Author's notes: Poor Tonomine... His parents are in some ways just as harsh as Asuka's mom... Anyway, his snark fits so well with Asuka's gentleness.

"Have a good day at school, Asuka!" His mother called out the next Monday and then drove away.

Stoic, he walked past the expansive gardens leading up to the palatial Ouran Academy.

"Masamune!" A smooth voice yelled in annoyance.

Shocked, Asuka spun on his feet, hands up defensively. "Tonomine! What're you doing here?"

A curious murmur from other students arose around the two rivals.

The thin, dark-haired teen adjusted his rectangular-framed glasses. "What do you think?" His eyes glanced up at the building.

Asuka blinked. Tonomine Hajime was wearing the same starched, light blue uniform as he was and was weighed down by two bags: one for books and the other for kendo accessories. "You transferred here?"

"This has nothing to do with you," Tonomine said brutally, "I was offered a scholarship that matched the price of attending Kinbara High three days ago. My parents forced me to take it."

"Even so, I'm glad you're here." Asuka's smile was earnest.

Tonomine's severe look grew more severe. "You and I are enemies, not friends."

Asuka's smile didn't go away. "Have they assigned you a class? Did you get an Athletics Scholarship too?"

Walking into the air-conditioned hallway, Tonomine scoffed, "I hardly deserve that honor considering my abysmal ranking in the last National Championship."

"Don't be so hard on yourself! You made third place in the Kendo tournament!"

"Do you really think that I would be satisfied with that?" Tonomine snarled out as they exited into a courtyard where a huge, circular fountain laid in the middle.

Groups of students were whispering as they argued, but for once Asuka didn't mind their attention.

Asuka looked contrite. "I didn't mean to offend you," he said quietly.

"Masamune! Tonomine!" The very tall Morinozuka wrapped an arm around their shoulders. "How's it going?"

"It will be better when you remove your arm," Tonomine snapped at Asuka's too-friendly classmate.

The black-haired teen took his hands back and shook his hands harmlessly towards the bespectacled new transfer student. "Whoa, I didn't think anyone was pricklier than Yasuchika!"

Tonomine adjusted his glasses. "You are the Kendo Club Captain, Morinozuka Takashi, correct?"

"Yeah!" The black-haired teen smiled. "Nice to meet ya! Our club meets right after school, so don't be late."

"I know when the club meets—"

Morinozuka's head whipped around at the squeal of girls fawning. "Yasuchika!" The honey brown-haired boy frowned in Morinozuka's direction and continued stalking away from the yellow-dressed girls hounding him. Morinozuka glanced at the two still standing awkwardly next to him. "I gotta run an interception. See you guys later!" Then he was running towards the sullen Haninozuka, waving.

"Tonomine, I need to warn you before we get to class. There's this club that I was blackmailed into, and then everyone found out I was an otomen…"

"What's that have to do with me?"

Asuka floundered. "These guys… the Hitachiin brothers threatened to tell the whole school that I was the Demon of Fashion," Asuka whispered.

Tonomine snorted. "Are the students so sheltered?"

"What do you mean?" Asuka asked curiously as they finally walked out of the majestic courtyard into another hallway.

"It's hit the news stations across Japan. Plenty of publicity for Yan Yan," Tonomine groused in annoyance. "That editor went too far. She had no right."

Despite very real fear clenching his gut, Asuka felt touched by Tonomine's rough admission of the editor's scruples. "I agree."

"I'm not commiserating with you!" Tonomine shouted. "She revealed me too! My father was embarrassed by the scandal and would've disowned me if Ouran Academy hadn't offered an Academic Scholarship!"

With widened eyes, Asuka's face fell. "I'm so sorry, Tonomine. It was my idea to transform that girl at that festival, months ago…"

Looking uncomfortable while they walked side by side, Tonomine redistributed the weight of his bookbag and his heavy bag of kendo gear over his shoulders. "It was my decision to go along with it." He looked distant with softening nostalgia and then he blinked and actually looked around.

The tile was pink, polished shale beneath their feet as they entered the fancy school. The walls were lined with exquisite white marble and an assortment of ostentatious Western-style decorative moldings and paintings. The lights that hung from the painted, vaulted ceilings were multi-branched gold-appearing candlesticks bowed upward and connected with chains of crystal.

"Incredible," Tonomine murmured as his eyes took in his surroundings.

"Mm." Asuka smiled warmly. He'd ignored the beautiful architectural highlights for the most part because of his manly mask, but he took in the enjoyable sights with Tonomine before he regrettably shook himself out of its extensive splendor. "My classroom, 1-A, is right down the hall." He hesitated not wanting to anger Tonomine with any friendly suggestions.

"We're in the same class," the other Demon Samurai stated.

They walked closer to the noise of engaged conversation echoing off the hallway walls and entered the room together.

"Here it comes! Here it comes!" squealed a teen girl wearing a Ginyuri Academy uniform, her nose in a graphic novel.

Why would anyone wear a Ginyuri Academy uniform at Ouran Academy? Asuka wondered.

The two teenagers who had just entered stopped short at the sight of their female classmates crowding around a stack of manga.

"Renge-sama! They're here!" A girl crowed out.

The girl that stuck out like a sore thumb among the yellow dresses straightened regally, putting a hand on her hip and pointing towards them. "The Fashion Samurai are here! Ladies, assemble!"

The homeroom teacher cleared his throat. "Houshakuji, while I understand your excitement this is not the time to loiter and play. School is in session."

Stepping back and covering her mouth, she laughed pompously. "You Demons may have escaped me this time, but just wait until Club Activities begin!" Her laughter grew maniacal like a villain's, and then a series of small stage explosions went off. A cloud of smoke suddenly furled out. By the time it dispersed the very strange girl had disappeared.

"What a strange school," Tonomine muttered, shaking his head, and stepped to the front of the class.

While the teacher introduced Tonomine, Asuka calmly took his chair. He had a bad feeling about that girl wearing the Ginyuri Academy uniform.

TBC.