Disclaimer- I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.

Chapter 9- Confession

The door gave a slight thud as I slammed it firmly shut behind me. I was now standing in a classroom filled with upturned desks and elaborate furniture. The curtains were drawn, and as far as I could see, no students were in sight. I breathed a lengthy sigh of relief. The room of 2-C was completely empty. Remembering what I had to do, I turned to Kaoru and looked straight into his expectant eyes, noticing as I did so that they really were a lovely shade of amber. "So what is it?" he asked compellingly.

I sighed dramatically. "Come sit down." I ordered, slightly irritated that he was being so pushy. "This'll take us a while."

We sat down in two of the hard wooden chairs, in the second row of desks. I could feel myself going slightly pink as I prepared to tell him my secret. Man, this was going to be embarrassing to admit. I mean, it was the lamest thing I'd ever heard. Yet I was the one who was actually carrying the plan out. "Umm…" I started, unsure of how to put this, "You know I'm part of the Chess Club, right?"

"Yeah," he replied eagerly, confused. "What about it?"

I took a second to laugh inside at how excited he seemed to be. I guess that he was just glad that he had turned out to be right about my 'plan'. He probably believed that I had some master plan to rule the world, or something similar. I wasn't sure that he would even believe me. However, he was going to be so disappointed when he found out the truth. "Well, um, Naoko the President was concerned about how our club only has five members, and that out of all of us, I'm the only girl." I explained. "He wanted to discover how it is that the Host Club gets so many of the 'female population' to participate in their activities."

The smile vanished from his face and he started to look very, very scared. "I'm slightly afraid of where this is going to lead…" he admitted, his smile beginning to strain slightly.

"Yeah it is pretty bad." I agreed, grimacing, "Trust me. I did not want to do it. The only reason I agreed was so that Naoko would consider me as a candidate for the Presidency when he leaves. He's a third-year, you know."

"What didn't you want to do?" he asked, his anticipation revived with a new strange curiosity. "Why do you have to stalk Tono all the time now?"

His eyes lit up with an idea and right away his face darkened. "Are you trying to sabotage Tamaki?" he asked threateningly, struggling to keep his composure. "Stop, now. Tamaki is a great person. He doesn't deserve this."

"No, nothing like that!" I assured quickly.

The darkness faded, and he became grossly interested once again. "So, what is it, then?" he asked on a much happier note.

"Naoko asked me to pose as one of Tamaki's… fans to uncover how you manage to attract customers so well. You see, our club is really unpopular. Everyone at this school really seems to hate chess, or is unwilling to try it." I explained, "He wants more people to play chess in the library with us. Knowing him, he probably thinks that infiltrating you guys will be good for 'business'. He doesn't mean to hurt anyone at all."

I stood tall in the silence for over a minute, preparing myself for the horrors I'd be forced to go through as his revenge for hiding my plan from him and the Host Club. I heard a large thump and braced myself for the worst. At long last, I finally realized that nothing was happening at all. He didn't appear to be attacking me or beating me up. When I finally opened one eye, I discovered that Kaoru had fallen off his chair. Scanning around, I found him on the floor, doubled up. He was laughing.

"Hey!" I yelled in annoyance and embarrassment, "What's so funny? Do you know how horrible it's been, being forced to cope with that complete idiot? And on top of that, pretend to actually like him?"

Kaoru kept laughing, oblivious to my shouts. He wasn't listening to my outburst at all. For a full five minutes I was forced to sit there and listen to his laughter, waiting for the moment when he'd finally regain his sanity and answer me. Eventually, he stopped laughing and looked up. "I'm sorry;" he apologized, still giggling, "but that's the stupidest thing I ever heard in my life. How is the chess club supposed to use our tactics to attract their customers? Most people who would ever join a chess club probably wouldn't be interested in our club anyway. Since it's a totally pointless threat, I won't bother telling Tamaki or the others. I'll just watch you guys fail miserably. Seriously… a host-chess club… your president sure is crazy! How did he come up with that?"

I opened my mouth to argue, but I was too late for him. He had stood up swiftly and begun making his way over to the exit of the vacant classroom which we were hiding in. I chased after him and pulled him back. "Hey, where are you going?" I asked, slightly irritated.

He blinked in astonishment at my question. "Back to the club, of course," he answered, as if it were totally obvious. "Hikaru will be wondering where I am. Besides, club activities haven't finished yet. Now let go of me. See you tomorrow, fangirl."

I could only watch as he sauntered out of the room. That little – I thought as I watched him wander back up the corridor to the host club. What a completely evil person! Just who did he think he was? He was the one who had made me tell him my plan, and then he'd just scoffed at it and left! What did he expect that I would do, just go home calm and satisfied with that reaction? If I had to tell him my plan, he could have at least waited for me! Why had he even payed me any attention to me in the first place if his precious Host Club was all he cared about. Scowling, I could feel my cheeks growing hot with anger as I grabbed my school bag and headed out of the room to go home. I had given up.

When I arrived in the front gardens of Ouran, expecting to have to walk all of the way home, I found my sister searching frantically in the school grounds. "Miyoko!" she exclaimed the minute I emerged from the school building, looking instantaneously reassured, "Where were you? You didn't come home after school! You're three hours late home now! I was so worried! Did something happen?"

I opened my mouth to reply 'yes' but was soon stopped by my sister. She enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug that nearly winded me to my death. "Please stop it," I protested weakly, struggling to breathe. "I'm fine. I just got a bit lost. Don't worry about it."

Despite my efforts, my sister remained attached, refusing to let go. Sighing and with my new limpet of a sister still attached firmly around my waist, I climbed into the awaiting limousine. It had been a long day and I couldn't wait to get home.