My breath caught in my throat. My father was a topic we seemed to avoid. We were always so focused on the now, always wanting to "catch the killer" that I never really found time to grieve over my father. I never talked about him, and nowadays I rarely ever thought about him. But now all of those old wounds had been reopened, and they were bleeding profusely.

Oh, how I missed him. He was such a good example for Connor and me growing up. How could I describe him? It's hard to put into words.

Well, he was as smart as Kyoya, often top of his class when he was a teen. He was as mischievous as the twins, always wreaking havoc in small yet amusing ways. He was as reliable as Mori, always a strong shoulder a person can lean on. He adored cute things, the same as Honey did. He was practical, like Haruhi, always using logic in times of trouble.

Yet most of all, he was kind and sincere, like Tamaki. But now he was gone. And losing any of these people would be like losing him all over again.

"What is it, Tamaki? I'm not angry with you. I'm sure you had your reasons from withholding the information you did." I said in a monotone voice, afraid that if I spoke with any emotion at all, I would start crying.

Out of Maria's POV

Tamaki wasn't sure how she would take the information he was about to give her. He knew he was shocked when he found out, before he was even given this mission. But she had a right to know, no matter how much pain it might cause. Could he forgive himself after seeing her shock stricken face? Probably not. But that didn't matter much. What mattered now was the truth.

"Well...your father has been lying to you his whole life." he started.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He...was an agent, like me. And he...oh, Maria, I can't tell you if you look at me like that." complained Tamaki, staring at her mouth hung open.

She closed her mouth immediately and gave an encouraging head nod for him to continue.

"He was given an assignment...to...to..." he couldn't bring himself to finish.

It was then that he felt an incredible blow delivered to his left cheek, sending him reeling. Maria had slapped him. Hard.

"Finish. The. Damn. Sentence." she practically growled.

He wasn't angry at her at all. He could see she was acting out of confusion and fear, and that later on she would apologize. This anger she showed was her way of trying not to cry.

He took a deep breath and with one last sympathetic look he finished his sentence.

"Your father was an agent," he started again, "And he was given an assignment to kill you."

Maria's POV

"Liar!" I shrieked, backing away from Tamaki at once.

Why does this boy tell such cruel lies?

"Please, Maria!" he begged, trying to take grasp of my hand.

"No! Get away from me! Your saying such hurtful things. Does this make you happy? Do you enjoy playing mind games with me?" I questioned, going from yelling, and ending in a tone barely above of whisper. My whole body was shaking.

He grabbed both of my wrists to steady me then he started speaking in a soothing voice.

"I would never do that to you. I would never want to make you feel this way. It's the truth." he looked up at me with pleading eyes, and for a second I caught a glimpse of the same old goofy Tamaki I met on my first day of school, "You have to trust me."

Our eyes met and we stared at each other for an intense minute. My gaze was challenging him, still deciding whether to believe it or not. His gaze was steady and convincing.

"I-I do trust you, with my life. It's just that...I'm so sorry!" I said, my voice hinting that I had started to cry. I then ran out of his room, passed all of the confused maids, ran out onto the streets. I didn't really have a true destination. I just wandered helplessly, trying to get a grip on my forever fleeting reality.

Out of Maria's POV

When Maria ran out of his house, he felt a sudden instinct to follow her. No one that upset should be wandering the streets alone. He knew that whenever he got that upset his thought process would become foggy.

As soon as he walked out of the house, he saw an upset Maria standing at the crosswalk, looking like a deflated balloon, as if all the life was sucked out of her. As she stepped into the street the light was still on green, and several cars zoomed around her.

"Watch out!" he yelled, and ran out in the street as well.

Maybe I'm unable to save Maman, he thought, but I can save this girl, right in front of me.

He came just in time, and pushed her to safety on the sidewalk before any cars could harm her.

"Are you stupid?" Tamaki yelled after he caught his breath.

"Are you an idiot?" she yelled back.

"Well at least I don't stand in the middle of oncoming traffic!" he retorted.

"Well at least I don't go around saving people's lives!" she spat.

"Oh, so now I'm the bad guy!" he complained.

She all of a sudden got an image of Tamaki trying to rob a bank and she started to smile. There was no way she could stay mad at him.

"Not really! I think we both know you can't pull off the bad guy image!"

"I'm sorry!" he said, raising his voice over the roar of the traffic.

"Me too!" she answered.

"Friends?" he asked.

"Always." she responded with a smile.

It was then that the two realized what a show they had been putting on when everyone around them stopped what they were doing to clap and cheer. They were completely embarrassed, and they both headed home in opposite directions.

Maria's POV

So, my father was supposed to kill me. Why? I don't know. I'm not even sure I want to find out. All I know is that I'm growing to like this agency less and less. They wanted me dead a couple of years ago, and now they're sending their agents to protect me. Talk about a change of priorities.

What if they decided to change their mind again? I'd be dead in an instant. No doubt about it. I was just starting to get the gist of the situation. The agency is everywhere. The agency is everything. The agency knew everything. Did they know I used to have a pet bird named Moose? Probably. Did they know I didn't learn to ride my bike until I was ten? Most likely.

It was a creepy concept, knowing I was always under surveillance. These people were playing God, when it wasn't their place to do so. And there wasn't a damn thing anyone, even Tamaki and I, could do about it.

Out of Maria's POV

Hikaru just heard the most recent piece of gossip, and he was quick to tell everyone at lunch. As he arrived at the table where his friends sat, he slammed down his books and said three words.

"Sex Ed. classes."

"What?" asked Haruhi.

"They're putting Sex Ed. classes back in the curriculum." he said with a devious smirk.

"No way! But didn't they fire the old sex ed. teacher last year for showing the students porn?" asked Kaoru.

"That's not why he got fired. Everyone knows that's a rumor." protested Haruhi.

"I beg to differ. Just ask Tamaki. He was a first year when sex ed. was still a class." said Kaoru.

"And now rumors are flying around saying there's a new teacher. And she's a girl." said Hikaru.

"Well, as long as I don't have to take the class with you two, I'm okay with that." said Maria while Haruhi nodded her head in agreement.

"Sorry to crush your dreams, Maria, but Class A happens to be scheduled to go at the end of the day." Hikaru informed them.

Maria's POV

Haruhi looked like she was about to have a stroke. I didn't blame her. Chances are that sex ed. with the twins would not be fun. Why couldn't I take the class with someone more mature, like maybe Mori or Kyoya. Oh, that's right. They're not in our grade. I think I should have skipped a grade a long time ago.


The day went on normally, and right after orchestra I planned on skipping sex ed., but it was then that I found myself being picked up by my arms, and I knew who had arrived.

"Tisk, tisk. Trying to skip class?" said the twins simaeltaneously.

"No, not at all. I was just, um...okay, you caught me." I admitted, hanging my head in defeat.

When we got to the class we discovered a room full of buzzing students, who actually seemed to be excited for once. Haruhi sat in a corner, looking completely depressed.

"They got you too, huh?" she said as I was dragged through the door.

"I can't believe you guys would try to skip class." said Hikaru in a reprimanding voice.

"I thought we taught you better than that." said Kaoru, shaking his head in mock-disappointment.

I gazed to the front of the classroom to see the back of the teacher's head as she wrote something on the board.

She looks so familiar, I thought.

It was then that when she turned around it hit me. My eyes turned to the size of watermelons as she introduced herself.

"Hello, class, and welcome to sex education." she said, "I'm your new teacher, Ms. Stephanie Clark."

This was going to be the longest forty five minutes of my life.

Out of Maria's POV

Tamaki and Kyoya were currently in their Creative writing class. The teacher often said to be a creative writer, you had to understand creative writing. So everyone in the class was given the assignment to find a poem that expressed them the most. At first, Tamaki thought he had the perfect poem. It was happy and energetic and seemed to put a smile on his face everytime he read it. But given recent events, he decided to change at the last minute.

Kyoya went first, and he would be reading: The Truest Knowledge by Oscar Wilde. When in front of the room he had a commanding presence. He demanded attention and his solemn silence alone seemed to silent the rest of the class. Then he read with fervor:

Thou knowest all; I seek in vain
What lands to till or sow with seed -
The land is black with briar and weed,
Nor cares for falling tears or rain.

Thou knowest all; I sit and wait
With blinded eyes and hands that fail,
Till the last lifting of the veil
And the first opening of the gate.

Thou knowest all; I cannot see.
I trust I shall not live in vain,
I know that we shall meet again
In some divine eternity.

The class erupted into applause, just like Kyoya guessed they would. As he sat down to his seat he gave Tamaki a look that said, "I dare you to do better than that."

Tamaki raised his hand in the air and waved in frantically until his teacher called on him. He was really proud of the poem he managed to find, and he thought it expressed his deeper self. He was going to recite The Land of Dreams by William Blake. He got up to the front of the classroom, and then started reading in a pleasant yet hazy voice, as if his very existence was a dream.

Awake, awake my little Boy!
Thou wast thy Mother's only joy:
Why dost thou weep in thy gentle sleep?
Awake! thy Father does thee keep.

"O, what land is the Land of Dreams?
What are its mountains, and what are its streams?
O Father, I saw my Mother there,
Among the lilies by waters fair.

Among the lambs clothed in white
She walked with her Thomas in sweet delight.
I wept for joy, like a dove I mourn -
O when shall I return again?"

Dear child, I also by pleasant streams
Have wandered all night in the Land of Dreams;
But though calm and warm the waters wide,
I could not get to the other side.

"Father, O Father, what do we here,
In this land of unbelief and fear?
The Land of Dreams is better far
Above the light of the Morning Star."

When he finished the classroom erupted in deafening applause. The teacher was near to tears. Tamaki winked at Kyoya as he sat down as if to say, "You were pwned."

Just when another student was about to go, the class was interrupted by yelling from the sex ed class next door.

Maria's POV

The whole class watched while Ms. Clark tried to get a condom on a banana and couldn't do it. She started yelling at the banana and getting violent.

"Maybe you have the wrong condom size." suggested Kaoru.

"They sell king-sized, you know." added Hikaru.

By then the whole class was in hysterics. When she finally succeeded at getting the condom on the banana, she held it up to show the whole class.

"And that is how to correctly put on a condom...I think." she declared with a proud smile.


By the end of class we were told that we were going to watch an instructional video the next day. We were then handed free condoms, and we headed out the door.

Haruhi, the twins, and I were already at the water fountain, filling our free samples with water and tying them in knots.

All of the students in class A were following our bad example and before you know it there was a water fight going on in the hallway. The floors quickly became slippery and we all watched as the students from the literature class next door walked into the hallway and slipped on the floor.

Kaoru took aim and made sure to hit Kyoya directly in the face. Two doors down Honey, Mori, and Connor were also leaving class. I aimed and hit Connor, making him soaking wet. Another two "water-balloons" flew through the air at that moment, and just when it was about to hit Honey, Mori blocked the way and got hit instead.

"Mori!" Honey shrieked, as if his friend just got shot. He wore a grim expression as he said darkly, "This means war."

He grabbed as many "water balloons" as he could and mercilessly started chucking them at the offenders.

To my surprise, I actually witnessed Kyoya chuckling for the first time as he also joined in on the fight. Tamaki was in the corner, hiding in fear of getting his dry-cleaned uniform soaked.

About twenty minutes later and all of us were sitting in the cafeteria for after school detention. Except Tamaki. He was traumatized by the whole experience and therefore in the guidance counselors office. After a big lecture from the principal we were all released. All of us had big ass grins on our face as we left the school, still soaked with water.

It was decided. Sex Ed. was my new favorite class.

The next day while in the locker rooms, I discovered another letter in my gym locker. Yet this one was different from all the others.

Note:

Dear Maria,

I'm growing bored of our little game. So, I've decided to cut your time short. You have one more week to figure out who I am, or else I'll kill someone in the host club. I feel generous, so I'll give you seven clues.

First clue:

I am a box that holds keys without locks, yet they can unlock your soul. What am I?

Seven days. Seven clues. That's all I had to figure out this mystery. Oh, and I had Tamaki.

We're screwed.

A/N: Yay! 7th chapter! seven is a lucky number (: