~Chapter Twenty-Four~

Just Keep Swimming

Don't want to be the one to walk away,
But I can't bear the thought of one more day.
I think I finally understand what it means to be lost.

Cross the oceans in my mind;
Find the strength to say, "Goodbye."
In the end, you can never wash the blood from your hands.

~Oceans, by Evanescence

Disclaimer: Me No Own; You No Sue.

"Fine," Kiki immediately agreed, smirking evilly as she continued, "You can try, but you better make it worth my while, rich boy. Or else I call the cops and tell 'em that you've been trespassing on my property."

That was mistake number two. If one wished to remain amongst the living, one must never, ever threaten Kyoya! He had a nasty tendency to retaliate, and he liked to bite – hard. Damn, poisonous snake…

"As you wish," Kyoya murmured and bowed, effectively hiding the (please insert: really pissed off) expression on his pale face.

And with those three, simple words, our fates were sealed.

Sammy's P.O.V.

During the time spent riding in the long, white limousine belonging to one Suoh Tamaki, I began to question my sanity. It was starting to itch; thus, it clearly wanted attention. I pretended to be Officer Jenny, and then proceeded into the nearest interrogation room. The lights flickered dangerously, but I continued to stare at the object commonly referred to as my brain. I poked it, and prodded it, and ultimately flayed it with a rusty spoon. After a several minutes and one sugar cookie later, I came to this conclusion: I was a fucking lunatic.

Yes, I'm well aware of the fact that many of you in this courtroom might be staring at me in amazement, and all of you are probably thinking to yourselves – It's about damn time that she noticed! (And I would like to inform you that you're all very mean people. Sniff.)

But, in my defense, your honor, this particular incident took the cake. It topped everything that I had done up to this point in time. I happened to ask my darling Steve where exactly it was that he was taking his little dog, Blue, on their vacation. He smiled mysteriously, adjusted his creepy glasses, and said only that it was a park belonging to his family. I continued to pester him, and he finally admitted that it was a theme park – one that involved lots, and lots, and lots of water.

I hated water. Actually, that's a bit of an understatement… I absolutely abhorred water – and with good reason! You see, water hated me, as well.

But that's a story for another time...

"Where are we?"

That was a very good question – one that I did not currently have the answer to. All I knew was that the two of us were trapped in some alternate reality. Like Alice in Wonderland. And, if one wanted to be picky about the matter and argue the point with me, I would promptly point them in the direction of Mitsukuni, the Bearer of the Bunny. Not to be confused with Frodo, the Ringbearer. The White Rabbit carried a pocket watch, and it did not talk.

I smiled happily, patted her on the head, and deadpanned, "…Hell on Earth."

But my nonchalant answer was lost in the echoes of countless tropical bird cries. And the incessant chattering of our favorite Host King did nothing to help matters any. Thankfully, Tamaki had chosen to ignore my presence altogether in favor of targeting another victim: Haruhi. He crept up behind the small brunette and placed a hand on her shoulder; in response, Haruhi frowned up at him in disapproval.

"Behold the wonders of this beautiful park, Haruhi!" Tamaki cried. He struck a pose, pointing towards the trees. "There are so many tropical birds here! And such beauties, they are." He paused, and then stupidly added, "I wonder what they're called…"

"…right." Haruhi sweatdropped, muttering, "And where was the exit located again?"

"Exit, exit, exit…" I tapped my chin in thought. "Oh!" Snapping my fingers and gleefully inquiring, "Do you mean to tell me that you're looking for the esc-a-pay?"

The younger girl stared at me with a blank expression on her face. Clearly, she did not understand the reference, which had been marked as one of the most popular lines from an animated movie this decade. According to the internet – and my own wicked sense of humor, that is! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a crying shame! Who in here hasn't seen the wonderful masterpiece that is Finding Nemo, my friends?

…chirp.

Oh, shut up, you damn crickets!

"What are you talking about this time, Sammy-chan?" she demanded sourly, as if I made these stupid jokes all the damn time. Which, in fact, I did! Woohoo~!

As a means of explanation, I cheerfully quoted Dory from the movie, "'It's funny, but it's spelled just like escape!'" And then, I attempted to translate the words into whale. I failed.

Haruhi facepalmed. "Why do I even bother asking you to explain yourself anymore? You'd think that I would have learned the first three hundred times not to question your bouts of obvious insanity," she mumbled, groaning quietly to herself.

"The voices in my head would like to thank you for the compliment," I drawled, solely in response to the part about my insanity. We were all in agreement, it seemed – I was clinically insane.

Suddenly, a small wave of water lapped over my feet, and I jerked back in surprise. It wasn't cold. In fact, it was felt rather nice – warm and inviting. But I still wanted absolutely nothing to do with it, so I quickly shuffled away. The water also receded, returning to the grasp of the large swimming pool. I glared at the evil entity from a safe distance – approximately twenty feet – and quietly cursed it in every language that I could fluently speak. Unfortunately, this did nothing to deter its movements. The waves merely returned and lapped over my feet once more.

Verdammt! Dumm Wasser – just leave me the fuck alone!

"Problems, Miss Steel?" Kyoya called, waving at me from his spot near the poolside.

For some strange reason, I feel as though this has been planned… I scowled. My blue eyes narrowed at the Shadow King, watching him warily as he reclined in his leisure chair. And I do not like it one…damn…bit!

A small hand wrapped itself around my wrist, so I turned to face my best friend with a curious expression. "…yes?"

"Don't listen to him," Haruhi murmured, nodding discreetly in his direction. "He may be sitting there like some sort of king, but I guarantee that he has his own share of fears. And it's not very nice of him to make fun of yours, either."

My face drained of any and all color. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Haruhi-chan," I said and, with a fake smile plastered on my face, moved farther away from her eagle eyes. Damn her for being so observant!

The brunette watched me walk away for a moment, before turning her attention to our surroundings once more. She cast a quick, thoughtful glance around the area, probably noting the warm water, rare birds, and tropical trees. Upon determining that she was still unaware of her current whereabouts, her shoulders sagged in defeat.

Finally, Haruhi groaned in annoyance and asked, "Above all else, I'd like to know this – where exactly are we, Kyoya-senpai?"

"Ah, yes," Kyoya murmured, taking an exaggerated sip of his fruit juice, before stating, "This is actually a theme park operated by the Ootori group." He smiled like a shark – fish are friends, not food, Kyoya! "It's referred to as the Tropical Aqua Garden."

To an outsider, it might have appeared as though the Shadow King were answering Haruhi; however, his gray eyes were focused solely on the sight of our mutual friend. Kiki remained oblivious to this attention, as she was listening to her yellow MP3 player and staring off into space. She bobbed her head in time to the beat and drummed her long, slender fingers on the edge of the table. If I were to take a guess, I'd say that she was listening to Super Bass, by Nicki Minaj. The vulgarity of the song would appeal to her, at any rate.

An aggravated sigh escaped from between his lips, and Kyouya snapped, "Would you please stop doing that? It makes a most annoying sound!"

Kiki slowly removed her fingers from the tabletop. Her amethyst eyes stared straight into his pair of angry, gray ones, watching him with obvious interest. It was almost as though the younger girl was a scientist. Thus, Kyoya was clearly the unsuspecting lab rat in her science experiment, and he was sniffing after a piece of cheese that had been hidden away at the end of the labyrinth.

Or, perhaps he was sniffing after Kiki? Hmm… Say it with me now: Weird Science!

With a lazy smile, the younger girl turned her attention to her cuticles. She examined them, twisting them this way and that, as she politely inquired, "Oh, dear. Am I bothering you, sir?"

He must have recognized the jibe because Kyoya clenched his jaw, darkly muttering, "Of all the women in this world for me to be indebted to…"

"That's right, rich boy!" Kiki crowed triumphantly, pointing at the security tape sitting in her beach tote with a wide smile. Supposedly, the footage on that tape served as her means of blackmail. "Read 'em, and weep!"

Haruhi rolled her tawny eyes at the bratty nature of her friend. "Speaking of riches…" She glanced at the older male in curiosity. "Why is it that your family owns this place, Kyoya-senpai? I could have sworn that your family was in the medical business!"

I immediately lost interest in the conversation, seeing as the three of them were now in a heated debate about diversity and all of its glorious benefits. As a rich girl, I should have stayed seated and made a few noteworthy points, mentioned the family business, and smiled prettily at the handsome heir to the Ootori bloodline. It was expected of me. But frankly, I didn't give a damn.

Instead, I made my way over to the manmade pool. I sat down about ten feet away from the edge of the water to ensure that I was a relatively safe distance away from its reach. It was bad enough that the freakin' water had already touched my poor, innocent feet – they'd been corrupted! And now, I would have to burn them at the stake. Burn, baby, burn…!

I shook my head, exasperated with my own train of thought, which had obviously derailed at some point in time. "Wow, I really need to stop watching all of those Stephen King movies before going to bed…"

A bit of ocean spray washed over my feet, and I pulled them back, staring at them in disgust. I sat up and tucked them underneath my butt, as a safety measure. In any case, I did not want a Tentacruel to mysteriously pop out of the water and drag me into the dark depths of the artificial ocean with the aid of its sticky tentacles. That would just suck! No pun intended…

"Aren't you going to join them?" Kotoko asked curiously, motioning with a small hand towards four individuals – Takashi, Mitsukuni, and my brothers – all of whom were frolicking happily in the water.

"No, I don't think so," I said, before shaking my head. As both a response, and a means to clear my head of morbid thoughts, like being eaten by giant water Pokémon. "The water is a bit too cold for my tastes…"

Green eyes observed me with barely concealed amusement. "I see…"

My gut twisted uncomfortably, and I squirmed under her bold stare. Something told me that Kotoko saw more about others than most people gave her credit for. Her emerald eyes, her strong, unwavering gaze, and her wit were all sharper than the edge of a newly forged blade. In fact, there were many times that I felt threatened by her intellect – and that did not happen very often. On the contrary, most people actually found it difficult to keep up with my jokes and lengthy responses.

Only Caleb, Kotoko, Kiki, and the members of the Host Club could read between the lines and decipher the hidden meanings in my words. And I was grateful for such an understanding group of friends. I really was so very, very grateful.

Two loud, surprised cries of – "Oi, Sammy-chan!" and "Watch out, onee-chan!" reached my ears, and not a moment too soon. A large, and oddly shaped, black mass was heading straight for my head. Another cry of "Incoming!" bounced off the walls of the dome, echoing eerily in the midst of the chaos. Remembering the Frisbee incident in the park, I swallowed nervously and ducked out of the way. Whatever it was, it missed me.

Kotoko, however, was not so lucky. She'd been reading a chapter in what appeared to be a cheap, corny romance novel at the time. The older girl was lost in the words; her cheeks were flushed pink, lips twisted upwards in smile as she read through the steamy content. She didn't hear the various people shouting warnings at each other to duck away from the projectile. The heavy fruit, which appeared to have previously belonged to a coconut tree, was now firmly imbedded in her abdomen.

I winced in sympathy. Oh… That had to have hurt! Poor Kotoko!

Before I could even stand up and run the eight feet to her side, a blur of blonde hair and yellow swim trunks zipped by. Mitsukuni practically blew my doors off in order to reach her. I watched in amazement as the older male fretted over our injured classmate, poking at her stomach and checking for injuries. He wanted to know if she needed medical attention. Kotoko wore a dazed expression, but it appeared as though she was going to live; she told him as much. Even so, Mitsukuni continued to flutter about her prone form, wringing his hands to release a bit of nervous tension.

It was cute. Made me wanna puke, though.

"Would you like something to drink, Ko-chan? It might make you feel better," Mitsukuni suggested.

"Oh, that sounds nice," she said, wincing as her voice cracked in the middle of the sentence. The older girl cleared her throat – once, twice, and then sorely muttered, "…ouch."

Kotoko tried to sit up in order to retrieve her drink, but Mitsukuni immediately forced her to recline again. He scolded her gently, exclaiming, "You should take it easy, or else you might get sick!"

"But…" Kotoko trailed off at the sight of his serious brown eyes, probably realizing how rarely the older male wore such an expression. After a moment, the girl nodded. "Fine. I shall do as you wish, Honey-kun."

The small senior smiled, asking which beverage she preferred to drink, before bouncing over to Haruhi. He clung to her shoulders. "Hey, Haru-chan!" he cried, "Would you like to drink some coconut juice with us?"

"Sure. That would be great." With a small smile on her face, Haruhi watched her senpai twirl away. "He's such a sweet little guy, isn't he?"

Snort. Cough. Hack. Excuse me, I seem to be choking on my own spit.

"Yeah, as sweet as a barrel of candied apples, and just about as healthy, too," I muttered sarcastically, rolling my eyes at the thought of all the potential cavities from eating said treats – or dating Mitsukuni.

Haruhi sweatdropped. "You know, that's a scarily accurate simile. And, now that you mention it, Honey-senpai does appear to have a bit of a dark side…"

Our friend, it seemed, thought differently. She appeared to worship the ground that his tiny feet walked on. Her green eyes had widened almost comically as she followed the progress of our classmate across the pavement – Mitsukuni was bouncing around in a playful manner, but one could easily see the muscles rippling through his small frame as he did so. He also appeared taller for some strange reason; stronger and older, too.

I instantly stilled, thinking to myself: Manipulative bastard! He planned this, didn't he?

"Oh, my," Kotoko breathed in awe, fanning her flushed cheeks with her beloved novel, the cause of all her misery. "I'm in love!"

Apparently, the romance book really had gone to her head! Either that or she'd managed to kill a few brain cells when the coconut knocked her backwards and into the dirt. Haruhi and I exchanged looks, and it amused me to no end that the two of us shared the same deadpanned expression. Neither one of us was interested in boy talk, so we promptly pointed her in the direction of the local love guru, Kiki. She might have been a tomboy, but that girl loved to talk about boys. And sex.

Speaking of which, my brothers were now bothering Haruhi. But that was nothing out of the normal. Thus, I proposed formally changing her name to Haruhi the Harassed! She declined, but only after giving me a dark, irritated look that promised unimaginable pain should I continue speaking. It sent me scurrying away and towards my wonderfully protective boyfriend.

I skipped over to the edge of the pool. The waves were only a foot away from my feet, both of which were still, poised, and ready to beat a hasty retreat. Yes, I was closer to the water. But my sudden bravery was for one reason and one reason only – Takashi was standing there, vigilant, as he watched over the other members of Host Club. Sometimes, I wondered if others were even aware of the attention; the lot of them seemed to think that he only cared to watch after the safety of his cousin.

But I knew better. Takashi was a sweet guy, and he loved his friends. The older male was paying close attention to all nine of us, ready to jump in and save us at a moment's notice. It was strangely comforting to know that he was so attentive.

"Hey, sweetheart…"

A warm hand on my shoulder drew my attention upwards. My blue gaze instinctively sought a pair of kind, gray eyes, knowing that the hand belonged to my boyfriend. I raked my eyes over his form, unknowingly releasing a small, husky sound of approval. He was wearing a pair of navy colored swim trunks, the color of which brought out the tiny flecks of green present in his dark eyes. But other than the simple pair of shorts, Takashi wore no clothing. I found myself staring at his strong and muscular body with rapt attention. Damn, he was sexy!

Wow… I stupidly thought to myself, transfixed at the sight. Does anyone have a camera on hand? Because this is a total Kodak moment!

Takashi quietly coughed into his fist, alerting me to his continued presence. My eyes reluctantly flickered back up to his angular face. He wore a crooked smile upon his lips, one that was clearly laced with amusement. I stared at him for a minute, twitching at the sight of such an arrogant smirk on his face. Obviously, my boyfriend was rather pleased with my response. I glowered up at him, silently daring him to say anything in regards to the pink dusting my cheeks, or my defensive posture.

Begin the countdown! Activating evil glare of doom in ten…nine…eight…!

You know, most people would have backed off at the sight of such a vicious glare, but Takashi didn't even flinch. My boyfriend was a brave soul. Or else, he was an idiot. Not quite sure which one was more accurate at the moment.

Takashi bent down and placed his mouth against my ear, brushing his lips over the rim. "Like what you see?" he whispered, moving his lips downwards and over the side of my face.

I shivered at the sensation of his warm lips pressing kisses against my clammy skin. "Er, well, yes…" I stuttered. My lips twitched nervously as I tried to think of what else to say. "Uh…"

He leaned forward and brushed a finger over my trembling lips. "…yes?"

Blushing in embarrassment, I mumbled something about him invading my personal space and halfheartedly shoved at his chest; it wasn't as though I could really move him, anyway. Takashi obediently backed up a step, but only to stare down at me with dark eyes. A foreign emotion flickered in their depths. His eyes wandered over my form, taking note of my bikini, which had been designed for me by Hikaru and Kaoru – it was black and there were a multitude of skulls placed on the black cloth in a crisscrossing pattern.

Earlier, Haruhi and I had been cornered by Tamaki. We were both ordered to cover ourselves with more sensible clothing, like obscenely yellow parkas. I'd happily refused to wear any clothing over the swimsuit, if only to grate on his nerves – Tamaki was furious. Standing before my boyfriend in nothing but a bikini, though, was another matter entirely. I was beginning to regret that decision.

Thankfully, the younger boys had seen to it that my more feminine areas were appropriately covered; the bikini was modest. And yet, Takashi was still staring down at me with that smug smirk plastered on his lips.

"Well, I like your attire, sweetheart," Takashi purred, gray eyes dancing as he stepped closer and playfully plucked at one of my bikini straps. "I should probably thank your brothers for that…"

A jolt of electricity zipped through my body and settled in the pit of my stomach. With an audible snap, my mouth dropped open, and I stared up at him, dumfounded. The only thought that crossed my mind was – what…the…fuck? My boyfriend grinned wolfishly, gazing down at me as though I were a dish on his dinner menu. And the Big Bad Wolf appeared to be very, very hungry.

"Swimming does work up an appetite," he mused, almost in consideration.

Oh, shit…! Instead of blushing, I began to panic. Crap! I said all of that out loud! Somebody save me~!

Alarm bells were blaring in the dusty, unused corners of my mind. I vaguely recalled a few words of warning from Mitsukuni. He'd said that his younger cousin was a bit of a flirt, but I found that hard to believe. And I'd told him so. Still, the blonde insisted that it was true. It was something in regards to the Wild Type, its meaning, and how Takashi came upon that particular name. Now, what was it again?

I drew a blank. Oh, well. It couldn't have been too terribly bad, or else I would have already witnessed it, right? And Mitsukuni would have told me if it was dangerous – whatever it was that I was forgetting, I mean. Thus, I shrugged it off as relatively unimportant.

"That is not good enough! No… It must be understood properly!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Renge had appeared, probably with the aid of her mechanical gizmo. She was ranting and raving about a lack of character depth, which irked me; it brought up a few rather painful memories. I edged behind Takashi, praying that she hadn't noticed my presence yet. My boyfriend placed a strong arm around my waist and began to play with one of the ruffles on the side of my bikini bottom. Shocked, I fought to remove myself from his hold, but he only grinned down at me and tightened his grip.

"Hey!" I squeaked out a timid protest and tried to rip his hands away from my waist, but to no avail. "Do you, er, think that you can let go of me now?" Wiggle, wiggle. "This is a little uncomfortable!"

Takashi nuzzled my hair, inhaling deeply and grumpily muttering, "I don't wanna…"

My eyes were practically the size of dinner plates as I mentally repeated those last words to myself. He was…was…whining! I couldn't believe it – he was actually whining over the fact that I wanted to be released. I mean, Takashi was so mature! He did not – under any circumstances – stoop to such a low level! That was his cousin's job, dammit! So what the hell was up with my respectable, honorable, and positively stoic boyfriend?

"Oh, Mori-senpai! There you are," Haruhi cheerfully called over to the older male.

Takashi blinked slowly the sound of her voice, as if it were hard for him to follow the sudden change in conversation. "Ah…" he murmured sluggishly. "What do you need?"

"I've been looking everywhere for you." Tawny eyes flickered towards his hands, noting their proximity to certain places that were not meant to be touched in public places. "And…" She smiled up at him. "…Honey-senpai wants a swimming partner, so I offered to find you."

Oh, thank God! Having noticed my predicament, Haruhi had come to my rescue! I shall forever be in your debt, o' savior…

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I muttered the mantra at the speed of light. Thanked my lucky stars that someone was there to prevent my boyfriend from molesting me in public.

Haruhi grinned, eyes twinkling mischievously as she inquired, "So, I take it that the two of you haven't progressed that far in your relationship as of yet?"

I stared down at her, horrified. "Are you freakin' kidding me? We've only been dating for two weeks! Being raised in the States doesn't automatically make me a whore, you know!" My nose scrunched up in distaste.

"Yeah, I know…" Haruhi laughed in amusement, before quieting suddenly. She didn't look at me, and her voice was soft as she whispered, "Do you want to marry him?"

It was a foreign concept, considering that I wasn't raised in this country. I understood their customs, understood that many couples married at a young age, understood that it was expected for the children of rich families to provide at least one heir. But for me to even be considering marriage at such a young age – it was crazy! As I'd just said, Takashi and I had only been dating for two weeks, and we had known each other for just a little over four months. And we were still in high school!

Haruhi raised an expectant eyebrow in my direction. "Are you going to answer me, or are you just going to continue standing there with that constipated look on your face?"

That was a disturbing question, and that last option was also a pretty disturbing concept, but I would have to say – standing here with a constipated look on my face! Yep. No doubt about it.

"Who in their right mind would ever want to participate in such a stupid, immature, and childish game?" Tamaki snapped, pointing a trembling finger at my younger brothers.

Without a thought for the consequences, I raised my hand and waved it in the air. "Oh! Me, me, me!" I jumped up and down in excitement, all the while wondering what it was that I was volunteering for. "Pick me!"

The Host King made a face, much like that constipated expression I'd been wearing only seconds before. He grumbled to himself, "And that is my point exactly…"

Hikaru scowled at the upperclassman, muttering about a distinct lack of excitement in the club as of late. I gestured to Haruhi with exaggerated motions. Kaoru immediately noticed the two of us standing a few feet behind Tamaki, and he tapped his older brother on the shoulder. The two boys were ecstatic at the prospect of successfully luring their prey into a trap. With a quick glance at each other, the Twins moved forward and wrapped their skinny arms around my best friend. Their smirks were wide, unrestrained, and brimming with mischief.

"Oh, Haruhi~! I think that the three of us should get married," Hikaru exclaimed, barely managing to keep a straight face as he added, "Immediately!"

I twitched. Again with the mentioning of marriage! Come on, guys! We're only high school students!

"We can spend our honeymoon in Atami!" Kaoru pointed out, biting his lip and giggling at the very idea. Them, and a girl – on a honeymoon? Ha! "I hear that it's rather nice there this time of year, too…"

My twitching evolved into what could only be classified as an epileptic fit. Oddly enough, it hadn't even crossed my mind that spending a honeymoon with my spouse would immediately follow my marriage to that person. It was a big part of the marriage ritual – a tradition. And one that involved…

Oh, fuck. Literally! I mentally slapped myself for thinking along those lines. Get your mind out of the gutter, girl! That didn't work, so I proceeded to mentally kick myself, as well. Up, up, and away!

Tamaki was furiously pumping away at his water gun. (…out of the gutter, dammit…!) His back was turned to us, but we could still see the irritation rolling off his tense shoulders in waves. And he was enshrouded in a cloud of darkness, too, an aura that one would not generally relate to the cheerful blonde. It was truly a sight to behold! A scary one, but a sight nonetheless…

"I absolutely refuse to let my darling daughter marry either of you little devils," he snarled viciously. Blue eyes were narrowed into angry slits as he loudly declared, "She will not be your bride! No way in Hell!"

I stared at him – was that pun intentional, or was it merely a coincidence? Suddenly, I had a strange feeling that the blonde understood he'd been tricked; it was as though he were merely joining in for the fun of it. Because he was smiling. And having fun.

Tamaki, for once, appeared to understand the situation. The blonde male was interacting with my brothers in a way that made me suspect that he knew more about their sexual orientation than he was letting on. But, Tamaki was a dense idiot – he couldn't possibly have been aware that the Twins were gay! Because, given the choice, Hikaru would pick a guy to be his bride, like Kaoru for instance. His younger brother would more than likely agree to that arrangement, as well. Hikaru and Kaoru would rather marry a cactus than a girl. I mean, yuck! Girls have cooties!

That said, Tamaki would have nothing to worry about; it appeared that Haruhi was his for the taking. No one was going to fight him on that account.

"Daddy will not allow it!" Tamaki bellowed loudly in denial. "Never!"

I smirked, and slashed my hand through the air in between the three duelists. "Let the battle commence!" Idly wondering if any of them would summon a Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Haruhi slipped away in that moment, thoroughly fed up with the situation. She hated playing the part of bait – it was humiliating! The brunette plopped down in a chair and placed her mouth over a thin, pink straw. She sipped on her drink, looking up from the small glass only when my boyfriend wandered over for a towel. The two spoke with one another for a moment. Haruhi offered him a sip of the fruity beverage, to which the silent giant smiled and nodded his thanks.

Out of curiosity, Haruhi glanced over at his cousin, obviously wondering as to how the small blonde was swimming by himself. I was curious, as well. My feet moved on their own accord, and I was suddenly standing at the edge of the pavement, staring into pool with curious eyes. How was it possible that the small blonde was swimming against such a strong current with only his two skinny legs as leverage?

Mitsukuni grinned up at me, splashing water at me and calling, "Hiya, Sammy-chan! Are you going to join me?"

I smiled nervously and attempted to dodge the droplets of water. "Not at the moment." My eyes wandered back to his swimming ring, which concealed his tiny legs. "But, I'm curious about something…"

The small senior nodded encouragingly, signifying that I could ask anything of him, and he would answer. But I was never given the chance to ask my question.

Instead, the two of us were distracted by a Series of Unfortunate Events. It all started with a magical flying banana peel, which really irked me, as it reminded me of the fact that I'd tripped up the school steps this morning in front of a large portion of the student body. And then, there were several frightened screams, a loud thump, and an incredibly eerie click!

A strange whirring noise filled the air, buzzing in my ears like the voice of a siren – singing and calling to me, trying to lure me into the depths of the water, to drown. I felt the sudden urge to turn around and search for the cause of the noise; however, I could not move. My feet were seemingly glued to the pavement, and I was frozen in place because my worst nightmare – a huge, relentless wave of water – was heading straight for me.

My lips trembled, and a small, frightened scream ripped through the silence. The sound of my screams was lost in the void of water as it slammed into my chest, throwing me into the pool. I scrambled to close my mouth, shut it against the water, and concentrated on holding my breath; it was the only way that I would survive. The reaction was second nature, as though I'd done it before. And I had – many, many years ago. Eight years ago, to be exact.

"Sammy…!"

I was aware of someone screaming my name, but it sounded a million miles away. At almost the same moment, someone wrapped their arms over my shoulders and around my chest, hooking their elbows under my armpits. Shoving away from the walls that surrounded us like a prison. Desperately, my lungs screamed for air, and my eyes rolled backwards in my head, but not before focusing on a head of thick blonde hair. That blonde hair that reminded me of someone, someone, someone… Yes, it reminded me of someone that had been lost to the void long ago.

I'll be with you soon enough, Sarah. I smiled at the thought, giving in to the urge to close my eyes and rest. My lungs, my brain, my heart screamed at me to fight against the call of the siren. But, I was so tired, and I couldn't fight anymore. I gave up.

Black pain beckoned to me. I welcomed it, reveling in the cold, numb feeling that shot through my body like a bullet in the midst of a golden blitzkrieg. It rippled through my flesh, muscles, veins, and cells. And as I drifted into unconsciousness, my last thought was of someone gripping my hand tightly in theirs as we fell through the sky.

Don't let go of my hand, Sarah…

***Author's Note***

I am as sick as a dog. I've spent the entire day in bed, watching my old Disney movies - including Finding Nemo. Can you tell? ;)

Anyway, the wonderful readers of this story have been asking after Sammy's past, and here it is! The next chapter will provide more details.

Sorry that this is a little late! I hope you guys like it, and please review! Around 172 reviews would be nice... :D *Hint, hint*