Tamaki sighed heavily, putting his hands up to his face and trying not to look at the expression Edlyn gave him. It was always the eyes that got him. Those eyes would've made almost anyone bend to her whims; and with the cat held up to her chin the power was intensified beyond the usual withstand able amount. He peeked through his fingers, she was still looking at him.

"Ach!" he threw his hands off his bright-red face and turned away from the other blonde, "Fine keep them just..." he looked at her.

"Nevermind! Nevermind! Do whatever you want!"

The twins looked on devilishly at the scene, wearing matching smirks.

"Hey Edlyn-" Hikaru started.

"-We didn't know-" Kaoru started to finish his twin's sentence.

"-That you liked cats."

Edlyn blushed lightly, setting down the cats in the box and picking it up. She crossed her arms over the box, tapping her upper arm nervously. "Um, yeah I do, kinda sorta-"

"Aww, so the tough girl has a soft spot for cats-"

"-Who would've thought~"

"Sh-shut up."

"I didn't know that you liked cats Miss Edlyn!" Hunny smiled up at her cutely.

"Yeah, well, I- um..." Ed blushed even more heavily, her features contorted in embarrassment. Her limbs untangled themselves and she switched to fiddling with her fingers, her toes scrunching in her shoes. His face reminded her of Alphonse; just a bit, just a bit-

No, stop thinking like that.

"Crap this is really embarrassing..." she muttered under her breath. She stood there for a while, her blush getting deeper as the twins teased her. Sudden realization dawned in her eyes as she looked up quickly.

"Hey, don't we have to go back to the academy?" Kyoya looked to Edlyn and pushed up his glasses, replying cool as ever.

"That won't be necessary, all of us have called in with a medical excuse." The twins nodded affirmatively, having stopped teasing her, confirming Kyoya's answer.

"So I don't have to go back-?"

Tamaki, watching from the sidelines piped in, "Right, and you won't be going tomorrow either, or the day after that. We need to keep an eye on your cough for a couple days."

Edlyn looked at him indignantly, scowling sourly with a slight look of annoyance in her eyes, "But-!"

"No buts." Tamaki shook his finger at her, "If you haven't noticed, you're coughing up blood. You reacted badly, so we have to make sure you're stable so you don't end up collapsing like you did today."

"Tamaki, I'll be fine-?" The violet eyed blond began to drag the Amestrian into the house, managing to get her to her room. The rest of the host club followed hurriedly behind him. Tamaki pushed her under the covers of her bed, tucking her in as he did so. She tried to push him away but he merely tucked the covers up tighter, holding her securely in the cocoon of blankets. Hikaru and Kaoru snickered at the female's predicament. Tamaki glared down at his cousin, a darkness rolling off him in waves.

"And don't you dare even think about getting up. This is for your own good cousin dear."

And with that, Tamaki hauled the rest of the host club out of the room (except for Haruhi, who was already leaving by that point put of instinct) and closed the door behind them.

...

Tamaki had banished them all from his house, staying behind to fuss over Edlyn. Haruhi sighed a little bit, Tamaki was an idiot sometimes but he really cared about his friends and family. She smiled at the thought of Edlyn. She was a tough, caring girl, it seemed, and very down-to-earth, a welcome change to Renge and the rest of the host club (though she cared about them as well).

Haruhi had to wonder, though, about her reasons for leaving her brother. Yes, she knew she wanted a better education to get a better job, but who did she leave her brother with. She didn't think Ed was the type to just leave her family alone. So who did she leave him with? A friend perhaps? Yes, that was probably it.

Shaking her thoughts from her head, she reached the door of her family apartment and walked inside, closing the door behind her.

...

"So that was fun, right Mori?"

"Ah."

"Edlyn's really nice isn't she."

"Uh-huh."

"She's really pretty too, and she must be really brave for getting that robot arm and leg..."

"Ah."

"Uwaa, I'm...sleepy... I think I'll sleep now...it's been a really...long...day..."

"Night'."

"Goodnight..."

...

"So what do you think of her?" Kaoru stared at Hikaru from the side of the bed, his amber eyes filled with question.

"Blondie?" Hikaru raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah."

Hikaru shrugged, his hands behind his head, "She's ok, I guess, a little stubborn. Seems to hide a lot of things."

"What else d'you think she's hiding? I didn't really believe her story about how she lost her arm. I mean, sure it's not really a ridiculous story but-"

"-It seemed like she was lying, I know. Why would she lie though? Is she ashamed of something?"

The twins sat in silence for the rest of the night.

...

Kyoya sat in his bedroom, writing numbers down lazily in the black notebook he always carried. This was unlike him, but his mind was focusing on other things, so it really couldn't be helped.

Today had been hectic to say the least.

It was funny how things had ended up, he hadn't expected to give out his medical assistance to a girl he had known for only two days. At least it provided benefits...Through he wasn't sure if he wanted to invest in the automail industry. It seemed quite risky, no matter how beneficial it could be.

He set down his pencil, pushing his notebook to the side. Damn, he just couldn't focus, maybe it would be better for him to take a break while his mind was on other things.

He got off his chair and lay on his bed, staring up at the rough ceiling. His thoughts wandered to other things.

Thoughts of what had happened today plagued his mind.

He remembered the way Edlyn had looked when she had told the story about her missing limbs, the story was believable enough but he felt uneasy. Her tone had indicated that she wasn't telling the truth, or at least not the whole truth. Why would she be lying?

He thought of her as a sort of hardworking, grumpy, but loving person. She seemed normal, except for the limbs of course, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that she was hiding things. It was intriguing to him.

And her would be sure to find whatever she was concealing.

...

After school had ended the next day, Tamaki dragged Kyoya over to help take care of Edlyn. He could have dragged Haruhi instead, but he decided it would be better for Kyoya to come.

The dark-haired, designated 'cool-type', stood off to the side, scratching in his notebook while Tamaki fussed over the small female.

"Kyoya, can you stay here and take care of Edlyn while I go to the host club?" the taller blonde looked over and gave the stern teen the puppy eyes. While not as powerful as Edlyn's, they still packed a powerful punch (one that Kyoya was immune to).

Still, he agreed.

"Thank you so much!" the teen almost squealed but instead settled for giving the dark-haired man a hug, running off afterwards.

Kyoya smoothed down the corners of his uniform, pushed his falling glasses back on his face, and fixed his ruffled hair. He settled himself in the chair beside Edlyn's bed and continued writing in the notebook.

Everything was peaceful for a few minutes, and no sounds could be heard except the blowing of the wind, Edlyn's quiet snores, and the scratching of the pen. Hearing a sudden stirring, Kyoya looked up from his writing and stared towards the short blonde in the bed. She rubbed her eyes and fluttered her eyelashes cutely in an attempt to get the sleep put of her eyes. A flush dusted her cheeks, hinting at a fever.

"Mmph, what time is it Tama..." she turned and stared at Kyoya in surprise.

"What are you doing here?"

The host shifted his weight in the chair slightly and laid the notebook in his lap.

"I'm taking care of you since Tamaki has asked me to."

The girl sat up and raised her eyebrows, "Really? Where'd he go then?"

"To the Host club. They have group activities today."

Edlyn snorted and Kyoya could have sworn that he heard her mutter 'he's just like Mustang' under her breath. She looked him straight in the eyes smirking a bit, "So lemme guess, he conned you into babysitting me."

"Not at all, I simply wanted to help." A small amount of bewilderment settled in her eyes while his statement sunk in.

"Hmm," she hummed, "I thought you would be the type that doesn't really do anything unless there's benefits, or if you were forced to."

He gave a small smirk, "Normally I am exactly like what you've just described. However, I do do things just for my friends."

She stared at him slightly, however her eyes didn't seem to be looking at him; it was as if they were seeing someone else in his place. A sense of loneliness wrapped itself around her, and a slight pain was visible in her far-seeing eyes.

"Y'know, you remind me of someone."

He quirked an eyebrow, "Who?"

"A friend from back home. You remind me of him, just a little bit."

"How?" he leaned forward, genuinely interested.

She chuckled lowly, looking up as if she was remembering his face, "Well, he looks a lot like you, for starters. And he was kinda like you in that 'help for benefits and help your friends' sense."

"Huh, really."

"Really."

He rested his chin on the palm of his hand, quietly observing her face, "What was he like?"

She stared at him from the bed and crossed her arms, "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm merely curious."

"Ah. Well, he didn't really show his emotions. He usually just smirked or kept a blank face. Oh, and he was a flirt. Damn bastard was always either procrastinating or picking up chicks." she chuckled, "He teased me a lot too...called me short all the time. It ended up annoying me to the point of wanting to kill him."

She scowled, "Thought I kinda miss that now."

"And his name?"

"Colonel bastar- Roy, Roy Mustang."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow at the comment inserted before, but ignored it. The dark haired teen went back to his scratching in his notebook while Edlyn stared out the window. The two sat in a comfortable silence before the blonde drifted off into another feverish sleep.

The chair creaked as Kyoya stood up and moved towards Edlyn. He tugged the covers up over her sleeping form, making sure to leave room for her to breathe. Then he picked up his book and writing utensil and exited the small bedroom, heading downstairs.

Hours passed before Kyoya decided to check on her. After hearing a creak and familiar clanking from the bedroom above him, he walked briskly up the steps and opened the door.

"Edlyn , did you need something? I heard creaking so-?"

He gawked at her. The small blonde was halfway done the process of lifting up her shirt (though that wasn't what he was looking at). What he was looking at was the circular scar that resided on her gut. It was around three inches wide and was rimmed with milky flesh that didn't match the tan tone of the rest of her stomach. He stumbled back as she pulled the shirt down immediately and shrieked at him.

"Get out!"

The door was slammed in his face, barely missing his nose. Kyoya widened his eyes and backed away, rushing back downstairs. Perhaps it would be better to check on her later.