I'm sorry this took forever to put out *no excuse for this*. But Chapter 8 is finally out and I hope you like it!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club, nor do I own the Hitachiin twins (specifically Kaoru). If I did, it would go a little differently. = P

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The next day, the school was all abuzz with the excitement of the dance coming up. It was to be in a week, sending the unprepared girls into a frenzy. Even at the Host Club, Whitney couldn't escape the mindless chatter.

"Tamaki, what color dress should I wear?"

"Anything you wear will be gorgeous, my darling."he replied.

"Hani-senpai, are you bringing Usa-chan?"

"Of course! He wants to dance with you ladies, too." he chirped happily.

"Hitachiin-kun, will you save a dance for me?"

That one got her looked over to see a small blonde talking to Kaoru. The girl had no clue which twin she was talking to.

Kaoru nodded.

"Sure, Yuuki-chan. I will look forward to it." he said, smiling his host club smile at her.

Whitney froze for a bit. She was feeling...upset?

But why? There was no reason for her to feel that way. Then it hit her. She wasn't upset. She was jealous.

"Why am I jealous of her?" she wondered, feeling the strange and new emotion crash over her like a wave.

"It's because you don't want to share him." came a reply.

Now she was scared.

"Who are you?"

"Nice to meet you, too." It replied sarcastically. "I'm the inner you. Your innermost thoughts, dreams and desires."

"I'm going crazy." Whitney sighed.

"No, you're not. I've been here as long as you have been alive."

"So, why did you wait until now to show yourself?" Whitney asked, irritated.

The inner Whitney laughed.

"Because, quite frankly, hun, you bore me. You never do anything of interest to me. Or at least you didn't until now. I'll have to thank Yuuki over there." it sneered the blonde's name.

Whitney looked over in the girl's direction, a sharp, stabbing pain oming over her.

"You see? You feel threatened by her." It explained to the confused girl.

"But why? She hasn't done anything. It's not like he's my..."she trailed off.

"You'll find out in good time." it replied, fading away.

"But wait!" Whitney yelled at it.

"Whitney, who are you talking to?"

She turned to find Kyouya, who was looking at her like she had three sets of arms.

She scrambled to think of an explanation.

"Um...n-no one, Kyouya." she stuttered.

"Whitney, it would be better if you didn't scare our customers by becoming delusional during our club hours. Please try to save your outbursts for your own time." he said, walking away to go crunch numbers on his laptop.

"Sure, Kyouya. I'll just tell my delusions to go away until later."she replied, sarcastically. She walked over to a couch and began talking with some customers.

"Whitney-chan, what are you wearing to the dance?"

Whitney mulled over whether or not Kyouya would be annoyed that she divulged information. She decided he would be and went about trying to peak the girls' interest.

"It's a secret. I guess you'll have to go to the dance to find out." She said, adding a wink.

"Is it true that the Hitachiin brothers designed your dress?"

She figured that wouldn't be secret information, so she nodded.

"Yes. It's a Hitachiin dress."

"So, are they your dates?" Yuuki,the blonde girl from earlier asked.

Whitney blushed.

"N-no, of course not. That wouldn't be fair to you girls if I was selfish like that."

The blonde smirked.

"Good. Now I can ask them to escort me."

And with that, she flounced off.

Whitney's head started spinning.

"You see? You want him..."the voice mocked her.

"Oh,go away! I don't...I won't discuss this."

"Even if I can help?"

"Help what? Make me seem crazy?" Whitney hissed, continuing to tweak.

"No. Help you get his attention. I guess you don't want it though, because you're snapping."

Whitney thought it over in her head.

"Fine! It's a deal. Help me." she answered.

"Alright! You know, you're a lot more fun when you let go and have some fun."

And so, Whitney spent the rest of the afternoon formulating "Operation: Get Kaoru's Attention"

The next day, Whitney quietly tiptoed out of bed at five in the morning, against her better judgement, to prepare for her plan. She took a quick shower and then spent an hour on her hair, make-up and wardrobe. By the time she was done, she had on a lacey black top with a plaid skirt and matching black leggings. Her hair was pin straight, thanks to a fight with the flat iron. And for once, she'd put on make-up. She usually didn't because she found it to be a waste of time. But she was ready and she flounced out the door happily.

As she walked into class 2-A, she was nervous.

"Why did I go along with this? I'm going to look so stupid."

She pushed the door open and walked over to her desk,only to be blocked by Tamaki.

"Excuse me, Miss. But this is where my daughter, Whitney-chan, sits. I take it you must be new. I'm Tamaki Suoh. Why don't we-"

"Tamaki, that IS Whitney." Kyouya said boredly, barely looking up from the novel he was reading.

"Huh? This is NOT our daughter, Mommy." Tamaki said, looking at the girl in front of him.

"Tamaki. Shut up. Kyouya's right. It's me. Now, can I please get to my seat?" she asked.

"I knew it! I overdid it." she thought.

"Whitney-chan!" Tamaki said, hugging her like he did every morning. She hugged the tall blonde and then sat down, while the teacher began the lesson.

Class went by at a pace slower than a snail's as she waited for the club to open with anticipation. The clock finally signaled the arrival of the end of classes and the raven girl was out of the room faster than the speed of light.

When she arrived in the Third Music Room, the other hosts had yet to show up. As she waited, her mind began to talk to her again.

"Why am I picking up on nerves?" it asked her.

"This...isn't going to work."

"You need to have faith in me. You're fine. It will work. Just do what we planned."

No sooner had it spoken, Kaoru walked in, Hikaru in tow.

"Hikaru. No. We're not accepting."

"Kaoru, Kyouya-senpai will kill us if we say no."

"Then why don't you go?"

"Well...I don't want to...There's another person I want to ask..."the older twin waffled. "Besides, I wouldn't have any fun if you weren't there, too."

Kaoru crossed his arms, being stubborn.

"So, you're saying 'If I'm miserable, you have to be, too'?"

Hikaru tried to think of a way around it, but couldn't.

"I don't know what to say, Kaoru."

"How about 'no'?"

They were finally distracted by a small 'ahem' from a girl who was sitting on the couch. They looked at her strangely.

"Um...excuse us, miss,but the Host Club isn't open yet." they stated, wondering how she got in withouta key.

"Ha Ha. Stop joking." Whitney laughed, nervously.

"Do I really look that different?" she wondered. "Kyouya's the only one who recognized me."

"Whitney?!?" they asked, shocked.

She nodded.

Hikaru gave a low whistle.

"Wow...somebody got into their make-up bin this morning." he laughed.

"Does it look bad?" she asked.

"Great. I look terrible! Nice plan, genius."

"No...just different." Kaoru said, observing the girl in front of him. She did look pretty, but something about the entire situation was bothering him.

"Why is she trying to dress up all the sudden?"

"Any reason for the get up, Whit?" he heard Hikaru ask, as if he had read his mind.

Whitney blushed.

"N-no,Hikaru. No special r-reason."

In all of her nervousness, she had reverted back to stuttering as two unforgiving citrine gazes bore into her.

Twin smirks appeared on their faces.

"Oh, really? Your behavior tells us..."

"...that you're lying."

"Why?"

She scrambled for an answer but, upon finding none, decided to scuttle over to the dressing room to change into her costume. Today, they were all dressing up as each other's favorite animals. The idea was to feature a guessing game as to which animal was each host's favorite.

She opened her costuem bag, confused when she came face to face with a panda costume.

She walked out to find Hikaru.

"Hikaru? Why am I my own animal?" she asked him, zipping up the back of the Panda outfit.

"Huh? You're not. Did you check the list?" he asked, his smile becoming slightly mischievous.

She shook her head.

He dragged her back to the dressing room to show her a list that was hanging next to everyone's costumes.

*Note: These were chosen at random by H. Hitachiin.*

Whitney rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Random my behind."

She began to scan the list.

Name Animal Corresponding Host

Hani: Dog Tamaki

Haruhi: Rabbit Hani

Hikaru: Racoon Haruhi

Kaoru: Panda Whitney

Kyouya: Bear Mori

Mori: Jaguar Kyouya

Tamaki: Goldfish Hikaru

Whitney: Panda Kaoru

Whitney finished reading the list and went to leave the room when it hit her.

"Hikaru, what did you do?" She asked him, dangerously.

He just smiled.

"I told you all I chose it randomly."

"Right. So Haruhi ended up in a bunny costume, you ended up with her animal, Tamaki ended up a goldfish and Kaoru and I get to be twins for a day due to randomness? I think you're stretching the truth a little, hun." She said, doubting the veracity of the ginger's statement.

He just shrugged, leaving her stanging in a panda suit.

As the other hosts began to arrive and change into theircostumes, Whitney couldn't help but laugh at some of them. She snuck over to her bag and pulled out a camera secretly taking pictures of her friends. She figured if she got caught, she'd bribe Kyouya with the prospect of a new photobook for the host club. She hid behind the couch, snapping photos, especially of Tamaki. His costume consisted of a very shiny orange leotard-like top with matching orange pants and a flowy orange gauze attached to the back to look like fins. She couldn't help but giggle everytime she saw him and she would be darned if it wasn't documented.

"This is soooo going on my Facebook."she thought.

"Whatcha got there?" came a voice from her right side.

She turned to find Kaoru, looking over her shoulder at her camera.

She handed him the camera, and he began to flip through the pictures she'd taken, laughing at the ones of Tamaki and pausing on a picture she'd taken of Haruhi and were hugging in it, which looked odd because Hikaru was wearing a racoon costume that looked like it belonged at a children's party. Nevertheless, the expression he had was almost sweet, holding a loving look that was rare for Hikaru. Haruhi looked clueless,but happy in her cute rabbit outfit. The leotard, while modest, fit her well, the tail being fluffy and oversized. All in all, it was probably Whitney's favorite picture she'd taken today.

"His world is expanding." Kaoru whispered softly.

His expression was bittersweet, unsure of whether to be happy for his brother or to be sad that he was being left behind. Thinking quickly, Whitney grabbed the camera and snapped a picture of him to get his attention.

"Hey!" he said, wondering what she was doing.

"Smile, Panda-kun."she said, taking another photo of him.

He flashed a grin and gave her a peace sign.

She kept snapping pictures and he kept posing until they were laughing too hard to continue with their little photoshoot.

"That was fun" she said through a giggle.

He nodded.

"Yeah, it was." After a little silence, he suddenly grabbed the camera.

"Hey! We didn't take one of you." he said, snapping it while she was still laughing.

When she stopped chuckling, she took her camera back, holding the camera above them.

"How about we take one together?" she asked,grinning at him.

He nodded, putting bunny ears behind her head as the camera flashed.

She smiled at the photo before her.

"I think this one is my favorite, Kaoru-kun." as she stared at the camera's screen.

They looked like two baby pandas playing.

"Let me see." he said, looking over the picture.

"You know what? Me, too."

She got up from behind the couch, helping him up.

They had to go get ready to open the Host Club up.

As she walked away, he grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

"Hey, Whitney-chan? You never told us why you made your make-up bin explode this morning." he smirked.

She blushed.

"O-oh,um...it's nothing, Kaoru-kun.I just...decided to change my look a little."

She tried to smile, but it came off like a nervous wince.

He let go of her wrist.

"You know,Whit-chan, you don't have to lie to me." he said in a patient manner as he walked to the door to stand by his brother.

She slowly shuffled to the door.

"I'm never listening to my inner-self again." she resolved,taking her place between the two.

"Iraishimase."