ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.
All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D
-Aloe
PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.
Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!
"Welcome ladies! Today the Host Club would like to celebrate a very important, sacred, and magical day to women everywhere! A day that goes down in history in every lovely ladies' heart: Their wedding!" Tamaki exclaimed.
It had been about a week since the Host Club "invited" me to be a member (and by invited, I mean pressured and forced). As stupid as the whole idea sounded—in a club containing a tiny, child-like seventeen year old, a tall way-too-quiet guy, a conniving, glasses-wearing guy, a way too excited, flamboyant "king", a cross-dressing girl, and the thorn in my side, a couple of way-too-annoying twins—I decided to just go with it.
"As you all can see, each one of the Hosts are wearing proper wedding attire—the young men here to each suit your deepest wedding desires and expand your sweetest dreams." Each of the guy Hosts and Haruhi walked up to the girls in fancy—and expensive—black tuxedoes, all having different flowers for boutonniere's and assorted colored ties. All of the girls immediately cheered and swooned the sight of their precious Hosts dressed to marry them. They especially seemed to get a kick out of seeing Honey—no, wait…I'm sorry, I just can't call someone that. They seemed to get a kick out of seeing Mitsukuni dressed as the part of the Ring Bearer.
"Though I know we all look more handsome than normal—if that's even possible—but you would probably like to know that our newest Host has also dressed up for the occasion!" He and the other Hosts (I presumed) faced the large set of burgundy curtains. "Presenting, the Bride, Aki!" The curtains slowly parted, leading to the crowd of fan-girls' eyes to lighten up and gasp all at once.
There I was, standing there, with the most beautiful and elegant wedding dress I had ever seen in my life—let alone worn. It was a clean, pure white, strapless dress that flowed all the way to the floor. The skirt had various waves and ruffles, lined with gold lace and glitter. In the back, there was a huge, white bow that fell to the floor behind. My arms wore long, white silk gloves. On my head, I had on a mini crystal tiara that had connected to it, a long white veil. Wearing this made me feel both embarrassed, and blissful—I truly felt like a princess of some fairytale who had finally found her prince and was celebrating her wedding and happily-ever after.
If only…
"Aki looks so beautiful!"
"I'm so jealous!"
"Which one of the other Hosts do you think she'd look best with?"
"So magical!"
I couldn't help but smile at all of the compliments, doing my best to avoid any eye contact in an attempt to pretend that all the attention wasn't on me. The whole idea of wearing costumes like this was beyond ridiculous. Luckily, the Hosts don't do this all of the time. But I could still remember the first day they wanted to dress up with me as a Host as well. There I was, sitting innocently in the club room, when all of a sudden, the twins presented themselves in front of me with some stupid witch costumes on. They had the whole tall, pointy hat, dark clothes, a broom, you know, the whole cliché witch attire. After staring in disbelief—and incredible annoyance—the whole sight of it caused me to launch myself at the both of them, slapping them around. Not too long later, the other Hosts came in wearing ancient Chinese wear. Yup, the two chumps tricked me into thinking that they got the whole club to dress as witches for the day. Feeling totally gullible, I whacked the two in the head as they continued to laugh.
Carefully sitting down on a couch in my expensive dress, a small group of clients (girls) sat around me with bright smiles on their faces.
Remember that whole speech I gave a while ago where I mentioned that I was in no way shy and the mere look into my eyes sent people running? Yeah…you can just take that loud of crap and dump it in the nearest garbage can. Believe me, this was the case before coming to this world. I was avoided and intimidating. Now, people (girls) fuss over me and always want to talk to me. In the past, I couldn't even imagine a time that something like this would ever happen. I was so used to the idea of being alone that I had developed a tough shell that made me supposedly cold and independent. Since being isolated wasn't an issue here, all of my usual tendencies sort of just…fizzled out. Now it turned out that I might actually be a shy person by nature. When the hell did that happen?
"Aki? Would you like some of this tea?" One of the girls asked.
Blushing at the gesture, I quietly said, "No thanks."
"I don't think she likes tea very much. She almost never drinks it."
"What is it that you like to drink Aki?" A girl offered.
"Umm…" Thinking about it, I finally came to an answer. "Hot chocolate, I suppose…"
"That is soooo cute! She has a sweet tooth like Honey!"
That's not really true. "No, I—sweets aren't really my…"
They started to squeal. "Look at how shy she is! It's so adorable!"
"The perfect modest bride!"
I couldn't help but blush some more. Being surrounded like this was so unnatural to me. Crowds weren't really my thing exactly for this reason. Not only that, this many people being nice to me was just so…weird, but…pleasant. It was a bit difficult to admit, but I kind of liked the attention—even if it was hard for me to show or accept it.
Looking around, I witnessed the other Hosts putting on individual bits of entertainment for their guests.
"Honey, you look so cute as a Wedding Bearer. I wish you were there for my wedding!"
"Look at Mori, he would be the perfect husband—so strong and reliable!"
Mitsukuni climbed onto Takashi's back. "Yeah, Takashi would make any girl happy. And I'll be his best man!" The girls drooled—probably at the thought of one of them marrying Takashi with Mitsukuni at their wedding as well. "Then at the reception, Usa-chan and I will be eating all of the yummy cakes and pastries!"
Looking to the other side, I saw Haruhi surrounded by "his" clients. She looked perfectly comfortable around them as she graced them with her "naturalness".
"So Haruhi, how do you imagine your wedding to be?" It still absolutely amazes me that these girls can't figure out that Haruhi is a girl. Not to be mean, these girls are nice and all, but they're dopes.
She thought about it for a second. "Oh, I don't know—it's so far into the future. I guess I would like it to be a small with only close friends and family. I wouldn't want to make a big fuss about it and spend a lot of money. I just want whoever the person I plan on spending the rest of my life with is happy and that I could do all I can to maintain that happiness." The girls all had dreamy looks on their faces. "I believe that having a huge expensive wedding doesn't label two peoples love for each other. As long as they are both willing to spend the rest of their lives together and never lose their passion, then anything would be fine." Wow Haruhi, that was really deep…
"Haruhi…"
"That was beautiful!" They all took out handkerchiefs to wipe some tears forming in their eyes.
"You are definitely going to make some girl happy one day!"
Deciding to put my attention on another Host, I noticed that Tamaki was doing his signature "be every girls dream" thing.
He batted his violet eyes as he brought one of the girls close to him, her hands in his.
"My dear princess, I would be the luckiest man in the world—nay, the universe!—to be wed to a lovely woman like you."
Her face flushed as her eyes twinkled. "Oh, Tamaki, do you really mean that?"
"Of course! Our wedding would be exquisite! I'd get the very best caterers from all over the world, I'd have doves fly and fireworks spell out our names. Then when the time came, I would announce my vows to you with a microphone for all to hear! My love would belong to you and no one else."
"Tamaki…"
I looked away slowly. Okay…that's a bit too mushy for me. The scary thing is that he really acts like that. Only a small portion of that is acting. Scary right?
My thoughts were interrupted by the scene between Hikaru and Kaoru. The first time I saw their act, I was a bit grossed out. Now that I've been here a while to see it…it still kind of makes my stomach curl.
"Hikaru, you look so handsome in your tux. But I can't help but cry a little when I see you in that." Kaoru began to tear up.
"Why, Kaoru? Tell me what makes you shed those tears."
"It's sad because when I see you wearing that, it only reminds me of how you'll eventually marry someone and leave me behind. We'll be separated as you choose your new wife over me. I just don't think I can live without you…"
Hikaru lifted his brothers' chin up to his as they got close. "Don't you remember what I whispered to you last night? We will always be together, no woman can change that."
"Do you promise, Hikaru?"
"Yes." They started to hug. "I will save you from your loneliness. Even though people may look down on us, we don't need them and the rest of the world. One of these days, we can elope and always be together."
Kaoru started to blush. "Yes…Hikaru…"
The girls went absolutely crazy from this, and—I swear—hearts floated all around them. Hikaru and Kaoru practically had the girls eating out of their hands. I'd commend them better as actors if they didn't have to go and use fake tears when nobody was looking. Grimacing, I was about to look away when the two caught my eye and winked at me. I scowled and looked away.
"What's wrong, Aki?" One of the girls asked with wide eyes.
Putting on a more pleasant face, I assured her. "N-nothing. Nothing at all."
Another one of them tugged on my glove. "Hey Aki, I have a question. It's kind of embarrassing…"
"What is it?"
"If you could have any of the Hosts as your boyfriend, who would it be?"
Flushing slightly, I honestly tried not to think too hard about it. I would never want to date any of those guys. They're all a bit too odd for me. Actually…they all have their individual quirks that make them not too appealing to me. On an uncontrollable impulse, my eyes trailed to the twins. When they noticed me for the second time, they flashed smiles and gave me thumbs up. Snapping my eyes away from them, I mentally hit myself. Why the hell did I look over at them? They are the last people I would EVER consider dating. I'm getting nauseated just thinking about it.
Clearing my throat, I gave the girls a not-completely-true but not-completely-false statement. "I don't really have a preference."
With a beaming face, one of the girls clapped her hands once as something came to her mind. "You know, I think Aki and Haruhi would make the cutest couple!" I immediately shuddered at that. Why Haruhi, why couldn't you just be a normal, non-cross-dressing girl? All of the girls seemed to agree with her.
She shouted across the room. "Hey, Haruhi!" Haruhi looked over at us from her group. "Would you be a dear and come over here?"
Without hesitation, Haruhi stood up, bowed to her clients, and walked over with a semi-confused, semi-calm look on her face. The girls beside me took my arms and lifted me up, and pushed me in Haruhi's direction. Seeing us there standing next to each other, the girls cheered—all of the girls in the room cheered.
"I knew those two looked wonderful together!"
"I'm totally jealous, but you can't stop fate!"
These girls are insane.
Haruhi whispered to me. "Umm….senpai? What's going on?"
I closed my eyes and sighed. "Don't worry about it Haruhi. It's not important."
"No!" Tamaki rushed over. "My little Haruhi cannot be getting married yet! Sixteen is not the appropriate age and daddy's not ready to lose his child to another!" Jeez Tamaki, calm down for once in your life. "Even though I like Aki, I cannot allow this union to occur!"
"Tamaki's jealous! He's fighting for Haruhi's love!" More cheering resulted in the whole charade.
"Haruhi and Tamaki's taboo love may never happen now!"
Kyouya coughed. "If you ladies would join me over here, I have exclusive photos of all of the Hosts in their tuxedos. I also have pictures of Aki in different wedding dresses for those who can buy them first." What the hell! He told me to put on those different dresses to find one that looked the best! He tricked me!All of the girls stampeded over to him. "The first few buyers can get the only few pics of Aki and Haruhi together." When did he even have time to take those?
While I stared at the crowd, the twins inched their way closer to Haruhi and me.
"Wow, you've become more popular than we initially thought, Aki."
I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks."
"No really, the ladies go crazy over you. Especially in that dress you're wearing." Hikaru smirked.
"And for what it's worth, we can resolve this whole "who marries who" thing."
Cocking up my eyebrow at them, I faced Hikaru. He said, "Yeah, we decided that the four of us can just all get married to each other."
"Yup! With the combination of you, Haruhi, Hikaru, and me, we can have a lot of fun being together forever."
"Not only that, but we could finally all sleep together without it being weird!"
Quickly scooting away, I raised my voice in embarrassment, and through a flushed face. "That will never happen, first of all. And no matter how many different ways you say it, that will always sound kinky and weird!"
Kaoru leaned on his brothers' shoulder. "Kinky, huh?"
"Sounds like it could be a blast."
Yelling at the top of my voice, I screamed, "You couple of creeps!"
After that day, the week passed on into the weekend. It had already been several weeks since I had entered Ouran as a…freshmen (damn those twins). My whole life in this world had been filled with mostly Host Club this and Host Club that. I honestly believed that these people didn't know the definition of "alone time" or "personal space"—excluding Haruhi who actually agrees that space is needed for anyone to live a sane life. Hikaru and Kaoru were always there whenever the rest of the club couldn't be. Always. There. I couldn't even think properly whenever they were around. It wouldn't even be much of a surprise if they both snuck into my room at night and into my bed. Who knows? They've had every opportunity considering our rooms are right next to each other. Of course, if they ever tried, I'd beat the crap out of them. Simple as that. Screw the hundreds of videos, I have my limits. The only thing that seemed like an upside to this whole twin thing was that I was starting to feel more confident about telling the two apart. I still had my doubts from time to time, but things were getting a bit easier, at least with that category.
Now that it was the weekend, the Host Club decided to take a trip to the beach—a private beach—for two reasons. The first was that Haruhi had asked for it a while ago during one of their adventures before I came along, and the second reason was because they wanted to celebrate me becoming a Host. I wasn't exactly excited to be wearing a bathing suit—as if I'd wear it anyway—and I also didn't like the fact that the fan-girls were coming along too. Kyouya said that it would be good for business if we let them be with us in a beach setting. Luckily, I learned that they weren't going to be staying with us at the private beach mansion resort.
The moment we got to the beach in Okinawa, a faint breeze blew past me smelling of salty ocean water. Soothing sounds of seagulls and the rushing waves of the water made me feel calm and at peace with myself.
"Hey Aki!"
Well there goes my two seconds of peace and quiet.
The twins ran up and handed me a bag. "The bathing suit we bought for you is in there. We had a feeling you'd like something black."
I blushed. "What gave you two the right to pick out something like that for me?" As if I'd ever be able to wear it anyway. Because of what had happened some years ago, if I were to wear anything that exposed me that much, there was the huge danger of people finding out about the stupid and weak mistake I had made. There was no way I was willing to let that happen.
"What? We picked out Haruhi's last time." I'm sorry, do I look like Haruhi to you? I thought sarcastically.
"Of course we never got to see her in it 'cause the boss let her wear a sweatshirt over it."
"And today, since the ladies are here, Haruhi has to be a boy and can't wear one."
"So that means that you're up to bat, our little witch!"
Swinging the bag at them, I started to stomp away. "Stop calling me that!" Hearing them chuckle at each other, I stomped off in a direction away from them.
Haruhi's 3rd POV~
"My lovely ladies! No sight is more enjoyable than seeing you near the beautifulness of the sparkling ocean!" The girls, all in swimsuits, intently listened to Tamaki's sweet words. "This is truly a perfect day as I can see your smiles shine as brightly as the sun reflecting on the sea. Oh please, smile for me."
"Tamaki…"
Hikaru chased Kaoru along the edge of the water. "You're so close, Hikaru!"
"I'll keep chasing you till the end of time my darling Kaoru!"
"Oh, Hikaru! Let's take advantage of this beautiful day and spend it with each other!"
Girls cheered them on as they continued to chase after each other.
"Takashi!" Mitsukuni shouted. "Come and play with me in the water! It's a bunch of fun!"
Without much thought, Takashi threw off his shirt and joined Mitsukuni—who was wearing a pink, green spotted floaty around him—in the cool, refreshing water. The tiny seventeen-year-old splashed around Takashi as he just stood there with a faint smile on his face.
Sitting on the sand, under an umbrella, Haruhi sat watching everybody having fun. I'm glad everybody's having fun, she thought. She figured that everybody needed a break, including Aki who was just getting over the "oh my gosh I'm actually a Hostess" phase. She started to wonder where that girl was anyway. She hadn't seen her since they first arrived at the beach. Haruhi didn't worry too much about it because she knew that Aki was the type of person who wanted to be left alone after a while. After all, she thought to herself, she is living with the twins. I bet that gets exhausting.
A few minutes later, a group of drenched girls ran up to Haruhi.
"Haruhi! Come swim with us!"
"Yeah, the water feels really great!"
Haruhi shook her head and gave a charming smile. "No thanks. I'm happy sitting here and watching you girls have fun. Go on and have a good time. One of the reasons we're here is for your happiness."
All of the girls blushed. "Oh, Haruhi is so considerate!"
"I'm so happy that we came today! All of the Hosts are being such gentlemen."
"Well, you know, except Aki. She's awesome on a whole different level." They all giggled. "Speaking of which, where is she? I really want to spend time with her."
"Hey Haruhi, have you seen Aki?"
"No, sorry."
"Hey!" One of them said with a bunch of pep. "Let's go look for her!"
"Yeah!" Watching them skip off, Haruhi smiled in their direction. Hopefully Aki-senpai won't be too bothered by them, she told herself.
Aki's POV~
Jumping from the top of a tall rock, I concentrated my energy onto my body. Letting all of gravity go, I hovered successfully over the sand. The moment I felt that I finally had it, I fell straight to the ground, butt-first. Rubbing my bottom, I slowly stood up.
Dammit! Why can't I get it? Flying should be simpler than this. I considered using the Wind to help me float, but deep inside, I knew that would be cheating. Damn technicalities.
After stomping away from the twins earlier, I walked a good, far distance down the beach to get away from the stress and weirdness of the Host Club. This was probably the only time I'd get to unwind and be by myself. Wearing the black bikini that the twins got for me, I cursed at the fact that they purposely spilled ice cream on the clothes I arrived in and then stole the other clothes I planned on wearing. However, I was forced to swallow my pride a bit and, while covering my chest to hide my secret, ask one of the fan-girls for their jacket before stomping off for a second time. I wasn't willing to expose myself in such a way that would reveal more about me than they honestly deserved.
This was exactly why I needed…to get away—that, and the fact that if I were to be around those two any longer, I'd definitely snap. Besides, when would I get another chance to practice these spells Taiitsukun gave me? Giving up on the flying lesson for the day, I picked up my wand and my spell book from the carry-on bag I brought along.
I knew that I'd eventually come across more danger and especially those shadow creatures again, so I needed to have all of this magic stuff down. Thanks to Kyo, I was an Element Tamer so I was finally able to move onto the next level.
Kyo…
I wonder what you're doing now. Is Tohru making you happy? I hope that you're not alone anymore. With melancholy, I sighed. 'Cause at least one of us deserves to be happy.
The moment I thought that, something occurred to me: I wasn't completely miserable. Things were bad before, and I was really depressed, but after all the time I had spent in this world, I felt that the part of me that's been making me feel constantly down had dimmed suddenly. Ever since I had gotten there, the world had been peppy and bright from the very beginning. But after that whole thing between those psychos in the burnt building, it was like some weights have been lifted off my shoulders. The best thing was that no one was being affected by the dark aura. I was slightly confused by this sudden feeling of weightlessness, but I had no complaints.
Reading off a few spells, I decided to give them a try. I faced the water and focused my energy. The whole doing-a-spell-that-doesn't-require-elements thing was going to be odd, I'll admit, but do-able. There were also stronger elemental spells than the ones I had come up with before using the planets' influence. This was going to be interesting.
Pointing my wand towards the ocean, I shouted. "Elmekia Lance!" From my wand shot out a long lance of light that went flying across the ocean, splitting the water beneath it. Whoa…that was epic! Immediately looking back at the book, I discovered that many of the spells had incantations that needed to be said in order to make them work. I figured these spells were more powerful than the others. Are you serious? Groaning, I looked back at the book. Whatever. Let's get this over with.
"Source of all power, crimson fire burning bright! Gather together in my hand and become an inferno!" A big red light began to manifest at the tip of my wand. "Burst Flare!" Suddenly, a gigantic ball of light appeared above the water and exploded, leaving a huge crater in the water. The moment the steam dissipated and the water calmed, I realized just how big a deal these spells were. If I managed to master these things, then I would be nearly unstoppable! When it came to magic—besides flying—I didn't see a downside.
My fingers flipped through the tiny book for something much more impressive than the last spell. When I had found one, I saw that it had a long incantation to it. Keeping the book at my face with my left hand, my right hand pointed my wand towards the horizon.
"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time, is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer, all the foes who stand, before the mighty gifts bestowed in my unworthy hands. Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess!" Black and red lightning surrounded my body and started to center itself at the tip of my wand. Right when something big was about to happen, my body suddenly ached severely, making me drop my wand and fall to the ground.
Struggling to get up, I started coughing and hacking, my insides feeling as if someone had made me swallow sharp rocks and I was still able to unbearably detect them in my system. While coughing into my hands, a red liquid dripped onto my palms.
Gasping, all I could do was stare—trying to hold back the blood that attempted to make its way up. Eyes glancing to the sand under me, I noticed that there was blood trickling from my mouth and onto the ground.
I was terrified.
What is this? Why am I in so much pain? Was it that spell? My body shook and I started to hyperventilate, thinking that my life was ending then and there.
"Aki-senpai!" A voice called out. Haruhi ran up to my side and dropped to her knees. Her hands started to vibrate as she tried to see what was wrong. "What happened? Oh my God, I need to get someone's help! Kyouya-senpai! Kyouya-senpai has a family full of doctors. They can help you!" Before she got up, I used my strength to grab onto her wrists.
"Don't…" Struggling to get up, I breathed even heavier. "Don't get anyone. I'm fine. Whatever this is, I'm fine. I don't need help from anyone." Just as bad as telling the world about my powers, the doctors of this world couldn't find out that, in a sense, I didn't even exist there. I had no documents about my identity or birth. It would end up drawing too much attention to me, and that might have been enough to cause Taiitsukun to send me back home. As mortified as I was, whatever was wrong with me was not enough to make me want to give up.
"Senpai…"
"I am a sorceress—I will not be subdued by whatever the hell this is. I can fight this." On incredibly wobbly knees, I grabbed my wand and spell book, summoning them away in a flash of light. Leaning on Haruhi, I managed to get my heavier than usual body off of the ground.
"You at least have to rest somewhere, senpai…" She said with concern.
"Yeah, that's what I'll do." I wiped the blood away from my mouth as we walked on.
Making our way across the beach, Haruhi and I tried not to get noticed. The last thing I needed was to be pitied by anyone.
"Haruhi, you especially can't tell the twins about this. If anybody, do not tell them."
"But they would be worried the most—"
"That's a lie!" I bellowed. We both stopped in our place. "They don't care about me! They never cared about me! From the start the only thing they wanted from me was someone to control and mess with. I'm just some doll with magic powers to them. They don't really like me the way they like you and the other Hosts. That's why I can't stand those two! They continue to annoy and play with me all for some twisted game. If someone doesn't like me, I'd rather they be blunt about it and say something. But the way they do things…I just hate it!"
"But senpai, that's not true—"
"Yes it is…If they found out that I had a momentary time of weakness, they'd find a way to use that against me as well. I can't allow them that satisfaction. I can't stand those twins!" Tears started to run down my face without me knowing it, even though the expression on my face was that of anger. What? Why am I crying so easily? That's never happened before. Never. What is wrong with me today?
"Senpai…" Haruhi was about to say something, but we both heard screams coming from somewhere. Looking around in alarm, I tried to sense any of the shadow creatures.
Nothing.
This must have been something else. Finding the tiniest amount of strength to walk on my own, I began to move semi-quickly to investigate the trouble—Haruhi followed closely behind. It sounded like the girls who had come with us to the beach. We eventually came up to a large, tall rock formation that plateaued at the top and trailed off into a cliff off of the ocean. We saw three girls being harasses by a group of about five guys who looked a bit tipsy.Those guys must be drunk. Dammit, why can't those girls stay out of trouble?
Pushing my intense bodily pain to the back of my mind, reserving it for later, I rushed to protect the girls.
"Hey!" I shouted as we reached them. "Why don't you leave them alone?"
"Aki!" The girls said with relief.
"Oh look, another pretty one has come to grace us." One of the guys steadily walked in my direction. He tried to put his hand on my face, but I slapped it away.
"Keep your hands off, jerk."
"See this boys? We've got a feisty one here!" He tried to reach for me again, quickly going towards my hair, attempting to grab it. Before I even gave him a chance, I used whatever strength I had to summon Wind to my hands.
"Tornado Fist!" Punching the guy in the gut, he went straight into the air, then splashing into the ocean from the Wind. Feeling my energy drained, my body went numb as I stumbled back. The girls caught me, setting me upright again.
"Why you little!" One of the guys came charging for me, until Haruhi put her body before us.
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
She whispered back so that the girls and drunken guys couldn't hear. "You're too weak to do anything else, let me handle this."
"Are you kidding me? I have more power than you to take these guys down."
"Maybe so, senpai, but you can't really use that power now, can you?"
No…I don't think I can. Dammit! To think that I had to be protected by Haruhi...talk about a shot to the ego."Don't do anything rash Haruhi." She nodded.
She put her attention towards the guys. "Leave these girls alone. They don't want to be bothered by you."
The remaining four guys laughed at her. "This girly-looking punk thinks that he can stop us?"
"He's just a wimp!" They grabbed Haruhi by her arms and lifted her up. She tried to struggle out, but it was no use—she was just too tiny.
"Haruhi!"
"Someone please, help him!"
Deciding to take a chance, I took a step forward and did my best to summon more Wind. Just then, a blonde blur ran past me.
Tamaki.
"Haruhi!" He yelled. But it was too late. The two guys carrying her had thrown her over the high cliff, head-first into the ocean. Without another thought, Tamaki hurdled himself over the cliff after Haruhi.
Knowing they had been found out, the guys started to run off of the rock formation and far from the scene. The two that ran faster managed to get away from where everyone was at, but the remaining two were caught by the twins. Everything after that, I wasn't sure that happened. Because I decided to run after the ones who thought they could get away with what they did.
Dashing across the edge of the waves, I had the two chumps in sight. Re-summoning my wand, I figured these guys were too drunk to even remember anything magical happening to them.
"Stop right there!" I shouted at them. Hearing that it was just me, the two of them turned around with devious smiles.
"How lucky are we? One of them likes us so much that she followed us!"
"And it's our favorite spicy one too." He noticed my wand. "What do you plan on doing with that stick, girlie? You gonna poke me with it?" You're gonna wish I'd just "poked" you with it.
Summoning my energy, I had initially planned on using some badass spell. Unfortunately, a dizzy spell had hit me at that moment, causing the world to completely spin in my eyes, making me stumble. This was just enough time for one of the guys to walk up to me, take my wand, throw it into the water, and knock me down as well, before I could even react.
"You think you're all that, don't you?" He hissed with coldness in his voice. Putting his body weight on me, I couldn't easily escape. With my strength and energy so low, I lacked the ability to get out of this. I was really in trouble. Besides that, my wand was lost in the water, and I wasn't free to look for it. "You ruined everything back there with my brother and his friends. You know, with that whole situation back at school in the old chemistry building." His brother? "I had left the room to get some food while the guys were in there with the ladies. By time I had got back, you were already in there messing things up." With a terrified look on my face, I closed my eyes as he brought his lips down to my ear. "While he's rotting in prison, I'm going to make sure that you get what you deserve."
The water pushed back, getting ready for another wave. I knew that the moment the wave hit, I'd be stuck under the water. And I couldn't do a thing about it. My mind filled with too much fear and worry to focus on magic or anything. In the past, my lack of concentration had gotten me into some trouble with my magic controlling or using, but now…I was in the worst kind of trouble. My heart pounded like a fast tempo base drum, my eyes widened with anticipation of the horror that would soon befall me. No...not the water! Anything but the water! Something finally snapped me out of my shocked state, allowing me to ensue a desperate struggle.
The water came rushing back towards us in a big wave, covering my whole body. Immediately on contact with the water, I panicked and squirmed beyond all comprehensible reason. But there was no point. My body was being held down by the guy who was heavier than me so that I couldn't come back up for air. No! I can't go through this again! I can't! I won't! Feeling vibrations all over my body, I could feel the guy laughing on top of me—even though I couldn't see him clearly from being under the water. Trying to bring my head up was futile as the guy kept it down. My lungs were burning from holding in air so long, I was almost forced to breathe out and drown. Underneath my terror lied a boiling pit of rage that originated from my childhood, transferring itself to my present psyche, tempting me to contemplate every conceivable way of making this guy suffer should I survive and be set free.
Just as my vision was starting to go black, the guys' weight was suddenly lifted off of my body. Hands reached behind my head to pull me out of the water. Coughing and gasping for air, I looked up to see that Hikaru had rescued me.
"Thank God you're okay." He said, out of breath. Through my bodily shaking and trying to make some sense of the mush that was going through my mind, I was able to look into his eyes. Yeah...that was definitely Hikaru...
Without a response, I looked up to see that Kaoru was beating up the guy who was on me. I assumed that Hikaru took out his friend before getting to me because he was out cold on the beach. While keeping me in his arms, I felt Hikaru searching around the water with his other hand. Eventually, my hand was filled with the hard feel of my wand. He had found it and placed it in my hand.
"You can't be a witch without your wand, can you?" He told me gently.
Coughing again, I finally managed to whisper, "Sor…ceress…"
Kaoru waved over. "Hey, Hikaru! Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she'll live." Hearing him say that, I fought through my crying muscles and still racing heart, forcing my body up and away from him. He shot himself up attempting to follow me. "Maybe you shouldn't be walking…"
"Shut up! Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing!" Feeling my legs give out, I fell again. Feeling vulnerable, I felt myself starting to tear up once more.
"Why are these things happening? I was all powerful before and now… now I can't do anything!" At that, Kaoru and Hikaru both lifted me up and started walking me away from the beach.
"Everyone has a day where they're a bit off—"
"Even witches."
Lacking the energy to argue about my status, I just simply lowered my head as they helped me to safety.
I learned that Haruhi was successfully saved by Tamaki. It was a close call, but he managed to jump in after her in time before anything bad could happen. I also heard that Tamaki got mad at Haruhi for being so reckless and she got mad for him thinking that she was so vulnerable that she couldn't do anything. Lying in my bed in my room at the resort, I knew there was a very awkward dinner going on with the Host Club as everyone else tried to deal with the fight between the two. I wasn't allowed to be part of the dinner because they all made me rest in bed for the past few hours. The girls had all gone home after the incident and the guys were arrested by the Ootori family police force. All that was left was the entire Host Club (plus some maids and servants).
From my little breakdown at the beach in front of the twins, I hadn't spoken to anyone. I was too embarrassed and ashamed that I could barely do anything to protect Haruhi, the girls, and myself. And they were just humans. If I were facing the shadow creatures, I would have been killed for sure.
Feeling like I had enough of playing weak, I decided to get up from bed and join the Hosts in whatever activity they were engaged in. When I opened the door, I was lacking in surprise to see the twins standing right at my doorstep.
"You aren't following orders, young lady."
"You're supposed to be resting in bed."
Deciding that I didn't want to deal with their games, I sighed in exhaustion. "Let me through, you two."
They crossed each other's' arms to block my way. "Sorry, can't do it."
Sighing again, I looked up at them. "What are you doing here anyway?"
They exchanged glances and smiled. "Well, we just came across the boss and Haruhi in an…interesting position."
"It's a funny story, really—we'll tell you later. But at least we know that they aren't fighting anymore." They snickered as my anger boiled.
"That's not what I meant! What are you doing here at my door? You already know I'm alive for you to play with another day, so why even show up again?"
"Whoa, chill out, Aki—"
"We just wanted to make sure that you were okay. That and we knew that your stubborn tendencies would get you out of that bed sooner or later. We're actually pretty surprised that it took you this long."
I tried to speak again, but Hikaru interrupted as he got serious. "Haruhi told us that you were coughing up blood earlier." My eyes went wide. Damn. I told her not to tell them!
"But when the doctor looked at you, he said you were fine, other than the shock of almost drowning." I'm fine? I stopped for a second to mentally check my body. It's true. I'm not in pain anymore. In fact, I feel energetic again. Was it normal for me to have made such a quick recovery?
"We went back to the beach and found blood in the sand—your blood. Why didn't you come to us if you weren't feeling well?"
That made me lose it. "Why? Because everything is just one big joke to you two! The moment I arrived here, you two have done nothing but annoy, trick, and blackmail me. What reason do I honestly have to be able to trust you two with anything? As if I'd tell you if there was anything wrong. The only reason you'd possibly care is because I get to live for you two to play with me another day! I'm just a toy that you can use…" I calmed down a bit. "If I'm broken, just fix me up and everything's fine. That's the only reason you made me a Host isn't it?"
I turned around to avoid their gazes. When I finally thought that I made them feel guilty, they started to laugh. I turned back at them with a face of disbelief. Why are they laughing?
"We made you a Host so that you could lighten up a little."
What?
"Look, from the moment we first saw you, you looked like a really uptight person."
"Yeah, uptight and depressed."
"We knew that if we got under your skin enough, you'd learn to have some fun and forget about whatever was making you so down."
"We knew how annoyed we were making you and thought that our plan was a success. Tell us Aki, since meeting us, have you thought much of the thing that was making you sad?"
My eyes grew wide. The more I thought about it, they were right. Whenever those two did something annoying, all I could focus on was how much I couldn't stand them—I totally forgot about the lives and people I was forced to leave behind as well as my Taiitsukun problems. Not only that, joining the Host Club, in some odd sense, did help me calm down and get (somewhat) used to being around people. I was involved in a group of people that liked me…all because these twins caught me on video.
"Oh, and the blackmail was just to keep you around." Kaoru winked.
Blinking a couple of times, I still had a question that needed to be answered. "But why? Why go through all of this for someone you just met?"
"Well," Kaoru explained, "I suggested to Hikaru that we should just talk to you and tell jokes to cheer you up."
"But I figured that you needed a more…unorthodox way of making you lose your troubles. So that's why we did what we did."
"But I still don't understand why—" Hikaru then put a finger under my chin to lift my eyes up to his. He flashed one of those charming, yet devious smiles.
"Because I wanted to see you smile. That's why."
As I processed what he said, I began to feel my heart flutter—my face heating up followed suit. He wanted to see me…smile? He took his hand off my chin and looked at Kaoru who nodded at him.
Kaoru smiled warmly. "Well, it's time to retire for the night don't you think Hikaru?"
He grinned back. "Yeah, Aki needs a little more rest. Sorceresses need their sleep to regain their power, right?" He didn't say "witch"! He winked and my heart skipped a beat again. What the?
"Goodnight Aki!" They said at the same time while closing my door. When it was shut, I remembered that I needed to tell them something.
So even though I was by myself, I said out loud, with a small smile, "Thank you, Hikaru, Kaoru."
My door immediately shot open as they poked their heads in. "Don't mention it!" Then they closed the door again. This time, I heard their footsteps trailing off down the hallway.
Standing there, staring at the door, I did something that I hadn't done in an extremely long time: laughed. I just started to crack up more than I ever had before—making my whole body feel good. I felt totally weightless, like nothing was holding me down. Everything bad that ever happened to me just sort of seemed to float away at that moment. I couldn't even remember the last time I had a good laugh…it had been a while.
Wiping the tears from my eyes, the laughing calmed down as I continued staring at the door. Some of the bad feelings trickled back, but I had a feeling inside of me that said I could handle it. They did all of that for something so stupid. My heart started to race again at the whole situation. I just couldn't stop blushing either.
The moment I started to pay attention to my surroundings again, I realized that, somehow, I had gotten taller—I towered everything in the room. In fact, my head was practically touching the ceiling. Wait a minute… Looking down I realized that my feet weren't touching the ground—I was floating—no, flying. I was flying! And…not falling!
The longer my heart felt warm and cozy, the more I knew that I could stay in the air. I guess Haruhi and the twins were right.
I just needed to go with the flow.
ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.
All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D
-Aloe
PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.
Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!