Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran or the characters, except for Miyoko, whose secret passion is soon to be unearthed! XD

PS. I know that the prices would be in yen, but I don't know how much it's worth so I used Australian dollars (cos I'm Australian…). SORRY! I'll just say that a normal bottle of water would be around $2.50…)

Chapter 11- Shopping

Standing dejectedly, I watched Kita and Fuiju run around the designer clothing store as spastically as two puppies set loose in the pantry. They were whizzing around, picking up new revolting items of clothing to add to their ever-growing piles everywhere they went. I was certain that shopping with a bunch of fangirls was the new gateway to hell. My feet were aching in my black school shoes and I was sure that my eardrums had burst from the amount of squealing going on. I had fiddled with my dragonfly necklace for what seemed like decades to relieve my boredom. My clever tactic was no longer working. As I watched my two friends going hyper over a pair of polka-dot socks I realized that I was no longer simply bored. I was scared.

"Miyoko!" Kita called excitedly.

Her voice was so high with excitement that I was surprised that the windows didn't shatter with the impact of the pitch. She skipped over to where I was standing, in a secluded and unnoticed corner of the shop by the dress shoes display. "Do you like this suit?" she asked earnestly, her eyes glistening with anticipation.

The suit consisted of an electric blue shirt covered by a purple pinstriped jacket and pants. To top off the outfit, the pink polka dot socks which they had been scrutinizing earlier were included in the attire. It was the ugliest combination of colours that I had ever laid my eyes on in my entire life. "Will he like it?" Fuiju added desperately, also pinning her hopes on my answer.

"Umm… sure!" I reassured, smiling.

A wave of relief swept over me as I realized that we had finally finished. I was so desperate to get out of that shop that I would have said absolutely anything to make us leave a little earlier. Unfortunately for me, my comment made them even more hyper. Immediately, they both started jumping up and down, shrieking louder than ever before. "Yes, it's perfect!" they exclaimed in unison, zooming so fast over to the cash register that I barely saw them move.

It was as if they had teleported from one side of the shop to the other.

"This one please," Kita chirped merrily as she handed over the atrocious suit to the attendant as well as her shiny new credit card.

Fuiju bounced back over to me and hooked my arm with hers. "C'mon, Miyoko!" she babbled happily as she pulled me out of the shop, "Birthday card next! Kita wants to get one of those singing ones! Oh! We should get some chocolate as well! It's like, girl law to buy boys chocolate on their birthdays!"

I was confident that it was not girl law to buy chocolate, though I supposed that I'd never done it before so I wouldn't have a clue. I sighed. These girls didn't know when to stop. How much money do they want to spend? I thought as I was whisked away. They sure have bought a lot already. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate though…

My sister had always nicknamed me 'the miser', although I'd never known why. I guess that I was finding out why now. I hated shopping of any form (except book and stationary shopping). Expensive stuff was my personal pet hate.

Finally I had managed to escape the two puppies and sneak into the book shop. I reasoned that if I had to go around doing what Kita and Fuiju desired, then I had the right to choose at least one thing that I wanted to do. Feeling my pulse rising, I nearly ran over to the new releases section. I was super excited. Although I absolutely hated to admit it, being the tomboy that I was, I had a secret passion for drippy blockbuster romances. They were just so satisfying. I loved the stories, the characters, and the endings – basically, I loved everything about them. Ever since I was seven years old, I had suffered from this terrible addiction. Grinning madly, I examined the rows of glossy books. I was searching for a specific book which had come out only two days ago. I smiled in delight as I found what I was looking for – the latest mushy romance by my favourite author ever. For a moment I simply admired the beautiful lurid pink design on the front cover. Soon, however, I had opened the book eagerly and begun to read. Soon, I was immersed in the embarrassing, but so awesome story of 'Love on the Sakura Hill'.

Kita and Fuiju caught up to me as I was reading on the wall outside the bookshop (I'd bought the book earlier). "What are you reading?" Kita asked curiously, leaning over to look at the front cover.

"Nothing!" I assured, hastily shoving the book into my bag before they could see the title.

I refused to let even a pair of fangirls know about my secret addiction. If they told someone – anyone – then I would be dead meat. If the news got out that I was in love with romance novels, I'd be the laughing stock of the chess club, let alone the class. My status as a chess nerd had already fallen enough. "Where to next?" I asked, determined to change the subject.

"Umm…" Kita said, staring at me oddly, "Well, I thought we could buy a singing card…"

After seven hours of non-stop shopping (you would not believe how long it takes to find a gigantic singing birthday card), it was so late that we stopped at a restaurant for dinner. It was an Italian place. The interior was set up to look like a French restaurant (so that customers could enjoy 'Two European Countries in one!' according to the brochure) with even a small Eifel Tower placed in the centre of the room like a strange metal Christmas tree. French folk songs blasted out of the loud speaker, meaning that it was very difficult to hear anything unless you shouted at the top of your lungs. It was so extraordinarily expensive that even a simple bottle of water cost thirty dollars. "So what is the Host Club doing for Mori-Sempai's birthday?" I shouted, praying that it wouldn't be something too outrageous.

"A garden party!" Fuiju yelled happily. "Tamaki-Sempai says that when commoners have a party, they go to these… commoner public park places and have parties in special commoner gazebos. So that's what's happening. We're having a commoner's party!"

So that's what that gazebo was for… I realized, twirling my straw. Wouldn't it be more authentic if they actually held it in a park?

"Tamaki-Sempai wanted to hold it in a real commoner's park, so that we could have extra authenticity and enjoyment," Kita continued, unknowingly answering my question, "But the school wouldn't let us. They said that it was too dangerous and that a real commoner's gazebo could be unhygienic or even worse."

"What a shame," I sympathized, not really listening.

Out of the far corner of my eye, I had spotted a familiar figure. My mind filled instantly with dread. It was one of the twins, although once again I had forgotten which one. What was wrong with me? Did Hikaru or Kaoru part their hair on the left side? I wondered, craning my neck to get a better look whilst subtly making sure that he didn't see me.

Unluckily for me, Fuiju had also spotted the twin. Her eyes sparkled. Standing up excitedly, her dark hair fanned in waves upon her back. I felt my heart sink like a stone. Why did she have to get his attention?

"Hi!" she shouted, towing the twin towards our table by the arm. "Come and sit with us!"

He looked very surprised as she plonked him down roughly in the empty seat next to me. "Umm…" he yelled, "I should probably go back. Kaoru's gone to the bathroom and he won't know where I've disappeared to."

So it was Hikaru. I felt relieved. I did not want to see Kaoru. "Don't worry! We'll just ask him over here when he comes out!" Kita exclaimed.

Sinking down even further in my chair, I groaned silently to myself. Why did he have to be here as well? Life wasn't fair.

After about two minutes, we heard a flush. Sure enough, Kaoru soon emerged from the adjacent men's bathroom. "Kaoru!" Hikaru called, as he glanced around the room having noticed the absence of his twin, "I'm over here."

He spotted us and started walking over, looking slightly confused as to why his brother was sitting with a bunch of fangirls. As he approached, I made sure to give him my very best death glare, leaving him slightly unnerved. My death glares are powerful things. As he went to steal a nearby chair, I stopped him. "Have mine," I offered, standing up swiftly. "I'm going to the bathroom."

He appeared to be somewhat annoyed as I escaped from that table as fast as I could. I needed to get away from him. Not looking back, I headed straight into the girl's bathroom. I had to finish 'Love on the Sakura Hill' anyway.

By the time I eventually returned to the table, the brothers were gone. Their entire family had left the odd restaurant. As we ate, I only gazed vaguely at the mini Eifel Tower and listened as Kita ranted on and on about everything that she was going to give Mori-Sempai on his birthday. She was so excited that I didn't even care that the bill for the dinner eventually came to two thousand dollars. I had bigger things to worry about.