A/N

Hey everybody! Here again for another chapter! Finals are finally over with, summer vacation, woohoo :D I'm now a sophmore, yay! What a weird thought. This year has gone by so fast...but all well, so on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC because Bisco Hatori owns it, but I do own my Ocs! :)

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 4

The next day at the host club, the twins begged me to play the guitar again. "Pleeeeeeease?" Hikaru and Kaoru begged in sync.

"No."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"No."

"But-"

"I said no!"

They got these evil looks on their faces. "Maybe we'll just make you by force."

I gulped. They meant business. I quickly turned and started to run out of the room, when Kyouya put a hand on my shoulder. I instinctively flinched away from the hand, gasping a bit. See, what happens are there are good days and bad days. Good days are when I can put all thoughts of Mark out of my mind and focus on being happy. I'm able to accept hugs and be touched by others. [A/N Eww! Not in that way! Gosh get your mind out of the gutter xD] Bad days are when the memories appear fresh in my mind, and just something as simple as touching my shoulder can result in unwanted memories popping up. This just so happened to be one of my bad days.

There was a slight silence. "Uh, gomen nasai, Kyouya," I said quickly, trying to cover up the awkward silence.

Tamaki, who had witnessed the scene, got that thoughtful and concerned look again. Kyouya's glasses flashed. "It's no problem. I was just going to mention that you should become the Host Club's Musical Performer."

Tamaki gasped with delight. "Yes! Imoto-chan should definitely join!"

He raced forward to give me a hug, but I flinched and gasped, "Don't touch me!" As Tamaki stopped mid-run, I bit my lip, feeling bad. He was looking concerned. "I-I'm sorry, Tamaki-senpai."

"Emi-chan, are you okay?" Hunni questioned, holding Usa-chan. Like the rest of the host club members, he looked worried and concerned.

"I'm fine," I quickly tried to assure him. "I'm just tired. I'll see you all later."

I leave the room quickly, hefting my bag up onto my shoulder. I felt really bad about what had happened, but I...I just couldn't bear with it. Not today.

Someone fell into step next to me. "It was about Mark, wasn't it?" Kyouya asked quietly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, not looking at him.

Kyouya stopped and stood in front of me. When he started to reach out a hand, I flinched. He stopped and looked at me. "Exactly my point. There's nothing wrong in trusting others, Emiko-san. We're not just a host club. As Tamaki ever so frequently reminds us, we are here to make all women happy. Including you."

"Thanks, but I'm fine. Well, I'll be seeing you," I said, starting to brush past him.

"Oh, and don't forget," Kyouya called. "You're our new Musical Peformer. Come to the host club immediately after school gets out, and be there on time." He smirked, pushing his glasses up. "Or I'll add to Haruhi's debt."

"Besa mi culo, puto," I muttered under my breath, mad. Yeah, I took Spanish for three years. I consider myself adequate in the arts of swearing in Spanish, as well as French, German, and Japanese, and obviously English. You could probably tell, I'm going places.

Kyouya's only response was a chuckle before I turned the corner out of his sight and earshot – and straight into a strange guy wearing a cloak with a cat doll.

I blinked. "Who're you?"

"Fufufufufu. I am Umehito Nekozawa, Leader of the Black Magic Club of Ouran. Would you care to join? You get a free Belzeneff doll~" the sketchy guy said.

"...Right. Thanks, but no thanks. I'm already involved in a club, unfortunately."

"You shouldn't underestimate the power of black magic. We can cast curses and read futures. Perhaps even help you with your situation..." Nekozawa said, waving that Belzeneff doll around.

"What do you mean?" I asked, instantly on guard.

"With your ex-boyfriend, of course. You know, he's not going to give up on you..."

I stared at him. "Who the hell do you think you are? How do you know this stuff?"

"I am only someone who wants to help," Nekozawa said calmly.

I took a shattering breath. "Don't tell anyone about what you know. Please," I begged. "I don't want them to worry."

He looked down at me. His eyes were a startling, beautiful shade of blue. He chuckled. "Alright I won't. It'll be our little secret~. Have a curse-filled day~" He chuckled evilly as he disappeared into the shadows. I took a deep breath, trying to get over the weirdness of that meeting, and started to head towards the front of the school.

Unbeknowest to me at that time, a tall boy with black hair calmly pushed his glasses up on his nose. Having heard everything between Nekozawa-senpai and Emiko, he began to walk back towards the club room, deep in thought.

~..*..~

I stared at the message on the screen of my cell phone. It was from Mark, of course. Who else could it be? It was a rather angry text, just saying the usual. You know, oh I love you, tell me where you are, it's not over between us, I'll fight to keep you, threats, etc. I pressed the delete button and tossed the phone on the couch. Muttering to myself, I walked over to my violin case and started warming up, getting ready to practice. After hearing me play, my orchestra teacher immediately gave me the first violin piece, with the solo. I was more than ecstatic at this point.

In the middle of practicing (with a lot of mistakes made), someone knocked on the door. I put the violin and bow down and walked over and opened the door. Haruhi was standing there. "Hey."

"Hey," I replied, stepping back to let her come in.

She came in and looked at the violin. "I heard you practicing. You're really good."

I gave a little laugh. "Oh, thanks. But I still have a lot to learn."

Haruhi looked at me. "Are you okay? After what happened in the club room?"

I froze. "I'm fine, I was just tired. Seriously, I'm fine."

Haruhi looked at me. "You're a good liar, but I can still tell that somethings wrong. Does it have to do with that old boyfriend of yours, Mark?" I stared at her, wanting to speak, but I couldn't. "Emiko, did he abuse you?" I looked down and gave a short nod. Haruhi gave a small intake of breath.

I looked at her. "Please, don't tell anyone. Please. I'll tell them all everything when I'm ready. I'll be fine. I just have good days and bad days, and today was just one of my bad." I gave her a small smile.

Haruhi smiled back. "Okay, fine. I won't. By the way, my dad will be working late. Do you want to come over for dinner?"

I grin. "I'd love to." I laughed. "When will I get to meet this famoso dad of yours?"

Haruhi looked confused. "What is famoso?"

I start laughing. "Sorry. I took Spanish for 3 years. It means famous. Sometimes it just slips out."

Haruhi shrugged. "Oh, okay. Well, I guess soon." I followed her out of my apartment and into hers next door.

~..*..~

The next morning I walked into the classroom with Haruhi. Hikaru and Kaoru were already there at their desks, laughing about something. They looked up as we came over. "Hey, Hikaru, Kaoru, I'm sorry about yesterday at the host club. I didn't mean to make you all upset. I just wasn't really feeling alright."

The next second they were hugging me, shaking their heads. "Kawaii!" they yelled, spinning me around.

I laughed. "Awww come on you guys, let me down."

"Nope~!" Kaoru sang.

"You're our toy~!" Hikaru added, also singing.

The teacher walked into the classroom and sweatdropped at the scene. "Hitachiins!" They let go of me and saluted the sensei.

"Sir yes sir!" they shouted. I fell over laughing, and Kaoru winked at me, grinning.

With Haruhi and the Hitachiins down, I just needed to apologize to the rest of the host club.

"Emi-chaaan~!" Hunni sang as he skipped up to me, Mori following him. I had already apologized to the two of them, and Hunni, after immediately forgiving me, had invited me for cake. Mori had smiled and put a hand on my head, which was his way of saying It's fine.

"Let's goo~!" he sang, taking my hand and tugging me over to the table. It was lunch period, and the host club was there, minus Kyouya. Hunni tugged me over to the seat on his left, and put a couple of cakes in front of me. "Which one would you like~?"

"Chocolate, duh!" I laughed.

Hunni squealed. "I love chocolate too! But I also like strawberry, coconut, lemon..." Aaaaand he was off. I'm pretty sure he was naming every cake that had been created, so I started to tune him out and start eating the chocolate cake.

Tamaki skipped over, tray of food in his hand. "Imoto-chan~! You're here~!" he sang.

I got up and hugged him, surprising him. "I'm sorry about yesterday, onii-san. I just wasn't feeling well."

He softened. "It's fine." He hugged me back, and I sat down again. He sat on my other side, and hesitated, looking at me. "Why didn't you want anyone to touch you?" he asked softly, so no one else could hear. [A/N NOT MEANT IN THE PERVERTED WAY! GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER! xD]

I hesitated, then decided against it. "Remind me to tell you some other time," I said.

He nodded, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'm here for you, imoto-chan."

I smiled. "Thanks...onii-san." I continued eating my cake and chatting with everyone. Now there was only one person who I needed to apologize to. Speaking of him...

I looked around. "Where's Kyouya?" I asked.

"He said he had some stuff to do for the club," Tamaki replied before turning back to Haruhi, trying to convince her to try some of his fancy tuna. I grinned watching them, before turning away.

"Whatcha smiling about?" Hunni asked curiously.

"When do you think Tamaki is going to realize his feelings for Haruhi?" I murmured to him.

He shrugged, looking over at them, smiling. "Who knows? But when it does happen, I think that she might just accept him."

I also grin looking over at them. Someday...

~..*..~

After school, I went immediately to the clubroom. No one was there yet, not even Kyouya. Looking around, I rolled my eyes. "What was the point of him threatening me with Haruhi's debt if no one's going to be here, anyway," I muttered.

"It seems that all of your friends have ditched you~ Join the Black Magic Club~ We'll never leave you...~" a creepy voice said from behind me. I jumped, gasping.

"Whaaaa..." I turned around to see Nekozawa. He was standing right inside a door. I sweatdropped. "Has that door always been there...?"

He thrust Belzeneff forward. The puppet was rubbing its hands together. "You'll get a free tarot card reading as well as a free Belzeneff doll if you join now," Nekozawa coaxed.

Suddenly, a hand rested on my shoulder, pulling me gently away from him, and the twins stood in front of me, holding a flashlight. "EVIL BEAM...ACTIVATE!" they shouted and shined the flashlight into Nekozawa's face.

He screamed. "MURDERERS!" he sobbed, running into the door-that-was-not-there-before and slamming it closed.

I sweatdropped. "Ummm...thanks?" I asked.

They grinned and saluted me. "You're welcome!" they replied.

I looked up to see Kyouya. He pushed his glasses up on his face. "I'm glad to see that you're here on time," he said calmly.

"No, you're not, you money-grubbing miser," I muttered in English under my breath.

"What was that?" he asked in English.

I gulped. "Uh, nothing," I quickly said in Japanese.

He smirked. "That's what I thought," he replied, back to Japanese.

I sweatdropped as he walked away. Damn. I should have expected the Shadow King to be able to speak English.

Sighing, I walked over and stood next to him as he was writing in his notebook. "Um, Kyouya?" I asked.

"Yes?" he inquired, not looking at me, continuing to write in his notebook.

"I'm sorry about what happened yesterday." He paused and looked at me. I continued. "I just wasn't feeling my greatest. It wasn't one of my good days. I apologize for my behavior."

He nodded. "Well, then I accept your apology." He was about to say something else, when my phone buzzed, and I quickly looked down and opened the message. When I saw it, my face paled. Your friend Lia has just asked me out. Perhaps I should go out with her...I'll be sure to treat her exactly like I treated you...I'm sure you'd be happy with that. Come back to America and to me and I promise I'll leave her alone.

I stood, frozen, staring at the message. Distantly, I heard Kyouya talking to me. When I saw his hand reaching out to my phone I quickly pulled the phone away, and deleted the message. "Sorry! I just got sidetracked," I said, smiling shakily, still reeling over what he had said. Lia? No...I couldn't let her get the same treatment that I had.

Kyouya frowned, and when my phone buzzed again with another message from Mark, he quickly grabbed it out of my hand before I could react. "No! Kyouya don't read it!" I gasped as I tried to reach for it, but Tamaki gently put his hands on my shoulders. I watched fearfully as Kyouya opened it up and scanned the message. His frown quickly turned into a scowl, and I flinched as I was able to get a look at the message. Damn it, bitch, get your fucking ass back to me before I hunt you down and kill you!

I watched, my mouth dry, as Kyouya hit 'return call'. Mark answered on the first ring. "Emiko, if you do not tell me where you are then I will fucking-"

"Excuse me," Kyouya said icily in English. "I do not like being addressed in that manner."

There was a pause. "Who the hell is this?" Mark asked angrily.

"This is the current owner of this telephone number. I do not appreciate getting all of these threatening messages. I highly suggest you stop before I call the police to report you," Kyouya replied in the same icy tone.

I heard Mark taking a breath on the other end. "How long have you had this number?"

"I got it less than a week ago," Kyouya replied. Around the same time that I came to Japan. "I suggest that you don't call this number back ever again, if you value your life outside of jail." Kyouya hit the 'end' button and turned to me. His eyes were cold. They had always been carefully guarded, but now I noticed the coldness and anger in them. He tossed the phone down on the table and put his arms on my shoulders looking at me. "Why didn't tell us you were receiving threatening texts from your ex?" he asked. The hosts were all silent as they watched.

"I didn't want you all to worry," I replied softly. "I was going to tell you."

He gritted his teeth. "Exactly when did you plan on telling us?"

"When I was ready."

"How long would that have taken?"

I didn't answer. I suddenly became very interested in my feet. I heard him sigh irritably and take his hands off of my shoulders. "We care about you, Emiko. Do you think we enjoy hearing that you're getting threats from your ex?"

Tears started prickling my eyes. "I'm sorry," I whispered. There was a pause, and suddenly I was caught in the middle of a four-way hug between Tamaki, the twins, and Hunni.

"Aww Emiko-chaaan~!" they all sang, hugging me. I grimaced, feeling the urge to snap at them about personal space, but relented and accepted the hug.

I looked up at Kyouya, who looked away with an expressionless look on his face. He turned away. "Come on, now, the host club should be opening soon," he said in a deadpanned voice.

I was released from the hug, and everyone began to hurry around, getting ready. I watched all of them, and looked up when I felt someone put a hand on my arm. "Yeah?" I asked Kyouya.

"Please inform me if Mark ever tries to contact you again," he said.

I nodded. "Thank you, Kyouya."

He gave me a soft smile. "You're welcome." The smirk was back, making me wonder if I imagined the real smile on his face. He handed me a guitar. "I do believe you have a promise to keep, Musical Peformer." Still smirking, he walked away, a hand in his pocket, leaving me with the guitar.

"Schizenkoff," I muttered under my breath in a sour tone of voice, but secretly feeling joy. Hopefully this would be the last time that Mark would ever try to contact me. There was still the situation about Lia...if he was even telling the truth...

I sighed and filed that away in my brain for another day. Right now, I had music to perform.

A/N

Like it? Hate it? Have the urge to run around in circles screaming I'm a Goofy Goober? Good. Me too. xD Review and tell me what you think! Oh, by the by, the next chapter will go on with the storyline of the anime. I love both the manga and the anime, but I'm more familiar with the anime than the manga. Don't hate me because of this :'( another by the by: 'Schizenkoff ' is a German swear. I don't know if I spelled it right, but all well xD. And no, I won't tell you what that means, lazy! Get on Google Translate, will ya? xD