Disclaimer: Clamp Campus Detectives in no way whatsoever belongs to me. I mean it's called Clamp Campus Detectives, not Starcalista Campus Detectives. I'm only borrowing them for this fic and I'll hopefully return them intact.

A/N: This was first made so long ago after a reviewer of my Nokoru character inflection asked to give Nokoru a love interest or something along those lines. I only typed this out recently and I'm really rusty so forgive me if anythings weird or the flow of sentences doesn't go well together. So without further ado, here's Hard Fate! (don't know why I called it this, but I've never been good in the title department)

Pairings: Nokoru+OC, Suoh+Nagisa, Akira+Utako

Hard Fate

Chapter 1 - Of Troubles on the Horizon

"Wait, please! Don't kill me! I promise, next time I'll definitely be successful!" a red-haired woman in her late thirties begged as she was being held against her will to her knees, her arms held by two men across from each other.

"You've been given far too many chances Tokyo! You have failed too many times. Even the boss says he can't tolerate you any longer. This operation is your last blunder." The man across from her says in a voice that could freeze even the warmest of days. He was sitting on the only desk in the room.

"Wait! You know that I'm the only one that has successfully acquired access to the youngest Imonoyama. This time, I'll definitely bring him to you," the woman pleaded.

"Empty promises. It's been six years now since you last succeeded in getting close to him and even then you let him escape. Don't think that we haven't noticed your reluctance to approach him again. You've grown too soft Tokyo. You've been in the organization too long and have grown too comfortable in your position. You've left too many loose ends. It's time to do what we should've done three years ago when you failed that important mission," the man's eyes were filled with disgust even when his voice was completely void of emotions, "Kill her!"

"No – " Anything she was about to say were cut off by the sound of a gun going off, the bullet went through her head, her lifeless body immediately going limp in the hands of the two men that had been holding her, one of the men holding a gun in the hand that wasn't occupied with keeping her still.

"Dump her body and make sure that it looks like a robbing gone wrong. And tell someone to clean this mess up." The man who is obviously in charge directed his request to the man holding a gun. Once the two men were gone with the body and the door to the room closed, a woman that had been leaning against the wall behind the man's desk observing everything silently decides to approach him, leaning on his shoulder.

"Did you really have to kill her here, Berlin? That blood will be a pain in the ass to get out of the floor," she says in an equally emotionless voice as the man's.

"Don't lean on me," the man now known as Berlin says, shoving her off his shoulder. He walked towards his desk chair and sat down properly, his arms leaning on the desk with his chin leaning on his crossed fingers, "Instead of giving me advice on what I should do with my former coworkers, why don't you just cut to the chase and tell me why you're here, London."

The woman, London, seemingly unperturbed just leaned on the table, facing him, deliberately showing off her cleavage. Though, its not like Berlin ever reacted to that kind of show. If she didn't know better, London would think that Berlin is actually gay.

"Nothing important really. That person is just getting impatient and wants to know whats taking so long in completing this simple task."

"It's not as simple as you think. We need the technology and the only one that has it is the Imonoyama Zaibatsu's youngest son, since he is head of their IT and Electrical Engineering Department. Unfortunately, since his two kidnappings eight and six years ago by that careless b*tch, the Imonoyama Zaibatsu has been keeping a very close eye on him. No one has been able to barely come 100 meters, much less apprehend him."

"Well, if she was the only one that managed to get close to him then why did you kill her?"

For a while the man's emotionless eyes just stared at her. Finally after some time that it was apparent that London does not have the ability to read people's mind, specifically his, the man uttered, "Do I really have to answer that? I'm surprised our malevolent leader has even allowed her to live this long. She has made too many mistakes that has cost this organization. Though what surprises me even more is that after her second failed attempt in kidnapping the boy, her picture isn't on every newspaper and tabloid as a fugitive. That one is really lenient on women," then he pauses as if realizing something and froze when he was looking at the woman known as London.

"What? You want me to try to get close to him?" she asks dryly.

"As amusing as it is to see you try and fail, no, that wasn't what I was thinking. Find a female operative the same age as either Imonoyama Nokoru, Takamura Suoh, or Ijyuin Akira. Make sure she has the ability to enter either of their classes and can actually get close to them."

"Hmm...I'm not here to listen to your orders Berlin, but I'll humor you this once," she says heading towards the door. But just as she was about to exit, she pauses looking back towards him, "though I do wonder why you've never tried this before now..."

The man, Berlin glared at her ruthlessly. If looks could kill, London would already be six feet under.

"Ooooh...scary...you should get the cleaning crew to quickly clean that up, it's starting to stink." she laughs as the door closes behind her, either because of his glare or the fact that his office would smell like hell because of his own decision, only she would know.

~Hard Fate~

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the leaves are green, and sounds of laughter could be heard from students all over Clamp Campus, but what 17-year-old Imonoyama Nokoru could not understand was why he was spending this beautiful afternoon indoors. But as he felt Takamura Suoh's glare poking him on the back of his head, he remembered. Sighing, he looks towards the extremely tall pile of paperwork beside his desk. He admits that he has been neglecting doing them this past week, but its no reason to lock him indoors, he thought to himself forlornly, especially since he's now much more responsible than he had been when he was the elementary division student council president. Usually, he would do the paperwork willingly without Suoh having to nag so much, even though he still hates them with a passion, but he would still sometimes purposely wait until Suoh gets on his back before doing them, if not to annoy him then for old times sake. After all, Suoh should still be kept on his toes. His mischievous side is one of the things that he is sure will never change, no matter what Suoh or Akira does to try to stop that side of him from coming out.

But change, no matter how much you don't want it to happen, is inevitable as time goes by. With time, humans will always change no matter how miniscule. Be it age, body structure, hair, or sometimes even personality. Nokoru himself has grown taller and broader over the years, though Suoh is taller than him by a few centis. While Akira is almost the same height as him. And as for a life changing experience? Thank goodness that after the Idomu fiasco back in the sixth grade, there has been no really life threatening ones as close as that, despite his side job as a detective that will do anything in his power for the happiness of the maidens in the world. Though there were a few kidnapping attempts. Oh, and lets not forget that assassination attempt. Well, he guesses that there were more life threatening experiences then he would like but at least those times, no one else besides him was targeted and got seriously hurt.

But even though Nokoru was one that would welcome change, there is one change that has become quite a disappointment. Nowadays Suoh and Akira are both such a bore. Whenever he teases them about their relationship with their respective 'wives', he never gets the cute reactions from them anymore as when they were in elementary or junior high. Though they still blush, but never to the point of tripping over their own feet. The wives? Of course they are Nagisa-san and Utako-san. Surprisingly, their love is one of the things that he's glad didn't change throughout the years. He really love seeing them together, even though sometimes he would feel lonely, being the fifth wheel and all. But it's alright, the three of them are still together, still best friends, still in the student council together and still together solving the cases here and there that comes their way as the Clamp Campus Detectives, which the primary objective is still helping any damsel in distress.

Though there is one change in their group dynamic. Yudaiji Idomu had came back to Japan two years ago, no longer able to get away from his responsibilities as the sole heir of the Yudaiji Zaibatsu, and after much consideration was allowed to attend Clamp Campus by the Rijichou, even though the first year had been probationary. Nokoru himself had been ecstatic since he gained another best friend that was close by, especially one that he doesn't have to constantly worry as Idomu's martial arts is not to be taken lightly. Sure, after Idomu had gone to the U.S. to study they had kept in touch but it wasn't the same. In contrast though, Suoh and Akira had been wary, the reason was obvious ~ because before, Idomu had tried to hurt Nagisa and Utako - twice. But with time and Nokoru's persistence, the three soon warmed up to each other. It's a pity though that Idomu refused a position in the student council, though he does help in the CCD cases.

Another thing that hasn't change is that among the four, he is still the only one that is single ~ as Suoh is with Nagisa and Akira is with Utako, and even Idomu has had a few girlfriends in the past ~ and it would stay that way if he has anything to say about it. For no fair lady should ever be exposed to his dangerous world. Besides, he is a ladies man, one that will do everything in his power to ensure the happiness of all beautiful maidens far and near, so he cannot be tied down to just one lady.

As Nokoru was in his own thoughts while doing his paperwork on autopilot, the door to the High School Division Student Council Room opened making him lift his head and saw Ijyuin Akira come in, the third and last member of their Student Council. But something was different about him, he wasn't just his usual bubbly self, he was totally excited about something that he's practically jumping off the balls of his feet.

"What is it Akira?" Suoh asks, voicing his own unasked thought. Of course, after being friends for so many years, it only seemed natural that Akira and Suoh starts calling each other by their given name. Though sadly, they still call him by his title, 'Kaichou', though he guesses that's normal since throughout the years they have always been working together in the student council.

"Suoh-sempai! Kaichou! Guess what? There's a new student in my class!"

Oh, no wonder he's excited. It is rare for Clamp Campus to have a transfer student this late in the semester and in high school too, especially for the Z classes. Usually, students are accepted in Clamp Campus since they were at least in Primary School, though some special cases gets accepted when they are older, but these cases are still very rare. But wait, "What? A new student? How come I wasn't informed about it?" he wonders out loud.

He almost regretted saying that because immediately, Suoh's eyes coldly glares at him. "Because, Kaichou, the paperwork concerning her entrance is in that stack you have been neglecting to do this past week." Suoh berrates him, "There was a notice from the Rijichou a few days ago informing us her class, her grades and any other school related activities."

Nokoru could only sweatdrop at Suoh's berrating tone as he starts looking for the paperwork in question. It turns out to be quite hard to find it without toppling the whole tower.

"You knew Suoh-sempai? Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"I didn't really check what class she would be in. I only saw that she was in your year, Akira but I would never have thought that she would be in class Z. I have never heard two students transferring to the Z class in one year."

"Ah yes, there was also a transfer student in Kaichou's class in the beginning of the year, right?" Akira asks, turning his attention to him who was still busy searching for the aforementioned paper.

"Yeah, Sakurai Hinano talented in singing and ballet. Has average Class Z grades. Very outgoing and loves to flirt," Nokoru answers automatically, distracted with searching for that elusive file. He wonders again why exactly haven't they made everything electronic? Clamp Campus had been one of the leading organizations in using electronic devices but for paperwork that needs signature and stamp they still use hard copy. For one thing it would give him much less work and it would be much better for his poor hand if every document was made into e-documents, all he'd need to do is copy and paste his signature and stamp. But of course, the answer to that why has always been because the Rijichou loves it like this. "Ah ha! Here it is!" he exclaims triumphly, finally finding the bounded together biography under the stacks of other paperwork, then realizing both Suoh and Akira looking oddly at him, he asks, "What?"

"Loves to flirt?" Suoh asks incredulously.

"Ah yeah, since she entered, I think she's flirted with every male in my year and dated half of them, and its not even the end of her first semester yet. But because of her attitude it seems that she has gained the ire of a few of my female classmates. So, Minamiya Seina?" he asks, showing the photograph to Akira.

"Yup! That's her!" Akira confirms.

"Hoooh...got into the Z class with a scholarship on her ice skating talents. Wow, it says here that she was the runner-up for the youth Olympics. Let's see...she was able to ace the entrance test, thus earning a position in the Z class and her last school...was in France?" Nokoru reads with Suoh and Akira looking at the file from behind his seat.

"Yep, Seina-san is really amazing! Even though she has lived almost all her life in France, her Japanese is really good. Besides that she is also fluent in English, Spanish, Italian and oddly Indonesian. she transferred here with her little sister. She said that she wanted to try to be independent from her parents, which is why she applied for the Clamp Campus Scholarship. After being accepted, she with her sister tagging along for the ride, moved to an apartment just outside Campus grounds. Her sister also applied here after though she is still in the middle of her application tests."

For a few moments Nokoru and Suoh both just blinks at Akira's ecstatic face, astonished at all the information Akira just spouted at the top of his head. Besides that, they were surprised that Akira was already calling the new student he just met today by her first name.

"Seina-san? And Akira, how did you know all that?" Suoh asks.

"And some of what you said aren't even on this file on her." Nokoru continues.

Akira blushes, "Oh, well, she was assigned to a seat next to me and we became fast friends and asked everyone in class to just call her by her given name. I think the both of you would also like her. She didn't even get mad from the many questions my classmates were firing at her and everyone had so many questions, since it is sort of weird for her to be transferring this late in the semester. I mean, there's less than a month left to End of Semester tests!"

"Heeeh…then I wonder if she'd mind meeting us then?" Nokoru asks mischievously.

"Kaichou!" Suoh shouts at the same time as Akira replies happily, "I'm sure she would love to meet you guys!"

"Great Akira! What's wrong Suoh? Wouldn't you like to meet the girl that just might be the competition for Ohkawa-kaichou for the affection of Akira-kun?"

"Wh…what?!" Akira asks, aghast, "There's nothing at all like that between me and Seina-san! My only love is….is…." Akira suddenly stops, his face redder than a tomato, unable to utter the name, suddenly realizing just how embarrassing it is what he was about to say to them.

Nokoru, immediately grasping the chance, asks with his cheshire cat smile wide over his face, "Oh? Who is it Akira-kun?"

Akira could only open and close his mouth like a fish in reply.

"Stop it Kaichou, Akira can't even utter a single word anymore." Suoh speaks up, making Nokoru's attention shift to him. A Cheshire cat smile immediately blooming on his face.

"…Suoh… I hear that you have a date with Nagisa-chan tonight. Would you like me to chaperone?" He ask with an angel-like smile on his face. He just loves teasing his kohais. The reaction was immediate. Suoh's face became an equal tomato red, though maybe not as red as Akira's currently is.

"…Stop it Kaichou…" Suoh manages to say without stuttering.

"Aaaah…you're no fun Suoh…"

Suoh clears his throat, trying to regain his composure. "Besides, instead of trying to embarrass us, don't you have paperwork to get to? You have to finish them by today if you want to go anywhere else." He says in a stern voice.

"Hai…hai…" Nokoru sweatdropped.

"Waaa…Suoh-sempai really is great!" Akira said clapping, regaining his exuberant demeanor, now that the attention was off him and his relationship…or is it relationships?

"Akira, whose side are you on anyway?" Nokoru asks, pouting, as he starts doing his paperwork once again.

Akira only laughs.

つずく (TBC)

EndNote: End of first chapter. Btw, did anyone guess who the red-haired woman in the beginning was? I think it was obvious, so for those who liked her, sorry I killed her off. Anyway, I plan to update weekly if possible but lets just see. Please review. C&C are greatly appreciated ^_^

Japanese Glossary:

Kaichou: president

Rijichou: board chairman, or in this case the school principal

Hai: yes