The Host Club Is Ch 1

Chapter 1: Cosplaying as Disney Princesses

“Haruhi! We have the perfect Halloween costume for you!”

Tamaki ran to keep up with Haruhi’s brisk pace as the winds threw fallen leaves and his scarf into his face.  Not rain, fall temperatures, or biting winds was going to keep him from telling his Haruhi the good news and celebrating Halloween with her while they were in Boston.  

“I doubt that!”

Tamaki almost went and pouted by a convenient tree, but he revived himself before needing to go there and get colder.

“But, but, how can you say that? We’ve picked such great costumes for you during cosplay before!”

“Says you, Tamaki-senpai.”

“You didn’t like them?”

The accusation in Tamaki’s rising voice made Haruhi cringe before answering and giving him one of her glares.

“When I am forced to wear whatever you decide: no.”

“Well, we gave you the option this time.”

“Between male and female.  Wow, so much choice,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“It’s a very important choice! American culture has different types of characters for both males and females, and if you want us to fit in-“

“Then you need to do more research.”

Haruhi had stopped now, outside of her next classroom’s building.  The look of indulgence that she had worn for this conversation in the past had turned into annoyance, especially since Halloween was three days away.

“But we have! Lots of it! We all have! We’ve been watching as many American movies as we can find, and watching them with American commoners so we can see if they like those characters.  Don’t worry, we found the perfect group costume idea.”

Tamaki’s eyes lit up at the thought of the costume that Haruhi would wear.  It would be a beautiful dress on both occasions, and his inner mind theater conjured images of Haruhi singing, and how he would appear when she sang in that voice he liked so much.  The fact that he had found a movie that could accommodate all of them so well only proved why he was the leader, even if no one really liked their cosplay names, except maybe himself.

“Frankly, I’m worried about what you managed to find in the last month.”

“Month? Oh no, we’ve been researching for the last two months!”

Tamaki’s look of horror at the thought of so little research time made Haruhi smile.  It was when he leaned against the wall in front Haruhi that she had to get back from him invading her space so much.

“That’s a little more reasonable.”

“Plenty! Here, picture this,” said Tamaki, spreading his hands out as though to make a picture frame as he spoke, “A crowded American Halloween party, with loud music and dancing and everything else that happens at commoner Halloween parties, including a costume party.  And then, we’ll arrive in matching costumes, all seven of us-“

“The Hosts?”

“Yes, of course.  So we’ll arrive, and the moment all of the Americans see us, they’ll be speechless and give us the Best Costume award there, on the spot, because we know American culture so well.  It’ll be beautiful, just like you!”

Haruhi was not sure how he managed to find a movie that allowed them all to match, nor how he convinced everyone to go along with the idea.  It was just Tamaki being Tamaki.  She just did not want to stick out at the party, but she had a bad feeling she would be, just because Tamaki was trying so hard.

“Alright, if you say so, Tamaki-senpai.”

Tamaki assumed that Haruhi was talking about the last part of his statement, so he replied, “Don’t worry, Haruhi, you’ll be the fairest of them all!”

With that, Tamaki swooped in and gave Haruhi another of his hugs and a quick peck on the cheek before letting her run off to class (since they still had ten minutes before class started).  Then, he went off to his own class, content that he had done as Kyoya had suggested by hinting at the outfit with what he said.  Now he did not feel so bad about not telling her.

All throughout the next three days, Haruhi tried to figure out what the boys had planned for matching costumes. Something Tamaki had said at the end reminded her vaguely of a movie she had watched recently, but she could not remember which one since she had seen so many of late. 

As it was, some of her female friends from class were giving her an “American education” by showing her all of the important movies that she had been deprived of.  First had been a Disney marathon, and this week it was Halloween-themed films like Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus.  She was a little tired of movies and talk of doing all the same things that commoners did for the holiday.  She was just glad that she had convinced the guys not to go trick-or-treating. 

When Halloween night came, Haruhi was ready to see her costume already.  When several loud knocks came, she opened her door to find Tamaki wearing a stocking hat and a white beard with small glasses.  What little she saw of the other Hosts gave her to understand that all of them were wearing some sort of stocking hat and pointed shoes, and that was all the matching clothing she saw them wearing. 

“Haruhi! I hope you’re ready to surprise all those American friends of yours! You’re going to be so adorable!”

Tamaki jumped in place while the twins pushed their way forward and handed her a box.

“Put this on.  You have to wear the wig, too.”

“There’s a wig as well? I thought I was going to be female.”

“You will be! Put this on, and you’ll see!”

“Haruhi, you have ten minutes before we have to leave.  We can’t be late for your friends’ party.”

“Calm down, Kyoya-senpai.  Everyone is late for parties in America.”

The stare Kyoya gave Haruhi clearly showed that he refused to be late and take part in that American tradition.

While the Hosts lounged in her living room area, Haruhi put on her costume.  There was indeed a dress, and such a dress it was! Shiny satin encompassed her as she put on the bright yellow skirt with its red and blue bodice.  A touch of white, some matching shoes, and then Haruhi found the black wig.  She did not like the idea of curly, short, black hair, but she put it on. 

Suddenly, there came a tapping, as if someone rapping, rapping at her chamber door.  A visitor, and nothing more.

“Haru-chan! We forgot to give you the lipstick you need!”

“I’m coming.”

Haruhi opened her door to find Mori standing guard, a wall of safety with his face turned away, a tube of red lipstick in hand.  Hunny was standing on the other of Mori, waiting for Haruhi to open the door.

“Haru-chan, you look so good! Just wait until you put on this lipstick.  Then you’ll have lips red as the rose, and you’ll be perfect!”

Haruhi put on the lipstick, wondering what Hunny was talking about at the end.  Then, the lightbulb clicked on for her as she considered that and the “fairest of them all” comment of Tamaki.  Were the guys quoting a Disney movie?

When Haruhi walked out, with one minute to spare, Haruhi’s suspicions were confirmed.  It seemed that the guys had been watching Disney movies just like she had, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.  True, the guys were taller than dwarves (except maybe the adorable Hunny turned Happy), but there was something to be said for their ability to match a costume completely (since money was no object), as her memory of the movie served her.

The Hosts made quite the scene as they marched in single file, with Haruhi leading the way.  Hunny and Tamaki had tried to convince her to start singing “Heigh-Ho”, but to no avail.  They contented themselves with the thought that she smiled and waved to all, and it took them an extra fifteen minutes to walk to the party since people kept asking them to stop and take pictures.  Those pictures usually consisted of lining up on either side of Haruhi, or else kneeling and posing in front of their Snow White.

When the Hosts made it to the party, the party became silent.  The party-goers already there stopped to stare at the really well-done costumes until Haruhi’s friends recognized her, congratulating her on such a realistic costume.  

It was then that the Hosts realized that not everyone went hardcore into dressing up, if all of the generic pirates and other costumes were any indication.  Haruhi still felt out of place, but she was alright with it since the guys had done as she asked and found something that everyone could recognize.  

Soon enough, the guys’ American friends found them and were poking fun at all, except at the aptly-named Grumpy Kyoya.  Grumpy Kyoya was not amused by people trying to save the damsel-in-distress on Doc Tamaki’s arm, so he joined Bashful Mori that night, standing stoically and talking to a few key people who had family in business related to his.  Mori just kept an eye on his friends, but especially Haruhi. 

Several times the Hosts had to pose for pictures while at the party, and due to space reasons, they were forced to stand in columns of three on either side of Haruhi to save space.  Hunny and Mori always took the bottom since they were the strongest, while the twins took the middle slots on either side, and Tamaki took top right to Kyoya’s top left.  

Otherwise, the party went well.  They were a jolly, if rather rowdy, bunch as this type of crushing home party was not their favorite place, especially when other boys tried to take Tamaki’s place.  Hikaru made it a habit of sneezing loudly and accidentally pushing people away when guys got too close, and Kaoru fell asleep between Haruhi and whatever offending boy came along.

The big highlight of the party was that they all did receive first place for best costume, individual and group.  Tamaki looked like a kid at Christmas, telling Haruhi how happy he was and that she had nothing to worry about.

At the appointed time, which Kyoya had been watching for ever since they entered the party, the Hosts left.  Haruhi was surprised to leave so early, but Kyoya was insistent.

“Our presence is required elsewhere, Haruhi.  I think we’ve all had enough of this type of party for a while, yes?”

“Yeah, and enough of this costume!”

“You said it, Hikaru! I’m tired of being named Sleepy.”

“And I’m tired of being Sneezy!”

“With age comes wisdom,” said Mori.

“And you’re the youngest,” said Kyoya with a smug grin.

“Next time, we should not let Kyoya-senpai pick out the rules to decide who gets to choose names first.”           

“Agreed, Kaoru.  Never trust a Shadow King.”

“How did you decide what to do?” asked Haruhi.

“I gave them the option of choosing their next costume first,” said Kyoya.

“Next costume? What next costume?”

“This one!” sing-songed Tamaki.

Haruhi saw the bright light of a camera flash as several pictures were taken of her.  After her eyes recovered, she saw Kyoya holding a camera, while Tamaki held another box.

“I don’t understand,” said Haruhi.

“You didn’t really expect us to stay in this costume all night did you?” asked Kyoya.

“After watching so many Disney movies, we had an idea!”

“So we decided to wear two costumes tonight! One from Snow White, and the other of our choosing from the current Disney princesses.”

“And Tamaki wanted to still get the full commoner experience of trick-or-treating, so he settled for the next best thing: having us all pass out candy to children together,” explained Kyoya.

“You need another costume,” said Tamaki, “so put this one on.  I just know you’re going to love it!”

“Our little bookworm,” added Mori.

Haruhi was surprised at Tamaki’s persuasive powers (with maybe a little encouragement from Kyoya), but she decided it was worth a shot.  She was not sure what else they could do with Disney, but if she was a bookworm, it was promising.  Something less fluffy, hopefully.

Then she opened the box, and discovered a very large yellow ballroom gown with matching gloves/shoes and a brown wig.  When she got a good look at the dress, she realized that she was going to be Belle.  A beauty she would be, and she wondered if someone else would be her beast. 

When she got done changing, she realized that the guys were no longer guys.  Instead, she found all of the men in dresses, save Hikaru, who was wearing a gauzy pair of poofy pants and matching, revealing top with long, black hair.  The boys had outdone themselves this time in looking like Disney Princesses, and she had a feeling that if anyone from Disney World were around, they would wonder how the Hosts managed to steal the theme park’s costumes.

“What do you think, Haruhi?” called out Hikaru.

“Do we look recognizable?” added Kaoru.

“Are we or are we Disney Princesses?” said Hikaru as he sashayed toward Haruhi.

Haruhi wanted to laugh when she saw who was dressed as whom among the Disney Princesses.  Hikaru made a good, sassy Jasmine, and Kaoru rocked the glass slippers as Cinderella (if it was real glass).  Haruhi was surprised that Kaoru was able to find a coach shaped like a pumpkin that was drawn by horses, but only for a moment.  This was the Host Club, after all.

Mori made a fine Mulan, dressed casually in the green, blue, and yellow dress with a sword at his side.  Haruhi assumed that the sword was real, though she did not find out until later that it had been in his family for generations.  Hunny donned a bright red, curly wig and teal blue dress, and he was excited to carry around a bow and arrow.  He attempted at first to do a Scottish accent, but Mori told him that he was a perfectly fine Merida without the accent. 

Once Haruhi was ready, all piled into the Pumpkin Coach and headed to a field in the middle of Boston, where cars were already pulled in.  Once the Hosts got out, Tachibana, still dressed as Dopey, appeared and gave the Hosts bags of candy to hand out.  Two photographers also appeared, both hired by Kyoya.

Soon, kids started walking around in their costumes, some as young as two, others as old as twelve.  Some came in wheelchairs, and others came by themselves or in small groups.  Each car had candy in it for the kids to take, and they all took a turn through the circle of cars parked in the field, until they came to the Hosts. 

Many of the girls who came that night had a habit of running to one of the Hosts, excited to meet their favorite princess. Some boys even looked in awe, though the older ones were a little confused.  After that, the Hosts agreed to take one photo of the child’s choosing, whether with all of them together, or with just the princess the kid liked best.  The photo was printed on the spot as a memento of the night.

As usual, Tamaki had the highest request rate for single pictures since he was Rapunzel, and his long, golden locks and smile won him many adoring fans, though Haruhi’s Belle was a close second.  All Hosts took at least one individual picture, even Kyoya in his short dress and shaven legs as a quiet Pocahontas.  The girl who loved Pocahontas had been hard to get rid of, as she kept wanting to sing “Just Around the Riverbend” with Kyoya.

By the end of the night, each of the Hosts had given out several large bags of candy, and all kids left with smiles on their faces.  Some children had their dreams come true by being able to meet their favorite princess, and all of the Hosts were happy with what they had done.  

Even though Kyoya said he was having pictures done for good publicity, Haruhi could tell that he had fun as kids said outrageous things about each person’s costume, or watched as Tamaki got pulled in multiple directions by all the girls playing with his fake hair.  Haruhi liked watching the boys as they approached Mori and Hunny, who then allowed them to learn a new move or try to use the bow and arrow on a target.

After the kids all left, several city and hospital officials came and thanked the Hosts for coming out that night, and after several more photos for publicity, the Hosts left. 

“Wow, guys, I didn’t expect to do this tonight, or to wear anything like this.  But, this was a lot of fun.  I’ve never seen so many happy kids.  Thanks,” said Haruhi.

“So, did you like my idea?” asked Tamaki.

“Yes, I did, Tamaki-senpai.  This was one of your best ideas so far,” said Haruhi with a smile.

“Yay! I’m so glad! I knew you would like it!”

Haruhi knew the soul-crushing hug was coming, but she was hoping that he would have waited until after they were out of the carriage.  But, that would not be Tamaki, and so he leaped across his seat to hug Haruhi.  The rest of the Hosts tried to get him off of Haruhi, but the only thing they succeeded in doing was getting pulled into the hug by Tamaki, so when the carriage stopped, several groans of complaint were heard as body parts slammed into one another. 

The Hosts made it to Haruhi’s room before she realized that all of the Hosts wanted to come back into her room instead of go to bed.

“Guys, I had a lot of fun, but I’m tired.  Can we talk more tomorrow?”

“It’s not us that want to talk to you, Haru-chan.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your father.”

“What about my Dad, Mori-senpai?”

“It was hard to convince your father to let you go to that party tonight, Haruhi.”

“Why, Tamaki-senpai?”

“Because he was afraid that in such tight quarters, we wouldn’t be able to protect you, which is preposterous.  Our martial arts masters alone could have taken care of us, and I had Hotta and Tachibana here as well.  It required a little finagling, but he was convinced to go along with Tamaki’s plan, with one condition.” 

“What was that, Kyoya-senpai?”

“That you wear a large, frilly dress of some sort, and that he be allowed to see you in it.”

“What?!”

Haruhi wanted to have choice words with her father.  Why did he always try to get her to wear such girly dresses?

The Hosts backed up slowly after seeing Haruhi’s initial reaction, though Kyoya continued with opening up the webcam. When Haruhi calmed down, the Hosts came toward her again.

“Haruhi, are you ready to greet your father?”

“Yes.  Let’s get this over with.  I want to go to bed and get out of this dress.”

“Yeah, I’m tired of wearing a dress.  Next year, we’re definitely going to be pirates,” said Hikaru.

“Pirates? No! We should be characters from Avatar the Last Airbender and have really cool moves! Don’t you want to do that, ne Takashi?”

Mori’s grunt of approval was missed by Kaoru’s outburst.

“No, we should totally be characters from Harry Potter.  Then we can be mischievous twins again!”

Chaos reigned for several moments until the sound of the webcam starting was heard, and all became deathly silent. Haruhi was pushed forward, and when the smiling face of Ranka was seen, all on Haruhi’s end had to cover their ears at the burst of joy emitted by Ranka.