CHAPTER 1: PRETTY LITTLE SECRET

"Is there any place here I can be alone?" A girl walking down a long corridor thought.

"That's all I want, and I never seem to get it. As usual."

The corridor was beautiful, from a high ceiling with painted pictures to huge windows from the ceiling to the floor. The windows had the light shine in on the floor, making nice yellow-white squares, so the hallway didn't need lights. In fact, not just the corridor was beautiful, the whole gigantic school was. But this girl didn't seem to notice – or care. Her expressionless eyes were focused straight ahead.

She was at Ouran High School, for the super rich and beautiful, but she wasn't wearing the typical outfit for young ladies at Ouran – a yellow, puffy dress. Instead, she was wearing a long sleeved pink shirt with black embroidery, a black scarf that covered the embroidery, and tan pants with scraggly black shoes, all which seemed too small for her. Not something the super rich and beautiful would wear, you would think.

"Stop being so selfish. No one gets everything they want."

Then, the girl spotted a sign.

"Hmmm… an unused music room. I can be alone here," the girl thought. She didn't seem to talk out loud much. She opened the door and stepped inside.

The lights were so bright at first, but the girl didn't squint. Rose petals came flying from all directions, yet the girl's eyes still lacked emotion.

"Welcome," several people said at the same time.

Then they appeared as the lights dimmed down slightly. Seven boys dressed in historical clothes were smiling.

"Sorry," the girl said so quietly you could barely hear it.

Then she turned to leave.

"Oh," said a tall blond one. "A newcomer. Stay."

Then all the boys together said, "We're the High School Host Club!"

"What's your name?" Asked the blond one.

"Mai," the girl replied.

"Oh, are you new here?" He asked.

Then, a black-haired boy with glasses spoke up.

"Yes." He said, opening his black notebook.

"She's a scholarship student who just arrived at Ouran Academy today. She's a freshman, like Haruhi. And what brings you here? Did you hear about the club?"

"I was just looking for a place to uh… be alone." Her eyes – still expressionless.

"Oh really?" The blond boy asked, but it didn't really sound like a question.

Then he got close to Mai and reached out to touch her face, but stopped when he heard a loud noise. Mai had dropped her books. Then the boy bent down to pick them up; after Mai, who had already bent down to pick them up, fixing her scarf so it still covered the embroidery on her shirt. When the blond boy bent down, she quickly stood up and backed away. She wasn't used to having boys so close. It was strange that this whole time, her eyes, her face, her body, told nothing. Everything about her showed no emotion. She kept backing up, and then tripped on something and fell backwards. Her back hit something and she spun around. Everyone was watching as a blue vase tipped over and began to fall. Mai leaned over the wooden stand it was just on and grabbed for it. One finger barely touched it as it hit the floor and smashed into pieces. Then two red hair boys who looked exactly alike stood on each side of Mai and said, "Aww… that's the second one broken out of four. You'll just have to pay eight million yen for it."

Then, the boy with glasses said, "She's a scholarship student, remember? This feels awfully familiar."

"Jeez," said the twins in sync. "Yeah. Creepy."

Then the blond one said, "Guess what Mai? Haruhi here did the same thing not too long ago when she first came to Ouran."

He pointed to a boy with brown hair and brown eyes. Then the blond one looked at the boy with glasses.

"Kyouya, what should we do? The same thing as Haruhi? But we already know she's a girl."

Kyouya asked Mai, "Has anyone seen you in this school yet?"

"I didn't have any classes yet." She answered just as quietly as the time she talked before.

"It might still work, Tamaki." Kyouya said to the blond one.

"Alright! Mai, you are in dept now because you probably can't pay for the vase, right?" She nodded.

"You'll be a host from now on. Do you mind dressing like a boy?" She shook her head no.

"Haruhi's a girl, too. All the students here think she's a boy. She's your age too." He added, even though it didn't really matter. Kyouya loved adding in extra facts to make him seem smarter than he actually was (but he still was practically a genius).

"Kyouya, go get a hair dresser! We'll cut it short."

Mai's brown hair was already short, but it seemed to be cut sloppily, like she cut it herself. Tamaki examined her a little close, but not as close as before because he knew how she reacted. But of course, Tamaki thought it was just because of his good looks. Little did he know…..

Tamaki looked shocked for a moment when he noticed all the scars on Mai's face, but he quickly recovered and didn't say anything.

"Hikaru, Karou, go get a men's uniform for Mai!"

The red haired twins took off. They must be Hikaru and Karou.

"Haruhi, go get the tea ready. The ladies will be here soon. Then you can give Mai instructions. Honey-sempai, go get the cake."

"Yes sir!" said the shortest one, who was holding a pink bunny. He looked about 4 or 5 years old.

"Me and Usa-chun will get right to it." Then he took off.

So, Honey-sempai was the short blond one, and Usa-chun was his bunny. The only one left standing was a tall, black - haired one, who looked very strong. Mai finally got a good glimpse at the muscular one. She had a flash of emotion go across her face, but it was gone as soon as it came.

"Mori-sempai, go check the roster and change Mai's name to Mao. Mai is a girl's name, so all the girls will know her secret if we call her by her real name." Mori-sempai took off without a word.

Kyouya said, "Mai, come with me."

They walked into a different room, and it was designed like a hair dressers. Only the teacher, Kyouya, and Mai were in the room.

"Can we have it cut a little neater?" Kyouya asked, pointing to Mai's hair.

"Of course," the teacher said. "Just wait outside while I get the tools ready."

Kyouya and Mai walked outside. Kyouya closed the door, looked around, and then looked into Mai's expressionless brown eyes.

"When you bent down to pick up your books earlier, I noticed your embroidery on your shirt. I know where you're from."

"Oh ple-''

Kyouya interrupted her. "That scarf's not yours, is it? Where'd you find it?"

"On the way upstairs," Mai whispered.

"You might want to bring it to the lost and found. I can tell you where it is."

"Ok. But please, can I ask you something?" Mai said urgently and somehow gently at the same time. "I don't ask much favors and I don't really know you… but please… can you not tell anyone where I'm from? I don't like people knowing."

"Of course," Kyouya said with a smile. "I won't tell anyone your secret…yet."