Chapter Three

He Who Fights to Run Away, Lives to Run Away Again!

"Are you, or are you not the Black Angel of Death?" – Steve, Black Sheep

By the time the lunch period bell had rung, Ichigo could have sworn his ears were burning. Every long winded speech and or lecture given to the 1-A class had seemed repetitive and never-ending as the teacher outlined his setup for the semester curriculum in near pain stacking detail. Once the bell rang though, the whole class got up and tromped out of the room making a bee-line for the cafeteria as their stomachs griped and grumbled in want of food. Slipping out amongst his classmates to avoid the teacher, who seemed a bit keen on picking out the new student for whatever reason, Ichigo fell into the trickle of humanity that pushed into one direction.

Going against the flow seemed a bit out of question, but Ichigo managed to veer off down a side hall that merely echoed with the passing footsteps. Taking the moment to catch his breath, Ichigo exhaled heavily as he mentally picked away at the mere starting events of the day. So far he had been gawked at, judged by the secretary, teased by two classmates, critiqued by the teacher, and now he found himself surrounded by halls that looked as though they should be the interior design to some monolithic cathedral or castle in Europe. Running a hand through his orange colored hair, Ichigo allowed his hand to rest on the back of his neck while he glanced off to the side to stare out the large floor to ceiling windows that made up the out facing wall of the hall.

The grounds of the academy campus were very nice as their constant upkeep kept them in pristine condition, the buildings of pearly white bricks and pale mortar were amazing structures that spun a sense of elegance and timeless class to the campus. It was all impressive when you looked at it, but inside it was a whole other story. There was every cliché group that one could think of, along with the vast range of rich-kid attitude to be found (case in point being the twins that snubbed Ichigo in the hall before homeroom). High school was high school no matter where it was or who ran it.

Exhaling heavily, Ichigo looked up at the powder blue sky overhead where large puffs of cloud cover had suddenly appeared and were now drifting lazily off across a vast open space that shouted utter freedom. Deep amber stared with a longing gaze after the clouds as Ichigo suddenly felt rather confined within the walls of the massive building. There's just no way in hell I'm going to eat in the cafeteria. He grimaced at the thought of the stares that would occur all over again. Forget that!

An idea suddenly struck the first year, and instead of making the bee-line for the cafeteria, Ichigo wandered around for around twenty minutes before he opened the small metal door that was the only entrance access to the completely flat roof of the high school department building. A vast area half the size of a football field was just smooth flat concrete while the rest of the roof was A-framed and tiled. The perfect spot for a new kid who didn't want the stares of the rich-blood on him while he ate a homemade lunch packed by himself. Closing the door and making his way across the roof top to the edge where a high rail and fenced mesh provided a safety net to anyone on the roof.

It was different looking out across the campus from high above versus out the window, but either way it still made Ichigo cringe. Taking a seat with back against the fence, Ichigo pulled out the o-bento box he had packed into his school bag. Last night's fried vegetables, rice, and fried egg was a rather good meal, and taking his time in eating it, Ichigo felt a rather sinking feeling hit him as he slowly started to realize that today was just only the beginning of a whole school year in which he would face so many odd situations as well as rather unpleasant confrontations with the other students and possibly even the faculty.

"Haruhi, if you weren't family, I'd shake you to death." Ichigo muttered before popping food into his mouth. Well, I guess it could be absolutely worse than what's happened so far. I could have been bullied and beaten up. That was not exactly the most comforting thought, and Ichigo slapped himself mentally for it.

Lunch lasted for almost a good hour and a half before the bell chimed out and called for students to return to their classes. Amongst them, Ichigo appeared, shouldering his school bag and collecting his nerves to face the rest of the day. However, as he made his way back to the 1-A classroom by following a few of the other boys he recognized from the class, but Ichigo would never make it all the way back to class. From either side of the orange-haired boy, the twins appeared and hooked him by either arm in order to yank him off down some other corridor where the high ceilings arched into a point and trailed off for seemed like near forever with a cranberry colored carpet.

Confused at the rather sudden extraction from the main crowd body, Ichigo looked about quickly to both get his bearings and asses this new situation. Different hall. Sided by the twins he was seated between in class. Stared down with intrigued looks that were a bit unsettling. Crap. "Uh, h-hey guys. Have a nice lunch?" Ichigo forced himself to sound as polite as possible without over acting to avoid further teasing that was possibly about to come down on him.

The twin with his hair parted off from the left lifted a inquisitive brow in response, the fairest hint of a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Actually, we were rather bored, and disappointed." He replied smoothly while lifting his hands up in a shrug.

"Indeed were very bored and very disappointed." The other twin, his hair parted from the right, added in his agreement to this statement made by his brother.

Ichigo stared at them with a rather dumbfounded look. "I'm..sorry?" He edged out a confused apology of some kind as he wasn't sure if he should be even commenting on this or not.

"You should be." The second twin stated, hands planted on his hips while an indigent stare was directed at Ichigo. "Skipping out on lunch like that. Tsk, tsk, you won't make friends like that." He wagged an index finger at the boy he was apparently reprimanding.

The first twin nodded while stroking the tip of his chin. "You know, Eniwa-san, I don't believe we've introduced ourselves to you yet." He snickered while coming around to stand beside his brother, arm propping up on his brother's shoulder as he used him to lean upon in a rather saucy stance.

"Hitachiin Hikaru." The second twin introduced himself, a rather cheeky grin on his lips while those golden hazel eyes of his gleamed with a rather impish mirth that sent a chill shiver down Ichigo's spine.

"Hitachiin Kaoru." The first twin introduced himself next, the same grin and gleam playing about his features. "Eniwa-san, you're a commoner aren't you?" He asked, curious to know whether or not this odd little rumor was in fact true, but his keen eye for those of his social status already assured him that this one was in fact a commoner.

"C-Commoner?" Ichigo stammered out as he was a bit taken back by this question as well as rather insulted. Though the former won out over the latter at the moment.

Hikaru snickered at the stricken look on Ichigo's face. "Yes, commoner. That's what you are, neh? After all, you had to come into Ouran with scholarship." The right corner of his mouth twitched.

For Ichigo, that felt as if someone had punched him right in the stomach. That sort painfully hallow feeling that knocks the wind right out you but still leaves you standing but injures you right down the core. Either out of embarrassment or something else entirely, Ichigo lowered his head, chin just barely at the tip of resting against the smooth fabric of the tie about his neck. This caused the twins to snicker in unison as they appeared to have struck a rather decent blow on the new kid. What they didn't see though, were the hands curling into fists at Ichigo's sides.

"Hmph, looks like the cat's got his tongue." Kaoru glanced over at his brother sideways. "Pity, I had hoped we would find some fun in this new toy."

"Well what else could be expected of a commoner anyways? Dull." Hikaru shrugged while crossing his arms casually before he started to massage his right temple. "Oh well." He exhaled a heavy sigh as he started forward to pass the new kid and head back to class now that he was bored, Kaoru following after him.

Letting them pass, a rather odd little smirk pulled up the corners of Ichigo's mouth as he listened to them finally put a few feet between them. "Commoner on a scholarship, eh?" Ichigo muttered, loud enough for them to hear as well since the twins paused and cast half lidded glances back over their shoulders. Ichigo lifted his head high but didn't look back at his classmates. "Somehow, that statement seems to compliment me more than you would want it to." Ichigo sent a rather searing glare over his shoulder, that deep amber gaze void and near unforgiving for the snide remarks made at his expense.

Both boys appeared to be choked and aught off-guard as for once someone else was rising up to meet them at their own game. They exchanged confused looks with one another but ultimately looked at the orange-haired kid who had turned sideways in order to better stare at them with a challenge written across his gaze. Silence crept through that hall as neither party spoke and from the fact that everyone else had returned to their classes now. It was Ichigo who moved first, pressing his way around the twins and walking back to class.

As he passed by them, Ichigo slowed just enough for them to hear one last thing muttered out in a sarcastic apology of sorts. "I'm sorry I got into this school on my own IQ instead of my parent's money."

Now it was Hikaru and Kaoru's turn to feel as though someone had punched them in the gut. Their jaws dropped and in all about three seconds they became incredibly flustered and were ready to snap back with far more hurtful things, but as they looked to Ichigo they realized they were alone in that hall. Gritting his teeth, hands clenched into fists, Hikaru looked as though he were on the verge of bursting into angry flames. Kaoru on the other hand, though just as mad, held a more pouting and pensive look on his face as he stared off down the hall.

"Looks like we were wrong about him." Kaoru huffed as he crossed his arms.

"Indeed it does look to be that way." Hikaru hissed through his clenched teeth while the eyebrow over his left eye twitched in annoyance to being put in his place.

While the twins fumed over the whole thing, Ichigo had since plastered himself back first against the wall of the main hall just outside the one he had literally raced out of. Panting heavily and looking as though he had lost one of nine lives, Ichigo silently threatened his cousin all over again with a painful death while creeping his way along the hall back towards class as fast as possible. The twins were pissed, and Ichigo knew he had possibly stepped over a line that someone like himself really shouldn't have crossed on the first day of school.

Yeah right! They deserved it, calling me a commoner! Just because I don't live in a house the size of a mall doesn't mean they can treat me like that! Rich-bastards. Don't think I won't bite back when provoked!

A sense of greater confidence started to swell within Ichigo as he pulled himself off the wall, however the sound of footsteps coming his way from behind banished that feeling and sent him sprinting off down the hall, disappearing before anyone else caught a hold of him.