A/N

Thanks to everyone that reviewed! Has over 50 reviews, I'm as happy as a mouse on the moon! (Because I still firmly believe that moon is made out of cheese...xD) Glad that you all liked the last chapter, more to come! Onward, forward, and to reading of the storyyyy!

Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC because my ninja mission to capture it failed...miserably. Buuuut on the bright side, I do own my Ocs :)

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 8

I hummed to myself while playing on the piano. I was in the Host Club room, playing the piece One Summer's Day from the movie Spirited Away. [A/N a movie that I whole-heartedly recommend! One of Studio Ghibli's and Miyazaki's finest!] The movie was a personal favorite of mine, and I loved any and all music that Joe Hisaishi wrote.

The hosts were lounging around dressed in knight cosplay. As I launched into a softer section of the piece, I glanced up, observing them. The twins were amusing themselves on a Gameboy, Hunni was eating cake and Mori was sitting with hi, and Tamaki was bugging Kyouya, who was trying to read. I paused in my playing. "Where's Haruhi?"

Without looking up from his book, Kyouya swatted Tamaki away, who went in his emo corner, and replied, "She's getting more coffee."

I rolled my eyes. "She's not your servant, you know."

"As long as she has her debt, she is," Kyouya said in a monotone voice.

I ignored that, and concentrated on the next part of the song as the host club got into position. I changed the song to a more welcoming song to their guests.

The door opened. "Welcome ladies," the host club said in sync.

Two girls were standing there, in red and white sailor uniforms. One was taller than me, with waist length beautiful hair. The other was about my height with short brown hair. Their eyes narrowed slightly when they saw the host club.

Tamaki grabbed his sword and started to show off with out. "Oh, well! I see you ladies are from another school. I certainly hope we haven't startled you. We love first time guests." His eyes sparkled. "I'm glad you've come, Princesses," Tamaki continued. "My darlings, even if the world was to be destroyed, I'd put my life on the line as your faithful knight and servant." He knelt down in front of them. "I will protect you."

I rolled my eyes. Wow, Tamaki. The taller of the two girls scornfully turned her head away from Tamaki. "Oh, my. Do you really think you could protect us? That's awfully arrogant of you, wouldn't you agree?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You think that's what a women wants to hear? Well, you're wrong." Tamaki started to look up in surprise.

"Come on, give him a break Sister Suzuran," the other girl piped up. "Men are just lowly life forms who don't care about anything except for perpetuating their testosterone leading image. By protecting us, he's actually attempting to disguise the fact that he is weak and unable to protect himself." My eyes widened, and I choked back a laugh. I knew that the hosts probably have never dealt with extreme feminists before.

"You're such a clever girl, Hinagiku," Suzuran praised.

Tamaki stood up. "Don't you think that's a little harsh? Well, then what do women like you want to hear?"

A new voice joined them. "Maybe something like, I would never leave my lover alone." We all looked to see the newcomer. It was a tall, tall girl, with short brown hair. Haruhi was with her, carrying a bag full of instant coffee.

The girl started throwing Haruhi around. "If we fight, it shall be together! If we fail, we fail together! Even if I were to die, I promise you I will never leave your side, my love." She had knelt down at this point, and leaned in to give Haruhi a kiss on the hand. Everyone looked shocked. I sighed and quietly started picking up my sheet music. I was outta here.

"Benibara! We thought you'd never show!" Hinagiku cried.

"What are we going to do with you? So tell me, where did you find such a lovely young lady?" I froze. They knew Haruhi was a girl?

Then followed the usual calamity. The girls were in awe over Haruhi, and Tamaki fainted at the 'cultural shock'. The Zuka Club strongly expressed their views, and put on a little show. I tried to sneak out of the doors before they could notice me, but failed.

"Oh, my!" Suzuran cried. "What a lovely young girl there is here! Like our young maiden here, she is a jewel among swine! Oh please, Benibara, can we keep her?"

Whaaaaaaaa? I thought, confused. The oldest girl, Benibara, came forward and put a hand underneath my chin, tilting my head upwards. Her eyes narrowed. "The beauty of your skin has been marred, my dear. Even though you cover it up with makeup, nothing can fool the eyes of a maiden." Her eyes pierced mine. "Who has dared to hit such a lady?" They flitted over to the hosts. "One of you, perhaps?" I could sense something dangerous coming.

I quickly interjected. "What? No! The host club had nothing to do with this! I'm extremely clumsy and I fell, that's all."

Benibara looked at me. I don't know if she believed me or not. "We simply cannot leave these two maidens in the hands of the host club! We shall prepare enrollment papers into Lobelia Academy immediately! You two shall be welcomed into the Zuka Club!" I blinked. Wait...what? The hosts all look stunned.

Haruhi tried to defend the host club, but they being all idiots, shot down everything from Tamaki being half Japanese half European, to the sale of promotional items. I stayed silent.

"Take a look, Haruhi," Kyouya was saying. "Your used mechanical pencil was just sold at a winning bid of 30,000 yen." I groaned and slapped myself in the face. Bakas. That was just going to make her angry...

Sure enough, she started to flip out at Kyouya, and then the twins when they defended themselves. I sighed, wishing that this was all over.

"Oh, you poor dear. I can't believe they've been deceiving you!" Suzuran cried sympathetically.

"Hey, why don't you just ditch these losers and come with us!" Hinagiku said.

"Hold on, Hinagiku," Benibara murmured. She looked at the both of us, her arm still around me. "These young maidens have had quite a day. We'll give you some time to think about it. We'll come back for your answer tomorrow." She carressed my face, and put a hand on Haruhi's shoulder. "Well, then. Adieu~" They disappeared in a rush of white lily leaves.

There was silence for a moment. Then Haruhi turned to look at them, her death glare on. The hosts looked frightened. "I'd better be going. I've got some thinking to do," she said coldly.

I quickly caught on to what she was doing. She left, closing the door firmly behind her. Everyone looked at me. I shrugged. "They have some really interesting views. It might be worth it to go there," I said. It was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. I ignored a certain dark-haired bespectabled boy whose stare I could feel burning into me as I left the room. I headed to where Haruhi was walking towards our apartments, looking mad.

I caught up to her. "You aren't going to transfer, are you?"

She shook her head, still looking annoyed. "No, I'm not. I still can't believe they sold my pencil." Cue glare...now.

I looked up at the sky, grinning. "I'm not, either, but I made them think I was." I let out a small chuckle. "Tomorrow's going to be interesting."

~..*..~

I decided to try to stay away from the host club today, because I had a feeling that Kyouya would see through the charade, and my fun would be ruined.

I was wandering through the garden, when I heard a voice saying, "Are you hurt?" I paused, and walked around the corner to see a very tall guy with red hair and a scary face holding his hands out to a bird. "Your wing is bent," he murmured to the bird. The animal regarded him, before hopping into the hands. I saw the guys features bend into a smile. A scary smile, but a smile nonetheless.

From my place, I grinned. Although this guy had features that would frighten anyone, I could tell that he was a great guy. I walked forward, making myself known. "Is the sparrow going to be alright?"

The guy jumped up, gasping. "What? Who are you?"

I laughed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Emiko Kobayashi. I'm in class 1A."

He looked confused. "Uh, I'm Ritsu Kasanoda!" he yelled and bowed. "Very pleased to meet you, Kobayashi-san!"

"Just Emiko, please. I'm not really used to all the honorifics," I told him, and he nodded.

"Very well!" He looked at me, confused. "Aren't you afraid of me?"

I looked at him, puzzled. "What? Why?"

He looked embarrassed. "Everyone is scared of me!" [A/N I've been using exclamation points because he pretty much yells everything that he says...so yeah...]

I shrugged. "That may or may not be true, but I'm not scared of you. I don't judge people prematurely." I smiled at him. "Besides, if you were bad, why did you help the sparrow? I can tell that you're a good person." I stepped closer to him to look at the sparrow. "Is it going to be alright?"

He had been staring at me in awe. Now he blushed and looked down. "Uh, I don't know."

"Should we take it to the vets?" I suggested.

He nodded. "I'm going to do that after school."

I smiled. "I'd volunteer to go with you, but I'm busy this afternoon." The bell rang to signal the end of lunch. "See ya later! Tell me how the sparrow is doing tomorrow, kay?" I smiled and dashed towards the building and my next class.

As I was passing the rose maze, a hand on my arm stopped me. Confused, I looked up to see Kyouya. My heart skipped a beat when I saw him, and quickly looked away, trying to stop myself from blushing.

"Where are you heading off to?" Kyouya asked coolly.

"My next class," I told him.

"Don't you know that afternoon classes have been canceled because of the exposition for the cultural clubs?"

I blinked. "Oh. Right." I totally forgot. Greaaaaaaaaaat. Another reason for Kyouya to give me that sardonic smirk. I glanced up at him, and sure enough, the mocking smirk was back. Let's give a round of applause, peoples. I gave him a glare, and realized that his hand was still on my arm. Blushing, I quickly took my arm away, and backed up a step.

He took a step forward. "Still thinking about transferring to Lobelia?"

I took another step back cautiously. "Maybe."

He followed me with ease, a cool smirk playing at his lips. "What is it about Lobelia that makes you want to go there?"

I backed up against a tree, and Kyouya stood directly in front of me. Damn. I needed to get out of there before I gave something away. I felt those eyes piercing me, those beautiful, calculating, smoldering eyes...

Stop it! I quickly scolded myself, quickly coming back to the situation at hand. "The Zuka Club has some interesting views about life, and I hear that the musical opportunities are excellent," I said carefully.

He leaned in so his face was hovering near mine, and our lips inches away. "What about Ouran Academy? You have a better chance at musical opportunities here than at Lobelia."

I swallowed, unable to break himself away from his eyes, which seemed to burn with an onyx fire. "The uniforms are way better than this poofy marshmellow."

He leaned in closer. "I like the uniform on you, though," he murmured, seeming amused by my answer.

My breath hitched. His lips were so close to mine. Any closer and they would be touching. I could smell his familiar scent, a mixture of something spicy and his own scent. "Why would you want to leave us?" he murmured.

"Emiko?" I heard a familiar voice call. Kyouya abruptly stepped away from me, and I didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved. Raiden came around the corner, apparently searching for me. He looked curiously between Kyouya's cool and calm demeanor to me, blushing furiously. He seemed to shrug it off. "A couple of us are getting together and practicing the piece. Would you like to join?"

I grinned. "I'd love to!" I quickly got away from Kyouya and sent him a smile. "See you later." My only response was a heart-stopping look from his beautiful onyx eyes. I quickly looked away, still blushing a little as I followed Raiden through the garden.

"What's going on between you and Ootori?" Raiden asked abruptly, not looking at me.

I glanced up at him, a little surprised. "Oh, um, we're just friends, I guess." I thought about him, and the way we act together. He gets on my nerves all the time, but at the same time, I can't stay away from him. Other than Haruhi, he's the only sane one in the club (though I had my doubts about that).

Raiden seemed satisfied with that, and we continued towards Music Room 1, laughing and chatting. I was looking forward to this afternoon to when Haruhi and I could have our sweet revenge when we saw the looks on their faces!

~..*..~

Later, I was walking with Haruhi towards the clubroom, when we saw the Zuka Club in front of us. They turned around one by one.

Benibara turned around first. "Hi, young maidens."

"We've come for your decisions! Are you prepared to leave?" Hinagiku was the next one to turn around.

That left Suzuran as the last one. "We are prepared to face those host club idiots and set things straight once and for all!"

"Set what straight?" Haruhi asked in confusion.

Benibara appeared, leaning on Haruhi's shoulder and putting her hand underneath Haruhi's chin. "That you should come with us, and go to school with your own kind!" Benibara grabbed Haruhi's hand, and Suzuran grabbed my hand, and we set off down the hallway, the three of them dragging us towards the music room, twirling around like ballerinas. If Lia or any of my other band geek friends found out about this, I was socially dead.

The Zuka Club members threw open the door, and we all peered inside. The room was entirely dark, and there were dark shapes in the middle of the floor. I looked around curiously. Where were the hosts? Hikaru and Kaoru had been plotting something all day, I could tell from the secretive looks and whispers.

Suddenly, a figure stood up and sang in an unbreaking note, "OURAN!"

Immediately after that figure had finished, an identical figure stood up and sang, "OURAN!"

An enormously tall figure stood up. "Ouran," he sang in an obviously male monotone.

Another figure stood up next to the tall one. "Ouran," he sang, his voice holding steady.

A small figure stood up, and in a childish voice sang, "OURAN!"

The lights clicked on, and directly in front of me stood a familiar beautiful lady with long blonde hair. "OURAN!" she sang, and I saw the rest of the figures.

"HOST CLUB! WELCOMES YOUUUU!" they all sang. I froze, realizing it was the hosts. All of the hosts. And...they were...dressed like...girls.

My jaw dropped, as did the Zuka Club and Haruhi's. "Oh, Haruhi! Emiko! Welcome back!" Tamaki cried in a falsetto voice, gliding forward in a ridiculous pink ballroom dress, with a wig that had long blonde hair. His face was covered in makeup. Didn't he know the rule, or was it different in Japan? Less was best? I sweatdropped.

"Look Haru-chan, Emi-chan! I'm a princess now!" Hunni gushed as he twirled in front of us in his pink dress. He also had on a wig, a bow tie in his hair, and makeup. He was holding Usa-chan. He gave us a cute smile. "Aren't I cute?"

Benibara gasped in fury. "What is the meaning of this? Are you trying to make fun of woman-kind?"

Tamaki put a finger to his lips. "What? No, that's not it at all! Everythings going according to plan. This strategy is guaranteed to make even a crying child smile! It's the Freebie Campaign!" He started giggling and twirling around.

I blinked. Freebie...campaign? Oh...my...god...

Tamaki continued speaking. "My dears, you all have lived sheltered lives at Lobelia, so you might not know, that commoners are weak! They have a weakness for free things! Emiko, Haruhi, you may be distracted by the Zuka Club, but choose us, and you not only gain a club full of brothers, but full of sisters as well!" I looked at all of them in their girls clothes, still in shock.

"This way you can experience feminine bonding while staying in the host club!" Tamaki continued, throwing his hands up dramatically. "Isn't that a great idea?" he sighed dreamily, twirling around. He gave us a seductive look. "Aren't I pretty?"

He was quickly replaced by the Hitachiins, wearing ridiculous dressed with their long orange hair in ridiculous frills. "We're the Hitachiin sisters! Which one of us is prettier?"

They came in close to us. "I'm only teasing you," Hikaru said in his soprano voice. Kaoru giggled. I glanced over in disbelief at Haruhi. Her face was stoic, though.

"Listen, Emi-chan! Haru-chan!" Hunni cried. He came up to us, clutching Usa-chan. "You can call me big sis from now on," he said.

Hunni was replaced by Kyouya and Mori. Mori obviously was too masculine to dress up as a girl, so he was the only brother, I guess. Kyouya was dressed up in purplish clothes that reminded me of the evil stepmother from Cinderella. I guess he was another sister...or was he the mother? Anyway, they pranced by, Mori shaking the tambourine.

"Why you..." Benibara gasped, trailing off for a second before her anger coming out again. "Do you idiots really think that you can win them over like this? I've had enough of this!"

That's it. I couldn't hold it in anymore. "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed, holding my stomach and falling over. Haruhi joined in a split second after I did. Tears of mirth started pouring down my cheeks. I could feel everyone staring at us in shock as we pretty much died of laughter, Haruhi ranting on about what a bunch of goofballs they were.

The twins and Hunni appeared in front of us. "Are we really that pretty?" they cooed. We started laughing harder than ever.

"Call me big sister!" they yelled chasing us around. "Come on, do it!"

Once we escaped the twins, our laughter began to die down. "What were you guys thinking?"

"Whats gotten into you guys?" I added, laughing.

Hikaru put his hands behind his head and looked away. "We did this because we didn't want you to leave the host club," he muttered.

We looked up, a little shocked and then looked at each other and grinned.

"Well, maidens, have you made a choice?" Benibara asked quietly.

We stood up and looked at her. "I have," Haruhi said. "I'm sorry, but your club is not for me. I think the idea of a girls school is great, and the views are very unique and interesting, but I came to this school with a goal and a view of my future, so while I appreciate my offer, I really knew all along that I would never leave Ouran Academy." Hinagiku and Suzuran looked shocked. They looked at me.

"What about you?" Suzuran asked, pleading at me with her eyes.

"Please tell me that you'll come with us and leave them behind," Hinagiku begged.

I felt Kyouya's eyes boring into me. I looked at Benibara calmly. "Like Haruhi, I was never going to leave Ouran." I grinned, looking over at everyone. "I couldn't leave, I'd miss everyone too much! I do appreciate what you girls are trying to do, but I'm happy here at Ouran, happier than I've been for a while, so I'm sorry, but I'm staying here." I grinned and laughed a little. "Besides, how could I live without seeing what they'd get up to next?"

Mori tapped on his tambourine a soft look on his face, and Kyouya's glasses twinkled, his face hidden behind a ridiculous-looking fan. Tears flew down Tamaki's cheeks freely. "HARUHIIII! IMOTO-CHAN!" He gasped, and grinned, but then stopped and looked confused. "Hold on! If you knew you were going to leave, why did you act so angry yesterday? And Emiko, I thought you said that you were going!"

Haruhi blew up in his face. "How would you like it if I stole something of yours? I really liked that mechanical pencil, it was easy to write with!"

I laughed. "I just said that their views were interesting, and it might be fun to go there, but I never said I would! I was just helping Haruhi get her revenge." I grinned impishly, and I noticed Kyouya's glasses flash.

Tamaki pulled back, looking at the two of us. "I'm sorry," he murmured, then started ranting on about his pencil and annoying Haruhi.

"Um, Benio?" Suzuran asked softly.

Benibara looked down. "I know," she said softly. "We're not going to give up on you, maidens," she said, and we all looked at her. "I swear this to the both of you, someday we'll come and rescue you from this place! And when we do, we'll abolish the Ouran Host Club!" She chuckled softly at our stunned faces. "Well, adieu~" she said softly, and once again the three of them left, twirling and giggling from the room in a cloud of white lily leaves. From down the hall I heard the screech of some random monkey, and shrieks as the three of them fell. The doors closed by themselves on the scene of the three of them on the ground. I started laughing. Bakas.

~..*..~

Later, I was playing softly on the piano, still grinning over everything that had happened today. I didn't bring my keyboard over from America, so here at school was the only time that I could play it. The hosts had already left for the day, with Tamaki annoying Haruhi as usual.

I felt someone come up behind me and put their hands of my shoulders. I felt warm breath on my ear as a familiar, cool voice murmured, "Shall we pick up where we left off?" He chuckled.

I jumped, and he took his hands off my shoulders. "K-Kyouya," I stammered, turning around to face him. "I'm sorry, I thought everyone had gone for the day-"

He put a finger to my lips, his signature smirk flashing at me. "Well apparently you were wrong, weren't you." My heart began to beat wildly at how close he was to me. His smirk grew wider, and I wouldn't doubt that he could hear it.

He leaned in closer to me, putting his hands on either side of me. "That wasn't a very nice trick to play on the hosts that you did today," he murmured.

I looked up into his eyes. "It was worth it. Besides, it added to the drama."

"Oh really? It caused Tamaki to force us to dress as girls." Any closer and our lips would touch...

"That was amazing to see, though. I can't believe you all went along with it. No offense, but you looked like the evil stepmother from Cinderella."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "That wasn't very nice, either."

"Pity."

His lips quirked back into his smirk, and he leaned in to murmur in my ear. "When you said you couldn't leave us, was there one person in particular you couldn't leave?"

I blushed and looked away from him, trying to ignore how close he was. His scent was intoxicating. I began to babble, to try to cover up my racing heart and blush. "Well, ever since I came here you all have been so nice to me and I consider all of you some of my closest friends so of course I would miss you, like I would miss Tamaki being an idiot and the twins pranks and Mori and Hunni's kindness and Hunni's love of cake and I'd miss annoying you and the way you always get on my nerves about the littlest things but yet I like being around you at the same time and your beautiful onyx eyes when they're not being hidden by your glasses..." I gulped, blushing furiously, and clamped a hand over my traitor mouth.

He gave me an evil grin and leaned in so our foreheads were touching. He looked into my eyes. "What was that about my beautiful eyes?" he asked, smirking.

I blushed. This stupid, evil, conceited asshole! I fumed, my heart racing.

He grinned. "That's what I thought." His lips crushed against mine, and I blinked a little, too surprised to move at first. But then, I slowly closed my eyes, and put my arms around his neck, kissing him back. Everything that I felt about Kyouya, all the annoyance but at the same time, all the sweetness, and all of our mock fights, all the times I'd get on his nerves, and the times that he got on my nerves, it all came rushing back into this one moment. And in that moment, I felt the scars on my heart go a lot closer to being almost fully healed.

A/N

Sorry I haven't updated in a couple days :( I broke my vow for every day, and i'm so sorry about that! Please don't hate me!

This took a long time to write, and I will have to leave you soon. I don't know how often I'll get to update, because I have to get packing for summer camp! woohooo! Last year as a camper, gonna make the most of it! I'll be at my summer camp for 5 weeks, with access to no technology at all, so please don't hate me because I won't be able to update for weeks! I promise you that while I'm at camp I will write lots and lots of chapters, and update when I get back in August! (I leave in July)

Reviews are very much appreciated! Garden gnomes for all the people that review! And by the by, I finally got around to putting Kasanoda into the story! New friend, woohoo! Though now that I read back on Kasanoda's behavior, as well as Raiden's and Nekozawa's, it's occurred to me...could they like her? :) Wait and find out!