Chapter Ten: Tears are Better than Blood

"When someone is crying, of course, the noble thing to do is to comfort them. But if someone is trying to hide their tears, it may also be noble to pretend you do not notice them."

― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

"All causes shall give way: I am in blood

Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more,

Returning were as tedious as go o'er."

― William Shakespeare, Macbeth

"And with tears of blood he cleansed the hand,

The hand that held the steel:

For only blood can wipe out blood,

And only tears can heal"

― Oscar Wilde

"You like him or something because that last line was pretty cute," Hana asks when we head to the car.

She gives me a sly smile and I give her a slight glare. She laughs and Haru gives me a smirk of his own. I shake my head and I don't pay them any mind. Hana was saying just a while ago that Kyoya was suspicious; now she wants to know if I like him or something. What the hell are they thinking?

"Come on, we have some business to take care of," I tell them, very annoyed with this change in mood.

The cousins snicker one last time before their faces change into gangster mode. With every step on the marble floor of the mall, I start my change. I'm calm. I am as strong as iron, swift as the wind, and wise as time. My men need a leader. I will be the leader, the leader which will protect them at all costs. My name is Susan Crea, and I am boss of the yakuza Dojin-kai. It has been completed.

"Fu, you out there?" Haru asks into his cell phone.

I hear a voice on the other line and when we exit the mall, Fu is sitting in one car, while the twins and Kou are sitting in another car behind him. The cousins and I get into the car, me taking shotgun for a change. When the doors of the sedan close, Fu takes off as at a faster speed than normal. His whole posture says worried and now I'm wondering how bad the loss is. If they hit a storage, I'm going to have to get enough money to get at least half of the supplies back.

"Status report," I say, calmly. I send what I hope is a calm aura out into the car full of anxiety and tension.

"Our storage house on the border of Sendo-kai was gunned down, ransacked and burned. We lost ten men in the exchange. It was retaliation for our killing Sendo-kai's largest regiment. In addition, Sendo-kai wants an audience with you next week. I told them we might or might not show up. They said that if you didn't visit by Wednesday, that they will be visiting us themselves. I'm pretty sure that they want to play in a death match. They are confident in their skills now that they have taken out our storage warehouse, but I doubt that they can defeat you," Fu says with both anger and confidence in his tone.

Sendo-kai finally retaliated. I recall when I said that the other shoe had to drop; this is the other shoe. It was only a matter of time before Sendo took its revenge for when we killed their best regiment. For them coming to us, that would be preferable. I am not going to walk into their syndicate when they're gunning down my men. They'll kill me, my bodyguards, and my driver. They'll kill anyone really. And worse yet, they're going to take over my syndicate and run it into the ground.

"Let them come to us. But let's go check the warehouse. Be careful. This still might be a set-up to get us alone. I'm going to have to replace the arms by the weekend. I think there might be some heir who does arms trading at Ouran. It's possible, but I'll take care of this week."

My men nod their heads and I notice that the Bluetooth is on the dash. I guess it's connected to the other car so that the other men's car hear the plans that we're making. This couldn't have come at a worse time though. I was just about to go to them and ask for a death match, but now Sendo-kai is going to make the first move. It'll be harder to get what we want. And besides, where am I going to find am arms supplier that will give us half our inventory back by the end of this week? This whole month is going to go to shit.

"Susan-sama," Kou's voice comes from the speaker.

"Yes, Kou."

"So, how did shopping go?" I can hear the excitement in his voice, but underneath it all is fear. He's scared of what we're going to walk into right now and doesn't want to think about it.

"I don't think we should discuss it here," I tell him. I hear the grunts from the twins on the other side, affirming my decision. "When we get home, you can badger me all about it with Hana."

"What did you say Hana?" Kou asked a little surprised, but still trying to put his mind off of this death trap.

"That the one with glasses likes Susan, and I think the feeling is mutual," she laughs out. I turn around in the car and glare at her. She laughs again, but this time Kou joins her and laughs through the speaker.

"Guys, do we really have to talk about this?" I whine, a smile coming to my face. For a second, you could actually pretend that we weren't on our way to kill people.

"I don't like him," Hideo snorts on the other side.

"Agreed," Haru says behind me.

"I think he is a little weird, but Susan-sama isn't your most normal person either," Aiko muses in a voice that says he's up to mischief.

"Yah, you should have heard what she told him," Hana remarks with a large childlike smile. I roll my eyes and look to Fu for help. He merely looks curious himself.

"What did she say?" Hideo asks, a little disgruntled at his twin for calling me weird.

"What was it? It was something like, 'bruises or cuts are the best accessories'" she muses.

"Guys, you're getting out of hand. We shouldn't be talking about this stuff right now," I say, trying to hide the blush that is starting at the tips of my ears. I pray that the cousins don't tell them about what Kyoya did when I was wearing the plum dress.

"You sound embarrassed, Susan-sama," Kou remarks on the other side surprised. I begin to open my mouth to interject, but I'm beaten to it.

"She's blushing," Fu says calmly.

"Traitor," I mutter quietly.

"I heard that!" Aiko yells on the other side. I groan and begin to pray we get to the warehouse. My men are beginning to feel so comfortable that they can tease their boss. I don't think that's a bad thing, but if they embarrass me anymore, I'll lose my gangster mode.

"We're here," Fu says after a moment of silence.

I sigh and look at where our warehouse building used to stand. What is left is only charred first floor walls. It seems like the second floor collapsed into itself. I'm sure that anyone in the building would have perished in the fire. The fire department wouldn't have even tried to go in. it would be too risky even for them. But even now, Sendo-kai men could be lurking around, waiting for the opportunity to take me out.

"Alright guys," I start then smile to myself. "We're going to go in. I'm being honest when I say this, but I don't know what will happen. I want you guys to stay outside the building and I'm going to go in alone. Before you argue, I know that there might be snipers or men in there right now. But the fact to the matter is, that if you're with me, we're a large target. They'll know where I am because you guys are protecting me. I'll be fine. I've done this before. I won't get hit. I promise."

"Hai," is the confirmation I get after a few moments of silence. They don't want to let me go, but know they have to.

"Fu, do you have my extra artillery?" I ask the driver as he slows down in front of the doors.

He nods and opens the glove compartment at my knees. In it, I find Sally and a curved hunting knife. I take the knife and put it in waistband. Taking Sally, I put on the silencer next to here and step out of the car. I give my men one last glance before nodding and entering the rubble. As much as it kills them to see their boss go in alone, I know that they aren't experienced enough to know how to go about this kind of situation. If anything, they'll get killed and I won't have anyone to lead.

I step over the first room and head to the back where we would have had our blades. To my right, I get the feeling I'm being watched. As I move on, there is a slight disturbance of the rubble to that side. They're there. I enter the room and swing around to the right. Knowing the layout of my warehouse is one thing that they didn't expect.

I come around the wall and sure enough, see a man with one of our machine guns walking to where I just went. Quietly getting closer to him, he doesn't notice my steps. I raise Sally and give one shot to his head. I brace him as he falls so he doesn't make that much of a sound. I examine the body and find a small wireless speaker in his ear. I put it in and voices flood through the small earpiece.

"She is probably entering the backroom right now."

"Why did she leave her men outside?"

"Beats me. She is really stupid."

"We'll end this right here. She isn't going to think she can come here and beat us. We've been here for years."

"Hey shut up. I see her coming your way. Want me to take the shot?"

"No, I'll do it."

"Alright. Hurry up, I wanna get out of here and go home."

These Sendo-kai men were really idiots. There were about five voices that I heard on the radio and two knew where I was. One would take the shot. I could hear the one approaching to finish me off and I went to what I hoped was a blind spot for them. Hiding behind a pillar of what used to be a supporting beam, the man came in front of me. With one shot, I caught his falling body with a small oof. The others were silent, but when they didn't hear a shot ring out, they started talking again.

"Hey man. You okay over there? Do you think she got him?"

"Naw, she doesn't even know we're here."

"That's what we hope. I'm gonna go check over there."

"I'll go with you just in case."

The voices ceased once again, and I waited patiently in between my pillar and the rubble. I waited and soon enough, the shuffling of feet could be heard. The steps got closer and I let the first guy go a little further and when I saw the second I shot the first. Since there were two, I couldn't stop the drop of the body. The second man turned and raised his gun, but I got to him before and his body fell to the ground. I couldn't stop the cry that the second man gave before I killed him.

"Guys? Guys? Are you okay? Answer now!"

"Shit, she's killing everyone! I'm out of here."

The voices left and a few moments later, I heard the two gun shots ring out outside. My men got the two who were too cowardly to face me. I laugh slightly and walk over my body count. I put Sally in my waistband next to my combat knife. I'm about to take the earpiece out, but my hand freezes. There's breathing on the other end. Shit. I miscounted and now I'm out in the open. I feel someone to my left and I dive out of the way just as a shot hits the ground. I see the man and he sees me.

Taking Sally out, I quickly get behind a pillar. Shots hit the wall and stop. I turn and shoot Sally two rounds. I'm going to need to reload. More shots hit the wall behind me and I know that his gun is almost out. I shoot two more rounds and I'm out. The other gun empties his rounds also and I can hear him swear on the other end of the earpiece. I take a deep breath and take Harry off of my thigh.

When I look where the guy should be, he's gone. Something knocks me down and I'm struggling as I hit the floor. I'm too slow. I am too tired because we trained all night. I'm lucky if I'll get out of this. My assailant lands on top of me and Harry flies out of my hand. The guy raises his hand and attempts to bash in my head with a rock. Kicking him in balls, he flinches and I roll on top of him.

Taking my combat knife from out of the back of my waistband, I try to stab him. Suddenly he punched me and I roll of dazed. I'm way too slow. I have to get away from him, but my grip on my knife isn't right because of my twisted wrist. There went my combat knife and I roll away on top of the rubble. When I get up, the man has my knife and swipes at me. I'm breathing hard already, and I don't make it.

Warmth and a stinging sensation fills my stomach and I know I've been hit. The man screams and runs at me with the knife raised above his head. I dodge and quickly get my switchblade out of boot when his back is facing me. As he turns, I side swipe his leg and he goes down. Kicking my large knife out of his hands, I jump on top of him and stab him in the heart. He flails and I push in harder while he takes his last breaths.

"Shit," I mutter while breathing hard.

I feel my stomach and take my hand away from my new wound. I look at my now bloody hand. I shouldn't have come in alone. If my men were here, they wouldn't have allowed for me to get hurt. No. Don't think that way. If they came in, it would have gone so much worse. They would have gotten hurt. It was just because I'm tired that I got hurt. I collect my weapons on the floor and put them in their respective places. As I stand, I watch the quiet atmosphere flow by. Kyoya is going to kill me. He told me not to get hurt. Wait, why do I care what he thinks? He's only some boy. I'll be fine. Blood soaks my palm as I hold the wound and I walk through the rest of the warehouse. They really took everything. I open a secret basement door and find that's been ransacked too. They found everything. I walk to the front door and when I exit, Kou is standing nervously outside the car.

"Susan-sama," he yells at me. From that distance, I can see he's relieved I'm okay, but when he comes closer and sees my wound he grows scared. When he reaches me, his eyes are full of tears and he's so scared.

"Stop crying. Let's go home. I need to get sewed up," I tell him and trip on my own feet. The young boy catches me and picks me up bridal style. He runs to the car and he places me in the back with the twins in the front.

"Susan-sama, you are injured," Hideo yells in the small space. Aiko who's in the driver's seat, turns and they look at me with scared looks.

"It's not too deep. Now can we go home?" I ask, close to passing out due to blood loss.

"Will you be okay?" Kou asks me, blubbering like a baby.

"I'll always be okay. If I'm with you guys, I will always be okay," I tell him.

He moves me off of the seat and onto his lap and closes the door. The boy holds me as we both lose liquid. He loses tears and I lose blood. I grab his head and console him as he cries over my body. I want him to stop crying, just like how he wants me to stop bleeding. But somehow, I will always see his as worse. Tears will always be worse than blood.

"I'll be here for you to pick me up like usual, but an hour later. I have to find some kid named Nekozawa about our supplies," I say as I escape the car.

Kou and Fu drove me, but they barely did it. As usual they didn't want me to go to school. I can see their concern because my stomach is killing me. I needed stitches per usual, but because of all the bruising from training it would take me longer to heal than usual. I'm actually supposed to be on bed-rest. That didn't happen but the doctor wrapped me really well and gave me some pain pills.

"Alright, but call if anything happens. If you need medicine or your bandages changed, go to the nurse," Kou instructs. Yesterday he would start crying when I needed to change my bandages. It was so sad and I vow to never get hurt like this ever again.

"I know. Just because yesterday you could boss me around, doesn't mean that I won't listen to you when you aren't with me," I tell him. He was one phone call away from telling my father that I was stabbed. I told Kou that if he did, I could never forgive him. So, he made me promise to tell my father when he calls today.

"Hey, Susan-senpai!" a voice calls. From my place next to the car, I can see one of the Hitachiin twins standing at the gate.

"I'll see you guys later," I tell my men. They nod and I can see their hesitance at leaving me. "I'll be fine. I promise."

"You better!" Kou yells as Fu drives away. I nod and wave to them. When they're gone, I walk over to the twin. Attempting to not appear like I'm sore as hell, I feel my heart start to beat. I'm going to have a heart disease with all this stress.

"Hey Susan-senpai," the twins drawls out and I immediately recognize the tone as Hikaru. Observing the boy further, I can see the lazy slouch and the way he favors his right side. Yep, it's Hikaru.

"How are you Hikaru?" I ask and continue walking past him. For a second, the boy isn't following me and I stop. Looking back, I notice he's just standing there with disbelieving eyes.

"What if I'm not Hikaru?" he recovers and asks me with a teasing tone. I sigh and look forward, walking towards the school once again.

"Your brother said the exact same words when I told him he was Kaoru. Why don't you guys just admit that I can tell you apart and we can go on with our lives? Really, I don't know why you guys don't believe me. Why would I lie? I have no reason to. It would be more fun to always mess with you guys, but it hurts when you aren't recognized. I know because the first week with my twins, I messed up their names. You should have seen Hideo's face. It was so sad."

I'm just nervously ranting now. There is no rhyme or reason to what I'm saying. It's just that I'm so confused why they keep asking me if I know which one is which. Maybe they've never been distinguished as themselves before? Or maybe they're just like little kids who ask you if you're sure for hours after? I don't know, but I do know that this twin is Hikaru. I turn and expect the twin to be next to me, but Hikaru is standing a little behind me with a conflicted face. I wait for him to recover from what appears to be fear and shock, but he stays like that for a good minute.

"Hikaru?" I call, trying to keep the nervousness out of my tone. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" he replies.

I watch as he shakes his head and gives me a mischievous smile. There seems to still be disbelief in his eyes, but I let it slide and start walking once again. We walk in silence, but I know that the twin is looking at me. I try my best not to appear like I'm in pain, but if you really look it's obvious. When we finally get to the doors, a familiar patter of light steps come at me at an alarming rate. A small blond ball of excitement throws itself at me.

"Susan-chan," Honey yells as I catch him. I cringe and clench my teeth to not let out a whimper. Honey isn't heavy but with my stitches, it pulls at the skin in the wrong way. My stomach is suddenly on fire and I let go of Honey. He nearly falls, but Mori grabs him. My arm immediately goes to my stomach and I hold back the bile from the pure hot pain coursing through my body.

"Are you okay?" Hikaru asks. I wave him off and stand tall. Ignore the pain. If I ignore it until I get to class, they won't worry too badly.

"Yah. I just wasn't expecting you to jump on Honey-senpai. I'm sorry for dropping you," I apologize. Honey looks at me and his childish face makes a suspicious look. I turn to the other two hookers and they wear the same suspicious gaze. "We better get to class."

"Are you sure you're alright?" This time it's Mori, and I'm surprised the giant actually speaks to me. I look at him and bite my lip ring slightly. I nod stiffly and begin to walk toward my classroom. The others follow me and I can feel their worried looks at my back. Other than that, all I feel is blinding pain. It's surprising that my anxiety isn't taking over. Maybe it's because I'm in too much pain.

"I'll see you guys later," I say when we come to our different hallways. They nod and I let my body relax into a limp. As I walk, I lift my shirt up and feel my bandages. They don't feel wet, so they might not have torn open. Though they might still bleed later. Damnit. I need to talk to that stupid kid today too. I really get all the shit at once.

I enter my classroom and immediately can tell Kyoya and Tamaki know that there's something wrong. I wouldn't doubt it if Honey text them to watch me. Their gazes on me pierce my soul and I drop my bag at my desk. The bell rings a moment later and Honda-sensei instructs us to sit. Through my classes my stomach throbs painfully, but by lunch I can feel the moisture on my stomach. I'm bleeding and it feels like my stitches have split open. When the next bell rings, signaling lunch, I get up quickly and escape my annoying classmates.

"Susan-chan! Where are you going?" Tamaki yells. I run away, toward the nurse's office and can feel the blood start to stain my shirt. Going down another hall, I finally find the nurses office. It's surprisingly dark and quiet. Going inside, I lock the door behind me.

"Hello?" I call out. There is no there. I don't feel anyone. But maybe my mind is more focused on the pain to actually think straight.

Looking at the eight beds, four on each side, I see the medical cabinet by the one closest to the window. I go to the last bed in the room and pray no one comes walking in. I pull the sheet to enclose myself and notice that bed across from mine has someone in it. They better not wake up, but if they do I really could care less. I'm too much in throbbing pain to think straight. Taking off my shirt, I look for the peroxide in the cabinet. I take it out along with bandages, cotton pads, wipes and rubbing alcohol.

When I remove the bandage, I realize it's not as bad as I expected. The stitches aren't undone yet. Instead they're pulled and irritated. One side is bleeding worse than the other and I grab the rubbing alcohol and pour it on a wipe. Biting my lip, I start to wipe my stitches down. The pain is now sharp and searing. I give a whimper and try to clean faster. This damn wound is probably the most annoying thing I've had in a long time.

When I'm sure that the wound is fully cleaned with alcohol, I grab the peroxide and a towel from the cabinet. I lay the towel below the wound and with a shaking hand open the peroxide. I hate the ugly brown bottle with a passion. When I was in the foster system I remember when they taught me about infections. I used to have cuts all the time, but only got peroxide when I stole it from the nurse at school. If I didn't go to school for a while, I just used salt. Sometimes I think the salt was better. With a shaking hand, I prepare myself for the bubbling pain and pour the liquid on the stitches.

"Oh my god," I breathe out. I'm beginning to sweat from the pain. Maybe it would have been better to just let the nurse clean me up.

"What are you doing?" a voice asks, and I look up. Sweat and a lone tear of pain rolls down my face. The voice belongs to a stranger. A stranger who just so happens to be looking at me with wide eyes as I sit in a bra and clean my wound.

"Cleaning my wound. It pulled," I tell him. I don't have the energy to even blush at him. He's blond with the bluest blue eyes I've seen in a long time. In a lot of the ways, he looks like Tamaki. I grab the bandages and realize I should put the cotton pads on first before wrapping.

"Shouldn't you get the nurse?" the boy asks me. I shake my head and drop the towel on the floor. It smells slightly of blood and sterile liquid. The boy looks at the towel and picks it up, putting it on the table next to the bed. Trying to open the cotton pad, I attempt to steady my hands. It's not working.

"Open this for me," I order the taller boy. He looks at me with wide eyes but heeds my words. He hands me the pad and I tenderly lay it on the right side of my stitches. "This one too."

"Are you sure you don't want the nurse?" he asks, fear creeping into his voice. I shake my head and he hands me the second pad. I put that one on and then grab the roll of bandages. I put it at my back then sigh. I'm too tired and it hurts me too much to stretch around.

"Wrap the wound," I order again. The boy hesitates and I glare. He gives a scared noise and then grabs the roll. He starts off pretty well and I'm too tired and hurt too much to actually care about him seeing me in a bra or touching me. When he gets around to my back his hands stops.

"What ar-" he starts but I interrupt.

"Don't ask questions," I hiss. The boy has tears gathered into his eyes and I blush slightly and look away. Why does everyone cry for me? They shouldn't have to cry. I'm fine. "Don't cry."

The boy tenses and nods, continuing his wrapping. I almost forgot about my back. As much I hate them when I see them, I forget the scars on my back. The boy finally finishes and I stand and throw my shirt on the table with the towel. I look around and find a closet. Opening it up, I find PE t-shirts. I put one that is definitely two sizes too big and then go back to the bed. The boy is still waiting but this time he's sitting on my bed. I check the medicine cabinet and find Tylenol knock-offs. They'll make me sleep, but the pain is still throbbing and I now have a roaring headache.

"So, how did you get the stitches?" the boy asks. I swallow the pills without water and then lay on the bed. I'm surprised it isn't wet from all the sterilizing potions I used. I take out my phone from my skirt pocket and text Kou that I'm in the nurse's office and to pick me up there after school.

"Hey, what did I say?" I ask the boy. He sits at the edge of the bed and I wonder why the room is so dark. Looking at the boy's arms I see a blistering red rash. It hits me. "You're allergic to the sun aren't you?"

"I thought you said no questions," the boy says childishly. Embarrassed, he pokes at the blanket and I notice it's actually a hand puppet. It looks like a cat with funny evil looking eyes.

"Okay, I'll answer some. But you first. You're allergic to sun," I tell him. They boy looks at me and I exchange a soft smile with his embarrassed look.

"Yes. How did you get the stitches?" he asks. I look at him and sigh. He really wants to know.

"I got cut," I reply with a dry tone. Before he tries to argue with the answer I ask, "What's your name?"

"Umehito Nekozawa," he tells me. My eyes widen. This is the boy whose family sells arms. He's the one I'm supposed to talk to. I have to stay awake, because the pills are kicking in and making me so sleepy. "What's your name?"

"Susan Crea," I say, my accent finally matching something I've said with a Japanese person. I text Kou quickly to have the twins and Fu go with this Nekozawa kid after school. "I need to talk to your family. Does your father currently do cash deals with arms?"

"Uh, why are you asking?" he replies with a fearful look. My eyes are starting to get heavy. I have to tell him this though. Kou sends a text back that says he'll have them go to meet with Nekozawa.

"I'm going to send some of my men to make a deal with your father. Our warehouse got burned down and I need supplies to protect my family. I don't want to you to be afraid, I just need help. Please don't tell anyone. I just need help, please help me," I say in a pleading voice. A blush comes to my face and I feel my eyes close. The boy continues to speak and I can distinguish muffled crying, but I just fall asleep. And that's just sad.

Kyoya and Tamaki were just a little concerned with Susan running off like that. Before classes had even started Honey-senpai had emailed them that she looked sore. Even Mori-senpai emailed and said that she looked hurt. They had tried to see if she had been in pain during classes, but she just looked out of it. But even that was unusual for the American girl. Kyoya knew something was terribly wrong when she didn't even stay after the bell rang. She just ran like she had something to hide.

"Do you think she's in the nurses?" Tamaki asked Haruhi. The girl was walking the halls and Tamaki dragged her along in the search for Susan.

"She could be. If she got hurt, she may not want anyone to see her. It's probably a defense mechanism of hers," the girl mused.

The three students walked the halls and came upon the nurse's office. When Kyoya put his hand on the golden doorknob, he discovered it was locked. The boy then tried knocking and to the surprise of the three, the door opened. On the other side it was pitch black darkness and a boy Kyoya recognized a red-eyed Nekozawa as the doorkeeper.

"Hello Nekozawa-senpai," Tamaki nervously said. The blond haired boy looked at the similar looking boy with a certain amount of fear. Tamaki didn't trust the black magic's club 3rd year.

"Are you here for Crea-chan?" he asked. Kyoya's eyes formed into small slits.

"Don't call her Crea-chan. She doesn't like it," Haruhi informed the older student. The boy nodded and Kyoya caught his blistering skin. He had another allergic reaction.

"Well, she's injured," he muttered. Kyoya immediately felt a pang in his chest. The cold boy figured it was anger because she was the way he would impress his father. But before he could really question it, they walked to girl in the bed.

"What happened? How do you know she was injured? How was she injured? Is she awake right now?" Tamaki fired a thousand miles an hour.

"She has about twenty stitches on her stomach. She said it was pulled. When I woke up, she was just there disinfecting her wound. Her pain was so great, I had to finish bandaging her myself. After she got what I thought were pain killers, she went to sleep. I don't know how she was injured. She wouldn't tell me," Nekozawa let the other three know.

"She had twenty stitches? On her stomach? She didn't have those on Saturday," Haruhi yelped.

Kyoya looked at the girl in the bed for the first time that day. Her face was so peaceful yet so stressed at the same time. If you looked at her for longer, you couldn't tell that she was the boss of yakuza. Her bangs were stuck to her forehead due to the sweat of pain. Her bruised face was both worrisome, but it gave a certain aura to her olive skin. Her piercings also tried to attest to the fact that she was a young yakuza boss, but a hard one. But most of all, all these things didn't stop from the girl's innocent and angelic lips and beautiful closed green eyes. It was like the girl was forced to grow up too soon.

"Did she tell you how she got them?" Tamaki asked, looking at the girl's face. Susan let out a small whimper and Kyoya was immediately at her side.

"No. But the wound did look fresh and it was painful for her," Nekozawa said watching the girl. Haruhi and Tamaki were actually gazing at Kyoya. A surprising look was on his face and the two exchanged a secret smile before looking back at Susan with worried frowns.

"You said you helped her wrap the wound? What did she actually do to the wound?" Kyoya asked as a wave of pain passed through Susan's body. Haruhi busied herself with removing Susan's shoes.

"She put this and this on it. I wrapped it in a bandage after she put pad bandages on it," Nekozawa said, handing two bottles to Tamaki.

"Rubbing alcohol and Peroxide?" the blond leader muttered. Kyoya's eyes opened wider and he clenched the sheet of the bed tighter.

"Those would have been immensely painful on an open wound," Kyoya told them, sharing what little his brother had told him about the medical field.

"She seemed to handle it, but by the scars on her back, she has seen worse," Nekozawa said, watching Susan's face fall into a half-peaceful expression.

"What's on her back?" Tamaki asked.

"I saw them when we were changing too. I only got a glance, but I didn't know what they were exactly," Haruhi muttered and Kyoya was puzzled.

"They looked like scars, but there were so many," Nekozawa said, and watched Haruhi fix Susan's bed sheets.

"How bad are the scars? What are they from?" Kyoya asked and laid his hands on the now made bed with the girl's arms above it.

"There were so many. Her back didn't look like there was a free space where she wasn't scarred and I'm no expert, but they looked like she was whipped. Maybe hit repeatedly with a belt, so much so that they were bleeding. But what scared me when I saw them, was that they were old. She didn't get them recently. They're childhood scars," Nekozawa said.

"You mean she was tortured?" Tamaki asked, a little unwilling to know the truth.

Nekozawa just nodded and looked back at Susan. Nekozawa had been looking into criminal justice after high school or maybe medical. He had seen pictures of torture victims from hostage situations. Susan's were old, but he knew that they were from torture. A silence laid over the room and all the teens looked at Susan with sorrowful frowns.

Haruhi went to the table and started to put things back in their place. When she came upon Susan's shirt and saw it was bloody, she couldn't help the tears that began to fall. Haruhi could never believe that the girl who could smile and talk with her, the girl who looked so at home with her scary gang, the girl who had panic attacks but was never without bruises, was tortured so much and was so young when it happened.

Tamaki went to Haruhi and embraced her in his long arms. Kyoya couldn't imagine what Susan's back looked like. If it was so bad that Haruhi who was normally calm and collected was crying, then it must have been devastating. Kyoya couldn't help the anger that rose up in his soul. How dare someone torture Susan! What kind of monster would do that to a child? His right hand immediately went out and pushed Susan's bangs back. Then Susan's face started to frown so deeply, she was almost looked almost as angry as when she pinned Tamaki to the brick fence of the school.

It soon contorted into an expression of pain. A shudder wracked through her body and Kyoya jumped and suddenly grabbed her hand. Kyoya didn't know why he grabbed her small hand, but he did. He took notice of how calloused her palm was, though her hand could barely be called average-sized. For a second the raven-haired boy half expected her to wake up and break his wrist. But she didn't, and Kyoya continued to hold the hand of Susan Crea on what could only be called instinct.

The bell rang and Haruhi tried to stop crying while Tamaki led her to the door. Tamaki knew that they shouldn't stay there. It would only make Susan angry. The two looked back at Kyoya who remained holding Susan's hand. He looked so angry but his face looked so helpless at the same time. Haruhi dragged Tamaki away, who was going to call after his best friend. Better to leave him there, Haruhi thought, he wouldn't be persuaded to leave if they tried. Nekozawa shrunk away and exited the room, leaving what he thought was two lovebirds alone.

Kyoya couldn't help feeling helpless. The calculating boy knew how to manipulate even the most ruthless businessman. He knew what to do in every situation, but he was drawing a blank at this one. First and foremost, he was pissed that Susan went out and got hurt again. He told her to be careful. Sure he didn't say those exact words, but the girl knew what he meant. But why did she mean so much to him? Why was he angry that her back was scarred from abuse?

The cold calculating boy could only figure that it was because his surefire chance to get his father's approval was riding on a girl who was always in danger of dying each time she went out. Or maybe it was because she was a liability to the Host club he had brought up from nothing. But Kyoya couldn't help the feeling that there was more to this, as he held her sweating hand. Why couldn't Susan be like other girls? Why couldn't she cry like Haruhi and that be the worst thing that happened? Why did she have to go and get hurt and bleed?

Kyoya grabbed a chair and sat down, still holding the young girl's hand. He tried not to think about why he stayed, or why he was even there in the first place. He thought of nothing and watched her expressions range from pain to fear to anger. To his surprise, the girl's face finally fitted into a peaceful half-smile, but a lone tear rolled down her bruised face. Kyoya wiped the liquid away and sighed.

"Tears are definitely better than blood," the raven-haired boy muttered to himself as he gazed at Susan's bloody blouse, questions that wouldn't be answered running through his mind.

I'm planning on slowing down Susan's life after the dance. We can totally have a cute dance scene. In addition, we're going to introduce Kasanoda soon. Probably after the dance. In addition, the death games are going to start soon. I don't actually want my OCs to die. Let's face it, I"m attached to them as much as you. The new chapter should be up either this Thursday or next weekend. Kyoya looks pissed. For those who want the star-crossed lovers deal with Kasanoda, I am going to give you more than that. But for those who want Kyoya to make Susan happy, he's going to have to work at it. This is going to s0 fun. On another note, I have mentioned that I love Liam Neesan. He's so cool. In addition, I'm depressed because Leonard Nimoy died. But life will go on. Just like this story.

As always, follow, fave, review, obsess. (Love you guys) I do not own Ouran high school Host club.