Thalia was rather surprised to see Kaoru walk right up to her after school. In fact, class had just been dismissed and she'd only put one book in her bag when she saw him towering over her desk. "Yes, Kaoru-kun?" She asked, barely glancing up as she continued to clear her desk. "Well, I was wondering. Since the host club is off-duty today, would you like to hang out?" She froze, then looked up at him, both of her eyebrows raised. "Are you serious?" She asked incredulously. "Of course." He replied. Thalia shook her head slowly. "Gosh, you're crazy. Well, what did you have in mind?"

Knowing that she wasn't going to fight, Kaoru grinned. "Well, we have one heck of an arcade in our basement, you wanna check it out?" Thalia grinned back, her emerald eyes sparkling. "Seriously? Heck yeah! I know you're going to mercilessly kick my butt at every game, but it should be fun. Why not?" She was hesitant to see his house, but not enough that she wouldn't go. He obviously really wanted her to go, and another boring night home alone really didn't sound appealing when she had the chance to see a rich person's arcade.

"Come on, the limo's waiting outside." Kaoru nodded towards the door. Thalia looked up at him, her eyes wide. "L-limo?" Kaoru laughed. "Of course. What, did you think we walk home or something like that? Come on, we're not poor." Sighing and rolling her eyes, Thalia forced herself to follow Kaoru and his brother into the limousine. Once inside and comfortable, she looked around in wonder. "Wow, this is my first time in one of these. I can't believe it, this is so surreal." Hikaru chuckled. "If you're amazed by this, wait 'till you see the house." Thalia gulped, looking scared. "Come on now, it's not going to eat you, I promise." Kaoru teased.

He was right, the house was huge. She couldn't even call it a house, it definitely classified as a mansion. Feeling very small and insignificant, she followed the twins inside. "Oh, you probably want something to change into, don't you? I don't expect you to hang out in your school uniform all day." Kaoru clapped his hands, and two women appeared on either side of him. "Yes, master?" They asked in unison, which rather creeped Thalia out. "Get her something comfortable to wear." And with that, Thalia was whisked away. Before she knew it, she was in a comfortable tank, shrug, and knee-length shorts. She did feel much more comfortable, but it was odd. These clothes weren't hers, and imagine how much they cost! Don't think about it, she told herself, and descended the stairs to the Game Room, as she'd heard Hikaru call it.

She could easily fit her apartment into this room five times over. It was massive, and all around there were actual arcade systems. She could see several pinball machines, shooting games, a DDR machine, and on the far end, where the Hitachiin twins were currently seated, was a couch and a HUGE TV. They probably had every modern gaming system known to man, and hundreds if not thousands of games. Thalia had no clue what they were playing, but sat down next to them and quietly watched, smiling as she listened to Kaoru and Hikaru insult each other. Before long, the game ended, and they finally seemed to notice her existence. Kaoru looked over her attire appreciatively, then asked her if she wanted to play Mario Kart. She grinned and laughed, which he took as a yes, and put the game in.

It was hard not to get distracted by her. The tank clung tightly to her well developed breasts, which jiggled nicely every time she laughed, and her shorts hugged the curves of her legs. She had a bit of a belly, but really, it just added to her charm. Kaoru never liked the stick-thin look on girls, anyways, so the fact that Thalia was well-fed was pleasing to him. In the end, she won at Mario Kart, looking quite pleased with herself. She also was pretty good at Dance Dance Revolution, only losing at the much harder levels that even Kaoru had troubles with.

Sadly, the day seemed to end too quickly, and they agreed it was time for her to get home. They grabbed her uniform, and the two of them reluctantly climbed into the limo. Thalia gave the chauffeur her address, and it greatly surprised Kaoru. She lived in the part of town where the people of...questionable character lived. Only the really poor people lived there. His suspicions were confirmed when they pulled up to a ratty looking old apartment building. Kaoru frowned. This would have to change, and soon. He wouldn't allow this sweet girl to live here. It just wouldn't do. Thalia smiled and gave Kaoru a tight hug. He hugged back, and they both noted that the hug lasted a moment longer than normal. He could've sworn he saw some color on her face as she opened the door and got out. "Thanks for letting me over, Kaoru. I had a bunch of fun, and we really should hang again soon."

"Definitely." He smiled back, and instantly missed her as soon as she'd closed the door. They'd barely made it to the end of the block when he heard the loud crash, and the high-pitched scream of a girl. Kaoru didn't even bother to tell the driver to stop, he immediately flung the door open and raced back towards Thalia's apartment. He saw two figures on the ground; a large man and a small girl that he just knew was Thalia. He yelled with fury and shoved the man off of her. The old man, who reeked of beer, landed on his back. Filled with rage, he kicked the drunk between the legs, and punched his face over, and over, until he could feel arms wrapped around him, and could hear Thalia crying for him to stop. He did as she asked, and turn to look at her. She was sobbing, mascara and eyeliner running down her face. Both her shrug and tank top had been torn, her breasts were almost falling out. Kaoru quickly unbuttoned his shirt and gave it to her to put on. He looked away and let her cover herself up. Once she had his shirt buttoned up, he took Thalia into his arms and let her cry, stroking her hair. "I should've known by now that the drunks would be roaming the street. He came out of nowhere, out of the bushes, I think. How could I forget? God, I was so scared. Normally, I expect it and can fight them off, but..." She shuddered into tears again, but Kaoru pushed her away, still holding onto her shoulders. "Wait. You mean, this isn't the first time this has happened?" She shook her head. "No, this is probably the fourth or fifth, but normally they don't even get a finger on me." Kaoru shook his head angrily. "That's it. You are NOT living here anymore. Come on, we're going to go into your apartment so you can grab anything you need, and you're going to stay at my place. That is final. No excuses." Still shaking, she nodded her head, and led him into her apartment. Thalia swore as she jiggled a switch until the lights turned on. It didn't take her long to pack up her stuff. Kaoru led her back to the limo, and told the driver to return home.

He led her inside, where he told the servants to get her some new clothes and to take her to the guest bedroom next to his. He wanted her as close to him as possible, to know that she was safe. With that taken care of, he ran up the stairs to his mother's room. "Mom?" He asked. "Yeees, darling?" She replied, sitting at her vanity as she was taking off her make-up. "Well, I have a friend from school. We hung out today, and after I dropped her off at her apartment, some drunk old guy tried to rape her, and I wanted to know if it was okay with you if she stayed here until we can find her something better." Her head turned towards him, her eyes wide with horror. "Of course, Kaoru. See to it that she has everything she needs to be comfortable. She can stay as long as she likes. Poor thing. What's her name?"

"Thalia Gillespie. She's from America, and she's here on scholarship." He couldn't tell whether or not she was pleased with Thalia's social status, but that didn't matter. As long as Thalia could stay. Kaoru nodded his head, then rushed over to Thalia's room. She was sitting on her bed, in her pajamas, holding her pillow to her chest. She still looked like she was crying. He strode over and sat down next to her. "Oh, Kaoru!" She cried, and leaned into him. He just held her as she sobbed some more, until she quieted down. Kaoru looked at her to see that she had actually cried herself to sleep. Her face was much more peaceful now that she was unconscious. Smiling softly to himself, Kaoru laid her down and drew the covers over her. Once he was satisfied that she was deep asleep, he quietly made his way to the bedroom that he and Hikaru shared. "Kaoru, how come I could've sworn I heard Thalia crying next door?" Hikaru asked as Kaoru slipped into bed next to him. "Because right after I dropped her off, some fucking old drunk guy tried to rape her, had actually torn her shirt open by the time I got to her." His voice was still shaking with anger. What had she done to deserve that? She was smart and funny and so kind...

"My god" was all that Hikaru could manage to say. "Yeah, so, she's staying here until further notice."

"Fine with me." Then the two fell asleep.