Hey, peoples... Wow. Eight chapters... that's a lot to me. So, anyway, what do you guys think about a Shugo Chara! fanfic? Hm...? I need encouragement, people! But it'll be either Amu/Ikuto, OC/? or Amu/? OC/Ikuto. But "?" won't be Tadase in either of those. I'm sorry, Tadase fangirls, but, I just don't support Tadase all that much.

But I am in the process of writing a Vampire Knight fanfic. I'm only on the first chapter, but it's coming along well.

Well, tell me what you think and enjoy the chapter! And if I do decide to do a Shugo Chara! one, it probably won't be up for a while. Oh, and this has a sort of alternate ending to the Haruhi/Kyoya scene is his room...

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Recap:

I breathed in a large breath and swam closer to shore. After only one more try, I had to give up. I waved my hand one more time and hoped someone came.

When that person did come, it wasn't who I expected.

I coughed harshly as my rescuer carried me to shore. His hair was dripping wet and covered his eyes. The sun was in my face, so I couldn't make out any of his features. I didn't know who it was, but I didn't care. As long as I didn't drown. When we reached shore, he set me down carefully and caught his breath. "Was I -cough- really that -cough- heavy?" I asked jokingly. He didn't respond. Instead, he nodded over to Haruhi and Tamaki.

"Did you really think you could take on two boys when you're a girl?!" Tamaki scolded Haruhi on how she didn't think before she acted. They kept on arguing until Tamaki said he wouldn't talk to Haruhi until she apoligized. She didn't know what she was supposed to apoligize for, so they left on bad terms.

I finally turned to my rescuer to thank him. "Thanks for... ya know, back there." I motioned to the ocean.

"It caused delay, but, it's nothing to worry about." I recognized that voice anywhere. After all, I did have to hear it for a whole week straight.

"Kyoya?!" My eyes widened when I realized my savior was the Shadow King himself. "I never took you for the 'knight in shining armor' type.

"Well, Tamaki was with Haruhi... Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai were somewhere down the beach, and Hikaru and Kaoru were dealing with the two men who caused this problem. I couldn't let you drown." He said, sliding his glasses onto his face and up the bridge of his nose.

'So he does care about something other than merits.' I thought with a smirk.

"With the events coming up in the Club, we need an extra waitress there." He added.

I sweatdropped. 'Oh...' "Sorry I was an inconvenience..." I trudged back to the place we were staying.

~In the House, Rei's Room~

'My fingers are so tore up... literally.' I frowned down as I looked at my bloody hands. I walked into the bathroom to get a towel when there was a knock on my door. "Come in." I turned to look at the door as I threw my beach towel on the bed. "Kyoya? What do you nee-." I caught myself. "What do you want?"

"Since I'm the only one with medical experience, everyone opted I help you." He motioned to my hands with a nod.

"Oh, well... Okay." I sat on the bed next to him, watching his every move.

He began to examine my hand, then wet a fresh towel in the sink. "Give me your hand." I stretched out my right hand to him. He gently patted it with the hot, wet cloth; I winced at the pain, shutting my eyes. The bleeding had stopped, and now the blood that had remained was wiped away. The cuts were deeper than I had anticipated. "I don't recall this guy wearing cleats." I laughed half-heartedly as Kyoya cleaned the wounds. He didn't even glance up. "You know, you're really boring." I said with a bored expression.

"I hope you don't play an instrument. You'd be disabled for a while; the cuts are pretty deep." Kyoya continued to fix the bandages around my wrist, down to my fingers.

"Nope. Not really a multi-talented person." I admitted, examining my now, fully-bandaged hands with a sad smile.

"I wouldn't say that." Kyoya said while I got up off the bed.

"What do you mean?" I asked, searching his cold eyes as if they'd tell me the answer.

Before he had the chance to answer, someone yelled at us. "Come on, lovebirds; time for dinner!" One of the twins shouted from down the hall.

"We're coming! And we're not lovebirds, idiot!" I shouted back. "I'm gonna kill him one day..." I stalked into the bathroom to change out of my wet clothes. When I came out, Kyoya was still there. "Still here? Oh, I get it. 'An Ootori must be a well-rounded person.'? Even if it means being a gentleman?" I had quoted what he said this past winter.

He simply nodded.

As we were walking down the hall, there was a long, awkward silence. "Why are these hallways so long?" I complained aloud, my shoulders slumping.

"It's a mansion. Of course they're going to be." Kyoya answered me, bringing me to the realization that I hadn't just thought my complaint... and that Kyoya Ootori has no idea what sarcasm is.

When we got to the dining room, (or rather dining hall) I saw Haruhi was sitting next to Tamaki. 'Nice move, Tama-baka.' I thought to myself, shaking my head in dissapproval. "Hikaru called Kyoya and I lovebirds, didn't he?" I eyed both of the twins.

"What if it wasn't?" They asked in unison.

"Then I'll just kill both of you." I announced with a smirk of satisfaction.

"Just eat your crab." They said while shoving a plate piled with crab in my face, obviously annoyed that they had been beaten at their own game.

I took my seat on the other side of Haruhi, watching her consume unreasonable amounts of crab. Everyone else just stared in amazement until Tamaki spoke. Then Haruhi responded. "I thought you weren't talking to me." Tamaki went into one of his tempermental moods and left in a huff. Haruhi stopped eating after that. Then everyone got Haruhi to realize why she should apoligize. Then a group hug. Then Haruhi almost threw up. Don't you just love the beach?

Haruhi had ran into a random room and into the bathroom. Everyone dispersed to their own rooms. Except me. With me and my bad luck, I got lost in the darn place. I wandered around, until I found a room where I heard noise. Considering the lights were off, I slowly opended the door without it creaking. I peeked my head around the corner and regreted ever opening that damned door.

I saw the worst scene I could possibly see (well, for me at least): Kyoya positioned on top of Haruhi, shirtless. Haruhi laying under him on ruffled sheets, helpless. I swung the door open, making sure it hit the other wall. The both turned to me, shocked. I'm glad it was dark in the room, because I was on the verge of tears. Not because Kyoya "liked" another person. No... because I had trusted Haruhi with my secret. Yet, here she was; with the person she knew I liked. "Looks like I interrupted something. Sorry." I walked out of the room, furious my best friend had betrayed me. I heard her call after me as she got out of the bed. Then I started to run. I ran down the hall, holding back threatening tears. I saw Tamaki in the distance. I slowed to myself to a casual stroll. Why worry him with my problems?

"Hey, Rei-chan. Did you see Kyoya? I need a favor of him." Tamaki asked, stopping in front of me. Of course he had to ask about him.

I gritted my teeth at the thought. "He's in his room." I replied, brushing by him.

~Tamaki's POV~

I stopped to ask Rei-chan if she knew where Kyoya was. She said he was in his room, but something was wrong. She had a pained expression on her face. Maybe she hurt her hand again? I don't know...

I turned to look back at her, but she was gone. She must have ran. Why? 'Oh, well. I'll go ask Kyoya for that lotion for my was worse than I expected.'

~Rei's Room, Rei's POV~

"I can't believe she'd do that. Come ON!" I punched the wall beside me, forgetting about the condition of my hands. "Ow..." I began to cry because of the pain... all the pain; the pain of betrayal and the physical pain. I sat down on my bed, listening to the thunder... watching the lightning... hearing the patter of the rain on the windows. "How cliché." I said to myself, hugging my knees. "Oh... crap. Haruhi!" I totally forgot she was afraid of thunderstorms. I also forgot about her and Kyoya. All I cared about was her. I ran out of my room, wiping away my stray tears on my sleeve. I ran down the hall, until I found Kyoya's room. I opened the door, only to find Haruhi and Tamaki on the floor; Haruhi was blindfolded and had earplugs in her ears. The rest of the Club was right behind me.

"Oi, Tamaki... not the best impression for a host to make." I said through a wide grin.

"Despicable." One of the twins growled.

"What kind of 'play' is this?" Kaoru asked.

"I-it's not like that!" Tamaki waved his arms in defense.

Mori looked like he could kill someone, Kyoya looked quite bored while the twins eyebrows were twitching with annoyance. Hunny stared like it was the most interesting thing in the world with a confused expression. I simply looked on, smiling with pleasure.

After everyone went back to their rooms, I began to also walk back to mine.

"Reicheru." I turned to see Kyoya. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"What?" I added much annoyance to my tone.

"We need to talk. Now." He also crossed his arms. His glasses were gleaming in the dim light, so it was hopeless to tell what he was thinking.

"Will you cut my debt a little?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No."

"See ya." I raised a hand slightly to wave and began to walk back to my room. I suddenly felt a tug on my arm and was twirled around to be face to face with Kyoya.

"Now." He demanded.

I jerked away from him -- the last person I wanted to see -- and sighed. "Fine." I walked into his room and cautiously sat on the bed. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Were you crying?" His question surprised me because it was so sudden.

"What's it to you? What, you can't have a depressed or emo club member? If I'm even considered a member..." I mumbled the last part under my breath.

"No." He answered immediately.

I scoffed. "Exactly what I thought."

"I meant, no; I do care."

"Riiiight. Who are you and what have you done to Kyoya Ootori? I sware, if you're one of the twins masquerading, I'll literally kill you. I don't care if I'm sent to jail. Messing with me and my feelings is not okay."

"I sware I'm not one of the twins." He said, sighing. He slipped his shoes off and sat in a more casual position in front of me on the bed. "They're not dumb enough to deal with a pissed off you."

"I'm not sure if that was a compliment or an insult..." I said, narrowing my eyes.

"Whatever you want it to be."

"Alright, I get it. You're trying to pull some Host Club crap on me again. It won't work. Didn't I already tell you that?" He opened his mouth to respond, but I wouldn't allow it. "I don't care who you are... If you try to mess with me, I'll kick your butt. You want to try, be my guest. I have had too many things happen to me in my life for me to break down easily. So don't think some softening up for what happened between you and Haruhi is going to get to me. I thought you were smart... but if you're going to try to pull that... Then... I guess I was wrong." I left the room and a confused Kyoya behind me, slamming the door. 'It's what he deserves if he thinks he's gonna get away with that.I need to talk to Dad...' My expression went from an angry one to a sad one as I thought about my dad. I brought a hat that he had given me a month before he died. He had my name sewn into it since it was just for me. I brought my hat everywhere, and, if I wore the right outfit, I wore it to school. No one ever asked me what it was for, so I never told them.

I walked into my room and closed the door behind me. I searched through my bag for my hat, but couldn't find it. 'Come to think of it... I wore it to the beach but after I fell in the water...' "Aw, dangit!" I ran out of my room and down the stairs. I raced out onto the beach; it was already dark and still raining. "No... no, no, no, no, no! I can't believe it... I lost it... I- I'm sorry Dad..." I fell on my knees, devistated I had lost the only thing that mattered to me the most. The only thing I had to remeber my dad by... Then the tears came. And I didn't give a crap. They fell slowly but surely. I now sat cross-legged in the sand, looking out into the ocean as my own salty tears fell. I didn't care that I was getting soaked. I didn't care that I would get a cold. I didn't care about Kyoya. I didn't care about what Haruhi did. I did care that I'd probably never see that hat again.

~Back In the House, Mori's POV~

I haven't seen Rei-chan since we were all by Kyoya's room. I sighed as I stared out the window of my own room, looking through the rain out onto the beach. There was someone on the beach. I didn't care who it was...

I ran out the door with a raincoat on, carrying an extra raincoat and an umbrella. When I reached the beach, I found it was Rei-chan. Her eyes and nose looked red, so I knew she'd been crying.

"Rei."

She looked up at me with sad, surprised eyes. She jumped up from her position on the ground and wrapped her arms around my waist, burying her head in my chest. I didn't know what to do, but I put my hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair gently. It hurt me to see her so weak and defenesless. I was supposed to protect her from anything physically, emotionally, or mentally harmful like I do for Mitskuni. I'd failed at my job.

"I'm sorry."

She sniffed then looked up at me. "W-why are you sorry? You d-didn't do anyth-thing." She let her arms fall to her sides.

"I couldn't protect you." I looked away from her strong gaze.

"You didn't fail at anything. This is my fault. I'm the one who failed myself." She stepped back before continuing. "I promised myself I'd be stronger. And when I met the Host Club, I had to stick to that promise even more. You know, being surrounded by handsome boys all the time is not an easy situation to be in." She smiled sadly, but it was genuine. "When my dad died is when I made that promise. Sure, I cried at the funeral, but... He was my dad. I'd be cold-hearted not to. But... after that, I never cried. Never. And tonight I failed myself. You didn't. Don't say you did..." Her bangs covered her eyes, but I knew her eyes held tears that hadn't fallen yet.

"Rei..." It was all I could say; all I knew to say.

"Or I'll kick your butt in kendo." She looked up at me with a bright smile playing on her lips. I couldn't do anything but smile back.

~Back In the House (again), Kyoya's POV~

I looked out my window, squinting to see through the rain that blurred my vision. I recognized two figures standing on the beach, one looking up at the other. Mori and Rei. I felt my mouth curve into a frown as I watched them begin their walk back to the mansion. "I need to clear my head." I said to myself, grabbing a book and turning on the lamp on the night stand. "I have to figure myself out before trying to figure her out."

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Okay... weird way to end it, but, was it the emotional chapter I promised? YOU TELL ME IN A REVIEW! Doesn't that pretty little button at the bottom of the page appeal to more than just 5 or 6 people? Anyway... I tried to have Rei stick up for herself in this chapter, and have a kind of jealousy thing go on with Kyoya. It kinda didn't turn out how I wanted. Oh, well. By the way, I'm already writing the next chapter, so, it'll be up soon. And I'm also working on the first chapter in my Vampire Knight fanfic. I'm not sure if I could write 4 fanfics at one time about 4 different animes (this would include the Shugo Chara! one). Hm... I'll think about it. Tell me what you guys think!!!

~MP359