The Replaced

Having Tamaki Souh as a boyfriend sucked.

When we started out it was perfect. He was a gentleman, running ahead of me to open the door, pulling out my seat for me at meals, kissing my hand and telling me I was the most beautiful princess he ever laid eyes on. But this wasn't what made me fall for him. I actually found the chivalrous acts too much after the second day. I quickly taught Tamaki to rid the formality with me. At first he had a difficult time adjusting; his hands would touch my seat before quickly removing them, and when he'd see a door his pace would quicken but would once again adjust to my speed. But Tamaki was still Tamaki and the cheesy complements were just a part of him, though he did tone them down considerably.

But I fell for Tamaki for one specific reason,a reason that tends to haunt me; I'm a sucker for fools.

So Tamaki was simply perfect for me.

And at first I seemed perfect for Tamaki.

My slightly more mature demure evened out his over the top exuberance. And my soft yet commanding voice heaped his attention even on his biggest dramatic highs. And he was good for me. Shy little Ami was easily brought out of her shell with the little encouragement of Tamaki's supportive gestures. And it wasn't just Tamaki, it was the whole host club.

Kyoya, though frightening at first, was the fastest to act when I needed help. Even though he'd try to hide his concern as a selfish benefit, I could tell in that brief second before his glasses would flash and hide his eyes, that they'd considerably relax and those miniscule wrinkles he was gaining from late night studying in the dark, would clear to show and expose, the emotional side of Kyoya.

Like Kyoya, Mori was also hard to gain the trust of. His hmmed and ahhs quickly grew tiresome and I laid it to him straight: I knew he was with Honey for 98.99 percent of the time and Honey tends to be the most talkative, that 1.01 percent he wasn't, was all for Mori to try speaking time and say what's on his mind rather than agree with honey.

Since that discussion everytime Mori and I talk, we have full sentence conversations, something I'm extremely proud of. Mori was actually quite an in depth thinker. We'd carry long debates over serious maters whether it were politics or which ice cream flavor was the best. And surprisingly who else was to join these discussion then no other than Karou.

Just Karou.

Every since their birthday and I wrote them an comparative essay of Hikaru vs Karou, they'd both actively seek me out whether together or alone. Sometimes I think they do it just so that they can hear thier name stand alone.

Hikaru, rather than join our insightful philosophies on life, would rather go out. Either to the market or the park, Hikaru just liked to get out. He hated confined spaces, he needed to know just because he's free doesn't mean he wants to be solo. I was the one who made sure that when hikaru ran, he didn't go to far that he couldn't find his way back.

And the one who occasionally joined me on these Hikaru mentoring was Honey. He may act childish but really he may be smarter then Kyoya. Kyoya may be the intellectual genius, but Honey understood the simple things true definition and not just the flat textbooks description.

That's probably why Mori and Honey worked out so well. Mori didn't need to talk because Honey already understood.

We were all one big family that just clicked. It'd like to think I was a vital piece to their running, but I knew each one of their potentials would of eventually reached its heights even without my assistance. But the way they held me so highly, I almost could believe I was.

But there was a problem. They were in the host club and they'd considerably loose revenue if the girls found out Tamaki, the number one seller, had a girlfriend. Kyoya did the math and found that even with Tamaki's expert princely ways, he'd still loose half of his revenue.

So little Ami had to stay little Ami, a secret. I was the host clubs secret, and admittedly, I was a bit satisfied with the title.

Of course at times it got difficult. Watching Tamaki flirt and entertain those girls that weren't me. To see him whisper sweet nothing's into their ears that would make them blush brightly if not faint.

But I stayed strong because I believed in Tamaki. Because above all else Tamaki is loyal.

So I stayed quiet and sat with Kyoya as he had the least amount of guests. But even Kyoya, though more of a manger, he was still a host and even he'd have to at times abandon me for someone else.

But that was okay. Because once hosting hours were over they were mine. No more hiding, I could freely hold Tamaki's gaze for more than ten seconds, and hold his his hand in my own without having to pretend it was simply a clumsy brush of fingers. So it didn't matter that I had to be little Ami.

But that all changed one day.

The day I offered a vase for the Ouran Auction and left it in third music room for safe keeping. It had been a hard decision, sacrificing that vase. It had gone down my family line for several generations and had real importance to my heritage. However, my father's business was having a real struggle and my mother was only a stay at home mom who took care of my four year old brother. We needed the money and we jointly decided to sacrifice the vase. The host club knew how important it was to me and offered their room as a safe till I'd take it down for the auction.

Big mistake on my part.

Because that room was entered by Haruhi Fujioka, and he accidentally broke it. In my defense, Kyoya made him have to pay it back. But the thing is, Haruhi was a girl and my fool, being the idiot that he is, accidentally changed the roles in our relationship, because no longer was he the fool; instead it was me. Because some how Haruhi replaced my position as the host club's secret, and at the same time, my role in their lives.