A/N: I'm aliiiveee. yes i haven't updated my previous story in a while...just caught up in exams and finishing high school...

Summary: Winry, the Elrics, Ling and Mei have decided to go East after the Promised Day fiasco. Ling convinces them to enroll in his old high school, Ouran High, but why does everyone seem to hate Winry the instant she arrives?

A Time For Change

Chapter 1: A Rough Start

Winry stood before the gates of Ouran High School. It was large and imposing; nearly as impressive as the military headquarters back in Central.

Central. She missed Amestris, or Germany, as they called it here. She thought about how it had even come to this; going to school for the first time in nearly seven years. After the "Promised Day" fiasco, when Ed lost his alchemy, he had decided to go West, but changed his mind at the last minute and decided that he would accompany Al, Mei and Ling East instead. Ling had convinced them that the best way to learn would be to go to school with him. Al agreed instantly, realising that it was a good idea. Ed hated it though and, after much of Al's begging, he decided it wouldn't hurt to try it out for a year.

They invited Winry along because she, too, had always wanted to have a look outside of Germany. Ed and Al said that they thought that, since there was no danger, having Winry come would be a lot of fun,

The first day of school was actually today, but Ed had to tie up a few military matters, as did Ling. They would be arriving soon, though, with Al and Mei to accompany them. Therefore, Winry would be the first to go to school.

She took a deep breath and entered the school. What hit her first were the waves of hostility. She was amazed that, from the moment she set foot on campus, everyone seemed to know who she was; and they hated her for it.

She made her way to her classroom; angry eyes following her every move, glaring down their noses at her. As the day wore on, she realised that it was mostly girls who were glaring at her, but she couldn't put her finger on why. As the bell rang for lunch, she made her way to the cafeteria, but again she was shunned. Cold looks and glares drove her away from any of the tables, so she decided she would try for an empty classroom.

She ascended the stairs and walked down hallways, but most of the classrooms were in use. She, therefore, decided to try her luck in the music wing of the school. She opened a door at random and was surprised to see a bespectacled dark haired boy typing on his computer and making arrangements with a tall blonde.

They both looked up and seemed to recognise her instantly. The blonde looked like he was just barely containing his rage and the bespectacled boy glared at her icily.

"You!" The blonde said accusingly, "Don't ever come here again!" he shouted. Winry considered shutting the door and slinking away, but she was sick of the unwarranted hatred she was receiving.

"Hey! You can't order me around! What makes you so special?" she shouted back.

"You have some nerve, Miss Rockbell, coming here," the black haired teen said in an even, yet chilling voice, "We will forgive you because we know it's your first day, but never come back here again,"

"I don't see why I can't, but I can see why I wouldn't want to. This whole damn school is full of prats!" Winry growled.

"If you dislike our school so much, then perhaps you should leave," the blonde shouted.

"I'm going to make sure I stay, just because it seems to piss you off!" Winry yelled back and turned on her heal, slamming the door behind her. As she whirled around she noticed a small elementary school boy staring at her. Winry, being pissed off as she was, ignored him and stomped back to her classroom.

Tamaki tried to calm himself down. That was probably the first time he'd ever been rude to a girl. He would have been disgusted with himself, but…that girl. It was all her fault! Everything was her fault! Kyoya and Tamaki looked up at the door, which opened again to reveal Hunny and Mori.

"Uh…what just happened?" Hunny asked, "We heard lots of shouting. Is everything okay, Tama chan?"

"That was Winry Rockbell," Kyoya said evenly.

Hunny paused, trying to remember why that name rang a bell. It dawned on him, "The girl who stole Haruhi's scholarship?"

Winry arrived back at her apartment complex, thoroughly worn out. She had set up the apartment yesterday. Ed and Al had an apartment next door, on the right, which Ed had given her a key for. He had painted the key bright red, saying that in a new place a little courage wouldn't be unwelcomed. She fumbled around looking for the set of keys, but couldn't find them. She dug around her pocket, checked her bag, but they weren't there. She had lost them. It was the last straw. Winry started tearing up. She hated this! She missed her granny, she missed Den, she missed her friends back in Rush Valley. She missed Ed and Al and Ling and Mei. She banged her fist against the door, letting out her frustration.

"Hello?" the door next to her opened and she found herself facing a girl of about the same age, "Whoa! Are you okay?" the girl asked her, seeing Winry close to tears.

"No! I absolutely hate Xing!" She wailed. The girl brought Winry into her apartment and made her a cup of tea. The girl asked her what was wrong and Winry began to relate her story,

"Today was my first day of school in Xing and everyone hated me and I don't even know why! I miss my home town and my friends,"

"Are you German, by any chance?" The girl asked.

"Yeah; is my accent that terrible?" Winry smiled through her tears.

"A bit," the girl joked. Winry started laughing. The girl joined her and Winry began to feel better. They started chatting for a while about nothing in particular, but as the sun began to set, they had gotten onto the topic of food and cooking. They swapped recipes and Winry promised to show her how to bake an excellent apple pie.

"It's the best in the world," Winry said, remembering Hughes and Gracia, "Come over to my apartment tomorrow and I'll show you," Winry got up to leave and the girl escorted her out, they were surprised at how much time had passed; it was nearly night.

"Sure, I'll come over after school,"

"Okay, what school do you go to?"

"Oh, just the local high school," The girl replied.

Winry suddenly jumped, having reached her front door, "Oh, I just remembered, I lost my key!" Winry sighed in frustration.

The girl pulled out a familiar, pocket sized screwdriver keychain with two keys dangling from it, "I saw this on the ground up the road, the red key really stood out,"

Winry smiled softly, "It's hard to miss," She thanked the girl profusely and turned the key in the knob, as she was about to disappear inside she turned and to the girl.

"I'm Winry, what's your name, by the way?"

"Haruhi,"

End of Chapter 1

Well, i hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter we'll see more of the host club and how they're handling Haruhi's departure.

Critique is always welcome! I'll see you next time :D

:D Laughing On The Inside :D