BLOOM [OHSHC]

Chapter 1 - It Began With a Bang

A slam startled me from my uncomfortable sleep.

Someone cleared their throat, and I squinted up at the shadow, trying to make sense of it through my sleepy delirium. "Miss Kimura, class is over." My teacher materialized beside my desk, her gentle hand on my shoulder and a kind smile on her face.

Frowning at the drool drying on my lilac blazer sleeve and then up at her, I yawned and rubbed my eyes. "I'm sorry, ma'am. You could have woken me sooner." Sure enough, the rest of the desks were empty, leaving me alone with the teacher, the sun slanting in through the arched windows.

"Believe me, I tried, Miss Kimura," she chuckled, "But you were out like a light. Lucky for you, you have stellar grades in my class, otherwise I would have given you detention." She crossed to the front of the room and grabbed something off of her desk before returning to me, her black pumps clicking on the marble floor. "Before you head home, could you return this for me?" She slid a leather book into my hands, embossed on the front with my classmate's name.

Kyoya Ootori

Sighing, I nodded and gathered my things into my bag. "Any idea where I can find him, ma'am?" Hopefully this little detour wouldn't take too long... I had someone waiting on me. And she wasn't really the patient type.

The teacher stalled at her desk, turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow. "Music room three, Miss Kimura. I thought everyone knew that."

-

I'd never been in the music rooms after school, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I knocked first, concerned at the sound of giggles and talking coming from inside.

When a low voice told me to come in, I pushed the heavy, gilded door open and found myself in... a carnival? Popcorn and caramel wafted in the air, mixing with the smell of chlorine - probably coming from the dunk tank in the far corner. Balloons drifted overhead, some tied to the wrists of passing female students as they ran from one attraction to the next. A bounce house wiggled near the windows, screeching and laughter coming from inside.

All that was missing was a rollercoaster. Or a ferris wheel.

"Good afternoon, milady! Welcome to the Host Club Carnival!"

Confetti popped in my face with an explosive snap. Startled, I dropped my bookbag and jumped away from the voices, tripping over my own feet and falling to the floor with all the grace of a buttered baby. Trust me, marble makes your bones jam into all the wrong places.

"Ouch! Sorry about that."

I looked up, finding two boys standing over me in matching violet-and-white striped suits, too similar to not be brothers, if not twins. They both extended their white-gloved hands toward me, offering to help me to my feet. Seeing no other options, I placed my hands in theirs and they yanked me up, dusting off my shoulders with focus. "I know you two," I realized. Staring between the two of them, I finally placed their cheshire smiles. "You're the Hitachiin brothers - you're in some of my first year classes."

One of them smirked. "Our reputation precedes us, then."

"But, unfortunately, we don't know your name, Miss...?" the other added, waiting for me to answer.

Gaping at them, I shook myself out of whatever hallucination I was obviously having and plucked my bookbag up from the floor. "Listen, I would love to stay in this weird little dream place, but I have people waiting on me," I explained, rummaging in my bag for the real reason I'd stopped by. Holding the planner out to the boys, I said, "Can you deliver this to Kyoya Ootori for me? He left it in English and it seems pretty important."