Ouran Academy…It's an elite school that most of my friends recommended because I was crazy smart.
Mom and I walked together to Ouran Academy the day of admissions. I grew a little nervous, but I remembered that this was all for Dad.
The bells were ringing wildly, indicating that it was now the afternoon.
"I'm here to say that your daughter's future at Ouran Academy is assured. Her test scores were one of the top ten and earned the culinary scholarship." The man said that was giving the interview. I stayed seated a bit far away, but I could still hear their conversation. I heard my mom chuckle and answered back.
"That's the trouble. She's too smart for her own good." She said, amusingly smiling. "She insisted on coming here alone because I had a doctor's appointment today. I couldn't miss today; this is her biggest moment of her life. Can you imagine that?" Mom said amusingly. She wasn't wrong about that; I did want her to go to the hospital, but yesterday, she called and cancelled the appointment and bumped it up to next week.
The main giving the interview seemed to be amused, saying, "Is that right?" He then turned towards my direction and said, "Miss Kurosaki, would you mind if your mother and I spoke privately? You're more than welcome to explore the school grounds. Of course, most of the students are gone for spring break but you might make some new friends even so." He said. Mom gave me a reassuring smile, silently saying that she agreed with the man.
"Go on Mao, dear. Let mommy and the nice dean here handle all the boring paperwork for you, okay?" Mom said. In the back of my mind, I really wanted to trust her, but something told me that I needed to say here. I shook it off and agreed anyways.
"Okay, thanks Mom. Let me know if you need anything." I said, standing up and leaving the room to look around the school and see if they're really any people around here. I didn't see that much people around though.
"She's quite a responsible and protective person. Children of her intelligence mostly are. You must be quite lonesome."
"Not at all. She's like her father. I have a feeling that she'll enjoy herself here. Masato did."
I made my way to the second floor. I'd never seen so many stairs in real life. There was that temple with the thousand steps but that was just a picture.
I stopped a couple of times when I saw the birds flying outside and then continued my way around the school. The halls were pretty big, I was impressed by that.
Before I knew it, the clock stroked at three.
I turned by head to my right and I saw this rooms door open. Something inside started moving that peaked my interest. Squinting my eyes, I saw my sister, Mika, eating a banana.
How could that be? Mika was at home or somewhere with her boyfriend.
I was awed by that, that I started to run towards the room, Music Room #3, and snuck a few glances through the door opening.
The room was big and wide and Mika stopped at the middle of the room before this motor sound started to echo around the room and grew brown bunny ears.
"What the-?!" I said. Before her image started to disappear, its ear was making a 'come on' maneuver, confusing me.
"Hey! What the heck is going on here!? Stop!" I said, running up to the Mika. Before I ran even further, I stopped when I noticed the banana peel on the floor. I've seen too many comedies where people slip on these things; I was not going to fall for that either so I stepped over it
"Ha! Serves you right comedy logic! I'm not going to be fooled by your tricks! I've seen it all! I-!" Before I even finished, I took one step too far and started to fall down the hole.
"WWWAAAAAHHHHH~! DAMN YOOUU LLOOOOOOGGGGGIIIIIIICCCC~!" I said while I was falling down the hole. I kept falling and falling, starting to think that maybe this was some bottomless pit that I even wanted to pull out some random peach soda and drink it.
"AAAAHHH~! WHEEERREEEES THEEE BOTTOM!" I yelled until I saw a bright light and landed on my face on the floor. And to think, I was going to be okay when I started the bicycle thing like in Harry Potter; it didn't work for me!
"Oww...I'm never trusting a hole ever again…." I muttered, my lips still attached to the floor because I wanted to make out with it. Yeah, got a problem with that?
I got up and dusted off all the invisible dirt that I had on me. Around me, it was still the same as the room I walked in only there was a grand piano in front of me, a stand where an expensive vase was, and some kind of banana tree. When I looked back at the piano, some person started to come out. She looked vaguely familiar and it just kept bothering me!
"What kind of world is this?" I muttered quietly as she realized I was over here and started to panic. I didn't notice it and then walked carefully towards her.
"Hey!" I called her attention, "I'm a little lost here so if you could just-!" Before I even finished, she jumped into the banana tree and grabbed one, biting into one and she turned small. Things just got weirder and weirder the moment I saw the girl run inside that small door. I went over to the door and saw the girl and Mika have a conversation. They both left, disappearing into the darkness and I was left there in the room, trapped and no way to get out of here.
"There has to be something to make me that small! That's the exit!" I said, walking around trying to think of something that would make me fit through that opening. I looked at the bananas that the girl dropped and then ate at least one until I was the right size to fit through the door.
"Gah! Why didn't I eat it when I was near the door more?!" I yelled at myself.
These light bulbs were in the formation of "Female" as I continued to walk down the dark hallway. Then the light bulbs started to count down and showed a picture of a banana.
"What the-!" Because of that banana, I rode it like it was some moped and all the light bulbs started to flash brightly. At the end of the hallway, I was in the same position that made me fall down that hole in the first place. Above me, the caution sign was there.
"STUPID WONDERLAND EEPPIISSOOOOOOOODDDEEEE!" I last yelled and then landed on what I think was water. I got panicky and swam to the surface and looked around me. This world is just so full of surprises that I can't even imagine. "Okay….How the hell did I get into a pool?" I asked myself, swimming to the edge of the pool where there were ladders.
"You cried quite a bit, huh?" This voice said. I looked around until I saw this giant caterpillar…or…a guy, hopefully, wearing a caterpillar costume. And he was sitting on top of some mushroom. I looked questionably at the guy, knowing that I must have seen him somewhere before, but where?
"What?" I asked, giving off a 'What's it to you?' face.
"You must have to fill a pool this size." He said, but continued on, "See, this water is an accumulation of all the tears you shed in life. It's rather impressive actually. It looks as though you've been through your fair share of hardships." How the hell did he even know what I was going through!? Behind his back, I stuck out my tongue and almost flipped him off until he interrupted my thoughts by his blowing of bubbles.
"Speaking of which, I'd get out of there if I were you. It isn't safe." He said. What?
'It's just a quiet pool with nice and clear water. How can a quiet pool be unsafe?' I thought to myself, not really agreeing if this caterpillar boy was telling me the truth or not.
Well, that thought just flew out the window and I started to hear something come up to the surface a few meters behind me. These girls heads were surrounded by some glass bowl and then these heads of alligators rose. The middle girls alligator showed her teeth along with the other ones.
"OH MY GOD! AHH!" I said, almost about to be bitten until I brought my legs up to my chest and skipped towards a random pillar. The alligators landed back into the water, retreating when they realized they couldn't get a catch or something.
My heart was pounding fast – I don't know if I'll be able to take all these surprises; what a pain.
"What the hell!? What kind of place is this!? Whoa, whoa wait…..I'm at my normal size, right?" I asked myself.
"Not yet, but we can take care of that for you." The caterpillar boy said, blowing more bubbles. Hey, I want a turn! "If you're interested." He finished. I'm not sure if it's the way that he said it made me double think about it. It just sounded so suspicious.
"What? What are saying?" I asked and he just blew more bubbles. Someone's addicted to bubbles.
"Ah, we have guests." He said and in the distance, I saw some capped guy in all black, holding – What I assume – his younger sisters' hand.
"Yes, hello. Might my little sister and I have a bit of mushroom?" The guy said, making the puppet in his hand make gestures. For some reason, that puppet reminded me of Mogeta.
Stupid Mika and her anime.
"Of course, we can settle your tab at the end of the month." Caterpillar boy said, writing on his little black notebook that was just so familiar. I had my head rest on top of the mushroom just to be able to get a little close to him to see his face. "You know Kyo-Hyung, you're about as shrewd as KAITO from Judgment of Corruption. You even write down on that silly notebook of yours when it's about business." I said, looking up at Caterpillar boy.
"Well, it's nothing new. I write about anything and everything really." He said, still writing down stuff. He stopped and looked at me curiously. "That's odd. You just said one of my many nicknames and knew about what I write when it's clear that we never met." Caterpillar boy said to me. I tilted my head, confused.
"You're nickname? You sure? I say a lot of things, you know? It's kind of weird of me…." I said, hearing both the boy and girl take a mushroom. I looked on as they started to glow when they took a bite out of the mushrooms. The oldest was getting younger and smaller, and the youngest was getting bigger and older.
The oldest was now an adorable baby with a cute hat while the youngest was now a teenager or something with a revealing waist and pink miniskirt. If I was drinking water, I would be spit taking right now.
"That is not what I thought about when I said, "Getting back to size." I said, dead panning. A door opened and I looked out to see the baby was now crawling away. "OH MY GOD! WHERE ARE THE PARENTS!? SOMEONE DO SOMETHING! MINOR ON THE LOOSE! MINOR ON THE LOOSE!" I yelled, looking back at Mr. Caterpillar boy and the now older girl, sitting at the top of the mushroom and Mr. Caterpillar boy was tapping his pen on her chin.
"It's not any of my business." The caterpillar said, not even looking at me.
EW! Not in front of me!
"Hey! Hands off the caterpillar girly!" I said, dragging the girl away and throwing her into the pool. Oops, I didn't mean to do that. I didn't even know that those alligator things were waiting and then took the girl away.
Crap…I think I just became a murder. Mao Kurosaki, murder at age fifteen….
"Okay…I didn't do that because I was jealous, Okay!?" I yelled at the caterpillar and ran off to the runaway baby, the door shutting behind me. Not even noticing the caterpillar boy smirking and blowing more bubbles saying,
"What an interesting girl."
~/+/~
I ran around, looking for the child, running through some doors until I slipped at some bananas and landed face first again, my lips kissing the floor.
"Why me?" I asked painfully and jumped up, wiping my mouth from the dirt. Gross.
"Hahaha~! Nice going!" I heard another male voice speak, followed by some high pitched girl voice that was so aware of. "You may refer to me as Duchess!" She said, holding something in her hands.
"What?" I asked but she just ignored me. How rude! "The woman making banana soup is my cook." She said in some spiteful tone and just as she said, there was a woman making banana soup. Banana soup? Will they be some vanilla and chocolate pudding?
"And this worthless lay about is my cat." The girl said, referring to the guy with orange hair and smirking a lot. What a Cheshire cat. Then something flew past my long wavy hair.
"WHY DO I HAVE TO BE THE STUPID COOK!? IT'S NOT FAIR! I QUIT! YOU'RE ALWAYS HAVING FUN AND I HAVE TO PLAY THE VILLAN!" Settle down Ayanokoji! Is it really Renge's fault? Well, I really didn't say that to her but I was thinking about it when she starting to pant like she was letting out some relief. And did you see how Duchess was so badass at dodging all those plates? It's like she was born to be in the Matrix or something!
"Tamaki! You idiot!" She said, running off somewhere to cry. Should I go chase her or something? I asked myself when I turned to the direction she went. I had more important things to do as to worry about the kid that ran off to this lady.
"So…are you this kids mom?" I asked, clearing my throat a bit, walking up to 'Duchess'. She looked at me blankly, asking, "Are you concerned for the child?"
I smiled a bit, watching the kid suck his thumb like the cutie he is. "I guess…I'm glad he's home with his family that's all. Being with family is always nurturing and makes you feel safe." I said, looking at Duchess while she looked on to the window.
"Well…I'm afraid I must be off now. Would you look after him while I'm gone?" She asked, handing me the child. I extended my arms out and cradled the baby in my arms gently. Oh crap. I've never done this in a long time. Sure, I babysat for a few families and looked after the younger ones with Mika at the orphanage, but it's been so long.
The motor sound appeared again and the lady started to descend. "How long are we talking about here?!" I said.
"Who knows? I've been summoned to appear in court!" She said, smiling or something. Who would be happy to be summoned to show up at court?! What a weird wonderland episode…..
At last, she disappeared and all that was left in the room was the cat, the baby, and I.
"You know, she's just pulling your leg. That doll doesn't even belong to her in the first place." The cat said, earning my attention. I looked down and there I saw the baby replaced by some wooden doll. I looked at it curiously and a little scared.
"What the-!? Where's the-!?" I turned to look at the cat but he disappeared, too. That bastard! I settled the doll on the couch and began walking to find where else I needed to go. That place was some sort of gala and there, I saw the cat again.
"Over here." The cat said, talking to me when it disappeared and it just appeared again behind me. "Pretty neat huh? I can disappear…." He said, vanishing from behind that pillar that he was just at.
"And reappear anywhere." He said again, from behind me. I scoffed and continued off somewhere else.
"Really? Are you sure about that you carrot tops? It's not like because you teleport, your voice changes. Come out and face me like the men you two are!" I said, storming off, not really realizing the two ginger cats coming out from behind the pillars and watched me disappear into the distance.
"What an interesting girl…."
~/+/~
I walked more until I reached this dining hall of some sort and there were only three people there. Well, four if you count me. I came up to them and was about to ask them something until the one with the bunny ears say, "Sorry, no room."
I looked at him confusedly, but pulled up a chair and sat down, looking at the two blondes and the raven haired mouse boy in question.
"Ah…listen, could you guys answer me this question?" I asked but the blonde on my left ignored it and commented something about my hair.
"Your hair's pretty long. That's actually a good look for you. Be that as it may, you'll still have to wear it much shorter in the future, you know." He said to me. Now that I think about it, he's dressed up as the mad hatter.
"Shorter hair? What are you talking about? My hair is always going to be this long and wavy! And why are you interested in my hair anyways!?" I yelled. Some pastry cart rolled by over here by itself somehow and the cute hare kid asked,
"You're wearing a skirt today! It's so cute!" I rubbed the back of my head.
"Yeah…I'm a girl after all, even though I can't kick someone when I want to. Skirts are too revealing…" I muttered, looking at the adorable little kid happily eating tons of cake. Hey, I would eat cake too if I also didn't have a craving for salty, spicy, sour, and everything delicious!
"Whoa! Slow down now Oppa! You're going to get a cavity if you keep eating like that!" I said, maybe over reacting. The kid was shocked for a moment and the mouse in front of me, his bubble erupted and then spoke.
"Be sure to brush your teeth when you're finished." He said, opening his eyes for a while and then went back to sleep. Why can't I do that?! Mika was right, nose bubbles do pop!
"Ah a riddle!" The other blonde said. I looked at him questionably and dead panned. "I got a better riddle, Why is a raven like a writing desk?" I said smirking.
"Good one Mao." He said. Wait…how did he know my name?
"Hey! Would you like a glass of red wine?" The hare said. I looked up with shinning eyes and held out a cup. "YES! Yes! Please! Anything to taste high quality wine from wherever it came from!" I said.
The hatter, I think, went behind the mouse and whispered to the hare. "She's more fun than Haruhi was. Making her play Alice was a good idea!" He said.
"She's really getting into the part!" The hare said. "She's really cute though!"
"Yes she is!" The two of them were looking at me weirdly; I still drinking my red wine but it turns out it was just fruit punch! NOO! First the Blue Lobster and now the red wine! WHY WORLD!?
Just then, the clock bells rung when it struck 3 o'clock.
"Can you guys explain to me what this place really is? A few minutes ago, I was with my mom filling some papers to this prestigious academy. I'm really worried about her, she gets these random episodes and her health is weak." I said, looking at the guys again. The hatter looked at me curiously and then smiled.
"Riddle me this. What will you do once you've enrolled here?"
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"When you enrolled here."
"…Do my best in school and work hard to provide my family. That's what I got to do."
"And what else?" The hatter asked me.
"What else? What are you talking about?"
"What for? What for?" He kept asking me.
"That's it! I'm studying to be known around the world and maybe my real dad will come and find me! I want to find my family that abandoned me!" I said, a little pissed off
"Is that all?" Okay, now he's starting to annoy me! "Surely you must have a dream?"
"…Honestly, I want to make people happy….I like seeing their faces smile when they taste food." I said, starting to remember the very first time I cooked and then gave it to my first customer, who remembered their mothers cooking.
"But how will you make people happy when all you do is study and work a lot? You don't depend on others as well….you should be having a good time."
"Having a good time?" I questioned, tilting my head to the side. The other two repeated after me and then the bugle sounded.
"The Queen is now holding court." Said the Hatter.
"The Duchess is scheduled to be executed!" The hare said. My eyes widened and stood up quickly, almost knocking over the table.
"No! That's not fair! She doesn't deserve that punishment, it's cruel!" I said. "And don't give me that crap about not fighting back! I have to do something!" I ran off to where the court was, leaving behind the hatter, the hare and the mouse.
The Duchess has a child! They can't just kill her! What about her child!? That child is going to suffer!
~/+/~
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" I said, opening the doors to the court room and there they were; the queen and the king. Somehow, there was also a masked man standing aside the king.
"Who disrupts this court?!" The king asked angrily. The guy, I'm going to guess his butler, started smirking. "You must be foolish dear girl. Only ones with a death wish disrupt the royal court." He said. The King raised his arm at the joker to silence him.
"I disrupt the court! I come here to stand up for the accused!" I said, walking right up to them but still keeping my distance. The Queen lifted her head up, possibly to get a better view of me.
"With all due respect Your Majesty! It is my duty to attend the Royal Music Festival!" The Duchess said.
"Even if it mean leaving your precious child alone?" The Queen said. "Your crime is not a question of attendance but of abandonment! This act is unforgivable! To cause such loneliness in a child!"
"She didn't abandon the child! The child understands that a mother has to provide for the family! The child will understand even if they get lonely! You execute the Duchess, who else is going to take care of the child!? Huh!? The child will then be lonely and has to fend for itself!? A CHILD NEEDS A MOM OR ANY FAMILY FIGURE!" I said, yelling my entire thoughts into this, not even noticing the miniature tiger behind my leg, roaring at the people.
"SILENCE YOUNG LADY! THAT'S NO WAY TO TALK TO THE KING AND QUEEN! DON'T LET YOUR EMOTIONS MAKE ROOM IN THIS COURT ROOM!" The joker said, now really pissed off.
"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! PASSING JUDGEMENT WITHOUT EMOTION IS JUST LEAVING IT UP TO A MACHINE!" I said. Great, now I pissed off the King. It really will be off with my head.
"Insolent girl! Are you not guilty yourself? Why don't we describe your crime?" The king said, amused that he was even bringing it up. I looked at him like he was a mad man and the light came on to shine on this broken vase.
Whoa, whoa, wait…..that vase was not like that when I got here! I barely even touched it!
"This is the renaissance vase that you destroyed. Do you admit that you destroyed it because of your foolishness?"
"What are you talking about? That vase was in good condition when I first saw it!"
"If not you, then who? If couldn't have just grown legs and broke itself you know. This maybe wonderland but don't be ridiculous." The Joker said, smirking and sounded amused by his little joke.
"I'll tell you three straight out that it wasn't me!" I said. Just when I said it, these images of me sliding on the floor to catch the vase with my hands came to my head. This girl…wanted to catch it at first but didn't catch it on time. I slid to catch it before it hit the floor.
It hit the floor because I heard the shatter and I remembered missing it by a few centimeters.
'What the….'
"WITNESSES! YOU ARE COMMANDED TO COME FORTH TO TESTIFY AGAINST THIS SO CALLED 'INNOCENT' CITIZEN FOR HER CRIME!" The king said and the Joker opened the doors. The room was dark one moment and then the hatter appeared.
"It would be my pleasure your majesty!" He said.
"What are you doing here!?" I said, looking at him as he knelt down to pay respect towards the King and Queen.
"This girl is what you would call a drab to school and work. School and Work, School and work. She also has a mother and sister that she says she needs to provide. Anything fun is just against her routine."
"FUN!? Oh~! YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I LIKE FOR FUN TAMA-HYUNG!?" I yelled at the hatter, bawling my fists beside me, ready to fight.
The lights turned on and around us up at least two or three stories, masked girl were squealing and looked down at the court.
"Now, how is it that you know my name?" I turned to him as he got up.
"My name. How did you know it?" He asked again and then the girls started to ask the same, saying, "Yes, how is it that you know his name? However do you know it?"
"How?" I said, tilting my head.
"Yeah, how? And somehow, you knew that we were twins." The twin Cheshire cats said.
"And about my nickname and my little black book, let's we forget." Mr. Caterpillar boy said, his side was now surrounded by bubbles and mushrooms.
"And about my cavity." The hair said with the mouse by his side.
Everyone just started asking "How is that", even Mika, who came with Haruhi, showed up and asked the same thing. I stared at them blankly while I tried to process it all.
"You were always slow with these kinds of thing, Mao." A familiar voice said that brought me out of my little trance. I looked at the Joker and he took off his mask and saw this man with black hair and brown eyes.
"D-dad?" I said, surprised that Masato was the joker. "You met some quite interesting people. Don't you agree Mika, Yuki?" He said, turning to his right, motioning the girls to get close. "Yep!" I almost wanted to cry because my adopted dad was here! He's here in my dream!
"Daddy…." I said. "You're the Joker? But who are the King and Queen?" I asked. The King and Queen looked at each other, silently exchanging words with each other. "No way…. I don't remember them at all….How…?" I saw them get up and walk up to me, smiling.
"Look at you, you've gotten so big." Said the Queen.
"Where does the time go?" The King asked, "You've really grown up into a fine young lady sweetie." He said, going for his mask to remove it. I really wanted him to remove it! I need to know how he looks like!
"I'm afraid that it's still too soon for you to see our faces. We're sorry, but we know that you will soon understand why we're doing this." The Queen said, sounding like she was at the verge of tears.
"There isn't a day when we don't think of you, honey. We wish we were with you at times like these. It's okay though, you have an amazing family right now. Trust them more and don't be scared to ask for help and take a break. You're only child now, have fun and enjoy yourself." The King said, extending his hand out to hold the Queens hand. The two of them looked at me clearly and started to tear up.
"Have fun Mao. Be happy Mao." They told me just as I was running up to them to give them a hug, along Masato, Mika and Mom when they walked up behind them. I felt streams of tears leaving my eyes as I jumped to wrap them all around me.
Everything turned white…..
"Masato….Dad….Mom..." I muttered in my sleep. I fell asleep because I was bone tired from the night shift last night. Distantly, I heard footsteps and then a hand rest on my shoulder.
"Mao…hey, wake up." The voice was gentle that I stirred a bit and looked up to see Haruhi. I jumped a bit when I saw her sort of dressed up as the male version of Alice. She then looked at me worriedly when she saw the stream of tears running down my face.
"Hey, are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" She asked me. I looked at the others and they were dressed up sort of like they were in the dream.
"Wow…this is the first time we've seen you sleep like this!" Tama-Hyung said. I looked at Haruhi, knowing that she still didn't get an answer to her question. "No…Actually…it was a good dream…." I said, smiling gently and then smiled back at the guys.
"Hurry up and get ready. We have guests coming any minute now." Kyo-Hyung said, dressed up as the King of Hearts. The twins were the Cheshire cats, holding up a spare Alice in Wonderland Costume, which was a White Queen costume, but male. I cleaned up my face that could still have a few tears left and smiled.
"Sure, I could do that." I said, taking the costume that was ready for me.
Have fun Mao…Be Happy Mao…..
"Hey, did you guys hear that?" I asked.
"Hear what Mao-chan?" Honey-Oppa asked me. Everyone looked at me, but I shrugged it off and went on to the changing room.
"It's nothing…I must be hearing things…."
No….I was pretty sure I heard two voices saying I should have fun and be happy…..
((A/N: I'm going to edit this chapter as soon as I can. I feel like this could have gone better...,
Well, I just finished the chapters that are theepisodes! Moving out towards the non CanoN chapters! *fistpumps*
Adieu! A biento! ))