The Prince and The Pop&Locker

[sorrow made you]

@Navi


The doors to the music room opened, revealing four very handsome and beautiful men standing around. All were in princely costumes that has colors that seemed to fit their theme. Akihiko Shouji, simply stood there as the doors closed behind him. "What...the hell is this?" He muttered and quickly turned to go back through the doors. A girl with long pigtails and arms crossed was blocking the way. And the boy was stuck here. How in the hell this girl conned him into joining this snobby school host club was far beyond him. With a small groan, he turned back to face the other males, eyes scanning over them.


Just by their costume and their poses, he could tell who was who. There was the sweet type there, sitting on the couch with a plate of berries in his hand. The silent type was the one standing off to the side. The intelligent type just adjusted his glasses and...Aki rolled his eyes at the sight of the over glorified princely one. Everyone in the school had heard about Sora from some girl. It was hard to ignore his name filling every mouth.


Akihiko was a transfer student. Though, how he acted and dressed, most believed he was a low life that got in by some sketchy scholarship. Aki wasn't one of these rich snots. He didn't eat caviar or listen to classical music just to talk about the composition. He didn't eat crumpets and ...well no, he did drink tea. But it wasn't foreign tea. Japanese tea did just fine for him. With a small mutter, he shrugged his hoodie up to cover his head, only to have it yanked down.


"Hey!" He snapped, turning to face the girl. Obviously this was their manager. "What the hell?!"


"Get in your costume! We're doing a mock session!"


"A mock...what?"


"A mock session, stupid!" She pushed Aki backwards, making him trip of the small coffee table and fall in between the couch and the table. He hissed with slight pain and looked up at the group. "Gentlemen, this is Shouji Akihiko. He's going to be our Bad Boy type!" The girl called out as she ran across the room to find Aki an appropriate outfit.


"Fucking wonderful...."

 

[Navi]

What happens when a famed Entertainment producer and a fashion model have a baby? Perfection, at least that’s what Sora thought. He believed he was the bee’s knees, why? Because everyone told him he was. Since birth the bright eyed, platinum blonde practically silver haired boy was a prince sitting up on a golden throne. He was born with the preverbal silver spoon in his mouth, he was given everything he ever wanted. Sora never had to work a day in his life for anything he wanted. Life was simply a game of how much he could take and keep for himself. Getting into Ouran was easy, too easy, grades or no grades his parents paid his way through to the exclusive school. Immediately the Host club grabbed his attention and with little force he became the self proclaimed King of the club. It wasn’t hard when he had a long history of being the princely type of man. If girls were hoping for a Disney kind of prince though they were barking up the wrong tree, he was not the type to help a poor girl. Nor was he the type to sweep them off their feet. He was the type to point out if you were less than perfect and well, everyone was beneath him.


The Host Club was already a rag tag group of guys. Sora felt like he was really the only real good Host but he could understand women had types. He was not going to be the nerd or the happy, sweet one. But he was not going to stand and watch someone bring filth into his club! He rose from his ornate throne and pointed a finger at Aki.


“There is no way he can be a host! Bad Boy or not!” He narrowed his eyes. Sora was the first and the only one who seemed to have a problem with Aki joining and he was going to be the most vocal about his problems, like he always was. Sora was not one to beat around the bush, ever. Aki was everything Sora despised in people. A strong dislike for those lesser than him instilled by his father, the silvery haired prince who had a tiny crown hair piece on his head didn’t even want to breathe the same air as him.


However after a few whispers from the rest Sora calmed down. So they needed a bad boy, he didn’t know bad boy meant pick up a dirty hobo from the side of the street. Though Sora had to inhale his commoner air he did get to teach Aki the ropes and well what could better the club more but Sora turning this dirt ball into...a slightly less of a dirt ball.


He wasn’t a miracle worker.


Sora walked over with a frown on his face, his glove covered hands crossed over his chest as he tilted his head to one side. "You know what silverware is right? I know you probably never had anything this nice so do try not to...touch it too much. Or steal it. I know your kind tends to take things that don't belong to them." He spoke completely cold but his frown had coiled into a sinister smirk as he put Aki down. Would you believe it was part of his charm? Women found his high maintenance attitude as a sign he was simply after the finer in things in life and they wanted to be that finer thing.


"Now be a good boy and set the table~"

 

[sorrow made you]

So the prince lived up to his name. Aki glanced up at him and declined help to get up off the floor. He dusted himself off and slowly looked back at Sora with dark glaring eyes. "Really?" He muttered and looked at the other hosts who all looked the other way. "Is this guy serious?" He asked louder, looking back at the girl who now had an outfit for Aki to wear. White and gold prince attire. "I'm not wearing that." He hissed and looked back to Sora. "Look, I don't care who you think you are, but I ain't gonna be ordered around by some snobby as--"


Instantly a couple of the hosts went to Aki's sides and clapped their hands over his mouth. The shorter of the three tried to pry their hands away from his mouth, struggling to break free from their grasp without harming anyone.


"Maaybe you should get changed, Aki-kun." The sweet and intelligent hosts dragged Aki along to change into his princely uniform. How he was forced into the outfit was another thing beyond him. He looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted the white gloves. He shaped up nicely in the crisp uniform--minus his beenie. As soon as he left the dressing room, the manager snatched his hat off his head and fixed his hair as best as possible.


"There~ You look nice now." She gave him a bright smile and Aki only replied with a bearing-teeth growl. He walked passed her and instead of heading to the table where the silverware needed to be set, he went to the lounge chair. "You want something done, pretty boy, you better ask nicely." He called to Sora, not bothering to look at him. He wasn't about to bend for anyone. Especially not an overly egoed prince.

 

[Navi]

Sora smirked as Aki was taken away to get dressed, he was going to have fun telling the new guy what to do. Aki probably could guess but Sora was in charge around here. He was the king! He was going to make sure that the new guy got that message. He walked over to Aki who got all dressed up and looked him up and down after he started talking poorly to Sora. “Manners, Tch, what gives you the right to demand a man of my caliber to show you any sort of manners? That would be like me asking the trash on the ground how its day was.” He smirked, feeling nothing comparing people to trash. To him, anyone who wasn’t him might as well be.


Sora snapped his fingers and two of the hosts rolled his favorite throne chair over to the table where Aki was sitting and took his seat. He crossed one leg over the other and adjusted his white gloves in silence which would be a rare occurrence. A silent Sora was an upset Sora. “Let’s get one thing straight street rat. I am king here, I am law and I am me. You are worthless. How you managed to get here is beyond me. But girls are looking for charity cases.”


He reached over and picked up the fork holding it up to Aki’s face with a sly smirk. “But while you’re in the Host Club you’re going to have to be a good little host boy, which means setting a table properly. Now I know you probably never had to set a table or even had a table. So keep in mind all this is worth more than your life. So no breaking.” He leaned back against his throne and purred. “While you’re at it get me a cup of Earl Gray, rookie-host.” He snapped his fingers at Aki just assuming he was going to do so.

 

[sorrow made you]

This guy...was he for real? Or was he really trying to grind Aki's gears? Seeing how the others reacted and seemed to do whatever he willed, it didn't seem so fake. He simply rolled his eyes before closing them. He didn't plan on moving from the couch anytime soon. "So now I'm trash? You don't even know me." Aki scoffed, grinning slightly in his annoyance. He didn't bother to give Sora a glance. People like him were the worst. And they always fell miserably to Aki's hand. Sora would be no different.


The sound of a rolling throne made his eyebrows knit together. It was so obnoxiously noisy...oh wait. That was Sora talking. Now the guy was talking to him directly? He tilted his head to glance back at Sora, but still didn't bother to move. He was rather comfortable where he was. "Let's get another thing straight." He started as Sora snapped his fingers. He sat up and turned so that his feet were touching the floor and his elbows were on his knees. "I'm no street rat. And you really have no authority over me. I'm a rulebreaker at heart and the more you lay on me, the more anarchistic I will be."


He kept a firm and intense glare on Sora. "So listen good, you rich pig feed. If I'm here in this club, that means we'll be on equal footing. You think you can hold a shiny penny against me? Think again. I'll steal all of your fans. I'll steal all of your glory. Sora Park will only be mentioned as 'last month's news', But all this can be avoided if you take it a notch down and act like a respectable person to the newcomer, ne?" His threats weren't empty. He was sure he could swipe all of Sora's clients without much of a thought. If girls liked that sort of thing, surely they would want a dark and broken soul to try and patch up even more. Aki maintained eye contact with Sora, showing no signs of backing down until he leaned back and stretched. "Besiiides~" He said airily as he arched his back and stretched his hands above his head. "I only make green tea."

 

[Navi]

Sora looked at him for a long time and felt threatened. He was…threatening him? He wasn’t doing what he said?! What was his world coming to! No one, NO ONE ever defied Sora. Since the day he was born he was given almost everything he dared to want. He stared at this black haired brat like he was the vilest thing he had ever laid eyes on. He kept his cool though, because that was what a prince did. They did not have crazy out bursts or let vermin like Aki get under his skin…Though Sora’s temper was very unprincely, it took him a few silent moments to collect himself.


Once he was collected he laced his fingers together looking at Aki for a long time with eyes that held no sort of humanity, no sort of sympathy, nothing. “Tch, you know for a moment I was actually going to get upset but you can’t even set a table. Heck, I don’t even think you know the first thing about fine dining. You might have the bad boy finesse about you but Ouran is for the most elite of students” He began musing over Aki’s impending failure. He could see it now, that sharp tongue commoner being kicked out of the club for his lack of popularity.


“Do you honestly think you’re little image will cover up the fact you’re a dirty little no body and no woman after a week wouldn’t want to be seen with you. Its an embarrassment. Who would ever want to be with someone like you?” Sora was one to talk. Difference was that money and status made him desirable. He was well aware his personality was rotten like a poisoned apple; he knew that no girl actually liked him. They liked his title, the idea of him, who didn’t want to be around one of the richest guys in Ouran, the Host Club King? Sora was popular for all the wrong reasons and he was perfectly ok with that…


He had to be.


He got up from his throne and yawned, letting Aki’s rebellion slide. He was convinced Aki wasn’t going to last even past the first day. “Well enjoy the time you have here. It won’t last long at all. By your first session you will be out of her and packing. So feel free to enjoy the food, lord knows you will never have anything this good for a long time, Trash Boy”

 

[sorrow made you]

There it was. Though he couldn't see it, he could feel the malice bubble within Sora. It threatened to show it's ugly head, but a calm demeanor covered up real fast. It was then that Akihiko knew he would win in the end. "Who needs to know about fine dining if you don't know the first thing about the work put into making the dining fine?" He hissed. Just how Sora spoke, Aki knew he had never worked a day in his life. Never looked at anyone with any form of respect. Never said thank you for anything. He was an ungrateful little chauvinistic pig.


"I don't need to work too hard at an image. Just being real, is more than enough." He spat, prodding at Sora's icy barrier of a facade. "No girl likes anything more than a genuine person that they feel the need to fix up. It works every time. But you would know what, wouldn't you? Prince of Fools?" He scoffed at the other's high and mighty complex. It made him look beyond arrogant. It made him look stupid. It was exactly the kind of people Aki hated, and the kind of people Aki threw himself in front of to protect others. He would win his claim. He made a small vow to himself to beat Sora in every aspect of the club now. He would become the next king. And like the Zhou dynasty defeating the hedonistic Shang of ancient China, Aki would be the one to be remembered and reveled in. Sora would be a shameful memory of what once was.


"And you enjoy your place at the top. Because from here on out, you'll only be falling."


---


Weeks passed, and Aki continued to be reluctant to Sora's will. He would not bend an inch for the other male. Everything asked of him because an argument. He barely even prepared for his debut session at the club. The day of his debut, he walked into the music room with his headphones blasting in his ears. He couldn't hear anyone and simply raised a hand as he passed the manager. "I know, I know. Kimono day, right?" He muttered flatly as he went to the dressing room.


Aki was given a black and white koi kimono to wear over gray hakamas. He came out and fixed the red cord accessory that was placed on his head. "Good enough?" He asked the girl and she clapped her hands together before giving him a hug. She motioned for him to take his place on his small stage which would present him to the customers and he sat down on one of the larger floor pillows. His haughty and unwilling attitude slowly started to melt away as a newer and politer Akihiko presented himself. He tucked his feet under him as he sat and fixed his robes.


As the doors to the music room opened for the guests, they were given a small announcement at their new member, and guided over to the stage. The female guests all gave their oohs and ahhs as Aki politely bowed, making a diamond with his hands and placing it on the floor. "It is an honor, ojou-samas." He said, his tone lighter and much more polite than he normally spoke. He gave a full bow and when he came back up, tilted his head slightly and gave a closed-mouth half smile. Instantly the girls n the front melted. They started to make arrangements to have first-come-first-serve appointments with multiple groups of girls so get acquainted with their new host.


Aki didn't have to try too much more after that. He could easily let his smile fade and gave the girls disinterested looks. He played the troubled soul, locked in his own body, bound to his politeness, but a fiery heart that hated every moment of it. It was a lot easier than what people may have thought. He never spoke impolitely to the guests, but he left subtle hints to having something more beyond his exterior that made girls question him more. Saying "I...can't tell you." and "I shouldn't say..." made them want to inquire more. Eventually, he had accumulated a decent amount of fans just on his first day. Not once did his eyes flutter to Sora, not even to give him a mocking glance. He was focused on what his job was: to entertain and give these girls exactly what they wanted, and not to try and sell them what someone told them they wanted.

 

[Navi]

Much to Sora’s dismay Aki was pretty popular for a new guy, but he wasn’t too concerned in it. They both had very different crowds women and Sora was a long favorite. He spoke charmingly but never hesitated to stroke his own ego in the meantime. If there was something beneath him he never acted as if he liked it, if there was a girl he felt was below him he made sure to make it known. In a way, Sora’s act was less of an act. He spoke his mind, how he felt, no matter how rude it might come off. Those who hated him called him selfish those who liked him simply said he had a taste for finer things. On kimono day he wore a blue and grey kimono with a gold design.


“Sora-kun you look so good in traditional clothing…” One girl began, his table was overly filled with guests to the point a few had to sit on the couch with him and five others seated around the table. “I got you some of the finest tea…” another began to hand him a cup which started a fight over who had the best tea for Sora. “Ladies.” He began waving his hands over the fumbling girls before they spilled something on him. “The only thing that should be called the finest is I, and what is a fine King without a precious Queen.” He never picked any one out in particular letting them all think they were the one he was talking about.


As if, none of them were his “type”. Not that he spent too much on that thought.


He never had a type when it came to women.


His eyes went to Aki for a moment seeing how he was doing, he was so typical. Acting all nice and what not, playing on the polite troubled soul. Sora could only smirk, how many more “nice” hosts could there be. He wasn’t sure why but he was staring at Aki for such a long time his customer actually spoke up and he had many eyes on him.


“Uhh…” He needed a quick out, a fast out, he looked around and saw the piano and smiled. “You know I did take a class at Julliard when I was younger, my father insisted. A man of my caliber can only indulge in the greatest pleasures and music is a very luxurious one.” He smirked a little and the girls smiled. What a treat! The king was going to play some American music. Sora got up and his customers walked with him to the white piano in the middle of the room and surrounded him. His long, slender fingers danced over the ivory keys as he sang the Japanese translation to ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’ a classic back in the 1930s-40s. Thankfully the women around here were like mindless sheep following where ever the Hosts directed them. It was almost too easy.


The bluesy sound actually went well with his voice, a strange rasp to the timbre of his voice that was usually demanding and fierce. After a few moments of Sora actually being a charming man for a few mintes…then he opened his mouth.


He turned to the women and smirked, “probably the best thing you ever heard right? Of course, I am a gift to man kind.” He stood up and the girls linked arms with him on either side. “That is how a real king treats a woman worthy of his time. And you all are…more or less worthy”

 

[sorrow made you]

Aki was only distracted for a moment when the piano started to play. He fell silent and motioned for the girls to be quiet as Sora played and sang. How gaudy. Not the song, not the playing, but how Sora used it to emphasize himself. It was laughable. In fact, Aki chuckled and slowly stood. Adjusting his hakama, he gave a sly grin and started to walk past Sora and his little group while picking up the song.


Oh yes, he knew it too. And he could sing it acapella.


He gave it a faster spin, a more big-band jazz as he kept walking and stopped at the piano. He started playing along with his tune before spinning on the bench to go pick up a guitar that was placed off to the side. He started to play along with his singing and then easily flowed into a different sgon. Fly Me To the Moon was one of his favorites with a very sweet melody. With a little smirk, he gave it an even more jazz feel.

 

[Navi]

Sora didn’t even get to his table when he saw Aki going towards the piano. “Don’t even bother-..”he began but he was shut right back up. He had his hand on his table as his customers sat down paying some mind to Aki but they were more concerned that Sora had completely froze. He kept his head down, looking at the table cloth as his fingers pinched the fabric. His mind couldn’t wrap around how a swine like Aki, some trash from Japan’s gutter that was the lower class would possibly know that song…let alone know how to play!


Time felt like it was stilled as Aki played, he had to appreciate good music. He had a strong love for the classics. It touched a part of him that wasn’t spoiled and rotting away like over ripened fruit. It was a part of him that had an old fashion romanced heart, something about old timey music that played on his heart strings and his ears.


“Sora-kun are you alright?” One of the dozen girls he had around him looked up at him with concerned eyes. He was zapped back to reality noticing he was silent for so long even after Aki finished and was still standing like a statue. He was clearly affected and shaken, by what? Who knows~


“I’m fine, just have some acid reflex from that poor excuse of a performance” he chuckled adjusting himself as he sat down, his pearly white cheeks were now slowly stained with a very light rosy hue. “We’ll have to wipe down those keys; his commoner hands have lowered the value of that poor piano.” His laugh continued making the girls at his table laugh as well.