Not only is this a double update, this chapter is approximately 2,800 words. Considering my average is 2,000 or 2,200, you guys are lucky :D Well, it's all I can do for making you wait so long. I'll do my best to get the next few chapters up, so hang in there, please! I know I'm not the fastest updater, but I hope you enjoy this story regardless!


Chapter 11-

"Oh my god, have you heard?"

"About what?"

"About Kyoya, of course! He's been dating like, one girl every two days"

"No way. Kyoya's dating! But he like, never dated because he didn't want to ruin his reputation!"

"Well, now he's turning into the regular playboy. I really hope he dates me..."

Hana closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, trying to focus on anything but the obnoxious girls sitting a table away from her in the library. They had come here claiming that they wanted a 'private chat' but they were either stupid or simply thought Hana was part of the scenery. Or both.

And then Hana did something she'd never think she'd ever do, "You know" she said, "I can hear every word you're saying"

"Oh my gosh, where did you come from?"

"It's rude to eavesdrop, commoner"

"Actually, I wasn't eavesdropping" Hana retorted, "It's just that you're both so infuriatingly loud that I can't help but hear you"

"Fine, fine we get it, we're going" the first one said, standing up, "But seriously, you're only angry 'cause you're jealous"

"Jealous of what?"

"Of Kyoya dating other girls. But since you're supposedly so smart I thought that it was obvious that Kyoya would get serious with a commoner. I mean, maybe it'd be a possibility if you were prettier, and maybe a little more friendly, but with the way you are now he's never even consider it"

"I'm glad he doesn't consider me" Hana said hotly, "Because if a guy liked me only because I had a good body I'd never go out with him. I'm not that shallow"

They shared a glance, one that screamed, 'She's only saying that 'cause she didn't get the hot guy' then left the library.

The other occupants of the library gave her grateful smiles, and one guy even gave her a thumbs up. Obviously, the two girls hadn't been bothering only Hana.

When she was about to leave the library, the guy who gave her the thumbs up walked over to her.

"Hey there" he greeted, "I'm Ichiru Hamasaki, class 2-B. Nice to meet you. I'd just like to congratulate your for what you did there. Not many people would do that, especially since their parents are highly influential"

"Hana Kaneko, class 1-A, nice to meet you as well" she greeted, giving him a nod of acknowledgement, "Not to be rude, but what do you want?"

"The rumors weren't lying when they spoke of your... Interesting personality" he grinned, and Hana looked away in embarrassment, "No need to be flustered; I find it endearing"

"Well that's good for you, but you still haven't answered my original question"

"Oh, my apologies" he replied, "I guess I'm simply here to get to know you"

"Oh" Hana replied, unsure of what to say, "I'm sorry too. I guess I'm just not familiar with people from here trying to know me"

"I'm sure they don't mean anything by it. It's not that they don't like you, they've just been separated from non-wealthy people since birth. It's hard on them, trying to adapt to a commoner in their midst.

"Sometimes I doubt that"

He smiled, "I think you have every right to"

"Well, I've got to go. See you around?"

"Sure"

She walked off, smiling slightly to herself. It was nice to know that not everyone in Ouran was snobby.


The next week passed by uneventfully. Her mother and sister were excited for her birthday, which was in two weeks. She was turning sixteen, and her family wanted to do something special to celebrate it. Against Hana's protests, her mother had insisted on taking the day off so they could spend the day as a family. Hana pretended it wasn't a big deal, but secretly she was excited. Days out together were rare and few.

As for the cafe, the scheduled festival was tonight. Hana had called Haruhi, and they both had agreed that Haruhi would tag along to forget their boy troubles and have a fun night out.

As for right now...

"A commoners festival, Hmm?" Ichiru noted, "Interesting. Do you think I'd learn anything substantial by coming along?"

Hana punched him gently in the arm, "No" she said, smile playing at the edges of her mouth, "Last I checked, commoners were humans too, not lab rats"

"But in all seriousness, do you want me there?" He asked, "I am free tonight"

"No, it's fine" Hana declined, "I'll be with my workmates and Haruhi. My hands will be full enough"

"Don't forget the Host Club" he warned, "Wherever Haruhi goes, they follow"

"Don't remind me" she grumbled, and he laughed.

Over the past week, she and Ichiru had grown closer. Sure, they weren't best buddies, but he nodded at her when they passed each-other in the hallways, and that was more than she could say for her classmates, who barely acknowledged her presence, if they knew her presence was there at all.

And now it was the evening, and the festival was beginning.

"Ah, this brings back memories" Haruhi smiled fondly, glancing around, "My father takes me every year- he was really sad that I wasn't going with him this year- and my mother did too, when she was alive. She was a lawyer, so she didn't have much spare time, so the fact that she'd take a whole evening off and spend it with us always made me happy"

Hana's mind wandered back to her childhood, to when she too had two parents to spoil her. Her childhood had been the happiest time of her life, but it had also been the most ignorant, when she'd thought that everything was perfect and that it would stay perfect. 'Ignorance really is bliss' she thought to herself, 'And sometimes, I just wish I could forget all the things I've learnt, and be ignorant once again'

Kyoya flashed in her mind.

"Hana!" Misaki called, walking over, "C'mon, come help us with the goldfish scooping! Workmate bonding, remember? It's not all about having fun"

"Sure, whatever"

"If you give up the attitude and give it your all, I'll pay for everything"

"Oh my god, I love goldfish scooping! And workmate bonding! Misaki, let's go!"

Haruhi laughed, "Hana, you are too easily bought"

'I know that all too well, thanks to Kyoya. To think I'd date a guy for 100,000 yen'

Hana shoved away the negative feelings and winked at Haruhi, "What are you talking about? Goldfish scooping really is awesome!"

She ran on over to find Hikari, her fellow co-worker and aspiring therapist, as well as the two cooks of the cafe, Nana and Yuuki.

"Hana, how are you?" Hikari greeted, usual big smile on her face, "I think we can win at this! I've been reading my textbook, and apparently failure is a state of mind. You can win so long as you-"

"Hikari" Hana interrupted, "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but... You said you want to become a therapist?"

"Yeah!" Hikari confirmed, "It's great fun, too!"

"But what sort of therapist do you want to become? See, a therapist is a person skilled in therapy. And the therapy can be anything; physical, mental whatever. And also, when you quote your textbook, what book are you quoting? I've never seen-"

"Hana you're so mean!" Hikari yelled, tears running down her face, "Why do you ask so many questions?"

She tried to run off, but was caught by the collar of her jacket by Misaki. Hana gulped. Misaki had her eyes closed, and was slowly counting to ten, obviously furious.

When she finished, she opened her eyes and said brightly, "Hey everyone, good news! Hana's going to pay for the goldfish scooping! And to cheer Hikari up, everyone's allowed an unlimited amount of shots, so don't give up until you've caught something!"

Hana could see the giant hole in her paycheck ominously looming ahead of her, but she didn't dare say anything due to the daggers Misaki was glaring at her. It was as though Misaki was begging her to argue just so she could beat the shit out of Hana.

"Wow, that's harsh" Haruhi remarked, then gave Hana a sympathetic smile, "Don't worry, when the Host Club gets here I'll make them pay. God knows they have enough money"

Hana stayed silent for a moment, swallowing the 'Like you can make the Host Club do anything' and instead said, "So you've invited the Host Club after all"

Haruhi winced, "Um... No, they sorta just... Show up"

"People tend to show up when you invite them"

"Hana" Misaki said, glaring at her employee, and Hana flinched, "Are you going to be nice to your guest, or do you want to pay for food as well?"

"H-Haruhi! My best friend!"

"More like your only friend"


"I ate too much" Hana winced, rubbing her stomach, "But the Takoyaki was too good"

Takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special pan. It is usually filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion.

Haruhi however, was not concerned for her friends wellbeing, "The Host Club isn't here yet" she murmured, "I'm worried. Usually they'd be here by now. Has something happened to them? Are they all right?"

"Haruhi, calm down" Hana ordered half-heartedly, still rubbing her stomach, eyes closed, "You act like their mother. I'm sure nothing's happened to them. At worst, their limousines cooling system didn't work. Or maybe one of them got a splinter"

Haruhi breathed out slowly, "Yeah, you're right. Oh, by the way, your workmates are waving at you right now. I think they want you to do karaoke with them"

"Karaoke? I'm sorry, but the Takoyaki swimming in my stomach does not agree"

"I'm sure the Takoyaki will survive one song. Get up"

Ten minutes later, ignorant to the protests of Hana and her Takoyaki, she and Haruhi were up singing. Haruhi looked through the song selection, fussing over every choice.

"Oh, I like this song" Haruhi grinned, "Is Sakura Kiss okay?"

"Sure" Hana shrugged, "It's catchy, at least"

The music came on, and they started singing.

'Kiss kiss, fall in love!

I see you come, I watch you go. You never seem to leave me though!

So is this love, or hate? We'll see, you're making me crazy!'

They continued, and oddly enough, Hana found herself enjoying it. At one point, she saw a controlled mess of dark hair that reminded her of Kyoya, but brushed it off as her being paranoid.

They walked off, basking in the afterglow as Hana's workmates congratulated the both of them. Hana smiled. Maybe, just maybe, tonight would be a lot of fun.

And then hell broke loose.

"Haruhi, my shining star!" Tamaki's unmistakable voice cut through their conversation, "Oh, you were amazing!"

"Don't believe him; he's lying" the twins synchronized voices interrupted, "You were terrible. Hana was decent, but she has a long way to go. Thank god that the microphones were bad, they saved us from your voice. As expected of a commoners festival"

Haruhi stared at Tamaki, who let out a nervous laugh and looked away, "Well, I never said your singing was amazing..."

"Hana, who are these people?" Misaki asked, cracking her knuckles, "I might just have to teach them some manners"

Misaki had attended a high school that was formally an all-boys school. The gender ratio there had been something like for every three boys, there was one girl. She'd fought for a gender balance and gender equity in that school, and so whenever males picked on females, Misaki's mama bear instincts kicked in.

Misaki was also very talented in Aikido, a type of martial arts, which made her a very capable, very intimidating woman.

Whilst Hana still didn't love the Host Club, she didn't want to see them subjected to torture of Misaki's kind, "Boats!" She blurted, "Let's ride the boats?"

Misaki froze, then stared at Hana, "Boats?"

"Yes, boats" Hana said quickly, "We can ride them. Because the festival is near a lake. I've heard they can only fit two though, which is unusual. Well, maybe not that unusual-"

"Boats sound like a great idea" Kyoya gave Misaki his polite smile, "Let's all go, shall we?"

In a unanimous decision, the group started walking. Hana stayed near the back, feeling awkward, and Kyoya noticed. His stride slowed until she caught up to him.

"What do you want?" She grumbled.

"You seem to be isolating yourself"

"Wouldn't you? Didn't you hear me blather on and embarrass myself a few minutes ago? The amount of times I said boat in one sentence" she groaned, "Oh, good grief"

He smirked, "Calm down, Hana. I doubt anyone is judging you because of that. Heck, I even thought it was kind of cute"

Her hair fell like a cloak protecting her face, which was burning. Cute? He thought it was cute?

"Hana, Kyoya! You guys are too slow! We've already picked the teams!" Honey called, "You're the last two!"

Last two? Oh no, don't tell me-

"Looks like we're a pair" Kyoya noted, then flashed her a charming smile, "Being the commoner, you can row"

Hana rolled her eyes, "Isn't the guy meant to do it out of chivalry?"

"Don't be a blind sheep in the world of stereotypes, Hana"

"That's your way of saying that I have no legitimate reason to make you row"

"I'm glad you realized that"


And that was how Hana found herself alone with Kyoya on a boat in the middle of a lake.

Kyoya watched her in obvious mirth as she tried to row the boat. Her face was slightly red, her mouth was set in a straight line and her eyes held that determination he was all to familiar with. Hana was exceptionally stubborn, and once she had her mind set on something she didn't give up, something Kyoya could respect.

"You're terrible" he deadpanned, "You're unbalanced. You're rowing too much on your right"

"It's not my fault I'm right handed" she retorted, "And besides, if it bother you that much, you could help"

"Well" he said, "I never said I was that bothered"

They fell into silence once again, and then Kyoya asked, "How are your studies?"

She looked up from her oars and met him with a puzzled glance, "Alright. They could be better, but I think that stands true for most things, so I'm not too worried"

He nodded and stayed silent.

Hana scoured her mind for conversation topics. She wanted to keep this conversation going, but she didn't know what to say. It struck her as odd that she'd dated him for a month yet still didn't know anything about him.

"You don't need to pressure yourself so much" he said finally.

"Huh?"

"You put too much pressure on yourself" he repeated, "Even now. You're struggling to say something to me because you want to fix things between us. You want to achieve too much"

A loud screech carried across the lake, saving Hana from having to reply. She glanced over to see Tamaki flailing in the water, Haruhi clinging to the now-capsized boat for dear life, and the twins doubled over laughing.

"I'll get you back for this!" Tamaki yelled furiously. He then swam over to the twins boat in a desperate attempt to make them capsize as well. He succeeded, and in the space of a few minutes a full-scale water fight broke out.

"They're at it again" Kyoya sighed, "Can't they simply enjoy a boat ride without turning it into a childish game?"

"Childish game or not, it seems fun" Hana remarked, "Minus the cold lake water, of course"

"Of course" Kyoya agreed.

And then the silence was back, along with the awkwardness.

"I hate this" she said out of nowhere, "I hate how I can't say anything to you. I hate how I don't know anything about you. I hate how no matter how hard I try, I can't get through that emotional barrier you forever have up and find what you're really thinking"

He observed her for a moment, then smiled, "Funny. I could say the same things back to you"

Her eyes widened slightly, and then a giant grin took over her face, "Then let's start over. Favorite color?"

"Dark blue. You?"

"Green. Hobby?"

There was a slight pause, and then, "Cooking"

"Cooking?" Hana repeated, dumbfounded, "You? Cooking?"

"Mainly desserts" he murmured, "You? Hobby?"

"Photography" she said, "But that's mainly recently"

"Favorite place to be?"

Hana thought about it, "Wherever the people I care for are"

"Cheesy answer"

"Don't blame me, it was a cheesy question"

And so they continued for the rest of the evening.


Hope you guys enjoyed! Please review, and once again, I'm sorry for the slow updates :D