Hey, all!

Just letting you know that the fic will follow some of the events listed in the manga and anime.

Do enjoy reading the fic and please do comment! :)

[Btw, I will take sometime to update the fic. My classes just started. So, I might be busy with assignments... :S]

Chapter 1: Doomed

Juliana 'Lia' Summers hugged her books tightly to her. Her first day in high school began today! How excited she was for the new things she would be facing! Then, the grin dropped from her face as she remembered where she was going to study. She was two months late to enter the school as the letter of acceptance had come rather late (she had not gone to school at all within those two months as she had not applied to go elsewhere). Also, she had not wanted to study in such an expensive school. But, her mother had urged her to apply for a scholarship and then try to enter the school.

Lia sighed. Her mother was going through so much difficulties with running the household single handedly. And now, she had requested that Lia attend the school. For the past two years, she had spent all her time studying just so that she could enter the school. After all, it was what her mother wanted her to do. So, why not? Though, obeying her mother had caused her friends… But it was great to see her mother smile when she had received the letter of acceptance as well as hearing that Lia had gotten a half-scholarship.

"Today is a new day, Lia!" she told herself. "Now is no time for you to regret!" She took a step towards the gate and had to leap backwards to avoid being hit by a limousine that honked loudly at her as it drove pass her into the school. She watched the car, bewildered. Then, she remembered that this school was for the elite. Of course there would be a lot of people riding such cars to school.

Then, she heard the school bell ring and quickly rushed into the school. She had been running for awhile and wondered why she still had not reached the entrance to the school. "It… seemed… closer… on… open day…" Lia panted as she ran faster. She saw the entrance up ahead and sighed in relief as soon as she was near. That was then she noticed that there were a lot of cars lining up in front and students coming out of the cars as if they were princesses and princes.

Lia sighed. She had a funny feeling that she would be having a hard time to fit in. But for her mother's sake, she would try to fit in. Hopefully she can endure the time she studied in this environment.

"I heard that there's another scholarship student attending this year," Kaoru said as he and Hikaru entered the music room where the host club had their activities.

"Looks like Haruhi is no longer a novelty item," Hikaru grinned just as Haruhi appeared from another room in her costume. Haruhi pretended not to hear them, going off to get Hunny-senpai another slice of cake.

"Hikaru, Kaoru," Kyoya said, appearing with a clipboard in his hand. He checked something off the board and then wrote something else at the bottom of the piece of paper on the clipboard. "Since you both are very free at the moment, I want you to help shift those things to the other room." He gestured at boxes that were stacked to the ceiling. "The workers forgot to move them this morning. I can't have them in plain view. Start moving them now." He turned around and walked off, scribbling more things on the clipboard.

Hikaru and Kaoru muttered as they started moving the boxes into a nearby room where they stored other things. They did not want to oppose Kyoya. After all, their senpai was not called the Demon Lord for nothing. Even Haruhi felt that the name befitted Kyoya.

Haruhi watched as they moved the things. Another scholarship student… She had heard about the rumor days ago. She had not really bothered. Now, she also did not really care. Though, she did wonder what the student was like. Haruhi shrugged and went back to her work, taking care to not mess up the costume she wore. She did not want to add more to her debt.

"I really don't think I should go for this," Lia said as her new friends half-dragged her down a long corridor. "I don't have much money to spend for this."

"No worries!" Kiyoko Tsugawa said. She was the daughter of the president of a popular alcohol-producing company. "Today's event is not a fund-raising event. So, you must go for this! It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! You won't regret it!" The other three girls simultaneously agreed.

"Ok then…" Lia murmured, reluctantly letting them drag her towards wherever they wanted to go.

Soon, they were standing in front of a door. Lia noticed that the sign read 'Music Room 3'. They were going to hear people play in the school band? Why did they have to pay in that case? Unless… There was a live band here? Kiyoko said to the other girls, "On the count of three. One… Two… THREE!" They pulled open the doors.

Rose petals drifted on soft wind towards them. Lia raised an eyebrow and then she noticed that there were seven figures in the room. Her new friends started squealing in delight and Lia just frowned. So this is what rich people do in their free time. She found the seven men dressed in rich-looking, medieval clothing not much to her taste. In fact, she found them to be weird.

Before she could say anything, Kiyoko and the rest dragged her into the room. She found herself seated at a beautifully-carved rosewood table. The blonde haired guy tended to them. Lia whispered to Kiyoko, "Who are all these people? And why are we having this event in a music room?"

"They are Host Club members," Kiyoko whispered back. "This blonde-haired guy is Tamaki Suoh. You know, Chairman Suoh's son. The twins are Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. The tall guy is Mori and the guy beside him is Hunny, both of them are seniors." Lia looked at the smaller guy that sat on the chair beside Mori. He looked a lot like an elementary school student.

"There is another scholarship student here," Kiyoko continued. "I think you would have heard of him. He's Haruhi Fujioka. He's in the first class along with Hikaru and Kaoru Oh! That's Kyoya Ootori!" Lia looked to see the guy that Kiyoko mentioned. The guy wore glasses and looked rather smart. He seemed to be scribbling something on the clipboard that he held. Lia frowned. Ootori… The name sounded familiar. But she could not remember where she had heard that family name before. Oh well! Since all the people here are rich, and most probably famous, she probably came across the family name while reading the newspapers or something.

"He's scary," Midori Shiratako said softly, leaning over to take part in their conversation as well. "I feel like I am in an Arctic blizzard when I talk to him."

"But he doesn't look scary…" Lia said, watching as Kyoya smiled at a student. She looked at the other girls that sat around the table and saw them stare at her as if she had just lost her mind. By that time, Tamaki had gone off to bring them something to eat and drink.

"Looks can be deceiving," Eri and Eiko Tanaka quoted what the English teacher had taught them that day. The other two girls nodded. Lia looked at them, wondering who came from the stranger world now.

"Who is deceiving, mademoiselle?" Tamaki asked, returning with a tray laden with a teapot, tea cups and a plate of biscuits.

"Oh, Tamaki-senpai, we were just talking about this teacher," Eri answered. "Are those jam-filled biscuits? I love those!"

Lia watched as the four girls competed with each other for Tamaki's attention. She took a sip from the cup of tea, noticing the rich flavor of the tea. I feel as though I have stepped into a different world now… Lia thought. Two hours later, the girls in the room started to get up and go. Kiyoko told Lia that the Host Club would now be closing. They were approaching the main hall when Lia realized that she had left a book back at the music room.

She told the others to go home first while she returned to get the book. She went back to the room and quietly opened the door. Seeing no one around, she went to the table she had sat with her friends and picked up her book that had fallen under the table. She was getting up to her feet when she felt two hands land on her shoulders. She screamed in surprise.

"The new student doesn't look like much," Hikaru and Kaoru said. "She must be as poor as Haruhi." They had noticed the girl wearing jeans and t-shirt like what Haruhi had been wearing on the first day she attended Ouran.

"Um… I think she is pretty…" Hunny said cutely, stuffing another cake into his mouth. He remembered the quiet girl with black hair. Her eyes looked gray. But Hunny couldn't quite tell as he was sitting from a distance away. She did not look Asian. Neither did she look Western. Maybe she had mixed parents like Tamaki's?

"But not as pretty as my daughter," Tamaki said, insistent on protecting Haruhi.

"Ah no ne… Is she like Tamaki?" Hunny asked, looking thoughtful. He did not look like he heard Tamaki at all.

"Well, her mother is Japanese," Kyoya answered, typing more things in his laptop. "But there is nothing on her father. Apparently the man disappeared when Juliana was only nine years old."

"You sound as though you did not manage to find anything on her," Hikaru said.

"Well… I was not given enough time to look up on her," Kyoya said defensively. "Usually, I only research on people who attend the Host Club. I did not think the scholarship student would actually come here on her first day in school."

"Haruhi did come to the music room on her first day of high school," Kaoru replied, watching as Haruhi walked pass them with another tray laden with dirty cups. "But you knew some things about her then."

"I did do a little bit of research on her then," Kyoya frowned. "Just surface research."

"But you did not look up on this new student?" Hikaru asked.

"Since you both are asking so many questions," Kyoya said, his glasses flashed, telling Kaoru that Kyoya was irritated with their questions. "Why don't you help clean up the music room a little? We need to get everything back to normal by tomorrow. I am sure you both wouldn't mind helping the cleaners out." He went back to his typing.

"Let's go, Hikaru," Kaoru said, dragging his twin from the room.

Kyoya sighed in relief inwardly. Actually, he had not managed to get much information on the girl. No matter how much he looked, he couldn't find anything. It was as if someone had erased almost everything about Juliana from the system. And when he had actually found something, he found that the information was inaccessible unless he had higher authority. How much more authority did an elite member of society needed? Was Juliana's father wanted for something? If so, then that would explain all the lock files he found that required higher authorization in order to view the files.

What he had found about Juliana had been minimal. What he had told the club members were true. But there had been no names as to who her parents were. She had an older brother. But again, there were no names. Kyoya clicked on something that appeared on the laptop screen. He frowned, comparing the data he received with data he had collected from the school's network. Interesting… he thought.

Suddenly, he heard a girl scream. The other host club members, except for him and Haruhi, jumped to their feet and rushed towards the sound. Kyoya slowly got up, wondering what the twins had done this time. He was near the group when he heard Kaoru trying to explain that they had unintentionally frightened her. He noticed that the 'her' Kaoru was referring to was the scholarship student. She was sitting on the floor, holding a book to her as if it were a shield.

"A princess should not be mistreated like that," Tamaki said, attempting to use his charm on Juliana. He reached out for her hand but Juliana slapped his hand away.

"Do not touch me!" she screamed at him. Tamaki stumbled backwards as if she had just punched him in the face. This was the second girl that had not fallen for Tamaki's charms.

She got to her feet on her own. She turned red, looking a little embarrassed at her outburst. Kyoya frowned. Then, Hikaru said, "You don't need to scream at us. We were just going to ask you what you were doing here."

"I left my book," Juliana said. "I came back to get it. And if you don't mind, I will be going now." She stepped pass Tamaki, heading towards the door.

"Why are you leaving so fast?" Kaoru asked, grabbing the girl's arm. "Don't you want a private session with the Host Club? Maybe that is why you left your book behind on purpose."

Juliana pulled away from him, growling, "I have no interest in spending time with a company of men who obviously have no interest in looking after the feelings of girls. You men toy with the affections of females as though they are worth nothing more than a pretty jewel in your pocket that you can discard when you feel like it!" Kaoru, Hikaru and Tamaki looked stunned at what she had said.

Then, Juliana turned and ran towards the door. She had not seen Haruhi who was walking out of the room and knocked her over. Juliana apologized, getting to her feet. She reached out to help Haruhi stand up but did not notice that she was stepping on the costume Haruhi wore. The next moment, there was a loud ripping sound. There was silence as everyone stared in shock at what had happened.

"I… I will pay for the cost of the repair!" Juliana said. She had been embarrassed by her outburst earlier and tried to cover up her embarrassment by being angry. Now, her actions seemed to have landed her in more trouble. "I know a tailor who can repair this and-"

"This is an antique costume that we borrowed from a collector," Kyoya said, coming up to her. "No amount of repairs would be able to restore the costume to its former glory."

"Then, I will pay for the costume!" Juliana said, feeling even more embarrassed now.

"Can you even afford it?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked. "The costume's worth is about 6 million yen." The particular costume Haruhi was wearing had been on loan from their mother, a fashion designer. Most of the medieval costumes on display in their house had actually been worn during the medieval era by nobles and had cost millions of yen each.

Haruhi looked a little pale when Hikaru and Kaoru mentioned the amount. But Lia pushed the thought aside. Now she had even more trouble. Millions of yen just for one costume that a person could get at a cheap rent-a-costume store? Once again, she felt as though she was in an alternate universe.

"What should we do, Tamaki?" Kaoru asked.

Lia looked to see the blonde-haired guy get to his feet, looking as though he had fully recovered from her attack on his ego. She had a sinking feeling that she was not going to like what he was going to say next. Tamaki said, "She will have to work for the Host Club until her debts are cleared." At those words, Lia felt as though there was a huge void swallowing her up into the ground. Was she going to be doomed throughout her entire high school life?