Summary: AU, of course. Keiko Yamazaka is put into Ouran for her last year of high school, and the anti-social young woman dreads it. However, she is greeted by two classmates, Mori and Hunny, and her normal attitude is quickly pushed aside thanks to them. MoriOC.
Warning: Nothing yet...I don't think there'll be anything. Some language?
Disclaimer: Don't own Ouran. Own OCs and plot!
I'd like to thank Rising Black Rose for her beta-ing and comments! I finally began reading Ouran, and instantly loved it. So now, a MoriOC fic! I hope everyone enjoys it, as it's the first in this genre I've done. Hope everyone's in-character - Hunny is actually hardest for me, as I continue to write...What annoys me is I'll look at my stats, and there'll be all these hits, and no reviews. (cries)
Please review. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.
"Oh, crap, I'm going to be late!" Keiko moaned, rushing around her room and promptly walking into her dresser. "Damn it…stupid…friggin'…thing!" she hissed, rubbing her head and continuing to mutter under her breath. "Just my luck – I'm going to have a bruise my first day of stupid school," she sighed, finally gathering her composure and pulling hair back with the uniform ribbon. "And these…these…uniforms!" she groaned, having yet another cause for distress. The dress was the new bane of her life – the eighteen year-old had nothing personal against it.
It just stood for what was most wrong with her life at the moment.
Correction. She did indeed have nothing personal against it.
She loathed it, and begrudged it it's very existence.
"Are you almost done, Keiko-chan?" Nishi called through the door, sounding worried. "That's an awful lot of bumping in there…"
"I'm…fine," the young woman managed rather-calmly, trying not to take it out on her maid. "Just tell Masaru-san I'll be down in a minute, all right? And have something for me to eat on the way there!" she called, realizing she still hadn't eaten breakfast. Her stomach reminded her rudely, and she glared down. "Oh, shut up!"
Standing completely still amidst the ruin that was the space formally known as Bedroom, Keiko took a deep breath and held it for several moments before she had to exhale with a 'woosh'. Thinking that it would help, she was disappointed when it did nothing, and shook her head to get rid of the lightheadedness that inevitably accompanied doing that.
"Keiko-chan!" the older woman shouted from downstairs, and the young woman groaned – again.
"All right, all right!" she shouted back, grabbing her bag and racing out of the room, tripping one last time, this time over her carpet. Taking a moment to kick at in annoyance, Keiko quickly sobered when she reached the bottom of the stairs, the fear of a strange school looming over her. Momentarily distracted by her excursions, she wished she was back in bed and not heading out the door.
Hey! What the hell was she doing walking out the door already?
"Would you two stop doing that?" she demanded, addressing her feet. Nishi and Masaru, who were used to her behavior, only rolled their eyes as Nishi shoved a bag into her mistress' hands.
"Here, lunch," she told the young woman. "And don't worry, you'll be fine," she added with a smile, waving as Keiko reluctantly climbed into the backseat of the car, looking grim. The two employees exchanged knowing glances before Masaru got into the car as well, and Nishi waved to them as they drove away.
"Are you feeling all right, Keiko-chan?" the elderly man asked, not bothering to look over his shoulder at her, knowing she was miserable.
"My last year of high school, and she decides I have to change," she muttered, glaring out the window.
"You'll get wrinkles if you keep frowning so much," he commented, and she snorted.
"Hmph."
"I'm sure you'll do fine, Keiko-chan," he assured her, and his words soothed her slightly.
"You think so?" she asked hopefully, and he nodded.
"As long as you don't offend anyone."
"I'm doomed!"
"I'll put on some music," he said mildly, turning up one of the CDs to drown out her moaning. Keiko shot him a dirty look, her heart not really in it, but nevertheless, she was pissed. Starting a new school was bad enough – but in her last year, just to satisfy some woman's delusions, was even worse.
"At least Dad's gone on business again," she sighed in relief, glad she wouldn't have to worry about her father in the midst of her anxiety attacks.
"Aw, man…" Keiko moaned softly, her back stiffening at the sight of so many strangers.
"No playing sick and coming home, either," Masaru scolded her, and she narrowed her eyes dangerously before trying to rush back in the car. The old man was on to her, however, and pulled away before she could grab the handle and latch on.
"I'll get you for that, old man," she swore under her breath, and turned around slowly to stare at the school with dread in her eyes. Everything seemed too big, too crowded, too…just too. "Too much, maybe?" she thought, grudgingly heading up the steps into the building. Despite being born into a wealthy family, whose business spanned several countries and involved automobiles – she wasn't too sure about that bit – Keiko had been raised with 'old-fashioned' values, and disliked any display of wealth. Sighing again – something she realized she was going to be doing a lot today – she looked around anxiously for her class, fearing the prospect of approaching someone and asking them.
"I'm sorry," she said meekly, almost twenty minutes late for class because she was unable to find it. She stood in front of the students, thoroughly humiliated, and felt resentment building up inside of her. "If someone had helped me, instead of everyone laughing because I was lost, maybe I would've been here on time," she thought spitefully, but there was absolutely no way she was going to say that. Taking the lecture with a bitter swallow of pride, wishing – praying – she had a backbone, she regretfully thought of the school's offer of a tour before classes started, something she had declined, feeling foolish.
"Oooh…if I could just kick myself!" she thought, slinking to her seat, too embarrassed to look at anyone else. Slouching down in a very un-ladylike manner, she buried her face behind the textbook and quickly scanned the parts she had missed, grateful she was able to read quickly. Catching up was easy, and she followed the rest of the lesson without incident, eternally grateful nothing else happened that brought attention to her that morning.
Almost.
She made it until there was just ten minutes before lunch, when her stomach – again – reminded her she had neglected it that morning. Only this time, it was loud enough to send titters through her female comrades, and grins by the male species. Turning a bright red, Keiko tried for a small laugh and grin, but ended up sounding like she was choking and grimacing. Groaning, she tried to slink lower and realized if she went any lower, she'd end up on the floor. Reluctantly sitting up a little straighter, she hunched over instead, desperately wanting it to be lunchtime so she could escape the hell that is high school.
"I'm an idiot!" she cried, sitting inside a bathroom stall and trying not to start sobbing. "This sucks," she managed before her voice cracked dangerously. Swallowing thickly and shaking her head, she creeped out to the sinks and rinsed her face off with cold water before heading into the hall, wandering where she was going to eat. Having no idea what to do, she followed a group of students and found herself in the cafeteria, to her great and joyous relief.
Looking around nervously, she didn't see any empty tables – not even in the corners – and hedged into a seat on the far end of a table, several seats away from a small group of people. Hunched over her lunch and trying not to inhale it and choke, Keiko watched the group with sidelong looks, a little envious.
"I don't see why someone can't say hello," she thought ruefully, wishing she could get the courage to go and introduce herself to them instead. Knowing it was a futile battle against her nature, she quickly gave up and resigned herself to being alone, remembering her friends at her old school fondly. She hadn't had many – two – but they were close, with several other people who often joined them, and were people she felt comfortable around and was able to be herself with. Unfortunately, around strangers - and crowds of said strangers, the young woman absolutely froze, hating confrontations even with friends, and almost always found herself alone – unless someone approached her, which wasn't a guarantee of success either. It took her a long time to become comfortable with someone, and most people lost patience and misunderstood her quickly, something that she couldn't blame them for.
"If I met me, I'd smack myself silly," she thought despondently, picking at the remains of her lunch listlessly. Glancing around the cafeteria, several people caught her eye, but none of whom she even considered going up and talking to. Sighing at her food, Keiko stared at the clock, deciding to just slide away and head to class before the crowds formed to beat their teachers to the classrooms. Getting to her feet, she crumpled her bag into a ball and moved towards the trash, accidentally bumping a young man with her elbow.
"Oh, excuse me," she said quickly, averting her gaze in embarrassment. To her surprise, he didn't merely nod and brush it off, or something like that, but grabbed her own elbow in a tight grip. Glancing up at him, she winced when she saw his angry expression, blaming her luck for getting the person with anger-management issues.
"That's all?" he demanded. "Just because you're in class A, you think you're so much better than I am?"
"What? Oh, uh, no, of course not!" Keiko stammered, wondering how you could tell which class someone was from. He opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped when a tall figure shifted to their right, a blonde boy on his shoulder.
"Is something the matter?" the blonde one asked curiously, a stuffed rabbit in his hands.
"N-no, Haninozuko-senpai," the young man muttered, releasing her arm and stalking off.
"Ah, um, thank you…Haninozuko-san?" Keiko said, trying to remember his name. The boy grinned brightly at her from atop the dark-haired student's shoulders, and nodded.
"No problem! We're in the same class," he added, and she blinked in surprise before turning red, remembering her morning.
"I'm sorry, I guess I didn't notice you," she apologized, wondering how she could have missed the pair.
"It's okay – I'm Hunny, and this is Takashi. Everyone calls him Mori, though," the boy introduced them, and then glanced at his silent companion. "Takashi…"
"Hello," the tall one said briefly, glancing at her before looking around the room again.
"Nice to meet you – I'm Keiko," she replied, picking at the crumpled ball nervously. "Well, I have to get going – I have some things to catch up on, and…"
"We'll see you around!" Hunny waved, as she beat a hasty retreat from her two classmates. "She's pretty – but not as pretty as Haruhi," he added thoughtfully. "What do you think, Takashi?"
"Hn," he shrugged, not really having an opinion.
"Hear you got to play hero today, Mori!" Kaoru snickered as Hikaru elbowed the tall student, the group in the Third Music Room as usual. "Nice!"
"All Takashi did was stand there," Hunny told them with a grin. "He looked great! And the girl – Keiko – looked kinda scared," he realized, frowning a little before grinning over at some girls, heading where the sweets were. Mori remained with the twins and glanced over as Tamaki, who had unfortunately heard, struck one of his poses and turned to Haruhi.
"Haruhi! Daddy wants to rescue you from yakuza sons!" he announced, and was met with a dry look.
"You're insane."
"So cold…" he moaned, slouched over in a corner.
"Get over it, milord," Hikaru said, completely lacking sympathy as usual. "Don't you have guests to entertain?"
"How was your day, Keiko-chan?" Masaru asked, as they headed back home. He was met with a painful groan and something muttered under her breath he decided to ignore, and glanced in the mirror to see her sprawled out on the seat pathetically. "Straight back and seatbelt on," he said calmly, and watched as she followed orders before grinning. "I'm sure it couldn't have been that bad."
"Oh yeah?" she replied in disbelief, and proceeded to relate the day's events to the man. He made sympathetic noises throughout, and when she was done, nodded.
"Well, at least you met two classmates," he offered, but Keiko was in no mood to look at anything positive.
"I want to go back," she complained, burying her head in her hands.
"Unfortunately, we can't," he reminded her. "You've no choice but to make the best of it. Now, cheer up – Sumiko-san is making your favorite dinner for everyone."
"Shabu-shabu?" Keiko asked, perking up at the mention of food.
"Yes indeed," he chuckled, and she smiled.
"I am hungry," she admitted, looking out the window and sighing.
"Mmm…tasty," Keiko mumbled through her food, happily finishing off a second helping. She glanced when Yasuo Muraoka, Sumiko's husband and main man of the employees, entered the room carrying his own dinner. "Yasuo-san? Is something wrong?" she asked, frowning a little. The couple, who were in their fifties, had served her family for years and had never breached any self-imposed boundaries between them – so it was very unusual for him to sit down without asking permission.
"Your father will be returning two days from now," he informed her, slowly beginning to eat his wife's cooking with relish. "His mother will be joining us for a short visit."
"What?" Keiko shrieked, unable to remain calm at this new bit of news. "Please tell me you're joking!" she begged, looking a bit green. Yasuo looked sympathetic, but shook his head.
"I apologize Keiko-san," he said, the only one to call her that. "I received the news while you were at school."
"Great," she grumbled, and glanced at him suspiciously. "Anything else? A plague of locusts – famine? I know! She's moving in with us!" she began, but her sarcastic comments ended with a shudder at the last idea. "Has mom called?" she asked quietly, staring at her empty plate, depressed.
"No, Keiko-san."
"I should go finish my schoolwork," she said despondently, getting up and slinking from the room, head hanging low.
"Poor girl," Nishi said with a sigh, clicking her tongue. She and the other two had been hiding in the kitchen, and heard the entire conversation without any semblance of shame. The woman was only thirty-two, and the youngest person employed by Keiko's father. "You'd think after a year she'd realize her mother threw her away like a dirty towel."
"Nishi!" Sumiko scolded, smacking the woman on the arm. "You shouldn't say such things!"
"It's true!" the woman protested. "After that messy divorce, it was obvious she wasn't getting anything. So she remarried and left Keiko, who was just holding her back!"
"Or so she said."
"I never said that!" Nishi huffed, folding her arms while sulking. "It's not my fault their marriage went down the tubes. At least business is still prosperous for him."
"Yes," Masaru nodded in agreement, a bit sadly. "Her mother was actually quite nice, until Yamazaka-sama forbade any engagement without Keiko's knowledge."
"Who was it again?" Nishi asked curiously, but they both shrugged, while Yasuo grunted, still sitting at the table.
"An upstart young man from a lesser family," he informed them sternly. "Yamazaka-sama was quite right in divorcing his wife after that incident. It was hardly in Keiko's best interests."
"Poor girl – an adult, and still treated like a child," Nishi sighed. "It would be much better if he didn't let his mother rule them both. Keiko-chan is going to be trampled by that woman."
"Not if I have any say in the way things run in this house," Sumiko said sternly, gripping her ladle as if it were a weapon. The other servants, well aware of the filial situation in the household, nodded emphatically.
"It figures," Keiko muttered, having changed into her flannel pajama pants and black T-shirt, and sitting on her bed with schoolbooks strewn across the room. Nishi had, along with some help, straightened her room somewhat, which left nice open spaces for the books to fill. Glancing at her dresser, she narrowed her eyes at the family portrait, and jumped up to slam it face-down.
"First school – and now her," she continued, scribbling down answers to the textbook. "Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. I can't escape. This sucks – way sucks," she complained, and fell silent as she concentrated on her work. Glaring a hole into the poor, though not innocent, book, almost another hour passed before she was done, and she slammed the books shut with a sigh of relief.
"Are you going to bed early tonight, Keiko-chan?" Nishi called through the door, subtly reminding Keiko of her poor decision the night before to stay up late and sleep in, causing that morning's distress.
"Yes, Nishi, I am," Keiko replied, and waited for the footsteps to fade away before opening the door and heading towards the bathroom, her sock-wearing feet padding over the carpet. Moving across the hallway only dredged up painful memories, as pictures of her remarried mother were still hanging on the walls. Keiko had decided that since her father was hardly home, much less in the upper level that she had taken over, he had neglected to have them removed, and made a mental note to ask Nishi to have them taken down – something she instantly decided against in the next moment.
"Tomorrow will be better," she announced to the mirror with determination, and then giggled at how ridiculous she looked, with toothpaste lining her mouth like foaming rabies. Spitting and rinsing, she retuned to her room just as quietly, trying not to disturb anyone else in the house, and wanting to be left alone.
"I hope tomorrow will be better," Keiko amended, crawling underneath her covers, before remembering her books. Groaning, she dragged herself out of the bed to shove her items back into her schoolbag, and then clicked the alarm on before getting back into the bed, pausing for a moment to make sure she wouldn't have to leave it again that night. Satisfied she was fine, she rolled over and fell asleep, completely exhausted from the day's events.
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