Long time no see people! I'll keep it short this time and send you straight to the story. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: ummmmm, No.
Expectant eyes gazed at me from every corner. I dared not move anything but my mouth as I started to speak for fear of….. Well, everything. Staring at the tiled ground I started my tale.
"I came to Ouran from my last school via academic scholarship. I was accepted due to my high grades and such. I disappeared from my old school for much the same reason I almost left here. They found out my secret. This secret. Next question." Without looking up from the clean tile I waited to hear the next inquiry, and surprisingly it came from Hikaru and Kaoru
"Is….. the rest of your family in this condition from him?" Cautious voices filled with anger I felt the heat leave the room. Everyone awaited my answer. Slowly raising my head to look into the silver eyes that sat across from me, I filled my lungs with air and said a silent prayer. A prayer for anything to help me at this point.
"No," A collective sigh left everyone's lungs, a sigh of anger but also thankfulness that I was the only one to go through this. Fools. Assuming fools. "You didn't let me finish. No, because they are dead." A thick silence filled the room yet again and I felt as though I was being choked by the air. Slipping down my face a few silent tears ran down my face as I finally lost eye contact with Mori. Gazing at my feet, I shivered at the cold chill that had run through my spine. In a second I heard Mori stand up, and then I felt what almost was like a warm blanket being draped over my shoulders. Looking up and to my left I met his hard eyes of liquid silver with my own and nodded my thanks. Only when I looked down again did I notice that he had given me his jacket. W-what?!
"I-I can'-" cutting me off with a sharp shake of his head Mori sat down yet again. Silent as ever huh?
"Do you mind me asking how they died?" The always cool and collected Kyoya let his evident anger slip on that one word. The lone cruel word struck a chord in me bringing me back to the surface. I had slipped into a world of safety and peacefulness but now I felt true life return. And I was angry. I was scared. I slipped on my invisible mask to become my invisible self again. I wasn't the same though. The stitches that had held my lips together for so long had fallen out, and I would tell all.
"I don't mind, but come on. How do you think?!" Gesturing to my scars, I gave a fairly sarcastic glare at him. "Here's a hint. It wasn't pneumonia." With a soft shake of my head and a sad sigh I gave in to myself. Might as well tell them everything at this point. The point of no return. "There was a time when we were all a happy family. My parents, my brothers, my sister, and I. That was the illusion that my mother painted for us. In reality, I see now that even then my father was a violent drunkard who beat her in place of us." I met everyone's eyes before continuing "We never really knew all that she did for us until….she was gone. Dead by his hand." Never pausing I continued. "I was seven at the time. My older brother Cal was 12. My younger brother Ren was 4, and Tsubaki, the youngest and my only sister, was 2. When mother died we all learned the true horrors of life. My father moved us out of our spacious and loving home to the apartment where we… I…. still live. For 5 long years Cal and I did everything we could to fill our mother's shoes. We did all we could to protect them. And…. I-it….. Wasn't… and never will be enough." Silent tears fell from my eyes as I prepared to tell the next part of my tale. "Tsubaki was killed about 5 years later. I was coming home from the dojo with Cal," Upon seeing the two resident martial artists eyes shoot wide open, I shook my head with a slight smile. "Yes, dojo, but that is a different story. Anyways," With a deep breath I continued. "When we came home, there she was. An angel lying in a pool of her own bloo-." My voice cut out as my tears and memories choked me.
The sidewalk was almost void of people, as the sun set. Very few were still out and those that were had a definite reason. The end of fall weather had made the outdoors very uncomfortable, and to top it off it was getting dark. On pair was different from the rest though. The taller boy's movements were more cautious than the others. His whole demeanor was defensive. The obviously younger girl's walking pattern was weary, and swervy. She leaned heavily on the older blonde male, her steps dragging.
By the time the two made it to their destination the sun had long since left the sky and both were chilled to the bone. White home in front of them they both exchanged a wary glance, the girl leading the way. Creaking open, the door to their apartment slide open only to greet them with thick darkness.
"Tsuki, do you want me to go first?" Asking from behind his younger sister, He waited for her to answer. Praying deep inside that she would say no.
"No Cal, just stay behind me." Never taking her eyes off of the darkness of the room in front of her His sister replied, unconsciously answering his deepest wish.
With that Tsuki flipped on the light switch. The pale yellow light flooded the room, and bared to them something that they never wanted to see. A piercing scream left Tsuki's lips, at the image and the boy behind her froze. Quick footsteps were the only noise soon, that and quiet sobbing. Tsuki knelt in the puddle of blood. Helpless hands darted over her youngest sister's body. The crimson liquid had already stopped flowing from her cold body, and not an inch of her wasn't covered in it. Her once tanned face was now grey and limp. Rigor mortis had already left her small body, and as Tsuki picked up her hand the fingers fell limp across her palm.
"Please… Please no… I'm so sorry Tsubaki….. I'm so sorry baby. I tried….. I tried….." Salty tears fell onto the dead girl's body leaving clean splotches in the mask of blood. With shaking hands Tsuki closed the pale blue eyes that stared up at her, pulling back Tsubaki's once blonde and now red hair the living sister stood. Tsuki's clothes and skin, once clean, were now stained with her dearest sibling's blood. With cold eyes still wet with tears she turned to Cal.
"Come on. We need to find Ren." Running up the stairs, she left her brother in her dust. Skirting around the blood of his youngest sibling Cal eventually followed, hand over his mouth.
Tsuki found Ren huddled in closet. Tears of his own streamed down his face. Checking him over she soon realized that he was fine besides minor injuries.
"Onee…...chan… I'm…..sorry….I….couldn't-" Ren choked out words past his tear clogged throat. He didn't get far though before Tsuki interrupted.
"Hush. It's not your fault. I need you to stay up here though for a while, and don't make a sound. Can you do that for me?" Holding him she felt him nod his head. Her dear brother would never know what she did with his younger sister's body.
"I-I never called the cops then. Neither of us did. We just brought her to the side of the road and waited…. The next day we got a call saying that some random people had found our younger sister and that she was dead. We had a funeral and had her buried next to mother. No one ever knew a thing." Biting my lip, I dared not move. The remnants of that memory lingered in my throat and I could feel the stares of everyone else. Swallowing I continued my horrific tale. "It was one week later when we found Ren. Or, rather, when I found him." I looked up now, knowing that I needed to go off on a side story. "Ren and I were always involved in martial arts. I in ninjutsu, and Ren in Kendo. Up to a few years before his death, I too was involved in Kendo. I excelled in both categories and soon was well known. Ren showed great promise too." Looking Mori straight in the eye I continued. "At this point in time, Mori-senpai, you were number one. Ren looked up to you and tried to get to your level. I once actually had one of his senseis tell me that he might actually have surpassed you. We all locally knew him as the 'second samurai'...He was too. He followed the old code. He tried as hard as he could to be a new age samurai….." Stopping, I tried to think of how to bring up his death. His was much harder to tell then Tsubaki's.
"You all are familiar with the term seppuku correct?" Grimacing I watched as the majority of the hosts shook their heads. In fact all but Mori and Honey. They stared, eyes locked onto me.
"Oh my God…." Trailing off in a whisper Honey's eyes teared up.
I was just about to explain when Mori's deep tones cut me off. Clearly understanding that I didn't want to say it.
"Seppuku is the form of ritualistic suicide performed by samurai to preserve honor. They would disembowel themselves." With wide eyes Mori shook his head. The emotion unrecognizable.
"W-why?!" Growing in power Hikaru's voice stood out.
"Why? Because he failed to save Tsubaki. At least that's what he wrote to us." Taking a deep breath to prepare myself to tell this next part, I closed my eyes. "In the week of his death Ren became ever more so involved in Kendo. I thought this was just him trying to cope with Tsubaki's death, as I did much the same thing. Each night he would spend more and more time at the dojo, and less at home. That was good. It was safe for him there, like it wasn't at home. So, when he didn't come home one night I was unconcerned really. I figured it would happen eventually. That morning though I immediately went to his normal dojo as soon as the sun had risen. Walking in I found him laying there, in much the same position as Tsubaki. He lay in a pool of his own blood, except he wasn't covered in it. It appeared almost as if someone had just set him there while he was sleeping. His dark hair like mine covered his closed blue eyes. If it weren't for the expression of pain on his face I probably would have thought him sleeping. I ran to get the closest person I could. That man that I had never met before drove us to the hospital where he was officially pronounced dead. We then went through the same process as we did Tsubaki….." Silent, I waited. Surprisingly Mori was the first to speak.
"The poem?" His innocent question brought tears to my eyes. The poem…..
"Ren's 'poem' was hardly such. It was more of a letter. It was one long apology. It was an apology for everything." Inwardly I sighed. Ren…. why? My head fell into my hands and I sobbed. I cried and cried. Each breath feed my tears, causing a small hiccupping sound. I hadn't cried over their deaths in so long. Everything that I had bottled up came pouring out. My tears dripped onto the floor when I finally raised my head.
"I'm sorry…" With a small and weak smile I cocked my head to the right. "Where was I?"
I was stunned. I had never… No one knew….. Why would… So many partial questions flew through my mind. One thought beat them all out though. One that was colored with pure concern and worry. One that I wanted to protect from here on out.
Tsuki….
Was it terrible? I don't think so, but please tell me! This was another chapter that gave me trouble so sorry if the update is late! (It's really, really late!) :{ Anyways, please tell me what you thought, or anything! I look forward to it! Remember that there is a poll up! Till next chapter!
~Shade