DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN OURAN IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM
Original Idea By: twilighttween ALICE aka Grayson's Gal
Ei smiled among her fellow classmates as she walked among them outside the Ouran Elementary school building, waiting for the school bell to ring.
Some would see her and smile back at her or offer her a greeting. Others however would give her a half smile or even sneer at her. Everyone knew Ei was adopted and there were some who couldn't help but think Ei wasn't really one of them. It was also seriously influenced and motivated by their parents who were also wouldn't too happy about the idea of Ei and some of her other classmates attending Ouran. The other classmates of course were also orphans who had been adopted from the very orphanage Ei had been found by the hosts. These friends were Masami Kasanoda who had been adopted by Ritsu Kasanoda, Aoi Houshakuji who had been adopted by Renge Houshakuji and the only boy among them Kenchirou Suzushima who had also been the only one among them who had been adopted by an actual couple Kanako and Tohru Suzushima. All of her friends had taken on their foster parents names unlike Ei who had kept on her last name of Fujioka.
"Ei, Ei over here," she finally heard Masami calling out. Ei looked around and managed to happened see her off to the side with Aoi.
"Hey," said Ei walking over to her two friends, "Welcome home Aoi. How was France?"
"France was great!" said Aoi, "It's always nice to see Grandfather there. Oh and guess who I else I got see?"
"Raiko?" said Ei. Ei was referring to the other girl who had been adopted around the time Ei and her friends had all been adopted, Raiko Denbou who was now known as Raiko Tonnerre. She had been adopted by Éclair Tonnerre and her husband Charnelle and was now living happily in France.
"Oh and that's not all," said Aoi, "Feast your eyes on this." She brought out a brochure that had Raiko's picture on the front with the caption, Raiko Tonnerre Art Gallery, Art that Combines the two rich cultures of France and Japan.
"Oh so Raiko finally got her own art gallery huh?" said Ei looking over the brochure. In it, it featured dozens of different art pieces that were either inspired by France or Japan. All of them were very beautiful as well.
"Yeah but it's nothing too fancy," said Aoi, "It's just one room in her family's office building where people can come and view and possibly buy. Her mother said she may consider buying her a bigger gallery if this one is successful."
"Well something tells me that Raiko will have no trouble getting that. She's a real talented artist.
"Oh yeah, when I was there I saw nearly half of her work had been bought and was waiting for the person to come and collect it. In fact there's one piece in the brochure itself that Mother bought while we were there," said Aoi.
"Which one?" asked Ei.
"That painting right there with the black Tokyo Tower standing in front of Mt. Fuji during a sunset," said Aoi.
"That's Tokyo Tower?" asked Ei, "I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between that and the Eiffel Tower."
"That's one of the reasons Mother bought it. It reminds her of her two homes France and Japan," said Aoi.
"Uh-oh," said Masami, "Look who's here."
Ei and Aoi didn't have to look to know who she was talking about, but still turned to see their biggest tormentor, Noriko Hishou being dropped off by her mother Ayanokoji. The mother made a huge display of affection towards her daughter as she kissed her two cheeks and patted her on the head. She had just handed her daughter her school bag when happen to notice the three orphans standing nearby. She made sure to whisper something to her daughter who nodded and smirked in understanding. Ayanokoji was by far the loudest protester against Ei and her friends coming to Ouran and when she was ignored she had encouraged her daughter to make sure she made the children's lives as miserable as possible which she seemed to do with great delight.
Noriko waited until her mother had left before turning and walking towards the trio. She was quickly joined by several other girls fallowing close behind her. It seemed that each time Noriko made a show of picking on Ei and her friends she was always occupied by a group of girls, each time a different looking group too. It was if she couldn't keep the same group of followers for more then one session of tormenting Ei and her friends.
"Well well, if it isn't the little family rejects," Noriko started out as usual, "It must be interesting being little strays and being able to wonder around until you find a family that can more or less put up with, mostly because you won't go away." Several of the other girls laughed at that comment.
"You know you use that line nearly every other week?" Ei pointed out. Her comment made everyone stop giggling at their sudden realization. "Can't you ever come up with anything new? Your attempts to insults have gotten more annoying then hurtful lately." Noriko looked like she was struggling to come up with a come back but nothing came from her mouth. Masami and Aoi both started giggling at that.
"Be a good girl now and run off. Come back when you have something new and fresh to try and insult us with okay?"
"You can act all confident all you want Fujioka," Noriko snapped pocking Ei in the chest, "But it still doesn't change that fact that you and your friends are nothing more then commoner rejects that got lucky enough to find mindless folks who were foolish enough to think you could become one of us."
"Hi everyone, good morning," said Kenchirou suddenly joining his friends.
"Oh hello Mr. Suzushima," said Noriko suddenly acting like a different person, like someone who was kind and carrying. It seemed liked Noriko acted nicer around Kenchirou. Ei had a suspicion that it was because Norio had a slight crush on him.
"Hi Noriko," said Kenchirou casually before looking over to his three other friends, "Hey Aoi welcome home, how was France?"
"Oh it was great," said Aoi, "come with me and I'll tell you, Ei and Masami everything." She quickly lead her friends off, thankful for the excuse to get away from Norio.
"Yes Mr. Hitachiin?" came one of the many secretaries of Host Towers through Kaoru's voice box in his penthouse.
"Do you know where Kyoya is at the moment?" he asked.
"I believe he's doing the interview for the thirteenth floor manager," said the secretary.
"Thank you," said Kaoru. He headed to his personalized elevator and headed down to the thirteenth floor.
"Well it's looking very well Miss Kikku," said Kyoya looking over the woman's resume.
"I'm glad to see you are pleased with my work. My parents always taught me to do my best in everything I try and do with my life," said Akira.
"Well I shall hope you manage to do that with your duty as our new floor manager," said Kyoya.
"I shall do my best sir," said Akira shaking Kyoya's hand.
"You may move into your new office first thing next week," said Kyoya.
"Is there a reason why I can't move in tomorrow?" asked Akira.
"Well I suppose not seeing as how your predecessor is already practically all out of the office. So if you wish you may, you start moving your things in tomorrow," said Kyoya.
"Thank you Mr. Ohtori," said Akira shaking Kyoya's hand one more time before heading out of his office. She came out just as Kaoru as approaching.
"Oh hi," he said, "You must be…,"
"Akira Kikku, I'm the new floor manager of the thirteenth floor. It's nice to meet you Mr. Hitachiin. Please forgive me but to whom I am having the pleasure of addressing, Master Hikaru or Master Kaoru?"
"Uh I'm Kaoru," said Kaoru slightly stunned by the woman's forwardness as he shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Kaoru Hitachiin; I hope I don't end up confusing you with your brother as long as I work for you. Please forgive me in advance if I do," said Akira.
"Uh sure, but don't, don't worry about it too much. A lot of our employees confuse the two of us," Kaoru tried to assure her.
"Well that's good to know. However I shall try my best to not make the same mistake. Good day," said Akira as she headed off.
"Oh Kaoru, did you manage to meet Miss Kikku?" asked Kyoya walking out of his office.
"Oh yes," said Kaoru, "She seems interesting."
"Yes, I expect she'll do well with her position," said Kyoya.
"Uh are you doing anything else important at the moment Kyoya?" Kaoru asked.
"Well," said Kyoya looking at his watch, "I suppose I have time to take a quick break if you need something from me."
"Well I would like to get a chance to talk to you if that's alright," said Kaoru.
"Certainly," said Kyoya walking with his friend back into his office, "Tell me what is on your mind?"
"It's about Ei and Alice," said Kaoru.
"Oh yes," said Kyoya, "I heard you had made quite a large purchase at a jewelry store a few days back."
"Who did you?" Kaoru started to ask, but stopped in mid sentence, "Oh who am I kidding. You know everything."
"Am I correct in assuming you're hoping to take a big and bold step in your relationship with the woman?" asked Kyoya.
"You could say that," said Kaoru, "Assuming I get a chance to ask. But what I'm really worried about is Ei."
"What about her?" asked Kyoya.
"Well you know she's not exactly excited about the idea of how close I and Alice are getting. I'm worried about what she'll do once I make that so called big step," Kaoru explained.
"I see," said Kyoya.
"I really want to talk to her about this myself either before or after I ask Alice. Could you try seeing somehow someway to clearing up a lot of he schedule and working so I can spend some time with her so I can find a chance to talk to her about it?" asked Kaoru.
"I don't know how much the others will like that should you start hogging most of Ei's time like this," said Kyoya, "I can tell you right now I don't like the idea."
"It won't be for too long I promise. Heck I've invited Alice over tonight to maybe try and ask her. It hopefully will only be within one or two days so I can actually have the chance to really sit down and talk with Ei. Please Kyoya, this is the sort of thing a father does when he's making such a big choice in regards to his daughter."
"Alright, I'll work things out so you can have as much free time as you need with Ei to talk with her about it. But I advise you to try and make it quick. Her other fathers may not like the idea of you keeping her to yourself for so long," said Kyoya. He pulled out his tablet and started fiddling with it, "You can start by picking her up from school this afternoon."
"Welcome back Mr. Tamaki," said one of the receptionists as Tamaki came into the tower lobby.
"Thank you," said Tamaki smiling at the women kindly, "Do you know where Kyoya is at the moment?"
"He is in his office. I think he just got done with the interview," said one of the receptionists.
"Alright," said Tamaki heading to the elevator. He stopped just as another one opened and out walked Akira.
"Oh Miss Kikku, hello again; Am I right to assume your interview went well?" asked Tamaki.
"Uh yes," said the woman, once again loosing her cool composure, "Mr. Ohtori said I can start right away."
"Wonderful," said Tamaki once again kissing her hand, "I hope to see more of you around here."
"Uh yes I'm sure you will," said Akira, "Good day!" She all but ran out of the office.
"I hope I didn't startle the girl too much," said Tamaki as he headed into the elevator. He road it up to Kyoya's office floor and walked in where he and Kaoru were having a discussion.
"Kyoya," he said.
"Yes Tamaki?" asked Kyoya.
"Whatever plans Ei has tonight could you clear them?" asked Tamaki.
"Why exactly?" asked Kyoya.
"Oh we've been invited to a family dinner tonight at my family's home," said Tamaki handing the invitation to Kyoya. Kyoya read it over.
"Um Tamaki, are you sure they want Ei to be there?" he asked.
"Why not, she is my daughter after all and it said it's a family dinner," said Tamaki.
"Well," Kyoya looked to Kaoru for guidance.
"Sure, Ei can go to dinner with the boss. I can still pick Ei up and help dress her for the dinner," he said.
"Wait, you're picking Ei up?" asked Tamaki.
"I have to Boss. It's kind of important," said Kaoru.
"What's so important?" asked Tamaki,
"I can't tell you Boss. If I did, I'd have to kill you," said Kaoru.
"What?!" said Tamaki worried.