Because buses were apparently not good enough for our little group, we somehow all ended up boarding a private plane for what would have only been a three hour drive. It was a relief to me to discover that at least I wasn’t the only one participating that wasn’t a morning person. Kyoya was actually slung over Tamaki’s back when they showed up in the dojo. Even now he was fast asleep in one of the plane seats.

Haruhi also seemed to be sleeping, although from the looks the twins gave me when I questioned this, I wondered if she’d been brought by choice. What surprised me even further was that she was dressed like a girl for once. Perhaps she didn’t plan on cross-dressing today?

Much to my annoyance, I soon realized that the rest of the host club happened to be just as energetic in the morning as they were any other time of day. In an attempt to escape this, I’d chosen a seat at the back of the plane and while Honey and Mori joined me back there, I was relieved to find that Honey was content to leave me alone and chatter with Mori.

Or he was for the first part of the hour long plane trip.

About midway through, Honey switched from sitting next to Mori to sitting next to me and leaning over the seat when he wanted to talk to Mori. When this switch first happened, I was still able to concentrate on my book while running through kendo techniques in my mind. That was only at first, however.

“Nao-chan~, what’s in the boxes?” Honey asked, startling me.

I stopped turning the page I’d been focusing on and looked over at him. He was grinning at me with that smile that reminded me so much of Akihiko.

“Sweets in one,” I answered before the thought had even made it to my mind. “The other one has lemon slices soaked in honey.”

Honey’s face lit up.

“I brought sweets, too!” he said. “I brought your favorite cake so we can celebrate when you guys win. It’s Mori’s favorite, too, so I brought lots of it. What did you bring?”

He eagerly reached for the box and I slipped it out from under the other so that he could take it. Within a second he had it open and was sorting through the different things in the box. It wasn’t until he’d picked up a chocolate ball and was about to put it in his mouth that I remembered that not everything in it was sweet.

“Wait-” I began, holding out a hand to take it from him.

I was too late, however, and Honey had already dropped the chocolate in his mouth. The expression that crossed his face in that moment was too much. Before I knew it, I was laughing. There was another sound in that moment, however, that surprised me enough to cause me to go silent. As I looked at the source, I didn’t bother to conceal my amazement.

Had Mori just laughed? It was only for a moment… but…

“That’s not sweet!” Honey declared, catching my attention. There were tears welling up in his eyes.

“Sorry, Honey…” I began, putting an apologetic look on my face. “I was going to warn you…”

In all honesty, I wanted to keep laughing. The image of his face when he tasted the chocolate was still in my mind. It was such a surprised and bitter looking expression that it just refused to get out of my head. I could see why it even got Mori to laugh.

“I didn’t think sweets like I fix them would be good to fill the entire box with,” I told him, continuing in my apology.

After he’d heard that part, the tears immediately disappeared in favor of a happy smile.

“I get it!” he declared happily. “Nao-chan made bitter and less sweet sweets so that everyone could be happy and have some!”

That caught the attention of most of the actually awake people in our group.

“N-no,” I got out, looking away so that the heat in my cheeks would disappear. “I just didn’t feel like making everything sweet, that’s all.”

“Okay, if that’s what you say,” Honey replied with a giggle. He then shifted in his seat so that his head peeked over the seats in front of us. “Nao-chan made sweets for everyone!”

“H-hey!” I said, keeping my voice low so only he would hear me. “I didn’t say that.”

“She’s a good cook,” Honey continued. “You all should try some.”

“Honey!”

As the others made their way to where we were sitting, Honey just gave me a happy smile while putting a finger up to his lips.

“Shh, it’s good for you. You should be more truthful with people, Nao-chan, you’ll make more friends that way,” he told me.

I couldn’t help the sullen expression that probably appeared on my face at that moment.

“I don’t need more friends,” I muttered, my tone sounding rebellious even to me.

Honey just grinned. The others reached us at that moment and began happily picking through my box and asking questions about the different sweets. Slowly and reluctantly, I began answering their questions and accepting their compliments that followed.

“There are so many people!” Honey exclaimed.

By the time we had made it to the school, many others had begun to fill into campus. The plane ride had taken an hour, and according to the information we’d been provided, the registration was from seven till eight. So, we still had another hour until even registration started.

This is why I didn’t understand taking the plane.

“Perfect!” Tamaki declared once we’d found where the registration table was and headed back outside. “The amount of time between now and then is perfect!”

“Tamaki-senpai…?” Ayumu asked, looking confused. “What do you mean?”

I was surprised to see that he was actually paying attention to what the host club was discussing, seeing as ever since Fujii had showed up, Ayumu had been practically glued to his side. I’d discovered the reason for this in those few days between the announcement and now, seeing as I figured I needed to learn a little about my teammates. Fujii, whose first name I had yet to discover, was Ayumu’s neighbor. They’d grown up around each other, and apparently up until recently Ayumu had followed Fujii practically everywhere. That was also the reason that Ayumu had joined the Kendo team.

A moment later I discovered why Ayumu was paying attention to Tamaki. Fujii had stepped away from the group to make a phone call. The look on his face caused me to instantly be on guard. Fujii looked too pleased with himself for him to be planning anything good.

“I mean, we’re going to see all the tourist sites!” Tamaki declared.

The twins gave him a look similar to the one I wanted to give him.

“Tono…” one of them began.

“Does a town this small even have tourist sites?” the other finished.

Tamaki looked indignant as he tore a book out who knows where.

“Look! It has popular restaurants and shrines!”

Were we really going to tour restaurants and shrines for an hour?

“Tamaki-senpai…” Haruhi said, looking annoyed. “Is that the real reason you brought all of us?”

Haruhi had woken up shortly before we landed. When she realized that we were completely out of town she wasn’t that happy. As these thoughts ran through my mind, something began nagging me. Were we forgetting something?

“Of course not!” he replied instantly. “I wanted to watch Nao-senpai and Mori compete!”

When had I and Tamaki been on first name basis?

“Of course not…” Haruhi repeated, looking rather disbelieving.

It was then that I realized what the nagging feeling was. We were short one person.

“Um…” I began, catching most of the groups attention. “What happened to Ootori-kun?”

We spent our free hour calling back the plane, discovering that Kyoya had already gotten off, then chasing down his exact location. Needless to say, he was not in a pleasant mood by the time we located him. Tamaki also ended up not getting to have his tour of the town that he’d planned out. After everything was sorted out and everyone calmed down, we made it back to the school in time to register for our rounds and receive a copy of the bracket.

“Aren’t we missing someone again?” I asked as we were walking away from the table.

The entire group stopped and looked at me. Was I seriously the only one who had noticed, again?

“Fujii-san isn’t with us,” I pointed out.

“Fujii-niisan?!” Ayumu exclaimed.

I almost regretted pointing it out after seeing how quickly Ayumu descended into panic.

“Don’t worry!” Honey spoke up. “Well find him!”

“Found him,” the twins declared a second later before we’d even had the chance to start looking.

Everyone looked to see where they were pointing, in time to discover Fujii walking our way, with one perky, dressed up brunette beside him.

No wonder he’d looked so pleased with himself when he was on the phone earlier.

“Nao-chan~!” Chie called out. “I’ve come to watch your competition!”

Within a moment she’d run to my side. Without waiting for any words of greeting on my end, she leaned in extremely close and whispered in my ear.

“Fujii-kun said that one of the team members liked me!”

Things were just turning out wonderfully.

___________________________________________

“First match is Arai Ayumu of Ouran Private Academy vs. Yuhara Isao of Tokyo South,” the announcer called out.

Ayumu immediately hopped up from our seated position to the side of the match area. Above us I could hear the chattering of people in balcony. I was rather relieved when I realized this school was set up in a very professional manner for the tournament. The competitors areas were set in the center of a room that had a balcony surrounding it on all sides, which was the area given to the spectators. The team members each had a bench on opposite sides of the room. The referees along with the scoreboards were settled  to the center of the right side of the area the match would take place inside of.

As Ayumu walked to meet with his opponent, I felt anticipation beginning to build in my chest. As much as I disliked the idea of having to depend on the entire team in order to advance, I was too happy to be participating in an official match. There were only two matches between now and the time when I’d be standing where Ayumu currently was.

“Go, Arai-san! Fight!”

If only the spectators hadn’t included the damn host club.

Ayumu’s opponent, Isao, didn’t seem to mind the cheering, thankfully. He simply raised his head to stare into the balcony, as if curious why the cheering had already started when the match hadn’t even begun. Arai on the other hand seemed to turn tense, his hands taking a tighter grip on his sword.

“How many official matches has Arai participated in?” I asked, uneasiness sparking in me at the sight of how nervous he seemed to have become.

Next to me, Fujii scratched his neck while appraising the scene with a thoughtful look.

“Well, he’s been fighting me since we were kids…” Fujii began, then his expression turned from thoughtful to sheepish. “I honestly don’t know.”

That uneasy feeling grew to outright worry as the head referee called out the beginning of the match.

“Meaning there’s the possibility of this being his first?” I ventured to ask.

No matter how good he was, if this was his first match there was always the chance of his nerves getting the better of him. The senpo’s job was important, if he lost there was the chance we’d have a hard time recovering from it. However, when he heard my question Fujii looked startled.

“Oh, no, that’s not it,” he answered. “I just don’t think I could count them all!”

“What?”

“Great job, Arai-kun!”

Honey’s voice caught my attention and I turned my startled gaze away from Fujii in time to see Arai returning to the starting position. His score board already read two points.

“Consecutive hits?” I wondered aloud.

“Ayumu-kun’s a really good senpo,” was all Fujii gave me in return.

I watched amazed as Arai kept his opponent from scoring a single point on him. As the match came to an end and Arai bowed before removed his mask, I caught sight of the triumphant grin on his face. From the balcony above I could hear the entire club cheering, well, minus a few voices that I would have been shocked to hear yelling like that- meaning Haruhi and Kyoya.

My only thought in that moment was that I would have to change my opinion of Arai. He was a very dangerous person and we were all lucky that his temper seemed to be non-existent.

“Well, that result was the least I would expect from him,” Fujii said suddenly and next to him I saw Mori nod his agreement. “That kid almost beat me last time we sparred, I’d be disappointed if he  got beat here.”

Wait, he almost beat him?

“He almost beat you?” I asked, echoing my thought.

Fujii shot me an amused grin.

“Yeah, almost. He hasn’t managed to do that once as of yet.”

Fujii said that he and Ayumu had been sparing since they were kids… what sort of swordsman  was he?! I wondered to myself. Beyond that, how is it that Ayumu hasn’t once beat me in practice? Is he the sort that does better in the actual thing?

“Fujii-niisan! You saw that, right?” Ayumu demanded excitedly as he reached the bench. “Right? Did I do good?”

Fujii laughed and stood up to lock his arm around Ayumu’s shoulders.

“You did great.”

“The second match will soon begin. The match is Kinjo Kaede of Ouran Private Academy vs. Murakami Toshio of Tokyo South.”

My eyes shot to where Kinjo had been sitting, further down the bench than the rest of us. I instantly froze as I realized how hard she was shaking. Her eyes seemed just as determined as ever, but her entire form seemed off as she went to stand in place.

“Kaede-chan on the other hand,” Fujii said, suddenly turning his attention away from praising Ayumu to continuing explaining things to me. “Has never participated in an actual match.”

What?

Catching the expression on my face, Fujii started laughing.

“No worries, no worries! Kaede-chan may have joined the club so she could spend more time with me, but I wouldn’t recommend her if she didn’t have the skills to back up the position,” he assured me, then paused for a moment, his grin turning into the sort of smile I would have expected to see on Kyoya. “Besides, even if she loses, we can count on you to win your match, right Nao-chan?”

I couldn’t help the irritation that appeared with his comment.

“And then you’ll take the final win,” I muttered.

“Of course!” Fujii replied immediately. “Isn’t it fitting for such a guy as me? Imagine this, Kaede-chan loses and feels depressed, wondering if she’s just cost her team the chance to continue in the tournament. Then you take the stage and barely manage to take your opponent, making our score two wins to one loss. Then, like a hero, I take my match amazingly and effortlessly.”

Here a large grin appeared on his face while my irritation began to skyrocket.

“Wouldn’t my little Kaede-chan be grateful? I bet she’d even be willing to spend our free time once we return home with me!”

My initial impression of this guy was right, I decided. I simply could not, and would not, be able to understand him.

“Kinjo will win.”

The calm voice startled me and caused my eyes to dart to Mori. He was calmly watching Kaede, his eyes not holding a hint of doubt. Curious, I turned my gaze to her as well, just in time to catch her sliding on her mask and moving into a shaky stance. I winced when I realized just how far off that was from her normal position.

“Goodluck, Kae-chan!”

Apparently Honey had already decided to jump to first name basis.

“Relax, princess, you’ll do great!”

Why the hell did they bring him?

The referee called out the beginning of the match and my hands in clenched into fists in my lap. The first competition was always the hardest, not to mention the fact that she had her moronic senpai over here watching. I didn’t have a doubt in my mind about Kaede’s feelings towards Fujii, which also left the realization that she would most likely be looking to impress him.

Her opponent made the first move, thankfully. I was fully aware that Kaede felt most comfortable with defending and retaliating rather than attacking herself. It’d become obvious to me over the days we’d practiced together before the tournament. There were quite a few times I’d actually fallen into the trap myself, before learning that if I waited for her to attack then I’d easily win.

Toshio, not knowing this, fell just as I’d done the first time. Although it wasn’t as impressive as Ayumu’s first score, the two for one, I felt myself relax as Kaede’s relationation was put up as a point. Perhaps she’d be able to do this.

When they returned to their original positions, however, and I saw the stance Kaede took, my relief instantly disappeared. Instead of her normal relaxed stance, or even the shaky one she’d taken up before the first hit, she’d taken on an offensive stance similar to Ayumu’s. Despite his words earlier, I noticed that Fujii instantly frowned beside me and let a curse out under his breath.

She was being too hasty.

As we all expected, the next point went to her opponent. Toshio easily defended against the attack and scored a point in a similar fashion to her first one. After that Kaede seemed to panic and in the end self-destructed. The match went to the other team, just as Fujii had initially said it would.

The previous cheers of the host club had turned into simple encouraging words. Kaede didn’t seem to notice as she slowly made her way back to our bench and sat down. I almost wondered if I imagined it, but it seemed to be me she was shaking even harder than when she first went up. I didn’t have long to think about it, however, as I suddenly realized what this meant.

I was next.

“The third match will begin soon. This match will be Morioka Nao of Ouran Private Academy vs. Ishikawa Yumi of Tokyo South.”

I stood, grabbing my mask and slipping it on. My mind began to focus on the opponent, taking in every detail that could possibly help me.

My opponent was a girl, at least there wouldn’t be the disadvantage of a man's height and strength working against me. I didn’t recognize the name, so she most likely wasn’t someone that had enough skill to draw tons of attention to herself. Her teammates seemed relaxed, though, and she is in the same position as I, so she must have some skill to speak for her.

“Good luck, Nao-chan!”

Startled, I looked up into the balcony. Directly above where he had been sitting I could see all of the host club members. I shouldn’t have been surprised, after all, I’d been hearing their voices for quite some time now. Tamaki was standing in the center of the group, grinning and giving me a thumbs up. Haruhi was standing next to him with an encouraging smile. The twins were on the other side of Tamaki, and seemed to be questioning Honey who, after calling good luck, seemed to be answering their questions. Chie stood next to Haruhi, looking both interested and confused about everything that was going on.

As I was about to turn away and face my opponent, another figure caught my eye. Around five feet away from where the host club stood, there was a tall, auburn haired boy. At a glance he seemed to either be a third or second year and had muscles that I wouldn’t have expected of a kendo competitor. What had caught my attention, however, were how hard his hands were gripping the railing and how irritated the expression on his face seemed to be.

It was strange.

Shaking it off, I turned to face my opponent. There was no need to worry about some spectator right now. Instead, I needed to focus on winning my match.

“Onegai shimasu.”

A/N: Onegai shimasu is a saying traditionally used when facing a new opponent in kendo. It is one of the things signifying the start of a match, as well as the referee giving the signal.

Okay, so this is sorta more of an opening chapter for the competition. All the fun stuff will start next update! I hope you enjoyed the little bit you got here, though, and look forward to the next!

It might come out a little early next week since graduation is that week and I'll want to avoid not being able to put it out. Also, I'll be going out of town after graduation so I'm not absolutely certain if I'll be updating within that time period, which will be at least two weeks long.

Anyways, see you again soon enough! Vote, comment, follow, etc., you know the drill. I LOVE COMMENTS.

P.S. I'm in the 2014OHSHCWattyAwards thing with this story. When voting starts I would adore it if you guys would consider checking that out! This story is in under the Mori category.