Chapter 1

Ouran Academy. A prestigious school for the rich and famous. Generally, at least. A diverse curriculum made sure that students coming from all trades were met with a high standard, the absurdly high tuition rate made sure that the education and various other amenities were properly funded.

While Ouran was a school attended by children of prominent families, occasionally students coming from the middle or lower class would appear. Some thought it was fair that they could get in through hard work, while others didn't like how the commoners were trying to get into high society.

Transfers were common at Ouran with families coming and going due to business. Though, one at such an odd time of the year wasn't normal.

As such, the student body talked about it.

Two girls laughed as one obliviously chattered about what the new student would be like. She did not notice the surprised expression on her friend's face. The girl hurried to shush her as the new student that she was talking about looked directly at them.

Some conversations halted as he walked by and students, not so subtly glanced at him. It was hard to avoid getting attention when not in proper uniform. Wearing casual clothing while everyone else wore suits and dresses tended to garner attention.

Curly ebony hair bounced with each step he took even with the white toque he wore to try and calm the raging curls. His headphones would make them think that he couldn't hear them, but that was his ploy. No music was playing and he could listen in without compromising himself. Though they weren't necessarily trying to keep their volume down. The little red book that he was pretending to look over snapped shut and he glanced over to look a girl in the eye.

He kept a straight face and didn't acknowledge her as he walked passed.

He was mildly interested in the gossip that was spreading. He listened in through the headphones that weren't playing music, though they weren't necessarily trying to keep their volume down. Staying aware of his surroundings, Shion idly skimmed over the pages of his red book, his one visible green eye moving along the pages as he strode past.

"Why is he wearing casual clothing?" A student asked themselves. Their uniforms were required, though she did recall that a boy in the first year had permission not to due to their financial status. "Skinny jeans aren't that appropriate considering the..." the girl trailed off with a cough and Shion almost laughed with the scandalized tone that came from the girl.

"I'm not complaining." Another girl said with a grin, totally unashamed of checking him out, "Aesthetic."

Shion purposefully went to the girl that looked embarrassed. "Excuse me," he put on a small smile and moved his headphones to his neck, "May I ask you how to get to the principal's office?" The girl flushed and words got caught in her throat, her more outgoing friend covered for her.

"You'll need to go up those stairs on the left here to the third floor, then it's straight down the hall on the right. You can't miss it."

He looked over to the direction she pointed to and looked up, adding it to his mental map. "Thanks, I doubted the directions I was given before."

He forgot them actually.

The kind smile grew into a knowing smirk, "Ah, and you may want to pay attention to your volume, you never know what people will hear."

He was tempted to say, "my eyes are up here," but held back as first impressions were quite important.

Turning with a small wave, he continued to go to his destination. He was glad to be in a less populated area—he could feel those stares on him and was pointedly ignoring it, acting as if he didn't notice them. They could be a little more discreet about it. Way to make someone feel uncomfortable. He didn't have a chance to appreciate the school's architecture while wading through the hallways full of people, but now that most people were in their classrooms it gave him some breathing room.

He paused in his endeavour of climbing the staircases to look out of the window. The windows themselves were ginormous by normal standards and had fine silk curtains as decoration. One floor in the building was roughly the same height from floor to ceiling of a two-story building—so by technicality, the school was six stories tall. That was a lot of stairs. Taking a breath, he continued up and went right as the girl told him.

The view from each of the many windows in the main hallways overlooked the courtyard. A large fountain was in the middle with various kinds of trees around the perimeter accented by colourful flower beds in the area.

The landscapers did a good job.

Almost passing the large doors of the chairman's office—he was entranced by the view—he looked up at the massive burgundy red doors. Everything in the school was extravagant and made out of fine materials with either subtle silver or golden lining. Thankfully the walls weren't the colour from the schools' website. Vibrant pink is a horrible colour for a building, though that certainly doesn't stop people. A memory of one of his old schools in Canada came to mind. He was only there for a short amount of time, but the pale pink colour of the interior stayed in his mind.

Knocking on the door, he was called in from the voice beyond the door.

He closed the door behind himself and nodded his head in a slight bow, "Hello, I have arrived for my meeting with the chairman for eight-thirty." He beat the lady to the punch, giving her the info that she was about to ask for.

The lady, her name was Sara from the ornament that was currently being used as a paperweight, looked through some files, "Hm, Hakuba Shion?"

"That is correct."

The woman fiddled with her pen, spinning it around a few times, "You're early, the principal is still in a meeting. It will be about ten minutes before it is finished."

"That's fine, thank you." Shion sat down on a couch that was set at the side of the room to wait. He started to feel impatient and the incessant ticking of the grandfather clock in the background was grating on his nerves.

Twenty minutes passed. Looking at the clock, Shion sighed.

Sara didn't pause in her work as she spoke, "It should be about time."

As if it were some cue, the door of the principal's office opened and the people inside ushered out of the room. Shion was gestured to go in by the lady. Shion smiled to her in a silent thank you before going in, feeling faintly anxious, though his annoyance from the wait overwrote that feeling.

"Hakuba Shion, correct?"

"Yes sir," Shion bowed. The action was starting to feel awkward since he wasn't used to it yet, but he knew it was a necessary thing. It showed respect.

"No need to be so formal Hakuba-kun," Suoh smiled. "Now, as you're our first student on more than one scholarship, and I congratulate you, there are a few conditions that you must meet."

"What would those be, sir?" Shion panicked internally, he hadn't heard of any conditions other than a standard grade of seventy percent. He was careful to keep a neutral face, his acting skills coming in handy while he was feeling uneasy.

"One, you must have over a seventy-percent average, and two you must put on performances at the end of the year in your different areas of skill."

"So music and drama," Shion mused. He already had his own compositions that he could use, but with the drama performance, he would have to think of a monologue of sorts to perform. He was glad that art wasn't included—he couldn't draw for his life. Though I wonder if I can pull off abstract...

"If at all possible, would there be a music room that I could use for my own purposes? For practice?" Shion asked warily, hoping that he wasn't asking for too much. He had equipment that hadn't arrived yet and it would be difficult to practice loud instruments in an apartment setting without them.

The man chuckled, a warm throaty sound that soothed Shion's nerves, "Of course you may! You are able to use music room number two," he went through a drawer in his desk and placed it in front of Shion on the table. "One is for the main door while the other is for the door that connects to the room beside it. The music rooms are a bit hidden by the far end of school due to the volume. It's a lengthier walk so the teachers are more understanding if you are late—though I don't expect that to be abused."

"Thank you, Sir," he took the keys and put them in his satchel. He would have to put them on his lanyard afterwards.

Suoh clasped his hands over his desk and leaned in, "Just don't lose that pair of keys, otherwise you'll have to pay a replacement fee." Then he brought out a piece of paper, "All of your conventional classes are with the same students, so hopefully you'll make some friends, but the extracurricular classes are not other than physed." He looked over Shion's schedule briefly. He was in his son's classes and he definitely knew that he would pester Shion—it was just in his nature.

"Thank you for the advice," he smiled but forgot to be polite, "Sir," he added in as an afterthought. He saw the man crack a smile before coughing into his fist.

The bell rang just as they finished.

"Now run along, you wouldn't want to be late to your first class, right?" I think he'll interest them quite a bit. He reminds me of my son's friend. The one with the glasses.

• • • • • •

Closing the huge doors behind himself, Shion sighed and tried to relax. He felt way too stiff and formal. It wasn't his normal self to be so prim and proper, and while he was accustomed to his mother's fancy social parties, it didn't mean that he acted like that regularly.

A map of the building helped guide him as he made his way to his classroom 2-A. It took about five minutes for him to get there with the size of the building. He saw his new teacher and before he could speak, she had already acknowledged him.

"Hakuba Shion?" Shion nodded. "Good thing you didn't get lost or you would have been late." She chuckled, "Our campus is gargantuan. Now, let us introduce you to the class. Wait out here until I call you in please."

"Alright," he answered, and he was surprised—introductions? I didn't know that actually happened. I thought those were only in anime. The teacher smiled and walked in to calm the class down. Shion could hear what the teacher was saying through the door.

Fuck. This means I need to think of what to say...

"Alright class, we have a new student joining us, so don't intimidate them too much." She chuckled at the amused faces of the class. "You may come in now."

Time to bullshit my way through this.

Heeding his teachers' words, Shion cracked his neck and strode in.

All eyes focused on him, and Shion knew he was the focal point of the room—the victim of the classes appraising stares. A neutral expression held strong on his face as his eyes scanned the room. Some girls were whispering and giggling while a few boys glared at him. Ah, there are even delinquents here. How reassuring. He had transferred many times already and he was used to it, but he felt out of place in such a high-class place. This wasn't a stage play either. People here have connections upon connections.

Shion went to write his name on the board and stopped himself when he started writing the letter S. I've got to break that habit now. Damn. He had gotten used to writing his name with English letters. Erasing the mistake, he wrote out his kanji.

"I'm Hakuba Shion," he said, fixing his black-framed glasses. "I've transferred here from the States so my Japanese may not be at its best at the moment, so bear with me." A short introduction. He just wanted to sit down as he was already mentally exhausted, and class hadn't even started. Skimming over his classmates, he recognized the girl who clammed up from before. He made eye contact and smiled briefly, while the girl flushed and looked down.

He had his sweater tied around his waist now and she seemed to notice that.

A few students put up their hands, wanting to ask questions. Shion raised an eyebrow, his introduction didn't sate them, apparently. He looked over to the teacher, silently asking her what he should do. She gestured for him to do the obvious.

He sighed, eyes closing as he cracked his neck. "Hmm, alright... you then," he nodded in the person's general direction.

"Why aren't you wearing a uniform?"

Of course, the subtle wealth question comes first. Here we go.

Shion glanced down, silently and obviously assessing if his choice of clothing was up to their standards. Not that he cared. "Too expensive. Unfortunately, I do not meet the financial requirements to spend such an absurd amount of money on a uniform. Besides, it isn't a requirement, why should I pay for something that isn't mandatory."

He did not want to wear a suit for eight hours a day.

"If you couldn't even spare anything for the uniform, then how could you pay for tuition?" Someone else asked from the opposite side of the room, not bothering to raise their hand. Shion was not amused. They were skirting around the fine line of curiosity and discrimination.

Shion levelled them with a stare and he could see the person get anxious. "Well… I could have paid tuition, but couldn't afford the uniform after payment. Or, maybe, I prefer personal comfort over the presentation of my status? Disregarding the rude question, the actual answer that you are looking for is that I haven't had to pay for tuition." The person didn't look like they had anything else in them, and the classroom was silent. "...Any more questions?" Shion's tone made it clear that he was done with this. Shifting his weight, Shion crossed his arms and stood there for a few seconds, waiting.

Awkwardly raising their hand, one of the braver students spoke up, "Does that make you a scholarship student? And what for?"

"I am, though I thought it was obvious based on the implication. I am on scholarship for both the music and drama departments." The neutral look from the beginning of this interrogation had vanished and his blatant irritation wasn't hidden at all. Shion looked away from the student and they breathed a sigh of relief. "I think we're done here. This is wasting our time."

Shion wiped his name off of the chalkboard and walked to the only open seat in the classroom.

Once he sat down, he took his satchel off and took out a notebook and a mechanical pencil. A few moments of silence went by as the teacher prepared for their lecture. He didn't pay attention to the looks people were giving him, though he could hear what was being said.

Some time into the lecture, Shion heard a sound come from behind him.

"Psst."

Ignoring it, Shion focused on his school work.

"Psst."

Shion could feel his eye twitch in irritation. He had ignored it a few times already and it was getting annoying. He took a deep breath and the grip on his pencil loosened.

"Alright, I'll get you to work on these problems and after five minutes I'll get you to show me your steps." The teacher instructed and the sounds of moving desks and chairs filled the room.

"Psst!"

It was so obviously directed at him and the person just didn't know when to stop. "May I help you?" Shion asked without turning around, attempting to be polite despite his annoyance. He was trying to finish the last question and it appeared that the person didn't hear him as he continued to try to get his attention.

"Psssst!"

He was about to spit around with an aggravated, "What?" when another person came in before he could let loose.

"Tamaki," Shion heard a sigh, and the owner of the voice sounded just as annoyed as he felt, "it seems like Hakuba-san doesn't want to talk."

"I just wish to introduce myself to the new student, Kyoya."

Shion sighed and turned around, expression bland and unimpressed. "If you're going to purposely use each other's names then you don't need to introduce yourself."

"Oh look, he was listening!" The blond guy's violet eyes lit up happily. The black-haired one with the glasses looked amused. Shion didn't like that look on his face though, it looked like he was analyzing him.

"Yes I was, now what do you want?" Shion's bluntness didn't deter the blond.

"I'm Tamaki Suoh, and this is Kyoya Ootori."

"Yes. I heard. It's a pleasure." His sarcasm seemed to be amusing to Kyoya because he saw a smile quirk onto his face. "You know, you're very…" he paused, annoying, "... persistent. What did you need?"

"I would like to offer you a tour of the school during lunch if you were interested."

"Hmm..." Shion debated on whether he should take the offer or not. It could be a chance to make new friends, but he would rather wander around in his free time and get a feel of the layout. It was much easier for him to remember it that way.

The teacher came in and interrupted his train of thought. "Mr. Suoh, if you're going to talk instead of work, then you must already be done. Why don't you answer this question?"

"Ah, well um..." Tamaki was caught off guard, sweating nervously. He was obviously not listening to the teacher when she started talking again and didn't know what was going on—too adamant on trying to talk to him.

"I'll do it. I was also talking," Shion had actually been following the problems on the board before they started talking, so he got up with his notes in hand as he had already done the problem.

"It was this problem, correct?" He pointed to 3 c) on the chalkboard, the teacher nodded. He glanced at the process of the problem in his notebook then he closed the book with one hand and tucked it under his arm. Writing the process and the steps down, he foiled the equation and solved it. "The answer is thirty-seven x and twenty-five y."

"Good job, Hakuba-kun. You may take your seat."

Tamaki didn't attempt to talk again after the teacher sent him a sharp look. He seemed to have good intentions but was disruptive in doing so.

The class had been given a time period to work on the homework that was handed out. The booklet of equations wouldn't take long, and Shion got to it right away, wanting to finish it so it wouldn't have to be done at home. He put his headphones on and listened to instrumental music. It helped to keep him focused as there were no words to distract him.

There was still time left until the end of the class and he put his work away and in place of it brought out his red book. Flipping through the pages, he stopped on the work he had in progress. Tapping his pen on his chin, he got to work during the time remaining.

Tamaki and Kyoya finished their work and were chatting as per usual, though Tamaki kept glancing over to Shion, curious to what he was doing in the mysterious red book. Shion had a faint smile and was tapping his foot and he would occasionally tap his fingers on the desk, testing the rhythms in his mind. Every now and then, he would stop for a second before continuing writing, having a eureka moment.

Tamaki had no idea to what he was doing and was overcome with curiosity—he would have to ask later. When the bell rang, Shion gathered his stuff and put his satchel over his shoulder. He looked at his schedule.

"So you have English next?"

"Shit!" Shion jumped and bashed his elbow on the desk, in his surprise, he reverted to English. His chair fell with a loud clatter while his desk jerked forward and screeched against the floor from the sudden impact. He spun around to face another guy with glasses. "Don't do that to a guy. Gave me a fucking heart attack," he sighed, "and yes, I have English next." Shion sighed exasperatedly and fixed his chair and desk.

"We stay in the same classroom," Kyoya said, amused by the situation. "We don't move classrooms unless there is an extracurricular class."

"Huh…" Shion forgot that was how the system worked. Then again, he hadn't been in Japan for about a decade. "Thank you for the info Ootori-san. In America, students change rooms for each class. It's quite annoying frankly."

"Let's talk!" Tamaki bounded in, curious about Shion.

Shion raised an eyebrow, they were already talking. "About what?"

"Well, what have you been writing in your red book?"

"Why don't you take a look? You high-class people should have experience in the field." Shion took the item in question back out of his bag and opened it to the first page, putting it on Tamaki's desk behind him.

"Sheet music?" Kyoya questioned, not expecting the content inside.

"Yeah," Shion felt the corners of his mouth upturn, he was excited about the topic they were on. Music always made him happy along with his other favourite hobby, acting.

Tamaki was smiling but scowled childishly when Kyoya took the book and started flipping through the pages.

"I only know violin, but these are all for different instruments." But there was something odd about it. His knowledge of music theory was not the best, but he noticed it. There were two parts of a piece, one for piano and the other for trumpet, but the notes weren't in different keys. "I'm having a hard time understanding this though," he pointed out two different parts of a piece, "They both have the same melody, but they're written in the same key."

Shion was confused about what he was getting at for a second, "Oh. That. Both the piano and trumpet parts are in the key of C Major, so the trumpet part would have to be transposed to the key of D." Shion scratched his chin with a thoughtful frown, "I'm too lazy to transpose it as I'm writing. It is just easier for me to transpose the notes afterwards since it's easier for me to write everything in the key of C." He just had to shift the piano notes down two semitones to be able to play it with a trumpet.

Kyoya was impressed. Both the violin and piano were in the key of C so he didn't have to worry about changing keys in his head.

Tamaki tried to follow what Shion and Kyoya were talking about, but it was giving him a headache. "I know the piano!" Tamaki piped in, wanting to get back in on the conversation.

"Do you guys take music class?"

"I learned the piano and Kyoya learned the violin!"

Subtly, Shion rolled his eyes, "Yes, I know. Ootori-san just said that, Suoh-san. I meant if you took it as a school course," and Shion was taken aback when Tamaki bent down into a ball, a depressing aura emerging from the blond. Shion blinked owlishly, confused, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, he's just..."

"Emotional?"

"Yes." Kyoya adjusted his glasses and shook his head.

They just stared and observed Tamaki growing mushrooms in the back corner of the classroom. Tamaki had gotten a stick from somewhere and started poking at the mushrooms. Kyoya glanced at Shion to see him shaking. Was he laughing?

"S-Suoh-san, you have some wild mood swings don't you." Shion chuckled, and then the teacher walked in. "Come on, it's time for class." Shion held out his hand to help Tamaki up and he brightened. Smiling from ear to ear, he grabbed Shion's hand.

"You should go to music room number three after school."

"Sure." Then Shion leaned closer to Kyoya and side commented, "Is the room full of mushrooms?"

Kyoya laughed lightly, and from the way Tamaki reacted, it seemed like it was a rare occurrence, "I wouldn't be surprised if that happened one day." I would have to punish him severely if that actually happened.

• • • • • •