"Gosh, time flies," Shana remarked as they sat in the limo on the way back to campus. "I mean, I know it's cliché and everything, but sheesh! Tomorrow lessons are going to start again," she complained.

She was tucked up against Kyoya, watching the scenery pass by as they sped along the roads and back to the campus. Their time at the beach had been something that Shana was sure that she would never forget. For the first time, she had truly felt as though she was loved and cared for, and that was a priceless gift to her, the little girl who had been left alone by those who should have treasured her beyond all else.

All too soon, the limo pulled up to the driveway of her dorm building, and Shana sighed. She would have liked to stay with Kyoya forever, sheltered from the rest of the world, but that wasn't going to happen and it was time to go back to real life.

When she got down, Kyoya followed her, and together they unloaded her stuff and brought it to her room. As they stood in the corridor while Shana fumbled for her key, she was frantically praying that Chantelle was out. She cringed just thinking about the horrible crap that Chantelle would pile on her, and she wasn't ready to get that cold shock, especially with Kyoya here.

Her prayers had evidently been heard, because when she opened the door, the mercifully empty room was revealed. But it wasn't as she had left it. Everything she owned had been taken out of her closet and drawers, and strewn on her half of the room.

She winced as she looked at Kyoya. "Um… you can just put the stuff there," she said, gesturing vaguely at an area of the room. Inwardly, she was freaking out. What the hell had Chantelle done? This spitefulness was low even for her. And what was Kyoya going to think?

But when she looked at Kyoya, she saw to her shock that he was texting someone. When he was done, he looked up at her and gave her a grim smile. "Your roommate's work?" he asked. When she nodded, he told her, "I told the chauffeur to leave first. You definitely need help with clearing up this mess."

Kyoya was filled to the brim with cold rage. How could someone be so mean? This almost surpassed the coldness he had been privy to – had even exhibited – in his life. Still, he didn't display his emotion.

Shana, on the other hand, was cursing as she stomped over to her closet and pulled it open forcefully. "Fucking bitch," she muttered under her breath when she saw that her closet had been filled with Chantelle's clothes and shoes. Her drawers were filled with Chantelle's jewellery and knickknacks, and her half of the dresser was cluttered with Chantelle's makeup and perfume.

"Well…" Shana commented nervously, "Looks like Chantelle wasted no time claiming the room while I was away." She wasn't scared of Kyoya's reaction to this, she was just afraid for Chantelle. She hoped that Kyoya wouldn't do something really bad like crush her family members' careers or something. She knew he probably would, and it should definitely be unpalatable to her, but it was just so sweet that she thought she might as well indulge him for a bit.

As Fate would have it, Chantelle decided to walk in right at that moment. Without missing a beat, Kyoya smoothly introduced himself. "Good afternoon. I am Ootori Kyoya, Shana's boyfriend, and you are…?" His tone may have been cordial, but the look in his eyes was anything but. His eyes bored into Chantelle's, boldly sizing her up.

"Ch-Chantelle Rose Harrison," she stuttered, the look in his eyes shocking her for a moment. She slid a sly glance towards Shana before flicking her hair behind her shoulder in a graceful move, before sliding her hand down to her hip, which she cocked in an effort to look sultry.

"So, you're Shana's new boyfriend?" she asked in a flirty voice. "Well, I'd say you could do much better than her," she said, shamelessly showing off her curves in the hope of enticing Kyoya away from Shana.

"And you're Shana's roommate?" he asked stonily, totally unaffected by the show she was treating him to. Disconcerted, she blinked once before nodding. He smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "Good, then you know what caused this mess?" he asked, gesturing at Shana's things tossed about the room.

When she stared at him blankly, he smiled again. "Well, thing like that happen. Maybe it was just someone who dislikes Shana who decided to sneak in while you were out to mess with her. In that case, I trust you'll be a good roommate and help her to move her things back?" he said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Chantelle could see that he knew she was guilty of moving her stuff into Shana's closets, and didn't see a way out of this hole she had dug herself. Resentfully she muttered her acquiesce. "Good then," Kyoya said, smiling at her. He was no fool. He knew that when he left, Chantelle would tear into Shana.

When Chantelle stared at him expectantly, he raised a brow at her. "Yes?" he said, sounding slightly amused. He knew she was expecting him to leave, and he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. No, he would show her that no one messed with him or his. He was well aware that she couldn't kick him out of the room, and he was intending to make full use of that.

"Well… shall we start?" he said, gesturing towards the mess.

It was awkward and Chantelle was humiliated and angry. Pretending that none of them knew Chantelle had done all this was emotionally tolling, and she wanted nothing more than to scream at both of them, but she had to stay and play his game. It was now a matter of pride – if she left now it would be the same as admitting defeat.

When it was finally done, Chantelle gave Shana a death glare before storming out of the room, hair flying behind her.

Shana went to Kyoya and wrapped her arms around him. She looked up at him, her eyes twinkling. "I know what you were trying to do. You don't need to try to mother me, all right. I can fight my own battles."

When he opened his mouth to defend himself, she continued, "Still, it's really nice of you… but I don't want you to do it anymore." She gave him a mock frown which was probably ruined by the fact that she pulled his head down and kissed him.

"I love you," she whispered into his mouth as she lost herself in his kiss. It was amazing how no matter it started, she could always get lost in him.

"Hey… we can't do this here," Kyoya reminded her, pulling away. She flushed. He was right, of course, it was just embarrassing that he was the one to keep his head all the time while she just got so absorbed in everything. Still, it wasn't altogether bad for her to be able to let someone else take charge once in a while.

Maybe she should show him just how much she loved him, she thought. After all, he had given her so much.

"Screw that little bitch," Chantelle muttered furiously as she stalked away from the room. "Hiding behind her big, powerful boyfriend. I'll show her!" she swore angrily.

She licked her lips as she thought about Kyoya. Just imagining how wonderful that influential dominant streak would be once she snared him made her shiver with anticipation. Why, she'd be the most powerful girl on campus once their relationship was established!

There was also the added deliciousness of stealing him away from Shana. Chantelle laughed softly as she imagined how perfect it would be – Kyoya walking her to her dorm room, kissing her good night as Shana watched on enviously. She would still be in love with Kyoya, of course, and Kyoya would say hello to her politely while she fought not to turn green with envy… Chantelle wanted to hug herself. She was such a genius! Who else could come up with a magical plan like this? It was foolproof, too.

Chantelle smirked as she perused herself in the mirror at the back of the lift. Her rouged lips curved upwards triumphantly. She had everything that the skinny little skank didn't have… bigger breasts, fuller curves, a stacked ass. It didn't matter what type of girl Kyoya liked, Chantelle had something for him. Even her hair was nicer than Shana's gaudy long blonde strands. It gleamed a honey brown and fell in artful waves past her shoulders thickly, heavy and beautiful, framing her face nicely.

"Shana… you've got nothing on me. Prepare to lose to me," she whispered, her eyes narrowed. The gears in her mind began to turn furiously. If there was one thing she was good at, it was manipulating others to get her way. "You are such a genius," she told herself in the mirror.

The next day, Shana only had afternoon classes, so she persuaded her friends to come to the mall with her. On the way there, Kaori asked, "So why did you suddenly want to come so badly?"

Shana smiled cryptically. "It's a surprise for Kyoya. You'll see."

When they got there, Shana made a beeline to the hairdresser where they usually went. "This is going to take some time, so feel free to go shop and stuff. I'll call you when I'm done." When they looked sceptical, Shana said, "Go on! I'm not kidding, this is going to take a long time."

Something in her expression must have told them that she needed to do this alone, because although they still looked disbelieving, they said, "Well, see you later then," and walked off.

Shana walked into the shop. "Hey there, Louise!" she greeted her hairdresser. "Today, I want something different," she told the hairdresser as she sat in a chair. Her eyes met the purple-haired girl's in the mirror. "I want you to change my hair back to its original colour."

Louise grinned at Shana. Shana had been coming to her for years now. She lived pretty nearby, and they were pretty good friends. Louise knew why Shana had dyed her hair – after all, it had been her Shana had come to when she'd dyed her hair blonde.

"What's with this sudden change?" Louise enquired, even as she made the preparations, pulling out all the materials she would need. Shana smiled. "Well… let's just say I don't need a different hair colour to feel good about myself anymore."

And it was true. Since she'd hooked up with Kyoya, she felt… different, somehow. She felt complete, and more confident of herself than she'd ever been. It was almost as if she had somehow blossomed into a fully grown flower while in Kyoya's warmth. And that was definitely clichéd and really weird, but it described how she felt to a tee.

Shana sat there musing for two hours, only coming out of her reverie when Louise tapped her on the shoulder and told her to go wash the dye off.

Suddenly excited, Shana grinned at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was covered in bits of foil and she looked like an alien – or a physics experiment on electricity.

When she sat back in the chair and Louise started blow-drying her hair, Shana stared at herself in the mirror. The change was so amazing. She'd forgotten what it was like to have black hair. It didn't make her look boring or part of the backdrop, as she'd remembered, but instead the radiant whiteness of her skin was brought out due to the contrast.

Shana smiled as she stared at herself in the mirror. It finally felt right, like she was finally back, like she had stopped running from herself and her past and could face the world confidently as herself.

Lou grinned at Shana, proud of her work. She lifted a lock of Shana's newly black hair and let it run through her fingers. "Do you want me to cut it?" she asked.

Shana continued staring into the mirror. Now that she thought about it, she should probably have gotten Lou to re-style it before changing the colour. "Yeah, okay," she said, blushing in embarrassment at her stupidity.

Lou cut and layered her hair, giving her a fresher, more carefree look. The side-swept bangs added a touch of sexiness to the look, flopping endearingly over one eyebrow.

"Thanks Lou," she said, getting out of the chair. "You're the best," she said, running her hands through her hair, enjoying the feel of it against her fingers. She paid and stepped out of the salon, where she called Kaori and told them to meet her outside their favourite smoothie stall, since she was thirsty. She then headed over to buy herself a drink.

"Hey guys," she greeted when she saw them. "Who the hell are- Oh my gosh! Shana! What did you do to your hair?" Kaori exclaimed. Haruhi impatiently shushed her and told Shana, "It looks nice, it really does. Black suits you so much more than blonde."

Shana fingered a lock of hair that fell in front of her shoulder. "You think? This is my natural colour," she said, a hint of a blush darkening her cheeks.

"No kidding?" Haruhi asked, brows raised. "Why did you dye it blonde then?"

Shana ducked her head. "I'll tell you later," she promised. Although she wasn't intending to keep Haruhi and Kaori in the dark forever, she didn't think telling them while they were in a public place was the best time to.

Still, it was due to Kyoya that she could even consider telling them at all; he made her feel confident that people could accept her with her past and the scars she bore. While she wouldn't go so far as to say she owed Kyoya everything, she had to admit that he did have something to him that just made her loosen up. He somehow managed to knock down the walls she had erected around her heart – which she had to admit was kind of odd, since she had seen everyone else's reaction to him, and she seemed to be the only one with this reaction. Everyone else seemed pretty terrified of him.

She sighed inwardly. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to get so attached to him, since after all, he seemed a little leery of getting to close. She harboured no fairytale fantasies of miraculously convincing him with her pure and innocent love that it was okay to love her back, but she did hope. She just hoped that he would not crush it.

Yay! I finished this chappie. :D I know I said I was on hiatus and everything, but once I started writing I couldn't stop sigh. Maybe now that I'm done I'll get more stuff done. ): Sigh, this holiday is totally fail. D: We have tons of homework and assignments to do! And there's exams coming really soon. ); Looks like I won't be writing for a while. But I always love you! (:

Oh yeah, I'm thinking about a new story for Skip Beat, in which Sho will find redemption. (: I think after I finish Off the Chain I'll take a little break from Ouran to write the Skip Beat. :D

Love,

Peachy Hikaru