Chapter 9

"I'll see you later Kasanoda, thanks for walking me to class," said Namiko, when they finally arrived at her classroom.

"Sure, anytime," Kasanoda said. Namiko flashed him one last smile and waved before disappearing into her class.

'She is special to me, she really is,' Kasanoda thought as he walked off.

Namiko felt really joyful as she took a seat. She looked out the window towards the area where the gardening area was. She was looking forward to working on it later with Kasanoda. Sighing happily, she placed a hand under her chin, watching the teacher. In all honesty her classes bored her, she was in AP classes at her old school. It wasn't that the teachers were boring or anything, it was more like she was wanting something to give her a challenge.

Namiko was slightly surprised by the sound of a gasp and turned to see a few girls standing in the doorway to the classroom.

"That's her, that's the girl I was telling you about!" One whispered.

"The one with Kasanoda?" asked another.

"Yeah!" said the first.

"She doesn't look as scary as him," said a third, "she looks normal."

"Yeah, but so did her cousin and you remember how Kasanoda felt about him," said the second.

"Huh?" Namiko said softly.

"Shh, she saw us!" hissed the third.

"Yeah, you should be careful what you say around her. You say that wrong thing, she could tell Kasanoda and he could get mad!" said the second.

"Well quit talking then!" snapped the first. The three quickly headed to their different seats.

'Those girls are weird,' Namiko thought.

When the bell tolled for the first class to end, her teacher called her up. "Ms. Fujioka? Do you find this math to be really easy?" Namiko nodded. "Were you in advanced math classes in your middle school?"

"Yes ma'am." The teacher nodded.

"What classes were you advanced in?"

"All of them, history, English, Japanese, science, math..."

Nodding again, the teacher wrote down stuff in her note book. "Okay, because I'm thinking of having you entered into the honors program. Would you be interested in that? If you decide you wish to help, I'll be glad to add you to the list. Let me know tomorrow."

Namiko's eyes were wide and she smiled, nodding.

The day had gone by quite fast, launching her into the lunch she sat with Haruhi, eating lunch. After realizing the great weather, they went to the picnic area outside, eating together. This had caught the host's attention the cafeteria. Smiling, Tamaki cheered the hosts on, convincing them to go outside with them as well.

"Hey Haruhi," He smiled, a pink hue on his cheeks, "Mind if we sit with you and your cousin?" Namiko noticed the blush and she smiled, seeing that he clearly felt for her. Did Haruhi not realize this?

'Maybe I should talk to her.'

Haruhi smiled and nodded. "Sure, there's plenty of room for all of you." Namiko looked in between Tamaki and Haruhi, seeing their interactions. Did they not realize they like each other?! To Namiko, it seemed fairly obvious. She looked at the hosts and they had the exact look of what she was saying.

'So, I'm not the only one noticing this?'

Smiling, Namiko pulled out the spring rolls and california rolls she had made. Pulling out her chopsticks and tea thermos, she began eating away.

"Hey look, there she is..." A random guy's voice said. Namiko looked around for the source, but wasn't sure who that was. She shrugged, they could have been talking about someone else.

"Dude, is that really her? The girl of Walking Blizzard?" Namiko furrowed her eye brows in confusion. Looking around, she noticed more people were staring at her and talking to one another as they walked away.

"What the hell?" She asked herself.

"What's wrong Nami?" Haruhi asked.

"Look, all of these people are walking by and staring at our group... I wonder why..." Haruhi looked up and looked around, as did the hosts. Noticing the odd behavior, they just looked at each other and tried to ignore it.

"Man... isn't his girl gorgeous."

"We better not try a move though man."

"You're right, Kasanoda would kill us for talking to her, after what he did to that other kid." Haruhi and the hosts had definitely heard that and Namiko stood up, after putting her food in her bento box.

"I'm going to find Kasanoda. This is odd and I'm going to see if he's been having this issue too..." Haruhi nodded.

"Well, wait. Namiko, you see him later today. Just ignore those people for now." Despite Namiko's refusal of the suggestion, Haruhi insisted that Namiko should wait. Namiko eventually agreed.

"If those people become a problem we can ask them to leave too Ms. Fujioka."

Namiko nodded at Kyoya-senpai. "Thank you, Kyoya-senpai." Smiling, she sat back down and finished eating.


Kasanoda's POV

After walking away from her classroom, Kasanoda made his way to his room. On the way, he could help but to think of Namiko. Her personality was one he had never experienced before, other than her cousin. Namiko was able to make a great time out of anything, especially for him.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair as he walked down the hallway.

"Dude?! Really?! Walking blizzard freaked out at Adachi? For what?" Kasanoda paused at the corner.

"He yelled at him for stepping on some girl's foot. I guess Adachi deserved it for being rude... But it has me wondering. Is she... Special to him?"

Kasanoda ignored this because he knew that kid probably told his friends, but he never expected how far the rumor would go.

"Dude, his girl is gorgeous!"

"Who's girl?"

"Kasanoda's" Kasanoda looked over and listened carefully.

"What?! He's dating?!"

"I'm pretty sure. He was walking this girl to class and he yelled at Adachi for stepping on her foot. He forced the kid to apologize. To think he won a girl over! She is so hot, wondering why she is with someone who acts like that."

The one boy looked over and noticed Kasanoda looking their direction. "Shhh! Come on, we're late to class as it is."

Huh... what the hell is going on?! Oh No! Could Namiko be dealing with this as well? Damn it, if only I hadn't lost my cool, but I mean come on, he hurt her and refused to apologize until I yelled. Ugh... this is a mess now... though, they aren't wrong, I do like her very much.

Remembering that classes were now over, Kasanoda made his way to the host club before running to the gardening club. There was about an hour before the club would officially start, but he needed to figure out some things. Walking towards the room and opening the door, there were roses that flowed out of the door, but he didn't pay attention to that. Walking in, he found that Tamaki-senpai and the Hitachiin twins were not busy so he walked towards them.

"Tamaki-senpai?" Kasanoda called, getting his attention.

"Oh, hello Kasanova. How are you?"

"I am... I'm not sure..." He said.

The guys could tell that Kasanoda's voice sounded rough, but he was nervous and unsure about what all was happening.

"Kasanova?" Kaoru asked. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

Sighing, Kasanoda nodded. "Well, today has been weird and I was wondering if I could... speak to you three? Man to man?"

Tamaki-senpai smiled sincerely, "Surely."

Breathing out in relief, he sat on the couch opposite of them. Looking at them, he couldn't help but to put my head down. He didn't want to sound pathetic, but what should he do in a situation like this.

"Well... Fujioka's cousin, she holds a special place in my mind... but there are gossipers who think we are dating right now just because I defended her when a first year stomped on her foot. I mean... I like her, but I'm not sure I'm ready to take the next step yet to asking her out. I want to wait a while longer, but I fear... what if she thinks I spread these rumors? Would she want to be my friend still?"

Kasanoda paused and put a hand to his forehead. "She's very special to me... I feel that I will want to take the next step with her eventually, but if she ends up thinking I spread these rumors, she's going to hate me..."

"Kasanova..." Tamaki said, sounding sincerely concerned for him. "Just like Haruhi, Namiko isn't that kind of a girl. She doesn't seem to believe in feeble gossip, so I don't think she will. If she has experience any of this weird behavior, and we know she has, because we were there with her when she did, and she wanted to ask you about it, she would ask you before believing someone else." He patted Kasanoda's shoulder. "No need to worry Kasanoda."

Kasanoda's eyes widened, did he just? Finally call me by me actual last name?

Standing, he nodded when he heard a all too familiar voice. "Um... Kasanoda..." He turned around and there she was.

"Fujioka? I..." Namiko shook her head, holding a finger up.

"I heard what you said about hoping the gossip wouldn't hurt me. I want you to know something. Tamaki-senpai is right. I would believe you before any of those other girls or boys. You're a special person to me and I would never take their word over yours."

Blushing Kasanoda looked into her eyes, nodding. Haruhi was standing at her side and smiling at him. "Fujioka..."

She nodded and then looked down towards her watch, "How about we head on over to the Gardening Club? We'll be late if we don't head out now." She suggested with a heartwarming smile.

"Oh Namiko, can you wait here for a moment before you head there?" Tamaki suddenly asked.

"Huh, why?" Namiko asked.

"No!" Haruhi moaned, "please tell me you're not doing this?"

"Doing what exactly?" Namiko asked.

"You'll see," the twins.

"I just found out Hunny-Sempai and Mori-Sempai are already there waiting for us," Kyoya said getting off his phone.

"Alright let's do this!" Tamaki shouted, "Namiko, Kasanoda, you both stay here and wait for us. Haruhi will call you when we're ready!"

"Wait, why do I have to go with you? Why can't I just stay here?" Haruhi asked.

"Oh Haruhi," Kaoru said.

"You should already know the answer to that!" Hikaru finished. They both linked arms and dragged her off, screaming.

"Uh?" Namiko said as she watched her cousin get carried off.

"Don't worry, this won't take long," said Kyoya as he too walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Namiko and Kasanoda both looked at each other.

"Any idea?" She asked.

"I have a few theories," said Kasanoda as they both sat down, Kasanoda placing his hands on his knees, "they like to go over the top, a lot."

"Yeah, I think Haruhi's mentioned that before," said Namiko. The two both sat down together and a small awkward silence filled the room.

"So," Kasanoda sputtered, "I'm uh, sorry for the rumors going around about you."

"It's okay," Namiko assured him, "it's not as bad as some of the rumors that used to go around about me at my old school, with my two dads and all. What was it everyone's calling me? The Lady of the Blizzard?"

"Yeah, I think I heard that," said Kasanoda.

"I like that," said Namiko, "it sounds like a superhero name or a badass chick."

"You, actually like it?" Kasanoda asked.

"Yeah," Namiko said, slightly blushing, "sorry, I guess that's kind of embarrassing to admit."

"No it's fine," Kasanoda said, also blushing, "I'm just relieve your not upset or disturbed about it."

"Why would I be embarrassed over a nickname I can share with my first real friend here at Ouran that I wasn't related to? I mean, we're close, so why would there be a reason for embarrassment?" Namiko asked.

"You mean that?" Kasanoda asked again.

"Absolutely," Namiko said, putting her hand on top of Kasanoda's.

'A real close friend, just a friend for now,' Kasanoda thought, feeling both sad and happy at the thought, 'Maybe that'll change someday soon, but I'll gladly take this for all the good it is.'

To Be Continued...


Readers: Thank you for your patience for this chapter. Due to christmas break and new years, Tracey4t and I wanted to spend the holidays with our friends and family. We hope you all had a great holiday. Lots of Love to you all.