bloop.

Classes were boring.

You would think, that with my presence in the host club, people would have wanted to talk to me, right?

No, no they didn't. The girls were too spiteful because of the attention I got from boys, even though that was only during host club hours. The boys were too ' intimidated ' to approach me. Without friends in class, it soon became boring and uneventful.

Well, Tamaki talked to me. But that didn't count. I wanted a friend outside of the host club that I could have talked to and stuff. Normal conversations. Not about what the next theme would be for the club, or how I could have gotten more customers if I had done something different.

I propped my chin on my hand and looked out the window. Even though I had switched classes, I still managed to get a seat next to the window. It was slightly cloudy and the skies were grey, drifting with the threat of a cold, wet rain. I should have brought an umbrella this morning, I thought, sighing quietly.

" U-um, " Someone said and I glanced away from the window and saw a short, black-haired girl standing in front of my desk, " Can y-you help me with my homework? Sensei said if I had any t-trouble to ask you. "

I removed the slouch from my shoulders. This was the first time someone had approached me about something that wasn't about the host club. I felt a warmth spreading in my chest, and then anxiety. It could have been so easy to screw this up…

" Sure, what do you need help with? " I said. Her green eyes avoided mine. Instead, she looked at a bird perched on the windowsill and clutched her books to her chest with small, delicate hands.

" I d-don't understand some of these equations. " She said as she showed me her notebook. The writing was small and intricate. I smiled at her, even though I was confused. Wasn't that algebra? I thought I was in…

Oh, right. All of my classes got switched. Now I was in class 2-A with Tamaki.

" Okay, I'll help. " She pulled out a chair and sat down across from me, placing her books in her lap. I moved some of my books over, so she had room on the desk. I was starting to get excited. Maybe, if I was nice enough, she would want to be my friend.

I got my notebook out along with my pencil. My pencil was only a few centimeters long, since I've been using it for a couple years, and the eraser was nonexistent.

" Let's use the equation… " I tapped the paper with my pencil, trying to think of a simple equation. A strand of hair fell in my face and I pushed it away. " 8-x = 2x-1. An easy equation. "

I wrote down the equation as I said it. " It's quite simple, really. " I glanced up to make sure she was paying attention as I began to solve it, " You need to get x by itself. So, we can add x to both sides— " I wrote as I spoke, " And end up with 8 = 3x-1. "

I glanced up and she looked completely lost. I resisted the urge to hit my head on the table. This was very, very basic math. Quite possibly the easiest thing in algebra. Linear equations and matrices must have been a pain for her.

" Now, you add 1 to both sides. It cancels out on the right, and 8 becomes 9. So you're stuck with 9=3x. Then you divide both sides by 3, and get 3=x. " I placed my pencil back down on the table and glanced at my scratchy handwriting. It was barely legible, but I understood what it was completely.

But either this girl was severely dimwitted, or my handwriting was worse than I thought.

" I'm sorry, I-I don't understand. " Her face turned red and she looked down at her lap.

" Hey, " I said in a soft voice, " It's okay. Not everyone is meant to be a mathematician. " The bell rang and she began to gather her things. " I'll help you some more after school. Just come to the host club. "

She nodded her head and walked back to her desk, which was three over to the right of mine. I smiled, actually excited for the host club for a change. What if she kept needing my help with her homework and stuff? Then we could have made meeting at the host club a daily thing. We could have been friends.

Tamaki, who was on my right, poked my side. " What are you smiling about? " He whispered. The sound of chalk on a chalkboard ground against my ears and my smile turned into a grimace.

" Math. " I whispered as the teacher began his lecture on history. This was my worse subject, due to the fact that I wasn't exactly raised in Japan, but I'd like to think that I was at least decent at it. I didn't have the lowest grade in the class—I actually had the highest, but my understanding and comprehension was lower than what I would have liked it to be.

I yawned as I pulled my history notebook out and started taking notes. My mind went into automatic mode and I copied the words down but didn't exactly take a moment to process it.

A friend. I had the chance to make a friend.

Let's just hope I didn't screw it up.

§

" Let's play the Which one is Hikaru-kun game! " The twins said in unison as I sat there at the table with the girl from earlier. She was awfully concentrated on her algebra despite the annoying interruptions from the other hosts, and I couldn't help but admire her for that. Me, on the other hand… I was about ten seconds away from slapping Hikaru and Kaoru.

" We're busy. " I said, tapping my chin with my pencil, " Go away. "

The girl—whose name I had yet to discover—glanced up. Hikaru and Kaoru were still standing there with those stupid, insufferable grins that only meant trouble glued to their faces. Just then, luckily, Haruhi happened to walk by and the twins went to bother her.

" Sorry about that, " I said, putting my pencil down, " They can get quite annoying sometimes. "

" I-I think th-they're cute. " She mumbled. Her face tinted red and she buried it in her math textbook. I chuckle.d

" I suppose they can be cute sometimes. But when they're bored…. You should make sure to stay away from them. They'll pull all kinds of nasty tricks. " She let the book drop down from her face slightly, to where only her bright, green eyes were visible. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the twins shine a flashlight at some poor guy dressed in all black. He took off running and was out of the room before I could have blinked.

" Hikaru, Kaoru, how could you? " Tamaki's voice shook as he talked, and he looked utterly petrified. " You don't know the true terror of black magic! "

Black magic….?

" Anyway, " I said, turning my attention back to our studies, " Let me see what you've written down. "

She nods and hands me her notebook, where I had written down a few simple equations in the neatest handwriting I could muster. I scanned over them, checking her work and solving the equation in my head at the same time.

" Most of these are right, " I said, " You skipped a step on one of them, though. You don't want to forget simple maths while trying to solve advanced equations. " I put the notebook down and pointed at the last one. I made it the hardest, most complicated of the five, using more larger numbers. I even threw in a negative. It threw her for a loop because it seems she doesn't remember the rules with negatives. " When you're subtracting a positive from a negative, you're really adding. So the (-3) - 6 would be -9. That's the only one you got wrong. "

She nodded her head, and she looked extremely happy with herself. She was practically beaming.

" T-thank you. " She bowed her head slightly as I handed her notebook back to her. " I've always had t-trouble with maths. "

" It's okay, a lot of people do. I had issues with it at first, but as I got more repetition in, I got better with it. " I said, as I closed my books. It had been around thirty minutes, and she was already so much better at this. I was just going to give her more practice problems to help her with. But first… " What's your name? "

" Nakamura Akemi. " She said without stuttering. I smiled at her.

" Fuijioka Sachiko. "

" I k-know. You're kind of f-famous. " And then Akemi looked down as if she had said something wrong. I felt my eyes widen slightly, mainly in disbelief. Me? Famous? The very thought made me want to laugh.

" That's shocking. " I said with a light laugh. " I didn't think— "

I cut the words off as something the twins said drifted over towards me.

" …can we come to your place? "

I looked over, saw they were talking to Haruhi. I stood up, pointed at them and yelled:

" No! " I said at the same time as Haruhi.

" Why not? " They asked, hands on their hips as they leaned closer to Haruhi and casted a glance at me.

" Because you just make fun of me. " She said and I couldn't help but nod even though they weren't really paying any attention to me.

" No matter how much we ask? "

" No way. "

Tamaki, who had been sulking in a corner for some reason, had decided to butt in on the conversation

" I've also been thinking that I should pay my respects to Haruhi's and Sachiko's family… "

" No way in hell. "

" Well then, " The twins said while pulling on hats, " If you miss in the Which one is Hikaru-kun game then as a penalty we get to come over to your house. "

They did their thing, " Okay, which one of us is Hikaru-kun? "

" Don't lose Haruhi! " I said and she just gave me an exasperated look as she answered. I, remembering that I was supposed to be tutoring Akemi, turned back around and sat down, smoothing the back of my dress as I did. " Sorry about that. " I said, but saw that she had a small smile on her faces she was looking between me and those two bumbling idiots over there.

" Y-you must really l-like it here. " She said as she handed me her notebook so I could write down some more practice equations." You a-all seem r-really close."

I picked up my short, eraser-less pencil and started writing down a couple of equations. " I'm really only here because of my brother. "

A piece of hair fell in my face and I blew it away, only succeeding in having it fall back down. She looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap.

" Hikaru, you're really in love with Haruhi, aren't you? "

I stood up so abruptly my head started swimming. I turned to look at them despite my dizziness—which passed soon, anyway—and glared at them. No one, especially not those trouble-making twins, was allowed to be in love with Haruhi. I knew she could take care of herself, and that she didn't think of the twins like that ,or at least, so I thought. She just had zero experience when it came to love and crushes and all of that stuff. I., on the other hand, when I went through my otaku phase, gained plenty of experience. Via virtual reality. But still!

" No! No! No! " I said, walking around the couch and heading over towards them.

" H-hey! You've got it all wrong, Kaoru! How could I fall for that little tanuki? " Hikaru countered.

" Haruhi is not some little shape-shifting raccoon dog, you buffoon. " I said, reaching up and grabbing him by the ear. " Apologize to my sister now. "

Tamaki was just as mad as I was, and I could feel his overwhelming and infuriated presence behind me. Hikaru was leaned down from where I had a hold on his ear, a scowl present on his face. This was a ridiculous thing. An apology would be so simple.

" Just apologize. " I said, dragging him over to Haruhi. Who, halfway there, I realized wasn't even paying attention. " Haruhi, did you even hear Hikaru? "

" Hmm? " She glanced up from the book she was reading. I'm pretty sure it was a physics book, and I shook my head at her.

" See? She didn't even he— "

" Apologize! " I pulled on his ear harder.

" Sorry! " He said and I released his ear, pleased with myself. I got him to apologize, and that—

" It's okay. " Haruhi said before returning to her book. I shook my head at her. You should never tell someone it's okay when they apologize. Then they thing they can do it again without facing repercussions or punishments.

I realized that I still had Akemi's notebook in my hand, and I started to walk back to the couch.

" Hey, sorry about th— "

" Enough! You're always crawling into my bed. You're such a pest! "

" That's because you always seem so lonely, Hikaru! I had no choice but to sleep next to you idiot! "

I plopped down on the couch with a sigh. They were so annoying!

" Sorry about that, kind of freaked there for a second. " I said, putting the notebook and pencil back on the table. I massaged the temples of my head, feeling an oncoming headache. " Can we continue this later? "

She nodded her head, " T-thanks for all of y-your help. "

The twins were still bickering, and it was getting on my nerves. Not only were they disturbing the other hosts, they were disturbing the customers, Akemi, and most importantly, they were disturbing me.

" Same time tomorrow? " I asked, as we gathered our books. Mine barely fit in my bag, due to a few I got from the library.

" Yea. " She said as she stood. " S-see you later. "

I nodded my head as she walked away, leaving the room and the loud arguing. I envied her for being able to leave so easily, just walking out. If I did that, Kyoya would have my head. I was here to make him and the club money, and to reduce Haruhi's debt.

In fact, as I was looking up, I caught sight of him walking towards me.

I wanted to rest my head on the table and take a nap. But I figured I could do my homework since no one here was requesting me. The thought wasn't as comforting as it once was; in fact, I felt a little dejected.

" Sachiko-san, please take your studies elsewhere. This is a club and you are not performing your duties. " Kyoya said, towering over me. I looked him right in the eye as I pulled one of my books out and sat it on the table. I then reached around in my bag and felt my fingers brush the pencil, so I pulled it out and sat it on the book.

" I will not let this club get in the way of my schoolwork. Please, take your overbearing aura somewhere else. " I smiled sweetly at him. I swear I saw his eye twitch before he turned and walked away.

I didn't know what it was about Kyoya that rubbed me the wrong way. Perhaps it was his ability to figure out any secret I have if he really wanted to. He pulled up information on that otaku like it was nothing. I bet, that if he dug far enough back into my past, back to around five years ago, he would know something was up. I didn't doubt that he would do that sooner or later, and the thought terrified me.

It was just, he made me so annoyed, and irritated! Always bossing people around like he owns the place. He was more rude to me than he was anyone else! He gladly welcomed Haruhi with open arms, ( almost ), yet, I can't even get him to say one nice thing! Well, there was that one time outside of the Chairman's office when he seemed the least bit concerned as to what was wrong, but that was it.

It was like he was harder on me than everyone else. I knew he wasn't exactly mean, but he wasn't exactly nice. All I knew, was that he really annoyed me and I really didn't like being annoyed.

§

I was inside Music Room 3, eating my lunch in peace. There was a long white table that reminded me of the one that was in my palace, and the chair was rather comfy as well. No one was here, because they had heard that the host club was in the refectory. Nice, and peace, and quiet. Blissful.

And then the door opened.

I nearly groaned as I watched Kyoya shut the door behind him. I thought I would be able to eat in peace here, alone. I didn't want to have to deal with Kyoya. He was probably going to scold me like I was a little kid because I wouldn't eat my vegetables. I just didn't like broccoli. That was all. They looked too much like mini trees.

He sat down across from me with the lunch he got from the refectory, silently. Without saying a word. I narrowed my eyes at him.

" What are you doing in here? " I asked, my tone cold.

" Eating. " He replied. " And I wanted to talk to you. "

I felt a sense of dread, but I ignored it. " About what? "

" About what you're hiding from the host club. "

My heart skipped five beats. " I'm not hiding anything. "

What an obvious denial! It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that I was lying. I couldn't figure out if he knew, because all he did was take a bite of some fancy food I can barely remember trying when I was a princess.

" You are, and I plan to find out what it is. We can't have you lying to the host club. Until then, I don't consider you an official host club member, and won't treat you as such. " Kyoya said, and I felt a rise of anger come surging through my system. I've worked hard as a hostess, Tamaki has declared that I am an official host club member. I don't get it! Why does he suspect so much of me?

" So you'll whine about every little thing I do? You'll hover over me, waiting for me to slip up, just to see if I have a secret? Foolish, childish. You're wasting you're time. " I snapped, thoroughly annoyed and frustrated with Kyoya. He was right; I do have a secret. But that doesn't give him the right to suspect me.

" I'm only doing this because I think you could potentially pose a threat to the host club. I hope you'll understand this and that there won't be any hard feelings. " He gave me a look that said he didn't really care if there were any hard feelings.

" A threat? I'm a fifteen year old girl that can barely lift a gallon of milk. How could I pose a threat to this stupid little club? "

He pulled out his notebook that he was always writing on and opened it. For a second I thought had compiled a list, but then he pushed the glasses up on his nose and started talking.

" I have your file right here. " My file? " It only goes to five years ago, when you said your father adopted you. Most files go back to birth, but it's like you came into existence when he adopted you. Did you say your parents were gamblers? That bad people were hunting you down before Ranka-san took you in? There is no evidence of that. If there was, it would be on the file from when you were ten. There's nothing there. "

I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. I should have stayed home. Coming to this school was a mistake. What would Akame have thought?

" I don't know about you, " Kyoya continued, " But I find that awfully suspicious. And, the fact that you wear colored contacts is off-putting too. "

" H-how did you know I wear colored contacts? " I asked, trying to process what he just said. He was definitely catching on. I could have dropped out of school, but that wouldn't have helped any. He would have found that even more suspicious, and investigated me more.

" No reason. " He said, just before taking a bite of food. I glared at him again. What exactly had he been doing? How could he have found that out?

" If you want to know something about me, Kyoya, just ask. " I straightened my spine then stood. " I will not tolerate this. "

Then the door to the room opened again before either of us could say anything else. Our heads turned towards the entrance, and I was so relieved to see the rest of the club ( minus the twins ) walking in, talking amongst themselves. They faltered when they saw Kyoya and me sitting here, eating lunch together.

I sat back down in my chair. The host club filed in around us, taking places. Haruhi sat next to me, close enough so she could whisper:

" You okay? "

I shook my head yes as Tamaki started speaking.

" Those twins are going to ruin this host club. "

" Yes, " said Kyoya, " I'm afraid we can no longer offer the brotherly love package. Our designee rate is definitely down. " He looked over at Haruhi, " Oh, Haruhi, this isn't something you need to feel responsible for. Even thought it was your thoughtless comment that set the whole fight off. "

I narrowed my eyes at him as a fake smile spread across his face. Oh, how badly I wanted to punch him in that moment. I wondered who set him off, who put him in such a bad mood. Perhaps he just had something against commoners and was targeting Haruhi and me.

" Hika-chan and Kao-chan, they've never fought before, have they? " Honey asked and Mori shake his head. This was weird, them fighting.

" Is that right? " Haruhi asked, kind of disbelieving.

" I've known them since preschool, " Honey answered, " We weren't in the same year, so I never talked to them but it seemed like they always played together. "

" You're right, " Tamaki said, " I've only known them since middle school but they really stood aloof. It seemed like except for themselves, they kept everyone at a distance. Their personalities were several times more warped than they are now. Thinking about it that way, maybe this fighting is a turn for the better. It means that their world is starting to get a little larger, doesn't it? Maybe it's best to leave them alone, under the circumstances. "

I wanted to tell Tamaki that that was wishful thinking. Those twins… Maybe it was because I hadn't known them for very long, but I didn't think they were taking their fighting very seriously. It was obvious they were being argumentative, but they were basically arguing about nothing! Or at least what I thought was nothing.

Haruhi was looking out the large window, obviously thinking about their situation. I wanted to tell her that she was wasting her time, that she had other things to worry about, but I knew she wouldn't listen to me. She was in the twins' class and probably wanted them to stop bickering around her.

" I'm going to go back to class. " I said, standing. I covered my uneaten lunch and shoved it back into my bag, and then left the room. I felt Kyoya's gaze on me the entire way, and I wanted to scream.

I thought I had done everything I could to prevent from arousing his suspicion. But, somewhere along the way, I screwed up. Somewhere along the way, I did something he found peculiar and then looked into it. I bet it was when I almost got killed, and then he looked into my past to see if anything could have instigated that. But he was acting cold towards me even before that.

I didn't know what I did wrong, and I didn't know what I was going to do. But going to class and making good grades seemed like the most important thing at that moment, and thinking about Kyoya was starting to give me a headache.

§

That day was the second worst day of my life.

First, the twins got on my nerves because of their fighting.

Second, Kyoya accuses me of having a secret, practically says he's going to investigate my past and thinks I pose a threat to the host club.

And lastly, Haruhi left for home without me, so I had to walk by myself.

I was terrified that someone was going to come after me. I constantly looked over my shoulder, at the near vacant street. Anyone around me was a suspect, and I felt like I had a target painted on my back. After what Kyoya said, I felt as if anyone could see through my disguise, like it was completely useless.

My heels clacked on the pavement louder than I would have liked them to. The setting sun was at my back, and I was ten or so minutes from home. I can do this, I thought to myself as I clutched my bag to my chest. I wished Haruhi hadn't left so soon, but I was helping Akemi. She was really nice, just shy and a bit on the slow side. She adored the twins and was so relieved when she heard the fighting was all a set up.

Oh, right. Another thing that made that day hell. The twins never really fought. They were just pretending so they could illicit reactions from everyone. Because they were bored.

Akemi was relieved but I just wanted to shove their teeth down their throats. They had made studying so hard for Akemi, and they interfered with my studies and free time. Girls were constantly asking me about the status of the fight. How the hell would I have known?

The streetlights sputtered on. The sun was almost completely down and nighttime was approaching fast. Even if I wasn't so nervous about the princess thing there was the whole ' girl alone at night in a dark alley ' thing that made me anxious.

I sped up my steps ever so slightly and glanced over my shoulder. There was someone there, a hooded figure. My brisk walk turned into a jog.

The person behind me sped their steps up too.

I broke into a sprint, nearly tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. My heart was pounding and my limbs felt heavy, but I was spurred on by the possibility of me being murdered. If I was going to die, I wanted it to be by my own terms. Not at the hands of some ignoramus that didn't know me very well. I didn't want to die as Sachiko Fujioka.

I wanted to live as Sachiko Akahoshi.

By some miracle, I was able to run faster. The person behind me had trouble keeping up, and I could hear their rasping breaths. My own breathing was the same way, harsh and ragged. My lungs were contracting and I made a mental note to work on endurance.

I glanced over my shoulder again, and saw that the person had slowed to a stop. They were fully clothed in black with a hood pulled over their face, so I couldn't tell who it was. A shiver went down my spine as I kept running, my mind thinking that it could be Keiji, that he had somehow broken out of jail and was coming to finish what he started.

My apartment was only a couple of blocks away. If I could just make it there in once piece, everything could have been okay. Food, warmth, coffee, and family. I wanted to go home. Not get stuck out here with some creepy, weirdo, stalker.

But as I ran to cross the street, a car sped around the corner. My heart lurched into my throat as headlights blinded me. The car crashed into my side, cracking my ribs and dislocating my hip. I was thrown over top of the hood and my head smashed into the glass of the windshield, cracking it. The last thing I remembered after that was falling onto the pavement, sharp and aching pains everywhere, and then...

Nothing.

Look at Kyoya, being all protective over his friends and stuff. But seriously, how did he figure out those things about Sachiko? He must be a magician or something. Ohhh I bet he can read minds.

Just kidding. I know how he knows those things.

This chapter felt like I just kind of word vomited and then sorted through it. This chapter was originally around 8000 words, but I cut half of it out because it didn't fit. Sorry if some things seem disjointed because of that, I wanted to try a different approach with the writing.

Sorry if the thing with Kyoya was weird, but ever since Sachiko was almost killed he's been noticing these tiny little things she does that she doesn't notice she does. If that makes sense. So he decided to confront her about it.

Also, sorry for any typos, it's kinda late.

whatnameshallitake ~ I love writing dark and morbid things. Actually, after maybe three chapters, it's going to get more light and fluffy because of what I have planned. So yay! Thanks for the suggestions-I might include them.

Anyhow, I'm sorry about the late-ish update. I want to get updates out faster, but it's like every second of my day is being sucked out. Softball season is actually starting soon and when it does I won't be able to write on the weekends. Which is what I've been doing. I'll figure it out, don't worry.

I'm going to go to sleep now. Goodnight!