The shock is great, but it's soon crushed under wave after wave of different emotions. My brain is to scrambled I can't form a coherent thought.

And they just stand there, looking at me. Part of me wants to be defiant and refuse to look away, while the other wants to turn tail and run as far away as I can from this school. I choose to stay somewhat defiant, but focus all my energy into not making direct eye contact. I'm ashamed that that's my compromise.

The one with his hair parted to the left looks at me with a vague hint of recognition. But he doesn't seem to lack any of the superiority he had in middle school.

Hikaru.

But I'm almost surprised when I look over at Kaoru.

There's something there under the amusement that carried over from the last minute. I can tell he remembers me as the girl who stomped on his foot. I just hope he won't make a scene about it. But why should he? He's already humiliated me, and surly even for these two, once is enough.

"There are more of you?"

The question comes from a tall blond guy that looks at us with a mixture of fear and…I don't even know what. I wonder what Benio-sempai did to this poor guy. I guess we really missed something good here.

"Well duh," Hinako replies as she examines her perfectly manicured nails.

"The Zuka club is more than just the three of us. We just happen to be the main representatives," Chizuru-senpai says calmly with a flip of her hair.

"Allow us to introduce our fellow maidens," Benio-senpai says with a dramatic sweep of her arm.

I honestly don't get why she asks them to allow introductions. It's not like she'll listen if they say no.

"Kumara Rieko, the Lady of the Blackthorn!"

Rieko vaguely acknowledges the boys and plays with the frayed hem of her uniform skirt. Her aquamarine eyes refuse to look up at them, so she keeps her gaze locked on the thin strings unraveling at the end of the material.

"Kyono Asuka, the Lady of the Sunflower!"

There's a moment of dramatic silence before I look up at Asuka. She has a glazed look to her eyes, completely oblivious to anything that's going on. Her gaze is zeroed in on the tall, dark, and handsome type in the back of the group, and I can tell that once again, her current boyfriend has been completely shoved out of her head to make room for a new conquest.

But now is not really the time for that.

I groan low in my throat before nudging her in the ribs.

"OH WAIT THAT'S ME!" Asuka yells, suddenly realizing that now is not the time to be sizing up the new eye candy.

"As bright and sunny as ever I see," Chizuru-senpai says fondly as she motions for Benio-senpai to continue.

"Akatsuki Ryuuko, the Lady of the Nightshade!"

"I hate roses," Ryuu says tonelessly as she flicks some petals off her shoulder.

Her icy blue eyes stare unblinkingly at the host club, as if she's counting every breath they take. I almost laugh as I watch the tall blond duck behind a guy with dark hair and glasses to avoid her gaze.

"And lastly…Yamasaki Yuuna, the Lady of the Carnation!"

"You know the over the top flare is a bit unnecessary senpai," I sigh as Benio twirls over to us.

"And this…" Benio-senpai sneers as she gestures to the group of boys. "Is the notorious Ouran Host Club."

"Wait a minute…." Hikaru drawls. "Yamasaki…why does that sound so familiar Kaoru?"

But instead of answering him, Kaoru just stands there still as a statue. His gaze is fixated on me, in a way that sends shivers down my spine. His expression isn't one I can interpret. His eyes just drill into me, as if he's looking for confirmation of something.

"Kaoru, what-" Hikaru stops mid-sentence as something finally seems to click somewhere in his head.

He turns on me, a glare etched deep into his features. Long ago, someone looking at me with that much anger and hate would have left me indifferent. But I guess not anymore. Since that night I've never had the same reign on my emotions as I used to. And right now, I'm facing him as fiercely as I can manage, standing as tall as my five foot stature allows.

"You're that girl who hurt his foot!" Hikaru accuses, pointing at me.

"Your point?" I ask as I fold my arms over my chest.

"You gave him a large bruise that lasted almost two weeks!" he growls back.

"I wouldn't have done it if he didn't deserve it," I say bitterly, not bothering on trying to keep my voice level.

"You think he deserved it?!" Hikaru yells.

"Stop acting like he's a saint," I spit. "You know what you two did. I highly doubt I was the first one to fall for it! You have no right to get angry just because I refuse to let someone walk all over me."

"You mean they're the ones you told me about?" Asuka's voice suddenly asks from behind me.

I nod numbly, already feeling her anger building up. Oh god help them if she snaps.

"Just stay away from Kaoru!" Hikaru yells.

I roll my eyes, almost laughing at the nerve.

"Or what?" I ask sarcastically. "You'll tell me how ugly my hair looks? Or that my nails look like they were filed with sandpaper? I could go on, but they'd only get more ridiculously stupid."

Hikaru grits his teeth in anger as Kaoru just stares at me with dark surprise. Almost as if he believes I still had any sort of feelings for him.

"Besides...what makes you think I'd want to be around either of you after that?"

"Yuuna."

I stiffen as I hear my name come out of his mouth. I try to glare at Kaoru, but I end up looking at his ear instead of his face. A flush of shame rises to my cheeks and I avert my gaze to the floor, watching the tips of my shoes go in and out of focus.

"Don't refer to me so familiarly," I spit. "If you had no interest in me you could have just ignored the letter. You didn't have to humiliate me."

And with that I turn on heel and make a break for the door, making sure to slam it behind me. I lean against it for a second as bitter hatred courses through my veins. It still hurts, and it makes me angry.

I push myself off the door and stalk down the horrid pink halls of the school, furiously wiping my eyes with the heel of my palms. I can't believe I managed to find them against all the odds. This has to be someone's idea of a sick joke.

My fists clench and unclench robotically as I find myself at the top of a grand staircase. I came up this one on the way to the club room...right? There's a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I realize that I've never been inside the high school building before…and, I'm lost.

Shit...

I take the stairs down slowly, and come down to the first floor. The chandelier glares down at me from the ceiling, and I see absolutely no signs telling me how to find my way back to the main event area.

Ok, maybe I shouldn't have walked off like that. Sure it would have hurt to be in the same room as the twins, but watching Asuka kick the crap out of them might have made me feel a little better. At least just a little bit...

And then I wouldn't be wandering aimlessly around this giant pink maze.

Eventually I find a door that lead me back outside and I mix back into the crowd. But after walking a few good buildings away, I find myself slumping against the lip of a fountain that faces the giant maze. My chest constricts just looking at it, and my jaw clenches as I try to force myself to focus on anything else. It doesn't work.

I wish I could travel back in time and slap myself in the face for even thinking of sending Kaoru that stupid love letter.

It ruined my life...

Ok well that's a bit dramatic, but hey...I'm a fifteen year old girl. I'm allowed to be dramatic sometimes right?

Exhaling heavily, I bring my wrist up to my face to check my watch. It's still way too early to head over to the soccer field.

"Hey Yuuna-chan! You made it after all!"

I flinch at the sound of his voice. I really don't need this right now.

"Shou," I greet him, with a curt nod.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it," he says with a bright smile. "Come on! They're serving all kinds of stuff here! Pick anything you want, it's on me."

I don't know if I finally cracked at the fact that his eyes are shining and he seems to be so happy just standing next to me, or if the fact that I can't pass up free food.

I'm just going to go with the latter, since it involves less room for thinking.

We walk through the culinary club row in silence. Or as close to silence as you can get with Shou around. He decided to let me pick whatever I, so ten minutes later we're seated in an annoyingly pink café seat under a large sakura tree with large fruit parfaits in front of us. I pick halfheartedly at my chocolate parfait, wishing I was hungrier than I actually was.

At least he didn't suggest we split one...

"So what's wrong Yuuna-chan?"

My eyes flicker up from the candied cherries to see Shou staring at me from over his own parfait.

His light brown eyes are soft with concern, his gaze never leaving mine.

Eventually it's me who ends up looking away, and I just spoon some ice cream into my mouth to keep myself from answering. What does he know anyway?

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I try to keep my irritation from sparking as I glance up at him through my lashes.

"Not really," I mutter as soon as I swallow.

This is followed by another awkward pause, which allows me to finish off half of my parfait before he attempts to speak again.

"You know Yuuna-chan," he says softly. "I may not be Asuka, or Reiko, or Ryuu...but I promise if something is bothering you, I'll listen."

I almost choke on my mouthful of ice cream.

He stares at me intently, but his eyes are as soft as his words. I almost jump out of my seat as I feel a warm blush creep into my cheeks.

'Stop it!' I scold myself. 'This is Shou remember? He creeps you out.'

"It's nothing really," I mumble around the ice cream that I spoon into my mouth. "I just saw someone here I'd rather never see again as long as I live. And I was close to asking Asuka to kick the shit out of him."

"Why do you hate them so much?" Shou asks, wincing slightly at the thought of Asuka beating the shit out of someone.

"He did something to me when I was in middle school," I mumble as my fist clenches around my spoon. "I used to go here you know...before I transferred to Lobelia."

"I didn't," he replies.

I ignore the fact he seems overjoyed I'm sharing this with him. I just need to get this over with. Otherwise he'll keep asking me about it until I snap.

"It was in my first year of middle school. I sent a love letter to a boy I really liked."

I watch carefully as Shou's face falls slightly and his body stiffens. Poor boy, now he knows the sting of puppy love. And he does resemble a puppy. A small kicked puppy.

"He said he wanted to meet me on the last day of school party. He put me through a test, and I failed. Then he shattered heart and all my dignity."

"What kind of test?" Shou asks stiffly.

I smile sadly at the surface of the table.

"He was a twin. He pretended to be his brother, and as his brother said there was already a girl his brother liked."

Shou looks confused at my explanation, but I really don't care enough to explain better.

"He asked if I could like him instead, and I said no. But when I hugged him to say sorry, his real brother came out and screamed at me for being a horrible person. I ended up transferring the next day and managed to never see him again. Until today…"

"I'm sorry Yuuna-chan," Shou whispers. "No one deserves to go through that."

I laugh bitterly, my knuckles turning white around my spoon.

"I saw them here, and they recognized me. After all this time…I've never felt so much hate like this before."

"But at the same time you're confused, because no matter how much it hurts to remember what they did to you, you still have strong feelings for that boy."

My eyes widen as I look up at Shou. His eyes are sad, but he has a smile on his face.

"And that's why you always turn down anyone who wants to go out with you. You've just been denying it all this time."

"Don't ever say that again," I order as my eyes narrow into slits.

Shou just smiles sadly at me before raising his watch to his face. It makes me angrier that he's doing all this so calmly. I have an irrational need for him to be hurting the way I am.

"You better get going. The match is starting soon."

I nod and push my seat back, wanting to be as far away from him as I can possibly get. Sweeping my hair back over my shoulder, I turn to leave. But Shou puts a hand on my shoulder, causing me to go ridged while he turns me back to face him.

"I know you've turned me down before Yuuna-chan, but I'll help you get through this ok? I'll wait for you until you feel you can move on again."

And with that his hand trails down my arm and raises my hand to his face, pressing a quick kiss to the back of my hand before smiling up at me.

"No matter how long it takes, I'll wait."

I feel heat pool in my cheeks as I snatch my hand back from him.

"You should know by now that I'm really not worth waiting for," I say bitterly before I turn on my heel and all but flee for the locker rooms.