Much to my relief, the majority of the car ride was spent in silence. Every now and then Kyoya would ask me a question about the flight or the past few weeks but he spent the majority of the time typing away on his laptop. I found myself rather grateful for his distraction.

When we reached the house I felt nothing but relief. Sure, it was comfortable enough being around Kyoya-- I'd known him a long time and the familiarity was something I'd been desperately missing-- but I couldn't help the want to be alone. Once I was out of this car, I'd be able to escape the questions. As few of them as there'd been, I was eager to leave everything about France behind me. My friends, the last month, my home. If I could forget it all, I would be happy.

I think.

Seeming to notice at least some part of my desire to be left be, Kyoya instructed Ono to show me to my room and point out his own.

"If you need anything," he added in explanation. "It's my job to make sure you're comfortable."

I couldn't decide if his words had come from friendship or his father's orders. Either one was possible, although the second happened to be more probable. Kyoya had never been the sort to show his emotions-- something that had only gotten worse as he'd gotten older-- so it was unlikely he would do something spur of the moment with the source being nothing but friendship.

Whatever the reason, I simply nodded and followed Ono into the house. He would occasionally point out rooms, but for the most part was silent as he lead me up the stairs and to where my room laid towards the back of the large mansion.

"Ootori-sama has assigned Okada and I to your protection," he said upon arriving outside my doorway. "Although, I will mainly be the one watching over you. As such, I will always accompany you outside of your classes and your time here. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank-you," I replied.

Within seconds I'd dismissed Ono, stepped inside, and closed the door behind me. Dropping my bags to the floor I simply braced my back against the door for a moment, taking deep, calming breaths. The freak out on the plane was the closest I'd been to a panic attack in days. With everything going on, I could feel myself steadily getting more and more worked up. As long as I could stay calm I could continue to tell myself I was doing fine. As long as everything went okay it wouldn't be a lie when I told Kyoya's father I wasn't in need of anymore therapy.

I didn't want to be that girl anymore-- the weak willed girl that everyone viewed with pity. If I could at least leave the therapy behind me... well, it was less likely for classmates to go poking their noses where they didn't belong.

With a small shake of my head, I pushed away from the door and recovered my bag from the floor. I then walked over to a small set of ivory stairs I could see leading up to a small balcony with two doors on the back wall. It was easy to imagine one leading to a bed-- this room seemed laid out much like I remembered Kyoya's being. When I reached the top I discovered I was right, the first led to my bedroom. The second led to a small room with an oak desk. There were several bookshelves aligning the wall, so I imagined the space was meant for studying. I shut the door and returned to the bedroom and dropped my bag on the bed. I could rest soon, I needed to find something before I did.

That in mind, I returned to the balcony. Placing my hands on the railing, I scanned the room with my eyes until I located a black case. The sight of it sent me hurrying back down the stairs so I could recover it from the large bay window it sat in. For a few moments, I simply clutched the violin case to my chest, my cheek resting against the top of the box.

"Did you miss me?" I whispered. "I'm so sorry I sent you ahead."

After an uncounted amount of time, I forced myself to sit it back down. The choice to send my violin ahead had been a hard one, but the risk had been too great. If I'd brought it as my carry-on, which was questionable as I held little doubt the case was a little longer than acceptable, there was the chance of it getting damaged by falling out of where the luggage was stored. The same went for if I'd checked the bag. Sending it ahead with the rest of my stuff on the Ootori's plane had seemed like the safer choice.

Turning away from the desk-- feeling as I was ripping my heart out by leaving it be without at least touching the strings-- I searched the room until I located the dresser drawer that held my nightgowns. It was easy to pick out the one I wanted, a modest, white silk nightgown that fell just past my knees, and slip it on. No matter how much I was longing to play, I could feel exhaustion beginning to weigh down on me. Whatever I played at this time wouldn't sound even remotely close to my normal sound.

"Tomorrow," I promised aloud. "I'll make sure I have enough time in the morning."

That dealt with, I'd collapsed into my bed within minutes. I was out before I could even consider pulling up the covers.

❅❅❅❅

I'm not sure how much time passed, but when I woke, it was sudden. A cold sweat had broken out across my forehead, my breathing ragged as a result of the images my dreams had cast upon me. It was made worse by the fact that I couldn't instantly free my limbs. It took me a full minute of thrashing to realize that it was my blankets wrapped around my form-- apparently I'd managed to tangle them about me in my restless sleep. This realization, of course, didn't kill the panic building up in my chest.

No, that was impossible with how dark my room had become.

What time was it? I needed a light.

A whimper bubbled in the back of my throat as I scrambled to untangle myself. Within seconds my ragged breathing had turned into full out hyperventilating as I stumbled out of bed, fingers searching the darkness. My head was spinning by the time I came upon a wall. The second I'd flipped the light switch, I collapsed against my doorway and brought my knees up to my chest. A small, breathless laugh escaped my lips when I had, my head falling into my knees.

I was pathetic. First the plane, now my room. Like last time, the trigger was obvious. Any darkness, be it the dark of night or just a shadowed room, cast my mind back to that night. When combined with the dream I'd had.. Well, panic was inevitable. Still... it'd been half-a-year since then. I should have been better than this.

At this rate I'd never convince anyone I was fine.

Shaking the depressing thoughts from my mind, I raised my head once again and searched the room with my eyes. Eventually they settled upon what I was looking for-- the time. It was 5:38 a.m. I'd slept for twelve hours, apparently. No wonder my head felt like someone had stuffed it with cotton. I always felt like that if I slept more than a handful. My body was too used to surviving on bits of sleep as my dreams rarely allowed me to get anything more.

I lowered my head back down, continuing to take deep breaths for a bit longer. By the time I felt like leaving the room, I had managed to completely get rid of my shaking and put the incident behind me. It didn't count as a complete attack, I firmly told myself. I could still count today as another day without an incident.

If I could help it, no one would see me like this. I would make today a better day, and prove to the Ootori's that bringing me here hadn't been a bad idea. I owed them that much.

Even as I thought that, I found myself chewing on my thumb nail on my way down the stairs. My options when it came to passing the time before class were rather limited if I wanted to be polite. It was rather early in the morning and if Kyoya was anything like he'd been the last time I came to his house he wouldn't be up for quite a few more hours. The servants, though, were probably already up and working on whatever task they had for the morning. I would most likely be fine with practicing music I decided. I couldn't imagine that the sound would travel so strongly as to wake the sleeping demon.

I swear, that's what Kyoya was like the mornings. I'd made that mistake once-- never again.

Shuddering at the thought alone, I put the matter to the side and made my way towards my violin case. In no time at all I had it open and was running my hands over the smooth wood and tight strings. The room was large enough that I would have plenty of space to practice. No doubt that had been some of the thought behind the lack of large furnishing on this level. My theory was only backed up when I spotted a music stand hidden in the corner of the room.

All of these thoughts were pushed from my mind as I focused on the violin. It only took a few seconds for me to determine that the strings only needed small adjustments to take them back to their ideal tunes. Soon I'd rose the violin to my neck and closed my eyes. I wouldn't need the stand, not until I'd gathered new works from Ouran Academy. Ever since I was little, every piece I'd ever played had stuck in my head like magic. Memories sprung to the front of my mind like magic, playing the words I'd heard over and over again.

Genius... gifted... mirror of her father... prodigy...

It only took one wrong note for me to focus on pushing the irritating thoughts from my mind. I didn't need those distractions. In no time at all, my mind was full of nothing but the music, time sweeping by unnoticed.

"Bello-sama?"

I jumped, my movement causing a noise to come from the violin that made me flinch. It was then I realized that there were voices outside my door.

"Maybe we should just go in..."

"No, she's awake, that'd be rude," replied the first voice.

"But if she's not going to answer..."

"Yes?" I called out.

"We came to help you ready for school," the first voice said. "Your breakfast is being prepared along with Kyoya-sama's.

"Oh..." I muttered, eyes flickering to the window. It would seem that quite a bit of time had passed since I'd begun playing. "Alright, come in."

❅❅❅❅

The uniform wasn't completely horrible. I'd been forced to wear worse dresses before. As I studied myself in the mirror the only real concern I had was how the yellow seemed to wash out my already pale skin. It didn't clash with my hair, thankfully. The ribbon was slightly bothering but that was only because I didn't really like ostentatious things. I could deal.

Besides, it wasn't like I really had a choice when it came to clothing. The Ootori's had taken the time to enroll me in this high class school and to buy me the uniform, which I was pretty certain couldn't have been cheap. The fabric was softer and finer than even a few of the concert dresses I owned. The least I could do to repay them was to follow a rule as simple as the required school uniform. Plus, it wasn't as if it fit me poorly. The middle clung lightly to my waist and the top was taken in to fit my rather washboard chest. My long, loose coppery curls fell just a little past where the skirt poofed out, so that wasn't too troubling either.

I was once again, however, fully aware of how the hairstyle helped with misconceptions over my age. I caught the surprised looks on the maids' faces when they began helping me prepare. Between my lack of chest, my four-foot-ten figure, and my underweight frame-- recent events having stolen even a hint of an appetite from me-- I was commonly mistook for eleven or twelve rather than sixteen, almost seventeen. It was annoying to say the least.

Well, at least it would make it easier to fit in with my classmates. The last year had put me behind in my studies to the point that the headmaster of the academy suggested I be placed in a first year class instead of a second. I hadn't objected when given the choice. It would be an easier transition given that the material would be something I was familiar with.

The two maids, to their credit, didn't try to hurry me. They let me move at my own pace and didn't comment when I chose to go with the natural look beyond a bit of makeup to cover up the bags under my eyes. My mother had once commented that between my clear skin, dark-brown eyes, and full eyelashes, I wouldn't ever have to worry about such a thing. A pang sounded in my heart at the thought.

I let them lead me down to breakfast when we were finished. Kyoya was already seated when I arrived, his laptop settled on the table next to his food. He stood when I walked in, sitting as I did. He gave me a few minutes to eat in silence, his eyes focused on whatever was displayed on his computer screen. Soon enough, however, he greeted me with small talk. It was rather easy to tell, knowing him as I did, that he was more interested in getting to what he considered important matters than how my morning was going. So, rather than pick at my food, I forced myself to eat a decent amount before settling my chopsticks atop the edge and pushing it to the side.

"I've already made sure that everything is ready for you," he told me when we'd finished eating. "There will be two students ready to give you a tour upon your arrival. I would give it to you myself, but that would arise needless questions. For your sake, I'm sure you'd rather keep our arrangement silent as long as possible."

I nodded, a flush rising to my cheeks. After all, the Ootori family wasn't being generous for no reason. There were wheels that had already been turning before my parents death that had led to this entire thing. Kyoya's family wasn't one to do anything without the proper return.

"Also, there are two boys in your class that I would appreciate it if you could avoid," he added, adjusting his glasses as he spoke. "The Hitachiin twins. They'd be unneeded trouble. Things could easily get out of hand."

"I understand, Kyoya-senpai."

"Don't forget," he commanded as the maids began clearing away our plates. "I do hate troublesome things, Zaira."

I couldn't help but smile at the fact that despite his cold words, his use of my given name remained unchanged. No doubt he would change it in front of those at school, but that alone gave me the strength needed to once again nod, securing our agreement that we wouldn't associate with each other during school hours.

"I understand."

"Go get your things. It's time to go."

I nodded and hurried upstairs to grab the bag that had been set aside for my school things and my violin case. It only took me a short time to return back to where Kyoya was waiting me beside two black vehicles. He held the door open for me on the first, resulting in me hurrying to take my seat in the vehicle.

"You're joining the Oke club after classes, correct?" he questioned.

I nodded, settling my other things aside and hugging my violin case to my chest.

"It's the best choice. Orchestra would be the easiest fit for me."

Kyoya simply nodded and jotted something down in his notebook.

"I've arranged it so that one of the students giving you a tour is the president of the club," he replied. "That should make the experience easier. See you later, Zaira. I'll be taking the other car, we'll draw less attention that way."

With that, he stepped back and shut the car door.

When I arrived at school, I was once again struck by how different this was going to be from my French homeschooling. The building was huge and pink of all things. It was certainly different than what I remembered passing in my home town. That really wasn't what bothered me, however. It was the number of people walking across the grounds. There were so many... although the number was beginning to thin as time passed.

It was distracting enough that I almost didn't notice when the vehicle stopped. It wasn't until Ono cleared his throat that I remembered myself and scrambled out. Once I had all my things in hand, he walked back to the driver's door and offered me a small bow.

"Have a good day, Bello-sama."

I nodded, barely noticing as he left. Rather, I could only stare at the school. My mind was still focused on the rather large number of students. I was as bad in crowds as I was in the dark-- my reaction to the airport being the perfect example.

Pathetic, I reminded myself. This is nothing. These people deal with it every day. Just find your way to the headmaster's office so you can receive your tour.

Despite this, I felt my nerves beginning to climb. I forced myself to slowly begin walking, struggling to pull Kyoya's directions to the front of my mind. My breathing began to speed once again. I took deep breaths, but this only managed to get me inside the building where I found the halls to be suddenly empty.

Which way did Kyoya say to go? The right? The left?

My panic began to get out of control. Shaking, I carefully sat my things against the wall before putting my back against it and sliding to the floor. My head was immediately tucked against my knees, my breaths coming in quick and shallow.

I wasn't good with people. I wasn't good with the dark. I was something broken. Why had I agreed to come to a school? I'd never been to one before. With how I'd been, how in the world had I thought a new experience would be a good idea? Being a burden would have been better than being an embarrassment. I should have asked for a tutor. If I got caught here...

That thought was enough to knock some sense into me. I forced myself to take deeper, slower breaths, my panic slowly dying away. A bitter part of me noted that this had been worse than this morning and I would definitely have to take my count of days without an incident back to zero.

"Are you okay?"

Unreasonable tears swam to the surface as I turned my eyes to face the voice. Great. If I'd heard the person approaching me...

Well, Kyoya was sure to hear about this now... 

  ❅ ❅❅❅ 

There you have it! The second chapter of the rewrite. The third chapter will be completely new, so I hope you enjoy. I might not write it right away, but I'll get it out as soon as I can (most likely after camp Nano). 

As it is, what do you think? Do you think you'll be able to handle following around someone as broken as Zaira?  What do you think of her and Kyoya's interactions thus far? 

See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to comment and vote if you enjoyed~!