Author's Note: Got permission from Saelind to take a higher quality photo of her. The new cover is higher def, so you can actually see her face in all it's beauty. Plus, it's waaay more recent than the old cover, trust me. Anyway, enjoy the beauty of my best friend, because with scars or without, I can only see her as a scary little angel.

...

Ps Sidenote: Don't kill me, Saelind.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Cinderella, Dressed in...

The stunning colors and loud music overwhelmed Saelind's mind more than anything else.

In all honesty, the Switcher dance was more like a modern day rave than the classical tea-party she'd been expecting from the school.

However, she was currently hiding behind the enormous plush bleachers in the gymnasium with her brother: the Host Club was looking for her, since countless boys and girls who'd switched genders for the dance had already gone up for their own little Karaoke practices. Horribly enough, there would even be a beauty competition for all the dolled-up costume-wearing boys to take part in, and the girls had to put in a vote which cross-dressed Halloween performer they liked the best.

Be it for their authenticity for their looks, their choice in costume, or simply for the talent they'd chosen to perform for the school.

Ironically enough, though, Saelvan he looked exactly like he was supposed to.

He made quite the dashing vampire, what with his Count Dracula costume almost perfectly going along with his appearance.

Hell, even the boy's fangs made him look awesome for a change.

Speaking of little old Vanny, though, the boy was currently poking her with a gawking expression on his face.

"Saelind, is this really you?" he demanded, poking her from every direction. "It can't be. You've gotta be her doppelganger. My sister is pretty, but not like this."

"Excuse me?" the girl hissed, lifting a fist and glaring as a vein popped out on her forehead. "Wanna repeat that before or after I give you a few busted teeth?"

"You wouldn't do it," Vanny wonderingly stated, giving her such a wide-eyed stare that she scowled. "After all, you love me too much. Right?"

"Don't tempt me," the girl grumbled, letting out a huff before she stared at the floor. "Honestly, though... I don't know how to feel about any of this. Sure, I look beautiful, but what exactly am I supposed to be doing?"

"Are you dense?" her brother snorted, ignoring the glare she sent his way. "Lindy, this is a party. Go out and have fun! Lord knows you'd be less of a sour puss if you understood what that actually meant, but seriously, just go out and mingle. Feel good about all the people who will definitely start gawking over you."

"Ugh, but how? How am I supposed to do this?" Saelind muttered, clenching her fists with an awkward blush: she couldn't find a single word that actively expressed her emotions, but somehow, she had realized something terrible after arriving at the party. Something she was sure would carry over into the future. "Just because my face looks like it did before the fire... it doesn't mean that the people around me have changed, Vanny! My socially inept mindset hasn't just disappeared!"

"What are you saying?" he asked, looking at her with a stunned expression. "Are you literally going to just sit here and let your one night of being beautiful inside AND out go to complete waste? Why would you do something so stupid?"

Saelind didn't respond: she sat there, crouched in the corner with her chin buried in her knees, suddenly wanting nothing more than to go hide somewhere.

This was something she'd suspected she'd had trouble with ever since Kyouya had made his offer: after all, her face may have changed, but everything inside her was still there... all of the unhappiness, the memories, the trauma...

The pain.

The sadness.

Even everything outside of her head was the same... people were untrustworthy.

Her scars being gone simply made it easier for them to use her.

Then again... it was only temporary, right?

Could she push past her trust issues, if only for a night?

In the long run, she'd probably have to: if the Host Club seriously planned to sponsor a surgery to get rid of her scars, this could pass off as a test.

Plus, no matter how she thought about it, it wasn't as though one night of bliss would allow an opening for someone to use her more than they already had.

"Fine," the girl finally muttered, shaking her head in defeat. "However, I'm not going out until it's time for the show."

"Eh?" Saelvan asked, blinking in surprise. "Why not?"

"I need time... to prepare myself," the girl explained, giving him a pained expression. "As weird as this is gonna sound... I'm scared, Vanny. And to mask that fear, I'm going to need some alone time beforehand. Especially since I've already been roped into showing the whole school some random talent as well as an act."

"You mean you aren't singing?" her brother snorted, staring at her with a frown. "Sis, just pick a song at random and sing the damn thing. Not like it matters: your voice is so enchanting that even the birds sometimes stop and listen to it."

"Well, well, well," the girl sarcastically drawled, albeit her ears did turn bright red. "I never would have expected you to try ass-kissing."

"Lindy," Vanny snorted in amusement, rolling his eyes, "I'm not saying that your voice is pretty because I'm hoping you'll soften up: you'll soften up regardless since you've got no choice, but so what? I wasn't kidding about what I just said… I'm just telling you what I remember."

Upon hearing that, Saelind quietly stood up and dusted her backside off.

"Well, then," she sighed, giving him a half-lidded expression, "since you want me to go and 'mingle' that's exactly what I'll do. Provided you give my left side a massage later on and make dinner for both us today, tomorrow, and the day after."

"It's a deal!" the boy exclaimed, grinning brightly in delight. "Go get 'em, Sis!"

Saelind rolled her eyes, but just as she turned around and planned to walk out into the open, she bumped clean into Kyouya... er, wait.. who was this?

She could have sworn it was him by the scent of evil wafting into her nose, but apparently... oh, nope.

It was definitely him.

However, his current attire raised more questions than it solved.

After blinking twice and doing a double take, the girl stared at Kyouya with large eyes and started sniggering violently.

"What the hell is up with your hair?" she inquired, staring at the huge, ridiculously curly blonde Pigtails sticking out of his head. "Who are you dressed as?"

"Oh, so you don't know?" the Shadow King inquired, looking down at his hairy legs in distaste. "Well, that makes two of us. Tamaki picked it out."

"And what a wonderful costume it is!" a familiar bright voice crooned, making Saelind sigh; when the princely prince himself swirled over in a yellow ballgown with his blonde hair draped over one shoulder, the girl stared at him since he was literally dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. "I knew dressing you up as Mami Tomoe from Madoka Magicka would turn out wonderful! So, Daddy, who are you talking to? I overhear...d..."

Tamaki's indigo eyes went blank when he beheld the raven-haired girl standing in front of Kyouya; when he leaned down and ogled her with large eyes, she leaned back.

"What's wrong with you?" the girl demanded, tilting body even farther back when his face zoomed in on her. "Get away from me, ya creep!"

"Now this is interesting," the blonde boy murmured, walking around her like the Hitachiin twins were partial to. "You make a disturbingly beautiful girl, Vanny-kun."

Saelind's face flamed bright red and she clenched her fists in outrage.

"Um, hello?!" she snapped, making him jump back with a start thanks to the hostility. "You've got the wrong twin, you blonde-haired dope! I am, in fact, a girl!"

"Eh?!" Tamaki gasped, eyes popping open wide. "Saelind, is that you?!"

"Duh," the girl retorted, angrily clenching her fists before she jabbed him with a finger, "and next time, refrain from calling my brother Vanny. That's between ME and HIM!"

With a huff, she stormed off, trying her best to hide her anxiety: once she was out of sight, however, she touched her face with stunned eyes.

Someone had mistaken her to be her brother... and that hadn't happened in years.

However, her good mood was darkened when Ami Kikiroshi and Seika Ayanokoji spotted her and came bouncing over. Seika was strutting toward her almost arrogantly in a prince costume, and Ami was dressed as a pauper: she had her trademark innocent expression plastered across her face, and she looked for all the world like a giggle airhead who wouldn't hurt a fly, but that's what made it so awful. Saelind tasted bile when the girls stopped in front of her and whispered something before giggling to themselves.

"Excuse me, but what do you want?" Saelind demanded with a frown. "I'm trying to enjoy myself, here."

Seika made a great show of eyeing her angel costume; then she made an annoying clucking sound and shook her head.

"Well, well, how sad," Seika stated sweetly, making an extremely sympathetic expression, "it looks like Saelind's sister didn't get the memo that this was a cross-dressing costume party. It's such a shame... it looks so good on you, too. You should go change. You're making a fool of yourself and your family name."

Saelind blinked, taking immediate offense... but then she realized the irony and her mouth twitched into a devilish grin.

After a moment, she let out an old lady cackle, which startled the two girls standing in front of her.

"You honestly think I'm Saelvan?" she asked, folding her arms with a smirk; the wings on her back fluttered in an almost coy manner when she sashayed forward and drew her finger across the side of the redhead's cheek; her eyes instantly widened and she gawked, horrified. "Honey, I've already said this twice: you've got the wrong twin."

"W-what are you saying?" the girl nervously chuckled, jerking away from her with large eyes. "There's no way... right?"

"Wrong," Saelind purred, then tapped her left eye and tilted her head back. "Look here: I'm blind in this eye. There's your giveaway."

"Whoa," Ami whispered, staring at her with a pale face. "They really got you the surgery..."

"No," Saelind muttered, instantly glaring at her for daring to speak out loud about anything related to her life. "Kyouya hired a famous cosmetician from America."

"What's this about a surgery?" Ayanokoji scoffed, raising an imperious eyebrow. "Please tell me you're joking. You're the son of a Grand Duke, and you're taking charity?"

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," Saelind growled, shackles rising almost immediately, "but I'll have you know, I'm working for it. And I fully intend to pay it off once it happens. I'm simply curious to see whether or not the people in this Host Club are all talk and no game."

All right, it was a bluff, but hey... it worked.

Well, at least on Ayanokoji: she seemed miffed and daintily walked off with her nose in the air, but Ami...

Well, she was giving her the evil-eye.

"You and I both know that lying is something that everybody hates," she stated sweetly, giving her a smirk. "I just didn't think you'd do it."

"Sorry, but I'm nothing like you," Saelind stated in a bitter tone, cocking her hip with a sour expression. "And I didn't lie. If these idiots really do go through with what they said they would, I have every intention of forcing my mother to pay them back. Not like it'll be any skin off the riches my family already has."

"See? That right there is why I hate you so much," Ami sneered, making the girl wince. "You're cocky, arrogant, and you think you're better than everyone else."

"Hey, you're absolutely right: to put it bluntly, I'm a bitch, and that's how it's going to remain," Saelind countered, giving her a glare. "I'm content with who I am: that's why I don't have to hide my true colors. Unlike some people."

"Oh, but we both know what your true colors really are, so don't even try it," Ami giggled sweetly, then leaned close and whispered, "little miss wolf girl."

Saelind clenched her fists as tears stung her eyes, but then she closed them and took a deep breath... and her hand relaxed.

Then she opened her eyes and grinned so widely that her fangs and pearly white teeth were on full display.

"Honey," Saelind hissed, giving her Ami an even bigger smile when her face drained of color, "you don't want to go there. If you've really seen people work with wolves, you'd most definitely know how dangerous they are. Most people have to tie them down just to take care of them. Me? I fought them. And won. Trust me, you don't want to see me act like a wolf, because if you do, my teeth will be in your throat. Now run along and have a Happy Halloween, you conceited bitch. Do Svidaniya."

When Saelind tossed her hair and turned to walk away, Ami roughly grabbed her by the wrist and jerked her around, halting her instantly.

"Did you just threaten me?!" she spat, cutesy act going straight out the window. "Did you really just threaten me?! Who do you think you are?!"

"Remove your hand," Saelind growled, pupil contracting and baring her fangs; her eyes were dangerously cold. "I already know my place in life, and it doesn't include squabbling with a two-faced whore who can't even show people what she's really like thanks to how disgusting her personality is."

Ami's eyes suddenly changed in a way that Saelind didn't like: the urge to bite her literally spiked up five times higher than it should have.

"You're right, Saelind... I do have a disgusting personality," Kikiroshi hissed, bringing her face close so quickly that Saelind actually clenched her jaw to prevent herself from snapping at her. "But you want to know what? I can hide my ugliness. You can't. And that's exactly why you shouldn't feel superior to me… even for a second!"

"Remove... your... hand..." Saelind warned, giving her a dangerous expression. "If you don't... I will bite you. HARD."

Right around the moment that the air was about to ignite with a heated fight, Honey popped over and looked at the two of them with large eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked, tilting his head to the side with a curious expression. "Are you rehearsing your act?"

Ami's facade roared back into place and she giggled, patting his head; she slowly let go of Saelind's wrist, revealing a red mark in the shape of a hand.

"Of course we are," she trilled, covering her cheeks in delight. "Sael-chan was just helping me with my lines, that's all... Seika and I are doing a mini-play!"

"Oooh!" Honey exclaimed, clapping in delight. "That sounds cool!"

"Yeah, well, thanks," Ami giggled, giving him a smile. "Well, I've gotta go get ready, and I heard there's some really good food over on the eighth table. Later, Sael-kun."

She didn't even bother to hide the sarcasm at the last part, but hey, at least she stalked off before Saelind could wring her neck.

"Thank you," Saelind grumbled, patting her stomach with a scowl. "I never thought I'd say this, but you kinda saved me there, Honey."

"Did something happen?" he asked, giving her his trademark puppy eyes. "I thought you and Ami-chan were friends."

"Not anymore," the girl stated coldly, staring at the floor with a blank expression. "We had a bit of a falling out."

"Oh, wow... Saelind?!" a familiar voice squeaked, making the girl glance up; she was startled to see Haruhi jogging up, but the big winner was the fact that her hair had been pulled into pigtails, and she was wearing a pink dress with a little handbag. "Jeez, you look totally hot! No wonder it took hours for you to get ready..."

"What are you supposed to be?" Saelind snorted, ignoring the compliment. "Aside from oddly girlish, I mean."

"I'm a pop music singer," Haruhi sighed, then looked at her costume with a dismayed expression, "although, I kinda just look like a regular girl."

"No lie there," the Russian sighed, shaking her head. "You really do."

"Hey, Sael-chan, can I talk to you for a moment?" Honey asked, giving her a smile. "I kinda wanted to know if you would dance with me."

"Sorry, kiddo, but I don't dance..." she muttered, giving him a frown before turning and walking away. "Why not ask Haruhi? I'm sure she'd enjoy it."

"Eh?! But..." Honey tried to protest, holding out a hand; however, after a moment, he dropped his arm and lowered his eyes, all smiles gone. "If you say so..."

In truth, Saelind was starting to get a headache.

After the anger Ami had ignited and the last three people who had gotten up on stage, it was borderline migraine-material: even worse, the fourth person to sing was so tone-deaf that she wanted to check her wine glass for cracks. After receiving several more compliments from the attendees, she decided to sit for a while and scanned the crowd, completely ignoring Mori when he walked over and sat down across from her. She'd seen him earlier, but the ironic part about his costume was that it passed off as a girl's while not looking girly.

He was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, but with a badass crimson cloak that did a good job of covering up the skimpy yellow dress he was wearing beneath it. In the distance, she noticed Tamaki flirting with a large group of cross-dressing girls, making them scream "Kyaa!" and blush madly. To her right, she saw a number of Host Club Attendees swarming the Hitachiin twins, who were dressed up as purple Cheshire girls, and far off to her left she saw Kyouya scanning the crowd like a sentinel.

Looking utterly ridiculous, but not giving a shit either way.

Typical.

However, when a new song came over the speakers, for the first time in a long while, Mori looked directly at her.

And opened his mouth.

"Would you like to dance?" he quietly inquired.

Saelind jumped and stared at him in alarm.

"Um, no..." she retorted flatly, shaking her head. "I don't dance, and plus, you're like King Kong compared to me."

However, when he smirked, she immediately noticed that something was different about his eyes... they were glazed over.

Her heart leapt up her throat when Takeshi Morinozuka stood up and walked around the table with slow, precise movements.

"I won't take no for an answer," he stated firmly, gripping her wrist and roughly pulling the girl to her feet; slipping his hand against the small of her back and leaning close to her with that devilish smirk, he all but purred, "dance with me."

"M-Mori…san?" Saelind whispered, eyes becoming blank as an inexplicable shiver went through her body; the girl continued to shiver when he pulled her out onto the dance floor, but when his hand slid up her side to her shoulder, she froze like marble and squeaked, "b-but I don't know how to dance!"

"Follow my lead, then," Mori whispered, giving her such a wolfish smile that her heart once again leapt up her throat... and not in a good way, either; however, she was actively outraged when he literally spun and swept her off the ground in the process, twirling her in the air with that same devilish smile. However, once he set her down, she was standing on his enormous shoes and she blinked when he started dancing. "See...? It's easy. You're dancing."

"W-w-w-what the heck has gotten into you?" Saelind hissed, staring up at him with huge aquamarine eyes. "Are you a moron?! Just let me go!"

"Never," he purred, bouncing her off his feet and twirling her around like a top; the girl whimpered when the room spun in a dizzying manner, but then she was back on his shoes. Didn't mean her eyes weren't still swirling around though. "Until the finish, we will dance."

"You're scaring me," Saelind stated firmly, making him look at her; she was being dead serious... her face was bone white. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to," he stoically replied, quirking an eyebrow; however, his eyes were still glazed, and that unfamiliar smirk really made her gut feel uneasy. "Haven't you ever wondered why I was dubbed the Wild one of the host club?"

"Eh?" Saelind whispered, eyes going blank as she thought about it; she didn't want to admit it, especially to herself, but he had a good point. He was actually the quietest and gentlest person in the Host Club based on what little she'd seen of him. Ever since that day at the hospital, she'd totally ignored his stares, so she hadn't really ever taken some time to think about why he'd been dubbed the 'wild type.' "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying," Mori stated fiercely, pulling her up against him with a smirk, "that I'm an animal. And I take what I want."

Saelind's heart nearly stopped when he chuckled, because it was only then that she smelled the alcohol on his breath.

"Oh, my God..." she snorted, staring at him in shock. "Are you... drunk?!"

"Am I?" he asked, swaying a little even as he asked. "I don't think so."

"Uh-huh," Saelind muttered, nodding twice before she stomped on his foot and made a beeline towards Kyouya, who quirked an eyebrow when she halted in front of him. "You, buster, have some explaining to do."

"Do I, now?" he inquired, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Mori is drunk, and he's acting all weird," the girl retorted; she got a case of the shivers and her shoulders locked up when she heard the air fill up behind her, and when she turned her head, surely enough... there the oaf was. "See what I mean? He's..."

"Dance with me," the giant chuckled, gripping her shoulder and spinning her around. "Come now, Saelind."

Even Kyouya blinked when he said her name without an honorific, and for a moment, he looked puzzled.

"Odd," he stated, getting up and walking over to the tottering giant. "I've never seen him act this way before. And I'll have you know, I would never serve alcoholic drinks at a school festivity. Not even high quality wines for the adults."

"Then why the hell does his breath smell like alcohol?" the girl grumbled, not even noticing that a certain blond was watching them from across the room. "Seriously!"

"I don't know," Kyouya sighed, then nodded twice, "but we can't have him wandering around if he's inebriated. Mori-san, please come with me."

Blinking, the boy glanced at Saelind with his usual stoic expression before he tottered after the hairy, wannabe magical girl.

Then, feeling disgruntled, Saelind returned to the table and waited for the actual festivity to start.

Her night of bliss was starting to feel more like a big failure.