A/N:

For those of you who have read this story before (in its numerous, painful formats) please check out the author's note at the bottom of the 4th chapter. I would also advise rereading, because I changed a lot of stuff. Especially when it hits chapter 2.

For those of you haven't though, just ignore and enjoy! :)

Life is like the lottery. You make guesses about what will happen, and then nothing ever goes right. You know the water you drank from that fountain yesterday? Poisoned with sewage because the janitor forgot to fix the pipes. That math test that you thought went well? You actually got a 64. How 'bout that girl you wanted to confess to? In reality, she got asked out by the captain of the football team.

Ha ha. Sucks to be you.

Sometimes, though, you actually do get what you want. Question is: do you recognize it?

Well, this is the story of a sweet and somewhat awkward girl, whose wishes were often not granted for one reason or another. However, one day God throws something totally unexpected at her. This is the story of how she deals with it. This, my friends, is the story of Tamaki Subaru.

So, what'll happen? Read if you dare!

Chapter 1: Tamaki Subaru's Debut... I Think

A typical day for Tama began with darkness.

Such a thing always seemed unsuitable to her. She liked energy. Life. Light. Yet every time she opened her eyes, that pitch blackness was there to greet her. The damn thing seemed to suck up all life, and the only place that didn't wasn't infected by it was a small area by the window. Faintly, golden sunshine poured through the dusty blinds, as if yelling at her to fight.

"Ugh... what time is it?" grumbled a childish voice

Her small hand emerged from under the covers, looking small admist the huge objects. It stumbled about, knocking over about nearly everything before finding its target. Her fingers curled over the alarm clock and brought it to Tama's face. It stared back at the sleepy girl, with its numbers merely being annoying, fuzzy dots.

Although... once she could actually read them, the message seemed to be something straight from hell.

"Huh? Wait... It's se- HOLY SHIT! IT'S SEVEN FORTY FIVE?"

The creature suddenly lurched upright, the mirror reflecting part of her grisly image. Orange hair frizzed out from the roots, and her small beady eyes had shrunk in panic.

"CRAP! I'm this late? "Shit shit shit shit shit shit..."

Quickly, she scrambled out of bed to get ready. However, at that moment her foot suddenly twisted into the sheets. Soon, the unlucky girl fell, becoming reacquainted with the green, pukish colored carpet below.

BOOM!

"OW!"

The next minute later a rant of profanity was strung along the air, and Tamaki Subaru made her debut. Ruffling her hair, she scowled up at her surroundings. Like any other day, they made her mood even worse. The sheets felt like a giant carpet around her tiny figure. White walls towered like skyscrapers overhead. Even the books, which were piled up in huge stacks, seemed to swallow her up.

Damned height. Being only 152 cm was such a pain in the ass.

"Maaaaaaaan!" she complained, folding her arms grumpily. "This sucks. My first day too!"

With a huge groan, the fourteen year old stood up and glared at herself in the mirror. The black shorts and yellow T-shirt that reflected back felt so comfy. She almost didn't want to get ready.

Reluctantly, her gaze shifted back to room. That didn't motivate her in the least either. Clothes were strewn everywhere. You could barely see the floor. Not to mention the ugly decor. The scene really was like something out of a mother's worst nightmare.

"Ugh. I really should organize this crap," she grumbled, kicking over a stack of rented manga. "I never have the time though."

Shifting through her things, Tama made a half-hearted attempt at finding her uniform. Eventually, she spotted it under the bed (God only knows why.) Just as she suspected, it was wrinkled almost to the point of nonrecognition. With a heavy sigh, she went to go grab it, walking fast across the room.

Then, for the second time that morning, she tripped.

BOOM!

"OWWWW! MOTHERFUCKER!"

Emphasizing the second part of the word, Tama hissed bitterly. At once, she snatched up the culprit, and a pair of roller skates dangled from her fingertips, looking lopsided and worse for the wear. They shone with a spiteful, neon-green luster and almost seemed to laugh at her misery.

Her first instinct was to naturally hurl them across the room.

Then, a light bulb flickered in her brain, and her hand stopped in mid-air.

"Huh... Actually..."

Really, you would think that anyone else would have the common sense to not do what she did. Or for that matter, attempt to even think about it. But being the reckless, idiotic youth she was, Tama instead slung them over her shoulder, with a thoughtful smirk plastered on her rueful face.

So, half an hour later, the energetic teen burst through the doorway, washed, fully dressed, and riding on the roller skates out the door. With orange hair blurring by, she gave a wide, tiger-like smile, as if ready to beat back anything that stood in her way.

"Namimori, here I come!" she exclaimed brightly.

And that was how her pitiful school life began.

Namimori Jr. High, 7: 56 a.m.

"Gokudera! WAIT UP!"

Meanwhile, Tama wasn't the only one having a semi-crappy day. One particular Sawada Tsunayoshi was running late for school as well. Stars swirled in his eyes as if the constellations decided to go get funky and disco, and he ran as fast as he could along the sidewalk.

Stupid Reborn! Why didn't he wake me up? The brunette thought. He couldn't help but curse his bad luck, feeling miserable, tried, and unlucky.

As usual.

"Are you okay, Tenth?"

It was at that moment that Gokudera's shadow enveloped Tsuna. Purposefully slowing down, his right hand man looked on him with concern. It seemed nowadays he was more paranoid than usual and could never be found far from his "boss."

"Yeah..." Tsuna nodded sheepishly, heaving heavily. "Sorry to be a bother! That fight with Xanxus must have drained me more than I thought."

In between breaths, he couldn't help but grimace. The Ring Battles... the fight that decided the fate of the Vongola and their lives. Even though they had had officially ended a while ago, they seemed hell bent on making an impression on him. The seven rings didn't seem to really compare to what they actually had won that day: their safety. The Varia were nutcases that he never wanted to ever see again.

Though, you could also say he wasn't really entirely happy with the outcome. The fact that he was now the sole heir to the Vongola famiglia's Tenth generation boss didn't really help things out either, if you thought about it a bit.

"Heh! Don't worry, Tenth!" Gokudera interrupted, folding his arms with a smug smirk. The pride in his voice didn't make Tsuna feel better in the least. "Being the top hitman squad in Italy doesn't mean much when we kicked their asses. I'll protect you no matter what!"

Tsuna sighed. No matter how many times he tried, his "right hand man" never seemed to understand his true feelings. He supposed that wasn't exactly new, but it got annoying sometimes. They were almost like complete opposites.

You see, instead of being worried, Gokudera seemed as passionate as ever as expanding their "family." All he had ever heard from the white-haired Italian was plans of conquest, destruction, and demolition in the past few days, and no one seemed safe from him. Tsuna was half-wondering why he wasn't getting reported for arson yet.

Yet, as he threw his head back up at the clear blue sky, there were also optimistic thoughts buzzing through the boss's mind. He couldn't help but feel a bit comfortable in this situation.

Who would have ever thought he'd miss this "normalcy?" Running late for school, getting blown up, trying to avoid getting the living shit kicked out of him by Reborn... It almost felt nice. Maybe now, everything would quiet down for a bit.

"INCOMING!"

Or... not.

WHOOSH!

BAM!

"HIEEEEEE!"

"TENTH!" Gokudera's mortified voice exclaimed

Tsuna, the unfortunate soul, didn't even have time to react. At what felt like fifty miles per hour, something abruptly crashed into him with a screech. Knocked backwards, he flew into the air. The image of bushes was the last that he saw before impact, a cloud of dust left in his wake.

"Ow ow ow..." The brunette winced, feeling thorns poke into his side.

With great difficulty, he stretched and found his foot hitting against something. To his surprise, it was a girl. A short, rollar skate wearing little girl. She couldn't have been bigger than Kyoko but had a more energetic vibe. Orange hair bristled out at him, covering her dizzy eyes.

W-What? he shrieked mentally. Where did she come from?

"YOU BITCH!"

However, he didn't have long to ponder. Gokudera's war cry interrupted him. Sticks of dynamite flared from the bomber's fingertips, ready to send the girl to a gruesome death.

"WAIT! GOKUDERA!"

Tsuna had to basically restrain Gokudera just so he wouldn't rip her to pieces. Throughout the whole event, he was hungry for bloody murder in the worst way possible. As far as normalcy went, this was one of the things that Tsuna did not miss.

So, after a short, hysterical conversation (provided mostly by Tsuna) Gokudera finally calmed down. He scowled at the girl, who was knocked unconscious apparently, and turned his head away. Tsuna sighed with relief. That was one problem taken care of.

"But now what should we do?" the brunette asked, furrowing his eyebrows up. Her uniform was from their school, but he never had seen her before. Was she a transfer student? If that was the case, then the logical thing would be to bring her to the nurse.

Gokudera had other plans though.

"I know, Tenth!" he brightened up. "I think the river's nearby! Let's just dump the body!"

"GOKUDERA!"

His life was never going to go back to normal at this rate, was it?

A whole school day went by after this incident, and when Tama stumbled out of the infirmery, there was only one way to describe her mood:

Pissed off.

Her shoulders swaggered in an angry way as she walked, with everything bad seeming to pile up on her. Her body ached, and a mind crumbling headache pounded inside her skull as she swore. A dark mood also overshadowed her, digging its claws in firm.

Now, normally, she really wasn't really like this. However, getting knocked unconscious wasn't exactly the proudest moment of her life. To make things even worse, when she asked the nurse what happened, she found out that she had accidently crashed into someone and was out for the entire day. Now she was behind on work, in pain, and had made a fool out of herself.

And she was supposed to find a new life here? Don't make her laugh!

Damned Sensei. Why'd she send her here anyway?

"Stupid. Stupid. STUPID!" she snarled, kicking a random can on the street. "I'm so stupid... This school's stupid. Sensei's stupid. Everything stupid! Ugh! I don't believe this!"

The rambling went on and on for several minutes, and in that time span, Tama was about as attentive to her surroundings as a dead cat. She really should have been cautious though. All around her, the few students that were left started to pale, for whatever reason. Then, they scurried off without a second glance. Soon, a space of five feet spanned around her, where no human being could be seen.

Except for one.

THUD.

On cue, Tama's head hit something. Her first thought was a telephone pole, but then she looked up.

And found herself staring at a towering senior.

He was thin, but solid and glanced down at her with much annoyance. She didn't recognize him at all, but it didn't take much for her to realize that he practically reeked of authority. The clean, straight black haircut that ended just above his ears. The sharp, cool, and pretty annoyed looking eyes. The flat frown that was set on his mouth.

Not to mention the height.

Great, as if she didn't need to be reminded of how small she really was. Where was a growth spurt when you needed one?

Meanwhile, as she glared up at him with jealousy, the boy studied her up and down. Not unlike that of someone checking an insect that had landed on the bottom of his shoe.

"Hn... Who are you?" he demanded, staring at her intently. "Are you a student, herbivore?"

His tone was demanding and sort of ticked her off. She didn't like being called "herbivore" either. It suggested that she was weak, and she hated it when people looked down on her. The girl sourly glared up at him and stuck out her tongue for good measure, just to show how pissed and uninterested she was.

"What the hell do you think?" she hissed back. "Do you not see the damn uniform, retard?"

Tama jerked a thumb at the blue vest, and his frown grew even deeper. At this point, a few of the straggling students had made it a point to stare and whisper a few meters/miles away. She glanced at them, finally noticing them for the first time. A few of the upperclassmen were actually hiding behind the bushes. She wondered what was scaring them so much.

Though, that train of thought didn't really last long after something suddenly was shoved into her hands. She blinked at the senior, who snapped close the folders of a little black book.

"Perfect," he stated, looking irked. "Then you can take this. Detention tomorrow for obscene language. One hour. Be there."

Tama stared at the pink slip in her hands before back at him. Then, she noticed the black jacket hanging off his shoulders. On it was an armband with the words Namimori Disciplinary Committee printed out nicely in big bold black. And it didn't take long for her to realize what it meant.

Of course. No wonder the little ass seemed so demanding. He was a prefect!

"What? This is bullshit!" she snarled, crumpling the paper up angrily.

The boy's expression now borderlined obvious irritation. The whispering around them grew even louder too, and she couldn't stand it. The spectators were just so gutless that it made her want to puke.

However, this guy's attitude was even more ridiculous. It was the first day of school, and already he was tacking up people. Probably to assert his machoism or something. She wished she could have just stayed at Sachiru instead of transferring after the first semester. It wasn't the best place, but at least the administrative dudes were casual and loose.

Unlike this guy. Stupid, egotistical prick.

"Make that two detentions," the guy ordered, bringing her back to earth. He wrote out another slip and got ready to hand it to her. "Be grateful. I'm going easy on you, freshman."

Maybe that was why she did what she did next. It could have been the bad mood speaking. Or it could have been that his personality just set off a fuse. Either way, something made her do the most unthinkable and stupidest thing in her entire life.

She flipped the guy off.

"Well then, screw you," was her curt reply, her middle finger proudly out for the world to see.

Now, Tama got two sets of reactions to this. The first? The prefect's: His eyebrows had shot up so high that she thought they were going to fly off his face. And by God, was it priceless! This was a Kodak moment if she had ever seen one, and it lifted her mood considerably.

That's right, you school centered bitch! she cheered mentally. Don't underestimate me!

The second response came from the students. If she thought they were timid before, then they were absolutely terrified now. No one wanted to stick around. They all slinked away, and she suddenly found herself alone with the other boy. Which she couldn't understand why until it was far too late.

He sighed, now recovered from the shock, and wore a simple mask of distaste. Then, his hands slipped into his jacket to reveal a pair of gleaming silver tonfas.

Along with her next few days of hell.

"I'll bite you to death," he simply stated.

WHOMP.

A second. Tama had only had a second to duck. But that moment almost felt like an eternity. She could see the metal sheering over her orange hair, barely missing the base of her head. She could feel the wind blow up in her face. What really hit her, though, was the smirk she could see on the prefect's face. It stretched from ear to ear and could be described in only three words: bloodthirsty, murderous, and positively sadistic.

And that, in her mind, was king of all cues for her to get the hell out of there.

Tama did a quick drop roll. It got her far enough away to spring back up and start running. And when I say she ran, she ran. Her image was a mere blur to the nearby bystanders, some of which who were roughly shoved aside. Ignoring the dirty looks, she pushed on ahead, racing through the crowds.

"Ah *gasp* ah..."

Her breath quickened as she heard him come after her. One peek was taken over her shoulder. Then, her head snapped back forward in panic, with a sudden picture of the devil surfacing to her mind. He was only mere inches behind her and gaining.

She needed an advantage and fast.

Miraculously, she had almost gotten it too when a food stand came into her line of vision. All she saw were the hot oil vats, but a plan formed immediately. Thank God for quick thinking. The owner didn't even have time to protest when she suddenly slid in and grabbed them. Then, the boiling liquid was flung into her pursuer's direction.

Now, what happened after that was probably one of the most stunning things in her entire life. Something like it could have only come out of a manga, but somehow, the prefect managed to deflect it in the most epic way possible. He raised his weapons, and steel crashed into steel as the cooking instrument went flying perpendicular into a shop wall.

Tama would have gawked if that didn't scare her.

"CRAP!"

Backed up with more motivation than thought possible, she pushed herself to go even faster. Her feet hit the ground, one after the other. Andrenaline pounded. Everything seemed to spin faster and faster as she felt the prefect behind her. He was a hunter, the best she had ever seen, and his breath was practically on the back of her neck, hissing like steamed water.

She wasn't going to be able to lose him easily.

All hope wasn't lost though. Just as she began to mentally make up a will, her hand accidentally banged against her bag. Then, the heavens opened up for her in the form of a round, medium-sized can. She felt it through the leather, scraping against her thigh. It may have seemed insignificant, but once she realized what it was, a ray of hope appeared.

With a deep breath, her hand plunged into the knapsack. Awkwardly, it rummaged around until she finally felt the item's cool metal, banging up against random, miscellaneous crap. Then, she spun around to face the prefect.

PSSST!

The pepper spray nailed him dead on.

"*Cough* *Cough*"

The sound was music to her ears. She grinned as his tonfas clattered on the sidewalk, and the prefect hacked out his lungs like no tomorrow. Curled up into a small ball, the his power seemed to get stripped away. There was nothing more satisfying to Tama than to watch him writhe in pain and discomfort, pwned by a mere can of Mace.

STRIKE TWO! she thought with glee.

At least, that's what she assumed until she caught sight of his eyes.

"..."

Tama became mesmerized by the piercing glare, somehow frozen in place from fear. His pupils were watery and red, but also sparking with so much anger that it took the phrase "looks could kill" to a whole new level. Wordlessly, the prefect slowly rose to his feet, his black jacket swirling ominously. Then, when he bent over to pick up the weapons, she finally snapped out of it.

SHIT!

And that was how she met the demon of Namimori.

It took a while, but they played tag for about a half hour before she finally lost him. Quite barely, but lost him all the same. By this point, her clothing was scratched, there was mud everywhere, and she was as tired as a dog. Limping back to her apartment, she ignored the bystanders who gave her quizzical looks. Instead, she concentrated on getting to her destination without collapsing.

Down the steps. Up the elevator. Finally, she made it back to the nice, clean hallway of her apartment. The wooden door's polish shone at her in welcome, and a sense of security came over her as she heard the key click inside.

So, now finally back in the safety of her home, Tama collapsed on her bed and decided that she needed to take a bath. It would be nice if it didn't hurt like hell, though.

"Oh God, it stings!" she winced in the hissing water.

Her body ached as it submerged into the tub. Muscles contracting gratefully, she sunk deeper into the water, with her orange hair floating above the bubbles. Then, she sighed with contentment. It felt comfortable once she got over the pain.

Then, she softly touched her wounds, remembering that icy eyed kid from before. She sulked with irritation.

School might be more troublesome than she originally thought.

My first chapter in the Clouds and Discords series. Enjoy!

Omake # 1: Epic Report Fail

Meanwhile, a few miles away, one Hibari Kyoya stormed into Naimori Jr. High's Reception Room. However, instead of sitting at his desk, he sneered at the sunlight outside. The bright cheerfulness of it all irritated him, and the curtains were instantly snapped shut, making the room match his mood.

Afterwards, he reclined on the nice, leather sofa nearby. It was supposed to make him feel relaxed, but nothing could ease the wrath in him right now. Only a handful of people could surprise him that, and the thought of that mere little brat doing such a thing pissed him off.

"Annoying," he muttered crossly.

Just as he was about to relax, though, footsteps tentatively entered the room. His eyelids fluttered open, revealing two icy slits.

"Excuse me, Hibari-san, but..."

The vice chairman soon fell silent. At this point, Hibari had turned the other way to make himself more comfortable, with his back facing the subordinate. However, even with his face hidden, you couldn't miss the thick tension in the air between them.

"You better have a good reason for coming in," the third year growled.

"Um... it's just for the daily reports. If this isn't a good time-"

"Just talk. Or forever hold your peace."

The tall teen swallowed hard before shifting through some papers. Although the last phrase seemed harmless, both of them knew fully well how true that could be. Hibari never had been one for waiting after all.

"Well... today Sachiru made another disturbance," Kusakabe uneasily read. "We took care of that quickly, though, so it should be settled for now. Next, Sawada Tsunayoshi was seen running around in his underwear again. Oh, and there also was a sighting of the new transfer student roller-skating on the grounds. She'll be easy to solve too. Her hair's orange, so we can catch her in no time."

The last item on the list made Hibari twitch. The irritation came back ten-fold and was fueled by the words of how "easy" the problem should be to solve. Of how "easy" it should have been to catch her. Or of how "easy" she should have been punished, as if he didn't just chase after her throughout all of bloody Namimori!

Hibari turned his head to glare at Kusakabe. His legs swung over the side of the couch, with the soles of his shoes making a hard click on the floor. Needless to say, this was the first sign to the vice chairman that something had happened.

Too bad that wasn't really going to save him.

"D-Did I say something wrong?" he tried.

Hibari slowly skulked up towards him, slipping the tonfas out of his back pocket. Its metal shone murderously in the light, reflecting the other prefect's startled face. The silence also magnified now, and terror gripped his victim as one, dreaded phrase was uttered:

"I'll bite you to death."