Hello everyone!! Ava-chan here with chapter 1 of my Ouran fanfic, "Scars." Now, after some MAJOR THINKING and wracking of my brain cells, I FINALLY came up with a suitable beginning for it. Now, I've had an Ouran fanfic in my head for about 3 years now (since I was a Senior in high school) but I never had the motivation to write it and also I thought that it might not do well, so I didn't. Then after a devastating blow of boredom came my way I finally decided to write it. Unfortunately, after 3 years most of it has been lost in my memory and I can't seem to get it back. But I'll do my best!!

I'd like to thank my reviewers for their encouragement—if you would be so kind as to keep being awesome, this story might go places. Haha. ONWARD TO CHAPTER 1~!! Happy reading!

Foreboding

17 year-old Ootori Kyouya woke up with a start and sat bolt upright in bed, a cold sweat covering his face and neck. His heart beat like a drum as he stared around his dark room trying to calm himself. He had been shocked awake from a nightmare he had been having…one that seemed all too real. He squinted at the digital clock on his bedside table. When he still couldn't see the time, he reached over and grabbed his glasses and put them on. It was 3:30 am. He groaned and dug his slender fingers into his dark hair. Like most of his dreams, this one seemed to vanish the instant he had awoken.

His hands grabbed fistfuls of soft, slick, hair and he pinched his eyes shut trying desperately to remember. His breathing slowed and his heartbeat returned to its normal pace as he steadied himself, and tried to find his Center. His room was dead silent, and he listened to his breathing as he began to meditate, trying to recall his nightmare.

I was a child, he thought, and I was running. Was I being chased? No…it was I who was doing the chasing. But what was I running after?

He placed his elbows on his knees, opened his eyes and stared at his bed sheets. He remembered in the dream that his Child-self had felt absolute fear, as if he would lose something forever if he wasn't able to catch whatever it was he was pursuing. He also remembered that his Child-self had been in tears; crying hysterically.

The dark-haired teenager growled in frustration. He just couldn't remember! He flopped back onto his pillow and stared into space, hoping that something might come to him. Nothing. He turned on his side and stared out the window.

It was a clear night and the moon and stars shown clearly through the window. He had forgotten to close his curtains, so the glow casted eerie shadows throughout his room. He sighed and flipped onto his other side and placed his glasses back on the bedside table but not before looking one last time at the clock.

3:45am

He had no doubt in his mind that he was going to be exhausted when school came in a few hours. He snuggled back into his warm bed and tried to get some sleep; half of him hoping that he'd dream again, the other half hoping he'd sleep peacefully.

It seemed like he had only slept for about an hour before his alarm went off to signal him to get ready for school. He woke up—groggy and irritated—to its buzzing noise, but managed to sit himself up in bed and rub the sleep out of his eyes. He then grabbed his glasses from his bedside table, placed them onto this face and immediately shut off his alarm, leaving him in quiet.

The sun shown brightly through his bedroom window, illuminating his large bed, as well as the rest of his room with its warm glow. The Shadow King looked around his spacious room; waiting for his eyes to adjust to the brightness of everything (he really should have closed his curtains last night). His antique, wooden dresser was on the wall opposite him; it was almost as large as a dining room table, and had an equally large mirror atop it—so large that if he took several steps back, he would be able to see his whole body in it.

To his right was the huge ceiling-to-floor window, its crimson curtains pulled away from it, which the sun now shown through, and to his left a large walk-in closet which held all his clothes. The closet was closed at the moment, sealing off his garments, save for his school uniform hanging adjacent to it on one of the hanging hooks. The lilac blazer, ironed white collared shirt and dark tie, hung neatly on the hanger along with the dark trousers of his uniform.

There suddenly was a knock on his door and a maid timidly called out his name to see if he was up yet. That prompted the Shadow King to actually get out of bed seeing as how he hadn't moved for a good 15 minutes.

"Hai," he called out to her, and went to open his door to greet her. He smiled at her when he saw her, and said warmly, "Thank you for waking me."

"Ohayo Gozaimasu, Kyouya-sama," she answered, cheerily. "I'm glad to see that you have awakened. You're breakfast will be ready for you downstairs," she added, giving him a slight curtsy, as she moved out of the way and headed downstairs while the teenager made his way to the bathroom to shower. Another servant stood by the bathroom door, holding a pale yellow, fluffy towel, which Kyouya relieved him of, and another servant held his shampoo, soap, and toothbrush, and toothpaste on a silver tray.

He took his toiletries from him, and entered his (also impeccably large and gracious) bathroom. Marble sinks with gold faucets sat under polished glass mirrors, and the marble tiles felt cool beneath his bare feet. He placed his towel onto the gold hanging rack and started to strip off his pale blue pajamas. After he was completely nude, and had turned on the shower to a suitable temperature, he stepped inside his shower and closed the glass doors, which instantly fogged over with steam.

He allowed the warm water to caress his body as he cleansed himself, trying to wake himself up and also thinking about the nightmare he had the previous night. As he rinsed off the soap suds, and started on his hair, his mind started to drift back to it; though he found himself not being able to recall any of it. He tried to concentrate as he rinsed his hair, but it was as if he was trying to catch fog. He just couldn't remember any part of the nightmare. He decided to just give up and not think about it anymore and instead focus on the day ahead. He finished his shower, placed his towel firmly around his waist, brushed his teeth, and exited his bathroom and entered his room to get dressed into his uniform.

He came downstairs, fully dressed and polished, ate, and finally headed off to school, driven in one of his family's numerous limousines. He looked up at his private school—Ouran Academy; a place where the offspring of the rich and prestigious received the best education money could buy. He enjoyed going to this school, though not because he received the best education his family could afford but because he was a member of the famous Host Club that was quite popular and known throughout the school. He, along with several other young men (and one girl named Haruhi) entertain the young women of the student body who come to their club to spend time chit-chatting and relaxing after a long school day. A smile slowly spread across his mouth. Time for another day—now if only he could keep his eyes open.

"Ohayo, Kyouya-kun," called one of the female students as he walked to class. He replied with one of his own hearty hellos, and continued on his way to his English class. He quite enjoyed that class, save it not for the teacher; not that he held a grudge against the man it was just…Kyouya found that he was incompetent to teach. He would always go off on little tirades or rants about things that had nothing to do with the subject and more or less he managed to make at least 3 (or more) students fall asleep.

The dark haired teenager made it to his class and reluctantly took his seat next to one of the large windows of the classroom, and waited with his head in his hand, staring aimlessly out the window for the teacher to arrive and class to begin. After about ten minutes, the teacher finally entered the classroom and the students took their seats and respectfully turned all of their attention to him as he instructed the class.

Kyouya did the same, and started to take notes though eventually he got bored and found his mind wandering again. Halfway through his page of notes, he started to doodle and his posture became lax, as he shifted in his seat and rested his head on his desk. He was starting to feel the exhaustion of waking up at 3:30 in the morning. Straining his ears, he tried his best to listen to his English teacher, but eventually his voice became muddled and slurry, as Kyouya began go drift into unconsciousness and enter a sweet slumber.

Kyouya's Dream/POV

"Liar!" screamed my eight-year-old self to one of my older brothers. My child-self was glaring at Aniki from tear-stained glasses and puffy eyes. "Liar, Liar, Liar!!" he continued to shout out, "You're lying, Aniki!! You have to have found her!! She can't have just disappeared!! Where is she?!"

My 17 year-old-self stood in the shadows of my room watching all this unfold. I don't know why, but I had the overwhelming feeling of dread in my stomach, and I felt a tightening in my throat—as if my Child-Self's sorrow was slowly flooding into me as well.

My older brother knelt down in front of my Child-Self, and put his arms around him. I couldn't see his face, but I knew he held an expression of utmost sorrow, as he hugged my Child-Self as he cried in his chest.

"Gomen nasai, Kyouya-chan," Aniki whispered to my Child-Self as he held him. "We've tried everything to try and find her…but we couldn't. I'm so sorry."

Couldn't find who? Who were they talking about? Apparently my Child-Self was exceptionally close to this person, though I don't remember being close to anyone besides Tamaki—and ours is a somewhat complicated friendship to say the least. From my place in the shadows, I continued to watch my Child-Self wail out in despair, and Aniki try desperately to comfort him. As my Child-Self wept, Aniki stroked his head and whispered how sorry he was to him, though I could see that he was trying not to cry either.

Whoever this person was, they both really seemed to have a soft spot for her. There was a knock on the door and my other brother, and my older sister flooded into the room and also tried to comfort my Child-Self. My older sister was crying as she held him close to him and also said how sorry she was. I felt something wet trickle down my own cheek, and when I placed my hand to my face, I was surprised to find that I was crying freely as well, along with my Child-Self and my siblings…

I fell to my knees as I covered my face and wept, feeling more like the little boy that my siblings hugged and cried with.

Present Day/Normal POV

"Kyouya-kun…Kyouya-kun…Kyouya-kun!"

The Shadow King took a shape intake of breath as he was jolted awake by someone shaking him, and was greeted by the sight of his (now annoyed) teacher, and the stricken faces of his classmates. He sat upright in his chair, a blush of embarrassment forming across his face as he stared back at the class. He brought a tentative hand up to his face and was shocked to find actual tears in his eyes.

"Kyouya-kun," started the teacher, clearly annoyed at him, "If you wouldn't mind staying awake in class, I'd like to finish my lesson."

"Gomen, Sensei," replied the grey-eyed boy as he stood up, "Please excuse me; I'm not feeling well, I have to go to the nurse." The dark haired teen then quickly placed his books in his bag, and dashed out the classroom door, leaving the teacher stuttering stupidly in his wake.

As soon as he was out of sight, he went straight to the men's bathroom and washed his face with cold water, hoping that would clear his head along with masking his slightly red eyes. He looked at his face in the mirror and stared at his reflection for a long time.

"That dream seemed all too real…like the one that I woke up from this morning," he muttered to himself. Leaning his forehead against the cool glass, he closed his eyes and tried to remember. Thankfully, this latest dream seemed to come to him a lot more efficiently than the previous one.

"In both dreams I was eight-years-old," he whispered, his warm breath fogging up the glass, "and I was crying in both. But in this one I seemed to be talking about someone…but whom?!" He opened his eyes and glared at his reflection, his narrow eyes becoming even narrower as he became filled with frustration. He understood that whomever it was he was crying over was someone he was particularly close to…now if he could remember that would be great. He growled when no one came to his memory, and put his glasses back onto his face and straightened his hair and uniform.

"There's no use in me dwelling over it, if I can't think of whom it is I was referring to," he said to his reflection, as he became presentable. Grabbing his bag, he exited the restroom, and decided to go on with the rest of his day and made it a mental point to not fall asleep in any more of his classes.

He managed to keep his promise as the day wore on, and stayed awake in his Latin, Math, and Science classes. Though, when lunch period came around, he started to feel tired again, and hoped that a good meal will help keep him awake. With his lunch, he got some freshly ground coffee and cream and sugar to further wake him up and sat down to enjoy his meal. As he sipped his coffee, and ate his lunch, he finally started to feel content (or as content as he would ever feel about today) and started to people watch and joined in idle chit-chat with some of his fellow classmates. The coffee seemed to work, because he didn't manage to drift back to sleep for the remainder of the day afterwards.

The day finally ended, but he wasn't allowed to leave the school grounds yet—he still had Host Club duties left. Not that he minded, he actually had fun and eagerly waited for the bell to ring everyday to get to it. He opened the doors and was instantly assaulted by the tiny third-year, Honinozuka, Mitsukuni who had spun him around in a tight hug.

"Ya~ay! Kyou-chan's finally here!! We've been waiting for you!" the boy said, happily, his large brown eyes looking directly into Kyouya's grey ones. The taller boy opened his mouth to say something, but the Loli-shota dragged him to the other members of the club who were sitting on some of the many lavishing couches.

"Sorry I'm late," said Kyouya as he joined them. He looked around at his friends, all sitting and smiling at him, perfectly fine with the fact that he was running a tad bit late. The Hitachiin twins, Hikaru and Kaoru sat together as usual, and Mori—another third year and Honey's cousin—and Honey-senpai sat at a nearby table, while Honey ate cakes. Tamaki, a blond haired boy in the same grade as he, sat on another one of the couches, looking as kingly as ever. The newest member, Fujioka, Haruhi sat by herself on another one of the circle of couches, peering at the Shadow King with her dark brown eyes.

"Yosh!" exclaimed Tamaki, dramatically and swiftly getting to his feet. "Now that everyone's here, we can start!! Minna-san, get into positions so we can greet the lovely ladies whom we have sworn to entertain! The Host Club is now open!"

It didn't take long for the Club to become filled with people (girls mostly) and the members to fall into their roles: Tamaki as the Princely character whom all the girls fall in love with, the Hitachiin twins with their "Forbidden Brotherly Love" act, Honey and Mori-senpai with their stoic and cute act, and finally Haruhi with her "Natural Rookie" charm. Kyouya didn't take it upon himself to put on an act for their clients, though the Club members have dubbed him as the "Cool Type." Not that he minded; he was mostly in charge of the financing anyway, which is what he was good at.

He would occasionally walk around, chit-chatting with the clients and writing down how much the club either spent or gained in his notebook. It was when he was talking to a small table of girls who were sitting with Haruhi that he decided to speak up. He noticed that she was staring at him for a while, and it had started to make him feel uncomfortable.

"Haruhi-kun," he said swiftly, "is there a particular reason why you keep staring at me with your doe eyes?" Not unlike her, she didn't even flinch in embarrassment for having been caught, but instead answered, "You just look tired, that's all Kyouya-senpai."

The Shadow King blinked in surprise, while Haruhi continued.

"Did you not sleep well last night, Senpai?" she asked. The other girls were now focusing all their attention on him, so it wasn't like he could just smile and walk away—he had to answer her.

"No…I didn't have a restful sleep last night," he said. "I woke up from a nightmare."

"Ah! A nightmare?! What was it about?" shrieked one of the girls, looking absolutely enthralled by him.

"It must have been horrible for you to have been awoken from it, Kyouya-kun," said another, also captivated. He smiled apologetically and answered, "If I could remember, I would tell you, but unfortunately I cannot recall it, my Princesses." The girls pouted in response.

"However," he continued, thinking back to his English class, "I accidentally managed to fall asleep in my English class today, and had another dream. When I had awoken, it seemed as if I had actually shed tears while dreaming."

"Kyouya-kun, you cried in your sleep?" said the girls, surprised. "You actually fell asleep in class, Senpai?" added Haruhi, "That's not like you."

"Kyouya-kun must have been really tired then," said the other girl. "What happened in the dream you had?"

Kyouya was silent for a long time, and looked at all of them sadly. He remembered what happened in this dream very clearly and he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell them—for some reason it felt personal to him and he mentally kicked himself for even mentioning it.

"Kyouya-senpai," started Haruhi. He shifted his gaze to look at her; she looked worried. "You don't have to tell us, if you don't want to. It's your business." He nodded and felt the utmost gratitude towards her as he apologized to the girls and excused himself from their table to work on the finances.

As he jotted things down in his book, he couldn't help but feel the tightening in his throat as he remembered the dream and the feeling of dread that it brought up along with the confusion and frustration at not being able to figure out who the hell it was his Child-Self was talking about. All he knew was that whoever it was, it was a girl and she seemed to be very close to his family for them to all have wept over her.

He forcibly pushed the dream out of his mind for now and fervently worked on the finances. He had to keep it together and try not to let this take over his work. For the first time in his high school career, he wasn't having fun at the Host Club.

Well, there you have it! Chapter 1 of "Scars." I'm not particularly happy with it, but you all be the judges!!! I apologize if it's really boring, but I promise, the story will pick up and ger more interestin later on. Starting with chapter 2!! If you want more--review!! Thanks for reading!

~ava-chan