Shana sighed as she trudged towards the lecture theatres. She'd missed too many days of class, and she couldn't afford to miss any more. Exams were coming up, and there was no way she would be able to keep her grades up if she kept going on the way she was. She repeated the mantra to herself as she forced herself to continue on her way to class. Her attendance for the past few weeks had been shoddy at best, and even when she was there she rarely paid attention. But it was going to be different today, because she was going to pay attention. Because she was a strong woman and wouldn't let anyone – least of all a man – get her down. And she was going to get over it.

Winter was settling in fast, and the cold was biting. The wind whipped her hair into disarray and made the ends of her scarf fly into her face. It seemed whoever controlled the weather was as unhappy as she was.

She continued on, her boots crunching against the light layer of snow on the ground, snow that, once pristinely white, was now grey and crushed by all the people walking on it.

Without warning, her grip on her notebook, file and textbook slipped, and they tumbled to the ground. "Fuck," she muttered as she bent down to pick them up. Her file had somehow managed to open up completely, and papers were all over the place, threatening to get soaked through by the dirty snow.

She hastily picked them up, trying to get to them before they became totally useless. It just figured that this would happen the day she decided to get her ass back in gear and go back to real life. She couldn't believe she'd let anything get to her like that, until she couldn't function properly. What the hell was wrong with her?

She heard the crunch of footsteps against the snow, but ignored it, expecting it to be another student who would walk past her. When a pair of dark brown boots walked into her line of vision and stopped, she looked up – to see an Adonis bending down. He helped her to pick up the last of her papers, her notebook and her textbook, and held them patiently while she put them into her file.

Embarrassed, she smiled tentatively at him. "Thank you," she offered politely. She was about to continue walking, but he flashed a megawatt grin and she was slightly blinded for a moment. "No problem," he told her sincerely, and she was struck for a moment by how perfect he seemed. His voice reverberated through her body, making her tremble slightly.

"I'm Shana," she told him, offering her hand. He smiled again and took it. "Michael. Nice to meet you." His handshake was firm, and his grip was strong and confident without squeezing her hand.

"So where are you headed?" he asked as he fell into step beside her. "Hall Three," she told him. "And I think I'm going to be late, so I have to go now. I'll see you around, okay?" she said, beginning to walk away from him. He effortlessly quickened his pace. "Cool, I'm headed there too."

When they got to the lecture theatre, Shana and Michael parted ways, as she went to sit next to Haruhi and Kaori. "Who's that?" Kaori asked curiously, as she looked at Michael out of the corner of her eye. She had to admit, he was really good-looking, and she was glad that Shana seemed to be getting over her sadness, but it was strange that she was doing the whole rebound thing. That was so unlike her, to indulge in a careless fling just to get over Kyoya.

"Oh, I ran into him on the way here. Somehow I managed to drop all my stuff, so he helped me to pick everything up, and then we walked here together," Shana explained calmly, surprisingly oblivious to the natural assumption that Kaori was drawing.

"O- okay," Kaori said cautiously, not wanting to make any strange accusations. Technically there was nothing wrong with Shana dating some other guy, since she was single at the moment, but Kaori knew that Kyoya was trying to get Shana back, and it would be much harder for him to succeed if there was another guy in the picture. She knew Kyoya had cheated on her friend, but it was clear that he was still very in love with her, and she just felt it was wrong for Shana to be dating someone else.

Haruhi was calmly tapping away on her iPhone. Tamaki had gotten it for her as a birthday present, despite her protests, and she had come to find that she really liked it. While Kaori was freaking out over Shana's perceived new crush, she had decided to ask Tamaki about this new student.

She put her phone back in her bag, which was resting against her leg under the table. "Are you guys going to sit down?" she invited the two other girls, bringing them back to where they were. A quick glance at the clock told them that the lecture was about to start, and they hastily took their seats.

Throughout the lecture, Kaori and Haruhi kept sneaking glances at Shana, who seemed happier than they'd seen her in a long time. Maybe she was getting on with her life, or maybe Michael was a rebound, but they truly hoped that it was the first, rather than the second.

After the lecture ended, they headed to the canteen for lunch. After too many days of eating cheap takeout that was delivered to her dorm, Shana was looking forward to some real food.

At the entrance to the canteen, she hovered for a second, her eyes sweeping the area. The canteen was crowded and she caught a glimpse of someone who looked like Kyoya from the back, but there were people in the way and she couldn't be sure. Either way, she had been thinking of having some real food the entire morning, and she wasn't about to let him stop her from eating.

She stalked purposefully across the hall to the counter, while checking what they were selling that day. "I'll have a beef don with egg, oh, and a pork katsu on the side, and miso soup please," she ordered. She started to order a banana split, but realized it would melt and decided to come back for it later.

The woman who was taking her order stared at her, stunned. How could someone so little eat so much? Impatiently, Shana arched a brow at her. "Yes?" she asked archly. Her acerbic tone snapped the woman out of her stunned silence, and she immediately busied herself with getting the order ready.

It took almost too long for Shana; as she saw the plates her food was on slowly being carried to the tray in front of her, she wanted to scream at the woman, Hurry up! I'm so hungry! She managed to refrain, but just barely. When her meal was ready, she hastily paid and walked as fast as she dared without bumping into someone or tripping to the table where she usually sat with Haruhi and Kaori, and whoever wanted to sit with them that day.

When she set her tray on the table, she sat down and finally – finally – picked up her chopsticks and dug them into the white, fluffy rice, picking it up and putting it in her mouth. Damn, it was good. Haruhi and Kaori set their trays on the table too, Kaori sitting next to her, and Haruhi sitting opposite them. They looked slightly incredulous at the amount of food on her tray, but she ignored them.

"Um… are you sure you can finish that much food?" Kaori asked, eyeing the mountain of food doubtfully. She knew how bad Shana felt about leaving even a little food uneaten, especially meat, because, as she liked to say whenever anyone asked her why she forced herself to eat, an animal had died for that meat.

"Of course I can," she said, speaking around a mouthful of beef, egg and rice. She swallowed, took a spoonful of miso soup, and ate a piece of pork, drenched in katsu sauce.

Sure enough, before they were even halfway through their normal-sized meals, she swallowed her last mouthful of food, put her chopsticks back down on the rim of the bowl, and settled back into her chair with a replete sigh. "That hit the spot," she said happily, rubbing her belly gently.

Just then, Tamaki and Mori came up to them. "Hello, beautiful ladies," Tamaki said exuberantly, before he sat down in the empty seat next to Haruhi and proceeded to try and kiss her, while she kept eluding him. "I'm eating!" she snapped at him, causing him to shrink back with a horrified look on his face and begin whining.

Mori was more reserved; he nodded at them in greeting before sitting down next to Kaori and kissed her on the cheek in greeting. She reached over to give him a one-armed hug while continuing to eat. They murmured softly at each other before Kaori giggled, picked up some food with her chopsticks, and fed him with it.

Shana looked at the two couples, smiling wistfully. She remembered the way she and Kyoya would share food, or bicker playfully the way Haruhi and Tamaki were doing. It seemed strange that Haruhi and Tamaki were together; they were complete opposites in so many ways, so different it was almost incomprehensible. Yet they fit somehow, which was proven when Haruhi suddenly capitulated and let Tamaki pull her onto his lap, giggling as she kissed him. Of course, that had to have something to do with the fact that she had finished her meal.

Seeing the two couples, Shana suddenly felt sick. She couldn't sit here anymore, although she knew they didn't mean to be mean and rub their happiness in her face. They probably hadn't even realized they were being mean, since they were so used to this. It wasn't their fault her love life was a mess. Still, her stomach was roiling, and she muttered, "I'm going back to my room for a nap, guys," before grabbing her tray and returning it on her way out, her good mood evaporated.

Kyoya and the twins were sitting at another table, watching the entire display. None of them looked particularly happy. Kyoya was murderously angry that they had been so insensitive to Shana; how could they do that to her? He was going to kill the two of them. Hikaru looked sadly at Haruhi and Tamaki. He knew he had no chance with Haruhi anymore; the ring on her finger was proof enough of that, but it didn't stop him from foolishly pining away for her. Kaoru, watching Hikaru, felt sad on his twin's behalf.

The Host Club – minus Hani, who was with Sakura somewhere – had been having lunch together, when the three girls had walked in. The moment they had noticed them, Tamaki and Mori had wanted to go say hi. Kyoya had desperately wanted to join them, but he knew he shouldn't disturb Shana, much as he wanted to just hear her voice and see her smile.

When she walked out of the canteen and into the biting cold air, her head lowered and her hands pushed into the pocket of her overcoat, she made such a dejected and sad image that he couldn't help himself. He quickly gathered all this things and almost ran – Kyoya Ootori never ran after anyone – after her.

"Shana!" he shouted, catching her attention as he hurried towards her. He thought he saw the ghost of a smile for a moment as she turned to look at him, but her face frosted over immediately when she turned to face him squarely. She looked at him expressionlessly, then her gaze simply slid over him, and she turned back and continued walking.

It was as if the floodgates had opened again. Her wounds, freshly scabbed over, tore open and bled freshly again. Seeing him right there, knowing she could just take a few steps and be in his embrace again, had almost been enough to weaken her determination never to let him near her again.

Hell, who was she kidding? She had been a second away from sprinting towards him and flinging herself at him. Her eyes closed against the bitter wind as she trudged away from him, her booted feet making crunching noises in the snow. Her eyes prickled hotly with tears, and she told herself that it was because the wind was drying them out.

Forcing herself to walk away from him was harder than it should be, and she reprimanded herself harshly as she put one foot in front of the other, bringing herself away from him, away from the man she loved. But he obviously didn't feel the same way about her, did he. No, that was why he'd been in bed with Chantelle.

"Shana." His voice was much closer this time, and she whirled around, starting to panic. And found herself almost nose to nose with him. His arms came up around her, locking her into place, pressed up against him. Then he dropped his forehead onto hers and closed his eyes for a moment, totally freaking her the fuck out.

It wasn't his fault. He'd been practicing his speech in his mind, trying to get it perfect in the small amount of time he had while catching up with her so he could convince her to forgive him. But the moment she was in his arms, all soft and warm, everything had fled his mind. He hadn't even been aware of what he was doing until he found himself almost kissing her. He could smell her lovely scent, and it just seemed so natural, and he found himself instinctively doing what he had done so many times over the past months.

He was wrenched back into reality when she flung herself out of his grasp violently. "No," she said softly, trembling like a leaf, and not only from the cold. "You can't do this. You can't break my heart and then expect everything to magically be okay again. You can't. You can't…" she stopped, because she was crying too hard to speak any more.

She ran away from him. She wasn't very sure where she was going, but she knew she couldn't go back to her room in case Chantelle was there. She somehow found herself in the old library on campus, which was rarely used now. She curled up into a ball in a corner and rested her head on her knees, crying her heart out. Why had he done that? Why was he so cruel? Why did he want her to keep remembering?

Kyoya followed her as she ran. He couldn't help it. He knew he had royally fucked up, but he had to make it right again. He didn't know how, but for the first time ever, that didn't bother him in the least.

He followed her into the musty old library, and his eyes searched her out in the dark room. He finally found her huddled in a corner, crying like the world was ending, and his heart broke at the sight of it. He couldn't go to her and make her cry any more. But he couldn't leave her here either. He hovered there for a moment, wondering what to do, the urge to pull her into his arms and comfort her so very strong. Yet how could he, when he was the reason she was crying so hard?

MUAHAHAH cliffhanger! :D I'm quite happy with this chapter; I hope it makes up for the long long long hiatus (ahem sorry guys). I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but keep in mind that I'm going to school now, and this year there's so much more stuff to do so it's probably going to take quite some time. I'll try to finish this story up asap though, pinky swear! Fingers crossed that I'll get everything finished soon. :O

Love,

Peachy Hikaru