Special thanks to Joliegold09, JadeCrispy, and AFandomAuthor for the wonderful, wonderful reviews! :D Love you guys! And thanks for anyone who followed and faved this story.

Some KaoruXEmi in this. Hope you like it! :)

For the next few weeks, Emi spent her time after school at the library, while Ryuu continued hosting. They'd go home together, and Ryuu would tell her how it went.

"You should have come today Emi!" Ryuu said as they entered their home. "The theme was Arabian Kingdom."

"Oh. Cool? Did you take any pictures?"

Ryuu's smile froze. "Uh. No. Crap, I should have done that right?"

"It's fine." Emi headed towards the stairs. "I have to study."

"Still? You've been studying for like hours!" He followed her up the stairs.

"Only two, and that was doing homework," Emi said. It was during times like these that Emi wished she was more like Ryuu. He had a knack for learning things quickly. He usually only had to study the week before exams, and he'd do very well.

"I'll study with you then!"

"Sure."

The week before exams, clubs were all cancelled so students could study properly. Then, it was exam time…

"The beach!" the twins chorused on the last exam day. They were in Music Room 3 for a Host Club meeting. "Haruhi, let's go to the beach!"

"Huh? The beach?"

"Where do you want to go? Hawaii? The Caribbean? Fiji?" the twins asked the girl.

"What was this meeting for?" Ryuu said. He was standing by the door waiting for something actually worth his time to happen.

"Are you two sexually harassing my daughter?!" Tamaki smashed the twins into the sky.

There's that daughter thing again. What the hell? Ryuu watched the chaos continue. He was starting to get used to it, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Actually, if it's the beach, I wouldn't mind," Haruhi said.

And that sealed the deal.

"The beach?" Emi said.

"Yup. The beach. Yay," Ryuu said.

"Ryuu-kun!" Akiko waved at him. "Come play with us!"

"That sounds dirty," Emi said.

"You read too much dirty stuff, that's why!" Ryuu said, but he blushed anyway. "Co-Coming, Aki!"

"Aki, huh," Emi said. She watched him run to his guests, still fighting that blush. Exactly, what am I doing here?

"Haruhi, you're not going to swim?"

"Why? Watching is more fun," Haruhi said. Emi's attention snapped over there, and she leaned closer to hear Haruhi's words.

"Then should we watch together?"

"No, you go on. It's really cute, finally seeing you in your swimsuits."

"Kyaaa!"

Emi bit her lip, trying not to squeal too. It made her want to take off the t-shirt she had on over her bikini. But it was her first time wearing a bikini, and she wasn't sure how comfortable she was walking around with it.

It's like you're in your underwear, Emi thought. She wadded into the water. It was cool and refreshing when compared to the heat of the sun. Hehe this is pretty fun! I guess it's good that I came.

"Emi!" Sumiko waved her over to a deeper part. She was in a striped bikini, and Emi couldn't help her gaze as it swept over Sumiko's curves. She was slender and beautiful, and her long, blond hair tied in a bun was quite cute.

"You're not going to take off that shirt?" Sumiko asked.

"No." Emi shook her head. "It-It's embarrassing."

"Aw come on!" Sumiko grabbed the shirt.

"Sumiko!"

She pulled the shirt off, and Emi let herself drop into the water. "Uwaaa, Sumiko! I'm not ready yet!"

"But it's cute," Sumiko said with a grin. "Besides, that cousin of yours is way too overprotective, making you wear a t-shirt over your bikini. He really is a lot like Ryo."

"He didn't make me. A bikini is like underwear, Sumiko." Emi blew bubbles in the water.

"Then why'd you wear it?" she asked.

"Cause everyone else is wearing a bikini," Emi said. "Plus I wanted to try it out."

Sumiko grabbed the girl's arm, pulling her out of the water. "Then go!" She shoved Emi towards Haruhi. "Seduce him, Emi." She gave her a wink before splashing away towards Tamaki's area.

Seduce him?! Emi thought. She was blushing now, heat rushing to her cheeks. As if I know how to seduce guys!

"Oh Emi-chan, you're in a bikini huh?" Haruhi smiled. "It's cute."

Uwaaaa! Rather than seducing him, I'm getting seduced!

Emi plunged back under the water. "No it's not."

"What was that?" Haruhi couldn't hear her.

"Nothing." Emi turned away.

"Kaoru, stop running away!" Hikaru was saying while chasing after his twin.

"It's not me that's running away, it's the ball," Kaoru said.

Wow. Live-action yaoi. Well it's more like shounen ai, but live-action shounen ai is good too. Emi watched them from within the water. I'm glad I came.

Kaoru finally caught the rolling beach ball and smiled, looking very satisfied and almost proud. And Hikaru caught his brother, wrapping his arms around him.

Kyaaa! Emi grinned.

"Oh, it's Emi-chan!" Kaoru said. He ran over to the water edge. "What are you doing just sitting there?"

"Nothing," Emi said. She blew some more bubbles. The water was salty. To her left, Haruhi was chatting with her guests. To the right, Ryuu was splashing around in the water with his guests, and he seemed happy. If the twins would just continue their fanservice act, everything would be great.

"You're wearing a bikini?" Hikaru asked.

"Ooh, we wanna see," Kaoru said. He grabbed Emi's arm.

"Hey, wait!"

Hikaru took her other arm, and they both pulled her out of the water. Emi blushed as they stared at her.

"You're skinny," Kaoru said.

"Your hip is a lot skinnier than I thought it was," Hikaru said.

"And you're not that flat either," Kaoru said.

"Gee thanks," Emi said, wrenching her arms out of their grip. "And why were you thinking about how skinny my hip was?"

"Cause we might need to make clothes for you," Hikaru said.

"Why would you ever need to do that?"

Hikaru smirked. "You never know."

"So why are you still wearing your glasses?" Kaoru asked. His hand reached forward towards her glasses.

"I can't see without them, okay?" Emi backed away. She didn't like it when her vision was blurry; it made her feel open and vulnerable.

"Stay still," Hikaru said with a grin. He hugged her waist, while Kaoru tried to take Emi's glasses again.

"Wait!"

Then a beach ball slammed into Hikaru's head, and the twin crumpled into the water.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru said.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to my-my cousin?!"

"Heeeh." Hikaru staggered to his feet, using Kaoru as support. "Don't you think you sound too much like Ryo-chan?"

Ryuu shut his mouth, glaring at the twins. He clenched and unclenched his fists then turned around. He stomped back towards his guests, ignoring the confused and amused looks from the girls.

"He got you good, Hikaru," Kaoru said with a giggle.

"It's not funny," Hikaru said.

"Sorry," Kaoru said. "But he hit you right in the head. And down you went." He giggled some more.

Hikaru frowned. Then he turned around, an arm going across Kaoru's neck to pull him along. "Let's go back to the volleyball game."

Yes, I can keep on enjoying the show!Emi submerged under the water and prepared herself for some more delightful live-action shounen ai.

"Wow this is a cool cave," Emi said. There were skulls and cobwebs along the edges of the cave, apparently decoration to set the mood, and it led to a cliff over the ocean.

"You know there's a story about this cliff," one girl said as they followed Haruhi out the cave. "If you fall off the cliff, you'll never come back up."

"What? How scary!"

"Don't worry girls," Haruhi said with a smile. "It's probably not true."

Emi wasn't so sure if she wanted to be heading towards a cliff. But when they finally arrived, the scenery was worth it. The sky and ocean met together at the horizon where the setting sun sat, streaking everything in shades of red, orange, and yellow.

"Wow," one girl said.

"It's beautiful," another said.

Yeah, Emi thought.

"What's this? You can get to the beach from here," a voice said from behind them.

"Oh and there are girls here too."

"Wanna play with us?" one guy grabbed a nearby girl's arm.

"Isn't it boring for you women to be by yourselves?" another guy said. Emi frowned, and she stepped forward to teach those guys a lesson.

"Please stop. This is a private beach," the girl said.

"So you're a rich chick? That'll be even more fun. Why don't we-"

Then a bunch of sea urchins, shells, and the like crashed onto the guy. "Let her go," Haruhi said.

Ooh, Fujioka-kun to the rescue! Emi thought, excited to see more of the host's cool side.

"She doesn't like it," Haruhi said. "Stop pestering her."

"This kid…" The guys glared at her. Emi edged closer towards Haruhi.

"Who do you think you are, talking to us like that?" They shoved Emi to the side with complete disregard, while beginning to pick on Haruhi.

"Hey!" Emi grabbed one of the guy's shirt, trying to pull them away. But the guy just elbowed Emi aside.

"Matchstick arms like yours." They started roughing Haruhi up. Emi's eyes narrowed and she yanked on the guy in front of her, jerking him away from Haruhi.

"Get away," the guy said with a scowl. Emi swung a leg out and tripped the guy. He fell to the ground with a sound "Ooph!"

"Haruhi!" Tamaki came sprinting towards them.

"Fujioka-kun!" Emi reached for the girl, but the other guy grabbed her and pushed her away.

She was about to punch him when she tripped over the guy still on the ground. Her arms pinwheeled as she tried to catch her balance.

Then she felt herself falling.

No no no no!

Emi's hand wrapped around the closest thing, the guy who'd pushed her, and she managed to steady herself. But then she saw how close she was to the cliff, and she finally realized just how high up she was. If she fell, there would be no going back.

Oh my- No no no. Emi froze in place. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt sick to her stomach. Move Emi! Goddamnit, move! Fujioka-kun… I gotta go help Fujioka-kun! So move, you stupid legs!

But her feet were glued to the ground. Her eyes were stuck to the cliff edge and the vast distance between where she stood and the crashing waves below.

Move! Please!

Emi managed to lurch away from the edge, bumping into someone, but she still couldn't turn around. She couldn't face her back against the large drop.

Then a guy punched Haruhi, and Haruhi tumbled down the cliff.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki's arm shot forward, but he missed her. And he fell into the ocean after the girl.

"Tamaki-sama! Haruhi!"

"Kyaa!"

"Fu-Fu-Fujioka-kun," Emi said. Her brown eyes were wide as she watched the two figures falling out of the corner of her eye.

"Ha, are you scared?" one guy said. His breath tickled her ear.

"You jerk!" Emi slammed her fist into the guy's stomach. Frustration kicked in, but she still couldn't move from her spot. Her eyes prickled, and her face burned in shame. "Fujioka-kun, Fujioka-kun, he-"

"Haruhi! Emi!" The twins dashed up to the cliff. They immediately tossed the guys to the side. "Where's-"

"Ta-Tamaki-senpai, he went after him," Emi said. Her voice was trembling, as Kyoya joined them and began confiscating the men's IDs.

"You okay?" Kaoru asked.

Emi nodded, gulping. She risked a glance back and regretted it immediately. She was so far up above the ground. Too far. If she fell, she might die. And Haruhi had fallen, and Tamaki had fallen with her.

"Fujioka-kun," Emi said. She staggered forward and crashed into Kaoru. Her head fell against his bare chest. Her hand latched onto the edge of his opened shirt. "I'm sorry. Fujioka-kun, he fell and-" She swallowed as her legs collapsed, and she dropped to the ground. "I'm so sorry." Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Emi, it-it's okay." Kaoru knelt down beside her. He patted her shoulder. "Haruhi's okay. See? Tamaki already pulled him out. He'll be fine."

Emi shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut tight. If she hadn't frozen in fear, she could have saved Haruhi. Haruhi wouldn't have fallen into the ocean. Haruhi wouldn't be hurt. It was all because she was scared of heights, all because she couldn't move at that very moment.

Then she felt soft fabric wrap around her shoulders. Opening her eyes, she saw Kaoru's gentle gaze and his smile, and his yellow shirt draped over her. "It's not your fault, Emi," he said. "So please don't cry. You look a lot cuter when you're smiling." She sniffled and rubbed her eyes.

"Emi! Emi!" Ryuu came sprinting up the cliff towards her. His eyes were wide with concern. Kaoru moved aside as Ryuu dropped to the ground beside her. "Thank goodness you're alright." He pulled her into a hug, and she could feel him shaking just a bit. The Hitachiin twins began heading down the cliff towards the beach.

"I-I'm fine, Ryuu," she said.

"Why would you even go near a cliff?" he asked, pulling away but continuing to grip her shoulders.

"The view," she said. She swallowed, although her throat still felt like it was coated in sand. "And Fujioka-kun. He-He-"

"I know," Ryuu said. He stood up and held his hands towards her. "Come on. Let's go check on him."

She stared at his hands.

"Do you want me to carry you?"

Emi shook her head and grabbed his hands. He pulled her up to her feet, and they walked hand-in-hand towards the beach. Hikaru was running towards Haruhi and Tamaki, while Kaoru lagged behind, glancing back at the Mazawa twins.

"You feeling okay?" Ryuu said. Emi shrugged, so he gave her hand a squeeze.

"Emi!" Sumiko hurried towards them as they reached the beach. "You okay? Gosh that must have been scary."

Emi shook her head, trying to regain her composure. "Fu-Fujioka-kun, he-"

"He's fine," Kaoru said.

Emi looked at him. His amber eyes held her gaze with calm and steadiness. She found herself nodding at him. "Okay." Her voice was so quiet, she wasn't sure if he heard her.

"You guys should go to your hotels," Hikaru said, coming to join them. "Or wherever you're staying."

"Okay," Ryuu said. His hand went around Emi's shoulder. "Come on."

"But Fujioka-kun-" Emi tilted so that she could see past the twins, who were returning to the other hosts. Tamaki was yelling at Haruhi, and Haruhi was yelling back. Then Tamaki stomped away. "Why is Fujioka-kun getting yelled at? He didn't do anything wrong."

"Don't worry about it," Ryuu said. He took her shoulders and turned her away.

"But if it's anyone's fault, it's mine," Emi said, letting him guide her towards the awaiting vehicle.

"No, it's not."

"I could have beaten those guys, but because-"

"It's not your fault," he said in a tired voice. "So just forget about it, okay, Emi? Let's go to the hotel and eat some dinner."

Bertrand was waiting for them, holding the passenger door open. "Emi-sama, Ryuu-sama."

"Hey Berty," Ryuu said. They climbed into the car, where Ryuu immediately dug into a bag on the ground and pulled a towel out. He put it over Emi's lap before noticing the shirt that Emi had. "Where did that come from?"

"Huh? Oh. This." She stared at the shirt, fingering the cotton fabric. As expected from the son of a fashion designer, it had a trendy design. "Kaoru-kun."

"Tsk."

"Don't do that," Emi said quietly. She was tired from the day's events, and she didn't want to deal with anything right now, like Ryuu's disapproval on who knows what. Her eyes slid shut even before Berty began driving. Within a few minutes, she was asleep.

Ryuu didn't bother waking Emi up. He carried her out of the car and into the hotel. Bertrand fussed over the two, insisting that he carry Emi instead, but Ryuu refused. He didn't want to let go of Emi. Ever.

Akimi was waiting for them in the hotel room.

"I heard something happened." She rushed over towards them.

"Yeah, Haruhi got pushed off the cliff by some guys," Ryuu said, laying Emi down on the bed. "Emi was around when it happened."

"She's okay?" Akimi said.

"And awake," Emi said as her eyes cracked open.

"Oh good." Akimi sighed. "Are you guys hungry? We can order room service, or I can go out and buy something."

Emi didn't have any preferences, so they ordered some room service. While they waited for the food, Emi took a shower.

"Ryuu, are you sure Fujioka-kun's okay?"

"Yes," Ryuu said, flipping through TV channels.

"But they even called a doctor."

"It's just a precaution. Tamaki seemed fine, so Haruhi should be fine too."

"But-"

Ryuu set the TV remote down and turned towards the fretting Emi. She didn't worry like this often. He rubbed his thumb over the creases in her forehead. "You're gonna have a bunch of wrinkles here if you keep doing this."

So Emi pouted instead.

"Do you want to check up on him then?" Ryuu asked.

"Yeah."

"But-"

"Don't say I can't," she said.

"Then how about I check on him?" he said. "They're staying at the mansion near the beach right?"

"Yeah, Nekozawa-senpai's mansion," she said.

"Who's that?"

Emi sighed. "Sometimes I wonder who's really in the Host Club."

Ryuu decided to ignore the remark. "After dinner I'll go over there and check up on Haruhi. Okay? I'll take pictures or whatever you want."

"Can you get his phone number?"

He was about to nod but stopped himself. Wait, could she want the phone number for a hidden motive? So she can text Haruhi whenever she wants? "But Emi-"

"Ugh, I hate it when I know what you're thinking. Fine, just let me talk to him."

"Okay."

The sun was gone, and the world dark, when Ryuu rang the doorbell to the huge mansion. The building seemed to have a gloomy aura around it, and he could just imagine the cobweb-covered corners, broken window shutters, and dust coated floors.

The door opened, and a maid smiled at him. "How may I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Ryuu Mazawa. Could you tell one of the hosts in the mansion who I am and that I came here to check on Haruhi Fujioka?"

The maid nodded. "Of course. Please come in to wait."

Ryuu entered the mansion, prepared for something right out of a horror movie. But the house was clean and orderly. The lights weren't very bright, and there were some strange decorations here and there, but nothing close to what he'd expected.

"Ryuu-sama." Bertrand came in behind him. "Should I wait at the door?"

"Sure," Ryuu said as the maid returned.

"This way please, Sir," she said. He followed her down another dim hallway until they reached the dining area. Piles and piles of crab shells sat on plates, while servants bustled around cleaning. Damn those hosts eat a lot! Ryuu thought, unaware that a fair portion came from Haruhi.

"This way." The maid continued down another hallway, past the dining area. They finally reached a wide hallway with doors on both sides.

"Oh." The twins were standing in the hallway with Honey and Mori. "It's Ryuu."

"Ryuu-chan!" Honey sprang into Ryuu's arms.

"Um, hi." He spun Honey around in a circle before setting the third-year down.

"What are you doing here?" the twins asked.

"I came here to get some proof that Haruhi is a-okay," Ryuu said. "Or else Emi won't be able to sleep."

"Huh? She's still not over it yet?" The twins furrowed their brows.

"Yeah. So where's Haruhi?"

"Haru-chan went over there a while ago." Honey pointed down another hall. As if on cue, Haruhi stepped into the hallway. In a pink dress.

Ryuu's jaw dropped, and he blushed.

"Oh," the twins said. "Whoops."

"Haruhi's a girl?!"

It got so dramatic hahaha. So much for being a light-hearted story hahahaha. Anyway, please tell me what you think! Is this kind of drama good? Bad? Suggestions and feedback are highly appreciated!

Thanks for reading! :)