I am sooooo incredibly sorry for such a late update, everyone! School has been crazy and my breaks were needed for me to recuperate to get ready to go back! But I am back, and ready to roll! Also, I'm currently sitting in the dark during a storm with no internet sowhat better time for a new chapter, right~? As always, please vote for who you would like Nica to be with~. The chapter after this will be the deciding vote! Until then, I'll be counting both the poll and the reviews! Now then, on with the story.~

Votes:

Kyoya- 21

Mori- 15

Hunny- 2

Tamaki-1

"What the hell are you doing here!?"

I yelled, fists clenched at my sides to keep them from shaking. This can't be happening.. Not again.. Said person then looked over at me and smiled, seeming slightly nervous.

"Well, seems like you haven't gotten much sleep, Nica."

I glare at the person as Haruhi pulls Arai out of my aim of fire. "Lack of sleep has nothing to do with my mood towards you. I'll ask again. What are you doing here?"

"No need to be so hateful. I'm helping out Arai and his family with their business for the summer and had to tag along. It's not like I expected you to be here." He replied, walking over with the box of fruit in his hands.

I tense up slightly, not realizing it, then blink when Hunny and Mori step up beside me. He paused and looked at them with mild interest.

"Well, looks like you've got you a couple bodyguards, huh? That's good. A girl as pretty and small as you should have some. But however do you afford them?"

I glare, ignoring this comment. "If you think I would try to hire people to protect me, you're sadly mistaken."

He sighed and set the box down on a nearby table. "Listen... I wanted to apologize for everything I did to you.. I was drunk and didn't know half of what I was really doing when I hurt you.."

"I don't want to hear it, Toru. It's always the same with you. I'm done with you and your apologies. I thought I made that very clear. One thing is for certain, and that's you're never going to change."

"U-um.. Actually, he has changed.."

I blinked and spun around to look at Arai in shock, who was looking as though he regretted saying anything. Good reason for looking that way, too. "What?"

"W-well.. He's been staying with us for a while and has went to rehab and everything.. He's quit drinking completely, along with all the other bad things he used to do.. He's really a changed guy."

I stared at Arai disbelieving for a moment before sighing and turning away. "I'll believe if I ever see it. I'm going back to bed."

I quickly made my way back up the stairs to my room, conscious of Toru's eyes on me the entire time, but refusing to glance back.

Well, at least I managed to get one more hour of sleep… I mutter as I make my way to the stairs, only a couple hours after the scene with Toru.

Running my fingers through my hair with a sigh, I head downstairs, careful not to be noticed by the others talking at a table, and into the kitchen. Few minutes later, coming out with a coffee in one hand, I hear a loud smack. Blinking, I look over to see Hikaru running upstairs, Kaoru close behind.

"I'll probably regret asking this but, what just happened?" I ask while sitting down next to Hunny and taking a sip of my coffee, pointedly ignoring Toru at the other end of the table, though I feel him watching me.

"Hikaru was bad mouthing Arai and I got tired of hearing it.." Haruhi replied, sitting back down in her seat.

"Figures it would be something like that.." I sigh.

"Hey, Nica, how come you aren't wearing your glasses?" Tamaki asks. "I remember you telling us you couldn't wear them.

"I just said that so you guys would leave me be and not make me over like you did with Haruhi. I usually only wear them on the weekends and during breaks, anyway. It's easier to just pop on my glasses during the school year."

"Such a pity. You look a lot more approachable without them.~"

I blink and raise an eyebrow at him. "Are you asking for a smack to the head?"

"I think Nica-chan looks approachable all the time! Doesn't she, Takashi?" Hunny cuts in, hopping into my lap, nearly spilling my coffee and making me sweat-drop.

"Mm." Mori agrees.

"I would have to agree with them, as well." Kyoya chimes in, making everyone stare at him in astonishment. "What? Just because I don't say anything during these types of conversations doesn't mean I don't agree." He replies, not looking up from his notebook. Gosh, he takes that stupid thing everywhere. At least it's not his laptop this time.

"Can we just change the subject, please?" I ask, uncomfortable with how 'approachable' I might or might not look.

"Alright," Haruhi concedes, "How's that video you've been working on going?"

"Hm? Oh, it's going pretty good, I suppose. I still need to do some work on it, though."

"You still haven't finished that thing yet? You've been working on it nearly all night."

I shrug. "It takes a lot of work. I'm nearly done though, just a few more things.." I trail off, thinking about what else needs to be done while drinking some more coffee.

"Ohh, what kind of video are you making, Nica-chan?" Hunny asks curiously.

"A music video, sort of, but one that no one gets to see until I finish it, I'm afraid." I reply, patting his head as he pouts. How can he be so adorable yet dangerous at the same time, I'll never know.

"Even then, only if you're lucky." Haruhi says with a smirk.

"You make music videos!?" Tamaki asks in shock.

I sigh. This is gonna come back to bite me in the butt, I just know it.. "Yeah, sometimes. It's actually a summer assignment for my music class at the school.."

"You must show this video to us once it is finished then!" He exclaims, as though I already agreed to it.

"There's no way I'm showing it to you guys. You'll just make fun of it and me."

"No we won't!" He pleads. "We promise!"

"No way."

"You could at least let them hear you sing or something, even if it's not the video." Haruhi adds in, looking at Tamaki's desperate face.

Sighing, I give in. "Fine. But it's not going to be here or now. Maybe later tonight or tomorrow, when I'm in a better mood and if you don't annoy me."

Instantly brightened by this, Tamaki sits back down and gets this weird happy face. Great, he's probably daydreaming again..

"You guys have known her for a while now and still haven't heard her sing?" Toru asks from his end of the table.

I look over at him, eyes narrowing. The others glance over at him as well, a few of them with not so happy looks.

"What do you mean?" Tamaki asks, completely oblivious to the tension. "Why would we have?"

"Well, she sings all the time, whether it's simply humming to herself or just to pass the time, no music around to coax her."

"Not anymore. I haven't done much singing in the past couple years unless I was listening to music or in class." I reply, staring down into the remaining coffee.

He blinked, looking to be a bit taken aback by this. "Oh.. I see.." He says softly under his breath. "Well, you guys are surely missing out. She's an amazing singer. It's actually something that caused me to fall for her in the first place. She was always so at peace and happy when she was singing, seeming off in her own little world..." He trailed off, seeming to remember those days.

"That was before things changed." I reply quietly, hands tightening slightly on my cup.

He sighed sadly. "Yeah.. It was.. Things were pretty good there for a while, though, you gotta admit that."

"Yes, I admit, there were good moments at the beginning, but then you started hanging around those other guys, despite me practically begging you not to, and everything went downhill from there." I say before standing up and walking outside, leaving my coffee behind and everyone silent behind me.

By the time I cooled off and came back in, Arai and Toru were getting ready to leave. Reluctantly, I walk over to say bye along with the others.

"Look, Toru, I'm sorry for being so cryptic. I do see that you've changed and gotten better, and regret everything you did. However, that doesn't mean that you're going to be welcomed back and trusted with open arms. Just.. That I'm going to try and not be so rude." I say, looking off to the side.

"Don't worry about it, you have a right to be mad and not trust me. But I do want to try and make it up to you. Maybe tomorrow we can go into town together..? There'll be plenty of people around and everything, so you wouldn't need to be worried I would do anything. Besides, you could probably kick me into a wall somewhere, anyway.." He laughs, obviously nervous about asking.

I stare at him for a long moment, faintly hearing Hikaru apologizing to Arai for how he acted. Finally, I sigh. "... Alright. But you definitely will be kicked somewhere if you do try anything."

Smiling in relief, he grins and waves as he and Arai leave.

While waving by to them, Haruhi and I look up at Hikaru.

"So Kaoru." We ask simultaneously. "Where's Hikaru?"

With a sweat drop, he laughs nervously and explains how he didn't want Arai to feel bad after leaving but knew Hikaru would never apologize. As he goes on to ask Haruhi something, someone grabs my arm and pulls me to the side.

Blinking, I look up to see who it is and am surprised to see Kyoya. "U-um, y-yes?"

"Are you seriously going to go into town with him tomorrow..? Even after all he's done to you..?" He asks, looking down at me seriously.

I could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew more about mine and Toru's past than just the incident at the apartment. Damn Ootori's and their medical records!

"Well, there really isn't much harm in it. We'll be in town, with a lot of people around to be witnesses if he does try to do anything. Besides, I have Mori-Senpai and Hunny-Senpai's training to rely on, too." I reply.

He sighs then looks away for a moment before looking back at me. "Well then.. Just be careful, alright? We don't need you getting hurt again like last time.." He says and ruffles my hair before heading back inside after the others.

Blinking, I stare at his back as he walks away. Was he really just.. Concerned..? More than what the others might have been? And did he really just mess with my hair..? Something strange is going on with him.. Maybe he's getting sick..

With a sigh and a shrug, I head back inside after the others to help with the evening shift before going to bed.

Welp, that'll be it for this chapter!~ Hope you enjoyed! I'll get the next chapter out as quick as possible! Hopefully there won't be another 3 month gap between them! Don't forget to review or vote! Bye bye!~