DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Ouran High School Host Club

Enjoy chapter thirty-five!


Chapter 35

Haruhi had seen and felt the improvement of the host club's overall atmosphere. She had even noticed the way Kaoru's attitude had changed drastically now that Izumi was back. And she knew, even if it was denied, that Hikaru was happy now that his brother was well. The boy still disliked Izumi for what happened and refused to be close to him, but they all could tell that even Hikaru preferred this over seeing his brother down all the time.

At the moment the twins, Izumi, and her were in the second year's library. They had a free day since the host club had been canceled that afternoon since Tamaki had to tend to family-related things. The four wanted to make use of the free time and went to study and do homework together. The rest of the club didn't come. They decided to leave and go home instead. The girl peeked up from the notebook she had been studying from and saw the couple sitting across from her, arguing away.

"Oh come on, you know this." Kaoru insisted as he pushed his book in front of the raven haired until it was overlapping his. Izumi glared at him and shoved it away. "I'm not giving you all the answers. I have my own work to do."

Kaoru pouted and whined back, "But how else am I supposed to get the answers."

"Doing it yourself."

"I don't get it." Kaoru continued whining.

"I already explained it to you!" Izumi growled back.

Within seconds one of the guys from another table turned towards them and gave a warning, "Kaneko." The raven haired flushed in embarrassment and looked back at his work sheepishly. "S-sorry," he apologized. The guy just rolled his eyes and turned back, he was about fed up since he had already complained once before. Hikaru chuckled lightly, finding it amusing to see someone else get annoyed with the boy for a change, causing Haruhi to elbow him for his rudeness.

A few moments passed before the youngest twin spoke up once again. "Will you help me now?"

"Ask your brother," he mumbled.

Kaoru glanced over to Hikaru, already knowing the answer he was going to get. "I don't understand it either." the elder admitted. Kaoru turned back with a smug grin. Izumi scowled, "Haruhi?"

"I really have to study for this test." she said as she indicated towards her notebook.

Izumi sighed and stood up, "Alright, I'll go look for something that could help."

"You know where it is, right?" Kaoru asked. Izumi tilted his head, "It's in the math section. Isn't it?"

"This is the second year's library." Hikaru spoke up.

"So?" Izumi asked, not seeing the problem.

"So only second year books are here." Kaoru added.

"Then…" Izumi paused and glared at all three of them. "Why did you guys come here?"

"It's quiet." Haruhi answered as the twins nodded their heads in agreement. She looked up and pointed towards the library's exit. "You need to go look in the first year's library for the book."

Izumi ruffled his hair in annoyance. He still didn't know the whole layout of the school. "And where is that?"

"First year's floor." The twins answered at the same time as if it were obvious.

"I know that!" Izumi growled then paused as he remembered he had to be quiet. "But where?" he added with a low voice.

All three of them went silent as they stared at each other, trying to figure out who would be the one to show the raven haired. The other just frowned, not understanding what they were doing. Haruhi was the first to speak, "Kaoru, go with him." Hikaru then added, "Yeah, go show him."

Kaoru pouted that he was the one being chosen. "But that's such a long way." he whined.

"Come on," Izumi sighed as he grabbed the boy's arm. "You're the one that wants me to help you."

The youngest twin reluctantly got up and went ahead of him so Izumi could follow. Haruhi shook her head at them and continued her studying. Hikaru was about to do the same when he noticed the other group of guys from earlier staring after his brother and Izumi and whispering to each other, probably complaining about the latter. The boy shrugged it off and went back to his homework.


The two boys were walking in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, so neither attempted to break it. They just continued to turn corners and change hallways as they headed towards the first year's library, with Kaoru taking the lead of course. Kaoru stopped walking when they were halfway there and turned towards the other. The raven haired just tilted his head in question. "Have you been memorizing the way?"

Izumi scoffed, "No. I lost you as soon as we started walking."

Kaoru shook his head and continued walking, "You're hopeless." Izumi let out a small laugh, "With directions, I agree."

Kaoru smiled a bit and they both went back to walking in silence. Once they made it Izumi immediately began to search around for the books they needed. The whole time he was picking them out he was muttering complaints under his breath, wondering why he had to be the one to teach them.

The boy passed a textbook to the auburn haired and moved onto another section. Kaoru fidgeted around with the pile of heavy books, trying to make it easier to hold them all. "Do we really need all of this?" he asked as Izumi continued to skim around a few books. "Yup." Izumi placed around book onto of the pile and walked somewhere else. "Because I'm pretty sure you're going to try to find another excuse to get on my nerves again."

Kaoru pouted at the accusation and went after him. "But I'm not doing this on purpose. I really don't understand the lesson."

"Uh-huh." Izumi grabbed another book and turned towards Kaoru abruptly, nearly causing him to drop the books from the sudden move. "Let's go check out."

Izumi grabbed half of the books to ease up the weight Kaoru was struggling to hold onto. The boy gave him a smile as thanks and they checked the books out. As soon as they were done they headed straight towards the club.

It had been not even two minutes when a small group of three upperclassmen turned to the hallway right in front. They were cackling and snickering like fools as they walked. One guy on the right, who had longish black hair, said something that was apparently super funny and the other two laughed along hysterically. The one in the middle, who had spiked-up dark brown hair, playfully hit his shoulder.

It didn't bother Kaoru in any way that the guys were being loud and heading towards them, so he paid them no mind. Izumi, on the other hand, tensed up at the familiarity of their faces. As if on cue, the shortest of the bunch, who had short black curls, glanced up and immediately stopped his laughter. He turned towards the others and elbowed the spiky guy to get his attention.

Still Kaoru didn't take note of what happened and their actions slipped past him. It was only when Izumi suddenly muttered a curse and slightly hunched over that Kaoru began to notice something was off. He looked over to the upperclassmen and saw how their expressions turned smug and scandalous. He turned back to the raven haired and saw the boy slowly inching towards the wall of the hallway, as if it was going to make him less noticeable.

"Oi Kaneko!" The spiky guy called over as he headed over to said boy and stood in front of him, stopping him from advancing any further. "It's been a while."

Kaoru wasn't sure what he should do and just awkwardly stood off to the side as the three guys surrounded Izumi and trapped him to the side of the hallway.

"Huh, what's wrong Kaneko? Where's that mouth of yours?" the spiky guy asked as he tried to get in the boy's line of sight, but he just kept turning his head away. The curly guy snickered and said, "Haha boss, he's scared now."

"Oh, really? Are you now?" the boss mocked with a smug grin. "Where's that confidence you had before?"

"Please, leave me alone." Izumi mumbled as he attempted to pass through the small space in between the boss and the wall. Unfortunately, the guy noticed and shoved him back. "Nah, come on man. Don't be like that. We want to talk to you."

"Hey boss," the longed haired guy called out. "It's the twin from that woman-luring club." Kaoru frowned as the two other guys moved to surround him as well.

"Oh?" The boss looked over to the auburn haired. He then gave a big smirk and turned back to Izumi. "You're in that club Kaneko?" The raven haired gave him a quick glare as a warning before turning his gaze back to the white wall. The boss burst out laughing, "Oh shit, no wonder you're such a pussy now. You've become a fuck boy!"

This time Izumi glowered at him and straighten up to seem more intimidating, even if he was technically shorter than all three of them. The boss, however, didn't back off and continued his teasing. "You know, I've heard quite a few stories about that host club. They say your boss is some biased little fuck." The boy steps forward and Izumi grits his teeth, his fingers curling tightly around the books. The boss grins even wider when he sees the raven haired visibly getting angrier. "You better watch what you do, Kaneko." he warns. "All of your actions will end up taking a toll on your club." Izumi backed off a bit, but not completely. He was still pretty intimidating.

The whole time this was happening Kaoru just silently looked back and forth between all of them. The guys didn't seem to be causing too much trouble. They were just being annoying for the most part. And if they were confronting anyone else other than Izumi, then their advances would be ignored. But since it is Izumi, that wasn't the case. Kaoru knew how fast it took for the raven haired to get furious and fed up. So it wasn't looking too good when Izumi started growling at them to shut up once they began to insult his friends.

"Oh yeah, remember that brat? He—"

"Shut your damn mouth!"

The boss glared down at the raven haired, who gave an equal look, and stepped even closer. "The fuck did you just say?" he asked, his voice threatening.

In that moment, Kaoru knew that if he didn't do something fast the guys would all engage into a fight. And that was what he feared the most. So, he quickly made his way to them and shifted the books' weight to one hand so he could grab Izumi's arm with the other. He tugged on it softly and quietly said, "Izumi, we should go." However, the boy seemed too focused on the guy in front of him and ignored Kaoru. "Izumi," he insisted, pulling his arm back further. This time, the boy resisted and shook Kaoru's hold away.

"Yeah, why don't you leave, Kaneko? You wouldn't want to put a bad image to your pansy—"

At the word 'pansy' Kaoru immediately stepped in between them, having seen the fury in the raven haired's eyes. "Izumi!" he warned, making the boy back up and finally look at him. "Let's go." Kaoru urged, pushing him back more as he bumped their stack of books together.

Izumi scowled and looked away. Not waiting for his response, Kaoru grabbed his arm and pulled him again. "Come on."

This time Izumi didn't refuse and let the auburn haired take him away from the guys.

"Yeah, just run away like last time, pretty boy!" the boss yelled out. The guys all laughed and snickered as the two walked away.

Kaoru winced and prayed Izumi would just leave it alone, but unfortunately that just wasn't like him. He always had to have the last word. The raven haired stopped walking briefly to give out a final insult that the guys. "At least I'm not a fucking dim-witted lowlife!"

Within seconds books were thrown on the floor and a certain raven haired was being held up against the wall by a large guy with spiked-up hair. "Repeat that, you little shit! I dare you!" the guy growled out, tightening his grip on Izumi's collar.

Izumi flinched, but otherwise glowered at him. In another time he would've resisted, but he knew Kaoru didn't want him to fight. So, he had no choice.

"H-hey," Kaoru stuttered in shock, not knowing what else to do in this situation. He's never really gotten in a serious conflict before, so how was he supposed to approach it? They weren't going to just leave if he asked nicely. It doesn't work like that and he didn't want Izumi to get hurt either.

"You stay out of this, freshman." the one with long hair ordered as he pushed Kaoru back.

Izumi growled and struggled a little when he saw this, "Don't touch him!"

"Don't touch him, huh?" the boss mused. He turned towards his friends and gave a nod. The guys grinned wickedly. It scared Izumi. Especially when he saw them close in on Kaoru.

"Stay away from him!" he ordered, sounding more desperate than angry.

The guys ignored him. One gave the auburn haired a harsh shove towards the side, making him back up and touch the wall slightly. The other slammed the books in his hands to the floor. Kaoru was about to complain when the former abruptly pushed him again to the wall. He yelped at the sudden treatment and glared at the curly guy, who merely smirked.

Kaoru was about to snap at him when the guy was pulled back and punched in the face. Izumi snarled as the guy fell to the floor, "I told you not to fucking touch him!" From further back the auburn haired could see the boss recovering from, what seemed like, a blow to the stomach.

"You bastard!" the long haired one shouted as he lunged at the raven haired.

Everything else was a just a blur. The two began fighting and punching each other. Then Izumi kicked back and the guy tumbled over. There was a slight pause, but Kaoru couldn't let out a breath of relief when the boss came up from behind and grabbed Izumi, locking the boy's arms in place. Then the curly guy finally made a comeback and punched Izumi's gut. Kaoru could practically feel the pain as the boy coughed. He thought he was done for, but then Izumi kneed the guy in the same area.

It was hard trying to keep track of their movements. They were all just moving so fast. Not to mention that Kaoru was clouded with worry. His heart was racing and he felt weak to his knees whenever the group got close. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to run and avoid all of this, but he didn't want to leave Izumi behind. But he also didn't want to see Izumi get beaten up. The fight was completely unfair, it was three versus one.

When the guys got awfully quiet, Kaoru focused on the fight again and he noticed something strange. The third years were all out of breath as Izumi just stood there waiting for them to come at him. Was he winning? It seemed a lot like he was. Izumi wasn't hovering or using the wall for support. He obviously didn't get hit as much as they did.

Either way, Kaoru gathered up all his nerves and made his way into the dangerous zone. Unfortunately, the guys recovered within that short time and were ready to continue. Izumi was about to make the first move, but Kaoru ran the rest of the way and pulled Izumi back like earlier. "Izumi, please stop." he pleaded, trying to get the boy to look at him. But Izumi's eyes were locked on the others.

In that moment, the three guys looked at each other and silently decided that it was best to just escape while they still can. They backed up and started to leave, but not before the boss announced, "This isn't over, Kaneko!"

"Hey, where do you—" Izumi began with a snarl before Kaoru firmly placed his hands on his chest. "Please stop." Kaoru continued.

Izumi listened, but didn't keep his eyes off the retreating figures until they turned out of the hallway. There was a silence in the air. Everything had already calmed down, but Kaoru feared that if he let Izumi go, the boy would take off after them. So, he didn't take his hands away.

Izumi finally looked at Kaoru and immediately pulled the boy into a hug. Kaoru just stood there, confused. Not knowing how to react to this sudden affectionate action. After a few seconds Izumi pulled away and urgently asked, "Are you okay!?" Kaoru blinked at that, seeing the genuine worry in his blue eyes.

"I—yeah, I'm okay." he assured.

The raven haired sighed in relief and backed up, "Okay… okay good." He lightly ruffled his hair, feeling embarrassed for his sudden outburst.

There was an awkward silence now. Great. Kaoru eyed the raven haired and saw the side of his jaw turning bright red. "Are you okay?" he asked, remembering how the guys had punched him pretty hard.

Izumi didn't seem to get why Kaoru was asking that and tilted his head to the side. As a response the boy reached his hand up and lightly touched the soon-to-be bruise. Izumi flinched, but didn't stop him. Instead he leaned on it and observed the boy's reaction. After finding no complaint, he placed his own hand over Kaoru's.

Still nothing happened. Kaoru just kept looking at him the same way. Not giving a warning or showing any kind of disapprove. With that, Izumi fully grabs onto Kaoru's hand and moves it towards his mouth, giving the boy's palm a light kiss.

That, of course, did manage to get a different reaction.

Kaoru's cheeks flushed from the sudden affectionate action and frowned, confused as to why the other would do something like that. But before he had the chance to question anything, Izumi let his hand go and glanced away. "We should go." he mumbled as he moved away and started to go over to the mess of books on the floor.

Kaoru sighed and followed along. They sorted the textbooks and separated them evenly so each could hold the same amount. Once finished, they stood back up with the load and began to walk back. Well, only Kaoru did. Izumi stayed on his knees and rubbed his stomach a bit.

"Does it hurt?" Kaoru asked with a concerned voice, recalling the way the curly guy had hit him.

The boy shook his head. "Not really. Just more sensitive here." He put pressure on his side and flinched.

"Do you need help?" Kaoru asked with a frown as he remembered the injury Izumi used to have. Although it already healed up, the place itself was still weak as an after-effect.

"Nah, that's alright. I got this." With that Izumi stood up by himself. Although, softly grunting in pain.

They then didn't speak another word. Just headed back to the second year's library. Kaoru sneaked in glances every now and then, trying to find a way to start a conversation so they didn't have to be in this uncomfortable silence. But Izumi did nothing to acknowledge him. He just continued to follow the auburn haired with a blank expression.

This went on all the way to their destination. They walked inside the library and settled the heavy books on the table.

"Geez, no wonder you guys took so long." Hikaru commented when he saw the amount of books they brought. It must have taken them a while to find all of these.

"Yeah, figured the more the better." Izumi mumbled as he sat down in his chair with an exhausted sigh. His sides were sore and throbbing from the fight and the long walk did not make things better. But, he wasn't in pain really. At least, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

"Izumi, did something happen?" Haruhi spoke up suddenly.

Izumi tilted his head at her although he already knew what she meant by that.

"You have a bruise on your face."

He frowned. He didn't know what to say. But before he could even attempt to explain, Kaoru spoke up.

"Some books fell on him." Kaoru said with a snicker in his voice.

Haruhi laughed at that and smiled. "I see. Be more careful Izumi."

Izumi furrowed his brows in confusion to what just happened. "Uh, yeah." He glanced over to the auburn haired as a silent question. The boy ignored him, though, and turned to his homework.

"Alright then, help me out here. I don't understand this question." Kaoru directed towards him.


The four spent another hour in the library before they decided it was getting too late. Haruhi and Hikaru waited outside of the school as the other two went back to return the books they checked out. They didn't say anything to each other as they walked. Izumi searched around the empty corridor, trying to find the right words to say in the bare cream-colored walls. It didn't help.

The words shriveled and dried up in his throat. The more he thought about it the more time passed by. Maybe he shouldn't overthink it and just be blunt? Izumi frowned and inwardly cursed. Sometimes his bluntness didn't come out the right way. But he knew it would work. He knew because it was the only way he was going to open his damn mouth. He knew because he wasn't going to think about it.

It wasn't until they started walking back to the front exit of the school when Izumi grabbed the other's arm to stop walking.

Kaoru turned back and raised an eyebrow, "What?"

The knot had finally drowned and washed away. "Thank you for earlier."

Kaoru shrugged and folded his arms. "I just didn't want the rest to get in on this too."

Izumi smiled, "Either way, thanks."

"You're welcome," the boy mumbled as he turned his gaze away, face flushed to a bright red.

And just like that the silence was back. Izumi had to try to find words once again. He fiddled with his thumbs, poked at the floor, scratched the back of his neck, and shifted from one foot to the other. Nothing seemed to work.

"Um," Izumi frowned. "I'm really sorry about what I did."

"…" Kaoru stared at his hand and rubbed over the spot with his other. He could still feel the lingering sensation of Izumi's lips on his skin. "It's fine," he mumbled. "Just don't do it again."

"I know I won't—"

"Why did you anyway? We agreed."

Izumi tilted his head, "What are you talking about?" The auburn haired looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?" Izumi noticed the way the boy was grabbing his own hand and sighed. "I meant the fight."

"Oh," Kaoru blinked back. "Well… that was unavoidable. I mean, they did provoke you."

"I still want to apologize. It was pretty dangerous." Izumi paused. "You could have gotten hurt."

Kaoru scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh please, a little pain ain't gonna kill me."

"I know, but I still don't want to see you getting hurt." Izumi glanced away with a slight blush and twisted a strand of his long bangs. "You know I—" Love you. "—care about you a lot."

"Izumi," Kaoru warned before the other could say or do anything else.

"Sorry," Izumi mumbled.

"You're going too far today."

He frowned in confusion. "Today?" The auburn haired sighed and nodded. "Yes, today," he said. "First, you kiss my hand. Then, you tell me this."

Izumi smiled innocently, suddenly getting the urge to mess with the boy. "What's wrong with kissing your hand?"

"What's wrong?" Kaoru narrowed his eyes, not understanding why he would ask that. "It's a romantic action. We agreed to not do anything romantic!"

"You know, in some cultures a kiss on the hand isn't considered as romantic."

"This isn't another—"

"Besides, if you took it as something romantic then that's not my fault."

The auburn haired let out a frustrated sigh. There is no use in arguing when he plays around like this. Izumi, on the other hand, cleared enjoyed teasing him and began to laugh.

Only that laugh was interrupted by a sudden jolt of pain in his gut. "Ow," he hissed and tried to soothe the area with his palm. The pain was finally starting to kick in. They must have hit him harder than he thought.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kaoru asked with a worried tone.

"Yeah," Izumi laughed softly this time to lighten the situation. "Heh, just really sensitive here."

Kaoru wasn't too convinced this time though. Especially since the red spot on Izumi's jaw was already starting to get ugly. But, he couldn't really do anything about it so he just went along with Izumi. "Okay," He paused. "I guess all that time in the dojo finally payed off, huh?"

"Of course it did!" Izumi said with a smile. He then remembered something. "Hey, do you still want to learn judo?"

Kaoru frowned as he thought about an answer to give. It's been a little over a week since they've started talking again, but they never once mentioned that topic. And Kaoru wasn't sure if he even wanted to continue the training they were doing. Not because he didn't like it, but because he was worried about breaking his own rules. Hell, they hadn't even been hanging out other than in school because of that. And being alone with Izumi meant that he had to constantly restrain himself from doing something against their agreement. So in the end Kaoru sighed out, "I want to but…" He looked down at his hand and continued to rub the spot with his thumb. "I don't know if we should."

The movement caught Izumi's eyes and he understand what Kaoru meant by his response. "I'm not gonna do anything," he assured.

Kaoru gave no reply.

"I promise."

Still nothing.

"You can punch me if I try anything."

Kaoru looked up at that in shock. Not sure if the raven haired was being serious.

"I'm serious," Izumi added as if on cue.

"Really?" He still wasn't sure if he should believe it.

"Yes."

Kaoru laughed and shook his head. This guy is so stupid, he thought with a smile. Kaoru honestly really liked this side of him. It was childish, but sweet. "Okay," he giggled. "But don't complain if it hurts."

Izumi scoffs it off. "As if you could even punch hard!"

"Well," Kaoru smiled. "We'll just have to see."

The raven haired rolled his eyes and started walking to the exit. "Whatever, let's just go." Kaoru laughed again and followed after him. He was still worried about the whole thing, but also happy at the same time.

"Hey," he called out. Izumi turned around and tilted his head. "You remember what you said to me that was a big no-no?"

Izumi furrowed his brows and nodded, not getting where Kaoru was going with this.

"This is my response." Kaoru smiled and walked up to the confused raven haired. He leaned up and lightly kissed the boy's cheek. Then, in a soft voice he said, "I also care about you a lot, Izumi. I don't want to see you getting hurt either." Kaoru then backed up and continued walking with a huge grin on his face, leaving the other flushed in bright red.

"W-we're not supposed to do that!" Izumi growled out after a few seconds as he caught up with him. Kaoru laughed and with a sly tone said, "You know, in some cultures a kiss on the cheek is considered as a greeting."

Izumi scowled, "You bastard!"


So... I apologize that I haven't been updating lately. Just really stressed out in school. I'm a senior now and I'm currently applying for college and taking the big exams. I'm honestly conflicted between wanting to go to college and not wanting to because of the stress. I'm trying my best to work on these chapters as much as possible, but because I am in creative writing well... I always gotta write other shit besides this.

*By the way, if you guys want to read a REALLY amazing book go read Daughters of Ashby by Robyn Ann McKenzie(it's on amazon and createspace I believe)

Also, I got a review over a month ago and I wanted to reply to them, but it was by a guest. So I'm just gonna sorta reply here hoping they read this(the rest of you can skip this)

~ I agree with some of the things you mentioned. But not all of it. The part where Izumi's father's death is revealed is anticlimactic, but I didn't just kill him off. That part of the plot has never changed since the very beginning. But I can see why you would think that. It's been over a year since I wrote that chapter and I wasn't too sure how I should reveal it at the time. Honestly that part was written terribly.

~ As for why I never mentioned it since the beginning well... remember this story is mostly in third-person limited POV. Meaning that it mainly focuses on one character throughout the whole story but uses third-person pronouns. That said, you should never fully believe the things that one character says because it's from a biased POV (I can't say too much on this because of spoilers).

~ For the cover story all I'm saying is: Yes, it is necessary. You'll see later.

~ The plot holes you mentioned, I do agree with that fully. There are many and I cringe every time I have to look back to previous chapters. But oh well, it's my first story.

**Guys, if you leave me feedback please sign in. I want to reply and talk to you, but I can't do that if you do it as a guest. PM me if not. And trust me I'm not going to be replying all the time here either. I'm not gonna get mad so don't worry(unless you're just being destructive) I'm the one that's asking for a feedback. This is my first story so I want to know what I should be improving on.

Anyways that's all! I'm currently working on the next chapter so hopefully I won't take too long this time!

PLEASE REVIEW, FOLLOW, AND FAVORITE \(^.^)/