Ayame hummed to herself as she walked through the halls of Ouran Academy. As she hummed she thought, "I kind of wish Mother and Father had allowed me to attend an academy. Of course, that means I'd still be in school, but, as long as that school was Ouran I'd be happy." Ayame had reached the doors of Music Room 3. As she pushed open one of the doors she though, "yep, I'd love to have gone to school here, because I have friends here." Ayame smiled upon seeing the boys, and Haruhi, who were dressed as if in ancient Egypt. Tamaki, of course, was dressed as a pharoah.
She was the first guest there, so, instead of the usual greeting Tamaki approached her and said, "good afternoon, Ayame, will you be my Egyptian princess for today? Umph!" The twins had pushed Tamaki off to the side. Ayame looked a little surprised at that. "Don't listen to Tono, I'm sure he'll use that line on all the girls today," said Kaoru. "I will not!" shouted Tamaki, although the twins ignored him. "Come with us, we'll show you a good time." "Ayame," Kyoya stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders as he leaned in close. She blushed in response to him being so close and shirtless. "It would be my pleasure to be your host for today's club activities," said the shirtless Kyoya as he gave her a smile.
Ayame sniffed and said, "do you guys smell chocolate?" The twins tilted their heads to the side, "what?" Honey giggled from across the room at a table with chocolate cake in front of him. "Do you want some chocolate cake, Aya-chan?" Ayame looked up at Kyoya, then at the twins and last at Tamaki who stood off to the side. "Sorry guys, but I'm going with Honey-sempai, nothing beats chocolate. Not even shirtless boys." She joined Honey and Mori at the table, sitting between them. Ayame watched with wide eyes as Honey cut her a piece of cake and asked, "How are you today, Mori-sempai?" Mori smiled, "good." Honey took a bite of his slice of cake, "how are you doing in your self defense training, Aya-chan?"
Ayame smiled, "It's been fun. I hope you can join us sometime. Mori-sempai has told me that you're taking a nap by the time I get to the dojo." Ayame took a bite of cake. "Mori sempai also says I'm learning fast, right Mori-sempai?" Mori patted the top of her head, "yeah, she's doing good." The other hosts had moved to the sofas. Without her knowing it Kyoya and Kaoru were watching her. Kaoru thought, "she's so cute, I wish she would see me as more than just a friend." As the guests started to arrive Kyoya thought, "she's quite unlike any other girl I've met. If only she had accepted the arranged marriage. She would be mine right now."
Ayame thought, "this cake is so yummy! I love chocolate!" After club activities were over and all the guests had left, all of the Host Club members (and Ayame) walked outside of the school together. They were all surprised at what they saw, but, Ayame was the first to vocalize it. "It's raining. But, it was so bright and sunny earlier," said Ayame. "Oh well," said the twins. They looked at Ayame and grinned, "we had fun together the last time it rained, right?" Ayame looked annoyed, "no!"
Kyoya watched the meaningless conversation between Ayame and the twins. He still felt a bit annoyed that Ayame had not chosen to sit with him in the club today. As each of them stood and waited for their cars to pull up Kyoya approached Ayame. He reapeated his stance from earlier, putting his hands on Ayame's shoulders. "I must admit I'm a little dissapointed we didn't get to spend time together in the club. I was thinking perhaps I could take you up on your offer to teach me to make pancakes?"
Ayame looked up at him and smiled, "sure." At the mention of something sweet Honey chimed in excitedly from on top of Mori's shoulders, "you guys are going to make pancakes? I love pancakes! Can Takashi and I come to learn how to make them too? We can make some with chocolate chips!" Now Ayame was excited, "great idea!" The twins said in unison, "we want to make some too!" Ayame nodded, "okay! Tamaki and Haruhi, do you want to come?" Tamaki's car had already arrived, "sorry Ayame, but I have to attend a meeting with my father. See you guys later!"
The car pulled away with Tamaki inside. "Alright then, what about you, Haruhi?" Haruhi shook her head, "I have a ton of laundry to do." Hikaru stepped up to Haruhi, "why don't you let me take you home? You can ride with Kaoru, Ayame, and me." Haruhi accepted Hikaru's offer. A moment later three cars pulled in front of the patio they stood under. One was for Kyoya, one for Mori and Honey, and the third was for the twins, Ayame, and Haruhi. While the others pulled out umbrellas Ayame immediately stepped out from under the protection of the patio, into the rain and headed toward the car.
"Ayame! You're going to get sick if you let yourself get wet like that! It's pouring!" Kaoru tried to scold her. Ayame scoffed, "it's just a little water. But, it's okay if you're scared, Kaoru, I understand." Kaoru grinned at her teasing, "this is why I love her," he thought. "I'm not scared! Watch!" Kaoru walked toward her without his umbrella. Ayame wasn't sure if it was the cold water giving her chills or seeing Kaoru walking toward her. She blamed such thoughts on being around the Host Club too much. "I'm turning into a pervert," she thought. "I can do better than that," said Ayame. She walked behind the car and jumped into a large puddle.
"That's not impressive," said Kaoru as he did the same, making sure his splash wet Ayame. She shouted, "hey! That's cold!" Kaoru laughed. "When you two decide to stop soaking one another call me and I'll come back for you two," said Hikaru as he slid into the back of his family's car with Haruhi. Ayame laughed, "let's go Kaoru, we're both already soaked." Kaoru smiled, "you started it." Ayame half laughed, "I may have started it but you didn't have to go along with it!" They joined Hikaru and Haruhi in the back of the Hitachiin family's car.
At the Hitachiin mansion everyone, except for Kaoru, who went upstairs to change his wet clothes, and Hikaru who was taking Haruhi home, had gathered in the kitchen. Kaoru walked through the hallway upstairs toward his room. He came to the room Ayame was staying in and noticed that Koga was laying down on the floor, asleep. "Hey Koga, why don't you wake up and come downstairs?" Kaoru walked into the room and bent down to pet the large dog. Downstairs Ayame had gathered all of the ingredients on the counter to begin making pancakes. Mori and Kyoya sat on chairs, observing, while Honey and Ayame had gathered everything they needed. "Now what, Aya-chan?" asked Honey excitedly. Ayame thought for a moment, she felt her sneakers squishing from being soaked, "hmmm. Actually, I think I should also go and change my clothes. I'm getting cold."
Ayame looked down at her soaked shoes, jeans, and shirt. "I'll be right back," said Ayame as she headed out of the kitchen. As she came to her room she saw Kaoru walk out of the rom and close the door behind himself. He held a pair of her jeans and one of her shirts in his right hand. "Kaoru!" Kaoru jumped at seeing Ayame. He smiled at her. "What were you doing in my room Kaoru? Why are you holding my clothes? I realize it's your house, but, I still have a right to privacy," Ayame scolded him. "This is going to be hard," thought Kaoru. He cleared his throat, "Ayame...I have to tell you something."
Ayame reached for the door handle, "okay, but I need to get changed first, so give me my clothes and let me into the room." Kaoru didn't move from here he stood blocking the door. "Ayame, I think you should change in my room. Because I don't think you should see Koga in there. I thought he was asleep at first but...he passed away." Ayame slapped him. She hit him harder than the last time. He looked down her, she looked sad and lost. Her eyes welled with tears, "that's not funny Kaoru! Stop teasing me!" Kaoru put his arms around her, "I'm sorry, Ayame."
She tried to pull away at first. She didn't want to believe it. She refused believe it. She sobbed, ". He can't be gone." Kaoru held onto her, despite her struggling. "It's okay, Ayame, I'm here for you." She stopped struggling and held onto him. She became quiet for a moment, the only sound she made was a wheezing sound as she breathed. A couple of minutes later she started to push away from Kaoru again. This time he loosened his hold on her. Kaoru saw her gasping for air and grabbing at her chest. He knew immediately that she was having an asthma attack. "Where's your inhaler?" Ayame could barely breath, her chest hurt, badly. She tried to remember, where was her inhaler? Ayame managed to gasp out, "It...it's...my bag...forgot it..." Kaoru was a little confused.
"You forgot it? Where? At the club room?" Ayame nodded, it was getting harder for her to breath. Kaoru lifted her, putting an arm under her knees and another behind her back. He ran, carrying her, downstairs. "Mori-sempai, Honey-sempai and Kyoya-sempai! We have to take Ayame to the hospital!" Kaoru called for a car and carried Ayame back out and into the rain. He slid into the car, still holding her, Kyoya, Mori, and Honey right behind them.
"She's starting to turn pale!" Kaoru was panicking. "What did you do to her?" shouted Kyoya. "It wasn't Kaoru's fault, Kyoya, Koga's gone," thought Ayame before she slipped into unconsciousness.
Ayame woke up in a forest. It didn't seem that strange of a place. Except, there were no animals around, not even birds. Just trees and grass. There was a strong smell of chocolate. She liked it. She walked up to one of the biggest trees and broke off a low hanging branch. To her amazement, the tree was made of chocolate.
It was so quiet in this place, the only sound she heard was herself munching on the chocolate tree branch. She shouted, "hello? Is anyone else here?" That's when she heard a hissing sound. It didn't sound nearby. She shouted again, "hello? Who's there?" Again all she heard was a hissing sound. Only, this time it sounded closer. She was starting to get scared. She shouted, "Hikaru? Kaoru? Are you guys trying to trick me again?"
This time the hissing sound came from behind the tree where she had pulled off the chocolate tree branch. "Tamaki?" she asked, on the verge of tears. The chocolate tree was suddenly engulfed by flames. Ayame started at it, as it melted it revealed the creature that had been hiding behind it. Now Ayame looked into the face of her ex. His face was the same as she'd remembered, same dark short hair and dark eyes. Only his body wasn't human. Instead, he had a long, red and scaly body with short legs. He was a demon.
Ayame screamed as loud as she could. The demon lunged at her. But, just before it reached her something kicked it away. It was Daichi, only he was dressed like Koga, the wolf demon. The demon with Ayame's ex's face was knocked down on it's side. It slid across the ground, tearing up the grass as it went. When it tried to get up to fight a green whip of light and three yellow glowing blades of light sliced into it. The demon dissipated, defeated.
Ayame looked at Daichi, his hair was as long as Koga's, only it was still blonde. Her other two rescuers now joined them. Kyoya approached, dressed as Sesshoumaru. His hair was long and dark and he still wore his glasses, but, he had facial markings like Sesshoumaru. Kaoru looked the strangest of them all. His orange hair was long and he had pointed dog ears the same color as his hair. He was dressed as Inuyasha. Daichi was the first to take her hand in his. "Hey, I told you I'll always protect you, so choose me," said Daichi. Kyoya took hold of her other hand and bowing, said, "I can promise to both always protect you and provide you with many riches. Choose me." Ayame felt confused, "what do they want me to choose them for?" She looked up at Kaoru, who stood away from them and asked him, "do you want me to choose you too?" Kaoru smiled, "I'd like that but, no matter who you choose, I just want to always see you smiling."
Ayame blinked her eyes. She wasn't in the forest anymore. She was in a hospital bed. "Aya-chan! You're awake!" Honey sat on her bed, Mori stood next to him. "We were so scared. you had actually started turning blue on the way over here," said Kaoru, who sat on the other side of the bed. "You were given a corticosteroid injection to open your airways. You might feel your heart racing a little as a side effect," said Kyoya. He adjusted his glasses as he looked at Ayame from here he stood at the foot of the bed. Honey hopped off of the bed. "Takashi and I will go get you something made of chocolate to help you feel better," said a smiling Honey. Kyoya sighed, "I'll go ask the doctor when you'll be discharged." As the three of them walked out of the room. Kaoru moved closer to Ayame. He took hold of her hand and gently squeezed it. She felt her heart start to race and thought, "must be from the shot like Kyoya said."
"Ayame!" Daichi nearly shouted her name as he came into the room. He wore his work uniform. Upon seeing Ayame lying in the hospital bed he balled his hands into fists at his sides. He clenched his jaw. He shouted, "Kaoru! You Bastard! You swore to me that you would keep her safe. But, here she is in a hospital bed!" Daichi grabbed Kaoru by the front of his shirt and shoved him against the wall. Kaoru looked pained. He struggled to get out of Daichi's grip. Ayame got out of the hospital bed and shouted at Daichi, "Daichi! Stop it! This wasn't his fault!"
Daichi ignored her so she said, "let Kaoru go right now! If you hurt him I never want to see you again! You can forget about me!" Daichi looked at her, "you'd pick him over me?" Daichi let go of Kaoru, though he still looked angry. Kyoya came into the room, "oh, hello Daichi. I had no idea you worked in this hospital." Daichi kept his glare on Kaoru. "Yeah, I do." Ayame tugged at his sleeve, "Kyoya's family owns this hospital." She pleaded at him with her eyes, "don't you think you should be getting back to work, Daichi?"
Daichi looked down at her, he didn't care if that rich boys family owned the hospital, but he didn't want to upset Ayame anymore than he already had. Daichi sighed, "yeah, I just came to check on you during my break. But, I have to get back. I'll call you later." Daichi left the room and Kyoya asked, "did I miss something?" Ayame turned her pleading look to Kaoru. She knew that Daichi could be fired for what he'd just done.
She didn't want that. Kaoru understood her look, he shook his head, "no, you didn't miss anything Kyoya-sempai." Ayame sat back down on the bed as Honey and Mori returned with a slice of chocolate cake in a plastic container for her."Look what we got you downstairs at the cafeteria, Aya-chan! I ate a piece while we were there, hehe," Honey giggled. Shortly afterward Hikaru arrived with Haruhi. Hikaru had just dropped her off when he'd gotten the call from Kyoya telling him what had happened. So, he'd gone back to pick up Haruhi to tell her what had happened.
"Sorry about your dog, Ayame," said Haruhi as she and Hikaru entered the room. Tamaki came into the room a few minutes later, "I'm so sorry about Koga, Ayame! You can play with Antoinette whenever you miss him!" Ayame smiled and thought, "I'll always miss you, Koga. But, don't worry, I'm not lonely.
Ayame was discharged from the hospital about an hour later. However, before she was released Kaoru made sure to call home and have Koga removed from the room and taken to be cremated. Everyone said their goodbyes and planned to spend the following day together. This time Tamaki escorted Haruhi home. Upon arriving back at the Hitachiin mansion the twins had taken Ayame up to the room and put her to bed, despite her protesting. She didn't like being stuck in bed for the rest of the evening.
Kaoru walked into the room, "did you like your dinner?" He picked up the tray with dishes in front of her. "Eh, it was okay," said Hikaru. He sat on the bed next to Ayame. The twins had stayed in her room with her, watching anime, to keep her company. Kaoru looked at his brother, "I wasn't asking you. I was asking Ayame." Ayame smiled, "it was good, I'll have to thank the cook next time I see him." She yawned.
"Hikaru, I think we should let her get some rest," said Kaoru. Ayame protested, "I'm not tired yet." The twins ignored her, "goodnight Ayame." Hikaru and Kaoru walked downstairs together to the kitchen. Kaoru carried the tray with Ayame's dishes from dinner. "Kaoru, have you tried telling her yet? How you feel about her?" They were in the kitchen. Kaoru put the dishes and tray in the sink. "I told her that I love her. She said she loves me and you too like little brothers."
Kaoru took a glass out of the cupboard. Hikaru watched his brother as he filled the glass with water from the tap over the sink. "So, she didn't really reject you, Kaoru. Haruhi actually rejected me but I haven't given up. You shouldn't give up so easily either." Kaoru gave Hikaru a smile, "I'm not giving up. Right now I'm going to take her this glass of water and wish her goodnight."
"Good, don't give up," said Hikaru before heading out of the kitchen. Kaoru followed him, "maybe the second time I tell her she won't misunderstand." Upstairs, Hikaru walked to his bedroom while Kaoru went into Ayame's. "I brought you a glass of water," Kaoru crossed the room to put down the glss on the bedside table. Ayame yawned, "thanks. You don't have to do all of this you know. I can walk." Kaoru smiled, "the doctor said you should rest. I don't mind doing it, anyways. You did it for me when I was sick."
Ayame smiled, "thank you, Kaoru. I'm sorry I slapped you earlier." Kaoru laughed, "I barely felt it," he lied so she wouldn't feel so bad. "Do you need anything else?" asked Kaoru. Ayame bit her lower lip, "if it's not too much trouble, could you stay with me until I fall asleep? I've gotten so used to having Koga with me. It feels weird to be alone." Kaoru smiled, "sure." Kaoru sat on the bed beside Ayame.
He felt so comfortable with her. He let himself relax, he hadn't realized just how tired he was. He thought to himself, "should I try to tell her how I feel again? What if she rejects me? I'm so tired...maybe I should wait until morning to tell her again. I think I'll do that." Kaoru looked at Ayame sitting up in bed next to him, watching TV. He thought, "she's still awake. I can barely keep my eyes open. But, she doesn't even seem tired." Kaoru let his eyes close, he meant to only rest his eyes for a few minutes. Without meaning to he drifted off to sleep.