A/N

I apologize profusely for the long, long delay in updating this fic! All I can say is that I lost interest in Ouran High School Host Club for a while...but now that I've recently purchased volume 9...the interest is back, in full force! I can only hope that you'll forgive me for the hiatus!

Hehe. Well, on with the chapter, I suppose!

Chapter Seven: Early Morning Conversations and Promises

"Well?"

The tall, dark-haired senior stared at the shorter girl who was standing before him with a rather large scowl on her face.

"… … …" It seemed to him as though she was expecting something from him. But what could that be?

"I don't have all day you big idi-" she paused, "-uh, yeah, I don't have all day, sempai!"

She was forcing herself to be polite. But why? She wants something, but what…?

"… … …" He could tell that she was getting angry – if the way her face was slowly turning red was any indication of it – and, seeing how they were in a public hallway, he forced himself to say something. Anything.

"What?"

She shot him a confused look, before the scowl was back on her face.

"What 'what'?"

"…What is it that you want?"

"You know what I want, stupid—uh, sempai!"

He blinked. Did he really? As he stared thoughtfully at the shorter, dark-haired girl, he could hear the whispers of the crowd that was gathering quickly in the corridor, watching them.

"…What do you want?"

The girl stared at him for a moment, as though she was trying to…gauge him in some way.

"Are you trying to make me lose my temper?" she questioned, placing her hands on her hips.

"No," he said, shaking his head and doing his best to figure out why they were having this conversation in the first place. Heck, he was trying to figure out what the conversation they were having was about.

"You're…serious…?" Before he could open his mouth to answer, she fixed him with one of her trademark death glares. "Look," she said, in a voice of forced calm, "stop playing around, alright? I've got to get to class, and I sure as hell don't want detention because of you." She paused. "Now, will you please give me your answer?"

He blinked once.

And then blinked again.

Answer? To…what?

"No."

He didn't know what she was talking about, but he figured it was always safest to go with the negative, two letter word of 'no'. Of course, his cousin would beg to differ, but the use of the word 'no' had never failed him in any way.

Misao's eyes narrowed at the answer that she received.

He returned to his earlier thoughts as he saw her clench her hands into fists.

Well, maybe the word 'no' had failed him today?

"What?" she exclaimed, not seeming to care that people were now openly muttering to each other about what they were seeing – not knowing what was going on, of course, but muttering all the same. "But…but I even said please!"

"… … …"

"You promised!"

"… … …"

"You said you would, if I asked permission!"

Grey eyes widened slightly – ever so slightly – as their owner stared at her, somewhat perplexed but not showing it as was his character.

Permission? For what?

"I-"

"-Fine, I didn't really ask permission, but you have to do this for me! You even said you would, so, please? Please, say you'll do it?"

"… … …"

"Dammit, that's three times now that I've begged you for an answer! You stupid perverted, sexist, arrogant, annoying little…cow!" The girl threw her arms up in the air in frustration. "Fine," she said, glaring at him once more, "fine, I'll leave you alone. I don't need your help anyway. There are other ways that I can learn. And besides, I still am a part of the club, so I'll pick up a few things from there."

With a last withering glance at him, she turned around to walk away, when he reached out and grabbed her arm. "Let go of me," she growled out, not even looking back at him.

But, of course, he did no such thing.

"This…thing you are asking of me," he said, his voice as low and unemotional as it always was, "…what is it?"

If he had been paying more attention to her than to his confusion, he would have seen the way she tensed. He would have seen the way she started twitching ever so slightly as she put two and two together.

He would have run for cover immediately if he had noticed all of that.

"…Are you," she said slowly, "trying to tell me…" she paused, "that you don't know what I was talking about?" She turned to look at him as she finished her question.

He nodded, wondering why his instincts screamed at him to run as fast as he could away from the girl if he ever wanted to…well, do a lot of things in the future.

Well, he thought, as he ducked, dodged and side-stepped the various objects that were being hurled at him as he walked briskly away from the fiery-tempered girl, at least I know my instincts are always right…

"WHY YOU---WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING? I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET! AAARGH!!"

Later that day

Haruhi shot her dark-haired friend a somewhat concerned glance.

"Ne, are you alright?" she questioned, as she watched her stare blankly at the blackboard at the front of the class.

She received no answer. "Misao, are you alright?" Once again, she received no answer. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hikaru getting up from his seat, a wide grin on his face.

"Now now, Ha-ru-hi," drawled the older twin, "if you want to get Miso's attention, you've got to use unconventional means. Like," he paused, raising a hand over the girl's head, "this-"

"-Stop that," said Haruhi, as she caught his hand before it could meet the dark-haired girl's head. She glared at Hikaru. "Honestly, why do you insist on annoying her so much?" Shaking her head, she turned back to the girl, only to find her in the same position; just staring listlessly at the blackboard.

That's strange, she thought, even as she turned her head slightly to shoot the twins a pointed glare, Misao isn't usually so quiet and…unanimated. I wonder…did something happen-?

Haruhi had a reputation for being rather observant, and it was thus that she thought back to the events that had taken place the other day, when the entire Host club – the hosts only – had been invited, by Misao's grandfather, to their house. The girl had been rather tense and it had been obvious that she had been in a bad mood.

Maybe she's mad that we…invaded her 'space'? She did say that she disliked Ouran…and the people here as well…perhaps we were wrong to take her grandfather up on his offer…? Perhaps-

"Fujioka! Why aren't you taking down notes?"

"Sorry, sensei," mumbled Haruhi, hurriedly picking up her pen and drawing her exercise book towards her. She'd have to worry about Misao another time; she did have to work to keep her scholarship going after all.

Class 3-A:

The whispers, much to the tall boy's chagrin, didn't stop or pause; the maintained a constant rhythm and thus, annoyed him.

Don't they have better things to do?

"Ne, Takashi…they're saying some pretty mean things about itachi-chan, aren't they?" queried Honey, looking sad as his cousin glanced over at him.

"Hnn."

"Itachi-chan isn't like that…" continued Honey, his eyes downcast. "She may be a bit too lively for some people's taste, but I don't think she's the type of girl who…would do those things they're whispering about…"

"Hnn." Of course she wasn't the type of girl who would…be as vulgar and…loose as people kept on saying she was – heck, he wasn't even sure if she knew how to seduce anyone but that was besides the point.

"Poor itachi-chan. She must really hate us and this school now…"

"Hnn." She had hated them and the school before as well, so…it didn't really matter, did it?

"I wish there was something we could do…"

"Hnn." The taller cousin didn't really feel the same – but that was most likely because he knew that no matter how pure and good their intentions were, they would somehow end up making things worse than they already were.

"Isn't there something we can do, Takashi?"

"Ah. I…don't…think so…" Morinozuka Takashi winced as his cousin turned to look at him, fixing him with a saddened look from his large brown eyes. No, he thought, not that…not the eyes…Mitsukuni…

"That's sad…" Honey suddenly brightened. "But at least she's in the Kendo club, eh?"

"Hnn." He didn't like the sidelong glance he was getting from the cake-obsessed boy.

"Ne, Takashi, you'll look after her during practice won't you?"

"………" Mori could not help but stare at his cousin.

"I mean, she'll be surrounded by men – and she doesn't know anyone in the club except for you. Oh, and Satoshi too…" The short boy looked expectantly at his cousin. "Will you look after her and make sure that nothing happens while she's in the club? Will you, Takashi?"

His mind was screaming a nice, loud 'NO!' in his head, and he could not find fault with it for doing so – the girl would most likely attempt to permanently maim him if he got too close to her.

But when faced with The Eyes…

…honestly, what else was he supposed to say but;

"Hnn."

This, in Takashi-speak, meant 'yes/alright'.

"Yay!" cheered Honey, quite forgetting that they were in the middle of a particularly boring Math lesson. "You're the best, Takashi! Now I won't have to worry about itachi-chan too much!" And with that done, the yellow-haired boy turned his attention back to his work.

As Mori turned his eyes back to his book, he was struck with a sudden memory. And as he thought about it for a while, he realized that he did know what the girl had been talking about earlier, when she had been asking him if he agreed.

He had said he would help her with Kendo. As long as she got permission from her grandfather.

Ah, he thought, somewhat ruefully, why do I get the feeling that this school year is going to be very…troublesome?

Misao sighed as she peeked out from her hiding place. She quickly pulled her head back when she saw the mixed group of girls and boys, but was almost immediately relieved when they walked past her, seemingly too deep in conversation to notice the quick flash of yellow that belonged to her skirt.

When she was sure they were gone, she let out another long sigh, before wriggling around, trying to find a comfortable position on the ground that wouldn't hurt her rear end. (She didn't end up finding one so she just slumped her shoulders and leaned her head back against the thick, sturdy tree trunk that was behind her.

I'm probably getting my dress all dirty…she thought, as she glanced down at the hideous uniform she had no choice but to wear, but who cares? It's a piece of rubbish anyway.

It was lunch time at the school, but the dark-haired girl wasn't hungry – as the discarded lunchbox beside her indicated. No, she hadn't been thinking about food when she had quickly stuffed her things into her bag and then left the classroom as quickly as she could. She just hadn't wanted to endure another bout of teasing from the horrid twins who, sadly, were also in her class.

She really didn't know how Haruhi handled them. But then, she thought, with a small smile, Haruhi's different from them. In more ways than one.

She just wished the stupid girls would give it a rest already and stop harassing her! Honestly, how was it that they didn't think it possible to not have a crush on one of the hosts? Just because they were obsessed over them didn't mean that everyone had to feel the same.

A scowl formed on her lips as she, unwillingly, thought of the dark-haired senior.

"That stupid…pig…" she mumbled. "Thinks he can---" Hearing the crunch of gravel from somewhere behind her, Misao tensed. Had she been found out? Great. Just great.

Drawing on her frustration, she turned her head to the side. "Look, if you're here to have another go at me about that idiot, just forget it. I'm not rising to your bait. If you're too dense to realize that nothing happened in the way you seem to think, then I don't think I want to waste my time with you. So just leave me alone, alright? I-"

"…No."

Hang on. That's not a girl's voice…that's more like…Misao turned around and was met with a pair of legs, clad in trousers. Turning her gaze upward, she cringed.

"You!"

The dark-haired student merely nodded, before he took a few steps forward so that she didn't need to crane her neck behind her to see him.

"Hnn." He was very well aware of the glare he was getting.

"What're you here for? To make my life even more miserable than it already is? Isn't it enough that you're-"

"I just remembered."

Misao rolled her eyes.

"Good for you! Now that you've remembered how much of a jerk you are, will you-"

"-About Kendo."

"I – what?"

"………"

"If you're not going to say anything-"

"-I'll help you."

"-then don't…" Misao's voice trailed off as she glanced inquiringly at him. "You'll help me?" The dark-haired boy nodded, earning him a skeptical glance from her. "And why should I believe you? You wouldn't agree in the morning, so-"

"-That's because I didn't know what you were talking about," cut in Mori, impassively. He looked down at her. "I'll help you. But-" Misao's glare was back. "-I need to know why."

"Why?"

"Why you want to be taught so…badly. Why you want to learn." There was a long moment of silence, before Misao spoke.

"And why should I tell you?" she challenged, as she stood up. "And what're you doing here anyway? How'd you know I was here? Are you stalking me now, you perverted-" She broke off when the senior simply pointed his finger at one of the windows on the upper floor of the building before them.

"I saw you," he said, just as simply.

"Th-that's no excuse! If I didn't know any better I'd say you were stalking me. Trying to make my life even worse!"

A short pause followed this outburst, before Mori shrugged.

"I don't want to know 'why' then," he said, looking as though he had swallowed something rather…bitter. "Do you have any classes on this afternoon?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

Mori sighed inwardly. She just wasn't making this any easier for him, was she?

"Do you have classes this afternoon?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"If not, then we can start today."

"Start what---oh."

"………"

"………"

"……-"

"-I don't have classes. Not this afternoon, anyway." Mori nodded slowly.

"Good," he said, quietly. "Then we can start today. Meet me at the dojo when classes end for the day." His job done, he turned, no doubt to walk away.

"Wait a minute! What makes you think you can order me around like that, huh?!"

"………"

"And why do we have to meet in the dojo? Huh?"

"Because kendo is practiced in the kendo dojo," said Mori, impassively, not noticing the embarrassed flush that spread across her face. Nodding his head in her general direction, he walked away quickly. He didn't exactly want any other rumors to be conjured up after all.

Misao stared after him, embarrassed, perplexed and…angry, for some reason. Why was he being so…agreeable? He didn't have to agree to help her out anyway, especially not when she was acting so---

Heh, he's probably frightened of what I, the Great Makimachi Misao will do to him if he doesn't help me! A smirk found itself on her face. That sexist pervert is probably afraid of me!

The smirk dropped slightly.

Or maybe Kyoya-sempai is forcing him to do it…?

"Argh!" She threw her hands up in the air. What did it matter? She was going to learn it; that was all that mattered.

Suddenly feeling rather hungry, she sat back down and pulled her lunchbox towards her.

A/N

I hope that was alright. Sigh. I wonder if Misao will ever stop referring to dear Mori as 'you'. Oh well, guess we'll have to wait and see, huh?

Well, till next time!!

Siriusgirl1