A/N: Chapter two is up and I'm sorry if it's too long or a bad chapter.

Chapter Two
He's the Principal's son

"You actually bumped into him?"

"And you're still alive?"

"How did you do it?"

I sigh. I couldn't believe after that incident – really, that incident – people are starting to think I'm like some kind of a hero. A commoner hero, to be precise. And look what it had gotten me into. I'm now friends with my classmates, the twins, Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru, probably the nosiest people in the class. I sigh again, still cannot believe what just happen to me a moment ago.

"I didn't do anything," I answer seriously.

The both of them look at me in disbelief. Well, I couldn't blame them. It's not their fault to behave like that after knowing that I somehow manage to come to class unharmed after stumbling into the blonde bad boy, who I heard and learnt is the most terrified among the boys and the most wanted among the female population, and actually… live. Is that… a good thing?

"Obviously, you're Superman, Haruhi," one of the twins named Hikaru says.

"People just run like hell when they see Tono," the other twin stops in mid sentence. "Not that us are like that, we're his acquaintances, you could say."

Tono? His name is Tono?

"So, he never bothered you guys?" I ask.

"Just once – the first time that we met him," Kaoru says.

"We'd gotten ourselves in a fight but luckily that he spared us and he made us his acquaintances." Hikaru continues.

I blink twice, picturing the image of the twins battling with the blonde, Tono in my mind. He did say that to the twins? What could possibly be in his mind at that time? He had beaten them up and then made them his acquaintances?? Was he mad? The fact that the twins came up to him for maybe a greeting and he suddenly emerged them into a fight – without no reason – and to my skepticism, he ACTUALLY made them his ASSOCIATES after all that!

"But he didn't make anyone his colleagues just like that," somehow Hikaru's voice suddenly becomes more serious than usual.

"He made us a deal," Kaoru's now saying that to me with the same kind of tone of voice like his brother's but with a higher note. By that, I could easily recognize which one's which.

"What deal?" It is hard for me to keep my voice straight and from sounding so anxious. And I might trigger a bad memory inside their heads but it is worth of a shot. I mean, I never faced these kind of situations where you had to be true to yourself yet then forced to do something that you'll regret and give your souls to the devil, which in this case, to the blonde boy named Tono. The image of my encounter with him still lingers in my mind with his eyes locking onto mine. His eyes were telling me something, his closeness back then informed me something but I couldn't put my finger on it. What exactly did he want me to know?

"You better not get in my way again, commoner, or else, you'll be sorry."

I know that he's not joking about it but why do I get the feeling that that's not what he had meant? Ahh, what is he trying to tell me? Of all people, why did he have to choose me to tell me this?

"If you're wondering how I known that you're a girl," He stopped to smile. "I just guessed. But your reaction seemed to confirm it."

Is it because that he knew that I'm a girl? That he finds it amusing and interesting for a commoner girl to have hit him? And that he planned something to take revenge? Or maybe, that he had… No… No, it is not possible. I… No way has that he even thought of…

And that I feel myself turning as red as a tomato.

He couldn't have…you know, liked me, right? He just met me, and the fact that I didn't give him a good impression of me then. I had literally bumped into him when I met him. There is no way that he had the slightest bit, a tint, a teensy weensy… crush on me. Yeah, that's it. He had also threatened me, so there has no the least chance of him to have a liking for me. Okay, I should breathe now. Inhale, exhale. Air goes in, air goes out.

Damn it, heart, can't you stop beating so fast already?

"Haruhi?"

I jump as I heard Kaoru's voice piercing into my hallucinations, reeling me back into the reality world where I then start to despise the truth that Tono had endured in my trails of thoughts and imaginations oh so frequently. I feel so bad for thinking of him.

"You just spaced out. Is everything alright?"

I nod, refusing to answer his worry in words. I could see that he gives me a warm smile and then opens a Mathematics book and starts to calculate some equations. I guess that with my spacing out had bored him. A smile suddenly is drawn on my lips without my acknowledgement as I watch the younger twin solving the equations so confidently and so unlike his other half.

My gaze is now locked onto Hikaru that is walking lazily around the classroom. I find it very amusing to watch both of twins in action, despite their split image to each other, it's rather refreshing to see their different sides as well. I found that the older brother, Hikaru, is more to the carefree, naughty type while Kaoru is self-centered and more peaceful than Hikaru. Well, in conclusion, both of them are a pure match.

I wonder what is it like to have a brother for I am just an only child. Dad is nothing like a guy which I couldn't count on him much and Mom… I sigh, probably the sixth time today.

Mother, see, I had made some friends and I liked them. Even though they are not all that perfect of a friend, but they seem to accept me as who I am…

But…

Do they know that I'm not a boy??

Okay, think, Haruhi. They both like you and considered you as a friend now. And friends shall not keep secrets from each other. You must confess to them sooner or later, because the truth will come out somehow in someway. On the other hand, I shouldn't be scared of what they think of me and I shouldn't care of what they'll say when they know the truth about me. And there's nothing wrong of being a girl… Except that… most of the students here had known me as MALE instead of a FEMALE. If I ever got the chance to wear the girls' uniform, they'll think I'm a nutso. And if I wear boys' uniform, they'll…

Wait. The only one who knows that I'm a girl is that Tono guy, but that's when he saw me wearing these horrible clothes. If I clean up good, he'll never notice! I blink. He is not that dense, is he? I mean, sure, he's a bad boy and everything but he is likely to be not that bright of a character. And if he is dense, there's a chance that he won't noticed me and by that he shall not bully me or threatening me again, if I ever get myself into a situation with him again.

Alright, this is a good progress. And now I shall think of a way to get myself with the uniform.

"Um, Kaoru…" my voice trembling when I ask for him.

He stops his calculations and looks up from his book to me. His pencil is in his right hand, tapping onto the book as he answers me, "Yes?"

"May I ask, how much does the uniform costs?"

"Oh. Let's see…" He closes his eyes and making those invisible calculations with the pencil he had in the air. "Probably around 30,000 yen for both genders."

30,000 yen??

I cough out loud. "Well, uh, thank you for the information… Kaoru…" I slowly leave his table and go towards mine, which just situated between the both of the twin's.

Oh God, where could I get 30,000 yen? My saving's not that much to begin with and Dad, I knew him too well, would not by any chance lend me some. I duck my head into my arms, slowly darkening my sight. What the hell am I doing this? This is stupid. Of course, I could not afford to have the uniform. So what if Tono wants to bully me again? Bully me if he wants, I… I don't care anymore. Then, why do I still want the uniform? Why do I want to change myself, and it's just the first day of school and I'm thinking all of this like I've been here for at least three months!

Is this called, running away from problems?

I close my eyes. My breathing feels hot.

I am insecure. I let people change me, that's why. I am running away from my problems. This is so not me again. Am I trying to fit in? Am I? Or I just wanted for him to…

Shut up! Shut up! I scream in my thoughts. Why do I keep thinking about him? Stop thinking of him, it's not funny! Get out of my head. I don't want to think about your eyes, your face, your closeness to me, your…

Ahh! I think I'm the one who's gone mad!

I find myself clutching onto my brown hair. The gripping had gotten tighter and tighter causing the pain to suddenly flow onto my head. I feel my body shaking, my heart hammering in many directions and my breathing become hoarse.

Stupid bad boy.

Then I feel a hand on my shoulder, slowly calming me and I got the chance to regain myself. I land a hand on my forehead to realize that I had sweated again. But this time, I wipe them off and face the one who had placed a hand on me. And with that, I find myself starting to shake and sweat once again. My lips are trembling with the fact that he's here and also that his face is a nightmare to be witness. Again, I could not find the words to say. I just sit still as a frozen ice block.

His hand leaves my shoulder that somehow suddenly travels to the edge of my sleeve. I am still in shock for knowing that the blonde is standing in front of me with his violet eyes once more pierce me like they had before. Then I feel a thug from my sleeve. I forgot that I have glasses on and with the force he had acted upon the sleeve, my glasses then fall from my nose and land on the floor. But I didn't bother to pick them up.

"Surprise to see me?" his voice sounds so elegant yet so filled with wickedness.

I help myself to a nod. It seems that it's the only thing I could do with my words being a no help at all.

"Are you scared? I won't bite you, you know." He moves in closer to me. "But if you get on my nerves, I probably will."

Again with the threatening. I gulp but this time; I manage to let words spill out from my mouth. And I hope that I won't regret of saying them to him.

"What are you doing here?" I ask carefully.

He seems to not be the least offended by that. And that's good.

"Oh? I just wanted to see the 'hero' after the incident that we had." My heart is slamming rather hard this time. I think my ribcage could break any time soon. "You see, after all that, my reputation seems to be decreasing really drastically. And it hurts me."

I gasp and I decide that I don't want to hear any of what he's going to say anymore. I don't want to get myself into trouble with him for the second time today.

"Go away."

I think that surprises him because he looks taken aback. My tone wasn't like it was expected to sound like. I was hoping for a pleading kind of tone, not a slight nasty one. And it also surprised me too.

To my disbelief, the classroom is empty. He and I are the only ones left in it. Perhaps he had something to do with it. Hikaru and Kaoru also disappeared. None of them are in sight. Then, I could tell that he's about to rage back but I cut him off strangely.

"What's the deal that you make with the Hitachiin brothers?" I sound more confident than ever.

"It's none of your business," he says rather rudely.

"It is my business. I don't want my friends to get hurt because of you."

"How dare you talk to me like that! No one ever talks to me like you do!"

"Want to know why? Because all of them are scared at you!"

I couldn't believe what I'm saying. I couldn't believe that I'm shouting at the infamous bad boy in the Ouran Academy. What is wrong with me? Seriously I never thought that I will be in this position, raising my voice at a guy who just threatened me earlier this morning. I know too well that I'll be dead by tomorrow morning.

Mother, forgive me.

"Idiot," he says slowly but loud enough for the two of us to hear. Abruptly, he slides his hands into his pocket pants and makes a move to the classroom door, leaving me in confusion. What just happened? I ask myself.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not letting you go that easily. But please do remember that, no matter you're a boy or a girl, I won't go easy on you next time." And that he winks at me before exit the class.

Was that another threat? And he actually emphasized the word 'girl'. I'm not imagining things right now. He clearly threatens me again and that he really knows that I'm not a boy. And that he would have no mercy on me again. Oh God, I really put myself into trouble this time. And I'm the only one who could be blamed.

I grab my glasses and other stuffs and head out of the classroom where to my surprise; both Hikaru and Kaoru are standing across the hallway walls with arms crossed. They most likely are waiting for me after what had happened inside. Without hesitation, I walk in my normal pace towards them and they are eyeing me from which I could tell.

"Wow, Haruhi. You really are a hero." Hikaru says after I am close enough to them.

"Standing up to Tono is quite outstanding. And to think that he's… you know… a bad boy and all." Kaoru then says.

I smile. "Someone should say something to him. Serves him right." The three of us start to walk down the hallways that I now dreaded. People passing by now and then, and instead of whispering like before, they seldom come up to us and say how they really appreciate what I've done. And thanks to the twins, I had no troubles of getting my way out of the building.

"Oh yeah, Haruhi. You really should consider of having a uniform." Hikaru says with a hint of naughtiness.

"Hikaru and I will personally buy you a uniform since what you've done for us and at Tono." Kaoru says gleefully.

"So, no complaints and wear it as soon as you got it."

I laugh and thank them for their generous offer. "You don't have to do that if you don't want to."

"The uniform is a male uniform. Easier for you to hide your gender." Both of them say simultaneously. Wait, what is going on? I stop my tracks and they look at me with evil smiles paste on their faces.

"Do you think that we don't know about your gender, Haruhi?" Hikaru says sneakily. "Because you know, we're not that stupid to realize."

But then, the twins continue their pace, leaving me behind. The thought of that they both know from the start somehow I couldn't compute. And they had kept it as a secret from me all this time? The nerve of them!

"Oh and by the way, Haruhi," Kaoru voice is heard from afar. "You better be careful with Tono from now on."

Again, I stand still, waiting for Hikaru to continue Kaoru's sentence. To my horror, both of them are ready to engage in a sync tune when the two of them are facing me and by the looks of it, it's not going to be pretty.

"Because he's the Principal's son."