The comedic series revolves around the escapades of Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, an elite private school for rich kids located in Bunkyo, Tokyo. Looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi stumbles upon the otherwise-abandoned Third Music Room, a place where the Host Club, a group of six male students, gathers to entertain female "clients" with food, themed parties, and flirtatious conversation and behavior. During their initial encounter, Haruhi accidentally destroys an antique vase valued at ¥8,000,000 (around US$60,000) and must work off the debt as the club's errand boy. Her short hair, slouching attire, and gender-ambiguous face cause her to be mistaken by the Hosts for a male student, though they soon realize her actual gender and the fact that she's a "natural" in entertaining girls. In response, they decide to "promote" her to a member of the Host Club so that she may work off her debt by procuring a certain number of clients by the time she graduates, all while concealing her gender from the rest of the student body as well as their growing feelings for her.