Ok. So here's chapter 2. The plot bunnies wouldn't leave me alone and a good portion of this chapter I have really wanted to write so you'll find it here.

Thanks go to: Those who have clicked the favorite and follow boxes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or any of the characters. They belong to Bisco Hatori. I do own Zaltanna.

The news that Zaltanna had gotten accepted to a private academy in Japan had traveled through the school quickly. She wasn't a popular athletic student at Lutz High, but her teachers, and even teachers she hadn't had were talking about the wonderful news. They told her that it was a wonderful opportunity, even though none of them really knew of Ouran Private Academy, just her teachers and coach as well as the principle. She was proud that she got accepted, but the happiness of it was losing its charm fast as the next week of school started, and just made the week drag on. The only things she looked forward to during that week were practice and her math classes where she could put the world out of focus and concentrate on the numbers on the page before her.

After her last class of the day for the entire week she practically ran to the locker room and got ready for practice. Her teammates were very excited and they told her not to worry about missing the last swim meet. They were the only ones she could handle talking so animatedly about her leaving. Zaltanna did feel guilty about leaving the same day as the swim meet, but she had no control over booking her flights. She knew however that everyone wouldn't want her to go when it finally came time for her to leave. Most of the people she knew she would have a hard time of saying goodbye to she tried to spend all of her free time with, yet there was one person she knew who wouldn't take her leaving very well. Not knowing what to say to him, was one reason why she didn't want to talk to him just yet.

Once she found the best way to tune out her whole school talking about her leaving, at least until it all calmed down, the last weeks she was at Lutz went by quickly. Zaltanna had said her final goodbyes to everyone in her own unique way. It was unexpected, but at the end of her last swim meet her teammates and coach gave her their own goodbyes and 'we'll miss yous'. By the time she had gotten dressed and into her truck, tears were streaming down her face. She knew that the team was important to her, but she had never realized how important it had been to her. Making up her mind that she would do her best to gain the same amount of love for the Ouran swim team she felt better about saying goodbye. Her teammates would want her to love her new team as she loved them, and she wondered why she hadn't realized it sooner.

Zaltanna had just walked into the kitchen door when her grandfather told her to check the answering machine for a message. He wouldn't say who it was, but she had a feeling she knew who it was that had called her. Frankly she still didn't know what to say to him, and even though she saw him several times during the last few weeks, he didn't talk to her. Sighing she hit the glowing button.

"…You probably don't care if I say goodbye or not, but I'm going to pull my head out of my ass and just tell you goodbye and….You know never mind I'm not serious about this goodbye anyway so go ahead and leave and don't expect to hear from me ever again."

A frown came over her face as she listened to the message. Ian was always a difficult friend of hers to deal with, and he had understood that she dealt with things in her own way and pestering her to talk about it just made her not want to talk about it. Zaltanna couldn't understand why he had a wild hair up his ass all of a sudden. He knew that telling her a goodbye over the phone wasn't a proper goodbye, and that was a small reason she was upset, but the rest of the message made her realize that something else was making him pissy and she decided to screw a proper sit down with him and go knock some sense into him.

After tossing her backpack on her bed, she grabbed her license and with a quick goodbye to her grandfather she jumped back into her Jeep and did her best not to break speed limits as she rushed to her friends place. Putting the brakes on about a few yards from the front door, a desert orange dust cloud swirled around her truck as she slammed the transmission into park before it even stopped and slammed her driver's side door shut. A scowl on her face she stomped up to the front door and rang the door bell. She heard nothing. Zaltanna knew Ian was home as he was so antisocial the only human interaction he had was school. The boy never went to any social gatherings after school and always rushed home quickly. Banging on the door she peered inside the little glass set into the wall next to the door.

"Ian! Get your ass out here and talk to me like a human being!" Zaltanna yelled not caring if the neighbors heard her.

Again she heard nothing and she was getting annoyed. She really didn't want to abuse the spare key use, but this situation would be calling for it if he still wouldn't come out, and talk to her. Zaltanna was one of those people you told it to her face and truthfully and not over email, the phone, or behind her back. She couldn't understand the people who said their feelings over those mediums. It felt like they were just saying what the other person wanted to hear and not what they truly felt.

"I know you're in there. Come on out!" She yelled again.

As Zaltanna waited for her friend to answer the door, she suddenly got the feeling that talking with Ian would just make her more upset, but she had to get the antisocial boy out of his comfort zone. If she had to get rough, she would. No good came out of letting him stay in his bubble, and she'd been trying to tell him that for years.

Nothing stirred in the house, and with a growl Zaltanna walked down the porch steps and knelt down moving the cinder block that was on top of the spare key under the porch stoop. Flicking a spider off her hand she grabbed the key and walked back up to the door and put it in the door knob. Opening the door, the damp dusky smell of the house hit her nose. It was a smell she preferred to smell in the wild, not in a home and she hated it every time she walked into Ian's house. That was why she normally dragged him to her house to hang out, when he wanted to.

Closing the door gently behind her, she made her way to the back of the house and up the stairs to the second floor. Ian's door was just off the landing and she pounded on it, "Ian I know you're here. Come out and talk to me. I won't leave until you do."

Zaltanna could hear some shuffling sounds, but the door didn't open. Frowning at the door, she spoke slowly and as venomously as she could, "You leave me a message on the answering machine, which you damn well know I don't take seriously, and now you won't talk to me face to face like a human being?"

Standing outside of the door for a few more minutes, Zaltanna sighed realizing that Ian wouldn't care about what she said to him and he wouldn't confront her about it. Turning around, she spoke up, "Stay in your room and wallow in pity, I don't care anymore. I won't regret trying to get you to be a human being, but if you want to remain alone for the rest of your life then fine by me. I won't say goodbye to you. I also don't want to hear a word from you or an 'I'm sorry' while I'm in Japan."

Zaltanna waited on the landing for a bit, waiting for those words to sink into Ian's skull. If they really didn't get to him, then she'd walk out of his house and never bother with him again. She thought he was getting better, but obviously he wasn't and if he wasn't willing to change than she wouldn't waste anymore effort trying to change him.

The door opened a crack and she turned around to see him looking out at her. Zaltanna would have wanted him to open the door wider and actually look at her face to face, but this would do. She'd done what she had come here to do, get him to at least acknowledge that she was there.

"I stand by what I said on the message." He said his voice a bit muffled from behind the door.

"No you don't. Otherwise you wouldn't have opened the door. Now what the hell crawled up your ass and died?" She asked glaring at him.

His green eyes stared out from behind the door at her, "Nothing crawled up my ass and died. It was you avoiding me the past few weeks. If you don't want to say goodbye to me than fine, I'll just stay out of your life."

That was the reason he had gone beyond antisocial and straight to hermit. Sighing she answered, "I avoided you because I didn't know how to say goodbye to you. Obviously this will be our goodbye as I still don't know what to say. I didn't want this goodbye to be riddle with anger and bitterness, but it's come to that because you tried to say goodbye in an unfeeling way."

Ian remained quiet behind his door. He didn't know what to say, well he knew what he wanted to say, but he knew she would just throw it back in his face so he left it unsaid. He closed his door quietly, knowing she would leave. His heart didn't care anymore about what was said to him now. She was leaving and moving on with her life. Knowing that she wouldn't stop living her life for him, he decided for himself that she didn't need him in her life, and he was fine with ending things here.

Ian closing his door was her sign that he was done. Shaking her head she spoke up, "If that's how you want to be than don't bother talking to me until you really are ready to pull your head out of your ass."

Walking down the stairs she had a frown on her face. Nothing had been fixed with the confrontation. He just remained in his self pity state. Zaltanna knew she could no longer try to push his antisocial self out into the world, and she was fine with that. She wouldn't miss his excuses and she certainly wouldn't miss his moody times. She swore he was a girl without the cooter, and with all of a woman's problems. She had a hard time dealing with her own girl problems; she wouldn't deal with Ian's she-male problems anymore.

Placing the spare key back under the cinder block, she got back in her truck and went back home. Zaltanna needed to finish packing, and even though she wasn't bringing her whole room with her, it took her a while to pack. She had things she would be bringing to remind her of home, and they needed at least another luggage bag.

Only taking a break from her packing to have dinner with her grandfather, Zaltanna made a mental list of what else she needed to pack. Her clothes were all packed, her personal hygiene products, the few mechanical and four wheeling magazines she bought off and on during the years, the few books she owned, and some her of mementos of home. She was still trying to figure out how to get her tool set to come with her. It didn't feel right leaving it, and she wasn't sure if she would be able to pick up another hobby in Japan. She was good with her hands and the beginner arts and crafts kits were easy for her to do, but she didn't keep up with them. Zaltanna knew she would figure it out though; she had two days before she left.

Zaltanna yawned as she waited in line for the airport security. It was an early morning as she and her grandfather had to be at the airport to catch her morning flight. Mornings were usually ok for her, but this particular morning she was still tired. She figured it was the stress of all the goodbyes and getting ready that made her tired. She didn't worry about it though as she knew she could sleep on the plane.

Looking back over at her grandfather she gave a small smile. As much as he moaned and groaned about her leaving, she knew he was alright with her leaving, and practically pulled her out of bed that morning, to make sure that she didn't miss her flight. Zaltanna was alright with leaving her grandfather as she had been the one to fill out for the scholarship. Not being accepted wouldn't have hurt her, and her grandfather would never have known she tried out for it. Being accepted though was where she had to think about how to break the news to her grandfather. Telling him actually wasn't as hard as it was to say goodbye to Ian, and she had grabbed her bags and climbed into the car with her grandfather without hesitation. She had looked back at the home she grew up in for a good portion of her life fondly, knowing she'd be back sometime.

Her goodbye to her grandfather was sweet and simple. Slade Dunstan didn't need long and drawn out especially considering his granddaughters personality. Zaltanna was completely different from her father, who needed multiple reassurances that things were ok. She could sense that things would be ok, and after that it only took one time of telling her things would be ok for her to never fuss over it again. That much Slade understood and had learned to read that about her over the years as her own unique personality came around.

Zaltanna wasn't so much a talker when it came to expressing things; she only talked to express her feelings when dealing with people who couldn't sense worth a damn. She preferred to express her emotions through body language and looks, and her grandfather had often wondered if she would make it in the auto industry. Although he couldn't stop her from going for her dream, and, knowing that, he knew she would do her best to be a little more personable to people.

With a last wave to her grandfather Zaltanna set her luggage down on the belt for the security x-ray and walked through the metal detector. Once she was given the all clear she made her way down to her gate that had already announced it was boarding. Her gate was relatively close and she hadn't had to run to make sure she didn't miss her flight.

Her ticket checked she walked down the walkway to board her plane. This early in the morning there weren't a lot of passengers, just a few on their way back home and a couple more than likely taking a trip to Japan. Whatever their reason Zaltanna took her assigned seat and was thankful that she was alone in her row and for several rows behind her. After halfheartedly listening to the pilot explain the exit procedures, and watching the steward gesture to the exits, Zaltanna sat back wrapped her jacket around her and closed her eyes, hoping to get some more sleep.

A staff member of Ouran was waiting for her at the airport when she arrived in Japan. Her bags were loaded into the back of the taxi and the woman, who had shoulder length black hair standing about 5'5 and looked to be in her 20's, and Zaltanna climbed in the back. The woman started up a pleasant conversation. Asking how the weather was back in Zaltannas home town, and how she liked Japan so far. Being honest with her Zaltanna told her how things were back home.

After things had grown quiet Zaltanna was a little curious as to where she would be staying. The letter had stated that she would be given a nice small apartment to live in as well as a small living allowance twice a month, to spend on food or other items she needed. Almost as if she was reading Zaltanna's mind the woman spoke up about where she would be living. It was as the letter said. She would be living in a small apartment and she would be given the living allowance. The woman had mentioned that they were on their way to the apartment first so Zaltanna could drop off her things. Then they would be on their way to Ouran to finish up her attendance papers and tour the school. The woman mentioned that the school was on break and very few people would be on the grounds.

The building her apartment was in was three stories, and was a sandy color. It didn't surprise Zaltanna, the letter had said a nice apartment. She hadn't expected anything more or less. Her apartment number was 12 and on the second floor facing the northwest of the city. The apartment itself was small, the bedroom and living room were one. There was a small kitchen and a small restroom, just a sink and a toilet. The woman told her there was a public bath a few blocks over and they would let her use the bath free of charge because she was an Ouran student.

Placing her bags against the nearest wall Zaltanna followed the woman out and back down to the taxi. The ride to Ouran wasn't a long one, and she remembered the route from her apartment to the school. She would have to walk to the school sometime during the next few weeks before the start of the new term to see how long of a walk she would have.

Ouran Private Academy was extravagant and huge. Zaltanna wondered if she had applied at the wrong school, it was a little too rich to be what she was thinking, but once they pulled up to the school she knew that this was Ouran and she couldn't take back her scholarship now. She would just have to get used to being around the rich folks, and get used to them overdoing everything.

The woman lead her to the attendance office and her paperwork was finished and her classes were fixed for the new term, and soon after Zaltanna got a tour of the school. She was shown the science building, the history and literature building, the language and elective building, and finally the gym. She was sure with time she would remember each building but at the current moment she was a little overwhelmed. The school was huge because it was spread out over the grounds. Zaltanna was told there were auxiliary buildings where the dojo was housed and the numerous school clubs.

She was lead to a few of the club rooms, and along the way to the room where the so called 'Host Club' of Ouran was, and the woman gave a slight bow to two boys they had come across. One was a blond haired boy, with big brown eyes holding a pink bunny, riding on the shoulders of a boy a head taller than her, with storm cloud grey eye's and black hair. Zaltanna could sense that the blond haired boy had a bubbly personality, while his taller companion was quiet and reserved.

"Haninozuka-sama, Morinozuka-sama." The woman said as she bowed.

"Hello Michiko-san."The blond boy said than blinked at Zaltanna as he saw her behind the woman, "Who's she?"

Michiko introduced her, "This is Zaltanna Rayne Dunstan, a scholarship student from America. She's starting the new term with you, as she's in the same class with you." She then turned to Zaltanna, "This is Mitsukuni Haninozuka," she gestured to the blond boy, "and this is Takashi Morinozuka." She didn't need to gesture as Zaltanna put the names to the boys faces. "They will be in the same class as you. Once the term starts, if you need anything I'm sure they'll be able to help you."

The boy named Mitsukuni looked at her and smiled wide, "Nice to meet you Zaltanna. I think you'll like it here. Don't you think Takashi?"

The black haired boy just nodded his head in response.

Zaltanna gave a light bow, "Nice to meet the both of you as well."

When she looked back up at the two boys, her eyes locked with those of the black haired boy, Takashi Morinozuka. Zaltanna found them so striking she gave a little mental gasp. They were so clear, so focused, so emotional. She silently wondered to herself if she had found someone she could get along with where she didn't have to outright express her feelings. It would be nice for a change, especially after dealing with Ian.

The girl in front of him was looking right at him, not through him and not at him like he was a wall, but she was looking right at him in a spiritual sense. That was enough to pique Mori's interest. He'd have to learn more about her, hoping that she would be a pleasant change from his 'customers' in the Host Club. It wasn't like his customers looked down on him or anything, they were lacking in something, and until he had met Zaltanna he wasn't sure what that lack of something was.

Michiko was just about to say something to Zaltanna, when a shout came from the end of the hallway. They all looked to see a blond boy with violet eye's running towards them and a black haired boy with glasses walking behind him with some folders in his hand. The blond haired boy looked very excited about something, while the boy with glasses had a sour look on his face.

"Guess who the two newest Host Club recruits are?" The blond haired boy said as he came to a stop next to Zaltanna's classmates. The boy hadn't yet registered that she or Michiko were there.

Mitsukuni Haninozuka put a finger to his mouth in thought than said, "The Hitachin twins?"

The blond haired boy gushed with happiness when the correct answer was given. Zaltanna took a step back, the boy was irritating her with his boisterous amount of energy. She wasn't going to head off on her own, one she knew she would get lost, and two it was rude to not just the group of students in front of her but also to Michiko.

"Tamaki, do you think you could tone down your ego. I believe your frightening the young woman, who if I'm not mistaken is our new scholarship student Zaltanna Rayne Dunstan." The boy with glasses spoke up as he stepped up beside Mori.

The blond boy whipped his head to the side, so fast Zaltanna swore he got whiplash. Apparently not as she could swear she saw Tamaki's nostrils flare, and feel the change from gushing happiness to egoist ladies man in record time.

Tamaki stepped in front of Zaltanna and took her hand, "I did not-"

Tamaki didn't get a chance to explain himself as Zaltanna's closed fist connected with his cheek and he was knocked back a few feet. Zaltanna was looking at him with venom in her eyes and her fist still clenched, "Nobody gave you permission to touch me!"

So what do you think so far? I based Ian off an actual friend of mine, personality and everything. This and Zaltanna punching Tamaki out I've been wanting to write for so long. I'm not a Tamaki fan. Actually to be brutally honest I hate him. So if you can handle me bashing Tamaki, when the situation calls for it, in later chapters I would appreciate it ;)

Please read and review.

Chapter 3 will be up soon.

And there's a cookie jar full of cookies for you trolls. Shut up, take your cookies and go bother someone else.

Zaltanna