HOPE YOU ALL LIKED CHAPTER NINE. :) HERE'S CHAPTER TEN. SORRY FOR THE CLIFFY. D: I ALSO REALIZE THAT THE CHAPTER WAS SHORTER THAN MOST. I REALLY WANTED TO LEAVE YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEATS AND THAT REQUIRED A SHORTER CHAPTER SO I COULD STOP RIGHT AT THE PART WHERE SHE HAD YET TO GIVE AN ANSWER.

I HOPE YOU ALL SUCCESSFULLY FOUND THE LINK FOR AVIANNA'S DRESS ON MY PROFILE. :)

I'M MEGA SURPRISED THAT I AM ACTUALLY ABLE TO KEEP A SERIOUS MOOD IN THIS STORY. I'M LISTENING TO 'BUMBLE BEE' FOR GOODNESS SAKE. XD

Chapter 10

I looked down and rung my hands for a moment before looking Yoshio Ootori right in the eyes. "I..."

Before I could properly respond, Kyoya shot from his seat. "She shouldn't have to make this decision!" Kyoya's statement sent a wave of shock through the room. Even Mr. Ootori seemed taken aback by his son's new found boldness.

"Silence!" His father roared, causing Kyoya to sit back down, the fire almost completely leaving his eyes. When Yoshio Ootori was sure that his son wouldn't interrupt again, he turned to me, his expression still livid. "What's your answer?"

I shrunk down, now afraid. I tried to word it the way I wanted to a moment ago but, in the end, I whispered a simple, "I will."

There was a collective 'you will?' that came from the mouths of both Mark and Kyoya. I didn't have the courage to look at either of them. My eyes remained on only Mr. Ootori as I tried to read his thoughts based on his expression. He seemed to calm down considerably.

"There you have it. A smart answer." He said with a casual gesture. "We'll make the announcement in a month, after the companies are merged."

When I finally tore my eyes away from the man I was beginning to despise, I saw that Mark looked very happy with the outcome. I didn't hide my displeasure for him anymore. I glared with all the hostility I could possibly muster before relaxing my gaze as it fell upon Kyoya. He looked mystified. He mouthed the word 'why?' but I couldn't very well answer at this current moment. I didn't even know why myself. Something in me told me it was the right choice. Or maybe I'm just insane. The second possibility seemed more plausible at the moment.

Mr. Ootori downed the rest of his glass before announcing that it had been a nice and eventful evening and that the head maid would escort Mark and myself to our limo. After giving Kyoya's confused face one last look, I was drug from the room like a rag doll by Mark.

On the way home, Mark seemed uncomfortable. He continually shifted in his seat with his shoulders slumped and his eyes downcast. As we neared the road that led to his house, he finally spoke. "Are you angry with me?"

"Yes." I whispered. I felt too tired to yell at him. The sun had set at some point after Kyoya and I had been called back into the drawing room and I was now feeling very tired. Mostly because of what I had to go through today.

"I'm sorry."

"Not sorry enough to go back and demand I be freed from this."

"You've made a promise. If you go back on it, I'll send you home and never speak to you again. You can't back out once you've agreed. It would ruin everything."

He said all this while looking out the car window. It hurt and, after a few seconds of fighting them, the tears finally fell. The second the limo stopped, I bolted from it and ran directly in the house and up to my room. Locking myself in, I fell on the bed, wishing dad were here to hug me and tell me that everything would be okay. I can practically hear his voice, imagining exactly what he'd say in this situation.

'Look at what you've gotten yourself into kiddo. I guess dad's gonna have to go talk some sense into that Ootori man. Now how about you and I go get some ice cream.'

Hugging a pillow with one hand, I reached back and pulled off my heals. It took me a second but I finally had the energy to crawl up and get under the covers. When the chills that were raking down my back finally gave way to the warmth the covers brought, I was able to fall asleep.

The next morning, I ignored the protests of everyone who tried to get me to leave my room. It was a Sunday and I fully planned to spend it exactly the way I wanted. In bed. When Mark finally gave up on trying to get me to come down for some food, Mari tried her hand. I couldn't really resist when she told me she had a tray full of food in her hands. Besides, Mari had done nothing but me incredibly nice to me from the beginning.

Getting up, I unlocked the door and opened it before crawling back in bed. She sat on the side of it, ever the mother figure, and helped place my tray on a fold out stand so I could eat it right in bed. While I ate my french toast, the first non-Japanese thing I've tasted in this house, she asked me all about the dinner.

"...And then I said 'I will'." I finished my story, still confused as ever. "And I don't know why I did."

She seemed thoughtful as she poured me another glass of orange juice. "Do you have feelings for the boy in question?" She asked and I blushed. Looking down at the lavender bed covers, I nodded. "Well, that makes sense."

I looked up. "It does?"

She grinned. "Perfectly so. You really like this boy. And you seem to me like the type to want to do everything in your power to keep everyone else happy. But in the process, you did something for yourself too."

"But I'm not ready for marriage..." I whispered.

"But you never know. In almost two years, you very well might be. And by then, you may be in a position to back out of the engagement if you aren't."

Looking at it from that perspective, it made more sense than it has since I learned the news of Mr. Ootori's wishes. "Thank you Mari."

When I had finished my food, Mari took the tray downstairs for me. Shutting the door behind her, she left me to rest. As she passed by the stairs, I heard Mark ask about me. "She's not feeling well. Let the poor girl sleep."

If any other maid in any other household had used that sort of commanding tone, they'd be fired on the spot. But this was Mari. She had served three generations of Yukimura men and she knew more about how to run a household than Mark ever will. Mark apologized to her and I didn't hear another word from him all day.

Mari thankfully brought me my lunch and dinner on fold trays as well. Just like at breakfast, she'd sit with me while I ate and let me talk about whatever is on my mind. By dinner, I felt compelled to tell her all about my dad and why I came to Japan in the first place. She even explained that the reason she was in Tokyo is because her own father died when she was seventeen. It left her with few options. She could work in a factory to support herself, accept a family friend's offer of being a Geisha or work as a maid.

Her decision was strongly swayed by the fact that Mari knew what life was like for factory workers and for Geisha. Figuring it her best bet, she was taken by that family friend to Tokyo where she was given living quarters in the Yukimura household. The one my grandfather ran at the time.

I tried asking her about my father but her description was brief. She did specifically let me know that she had been there the day my father was born and that she was one of the maids that went to live with him and my grandmother after the divorce between her and my grandfather.

At first, my father had stayed at a high class apartment. It was after my grandfather tried to demand them back that they decided to travel to America, leaving Mari to take odds and ends jobs until she heard that a Yukimura gentleman was looking for a maid. "At the time, I thought it was your father, deciding to return to Tokyo. It ended up being Mark. Mark explained that his father had died and we spent the entire day after he hired me, talking about him. Mark feels very connected to me because I'm the only person he can really talk to that will tell him anything he wants to know about his father."

"Based on how much you knew about him..." I began and tried to form my words into sentences. "Do you think he would be proud of my decision?"

"To come to Japan and go to Ouran Academy? Yes. I think he'd be very proud of that. To agree to marry someone you barely know for the sake of keeping other people happy, I'm not sure."

I nodded, the tears stinging my eyes again. "I don't think he'd be proud unless he thought I'd always be happy with this decision. And I can't tell whether or not I always will be."

"No one will ever be always happy with every decision. There will be ones that make you happy some of the time and ones that make you very unhappy. But the best thing to do is take what you have to work with and try to find a middle ground for it. Try not to focus too much on what you're losing and try focusing on what you're gaining."

I gave her a grateful smile and thanked her for talking with me. She took my dinner tray for me and left me in peace once again. As I lay there, something dawned on me for the first time. My mother and my grandmother...What would they say when I told them I was engaged? What would everyone at Ouran say in a month when the knowledge became public? I cringed. Megumi would kill me.

I spent much of that night trying desperately to fall asleep. I really didn't want another sleepless night headache. Thankfully, I was able to get at least eight hours. Surprising considering how I'd been sleeping off and on all day Sunday. Waking up as early as I could, I took a shower and then got ready for school. Mari was up as well and had my uniform in hand. She had sent it off for dry cleaning yesterday.

"Have a good day at school." She told me before seeing me to the door. When I was nestled in the back of the town car, Mr. Kobayashi began driving the seven blocks to Ouran Academy.

I wasn't as early as I usually am today. By the time I got to the music room, there was only about ten minutes before Tamaki would be expected and ten more than that before Haruhi would be here as well.

"Kyoya." I called the second I walked through the door. He wasn't surprised to see me here anymore. He shut his computer and sat it on the floor near his feet and waited for me to make it to the window seat he was perched on. When I sat, he started in on the questions I saw burning in his eyes a second earlier.

"Why did you accept?" He asked, his focus no on me, but on the approaching storm clouds out the window. I followed his gaze and sort of cringed. Those clouds looked awful. In a matter of hours, we'd be getting a really bad storm. It would probably hit around noon.

"You know my reasons." I mumbled, not wanting to go back into them.

He shook his head, now looking directly at me. "At the very last second, you looked as if you had some sort of epiphany. Something that had just dawned on you then. What was it?"

I tried to think back. The last thing I remembered thinking before accepting was... that I might have feelings for Kyoya and that I think he might have feelings for me. I wasn't about to tell Kyoya that. I looked back out the window. "I really don't know. It just... felt like the right answer."

"You do realize what you've entered into, right? You can't back out of this agreement unless my father or your brother demand it. They won't."

I nodded, surprised by the calmness I felt. "I know." When I had the courage to look back at him, the look of utter confusion on his face was disconcerting. He couldn't believe that I could ever choose an arranged marriage to prevent everyone's anger. I could. "I'm sorry..." I whispered after a moment. "This probably isn't the outcome that you wanted."

"It's not that I don't understand your reasoning. I just figured you would've chose the more difficult path."

"And entering into an arranged marriage isn't the difficult path?"

"It appeased everyone. No one will fight you on it."

"That's not true. My mother and my grandmother. When they find out, I wouldn't put it above them to go directly to Japan and drag me back home. And what about the school. In a month, they'll find out too."

"My father won't allow your family to take you to America. I hope you know that. You've agreed to something under his terms and he'll even go as far as getting your mother and grandmother deported from the country if they travel here and cause problems."

Something in my clicked but I tried to ignore it. I looked down. "I knew what I was getting myself into when I agreed."

He looked beyond response. He shook his head and tore his gaze from my face. The only noise in the large room was the sound of thunder rolling in the distance. "I was prepared to stand beside whatever decision you made. I guess I wasn't as prepared as I thought. It took me off guard. Few things successfully do that."

The strangeness of the situation was almost laughable. A month ago, I was in America, feeling more normal than ever. Now I don't even know the meaning of the word. In one month at the latest, my entire world would be turned upside down. I'd be lucky to keep it from my mom for that long. Mark might have already told her. Considering that my phone wasn't vibrating over and over in my school bag, I figured that wasn't the case.

"There's no way I can tell my mom over a phone call."

"You could invite her to Japan in a month." He recommended.

"I couldn't possibly tell it it was arranged either..." I thought through possible ways to go about this. "If I could somehow convince her that I entered into the engagement willingly because I..." Because I what? Because I'm in love? No. Even she knows how long it takes me to give a person my trust. Two weeks in Japan didn't make the cut.

After a minute, when he didn't respond, I kept talking. "My grandmother will get it. She was married to my grandfather after all. She was from the upper social class so she was probably roped into an arranged marriage too. My mother will die if she hears that that's what it is...Sorry. I'm probably boring you to tears with my talking. Talking helps me make sense of things."

Looking away from the clouds and towards him, I saw that he had leaned his back against the part of the wall the window was placed in. He was staring at me but something told me he wasn't even seeing me. I tried to take a guess at where his thoughts had drug him but nothing came to mind. He looked like he was calculating something.

If he had stayed silent any longer, I probably would've snapped my fingers in front of his face. He finally moved after a second. He leaned up and located his computer. After opening it, he began typing very quickly. I would've figured that he was ignoring me if he didn't pause to scoot closer to me so I could see what was on the screen.

It was a digital picture of an invitation to a gala that the Ootori family was going to be holding a month from now. "What about it?" I asked.

"This is the event that my father will announce everything at. The party will begin at six and and dinner will be served at seven-thirty. At eight, when dinner is well underway, the toasts will begin. My father will always begin and end the toasts. The first toast he makes will be about the merger. After everyone else has finished their toasts, he will finish it all up with the announcement of the engagement."

"And?" I asked, trying to figure out what he was trying to get at.

"He'll only make the announcement here because he knows everyone in the first class circle will be present. This gala is huge. Even most of the students from our school will be present. It's the only party that he could possibly announce it at unless he wants to wait till the Spring festival at Ouran. That one is nearly as big as this gala."

I had hoped that he was trying to tell me he had a way of stopping the engagement at this gala. I realized by the time he finished explaining that he was only trying to explain how it would all happen. "So I should invite my mother and grandmother to this?" I asked, finally piecing it together.

"Exactly. But you really should give them some sort of head notice instead of waiting until the official announcement is made."

"You think I'm insane?" I asked, the question obviously rhetorical but Kyoya didn't realize that.

"Not at all." He answered with slight confusion. "Why?"

"It was sarcasm. I'm saying that ambushing my mom that way would be asking to die." I also meant that as a joke and I'm glad he didn't take it seriously. At least he didn't seem to.

"Tamaki is here." Kyoya said softly. Sure enough, Tamaki's footsteps could be heard outside the door. He jumped into the room and headed for us like a tsunami.

"Kyoya! Avianna!" He screamed as he came to a stop, now bouncing on the balls of his feet. Tamaki must also feel the need to drop formalities. Not that I minded. The last name crap really got annoying sometimes.

"Hey Tamaki." Kyoya and I both said at the same time.

Once Tamaki showed up, the morning time always seemed to take on a more relaxed atmosphere. If I were to say that today would be just like any other day, I'd be lying. Of course, I didn't know it at the time.

Haruhi had showed up a short time later, the twins in tow. Both were whispering something to him about having a new outfit for him to try on. They ended up shoving Haruhi into a side door and giving him a big white box before shutting him in. The twins were snickering to themselves as they bounced away and sat on a couch together.

Five minutes after Haruhi had left the room, I heard a yell and a crash. "Ouch!" He yelled. I was the only one near the room at the time so I leaned my ear against the door. "Are you alright Haruhi?"

He sounded flustered. "Yeah! I just fell is all. I lost a contact. Could you bring me my bag? It has a spare pair in it. Just hang it on the doorknob and I can grab it."

"Yeah!" Turning around, I located Haruhi's bag and ran to the door with it. Hanging it on one of the handles, I knocked. "There's your bag."

"Thanks." He said before opening the door a fraction and reaching around for it. As his shoulder popped out of the crack in the door, I could have sworn I saw a little pink strap. He shut the door quickly after retrieving it, leaving me to stare at the door in confusion.

"Alert! Alert!" The twins suddenly yelled. They both grabbed one of my arms and jerked me back. "What did you see?"

Before I could get too freaked out by their freaky stares, I felt my waist being grabbed. I was suddenly lifted out of the twin's reach and sat on my feet. I looked up in surprise. "Mori senpai!" When did he show up?

"Mitsukuni says to leave Miss. Yukimura alone." He said in that monotone voice of his.

Honey senpai bounced up behind Mori senpai then. "That's right Takashi. Now Hika chan, Kao chan. Leave her alone."

"Guys, stop overwhelming her." Haruhi said and, I kid you not, stepped out of the room wearing a long, french pink dress made of what looked like pure silk. Curves that the uniform had hidden were now very apparent. "If she saw something then she saw something. No sense in lying to her when she's already seen. I trust her and you should too."

My face contorted in shock and confusion. "Haruhi... You're a girl?"

I heard a collective intake of breath as every single host now appeared in my vision. They all looked at me with very cautious eyes. "You didn't know?" Haruhi asked, looking a little afraid.

I shook my head. "N-no. But I won't tell anyone! I swear!" I told them quickly. "It's obvious that this is some secret and I swear to keep it!"

Kyoya, Tamaki, Haruhi, Honey senpai and Mori senpai all seemed to believe me. The twins, however, still needed convincing.

"She can't be trusted! She's just another obsessed guest that will blackmail us into giving her special attention!" The one I thought was Hikaru said. It was difficult to tell them apart. I basically had to listen to the tone of their voices. Hikaru's voice was deeper while Kaoru's had a slightly childish tone to it. In spite of that, Kaoru seemed to be the twin with his head screwed on straight while Hikaru was more reckless and untrusting.

Kaoru looked like he didn't agree with his brother exactly. "I agree that we don't know her enough to trust her. I mean, seriously. Lately, all she does is run to the club room every morning and spend time with us outside of club hours. This is special attention and it's against club rules."

"It's not special attention." Haruhi defended, glaring at the twins. "She's our friend. If you don't like her than that's your problem."

"It's not that we don't like her..." Kaoru tried to explain but his brother wasn't having it.

"Exactly! We don't like her! She can't be trusted! Give me one reason that she's here that has nothing to do with her being an obsessed guest! Proof that she's here for our sakes! Or even just Kyoya's sake since he's the main reason she shows up!"

I blushed scarlet at Hikaru's words. So they all seem to realize that I like him. Looking down, I backed away from the group. It was obvious that I needed to leave the room. Hikaru and Kaoru both wanted me gone and it was probably a matter of time before everyone else wanted me gone too. This secret seemed very big. Considering that you had to be a boy to be a host, I guessed that had something to do with it.

"Well? I haven't heard a reason yet!" Hikaru yelled again and I cringed slightly.

"If you want me gone-" I began but I was taken off guard by Kyoya. He stepped forward and walked to my side.

"She needs to be here."

Hikaru's eyes widened in confusion. Based on the way Kyoya was treated, it was obvious that his opinion was taken very seriously. Hikaru seemed to eye me in a new light. "Why does she need to be here Kyoya?"

"My father would want it." Was his simple answer. I suddenly realized that he was about to tell the hosts of the news. Is that a good idea? Based on how angry Hikaru was, I figured it had to be said.

Kyoya glanced behind him, at the club room's main door. It was shut tight and there shouldn't be any people showing up here until about fifteen minutes before school starts. We had half an hour before the warning bell would sound for class. Kyoya looked back and gave a dark look at each host. I'd never seen him so serious.

"Just allow it. It's my decree. If you have a problem with it than you can take it up with me." Kyoya stated firmly, causing Hikaru to look very intimidated. I wasn't sure how to feel then. He didn't tell them after all. Tamaki suddenly stepped up.

"Your decree? I thought I was the king!" Tamaki whined, his eyes going all watery. "And I agree with Kyoya! Let her stay. She's nice." He said with a big grin in my direction.

I returned the smile as best I could, trying to hide how uncomfortable I still felt over everything. The strongest emotion I felt was pride, strangely. Kyoya was taking a stand for me. "Why would your father want her to be around you?" Hikaru asked, still not convinced.

"Her brother and my father are merging their companies. Because of that, it is my father's wish that we be in the same company. None of this is to leave this room. Understood?"

They all nodded. Hikaru's eyes darted from Kyoya's face to mine. He seemed to try to be piecing something together but it thankfully led nowhere. He smiled sheepishly before running his hand through his slightly messy hair. "Sorry. Guess I was a bit of jerk earlier."

Haruhi walked past everyone. "That's an understatement. Don't worry about everything, okay? We know you won't tell anyone about my secret. Hikaru just enjoys starting fights."

"I really mean it Hikaru. I won't tell anyone." I told him honestly. After a moment, he finally nodded.

"Yeah, I know." His face showing how uncomfortable he felt now.

Kaoru was the one to truly break the tension. "So does that mean that we get to bring her with us on the trip this weekend?" He asked, a grin on his face.

"What trip?" I asked.

"The trip to Okinawa. Remember? This week, they're going to be doing some testing in our homeroom classes." Haruhi explained. "The top ten from each grade get to go on the trip."

I tried to think back and remember what my grades were. I had always been a good student in America and the work at Ouran was easier than what I was used to. I'd been doing really well. I might actually make the top ten. I haven't been studying outside of school though. They've been giving us so much time in class to study that it's really unnecessary.

"I hope you guys all make it too." I told them honestly. I had no doubt that Kyoya would make it. His grades were always exceptional. Tamaki seemed to be a bit of an airhead in class but he might surprise us all.

"We will." Kyoya explained. "The host club gives a large portion of the funds we earn every year to fund school trips. It gives us all automatic places on the list. They only agree to this since there's a mandatory A average qualification to be a host."

"If Avi chan gets to go with us, she can sit with us on the plane, right?" Honey senpai asked as he tugged the hem of my skirt with big eyes. "Kyo chan booked a private room on the plane for the host club."

I looked up at Kyoya who had somehow scooted himself all the way over to a nearby table and was now typing at his laptop. I didn't even notice him move away from my side. "The private room seats ten. I don't see any reason why we couldn't take an extra person. The group leaves Saturday morning. Let me know by Friday at some point so I can inform the airline that we're going to have an extra person in the room."

"Guests alert!" The twins yelled as the sound of giggling filled the hallway outside. Our eyes instantly zeroed in on Haruhi, who was still in a dress.

Honey senpai shooed her into the side room to change and the other hosts compensated for her absence by being extra attentive towards the ladies. Megumi and her friends were in the group of guests that decided to show up early today. Apparently, they were all exciting about the trip and they all wanted to know if every host was invited.

"Remember to come to Friday's club meeting." Kyoya announced. "That's the day we will be giving away prizes to celebrate the first semester."

The way Megumi fawned over Kyoya made my skin crawl. Trying to shove down the anger that was bubbling up, I located my school bag and decided to leave the club room. That seemed to get someone's attention because I heard footsteps behind me the second I hit the stairwell. Turning around, I was surprised to see Megumi.

"Why are you always in the club room when I get there?" She demanded to know.

Instead of risking a scene like that day in the club room, I decided the best course of action would be to walk away. I wasn't able to table a full two steps before she ran after me and grabbed my arm. The pressure she had on it hurt. "Let go."

"Answer me then." She hissed, her eyes dangerous. I wasn't scared of her at all. I was, however, quickly getting to the point where I wanted to hit her.

"Do you have a problem with me spending time with the hosts? You do."

"I show up fifteen minutes before class starts like they tell us to. According to a friend of mine who's been showing up early to study in the library for testing, you show up an hour early every day and you always head directly for the club room. You need to stop hogging Kyoya. You're pissing a lot of people off." A lot of people meaning Megumi herself.

"Kyoya and I are classmates. He helps me with homework and stuff." I told her, trying to get my arm out of her grip. She refused to let go.

"I'm serious." She said with dark eyes. "If I see you near him again, I'll get you kicked out of the school." As she spoke, she pulled me closer and then flung me back, causing me to fall back. For a brief second, I was midair, then suddenly, I was tumbling down the stairs.

As I landed with a thud on the marble floor, I looked up to see Megumi not even facing me. Her back was rod straight and her knees were shaking. My focus was mostly on the pain in my back and my right ankle but it was drug completely from it as Kyoya stepped forward and peered down the stairs at me, his eyes wide with worry.

"Megumi, what have you done?"