Prequel: Daring Dog Daichi (OHSHC)

1. Daichi Meets His Rivals

The classroom was a little bit of a mess.

Okay, a lot of a bit of a mess. A group of year one high school students left alone was never a good idea. The class president was doing his best to control everyone, but he was having no luck.

There was this tall blond boy with a group of smitten girls all around him. A boy in glasses with black hair was sitting nearby. There were less girls around him, but still a considerable number.

"A host club?!" a girl shrieked. "You're really gonna open one?"

"But of course," the blond said in a voice as smooth as satin. "How else would I entertain all of you lovely ladies?"

"It's always the blonds." Daichi rolled his eyes.

"Daichi, you're getting distracted," a girl said, tugging on his arm. "I want to see that trick again!"

Daichi tossed the football around in his hands, showing her a few basic dribbling moves. Then he smiled at her and the other girls that were gathered around him. It made them all swoon.

Then he heard a snicker off to the side. "An interesting character," a voice as smooth as Satan muttered.

Daichi turned his head to see that glasses boy with Tamaki hid a smirk behind his hand. He walked over there, football in his hands. "Did you say something?" Daichi asked.

"I'm sure I did at some point. Care to elaborate?" the boy asked.

"Who are you?" Daichi asked.

"Kyoya Ootori. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet the famous Daichi Akiyama, but personally, I don't care for wasteful pastimes such as... football."

Daichi grit his teeth. Just as he raised a hand, the door to the classroom opened.

"Sorry I'm late, class," the voice of the teacher said.

Kyoya smirked up at Daichi as he stood from his seat. With a little growl, Daichi went over to his desk and sat down. Everyone else slowly found their seats, and the teacher sat at his big desk up at the front of the classroom.

"Mr. Kiyoko, any announcements to make?" the teacher asked.

The class president stood and came to the front of the room. "Today there are football try-outs." Daichi's ears perked up instantly. He had his football at his feet under his desk, dribbling it back and forth. "That will be during lunch period on Practice Field Two."

Daichi didn't hear another word the rest of class all the way to lunch. Quickly, he left the room (and his books) behind. Taking only his football with him, he headed out to the halls. At some point he heard someone running up to him.

"Daichi! Daichi Akiyama, wait! Please!"

Daichi slowed just for a minute when he heard Tamaki's voice. The blond caught up to him, a smile on his face.

"I wanted to say you're really good at making a girl happy," he said. "Why don't you come and join our host club?" Daichi shook his head, picking up his pace. "What? Why not?"

"Sorry, Tamaki," he said. "I'm a football player first. I've got to make it to try-outs now. Thanks for offering though!"

Then Daichi ran off, leaving Tamaki alone in the hall. A minute later, Kyoya caught up to his friend, an uninterested look on his face.

"What did he say?" Kyoya asked.

Tamaki sighed. "You were right. He said no, but I think I can get him to come. And you're going to help me, Kyoya!"

On the other side of the school, Daichi was in his gym clothes, warming up on the field. Many of the other players watched in disbelief. Many girls were even there to watch.

"Is that really Akiyama?" one boy asked.

"What's he doing here?"

"Yeah, I saw him play for our middle school! He's amazing!"

"We'll win every game with him."

Try-outs were easy for Daichi. All he had to do were some basic drills he'd been doing for years. The coach even stopped and talked to him, promising Daichi he'd make the team. The boy couldn't have been happier.

Practice started the next week, and Daichi found all of his time was already being taken away. He had in-school practice every day, and on a few days of the week he had it after school as well.

As he was made team captain, Daichi had to show up earlier to practices and stay until everyone else had gone, not that he minded. Football was a great way to spend his time.

However, everything else began to suffer for it. By the time Daichi would get home those days it was late into the evening. That wouldn't have been a problem if his father didn't hold him for business meetings most nights.

Daichi's dad, Yukio, was a very wealthy man, as were most parents that sent their kids to Ouran. Yukio was the owner of many sports stadiums across Japan, and even a few in China.

As his only son, Daichi was going to inherit the company when his father passed. That's why Yukio was always keeping him up to date. He wanted Daichi to know everything about the business.

It was a Thursday night after a rough practice. Having not yet showered, Daichi came into the house. His maid quickly came over to take his bag for him. She gave it to another staff worker there and exchanged it for a set of clothes.

"Master Daichi, if you would follow me to your father's study," she said with a flourish.

Daichi knew the drill. He took the clothes from the maid, letting her walk ahead of him. As they walked down the hall, he stripped his clothes off, tossing them on the path and changing into the clean set of clothes. His father wouldn't even look at him if he were dirty.

The door to the office opened, and the maid ushered him in. Daichi took his usual leather seat across from his father's desk, avoiding his piercing brown eyes.

"You're late, son," he said. "Because of football?"

"Y-yes, sir," Daichi said. His throat closed up, and he found it very hard to talk all of a sudden.

"Then listen quickly." He pulled up some information on his computer in front of him, reading it aloud. "Tech City Stadium is requesting more funding for an upgrade to the box seats. I have yet to respond to that. The construction on Star Dome is finally complete. It will be opening with a football game next weekend."

"A football game? C-can we—we go?" Daichi asked.

His father sent him a harsh look. "Not unless you can tell me where Star Dome is located."

Daichi hung his head. He didn't have the faintest idea. Could it be Tokyo? No, no, that was The Shell. It was Osaka, right? Wait, wasn't that where Tech City Stadium was? Or was Tech City the one in Tokyo? Maybe it was—

"Sapporo," his father said tartly. "You're not going. How many times do I have to tell you to pay attention?"

"Not meant for thinking," Daichi muttered. He was beyond disappointed.

"What? Is that— That's mud on your neck! You don't even care about any of this! You think you can just show up however you want like none of it means anything. Get out of here, and no dinner for you!"

Daichi stood and instantly left the room to find his bedroom, where he decided he ought to stay for the rest of the night. There was nothing meant for him to do in his house anyway, so he just went to sleep.