Chapter 4
The days passed until finally it was the day of the Ouran Ball. Chiyo-chan’s tour was that afternoon, and the girls showed up at her house at three o’clock sharp (Sakaki arrived an hour or so earlier to spend time with Chiyo-chan’s dog, Mr. Tadakichi) with their formal wear packed.
Meanwhile, in the Host Club room, Kyoya went over the schedule for the night. "The ball will begin at six o’clock. At that time we are to file in down the stairs and address the crowd. Our guests of honor will be announced and we are to meet them on the dance floor. If all goes well, we can escort them elsewhere on school grounds for a private chat. Miss Mihama’s parents will return from their meeting with Tamaki’s father at half-past eight to pick them up."
"It’s really nice that the school is treating her and her friends to this, but I can’t help wondering if it’s just a ploy to win her over," Haruhi thought out loud.
"Not at all," Tamaki said. "It is not our job to persuade her to transfer here or persuade her friends to influence her decision in the school’s favor. It’s our duty as hosts to show these young ladies a good time."
Maybe it was wrong of me to assume that Mr. Suoh would use his power as the school chairman to make Tamaki-sempai and the Host Club serve his own purposes, Haruhi thought. Then again, that Suoh-brand charm is a persuasive tactic all its own. I hope these girls don’t get sucked in by it.
***
"This place is huge!" Kagura exclaimed.
"It’s like a palace!" Osaka chimed in.
"Looks like it’d be pretty easy to get lost," Yomi said.
When the tour was completed, Chiyo-chan’s mother and "other" father (there was a cat figure in Sakaki’s dreams and sometimes Osaka’s that identified himself as Chiyo-chan’s "real" father) went to their meeting in Mr. Suoh’s office while the girls were escorted to a changing room to put on their formal dresses. Yomi wore a mauve strapless dress, Sakaki wore a purple long-sleeved gown with a flower on one side, Tomo wore a red dress with poofy sleeves, Kaorin wore a white dress with short sleeves, Kagura wore a green gown with straps, Osaka wore a yellow dress, and Chiyo-chan wore a pink party dress.
"Miss Sakaki, you look absolutely wonderful," Kaorin gushed.
"Um, thanks," Sakaki replied. "You, too."
"This is my first time going to something like this," Chiyo-chan said.
"For once you’re not alone," Yomi put in.
"I feel just like a Cinderella," Osaka commented.
"Except instead of the clock chiming at midnight, we have to leave before the clock even strikes nine," Tomo pointed out.
"I’m sorry," Chiyo-chan said sadly. "I’m just not able to stay up that late."
"It’s okay, Chiyo-chan," Kagura reassured her. "We’ll just have to make this the best two-and-a-half hours of our lives."
As soon as the clock finished chiming six, the members of the Host Club took their places on the staircase. The ballroom was filled with almost the entire student body. Tamaki stood front and center on the landing of the staircase with Kyoya, Mori, and Honey on the flight of stairs to the left of him and Hikaru, Kaoru, and Haruhi on the flight of stairs to his right. "We would like to welcome all of you to the Ouran Host Club Ball," he began. "Please enjoy yourselves to the fullest extent of these festivities. We have some special guests joining us this evening, and for the first half of the ball our time is theirs. For the second half we will be making our rounds, so keep your dance cards and your hearts open."
As the club’s regular clients cheered enthusiastically and screamed loudly, Chiyo-chan and the others were waiting on the other side of a door. They couldn’t quite make out what Tamaki was saying through all the screaming. "Whatever he said, it’s sure got them riled up," Osaka commented.
Then the doors opened, which was the cue for the girls to enter. The crowd had moved to either side of the room so that the seven of them had a clear path to the staircase on the opposite side. As the girls walked into the room, the members of the Host Club walked down the stairs and met them halfway in the middle of the dance floor. Because Chiyo-chan was the main guest of honor and Honey was her dance partner, Honey had to initiate the dance rather than the club president Tamaki. "Welcome, Miss Chiyo. May I have this dance?" he asked, bowing. Chiyo-chan nodded then curtsied, and then the rest of the group paired off and began dancing. Other couples danced too, while the singles who weren’t dancing wondered who the special guests were and what their significance to the Host Club was.
Since all the other high school girls were taller than him, Honey hadn’t danced with someone on his own level in a long time, but he managed. "So are you having a good time so far?" he asked.
"Yes," Chiyo-chan replied.
"Don’t worry," Honey reassured her. "I’m not going to pressure you into transferring here. Even if you do, I still won’t be able to see you because I’m graduating this year."
"Oh, that’s too bad. Won’t you miss your friends?"
"I can always come back and visit at club meetings and stuff. Takashi’s my cousin and will be graduating too, but Tama-chan and the others mean a lot to us as well."
"I see," Chiyo-chan replied. "I skipped a few grades, you know. Sometimes I miss being with my friends from elementary school, but my high school friends mean a lot to me too."
"What do you like to do?" Honey asked. "You and your friends."
"We do all sorts of things: karaoke, snow ball fights, even jump rope."
"I didn’t think high school students jumped rope."
"Ordinarily we don’t, but we were feeling nostalgic and just decided to do it. My friends really care about me. They’re even concerned I might get kidnapped one day. Oh, that reminds me, can I ask you a favor?"
"What is it?"
"Do you think you can teach me some basic self-defense moves? Nothing fancy or top secret. Please?"
"Sure thing. But why don’t we have some cake first, okay?"
"Oh, okay."
"They seem to be having fun over there," Sakaki said, and Mori just nodded. "I wish I could be cute like that."
"You look lovely this evening," Mori complimented her.
"Thanks, but it’s hard for me being tall like this. I guess as I boy you wouldn’t necessarily understand." Mori said nothing. "I feel like it would be easier if I were smaller and cuter like most girls." Again, Mori said nothing. "People misjudge me and think I’m cool or scary for the way I look."
This caught Mori’s attention as he empathized with her on this level. "Go on," he said, giving her a meaningful look.
"No, that’s about it," Sakaki sighed. "Anyway, Chiyo-chan means a lot to me as a friend and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her."
"I understand."
Yomi was still a little uptight about the situation now that she was face-to-face with the person who had run background checks on them. "What’s the matter, Koyomi?" Kyoya asked. "Aren’t you having fun?"
"I am," Yomi insisted. "Do you do background checks on all your guests?"
"Discreetly," Kyoya responded. "How did you know?"
"It doesn’t matter," Yomi said quickly, regretting her asking. "Forget I mentioned it."
"I can assure you I didn’t gather any information with the intention of hurting you girls. No matter what your friend’s decision is, you have nothing to fear from me. Anything we end up discussing tonight is also confidential." When Yomi relaxed a little, he went on, "So tell me, what’s it like having someone like Tomo as your best friend?"
"Well there’s never a dull moment, no matter how much her antics get under my skin," Yomi replied, smiling. "What’s it like having Tamaki as your best friend?"
"Hmm, well I suppose it’s like you say, never a dull moment."
Just then Yomi’s stomach gurgled. "Sorry," she muttered, embarrassed. "I skipped dinner tonight. I was worried about fitting into my dress."
"You shouldn’t do that to yourself," Kyoya said sternly. "You’re fine just the way you are. As your escort for this evening, I insist you pay a visit to our catering table."
"Okay. Thanks."
Kaorin wished she had the opportunity to dance with Sakaki again, but she wasn’t terribly put off by dancing with Haruhi.
"So, Kaori, is it?" Haruhi said. "Or do you prefer Kaorin?"
"Uh, sure, you can call me Kaorin," Kaorin replied. "So, nice place you’ve got here."
"Yeah, it’s pretty nice," Haruhi admitted. "Although that one statue on the fountain near the rose garden...kinda perverted."
"There’s a rose garden? That wasn’t on the tour. I would love to see it."
"Sure. I can take you there a little later. So, what are some of your hobbies?"
"Oh, well I like astronomy and we have a week of camp every summer, but what I really like to do is spend time with my friends whenever I’m not busy with that. What about you? Do you enjoy being a host?"
"I’ve gotten used to it." Haruhi looked over Kaorin’s shoulder for a second and thought she caught Tamaki staring at them. She quickly looked away. "We’re all really great friends."
Tamaki turned his attention back to Tomo, who if she’d noticed his lapse of attention didn’t act like she did. "So, what else goes on here?" she inquired.
"What you see is all there is to it, pretty much," Tamaki replied. "Other than that, it’s a school like any other."
"Yeah right," Tomo scoffed. "I don’t know how many other schools you’ve been to, but this place is far from ordinary."
"Well, you have a point there," Tamaki admitted. "So tell me about your school."
"It’s like nothing compared to this. The only dance we’ve done is the one at the end of the sports fest, and to ‘Turkey in the Straw!’"
"I see that hasn’t stopped you from learning the waltz. I can tell you’ve been practicing. Tell me more about this sports fest..."
Apparently sports was a popular discussion topic that night. "You mean you don’t have sports fests at this school?" Osaka asked in disbelief. "Do you at least have culture fests?"
"That we do," Kaoru replied. "We also had a test of courage contest last Halloween."
"That sounds fun, like a haunted café!"
Kaoru grinned. "Great minds think alike."
"Really?"
"Well, sure. That’s what the Host Club was going to do originally."
"Yeah, those structural flaws sure can ruin a good idea, don’t they?"
Kaoru didn’t know what she meant by that, but it didn’t matter.
Meanwhile, Kagura was concentrating on getting her dance moves right. "I’m not used to doing this sort of thing," she admitted to Hikaru. "I’m really more of a tomboy."
"You’re doing fine," Hikaru said, "but don’t step on my feet, okay?"
"Okay," Kagura mumbled nervously.
"Lighten up, it was a joke," Hikaru giggled. "You’re athletic, right? Think of it as training."
"You seem pretty athletic yourself. Do you belong to any sports teams?"
"Nope. I like playing games and having fun, and I get that with the Host Club."
"So you must have a lot of freedom, then."
"Yeah, I guess we do."
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