I Prefer Spearmint: chapter 13

AN: EHEEHEHEEHE seems like we've got a bunch of guesses as to what Rachel's afraid of, huh. This chapter might seem a little 'deus ex machina', but here we go, anyway!

thecrazymonkey: Clowns... hmm, seems like a reasonable guess... But, 'scared, not fearful.' ;D Hmmmmm. I thought Mori was kind of like a big-brother type, and he's wise and silent, but he follows along with whatever crazy stuff they do (remember the time they followed Haruhi to the supermarket? He looked really into it, and I thought that, hey, Mori's got a sense of humour too :D). And that's why I thought that while he keeps silence until he needs to say something, he's got this other side of him to cheer people up :D Especially little fourteen year old sisters like Rachel.

Guest (1): Hmmm, good guess too :D Sonic the hedgehog... Hm. Actually, your guess is quite close to the general idea.

supermanisawesome: I liketh your name :D eheheh, she's not fearful of water. In fact, she does like the ocean a lot. But there's always a fine line, no? Haha, I guess. You're quite close with your point on 'being stuck out there with no one to save her'.

Guest (2): "maybe being wrong"... the idea behind that one is linked to her actual fear. But yes, that was a deep guess...

Heh :D now that I'm done with answering the comments, I shall answer what her fear is...

at the bottom of the page :D

Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC

Enjoy!

We left the villa the next day, and I was glad that I had the whole Sunday to myself. When I got back to the apartment, however- with Kyoya by my side- there was already someone tidying up the place. She saw me, and Kyoya, and bowed. I bowed back, unsure.

"We agreed on a weekly cleaning service, didn't we?" Kyoya explained. "I thought it would be best if she did not disturb your daily… shenanigans."

"R-right. Thank you."

The cleaning lady smiled at me, and just as she was about to leave, passed me a stack of cards. "I saw these numbered cards all around, and rearranged them."

I took the stack from her, and bowed again. She left, and I slammed the door in Kyoya's face again. It was an accident, but I was pretty sure that he had gotten used to my barbaric behaviour, so I didn't bother apologizing. Instead, I looked through the stack of cards. I hadn't noticed them lying around the house. Then again, this could just be because of- well, my existence. I wasn't exactly a very organised person, and so while it was reasonably neat for the most, I preferred shoving dust under the carpet than cleaning it up like a normal person.

I flipped through the stack of cards. It wasn't anything, really. Just numbers. And the way the cleaning lady arranged it made it look almost ominous. In descending order, a countdown. I laughed it off. How did those cards come about? Maybe Kyoya bribed the cleaning lady to give them to me, just for revenge. A little bit of revenge for just existing, wrecking the universe…

I placed the cards down, and turned on the television, ready to slack off. But the first person I saw was the white-haired stranger. I shrieked, and then clambered my way to the screen. How did she- why was she there? Was she a celebrity? Maybe this whole mix up was some sort of a prank, and I got mixed up with it. And they got a voice actor to lead me on!

"I know what you're thinking, sit down." She sighed. "Geez, kids these days…"

Then again, she didn't really look like that stranger… "Yeah, I'm just dreaming."

"I'm actually honoured that you're dreaming of me."

I turned back to the television. "No way."

"Yes way."

I retreated, tripped over the coffee table, and fell over. She laughed at my clumsiness and shock, and I was suddenly so afraid. Screw thunderstorms- she was my fear. And, without thinking, I grabbed the remote and turned the television off. How did she manage to answer me? Was it just a coincidence? Yeah- it had to be. She couldn't have taken over the entire television, could she? I mean, it's just silly to even assume, considering that I am stuck in a cartoon- wait. Why did I turn the television off?

She was the one person who could tell me what was going on! I dialled Mao's number, and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't pick up. One less problem to deal with. I was going to record this conversation for her, no matter. I felt around for the remote, took a deep breath and turned the television on.

"So, kid, what's up-"

"Cut the crap," I ordered. "Look, what's going on? What am I doing here? What's with Mao Fuwa and me? And what the hell, is the universe dying?"

"Considering that I know things that you don't-"

I screamed. "JUST TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON! I WANT TO GO HOME."

She stayed silent, and watched stonily as I cried. "I'm afraid that's not possible. Look, the only way I've been able to get into this box, is because I've been playing around with the magnetic field, and I can only say that I won't last long. Geez, didn't you take heed of the warnings I sent?"

"Warnings…?"

"I slipped those numbered cards everywhere, and made sure that Mao took note the number of days she had left on a daily basis! I even warped your dreams! Don't tell me you guys forgot all about it? Oh geez, kids these days." She exaggerated a sigh.

"No- no- you're saying that there's a time limit. What time limit? Why didn't I know about it- and what's going on?"

"You were going to be in Japan for three weeks. And so, I just thought that you wanted your wish fulfilled. Which is what I did, for you, and you're welcome. So I decided that a little swap wouldn't matter, especially since there was conveniently a little lady who looked just like you, and didn't mind going off into an entirely different world to hide from hers. So," she hesitated for a moment, looking guilty. "Well. Apparently there's been a bit of a problem-"

"Tell me about it," I said sarcastically, wiping my tears away.

"I am!" she rolled her eyes. "But apparently you've only got three weeks, because I forgot to read the fine print, and so… well… Something's wrong-"

"The crack in the universes and the warping caused by the magnetic field?"

"How clever! Kids these days… I knew you'd be able to figure it out- crap, I'm running out of time! Damn the nitrogen-" she let loose and started cursing unintelligibly. "Screw this, where's the extra helium and god, the Big Bang-"

"No- tell me what I can do for us to switch back!" I fiddled with the buttons of the remote, hoping that it could prolong her 'life'.

"You can't. At least, I haven't figured how to cure the whole thing yet, so please just wait-"

"You said we had a time limit! I can't wait-!"

"Until your worlds end, YES! Now, you have to remember what happened at the start, where we all started."

"Where we all started?" I repeated, clutching at the remote.

"Yes, child, lovely child-" and the screen blurred into a mess of grey pixels.

No. No. No. NO.

That can't be happening. This can't be happening. As if switching places in the universe wasn't enough, now I had a time limit running off my head. And the rest of our universes was dying. Decaying. Disappearing. Fading. Flickering. Trying to breathe so hard with these iron ribs. And if Mao's theory was right, which I hoped it was (I didn't like not knowing what to expect), we were all going to start warping along with the magnetic fields between our worlds. And we were going to be pretty damned lucky if a black hole didn't come hit us.

Ten days left.

What could I do with ten days? Save the world? Yeah, right. I didn't have anyone I could turn to, and even if I could, they wouldn't be able to stop this mass destruction from happening. In fact, they were all ignorant and blissful, and not knowing that our worlds were on a suicide mission was probably the best for all of them. Besides, who would believe me? I wish I was just Rachel. Normal, stupid, dumb, peasant sluggy Rachel with her plans for apple juice domination.

Maybe it would be best if a black hole came and swallowed us all. Instantaneous death sounded like a good idea. Like painkillers to this sinking feeling in my gut, and the hollowness of my throat and fingers.

I needed to move. Do something. Act like the end of the world wasn't coming and that I wasn't the only girl on this universe that knew about it, but didn't know how to stop it. I was going to go out. Appreciate the human crowd. Forget. And this time, I wasn't bringing my phone. I made my way out, but upon opening the door, found that my plans were quite impossible.

Because Kyoya was still there, and god knows how much he heard.

"What's going on, Fuwa-san?"

"Nothing."

"I heard-"

"I told you it was nothing, Ootori-san."

"You were screaming, Fuwa-san."

"Teenage girls do that all the time. Don't you?" And then, softer, "Would you get out of the door way? I need to go."

"… Where?"

"I don't need you monitoring me, Ootori-san."

"I was extending an offer to take you-"

"I need to walk; Move; Go somewhere." I waved him away.

"I insist on accompanying." Tracking, more like.

"There are no merits to this," I said. "Whatever."

There are times when I'd like to document every single boring detail of my life, and there are times when I just don't want to think. Even registering my surroundings makes it so hard to breathe. So when I stormed off, I made sure that I was fast and that every bit of me felt alive and busy. Having everything blur past me into an insignificant whirl of colours was relaxing and therapeutic, and so, fuelled by this sudden rage, I walked on.

After a while, I got tired, and stopped. Kyoya paused, a little after me.

How did he manage to keep up? Why did he bother to keep up?

"I know everything about you," I said, and wasn't sure why I said that.

So now, we're in a stalemate on the streets. Me, panting and sweating like a pig, and he's just staring silently. I want to scream. I would, only that when you scream, everyone hears, but no one listens. And the last thing I want to do is to gather up another fuss all over a screaming fourteen year old girl. I think of the answers that could flash across his mind; 'no, you couldn't.', 'I know more about you.'.

And it saddened me to know that he didn't believe me. Not when I didn't believe myself. For once, I was hoping that Kyoya would know, just like what he always did. Find me. Some trace of Rachel Cho in this universe. And if he didn't know, then I was in some deep shit. But then again, I was placing too much faith in a fictional character. Someone who didn't exist.

Get your shit together, Rachel. He's not real.

If he's not real, then what am I, now?

"I want yoghurt," I blurted out.

He smiled, and pushed his glasses up. "I believe there's a store nearby that sells it."

And before I knew it, I was eating yoghurt like a boss with Kyoya Ootori. It didn't help that the counter kept flirting with him, and ignoring me. Neither did it help when Kyoya offered to pay for me. I didn't like owing him a favour, especially when he waved it aside. Sure, I wasn't that honourable to make it into his black notebook, but…

I scooped up my original yoghurt (with fruity pebbles to complete) and ate it. "Why did you insist on tracking me. You could have placed a GPS tracker on me."

"You are under my care, and you could have easily disposed of the tracker had you known."

"Why?"

"Why what?" he didn't bother to look at me when he said that.

"Why am I under your care, and why would I dispose of the tracker?"

"Supposing that you do know everything about me, the first would be a redundant question; you are a valued… patron to our company, and thus my father has requested me to personally handle your affairs. He was apparently intrigued by the notion of a 'people-centred' leader. As for the second question, you looked murderous then. It was uncertain what you might do."

I stared down at the melting yoghurt in my cup. "Do you… think… I mean, what day is it today?"

"It's Sunday, isn't it?"

I'm absolutely brilliant. I pull people into weird places and situations with me, and then I trap them with awkward conversations.

"What if I told you we were in a TV show?"

"You'd be breaking the fourth wall."

You know what? I think he wins the title of being a conversation killer.

"Why am I a valued patron? Why does your family's corporation continue to sponsor me?"

"I thought you'd be quite clear on that point, Fuwa-san. But we see the potential in your future." He turns back to me and smiles.

Screw this. The world is ending in ten days.

"I need a new phone." I don't think I even care about him knowing or seeing through my deceit. Hell, let him see. Let him know.

He nodded and led me out to where a limousine was already waiting. How did he even get to call for a ride? Oh right, he's Kyoya Ootori. And like a lady, I scrambled into the limousine and knocked my head against its roof. Thankfully, he made no remark about it, acting like the perfect gentleman he was. We made our way to the mall, I picked out a phone, and he paid for it. A remarkably simple process.

"I don't want to go to the Host Club tomorrow," I said softly, just as we were walking out of the phone shop.

"I shall arrange another form of transportation for you, then?"

I shook my head. "I want to walk."

"That can be arranged."

"I give you full permission to hide a GPS tracker in the map." I paused. People-centred, eh. "And I give you full permission to call me 'Mao'."

"Just Mao?"

"But I want to call you Kyoya."

"There was nothing stopping you."

I shook my head again. "I just wanted to be sure I could."

He smiled, and pushed his glasses up. And that was pretty much the end of our conversation. His phone beeped, and I wondered whether it would be rude of me to send him text messages, since my chat speak was (according to Mao), 'horrendous'. He glanced at it, and his lips curled up just in the slightest, even as he sighed in exasperation.

"The Host Club is right outside your apartment, demanding to go in," he said.

"They've got Haruhi's apartment to explore, don't they?" I exclaimed. "Tell them to come to the mall. There is no way in hell I'll let them go in. They'll just end up embarrassing themselves like the other time."

"The other time?"

"In my dreams. Not that I dream about them. Just random stuff. Like apple juice and yoghurt and stuff like that. Don't you ever dream?" I ended up rambling again. "Yeah, you'd probably have aspirations, so maybe dreams aren't really your thing."

"Dreams are the effects of subconscious activity. So no, considering that my brain is functioning normally, I would say that dreams are my thing." God, he's acting OOC again.

I laughed awkwardly. "Yeah."

"Mao-chaaaaan!" Honey squealed, and jumped onto my back. I stumbled, and tried not to fall over.

"Honey-sempai!" I grinned. Finally having a distraction was pretty nice. "I missed you a bit."

"We didn't really hang out a lot during the beach trip, did we! Next time we should hang out together! Eh, do you know what we should do?"

I paused. Right, Moe Moe Cake café… It wasn't so good the last time I went there, was it? If the world was warping and changing, it probably wasn't the best idea to enter that dimensional, soul-sucking place. Honey jumped off my back, and I stretched, working out the kinks.

"Ah! Honey-sempai, I got a new phone!"

"Eh? But wasn't your previous phone working well?"

"It broke, so Kyoya took me to get a new one!" I smiled, and waved the phone in his face.

"Ah? Just 'Kyoya'? You guys are getting quite intimate, aren't you?" the twins asked. "Is Mommy cheating on Daddy?"

I shrugged. "You're just jealous!"

"Ah, you're so cute when you want to be, Mao, my lovely daughter! Here, have my number! You can call on me any time you want!" Tamaki exclaimed in an exaggerated manner and pulled my phone out of my grip, adding his own contact.

I looked around, and found that Haruhi was being tackled by the twins. She shrugged, and I smiled at her. Taking my phone out of Tamaki's hand, I handed the phone to Haruhi. She stared at it curiously, and then back at me. I pushed past the twin's arms and into her hands. Ignore the badly-shaven peacock, ignore it…

"If you don't mind, Haruhi, could you add your contact?" I smiled.

"Why, yes, she minds," Hikaru said, taking the phone out of Haruhi's hand.

"Are you Haruhi Fujioka?" I snapped, miffed. "Or Fujioka Haruhi."

"We're her friends!" Hikaru shot back.

I rolled my eyes. "Why did you even come? You guys wanted to see my living quarters, but it's obvious that you have no intention of being affiliated with me. I'm pretty sure that Haruhi doesn't mind my acquaintanceship, and you've got no right to speak up for her. Are you her legal guardian? Or are you the law? Stop dragging her off into your own world and trapping her in this little Host Club fantasy family. You're being selfish just because there's someone in this world who cares to tell you two apart!"

There was a short little silence after I made that bratty, spiteful speech. I looked down, trying not to feel guilty. Why should I be guilty? Heck, I'm so done with everything right now I just want to sleep and not think about anything. Screw everyone.

"Say, Mao-chan, we should go to Moe Moe Cake café-" Honey started to say.

"No. For the love of god and cakes, please don't go there." I looked down at him. "Promise me."

"A-alright…?"

"I'm going back." And with that, I snatched my new phone away from Hikaru, that stupid brat, and walked away.

I wasn't sure if I should cry, after looking at his stunned- hurt- bitter expression.

AN: aaaaand, Rachel's fear is... drumrolls. Actually, I had no idea. /everyone falls flat on face, sweat dropping/ But after rereading the past few chapters, I've come up with something quite close to her fears:

1. the fear of being lost

2. the fear of being forgotten or ignored or forgetting.

It's not very apparent in the past few chapters, but you can see that her actions and thoughts are influenced by it. Although this might be due to her current age- since she's in adolescence. I read a book on psychology and it says that when teenagers are in the adolescence stage, they tend to get more despondent and they get more self-conscious, leading to their advanced reasoning. Which causes them to feel more inferior and afraid, questioning their own thoughts and so on. But for her to overcome that, she has to acknowledge some problems that she's been having, and it will hurt a lot.

And thus, to find herself, she has to lose herself first- which was what this fic started. So yes, she's afraid of clowns and maybe of the water, and even the damned white-haired stranger, but she fears everything that she is, and everything that she has.

It doesn't sound very comprehensive, but I hope you guys can get the general idea.

So there you have it :D

Reviews will be greatly appreciated!