@Midori

[Takashi Morinozuka]

Mori had never been without Honey for too long, and when they were away from each other he often filled the void with kendo, reading, or working on his homework assignments. But he'd easily grown bored with these activities, wishing instead that his older cousin would return from where ever he was currently.

Looking for something to do to keep himself occupied, Mori traveled from one part of Ouran Academy to another, counting down the minutes until club hours were to begin; that way he could do something of interest (and hopefully Mitsukuni would return by then.) It had barely taken five minutes though for the Morinozuka to lose interest of this too.

He strode over to the Rosemaze, deciding to spend his time there and clear his mind. When he found one of the few covered spots, however, he was surprised to find one of his regular clients seated, surrounded by a stack of textbooks and an open notebook. She hadn't noticed him walk by, and was hastily jotting down notes.

Mori cleared his throat. He was never one for talking, but when he was as desperate as he was now, it was really all he could do. "Midori-chan, couldn't find the library?" The girl looked up fr her books and dropped her pen in surprise. "Takashi-kun! N-no, the rosemaze is just my preferred place for studying.." He noticed a slight blush on her face and smiled.

He knew how nervous she got around him; he found it quite cute, in all honestly. He knew from the very beginning that Midori had taken a liking to him, and was flattered. The girl was in his opinion adorable and intriguing. "May I join you? I'm at a bit of a loss for some entertainment."

Not waiting for a response, he sat down next to the girl and picked up her pen, glancing at the words written on her paper. "History," He said quietly, "One of my best subjects. Do you need any help?"

[Midori Rin]

Midori's mood was a medley of irritation, confusion, frustration, and annoyance. History had never been her favorite, nor best, subject in school and now she was trying her hardest to get down all of the correct notes so she could work on her project later. Even this was challenging though, and by the time Mori had appeared she was just about ready to throw her textbooks into the Garden Fountain.

Oh, how convenient was it that Takashi had turned up. Not only was he one of the top students in her history class, but he was her long term crush. What good luck, she thought to herself as he took a seat beside her, pulling one textbook closer to him. He raised an eyebrow as he read the title of the book and looked over at her, asking if she needed any help with her work.

"Help? Well... Yes, but I wouldn't dare ask you to, I mean.." Midori trailed off as she realized he wasn't listening and was instead flipping through the book's pages, pointing out important ideas that could later be useful. "Ah. You should write this down," He told her, eyes still locked on the page. Midori blinked a few times before nodding and taking her pen back from him.

"Write what down?" She asked softly, peering down at the text. Mori pointed at one sentence, trailing it with the tip of his index finger. "Oh. Thank you," She said, moving to copy down the words in her notebook. "Yeah." He said flatly, leaning back on his palms. Midori shot a small smile in his direction, writing the sentence absent-mindedly.

Mori nodded, a hint of a grin slowly making it's way onto his lips. "I appreciate this.. As you probably know, I'm just barely passing history.." The boy dropped his expression for a more concerned one. "Really?" He'd asked, raising one eyebrow. Midori nodded, her expression still. "I don't understand how you can memorize all those dates and important people."

Shrugging, Mori turned the page in the textbook. He took the paper from her and jotted down another main idea from the paragraph. "You know," He spoke at a slow pace, as if trying to figure out if he should say something or not. "If you really need help... I could offer you the assistance."

Midori wasn't sure how to react to his offer, mumbling a, "Seiously?" The taller boy looked at her, returning her supplies. "Mhm," The bell rang suddenly, interrupting the moment, and she quickly began to shove her things into her bag. Mori stood up and reached down to pick up a book. "Host club?" He spoke, and the brunette smiled. "Let's go."

[Takashi Morinozuka]

They walked like that for a while, side by side, Mori carrying what wouldn't fit in her bag, Midori carrying her bag. It was silent as they moved past the Greenhouse and the Garden Fountain, making their way back into the High School wing of the academy. Mori shifted his friend's things from one arm to the other, pondering what had happened just a while ago. He had offered to tutor the girl - the girl that had a crush on him, and the girl that he had a crush on. Well, he thought, this should be interesting.

He stopped then, realizing he had never gotten an answer. He opened his mouth to ask Midori about this, but decided against it, figuring that since she liked him, she most likely would have agreed. Mori bit his lower lip and glanced at her. He felt guilty for holding his feelings back when it was so very obvious that she felt strongly for him, but he was still trying to sort his own feelings out.

When he first met Midori, he had admired her beauty, her thoughtfulness, and her quiet nature. During most of their encounters, he would simply speak to her, as if him talking was of the norm around school. In quite a cheesy way, Takashi was more open and himself with the girl than he was with anyone else (besides Mitsukuni, who still hadn't shown up.)

"Takashi-kun," The girl interrupted his thoughts, bringing him back to reality, "We're here." She looked at him, her head tilted to one side. "You looked distracted; are you okay?" Mori nodded, opening the club doors with one hand and holding it open for her. "I'm fine, yes." He responded, letting the door fall shut. The room was already buzzing with young females, and Kyouya stated that "Mori-senpai" was late and shouldn't be again.

"Yeah." He said, walking straight on passed the raven haired teenager. He pulled the regular seat aside for Midori and placed her books on the table in front of her. "Takashi! Midori-chan!" Mitsukuni greeted, waving with the hand that wasn't grasping a fork poised over a moist slice of cake.

[Midori Rin]

Though she had always known Takashi was more on the quiet side, Midori had never felt quite comfortable with his silence. It made her feel like there was a wall between them, like he was keeping things from her. She knew she was being ridiculous; it wasn't as if they were best friends or something, but they were, somehow, close. Past strangers, past acquaintances, past friends, but nothing more. They were on an understanding level - they could talk to each other.

But there were those moments when Mori didn't say anything that made her doubt their relationship. She couldn't count the hours spent musing over what she thought went through his mind. Did he think about her, or was he (as usual) lost in thought worrying about his cousin? Was he thinking of how to spend his evenings when he got home? Or, maybe, he was wondering about how his younger brother was doing back in the Middle School wing. She never knew when it came to Mori; he was, after all, a man of mystery. That being the thing about him that most interested her.

She sighed, clearing her mind, and refocused on what was happening. "Thank you," She muttered, taking the seat he had pulled out for her. She let her bag slip off her shoulder and onto the ground as she settled down. "Hello Honey-senpai," Midori greeted the blond boy, placing her hands neatly on her lap. He beamed at her, raising his fork a little. "Do you want some cake, Midori-chan?" He asked with a toothy grin.

"No thank you, senpai, I'm still full from my lunch," She told him, crossing her right leg over her left. Takashi, beside her, made a small disapproving sound. She hadn't eaten lunch, she'd spent it with him, trying and failing to complete her history notes. It was clear to her he didn't appreciate even the smallest of lies to his precious older cousin. "I mean, I'm not hungry." She corrected herself, shooting him a look.

Honey shrugged it off, indulging himself with his own piece of cake. Midori sighed and leaned backward against the hard back of the chair. She fiddled with a few loose curls of her hair, listening to her classmates converse with the small boy. She rolled her eyes after hearing them squeal at one of his comments and turned back to Mori. "You know, I never gave you an answer," She smiled at him with rosy cheeks, "I'd love to have you help me out in history."