FINALLY! Finally I'm updating again! For those of you who don't know, I've been a little busy as of late, mostly with school and extracurriculars. And I'm officially traveling to Japan this summer for a few weeks! I'm really excited!

Anyways, thank you to AusllyBeliever, XBnemisisX, queenglitch, Momochan77, havarti2, Amarenima Redwood, Paige McCarthy, and Kagayaku Hoshi-chan for your reviews! I'm so sorry for how long my updates are taking! I've got… a lot on my plate.

And welcome to my page Kagayaku Hoshi-chan! I hope you're liking my other stories just as much as this one!

Disclaimer: I only own Livia Trasic, and I love her to death!


Tokyo Metro System

Exact location: Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan

Green line

07:32


The train barely jostled as it sped along the tracks, early morning sunlight streaming through the windows and covering the floor with yellow light. Livia let her eyes be dragged across the scenery, trying to keep herself from focusing on any one passing object in particular. For something that sounded so easy it was actually rather difficult.

A soft hum of amusement broke her concentration, directing Livia's gaze down to the seat in front of her. Haruhi smiled up at her, a teasing look in her own eyes. Livia allowed her lips to curl ever so slightly before looking back up. Giving up on her little game, she let her head rest against the metal pole she was holding onto and just enjoyed the view.

The early morning train wasn't as crowded as Japanese myths might have you believe, but there was a low drone of chatter from the other occupants. Quiet enough, everyone's presence somehow dulled in the same drowsy morning feeling.

Unfortunately, that gave Livia ample time to think about what waited for her at Ouran Academy.

Something nudged at her foot and Livia looked down again. Haruhi leaned forward a little, head tilted ever so slightly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"It's okay to be nervous."

"I know. The boys are going to be…" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Thank you."

"Of course." Haruhi slowly reached out and, after giving Livia time to pull away if need be, gently squeezed her forearm. A small form of grounding that Livia appreciated more than she could say.

In all honesty, she was surprised at how quickly she'd regained Haruhi's trust during their little chat last Saturday. It left a nice, warm feeling in her chest. And after spending hours in each other's company, talking about anything or nothing or no talking at all, Livia felt… close to Haruhi.

She blinked rapidly and looked away, her chest feeling a little tight.

The two didn't speak again until they got off the train, another thing that Livia appreciated. Haruhi was one of the few people she'd ever met who immediately understood her distrust of crowds. Not just because of her job, either. Livia had always prefered to stay silent around people she didn't know. But once Livia and Haruhi had escaped the train station crowds and felt like they were properly alone, they relaxed into small talk. Livia smiled softly as Haruhi led the conversation, sharing her plans for the day. It was nice. It was calm. It was orderly.

"So, how far did you get in Philosopher's Stone?"

"Uh…" Livia cleared her throat, a bigger smile appearing on her face. "I'm actually almost done with it."

Haruhi's responding laugh was immediate, her head falling back a little in delight. A few seconds into it and Livia found herself wanting to join in. So she did.

Her laughter was much softer than Haruhi's. A little breathy, more of an amused sound rather than actual humor. It was comforting. To feel amused, that is. Amusement, to Livia, meant being relaxed and familiar. It wasn't a feeling she associated with anyone other than the people she already knew. To feel such a way in a less than 100% familiar environment? That was new territory.

From there the two girls started discussing Haruhi loaning the second book to Livia and any other series that she might enjoy. They probably wouldn't have even realized they'd reached Ouran's campus were it not for the huge gates.

And for Tamaki to turn tail and run into the school building as soon as he spotted Livia.

The girls paused in the middle of the grounds, staring after him. There had been no mistaking his expression or pale face. Haruhi looked up at her friend. Livia's smile had disappeared. Heart clutching in sympathy, Haruhi carefully laid a hand on Livia's upper arm.

"Hey, Livia-senpai? How about I talk to the boys? Maybe I can- hey!"

She was cut off without so much as a warning, Hikaru and Kaoru dragged Haruhi away from Livia as fast as they could. Livia was left standing alone, barely catching the venomous glare sent her way before the three first-years disappeared from sight.

Something inside of Livia shriveled up and died as she processed what had just happened. Around her, more students drifted by, not at all bothered by the exchange student in their midst any longer. No one saw how sharp her breath was, or her frantic blinks.

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Livia robotically made her way into the building as well. Not meeting anyone's eyes, she slipped unnoticed into the first bathroom she could find.


What is… what is happening right now?

I… my chest hurts so much.

I don't understand…

What is wrong with me?

I should be used to this. I usually make people hate me so they avoid me while I work but… but they hated only my character. This time… they hate me.

Why does that eat at me so badly?


Three minutes later and the first bell of the day rang out. Through the bathroom door Livia could hear the dull chatter growing into a roar as the students outside hurried to their classes. For a brief moment of insanity Livia considered skipping for the day. Not dealing with the Host Club seemed like a dream come true at the moment.

Of course, soon the idea passed and she stood up off the floor. A small part of her brain mentally thanked the janitorial staff at the school for keeping everything so clean that she could sit on a bathroom floor and not feel incredibly gross. After washing her hands and ignoring the way her eyes were tentatively bloodshot, she rejoined the masses in the hallway.

It wasn't a surprise to Livia that Tamaki's face went pale when she entered the classroom. She didn't even bother to look at him, other than out of her peripherals, and hastily made her way back to the seat she'd had on the first day. With the egg project having been finished and turned in last Friday, she could go back to placing a full three desks in between her and her Charge.

Looking at Kyoya was going to be a no-go for today, too.

"Hey!"

Livia looked up from her desk, managing a small smile for Anami. Any sign of friendship was going to feel like a healing balm today. "Hello."

The other girl's smile faded. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Your eyes look a little red."

Livia turned away. "It's nothing."

"Did you and Ootori-san have a fight?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Well, you look upset and I just noticed he's kinda… glaring at you."

"Figures."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Livia finally looked up again, giving the girl a bigger smile. "It's sweet of you to offer, but I don't think it's something I can talk about with you. And I mean that in the kindest way possible. I do appreciate it, though."

Anami returned the smile before spinning around in her seat, just in time for Chikamatsu-sensei to walk in through the doors. "Alright, everyone! If you could all take your seats I'll be handing back your project scores before we begin our lesson for today!"

Livia sank back into her seat, shutting her eyes for a moment. So far the day wasn't turning out as horrible as she'd anticipated. There were at least two people who still wanted to talk to her. That would have to be enough.

Chikamatsu-sensei walked around the classroom, handing back the grading sheet one student at a time and Livia relaxed further. Despite everything that had gone on, Livia felt like she handled the project very well. The little yolk had become a baby chick without a hitch and, as Livia understood it, was now happily living on a little farm outside of town. She kinda wished she'd been able to observe it more often than just writing down a few lines about the progress, but that had been the best she could do considering her job. At least she and Kyoya had met once during the project and she knew he would've crafted perfect conversations that-

Livia's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the paper in her hands.

Fail.

What?

Every single segment was marked by a zero. Writing, execution, partnership... everything.

At the top of the page there was a second note in Chikamatsu-sensei's handwriting.

'See me.'

What?

Livia had never failed an assignment! Not anywhere! Even in her least favorite and most difficult classes Livia had never scored below a C! What had happened?

Livia was still staring at her paper when Chikamatsu-sensei returned to the front of the room. She gave a little overview about being impressed with most of the projects, as many of them had received A's, if not B's. Livia swallowed, frantically thinking back. She swore she remembered to turn in the project. And it wasn't like Kyoya to forget something so trivial, either! What had happened? Had she gotten the wrong paper?

"Now, if you would all please balance these chemical equations I've written on the board while I speak with a few students out in the hallway." Chikamatsu-sensei finished writing six chemical equations on the whiteboard before capping her marker and turning back around. "Let's start with Trasic-san and Ootori-san. If you would?"

Still holding her paper, not trusting her classmates to not take a quick peek, Livia stood up out of her chair and followed her Charge and teacher out of the classroom. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tamaki staring off after them with obvious fear in his eyes. Making sure she wasn't standing too close to Kyoya, Livia waited for Chikamatsu-sensei to speak. The woman sighed, an almost sad expression on her face as she eyed her students.

"Trasic-san, might I ask why you refused to meet with Ootori-san for your project?"

Livia's jaw dropped.

He didn't.

She couldn't help but turn to her Charge, who was still facing forward. He looked almost smug.

He did.

Her hands shook, barely repressing the urge to pummel the boy into unconsciousness. "Oh, so suddenly it was my idea? That's how you want to play? I see. Did you lie to Sensei in person or did you stick it into your report? How convenient that you just so happened to gloss over the fact you started this project by stating you didn't want to work with a 'novice'?"

"A novice though you may be, I was more than willing to meet with you to discuss the project as was our instructions-"

"Bull! Working apart was your idea, Ootori! Trying to sabotage my grades? Are you really so pathetic?"

"Pathetic?"

"Stop!"

Chikamatsu-sensei held up her hands, ready to put herself in between her students. Her eyes were wide as she looked between them. The paper in Livia's fist had torn ever so slightly in her tight grip and Kyoya looked like he was about to spit fire. When Chikamatsu-senpai no longer looked like she was worried about the two students attacking each other, she sighed and lowered her arms.

"I must say that I'm greatly disappointed in the both of you. This project was meant to teach you and your classmates how to work together, even if you don't necessarily like the other. It's a skill that you will all need for your future careers. To dismiss such a clear instruction and formulate a plan to lie to your teacher and then lie again to make it sound like you're coming clean? Ootori-san, I never expected something like this from you. And Trasic-san, I would've assumed that an exchange student would try to show better behavior whilst acting as an ambassador to their home country."

The teenagers finally stopped glaring at each other, becoming oddly fascinated with the wall they could spot just behind their teacher's head. Neither could maintain eye contact with her. Livia might not have had anything to really worry about grade wise, but she liked Chikamatsu-sensei as a teacher. To disappoint her felt… bad. And Kyoya had never been chastised by a teacher before. He didn't appear to be enjoying the experience.

Sensei gave another deep sigh. "As I'd rather not give my two brightest students failing grades due to a mere argument, I'll give you two another shot at it. Since I don't have any fertilized chicken eggs with me at the moment, you'll restart the project next Monday, but you must do it right this time. There will be no cutting corners and you will be expected to keep up with our current workload as well. I don't know what caused such animosity between you, but for the sake of your family's businesses and your grades please put some effort into working together. Do you understand?"

The teenagers nodded their heads, still unable to look her in the eye.

"Excellent. You may rejoin your classmates."

Livia waited for Kyoya to walk back into the room before following. Another hot spike was driven into her stomach at the expression of sheer relief on Tamaki's face as he welcomed his friend back to his seat. The look regressed back into fear upon spotting her.

Biting at her bottom lip, Livia kept her head down for the rest of the school day. She didn't speak to anyone besides Anami and didn't even bother entertaining the idea of eating in the lunchroom. Even if Haruhi wanted to sit and talk to her, no doubt the hosts would stop her.

Livia discovered a funny thing about being exiled after a few hours. After being sad and hurt for an extended period of time, the one being exiled became overwhelmed with anger and rebellion.

Or perhaps that was just her.

Regardless, by the time the last bell rang and Tamaki was dragging Kyoya out the door, Livia was done with the attitudes. Not bothering to rush, she calmly packed up her things, bade a good evening to Anami, and made her way up to Music Room #3.

As she had anticipated, the doors were shut when she reached them. Silently, she placed her hand on the handle and slowly pushed down. It gave.

With that she pushed it down the whole way and opened the door. Not to her surprise, two blurs shot at her from inside the room and threw themselves at her chest, intending to knock her backwards. Livia merely shoved the Hitachiin twins to the side and shut the door behind her, walking further into the room.

Haruhi gave the other girl a small wave, but Livia was unable to return it due to the twins grabbing her arms and trying to drag her back to the door.

"What are you doing here?"

"Get out!"

"No."

"Y-yes!"

Livia raised an eyebrow, not spotting Tamaki at first despite how the voice clearly belonged to him. He wasn't by Haruhi, or by Honey and Mori, who were staring at her with blank faces. Then his face slowly peeked around Kyoya's shoulder's, Tamaki's hands clearly shaking as they gripped the other's jacket.

"Y-you… you n-need to leave. N-now!"

"Yeah, right." Livia shook the twins off yet again. "I'd like to see you try."

The blond squeaked, ducking further behind his friend. "A-as King of-"

"I wouldn't care even if you were the goddamn Emperor of all Japan. I'm not leaving. And even if you somehow did manage to ban me, who'd be around to keep Ootori here alive, hm? Or do you prefer your friends in coffins?"

She looked around, daring someone to argue. When no one did, she gave them a shrug before collapsing into a nearby chair. Hikaru was immediately in front of her, hands shaking just as badly as Tamaki's, but not quite for the same reason.

"This is harassment! We clearly don't want you around, so why bother tormenting us? You can't force your company on us!"

"I can, and I will, Hitachiin. But don't you go worrying your pretty little heads about it, as soon as this job's done I'm gone. You'll never see me again."

"Good."

"Is that a promise?"

Livia screwed her face up into the most sour expression she could manage. "It is. I reserve the right to deny jobs, even if they request me. Besides, why the hell would I want to protect people who hate me, anyways?"

Hikaru crossed his arms, a sneer curling his lips. "I suppose that makes sense, because we do hate you, y'know."

The room fell quiet for a moment, Livia locked in a staring contest with the eldest twin. She could detect betrayal and hurt in his face, but also a dash of sincerity. And damn if that didn't hurt.

His expression barely had time to flicker before Livia was looking away again, casually pulling out her homework from her bag. "I know. You've made it pretty damn obvious today. Now go away. Get ready for your guests and pretend I don't exist. I'll be easier on everyone."

She was surprised her voice didn't shake.


Livia slowly tapped her eraser against her thigh, eyes double checking her math answers. She'd finished the rest of her other homework, so what else was there to do? She didn't have any guests for the day and it wasn't like she could people-watch, either. Whenever her eyes left the papers in front of her, Livia found herself on the receiving end of glares and frightened glances. It was a surprise to her that none of the guests had caught on, as clueless as most of them were.

They're not exactly trying to hide it.

Finding no issues with her math, Livia packed it away and pulled out a loose sheet of paper. On it was a rough sketch of a schedule for after club hours. The schedule only spanned about half an hour but she still frowned at it, looking for another minute to shave.

A harsh whisper cut through the gentle murmuring around Livia's table.

"Haruhi! Stop!"

"Tamaki? What is it?"

"Shhh!"

Well, that sounds interesting.

Pretending to be preoccupied, Livia darked one of the lines on the paper as she listened intently.

"Tamaki, what are you doing?"

"You were about to walk to Trasic-san!"

"Yeah, I know. I want to talk to her-"

"No! Haruhi, you have to be careful! She-"

"No, Tamaki. Enough. I'm not afraid of her, and you shouldn't be either."

"But-"

"No, buts! She's keeping Kyoya safe. She's saved his life more than once since she got here and she's still doing it even though you're all being rude to her. The only reason you're acting like this is because she can do things that you can't and is good at keeping secrets."

"Haruhi, we don't know her whole story! She might-"

"Well, maybe if you just talked to her and didn't act like she's the grim reaper coming to take you away, you might learn some things about her! I spent all weekend with her, Tamaki, and we talked a lot. And besides, if she was here to kill us she would've done it by now. She's not what you think she is."

The conversation ended with the sound of shoes clicking on tile floors, gradually growing louder as the wearer approached Livia's chair. She looked up just as Haruhi peered over at the paper still in Livia's hand.

"What's that?"

"Just a schedule. Kyoya and I have to redo our science project because he tried to sabotage my grade. So since we'll have to meet up after club activities every day for a few weeks, I came up with a way to do it where we spend as little time together as possible."

Haruhi's expression faltered, but after glancing over her shoulder at Kyoya who was roughly packing his own school bag, she offered a nod. "Now that I think about it, that's probably a good idea. So, are you ready to leave?"

"Yeah. Just gotta…" Her voice trailed off upon noticing a presence hesitating on the edge of the conversation. Haruhi, noticing Livia's hesitation, followed her line of sight.

"Honey-senpai? Mori-senpai?"

At Haruhi's prompting, the two cousins moved closer. Honey's arms were tightly wrapped around his stuffed bunny. It was obvious that they were a little nervous, but they weren't glaring at Livia and clearly weren't avoiding her. That was a good sign. The boys stopped just a few steps in front of Livia's chair and an awkward silence fell between them all. Livia took a breath, a truckload of guilt slamming into her stomach when Friday's memories came back to her.

Standing up, Livia bowed at the waist towards them, nibbling at the inside of her lip before announcing, "I want to apologize. I know I frightened you badly the last time we spoke, and I'm sorry. I felt incredibly guilty about threatening you, Honey-senpai, and I just want you to know that I'd never purposefully put you or Mori-senpai in danger."

"We forgive you."

Livia straightened up, effectively confused.

"Really?"

"Mhm!" Honey nodded, giving Livia a smile. "Takashi and I talked over the weekend, too. We decided that if you're here to keep Kyo-chan alive, then it's okay that you got mad at us. We tried to hurt you, and then made your job harder." Honey's smile wasn't bright or overzealous, but it was still real.

Livia shoved another flood of emotions down as she offered a small smile in return. "I'm glad. Thank you. And even though the circumstances weren't exactly the best, I'm happy I got the opportunity to spar with you both. I've wanted to do that ever since I read your personal files, if I'm being honest."

"Really? We should do it again, then!"

"I…" Livia couldn't stop it. A huge grin appeared on her face as she looked between the two boys. "You'd do that? You want to?"

Honey paused, wide eyes taking in the big smile on Livia's face. Maybe he wasn't expecting such a reaction? Or maybe even though he and Takashi had already spent hours reasoning that Livia was a good person and just a regular teenager, there was a big difference between that and actually seeing it. He and Mori both smiled a little wider and nodded at Livia.

Livia let out a breathy laugh, unable to believe such a crappy day could end on a good note! Scooping her bag up, she began leading the other three towards the front door. "We should probably start planning on a day to do that. The sooner the better!"

"Wait, Liv-chan?" Oh… her nickname. Actually, now that she thought about it, 'Liv-chan' did have a nice ring to it. "What about Kyo-chan?"

Livia hesitated for a moment, briefly glancing towards the other side of the room. The other half of the host club was standing a rather large distance away. Kyoya was the only one not looking in her direction.

"He'll be fine. He's safe on campus so long as he leaves when his driver and guards arrive. I can't exactly be by his side every waking moment. It would've blown my cover."

Honey tilted his head. "So you're saying if Kyo-chan doesn't have you around, he needs a lot of guards?"

"It's not a perfect scenario, but he'd definitely be safer that way than going out by himself."

"Liv-chan, how strong are you?" Upon receiving a number of questioning looks, he turned his gaze to his feet, a blush on his cheeks. "I'm just curious. If you say you're equal to a bunch of guards."

Livia chuckled and set her school bag down by her feet. "Haruhi? May I pick you up?"

"Huh?" Haruhi looked at the hand Livia was offering to her. "Oh!" Haruhi blinked. She hadn't considered Livia might be strong enough to hold her. But that did sort of make sense. If Livia could throw Mori-senpai across the room and fight Honey-senpai head on, she had to be fairly strong.

"Um… sure. I trust you."

Haruhi set her own bag down and took Livia's hand. Livia nodded. Then in one swift move she crouched down and wrapped her free arm around Haruhi's knees. Haruhi let out a yelp when she suddenly found herself sitting on Livia's shoulder. Livia was still holding her hand, but her other hand was clasped around Haruhi's ankle to keep her held.

Honey gaped at the sight. "That was so cool, Liv-chan! Could you hold me on your other shoulder?"

"Yeah, probably. I had a number of kids use me as their personal playground when I was growing up."

"Um, that's really cool and all, but could you please put me down now? This isn't the most comfortable seat."

Letting out her own laugh, Livia carefully eased Haruhi back to the ground. "You still sound so unfazed!"

Haruhi teasingly shoved Livia's shoulder before grabbing her bag off the floor. "Whatever. C'mon, I have homework to do."

The four finally walked out of the music room, and for the first time that whole day, Livia found herself caring a little less about the glares digging into her back as the doors closed.


Hmm, hmm, hmmmm…

Okay, so I'm setting up the egg incubator… again. Thank goodness I hadn't already returned it to the school before I got my grade. Honestly, what was Kyoya thinking? Does he not realize that these grades don't really count against me? Yeah, I was upset at first when I thought the grade was my fault, but my science teacher at R.A.R.E. takes most outside grades from partner projects with a grain of salt. Got that going for me, at least.

Anyways, as little as I'm looking forward to this at least I'll be given a tighter grip on Kyoya's schedule for the next few weeks. Y'know, just in case the boy decides to do something remarkably stupid. Geez, you'd almost think he wants to be shot.

I think that does it for today.

Eng log.


Holy shit I got it done!

I know this chapter doesn't have a lot of action, but I promise we'll get back to that really soon! (I'm honestly looking forward to writing the next chapter… it's gonna be fun. Foreshadowing FTW!).

If you liked, please favorite, follow, and leave a review!

See you next chapter!