DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own OHSHC, nor do I own its characters. It all belongs to Bisco Hatori. I also do not own the idea of this story. It belongs to ibanana.

A Stray

~Chapter 2~

Haruhi sweat dropped. How in the world did she end up walking down the halls of her school with Tamaki, the little Golden Retriever puppy that she had found, trailing behind her? Oh wait, she knew exactly what happened.

That morning she had been woken up by the sound of her father having a mental break down, shouting profanities and about how he would save his 'precious daughter' from the evil beast that had been trying to wake her up by nudging her with its nose.

She had had to explain to her father that she had taken the puppy in from the rain. And he had just replied with an 'oh, okay!' and ran off.

Haruhi sighed just from thinking about it. That was very annoying.

What also happened was that her father told her that he wouldn't be able to watch Tamaki and that the neighbors were out as well. So, she ended up getting some permission from her teachers and principal at school to be able to attend school and bring her new puppy with her. She was that good of a student; she knew.

Honestly, Haruhi thought as she made her way down the hall, she (or rather Tamaki) was attracting more stares than she had received for singing in class and having the rumor spread around.

Well, at least that rumor is buried underneath this one… right?

Haruhi finally got to her class, her friends rushing around her just to take a look at the little puppy placed gently on her lap.

"Haruhi! Where'd you get that puppy? He's so cute!" a girl in her class, Sayoko, gushed, eyes sparkling.

"He's a stray. I found him while I was walking home from shopping yesterday," Haruhi answered.

Haruhi was bombarded by many more questions following that. But, everyone knew to step away when Haruhi's best friend, Mei, came pushing through the crowd.

"What the hell is that, Haruhi?" Mei asked, pointing at Tamaki.

"A puppy I found," Haruhi said. "And he's not a thing."

Mei rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me; you're becoming an animal lover."

Haruhi sighed. "I wondered that too."

Plopping down into the desk beside Haruhi's, Mei placed her bag on the floor. Mei grabbed a strand of Haruhi's short, boy-cut hair.

"I still can't believe that you cut it," Mei muttered, trying to find good hairstyles that would be perfect for Haruhi.

Haruhi sighed. She'd ignore Mei for now.

He ran down the hallway, trying to get away from an ominous figure. He didn't know what it was, but he definitely didn't want to find out.

"Tamaki, let's go!" a pair of identical voices shouted, coming from equally identical boys.

They were ahead of the blonde haired, violet eyed boy, already turning the corner of the corridor with his other close friends.

A few seconds later, something changed. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but all of a sudden, he was much… smaller?

He noticed he was using four limbs to run now, the feeling of fuzziness engulfing his skin. He tongue slipped out of his mouth as he ran. And then, he realized what had happened when he looked into a puddle when he was finally far away from Ouran Academy… but also far from his friends: he turned into… a puppy?

Haruhi felt the puppy in her lap twitch. He had fallen asleep as soon as class had started. She was starting to wonder if she should have carried him here other than having him walk on his own. Well, having him walk did tire him out and make him fall asleep for classes. She guessed it was better this way.

But then, there wasn't really any class at all right now. It was the last day of school before summer break. Who in their right mind would make them do work? And because of this, she was absolutely, undeniably bored.

Her classmates were still crowded around her, cooing and 'aww'-ing at Tamaki who was still sleeping in her lap. She was getting tired of all this un-needed attention. They were going to wake Tamaki!

"Do you all mind leaving?" Haruhi asked as politely as she could. "I don't want to make Tamaki wake up."

"Oh, so it has a name now," Mei let out, exasperated.

"What else am I supposed to call him?" Haruhi challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't. Just give it to the pound and they'll care for him."

Oh, yeah. Why hadn't she thought of that?

Once again (for the millionth time in Haruhi's book), Tamaki twitched in Haruhi's lap. She was beginning to suspect something. What was wrong with him?

When Haruhi looked down, she noticed the scared expression on the puppy's face… if that could really happen. Wow, she seems to be thinking that a lot.

Haruhi shook her head. Problem at hand, she reminded herself. Focus on that.

Slowly, as not to startle the puppy out of sleep, Haruhi placed a small, comforting pet upon Tamaki's back, trying to settle him down. It didn't take too long for the puppy to wake up after that. And it startled Haruhi when he jumped. But as she pet him, he calmed down, cuddling into her stomach.

As the girls in her class cooed, the bell rang, signaling break to begin. And soon, Haruhi found herself filing out of the class with all the others, Tamaki cradled in her arms.

Noticing Tamaki's excitement when they came into the field where the boys were playing baseball, Haruhi let him down, grabbing a baseball that wasn't being used. She walked into the field after Tamaki, not paying attention to the mistake that she was making.

Out of nowhere (at least to her), a baseball came right towards her, hitting her upside her head.

She fell onto the floor, hard. And face first too.

Tamaki galloped towards her, obviously worried for the girl who had rescued him. Whining, he lapped at her cheek, trying to revive the girl from her knock out.

"Haruhi!"

Tamaki (still in his puppy form), turned towards the sound and noticed a boy running to aid the girl in which saved him. And Tamaki couldn't deny that he felt jealous… but just a bit.

"Haruhi, are you okay?" The dark haired boy asked, helping Haruhi up.

"Yeah, just peachy," Haruhi groaned, sarcasm still in her voice even though she was just maimed with a ball.

"You don't feel light headed?" he asked, gray eyes glittering with worry.

"I'm fine, Arai," so that was what the boy's name was. "Seriously, it's not like I'm going to die… Sorry, stupid thing to joke about."

Haruhi, with the aid of Arai, stood up. And this was to Tamaki's great disappointment. He wished he had his own body back so that he could repay Haruhi for all the trouble he put her through. And he didn't want to let any other person touch her.

Wow, that sounded possessive.

Tamaki watched in envy as Haruhi and Arai spoke. He was already beginning to curse the name. And then, a smart idea sparked his mind. He could just beg Haruhi to play! He was a puppy after all.

Happily, Tamaki used his maw to tug on the top of Haruhi's sock. And when she looked down, he took the 'playing position' and wagged his tail.

He couldn't help but bark in victory when he saw Haruhi's lips twist into a cute grin and she motioned to leave Arai's side.

They started through the field, Haruhi chuckling to herself. Tamaki was really cute, wasn't he?

She threw the ball for him once they got far enough into the field. Tamaki kept on coming back with the ball, ecstatic and wagging his tail fast. He couldn't wait to play more, thought Haruhi. But what he was really thinking was that he wanted to keep Haruhi's attention on him for this whole time.

Tamaki became over joyed when he heard Haruhi's cute laugh from a few yards behind him as he slid on the grass and tumbled over, just trying to catch the ball. Quickly, he got up, got the ball, and ran towards her, dropping the ball at the last second just to hop onto Haruhi's lap and to shower her with sloppy kisses. Haruhi's giggles made him want to giggle with her. Too bad it was impossible.

Just as Haruhi threw the ball again, free time was over and the middle school students rushed into their classes.

"C'mon, Tamaki!" Haruhi called, jogging the slightest bit while patting her leg, trying to lure Tamaki to follow her.

Tamaki wished he could scoff as well. Do dogs really have such a short and odd attention span to make humans treat them this way? Because if they didn't, he knew exactly how they felt… but he did like the attention.

He picked the ball up with his mouth (he'd gotten used to it), and ran for Haruhi, trotting beside her as they made their way through the halls. Just as Haruhi placed Tamaki on her lap after sitting, the bell rang.

"Hello class," the teacher said, making her way to the center of the call room. "Today is the last day of middle school and you all are going to go to high school soon. Now, do you all remember that contest the school had to determine which student from this school will be able to get into Ouran Academy?"

At this, Haruhi gasped. She'd taken that test for the contest. And she really wanted to win; so bad. If she got into that school, that'd lead to an awesome college. And that would mean to fulfill her dream of becoming a lawyer just like her late mother.

And this obviously caught Tamaki's attention. He'd been going there before this freak accident happened, turning his gorgeous body into that of a puppy's. He still had no idea how he was going to get out of this mess. But as he looked up at Haruhi's hopeful face, he mentally grinned. He could wait.

"Well, the results are in," the teacher continued.

As Tamaki skimmed the room, there were hopeful looks on a few faces, including Haruhi's.

So she must have entered the contest, Tamaki thought. She should win. She deserves it.

Picking up the envelope, the teacher opened up the flap, unfolded the paper, and grinned. She looked up. "Congratulations, Fujioka. You made it."

All of a sudden, an out of character cheer came out of Haruhi's mouth. And when she noticed she did this, she covered her mouth and blushed, laughs rising from the mouths of her peers as well as 'good job'-s and 'you're so cute!'-s.

The teacher handed Haruhi the envelope and paper so that she could take a look at it. And Tamaki made a quick skim through the letter to make it look as if he were just a curious puppy who had no clue what was written on the sheet of paper.

Haruhi smiled. She made it! She actually did it! She'd worked so hard the whole week before studying her tush off and she actually rose to the occasion and passed with flying colors! She had the only perfect score! She couldn't wait to tell her father!

Now the only thing to worry about was the uniform…

Tamaki was impressed. A perfect score, eh? That was really amazing. It, he thought, is real hard to be able to get a perfect score on the entrance exam to any prestigious academy; especially to Ouran. She must be a smart one, Tamaki thought (of the obvious).

Tamaki was annoyed. Not jealous, he told himself, annoyed. He couldn't be jealous; not at this early stage.

But he couldn't stop the slight growl that erupted from the back of his throat. Luckily, it was silent… well, silent enough. Haruhi didn't hear it. After all, she was too busy talking to Arai.

Tamaki rolled his eyes. At least he has ONE sign of disrespect that he could use. He really doesn't like Arai. He's always taking away the time that Haruhi could spend with him. Arai doesn't deserve her time.

Arai, as of now, decided to walk Haruhi (and Tamaki) home. And Tamaki being Tamaki did not appreciate the close proximity between the two young teenagers. He didn't like the way Arai was looking at Haruhi either. He didn't even deserve to lay his eyes on the beautiful girl.

But Tamaki did. He deserved it more than Arai, at least. Sure, he thought that Haruhi was a boy the first time he saw her making her way down the street in guys' clothes and lugging along groceries in the rain. But once she put him in her jacket, he had no doubt.

Tamaki thought himself lucky; if he were human, he would be red by now.

Tamaki did his best to keep up with the two, dodging the ongoing feet of other pedestrians on the street. And Haruhi had obviously noticed this. She kept on bringing her gaze back to Tamaki no matter how much Arai called for her attention.

And her concern won her over, for not a moment too soon, she stooped over to save Tamaki from being separated from her.

Tamaki felt glad. As Haruhi pet him but continued her conversation with Arai, he knew that Haruhi was paying attention to him. After all, who could resist a cute puppy nuzzling into your neck?

~Chapter 2 End~