Chapter Twenty-Four: In Sickness
After the events of the previous day, Saelind's life progressively began to worsen.
Her phone wouldn't stop ringing, her irritation level had tripled, and to make matters worse, after the fourth day of enduring the Host Club's typical drama-filled situations, she discovered that someone very shady-looking was following her around. She only noticed him on her way back to her apartment because of a mistake, but a mistake like that was more of a blessing to someone with her type of upbringing. Simply because it alerted her to the fact that a man in dark clothing was watching her from across the street.
Still, despite her uneasiness, Saelind merely rolled her eyes and continued on home.
Nothing happened after that, but... well, the next day, she got dressed up and walked outside.
And halfway to Ouran Academy, she spotted him again.
For nearly a week and a half, her anxiety began to build... until the day finally came where she snapped.
If there was one thing she hated more than anything, it was feeling cornered... but because of her situation, that's the position she'd been in constantly.
Her mother was calling like a doomsday siren, the host club was blackmailing her into doing what they wanted, and now, some creep was stalking her. She couldn't even properly lock her door at night since there was only a flimsy metal chain to provide protection. Forget a new door, she couldn't even buy furniture for herself since her funds didn't cover household appliances or clothes: if she needed something, she would have been forced to contact her parents... and that was NOT happening.
Ever.
So, Saelind did the only thing she could and started sprinting towards Ouran: the one thing she needed to do was talk to Kyouya, because for all she knew, he'd told someone to keep an eye on her. However... she was about halfway to school when she heard an unfamiliar voice call her name.
"Saelind Heseroph?!" someone shouted, making the black-haired teen jump. "Is that you?! Hey!"
The girl immediately whirled around, looking at the crowd standing on the sidewalk behind her.
"What do you want?!" she groused, making several people stare at her. "Did someone call me?"
When she had no luck spotting the person who'd called, she shrugged and turned to cross the street.
However, she'd been so busy trying to spot the person who'd called her that she didn't realize the light had turned green. The next thing she heard was screeching tires and a deafening car horn blaring in her ears. Saelind whirled around and froze like a deer in the headlights when she spotted the oncoming truck, pupil dilating and teal eye widening in terror. Then the metallic bumper struck her and her legs crumpled, sending the girl rolling across the concrete.
Several screams of horror and alarm filled the air when her body finally came to a halt: she simply lay face-down, not moving.
A chubby brown-haired girl wearing glasses had been struggling to make her way through the crowd when the accident had happened.
"S-Saelind-chan?!" Ami shouted, eyes growing wide in horror; she instantly pushed her way past the gawking people and ran into the street, shoving aside the terrified woman who'd just stepped out of her car. "Saelind-chan! Saelind, are you all right?! Come on, Saelind, wake up! Open your eyes!"
When the yellow-clad girl gently rolled her tiny body over, her teal eye was closed and the front of her uniform had been torn open. Ami's breath hitched when she saw a puncture wound on the burned side of the girl's abdomen, and for a long moment, she didn't know what to do; then the brunette did the smart thing and checked for a pulse. A steady rhythm met her fingers, which made her racing heart calm down a bit.
Slowly lifting her head and looking at the crowd, she waved and let out a relieved laugh.
"She's alright!" Ami called, letting out an unconscious sigh of relief. "She only passed out from the shock..."
A huge cheer slid up and down the sidewalk as Ami pulled out her cell phone and made to dial 110 for an ambulance, just to be safe.
However, around that moment, Saelind dizzily opened her eye and blinked in a groggy manner.
"What happened?" the Russian girl groaned, shaking her head. "I feel... ow..."
"You just got hit by a truck," Ami stated sourly, shooting her an alarmingly cold glare. "The ambulance will be here soon... I'm calling for one right now."
Like the snap of a whip, Saelind's dazed eye sharpened in with lucidity and she snatched the phone clean out of Ami's hands.
The Asian girl blinked when she flicked it shut.
"I'm fine, Ami..." Saelind stated coldly, shaking her head when the brunette gaped at her; after a moment, she shakily got to her feet and stood up, glancing down at her torn blazer before rubbing her head to get rid of the ringing in her ears. "I don't deal with hospitals for several personal reasons. I... I'm a little busy right now, and I still have to get to school... thank you for the concern, but I think I can handle myself from here on out."
"Eh?!" Ami scoffed, watching as she turned to leave. "You can't be serious! Saelind, you just got hit by a truck! And plus, your stomach... how are you all right?!"
"I just am!" the black-haired girl retorted, shaking her head before buttoning her blazer. "Don't worry so much! I'll see you at school!"
With that, she ignored the woman who was waiting to apologize and took off across the street at top speed, adjusting her hair as she went.
However, when she got to school, the first place she went to was the Host Club since she was still a little early and that's where everyone hung out. When she walked up and explained to Kyouya why her blazer had been torn, she hadn't expected to see so much concern being directed at her. Especially not from him. He still gave her a new blazer, though, which was nice... although, the minor add-on to her Host Club quota was irritating.
Still, it was in that moment that Saelind finally decided to bring up the topic that was eating away at her.
"Hey, I need to ask you something," she stated seriously, making Kyouya flick his eyes up. "Did you ask one of your employees to keep an eye on me?"
He quirked an eyebrow at the question and tilted his head.
"And why on earth would I do a thing like that?" he inquired, looking fairly unamused. "You may be rather a dark and bitter human being, but you're hardly untrustworthy. Do you really think I would waste my funding on something as petty as that?"
"Not when you put it like that," she sourly retorted, grabbing her back and ignoring the pain in her gut. "Thanks anyway, though."
"I admit, it's rather peculiar for you to ask me a thing like that," Kyouya noted, examining her when she stiffened. "Is there something you want to talk about?"
"Not at all," the girl muttered, giving him a wave. "Thanks."
The rest of that day passed by rather smoothly, and on her way home, she didn't catch a single glimpse of the strange man.
However, the next morning, things took a horrible turn.
Saelind had no idea how she made it from her apartment to school: all she could remember was sitting at her desk and putting her head down since her stomach was twisting violently. After that, things around her started blurring as the nausea set in. After each class came and went, she slowly dragged herself up from the desk and moved to her next class, legs completely unsteady. By lunchtime, every few steps she took made her so dizzy that she had to stop walking and breathe deeply so she wouldn't throw up or faint.
After school was over, however, making her way to the abandoned music room was the most horrible thing she ever did. It took her three tries before she even managed to fully unlock the door, which told her just how bad it was. She blinked a bit when she saw the twins teasing their clients about something one of them had done: the rest of the club was already engrossed in their conversations with the girls. Several squeals of delight met her ears when she saw the girls who normally requested her sitting at the usual table.
"He's here!" someone cried. "See?! I told you he was probably just running late!"
Putting her hand on the door frame, Saelind barely kept herself from swaying back and forth... but when Mori looked up from the guests and his eyes landed on her, his eyes abruptly widened. When he bolted upright and hurried in her direction, Saelind blinked and everyone turned to stare. The Russian girl, however, flamed bright red when one enormous arm swooped around her back; the other was used to press the back of his hand against her forehead. The girl stuttered like a startled chicken when his eyes sharpened.
"You're sick," he said, supporting her weight when her legs finally buckled. "Really sick."
"It's just a bug… so get off, ya creeper!" she squalled, weakly pushing him away and staggering over to her table so she could get everything over with. "It'll go away! Sheesh... talk about melodramatic."
Once she was sitting down, however, the girls sort of meshed together and looked at her with puppy eyes.
"Are you sure you're all right, Heseroph-sama?" one of them, she couldn't quite distinguish which, asked. "You... you don't look very healthy."
"Yep," the Russian girl grumbled, closing her eyes to block out the buzzing fluorescent lights. "I'm… just… fine…"
"Uh... you're only okay if 'fine' means 'about to upchuck,'" Haruhi stated seriously, glancing up from where she was sitting with her own guests. "Seriously, if you're not feeling well, you should let us know beforehand and take a day off."
Just because it was true didn't mean she was going to admit it.
"I'm fine," Saelind repeated, speaking a little quieter than before. "Now, can we start talking about something else before I die of migraine?"
However, before anyone could respond, her head slumped forward and she slowly started to nod off: two seconds after she closed her visible eye, she fell dead asleep and everyone stared in awe. After a moment, the twins stood up and waltzed over with their fans behind them, and with great hesitance, they poked the sleeping Russian.
"Talk about an Insta-snooze," Kaoru murmured, blinking rapidly. "I've never seen someone fall asleep that fast. Ever."
"How do you think he would react if we just carried him down to the clinic?" Hikaru asked, glancing at his twin. "Got any ideas about how bad his reaction would be? What do you think he would do?"
"Murder us in our sleep?" Hikaru playfully suggested, then glanced at the girl's pale face before he cringed a bit. "That, or purposely throw up on you?"
"Now is not the time to be joking!" Tamaki gallantly exclaimed, hurrying over. "Our comrade is genuinely sick, is he not?!"
"I think he really might be," Haruhi worriedly murmured, feeling the girl's forehead. "He's feverish, and the contrast between his hair and skin is scary. He looks... well, bad as it's going to sound, he looks half dead. He was already extremely pale to begin with."
"Is he okay?" one of the girls in yellow asked, clasping her hands with a worried look. "Really, is Heseroph-san okay?"
Tamaki instantly went into Prince Mode.
"Of course, my dear," he stated gently, sweeping her off her feet, "if only because we are all looking after him."
The girls instantly let out a myriad of squeals, but when Saelind twitched and mumbled something in a grumpy tone, Haruhi pressed a finger to her lips and shushed them.
"Shhh!" she murmured quietly. "He's sleeping!"
"I think someone should volunteer to take him home," Kyouya finally intervened, not looking up from his guide. "He obviously isn't feeling well, and in this state, he can't spend time mingling with his usual guests. It's unfortunate, but I think we should let him rest for a while.."
"I'll do it," Mori immediately droned, making everyone glance at him; then he looked at Honey. "Mitsukuni."
"Yes, sir!" the blonde exclaimed, scampering up his leg until he was sitting on the giant's shoulders. "Let's take our friend home!"
When Mori swept the Russian girl into his arms and slowly turned to leave the room, several girls blushed since the sight was positively blinding: it was almost as if rose petals were falling all around them. Mori carried Saelind and Honey to the car that Kyouya had called, but just before they left, Haruhi came running outside and tapped on the window.
Honey eagerly rolled the window down and waved at her.
"Hi, Haru-chan!" he giggled. "Did we forget something?"
"I just wanted to tell you guys to take Saelind over to my place instead of her own," the brunette panted, obviously out of breath. "The environment she lives in isn't ideal for someone who's sick. If you could put her to sleep on my futon until club activities end, I'd really appreciate it."
"We'll take care of her," Mori stated simply. "Don't worry."
With that, the window was rolled back up and Saelind was driven to Haruhi's apartment.
They managed to get her settled in without too much trouble since she was totally out of it.
Once they did, however, there was nothing to do but wait.
It was almost time for Haruhi to arrive when Saelind's health started worsening: up until that point, the girl had been out cold... but just before five in the afternoon, she unexpectedly lunged up from Haruhi's futon and barely managed to grab the wastebasket next to her desk before tossing up her lunch. Honey gasped and ran out of the room with a squeal, but Mori had instantly walked over to check on the girl. In truth, Saelind looked horrible: her long black hair was plastered against her skin and her teal eye was glazed over. Frankly, her ashen appearance startled him more than the fact that she was violently throwing up.
"You all right?" Mori asked calmly, sitting down and gently resting a hand against the girl's slender neck; her skin was on fire.
"Just a bug," Saelind mumbled weakly, wiping her mouth without noticing that the giant was actually touching her; a heartbeat later she stiffened and turned back to the plastic trashcan, but after a moment she stilled and let out a sigh of relief. "Yup... false alarm."
"C'mon, we're taking you to a Hospital," Mori stated, grabbing the Russian girl's skinny arm and pulling her to her feet. .
"Go 'way," Saelind mumbled, shivering all over; Mori frowned, feeling the shiver through his grip on the girl's arm. "It's just... a bug."
"This isn't just a bug," the Japanese boy muttered, instantly feeling concerned. "There's something wrong with you."
"It is too a bug, so I'm not going to this high and mighty hospital," the girl mumbled incoherently, struggling to stay in one spot when Mori started dragging her toward the door using only one hand. The giant sighed in frustration and pressed his lips together when his patience finally snapped: fed up with the tiny girl's attitude, he turned and stared her down with the same stern expression he'd given Honey before he'd gotten a toothache
"Start walking," he commanded sharply. "Right now."
Something in his tone made Saelind blink and turn even whiter than she already was.
There was no more fighting after that... so, after leaving a note for Haruhi and cleaning up the waste bin, they left the room and went outside. Honey hurried to keep up when they walked down the stairs and made their way down the sidewalks: within only ten minutes, they made it to the Hospital. After explaining the situation to the clerk sitting behind the counter, they were given a pass to the emergency floor. However, Saelind's anxiety spiked through the roof, especially when since she was too dizzy to run away if anything happened. Not aware of her feelings, Mori hit the button for the elevator, but his hand tightened on her arm when the girl tried to walk past him.
"Hey," he grunted, looking at her. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Stairs," Saelind replied, pointing at the door at the end of the hall with a confused expression. "It's the most logical way of going up and down."
"No way!" Honey squealed, amber eyes wide. "You'll fall and hurt yourself, Sael-chan! We should use the elevator!"
"I don't use elevators, ever," the girl stated, teal eye sharpening for a second. "I only take the stairs."
"Today, you'll need to make an exception," Mori replied; when the doors slid open, he pulled her in beside him, not really caring that the girl was desperately trying to tug free of him. However, when the doors slid closed and the car started to slide up, Saelind's breathing changed in an instant. It turned ragged so quickly that Honey and Mori glanced at her with varying expressions of concern.
The tiny girl had pressed herself against the wall of the elevator, small hands clenched tightly into fists.
Her visible eye was squeezed shut and she looked ready to cry; her face had turned even paler than before, almost a sickly bone-white.
"Sael... chan?" Honey stammered, looking extremely uneasy. "Are you okay?"
The Russian girl's teal eye opened, but her pupil was much too large.
"I'm fine," she hissed through her teeth. "I'm fine!"
She wasn't fine. An idiot could see that she wasn't fine. But before Mori could think of anything that might help, the girl let out a soft groan and slid gracelessly to the floor. Honey instantly squealed, and Mori's eyes snapped open wide in surprise: the girl had fainted in their care. When the elevator doors opened, Takeshi squatted a bit glanced down to think.
And froze.
There was blood staining front of the blazer she was wearing.
When he lifted up the edge of the girl's shirt, the giant nearly had a heart attack: a deep wound was bleeding profusely under her uniform, but what nearly made him throw up was the fact that it had become seriously infected. The injury was white around the edges and yellow fluid was oozing from the center: it looked grotesque, even more so because of all the burned flesh surrounding it. However, in places where the boy expected to see smooth skin... there were several scars that looked as though they had been made with a carving knife, and there were twelve puncture scars on Saelind's lower back that had most likely come from being stabbed… repeatedly.
And on her side, there was a bullet scar.
It was like the floor had dropped out from under Mori's feet: Saelind had been shot and stabbed by someone in the past, and judging by how many scars were on the girl's body, she'd been receiving injuries like these over a span of several years. He didn't know how long he sat there, but it wasn't until Honey tapped his arm that Mori realized they needed to go see the doctor.
"Is Sael-chan okay?" the blonde boy asked. "Takeshi, is she okay?"
Mori immediately immediately jerked the tiny girl's blazer back down; he couldn't have anyone knowing he was aware of those scars. He was kind of surprised he hadn't noticed them before, considering the girl had gone around practically topless for a day. After a few moments, the girl's eye fluttered and slid open, which made both boys let out a sigh.
"Wha' happened?" Saelind mumbled, obviously dazed from passing out. "'m I going deaf?"
"No, you fainted," Honey exclaimed; the girl's eye widened and she instantly shook her head, completely protesting the thought of ever doing something so embarrassing in front of them. "Your blood is rushing around."
"I did not faint, but I might've lost consciousness," the Russian girl corrected, and with a hand on the wall, she tried to push herself upright with all of her strength. She was struggling, though, so Mori gripped her arm and helped her the rest of the way up.
"Whatever you say," Honey murmured, watching his cousin get a firm grip on her shoulder. "Sounds the same to me."
When the dark-haired girl started to fall asleep standing up, though, Mori gently lifted her into his arms and carried her towards the emergency area with a deep frown. However, he was frowning deeply for a new reason entirely: the image of those ugly, twisted scars just wouldn't stop swirling around inside his mind. Who could have done something so awful to Saelind?
He didn't know.
Nor did he know that the girl's phone was ringing constantly back at her apartment, or even that frantic texts were filling up her email.