The gigantic, pink walls towered over the young girl, causing her to adjust her glasses carefully as she began to walk.
Yellow and blue swirled around the main gates, dancing to some sort of complicated rhythm that would surely make for a good scene description or poem. If only she could be able to place it. Her chin was held high, though that was the only thing about her mannerisms that suggested she wasn't natively Japanese. She walked with the same type of bag, the same polite nature, the same sense of intelligence.
Though, she thought, perhaps that trait wasn't as common in the women over where she had found herself….
She continued to walk as people turned and whispered, talking about her. It wasn't uncommon, she told herself. She was something of an enigma.
"Do you see her?"
"Yeah, is that the new transfer student?"
"She looks so….odd."
"What is another commoner doing here?"
"Should I even ask her name?"
To that, she had answers.
Yes, she was quite aware that she had transferred from her home in America. Why was she here? Well, if you had asked her, she would probably laugh and touch the gems at her throat, saying that she wanted to experience the culture. If you were looking for more, a wry smile would come your way. "Better that some things are left unsaid, yes _-san?"
Yes, she was still getting used to the suffixes. Yes, she knew she was odd. Everyone else here had on the same uniform. The girls had natural hair and perfectly slanted eyes, with pale skin and rosy undertones. All of them were docile and absolutely hung on the affection of men. Never women, though. Loathe as she were to admit it, Japan did not have any good policies toward their LGBTQ+ community.
That wasn't to say America had been the best, either, as each country had their upsides and downsides, but….oh, who was she kidding? Politics and political correctness made her head spin. Having to justify singular comments was tedious. Why couldn't she just say what she needed to say and be done with it?
Er, anyway….she was a different story. She was built wide, with curves that were sometimes in the right spot, sometimes not. Her bust filled out, but no such luck with her hips, and, well…..she was…..fat. Some would say chubby, but when describing herself, fat had always seemed like a better descriptor.
Especially when you've been called fat so many times. Truth hurts, doesn't it?
She bit back a frown at her own snark, reminding herself that these people can't throw anything at her that she hadn't seen before. Keeping her eyes fixed on the space in front of her, she went back to describing herself, allowing her feet to lead her where she needed to go. It was a nice coping mechanism, at the least.
Her friends would call her pretty, perhaps anyone would, actually. She wasn't sure. Her face was round, and yes, if she looked down, she had a double chin. However, her eyes were a nice, calming shade of blue, like the sky after a storm. She'd always taken a liking to her eyes, even if nothing else. Her hair, which had been pulled into a tight bun - do you know how long it takes with thick hair? - was a shade of honey brown that no one could quite place until they'd seen it in person, interwoven with a red tint at the end.
That was courtesy of Kool-Aid in her sixth-grade year, and she'd really kept it ever since.
Though she was no true Ouran student - she was here on a scholarship, after all - she was dressed as nicely as she could. A white blouse was tucked into a pair of navy blue slacks, meeting somewhere near her torso's midsection. Said blouse was a button-up and had a nice collar. She'd considered a tie but thought that would be a little too much, because of, well….femininity. A pair of white, lacy flats finished her outfit, along with a gem necklace hidden carefully under her shirt.
Her name was Carine Arrowsmith. She was a second-year transfer, in class 2-A. And she was going to be fine. She was going to carve out a life for herself. No one was going to break her. She was going to be fine.
Her feet had led her to the receptionist's office after their drumming on the ground, and she quickly bowed, introducing herself politely and being led to her classroom. The teacher waited outside, and she was quick to make a good impression on him as well. Carine had the feeling that she would need it later down the line, and she'd long since learned to trust her gut.
The bell rang, and with it came the time for introductions. Letting out a deep breath, Carine did what she did when she had to go onstage.
She let herself slip into character.
The smile on her face was polite, yet it showed none of her teeth. She wrote her name on the board with care, making sure that the strokes of her kanji were nothing less than perfect. Everything had to be perfect.
She bowed deeply to the class, a clear sign of submission, though her skin was prickling at the thought of submitting to these….rich people.
"My name is Arrowsmith, Carine. It is a pleasure to meet all of you, and I do hope that we have a nice year as classmates and comrades."
Her voice was smooth, even. Elegant. Just as she'd practiced this morning. Her heart raced at a mile a minute, but she stood up, noting the whispers starting to sprout.
"The commoner looks kind of nice, don't you think? Even though she's….like that."
"Is she really American? You can't get that good at Japanese overnight."
"Doesn't matter to me. She's lower than I am, so I don't really need to associate with her."
"She kinda seems like a bitch, though….like she's all fake."
"Maybe we should ask her about America! Is it really like in the movies, Koko-chan?"
Still, the smile hadn't twitched. Though she was a student, Carine was also a showman, through and through. Her teacher gave a somewhat impressed smile at her mannerisms, directing her to her seat.
It was right behind a rather odd looking duo. They were a bit like night and day. One was blonde, with violet eyes, and seemed to hone in on her rather intently. The other had raven hair and eyes obscured by glasses. He, like the majority of people, were paying her no attention as she walked to her seat.
Oof….alright. That's the first time down. She thought, taking out her things for notes.
Class seemed to fly by, and although her ability to read Japanese and process what she was hearing at the same time was shaky, Carine knew what the teacher had been going over. Review of their syllabus from yesterday and a start on the material, it seemed. Good, it was only the second day, but she expected nothing less.
As the bell rang and teachers packed their things to get to their next room, students began to chatter, some even leaving the room to use the restroom or do god-knows-what-else. Before she could get up to stretch, however, a red rose was shoved in her face.
She slowly blinked. Then once more. Apparently, something had been said, and her eyes shifted their focus from the petals of the rose to the person behind them. It was the blonde from earlier who had been watching, except for now, he continued to do so. Charm rolled off of him in waves.
Why was he paying attention to her again? Distantly, she heard him say something but froze. However, she couldn't play stiff forever….not if she wanted to impress everyone. She worked her features into a polite expression despite the heat that had involuntarily taken over her cheeks, and tried again, gently taking the rose from where it was between his fingers. "Pardon me?"
In a way, he reminded her of a golden retriever as he spoke, words carefully laced with charm as he kissed the back of her hand. "I was just asking what Ouran did to be granted with a beautiful rose such as yourself, miss."
She could feel the flush grow on her face. Oh, god. Why did her inner romantic have to come out now? And why did this guy want to flirt with her? Had someone paid him off? Was this just some kind of elaborate prank?
A semi-genuine smile grew on her face at the compliment even still as she replied smoothly. "Oh, there's no need to go that far, but thank you. I think the true blessing to Ouran is yourself."
His face colored somewhat, though his eyes betrayed him. Confusion, shock, and…..amusement? Did no one ever flirt back? Oh, was that also a custom she hadn't read up on? Realistically, the girls were probably too enamored to even keep their wits about them. But Carine needed control, and there was no better way to give a character control than to turn the tables.
Sort of like…..Phoenix Wright. The Turnabout Terror. Her inner self let out a sigh - she really did want to play those games again soon.
"Arrowsmith-hime, you don't need to waste your words like that, because we both know that your beauty and excellence holds no bounds."
Shit, he was good, wasn't he? Distantly, she thought it sounded like something a manga character would be inclined to say. How cute. After a moment, a retort formed.
"While I can't say that I know your name, I can assure you that your kindness and handsome nature is something I won't ever be able to beat. In fact, you are more fitting of this rose than me." The rose was extended back to him, and he did genuinely seem shocked this time, even on the surface. A smile rose to her face.
"Souh, Tamaki." He said in response, taking it from her grasp.
"Pardon me?"
"My name." He said, glancing to her. Carine resisted the urge to slap her own forehead. Of course. Duh. She did no such thing, however, instead keeping herself poised.
"Well, Souh-san….it was nice talking with you. Though perhaps we could do without the flirting next time, seeing as how I beat you." She taunted, heart racing at the gamble she was taking. On one hand, he could be extremely offended that she was taunting him, but on the other….maybe he had respect for her.
Something close to anticipation seemed to run through his expression. "I happen to think that you got lucky."
She looked down. "Hm, if only that would happen more often."
Carine was rewarded with a quiet chuckle at that, and he turned around. His seatmate seemed to take a newfound interest in her, however, studying her. His eyes were gray, but they were calculating. Slow.
….Was he offended now? The other guy didn't seem to be, but then again, they were quite close - oooh, saucy - and might have gotten offended on his friend's behalf.
Funny. When she'd said that to the team last year, they just laughed, but she wasn't putting it past Japan to have that be an actual thing.
He said nothing, only placing a card on her desk. She quirked her eyebrows but nodded at him. He nodded back and turned around, leaving her to turn the card over in her fingers. Upon reading the text, a pit settled in her stomach. The kanji was perfect, but the message left something to be desired in terms of connotations.
Come to Music Room 3 after school. We think you could fit in nicely with our club.
Carine rolled her shoulders as she stood in front of the doors to the third music room. She'd been hearing whispers all day; some had seen her scene with the blonde - Tamaki, she mentally corrected herself - and liked it, while others seemed to skirt around her. For what reason, she couldn't tell, but all she'd been hearing was the phrase "host club." Carine figured it was just an exaggeration, though.
These girls were too dramatic for it to be anything else. Right?
Either way, the one time she asked about it, the girls had skirted around the topic and giggled, telling her that she'd just have to go see it for herself.
The overweight girl pushed the doors open, thinking to herself. She did always like the phrase "skirted." She could probably make some fantasy use out of that - maybe enchanted skirts? Oh, or a dystopia where women were the ones in power and -
Her thoughts promptly stopped, however, when a swirl of petals came from the door, along with seven voices.
"Welcome!"
A/N: Woah, it's wild to fall back into this fandom!
Don't get me wrong, I don't think I ever left. But, I was also on an Ace Attorney binge until earlier this week, so what is there to do except insert my OC's in *everything?*
Kidding, kidding. I do happen to hold a certain fondness for Carine's character, though, and I really hope I'm doing her justice. I wonder what will happen next? What's this proposition of theirs?
Thank you for reading, and if you enjoyed, Kudos, Bookmarks, and some comments are highly appreciated!