They stare at her with eyes wide, dropped jaws. She is nothing like what they thought she'd be like. Coming from Africa? And yet she was so pale, so even toned.
"You are Sakai Sen, aren't you?" the teacher at the front of the room asks in perfect Japanese, staring at the beautiful teen with shocked eyes. Even she had been expecting someone so... different.
"Yes," replies the girl, long black hair hanging down her back, though it's tied in a high ponytail. The girl's green eyes show her nervousness, her fear and anxiety. But there's something else, hidden behind everything. No one can notice it, though.
The teacher nods, motions to the front of the room. Sakai Sen moves elegantly to the front and stares at the students, all looking back at her with their eyes still wide, still examining her tiny body.
"G-Good morning," Sen starts, bowing grandly. "I am Sakai Sen. I am seventeen years old and have lived in Africa for the last eight months. I travel the world often with my father, Sakai Mireo, and we own homes all around the globe. I... I enjoy reading, and learning. Please be good to me."
It comes out as a rush of words, a jumbled group of sounds that make little sense.
The teacher claps her hands once, stands up from her seat and motions to an empty desk, far to the back. "Alright, so go take a seat, Sakai-chan, and I'll get all your papers. I'll be back in a little, so just wait, okay?" She winks to the nervous girl and leaves the room soon after.
At the front of the room, all alone, Sen stares at the rest of the class for a moment, seeing their eyes staring into hers.
She doesn't wait for anything then, quickly going to her seat and getting herself in order, ready to start learning, to get this day over with and go back home.
"Why do you look so nervous, princess?" a gentle voice, as soft and smooth as silk, says. Her eyes are torn away from her studies as she looks towards a pretty blond boy, leaning on her desk, his face inches from her own.
A blush takes on her face, why is he so close?
"It's... It's such a change," she admits, leaving out the part that she hadn't been to a school in eight months. She raises her hands and plays with her hair, turning her head and looking out the window, the rain falling just as it was before.
"Isn't rain such a depressing thing?" he questions, leaning closer to her side, trying to know her, to figure her out.
"Not at all!" She smiles, looks at him. Such a beaming smile, the boy realizes. She's beautiful. Sen realizes how outgoing she had been, sinking back into herself and blushing madly, ashamed. Such a stupid outburst. "I mean, I don't think so. I enjoy it, actually. Doesn't it make you feel something different? The sun, the moon... you can see those from anywhere in the world. But the clouds only drop this particular sheet of water on one place. It's... Enlightening."
She smiles; he doesn't understand.
"What an interesting way of thinking of it," he lies. A gentlemanly smile is shown from his pink lips, his features so beautiful. Sen finally looks at him, notices those violet eyes, the blond hair and the beautiful sheen it holds over his pale face, though not nearly as pale as her own. "My name is Suoh Tamaki. Myself and that boy over there-" He motions his hand to a dark haired scholar with glasses and continues. "Kyoya Ootori – run what is known as the Host Club here at Ouran! We're not open today, but if you come by the Third Music Room, I'd be more than happy to introduce you to the rest of the club!"
She smiles. "That sounds like a splendid idea."
"Great!" A large, goofy smile takes over his face, before he realizes it. As soon as he does, though, he smoothly changes it into a seductive grin, a more manly look. "So, we will wait for you there, then. Don't keep us waiting for long, though, princess; I'm sure the others will be more than excited to meet you, as well."
She smiles again, watches him walk away, join the one he had stated as being Kyoya Ootori earlier.
But as if nothing had happened, she returned to reading her book.
That class – Enriched Math – had ended quickly. She knew the answers, even without having gone to school. She knew everything they were teaching, already ahead of the others in her grade. For part of the class, Sen had even helped tutor one of her classmates – the one who sat in front of her, a Miss Kinhota Misami. Others joined, and she explained elegantly, skillfully of the hidden tricks that made the complex problems much easier.
Next was Physical Education, which, too, passed easily. All those months, working on the fields, carrying heavy equipment, had definitely honed her body to the most fit it could be. Others watched her carefully as she moved, watched as long limbs moved elegantly through every obstacle thrown at them.
Third period consisted of Art class. Never had she been skilled in anything of the arts. She could not play a musical instrument, could not draw anything ever resembling what she wanted it to be. The majority of the hour was spent strictly on being retaught things she had never learned but was said to have known, such as how to properly grip a drawing pencil, how to correctly trace a piece of work.
Then it was lunch.
As she sat down in the cafeteria, all alone at a secluded table next to a garbage can – one that everyone avoided strictly because of that fact – she opened her messenger bag, handed to her by the woman from that morning.
Others watched her, curious. A new girl, who Tamaki already took a liking to, who excelled at close to everything she did.
Suoh Tamaki and his group of six others were some of the many staring.
"That's her," he says proudly, as if he's introducing his sister, his girlfriend, his mother. "She'll be coming to the Club after school today for a one-on-one introduction. Everyone must be in attendance."
Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru – twins of exactly the same appearances – stared in wonder as she grabbed out a bento box and delicately tasted the rice. Her eyes dropped suddenly, a glimmer in them disappearing instantly.
"What's she doing?" they asked in unison as she stood before the garbage can, tipping her bento box over top of it, watching as the hand-made sushi, rice, and meat fell to the trash.
And as if nothing had happened, she gathered her things and walked out of the cafeteria, leaving the table to seven to ponder what entirely had just taken place.
"Damn rich bastards..." Fujioka Haruhi muttered under her breath, the large brown eyes that took away from her boyish appearance angering slightly. How could she just throw away such good and expensive looking food like that? It just showed how much she actually didn't understand the rich society. After all, she was only a commoner, sent here on scholarship.
"What's her name?" Haninozuka Mitsukuni – also known to others as 'Honey' – asked happily, a smile spread on his bright face, even though he, himself, was curious as to her actions. Was she really just one of those rich girls who refused to eat to keep their figure? Or was there something more to it?
"Sakai Sen," Ootori Kyoya responded, coolly pushing the frames of his glasses up a slender and angled nose. He was beautiful, dark and monotonous. Like clockwork elegantly planned, the other four who hadn't met – and knew of the Sakai name – gasped. Haruhi did not, given that she did not understand of the wealth and power that the Sakai family had in their grasps.
"Why is the family back?" Hikaru asked first, a second question being spoken from his identical and younger twin.
"Weren't they in Australia for some reason...?"
Kyoya nods. "Yes, they were in Australia for three months after leaving Japan initially, then they went to Africa for eight."
Honey squeezes his stuffed pink bunny tightly to his chest, down casting his eyes and staring at nothing in particular, his body tense and tight. Now he understands. Is that why they're having the one-on-one with her? Because she was the victim of that?
"Tama-chan, you know, don't you?" Honey asks in a dangerous tone. For a moment, Tamaki's nervous; what should he say? How does such an innocent boy like Honey – though older than Tamaki himself – know of such a tragic thing?
"How... How do you know about that, Honey?" is all the Suoh boy manages to mumble. Others stare between the two with wonder, all but Kyoya. He knows, too; he's the one who initially told his idiotic friend of the situation.
"I was the one who ended the situation she was placed in. Her father contacted mine, and..." Honey shook his head, hiding his face in the stuffed animal. "I never liked her. But seeing her that day made me think of her every night. Seeing her now, like that, is so relieving."
Tamaki goes to apologize for having to make Honey remember, for having to make him cry like he is, but before he can, Haruhi speaks.
"What happened?" she asks innocently.
Tamaki sighs, places his head on the table and awaits his best friend to begin speaking.
Kyoya clears his throat.
"It was a tragedy..."