Chapter 2: Okay so we didn't know she was a girl?

"Hey, Mako-chan~" I turned my head to side, glancing around to see who called me. School had just ended so as usual around 3 o'clock, I had taken to going back to the cute diner that resided near my house. The pastel colors and old time western theme was adorable and it brought me comfort as it was close to how decorated my apartmemt was.

"Hmmm?" My eyes locked with Nina, a beautiful blonde waitress. I smiled happily up at her before taking another sip of my sugar filled coffee.

"How was school," She asked cheerfully and slid into the other side of the booth. The diner was dead as of right now so I supposed she had too much free time. I didn't mind! Nina was the closest thing I had to a big sister even though she was only a couple years older me. My lip jutted out as I thought of the earlier events and I sunk back in my chair, pushing at the avocado omelet skillet I was eating. Even the deliciousness of this couldnt stop me from being annoyed.

"I'm on... restriction?" I looked towards her for guidance and she smiled encouragingly at my word usage. "The principal chewed me out because of my absences and now he and my father have banded together to form 'Ruin Makoto's Life' team!" I told her sourly. She covered her mouth and laughed and I pursed my lips annoyed. It was hard however, to keep that same energy when she looked so pretty doing it.

"I'm sure they're doing it for your own good, silly," She smiled fondly at me and I shrugged. "I'm glad you're still going. Keep working at it Mako-chan, you're almost there!" She gave me a pat on my shoulder before standing and leaving to go greet more customers. I sighed, placing my head gently into the palm of my hand.

Almost there?

I stirred my iced coffee around, poking at the bits of ice.

Then why did it feel like I wasn't even close?

The second day of school turned out not to be so bad as I had assumed. The only class I truly had trouble in was math and thats only due to how lazy I was getting with it. Everything else such as politics, english, history, and more I was excelling in. I had switched seats with another girl so as my seat was now a bit further away from the devilish twins and rather secluded near the quieter kids. It wasn't fun but it was better and I didn't feel so self-conscious.

Everything was going okay or so I thought. Around the second week there is when it got a little iffy. My notes were all messy and drawn over and I stared out the window as sensei spoke about english and verbs. It seemed like everything he spoke about I already knew. He had just finished up when the bell rang and as everyone left to go receive lunch, I was called to stay after. Quietly, he lead me towards the corner of the classroom and began speaking to me in a slightly hushed tone.

"Nanami-san," Hiroshi-sensei began and I shifted foot to foot. He pursed his lips and stared at me awkwardly for a second before continuing, "Are you having trouble settling in?" I felt my eyes widen in surprise. I knew for sure that my grades were okay because I was constantly checking them to make sure they were at passing point. Where did this come from? I glanced subtly towards my old seat. Was this what he was bothered about?

"I-I'm fine? I don't understand, sensei? Is there a problem with my grades?" I asked gently. He studied me with confusion.

"You're just passing and that's very worrying to me considering how bright you are," He began incredulously, searching for something on face. I mustered some strength to keep myself from rolling my eyes. The truth was, I'm not particularly that smart. It's just everyone else was lazy and didn't care so when I put in the slightest effort, it looked better than it really was. For such a prestigious academy, you'd expect them to be on a higher level. I watched as he strode over to his desk before picking up a black book and opening it.

Death Note??!!

He gestured over to me and I slowly came over to him, trying to push the silly thought of my sensei trying to kill me out of my head. I went through way too much anime. I looked down at the book and noticed that it generally only contained 0's or 100's. Is he showing me his taxes??

"I dont understand Nanami-san," He told me shaking his head. "When you do turn your work in you get great scores however most of the time you don't. I can't understand why youre wasting so much potential? Are you having problems at home?" He gestured to the assignmemts I turned in that scored high, giving me a disappointed look.

I bit my tongue as I felt my blood run cold. Home? What problems could I have there? I'm the only one.

I smiled fakely and shook my head. "No, everything is perfect," I said. He stared at me before sighing.

"Okay, Nanami-san, I'll accept that for now. I refuse, however, to watch you flush away your academics. I'm assigning you a tutor until your workload returns to an acceptable rate," Hiroshi-sensei told me sternly and I stared at him incredulously. A tutor? More like a babysitter!

"That's really not needed, sensei," I gritted out and he rolled his eyes. I almost passed out. Was everyone against me? First Kurosawa-sensei, then the school principal, and now Hiroshi-sensei? I shifted my gaze around, making sure no one was placing a jinx on me. This much attention within a month was suspicious. Usually I was left to do my own thing but this much interference was way out of the ordinary.

"Apparently it is. Fujioka-san," He called out to one of the remaining kids in the class and I turned to see a brunette haired girl stand up. She wore a males uniform to which I stopped myself from nodding in agreement. The yellow banana dress, though a very pretty color, was very unflattering on some. And by some I mean me. Rearranging the uniform was already risky enough, but I believe the principal was just glad that I was showing up.

"Yes, Sensei?"

"This is Nanami-san, the student I was referring to you as a tutee. Please take care of her." He said before dismissing us. I stared at him in surprise.

These teachers really are trying to ruin my life, huh?

"It may be more comfortable if we discuss this at our seats Nanami-san," She said and I nodded blankly as she led me towards the back. Surprisingly to me, she sat right next to my desk and I pushed away the guilty feeling I had for not ever noticing or greeting her. "Sensei says you understand the material so I'm not really sure what I can do for you. I cant exactly force you to turn in homework," Fujioka told me sincerely, looking a bit lost.

"I apologize for this awkward situation I've put you in," I told her honestly with a slight blush. Being exposed for being lazy was kind of embarrassing. "I ensure you I'm able to turn in work on my own so please feel free to ignore Hiroshi-sensei's request. He's just being pesky now." Fujioka blinked at me and I blinked back, unsure of what to do.

"No offense, Nanami-chan," She began, "but it doesn't look good on me if you dont get your crap together. Why is it, if i may ask, you don't turn in all your work?" I almost reeled back in shock at her bluntness.

"I-i Uh, I dont know...," I said. She continued to stare at me with her big doe eyes and I flushed considerably redder. "I guess I just, I don't finish the work so I don't turn it in? I understand everything however." Fujioka blinked before looking up at the ceiling.

"I think we can find a way to work this out. Sometimes I have trouble on the work, so it can be quo pro quo. You help me with a few questions, and we finish stuff together." I blinked at her before nodding. That really does work, huh?

"I'm okay with that," I agreed happily, giving her a small smile. It wasn't everyday I was paired up with someone so nice! "When should our first time be?"

"Well," Fujioka paused in her speech, contemplatively bringing a finger to her chin as she thought, "Recently I've joined a club but so far I'm not too popular so I'm sure we'll have more than enough time. We can walk after school there if you want or you can just meet me," She said and I took a moment before nodding hesitantly. Being around so many new people was quite nerve wracking but Fujioka seemed so nice and some part of me felt compelled to try my best to be her friend.

"Great, I'll meet you in Music Room 3 at 2:30."

"Okay!" I nodded excitedly, even whilst my stomach twisted uncomfortably. The bell rung only moments after and we turned back to sit properly in our desks as students filed in. I watched in specific as those red headed devil twins came back, averting my eyes when they lifted their's. I was definitely not going to let them ruin my day. For the next hour and a half of class, I relished in finally having plans. Not being a loser was my favorite!

The bell dinged as I scurried across campus, my black skirt swishing against my legs as they worked as fast as they could to drive me towards Music Room 3. The 2 frappuchinos in my hand left it a burning cold but I paid no mind, instead chooing to scour around for music room 3. My tendency to be early was coming in handy as I hadnt realized how difficult it would be to find this room. I squeezed past a group of girls, before pausing. Obviously I needed some direction but my experience so far with my classmates had been 2:1 bad experiences to good.

"uhm," I began quietly, "excuse me!" I called. One turned to look at me in surprise before giving me a suspicious look. Her sudden stop in turn caused the attention of the other girls as well and they all stared at me.

"Yes?" I shifted, poking at my sock with the tip of my other shoe.

"I-I'm supposed to be meeting a girl at Music Room 3. Is it possible you could tell me which way," I questioned nervously, feeling my face tinge in that ugly red. Their expressions lightened and they all lost any tension that was being held.

"Oh yeah! That's where we are going right now," I sighed in relief. "Just follow us!"

"Thank you!" I bowed before joining them. The walk was short and I had to stop myself from scowling as I realized I had walked past it 3 times. The doors were tall and huge, the frames made of cherry oak, and the knob was a beautiful silver. Though I didn't attend school that much, I truly did appreciate the aesthetics they put in.

And then the door opened.

"Welcome!"

"Oh"

/line frikin break/

"I didn't realize you partook in these type of past times," I asked her with surprise and Haruhi gave me an annoyed look from where she sat.

"Yeah, neither did I. I didn't choose to join this club but it's not been horrible so far. All I really ever do is go get instant coffee and talk to girls so it's not too bad," Fujioka shrugged, sipping at the creme frappuchino i got her. She didn't particularly look like the type to enjoy coffee mid day so I went safe and got her one without.

"So where should we start?" I asked, pulling out my folded homework from the mini coach backpack i carried.

"I dont understand question 6 but other than that I have everything else done. Let's just compare answers," She said, moving to sit next to me. I tensed up before relaxing. It's not like she was a threat.

"Sure!"

"Actually, Haruhi-kun has been reserved for a one on one for the next half hour. You could wait here if you'd like," a black haired boy said as he sat down on the comfy black couch. I looked at them all incredulously. Reserved? What was she? A table? Fujioka looked at him in surprise as well. This futher drove my suspicion. Was he trying to keep her away from me or was she actually reserved?

"With who?"

"Ayanokoji-sama," He said, glasses flashing as he began tapping incredibly fast. The short haired brunette surveyed the room, trying to figure out who this Ayanokoji was I'm sure, before sighing.

"Okay Nanami-chan," Fujioka gave me an apologetic look, "This shouldn't be too long but I totally would understand if you wanted to reschedule." I panicked for a moment, unsure of what to do. If I said I'd wait would it look too desperate or would it look like I care about my grades?

"Sure," I told her smiling. My grip tightened on my books but other than that, I made sure that I seemed okay with it. Fujioka was definitely not the type of person to ditch people. I was just being sensitive. She gave me a smile back and I flushed at how pretty she was. Haruhi was like the perfect japanese beauty and I felt so jealous. I pushed back the urge to ask to do her makeup and she took her leave, leaving me and the other boy to do our work in silence. Everything was going smoothly for a bit before I felt a terrible feeling in my stomach.

"Something bad is going to happen," I said quietly, looking up and around the room. I slipped my hand near my mini backpack cautiously, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. My movement caused the other boys attention and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"What do you mean?" He questioned suspiciously, and I went to shrug before bearing a loud crash. My whole body flinched and I cringed before turning towards the noise. On the ground, this Ayanokoji girl was being topped by Fujioka and I stared in confusion. She hadn't even known this girl before the date so why would she be on top of her?

"That... doesn't seem right," I said, moving to stand up only to fall back down in shock as those two devil twins dumped water all over the two girls. Was this club crazy? Did things like this happen on a daily or do I just carry bad luck? Survey says its both. As the red haired girl got kicked out of the room, the rest of us were urged to file out so the mess could be cleaned up and I paused for a moment, leaving with them so as to grab another uniform.

I could hear the girls around me talking dissappointedly over hours being cut short and also some angrily complaining of the red haired one but I pressed on to my locker, taking the yellow banana dress out and placing it into my mini backpack. I hope Fujioka wouldn't be too cold in the meantime. The trek up the stairs was shorter now as I knew where I was going but I still felt winded. Deciding to skip exercise instead for coffee was an absolutely terrible idea and I made a note to myself of drinking more water. I went to reach the door hand before pausing.

"Did Fujioka-chan's club already get her a spare set?" I wondered awkwardly. Its true, I had only met the girl earlier today but I wanted so badly to make friends however not enough to continually pester a girl. I'll go in and do a quick check before leaving, I thought before nodding. That sounds okay! And it was, because as soon as I entered the room, I saw Haruhi draped in a towel, the wet clothes still encasing her.

"Fujioka-san," I called softly, watching as she turned to me. "I brought some spare clothes for you." She smiled gratefully and I had to hold my heart once more due to just how cute she was. I felt myself grow a little sad, due to how envious i was but shook it out of my head. Instead of just giving her the clothes outright, I handed her my mini bag in total.

"Thanks, Nanami-chan! You know, you can call me Haruhi," She said as she headed towards where the changing rooms were and I almost passed out. Did I just upgrade friendship levels within one day? Yes! Nina would be so proud! Sitting down on the couch, I waited patiently. Besides the laptop in front of my and a cute bunny sitting on the chair, I saw no one else in the room and took a moment to wonder where the other host club members went. Did they just leave her here? My eyes shifted to the laptop. No, they definitely wouldnt. This looks like they left for a moment as it was still on. I hesistantly looked around before peering to see what was on it, noting the charts of math and bills. It wasn't on purpose, but as I began to read them, my mind began to add.

"Well, thats not right," I mumbled to myself. Whoever was doing this audit mustve mixed up one of the numbers, I mused as I found the wrong number. A simple 5 that looked like a 6. That must be why that boy wears glasses.

"Tamaki," a voice from the back room sighed annoyedly, "Restrain yourself." I tensed up and waited for the to come out. The voices grew louder and soon enough, they all walked into the same room as me. Immediately, I noticed the big stack of towels in the blondes hand. Behind him, the evil devil twins gave me a sour look and I held back the angry look I wanted to give them back.

"Hello," I stood, bowing slightly. I was on their terf. Best to be polite. "I'm Haruhi-san's classmate, Nanami Makoto. I lent Haruhi-san some spare clothes so I am just waiting for my bag to be returned to me." I explained as best as I could. They all looked at me scrutinizingly and I almost started crying right there from being so intimidated. Weren't these boys supposed to be charming?

"How kind of you," The blonde one who I assumed to be 'Tamaki' said. "I'm sure he appreciates that! I'll go bring him more towels just in case," He told us while placing a stack on the table before carrying the other to the back.

"U-Uh," I stuttered, "Wait! I don't know if-" I felt arms circle around my waist and jumped back as a blonde haired boy stared me right in the eyes. In his arms he held the soft pink bunny from earlier and I flushed from the close proximity, stepping away to establish more of a boundary. These boys were really something else.

"It's okay, Tama-chan won't do anything," He smiled reassuringly. I tried to smile back but it ended up coming out as a cringe.

"I guess?"

But then I heard a scream and my stomach dropped because there hadn't been a bad feeling before it. It was as if we discussed it before, but in unison everyone was rushing to where the loud noise came from. I almost hit myself. I knew I should have stopped him! In the corner on the otherside of the dressing room, Tamaki sat with a blush on his face.

"D-Did you walk in on her!?" I snapped angrily. His eyes looked to me and I only felt myself getting more annoyed. Was he really that careless?

"WaHHHHHHHHHH," He started crying and I froze. Did I really just make an upperclassmen cry? A sigh sounded from behind me and the black boy rolled his eyes.

"Get up," He demanded boredly, "That's what you get for not being careful. Now look what you've done," I stared in confusion at all of them.

"Wait, did he not know-"

"You're a girl?!" Tamaki shouted and I cringed, putting my hands over my ears. Pulling the curtain aside, Haruhi straightened out the bow on her uniform and I cooed.

"You're so pretty~" I sighed happily. She looked up at me and rolled her eyes.

"All it is is a dress," She shrugged and I gave a shocked look. The devil twins made a noise from behind me, sounding as if they were choking.

"Just a dress?" One began.

"That dress is worth 37780 yen," They replied brisquely, looking at eachother. Haruhi turned to stare at us in shock.

"Eh? Really? For this?" She picked up a piece of the skirt, surprised. I nodded in agreement.

"I know, it really is overpriced. One size doesn't fit and it's not very flattering." I shrugged. For such a prestigious school, the girls outfit certainly wasn't flattering enough to be spending so much money on. The red heads looked at me and scrunched their face.

"Cake-Face-chan has a point," one of them muttered, annoyedly. The other nodded in agreement, sighing in defeat. "Yeah, kinda sucks coming from someone who has such bad style. Look at how long her skirt is! It covers almost all of your feet." I glanced at them before rolling my eyes.

"Well, I think it looks nice!" The small blonde one said starry eyed and I snorted with a half smile.

"Hey, Haruhi-chan," I began, curiously tilting my head at her, "Why have you been letting them call you a girl?" : imtryingtoexist r

"Well I don't think gender matters rather my personality. Personally, I dont particularly care what you call me." She crossed her arms and I blinked. As if it was an afterthought, she turned to Tamaki and smiled. "You know senpai, I really thought you were kinda cool earlier!"

The blonde made a strangled noise, pressing himelf further into the corner as his face only grew more red. I laughed to myself quietly. Boys were so odd.

"Now, I might be wrong but I think these are the signs of love," The black haired boy said underneath his breath. I turned to look at him.

"Ah, this might seem out of place but I found a mistake in the math on your laptop. For the tea, you've mistaken a 5 for a 6 as well as the same is pastries," I told him, walking towards my bag that still hung against the changing room wall. I took my phone out, checking the time briefly before placing my purse across my body. Turning to Haruhi, I gave her a sympathetic smile. "It was nice meeting you all. i hope we'll be able to study soon Haruhi-san," I told her before leaving. A small smile graced my face as I walked away.

Okay, so life wasn't so bad.