It's me again. I've had this chapter written for a while, but I had to go through and make a few tweaks before I could deem it worthy of posting. I really appreciate all the favorites and follows and reviews I've gotten so far. They helped inspire me in my editing of this chapter!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School or the song that is used. the song is "All the Right Moves" by OneRepublic.
Chapter 2
I came home from school that day and immediately darted for the sanctuary of my room when my older sister Natsuko stopped me on the stairs by grabbing the collar of my blazer.
"So how did it go convincing the entire populace of Ouran Academy that you're a boy?" She sneered at me. Natsuko and I didn't really see on the same level, one reason being that I was taller than her by about three or four inches. The other was the fact that I wasn't into the whole "girly-girl" persona that I had once portrayed. I guess I was just tired of immature boys making fun of me because I liked to do "boy stuff" and I was a girl.
That's the main reason I wore the male uniform of Ouran. I sighed and managed to relinquish my older sister's perfectly manicured grip on my jacket.
"Worked pretty well actually; the girls were practically falling at my feet." I replied snidely, loosening my tie. Natsuko gave me a glare, which I ignored and raced up the stairs before she could catch me again.
Up in my room, I was dressed in a gray camisole and paint splattered jeans, sketching away at a drawing on canvas with a well-used piece of charcoal. It was an old photo of my parents on their wedding night, and I planned on finishing the painting by the night of their anniversary. The one thing I was debating on was whether to use oil based paints or watercolors.
I'm sort of an artist of many mediums, which includes dance and music. I have my art studio in my room; my dance on the third floor, and then Dad sound proofed the basement.
There was a knock on my door, and my older brother Kekkaishi poked his head in.
He isn't my brother by blood, but he's the oldest of the Mainichi family, and also the only boy. After him, it goes Natsuko (age sixteen and a second year at Ouran), me (fifteen and a first year), Akiru (fourteen and a 3rd year middle school at Ouran), and Emi is the youngest at thirteen and a 2nd year middle school. Kekkaishi is a third year high school student.
"Hey String Bean: dinner's ready." said my older brother. He's been calling me that since I was kid, since I was so skinny; I still was, so the name stuck. I pushed at a strand of hair that had gotten stuck behind my glasses. I only wore them when I was at home or I was working on a project.
"I'll be down in a second." I responded.
"What'cha workin' on?" Kekkaishi looked over my shoulder with an impressed whistle as I set down my charcoal.
"It's my mom and dad on their wedding night. And I've got four months, five days, 22 hours, and fifteen minutes to finish it." I said, wiping charcoal dust on my already paint splattered jeans, and then standing up to stretch.
"Not like you're counting or anything." My brother chuckled. I smiled at him. Kekkaishi and I always got along where Natsuko and I did not, so everything balanced out for me.
"But I'll allow myself a break for a day or two." I put my arm through my brother's. "Come on; I'm starving.
Dinner that night was no different than any other: the kids were making faces at each other across the table, and Mom and Dad were having an over lapping conversation. I dragged my chopsticks through my ramen, chin in my hands and not really listening to anything anyone was saying.
My adopted father was the head of the Mainichi Company. He and my biological father had been really great friends as boys, so now I was living with them and learning from him how to run my family's business when I was set to inherit it.
My adopted mother had several clothing lines, which I'd modeled for when I was younger and my hair was longer. She often looked at me like she wanted her built in supermodel back, but that ship was long gone and had crash landed on a desert island. I'd considered taking her up on the offer to model again, but my subconscious kept smacking my metaphorical hand away saying "Bad!"
"So how was school today, kids?" Dad asked, shaking me out of my thoughts. I was about to answer when Natsuko let out a squeal that just about burst my eardrums.
"Absolutely amazing! I think I'm in love!" she clasped both hands over her heart and sighed dreamily. I leaned over to Kekkaishi.
"What's with her?" I asked behind my hand. He shrugged, just as confused as I was.
"What made it so amazing, dear?" Mom asked, slightly taken aback at my older sister's enthusiasm.
"Tamaki Suoh: even his name is beautiful. He's so sweet and kind, and the way he calls me 'Princess' . . ." She rambled on like this for a while, and I caught the eyes of my younger siblings in the process. I made a gagging face, which made Akiru snort into his ramen, and Emi stifle a laugh. I sighed through my nose.
"He sounds a little fake if you ask me." I said blatantly. Natsuko glared at me and then surged upward from her seat.
"Tamaki is completely sincere! He's a wonderful gentleman, which you'd know if you bothered to show any interest in boys." She defended, her cheeks flushed. I just rolled my eyes.
"May I be excused?" I said, setting my chopsticks over my bowl. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with my sister's romantic fantasies, and I had something more important to get back to.
"Although I do think that you and the Hitachiin brothers would get along swimmingly if given the chance~~. . ."
"No way, big sister. If I start showing interest in boys, people are going to get the wrong idea." I interrupted, making my way back upstairs. I had no interest in becoming friends with those immature, soulless redheads.
The next morning, I sat on one of the benches in the school's rose garden (It was more like a labyrinth). I gummed the dull end of my pencil while my fingers tapped like I was playing the piano on my knee. I'd been working on a song for a while, but I couldn't get one part down; everything I'd tried just hadn't worked.
I think my muse hates me right now, I thought to myself as I also sang,
Be the king of hearts, and you're the queen of spades,
And we'll fight for you like we were your soldiers—
"It sounds wonderful." Said a voice, and I jumped with a startled sound. Standing there looking at me curiously was the honor student I'd heard about: Fujioka Haruhi.
"Fujioka-san, you scared me." I said, trying to calm my racing heart.
"Sorry. I didn't wanna interrupt you; it sounds really good." he apologized.
"Maybe so, but I'm kind of in a slump right now." I commented, shutting my songbook closed and sliding it under my sketchbook.
"How so?" Fujioka sat next to me on the bench.
"Well, I'm working on a project that has to be done in the next couple of months, and while I'm almost done with the basic sketch, I've gotta add some color to it. So I've been debating over watercolor or oil based paints. People are always telling me that the watercolor is better, but I've never understood why." I muttered that last part mostly to myself. "That and my creative juices just aren't flowing."
"Is there a big difference in the time it takes to finish a project with the two?" He asked me.
"Well water color takes a little longer because you have to do multiple coats to make any of the colors show up; oil paints are messier and harder to clean up if you make a mistake." I explained as we walked to the classroom.
"If I had to be honest, I'd say you should go with the oil paints; maybe people would realize that those are just as good as your water colors." Fujioka said. I smiled at him.
"I also wanted to apologize for Hikaru's antics yesterday." He said sheepishly; I waved it off.
"It's not that big of a deal really; I've dealt with guys like him before all through middle school." We took our respective seats, and I twisted around so I could talk to Fujioka.
"Where'd you go to school?"
"Up in Hokkaido; my dad's company transferred him here just after my third year. He got really excited when I decided to come here." My hand went to the locket I had hidden under the three or so layers of my shirt: it was a picture of me and my parents on my eleventh birthday, just before they died. My dad saved up to send the three of us to the cherry blossom festival every year, as a sort of birthday present. It'd been hard to accomplish that during my first couple of birthdays, since my parents had been living in America at the time.
Inside the tiny circular container was that picture: Me riding on one of each of my parents' shoulders in a shower of swirling cherry petals, and a still fresh one from that day. I was growing a cherry tree outside my sound studio window.
"That's so cool." Fujioka's voice penetrated my thought bubble.
"Oh Kashi! There you are; I was looking for you." I grimaced as my older sister made her way through the crowd of loitering first years.
"What's going on Natsuko?" I wondered, trying not to sound exasperated.
"Mom just called and said to tell you that you'll need to ride home with me today. So it looks like you'll be coming to club with me today!" She sounded upbeat but I could hear the smirk in her statement.
"Do you two know each other?" Fujioka sounded confused.
"Natsuko is my older adopted sister." I explained, jerking my thumb dismissively in her direction. I ran a hand through my hair.
"All right then; I'll suffer through it." I admitted defeat. Natsuko tilted my face up to look her in the eyes.
"And smile pretty because the boys will be watching. I bring you up anytime I get the chance in a polite conversation."
My face went beet red. So how many people knew I was really a girl?
"I'll see you there as well, Haruhi!" My sister waved her goodbyes and went off to her own class.
I put my head down on the desk. I am so dead, I thought.
"Kashi, are you okay? Who was that girl that was just in here?" I looked up to see Mikazuki watching me with concern.
"My sister the romantic whirlwind." I muttered.
This was going to be a very long afternoon.
So, there's the next chapter! The rest of our favorite Hosts will be appearing soon! Hope to see you again soon!
The Ouran Host Club will be waiting for you. We'll see ya then!
~~Sady Mordan
