Prologue
Azalea Merriman had always been more academically advanced than the other seventeen year olds in her class at school. She wasn't boastful about it but as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose after finishing the last of her homework, she couldn't help but sigh in boredom at how easy she found it. Then again, maybe that was why she was so eager when the school she had been attending in Italy offered her a transfer position in one of Japan's most prestigious schools. Azalea supposed that the change of scene and language would offer her more of a challenge, or at least a more interesting environment. She had researched the school she was to complete her education at and although the school itself reached all of her highest expectation, she was certain that the students of Ouran Academy would be snobby and pompous beyond belief. Of course, when she had mentioned that to her parents they simply shrugged it off and dismissed her. To be completely honest, Azalea didn't expect much from them as they were always preoccupied with running the family business, Merriman Ltd. Clearly running an International trading firm was more important than raising the daughter who was set to inherit it. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to hold it against them though as she never felt that she had ever done anything of a high enough standard to earn their undivided attention.
The flight to Japan was long and boring as was her chauffer driven car journey to her accommodation in the foreign country. It was one of her family's many properties, bought for use during business trips that lasted anywhere between a week and three months. The house itself was one of many from a range of cities across the globe including Paris, Rome, Beijing, Hong Kong and Seoul, just to name a few. The house was decorated similarly to the main family home in London, not that she'd ever considered it much of a home, it had contemporary design with five bedrooms each with its own en-suite (not including the servants' quarters); the large garden was split into two, a traditional Japanese garden and a western style garden with a patio; the whole property was enclosed by a ten foot, brick wall with a security gate out front. It was only a fraction of the size of the London house and roughly the same size as the house she lived in when she was in Italy, however, the deafening silence of the building made it feel emptier and bigger somehow. The peace and quiet was the result of Azalea's request that the only staff to enter the house would be the cleaning staff and gardeners and only whilst she was at school or occupied elsewhere. There were only two exceptions to her request, the house butler, Teruo-san, and her maid who would be joining her at a later date, Mariella.
Due to the extensive hours she had spent travelling, Azalea resigned herself to her bedroom so she could get plenty sleep in the hopes of avoiding jet lag as she was set to attend her first day of school at Ouran Academy the following morning. Despite the early rise for school so soon after arriving in the country, she was anxious to go to school; learning, languages in particular, had always been something she enjoyed. After changing into a fresh set of pyjamas and climbing into the King sized bed, sleep was almost instant.