A/N: Product of boredom that I wrote and forgot about. Please review!

I'll never forget the first time I opened the door of the third music room, and I doubt its occupants will either.

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My name is Clarissa Jane Chandler, or CJ. I was a scholarship student, half-English and half-Japanese, trying my best to survive this ridiculous school so I could have a better chance of being accepted to the college of my dreams. I wanted to become a poet and a writer, and it seemed like a reachable goal. I was good with numbers and money, not a genius and not the best, but good. I never got less than a B+ in math because I studied long and hard. English came easily to me, I love history, I've got a flair for art –especially painting in an impressionist style, or with watercolors- and astronomy is one of my hobbies. It's the other areas of science that confuse me, so I always study hardest in math and especially science, because a lot of science confuses me so badly I get a mix of Bs and Cs. I've never failed anything though, a fact my parents were always proud of. Their pride couldn't help wearing off on me. I won every poetry contest I entered and magazines published several of my short stories. I was the top in my class with history and art, and a good student in math. Science could be overlooked with these accomplishments, especially since I got good marks on all essays and research papers I wrote for science class.

As good of a student as I was, it wasn't all studying. I have a love for martial arts and other kinds of physical combat. I applied the same methods of studying and earned my black belt at the age of fifteen. I was tomboyish by nature and fighting provided an outlet for stress and helped with writer's block and the general need I had for a physical hobby to contrast with my studying.

How I ended up in a cathedral-like pink school is all the fault of my Uncle –mom's sister's husband- Soto Hideki. He saw an article in the paper about another scholarship student and immediately thought of me. So my dad, Warren Chandler, and my mom, Shinju Chandler, agreed to send me to Japan if I was accepted into the school. I was and they made arrangements for me to live in the same building as my aunt and uncle. I got my own apartment because there was no room in their apartment for me.

I was happy to go to Ouran High School, but I didn't want to leave my family. I have a little brother and sister and friends in England, and I would be away, on another continent! Benny encouraged me to make the move to Japan because he's less emotionally inclined than anyone I know. He doesn't think highly of martial arts either, and we're constantly arguing with each other. Ella, the youngest, tried everything to get me to stay but I wanted the independence the move promised. My mother and father would send me money every month to help pay the rent and groceries, but I would probably have to find a job. My uncle promised to look into it and found a dojo where I could help teach the younger children twice a week, and said I could always run errands for the builders he worked with.

And so I made the move. I had a week to get settled and then I had to start going to school. I couldn't wait.

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"I hate this bloody place." I whispered under my breath in English. I was surrounded by giggling girls dressed in yellow dresses so poofy they got caught in doorways, and guys who weren't much better and had egos the size of the school itself. The building looked more like a fairy castle than a school, and annoyed me to no end as I kept on getting lost. Star student I may be, but I didn't have an inner compass and usually just carried a map around with me that I had drawn myself. It didn't do much to help.

I exited the room I was in and tried to find a way outside for a breath of fresh air. I had a study hall but the libraries were crowded with the people who didn't care about studying. Social people, talking to their friends. It wasn't much different in the halls. I wondered where the people who were at the top of the class went to study. I had yet to see them in the library, but they had to study somewhere. I latched onto this new idea and decided to stalk the best student in my class tomorrow. I made my way outside and breathed deeply. I decided to study out there like I had been doing for the past week, when a teacher caught me. She let me go with a warning, since I was new, and escorted me back to the library where I did my best to shut the noise out and focus on my work.

After school I caught a bus and then walked the rest of the way home, where I switched to my motorcycle. My bike was seldom used because my uncle gets nervous when I use it, but I wasn't going to stop by his work today, so I dusted the sear off and climbed on.

My motorcycle was old but had a new paint job of blue-green and black dragon detail that sparkled in the sun. The hubcaps were missing and I never had time to do more than wash it, so the unpainted parts looked crappy and the seat was bound tightly with dirty cloth strips to stop the padding from flying off. I turned the key and rode out past all of the different apartment buildings and down so many roads I was barely able to remember how to get to the old warehouse.

Ryou's gang met here. Ryou was the first friend I made since I moved. He caught sight of me sparring at the dojo, when he came by to drop off some borrowed weaponry, and invited me to join his gang. His gang gets in a lot of street fights and such, and they're sometimes involved in minor crime, but they usually stick to fighting. They're a pretty small gang so they can't get in too much trouble because they don't have enough members. They all have aliases, even me. There I am Yuka, but Ryou knows my real name. As long as I'm not involved in crime, the alias isn't needed, but I don't want people showing up at Ouran.

Most of the gang knew me by then. I was one of the few people talking with an English accent and proudly sporting red hair. If you passed me by in the street, you would assume I was Japanese with dyed hair, but after hearing me speak you'd know I was a foreigner.

Most of the warehouse was furnished in shabby furniture and the walls were covered in graffiti. Ryou had paid only the best artists to decorate his hangout. At the far end was a metal fence square, called "the Cage", that we used for one-on-one indoor matches. A group of guys and a few girls were gathered around and they cheered loudly for the fighter they had placed bets on. A TV was against the northern wall and a few guys were clustered around there, or on the couch, intensely staring at a sports game on the screen. Across the room there was a former gym bench where a few girls were sitting and a liquor-covered table as a makeshift bar.

"Yuka-chan, welcome back!" One of the girls called. She got up and I saw from the dim light reflected in her dyed-silver hair that it was Sakura, Ryou's girlfriend. Of course, Sakura was not her real name, just like Ryou was not Ryou's name.

"Ah, Sakura-chan. Yuka is here today, then?" Said one of the guys I hadn't noticed before. I could tell from the voice that it was Ryou's best friend and second-in-command, Ken. He stepped out from the darkest corner where he had been fiddling around with a motor.

"Ken-kun! Sakura-chan! It's so good to see you both again!" I said. "Where's Ryou?"

"Oh, hey, Yuka-chan. Be there in a sec." Called Ryou from his seat on the couch. He was watching TV with the other guys. I walked over to where Sakura was and sat down. I didn't know many of the girl's names, just a few, and I said hello to them while Ken came over and started talking with me. We both liked to tinker with motors and engines, but he was better at it than I was. He was studying to be a mechanic, and had joined the gang to support his best friend. Once the gang started getting serious Ken planned on leaving to become a mechanic, although he would offer his services to his former gang at anytime.

"Sorry, Yuka. How was school?" Ryou teased as he finally came over. Most of the gang had graduated high school and since Ryou found out about Ouran, he never stopped teasing me about it, although he did so without letting it on because he was just a discreet guy. Discreetly annoying.

"Great. Are you still losing at the bets?" Sakura, Ken, and the girls laughed with me as Ryou protested.

"Yuka! That's not fair! Just because you have some luck at cards."

I laughed. "Luck? Set the table out and find me a deck. This is not luck. It's skill." Ryou snapped his fingers and with a whoop the guys who had previously been glued to the TV took one of the folding tables from their stack against the wall. Folding chairs were produced from the same location. Within five minutes, two tables pushed together to form a square were flanked with Ken, Ryou, Sakura, two other guys, and me. Sakura was sitting next to Ryou as an observer but anyone else who wanted to watch had to stand around us.

"Blackjack. He deals." Ryou said, pointing to one of the guys I didn't know. I smiled; blackjack was my best game. I was as good as most in poker, except I knew when to quit. I had a peculiar luck for blackjack, and always seemed to get good cards.

We placed our bets. I turned over the ones I was dealt and saw I had a ten and a nine. A quick glance in his direction told me Ken had horrible cards. Whatever he was thinking was always written on his face, unlike Ryou. As I looked at him he smiled knowingly and put his cards back down on the table. No help there.

"Hit me." He said to the dealer.

"Fold." Said Ken as he scooted his chair back with a frustrated sigh.

"I'll stay." I said.

"Uh..." The guy next to me said. I glanced at him and saw him looking from his cards to the dealer. "Stay." He finally said. The dealer gave himself a card. Next round Ryou and I didn't drawn anymore cards. The other guy decided he was going to try for a bigger number due to some sudden spurt of courage most likely caused by the girl who had taken a sudden interest in him and was draping her arms around his neck and whispering encouraging words to him. When he got an eight, she left him with a sigh of disgust. The dealer was still satisfied with his cards and glanced smugly at us. Next round we were the only ones left. Ryou turned over his cards to reveal a queen and a seven. The dealer had an ace, a six, and a king. I won with my ten and nine, and Ryou groaned.

"How do you do it, Yuka?" I shrugged.

"Dunno. Poker?" They agreed and a few more chairs were drawn up. This time Sakura played with us. I played three games and then called quits, and left with a small profit that would be just enough for me to pick up some sushi on the way home.

It was dusk by the time I got back. I would have stayed at the gang's hideout longer if I didn't have homework. Sundown was when the real fun began. I left my bike in my parking spot, unlocked the door, and turned on the TV. I always listened to TV while doing homework, even though I couldn't stand noise most of the time, having the TV turned on low somehow made me focus stronger on my work and I finished faster. I guess my brain blocked out the noise with an intensity that rubbed off into my studying. It was something I'd have to ask a scientist.

After I was done I turned the TV up and watched a few episodes of an anime called "Death Note" while I ate sushi. Then it was time for bed. I turned on my alarm and soon I was fast asleep under the covers.

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I hid behind a pillar as I watched Ootori walk quickly up stairs and through hallways. Several times I had almost lost him but when I turned around I caught sight of his back quickly disappearing somewhere into Ouran.

Suddenly, he stopped. I ducked into a doorway and stuck my head out to see him open a door and close it in the same hurried manner. As soon as I was sure he was gone I walked towards it. I put my hand on the doorknob and pressed my ear to the door. I couldn't really hear anything. I backed up and looked at the sign above the door. Music room number three. I had only heard voices, not music, coming from the room. I gave the door a final look over and saw a few rose petals lying on the ground, smushed by my feet. Weird.

Finally, I decided I would just have to try it. Ootori wasn't the only smart one in class missing from the libraries, so there must be other places the students can run off to. If I was unwelcome here, maybe I'd be welcome at one of the other study-places. I grasped the handle and turned, and a white light temporarily blinded me as something that tasted bitter landed in my mouth. As I regained my sight I saw a barrage of rose petals coming towards me.

"Ahh! Attack of the rose petals!" I immediately yelled without thinking, in English, then cursed myself for not keeping quiet. I even had my hands up in a fighting stance.

As the petals drifted towards the ground I looked to see a group of seven boys all dressed like… cowboys? Staring at me, open-mouthed. I stared back.