Chapter 3

Looking from her schedule up to the sign, Pumpkin read the sign above the classroom door- 3A. She could hear the instructor inside, a female lecturing about math. Feeling a light flutter in her chest, she opened the door and stepped inside. The teacher stopped mid-sentence and looked up from the textbook she was holding. Her eyebrows went up at the girl standing there, her mouth partly open. Pumpkin wasn't sure if the woman was surprised at her tardiness, or if she was trying to catch flies. Suddenly remembering where she was, she bowed to the lady and greeted her accordingly.

A hand waved at her from the center of the room- it was the superintendent's son, Tamaki. He had a grin on his face, and looked like an idiot waving at her. Ignoring him completely, she turned back to the instructor. "Ohaiyo, sensei." Good morning, teacher.

"O- ohaiyo." She responded, finally closing her mouth. "Please come in- everyone, this is your new classmate, Pumpkin Sagano." Turning back to Pumpkin she continued, "There is an empty desk there, by the window."

Pumpkin knew it was especially placed there for her. Rich people and places meant getting what you wanted, at any age, even if it meant waving your daddy's name around. Pulling her bag from her shoulder, Pumpkin eased into her chair and placed the bag on the hook on the side of her desk. She was seated behind another girl, with a male student behind her, and a male student seated to her right and Tamaki on the other side of him. Gritting her teeth, she opened her book and tried to block out the whispering he was doing to the dark haired boy next to him; the one next to her. She could see this boy was avoiding looking up, keeping his dark eyes fixed on his own text book. Eyes widening in recognition, Pumpkin looked away slowly and swallowed.

It was him. The feared Kyouya Ohtori. Though she had never seen him before, his reputation outdid himself. A look alike of his father, the boy had already bought and sold enough companies to make any grown man green in the face. And he was sitting right next to her. When they made the seating arrangements, they didn't care to think about the businesses these kids came from. Or did they?

"…yes, Suoh-san? You know the answer?" The teacher pointed to him with her chalk.

"Hai!" Yes! "Forty-seven!" he nodded triumphantly and sat back down.

Mirroring the teacher's smirk, Pumpkin raised her arm slowly while scanning the question on the chalkboard.

"Yes, Sagano-san?"

Standing, she replied, "The answer, sensei, is ninety-four. The dividend is carried to the next column, separating…" she explained how the answer was actually doubled, and that it was a trick math question. Her mother had explained about things like this to her, and she found she could apply the same logic to actual problems in life. After her explanation, she turned her head, giving Tamaki a knowing smile. The boy looked back, dumbfounded, then nudged the raven-haired boy next to him, whispering if that was right. Nodding, Kyouya had his gaze fixed in one place; on Pumpkin.

She saw his expressionless face from the corner of her eye and felt a chill go down her spine. He frightened her. She wanted to shrivel up now that he was looking at her. It seemed he wouldn't look away, though. Chewing the inside of her mouth, she kept her eyes on her desk, determined not to look up. Why would he be interested in her anyway? The time ticked by slowly, every second making the hour seem longer. Even though she got that answer right, she still felt humiliated, and suddenly the painted stripes on her bag made her feel left out, like a child, even.

Once the bell rang for break, Pumpkin was the first one out. Discretely, of course. The sooner she was away from Ohtori, the better. She didn't even know he went to this school, and was pretty sure her father didn't know, either. After she was in the hallway, she took off running down the corridor. More than anything, she hated peer pressure. She really didn't want any trouble, especially on the first day of school, and getting into with him seemed like it was asking for trouble. Her breathing came in short shallow huffs as she ran, her legs beginning to hurt with every stride- but that didn't matter. For the first time in her life, Pumpkin Sagano felt scared of someone; threatened by their existence. Shuddering, she ran straight- into a wall. Falling backward, she looked up and gasped. A giant loomed over her, his eyes dull and staring.

"I- uh- g-gomen!" sorry! She was paralyzed, however. She couldn't make herself move, no matter how hard she tried.

"Mm." He was still looking down at her when a light brown head appeared from behind him.

"Oh! Hello!" the person came out from behind the giant, and bent next to her, offering his hand out. "Sorry 'bout that! Takashi doesn't speak much." He smiled brightly, as though the whole world could cheer this- child? He looked to be about eight years old, and had the height of one, too. But then why was he wearing the high-schooler's uniform?

Raising to her feet, Pumpkin examined the boy up and down. "Uh- how old are you?"

"Huh?" Opening his large brown eyes, the boy smiled again and pronounced happily, "I'm eighteen!"

Chuckling, she looked down at him. "Wha- wait- it sounded like you said you were eighteen."

Blinking back up at her, the high schooler tilted his head to the side. "But I am. See?" He pulled his school ID from his pocket and held it up for her to see. Sure enough, the birth day proved he was- and the name-

"Mi- Mi- Mitsukuni Haninozuka?! No way!" The Haninozuka family was renown around the world for their fighting skills- and there was one standing right in front of her! She bowed low. "I am so sorry, please forgive me, I-,"

Smiling, Hani replied, "It's okay! Lots of people think I'm younger than I am! Right Takashi?"

"Mm." The giant agreed.

"Is that…" Eyeing the dark haired man in front of her, Pumpkin realized that this was Takashi Morinozuka- cousin to Haninozuka and feared just as much in battle. Bowing in his direction now, she apologized again. "Please forgive me. I didn't see you standing there, Morinozuka-san." It took a second before she felt a gentle hand on her head. "Huh?" Looking up, she saw he had a small hint of a smile on his face and his eyes were a little wider now.

"Don't worry about it." His voice was deep, and his vocabulary slow, but it made her heart warm, as though he were some giant teddy bear.

"What's your name?" Hani asked.

"Oh! I'm sorry- I'm Pumpkin Sagano- in the sophomore's class."

"So you're with Kyou-chan and Tama-chan?" There was an increased amount of excitement in his voice. "That's great! Hey, why not come to the third music room after school today? There'll be cake!" He said this last part with a higher octave than the other times he spoke, his voice excited. Right then the bell rang for the next class, and at the sound, Hani jumped up unto his cousin's shoulders and held tight. "We hafta get to class. See ya later, Pu-chan!"

"Yeah… please don't call me that…"

"Okay, Kabo-chan!" (kabocha is pumpkin- he added 'n' at the end as a play on words) "And, I like your hair!"

"Eh…" Slumping a little, she watched the couple walk away. Wait a minute- the bell rang- that meant it was time for her class, too! Looking frantically back and forth, Pumpkin didn't know where she was, where to go, or where she came from. Oh no! She left her bag back in the classroom! Her map was in there… Sighing heavily, she walked hopelessly and picked a random hallway to go down. After a while of senseless wandering, she finally came out unto a veranda that overlooked the school grounds. It was actually quite beautiful, this place. Despite the pink buildings- who would make a building that color, anyway? They were probably just stupid. Shaking her head, she looked out below and saw a maze garden, a large koi pond, and the administrations building which looked a lot like an old church. Sakura trees lined the front driveway, all with their leaves turned because of the turning season, the leaves yellow and red. She realized then that yellow only belonged on trees. No where else. Leaning on the railing, she felt a soft breeze blow, brushing softly across her face and tugging her hair with it. Smiling meekly, Pumpkin sighed and listened to the birds and felt the warm sunlight fall across her face. So what she was missing class? It wasn't like she knew where it was anyway. Sitting in a nearby chair, she wondered why her father had agreed to have her come back here. Sure she knew he wanted her nearby, but he was losing money left and right. Could her father be hiding something? He did seem more secretive lately. Scratching her head unsurely, she heard a noise coming from inside and stood up suddenly, listening intently.

"So, you think you can just put on your stupid charms and take my girl away, you scrawny little boy?" A gruff, harsh voice sounded nearby.

"I told you already, it's not like that!" A lighter voice responded.

"No? Then how is it like, you runt?"

Peering cautiously around the corner, Pumpkin saw a student pushing another student up against the wall forcefully.

"I'm not interested in her romantically at all!"

"Then why is she so interested in you, huh? Apparently you gave her enough hints to think you do!"

"Listen, I'm sorry, but-,"

"Oh, you will be, commoner!" The larger boy brought his knee up hard between the smaller boy's legs.

Wincing on his behalf, Pumpkin watched as he winced, but didn't react to it nearly as much as was expected.

"What the- what's wrong with you, kid? You got no balls or something?" He repeated the action, only receiving a small twitch from the smaller boy. "Wait- your not a-," Reaching down, he yanked down the other's slacks and gasped. Indeed, the boy in front of him was no boy at all. It was a girl. "Well, well, well. This changes everything." Pushing her up against the wall, he gripped her arms tightly. "Wait 'till my girl hears about this, huh?" He sneered into her face.

Pumpkin couldn't take it anymore. "Hey! Stop this!" Rushing forward, she threw her best punch and squared the guy in the face, making him fall backward.

"Oomf!" He regained his balance and took a step forward. "And who the hell are you?"

"It doesn't matter, just leave her alone."

"Oh? And just what are you going to do about it?"

"Keep you away from her."

"Go ahead and try, but you're just as scrawny as that kid." He came forward, about to hit her, but Pumpkin easily blocked him and dropped, sweeping her leg out and tripping him flat on his face.

"Come on, let's get out of here." She grabbed the other girl's hand and dragged her to the nearest bathroom. "You alright?" She asked her.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for that, but I think you might be in more trouble than I was."

"Why's that?"

"He's the son of a yakuza." Mafia leader

Twitching, Pumpkin sank against the wall and slid down to a crouch. "Oh no… this can't happen on my first day of school. I already have an enemy at this school- I don't another." She rubbed her knuckles gingerly as she struggled to slow her heart rate.

Sitting next to her, the girl smiled lightly. "I'm Haruhi Fujioka."

Nodding she replied, "Pumpkin Sagano."

"Who's your other enemy?"

"Kyouya Ohtori."

Haruhi's eyes widened as she looked ahead. "Oh."

"Why are you wearing the boy's uniform if you're a girl?

"Debt."

"Oh."

"Why are you enemies with Kyouya-senpai?"

"I don't really know."

"Oh."

"Shouldn't you get to class?"

"That yakuza kid dragged me away before I could get in. How come you're not in class?"

"I… got lost."

Laughing, Haruhi said, "Yeah, this school is pretty big, isn't it? Why don't I show you around?"

Pumpkin only nodded in response and followed her out of the bathroom.

OY! That was hard work... I promised to have chapter three by tuesday and Im... 57 minutes early?! WOOT WOOT! yay break time...

hikaru. NO! no break for you! get back to work! you have dependant readers waiting on you to finish this story!

me. dont tell mewhat to do! your in MY head, which means YOU hafta do as I say!

hik. oh yea? make me!

me. *smirks* sit.

hik. *sits* what th- how did-

kao. hikaru! help! shes got me tied to a post!

me. woopsies... I forgot about little kaoru...

hik. I wanna go home...

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Ouran High School Host Club- becasue if I did, Renge would have been their pet turtle.