Chapter 1 - Introductions Aren't Fun
Upon arriving at the school, she had to breathe deeply and act like she wasn't at all amazed at the pure size and, to be honest, the overwhelming amount of money this would have taken. At home, in America, the schools were small in many places, and the outside decoration possibly consisted of an interesting brick pattern, or a few lion head statues on the front entrance. Here - tall pillars, beautiful lines, glistening in the light, a fairly large fountain… the courtyard alone, the fact there was one existent, was about five steps better than her old school in America. This was beautiful; This was Ouran.
Despite feeling very out-of-place, she smoothed the hideous yellow cotton-ball-like Ouran girls' uniform she wore on her nearly scarily thin figure. The dress definitely didn't highlight the parts she wanted highlighted. Her only redeeming quality of her figure, her petite stature, which made the thin-ness almost normal, was hidden by the evil thing. She appeared to be drowning in the fabric, with her small stature. She resembled a porcelain doll in many ways - She was pale, small, delicate, seemingly carved, and many wanted to keep her safe, for fear she'd break if touched. She was annoyed with this in some ways, one being that she was trained in martial arts. She wasn't trained to the point of a black-belt, but she was trained enough.
She wasn't sure where to go, so she sat by the fountain for some time, just reflecting. So far, she had no place to stay, little money, no reputation, no friends, and no family in Japan. She was also not sure about anything anymore. How should she say her name, is it "first, last", or "last, first"? How should she greet a person, does she bow like she's studied? When she spoke, did she know enough Japanese to get by, to introduce herself, and recognize words? She didn't know how to live here, how to speak, how to be, if she was honest with herself. She put her index finger in the fountain behind her to observe the ripple it made in the clear water. The ripple seemed to have a flicker of flame in it, though..
She gasped and jumped, to find a boy in front of her, smiling crookedly, but sweetly. He wore the boys' uniform obviously, and she noticed what the flicker of flame was, the one that her eyes had caught in the fountain water. It was his bright orange-red hair. It reminded her of a burning candle. His golden eyes, those beautiful golden eyes that she couldn't tear her eyes away from, matched his hair in intensity. She laughed a little inside, as she remembered Twilight upon seeing his eyes. Then, of course, she missed home again, and sighed a bit.
She decided to be a polite foreigner, and got up, dusting herself off. She smiled slightly at the boy, then bowed, and said, "Hello", in flawless Japanese. When she stood up from the bow, he seemed delighted that she was so polite. She thought over what she'd just said. It had sounded as if she was living here her whole life, as opposed to studying long and hard. It had sounded flawless. Regardless of her wishes, her lips began to form a contented smile. The boy smiled in response, bowing in response also. He looked at her for a moment before gently placing two fingers under a curl of her cocoa brown hair. He held the curl in his palm, examining it, as he spoke.
"You must be a foreigner." He noted. She wanted to shake her head, releasing the defined curl from his hand, but she didn't, because it would wipe away his calm smile. He twirled the curl around his finger pleasantly. "Natural Japanese hair isn't as curly as yours.". He placed the curl back behind her shoulder, almost patting it down.
She nodded. "It's Irish. I'm American, though." She explained. "I have been my whole life." She went on, remembering the candies in her bag somewhere. She chuckled once, and he smiled a small smile in response.
"What's America like? I mean, I guess it's not good enough, since you're here, but what was it that made you move here?" He asked, suddenly intrigued. He was trying to hide it, but he was honestly excited that she was from America. It was nearly funny. She pondered for a minute, trying to figure out how to answer his multiple questions in few sentences. When she finally had her answer in her head, someone called a name from the distance, for someone named "Hikaru". Since the boy in front of her turned his head, she figured it was him. Just to make sure, she asked his name.
"My name is Hikaru. Hikaru Hitachiin, twin brother to Kaoru Hitachiin. I say that because he's coming to take me away now." He laughed a little, then smiled at her. "And what's yours?"
She smiled, answering, "Adelaide Cayce. The foreigner." She introduced herself politely. They boy, Hikaru, chuckled, and then proceeded to invite her to a "host club" in a "music room 3", after classes. After she agreed timidly, he ran off to return to his brother, leaving her to find the office on her own once again.
She could have wandered for hours, through the lonely hallways, and she almost did. She didn't know where to go at all. That statement went for everything at the moment. In fact, she had now idea where she was sleeping tonight. At that last moment, it really hit her how bad her plan was. How unthought-of could a plan get? She had reached the limit, she was sure.
After wandering for at least an hour, she finally found the office on the lower floor, nestled in the building itself. It was near a huge, regal staircase, and near possibly the biggest, most expensive-looking chandelier she'd ever seen. When she walked in, it was huge too. Everything here seemed disproportional to the people inside it, she thought. A man was at the front desk, and looked up to smile at her, then got up to shake her hand - He was obviously familiar with the whole "foreigner" status she had at the moment. Two students, one male, one female, walked up to greet her too. They both bowed, unlike the man formerly at the cold desk. Nothing seemed warm here, just too big and spaced apart too far. Although Hikaru had seemed kind and warm, unlike everything else, and she looked forward to seeing him later. She hoped that she'd made a friend out of him so soon. It would make things easier.
She bowed back, and was led to her first class, which was English. Of course, she remembered, they teach English in Japan, especially this oversized school. She'd only been at this school for a couple hours, and she already had a potential friend, and a class she could space off in - She already spoke English and Japanese fluently. Maybe she'd even be teacher's pet. That would be fine by her. It wouldn't provide a home, but it would be amusing.
The school day went by fast, and soon enough, school was technically out. She still had no bed for the night. She was getting scared, now. She held in her breath, for fear of screaming to the sky, and walked, head down, to the music room 3 that Hikaru had mentioned that morning. She looked forward to seeing him again - he was the only person she'd met today that managed kind words for her.