Chapter One
Disclaimer: As you should by now already know, the romantic comedy known as Ouran High School Host Club is none of my work. The elements involved rightfully belongs to Bisco Hatori. However, the homely and reclusive Ren Ichihara will forever be mine.
". . . this can't be it."
A girl pulled her head out of the dim room and shut the door closed. She could feel her face crumble as she quietly stood before the tall entrance. Tilting her head up, she read the sign above the door out loud.
"Second Music Room," Her brows pressed together. "Second . . . Music Room," She repeated once again with pursed lips and eyes drifting down to the paper in her hand. She skimmed through each paragraph for any source of name about the correct room she was supposed to report. When nothing useful caught her eyes, the girl wearily closed them and retreated to her memory as a final option. After one minute, an aggravated sigh passed through her lips. To her great disappointment, she could not remember.
"This is ridiculous." She groaned as she continued down the corridor, not liking how this was leading her toward a dead end. "How many music rooms does this school have?"
A pair of two students turned the corner. They walked in her direction as she searched for the correct music room since the First and Second Music Rooms were both empty. Once they spotted her, they immediately stopped dead in their tracks and stared at her oddly. Their eight hundred dollar bronze tan was a complete waste when their skin turned shockingly pale.
Although the girl frightened many people, the normal reaction for this would to wonder why; however, the entering freshman was not interested. There was no reason to be. She already had a fixed idea why they were terrified of her. Thinking it would never end - the scared expressions, the exchanging of words - she decided not to bother with the problem any longer and simply accept her fate by walking away, or in other situations run away.
She quickly passed by the two students, head lowered.
"School's almost over." She grumbled under her breath, looking up from her wrist watch. "I hope the teacher didn't assign any homework while I was away," she paused and with much annoyance added, "looking for a class ditcher."
She was missing out on the final lecture of the day, all because it was mandatory to find her assigned lab partner before school ended and inform him about everything that he missed in Biology class last period, as if the teacher's career was at stake.
She sighed. Things would be so much easier for me if I only knew what he looked like.
Out of all the days, why did he choose to be absent today . . . on her second day of school? It was almost like he already knew she wanted to complete a project that wasn't due until next month and purposely didn't go to class just to aggravate her. Well, mission accomplished, she thought glumly.
There was one thing she couldn't understand, and that was the help of another person to finish work. Everything would be perfectly fine if she was alone. She wouldn't be in the halls missing out on Literature class, or worrying if this lab partner was dependable enough to do his part of the job. Screw peer bonding! All she wanted was to pass her classes with a high average. Was that so much to ask for? Really. Now, this didn't mean she thought of herself greater than any other person. In truth, she had a very low self-esteem for a girl at the age of fifteen. She wore outfits that looked like a homeless lady put together - a long trench coat over a black shirt, over three more black shirts, over a pair of grey jeans and with her brown, beat-up sneakers that had once been white six or so years ago. The only reason she despised pairing up with someone was because she didn't know how to socialize. It was a nightmare. Awkward silence was the worst. But, even so, no one would want to be her partner anyway.
Like on days when she felt hopeless, she bowed her head, letting her long unkempt black hair slide over her shoulders. They curtain around her face. "I have no idea what to say when I do find him. He'll probably give me all the work to do like the others . . . Or plead the teacher for a different partner. That may take days."
Her lips curved into a frown when she remembered the promise she told herself this morning before going to school, and that was to not get behind in her studies. Her education depended on it. Nothing felt worse than knowing all of your hopes and dreams you've worked so hard for might go down the drain in one semester. She gulped, trying not to imagine the odds of that ever happening. Then again, none of this would be a problem if only everything went exactly as planned.
Ever since the beginning of the summer, her plan was to attend Kimagure High all four years of her high school life, and then apply for a good college during her fourth year. By becoming one of the top students in her class, and applying to many scholarships, and working part time in town, paying for tuition would be like a walk in the park. However, her aunt didn't think the same way. She had a different plan in store for her only niece.
"If only Mana-san did not feel my education was at risk, then maybe I wouldn't be in this snobbish school." She shook her head in disapproval at how her dear aunt kidnapped her from her parents. Literally.
Till this day her aunt doesn't consider her action as a "kidnap." That word was too harsh. She proudly referred to it as a "surprise adoption." The girl had to strongly disagree. When you wake up to an explosion going off somewhere in your parents house, a bag gets thrown over your head, and then you're carried out in the middle of the night - screaming at the top of your lungs - in your pajamas, out of everything that was completely insane. That was a straight up kidnap - according to crime investigators and the News.
After knowing their only daughter went missing, her parents turned to the police. Her face was all over the news with the title "Girl Kidnapped From Her House" by the next morning. Imagine the embarrassment. It took her aunt one phone call to straighten out the situation, putting an end to the community search.
The girl heaved a sigh. "Will she ever change her impulsive behavior?"
As far as she was concerned, she hadn't seen the last of her aunt's borderline bat-shit-crazy antics in action, or in the process of happening. It was almost too frightening to think about.
Pushing the disturbing thought to the back of her head, she slowly glanced up and found a set of double doors at the end of the hall. A sign above it read in clear cursive letters, Third Music Room.
"Another music room?" She checked the time on her watch. "If this is the right room, then I'll be able to catch the end of Lit. class." All signs of hopelessness vanished from her face as she hurried across the hall toward the grand white doors ahead.
The girl stopped before the Third Music Room. She placed a hand over the right door handle, exhaled, and turned it. To her surprise, the door automatically pushed itself open without her help. The minute that door slid open, she was greeted by dozens of red rose petals, swirling and gliding gracefully in her direction. She covered her eyes with her hands, not wanting the smaller petals to get caught in her eyes. In the back of her mind, she wondered if this normally happened. But the thought was lost as soon as she heard the most beautiful thing in the whole world.
"Welcome." Chimed the angelic voices.
Her body tensed.
Slowly, hesitant, she brought her hands down from her face. Her breath got caught in her throat when her gaze fell upon a group of boys. Time froze for a fraction of a second. Her eyes widen and her heart skipped three unhealthy beats. It wasn't until her head began to spin when she realized she wasn't breathing. She inhaled deeply, taking in much needed oxygen.
She knew now these were not your ordinary boys of Ouran Academy.
No, these boys were beautiful.
A/N: Hello, hello! First let me say this Ouran fanfic was inspired by the anime The Wallflower and by the wonderful bands Yellowcard, Guster, Beirut. Especially Death Cab For Cutie. If it weren't for these creative works of art then Strawberry Flavor would have never been born. Above all, please enjoy the story and the crazy events that will occur along the way.