First day of school, and I had already had to coax Zakia into showing her kind side. I knew she was hungry, and I knew why her diet was different from mine. I was surprised Mother had remembered our different interests and asked the staff to take them into account. I still insisted the other pair of twins got her food because it was the only one of our two meals that might tide them both over. I tried to give her a larger portion of my food, but she insisted I be full before she touched a bite. That made me feel a bit bad for convincing her to give up her food, especially when she ended up getting less than half of mine.

When the final bell rang, the red heads and the kid that I was pretty sure was a girl that wore a boy's uniform they were friends with left immediately. Zakia and I stayed back, not wanting to go home to our mother, but not sure where else to go within the school grounds. Noise from several nearby classrooms and afterschool activities started to filter in, making it hard for Zakia to hear her music without risking damage to her eardrums and making it nearly impossible for me to concentrate on writing poems.

"Can't we find somewhere else to hang out?" she asked loudly over the rest of the noise.

I shoved our stuff into our backpack and she slung it over her shoulder as I took her hand and we began meandering through the school. Despite checking two libraries, two music rooms, an auditorium, three bathrooms, and several classrooms that should have long been empty, we couldn't find anywhere quiet that we could be alone. We were about to give up when we found a third music room.

Zakia huffed as she leaned against the door, listening to see if it would be like the others.

"I don't hear anything at all."

"Nothing?"

"Nada."

"What are you waiting for? Open the door!"

She didn't budge, so I reached past her, turned the knob, and pushed.

"Welcome," a few overlapping male voices greeted.

Zakia and I shivered. There was something ominous in the air contradicting the falling rose petals.

"Come in, come in," called one voice singled out.

As our eyes focused past the petals to the young men before us, my jaw dropped and Zakia's eyes looked like they would bug right out of her head.

A blond haired young man sat in a lavish chair, while a much younger looking blond boy sat by his feet. A dark haired boy sat to one side, while a man with a sinister aura wearing glasses leaned over the back of the chair. A twin from our class stood to either side, and the possible cross-dresser sat to the leader's left.

A spotlight beamed down on the guy in the chair as he stood and announced dramatically, "Ah, so it isn't just girls who seek affection."

"I think there's been a mistake here," Zakia began backing away towards the door, which seemed to have shut itself behind us.

"There's no need to be shy now. I haven't seen fresh faces in a while!"

"We were just looking for somewhere quiet. Whatever this is, you guys have fun," I explained as I followed Zakia's movements towards the door.

"I knew we were getting new students today, but I didn't think you'd find our little paradise so soon. I could have sworn my father said you'd be girls, too. No matter! What are you into? The strong, silent type? Or perhaps as there's two of you, you'd be best matched by the little devil twins?"

"Look, it's really not like that. We just wanted somewhere we could be left alone and listen to music and read without being bothered by the noise around here."

"Maybe you prefer the cool type? Or the boy lolita? We've got it all!"

"You're not listening! We don't want any part of this freak fest, now just leave us alone!" I raised my voice at the idiot that continued to ignore us.

"Look out!"

Too late. A cart ran into us, spilling drinks and sweets all over us. Zakia started shaking, but whether from cold or anger, I couldn't tell.

"Kaoru, Hikaru, get them something clean to wear!"

"On it, Boss!"

The two red heads disappeared as Zakia took a step towards the throne. The spotlight was still on for some reason.

When the twins reappeared is when the extra light shut off. They each grabbed one of us by the hand and dragged us behind them to a small closet that had mirrors all over the walls, shoved us in, and closed the door. Two bags sat waiting on a bench.

Zakia was slow to reach for her hoodie, but I got out of my sticky things as fast as I could, and while the cart's items had missed my head and I'd mostly got battered with sweets, Zakia's hair dripped with coffee and tea.

"You're not hurt, are you? Were the drinks still hot?"

"I'll be fine."

"You could be burnt! Hurry and get that stuff off. I'll look at your skin."

Zakia carefully peeled off her shirt and undershirt. Her back and shoulders were bright pink, and I couldn't help but gasp when I saw it.

The first bag I looked through had a complete set of clean clothes, which appeared to be the boys' uniform. The second bag was nearly identical, but a burn ointment had been left on the top, as well as a moisturizing shampoo and a conditioner meant to help repair damaged scalps.

A sink was in the closet. Stupid rich kid school. Still, it was convenient. I guided Zakia to it after adjusting the water's temperature to where we liked it, and gently rinsed out the beverages, then cleaned her hair and gently massaged her scalp with the conditioner. She whimpered softly a couple of times, and I felt awful, but she did seem to feel better when we were done. While she toweled off, I started applying the ointment to her back. Once she was as dry as she could be from the towel, and all of the burns had been somewhat soothed, I helped her into the other uniform. We had just gotten her undershirt to settle comfortably when the door opened from the outside.

"Aren't you guys done yet?" one red head asked.

"Yeah, the boss is getting impatient," the other added.

When they both actually looked at Zakia and I in plain sight of the door, Zakia not yet dressed and her feminine attributes easy to see beneath the undershirt, they stopped in their tracks. Their cheeks began to color.

"Do you mind?" Zakia growled. Without knowing her, they might have thought her face was red with anger. In reality, she was even more embarrassed than them.

The boys backed out and shut the door. For a moment everything was quiet. I started helping Zakia into her shirt and blazer.

"What do you mean, they aren't done yet? How long does it take a pair of boys to change?" an overly excited voice could be heard from outside.

"Surely they are done now. Notoski twins, I demand you come out of the closet, or we're coming in!"

I finished the last button and ran to throw open the door. If they saw our underthings, not only would they all know we were girls, but Zakia would feel obligated to fight them, and she was in no condition to.

"Well, well, don't you both clean up nicely? The uniform suits you both. Much better than those baggy, formless things you had on," the blond that had been sitting in the chair mused.

"Who are the new boys, Tamaki?" a girl at a tea table nearby asked.

"New hosts, I think. As soon as we figure out what type they are."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"You're excused. Come this way!" he snapped, and the others that had been surrounding him circled us, leaving no room to escape. The only one missing was the one I was now certain was a girl that was cross dressing. Zakia and I had no choice but to go along with them.

The girl that had asked about our identities was running around to what I saw was now several girls seated in the music room and gossiping with them. Every girl she spoke to began looking at the huddle of boys, trying to get a look at us.

"We already have a pair of twins, troublemakers that use their brotherly love to entertain our guests. What can we do with a second pair of twins?"

"They aren't as cool as I am. At least, not in the same way," the one with glasses amended before Zakia or I even had the chance to get offended. "They aren't much like Honey, but they seem to share some of Mori's quiet nature. Furukia's mannerisms remind me more of you, Tamaki, while Zakia speaks like the twins with a unique personality that can't be done justice by comparing it to any of us. Both were straight A students, but have caused no end of trouble and went through many foster families from age eleven until being reclaimed by their mother. We could try to use their loneliness and reliance to our advantage."

"We're not lonely," I refuted. "What exactly are you all discussing us for? And how do you know when we were left to foster care or what our grades were like in England?"

"I don't want to push them further into seclusion, Kyoya. Any other ideas?" the bossy blond refuted.

"My brother asked you a question. You'd do well to answer!" Zakia threatened.

The one with glasses that the blond had called Kyoya gave her an unreadable cold glance. He gently set a hand on her shoulder. Zakia gritted her teeth as she looked at her feet to hide the expression of pain. I was seething myself at the sight. He was using a subtle control tactic. Had he intentionally had the cart spilled on us?

I stepped forward as Zakia stepped in front of me, just out of Kyoya's reach. She kept herself between me and the man that still had an ominous presence.

"What if they were geeky boys?" the other blond, far smaller than the others and carrying a pink stuffed rabbit, offered instead.

"No, Honey. That doesn't suit them."

"They could be each other's wingman, play lines off each other and stuff," Kaoru mentioned. "You know, take the concept of best friends to that extra level?"

"Wouldn't that be a lot like our brotherly love, though?" Hikaru shot down.

"They are opposites. Use that," one of the only two left that could possibly be Tamaki put in his two cents.

"But what would we call that?"

"Paradox twins."

"You're brilliant, Mori! It's perfect! The Notoski twins shall henceforth be the Paradox twins!"