I apologize times three. I'm not going to write in all caps or go on a long tangent about why I didn't update, because I'm pretty sure you couldn't care less. Ha. So, I'll shorten it: I was on vacation and I'm working on another story. So there's a plus! Yay!

Now for something some-what important: I usually never ask you guys to review (which by the way, I love you, past reviewers, thank you), since I write for the pure want of writing, but today I am. Request continued below…

But for now, here's the story!

片頭痛-Migraine

~Recap~

Ruri and Mori eavesdrop on Alice, who was using up all of her words on a pool chair. Mori gets found out. Ruri doesn't.

~Alice POV~

"Can I ask you something?" Silence. "Am I going to end up being eavesdropped by every single one of you guys? First it was Ootori…" For someone who's supposed to be a kendo master, you'd think that Mori had the capacity to be a little more secretive in eavesdropping. Not. I was still lying on the pool chair. Mori was standing a little to the right. I was looking at the sky, and from what my peripheral vision saw, Mori was too. "But you aren't the kind of person to just slip in and listen… You weren't hired or something, were you?"

~Ruri POV~

Uh. I better leave.

~Alice POV~

"Not that it matters." I realized out loud, "You didn't understand a word I was saying." I laughed. "I basically poured out my whole life story to you and you didn't freakin' understand anything. From Leah, to the party, to the stalking, and Ruri, and, uh… let's see…"

"Talking."

Oh, right! "Yeah! And the talki…" Wait a second.

…

…

I immediately stood up. "What did you say?"

The deep voice spoke again, "Talking".

… What? Okay, Alice, take a deep breath. In. Out. Good. Now speak slowly.

I started, "You can speak English?" I made eye contact. Neither of us dared to break from it.

"Yes." Twitch. Twitch.

"And you haven't told me this before because…?" I was struggling to keep calm.

"You never asked." Silence. I was about to leash out a ball of fury. It would be a little something like this: I kind of want to punch your face. Which is funny, because I realized I never was this violent until I moved to Japan. I wonder why?But then I realized… he was right. Mori never spoke out of his own accord, and I never directed any conversation towards him because I assumed he didn't speak English. Wow. Paradox-y.

And there was something else.

"How much of it did you hear? Don't lie to me."

"Everything."

"How much of it did you understand?'

"…Everything."

There was a moment of tenseness between us. I turned to look out the balcony.

"Well… I guess it's okay. You don't talk much anyways. My personal affairs aren't that interesting. No one would really ask about it." I turned to Mori, who looked a little surprised. "But still, I need you to not tell anyone. Not even your cousin. I know you're not the type of person to just listen into other people's conversations unless there's something else. I don't need more people carrying my over-dramatic past. It's not even a 'past', it's more like a, uh, life-changing occurrence…? You know what? Never mind. I'm going home." And I started walking out. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"I'll walk you." I turned around.

"Don't you have an eighteen year-old to look after?" What was he doing? I could walk by myself. Eh, he was probably just worried about earlier. But then again, I kind of was too. I saw a pass of indecision come over his face. I sighed, "Do whatever you want." I started heading back to my house again, and after a moment of hesitation, I heard slightly shuffling footsteps follow.

Hold up. The walk home with Takashi Morinozuka was not "sweet", "cute", and definitely not "romantic". It was awkward. What was usually normal silence was painful this time, because there were a whole fricken' lot of things to talk about for two relatively private people. Plus, I didn't really want him following me, and Mori probably wanted to be with Hunny anyways. Got it? Good.

~~At the doorway~~

I had a very deep epiphany about Mori's character and history. I then explained it to him in very eloquent detail, and he was forever amazed by my all-knowingness.

Ha, yeah right. Here's what really happened.

"Hey thanks, bye!" Slam. Phew. Awkward, awkward, awkward.

~Ruri POV~

I'm such a jerk. I hope Mori-senpai's not dead. Alice is so stupid! What the hell, Leah?

Those thoughts kind of ran a constant cycle through my head as I snuck my way out of the balcony. I was so consumed by them, I didn't notice Haruhi coming towards me.

"Are you alright, Ruri-san?" I snapped out of Ruri-land in a second.

"Um, yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Rur…"

"Just stick with Ruri. Those damn honorifics make me sound like an old person." They did. She might as well have called me "Miss Ruri". Ew.

"Of course, Ruri." I could tell Haruhi was having trouble twisting the word in her mouth. Ah well. "You look a little pale, are you sure I can't get you anything? Or help you with anything?" I eyed her suspiciously.

"I'm not a customer, Haruhi. You can stop with the hosting act. I can do things by myself." I sound like a jerk. "But thanks for offering."

S/he sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just sometimes I have a hard time turning off the 'host switch' of my actions. I understand, though. I hate it when Tamaki-senpai and the twins try to act like hosts around me. You just want to be treated like a human being sometimes, you know? Not a customer?"

Wow. She couldn't get anymore naïve, could she? But her understanding of other things sort of makes up for it, I guess. If Haruhi was actually a guy, I know a lot of friends that would easily fall for him/er. I'm also counting my guy friends. "Exactly. It looks like you're the only one who gets it."

"Yeah. But really, as a friend, or at least a colleague, I suggest you watch out for yourself…" She suddenly halted, searching around me. "Where's Alice-san? Isn't she always with you?" Ooh.

"Um, yeah. Uh… she went to get some fresh air." Haruhi scrunched her eyes.

"I don't think so…" She walked around a bit to survey the open balcony area from the lower level of the room, "the balcony looks clear to me…"

"Haru-chan, Ru-chan!" A familiar tuft of blond hair rushed towards our legs. He hugged Haruhi's leg as his eyes grew three times the normal size whilst filling with tears. "Have you seen Takashi?" Oh shit.

"Eh? Mori-senpai's missing as well?" Haruhi questioned.

What the hell did Alice do with Mori-senpai? She couldn't have done too much, right? The guy's supposed to be some international kendo champion or something. But then again… Alice has the capacity to achieve some scary things when she has the drive to.

"Wow! Look at the time! I… uh… need to feed my pet platypus!" I ran. Yeah, I know, smooth, but I couldn't think of anything else. Now… If I were to torture an eavesdropper… where would I keep him? No, scratch that. If I were a pissed-off Alice, where would I go to punch things? Ah. I know.

A smooth voice. "I happen to know neither of you own a pet. Much less a platypus." Oh my bejeezus. Couldn't this guy ever give it a rest?

"Are you going to let me through without a fight?" Somehow, a rather strong glare reflected off Ootori-san's glasses. Hey look! He has no pupils.

"Do whatever you need to, Kato-san." I was slightly surprised, but I decided it was nothing. I guess that guy could give it a rest every now and then.

Run. Run. Run… Come on legs, can't you go any faster? I ran past the classrooms, out of Ouran, around the creepy building (yeah, not going through the alley, I'm not that much of an idiot)… Whoa, wait.

"Mori-senpai?" By this point, the sky was pitch black. The flimsy streetlights and the white moon provided the only lighting.

Mori-senpai had been walking with his hands in his pockets, looking down. The only way I recognized him was by his height. He looked up. I ran toward him and inspected his body for any common injuries. He wasn't limping… no broken or sprained legs or ankles. His face was perfectly clear and intact, so no jaw dislocations or broken noses. He could put his hands in his pockets… so his arms were fine. His clothes didn't have splotches or anything, so there was no external bleeding. Phew. I was so concerned about having blood on my hands, I didn't realize my actions were kind of creepy.

"Uh, sorry. I was just checking for injury." Mori-senpai looked confused. "Ah, never mind. I'm just insane, don't pay attention to me. Um… anyways… what happened with you and Alice?" He shrugged.

"She wanted to go home. I walked her." I let go of the breath I was holding.

"That's it? No death threats or anything?" He, again, looked confused. "Uh, never mind…AHH!" There was so much going on in my head, my mind felt like it was going to explode into millions of pieces… and then be burnt to ashes. Poor Mori-senpai, he was really confused now, and most likely really frightened of the female kind.

"Ah…" He was trying to express concern.

"Sorry, sorry. Just. A lot on my mind. Um. Can. You not tell Alice I listened to… everything." It came out in spurts. Ah, I know what this is. A migraine. Hooray. Something I really need. I had enough sense to look at Mori-senpai's face for a reaction, though. He looked a little disbelieving. "Unless you already. Told her. Ah." He shook his head. He looked worried. "I'm… er. Fine. Just go back. Tell everyone we… uh, have Commoner's Disease." They'd believe that. "Thanks. I'm going home."

Somehow I managed to make it to the doorway. How? I don't know, because if a hundred hammers pounded into my brain in any other circumstance, I'd die. I fumbled with the lock and stumbled into the shared home. Dropping everything, I wandered to the bathroom and opened the med cabinet. Ibuprofen… come on… Why the hell is it not here! Damn it! Another wave of pain came over me. I'd just sleep it off. I couldn't take it anymore.

So in my dress and all, I flopped onto the bed and turned to the nightstand to turn off the lamp. And then I saw the ibuprofen. And a sleeping Alice.

Don't worry. The bottle was still pretty full. This story is not categorized under "drama". I guess both of us just had a rough night, Alice usually hates taking medicine. I dry-swallowed two pills.

I had one thought before passing out.

There is no way in hell I am going to any more balls.

Haha, I broke a couple of fourth walls here. I feel bad for Mori, having to keep secrets from everyone, and he's always out of the loop and at the wrong place at the wrong time and dealing with strange girls.

Next up: You thought this was awkward?

Continuation from note above: So like I said, I'm working on another story. If you want to see an outline, look at my profile, it's the Untitled story about cooking. Anyways, there's an OC. I don't want to write a common story.

So, I'd like to see how I'm doing with this one, so I can improve my upcoming plot:

1. I know this started dully, what made you guys continue reading?

2. Are my characters too common? What do you like/hate about them? I hate writing blandly.

3. Did your opinion of the story or the characters change since the beginning of the story and now?

4. Any other improvements/comments.

NOTE: You don't have to, it'd just be really helpful if you addressed even one of these points. There's no "Update Ultimatum" if you guys don't decide to review :D

Thanks, until next time!