Before we start this chapter, I just want to say how much all of your support means to me. I originally started this story when I was coming to terms with my eating disorder, which is why it has such a special place in my heart. Writing has been one of the best influences in my life. Whether it's writing stories (like this one) or poetry, which ends up in my journal or on tumblr, I'm grateful for the effect it has had on my mental health. I couldn't ask for better readers!

The morning following the clothes debacle, Missy awoke to find a pale yellow dress spread out on the edge of her bed. Evidently, one of the maids had decided it was time for her to awaken for her interview with the Chairman of Ouran Academy.

A few minutes later, Missy found herself staring into a mirror, her contour brush held expertly in her right hand. Just do something light, she coached herself throughout the routine. After pulling her bangs into a loose braid on one side, she gave herself an approving once over.

Being a model certainly had its perks. She noticed that while the uniform favored the gentle curves of her frame, it was not in any way revealing, something she greatly appreciated. After all, she didn't want to be gawked at. The material was soft and lightweight, but it felt sturdy under her fingertips.

After putting on black Mary Janes, she shoved her phone and wallet into a pocket in her dress and headed out the door.

Of course, getting ready was the easy part.

After a quiet breakfast, as Myles was not yet awake, Missy found herself being led silently to a waiting limousine, trailing behind the twins. One opened the door while the other one slid inside, gliding across the leather interior. As soon as Missy slid inside the vehicle, muttering a quick thank you to the one holding the door, the waiting twin followed behind her.

Missy found herself surrounded on both sides, the two boys pressed up against her, their bodies too close for comfort.

"Hime," the one on her left purred, "you look lovely in that dress. That uniform suits you."

"It does, Hime," the other agreed. "Though I wonder if any uniform would suit you."

Missy grit her teeth at the fake display. "Would you two cut it out already?," she deadpanned, completely unaffected by their display of clingy affection, aside from the annoyance of their proximity.

"Oh," one said, raising an eyebrow. "You don't find our behavior to be-"

"Pleasant?" The other one finished.

"Not really," she answered. "Anyway, about yesterday," she quickly changed the topic. "I'm sorry about that, and I was wondering if we could start over. I was really mad at you guys, but I shouldn't have threatened you. I tend to lose my temper sometimes," she admitted. There, she had said it! Unbeknownst to the the twins, Missy had received an hour long lecture from Myles the night before about 'propriety' and 'getting along with others'.

"So does Hikaru," Kaoru said with a smirk, unlatching himself slightly from her side as Hikaru did the same.

They wouldn't admit it to her, but they had a long discussion the night before with their mother. Because of Missy's contract with Yuzuha, the boys had to at least respect the model, under threats of being barred from designing until graduation.

Reluctantly, the two had agreed to at least try to get along with the girl.

"Hey! That's not true!" Hikaru protested.

Kaoru and Missy both looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Hikaru sighed. "Okay, maybe sometimes."

A buzzing in her dress pocket alerted Missy of a text message. Opening her phone, she saw a text from her brother.

Josh: So I heard you have some big test for a fancy pants school over there.

Missy grinned at the sight. She wasn't able to call her brother the night before, so she was glad to hear from him.

Yep, she texted back. How'd you know?

Josh: I have my ways!

Missy: Myles, told you, didn't he?

Josh: . . .

Missy giggled, happy to know that her brother was still looking out for her.

"Ooh, what's this?" One of the twins asked, snatching the phone from her hands.

"Hey! Give that back!" she shouted.

The twin holding the phone, whom she thought was Kaoru, only smirked and held the device up higher, completely out of her reach.

He swiped through the messages. "Who's Josh? A boyfriend?" Kaoru pestered.

"Oh no," Hikaru teased. "Should we be worried that our princess is looking at someone else?"

Missy folded her arms over her chest. "Hardly. Josh is my brother. Now give it back!"

"Why don't you make me?"

"Wait, your special forces brother?" Hikaru asked with a tinge of shock in his voice.

"Yeah," she answered as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Reaching over Kaoru's shoulder, she was at a disadvantage by being so much shorter than him, so she decided the only option was to get a little closer.

Kaoru laughed and angled his arm further out of her reach, her phone pressed against the corner of the window.

Crawling into the twin's lap, Missy reached past him, doing her best to avoid completely leaning against his torso. "Give it back!" She said, trying to hide the laughter in her voice.

"Never!" Kaoru responded challengingly.

Hikaru laughed from his seat, seeing the model squirm because her vertical disadvantage. She really wasn't a half bad toy.

With a rallying cry, Missy lunged forward and pried her iPhone from Kaoru's warm hands. Grinning triumphantly, she gingerly crawled out of his lap and back into her seat. Looking down at her phone, she saw a bunch of sent messages.

Missy: andigidksihv fkfkfk7;9.8:&&bdjd

Josh: is everything okay? Are you freaking out?

Missy: (kkishbi&:!?

Missy: voice message (10 seconds)

Josh: Missy?! What the heck is going on? I thought you were going to school!

The brunette groaned. Josh was probably fighting back his navy instincts, ready to go Team 6 on the twins. "Look what you two did! Now my brother is freaking out!"

"Eh, he'll get over it," Hikaru said with a shrug.

Missy responded as fast as she could to her brother's worried messages.

Missy: sorry about that! One of Yuzuha's kids took my phone.

Josh: it sounded like a boy.

The model groaned in annoyance again. "You two really suck, you know that?"

"That's what Haruhi says every day," they both answered.

Missy: of course that's the only thing you noticed.

Josh: my powers of observation are unmatched. So who's the boy?

Missy: Boys. Plural. Yuzuha has twin boys. They're in my grade and they work for her so I'll be seeing waaaay too much of them.

Josh: Do you need me to beat them up? :P

The model chuckled. Her brother really was the best brother a girl could ask for.

Missy: To be determined. I'll keep you posted.

Josh: haha okay, I know when to butt out. Good luck on your test! Knock 'me dead, scamp!

"Scamp?" Kaoru questioned, reading over her shoulder.

"And what do you mean by 'to be determined'?" Hikaru followed up.

"Has anyone ever told you that you two have no sense of personal boundaries?"

"Just Haruhi," they said with a shrug.

Missy realized that she needed to steer the conversation away from herself. "Who's Haruhi?"

Both twins shared a look. "Someone in our class. And a member of the Host Club," Kaoru added.

"Host club?" the brunette inquired, giving the two auburn haired teens curious looks. "What's a host club?"

The twins shared another look, an identical cheshire-like grin on their faces. "Pass the entrance exam today, and you'll find out."

"Kurumi-san, please, take a seat," Chairman Suoh greeted the teen, gesturing for her to take the upholstered chair across from his desk.

There were neat stacks of papers and files on the transparent glass surface, one of which was open and had a picture of her on display. At a glance, Missy saw that it was her student ID from her previous school, blown up to be a half a page.

"Arigatou, Suoh-san, but my name is Preston," she reminded gently.

The chairman waved his hand apologetically, turning the page in the file. "Forgive me, you just look so much like your mother that it slipped my mind. How is Kurumi-san?"

Missy smiled tersely. She was used to people asking about her mother, and she was just as used to giving vague answers. "Well. She and her new husband are expecting their second boy in the spring."

"I see," he leaned back in his chair, a knowing look on his face. "Have you seen her since you've been back in the country?" the older gentleman asked politely.

"No, but I've only been here a few days. She'll contact me when word gets around."

The Chairman certainly wasn't surprised at her response. He was used to his students living lives essentially estranged from their parents. In fact, until recently, he had been just as distant from his own son and heir, something that he shuddered to think about.

If nothing else, Suoh Yuzuru was a loving and family-oriented man, and it upset him when he saw how many of his partners and friends dealt with their children as though they were pawns in an elaborate game of chess. As he looked at the charming half American girl in front of him, he couldn't imagine why her file was filled with so many schools. It listed a private academy based in Exeter England, a conservatoire in New York City, and then a school in America that he was completely unfamiliar with. Ouran Academy would be the first, and hopefully only, school she would attend in Japan.

Chairman Suoh nodded and glanced down at the files. With a chuckle, he changed the subject. "You know, when Yuzuha-san called and said that she needed a favor in getting someone into this school, I would have never expected it to be you. You certainly carry a better pedigree than half of our enrolled students, Preston-san, and the status of your wealth is well known. Is she aware of just who she has in her employment?"

"I'm not sure," Missy replied honestly. "Our businesses are almost entirely unrelated, and I dropped out of Japanese society entirely by the time I was eleven. That hardly gave anyone enough time to recognize my name, and as I am legally known by my father's name, it would be surprising if she were to remember such a short-lived marriage." And that was true. The designer was aware that her model was half english and half Japanese, that much was obvious by her looks and her accent. However, it had probably never occurred to the woman that the very obviously westernized girl was once a member of her own society.

The model couldn't fathom why she was answering the man's questions so openly. Maybe it was because he had such an honest face. Or maybe it's because she figured he already knew the answer to half the questions he was asking, and could easily find out the rest if he so desired. Besides, he was responsible for education. He deserved her honesty.

He gave her a sympathetic look. "Ah yes, I remember that now. I had forgotten about that incident. Have you heard anything about the situation?"

There it is, she thought to herself. That takes care of that. "If you don't mind, Chairman, I would rather not talk about this anymore."

Suoh nodded. He could practically see the walls being built in front of him. "Gomen, Preston-san. I seem to have overstepped my bounds." He cleared his throat, indicating a change in subject. "Now, about your entrance exam scores." The chairman put his elbows on his desk and leaned forward to get a better look at the forms.

Missy suppressed a groan. She was so behind on her Japanese history and she was sure it was going to bite her in the ass now.

"Your math scores were quite high. Almost high enough to warrant a scholarship, if you were to need one. And of course, your language scores commend you. Exam wise, you are perfectly acceptable to enter this school," he concluded with a gentle smile, looking up at her in the process.

She did her best not to exhale in relief.

"Of course, the curriculum order is very different in America than it is here, so we'll need to rearrange your schedule a bit," he continued.

"Of course. I expected as much," she answered, trying to hide the bitterness in her voice. She really did see it coming, though. Having attended as many schools as she had, it would have surprised her if she would have been able to follow the same track until graduation. Fortunately, she excelled in her subjects and took the more difficult ones when she could, which kept her ahead of schedule for most schools.

"As you have already taken, and passed, the chemistry course that the second years will be taking, you will be moved to the third years physics class for that hour," he stated. "This will free up a science period your senior year, which will be used for a free study so that you can catch up in Japanese history."

"Pardon me, sir, but wouldn't it make more sense for me to use that free period now to catch up on Japanese history?" she asked. Why delay and move her around when she could just keep the same course track as the rest of her year.

Suoh looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, hands folded on his desk. "I suppose that would be possible, but you would need to find a tutor for the subject . . ." Glancing over at the other files on his desk, he pulled up one with a grin on his face. "Here it is. Fujioka Haruhi. An honor student. A brilliant one at that. I'm sure Fujioka will be able to tutor you in the subject."

"An honor student?" Missy asked with concern. "But I doubt an honor student will have the time to do so because he'll have to stay at the top of the class. Is there anyone else?"

Regretfully, Suoh shut the file on the honor student and put it in one of the drawers at the bottom of his desk. "I'll have to get back to you on that. There might be someone else in your class, but I would need to check their test results first. Would you be willing to sit through Chemistry and study on your own in history for the next week or so?" he asked. "And I'll have one of my secretaries go over this and make sure that your schedule meets our course requirement for graduation."

Missy was certainly surprised. This school was incredibly accommodating to its students. No wonder her mother had always bragged about attending the prestigious academy in her youth. "I'd be happy too," she replied with a soft smile.

"Alright then. If that's all settled, then let me just say, welcome to Ouran Academy, Preston-san," he said approvingly, his gaze fatherly and proud as it rested on the newest student.

"Arigatou, Suoh-san," Missy thanked him, rising from her seat as the Chairman did the same. "Now, if you could just tell me one more piece of information. The Hitachiin twins mentioned something about 'Host Club' after school. Where exactly might I find that?"

And with those words, Suoh Yuzuru grinned more broadly than he had all day.

Replies:

AlisonWest: I'm actually really glad you asked this question. It's pointed out numerous times that Kaoru often follows his brother's lead when it comes to pranking, making him a little less mischievous than his brother. One thing I really want to explore in this story is that part of their growing up involves an end of their co-dependency. A result of the end of that aspect of their relationship means that Kaoru has to evolve into a more independent thinker (as does Hikaru), forcing him to recognize that he does not enjoy all of the same things as his brother, and understand that he has to be honest with his brother and tell him no sometimes. Thanks for reading and I'm glad you're enjoying the story!