Chapter Two

The house was huge. I looked down at the note the chauffer had given to me.

We understand that, after being away for most of your life, you might feel intimidated by the main house. We have arranged for you to live at a second estate. Let us know if you would like to move into the main house.

I looked back up at the house in front of me. "Second estate?" I breathed. It would still be the largest house I have ever lived in. 'I'll never be able to move into the main house if I'm intimidated by this place.' I decided that it would be fine if I never moved in with my family. It wouldn't make my life any different.

With a deep breath, I followed one of the movers into the house. My father had already told them where everything was to be put, so I just had to wait until they set up everything in my bedroom. They could tell that I was impatient and were working as fast as possible.

"Miss. Nozuka?" I glanced up to see the man in charge of the movers. He had a box in his hand. "A package arrived at the front door for you."

"Thank you." I said, taking the box from him. I glanced around the room and through the doors to the connecting rooms. I was pleased to see that the kitchen table was already in place. I walked over and set the box down.

The return address identified the sender as a business. "Ouran Academy." I read out loud. I opened the box and pulled out the contents. Many identical yellow dresses had been stuffed into the small box. There was also a letter.

Miss. Akito Haninozuka.

I stopped after the first line. "Haninozuka…" The unfamiliar name felt right somehow. I smiled at the thought that it might be my real name. I continued to read the letter.

We here at Ouran are very pleased that you will be continuing your education with us. In this package are your uniforms. We expect to see you among our returning high school second years at the beginning of the term.

The letter went on to talk about the rules of Ouran Academy. I decided that I would have plenty of time between now and the beginning of term to learn the rules. I set the dresses back in the box and placed the letter on top of them. I walked to the door of my soon-to-be room and placed the box beside the door with the boxes of my other clothes.

As I turned down the hall again, I noticed the door opening. One of the movers came out and glanced around. When he saw me, his face brightened. "Miss. Nozuka." He looked back over his shoulder with a worried expression. "We have a bit of a problem."

I blinked twice at him. "What kind of problem?" I looked over his shoulder to see what the room looked like. I couldn't see much, but I caught a glimpse of neon coloured walls.

The mover cleared his throat a little. "Um… The walls appear to have been painted a very bold colour that might hurt the eyes a little." He stepped to the side to let me step inside.

As I entered the room, I gasped. The room was huge. There were large walls that put the room in the shape of a perfect square. The walls had already been painted a bright vibrant green that almost glowed. A glance at the windows and the baseboards continued the amazement. The trim in the entire room was aqua blue and looked wonderful with the wall colour.

"We can paint over it before moving things in, if you want." One of the movers suggested.

I looked at the man who had spoken in horror. "Why would you do that? I love the colour scheme!" I couldn't help smiling widely at everyone in the room.

I noticed that some of the movers gave me strange looks, while others avoided looking at me all together. I knew that they all thought that I was crazy for liking such a colour. One of my friends in Italy had told me that it was a very masculine choice and that it would only make it harder for me to get in touch with a girly side. I didn't care.

I left the movers to finish in my bedroom and decided to check out the garden. I was amazed to find that all of the flowers were grouped together by colour, so that the ground looked like a simple quilt. I ignored the arangment and focused on the choice of flowers. I was overjoyed to see a large section of day lilies. Day lilies were my favourite flower and they always cheered me up.

I straitened up after staring at the flowers for a while and decided that I might actually get used to the house eventually. "I, Akito Nozuka, have arrived in Japan." I murmured the familiar phrase that always went with my arrival in a new country. I thought for a moment, then decided that it wasn't right.

"I, Akito Haninozuka, have arrived."