Come Out of Your Shell

by ~ShermanTheWorm~

Chapter 1

I walked through the grandiose hallways of my high school, lost in thought. I was already pretty late for class, but I really just didn't want to go. I had a feeling it was going to be just like last year.

I am a second year student this year in class 2A. Going to school at the prestigious Ouran High School is such a pain sometimes, especially when you want to just sit down and read a book by yourself. It is a loud school filled to the brim with obnoxious and shallow people. Everyone here is rich and always wants attention. I guess I'm different in that way.

I'm Miyuki Aiko, a sixteen year old American girl. I moved to Japan, where my father is from, to finish my education at Ouran, and I now live in an apartment by myself. Most people think of me as shy and distant, a world-class foreign bookworm. And I am. Throughout my first year of high school, I focused only on my schoolwork and reading. I haven't had a friend since I moved here. A lot of people think I can't even speak Japanese, which I certainly can. I am fluent. I just don't talk much.

I finally made it to the 2A classroom twenty minutes late. As I walked in, everyone turned to stare at me, and I flinched and averted my eyes. I ran to my seat. The teacher noticed my late entry though.

"Aiko-kun, please refrain from being late in the future. I do not tolerate it." The teacher scolded, his stern voice making me shrink into my seat in fear. But, right after he said it, he resumed whatever he was teaching as if it never happened. I sighed in relief.

As the lesson went on, I continuously felt someone was looking at me. It was quite unnerving and I glanced around me to see who the culprit was. My eyes met dark eyes hidden partially by glasses. A guy two seats to the right of me was staring at me intently, seemingly sizing me up or something. I blushed and looked away; embarrassed that someone was paying any attention to me. Especially someone so handsome. I knew who it was, of course. Ootori Kyoya was practically royalty here at Ouran, known for getting the top scores in his classes and for being the third son of the distinguished Ootori family.

I was nervous, really nervous.

~Tamaki's POV~

I felt bad for her. I had never met the girl, but she was shy and distant most of the time. She never came to the Host Club either. I didn't even know the lovely lady's name! She was rather beautiful, with her long dark brown hair and teal eyes. A beautiful woman like that should be coming to the host club! I huffed and rested my chin on my desk, still looking at her from the other side of the room. Then she started looking around rather nervously, and her eyes met Kyoya's. Was he looking at her too? Eh, it was Kyoya. He was probably just gathering data on her to put into his evil notebook. I've always wondered what was in that book…. The girl blushed slightly, and turned away from Kyoya, focusing on the teacher. She was so cute! I smiled and decided to introduce myself after class.

~Miyuki's POV~

Class had finally ended for the day, and I slowly got out of my seat to pack up. I placed my books in my bag and walked out of the classroom and into the large hallways. They were a million times noisier when classes ended, and I clench my books to my chest and hurried through the hallways, wanting to just get out of the giant traffic jam that was the hallways. Suddenly, a hand rested on my shoulder I flinched, not used to people touching me.

"Ano… excuse me, miss?" An unfamiliar male voice said. I turned a bit, glancing at him. I almost gawked uncharacteristically. It was Tamaki Suou, another one of the most popular guys at Ouran. 'What is going on today?' I wondered.

"Ye-yes Suou-san?" I said, nervous yet curious as to what he would say.

"Ah! How horrible! How is it that you know my name already while I do not know yours? I feel so ashamed..." he said, hanging his head down and frowning. I scrunched my eyebrows together, confused.

"M-My name is Aiko Miyuki. I already knew you're name because you are so well known at this school. It's quite logical for you not to know my name." I said shyly, smiling a bit to comfort him. Tamaki's head shot up and he smiled hugely, giving me a huge hug and twirling me around. My eyes bugged out of my head and I blushed. "S-Suou-san?"

"Aw! You are so adorable!" he exclaimed, finally setting me down. My head was spinning, and I almost stumbled, but I caught myself quickly and blinked.

"W-what?" I said. 'Why would he call me cute and talk to me, of all people?' I wondered.

"You should definitely come to Music Room #3 Aiko-san! I can't wait to see your beautiful face there!" he said while gesticulating dramatically. Then he abruptly ran off back to the school. My mouth was wide open, and I'm pretty sure I looked like an idiot. I then noticed that a ton of girls were looking at me with either shocked or jealous looks on their faces. I clenched my books tighter to my chest and ran away from the school. I hate it when people look at me so much.

"She's such a slut! I mean, seriously. All the guys are always paying attention to her!"

"It's totally not fair. Those boobs are TOTALLY fake."

"She should just leave. No one likes her anyway."

"Look at her clothes! What a fashion faux pas."

"That's like, the fifth guy who's asked her out in a week. This is ridiculous."

"Get out of here, bi-atch! No one wants to see your fat ass 'round here."

"Apparently she's super rich too. She probably pays all the guys to like her."

I woke up with a start. 'When did I fall asleep?' I wondered. I rubbed my eyes and found they were soaking wet. I was crying. I had those dreams all the time. I was in middle school in the United States when all of that happened. I try to forget about it, but the memories just don't go away. Pretty much all of the girls in my school had turned on me and thought I was an attention hog just because a lot of guys began asking me out. It's not like it was my fault! I hadn't done anything, and it's not like I enjoyed the attention at all. I never have. I got up, walking swiftly to the bathroom. I turned on the faucet and splashed cool water into my face, successfully waking myself up. I looked into the mirror at my red and tired eyes and sighed loudly. Time for my second day of torture.

Today started out normally, but it all went downhill from there when I found myself at the door of Music Room #3. I decided that since Suou-san was so nice, I owed it to him to at least drop by. The problem was that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I tried to compose myself, so I could be ready for whatever, but I was still really nervous. I reached for the golden handle, and turned it gently. I pushed it open, and was suddenly engulfed in a whirlwind of…. rose petals? I blinked confusedly. Then I saw them. Six very handsome men were in the center of the room, smiling at me. I blushed and got extremely nervous. I was NOT expecting this. 'Could this be…..'

"Welcome, princess, to the Ouran Host Club." I heard Suou-san say. He was in the middle of the group, sitting on the rather extravagant chair.

"Oh, who's she?" Two identical twins said simultaneously.

"This is Aiko-san. She's in class 2A with Kyoya and I. I invited the lovely lady here!" Suou-san explained, dramatically.

"She so pretty, ne Takashi?" a small little boy said excitedly.

"Aa." said a very tall and rather intimidating guy. I was getting more and more nervous by the second.

"Aiko-san is apparently from the United States, and is quite shy and reserved but brilliant, with some of the top scores in our class." said Ootori-san. How did he know those things though? We hadn't met before yesterday! I slowly began backing away from them, then turned and ran away from Music Room #3. I barely heard Suou-san yelling my name as I sped away. How embarrassing. 'At least I'll never see any of them again, except for Ootori-san and Suou-san in class...' I thought.

I was totally wrong.