Some time has passed but nothing has changed. Lina and Skip continue to ignore me and have settled in their new routine of making sure I didn't exist. It was easy for them to erase me from their group and continue through school like it was always the two of them. Haruhi has not spoken to me since that day in the classroom, she had every reason to ignore me as well. We had bonded over lunch but I ruined that by not helping Rin. I've had time to think about it and I should have spoken up that day, should have gotten the two girls to leave her alone. Not because I was their 'friend', it was the right thing to do then. However, I can not change the past and I too have gotten used to my new routine of being alone and having the company of silence.

Today I decided that being in the library was the best spot to enjoy myself. Lina and Skip might ignore me but that doesn't mean they don't cast their hurtful glares my way. They would rather be caught dead than be found in the library. The two girls were not fond of books, they thought reading was for people who didn't have friends. Which is funny, I guess they were right. Here I was trying to find a book because I did not have any friends. I was hidden in the back rows, in the fantasy section, gazing over the wide selection of literature. It was quiet, most students were having their lunch period in the cafeteria or outside. My appetite was gone when I saw Haruhi earlier today but she avoided my gaze. This struck a feeling into me I wasn't familiar with, I still couldn't tell what it was. To try and hide that unwanted feeling in my gut, I thought it was best to drown it out with some reading.

Most don't know, not even Mother, that I was rather fond of books. They always provided me an escape, to a whole new world that didn't have me in it. I could drown in the pages of someone else's adventure, a character that wasn't like me at all. I prefer it that way, if I was to read from the perspective of someone who resembled me in any way, it would only remind me of something I can't have. It would only remind me that I was me. Not a hero, not an average person, or even someone who could be saved by a prince. Life didn't work that way. So I read a lot of fantasy, they always had the effect of making me forget who I was. To be placed in a world of magical creatures and extravagant forest. Far from being compared to a school and a student.

My thin fingers passed over the spines of the books, enjoying the different textures. My eyes glossed over the title "Tiara", it was carved into the spine of a brown book with white lettering. Surely, it was about a princess or a kingdom. Curiosity got the best of me and I pulled it off the shelf. I was taken by surprise as the book on the other side of it fell, making a loud thud. I peeked through the opening, seeing the chest of another student. My gaze was quickly met with another as coal-black eyes met mine. Backing away quickly, I hugged the book I acquired close to me. The book that had fallen was returned to the shelf, covering up the hole. It didn't take long for the pair of eyes I met to walk around the corner to meet me.

Standing at the end was Kyoya, who looked at me curiously. Silence filled the air as he approached, his gaze met the spot where I took the book and it didn't take him but a second to know it was I who made the other fall, disturbing him. He smirked as he read the title of the book in my hands. "Reading a book about yourself?" He asked, already wanting to push my buttons.

Biting my cheek, I answered back calmly. "I do not know, I just grab it but have not had a chance to look."

He held out his hand, wanting to look at it closer. I didn't object as he grabbed it from me, with ease he flipped it open, gliding over the pages. His dark irises studying the contents of the story, it was easy to tell he was an avid reader as he only had to skim over the words to know what he needed. Returning his attention to me, he handed the book back. "A story about a hidden princess, quite suiting for you."

"How?" I was curious.

He didn't need to answer as he smirks. We both knew what he meant. I was also hiding something and he would do everything to find out because of his own curiosity. He didn't press on the matter as he was turning around to return to the other side of the bookshelf. It was relieving he was choosing to leave me alone, to not make matters worse but I was struck by another feeling, this one I have grown used to these past few days.

It was loneliness.

"Hey." My voice left me before I could process what I was doing. My feet followed him as he looked over his shoulder with interest. "What are you looking for? The genre I mean."

Kyoya didn't suspect me to follow him, to continue our interaction. I didn't think I would be doing this either but it felt like I was watching from a screen, helpless to control myself. He seemed amused as he continued to the other side, me behind him. Looking up I saw the sign for History. Was Kyoya really into reading about history enough to do it when he was not in class?

"Don't you get bored?" I asked.

He fixed his glasses as they fell slightly from his nose, "No, history has a lot to tell."

This didn't satisfy me as I pressed on the subject. "It may have a lot of details but nothing worth reading for fun."

He smiled, "You know, without history, you wouldn't have your books about princesses and castles. They tell us about those times so people our era can write about them but with a more fantasy approach."

"When you put it like that..." I trailed off.

Why did I follow him? This was awkward and unnerving. Was I that lonely to where I was seeking the attention of Kyoya? The devil himself? He has done nothing but makes me anxious and annoyed. He has shaken my world but not in a good way, yet here I am trying to hold a normal conversation. I was failing poorly at it when I really think about it. I've only really had a normal conversation with Haruhi during lunch that day, other than that, I've never really talked just for conversation. Lina and Skip were different, I talked because I had a role to fill. A duty that I had to finish, an image I had to upkeep. With Haruhi, it felt so natural and relaxing, what I wouldn't give to have that feeling again. Peace.

This was something new to me and I didn't know how to approach it. Kyoya wasn't forcing me to be here, to try and talk to him. He didn't even seem bothered by my presence even though I wasn't trying to drive him away because he was trying to get under my skin. He was patient, giving me the time I needed to respond. Was he actually trying to make me feel easier about this whole thing?

Kyoya eventually picked out a book about castles, which mirrored him talking about them before. He flipped open the cover, skimming over the intro page. I couldn't help but observe his face. It was smooth and pale like snow. His lashes were long, close to touching the glass from his eyewear. His dark cool eyes focused on the pages before him. Then they looked at me, sending a chill down my spine and a flush to my cheeks, embarrassed I was caught looking at him so intently. He didn't say anything even though I knew he caught me.

He didn't return the book to the shelf as he got closer to me, "Would you like to take a seat with me at one of the tables?" He didn't wait for me to answer as he made his way to a small desk with two seats on the opposite ends, it was placed next to a window.

I cursed to myself as my feet followed. I sat across from him, my book still firmly in my arms. He seemed relaxed as he glanced out the window for a moment, then opened his book to read. I couldn't help but see what was outside, it was the courtyard I had lunch with Haruhi. I didn't realize you could see it from the library. Does Kyoya come here often? Did he see us there the other day?

The silence crept in around me but it wasn't unwanted. The atmosphere wasn't tense, which was what happened normally when I was around Kyoya. This time it was peaceful and relaxing. The smell of books enhanced the feeling. The man in front of me was also enjoying the world around him as his eyes scanned the page he was on. Kyoya was a weird person. One moment he was out to get me, to figure out my secret and pick me apart like a puzzle. Then another, here we are sitting together without a care in the world. What could be running through his mind?

His eyes peeked at me from above his glasses frames, he seemed to enjoy the fact I was still gazing at him. Kyoya smirked at my reaction as I quickly composed myself and opened my own book. However, it was impossible to get myself immersed in it. Sitting here with a host member who has caused me so much trouble was causing the sentences to form into one. Nothing wasn't making sense and I was becoming frustrated. I wouldn't let him see that, he wouldn't get that from me. My eyebrows crinkled slightly as I took a deep but silent breath as I forced myself to focus on the first line.

'The princess of Cotton Meadows was a secret. A princess was forbidden in this kingdom as male heirs were only allowed to be born."

I wanted nothing more than to become engrossed in the plot, to find out why princesses were forbidden but reading that sentence alone has taken a toll on me. Everything around me may be relaxing but the thoughts in my head is not. They will not stop tugging at me at the idea of Kyoya sitting across from me like he doesn't have a care in the world. Again my eyes slid off the pages and across at the dark head boy. My gaze met his again and it was unsettling as another thought crept into my mind. Was he observing me too? Was he also trying to hide the fact he was sort of uncomfortable?

"Are you uncomfortable?" The words slipt from me before I could catch them.

He tilted his head slightly, "What do you mean?" He asked.

"Sitting with me. You've done nothing but try and get under my skin, yet here we are sitting with each other like we are friends or something."

He closed his book and placed it gently on the table, his full attention on me now. His eyes bor into me like before, observing for any slip of character. His dark irises were like black holes, sucking me into where I couldn't escape. I knew better than to keep running my mouth, he was getting what he wanted. He wanted to know more about me and I was giving it to him willingly.

"I simply want to know more about you." He answered honestly, "My intent was not to bother you."

He was lying and he was enjoying my reaction to it. It was hard for me to keep my composer as he simply watched. "We both know you have been doing more than just that."

Kyoya leaned a bit forward on the desk, just enough to make me slink back into mine. What was it about him that made my walls try to crumble? Anyone else could be doing this and they would never see the other side of my mask. With Kyoya, it was like his fingers gripped around me and tried peeling back each layer. With each attempt I made to stop him, he only dug deeper. "Yuki," Him saying my name was like venom. "I'll admit, I am a bit curious about you. Who wouldn't? You're the princess of this school and I simply wish to indulge myself in you."

A blush crept to my cheeks at the choice of his words, irritation was bubbling over in my head. "I'm on to you."

He smiled, "Are you?"

I stood up, it didn't even faze him. Luckily no one was in the library or they would have look at me as the noise from the chair was rather loud. I slammed my hands onto the desk as I looked into him without faltering. "This was a mistake, I knew better than to think you could leave me alone. Stay away from me!"

Then there was silence, not because of what I said to him, but my tone of words.

I let it slip.

The usual voice I used here at the school was gone, the last words I yelled out were those of my true self. It was foreign to me as I had only used this side of me alone, in my room, for no one to hear. Anyone who heard that would know something was off. Why would I speak like that? It sounded scratchy from anger and irritation. It was deeper and laced with desperation. My eyes were wide and I quickly looked away, not wanting to see his reaction on knowing something more. He gained one more clue and I gained a crack in my mask.

I fixed my voice, erasing the part of me that was never supposed to arise. "Just... Leave me alone."

Without a second thought, a way to save my sanity, I rushed out of the library not looking back.