Chapter 1: Rōran akademī e yōkoso!

(Welcome To Ouran Academy!)

"Shiz, I'm late!" I muttered, running at top speed to class. I had just moved to Japan five days earlier. My new school was Ouran Academy, a place where only the children of the wealthy could attend. Hah! I found it funny that I was the main bread-winner of the house, and not my mom. I'd had a feeling that none of my future classmates were gonna be like me.

I had taken a tour of the place two days after my relocation. I was led around by a boy named Kyouya Ohtori, the third son of the famous Ohtori Group chairman. He was very helpful, albeit a tad snobbish. He'd asked me what my parents did for work, and I'd laughed.

"May I ask what is so funny?" he'd asked, confused.

"My mom isn't the one who makes the real money at home," I'd said. "I am."

He looked a little shocked at first, then cleared his throat and asked, "Well then, what do you do for work?"

"I'm an artist," I answered. "I do paintings, sketches, and I've collaborated with a few authors to make the cover art for their books." I paused. "To the art world, I am known as 'Lady Luna.' It's an alias so I don't have a crap ton of crazy people stalking me or something."

His eyes had widened, and he dropped the subject.

We continued on with the tour, and the campus had been a lovely sight to behold. My younger sister, Alaina, was over at the middle school building of the academy with mom getting a tour over there. At the end of the tour, he showed me the female uniform, and I had nearly gagged.

"I'm sorry, but I'd only wear that if Hell froze over and the sun imploded," I'd said. "It's too . . . girly . . ."

He almost smiled. "Sorry, but that is what the ladies wear."

Then I got an idea. "What if I wore the boys uniform?"

Kyouya seemed to be thinking very hard, but then shook his head. "Not possible," he said.

"Hmmm," I said, thinking. "What if I girlified it? You know, made it feminine-like?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I grabbed a pencil and a pad of paper from my denim purse. I sketched out what I had in mind, then showed him. He raised a brow, but I cut him off before he could say anything.

"Just show the headmaster," I said, holding up a finger, "and see what he says. If he says no, then I'll grit my teeth and wear the damn frilly dress. If he says yes, I'll be wearing what you see drawn here on my first day. Deal?"

He smirked all superior-like, then headed to the headmaster's office. After a few moments, he came back, looking slightly put out.

"He said it was fine," he reported.

"Wunderbar!" I said, clapping my hands.

After the tour, I left and went home to start working on my uniform. It didn't really take much; I had most of the stuff I would need already in my wardrobe, but the piece that would have the school's insignia on it was going to take a little while. On my first day, I put on my finished work of art with a sense of pride; I'd put my blood-red hair up in pigtails and put in my favorite pearlescent lavender earrings.

So, there I was, rushing at top speed to my homeroom. Free period was almost over, and I was cutting it close. I was in class 1A, the highest rank in the first year class. I made it passed the threshold just as the bell rang. I sighed in relief, then look up. Everyone as staring at me, including the teacher. I could guess why . . .

My uniform consisted of: a pair of black, flared dress pants; a white, button-down shirt with puffed short sleeves; and a lavender, pinstriped vest with the school's insignia over my left breast. A chain stretched form the chest pocket over my right breast and attached to the lowest button; the chain belonged to my great-grandpapa's old pocket watch.

I kept my face expressionless and walked up to the teacher. "Hi. I'm the new transfer student, Gwenivere Beilschmidt," I said quietly, bowing slightly in respect and lowering my green-eyed gaze.

"Y-yes," said the teacher, regaining his composure. He looked at everyone else. "Class, this is the new transfer student we've been expecting. Her name is Gwenivere Beilschmidt and she is from America. Please make her feel welcome."

Everyone in the room said hi, and the teacher showed me where my seat was. I took the empty seat in front of an orange-haired boy. He was a twin, for his brother was down to my diagonal right. Class started, and he leaned forward and whispered in my ear.

"Nice getup," he breathed. "I'm Kaoru Hittachiin."

"Nice to meet you," I murmured. "And thank you. It's my own design."

"Cool," he replied, sounding genuinely impressed.

He left me alone for the rest of class, however, wehn the lunch bell rang, he threw his arm across my shoulders, catching me by surprise. I gasped, then heard Kaoru say, "Hey Hikaru, Haruhi, I want you guys to meet Miss Beilschmidt, designer extraordinaire!"

I turned my head to see who he was talking to. It was his twin and the person who sat in front of him, who had short brown hair and chocolate eyes. I looked closely at the non-twin, trying to figure out what was off about him . . . Wait, was that even a "him?" Hmmm . . .

Everyone had left the room for lunch, so I leaned in and whispered, "Hey, you're a girl, ain't ya?"

The twins stiffened, then began to protest my observation.

"No, Haruhi's a total guy!"

"He's not a girl you silly American!" Nervous laughter.

"What do they teach you across the ocean?" More nervous laughter.

Finally, the person in question spoke up. "Shut up, guys. You're giving me a headache. And to answer your question," Haruhi added, looking at me, "yes, I am a girl."

"Haruhi!" both twins said at once, shocked expressions on their faces.

"Don't worry," I said, waving off their worried looks. "I won't tell a soul. Well, aside form my mom and sister, but they can keep it quiet, too. They would both figure it out anyways if they were to meet you, just like I did. We're pretty observational." I shrugged. "It don't matter to me if you wanna dress and act like a guy. If you met my friends back in New Hampshire, you would understand why," I added, smirking and giggling.

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "Everyone here thinks I'm a boy due to . . . certain circumstances; only a few people know the truth."

The Twins were nearly dying with relief, then got a hold of themselves. "Come on," said Hikaru. "Let's go eat! I'm starving!"