Tell the other person that you love them

And then Hikaru Hitachiin ran madly after her, determined to confess his love to the girl who had just decided she didn't need him.

He had one more thing to tick off his list.

"Haruhi! Haruhi!"

Haruhi froze for a second at the sound of the oldest twin's voice but she didn't turn; she wanted to keep walking, but something kept her feet planted firmly, just waiting.

"Haruhi!"

Hikaru finally stumbled into her view, looking flustered. She stared blankly at him and for a moment his mouth hung open like a fish, trying to form the words he wasn't sure what were.

"Uh… I, uh, I need to talk to you." He managed to get out, blinking furiously.

"Oh?" She drawled, her words carefully laced with boredom. "Well, hurry up; I'm going to be late for club, Kaoru."

Hikaru winced visibly, his brow suddenly furrowing into a glare. "Quit that." He grumbled, obviously miffed at her deliberate mix-up. "You know I'm Hikaru."

"Do I?" She paused, keeping her emotions in line before finally adding: "Then what do you need, Hikaru?"

Hikaru blinked and his mouth twisted slightly, uncomfortable; he wasn't one for saying he was sorry.

His twin could just tell when he was sorry; he never had to say it.

That guy, Arai, seemed content with the silent sorry he'd left hanging in the air; he didn't have to say it.

Haruhi was going to force him to say it.

"Oh. Uh. I, uh, I wanted to apologise." He mumbled.

Haruhi stared at him silently.

Ah, crap.

"For…for saying that about you and Tono and stuff and… shouting at you. I'm really sorry." He was planning to leave it at that, but his mouth suddenly started moving again, doing that thing where it just blurted out whatever he was thinking without his brain's permission.

It did that a lot.

"And I didn't mean to get so angry and annoyed at you but I couldn't help it; I really... I mean, I know that's a pretty lame excuse but… I'll try harder. I will. I promise. And…"

His words trailed off into an expecting silence and Hikaru racked his brains madly, painfully conscious of the flush warming his ears. And? And what?

"I forgive you, Hikaru."

But her words were so monotone and expressionless that he cringed before glancing up at her guiltily.

Then he stared.

Haruhi showed her emotions subtly; a small smile or a flash of emotion dancing behind her eyes were basically all you got, unless it was some sort of special occasion.

Hikaru knew this.

So he looked away from the crafted mask of indifference on her face and looked straight into her eyes.

And what he saw confused him.

Her eyes looked strangely upset and a faint conflicting war of emotion seemed to taking place, causing her usually bright eyes to droop slightly, tired. One of their classmates wouldn't have noticed it.

But Hikaru knew her.

He found himself intrigued, leaning forward slightly for the pure mystery of her eyes.

"Haruhi…" He murmured, watching her eyes carefully, despite still being flushed slightly pink. "Would you… be angry if I held you?"

Instantly, her eyes seemed to widen slightly and the faint shadow of a blush warmed her cheeks.

Hikaru was fascinated.

"What are you talking about, Hika-"

"Would you be angry if I held your hand?"

This time, Hikaru was certain he saw her blush (very slightly of course; nothing next to the full blown 'Hikaru' blush).

A slow smirk spread over his face and a certain feeling of devilishness came over him. For the past few days he'd been simply dancing around her, cautious of every little thing he said; now, suddenly, his reputation and nature of being the worst of 'little devils' came back to him, albeit with ears as red as his hair.

"Would you," He breathed, "be angry if I kissed you?"

"Yes I freaking would!" Haruhi finally blurted, angry in her uncharacteristically flustered state. "Move it Hikaru, Kyouya'll add to my debt if I'm late."

But the oldest twin refused to move, apart from to shift in front of her again when she tried to leave. He suddenly felt very devil-may-care; if he was going to confess anyway, why not totally throw himself at it?

He was a Hitachiin after all.

"How do you feel about me, Haruhi?" He heard himself saying, surprised but delighted at his own boldness.

Haruhi paused for a split second, trying to ignore the cluster of confusion and possible responses spinning around her mind. "I think you're an obnoxious brat." She stated, harsh in her bluntness. "Now, move."

"No." Usually Hikaru would throw himself into a sulk at her words but then he remembered Kaoru specifically telling him to push her.

And Kaoru did seem to have a feel for these things.

"How do you feel about me, Haruhi?" He repeated, determined.

Haruhi was frozen. She honestly had no idea what to do. She'd gone through her whole life studying, going by whatever she found in books and immersing herself completely in her work; she was thrown off and confused by the sudden warmth she felt in her chest as Hikaru stared a hole through her.

Did she confess or deny it?

Did she run or stand her ground?

Did she let herself depend on the most dependant person she knew?

I don't know what to do.

"What would you say…" He continued softly, blushing again (Haruhi randomly realised that Hikaru seemed to blush a lot) and taking a nervous breath. "…if I said I like you? That I really, really like you?"

"…That would depend." Haruhi muttered, surprised by how steady her voice was. "On whether it was true or not."

"What if... it was very, very true?"

Haruhi's usually stoic face suddenly crumpled; she firstly didn't have a clue what she was doing, and now she felt like Hikaru was simply teasing the subject, saying things in such a roundabout way that her tired mind didn't feel up to working it out. There too many what-ifs.

"What are you going on about, Hikaru?"

"That's kinda obvious by now, dummy." Hikaru smiled, fond and slightly sheepish, instead of getting irritated as he usually would. "I really like you, Haruhi. That's why I had that list. And…" He suddenly frowned, worriedly. "And I want to know if you see me in that way at all, even if it's just the tiniest bit. Even if it's just a little."

Worry of how she should act and confusion of how she felt span round until Haruhi's naturally blunt personality finally took over, as though it had decided she had drowned long enough. Hikaru's words, and the rush that suddenly fizzed up her brain, seemed to simplify everything.

"I depend on you." She murmured, brow furrowing. "More than I do for anyone else. I want you near me all the time. And," The frown became more pronounced as she stared straight at him, in that way she always did. "I hate it."

Hikaru blinked, a little lost, not sure whether he was supposed to be happy or not.

So… she likes me? But she hates that she likes me. Or she likes me and she hates me. Or… she… wait… what?

"Um." He stated intelligently.

Haruhi waited quietly, feeling rather subdued and confused, for Hikaru to think his way through it; finally a mirror image of her frown appeared on his face.

"You hate feeling so dependant? But…"

Hikaru suddenly seemed to get what she was saying and a wondering look came over his face; for he, more than anyone, knew about two people leaning on each other equally and completely. He'd done that his entire life.

"But it's a two-way thing, Haruhi." He said, a growing smile tugging at his features. "You depend on someone but they depend on you too. You lean on them and they lean on you. You're not independent just because you have no-one there to catch you. I think…" His smile had turned into a full-throttle beam at Haruhi's uncertain yet enthralled face. So cute. "You couldn't get out of being independent even if you tried. That's just you, Haruhi. Even if…" He paused a little nervously. "…even if you found someone you can depend on."

Like… me? Maybe?

Hikaru watched her carefully (feeling rather chuffed at his Kaoru/Tamaki-like speech and making a mental note to tell Kaoru about it later) as Haruhi paused thoughtfully.

Finally, he grew impatient of her lingering silence and he lent forward slightly, a sheepish but very Hikaru-like grin plastered over his face.

"Haruhi, would you go out with me?"

Haruhi blinked before a slow but genuine smile spread over her lips, causing her to feel lighter than she had for days; she still didn't really know what she was getting into but maybe it was better that way. Hikaru's prior words suddenly floated back to her.

"We'll…improvise! It's the best way to do things!"

She opened her mouth (ready to say what the oldest twin was desperately begging to be a 'yes') when a random thought occurred to her and she paused, frowning in thought.

"Huh." She muttered. "I won't be able to be your girlfriend."

Hikaru instantly froze in complete horror.

Wha-wait…what?! I thought she said she liked me?! Have I just been reading everythingwrong?! Does she hate me?! Omigod, Haruhi hates me! Rejected! Wahhh! Kaoruuu!! Nooooooo!!!

"I mean," She continued thoughtfully, completely oblivious to Hikaru's internal, babbling fit. "Everyone at school thinks I'm a boy…so we'll have to keep it a secret?"

"Eh? Wha-what?" He stared at her weakly, suddenly completely lost.

Haruhi stared back, looking slightly confused simply because he was confused. "You alright there, Hikaru?"

"Eh?! Wh-what are you going on about? You… you want to be my boyfriend instead?" A mad giggle suddenly escaped his lips as he looked down at her in exasperation. "God Haruhi, you really confuse me sometimes… do you like me or not?"

"Yeah. I guess I do."

"So you'll go out with me?"

"Sure."

"Wait... you do know what we're talking about don't you? Like, I want-"

"I'm not an idiot, Hikaru."

And then Haruhi beamed, smiling wider (and cuter) than Hikaru ever seen her; must be a special occasion, he thought gleefully as he reached forward.

On the first floor of Ouran academy, a teenage boy was hiding, looking over a courtyard through a shock of orange spiky hair.

Below him, he could see a couple standing close in the shadow of a beautiful fountain, both speaking words too faint for him to hear. As he watched, the taller one suddenly grabbed the brunette's wrist and pulled her firmly to him; his arms captured her there and held her as he buried his face into her short chocolate hair.

A pleased smirk spread across his face when he saw the girl gently return the gesture.

"Mission accomplished." He quietly reported to himself, dodging away from the window. "Hikaru so owes me."

And with that, the redhead strolled away, glancing fondly behind him and trying to think of a reasonable excuse about why they would be missing two hosts today.

"…Haru…"

"Yes, Hikaru?"

"Now you're my girlfriend-slash-boyfriend… can I spoil you?"

"Spoil me?"

"Yeah! Can I randomly buy you expensive presents?"

"Definitely not."

"Can I send you giant tuna every day?"

"Tempting… but no."

"Can I give you designer clothes just 'cause I feel like it?"

"No way."

"…Huh. You're such a mean girlfriend, Haruhi."

"Whatever."

-dies- Ugh. Writing confession scenes.... trying to keep in character... keeping corniness under control... so hard. D: I think I may have died several times while trying to write this chapter. X.x I wanted it to be cute and show their development but.... ugh. I may have failed. Slightly epicly. I apologise. T.T I also apologise for the random conversation at the end too. xD I just imagined that happening and couldn't help myself. :3

Please tell me how you think I did :D Do you think Hikaru should have said that he loves her insted of just 'I really really like you'? :s I dunno. I heard somewhere that they would be more likley to say 'I like you' in a confession so I just went with that. :S

And thank you to everyone who's taken notice of my story. You all rock so much and never fail to make me smile. :D

Only one chapter left... -Le gasp- O.o