Hello people!
Strangely, the end of this chapter and the one after it are the only bit apart from Chapter 1 which I had planned clearly since the beginning… .
Hope that you like it!
Anyways, I don't own Ouran!
Chapter 21 – The Truth
The library was as quiet and comforting as ever, just the way I liked it. As it was a warm autumn day, the library was completely empty except for me. The sounds of chattering students wafted slightly through the open window, but not enough to disturb me. It was the first time in a week that I'd had a moment of peace. Sighing deeply, I sunk further into the folds of the expensive armchair by the wonderfully stuffy library fire. It was then that I fell asleep easily for the first time in weeks.
I guess it must have been wishful thinking to think that I could find peace at this school. I had only been asleep for a few minutes when someone came and violently shook me awake. I opened my eyes, glaring at the blond person who had dared to disturb me.
"Miyoko! There you are!" she scolded cheerfully.
Kita was standing over me triumphantly. I groaned. Not surprisingly, that was all it would take to send my temporary bliss down the drain. What did she have in store for me this time?
Her face was bright with happiness and excitement. Despite this, somehow it felt as if there was an evil demon lying closely behind her bubbly smile. I gulped. From my many experiences with Kita, I knew that whatever she said would lead to sheer pain and possibly humiliation. It was impossible to predict what this girl had on her mind sometimes.
"Where have you been all lunchtime?" she asked crossly. "Fuiju and I just had the most awesome idea ever!"
Instinctively my mind headed back to the last time that she and Fuiju had had an 'awesome idea'. I'd been dragged through hideous clothes shops to eventually choose a purple and electric blue shocker of a suit. It had burned my eyes just looking at it.
"What is it?" I said dully, struggling to hide my lack of enthusiasm.
Frankly, I'd had enough of Kita and Fuiju's 'ideas' to last a lifetime.
"We're going to go on a ghost hunt!" she explained eagerly, taking no notice of my complete disinterest.
I frowned. A 'ghost hunt'? Somehow, the idea of that was even weirder than I had expected. Fangirls never ceased to amaze me…
"Why?" I blurted without thinking.
Instantly I regretted opening my mouth. It took that one tiny word to trigger an explosion. Kita was rejuvenated, with a new burst of enthusiasm and quiet desperation, all set to annoy me to death.
"Well, it's always been my dream to explore a creepy place for a supernatural presence!" she gushed, waving her arms in hyperactive gestures. "How exciting would that be? If we found something, we'd gain the headline space in the next edition of Ou-Spo for sure!"
"Yippee. That's just what I've always wanted." I replied mockingly. "When you say that both of you had this idea, exactly how much say did Fuiju have?"
"I know right! You must have been so excited when you made the headline for some checkers tournament or something." she continued ecstatically, immune to my question and obvious sarcasm. "I can't wait for my turn!"
I didn't bother to correct her mistake. I'd never played checkers in my life. The article was about a chess tournament, and it was not the headline. The paper had dedicated three sentences on page sixty-two to my victory.
"Skip the Host Club today and meet me in the East Dungeon!" she instructed gleefully.
I grabbed her arm instinctively. With my Vice-Presidency hanging on by the skin of my teeth, there was no way that I could skip club activities! Besides, Kaoru would wonder where I was. I had to stop her.
"But if I don't go to the Club then – "I began pleadingly before coming to my senses and closing my mouth hurriedly.
I'd be in even more trouble if I told her the truth.
Why am I even here… I thought miserably as I followed Kita reluctantly around the dungeon. She was at least fifty metres ahead of me, but the dungeon was so huge that I could still see her tiny figure down the corridor. It didn't really seem like a dungeon to me, more like a passageway. I could not be bothered with this. How long would it take for us to search every corner? Ghosts didn't exist anyway.
For once, I was not alone with my thoughts. Fuiju was also beside me, looking as disinterested as I felt. Her eyes were very far away. It was strange to see her so… normal.
So she has her limits after all, I thought.
"How come you're not excited?" I asked conversationally. "I thought you'd be into this kind of stuff."
She shrugged, rolling her eyes.
"Like you can talk," she pointed out bluntly. "I'm just not interested. Can't we go to the Host Club? There's no one else down here, except maybe Nekozawa-Sempai."
I smiled slightly. She was right. This was the first time that I'd ever spoken to Fuiju by herself before. Perhaps there was a whole other side to her than I'd ever imagined. It was slightly shameful that I'd always thought of her as a brainless fangirl zombie…
"True," I agreed.
"Hey," she said suddenly, stopping in her tracks. "I thought of a plus side to this stupid adventure."
I frowned.
"What is it?" I asked curiously.
She smiled brightly.
"If we see a ghost and scream loud enough, then maybe the Host Club will come and rescue us," she explained, giggling.
"Yeah," I agreed.
Ten minutes later, Kita was no longer in sight. Fuiju craned her neck, searching for a sight of her.
"Hey, it looks like she's finally disappeared round the corner," she whispered in relief, nudging me.
"Mm," I acknowledged vaguely.
Fuiju grabbed my arm excitedly.
"Let's sneak out of here and go to the club," she said breathlessly. "If we come back a little early, she won't even notice that we were gone."
I nodded. Even the Host Club was slightly more interesting than this.
Everyone at the club was too busy to notice the two of us sneaking in late. Fuiju smiled kindly, tapping my shoulder.
"See you later," she said happily. "Have fun with Tamaki."
I sighed as I walked reluctantly to Tamaki and his band of fangirls. Although Kita's pure craziness had taken my mind off my parents for a while, it was all coming back. In spite of what Naoko had threatened, I still didn't have time for this anymore.
Today's theme for the club was some kind of defense thing. The hosts were all dressed up as generals and commanders. When compared to some of their other extravagant ideas of the past, it almost seemed normal.
"Welcome, everyone," Tamaki welcomed importantly, "It is my honour to have you ladies as my treasured comrades today."
The girls squealed. I rolled my eyes non-discreetly.
"Miyoko, what's wrong?" Tamaki asked, still confused. "Am I saying something wrong?"
I shrugged.
"I'm fine," I said vaguely. "I have to go."
I wandered over to where Kaoru was sitting, chatting to his guests.
"Hi," I said shyly. "Can I sit with you?"
His face fell when he saw me standing beside the expensive lounge. He seemed sad to see me. I blinked in surprise. What had I done wrong?
"Umm," I stuttered, my eyes watering slightly, "its okay if you don't want to…"
"No, he said quietly. "It's not okay."
He stood up so violently that the table nearly fell over. The noise was so loud that he now had the entire club's attention.
"I'm sick of this, Takaki!" he yelled loudly.
"What have I done?" I asked self-consciously.
He frowned.
"You know what you've done," he said angrily. "You're an imposter. Everyone, she's only here to spy on the Club. Her stupid chess club wants to beat us in popularity."
The room went deathly silent. All eyes were on me, and none of them were friendly glances.
"Miyoko, is it true?" Fuiju cried.
I didn't have much choice. There was no way I was getting out of this one.
"Yes," I stuttered quietly, "it is."
Everyone gasped, except Kyoya who was writing in his notebook.
"Kyoya, did you know?" Tamaki asked, sounding upset.
"Of course," he said bluntly. "But I didn't see the significance. But now everyone knows, I suppose there's no choice."
He snapped his notebook shut.
"Tamaki," Kyoya said, "I believe you, as president, should do the honours."
He passed me a contract of some sort.
"Miyoko Takaki, you are hereby banned from ever entering the Host Club's room again," said Tamaki, wiping his tears away. "Sign here."
He pointed to a line on the paper, with the notation, "Betrayer's Signature", on it. As I signed, I glanced up at Kaoru. He hastily avoided my gaze.
What had I done to upset him?