Hi! :) Over 100 reviews! :O Wow. You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all the support! ^_^

Sorry for the slow update, but here's a pretty long & serious chapter. HUGE shout out to GlassyTheRosePen for beta-ing this chapter! :D She was really helpful.

PhoenixOtaku - Sweet! I hope you get to visit next summer then! :) Haha the HikaRyuu ship is just a tease, like the occasional HikaKao. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Lotti - Thank you! :D I'm glad you liked it! Thank you for always reviewing!

JadeCrispy - Lol, yup, you got that right. Drama alert! XD Thanks for the review!

Neon Wish Likes Pine Trees - Did you change your pen name? O_O Glad you liked the HikaRyuu, and thanks for reviewing!

Otaku's Melody - Yes, HikaRyuu is not an actual ship. :) Haha well the stairs at Ouran are one floor at a time, so it's okay. Thank you for reviewing!

BizzyLizy - I'm glad you liked it. Thank you for reading and reviewing! :D

GlassyTheRosePen - Hehe. Thank you SO much for beta-ing! :D :D :D

Izzyboopers - Lol you deserve the shoutout. ^-^ Thanks for reviewing!

Guest - Sorry, but I've already decided that there will only be bromance with HikaRyuu. :) Thank you for reviewing!

Warning: More swear words than usual.

"Hey! Daisuke!"

Daisuke turned at the sound of a familiar voice. He could see two other people standing behind Ryuu. "Woah, Ryuu! What are you doing here?"

"Ryuu-san?" Kei turned too.

"Shit!" Ryuu jumped backwards. "What are you doing here?"

"I-" Kei's mouth fell open and he leaned to the side, glancing behind Ryuu.

"No you're not," Ryuu said, holding an arm out. "You are not-"

"If you're looking for Emi-chan," Kaoru called out.

"She's not here," Hikaru said. "She didn't come with us."

Ryuu glanced behind him. Only the Hitachiin twins stood there, arms around each other. What the- Emi disappeared? But- so she saw Kei then. I knew it. She doesn't want to see him.

"Oh," Kei said and his gaze fell to the floor. "Okay."

"Who are they, Ryuu?" Hikaru asked, as the twins stepped closer. Kei thought he caught a glimpse of another leg behind Kaoru's, but he blinked and it was gone.

"Hikaru and Kaoru, this is Daisuke, my friend." Ryuu gestured at the taller boy. "And this is Kei, the bastard."

Ryuu! Emi had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from yelling at her brother, while clenching her other hand into a fist. He is not! Stop calling him that!

"Hello, Daisuke my friend." The twins gave a single wave. "And Kei the bastard."

Hikaru-kun, Kaoru-kun, don't call him that too! She elbowed the twins lightly. If they weren't that close to Daisuke and Kei, she would have whispered at them, but now it was risky.

"Oof," they said in unison.

"What?" Daisuke said.

"Nothing," the twins said with grins.

"Is it just the two of you?" Ryuu asked, turning his back to the Hitachiins.

"Yeah, we were just heading back," Daisuke said. "Emi didn't come along?"

"She doesn't like rollercoasters," Kei said in a quiet voice before Ryuu could respond.

"Thanks for telling me that," Ryuu said. "As if I didn't already know it."

Kei looked away and closed his mouth.

Daisuke frowned. "Hey, when are you going to stop that?"

"Stop what?" Ryuu said.

"It's not like Kei hurt you. Why won't you forgive him and treat him more nicely already?"

"It would have been fine if he'd hurt me," Ryuu said, taking a step forward. "But he didn't; he hurt Emi. Of course I can't forgive him. Are you siding with him, Daisuke?"

"Yeah. I am," he replied, stepping closer as well. "Because at least he told her. He didn't have to. He could have kept on and they probably would have still been together. But he told her, and so-"

"Ohh," the twins said, loud enough to silence the two for a moment. "Kei the bastard is Emi-chan's ex-boyfriend." They nodded slowly as understanding dawned upon them.

Daisuke and Ryuu gave the Hitachiins a look before returning to each other. "So," they said at the same time.

"Daisuke, it's fine," Kei said, pulling on said boy's shirt sleeve. He smiled. "Let's just go." He'd seen enough already. He didn't want to find out whose leg was hiding behind the twins. He may have only seen it for a second, but there was already a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"It's not fine!" Daisuke brushed Kei's hand off. "Ryuu's been holding this grudge for too long. Even Emi is over it!"

"No she's not!" Ryuu said. "You wouldn't understand, cause you aren't next to her twenty-four-seven-"

Ryuu please just stop. Emi thought. She was rocking back and forth on her heels, bumping against Kaoru's back. You don't understand. You don't get it at all.

Their voices were rising in volume. Even Daisuke, who was usually level-headed, was yelling. "Yeah right! You-"

"Daisuke." Kei put his hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "It's fine already."

Daisuke turned to Kei. "No it's not-"

"It is," he said, gazing into Daisuke's eyes. He smiled, but it wavered the moment he saw movement in the corner of his eyes from the Hitachiin twins.

"Sorry, Kei," Daisuke said, in almost a whisper. "I didn't want this to happen."

"No." He forced the smile to widen. "Thank you."

Meanwhile, Emi was leaning backwards against Kaoru. I ship! I approve of this ship! But now's really not the time for this! What are they saying? She leaned further back, straining to get closer and hear, but their voices were low. Kei-kun hasn't noticed right? I'm not surprised Ryuu hasn't, but Kei-kun has always been super perceptive. He must have noticed by now, right? He's just being nice and not saying anything. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Kei-kun!

"Emi," Kaoru whispered, keeping his mouth as still as possible. "You're-"

What did Kaoru-kun say? Emi looked up, stepping away from him to get a better look. Kaoru, who'd been pushing against her to keep himself standing straight, was no longer leaning against her back, and he found himself tumbling backwards.

"Wah!" Kaoru tried to regain his balance by using his linked arm with Hikaru, but it was too late.

Oh shit!

Thud!

"Ow," Emi said, lifting her face off the ground.

"K-Kaoru!" Hikaru tugged on his brother's hand. "You okay?"

"Emi?" Daisuke said.

Shit shit shit shit! Emi clamped a hand over her mouth, positive that her eyes were bulging. How did that happen? Was it cause I was leaning on Kaoru-kun? He was leaning back, wasn't he? So when I moved away... Fuck! Now they've all seen me!

"Emi?" Ryuu said as well, as Hikaru helped Kaoru up and off Emi. "Emi! You okay?" Ryuu rushed to the girl sprawled on the concrete.

Damn that really hurt, she thought, rubbing her now pink cheek while standing up. "I'm fine."

What the-? So Emi's been behind the twins all along?! Ryuu thought, looking her up and down. She'd scraped her knee and the lower part of her left palm during the fall. Wait but- So then- The twins- They- Uh-

"You were hiding?" Daisuke said with his eyebrows raised. "Wow. What a dick move. Good job."

Emi bit her lip as her face flushed. "So-Sorry."

"What the hell, Daisuke?" Ryuu pushed him. "This is just proof that she's not over it either!"

Daisuke pushed back. "No it's not. It goes to show that the both of you are grudge-bearing assholes with no heart!"

"The only reason why you can say that is because you've never been in our shoes before!" Ryuu was yelling again. "And because you have feelings for that-"

"Woah what the hell are you saying?" Daisuke said.

"Stop it! Stop it stop it stop it!" Emi stomped her foot several times until the two boys shut up. Then she said to Kei's sneakers, "I'm sorry."

Daisuke frowned and grabbed Emi's arm, pulling her several yards away from the group. When Ryuu began following, Daisuke glared at him and said, "Stay there, Ryuu. I have something to say to her."

"What-"

"It's fine, Ryuu," Emi said, giving him a nod.

"What?" Ryuu sighed.

"Hey, we have no idea what's going on," the twins said with a shrug. "So we'd very much appreciate it if you told us."

"It's not in my position to tell you," Ryuu said, scowling. He crossed his arms and watched Daisuke and Emi.

"You of all people should know how perceptive Kei is," Daisuke said in a quiet voice, a grip on her arm. "He probably already noticed-"

"You don't need to tell me that," Emi said. "You think I don't know that?"

"If you know that, then you should also know that he's not over you yet!" he said. "Consider his feelings a little more! He may have hurt you, but you just hurt him too!"

"I know that!" she said, stamping her foot in frustration. "Of course I know that! But I don't know what to do! How am I supposed to face him? It's really awkward and for some reason he knew I was in Karuizawa even though no one ever told him-"

"I told him."

Emi looked at Daisuke. "You what?"

"Ryuu told me, and I told Kei. There, okay? He's not stalking you or anything," he said.

"Why would you-" She stared at him with her eyebrows furrowed.

"Will you just realize that your wishy-washy behavior is hurting him?" He shook her by the arm.

"How is it wishy-washy? I've been avoiding him-"

"And you told him that he could message you," he said.

"And?" she said. "So?"

"You reject him and then say he can message you. Stop making him think he still has a chance!" Daisuke said.

Well what if he does? Emi wanted to say, but she wasn't even sure of it herself. Daisuke, why are you doing this to me? Do you think I'm over him? I don't even know-

"If you keep on pulling him along like this, he'll never get over you. So will you just tell it to him straight? Otherwise you'll just keep hurting him."

Emi opened and shut her mouth. Then she swallowed and nodded. "I get it."

Daisuke let out a sigh and released her arm. "Thank you." She turned around and walked back to the group.

"What'd he say?" Ryuu asked, having been bouncing on his feet the entire time.

"I'll tell you later," she said. She stepped past him, took Kei's arm, and pulled him aside.

"Can we go home now?" the Hitachiin twins said. "We're bored."

"Just a moment," Emi called before stopping to stand in front of Kei.

"Um." He was blushing already. "What is it?"

Okay. I can do this. She nodded once and then swept down in a 90 degree bow.

"Emi-san!" Kei said, taking a step back. "What are you doing? St-Stand up."

"Ohh," the twins said. "Emi-chan doesn't like being called Emi-san, cause of Kei the ex, hm?"

"Yeah," Ryuu grumbled. "Damn guy."

"This is still really boring. We're gonna go ride something if you guys are gonna be here for another 10 minutes," Hikaru said.

"I'm sorry," Emi said, too quiet for the others to hear. She straightened up. "I, uh, you see, there's a lot of… other people in this world. It's a, you know, a big world, and I'm sure there is someone else out there who can - who can make you more happy, who can love you even more, so-"

"I understand." He smiled. "Thanks, Emi-san."

She nodded. I'm done. That's it, right? But it feels like nothing has changed. Can he really just get over me like that? Can I move on too?

She licked her lips while forming her next words. "Um, you might not know since I never told you, but I cried when we broke up."

Or well, more like when I dumped you. Oh God, am I even in the position to say this stuff? "I, uh-"

"It's fine," he said. "You don't have to say anything else."

She shook her head. "No, you have to understand that - that I made a lot of good memories with you. I never once regretted saying yes, so please don't-" She paused to swallow the lump in her throat away, but it wouldn't budge. She blinked fiercely, fending the tears away. "So I-I hope you don't regret asking me out either. And I'm sorry that Ryuu hasn't let go of this yet, and-"

Kei was smiling. It was a wistful one, and his eyes were twinkling under the dim amusement park lights. "Emi-san, I never once regretted it either, so please don't cry. You're much cuter when you're smiling."

So she smiled and rubbed her eyes, forcing herself to swallow once more. "Okay. Thanks, Kei-kun. And… you probably know, don't you? Why I really wanted to break up with you. No, you probably noticed a long time ago, that I - that the same feelings weren't there anymore."

The smile melted away slightly. "Emi-san."

"I'm sorry. You pretended to not notice, but that only hurt you, didn't it?" She shook her head slowly. "Why are you always like this, Kei-kun?"

He smiled, then took a step forward. "May I?" he said, arms open just a bit. Emi nodded and stepped into his warm embrace.

Kei-kun's hugs are the best. They weren't bone-crushing like Ryuu's nor awkward and delicate. It was just right. The way he hugged her made her feel warm inside, safe and grounded. Emi closed her eyes and breathed in the familiar feeling.

"Are you guys done yet?" Kaoru called over.

"We've been here forever," Hikaru said.

"If you don't hurry up-"

"-We're ditching you."

"Okay, okay." Emi gently broke away from Kei, nodded one last time at him, and then hurried over to where the twins stood in front of the exit. Ryuu was waiting a bit closer, arms crossed and tapping a foot on the ground. "We're leaving then, Kei-kun!"

He nodded and waved at them.

"Wait!" Daisuke said, chasing after. "There's one last thing!"

"What now?" Ryuu said. "Gonna apologize for all the shit you pulled today?"

"Not that. Ryuu, you should tell Emi why you are so fucking overprotective, and Emi you really should have guessed a long time ago. But because you don't want to talk about it yourself, you've never brought up the topic. And Ryuu the damn idiot doesn't want to be the one to bring it up, but he'd discuss it if you'd just say something."

"What?" Emi said.

"What?" Ryuu said, and the two exchanged looks.

"Okay, see you," Daisuke said, taking Kei's hand and pulling the guy through the gates. A few moments later, the two pairs of twins followed after.

"That was fun," the Hitachiin twins said once they were seated in the car. "It was like watching a midday TV drama. Without having watched the previous episodes."

"Sorry about that," Emi said.

"Hm," they replied.

"Why'd you let him hug you?" Ryuu asked in a grumble.

"I didn't let him. I hugged him too," she said. "Besides, you need to let it go already."

"You haven't gotten over it yet either."

"I have now."

"Hang on." Hikaru raised a hand.

"Could one of you explain?" Kaoru said.

"We have no idea what's going on."

The Mazawa twins glanced at each other, before Ryuu said, "It's on you, whether or not you want to tell them."

"Ooh, story time," the Hitachiins said.

"I've already told you guys. We dated and then broke up," Emi said.

"That's the story of every couple that doesn't get married," Hikaru said, rolling his eyes.

"There's clearly more, otherwise it wouldn't be Kei the bastard," Kaoru said.

"Don't call him that." A hand curled into a fist. "He's not- He's a good guy. And, I don't - I don't think you'd find it interesting," Emi said, meeting each twins' gaze. "It's like you said, it's like some lame midday TV drama."

"Our mom loves those," Hikaru said.

"Besides, it's a pretty long car ride," Kaoru said.

Emi looked at Ryuu.

"If you don't want to tell them, you don't have to," he said.

Should I? What would it do? Why do the twins even care? They're much nicer than they pretend to be, so maybe they'd understand. But it really is a lame story. It makes me look really pathetic too.

"Story time! Story time!" the twins began chanting and clapping along. "Story time! Story time!"

"Oh fine." Emi sighed.

"Yay," the twins cheered.

Gazing out the window at the dark stores passing by, she began, "I'll make it nice and short. What I said before stands true, but - well you have to first understand that Midoriyama used to be an all-girls' school, so when we transferred in during middle school there weren't that many boys. I think 20% of the students were boys. And, as you guys probably know, Ryuu is pretty handsome."

"He is?" Hikaru said.

"Since when?" Kaoru said.

"Shut up," Ryuu said, rolling his eyes.

"So he was popular amongst the girls. And then… Kei-kun asked me out in the middle of our 2nd year."

"Hang on." Hikaru held up a hand. "What does Ryuu's popularity have to do with you getting-"

"I'll explain later," she said. "He was in a different class from me, but I said yes because I vaguely knew him and he seemed really nice."

"Wow, it really is a TV drama," Hikaru said.

"Aren't you supposed to only date someone if you like that person?" Kaoru said.

"That's what I said!" Ryuu said.

Emi sighed. As if I want to hear your guys' criticism. I was so tired of those girls…. "Anyway, so we went out and I eventually fell in love with him." She gave Kaoru a look. "And then a year later, we celebrated our one-year anniversary."

"You guys sure lasted a while," Hikaru said.

"Thanks for your commentary, Hikaru-kun," Emi said.

"You're welcome." He smiled.

"Anyway, about a week after our anniversary thing, he told me that-" She took in a deep breath before continuing. "-That the reason why he'd first asked me out was because he - he wanted to spite Ryuu."

"Hm?" the twins said.

Emi exhaled. "Apparently, he had a crush on one girl during our first year, but he got rejected cause that girl liked Ryuu. So he thought that by dating me, he could piss Ryuu off and get even."

"Did it work?" Hikaru asked.

"Not really," Emi said. "Since Ryuu was more confused than mad."

"I was not," Ryuu said.

She turned to him. "Yes you were. You didn't know what to feel."

"How do you know how I felt?" he said, turning towards her as well.

"I can tell," she replied. "I'm not as dense as you."

Ryuu clicked his tongue and sat back.

"So you dumped him," Kaoru said. "The end."

"No. He said he fell in love with me along the way, and he wanted to keep dating. But if I wanted to break up, it'd be okay. So we kept dating, and then I broke up with him when we graduated because I didn't want a long-distance relationship."

"The end," Kaoru said.

Emi nodded. "Happy now? There's your story."

"It could totally be made into a drama," Hikaru said.

"Yeah," she said.

The twins leaned back in their seats. "Now that makes more sense."

"Are you guys really leaving tomorrow?" Emi asked.

"Yes," they replied.

"Oh," she said.

"Cause Obon is starting tomorrow," Kaoru said.

"Gotta go home," Hikaru said.

"Aw crap!" Ryuu said. "Obon starts tomorrow?"

The twins nodded, grinning. "What? You didn't know? Ahh, classic Ryuu."

"What does that mean?" Ryuu frowned.

"Great," Emi said. "That means…" She met Ryuu's gaze. Family reunion time.

"Ryuu," Emi said that night in her bedroom. "Let's talk about what Daisuke was talking about."

"That's what you called me in here for?" he asked, standing by the doorway.

She patted the spot on her bed next to her. "Come on. Let's sleep together tonight."

Ryuu sighed, ruffled his hair, and then hopped onto the bed. "Fine." Emi turned the light off and they lied there under the covers.

"I think I finally got closure," Emi said after a moment.

"Okay," he said.

"Like, the way we broke up just didn't feel right. We left too many things unsaid, and I think we - at least I - was able to say those things."

Ryuu stared at the dark ceiling above, arms crossed behind his head. He could still see Emi running to him after the graduation ceremony, tears streaming down her face.

"Are you saying that we need closure too?" Ryuu finally said.

"Yeah."

"Closure over what?" he asked.

"Middle school," she replied. "Why are you so overprotective Ryuu?"

Ryuu closed his eyes, thinking back to what Daisuke said. "Can't you guess it?"

"I don't want to." I might be wrong. I kinda hope I'm wrong, but I'm probably not.

"I don't really want to say it either," he said.

Emi sighed. "No wonder we've never gotten anywhere. We fight but we never really discuss stuff."

"Yeah. Stuff."

"Don't just take the serious mood out with that," she said, but couldn't help the giggles. Ryuu smiled, and once the giggles stopped, she continued, "Anyway, let's say it together then."

"Okay."

"Ready? One, two, three."

The room became silent. There was only the distant chirping of the cicadas outside.

"Why didn't you say anything?" the two said at the same time.

"You didn't either," they said again.

"Ah, we're getting in sync," Emi said.

"We're starting to be like those devil twins."

"They're actually pretty nice," she said. "Especially Kaoru-kun."

"What, is he your new crush now?"

"Uh. No." she said. "Why would - What makes you think - Um, him?"

Oh great. That is not a good sign. "Nevermind," Ryuu said. "I'll just say it then."

"You don't have to. I know what you're going to say."

"Then you say it."

"I don't want to."

"Exactly. So I'll say it."

"Fine. Say it then."

Ryuu took in a deep breath of air. "It's cause… it's my fault."

I knew it.

Emi swallowed, as Ryuu kept speaking, "I'm not - Okay, maybe I am a little overprotective, but it's because I just want you to smile. It's my fault that your middle school years were so bad. It's my fault that you went through so much pain. So if I can at all ease your pain, if I could just protect your smile…"

"Ryuu," she said with a sigh, rolling onto her stomach. "It's not your fault."
"I knew you'd say that, so I never wanted to talk about this. If you say that, then I'll stop blaming myself," he said.

Emi stared at the wall with her arms under the pillow, considering Daisuke's words. "You don't really want to take the blame. Right?" When he didn't reply immediately, she added, "Just be honest. Or we'll never get anywhere."

Ryuu slowly breathed out. "Yeah. Of course I don't want to be the one at fault. It's not like I had any control over those girls. And how was I supposed to know that they'd act that way? The only problem was that I never noticed-"

"It's fine," she said. "It's not your fault."

"But it should be."

"I don't think it works that way."

They fell silent again, each staring at their respective parts of the room. I guess it's my turn now to be honest, Emi thought. I should tell him, right?

"I… actually used to blame you. I logically knew that it wasn't your fault, but - but I couldn't help thinking, 'What if I was never born a twin? Why am I the only one that's suffering?' I don't think like that now though."

"You don't?" Ryuu glanced to his left, at the faint outline of his sibling.

"No." She turned to him with a smile, even if he couldn't see it. "Because, if you weren't my twin and if we hadn't gone to Midoriyama, I would never have met Chiharu and the guys and Kei-kun. And I think they were worth all the bad stuff."

Ryuu returned his gaze to the ceiling. "I guess… if you don't regret it, that's good."

"Yeah. Plus without you, I'd be a completely different person."

"You probably wouldn't be a crazy fujoshi."

"Hey!" she said, punching his shoulder while smiling.

"Do you like who you are now?" he asked.

She laid her head on the pillow and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

They let the sound of the cicadas fill the air once more. Is this closure? Ryuu wondered. Am I supposed to feel different or something?

"Will you stop being so overprotective then?" Emi said. "It's really annoying."

Ryuu sat up halfway. "How? I'm trying to protect you-"

"I get that you have good intentions behind it, but I can take care of myself, thank you very much. And when you get all in my face about the things I do, it's really annoying. It's like you think I can't take care of myself, but I can."

"I know you can," he mumbled. "But you trust people too easily. I'm afraid you'll get hurt again."

Emi pursed her lips together and then said, "It's fine, Ryuu. That's just how life works. You get hurt and you fall, but you stand back up and you move on. You learn from your mistakes, from your experiences, so that way you won't get hurt again."

"Then have you learned anything from middle school?"

"Sure. Manga is love. Manga is life," she said.

"Nooo." Ryuu lied back down, rubbing his forehead with both hands. "That doesn't count."

"Sure it does. Did you learn anything?"

"Yeah. Girls are scary, and being dense is scary too. Oh and bystanders are just as bad as the bullies," he said.

"Ah I learned the last one too," she said. "And that there are some good people who try really hard not to be the bystanders."

"But didn't they stop?" Ryuu asked. "I thought those girls stopped trying to help you."

"Only after I told them that it was fine."

"Why'd you do that?" He frowned.

"They were getting bullied, Ryuu. They were getting physically hurt because of me," Emi said, eyebrows knitting together at the memory. "You weren't there, so you don't get it. But when I told them, 'It's okay. You don't have to fight for me anymore,' they looked so… so relieved. And happy. Like I was their savior or something, when in reality I was the one who brought them that pain."

"It's not like you asked them to help, so you don't have to feel guilty," he said.

"It was because of me, though. It was for me."

Ryuu didn't say anything. He just rolled onto his side to face Emi. "I wish…"

"Don't," she said. "There's nothing that we can do about the past. Besides, it wasn't as bad as you make it out to be. Well, what happened with Kei-kun wasn't that bad. It was those girls; they were the worst."

"You really think that what Kei did to you wasn't bad?"

"He didn't do anything to me," she said. "I was just - just super fed up with everyone's relationship with me dependent on their relationship with you."

"Sorry," Ryuu said quietly.

"I didn't say it was your fault, idiot," Emi replied. "What those girls did was, like, a hundred times worse." Whenever you left the classroom, the room would literally drop like 10 degrees. And all that bad-mouthing, all those insults and glares and sinister smiles. God, it was horrible. And I couldn't even walk down the freaking hallway by myself without getting elbowed or tripped here and there.

"Oopsies! I didn't see you there!" they'd say. "Sorry." Such fakers and liars.

"If it weren't for Kei-kun, things would have stayed that way."

"I know," Ryuu said with a tired sigh. "I get it. I'll forgive him or whatever you want."

"Then you'll stop cussing at him?" Emi raised an eyebrow, even if he couldn't see it.

"No guarantees."

"Ryuu."

"Fine. I'll try," he grumbled.

"Thanks." She reached over and found his hand, then took it in hers. "I'm glad Ouran is nice, and that things are going well. I like it there."

"Yeah. Me too."

The truth is revealed! :D What do you think? Of Kei? Of Emi's past? Of anything and everything? Anything you disliked? Please share your thoughts with me! ^-^

Thanks for reading!