Chapter Five - Welcome to Ouran Academy!

• | § | • • • | § | • • • | § | • • • | •

"You're a cherry blossom, you're about to bloom. You look so pretty but your gone so soon."

- CENTURIES, Fall Out Boy

• • • • • • • •

"Fix your tie," Jade muttered as I sauntered into the bathroom, her mouth full of toothpaste.

I groaned and rolled my eyes, fiddling with the knot, until she sighed and walked over to me. With one side of her tooth brush sticking out of her mouth, blue toothpaste dribbling down her chin, she correctly fixed my tie. Multitasking at it's finest.

Spitting the paste out, wiping her face, Jade gave me the look. It was that look mothers gave to babies who just threw up, or children who spilled milk for the seventh time. "Hey, it's not fault!" I defended. "My dad never taught me how." Jade just grunted and walked out. She, unlike me, was still not ready for school; she wasn't ready for LIFE. Her face was makeup less, paler than I usually looked, and her lips were a light peach, rather than the usual darker red or purple colors it is. Her usually perfectly straight hair was wavy, and all over the place, her bangs non existent at this point.

She was a zombie.

"It's too early for your shit," she moaned. I snickered and walked out, watching her pull out something long and yellow, and then strut into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Twenty minutes later, Jade walked out, looking...well like Jade.

Her bangs were bone straight, as was the rest of her hair, reaching her chin. Her skin had more color, and her eyes were decorated pretty nicely, with long (obviously fake), lashes. Her lips were a nice plum color, and a yellow fitted-bodice dress with a pointed white collar and a black tie around her neck. It looked like she modified she the uniform. The sleeves were also torn off, and it seemed like she trimmed it and made it reach her knees.

Under that, she had fishnet stockings, and Mary Jane's on. Her large glasses were fitted on her nose loosely (only meant for fashion, rather than actual need).

"You wouldn't believe the work I had to do on this dress," she said, plopping on the couch, legs wide open, like a guy. "It's still a monstrosity, but at least I don't look like a cabaña." I laughed and then looked down at my own outfit. It didn't look that bad, but I was beginning to question the taste the school is colors. It was black trousers and a lavender blazer, with a short-sleeved white shirt underneath. Around my collar was a Windsor knotted silk tie, accented by a narrow purple band running vertically down its center length. The Academy's seal was sewn onto the left breast. Black socks and loafers completed the uniform.

"Hurry up, and stop looking in the mirror," Jade said to me. "We look like rich kids, I know."

I sighed indignantly.

First day of school. How wonderful. Coupled with my lack of sleep from trauma due to the night before, I wasn't sure how I'd handle Ouran.

• • •

"Welcome to Ouran Academy!"

Jade and I jumped, startled as we saw principal Suoh popped out in front of us.

"Uh- ano, hi, principal Suoh," I chimed in Japanese.

He quickly escorted us to his office, where there was two people waiting for us. "Connor, Jade, this is Ootori Kyoya, and Nanaki Yozoro. They are the representatives of your grade." The boy, Kyoya, had short, black hair, styled into a casual look, something that the stereotypical dork or nerd would wear back in America. He had sharp, silver eyes, and was tall, thin and wore slim, rimless glasses. He looked like a regular nerd to me.

I quickly gave him a lazy smile and bowed to Kyoya. "Nice to meet you, Kyoya." I wondered what term I should attach to his name. Senpai? No, we're in the same grade. I'd just ask him later.

"You too, Seville. Shall we tour the school now?"

I looked over at Jade who seemed to be chatting it up with the Nanaki girl. They were discussing the bow around her neck. "You ready to go Jade?" she gave me a flat look.

"No."

I laughed and turned to Kyoya. "Lead us, Kyo-kun." He looked stunned for a moment, as if that term was foreign to him. Was kun too informal?

As soon as the look passed his expression, he gave me a patronizing smile. "Of course, Seville-san."

• • •

I was officially lost.

I sighed, placing my bottom on the side of the peeing baby fountain. Being the ditz I was, I ended up being separated from my classmates. Once I decided to look around myself, I tried to find my group. My eyes scammed the area, but I could see anything. Just I got up, my foot caught on something, and I went face first into the water. I came up spluttering for air, soaked head to toe as I heard someone running towards me.

I stepped out, only to hear some choice words.

"Oh my goodness you're so cute!”

I was quickly ambushed by a boy who pulled me closer, and held me in an air tight hug. When he finally let me go, I felt light headed, and caught my breath minutes later. I gasped and held out my hand. When he stared at it, I laughed awkwardly and then bowed. "Hi. I'm Connor Seville." Blondie bowed back at me, and introduced himself.

“I'm Tamaki Suoh, the beauty of this school.” He smiled at me and winked.

"Are you by any chance related to the chairman?"

Tamaki nodded eagerly. "Why yes! You noticed due to our stunning good looks right? It runs in the family, I promise," he squished my cheeks together and whispered, “OH MY GOOSH so cute!”

I gave him a weird look. "No I just noticed you had the same last name."

Tamaki frowned. "Oh."

There was an awkward silence, until I broke it. "Oh, Tama-kun, could you help me please?"

Tamaki's smile lit up the entire place around us, and I couldn't help but grin back at him. "What do you need help with, little piglet?" I ignored that last line and quickly explained to him my situation.

"I was touring the school with Kyo-kun, (Ootori, I think his last name was), and my other friend, the other foreign exchange student, and I got lost. Could you help me find them? Also, I need new clothes." Tamaki gasped and grasped my shoulders in his warm grip.

"Don't worry, my friend! Instead of finding Kyoya, we'll just tour by ourselves! Won't it be fun? And I'll lend you my spare uniform." I looked into his face, that childish delight dripping into his smile with a ferocity that I just couldn't say no too. He reminded me a lot of my mother; happy, child-like, overenthusiastic, and fun loving. His large, contagious smile added to his friendly nature, blonde hair over top of his heart shaped face and kind brows making himnsk likeable. He was the kind of person you wanted to smile at all the time.

"Sure," I said. "But don't you have class?"

Tama-kun gave me a close lipped smile. "It's my free period. Besides, what could be better than showing around my new friend, Connor?"

I laughed. "Yeah. Friends."

—

A little while later, we were discussing our nationalities. "Okay, how hard is it to speak french?" Tamaki grinned, walking a little bit faster than me.

"French isn't that hard to understand. It's English that is strange. Why do you have so many words spelled differently and pronounced the same, or spelled the same but pronounced differently? Where is the logic?!" My laughter ricocheted off the hallways walls. I liked Tamaki a lot; he was really funny and cool, despite his weirdness.

He'd be a nice addition to my collection of friends. So far, all I had in it was Jade, and she sure was different.

Besides, I couldn't get enough of his sunshine like smile. It just made my insides feel fuzzy.

"Connor!"

Abruptly turning around, Isaw Jade jogging down the hall. Kyoya and the other girl were right behind her. All three of them stood in front of me now, frowning. "We searched all over the school ground for you, Con!" Jade screeched.

"We did, but luckily we found you...and him," Kyoya muttered dryly, looking at Tamaki.

Tamaki gave Kyoya a jaw dropping grin. My tummy felt funny, and I hid my burning cheeks in Tamaki's oversized blazer. "Hi Kyoya! I found Connor over here and gave him a tour of the rest of the school." Kyoya narrowed his eyes, which made Tamaki squeal and hide behind me.

It was pretty funny to see, considering how tall he was compared to me.

"Don't be mad, Kyo-kun. I had fun with Tama-kun, so it's alright. Not only that, but he did a good job showing me around." The look on Kyoya's face was hilarious. It was as if he couldn't believe Tamaki was good at anything.

Tamaki turned me to look at him, with tears in the corners of his eyes. "Oh Connor! We're now best friends!" Tamaki pulled me to his chest, and I could hear his heart beat and excited chatter. His arms wrapped around my body, and I felt my heart beat rapidly in my chest. My face blazed red and I quickly slipped out of his grip.

"Awe Connor..." He cried, bit I laughed and waved him off, grasping Jades hand and running off.

She'd find our way to class somehow.

• | §^Π^§ | •

Our first day at Ouran Academy hadn't been so bad.

I made a new friend - or two. All my classes seemed fairly easy, but damn, was Japanese hard to read. The teachers ended up having to make everything kanji for me. The highlight of my day was lunch. The lunch at school was phenomenal! Luckily my lunch - along with everything else - was covered by the school. I even had an allowance for every month. How awesome was that?

"Hey Connor, come check this out." I blinked rapidly and followed Jade to a giant pinning board, with dozens of papers spread out across. I slipped out of my daily self reflection, and trotted to where Jade stood. The large board
had the word: CLUBS across the top.

CLUBS:

• Newspaper,

• Black Magic Club,

• Drama Club,

• Art Club,

• The Host Club,

• Swim Club,

• Neighborhood Club,

• Student Council.

I watched Jade pick up a form for the Black Magic Club. "Black Magic?" I asked her. Jade shrugged, but I could see the slight upturn of her thin, plum colored lips. She was interested.

"Looks interesting. What are you thinking to join? Isn't it a requirement to join a club?" I nodded. In agreement to stay in Japan, we had to join a club, keep our grades up, stay out of trouble, and write letters back to our school every week.

It was mandatory.

"Oh, well uh, Newspaper looks fun."

Jade gave me a flat look. Raising one eyebrow, she pointed at the paper and pursed her lips. "Newspaper is usually just a bunch of dorks who write trash about people and dumb boring events the school has to offer. More likely than not, you're going to end being bullied, or ignored by the student body."

Quickly flashing me a falsified smile, she pointed towards the drama club flyer. "Try Drama Club. Then you can play the female role and get all mushy with the boys," she joked, making kissy noises. I growled and smacked her arm. She was only teasing me because she had seen me come home yesterday. I had been wearing a dress, better makeup than HER, and had hair down to my shoulders. I definitely didn't look like myself, and ever since then she's been giving me shit about it. I tried to explain exactly what happened but apparently volunteering to help someone by cross dressing wasn't a good enough excuse.

I couldn't just tell her I was held against my will, threatened with death though.

I feared Candi too much.

I pushed Jade away from me, but she smirked, walking away from me. She probably thought i went to some kikny club, or had some secret fetished. I sighed and pouted at the drama club poster. I quickly scanned the surrounding area, and then grabbed a form, shoving it into my pack. I don't know why I did it, I just did.

• ^ •

My phone rang as soon as I stepped foot into the foyer of my dorm. I watched as Jade went into her room. I knew for a fact she'd be napping until dinner time. With a sigh, I reached into my borrowed blazer and answered my phone.

It was an unknown number.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, Connor, it's me, Kai."

With a gasp, I placed my bag on the floor, heading into my room. "Hey Kai. What happened last night after I left?" I said quietly, eyes flickering left and right.

"A lot actually. Hitachiin-sama claimed to have seen you, after he saw Chou-san, and of course I had to diffuse the conflict by stating that we had a quick dress change. Other than that, it was a success."

I sighed in relief.

"Great. I guess I'm off the hook...?"

Kai stopped me. "Wait! I have news for you!" I pursed my lips, but made a noise to indicate for her to go on.

"What happened?" I asked scared.

Quickly, Kai said, "Chou-san found out. She wants to hire you as her next replacement."

• | Π | • • • | Π | • • • | Π | • • • | Π | •

HEYO!

So, what do you think about THIS plot development?

Also, was Tamaki OOC? I feel like he was but I was writing this as I was super tired and #Uninspired, soz yeah.

PEACE!

- AP

E D I T I N G   C O M P L E T E D