Ouran Academy had always been a school for boys and girls with too much time on their hands. The halls were always filled with young men and women from the wealthiest and most prestigious families. Yet, even among those boys and girls, there was only a handful that stood at the top. The sea of periwinkle and daffodil parted for them on sight. That was the case for this particular young woman. At only eighteen she was already labeled as the most beautiful woman in Japan, and nobody who ever saw her disputed the fact. She strode through the marble floored corridors of Ouran with such a commanding sense of entitlement that nobody dared get in her way. Her golden eyes glinted harshly in the filtered light, and her thick, jet black hair swung back and forth from the blood red ribbon tied low at the base of her skull.

"Ootori-kun," she called in a sing-song voice as she drew open the door to the class 3-A homeroom. The dark haired boy, regally handsome even for his age, looked up from the conversation he was having with a well-groomed blond. Yoshio regarded her with blatant exasperation as she joined the two boys.

Akina Matsura was an absolute force to be reckoned with. The rebellious debutante had no sense of self-restraint and burst as many envelopes as she could find. The word 'limitation' did not exist for her. The school's handbook strictly prohibited makeup, and Akina would wear crimson lipstick every day. Skirts must fall to the ankle. She wore hers hemmed to her calf. There were no rules she wouldn't break, and the same could be said about hearts.

"What is it?" Yoshio asked, already knowing that she wanted something from him with that syrup sweet tone.

She unfurled the fingers of her right hand, and a dainty silver chain dropped. Hanging at the end was a single, tasteful ruby. Akina twisted the chain around her forefinger and let the pendant swing. Yuzuru Suoh eyed the stone knowingly, looking up to his unimpressed friend and asking her, "Another one of your suitors?"

"Mhmm," she sounded in confirmation. She kept a few on hand, just in case. Akina wasn't the type to string a man along, but she certainly wouldn't discourage him if there was something to gain. Usually, there was. She had a fondness for shiny and expensive things. Akina adored Western trinkets, a side effect of her strict nationalist and traditional upbringing that forever plagued her mother. "Well, Yoshi? What would you say it's worth?"

He was her personal appraiser, her right hand man, and the big fish that she had her eye on. Akina measured her worth in gifts and dates and things that could be bought. It was how she was raised, and she never had a problem with it because the gifts and dates never stopped coming. She had a steady flow of admirers, and she took far more from them than she ever gave back. Their society was survival of the fittest, and even a Matsura had to fight to stay on top. Lineage counted first, and thank God for that because the Matsuras barely had much in the way of wealth.

He glanced at the gift, and it didn't even take him a full minute to decide. "It might buy you half a pair of decent shoes." With her tastes, she wouldn't even be able to get just the heel.

Akina narrowed her eyes on the trinket disdainfully and tossed it at Yuzuru, who fumbled to catch the pendant that was suddenly flying in his direction. "I need to stop wasting my time on Class C boys," she said derisively before her lips curled upward in a sweet smile, and she leaned towards the black haired boy, "Buy me a better one?"

A smirk came onto Yoshio's face, and he gave her the same answer as always. "Anything for you, Akina." She crossed her ankles and leaned back, preening with satisfaction.

"You're spoiling her," a playful voice called from the doorway. Yuzuha Hitachiin was the shortest of the four ultra-rich and beautiful. Akina and Yuzuha were two sides of the same coin, complementary opposites. Yuzuha was the sun, and Akina was the moon. Yet, the two of them were almost never without the other.

"If he won't, who will?" Akina laughed freely.

Yuzuha feigned offense and covered her heart with her hand, "Ara, did you forget about your best friend? I spend so much time making you beautiful things, and for this? Ah, you must not want to try on my new line." She finished her dramatic teasing with a musical note, and Akina rolled her eyes. The Matsura heiress rose to her feet and smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming. I'll be waiting for that pendant, Ootori," Akina threw a wink at the boy, and Yuzuha pretended to gag before dragging her friend out by the crook of her elbow. Their laughter could still be heard in the classroom as they hurried down the hall.

Yuzuru inspected the small gem quizzically, wondering who thought it was a good idea to gift Akina Matsura such a pathetic little stone, "So, when are the two of you going to get married?" Akina and Yoshio together just made sense, and the entire school expected to hear an engagement sooner or later. They were the same in every way – unnecessarily beautiful, heirs to two well-established families, highly intelligent, cold, competitive, unrelenting, unapologetic, and merciless. They were a perfect match. The reigning Ice Queen and King of Ouran Academy.

Yoshio just chuckled quietly to himself at the notion, "That's never going to happen."

As Yuzuru looked to his friend questioningly, the girls' car pulled away from Ouran's gate. Akina stared thoughtfully out of the tinted window, watching the city pass outside. "What do I have to do to get Yoshio Ootori to marry me?" she sighed heavily before groaning. Nobody could resist her. Every single man she ever met saw her as a prize, and she pitted them against each other without any promise of commitment because she could. She drove the cost of her attention up, and in return, she received gift after gift, date after date. They all wanted her, and they'd bid whatever they could for such a prize. Yet, Yoshio couldn't have cared less. They flirted casually, but that wouldn't do anything for her. Akina wanted stability and security, and she needed money for that. She needed a husband.

"Why are you so fixed on Yoshio?" Yuzuha asked, bored with the topic. "All of the girls are after Yuzuru. His prince charming act's almost as good as your 'hard to get' one."

Akina shoved her friend's shoulder playfully before settling back into the seat, "Shizune-san's never going to let Yuzuru control Suoh Enterprises the way Yoshi's going to take over the Ootori Group. She doesn't trust him to do a good enough job on his own. I wouldn't be surprised if she already has a wife in mind for him, honestly. I'd bet that it's another old Japanese family, maybe a Haninozuka? You have that cousin, what's her name, Sakura? Saori? Ask her if Shizune's been in touch. That woman will have one foot in the grave before she considers giving up her position to an heir."

Akina's insight astounded Yuzuha, as always. Akina knew everything about everyone, and she shaped her ambitions around that information, using everything available to propel herself forward in their society. She was trained to be the perfect heiress and the perfect wife, and Shiori taught her everything that she'd ever need to know in order to save the Matsura family from bankruptcy. Except, her parents underestimated her. Akina was smarter than they thought, and she wanted more than service and obligation. So, she rebelled, and intelligence and rebellion were a dangerous combination.

"You scare me sometimes," Yuzuha teased with a sly smile.

Akina scoffed, "What else do you expect from me? I'm going to get married one day whether I'm in love with the guy or not, so it might as well be Yoshio Ootori."

Akina Matsura was selfish. She had to be if she wanted to get anything out of this life she lived. She didn't want to be a pawn on the board or a trophy on somebody else's shelf. If she had to be on this path, then she'd set the scene.

{OR}

She loved the spotlight. Akina thrived on the recognition because it belonged to her. She was Yuzuha's muse, and this was a night for them. The music pulsed from massive speakers surrounding the venue, laser-precise lights danced in the dark while Akina strode proudly down the catwalk. It was Yuzuha's crowning glory. A well-structured gold and ivory skirt flared from her hips and cascaded behind her, and it contrasted starkly against the pitch black minidress underneath. Her lips and eyelids were painted gold, and the intensity of her caramel gaze captivated the audience. Hitachiin Fashions' first show was a success.

They commemorated Yuzuha's big night with a wild reception complete with ice sculptures, live music, and an open bar. Everyone who was anyone attended the reception. Yoshio Ootori mingled with Haninozuka and Nekozawa. Yuzuru romanced a gaggle of Yuzuha's other models. The designer celebrated as if there was no tomorrow, and Akina hung onto her arm, reveling in her friend's happiness. There were, of course, people in attendance for work. A young man hovering near the bar hadn't been able to keep his eyes off her all night. There was nothing spectacular about him, but he didn't watch her the way other pairs of eyes did. She couldn't tell what it was about his eyes that were as dark and rich as the earth, but she wanted to find out.

She got her chance when it was her turn to order from the bar, and because she was a model, they didn't care that she was underage. He was stuffed into a corner, between the bar and the wall, and it was a ridiculous sight, since his shoulders were broad and muscular. He wore a black suit and a white button down shirt underneath the jacket. She saw the spiral wire trailing from his ear.

"You're not doing a great job of blending in with the crowd," she called loudly over the music to the young man. It was dark, and the only light in the room was tinged blue, red, or green. Nonetheless, she could make out the blush on his cheeks when she spoke to him. "Aren't you a bit young to be a security guard?"

Yuudai Negida was just eighteen years old when this turning point happened. He was average in all things except his work. He wasn't particularly handsome, wealthy, or smart. People often overlooked him, or if they noticed him, they forgot a moment later. It was the first time in his life that a woman as beautiful as Akina Matsura ever spoke to him with eye contact. "I-I," he stammered, "Well, you see… uh… how'd ya know?" his large shoulders deflated considerably, and Akina was surprised by how endearing she found his embarrassment.

"I've seen enough of you guys lurking around to recognize one when I see one," she explained, amused by how easily she picked him out of the crowd. She inspected him over the rim of a highball glass. He couldn't have been older than her, but the people she saw in these roles were always in their thirties or older. She never cared to get to know them, and she couldn't place what it was about this man that caught her interest, other than the fact that he hadn't ogled her. He watched her with a kind of appreciation that she had only ever received from her friends. He didn't seem like anything special, though. In fact, he looked like a commoner. A commoner doing quite well for himself, judging by his watch, but a commoner nonetheless. "So, how'd you end up here?"

He offered a lopsided smile, and she could see his hesitance to speak about himself . "It's a bit of a long story." He wasn't supposed to chat up the models. This was work, and it was the most important job he managed to get so far. Seizaburo stood across the room, and he was diligent in his work. Yuu knew that he would get an earful from his friend and colleague if he screwed this up. But this girl was incredible. She looked him in the eyes, and her caramel irises were so captivating that even someone like him couldn't look away. The look of her demanded that he not look away, unless he wanted to offend her.

She smiled back at him, but it came off as ambiguous, a Mona Lisa smile. She could have said anything in that moment. She could have gotten bored and disappeared back into the sea of laser lights and writhing bodies. She could have decided that she was in the mood for a story. It was a smile that could have meant anything. "I've got time," she stated, taking a slow sip from the glass in her hand. "So, what're you doing here Mister Security Guard?"

He blinked dumbly, as if she would disappear after he shut his eyes a couple times. She didn't. "Yuudai," he blurted his name out to correct her before remembering himself. "Negida. Yuudai Negida."

Her red lipped smile widened, and perfect teeth flashed at him in the dark. There was nothing ambiguous about this one. She was happy to meet him. "Akina Matsura. It's a pleasure to meet you, Negida-san."

"L-likewise," he swallowed down the lively heartbeat stuck in his throat.

"So, you said you have a story?" she eased herself closer to him so that they wouldn't have to shout quite so loudly over the music.

"It's not as interesting as you might be expecting," he warned her modestly.

"Try me," she challenged with a playfulness dancing in the flecks of gold painting her irises.

Something about her made him want to impress her, not because she was beautiful and part of an echelon of society that he had never belonged to. It was the look in her eyes that made him want to be more and live up to whatever idea of him that she may have formed. He hoped that she wouldn't be too disappointed when he told her how normal of a guy he was.

"My dad's a martial artist," he started, thinking it best to explain how he got into this kind of work. "We're students of the Haninozuka family, and we have a few dojos of our own. Not too long ago, Dad started up a security firm, too. It's called Spring Onion Security. You, uh, probably haven't heard of it, it isn't very big. We mostly provide bank and mall security."

"You work for your father?" It wasn't unheard of in her close circles for sons to work under their fathers before coming into their inheritances. He was right about the fact that she never heard about Spring Onion Security, but she wanted to know more. She never learned about small business. At least, not in practice.

"Sort of," he shrugged. "My dad's a really good person, and he's a great martial artist. He's not very ambitious, though. I want to do something more, you know? It can be so much more than what it is, and I think I can get it there. Especially rght now, because the world's changing so much. New technology means there's a market for new types of security."

Survival was what Akina always learned drove the elite. There was nothing to strive for at the top. They just had to ensure that they stayed there. Akina's entire life revolved around the fact that the Matsura family needed her to hold on to that precarious seat. Yet, Negida had a drive that she had never seen. The wealthy and elite were complacent. They had their threats, played their cards right, and they fought to stay ahead. This man wanted to climb. He wanted to grow his company and see it thrive by the work of his own two hands. He saw the world in a way that she never even thought of, and once he opened her eyes to it, she was hooked.

"I'm impressed, Negida," she said to him honestly. "It must have been difficult for you to book this event."

"Ah, well, it was kind of just luck," he admitted with a sheepish look. "There's ten of us in the squad that I formed within my dad's company, and we've been working as many jobs as we can to get word out there. So, uh, some of us have been doing nightclub security and office security. Anyway, I guess the venue didn't have enough guys for how high profile this whole thing would be, so I told them we'd come in."

"Are you any good?" she questioned, taking another sip of her drink.

"We're the best security team in Japan," he asserted with a slight puff of his chest and almost defensive pout on his lips. There were just ten of them, but they were the absolute best that Haninozuka-sensei had to offer. More importantly, they were ten of the best men that Yuu had ever met in his life. Selfless guys who believed that there were better ways than the norm. These were the kinds of guys who'd put other people before themselves, regardless of the situation. In fact, some of them had. They were the ones who came home and taught their kids how important it was to value people by simple virtue of their humanity. His dad always said that good people make good company, and that was what Yuu wanted the foundation of his company to be.

"So, why is this the first time I'm seeing you?" she countered. The look in her eyes had changed, and he got the strangest feeling that this was an interview. Yet, he wasn't uneasy like he usually would be. She fell somewhere between teasing and inquiring, and there was a genuine interest in the way she addressed him.

The air puffing up his prideful chest left him, and the man deflated considerably. "I don't have enough connections to really make a name for myself," he admitted. They had some capital, but it wasn't nearly enough to get him to where he wanted to be. He ran the numbers with his dad. It'd take him at least twenty years of good, hard work to really get on the radar of the types of clients he needed to make Spring Onion Security a serious player in Japan. If that was what it took, then he'd do it, and maybe his successors one day would take it internationally. In three generations, maybe his dream would come true.

"It sounds like you could use some friends in high places," she smiled that little secretive smile again, but somehow, he knew that this was a good one.

{OR}

There was a café close to the Ouran Academy campus that Akina and her friends liked to go to after school. It was a quaint building that reminded her of Paris, and there were three stories to it that each offered a different type of ambiance. The rooftop was a special VIP section for evening get togethers. It was decorated sumptuously with midnight blue velvet cushions, ivory statues and sprawling vines on exposed brick. They served drinks and light finger foods, but the patrons only came for the privacy and each others' company.

"He's fantastic," Akina was saying at the table she shared with her friends. It was weeks after Yuzuha's first show, and she was busier than she had ever been in her life. For once, she wasn't wasting her time entertaining suitors. In fact, she was turning down invitations left and right so that she could work with Yuudai on this project of theirs. "He doesn't have much of a head for business, of course, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who works so hard at something they're not great at. He has so many ideas, but they're not all feasible. It's a work in progress, but I really think there's something here."

Yuzuru laughed heartily as Akina told them about this project and the young man she met with more enthusiasm than he had ever seen from her before. The Ice Queen was melting right before their eyes. "Looks like you've got yourself a little pet."

"He's as cute as one," she stated with a stern look that contrasted with the words. The humorlessness on her face faded into something soft and gentle, something rare for the always measured socialite. "All of you would like him. He's nothing like us."

"I think I'm offended by the comparison," Yoshio said lightly, sipping his port.

"It's refreshing to speak with someone different than us," Akina retorted with an eyeroll.

"Why are you helping him out so much anyway, Aki-chan?" Yuzuha questioned, running her hand through her newly cut auburn hair. Akina was the most selfish person in their lives, and she never did anything without getting something in return. It was no fault of her own, though, and they never held it against her. Shiori did a number on her daughter, raising her as an asset to be traded for the Matsura family's use. Akina had to be selfish. In a way, they were all in the same boat, so they understood.

The woman in question gently ran her finger over the rim of her glass. She had been wondering that herself. "I never thought I'd be one to help someone else work their way up like this," she admitted in a surprising display of honesty and vulnerability, "but there's something about him that makes me want to believe in him. I really can't help but admire his determination."

The more she got to know him, the more impressive he became. They were the same age, but he had accomplished so much more than she ever had. He knew how to work with his hands, people loved him when he didn't even try to be liked, and he worked so much harder than she knew a person could work. He wasn't resigned to the fate that he was dealt, and he didn't just settle for the hand he was dealt. He wanted to do something great, and he wanted to do something that stood out against the norm. He lived by a set of principles, and they formed the foundation of his endeavor.

Yuzuha laughed at the uncharacteristic softness to Akina's reflection before turning to Yoshio, "Ara, looks like you have some competition!" The table dissolved into laughter, and Akina waved them down.

"Alright, alright, let's talk about something else, then." Just like that, Ouran's Ice Queen was back, and they forgot all about the momentary lapse in her cool exterior. Yoshio watched his peer thoughtfully throughout the night. He wasn't quite so willing to overlook the oddity of her recent behavior as their other friends.

They remained on the roof well into the night. The night air was cool and refreshing, and although there weren't any stars in the city, the lights surrounding them illuminated the night. Akina leaned her arms against the cold stone ledge and gazed at the moon peering out behind a skyscraper. Yoshio joined her while Yuzuru took a drunken Yuzuha home for the night, ensuring his friend's safety in her disorientation. The future patriarch of the Ootori family leaned against stone casually, and Akina regarded him cautiously.

They were always wary of the other. Akina and Yoshio were the two most brilliant minds in Ouran Academy, and they were the only two capable of rivaling each other. Their friendship only made them more vulnerable to the other. Yoshio had always known that Akina considered him a potential target, an eligible bachelor who could provide everything her family required of her while also freeing her of the impossible responsibility they chained her to. He also knew that she could take his entire company out from under him. They were volatile and destructive on their worst days and incredibly selfish on their best.

"What are you hoping to gain from this man?" he asked her without any pretenses, knowing that she wouldn't appreciate them. He wasn't jealous in the slightest. In fact, he asked out of a sense of concern for this naïve man who she took a liking to. Yoshio couldn't wrap his mind around it.

Akina laughed and turned to regard him with a surprisingly unguarded expression, "I don't always have an ulterior motive."

"Mm. If that were true, I would have proposed marriage to you ages ago." No, he knew her too well for something so ridiculous. Marriage was meant for people who couldn't care less about each other. A good pair who could learn to love each other with nothing on the line between them. He wasn't in love with her, but he didn't despise her, either. Akina was a personal risk, but she was his friend. She was smart, so smart that she knew exactly what to do to ruin a man. He admired that, but he never saw himself loving her.

She laughed again, throwing her head back and opening her mouth to the moon, her long dark hair fully covering her exposed back. When she was done, she shook her head, "You've always been too smart for your own good, Yoshi."

He chuckled at that before saying seriously, "Trinkets are nothing when it comes to satisfying you. How can a commoner afford your attention like this?" He asked, truly curious to make sense of this odd relationship. He knew Akina's tricks and tactics. The gifts she collected from her admirers were nothing more than a way for her to gauge how much money they were willing to throw around. She never kept them, anyway. Akina resold the trinkets and pocketed the money, and now, she was feeding her resources into this commoner's company.

She sighed and rested her cheek in her palm, "That's the thing. I'm not getting anything from him. Nothing material or physical, at least. He doesn't have anything to fall back on. If he messes up, that's it, he can't get that time or money back. He works hard, harder than I've ever seen, and not just for himself. He gardens for his friend's grandmother because she has a bad back. It's ridiculous, and I can't really explain why. It's the strangest thing, Yoshi. When I do things to help him, he's happy. He's so happy, and it makes me happy."

Yoshio contemplated what she was saying, and he couldn't find any sense to it.

{OR}

"What are we doing here, again?" Yuudai asked, loosening his tie uncomfortably. The building that Akina brought him to was one of the massive, corporate office buildings in the business district. She hadn't told him what they were doing there, and he hadn't even known that they were going to be there until the car stopped at the glass doors. When they stepped into the elevator, she requested the top floor.

"We are going to meet someone very important who can make a real difference in where the Black Onion Squad goes from here," she stated. Yuudai gulped. He wasn't great at these things. Conference rooms and business proposals were Akina's thing, and she was an absolute monster in the board room. There was nothing she couldn't get done. He was the guy who came through on her promises. He was drafting more and more plans, hiring more guys, going out on assignments more frequently.

He tugged on his sleeves and shifted his weight from leg to leg, scratching the back of his neck intermittently. Akina, of course, noted him fidgeting, "Are you nervous?"

What? No. I mean, maybe. Jeez, Akina, why didn't you tell me about this sooner? I could've prepped something, he choked and stumbled over his thoughts, unable to get them out properly.

She smiled and took a step forward, taking his silk tie in her hand and straightening it, "Don't be. Just relax and be yourself." The doors opened directly to a waiting room, white and clean with decorative plants and cushy chairs. Akina patted down his tie before stepping out of the elevator. Her high heels clicked on the floor, and Yuudai followed her hurriedly, still not as collected as his companion.

"Hello," the secretary greeted them with a smile. She recognized Akina on sight and allowed the well-dressed woman to stride past the desk with the young man following her. A doorman opened the espresso colored door for the two, and Akina entered the office without missing a beat. She strode in as if it was her own, and the man at the desk looked up in mild annoyance before realizing who had interrupted his work.

"Akina," he greeted her plainly, acknowledging her with a nod, "what can I do for you today?"

"I'd like you to meet someone, Yoshi," she strode up to his desk and perched herself on the arm of one of the leather seats across from him. His gaze slid behind her to the anxious looking brunette. This was the famous Yuudai Negida who she had been talking about lately, and he wasn't anything special. Brown hair cut short and brown eyes that regarded him with a earnest kindness tinged with embarrassment.

"Hi," Yuudai waved awkwardly, "I'm Yuudai Negida. It's good to meet you." Yoshio looked at the hand outstretched to him. There were callouses on his palm and fingers from years of manual labor and training in the Haninozuka dojo. The Ootori heir took Negida's hand in his and shook it.

"Yoshio Ootori. I've heard a lot about you. Come in, sit. Please, make yourself comfortable. I take it she didn't tell you that we'd be meeting today?" he cast a critical look at his friend, and she just shrugged.

Yuudai laughed heartily, relieved that he didn't have to come up with something on the spot, "No, she didn't. Sorry, if I knew I was going to meet you today Ootori-san, I would've put together a presentation or something."

"Why don't you just tell me about this project that you've been working on?" Yoshio suggested.

"Sure thing," Yuudai's eyes brightened as he started to tell Yoshio about his dream of turning Spring Onion Security into an international corporation. His enthusiasm was contagious, and Yoshio quickly found out that everything Akina said about the man was true. He was honest, a little bit naïve, and a big dreamer. At his core, Yuudai Negida was a simple man. He wanted to make something that made the world a better place, a safer place. He wanted to give good people second chances. When he finished telling Yoshio about what they were doing, he felt that he had been talking for too long.

The black haired young man regarded him with a stern gaze that gave nothing away, and Yuudai wondered if he had messed up. "I'll take what you've said into consideration," Yoshio stated. "Thank you for your time, Negida-san. You'll hear from us soon."

"Thank you, Ootori-san. I look forward to it," Yuudai wasn't disheartened by Yoshio's tone. In fact, he thought that it could have been much worse.

"The car's waiting downstairs," Akina informed him with a smile. "We're going to chat for a minute. I'll call you later?"

"That'd be great," Yuudai smiled at her, and Yoshio noted how Akina completely melted under his attention. The brunette left the office, and the door closed behind him. When they were alone, Akina's face split into a victorious grin. Yoshio tried to ignore her, but her insistent gaze never left him.

"What is that look for?" he demanded of her in frustration.

"You like him," she sang.

"I didn't say that."

Her laugh sounded out and filled his office. She was getting to be as annoying as Yuzuru with how bubbly she was lately. "You were trying not to smile during the whole meeting!" she continued to laugh. Yoshio grew more annoyed as she laughed at how easily Yuudai got to him. He couldn't help it. Yuudai told anecdotes that weren't disgusting, and he looked at Akina the way that Yoshio always knew she deserved to be admired. He didn't say anything to kiss up to them, despite the fact that his dream was in their hands. He laughed wholeheartedly, and when he smiled, Yoshio felt like he should smile back.

Akina's laughter died away, and she settled back into the chair and reveled in her victory, "I told you, Yoshi. It's impossible to not like him. There's something about him that makes him different than the rest of us."

{OR}

Akina's head snapped to the side, and the sound of Shiori's palm striking her skin sharply cut through the peaceful main house. Shiori's golden eyes sparked angrily, but the rest of her face remained impassive, stuck in a perpetual frown. Her daughter glared back fiercely, loose strands of ink black hair falling into her face where a harsh pink handprint took shape on her fair cheek.

"How dare you?" Shiori demanded coldly, unsympathetic to the news her daughter brought them. "You have a duty to this family. We haven't been spending our money on your education at Ouran Academy for you to let us down after all these years."

"We won't have a commoner as our son-in-law," Kosuke added with disgust. Kosuke Matsura was the patriarch of the family, and his caramel eyes hardened on his daughter.

"He's not a commoner," Akina hissed back at them. She had been wrong about him when they first met. He may not have had the money or the background to get into Ouran, but the Negidas had a legacy of service and excellence that was on par with the Morinozukas'. They weren't boastful, and they were far from common. She wanted to be a part of that. Regardless, there was nothing wrong with commoners, and she would rather be a commoner than a Matsura.

"What happened to Yoshio Ootori?"

"Yuudai's company is going to be worth as much as the Hitachiin fortune one day," Akina stated factually. "I'd rather earn a fortune with him than get one by marrying into a loveless marriage with someone whose inheritance doesn't even come close to what that man's going to be worth one day."

"We were almost there with the Ootori boy!" Shiori insisted.

A brittle laugh sounded from Akina and she looked at them in disbelief, "It was never going to happen between the two of us! You would have known that if you opened your eyes and saw what was right in front of you." Akina and Yoshio would have been a terrible couple. They were horrid and selfish people, and they would have made each other miserable. She didn't want that for them, and neither did he. She was happy, happier than she ever thought that she could be, with Yuudai.

She knew that her parents weren't going to like that decision. She was ready for anything that they would throw at her. She was finally starting to understand what it meant to love someone and be loved, and nobody was going to take that away from her. She didn't care about the Matsura name, and she always knew that she'd get rid of it as soon as she married. At least, with Yuu, she could have a name that she'd be proud to bear.

"If you keep seeing that commoner," Shiori stated gravely, "then we won't have anything to do with you."

Akina rose to her feet and looked at her unyielding parents. They had always been strict with her, not because they loved her but because they needed her. She was the end of their line, and she thought that one day they would learn how to love her as parents should love their children. Yet, as she gazed upon their hard faces, resolute in their decision, her heart broke and she realized that there was nothing that she could do to break through their greed and desperation. "That's fine by me," she said icily.

That was the last day that Akina Matsura set foot in her childhood home, and once that ordeal was through, she went straight to the Hitachiin Manor. On the day that Akina needed a mother's comfort most, Kazuha Hitachiin happened to be home, and when she opened the door, she found her daughter's best friend weeping on her doorstep. Without hesitation, Kazuha swept Akina into her arms and hushed her gently, murmuring comfort into her dark hair and holding the teenager against her chest.

{OR}

Yuudai thrummed his fingers against his thigh, feeling the expensive fabric under his fingertips with every tap. He and Akina were dressed by Yuzuha, and it was just because Yoshio assured him that they didn't allow anyone else to design their red carpet attire but her. Akina, of course, looked stunning. He felt like an imposter. He was a martial artist's son, practically nouveau riche, and the only one of his friends who hadn't attended Ouran Academy. The Negidas had always been far behind the Morinozukas. They didn't walk red carpets, and they certainly never attended the Suoh family Christmas party.

"Are you excited?" Akina asked him in the limo. He was. After all this time, it still felt like a dream to him. He and Akina accomplished in less than a decade what would have taken him his entire life alone. They took Spring Onion Security and brought it all over the world, and when his father passed everything to him, Yuudai turned it into Spring Onion International. They grew from ten good men to a hundred thousand.

"I never thought this day would happen in my lifetime," he admitted to her. "It never could have happened without you."

She smiled at him and wrapped her hand around his, "You are the best thing to ever happen to me."

His eyes widened at her sincerity, and he squeezed her fingertips, "Do you mean that? You've sacrificed a lot for me – your parents, a wealthy husband – I…"

"I do have a wealthy husband," she cut him off, running her thumb over the simple wedding band on his hand, "and my family is you, the Hitachiins, Yoshi, and Yuzuru. This is perfect, Yuu. I couldn't ask for anything else. I love you."

He smiled softly at her before pressing a kiss to her forehead, "I love you, too, more than anything in the world." The car stopped, Seizaburo came around to open the door. When Yuudai got out of the car, he clapped his friend on the shoulder with a smile before helping his wife onto the red carpet. With her hand on his arm, the two of them strode into their first formal event as a married couple.

{OR}

Yoshio was counting the number of times that Yuzuru paced across the floor in the waiting room. They were in a private wing of the closest Ootori Group hospital, and it was the first time in months that all of them were together.

"You're making me dizzy, Zuzu," Yuzuha snapped at the man. She was just as anxious as he was. The only one who didn't seem bothered was Yoshio, but he had been through this four times already.

"I can't help it! I feel like I'm going to explode if I try to stay still," Yuzuru exclaimed.

"You're both giving me a headache," Yoshio stated tersely. They had been waiting ever since Yuu called them, and that had been hours ago. "Everything is going to be fine just give it…"

At that moment the door burst open and Yuudai stumbled out, still wearing the protective equipment. They waited with bated breath to hear what he had to say, and when he regained his balance he looked up at them with joyful earthen eyes. "It's a girl!" he declared, and Yuzuru squealed in delight, bounding forward and congratulating his friend with a tight hug.

Yuzuha didn't waste any time pulling the blond off Yuu, "Can we see them? How's Aki?"

"Yeah. Yeah. She's fine. She's great," Yuudai said, brimming with relief and happiness unlike anything he had ever known. "She's perfect. The baby's perfect."

As soon as they were allowed to see the new mother and daughter, the group entered the luxurious hospital room. Akina was laying in bed, supported by a raised back, and despite the exhaustion, she looked radiant as she cradled her baby. The model looked up at her family and beamed at them, "There you all are. Come and meet Hanako."

Yuzuha and Kazuha shouldered their way past the boys and fawned over the baby. Akina passed the tiny bundle over to her best friend, and tears came into the designer's topaz eyes as she gazed down at the peaceful infant. It still astounded her that they were embarking on this part of their lives, and soon, her own belly would stretch out as her baby boys grew. "She looks just like you did when you were a baby, Akina," Kazuha remarked.

"I thought all babies looked the same," Yuzuru commented, illiciting a weak laugh from Akina.

"I hope your children have twice the brains that you do," Yoshio sighed, shaking his head before addressing Akina with the fondness of a good friend, "and I hope your daughter is half as much trouble as her mother."

Yuudai laughed and threw his arm over Yoshio's shoulders, "She could be a little devil like Yuzu-chi, and we'll love her all the same."

"Congratulations, you two," Yoshio said to them. "You'll be excellent parents."

Yuzuha cradled her goddaughter in her arms lovingly, not even looking up from Hana's round face as she spoke, "If she's anything like her parents, our boys won't stand a chance against her."

Akina laughed with more gusto, "All of you better start having daughters, then."

{OR}

A/N... I feel like there aren't enough healthy family units in OC stories, and I really enjoy writing Akina and Yuudai. Also, really love writing young versions of the Hosts' parents! Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Special thanks to Anon, everylittleflowers, purplekittycatofthemoon, and JuggernautJJ for reviewing the previous chapter! I love hearing from you guys! Also, thank you to everyone who favorited/followed this story, I woke up this morning and saw all of you, and it made my heart go super soft. Thank you!

This is the last chapter that I have written, and I need to write three more to finish this story. I'm a bit stuck in my writing right now. I have a lot going on, I'm burned out, and I just need some time to myself. I WILL finish this story. It's just going to take a bit longer to get there. Ideally, by the end of this year! Thank you for your patience, please stick with me, and I'll see you guys again soon :)

What do you think of the Host Clubs' parents?

Next time: A moment ago... Hanako makes a deal with Yoshio Ootori