Why Me?

Chapter Eleven

After the events that had passed the day before, Melanie would have done absolutely anything to not have to return to the school the next day. From the moment she woke up at three in the morning she started the process of dreading the day before her, from having to avoid Kai to the amount of dirty looks she received in the hallway reaching an all time high, she couldn't think of a single reason to actually go to school. Well, other than the fact that Hikaru was also in a rather shitty mood, which meant that she at least wasn't suffering by herself.

As Melanie took a single step out of her last class of the day, the first person she saw in her direct line of sight was of course the spectacularly bright eyed Kai. The smile he wore on his face was so beaming and white, it could have blinded her from all the way down the hallway, which she decided to use as a reason to turn the corner and take the long way to her morning classroom.

Two corridors later and Melanie took a left, only to see Kai there once again, talking to a few of the baseball players who were leaning against the wall with their hands in their pockets. Many of them looked completely different than when they were in uniform on the field, but obviously Melanie didn't look any different as one of them spotted her and loudly pointed her out to Kai. He immediately turned around and flashed another grin as his eyes locked with Melanie's. Her heart pounded harder in her chest, threatening to give out at any second as she saw Kai take steps that would bring him closer to her. Melanie gave quick glances to the side as she searched for an escape plan, but was not blessed with one fast enough as Kai took his final steps towards Melanie, and therefor caused her soul to threaten to leave her body.

"Hey Mel! I didn't even get the chance to say anything else after the game yesterday!" Kai brought up as he cocked a single eye brow in suspicion. Melanie hadn't even bothered to try and make her escape seem more non chalant, she just felt like she was suffocating every second she was around him and there was no way to get around that.

"I'm sorry, I could barely keep my eyes open after the game. I've been having trouble sleeping lately." Melanie attempted to laugh it off, but she really just seemed to pull off an awkward chuckle instead. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hikaru's stunningly ginger hair and prayed that he would come rescue her from another one of these situations.

"I understand, baseball can do that to people." Kai started, leaning slightly against the wall and folding his arms across his chest. It made him seem larger than he really was, almost intimidatingly large. "but as long as you're awake now, I'd like to take you out Friday."

Melanie felt her heart stop in her chest, the world around her froze and it took her a few moments to really realized what this meant. Ever since Hikaru brought it up, she could tell that Kai liked her but she still managed to deny. She didn't want to like him back, and the last thing she wanted to do was break his heart so she had convinced herself that Kai was simply super friendly, even with the sudden kiss on the cheek the day before; now that he was asking her out on a date, she couldn't take it anymore: the constant denial, leading him on, she just wanted this to be over with.

"I can't." She answered, slowly and clearly as not to mess up her rejection. Kai blinked, once, twice. He wasn't even really sure if he had heard her correctly.

"Excuse me?"

"Listen Kai, I know that you have managed to harbor feelings for me but it just won't work, okay?" Melanie continued, trying her best to maintain eye contact but failing miserably.

Kai stood still, the people around the two kept moving and keeping to themselves, but Kai was like a solid statue among them. There was an eery silence between the two as Melanie couldn't figure out what to say next and Kai refused to speak, at least until a sudden thought popped into his head.

"Is it because of Hikaru?" He asked, his voice low yet wavering, almost like he was on the verge of shouting. Melanie cocked her head to the side as she was taken aback by his words. What did Hikaru of all people have to do with this?

"No, why would you even ask that-" Melanie started, only to be cut off by another sudden outburst.

"Oh God Melanie! Please don't play dumb with me! You guys are always around each other, talking to each other, laughing with each other, it's too obvious to not notice that something must be going on!"

"Is that really what everybody thinks-"

"And to think that you would reject me for him? Of all people? Hikaru Hitachiin is the biggest asshole I have ever met!" Kai yelled at her. Melanie stood there, shocked and unable to move as Kai snapped in front of her. Many of the people around them had stopped at the sound of Kai's sudden outburst, including Hikaru himself, who had been talking to a few other guys before his attention was stolen by Kai's confrontation of Melanie.

Perhaps it was the hilarity of the situation, or maybe it was the tragic pleading look in Melanie's eyes as they met his, but Hikaru took a single step forward before he even started thinking about what was even happening. Judging by the harsh shouting, it sounded like Melanie had actually rejected Kai and now he wasn't taking it very well. The thought made Hikaru laugh dryly with how pitiful it was.

"Kai, I would really appreciate if you didn't say that." Melanie started to reply, her voice barely audible but she did her best to maintain a false sense of confidence. Her classmate only started to feel more enraged at her statement.

"Why are you even defending him?" Kai asked, both of his hands balled up into fists but refusing to lower his head towards the ground.

"Because I know that Hikaru isn't nearly as terrible as you make him out to be, just like you are not as awful as he thinks." Melanie answered truthfully, watching as the crowd started to gain animation again and move along the hallways. Hikaru never stepped past the spot he was by earlier, even telling his friends that they could go without him, as he continued to watch Melanie argue for him. It really caught him off guard, he couldn't remember if ever in his entire life someone actually fought for him.

Kai groaned loudly, the kind of groan that was filled with frustration and stress, and then closed his eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths and exhaling. When he reopened them, his usual bright green eyes were dark and muddled, and his lips were shaped into a solid frown.

"I can't believe this." He repeated, shaking his head until his hair had lost its shape and then moving his hands to his tie and loosening it up slightly. He looked at Melanie as she stood there, unwavering in her opinion, waiting for some sort of make shift apology that he knew would never leave her lips.

Hikaru started to move from his spot towards the duo. Ever since Kai stopped talking, they simply stood there in awkward silence, Melanie's left leg rubbing against the back of her right leg like it always did whenever she was nervous. The least he could do after that was at least try to comfort her.

"Hey Melanie," He started, taking a step in between her and Kai, who sneered slightly as Hikaru entered his line of sight, "Tamaki is waiting for us, we need to go."

Melanie didn't move even a muscle as she continued staring at the man in front of her, only when Hikaru grabbed hold of her arm and started moving towards the music room did she finally move her feet voluntarily, but even then she still looked back to see Kai kick one of the tables in the hallway before walking the other way.

As Melanie and Hikaru made it back home that night, they didn't speak to each other. Hikaru noticed that all through out host club, Melanie didn't smile even once, and her only words to him since the incident had been "thank you" when he opened the door for her. Was she honestly that distraught over the fact that she broke someones heart? Or was she just upset because of his reaction? The girl was absolutely insane if she was wasting minutes of her life thinking about him.

When they arrived back at his house, Melanie threw her stuff on the ground once she entered Hikaru's room and then made her way to his dresser, opening the top drawer where her clothes were held and then pulling out her pajamas before walking into the bathroom and locking the door behind her. Hikaru walked over to the baby, feeding it silently while he waited for Melanie to get out of the bathroom, then walking in and getting ready for bed himself. She reemerged a few minutes later, just in time to catch Melanie changing the fake baby's diaper and then climbing into his bed.

She was still silent for the few moments after Hikaru turned off the final light and situated himself in bed next to her, neither of them shutting their eyes, and instead laying in the darkness, the only light being the slight illumination of the moon spilling into the room next to Melanie's side of the bed.

"Hikaru?"

"Yea?"

Melanie cleared her throat for a moment, turning her head to the right so she could see Hikaru's face, dimly lit by the moonlight.

"Do you like being a twin?"

Hikaru cocked an eyebrow at the question, it was odd to say the least but he couldn't bring himself to feel tired and therefor didn't see the downside of answering.

"It has its ups and downs."

"What don't you like about it?" Melanie asked, her voice low and calm and showing no sign of the harshness from the hours prior. There seemed to be no motive behind her words, just sweet, innocent curiosity.

Hikaru took a moment to think about his answer before replying.

"If there was really one thing that I hated about being a twin, it would be that people automatically assume that Kaoru and I are the same person." Hikaru answered honestly, concentrating on each single word as he said it.

"You crave for individuality?"

"I guess that's one way to put it," He replied, finally turning his head and looking at Melanie's face. She looked incredibly tired, her eyes were slightly drooping, her hair was still somewhat damp from the shower she had taken, her mouth lied expressionless on her face, yet somehow she still seemed engaged in their conversation. "why do you ask?"

Melanie pushed herself up until she was sitting against the headboard, her legs crossed in front of her and her hands lying by her sides intently.

"Before I left New York, I said something to my sisters that I really regret." Melanie explained, taking a moment in between sentences to close her eyes and exhale slowly. "I told them that they shouldn't expect to be treated differently if they were going to look like the same person."

Hikaru winced a bit at her statement, feeling anger start to boil inside of him, but allowing Melanie to finish.

"I never accounted for the fact that everyone was so busy all the time that it was almost like we were strangers among each other and I never bothered to try to get to know them past what they acted like on the outside. I had essentially told them that their individuality didn't matter." She finished, putting her face in her hands and groaning slightly at the very memory. Hikaru's anger slowly disappeared, Melanie's remorse was clear and he didn't think that he could blame her for something that she now regretted.

"Why would you care about it now?" Hikaru finally broke the silence, pushing his comforter off of his body as he too sat up in the bed.

"Well now I really care about it because I don't know if I'm ever going to see them again. There is no guarantee that I'm going to ever move back to be with the rest of my family and there's no reason for them to want to come here if the last memory they have of me is my thoughtless remarks." Melanie muttered, running one hand through her hair and scrunching it up, as if she was getting ready to pull it out.

"That's... horrible." Hikaru admitted, shaking his head and leaning back, his hands supporting his weight. "I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear advice from, but if you truly regret it, you should just tell them."

Melanie cocked her head to the side, giving Hikaru a look that basically told him that she needed more of an explanation than just that.

"What?"

"I mean," Hikaru started, wondering where to go next. "I don't know how you are with your family but I'm sure you're not the type of person that means to do harm-"

"No no, not that. I'm wondering why do you think that I wouldn't want to take advice from you?" Melanie asked, removing her face from her hands and raising an eyebrow at him. Hikaru's eyes widened slightly, confused as to what she was getting at.

"I... I just never got the impression that you took me seriously." Hikaru answered, shaking his head slightly and awkwardly chuckling through his words. Melanie cracked a slight smile as he spoke, closing her eyes and giggling slightly.

"I know we fight a lot but from the day you gave me the bracelet to right now, I always took you seriously." Melanie explained, sticking one of her legs out and stretching, allowing her shirt to slightly trail up her stomach the higher she stretched. Hikaru raised an eyebrow at her statement, but couldn't help being taken aback by her sudden confession.

"Really?"

"Of course, we bicker and fight but for the most part it's just childish arguing. I mean, c'mon, for the past few weeks now you've been looking out for me with all this Kai nonsense, I would never not take my own friend seriously just because every once in a while he's in a bad mood." Melanie giggled softly, her laugh ringing through the air clearly.

Hikaru sat there, completely shocked. For all these years the only people he really considered his close companions was the host club, but now this girl comes from nowhere and interrupts his life and thoughts, slowly opening up to him and even defending him against someone who was clearly in love with her.

The thought made Hikaru's stomach start to feel warm and fuzzy, which infuriated him, yet made him incredibly happy.

"I can't believe it's almost midnight and you're sitting here in front of me trying to confuse me with your nonsense." Hikaru mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for Melanie to hear and earn him a powerful pillow to the face.

"Do you have to ruin every single moment that we have?" Melanie grumbled, taking the pillow back, hitting Hikaru one more time in the knee, and then returning it to it's original position behind her back.

The duo sat there in silence once more, each of them coming to terms with the situation that had arisen, but neither wanting to address it anymore.

Melanie reached over Hikaru's lap and hit the button on her phone, illuminating the room with bright white light as the clock told her that it really was actually nearing midnight, yet somehow she didn't feel tired.

"Did you have a lot of other friends before you came here?" Hikaru broke the silence suddenly, not wanting to go to sleep just yet.

"I did, but not many of them were 'real' friends, just people I would talk to during the day to make time pass by faster." Melanie answered, sticking her feet underneath the crumbled up blanket at the end of the bed frame.

"So, no good friends? A boyfriend?" Hikaru asked again, catching Melanie slightly off guard with the last question. Hikaru lied down again, his head hitting his cold pillow and sending freezing shivers down his spine.

"No, not really..."

"Why not? You're smart, talented, beautiful, I'm sure you wouldn't have had a problem trying to get one." Hikaru replied, not even holding back on his honest opinion as Melanie fully registered what he said. She was thankful that it was dark so he couldn't see the red blush start to flood her cheeks.

"I-It just wouldn't work out, I would rather not talk about it." Melanie finally answered. The quiet that followed didn't seem quite as awkward to either of them, in fact, it was a sort of comfortable silence, the one where they both just enjoyed each other's company despite the lack of words.

Hikaru watched the light as it danced off of Melanie's bare legs, then her arms that were wrapped around them, and then finally her face. The way her eyes seemed to almost glow in the dark, or how even in the weak lighting he could still see her dimples as she smiled wordlessly to herself. He was honestly overjoyed that they were friends, it made all the fighting between them seem less harsh, and more playful, which was more of what the host club was about.

"You can trust me."

Melanie turned her head from looking outside the window back towards her red haired underclassman, his face was entirely serious, no sign of joking or his usual sarcastic manner. It was a completely genuine statement and he wasn't backing down on it or following it up with some sort of joke.

She threw her arms around his neck, hugging Hikaru tight and holding him close. Initially he didn't return the favor, whether that was because of surprise or uncertainty, but when he ultimately decided to hug her back, he couldn't quite describe the feeling it gave him.

"That's exactly what I needed to hear right now. Thank you so much, Hikaru." Melanie whispered, tightening her grip and putting her head into the crook of his neck. She didn't receive a response, but when she lifted her head, she saw the small smile that had made its way onto his face.

A:N: Hey, sorry that it's a little late, but school is starting again soon and I don't have quite as much time on my hands as I used to anymore. Updating may be a little bit unpredictable from here on out just because I won't have as much time to write as I used to but rest assured, I will not give up on this story and it will definitely be finished (Probably by the end of the year at the latest.)

To answer a few questions in the reviews:

1) : First of all, thank you for all of your reviews, I appreciate it! And second of all, yeah, I will admit I maybe didn't think that out very well. Realistically I''m sure the baby would have to be taken care of during school hours too, but for the sake of me not knowing how to write that in, I think I will omit that.

2) drkm2000: Also thank you for reviewing! I'm glad that the both of you have continued to stick with this story and enjoy it! When it comes to cats in stories, I always liked the idea of naming them Natsu so I'm definitely glad that you are happy with that decision. Once again, I didn't really think that through all the way which is definitely my fault.

3.) lillyannp: Thank you so much for liking it and reviewing! Hopefully you will continue to think it's great as the story goes on!

And that's everything I've wanted to address. As I said, I will NOT give up on this story by any means, but as many of you know school has to come first so I have to make time for that again. I will try to upload again on Monday, but we will see how that goes.