Her second year is just beginning at the elite private academy, Ouran High School, and Haruhi has had an entire summer to clear her mind of all last year's overwhelming events. Refreshed and renewed, she walks down the all-to-well-known cobblestone path.
Unlike the other wealthy students, Haruhi was a commoner. Over the most recently passed year, she had a lot of obstacles to overcome with that status. Finally, after working a majority of the summer at the pension, she had enough money to buy the academy's dresscode- appropriate dresses.
Walking into the main hall, she has never felt more self conscious. 'Gosh, these dresses are hideous, why do these girls choose to dress this way?' Haruhi looked down at herself and was very displeased with both the eggshell color, and the fit in general. She continued along towards her new classroom, dispersed among the crowd of chattering students.
'Thank goodness no one recognizes me, it would be a real pain to try to explain why I decided to crossdress this year,' she thought. Over the summer, her hair grew 3 extra inches and was past her shoulders now. She looked very feminine, and no one recognized her this way.
Walking into classroom 2-C, she immediately took a seat in back- now that she was equipped with her contacts, she didn't need to be plastered to the blackboard. This way, she was out of sight, out of mind. She positioned all of her books in a neat fashion, and prepared for the first lesson of the day.
In the empty classroom, Haruhi's mind began to drift off to other things, times she tried desperately to forget, but always found herself dreaming of. The delicate laugh of a sweet boy, the protective shadow of a loving guardian. The knowing smile of a dark, shaded boy. The mischievous laughter of secrets amongst themselves. But the most painful of all, was the glow of a burning, passionate sun, radiant among all who dare stare too long.
Jolted from her daydreams, the first bell sounded, and her classmates flowed into the room, bringing the stories of luxurious summer vacations with them. "Oh yes, the shores of Fiji are absolutely spectacular!"
"Nothing compared to Hawaii, though, wouldn't you say?"
"Why, I heard those black beaches are definitely something worth seeing!"
"But the mountains of Switzerland top all of those sandy getaways, I had a blast!"
Haruhi sighed inwardly, thinking back to her peaceful yet laborous days at the pension, wondering what it must be like to travel all around the world, when she snapped at herself, 'You have a wonderful life, how could you possibly want anything more than mother or father has given you?'
She looked down and flushed, trying to avoid the now growing whispers around her, when she suddenly realized they were about her. She looked quickly out the window and tried to hide the now blazing fire in her cheeks when she suddenly heard a sound that made her heart stop.
"Heh heh heh, oh Hikaru, did you see the look on those teacher's faces?"
"Ha, yeah, they were so shocked, they didn't know what to do! Kaoru, do sit in the back with me, I couldn't stand to be up close to any of those idiots."
Daring to look up, she saw just the slightest bounce of ginger locks before they sat down in front of her. The pair of identically styled heads leaned in towards eachother and resumed their conversation in the privacy of eachother's ears.
Haruhi's heart stopped. 'They had to have the same class as me, didn't they! Damn it. . . You can handle this. Just try to be as lowkey as possible, and maybe they won't notice yo-'
"Hikaru, look."
Haruhi's world stopped. Realizing her eyes had snapped shut, she slowly opened them, finding two pairs of golden doe-eyes staring directly at her. All she could do was inhale sharply.
Without a word, she quickly picked up her neatly organized desk materials, scooted out from the chair, and tried to bolt up to the empty seat in front.
Crash.
In dead silence, Haruhi looked down. A slender hand was holding tightly onto her wrist.
"Well, hello there. Thanks for the greeting, though I don't think-"
"We should expect that much from you, seeing as you-"
"Have been ignoring us all summer," they finished in unison.
Haruhi just stared wide-eyed at the twins, unable to conjure a single word from the tsunami of thoughts flooding her mind.
"Tch, stupid commoner thought we wouldn't notice her, just because she went ahead and turned into a girl, finally," Hikaru said to his counterpart.
"I'm sorry we tried so hard to push your feminine side out, Haruhi, it doesn't really suit you," Kaoru said, releasing her wrist. All Haruhi could do was sputter out three tiny words, "Damn you both." She calmed down to a scary level, stared at the dopplegangers, and bent down to retrieve her fallen books.
Turning swiftly away, she left the room altogether, leaving a deafening silence in her wake.
"How could she," Hikaru muttered under his breath.
"She went and grew up without us," Kaoru completed.
The twins looked at eachother now, and with a defeated sigh, rested their heads together.