drawer. He had taken few of those sour candies and wrapped them into the wrappers from sweeter candy. They weren't exactly alike, but close enough, so he hoped Iro wouldn't notice it. Of course he wasn't planning to let the girls don't eat them. Only for Iro. He hid two fake ones into his hand and headed back.

Once he arrived to Iro and all their quests, he placed the bowl on the side table and seemingly grabbed two candies from it. “Sweets for sweet girls” he smirked and opened one of the candies eating it himself as not to make it look suspicious. It wasn't his favourite but kept straight face not to spoil it. He then opened the other sour one and hold it out for Iro. “And one for my sweet brother.”

He was excited to see if it would work. They didn't usually prank each other but this how ever had been too good chance to pass.

xxxxAi looked around as the group of girls gasped at her statement which must have been surprising given her timid exterior. If you react that way, it only makes you more guilty.. she thought, expecting at least one of them to agree with her as something worth dislike. Seems she was wrong. Nobody said anything for a while. The silence was thick with tension that the atmosphere could be cut with a knife. Ai did the honor, noticing the Host Prince was acting out of sorts. "Shigure, are you alright?" she asked, turning to him having spotted his knee bounce. He was also very quiet.. much unlike the Shigure she had gotten to know in this short amount of time. Did his battery run out at last? Ai didn't know he was surprised too because the words were directed at the girls only. She just assumed he was tired. Being a host did seem like a tiresome activity.

xxxxShe extended an arm to reach out to him, her index finger poking the Prince's knee that had bounced before questionably. "Don't touch him!" Hana growled, staring daggers at Ai. Instead of feeling threatened, Ai was confused about why the girls were so protective and hostile to begin with. She hadn't done anything worth hatred as far as she was concerned. It was also just a poke. Ai dared to rest another finger on Shigure's knee, then another and another, watching as the girl's expression grew angrier each time. Huh? Hana was so mad, one could almost see smoke coming out of her nostrils and ears. "That's it! That's it! I can't take it anymore! Shigure, she's new and rude!"

xxxxAi didn't say anything as the girls started discussing Hana's point. She didn't believe she had been rude at all. If anyone, Hana was the rude one. Sigh, I really don't belong here after all. Ai stood up and dusted off her clothes about to voice out that she was leaving but it became chaotic quickly, the girls seeing an opening to sit next to the popular host. "Ack!" she stumbled back, shoved away as the huddle of girls fought for the seat she had abandoned. Ai felt her back hit against someone behind her, her glasses sliding off her nose in the shock and falling to the floor. Her vision was blurry so she couldn't tell whom she had disturbed but she should apologize even if it was not her fault. "I'm sorry.." she said softly, turning around to see who it was. As best as she could see currently anyway.

After reading for what seemed like forever, she never knew how long she'd actually been reading even if it was required reading. She looked up and glanced around the room, everyone was having a great time except there was a small conflict around Shigue. One of the girls had tea on another girl. Tosh rolled her eyes, she never understand jealousy. She watched as Shigue lead to to a room and the girl came back with a new dress on. He was an interesting guy, he had so much energy it made Tosh uncomfortable to even watch him for too long.

She turned her gaze to the rest of the room. Watching each host and their guests. The girls were so happy to be sitting around with their hosts but she didn't get it. The club seemed useless to her, they sat around drinking tea and chatting. However it did give her the scholarship she needed so she was grateful it existed.

Well, I am a host. I guess I should get some tea. She thought as she closed her book and stood from her seat. She tucked the cook under her arm and made her way to the middle of the room, where the tea was. About half way there someone had bumped into her. She put out her arms to try and help balance the person, dropping her book in the process. Once she was balanced the girl turned to her apologizing. It was the girl who had tea spilled on her earlier. Tosh gave her the best smile she could "Don't worry about it." She doesn't do well with being touched but given the cercumstances there wasn't much the girl could do about avoiding the collision.

Tosh found both her book and the girls glasses a little ways away from them. She picked up the glasses first to protect them from getting destroyed and placed them back on the girls face before going back for her book. "Would you like some tea?" she asked slightly unsure of herself on this aspect. It did seem like the girl was leaving but it seemed like the polite thing to do since the club seemed to be about entertaining guests.