Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club.

The Girl

Kai hated being talked to like he was an idiot, and that seemed to be Dr. Koga's specialty. His parents had put him in therapy soon after the 'accident,' as they called it. As a child, Kai hadn't realized that matters of world domination had to be kept completely secret until one was on top. Every time he met with Dr. Koga, he regretted his youthful slip. He tried denying it once, but the man seemed to see through it.

It was quite clear to Kai that the therapy wasn't helping. If anything, it only made things worse. Something about the room and the atmosphere and the man made him want to be as unhelpful as possible. It also made him nervous, and Kai didn't much like that feeling.

Not to mention that if anyone outside of his family knew about the therapy or his questionable mental state, everything would fall apart. Not even Mr. Kaneshiro knew about the sessions.

Kai dressed slowly and headed out. He wasn't in uniform. He didn't have school. Today was a day for some serious thinking and planning, which also meant a serious battle with the punching bag at Kaneshiro's.

-o-O-o-

It was a while before he saw Beautiful again in the host club. Of course, he would wink at her or brush her shoulder if he saw her in class or walking through the halls, but she just continued to laugh. Not giggle or blush, but laugh from true amusement. What was he, a comedian?

Strangely enough, he was pleased to find that she didn't take the ridiculous words he came up with seriously. Usually, it would annoy him, but he felt she wasn't making fun of him, simply his words. In all honesty, he would make fun of his words, too.

So when she came back to the host club, looking just as lost and uncomfortable as before, he felt as if there was at least one person there who felt just as out of place as him.

When club activities ended, Kai slipped from the music room as soon as the girls were out, hoping to catch Beautiful on her way out of the school. Luckily for him, she seemed to be the last one in the hall, walking slowly as if she had nowhere to go.

"Hey, Beautiful!" he called, jogging up to her.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "My name's Akani."

"Pretty name," he said with the smirk he used in the club. It would never go away when he left, and it was appearing more often outside of the music room.

"Aren't you supposed to say, 'That's a pretty name for a pretty girl,' or something?" she asked with a soft smile. Her words were quiet, but not weak.

Kai shrugged. "I got the impression you didn't like me flirting with you."

Akani laughed. "That doesn't mean you should stop."

Kai grinned despite himself. "As you wish, milady." What am I doing? he asked himself.

"Kai…" the girl started, her voice faltering.

"Yeah?"

"I know you don't recognize me after all this time… But…"

Kai waited, losing a little patience.

"… My name is Akani Segawa."

Kai stopped dead in his tracks. "Segawa. As in… Dr. Segawa?"

The girl nodded. "We just moved back. I didn't realize you were attending this school, and then when I saw you… I wasn't sure, but there was something about you. So I asked my father, and he said you were the one."

Kai didn't respond for a moment. Finally, pale-faced and tense, he said, "I have to go."

"Kai, please, I know you don't know me, but I'd really like to get to know you. You saved my life, and even if you hadn't…"

Kai turned. "I have to go."

There was no stopping him.

-o-O-o-

He felt a drop of sweat trail down his forehead and past his eye, giving him the strange sensation of tears without crying. It wasn't the first drop to make that journey, either. In fact, he didn't know if any visible skin didn't glisten with the salty perspiration. The neck of his gray shirt was beginning to darken with the wetness. Both of the sleeves were ripped off, and the muscles in his arms bunched and stretched with each punch.

He was in his makeshift bedroom beneath the restaurant. He hadn't bothered to go home at all, nor had he bothered to get a piece of pie, and Mr. Kaneshiro waved him right by and into the room. Kai told himself it was just because the old man didn't want him disturbing his customers, but he knew that was neither fair nor true. This was his livelihood, and Kai wouldn't have wanted him up there in this foul mood had he owned the store. And besides that, Mr. Kaneshiro was worried about him, as was Mrs. Kaneshiro, whom he had seen peeking out of the kitchen. He hit harder in his shame, and harder still in his confusion.

Why did it get to him? Yes, she was associated with a painful experience, but he never blamed her. Maybe it was the feeling that she had been planning this all along. That she had known who he was and hadn't told him until now. He couldn't count the times he asked his parents if he could meet the girl he'd taken a bullet for. After the first few years of being told no, he stopped asking, and started making plans of his own. He never understood why they wouldn't let him meet her. He guessed they were just worried, too, in their strange way.

Everyone was worried about him. His parents were worried about him, Mr. Kaneshiro and his wife were worried about him, his therapist was worried about him, and even Suoh was worried about him! Why? Why did they all worry so much? He didn't do anything they were afraid he would do in response to his near-death experience. Yes, he was wary of people and didn't get close to them easily, but that wasn't anything to cause this much concern. He didn't want people to worry about him.

There was nothing wrong.