Chapter 9 | Until the day it becomes a pumpkin!

--a week later--

~Kaoru's POV~

At midnight, the carriage was sure to become a pumpkin.

However, it wasn't an old witch who cast this spell.

"All right," our homeroom class representative and chairman, Soga Kazukiyo, said. "Let's move on to the next item on the agenda! I would like to discuss the plans for next week."

"Plans?" Haruhi repeated.

"What plans...?" Arabella asked.

"Halloween!" Hikaru said.

"It's next week." I pointed out.

"Haruhi, Arabella, since you two only started going here this year, you don't know what we do when Halloween rolls around," the vice-representative and chairman, Kurokano Momoka, said. "Here at Ouran, during the grading of our in-school trial exams, we're allowed to take off until the first day of November every year, to hold costume parties here on campus."

"Also, to promote camaraderie, we're allowed to take a whole day and use it however we like, as a class event." Soga said.

"An event?" Haruhi and Arabella said together.

I leaned over across the aisle. "Well, usually we..."

"... have tea parties, watch movies, and so on." Hikaru finished for me. I nodded.

"Not good enough, not good enough, not good enough!!!" someone said. We all turned to see that Renge, who was in our homeroom class with us, was suddenly standing on top of her desk with her hands on her hips.

Then, she cleared her throat and struck a pose. "Halloween! It's the day that signals the end of summer and the start of winter! Halloween! A day when people come out against the spirits and devils that come by making themselves look like them! Halloween! It also, in time, became a festival of dressing up in costumes and playing pranks!" She continued to pose some more.

I then noticed Renge wasn't wearing her uniform, but a pink outfit.

"Some people don't wait for permission to have costume parties..." Hikaru said.

"... and engage in cos-play all year round." I finished as we watched Renge.

"So... what's with that uniform...?" Haruhi asked Renge.

"To tell you the truth, this is the uniform for the girl characters who will be appearing in Uki Duki Memorial 2, which isn't scheduled to come out until next spring!" Renge said.

"Apparently, through bribery, she managed to obtain top secret information on Uki Duki Memorial... How deep." Arabella whispered to Haruhi, who chuckled.

"I obtained some advance, unannounced information, and made this!" Renge said.

We all sighed.

"Renge? We're having homeroom. Please get off your desk." Soga said.

Renge ignored Soga. "Cos-playing and having tea parties are things we do all the time in the Host Club! What good is having Halloween without any further simulation???" she said.

"Um, this has to be a class event..." Soga pointed out.

"I hereby propose that we have a Halloween special test-of-courage tournament!" Renge said.

After she said that, everyone immediately began buzzing about it.

Soga just blinked.

Hikaru smiled. "A Halloween special..."

"... test-of-courage tournament?" I finished.

"We'll ask the superintendent to open the school up to us at night on Halloween! Then, we'll all take turns dressing up as monsters and scaring the crap out of each other! It will make for wonderfully high-spirited, excited communication!" Renge said.

"Great! That's great! We're in!" Hikaru and I said.

"I like the part about us being at school..."

"... at night."

"I just had another idea! Everyone will take turns as frighteners, and one-by-one, we test our courage!" Renge said.

Everyone immediately buzzed about that and agreed.

"A-Actually, going one at a time wouldn't be very efficient, would it?" Soga said. "We also have to consider the allocation...! There should at least be four or five at a time...!"

"It would be better if it were really scary, right? Nice thinking, Soga!" Kurokano said.

One of Soga's eyes twitched.

"And, if anyone runs out in the middle of it..." Hikaru said.

"... we'll have them featured on the front page of the school paper as 'Minister of Pantywaists'!" I finished.

"I second the motion!" one of our classmates said.

"Thirded!" another one said.

Soga just looked at us.

"O-Okay... um... Does anyone have any objection to the majority vote?" he said.

No one said anything.

"Does anyone oppose?" Soga asked while he stared at Haruhi and Arabella.

It was silent.

"Seriously, anyone, anyone at all, is anyone opposing to this idea??? Anyone???" Soga said, staring harder at both Haruhi and Arabella.

Nothing. Not a peep.

"Really? No one objects??? NO ONE???" Soga said, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets from staring so intensely at Haruhi and Arabella, who didn't seem to notice he was staring at them at all.

Everyone just looked Soga.

"Very well then... For 1-A's class event, we have selected the Halloween special Test of Courage suggested by Renge Hoshakuji..." Soga said.

Everyone cheered and clapped.

Hikaru and I smiled and gave our entire class a thumbs-up.

~~~~~~~~~~~

~Third Person POV~

Candles were lit in Music Room 3, dimly, but still lit.

Jack-o-lanterns were used as decorations.

"Trick or treat?" Tamaki said as he stood in front of his customers, in a vampire costume. "Give me some candy or I'll be forced to play a prank on you. Halloween isn't until next week, but at the Host Club, a special Halloween week begins today!"

"Tamaki, you're a vampire this year, right?" one customer said.

"You look just fantastic!" another said.

Tamaki leaned in close to the girl's neck. "Can I get a treat from you? In the form of some blood?" he said.

"I cannot give you any. So please, play your trick..." the girl said.

"Then, here comes the kiss of death..." Tamaki whispered.

The two girls squealed. "Me next! Me next!" the other said.

"Hey there, guys!"

Hikaru and Kaoru entered Music Room 3, Haruhi and Arabella followed.

"You guys are late, hurry up and get changed." Tamaki said.

"Oh, from now until after Halloween..."

"... we're skipping club activities."

"What?!" Tamaki said.

"How come?" Honey asked.

"We have a class event to work on that's on Halloween, so we're busy getting ready for that." Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"That can't be helped." Kyoya said.

"That being said, carry on!" Hikaru and Kaoru said before they both pulled Haruhi and Arabella along to exit the music room.

"Hang in there!" Honey said.

"Wait a second! Why are you taking Haruhi and Arabella WITH YOU???" Tamaki said.

"Well, they're both in our class, after all..." Hikaru smirked.

"We're having a Halloween special test-of-courage tournament, at the school, at night." Kaoru added.

Tamaki froze.

"At the school... at night..." he mumbled.

At that point, Tamaki's brain thought out the worst-case possibility, like it always does.

It was at the school, it was at night.

Haruhi, Arabella, Hikaru, and Kaoru were walking together.

A monster jumped out at them.

Haruhi and Arabella shrieked.

"I'm scared, Hikaru...! Protect me!!!" Haruhi said before she clung to Hikaru. "I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared...!!!"

Another monster jumped out at them.

"Ahhh!!! I'm scared! Hold me, Kaoru...!" Arabella said before she jumped into Kaoru's embrace. "It's gonna get me...!!! Hold me tighter, Kaoru!!!"

Hikaru and Kaoru smirked evilly and laughed even more evilly.

When Tamaki's crazy worst-case possibility finally seemed to fade from his mind, he was left twitching and shaking.

"Uh... is he okay...?" Arabella whispered to Haruhi.

"Only God knows..." Haruhi whispered back.

"Haruhi... Arabella... are you two seriously planning on attending such an improper nighttime event?!?!" Tamaki said.

"Well, class camaraderie is important and all." Haruhi said.

"Most definitely." Arabella agreed.

"Camaraderie...? Camaraderie, you say...? WHAT KIND OF CAMARADERIE IS THAT?!?!" Tamaki said. Then he sighed. "How trampy... Letting his little girls go playing around with shady twins at NIGHT is something that daddy absolutely FORBIDS!!!"

"Let's go, Haruhi and Arabella~! So long, Tono!" Hikaru and Kaoru said before they pulled Haruhi and Arabella out the door with them.

"Hey! Wait! Include ME in your event too!!!" Tamaki shouted after them. But they were already gone.

Suddenly, there was a creaking noise, and Nekozawa stepped out of a coffin nearby with Beelzenef in hand and chuckled.

"Nekozawa... when did you...?" Tamaki studdered.

"I just heard something quite interesting," Nekozawa said before he made Beelzenef move. "Is that right? You think it would be fun too, Beelzenef? If it's unfathomable terror they're after, those of us in the Black Magic Club will have to do our part as well. By all means, let's give the first years a Halloween present they won't forget..." Then he chuckled again.

Tamaki just stood there, wide eyed before the coffin closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Arabella's POV~

"What should we do about the budget? Once we start going in for the ghost costumes, they'll be no end to it." Kurokano said as we had our budget meeting.

"Following the commoners' rule of keeping it under three hundred yen..." Hikaru said.

"... on the cheap will make things interesting." Kaoru finished.

"We might have some people who will faint."

"So maybe we should have a doctor standing by...?"

"They all seem to be enjoying themselves." Haruhi whispered to me.

"Yeah, they seem to be." I whispered back.

I looked around Haruhi's head and suddenly saw Soga, frantically waving from across the room.

I nudged Haruhi. "Hey, I think Soga wants you." I said.

Haruhi turned and look. "No, I think he wants both of us." she said.

Haruhi and I both stood up.

"Where are you two going?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked.

"Uh... We'll be back in a minute." I said.

"Yeah, we'll be right back." Haruhi said.

Then, we went over to where Soga was.

"What's the deal, chairman?" I asked.

"I... I don't think I'll be able to do the Test of Courage..." Soga mumbled.

"Why not?" Haruhi asked.

"I... I have Nyctophobia..." Soga said.

"You're afraid of the dark?" I asked. Soga nodded.

"Yes... And I also have Ghost-Story-phobia, Being-Startled-From-A-Sudden-Loud-Noise-phobia, and Horror-Movie-phobia!" Soga said.

Haruhi and I just stared.

"I mean, what is it with those things??? I wish they would stop showing them all the time without giving us any warning! Where are the human rights for us scaredy-cats??? For that matter, why do all the other classes get to have the usual tea parties and such while ours is the only class unanimously choosing a Test of Courage?! I don't understand the point! It's autumn already!" Soga blabbed all at once.

"Chairman, calm down." Haruhi said.

Soga calmed down. "Sorry..." he mumbled.

"If you didn't want to do the Test of Courage, you could've just opposed it. You're the chairman and class rep. after all!" I said.

"Yeah. Chairman, if you had spoke up, we all would have gone along." Haruhi said.

"It's just that doing so would seem, as a chairman and representative, that I'm lording my attorney over everyone, so I didn't want to! That's why I was hoping to be rescued, by you two, Fujioka and Hashimoto!!!" Soga said.

"Chairman, calm down!" I said.

"Sorry..." Soga said as he began to calm down again.

"How were we supposed to rescue you???" Haruhi asked.

"I desperately sent out signs to you and Hashimoto, to have you two oppose it. Because you two seemed like you weren't interested in this type of thing," Soga said. "Even if only one person was against an idea, I'd have to bring it up for discussion!"

"Sorry...!" I said.

"We had no idea..." Haruhi said.

"I beg both of you, Hashimoto and Fujioka, be in the same group as me!!! I think that if somehow I'm at both of your sides, your peace of mind will spread to me and I can REMAIN CALM!!!" Soga shouted.

"Chairman! Calm down." Haruhi and I said together.

"Also, you HAVE TO keep this absolutely secret from Hikaru and Kaoru!" Soga said.

"Chairman, you're a scaredy-cat?"

Haruhi and I turned to see Hikaru and Kaoru were suddenly sitting right next to us.

Soga screamed.

"Ah, this is where you all are!"

We all turned our heads to see Kurokano with a clipboard in her hands. "I'm asking who wants to be in which group, right now!" she said.

Before anyone could react, Hikaru and Kaoru immediately grabbed Haruhi, Soga, and I before locking all of us into a death-grip. "Okay! The five of us are a team!" Hikaru and Kaoru announced.

I gave Hikaru and Kaoru a look, Haruhi just looked irritated, and Soga looked like he was about ready to pass out.

"Okay! The five of you will be B team!" Kurokano said before marking it down on her clipboard.

Soga turned red.

"Well, good luck to us all, chairman~!" Hikaru and Kaoru sang mischievously.

"This. Is. A. Disaster!" Soga said.

"Poor Soga..." Haruhi and I mumbled.

Hikaru and Kaoru just chuckled evilly.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Halloween night

~Third Person POV~

Ouran Academy was decorated with several Jack-o-lanterns among the halls and classrooms.

It was the perfect setting for an all-out game of fear.

The perfect setting for the Test of Courage, that is.

Which was happening right now.

Haruhi and Arabella leaned against the wall with a flashlight, waiting for when they should attack.

Meanwhile, Hikaru and Kaoru were "entertaining" poor Soga.

"Say, Kaoru, have you ever heard the story of the clock tower witch?" Hikaru whispered ominously.

"Yes. Long ago, a female student who was dressed as a witch took a tumble from the clock tower... Ever since, anyone who sees her on Halloween, will be cursed..." Kaoru said.

"... FOREVER~!" the twins both said in spooky voices. Soga shuddered and twitched.

"St-Stop that!!!" Soga squealed.

"Hey! You two, quit scaring poor Soga!" Haruhi snapped.

"Yeah! News flash, Devil #1 and Devil #2, we're only supposed to be scaring people on the OTHER TEAMS!" Arabella snapped.

"Exactly, plus it's our turn to be scaring the other teams now!" Haruhi said.

"But no one's come yet and we've got nothing to do!" Hikaru and Kaoru said.

Soga was huddled on the floor, shaking.

"Pull it together, Soga!" Arabella said. "It's alright! Look, I borrowed this book!" She held up a book. "It's titled Ways to Get Through Scary Situations."

"Hashimoto..." Soga said.

"Let's see... What's in here...? Aha; 'Ways to cope with scary situations: Number one... Just bear through it, it'll be over eventually. Number two... Chant 'away spooks!' ten times. Number three... If you see something, pretend you didn't!'" Arabella said.

"No! None of those solve anything!!! That's it! I'm leaving! Call me Minister of Pantywaists or whatever, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!!! JUST LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" Soga shouted.

"Hm... Are you sure about that...?" Hikaru said.

"Even if your precious princess, Kurokano, LAUGHS AT YOU???" Kaoru said.

Soga immediately grew silent and froze.

Then, his cheeks were tinted with the slightest pink of a blush.

Haruhi smiled. "Soga, you like Kurokano???" she said.

"This is great!" Arabella said.

"N-No...!!! It isn't like that...!!! We're just childhood friends!!! And this doesn't have anything to do with it!!! We're just friends...!!!" Soga sputtered.

"Okay, okay, okay, we got it." Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"Chairman, you said you didn't want to lord your attorney over us..."

"... but it's really because you couldn't oppose the plan, because you didn't want to look timid, huh?"

"No... That's not the reason I couldn't oppose it... I... I just... " Soga muttered.

"Huh?" the twins said.

"It was because of Kurokano... It was because Kurokano seemed to be looking forward to this Test of Courage... I didn't want to ruin her fun and disappoint her..." Soga said.

"Oh crap!" Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"He's pure...! He is pure-hearted...!!!" Hikaru said.

"He's from the land of those we cannot pick on...!!!" Kaoru said.

"And... if that's the case, it means we must work with him even more now..." they said together.

Swoosh!

Arabella turned her head just in time to see a figure zoom past a window. She rolled her eyes.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, quit it." Arabella snapped.

"That wasn't us..." Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"Oh please, I'm not falling for that." Arabella stated bluntly.

"It's not us! How can it be when we're both right next to you???" Hikaru and Kaoru said.

They were right, both of them were standing right next to Arabella and Haruhi.

"Um... What's happening...?" Haruhi said.

"I know it's you, you twins...! Quit it!!!" Soga said.

Suddenly, they all heard a sound coming from the nearby stairway.

They all approached the stairway.

Something was bouncing down the stairs with a sensation of clunks. They all squinted to see it better.

It was a small white skull.

The skull kept bouncing down the stairs until it reached the ground and rolled across the floor towards their feet.

Arabella gave a little accidental squeal and accidentally jumped backwards into Kaoru's arms.

Kaoru looked down at her and smiled. "Hey, Hikaru, who says Halloween is all trick no treat? I've got myself a treat of my own right here." he said.

Hikaru smirked. "Nice one, Kaoru!" he said.

Arabella turned red and squirmed out of Kaoru's arms. "Q-Quit smiling like a fool, you goofball...!" she said before she smacked his arm playfully. Kaoru just smiled again.

"W-Where did th-that come from?!" Soga studdered, referring to the skull laying at their feet.

"I don't know..." Hikaru mumbled.

"H-Hey...! This is probably just same lame attempt at an attack from those A team dimwits, r-right...?" Kaoru said.

"But it's not their turn, it's ours...!" Arabella said.

Hikaru glared at the skull. "Yeah! You're right! It's our turn! Not theirs!" he said before he approached the skull and shouted up the stairs, "Hey, guys! Follow the rules would ya'?! Wait your turn!" Then, with one swift kick, Hikaru sent the skull flying back up the stairs.

"Nice kick!" Kaoru said as he applauded his brother.

Hikaru bowed. "Why, thank you, thank you...!" he said.

"That hurt... That hurt..." they heard someone suddenly moan. It was coming from up the stairs.

Soga gulped and looked like he was about to faint.

BONG. BONG. BONG.

The clock tower sounded.

Soga's eyes widened.

"Are you the ones... who kicked my skull...?" a voice whispered.

There was a figure at the top of the stairs with long black hair and a white nightgown on.

All five of them broke out into cold sweat.

The figure then lifted up its face and moved its hair out of the way...

Its face was horribly disfigured and covered in blood.

They all gasped in fear.

"C-Could it be...?" Arabella mumbled.

"It... It can't be..." Hikaru whispered.

"It's the... It's the...!" Kaoru gulped.

Haruhi just stared, terrified.

"YOU'RE THE ONES WHO KICKED MY SKULL!!!" the figure said before it held up a bloody knife.

BONG. BONG. BONG.

"IT'S THE CLOCK TOWER WITCH!!!!!!" they all screamed.

"RUN!!!" Soga screamed before he ran.

They didn't think twice, they all immediately broke out in full-on sprints to get away from the witch.

In the midst of their running, they all accidentally were split up.

Haruhi and Hikaru ended up running down the right hall while Arabella, Kaoru, and Soga ended up down the left hall, each screaming along the way.

Haruhi and Hikaru kept running until Haruhi suddenly tripped over something.

A rope.

Hikaru tumbled after her and they both ended up being suddenly suspended in the air.

They were trapped in a net.

Meanwhile Arabella, Kaoru, and Soga continued running and screaming down the left hall until Soga suddenly stopped running.

"In here!" he shouted as he held the door of a closet open.

"Come on!" Kaoru said before he pushed Arabella inside after Soga. Then, he entered last and closed the door.

Luckily, the closet wasn't that small, so it was able to fit all three of them.

Unluckily, however, the closet wasn't the biggest one in the world, so they were all a bit cramped.

And, that wasn't so good for Arabella's claustrophobia.

But, before Arabella could even begin to freak out, she immediately noticed that as they were pushed inside the closet, she somehow ended up right against Kaoru.

Their noses were practically touching and Arabella's body was right up against Kaoru's.

Both of them immediately turned red.

"Um... Uh... Hi..." Kaoru said.

Arabella just stared back him, wide eyed. "Uh... Hello..." she finally said.

They turned redder.

Soga, however, didn't seem to notice. He was too busy pressing his ear against the closet door, listening for anything that might be lurking outside.

"So... Uh... How are you doing...?" Kaoru said awkwardly.

"Well, I just ran for my life from some psycho witch... So... Yeah..." Arabella mumbled.

Kaoru cleared his throat. "Yeah... So... You come here often...?" he said.

"Really? You're hitting on me in a closet right after running for your life?" Arabella asked.

"Who said I was hitting on you...?" Kaoru mumbled.

Soga rolled his eyes. "What are you two doing?! This isn't Seven Minutes in Heaven, you know...! We're in serious danger...!" he said.

Kaoru and Arabella immediately turned even more red before they both shouted, "WE WERE NOT EVEN DOING THAT...!!!"

"Shh! We don't want that witch to hear us...!!!" Soga whisper shouted.

Silence.

"Well... this bites..." Arabella mumbled.

"Yeah, it kinda does... But, if I had to pick anyone to get stuck in a closet with after running for our lives from a witch, I'd pick you." Kaoru said.

Arabella bit her lip out of nervousness. "Er... Uh... Thanks... I'd pick you too..." she said.

Soga sighed. "Look, if you two are gonna make out, can you do it now instead of making me suffer more than I already am???" he said.

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE OUT OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT!!!" Arabella and Kaoru shouted.

Soga shushed them again.

It was silent for five more seconds before Kaoru suddenly said, "Well, this totally screws up Hikaru and I's plan..."

Soga turned to look at him. "Huh?" he asked.

"The truth is, Hikaru and I had a whole heartwarming scenario prepared. One where once Kurokano came around, we were going to scare her like crazy and then have you go in and comfort her, chairman." Kaoru said.

"Aw... Kaoru, that's so nice of you and Hikaru...!" Arabella said.

"Well, I'm grateful to hear that, but really, it's alright. For one, Kurokano is more into Haruhi. It doesn't look like Haruhi has any interest in Kurokano right now, but before long, they might fall in love with each other." Soga said.

Arabella and Kaoru's eyes widened.

"That won't happen!" Arabella said.

"Yeah, there's NO CHANCE of that happening EVER." Kaoru said.

"Why not?" Soga asked.

"It just won't!" Arabella and Kaoru said together.

"Still, this might sound like I'm making excuses, but right now, I don't feel like doing anything about it...," Soga said. "It's fun being on the class committee together with Kurokano. For now, I don't want to wreck the relationship we have currently."

"So, in other words, that's your spell on the carriage, chairman? Sure, that way of thinking is fine. If you can keep on running the way you have been, that's not so bad. I'm sure keeping a family setting, with fathers and daughters, is his highness's magic spell, to keep our current relationships from being ruined." Kaoru said.

Both Arabella and Soga looked at him weird. "Huh?" they both said, confused.

"Neither his highness, or us, had ever played with many other friends. He wants to enjoy the way things are now as much as he can, and so do I." Kaoru said.

"Sorry, but what are we talking about???" Soga asked.

"I have no clue..." Arabella mumbled.

"But, at some point, there's a good chance that it will all turn into a muddy pumpkin." Kaoru mumbled.

Before Arabella and Soga had a chance to react to what he said again, a loud and sudden bang was heard.

"Kaoru!!! Kaoru, are you in there?!"

Hikaru suddenly opened the closet doors which revealed Kaoru, Arabella, and Soga.

The second the doors were open, Arabella immediately ran out of the closet, glad to be in a wide-open space again.

"Kaoru!" Hikaru shouted.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru shouted.

Then, the two of them hugged.

"Hey, where's Fujioka? Didn't you two run off together?" Soga asked.

Hikaru and Kaoru stopped hugging.

"Ah... Oops... I forgot..." Hikaru mumbled.

Suddenly, panting was heard.

Haruhi was running down the hall towards the rest of them.

"Hikaru! That wasn't fair! After we got out of the net, you just ran off by yourself...!" Haruhi said while panting.

Arabella sighed. "Haruhi! Thank goodness you're okay!" she said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah! They're coming back!"

Hikaru, Kaoru, Arabella, Haruhi, and Soga came running into the main hall were the rest of their class was waiting.

"Oh my! We were all so worried about you!" Kurokano said as they approached.

"Where did you go off to? And why did you leave your post?" one of their classmates asked them.

"We called off the Test of Courage to look for you!" another said.

"Huh?" Hikaru said.

"But, that was all of you who were playing the tricks on us, right?" Kaoru said.

Their classmates looked confused. "Huh?" one said. "We didn't do anything."

Two girls in their class suddenly shrieked.

It was Renge and Kurokano, and they were clutching each other, shaking.

The rest of the class turned to look at them.

"What's wrong?" Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"J-Just now...! Outside the window...!" Kurokano said.

"There was something white and floating out there...!" Renge said.

They all looked at the window.

There, right outside it, was a giant looming shadow.

Everyone screamed.

"AHHHHH!!!!!" they all screamed.

"L-Let's get outta here!!!" one classmate screamed.

So, they did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Kaoru's POV~

The next day, we went up to read the bulletin board where the latest copy of the school newspaper was hung up.

"Ugh..." Haruhi said.

"They sure got us..." Arabella said.

Apparently, the "clock tower witch" wasn't a witch at all, but it was Tono just messing with us.

He and Nekozawa had teamed up to scare the crap out of us.

And, it worked.

"That rotten Nekozawa..." Hikaru mumbled as we all stared at the front page of the newspaper, which had a photo of all of us running away in fear.

The title was 'Class 1-A, the official Ministers of Pantywaists of the year!'.

Talk about embarrassing.

"If you look closer, that's clearly Beelzenef, isn't it?" I said.

"I heard, Soga, that you're really a scaredy-cat, but for the sake of the class, you put up with this?" Kurokano said.

"Uh... Um... no... Well... Sorry..." Soga studdered.

"How big of you! I have newfound respect for you!" Kurokano said.

Soga blushed and smiled.

"Nice mood, huh? I guess the spell on the carriage can't go on forever, after all." I said.

Hikaru turned to me. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

I gave him a look.

"Well, if he ran towards me in that situation, I guess it's still alright."

Hikaru looked at me, confused. "Huh?" he said.

"It's nothing. Just my own little joke. Now, come on, we need to get to class." I said before I pushed both Hikaru and Haruhi in front of me and they started walking.

I watched them as they went and talked together.

Still, when Hikaru realizes that he wants to take the next step forward...

I watched them go.

Once that happens, what am I gonna do?

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, Kaoru, you wanna walk to class together?" Arabella asked me.

I looked at her and smiled. "I'd love to." I said.

She smiled back before we began walking.

Hikaru is growing wiser and more open, he's expanding his horizons, meeting new people, and giving those people a chance and a place in his heart.

"Anything on your mind, Kaoru?" Arabella asked.

Yes, Hikaru may have grown and may be letting people into his world and he may also be expanding his horizons and realizing what's in front of him and has been for awhile now.

But, I'm doing all that stuff too.

I smiled at Arabella again. "I'm just thinking about how lucky I am to have friends like you and the rest of the Host Club." I said.

Arabella smiled back again.

Even though Hikaru seems farther from me, I'm okay.

Because now I'm letting people into my world.