Hey everyone! Sorry it's been awhile. I thought Mika and Kyoya deserved a little calm before the storm, so that's what I've been working on for a while. Hope every likes it, and PLEASE feel free to review!

Flashback: 2 years ago

"Mind if I join you?" Kyoya walked up behind Mika, taking a seat next to her despite not receiving an answer.

"No problem." Mika said softly, giving a small smile. Politely, she put down her book, but didn't turn her head fully towards him. And although it somewhat aggravated him, Kyoya already knew why. Mika's right eye and cheekbone had turned into a huge black, purple and red splotched bruise, a new mark that brought many stares and snickers from the other classmates. She had covered it up barely with her long, wavy blond hair, yet she had refused the cover up other girls offered and half of her hair was in a ponytail. Kyoya found this strange. What was Mika feeling? Did she want to hide her brief scar… or could it be she wanted to show it off?

"How has your recovery been going?" Kyoya asked, trying to act less concerned than he was.

"As good as it can," Mika shrugged, "A broken cheekbone and two ruptured blood vessels are bound to take a while."

They sat there in silence for a few moments, until Kyoya finally took in a breath, "Mika, what exactly happened?"

Mika shrugged again, and her nonchalant attitude about a serious situation annoyed Kyoya to no end. "They were messing around with the shop keeper I was buying my water from. I told them to stop, and they asked me if I wanted to have some fun," she waved her hand, "You know the story from there."

Kyoya's blood ran cold. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You mean to tell me you weren't attacked?"

Mika turned fully to face him now, and pointed to her face, swollen and bruised, "I wouldn't exactly say that, Kyoya, unless you'd like to explain to me how I got this."

"You provoked a group of 15 plus thugs? You brought it upon yourself?"

"What was I supposed to do, Kyoya? Let that poor shopkeeper take the blind abuse, get merchandise stolen, have his life ruined by a bunch of ungrateful screw-ups?"

"What you do is stand back, wait for the authorities to handle it!"

"I'm not just going to sit back and let someone get away with hurting people when I have the power to stop them."

"YOU COULD'VE BEEN KILLED!" Kyoya slammed his fist into the table, almost slamming Mika's arm. His ragged breathing filled the room. "You can't expect everyone to care as little about your life as you do."

Mika was a little taken aback for a moment, a flurry of emotions scattered through her head, but eventually said softly and coolly, "And you can't expect me to care as little about other people's lives as you do."

PRESENT DAY

"I swear," Mika sighed, lying back on the sand and readjusting the sunglasses on her eyes, "Ouran Academy has to be the only school in the world where a day at the beach is an excused absence."

"Tell me about it." Haruhi smiled next to her. When Tamaki had wanted to take the host club to the beach, Mika had laughed it off as another one of his crazy ideas. But now, here they were, practically the entire female student body plus the host club enjoying a much needed day of rest and relaxation.

"Watch out!" Hikaru called out as the volleyball he and Kaoru had been ricocheting back and forth heading straight for Mika and Haruhi, hitting the ground just in front of them and sending up a wave of sand.

"Hey!" Mika yelled, as the little pieces of grit stuck to the layer of sunscreen she had slathered on only moments earlier. Haruhi wasn't nearly as affected: he still had on all his clothing, and the sand merely rolled off the fabric. "Smooth move, Kaoru!" Mika shouted sarcastically. "Now I need to wash off."

"It's about time you got up and actually started doing something." Hikaru shouted back, as Kaoru ran to go get the grounded ball. "Yeah," Kaoru smiled, "You should be thanking us."

The twins did have a point. They had been playing sports on the sand all day. Hunny and Mori had been playing in the shallow water, collecting sea shells. Tamaki and Kyoya had some money making, girl fawning scheme going on ever since they got here, combining Tamaki's princely charm and Kyoya's financial genius. Even Haruhi, who didn't even have a swimsuit, had gotten up at some point to play with Hunny.

"Ugh," Mika groaned. She stood up, stretched out the cramps in her legs, and headed towards the ocean, where Kyoya was tending to a line of girls waiting for Tamaki. "Is it bad that you've spent more time with literally every other girl here than me today?" She smirked as she approached Kyoya.

"Jealousy doesn't become you, Mika." He didn't look up from his little black book, but Mika could start to see the smirk on his face. "When there's an opportunity for profit, it's foolish not to take advantage of it."

"Kyoya, we're at the beach. This isn't about profit. This is about relaxing."

"Making money makes me relaxed. Unlike some people…"

Mika raised her eyebrow, "Are you saying I'm not relaxing?"

Kyoya let out and punctuated laugh, closed his black book, and ran a hand through his hair, "In all honesty… you're the most stressful thing that's ever happened to me." He took a step towards Mika, leaning in for a kiss, but at the touch of her skin, he immediately coiled back. "Yuck."

Mika put her hand on hips, defensive, "What?"

He gestured towards the thin layer of sand covering the front of her legs, stomach and arms. "I thought we were visiting the beach… not wearing it."

Mika sent a death glare towards the twins, but grabbed Kyoya's wrist. "Here, I'll race you to the ocean."

She pulled at him, but Kyoya didn't budge. "Funny. You say that like I'm actually getting in the water."

"Why not? It's burning out here and I'm sandy. And we both know you can swim."

"Ocean water is disgusting."

"Yeah so is this!" Mika laughed, waving a sandy arm in his face. "C'mon!"

Kyoya sighed, and closed his eyes. "I'm going to regret this later…" Slowly, he put his glasses and his black book on a nearby rock, and pulled his tank top off over his head. The group of girls surrounding Tamaki let out a slight gasp, and Mika winced at their admiration of Kyoya's toned chest. But, Kyoya just ignored them and turned towards the ocean, "Let's get this over with."

Mika smiled, "On your mark… get set... WHAT THE!" The next moment, Kyoya swept Mika up against his chest and ran them both out into the ocean. One hand was placed under her legs, the other wrapping around her arm and pressing her close to his solid chest in a surprisingly strong grip. At a loss for what else to do, Mika frantically put her arms around Kyoya's neck to keep her from falling, all the while screaming, "KYOYA THAT'S NOT FAIR! KYOYA!"

Finally, the shore broke off and Kyoya and Mika dunked under the waves. The cold water came as a shock, rushing all around her head, swirling her hair around her face, until finally she felt a hand close gently around her wrist and pull her up. Mika took in a gasping breath, and Kyoya chuckled slightly. "And you were worried about me swimming."

Mika coughed and laughed while trying to tread water, "That's not fair, I wasn't ready." Kyoya laughed quietly to himself, until he finally pulled Mika close to him to help her float. He wrapped his arms around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. They had gone out so far, that now, looking at the shore, everyone seemed small and far away. "Remember the last time we went to the beach?" Mika said, looking up at Kyoya.

Kyoya's eyes turned strange. "Yes. You tried to take on a gang of thugs by yourself."

"I could've taken them."

"That was the scariest day of my life."

"Why, because you had to fight fifteen plus men?"

"Because you could've died." He said bluntly. A few minutes passed, until Kyoya said softly, "And after that I realized I wouldn't know how to live if I ever lost you."

Finally, Mika whispered, "Kyoya, let's forget it." She looked up, her eyes flashing, "Let's just forget about everything that's ever happened."

"What?" Kyoya asked.

"Instead of looking at the past, can we just pretend nothing ever happened? No mistakes, no haunting memories. No grandmothers or fathers. No hurt. Can we just start everything right now?"

Kyoya looked down at Mika, watching the last bits of sunlight glow in her shining purple eyes as the sun set behind them. Slowly, he tightened his grip around her waist, and brought his face to hers for a long, lingering kiss. At last, they separated, and softly he breathed on her lips, "Only if it never ends."