Author Note: In the last chapter, the boys from the basketball team that were introduced to Ichigo were each (aside from Shinnosuke and Haru) named after several of my favorite manga authors. It was my way of paying homage to those who inspired me to write. Points to anyone who can match each artist name to their correct manga!

Chapter Seven

And It Starts All Over Again

"I just know, before this is over, I'm gonna need a whole lot of serious therapy. Look at my eye twitchin'." - Donkey, Shrek

The weekend had come and gone far too quickly for Ichigo as Monday appeared with a wonderfully rosy sunrise that seemed to mock the First Year as she had to literally drag herself out of bed at six am in order to properly prepare her body for the tortures of the day it was about to be placed under. The wrapping of the chest that needed to be done in order to conceal her very much apparent female identity took a good forty-five minutes, that in which after, Ichigo raced about her bedroom to collect the rest of her school things as though the end of the world was right at her heels. Irony at its finest as some would say.

The flurry of orange hair and panic barreled its way into the kitchen, school bag slapping down atop the first piece of empty counter space at hand as the refrigerator was yanked open with a loud pop. Containers were quickly shoved about as Ichigo searched out an easy breakfast meal she didn't need to heat and could scarf down on her way out the door. The clatter of frenzied sound caught the bemused curiosity of Eniwa Aoi; his knitted brow stare appearing at a rather odd leaned back angle through open doorway that connected the small kitchen to the equally small living room in the tiny apartment he shared with his daughter... who happened to be ripping their refrigerator apart at that very moment.

"Oi, Ichigo, you doing alright in there?" Aoi was rather puzzled as to the reason behind his daughter's frantic attempt at throwing together a breakfast consisting of last nights leftovers.

Not even pulling out of the fridge as she stuffed her mouth with fried rice, pickled radish chips, fried pork, one remaining onigiri; Ichigo mumbled out a reply that her father managed to somehow understand as he merely shrugged back and returned to whatever it was he had been preoccupied with in the living room. A strangled choke brought his head poking back in one more time to watch as Ichigo downed the last of the milk in order to wash down whatever mass of edible material she had shoved down her throat.

"You know, there is such a thing called chewing. It totally helps with the whole... not choking on your food and dying in the kitchen thing." A flat look stretched his face with right brow pulled up in slight hint of annoyance for his daughter's behavior. The last thing he wanted to be doing that morning was dialing for an ambulance as his only child turned blue in the face from a lodged bit of pickled radish or fried pork Ichigo never even once attempted to chew.

The milk carton slammed down on the counter and Ichigo exhaled a heavy gasp as the lack of oxygen finally caught up with her. A few deep breaths and Ichigo was scooping up her school bag from its place on the counter and hurtling for the front door. "Byeloveyoudadseeyoutonight!!" She rattled out her good-bye faster than what was thought humanly possible.

"Eniwa Ichigo!"

Something about how Aoi called his daughter by her full-name froze the orange-haired teenager in place... literally in the middle of her flurried motions so that she appeared much like that of a paused video frame.

"I suggest that you turn yourself around miss." Aoi called out from his place in the living room where the TV murmured quietly in the background.

Like the obedient daughter she was, Ichigo turned immediately and appeared within the open doorway of the living room with a dower look on her face as she could already hear the five second lecture that was about to begin. Taking a sip from his morning tea in a very graceful and languid motion, Aoi paused a moment before putting his cup down as if to savor the tangy zest of the tea itself before casting a sideways glance back over his shoulder. There was a faint smirk playing upon the corner of his mouth as he noted the look on Ichigo's face.

"Now, without destroying language in and of itself, please repeat what you said." Aoi sipped from his tea.

Exhaling, Ichigo slipped a hand beneath the collar of her uniform and rubbed at the nape of her neck. "I... I'll see you later after school." She murmured while glancing up and over to where her dad was sitting in the living room.

Glancing back over his shoulder, head tilting back a bit to get a better view of her, Aoi grinned while lifting a brow. "See, that's what I thought you had said, but I just had to clarify." Returning his head posture to its normal position, Aoi slipped a hand into the pocket of his sweater jacket and then waved a small piece of white paper above his shoulder. "If you could, there are a few things we need for the house from the store."

"Are you working late tonight?" Ichigo lifted a brow while stepping further into the living room to take the list being waved at her.

Aoi shook his head. "No. But I do want to cook dinner tonight; give you a break for a change." He reached up and ruffled her hair playfully, this gesture being easily accomplished by the fact that she had stooped just enough for her five foot six inch frame to be at a decent level. "I was thinking a kimchi dish, since that's one of your favorites."

Ichigo's eyes lit up immediately as a tingle ran up her spine in response to the promise of her favorite Korean dish coming to her at dinner. Folding the list into a small square, Ichigo tucked it away into the front breast pocket of her school uniform jacket. "Which supermarket is having a sale today?"

"Our usual haunting ground of course." Aoi chirped while setting his tea down upon the table before him. In a rather casual manner, he propped his elbow up atop the table top and cupped his clean-shaved chin within the palm of his hand as a rather cheeky grin lifted the corners of his mouth. "By the way, aren't you running late for school?"

All color drained from Ichigo's face for a brief two seconds before her presence became a mere afterimage that vanished shortly after and had Aoi chuckling to himself as he returned to his tea.

"Kurosaki Hyate?"

"Here!"

The teacher of the 1-A Class had begun roll call that morning as soon as the bell rang, and fortunately enough for a rather late scholarship riding student, he started at the end of the name roster and was working his way up. At the back of the class, Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged rather bored looks with one another before shooting a unified glare at the empty seat positioned between them. Hikaru tapped his index finger against the top of his desk meticulously while frowning in a disproving manner, eyebrows furrowing towards the middle of his brow.

"Ichigo-san isn't here yet." Hikaru muttered while exhaling an exasperated sigh.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be along shortly." Kaoru flicked at a piece of his ginger-hair that hung down between his eyes. His nonchalant tone had his brother giving him a raised look, and he even appeared to be on the verge of voicing the question hanging on the tip of his tongue, however Kaoru cut him off by simply pointing towards the classroom door that was still closed.

"Hitachiin Kaoru?"

"Here, sensei." Kaoru waved his hand lazily while the other hand propped his chin up.

"Hitachiin Hikaru?"

"Uh, yeah, here." Hikaru waved his teacher off while keeping his gaze attached to the classroom door that his brother signaled him to watch.

Continuing on through his roll call, Hiyama-sensei caught a strange chill up his spine that caused him to pause mid-name call as he glanced up from his clipboard and off towards the classroom door where logically the chill would possibly come from with it opening and closing quickly. However, the door remained closed and none of his students seemed to have noticed the chill as well as most were either doodling in their notebooks or going over notes from the last lecture he had given them. Shrugging, he returned to his roll call, all while unaware of the sudden appearance of a certain orange-haired student at the back of the class who was receiving a rather startled and shell-shocked look from one of two brothers he sat between.

Hikaru sat sideways in his chair, eyes wide and mouth a gap with arms braced down on the top of his desk and the top of his chair while his brother merely glanced sideways with a rather amused look on his face. Sitting at attention, hands folded neatly on the top of his desk and hair looking slightly mussed, Eniwa Ichigo stared straight ahead at the teacher who now reached his name on the roll call.

"Eniwa Ichigo?"

"Here." There was something slightly off in Ichigo's voice that Kaoru picked up on; but Ichigo held a placid reserve that refused to betray the orange-haired boy anymore than that one crack in tone.

While Hiyama-sensei continued on, Hikaru managed to finally regain something of a sense of composure and pointed at Ichigo accusingly with a suspicious glare. "How the hell did you do that?!" He hissed, all warning signals having been raised concerning the sudden and very mysterious appearance of the 'hedgehog head' he and his brother had been sitting on either side of for about a week now since the start of the new school year and first semester.

Ichigo continued to stare forward at attention to the teacher as he started in on the day's first of many lessons he had planned out. "Do what?" Amber eyes stayed focused upon the teacher while the re-quote of the question imposed by the still rather startled Hitachiin boy.

"That thing you just did! The whole sneaking into class without anyone noticing thing; that's what!!" Hikaru hissed in an irritated manner while leaning forward out the side of his seat to bring his squinted glare near enough to Ichigo's face as he sought evidence to prove that orange-haired commoner had scrambled like mad hell to pull off the near ninja like entry. "I want to know how you did it." He muttered accusingly.

From his place on the other side of Ichigo, Kaoru chuckled into the palm of his hand before pausing a moment as he caught something from the corner of his eye. Slipping out from beneath the hairline riding across Ichigo's temple, a bead of sweat had finally collected enough weight to slid down the boy's skin. Eying it for a moment, Kaoru grinned to himself in a rather devious manner before sidling in closer to his classmate. A sense of being cornered was starting to hover over Ichigo like a suffocating cloud of doom, and the boy refrained from swallowing down the butterflies that threatened to escape from his stomach.

"If I promise to tell you later at lunch, will you please remove yourselves from my personal space for the remainder of class?!" Ichigo whispered through gritted teeth and did everything possible to keep from shoving both brothers away at that very moment. It seemed to please both of them as they slowly removed themselves from said "personal space" and sat back in their seats with rather pleased looks on their faces. Dear mother in heaven... I'm so screwed. The would have been appropriate head slam to the top of the desk would followed immediately after, but appearances are everything at Ouran... even for a commoner holding the scholarship meant for their cousin.