"Alex, it's time to leave for school," I heard my sister, Haruhi, announce through my closed door.
"I'm up. I'm up," I replied from my bed in a half-asleep daze.
Deciding that I should get ready, I rolled off my comfy bed and onto the floor. I lied there for a few minutes until Haruhi decided to knock on my door.
"Get ready. I'll be leaving in ten minutes with or without you," she informed me while poking her head into my room. Upon seeing me on the floor and staring at the ceiling, the reached in and flipped the light switch.
"Son of a bitch! I was staring directly at the light!" I exclaimed, quickly sitting up and rubbing my eyes.
"Get ready, we leave in ten minutes," Haruhi chuckled, closing my door.
"Fuck you!" I yelled at the closed door but stood up anyways.
Stretching my limbs and ridding myself of any leftover sleep, I navigated around my mess of a room and to my closet.
My outfit was composed of the first things I pulled out of my closet. I wore a not so tight but supposed to be, red long sleeved shirt, a pair of grey skinny jeans, and my red sneakers. After checking my appearance in the full length mirror mounted onto a wall of my room, I adjusted my contacts and ran a brush through my hair before exiting my room.
Dad was still sleeping, so it was just Haruhi and me in the living room. Taking one look at how my sibling was dressed, I went straight to the bathroom. I emerged a few minutes later with a flat chest and and even roomier shirt.
"Why do you insist on looking like me when we aren't even blood related?" Haruhi asked when she saw me. I had used some bandages to bind my chest. It might not be the healthiest way to do it, but I figured I would not stay at school for more than an hour.
"You should probably know by now that I like to confuse people," I replied, picking my school bag up. My chest felt extremely restricted and breathing was difficult. "Damn, I gotta buy a binder later."
"Whatever. Now we've gotta go or we'll be late."
With that, she dragged me out the front door. I slid my iPod and ear buds out of my pockets and began listening to music.
By the time we arrived at Ouran Academy, we were already ten minutes late. Haruhi noticed this, grabbed me by my wrist, and proceeded to pull me down the empty hallways at a fast pace.
"For fuck's sake, Haruhi. Was it really necessary to make me run down the god damned hallway?!" I angrily questioned my sister. Sadly, though, I had yet to realize that we had an audience.
"Mr. Fujioka, would you please refrain from using that kind of language in my class," a voice kindly tried to order me.
"Oh fuck off, I wasn't talking to you," I responded in a snippy tone. Turning to face the person I was speaking to, I came face to face with the teacher. He seemed stunned by the fact that I spoke to him like that. Before any more words could be said, though, I was yanked into the hallway.
"I need to have a word with my brother," Haruhi explained as she closed the door. She spun to face me as though I was supposed to give her an excuse or apology.
"In all honesty, I do not feel like I should apologize," I started. "It's not like he should-"
"That's not it, Alex. That's just not it," Haruhi interrupted, pinching the bridge of her nose out of frustration. Removing her hand from her face, she continued, "Look, I'm thrilled that you're finally getting back to your old self. Hell, I wasn't even sure you would start talking again, but you did. The thing is, you need to start filtering what you want to say before you open your mouth. We got here on scholarships. They could kick us - you - out for reckless behavior. Please try not to do anything that could cause that to happen."
I let what she said sink in. I had yet to even think about getting my scholarship revoked. Last year of school, I was almost expelled more times than I can count. The only reason Ouran would take me in as a student is due to Haruhi. Might as well not get kicked out while I attend.
"Fine," I said with a sigh, "I promise to watch my language and not fight anybody."
"Good," Haruhi said, relieved.
"Hey, I wasn't finished. I promise not to do those things during school hours. After that, it's free game," I added on to my deal.
Haruhi seemed to think this over for a second before replying, "I guess that's as good of a promise I'm gonna get. Let's get back in the classroom before class ends."
I allowed her to grab my hand and pull me back into class. The teacher had decided to carry on with whatever he was teaching, but paused when when we set foot back into the room.
"Sorry about that," apologized Haruhi.
The teacher just waved us off and told us to take a seat. Unfortunately, the only open seats were on the opposite sides of the room. There was only one solution to this problem.
I walked to the vacant desk in the back as Haruhi went to sit between a pair of identical twins. Upon reaching my desk, I lifted the chair into the air and made my way towards Haruhi's desk.
"What do you think you are doing?" The teacher questioned.
I just placed the chair next to my sibling's, Sat in it Indian style, and began to copy what was on the board in a notebook.
The rest of my classes went by smoothly. I would somehow find a way to piss each teacher off. I'm pretty sure that, even if she wanted to, Haruhi couldn't be mad at me with how I handled each teacher. For example, one teacher had demanded that I turn my music off. My reaction was to blankly stare them dead in the eyes as I maxed out the volume on my iPod. I don't believe that I've seen my sister try so hard to suppress laughter before.
Now was our free period. Haruhi was dragging me through the school's libraries to study. Honestly, I have no idea why she wants to go ahead and and start burying her nose in books. The school year just began.
"Ugh, don't people know libraries are supposed to be quiet?!" She yelled, throwing her arms up. I simply shrugged in reply.
We started off towards the fourth, and final, library. I guess I got a little distracted by my music because when the song ended, I noticed I was without Haruhi.
Damn, must've turned down a hallway on accident. Oh well.
Picking a random direction, I walked until I had to climb a flight of stairs. Then, I was greeted with one of the best sights ever: the music hallway.
Approaching Music Room One, I heard people within the room and instantly walked away. Room two seemed quiet so I peeked into the room. Perfect, it's empty.
Once the doors had clicked shut behind me, I paused my music and removed the ear buds from my ears. I slid them into my back pockets as I explored the room. Mainly, there were orchestra instruments.
"Boring," I mumbled to myself. I was prepared to leave until something caught my eye. A piano.
Sitting myself down onto the piano's duet bench, I allowed my hands to hover over the keys. With a deep breath, my finger began to glide on top of the keys.
I have no idea how long I sat there. I just played the first songs to pop into my head, and when I ran out of those, I just pressed random keys to make a good sounding tune.
Once I could not think of another good tune, I brought my hands aways from the piano. Shockingly, there was an applause.
"Bravo! Wonderfully played!" a voice echoed, bringing life to the room.
I was genuinely startled, causing me to fling myself over the back of the bench. I landed on my back with a thud, and my head snapped towards the sound. There were six people in the doorway.
A tall blond with an apologetic look on his face - I assume he is the one who shouted started to walk over to me. I sat up quickly and slowly inched backwards. My heart was racing.
"Stop it, senpai!" a new voice commanded the blond. It was Haruhi. That put my nerves to rest somewhat, but I still had my guard up.
"So the two of you are honor students?" the bubbly blond, now known to me as Tamaki, asked.
We had moved into their club's room: Music Room Three. The six of them- Tamaki, Kyoya, Hani, Mori, Hikaru, and Kaoru- were gathered around Haruhi and me. After things died down in the other room, I had begun to hide behind Haruhi.
"As I have previously stated, Haruhi in on an academic scholarship, and his twin, Alex, is on a scholarship for the arts. More specifically, music," Tamaki's bespectacled sidekick read from his laptop. He was obviously searching through our school files.
"That's odd," Kyoya stated. The ginger twins had stopped pestering me in order to peek over Kyoya's shoulder.
"What is it, Kyo-chan?" Hani questioned from where he was eating an entire cake. His ability to do that baffles me.
"It seems as though someone has deleted the remainder of Alex's file," he answered the small blond. As soon as he said that, Haruhi glanced at me. I just shrugged, pretending that I have no idea what they are talking about.
"Never mind that, we have more important matters to discuss," Takami stated acting serious for probably the first time in his life. "Now, Haruhi Fujioka, how do you plan on paying for the vase you broke?"
My attention was caught by this. Slowly, I pulled my knees from my chest and sat up straight. I was curious as to what he was talking about.
"Oh, he didn't tell you? Your clumsy twin here knocked over a vase worth 8 million yen," two voices explained in unison. Hikaru and Kaoru had magically appeared next to me, slinging their arms over my shoulders.
Of course, their invasion of my personal bubble startled me, and I launched myself off the couch. This proved to not be as smart of a decision as I thought since I fell towards the coffee table conveniently placed between the two couches. My face collided with the edge of the table, stunning me. I guess my ear buds got ripped away from me during my fall because I could now hear everything clearly.
"You devil twins! What did you do?!" The alarmed voice of Tamaki could be heard over the other commotions in the room.
I sat in the floor with my legs under the table. My body was slightly curved over it and I could tell that something was wrong. There was some sort of substance dripping from my nose and onto the table. Bringing a hand up to my face, I pulled it away with a confused look and ignored all of the worries in the room. A red liquid glistened over my fingertips, and before I could process anything, a hand was thrown over my eyes.
"Will everybody shut their mouths!?" I could hear my sister shout angrily as everyone finally became silent. She had pressed a cloth to my face in order to stop what I had now registered as a nosebleed.
I felt very light headed as orders were thrown around the room by Haruhi. Feeling my body shutting down, everything faded as I slipped into unconsciousness.
Noise. That was the only thing I could grasp as I slowly began to regain consciousness. Actually, it wasn't even noise; it was music.
"Wide eyed, panic on the getaway
The high tide could take me so far away," I took note of the song I was listening to. It was "Rainbow Veins" by Owl City. I guess this was Haruhi's way of telling me to relax.
I allowed the song to finish playing before opening my eyes. I was lying on a couch. Sitting up, I took in the appearance of the room around me. It was much smaller compared to the music room from before. There were various outfits strewn across it. A full length mirror sat next to a dresser in the corner.
I guess I better examine the damage I have caused myself yet again.
Still feeling slightly light headed, I staggered over to the mirror and took in my reflection.
There was no serious damage done. Well, nothing that I am not used to. My left eye had a little bruising around it, giving it the appearance of a black eye. The bridge of my nose was swollen, but not that much. Overall, I would say that I am in good shape.
I was about to turn away when something in the mirror caught my eye. My shirt was missing.
"Wow, you almost break your nose, pass out, and then forget to notice an article of clothing was missing from your body? Smooth, Alex. Just smooth," I told myself as I searched the room for my shirt.
After rummaging through the room a bit, I came to the conclusion that my shirt is lost forever. I sat in the floor with my back to the door, gently thumping my head against it. At least, I thought it was gently. Despite what I thought, I had alerted someone to the fact that I was awake. The only reason I knew this is because I heard a knocking over the music in my ears.
Opening the door just a tad without thinking, I am greeted by the face of Kyoya. He casually looks down a bit, and it was then that I realized I was still shirtless. I reach out, grab his sleeve, pull him into the room, and slam the door shut.
"So it seems as though you actually are a girl," he said, trying his best to look anywhere in the room but at me. I just stared at him. It was quite amusing to see Kyoya Ootori - well known for his lack of emotion - trying to keep his composure when it was obvious he was uncomfortable.
"I can also assume that you're mute, correct?" He questions as he finally gives up and looks me in the eye.
I shake my head in response as I fall back to sit on the arm of the couch. Kyoya looks confused and slightly angry but only for a split second. I guess he is not used to being wrong. As he brings his emotionless mask back up, he asks another question.
"You can talk?" He wonders, and I nod. "You're just selectively mute."
I just tap the tip of my nose to signal that he is correct this time. Kyoya stares at me and opens his mouth to ask me yet another question, but he pauses. I guess he has finally noticed the scars scattered here and there over my torso.
"I must get back to club duties. Your brother had asked me to check on you when you woke up," Kyoya explained. He turned around and began to rummage through the dresser's drawers. After a minute or two, he walked over and handed me two pieces of folded up clothing.
"This should be your size," was all he said before leaving the room.
Carefully, I unfolded the clothes and realized that he handed me a chest binder as well as a giant sweater. I stepped over towards the door and locked it before removing the bandages from my chest. Slipping into the binder, I found it easier to breath now than with my horrible binding skills. The sweater I was given was solid black and extremely baggy when I put it on. It hung off of one shoulder no matter how many times I fixed it, and it reached to the middle of my thighs.
"Whoever owns this sweater will not be getting it back, " I whispered to myself as I rolled the sleeves up. If you have not figured it out yet, I am in love with oversized long sleeved shirts.
I sigh to myself. I could either die of boredom in this empty room until Haruhi comes to get me, or… or I could actually go out and see what is going on. I pushed back my fears and opened the door.
