Chapter 2

Breathing in the sweet scent of recently-bloomed cherry blossoms, Scarlet exits the limo with Axle trailing closely behind. Luka follows after them, and Soryu follows after him. Once they are all outside the limo and the butler places the luggage at Scarlet's feet, the limo drives around the corner to park and wait for the Oh's to get finished with their business.

As the Morinozuka's emerge from the doors of the dojo, Axle barks once and runs towards Lily, Takashi's little sister, and Macy, the Morinozuka's farm collie (and Axle's girlfriend). The three of them run around in the field, which brings a small smile to Scarlet's face and her eyes soften a bit.

Takashi walks through the doorway of the dojo, wiping sweat off of his head and Scarlet goes to move in for a hug but a strong hand grips her shoulder, preventing her from moving. She looks up at the source of the hand, Luka. He gives her a stern, expressionless shake of the head and she understands. She realizes that it probably wouldn't be the best idea to give Takashi a hug… Not after what happened between her and her father in the car.

"Mister Morinozuka. I trust that Scarlet's needs will be well attended to. Should you need anything, please, feel free to call me or my son." Soryu says to Takashi's father, shaking his hand.

"Of course Mister Oh. Scarlet will be treated as family, not as a guest. She will have full access to the barn, trails, and the dojo twenty-four-seven." Takashi's father, Akira, replied happily.

"Great. I shall leave her in your care. Luka, let's go."

"Yes, father." Luka replies, turning to his little sister. "I love you Scar. If you need anything, call me okay? I will be by at least every other day to check on Calypso so I will check up on you too okay?" He lifts up a hand off of her upper arm and wipes away a rebellious tear from Scarlet's cheek. "Why is my little sister crying? She never cries."

"Luka… I, I can't do this. I don't want to do this. I want to stay home, with you and Jonah and our big backyard and my treehouse and my tunnels and hiding spots… I don't want to stay here." Luka pulls his sister into a big bear hug, wondering why his father is just standing there, emotionless, watching his prized award-winning, sniper, daughter break down. He should be the one comforting her, not him.

"Listen, Scar." He says, pushing her to arm's length and looking straight into her beautiful violet orbs. "You are stronger than anyone I know. You will get through this, I promise. Now get on in there and show 'em what ya got okay?" He smiles at Scarlet and kisses her forehead. All she can manage is a weak smile and a nod.

[-]

"Scar-chan!" Mitskuni Haninozuka, or Honey as everyone calls him, exclaims when Scarlet walks through the doors of the dojo after unpacking he stuff in her room.

"Hehe hello Honey senpai! How are you today?" She laughs. Her mood has changed drastically since her arrival. Once she had time alone, she was able to clear her mind easier.

"Well, I'm great Scarlet! How are you today?!" Honey says cheerfully.

"I'm doing okay, thank you for asking." She smiles and sets down her blood red towel and water bottle with a gold-eyed black dragon, the symbol for the Black Dragons, lacing around the bottle.

"Hehe no problem Scar-chan! Hey! Takashi's over there cutting wood! Would you like to go talk to him?" He asks cheerfully, not having the slightest idea what went on between her and her father.

"No thanks, Honey-senpai… I think I'll pass." She gives a sad glance towards Takashi and his bare chest, abs, and strong upper arms swinging an at least 15 pound axe, splitting the logs in two. Their eyes meet for a brief second and Takashi gives Scarlet a half-smile and a wave but she just looks away.

"Oh what's wrong Scar-chan?"

"You wouldn't understand, Honey-senpai. Being around the one you love and the one who loves you but never being able to be with them hurts… I just don't want any more tears today." She replies sadly. "Huh!?" she exclaims.

"I don't want you to cry Scar-chan! I'm sorry! I-I didn't know! Please don't hate me!" Mitsukuni starts to cry and ramble on apologies that aren't necessary all while gripping onto Scarlet's waist.

"Mitsukuni." A deep, stoic voice says and Honey stops crying immediately. Like a faucet has been turned from the on to the off position. Takashi is standing a few inches too close to Scarlet's back to be comfortable for her. She flinches a bit and moves a few steps forwards. "Leave Scarlet be. She probably came into the training area to practice. Why don't you let her practice?"

"You're right Takashi. Scar-chan! Do you wanna spar with me? I'll go easy on you for some cake!"

"Ha-ha thanks Honey-senpai…." Just as Mitsukuni starts to look sad, Scarlet speaks again in a bright tone. "But I don't want you to go easy on me! Ha ha!" She runs to the sparring mat and gets into position.

[-]

"GOTCHA!" Scarlet says triumphantly after defeating Mitsukuni for the first time in a while. Slow clapping comes from the corner of the room. Looking up, Scarlet sees that it's Satoshi Morinozuka, Takashi's younger brother. He's in year two, same as Scarlet, but he is exactly 4 months and 3 days older than Scarlet. "What do you want, Sato?" She asks, rolling her eyes, clearly annoyed.

"Nothing….I just came by to make sure you settled in easily and stuff…" He says nonchalantly, all while drifting over to Scarlet and Mitsukuni.

"Ha-ha very funny, Sato. Why did you really come here?" She asks, while helping Mitsukuni to his feet.

"Oh, you know why I'm here, Scarlet… I'm here for you." He says this with a devilish grin.

"Oh shut up you flirt! For the last time, I told you no!"

"But Scarlet, my princess, my sun, my moon, and my sky… We belong together." He lightly grabs one of Scarlets' hands, but misses and grabs her mid-forearm.

Scarlet takes this as a chance and she grabs his forearm too, making his eyes light up. "Well… In that case," she says, slightly seductively. "In that case… NO!" She then flips him over, him landing on his back all while she brushes her hands together and walks over to her water bottle.

"OW! That hurt!"

"Well, if it hurt, don't do it."

"But I didn't do it! You did!"

"But you were the cause of it. So, I suggest you not do it again. Next time, I will be over here and you will be over there." She points towards the other side of the room with her water bottle still in hand. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go…freshen up…See ya!" And with that, she is out the door, leaving poor Satoshi dumbfounded.

[-]

"I'm sorry miss! But you have to put this on to attend school! It is a requirement!" One of the maids, Lucy, said to Scarlet the next morning.

"No! I am not wearing that…that dress… I refuse to wear something so plain, and so… GIRLY! It's just not me!" She exclaims defiantly, arms crossed.

"I'm sorry miss but please just wear it! The Morinozuka's are counting on me to get you to do this. All the other female maids refuse to work with you because of this exact reason! Now just put on the dress, please, I'm begging you! Just put it on! It's only for eight hours."

"Ugh. Fine! But I am not happy about it!" She gives in.

"Thank you miss!"

After she puts on the dress, the socks, shoes, and Maid Lucy puts her hair up, she grabs a blueberry muffin and heads out the door. She doesn't want to go to Ouran but there is no other choice for her. She can't go back to being Queen Bee at Tekka Heights. She has to gain her title once more which will be harder to do in a stupid dress. And a stupid place where everyone is afraid of breaking their nails and if someone is going out with somebody or something happens to a student, it spreads like wildfire.

"Scarlet… I never took you as a yellow poufy dress kind of lady…" Takashi states in the limo on the way to Ouran. She just gives him a quick glance and looks away, out the window. On the way, both Satoshi and Takashi try to make small talk with Scarlet and give her the run-down of everything at Ouran but she doesn't respond. She listens, but doesn't respond.

[-]

"Scarlet! Scarlet listen to me!" The limo stopped in front of the registration building to drop them off and Takashi's voice can be heard throughout the courtyard. Students stop what they are doing to stare at the two. "Scarlet!" He grabs her wrist and forces her to look at him.

"What!?" She bites back, just then realizing all the curious eyes attached to her and Takashi.

"What is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean what is wrong with me?"

"You didn't talk to me OR Satoshi the entire way here, you stared out the window the whole time, you won't even look at me when I try to talk to you, and you don't even smile or wave back when I wave to you when I'm working. What. Is. Wrong. With you?"

"It's nothing, okay?" She says a little quieter. "It's nothing. Now please, let me go talk to Mr. Suoh so I can get my schedule and stuff."

"No, Scarlet. It's not 'nothing'. I know you. And I know that it's not 'nothing' something is wrong and I will find out." He pulls her five-foot-nine inch body into his forcefully when she tries to leave. He then whispers, "I love you, Scarlet, remember?"

"That's the problem Tamaki!" She snaps.

"What the hell do you mean? You can't hide anything from me for very long." He then leans down and kisses her eagerly and passionately. "You have NO idea how long I've been waiting to do that."

Shrieks and cries are heard from all around the yard. Variations of "No way! He has a girlfriend? Why didn't he tell anybody!?" and "I cannot believe this! Takashi is mine not hers!" Scarlet rolls her eyes at the comments and focusses back on Takashi. That sudden kiss makes everything harder for her but it cleared up her mind a bit.

"Takashi really does love me. I don't know why I've been avoiding him lately. I love him too. And it's not like anything between me and Kyoya are going to happen anytime soon. I mean, I can't even stand the guy. He's my enemy for goodness sake!" She thinks to herself.

"Come on. People are starting to come closer to us. Let's get your schedule and things."