A/N

Well, I'm back with chapter nine! Hehe, I'd just like to say a quick 'thank you' to all of you who left me a review – I hope I did manage to reply to you all, and didn't leave anyone out by mistake.

Soooo...I intend on finishing this fic sometime between now and the end of January, since I'm on my summer break. Yayyy...so many weeks of not needing to force myself to do any actual studying or work of any sort. It'll just be me, my computer and, of course, the Host Club. Lol.

Anyways, that's about it from me for now. Hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much as you enjoyed the previous ones!

Chapter Nine: Confusion, Anger and...Guilt?

"Misao, wait up!" When Misao turned around, she was only slightly relieved to see that Haruhi, who was running fast to catch up with her, was on her own; or rather, that she wasn't being followed by two orange-haired devils. She really didn't think she would be able to put up with them and their antics on that particular day. Not when she had...certain...things on her mind; things that she really didn't want to think about right now, thank you very much.

Slowing down, she eventually came to a halt as she waited for the brunette to reach her.

"Ohayo," she greeted, as the shorter-haired girl fought to catch her breath for a moment.

"O-hayo," gasped Haruhi, as she straightened her uniform jacket and her tie. "You certainly do walk fast..." Misao shrugged and continued walking towards the main school building. "Since this is probably the only time I'm going to be able to speak to you alone, I'm going to go ahead and ask you what I've been wanting to ask you since yesterday," continued Haruhi, after a moment or two of silence.

The green-eyed girl merely shrugged in response. "Are you alright?"

"What?"

"Are you alright?"

Misao blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"You seemed...distant the other day, during class," explained Haruhi, smiling at the first year girls who greeted her as their beloved Host 'Haruhi-kun'. "You were thinking really hard too – and I'm willing to bet that it wasn't about school."

There was a brief pause as the two girls continued walking.

"Why do you care?"

If the blunt question startled Haruhi, she didn't show it. Then again, that might have been because she had been expecting it – she was, after all, just as blunt as her companion.

"That is a good question," said the host, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I mean, we're not exactly friends...but then...what are we?" Haruhi scratched her chin. "Acquaintances, maybe?"

Misao snorted despite herself.

"Too formal," she muttered.

"Aa, I agree."

"How about classmates?"

"Classmates...?"

"Yeah. We are in the same class after all, and doing the same electives and stuff..."

"Classmates?"

"Yeah, classmates."

Haruhi nodded.

"Classmates it is, then," she said, brightly, before the usual impassive expression was back on her face. "You never answered my question though..."

Misao sighed.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, unconsciously tightening the grip she had on her bag. "Really," she added, when she saw the sceptical expression on the brunette's face as they neared their classroom.

"If you say so," said Haruhi, after a while.

"Yeah..."

"But, Misao? Just remember that if there's something wrong, well, as your classmate, I'm always here if you need to talk to someone, alright?" Misao stopped walking abruptly, causing Haruhi to move a little to the left to avoid crashing into her. "Misao?"

There was an indiscernible expression on the dark-haired girl's face as she stared at Haruhi for a moment or two. "Misao? What is it now?"

Misao shook her head quickly.

"Nothing," she said, "Nothing at all." She grinned half-heartedly at the brunette. "But thanks. For...that." Haruhi simply nodded, even though she wasn't sure if 'that' meant saying she could talk to her, asking her what was wrong or noticing that something was wrong in the first place.

"It's really not a-"

"Ahhh, there you are. We were-"

"-wondering where you were. Eh? Looks like-"

"-Miso's here as well. Ohayo-"

"-Itachi-chan. Looking just as-"

"-lovely and friendly as always!"

As the scowl appeared on Misao's lips, Haruhi could not help but sigh – after, of course, sending the twins a glare worthy of their devilish characters.

She was being honest when she told the other girl that she could always talk to her if she needed to. Being new to Ouran wasn't easy, especially if you weren't like the rest of the people attending the school. Heck, add to that the fact of being linked to the Host Club in some way...well that was just a very good recipe for headaches and unnecessary problems.

Ah, well, I've done my part. It's up to Misao now...

"While you were away for the start of the club activities yesterday, Haru-chan mentioned something strange," commented Honey, as he and his cousin strolled down the quickly crowding hallways. "She said that Itachi-chan seemed to be troubled by something. I wonder what it could be..."

His taller, darker-haired companion said nothing in reply, choosing instead to keep his gaze focused on something or the other ahead of them. "She was pretty sure that it had something to do with us," continued the shorter boy, not seeming to notice his cousin's clenched jaw. "...That maybe we had been pestering her too much. Ne, Takashi, do you think that we should perhaps speak to Hika-chan and Kao-chan? Maybe they don't fully understand how much Itachi-chan hates their teasing and---"

"-Mitsukuni, stop that."

"Eh? Stop what?" The pale-haired boy stared confusedly at his cousin. "I was just talking about Itachi-chan-"

"-I know, and I want you to stop."

"...Takashi?"

"... ... ..."

"...But Itachi-chan-"

"-Mitsukuni, I don't want to hear about her anymore." The seriousness that shone in his cousin's grey eyes startled Honey, and silenced him. "Now come. Or we'll be late for class." And with that, the dark-haired, 'wild-type' host started walking on, leaving his startled cousin behind.

Takashi...? Why doesn't he want to hear about Itachi-chan anymore? The pale-haired boy frowned. Did something happen without any of us knowing...? But...what-? Takashi usually doesn't let little things like name-calling get to him...

"Ah, Takashi! Wait for me!"

A little while later:

Misao didn't even need to do her best to ignore the death-glares she was getting from her fellow female students as she made her way out of her English class. If it had been any other day, she would have been fighting her instinct to launch into a yelling-battle with the girls...but...she didn't even notice the weight of the death-glares.

Her mind was on other things; specifically on things that happened the other day.

"Che," she muttered, as she shook her head in a vain attempt to clear it, "stop it. There's no point thinking about it. It's not like I did anything wrong anyway."

The slightly guilty twinge inside her made her think otherwise.

Of course it was my fault. I shouldn't have...said all of that. Heck, I don't remember what I said...but it must have been that. He didn't seem to mind my name-calling that much...

A scowl formed on her lips as her thoughts turned to the training session that had taken place in the kendo dojo the previous afternoon.

That idiot, she thought, had the nerve to land a hit on my chest. Who does he think he is? That good-for-nothing pervert!

It was almost as though she was giving off a rather...dangerous aura, the way the people in her path hurriedly stepped aside to let her pass – even the girls who were giving her death-glares.

But then again...it's not like he did it on purpose.

Right?

With a heavy sigh, the dark-haired girl continued walking.

...Why do I feel so guilty...? It's not like...it's not like I---

"Miso? What're you doing heading that way?"

"Yeah, idiot. We've got Chemistry in the lab. Remember?"

Misao closed her eyes.

This is not happening. Not now.

"Maybe we should think of a new nickname for her. 'Miso' doesn't seem quite adequate..."

"True. Hmm...Kaoru, what about Miso-baka?"

"...Eeto...I don't think-"

Her hands clenched into fists.

This is so not happening. I'm just hearing things. That's it. Keep walking Misao, you're just hearing---

"-Ooh, looks like we made her mad. What happened, Miso-baka? Did ya have a little lovers' spat with Mori-sempai or something like---"

When she whirled around, her green-eyes were narrowed.

"-Fine, fine," she snapped, "I accept the fact that this is happening. I'll accept the fact that you're just going to give me a bigger headache to add to the one I already have. I'll accept the fact that you enjoy torturing me like this...but...stop saying stupid things like that! I'm in enough trouble as it is, you idiots!"

Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged glances.

"Eh? But isn't it true? When we saw Mori-sempai during the lunch break, he was-"

"-not looking very happy either. So we just assumed that the two of you had some kind of-"

"-argument and are not in very good moods at the moment."

"By the way, what was it that you argued about?"

"Curious minds just want to know, Miso-baka."

I'm not in the mood for this...

"Look...just...find someone else to bully, alright? I'm not in the right frame of mind to put up with the two of you today," said Misao, softly, before she turned on her heel and continued on her way down the corridor.

The twins stared after her in silence for a moment or two.

"Well now," started Hikaru, "that certainly wasn't the reaction I was expecting from her..." His younger brother nodded, although a small frown had the corners of his lips turned downward.

"Maybe something is wrong with her..."

Hikaru shrugged.

"It's not our business, is it?"

"No...but---"

"-Let's just get to the lab before we're marked late, okay?"

"...Yeah, sure." But the frown didn't leave Kaoru's face as they turned and headed in the opposite direction to their darker-haired classmate.

Afterschool, in the Third Music Room:

Ootori Kyoya pushed his pair of glasses back along the bridge of his nose as he continued to glance at the calculations and scribbles that he had jotted down in his famous black notebook.

Aa, he thought with an inward sigh, today's theme is going to cost us a lot. He ruefully glanced at the boxes of costumes and props that lay on the ground before him. Maybe I shouldn't have left those Ancient History picture books on Tamaki's desk by 'accident'...

He sighed once more as he crossed an item off the page he was looking at. Ah well, there's no use complaining about it now. Might as well make the best of it, I ---

"Kyo-chan, we're here!"

The bespectacled 2nd year student turned around to see the two senior members of the Host Club walking towards him.

"Ah, Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai," he greeted, smiling at them. "You're early, if I'm not mistaken." Honey nodded eagerly.

"Hai. We had a Math test last period and were allowed to leave once we had finished," he explained, his large brown eyes landing on the boxes Kyoya had been staring at. "Eh, what's in those?"

Kyoya smiled once more.

"Our costumes for today's club activities," he explained. He saw the curious look on the short senior's face. "Our customers are going to have the pleasure of interacting with several Ancient Greek and Roman gods and heroes today."

"Ohhhh..." Honey's eyes were big once more. "We've never done that one before. What do the costumes look like? Which gods are we going to be going as? Who gets which hero? What-"

"-Honey-sempai, Honey-sempai, calm down," cut in Kyoya, the smile still on his lips. "You'll find out in due time. That is, when the others get here. After all, there's no point in me wasting precious energy repeating everything to everyone whenever they decide to turn up, is there?"

As the glasses glinted, Honey shook his head quickly.

"Of course not, Kyo-chan!"

"I thought not. Now, Mori-sempai, do you think you could-" The Shadow King was interrupted when the doors to the Music room were pushed open with such force that they bounced off the walls and shut once more, earning a rather loud yelp from whoever had opened them in the process. That idiot, thought Kyoya, before turning his attention to the dark-haired senior. "Anyway, as I was saying Mori-sempai, do you-"

The bespectacled senior's voice trailed off this time when he saw, as in properly saw the wild-type host's face. The grim expression on said face seemed to him as though it was barely masking some kind of annoyance. Or anger, even. Hmm? But what could have happened to make Mori-sempai annoyed or angry? He doesn't usually get---

"Kyoya, we have to do something about these doors!" The golden-haired 'king' of the Host Club ran into the room, one hand pressed against his nose. "They're dangerous! They have minds of their own! They attacked me!"

Kyoya fought the urge to roll his eyes – Ootori Kyoya never rolled his eyes, no matter how much he wanted to – as he turned to his best friend.

"I thought you had learned by now not to push doors open with such force," he said, dryly. "And no, we are not replacing those doors because they did not attack you. It was your own foolishness that did it."

It was only when the crestfallen expression appeared on the half-French boy's face that Kyoya realized his mistake. He shouldn't have said that last bit about his foolishness – not if he wanted everyone in their costumes and ready to greet their customers in a short while.

The things I put up with, he wondered, with another inward sigh, as he watched his best friend head towards his 'corner of woe'.

"Tama-chan, Tama-chan, we're going to be Greek gods today!" Honey turned towards his stoic cousin. "Ne, Takashi?" Kyoya's attention was caught when he didn't hear the murmur of agreement from the tall senior. "Ne, Takashi?"

"...Aa," muttered the dark-haired senior, looking briefly at his cousin and then at the crouched figure of the Host Club's 'king'.

Strange, thought Kyoya, something is most certainly going on. I wonder-

"We're here," called out two voices in unison, as the doors to the room were opened once more, this time to reveal three figures.

"Sorry we're late, sempai," said Haruhi, as she nodded at Kyoya. "These two-" the twins grinned at the glare she sent their way, "-were being a pain in the neck."

"As usual," said Kyoya, smoothly, with a smile on his lips. "Now that we're all finally here, we really shouldn't waste anymore time." He gestured towards the boxes behind him. "Our theme for today's activities will be figures from Ancient Greek and Roman mythology." He knelt down beside the boxes and started pulling out neatly folded packs of clothes. "Hikaru, Kaoru, these are yours. You will be taking on the roles of the twin sons of Mars, Romulus and Remus."

"Ehhh? Romulus and Remus..."

"Didn't one of them kill the other?"

Kyoya nodded.

"Yes. Romulus killed Remus, and went on to found Rome. Your mother, I believe, was a priestess, Rhea Silvia-"

"-Weren't priestesses supposed to be virgins?"

"Yes, they were."

Hikaru snorted.

"But she somehow managed to give birth to the twin sons of the god Mars?"

Kyoya shrugged.

"That is what Roman mythology states, yes. Now, Haruhi, you will have to be a Roman," said Kyoya, as he eyed the bored-looking girl. "For the other costumes might be a bit too revealing for you." He shifted through the various costumes in the box he was kneeling beside. "We have costumes, but who-?"

"Er, sempai, I'm quite happy to not have a-"

"-Ah, this will have to do then..." cut in Kyoya, as he held out a set of clothes to her. "Augustus Caesar, the heir of Julius Caesar."

Haruhi blinked as she stared down at the clothes.

"...Augustus...Caesar..."

"Yes. Although you should probably portray him when he was much younger, and when Caesar was still alive. In that case, you'll be going as Gaius Octavius Thurinus – which was his name before he was adopted by Caesar."

"Do I-"

"-Of course, I – we are not going to force you to do this," cut in Kyoya, smoothly, as he glanced at her with his glasses glinting. "It's just that you might have to watch your debt, Haruhi. After all the trouble I went through to get these costumes, and then to think of-" The costume was snatched out of his hands before he could continue, and the smirk that formed on the bespectacled boy's lips told everyone in the room – who was paying attention – that he hadn't expected the 'natural' host to put up much of a fight.

"Kyo-chan, what about us?"

Kyoya smiled as he continued to dig through the box.

"Honey-sempai will be...Faunus, an ancient Roman deity of the forest, plains and field," he said. "Festivals held in his honour were associated with goat-skin...so you have the...er, necessary goat-related costume..."

"Made out of real goat-skin...?" questioned the brown-eyed senior, looking slightly ill.

"Oh no, Honey-sempai," reassured Kyoya. "The customers won't come near you if you were to wear real goat-skin."

"O-Oh."

"Mori-sempai, this is yours," said Kyoya, "it's the – Mori-sempai. Mori-sempai." A dry smile made its way onto his lips. "Welcome back. You'll be going as Ares, the Greek god of War."

"Eh, that certainly does suit him," commented Haruhi, with a smile on her face as the dark-haired senior took the offered costume from Kyoya. Honey nodded his agreement. "It-"

"-Hold it. Mars is the Roman god of War," started Hikaru, slowly.

"Which means that he, basically, is Ares, the Greek god of War," continued Kaoru, equally slowly.

"And if Mars was the father of the twins Romulus and Remus-"

"-That means that it's pretty much also Ares who is the father of the twins-"

"-and if we're portraying the twins-"

"-does that make Mori-sempai-"

"-our father?"

Haruhi and Honey sweat-dropped as they looked at the dark-haired senior, who had a blank expression on his face.

"If you wish to play on that, I won't stop you," said Kyoya, nonchalantly, as he set aside a set of clothes, presumably for him. "There's an extra – ah." With an inward sigh, he turned his head in the direction of the 'corner of woe', where his best friend was crouched on the ground with his back to them. It was somewhat impressive that he had managed to keep his mouth shut for so long; impressive and annoying, in a way. "If you're going to sulk in that corner of yours, we won't have anyone to play Zeus, the King of the Gods in Greek mytho---"

The costume was out of his hands a second later and all that Tamaki left in his wake on his way to the changing rooms was a trail of dust. "Now that that's sorted," said Kyoya, not seeming the slightest bit surprised, "we should change as well. We open in twenty minutes after all."

"And who will you be playing, Kyoya-sempai?" questioned Kaoru, curiously. Kyoya smiled.

"Hermes," he said, before he strode in the same direction as his friend.

"Well, we might as well do as he says," suggested Hikaru, as he began walking ahead. Mori followed him, his face blank.

Is there something, wondering Haruhi, as she stared after the wild-type host, bothering Mori-sempai? She turned her head to her left when she felt the tug on her sleeve. Looking down, her brown eyes met the slightly worried ones of light-haired Honey.

"Haru-chan...how was Itachi-chan today?"

Eh?

"...She seemed...troubled by something," answered Haruhi, truthfully. "There must have been something on her mind."

Honey said nothing for a moment. "Why do you ask, Honey-sempai? You've been really concerned about Misao..." Haruhi tilted her head to a side. "Did you know Misao from before or something?"

Honey shook his head.

"Iie," he said, softly, "but I can tell that she's not very happy at the moment." Haruhi nodded.

"Amongst other things," she muttered, as she recalled the girl's moods.

"Something's not right with Takashi either..." mused Honey, a downcast expression on his face. "He told me...he told me not to talk about Itachi-chan because he doesn't want to hear about her..."

That certainly surprised Haruhi.

"Eh? Mori-sempai said that?" Honey nodded. "That is strange."

"She seemed upset when we were talking about Mori-sempai too," commented Kaoru, startling Honey and Haruhi who hadn't realized that he had hung back instead of following his brother.

"Doesn't she always get upset when anyone talks to her about Mori-sempai?" questioned Haruhi, dryly. "Especially if it's the two of you?"

"Yes, but she wasn't..." Kaoru paused. "She just seemed...upset, as opposed to angry..."

There was an indiscernible gleam in Honey's brown eyes as he looked at the 1st year student.

"So...Takashi and Itachi-chan are both...upset about something?"

"That's what it seems like," said Kaoru, thoughtfully. "Could something have happened between them?"

"And when would that have happened? There's no way for the two of them to meet-"

"-hang on, they're both in the kendo club aren't they?" cut in Kaoru.

"Well, yes, but---" Haruhi's voice trailed off as she realized where the younger twin was heading with this.

"But the kendo club hasn't met yet..." said Honey, puzzled. Kaoru and Haruhi stared at him in silence.

"Well then, there goes that – hang on. Mori-sempai didn't show up at the start of the club activities yesterday..."

"No, he didn't. Honey-sempai said that he was at the kendo dojo, right?"

"Hai. That's what he told me, anyway..."

"Haruhi, wasn't Misao acting strange yesterday, when she ran out of class the moment classes finished for the afternoon? I mean, it's probably nothing...but-"

"-You think something might have happened there? At-"

"-What are you three doing standing there? If you don't want to put on the costume, Haruhi, I'm afraid I'm going to have to deduct the rent from your debt and-"

"-I'm going, Kyoya-sempai. Don't worry," mumbled Haruhi, as she dragged her feet in the direction of the changing rooms. With a sheepish grin at the senior, Kaoru followed her, dragging Honey with him.

Meanwhile:

Misao scowled as she paced the corridor of the main school building. It didn't matter that she had nothing to do in school after school; didn't matter that she would normally be halfway home by now, anticipating a good conversation with Omasu, Okon or her grandfather; didn't matter that she could just be away from this place she so...disliked...

No, none of that mattered – and the fact that none of that mattered bothered her, along with what her mind told her did matter.

She paused in her pacing, a slightly confused look on her face. Say what? That made no sense whatsoever...baka!

The confused expression was replaced by one of frustration. None of this made any sense – none of this! Why else would she be so worked up over something she either said or did when she didn't know what it was?

"This is just ridiculous," she muttered, as she continued with her pacing. "I should just go home..." This said, she stared longingly at the main doors to the building. All she needed to do was to walk through those doors, walk down the steps and head out of the school grounds after a ten minute walk. That was all she needed to do to be free.

She shook her head almost immediately. No. She stayed behind for a reason, and she would see to it that the reason was...carried out as best as was possible.

I'm not afraid to admit that I've made a mistake, she mused absently, as she continued to stare at the doors, but...things would make more sense if I could remember what it was that I said...or did...to make him so mad. She shuddered involuntarily as she recalled the...icy look she had received from the tall, dark-haired senior as he had left the dojo.

He could just have told me, she thought, almost defensively, before her anger deflated. I...it's just...I don't think before I speak whenever I get mad. I just...say things...and I don't even mean them a lot of the time...

"Aargh! Dammit, how long am I supposed to wait here for the idiot?!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. He was probably at the Host Club – she could go in there, but her pride wouldn't allow it. That and her natural instinct for survival. What time did the Host Club activities end, anyway? What if it got too late, and she---

No. It doesn't matter how late it gets. I am not going to leave without seeing that idi – without seeing Morinozuka-sempai. Or Mori-sempai, whatever he likes to be called.

I am going to get this sorted out.

She fingered the edge of her long braid. That baka had better be grateful that I'm putting so much effort into this. I mean, it's not like I have to – he's not exactly a 'friend' of mine or anything...he's just nothing but a sexist, perverted---

---Argh, stop, stop, stop! Think happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.

As she settled down on the ground with her back against the far wall of the corridor, she heard the chiming of the main clock tower. It was three-thirty. She really hoped the Host Club finished soon.

A/N

Phew, that was a long one! Sorry about that. This will be continued in chapter ten – with more of Mori-sempai, of course, along with more interaction between him and Misao.

Hope this chapter wasn't too bad to read!

Till next time,

Siriusgirl1