Azami Hayako's Story

Kumiko

Kanade


The sun was bright. It shone down upon her eyes blindingly as she and Kanade stepped from the small car that their parents had driven them to school in - and needless to say, the school was intimidating. For girls that had been home-schooled up until high school, it was a large, new, and frightening place to them both, although Kumiko knew that Kanade wouldn't allow it to show, nor would she admit that she was intimidated.

Kanade glanced back at her sister, who was lingering inside the car door and staring at the school with what could only be called uncertainty with a slight tinge of fear added to it. Her eyes flashed a bit and she cast a glare at the Academy. How dare the creators of the blueprints make it so large, enough so that it frightened her baby sister?

"Kumiko, come along now, dear sister! Our new life awaits!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands before her, ever-the-chipper psychopath.

Kumiko turned her brown-red gaze over to her sister, who was older by a mere eight minutes, and with a nod, reached back inside the car to retrieve her bag before taking off after her, in an effort to catch up. She managed to do so easily, and it was then that the girls made their way inside of the gates that guarded the impressive Academy. The campus was undeniably amazing, decorated beautifully with tress, bushes, flowers, and other beings of nature, along with birds, squirrels, and the usual random animal that belonged with Mother Earth. Students littered across it, either sitting on blankets or standing and speaking to one another. They were intimidating, too. Almost as intimidating as the school itself, to be frank. Kumi moved closer to her sister, whom she was often asked if she was scared of, and kept her head bowed in an effort to hide her slightly-pink cheeks.

"Kumiko, don't look like such a defeated puppy. I'm sure the people here will be nice to you. And if they're not, just tell me who wasn't and I'll be the shit out of them for you, my darling," Kanade said flippantly, linking her arm with her sister's as they walked. If one were to look at the two, Kanade would be seen as the older sister or a twin, and Kumiko the younger sister or twin. Either way, they were correct, just perhaps a bit off by how much older Kanade was.

They reached the school and Kanade let her sister dance away in the direction of where her classes were meant to be, while she took off in the opposite.

Kumiko let out a breath and started up the immense stairs, unable to get past how positively massive the inside was in comparison to the outside of the school. Her eyes returned to the map as she made her way up, the unnaturally girly yellow dress heavy on her body. I look like an overgrown banana ... Her shoulders slumped a bit as her stomach grumbled loudly at the thought of bananas. I'm starving ... It wasn't unnatural for her to be hungry, but she was and there was no help for it when she was at school.

"I'm so hungry ..." she groaned. With her head down, she wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, and as she turned a corner, slammed head-first into a tall figure. It was obviously a boy, and when she stepped back and slowly craned her head backwards, she saw him.

He was massive, large, and brutish-looking. His hair was a messy red, his eyebrows were thick, he wore a pair of sunglasses, and the beginnings of a mustache was threatening.

"Hey, watch it shrimp!" he snarled out, his eye twitching.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"You didn't mean to? Yeah, well, I guess I didn't mean to do this!" His large, meaty hands shot out and roughly grabbed her upper arms, bruising them almost immediately, and he flung her towards the wall, pinning her painfully against it. She let out a cry and struggled against his grip, but despite her own strength from numerous sports and hours of working out, she was nothing in comparison to his large frame.

"I'm sorry! Please, just let go!" she begged, tears pricking at her eyes from the pain.

"Hey you! Take your hands off of my sister, you bastard!" A fist shot out at him, slamming across the boy's face. His hands slid away from Kumiko as he stumbled to the side, and Kumi slid down the wall, trembling from fear. Kanade stood there, her shoulders heaving with rage, and one could almost see the roiling black aura of fury around her body.

"I'm going to kick your mother-f'ing ass!"

The boy glared at her for a moment, before he charged at Kanade, his intention to head-butt her obvious. Kanade easily side-stepped him, her foot out in his path, and his foot caught on her ankle. He flew to the ground and slammed face-first into it, and while he was down, she threw herself in the air and slammed down on him, her elbow crashing into his back.

"You bastard why don't you pick on someone your own size instead of my defenseless sister if I ever catch you trying to hurt her against I'll send you to hell and back you got that you asshole I hope you're in pain right now because I'm going to rip your balls off and feed them to my dog!" She shrieked in one breath, her words almost running together as she wrapped her hands around his throat and pulled him up. He only squirmed like a fish out of water, choking out words that sounded close to 'I'm sorry' and 'I give, I give!'. Finally, she released him and stood, stepping on his head as she started over to her sister. She gently took Kumiko's wrists and helped her up.

"Are you okay, Kumi? Any bruises? I'm sorry it took me so long to get here," she said softly, her guilt obvious in her blue eyes.

Kumiko rubbed at her upper arms, her tears gone, and shook her head slowly. "I-I'm okay, I'm just a little shook up is all. I promise, I'm alright," she said quietly, her voice a bit shaky. "It isn't your fault. I should start watching where I'm going," she mumbled, dropping her head. After a moment, she lifted it and looked at Kanade. "I'm going to go back to looking for my classes. I promise not to get into anymore trouble," she said with a small nod.

Kanade studied her sister for a moment, before she finally released her wrists and stepped back. "Alright. If you need me, just call my cell phone, alright?" When there was a nod in return fro the girl, Kanade turned and returned to searching for her classes, always keeping an ear open for her sister. Those who looked her way were only rewarded with a piercing, blue-eyed glare that sent chills up their spines.

With a small breath in an attempt to calm herself, Kumiko started down the hall once more, her entire attitude deflated and tired.

Once again she wasn't watching where she was going, and instead of running into a person this time, it was a door. It had just opened in front of her, and with a small sound of surprise mingled with a bit of pain, she fell back and onto her bottom, blinking at the fact that she had once again managed to cause something that ended in her hurting herself.

She grimaced a bit and moved onto her knees, rubbing at her now-sore bottom, aware that she would undoubtedly have a bruise on at least her tailbone the next day, and didn't even bother looking up at the boy who had opened the door in her face.

---

---

“Azami! Azami, guess what! Guess what!”

The small girl turned, her fingers resting on her lips and the sleeve of her yellow dress covering her mouth. She looked like a child in more ways than one in that position, but she didn't care. She scrunched her shoulders just a bit and looked up at the girl that had darted up to her, her arms waving madly through the air.

"U-Um ... Yes, Mimi?"

A poof of red hair was all that Azami could see of Mimi as bent forward, her hands on her knees and her shoulders heaving with her breaths.

"M-Mimi, are you alright?"

The girl held up a hand, waving it uselessly at Azami, who looked at her helplessly. Finally, Mimi pushed herself up, her face flushed and a bright grin on her face.

"I found the absolute perfect place for you to ... Read. You'll enjoy it, I guarantee," she said with a wink. She snatched the map that Azami held, flipped it open, uncapped a pen, and then made a large circle around a spot on it. She then handed it back to Azami, who looked down at it in confusion.

"A m-music room? B-But wouldn't that be l-loud?" She looked up, and found that Mimi was already gone, her poof of red hair disappearing around a corner down the hall. Ami looked down at the map, her brows drawn together, and then up at a grandfather clock that stood nearby. For some reason, the school had given the students an entire day to themselves to explore the high school campus and school in order to get their bearings, and although Azami was a decent navigator, she had gotten lost more then once while walking through the seemingly-endless maze of halls.

Taking another look at her map, she found where she was and what she would have to do to reach the music room - it was printed as 'Music Room #3' on the map - before heading off into the unknown.

It didn't take her long to find the room, and as she reached it, she noted unnatural quiet coming from it.

You'd think that I'd be able to hear at least a piano or something through the doors ...

She looked at the map again, and then up at the massive doors before her, adjusting the messenger bag that bounced against her thigh. With a deep breath, she curled her fingers around one of the handles, pushed it down, and cautiously pushed it open.

And when she opened it, they were there. Six incredibly gorgeous young men - three of which were uncannily familiar. The Hitachiin twins, in all their sneaky glory, and him. Choukichi.

Her cheeks turned a bright red as she stared in, only half of her small body revealed through the crack in the door, and she felt the intimidation of the handsome men getting to her. Her lower lip wobbled a bit and she felt tears appear in her eyes, that she attempted to force back.

"I-I-I-I-" Deep breaths, Azami ... Slow your words and enunciate. "I-I-I was j-j-just l-looking for a p-p-place to r-read. I-I'm s-s-s-sorry," she managed to get out, her voice tiny and more then a bit frightened. "I-I-I'll j-just be l-l-leaving n-now," she choked out the words, already retreating back into the hall.

Kazuma woke up exactly the same time he always did and began his morning routine. Moving with his normal silence and grace, despite the fact that his muscles ached from a bodyguard job he had been on the day before. Once he was ready he left his house and began the two and half mile jog to Ouran Academy.

He arrived early and headed straight to music room 3. He always went before school started to set up the tables and chairs, or any decorates for themed days. Today was just a normal day, or atleast as normal as the club could get, so all he had to set up was the tables and chairs. As always he was the first one there, but the others eventually showed up as well.

As Kazuma was finished the door was opened by a girl with pink hair. "I-I-I was j-j-just l-looking for a p-p-place to r-read. I-I'm s-s-s-sorry, I-I-I'll j-just be l-l-leaving n-now," Then the girl slipped back out into the hallway. Kazuma just shrugged and rotated his shoulders, loosening the stiff muscles there. He didn't want to bother the obviously nervous girl, even though she could have stayed and read if she had wanted to. Kazuma wouldn't have bothered her, though he couldn't say the same for the others.

Kumiko












Kanade


Kanade and Kumiko tilted their heads back to peer up and down the abnormally large doors before them. They were a pearly white wood and had golden, intricately-designed handles for doors - and were incredibly intimidating. The twins cast a look at one another, their 'twin telepathy' kicking in at the exact moment their eyes met, and with a slight determination in their gazes and an exchanged nod, they both turned to the doors at the same time. One of each girl's hands dropped upon a door handle, and with a small exchange of bravery from Kanade to Kumiko, they pushed down the door handles and opened the doors.

They were met by an extravagant room - one that's intended purpose was a music room, but had become something entirely different from the such. In it were milling girls who were obviously attending some sort of organized event or something close to one, and only a few boys - both girls counted six in total. The girls were fawning over every word that the teenage boys would say, and only one sat away from the crowd, obviously in an effort to avoid the mass of people.

The twins made their ways into the room, both girl peering around with bright, curious gazes, and while Kanade's was cool and calculating, Kumiko's was uncertain and a bit frightened, for the extravagance of the room was quite intimidating.

It was while she was looking around that she managed to slam into yet another person. With a squeak, Kumiko flailed her arms in an attempt to keep her balance, and only managed to do so when Kanade caught her under her pits. That wasn't before, however, she slammed into a nearby, small pedestal, which held a set of glorious-looking fine china, designed into teacups, a teakettle, and small little plates intended for the teacups to be place upon. They shattered on the floor, shards skidding across it with soft sounds, before coming to a stop. The elder twin pushed the younger one up and made sure she was steady, before turning back to study the room. Kumiko, however, turned to the young boy she had managed to slam into - who also looked exactly the same as another boy who was across the room. Another set of twins? Oh, she most definitely hoped so. It would be nice not to be singled out because of her twin status with Kanade for once.

"I'm so sorry," she said quickly, her voice soft and embarrassed. "I really should have been watching where I was going, and I -" She grimaced as her eyes spotted the fine china, and with a weary look, she slowly turned her gaze back up to the young man she had bumped into, and flicked them over to the one who stood beside him - who was also intimidating, but had a gentler look about him.

"I-I'll pay for that, I promise. Somehow ..." She trailed off, another grimace rising to her soft lips. "I don't know how, but I will!"

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to pay for it with, Einstein?" Kanade turned a blue-eyed gaze to her sister, her expression bemused. "It's not like we have some sort of Swedish bank account stashed away by our family, which, by the way, isn't as rich as all of the snooty bitches and pricks here," she said with an eye-roll, her irritation evident. She turned to the two boys that her sister had managed to embarrass herself in front of, her expression bored as she looked them up and down.

"Cute," she scoffed, her hands on her hips. "So how exactly can we pay you back for that tea set? Because we really can't afford to do so with money. And I'm not going to let you put just my sister to work, so you're stuck with me too, dears. We could clean for you," she offered. Despite her psychotic nature, she held true to debts and would repay them no matter what the cost, and didn't intend on skirting out of this one, either.

"Kanade, that really isn't necessary ... I was the klutz who broke them in the first place," Kumiko said quietly, her eyes turn to her sister.

"Nonsense, Kumi! I'm not going to leave my sister alone with these ... These ... Dumbasses. So they're stuck with me, too."

Kumiko grimaced and turned back to the two young men, dropping forward at her waist, her hands clasped before her in the bow. "My sincerest apologies. I didn't mean to break it, honest. My name is Kumiko, Kumiko Tachibana. And this is my sister, Kanade Tachibana. We're Sophomores, and ... We just began attending school here this year. Is there any way that I - I mean, we," she scrambled to correct as her sister tossed her an annoyed look, "Can repay you for the tea set?"

---

---

On second thought ... It was pretty quiet in there ... Just because there are people in it ... And Choukichi ... Doesn't mean that I can't still read in there ... That guy that was in there before who looked at me was really scary-looking though ...

Azami frowned, looking down at her hands as the thoughts crossed through her mind. She couldn't help the jittery feeling the daring thoughts gave her, and after a moment, drew in a deep breath and grabbed the door handle again. She slowly pushed it down and the door open, peaking in just enough to see inside. Her long braids swayed a bit with each movement, and after standing in the doorway for several heartbeats, and slipped inside the music room - or, er, whatever room it was now, even thought it was obvious supposed to be a music room.

With a nervous look at the young men, she bowed her head and clutched her bag to her chest, her bangs falling into her eyes, and retreated to a corner to read, where a small table had been set up for God-knew-who in this almost ethereal room. After she had become comfortable, she hunched down, her book inches from her nose as she attempted to block out the other people in the room. It was difficult, but not impossible, and she was easily drawn into the other world of her story.



Azami was jerked from her story as a commotion was stirred not too far away from her. From what she could see, a girl with raven-black hair that was cropped short at the neck had somehow knocked over one of the Hitachiin twins, who had been speaking to the tall, frightening-looking young man with black hair from before. She blinked several times, her surprise evident in her gaze, before burrowing back into her book.

Chi walked over to Kazuma and asked if he could use Kazuma as a pillow. The tiniest hint of a smile showed on Kazuma's face and he nodded and said a single word. "After." Which meant sure but after the club is over. The door opening made Kazuma glance over, it was pink haired girl from a few minutes ago, she must have changed her mind. He watched as she went over to a table in the corner and began reading. Then the door opened again, this time by... twins? Kazuma examined the two girls and determined that they were in fact twins, though ones hair was longer than the others, they had the same exact face.

Kazuma watched as the shorter haired girl crashed into Chi and then the small pedestal which held an expensive tea set. Using his lightning fast reflexes, Kazuma reached out and caught Chi before he could be knocked to the ground. He was much more concerned with the safety of the people than a replacable tea set. The longer haired girl caught the other one so he didn't have to worry about her. Now for the- There was a crash as the tea set hit the ground and shattered into many little pieces. Kazuma inwardly cursed himself for not being faster. "I'm so sorry, I really should have been watching where I was going, and I - I-I'll pay for that, I promise. Somehow ..." She paused for a brief moment, "I don't know how, but I will!" The longer haired girl replied. "Oh yeah? And what are you going to pay for it with, Einstein? It's not like we have some sort of Swedish bank account stashed away by our family, which, by the way, isn't as rich as all of the snooty bitches and pricks here," Kazuma narrowed his eyes, not liking the stereotyping. As he listened to the girls argue back and forth, he realized he was still holding into Chi. He let go, making sure Chi had his feet underneath him first.

Finally the girls seemed to reach a conclusion. The short haired one bowed, "My sincerest apologies. I didn't mean to break it, honest. My name is Kumiko, Kumiko Tachibana. And this is my sister, Kanade Tachibana. We're Sophomores, and ... We just began attending school here this year. Is there any way that I - I mean, we, Can repay you for the tea set?"

Kazuma had no idea what to do. If it was up to him they'd forget about the whole thing, it was an accident after all. But on the other hand this Kumiko wanted to do the right thing. Should he let her? Kazuma glanced at Chi with a 'help me' look on his face.

Kano was sitting in a chair, a bit of in an awkward position, and was sleeping. He didn't get very much sleep the night before since his 'step mother' was sick and couldn't take over. He even skipped a day at the host club to help the woman out. And unlike a few people, he only did it because he saw her as his mother, a second mother that is, since he loved his own just the same.

Not only that, but he did have a sort of problem with sleeping, so it made sense. Most of the people found it natural for him to just fall asleep anywhere. But while he needed sleep and slept a lot, he was easily woken up when someone came into the room.

"I-I-I was j-j-just l-looking for a p-p-place to r-read. I-I'm s-s-s-sorry, I-I-I'll j-just be l-l-leaving n-now,"

Slowly, just as the door slammed shut, Kano opened up one eye, and then the second, but didn't move from the chair. He then let out a loud yawn, stretching his arms on the chair before finding that the door opened a second time, scaring him so much that he fell off the chair this time, letting out a small yelp.

He rubbed the back of his head gently before then looking towards the Hitachiin twins and Kazuma before asking, his vision still blurry from falling off his chair so suddenly, "Eh... What did I miss....? Did someone come into the room? Neh... I overslept, I'm sorry for that...." He said slowly, his eyes half closed. If he knew that there were other people in the room, he would have acted differently, more refined and polite.

At the moment, he looked like a little child who had just woken up at an early time and had to get ready for school. His hair was messy, he looked quite tired, and wasn't exactly able to see very well. Sometimes it made him wonder if he needed glasses or something, but really, it was probably because he fell off his chair.

But he finally saw a little better when he heard something crash to the ground, causing him to shout again a second time since he was still in a bit of a dream world, "I'm so sorry, I really should have been watching where I was going, and I - I-I'll pay for that, I promise. Somehow ..."

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to pay for it with, Einstein? It's not like we have some sort of Swedish bank account stashed away by our family, which, by the way, isn't as rich as all of the snooty bitches and pricks here,"

"My sincerest apologies. I didn't mean to break it, honest. My name is Kumiko, Kumiko Tachibana. And this is my sister, Kanade Tachibana. We're Sophomores, and ... We just began attending school here this year. Is there any way that I - I mean, we, Can repay you for the tea set?"

Kano finally stood up straighter, regaining his correct behavior before then approaching the two, still seeming slightly sleepy, but doing so none the less, "Miss... Um.... Well...." He looked back at the tea set that was still on the floor, "That was... really expensive..." He spoke slowly because he was both sleepy, and because he was trying to find something polite to say rather than put that it was probably too much for them to pay back so he after coming to a conclusion, he said, "T-there's not exactly a way to pay that, but... you could... work it off somehow?" He tried his best to stiff a smile and glanced back at the other young men, showing an anxious face that showed how much he was begging for some help.



Mao began to walk the hallways of the large and rich school she was at. She was walking slower than most students and was hugging the wall. Why? Because of her condition of course.

Most students looked at her with odd faces, some even whispering since she wasn't really wearing her school uniform. It looked like a regular uniform, the one she used at her first normal and average high school. She was easy to stand out also because of how light the other girls' uniforms were while she wore her usual black school uniform and of course her red scarf.

She looked down at the paper, stopping her walk, and flipped it upside down and frowned a little, "Huh.... Maybe it went this way then?" Mao then flipped it sideways, but again, it didn't work, so, with a sigh, she stuffed it into her pocket and continued walking, her hands holding onto the wall to help her keep balance.

Her condition didn't even allow her to walk normally, so to look as natural as possible, she had to stick to the walls. Mao did need a wheelchair, but she didn't like it. She'd be looked at, stared at, pitied, and other things of that sort. She didn't like anything under that category.

Mao finally found a room, and thinking that it was the right room to find a school uniform, she only found a bunch of students, a handful of young men, and maybe three or four girls in the room as well. Apparently, one of them had broken a tea set and was trying to convince them that they'd pay them back. If it weren't for her condition, she would have dove over there to help clean up, being the optimistic and kind young girl as she was, but since she was too weak to even walk, she could only stand there.

She glanced around the room, and even though they were busy, raised her hand, like she was in a classroom since she found it polite, and said in her usual quiet tone, "I-Is this the room to find the school uniforms...?" She asked, looking around the room to find someone who may have answered her.