Rose-Colored Mirror
}-;—
1-A Friend of My Friend
"Cleo…I don't want to go to school," Adalina moaned, holding out her hand to her cat. "My Japanese is atrocious, Demetri isn't here yet, and…they just won't understand." She blew out her cheeks, stroking the cat's mottled golden fur. Cleopatra purred in understanding. She butted her head against her hand and meowed up at her. "Yes, you're very sympathetic," the Italian girl noted, rolling her eyes. "Well, I have to go. I can hear the car outside."
Adalina stood up from her bed and slung her book bag over her shoulder with confidence and grace, pushing her honey-gold hair behind her shoulders. Then she tripped and fell, knocking her head against the top of the writing desk against her wall.
"Ouch!" she yelled. "Annabella!"
"I'm so sorry Ada!" a clear, high voice sounded. Small feet ran up the staircase and opened the door, and Annabella picked her older sister up off the floor. "I forgot I left that out," she murmured, kicking the overturned case of markers out of the way. "Oh look what I've done to your forehead."
"It's alright. Please make sure you don't leave it out again; I'll have the driver fix me up when I get in the car."
"Yes, Ada."
"I'll see you when I get home from school. Don't forget, you start at Ouran next Monday."
"I know. Arrivederci, grande sorella!"
Goodbye, big sister. Even though her head was pounding, Adalina smiled as she let her baby sister out of her room and shut her door, then walked down the stairs and out of the mansion. Annabella was so understanding when her big sister got cross with her, and she did a good job of keeping things neat and simple to ease her time.
It must be hard, Adalina imagined, to have your big sister, the one who is supposed to look out for you, unable to do so. It must be hard to have a big sister who is blind.
}-;—
"Ah, Adalina Garetti. Our new student from…Italy, is it, Miss Garetti?"
"Yes, teacher," Adalina replied haltingly. Her Japanese, she discovered, was even worse under pressure. She could feel the weight of her classmates' stares on her.
"Would you like to tell us a little about yourself?"
"Ah…well, I have been blind since I was in a car accident when I was ten…my father moved us here to open up the Japanese chain of his business…and my Japanese if very iffy."
The class chuckled lukewarmly, and the teacher subtly took the lead back. "Alright. We're glad you're here. Mister Fujioka, would you mind showing Miss Garetti around until she gets used to the school?"
"Actually, sir, my guide dog Demetri will be arriving in Japan in a few days…" Adalina trailed off, remembering her father's advice. Make friends—Ouran is as much a political chessboard for families as it is a school. "But until he gets here, I'd love to have a guide to help me."
"I will, sir," the Fujioka boy complied. Adalina whipped her head in his direction. Well, she thought it was a he. The teacher had said 'mister', but the voice was distinctly higher than any boy she had ever met that was her age. Then she realized that, for whatever reason, she had heard correctly, and the girl Haruhi Fujioka preferred to be known to the school as a male. Showing her understanding for keeping embarrassing characteristics to herself, Adalina waited until lunch, when the girl came over to escort her, to ask about her discovery.
As the other students in the class filed out, Adalina waited back, keenly aware of Fujioka's hand at her elbow.
"Fujioka-san," Adalina started, turning to her escort with eerie accuracy, "Why do you hide from this school that you are a female?"
Fujioka's shock radiated off her in sheets.
"But—how? Aren't you…I…ah—forgive me, Garetti-san, but how did you know I was a girl? You're…"
"Blind? I know. But your voice is higher than a boy's, and your step is lighter. But you dress in the boys' uniform, and your hair is short."
"How did you know?" Now Fujioka was just dumbstruck.
"I can't hear a dress hem when you move, and your hair isn't long enough to smell like shampoo. I'm blind, not completely helpless. Now, why does the school think you're a man? Unless," Adalina thought again, her face closing. "You'd rather not tell me. I understand if you don't."
"No, it's not that," Fujioka smiled, her face lighting up. "It's just that it would be much easier to show you than to tell you. Do you mind eating somewhere other than the cafeteria today? It'll be quieter, I promise, and the food will be marginally better."
"…Sure," Adalina replied uncertainly, letting the girl-playing-boy grab her wrist and lead her slowly and surely through multiple halls, long passages, and twisting grand staircases of Ouran to the third music room.
"Are we nearly there?" Adalina panted, fumbling on the foot of the last staircase—Fujioka had forgotten to tell her it was there.
"Yes; sorry, I forgot I had to tell you. This is the last set of stairs, then there's a hallway that leads to the third music room."
"Third?! This place has three music rooms?!"
"Actually, it has five, but three and four aren't used for classes. I presume the club uses it because it has a piano for Tamaki to play…here we are."
Fujioka pushed open the music room door with her free hand, and Adalina felt a rush of cool, but not cold, wind on her cheeks.
"Haru-chan!" A young voice, something like a middle schooler's, or even an elementary student's, rocketed into Adalina's range and knocked Fujioka's hand away. Adalina stood patiently, waiting for someone to notice or else to get a clue of the depth of the room, and listened to the conversations around her.
"Honey-senpai, you can't just do that sort of thing; Adalina is—"
"Look, Tono! Haruhi is here!"
"And she brought a guest…"
"Hikaru, isn't she the girl in our class?"
"I think she is; that girl we were telling the Club about…"
Suddenly, someone was very close—inches from Adalina's face, even. There were fingers under her chin, and they were silken-smooth and gentle, like the voice which spoke next. "Ahh, what have we here?"
While Adalina knew she wasn't being threatened, she was thrown off guard by this surprise, and pinwheeled backward with a yelp.
"Stupid Tono!" two voices rang in unison. "Garetti-san is—"
"Blind." There was that smooth, handsome voice again, and the silken fingers reached out to grab Adalina's wrist and pull her back on her feet. "Forgive me, Garetti Adalina-san. I have only just noticed your eyes."
Adalina blushed delicately and lowered her eyes. They were almost normal, but her irises were a telltale creamy silver; the mark the accident left on her eyes. Usually, people were unnerved by them, so she had gotten used to averting them, but in her haste to accommodate herself with the new surroundings, and unaware there were other people in the room, Adalina had been looking up when the stranger grabbed her.
"It is alright," Adalina assured him. "It was a simple mistake, and easily remedied. I just did not hear you approach, and your touch startled me."
"I am Suo Tamaki," the young man continued, shaking her hand gently in the European style of greeting. "My father, the principal of this school, was very interested in you when you transferred here. Your Japanese is very good."
"Thank you, Tamaki…senpai?" Adalina guessed. While she couldn't be certain, she thought Tamaki was much taller than her, and therefore probably older.
"I would be your senpai," Tamaki confirmed. "But I would enjoy it very much if you called me –kun."
"Tamaki-kun, then," the Italian corrected herself.
"Tono, don't stand around all day. Introduce the rest of us." The same two harmonic voices rang out again from a few feet to Adalina's left.
"Why are you calling him…I'm sorry, is that the honorific for 'lord'?"
"Yes, it's a weird little formality…we're really not sure why they do it," Tamaki waved off Adalina's question. "The twins are Hitachiin Kaoru and Hikaru. I'll leave it to you to decide which is which; that should be interesting."
"We have mouths, Tamaki, move," one of the twins snapped, and Adalina felt the wind made by Tamaki being pushed away. The Hitachiin twins took his place, and shook her hand independently. "I'm Hitachiin Kaoru."
"And I'm Hitachiin Hikaru."
"Pleased to meet you, Hitachiins Kaoru and Hikaru."
"I'm Haninozuka Mitsukuni. You can call me Honey-kun for short." This was the little boy.
Adalina leaned down impulsively. "Honey-kun, how old are you?"
"Seventeen, Ada-chan."
"That's surprising," Adalina replied levelly. "You're short for your age."
"I know. This is Usa-chan, my bunny."
Adalina felt the velveteen plush doll beneath her fingertips as Honey gently pressed it against them.
"And my friend, Morinozuka Takashi."
The blind girl jerked her head up as a shadow fell over her—the man was taller than Tamaki; the tallest she had yet met. He laid a heavy but ginger and controlled hand on her head.
"Hello, Adalina-san." Morinozuka's voice was deep. It reminded her of string bass; startlingly refreshing after Honey's viola-voice. "You can call me Mori-kun."
"Hello, Mori-kun," Adalina obliged the gentle giant. He moved away to reveal the last young man to introduce himself.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Garetti. I am Ootori Kyoya."
Adalina felt herself withdraw slightly from this new person. His voice was pleasant and smooth like Tamaki's, but cooler, almost cold. His nature seemed to match, and even without sight, Adalina could tell he was calculating every bit of her, deciding what was useful, what could be molded into useful, and what had no use at all.
The European organization of her own name didn't escape her—this boy was clever; establishing himself as the only person present to take into account her culture by something so subtle. Ootori Kyoya was…crafty. And a dangerous enemy to say the least.
"The pleasure is all mine, Ootori-sama. Please call me Adalina."
"Likewise, please call me by my first name."
Another subtle note—Kyoya had left his preferred honorific up to her. He was feeling her out.
"Forgive me, then, Kyoya-san." She thought she heard a little chuckle under the cool young man's breath as he retreated.
"We are Ouran High School's Host Club," Tamaki smiled. "Haruhi is our newest member."
With that Adalina turned to Haruhi. "So that's why you're disguised as a boy. So you can be in the Host Club. Are you…forgive me, are you homosexual?"
"No," Haruhi laughed, blushing delicately. "Actually, it was a misunderstanding. I'm working with the Host Club to pay off a debt I owe to them for breaking a valuable vase. I looked like a boy when I met them because I had cut my hair short and couldn't afford the girls' uniform. Now the whole school thinks I'm a boy, and there's no reason to change that."
"I see. That makes sense, actually." No doubt, Adalina thought, that Kyoya person was holding her to the debt. Yes, she would have to be very careful. The Italian could tell, however, that Kyoya was used to dealing with the types of people his fellow members were—blundering and somewhat lacking subtlety. No doubt he wasn't expecting the blind foreigner to be as adept at this political tightrope walk as she was.
"So will you be a regular guest to the Host Club?" Tamaki asked. "If Haruhi is showing you around, that means you'll have to come with her to club activities."
"No it doesn't," Haruhi grumbled, but Adalina was thinking in a different direction of either of them.
Her father put her and Annabella in Ouran Private Academy so they could make close friends and reinforce ties. She had done some research and found information on this Host Club—the majority of the members would be power players in their families in a few years. Powerful friends to make.
"I would love to be a guest to the Host Club," Adalina smiled, cutting through Haruhi's bickering. "Although, if it's not too inconvenient, I would also like to come with Haruhi-chan to your club meetings, to learn how such a unique club is run."
"Of course you may," Tamaki replied graciously, taking Adalina's hands in his. "We're honored to have such a talented, intelligent, and distinctive young woman show interest in our organization."
Kyoya's polish, but without the ulterior intent, Adalina observed, smiling at the host. This would turn out to be an interesting year.
}-;—
"Have you learned anything at school, yet, Adalina?" Bertoldo Garetti asked the elder of his two daughters at dinner the evening of her first day at school.
Adalina lowered her head, pensively studying her teacup, turning it this way and that, trying to filter out and organize the things that were most important.
"I have learned that their world is more subtle and competitive than the one Annabella and I are used to, but it is not at all too taxing. Also, the classes mesh well with the tutoring you had us take to prepare us for living here. I understand most of what they are learning."
"Good, good. And have you made any friends?"
Prioritize, Adalina's subconscious reminded her. "The scholarship student we heard about was asked to escort me around the campus until Demetri arrives. He introduced me to an exclusive club of young men chosen for their backgrounds. They consist of the third son of the Ootori family, the only son of the Suo family, as well as a talented young man from the Haninozuka line, his guardian, and a pair of twins from a prominent family in Japanese fashion."
"Not bad for a day's work," Bertoldo chuckled. He was a warm and kind man to his daughters, but he taught them how to navigate the ravenous waters of his lifestyle from a young age. Both daughters knew what to look for, who to befriend, and what information he was after when he asked these routine questions.
"Demetri and Bertrand are coming over by express air. They left perhaps an hour ago, shortly after Demetri finished his immunizations. Cleopatra terrorized the kitchen help today; her food dish seems to have been left empty this morning."
"I'm sorry about that," Adalina apologized. As if on cue, her silky-furred cat appeared, rubbing against her legs. She vaulted onto the table and gathered herself up to perch gracefully at one corner. "I was in a hurry to leave today, and nervous."
"I forgive you a mistake here and there," Bertoldo assured his daughter. "No doubt it was a stressful morning. Are you ready, Annabella dear, to start school in a week?"
"Can I start sooner, Papa?" Annabella trilled delightfully. "Adalina was telling me how spacious and comfortable it is there. I can't wait to know it myself."
"You could if you wanted to. I assumed you would want some time to adjust, and to polish your Japanese?"
"My Japanese is fine," Annabella protested gently. "I can't wait to go."
"Then I shall call the principal and make an arrangement. Adalina, dearest, didn't you say you met a young man named Suo today?"
"I did—Suo Tamaki-kun. He is the principal's only child."
"That he is," Bertoldo enthused. "You've researched your connections well. Will you be pursuing a friendship with these young men?"
"They are a club that specializes in entertaining their peers. They hold teas and parties every day, shortly after school lets out. I think it would be a learning experience to attend both these and their personal meetings. In short, yes, I think I will look into friendship with them. After all, I like Fujioka Haruhi well enough, and a friend of my friend is always a possible ally, is it not?"
"I have taught you well, my Adalina, I have taught you well," Bertoldo laughed.
Author's notes:
WOW, I've never done a manga fanfic before; it's surprisingly intricate. Um, notes: -Everyone speaks of themselves in the proper Eastern style of surname first
-Honorifics are used only in the introductions, after that they're assumed unless changed for some reason (you'll see…)
-The twins' name for Tamaki (tono) means 'lord', a reference to their name for him in the manga and anime
-Like most manga freaks, I have a decent grasp of Japanese honorifics and will use them accordingly
-Tamaki and Adalina will use broken French and Italian (respectively) throughout the story. If you spot a translation error (I don't speak either) please point it out and correct it
That's it! Tune in next time; questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome!