A/N: I apologize for not adding a chapter to this. Like I promised to someone who messaged me, here is the first chapter of Loud or Quiet. Hope you like it.
Chapter One
Usually, Takashi would go to school with Mitsukuni, but today was an exception. Instead of being by Mitsukuni's side like he always was, he waited outside of the high school's gates for Ella. He looked over at the clock tower to see the time. School was about to start, and Takashi looked quite flustered. He felt regret for not being by Mitsukuni's side, but he had to wait for Ella. He had promised her two days ago when he met her at a flower shop, picking out some flowers.
"ShiShi!" An overly excited short young girl came up to him and suddenly jumped in the air to Takashi. Takashi's eyes widened and immediately opened his arms as if by instinct to catch her.
"Ella, that is dangerous," Takashi told her quietly when she was in his arms. Ella let out a big smile, making Takashi feel rather uncomfortable.
"But I know you will always catch me, ShiShi," she told him with a big smile written across her face.
Takashi sighed before he started walking with Ella still in his arms. Ella started humming as if being like this was normal. Even as Ella was comfortable in his arms, Takashi felt the opposite. Ella was still a girl and to hold her like this made Takashi feel rather warm in the face.
He felt a sigh of relief when he found out Ella had a different homeroom than him. On the other hand, Ella frowned that she wasn't able to be in the same homeroom as him but found she was okay with having a few classes with Takashi. Ella could have gone with the homeroom teacher to her class, but they were already late. The secretary would have called the homeroom teacher, but she didn't want to be a bother. Instead, she wanted to go to her homeroom by herself since she already had gotten her schedule and a map.
"ShiShi, could you help me with finding my homeroom?" Ella asked innocently.
Takashi had forgotten how directionally challenged she was and nodded. Ella smiled and hugged Takashi's arm while they walked together. The secretary couldn't help but squeal at such a cute moment and gossiped to her co-workers of what had happened. Once again, Takashi felt unsettled with Ella by his side. The first day of being with her in school and already she had shortened Takashi's life span. He felt relief when they were at Ella's homeroom. Ella sighed but looked over at Takashi with a bright smile and thanked him. She hugged him for a little while before asking him to wish her luck.
"Good luck, Ella," Takashi told her.
Ella nodded and waved a goodbye to Takashi. Takashi nodded and waited for her to open her homeroom door before going into his homeroom, which was right next door to Ella's. But for some reason, Ella wasn't opening the door. Takashi looked worried for her. And before he knew it, Ella turned around with tears in her eyes.
"I'm so scared, ShiShi," Ella cried before hugging Takashi. He sighed, knowing this may happen.
"It will be all right, Ella," Takashi told her comfortingly. He heard Ella sniffle and felt her nod against his stomach. She looked up at him and smiled weakly at him.
"Thank you, ShiShi. I'm sorry for being a burden," Ella told him before she held in a big breath and let it out afterwards.
"You aren't a burden, Ella. You will do well," Takashi assured her. Ella held his hand for a few seconds before letting it go and turned around to her homeroom door again. She let in a big breath once more and let it out. She immediately opened the door and started to walk in the door as confidently as she could. Takashi smiled and closed the door for Ella and went to his own.
Thankfully, he was excused for being tardy. All thanks to the secretary's help. Takashi apologized, but the teacher didn't seem to mind if he was late or not. He then sat by Mitsukuni afterwards, making the girls look at them with love struck eyes.
"How was Ella?" Mitsukuni asked, rather curious.
Takashi looked at him with a frozen look. Mitsukuni smiled and nodded in understanding.
"Ella hasn't changed one bit, has she?" Mitsukuni asked, knowing very well to the answer.
Takashi did not answer. Mitsukuni patted Takashi's head lightly and told him that he did a good job. But for some reason, the comfort did not relieve him like all the other times. Takashi felt too uneasy, and Mitsukuni noticed, knowing his cousin rather well. Instead of continuing to comfort Takashi, he secretly gave a knowing smile.
"Ganbatte, Takashi," Mitsukuni rooted in his mind.
In the first few classes with Takashi, Ella sat next to him and he was once again uncomfortable being by her side. He was also afraid the other girls would attack her for being too close to him and so he tried to keep a distance from her. Ella noticed the distance and frowned, but she tried her best to get close to Takashi. Instead of being jealous, the girls felt sorry for Ella. They comforted her, but Ella had her eyes set upon only Takashi. Takashi took a glimpse at her and felt his whole body tense up when their eyes met. Ella gave him a smile, and it made Takashi feel uncomfortable once more.
It was finally time for lunch, and Takashi waited outside of Ella's class for them to have lunch together along with Mitsukuni and the rest of the club. Mitsukuni wasn't there to wait with him because he was on his way to wait for Sakuno. Takashi felt nervous while he waited. He was usually calm and collected, but seeing Ella made him more nervous than anything. When Ella came out of her class, she immediately jumped over to Takashi when she saw him. His eyes widened before he opened his arms to catch her. Ella smiled and Takashi felt like he would have a heart attack coming soon if she continued to jump into his arms like that.
The girls nearby squealed at the cute couple. Renge came out of nowhere and nodded in satisfaction. Takashi ran away with Ella in his arms, knowing the fact they will get teased if this continued. Ella didn't seem to mind, but she stared at Takashi with careful consideration. When they were near the cafeteria, he stopped running and Ella wiped away the sweat with her handkerchief. Takashi was startled at the sudden action and turned away shyly. Ella noticed and cutely smiled at him.
"You can put me down now, ShiShi," Ella told him. Takashi nodded and felt relaxed when she was no longer in his arms.
Ella chuckled and patted Takashi's head. Takashi felt his face heating up. He had only let Mitsukuni patted his head like that, but he somehow could not get angry at Ella for it. After all, they were childhood friends.
"Thank you for always protecting me, ShiShi," Ella told him. Takashi merely nodded. "Shall we go?" Takashi nodded once more.
They went into the cafeteria together while the girls squealed when they came in together, but they were soon met by Tamaki and Kyoya. Tamaki greeted Takashi immediately but wondered who the little girl is.
"Are you lost, young lady?" Tamaki asked. He leaned over to meet her face to face, but Takashi immediately stood in front of Ella protectively.
Tamaki was startled at the sudden action and looked over at Takashi. Tamaki stood up straight to see him glowering at Tamaki. In fear, Tamaki stood behind Kyoya. Kyoya pushed up his glasses and smiled.
"Is this Ella Winters?" Kyoya asked Takashi. Takashi nodded.
"Tamaki, Ella Winters is Mori-senpai's friend. Ella-san is also the same age as Takashi," Kyoya explained. Tamaki froze and immediately apologized. Ella peeked from behind Takashi and waved cutely at Tamaki and Kyoya.
Tamaki's eyes grew wide before he couldn't help but yell, "Cute!"
Tamaki wanted to get near her, but Takashi let out his hand to stop Tamaki. Tamaki frowned.
"I wanna hold her!" Tamaki whined.
Kyoya cleared his throat before pulling Tamaki back by the back of his shirt.
"I do apologize for Tamaki's behavior, Ella-san," Kyoya said. Ella shook her head and smiled happily.
"I don't mind, and please call me Ella. ShiShi, it is okay. I'm used to people wanting to hug me and stuff," Ella told him.
Takashi turned to look at her before he stood next to her. Ella smiled and took his hand. Takashi felt himself stiffen, but he tried to not let it bother him as much. Kyoya noticed and pushed his glasses up. And for some reason, the glasses glinted, making it hard to see Kyoya's expression. He then frantically wrote something in his notebook.
Tamaki noticed and looked over at his friend questioningly. Not before long, Tamaki saw Haruhi and ran to her instead.
"Ha-ru-hi!" Tamaki yelled before hugging her. Haruhi closed her eyes and looked rather irritated. By that time, the twins interfered pushing Tamaki off Haruhi. The twins held Haruhi around the shoulders like they usually did while infuriating Tamaki as they did so. They argued in the corner, and it made Ella chuckle at the antics.
"You've made plenty of friends, ShiShi. I'm so glad," Ella said to him. Takashi nodded with a smile.
"Ella-chan!" Honey yelled. Ella and Takashi turned their heads to see Mitsukuni and Sakuno together.
"NiNi!" She yelled back and waved at him with her free hand. Mitsukuni and Sakuno walked together side by side towards Ella and Takashi.
Ella smiled at them and looked over at Sakuno.
"Who is sh-?" Ella started but Mitsukuni immediately covered her mouth.
"He is Saku," Mitsukuni told her. Ella looked over at him questioningly, so Mitsukuni whispered the explanation to her ear.
Ella nodded in understanding when he explained. She smiled and looked over at Sakuno. She let go of Takashi's hand and took Sakuno's hands in hers.
"Hello Saku, my name is Ella Winters. It is nice to meet you," Ella said cutely, making Sakuno blush.
"She's too cute, almost like Honey," Sakuno thought.
Afterwards, Lina Hoshino (Kyoya's childhood friend) came in. She noticed Ella and her eyes widened in surprise.
"Ella?" Lina questioned. Ella turned around to see Lina and smiled.
"Lina! It's been a while," Ella said. Lina nodded in agreement.
"What are you doing here?" Lina asked. Kyoya stood behind Lina.
"You two know each other?" Kyoya asked calmly though he looked rather interested.
"Yeah, Ella and her father usually dine in Jared's restaurant. I would always see her ordering chocolate cake for dessert," Lina explained.
"Yep," Ella agreed, "How have you been doing, Lina? Do people still continue to mistake you for a boy?"
Kyoya smirked. And as if Lina could feel it, she turned to glare at him. Kyoya shrugged and Lina lightly punched him. Ella's eyes widened before she let out a knowing smile.
"Well, I'm going to get something to eat," Lina said before walking away.
Ella felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Takashi looking at her.
"Let's eat. I already brought lunch for you," Takashi told her. Ella looked over at him questioningly.
"Thank you, ShiShi, but when did you-?" Ella started but Takashi cut her off.
"I wanted you to continue your chat with everyone, so I might as well buy both of us lunch," Takashi told her. Ella smiled at him before they both sat down at the table.
"Oh my, you remember my favorite foods," Ella said, looking amazed at the array of food though it was piled quite high. "But I can't finish them all."
"Do not worry. If you cannot finish it, I will finish it for you," Takashi told her. Ella puffed her cheeks unhappily. Takashi was surprised and wondered why she was suddenly angry.
"You are being too nice, ShiShi. I'm always making you do things for me," Ella told him.
Takashi shook his head and replied, "I wanted to do it myself, and this is your first day at Ouran. I want you to feel comfortable."
Ella smiled before she held his arm suddenly and snuggled against his arm. Takashi tensed up once more and looked over at Honey for help. Unfortunately, Honey and Sakuno were in their own little world.
"Kawaii!" All the girls and including some boys yelled when they saw Ella snuggling against Takashi.
Takashi blushed and just started to fill his mouth with food. It was almost mechanical as he did so. Scoop, insert, chew, and gulp were basically what he did. Ella smiled and let go of him. When she did so, Takashi relaxed.
"I love you, ShiShi," Ella told him while everyone in the club except for Kyoya, Lina, and Honey sputtered out their food or drinks.
"Wow, Ella is so brave," One of the twins said.
"She did not even stutter when she confessed," The other twin added.
"So it was Mori she was talking about," Lina thought before smiling.
"E-Ella," Takashi said surprised.
"What?" Ella asked innocently, not understanding the surprise written on almost everybody's faces.
Lunch, it seems, had been rather awkward for Takashi. In the end, his stomach had churned uneasily for the rest of the classes. Hopefully, he would feel better at the Host Club. It is too bad he would see Ella there too.