Invisible || Kyoya Ootori ||

『Chapter Sixteen || Fumika's First Love!』

"Misuzu-san let us have a break," Fumika replied.

Haruhi rolled her eyes and turned to glare at Tamaki. "Senpai, could you not make any more garbage, please?"

"It's not garbage. I'm making a hamster home," Tamaki grumbled.

"Senpai, you don't have a hamster, right?"

"I'm not your senpai," Tamaki corrected, giving Haruhi a sad look, "I'm just an acquaintance."

Arai laughed, "You Ouran folks are so funny! It's such an elite school, I imagined it was like a whole different world."

"It's other-dimensional enough," Haruhi said, causing Fumika to laugh.

"The truth is, I was worried that if you two went there, you'd probably have a hard time of it," Arai admitted, "I'm glad to see you're both doing so well."

Fumika smiled at him, Arai started to blush. "Uh, er, but I'm not the only one who was worried," he stuttered, "the other guys were saying so, too."

"What's with this guy? Is he taking the refreshing innocence line?" Hikaru scoffed, "We ended the refreshment contest last chapter, you know."

"Why are you being so mean, Hika-chan?" Honey asked.

"He clearly has a thing for both Haruhi and Fumika," Hikaru said, saying the last part louder for Fumika, Haruhi, and Arai to hear. "It's plain as day, and kind of sickening."

"Now hold on, Hikaru!" Haruhi shouted, getting up from her seat, "You're the one who's been acting unpleasant here!"

"No, it's okay. He's right, I did have a thing for you, Fujioka," Arai admitted, shocking everyone. "Then again, I've already been turned down by you."

"Eh?!" Tamaki and Honey cried.

"Eh?!" Haruhi shouted.

"Why are you so surprised?" Kyoya asked.

"Eh? Well, I mean..."

"Arai-kun, was it? When are we talking about, here?" Tamaki asked.

"It was about a year ago, now."

|| One year ago...||

Arai ran through the hallways in search for Haruhi. Seeing her a few feet away from him, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Fujioka!" he shouted causing her to turn around. Stopping in front of her, he took a second to catch his breath before speaking. "I heard you were taking the honor student exam for Ouran."

"Mm-hmm."

"You are? With your grades, Fujioka, it's quite possible. Although, I was sure you'd be going to Higashi High, and all..."

"I'm testing for Higashi High, too," Haruhi said, "I don't know if I'll be accepted to Ouran, after all."

"Yeah. But I guess I'll have to cheer you on," Arai said, blushing, "I would have liked to go to the same high school, though."

"Then, you should have said something sooner," Haruhi said, getting Arai's hopes up.

"Eh? You mean..."

"I think Ouran's honor student consideration applies for more than just one person," Haruhi said, unintentionally shooting him down.

"Oh, that..."

"And even if it is only for one person, you can't give up on going to the school you want to for someone else's sake," Haruhi continued, oblivious to the rejection she had just given him. "Even if only one of us gets in, there's no hard feelings over entrance exams, right? We should both do our best. I know, let's go check with the teacher."