Curse warning for this chapter!
Also, I rewrote the ending for it.
It doesn't affect the plot, but I thought it was better.

Brother, my brother,
tell me what are we fighting for?
We've got to end this war.
We should love one another,
oh can't we just pretend, this war never began?
We can try,
Brother my brother

-Brother my Brother, Pokemon the First Movie

The following afternoon - Saturday - I was headed to two different shops. First, a beauty shop, then my favorite art supply store. If we're really going to the beach, I'll need some time to prepare...lucky none of the guys know what I'm doing.

The weather was mild, with signs of rain later on. The sun would set in a couple hours. I walked alone with music blaring from my iPod, nobody around to irk me. All in all, a pretty nice day. Instead of my usual black Lolita attire, I was wearing cargo pants and a t-shirt along with my customary scarf and gloves.

The beauty shop was slightly more crowded than usual for this time of week. I wonder why...maybe it's a sale or something. Shrugging, I pushed my way through the aisles to the waterproof makeup.

After loading my basket with foundation and coverup - and a bit of red lipstick just for fun - I turned to head for checkout. But I instantly collided with someone's torso.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going, bozo! Wait - Kaoru?" I spoke. What the hell would he be doing here? And where was Hikaru? I pulled out an earbud and waited for a response.

"Ame? Hi!"

"What're you doing here?"

"Oh, that. Well, we were all going to the market with Haruhi, and I kind of got lost."

"And you're in a makeup store because...?" Gay? No. It's a front.

He laughed. "My mother has her name in a few types of makeup. I wanted to see if they sold them here. Plus, my phone died, so I couldn't call anyone."

Knowing the Hosts, they won't notice for a while. But what I noticed was that Kaoru seemed to be acting much more reasonable...now that he was away from his brother. "You need directions? I shop here all the time, I know the way around. I left my phone at home, though, so I can't call anyone."

Kaoru pouted. "Can I just hang out with you? Haruhi never lets us do anything fun."

"A-all right. If you really want to. Just let me pay first." What's gotten into him? Normally he would be messing with the stuff I'm buying...huh. Can't say I don't like the change. And right now Kaoru Kind of looked like a lost kitten. I had a soft spot for kittens.

"Cool!"

So I went up to the counter and bought my stuff, and then Kaoru and I began walking towards the art shop. When we had been leaving, one of the other customers whispered about how handsome my new companion was.

Well...maybe he was just a little cute. When he wasn't annoying.

"Ame, where are we going?" Kaoru asked, looking all around. He seemed entranced by the little things I saw every day.

"An art store I like. I need some new paint."

"Sounds like fun! Can we go somewhere else after that?"

"Uh, all right. There's a sushi place down the block." I wonder why he's so eager to hang out with me. Most people just go 'fu*k you' after they talk to me.

The art store went well. Kaoru got just a little blue paint in his hair...but that was an accident, I swear.

At the restaurant he seemed fascinated by how the sushi just kept coming around on the conveyor belt. We chatted about the other members of the club, about how both Hikaru and Tamaki liked Haruhi, and about random things like cats, chocolate, and hats.

When it came time to leave, I surprised myself by not wanting to go. In spite of myself I had enjoyed the evening. Kaoru could be really nice sometimes.

It turned out my prediction of rain was correct - outside it was coming down in sheets. Kaoru and I walked along the street close together, trying to stay dry under my umbrella.

"I didn't know you were into chibi cartoons." Kaoru commented. My umbrella was purple and covered in chibi kittens. It was a tad old.

"I didn't know you were capable of behaving like a human. Guess we don't really know each other all that well yet, huh?"

"Yeah. Hey, do you want me to call for someone to give us a ride home?"

"I thought your phone died. Besides, I like walking in the rain. It gives me inspiration."

"What does it make you think o -" Kaoru abruptly stopped speaking. "Don't say anything to draw attention to yourself. We're being followed."

I stiffened. Now that we were silent, I could hear boisterous laughter and something about getting 'the two lovebirds'. Their speech was slurred. Shit. They're drunk. Unknowingly, Kaoru and I had strayed into a not-so-friendly part of town.

It sounded like there were two guys behind us. I grabbed Kaoru's hand. "Kaoru - at the next turn, run. Don't look back and don't stop for anything. Those guys are drunk. If they corner us, just keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking."

He nodded and we kept walking, quicker than before. But before we had gone even thirty feet another drunk man stepped out of an alley right in front of us. I could smell the beer on his breath.

Before either of us could react, he pulled us into the alley. My umbrella skittered out of my hand. We were surrounded on three sides by high walls. The only exit was blocked by three large and drunk men. Damn it. I can't fight all three of them with Kaoru here. He probably can't defend himself very well...I'll need to distract them until he can run.

Kaoru and I began to back up as one of them sneered, "Wacha doin here, pretty thing? You and your boyfriend should know better than t' come 'round this part of town.."

"Yeah..." another replied, "we should teach 'em a lesson 'bout what happens when they're not careful."

The biggest of them sauntered over to me unsteadily, his breath stinking of alcohol. He grabbed my face and said, "Think we should start wif the girl." His hand was wet with rain, and I could feel my makeup smearing under his dirty fingers...this was NOT good. If I'm right...then they want to rape me...gross!I knew drunk people well, and if I was right, they wouldn't be holding back because I was a virgin.

The three of them laughed. Kaoru, on the other hand, didn't find this so amusing. "Don't you dare touch her!"

"Shut up!" I hissed back at him while the beer buddies guffawed.

"Thinks e's a knight, huh? Awright, Try an save your girl." The big one grabbed my arms, spun me around, and pressed a knife to my throat. Where did that come from? His hands had been empty a second ago!

"You move, she gits it." One of the others growled. "Don't make a sound till we done."

That's IT! Kaoru will have to fend for himself, I can't let this go any farther. Trying not to move too much, I reached into the pocket of my cargo pants. There were several sharp pencils..aha! I got hold of one and stabbed my captor just as he had begun to get...busy. He yelled and let me go.

I jumped away and shoved Kaoru back against the rear wall. "Let me handle this. Don't move!"

The beer buddies had begun to lunge for me, but two were delayed with a well-aimed kick to the nuts, and the third got a pencil in his ear. I went for the pencil one while the others were crying on the ground.

My old jiu-jitsu lessons came back to me in a blink. Jake had signed me up soon after we started living together. Needless to say I put my own spin on it.

I wasn't very heroic - all I did was knock the guys off balance and stab some pencils here and there. The beer buddies got in plenty of blows - I'd be black and blue the following day. At one point one of them had grabbed my hair while the other tried to do something I refuse to write down. Then an opening came.

"Kaoru, run! NOW!"I screamed.

"But what -"

"Get your ass OUT!"

Kaoru ran for the alley opening. I heard him doing something, but I didn't know what was going on. I was trying to avoid the big one's knife.

A second later he caught me in the forearm while I was reaching for another improvised weapon. I screamed as it ripped my skin.

Fortunately the wound provided me with enough of an adrenaline rush to break free of the beer buddies.

I ran away, not looking where I was going. I don't know how far I went, but I eventually came to a run-down park and climbed a tree on instinct.

This is just like how it was years ago...running...I'm still running from people...will it ever end? Tears fell from my eyes because I was lost, scared, hurt, and...and tired. Tired of nobody knowing except for an older brother that didn't understand it.

Faint tan lines of makeup mingled with the blood from my arm and the rain. My gloves and scarf had been lost in the fight. Whoever saw me now would see everything. I sighed and wiped the rest of my makeup off with my shirt.

"Ame? Ame, where did you go?" A frantic voice called out. Kaoru. Why was he looking for me? I had nearly gotten him killed. "Ame! There you are! Are you okay?"

He had found my hiding place. "Go away!"

"I can't do that! Look, I borrowed someone's phone after I got out of there. Hikaru's coming to pick us up. You're safe now."

"I am not!" I yelled, suddenly furious he wouldn't leave me alone. He didn't know anything. I jumped down from the tree and faced Kaoru, holding up my injured arm. He gasped at it, and more than that. He was seeing all my other marks for the first time. "Look at me! Look! I was never safe!"

"What..."

"I wasn't ever safe after dad died! Nobody was there! Jake was at college, he couldn't come home! You know who did this to me? Do you want to know who put every single scar on my fucking body? My dammed MOTHER!"

Kaoru just stared back at me, eyes wide.

"For six years she did this to me! Nobody helped! Nobody could! At five, I never even saw daylight!You don't know what safe is, you dammed rich people! And when I finally got out of there, they couldn't let me forget! They made me go to fucking therapy where some asscrack pretended to know how I felt!"

"Ame, I…"

"Now you know, huh? And every time you look at me I'll see that pity in your eyes! You won't see me, you'll just see the scars." I had thought that maybe Kaoru could be something more than a friend. But now I knew that was impossible. He would never understand.

The fire left me. Something I experienced when immersed in my past were mood swings - another lovely present from my dear mommy. Sometimes I blacked out. "Nobody ever really cared. News crews wanted to make money off me, the hospital workers wouldn't even look at me, the therapist didn't take me seriously...and...and...every time someone saw me they'd look with that damn pity."

I sank against the tree trunk, sobbing. Kaoru came over and sat with me, and put his arm around my shoulders.

"Icare, Ame. And I don't pity you. I think you're really a strong person to make it through all that. You don't have to tell me anything more about what you went through. And I won't tell anyone unless you give me permission."

I looked up at Kaoru in shock, and he smiled. "Just promise me one thing, all right? You have to realize that you're not alone anymore. Me and Hikaru and the others? We'll stand by you. We'll protect you."

Kaoru looked me right in the eyes. "You'll never be alone again."

Awesome or what?
The mystery has been revealed!
Sorry if the fight scene was a tad sue-ish, I'm not all that great at it.