AN: Hey guys, I'm so sorry it's been like two months since I've updated please don't hate me! i was having extreme writers block and having some tough times at home with a death in the family. Sorry it's been so long i can't believe i haven't updated, but as an apology this chapter is twice as long! Love you guys and send me a review of the story in general or this chapter in particualr with anything you think could help me improve or anything you wanna let me know! thanks guys!

Chapter 16

Everyone was sitting around a campfire and chatting, I could see Kid constantly staring at the symmetry of the twins who seemed to go out of their way to impress him, Black Star was stuffing as many marshmallows in his mouth while trying to convince Tamaki that it didn't matter if he was a king because he would surpass god, who is much higher than a king anyways. I never realized how well the two groups would get along, now it seems that the only one who stands out is me. I smiled when thinking about how well they go together. That's when I noticed someone sitting outside the groups, just like I was. It was Haruhi and he was motioning for me to come over. Since I didn't want to seem anti-social I reluctantly rose from the towel I had been sitting on and made my way to him, squishing my toes in the sand with every step. When I had almost made it to his towel he stood up motioned again and started walking down one of the many paths. I didn't know where we were going but I decided to follow.

When I could no longer hear my friends and the path was no longer lit by the soft glow of the fire he stopped and turned around. I was about to ask him why he brought me out here when suddenly I was pulled tightly to his chest.

"Maka I know you're sad but please stop. I understand cutting may help take the pain away for a little while but it will only end up hurting you and all those around you." He took a pause but still held me close,

"All of us care about you so much, it pains us to watch you lie and to see your fake smile. You know you can trust us right?" he pulled away just enough to look me in the eyes. I didn't want him to because they were filled with tears. I just don't know what to do, I haven't ever been confronted about this so I just stood there with tears silently streaking down my cheeks. He pulled me tightly to his chest again and whispered,

"You don't have to say anything, but any time you feel like doing this to yourself again please come talk to me. I'll always be willing to listen, and if you don't want the others to know they don't have to. Just remember that even if they knew they wouldn't care about you any less."

We stayed like that for a few more minutes until I had calmed down before he told me we should head back to camp. I nodded and we began making our way back.

KYOYA POV: Eavesdropping is probably my worst trait, usually it's not even on purpose but it does have its advantages. Who would have known that Maka and I have so much in common? I ran my thumb over my left wrist where all the scars were. Some I couldn't feel because I didn't go deep enough but the ones where I had were raised and looked rough but were actually smooth. I'm happy that Maka has someone she can talk to because I never did. And having to go through it alone is not a pain I would wish on anyone. I just hope she will talk to Haruhi, and I wonder if he thinks he's the right person for the job. I wonder if he has any experience with the problem at hand. Even if he doesn't he's very thoughtful and caring, he wouldn't say anything to hurt Maka.

I realized I really had to go to the bathroom because that's why I came down this path in the first place. I really didn't mean to overhear what they were saying, but I'm glad that I did. At least now I understand Maka, but it's not like I'll ever say anything. I don't want to give her the impression that I was spying on her or anything. I would never do that personally I mean I've got hundreds of people employed with high skills in espionage, so there's really no point in me going. At a brisk pace I marched down the path wondering what other secrets she could be keeping.

MAKA POV: No one noticed when Haruhi and I came back to the group and sat together on his towel, but I noticed Kyoya was missing. I wonder where he went… probably just to grab something it really doesn't concern me.

Soon everyone settled down sitting side by side around the fire. There were light conversations floating around but I didn't concern myself with any of them. I just closed my eyes and let the warmth of my friends and the fire rush over me. I decided to lie back on the towel to look at the stars for a while, but with the warmth of the fire and the comfort of being with all the people I care about most I drifted off to sleep.

No one's POV?: Haruhi lightly shook Maka's shoulder but she was out cold. He took his jacket off and draped it over her sleeping form and turned back to the group.

"So should we talk about what happened earlier?" Everyone's eyes turned to Kyoya, unfazed by this he continued,

"I mean maybe some of Maka's old friends can explain what happened?" he caught the eyes of the DWMA students and started the story from the beginning,

"So after we landed we all went to our cabins to get ready for some time at the beach, and we knew that Maka had never seen a beach as beautiful as the one here so we planned a little surprise." He paused and looked around the circle, the DWMA students looked curious and confused whereas the Ouran students looked as if they dreaded what would come next in the story,

"So we waited for Maka to be ready then we grabbed her and put a blindfold over her eyes and bound her hands so that we could carry her out to the beach as a surprise…" Kyoya looked at the ground for a little while not seeming to want to continue the story, Tamaki stepped in for him,

"My little lamb got so frightened when we did that that she fainted so we brought her out to the beach. We set her down on the sand and took the blindfold off, we were working on her hands when she woke up." Like Kyoya it seemed like he would have to stop there but he regained his composure and continued,

"She was very disoriented when she woke up, tripping and stumbling trying to stand up but when we tried to help her she screamed and started running. I put my hand on her shoulder trying to make her stop and realize who we were and she screamed at me…" Tamaki trailed off and this time couldn't continue, it was Haruhi who picked it up again,

"She screamed for HIM to let go and that she wasn't going to let HIM touch her again." Everyone now either looked in pain or confused, except for Tsubaki. Tsubaki was crying with her hand over her mouth mumbling to herself. Black Star who was sitting next to her held her closely and ran his fingers up and down her back trying to calm her down while whispering softly to her to calm down and try to explain what she knew. It took a few minutes for her to stop and when she did she started to explain.

"Maka doesn't know I know about this because her memories from that time are broken and fuzzy… but Maka and I grew up as neighbors." This earned her several shocked looks from the DWMA group and Mori spoke for the first time in their little group.

"Tsubaki you don't mean Maka was the little girl from down the street do you?" He sounded very worried and everyone from Ouran knew if Mori was talking something was seriously wrong. He was staring intently at Tsubaki and she nodded Mori had to get up and take a walk because he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Tsubaki started to explain what was going on,

"Back when we were about 10 years old Mori lived with us over in Death City, and we were friends with a little girl from down the street named Maka. We were good friends and we all had a great time laughing and playing together. Then one day Maka didn't come meet us where she usually did so we knew something was up. So we went to her house and saw an ambulance. They were rolling a stretcher covered in a sheet out of the house. Maka's parents were standing on the front porch crying and we had to know if something had happened to Maka so we went and asked them if she was okay." No one but Mori and Tsubaki knew the story so the others were all listening attentively to find out what had happened.

"When we asked them they told us Maka was playing in the park because they didn't want her to watch her older sister being declared dead and wheeled out to the ambulance." This shocked everyone, their jaws had literally dropped open,

"Tsubaki what do you mean Maka had a sister?"

"Wait how did she die?"

"We've been friends with Maka for years how come we didn't know she had a sister?"

The questions like this continued until Mori spoke up,

"Be quiet! Can't you see Tsubaki is trying to explain that?" everyone shut up instantly. No one had ever heard Mori raise his voice and they sure didn't want it to happen again.

"As I was saying," Tsubaki continued the story, "Maka's older sister Marya killed herself the night before her 16th birthday." Tsubaki didn't pause because if she had she would just be interrupted again.

"So we went to go find Maka at the park but when we got there we watched her get grabbed off of the swing and taken into the back of a van." Tears were streaming down both Mori's and Tsubaki's faces but she continued anyways.

"We ran to go and get help but by the time that they had come back all they saw was the van driving away. The police had gotten the license plate but it was from a stolen car so they couldn't track the van down. There was absolutely nothing that they could do." Tsubaki wanted to say more but she turned to Black Stars shoulder and just started sobbing. Surprisingly Mori picked up where Tsubaki left off,

"Every day for six months we went back to the park where she had been taken and every day we found nothing. Every day we were more and more discouraged. Until one day we found her lying in the sand beaten and barely breathing. I stayed with her while Tsubaki went for help. I was trying to do whatever I could for her because she was unconscious but there was nothing I could do so I just sat there in the sand waiting and stroking her hair softly." No one could speak and there wasn't a dry eye in the circle. (Well except for Maka's but hers were closed so it doesn't really count.) Mori was looking upon the face of the sleeping girl probably remembering exactly where the bumps bruises and cuts were, he was too distracted to continue so Black Star cut in.

"When I was 11 years old I was in the hospital and had been for almost a year." No one knew where Black Star was going with this or why but still he continued,

"I had always had a weak body and often collapsed, I guess it had gotten so bad that I needed to be hospitalized. But one day a little girl was moved into my wing. She was beat up something bad but still every time she looked over at me she gave me her best smile and told me that one day I would be the strongest of anyone. When she got well enough to get up and walk around she would come sit by my bed side and draw pictures of the two of us playing or me with big muscles. I think it was all of her positive energy that convinced me to try my best in physiotherapy and eat a lot of protein to help make me stronger. It's been six years but I still haven't told Maka that she's the reason that I'm going to surpass the gods. Or the reason that my strength is so important to me is so that I can prove to her that I am the strongest of them all just like she convinced me I could be."

No one spoke, how could anyone even say anything about that? Most everyone was crying so everyone got up and had a big group hug. Amidst all the noise of crying and people getting up, Maka woke up.

"Woah I was asleep? What did I miss?" everyone looked over at her with tears streaming down their cheeks and in unison said,

"We care about you so much Maka."