Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran or InuYasha.

Star Crossed and Everything

Chapter One

Morinozuka Takashi kept his keen eyes trained on his opponent across from him. His shinai raised protectively, he patiently waited for his opponent to attack, knowing that he would not have to wait long. He could already predict the outcome of this battle, and so he let his grey eyes slide over to the small audience they had acquired.

He had noticed her watching him for a while. Though he was used to a few of his more loyal fangirls from the club attending his kendo practice, she was a new face, not that he was too surprised by that. The Cultural Festival had started and there were many students from nearby schools ambling around. But there was something about her that stuck out to him.

She wasn't wearing a school uniform but a pair of dark hakams and a white, short sleeved haori, similar to his own attire. Her dark hair was pulled into a high ponytail. He couldn't see much else from his position, just that she wasn't there for the same reason so many of the other girls were.

His gaze slid over to his attacking opponent and with a flashy but basic movement he scored his final point, defeating his opponent.

After helping the other boy up, Mori moved to the side (opposite of his fangirls) to take a breather. He wasn't surprised to see the mystery girl boldly make her way towards him.

"You look thirsty," she said, looking up towards him with a smile while handing him a bottle of water.

He accepted her offer with a grunt as thanks.

She was tall for a girl, but her height still failed in comparison to his tall stature. The top of her head barely reached his chest. She had a pair of bright blue eyes that shone with an innocence that he had only see on his cousin.

"You're pretty good," she complimented him.

He blinked twice, a splash of pink tinting his features.

Not at all put-off by his silence like so many were, she continued to animatedly speak, "I do a little kendo myself, though kyudo is more my thing."

He nodded his head towards the spare kendo equipment and asked, "Match?"

Mori was pleased to see her quickly catch onto his short form of communication as she hastily grabbed the gear and readied herself in the middle of the floor. He met her there and the two politely bowed to one another before beginning.

She settled into a solid defensive stance. By the way her body prepared itself, he would bet that she did more than a "little bit" of kendo.

For a moment, neither moved, silently appraising one another. This time around he took the offensive, eager to see just what she could do. She blocked his initial attack and managed to score a point by hitting his wrist.

The two quickly settled back into position. He was impressed with her style, though he would not let her score another point. She was good, but he was better and he laid her out flat in no time.

He had fought girls before, each usually out to prove something. And after each loss they had either sworn revenge or made promises to improve and defeat him some day.

She did none of that. In fact she did something no other opponent of his had ever done before, she laughed.

Smiling down at her, he offered a hand up which she promptly took. Helping her back to her feet, he felt his ears start to burn as she continued to smile at him, his mind not yet registering that he had yet to let go of her hand.

"Guess I still have some practicing to do," she sheepishly spoke, before looking down at their entwined hands and adding, "Uhh, can I have my hand back."

Mori quickly let go as if he had just been burned. Coughing and rubbing his head in embarrassment, he spoke, "Not bad."

He was pleased to see her flush a nice shade of red that he knew had nothing to do with their recent match.

"Th-thanks," she stuttered.

"Hnn."

She giggled before suddenly slapping herself on the forehead. Looking down at her confused, she swiftly explained herself, "Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Higurashi Kagome."

He replied in kind, "Morinozuka Takashi."

"Well thanks for the spar Morinozuka-san. You should check out the archery dojo tomorrow afternoon. I'm doing a demonstration. It's more of my strong suit," she babbled on.

"I'll stop by," he agreed.

It took her a while, but eventually Kagome managed to find a quiet spot to eat out by one of Ouran's many water fountains, even if it looked more like a pond. Though she was a little put-off by the statue of a baby peeing in the water, but beggars could not be choosers.

Rich people had such weird tastes.

But it wasn't like her school was any better. Everything was just as excessively decorated, their wealth evident on every square inch of land it was built on. She shouldn't complain though, she was lucky to have gotten in and that her scholarship was not completely based off of academic merit.

Pulling out her bento, she was about to dig in when she felt a torrent of strong emotions, primarily anger, stomp by.

Since her time in the Feudal Era, Kagome had worked hard to hone her priestess abilities. She had become particularly sensitive to people's auras and their emotions.

Looking up, she immediately spotted the source. A petite girl dressed in a boy's school uniform, sat under one of the school's many trees. She had a book in hand, though Kagome could tell she wasn't really giving it her full attention.

Never one to mind her own business, especially when she felt she could help, Kagome packed her food back up and approached the other girl.

"Hey, mind if I join you," Kagome asked, unintentionally startling the younger girl. She barely managed to dodge the textbook that was flown into the air.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you," she quickly apologized.

"It's alright, you just nearly gave me a heart attack," the brunette muttered, looking up to finally get a good look at the priestess. "Umm, who are you? I haven't seen you around here before."

"Oh, right. I keep forgetting that today. I'm Higurashi Kagome and I'm here for the Cultural Festival."

"Fujioka Haruhi, I'm a first year student here."

"Nice to meet you Fujioka-san," Kagome said, sitting down next to the girl and pulling out her lunch.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather be alone right now," Haruhi spoke up, eyeing the girl wearily. She had, had a long day and she wasn't interested in meeting any more new people, especially after her encounter with the girls from Lobelia and the revelations from the Host Club.

Kagome ignored her request and instead offered her some of her food. "Rice ball? I made plenty."

"I'm really not…wait did you say you made it," Haruhi asked, stunned. She had yet to meet a rich kid who could actually do common a chore for themselves.

"Yep. Honestly, I'm not as well off as my classmates," Kagome freely admitted.

"Oh, I can relate to that," Haruhi said, grabbing a rice ball. It was kind of nice, being around someone who was…well normal. "I'm the only scholarship student around here."

"Is that why you're wearing the boy's uniform?"

Haruhi shrugged her shoulders, blasé about the fact that her "secret" had been found out. "Something like that."

Nodding her head, Kagome curiously inquired, "So, what's got you so upset?"

"What makes you think I'm upset," Haruhi attempted to deny. Kagome raised an eyebrow and shot the girl a disbelieving look.

Sighing, Haruhi let out a low "fine", before explaining how she became involved with the club and confessing her earlier troubles with the group of boys, leaving out just what kind of club they were.

"Let me get this straight," Kagome said, attempting to clarify what she had just heard. "You're mad that they took your mechanical pencil, and sold it?"

Hearing it said aloud had Haruhi deflating at just how childish it seemed. "Yes, well no. It's the principle of the matter."

"It was wrong of them to take your stuff, I'll give you that. But by the way you talk about them, I don't think they really meant any harm. And it's not like they took something you couldn't easily replace," Kagome spoke her thoughts, trying to remain objective but it really did sound like they had not purposely set out to upset the first year.

"I suppose you're right. I just wish that they'd be, I dunno a little less dramatic about things," Haruhi acknowledged.

Kagome took another bite of her food and added, "Your friends obviously care for you, even if aren't exactly tactful about how they go about things."

"That's certainly an understatement," Haruhi mumbled, a certain blond king automatically coming to mind.

She ignored her comment, and continued to speak. "My own friends aren't that subtle themselves. They're a little out there, quick to flirt, and very over-the-top."

"Must be a rich thing," they both concluded at the same time.

Bursting out into giggles, Kagome shared the rest of her food with Haruhi in a relaxed mood.

He was going to be late.

After settling the whole fiasco with Lobelia and guaranteeing that Haruhi would be staying at Ouran, Mori was running late. He hadn't even had time to change out of his costume of the day. He was getting a few weird looks, though luckily most people just played it off as part of the Cultural Festival. He was just glad that he hadn't been forced to wear a dress like the others or else he really would have been late (there was no way he was going to show up in a dress).

By the time he reached the dojo, a decent sized crowd had gathered. But thanks to his height, he could easily see over the heads of many of the spectators. He frowned when he saw most of them were girls from Lobelia. He was still sore about their attempt at recruiting Haruhi.

He quickly swept his gaze past them. It didn't take him long to spot Kagome as she was the only one on the floor. He was pleased to see that he hadn't missed her.

His eyes widened in awe as he took in her appearance. He had thought she was pretty cute earlier, but with her hair tied in a low ponytail down her back and the elegant pair of priestess clothing she wore, she was breathtaking.

She had been right, Kyudo was more her area. She proved that with each target she expertly hit, outdoing everyone else.

Pushing his way past the crowd once the demonstration was over, he quickly caught her attention.

"You are good."

Kagome blushed, and nodded her head in thanks; she still was not used to receiving compliments.

"I'm glad you made it Morinozuka-san, nice coattails by the way."

"Thank you," he replied and awkwardly added, "You… uhh, you look nice."

"You think so," Kagome asked as she fiddled with the sleeves of her haori. She had a little trouble at first, accepting how much she looked like Kikyo especially in those clothes. But she was Kagome and no one else, no matter how much she looked like the former priestess or what InuYasha had said.

"Yeah," he simply and honestly replied.

Giggling nervously, she boldly reached out and took his hand. Ignoring his confused look, she grabbed a pen from her haori and quickly jotted down a number.

"Here, give me a call sometime," she said with a wink before jetting off, embarrassed by her daring behavior. A year ago, she doubted she would have had the courage to do something so forward. Since starting high school and making such overconfident friends, she had started to feel more like her old self.

"There you are Kagome-chan!"

Kagome barely had time to brace herself before she was suddenly attached from behind.

"We've been looking all over for you Kagome-senpai," Hinako greeted, appearing with Benio besides her. Chizuru latched tightly onto her.

Benio appraised her meaningfully as if she had known just what she had done. "I hope none of those disgusting males were bothering you."

"Aww Chizuru, can you please let go," Kagome asked, ignoring Benio's misandry as she attempted to escape her grasp.

The blond second year hastily shook her head no and started to gush, "I can't help it Kagome-chan, especially when you wear your priestess clothing."

"You're so elegant Kagome-senpai," Hinako added.

Benio nodded her head in agreement. "You certainly are. And I have to say, you did quite amazing in showing up those swine. At least someone is having a good day. You wouldn't believe they day we've had."

"Eh, what happened," Kagome asked, knowing she was going to regret it. They were probably going to rave about males again.

Chizuru was the first to answer. "Can you believe they have some disgusting Host Club here?"

"Really, a host club," Kagome said, scrunching her nose up in disgust. She couldn't believe a high school actually had a club like that. Just what kind of school was Ouran?

"It's just as bad as it sounds. Those poor, impressionable girls are being tricked with some fake ideals about love. And they had some poor maiden in their clutches," Benio ranted and continued to ramble on about arrogant males and their slight on female kind.

Finally breaking free from the blond, Kagome hastily spoke, "You're right, that is disgusting. Well I gotta go. I'm on shrine duty today. Late you guys."

Before they could reply, Kagome quickly took off. She loved her friends dearly, but they were a bit too much. Especially since she did not share all of their ideals, though she was rather repulsed at the idea of a host club.

TBC