Chapter 3
BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Uhhhhggg..." I groaned, sitting up as I did. I opened my eyes slowly, desperately attempting to banish the inevitable from my weary mind and body. However, there was no way to trick myself: It was morning, and I had to get up. I reached over and slapped my hand down on the alarm clock and groaned again, falling back onto my pillow. A stream of light from the nearby window hit my face, almost as if it was also trying to (rudely) awaken me.
I hate Mondays. After a beautiful weekend of sleeping in, you're forced to set your alarm once again and get your butt up for school. Shielding my eyes from the glaring sun, I got out of my bed and headed towards my "other room" that served as my closet. Opening the door, I was instantly assaulted with the brightness of my freshly ironed, bright yellow, hideous school uniform. Along with it was a fresh pair of knee-high socks and my shiny, newly polished black shoes. I slowly let my nightgown fall to the floor and began to pull myself into my uniform.
"Who designed this yellow banana dress, anyway?" I thought aloud, adjusting the fit around my middle. After completing the ensemble, I decided that the only way to cure my sour mood was to get a good breakfast inside me. As I exited the room, visions of sausages and pancakes caused my mouth to water.
I went at a swift trot to the dining room. As soon as I entered the ornate, high ceiling-ed dining hall, I quickly zoned in on the dining table where I saw three steaming hot plates of who-knows-what on the table. Humming to myself, I walked over to them, hoping that pancakes were on today's breakfast menu.
Then another thought occurred to me. And that thought just happened to be of my brother. My brother, meal time, and I never really got along. Those situations usually turned into huge argument sessions or food fights. I found myself praying that my brother wasn't up yet...
"LOOK OUT BELOW!" Came an all too familiar voice. Apparently, my prayer had not been heard. Or it had been heard and quickly ignored. Either option was plausible.
Looking up in fear, I saw my little brother, Akio, who was preparing to shoot a small stone from his sling-shot. He was perched precariously... from a chandelier. Grinning at me with that famous mischievous look he almost always wore, he stretched his slingshot to its maximum potential.
"AKIO! You stupid... Get down from there! We'll both get in trouble if you stay up th..."
BAM!
Right in the middle of my forehead, the stone pinged off of me with an audible crack. I touched my forehead in shock and let out a gasp as a slight dampness oozed from the wound onto my fingertips.
"THAT'S IT!" I shrieked, climbing onto the table. Who gave him that sling-shot anyway? I screamed inwardly.
As soon as I had my balance atop the table, I reached up toward the chandelier. I wildly grabbed for Akio's foot as he laughed uproariously. This only served to fuel my anger.
"Nice try!" Akio laughed as I once again failed to catch his leg. He then proceeded to kick me square in the face.
"I am going to KILL you!" I screamed as I reached once again for his foot. However, my vision was blurry from being struck. By some miraculous miracle, I finally managed to grab his flailing leg.
I tugged at it with all the strength I could muster. Suddenly, I felt a falling sensation. Surely enough, I was falling through the air. I made sure to never let go of Akio.
We hit the ground hard. I cursed to myself, realizing that we had both just landed on cold, hard marble. Banishing the throbbing sensation from my back, I leaped on the still recovering Akio and attempted to wrestle him into a pinned position. For a middle school first-year, he was pretty strong.
"HA!" He yell-laughed, managing to flip me over and pin me down instead. "Poor Ane-Baka still can't beat me up to save her life. Weak girl." He then spat on my face. I barely had enough time to contain my scream of rage before I heard footsteps approaching.
"What is going on in here?" A maid made her appearance in the dining hall's kitchen entryway. I briefly wondered what took her so long to hear our fighting.
Mouth agape, she stood there, staring at the dining room table. I turned my head and followed her gaze.
All of the food on the table had been spilled onto the floor, covered by the table runner. Apparently, Akio and I had ripped it off the table during our struggle. The maid stood there staring, completely rigid. I could have sworn that I saw her eye twitching.
"He he he..." Akio and I chuckled sheepishly. We then glared at each other, and I could almost hear his thoughts echo my own. "Don't copy me!"
(Later; 9:30 A.M.)
"I still can't believe you managed to ruin the entire morning's breakfast, Kara. I am SO hungry!"
"I told you Renge, it was that stupid Akio's fault!" I nearly yelled, seething. I could feel the over-sized band aid weighing down my forehead.
"Well, it doesn't matter whose fault it was, 'cause both of you should be to blame! The whole place looks terrible!"
Renge and I were walking to our morning classes. I had been forced to describe the incident in detail to both Renge's "head of household" (a.k.a., her aunt) and the kitchen staff. Not only that, but I had to ask for their forgiveness.
Multiple times.
My brother, on the other hand, got off easy. Considering I was older, most of the blame had been mine to shoulder. Akio was mealy given a, "Don't do that again, alright?" And a pat on the head. Being as short as he was, Akio could get away with that whole I'm-a-loli-so-I-am-not-at-fault thing. At first, this had pissed me off to no end, but after multiple repeats of almost the exact same situation, I began to accept it as a fact of life.
Much to my joy, I was once again explaining what had went down in the dining room, this time to Renge. Unfortunately for me, both of our class schedules were exactly the same, probably due to our similar last names. Not that I don't like Renge, it's just that she can get on my nerves incredibly easily, like my brother. It's not a warm thought.
"Remember Kara, you've got to come to the Host Club right after school, k? If you skip I won't forgive you!" Her eyes stared me down, and scarily enough, I'm pretty sure "not forgiving me" was the least of her revenge plans.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." I said as cheerily as I could manage while simultaneously resisting the erg to slowly inch away from her.
(Later ((again)) 3:15 P.M.)
I walked sluggishly towards Music Room Three. I was in no mood to watch a bunch of loons entertain shrieking girls for a whole hour. Not that going home and facing Akio was a welcomed situation, though. It had been a long, exhausting day, and I was almost certain that I would have even more apologizing to do once I got back to the mansion.
The big double doors were already cracked open as I approached them. I pushed one lightly, and it swung open with a creak. I briefly wondered why this elite school could not take the time to spray some WD-40 on those hinges...
"Welcome." Seven familiar boys said in unison. The overly-bright aura that the room gave off caused me to squint, and I considered running before I got too involved. However, Renge's "threat" was in the back of my mind, so I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.
The cosplay today was angels and demons. Hikaru, Kyoya, and Mori were dressed as demons, while the others (Haruhi, Tamaki, Honey, and Kaoru) were dressed as angels. I understood the basic idea of the cosplay, but Mori? As a demon? Was there something about him that I should know?
Tamaki spun a full circle and then bowed low to me. "Ah! Kara! What a pleasure it is to see your face once more! Come and choose your side. Light... or dark!"
This is going to be a LONG hour.
