Ninja Star

This Could Be A Problem

Tamaki immediately pulled Haruhi to him in a fatherly hug. "What is it?" He asked, his eyes switching continually between Haruhi, Star, and the twins who had brought the newcomer in the first place. "What's happened?"

Haruhi pointed a shaky finger at Star and stuttered, "Her! She is the one that tried to mug me in that alleyway over summer holiday!" Her eyes flooded with tears as the traumatizing memories flooded her brain.

Mori, who had watched the meeting with much intrigue and confusion, breathed in sharply. He tried to remember every sensory detail about the encounter between he and Haruhi's attacker. The only thing he could think of was the glint of the mugger's blue and green eyes when he turned to glance back at the alley from the rooftop.

A two-colored gaze he cursed himself for not recognizing. The fact that the attacker was a girl under the guise of a Hitachiin relative threw him off a bit.

Star was still standing by the table. Honey had run to his cousin's protection when he heard the screams were first issued. Star looked like a guilty deer caught in the headlights, her eyes darting from door to door, scoping for an exit. The hosts blocked the doors she had entered from. There was an open door on the far side of the room that was wide open, but looked like it contained only a small kitchen. Star wouldn't risk getting cornered in there.

While anxiously pondering exit options, she didn't realize that Mori was coming to grab her. His solid grasp came down on her wrist. Star stifled a startled scream. She shot a narrowed gaze to Hikaru that said, Blood will be shed if you do not come get him to release me. Hikaru got the message because he ran to Mori and grabbed his other arm– the one not grasping the incredibly dangerous ninja girl.

"Mori-senpai, please don't." Hikaru pleaded and tugged on his arm.

"Hikaru, she's dangerous. Don't forget, she mugged Haruhi." Mori turned his head to the reckless twin. His hold on Star faltered and she took her chance. She quickly took the teaspoon she'd been using before to check her reflection, and jabbed Mori in the joint between his shoulder-blade and collarbone with it as hard as she could. He cursed under his breath and released her.

Haruhi squealed and pressed herself closer to Tamaki, afraid that Star might come after her again. That's such a stupid assumption. Six boys have you surrounded, what could I possibly do to you now? Star thought. She bolted to two closets side-by-side on the back wall of the room. She threw both doors open. One was very small and dark, piled to the brim with old instruments from what it seemed. Star remembered what the sign outside the door had said: Music Room 3.

The other room was slightly larger and had a window. The sunlight filtering in revealed that it contained some extra chairs and a large cabinet full of tea sets. She chose this room and hurried inside. She slammed the door just fast enough to close it in Honey's face, keeping him out.

She felt for a lock on the dark closet's door handle, and when she didn't find one, she opted to push one of the chairs underneath, blocking the door. She flipped the switch beside the door frame. The light flickered on.

She heard the hosts beating on the door, Haruhi screaming at her to come out and face her punishment, Kaoru hollering for her to come out and explain everything. Hikaru begging on the verge of tears for her to come out, that it would be okay. Tamaki screaming things like, "How dare you hurt my daughter?"

Of course, there was no need to go out and face them.

Not since she had picked the closet with roof access.

She stacked one chair on top of another until she was tall enough to reach the ceiling panel helpfully labeled with a little plastic plaque that said "Roof Access". Grateful that the ceilings in the closet were not nearly as tall as the ceiling in the main clubroom, she gripped the edges of the panel and pulled it down, some asbestos crumbling and showering to the floor in a small white cloud. She shook it out of her hair and pulled the small wooden ladder down, fully aware that the door was now shuddering on its hinges. The hosts were trying to beat it down. She scrambled up the ladder on to a platform.

Star pulled the ladder up and the ceiling tile back into place only seconds before Honey and Mori kicked in the door. Kyoya cringed as he mentally calculated the damage costs. Hikaru groaned and hung his head when he realized the only way Star could have gone is up.

"We have to go after her!" Tamaki shouted, playing leader.

"No! You're not going near her! I've known her for months now, it's my fault for bringing her here, so I'll handle her myself!" Hikaru glared hard at his friends, daring them to say otherwise.

"How could you bring her if you knew she was the one who attacked Haruhi?" Kyoya asked accusingly.

"I didn't know! Neither did Kaoru! Had I known she mugged Haruhi, I would have called the police on her the moment I met her. Kaoru and I didn't get to the alleyway in time to see the mugger, and besides, you all obviously didn't recognize her." He pointed accusingly at Tamaki, Kyoya, Honey, and Mori in turn.

Honey piped up, " I thought Star-chan was your cousin?"

Hikaru and Kaoru shook their heads in unison. "We don't have any cousins. We only said that so we could explain why we're paying her through school. She's just a girl I met on the streets. I sneak out now and then to go visit her, and now it's my responsibility to go get her down from the roof." Hikaru set his jaw and pulled down the ceiling tile. He pulled down the ladder and started climbing. Before he entered the darkness he turned, "When we come down, don't yell at her, don't glare at her, and definitely don't touch her." He looked to Mori senpai. Then he turned and continued up the ladder.

Up a dark flight of stairs and out a trapdoor on the roof of the pink stone building, met Star with bright sunlight and a cool breeze. The roof of Ouran High School was nothing put a grey slab dotted by the occasional short chimney or air conditioning unit. There were a few doves loitering on the edge of the roof, but other than that it was bare.

Star made her way to an air conditioning unit that overlooked the rose-hedge maze. The clock tower was to her left and the gardens were to her right. She hopped on top of the unit and crossed her legs. Her eyes stung with the tears she'd been harboring since she locked herself in the closet. She was aware of a few things now; she counted them off in her head.

One: Haruhi is actually a girl. Two: Hikaru probably hates me now that he knows I mugged his friend. Three: I am no longer welcome in the Host Club. Four: this has obliterated any chance of me having friends. Five: classes will eventually start and everyone there will hate me too because I look stupid compared to them, they all look normal. Six: the hosts are probably calling the cops now and I'll go to prison for ten years of uncorrected crime. Seven: there's not a chance in hell I'll be coming back to school tomorrow.

She turned to the clock tower and stared at her reflection in the face of the clock. It was the first time she truly felt self-conscious. She'd never had too; this was her first time being surrounded by perfect looking teenagers.

She stared at the crop of hair that she had bleached white when she was ten to signify her being on her own. Her two-colored eyes, a genetic mutation with a name she never learned. Her thick scar was just the icing on the estranged cake. She broke down freely now.

She didn't turn around when Hikaru pushed the trap door open and stepped on to the roof. He spotted her instantly and ran to her. He was about to hug her when her heard her sobbing. He slowed down and walked to next few steps to her. Hikaru had no idea how to react. He had never seen Star as anything but a confident, independent girl who was only ever happy and determined. She was none of which at that moment.

"Hey," he said softly. He opted to gently put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a sort of half-hug, "what's the matter?"

Star's head shot up and she glared at the view of the school grounds below her, not wanting to look directly at Hikaru. She still feared that she had lost her first real friend. "What's the matter? What's the matter? Everyone hates me, that's what's the matter," she sniffled and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand.

Before Hikaru could assure Star that they didn't hate her, his brother and the other hosts pounded up to the roof. Hikaru instinctively pulled Star closer to him, much like Tamaki did to Haruhi; only, Hikaru wasn't dumb enough to call Star his "daughter". "What are you guys doing? I told you to stay downstairs!"

Star's heartbeat quickened as the strong feelings of anxiety rose in her chest. "What do you all want from me?" She screamed at them, still crying. Star blubbered a string of explanations. "I live on the streets, what do you expect from me? The only thing I'm good at is stealing money from people and the only reason I have to do that is because I'm poor!" She looked directly at Haruhi when she said, "I didn't take any money from you, and I honestly didn't mean to cut you! You screamed and I flinched and it was just an accident and I'm sorry please don't send me to prison!"

"Hikaru," Kyoya was the first one to break the silence Star had left hanging awkwardly in the air, "explain this. Now."