This will hopefully make up for the 2 week delay of the last chapter but hey! At least it wasn't a month! I really hope you guys liked the last chapter but you guys haven't been leaving a whole lot of reviews so I'm not sure. Plus I have about twice as many follows as favorites but I'm really glad you guys are coming back for more. That must be worth something lol. Well enjoy! I actually have nothing planned out for this chapter except another one on one time and Christmas. Oh well.

justaislinn: I haven't gotten a lot of votes but Kaoru is in second place. I really liked your reasoning for the pairing with her and I agree, they would make good couples.

animallover99: I'm really glad you like it! I'll add your opinion of Kaoru to the poll. I really loved writing about Kaoru and Akari and I'm really glad you liked it too! I think Honey would be a little innocent for her but then again, remember his serious side to him? When he's all like, you can't hurt my friends and goes full out karate mode. But in that retrospect, Mori would be good too. Grrr there are so many pros and cons to each of the characters to make with her but that's just the way humans are. I thought the interaction was cute though too. :p

emerald the animotronic: Thanks for the support and my beta will be out for quite some time but she was hoping to say something to you, but I'm not quite sure. She'll be back the day after Christmas to give a little note for you.

Chapter 7

I stared at the decorated room, confused as to how I got here. It was full or snowflake hangings with red and green lights strewn about. There was a grand piano near one of the walls with a movie screen on the opposite wall. There was a food table at the very back, filled with sweets and different kinds of drinks. In the middle of it all was a huge tree that touched the ceiling. It had ornaments, ribbons, and lights all over it with presents underneath. I stared open mouthed at the gifts. There were so many!

I felt a pressure on both of my shoulders and wasn't surprised to find the twins. I looked over at Haruhi who seemed relieved to not have any attention on her but she still seemed annoyed at being here.

"How come you guys aren't bothering Haruhi?" I asked the twins. They grinned like the 2 devils they were.

"Haruhi seems to have grown tired and isn't as fun as she could be at the moment," said Hikaru but then Kaoru told me the truth.

"Actually we somehow lost a bet-"

"Don't ask how, we don't know for sure," Hikaru interrupted.

"-to her and so we owed her a favor. She chose to use it tonight so we can't bother her. You're the only other one who seems to be able to tell us apart-"

"Sheer luck I'm telling you. You haven't done it since that day,"

"And you're the only person who we think we'll get the most reaction out of," Kaoru finally finished. I sighed knowing it would be a long night. When I had first guessed them apart, it was actually luck like Hikaru said. I'd only used the excuse Haruhi had but changed it up into my own words. I kind of regretted it now.

I wormed my way out of their grasp and went over to the food. My stomach grumbled but due to experience, I was able to make sure no one else heard it. I found my mouth watering at the sight of all the food but knew I would throw it up if I ate too much or too fast. I picked up a plate and chose different things to eat, being wary of how much I was grabbing.

After I was done, I went over to the movie section since it had chairs and couches. I sat down and started tasting the foods, picking out what I liked and not. I looked at the hosts and became worried when I didn't spot the twins. What are they up to now?

Bang!

I flinched at the sudden noise. I looked at the other hosts and found them all freaking out except Haruhi and Mori. Kyoya seemed shocked but annoyed as well. Tamaki and Honey were running around yelling. I heard Haruhi sigh and Mori was being as silent as ever. And the twins were laughing hysterics.

"You should see your face boss!" Hikaru called.

"It's hilarious! I'm dying of laughter!" Kaoru called after him.

"What the hell was that?!" Tamaki shrieked at them. They started taunting him while he seemed to breathe fire back. That's when I noticed the tree and stared. I raised my finger over to it and some of the other hosts noticed. The tree now had a bright shining start on the top and seemed to be covered in snow. There was glitter everywhere with new ribbons that seemed to glow and sparkle. It was like that with a lot of the areas and I noticed everyone's skin had a glow to it with the reflecting lights. I looked down at mine, noticing mine was paler than the others since I was a lot paler than the average human.

"Akari," Hikaru seemed to breathe. I looked up at him, a question in my eyes as to why he would say my name like that.

"You look like a moon goddess or something," he said, not seeming to know what he was saying. Everyone else seemed to nod.

"Well you guys are the ones who created the glow, so your kind of responsible for it," I shrugged in answer, trying to lose the attention directed my way.

"Actually we had no idea what it would do. We just thought it would freak everyone out," Kaoru said from somewhere behind Hikaru. I caught the look Haruhi was wearing and guessed he was near her.

Feeling a pressure near my head, I looked up to find Hikaru sitting there. He was looking at me in a weird way and I froze when he started to lean forward.

"Can I have some?" he asked quietly and only then did I realize that I had a cookie in my mouth. My eyes widened at what he was going to do and he grinned. Hikaru took a bite of the cookie while it was still in my mouth and licked near my lips where crumbs were. I closed my eyes and flinched. When he pulled back, I shook a little and then opened my eyes to look at him. After he was done eating it all, I was glaring at him. He smirked down at me and then laid down on the couch. His head was where my feet were while his feet were near my head. He put his hands behind his head and leaned against the arm rest.

I saw a pillow on the floor and picked it up. When he wasn't looking, I threw it at his face. It seemed to smack him hard and he jumped. He grabbed the pillow and glared at him. I smirked back in return. The roles are reversed now, I thought happily.

The other hosts came over and said we'd watch a movie and then open presents. We could get food whenever and I had a feeling Tamaki would be playing the piano while we opened presents. He seemed to be in that kind of mood. The lights darkened and we watched the movie. It was about a bitter old man who was visited by 4 ghosts. Seemingly, the first was an old friend who seemed to have died. The next 3 ghosts helped him visit his past, events that were going on in the present, and his future. He seemed to really like the word humbug.

Sometime during the movie, I felt an arm go around my shoulders. It was gentle and seemed inviting so I leaned against the persons chest. It obviously wasn't Haruhi, it was more muscular. I didn't think it was Mori, it wasn't hardened with muscle like one who worked out constantly. When I leaned fully against them, they seemed shocked but then tightened their grip reassuringly.

When the movie was over, I found myself leaning against Hikaru. I was surprised at first and noticed the slight blush on his face. He tried to act cool by ignoring it but relaxed when I smiled. I got up and tugged on his arm. He got up after and I dragged him over to the tree. We sat down and waiting for everyone else to come. We took turns opening presents and I was content watching. They hadn't come across any gifts for me and I wasn't really worried. I never got a whole lot of presents for Christmas anyway. At one point Tamaki got up and played the piano. I hummed along to it for a while. I didn't realize the other hosts were trying to get my attention till I felt Hikaru tapping my forehead. I blinked in surprise.

"What is it?" I asked.

"There's a present from all of us to you. We wanted you to have the right to open the last present. If that's alright," Hikaru answered, giving me an actual smile.

I opened the present to find something related to all the hosts. There was an outfit from the twins, a bunny from Honey, a notebook from Kyoya, a set of roses from Tamaki, a piece of strawberry cake from Mori, and a couple pencils, pens, and highlighters from Haruhi. I was really happy, even if the gifts didn't seem like much. They were things that they treasured and wanted to share it with me. I was determined to give a gift in return. I was going to give a piece of myself that even I hadn't seen in a while. A song.

"I want to give you guys a gift too. It may not be much but I hope you like it," I told them and stood up and walked over to the piano. I had this song memorized from working on chores at home.

"Seal your way with the crystal of skies

Child of the winter, Child of the night

Away from the world so Barren and spite

Cry with the gale on the side of the northern star

...

Seal your way with the dew drops of the night

Child of the spring, Child of the light

Fly to the world, sense peace from inside

Laugh with the wind

And sorrow won't reach your heart

Sound of the silence, sound of my dreams

...

Sound of the silence, sound of my dreams

Cry out your dreams

And live for the days to come

Sand is flowing in the glass of time

Don't bleed for the past

And drown in the flow

The rime will melt away onetime

Sound of the silence, sound of my dreams"

I stopped singing and playing and looked at the hosts. They seemed shocked but then started clapping. I felt kind of sheepish and slightly bowed. Then I went and sat next to Hikaru.

"That was really pretty, Akari. What's it called? Also, I didn't know you could sing like that," He said in my ear.

"It's called Sound of Silence. It's by Eternal Tears of Sorrow but I bet you've never heard them. I didn't know I could sing like that either. It's been a long time since I've sang," I replied and started at a thought. When was the last time I sang? As the other hosts listened to Tamaki play and talking further, I pondered on the thought. I definitely never sang when I was at the Hamada house hold. And I'd never sung since the torture, at least until now. Then that memory came back from the sun family. The children were always singing and laughing. I shook my head annoyed. That couldn't possibly be me, I didn't even look like the sun family. I was the complete opposite, grouped in with the moon. I sighed, choosing to ignore it.

"Did you have fun Akari?" Hikaru asked next to me.

Smiling, I said, "Yes I actually did have fun."

"Good because it's still only Christmas Eve! We'll do what you and Haruhi want to tomorrow. And we'll spend the day the commoner way and yours or Haruhi's place! That'll be exciting," he replied. I wasn't too happy with that thought but decided to let it slide.

"Exciting indeed."

Yay! I absolutely loved that chapter! The one on one time with Hikaru wasn't as intimate as I was hoping but if he does win, I'll make it more close. I'm going to have a tough time writing Tamaki and Mori. Mori doesn't talk and Tamaki is, well, Tamaki! The princely character just seems so hard to write for me. I hope this makes up for the late update on the last chapter! Merry Christmas! I'll try to update the next chapter on Christmas day! ;) and don't forget to review!

Poll (I've added in the request from reviews, for whenever you say you think she would be good with whoever):

Honey: 14

Kaoru: 13

Kyoya: 10

Mori: 8

Hikaru: 3

Tamaki: 2

Poor Tamaki and Hikaru! Kaoru and Honey are neck and neck! Kaoru was in the lead but then someone voted for Honey xD