I'm depressed by the lack of Kaoru stories.
So, I decided to remedy that.
I know that there are several scholarship fics already,
but please, give this a chance.
And when the twins speak in turn, just assume Hikaru goes first.

So hold on tight,
It's gonna be a wild, wild ride,
and tonight,
you won't need your wings to fly

-Hedley, Heaven's gonna wait.

This school...God, why is it sopink?

I leaned against my bike, outside the gates of 'Ouran Academy', the place my brother was forcing me to attend.

What could be so wrong with home school? Just because we had the money now didn't mean he had the right to make me go to a pink school where the boys wore stupid suits and the girls had to wear poufy, mustard yellow dresses.

I had earned that money. My paintings had sold.

Sigh...

Well, it couldn't be to bad here. At least the dress code wasn't absolutely mandatory. The headmaster had told me that as long as I didn't do anything to crazy, I didn't have to wear the uniform. The only requirement was that I wear a dress that was respectable.

There didn't seem to be any bike racks inside, so I took the lock from inside my bag and chained it to one of the metal bars, then headed inside. I guess most rich people don't bike to school.

Girls whispered and pointed to me, but I ignored them. When there's a new kid, people look. Especially when all the others look so prim and proper in their yellow dresses. Me? The girl wearing black and red? Yep. I stand out.

My black hair reaches mid-back and is cut in a way that it floats like feathers. I have brown eyes that are always surrounded by dark eyeliner, and have a lot of freckles. I usually dress in dark colors, but sometimes wear neon to throw people off.

Outside of my classroom, there were two ginger twins (Note to self, become friends with them. Gingers rock) with an oddly feminine looking brown haired boy between them. The brown haired kid looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else, and the gingers looked at me curiously. I stuck my tongue out at them and went inside.

The teacher was shuffling papers on his desk. I walked over to him and explained who I was and a few things that he would need to know, and then the bell rang.

More kids filed in, talking and laughing. The two gingers and their girlish companion seemed pretty popular with the girls here. They sat right in front of me.

"All right, all right. Quiet down, now." The teacher called. "We have a new student today. Her name is Melody - oh, sorry, AmeArashi. Sand up, Ame, and tell us a bit about yourself."

Everyone already knew who I was, but I stood anyway. Those twins started whispering. "Rain?Her parents named her Rain?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm called Ame. I moved here from America when I was little. I live with my older brother. I'm an artist. End of story."

That's all they needed to know. More, actually.

The rest of class went by without interruption. But when it was time for a short lecture about art - ha! the guy had no idea what he was talking about.

Those ginger kids would glance back at me every so often. The other kid with them studiously ignored it and concentrated on the teacher.

I began to wonder if the brown-haired kid - Haruhi, the teacher had said during attendance - was a cross-dresser. He - or she - did seem a bit off. Towards the end of class, one of the twins poked him in the chest, and by the reaction, I knew.

Haruhi was a girl.

Well, stranger things happen.

Bored now, I looked around for something to sketch.

My eyes caught the twins. One of them, Kaoru, I think his name was. Him and his brother had a subtle difference in the way they carried themselves. Yes...the perfect subject. I would draw them as opposites – I had to see that difference magnified.

I marked a line down the middle of the paper and drew the rough outline of two teens leaning against it. Absorbed by my work, I didn't notice the last bell ringing.

A hand landed on top of my drawing. I looked up to see both Hikaru and Kaoru staring at me, amused. Hikaru snatched my sketch off the desk.

"Do you suppose-" He began, and then Kaoru finished,

"This looks like us?" They seemed to be asking Haruhi. She seemed resigned to this, as if it happened often.

"Give the drawing back to her. She doesn't even know you."

"But we know her."

"The new scholarship student-"

"But she isn't a commoner, so-"

"We thought we'd ask why." Kaoru finished, looking at me.

I closed my eyes, trying not to loose my temper, stood up, and said slowly, "Give me the sketch."

"But it's of us-"

"So shouldn't we have it?"

"No. I drew it, it's mine, and you should mind your own business!" I flashed a glare at the three of them, grabbed the paper, and stormed out. Looks like my first assumption was wrong, these guys were in no way going to become my friends.

There was some amount of whispering behind me, and Kaoru called out,

"You should stop by the Host Club later! Music room three!"

"Shut up!" I yelled back.

Honestly! The nerve of some people! Him and his brother were acting as if they were just playing with a toy! I was a human being.

Jerks. And what in the world is a host club, anyway? Sounds like they're a bunch of creepers.

I had reached my bike by that time. Whoever else is in that group is probably really full of themselves...A bunch of ridiculous high school boys. But I wonder why Haruhi was hanging out with them, she didn't seem like that kind of person.

Hmm...I made a snap decision.

I was going to see this 'Host' Club.

Thanks for reading.
I can't promise to update soon, but don't give up on me!
Now please leave your comments and suggestions in the form of a review!