Chapter 2: Standing Up

Kira was now constantly on edge after the Host Club incident. All the girls were out for her blood, she was sure of it, because of what she did to Tamaki. Just that morning, she found her iPhone, which was thankfully in a waterproof case, in a toilet of the girls' bathroom and her books in the trash can. Instead of crying, though, she just gritted her teeth and pulled her drowned cell phone out of the toilet and dug through the trash for her buried books.

When she walked out of the bathroom with her things, she ran into three of Tamaki's "groupies" and discovered they were the ones that took her stuff out of her satchel. Finally, she got pissed and began screaming and bitching out at those girls. She didn't hurt them too much—just a few insults here and a rude hand gesture there—because they were able to walk away, relatively unscathed. Snatching up her satchel, Kira stormed off in the direction of her English class, blinking back tears of rage.

Upon arriving to class, the teacher, Mrs. Bakura, asked for everyone to turn in their homework in and when Natasha went to dig for her homework, she found that it was gone. She did her homework diligently but where did it go!? Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes and she pounded her fist on the table, feeling so tired and out-of-sorts. Why couldn't she get anything right?

"Miss Grey, your paper," said Bakura-sensei, her imperative voice coming from the right side of Natasha, holding her hand out for it.

"I-I lost it…" the girl whimpered, finally bursting into tears. "I did it, but it's gone. I don't know how…"

"You get a zero for the day," said sensei harshly, walking away from the shattered girl. "You should be more responsible."

Seeing the girls in her class smirk at her and hearing that injustice stung Kira. She stood up and shouted out, "I did do my homework, Mrs. Bakura! Someone stole it, I swear! I have girls after my blood right now because I insulted their sweet Tamaki Suoh!"

"Sit down, Miss Grey," snapped sensei, glaring at the young woman, who refused to back down.

"You're punishing me when I don't deserve it!" Kira's voice broke an octave as she gazed at her teacher indignantly.

"Come with me!" hissed sensei, grabbing Kira roughly by the arm. "I have heard enough out of you!"

The fear in Kira's brown eyes was palpable and tears ran down her cheeks. Her lower jaw quivered and she placed a hand on her teacher's. She didn't want to fight the teacher because it would get her in more trouble than she already was. She was deathly afraid of being mistreated. A pair of bespectacled black eyes was watching her in some concern. Just before Bakura could manhandle Natasha further, someone spoke up, and that someone was Kyoya.

"You know, Bakura-sensei," he said matter-of-factly, keeping his face cold and collected, "teachers are not allowed to manhandle their students. If you'd like to argue it, you'd better take it up with Suoh-san and her parents."

Suddenly, Mrs. Bakura retracted and released Kira's skinny arm. "You're right, Kyoya-kun," she said in a strained yet calm tone, as if fearing an appointment with this mysterious Suoh-san. "Go sit down, Miss Grey, and don't speak out of turn like that again."

Kira flew back to her desk and sat down, flushing brightly as more tears filled her eyes. Dammit, she thought spitefully, wiping her eyes, why does my anger and sadness have to be hotwired to my tear ducts? Stupid human emotions!

Finally, she looked at Kyoya, who gazed at her in concern, and mouthed "Thank you" gratefully.

"You're welcome," he mouthed back before turning his attention back to the teacher.

…

As soon as Kira got home from school, she threw herself on her bed and began weeping. She hated living in Japan so far. School sucked, she had no friends, and everyone treated her like she was stupid. Also, the jet-lag was awful and she barely got any sleep even after adjusting to the time difference. When she did sleep, she had haunting dreams of her miscarried baby and woke up pooled in sweat. She wanted to be home in America where she had friends and people didn't care if she insulted Tamaki. She wanted her teachers and life back. She wanted to be back in the familiar smaller town she was used to. Living in the city was stressful and annoying.

After a while, Kira fell asleep in clothes, tears still fresh on her cheeks, dreaming of being back home with her extended family and friends. She prayed that she could make this new place her home somehow. She would have to. She couldn't let her parents know how miserable she was. They were so happy at their jobs. It would crush her if they got unhappy because of her. She would endure.

…

Kira wasn't the only person having a rough day. Kyoya was having a pretty rough day too yet he hid it with a fake smile and friendly tone. Everyone was grating on his nerves and school was a bit stressful. He could handle the school part as long as he wasn't bothered by other students. Unfortunately, that always happened. As soon as he got home from school, his father wanted to meet with him and that itself gave Kyoya the shivers. His father was a pretty tough man to deal with and he constantly bit Kyoya in the back if the boy did one thing wrong.

"Kyoya," said his father coldly as the boy walked into his office, "I have a…request for you." That didn't even sound good. Even though his family wasn't part of the Yakuza, it sure felt like it when he said that.

"What is it, Otou-sama?" Kyoya asked quietly, bowing his head slightly in respect—more like submission. No matter how old Kyoya got, he would always be afraid of his father.

"You know Miss Kira Grey, right?" asked Yoshio Ootori, thumbing through a newspaper. He had a copy of the Japanese one and the English one. "The American girl who moved here with her family? Well, it turns out her mother, Meredith Grey, holds a good position in nursing and her father, Jackson Grey, has a respectable construction firm. I want you to…befriend the young Grey girl so we can get in the good graces of her parents. Just like you did with that Suoh boy."

Kyoya felt his stomach roil. He didn't want to hurt Natasha because she was only an innocent girl, but he had to obey his father's commands. He would have to get close to the girl just to stay on his father's good side (if he had one). Unlike Tamaki, Kira was guarded, somewhat timid girl when it came to making friends. It was why she didn't befriend anyone at school, aside from the Tamaki incident, which still made him laugh when he thought about it. However, he couldn't say no to his father.

"Yes, sir," was Kyoya's mechanic response and then he gazed at the rug in sudden interest.

He was so used to replying with that because he would have to for the rest of his life. Even though Kyoya was very capable of breaking out of the place his father put him in, he still feared disappointing his family. He didn't even talk about Host Club stuff with his father because Yoshio disapproved of it. Kyoya decided that if he kept everything to himself, no one would hurt him.

"What should I do to get close to her?" asked Kyoya, breaking the silence. "The only time I do see her is when I'm at school."

A small smile graced Yoshio's aging face as if that was a dumb question. "I have a few things in mind," he replied. "For one, we are going to a party to 'welcome them to the neighborhood' the way Americans do. Your brothers and sister won't be able to attend because they are busy. You can talk to her there. Or, like many young folks these days, you could ask her out on a few dates and get to know her better. Then, we can secure our plan." His spectacles glinted evilly like Kyoya's did when he thought of something mischievous. "Just do whatever you can to get to know her. Our future depends on it."

"Otou-san," protested Kyoya softly, carefully choosing his tone, "this girl is not like the others. She would actually kill me if she ever found out I was using her." He thought back to how her anger burned like a wildfire, dangerous and untamed. It was both frightening and arousing, now that he thought about it. Her sass was something he liked about her.

"Then don't tell her or ever let it slip," was Yoshio's impatient remark, not understanding why Kyoya was hesitant. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Now, leave me be. I need to get back to work."

Kyoya gave a bow and silently left the room, thinking bitterly, Love you too, Otou-san…

…

When Kyoya got back to his room, he laid down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Thoughts of Kira entered his mind and he found himself going over the qualities he liked about her. He liked that her brown hair was wavy. Not many girls in Japan had hair like that. He liked how her brown eyes lit up when she answered the teachers' questions in class. She liked being right about things. Her body was certainly captivating too. She had curves in all the right places and the school dress fit her like a glove, giving him a view of her ample breasts and hips. Of course, the thing he liked most was her mind. When she did answer the teachers' questions, she had this intelligence and wit that stirred his logical side. She was definitely well-read and learned.

"I don't want to hurt her," he said to himself, wishing he could tell his father that. "She's not just a pawn. Not to me, at least."

His words went unheard so he closed his eyes and allowed his body to relax. He never got to sleep early but right now he was exhausted. Maybe he could get some rest before he was needed again.

A/N: Shorter chapter but it will get better. Uh-oh, seems like Kyoya's father is up to his old tricks again. Will that destroy any relationship between Kyoya and Kira? R&R please! BTW, Otou-san means father in Japanese!