yooo, what's up? a long overdue chapter, hehe...

I also forgot a disclaimer, so.

I don't own OHSHC, if I did, Haruhi would be biologically male.

So, enjoy!

Chapter One

Bel stretched luxuriously, lounging in the chair he brought to sit behind his desk. Not that he ever used the desk, he usually just enjoyed the chair. The door opened from behind him, but he paid no mind to it. He leaned back even further.

"You're gonna fall," his brother's deadpan tone didn't surprise him. It did seem to jinx it, however, as in that moment he fell back, crashing to the floor on his back.

"Thanks for the concern," Bel sighed, too lazy to pick himself off of the ground, much less the chair that had taken the brunt of the fall.

"No problem, idjit." the amber-eyed boy groaned loudly, whining about the insult. Not like it hurt his feelings or anything. As the older brother, he was obligated to give his sibling a hard time. It was an unwritten law that everyone knew.

"Hey, Riley, don't we have school today or something?" it suddenly occurred to Bel that school usually started at 7:45 AM, and it was well past 10:00.

"We got snowed in. Can barely get outta the house. So, no." Riley gave the older twin an odd look. "You didn't know?"

"I think I heard someone talking about it at school a few days ago. Didn't think much of it. I should probably open my curtains every once in awhile."

"Yeah, no kidding, dumbo. How could you not notice two-and-a-half feet of snow? The blizzard lasted for two days." Bel shrugged, getting up and examining the office chair for any breaks. Thankfully, there were none. He really liked his chair.

As he propped the piece of furniture up, Riley left his room, having gone in for no reason in the first place. Bel suppressed a fond smile. His brother would make impromptu visits on a regular basis, with no given pattern. He just showed up whenever he wanted company.

The older twin shut the bedroom door, turning to face the room and observe the very plain-looking design. The walls were a clean, pristine white with no paintings or posters hung up.

In general, it was unnaturally organised and barren, as if nobody actually lived in it. The bed, adorned with faded, subtle navy bedsheets and pale grey pillowcases was neatly made, with no visible creases in the covers.

Bel made sure he straightened the papers and books on his unused desk before leaving the room. He rather liked having his brother around, especially since he was bored.

Without a second thought, he casually walked into Riley's bedroom, yawning a bit. The younger twin looked up from the book he'd been reading.

"Yeah?" the golden-eyed teen's voice was slightly impatient, as if he was interrupted from an exciting part of his book.

Bel sat at the end of the rather messy bed. How can beds even be messy? He shook off the thought, taking a sweeping glance around the room. Holy hell, Riley was a clutterbug. The walls were personalised, having been painted a very pale red.

Several posters were displayed on the walls, neatly- albeit carelessly- placed. The floor, carpeted with a soft, red material had clothes and trash littered around it. Bel never really commented on the messiness, but he probably should have.

Subtly, he did. Like the time he'd called Riley's living area "quite ornate," though with a slightly uncomfortable look on his face. It didn't do much.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" Bel was jerked out of his thoughts by Riley tapping his knuckles on his older brother's head. He'd set his book down and was giving the other twin his full attention. Bel blinked, remembering where he was.

"I'm bored," he stated in a blank tone, "let's do something." the younger twin looked back at him quizzically.

"What do you want to do?" after a small pause, and a steadily growing grin on Bel's face, he added, "I'm not going out in the snow."

"Let's go out in the snow." Riley sighed, leaning his back against the wall as he shook his head irritably.

"No."

"What's the matter? You afraid I'll kick your ass in a snowball fight again?" The older twin taunted, standing taller and puffing his chest out mockingly.

"Oh, you think you won that? It's on, Belphegor, go get dressed and get ready to shame your family." Riley ushered his brother out hastily, clearly hype at the idea of a challenge.

"We're from the same family!" Bel called back as the door shut in his face. He sighed, though he was genuinely excited to have a little fun. He still had that homework to do, but who cared? Putting it off a day or two wouldn't hurt.

He returned to his room and scavenged around his closet for proper attire that'd keep him warm in the snow. He gave up his search after a few minutes. He was a teenaged boy, since when did they care enough to dress well on a cold day?

Bel pulled on a sweatshirt, then a heavier winter coat to go over it. He pondered wearing gloves, then shrugged it off. He was lazy and impatient, and gloves were a pain. After sliding into multiple pairs of socks, he slipped into heavy, black boots.

For his pants, he just wore a pair of jeans. Would he be cold? Probably. He marched out of his room, grabbing a beanie. He waited by the front door for a good five minutes before he grew impatient.

Finally, Riley emerged from his room; he'd dressed with care. He was wearing gloves, and probably had multiple layers of pants. The younger twin even wore earmuffs. Bel thought it was too much; he was practically waddling around.

"Really?" they questioned one another in unison, both looking a bit disbelieving of the other's choice.

"I swear, you're going to get sick," Riley chastised Bel's rather careless way of dressing. Bel, however, thought nothing of it.

"Mobility is key," he reminded, like an exasperated teacher explaining something to his pupil for the tenth time, "you're going to be slower than a turtle out there."

"Okay, fine, just ignore what I said," Riley muttered, "I'm heading out." without waiting for a response, the younger teen trudged out into the snow.

Bel followed, mumbling to himself. The second he stepped outside, he was pummeled by two things: a snowball to the face, and the sheer cold wind that threatened to bowl him over. He froze in place as the loosely packed clump of snow slid down to his feet.

He frowned, feigning anger at being hit with a sneak attack. Riley didn't give a crap and hit him again while he was busy acting.

"Aw, c'mon, you cheap little twerp!" Bel hissed, diving down to scoop up a handful of snow. Well, it sure was cold. Not that he'd admit that to Riley. He chucked it at the younger twin, who ducked behind a tree.

"Learn how to aim," the golden-eyed boy teased, throwing another, this one hitting the older twin square in the forehead. Bel was dismayed as he wiped snow from his face. How was his brother not rusty?

After a bit of Riley hitting Bel, and Bel returning no hits, the older twin bent down to grab some more ammunition. As he did so, yet another clump of iciness was pelted at his back. He whirled around, alarmed.

"Hope you don't mind me dropping in," his attacker said with a grin. It was Alea, a good friend of theirs.

"Not at all," Riley chirped warmly, brightening considerably at the sight of the tall girl, "but while you're here, lend me a hand, will ya? Gotta make sure Bel thinks twice before challenging me again."

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Alea's blue eyes lit up as she spoke and she scanned the clearing, analysing their surroundings.

"Wait, hold on! That's no fair, it's two against one!" Bel protested loudly, waving his arms out in front of him as he backed away.

"If you're as skilled as you said it shouldn't be so much of a problem," Riley reminded with a sly expression. Bel hesitated for a moment.

"O-Of course," he cringed inwardly as he stammered, "I can take both of you on with ease." Just saying that made his confidence boost. He grasped at the snow hastily, picking up a reasonable amount of it before pressing it into an uneven sphere.

He threw it at Alea, and it grazed her shoulder as she moved out of the way. Bel stifled a triumphant cheer. Turning back to Riley, he saw yet another ball hurtling towards his face. He moved to the side just in time. It whizzed past his ear.

The golden eyed boy swore when he saw his attack had missed. Of course, that made the older brother grin pridefully. It also made him forget the other player.

Alea tossed a snowball at Bel, hitting him in the stomach. The force with which she had thrown it was unexpectedly hard. He doubled over, only half exaggerating it.

"Gosh, what're you putting in your ammo? You're not trying to kill me!" he groaned, clutching the spot where he'd been hit.

The snow was surprisingly deep. Despite the fact that it was extremely difficult to walk in, the thickness of it never occurred to him until his face was buried in it.

"Relax, I'm not trying to. Besides, there's about a million other ways for me to kill you," her glasses glinted in the sunlight, hiding her ocean-coloured eyes and making her look extra menacing. Bel stifled a shudder.

"Okay, I give! Riley, call off your hound, I surrender." Bel said in a playfully resigned voice. He even held up his hands, that is, until he quickly bent down and chucked a freezing handful of snow at Riley's face.

If Riley was going to be cheap, he saw no reason why he shouldn't either. Riley sputtered before shaking his head to knock off the snow. A dark aura surrounded Riley, and Bel realized that that had been the first and last time he would land a shot.

With a low, almost maniacal chuckle, the younger twin took a menacing step forward. The snow around his foot seemed to shrink away the way flowers close up when a threat is close. Bel gulped.

"Oh, look what you've done," Alea pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, causing them to once again, catch light and glint deviously. Laughter danced in her voice, which would've lit up the environment in any other situation.

"Help me," Bel choked out to the tall girl, who continued to beam in an almost menacing way as she stepped back to watch. She shook a bit of snow from her shoulders, looking absentminded and casual.

"Me? No, no. I'm not going to fix your mistake," her amusement was not short lived, and her eyes gave no indication that Bel was about to be ambushed. Which, he was. Suddenly, shocking cold was shoved down his back.

"Ack, Riley, what the hell?" the golden eyed boy had stuffed a large handful of snow into the back of Bel's shirt, who wriggled to have it fall back down.

"Just felt like you needed to cool down, ya know?" At that, the older twin's jaw dropped for a moment, before he processed the words that had been spoken to him.

"Haha, you want me to cool down? You just put friggen snow down my shirt, you bloody pillock! And for what? Dirtying your pretty hair?" the older twin was shouting in English, clearly infuriated that anyone would assume he should calm down.

"Chill out, mate," Riley snickered, also speaking in English. He slyly slung an arm over his brother's shoulders, despite the thick jacket probably making it ten times harder to move. Alea watched, concentrating on their conversation with a furrowed brow.

Bel took a moment to admire their friend; she was taking on another language so she could talk to them easier. She'd recently begun to learn the English language when she realised how the twins had difficulty communicating in Japanese at times.

Time seemed to resume, and Alea noticed the amber pair of eyes on her. She looked away quickly when their eyes met, her curly brown hair covering her face a bit.

"Oho, what's going on over here, now?" Riley leaned in, having seen the silent interaction. Alea's attention jerked back to the twins.

"Nothing," she shot back instantly, her voice tart. Bel shook his head, ruffling his brother's ash blond hair.

"You know I don't swing that way, buddy." Riley stuck his tongue out, pushing the platinum blond boy away.

"Yeah, you never got over that crush you had on whatshisface," Bel felt oddly defensive. They rarely brought up their friends from Britain.

"His name was Tyde, you muppet." Alea's mouth pressed into a thin frown at the name, though she didn't comment.

"Stop using British slang," Riley rolled his eyes, "yeah, I remember his name. Just wanted to see if you could. Anyway, poor Alea probably has no clue what we're yammering on about." Bel glanced over to the tan-skinned girl, whose face was taut with unreadable emotion.

"Sorry bout that," the two chorused in unison, both flashing a goodnatured, sheepish smile. She nodded in acknowledgement.

"Let's head inside, yeah? We can have an attendant make us hot chocolate or something." Riley suggested, and both companions agreed wholeheartedly. Bel was just glad to be out of the cold that he refused to vocally admit he was in.

Wrapped up in blankets by a fireplace, drinking hot cocoa, and watching a movie. The picture perfect snow day, is what that was. The movie wasn't boring, but it wasn't necessarily exciting, either. It was the perfect flick to relax with.

The twins were sipping on warm, chocolatey goodness, while Alea had taken the alternative of coffee.

"That stuff's blacker than your soul," Riley scrunched up his nose. The girl smiled softly, bringing the mug up to her lips to drink a bit of the dark, warm liquid. Bel's eyelids were beginning to grow heavy as he listened to both the fond chatter of his closest friends, and the soft background noise of the movie.

He'd already drained his drink, but now he was becoming increasingly sleepy as the seconds passed. Finally, he relented to the need for a nap, and he dozed off.

A week and a half had passed since that eventful, yet casual day in the snow. Bel would have given anything to relive that day. He'd take anything other than having to wake up early for school again.

He sniffled a bit, feeling the need to clear his throat. He had actually gotten quite sick from going out in the snow underdressed, and while he was much better, it was still bugging him. Well, better the common cold than a deadly fever, right?

Unfortunately, he had no escape from this one, and would be forced into school. Riley was happier about it, as a student who always had perfect attendance and little to no problems with grades. He was also quite popular, having a lot of friends.

That didn't say he was necessarily sociable, or even that intelligent. He just seemed to move about with more ease than Bel could ever dream of. His stride was light and quick-paced, even with a slight bounce to it, and he usually wore a constantly friendly expression.

Riley was an inviting person, with kind eyes and a brilliant smile. Bel, on the other hand, he was not. He was pessimistic, refused to talk to most people, and his grades fluctuated constantly. His expression was almost always a scowl.

That was the way he liked it. It had always distressed him to become attached to people. Blame it on daddy issues, something about abandonment.

Alea was an exception. She'd been there since they first moved to Japan, and she'd never given any signs of abruptly leaving them hanging.

Bel was jerked out of his swarm of thoughts by the car halting outside of a surprisingly… Pink building. He still wasn't used to the colour scheme that made Ouran unique. Unique besides how incredibly prestigious it was.

Once again, he sniffed, before grabbing his bag and exiting the car, calling a swift expression of gratitude to their chauffeur. Riley followed, in a calmer manner. Bel shoved his fists in his pockets, and walked a little faster.

Only to be stopped by a tall man with orange hair. Bel clicked his tongue and stepped around the man only to be stopped by an identical man. What a pain, Bel thought before trying to walk away again.

And, of course, Riley was behind him smiling at these two strangers. And of all the annoying things Riley would end up doing that day, he just had to start a conversation. Bel would have to remember to get revenge later.

"What business do the Hitachiin twins have with us freshmen?" Riley asked, not missing a beat.

They smirked in unison and propped their hands on their hips. The taller set of twins glanced at each other, having a silent conversation. The one on the left spoke first.

"Nothing much," he sounded casual and laid back, maybe even slightly apathetic. And a bit condescending. "Just wanted to check up on the kids who everyone's calling our replacements." Going on rumours, this was probably Hikaru. An abrasive dick.

Kaoru, the other twin, bit his lip slightly, looking a little hesitant. Riley's eyes instantly darkened. It was hardly noticeable, but being around someone your whole life gives you the chance to get to know them.

So, Bel could read his little brother like a billboard advertising the new iPhone 1241, three hundred years in advance. At that moment, Riley was not very happy. By no means was the friendly teen happy, but with a clenched jaw, he gave a small smile.

"I don't like to think we replaced anyone, Hitachiin-san," the shorter boy returned, his voice borderline "sickly sweet" or whatever people liked to describe it as. Bel inhaled sharply.

The older Hitachiin and the first year each took an inch toward one another, eyes locked in a sort of standoffish way. Riley, of course, still had that smile plastered onto his face.

"Right, of course! You'll have to forgive my brother. He can be a dummy sometimes, ya know? He never meant to offend." Kaoru interjected, pulling his slightly aggressive brother away from the scary looking first year.

"No harm done," once again, the golden eyed boy seemed to brighten, and his smile was genuine. Bel let out the breath he had forgotten that he was holding, relieved. The whole situation felt like two eons, but he guessed that in reality, it was more like thirty seconds.

Bel looked down at his watch to verify that fact, only to end up cursing. They were going to be late for class, if these two 'Hitachiin' twins didn't leave. He turned around to tell Riley that they should get going, only to see him trading gmail addresses with Kaoru. Was Riley willing to make friends with anyone?

Bel sighed, as he knew the answer already. Yes, he was. He started paying attention to the conversation just in time to hear Kaoru saying that Riley could address him by first name, rather than using honorifics.

Riley finally walked up to him, ready to go to class. Typical of a snotty rich school, he had classical music.

As soon as class ended, Riley was dragging him down the halls of Ouran. Riley had been on and off his phone all day, and Bel could only assume that it had something to do with the Hitachiin twins.

Well, he wasn't going to meet those annoying guys again, he was going to go home. With that in mind, the next time Riley dragged him around a corner, he grabbed the wall and wrenched his arm out of Riley's grip.

Not even bothering to pay attention to where he was going, Bel dashed down the hall and opened the door of the nearest room. He could just hide in there until Riley went away, then go home safely…

He paused. Somehow he could sense a sparkly aura behind him. And there were cherry blossoms in his hair?

Oh, god no…

He looked up at the room sign, and sure enough, it read "Third Music Room." He had heard of this place before, it was the host club. A room for average looking bored rich guys to entertain bored rich girls.

Then, someone behind him spoke, "I didn't get the impression that you were into guys when I met you this morning."

Just as he turned around to face the twins from the morning, he heard Riley come up behind him.

"I knew you would run away, but I didn't think you would actually run right into the host club room. You saved me a lot of trouble, thanks bro."

Bel fell to his knees, "C'mon Riley, why would you do this to me? I just want to go home."

Riley squatted down to meet Bel at his eye level, "You see, when I was talking to Kaoru during Trigonometry. he said that this host club has entered a decline since two of the members graduated last year. The leader grew depressed and they had to close temporarily while looking for new members to cheer up the leader."

"Mhm, Takashi and I are even visiting, and the Tama-chan hasn't come to club." A small, kind of adorable boy with hair the colour of cornsilk and eyes darker than honey piped up. From beside him, a tall man with a stoic expression grunted.

Bel had a very bad idea as to where this was going, but he didn't want to say it. Maybe this was one huge joke Riley was playing on him. Yeah, Riley would never actually try and get him to join a host club, right? Right?

What happened next confirmed his suspicion, to his horror. It wasn't Riley that finished the speech, it was another boy in the back, one with black hair and glasses. "That's where you two come in. We need you to join the host club and cheer up our king, Tamaki. And, of course, make money."

Bel couldn't believe it, he just sat there completely speechless. Luckily, Riley was able to protest, "Hey! I said I would help cheer up your 'king' as a little game, but I'm not gonna join your host club."

"Yeah, Kyoya-senpai, we can't really force them to join." a voice piped up as another person entered the music room. Bel turned his head to see a relatively short second year with short brown hair, and eyes of the same colour.

You ever meet anyone who's just really androgynous, so you don't know what pronouns to refer to them as? And knowing everyone on the Internet, and the tumblr community, it's a god-awful crime to misgender someone, yes, even if it's unintentionally.

That's what was happening with Bel. Having a transgender sibling made him especially aware and cautious when it came to pronouns, and seeing this older teen, he was sure he was going to mess something up. Maybe this person was agender or nonbinary?

Perhaps trans, or genderfluid? How was he supposed to refer to them? Why did he care so much? Questions reeled in the poor boy's head, and he wasn't sure what he was going to do.

"She's right, you can't make us do anything," Riley nodded in agreement, crossing his arms and shooting a thankful smile towards the newcomer. Silence.

Silence followed, along with an eerie tension, so thick that someone could slice a butter knife through it. Bel felt like hiding. Nobody was speaking. Riley was confused, the Hitachiin twins exchanged a quick, yet meaningful glance, and the guy with the dark hair and glasses looked a little bit peeved. Just a little.

"She?" Hikaru questioned, scrunching up his face, like he'd eaten something extremely disgusting. The golden eyed boy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, she. Haruhi-san and I have study hall together, and sometimes it can get kinda boring. So, what do you do when you're with a bunch of people, and you're bored out of your mind? You talk. And Haruhi did some talking. So, yes, I think I'm correct when I say 'she'."

"Whoa, calm down," Bel put his hand on his twin, who clearly still had an attitude towards the older Hitachiin brother.

Riley shot him a glare for interfering. He didn't say anything else, so Bel let out a sigh. Then, of course, Hikaru just had to mess it up by walking over to Riley. It was like he was trying to make Riley hate him as much as possible.

Quick to act, Bel began to usher the other members of the host club to places other than the argument was occurring. As it might be implied, he was trying to clear any innocent people from the path of harm. The harm being a potential fist fight, because who knows what would happen? Hopefully not that.

"Okay, fine, you're right. But why would she trust you to anything? Especially her identity," the older Hitachiin's voice held a clear challenge that hung in the air until one could be returned.

"Oh, please," The very words that Riley spoke sounded toxic, and Bel looked back to briefly glance at the younger twin. "I'm usually very pleasant." at this point, Riley's accent began to falter, and it became clear that he was about to spew angry words in his first language. "Every friggen day I try to be the nicest guy I can be, and it's usually not so hard. Nobody here seems too bad. You, on the other hand? Blimey, I've never felt such utter loathing toward another person's behaviour! God, you're just a conceited douchebag, aren't you?"

Those who understood English watched with their jaws slightly agape and eyes wide, while those who were less familiar with the language bore puzzled expressions. A quivering voice broke the quiet.

"Uhm," everyone turned to see an unfamiliar face, a rather fragile-looking student with caramel hair, mismatched eyes, and scars over his face. "I m-must have the wrong room." He began to back up, slowly, looking apologetic.

"Wait, watch your step!" Haruhi shot forward, but it was too late, the new kid bumped right into a pedestal, knocking the newly replaced vase from it. It crashed to the floor, pieces scattering across the room.

lol whoops. Sage did some of the writing on this chapter, so big thanks to her! The next one is almost finished, and she's written a ton. Look forward to that, if you're liking this so far. Idk if anyone does, though. Did this seem long, or boring, or anything like that? I really appreciate the feedback.

Also, big thanks to everyone who favourited/followed and reviewed!

Hollylame: wooo, first review! the "young'uns" were about 8-9 in the prologue, whoops. (don't underestimate kids, no matter their age, they can be surprisingly savvy and intelligent. like tf, mind blown)

Midori123: here's your update! and tysm! it means a lot!

-Aria 3