A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for the extremely late update, school will be the death of me ;-; *sobs* but I really wanted to get a chapter up so here you go! Enjoy~
Akane's car pulled up to the large school. It'd been over a week since she'd seen any of her friends. I wonder how I'm gonna explain this to them...
Despite the creepy letter she'd received, there was nothing really out of the ordinary. All she ever heard from the squads' reports were "all clear." She prayed the letter was some cruel joke, but knew deep down it wasn't.
Akane opened the car door and stepped out in the modified version, now standard for the school, of the uniform she'd originally came in. The purple blazer and bow were still present, but the black skirt was fitted to her form instead of flowing outward. On her legs were nude stockings, with black wedges on her feet. Chairman Suoh had made a few modifications to make it look 'more sophisticated and classy, since Ouran hopes to have its graduates take on their family's companies.' Anything but those dreadful dresses, she thought.
Haruhi had suggested they meet up before school, so the large main building was practically empty, save for a few sports teams. She made her way through the intricately decorated halls to Music Room 3.
Upon opening the door, there were no rose petals, no chorus of voices saying 'Welcome!', no bright light shining into her eyes. There was only darkness.
Akane, who was still edgy from the past events that had happened, immediately went on alert. Slipping her hand into her blazer pocket, she closed her hand around the small cylinder of her contracted staff. She took a few cautious steps forward.
"Hello?" She said hesitantly, looking around even though she couldn't see a thing. "Hikaru? Kaoru? Haruhi? Anyone here?" She heard a creak to her right and her head turned abruptly towards it. Dammit, I can't see anything!
The door slammed shut behind her and she gasped as she was plunged into darkness. Oh no. Oh god no. She walked backwards until she felt the wall, then fumbled for a light switch. Panic rose in her as negative thoughts entered her mind. Is this an attack? He's finally making his move, isn't he? Haruhi told me to meet up with them here...what happened to her? And everyone else? What if this is all a setup? What if-
Cold fear gripped her heart as she felt arms wrap around her waist. "Behind you~" a husky voice whispered into her ear, his warm breath sending shivers down her spine.
"AAH!" Akane cried. Her reflexes kicked in and she spun, freeing herself from her attacker's grasp. Before she lost sense of his presence, Akane grabbed his arm and pinned him to the wall, her right arm pressed against his throat lightly (for now), and and her left hand grabbing his shirt, keeping him pressed against the wall. "Who are you?!" She said threateningly.
Suddenly, the lights turned on. Akane whirled her head, not loosening her grip on the man, and gaped at what she saw.
Behind her were Kaoru and Izumi, laughing hysterically. Haruhi, Tamaki, Honey, Mori and Kyoya emerged from different areas in the room. "Oh my god," Izumi said between laughs. "Did you hear her scream?" Kaoru nodded soundlessly. "I'm done," he managed to squeak out between breaths.
"Wait, wha...then who was the one that-?" Akane returned her attention to the man that had whispered in her ear, the one she had pinned. Her eyes widened. "Hikaru?!" She cried indignantly.
"Yo!" Hikaru said after calming down his laughter. "Been a while, hasn't it?" Akane was wide eyed with shock. The only thing that snapped her out of it was her sudden realization of how close her face was to Hikaru's, a mere two inches at most, causing her to immediately drop him and step back a little awkwardly.
"Oh my god, Hikaru, I'm so sorry!" She said quickly amongst the laughter that was still going on. "Are you-" she stopped as her mind fully processed what just happened. An annoyed vein popped on her forehead, and she punched Hikaru in the arm. Hard. "Ow!" He cried, tears streaming down his face from laughter.
"WHAT THE HELL, YOU GUYS!" Akane yelled. Izumi doubled over, rolling around on the floor laughing and looking like a deranged animal in a nice uniform. Kaoru followed suit. "I can't breathe," he wheezed. "I can't freaking breathe."
"NONE of you are gonna be breathing if I don't get an explanation!" The redhead snarled, casting deadly glares about the room while advancing towards Izumi and Kaoru, leaving Hikaru to laugh and point at Kaoru as his twin was about to get a beating. "AAAH! NO DON'T KILL ME! TAKE HER INSTEAD!" Kaoru squealed while dragging Izumi in front of him in a mix of terrified screams and crazed laughter.
"WHA - YOU TRAITOROUS BASTARD!" Izumi laughed, punching Kaoru. "Sorry Akane-chan," Haruhi said while giggling uncontrollably. "It was just too good an opportunity." "You have to admit it was pretty funny," Tamaki chimed in, the last part of his sentence dissolving into laughter. Akane observed the scene around her in a mix of pure shock and irritation. Honey was quite literally rolling on the floor laughing, Kaoru and Izumi were in one tangled heap, laughing hysterically, Haruhi and Tamaki were wiping at their tears from laughing so hard, and Hikaru was still leaning against the wall, one hand holding his arm where Akane had punched him, and the other hand clutching his stomach in a futile attempt to control his breathing. Kyoya had chuckled a few times, and even Mori had an amused expression.
Now that pissed her off.
Morinozuka Takashi.
With an amused expression.
She sat down on one of the couches and placed a hand over her face in the universal sign of genuine pissed-off-ness.
Despite herself, Akane felt a wave of relief wash over her. I'm just glad...she thought as she watched them all laughing. I'm just glad they're alright. She smiled a bit, and pretty soon she was laughing too. "Yeah, that was pretty good, actually," she said, giggling.
Hikaru had finally managed to calm his breathing down a bit and plopped down next to her, playfully placing an arm around her shoulders. "Sorry, Akane, it was just too good an idea to resist!" Kaoru came over and mimicked his twin's actions. "We knew a prankster like you would understand." Honey's head peeked over the back of the couch. "You're not mad, right, Aka-chan?"
Akane laughed good naturedly. "No, I'm not mad." "Yaaaay!" The twins said in unison. "Akane could never stay mad at us, if you think about it~" Hikaru said in a mock tone, his amber colored eyes locking mischievously with her own storm gray ones.
Akane returned the evil glint and smirked. "Oh, don't get the wrong idea. You're not getting off the hook so easily, not after this. I'll take some time to plot my revenge, Hitachiin Hikaru." Hikaru sweat dropped and chuckled nervously.
"Ummm...call it even?"
"Hell no."
Everyone laughed at the little exchange. "Well, in any event, it's good to have you back, Akane," Hikaru said with a smile.
"Yeah! We saved all this cake for you while you were gone!" Honey chimed in, revealing a towering array of cakes. The other hosts, Izumi and Akane all sweat dropped at the sight. "Doesn't it look great?!" The loli called, eyes almost crazed with desire.
Akane's eyebrow twitched as her jaw hung slightly open. "Honey-senpai...that's diabetes on a plate." "With icing," Hikaru added.
"I know, right? Isn't it amazing?!"
"Uh..."
Before anyone could make another comment, the bell rang. "Shoot, we'll be late!" Haruhi said. "Hurry up everyone!" With that, everyone hurriedly gathered their things and headed to their classes. Hikaru and Akane trailed behind the group a bit. "Oh, by the way, thanks for doing my homework for me," Akane said with a smile. "You really didn't have to, you know."
The auburn haired twin smiled back. "Nah, don't mention it. There's no way you would've finished all that on your own. And it's not like I was busy anyway. Besides, I kinda needed you here as soon as possible."
Akane raised an eyebrow. "What for?" Hikaru took her shoulders and turned her around so she could see an angry Mika glaring at them from behind a wall before disappearing. Akane sweat dropped. So she still hates me, huh...
Hikaru beamed at her in triumph. "See? Anti-Mika zone!" The redhead's sweat drop grew bigger. "So that's what you needed me for...I thought you missed me or something," she added, her eyes teasing. Much to her surprise, Hikaru rubbed the back of his neck and smiled at the ground as they walked. "Well, who said I didn't?" Akane stared at him with wide eyes. Hikaru, taking notice of this, blushed a little and avoided looking at her, holding his hands behind his head. "The hell are you staring at me like that for? Jeez..."
She laughed and punched his arm again, causing him to let out an undignified 'ow!' "You big softy," she chuckled.
Hikaru scoffed before grinning at her. "Ah, but don't forget," he began, leaning in close enough to make Akane a little - just a little - self conscious. "You owe me one now," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. Then he straightened and started walking again, leaving Akane feeling a way she couldn't really describe. I have a bad feeling about this, she muttered mentally.
Hikaru turned and looked at her with innocent eyes. "You coming?" "Shut it," she growled in response. He laughed as she rejoined him and continued their walk to class.
~ Later... ~
A hooded figure observed the red haired girl and her dirty blonde friend as they entered the cafeteria. "Sakazaki Akane...Yojima Izumi..." He lowered his binoculars and stood, walking towards a car that was parked outside the gates of Ouran. One of the heavily tinted windows lowered just enough so the man in the passenger seat could be heard. "How are our little friends doing?" He asked.
The man with binoculars nodded. "Quite well...it seems Sakazaki has resumed classes."
"Haha...good," the man in the car said. "Now it's only a matter of time..."
~ Lunch ~
"Hmm..." Izumi muttered, frowning at a packet in front of her. "What's up, Izumi?" Akane asked. The hazel eyed girl sighed. "I don't feel like doing this math packet, but my teacher wants me to turn it in before the end of the day." She heaved a sigh. "And it's only one more problem but it's really complicated..."
Kaoru scooted closer to her. "Hmm, let's see..." He took the pencil from her hands gently. "Ah! Here, you moved the x over to the wrong side. And this should be negative 3, not positive. Also, c should stay in the denominator, since you had a negative exponent when you subtracted."
Izumi blinked, then broke out into a grin. "Yaaaay! Thank you thank you thank you," she squealed while throwing her arms around Kaoru. He laughed and returned the embrace. "No problem." She stood abruptly with a triumphant look on her face. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go submit this to that old hag." Everyone laughed as she dashed out, and Akane turned to see Kaoru smiling softly. "Hey, Kaoru," she said suddenly, snapping the twin out of his thoughts. "Hmm?" He mumbled distractedly, still watching Izumi's departing form.
Akane leaned in a little over the table. "Do you like Izumi?"
"Obviously," Hikaru said next to her, taking a sip of his tea. Haruhi smiled at Kaoru. "Aw, that's great, Kaoru! You two would make a nice couple."
Kaoru raised his hands in a denying gesture. "Wait what? N-No, of course not! I mean, yeah, I like her, but not like like her. She's just a good friend, is all," he added with an awkward laugh.
"That's what they all say," Hikaru said in a sing song voice. Kaoru glared at his twin before smiling. "I could say the same for you and Akane, Hikaru." Haruhi had a thoughtful expression on her face as Hikaru almost spat out his tea. "Yeah, I can see it," the honor student said, while Honey and Mori nodded next to her.
"Um," Akane said awkwardly with a sweat drop. "It's not like that, jeez," Hikaru muttered once he was able to get his tea down while avoiding everyone's eyes. Kaoru grinned.
"That's what they all say," he said, mimicking his twin's sing song voice.
Hikaru glared at his brother. "Fight me, Kaoru."
Laughs were heard around the table as the group continued eating, chatting about whatever topics came to mind. "Akane, can you tell us about your family?" Hikaru said with pleading eyes. "Pleeeaaasse?" Kaoru added with puppy dog eyes.
"No," the redhead replied with a deadpan expression, causing the twins' heads to droop in defeat. "Hey, you two, she doesn't have to tell you if she doesn't want to," Haruhi said.
"But Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai know," Hikaru argued. "So does Izumi," Kaoru added with a nod.
Silence filled the air as everyone realized Izumi hadn't returned. "Hey, speaking of which, where is she?" Kaoru asked.
"She should be back by now..." Akane muttered. The sound of deep chuckling floated to her ears, and she turned to see two tall boys smirking at her. Aren't those the delinquents on the baseball team I faced off with before? The hell are they laughing at?
She was about to confront them when something tugged at her sleeve. She looked down to see Honey. "Aka-chan, we're going to look for Izu-chan," he said. "Aren't you coming?"
"Yeah, I'm coming," she said distractedly. She shot one last glance at the still grinning delinquents before heading out.
The group split up and searched the school and the classrooms, asking the teachers if they'd seen the young hazel eyed girl. The teacher she was supposed to go to during lunch had said she never showed up. They weren't worried until they'd each been searching for half an hour and never found her.
"Dammit all, Izumi," Akane said as her call went to voicemail. She turned to the rest of them. "She's still not picking up." "Let's spam her phone!" Honey said, typing random letters and sending them to Izumi's phone in rapid succession. Mori took the phone out of his hands calmly. "Bad idea."
"Let's search one more time," Tamaki suggested. "If we don't find her, we'll meet back up and figure something else out." They all nodded and ran off in different directions.
Akane ran down a hallway she didn't recognize, eyes glancing left and right. Where are you? She thought worriedly.
The redhead ran past the hallway that broke off the one she was currently on, but back pedaled when movement caught her eye. She peeked from behind the corner as the two delinquents, Suzuki Hiro and Tsukio Yuuji, walked away from what appeared to be a closet door.
After they'd disappeared, Akane crept quietly to the closet and opened it carefully out of curiosity. She gasped as dread filled her face.
Inside was Izumi, bruised and unconscious on the floor.
"Izumi!" She yelled, kneeling by her friend. "What the hell happened to -"
Her words were cut off as she felt something metal hit the back of her head. She fell to the ground with a pained grunt, struggling to see her attackers as her vision blurred. She could barely make out Yuuji's sadistic grin as he squatted next to her and got up in her face. "See? I told you I'd get back at you for last time," he said. Akane mustered up enough energy to glare at them as they walked away laughing. Her eyes closed as the door slammed shut, the throbbing pain in her head making it impossible to focus.
Then everything went dark.
A/N: Aaaand cut! Well, there you have it...trouble abound! Stay tuned for the next update, and don't forget to leave a review!