A/N: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. I call claims only to my OC.

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"Tama-cha-a-a-an!"

The voice echoed in the fresh spring air. It carried a sound of excitement mixed with joy, giving it an altogether honey-sweet lilt. The boy in question glanced up, his lavender eyes shadowed by his gleaming blonde hair. He had little time to prepare himself for the little girl's body as it made rough contact with his seven-year-old frame. They both went sprawling across the grassy hill, her laughing and him grunting from the impact.

When they finally stopped rolling, he remained sprawled out on the ground, his eyes glued to the azure sky. It appeared to be endless, that wide expanse of blue. Almost like the ocean.

A few pigeons took flight from a nearby tree, fluttering across his vision.

I wonder ... What would it be like to fly?

His thoughts were abruptly cut off as a face separated his gaze from the sky. A small finger reached out and poked into his cheek.

"Tama-cha-a-an ...! How long are you going to lay there like a lazy bone? Mama and Papa said that we're leaving tomorrow, so stop being boring!"

A perfect blonde eyebrow arched upward just as perfectly. A small smirk crossed his face. He suddenly reached up and gripped the girl's porcelain-colored face in his hands, pressed his knees against her waist, and rolled both of them until he had an arm around her neck and a fist grinding into her hair.

"Ow, ow, ow-w-w!" Tama-cha-a-an! No, stop it, Tomo!"

"Admit it! Admit I'm fun! Say it!"

"Fine, fine! You're the funnest!"

Tamaki grinned and released the girl, before nudging her onto her side. He immediately jumped up and took off, laughing as he did so.

"You're it!" he shouted.

The sound of frustration that thrummed behind him caused him to cast a glance over his shoulder at Saffron. She was clambering to her feet, her blue-and-white sundress marred by grass and dirt stains, and her beautiful chestnut locks were undone and flouncing around her cherub face. When her odd-colored eyes - one purple, one blue - met his, he cast her a blooming smile.

And everything was perfect.

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"So whatever happened to Saffron-chan, Tamaki-Senpai?"

Pulling from his reverie, Tamaki blinked, having completely forgotten that he had been telling the story to the ladies in his section. The entire music room had gone quiet, simply due to their captivation in his tale.

Shifting from his thoughtful position, he crossed one leg leisurely over the other and leaned forward on the expensive couch.

"Her family continued to visit my mother and me for the next several years, but eventually they had to ... Or, well, they simply stopped. I haven't seen nor spoken to, or even heard anything, about her since I was twelve," he finished, a contemplative look on his face. "Come to think of it, her family lived here in the Bunkyo District ... Maybe I could look into her families' business and see how they're doing.

The girls swooned at the thought, large hearts swirling around them, as they cupped their cheeks and wriggled in their seats. "Oh, how romantic! To be reunited with your long-lost, childhood best friend!" they cried, practically tearing up at the thought.

"Now, don't cry, my lovelies. Although my tale is a sad one, I am unworthy of your tears. So please ... Save them for someone who deserves them far more than I - my humble, meager self - do," he said desolately, topping the entire claim off with a dastardly flip of his hair that caused the girls to cry out in a star-struck manner.

In truth, he did wish to see Saffron again, if only to see how the pretty girl from his past had fared. No doubt she was beautiful, intelligent, rich, and already engaged to another prominent families' heir.

A twinge of homesickness struck him deeply in the chest. Oh, how he longed to return to those times - the simpler times of his childhood, when he lived in France - when he played in the fields with Saffron.

When he knew where his mother was.

Glancing up from his hands, he studied the people in Music Room Three. Not the women, but instead the other Hosts. Mori-Senpai, standing tall and cool above everyone else in the room, with sweet little Honey-Senpai wrapped around his shoulders; Kyoy-Senpai, silent and clacking away at his computer; the miserable Hiatchiin brothers, undoubtedly up to no good, as usual.

And finally Haruhi.

Ever since the day that he was going to leave with Eclair and marry her - and hopefully find his mother in the process - things had been different between the two of them. He found it more and more difficult to remain calm and composed around his precious daughter. Instead, he would catch himself gazing at her, his heart beating quickly in his chest, and his hands sweating in their palms.

Of course she made him nervous! She was his beautiful daughter after all!

... Right?

A small smile quirked up the corners of his lips.

No ... He didn't want to go back to those times. He was perfectly happy ...

Just where he was.

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"Do I have to go, mother?"

"We've already discussed this dear. In order to get into a respectable university, you must attend and equally respectable high school. I understand that you will be transferring in late in the term, and I also understand that you will only know the few children of your father's colleagues that are attending the school, but you must look towards the future when it involves these matters. Your father and I are simply looking out for your best interests, darling," her mother chattered, waving her hand flippantly, as though her daughter's question was the most amusing joke she had heard in years.

Turning her gaze out the window, Saffron murmured a soft, "Yes, mother ..." her hands twisting in her lap as the large, pink-hued clock tower came into view.

~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~

"On behalf of the Ouran alumni, I would like to welcome you to our lovely school. Class 2-A Representative Kyoya Ootori and Vice-Rep Ayame Jounouchi will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have, seeing as your placement will be in their room."

Saffron turned her gaze from the window over the Vice-principal's shoulder, she focused on the elderly man. Zennosuke Kazama was his name, and he was second-in-command to whoever it was that was the actual Headmaster of the establishment. Although she had already done so, Saffron bowed forward again, her long hair tumbling over her shoulders.

"Thank you very much, Sensei-Kazama. I plan to adjust well to the change in settings," she said softly as she straightened. The man nodded in response and glanced over her shoulder, his glasses glinting as he moved. "Ah, Ootori-kun and Jounouchi-kun - how nice of you two to arrive. Just in time, too - I was just explaining to Miss Anzai that you would be more than happy to assist her with any problems that may arise."

Turning sideways where she stood, Saffron angled her face towards the pair, bowing respectfully towards the both of them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said softly, straightening as she spoke. Her gaze discreetly studied the two, so as not to appear to be staring, and a heavy silence permeated the air. Finally, the boy stepped forward and bowed, the girl beside him taking this as her que to also bow.

"The pleasure is all ours, Miss Anzai," his cool voice uttered. There was no warmth in his inflection, nor his gaze, but a small smile was on his lips. All of this was clearly for show in front of the Vice-Principal, and she felt herself grow slightly defensive. "If you'll follow us, we'll show you to our classroom, and then to the dorms that you will be living in for the duration of your stay here at Ouran. Welcome to our lovely academy."

Likewise ... Shadow King.