Chapter Ten

I was putting on make-up.

I know, I know, that never happens. But for some reason, when I looked in the mirror that morning, I felt the need to put on a little make-up.

It was still a little shocking to see myself in the yellow Ouran uniform. My dad was very happy, though, and was watching me put on make-up with a very proud look on his face.

When I returned home from my date with Hikaru the night before, he and I had had a sort of reconciliation-type-thing. So yea, things were ok now. He was walking on thin ice, though.

"Haruhi, you're going to be late," he said as I clumsily put on some mascara.

"Ok," I called back. I grabbed my bag and headed towards the door.

"So what's the occasion?" my dad asked slyly as he opened the door for me.

"Oh, you know," I replied, not really sure what to say, "I just felt like it is all."

He blatantly didn't believe me but simply smiled.

"And Dad," I said, pausing before I went through the door, "a friend is coming home with me from school. We're going to work on our math homework."

My dad only nodded and I left the house, blushing for no reason whatsoever.

When I got to school, pretty much everyone was staring at me. I guess word had gotten out that I had actually been a girl the entire time. The guys all looked apologetic, but the girls were clearly livid.

I sighed and braced myself for another round of bullying as Hikaru ran out to meet me.

"Come on Haruhi, let's go to class," he said, taking my arm. I wondered when that started making me nervous. Hikaru touching me, I mean.

Naturally, I had hate mail in my locker and someone had written "Whore" on my desk. This is the way women solve their problems, I guess. Ugh.

The teacher noticed today that I was female, but he didn't appear surprised. This is because he met my dad for a parent-teacher conference. 'Cross-dressing must run in their family,' he must have thought to himself when he saw me. People are such morons like that.

Unfortunately for me, directly following homeroom was PE. I had never been inside the girl's locker room before, having always changed in a stall in the boy's room. I smiled amiably at everyone, attempting to be pleasant and casual as we all changed.

My efforts were met with much hostility.

"No wonder no one suspected anything, she's not even an A-cup," someone said loudly. This was followed by a chorus of laughter. I ignored it and continued to change, stuffing my uniform hastily in my bag.

"What a commoner," another girl said in a shrill voice. I ignored it again.

But then, I was molested.

Several girls grabbed me from behind, feeling my chest and trying to take off my underwear. I managed to tear them off me and put on the ridiculous PE uniform (are those even shorts? They look like underwear!) as they laughed together.

"What do you know, she's really a girl!" They were saying, in between their harsh giggles.

I didn't dare reply. One of them had scratched me on my left breast and it stung terribly. I rushed out.

The boys were already on the field, and a soccer game was going. It was almost like it was a normal high school PE class. Except, in a normal high school, the students actually participate, as opposed to hiring professionals to play soccer for them. Rich bastards.

Girls were supposed to play tennis, but they had also hired pros for themselves, so really, the class was me against people who were about a billion times better than I am. I'm not very athletic, either. Blech.

Luckily, I only had to get slaughtered in about three matches before the teacher let me have a break.

"Are you new?" he asked, "I don't remember coaching you."

Purely out of spite, I said, as casually as possible, "That's probably because the last time you coached me, I was cross-dressing as a boy."

He nodded sympathetically, seeming to think I was joking. I couldn't suppress a small laugh. He laughed too.

"I was serious," I said. He continued to laugh, and then hurried away. Punk.

Now that I was alone, I stared over at the soccer field. Hikaru and Kaoru had just pulled down one of the pro's pants and were laughing hysterically as he searched for the culprit, snapping at random people. I was glad to see that the troublesome pair was getting along once more.

They spotted me watching and came over to the tennis courts. The teacher, fully freaked out by my casual confession, let us be.

"Now then, Haruhi, what seems to be the problem?" Hikaru asked as Kaoru snuck phony tennis balls into the ball basket.

"I think the girl's don't like me," I said simply, watching one of them give me the evil eye as she grabbed a ball from the basket.

"What makes you say that?" Kaoru asked, innocently waving at the fangirls.

"Well, Kaoru, isn't it obvious?" Hikaru pompously gestured to the girls, "They're jealous."

"Jealous! Whatever for?" Karo played along, putting his hands on either side of his face in feigned shock. I laughed.

"Come now, Kaoru, they're upset that she got to hang out with us so much when she was a boy," Hikaru couldn't hold in his giggles any longer.

"Ah, wait a sec," Kaoru said, pointing at the court nearest us. A girl was getting ready to serve.

"Is this the Hiitachin special in action, my dear brother?" Hikaru asked, unable to shake the obnoxious tone from his voice.

The girl (the one who had given me the evil eye earlier) tossed the ball up, but just as it came in contact with her racket, it exploded into white powder.

"Is that baby powder?" I asked. The pro who had been coaching her (rich people often take private lessons from pros during PE time) fell to the floor laughing. It was quite a scene.

"It may or may not be baby powder, dear," Kaoru replied.

At that moment, the teacher cautiously approached the three of us, still laughing a little, to relay a message to me.

"The school chairman would like to see you, Fujioka," he said. He eyed Kaoru and Hikaru suspiciously as little halos lit atop their heads.

They offered to accompany me, but I shrugged them off. I was pretty sure I could handle myself around Tamaki's dad, even if he is a little weird.

I would have changed back into my uniform, but it was ripped to shreds. I don't even read shoujo manga and I know that that's not a very creative bullying technique. So I simply sighed and went to face the chairman in my PE clothes.

I received many looks and whistles as I walked down the hallway. I forgot to mention earlier, I'm the only one who wears the school PE uniform, since I'm too poor to buy anything else. Thankfully, though, after hanging out with the twins so much I've become very good at avoiding the following:

Trip-ups

Falling buckets of chili

Pies

Books

Spit

Pens

The last four would probably go under the category of "Messy Projectiles," if one were really particular about it.

Things I could not avoid so well include:

Staring

Pointing

Whispering

What did they think went on in the Host Club? Oh, that's right. Thanks to Renge, all the girls fantasized about extreme homosexual polygamy behind the scenes of their favorite club. If only they knew how dorky everyone is when no one's around.

So anyway, I made it to the Chairman's office relatively unscathed. If he was surprised to see me in my PE clothes, he did not show it.

"Ah Haruhi, my favorite niece!" he said happily. For the record, he and I are not related. He and Tamaki, however, definitely are.

"Hello, Sir. You wanted to see me?" I bowed politely.

"Aw come on, call me Uncle!" he said, motioning for me to sit down in front of his desk.

"Sir, if this is about my gender—" I began, steeling myself for my punishment.

"—Don't worry, who cares about that?" he interrupted, "What I'm worried about is the bullying you've been subjected to as of late."

"Oh, I'm fine," I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"No you're not. You're not wearing your uniform," he replied, suddenly stern.

"Look, they just thought that something romantic went on behind the scenes of the Host Club, but once it's cleared up that we're all just good friends, everything will be fine. To be honest, I wish I could tell them about how silly everyone is. Then they won't be jealous anymore—" I explained.

"—you don't understand," he cut me off again, "it's precisely because you know how silly they are that they're mad. Who cares if you got yourself a boyfriend, the issue is that you've seen them when they aren't on Host Club duty. Nobody else has ever experienced that."

We sat in silence for a moment as I pondered this new piece of information. I supposed it was true that I had been in a very privileged position. It was also true that I treated something these girls valued too casually.

"I will apologize to them," I said resolutely, standing up.

"Ah, don't worry about that Haruhi. The bullying will stop soon. I just wanted to make sure you can get along with everyone once they cool down." He smiled.

With that, we bid our good byes and I left. To be honest, I felt very relieved after that meeting. I walked back to class smiling, and looking forward to the tutoring session I had that afternoon with Hikaru.

Of course, I didn't realize then that that would end up being a disaster.

DM: hey guys, sorry I know I said no author's notes but this one is quick. This fic will be over soon, and I have an idea for another one, but I'm not sure which coupling to use. Please go to my profile page and vote in my poll to help me decide! Thanks so much!