~Chapter Fourteen~

Beneath the Mask

See who I am!
Break through the silence.
Reach for my hand,
Let's show them that we can
Free your mind and find the way.
The world is in our hands;
This is not the end.

Come into my world;
See through my eyes.

~See Who I Am, by Within Temptation

Disclaimer: Me No Own; You No Sue.

Takashi placed a gentle kiss on my forehead and pulled me closer, hugging me tightly. Shyly, I returned the embrace, wrapping my arms around his waist – the only part of him that I could really reach at the moment. I buried my face in the front of green shirt, which was peeking out from between the flaps of his brown, leather jacket. Smiling, I inhaled the spicy smell of his cologne. We rocked back and forth, slowly; over and over. Just holding each other.

For the first time in a very long while, I was at peace with myself. I knew that it was true because when I was being held in Takashi's arms – I was home. And everyone knows that there's no place quite like home. Right, Dorothy?

Sammy's P.O.V.

I dragged my heavy body through the Host Club, willing my tired feet to make it to our final destination. And just so we're all on the same page, I am not referring to the movie of the same name – you know, the one where everyone seems to kick the bucket? Yeah, that one! I don't plan to be casted in one of those films any time soon.

I'm weird, not suicidal.

Of course, my actual destination may very well result in my unfortunate, untimely, and imminent death. One might ask why I believed this to be true and I might feel inclined to answer that it is because I am not actually allowed to be here right now. Perhaps it even has something to do with the fact that I accidentally killed Kyoya's brand new iPad last weekend during the 'Kite Catastrophe,' which I relate with capitals because it is now considered a national holiday in seven countries. Mark it on your calendar.

Needless to say, Steve hates my guts…and my sexy good looks.

Consequentially, he banned me from the Third Music Room. I have yet to figure out why the silly boy thinks that I consider this to be a punishment. It's not like I ever willingly arrive in this room anyway. Yes, I am aware that I am in the Third Music Room, but one must understand that my brothers threatened me – if I didn't make a surprise visit today, I would have been forced into a pink sundress…with frills. While I will admit that what I am wearing right now is almost as bad, it is nothing compared to being dressed like one of Barbie's little sisters. My name is Sammy, not Stacy or Skipper.

"Sammy-chan~!" the Twins cheered happily. "You made it."

And there is the source of my problems! I twitched – somewhat spastically, I might add – before I regained control of my nervous system. Stupid boys are trying to ruin my life!

"Yes, my darling brothers. I have come to visit you, per your request. Not that I could have stayed away from you for very long," I chirped, smiling sweetly at my younger siblings.

The two girls that had requested them squealed a bunch of nonsense about how cute the three of us were when we interacted, just as I'd predicted they would. One fainted after the other mentioned that their favorite Twincest pair now incorporated a dash of forbidden female incest. Her friend giggled and fanned herself as she continued ranting about the risk of my getting pregnant with the Twins' love children – at the same time.

I bit back an amused snort. Is that even possible? Hmm… Let's find out, shall we?

My innocent smile widened and I scampered over to the Twins. My first action was to place a kiss on Kaoru's left cheek and, shortly after that, I hugged Hikaru. This ensured that their faces were being pressed against my sides and under my forearms, the latter of which I was currently using to squeeze the life out of 'em. Trying to rid the world of their manipulative, conniving, and downright evil ways…

Both boys paled and laughed nervously – they knew that my smile and actions were only sweet in appearance. In all actuality, I was trying to suppress the black flames of rage that were burning away at the bottoms of my Japanese sandals. The miserable wretches (the shoes, not the boys) had given me blisters on my feet. Hurt like a bitch. And this kimono wasn't exactly my preferred form of clothing either; too long and way too girly.

Speaking of girly…

One canary giggled to herself. "I was hoping that the two of you would wear the same yukatas in today's cosplay!" Her hands were folded delicately in her lap and she was making Bambi eyes at my youngest brother.

The other tugged at one of her purple hair bows and cooed, "And your older sister is so sweet! I was led to believe that she was a bit of a nightmare, but here she is – holding your hands and caring for the two of you!"

…a nightmare? A bullet whistled threw the air and tore into my heart. I know that it's only a rumor, but…that really hurts. I felt my heart slowly begin crack under the pressure of my doubts; disintegrating. No amount of glue would be able to prevent what was about to happen – of that, I was certain.

Am I really that bad of a person?

"All of the yukatas that you see today were actually designed for us by our mother," Hikaru said, easily distracting the girls by focusing on their cosplay. "If you wish, we are willing to take any orders you might have for them."

Bambi squealed and nudged her friend in the ribs; both agreed with one another. "We'd definitely like that, Kaoru-kun!" the two girls cheered.

Hikaru flinched slightly at being named incorrectly, but it was almost imperceptible to the human eye. In fact, his brother and I were probably the only ones that had noticed the faint dimming of his golden eyes. I knew that it still hurt them both very much that no one other than myself could decipher the differences between the two boys. Not that either of them would ever admit it.

In an effort to comfort his brother, Kaoru cheerfully added, "We had a bit of trouble dressing ourselves though, so our Grandmother was the one to put them on us!"

Golden eyes lit up in response. "And it is my duty to take them off, right? Kaoru…" Hikaru purred into his ear.

And what a miraculous recovery! Hikaru passes the ball to Kaoru, who quickly responds with –

"Hikaru! Saying that in front of these girls is so embarrassing!" he whimpered, blushing lightly as his older brother cupped his chin in his hands. "…Hikaru!"

"Please let us see!" Begging, they were honestly begging… "We must! It is our duty, as ladies!"

Touchdown! I thought, somewhat sadly. Those girls didn't even notice that the Twins purposely named each other. Neither of them noticed their mistakes. Meine armen Brüder…

"Fooling around again, eh?" Haruhi mumbled to herself as she watched the hugging boys.

My heart skipped a beat as I realized something that none of us had considered – Haruhi is observant. She might be able to differentiate between them soon, as well! Maybe I should ask her…?

However, I didn't get the chance to speak with Haruhi because two of her customers crept forward to shyly comment on her traditional attire. When they mentioned that she resembled a young girl, I could not keep myself from sweatdropping. These girls were so dimwitted! For God's sake – I was a ditz, and I could tell that she was a girl.

After the girls had chosen to pester Kyoya for a new photo collection, my brothers edged over to the screen separating their areas and inquired after the profit that the evil Schatten König had acquired. Apparently, the new merchandise was rather poor and recent sales were mediocre at best. What really scared me, however, was the fact that Kyoya didn't appear worried in the least. It was as though the creep knew that things were about to change; drastically.

Of course, if one were to consider the person we were speaking of, well…that was entirely possible. He was totally psycho, er – I mean, psychic! Like Shawn Spencer.

I ducked as Kyoya scanned the room, mentally documenting the whereabouts of his friends. Luck was on my side; the Twins continued to pester him, so I managed to scurry away to another corner of the large room before my unwelcome presence had been noted. I dodged the flock of canaries that had migrated to Tamaki's table – all of them preening at his attention – and happily seated myself under an empty table, taking the chance to hide from Steve. After all, I had absolutely no desire to incur the wrath of Darth Vader. No Revenge of the Sith for me, man!

"What on Earth…"

"…are you doing now?"

I blinked up at my brothers and offered them a sheepish grin. "Um… I am attempting to dig a tunnel to China, but it appears to be impossible," I slowly admitted. "Although, it might be a bit easier if I were one of those little meerkats from Discovery Channel."

"You don't say…" Hikaru drawled, one brow quirked as he and his brother crawled under the table to sit with me. "Well, that's good and all, but I do have one question –"

"'Hit me with your best shot~!" I sang, belting the words into his face. "'Fire away~!"

"…thank you, Pat Benatar," Kaoru muttered under his breath, wincing as I hit a particularly high note in my musical remake.

That was kinda rude, now that I think about it. Honestly, I'm no Justin Bieber, but I like to think that I can carry a tune – with or without a handle.

Undeterred, Hikaru continued, "Where are your excavation tools?" The silly boy actually started searching under the carpet for them, as if expecting them to exist or some such nonsense. Ridiculous.

"I was using a spoon, but I seem to have misplaced it," I murmured, tapping my lip in thought before I hesitantly peeked down the collar of my t-shirt, which was decorated with red, white, and blue stars; very patriotic. "Nope. Not in there…"

My brothers exchanged glances, wary of what was to come. "And why were you using a spoon?"

"Because it'll hurt more," I announced with a dramatic accent.

God, I love that movie… Inwardly, I proceeded to have a fangasm. Robin Hood: Men in Tights rocks my sox! Especially the yellow ones with the little penguins on 'em.

The Twins sweatdropped. "Right…"

We were silent for a moment, and then – "Wanna build a blanket fort with me?" I cheerfully inquired.

Neither was given the chance to answer because Haruhi suddenly bumped into Kaoru, almost knocking him over in her haste to escape the teary fangirls – all of which had gathered around my boyfriend. Well, unofficially. Takashi hadn't actually asked me to be his girlfriend…yet.

Haruhi grunted, rubbing her shoulder as she demanded, "How do you Hosts manage to cry on demand like this? It's insane!" She paused, staring at the floor in shock, and deadpanned, "…so this is the reason."

I wrapped my arms around her tiny waist and set my chin on her shoulder, wanting to see what it was that she had picked up. The small object was simple in design; it was made of a green glass. Sparkly~! No…! Must concentrate. My head cocked to the side as I focused on the label, beyond amused when I read that the bottle contained premium eye drops. Bit my lip in an attempt to keep from laughing. It did not work.

"Let me say this in our defense," Kaoru nervously began. His smile was somewhat coy as he explained the use of eye drops was a common practice among Host Clubs worldwide.

There are more of these crazy clubs? Blanching, as I realized what that meant for gender equality. Really need to rent a few girls from Lobelia to keep the scales from tipping too far in the boys' direction.

Hikaru was not as embarrassed as his younger brother. "Women are such suckers for sensitive men!" he crowed, golden eyes glittering with glee.

Scowling, I poked him in the cheek, as if this would cause him to repent his sins; being a sexist pig was just one of his many offenses. The cheeky little twit patted me on the head, while his doppelgänger smirked at me. Oddly enough, I wasn't too terribly mad at the fact that they were speaking and acting in such a demeaning manner. Instead, I found myself smiling at the sudden attention that I was being shown. I was happy – until Haruhi stole the spotlight, that is.

In an attempt to coerce their way back into Haruhi's good graces, the Twins handed her one of the special sweets – shaped like a pumpkin – that had been ordered for today's hosting session. My lips curled into a smirk because I knew that the younger girl wasn't very fond of them; she preferred seafood. That smirk promptly fell off my face and I stared at her, stunned, as she happily accepted the sugary treat. Hikaru and Kaoru – my brothers – immediately grinned at her expression, declaring the entire situation to be too cute for words.

I was jealous – and of my best friend, at that! The evil Homunculus that is Envy was slowly eating away at my stomach contents; although, that might very well be a bad case of indigestion… Those sweets had a little too much cinnamon in them to be good for my digestive tract. But I will admit it: I was envious of little Haruhi, especially since the Host King and his minions were now cooing over her, as well.

I felt small and insignificant, like an annoyed Edward Elric. But, as my favorite alchemist once said, "Who are you calling 'pipsqueak?' You know, I'd be tall too in heels!"

Everything was silent – never a good sign – so I chanced a look upwards, wondering what had happened to quell the chaos that was the Host Club. Standing at the large doors leading into the club room was a small girl with dirty blonde hair. She was clinging to the marble wall and staring into the room with an odd expression on her face – almost as if we were a disappointment or something. I frowned in thought, trying to remember where I had seen her face.

My gaze shifted to where I knew the omnipotent Steve was lurking in the shadows. I wonder…is it possible that the two of them know each other?

My brothers slipped away from the other Hosts and in the direction of the petite girl. They entangled themselves around each other, drifting into Twincest Tempest mode as they each offered the girl a red rose, urging her to enter the Ninth Level of Hell. Correction: the Host Club. I personally prefer the former, but you can decide; I'm not picky. Usually.

But, back to the simpering girl…

The stranger was currently blushing and stammering at their collected attempts to lure her into their lair. I rolled my blue eyes, thinking to myself, Yay! Another airhead. God, I hate her already… And then she shoved a trembling finger in Tamaki's face and declared him to be a phony. I take it back; love her! Countless arrows were lodged within the tender flesh of the fickle Frenchman, each bearing the words: fool, narcissist, and even commoner! Delighted; I was absolutely delighted. And I was filled with awe at such accurate name-calling. Marry me, nameless stranger…!

After Tamaki had fainted – and copyrighted the solo slow motion – the presence of his evil classmate became known to the likes of the Nameless One. Her lips parted in shock as she gazed openly at his face. Hazel eyes lit up with recognition and she cried, "Kyoya-sama~!" before gracefully diving into his arms. The rest of us stared stupidly at the scene, everyone undoubtedly thinking the same thing: Say what?

We all lazily seated ourselves on the sofas, waiting for explanation. Steve refused to give one, so we listened as Miss Renge related their romantic interactions. She claimed that it was love at first sight – for her, at least. Apparently, the Shadow King has such a large heart that he chose to spend the majority of his spare time caring for wilting flowers and injured stray cats.

The Twins were rightfully wondering – "Who the hell is she talking about?"

I shrugged, not really knowing the answer to their question. I personally believed her to be delusional; however, it wasn't my place to go spitting such venomous words at the new girl. After all, I'd already been a victim of that bit of nonsense. Been there; done that. I even got a free T-Shirt!

"I could never be wrong!" Renge haughtily declared with her nose in the air. "He is such a nice person. And he never asks for anything in return!" Her face was glowing with adoration – for the egoist, of all people.

What a poor, unfortunate soul. I thought dryly. She is so gonna die at the hands of the merciless Shadow King, even if he's right and she is hallucinating. Or fantasizing. Role-playing…? Eh, whatever.

Thus, it really came as no great surprise when we found ourselves in the Third Music Room the very next day, at the mercy of our new 'manager.' Simply stated, Renge was wreaking havoc. Firstly, the girl had tried to poison poor Mitsukuni with her burnt cookies, which could have easily been classified as a concealed weapon of some sorts. On school grounds, too! Shame on her. Secondly, Renge had chased a panicked Takashi around the room after he'd successfully managed to rescue his dying cousin. And last, but certainly not least…

She snapped; completely lost her marbles. And all over a glass of milk! Come on – it wasn't as if it whad been spilled or anything! So why was the crazy girl in such a rotten mood all of the sudden, eh? I mean, other than the fact that she was French… Damn, bipolar bunch of people, if you ask me. Of course, I was American, so that might have something to do with it, too. Smiley face.

"Other than Kyoya-sama, your characterization is simply not good enough! Mediocre!" Renge snarled, pointing an accusatory finger at Tamaki, the Fake Prince. "Every member of this club lacks a dark, shadowy side."

On an on… Maiden this, and maiden that. Kyoya this, and Kyoya that. I felt like I was guest starring on an episode of Peanuts. The only sound that I could actually hear coming from her mouth was Wa-wa-wa. So it should be expected that I quickly chose to tune her out. Instead of listening to her useless gibberish, I dug my black iPod from within the depths of my kimono. After I had set the thin device on shuffle, I stuck the buds in my ears, which effectively eradicated the sounds of her nasally whining.

I was jamming to You Make Me Feel by Cobra Starship – and by jamming, I mean dancing provocatively and singing along with the song under my breath – when I realized that everyone was staring at me with uneasy expressions. Was my dancing really that scary?

"…may I help you, gentlemen?"

A very evil smile crawled across her lips as Renge said, "You, my dear, do not need a shadowy side."

Her brown eyes had darkened, almost to the point that they appeared black; demonic. She looked like a monster – a cannibalistic monster.

I sincerely hoped that I wasn't on the menu.

"You are a worthless cause. There is no need to change your character because it already reeks of darkness," Renge breathed. She watched me carefully, gauging my reaction before she declared, "The jokes and the pranks, everything that you are now… All of it is a lie!"

My breath caught in my throat. That's not possible! How…?

"You are wondering how I came to know this," Renge stated, rather than asked. "It's really quite simple: I can see right through you."

The words were stuck, not even passing from my frenzied thoughts and to my gaping mouth. I felt as though someone had flipped a switch in my brain; on to off. As if I'd been paralyzed with fear. My entire body was frozen, practically numb with the realization that someone – a complete stranger – had seen through my façade. Someone had stripped me of my costume, ripped away my mask. The glass heart that I had fought so hard to hide, to protect…

It shattered.

***Author's Note***

And now, we get to the part of the story that reflects Sammy's past. In other words - "Picking Up the Pieces." :D But it will continue to be a humorous story, just with a bit of angst/drama tossed in for good measure!

By the way, don't forget to check out that picture that I mentioned was on DeviantART. Just go there, type 'Shadowsammy' in the box, and visit my profile. The picture is called "OHSHC: Picking Up the Pieces" and it's on the left side of the page, towards the middle. Please tell me what you think of it, okay?

Thanks for reading! ;)