Chapter 1
"That is one big school." I muttered, looking up at Ouran Academy and shielding my eyes from the sun with my hand. I hugged my books close to my chest. I would never be able to find my classroom in this place. It was huge. It was more like a castle than a school. With it's stone courtyard, hundreds of archways and windows and beautiful cherry trees hanging over everything. And every building looked the same, I might even walk into the elementary building if I wasn't careful. Groups of students were already here, clumped around talking or walking into the school. There had to be hundreds of people at this school. I clicked the heels of my black suede boots, or "Peter pan boots" as my little brother called them, together and pulled at the bottom of my white t-shirt. I felt so out of place here. But then, I always felt that way at a new school. I knew the feeling, I'd gone through the same routine so many times. New school, new people, no friends, losing your way around the building for the first week, ignoring the hard cold stares aimed at you, being totally alone. I was used to it. I didn't care what anyone thought. I hated my mother for doing this to me again. I just wanted to be in one place… and to stay there.
I wasn't wearing the uniform, no wonder people were staring at me, but there was no way that I was wearing that hideous yellow marsh mellow of a uniform... that they had the ignorance to call a dress. It was itchy and unnecessary. I would rather wear jeans, boots and a t-shirt instead of some ugly uniform. And that exactly what I had done. My long golden-blonde hair fell a little more than halfway down my back and kept blowing obnoxiously into my bright blue eyes every time the wind caught it up.
I'd switched schools four times so that my parents could travel to all their building openings and fashion shows without worrying about me and my brothers. And the fact that my parents didn't even have time for me, Riku and Kameko just made it worse. They never had to worry about Riku who was 19 and in first year university in London, England. I usually baby-sitted my 8 year old brother Kameko though. But he wasn't much trouble so I didn't mind. "Well," I said to myself, taking a deep breath, "here goes nothing." I picked up my bag, slung it over my shoulder and walked across the courtyard. People turned to look at me and I could hear them whispering as I passed.
"...Atsuko Yamada's daughter right?"
"Her dad designed Ouran academy, you know."
"-she's really pretty..."
"Did you know she was coming to Ouran?"
"Where's her uniform?"
"Well, she's ugly. I at least thought that she'd be decent looking. It looked like a bear attacked her on her way to school. She's not even wearing the uniform." I looked around casually and saw that it came from a skinny, blonde girl surrounded by a group of girls who were giggling at me. And when I say skinny, I mean anorexic skinny, not natural skinny. It was quite scary actually. Her hair was badly straightened and had little waves a bumps randomly sticking out of it, it had way too much hair product in it and she wore so much make-up that it looked like someone had set off a bomb in a make-up shop and she'd been right in the middle of it. I mean I had to look away and press my fingers to my lips to hold back a fit of laughter.
I had a really good comeback in mind, but I couldn't force myself to say anything, so I just smiled sweetly at her and thought, Thanks for the warm welcome, honey. Now, if you don't mind I'd like to punch you in the face. At least it'll fix your make-up, you won't look so bad in the nurses office. No one will see you there, so you can just lie in the hospital be in complete misery... And I'll be outside the door laughing...
I wasn't cruel enough to actually say that to her face but I really wanted to. I didn't know who she thought she was, but anyone who looked like that and then had the guts to call me ugly was definitely pretty brave…
I looked straight ahead, pretending I hadn't heard anything and walked in through the tall, mahogany doors, thinking of a useful method to find class 1 A. That was my class. At least that was what my dad had told me this morning. These were his exact words, "Now, honey, you'll need to find class 1A when you get there. I'll explain the directions to you..." And he had gone on to explain the complicated twists and turns of the school. I was starting to think that maybe he had designed it.
It shouldn't be that hard to find. I kept walking for about fifteen minutes and I was already totally lost. I sighed and leaned against the wall. I looked back at my map. I was always hopeless at following these things. The hall was totally empty. "Ahhh," I groaned. "Why can't I just go to a normal school, for normal kids, who have normal lives?" I asked the wall, banging my head on it. "Ow…" I stared at the map and then at my surroundings and figured out (with a lot of thinking and glances around) that I was in the elementary part of the school. How had that happened? I looked down at the map again as I started to walk back to the main entrance. When I got there I followed the map exactly. I wasn't taking anymore risks.
I walked aimlessly through the halls until I finally saw a sign that said 1-A on it. I wanted to fall over and lie on the floor but instead I walked into the class room. As soon as I walked in a girl, wearing the boys uniform, with short brown hair and chocolate eyes came up to me and smiled. "Hi, I heard you were new so I'm supposed to help you around to class and everything."
"Okay… hi. I'm Mai Yamada." I replied, holding out my hand. The people here sure were friendly. The girl dropped her bag down next to a desk and shook my hand.
"I'm Haruhi Fujioka. Welcome to Ouran." She smiled again. "Here, you can sit next to me. I want you to meet some people." I put my bag down next to hers and followed her over to the window, where two boys sat. "Hey, Hikaru, Kaoru!" She said to them. They turned around. They were exactly identical. Both had silky coppery-red hair that fell into their amber, golden eyes. They were tall and had ivory smooth skin. They were attractive, I had to say... okay, try more on the gorgeous side, but I wouldn't let myself fall for two guys that I'd never met. It just wasn't going to happen. They wore the blue jacket and pants of the Ouran uniform and one of them had a rose petal stuck in his hair. Why in the world would there be a rose petal in his hair? I was starting to think that no one at this school was normal and I was probably right.
"Haruhi!" They both exclaimed and hugged her tightly.
"Guys...can't... breathe!" She gasped, prying their arms open.
"Oh, sorry." One of them said. They both turned to look at me. "Who's that?" The one on the left said.
"New girl. Her name's Mai Yamada."
"Your mom owns that clothing line... Sugar and Spice… right?" The one on the right asked.
"Yeah." I replied. I was still trying to find one difference between them. Besides the fact that their hair was parted a different way they were perfectly symmetrical. It was really creepy actually.
"Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin." Haruhi said. She pointed. "Hikaru." She pointed to the other twin. "Kaoru."
Hikaru shook my hand. "Welcome to Ouran."
Kaoru took my other hand. "Yeah. It's great here! And we have five projects due tomorrow!" I wished they'd let go of me… I was starting to feel sort of awkward.
"Hey, hey. Guys, don't scare her." Haruhi turned to me. "Don't mind them. And no, we don't have any projects due. Don't worry."
"What's your name?" They asked.
"Haruhi just told you." I said flatly, looking at them.
"Oh, we weren't paying attention."
I sighed. "Mai Yamada."
"I see." They both said, letting go of my hands.
I turned to Haruhi and whispered, "Are they always like this?"
"Yeah, pretty much. They're part of the host club, so of course they've got to be idiots." The Host Club. I'd heard of it before. It was a group of potentially "gorgeous" boys who sweet talked girls and entertained them after school. What I got from it: It was basically a hangout place for really rich kids and girls who were just really desperate for a guy.
"Oh, okay. I get it." I said, smiling. "So all the guys in the host club are idiots?" I'd like to meet them sometime.
"Well, mostly yeah." She said. The twins were whispering to each other. Hikaru leaned over and said something to Kaoru, who smiled and nodded. I wondered what they were saying. Something about me probably. "Tamaki Suoh most of all. He's an idiot from his blonde hair all the way down to his toes. Kyouya Ootori is the stalker of the club."
"Stalker?" I asked, unsure if she was joking or not.
"Well, if you don't call knowing exactly everything there is to know about some ones personal life before you meet them being a stalker then I don't know what is."
The bell rang and everyone sat down in their seats. A young teacher with long black hair and dark eyes walked into the class room. She was very pretty and looked to be in her 20's. Her eyes searched the room and came to rest on me. Oh god, I thought, please don't make get up in front of the class. "Good morning, class. I'm Ms. Tanaka. Most of you know me but we have a new student today." She pointed me out. "Mai Yamada will be joining our class. Most of you probably know her mother. Atsuko Yamada, the owner of Sugar and Spice." She smiled warmly at me. "Welcome to Ouran Academy, my dear."
"Thanks." I said, quietly, hating the fact that everyone was staring at me.
"We also have another new student who..." She looked around. "...isn't here right now. Well, let's just get on with our lesson." The rest of class was mostly just discussing our summers, so I just daydreamed the whole time.
"All right class, " Ms. Tanaka said, turning away from the board, "That's our lesson for today." I picked up my books and got up from my desk. I started to walk towards the door. "Oh, Mai? Could I see you for a minute?" I turned and looked at her. "You're not in trouble, I wanted to ask you how you're finding Ouran so far." She said, seeing my troubled expression. I brushed my blond hair out of my eyes and walked over to her desk.
"Ummm… It's really big… but I like it, I guess." I replied, feeling really self- conscious.
"I hope everyone is being nice to you."
"Yeah, I've met a lot of people already."
"Well, you are a very nice, pretty girl. I hope you have a good day."
"Thank you." I smiled.
"Your welcome." Ms. Tanaka smiled back at me. I waved to her and made my way up the grand staircase to the second floor. I walked slowly down the hall. Well, that was another day over. Now I got to go home and do homework. Whoo-hoo, I thought sarcastically. I'd probably just go home and sit on my bed and practice the new song I was playing on my guitar.
I was still adjusting to all of the kids at Ouran. They were all so elegant and rich looking. I mean, I was rich too, but the girls were all gorgeous and the boys were so good looking I could barely look around a room without stopping and staring for a minute. It was annoying how perfect everyone was. I felt so out of place at this school.
I turned the corner to see a tall, handsome, blonde haired boy leaning against a pillar, staring out the window. He was wearing the Ouran boy's uniform and I was almost positive that I'd seen him before. He turned at the sound of my foot steps and his indigo blue eyes sparked my memory. Now I remembered, I'd seen him on my way to my third period class. He was a second year and, from what I'd heard in conversations from the other girls in my class, his name was Tamaki Suoh. He was part of the Host Club. A group of rich, beautiful boys with way too much time on their hands, who entertained rich, beautiful girls who also had way too much time on their hands. Personally, I thought it was the most stupid idea ever, but I guess all the girls didn't.
"Hello, my dear." He said, holding out a hand to me.
I stopped a few feet from him. "Ummm... hi?" I looked questioningly at him. My dear? Did a second year really just call me that?
"Don't be shy. Come closer." He beckoned to me. I cautiously took a tiny step towards him. "Is your name as beautiful as your face?"
"Mai Yamada." I replied not sure if he was joking or if he was just an idiot.
"Well, my spring godess-"
"Whoa, spring godess?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Now that's just going a bit too far."
"Mai means spring godess in french, am I right?" He smiled and I couldn't help noticing how good looking he was. And how much of an idiot he was.
"Yeah...?" I said, changing my weight over to my other foot. Isn't this Japan... not France? "...but still," I wondered how he knew that, "Godess? Really?"
He reached forward, took my hand and led me to a set of beautifully carved doors. "HEY!" I protested trying to pry his hand off of mine. "Where are we going?" Tamaki pushed them open to reveal a brightly lit room full of elegant furniture. A huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling in the center of the room. A grand piano sat in one corner.
"Welcome to the host club." Tamaki said and finally let go of my hand. Two boys and a girl sat on a couch, one was writing on a clip board, a black haired boy with glasses who was quite handsome, and the other two were playing checkers, Kaoru, Hikaru's twin and Haruhi, she was a nice girl in my class with short brown hair and chocolate eyes. Hikaru stood next to Haruhi and Kaoru with his arms crossed smiling at them. A cute little blond haired boy ran by, giggling, followed by a tall, mysterious black haired one who picked the blond one up and said in a low voice, "Mitskuni."
"Men!" He called over the music. "I brought someone to meet you."
In less than three seconds the two red headed twins were by my side. Hikaru's fingers were brushing along my jawbone and Kaoru was twirling a peice of my hair around his finger. "We didn't think you'd come, Mai." They both whispered, seductively into my ear. I flinched.
"I didn't think so either." I muttered, glaring at Tamakai who winced and jumped behind the couch.
"You're hair isn't naturally straight is it?" Kaoru asked suspiciously.
I jumped away from them both, wrapping my arms protectively around myself. "Why would that matter to you?" I said.
"Because it's probably much prettier when it's curly..." Hikaru replied.
I just stared at him and I saw a tiny blush form on his cheeks. I couldn't help smiling.
"Hello Miss. Yamada." Kyouya said from the couch. "Welcome to the host club."
"Wait a second. How do you know my name?" I asked, already hating this Host Club.
"We have our sources." Kyouya replied.
They all looked at him, he shrugged. "You were put in the school directory this morning."
"Stalker." Harahi said, covering it up with a cough. I put a hand over my mouth to cover my laughter.
"What was that, my dear Haruhi?" Tamaki asked sweetly.
"Nothing. And don't ever call me dear." She replied, moving forward one of her pieces. "I win." She said to Kaoru, smiling.
"Not again!" He said, annoyed. "That's the third time! The third time!" He sighed in frustration, though he was smiling.
"Well, a beautiful rose like you is always welcome to rest in our garden." Tamaki said, bowing.
"That was even worse than the last line you pulled, Tamaki." A voice came from the corner. Akemi Hiyashi stood in the corner. She was in my class. She was another new girl. She had long blond wavy hair that was always pulled into a ponytail. Her eyes shone a stunning emerald green. She wore sort of punk clothes. Black skinny jeans and a band T- shirt usually. She seemed really nice, though I didn't know her too well. She carried her I-pod with her everywhere and now had the ear buds stuck into her ears. "'Your beauty is more radiant than the rising sun,'" She said, trying to imitate his voice and holding up her hands in a gesture of sarcastic admiration. "Like, seriously? That's so stupid."
"You're just jealous." Tamaki replied, sticking his nose in the air.
"Jealous?" Akemi said making a gagging sound. "Ew? How could I be jealous? You're an idiot."
Tamaki was speechless. "Y- you-you. . ." He went over to a corner and sat down staring at the wall.
Kyouya sighed and turned back to me. "She's not very happy about being here."
"Mmmmm, I can see that." I said, trying to keep a straight face. I could hear the twins sniggering behind me.
"Yeah, cause' you're forcing me to come here every single free minute I have. I can't do anything. I have no time. And it doesn't help that you're all stupid."
"What?" I asked, totally confused.
"Kyouya dear," Akemi said, her words dripping with sarcasm, "Why don't you tell Mai why I'm locked in this prison."
"Well, you see," Kyouya started, "It's quite simple. She skipped the whole first day of classes and when she walked in here, thinking it was an empty music room to practice her saxophone in, we told her that she had to stay here and take part in our experiment or we would tell her parents about her bad grades."
"Yes, but tell them what you're making me do here." Akemi said, looking like she wanted to punch him.
"Well, we are doing an experiment on girls like you two, the hard to get type, and she must choose one of the host's by the end of the year. She has to go on dates with every one of us."
"And it's terrible." Akemi said.
"You guys are terrible." I said crossing my arms.
"No, were not." The twins said in unison. "She's our toy..." They winked, "And you could be our toy too, if you wanted."
"Yes. I totally want that. It'd be great." I said, sarcastically.
"Good, then we'll just-" They were too close to me again. Their hot, sweet breath was tickling my neck. I felt my face flush and cursed my thoughts for liking the feeling of their tall bodies being this close to me. I ducked and ran to the door but they just caught me by the arms. "You're not going anywhere... Mai..."
"Well, since you're here..." Kyouya said, slowly smiling, as if making an evil plan to destroy the world. "You might as well stay..."
"No, no, noooo..." Akemi moaned. "Please, don't put her through this."
"... and you'll have to be part of our little experiment too." He finished, smirking, and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Ahhh!" Akemi yelled at the ceiling. "She was so innocent! Why, god, why?"
"It can't be that bad." I said, not believing my own words.
"Oh, you haven't gone on a date with Tamaki yet." She replied, haughtily.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Tamaki asked. It means that you're annoying, I wanted to say. "I have more than you could ever-"
"Oh, shut up will you?" Akemi cut him off. He stopped and turned away, sitting down in the corner. A dark cloud seemed to hang over him. Was he crying?
"Fine. If you don't appreciate me then I'll go talk with Haruhi." He said getting up. Well, he got over that quickly.
"Oh no, you won't." She replied from the couch. "I'm reading."
"Wait." I said, quietly, realizing what had happened and pointing at Tamaki. "You tricked me. You sweet talked me into becoming part of this. God, I hate you all." I looked at Haruhi. "Maybe she's the one exception. I like her…"
"Her?" The twins asked, looking nervous. "She? What are you talking about? Haruhi's a boy."
"No. She's not. She is a girl. I would know." I was getting really confused by all of this. "Haruhi's a girls name, right…?
"Guys, she figured it out. She's not one of your average clueless Ouran girls. She's a lot smarter than that." Haruhi said, looking at me. "Believe me.
"Yes, and we'd appreciate it if you'd keep that fact to yourself, please." Kyouya said, not even looking up from his binder.
"Yeah, yeah. Sure. Whatever." I said. "Can I go home now?"
"No, you have to stay here until Club hours are over." He replied, a small smirk on his mouth.
"Moron." I muttered.
"Excuse me?" He asked pulling his glasses down his nose. I wondered how many times a day he did that. You'd think that his nose would be all red from doing that so much.
"Nothing." I replied walking over and sitting next to Akemi on the couch.
"Nice." She said, grinning and high-fiving me.
"Thanks." I replied, laughing. She handed one of her ear phones to me.
"Wanna listen?" She asked.
"Sure. Why not? There's nothing else to do." I put the earphone in and watched as the first of the customers filed in.