The bell rang promptly at twelve, signaling the lunch hour. As the students filed out the door, though, Yuki remained in his seat. Haruhi pulled her bento box from her bag and noticed Yuki retrieve a small, carefully wrapped lunch box from inside his bag and place it on his desk.

"You're not going to eat in the cafeteria then?" she asked him from where she sat.

Yuki glanced back towards her, looking slightly surprised that he'd been spoken to. "Ah, no, my friend packed me a lunch," he replied.

"Haruhi!" Hikaru and Kaoru exclaimed, leaning in the door. They've come back for me she thought, her right eye twitching at the sound of their voices calling her name.

"Come eat lunch in the cafeteria," Hikaru demanded as he approached her desk.

"But I have my lunch here," she said, pointing to the box.

"Eat it in the cafeteria!" Kaoru ordered.

Before she could object they had seized her and her bento box and drug them from the desk. "Hey!" she growled. "I don't want to eat in the cafeteria!"

"To bad!" the twins chimed. She went limp in their tight grasp, allowing herself to be drug helplessly from the classroom and down the hallway, knowing that resistance was useless. She glanced back at Yuki just before clearing the doorway to find a quizzical expression on his face. Sighing, she made a mental note to apologize to him later for being so inadvertently rude, if and when she got the chance. Even though it wasn't her fault she left the room in the middle of a conversation, she still wanted to express her regret—for not being able to speak with him further and for being towed away so uncouthly by her friends—rather abductors.

As the morning gave way to noon, the cafeteria slowly started to fill up. Several of Haruhi's regular designators paused briefly as they passed her table to tell her how surprised and delighted they were to see her in the cafeteria eating. And they weren't the only ones thrilled about the thought.

"Haru-chan!" the high, child-like voice of her upper classmate reached her ears. "You're eating with us today?"

"Yes, Hani-sempai, I am," she replied with a smile. But not by choice she thought, casting a dull look towards the twins as they stood in line to get their food trays.

"Can Takashi and I sit with you then?" he inquired, smiling from ear to ear as he usually did.

"Of course," Haruhi replied.

"I'll sit next to you," Hani suggested.

"Sorry, but the seats next to Haruhi are taken," Hikaru informed as he approached the table, tray in hand. He sat his tray down to her left.

"Then we can sit across from you. Come on Takashi, let's get our food!" Hani said. He grabbed the tall, quiet Host by the sleeve and towed him away. All Mori said in response was "Uh."

"So what did you think of the transfer? You wouldn't answer us in class," Kaoru wondered as he sat down on Haruhi's right.

"That's because I could get in trouble for talking during class," Haruhi replied flatly. "You're supposed to pay attention to the lesson."

"We were listening, but it was just review at that point," Hikaru pointed out. "Now answer our question, we're not in class anymore."

Haruhi picked at the contents of her bento box thoughtfully for a moment. "He seems very—"

"Frail? Skinny?" Kaoru interjected.

"No, I was thinking more in terms of his personality," Haruhi corrected. Being interrupted by either of the two Hitachiin twins no longer annoyed her; it was just something they did and she'd learned to ignore it.

"Self-absorbed? Proud?" Hikaru suggested. It was easy to guess the opinions they had formed about him already.

"Actually, he seemed reserved. Like he doesn't really want to speak to anybody, but he's not going to be rude by ignoring them or impolite in any way," Haruhi explained. The twins stared at her blankly. "You know?"

"Hah, Haruhi!" they chimed, identical bored looks plastered on their faces.

"That doesn't make sense," Hikaru criticized.

"It does to me," Haruhi shrugged, taking a bite of her lunch.

"Haruhi!"

Haruhi almost choked having been surprised by the sudden and loud yelling of her name. She recognized the voice belonged to a certain blonde upper classman.

"Sempai," she coughed, reaching for the glass of water Kaoru had fetched her while he was in line.

"What are you doing here in the cafeteria?" Tamaki questioned in surprise. "I mean, I'm glad to see you but you normally don't come to the cafeteria to eat!"

"We persuaded her to come," Hikaru and Kaoru responded.

More like forced me Haruhi thought, narrowing her eyes. "I don't mind eating here every once in a while," she explained dryly.

"Well, to mark this special occasion I must sit with you!" Tamaki declared. Since he already had his tray he hurriedly sat down directly across from Haruhi.

"What's special about it?" Haruhi wonder aloud.

"Milord, have you seen the transfer student?" Hikaru and Kaoru inquired.

"Transfer student?" Tamaki repeated.

"Yah! He's in our class. Transferred in from a public high school," the twins explained in unison.

"There's a new student? How exciting! Don't you think so Takashi?" Hani exclaimed as he returned to the table.

"Yeah," Mori responded. He took the seat next to Hani as the two seniors sat down beside Tamaki.

"That's interesting. How could a public high school student get into Ouran?" Tamaki wondered.

"Its not impossible," Haruhi muttered under her breathe, glancing off to the side in annoyance.

"Ah! I mean, of course its not surprising that you got in, you're so smart Haruhi!" Tamaki panicked, having forgotten that Haruhi had come from a public middle school. "I didn't mean to insult you. Daddy's sorry!"

"Forget it," Haruhi sighed.

"Smooth, milord," Hikaru teased. "Very fastidious," Kaoru added.

"So, who's the new student?" Hani asked cheerfully.

"Sohma Yuki-kun," Haruhi replied. "I didn't speak with him, or rather, all I got to say were a few words." She paused and glanced between the twins. They shrugged, completely unaware that they'd interrupted her conversation with the new student. "Anyway, Hikaru and Kaoru don't know anything about him accept where he came from and that the Sohma's are wealthy.

"Wealthy is an understatement," Kyoya stated as he took the available seat on Tamaki's other side. "The Sohma family is quite large, and they specialize in more businesses than the Ootoris do. They own hospitals, large companies, dojos, and a variety of industries. Then there are the individual family members who have careers of their own, like writing or running shops and hot spring resorts. They own a lot of vacation homes that they rent out seasonally as well."

"Told you Kyoya would know," Kaoru said, sticking his tongue out as if to prove something.

"That's amazing! This Sohma person sounds like he's filthy rich," Tamaki marveled.

"Then why did he go to a public school?" Haruhi wondered. In her past experience with rich people, they never went the cheap route, so someone from such a prestigiously wealthy family attending anything less than an expensive private academy was strange to her.

"Apparently, that's where he wanted to go," Kyoya replied, spreading his napkin in his lap. "Sohma Yuki, high school freshman, attended Kaibara High instead of the all boys private school his family had chosen for him. He was the first of his family to go against the family's wish for him to go to private school and attend a public, co-ed school."

Haruhi felt a chill run up her spin as all the information sank in. She couldn't help but ask, "Kyoya, how do you know so much about them?"

Kyoya smirked, tilting his head just right so that the light glared off his glasses and hid his eyes. "The Sohmas are big business rivals of the Ootori family. I make it my business to know there's," he replied.

"That doesn't explain why you know so much about him," Hikaru observed, an intimidated look on his face that matched his brother and Haruhi's expressions.

"I did a background check on them," Kyoya stated so plainly it was as if such a habit were normal. "I always do."

"Not new students, no," Kyoya corrected. "However, transfer students are a different story. I like to know who they are and where they've been.

"Yuki-kun seems to be adjusting well to the academy after having come from a public school," Haruhi said, changing the subject slightly. "It took me a while to get used to this institute when I was accepted here from middle school."

"Yes, but you attended public schools your whole life, Haruhi. He went to private boys' schools up until he enrolled at Kaibara," Kyoya bluntly said. Haruhi could feel the ice in his voice.

"Haru-chan! Haru-chan!" Hani chanted. "What was Yu-chan like?"

"He was thin," Hikaru replied. "And girlish," Kaoru added.

"He was reserved, but extremely popular," Haruhi summarized. "He was extremely feminine in looks, but he was very pretty."

"Haruhi! Daddy doesn't like to hear you talk like that! Shame on you, Shame!" Tamaki scolded.

"I'm just saying, he looks like the kind of guy some of our customers would like," Haruhi mumbled solemnly.

"Oh? That's not what it sounded like to us!" Hikaru and Kaoru teased.

"At Kaibara there was a club made up entirely of girls who adored him. It was called 'The Yuki Fan Club' and he was known as 'Prince Yuki'," Kyoya explained. "Apparently, they had rules regarding how and when to speak to him. So his popularity here is assured, only I must admit it's surprising how quickly he's accumulated fans."

Tamaki paused a moment in thought. "You really think he'd be popular with our customers?" he wondered.

"He is popular with our customers, milord," Hikaru corrected. "Haruhi's customers all ignored her today because they were too busy passing him notes."

"Even our customers were distracted by him," Kaoru continued.

"It appears he's earned the favor of quiet a few ladies," Kyoya observed. He smirked, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "And it's only his first day here. Interesting."

Haruhi could almost see the money that was on Kyoya's mind. She could only imagine what he was thinking, but there was no doubt in her mind that it had something to do with making money.

Hani, who had left without being noticed returned with a large piece of cake, topped with whip cream and a strawberry. Making a big announcement and deal over the sweets he distracted the other hosts from all other matters.

Haruhi was able to finish her lunch more-or-less in peace. Teasing Tamaki preoccupied the twins, and for once, she wasn't the object of their teasing. She was able to sneak away from the group and head back to the classroom early in the hopes that she could get some studying in before the next class.

As she approached the classroom door she heard a female student's muffled voice inside the room. As she got closer she could hear what she was saying.

"I just wanted to welcome you to the school!" the girl exclaimed. Haruhi paused just around the corner by the door. She didn't usually spy on people, but spying was a bad habit she'd picked up from the hosts.

"That's ok, I mean, thank you, but—" she heard Yuki reply. His voice sounded somewhat nervous.

"I don't understand," the girl said, voice shaking with emotion. Her tone sounded confused and hurt. "I didn't think a hug was too forward. Am I that offensive?"

"Its not that you're offensive in anyway," Yuki explained. "Its just—I'm extremely shy."

"Shy? Then why didn't you say so?" the girl said. She giggled. "Don't worry, I'll help you come out of your shell."

Haruhi peeked in the door in time to see the girl step forward, throwing herself at him with her arms held out to embrace him. Gasping, Yuki staggered backwards and as if by instinct gracefully stepped out of the way. Haruhi stepped around the corner, reaching out in a vain attempt to catch the girl, but the young lady tripped on her own feet and went crashing to the floor.

"Wh-why'd you do that?" the girl blubbered, looking up at him with teary eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, I—" Yuki stuttered, struggling to find his words.

"How could you!" the girl wailed. Scrambling to her feet she dashed off in Haruhi's direction.

Yuki reached out to catch her before she ran from the room but missed grabbing her arm. "Wait, I'm sorry! I didn't mean—"

"No, I don't want to hear it!" the girl sobbed. She shoved passed Haruhi and ran down the hallway. Haruhi heard her sobbing fade away as she turned to face Yuki. When he saw her standing there he averted his gaze in shame.

"Ah, Yuki-kun," Haruhi said. She didn't know what to say though.

He turned halfway around. "Yes?" he asked. He avoided making eye contact as she approached him.

"Um, I uh—" Haruhi dropped her gaze to the floor. She wasn't sure why she'd said anything to him; accept that she wanted to know why he'd avoided the girl's embrace. But asking that would be rude. Then she remembered what she'd promised herself to do earlier. "About this morning," she continued. "I just wanted to apologize for leaving so abruptly. I didn't want to go."

"Ah, that's all right," Yuki said with a smile. "You didn't really have a choice."

"That's true," Haruhi laughed uneasily. They fell into awkward silence, staring at opposite walls. "Um, I'm Fujioka Haruhi," she said introducing herself. It seemed like the only thing left to say that would break the silence.

"I'm Sohma Yuki," he replied, giving a polite bow. "Its nice to meet you."

"Did you enjoy your lunch then?" she asked for lack of something better to say.

"Yes, I did, thank you," he said with another smile. The room fell silent again. The only questions she could think of were about what she'd just witnessed.

"Haruhi!" She was glad to hear the twins' voices for once. It was rare that she did, but she turned around to face them eagerly.

"You disappeared," Hikaru whined. "Don't sneak off like that. Milord was still ranting when we left."

"Ah, sorry," Haruhi apologized. "I wanted to study a little before class."

Yuki took advantage of the distraction and returned to his desk.

"Haruhi," the twins chimed. "Are you ready for the test tomorrow?"

"Of course, I studied hard so I would be ready," she replied, glancing curiously back at the withdrawn Sohma. Taking her seat, she pulled out her notebook to study, pushing the mystery that surrounded the multiple transfers to the back of her mind for the time being.