This is Chapter 18 of the Ouran High School Host Club manga series.
Synopsis
Chapter Summary
It is the first day of summer vacation and Hikaru Hitachiin and Kaoru Hitachiin are sleeping in. Suddenly, the phone rings. When Hikaru asks Kaoru to pick up the phone, Kaoru responds sleepily that the ringtone signifies Tamaki Suoh calling, and the two wake up with annoyance over Tamaki bothering them on the first day of summer vacation. Upon finally picking up the call, they're greeted with a loud burst from Tamaki, who claims that his "daughter," (Haruhi Fujioka), has gone missing.
Similarly, all the other Ouran Host Club members get calls from a distressed Tamaki who recounts a baseless about Haruhi's "disappearance," claiming that she went bankrupt and was sold into slave labor. No one believes his imaginative tale. Kyoya Ootori states that Haruhi went to Karuizawa, which puzzles Tamaki even more. Meanwhile, it's shown that Haruhi is working at a pension house in Karuizawa, helping out with chores and enjoying her summer break in the resort town.
Haruhi feels guilty about not telling the Host Club about her job, but soon dismisses her concerns. As she is hanging up laundry, predicting how the summer will be her best summer break yet, Tamaki suddenly appears overhead in a helicopter, asking about her safety through a megaphone while the helicopter blows her laundry away. Haruhi changes her mind about the summer being the best ever. Instead, she tells herself that it will be the worst.
Later, when all members of the Host Club have gathered inside the pension, they meet owner-operator, Isao "Misuzu" Sonoda, a
Tamaki crashes Haruhi's vacation; Meeting Misuzu
friend of Ryouji "Ranka" Fujioka and another transvestite. Misuzu states that Haruhi's father left her here because he was on a business trip and was worried for her safety. Also, Haruhi was looking for a place to stay and to earn extra money. The conversation leads to the other Hosts remarking that this must be the reason why Haruhi didn't want to go on a vacation with them to Bali and Switzerland. Tamaki fumes about his toil to make the Host Club a family, yet they each invited Haruhi to join them on exotic trips. Tamaki grows even more despairing when the twins show him their cellphones on which Tamaki isn't listed as a friend. Haruhi tries to get them to leave and to allow her to work in peace, but the Hosts are not deterred from spending some of their break at the pension.
The Host Club soon cooks up a game in which they will work for Misuzu at the pension and whoever Misuzu chooses as the best worker(s) will be allowed to stay at the pension for free. Tamaki and Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka set off to repair a rickety old fence, while the twins dazzle incoming guests with their charm, and Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka shows off his manliness and stoic demeanor by completing difficult jobs with ease. Misuzu walks around giving or taking away "refreshing points" based on how their work strikes his fancy. Tamaki's fencework comes off as a dud, as he has no idea about what he's doing and only worsens the situation by trying to look "refreshing" while working. Meanwhile, everyone else's work is not going much better and Misuzu deducts points for their inadequate results.
As the competition ensues, Haruhi asks Kyoya why he isn't participating to which he replies that there's no point, then continues to reveal that everyone has a summer home in the area, exasperating her. He then tells Haruhi who he thinks will win, stating that Honey is more cute than refreshing and that Tamaki gets too passionate about things. He adds that Mori looks refreshing while doing anything, but since Honey will probably soon drop out, he will as well. He concludes that the twins will win, as they are reasonably capable and refreshing at the same time. Tamaki then tries to look refreshing playing with his dog, Antoinette, but ends up digging himself deeper in his dilemma, losing fifty "refreshing points" while the twins win ten for feeding the dog with style. Tamaki resolves to win the competition, claiming his relationship with Haruhi depends on it.
Kyoya tells Tamaki he is acting pitifully, but drops a vital clue by remarking that "choosing the right song" might help. Tamaki is inspired to play the piano for the guests while, outside, Haruhi converses with Kaoru.
A guest pushes open a stuck window
Tamaki raging after losing the competition
which comes unhinged and plummets towards the pair below. Kaoru saves Haruhi by pushing her away and wrapping her tightly in an embrace to shield her from the splintering glass, a shard of which cuts his cheek. Hikaru rushes over to assess Kaoru's injury and the two play up their "love for one another." This so touches Misuzu that he gives them 100 refreshing points and deems them the winners of the competition. It's later shown that the twins had planned their winning techniques and Tamaki loses the competition with regret.
Characters in Order of Appearance
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